Visions of Peace (7 page)

Shaw was a little startled by the Centauri’s directness and cast a look at Badeau, but she was already inside the outpost. ‘I, ah, don’t think that will be possible, Principal.’

Turquon shrugged. ‘Such is my luck. Sent light years away to sign away an entire system, and I don’t even get a close look at one of the most beautiful ships flying.’ He smiled once more. ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Shaw. We Centauri are not here to take advantage of anyone, despite our decision to leave the ISA. I am not going to cause you any trouble.’

After the Shadows’ assault on Quadrant 37, nothing had been left of the original Narn outpost but rubble. Having little to gain by picking over twisted metal and broken Narn bodies, the Centauri simply built their own outpost when they recovered the system. With a full war raging at the time, few resources were diverted into making the place little more than a relay station for communications between the invading fleet and Centauri Prime. A nod had been paid to the Centauri’s love of creature comforts but, at its heart, the outpost was little more than several spartan living quarters, a maintenance bay and a power station bolted to an operations centre. Even hydroponics were lacking here, and it soon became obvious to the Rangers that all consumables had been regularly shipped to Quadrant 37 from more prosperous worlds. For a system that held little importance beyond the strategic level, and with the Republic apparently reluctant to start a war any time soon, the Centaurum must have seen this as an expensive luxury. Perhaps here was a clue as to why the Republic had been so quick to relinquish control of Quadrant 37.

The Rangers’ orders were to ensure the peaceful transfer of the system from Centauri to Narn hands, but this mission carried the implicit instruction to prevent any disturbance in the future too. This secondary goal merely called for a studious attention to detail while they were in the system, until the treaty of transfer was signed. The first would be a little more problematic, Shaw guessed, if the Primus and G’Quan high in orbit were to open fire upon one another. The White Star was the most powerful ship of its size in the galaxy, but a single vessel could do little if the two frontline warships engaged each other.

Fortunately, that seemed unlikely. Badeau was pleasantly surprised that the Narn and Centauri delegates refrained from snide and pointed comments aimed at the other, though there was clearly no love lost between them. While she performed an extensive sweep of the outpost for potential booby traps, Badeau ordered Shaw to check personnel manifests to verify that all Centauri present were actually leaving. Suicide troops were more the style of the Narn back when the Centauri occupied their world, but nothing could be left to chance between these two governments. Anything could be used as an excuse for war later.

Shaw’s duty was no more glamorous than Badeau’s, and he thought more than once that all those months training with the Denn’Bok might have been wasted if this is what Rangers in the field spent most of their time doing. Still, it was his first mission, and he had no intention of disappointing the Captain. No matter what duties she placed before him, no matter how dangerous, odious or just plain boring, he resolved to approach them all with the same zeal that had seen him through training. The personnel check first took him to the operations centre, where he downloaded the outpost’s records onto a datapad. Cross-referencing the records with those given to the Rangers by the Anla’Shok analysts on Tuzanor raised no alarms, though he was aware that the ISA’s intelligence on Centauri personnel could not be regarded as complete. He then arranged for all remaining Centauri in the outpost to funnel through the access corridor to their shuttle, identifying each one in turn, then crossing them off his datapad.

Halfway through the task, Shaw grew uneasy. As he checked off the last few Centauri workers, he knew his suspicions were justified. With all Centauri in the outpost now on their shuttle awaiting the Ranger’s permission to depart, six names remained unchecked on his datapad. At first he doubted himself, thinking he must have missed something, made a rookie’s mistake. However, a review of the process revealed no error on his part. According to the records provided by the analysts, six Centauri were missing. Perhaps the information provided by the analysts was incorrect? He headed back into the outpost to find Badeau and Turquon.

Intending to look first among the living quarters, where he had last seen his captain and the delegates, he caught the sound of laughter coming from the operations centre and changed course. He found the trio engaged in light conversation, Badeau evidently having finished her sweep of the outpost. She and Turquon were smiling at some shared joke. Na’Quil looked a little . . . smug would be the word Shaw would choose. Then again, his government was gaining a world they had bled hard for in the past with no more effort than the signing of a treaty. Badeau looked up as he entered.

‘Everything check out?’

