The Fall of the Absolute

by Karen Page

Chapter 28

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Chapter 28

"Have you two thought what you're going to do?" Jennifer asked. "I could give you a lift to Earth."

"I'm not leaving my post," Georgina said firmly.

The Reginadde Ambassador looked less committed but nodded in agreement anyway.

Jennifer nodded and went to the bar. Jennifer and her friends had been coming so often, the barman knew her. "Another set of drinks?"

"I need a discreet room for those two," Jennifer said.

"What room?" he responded, handing over a card.

"Thanks. Hopefully things will quieten down soon."

"Trouble?"

"Someone is trying to take over the station computer and make themselves ruler of the Rohastin."

He muttered some words in a language Jennifer didn't know but got the gist of his tone. The barman wasn't impressed.

Jennifer went back to the two ambassadors. "Out the door, turn left. Turn right at the first corridor and you are in the third room on the right."

"There are bedrooms here?" the Reginadde Ambassador said in amazement.

Jennifer wanted to roll her eyes. He might have found a bar outside normal tracking areas but had no idea what else was around it.

"Surprisingly, they don't get used much, but yes, there are rooms here. Since it is outside normal station security, it has manual methods to secure yourself. It is probably better for you with the main systems being a bit unpredictable."

"What about you?" Georgina asked.

"I'm going to have a sit down with Trudy," Jennifer replied.

"That sounds too much like a Mafia movie. Have a 'sit down'. I hope you don't find a horse's head in your bed."

Jennifer shrugged and made sure they made it to their room. When they were safe, Jennifer made her way back to the maintained part of the station and travelled to the lower viewing window. She sighed with happiness as she looked out over the stars.

She'd almost given up waiting when she heard her name being called. It was Trudy.

"You took your time," Jennifer said, not looking around.

"I wanted to make sure you were alone and we wouldn't be disturbed."

"Have a seat," Jennifer said, pointing to the empty chairs. "I was gazing out. My birth system is out there. I find it grounding to know where we are."

"You don't seem concerned about me," Trudy said.

"Why should I be. Your ire is with other people. I wasn't even born when you were forced to give up your position. In fact, is there anybody here that is to blame?"

"None of the council supported me," Trudy snarled.

"Oh. I thought you served as Ambassador at the behest of the Law Bearer and Signatories?"

Trudy looked across at Jennifer, her hands flashing in anger, and her mouth made a shape which Jennifer recognised as anger. Working with Reggie she'd got to learn so much about the Reginaddes and their emotions.

In the slight reflection of the glass, she saw four Reginaddes, weapons pointed at her. Outwardly she showed no emotion, but inside she wondered if this was the end. She pushed down the fear. If her plan failed, she would die. If she flinched, she would die. There was only one way out, and that was forward with the plan.

"So, are you going to remove the Law Bearer who pushed you out and take his place?"

One of the Reginaddes moved slightly. A slight twitch when she mentioned about taking out the Reginadde leader. Good.

Trudy laughed. "You have no idea, do you?"

"I just work in a clothes shop. Why would I have an idea?"

"The Oracle is right that the Rohastin is stagnant. It keeps the peace between species, but we don't grow."

"So, you are planning to remove the Rohastin Council?"

"Yes. I'm going to lead this segment of the galaxy. This will be my palace. I can rule all the species from here."

"Mmm, that's a novel idea," Jennifer said sarcastically. "I've never heard anything like that before."

Trudy didn't know what to make of Jennifer. She sat there, not looking like she had a care in the world.

Jennifer continued, "What has upset you about humans? I thought you were one of the ones who set up the two factions to keep us alive until our saviour turned up?"

"I didn't expect my side to fail. I expected a team of people who would be able to steer Earth to be my main supporters. Instead, you ended up with a leader like Georgina Harries who brought humans to the council as one of its biggest supporters."

"All that remains of your side is a few, mostly discredited, people."

"But they still have their supporters. They will rise up and take control of Earth. Scorpion is too tiny to stand on its own, and it will soon fall too."

