A View From the Other Side Read online

  “Welcome to the Zhongshan Star System,” she replied, closing the call. It was clear she was still offended by his earlier remark.

  “Well, it seems the people here are somewhat bitter about the Federation,” Braelock said dryly. “Comms, see if you can link into the public information net. Let’s get a hold of this download she was talking about. It’s clear we need a briefing on local history, especially if we’re trying to avoid looking like a bunch of barbarian hicks.”

  “Are we, Lieutenant?” the wolf at the comms asked.

  He turned his shaggy head to the other male. “Are we what?”

  “Trying to avoid looking like hicks?” he explained. “I mean, we’re coming in from a planet in the Argos Cluster. These people, whether they’re still part of the Federation or not, are from a Core Nation. An advanced society. I mean, they’re going to expect that we’re not entirely up to snuff with their ways of doing things.”

  Braelock unconsciously flattened his ears to his head, considering what the wolf had said. “It’s not a bad idea, actually. I don’t want to be looked down on, and I certainly don’t want the people around here thinking we’re easy marks to be taken advantage of, but having a few rough edges might not be a bad thing. But,” he said sternly, “I still want that download. We need to avoid any serious gaffes while we’re here. One of our primary orders is to maintain a low profile. That’s going to be difficult because we’re the new pups in town. It’s our job to pave the way for the others.” There were nods and ear flicks from the rest of the bridge crew.

  “Innes! Volka! Raina! Get connected to their main datanet and start moving on your computer intrusions.”

  The three wolves saluted and then loped off the bridge, heading to their small multipurpose room that they’d appropriated for their use. Everyone on the ship knew that this was going to be their compartment, and they didn’t begrudge them the space; getting computer access was critical to the mission. The biggest problem with trying to slice into the local computers was (just as with other things on this mission) that more than 250 years had passed since their last Federation update. The trio was very skilled, and Volka had been working to improve her coding ever since Typhon had taken them into exile. But the Federation and now the security personnel on Zhongshan would not have remained idle. They would want to keep people like her out as much as she’d want to get in.

  But Volka had assured first the General and later Braelock there were always to get in. And with a population this large, there would be people to talk to that might be willing to help, or doors that Volka and her team could get through. The old wolf snorted. That was why he was captaining a cargo ship and why those three always had their muzzles in their computers.

  O====[=======>>>

  “Data upload from the information net. Zhongshan Star System: a habitable star system with six planets. The second, Getrodos, is the only actually habitable world of the six, but more than a dozen moons on three of the gas giants, Kelebor, Retraxis, and Abalar, have been terraformed to habitable levels. Getrodos has a mixed population of over 8.6 billion people, with the twenty orbital stations housing another 100 million. The moon colonies contain a combined population of another 300 million souls.” Braelock broke off from his reading. “That’s more people in this one star system than in probably half the worlds in the Argos Cluster.”

  “The general did say he wanted to go to a populated world,” one of the wolves on the bridge pointed out.

  Braelock chuckled and kept reading. “After the Armistice from the Federation-Republic war, the unity and cohesion of the various frontline systems were strained. A century and a half of recovery and rebuilding had brought the Zhongshan system back to a healthy, thriving and industrial port once again. The war had blasted this world, and despite being on several trade routes, it did take many decades to recover. The Federation maintained an iron grip on this and the surrounding systems, not wanting any problems from either the Republic or any of the militant fringe groups that had popped up over the years. The increased patrols were coupled with stronger regulations and higher taxes as the industry continued to improve.”

  “It was the detaining of the freighter Corsica’s Pride that sparked conflict. The Zhongshan-flagged vessel was stopped and seized by Federation warships. The cargo was confiscated, the crew and passengers detained. Claims of illegal contraband were made Federation customs officers, but they were all in dispute by Zhongshan officials. The governor was in a rage, as one of the passengers detained was his grandson. Two years of legal wrangling and political stonewalling produced nothing but frustration. Governor Melnikov, in talks with the captain of the battlecruiser Mavromatis, notably the hak’ruk female Synduka, and other patrol ships in nearby space, declared he could no longer tolerate the injustice of the Federation’s actions. In concurrence with the Zhongshan Senate and local planetary leaders, Melnikov declared independence, officially seceding from the Federation.”

