Chapter 28 - Assassin
Ulysses' Quarters, ISS Valley Forge
A blizzard blew its icy breath about him, howling like the demons of hell as it bit at his exposed flesh that peeked past his heavy jacket. Billions of snowflakes swirling, blocking out all save that which was his immediate surroundings, with even them shrouded in near obscurity. He felt totally alone, with a growing sense of unease, like something was watching him from a hidden position just beyond where he could see. Ulysses unease grew, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up underneath his tightly drawn hood. He began to quicken his pace through the near knee deep snow, but the farther he went, the deeper the snow got. Soon, it was nearing his waist, slowing his pace to a crawl. Outright terror began to course through Ulysses as the grayed out world around him darkened, reducing his stunted field of view still further. The wailing walls of snow enshrouded him, muting his cries as he called out for help.
Then there was a light in front of him, and relief coursed through Ulysses, joining the adrenaline surge of his fight or flight response. Out of the swirling torrent of snow emerged a small figure clad in white fur. The figure held the source of the light, a flashlight, in one tiny hand, appearing to be searching for something. Catching sight of Ulysses, the figure paused for a moment, then approached him cautiously. The figure walked not through the snow, like Ulysses had been reduced to, but on top of it, as if her diminutive form was insufficient to leave more than faint impressions in the snow pack. As she approached close enough for Ulysses to get a good look at her, he saw that she appeared to be a young human girl of about seven or eight years of age. A lock of ebon hair fell beneath the hood of her white fur coat to lie across the white porcelain skin of her forehead. Her lips were pale blue, almost like those of a suffocated person, but they were not what held Ulysses attention. Her eyes were a very ghostly blue, almost pure white, and they didn't look quite... human. Yet for their alien-ness, they were at once familiar and inviting, showing no ill will towards him. They welcomed him like a long lost friend, and a small, perfectly girlish smile perked the corners of her blue hued lips. As if coming to a decision, she gave a quick nod of her head.
The moaning of the storm, the chill bite of the sub zero air, the driving snow flurries, even the thoughts of being stalked from the shadows melted away from Ulysses. All he saw was the girl in white. As if in a state of awed wonder, he reached out towards her with an outstretched hand. She tentatively raised her own small hand, slowly bringing it towards Ulysses own. The instant they touched, it was as if Ulysses touched a live wire.
Ulysses jerked upright in his bed, eyes wide, his heart beating a mile a minute, muscles twitching as if unsure weather to freeze or snap into instant action. Terror gripped him, but he wasn't sure what it was from. The dream itself gave him no real cause for it, for he was actually calming down towards the end of it. Giving his head a quick shake, as if to clear away the last vestiges of sleep, Ulysses laid back onto his mattress. Soon his heart rate slowed. "What a strange dream." He mumbled, then drew the covers back up over him and closed his eyes, falling soon thereafter back to sleep.
Starbase 2000, Prescott's Star
Unity operative 11J fumed silently under his disguise. Yet again his plan had been stymied by the Sectors new SO. The Galactic Unity's invasion force had been thoroughly manhandled and forced to retreat. They never even got to within striking range of the substantial fortifications orbiting Lilith, and the carefully hidden extra code added to an otherwise benign program that had spread to nearly 2/3rds of the stations orbiting Lilith wasn't able to be utilized. If the Founder had believed in gods, he would have cursed them for dropping the damnable solid on him, ruining all of his plans time and again.
But new orders had been given to him by his superiors, and he was delighted that they were finally taking his reports seriously. Nothing like loosing a good part of a fleet and throwing initial battle plans into turmoil to get their attention. If the fools had taken him seriously, none of this would be necessary. The Galactic Unity would be in control of the system and on it's way forward, deeper into Terran space. The lightly defended and lightly colonized holdings in former Dominion space in the Gamma Quadrant had already been near totally overrun, most of the Terrans only making a half hearted attempt to defend them when faced with superior numbers and PPD fire from beyond their own max weapons range. His old homeland had only been lightly affected by the transfer of control from the Dominion to the Terran Empire, for it was shortly after their successful campaign against his people that the Terrans encountered the Borg. The Terrans' losses incurred in eradicating them had slowed expansion of the Terran Empire to a virtual standstill.
While Operative 11J had no idea of the long range military plans of the GU, just incase he was somehow caught alive and handed over for interrogation, there was a regular stream of communication between himself and his superiors through various 3rd parties. He had to be far more careful now that non-military traffic was competently searched, but there were many places one could hide secret messages aboard a starship. The searchers were primarily keeping an eye out for things like explosives and weapons and spies, not for illegal correspondence. While alert, operative 11J didn't feel particularly at risk, even with the increased security concerns.