Jennifer wanted to laugh but kept her face neutral. "There are too few of them to manage that. Are the Yvestigans going to help?"

"They will be my army. As we grow, they will make sure nobody stands in our way."

Jennifer shook her head. Either Trudy had no idea how much intel she was giving, or she didn't care. Either way, Jennifer kept going giving little sarcastic prods which Trudy didn't seem to get. "And who is going to stand in their way? Sheesh, if they just waited a bit longer, they would have got a free upgrade the humans were offering so they could hop quicker to their targets."

"Why wait when they can take it," she gloated. "Earth Fist have already started cracking down, checking that the people working for them aren't infiltrators."

Jennifer's eyes narrowed at that statement. Her aunt was the one calling Last Rites. "And have your fabulous Earth Fist found anyone?"

Trudy actually seemed to sit up straighter when Jennifer called them fabulous. "They thought they had and beat her almost to death. They set a trap for rescuers. There were none. They called it a loyalty test. She was loyal and will now be that Earth Fist leader's deputy."

"And you want rid of the Rohastin totally?" Jennifer reiterated.

"I said that already," Trudy snapped.

"Yet you retain control of the Station as head of the Rohastin Council. You can't even do this yourself."

"I relinquish control," Trudy roared, removing her ultimate authority over the station computer. All her protections disappeared.

Within a blink of her eye, Jennifer heard in her head, "Jennifer, there are four armed Reginaddes behind you."

"Thank you," Jennifer thought back. "Please contact Vers'am, who should be on the Ambassador floor."

Jennifer shifted in her seat, and Trudy said, "Stay where you are. You can't hurt me and even if you could you'd never survive what happens if I'm not around."

"Okay," Jennifer said. "You are in control. So how are you going to persuade your Signatories to just hand over power? You couldn't persuade them to remove the current Ambassador. Not everybody listens to you. Can you really rely on them agreeing to you becoming their ruler?"

"I don't have to. I have a few friends who will take them all out. No Signatories left."

The twitchy guard turned and instead of pointing his weapon at Jennifer, it was now pointed at Trudy. He fired.

The other three guards turned towards their colleague but before they could kill him security bots were there, the weapons plucked harmlessly out of their hands. The four men looked bewildered as other security bots wrapped them in a strong mesh. Their struggle was over in less time than it took Trudy to die.

"Thank you, Station," Jennifer said. "Are there any more of Trudy's guards still around?"

"Those four were her only guards. Thank you for freeing me. I'm still damaged though. I can't see the communications tunnel. I think she made me forget certain things to hide what she has been doing."

"Kelly and Hope are looking for physical damage. Introduce yourself to them. It will be easier to find the issue if you work together."

Medical bots had turned up and removed Trudy's dead body. Cleaning bots waited to remove any evidence. By the time the residents woke, there would be no physical trace of the altercation.

"Overwatch," Jennifer said, taking them off mute. "Did you get all of that?"

"Affirmative. We contacted EarthGov Security. They are now aware of potential Earth Fist and Yvestigan action. It was done as if Sofia had given it. You are downgraded from Code Orange to Code Yellow. Do you have any resources to alert the Reginadde Signatories?"

"Reggie should already be there."

"Okay."

"Communication at the Station is still down. I'm going direct to Earth. I'll be offline again when I move. I'll try to connect for update when I can."

"Understood. Good luck."

Jennifer terminated the call and her next was to her parents' security team. "Hughes."

"This is Jennifer. Code Red. I've information Earth Fist and Yvestigan are going to attempt something. I've no idea if it will impact your security or the timescale."

Hughes didn't bat an eyelid. "Thanks for the tip. I heard there is a comms outage there?"

"An attempted coup. The ringleader was killed by one of her guards. Please don't panic my parents."

"We're locking down," Hughes said not liking the sound of what Jennifer had been involved with and ended the call.

Next was Theo. She asked, "How's it going?"

"Vers'am is back as head of the Rohastin Council. He's going to need to swear each member back in. What about you? Are you okay?"

"Hope and Kelly are checking connections. Trudy is dead."

