CHAPTER 31
BOSSED IN SPACE
Half the truth is often a great lie.
- Benjamin Franklin
On board the Mother Ship, a rejuvenated Master Dow had bolstered the spirits of his crew. Confidence exuded from him empathically, in his tone of voice, and in his every gesture. So far, nobody but Dow himself even knew why, exactly, but the crew knew Dow. The boss had something in mind, something that would make things right again, even though the mission had been going very badly.
Thanks to subtle hints and remarks by Dow the crew was also beginning to more strongly associate their bad fortune with their absent Ca'Ra confederate, Ren'Ca, known as Renson by the primitive Earthers.
Shifting all blame to the Ca'Ra wasn't difficult for Dow to do. The Ca'Ra always set themselves above and separate from the other Ra, even the Na'Ra, despite the success of what appeared to be Na'Ra leadership. Without ruthless Na’Ra control over society, anarchy would reign. Without the Na'Ra, the Ra would be home-planet bound like the Earthers. It was the Na'Ra who took the Ra into space, who negotiated entry into the Galactic League, and who led all the dangerous and difficult missions required to bring wealth to the Ra Home World.
Yet somehow the Ca'Ra always continued to insert themselves into everything, and the least of the Ca’Ra priests were still deferred to even by the greatest of the Na'Ra. The Ca’Ra controlled Ra lusts. The Ca’Ra and only the Ca’Ra were permitted to perform the bloody rituals that still stirred Ra souls. Who knows what other pleasures they secretly kept to themselves? The Ca’Ra were envied, feared, and hated. All Na'Ra led crews resented and distrusted all Ca'Ra.
As far as the Dow-led crew was concerned, this Ca'Ra of theirs, Ren'Ca, was no different. He had recently been arrogantly interfering with the mission, in areas where the Na'Ra were the experts. He had, after all, led the ill-fated attack on Enterprise City, which sacrificed Na'Ra lives, and then he prevented traditional Ra retribution. He didn't even seem to care if uniquely profitable human data was destroyed along with the Bus, nor did he order the replacement of those portions of the lost data that could easily be replaced. Meanwhile, Ren'Ca was himself mysteriously engaged at what would soon be the asteroid impact point, on mysterious Ca'Ra business of some sort that didn't seem to relate to either profit or to wiping out the humans. As far as Dow and the crew knew, the asteroid impact point had been arbitrary. Why then did the Ca'Ra insist on going alone to the impact point? Whatever was happening, Dow now had some sort of plan to fix things, the crew members were all sure of it.
"Apprentice Twi'Na! Report to the Situation Room!” ordered Dow.
Twig smiled. This is what she had been waiting for. Despite her newly acquired, lowly rank, she was the only Ra with commend experience left, other than Dow. Whatever he was planning, he would need her. With success, that could mean promotion out of apprentice class very soon!
She entered the Situation Room to find Master Dow, alone, sitting in the ornate Command Chair and scanning multiple views of the Earth far below. The views were of the American South-West, where the strange human built Bus was still suspected to be. Air radar was tracking all Earth air traffic in the area. Ground-scan radar was searching thousands of acres an hour, identifying millions of objects. So far no luck, but they were confident that the Bus would be found, and then it would be soon destroyed!
"Sit down, both of you," Dow said, as he turned away from the scanner views to face them. Melberg, who had been until then unnoticed by Twig, moved forward from the back of the room. Twig exhaled sharply in disappointment. Maybe this wasn't yet the scheming session she had hoped for. There was an old Ra saying: 'scheme of two, both can do, scheme with three, one should flee.' Two could freely scheme, knowing that the word of one could not convict the other of wrongdoing. Scheme with three and two could too easily betray the third.
"Melb'Na, how would you assess our current mission status?” asked Dow.
After a few moments of thought, Melberg provided a diplomatic answer. "We lost much valuable data, but we still have much on board. The Mother Ship and the ground station are together successfully jamming Earth messages that would damn the Ra with the Galactic League. I have growing confidence in our success."
The Master waited a few moments for more analysis, but it soon became apparent that none was forth-coming. He turned to Twig.
"Very well. And what is your opinion, Apprentice Twi'Na?"
This was it, her chance! She would rely on her instincts and her knowledge of Dow. "The mission is a disaster," she announced. "We have lost too much: too much data, and too much equipment and crew. Though our Ca'Ra doesn't seem to be too upset by these events, the Na'Ra hierarchy will not be pleased. Additionally, if we vacate the region too soon, and the Earthers knock out the ground jamming station, the Earther broadcasts, unjammed, will damn us completely with the League. Still, if we vacate the area too late, we risk detection by the League, as the Dannos collision will certainly receive their attention quickly."
Dow, expressionless, had been leaning over the table towards Twig, closer and closer, staring her straight in the eyes. "And how should we address this situation?" he demanded.
Twig hadn't thought it through any further until that moment. "We must stay as long as possible," she proposed. "Someone has to stay behind to block signals.”
"Right!” responded Dow. "That is certainly part of it. It would be better that even more Ra parish than Ra actions on Earth be exposed to the League.”
"Is that Ren'Ca's plan? Is that why he waits at the impact point?" asked Melb'Na.
The Master shook his head. "Have either of you ever heard of such a thing? Of a Ca'Ra making such a sacrifice? No, I believe that he plans to stay at his post until the Bus reaches him, or until the last moment if he has to, and then escape the asteroid impact in the remaining Warren ship. It is small and swift enough that it may escape the area undetected by the League. Then, far from Earth, he would rejoin the Mother Ship, or so he says. So far as it goes, it's not too bad a plan. I should know, as I devised much of it.”
