33

Beauceron tried to suppress a yawn.

What time zone are we in? he wondered, as the elevator continued upward. Too much traveling. I need to get back to normal police work. Back home. He glanced at Atalia sub-consciously. But I don’t want to have to say goodbye to Atalia, either.

In front of him, the female Senate Guard adjusted her suit coat self-consciously. Beauceron noted absent-mindedly that the coat of her suit did not match her pants. Must be an Anchorpoint fashion thing. Then the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. The two Senate Guards led them down a long hallway, and then around a corner, eventually stopping at a non-descript conference room deep in the Senate office complex. Colonel Jesk stood waiting for them outside the door in a crisp dress uniform.

“Ready to put your jobs on the line?” he asked them, smiling nervously.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Beauceron observed.

Jesk chuckled, and then pushed the doors open. Inside, Beauceron saw a well-appointed conference room with a horseshoe-shaped table lined with leather chairs. Five senators sat near the middle of the table, embossed nameplates at each of their seats, talking quietly amongst themselves. The two Senate Guards that had escorted Beauceron and Atalia upstairs went and took seats at the back of the room, along the wall. Beauceron caught himself staring at the female Senate Guard momentarily.

Something familiar about her, he mused. Maybe we were at the Academy together.

While Atalia plugged a data drive into the room’s presentation computer, Jesk took a seat at the table, sitting next to an older woman that Beauceron recognized as the commanding general of the Interstellar Police. The senators stopped talking a moment later, and turned their attention to Beauceron and Atalia.

“We’re ready when you are, Detectives,” Senator Tsokel told them.

Beauceron dimmed the lights, and Atalia started the presentation on the room’s viewscreen. The first slide showed a photo of the Armadyne research laboratory. She took a deep breath, and then addressed the assembled leaders.

“Last year, an R&D lab on New Liberia built a working prototype of a device that was capable of teleporting massive amounts of energy over long distances, into designated objects. When the device is activated, the object becomes unstable, and explodes. You may be familiar with this device from Detective Beauceron’s report following his investigation into the Guild.”

Beauceron nodded. “Paisen Oryx, the contractor known as ‘339,’ stole the blueprints to this device several months before I encountered her. She sold those blueprints to an unknown third party, through a black market exchange. But she and Rath Kaldirim built a working copy, as a weapon to use in our fight against the Guild. I’ve seen the device in action firsthand – it works, with devastating effect, and it’s impossible to protect against.”

“What happened to the device that you built, Detective?” the commanding general asked. Beauceron recognized her stern gaze from the chain of command pictures that hung in every Interstellar Police station.

“The device may have been destroyed, ma’am,” Beauceron replied. “I spoke with Rath while he was still in police custody, and he claimed that they destroyed it.”

“And you believe him?” the general pressed.

“I did at the time,” Beauceron replied. “Now I’m not sure.”

“Regardless,” Atalia continued, “last month, an autonomous drone in orbit over New Liberia dropped a series of precision kinetic darts onto an abandoned chemical factory. We believe this was a sort of weapon trial. We have evidence that the darts were used in concert with the high energy device. They exploded, leveling the factory – my damage assessment points to several kilotons in yield for each dart.”

The assembled leaders watched as Atalia displayed comparison photos of the factory, showing it before the attack, and immediately after.

“Each of those drones can hold up to a hundred darts,” Beauceron said, cueing up an animation that showed a Zeisskraft drone deploying darts in space. “Which means a single drone could easily level a modern city. The high energy prototype was already an ideal terror weapon. Now someone has transformed it into a devastating weapon of mass destruction.”

“Paisen Oryx also used precision kinetic darts while Detective Beauceron was working with her,” Atalia pointed out. “Though not in combination with the device.” She studied the room. “Is everyone following so far?”

Senator Tsokel glanced around the room. “I believe so,” he said.

“Good, because this is where it gets weird, sir,” Atalia told him. She pulled up a photo of the Rampart Guardian. “This is the ship that purchased and deployed the drone over New Liberia. It’s our assumption that the high energy prototype is on board this vessel, the Rampart Guardian.”

The commanding general pointed at the screen. “That’s the same ship—,” she started.

“Yes, ma’am,” Atalia said. “Just hang on a second, we’ll get there. So a month ago, the Guardian arrived over New Liberia. They bought a complement of drones, and conducted the weapon test over the factory, and then left. And I believe most of you know where it showed up next,” Atalia said.

“Scapa,” the general said. “It shot down one of my police cruisers and helped Rath Kaldirim escape from custody.”

