Chapter 15
Sanctuary
Colonel Pfeiffer ran his fingers over his closely-cropped hair and stared again at the readouts on his display. Swiping a hand over the screen, he checked each set of answered questions. More importantly, his eyes kept dropping to the final evaluations inserted by the computer after each interrogation.
ALL RESPONSES TRUTHFUL.
NO DEVIATION OR DECEPTION NOTED.
NO MENTAL OR PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS NOTED.
The door to his office chimed. “Enter,” he snapped, and the portal slid to the side.
Lieutenant Colonel Williamsburg strode in without pausing to salute. When one worked side-by-side for months on end, such formalities were often excused on a daily basis and only brought back into use for formal occasions. Williamsburg stopped by the side of the colonel’s desk and glanced at the screen. “I take it you’ve seen the reports,” the man quipped.
Pfeiffer rolled his eyes up at the man. After a moment, he sighed and leaned back in his chair, motioning for the man to also take a seat. “Talk to me.”
Williamsburg spread his hands. “What can I say? The reports speak for themselves. And frankly, Colonel, I was blown away by their story.”
“Did anything in particular stick out?”
“You want a list?” Williamsburg held up a finger. “One, and this is the biggie. These people all told the same story, and it is one hundred percent true. Two, the isotope named Dox allowed us to examine and scan the little creature named Five. There is no record anywhere, anywhere, of such a species. On top of that, Five is highly intelligent. Dr. Smallwood even noted Five may have an equivalent IQ of one hundred four. Tad, I personally know people I’ve served under who don’t have that high an IQ.”
“Same here. Go on.”
A third finger went up. “Physical scans show their bodies contain elements we can’t identify. Where else would they have gotten those elements if they didn’t consume native plants and animals from that so-called nonexistent world? In addition, the woman has traces of a poison in her bloodstream we can’t isolate. She was questioned about it, and she claims she was attacked by creatures called clickers.”
Pfeiffer waved a hand. “Forget four and five. You’ve made your point. So what’s your opinion?”
Williamsburg snorted. “You’re joking, right?”
“I want your thoughts. Like the guy said, the ball’s in our court. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?”
The lieutenant colonel leaned forward, propping his elbows on his thighs and lacing his fingers together. “First off, I’d grant these people clemency. I’d open this outpost to provide them sanctuary.”
“What about the Seneecians?”
“When they contact us again, tell them we’d refused to allow the escapees on board, and they left the sector.”
“You do realize their shuttle is still sitting in Bay Nine,” Pfeiffer reminded him. “They could have a tracer on it. In fact, I’m betting they do. If we tell them we sent that crew on their way, they’d know we were lying.”
“Then we tell them the Seneecians are our prisoners, and are being dealt with under Terran law.”
“Again, we’re walking a very fine diplomatic line. Why not give them the Seneecians?”
“Because you know as well as I do that they won’t be satisfied with just getting back their own people. They’re going to want the Terrans as well.” Williamsburg grinned. “Checkmate in three moves.”
The door chimed again. At Pfeiffer’s response, Major Baffrey strode in and took the only other empty chair at Pfeiffer’s silent motion.
“Let me guess. You’re here to discuss the results of the reports,” the colonel remarked.
“In part. I’m here because of a new development.”
The other two officers gave him surprised looks. “Oh?” Williamsburg said.
“I just got the message. It should be on your screen,” the major noted.
Pfeiffer checked his terminal, found the unread message, and opened it. What he read made the hairs on his head stand on end. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Williamsburg sat up.
Baffrey snickered. “File it under ‘as if things couldn’t get more complicated’.”
“Lieutenant Chambliss claims she and the Por D’har are married. The term she uses is…Confirmed.”
Williamsburg jumped to his feet, going over to peer at the colonel’s monitor as Baffrey laughed.
“Yes, sir. The woman and the Seneecian tied the knot. I double-checked with a couple of the others, and they verified it.”
Pfeiffer ran his hand over his head again. “What the hell were they thinking?”
“Maybe they love each other,” Williamsburg suggested.
“Or maybe they couldn’t fuck each other without the ring,” Baffrey tossed out.
Pfeiffer saw the look of disgust the lieutenant colonel gave to the major and decided he needed to change the subject. “Willem and I were discussing granting clemency to both parties, based on the results of their interrogations under chemical restraints.”
“The Seneecian Tribunal isn’t going to like that decision,” Baffrey commented. “In fact, you’d be sitting on a powder keg if you refuse to turn over their people.”
“How long before the Seneecians arrive?” Williamsburg queried.
Pfeiffer checked. “Eight hours.”