  “That took some guts,” the ship’s pilot said, his voice low.

  Braelock grunted. “A small flotilla of ships followed Mavromatis’s lead, requesting asylum, which Melnikov happily granted.” He paused. “A battlecruiser and a half dozen ships, plus a squadron of fighters? Yeah, I’d say he didn’t hesitate at all to snap them up.” Chuckles came from around the bridge. “In response, Melnikov’s grandson was taken out of confinement on whatever hellhole the Federation officials had stuck him in and was put on a very public trial. Unsurprisingly, the verdict was determined, guilty, and then he was locked away in solitary confinement on a prison moon above Xeleros X.”

  “They sent the kid to the capital system?” the pilot asked in disbelief. “There was no other penal colony or prison moon they could have used?”

  “Apparently not,” Braelock stated. “Of course, this is the info dump from the locals here. Revisionist history and all that. They were trying to make the Federation look like ghouls. In response to the speeches and rhetoric that Melnikov was spreading, the Federation established a trade embargo, enforcing it with a fleet of additional ships. For almost two months, the standoff continued, while both sides hurled ultimatums at one another. All seemed to be falling apart, as the Federation commander looked about ready to order the attack and drag the Zhongshan system back into the Federation.”

  The bridge seemed enraptured now, and Braelock couldn’t help a smile. It’s like being back on Esselon-Moor, reading stories to the pups. “In a moment that seemed fueled by divine favor, an instant before the order came, one of the Federation heavy cruisers had an engineering casualty, a full reactor shutdown and fell out of formation, moving behind the flagship for cover. At that moment, two light cruisers arrived from the hyper limit, announcing the secession of three nearby star systems. Their arrival alone would not have turned the tide of the battle, but the full salvo of MK6-Wyvern missiles launched from the ‘damaged’ heavy cruiser straight into the Federation flagship’s engines did.”

  “Admiral Korsekov was forced to limp out of the system in disgrace; his flagship crippled. Two of the Federation left with him, but the remainder stayed. In less than two weeks, accords were signed between Zhongshan, Etios and Xleven and the Baenres Union was formed. I guess Revensgall, Buchanan, and Torrenaga joined over the next thirteen months.”

  “Wait, two weeks?” Innes asked as Lieutenant Braelock finished his recitation of local history that he read from the info packet they’d received from the Prime orbital station.”

  “Warship drives,” Braelock replied in explanation, flicking his ears, but not looking up from his display.

  “Idiot,” Volka said, cuffing the young wolf on the shoulder, and he growled in pain, but his ears flattened in embarrassment.

  “Though I admit,” Braelock said, “That does seem a bit quick.” He shook his head. “No matter. Probably a bit of revisionist history, but I imagine it’s going to be irrelevant for our purposes.”

  “Anything of interest since they broke away?” Volka asked, turning to fa
ce the lieutenant.

  Braelock huffed. “Not really. Apparently going from a trade hub system near the edge of Federation space to an independent star system leading a small union of worlds doesn’t lead to the type of massive prosperity one would expect.” The sarcasm in his voice was almost palpable. “Without the crushing taxes the Federation was imposing, this union they have here has been going for over fifty years now and they just finally seemed to have gained legitimacy in the eyes of Federation officials. And on that note, trade, which never ceased in this region, has started to increase again.”

  “It’s been what, fifty-four years since these systems broke away?” Innes asked. “Have they transitioned completely away from Federation technology? Are we dealing with a whole new operating system?”

