Ancient Relics (THE RIM CONFEDERACY Book 4) Page 3

  Feeling better in five more minutes, he stood quickly and surprised a man on the other side of the glass wall who looked like he was taking Tanner’s picture with his PDA.

  As soon as Tanner saw that, the man ran down the sidewalk toward the rear of the building and the large parking lot that sat there. He took the stairs two at a time. Tanner again saw that khaki and shiny olive green uniform as the man sprinted down a long lane between two rows of parked cars and coaches and disappeared around a large coach.

  It looked like a different watcher this time, but what looked like the same uniform, he noted. He wondered how he'd find out which group the uniform belonged to, and then he remembered the librarian.

  He ambled over through the large reading room and back into the reception area to stand at the side of the counter and waited. She was helping some tourists from Merilda who had some troubles finding the Barony Palace, and she walked them all over to stand at the front of the room and pointed to her left.

  "See that beautiful tall tower—the blue and red one?" she said as she pointed at the ten-story tower about a half a mile away.

  "That's the front gate tower of the Baronial Palace where you can enter and get tickets for the tours and such. Just pop out front and flag down a robo-cab, and they'll take you right there," she said, helped them clear the doors, and turned back to the reception desk.

  Seeing Tanner standing and waiting, she went behind the counter and walked right up to him.

  "What can I help you with today, Captain?" she said and smiled at him nicely.

  "Ma’am, I've been in the Navy—some man's Navy—for my whole life. And I know military uniforms and insignia too. But today, yesterday too, I saw a man in a uniform I've never seen before, and I wondered if you can identify the force for me?"

  She nodded to him.

  "Man was wearing sort of a khaki and—"

  "Shiny olive green colored too, was it?" she said, her voice flat.

  He nodded.

  "Captain, yes, I know that uniform well. The Barony planet Tarvos is where they're from. You see, what many planets do is to specialize their training and expertise and then export their top-notch personnel to other planets. Tarvos is the home—at least in the Barony—of the best technological minds we have. So their personnel, who all dress like that, work for hire for anyone who needs IT or network or in our case, galaxy-class Wi-Fi needs. There's one of them down in the basement server room right now, I'd imagine," she said as she began to turn away.

  He was about to ask her more when he noticed her eyes said not to pursue this, and he stopped his interjection.

  He wondered at that a few minutes later as he went back to his study of another Barony world.

  This time it was ITO. He remembered fighting the Pirates there a few years back and knew much about a mine there. Never landed there, but still feel like I know the place.

  The thought of the khaki and shiny olive green watchers bugged him, but he obviously needed a better source of intel on whomever they were. Back to the Gallipedia database …

  His leg bounced, but he paid no attention to it. He ignored the information about the Natrium Flu quarantine and smiled. Little did they know … He searched again for Tarvos, wanting to find out what that man had wanted to learn from him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sitting in the Officers’ Mess at the Neres City Naval Base, Tanner was surprised when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

  "Captain, sorry to bother you—but this just came in for you, Sir," a CPO said, held out an envelope, and threw him a snappy salute.

  His fouled anchor and the five five-year stripes on his sleeve meant this was a career non-commissioned officer, and he deserved respect.

  Tanner saluted back with the same snap and nodded to the man.

  "Have we met before, Chief?" he asked as he tried to run the face in front of him through his own memory bank. The man looked familiar.

  The chief petty officer nodded and smiled.

  "Yes, Sir … I was the CPO on the First Contact away team with you off the Marwick when we first met the Ikarians, Sir. I accompanied the Lady and her EliteGuards, but had to stay behind with the size of the away team, Sir. Sorry I missed that one, Sir," he said and Tanner could hear in his voice that he really was sorry.

  "Your name, Chief?" he said.

  "Chief Petty Officer Nelson, Sir. Adam Nelson, Sir," he said and snapped to attention.

