The Alliance (32 page)

“I’ve got a lot to learn.”
Rachael kept it private. “
I need a cuddle.”

Jack laughed and crossed the distance between them, his arms open.

Later, she sat with Gabrielle while they freed the schooner from the rocks at high tide. It sailed slowly up the fjord to the sheltered harbor of the village, a spare sail passed under the hull keeping it afloat.

Gabrielle was the legendary commander of the scout ship, which brought instantaneous travel through a non-physical universe to humanity, a fact Rachael had difficulty accepting, but, more importantly, she had gone through the same transition as Rachael, from latent to fully functional telepathy. They communicated for hours, discussing the ramifications of returning to an environment where telepathy wasn’t normal.

“I decided instinctively against continuing the voyage, which surprised Peter, but he agreed with me once he understood my concerns.”
Gabrielle’s smile was fond and Rachael shared her love for Jack’s grandfather. “
He insisted I discuss it with the Chief Engineer, Cedric Brown, the only one of the crew who would understand. It was the best thing I did, but I doubt you’ll find his like in the Federation.”
She’d already shared her memories of the scout ship’s approach to Feodar’s World and her swap with Feodar into this time frame. “
You’ll have to go it alone and make your own decisions. In the meantime, there are some practical concerns.”
Gabrielle’s smile was reassurance in itself. “
How do you sense us?”

Rachael closed her eyes to cut out visual distractions. Gabrielle, Jack, and the rest of the family were beacons in her mind. She could place them physically to her and each other. The other minds were dimmer, she had to focus to identify them and their thoughts came through in a muddled flow.

“Dael, I need your help.”
Gabrielle’s request held a hint of laughter. “
Your filter is still in place.”

“Sorry, Rachael. I forgot.”
Dael was in her mind. “
Jack asked me to help when the babble in the canteen was deafening you.”
Rachael remembered her sense of Dael’s presence and the diminution of “noise” she’d experienced. “
I reversed the filter we use when on operations and persuaded your subconscious to accept it while the food distracted you. This is how it’s undone.”
She stepped Rachael through the process and the “noise” level grew alarmingly. “
You’ll need to do it consciously for a while, but it becomes second nature eventually.”

Rachael reversed the process, taking control of it, and the
noise
died.

“One more thing.”
Gabrielle spoke in her mind. “
Focus on the village headman. What do you sense?”

Rachael experienced a muddle of thoughts she had to struggle to decipher.

“Good. Loosen your focus until the details blur.”

Rachael struggled to obey what seemed an illogical suggestion and was surprised when the headman’s thought patterns smoothed out and became understandable.

“That’s it.”
Gabrielle was triumphant. “
It allows your mind the freedom to translate his thoughts into familiar structures.”

The learning process continued, hours slipping by as Gabrielle, Dael, and Anneke cooperated to teach and instruct. Then, suddenly, with an abruptness that surprised her, it ended, and Jack approached. “Time to go.” He’d landed the flyer after using it to beach the schooner high enough to allow repairs at low tide in the sheltered harbor of the village.

Rachael embraced each of his family in turn. The physical contact was her reassurance and they indulged her need.

“Goodbye. See you soon.”
They chorused and stood waving as the flyer lifted into the air and translated to horizontal flight.

“I called the embassy while you were in conclave with Gabrielle,” Jack said. “They’re expecting you.”

Gabrielle’s advice had been to stick to physical speech until Rachael became accustomed to handling both simultaneously.

“I’m afraid,” she said. “The change is too big and it frightens me.”

Among Jack’s family, she felt safe, understanding instinctively their warmth and concern for her well-being. Soon she would enter a world where too much of its ugliness was on show, revealed by her ability to pierce the polite shield of speech and see the thoughts lurking behind. She was thankful Jack was taking the long way home, eschewing the mountains for coast hopping around scenic headlands and deep bays. It was breathtaking, soothing, and it allowed her to gather the reserves of courage she needed. Her only problem was the thirty hours between her and her last sleep. Dusk was a memory and Jack would have to break the rules about night flying near the portal.

“We need to talk.” Jack cleared the last headland and set the autopilot for the Treaty Port. “This is what I know of Internal Security’s plans.” Jack took the shortcut of sharing mind to mind, holding nothing back, so Rachael experienced the Alliance’s command of Limbo and its power.

“This is how Peter wants it handled.”
He continued and explained each step of the plan. “
It will give Internal Security pause and buy us time.”

Rachael nodded her understanding. It was brilliant, a perfect example of a Alliance coup, utilizing internal schisms to achieve much.

“You ready?”

She could feel Jack’s love and nodded again. The flyer soared upwards and gained speed.

* * * *

Jenni watched Rachael descend the steps at the rear of the flyer. The radio message had given her time to be waiting and her fear made it imperative. Internal Security had put two and two together about its supply of the camera images and the failure of the satellite equipment. She’d endured a twenty-minute grilling in the secure cabinet before destroying every vestige of evidence, hologram discs and courier receipts included. Internal Security would deal with the records off-planet. Her job now was to find out what her boss knew.

Rachael looked tired. The details of the rescue and her part in it were common knowledge, word of mouth supplementing the radio broadcasts from the island, and a crowd had gathered to welcome the flyer. A pause at the top of the step, as if bracing herself, and then Rachael came down, head up and smiling, acknowledging the cheers with a wave of her hand. The President followed her and they stood together for a moment before separating. Rachael walked toward the embassy group and the President headed toward his quarters in the inn.

