StarFront: Transit of Venus

Chapter 9: Of Pride and the Pacific

December 13, 2125

Venus, Aerostat Delta-6

"Wards secure."

"Brig's secure."

"Recreation's secure."

"Barracks cleared out."

"Good. Meet me in CIC."

Signing off her wrist radio, Paige let out a sigh. Her comrades had done their job well. Bodies, minimal blood to slide on and as far as she could tell, there hadn't been any damage done to the consoles present. Not that she'd need to operate many of them, but…well, better safe than sorry.

"This will do…" the agent murmured, walking around the main set of consoles. "This will do nicely."

"I'm so happy for you."

Paige grimaced, turning around to face Rob. Standing in the room, his hands handcuffed, petty jabs was all he could throw at her. No sticks, no stones, just words. Still, words could hurt. Words were a sign of defiance that she'd rather not have. And since she had some time until her fellow operatives met her, Paige decided that it would be a good idea to address that issue.

"You could lighten up you know," Paige murmured. "I mean, you're still alive."

"Others aren't. I'm going to join them eventually anyway."

That was true, though Paige didn't want to emphasize that. Not yet at least. It was a shame, but her team's transport ship could only carry so many people, and they'd only come for one person. It was all her superiors had provided her with, and there'd be no point in taking Rob alive anyway.

"Look on the bright side…" Paige began. "You're on Venus. How many people can lay claim to that, eh?"

"You trying to cheer me up?" Rob asked.

"Um, yes?"

"Well, you're failing."

Paige sighed. "You know Rob, you could lighten up a bit."

"Why?"

"Because you're right. You are going to join the poor sods who got nine millimetre rounds popped through them. Only difference is, you get to be alive longer than them."

"I'm thrilled."

Paige studied the man before her. He looked…plain. Plain faced, plain build…but he was hiding his fear. He was going to die. He was naturally afraid. Anyone would be. Still, it was clear he wasn't going to be of any fun so with that being said, the operative turned to the console behind her.

"Why Paige?"

And turned back to face Rob.

"Why do this?" he asked. "This…this…is this terrorism? Activism?"

"You've got bigger things to worry about than my motives."

"Do I? I'm screwed. Anyone still alive on this aerostat is just as screwed, even if they're still alive." He stepped forward, his eyes not only showing fear, but also…longing? Desperation? "Just tell me why Paige. I'm a dead man. I'm not going to come back as a ghost and start blurting out secrets."

The operative studied him. He seemed sincere…and even if he wasn't, there was nothing he could do anyway. And while her sympathy for those who worked for the Consortium was limited, Paige had nothing against the man personally. Certainly she'd encountered worse people in her life, even when serving coffee. And since she'd have to explain what they needed him for anyway…

"Alright," Paige said. "I'll spill the beans."

She walked forward, taking a key out of her belt. Rob looked at her in surprise as she undid the handcuffs.

"Um-…"

"Don't overanalyse it Rob. You're a dead man. You can't escape. I can at least save your wrists in the meantime."

"I'm flattered. It's good to know that Interpol cares about its prisoners so much."

"Interpol?" Paige laughed. "Please Rob, you think that I'm going to keep to my cover story right now? No. You can curse the PPA. You at least have a right to know who's responsible for screwing you over."

That got a reaction from the man. Paige watched as Rob's gaze met hers, said gaze showing curiosity among the usual spectrum of emotions she'd gotten used to over the last few minutes.

"PPA?" the hostage asked. "As in…"

"The Pan-Pacific Alliance? Yes. I work for them. All my team does."

Rob didn't say anything. He just stood there. Casually, Paige walked to the other side of the consoles, sitting down and resting her legs on them. She was in command. In control. And since Rob had opened up this can of worms, she had a desire to get them all out.

"Tell me…" Paige began. "Do you watch the news?"

Rob stared at her.

"The news," the operative repeated. "Specifically what's going down in the Pacific."

"Um…yeah," Rob said uncertainly. "Oil dispute. URA, SSC and PPA."

"That's true. What you don't know is that the 'dispute' is going to become a war. Even if no-one's admitting it. And if it comes to war, the PPA is at a disadvantage."

Rob remained silent.

