Just turn your back, count to three, then go your way, Tag said. Just four more seconds, Tag thought.
Tag knew that the big man was scared about being identified and was not going to go away easily. The big man thought for a moment and then said, Okay, well do it your way, and slowly turned around. Perfect, Tag thought; he was in the blind spot once more and was immediately moving behind the big man as he turned. It was then a simple task to move through the psychic shadows so he wouldnt be seen.
The big man slowly turned, started to leave, and then turned to see if the young boy would assure him that he would not identify him. The boy was gone. Where did he go? Where is he? he wondered. He turned and looked everywhere, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. He felt a chill in the deepest part of his soul and then he felt fear. He turned and ran. He knew that now his family might be at risk if he was identified.
Only twenty seconds had passed from the moment the first attacker moved to when the big man ran away. That was too short a time for the security team to arrive, but they did land there only two minutes after the big man had started to run away. One of the Directorate surveillance monitors had received a warning from the cameras sensors that gunshots were fired and a crime was being committed. The Directorate camera monitor took over manual control of the area cameras just as the big man left the scene. The monitor followed the big man until he lost sight of him when he went through a doorway that was recessed in a wall of a tall habitation building where thousands of families worked and lived. He switched to the cameras inside the building, but there was a shift change taking place and there were hundreds of people moving through the corridors. Even setting the cameras to find only the people who were his approximate size proved fruitless. There were just too many people, and he could have moved out of the corridor without being seen. They must have planned this so that they could use the shift change to escape, the monitor thought. The monitor then started looking for the other person that was sitting against the wall, but he was nowhere to be found. How can that happen? he wondered.
When the security team arrived at the scene of the attack, they looked at the carnage and wondered what had just happened. The bodies had fallen in haphazard fashion and blood was everywhere. John Sinclair, an enforcement committee senior inspector, looked at the bodies and then made a decision. Esa Connor, who was the department head of the North American enforcement committee, received a call on his com and said, What is it, John?
Sir, Im at a crime scene where four people have just been killed. The killer has escaped without being apprehended and Im having difficulty determining exactly what happened here.
Four people killed, Esa thought. Then he punched a button on his com and said, Julie, send me Johns coordinates. Im going to the scene,
John looked at the dead bodies and told his team to expect Department Head Connor to arrive shortly. I dont remember the last time weve had more than two killings, John thought. I can use some help.
Chapter 5
A dmiral Dorg, supreme commander of the Cainth military forces, entered his office, and everyone immediately came to attention. He looked around his command center for a moment and then said, Rest; continue what you were doing. He observed his staff going back to their consoles and noticed that their uniforms were perfect and that they were nervous in his presence. Thats a good thing, he decided. He stood watching his staff for a few more moments with his top arms crossed on his chest and his lower pair of arms behind his back. He looked out the window and noticed the cold Cainth winter howling outside. He actually enjoyed wintertime and could watch the blue ice shards blowing in the eighty-trigs-per-hour wind for drags. The tall, gray, leafless stone tree outside the window had so many ice shards sticking in its trunk and branches that they were sticking to each other; it was the ice shards that would give the gray tree the moisture it would need for the rest of the cycle. The shards couldnt penetrate to the core of the tree because it was harder than most modern alloys. Anyone going outside into those conditions was required to wear armor unless they wanted to be cut to shreds by the blowing ice. The stone trees just rocked slowly in the howling wind and absorbed the ice into their bark. Admiral Dorg looked around his command center again and was pleased by the efficiency of his staff. He stepped into his private office, motioning for his adjutant to join him. He sat down and asked, Tresk, do you have the plan set up?
Yes, Admiral, Tresk said. Im in communication with the Glod commander and hes going to star drive as soon as he receives the coordinates. Tresk then sent the feed of the Glod ship to Dorgs display.
Is our ship in position?
Yes sir. Its been there for three rotations, powered down except for environmental systems and passive sensors. It should be undetectable.
When is the human ship expected?
We expect it within the next rotation.
Did you make sure the Glod understand that whatever the Earth ship says when challenged that they will still attack?
I dont think youll have to worry about that, sir. Its the Glods nature to shoot first and then ask questions.
Even so, I want the Earth ship destroyed so we can see how far theyve come in weapon development. I want them to have to use all of their weapons and defenses.
It had been a hundred years since the Cainth admiral had destroyed the Earth cruiser. Before dying, the Earth ship had destroyed two Cainth destroyers and badly damaged a cruiser and a battleship. Dorgs grandfather was one of those killed on the damaged cruiser during that battle. His grandfather was a high noble and was third in line for the leadership of his clan. His father, who was a young cub when Dorgs grandfather died, had never forgotten or forgiven this new civilization for his death, and he had raised his sons to carry that hatred.
Dorg had worked his way up through the ranks until sixty rotations ago he became the overall commander of the Cainth armed services. He consolidated his position by promoting those he knew he could trust and established closer connections with the Glod Union. One of the first things he planned to do was to determine the capabilities of an Earth warship. He also knew that he couldnt get his hands dirty because of political pressure from the rest of the Alliance, which thought the Cainth were overly paranoid about Earth, a once-peaceful civilization. He also knew the clan leaders would veto the plan if he told them. He made sure he could trust the ones who knew of the plan and he didnt let anyone else know.
Dorg stood rocking back and forth on his legs while looking at the wall screen that showed the huge Glod cruiser. He admired the cruisers numerous weapons and wished his own ships were as powerful. It was 2,300 feet long and bristled with weapon ports. He knew that the Glod cruisers screens were stronger than his dreadnoughts and they were also faster. Then he thought about the so-called peaceful humans. Peaceful my grump, he thought. That ship had been the focus of two hundred warships and had not been easily destroyed. As a young officer, he replayed the recording of the attack and marveled at how the human ship had maneuvered to avoid concentrated fire. Now a hundred years had gone by and he knew that the humans had not been dormant in developing better weapons. Of course we learned from that battle too and our ships are better than they were. But are we better than our adversary? he wondered. He had to know. He decided to use a modern warship to test the human ship to determine how the humans would measure up to modern technology.