Sliding Reality: Chapter 8 Part 2 of 7 (Patreon)

Brad felt his stomach curl in on itself flicking the video to the wall screen. A numb tingle spread across Brad’s skin sucking in and tensing as the missiles from the small ship struck. Letting out a shuddering sigh as nothing happened. The Cruiser left, tension lifting from his body as the last missile tore free and struck the station with a blinding flash.

“Fuck.” Stuart hissed, looking away and forcing himself to watch. Brad grimaced through it, the ball in his stomach dropping as he held his face his breath coming out ragged and torn, watching the last moment of the station’s inhabitants.

The feeling spread through his body, the two of them standing in silence as the Cruiser left the system and the video started again.

"Those mother fuckers," Brad said, the anger seeping into his bones, burning away the coldness in his limbs.

"Are we really going to negotiate with, murderers?" Stuart hissed.

Brad watched the video on loop, seeing the ships leave and the station blow up. Gripping and releasing his hands. He’d thought this kind of deep seated anger was something he’d left behind in his younger years. "I won't, will you?"

"Hell no, I thought that them being pirates was just a conspiracy, but this." Stuart shook his head. "Walker must have known about this, he leads sixth fleet."

Brad clamped his jaw shut, using the anger to focus his thoughts. "Sally can you bring bots in to escort the Federation inspectors out of Sphere World?"

She appeared in the room.

"I can, but I have to warn you, I'm useless at using them to fight, it takes up too much processing and my reactions are untrained."

"I don't want to fight them, just escort them off of Sphere World.”

"I can do that."

Brad checked the time, they had twenty minutes left of recess.

He tapped out a message, Joe and Olivia appearing moments later.

“Watch,” Brad pointed at the screen and restarted the video.

Joe reacted much the same ad Brad and Stuart, Olivia controlled her emotions more, her eyebrows and mouth pinched together as the video ended.

“And this has been verified?”

“We have the sensor logs and identifying information,” Brad threw the files into the air, opening them.

She scanned over them.

“I had no idea,” Joe ran a hand through his hair.

“What is your intention with this information?”

“Intention? I want to expose them and get their damn inspectors the hell off of my station. Shit actually, Sally could you run a full scan on the station and see if they’ve messed with anything, laid in any traps explosives or that kind of thing?”

“I have been monitoring all inspectors closely, they have not planted explosives or tried to sabotage me. They have been scanning through the station as much as possible.”

“Is this?” Joe petered off.

“Joe, Olivia, meet Sally, the AI that operates Sphere World.

“It is good to finally meet my representative,” Sally winked at Olivia.

“Miss Wong.” Olivia bowed her head, with more lines on her forehead. “Mister-” Olivia cleared her throat. “Brad, Stuart, you could use this information in several ways, as leverage against the Federation, helping you with the other factions against them as well. How contained is this?”

“It should be spreading through news feeds in a few hours.” Brad checked Jynx’s message. “I don’t want to black mail them with it, I want others to know and to kick them out of the talks. I’m not going to negotiate with a faction that nuked a family co-op to cover up their looting and fight.”

Olivia crossed her arms, her eyes burning a hole in the ground.

“Every station or ship that has disappeared in recent history is going to be laid at the Federation’s feet. Increasing tensions and you can take away their access to Sphere World, but that breaks with what was agreed to in the talks. Technically you didn’t agree to hosting them, so we can use that. Though you cannot kick them out of the talks, that will be up to Sol who is trying to pull everyone together.” She raised her head with a half-frown. “There is also the fact of this other ship, we don’t know who’s ship it is.”

“Sally?”

[Tier One-LOCKED]

[Requirements: A single entity controls 51%+ of all planets in the Orion System]

[Able to set missions]

[Sphere World Purpose]

[Administration rights of Sphere World]

Brad quietly thanked her for sending it as a message. But for the information to be locked, it must be known. Revealing that Sphere World knew the ship would ask more questions. Questions he couldn’t answer unless they unlocked Tier one.

“Does she know anything?” Olivia asked.

