First Admiral 02 The Burning Sun (8 page)

“Sorry to bother you, sir…if you’re busy I can…” Marilla began nervously.

“No, not at all, Marilla,” Sownus beckoned her into his work space.

“I’m sorry to trouble you, sir, but there’s something bothering me about some data I’ve viewed,” Marilla drew a deep breath and approached the huge, harshly-lit work desk that was strewn with reports and data folios.

“What’s on your mind, Marilla?” Sownus said in his usual matter-of-fact way.

Marilla Thapes, as one of the Intelligence Technicians aboard the Aquarius had an access to her senior Officer that very few Junior Grade, or JG, Technicians in other fields enjoyed. Karap Sownus actively encouraged this degree of access to his office, and greater informality, since he believed strict adherence to ranks and structures acted as a barrier to the communication that was so vital to this section.

“You might think this is pretty stupid, sir...” Marilla began stopping at the colossal desk; the three red folios in her clammy, sweaty hand suddenly felt very heavy.

“There’s no such thing as stupid in Intelligence, Marilla; possibly wrong, but never stupid,” Sownus began with a gentle smile, “take a seat and tell me what you think you’ve got.”

Long experience had taught Karap Sownus never to ignore the suspicions of any of his Officers or Technicians. Even the craziest and most outlandish Intelligence Assessments could hold some vital nugget of truth or information. So, dismissing concerns out of hand was not part of Sownus’ normal response. From the side of the huge desk, a large black rectangle emerged and folded out into a high-backed chair.

“Thank you, sir,” Marilla smiled awkwardly and set the folios on the desktop.

At just under one metre fifty, Marilla had to activate the adjustment control lever on the side of the seat to allow her to clamber onto the comfortable chair. As a Thexxian, like Sownus himself, Marilla Thapes had pale olive skin with straight dark hair. Where Sownus kept his hair regulation short, Marilla kept her hair long, as was tradition in her family. And, where Sownus wore the two-piece tunic and trousers uniform that allowed him to conceal his bowed legs, Marilla was happier in the figure-hugging one-piece overall.

“Well, sir,” Marilla began, “I was scanning some of the data from the Bardomil Desk, and I think there’s a possible development that you should be aware of.”

Like most Intelligence organisations, the Universal Alliance divided its operations into what were called ‘Desks’. There were currently twelve desks under the supervision of Karap Sownus, the Bardomil Desk being the largest in terms of people and resources. The Bardomil, as a hostile species, bore closer watching than the others. Some Desks were smaller, with only one Technician to monitor activities. And, some of these one-person Desks could cover whole sectors with hundreds of planets within them. It all depended on the level of threat that each species or area presented. The Bardomil Desk currently occupied almost one fifth of the capacity of Karap Sownus’ department, with hundreds of Officers and Technicians, monitoring, sifting and analysing the data from a myriad of gathering sources. But, they all had the same objective; they were looking for patterns and clues to try to predict any possible threats and dangers from the Bardomil.

“Okay, what have you got, Marilla?” Sownus asked sitting back in his own comfortable chair.

“Well, it started with the report on the Bardomil Empress’ sightseeing tour of that big solar flare in the Artreaus System, sir,” Marilla opened, “quite a big flare from the yellow dwarf at the system’s heart, it scorched three planets of the system.”

“Go on,” Sownus indicated to the nervous Technician.

As Senior Intelligence Officer, Sownus monitored the activities of the Bardomil Empress and knew that sightseeing and celestial fireworks were not part of her normal routine.

“Analysis was kind of stumped by that one, and put it down tentatively to one of her various vicious amusements,” Marilla continued, “but, then I thought, sir, what causes large solar flares?”

“Magnetic anomalies within the star,” Sownus answered correctly, “go on,” he added, a strand of thought developing in his head.

“Then, I remembered a broadcast report from the planet Xanart,” Marilla continued, an edge of excitement in her voice as she scooped out the first folio from the pile, “if you could, sir,” she asked Sownus to put the folio on the reader.

Karap Sownus dropped the red folio onto the plate and watched the three-dimensional image of an elderly male Xanath, with long dark ringlets develop above the surface of his desk.

