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Not for the first time, he got lost a moment staring out the office window.
It wasn’t just the fact that he had an office, and a rather impressive one at that - nor was it that he had the trust and respect of people he’d never dreamed he would meet, let alone know. The view was simply stunning.
The rolling grasses gave way to an impossibly blue-green pond. Beyond the pond were more fields, abutting undulating hills with trees he could not identify. Past that, the mountains arose impossibly high, the peaks he could see covered in snow, the others shrouded in clouds.
Alvon Gargarm had not requested this office, nor the incredible view it offered. Even having visited all the worlds he had since joining the CSA, he had not expected anything quite like this.
Director Hectir, Alvon, the other three deputy directors, and SSA Kreth had reached an agreement as to where to relocate the Cosmic Security Agency Headquarters. They chose the planet Korimar III.
Korimar was a solar system with seven worlds. Korimar I was so close to the sun that it was untouchable, even for mining. Korimar II was perpetually covered in clouds of various nasty chemicals and was utterly inhospitable. Korimar IV, V, and VI were all ringed gas giants so close to one another that they often traded materials between their rings. As such, they shared unusual and dangerous gravity eddies, making them less than ideal for gas mining or much else.
Korimar VII was the mirror opposite of Korimar I. So far from the sun that it was frozen and utterly inhospitable. It was only a planet because it was equal in size to Korimar III and had a trio of moons.
Korimar III had four continents, two to either side of the equator, and was comprised of 70 percent water. The original settlers, a family named Korimar, had determined that they would preserve two of the continents for their abundant natural wildlife - leaving their resources untouched.
The third continent was one of the mysterious Yalifira conclaves. The Yalifira government, in fact, had had to sign off on the CSA placing their headquarters on this world.
Avra had explained to Alvon and Hectir what the conclave was, and that when the Korimar family had discovered this solar system, the Yalifira had already held that continent as a conclave. Though it was not confirmed, many believed that first contact between Humans and Yalifira might have taken place on Korimar III.
Many agreements were signed, and despite being relatively centrally located among other Human territories, the Korimar system was largely ignored.
That, however, was by design. The Korimar family had wanted to create a place to live simply and comfortably and had little interest in exploiting their discovery. Over the millennia, that had not changed. Though Korimar was not a destination system, it was free and independent.
Korimar Central Authority (KCA) maintained a merchant fleet and a small defensive fleet. Because of the odd gravity well formed by the three gas giants in close proximity, there were limited places for starships to emerge and depart for hyperspace in the system. KCA was jointly headed by a Human and a Yalifira, and its mandate gave it oversight of traffic in and out of the system.
The Human continent on Korimar III boasted three dozen cities, though none had more than five or six million inhabitants. At the center of the continent was an impossibly high mountain range, which Alvon had a view of from his office window.
No city on Korimar III was its capital, as they had none. The Korimar family had despised politics and determined that leadership didn’t necessitate professionals of that nature. Committees of volunteers oversaw infrastructure, tax collection, maintenance, and other such matters for each city. It was a relatively simple system that had worked longer than many other governments across the stars over the millennia.
Korimar was an independent system—perfect for the new CSA headquarters.
The new CSA headquarters had been constructed quickly and was a small city in and of itself. It was relatively close to three of the cities—connected via hyperloop, but far enough away that should another attack occur as what befell Gilmard and the city of Ordan, civilian casualties would be minimized.
While some might have thought that the CSA should remain headquartered at Proxy One in the Spontorv System, Hectir felt that their headquarters needed to be known and accessible. Proxy One was being restored to standby in case another tragedy befell CSA headquarters.
Hectir had also determined that one Deputy Director must be somewhere other than CSA headquarters at all times. While the new Deputy Directors were reestablishing their directorates, that was easy. In time, when things were back to a more regular routine, a rotation would be created for that purpose.
Presently, DDI Jeck Baryorn and DDG Canta Berna were both away. DDI Baryorn was visiting the satellite that they had used for the first meeting with the Xorcerizts, while DDG Berna was overseeing returning Proxy One to standby.
There was a knock on the jamb of his office door, and that brought Alvon back to the moment. He turned away from the window and saw Hectir and an agent waiting there.
