Infinity's End: Books 4-6, page 4
“I understand that. But you’re overlooking one fact, Inspector: Robeaux is only partly responsible. Should we bring the other party who helped build and launch this weapon before this commission?” Dix asked, running his hand back over the smooth skin behind his ear. Cas didn’t think a man could have a more clean-shaven head. It was as smooth as a ball of ice. It was such a strange thing to think of while he was being interrogated, but he couldn’t help but focus on it.
Gill sat back down without another word. Dix motioned to the woman on the other side of him from Admiral Sanghvi. She was Yax-Inax, like Tempest’s Doctor Xax, though she was known as one of the most influential faces in the Coalition. Zyrr Phax was the face of the Coalition’s state-controlled info programs, often keeping citizens informed about how the Coalition improved their lives as well as reporting news and events that had happened across the Coalition. All of it approved and ratified by the government first. People loved her though Cas had never actually seen her info programs. But from what he understood her popularity had given her a strong voice in certain matters and it had obviously been enough to allow her to attend this hearing.
“I think we need to focus on the positives here,” Phax said. “Tempest has gained a powerful new engine, one that would not exist had Mr. Robeaux not worked with our new Sil friend. This has given the Coalition an advantage into this new threat we did not have before. I say we reserve judgment until Mr. Robeaux proves his worth. The loss of two civilizations is terrible, yes. But in the grander scheme of things, if it ends up saving the Coalition, won’t that be worth it?”
“You can’t be serious,” Gill said, standing again. “Why is she even here? She has no authority over these matters. Robeaux broke the law. He’s a Coalition citizen. He should be imprisoned. Again.”
“And what of the threat from Consul Zenfor?” Dix asked, remaining calm. “She’s informed us if he is removed from Tempest she and her colleague on Eight will halt all work to assist us.” He turned to Sanghvi. “Has the Sil on your station communicated that to you as well?”
Sanghvi sighed. “She has.”
“Is this who we are? Anyone can do anything they want as long as we don’t lose our precious alliances?” Gill smashed her own table with her hand. Cas caught the spittle flying from her mouth and was glad none of them were in the same room.
“Inspector, calm down,” Dix replied. “In this case I have to agree with Phax. Our temporary alliance with the Sil is too important to jeopardize. Despite the seriousness of the act we simply can’t allow this to interfere with the larger mission.”
Gill scoffed, taking her seat again and crossing her arms. “Why not just let him commit genocide while we’re at it? Or better yet, murder someone right in front of us? Since all of us have blood on our hands now anyway.”
Dix turned to Cas, his face stern. “You realize we take this very seriously.”
Cas steeled himself. Were they suggesting he didn’t? “So do I, Admiral. It wasn’t something we decided on lightly. But if we’re to face this Andromeda it doesn’t make sense for the only ship who can reach them before they cross our borders to be destroyed with the loss of all hands. That creature had already consumed two other Coalition ships. If we hadn’t done something, it would have continued.” He didn’t need to mention the sense of vindication he felt as that fucking thing exploded, knowing it had killed his friends.
Dix sat back, taking a deep breath. “For the time being you’ll stay on Tempest. Once we know more about this threat and how the Sil can help us, then we’ll take further steps to determine the appropriate punishment. Until then, this will stay under wraps.” He glanced at Phax, who nodded in response, her six eyes blinking in unison.
“We’ll make sure everyone knows to avoid the area. We’ll say it was an environmental accident of sorts, my people can come up with something plausible,” she replied.
Cas almost shook his head in disbelief. He’d been right. All this time he’d been right about the corruption in the Coalition and how it seeped to the very core. And now he was witnessing it first-hand. He was benefiting from it. And none of it sat right with him, but what was he going to do? Argue he should be thrown in jail? Say that he actually agreed with Gill? He watched her carefully as she shook her head at the scene. Admiral Sanghvi had averted his eyes.
“Clerk,” Dix said and the person who’d asked Cas his name glanced up from taking notes. “Make sure all records of this meeting are appropriately removed.”
“Yes, sir,” the clerk replied, as if this was something he’d done a hundred times before.
Dix turned back to Cas. “You’re getting a pass. For now. If we weren’t dealing with this crisis you’d be in a cell for the rest of your natural life. But if you betray the Coalition in any way, or we find out you’ve been working with the Sil to undermine us, I won’t hesitate to use the full force of the Coalition Navy to come after you. I don’t care if you’re an officer or not. Do you understand me?”
“I do,” Cas replied, keeping his voice even.
“This hearing is adjourned. Safe journeys,” Dix replied. Cas caught Gill and Phax staring at him as all the screens shut down at once. Strangely, it wasn’t the worst interrogation he’d ever been a part of. Evie had been right. Though he wasn’t sure if she knew why.
Chapter Six
Evie hoped she wasn’t making a mistake by asking Cas down to the planet with her. As she sat in the shuttle’s cockpit going over the pre-flight sequence, she couldn’t help but think she should take off and leave him behind, deal with this herself. But that was her animal brain talking. The one who wanted her to run away from everything and she wasn’t going to start listening to it now; she’d spent too much of her life ignoring it. She wanted to get this over with already. How long could that inquiry take?
