Inquisition, p.5
Inquisition, page 5
"Yeah," said Ted. "I've had a similar thought." He stopped and pointed at a hatch. He opened it, and inside was the backstage to the auditorium. "I'll give them another minute or two to get assembled. Do you really think this stuff we are looking for will help us?"
“I don’t know,” said Rick honestly. “What I do know is that it will help protect some people. And that’s better than none.”
“Wow. That’s a grim outlook.”
“Yes, it is, but you saw that ship. Ten or fifteen of them could take out all of the corporate nations.”
Ted had a look of anger on his face. "While that may be true, you don't tell them that. If they have no hope, then we have already lost."
"I knew that. The question is, why did I forget."
“Did Jennings have any hope when he rammed that ship?”
“Yes he did.”
“And he knew he would come out of it alive. If he didn’t, he would be dead right now. Hope brings out courage. Despair breeds defeat."
“Okay. I got it. Keep it positive.”
Ted had a look like the danger had passed. "Good. I'll introduce you, and you can tell them what you want."
Ted went out in front of the assembly. Rick thought about the military videos he had seen over the years. One, in particular, came to mind, and he knew how to address the pilots.
Chapter 8 Briefing
Rick heard Ted say, “I would like to introduce you to Director Thompson. He is going to brief you on this mission.”
As Rick took the stage, every man stood as a sign of respect. "As you were." As one, they all sat. "First off, I'm sure that the fighter pilots are wondering why you are here after we have taken away your ships."
“You got that right,” said someone from the crowd.
Rick smiled, and Ted said with an angry voice, "Stow it!"
"No. That's okay," said Rick with a smile. "They are your ships and will be returned to you after we’re done with this mission. That is unless you like the new ships better."
There was a low rumble in the room. Everyone was whispering back and forth to each other. Rick let it continue for a moment and then cleared his throat. At once, everyone was back to paying attention.
“The mission I’m about to share with you is classified. I want to impress on you the importance of what we are doing.” He turned to Ted. “Do we have a single picture of the ship?”
Ted started to work on the control panel that Rick could barely see off to the side of the stage. A large screen began to descend behind Rick. Once it hit the deck, a picture of the alien spacecraft appeared. Again the whispers came out.
It was hard to gauge the size from the picture. Rick thought he would help them out. "That is an alien ship. Here is what I know, it is run by a race of cat-like beings. It is ten times the width and fifteen times the length of the ship you are currently in."
The grumbling went up in volume. Rick looked over at Ted and nodded. The video started just before Captain Jennings made his run at the alien ship. The moment the pilots saw the two ships on the same screen, the room went silent. Gowns were heard as Jennings made contact with the ship. The alien ship broke up as it entered the atmosphere. And the video stopped there.
There was a stunned silence in the room. Rick knew that all the pilots thought that Jennings had sacrificed himself.
Rick paused a moment for effect. He dropped his next words into the silence. "You will be happy to know that Captain Jennings, the ship's captain, and his crew are alive and well."
It took a moment for the idea to sink in. Once it did, the crowd erupted in loud cheers.
As the crowd settled, Rick continued. "We have proven that we can outthink and outfight them. But we need your help. The battle you just saw happened over the planet of Braxis. The aliens were looking for something. We don't know what it is yet, but we have an idea. You see, the aliens are telepaths."
Again there was whispering back and forth.
"We believe that this planet holds the key." Rick turned to Ted. "Can we put up a picture of Horse?" Rick waited for the picture to be put on the screen. "There is a substance that causes interference with telepaths on this planet." He paused a moment to let the relevance of his statement be realized. "There is a secret base with six thousand fighters that now belong to the Wilson Corporation. We believe that the substance we are looking for is on the other side of the ridge from the base. Now you have all the information that we have. Your mission, the shuttle will take as many pilots as they can cram into the shuttles down to the base. The fighter pilots will retrieve the fighters and bring them back. The shuttle pilots will take a pass and scan the ridge on the other side of the mountain for the substance. Then come back to pick up another load of pilots."
One of the shuttle pilots raised his hand. “Yes,” said Rick as he looked at him.
"Sir, how are we going to find something when we don't even know what we are looking for?"
"That is a good question. What you are looking for is a very rare element. We believe that it will be like nothing you have ever seen before. The guess is that it will be a huge deposit."
Another pilot raised his hand. Rick just nodded to him. "Sir, how do we know that this element is even on this planet?"
Rick smiled. “Because a thousand or more telepaths are being protected by it on the base. Any other questions?” There were none. “Good. You will get your specific assignments within the hour. Dismissed.”
The pilots got up and headed for the exit talking with each other about what they had just learned.
Ted came over, and Rick said, "Was that positive enough for you?"
“I’m impressed. You handled that extremely well.”
“Thank you, that means a lot coming from you.” Rick took a deep breath. “I need to take a shuttle down with Collier and open up the base. I think you can take the chains off him.”
“Is that wise?”
“Probably not, but I need his cooperation when we get down to the planet.”