"Dead?"

"One of her bodyguards killed her. It seems he got upset when she stated she was going to kill the Signatories and make Yvestigans the army of the galaxy."

Theo paused, and then said, "I think you need to give a report to the council. Can you bring the Human and Reginadde members. I think most other members sealed themselves in their rooms."

"By the looks they were giving each other when I showed them the room, I doubt they will be happy I'm telling them to attend a council meeting."

Theo laughed. "One of the joys of you knowing where they are and nobody else."

Jennifer packed her rucksack and took one last look at the stars. She sighed, not knowing if she'd feel happy enough coming to this magical area again, or if today's confrontation was just a temporary wound that would heal.

When Jennifer got up to the Ambassador floor, Rupert was waiting. Instead of going with the human Ambassador, he took Jennifer to the waiting room.

"They won't be long. Vers'am needs to swear the ambassadors in. They then want to hear your report."

"Were you caught up in the scare?"

"I'd finished for the night and had gone to bed. I knew nothing about the coup attempt until I was called. I'm glad I wasn't in the middle of it."

"How was your Christmas?" Jennifer asked.

He smiled. "It was great. A nice break away. Though it did seem strange being back on Earth."

"Did you stay with your family or Beth's?"

He blushed. "We stayed with Beth's sister for most of it. We then went to see my parents. Now I've visited once, I think I might do it again. It's only a hop away. Heck, I could visit for an evening if I wanted."

"You have Theo to cover now. So, why not? If you still need him now the Urattr issue is resolved."

"Is it though?"

Jennifer shrugged. "This is all new to me. When does something go from being a crisis to being business-as-usual?"

Rupert smiled. "We aren't there yet. I doubt this will be your last crisis."

"I don't like this next bit. It's exposing me a bit."

"Don't worry. Everyone knows you work with Reggie in the shop."

Jennifer relaxed a bit and gave a small giggle.

"That's better. You aren't a member of the council, so you won't be part of the circle. As a witness, you stand in the centre."

"Alone?"

Rupert nodded. "Alone. At least you speak Hytuna. The first time Ambassador Harries appeared at the Council she didn't speak a word of Hytuna, and she was still getting her head around the fact that aliens existed."

Theo appeared at the door. "It is time."

Jennifer walked with Rupert into the chamber. She was expecting a grand room, with elaborate and exquisite adornments. It was the opposite. It was plain. Almost stark. The council stood in a circle. Around them the rest of the chamber was full of aides. From what she'd heard of the council, there was normally only one or two. Everyone wanted to hear the report.

"In you go," Rupert encouraged, and Jennifer walked into the centre of the circle. She glanced at the wise faces staring at her, and she felt her face go warm. She lowered her head, feeling intimidated and rather awed.

"Jennifer North is a witness to today's events," Vers'am, the head of the Council stated formally. "Jennifer, before we review the lead up to the event, I need a summary of the current status and if there is any more danger."

Jennifer gathered her thoughts and with her head still down, stated, "The person behind the hijacking of the Council was the previous head of the Rohastin Council and previous Reginadde Ambassador. Her plan was to disband the Rohastin and lead this portion of the galaxy as ultimate ruler. She has two segments of the plan still in operation. To kill the Reginadde Signatories, and to remove humans from being a space faring species using Earth Fist and the Yvestigans. Her hold on the Rohastin Station systems is gone, but the damage to its systems remains. There is no interdimensional communication from the Rohastin Station."

"Has any action been taken regarding the remaining threats?"

"The Reginadde Ambassador's granddaughter has gone to their home world to warn them. I used an alternative communication method to contact Earth. I was told EarthGov Security have been informed."

Vers'am turned to the Yvestigan Ambassador. "Were you aware of this?"

"No! The ex-Ambassador had been attracting a following. There was an attempt yesterday to arrest him. He and a good portion of his followers escaped. We had no word that he planned to attack Earth or become the personal army of the ex Rohastin Leader."

"I said nothing about the Yvestigans becoming her army," Jennifer said. "She gloated about that, but it wasn't mentioned inside Council."