“Director,” Alvon addressed him, feeling embarrassed. “Sorry about that.”
Hectir made a dismissive gesture. Although his new android body looked similar to his old one, it was definitely different. All his gestures and facial expressions were far more natural than they had been before.
Hectir had told Alvon that he was aware that his new body was considerably advanced from the old and was himself still adapting.
“I have some information I thought might be of particular interest to you,” Hectir said, entering Alvon’s office. He gestured at the man just behind him. “DDCSA Alvon Gargarm, this is Senior Detective Randok Partaba.”
Alvon arose from his desk and reached out to shake Randok’s hand. “Ah yes, I know your name from the reports about the Shardaelia/Protelna Investigation. Co-lead investigator with....” Alvon was blanking on the other agent’s name.
Randok shook his hand and said, “Special Agent Sera Amdull. We have been traveling back and forth between Shardaeliana, Protelnaun, and a mobile special survey ship gathering data in the field for quite some time now.”
“It was fortunate,” Hectir interjected, “that Agent Amdull had departed from Gilmard just hours before the Ditufgne attack.”
Alvon recalled a conversation about that with Hectir. Upon her return from her field work with Detective Partaba, the Director had intended to make Special Agent Amdull a senior agent.
Amdull and Partaba, Alvon knew, had been granted a specially outfitted starship, a freighter on the outside that was a mobile special survey ship with a four-agent crew inside. The ship would remain somewhere between the two sovereign systems, gathering communications data while serving as a nearby waypoint for the agents on the ground.
After meeting Ashira, Hectir had placed added importance on the investigation into the murder of her spouse. Even with the added layers of assistance - and Ashira’s data - the investigation had remained ongoing for well over two years.
“Welcome to Korimar III, Detective,” Alvon was saying. He gestured to the chairs across from his desk. “What brings you in?”
Hectir and Randok sat.
Randok spoke first. “It’s been a lengthy and much more intricate investigation than we even remotely considered it might be. For every layer we revealed, we uncovered another, and then another. Just when we thought we had answers, we found new questions. But all that work has paid off.”
Alvon looked between Randok and Hectir. “You have it all worked out?”
“Yes,” Hectir replied.
Randok nodded. “That we do. It’s so much more nuanced than we thought, and everything the conspirators put into it is mindboggling. But we have it all together, at last.”
Alvon took a deep breath, then let it out. He knew Ashira would want this. “What have you got?”
Randok withdrew a tablet from a pocket and sent information to Alvon’s screens. Alvon looked at it while Randok narrated.
“Approximately thirty years ago, Lon Comaer met Aneera Daevir while at university. They had, according to all sources, a rather passionate relationship. Both were opportunistic, ambitious, but liked to play the long game. About a year after they met, circumstances separated them as their studies took them apart. Aneera, during this period, met and married Colun Golmar. Less than a year after the marriage, though, Aneera Daevir and Aneera Golmar both had separate comm codes. The latter was public and known, while the former served, at first, one purpose: continued communication with Lon Comaer.
“For more than a decade there were secret messages between Mr. Comaer and Ms. Golmar. There were meetings as well. They had quite the affair, and Ms. Golmar was taking full advantage of her husband’s wealth and influence for her own entertainments. Then Mr. Comaer’s younger sister married Petra Aeshar and became princess. Only three years later, Petra and Ashira Aeshar became the queens of Shardaelia.”
Alvon watched the data change as Randok continued his narrative.
“Soon after they became the queens, the nature of Ms. Golmar and Mr. Comaer’s communications changed. They initially believed that the Aeshars would be weak, which quickly proved quite untrue. Yet Ms. Golmar had, using her husband’s influence, established an impressive number of contacts with some influential businesspeople across multiple systems—in particular, the Protelna Raj and the Karvama Union.”
Hectir spoke. “The Karvama Union is made up of five solar systems— Kardula, Karominal, Arvamfray, Amalos, and Amadula—which were each independent only two centuries ago. Although they have built a strong infrastructure and a skillful defensive fleet, there has been a lot of infighting between the five governments over leadership of the Union. They are each independent and are supposed to rotate Union leadership every ten years. But forty years ago, the Kardula system experienced a political collapse of some sort or other, and so the rotation never occurred. The Amalos system has held leadership ever since, and though outwardly they are united, internally there is an increasingly ugly power struggle.”
