Threads of the Conglomerate Read online

  Contents

  Copyright

  Title

  Mark-Bad Move

  Luke-Albert

  Luke

  Luke-Borost

  Luke-CorporateHQ

  Suresh-Afterward

  End

  Copyright © 2017 by William S. Frisbee Jr.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all pertinent questions to the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  For more books or information from this author, please visit

  www.WilliamSFrisbee.com

  V1 (09-08-2017)

  If you would like to read more about the Conglomerate Series check out the Conglomerate Trilogy;

  http://williamsfrisbee.com/go/conglomerate-series/

  Threads of the Conglomerate

  A Conglomerate Series Story

  By William S. Frisbee Jr.

  The options were to ruin his own career or let his commanding officers screw up and endanger the lives of the precious few human survivors. Even if Mark abandoned his career, they still could end up killing Luke and everyone else. How to explain to both his commanders this was a horrible idea when they currently seemed immune to reason. There had to be another solution. Luke was in no condition to go out on a dangerous mission alone, even a fool could understand that. The Hero of Naantali was in a very dark, unforgiving place and he needed time to heal. Throwing him into the fire like this was immoral.

  Mark took a deep breath to try again. Yelling and screaming probably would not help, but he would keep his options open.

  “Captain Kishi is a good man,” Mark said. They were having a hard time looking him in the eyes. “He has just recovered from the radiation damage. He has had no time to heal mentally. His wife is dead, and he watched her die. They had been married for over sixty years. He is not ready, mentally he is in a very dark place.”

  “Commodore, it isn’t our choice,” Joel Carlson said, stroking his red beard, a bright splash of fire around a pale face. The Prime Minister was thin with fiery hair and an affinity for crimson jump suits, Mark imagined Joel as Lucifer when he was having a bad day, like today.

  The elected leader of New Alamo continued.

  “He deserves a break, if anyone does, but I was told in very specific terms that Captain Luke Kishi was the only one they would accept for this job.”

  “Dammit,” Mark said, pleading. “Give him a month. Just one month. He isn’t ready for this, or send me with him.”

  Joel turned to look out his wall. It was a huge view screen showing the docks and open space, but it looked like a window to space. The office itself was large and spacious, with a mini-bar, a couple couches and numerous displays, all showing the space around the asteroid colony. Mark’s eyes fell on a large egg shaped vessel nearby. An alien ship with unknown weapons and capabilities that had been haunting everyone’s dreams of late. The fact that alien ship had been able to view everything in New Alamo’s databanks without anyone being able to stop them hadn’t put anyone at ease either.

  “We don’t have a month,” Joel said turning back to Mark. “Hell, we might not have a week. If the damned Topa give a hint they won’t protect us, we can expect to have either Vorf or Sheran troops flooding our habitats killing and looting whoever is left alive.”

  “Did the Topa say that?” Mark asked, pushing the Prime Minister, perhaps not his wisest career move but Luke had saved New Alamo. Luke was owed loyalty.

  Admiral Day sighed loudly, drawing Mark’s eyes. The Admiral looked like he was in his twenties. He rarely smiled, and he looked far to serious for a twenty-year-old. If you looked into his eyes, any illusion to Day’s age would be shattered. He was almost a hundred. His bullet shaped head rotated like a turret locking onto Joel and then Mark depending on who was speaking.

  “I have to agree with the Prime Minister,” Day said. “If Luke takes this mission, then live or die, we will have a chance. The Topa promised us four light cruisers to protect New Alamo with and they said they might help us move out of this warzone. We cannot afford to say no to the Topa right now. If their ship leaves then chances are we won’t last twenty four hours.”

  “Four old, cast off cruisers,” Mark said.

  “Still better than anything we have, if the specs the Topa sent us are right,” Joel said. “They are older, but any of them could take on any of our ships, including the Proud Infidel or Mermaid and those alien ships would not even get their paint scratched. If we can get our hands on that kind of technology maybe we can upgrade our current ships. We need time. Luke can buy us that time.”

  “There has to be some other way,” Mark said. Day’s bullet head locked on him.

  “Do you want to tell the Topa that?” Joel said at the edge of his patience. “Those tall skinny bastards give me the heeby jeebies. If it wasn’t for their good will, we would be dead. Hell, we can’t even mine without their protection and we need resources to repair the damage from the wormhole transition. We’ve seen three bloody engagements between the Vorf and Sheran. It was not pretty.”

  “Yes,” Mark said. “I will talk to the Topa.”

  “You want my job?” Joel asked giving Mark pause.

  “Not over your dead body sir,” Mark said with a half smile. “But is the pay better?”

  Joel laughed and even Admiral Day’s face lost a little steel.

  “I may give it to you yet,” Joel said. “Dealing with the damned Topa will turn my hair white. We need that technology and we need protection or we die, it is that simple.”

  “So we will sacrifice our hero to the Topa in the hopes they throw us a half chewed bone?” Mark asked.

  “End it,” Day said with a growl in his voice and Mark realized he might have gone too far. Maybe. “The decision has been made. It is out of your hands. Period. I don’t like it either and I agree with you, but there are no options. The damned Topa aren’t giving us any.”

