Taelon Moonbase
Friday, 09:18 EST

The entire concourse was black. Black and shiny, with the texture of rubber that had flash-melted, then frozen again. Three ghostly pale splotches of an irregular shape adorned the floor, marking the dying places of three Taelons. Against one wall lay the portal itself, now nothing but four indistinct and charred columns sprouting out of the floor. All in all, the concourse looked like it had fallen victim to both a flash fire and a nuclear explosion in short order.

"We haven't been able to find anything new since we got on the scene," offered the commander of the team of Volunteers who now swarmed over the scene. "Whoever did this knew exactly how not to leave any trace."

"I won't accept that, Captain Kramer," Sandoval stated. "I'm not going to let a security breach of this magnitude just slip away. I want to know how this happened, and who did it, before it happens again."

"I won't give up until we have something for you, Agent Sandoval," Kramer assured him. "But anyone who could pull this off in the first place must have known his stuff. It could take a while to dig anything up."

"Then I suggest you get to work."

Kramer nodded and headed for what used to be one of the sensor checkpoints that adorned the walls and ceiling of any Taelon structure. Sandoval strode up to the remains of the portal itself, and the single pale flower which still lay in its center. He was sure this held some sort of meaning, but he could not imagine what it could be.

The most irritating part was that he believed Zo'or could. The Taelon's reaction on the Mothership seemed to indicate that he knew exactly what this sign was supposed to mean. Of course, he was not about to tell Sandoval, at least not yet.

Whoever had done this was sending a message to Zo'or....

"Captain Kramer," Sandoval called. When the man had rejoined him, he indicated the virtual glass wall, the only part of the concourse which looked normal. "How long after the blast was the environment restored?"

Kramer thought for a moment. "The glass was regenerated in about ten minutes, but we waited another twenty to be sure it was safe."

"And during that time, were you guarding the exits to ensure no one could enter or escape?"

Kramer shook his head. "When the blast occurred, this entire section of the Moonbase was locked off. No one could have gotten anywhere near this area before we did. And anyone in the vicinity during the blast would have been vaporized."

Sandoval indicated the flower. "So would this, Captain. Someone was here."

Kramer sighed. "I already checked the transit records. Only three people left after the time of the blast, and they're all accounted for."

"Then check the portals themselves," Sandoval snapped. "Count the shuttles by hand. If they both check out, then whoever did this is still here. In any case, I want him found."

Kramer nodded. "I'll get right on it."

As he strode off, Sandoval again directed his attention to the flower. It was becoming clear that the blast had been meant to serve no more purpose than to rattle Zo'or, to what end Sandoval did not know. But if someone had gone to this much trouble simply to get the Taelon's attention, than he could be assured a follow-up performance.

Perhaps then he would get some answers.


Under Washington D.C.
Friday, 13:45 EST

"Can't you see I'm busy?"

Liam glanced at the young woman sitting on the lower level of the cavernous establishment. "This is important, Augur."

"Take a number. See that woman in there? Her credit account's just been hacked, and she has a payment due on her house. If I don't act fast, she'll have to move out."

"How charitable of you."

Augur sneered. "Look, Liam, it was bad enough when you expected me to drop everything and do whatever miracle you needed—" he opened a drawer and rummaged through a collection of disks, many of which seemed too outdated to even fit in a computer. "But at least you called first," he finished, withdrawing one disk and pushing past Liam and down the stairs. When Liam tried to follow, however, he was pushed back out of sight of the woman. "Oh, no you don't," Augur chided. "You have to realize that some of my clients could get a little nervous if a Taelon Protector shows up at my doorstep."

"I thought she was a victim of credit fraud?" Liam reminded him.

"She is. And if she wanted to talk to the authorities, she wouldn't be here. Now stay." With this, he left again, locking the door behind him. Liam sighed and found a seat. After watching Augur and the woman for a while, his attention started to wander around the level. He was sure everything had some purpose or other, but he could not even identify what most of it was. He was saved from trying by his global beeping. Hastily, he opened it, with a sheepish glance at Augur, to see Renee's face staring at him from the tiny screen.

"You got a minute, Liam?" Renee asked.

"I'm...a little tied up right now," he replied quietly. "Is the line secure on your end?"

"Of course." Renee's glance flicked somewhere offsrceen; she was presumably checking anyway.

"Good." Liam turned so his back was to the stairs. "I think we have a problem. Did you know Dr. Lubata was assigned to the Moonbase?"

Renee blinked.

Apparently, he's the Taelons' lead suspect in the bombing, Liam went on.

You're kidding.

Liam shook his head. If he was on the Moonbase, and didn't tell either of us, what do you think he was doing?

Renee was obviously concerned. You think he joined one of the splinter factions?"

That doesn't seem like him.

No, it doesn't. She shook herself, though barely enough to be noticeable. I'll talk to Jonathan.

"All right."

There was a short pause, then Renee went on. "Liam, do you have any idea who was behind this? How many people are there who even KNOW about the Moonbase?"

"No one who could do this," Liam replied.

"Well, we've got to find out who it was. The Taelons might not be able to blame the Resistance for this one without revealing the existence of the Moonbase, but who knows about next time? We've got enough to worry about without the possibility of another crackdown."

Liam nodded. "I'm already on it."

As Renee cut the signal, Liam heard Augur coming up the stairs. "All right," the other man said as Liam closed his Global. "What do you want?" He motioned Liam to follow him back down. "And you'd better be paying."

"Do you know anything that could cause an ID portal to facilitate an uncontrolled energy release?"

Augur froze for an instant. Someone who did not know him as well as Liam would probably not have picked it up. Liam frowned at this, but decided to see what he had to say.

"A portal? Liam, there are a lot of easier ways to blow something up."

"Just answer the question."

Augur sighed. "Maybe if the two magnetic poles were forced out of sync, then the cascade reaction that generates the slipstream could feed back outwards, with some pretty unpleasant results."

"What could cause this?"

"Plenty of things. Someone carrying a specific kind of magnetic device into the portal, a last-minute power failure in one of the generators, an energy discharge inside or close to the vortex...but the portal should detect any of these and shut down."

"Could the safeties be overridden?"

Augur fixed him with a disappointed look. "Liam, ANY computer program can be overridden. But you couldn't do it by remote; you'd have to have direct access to whatever network the portal was hooked up to."

Liam nodded, then decided to satisfy another question which had entered his mind. "You seem to know a lot about this."

"Renee called this morning. I've been doing some research."

Liam blinked. Renee had not said anything to him. But of course, it wouldn't be the first time she had failed to be completely honest with him. "How much did she tell you?"

"That someone blew up a portal on the Moonbase, and that she wanted to know how."

"And you weren't going to mention this to me earlier?"

"She pays me," Augur said meaningfully.

A little frustrated, Liam turned and took a few steps away, using the time to collect his thoughts. "I'll see if I can get you a copy of the Moonbase's security records. Sandoval's got his own people working on this, so I need to know who's behind the bombing as soon as possible. Don't worry —" he added quickly, "I'll pay you as soon as you get something." With that, he ascended the stairs toward the elevator leading up to the surface.

"Renee pays me in advance," Augur muttered. Liam decided to pretend he hadn't heard.