Fatal flaws gate ghosts.., p.7
Fatal Flaws (Gate Ghosts Book 13), page 7
“And your first step would be to discover the answer to that question,” Nira proposed.
“Just so,” Tarbar replied, slowly nodding his head.
5: It Must Be Both of Us
IMPERIUM, KRACKUS HOME WORLD
PALTUR SYSTEM
“That’s number three,” Jaffderg, the security company owner, commented.
Gaketork and his senior admin, Dojjdret, eyed him. The comment wasn’t truly necessary, but they knew Jaffderg was making a point.
“Third orchestrator of the attacks to be identified?” Dojjdret queried. “Or the third executor we’ve failed to arrest?”
“The latter,” Jaffderg mused.
“You think they have a way of being forewarned when their perpetrators are caught,” Gaketork said.
“I can accept that Ferstost was given notice of his intermediary being caught,” Jaffderg replied. “But the other two executors as well? That amount of coincidence is unacceptable.”
“From where or how do you think they’re getting knowledge of your company’s actions?” Gaketork inquired. “We’ve cut out assembly security.”
“I’ve run internal scrutiny on my employees four times now,” Jaffderg replied frustratingly. “If there’s someone informing our targets, they’re excellent at hiding from me.”
Gaketork’s orbs widened.
“What?” Jaffderg asked with interest.
“Who would be that good at hiding so as not to be thought of as a co-conspirator?” Gaketork queried rhetorically.
“Surprise us,” Jaffderg responded.
Instead of answering Jaffderg, Gaketork called out, “Governor.”
“Governor, indicate any messages to Executor Ferstost during the following time period,” Gaketork said. Then he indicated Jaffderg with a wave of his hand.
Quickly, Jaffderg checked his device’s calendar and read the date and the time period between the arrests of the accomplices at Dojjdret’s residence and the discovery of Ferstost’s suicide.
“Governor, incoming or outgoing?” Jaffderg asked.
“We found nothing on the executor’s device for this period,” Jaffderg noted.
Gaketork nodded. “Governor, send me the four messages with their transmission data,” he requested.
“Presiding Executor Gaketork override of executor privilege,” Gaketork stated authoritatively.
Gaketork checked his device. When the data appeared, he nodded excitedly to Jaffderg.
“Keep going,” Jaffderg enthused.
“Governor, repeat request for identification of messages to Executors Dostjask and Remjost. Then transfer to my device for the following two time periods,” Gaketork said.
Jaffderg was ready with the dates and times and quickly reeled them off.
The governor identified three messages for Executor Dostjask and four messages for Executor Remjost.
When Dojjdret saw Gaketork look at his device and frown, he said, “Authorize override, if necessary,” which Gaketork quickly added for the governor.
Gaketork received the transmissions and sent the collected data to Jaffderg’s device.
“Any commonality?” Dojjdret inquired.
“At a glance, none,” Jaffderg replied, grinding his beak in frustration.
“Maybe the nature of the messages will help us?” Gaketork offered.
“I’ll look into these with my team,” Jaffderg said. “There’s no telling what we might glean from them.”
“On another subject, I was thinking about the territories of these three executors,” Dojjdret said. He pointed his device at the conference display, and the empire’s territorial map appeared. Four territories were highlighted.
Poking a feather-covered hand into the display, Dojjdret enumerated, “Executors Rebtar, Ferstost, Dostjask, and Remjost.”
“And the returning elements of the peacekeeper patrols cite conversations with conclave members, such as Commodore Ticnikrok, Juno, Kelley, and Captain Pappas,” Gaketork added. “The large conclave liner and its warship escorts are circling our empire.”
“Clearing out our peacekeeper fleets. In every case, the Radags are loaded onto a peacekeeper, and the imperator is instructed to sail for Sathus,” Dojjdret noted.
“But not usually our race,” Gaketork commented. “In most systems, Krackus remain behind to train the local race. This is what Cremsylon proposed to us. Foolishly, we turned him away.”
