Children of Trident Book 1: Broken Treaty

The Justine

Cassielle

    That explained the explosives, and why the fire suppressant system failed.

    “Is Jacobee here or did he leave with High Council?” she asked.

    “He arrived shortly after High Council’s ship left.”

    “Good, have him meet me at the medical bay.”

    The captain returned to the bridge and Cassielle and Harold continued to the medical bay. LuHan preceded them and secluded Gideon’s body in a private room. A tall, muscular young man like Harold is very noticeable when he cried. Cassielle watched as Harold received treatment for the injuries he sustained on the Lillian. Nate approached her from behind.

    “Is that Gideon?” he asked indicating the stasis bed.

    “Yes,” she said.

    “How long do they expect him to be in there?”

    “He didn’t make it, Nate.” Her voice cracked as she spoke the words.

    His face reflected the sudden grief that came crashing down onto him. He passed her and went in to comfort Harold. Cassielle watched for a few moments as Harold lost control over his emotions in his cousin’s arms. Harold let out a sob and Cassielle could feel her chest tighten. She had to keep her emotions under control. Kat ran past Cassielle and wrapped her arms around her brother.

    “Ma’am,” Jacobee said from behind her.

    “Find out why my ship was destroyed.”

    “Yes, ma’am.”

    She listened to Jacobee exit.

    Cassielle walked back over to the main room where the remaining members of her family were. From the corner of her eye, she could see Nate approach. She cleared her throat, and the room went silent.

    “I have the unfortunate duty to inform you,” her voice cracked again, and she had to swallow before continuing, “that Gideon Leon Kall has passed away from his injuries sustained from the attack on the Lillian.”

    Stunned faces looked at her.

    “Why did it happen?” Justin demanded.

    He stood next to his wife’s bed. She was awake now and had sat up.

    “That is under investigation. I want to know as well.” She turned to leave.

    “Mom,” Nate called out.

    Cassielle ignored him and walked into the main office of the medical bay. The chief medical officer for the Lillian was Juls, LuHan’s sister. She had been temporarily reassigned to the Hilt during the mission to Earth. LuHan and Juls were both discussing the condition of several injured civilians. They both saluted when Cassielle entered.

    “When my family is well enough to move, I want them in a secure area,” Cassielle commanded.

    “Yes, High Command,” Juls said.

    “They are to be under guard at all times. No one aside from High Council, myself, or my team are to speak with them.”

    “Yes, High Command.”

    Cassielle left the office and almost ran into Nate. She took in a breath before addressing him.

    “Do you need something?” she asked tensely.

    “I need to talk to you,” he said unfazed by her reaction to him.

    “About what?” She walked past him. Nate followed.

    “About what happened back there. Why were we attacked?”

    “When I find out, I will let you know. I promise.”

    She exited the medical bay, leaving Nate staring at her. A guard led her to a set of temporary quarters. Unlike the Lillian, the Hilt was split into different levels, the medical level being in the middle of the ship. Her temporary quarters were located two decks up, near the captain’s quarters, but still three decks below the bridge. A shower and a change of clothes made her feel a bit better. She refused her official robes, opting to remain in combat clothes. Her attendants put her hair in a simple bun, and she remained armed.

    Jacobee had files open on multiple holograms when Cassielle entered the conference room. Since he had no official office on the Hilt, he had been allowed to use the conference room as an office. The other members of her team had joined him as well. Masa worked with a tall, dark woman named RuAnn. Binny and his older brother Joula both glanced up before they bowed their heads back to work. They looked identical but there was more than ten years separating them in age. No one stood or saluted, something that Cassielle preferred.

    “What can you tell me?” she asked upon entry.

    “The self-destruct command was triggered 10 minutes before the explosion in the guest quarters. Also, the order of destruction was changed. Usually, sensitive areas would be detonated first, and non-essential areas would go last. The medical bay would be the very last area to explode, but on this list, it was sixth to go,” Jacobee reported.

    “So, we are dealing with someone who not only knew how to deactivate the security around the self-destruct, but also knew how to turn the alarms off, and how to change the order of destruction,” Cassielle commented.

    She studied a few of the reports from the Lillian, noticing a breach attempt into the data banks.

    “When did this happen?” Cassielle asked pointing it out.

    “Someone tried to electronically access the data banks on the Lillian shortly after your family was attacked,” Masa said pulling up a new screen with a full report listed on it.