  Tanner looked at the man and remembered putting together that away team on the Marwick when they'd had to force field their way onto the alien Sleeper ship. It was almost two years ago now, and yes, this CPO named Nelson did seem familiar.

  "We talked that mission about the Lady's safety—did we not? And yes, you were carrying a whole bunch of presents for the aliens too," he said as he searched his memory.

  "Aye, Sir … and her EliteGuards interrupted us both and said that was their duty—that we should not worry about it. Sir," He smiled.

  As Tanner remembered, that First Contact mission went off fine and the Ikarians were soon a part of the RIM Confederacy.

  "Yup, I remember, Chief—what is that you have?" Tanner said as he took a final gulp of his lunchtime juice and finished the bottle. Lunch had been tasty—Garnuthian pork was about the best thing that came off that planet, and when coupled with the local cabbage salad, it had been a great lunch.

  He looked up, accepted the envelope, opened it by tearing off the end and blowing into the envelope to make it billow open, and slid out the doubled sheet of paper.

  It was a handwritten note from Helena inviting Tanner to come to the Sterling tomorrow evening for dinner.

  He looked away and wondered what might happen if he told the chief he could not make it—and then he remembered, the Lady was his employer. Or at least her stepmother was, but that made a small difference and really not much of one. He watched absently as a group of crewmen from some Barony ship joshed with each other a table away, and the laughter was loud, and he could tell this group was tight. Esprit de corps, he knew, came after a crew had been tested with trauma, battle, or stress. He'd be lucky to have such men on the Atlas and that made the smile wipe off his face.

  "Sir, I was asked to await your answer, Sir," the chief said, still standing at attention in front of Tanner.

  "You may take back with you, Chief, my answer is that I'd be honored. Dinner bell at ..."

  "Nineteen hundred hours, I was told, Sir," the chief answered and snapped that salute once more, spun on his heel, not even waiting for the usual salute from Tanner, and strode away.

  Dinner tonight, Tanner thought, would be interesting. Very interesting … He would challenge the Lady with what he'd learned.

  #

  The leader of the group, sitting at the booth in the bar, looked around for their waiter. Spying him over at the bar, he motioned for another round, and the beers were poured and soon delivered to the table. Each of the men in their khaki and shiny olive green shirts reached for a beer and took a big gulp or two. One of them wiped the froth of the head off his lips and cheek with the back of his sleeve and then pointed down at the table.

  "We know why we're here. We know that we've something to trade for this opportunity. And we know that the captain—when he faces the truth—will feel as we do. We know all of that to be factual. Correct?" he said, his forefinger jabbing at the table at each of his points.

  The leader named Astrin nodded.

  "What you say, Jessop, is true—but we need to find a way to meet with the captain and explain—at least as much as we can—as to what he will have to know and what that might mean to the Barony and our own future over on Tarvos. We need to find that opportunity, and it has to be both a non-threatening one as well as one that will end well—for us. Agreed?"

  The two aliens on the other side of the table nodded, and their large ears wobbled as they always did when they made head movements, but that was to be expected. Tarvos aliens were for the most part almost indistinguishable from humans except
for a couple of obvious items. They had larger—almost twice as large—ears than humans, which was the most noticeable difference. The six toes couldn't be seen, but the twin thumbs could be. They were laterally transposed on the other side of their palms, and the two thumbs could work together or as separate digits. It had been that single genetic oddity that had made their species develop so quickly, so dramatically, and when technology had been their ticket to greatness, they had grabbed it with both thumbs.

  "We know our duty. We know what we have to do—yet the best thing might be for us to not clue this captain into what we know of the Seenra—five generations of trading with them have made our fortunes, and we intend for that to continue—agreed?" he said and received nods from all.

  "So, tomorrow at the Crew Selection Fair, we apply and we go as a unit—we need to gain crew status. We need to be on the Atlas to do what needs to be done."

  More nods were given, and one of the team members on the other side of the booth table held out his hand, palm up.