‘Er, well almost. Principal Turquon, I have just one query.’

‘Of course,’ purred the Centauri. ‘Anything to help our friends among the Rangers.’

‘I’ve checked and double-checked the personnel here against the records, and it seems there are six missing. Namely Danallis, Maladi, Caius, Kolonar, Nandra and Varga. Your records indicate they were all scientists.’

‘Let me see that,’ said Badeau, suddenly serious. She studied the datapad as Turquon spoke.

‘Yes, I remember. A tragic incident.’ Turquon had adopted a sorrowful tone. ‘We were looking at the possibility of terraforming one or more worlds in Quadrant 37 in the hope of establishing a more permanent colony. Those were the scientists directed to begin research here, but their ship met with a hyperspace accident, and they were lost en route.’

‘So why wasn’t this recorded?’ asked Badeau.

‘An oversight on the part the outpost’s clerks, I would imagine. They must have recorded the ship’s destruction in the very least. Let me see.’ Turquon moved to a console and begun punching buttons on a display. ‘Yes. Here it is. Ah, sorry, let me translate it to English.’ He typed in another command and moved aside for the Rangers to see.

Shaw scanned the text in front of him and, indeed, the names of the scientists had been recorded as those lost on board a transport bound for Quadrant 37, the
Valance
. A malfunction of the jump engines had destroyed the ship as it attempted to enter realspace. A rare accident these days, but it did happen. Perhaps all the more likely if stories of the Republic’s ailing economy were to believed, he surmised. He glanced at Badeau, and she gave him a quick nod.

‘Everything seems in order gentlemen. Unless there is anything either of you wish to bring to our attention?’ she asked.

As one, the Narn and Centauri delegates shook their heads. Badeau produced her own datapad and called up the treaty that would formerly hand over Quadrant 37 to the Narn Regime, then placed it on a nearby work surface. Turquon and Na’Quil placed their own next to hers.

Badeau spoke first. ‘I witness the transfer of Quadrant 37 from the sovereignty of the Centauri Republic to the Narn Regime. I hereby declare all resolutions of the treaty have been observed by all parties involved.’ With this, she pressed her thumb on the registration interface of first her datapad, then the Narn’s and finally the Centauri’s.

Turquon was next, but his words were simple. ‘All resolutions have been observed, Quadrant 37 now belongs to the Regime.’ He pressed his thumb to all three datapads.

Finally, Na’Quil spoke. ‘I bear witness to Quadrant 37 being returned to its rightful and lawful owners. All treaty resolutions have been observed.’ Shaw glanced at Turquon as the Narn added his thumbprint to the treaty, but the Centauri did not seem to even notice Na’Quil’s less-than-diplomatic words. In fact, Shaw thought he looked resigned.

‘Gentlemen, I thank you for your part in making this transfer of sovereignty quick and peaceful,’ Badeau said formerly. ‘Na’Quil, your people can begin landing as soon as Principal Turquon’s shuttle has docked with his ship. I hope you enjoy your duties here.’ She gave the Narn his salute and, once again, it was returned. ‘Principal Turquon?’

After you, my lady, please,’ he said gallantly, sweeping an arm to indicate she should lead the way out of the outpost.

Na’Quil did not follow them out, and Shaw heard the operations centre’s main computer systems being reinitiated as they walked down the main access corridor. At the landing bay, both Badeau and Shaw exchanged the Arms of Friendship with Turquon.

‘It was a pleasure to meet the two of you,’ the Centauri said. ‘I never met a Ranger before today and heard many things about you, both strange and terrifying. Working with you today gives me hope that one day the Republic might once again consider joining your Alliance.’

‘The door is always open, Principal,’ replied Badeau. ‘Perhaps you ought to talk to the others in the Centaurum.’

‘I fear they would pay little attention to me, my dear. Do you think they would send anyone important to a world the Great Maker himself has forsaken?’ Turquon smiled. ‘No, I am afraid the Republic and your Alliance must clash a little while longer yet. Politically, certainly--hopefully not militarily. I am sincere in my hope for closer relations, but it won’t happen in our lifetimes. I would bet a lot on that.’

He nodded to Badeau and then turned to walk to his shuttle.

