FENRIR: Chapter 24

[seawasp]

 We knew there were three sides to this situation...

 

Chapter 24: Contingencies in Motion

Days to Launch: 542

Silver looked at the message once more and then let out an exasperated breath. Well, I knew this was likely.

Lathe had done the best she could; her cells of careful saboteurs had managed to put flaws in everything from major support structures to circuit boards, but nearly all of them had been caught. The ones that had so far managed to pass inspection… Lathe was of the opinion that they would be found eventually, before launch, and nearly all of them would be repairable.

Worse, however, was the fact that three cells had been compromised and taken into custody. No one anywhere near close enough to reach Lathe herself, fortunately, but more than enough to verify the existence of an organized and capable opposition to Carpathia's mission.

Despite efforts, the Group hadn't managed to get anyone on the President's secret CST (Carpathia Security Taskforce); it had been something of a matter of luck that he'd heard about it as early as he did, because of one of the lower-echelon cells having a member in the right place at the right time.

Silver himself was in a position that could allow him access, but he didn't dare do anything to draw attention to himself. He was the Group's last-ditch backup, the one who would have to stop Carpathia if all other methods failed.

This was not in any way the preferred outcome. No one in the Group – except, possibly, Needle, whose personal outlook on her professional activities was still opaque to Silver – really wanted anyone hurt. They just wanted this project to grind to a halt, at least long enough to prevent it from carrying out its purpose. Silver already had other cells operating to prevent the Carpathia from being completed some years later, but that wasn't a major danger; the sheer expense and dangers of the nuclear-powered vessel would become fatally-large factors in a few years.

No, the real danger was now, while both the imagination of the vast majority of the public and the personal and institutional pride of the major nations were dangerously and irrationally focused on the naïve and deadly goal of rescuing alien intruders, even at the risk of nuclear holocaust or worse. This feverish state could only be maintained for so long, and was dependent on a very few factors.

For several minutes Silver sat there, trying to decide if he had any more alternatives. Keys was, naturally, doing what he could, but the facts were that the code going into Carpathia would be some of the most carefully analyzed and tested code in the world. It would be hurried, yes, and that left some opportunity, but the best that Silver could reasonably hope for and that he was willing to bet on was that Keys would provide him with certain tools he would need for the final option. Lathe still had a few more approaches to try. But…

He gave a genuine sigh of regret, and sent a message.

*****

"It's so good to see you again, dear," said Needle.

"And you, Needle," he said, unable to keep from smiling at her motherly, harmless charm; at the same time, he had to admit that the very fact of his smile was a chilling reminder of Needle's formidable talents.

"Seeing" was of course a matter of opinion. Some didn't consider remote communication really seeing someone. Silver would have preferred to either send a simple, encoded note, or to meet in physical person, but security issues precluded the latter, and other practicalities – some also security-related – argued against the former. Given his position, he could not risk being followed or seen meeting with people that might be known to the intelligence community in a … negative sense, and he already had to send enough cryptic notes to keep the Group running.

But an unmarried, well-off, reasonably attractive man such as he had a history of meeting people in private settings, and he had three specific paramours that Carpathia's intelligence knew about and he saw periodically. As they were not cleared for Carpathia access, he had to visit them off-base.

Keys, of course, could provide him with secure means to communicate, and Silver was careful to make sure he limited the opportunity for other prying eyes, such as TEMPEST approaches, to see what he might do in the privacy of the hotel suite. And his particular companion tonight, Elaine, was aware that he used their encounters on occasion for clandestine communication.

"You're aware of current progress," he said. "Lathe isn't optimistic, though she's not entirely out of options. Keys hasn't found a way to set up anything that I'd consider better than a minor roadblock to the project. I think we may need your expertise."

"Oh, wonderful," Needle said, with the excitement of a mother hearing of her daughter's upcoming marriage to an absolutely suitable boyfriend.

"I remember our brief discussion of the options previously. Have you anything to add or change?"

"I have given the matter very careful thought, dear," Needle said. "And there are a number of choices available. The… well, not simplest, perhaps, but certainly the one that offends the fewest sensibilities, would be some more direct sabotage, destroying elements of the target that would be difficult or impossible to replace. The fact that it has been some months now is an advantage for this approach, as it means less time for them to address the problem."

"Do you have assets in place?"

"I have teams which have determined various methods to place themselves, yes." She pursed her lips as though considering how to arrange her social schedule. "Now, we have to recognize that once this approach is tried it will become far, far more difficult to pull it off a second time, so I recommend, if we take this route, that it be several simultaneous teams who have separate objectives. This maximizes the chance of achieving our overall goal even if one or two of our people fail to carry out their particular aspect of the plan."

"Alternatives?"

Needle took a sip of tea, carefully put the cup back down, and smiled benignly at Silver. "Well, the project itself really is driven towards success by only a few people. While some of them are ultimately replaceable, I believe that there are a few whose loss would severely cripple the project as a whole."

"The Director is one, I presume," Silver offered.

The older woman's head tilted, considering. "Yeees…" she said slowly, reluctantly. "Yes, she is certainly a key driver of the project – its face, really, if we're being honest. And her loss could be a crippling blow."

"But…?" prompted Silver.

"But her being the face, as I say, is also a potential problem. Such people can become, well, martyrs, and a martyr such as Director Bronson? I'm quite concerned that she could become a stronger motivator dead than alive, to be honest." She flashed another gentle smile. "Now, her primary advisor, Dr. Dobyns… I think he is a… safer target, so to speak, at least in this area. He isn't nearly as photogenic – not that he's a bad looking gentleman, certainly not, but he's simply never going to compete with a lovely young girl like Miss Bronson. On the other hand, our intelligence shows he's Bronson's right hand, her most trusted advisor, and a major influence on everyone's activities. A major vulnerability."

She tapped her chin, thinking. "The older gentleman running their inspection robots remains another excellent possibility. My intelligence – part of it from Keys but part from my own organization – indicates that he's something of a genius in his field, and he's also the only one who can operate his inspection devices with the charming names of bells to nearly their full potential. Losing him would not only be a psychological blow, but also would increase the chance of our dear Lathe getting some of her sabotage past the inspectors."

"Any others?"

"Well, you know, my dear, I think there's really a better choice in every way – especially if we can cast suspicion in other directions."

Silver felt an unpleasant jolt in his gut as Needle specified who she meant. "Are you serious, Needle?"

"Oh, quite, dear. A great deal of potential for disruption to all the operations there."

He grimaced. Do I want to take that route?

Personally, he had to admit, it would be better for him if they did that and it worked. At least he wouldn't have to take the actions that might lead to his own death.

But still…

"Let's try the sabotage route first," he said finally. "But… I want you to come up with a detailed plan on this other option. I hope we don't have to try it."

"Well, I can't say I wouldn't want to try it – I am interested in the challenges, you know – but on the other hand, yes, not a course of action I would recommend if we have other options. I will move things along, then." She gave a rogueish smile. "Now, I'll leave you to more entertaining company. Ta!"

Silver felt his mouth tighten. She knows at the least what kind of cover I am using. Possibly knows exactly who is with me.

He thought, perhaps, it was time for him to arrange a little insurance in that direction, as well.

 

Yeah, if you work with people who play those kind of games, you have to be ready to be PART of the game.