33. Mutually Assured Destruction, business as usual

33. Mutually Assured Destruction, business as usual


Keria's face beamed with pleasure when the window opened. Riddik's heart was instantly filled with joy at seeing her and especially at seeing her so happy.


"Riddik baby!"


"Keria my love."


"Miss you."


"Miss you even more."


Keria grinned; this could become the longest conversation with fewest words very fast.


"We kicked the Tani out of the wormhole sector Rid, we kicked them out good."


"How so my love? With SCAR?"


"Nah, screw them. They are at best an anachronism by now, an appendix to real warriors. I started a real guild now with sheff, Aelius and Vera, called the Big Red One."


"That explains the uniform and the strange insignia."


Keria grinned even more now.


"I am now officially an Admiral."


"Congratulations love, I can see you are having fun."


"You know what could be more fun?"


"Ehm, not on this public channel."


Keria blushed and looked down before flashing him with eyes shining with mischief.


"Yeah, well that aside. If you came and joined us baby."


"Can't do that. I was initiated into TGFT two days ago. Still hung over."


"Well, nothing to do about that baby. We'll just have to, you know... have more fun? Helios Outpost in an hour?"


"Leaving as we speak."


Riddik grinned like a pimpled teenager that had just been offered a year’s lodging at the Playboy Mansion and shut the SSCU off. How the hell he was supposed to make it to Helios in an hour he had no idea. But he would make it, no doubt about it.


###


Beria entered the small cubicle where Asteroth had used the last ten hours sleeping soundly like a dead person. He nodded to his commander and closed the door after him, the loud metallic sound informing them both that it was locked as well. Asteroth got up on one elbow and smiled at Beria.


"Ast, I am not here for a social visit."


"I kinda reckoned. Spill the beans."


"The powers that be holds you responsible for the failure of operation Uranus."


"Yeah, well no surprise. Did they mention anyone else?"


"No, there doesn't seem to be a list of persons that participated in it. You must have kept it a very tight secret."


Asteroth grinned, Beria must have anticipated that this would have happened and deleted everything. And now Asteroth was set up to take the fall, or rather immense plunge for all of them.


"Well, operational security and everything."


"You know that you will be charged with war crimes right? Why the hell did you do it?"


"Did what? You bloody well know why Beria."


"No, why did you kill all the pilots?"


Asteroth considered informing Beria about his orders from Ahriman but decided against. He looked straight into Beria's eyes.


"They were Tani scum. Besides, they had killed a lot of my people."


Beria saw the facial features betray the words and slowly nodded.


"I see, any last words before you’ll be taken away?"


"Yeah, take care of my cat will ya?"


"Your cat?"


Asteroth grinned.


"Ah, your Cat. No problem, I am on it as we speak."


Asteroth nodded and rolled over in his bed. He would not be condemned to death, of that he was reasonably sure. After all, he protected some pretty important persons, but he would probably be tossed out of Serco space. It could be worse. He closed his eyes and saw the pods being ripped to pieces again and again until he fell asleep once more.


###


The Grand Admiral of Skycommand received the message from the Diplomatic Service labelled Ultra Secret, GA eyes only. He activated his neural protection software and inserted the chip. The chip acknowledged the identification of the Grand Admiral and decoded the message into the main memory. He assimilated the information and immediately set in motion the signs that would indicate agreement. He agreed with the Itani Admiral of the Fleet. It was time to revert to the good old times of MAD where the two nations could exist in relative peace with only major actions going on in Deneb. After all, MAD was a good principle when everybody had the capacity to destroy everyone else. The Lurkers would have to be withdrawn, but with the current combat losses they were but a shadow of their former selves, no big loss to the state. Naturally this would have to remain secret. And that meant rooting the persons responsible for the current quagmire out of the Serco military.


###


William let the cargo crate slip away from his ship and watched it as it silently glided into the very outer regions of Cantus Prime. He stayed motionless, seated in his cockpit crying silently as the love of his life along with his unborn baby slipped away to the fiery burial in the sun. Only when he had not been able to see them for more than an hour did he pull slowly away and boosted for Jallik and the border. He was going to make them all pay for this. He was going to cut them all, he was gunna cut them good.


###


Cat received the message from Beria and frowned. Why had she been fired from the Diplomatic Service? And why had he paid her ten million credits? She wanted to ask a lot of questions, but the message had been very clear. No answers were forthcoming and the only thing she would gain from asking would be a plasma shot in the back of her head. She docked in Aeolus trading prefect and walked up to the residential area. She had better find herself a new place to call home.


###


Kassad touched the grey marble slate with the rows upon rows of stars and bowed his head in remembrance. He had fostered her like a daughter and had been as proud as he had been scared, the first time she went on a field assignment. She had done way above what was expected of her, naturally even identifying her own limits before her handler. In the end she had ensured that her mission was not compromised, the anti-matter explosion was an attest to that. Unfortunately nobody would know what she had done, how she had done it or even who she had been, however that was the way of Akan. Unlimited devotion to the people coupled with extreme secrecy. But he would remember her every time he stood in front of the memorial slate. He would remember which star was the one that was representing Yarina Oselasis. He would remember her name. He would remember......