“The Night Cloud just emerged from the Gate, Drew,” said Lydia’s voice over the intercomm. “Captain Pirrit says there are ten passengers aboard. ETA is about fifteen hours.”
With a gnawing sense of dread, Townsend asked her, “Only ten? Is Olivia with him?”
She relayed the question, then turned and told him, “He says yes, she’s safe and sound.”
Townsend drew his first unfettered breath since transmitting the extraction data some five standard days earlier. The rescue had been successful. Now there was one more thing to attend to.
“I want a general meeting in the caf at shift end,” he said. “All of our crew, our current alien guests, and Captain Rodrigues. They should all be there. I have an important announcement to make.”
“You want Moe as well?”
“Absolutely. It appears he’s going to be with us for a while, and he’ll need something to do when he’s not fighting with Madeline Holchuk. So, I’m going to put him to work.”
“He’s the symbol of an alliance. Can we really do that?”
“If Trokerk can send Ssorryass into battle, I can give Moe a job,” he replied firmly. “Send the notices. I’ll clarify everything at the meeting.”
Five hours later, Townsend was standing in the caf, with Jensen’s serving counter behind him and a roomful of curious people in front of him. He scanned the crowd to ensure that everyone he needed to address was in attendance. Then he began:
“When we first came out here to our new and improved Daisy Hub, I spoke with each crew member privately, and I made several of you promises. Today I’m going to keep one of them. It’s important — especially to those in a situation like ours — to have a day-to-day purpose. A reason to get out of bed in the morning. That’s what Nayo Naguchi was doing when he set up the duty rotations forcing each of you to work on multiple details. Your task was to learn about the technology aboard the station and acquire the necessary skills to keep it running smoothly. That was really all there was to do on Daisy Hub as long as it was classified as an experiment in self-sufficient deep space living. Well, we’ve been reclassified, and that has opened up some interesting new pathways for us.
“Technically, we’re supposed to be a deep space way station. If we were located on a spaceway, we would all have jobs to keep us busy. But we’re not. So, I’ve come up with something that I think will fill the gap. Before the war, you were all champing at the bit to get involved with the resistance on Earth. Now that the Relocation Authority has lost most of its power, the resistance on Earth has more or less fallen apart. However, with what we know about recent events, it’s clear to me that a resistance is still necessary. Therefore, I’m proposing that Daisy Hub become the headquarters for a new and improved Earth resistance. We can do everything that the old resistance did. We can secretly recruit and train agents. We can mount covert operations anywhere in Earth space and perhaps even beyond its borders. And we can gather intelligence, analyze it, and share the truth with those who have the means and the will to act on it.
“That last part has given me the idea for a cover that we could use. The Great Council has established a massive collection of data, called the Central Archives. A lot of information has come into our possession recently, from a variety of sources. And Earth’s government very kindly provided us with enormous data storage capabilities when they rebuilt this station. Why not set up our own Central Archives right here on Daisy Hub?”
O’Malley was grinning from ear to ear. “We can’t call it a Central Archives, boss,” he shouted out. “That name is taken. And we’re not on Earth, so it can’t be the Earth Intelligence Service either.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather leave the word ‘intelligence’ out of it altogether,” said Ruby. “Just call it a library.”
“But we’re going to be far more than a library,” protested Walt Garfield. “We’re going to be a resource center. A wealth of information. A repository of knowledge.”
“That’s it!” Lydia exclaimed, raising both hands in the air. “We can call it The Repository, capital T, capital R.” Her cheeks dimpling, she glanced around as though waiting for applause.
“I like that,” Drew said. “The Repository. It has a ring to it. And of course, we’re going to need an experienced curator to be in charge of it, at least until she’s able to go home again. Madame Enne, would you be interested in becoming our Head Librarian?”
Yorell got slowly to her feet. “Mr. Townsend,” she replied solemnly, “it would be my honor to fill this post for however long you require my services.”
“Thank you,” said Drew. “Now, you’ll need to assemble and train a staff. May I suggest that you include Moe in that group? I understand that he is fluent in several languages and could be quite an asset.”
“Of course.” She looked around the room, found Moe sitting off to the side, and gave him a nod of acceptance.
Meanwhile, Townsend couldn’t help noticing, Vin Trager was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a concerned expression on his face. It matched the one Rodrigues was wearing. The Ranger captain had taken a seat near the caf door. He’d been leaning forward all during Townsend’s announcement. Now he sat back, slowly shaking his head.
Okay. Drew hadn’t really expected an effortless transition. There were still a few wrinkles to iron out. But at least the residents of Daisy Hub no longer had to keep secrets from one another. He would take that as a win.