Evie tapped her personal comm. “Zaal, can you locate Cas for me?”
“Of course, Commander. He’s currently headed toward Bay One, he seems to be running.”
She sighed. “Thanks, Diazal out.” Just as she cut the comm Cas appeared in the door frame of the Bay, scanning the line of shuttles. She waved through the window and he nodded in appreciation, jogging around the side.
“Sorry,” he said as soon as he entered. “I—”
She turned to see him frozen at the entrance, having not taken a step over the threshold yet. He had a look of terror painted across his face and was staring not at her but past her. She watched him for a moment until it clicked. She stood and approached him. “Cas, it’s okay. This has nothing to do with the last mission.”
“I know,” he said, and beads of perspiration had formed on his forehead underneath his messy brown hair. “It’s just…the last time I was—”
“I know.” She took him by the arm. He’d watched the other shuttle being consumed from the cockpit of a shuttle just like this one. It wasn’t the same shuttle, but they all looked alike, so it didn’t really matter. Maybe this really had been a bad idea. Evie led him in the shuttle until she was sure he wouldn’t faint.
“Sorry,” he said, stepping back. “I’m just…I haven’t been—” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then a long exhale. His eyes snapped open again. “I’m fine. Just a little freak-out.”
“You sure? You don’t have to come,” she said.
He shook his head. “No, I’m fine.” He took the co-pilot’s seat, running through the checklist. Evie really hoped bringing him along hadn’t been a mistake.
“How was the inquiry?” she asked, hoping to take his mind off being back in the shuttle.
“You were right. Everything is fine.”
“I knew it would be.” She smirked. While technically against the law, the use of the weapon in that scenario had been justified and the Coalition knew it. They wouldn’t imprison him for something that saved lives. And they wouldn’t risk losing the precarious support of the Sil because of it.
She took her own seat again and the door behind them closed, sealing the shuttle off. She noticed he jumped slightly as it did. He was still taking deep, measured breaths, trying to look normal. “We could go get something from Xax. I’m sure she’s got something for anxiety.”
He shook his head. “I was just there explaining to Box why he couldn’t come on the ‘field trip’ as he put it.”
“You didn’t—”
“I didn’t say anything about your father. He thinks we’re going down to talk to some dignitary or something. I made it up.” He gave her a small smile.
“Thank you. I don’t need the ship knowing my business. And if Box knows…”
“If Box knows and you forget to tell him not to say anything, the entire ship would know within an hour,” Cas said. “Trust me, I’ve made that mistake before. He’s great at keeping secrets as long as you specifically make the request. Otherwise it’s a free-for-all. I think those net dramas convinced him gossip was the currency of our time.”
She grinned. “Maybe we should have brought him, for some in-flight entertainment.”
Cas relaxed his shoulders. “It’d be about the only thing he’d be good at. You wouldn’t believe how many dinners I’ve had to sit through where nothing but genitalia was the subject of choice.”
“Oh no,” she said.
“Now that he’s learned about all the Coalition species, he wants to start crossbreeding experiments. Don’t be surprised when we get back if he asks you to mate with crewman Unak or Zaal.”
Heat rose in her cheeks. “Yeah, well. He’s going to be waiting a while on that one.” She finished all the pre-checks. “Ready?” He nodded. She noticed he’d tensed up again. “Here we go.”
The shuttle lifted off the Bay floor and swung to the left easily, the controls under her hands responding perfectly. She maneuvered the shuttle out of the Bay into open space, where the blue and green planet of Cypaxia stretched out before them. As they shot toward the planet Evie turned on the rear sensors to get a view of Tempest. She hadn’t seen its exterior in a while and was surprised there wasn’t more damage from the creature. Though as they pulled further away, she caught glimpse of some of the repair tugs approaching from Tempest’s aft. They’d help Sesster find and repair any further damage before they resumed on their way.
She returned her attention to the front as Cypaxia’s star, Rrethal came into view. It was a Class F White Star, further from Cypaxia than Horus was to Earth. But because it was a hotter star, the extra distance didn’t make the planet any colder; if anything Cypaxia was slightly warmer than Earth. Most of the planet maintained a moderate temperature which made it great for a lot of the mammalian-based species of the Coalition. Hence why there were so many resorts and retirement activities on the planet. Rrethal seemed to be rising over the planet as they came in closer, her bright rays reflecting off the clouds in the planet’s atmosphere, drawing long shadows across the planet’s oceans and land masses.
Evie ventured a glance at Cas. He didn’t seem to be in as dire straits as he’d been when they took off, perhaps coming back down to a planet would be good for him. “When was the last time you were planetside?” she asked.
“The Elongorium, on Cloistria,” he said. “But technically I never landed on the planet. Just the tower itself.”
She tsked. “Then this will be a welcome relief. Isn’t Cloistria under constant inclement weather?”
“Yeah. The tower is the only thing that’s tall enough to penetrate the clouds. Everything else below never sees an end to the rain.”
“Sounds depressing,” she replied.
