Siren Song
Chapter 4: Lies
By: Dark-Elk
The scent of the coffee brewing in the hold of the Dropship was invigorating to Mackenzie, and he waited patiently until the machine finished brewing it. He reached over to the container and poured himself a large cup, the steam wafting through the air.
Raymas eyed him cautiously, keeping in mind Surak's outburst en route to the Dropship. For the rest of his life he would remember the look in Surak's eyes as he slammed Raymas into the corridor wall.
Mackenzie glanced over at Raymas and caught him watching him. "You want some of this? If not, I'm drinking it all myself."
Raymas shook the thoughts from his head and smiled. "Hell yeah I want some. I've been up even longer than you have."
Mackenzie poured him a mug and slid it over to him. Raymas grabbed it from the narrow counter and took a sip. The coffee burned its way down to his stomach and he grimaced. "Damn you Surak, you pour engine fuel in here or something? I don't understand how you can drink this."
It was Mackenzie's turn to flash a grin at Raymas. "You're acting like a woman, Raymas. It's not that strong; the Marines drink it at least twice as strong as I do." He took another gulp from his mug and sighed. "So what's the procedure for today? I have this guy who's going to give a speech, and you want me to take him out before he can, right? What do you want me to do to him?"
Raymas looked away from Mackenzie. In light of what he was told in the corridor, Mackenzie probably wouldn't agree with the orders he had been given. "You're supposed to make it look like an assassination, but not a UED assassination. You know the drill."
Mackenzie's face grew stony as he stared into the opposite wall of the Dropship. "You better keep your word about the downtime, because after today I'm going to need it. Like I said, if the UED keeps running me like this I'm bolting, got it? I don't care what they want to call it, be it treason, desertion, whatever. I couldn't really care less what they do to me. Even line units of Marines get more rest than I do, and that's really saying something."
Raymas nodded. "The UED doesn't let me promise much, but this is something you've earned. It's rather long past due anyway"
Mackenzie sighed. "Okay, a UED-sponsored assassination that isn't supposed to look like an UED-sponsored assassination. Are there any local dissident groups, political enemies, anything to work with?"
Raymas patted his shirt pockets looking for something, and eventually stumbled across the right pocket. He reached in and withdrew a slim disk, which he tossed lightly over to Mackenzie. "That's got everything you could possibly want, and then some. Gotta hand it to the UED, they never skimp on intel."
Mackenzie laughed. "True. Okay, let's see what we have here." He slid the data disk into a side slot on his suit, and lowered his eyepiece into place. Information began flashing across it rapidly, but Mackenzie had been trained by the UED for speed-reading, and quickly managed to single out a few important pieces of information. "We've got a gang of techies that seem to dislike this politician. There's also a group of hardline rebels that have made it clear they wouldn't mind if this guy knocked off permanently. Either of them would have sufficient motivation to kill this guy. Why does the UED want him dead?"
Raymas drew a cigarette from another pocket and lit it. "Mostly because he's trying to lead a peaceful insurrection, but also because a lot of the higher ups don't really like him either. He wants to have the UED give him control of a fleet, and have a group of civvies join him on a mission to the Koprulu sector. Pretty foolish if you ask me."
"Koprulu sector? Why would they want to go there? The UED owns that too; Admiral DuGalle was sent and everything. It was a huge media event. I would think that wouldn't be any different from here." Mackenzie said as he adjusted the fan behind him to blow the smoke away from him.
"Well, that's the brunt of his argument. He says that he received classified information that says Admiral DuGalle's fleet was decimated, and that the . . .the entire sector is in a state of civil war." Raymas said after a slight pause. It sounded almost like he was holding something back, but Mackenzie had long ago learned that probing Raymas' mind wasn't the smartest thing too do.
"Why did the UED send the fleet out in the first place? That's my question. We're doing just fine in our own sector, we don't really need their resources. I can understand from a point of exploration, but why send DuGalle? He's the greatest tactical mind the UED has ever produced, and merely pacifying the Koprulu sector shouldn't have required him. Any of the other Admiral's could have done that job."
Raymas took a drag on the cigarette, and slowly exhaled. "Apparently this politician doesn't think so. He's pretty adamant about DuGalle's fleet having been destroyed. The UED doesn't want any rumors spreading that could prove harmful."
"Was his fleet destroyed?"
Raymas looked up from the floor at Mackenzies face quickly. "Of course not. You said yourself that he's the greatest tactical mind the UED has. I highly doubt that some peasants with under strength technology could defeat him, even with a massive numerical advantage." He looked at his watch. "We're about five minutes out. Finish your coffee, Surak."