—— «» ——
“That was quite a show you put on, Townsend.” Trager stood on the other side of Drew’s desk, gazing sternly down at him. “Am I to understand that it’s your intention to make the contents of the Stragori memory blocs publicly available?”
“No. I ordered all the Stragori data to be removed from our systems. The memory blocs have been sealed back inside their cases and placed in storage. Except for the contents of bloc 2472, which appears to be a download of your Hak’kor’s consciousness. At least, that’s what it’s claiming. It also says it cannot put itself back where it was because our technology is not advanced enough to permit that operation. Personally, I think it’s lying about that.”
Slack-jawed, Trager sank onto one of the guest chairs. “A consciousness? And where is it now?”
“Trapped inside a dedicated server, physically isolated from the rest of the network. Fortunately, my people take precautions. It will remain there until you are able to confirm that your Hak’kor, Gervais Forrand, is alive and well on Stragon. At that time, we’ll reinitialize the server.”
“Gervais Forrand? He is not the Hak’kor. Louis Forrand is. Gervais wasn’t even offered a Directorship until after the ssalssit essendi with Trokerk. I don’t know who or what you have on that server, Townsend, but it’s not what you think it is, and it’s not what I was told I would be bringing here.”
Trager looked genuinely upset.
“Could it be an artificial intelligence?” Townsend inquired.
The Stragori considered for a moment. “Programmed with a false narrative? It could be. And if it’s lying about who it is, nothing it says can be trusted. Honestly, I think your safest course of action would be to delete it, permanently and immediately.”
Drew got to his feet. “I agree. And … welcome to The Repository, Mr. Trager.”
Rodrigues arrived as Trager was leaving. The Ranger captain stepped through the privacy shield, a gathering storm in his eyes.
“You’re putting a Reyot in charge of sensitive information. Are you out of your mind, Townsend?” he demanded. “What she’s going to know about us when she goes back to alien space—”
“—will be nothing compared to the intel she is prepared to give us about the alien races, and the Great Council, and the Central Archives. But you needn’t worry, Paul. She won’t be going back to Reyi’it until the arrest warrant against her has been rescinded, and that won’t happen until we’ve taken down the Great Council and put something else in its place. That’s the operation I couldn’t read you into earlier.”
His mouth an O of shocked comprehension, Rodrigues sank slowly onto a chair. “That’s the operation?” he repeated when he could find his voice. “You’re going to—? How?”
“Bloodlessly, I hope. Only time will tell. But I think we’re off to a good start. Don’t you?”
Townsend watched with interest as a parade of expressions crossed the Ranger captain’s face. Finally, Rodrigues said, “We’re certainly off to something. And since you included me in that meeting, you must have a role for me to play. What is it?”
“To begin with, we’re going to need a proper Security arm to protect the secrecy of the organization as it develops.”
“You want Zulu to continue being a Second Shield for House Daisy Hub, in other words. My men would go for that. The women weren’t with us before the Corvou war, so I can’t be sure about them. Of course, they did demonstrate a flagrant lack of respect for the SIS chain of command when they pressured the commandant to assign them here. Do I still have discretion over when to brief my detachment about this?”
“Absolutely. We can talk about possibly involving some of your people more deeply in Repository operations later. And eventually we’re all going to need training in the use of the Hub’s defensive weapons.”
“You know, you really are a dangerous man when you’re thinking, Townsend,” growled the Ranger.
Drew leaned forward and crossed his arms on the desktop. “Daisy Hub and Zulu are a team, and we’re going to need everyone read in and pulling together if our new mission is to succeed. Fortunately, it’s a long term project. That gives you time to get all your people onside so that I can bring them up to speed and integrate them into the operation.”
“Even if we all agree to this, Zulu still needs to patrol the sector, and I still need to file regular reports with Space Installation Security,” Rodrigues pointed out. “It’s not just a cover for us. It’s our job.”
“Understood. Like I said, it’s probably going to take years just to set this con up. A lot can change between now and then. I meant it when I told you earlier that you’re a key operative, Paul. I wouldn’t have confided in you otherwise, and I wouldn’t be trusting you now. So let’s begin by establishing the Second Shield, and see where we go from there.”
Rodrigues considered for a moment, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Finally he said, “All right, Hak’kor, deal me in.”
—— «» ——
Drew and Ruby met the Night Cloud on the landing deck. Quarters had been prepared for the extracted operatives, and Ruby had warned Chef Jensen to expect a larger than usual dinner crowd. Debriefing and orientation could wait until after everyone was fed and settled, Drew had decided.