The Master's face became grim. "But then, one of two things will happen to us. The first possibility is not good. We would return home in disgrace to face demotion or worse, though our Ca'Ra friend would escape blame, of course. That would be bad enough, but the second possibility is even worse. Somehow this is all Ca'Ra business, and that fact could be revealed by any of the crew after we return home. In addition, though officially the Ca'Ra would escape blame, unofficially, the crew's opinion of who was largely at fault would leak out anyway. That would not make the Ca'Ra look good. But I think that our Ca'Ra comrade may well choose to avoid such problems."
"Master," said Twig, "are you suggesting that Ren'Ca may want to get rid of us?"
"That's what I would do in his place," answered Dow, frankly. "But then you two have worked with him more closely then I have. What do you think he will do?"
Melb'Na and Twi'Na looked at each other, shock and fear showing clearly on their faces. They both knew what Ren'Ca was capable of! Master Dow smiled his most terrible smile. So far, this was going better than he could have imagined. "But there is another possibility. A better one, I think, but one that is perhaps even more dangerous. What if I told you there is a way that we can all come out of this alive, as heroes, and with regained Earth data to make us rich? Melb'Na, weren't you due a promotion? That is, if it hadn't been for the unfortunate occurrences of the last few days? And Twi'Na, wouldn't you like to become a full master?"
Twig was almost speechless. "But Master Dow, an apprentice cannot become a master!” It was impossible. Now that she was starting over as an apprentice, she was a full five grades from being a master. By law, that meant she was a minimum of five Turnings, or about six Earth years, from the master grade. And the usual rate of advance would take over four times that long.
"An apprentice cannot become a master directly," acknowledged Dow, "but a warren leader can, especially if that warren leader receives a superior ratin
g from her master. We save our records on the ship's computer. Melb'Na, you're the computer expert. Can we not change our recorded history?”
"Of course it's possible, though it's punishable by death!” exclaimed Melb'Na.
"Correct," laughed Dow. "But you will agree that there are no technical difficulties. So here is what I propose. Twi'Na, your demotion never happened. The performance of both of you, and the rest of the remaining crew, has been exemplary. Melb'Na, we will drop you off on Earth to re-collect data from the VISICOM fiber net of the humans. We also will leave you Earth-side, Twi'Na. You will immediately travel to Guatemala and retrieve your Warren ship from Ren'Ca."
"What if Ren'Ca objects?" asked Twig.
"He won't know about it," replied Dow, smiling. "He is on foot many hours away from the ship and the jammer. We'll rig a Class-2 Probe in orbit to simulate the Warren ship and its interface with the Mother Ship. Meanwhile, the Mother Ship will pick up Melb'Na and then leave the Earth area after destroying the Bus of the humans. Twi'Na will leave Earth in the Warren ship and eventually rejoin the Mother Ship. With a small Warren ship, you should be able to avoid League detection.”
"Without Ren'Ca?" asked Twig.
Dow smiled even more widely. "I fear Ren'Ca alive far more than I fear the consequences of his loss. I'm sure that he will himself choose to remain at the impact site until we tell him that the Bus and crew are destroyed. Of course, though we will actually accomplish that as soon as possible, we will tell him that the Earthers continue to evade us. Our records will show that he, along with our two lost Warrens, stayed to stave off human attack and assure that the jamming would continue. A necessary and heroic sacrifice!” explained Dow.
"What about the crew? Will they go along with this?" asked Melb'Na.
"There are only six others left, besides you," explained Dow. "Regaining some of the lost data for profit will appeal to them. Promotions and not-dying will also appeal to them.”
But Twig was shaking her head. "These are big secrets to keep Master. Too big, I fear. Won't someone blab eventually, if it benefits them?"
"You remain ever the astute pupil, Warren Leader. Melb'Na, how is our guest from Earth doing?”
"The Earther Peter Lund? He remains in stasis as you ordered.” Lund had been given a temporary stay of execution due to the cultural imperative that a Ca'Ra presides over the ritual killing and consumption of all sentient beings.
"Revive him!” ordered Dow. He opened his mouth in a sneering smile, exposing razor sharp fangs.
Melberg stared at the Master in shock. "You propose the Black Rite?" he asked, in a quivering whisper.
Twi'Na simply returned the hideous smile of Master Dow with one of her own. It was an outrageous proposal, but she liked it. The Black Rite, codifying the Scheme of Many! There were rumors throughout the Fleet of rebellious Na'Ra daring the wrath of the Ca'Ra by performing ritual sacrifices to consume sentient creatures without Ca'Ra sanction. Performing this forbidden rite with the whole crew would seal their undying loyalty to Dow and each other. And, if done correctly, using sufficient quantities of ca, it would actually 'brain wash' the crew, changing the crew's actual memory of events to coincide with a new history.
“Ren’Ca will not be easy to deceive, Master,” said Melberg.
“Normally a Ca’Ra would know any lie, that is true,” conceded Dow. “But I won’t be communicating with him face to face, it will be voice-only transmissions. Besides, for now I can truthfully report on most matters. He will get only part of the truth, of course.”
By the time Dow finished explaining details of his plan to Melb'Na and Twi'Na, he had received their pledges of full support. After all, he had convinced them that the most probable alternative was death.
Dow felt confident that he had considered everything, but there were still many elements of risk. With a little luck, he could control events on his end. Just what was going on at Ren'Ca's end he wasn't sure, but hopefully the Ca'Ra was well occupied; Dow certainly didn't want his plan discovered by Ren'Ca until it was too late. As long as he stopped the humans quickly and gave Twi'Na time to retrieve the Warren ship, it should all work out. Too bad they would all be long gone when Ren'Ca called the Warren ship to him and only a Class Two Probe responded! Dow would have enjoyed seeing that.