Illusions and Realities

Part 2 - Actions

Chapter 19

"The war", he replied " it seems that at the moment everything comes down to the war. It changed all the equations,” he sighed slightly, “ as war so often does."

Carnell raised his eyes from the firing bench to meet hers; his expression was shuttered and behind the guarded eyes his mind rotated the scenario through the possible options. How much did she already know? The Federation propaganda machine would have been working overtime, he was sure of that. On the Inner Worlds the illusion of security and order was possibly being maintained, those populations could probably be kept in ignorance of the true state of affairs for a little longer yet. But even there the truth must be slowly seeping out. So how much of it had reached his employers? Just how much did their spies know? And even if Jocasta and her kind knew, how much had they passed on to this woman?

And was this a test of him, or of her, or of both of them?

Suppressing the annoyance that last thought brought he completed the calculations and made his decision.

But he didn’t want an audience for this for this discussion, the people here might be handpicked but none could be considered to be beyond all suspicion, not given the stakes they were all playing for. Reaching across he checked the firing bench computer; his command code was still active. Carnell silenced the surveillance systems with a single command, if anyone questioned his actions he would use the old 'need to know' routine. The security people would accept that, after all he was a senior advisor. Even Servalan would have to accept it for the moment, because she still needed him; it wasn’t over yet, not by a long way.

He looked back to the woman standing, apparently relaxed, in front of him. He knew how much uncertainty she must be feeling at this momen, but her anxiety was carefully and successfully masked. She had been his choice and he allowed himself a moment of pride in her control as she met his eyes unflinchingly, her brows slightly raised and her blonde head tilted in a silent challenge. Yes, he thought, she will do very well.

“The war? “ she queried.
He met her look with a smile,
"From Servalan’s perspective the result of the invasion was nearly as bad as it could be. Most of the Federation's military power has been destroyed, much of the battle fleet is gone and Space Command has been decimated.”
He reeled off the list without emotion, as if it had nothing to do with him or any one of any concern to him.
“Many of the service and support ships and installations have been damaged or destroyed, fuel supplies are limited and unreliable, and the raw materials and components needed for repairs are in very short supply."

Her brows rose even further and he smiled slightly at the hint of disbelief in her face, the propaganda machine was doing well it seemed. He let the smile verge towards conspiratorial,
"The loss of so much of the fleet seriously compromises the future of Federation influence and there is not enough time to rebuild it using conventional technology."
She continued to stare at him, apparently unconvinced by what he had just said; he let his voice harden slightly.
"Nor is there the money. The rebel groups on Earth may not have capitalised on the effects of the war but others elsewhere most certainly have. The Federation economy was too dependent upon the outer worlds to stand the war intact. Now the frontier planets are lost. Many of the outer and allied worlds have broken away, they have formally, or in effect, withdrawn from the Federation, and they intend it to stay that way. They are either not able or willing to contribute to the rebuilding of the Federation and the military that oppressed them; and without that military it is difficult to make them. "
For the first time some expression passed across her face. She shifted her position and turned her eyes towards the gun in her hand and a ghost of a smile drifted over her lips as she replied slowly,
"Yeees, I can see that might be a problem".

Carnell continued, his voice softening again, the tone as dispassionate as if they had been discussing the relative merits of the weapons she had laid out on the bench.
"The known worlds may only be part of the galaxy but they still occupy a considerable space, and distance is not the Federation’s friend in the current circumstances. Large sections of the pre war empire are in turmoil. The loss of Star One means that many of the planets supplying food and critical raw materials are no longer available; and, even where they are, transporting their products is difficult. Communications are disrupted, or impossible. Across large parts of the old Federation relay stations, outposts and storage facilities have been destroyed, abandoned or overrun.”
He looked down at the firing bench again,
“It’s the old story of over confidence and under resource. Backup systems were not as complete or effective as had been hoped.”
He sighed slightly.
“Not that they ever could have been, war on the recent scale was not an eventuality that can be completely planned for. Certainly not one that also involves treason of the type that that Travis managed. The aliens knew the location of all the most vulnerable and necessary installations, and they managed to hit far too many of them. The war stretched over eight sectors and the damage was extensive in most of them."

She shrugged,
"So they rebuild, its been done before."
Carnell smiled brightly
"Servalan certainly intends to do just that, but for the moment she has nothing to rebuild with. You can imagine how that annoys her. Large sections of the pre war Federation are in turmoil. The loss of Star One means that communications are disrupted or impossible across whole sectors, and the aliens damaged more than Star One. Much of space Commands infrastructure, the outposts and storage facilities in particular, have been destroyed, abandoned or overrun. Too much was concentrated on Star One and contingency planning was inadequate."
The smile became rueful,
" they were warned but ofcourse they did not listen, they never do. But one must be fair to them, Travis did a spectacularly good job in betraying them."

