“Why the sudden flattery?” Maddox asked, dryly.
Dana nodded. “I suppose it’s my turn to make a confession. I understand you’d like to know whether I’m trustworthy or not for the long haul back home.”
Maddox wondered if Valerie had already talked to Meta about this, and if the Rouen Colony miner had come to the doctor.
“How much do you know about my past?” Dana asked.
“Could you be more specific?”
“You know I went on an expedition with Professor Ludendorff. What do you know about me after that?”
“Simply that you were a clone thief,” Maddox said. He figured why let her know what he already knew from the Star Watch Intelligence files.
“Your vaunted Star Watch didn’t give you any more specifics than that?” she asked.
Of course, they had, but his instincts led him to hedge his bets. “Nothing more than that you once engaged in espionage against the Social Syndicate of the Rigel System. I also know you’re a computer expert.”
“Much more than a mere expert,” Dana said. “I excel with any form of electrical system or device.”
“I’ll willingly grant you that. According to your dossier, you were the heart of the attack against the ruling syndic. How and why you made these attacks—” Maddox shook his head. “You’re right. My brief concerning you was too light, with too many unanswered questions.”
“It’s as I suspected.” Dana compressed her lips together before asking, “What do you know about the Rigel Social Syndicate?”
“Very little,” Maddox admitted. “I know they’re part of the Commonwealth of Planets, if troublesome members.”
The Commonwealth was a loose, large union of sovereign systems with the Star Watch as its protective and space-enforcement arm. A few of the systems, such as the Rigel Social Syndicate, only gave nominal allegiance.
“The Social Syndicate controls several star systems,” Dana said. “Their navy keenly patrols its various tramlines. They also happen to quarrel incessantly with Brahma.”
Dana studied her hands before looking up. “I was born in Bombay, India on Earth, but at an early age I emigrated to Brahma. As the name indicates, former inhabitants of India colonized the Brahma System. Our planetary religion is an accelerated form of Hinduism. That’s unimportant to my story, as I’m an agnostic.” The doctor shrugged. “I believe something made all this—the universe, I mean—but I have no idea who or what combination of super-powered beings did it.”
“Fair enough,” Maddox said.
“The social contract, as preached by the syndic and his cronies, has little appeal to those of Brahma,” Dana said. “Our planet engages in high tech production and sales. We’re a single star system with perhaps three hundred million inhabitants. The Social Syndicate dwarfs us in territory and population. In these sorts of things, it doesn’t pay to be weak or small.”
“No,” Maddox said.
“Still,” Dana said, “we had a solid navy and fought with zeal. From time to time, however, syndicate raiders slipped into our system, kidnapping men and women for various rich people’s sex objects. Sometimes there were acts of technological piracy as well. It grew worse several years ago, and our hegemon—the name of our ruler—decided it was time for more vigorous defensive action. The Star Watch had failed to act decisively enough, no doubt wishing to keep the peace with the syndic. Instead of embroiling our systems in war and possibly bringing a Star Watch blockage on us and killing trade, we decided the Social Syndicate needed a civil war to split it apart.”
“Ah,” Maddox said, intrigued.
“The situation was something you might have excelled at,” Dana said. “It was a spymaster’s affair. How much do you know about the Social Syndicate philosophy?”
“Almost nothing,” Maddox admitted.
“The key facet to understand for my story is that there are two major branches of thought. The first is known as the Maxim school of thought while the second is the Limited. I won’t go into the philosophical differences between them. To an outsider they might not seem important. To many Social Syndicates, they are critical. The Rigel rulers and military are Maxim in belief. That being said, not all the Syndicate’s subjects adhere to those doctrines.”
“And…” Maddox said.
Dana grinned. “You wish me to get to the point. Very well, my task was to infiltrate certain clone centers. I was part of the team that planned to break into the most heavily guarded sanctuary in the Oikumene: that is, the syndic’s personnel clone garden, where his clones and those of his immediate cronies lived. Our idea was simple and elegant.
“I cracked the security codes, and we herded the poor clones into a waiting spaceship. With them, we fled to a secret center in the stars. The Brahman secret service wasn’t nice. They wanted to stop a war, after all. You can understand that, I’m sure.”
“Yes,” Maddox said.
“The clones underwent intensive retraining,” Dana said.
“Brainwashing, you mean,” Maddox said.
“I prefer my term. In any case, instead of the Maxim beliefs, the clones become Limited in outlook. After a certain length of time, the Brahman secret service released the first clones back onto Rigel.”
“I think I can guess the rest,” Maddox said. “The clones gathered a following and started a political rebellion.”
“That’s right,” Dana said. “It was the germ of a possible civil war. It didn’t get that far. But it gave the syndic’s people a headache they most certainly didn’t want.”
“So what happened next?”
“The hegemon sent representatives to the syndic and they signed a non-aggression treaty. The Rigel Navy would from now on help patrol the tramlines leading to our star system. That was the overt wording. The secret clause was very clear. The syndic would make certain that no more raiders kidnapped or pirated our people.”
“What about the other clones you’d stolen and continued to retrain?”
“You have to ask?” Dana said. “You’re in Intelligence. You should know what we did.”
“The Star Watch doesn’t play quite so rough as those on Brahma,” Maddox said.
“About that, I don’t believe you for a moment,” Dana said. “Anyway, the other clones continue to live in seclusion. That’s in case the syndic changes his mind about us. They’re the Sword of Damocles permanently hanging over his head.”
Maddox knew the ancient Greek legend of Damocles. A man had complained to a king about how wonderful life was for the ruler because of the power he wielded. The king let his friend live like a monarch for a day. The only caveat was the man had a sword that dangled by a thread above his head. If the thread snapped… that would obviously end the good life. And that was the punch line of the tale, the Sword of Damocles. The king told the man he had power, but he always had to fear the assassin’s knife.
“You tell an interesting story,” Maddox said. “I fail to see, though, what it has to do with our current situation.”
“That’s because I’m not finished. Not so long ago, the Star Watch stopped a Brahman ship. The problem for me was despite the treaty between Brahma and Rigel, the syndic had declared me a criminal. And that’s how the Star Watch officers treated me. I happened to be on the vessel they stopped.”
“Wait a minute,” Maddox said. “I don’t understand. Didn’t you belong to the Brahman secret service?”
Dana shook her head. “I’ve never been much of a joiner. I’d worked as an independent contractor. The syndic’s people were ruthless. They saw the loophole and used it. The Brahman secret service had paid me well, but they didn’t use any back channels to help me with the Star Watch. So, I hate them as much as the Star Watch for what happened next.”