A short story written by Todd Kelley
Mia Porter
Colonel Mira Porter rubbed the dry space between her nose and eyes with her middle and fore-finger. She was convinced it would help her think. And at this point she really needed to think. Six hours before, she’d been summoned by the General of the Solar Garrison and reassigned to the Sol Orbital Station at Jupiter.
She hadn’t been to the that system since she commanded the Gunship Titan during The Battle of Ganymede. The NýX invasion had destroyed her ship in less than eighteen minutes, leaving her and the surviving 29 members of her crew stranded just outside the orbit of Jupiter’s largest moon. After the war, she was given a promotion and reassigned to the Department of Tactical Strategy (DTS), in charge of enhanced automated battle maneuvers for the Sol System Alliance.
Mira had just celebrated her 58th birthday the week before. She’d made a promise to herself that she’d spend the rest of her days with her feet planted firmly on Earth soil. There was no need for her to reach for the stars anymore. She had explored the cosmos for over 30 years, starting out as an Airman First Class aboard the Titan, and rising up through the ranks to one day command the very same gunship. Her career plan was to keep the Titan until she was decommissioned and retire along with the ship.
And then The NýX came and took it all away from her, along with nearly half of the Earth’s military fleet. With the Titan, went away her plans for retirement at her late 50’s. A good amount of the Sol Garrison’s best and brightest lost their lives during the war. Any skilled officers of any age were mandated to join the rebuilding efforts. Mira was praised for her strategic efforts during The Battle of Ganymede; recording 22 confirmed kills in the eighteen minutes the Titan lasted. So she was given command of the DTS, with an emphasis on automated tactical patterns. She excelled in her position. She was given 7 years to refine the standard battle patterns and increase overall response times by 18%. She did it in 3.
Rumors started spreading that she was up for the promotion to Garrison Chief of Staff, when she got the call from the Executive General for reassignment. Mira tried to protest leaving Earth. And of all places, to be assigned to the moon where she lost her ship and most of her crew. But the General didn’t take no for an answer. He called her his ’trusted’ ally, and that she was the only person who could oversee this ‘crucial’ assignment. Within 36 hours, she was relocated 565 million miles to the Sol Base orbiting Jupiter’s largest moon.
And here she sat, 12 hours later.
Three mission tablets sat on her spartan desk, neatly spaced out in order. Sol Command ordered that all data be independent from any network, with Mira having the only copy in her possession. Three pieces of the puzzle didn’t fit. The perfect storm of cosmic anomalies that haven’t generated that much fear since the Garrison’s stand against the NýX.
August 14th 2248,
07:13am SPT (Sol Planetary Time):
The orbital Jupiter station recorded an energy spike a little over 200,000 kilometers outside of the orbit of the Jupiter moon, Callisto. The readings were very faint, but the energy signature was similar to the readings they received 6 years before when The NýX appeared. The Omicron Fleet, led by the Gunship Atlanta, was pulled from patrolling the outer rim to investigate and if needed, contain the unidentified anomaly.
10:27am SPT
Omicron Fleet investigates The Anomaly. Upon their initial report, and determining that there was no immediate threat, they were ordered to pull back to an appropriate distance of protection and refrain from any type of scans or further investigation. There was more than a few questions from the fleet about protocol. But those orders had come from the highest ranks of the Sol Garrison. There would be no further investigation of The Anomaly. Period.
11:51am SPT
Omicron fleet would impose a spatial quarantine until further orders.
03:19pm SPT
Seven unregistered Sol spaceships appeared from FTL (Faster Than Light Travel). This ‘unknown’ fleet consisted of 4 Gunships, 2 Heavy Cruisers and a Command Carrier. Upon their arrival, the Omicron Fleet was given their orders to leave the area and resume their patrol along the outer rim. Any and all information gathered from them was transferred and then destroyed, leaving no record of their investigation. The phantom fleet took over the previous fleet’s positions, until Omicron was out of sensor range. After that, the Heavy Cruisers and Command Carrier preceded with their investigation of The Anomaly.
That was the extent of the redacted mission file. Mira was instructed to give this ‘Phantom’ fleet and it’s officers a wide birth of latitude. The Jupiter’s station decks 7 and 8 were quickly evacuated of all personnel and given to the mysterious fleet. These decks were key because they included 5 of the 7 docking bays on the station. When she had first arrived, she tried to enter the protected area through the main entrance on deck 8. She was promptly stopped and denied access. Mira argued that she was the highest-ranking officer on the station, but she was presented with direct orders from Sol Command that these unknown officers were given the temporary autonomy on deck 7 and 8. They would be treated as sovereign territory, and no Sol System citizen could override their diplomatic immunity.
She had two options. She could keep pushing her guests until she gains access to Deck 8. Or she could work this mysterious case on her own the the resources she had on the station.
She chose the latter.
She tapped her communicator on her desk.
“Locate Lieutenant Katherine Brooks.”
After a few short moments, a response came.
“Go ahead, Ma’am.” Lt. Brook’s voice called back to her.
“I need you in my office within the hour.”
“Understood. I need to do a site authorization on deck 1. I’ll be there afterward. Brooks out.”
Mira had crossed paths with Kathy Brooks a few times at Sol Command on Earth. She had admired her quick rise up the ranks of the military. Although coming from a military family, she enlisted at the late age of 23. Excelling in intelligence programs, she rose to the rank of Lieutenant in record time. It was strange to see a First Grade Lieutenant running in circles with Executive Command Officers. She was told she was beneficial in the War Room during Ganymede. The fact that Sol Command had assigned both of them to Jupiter Station at the same time as this mysterious anomaly wasn’t a coincidence.
Maybe together, they could figure out what was happening on Decks 7 and 8.
Kathy Brooks
“Attempting to commandeer a military transport… assaulting Garrison officers… aiding in the escape to several known criminals…” Kathy Brooks read off of her message pad.
Sitting across from her, behind a class 3 shock barrier, was a warrior that calmly sat in the shadows. By just looking at Kyle K’Nar, you’d place him in his mid-sixties and in good shape. What you wouldn’t know is that he’s lived several lifetimes; all of them as a soldier against one dying cause or another.
It’s one of the perks of being an ‘infected’ species.
Until around three centuries before, the ’Carnates were believed to be a myth. After the collapse of the 2nd Soviet Empire on Earth, a mass exodus of humans left for the stars in the unprotected parts of the galaxy. The legend was the Earth-like planet the settlers colonized was home to a parasitic race called the Rethro. They forged a symbiotic relationship with their new human visitors, combining both species memories and knowledge. Although the human lifespan was roughly about 90 years (Sol time), the Rethro were centuries old. This meant that once the human host was ready to die, it was willingly given to a new host. This new human would emerge with the combined skill, personality and memories of every host that came before them.