“Does the assembly have any desire to assign new executors to the three open positions?” Jaffderg inquired.
“For what purpose?” Gaketork queried. “It’s obvious that no one wants these territories. Effectively, the inhabited worlds and their systems are in the hands of the local races and the conclave.”
“In addition to those territories, conclave forces have cleared four more territories,” Dojjdret said.
“Same fleet?” Jaffderg queried.
“No, the reports indicate that two conclave fleets of tri-hulls have been deployed,” Gaketork replied. “Oh, let’s not forget that the admiral’s forces are stationed at Jumanus, and the Helgart ships and installation command Grageth’s territory.”
“A quarter of the empire’s resources,” Jaffderg reasoned. “When do you expect economic collapse?”
Gaketork leaned into his chair. “The conclave took a while to take Grageth’s territory,” he mused. “Then the fleet that emptied my old territory appeared. The next fleet to appear was at work in a shorter period of time. The admiral is constantly receiving new warships. I expect her to direct a third fleet at our territories soon, if she hasn’t already. That means we’ll lose, at least, three territories every quarter.”
“You said the world managers reported shortages of critical resources, and that they recommended austerity programs be put in place now,” Jaffderg pointed out.
“They did, and the executors wouldn’t back my proposal to follow their advice,” Gaketork replied.
“Eleven holdouts,” Dojjdret added.
“Then the empire will face collapse within the next annual,” Jaffderg finished. He watched Gaketork and Dojjdret nod solemnly. “Any advice on preparations?”
“You could hoard six months of supplies,” Gaketork said. “If the assembly does nothing, then you’ll only put off the inevitable.”
“Then we have a small group of selfish leaders who are willing to risk our society’s well-being for their wealth and power,” Jaffderg concluded. His orbs blazed in anger.
“Our social order was built on beliefs that the executors should have ultimate power because only they see the breadth of the empire’s needs, and they’ll make judgments that ensure the care of our citizens,” Gaketork said. “All well and good until those conditions don’t hold true anymore.”
“Did they ever?” Dojjdret queried rhetorically.
“Then again, perhaps, it’s possible to undermine beliefs,” Jaffderg pointed out.
“That’s what Tarbar’s broadcasts started to do,” Gaketork said. “I attempted to shine a light of my own, but many executors’ admins are hard at work creating articles that capture our citizens’ attention.”
“Could we anticipate who might be the next source of attacks on Gaketork?” Dojjdret inquired.
“If you had the conclave fleets’ schedules, we might surmise the latest territories to succumb,” Jaffderg responded. “Then we’d know the executors who might think they’ve nothing to lose.”
As the discussion came to a close, Jaffderg nodded toward the door, and Gaketork prepared to end the work cycle.
As was Jaffderg’s custom, he rode with Gaketork toward his home. They neared the presiding executor’s residence when the transport came to a swift halt. Swiftly, Jaffderg drew his baton and charged it.
The pair in the transport stared at the cloaked figure who had stepped onto the roadway.
At the moment, the figure was bent over the transport’s front end. Then the Krackus straightened, crossed the roadway, and disappeared into the crowd.
“Strange, an indigent,” Gaketork commented. Then he contacted the governor to report the need for medical services.
The governor transferred the transport’s data to medical services to be able to search for the unfortunate Krackus, a rarity on Imperium.
Jaffderg dropped Gaketork at his residence and safely into the hands of those agents. Then he headed for his building.
After parking underground in a secure area, Jaffderg exited his vehicle. That’s when a glint on the transport’s front end caught his eye. He bent over to examine it. Clever move, he thought, detaching the flimsy that had been deposited by a Krackus whom he realized was disguised as an indigent.
Recognizing the disposable flimsy for how it would behave, he called a member of his team to his sublevel.
“See that,” Jaffderg said to the agent. “Don’t remove it from the vehicle but check it and the surrounding area for prints or anything that might give us a clue as to who left it.”