“True,” Beauceron agreed.

“Paisen Oryx is our chief suspect for that incident,” the general pointed out. “Your investigation seems to have confirmed her involvement. She bought this ship, armed it with this weapon of hers, and then broke her friend out of jail.”

“Not necessarily, ma’am,” Beauceron said. “Initially, we believed Paisen might have been involved in the high energy weapon test. So we followed a lead to a luxury resort on Bellislas that she had rented. She wasn’t at the resort when we arrived, but evidence collected during the raid suggested that she was headed to Jokuan, a planet in the Territories.”

At the back of the room, Beauceron saw the female Senate Guard shift slightly in her seat, and he thought he caught a flicker of surprise on her face. Beauceron turned his attention back to the briefing, gesturing to Atalia to continue.

His partner showed several of the maps they had taken from the resort’s computer. “Oryx seems to have recruited a number of other ex-guildsmen, but we’re still trying to determine why they went to Jokuan, and what their intent was,” Atalia reported.

Tsokel and another senator glanced at each other.

“If I may—” Senator Foss started, but Tsokel cut him off immediately.

“Senator. Please let the detectives continue.”

“As you wish,” Foss demurred.

Beauceron frowned. There’s something they’re not telling us.

Atalia pointed at the map of Jokuan on the viewscreen. “Detective Beauceron and I went to Jokuan, following Paisen. The numbers on the map correspond to training areas that the Jokuan military uses. Although frankly, right now they look more like staging areas – we saw a lot of Jokuan military elements in those areas, but mostly they seemed to be packing their equipment up, and loading it onto deep space vessels.”

The general frowned again, and rubbed at her temple. “So this Oryx woman has recruited a team of guildsmen, built herself a super-weapon, and now she’s in league with the Jokuan military? An army that appears to be preparing for war?”

“Possibly,” Atalia said. “Honestly, we found no evidence of Paisen Oryx on Jokuan, apart from an abandoned safe house, and the body of one of her teammates, who had been murdered. So we’re still trying to evaluate her role in all of this. But we did find the ship.”

“Well, if her ship’s there …” the commanding general suggested.

“We don’t think it’s her ship,” Atalia corrected her. She flipped to the next slide, showing a photo of the landing field, and the Rampart Guardian bathed in floodlight. “Martin?”

Beauceron cleared his throat. “This ship is over two hundred years old. So to trace its origins, we need to review a little Federacy history. Anders Ricken was supposedly killed on Caustiga in 2180, putting an end to the Third Colonial War. Now, the Rampart Guardian was purchased and delivered to Caustiga, and equipped with ten cryo-sleep pods less than a month later. It left Caustiga soon afterwards and has not been seen in Federacy space since.”

“What are you suggesting?” Senator Foss asked. “I’m not sure I’m following.”

“They’re suggesting there’s some connection between Ricken’s revolution and this ship,” Tsokel said.

“Yes, sir,” Atalia agreed. “About ten minutes after the Rampart Guardian landed on Jokuan, General Yo-Tsai, the commanding general of Jokuan’s joint military forces, arrived at the landing field. Here he is disembarking from his transport along with a contingent of security guards.” She looked meaningfully at Beauceron.

“Immediately after that,” Beauceron added, taking a deep breath, “four people left the Rampart Guardian and met with General Yo-Tsai.” He clicked to the next photo, which had been enlarged to show a close-up of the people descending the Guardian’s ramp. Beauceron caught several sharp intakes of breath from the audience.

“The woman is Jaymy McGovan, a nurse from Scapa who was also Rath Kaldirim’s girlfriend. We’re assuming the young man beside her is Rath Kaldirim, using a cover identity – his face doesn’t match anyone in the IP database.” Beauceron pointed at the screen. “I want to stress that this is our hypothesis, and since former Guild personnel appear to be connected to this case, we can never really be sure who is who. That applies to the older man in these photos as well, but facial recognition and simulated aging software give a decent probability that it’s Marec Lonergan, a member of Ricken’s so-called ‘Council of Six’ during the Third Colonial War. And this, of course, appears to be Anders Ricken himself.”

The room remained silent.

“To recap, then,” Beauceron said, awkwardly. “Our hypothesis is that Anders Ricken and his key lieutenants faked their deaths, and have been in hibernation since the end of the Third Colonial War. They have now acquired a weapon of mass destruction and appear to be partnering with both Rath Kaldirim and the Jokuan military. And possibly with Paisen Oryx, as well. What their aims might be, we can’t say for sure.”