Many Human/Rethro pairings were done to maximize the benefits for both beings. The parasites had a class-based social structure. If you were a farmer, or cultivator, you’d preferably chose a human with the same interest. For Kyle, that meant weapons and hand-to-hand combat. It meant centuries of tactical knowledge. But it also meant waking from gruesome nightmares and a horrible regret from actions that weren’t his own. Kyle is may be 65 years of age, but his mind held the memories and actions for almost three lifetimes.
“Kyle… What the hell am I going to do with you?” Kathy said with a sarcastic smile.
“You can let me go?” His voice from the holding cell responded.
“Not gonna happen.” Lt. Brooks stood up. “Before now, the Garrison was content with your transgressions in the crime sectors. But now, you’ve moved into my neighborhood, and that really pisses me off.”
She walked close to the barrier.
“Between you and me.. I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do to those folks on the fringes.. For all I care, you and rest of your ‘Carnatians could run wild on the underworlds. It makes no difference to me. It’s a playground for the filthy things that don’t belong in the light. But you’re stepping on my toes now. You know I can’t allow that.”
“We needed those supplies.” He pleaded.
“You could’ve just asked.”
“And you would’ve given them to us?”
“No..” she smiled. “But at least you wouldn’t be in a holding cell, would you?”
As the Lieutenant began to walk out of the room, Kyle had to play his last card.
“The Garrison’s sending investigators to process me, right? Maybe under interrogation, I might slip about you and your little operation.” He smiled when she halted half way through the doorway. “You know how Garrison Security gets when they want answers. Maybe all those things you’re keeping from everyone will accidentally come out. You hear me, Kitty cat? Maybe I might say something about The Black— ”
“Shut.. Your.. Mouth..” She stood in the doorway for roughly ten seconds, not turning around. It was one thing to use any means to get yourself out of a predicament. But to even suggest betraying the organization was something which she couldn’t tolerate.
But she kept her composure. Kyle K’Nar was an asset.. Nothing more. He was a pawn on the chessboard.
She was The Knight.
“I don’t think that’s a problem, Kyle. Between you and me? I don’t think you’d survive the trip to Earth.” She glanced slightly behind to make her point. “A lot can happen on a fringe orbital station. The technology’s a little clunky. Sometimes airlocks fail, life support gets a little wonky. Shock barriers erode and can fry an entire room if you’re not watching close enough.” She turned around fully and smiled. “Nah. I don’t think your interrogation will be a problem for me. I think things will work out for the best, regardless.”
Lt. Brooks was stationary outside the nearest transport-lift, staring out of the large corridor window. What few moments she got to herself during the day, she spent watching the transports and gunships enter and leave dry-dock. Her entire military career has been spent in the Administrative and Intelligence fields. She’d served with some of the most prominent Garrison Command Officers over her 9 year tour of duty. She was the ‘dependable’ right-hand that served the top brass with honor. When the great war started, she was in the War Room with the great minds that were now in the history books. She was the one that they used to bounce ideas off of before implementing them. They respected her mind and logical thinking and even though her rank didn’t reflect it, she wielded a lot of strong influence in the military.
This was why she was recruited by Blacklist immediately out of The Academy.
It was tradition.
She was the fourth generation Brooks to serve in the secret organization. She was their lobbyist inside of Sol Command. She was the officer the top brass respected. So when Blacklist needed to push policy changes inside of the military to strengthen their position, Kathy Brooks was their input device.
She gazed out into the chaos outside, Jupiter’s huge mass overshadowing the background. Even though she’d accomplished a lot in her career, the one thing she desired was still out of reach. Kathy yearned to command her own Gunship. She yearned to take off for the stars and explore what was out there.
She’d put in countless requests to Sol Garrison to be stationed on any position available on a Gunship. But those requests were repeatedly denied. She was told she was too valuable to the inner circle to risk out in the unknown. She half-suspected Blacklist wasn’t too happy with her being out of position.
As the doors to the transport lift slid open and she began to board, her message pad registered a new command message. The severity of her messages were color-coded. GREEN meant low-level requests, YELLOW meant same day response, and RED meant extremely urgent. The message she had just received was labeled: BLACK. Ordinary officers in the Garrison didn’t receive those messages. These were Blacklist orders, and as soon as she opened them, they would exist for ten seconds and then automatically delete from her message pad.
She pressed the emergency red button in the transport lift to halt its movement. She was headed upward to her office. The lift quickly stopped in between decks.
She opened the message promptly. There were just two words: ‘IT’S TIME’.
She sighed. “Here we go.”
Kathy restarted the transport lift, this time headed in the opposite direction.
61 Hours Before
His eyes opened to the face of his 1st Officer, Commander Mia Gan-Anwar, standing directly over him. Her long hair partially hung downward, almost brushing his face. The rest seemed to be matted against her head with blood and a series of deep cuts riddled across her face.
Still, she was beautiful.
“Enjoyed your nap, Sir?” she said with a smile.
“I’ll take it when I can get it.” He replied trying to push himself up.
He braced himself to stand, but his left arm didn’t seem to agree. He tried to raise it, but it felt like something invisible was preventing the movement.
“You dislocated your shoulder again.” Mia said, grabbing his bicep.
“I hate this part.” He whispered as she yanked with all the strength she had left. Alex’s arm locked into his shoulder socket with a loud pop. An electric web of white hot pain race down his left leg and up the side of his face.
He screamed. “Mother… fucker!!!”
“Sorry, Sir.” She apologized, standing and waiting for orders.
He quickly rotated his left arm. It was extremely soar, but manageable.
“How long was I out?”
“12 minutes.” She replied. “We got caught in the planetary wake. Pretty much fried everything ship-wide. Tash is rebooting what he can.”
“Planetary wake?”
She nodded. “Yessir. They used a Planet Killer. Essex 4 is gone.”
And then Alex remembered.
They had successfully made their 8th time-jump, but their timing was off considerably. It took too long for the Terran Militia to let them go from custody. They needed at least five months to prepare for the NýX invasion.
They were only given two.
With every jump back in time, things were a little different. It took weeks just to get acclimated to the subtle nuances of alternate timelines.
“We failed again;” He said under his breath. “How many times does this make?”
“Eight.” she replied. “We’ll have everything reset within a day.”
Alex nodded. “Okay.” He made his way to the command chair. “Plot a course for The Anomaly.”
