‘I hardly need to say the probability of that being true is vanishingly small,’ added Leveque.
‘They’re arresting Fian to stop the ceremony!’ I looked anxiously at General Torrek. ‘You can’t let that happen, sir. People have already tried to kill us, so there’s no knowing what they’d do to Fian!’
‘I’m not handing one of my officers over to suffer purely coincidental injury or death,’ said General Torrek. ‘What are our options here, Mason?’
General Torrek’s use of Leveque’s first name signalled he was shifting the conversation from formal to relaxed style. Leveque automatically responded by using first names himself, but his sentences stayed as complex as ever.
‘We can use Alien Contact powers to protect the safety of one of our key personnel, but refusing to allow Fian to be questioned could be viewed as an admission of his guilt.’
‘I have to go then,’ said Fian.
‘I’m not letting you do this,’ I said.
‘If I don’t, this crime unit will claim I’m guilty of crimes against humanity. They’ll say you knew about it, Jarra. After that, they just have to remind everyone about Gymir to destroy any chance of the Military getting new planets for the Handicapped.’
General Torrek frowned. ‘If I must send one of my officers into the chimera’s den, then he’s not going unprotected. Mason, I want you and a Military Security team to go with Fian.’
‘Unfortunately, that may be exactly what our enemies want us to do,’ said Leveque. ‘Jarra obviously can’t go with us to Beta sector, and we can’t adequately protect both her and Fian at two different locations without involving new personnel.’
‘Why is that a problem?’ asked Fian.
Leveque sighed. ‘Analysis of the explosive device at your dig site dome indicates some components came from Military sources, and a 96 per cent probability they came from Military Base 79 Zulu itself.’
‘What he means,’ said Stone bitterly, ‘is there’s an enemy in Zulu base. In my base! Your bodyguard and the four other Military Security officers assigned to protect you can’t be involved, or you’d already be dead, but everyone else is suspect.’
It took me a moment to absorb that, and work out what it meant. I wanted the people we trusted to concentrate on protecting Fian. He’d want them to concentrate on protecting me. We needed another answer here, because our enemies would just attack whichever of us was most vulnerable.
‘This crime unit will drag out their questioning to make sure Fian isn’t back for the ceremony,’ said Drago. ‘I’d better warn clan council.’
He moved away and started talking rapidly into his lookup. I buried my face in my hands, thinking frantically. Fian had to go to Beta sector, which meant I had to get everyone to go with him, but they’d never leave me alone and unprotected unless …
‘Which officers are least likely to be a threat?’ asked General Torrek.
‘Drago’s team have had extensive contact with Jarra without any problems and should be trustworthy,’ said Leveque. ‘However, fighter pilots would be an inadequate substitute for trained bodyguards.’
I lifted my head. ‘There’s a much better answer. Everyone protects Fian. Earth is my planet and I know more about it than any off-worlder. I’ll go and hide. If the enemy can’t find me then they can’t hurt me.’
‘You have a specific place in mind?’ asked Leveque.
I didn’t but … Yes, I did! ‘There’s a place no one else knows exists. No one at all. It’s not mentioned in any records, I discovered it totally by accident, and I never told anyone.’
Nia Stone looked thoughtfully at me. ‘Jarra’s right that no one can harm her if they can’t find her, and she’s demonstrated her specialist knowledge of Earth before.’
Fian stared at her. ‘You surely aren’t considering Jarra’s plan?’
‘Our existing tactics for protecting you two haven’t worked that well,’ said Stone.
‘But it’s suicidal!’ said Fian.
‘No it isn’t,’ I said. ‘You walking into an enemy trap is suicidal.’
Fian turned to General Torrek. ‘You can’t let Jarra go off alone!’
General Torrek frowned. ‘I don’t like the idea, but … Do we have any other options, Mason?’
‘This course of action does have a degree of risk,’ said Leveque, ‘but a substantially lower one than either inadequately guarding two targets at locations known to the enemy, or including suspect personnel.’