However, with his new orders, he would have to ensure that his escape was ready to execute, for he wouldn't be able to remain hidden once he executed them. The beehive he was about to tip over would surely cause him to be hunted down otherwise. His PADD let out a discreet chime, and he activated it. His dour expression was creased with an eager smile. The discreet data acquisition software he had uploaded into the Starbase's primary computer core had just sent another burst to his PADD. To all monitoring devices, it would appear to be a mere scheduling change command, but it was in actuality a upload of the latest movements of Prescott's Star's seignior officers. This was just the opportunity he needed. He left his assumed quarters to put the necessary plans in motion, both to execute his new orders and ensure his getaway.
Lilith, City of Eden
Ulysses smiled and waved back to the cheering throngs of civilians, then turned and walked through the waiting aircar's hatch. A man could definitely get used to such attentions, he thought. Being a hero definitely had its advantages. Being sector governor did as well. It was under this hat that he had called for a meeting of prominent Lilithians. He had given them leave to initiate elections for an advisory committee to the Starfleet Governor. They were as large a concession as he could wrangle out of his Commissar, but he had sent a recommendation up the chain of command that Prescott's Star was ready for independent civilian administration. Nothing might come of it true, but it just might become fact with the sway he was gaining with Starfleet's upper echelons. While he didn't truly consider himself a hero for his actions, thinking them merely the successful execution of his duty and oath to Starfleet and the civilians of the Empire, there was something to be said for the respect and power it gave his recommendations to his superiors. Better to make the recommendation while he could to, for the first batch of new Flag Officers was slated to come in-system within a few days. Ulysses hoped that they wouldn't undo all that he had accomplished for Prescott's Star in his short tenure as Sector Governor.
Ulysses could have ordered his ship to beam him back up, but he had never truly surveyed the bustling capital city of Prescott's Star and used his meeting as a pretext to do so. As such, he had taken both a shuttle down and an aircar to and from his meeting with various influential citizens of Lilith. While not as awe inspiring as the massive forest of alloy spires of Terra, Vulcan, Alpha Centauri or any number of core Imperial worlds, the city of over 400 million strong was quite impressive. The yellow primary of Prescott's Star was setting behind the towering sky scrapers to his right, casting everything in pleasant reds and warm oranges. Steady streams of aircar traffic threaded their way through the sky above, moving along the invisible pathways assigned to them by Eden's central traffic computer.
While most people used the planetary mass transit transporter system, sufficient number of them chose to use their aircars, allowing them to see their beautiful city far more than the transporter network allowed for. It also allowed them to go to areas where the limited utility mass transit net didn't service. Rather than spring for a fully capable transporter system for civilian transport use, the Empire had decided for a more limited version that only went from point to point, much like an old Earth subway system or bus route. While some might complain at the slight inconvenience this caused, it drastically simplified sensor and computational requirements for the system as well as allowed for near 24/7 transporter inhibitor use throughout the rest of the city. With terrorists having access to high-powered explosives and transporters, the Empire had learned early on to ensure that it controlled all transporter activity on its planets.
Ulysses strapped himself in to the copilots chair, smiling to himself that Starfleet Regs didn't let Flag Officers fly themselves dirtside. "Well Lieutenant, are we ready to proceed to the spaceport?" Ulysses asked the very young officer that was his pilot/chauffer for the duration of his stay on Lilith.
"Yes we are Skipper." There was a slight breaking of his voice, showing he was more than a little nervous. He was more used to less larger than life superiors, and was more than a little uncomfortable at Ulysses polite but resolute insistence that he take the copilots station rather than the more customary rear bench seat.
"Then proceed at your discretion." Ulysses encouraged with a half smile
"Aye Sir." He said, then proceeded to activate the sporty luxury aircar's AG drives. Aside from a soft whine, there was no sound other than the throngs of people surrounding the grounded aircar. Seconds later, the aircar was lifting off on its quiet drives and flying down the path assigned to it by Eden Traffic Control. His pilot, though young and nervous, was an exceedingly talented stick, handling the fighter like throttle and side stick controllers like a seasoned pro. Since Ulysses conveyance was a special case, it was assigned its own skyway on a more direct route to his destination than was the norm. Once the Lieutenant was certain that the complete course was uploaded, he handed control over to the aircars computer autopilot.
"Well done Lt. Theisman, that's some excellent piloting skills you have."
"Thank you Skipper!" The now beet red Imperial officer said with a smile that was more boyish than anything else.