Mia’s brother, Tash sat at the helm. From there, he had access to navigation, weapons and information. At the moment, the four holographic screens that usually floated arms-length in front of him were damaged. Alex watched him using the flickering secondary screens on-top of his control console.
“Ping the fleet. See if there’s anyone close enough to offer assistance.”
“I’ve tried 3 times.” Tash replied. “There is no one out there. The NýX pretty much took out most of the fleet. The rest got caught in the planet’s blast.”
“Shit.” Alex wiped his brow; feeling the sticky blood on top of his head. “How bad are we?”
Tash booted a schematic of the ship. Normally you’d see a top-side view of the entire ship broken down into sections. Each section would usually display in the range of colors. Green for ‘fully operational’, Yellow for ‘within normal parameters‘, Orange for ‘in need of maintenance‘, and Red for ‘out of commission‘. With the exception of the command deck’s orange status, the rest of the ship was colored in bright red.
“I got the oxygen filters working so we’re good on life support.. at least for the moment. The problem I have now is all standard connectivity with the main systems have been severed.” Tash punched a few buttons and changed the displays. “But I pinged systems ship-wide, and got a half dozen backtracks. So there’s still systems we have access to. I’m trying to re-route control through some of those connections, but I can’t make any promises.”
“That’s your priority. When you’re done, ping the satellite network, so we can get a handle on if there are any other fleet deployments. Maybe someone is close enough for an extraction.”
“Already done. We should get the bounce-back any minute.”
Mia handed Alex a message pad. The screen was slightly cracked but still readable.
“We’ve established a connection with engineering. No audio or video. Just a content feed. The rest of the ship is dark. I pinged life support and the only sections operational are us and engineering. So we have to assume the rest of the crew is KIA.”
Alex stared at the flickering forward screen. It was déjà vu, all over again. How many times had they been at his moment? How many times had they tried to stop the coming NýX apocalypse and failed? Eight times, they’d gone back through The Anomaly and tried to manipulate historic events. Each time, the universe found a way to adjust and adapt to the conquering of systems, the destruction of planets and the slaughter of an unbelievable amount of lifeforms.
He hadn’t noticed that Mia was standing next to him, staring at him. Each time they found themselves at this point in the timeline, she was there.. waiting for orders. Tash was always at the helm navigating them back to the re-spawn point. And he’d be sitting in his chair.
This was his own personal hell.
The flicker of lights and the sound of the back up generators brought him out of his thoughts.
“Okay.” Tash said, with a sigh. “Minimal systems back online. Plotting a course to The Anomaly.”
Mia handed Alex and message pad. She kept a list of all their several past attempts to change the future. “What now, Sir?”
Alex shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ve tried tip-toeing through history, trying not to alter much. That’s been a failure. Let’s step back and take a look at what we know.”
Alex stood and walked to the middle of the command deck.
Tash swiveled his chair around, while Mia read from her notes.
“September 14th, XXXX Earth Time: Mass Protectorate Intelligence reports multiple temporal incursions along their side of MP/Vox border. We know this to be the first recorded event of the NýX’s attempt to make a connection with our universe. Later released documents reported that attempts to communicate with the inter-dimensional anomalies were a failure.
“November 2nd, XXXX Earth Time: the anomalies, which started as occurring for only a fraction of a second, are now sustaining an opening for close to a minute. The MP try to send level 1, 2, 3 and 4 probes back through the anomalies. All attempts fail. There are no more occurring anomalies in that part of space after that.
“March 7th, XXXX Earth Time: a series of Vox and Sol civilian ships are first reported missing. A total of 13 ships disappear without a trace during routine travel between worlds. Joint investigations between The Vox and Earth Forces turn up no evidence of foul play. The ships had just vanished. We believe these are the first signs of the NýX successfully entering our universe and abducting specimens for study.
“November 19th, XXXX Earth Time: Earth’s Forces record a temporal wake just under a lightyear from a mining colony on the Kappa Crucis Cluster. A joint Earth/Vox task force is dispatched and discovers a medium sized vessel of unknown type and origin impacted on asteroid C-69387. No recognizable materials or lifeforms were cataloged, but several patches of a mysterious bio-material are found within. Scientific tests concluded that the materials used to build the ship and the unknown substances within were of unknown origin. This is believed to be the first discovery of a NýX vessel.
“April 2nd, XXXX Earth Time: 71 singularities measuring approximately 200 km2 in circumference open across monitored space. NýX attack vessels enter known space and being an invasion of our dimension. Within 3 weeks Earth Time, All major powers in the known galaxy fall to the NýX invasion.”
“July 17th, XXXX Earth Time: A resistance force consisting of the remnants of the Milky Galaxy refugees mount an attack on the only singularity that seems to still exist, hoping this is the last portal to the NýX dimension. The hope is detonating XXXXXXX near the event horizon of the singularity would destabilize and close it, preventing any further incursions.
An unforeseen side effect from the detonation is a temporal event, sending our ship back 6 months before the start of the NýX incursion into our universe. Each jump seems to have caused slight variants to space/time, minutely altering certain events, but keeping major ones intact.”
Mia pauses for a few moments to gather her thoughts.
Alex took a deep breath. “Ok, what do we know?”
“We know that the singularity still exists.” Mia started. “It seems to be a fixed point in space/time. In each reality, the other 70 singularities open at the start of the invasion, but that particular singularity is always open, and except for the initial invasion, nothing emerges from it.
“My hypothesis has been this rip in space/time could be the answer to solving everything. It’s a tether between events, creating a causality loop of sorts. Somehow, this singularity seem to be an Einstein–Rosen Bridge connecting a current fixed time and space to an exit point just outside of Jupiter’s moon Calisto on the Earth date August 14th 2248… approximately 6 months before the NýX invasion.”
Tash managed to clean up some of the damages systems on the holographic display. A content stream of information appeared in between them.
Alex rub his face roughly. “Yeah, and every time we do this over, we seem to get farther and farther away from the objective.”
Tash continued. “Adding to the fact that each time we go back, the NýX find a way to stay on schedule.”
Alex breathed deeply. “Brainstorm time. Options?”
“Well..” Tash was the first to answer. “This all feels too… deliberate and convenient. It’s as if someone or something has been putting us on a path– giving us a do-over to try and stop the invasion.”
“Or it could just be a random event created by a massive amount of energy disrupting the laws of physics in two different anomalous locations.” Mia added.
Tash smirked. “Yeah, or that.”
“What if we go with the initial plan?” Alex addd. “Collapse the singularity on this side of the wormhole? Can we still do that?”