He paused for a moment. ‘Regarded purely tactically, our best option would be to protect Jarra and send Fian for questioning without any defence. I estimate an 89 per cent probability he would suffer fatal injuries, generating a massive wave of public sympathy that would allow us to achieve the changes to the Planet First selection criteria.’
My face must have shown him exactly what I was thinking, because he smiled at me. ‘Please don’t attempt to murder me, Jarra. It’s my job to point out all viable courses of action, even those I would personally regret taking.’
‘I don’t sacrifice my officers like pieces in a game of chess.’ General Torrek swapped back to Military formal manner for a moment. ‘We’ll follow your plan, Commander Tell Morrath.’
‘I strongly object, sir,’ said Fian.
‘Your objection is noted, Major,’ said General Torrek, ‘but I’ve made a command decision and you must accept it.’
Fian gave me a deeply frustrated look. ‘At least take Raven with you.’
‘No. I can’t vanish if I’m dragging round an Adonis Knight.’
Drago came back to join us. ‘Clan council just hit orbital levels of fury. Skunk juice thrown at a daughter of our house, insults painted on our clan hall, and now this! Clan council want me to accompany Fian. Under Beta sector law, he has the right to have a representative of his clan present to advise him during questioning.’
‘I’m not actually a clan member yet,’ said Fian.
Drago laughed. ‘Our clan has publicly declared it intends to adopt you, Fian. Betan law recognizes your right to our protection under Fidelis.’
‘Has clan council decided on a new date for the ceremony, Drago?’ asked General Torrek.
‘They want to keep the delay to a minimum,’ said Drago. ‘Will another week be enough time?’
General Torrek nodded. ‘If the crime unit haven’t finished their questioning by then, I can call a halt on the grounds they’re disrupting the Alien Contact programme. Nobody will believe it takes more than a few days to prove innocence or guilt.’
‘Good,’ said Drago. ‘Clan council said to warn you they’re changing the arrangements so we’ll need a bigger hall for the ceremony.’
‘Bigger?’ I asked. ‘Why?’
Drago grinned at me. ‘I told you clan council were furious. We aren’t just making a vid now. We’re going to have a live link of the ceremony for the newzies, and we’re inviting the Fifty!’
Leveque smiled. ‘Excellent tactics. I was concerned about a possible attack on the actual ceremony, but there’s minimal risk of anyone resorting to violence when the banners of Beta sector are present.’
I didn’t understand a word of this. ‘The Fifty? Banners?’
‘It’s traditional to invite representatives of the fifty alliances headed by the clans of the gentes maiores to witness major events such as alliance mergers,’ said Drago. ‘They can also be invited to witness private clan ceremonies in exceptional circumstances, and clan council have decided this is exceptional. Custom dictates the Fifty can’t refuse the invitation of a fellow clan of the gentes maiores, so they’ll all send representatives.’
He laughed. ‘There’ll be a lot of urgent conferences about who they pick to represent them, whether to flatter us by sending a member of the head clan, or insult us by sending someone from the lowliest ranked clan in the alliance. I expect most will play safe and choose a representative from the middle ranks, but whoever they send will be bearing the banner of their alliance.’
I was
still trying to understand this. ‘And that means no one will attack the ceremony?’
Drago nodded. ‘Even another attempt to delay the ceremony would show disrespect to the Fifty and make the alliances declare support for us, but an actual physical attack when the banner bearers were present … It would be an act of war against every clan in Beta sector, because they’re all either a member of one of those alliances or in one of their factions.’
I was grazzed. I’d thought joining my clan would be simple, but the situation kept spiralling further and further out of control.
‘Are we allowed to know details of your planned hiding place, Jarra?’ asked Colonel Leveque.
‘It’s best if nobody knows, sir.’ I took off my Military lookup and my gun, and handed them to him. ‘I can’t take these with me. I won’t take any supplies with me either. That way the enemy can’t possibly get any clues about my plans, or plant any tracking devices on me.’
General Torrek frowned. ‘I’m not happy about you being unarmed and out of contact.’