Chapter 4: Lies
By: Dark-Elk
The scent of the coffee brewing in the hold of the Dropship was invigorating to Mackenzie, and he waited patiently until the machine finished brewing it. He reached over to the container and poured himself a large cup, the steam wafting through the air.
Raymas eyed him cautiously, keeping in mind Surak's outburst en route to the Dropship. For the rest of his life he would remember the look in Surak's eyes as he slammed Raymas into the corridor wall.
Mackenzie glanced over at Raymas and caught him watching him. "You want some of this? If not, I'm drinking it all myself."
Raymas shook the thoughts from his head and smiled. "Hell yeah I want some. I've been up even longer than you have."
Mackenzie poured him a mug and slid it over to him. Raymas grabbed it from the narrow counter and took a sip. The coffee burned its way down to his stomach and he grimaced. "Damn you Surak, you pour engine fuel in here or something? I don't understand how you can drink this."
It was Mackenzie's turn to flash a grin at Raymas. "You're acting like a woman, Raymas. It's not that strong; the Marines drink it at least twice as strong as I do." He took another gulp from his mug and sighed. "So what's the procedure for today? I have this guy who's going to give a speech, and you want me to take him out before he can, right? What do you want me to do to him?"
Raymas looked away from Mackenzie. In light of what he was told in the corridor, Mackenzie probably wouldn't agree with the orders he had been given. "You're supposed to make it look like an assassination, but not a UED assassination. You know the drill."
Mackenzie's face grew stony as he stared into the opposite wall of the Dropship. "You better keep your word about the downtime, because after today I'm going to need it. Like I said, if the UED keeps running me like this I'm bolting, got it? I don't care what they want to call it, be it treason, desertion, whatever. I couldn't really care less what they do to me. Even line units of Marines get more rest than I do, and that's really saying something."
Raymas nodded. "The UED doesn't let me promise much, but this is something you've earned. It's rather long past due anyway"
Mackenzie sighed. "Okay, a UED-sponsored assassination that isn't supposed to look like an UED-sponsored assassination. Are there any local dissident groups, political enemies, anything to work with?"
Raymas patted his shirt pockets looking for something, and eventually stumbled across the right pocket. He reached in and withdrew a slim disk, which he tossed lightly over to Mackenzie. "That's got everything you could possibly want, and then some. Gotta hand it to the UED, they never skimp on intel."
Mackenzie laughed. "True. Okay, let's see what we have here." He slid the data disk into a side slot on his suit, and lowered his eyepiece into place. Information began flashing across it rapidly, but Mackenzie had been trained by the UED for speed-reading, and quickly managed to single out a few important pieces of information. "We've got a gang of techies that seem to dislike this politician. There's also a group of hardline rebels that have made it clear they wouldn't mind if this guy knocked off permanently. Either of them would have sufficient motivation to kill this guy. Why does the UED want him dead?"
Raymas drew a cigarette from another pocket and lit it. "Mostly because he's trying to lead a peaceful insurrection, but also because a lot of the higher ups don't really like him either. He wants to have the UED give him control of a fleet, and have a group of civvies join him on a mission to the Koprulu sector. Pretty foolish if you ask me."
"Koprulu sector? Why would they want to go there? The UED owns that too; Admiral DuGalle was sent and everything. It was a huge media event. I would think that wouldn't be any different from here." Mackenzie said as he adjusted the fan behind him to blow the smoke away from him.
"Well, that's the brunt of his argument. He says that he received classified information that says Admiral DuGalle's fleet was decimated, and that the . . .the entire sector is in a state of civil war." Raymas said after a slight pause. It sounded almost like he was holding something back, but Mackenzie had long ago learned that probing Raymas' mind wasn't the smartest thing too do.
"Why did the UED send the fleet out in the first place? That's my question. We're doing just fine in our own sector, we don't really need their resources. I can understand from a point of exploration, but why send DuGalle? He's the greatest tactical mind the UED has ever produced, and merely pacifying the Koprulu sector shouldn't have required him. Any of the other Admiral's could have done that job."
Raymas took a drag on the cigarette, and slowly exhaled. "Apparently this politician doesn't think so. He's pretty adamant about DuGalle's fleet having been destroyed. The UED doesn't want any rumors spreading that could prove harmful."
"Was his fleet destroyed?"
Raymas looked up from the floor at Mackenzies face quickly. "Of course not. You said yourself that he's the greatest tactical mind the UED has. I highly doubt that some peasants with under strength technology could defeat him, even with a massive numerical advantage." He looked at his watch. "We're about five minutes out. Finish your coffee, Surak."