Mia breathed deep. “We don’t have the firepower, let alone the technology to accomplish it. Plus, if we did that, we’d still be left with a dead galaxy and an overwhelming amount of occupied NýX forces. We still lose. A better solution would be to continue using the anomaly to go back and try to find a way to prevent the invasion all together. Or at least find a suitable weapon to repel the attack– which seems to be the more difficult of the tasks.”
Alex found his way to his command chair, “We don’t know how many more times we get at this, and each time we go back, we slightly alter historical events. Is it safe to assume that sooner or later we’ll end up in a timeline where the Anomaly doesn’t exist?”
“Judging by the constant variants of each jump,” Tash speculated. “That’s a pretty good possibility.”
“Then our best course of action is to change the narrative once we go back.” Mia added.
“Elaborate.”
“We’re locked into a 6 month window before the invasion. We enter the anomaly, which nearly disintegrates our already damaged ship.” Mia postulates. “When we’re rescued and quarantined by Admiral Porter and friends, it take nearly 2 months to get back in action. There has to be a way to fast-track out of their custody and onto the mission.”
“I think we can.” Alex smiled. “I think we have everything we need. I just need to get off my ass and try the direct approach.”
Blacklisted Pt 1
Mira stood in front of the triple-layered floor window in her office, staring out at the speckled darkness. The stations rotation was facing away from Jupiter’s large frame reflecting the sun’s light. Interestingly enough, she could actually see the sun. It was a small speck of light surrounded by blackness.
When her door entrance buzzed the first time, she didn’t hear it. She was too lost in thought, running through what little information she’d gathered from the strange anomaly that had occurred only hours before. She knew the mysterious visitors on Decks 7 and 8 had recovered a number of artifacts from the wreckage. But station sensors were blacked out and all view windows were closed the 23 minutes it took for all recovered material to be moved to the protected decks.
Again the entrance buzzer sounded, bringing Mira out of her gaze.
“Enter” she called out.
The large white door frame quietly opened upward to reveal Lt. Kathy Brooks slowly venturing into the room. The backs of two security officers standing on both sides of the entrance were visible. Mira didn’t turn to greet her. She stared at the Lieutenant’s reflection in the window.
Kathy stood at attention in front of the desk.
Mira knew what was coming next. She smiled. “So formal.” She finally turned to face her. “I wasn’t expecting you this soon.”
“Things have accelerated, Ma’am.” Kathy replied.
“Things.” The General walked to stand behind her chair. She rested her elbows on the top of the comfortable chair. “What sort of things?”
Kathy remained stern. “We need you to come with us.”
The two security officers turned and entered the room, now standing inside the room in either side of the door.
Mira smiled. “Where?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Sure you can. Being that I’m your superior officer, I think I can order you to tell me where we’re going.” Her smile faded. “But I’m not really your superior, correct?”
“Technically? Yes you are, Ma’am.”
Mira sighed. “But in actuality?”
Kathy smiled. “In actuality.. You need to come with us.”
“And what if I don’t agree to accompany you?”
Kathy’s smile didn’t waver. “Then, under Article 70.4B, I will be forced to relieve you of duty, take you into custody under.. whatever suspicious activity I can think up and escort you to..”
Mira’s ears perked up. “..Deck 7?”
“8, actually…” Kathy sighed. “You need to accompany us, Ma’am.” She grew frustrated. “Please don’t be stubborn. You’ve been asking a lot of questions since you’ve got here. The appropriate people have noticed your couriostiy and have decided to give you answers. Now, will you PLEASE accompany us .”
The two security guards took a step forward.
“Well then..” Mira smirked. “since you asked so nicely.”
The four of them quietly made their way through the corridor to a specific turbo lift that led to Deck 8. All other lifts had been suspended or diverted to limit access to authorized personnel. Both security guards flanked Kathy and Mira, the former up ahead with the General following closely. To observers, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Kathy didn’t want it to look like Mira was in custody– because she wasn’t. But her orders were were to deliver the General to the designated location within the next half hour, and Kathy is a stickler for following orders.
They quickly stepped into the turbo lift and with in seconds the doors slid open to reveal the infamous Deck 8.
“Finally…” Mira muttered under her breathe.
Kathy acted as if she didn’t hear her. “Here we are, Ma’am.”
The entrance to Deck 8 was guarded by two armed officers and half dozen Type-4 Salvo auto gun turrets. Not the standard micro guns made specifically for internal defense. These were modified ‘macro’ dense-ammo turrets, like the kind found externally on mid-size gunships. It was a bit overkill to have so much firepower at a single door. But Mira understood what it was. It wasn’t the firepower. It was a cautionary sign in the biggest sense. It basically ‘showed‘ more than ‘told‘ offenders what would happen if they crossed this threshold without proper authorization.
Mira, alongside her subordinate and flanked by the two security guards approached and stopped at the entrance. Upon seeing Lt. Brooks, the door security detail stepped aside and allowed her to enter for 32 digit passcode. Once the defense barrier covering the door dissipated, the two security guards that accompanied them turned and left the area and Kathy moved aside.
“This is a far as I go, Ma’am.”
“You’re not coming in with me?” Mira asked.
“No Ma’am. I only have clearance for Deck 7. As of today, you’re one of two people on this station that can enter Deck 8.”
Mira grunted. She started to walk in, but paused for a moment. She turned to Kathy. “When this is over.. me and you? We’re gonna have a nice ‘conversation‘. You understand me, Lieutenant?”
Gone was Kathy’s smile. Now she kept a stern face and didn’t make eye contact. “Yes, Ma’am.”
Mira grunted and then entered the room. The defense barrier sprang back to life immediately, and the two sentry guards resumed their position. Interestingly, once Kathy’s mission of delivering the General to Deck 8 was finished, she was immediately treated like she didn’t belong there. The Lieutenant quickly retreated to the elevator, where her security guards were waiting.
Mira had a mental image of what she thought Deck 8 would be like. It was totally shielded from any type of available scanning technology, so the equipment inside must have been next-generation shit that the Sol. Garrison wouldn’t see for a decade.
But the reality shocked her.
What she walked into was an incredibly sparse white hanger. Former images of the deck had shown large stacks of containers alongside landing zones for a dozen spacecrafts, usually for loading and unloading cargo. What she was staring at now, was the inside of a giant empty 50 square yard cube. The lights on the ceiling and upper walls were extremely bright– so bright that the few objects in the room barely casted any shadows.
There were no windows. It appeared the actual bay door normally used for landing ships had been closed and permanently sealed shut. It was as if it had never been there. There was no sign of any equipment, or next-gen technology. Just a standard white desk and two white chairs that stood in the middle of the room.
