The woman smiled glossily. She had a glossy smile. She had a glossy face. Aeryn considered the word. Glossy. It was a word she seldom used, but in this instance it was simply the correct word. It meant smooth and perfect, but it also meant artificial and false. The woman did indeed have a perfect smile, friendly and pleasant, while still maintaining exactly the right degree of professionalism. Her perfect teeth sparkled for just a moment. Aeryn instinctively disliked that smile, it looked as if it had been learned in front of a mirror.
The woman shook back her long blonde hair and every immaculate lock fell back into place effortlessly. She continued to speak, staring straight ahead.
"And the quarantine of the Sebacian colony Trantos is now in its sixtieth solar day. Official reports from the planet indicate that loss of life has been high, but has been greatly mitigated by the presence of Federation enforcers, who were deployed prior to the determination that the plague is not communicable to Nebari citizens. Regular food shipments are now being scheduled and the cities water supply will soon become operational once more."
The governing body of Trantos has praised the Federations response to the disaster, calling the enforcers 'effective and efficient'. The plague is rumoured to have been introduced to the water supply by a terrorist group opposed to Trantos' recent succession to the Nebari Federation, although official sources have refused to comment."
The woman smiled into the camera again. Aeryn found herself wanting to reach into the hologram and pull the woman's too white teeth out of her perfect mouth.
"In other news, an encouraging blow was struck today against the pro-Scarran movement. Authorities were alerted after ten year old Laax Tristan -" a picture of an endearingly grinning child appeared for a moment, "- overheard a suspect conversation between his parents. Government forces raided the property and discovered three Scarran fugitives, all of which were all neutralised during the raid. Neighbours of the family were shocked by the discovery."
The image changed to that of a large, jowly man who wobbled uncertainly at the camera.
"We were all deeply shocked," the man spoke slowly and tonelessly, as if reading from a script, "We had no idea the Travis' were harbouring those dangerous animals. They seemed so normal."
The image returned to the beaming newsreader.
"Young Laax has been officially commended by the establishment for his loyalty, and says he is looking forwards to meeting his parents once they have been cured by behavioural therapy."
The blonde woman smiled so widely that the top of her head almost fell off.
"We'll be back with the weather, after these words from our benefactors."
The face faded, to be replaced by a distinguished looking older gentleman with mesmerising eyes.
"Hello." he nodded curtly to the screen, a gesture that seemed comforting after the newsreaders aggressive friendliness, "I am professor Jargon, and I would like to speak to you for a few moments about the Federation, and about our duty as citizens of the Federation.
"We must remember, as citizens, it is our paramount duty to remain ever vigilant and alert to anti-establishment sympathies."
The man smiled gently and leaned back.
"Of course, like yourselves, most normal, well adjusted citizens naturally wonder why anyone would show dissatisfaction with the establishment? The establishment has fed us, clothed us and protected us, in a few short cycles they have immeasurably improved all our lives and asked nothing in return. Why then we wonder, would anyone oppose them? Why is it that there are in truth people amongst us that would be willing to maim and murder our children simply to harm the establishment?
"The truth is, these individuals are ill. They have been infected by unsafe thoughts, by others who are as sadly deluded themselves. For hundreds of thousands of cycles, the galaxy has existed in a state of anarchy. War, hate, murder and crime were simple facts of life, and now that with the help of the Nebari, we finally have a chance to change that, all we must do is place our selves in the Federations hands. But there is inevitably a small but dangerous minority that do not simply accept, that cannot find the trust within themselves to allow themselves to believe.
"We must help them." Processor Jargon said earnestly, "You must help us help them. If you observe any symptoms such as increased hostility, cynicism or paranoia, a dissatisfaction with work or personal life, a change in personal habits or an unusual desire for solitude, do not hesitate to contact your local authorities immediately."
He spread his arms, "After all, if you felt unwell, you would refer to a doctor, trusting them to care for you. If your thoughts are unwell, we need to help before you become dangerous to yourself or loved ones, and you may be unable to see this truth by yourself."
He leaned forwards, "Remember, put your trust in the establishment. Be safe, don't think."
The professor nodded gravely and began to fade. Aeryn turned off the holo-screen with disgust.
"Three million channels and nothing worth watching." Crichton observed.
"Does anyone really swallow that dren?" Aeryn asked the room in general.
"People will swallow anything if it's all you feed them." Crichton shrugged.
"It's safer to believe what you're told. Pretend that everything's ok." Chiana added.
"What I don't get," Jothee said, "is why the news reports are full of resistance attacks, sabotage, Scarran escapees. Wouldn't they want to keep that kind of thing quiet?"
"They want people afraid." Stark said. "Fearful, watching one another. They want people to trust the establishment, not to trust themselves."
"Yeah." Chiana agreed sadly.
Stark looked agitated. "They want to – want to change people, turn them into copies of themselves, little hollow toys that dance and dance, always the same tune - I can hear them singing dancing laughing screaming in my mind my mind why wont they stop, why won't it stop?"
Stark clutched at his head, muttering incoherently. Cailan, who Aeryn noticed was never far from him, lightly touched his arm and whispered something. Aeryn suddenly felt as if she was intruding on something private.
She looked around, more as an excuse to look away from Stark and Cailan than from any particular interest in the scenery. They were still in the same room anyway, after arns of waiting they had been bought the antiquated holo-screen for its questionable entertainment value, or possibly as a subtle method of torture.