  The door chimed and everyone looked at it. There was a heaviness in the air, like an innocent person was about to be sentenced to death.

  Mark could tell how reluctant Joel was to speak. Maybe they did understand.

  “Enter,” Joel said, shattering the silence.

  The door slid open, revealing Luke Kishi, the hero of Naantali.

  Luke was tall and muscular, without being a muscle head. As always his head was shaved except for a short mohawk on top and a dragon pattern shaved into the extra short hair on the side of his head. Not exactly Marine regulation but Space Fleet was more relaxed since everyone usually wore helmets. Luke’s eyes were haunted by emptiness, and he had no expression as he looked at them. Without missing a beat he marched in, stopping several paces from the three and saluted with the typical crispness of a veteran Marine. If you could avoid the eyes you wouldn’t know anything was wrong.

  When Mark looked into Luke’s emotionless face, he could see the emptiness and despair.

  “Captain Luke Kishi reporting as ordered, sir,” Luke said, holding the salute and staring strait ahead.

  Mark and Day stood up to return Luke’s salute.

  Luke dropped his salute and stood at attention.

  “At ease,” Day said sinking back down into his seat and motioning toward an empty chair. “Have a seat.”

  “I’ll stand sir,” Luke said, rem
aining at attention. It could be considered a snub to the Admiral but the worst was yet to come. Mark couldn’t put his finger on it but Luke just looked tired. Weariness and sadness followed him around like a choking miasma. It was worse when you knew why but Luke still had fight in him if he was going to give the Admiral the cold shoulder.

  “We have a mission for you,” Admiral Day said.

  “No,” Luke said and Day’s jaw dropped, breaking the Admiral’s steel composure.

  “No?” Admiral Day asked in shock, not sure he had heard Luke correctly.

  Mark wanted to look away, to escape the train wreck that was about to occur.

  “At ease,” Joel said to Day and then he turned to Luke.

  “Listen son,” Joel said patiently. “We are in something of a bind. Have you been following the news?”

  “I was discharged by medical two days ago sir,” Luke said. “Where I had been dying of radiation poisoning. A very painful way to go.”

  “The Colony of New Alamo owes you a great debt,” Joel said.

  “No,” Luke said. Mark knew Luke wasn’t talking about the debt, but if Joel knew he pretended not to.

  “Whether you want to believe it or not, we do,” Joel said.

  “No,” Luke said. “I won’t do it.”

  “You don’t even know what it is son,” Joel said, sounding like he was losing his patience again. He couldn’t pretend he misunderstood Luke now. “I won’t throw you in the brig but I can have you forcefully retired from the service and I can guarantee you will never serve in uniform again.”

  “Thank you sir,” Luke said and Mark knew that was not the response Joel should have used. Usually it made sense to threaten a career military man by throwing him out of the service, but not with Luke, not right now.

  Mark stood up and walked over to stand in Luke’s face, intentionally violating Luke’s personal space.

  “I’m sorry,” Mark said softly. “I have no right to ask you. I won’t order you, I can only ask you because I know you are in a very dark place.”

  Mark glanced back at Joel and wanted to kick him in the face but he turned back to Luke and he looked at Luke closely. Mark liked to think he kept his feelings well masked but how could he impress on Luke how important this was? He didn’t want to but Mark didn’t see any other choices.

  “The Topa have asked for you by name,” Mark said. “They have a mission for you and it sounds like a suicide mission.”

  Luke was quiet as he digested this.

  “Then I will volunteer,” Luke said. “Sir.”

  “Yea,” Mark said. “I thought that would get your attention, but I must remind you of your oath to Captain Elena Kishi. You promised her you would live.”

  “I am currently alive sir,” Luke said without emotion.

  “Physically,” Mark said as Joel and Day let Mark handle the problem.

  Joel’s desk chimed.

  “What?” Joel said, irked at the interruption.

  “Communication request from Topa Suresh,” his digital assistant said.

  Joel scowled and glanced at Luke and Mark.

  “Be quiet,” Joel said. “Let me do the talking.”

  Turning to his desk Joel said, “accept.”

  “Hello friend Joel,” a human voice said. It sounded too friendly for Mark. For some reason Mark expected it to have an accent, or to be more sinister or dangerous sounding. The Topa must have excellent translation technology. It sounded like a real human.

  “Hello Topa Suresh,” Joel said shaking his head like he was trying not to swear.

  “May I join you?” the Topa asked causing Luke to look around.

  “I would be honored,” Joel said as he mouthed several curse words, bobbing his head as if he wanted to pound it against a wall.

  A shimmering blue glow began in a cleared area several paces away. The glow grew rapidly into an oval and a tall figure stepped through as Joel painted a pleasant smile on his face.

  It was the first time Mark had seen one of the Pral outside of pictures and holograms.

