Breach

fiction by michael werneburg

2002.07.26

She signaled to the others that she had the Admiral on radio and added them. She said, "It's a group discussion with the Admiral. Sir, the Prince appears to be selling technology to the Caofsh in order to acquire wealth."

"To what end? He can't settle down and start a family among them."

"Oh, I don't know. They're close enough to humanoid," Xin remarked. Eisberg grimaced.

"Perhaps he plans to buy his way back into Terra's good graces."

"After setting up a galactic rival? That's not going to work! Look, you understand that this could lose us our charter, right?"

Xin spoke up. "Eisberg and Mother trailed him here to the repo site through some engineering wizardry. But now that we're here, there's no sign of him. We've found that an atmospheric jet recently left. I've reviewed the logs of planet-wide airborne traffic from our satellites. I think the best bet is a jet that's currently headed to the planet's principal settlement, which is on a different continent."

"He's aboard an alien aircraft?"

"Admiral, we're not sure. We're only this far because of Eisberg's tricorder and Mother's algorithms. But now we're going to have to make some assumptions. Given what the Prince has said and done, I think it's fair to conclude that he's made contact with the Caofsh and is traveling with some of them."

The Admiral let slip a shocked expletive. "Well, that's treason. These 'guest Captains' are nothing but trouble."

"Watch it, Admiral," Marl chided with a laugh. "Hiram is waving at my frantically about this being recorded into the logs."

"Good for him. But let's look on the bright side, maybe this incident will be the end of using our service as a dumping ground for troubled nobles. I'm looking at the summary of the recordings you've sent. It's a free-fire zone down at that site, isn't it."

"Yes, sir."

"Xin, what's your safety assessment."

"In two minutes, I'll advise that we either cleanse the combatants or leave."

"Hmm, we'll follow your assessment. We've got the latest satellites with millimeter cameras scouring all the alien sites nearby. Their main settlement is deserted. Perhaps they're all on-site with you to scrounge for the stuff. From the dust that's into everything it seems the site has been vacated for weeks. Whoops, look at the radiation; it seems they let their main power plant on this continent melt down."

"We haven't detected a lot of radiation here yet, sir."

"You won't easily detect it in subtime. No, this is a mess. Risk Management is ordering your two sleds and all the suits scrapped when you return."

Marl looked at Eisberg, who winked at her. Beside him, Hiram threw his hand up in a gesture of dismay.

"Yes, sir. So, you think it's a bad one, Admiral."

"Maybe the worst I've seen, Lieutenant. AI's not yet got a perfect translation of their language locked down, but we're picking up a chatter of fighting in several settlements across the planet. I've seen enough. The Caofsh are obviously in a period of rapid development. If that Prince sells them our tech we'll have a real problem on our hands. I'm authorizing all means necessary to contain the situation. I'm sending down all three of my teams, heavy arms, heavy ships. I'm calling in assistance, as well."

"Thank you, sir."

"Which do you want, to clean up at the site, or to chase down this Prince?"

"Our automated machines are already employed, but we're not equipped for this degree of firefight."

"Understood. Lieutenant Xin, you're in agreement?"

"I think we could possibly take these Caofsh, given our advantages. But we're already planet-side and can catch the Prince before his vehicle lands."

"And you're sure he's on that jet?"

Xin looked at Eisberg, who took his cue. "Not entirely. This site is a hive of activity. I think there is evidence that several jets and possibly a light spacecraft equal in size to Virga have been here, today."

"And where is this spacecraft?"

"Satellites haven't picked it up. I'm not sure why."

"Are the aliens capable of obscuring such a craft."