Was I ever that young?, Ulysses thought. Then, Am I really that old? Ulysses nearly snorted in laughter, here he was not even 30 years old yet, and likely to go far beyond that given his heritage, and he was already thinking like an over-the-hill coot. Relaxing in his chair, Ulysses turned his eyes from the holographic skyway to look through the dome like one-way transparent bubble that capped the aircar. They had ascended quite high, and were now above the scattered cotton puffs of the cloud deck. The gleaming alloy spires of Eden still towered above their course, their lights gleaming in the growing twilight. Overhead, one could easily see the shapes of the OWPs and Battlestations that stood guard over the planet. Near the far west horizon, where the sky had already turned a deep navy blue flecked with stars, the Nightingale Yards could clearly be seen, their massive structure blocking out a good portion of the western sky near the horizon. The city was truly a beautiful place, cosmopolitan without having to go too far to reach relatively virgin land, a relatively uncluttered sky for such an important system. Ulysses was glad he had decided to use shuttles and aircars rather than the transporter. It reinforced just what he was fighting for. These people needed to be safeguarded. While there were worse fates than being removed from the Terran Empire and incorporated into the Galactic Unity, incorporation into the Galactic Unity wasn't the best option either.
While Ulysses hated the excesses of the Terran Empire with a passion that at times threatened to consume him, he had learned long ago that not all, or even most of the Empire's citizens were evil and deserving of death. Many were in fact just like he was, trapped in a system he couldn't control and unable to change things. He had truly come a long way from the hate filled teen he had once been. He had funneled his anger and rage into something that was bigger than his own schemes of revenge, and in doing so had gained some distance from it. It was still there, always a part of him, always threatening to gain the upper hand, but he could now see that true change must be wrought on the system from within if it was to fix things. Anything less wouldn't solve the problem.
Eden, Rooftop of Tower 602
Tower 602 wasn't one of the brightly lit titans that made up Eden's downtown core, but it did have its uppermost floors peeking just past the cloud deck. The top of the roughly cylindrical spire was flattened out, allowing for an emergency landing pad and various transmitters and receptors to be planted on it. Operative 11J walked out of the roof access door amidst the forest of vane and spine antennas. He strode across the roof to a seemingly benign access panel. The changeling popped it loose, tossing it skidding across the smooth armorcrete surface of the rooftop. Now exposed to light for the first time in close to half a year was one of the agents many contingency plans. With rapid, deft movements, Operative 11J began to assemble it.
Ulysses' Quarters, ISS Valley Forge
A blizzard blew its icy breath about him, howling like the demons of hell as it bit at his exposed flesh that peeked past his heavy jacket. Billions of snowflakes swirling, blocking out all save that which was his immediate surroundings, with even them shrouded in near obscurity. He felt totally alone, with a growing sense of unease, like something was watching him from a hidden position just beyond where he could see. Ulysses unease grew, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up underneath his tightly drawn hood. He began to quicken his pace through the near knee deep snow, but the farther he went, the deeper the snow got. Soon, it was nearing his waist, slowing his pace to a crawl. Outright terror began to course through Ulysses as the grayed out world around him darkened, reducing his stunted field of view still further. The wailing walls of snow enshrouded him, muting his cries as he called out for help.
Then there was a light in front of him, and relief coursed through Ulysses, joining the adrenaline surge of his fight or flight response. Out of the swirling torrent of snow emerged a small figure clad in white fur. The figure held the source of the light, a flashlight, in one tiny hand, appearing to be searching for something. Catching sight of Ulysses, the figure paused for a moment, then approached him cautiously. The figure walked not through the snow, like Ulysses had been reduced to, but on top of it, as if her diminutive form was insufficient to leave more than faint impressions in the snow pack. As she approached close enough for Ulysses to get a good look at her, he saw that she appeared to be a young human girl of about seven or eight years of age. A lock of ebon hair fell beneath the hood of her white fur coat to lie across the white porcelain skin of her forehead. Her lips were pale blue, almost like those of a suffocated person, but they were not what held Ulysses attention. Her eyes were a very ghostly blue, almost pure white, and they didn't look quite... human. Yet for their alien-ness, they were at once familiar and inviting, showing no ill will towards him. They welcomed him like a long lost friend, and a small, perfectly girlish smile perked the corners of her blue hued lips. As if coming to a decision, she gave a quick nod of her head.
The moaning of the storm, the chill bite of the sub zero air, the driving snow flurries, even the thoughts of being stalked from the shadows melted away from Ulysses. All he saw was the girl in white. As if in a state of awed wonder, he reached out towards her with an outstretched hand. She tentatively raised her own small hand, slowly bringing it towards Ulysses own. The instant they touched, it was as if Ulysses touched a live wire.
