Red Shift: The Odds (Censored version)
Chapter 19
Osiris HQ was all but empty. Ox had sent everyone home for the afternoon. They had a huge amount of work to do, but he was told categorically by the Secretary they were on lockdown for the next six hours. There were only two people remaining on the floor, and right now neither of them wanted to be there.
Ox and Sophie were sitting at the board table in the secure debrief room. There were three holos at the table, the Secretary of Defence, the Chief of Police and a defence contractor who wasn’t named. Ox was in the middle of trying to explain to the Secretary how they managed to lose their newest recruit and an assault vehicle in the same day, as well as arrive at a destroyed Wing’Tan building ten minutes too late.
“Sir, with all due respect, we were not charged to keep direct tabs on Autohacking groups, and Detective Corten passed all tests set by the ministry; he passed with no cause for concern.”
“Well, Jules, I am concerned.” The Secretary was at the point of yelling. “I’m concerned that you would even mention the ministry in anything to do with this bloody mess, and I’m concerned your super-psych sitting beside you couldn’t pick a traitor that was crawling all over your facility for days!”
Ox tried to contain his rage. He could see this was all being pinned on him, and the way it was going he wouldn’t be seeing daylight for the next 150 years or so, whether he had any control of the events of the last few days or not. He gathered himself and looked to Sophie who gave him a warm smile.
“Gentlemen, there will be plenty of time for a lynching later. Right now I think we can all agree we need to find our missing agent, rogue or not, and the other people associated with the carnage on the roads and destruction of the Wing’Tan facility.”
“I agree. And to help you, Mr Solice will provide you with intel and hardware and be reporting to me daily.”
“Who is Mr Solice and where is he from?”
“He is a suitably experienced contractor. That is all you need to know. This meeting is adjourned.”
The three holos shut down and the room went silent. The bio-lights faded in, and Ox looked to Sophie. “What do you reckon Soph? On a one way trip to the big house if you ask me.”
“I reckon you’re a very talented and decorated soldier. I reckon you’ll get your head around what’s going on. I also reckon we will find Blake, find the answers, and make the Secretary look good in the process, to save our arses.”
The two of them stood and paused for a slight second looking into each other's eyes, before Ox turned to the door. As he walked through, Mr Solice was sitting on the couch at the entry. The heller is fast.
“Mr Solice, how nice of you to join us.” Ox walked over and shook his hand. As he did, he noticed a tattoo of some letters, or something, on his wrist. There wasn’t enough showing for him to pick up the writing, but it was Russian. What the hell were the Russians doing here? “You already know my first name, everyone calls me Ox.”
“I am aware of that Mr Oricks.”
“And your first name?”
“Mr.” There was a silence for a few seconds, neither of them moving their glance away from each other. Sophie stepped in.
“Mr Solice, we’re working toward the same objective here, animosity and unnecessary tension will do nothing for us getting to the bottom of the problem.”
He turned to her, and his cold stare turned in to a warm smile. “Peiter, my name is Peiter, Sophie, and I’m pleased to finally meet you.” He walked over, gently took her hand and held it between his, before gently placing it by her side. “I assure you, I am not here to cause tension. But what you must be aware of, is that we do not know what has happened here. As far as the Secretary is concerned, any of you could be working with Blake.”
“Assuming he’s flipped of course.”
“How long have you know him, Jules?”
“A few days, but I know people, Peiter. There is more going on here than we know.”
“Well, certainly more than I know, so bring me up to speed. I want to know everything you have been doing for the last six months, your targets, your strategy, your end game. I need to know everything.” Ox looked over to Sophie with a slightly concerned look. “If you’re worried about clearance, call the Secretary.”
“It’s not that, before I spill my guts, I want to know who you are.”
“I don’t have to tell you jack. But, I have nothing to hide. Nothing you won’t hack the first chance you get. I am the former Strategic Commander of what used to be the KGB. They officially disbanded a very long time ago, but unofficially we continued black-ops throughout the entire Economic Revolution. We saw the West fall, then the East, and realised your little country was becoming one of the most important economic and political centres of the world. So we started playing for the winning team.”