There was silence in the room. Jennifer peaked up and saw the frightened look on the Yvestigan Ambassador's face. The other Ambassadors that she could see had turned to face him.

"Repotew, will you please stand witness. Jennifer, thank you for your service to the Rohastin. You may leave the chamber. Can you please wait outside."

Jennifer nodded and as she left, she looked back. Repotew was moving into the centre, and the Ambassadors shuffled along the circle, closing the gap he'd left. As she left the chamber, she wondered if closing the gap signified that the Yvestigans were once again being expelled.

In the Council waiting room, she went to the large windows that looked towards the planet. She didn't know if it was just her, but it seemed less vibrant. There were still varying colours, but the deep colours were gone. How many Urattr had been there? Had they all escaped?

"Jen," Kelly's voice said in her head. "I thought you should have an update. There was an issue at connection seven, but not what we expected. There is a device there. Also, at connection three and eleven. We want to remove them simultaneously, but we need a third person."

"I've just come out of council where I've been a witness. I've been asked to wait."

"Let us know when you can join us. We've analysed what it's doing and shared our eyes with the Station. The Station now understands it's been compromised. It has maintenance bots checking for other issues."

"I thought it would get maintenance bots to do the removal?"

"They are under the Stations control and there might be disruption with the removal. It could cause issues. I wish Henry or Sam were here."

"I know, but they aren't. I could go get them, but Eos is probably in service."

"With what's happening, I wouldn't ask."

Jennifer saw Theo coming out of the Council chamber with other aides. He looked like he was being supported by Rupert.

"Councils out. I've got to go," she said to Kelly and terminated the link.

Rushing across to Theo, Jennifer helped Rupert take him to a chair. As soon as he was seated, she sat next to him and cuddled in. Theo held her like his life depended on it.

"He needs to process what he saw," Rupert said. "When investigating one of their own, they utilise tools and methods they can't and wouldn't normally use. And before you ask, they didn't use the Station computer."

"His mind was opened for all council members," Theo muttered. "It wasn't forced. He agreed, like all council members do, to operate in the open with other members. They have so much power, this is one of the checks they have."

"Did he know about Trposin's plan?"

Rupert nodded. "Yes, but not their government. When he joined the council, Trposin recruited him. There was an attempt to round up Trposin when the government got wind of things. He'd been instructed to warn the council. He didn't."

Theo sighed and sat up. "I wouldn't like to double cross the Rohastin Council. They are kind and well hearted but can be persistent and ruthless to keep themselves pure."

"I wouldn't say pure," Rupert said. "They never attempt to be pure. They aren't saints. They have a tougher job than most realise. Jennifer, I need to contact EarthGov. Do you have something that can help?"

"My ship has long distance communications," Jennifer said. "It is an explorer ship, so it has to."

Theo smirked. She wasn't letting anybody use her DTD. He was beginning to feel better. It was like shock. He thought about a brandy, but knew alcohol was never the answer, especially in the middle of a crisis.

"Do you mind if some of the other aides make use of your communications?"

"Come on then," she sighed, seeing the aides eager to relay information on the unprecedented happenings.

Rupert whistled when he saw the ship and the inside. "Nice, but it looks wrong."

"Wrong?"

"When I was your age, our vehicles were never that tidy. Where are the used sweet wrappers, and empty drink bottles flung carelessly behind the seat?"

She laughed. "I've not had it long enough. Check in six months."

Jennifer waited outside, to not listen in as Rupert made the call. He was grim when he got off Astraea.

"EarthGov were glad to get the update. However you'd managed to get word, it had been treated seriously. Planetary defence is in operation. They don't know if they'd try to hop directly to the planet, so all countries are on the lookout. It wouldn't be a good day for any non-humans to visit."

Jennifer nodded and hoped it wouldn't cause humans to become intolerant of other species. Most were friendly and kind.

The Reginadde aide was next. He was longer than Rupert was. "Sorry, it took time to get someone. It seems there is confusion. There has been a battle, but nobody knows what's happened. There is talk of people in the street, but the news sites don't know what is going on or why."

