Eric Olafson, First Journeys (Vol 2)
Copyright© 2018 by Vanessa Ravencroft
Chapter 23: Guests of Honor
The military band sounded like a bunch of Nilfeheim kids blowing through plastic hoses and with about as much skill, punctuated by an instrument that made a noise that would put a wounded Fangsnapper to shame. Fectiv whispered, “If that is their best band used for ceremonies, I wonder how their beginners sound?”
Ninio had a hard time whispering, so it seemed, even though I knew he tried.“I can’t wait to get me a few recordings. Can you imagine them playing Funtuty tunes?”
I shrugged. “I guess, to each his own!”
After the band had played four more tunes, they finally put us on a wheeled vehicle. It had two tiers, and the upper one was open and had two rows of seats. The entire vehicle was painted and decorated in the Union colors. We were asked to get on the second tier and all the way to the front.
Before us, a row of vehicles with rotating lights on their roofs, and so we participated in a parade through the streets of the capital city. The streets were lined with crowds waving Union flags and cheering, but there were a few groups carrying signs, and they had messages printed in Union standard, such as “Union go home” and “We got rid of the Nogoll, now we need to get rid of the Union!”
I only noticed Bennett sitting behind me as he leaned forward. “Look at those ungrateful Dick faces, they didn’t get rid of the Nogoll, we did! I don’t see the point of courting those primitives. A nice Virus or a P bomb, and we got the system for ourselves.”
“I had it! We are back on the ship; I am putting you on report!”
“I am sitting behind you with a dagger and a loaded gun, and you won’t make it back, trust me!”
I turned and snapped. “And you are messing with a Neo Viking that gets more pissed by the minute! The best thing for you is to shut up and report yourself. You might need some serious reconstructive surgery before your court hearing.”
He paled, and hate glittered in his eyes. The other human cadet sitting next to him was clearly afraid and said, “You are not serious, aren’t you?”
Neither Waite nor I could respond as the Admiral called us to attention and then asked us about the now-stopped vehicle.
Harel and Uley
Harel and Uley had an anti-matter mine strapped to their bodies, and there were twenty more Nogoll dressed up as Yokuta. Ten of them would go on a tour of the ship, and the others would run into the forum with the Union honor guests and detonate themselves. Harel and Uley had the same orders: Go to a crowded place and detonate the anti-matter charges.
Neither one of them really wanted to die and commit suicide like that, but neither of them had much hope. If even one of the others followed through, the Union would not have any mercy and hunt the rest down. Once they knew what to look for, their sensors would find them.
-””--
Security Detail
Colonel Cornelius O’Hare was concerned. He was on security detail for the Admiral of the Fleet. Fleet Security would not let the highest officer out of their sights. Cornelius was with the PSI Corps and one of the eight officers permanently assigned to the Admiral’s security detail.
Admiral McElligott was a high-profile target, and there had been thousands of attempts on his life over the last three millennia.
Almost always exclusively agents and assassins hired by Union enemies. Of course, there was the occasional attempt of some fringe group or mentally disturbed individual. There were voices before the Y’All Crisis who questioned the legitimate right of the immortals to be in such leading positions and for such a long time. It all culminated in the Peac Hawk debacle. Those voices had almost disappeared after that.
It was clear to almost everyone that it was better to have individuals with that enormous experience, such as Stahl and McElligott, in leading positions. The Fleet was by far the largest organization in the known galaxy, and it was simply practical to have someone on top who could oversee projects that took half a century to be completed and had the irreplaceable experience of centuries. In all those centuries, none of the Immortals ever stepped out of line and tried to rule or dictate the direction. McElligott still took his orders from the Assembly, and he did so without fail.
Of course, none of the Immortals was as popular or beloved as Admiral Stahl, but he didn’t need security. He was more often than not in his nearly invincible battleship. Even though not being as popular as Stahl, McElligott was well-liked and, for a man of his position, had surprisingly few internal or political enemies. But few enemies in a Union and a galaxy as large as this was still a lot, and it was his job to keep the Admiral safe.
Now, why he had to come to this backwater planet was anyone’s guess. Of course, it was an impressive gesture to have an immortal show up in the flagship, but way too little preparation went into this trip, especially security-wise.
He was a good telepath, and most Yokuta were very friendly and had positive thoughts about the Union and a possible membership, but there was about thirty percent undecided, and ten percent felt violently opposed to any ties to the Union. It was those ten percent that caused him concern. Yet, the local police went through a big purge themselves, being the puppets of the oppressors for so long.
Cornelius sat in the wheeled bus below and behind the driver, with his eyes closed. He looked like he was sleeping, but he had his mental eye on the crowd around the bus. Psionic crowd scanning was not easy even for a very good telepath. You had to shift through hundreds of brains in mere seconds and look for an aggressive impulse that was strong enough for him to act. He could not simply stop the visit because someone was thinking badly about the Union or the Admiral. Thankfully, he had the best Psi training, and while it was demanding, he was experienced and he was not alone. Besides, there were ten Marines of F.A.S.T. (Fleet Anti-Terror Security Team) posing as regular Marines in Parade Uniforms. While they had no Psionic talents, they could smell trouble a mile away and react fast.
He hated to be disturbed, but Poul from Phantas, a very good telepath and good telekinet, and one of his colleagues, would not have done so if it wasn’t necessary. He used the Psi Radio, one of the great little devices only the PSI corps had. “Hey CC, did you have a chance to scan our cadets?”
“No, I thought they are just five-day cadets freshly processed.”
“They missed a Purist! One of them is full of hate and has serious ideas about hurting another cadet. Right now, he is held back by his own fear to actually use a weapon and kill someone, but it seems the threshold for violence is getting lower.”
“Monitor him closely. I prefer to deal with that in the ship. It would send a bad message to the Yokuta if we arrest one of our own right before the meeting. I doubt this would go down well with the Yokuta or the Admiral.”
“I agree. I will keep my senses drained on them, and I should be able to interfere telekinetically if needed, but that would mean you got to scan more of the crowd.”
“I don’t expect any trouble from the locals. Their police should be able to handle the few local troublemakers, and I have not sensed any real violent opposed thoughts so far, even from those who are against our future presence or membership.”
GUESTS OF HONOR
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