“You turned on your country?”
“No, we just stopped propping up their allies. Russia was weak, the country didn’t deserve the mantle it claimed. After China took financial control of the continent, it was obvious the status of the country was that of the poor cousin.”
“And now you work for us?”
“No, we work for no one. We have all the money and resources we could possibly need. Think of us as a philanthropic society concerned with the well-being of the greater human race.”
“Well, you sound like the Alphas.”
“The difference is they’re egotistical maniacs. We have control of our emotions. Control of our destiny.”
“Sounds a bit airy-fairy to me, but hey, whatever floats your boat.” Ox looked into his eyes, and let the edges of his mouth raise the slightest bit. “Now, let’s get you up to speed, so you can share your wisdom on what the hell we do next.”
“Do you have vodka?”
“For christ’s sake, this is Aussie, I’d probably get court-marshalled if I didn’t have a drink here. Soph, grab the 42 Below, we’ve got a lot of information to get through.”
Jules and Sophie spent the next three hours outlining the current political and social landscape in the region, who the big hitters were, what the communication channels were. They also discussed their theory on the Alphas and their ambition to political office, probably through creating anarchy and disassembling the current government. They never disclosed everything within the discussion, however. Some things were better to be bartered later, if necessary.
“Do you think they have the resource for such a thing?” said Peiter. He was curious about the whole idea of a group of connected socialites controlling such a strong economy. Even now, it was still the politicians who were the figureheads. Even if they were puppets, the marionette was nothing without them.
“Well, we know they have a lot of connections, mainly through their industrial operations, but they have key appointments in the ports, mining and technology sectors. They may not be there yet, but there is no doubt that they’ve grown bored of playing with street thugs and are getting serious. Staying incognito and using politicians to front them would give them continued anonymity.”
“Tell me more about this Wing’Tan, and how Blake and Whip structured their operation.” Peiter’s conversation was broken by the external comm glowing. Jules looked down, it was a scrambled signal. He hit the receiver on open comm so everyone could hear.
“Jules Oricks.”
“Jules, it’s Blake. Don’t talk, just listen.” Ox put his finger to his mouth to ensure no one else made a sound. “I’m with Jack, the man accused of the assassination, and a techie from Wing’Tan. Jack is innocent of the attack, he was framed. The Wing’Tan techie has defected and helped us get out alive. We’ve been targeted by rogue Fed agents, and associates of Wing’Tan.”
“C’mon Blake, for christ’s sake, get in here, and bring them with you.”
“Can’t do it Ox. There are double agents in the agency and you know it. Hell, it’s half the reason Osiris has no direct involvement with the agency or the force. I think you
’re clean, and I think I can trust you, but I don’t know that. Until I do, I’m off the grid.”
“Everyone is coming for you Blake.”
“Let them. I’m not coming in until we know who set up the assassination, and who wants the Biotronics tech badly enough to murder officials and wage a street war to get the information they need. We’ll be in touch.” The comm went dead. Peiter, Ox and Sophie looked at each other for a few seconds while everything soaked in.
“Of course, he’s probably making this up to cover his arse,” said Sophie, matter-of-factly.
“Probably,” replied Ox.
“Probably?” Peiter sounded concerned. ”Need I remind you that he went rogue, stole a government assault vehicle, and is now associated with wanted felons. How much more probable do you want?”
“I want definite probable.”
“Well, we need them, they’re after the Biotronics tech, I suggest we look in the same places, tell me about it.” Peiter sat back in his chair with his hands clasped.
Jules outlined what they knew about biotronics and the tech that went missing from their lab. He was certain the Wing’Tan were already creating end-use devices but wasn’t sure what they were, as everything seemed to be destroyed in the raid.
As far as Jules knew, there were two techs in Wing'Tan they knew about that were involved in beta-development of the tech a few years back. Their handles were Ping and Loach. Blake had just advised that one of them, being Ping, was with him, but made no mention of Loach, which suggested they parted ways. This could be good news, but not if Loach made connection with the wrong people. They all agreed they should focus on finding Loach, while still maintaining a relationship with Blake, if for nothing other than to try to get close enough to grab him.