She frowned in sudden interest,
"Didn't they know? about Travis I mean? He'd been close to Servalan hadn't he, had they no idea what he might be planning?" she asked
"No, Servalan had let him loose so its likely that she was tracking him in some way, but it seems that he did not betray his intentions at all. But then it is still unclear how long he had been planning it, or even how he made contact with the aliens. They must have disovered Star One before Travis crossed their paths, the logistics don't work any other way. But how and when that occurred no one knows."
Carnell paused remembering briefly his one experience of Travis. He recalled how he had warned Servalan about the man's obsession with Blake, and his obvious instability. Yet, who would have thought it? With rueful honesty he admitted to himself that even he would not have predicted that Travis would do what he did. A wild card, they were always possible and even a psychostrategist of his calibre could never entirely eliminate them. It was what kept life interesting, and dangerous. He pulled his attention back to the woman in front of him.
"It will take years to rebuild it, even if it can be rebuilt. Far too many people do not want it to survive. The Federation is reaping the consequences of past abuses, it has many enemies and few friends."

He sighed slightly but his expression did not change, he remained relaxed, leaning against the bench. Caution was second nature to Carnell and no one entering the room would have had any reason to believe they were discussing anything of importance.
"You can imagine what most of the freed Federation worlds have at the top of their list of things to spend their extra money on, the money that would once have gone into Servalan’s coffers."

She laughed at that
"Planetary defences, closely followed by armies and a fleet of their own?"
Her voice was low and even and her expression remained one of polite, if amused, interest. Carnell was reassured and responded in kind,
"Of course, wouldn’t you in their position. They don’t need to be big, just big enough, as long as so many of them are doing it; and many of the outer and frontier worlds have populations who are willing to make extra sacrifices to achieve it."
Her smile widened
"Maybe I should have gone into security?"
Carnell’s smile was brilliant
"Oh yes, they and the mercenaries, can ask pretty much what they like and get it. Rebel groups are also picking up a lot of support in those areas where some Federation presence remains. Not that any of this is being advertised. As far as possible the party line is being maintained, that the Federation is rapidly being re-established.

She looked up sharply
"And isn't it?"
"No." He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Most of the reported gains are exaggerated, propaganda rather than fact. The Federation has always been good at that."
He smiled at her uncertain look,
"Simply relying on the military to sweep across the human occupied worlds and re-impose Federation control is not an option and Servalan knows it. Not without new technologies."
He paused before going on more slowly
"That’s why the Teal Vandor business has weakened her grip on power. Now is not the time for showing your intentions quite so clearly.”
Just for second it lit his eyes with genuine amusement,
"Or for letting so many people find out about them."

She looked away toward the bench, picked up another ammunition clip and inspected it, turning it in her hands, avoiding his eyes
"Surely there are already other means?" she said, " pacification drugs for example."
Carnell shook his head
"They may be effective in the domed cities on Earth, and even on some of the Inner Worlds, but they are only useful across other parts of the galaxy if you have sufficient means to manufacture and deploy them. Seeding atmospheres and water supplies on the more distant worlds may be technically possible but it requires very significant numbers of troopers and ships. Ships that then can't be used for other things."
His smile twisted for a moment.
"It is easy for those unused to travelling the galaxy to forget the scale of the distances involved, particularly when the staging posts and repair yards have been destroyed." He sighed again, " and anyway relying on that type of drug control always upsets the bankers. Pacified populations tend not to be very productive, and the Federation needs money and resources as much as it needs ships and troopers. It must re-establish trade as well as military strength if it is to survive, even in its current form; and Servalan is determined that she will both survive as president and regain her lost empire."

The woman in front of him looked up quickly,
"Can she?"
"Well, she is not as strongly placed as she would have been before the war. Her claim on power was Space Command and though she still has her support to a degree most of those who knew her as Supreme Commander, and were loyal to her, are dead. Politically her power base is weak and, should Space Command slacken its support or become embroiled in serious action away from the inner worlds, another coup is likely.”
His smile brightened again, his eyes glowing with an amusement he invited her to share,
“Servalan is also very aware that the military must be paid if they are to stay loyal. Some have already shown an inconvenient willingness to consider more profitable options. Others are starting to take the route that Del Tarrant took; after all there is a large market for their services. The Federation can ill afford any more defections. You can only do so much with mutoids, as Servalan has discovered in the past."

