Chapter 34 Admiral Max Wellington Confronts Bjorn Muller
1424 Words
Admiral Max Wellington was sitting in his office at the Terran Council base on the moon Phobos. He had just met with Markus Bauer who had returned from the dead to file damning accusations against Rear Admiral Bjorn Muller. According to Markus Bauer, the corpse of the criminal insurgent Keila Eisenstein was just a decoy in the form of a non-functional clone that she had created to fake her own death. Furthermore, Markus claimed that Bjorn had been aware that the body was a decoy and the explosion in the science bay was Bjorn trying to silence Markus and get rid of the evidence at the same time. This was damning and dangerous accusations, especially since Bjorn’s father was the current chairman of the Terran Council.
Admiral Max Wellington sighed. He would have preferred not to be involved in this matter as it was a ticking bomb that could potentially blow up in his face no matter what he chose to do. Accusing the son of the Terran Council leader of treason was a guarantee of punishment and execution if he was proven to be wrong. Choosing to not act on suspicions of treason could also lead to his demise. Hence no matter how he chose to move, his life was in danger.
Max tried to evaluate Markus Bauer’s claims. They seemed incredibly far-fetched and unlikely. According to Markus, he had survived for over a day in an airtight capsule with only an oxygen tank and no protective gear whatsoever. Then he had passed out, and when he woke up, he had been a captive of the space pirate Morgan Henry. Eventually a wealthy Terran scientist from the Science Commission, Tzi Chen Cheng had paid ransom for him, and he was free to go. This story made little sense to Max. It was highly unlikely that Markus had survived all this time in space on his own, and it was more likely that his corpse would have been picked up by a House Cheng spaceship and that they had revived him, and then told him to make false claims against Bjorn Muller as a part of a political power play. After being dead in space for an extended period, Markus had been a complete mess when he woke up, and thus he was easy to manipulate.
On the other hand, while Markus’ claims against Bjorn could be complete fabrications, Max wasn’t ready to completely write them off. This was because he saw Bjorn as a spoiled, incompetent brat that had his high position in the Terran Council Interplanetary Forces solely due to his wealth and his family ties. While Admiral Max Wellington came from a poor family and had started from the bottom and worked himself up through the ranks, Bjorn Muller had merely shown up one day and was appointed as Rear Admiral, without ever proving himself. Bjorn had never led soldiers in frontline battle, Bjorn was very distant from the daily lives of the soldiers he commanded, and he showed very little interest and knowledge in what was and what wasn’t practically achievable in actual combat and battle missions. When battle missions didn’t go according to plan, Bjorn always passed the blame on someone else, and he got away with it due to his wealthy family ties.
Admiral Max Wellington knew that the Terran Council was aware of Bjorn’s incompetence. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have ordered him to stay in command of their Phobos base, instead of Bjorn. While Max was technically in command, he could not really give orders to his subordinates without Bjorn’s approval or get Bjorn to do anything as there was no way to reprimand the rich spoilt bastard, which led to a very dysfunctional command management structure on the military base. Max invited Bjorn Muller to his office, and eventually, Bjorn showed up, lazy and drunk.
Bjorn Muller:
- Hi Max.
- We should really have these meetings in my office instead. It’s a much prettier and bigger room, packed with a nicer couch and a better alcoholic beverage selection as well.
Max bit his lip in bitterness. He feels a surge of jealousy and rage enfolding him. Despite being the commander on the base, his office and private quarters were smaller and standard-looking, and it annoyed him every time Bjorn brought it up.
Max Wellington:
- As I understand it, your office has a better selection of prostitutes as well, I reluctantly had to sign and approve your latest requests this morning…
Max showed him a bunch of brochures and photos with different prostitutes, all posing in their spacesuit bikinis.
Bjorn Muller:
- How delightful, I have been looking forward to these new and fresh-looking ones.
Max Wellington:
- You turning the base into a brothel is not the reason you are here today!
- I had some grave accusations coming in about you, from someone you might have heard of.
Bjorn Muller:
- Then, let’s be serious.
- What were the accusations?
Max Wellington:
- I met with Markus Bauer the other day, and he had made a lot of claims about you.
Bjorn Muller:
- Markus Bauer?! He must be dead already! Wasn’t he killed during the explosion at the science bay a couple of months ago?
Max Wellington:
- Well, apparently not!
- Markus claimed that the explosion in the science bay was not an accident, it was an attempt made by you to silence him and get rid of the corpse of Keila Eisenstein, the Martian rebel, which he said was a decoy used to fake her death.
Bjorn Muller felt sudden fear crippling into his core, and he had to force himself not to crack under pressure. He was sweating profusely. He took a deep breath, and then succeeded to calm his own mind and instead nonchalantly answered:
- So, a man of no importance in my eyes is coming back from the dead to accuse me of treason. How absurd! Does he have any proof of his claims?
Max Wellington:
- Yes, it does sound absurd, and there is no proof.
- The question remains, though: Is he telling the truth?
Bjorn Muller:
- Of course not! The explosion in the Science Bay was a computer malfunction, and I have several witnesses who saw the body of Miss Eisenstein when it was delivered to the ship.
- Tell me, how does Markus Bauer claim he survived the explosion?
Max Wellington:
- He claims he was taken hostage by the space pirate Morgan Henry, and then freed by a Science commissioner from House Cheng who paid his ransom.
Bjorn Muller:
- Ahh, I see. This is obviously just a political play from House of Cheng, trying to stir up propaganda and lies.
- As a son of the Leader of the Terran Council, I command you to stay out of it!
Max Wellington:
- Okay, Bjorn Muller, I’m only doing this because of your family ties.
Bjorn Muller:
- Thank you for being sensible Max, much appreciated.
- Where is Markus Bauer now, I would very much like to speak to him!
Max Wellington:
- I had him transferred to another placement.
- And as a non-aligned Admiral, I decided to keep his location classified, to avoid confrontation between the two of you. He is a worthy scientist of Terran Council.
Bjorn Muller:
- That’s ridiculous! I can just call my father Joachim Muller and ask for the location.
Max Wellington:
- Yes, but that means you’ll have to tell your father the accusations and why you are looking for Markus.
Bjorn Muller said nothing and stormed out towards the door in anger, and he kicked the door violently before he managed to leave the room. Max interrupted him:
- Rear Admiral, I’m sorry but one more thing…
Bjorn turned around and looked at Max:
Max Wellington:
- From all the photos and brochures of the girls that I’ve shown you, how come your latest “selections” are all the spitting images of Miss Keila Eisenstein?
Max looked at him with a sceptical eye. Bjorn Muller lost his temper and yelled back at his superior:
- That’s because I like to fantasise about f*****g and dominating my enemies, unlike you, you old impotent eunuch!
He slammed the door and left Max’s office.
- Writer
