Chapter 8: Opening Moves

Despite Colonel Newhart's warning about a visit from Fleet Admiral Tucker, our night passed undisturbed. Therefore, the next morning found Linda and me marching to Colonel Newhart's office. Sarah had slipped off earlier promising to try to find a good location to listen to conversations between various DECO personnel. We discovered Colonel Newhart's office filled with confused and upset soldiers.

The Colonel spotted us when we arrived and whispered to a sergeant who came over to speak with us. "Commander, Lieutenant, if you can come with me."

We followed the man, who appeared to be thirty-four, far older than the normal marine. He led us to a small conference room and closed the door before pulling out a small box I recognized as a scrambler used to block the AIs usual cameras and microphones.

Once the sergeant was sure the room was secure he offered us a textbook salute. "Sergeant Rincon, sir. Sorry to bring you out of the office, but we just received word that the Sa'arm broke through one of our containment pickets and a hive sphere has appeared at one of the uninhabited systems just past Alpha Centauri. Casualties are low, but there are now several new planets threatened by this expansion, and our department is being tasked with providing additional supplies to the colonies now at risk. Unfortunately, it means having you train the Lieutenant by auditing our procedures will be impossible."

Linda gasped, but I kept my face impassive. "That's not a surprise. The Sa'arm have been putting pressure all along the front, so they were sure to breakthrough eventually. Please tell the Colonel that I hope everything can be settled soon."

Sergeant Rincon winked. "I'm sure it will be, and I hope your real investigation works out."

The man turned and left the room leaving Linda and I sitting quietly. Linda sighed and pulled my PDA out again, examining some notes she had made the night before.

"What should we do now?" Linda asked.

I shrugged. "Well one of Colonel Newhart's comments from last night gives me an idea. We could play bull in a china shop and wander into some random department and ask to see something. Or we could just wander and look like we are hunting for something."

Linda giggled. "How about you take me on a tour and at each department come up with some dubious claim of a violation we should investigate. The reactions might be interesting."

My laugh joined hers and moments later we were wandering the halls. At each department we would step inside and look around and I would explain to Linda what the people there did and about any previous investigations that touched their areas. It was sad, but the only department that I could say nothing about was the Marine Intelligence command of M2. They were chronically understaffed and only received what fragments of intelligence that the other commands were willing to give them, but twice they accurately predicted Sa'arm breakouts and their prompt and clear reports saved lives and even allowed the marines at Canus One to defeat the initial Sa'arm landing on their world.

Linda was shocked by some of the stories I had to tell. The Confederacy and the CAP testing supposedly removed all of the scum from selection, but the truism of power corrupting had proved accurate and despite the screening there were a few bad apples.

We were walking down a hallway after leaving the new offices of the Fleet Auxiliary. The man in charge there had practically pushed me out after I talked about the disappearance of one of the scout vessels they had sent out. The commander of the missing ship had no previous military command and more than a few officers suspected that the man had decided to work with the Cosca and not return to the Confederacy. Linda was shaking her head at the anger the man showed as we discussed the disappearance when a woman suddenly came out of a doorway and ran into me.

My Confederacy improved reflexes meant that I only stumbled. The woman merely came to a halt and glared at me as I recovered my balance. As I looked up at her I was surprised by what I saw.

The woman was wearing a professional pantsuit that belonged in some corporate boardroom. Her brown hair was in a professional and extreme cut as she glared at me.

"Explain yourself soldier!" she hissed. "What are you doing wandering the halls in this section of the ship. This is DECO's territory!"

I could see Linda about to speak, but I used my left hand to grab her hand and squeeze before I responded. "I'm sorry. Is there a new regulation that the military not enter these corridors? I saw no signs and the AI did not alert us."

The woman just glared at me. "Do you have a reason to be here?"

I shrugged. "Sorry ma'am. I'm Commander Norman Nelson. I work in the Internal Affairs department. I brought Lieutenant Jackson here to the Success for some training, but a military emergency disrupted our plans. I figured I could give her a tour of the ship and tell her about some previous investigations."

"Why not remain in the military corridors?" the woman hissed.

"I thought DECO was still part of the Confederacy, and that you coordinated with the rest of the military. Are you saying you don't?" I answered.

The woman scowled. "Tell me soldier, what is your CAP and why should I help you?"

This surprised me and I could see victory in her eyes as my face showed a reaction to her comment. "What does that matter?" I asked. "Aren't we all part of the same Confederacy?"

The woman sniffed. It was like she did not want to say more, but finally she shrugged. "It's nothing I guess. But you are only a Commander."

It was my time to smile. "Internal Affairs doesn't really have any higher ranks for its investigators. But then again we don't really have a place in the table of organization either. However, since you seem to be somewhat reasonable I'll tell you I had a CAP of seven point five."