“We should be making orbit just about now. I need to get to the command deck just in case the local authorities give us any trouble. I’ll have Collier meet you on the flight deck with the pilot.”
“Thank you. Let’s hope we find what we are looking for.”
Rick made his way back to the flight deck. As he entered, he knew what shuttle they were using. Collier was standing between two security guards. Another man was off to the side that Rick could only guess was the pilot. As Rick walked up, he said, you can take the chains off him, then you are dismissed."
The two guards looked at each other. Rick could tell that they wanted to object, but they reluctantly did as they were told.
The chains were removed. Collier rubbed his wrist and said, “It’s about damn time.”
Rick had a stern look on his face as he said, "Look Steve, you built that base. Those are your people, and they are loyal to you. Your assets have been seized for your crimes. Now, you can cooperate with the orderly transfer of what is now Wilson property, or I can send in a regiment of troops and take it by force. Now I know you don't care about anybody but yourself so let me say this. Those people down there can make the difference between winning and losing the war. If we lose, you will more than likely lose your life. As a matter of fact, I'll make sure of it. So, what's it going to be?"
There was an air of defeat in Collier's voice as he spoke. "Okay, you win. I'll go down there and make sure they know that I’m turning it over to you.”
“Good, you can be reasonable.” Then Rick turned to the pilot and said, “You have the location we are going to?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Then let’s go.”
They got into the shuttle and took off. Rick was sure that Ted had already given the clearance to take off.
Rick took the seat on the other side of the walkway facing Collier. Collier asked, “So what is it you want me to do?”
Rick considered what to say to Collier. Being nice to him never worked. With Collier, it was always moves and countermoves. Intention and counter-intention. To him, it was nothing more than a game. Collier was at a disadvantage, and Rick wanted to keep it that way. "Be seen and keep your mouth shut."
"You've changed; you are no longer the idealistic young man I tried to recruit."
Rick thought about what Collier had just said. It was a move to make Rick doubt himself. "No, the ideals haven't changed; I still believe in justice. After taking a spot as a Director, I have a new target. The stupidity and brutality of the elitist class. That's where the real injustice is."
Rick could tell that he had hit the mark. Collier looked down, and that effectively ended the conversation.
Chapter 9 Base
Nothing more was said until the pilot called back and said, "Director, the base doors are closed, and I'm receiving no response.
"Collier, you're up," said Rick with a look like, you better not mess this up.
Collier got up, went to the pilot, and said, "Change to frequency 147.47 and put me on."
The pilot did as requested and said, "You're on."
"This is Commander Collier; open the bay doors. It's cold out here."
“How do we know this is Commander Collier?”
“You can check my teeth once I’m inside. Open the damn door.”
“Yeah, that's Commander Collier,” could be heard in the background. “The door is opening. Welcome back, Commander."
Rick got up and looked out the front viewport. Ahead of them were massive metal doors that looked like a destroyer could fly through. The small shuttle flew through what looked to be a small crack in the doors. Once inside, Rick saw the flight deck. He remembered seeing this on the scanners, but he hadn't realized the scope of this place until now.
The pilot was directed to the back of the flight deck by the ground crew using signal lights. They landed on a pad near doors that Rick assumed led to the base proper.
A group of men gathered outside the hatch. Rick was sure of what would happen next. Collier got up to exit the shuttle, and Rick put his hand on Collier's shoulder and said, "Tell them we are here to evacuate the base."
Reluctantly Collier nodded his head and opened the hatch. Rick's suspicions were confirmed once the hatch was opened. The men were armed, and all weapons were aimed at the person coming out of the hatch.
"Commander," said the man who appeared to be the group leader. He looked at the others. "Put your weapons down!" he turned back to Collier and said, "We heard that you were captured by the Wilson Corp."
Instead of answering, Collier did as he was told. "I want all ships, transports, and fighters fueled up and ready to go. We are evacuating this base."
"Yes Sir, but these are short-range fighters. Where are we going to go?"
“There is a carrier in orbit. Pilots will be brought down shortly.”
“And the Talents?”
Rick answered that question. “We are leaving them here. We have a plan and will be moving them when it’s safe.”
The man asking the question was obviously in charge of the base. He half turned to his people, snapped his fingers, and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. At once, three of his men turned and ran off in different directions.
He turned back to Collier and said, “Damn Sir, it’s good to see you.”
"It's good to see you too, Jim. Call a meeting of the senior staff. Things have changed."
“Why? What’s happened.”
“I’ll let you all know together at the meeting. Go.”
Jim left, and Rick turned to the pilot. "Contact the Admiral. Have him start sending down the shuttles."
The pilot nodded and went into his ship.
Collier said, "I'm going to try to make this transition as painless as possible. Do you have any pictures of the Cats?"
Rick realized what Collier was doing. A threat from the outside could unite the two groups regardless of the philosophical differences.
"I think I have just the thing." Rick went into the shuttle, and the pilot was just completing his request. "I need to talk to the Admiral," said Rick.