‘Come on,’ said Badeau. ‘It would be an insult to the Narn if we gave close escort to that shuttle, but we can at least keep within striking distance.’

‘Trouble?’ asked Shaw.

‘I don’t think so, but it would be stupid to let something happen now. And I think we need more Centauri like that in the Republic.’

They hastened aboard the
Intrepide
and took off quickly, shadowing the Centauri shuttle at a distance until it cleared the atmosphere and made its approach to the Primus battlecruiser. Within moments, it had docked with the huge warship, which soon made a slow turn before firing up its immense engines and heading away from the planet’s gravity well, where it could make the jump to hyperspace safely. Soon after, the White Star’s crew began to detect several shuttles leaving the G’Quan, all carrying personnel to re-staff the outpost. No doubt more than one of them also carried advanced intelligence gathering equipment that would soon be penetrating deep into Centauri space. Their mission complete, Badeau ordered the
Intrepide
to break orbit and open a jump point itself.

The White Star was not long in hyperspace before Badeau called Shaw forward. ‘So, how do you think that went? And how well do you think you did?’ she asked.

‘Well, the mission was a success,’ he said and paused to gauge Badeau’s reaction. When she continued to just look at him, he felt forced to continue. ‘We were charged with ensuring a peaceful handover, and that is what we achieved. Neither party seemed aggressive towards the other, and the treaty was signed. The Centauri left and the Narn took over.’ He paused again as he considered the day’s events. ‘Still. . .’

‘Yes?’ she prompted.

‘Well, I didn’t say anything else while we were down there, as you just glossed over it. I figured you had your reasons. But those missing Centauri are bugging me. It’s a loose end.’

‘Ah, yes, you have it precisely,’ she encouraged. ‘Now, what do you think is happening?’

Shaw thought hard. With just the information they had seen today, few solid conclusions could be formed. He had been trained to speculate, however, though it had also been hammered into him not to rely solely on those speculations. Imagination was not a trait that was knocked out of Rangers during their training, but it was something to be tempered. Did Sabine have information he lacked? Possibly, but he knew he wasn’t expected to act on that, merely put the pieces he did have together.

‘Well,’ he began. ‘Sending scientists to terraform the system makes no sense. That takes years, decades even, and they must have known months ago that Quadrant 37 was being handed back to the Narn. These things do not get agreed overnight. So that was a lie. The scientists were intended for something else. The ship destroying itself as it activated its jump engines is a possibility, given how much we have heard about the state of Centauri shipping since the reparations started. On the other hand, if an assassination was planned, sabotaged jump engines would not be the first time it had been attempted in the Republic. Na’Quil did not push the matter, so either he believed the Centauri, which is unlikely, or he assumed it was something relatively harmless. Or, he thought it was a purely internal matter for the Centauri--feuding Houses or something.’

Badeau nodded slowly as she leaned back in her seat and propped her chin with a hand. ‘Good. You found the essential truth--that Turquon, however pleasant he seemed, was lying. Your speculations are more or less on course as well. You missed one item of information which would push you in one direction but then, you weren’t primed to look for it.’

Shaw frowned. ‘What did I miss?’ he asked, beginning to curse himself for being inattentive. As a Ranger, he had been trained to pick up any pattern during analysis. Coming consistently near the top in Denn’Bok training was no excuse for not concentrating on more cerebral lessons. Of course, for the Minbari, they were both much the same.

‘All six came from House Kaado. Two were using an alias of House Ardo, which is what threw you off. However, I am confident that when checking begins on Tuzanor, we’ll find those aliases confirmed.’

‘I am not sure I was supposed to have known that,’ he said, a hint of bitterness in his tone.

As I said, you had not been primed to spot it. In my briefing before we left Minbar, I was told that intelligence was being sought on House Kaado from all Rangers operating near the Centauri border. It was a minor thing, and you’ll find we get dozens of such requests with every mission. This time it might have paid off. Anyway, now you know that, what are your conclusions?’

Shaw felt he was on firmer ground now. ‘It has nothing to do with the Narn. It is a feud between Houses. Intelligence must be watching the rivalries between the Great Houses of the Republic. These scientists were assassinated by enemies of their House.’