Mira began to walk, listening to the echo of her boots walking across the cold metal grates along the floor. She kept watch for any other sign of life, but there were none. As she moved further away from the door, it seemed to disappear in the brightness. Now she seemed to be walking in nothingness. Just her and the table and chairs were floating in this giant square of bright empty.
When she reached the table, she expected to find some type of collateral for her to interface with. Maybe a message pad with ‘FOR YOUR EYES ONLY’ blinking rapidly across the screen. But there was nothing. On instinct, she sat down in one of the chairs. She chose the seat facing the direction of the door she entered for security purposes. She sat up straight and placed her clasped hands together on-top of the table.. and waited.
Ten minutes passed without an incident before Mira heard the sound of the defense barrier powering down. She perked up and centered her gaze through the brightness in the direction of the entrance.
The sound of echoing footsteps reached her before she saw the approaching visage through the blinding brightness. The Major General was a tall man, maybe 6’5″, extremely slender with a completely white head of hair and matching beard. He wore a standard Sol Garrison uniform, but it was white with red trim, instead of the typical grey and black. His white boots were so shiny that they were almost invisible in the brightness.
When he reached the table, she finally got a good look at him. Even though she recognized the assortment of metals on the uniform, she didn’t recognize the man.. Almost 30 metals lined his coat on both sides of his chest. She could count the number of people who had that much flair in Sol Garrison, but she couldn’t place this mysterious war hero.
He smiled. “Hello, Mira.”
She quickly jumped to her feet and saluted. “Sir!” she shouted.
The man chuckled. “None of that, please. That’s why I brought you to Deck 8. Sovereign territory. Save that protocol shit for outside.”
She reluctantly lowered her salute. “Then how should I address you, sir?”
The man grabbed the other seat across the table. “You can call me Blake. Just Blake.” he began to unbutton his coat. “In this room, we are equals, General.”
Mira nodded in agreement.
Blake removed his military coat and draped it on the back of his chair.
“I hate wearing that damn thing. But sometimes we need to hide in plain sight. Give the masses easy conclusions to questions they don’t even know to ask yet.”
“Sir..” Mira corrected herself. “Blake.. I don’t understand what’s going on right now.”
The mysterious man leaned back. “Since the moment you got here, you’ve been asking questions. You’ve drilled through databases.. ran comprehensive scans.. interrogated my people.. You did everything we expected you to. It’s the reason why we pulled you from Earth-side duty and in command of this station.”
“But this is no ordinary command.” Mira said.
“Oh yes.” Blake replied. “This is exactly what it’s suppose to be. Except, it’s just the top layer of something much more important.”
Blake pressed both of his hand down on the table and then gestured as if he was pulling something up. Following his simulated grips from inside the table, a holographic square sprang up. It was the visual record of a brutal space battle that had happened right outside of her space station’s position.
She knew exactly what it was.
“General Porter. I know this may be a little disheartening, but it’s very necessary.”
Mira nodded in acceptance.
“Good.” Blake spun the holographic space battle around and then gestures to zoomed in on a corner. The screen went from tiny moving dots and flash of light, to a detailed scene of weapons fire and explosions.
Mira could see Blake staring at her through the hologram from the other side of the table. She did her best not to react to the memories that went along with that scene.
Blake spoke. “68 minutes into The Battle of Ganymede, the Gunship Titan jumped out of hyperspace a half lightyear away. Why?”
Mira almost missed the question being so focused on the recording.
“Sir, I catalogued all of this in my report to Sol. Command. It’s been years. I don’t know if I could recall what happened as accurately as..”
“I don’t need accuracy.” Blake interrupted. “I need YOU. I need to know YOUR thoughts while this was happening.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Between the time the war started and the arrival of the Titan, we lost our 16:1 advantage against the NýX. It was literally a massacre. In the 18 minutes the Titan snuck onto the battlefield, you recorded an incredible statistic of 47 hits. 22 of them confirmed kills. From the footage, I can tell you used little, to no standard military tactics. You seem to be all over the place. 6 minutes after you arrived, the bulk of the NýX fleet changed tactics and focused their firepower on you. During the 12 minutes before the Titan’s destruction, the rest of the remaining Garrison fleets seemed to adapt your new tactics.” Blake smiled. “I don’t know if you understand this, but you single-handedly turned the tide of the battle. And for years I’ve needed to know how you did it. Not from some damn report. I need to see it in your eyes. I need to know how you saved us all.”
Mira was confused. “I’m sorry. Are we talking about the same war? We did a lot of damage before the NýX took us out. But I don’t think they did the type of damage you’re suggesting. The records say..”
“We doctored the records.” Blake said. “We couldn’t let the human race know how close we came to extinction. And we couldn’t put all of the heroics on your ship. The galaxy at large, Sol. Command as well as other empires had to see us as a military force to be reckoned with. There was a pretty good chance that the Mass Protectorate or The Faith would’ve invaded if they knew we were so weaken by the attack. We had to keep everyone at bay while we rebuilt.”
“I didn’t know.” Mira whisper. “I understand.”
“Good. Now, take me through what happened during the last hour of Titan’s tour.”
Blacklisted Pt 2
“I instructed the helmsman to drop out of hyperspace early so we could survey the scene.” Mira began.
“Why didn’t you just engage the battle?”
“We were coming in late to the game. That would’ve been tactically stupid.”
“Explain.”
“We already knew we were up against a superior enemy. A forward attack had little success of victory– even with superior numbers.”
Mira was more focused now. It sounded like Blake was attempting to hold her accountable for the destruction of Garrison Gunships, through her hesitation to fight. She was not impressed.
“Even though we were lightyears away, we still had eyes on the battlefield. I instructed Engineering and Communication to record and analyze battle tactics while we were still en route.”
“Why?”
She sighed. “To be honest, Sir? I didn’t know. We were at least 50 minutes out. I thought at the very least, we could track the battles progress and understand where the Garrison needed us once we arrived.”
“Okay.” Blake leaned back in this chair.
“2 minutes out, I ordered both Engineering and Communication to send their data to me. I needed to bring myself up to speed on where we needed to go. But while I merged and parsed the data, something occurred to me.” Mira got lost in her thoughts. “There were certain.. patterns between the commands the Garrison Gunships were given, and the activity of the NýX Marauders.”
“Elaborate.” Blake listened intently.