According to Pirrit, it had been an uneventful voyage. Now, four women and five men came through the hatch, one at a time. Each one carried a go-bag. It was obvious just from looking at them (and sniffing the air around them) that they’d been stuck together in close quarters for several days. Fed and settled and showered, Drew added to his earlier thought.
Jerald Gow, his former handler on Earth, was among the extractees. The two men made eye contact as Gow passed.
Olivia was the last passenger to debark. Something twisted in Drew’s chest at the sight of her. Safe and sound? He didn’t think so. She moved as though things were broken inside her. Her expression was dazed. Pirrit had to help her down from the ship, placing her bag beside her feet once she was on the deck.
Drew kept his gaze fixed on her face. “Show the others to their quarters, Ruby. I need a minute with my sister.”
“Not a problem, Chief.”
As she led the group into a waiting tube car, Pirrit and Ixbeth climbed back inside the ship and closed the hatch, leaving Drew and Olivia standing alone, separated by two meters of silence.
When she finally raised her eyes to meet his, he could see that she had been crying. There were tears in her voice when she spoke.
“Drew, I’m sorry. I know you don’t want me here, but I have nowhere else to go.”
What was there to say?
He covered the distance between them and opened his arms, and she toppled into them and hung on tight, burying her face against his chest. “Angeli’s dead,” she said, choking out each word. “I didn’t find out until just before we were extracted. She was my best friend, and she died on Stragon, and I had to leave her behind.”
Holding her while heaving sobs wracked her body, he filled his lungs and let his breath out slowly. He knew exactly how much she was hurting inside. He’d wept this same way over Bruni Patel.
Tightening his embrace, he finally found the necessary words. Drew lowered his head and whispered, “I’m sorry, Olivia, for everything. Welcome home.”
—— «» ——
Five days later, all the agents from Stragon had been debriefed, and Olivia had calmed down enough to discuss her experiences there as well. Townsend was wishing he’d been able to extract Anna Sturtevant. As operation coordinator, she could have provided the perspective that tied everything together.
The mission objective outlined to him earlier by Novak had been threefold: first, to monitor and assess the status of the colony; second, to gauge the volatility of the situation on Stragon; and third, to suss out potential ways to defuse or head off developments that could result in an outbreak of civil war. According to the debriefing reports, the colony on the island was doing just fine, thanks; the situation on the mainland was becoming increasingly unstable as the radical faction grew bolder; and the EIS agents had constantly felt as though they were being blocked from gathering any useful intel. One of them had described her time on-world as “walking a tightrope over a quicksand bog for the enjoyment of an invisible audience”.
The consensus among the agents was that a civil war was inevitable. The colony was safe for now, but bound eventually to be dragged into the conflict. And the political situation on Stragon was such a quagmire of plots and counterplots, lies and deception, that there was very little to be gained by adding any Terran operatives to the mix.
Townsend had interviewed Olivia last. Her insights regarding the Forrand family and Stragon First had been most interesting, but what she’d had to tell him about the Directorate and the bunker under the island had been especially eye-opening.
Boxing up and storing the Stragori memory blocs and deleting the Gervais entity from the server had clearly been the right call. In her debriefing, Olivia had theorized that Dennis Forrand might have been behind this particular con. After all, making sure he had eyes and ears on every one of his projects at all times had always been his style. He’d left agents behind on Earth to monitor the Reformation. Why not put an avatar of himself inside the station’s computer system to let him oversee Daisy Hub’s activities?
Drew had thought immediately of Ruby, of her EIS encrypter sitting in his desk drawer, and made up his mind. Whether or not the Gervais on the server had been a version of Dennis Forrand, Townsend was done with him.
Drew and Olivia had spent most of their lives playing Forrand’s game by Forrand’s rules. Now the game was over. Daisy Hub was Townsend’s House, and he was its Hak’kor. The Repository belonged to him as well. Once he’d explained the situation to them, each of the nine agents he’d extracted had signed on to join his crew without a moment’s hesitation. Olivia was his sister, now under his protection for as long as she needed it. Grieving was a process, and she wouldn’t be going through it alone. The coming years would give them a chance to rebuild their relationship.
Drew Townsend had his turf, and Daisy Hub had its mission. He’d already contacted Olivia’s information sources on Earth and made O’Malley their handler. There remained just one last thing to do. Townsend sat down at his desk. Surrounded by the privacy shield, he plugged in his decrypter, keyed in the applicable VICTOR codes, and composed a message to Barry Novak:
Ten agents were successfully extracted. One was deceased. One remained voluntarily and is deactivated. There is now no official or covert EIS presence on Stragon or on Earth.
The new organization on Daisy Hub is fully staffed and ready for business. You have friends in Sector Three. Let us know if we can be of assistance.
D. Townsend, Station Manager, CEO of The Repository