“No, but she believes that it is not human.”

“Then in the talks you should point to the fact that it is unlike any human ship recorded. I would press that they fought an alien vessel and then fired on humans as well to hide this information.” Olivia grimaced. “Is it here because of Sphere World?”

“No.” Sally said.

They all considered her.

“That is at least in our favor. You can use this to band the other factions together at an external threat and dismiss the Federation for firing on a station.” She wasn’t able to hide all the anger in her voice.

Brad nodded, part of his guard coming down, as if she had stepped across and invisible line between other and ally.

“It would coincide with their military build up and movements,” Joe said.

“Hmm.”

“With all this I think you should move to the safest location you can, and call into the meeting, this needs to come from you to control the room and the talks moving forward. Brings the ball back into your court.” Joe said.

“He’s right.” Olivia said. “How long for you to get somewhere safe?”

“We have ten minutes till the recess is over.” Joe said.

“We might be a bit late.” Brad reached to press the button that would log him off, pausing and sending Joe and Olivia complete copies of both.

“See you in there.” Brad logged off.

The lobby disappeared and Brad’s net suit opened, he fumbled in the zero-g, grabbing onto a bar as Stuart came out disorientated, Brad caught him.

“Thanks, and what did you mean by you had a better idea?”

“The command post. It’s the most armored location in the station, we control everything from there and its hidden from all the inspector’s maps. Sally do you have any net suits up there?”

“No, but I have holographic conference rooms that can connect to the net.”

“That’ll work, come on Stuart, grab your space suit, I’m going to grab food and water from the mess.”

“Need a hand.”

“It’ll take me a lot less time to put on a suit than you.”

“Fair.”

***

“Guess we’re going to be fashionably late.” Brad muttered nearly thirty minutes later in one of the holographic conference rooms. “Don’t move around too much or it’ll give away we’re in zero-g.” Brad said.

“I’ve got you,” Stuart said from his chair.

Brad leaned forward, tapping commands into the desk’s built in screen.

Holographic projectors transformed the conference room, filling it with all the factions part of the talks.

The four groups paused as Brad and Stuart appeared.

“Sorry for our late arrival,” Brad looked at everyone but Admiral Walker.

Stuart tapped something on his screen, each of the leaders except Walker showing signs they’d received the message.

“We’ve just sent you a recording from events seven days ago.”

Terminals appeared, as the leaders of each party watched.

“Care to tell me why the Federation has been left out?” Admiral Walker’s voice turning dangerous.

“Well you should have the information already. Isn’t the Sixth Fleet the fighting fleet? The kind that sends out Cruisers to loot private family coops? That hides the fact they’ve engaged an alien race in combat and uses nuclear missiles to try and kill all the witnesses?”

Brad had felt that switch flip every time he went on a mission, when emotions were curbed in the face of actions, seeing it made his blood run cold.

Walker’s expression smoothed and hardened into granite, he seemed to relax, but it was coiled energy, waiting to lash out at a moment’s notice.

The aides around the room were talking and tapping furiously.

“You monster, you knew!” Lucy Hahn hissed.

“I have the honor of serving the Federation, I do not have any obligations to any other factions.”

“Did they attempt to make contact with your vessel?” Aramand asked.

Walker crossed his arms.

“Did you get a read on which system they were coming from?” Li Wei asked.

“You can’t be serious, his people destroyed an entire station to keep this quiet!” Lucy Hahn threw her hands up.

“Collect your Inspectors and your ships and get them off of my station and out of my system,” Brad said.

“You think you can dictate terms to the Federation?” Walker turned to face him.

Brad met his glare head on. “Do not make me tell you again. You have an hour to get your people off of the station, and another to get them out of the system.” Brad turned his gaze onto the others in the room.

“As the administrators of Sphere World. Sally is under our command. I will not willingly turn over control to a group of pirates and murderers. I thank you for your time, but I think we all have things that must be taken care of today. I hope we can meet together tomorrow under better circumstances."

Brad tapped a command on his screen, returning to Sphere World’s conference room.