  Volka shrugged. “From what I’ve seen so far, some of the backdoors I’m familiar with are still there. Even after all this time.”

  “It looks like that only until about two years ago did things get to a point where they could start making their designs. Until now, they’ve needed to keep what they had running and haven’t changed much of anything as far as hardware. Only very recently have innovations started rolling out.”

  “Fifty years?” Innes asked incredulously. “They were using the same junk for that long?”

  Braelock conceded the point. “Well, it’s not so hard to believe. We’ve been doing so for two hundred and fifty years. From what I’ve been reading, it doesn’t look like any serious changes have been made. I’m sure there is a whole host of things that have changed, but the bulk of their tech is still Federation, or at least Federation-compatible.”

  Innes growled hopelessly. “So then all we have to deal with is Federation tech, software and firewalls two hundred years beyond our level,” he said sourly.

  “Males, always giving up so easily,” Volka growled with contempt. “Don’t even try to work the problem.” She huffed again and looked at the ship’s captain. “We’ll get to work on it. I should have some news for you in a few hours.”

  “You can penetrate their firewalls in just a few hours?” Braelock asked skeptically.

  The she-wolf shrugged. “Probably not. But I might be able to get some updates and patches for our own software. After that, I’ll have a better idea of what we’re dealing with.” She smiled, a feral glint in her eyes. She was a big beast of a female, one that looked as though she should be doing front-line infantry work, not computer intrusion. It was a strange sense of humor fate must have had to give her such a flair for the job, but there was no denying her skill. “And then the fun begins.”

  O====[=======>>>

  Braelock gave the specialists a full day to get acclimated and to do Volka’s digging in the virtual systems. This gave him the time to assist the pilot in navigating through the heavy traffic near the planet; more than two hundred ships, shuttles and powered rigs. They arrived without incident and docked with the main orbital station. This marked the first time that Braelock, his crew or his ship had done so at a Federation-based station since their exile began, two and a half centuries before. It was an odd sort of homecoming, and Braelock shook his head to rid himself of the emotions. This wasn’t home. It wasn’t even Federation space anymore; it was this Baenres Union now.

  Activating his implants, he sent a ping to Volka for a status update. She’d resent the interruption, but they didn’t have months and months for this operation. They might need them, but General Typhon had set down a certain timeframe Braelock would need to adhere to. The Old Wolf had no intention of letting the General down and if that annoyed one computer specialist, well, they’d all get over it.

  To his surprise, however, she sent him a response, with a request for him to come down to the multipurpose room they were using for their work. He glanced at the displays and nodded. He could spend a few minutes to chat. Apparently, the Baenres Union had some interesting customs regulations and required an inspection team to come aboard and check for contraband. Their definition of contraband only included unregistered narcotics, biogenic and chemical weapons and that was it. He would need to be there when the customs and enforcement officers arrived, but there would be time for a short meeting.

  He padded softly down the metal deck plates to the compartment and walked through the hatch. The trio looked up from their displays as he entered.

  “Good, Lieutenant,” Volka said, flicking her ears in satisfaction. “We have some news.”

  “Good news, I hope.” His voice was gruff.

  “Fair to middling,” the she-wolf answered. “I managed to get into the roguenet and find several backdoors into their primary datanet.”

  “That’s excellent!” Braelock congratulated.

  She grimaced. “It's progressing,” Volka allowed. “I have low-level access through the orbital. It has also given us limited access to schematics and floor plans for the orbital, one of the orbital warehouse complexes and the factory complex on that moon.”

  “We’re working to expand access,” Innes put in. “Right now, we only have observer access, though that still gives us quite a bit.”

  Braelock nodded slowly, crossing his arms over his chest. He was unable to keep the grin from spreading across his muzzle. “It does open up possibilities. Just mind your tasks and don’t get too ambitious. I’d rather go to the General and tell him it’s going to take longer than to tell him we got caught and chased out.”