“Did you hear that, Harry?"
“Yeah, he’s right here. Stand by.”
"What do you need, Sir," said Ted. Rick realized that he was being formal in front of the crew.
“I need that video.” Rick didn’t want to say too much over an open comm line.
“I figured as much. I sent a copy to your shuttle. You will find it in a download file named TFC747.”
Before Ted was even finished speaking, the pilot was already looking for the file. "Got it."
Ted continued, "I figured it would make for a more peaceful transition if they knew what they were up against."
"Agreed. I'll give you a full report on our situation as soon as possible. Out"
Rick turned to look at the pilot. He handed Rick a flash drive with the video on it.
As he handed it to him, Rick said, "What's your name, son?"
He looked up, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Tim Thompson, Sir, but my friends call me TT for short."
Rick knew that people would talk, thinking that Tim was related to him. "Well TT, you are now my personal pilot. Let people think what they want. You are sharp and on top of things. That's what I need. I'll let the Admiral know as soon as we get back."
“Yes Sir.” There seemed to be a newfound pride in Tim’s voice.
"Good. Keep the ship on standby. I don't know how long I'm going to be." Rick turned to Collier and said, "Let's go."
Once they were out of the shuttle and heading for the doors, Collier asked, "What's on the drive?"
Rick wasn't sure if Collier was playing a game or if he really didn't know. Rick decided that it was a genuine question. "That is the destruction of the alien ship by the Wilson Corporation."
“What? Nobody told me that ship was destroyed.”
"Why would they. You were in prison." As Rick said this, they had just gotten to the doors. He held the door open for Collier only to show him that he should lead the way.
“Yeah, I guess I was.”
Rick thought about Collier’s indignation. Somehow he had the sneaking suspicion that there was a leak in his organization. He would have to put Tim and Bannic on the case to find out who when he got back to the office. “Many things have changed since you went into hiding.” Rick thought about how to drive this point home. “Not all of your spies are loyal to you anymore.”
Collier turned with a look of seething hate and contempt. A half-second later, he realized that he was letting his feelings show. Rick now knew for a fact that someone in his organization was feeding Collier information.
Collier knew that he let his hand show. He turned and continued down the hall. Shortly he opened the door to the right and went in.
Inside four people were working in the room, breaking down tables and setting up folding chairs for the meeting. Rick started to help set up the folding chairs. This seemed to be upsetting to Collier. While the people doing the work looked on in amazement.
Once the room was set up, Rick walked over to Collier and handed him the flash drive. “I’ll give the briefing.”
Collier took the flash drive and went to the computer station. “If that’s what you want.”
"I will make a short statement, and then you start the video."
“Okay.” Collier seemed to be slightly apathetic.
Rick stood in front of the screen facing the chairs as the base staff came in. once all the chairs were full, Rick asked, "Is everyone here?"
Collier nodded and said, “For the most part.”
"Alright, then let's get started," said Rick. "Ladies and gentlemen, there are events on the galactic scene that you need to be made aware of." He moved out of the way and nodded to Collier. Rick watched the crowd's reactions as the battle over Braxis played out.
Once it was over, Rick stepped back in front of the gathering. "We took out that carrier. However, that ship was on a deep space mission. Sooner or later, the race that sent them out is going to come looking for that ship. I want you to understand that the human race can no longer stand divided." There was grumbling in the crowd. It was apparent to Rick that they didn't like what they heard. "You fight for a cause. And that's a noble endeavor. When that fleet comes for us, you are going to be fighting for your right to survive. We need each other's help."
“Who the hell are you?” yelled out one man from the crowd.
“That is a fair question. I’m going to tell you; you’re not going to like the answer. My name is Rick Thompson. Director of the Legal Department of the Wilson Corporation.”
There was stunned silence in the room. Rick thought he better take advantage of it. “I am willing to grant amnesty to everyone on this base, provided that no further crimes are committed. You people are fighters. If you weren't, you wouldn't be here. So now I’m asking you to fight for all mankind.”
Someone else in the group said, “Are you the guy that took down Nash?”
“Yes, I am. That was me. Under Director Hobbs, who is now the CEO. I am restoring justice to the common man." Rick turned his head to look at Collier. "Just so you know, all of the Board is under investigation. The elite ruling class is not going to rule much longer.”
A woman said in a sorrowful tone, “Why would you do that? Aren’t you one of the elites?”
"No, I'm not. I was born in the worker slums of Anteagen, far from the seat of power. I believe in honesty and hard work, just like many of you. I worked my way out of the slums, and with the help of CEO Hobbs, a good and honest man, I made it to where I am today."
“What if we don’t want to join you?” said a man in the front row.
"Then you are free to go your own way. Let me point out that Mr. Collier has been under arrest for some time. This base is part of the assets the Wilson Corporation has seized. From what I can see, none of you are guilty of anything but believing in a cause. A cause that I might add, I believe in as well. The end of corruption in corporate government."