Ulysses jerked upright in his bed, eyes wide, his heart beating a mile a minute, muscles twitching as if unsure weather to freeze or snap into instant action. Terror gripped him, but he wasn't sure what it was from. The dream itself gave him no real cause for it, for he was actually calming down towards the end of it. Giving his head a quick shake, as if to clear away the last vestiges of sleep, Ulysses laid back onto his mattress. Soon his heart rate slowed. "What a strange dream." He mumbled, then drew the covers back up over him and closed his eyes, falling soon thereafter back to sleep.
Starbase 2000, Prescott's Star
Unity operative 11J fumed silently under his disguise. Yet again his plan had been stymied by the Sectors new SO. The Galactic Unity's invasion force had been thoroughly manhandled and forced to retreat. They never even got to within striking range of the substantial fortifications orbiting Lilith, and the carefully hidden extra code added to an otherwise benign program that had spread to nearly 2/3rds of the stations orbiting Lilith wasn't able to be utilized. If the Founder had believed in gods, he would have cursed them for dropping the damnable solid on him, ruining all of his plans time and again.
But new orders had been given to him by his superiors, and he was delighted that they were finally taking his reports seriously. Nothing like loosing a good part of a fleet and throwing initial battle plans into turmoil to get their attention. If the fools had taken him seriously, none of this would be necessary. The Galactic Unity would be in control of the system and on it's way forward, deeper into Terran space. The lightly defended and lightly colonized holdings in former Dominion space in the Gamma Quadrant had already been near totally overrun, most of the Terrans only making a half hearted attempt to defend them when faced with superior numbers and PPD fire from beyond their own max weapons range. His old homeland had only been lightly affected by the transfer of control from the Dominion to the Terran Empire, for it was shortly after their successful campaign against his people that the Terrans encountered the Borg. The Terrans' losses incurred in eradicating them had slowed expansion of the Terran Empire to a virtual standstill.
While Operative 11J had no idea of the long range military plans of the GU, just incase he was somehow caught alive and handed over for interrogation, there was a regular stream of communication between himself and his superiors through various 3rd parties. He had to be far more careful now that non-military traffic was competently searched, but there were many places one could hide secret messages aboard a starship. The searchers were primarily keeping an eye out for things like explosives and weapons and spies, not for illegal correspondence. While alert, operative 11J didn't feel particularly at risk, even with the increased security concerns.
However, with his new orders, he would have to ensure that his escape was ready to execute, for he wouldn't be able to remain hidden once he executed them. The beehive he was about to tip over would surely cause him to be hunted down otherwise. His PADD let out a discreet chime, and he activated it. His dour expression was creased with an eager smile. The discreet data acquisition software he had uploaded into the Starbase's primary computer core had just sent another burst to his PADD. To all monitoring devices, it would appear to be a mere scheduling change command, but it was in actuality a upload of the latest movements of Prescott's Star's seignior officers. This was just the opportunity he needed. He left his assumed quarters to put the necessary plans in motion, both to execute his new orders and ensure his getaway.
Lilith, City of Eden
Ulysses smiled and waved back to the cheering throngs of civilians, then turned and walked through the waiting aircar's hatch. A man could definitely get used to such attentions, he thought. Being a hero definitely had its advantages. Being sector governor did as well. It was under this hat that he had called for a meeting of prominent Lilithians. He had given them leave to initiate elections for an advisory committee to the Starfleet Governor. They were as large a concession as he could wrangle out of his Commissar, but he had sent a recommendation up the chain of command that Prescott's Star was ready for independent civilian administration. Nothing might come of it true, but it just might become fact with the sway he was gaining with Starfleet's upper echelons. While he didn't truly consider himself a hero for his actions, thinking them merely the successful execution of his duty and oath to Starfleet and the civilians of the Empire, there was something to be said for the respect and power it gave his recommendations to his superiors. Better to make the recommendation while he could to, for the first batch of new Flag Officers was slated to come in-system within a few days. Ulysses hoped that they wouldn't undo all that he had accomplished for Prescott's Star in his short tenure as Sector Governor.
Ulysses could have ordered his ship to beam him back up, but he had never truly surveyed the bustling capital city of Prescott's Star and used his meeting as a pretext to do so. As such, he had taken both a shuttle down and an aircar to and from his meeting with various influential citizens of Lilith. While not as awe inspiring as the massive forest of alloy spires of Terra, Vulcan, Alpha Centauri or any number of core Imperial worlds, the city of over 400 million strong was quite impressive. The yellow primary of Prescott's Star was setting behind the towering sky scrapers to his right, casting everything in pleasant reds and warm oranges. Steady streams of aircar traffic threaded their way through the sky above, moving along the invisible pathways assigned to them by Eden's central traffic computer.