"It's to be expected of course," Paige continued. "The twentieth century was of the United States, and they're part of the URA. The twenty-first century was of the Republic of China, and they're with the SSC. The twenty-second century however…well, let's face it. There isn't enough left on Earth for another continent to have its boon. The PPA is outclassed both militarily and economically. If it comes to war…and it will…we're set to lose."

"I'm…sorry," Rob murmured, not sounding sorry at all. "But what does this have to do with me or Venus? Why come here?"

Paige smirked. "Because of the Puppetmaster."

Rob just stared. Did he remember the name? Or was he taken aback by the term? Paige didn't know. But she continued anyway.

"2117," she began. "You should know the year well, Rob. You lose your wife to the Consortium. Italy loses a few thousand people to hijacked UAVs." She smirked. "Last transit of Venus."

Rob kept staring.

"Of course, it was only the UAV thing we cared about at the time. We knew that there'd be disputes over the Pacific even then. We knew that if it came to such disputes, the SSC and URA outclassed us. But Italy…that was a game changer. One man hijacked an entire fleet of UAVs and brought a country to its knees. Fantastic."

"It was horrible," Rob murmured.

"Indeed," Paige admitted. "Those people didn't deserve to die. We've got no quarrel with the FEU after all. But the possibilities. What if we could replicate it? What if we could turn the UAV fleets of the SSC and URA against them? It would equalize the balance of power in the opening shots if not grant us that balance. And all we needed to do was find the man responsible. Find him, extract him and get him to work for us."

"The Puppetmaster…" Rob murmured. He met her gaze. "You want him. A terrorist. A monster."

"Rob, by some definitions, I'm a terrorist. So are you. How many people in Africa are cursing the FEU Navy for taking out their freedom fighters? Freedom fighters that you helped take out I might add."

"That was-…"

"Spare me," Paige murmured. "I'm not in the mood for that kind of debate now. It's been going on for more than a century and I've heard every thought from every kind of person on it."

That shut him up. Which was good. This was her story she was telling.

"So we wanted the Puppetmaster," Paige said. "We wanted him…but couldn't find him. Couldn't find him for seven years. All the while, the prospect of war loomed. All the while, it became clear that unless we found a game changer, we would lose. It took us seven years to realize that he wasn't on Earth. The FEU wasn't holding him. They'd given him to the Consortium. Sent him to Venus. No trial, no publicity, no pretensions. Send him away, let him work for the Consortium and if he dies in the work, no biggie."

"And that's why you're here…" Rob said softly. "To extract him. The guy you mentioned…"

"Simon Edelman?" Paige asked. "Yes. That's his real name."

"I'm thrilled."

"So you should be Rob. Because after that, everything clicked. We knew where he was. We could send our moles in. We were able to find which habitation unit he was stationed at. And that…is where we found in the records, that a certain Joanna House was there as well."

That got a reaction from Rob. His gaze hardened. His hands tightened. He looked ready to kill…sort of.

"So you do care," Paige murmured. "That's nice."

"What's nice about any of this?" Rob whispered.

"What was nice, is that having Jo on the surface made getting a patsy easier. We needed a patsy Rob. After all, suppose we extracted Edelman. What then? Chances were it would be traced back to the PPA. And if word of our involvement got out, our enemies would be more than willing to take us out together."

"But…why me?" Rob asked. "Why Jo?"

"It didn't have to be either of you. But…well…"

Paige sighed. This was cruel. Rob had a right to know she supposed, but still…

But nothing. I started this. I might as well finish it.

"Things changed," the operative continued. "Edelman and Jo got into a fight and were both transferred to this station. We had to leave then and there Rob. They wouldn't stay up here for long, and with the transit of Venus having just occurred, the planet was only going to get further away from Earth. As such, we decided you were our best bet. I'd tell you about Jo, I'd get you to come, we'd arrive on the aerostat and extract Edelman."

"But why me? Why drag me here?"

"Because you have means and motive," Paige sent simply. "You're going to be our terrorist. Your wife was here. You have the motive. You have experience with high-tech computers. You have the means. You have a bunch of 'terrorists' backing you up. You're going to broadcast to the Consortium that their aerostat went slamming into Venus because you want vengeance for what they've done. And in the meantime, we're going to head back to Earth with Edelman. He won't be missed. There'll be no way to identify the bodies of the deceased on Venus. And we can get him back to work."