  Topa Suresh was tall, towering over everyone and he was thin, wearing a skin tight blue shimmering jump suit. The Topa’s skin was gray and smooth while the eyes were large and expressive, almost completely black. If Mark had been forced to guess he would say the Topa was one of the grays from Earth UFO legend. There was another Pral with Suresh, also dressed as a Topa in shimmering blue. This other Topa was darker skinned and shorter than Suresh. When the two Pral were in the room, the blue glow faded away.

  “Hello friends,” Topa Suresh said with a human smile on his unhuman face. It sent a cold shiver down Mark’s spine. “I would like to introduce Topa Salan, one of my fellow weave masters.”

  Topa Salan bowed his head but remained silent.

  Suresh’s eyes fell on Luke who was staring back at him.

  “It is an honor to meet you,” Topa Suresh said looking at Luke and speaking in perfect English. Mark wasn’t sure what to make of that. There was no accent, no delay, the lips moved in sync with the words. It was like the Topa was actually fluent in English.

  “Yea,” Luke said and Mark wanted to reprimand Luke for not showing deference. “Same here.”

  Joel was standing and after a bow to the Topa, the Prime Minister addressed Luke.

  “These are the Topa,” Joel said. “They are rulers of the Conglomerate. They are the only ones keeping us alive. If you haven’t noticed, we are in a war zone.”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” Luke said looking the Topa over without an expression that Mark could read. “Sir,” Luke added almost as an afterthought.

  “Unfortunately, your asteroid colony has arrived in a system that is being contested by two warring factions,” the Topa said. “This system is a licensed battle field and anyone present can be attacked.”

  “That sounds like bureaucratic bullshit,” Luke said. “Licensed? You gave them a license to let them kill each other?”

  “It is more complex than that my friend,” Suresh said with a patient smile.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Mark said trying to get between Luke and Suresh. “We have not briefed the Captain or explained what is needed. He was injured recently and is still recovering. We have many fine officers who would be more ready, willing and able to assist you. Captain Kishi is a good man, but he has suffered a tragic loss and he is not at his best sir.”

  “I am aware,” Topa Suresh said shifting to avoid Mark and stay within full view of Luke. “However, based on my experience and knowledge he has the highest chance of success. It is a very dangerous mission.”

  “I will do it,” Luke said and Topa Suresh nodded.

  “Damn it,” Mark said turning to Luke. “Stand down. You can’t avenge Elena here and throwing away your life will be breaking your promise.”

  “Yes,” Topa Suresh said. “Your wife made you promise to live. I believe you are a man of your word. I would not ask you to expend your life for strangers.”

  Luke turned to glare at Topa Suresh and then Mark.

  “To live is to make war on death,” Topa Suresh said softly and breaking the silence. “You understand that, even if you do not feel it in your heart.”

  Luke remained silent.

  “I will send more mission specifics when you are ready,” Topa Suresh said.

  “Summarize,” Luke said with anger and Mark winced. He could hear Luke containing his temper. This was not the place to have a melt down and while Mark didn’t think Luke would attack the Topa, these days he wasn’t sure how stable Luke was.

  “A rich corporation is exploiting a local people,” Suresh said. “We would like you to find a solution.”

  “I thought you said it would be dangerous?” Luke said. “Sounds like some ass kissing politician would do a better job. Besides, why don’t you get involved and tell them to play nice? Aren’t you the all powerful rulers?”

  Topa Suresh nodded and Mark could see Joel turning as red as his beard.

  “We are not dictators,” S
uresh said. “We prefer others find their own solutions on their own.”

  “Sounds like a cop out,” Luke said. “So what do you want me to do?”

  Topa Suresh smiled. Mark hoped he wouldn't find out what the Topa looked like when he got angry.

  “We are not telling you what to do, we are asking you to find a solution,” Topa Suresh said. “That is how we work.”

  “You need a diplomat,” Luke said. “That is not me and that doesn’t sound dangerous.”

  “It is dangerous,” Suresh said. “The Brekala Corporation is very powerful in their region. Their headquarters is well defended and not all the Bishari on Borost feel the Brekala corporation is correct in their actions. The chief executive of the Brekala Corporation is not averse to using violence to achieve his aims. The Caleet are not naturally violent but will resort to violence if they feel forced. The Brekala are dangerous and are unlikely to want any kind of negotiation now they feel they control the situation. A warrior skilled in ground combat and space borne operations will have a decided edge. This situation has the chance to spiral out of control and devolve into another war.”

  Luke stared at Topa Suresh.

  “Fine,” Luke said after a long pause that had Mark about say something to break the silence. “How will I get there?”

  “A Mumbai cruiser has been contracted to transport you there. They will insure you arrive on Borost safely,” Suresh said. “They will provide any space borne support you may need.”

  “Great,” Luke said without enthusiasm.

  “They are also bringing another gift for you,” Suresh said gently. “This gift should help you as a Shoku.”

  “Shoku?” Luke asked.

  “A Topa trouble shooter. That title and rank gives you certain rights and privileges. It provides some protection and lets you travel about the Conglomerate alone and armed,” Suresh said. “Others will recognize the title and recognize the Shoku as someone who seeks solutions that do not involve direct Topa interaction.”