She ignored the invitation to amusement and focussed back on what really concerned her.
“So why have they wasted so much on this project, and why exactly does it matter to us? We have no allegiance to Servalan or her Federation. Just why have we allowed ourselves to become embroiled in this mess?”
Carnell looked past her his eyes slipping to a distant focus.
“Refusing Servalan is still a dangerous thing to do, particularly given our employers current predicament; so it seems safer to give her what she wants, for the moment at least. But Avon also has things that we want; at least it is believed that he does. Therefore it is in our interests to keep him intact until such time as we have the opportunity explore the possibilities.”
“Is that the reason we have encourage her to keep him away from Earth?” she asked.
Carnell’s expression became bland,
“I really couldn’t say.”
Her eyes narrowed,
“Because I can’t see why she just doesn’t take him to Earth or one of the inner worlds and use conventional memory manipulation or interrogation techniques to get what she wants."

Carnell smiled and shook his head slightly, his voice was gentle but the reproof was there,
"I thought you understood;”
He looked away from her as if reviewing some inner image, his expression preoccupied,
“But then I suppose you have no experience of Federation interrogation techniques,” he said slowly. His eyes came back to her face and this time there was no amusement there,
“Letting them try to extract the information Servalan wants carries a very high degree of risk even if they could be relied upon to be careful. Getting sufficient accurate information quickly without killing him or driving him into total withdrawal is problematic, aorticularly when you are not sure what it is you need to know. She might have been prepared to risk it at any other time but then there is the war effect again."
He pushed himself away from the bench and walked a few paces forward; his voice was soft as he continued
"Taking him anywhere near the centre of command is far too dangerous. He's not Blake its true, but he is one of Blake's people and that may be enough at the moment. Blake was already a legend, even on Earth most people didn't believe the child molestation charges from the start and once he began harrying the Federation again many others were willing to accept that they might have been fabricated. Criminals or not those who were with him became part of the legend. Particularly Kerr Avon, who seems to have performed several extraordinary feats of his own, even when Blake was around.”

She nodded,
“Albian, I heard about it,
Carnell’s mouth twitched,
“Most people seem to have done so these days. I wonder where that particular piece of gossip originated? But in recent months he had begun to build his own legend, one independent of Blake."
He shrugged again
"Many people will now believe that the charges against him and the others were also rigged. Once people see conspiracy they often become as willing to believe it as passionately as they once didn't believe it at all."
She looked at him head on one side,
"And were they rigged?"
Carnell shrugged,
"Not as far as I can see. All the evidence I have suggests that the original crew of Liberator were exactly what they seemed to be."
His smile faded to be replaced by something close to a frown,
"Well, in Avon's case, perhaps not quite."

The door to the firing range slid open and three black clad security men entered. Seeing Carnell they stopped and looked at each other. One of them crossed the room and stood at attention, Carnell might not be a part of either the military or the Federation Council but no one on this base doubted his authority. None of them were quite sure what would happen if they showed him a lack of respect or obedience but, affable though he was, no one was prepared to risk it.
"Sir, permission to use the range?"
Carnell smiled easily,
"Certainly section leader, shall we say in ten minutes?"
The gentle voice carried the edge of command was there and the guard responded to it immediately.
"Sir." He turned and returned to the others still standing hesitantly by the door.
They left without a backward glance.

Carnell turned back to the woman who had not spoken or moved during this exchange. She stared back at him,
"You were saying, about Blake's people".
Carnell nodded and took up his story again,
"Too many people know of the events leading up to the battle with the aliens, and word is still spreading. Servalan might not be able to control popular reaction if it became known that she had Avon prisoner."
"Know what, which events?" her curiosity sharpened her voice.
"That Blake's people tried to stop the destruction of Star One. That Liberator held the line while the Fleet got there, that without it the alien fleet would have succeeded. Even so it was close, too close."
He looked back at her, his eyes strangely sombre,
"Liberator held the aliens back before the fleet arrived, then provided them with covering fire as they manoeuvred to engage. She fought alongside the first Federation ships for hours until the main Galactic fleets arrived. She took hits, no one knows quite how many, but enough for it to be obvious they were fighting seriously."
He shook his head as if in mild disbelief,
"They stayed when they didn’t have to. They could have escaped, left and gone to the far edge of the Galaxy beyond the likely reach of the aliens. But they didn’t, they stayed and that was a crucial factor in the fight back. Without Liberator most of the alien ships would have been through the defence zone and flattening Federation controlled systems before any resistance could have been offered.”
He met her eyes with a hard look,
“Most people would feel that they were owed quite a lot".