“What’s your best guess?” Colonel Jesk prompted.

“Sir, our best estimate is that they intend to start another major interstellar war. Likely with the aim of overthrowing the Federacy.”

“Isn’t it possible that all of this is a ruse – that Ricken is dead, and he’s just being impersonated by former guildsmen?” Senator Tsokel asked.

“It’s certainly possible,” Beauceron agreed. “But if so, I’m not sure what they intend to achieve by doing so. Most guildsmen are motivated by money, and I don’t see how tricking the Jokuans into starting a war leads to a payday for them. So our best guess is that that really is Anders Ricken. Frankly, it’s the most dangerous scenario, too. Which I think should factor into how we – you – decide to respond.”

The room stayed quiet again.

Finally, Senator Herek spoke up. “Senator Tsokel, might I suggest that we ask our law enforcement colleagues to step out for a minute, so that we can discuss this and … other information we have … just amongst ourselves. Just committee members, for a few minutes?”

Senator Tsokel leaned back in his chair, studying Beauceron and Atalia. “Detectives, what clearance level do you have?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” Beauceron admitted. “None, I suppose.”

Atalia chuckled. “I’m cleared for Secret, sir – all Territories-based officers are.”

“Well, as of now, you’re both cleared for anything I say you are,” Tsokel decided. “So let me bring everyone up to speed. As part of our committee responsibilities, we’ve been keeping a close eye on Jokuan’s activities recently. I’d rather not reveal our sources, for several reasons. But news of their military activity is … well, it’s not news to us. Though it’s very concerning that they appear to be accelerating their efforts.” He paused, running his fingers along the edge of his datascroll absentmindedly. “Our sources tell us the Jokuans are running out of cash, and they’re planning to attack another planet for economic gain.”

“I’d believe it, based on what we saw on Jokuan,” Atalia told him. “Those boys were gearing up for something big.”

Tsokel nodded. “But Ricken’s involvement – if your hypothesis is correct – that’s a new angle. Our society stands on the brink of uprising as it is. If Anders Ricken, the poster boy for misplaced idealism, were to enter the mix, I shudder to think what could happen. The Jokuans could raid a planet or two before we stopped them. But that man – or someone pretending to be him – could send our entire civilization into anarchy and chaos.”

“The people are already protesting us in the streets,” Senator Herek pointed out. “They’d rally to his flag by the billions.”

“I’m very troubled about these ex-Guild players getting involved,” Senator Foss broke in. “After all, what’s their angle? I can imagine that this Kaldirim man is upset at having been convicted of murder, so perhaps he just wants to lash out at the system. But now we hear that Paisen Oryx is involved as well?”

“Possibly,” Beauceron said. “But we’re not really sure she does fit in.”

“It seems clear to me,” Foss replied. “This Paisen woman felt she owed it to her friend to save him from a death sentence on Scapa. She’s allied herself with the Jokuans and Ricken for some reason, so she put pressure on Ricken to help her break Kaldirim out.”

Beauceron knitted his brow. “The method of Rath’s escape isn’t in keeping with how Paisen operates. If she wanted to break him out of jail, it’s likely she would have figured out a way to make him simply disappear.” He sighed. “I know those two well. At least, I thought I did. I’m having trouble figuring out what they’re doing mixed up in all of this.”

Foss cocked an eyebrow, and made eye contact with Tsokel. “Perhaps these Guild types are more willing to betray their allies than any of us anticipated, Detective.”

Tsokel shot Foss a look of warning. “Enough, Gaspar. We can speculate about the guildsmen all we want. But the threat remains. We need to determine how to react. So at this point, we’ll continue with just the committee members, please.” The old senator turned to Beauceron and Atalia. “Detectives, thank you for your time.”

“Of course, sir,” Beauceron said.

He and Atalia gathered their bags and followed the two Senate Guards through the conference room doors, along with Jesk and the commanding general. The older woman turned and shook hands with Beauceron and Atalia. “Well handled,” she told them. “They’re not an easy crowd. You have quarters here on Anchorpoint?”

“We’ve got a hotel room, ma’am,” Atalia told her.

“You better have two hotel rooms,” she told them, jokingly. “Fraternization between partners is against the code of ethics.”

Beauceron blushed, but the general missed it. “Go get some rest,” she continued. “I imagine we’ll be sending you back to Jokuan soon. Colonel Jesk, let’s head to my office and review your potential response plans – I have a feeling the senators will be calling me back in there soon to give them some options. And I don’t have a goddamn clue what to tell them right now.”