Alvon appreciated that information. He had next to no knowledge of the Karvama Union.
Randok continued. “It would seem that much of the power struggle is financially driven. Mr. Golmar has ties to companies involved with both the Amalos leaders and those spearheading the opposition to it, which is positioning Arvamfray to assume Union leadership. Though it has been getting more dramatic and unpleasant, it doesn’t impact the citizenry.”
“So, there is a connection to the Karvama Union in all this?” Alvon asked.
“Yes, and that’s the missing link,” Randok stated. “While the Kingdom of Shardaelia is by no means struggling, neither are they as prosperous as they could be. Many have stated that between their resources and location, if they chose to expand their sphere of influence, they could also increase their prosperity exponentially. While the Protelna Raj is their closest neighbor, they also share a border with the Karvama Union.”
Hectir against took up the narrative. “Historically, all three systems have maintained an overall independence. Their interactions outside of themselves have been limited. None of the three systems are averse to trade and general commerce with the rest of the galaxy, but none of them have reached much beyond their borders—at least, not from a governmental standpoint.”
Randok spoke again. “Ms. Golmar, as a student of political science and history, is well aware of these matters. Her spouse’s connections, however, cross those borders with business.”
Alvon sighed. “Business and politics have been known to go hand in hand.”
“Yes,” Randok replied. “Ms. Golmar and Mr. Comaer hatched a plan to further destabilize the Karvama Union’s situation. She used her husband’s influence to get the business information while Mr. Comaer worked the diplomatic channels. He was a low-level enough member of the diplomatic corps of Shardaelia to escape notice—but as the Queen’s brother, he had a high security clearance.”
Alvon didn’t like where this was headed. Ashira had already been suspicious of her brother, but this painted a truly unpleasant picture.
Randok continued. “The focus was on the Karvama Union, but that is a slow-moving machine, and it was not producing results. But then Lkahn Am came to power. He immediately showed a much more aggressive posture and expressed interest in expanding the influence of the Raj, something none had done before him. It would seem that when he chose his vizier, Lord Dzstan, he chose a man not with political savvy, but rather business savvy. Lord Dzstan is one of the wealthiest businessmen in the Protelna Raj, as well as one of the few who has business connections outside of the Raj. Guess who one of his closest trading partners has been?”
Alvon sighed. “Colun Golmar.”
Randok nodded. “Exactly. That connection led to another. Mr. Golmar had gotten involved with a contractor that provided materials to both the Shardaelian and Protelnaun militaries. It would seem that said contractor is a woman named Rgant, who was introduced to Shardaelia’s Admiral Tolf Gipto. She would become an asset the admiral would use on occasion to get inside information about the Raj. She played him rather well and fed him false information that would be used to keep him blind to the conspiracy that was forming.”
Alvon looked to Hectir. “I thought Admiral Gipto was respected in the intelligence community?”
Hectir sighed. “He is. But even the best spy can be played from time to time.”
“He has always been suspicious about what happened to the queens,” Randok added. “But his entire focus has been exclusively on the Protelna Raj. But they are just one player in a much larger game.”
“Go on,” Alvon prompted.
Randok continued. “Working together, Lord Dzstan and Ms. Golmar began to get contacts on both sides of the Karvama Union conflict interested in forging ahead with a new normal. Rather than the three largely independent governments retaining their particular insularity, they would create new mutually beneficial agreements and work together to expand their influence outwards.”
Randok’s tone changed. “The largest sticking point to that was the existing leadership of the Kingdom of Shardaelia. Ms. Golmar learned that one of her husband’s business interests had uncovered a potentially profitable asteroid field on the border of the Shar Tre system and the Protelna Raj. She persuaded her husband to ignore that, promising a much larger payout if he did.”
Hectir spoke again. “The Protelna Raj began their convoluted plan to start raids, which would lead to involving the Shardaelian Foreign Minister, Aneera Golmar, which would lead to a conference between the leaders of Shardaelia and the Protelna Raj. That was where Lkhan Am and Lord Dzstan acted to remove that obstacle.”
“And that’s still not everything,” Randok informed Alvon.