Teela of Kolander, page 16
“Of course, Your Highness.”
“I am to conduct an inspection of the security around the palace, the Military compound, and the Border Monitoring unit. I am to pay special attention to the Border Command Center and address it first. Please send a message from me to the General in charge of security and the command centers. Say that I will be inspecting the command center for the border monitoring unit in my fathers name, tonight, within a hundredthday. His Highness is expecting the report of my observations to be sent tonight.”
“It is late, Your Majesty. The military command structure is moderately independent from the palace and will not respond gracefully.”
“I am aware of the time, Jarveel. The military still is responsible to the Emperor. Do it now.” She faced the fake university scientists and engineers. “Come. We will wait in my suite.”
She glowered at Jarveel. “Still here? Have the general attend me in my suite, immediately. Now Jarveel!”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Jarveel scurried down the hall, obviously battling his fear of the generals and his fear of disobeying a direct royal order. Teela and her fake scientists moved the other way toward her suite.
Once inside her relatively secure suite, Mary turned to Teela. “Wow, girl. That was so regal, so in charge. Don't get too good at pretending with that royal stuff. I don't want to loose my best friend.”
“Never, Mary. You and me forever.”
Juleeta laughed. “Mary's right. That was very good. But she is mistaken about you pretending to be royal … remember, you are royal, both from your father's side and from mine. Its a fact of your existence, but it does not have to determine how you behave.” She turned to Mary. “And you need to get used to the idea that you too are now royal, as her sister and my daughter.”
Mary's eyes opened wide and her cheeks colored but she remained silent for a change. Juleeta and her two guards adjusted their uniforms, ready to be part of the review team that would accompany Teela and her personal servant Mary into the command center. They awaited the general's arrival in near silence, knowing that specific dangers was coming along with the General. It was, however, the dangers that they could not imagine, that frightened them most.
The door's admittance buzzer followed by a voice from the door's communication system broke into their silence. “Your Highness, the General is here.”
“Enter,” Teela said as calmly as she was able.
The door opened displaying Jarveel, cowering in front of a large imposing soldier with gray close cropped hair except for one long braid at the very back that hung down his back nearly to his wide belt. His eyes shown with restrained anger and his posture was stiff with controlled rage as he bowed. “Your Majesty. You summoned me?”
Jarveel stepped aside quickly and disappeared down he hall nearly at a run. Teela stepped aside. “Yes, General. Please come in.”
The general stepped into the room, stiff, his facial muscles twitching as he tried to speak. During the several moments it took for him to introduce himself, Teela stood silently, haughtily waiting. She realized that it must have been him that had been running Kolander in the absence of a local governor. Now she had appeared and upset his gordo cart.
He finally subdued his anger enough to speak. “Your Majesty. I am General Torlatir … and this is a highly unusual request.” His tone was constrained and respectful, with his jaw and his eyes holding back his anger.
“General. It is not a request. It is an unannounced inspection to determine the everyday readiness of your troops and facilities. I did not wish to observe a carefully prepared and choreographed show after an advanced notice,” Teela said. It took every bit of her courage to stand up to the General's imposing figure.
His eyes widened a little. “Are any of your servants or inspectors from Kolander?”
“That, General, is an appropriate and expected question. One can never be too careful. Yes, Mary there, is and she is up on her dosage.” She turned to Mary. “Show him your elixir.”
Mary dutifully pulled a partial vial of the elixir from her jacket and held it up.
The General continued to appear less than convinced but turned and spoke into his wrist communicator. “Major Gronet, prepare a transport to the Border Monitoring command center immediately. Send it to my personal landing pad and notify me in my office of its readiness.”
He turn back to Teela. “Your Highness, let us wait for the transport in my office. I dislike being away from it for any length of time for security reasons.”
“Lead on General,” Teela responded calmly on the outside.
She and her crew of bogus scientists followed the General for almost twenty minutes as he navigated the halls and shafts till they were far underground. Teela had become more and more worried about their location in the palace. Neither she nor any of her team knew the layout of the palace, so they knew no escape routes. They were lost and at the General's mercy. She chanced a look back at Juleeta, who's expression indicated that she shared Teela's concern about their location.
The General finally stopped, pointing through a transparent door. “The transport will arrive in a few moments on my cliff face landing pad through that door.” He turned to a door across from it, emblazoned with his name and rank, and opened it. “Please, Your Majesty. After you.”
Teela walked in followed by the team of scientists and Mary. He followed last and strode around them to his desk. He read a message on his computer screen and looked up. “The transport is now ready at the landing pad.”
He flicked another switch. “Colonel Jobar, I am sending a royal inspection team to review your operations. Extend them every …” He paused, shaking his head. “Extend them every ... required cooperation.”
“Any other information, Sir?” Said the voice of Colonel Jobar from the communications console.
“No. Be prepared.”
He turned to Teela. “Your Highness. Your team will each have to provide their genetic ID to gain entry to the command center.”
