a pulse shot or being grenaded again.”
Emilio stayed quiet and just stared at Mary.
“And they call me stubborn” she finally relented. “Alright the best we can do right now is to conduct a few sessions and get him to talk about what happened. It would be good if he could do that with the others that were there.”
“Akos Salaman is here and Simons has just arrived.”
“Leave it with me Chief but I want to make sure you understand that this may not work. I have a duty of care to ensure that Buster’s welfare is looked after. If he doesn’t improve then we will have to ship him back.”
“Understood and thanks Maam.”
Chapter 19. Slidwon, Istridium 1030, 5 August
“This had better be important” said Charak Tumbisit. He was a tall lean rogan who maintained an erect posture despite the weariness that was obvious on his face.
Everything about Charak screamed ‘military’. He was a first tier aristocrat in his own right with twenty years’ service in the Imperial Rogan Fleet – an unusual calling for the first born of the famous Tumbisit retail empire. He should have been managing the family business but he had no appetite for commerce. Charak had known from an early age that his destiny lay with the Fleet.
The directorship of the Foreign Intelligence Agency was at first a bitter pill for someone who aspired to be a great admiral. But after some wise counsel he saw it was useless pursuing his boyhood dream. This was his tenth year in the job and, with Imperial fortunes turning, his days were getting longer and his eyes heavier.
“Please sit down Charak” said Angina. “Good morning Raitah” she added as Charak’s deputy entered the conference room behind him. Raitah Pratin was also a lean character from the same disciplined mould as her boss. Her hair should have been grey by now but that would never shine through. She dressed smartly as always and sat down beside her boss. Her sharp eyes quickly scoped out those on the other side of the table. It was a piercing gaze but Angina and Jebna were oblivious to it now. All four had spent many such meeting together.
Jebna handed out a sheet of ePaper to each of them. “This was received early yesterday morning. The incident occurred on the 1 st . The latest news just in is that an evacuation will be needed. It looks like Qwantum has a bleak future.” Jebna then looked at each of the FIA officers and continued. “Someone from your executive service facilitated this. This is an attack on an Imperial system. As such this is treason.” Again she looked at both of them and added “a capital offense!”
Charak reacted with what seemed to Angina to be genuine shock. “We got the report of the incident yesterday too. I know nothing of any direct involvement from my directorate. Who are you accusing and what evidence do you have?”
“Let’s just say that we have intercepted a signal to your Tanzam address service. The recipient is code named Elistra but we have no idea who Elistra is.”
Charak went white. “That’s my codename. That’s impossible.” He looked to Raitah, who appeared to Angina to be genuinely confounded. She just kept shaking her head.
Finally Raitah gathered her composure and her wits. “What did this signal say? Who was it from?”
Jebna slid across another ePaper across the table to Raitah. Charak and Raitah read it together. Raitah gave a glance at her boss then asked Jebna “but this operation KASAM could be anything?”
Jebna slid across another ePaper. “This clearly indicates that KASAM was intended to destabilise the Qwantum system.”
“So it does” said Raitah, her voice trailing off at the end as she again turned to her boss in disbelief.
“I know nothing of this operation” replied Charak. “I have not received this signal nor been involved in anyway. I am being set up here”. He then turned to Raitah with a quizzical look.
“Don’t look at me” she said indignantly.
Charak turned back to the
Emilio stayed quiet and just stared at Mary.
“And they call me stubborn” she finally relented. “Alright the best we can do right now is to conduct a few sessions and get him to talk about what happened. It would be good if he could do that with the others that were there.”
“Akos Salaman is here and Simons has just arrived.”
“Leave it with me Chief but I want to make sure you understand that this may not work. I have a duty of care to ensure that Buster’s welfare is looked after. If he doesn’t improve then we will have to ship him back.”
“Understood and thanks Maam.”
Chapter 19. Slidwon, Istridium 1030, 5 August
“This had better be important” said Charak Tumbisit. He was a tall lean rogan who maintained an erect posture despite the weariness that was obvious on his face.
Everything about Charak screamed ‘military’. He was a first tier aristocrat in his own right with twenty years’ service in the Imperial Rogan Fleet – an unusual calling for the first born of the famous Tumbisit retail empire. He should have been managing the family business but he had no appetite for commerce. Charak had known from an early age that his destiny lay with the Fleet.
The directorship of the Foreign Intelligence Agency was at first a bitter pill for someone who aspired to be a great admiral. But after some wise counsel he saw it was useless pursuing his boyhood dream. This was his tenth year in the job and, with Imperial fortunes turning, his days were getting longer and his eyes heavier.
“Please sit down Charak” said Angina. “Good morning Raitah” she added as Charak’s deputy entered the conference room behind him. Raitah Pratin was also a lean character from the same disciplined mould as her boss. Her hair should have been grey by now but that would never shine through. She dressed smartly as always and sat down beside her boss. Her sharp eyes quickly scoped out those on the other side of the table. It was a piercing gaze but Angina and Jebna were oblivious to it now. All four had spent many such meeting together.
Jebna handed out a sheet of ePaper to each of them. “This was received early yesterday morning. The incident occurred on the 1 st . The latest news just in is that an evacuation will be needed. It looks like Qwantum has a bleak future.” Jebna then looked at each of the FIA officers and continued. “Someone from your executive service facilitated this. This is an attack on an Imperial system. As such this is treason.” Again she looked at both of them and added “a capital offense!”
Charak reacted with what seemed to Angina to be genuine shock. “We got the report of the incident yesterday too. I know nothing of any direct involvement from my directorate. Who are you accusing and what evidence do you have?”
“Let’s just say that we have intercepted a signal to your Tanzam address service. The recipient is code named Elistra but we have no idea who Elistra is.”
Charak went white. “That’s my codename. That’s impossible.” He looked to Raitah, who appeared to Angina to be genuinely confounded. She just kept shaking her head.
Finally Raitah gathered her composure and her wits. “What did this signal say? Who was it from?”
Jebna slid across another ePaper across the table to Raitah. Charak and Raitah read it together. Raitah gave a glance at her boss then asked Jebna “but this operation KASAM could be anything?”
Jebna slid across another ePaper. “This clearly indicates that KASAM was intended to destabilise the Qwantum system.”
“So it does” said Raitah, her voice trailing off at the end as she again turned to her boss in disbelief.
“I know nothing of this operation” replied Charak. “I have not received this signal nor been involved in anyway. I am being set up here”. He then turned to Raitah with a quizzical look.
“Don’t look at me” she said indignantly.
Charak turned back to the
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