“It’s not the nicest planet and to be honest I’ll be happy to never go back. It was a regular stop on my jobs.”
She pushed the throttle down as the shuttle hit the atmosphere, creating a white-hot glow on the edges of the windows. The view of the stars was replaced by a light blue she found pleasing.
“So what’s the deal down here?” he asked.
She glanced over. “What do you mean?”
“Why’d you want me to come along? I assume it isn’t for protection.”
She laughed aloud. “No, it isn’t protection.” She pursed her lips at him. “The situation with my father is…not great.”
“Then you definitely picked the right traveling companion. Do we want to start making comparisons?”
“Let’s not. He’s sick and has been for a while. It’s some degenerative brain disease that apparently no one has seen before, so when he dies from it, it will probably be named after him. Truth be told I’ve been putting off this visit for a while. I should have been here more often—I’m the only family he has.”
“Really? So, was he the one who gave you the sword?” Cas asked. The shuttle had passed through the upper atmosphere and slowed enough so it was no longer a fireball. Evie pitched down and guided the shuttle through the atmosphere to the northern continent, just above the planet’s equator.
“Technically that came from my grandmother. His mother. He doesn’t know I have it.”
“And she’s…?”
“Dead. Along with my grandfather. I still have aunts, uncles, and cousins, but Dad let them know a long time ago to never come around. He made damn sure of it. I haven’t even met most of them.”
“That seems strange.”
She took a deep breath. “He’s a strange man. After a while he wouldn’t even let his parents come around anymore. They died not long after I got into the academy.”
“I’m sorry,” Cas said. “What about your mother?”
She averted her eyes. “I don’t know anything about her.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. You must know something, even if she’s not around anymore.” She shook her head. “Not even her name? How is that possible? What about the records, and the DNA—”
“Trust me, I’ve been down that road many times before.” Evie cut him off. “The only person who knows anything about her is at this moment losing his mind and on the verge of death.”
“Do you think he’ll tell you anything about her before—you know?”
She turned the ship to the right as a few tall buildings came into view. They were scattered over the landscape, one every couple of kilometers or so, perched at the edge of either the ocean or the large lakes that dotted the landscape. Evie maneuvered around all of them, pressing forward. “I don’t know. I doubt it.”
“Is that why you wanted me along?” Cas asked. “To help you find out?”
“I asked you here because if I try to go by myself I’m afraid I’ll lose my nerve. And I doubt I’ll ever be coming back to this planet, especially with the mission we have ahead of us. I need—I need to make things right between us. No matter what it takes.”
“But if he’s losing his mind…”
“Yeah…I know. There it is.”
Out beyond the rest of the tall buildings on the shore to another one of the planet’s oceans was a wide building unlike the others they’d passed on the way in. It covered about two kilometers of the shore, set back from where the ocean met the land on sparkling white beaches. It was tan, nestled in a thick crop of trees. Off to the left were landing pads for ships and shuttles. Evie brought the shuttle over to the closest pad and set it down, then shut down all the processes. She turned to Cas.
“I don’t know how this is going to go, but I need to know I can count on you if I need you.”
He nodded. “You can count on me.”
She stood. “Then let’s get this over with.”
Chapter Seven
Zenfor stood in the weapons lab, staring at the four screens in front of her. Originally there had only been one, but she’d brought the other three in to augment her work. Coalition screens were so small and reprogramming them to take Sil glyphs had taken some time, but in the long run it was saving her a lot of repetition. In the few days since they’d left the nebula and the creature behind, Zenfor had already managed to upgrade Tempest’s shield grid. She could have done it at any time in fact, but the problem was it required proprietary Sil technology; something she’d forbidden herself from using while accompanying these Coalition species on their mission.
But the creature had changed all that.
If she hadn’t helped them and used the Sil weapon, then there was no way Tempest would have survived. Some Sil would have said she should have gone down with the ship, that it was her decision to accompany them and she assumed the risks. Her death would have served the Sil no purpose. And if she was willing to break the rule once she might as well keep going. These Coalition species weren’t nearly as advanced as her own, and she was surprised they’d survived and even thrived as long as they had without help or intervention. How had a neighboring species not conquered them yet? The Sil could, had they wanted, but the truth was they had no interest. Lesser species could provide no gain.
Zenfor contemplated what sort of future their two cultures would have now that technology was being shared. She hadn’t yet informed Mil’less back on Starbase Eight. In fact, she hadn’t informed anyone of importance, including the Sil Sanctuary. It had been a judgment call on her part due to the fact the Sanctuary couldn’t make their own decision. And while yes, she was given broad authority in instances when the Sanctuary couldn’t make up their minds, she doubted it extended this far. That was, unless Mil’less had come to the same conclusion. Two of them together presenting united evidence would make a stronger case for relaxing the rules.
She turned to the nearest comm unit. “Zenfor requesting access to contact Starbase Eight,” she said into the device.
“Cleared, Consul,” the Untuburu operations officer replied.
Zenfor sent the call through the appropriate channel, aware they might be monitoring her transmissions. She didn’t care, there was nothing in them she needed to hide. If there were, she’d just create a back channel they couldn’t trace.