Aeryn heard a sound. As she rose to her feet, the door swung open and Bracca stepped through. He regarded them disdainfully and for a fraction of an instant, Aeryn had to fight down the compulsion to salute. Bracca was followed by another man, shorter, scarred and bearded. If Chiana's description was at all accurate, that would be Tanis.
"Bracca," Crichton stated in a tone that was not particularly friendly. "What the hell is going on here?"
Bracca's eyes took in the room and flickered dismissively to the human. He smiled a small, controlled smile.
"Isn't it obvious, Crichton? You've found the resistance."
"You're a member of the resistance?" Jothee said in a disbelieving tone.
"One of its founders, actually." Bracca said.
Crichton snorted. "No offence, Bracca, but you wouldn't tie your shoelaces without signed orders. How did you end up starting a resistance?"
Bracca glared angrily at Crichton, who didn't even bother to glare back.
"Maybe you should start at the beginning." Aeryn suggested diplomatically.
"Perhaps that would be best." Bracca paused, collecting his thoughts.
"I suppose," he began, "that the beginning of all this was almost three cycles ago, shortly agter the end of the war with the Scarrans. For my services during that period, I was granted command of a battle detachment, with orders to watch for signs of a renewed build-up of Scarran military forces."
"At first, high command assumed that peace with the Scarrans would be short lived at best, that the Scarrans would strike again, and soon." he looked critically at Crichton. "Your threat to unleash wormhole weapons kept them at bay to begin with, but it remained effective only so long as you remained visible. They would never believe that someone could possess such power without using it."
There was a hint of a question there, but Crichton just shrugged wordlessly.
"Anyway," Bracca continued, "after a little while, High Commands policy began to change. Our orders began to change, to fall back, to ignore Scarran activity. They began to downsize the fleet, to ignore the border almost as if they were inviting the Scarran empire to attack And it wasn't just High Command that changed. Officers I had known for cycles changed completely, soldiers who had been the most violently against peace with the Scarrans became completely the opposite overnight. Anyone who questioned too loudly was transferred, I have no idea what happened to any of them."
"Spooky." Crichton commented. Chiana laughed.
"I am a Peacekeeper officer." Bracca declared stiffly, and Aeryn noted the use of the present tense. "I do not question my orders, or the motives of my superiors. But then came the announcement that we were to accede to the Nebari federation, and the fleets were to be disbanded." Bracca shuddered.
"I began to investigate what was happening, to examine which officers and which members of High Command had been compromised. It was my hope that the conspiracy may have been localised to a small number, and that if I could have bought evidence before the entire council their decisions could be reversed. I know now that I would have been killed if I had attempted such a thing."
"It was around this time that I was contacted by the Hynerian. I still do not know how he knew I would be willing to listen to him. Perhaps he reasoned that my assignment to the border of Scarran space would make it unlikely that I would have been affected, or maybe some members of my crew were in his pay."
"Rygel." Chiana whispered.
"Yes." Bracca nodded. "Regardless of how he accomplished it, the Dominar was successful in contacting probably the only fleet commander who was still loyal to the ideals of Peacekeepers. It seemed the Nebari trusted him enough to confide in him, and he suggested a course of action to stop them. I accepted."
"What happened?" Chiana said intently, "What happened to Rygel?"
"Our strategy was simple." Bracca said, "Ships loyal to us were interspersed amongst the fleet that decimated the Scarran home world. We were to wait until their forces were fully committed to the attack on the planet, then strike them from behind. They would have been trapped between the planets atmosphere and our forces, unable to manoeuvre or retreat, their weapons already depleted." Bracca's tone turned bitter. "And then you ruined everything?"
"Us? Again? How?"
"Moya." Bracca spat the name, "Your leviathan starburst into the middle of the fleet and would have been destroyed, but dominar Rygel attacked the fleet to save her. The rest of our forces were forced to join the attack prematurely."
Bracca clenched his fists. "We had the advantage of surprise, but we had sacrificed position and timing. We were still badly outnumbered, the battle turned against us. Our fleet was annihilated, very few of our ships escaped. Dominar Rygel was not amongst the survivors."
Aeryn bowed her head. She heard Chiana's breath catch.
After a while Crichton spoke, his voice sounding very loud in the wake of the silence.
"Why now, Bracca? Why tell us this now? We've spent the last few cycles turning over every rock looking for the resistance, and all we ever found were rumours and stories. Now you just walk up to us and tell us this. Why?"
Bracca turned his attention to Aeryn's husband. "You're right. There is a reason we have contacted you now. I helped build up the resistance, using the remaining ships I commanded to strike at outer colonies. But the damage we can cause to the establishment is limited, so long as the contagion keeps one in three people as potential Nebari agents. The contagion, guarantees absolute loyalty, and those who are infected do not even know it. We cannot fight that."
"What do you expect us to do about it then?" Jothee said.
"We know almost nothing about the contagion." Bracca said earnestly, "We don't even know if there is a cure, we can't even detect it. That has to change."
"How?" said Aeryn.
"We do know that a Nebari research facility had been set up on this moon, which we believe to be used to further the effectiveness of the contagion. We need to gain access to this facility."
"And again for that million dollar question – how?" said Crichton, "And what does this have to do with us."
"To accomplish our aims, we need to capture a high ranking Nebari official. Fortunately, we have tracked the movements of one, he is arriving here soon."
Bracca stood back, watching their reactions. "You may be ideally suited to capturing him. His name is Neiri. I believe you have met him."