“It can’t be dangerous,” the agent offered.
“I tend to agree,” Jaffderg replied. “I think it’s a message for Gaketork or me.”
Jaffderg waited while the agent worked. When he received the all-clear sign, he pulled his device and set it to record a vid. Then he pulled the flimsy free. Before he could finish reading it, the flimsy disappeared in a wisp of smoke.
“Someone has knowledge of and access to flimsies,” the agent mused. “That was the shortest exposure time I’ve ever seen.”
“It was a programmable type, and those are rare,” Jaffderg mused. He was curious who had the skills to procure such a clandestine communication tool and plant it on his vehicle in bright starlight.
In his office, Jaffderg played his vid and selected a clear image of the message. It read, “If you want to support us exposing the executors for their egregious behavior, then meet with us.” There was a date, time, and location. The information was followed by a series of codes, which meant nothing to him.
Jaffderg called his two senior agents into his office and showed them the message.
Both the male and female agents quickly volunteered that it could be a trap to prove he had anti-empire sentiments.
“That’s a given,” Jaffderg replied and waited. His senior agents quickly intuited that they were to provide a means of proving the message’s veracity.
“That was an extremely short duration flimsy,” the male agent noted. “A specialist had to program it.”
“This is a more subtle approach than we’ve witnessed from other attacks on Gaketork,” the female agent said. “Why do I think this message was meant for you and not Gaketork?”
“That was something I was thinking,” Jaffderg remarked.
“I’m still tending toward a means of removing you and this organization from guarding Gaketork,” the male agent said. “We’ve been successful at intercepting three executors’ attempts.”
“Do the codes mean anything to you?” the female agent asked Jaffderg, who shook his head.
“They could be a means of verifying the message’s authenticity. Run them,” Jaffderg directed, sending the vid to her. Then he excused the agents from his office.
Late in the evening, Jaffderg closed his office, intending to head for home. He spotted his senior female agent, Feythal, at work in her office.
“I might have something,” Feythal replied.
Jaffderg quickly came to her side. “What do you have?”
“These numbers didn’t relate to anything on Imperium,” Feythal replied. “So, I expanded my search to Jegstrat.”
“Why Jegstrat?” Jaffderg asked, before his tired mind caught up with his agent’s train of thought. “Oh, yes, the recent fomenting of protests against the world manager’s offices.”
“Exactly,” Feythal responded. “The first code string relates to an incident report listing the sightings of a conclave ship passing above the planet.”
“As far as I know, that only happened once,” Jaffderg said.
“That’s right,” Feythal responded enthusiastically. “Now look at where the following sequence of numbers, which were on the flimsy, lead.”
Jaffderg scanned the world manager’s report detailing the escape of Tarbar and his accomplice from Jegstrat aboard a conclave fighter. Then he sat heavily in another chair.
“You’re sure that it was a Krackus who planted the flimsy?” Feythal asked.
“No doubt about it,” Jaffderg replied. “I had a clear view.”
“Well, here’s my question,” Feythal prefaced. “How did this Krackus get his hands on a world manager’s report that was destined for the assembly?”
Jaffderg ruminated on the question. Then the answer occurred to him, and he chuckled.
When Jaffderg rose to leave, Feythal said, “You exit the building without giving me an answer, and I’ll follow you home.”
Jaffderg paused in the doorway. “Whom do we know who can gain access to data anytime they wish?” Then he left.
Feythal mulled the query in her mind. Then, in surprise, she murmured, “The conclave.”
The next morning Jaffderg arrived at Gaketork’s residence to collect the presiding executor.
When Gaketork stepped into the rear of the transport, he was keenly aware that the driver, Gadketh, didn’t initiate the vehicle’s route. Turning toward Jaffderg, he quirked an eyebrow.
“Our intrepid pair from Jegstrat is on Imperium,” Jaffderg said.
“You know this for a fact?” Gaketork queried.