“Good evening, Rachael.” Jenni stepped forward. “These are the most urgent messages needing your attention.” She extended the sheaf of flimsies. “They all relate to the satellites.”

“Reply, saying access is denied. Maintenance is now a local responsibility and all departments should be advised accordingly.” Rachael’s response was short. She’d been embarrassed and was angry, Jenni guessed.

“Should I include the reasons given?” The opportunity to learn more was too tempting.

“Treaty violation. The use of non-treaty surveillance equipment. The President advises further violations will endanger the Treaty and force him to revoke all trading licenses.” Rachael had obviously endured a torrid period of her own.

“You need rest.” Jenni wanted to wrap Rachael in her arms and support her physically. She looked like nervous energy alone held her upright. “I’ll deal with this. A shower and eight hours sleep will make you feel better.”

Rachael looked at her sharply, as if considering her motives, and then nodded. “Thank you, I do need rest.” She turned and gave the other members of the welcoming party the same considering look before turning and leading the way toward the compound.

Jenni followed, hovering close in case Rachael needed physical support.

An hour later, with Rachael showered and sleeping, the messages sent and acknowledged, Jenni sat in her room, considering her options.

The shutdown of the satellite cameras had stirred the pot and the President’s response, relayed through Rachael, would send everyone scuttling for their hidey-holes. He not only knew about the cameras, he had the technology to disable them and the self-destruct circuits. Coming immediately after their use to monitor the gathering at the beach pavilion, there could be no doubt the Alliance had penetrated the Internal Security operation. All that remained now was the decision of who to sacrifice.

A
prima facie
case existed that the Alliance had used their undetectable portals to spy, either on her, or at some point along the Internal Security line of command. The Head of Internal Security must now do everything possible to hide their existence, even if it meant closing the file completely. Any suspicion he’d been attempting to gain their use exclusively for Internal Security would be his death knell. For the moment, his sole purpose would be survival.

That left her exposed.
What could she do to escape the fall-out of this disastrously compromised mission
?

Rachael would be her touchstone. If Internal Security’s role in her appointment came out, they’d replace her and suspicion would fall on Jenni. It depended on the portals. Without them, it was a simple case of the Head of Internal Security over-reaching himself in an excess of zeal. The comms people here had detected the shutdown from the power drop and it technically feasible for the locals to do the same. It could pass examination. Rachael’s debriefing from Thanatos had revealed indications of mental instability, visions and the like. It could discredit her version of the departure of the Pontiff and hide the portals from the main councils of the Federation.

Jenny crossed her fingers.

Casting her adrift was the best outcome. All her missions for Internal Security had been clandestine. There was no official record of her existence beyond her surface role as a Personal Assistant. Her record was good, provided she could explain the apparent madness of accepting a position with Rachael, a brand new ambassador with few prospects for advancement.

Jenni smiled. She knew exactly she’d achieve it.

* * * *

Jack dealt with the administrative details of the day, attended meetings and listened to the usual run of problems. He was tired, but once he felt Rachael drift into restful sleep, he felt better.

“Hi.” Jean-Paul stepped out of Limbo, fortunately into an empty office.

“Hi, yourself.”

“Peter’s sending me off again. Said I was getting underfoot too much. I’ve come to say goodbye.”

“Don’t tell me he’s roped you in at last. You always said the Federation was an irrelevance.” Jack was surprised. Jean-Paul’s independence was deep rooted.

“They still are.” Jean-Paul smiled. “Peter needed something to push against.” He was the only one who accepted completely Peter’s creation of this world and all it consequences. “I came across some odd things in my travels. I needed to discuss them with Peter. They turn some of his theories on their head.”

Jack, the pragmatist, shook his head. The creation of the world was irrelevant. He existed. It existed. He was content to leave speculation to Peter and Jean-Paul.

“Don’t do that.”
Jean-Paul entered his mind. “
It affects Rachael.”

“How?”

“When Feodar swapped with Gabrielle, Peter thought his life expectancy would drop to normal, just as Peter’s and Gabrielle’s were extended, by the differing time streams. It didn’t happen, for he lived some seven hundred years after the swap, and one theory connects it to his telepathy. Some of the Elite still retained vestiges of it for several generations so he had some communication with them. As the bloodlines weakened, it did too and the natural life span of the Pontiffs shortened. D’feodar is less than a hundred years old.”

Jack nodded. His pre-mission briefing had covered the succession of Pontiff’s and their degenerating telepathic ability. He hadn’t noticed the correlation to their longevity before.

“My wanderings brought me into contact with other groups who claimed telepathic powers, mostly charlatans, but there were some genuine cases. None at our level, but all possessed latent abilities and each fed on the others to increase them. I had to be very careful with them.” Jean-Paul smiled. “Some had made it a religion and resented intruders.” Religious groups were always dangerous. Dogma replaced logic and they resented anything challenging it. “I noted the interesting correlation, with the more adept living longer, but discounted it for other factors until I came across the Viridians.

“Their sector was never explored. The scout ship assigned to it was one of the early casualties. They are a race of functioning telepaths where social progression is determined by tests of their powers. The population is divided geographically into four main areas and the southern Tetrarch is approaching our level and is three thousand years old.”

“They haven’t discovered Limbo.” Jack made the obvious deduction. In three thousand years they’d have swarmed through the known universe

“No, but some space pirates blundered into their way and they’re investigating the technology. Peter wants me to keep an eye on them.”

“How…,” Jack stopped, remembering Peter’s words about Feodar being a better example. If telepathy linked to life expectancy, Rachael could expect to match Gabrielle.