  "We need to have him here … in the palm of our hand when the moment comes," he said and then he closed his hand into a fist and pounded the table.

  All the team smiled.

  #

  Bram had more than 100 crewmen in front of his station in the huge Navy drill hall, and while that was about the longest line, it made sense as many crewman candidates wanted to speak to an Adept officer. They, like the rest of the RIM, felt that if they could sell themselves to an Adept, the recommendation from such an officer would carry more weight than anyone else's recommendation.

  Tanner stuffed another file into the box at his hip and looked around.

  Since just after breakfast mess call, the drill hall had been filled with candidates for the Atlas crew. They had simply appeared with dockets or files in hand or their personal records on thumb drives or carried in their wrist PDAs. Each wanted to do whatever it took to get an interview with the proper officer behind one of the many desks that were stationed around the west wall. Beside each desk were boxes of files for those already seen with interview answers and notes too.

  While Bram, who was looking after general bridge crew positions, had the longest line now, there were still others too.

  At the far end, Air Force Colonel David Richards sat at his station with pilot after pilot in line in front of him. His job was to weed out the best of the Barony pilots who wanted to fly in one of the two wing squadrons so he needed to fill 100 spots, with some alternates, and he'd been busy all morning. The light blue uniforms in front of him stretched out the far door.

  Beside him, querying marine after marine, sat Major Alver Stal, whose job today was to find 200 of the best marines he could to add to the roster of Atlas forces, and judging by the stack of NO's he dropped on the floor beside him, he was a tough sell. Marine after marine came to attention in front of him, and IDs were exchanged and records tendered and then all were quiet while the major read. For some, their crew applications were placed gently in a box beside him—most likely the YES ones. Some, however, were simply dropped off the desk onto the untidy stack beside him and that meant NO for sure.

  Tanner wondered how that resonated with the marines still in line, but he did note the line doubled back and forth in long rows, so whatever Alver was doing, it seemed to be working too.

  He had met and talked with some other advisers that had presented themselves to him over the past few days, and the general consensus was that he should be picking his own XO—but his knowledge of the available candidates was at zero. He knew no one in the Baronial Navy, and that was a good thing—but in this single case, it was no help at all.

  The top levels of the Baronial Navy were nonexistent as there was no Navy Admiral in the Barony—the Baroness herself ran the Navy. That meant while there was a chance this might be a good thing—the ability to excel as a captain might mean he would become the first admiral ever. “But the bad thing was,” he said to himself,”I have no knowledge of any navy personnel from which to choose my own XO.”

  Past where he sat at the station for XOs, there were three CPOs including the one he'd just met yesterday, CPO Nelson, who were interviewing for enlisted crewmen. With over 450 crew positions to fill, they were the busiest in the hall. And beside them were two Master CPOs looking for more non-commissioned officers to add to the crew.

  "Busy, busy," a voice said from in front of him, and he turned back to see a Navy commander. A few inches over six feet tall, the man was human—at least as far as Tanner could tell—with no outwardly alien characteristics. He placed a file—a fat file, Tanner noted—on the desk and then came to attention.

  "Commander Lazaro, reporting as directed, to tender my credentials for the XO position. Sir," he said and stared past Tanner.

  "Uh … thanks, at ease," Tanner said as he sat, picked up the man’s thick folder, opened it, and began to leaf through it slowly.

  The man had had one hell of a career; he'd graduated as number one in his class at the Barony Naval Academy more than a dozen years ago. Since then, he'd been posted on more than six different Navy vessels including a position as a commander over on the Compass, the Barony destroyer that was the usual ride for the Baroness herself. His performance reviews rated him as an excellent officer, yet Tanner noted he'd never been offered an XO rank yet.

  "Good record. Exemplary. But … never been an XO. Do I have that correct?"

  "Sir, yes, Sir. As a member of the ruling family over on Amasis, everyone thinks I'm just passing time as a Barony officer—that I'll simply resign my commission and go back to my home world and take over when my father passes on. They've all been wrong, but no matter what I say or how good I am at my job, the XO position appeared to be beyond my reach. ‘Til the Atlas came along—and you too, Captain," he added.