“Remember the indigent we nearly hit?” Jaffderg prompted.
“Yes,” Gaketork replied. “Did medical services locate him?”
“That was no indigent,” Jaffderg said. “I’m fairly sure that was Tarbar’s accomplice, a Jegstrat independent agent. He dropped a flimsy on our vehicle. The message asked if I wanted to help expose the executors.”
“Could it be a trap?” Gaketork asked worriedly.
“I heard that concern from my senior agents,” Jaffderg admitted. “However, the flimsy, which was extremely short, gave me a series of codes. One of my brightest agents solved the riddle.”
“Which was what?” Gaketork pressed.
“The codes led to Jegstrat reports, which were filed from the world manager’s office,” Jaffderg replied.
“Those would be accessible to the executors,” Gaketork pointed out.
“After they were received by the Imperium governor, that would happen,” Jaffderg responded. “However, the data codes on the reports indicate only the Jegstrat execution information, which is affixed by the local governor. On receipt, the Imperium governor would have added its data codes.”
Gaketork’s beak hung open. “The conclave,” he said quietly.
“That was my conclusion,” Jaffderg said. “I’m certain that Tarbar and his accomplice are bringing their fight to Imperium.”
There were a few moments of quiet contemplation. Then both Krackus gurgled loudly at the thought that the executors may have met their match with this pair.
“So, what do you intend to do?” Gaketork inquired.
“You mean we, don’t you?” Jaffderg corrected. “I need you there to maintain a pretense.”
“I see,” Gaketork said. “You came to me with this cryptic note, which you believed to be a scam. On receiving it, I suggested that we investigate who might have perpetrated this obvious subterfuge.”
“That would offer us a nice cover story if we end up face-to-face with assembly security,” Jaffderg agreed.
“Just the two of us?” Gaketork queried.
“Any more and I think we’d scare away the pair, if that’s who will be there,” Jaffderg explained. “We can expect Tarbar and his accomplice to be watching us from a distance. When they feel safe, they’ll approach us, unless we receive another flimsy from a third party. Either way this goes, we’ll have to be patient.”
“I’m not sure I understand what the pair hopes to achieve,” Gaketork said. “It’s incredibly dangerous of Tarbar to return to Imperium.”
Jaffderg tapped Gadketh’s shoulder, who initiated the transport’s route. Then he said, “I think Tarbar knew what his broadcasts would do.”
“Stir up the citizens to ask questions,” Gaketork remarked. “If that was his intent, then he was successful on multiple Krackus worlds.”
“But, as you said the previous afternoon, the executors’ admins are working overtime to counterprogram Tarbar’s broadcasts,” Jaffderg noted.
“Therefore, Tarbar and his associate are here to bolster the broadcasts and challenge the executors’ articles,” Gaketork surmised. “How?”
“That’s an excellent question, and I know just whom to ask,” Jaffderg replied, which had both Krackus gurgling.
The following evening, Jaffderg’s driver deviated from the many routes taken to reach Gaketork’s residence. Instead, he headed for a popular shopping marketplace.
“An odd place to meet. If I was trying to prevent detection, I’d think it was much too public,” Gaketork commented as they entered the multi-floored building, and he eyed the bustling crowd of shoppers.
“Remember that Tarbar’s accomplice is an independent agent,” Jaffderg prompted. “I’m sure that Tarbar is depending on the agent to keep the pair of them safe. In this crowd, they can watch us undetected.”
Tarbar replied.
The pair was sitting at a small table on the third level with drinks. They were next to a view plate, which allowed them to look down on the huge atrium that opened through all five levels of the marketplace.
That Parvelt had an implant was one of Tarbar’s conditions for returning to Imperium.
“If you don’t want an implant,” Tarbar had said, while aboard the Nyslara, “it’s your right to refuse. However, that would mean that I must go alone to Imperium. It’s too dangerous if we can’t communicate out of sight of each other or privately in a dense crowd.”