    “Cleaver diversion. Were they able to access the information?”

    “No. This report states the hack was incomplete. Furthermore, they were trying to access the data remotely from the medical bay escape pod area.”

    “Why in such an odd location?” Cassielle asked.

    “Pull up the schematics of the Lillian,” Jacobee commanded.

    Masa tried but she was denied access. Cassielle entered her credentials and a 3D hologram of the Lillian appeared. Masa isolated the medical bay with the escape pod.

    “Show me which terminal the hacker tried to access,” he said.

    Masa entered a command, and it highlighted a terminal near the end of the pod bay.

    “Show me Harold and Gideon’s pod,” Cassielle said.

    Masa entered another command and the pod next to the terminal highlighted.

    Cassielle begun to figure out what happened. The hacker had not been an escaped prisoner, and had been interrupted when the evacuation began. Having the worse of the injuries, Gideon would have been one of the first civilians to evacuate.

    “Where is my family?” Cassielle asked.

    “They have been moved to a secure area within the Hilt,” RuAnn said looking at another report.

    “Who is guarding them?”

    “Soldiers assigned to the Hilt. All rescued Lillian soldiers have been secured in bay two for debriefing.”

    “We have some time to find out who it was,” Cassielle said sitting down.

    Together, they started to read through the records of the soldiers assigned to the Lillian for the mission.

    “This one looks promising,” Binny said handing a personal record to Cassielle.

    The record belonged to a technical officer who had high level access to all the Lillian’s programming.

    “Here’s the problem, the hacker was trying to get access. This officer had access,” Cassielle said putting the profile down. “And he’s alive, being found in a pod that launched from the opposite side of the ship. His com locates him in the engine compartment when the first explosion went off.”

    “What about his apprentice?” Jacobee said handing her another profile.

    This profile belonged to another tech officer. His body had only recently been recovered and his com deactivated.

    “He wasn’t on the ship when it exploded?” RuAnn asked. “How?”

    “His com put him near the medical bay right before the guest area got attacked,” Jacobee said. “And he doesn’t have as much access as other tech officers since he is still in his apprenticeship.”

    “If he was near the escape pods when Harold’s pod got damaged, he could have been sucked into space. Contact LuHan. I want the enhancement recovered,” Cassielle ordered.

    “We are approaching the rendezvous point,” the captain said in her com.

    “Thank you,” she said before releasing the conversation. “Keep me informed.” Cassielle left the conference room.

    She went back to her quarters and added a floor-length sleeveless set of robes to her attire. She then went to the secure area where her family waited. This consisted of one of the many barracks style quarters for soldier usually assigned to the ship. Her family stood or sat in small groups and more than a few of them looked up as she entered. Everyone had a chance to take a shower and change into clean clothes. Kevin sat alone staring out the windows.

    “He and Gideon became close friends after you left,” Nate said approaching her, flanked by Rose and Celia. “What did you find out?”

    “Not much, right now,” she said. “We figured out why the guest area was attacked, but we are still working on how it had been triggered. How are you guys doing?”

    “As well as could be expected,” he responded.

    “And you?” Rose asked.

    “Truth be told, I deal with life and death issues every day. As commander of the military, I am expected to handle these situations without a second thought. It’s different when family is involved,” Cassielle answered.

    “It is different with family,” Celia said. “Why were we attacked?” she asked.

    “To distract us from the main target. You were just…collateral.” Cassielle tried to choose the right words.

    Silence fell within the group. The captain contacted Cassielle again.

    “High Command, we have arrived,” he said.

    “Thank you. I will exit with the civilians.”

    Cassielle and her family were escorted from the guest area to the docking bay. They watched from an observation deck as the Hilt approached a large military frigate. Xander pulled at Cassielle’s robes, and she picked him up. His eyes grew wide as the frigate dwarfed the smaller Hilt.

    “And I thought this was a big ship,” Rose exclaimed under her breath.

    “That’s a galaxy class war ship,” Cassielle said. “It happens to by my second ship, and only used in times of conflict.”

    The Hilt slowly approached the Justine. Cassielle listened to the familiar sounds as mechanical arms reached for and guided the ship into place. Latches sealed the opening. The bay doors opened, creating a ramp into a large cargo space of the larger ship.

