Athena Lee Chronicles 8: Infiltration (8 page)

“Now the Cabal has struck again. My granddaughter, Athena, was selected by her government to be the new Ambassador to Mars. Arthur Phillips, the former ambassador seized her. He then put her in a jail cell and attempted to torture her for information. He refused to honor his orders, calling them forgeries. Once again the Cabal tried to influence a world.” Amalie turned and looked some of them in the eyes.

“Athena was freed by Hong Kong special forces working with my house troops. Isabella Phillips and the head of Intelligence at the Embassy were found to be members of the Cabal. This relates to Mars how you may ask? Mrs. Phillips is a Martian. She killed her own husband to protect her secrets. Through interrogation and investigation, two organizations have come to light as recruiting and training centers for the Cabal on Mars. The Foucault Academy and the Round Table Charity organization.” Gasps of shock could be heard through both the assembly screens and the large one on Deimos. “Members of both of those organizations have attempted to flee when arrest warrants were served. We have their databases. They cannot hide for long. In the assembly arrayed before me there are many empty chairs. Those members were either picked up or have fled for their lives. Politics is one thing, treason is something else. Arrests will continue. No one is simply guilty by association. We know who our enemy is. This is Mars, we will abide. Thank you.” The applause was deafening. I could see why Amalie was so well loved here.

Amalie turned the sound down on the screens. Many of the politicians were arguing with each other and ignoring her.

“Primus? The Vid networks are asking for interviews.” Amalie just gave him a look with raised eyebrows. “So, no interviews then.”

“Gaston, did the broadcast go out as planned?”

“Yes, Primus.” He bowed and went out to the outer office.

“Grandmother what broadcast?”

“I decided to see if what we suspect is true. I told Gaston to activate the interstellar communication system and broadcast my speech to every planet. It is powerful enough to reach Earth. If they truly are coming, maybe this will speed them up a bit.”

“I didn’t know that Mars had that capability. How long has it been since you used it?”

“Around a hundred years. It was what we used to communicate with the survivors of the wars on Earth. They learned how to block us so we stopped using it. Even old technology can be useful never forget that Athena.”

We both looked up at the screens. Most of the Assembly had stopped yelling and were now trying to get her attention. I covered my mouth with my hand and faked a cough to hide my laughter. Several of the Assembly members were making faces into the camera or flapping their arms trying to get Amalie’s attention. “Why don’t they just call you?”

“They are like little children sometimes. I bet the thought never crossed their minds to do that. Who said that politics wasn’t fun?” She pressed a button on her console and the sound returned.

“Primus, can you hear us?”

“Of course I can. Have you stopped beating each other up over this and are ready to speak intelligently to me now?”

“Primus why did you not inform us of the upcoming arrests?”

“I expect more out of you Senator Cerin. If I told anyone on the Assembly, we might have lost the ones that are now under arrest. This Cabal organization has very deep pockets and has managed to infiltrate a large portion of our society. They have their own assassins and a vast internal structure that stretches across the galaxy. Several of your fellow Senators were taken into custody this morning. Half are no longer with us. What is being called a terrorist attack happened a few hours ago. Armed men and women attacked the convoy and set it ablaze with incendiary devices. All the prisoners inside were killed. Fortunately only half were aboard the transports. The terrorists killed themselves rather than be captured. So you see why I am loath to inform the Assembly of my every move.”

“Primus, are we in danger?”

“You personally or our planet? You most likely are not unless you’re a Cabal agent?” The woman cringed and tried to hide herself. “Our planet then. We still have a tech edge over most of the galaxy. Our Navy can and will protect us. As will our allies.”

A loud siren began to sound and lights began flashing in Amalie’s office. Across the planet similar alarms were sounding on every military and civil defense outpost. “Oh good. It seems that we were correct. Our new guests have arrived.”

“Primus, what is happening?” All around the room all but a few Senators were looking around confused. “That Senator Cerin is a special alarm. A few of you understand its significance. It’s the Earth alarm. Something has entered our space from that direction. If you have shelters, now would be the time to go to them.” She hit a button on the console cutting communication to all the screens.

“Come along dear heart. Let’s see what Earth has sent us, shall we.” She pulled me into a doorway that was not there a moment ago.

“How many passages does this place have?”

“How many is too many? I will show them to you, eventually. Come along dear.” The hallway was long and except for the light at the end of the tunnel, very dark. The light was a small, well lit room with another door. Amalie opened it and stepped into the Central Command Center for the planet.

“Admiral, report!”

“Primus, good. I see you brought your granddaughter too. Here is what we know. Shortly after your speech the frontier forts all came to life visibly. Small ships were seen leaving them and heading toward Earth. Our long distance scopes have detected an extremely large ship on course for Mars. If I didn’t see it on the scope moving toward us, I would have mistaken it for a station of some sort. It must be the largest ship other than a colony ship ever built.”

“Admiral, our intel showed that the Cabal was a front for the UN. I broadcast my speech using the old interstellar communicator. It seems that we were right. There is no such thing as a coincidence here. They heard us. Where do we stand with our Navy?”

The Admiral smiled. “Our patrol craft are inbound along with five flights of star fighters. The Ghost fleet has been activated and are powering up now. Orbital defenses are manned and ready. Here on the ground, notices have gone out and civil defense networks are locking down. Shields are up and we are locked in as well.”