“It was subtle, but a fraction of a second before a Gunship targeted a Marauder, it would veer slightly to the right– just enough to avoid a weapons impact. I don’t know if they were tapping into communications or if there was some sorta ‘tell’ in a Gunship’s firing cycle.. but it was there. In the 48 minutes we recorded while en route, this occurrence happened 93.7% of the time.”
“Interesting.” Blake smiled.
“Battle resources went to the gun salvo’s and the shields. The rest was useless at the moment. So i ordered Engineering to pick 3 enemy ships and target two of our salvo guns to each of their firing patterns. But then slightly misalign each gun 2% off-axis to the right.”
Blake laughed. “I read that in the report, but I couldn’t believe it was something that simple.”
“I agree, Sir.” she replied. “We plotted a course through the battlefield, focusing on staying clear of the gunfire. If the NýX had had a bigger fleet, they might have been able to recover. Lucky for us, they didn’t. I instructed Communication to transmit the misalignment script to all other ships with instructions.”
Blake gave her the grin of a proud father. “You must’ve been elated by the success.”
“I didn’t see it that way, Sir.” Her mood came down. “As soon as the NýX fleet focus their firepower on us, I gave the order to abandon ship. Only 14 out of our 43 escape pods made it out of range before we lost the Titan.”
Blake powered down the holo-screen while Mira continued.
“I lost 83 crew mates. A lot of them I considered good friends. I knew their families. I trained them. Some I hand-picked for the Titan.”
“They were soldiers.” Blake said. “This is what they were trained for. They gave their lives for the Alliance. Just like you and I would’ve done.”
“None the less. It was a tragedy. I never wanted to come back to this place.” She lowered her head. “Too many memories.”
There was an uncomfortable silence for almost a minute. Blake stared at the General as she simply stared at her clasped hands on-top of the table. He studied her; trying to understand her. She presented tactical expertise that could only be found in someone detached from the hinderance of emotion. Yet, he could see she grieved for her lost crew mates.
“General..” Blake started. “Tell me what you know about Blacklist?”
Right Now
Alex Garrett awoke from his unconsciousness a half hour ago. Now he sat on the edge of the hard cot, situated inside of a level 3 containment field, which seemed to be some type of makeshift infirmary. There were nondescript containers of assorted sizes that lined all four walls. He speculated the room use to be a storage hanger. He remembered that he was in the same room the last time they jumped back in time. But last time, all three of them were in the room. There was no sign of Mia or Tash this time around.
He stood and slowly walked to the edge of the containment field, so close he could feel the dry electrical particles tugging at the hairs on his arms. He reached out and slowly moved his fingers toward the barrier until they came into contact. He was bracing himself for a shocking blast, but there was none. It wasn’t a plasma barrier like the previous times. This was some type of inverted holographic field that simply pushed whatever came in contact with it with equal force. If you punched the barrier, it would deflect the same amount of force back at you. Alex knew Tash would’ve been fascinated with the technology.
In the far corner, about 30 meters further to the back, Alex saw the only other person in the hanger with him. Kyle K’Nar was laying in bed on his back. Alex couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or staring at the ceiling. He looked better than he did in previous jumps, Alex thought. This soldier was less battle-worn than previous incarnations. He couldn’t tell if that was going to be a good or bad thing.
“His name is Kyle K’Nar. He’s a terrorist soldier.” A voice called out from the entrance behind him. He didn’t need to turn around to know who the figure was. She seemed to always visit them at this point in time– another fixed point that rarely-to-never changed.
“I know who he is.” Alex replied with a grin. “It’s good to see you, Kathy.” He turned around to the puzzled look on her face. “He never deserves to be locked up like that.”
Lt. Kathy Bates stepped into the room, allowing the door to slide shut.
“You know me?” She asked with a puzzled, but superior look on her face. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you sound like you now me.”
“Yes..” Alex smiled. “..and not yet.”
Kathy grabbed the back of the nearest chair and pulled it across the room until she could sit in-front of his shielded bed.
“Where’s my crew?” He demanded, as always.
“In the medical wing.” Kathy answered, checking her message pad. “They were a little more banged up than you. The young man had a collapsed lung and the woman is suffering from slight asphyxiation.”
Alex sighed in relief. “Good.” He found his seat on the bed again. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost either of them.”
“You have a lot of explaining to do Mr…”
“Garrett.” He responded. “Alex Garrett. And depending on how things are going right now, I should be a 2nd Lieutenant serving on the I.S.S. Tempest somewhere near Mars.”
“I.S.S. Tempest? Should I know what that is?” She responded not looking ump from her message pad.
“Intersteller StarShip.” Alex nodded. “Ah, ship designations must have changed. That’s a first.”
“Are you saying, you’re Military?” She looked up and focused on him.
“What I’m saying is you’re going to a DNA search on me and identify me as an enlisted officer in the military. But that won’t be me… not the me right now. It’ll be me, just at a different point in time and reality.”
“Different time?” Kathy grew annoyed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Has Admiral Porter arrived yet? Has she been sworn in to command?”
Kathy was shocked. “How did you..” Annoyance turned to anger. “What is this? Who the hell do you work for?”
“You.” He smiled uneasily. “I’ve worked for you and Admiral Porter about a dozen times before. And I’ll work for you again in a few hours.”
Alex took a deep breath. He’d done this talk many times before and still hadn’t found the best way to break the news to Kathy.
“I’ll tell you everything.” Alex pleaded. “But we’ll need my crew and Admiral Porter…”
“You mean Colonel Porter?” Kathy interrupted.
“We’ll need Colonel Porter to be here. And we’re all on the clock. We have a less than six months before a full scale invasion from the NýX. And this time, it’ll be the end of everything.”
Blacklisted Pt. 3
Blake punched in a series of commands on the holographic display while Mira Porter looked on. She was apprehensive about the moment. She’d been curious about the mysterious organization that had taken over her new post aboard this orbital station. Now the floodgates were open. Blake was going to show her everything behind the curtain.
“February 19th, XXXX Earth Time. After six and a half years of intense mediating and collaborating, the collective organizations of Earth agreed on a global charter to form The United Terran Alliance, a precursor to what would become The Sol System Alliance 57 years later.”
“I know this, Sir.” Mira responded.
“What you didn’t know..” Blake continued, “..is that buried in this charter was a tiny, carefully-worded sub-policy.. more like a loophole that gave the Terran World Military, the precursor to what would become The Sol System Garrison, the initiative to use excessive operational mandates to deal with threats deemed too dangerous for conventional means.”
He navigated through the holographic records, while Mira watched on intently. “Early on, this mandate was enacted very rarely.” he pulled up a historical outline. “The Soviet Resistance, the Near-collapse of The Global Infrastructure, The Mexican Territorial Succession… all of these tragedies would’ve been considerably worse if that policy wasn’t on the books.
