The Phoenix Rising. Gary MDiv Caplan
have been called toward a noble cause. May your present percept and form keep the code and hold true to the boundaries.”
“As always, I will try not to overstep my known power,” thought Gar fa’eld. “The Alliance of Worlds is expecting one of the ruling dukes of the Hegemony from Karro., As a Karratin, I was usually punctual, especially since I will be delivering information the Karratins obtained about the Alliance of Worlds’ present dilemma.”
“I believe Kalst will join you eventually as his Cynz percept,” Agronius noted.
“Yes, he is presently occupied elsewhere,” reminded Pharzon.
All three bowed to one another, and with the briefest of mind contact, both Agronius and Pharzon phased away. Gar fa’eld took a deep breath and moved away from the command chamber.
Docking instructions had been relayed to Zeloc, and the ship was beginning docking procedures. “Will you require anything?” inquired Zeloc.
“No, not at this time,” Gar fa’eld responded. “I will gather a few pieces of equipment I will use here. I may send you on a mission, but not for a few days. Zeloc, there is a Betellian starship here and one Estrian starcruiser. You might as well commune with those, if you like, while I am away.”
Before Gar fa’eld headed toward the docking exit, he changed from his more relaxed, one-piece, ship travel suit to his Karratin standard military uniform, embellished with a short, white-and-gold patterned cloak and vest, signifying his status as a Duke of Karro. As he exited the Zeloc, he gathered his belongings, which included several information discs and two multi-purpose devices. Proceeding out from the Zeloc, across the station’s connecting walkway and toward the reception platform, he heard the Karratin anthem and recalled that there was still a ceremonial side of the Alliance of Worlds.
He considered using the gateway system in the Zeloc to enter the station undetected, but there were several political considerations. The Alliance of Worlds’ ceremonial side was something that he had not experienced often, not for over twenty cycles now. It was not something he looked forward to and it would likely be a few hours before he could begin his expected duties.
CHAPTER 5
The Source of the Problem
The entire meeting and conference facility had been sensor-scanned three times by building security before the support crews were allowed inside. Then there were another three separate sweeps with handheld scanners, in addition to area sweeps done by the main internal sensor system in security command. Even the Betellians made a sensor sweep, as one of their senior officers was to give a presentation during the meeting. A pair of large, two-meter-tall battle droids set in guard mode was added to security measures. Lord Gar fa’eld had been appointed the acting chief of security and logistics and was not taking chances. Crew members and support staff noted his personal inspection of the meeting facility area and the surrounding rooms. All told, about one hundred people were going to be personally present; a few not physically present were to receive the presentation portion coded as an alpha platinum alert.
The reason for the high security was that there had been several murders within Star One. At first, these deaths appeared accidental or due to natural causes, but they were later determined to be intentional assassinations. Several ranking officers and other important people died this way, until the security personnel caught on. Eventually, outright sabotage and terrorism began occurring, taking the lives of three of the top security officials, as well as several fleet officers.
This type of sabotage attack was not typical of past enemy strikes against the Alliance of Worlds. Espionage was still a possibility, but nonaligned or hostile groups, such as the Meiosians, usually did not employ such underhanded tactics. It was not typical of the Varlon’s past actions either, as they had the military and technological force to strike directly. The technology used by these saboteurs and assassins was beyond the Alliance of Worlds’ standard technology. It seemed that most of the saboteurs were able to circumvent standard surveillance systems, even those that relied on visual identification, and fool or redirect the scanning devices, including masking or altering their biometric information.
Information transfer and messaging had also been compromised; Vice Admiral N’qert had been in the process of recoding transmissions and had leads about who might be behind all this, when he himself was assassinated. As a result, the security command was in disarray, and the Alliance Governing Council sought help from its founding members and close affiliates.
There were several other problems as well: A computer virus neutralized a section of the main computer core before it was eliminated. Many of the light-absorbing, hexagonal nanocrystals placed on the solar power panels situated on various sections of the vast hull of Star One had been compromised by a more advanced nano-technology similar to the Varlon’s technology. Somehow, small quantities of the Varlon nanobots had been released to damage the nanocrystals of the auxiliary solar power–gathering panels. Someone was needed to help with the various problems—someone who had skills beyond just security and logistics.
The council also wanted someone who had had experience as an administrator at Star One in the past. Eventually, the Alliance of Worlds governing council committee settled on a noble member of the Karratin Hegemony whose reputation was beyond reproach. They settled on Gar’fa eld, since he had the relevant experience, having been the chair and professor of the Council Academy Sciences Branch. He also possessed experience in the military; he was a retired vice admiral in the Karratin Defense Force and, more recently, was an ambassador for the Karratins for more than two decades.
Perhaps almost as importantly, Gar’fa eld was known for being generally helpful, though not all Karratins were known to be interested in assisting the less technologically advanced civilizations.
The Karratins were descended from some alternate, primate-like species from their own home world; however, s a species, they were generally more genetically advanced or evolved than most of the members of the Alliance of worlds. Essentially, the Karratins possessed high mental aptitude as a racial trait. The Karratins resembled humans somewhat, although they had slightly longer, tapered ears and perhaps a hint of green to the skin. Like humans, they possessed head and facial hair.
As a Karratin, Gar’fa eld belonged to one of the most advanced of the space-faring civilizations, and as a result of his racial genetics and technologic cellular regeneration he had, according to record, lived for a few thousand standard years already. Presently he had long sideburns and hair growing down in front of his ears.
During his time as an instructor at the Alliance of Worlds Academy, Gar’fa eld not only taught science and engineering classes but also some classes on psionic disciplines. Over time, many of his students had taken to calling him “Garfield,” the easiest phonetic pronunciation of the versions of his name. He accepted being called Professor Garfield, and it stuck.
The security sweeps and scans done prior to the briefing revealed nothing subversive. The meeting itself was scheduled for a certain time frame, but to throw off potential sabotage, no official times or places were announced, and those who were to attend would be given instructions thirty minutes beforehand.
Lord Garfield would also be presenting information at the Admirals Board meeting this morning, and he arranged that the exact room of the complex was not to be determined until one hour before. Any would-be saboteurs would be thwarted, and to increase protection, there was an independent force field generator borrowed for the meeting from the Betellians, in case someone wanted to crash a cloaked starfighter or transport vessel with explosives into the area.
It was approximately five hours before the Admirals Board as Garfield drew himself into a meditation position. Using several disciplines, he set a mentallic protective barrier and then, let his perceptions expand. His consciousness flew about, wandering from area to area, sensing and scanning.
Just outside the periphery of the headquarters complex, not far from where the Admirals Board meeting would take place, an individual uniformed as an environmental maintenance crewman emerged from an air duct, then quickly exited and replaced the cover. His movements were casual, seemingly normal for someone