“Excellent work Admiral. Tell your people that I am proud of them. It is time to see if a century of hard work and planning will now pay off. You may give the order when ready.”

“Ma’am, my entire Naval career has been building to this point in time. I hoped that I would never have to utter these words or that the UN was gone and buried as rumor would have it. Attention all stations. This is an Alpha codeword event. I repeat Alpha codeword. Checkmate is a go. I repeat Checkmate is a go. May the gods go with us.”

Chapter 12

The very young looking Captain's name was Alpha 364. He stared out at the blue and green covered marble and watched as flights of star fighters fought mock skirmishes and patrolled around his ship. The Colossus was the first of its kind. Except for the last batch of colony ships built over a hundred years before, it was the largest ship in space today. The design was similar to that of a space station except this one has teeth. The best that Earth had to offer. It was time to take back what belonged to Earth.

“Sir, message from the Secretary General.” The communications tech was from a lesser line. The Captain barely acknowledged him as he read the message. His own line was the top tier, superior to all others. He frowned as he considered the class system that ruled Earth. Everyone that mattered was a form of clone. Different lines were developed to do certain tasks. Menial work was still done by unaltered humans but who cared about them? His was the superior gene.

“Communications, recall all fighters and support craft. They are to return to Colossus as soon as possible. Inform the Quartermaster to make those lazy sapes work faster! This ship leaves in two hours with or without the that shipment. Tell them I will space any sape that fails to meet his quota.” The Captain walked to his station and sat down. “Navigation. Plot a course to Mars, it is time to begin.”

Earth would be totally unrecognizable to anyone from the past. After the colonization phase was over, a new way of life was adopted on the planet. The colonization plan had been a form of population control from the very beginning. It was a good way to remove anyone who would object and cause trouble. Each continent only had two or three massive cities now. All other cities and towns were destroyed or repurposed. All arable land was now used for food production or resource allocation. Strip mining was back in fashion as the UN sought minerals for ship production. A class system was imposed for those that remained on the planet. Natural humans, those that were not genetically altered or cloned were at the very bottom of the system. Ironically the very people that helped the UN to power were dominated by it. Only clones or those that were Gen Mod ruled now. Everyone else was dross.

Natural humans were called sapes by the majority of the genies. Genie was a derogatory word that could get a sape killed if overheard. The sapes did all the menial jobs on the planet. They picked the crops and took out the trash. One step up from sapes were the gene altered or Gen Mods. Several thousand Gen Mod babies were raised by the Program on Earth to be used as fighters, spies, and pilots. They were granted extended life spans and like the sapes had many uses even today. Initially they were the commanders and the trainers of the first generation of clones. Soon, the clones outnumbered the Gen Mods by a large percentage. Sensing that they were being replaced, many of the Gen Mods attempted to take power and rebelled. That rebellion was savagely suppressed. During the battles that raged across the Earth many were killed. The few Gen Mod survivors left were used as overseers and servants by many of the clone lines. There were over thirty general purpose lines and a few dozen specialties on this ship. The Captain’s line was one of the specialties. His line was designed to provide him with the skills needed for spacecraft flight and hyper-jump survival.

“Captain, all sections have reported in. We are ready to depart.” The communications technician kept his eyes diverted to the floor as was proper when dealing with a higher ranking officer.

“Excellent. Sound the alert and notify command that we are departing.”

Alarms began sounding across the ship as airtight doors were shut and sealed. This ship was constructed in a Venus orbit. This would be only the second time that it would be moved a great distance. Down in the hold several hundred sapes huddled in fear. Many bore scars from beatings or whippings that they received for poor performance. These were what remained of the tens of thousands of sapes that helped build this very ship. They knew the stories, humans had reached out into the stars and left the Earth. Vast colony worlds lay outside the influence of the dreaded UN and its horrors. Many of those present hoped that by leaving with this expedition they might gain an ounce or more of freedom.

Loud sounds like huge doors opening and the whooshing noise of air being sucked out could be heard. The small cargo bay that was their home was suddenly very windy. The eldest sape of the group bowed his head and began to say forbidden religious prayers. Many of the sapes looked up in surprise as the large cargo door opened and they caught their first and last glimpse of the bright blue planet called Earth.

“Sir, the Quartermaster reports that all excess dross has been ejected and all stores are secure.” The Captain only nodded. One less thing to worry about on this trip. You don’t have to feed them if they are not on board.

The Captain studied his orders carefully. According to the background that was sent, a large organization comprised of sapes and first generation Gen Mods were in control of many of the colonies. His job was to make contact and support the takeover of those colonies first. The others would follow once control was established. He smiled to himself. There would be no lack of workers after they made contact. Gen Mods made excellent loaders.

“Navigation, engage the engines and set course for Mars.” Very slowly the massive ship left Earth orbit and headed toward Mars.

Once the ship was in motion Alpha 364 called a meeting of all of his section commanders. The men and women met in one of the many ready rooms available on the ship. The Captain watched as the room filled with Betas, Deltas, Gammas, Epsilons and one Zeta. These were the cream of the crop, Earth's best. There was only one other Alpha on board and he was needed on the bridge. Alphas were rare and in demand.

“Attention! We have left orbit and are en route to Mars. Beta 465, what does intelligence have to say about Mars?”

“Sir, other than the data package which everyone received prior to boarding the ship, we know very little. The Gen Mod organization know as the Cabal sent only sent scant information of their efforts there. We expect to be contacted soon.”