“This is Sammut Claggit, sir,” Marilla announced, “Claggit and his assistant Marrut Bem were, according to planetary sources, killed in a hunting accident several weeks ago, which is rather strange as Science Master Claggit had a weak heart, was a herbivore and had a major aversion to blood sports.”

“You suspect that he was killed?” Sownus asked.

“Yes, sir; furthermore, Sammut Claggit was a respected authority on magnetic and gravitational fields. In fact, it was last reported that he was researching magnetic field manipulation to alter planetary magnetospheres to make them suitable for habitation.”

“Well, well,” Sownus said with an edge of growing surprise and certainty in his voice, “our late friend Sammut Claggit was into magnetic field manipulation, was he?”

“Yes, sir,” Marilla answered growing more confident in her theory, “and his last known location was on Bardan working for the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Peace and Friendship,”

“That well-known weapons development facility close to the Imperial Palace,” Sownus smiled wryly.

“The very same, sir,” Marilla smiled at the shared irony.

“So, you are speculating that the Bardomil have developed some kind of weapon?” Sownus asked.

“It is one possible interpretation,” Marilla replied, “I contacted Long Range Scanners, and they sent me over the analysis from the Explorer-class Scientific Survey Ship, Vasco da Gama
,
which was scanning the Artreaus system’s area at the time,” she indicated the second folio on the desk.

“And, it indicated?” Sownus questioned half-knowing the response before it came.

“The Vasco da Gama data indicates that it is unlikely the solar flare was natural in origin,” Marilla began, “it was a quick-burn eruption outside the regular cyclical pattern of activity for that particular star, and it was a yellow dwarf, so it’s too young and small as a star to produce enough material to burn planets in the system under normal conditions.”

“So, our sightseeing friend, the Bardomil Empress, just happened to be passing when the Artreaus sun decided to magically become active with an unfeasibly large solar flare?” Sownus pushed the speculation onwards.

“A bit of a coincidence, sir,” Marilla replied, “and, the Vasco da Gama data showed a massive interruption in the Artreaus sun’s magnetic field prior to the eruption of the flare,”

“That would not be a natural phenomenon would it?” Sownus asked speculatively, seeing where the conversation was leading.

“Not by any stretch of the imagination, sir,” Marilla confirmed.

“Very well, I’ll bite, Marilla,” Sownus sighed wearily not liking the conclusion one little bit, “what do you suggest we do next?”

“Well, sir, with your permission, I could contact the Fleet Engineers Corps and speak to the people in Theoretical Weapons,” Marilla suggested relieved that her theory was being taken seriously.

“That’s a good idea, have a word with the ‘Funnies’ about it, see if such a thing is even feasible,” Sownus indicated the nickname of the Theoretical Weapons Developers who produced weapon solutions for some of the most unusual situations.

“Could I also have a look at some of the more sensitive data from the Bardomil Desk and the long-range data?” Marilla asked rising from her chair.

“Hmm, are we being just a little bit ambitious here Technician Thapes?” Sownus smiled, being aware that her Security Clearance was only a few steps above basic level.

“Sorry, sir, if I’ve over-stepped my…” Marilla replied swallowing heavily, her growing confidence now shaken.

“No, Marilla, not at all, I’m temporarily raising your Clearance level to bronze, that should give you access to the Sensitive-level data on the Bardomil Desk,” Sownus said, “you’ve earned this opportunity; if you do well, we can think about moving you up the board.”

“Yes, sir, thank you, sir,” Marilla Thapes beamed broadly.

In the Security structure of the Intelligence Department, bronze clearance was only three steps down from the Ultra-Sensitive level clearance that carried a Diamond-icon on their Security file. She had gained a significant temporary promotion, and was determined to do her absolute best with the project.

“Your new clearance should be active by the start of your next shift,” Sownus added, “now, take your findings to Officer Drang. She will be your supervisor on this and coordinate any resources you need to clarify what is going on here. But, you report your findings to me, am I clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Marilla barked, the broad beaming smile still plastered all over her olive face.

“Good,” Sownus said, “now, go and get some rest and be ready to hit the deck running first thing.”

“Sir,” Marilla replied and gathered up her folios before stepping briskly to the door.

“And, Marilla?” Sownus halted her just before the door.

“Sir?” she half-turned expecting more instructions.