“Fast forward a few decades. After reuniting with the dozens of the outer-lining colonies that had ventured out to explore the galaxy, we set out to reintegrate them back into the Terran Alliance. When The Sol System Alliance was created, ‘The Policy’ was augmented, giving the operation more structure, head-count and funding to expand preventative operations off-world.”
Mira interrupted. “No disrespect, Sir. But this sounds.. highly suspect. How could there be the existence of an off-the-books operations so prominent, but unknown to all our intelligence networks?”
Blake smiled. “Who do you think runs the Intelligence programs?”
Mira was perplexed. This was more than a clandestine organization. This sounded like a cancer infecting her civilization.. a handful of shadowy individuals shaping the direction of the human race.
She shook her head. “This is wrong.” she stood. “What you’re telling me is… it’s wrong, Sir. This.. Blacklist is old world tactics. Organizations like this were part of the reason it took Earth so long to unite under a single banner.”
“Yes.” Blake agreed.
Mira ranted on. “We’re suppose to be above all this. The Sol System Alliance is suppose to have total transparency…”
“Yes.” He said again. “Everything you’re saying is true. We should be above shadow organizations and covert manipulations. But we’re not. It’s simple as that.”
Blake could see the bewildered look on Mira’s face. This is where she needed her to be. All potential candidates needed to be torn apart. They needed to be stripped of their social comfort. It was the fork in the road where the candidate would stagnate and have to go through a few months of reconditioning to forget this meeting… or they would accept the true status quo and move forward as a part of the organization.
He rubbed his frowning face, as if to project an aura of frustrated contemplation. This was an act, of course. A small form of theater which conveys a sense of painful necessity.
“I understand how this sounds, General. A day doesn’t go by without me questioning what we’re doing out here. But that doesn’t change the fact that we are needed. People like us.. we hide inside the comfort of military rules and orders. But outside of us, the rest of the galaxy waits in the shadows.
Blake brought up another 3D display. This time it was a small grid of text documents.. analysis other worlds.
“After the The Battle of Ganamede, the other civilizations seemed to put their differences aside out of fear and mutual protection. But don’t be fooled. We have The Mass Protectorate on one side watching our unruly System Alliance sitting right next to their pristine Oligarchy. And on the otherside, The Faith’s vast fleets of floating Cathedrals waiting to indoctrinate more humans in their glory.”
He shut the display off so that he could lock eyes with her. He knew that when the call went out, Mira always responded. She was a true hero, one that knew of high stakes and sacrifices. She just needed one more push. She was almost there.
“It’s too much.” She replied. “This is too much power for such a small amount of people to have. How can you stop people from abusing so much power?”
Blake leaned in with a grin. “By enlisting people like you.”
She said nothing.
He continued. “You’re right. The amount of power we possess is dangerous. That’s why there’s very little rank structure in our organization. We operate as a small collective and we pride ourselves for policing our own actions.”
“So what you’re saying is there is no abuse of power?” She asked.
“No. I’m saying when one of us abuses that power, it’s the rest of us who shut it down.”
Blake changed the display once again. This time, a series of animated organizational charts appeared. Mira gasped. She recognized one other figure on the charts besides Blake.
“What the hell?” She stood and got a closer look at the display. “Captain Vigo Haulker?”
Blake nodded. “Yes. I recruited him 18 years ago when he was promoted to Commander.” His demeanor softened. “One of my proudest moments.”
Mira remembered Captain Haulker and his swift fall from grace in the military. The secrets uncovered. The lives lost. The the backlash from neighboring star systems.
“Proudest moments?!?” She couldn’t contain her anger anymore. “Proudest moments?! That man and his crew went on a murder spree in open space! That man destroyed seven civilian ships! He murdered over 90,000 civilians! How and you praise something so horrible?!”
Blake leaned forward to add information to the display. “Rule #1, General: Don’t believe everything you read.”
Alongside the org charts, a stream on video and scrolling text appeared.
“Vigo didn’t kill 90,000 civilians. They were already dead.”
“What?”
“Blacklist had been aware of a growing movement called The Krat, a doomsday cult that believed death was the real life and were were all trapped in our current form as tortured. They hatched a plot to infect the population of multiple worlds with a degenerative disease that literally rots organic matter at an alarming rate. They infected vacationers at a star port near Lalande 21185.
“By the time Blacklist got wind of the plot, all cruise liners had been infected and all occupants had were already dead. We successfully eliminate The Krat ‘s 26 operational cells, but not before the plan was enacted.
“Captain Vigo Haulker knew what needed to be done. His was the only Gunship close enough to stop those seven ships from reaching populated planets. With no hesitation, he and his crew preceded to track down and destroy those death machines, knowing the consequences of their actions.”
“Consequences?” Mira asked, who’s anger was replaced with bewilderment.
“There was no way to call out and explain what he was going to do the aligning star systems without raising a lot of questions.. questions that would’ve lead back to Blacklist. So relayed his plan back to us. And we concluded it was the best course of action, as tragic as it was going to be.”
“What was that plan, Sir?” She asked.
“We were put forth an order to the Sol Garrison that Captain Haulker and his crew had gone rogue and systematically slaughtered civilian ships. We would issue an order to destroy on sight, which the aligning systems would see as the Sol Garrison cleaning up their mess. Captain Haulker made his coordinate known and we relayed they information to the intelligence organizations in multiple systems. We needed what would happen next to be a spectacle. We held off the Captain Haulker’s execution until we had witnesses from multiple worlds.”
Mira was in shock. “Oh God. You staged his death?”
Blake shook his head. “No, General. Captain Haulker knew there could be no mistakes in this moment. The diplomatic relations between our worlds were fragile at best. We couldn’t risk and type of disillusionary tactics. When everyone inspected the wreckage in the aftermath, it needed to be authentic.”
“Oh, God.”
“At the designated moment, Captain Haulker dropped his shield and four Gunships secretly under Blacklist control fired upon and destroy the Gunship Pegasus. All 213 souls aboard gave their lives to protect the fragile peace.”
Blake deactivated the holographic screen, leaving Mira staring blankly back at him.
“Captain Vigo Haulker was a patriot, General.” Blake continued. “It may seem like a waste to you, but he knew the stakes in that moment. And as outrageous as the situation sounds, he put the protection of the galaxy above himself and his crew. And because of that, a cancer in this system was eliminated and countless worlds were spared an agonizing death. That’s what it means to be Blacklist, General. We stand above rules and regulation. We may serve human interests, but we do what we can to protect everyone and everything.. at any costs.”