‘Military lookups and guns have built-in tracking devices and remote disabling as an anti-theft measure,’ I said. ‘If there’s a spy in this base, they could locate me, send people after me, and deactivate my gun remotely so I was a helpless target.’
‘Only Command Support or Military Security officers would have the necessary authorizations for that,’ said Leveque, ‘but that’s still a significant number of people.’
General Torrek sighed. ‘Very well.’
‘I want to portal out of the base to a random civilian portal,’ I said, ‘and use that to portal on to an unknown destination. I’m already flagged as having automatic Military pre-empt status, so I’ll be able to portal anywhere on Earth.’
‘What about the billing system, Jarra?’ asked Fian. ‘Civilian portals automatically send updates to Portal Network Administration for billing and traffic monitoring. If someone accesses the records for your genetic code …’
‘We can get those records deleted,’ said Colonel Leveque.
Fian shook his head. ‘If someone’s continually monitoring the system for Jarra’s genetic code, watching for her movements, they’d see them before they’re deleted.’
‘What happens when a portal stays open for multiple travellers?’ asked Drago. ‘Does it send information for each person?’
‘The more people travelling together to a destination, the cheaper the portal rate,’ said Fian, ‘so the portal sends information on everyone when it deactivates.’
Drago grinned. ‘Easy then. We set the portal for multiple travellers, Jarra goes through, and then we destroy the portal while it’s still active.’
‘Destroy a portal?’ I gulped. ‘Portals are expensive.’
‘Portal Network Administration can bill the Alien Contact programme for a new one,’ said General Torrek.
‘We’ll make a statement on Earth Rolling News when it’s safe for you to return, Jarra,’ said Leveque, ‘and I’ll set up a special portal code to bring you directly to where we’re protecting Fian. We can use the standard base portal code with some extra characters. What would you find easy to remember?’
I thought for a second. ‘Apollo.’
‘I’m surprised a planet in Alpha sector has significance for you,’ said Leveque.
I laughed. ‘I wasn’t thinking of the planet, but the ancient space programme.’
15
We stood by a civilian portal on a deserted beach. I dialled my destination code, the portal established, and I carefully locked it open for multiple traffic.
‘Be careful,’ said Fian. ‘If you get yourself killed, I’m going to strangle you!’
I laughed. I wanted to say something hopelessly soppy, but I was too aware of Drago and Raven standing next to us, holding guns set to maximum heat setting. ‘You be careful too.’
I stepped through the portal, and turned to look back at it. For thirty seconds it glimmered steadily, then abruptly flickered and cut out. Drago and Raven had turned the transmitting portal into molten metal. I was on my own now.
Over to my left was a large dome, with a faded sign that brought back an avalanche of old memories. ‘Home E161/8822.’ I’d lived here as a little kid with Issette, Keon, Maeth, Ross, and the others. Beyond it were the domes of Homes E161/8823 and E161/8824, our traditional friends and rivals.
According to the rigid Home schedule, the kids and staff should be inside for dance class, but I couldn’t risk standing around in plain sight. I ran towards the bushes growing against the dome wall, found the tunnel shaped path through them was still there, and crawled along it on my hands and knees. I’d grown since my days in Home, so it was a tight squeeze and twigs caught in my hair.
The spy at Zulu base would soon discover I was missing, and my enemies would start hunting for me. My Nursery, Home and Next Step were listed on my public record, so I had to move on quickly. I daren’t use a portal again, but there were older ways to travel.
When I reached the hollow in the middle of the rhododendrons, I found what I was looking for. Every Home had its rebels who would hide out in places like this to dodge scheduled activities. Two kids of about eight years old glared at me from the shadows, instinctively aggressive at the sight of an adult intruder, then their faces changed to be utterly grazzed.
‘Jarra Tell Morrath!’ They chorused in unison.