  "How's that," Tanner said and wondered what the man knew or thought he knew.

  "Know about the Pirates, Sir. Know about the Sleepers too, as I've just come in from Throth. Know about Halberd too—well, as much as anyone knows."

  He still stood at attention and that thousand-yard stare pushed out from his bright hazel eyes.

  Tanner nodded, and he wondered what should ask next, so he turned to look over at Bram. He tilted his head as if to say, “Come over.” Bram spoke to the seaman in front of him and then rose to walk over.

  On the way, he slowed his walk, stared at the officer in front of Tanner, and then quickened his pace.

  "Sir?" he said as he arrived.

  "Bram, this is Commander Lazaro—Kondo Lazaro of Amasis, and I wanted you to meet with him too," Tanner said, but in his head he simply asked Bram, “Will this be a great XO?” After almost three years together, when he broadcast directly to Bram, close to Bram, he knew his thoughts, if simple enough, got through.

  Bram picked up the thick folder on the desk and nodded as he glanced through several of the topmost pages. He read a bit and then put it down.

  "Sir, this is an excellent candidate for the job—he'd get my vote if I had one, Sir." He smiled at Tanner.

  Tanner nodded and stuck out his hand.

  "Welcome, Kondo, you're the new XO on the Atlas," he said and smiled. If Bram felt like he did, then this was a solid decision and one that he'd not rue in the future, at least hopefully so.

  The commander seemed a bit taken aback, but he shook both his new captain’s hand and Bram's hand, and then he looked around the area.

  "We'll need another desk here STAT, Sir, and I'll get myself a chair too. Lieutenant, will you channel some of those bridge crew candidates over to me, and let's get going," he said as he turned and went over to the far wall to get a desk out of the pile of unused furniture, and he dragged it back to the lineup beside Tanner's desk.

  Tanner was impressed, but then again, he thought, if this man was so good, then he'd be more than capable of taking charge.

  Tanner leaned back in his chair for a minute or two as he heard his new XO interrogating a helmsman beside him, and he was glad he'd made that
choice. At least he hoped he'd be glad.

  #

  “Once again,” Tanner said to himself, “I'm walking over to the Sterling for dinner with the Lady.” That made him smile until he remembered the Lady had planned to marry Nusayr back on Halberd, and that upset him again.

  His PTSD symptoms had lessened in the past few days, so he tried to keep a lid on his level of stress and the contributing factors to it. One never knew what made him jumpy or why it came along … best not to think about it, I'd guess.

  He shook that off.

  Tonight, if he had a chance, he'd ask Helena outright as to what he'd learned from the Baroness.

  At least that way, he thought, I’d get the answer from the person involved, yet he wondered if it was the best way to do that. He shuddered a bit as he almost began to picture the count in his sights, and he shook his head and said, “NO” in his brain over and over.

  He marched a little louder, his boots slapping against the tarmac and that made him almost stop.

  If this was Neres City, where the Lady actually lived, then why were they having dinner on the Sterling?

  Surely, she had a wing or a set of rooms in the Barony Palace, yet he'd been told to come to the Sterling at nineteen hundred hours. And he presented himself at the landing ramp at precisely that time.

  Nodding to him, an EliteGuard punched something into his tablet and asked,”Do you need help finding the conference room on deck nineteen?”

  “Nope, not a problem,” Tanner replied and took the up-moving stairs and smiled to himself that he must be considered trustworthy enough to walk the ship un-escorted.

  That thought left him quickly when an EliteGuard at the top of the escalator ramp joined him and escorted him up to deck nineteen and then down the curved corridor to the conference room he'd visited before. The EliteGuard opened the door, and Tanner walked in and was met with the Lady herself, already seated at the head of the long table. He noted there were no dinner settings, and oddly, that made him instantly alert.