She was quiet for a moment; suddenly she wasn’t so sure she wanted to know any more. Not given what she was planning to do, but a quiet voice at the back of her mind told her it would be better to be prepared,
"How do the people on the inner worlds know any of this? I'm sure that the authorities did not release that information, I didn’t know."
"No?" his look was questioning," but then you were in a very sheltered environment weren't you".
She ignored that and sighed,
"So who knows and how did they find out?"
His smile returned, somewhat quizzical this time,
"What is the first thing a trooper does when on reaching a place of safety after a battle?"
She thought for a moment then returned the smile wryly,
"Of course, look for a drink. Better still several drinks".
He nodded
"After which they start to talk, to anybody who will listen, and the talk spreads like ripples in water."
She inclined her head in acknowledgement though Carnell wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t know.
"There are honourable soldiers in the Federation forces,” he continued, “probably not as many as the population believe, but enough. For them Liberators actions would have been heroic and they would see no reason to deny it."
She shifted slightly
"They would speculated at length on why convicted criminals were prepared to fight in such a way," was all she said.

For a while they were both quiet, then she sighed, turning back to the firing bench
"So they couldn’t take him to Earth, but why all this? Surely once he understood he was alone he could have been persuaded to agree to save his life if not for any other reward? As you said he isn't Blake."
Carnell’s expression closed, he was only prepared to disclose so much.
"Evidence suggests that he wouldn’t co-operate, after all he sent Liberator away from Terminal knowing there was no other escape. His last words seem to have indicated an acceptance of his likely death. Certainly he seemed willing to die rather than talk to the interrogators."
She looked coolly at him and her voice was sceptical,
"That doesn’t seem to be in keeping with his reputation, or with the files I have seen," she drawled in an unconscious imitation of the man opposite.
"The general impression is that he is totally ruthless and very cold blooded, a man who would sell out anyone for a sufficient personal gain. Servalan could still offer enough of that without the need for all this."
She indicated the base behind the door with a sweep of the gun she still held.

Carnell turned back to her and smiled again,
"It might seem so but that is not my own assessment of the situation."
She looked startled at that; she had a very considerable respect for his assessments.
"Everyone seems to be quite convinced that he would sell anyone and anything for personal advantage, but so far I have been unable to identify a single notable instance of him actually doing it."
She raised her eyebrows, eyes widening slightly.
"Indeed, now that is interesting", she smiled back at him, "how hard have you looked?"
He put the gun on the bench his smile fading as he replied,
"Very hard indeed. In fact I have found several situations where he could, and should, have done just that if the general assessments of him were accurate; but so far no instance of where he actually did it. I have even positively identified some instances where his failure to abandon or betray others either put him in danger, or cost him pain as well as advantage.”
He seemed to meditate on his own words for a moment,
“He may well be criminal, even perhaps amoral by many people standards, but he doesn't seem to be predictably so ".
Then he smiled again, but this time it did not reach to his eyes and his voice was ostentatiously bland,
"Somewhat disconcerting, don’t you think?"

She sighed heavily at that.
"More than just disconcerting!Have you any idea why, and would you like to explain why you are only telling me about this now?"
He shrugged slightly,
"There are several possible reasons why this might be the case, some are more dangerous to our plans than others, but none need concern you for the moment."
He reached out and picked up a the gun from the bench handling it carefully as he squinted down the barrel,
"Surely this insight comforts you," he drawled. "After all it suggests that if you can keep his belief in you intact he will not harm you".
She took the gun from him and put it down carefully on the bench; she raised her head to look him in the eyes again.
"But I thought you said you had amended the situation?"

He dropt his eyes and shrugged again.
"We believe so, but it would have been more certain, and the situation would be more stable, if we had other earlier instances to build on. Though this is not the same process as conventional memory replacement it is still true that the more you can build on real experiences and fact the better."
He sighed and moved several paces towards the door,
"he is not the best of subjects for this type of process, which further complicates matters"
She turned away from him suddenly her long blonde hair swinging as she did so, accepting that he wasn’t prepared to say any more for the moment and that she couldn’t make him tell her what he didn’t wish to. Activating the firing bench computer she raised the gun again aiming at the next set of targets as they appeared. Her voice was emotionless.
"Truth is so often relative isn't it? Let's just hope that his truths are good enough."
Carnell continued walking towards the door.
"If they are not then we are all going to have to be prepared to move quickly,” was all he said.

As the door closed behind him Soolin muttered to herself,
"Some of us may not have the option."

***