"Any news on the Ambassador's granddaughter? She went there," Jennifer asked hopefully.

"Nothing. It was hard enough to get anything."

Jennifer sighed. The Ambassador would probably want to go there. It was his species. He was next in the line of succession. His granddaughter was there. Yet his ship wasn't in the station; Reggie had taken it. He could try and borrow one, but that would take time.

"Theo. I've got to go and make an offer. Lock up when they've finished."

"You're going to offer Astraea to the Reginadde Ambassador, aren't you?"

She smiled. He knew her so well. "Yes. And he can't fly her."

Theo nodded. Jennifer would take him and go into the heart of a conflict. No matter how he felt in his heart, he knew it was right. It was the only sensible option.

When she got back to the Ambassador floor, she approached Vost'am, one of the Alphonian aides. "Are the Ambassadors still in session?"

"Yes. The Reginadde aide has just gone in to brief his ambassador. Can I help you?"

Jennifer said, "Yes. I'm willing to take the Reginadde Ambassador and anybody who wants to go with him."

"But your ship can't go there," Vost'am said.

Jennifer looked around to make sure nobody else was in earshot. "It can. The ability to go anywhere is coded to me only. I feel this trip is important enough for me to risk myself and expose my ships capabilities. I hope you and the council won't advertise it."

Vost'am had been an aide for a long time, and understood what Jennifer was offering, even if she phrased it in ways that seemed strange to him.

"Jen," she heard in her head.

"Hope, how's it going."

"The maintenance bots have found something strange. It isn't linked to the computer directly, but to the Station computer's cooling."

"What is it?"

"We aren't sure. Kelly is looking at it, but it is outside the Station's and our knowledge."

They were talking in the minds. She didn't have the skills to show emotions in words but could portray feeling. "It isn't a bomb, is it?"

"Kelly is looking. She said she wasn't sure. Her electronics skills are a lot better than all of ours put together. But it doesn't mean that it isn't something that would cause disruption. We won't be removing the devices any time soon."

"Okay. I might have to go to take the Reginadde Ambassador to his home world. Theo will be around to help where you need."

"How bad is it there? Any news on Reggie?"

"Nothing on Reggie. There is talk about some sort of battle, but nobody knows much."

"Good luck. We don't want to make a mistake, so are taking it slowly. You have your job. This is ours."

Hope disconnected and Jennifer connected to the Station. "Hello Station. How are you doing?"

Jennifer felt like the Station smiled.

"I'm happy that your two friends are looking over my main connections. We have a three-way communication open, letting me constantly see what they are looking at. In your terms, it is like they are holding my hand, reassuring me as they go."

"If I have to take my ship out before you have communication, will you leave my spot free? My ship has the ability to return if it isn't too long."

"I will leave it free for you. I don't want you crashing into other ships."

Jennifer grinned and disconnected.

While she waited, she thought about connecting the DTD and seeing what was happening on Earth, but she thought it might distract her. Earth was warned and was probably like an angry bear that had been woken from hibernation.

"Jennifer?"

She looked up to see Rupert looking at her.

"Sorry. I was just feeling sorry for any Yvestigans trying to attack Earth."

Rupert grimaced. "I hope you're right. They might have slower drives than Earth, but some of their weapons are a lot more advanced. Your offer to the council was to take the Reginadde Ambassador and anybody who wants to go with him? Does that stand?"

"Yes," Jennifer said standing up straight, wondering if Georgina was going with the Reginadde Ambassador.

"Your offer was accepted. Grab your rucksack."

The Ambassadors coming out of their chamber caught Jennifer's eye and she gaped. They were in formal regalia. Cloaks of bright green with the Rohastin logo. Adorning each shoulder were two shield generators similar to what Jennifer had seen used in the hospital.

"They're all coming?" she squeaked in surprise.

"Yes. The aides wanted to come too, but it was denied. They told us we were to hold the fort here. The Rohastin Council have decided to intervene in a species home world in a way that has never been done before."