    The docking complete, Cassielle handed Xander to Celia. She led her family from the Hilt onto the Justine. Admiral Gilk, the ship’s commander, greeted her with a salute. Behind him two battalions had assembled to greet them.

    “Welcome back to the Justine, High Command” Admiral Gilk said looking at the civilians behind Cassielle.

    “Thank you, Admiral,” she responded. “Our guests are high-profile civilians from the Kalli family. They are to be respected as such.”

    The Admiral stared at Cassielle’s family with a look of bewilderment.

    “It certainly is an honor, High Command. I will personally see to their comfort and security.”

    The Admiral motioned and soldiers stepped forward. They escorted the family out of the docking bay through a side door. Jacobee joined Cassielle as they walked between the two battalions, followed by Admiral Gilk. On the far side of the room, High Council waited for them to approach. The soldiers saluted Cassielle as she passed them. She reached High Council and bowed deeply. This motion was followed by Jacobee, the Admiral, and then the soldiers.

    “Stand,” High Council beckoned.

    “I am relieved to see you are alright,” Cassielle said as she stood.

    “What happened?”

    “There is a traitor among the soldiers from the Lillian. My team and I hoped to have identified who the traitor was before we arrived. There is a likely suspect, but we don’t have all of the information.”

    “Be sure to quarantine those soldiers,” High Council said to the Admiral. “We will continue this discussion in private.”

    The Admiral bowed as High Council turned away. Cassielle followed her. Jacobee stayed with the Admiral to assist with the soldiers from the Lillian.

    “How long will you be staying on board?” Cassielle asked.

    “Only long enough to see you arrive safely,” High Council said. “Traveling together at this time is unwise. I will board the Ryl soon to travel on to Trident on my own. With the attack on the Lillian, the board does not want us together until this has been resolved.”

    The Ryl was another galaxy class war ship and the sister ship to the Justine. Being the official command ship for High Council, it was well suited to handle anything that may threaten her.

    “I am sorry I am not able to provide any further information,” Cassielle said following the grand lady.

    “I expect you to forward the information to me as it becomes available,” High Council said. “How is your family?”

    “Gideon was injured in the first explosion and we were not able to get him medical aid in time.”

    “I’m sorry for your loss. I expect your family is in mourning.”

    “They can’t properly mourn while running for their lives,” Cassielle responded dryly. “They will be safe for now, but they’re afraid of another attack.”

    “I understand. When you reach Trident, you may want to have a Departing Ceremony, for them and you.”

    “Yes, High Council.”

    “I will notify the board of your survival. Concentrate on protecting your family,” High Council ordered. “I know what I said before, and that still does not change. What will change is I am relaxing my command to hand the protection of your family to someone else. It is obvious to me that you ignored that command, and I think for the better.”

    “I’m sorry, High Council,” Cassielle bowed. her face flushing.

    “You have done what you believe to be right. Sometimes disobeying a direct order carries a greater reward then punishment.”

    “Thank you, ma’am.”

    “Till we see each other again.”

    Cassielle bowed again as High Council continued down the corridor followed by her attendants and guards. They exited into a neighboring loading bay and Cassielle watched them board a shuttle. Once the shuttle departed, she retired to her own quarters.

    This multi room apartment housed her and her attendants, with many of the same decorations the Lillian had. She pulled up Jacobee’s report on the failed mission to Earth. The narrative told of a harrowing experience and near death. His report also went over the extractions of her other family members.

    Patricia had been targeted. RuAnn managed to hold the intruder at bay while the FBI agent that accompanied her pulled Patricia and her children from the apartment. Hank and Rose were the easiest to remove, whereas Justin took a protective stance, guarding both Celia’s and his own families from the foreigners. When the FBI agent assigned to assist in bringing him in tried to use what was described as a taser, Joula stepped in. This started an argument between Joula and the agent. When hooded assailants appeared, Joula and Binny, who had arrived to assist with Celia, convinced the families to leave.

    Gideon and his family were the first to be extracted. Out of all Cassielle’s siblings, Gideon had been told the truth and only agreed to come if he could speak with his older sister. Much to Cassielle’s sorrow, this conversation never took place. Harold and Kat accompanied him but were told a different story. Why hadn’t Gideon said anything when he saw her earlier? Was he waiting for her to choose the right time? Cassielle rubbed her eyes and exited the room. She needed to take a walk.