While most people used the planetary mass transit transporter system, sufficient number of them chose to use their aircars, allowing them to see their beautiful city far more than the transporter network allowed for. It also allowed them to go to areas where the limited utility mass transit net didn't service. Rather than spring for a fully capable transporter system for civilian transport use, the Empire had decided for a more limited version that only went from point to point, much like an old Earth subway system or bus route. While some might complain at the slight inconvenience this caused, it drastically simplified sensor and computational requirements for the system as well as allowed for near 24/7 transporter inhibitor use throughout the rest of the city. With terrorists having access to high-powered explosives and transporters, the Empire had learned early on to ensure that it controlled all transporter activity on its planets.
Ulysses strapped himself in to the copilots chair, smiling to himself that Starfleet Regs didn't let Flag Officers fly themselves dirtside. "Well Lieutenant, are we ready to proceed to the spaceport?" Ulysses asked the very young officer that was his pilot/chauffer for the duration of his stay on Lilith.
"Yes we are Skipper." There was a slight breaking of his voice, showing he was more than a little nervous. He was more used to less larger than life superiors, and was more than a little uncomfortable at Ulysses polite but resolute insistence that he take the copilots station rather than the more customary rear bench seat.
"Then proceed at your discretion." Ulysses encouraged with a half smile
"Aye Sir." He said, then proceeded to activate the sporty luxury aircar's AG drives. Aside from a soft whine, there was no sound other than the throngs of people surrounding the grounded aircar. Seconds later, the aircar was lifting off on its quiet drives and flying down the path assigned to it by Eden Traffic Control. His pilot, though young and nervous, was an exceedingly talented stick, handling the fighter like throttle and side stick controllers like a seasoned pro. Since Ulysses conveyance was a special case, it was assigned its own skyway on a more direct route to his destination than was the norm. Once the Lieutenant was certain that the complete course was uploaded, he handed control over to the aircars computer autopilot.
"Well done Lt. Theisman, that's some excellent piloting skills you have."
"Thank you Skipper!" The now beet red Imperial officer said with a smile that was more boyish than anything else.
Was I ever that young?, Ulysses thought. Then, Am I really that old? Ulysses nearly snorted in laughter, here he was not even 30 years old yet, and likely to go far beyond that given his heritage, and he was already thinking like an over-the-hill coot. Relaxing in his chair, Ulysses turned his eyes from the holographic skyway to look through the dome like one-way transparent bubble that capped the aircar. They had ascended quite high, and were now above the scattered cotton puffs of the cloud deck. The gleaming alloy spires of Eden still towered above their course, their lights gleaming in the growing twilight. Overhead, one could easily see the shapes of the OWPs and Battlestations that stood guard over the planet. Near the far west horizon, where the sky had already turned a deep navy blue flecked with stars, the Nightingale Yards could clearly be seen, their massive structure blocking out a good portion of the western sky near the horizon. The city was truly a beautiful place, cosmopolitan without having to go too far to reach relatively virgin land, a relatively uncluttered sky for such an important system. Ulysses was glad he had decided to use shuttles and aircars rather than the transporter. It reinforced just what he was fighting for. These people needed to be safeguarded. While there were worse fates than being removed from the Terran Empire and incorporated into the Galactic Unity, incorporation into the Galactic Unity wasn't the best option either.
While Ulysses hated the excesses of the Terran Empire with a passion that at times threatened to consume him, he had learned long ago that not all, or even most of the Empire's citizens were evil and deserving of death. Many were in fact just like he was, trapped in a system he couldn't control and unable to change things. He had truly come a long way from the hate filled teen he had once been. He had funneled his anger and rage into something that was bigger than his own schemes of revenge, and in doing so had gained some distance from it. It was still there, always a part of him, always threatening to gain the upper hand, but he could now see that true change must be wrought on the system from within if it was to fix things. Anything less wouldn't solve the problem.
Eden, Rooftop of Tower 602
Tower 602 wasn't one of the brightly lit titans that made up Eden's downtown core, but it did have its uppermost floors peeking just past the cloud deck. The top of the roughly cylindrical spire was flattened out, allowing for an emergency landing pad and various transmitters and receptors to be planted on it. Operative 11J walked out of the roof access door amidst the forest of vane and spine antennas. He strode across the roof to a seemingly benign access panel. The changeling popped it loose, tossing it skidding across the smooth armorcrete surface of the rooftop. Now exposed to light for the first time in close to half a year was one of the agents many contingency plans. With rapid, deft movements, Operative 11J began to assemble it.