The boy and girl were dressed in familiar dark brown tops and trousers, almost identical to the ones I’d worn myself years ago. I’d hated the way we were all dressed alike, and poor Issette had pined for the colourful and frivolous clothes the children in vids wore, counting down the days until she’d reach Next Step and have an allowance to buy her own outfits.
I fought off the moment of nostalgia, and concentrated on the present. ‘I need your help. You know some people want to hurt me?’
‘We saw it on Earth Rolling News.’ The girl’s voice was fierce. ‘The stinking exos want to stop you joining your clan. They threw skunk juice at you and blew you up. Now they’ve arrested Fian!’
I nodded. ‘I’m hiding until Fian gets back. You mustn’t tell anyone you’ve seen me until after that, not even the other kids.’
‘You can trust us,’ said the boy. ‘Everyone knows you’re a 22. The newzies came and made vids of us, not just Earth Rolling News but Beta Sector Daily too! The 23s and 24s were so sick about it.’
I gave a startled giggle, picturing the 22s showing off in front of the vid bees. It would become part of Home E161/8822 legend, told to every new arrival, how Jarra Tell Morrath had lived here and the newzies had come to make vids.
The girl nodded eagerly. ‘We’d never give you away. We’re not just 22s, we’re Betan as well.’
There was a longing note in her voice that was painfully revealing. Kids in Home spent a lot of time daydreaming about their unknown parents, and declaring they were from one sector or another. In my day, no one ever claimed to be Betan, but this girl had been watching the reports about me on Earth Rolling News. When I was presented to my Betan clan, how many Earth kids would be watching the vid coverage and dreaming it would happen to them? For some of them at least, that dream might one day become reality.
‘True to 22,’ the two of them said in ritual unison.
‘True to 22,’ I repeated the childhood oath in a nardle emotional voice. It was a promise that I wouldn’t let them down. Nothing would stop me getting to that ceremony and changing their future for the better.
If I was going to keep that promise, I needed to be practical now. ‘What are your names?’
‘I’m Keon,’ said the boy.
‘I’m Sadia,’ said the girl.
Another Keon, I thought, his name chosen from Hospital Earth’s approved list. ‘Keon, Sadia, is flicker beacon 46 still wired?’
Sadia shook her head. ‘They found that when some nardle forgot to put the mesh back and rabbits got in. We’ve wired 48 now.’
‘Wonderful. I’ll need to get to 48 without bein
g seen. A lookup would be useful too. Do they still have a pile of old ones in stores?’
‘Yes,’ said Sadia. ‘Follow us.’
I crawled through the bushes after the two of them, feeling like I was eight years old again myself.
‘You wait here!’ ordered Sadia as we reached the edge of the bushes. ‘Keon will check flicker beacon 48 is clear, and I’ll steal a lookup.’
I obediently waited. It seemed like fifteen minutes, but was probably only five, before the two of them arrived back. Sadia handed me a battered lookup.
‘I checked it works,’ she said.
‘Thanks, this is absolutely perfect.’
‘Flicker beacon 48 looks clear,’ said Keon, ‘and no one’s at the brook, but if someone does show up don’t frizz. Even the 23s and 24s know better than to give you away.’
Frizz was a new word to me, but the kids in Home were always lightning fast at copying the latest slang used by children in off-world vids. ‘Sadia, Keon, thanks again. When this is over, I’ll tell the newzies how you helped me.’
I stood up, sprinted across an area of open lawn, and dropped to my knees next to flicker beacon 48. The smooth metal column curved high up into the air, with the settlement force fence glittering on either side. This was a small settlement with only a few hundred houses, a shopping square, a Nursery unit, and a cluster of Home domes foolishly located right next to the force fence. Naturally, the kids had added a discreet circle of wire to create a hole in the field.
I lifted aside the sheet of wire mesh that covered the hole, wriggled through, and carefully pulled the mesh back into place again before running on into the woods ahead. Some parts of Earth, like the rainforest around Eden, were lethally dangerous, but most settlements were in special safe zones protected by animal control barriers from creatures like wolves and sabre cats. I was in Earth Europe safe zone now.