“What if we sent them away? That way we wouldn’t be challenged,” the lieutenant colonel suggested. “The Seneecians haven’t requested that we hold them until their arrival, have they?”
“No,” Pfeiffer acknowledged. “All they’ve said was that D’har Kyber and his men were escaped convicts, and basically we needed to shoot first and ask questions afterwards.” He tapped his fingertips on the desk. “All right. Let’s separate the wheat from the chaff. We know that Seneecians can’t be trusted. We have been lied to repeatedly in the past. But what if these Seneecians and the others have told us the truth?”
“Remember, the Por D’har said he believes they’re trying to keep knowledge of that neverwylde a secret. What if that’s the truth?” Williamsburg crossed his arms over his chest. “Want to know my two cents’ worth? I think this neverwylde is the key. Those Seneecians want us to kill on sight their fellow Seneecians. Why? Because they’re dangerous criminals? Whatever happened to extraditing them and taking them back to Seneecia to serve out their sentences? And don’t overlook the fact that they also want us to kill our fellow Terrans, without us giving them due process.”
Pfeiffer glanced over at the major. The man may be a hardass, but he also had a keen mind. “What say you, Charles? Agree or disagree?”
The man appeared to pick imaginary lint off his perfectly creased trousers. “I think there’s one very crucial element you’re both overlooking.”
“And that is?”
The man looked up at them. “That furry creature. I’ll bet my oak leaf those Seneecians who are chasing down our guests have no idea it came with them. And if they do, when they do, they’re going to shit furballs.”
Williamsburg scratched his chin. “You can tell by looking at them that they’ve been through hell. They’ve lost weight. Their uniforms, or what’s left of their uniforms, are hanging off of them. Their medical readouts are typical of soldiers who’ve been through extreme survival training over a long period of time. And have you seen how they act around each other? There isn’t an atom of animosity between them. I can only guess how cohesive they are as a defensive force. Probably more than the tightest and most highly trained unit we’ve got.”
“Okay. Let’s address the elephant in the room here,” Pfeiffer suggested. “Let’s say Neverwylde is the real reason behind this whole kerfuffle.” He allowed himself a lopsided grin. “Why not send a team of scientists and a military detachment to this…what did they call that wormhole?”
“A tegris,” Williamsburg offered. “It refers to a wormhole that remains stationary in a particular sector of space, but appears at irregular intervals.”
“Why don’t we find this tegris, go in, land on that half planet, and do a thorough investigation of it?” Pfeiffer studied the two men to get their initial reactions. To his satisfaction, both men appeared conducive to the idea.
“If we do that, it’ll have to be done quickly,” Baffrey remarked.
“Why?” Pfeiffer asked, curious. “Even if we give those Seneecians the impression we don’t believe anything our prisoners have said, what can they do? They can’t hide the planet.”
“Depends on where it is,” Williamsburg observed. “If it’s in Seneecian space…”
Pfeiffer sat up and checked his monitor. “Did they give us any coordinates?”
“No. Once they went through that tegris, their sensors went on the fritz.”
“What’s the location of that tegris?” Baffrey questioned. “Is it in Seneecian space?”
After a quick search, Pfeiffer shook his head. “It doesn’t say.” He rubbed his chin. After a few moments of deliberation, he came up with an idea and hit the comm button. “Security, bring Lieutenant Chambliss and Por D’har Kyber to my office.”
“What are you thinking?” Baffrey inquired. “What if they don’t know the exact location of that tegris?”
“I think they do, or at least have a vague idea. But I’m calling them in to let them know what we’ve found…among a couple of other things.”
Williamsburg scrutinized him. “Such as?”
Pfeiffer turned his attention to Baffrey. “Would you have any objections to me offering sanctuary to our…guests?” Again, he checked for first reactions, especially the major’s. The man was a lousy poker player because his face was more expressive than a four-credit pulp novel. Baffrey’s eyebrow went up in surprise, but there was no overt resentment. Not when the chemical interrogations had made it clear the crew of the outpost had nothing to fear from them.
“Charles?” Pfeiffer prodded.
“You’ll have to give the Seneecians diplomatic status. Or else you’re going to have a bunch of nervous and trigger-happy people keeping an eye out for them.”
It was a sound suggestion. “Okay. I like it.”
“Do you need us to go? Or stay?” Williamsburg questioned. Pfeiffer got the impression the lieutenant colonel wanted to remain. He gave a single nod.
“You two may stay. I may need to pick your brains again after I’m done.”
Now that he’d made a decision, it was time to come up with a plan of action, something he was looking forward to with great anticipation.
Sitting back in his chair, he waited for the two guests to be brought to him.