“That’s a good piece of work, Technician,” Sownus praised.

“Thank you, sir,” Marilla’s smile got even broader as she stepped through the door and walked breezily along the corridor to her own quarters.

Back in Sownus’ office, the Senior Intelligence Officer now had a new nightmare to add to the growing pile of potential threats to the Alliance. Moving to his dimly-lit relaxation couch, Sownus scanned the folios left by Marilla Thapes and began asking himself the questions that First Admiral Caudwell would ask him. Is it feasible? Where would they target such a weapon? How would they deliver it to the intended target?

But, as he thought, he found the answers elusive.

Chapter 11

Planet Earth

“Emma, Billy, would you like some tea!?” Gillian Wallace called brightly from the foot of the stairs.

It had been a whole ten minutes since she had last offered them some refreshment. The constant procession of young men into the Wallace household had made Gillian Wallace cautious of just what has likely to be happening in her daughter’s bedroom. The liberally-minded parent understood that Emma needed her freedom to meet young men, but the mother in her wasn’t quite ready to let go of her ‘little Emma’ just yet.

“No thanks mum!” the voice of Emma Wallace replied from behind the solid rampart of her closed bedroom door.

“Some lemonade or juice!?” her mother persisted.

“No! Thanks mum!” Emma responded wearily.

“I think we should take a break,” Billy Caudwell suggested as he stood up from the cramped little table in the corner of Emma Wallace’s room.

It had been a long and exhausting two hours since he had arrived at the Wallace’s house to help Emma with her maths revision. Burying his face in his hands and wiping his eyes, Billy had to admit that in terms of mathematics, Emma Wallace was not the brightest candle on the tree. But, he had promised to help her through the pre-Qualification exams, and help her he would; even if it did take over half an hour for her to grasp the most fundamental concepts of equations.

Yet, strangely, Billy felt calm and at peace as he gently guided the struggling girl through the finer points of algebra; where x and y took on new meanings, but still retained some semblance of constancy and familiarity. Rather like his own life, Billy considered, as he tried to integrate a life on Earth with that of the First Admiral of the Universal Alliance Fleet. But, the worries of the rapidly expanding Alliance were far from the thoughts of Billy Caudwell this night.

“Yeah, my head hurts,” Emma said, “but, you’re really helping me here,” she flashed the dazzling but wholly insincere smile.

“It just takes a bit of time and practice,” Billy modestly deflected the praise as he stared at a poster of four well-dressed young men who appeared to be wearing more make up than his appearance conscious grandmother usually did.

“My dad would go mental if I ever turned up looking like that,” Billy smiled indicating the poster.

“I think they’re quite cool,” Emma replied from the table “I suppose you’re a classical music man?” she questioned.

“No, not really,” Billy countered, “My dad’s into Italian Opera and when he has a drink he thinks he’s Enrico Caruso.”

“Who’s that then?” Emma asked.

“A famous Italian tenor, died years ago,” Billy said absent-mindedly looking at another poster.

“I’m more kind of machine music, Human League, Soft Cell and Gary Newman, that sort of stuff,” Billy continued, being careful not to mention the Thexxian musicians in a band called “Splarge” that he found particularly enjoyable.

“My mum says that Gary Newman needs a good dinner or two,” Emma smiled mischievously.

“She might be right,” Billy grinned, and had to agree; the memory of the very pale and very thin lead singer/composer flashing through his mind, “he is a bit on the skinny side.”

“Hey, you want to listen to some Duran Duran?” Emma enthused rising from her seat behind the table.

“Yeah, sure,” Billy replied as brightly as he could manage, not all that excited about listening to a singer who seemed to sound like he was constantly in pain.

“I think they’re brilliant,” Emma chirped happily as she trotted over to her clock/radio/cassette player that doubled as an alarm to get her out of bed in the mornings.

“I liked their early stuff better,” Billy commented, “a real good old-fashioned gutsy rock and roll band, then they kind of went all Spandau Ballet didn’t they?”

“You’re in very real danger of becoming a square, Billy Caudwell,” Emma chided as she dug through the collection of cassettes scattered on her bedside table.

“Well, just shoot me now,” Billy said absent-mindedly as he watched the tall blonde girl, her face set in determined purpose, as she sought out the desired tape.