The woman looked both impressed and shocked. "Wait! You have that good of a score and you are slaving away chasing petty crimes against the drones? Why aren't you doing something important to help save the true cream of humanity?"

I could feel Linda's anger and shock, but mentally stomped on my own before it became visible. I carefully spoke to the woman. "I'm sorry I just can't think that way, Miss..." I made the last word into a question and the woman blinked.

"Oh gosh, sorry. Jennifer Gates. I'm in charge of the entire pickup program. It's a bloody disaster if you ask me. We should just gather up the eights and higher CAPS and move them to safety. Earth is doomed and we are wasting so much time picking-up up the drones. Heck, too many of your soldier friends take concubines who could only count to twenty with their shoes off, and we expect their children to be better?" the woman said with a snort.

"Wow, I guess you have a high CAP then," I said, pretending to be awed. I gave Linda another squeeze hoping she would realize just how important this accidental conversation might be.

"It's a nine two," the woman said preening just a little. "But what do you expect. There isn't a person in my department with a score less than eight. I won't have them. If you want one like that then hunt down that mouse Traci over in Allocation. She's only got a seven eight, and pretends that her score is perfectly fine."

I gave Linda a nudge. She caught my hint and spoke. "So how complex is it setting up all the pickups? I mean with so many people only scoring in the six range isn't it hard to find more people for your department?" The young lieutenant made it sound just slightly scornful and Miss Bates smiled as if she found a new friend.

"Of course it is," she said. "But my department doesn't need many people. DECO just tracks the pickups and keeps track of who has been picked up. Well, that is our primary function. We do set up the special pickups when a truly worthy candidate is found. It sucks that the navy swipes so many. They always say the man is needed for some new research project, but that ass Tucker is just stockpiling men to keep Miles from his rightful position as head of the directorate."

Linda smiled herself and I was reminded of years ago in high school when the girls who led the popular clique were about to verbally eviscerate some unfortunate man. With a brief nod to both ladies I headed off as Linda began regaling the woman with some tales of other men who had acted above their station.

My hurried retreat led me to one of the many cafeterias in the ship. I decided to stop for a meal. As I was gathering my tray and heading to one of the tables, I felt a presence at my shoulder.

I turned my head and found myself looking at a massive marine. His shoulders had the single stars of a Brigadier General. With my hands full I could not salute so I offered a brief nod and then hurried to the nearest table to set the tray down. It was still clattering as I offered a salute.

The General returned a sloppy salute and then gave me a look that stiffened my spine. "So, why are you here?" he asked me.

"Sir?" I responded.

"Tell me why you are visiting this ship!" the man commanded.

I sighed. "Sir, Internal Affairs officers are forbidden to speak of their assignments to anyone other than the commanding officer of Internal Affairs or the officer who gave them the assignment. As you are neither, I would be subject to court martial if I spoke."

The man glared at me. "Why do you IA people always have a better backbone than any other officer?" he asked. The question was obviously rhetorical because he continued. "I'm General Clayton. I believe you met my chief-of-staff yesterday."

I thought and then relaxed. "If you mean Major Dupont, I did. I told him that I was here training a new investigator. Unfortunately our planned exercise was canceled by the news of the Sa'arm breakthrough"

The man nodded. "So what will you do then?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I need to check on how we can return. I know that the courier we came on left shortly after Major MacRoy finished giving the General's report, so I can't use that to return. I was giving my trainee a tour of the departments and telling her a little about previous investigations, so she'd know some things to look for."

The man looked grim. "And will do you that with my department?"

"Standards? I could, but I don't remember any previous issues with your department. I won't say it has a wonderful reputation, but when there have been problems they have come from Majors and Colonels who decide to cut corners in an attempt to appear more efficient. If anything your department is somewhat allied to mine since you try to make sure that corners aren't cut."

General Clayton relaxed and waved his hand towards the table. "Sit. I'm sure you are hungry."

I sat down and the General took the seat across from me. He looked around a bit nervously, but once he was sure that no one was listening in to the conversation whispered. "Sorry. At first I thought you might be investigating me, and then I was hoping you were investigating my problems."

"Your problems?" I whispered back.

He nodded. "There have been four shipments of fighters destined for some of the Midway class carriers where the shield generators in the fighters when they arrived were substandard. A maintenance crew on one carrier tore one unit apart trying to figure out what the problem was. Every part matched the schematic they had, but when you hold a detector up to the field, the field strength is one quarter what it should be. I know that somehow the schematic has been tampered with, but haven't been able to find out how."

I shook my head. "I've heard nothing about that in the Borneo District, but they only have one Marine Carrier, and its been mostly regulated to training missions for now. Right now the Navy has taken the lead in the district."

General Clayton nodded. "You came in on the Borneo courier, so I guessed you were from that district. I didn't realize that they had so few carriers. Most districts have been demanding more of the Midway class ships. The new fighters and their ground support abilities are prized."