Rob stared at her. Just stared. He seemed quite good at doing that. He-…"

"You bitch!"

…charged her.

Paige swung off her seat, dodging his blow. She blocked his second. She uppercutted his nose with a blow of her own, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"You're rusty," Paige murmured. "Or does the navy leave its fisticuffs to the marines?"

"Why?" Rob asked.

"Why what?"

"Why…should I help you?" the former seaman asked, looking up at the operative groggily. "What makes you think I'll play along?"

"You'll play along because of your son."

Rob went to say something…but stopped.

"Oh yes," Paige said, taking a data chip out of a satchel in her belt. "You think the babysitter I hired was some college student with the need for a few euros?"

"You…you…"

"You'll help us," Paige said. "You'll help us, or I'll feed this chip into this station's transceiver, beaming it to Great Britain. I beam it, and five to six minutes later, George will be dead."

"You…you can't…"

"I can. But I won't. Not if you cooperate. There's no need for a child to die, and I don't want a child's blood on my hands. So you'll cooperate."

Rob went to say something but again, fell short. Maybe he had nothing to say. Or maybe the sound of the opening CIC door got his attention.

"About time."

Paige watched as her fellow operatives walked in, each bringing in a hostage of their choice. A tech from life support, a barman from the recreation area and a nurse from the wards. Oh, and Joanna House and Simon Edelman.

"Rob!"

Marvin let go of the woman as she went down to her husband, hugging him. He barely reacted. Had the blow to the nose been that hard? Or was he just taken aback?

"George…" Jo whispered. "He…he…they said…"

Paige glanced at Marvin. "You briefed her?"

"Yes. She needed…convincing."

"Good." Paige turned to face Edelman.

"And you?" Paige asked. "Have they briefed you?"

The man nodded. "Happy to help."

Rob glanced up. Jo glanced up. And Paige just stared.

Huh…that was easy.

She hadn't expected this. The Consortium hadn't worried about its workers' mental faculties that much, but had still kept tabs when it suited them. And by all accounts, Edelman was a model worker. Quiet, didn't talk about his past much and by some strange twist of fate, had struck up a bit of a rapport with Mrs House. Here however…

"You…" Rob growled, turning away from his wife and staring at Edelman. "I know you."

"Do you?"

"I watched," Rob spat. "Watched you be taken away eight years ago. It's because of you I didn't get home sooner. It's because of you my wife was taken to this hellhole."

"Holes…" Edelman smirked. "Jo knows all about them. See where she keeps her ring nowadays?"

Jo stared at Edelman, as if unable to believe what she was saying. Rob glanced at Jo, seeing that a ring was attached to a chain strung round her neck. He glanced back at Edelman. And threw a punch at him.

"Rob!"

Paige watched as Rob ignored his wife's exclamation, descending into a brawl with Edelman. It was short, brief and Edelman had the advantage. Even if he did put his mouth near Rob's ear for a few seconds. Strange fighting style. Either way, she watched as Debed, one of her operatives, separated the two.

"I'll kill you!" Rob yelled at Edelman. "I'll fucking kill you!"

"No, you won't," Paige said. "You'll do your job." She turned to face Edelman. "As you'll do yours."

"Disable the aerostat so it crashes into Venus, eliminating the habitation unit so I can't be cross referenced from the deaths of those stationed there? I'm game."

"Simon, you…"

Paige glanced at Joanna, her gaze registering pure unbelief. Poor sod. Having her faith shattered on the same day she was going to die.

"Take Mrs House to the brig," Paige said to Tobias. "Rest of you…well, on with the show."

Kaloyan nodded and headed off. Off to the ship to get the material they'd need for the demonstration. A camera, some hockey masks and a script for Rob.

"This…is bullshit."

Rob wasn't reading from the script here.

"Is it true?" the man asked, looking up at Paige. "Any of it? That you're going to use this…madman to crash the aerostat?"

"Yes. Of course, you'll have done it as far as anyone outside this room knows, but yes, we'll use him. Cheaper than explosives and fits your M.O."

"And…what you told me," Rob continued. "Your brother. Dying in a heatwave."

Paige knelt down to face her hostage.

"These operatives…" she said slowly, "are my brothers. That's all you need to know."

Rob spat at her.