  “Yes, Gramps,” Volka said, sarcasm dripping.

  He growled, but he let it pass. He did, however, give her a penetrating look. She was only thirty years younger; barely any time by the way lupusan measured age. She saw the look and grinned, not the least bit cowed.

  He turned to leave, and she called out to his retreating back. “I’ll have an update for you in a few hours. But things will go faster without constant interruptions. So get out so we can get some more information.”

  Braelock grunted and left without further comment. Less than a minute later, klaxons blared, and red emergency lights started flashing. Volka’s head shot up, and she snarled as the PA system activated. A female voice sounded. “Chemical spill in multipurpose room 2, deck 2. Damage control party to multipurpose room 2, deck 2.”

  “That bastard,” Volka snapped, while the others looked around first in fear, then confusion. “That utter bastard.” But she couldn’t prevent a chuckle from escaping her throat. Two wolves wearing bulky hazmat suits came trotting into the hatch, waving hand scanners around. She shooed them away.

  O====[=======>>>

  “Now that’s interesting,” Innes remarked sometime later. “I’m into the routing and distribution system for inbound cargoes from the planet up to the orbital.”

  “Really?” Volka asked, stretching. Another two days of diligent and painstaking work and the trio had expanded their access throughout the local datanet. Of all the places for him to be, that had to be one of the lower priorities (read: least interesting).

  “Yes. And I see something interesting,” he repeated. “Coming up from the planet in two days.” He pointed to the display. “Look, a load of 10,000 units of item number…” he checked the codes. “KX120-4126692 Euricar.”

  Volka blinked slowly at him. “This had better not be some elaborate prank, Innes. I will box your ears.” She brandished her wicked claws in a threatening posture.

  Innes wasn’t fazed; he was threatened at least twice an hour by the females on his team. “Calm down and check the database.”

  “Can we skip past the carefully paced buildup here and just cut to the chase?” Raina demanded from her terminal.

  “No sense of occasion from the elders,” Innes declared mournfully, sighing. He ducked just in time as Raina threw a plastic bowl at him. “All right, all right. Don’t get all excited. That’s the unit number for our Objective Two.”

  “What?” Volka demanded, sitting bolt upright in her seat. “How did you possibly find that?”

  “I can read, you helpless harridan,” Innes retorted flatly, finall
y getting tired of all the abuse. “The codes line up with the anti-geriatric meds the general wants. Well, the sorting codes are different, but they’re close.”

  “Then it’s not the same thing,” Volka pointed out.

  He glared at her. “Of course it isn’t. The meds the general brought into exile were a type that is now two hundred fifty years old. You really think a star nation like the Federation wouldn’t make improvements and tweaks to their medicines? Even to nanite-based treatments? Especially one as important and valuable as this one?”

  Raina half-rose out of her chair, but Volka waved her back down. “You’re sure these are the meds we’re looking for?”

  “Your search algorithm is,” Innes replied. “There’s a 96 percent certainly on the display here.”

  Volka pinged Braelock over her implants. A plan was forming in her mind. While she waited for his response, she called up the transit information as well as a destination for the cargo. A portion, three thousand units, was to be sent to the main infirmary on the orbital. Two hundred fifty units were to go to one of the lunar colonies; another 1800 were to be parceled out among some of the more far-flung colonies in the system. But the remaining units, just shy of five thousand, were to be sent out system, to Etios. And in the transit queue, there was no ship currently scheduled to haul that shipment. She sent Braelock another ping.

  Jumping into the program, she switched to the cargo and traffic network and set TC2741 for the transport job for that cargo. It was just point and click, really. The software didn’t need any additional nudges from her to do the job; Volka simply selected what she wanted and after a moment received pending authorization.

  “Pending authorization,” she said, reading the line of text on the display. She entered a query and an instant later, the response appeared. “Authorization is pending approval of identification and security clearance.”

  The lieutenant arrived less than a minute later. “You have something?”