“That’s madness!” She surprised herself with the outburst. “There are dozens of other scenarios Captain Haulker could have taken with the same outcome.. without the loss of life!”
“Well..” Blake responded standing up and grabbing his coat. “Everyone isn’t as tactically savvy as you General. We work the problem as best we can and if it requires sacrifice in the heat of the moment…”
“Madness.” She muttered to herself, still in shock.
Blake slowly buttoned his dress coat, allowing his dozens of shiny metal to violently reflect the bright like of Deck 8.
“Vigo Haulker was a top officer in the organization. He oversaw the operations in multiple system, including this one. 56 top secret bases with close to 1000 covert officers at his command. His death has left a leadership vacuum in that position for years while we worked to find a replacement.”
Blake straighened his uniform and walked to stand next to Mira who was still processing this meeting
He put his hand on her shoulder and continued. “I’ve seen your intellect, your courage and your compassion. You have skills and assets that Vigo never had. I would trust you in this position more than anyone else, Mira. This isn’t an indoctrination.”
“Then what is it, Blake?” The asked.
“Honestly? This is me offering you a super-weapon to help keep us all safe. That’s all. Again this is not a structured organization. You are accountable to no one because you’re the boss. And barring any high profile rogue operations that the other members aren’t aware of, you’d be pretty much left alone to do what you do best.”
She looked up and made eye contact with Blake for what seemed like hours. Her mind races through situational scenarios– the pros and cons of joining a Black Ops organization. And her greatest fears was coming to pass.
Even with natural predication of suspicion and that nagging feeling of impending doom, she couldn’t come up with enough reasons to say no.
She realized she was holding her breath too long.
She exhaled. “With all due respect, Sir. You’ve told me a lot of… questionable information. It feels like I’m in a bad situation if I decide to decline your offer.”
He smiled. “I’ll make this easy.”
He reactivated the holographic screen. “Anticipating you agreeing to the post, I already authorized your access to your system. In front of you is the complete history of Blacklist operations. You are free to sit here as long as you like and study us. Judge for yourself if this organization is worth of you and your skills. When you reach a decision, simply exit this room. Kathy will be waiting at the turbo lift for your answer.”
“And if I decide to decline?”
“We’ll erase this day from your memory. You won’t remember anything about The Blacklist and we’ll even get you re-assigned Earth-side so you can retire properly as you intended to do.”
He started to walk away into the bright light, becoming more a disembodied voice. “If you accept the post, you don’t have to do anything. Welcome to The Blacklist, Colonel Mira Porter.
#
Kathy Bates stood near the entrance of the turbo lift on Deck 3, staring out into deep space through the giant floor windows, as she usually does when she gets a few moments to herself.
A little over 2 hours before, Major General Blake had came to find her and relay that Colonel Porter was thinking about accepting the position.
“She’ll take it.” He told her. “It may take her a little bit of time to work out the logistics in her head, but she’ll find a way to justify it.”
He had leaned in to Kathy, putting his lips close to her ear. “And when she does accept, your new focus will be to make sure she does what we want her to do. The Colonel has a fabulous intellect, but she’s also very strong-willed.. which can be a bit of a problem with people in our positions.”
With that, he gave Lt. Bates a friendly pat on the shoulder and then walk off without another word.
It took Kathy a few moments to realize she wasn’t breathing in his presence. When his visage disappeared around the curved corridor, she exhaled deeply. Bracing herself on the wall. She was proud of The Blacklist and what they did. But she wasn’t so naive not to know how dangerous they could be.
Major General Blake Allen Aetós was a dedicated, driven and sometimes frightening man. He wielded the power to raze entire civilizations with a few words. He was not a man to be crossed or failed. So when he said the word ‘focus’, he meant the Colonel’s indoctrination would take precedence over everything else.
Kathy was brought out of her thoughts by a signal from her communicator. She was to receive the message with Colonel Porter had left the white room on Deck 8.
She gathered herself, straightened her uniform and stepped into the turbo lift.
“Deck 8.” She called out, start starting the elevator’s descent.
When it reached its destination and the doors slide open, it revealed Colonel Porter arriving at the lift right on time. She was surprised to see Kathy in the lift as it opened.
Kathy nodded to The Colonel. “You all set, Ma’am?”
Mira walked into to the lift alongside her as the door closed. “Damn right, I am. Deck 4.”
As the turbo lift started to move, Kathy gave it another command.
“Construye los muros que nos protegen.“
The lift stopped and the lighting changed from a fluorescent white to a dim blue tinge.
“What the hell?” The Colonel said.
“It’s a directive command, shutting down all usage of this lift and erecting a dampening field blocking any communication, scanning or recording. We’ll be able to talk freely, Ma’am.”
“Neat.” Mira replied. “I’m guessing you have words that need to be said?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Kathy took a deep breath and put on her best face of intensity. She was going to have to establish herself as the seasoned veteran of the organization and let Mira know that their dynamic would be.. different. Even though their ranks were defined within the Sol Garrison, their Blacklist relationship would be slightly different.
“Before we proceed further, Ma’am.. we need to set some rules in…”
“Well, you can stop right there, Lieutenant.” But Mira beat her to the punch. Even though there wasn’t much room between them in the turbo lift, Mira took a small, commanding step into Kathy’s space, causing the Lieutenant to give ground. Mira knew what Kathy’s play was going to be. She was going to cement her position as an equal, or superior with the secret organization. But like Blake said, Mira Porter was an excellent strategics. She sized up the small Lieutenant’s position within 5 minutes of their first meeting.
“Before you give me your speech this speech on ‘how things are going to be’ let’s get one thing straight. I’ve been wearing my big lady pants longer than you’ve been alive. So there are no rules no rules you need to straighten with me. Are we clear?”
Kathy lowered her gazed. “Yes Ma’am.”
“Good. Now, here are my rules. The only thing you’re going to for me is, whatever the hell I tell you to do. Blake put me in charge, both above and under the table. So the way I see it, I’m God here.”
Mira leaned in close Kathy, until her lips were inches from her nose. “And if you ever with-old anything from me concerning this station, or it’s operation, God with smite Thee.”
This time, Kathy just nodded in agreement.
“Good.” Mira stood up straight. “Deck 4.”
The lighting changed to it’s original luminesce as the lift continue to move downward.
“Actually Ma’am..” Kathy added. “You’re need be on Deck 1. The anomaly we discovered outside of Calisto? It’s a lot more… interesting than first reported.
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