“I understand, General. It is as it should be.” She turned to Juleeta and the bodyguards. “Proceed to the transport. I wish to speak to General Torlatir.” They turned and left the office as Teela turned back toward the general. She needed for him to accompany them. If he remained in this office, he might interfere with their plans.
“Your Highness,” the General said, before she could speak. “You are obviously not aware that it is a serious violation of normal operating procedures to allow anyone into the command centers without prior authenticated communication with command at Donistor.” His voice carried a warning tone.
Teela nodded calmly but his tone frightened her. She swallowed and tried to make her voice stern. “This is a special case. As the Heir, I am also being tested here for my ability to accomplish the Emperor's tasks. Your attendance is required as well at the command center, General.”
Teela wheeled around to follow the faux scientists and Mary stepped aside to allow her to pass. From the corner of her eye, she saw two things happen almost simultaneously. She saw the General reach under his desk and grab a weapon and she saw Mary's face change to surprise and then determination.
Torlatir had ignored Mary, the invisible servant, and she shouted “Teela!” Then with a blindingly fast lunge, she jumped at him, knocking him sideways. His weapon flew from his hand and smashed into the far wall, partially embedding itself.
“You little …” he started to say just before Teela pushed him into a mental fog where he was lost, disconnected from all his senses. He collapsed to the floor, muttering to himself.
“Mary, are you alright?” Teela asked as she ran to her.
“Yeah, just scared a little. Thanks for saving me and pushing that gun away.”
“Thanks for knocking him down, but I didn't do that with the weapon. I just sent him away on vacation inside his own mind.” She turned as Juleeta ran in. “Did you or the guards do it?”
Juleeta grinned. “No, it was Mary. I felt it all the way from over here.”
“Me?” Mary said as she stood up and shuddered.
“Yes dear. I told you this may happen. I am surprised it happened so soon though.”
They hid the incapacitated general in a closet and took the transport he had arranged to the border monitoring command center.
Chapter Twenty-Two
-Liberation 2-
Teela looked out the window of the small military vehicle she and her compatriots were riding in for a brief moment. As the ship ascended up the cliff face and flew over the palace, the enormity of their task began to crush her confidence and she stared at the floor.
Juleeta noticed Teela's lack of royal deportment with concern. “Your Majesty, I'm sure you will accomplish your task for the Emperor. Be confident.”
Teela looked up and nodded to Juleeta. She had understood the hidden message. She looked out of the window again as they began to descend and saw the Border Command Center's access area, not far from the palace. The center itself was far underground, its only visible and above ground component was a secured and guarded entrance sitting at the far end of a large flat area nearly full of parked military vehicles. The entire lot was surrounded by a high fence. They flew down to a landing pad near the entrance.
The guard at the locked entrance of the Border Command Center snapped to attention and announced them through the door's intercom. “Her Majesty, Teela of Kolander, and the royal inspection team have arrived.”
A dour faced soldier appeared on the video screen in the door. He peered at Teela and her entourage and gruffly cleared his throat. “Please step back from the door and prepare to have your bloodlines analyzed.”
“Your Highness,” he added stiffly after a pause.
Teela remembered the generals comment about the military's independence and realized that they must have operated much more independently on Kolander than she thought would even be possible inside the Empire. That would be a situation that may cause problems down the road.
The door slid open and two soldiers stepped through it quickly, just before the door closed firmly behind them. One held a weapon across his chest and the other held a DNA analyzer, commonly known as the bloodlines analyzer.
“Servants first.” He said, addressing Teela. “Then the scientists, and then Your Majesty.”
Mary stepped forward meekly and presented her forearm as if she had done it hundreds of times before. While the one soldier was occupied with Mary, Teela sensed Juleeta give the two armed guards by the door a little push. They remained standing but seemed asleep, unaware of their surroundings. Then Juleeta pushed the armed guard that had accompanied the analyzer wielding guard and he lost interest in the examination and began to stare off into space. The analyzer administrator looked at the instrument's screen and frowned. “Hey, this one's from …”
Teela took a chance and pushed him just enough so he lost his concerned expression and looked off into space like his partner. Teela stole a glance at the meter's screen. The display read, “Ander.”
“Mother, look what it showed for Mary.”
“No time Teela.” Juleeta pushed the soldiers again with the idea that they had completed all their checks and all was fine. The meter carrying soldier allowed the meter to hang loose at the end of his fingers, forgotten. The weapon carrying soldier straightened up. “You are cleared. Come with me.”
After descending at least ten stories in the elevator, the door opened onto a large two story room. Its open lower section formed a sunken pit, filled with many rows of video display stations and other devices. A wide walkway extended straight across the sunken room and around its entire perimeter. Teela noted that ten to twelve techs were roaming about the room, tending the stations. A large display on the far upper wall showed a map of the border with the reporting stations indicated along its perimeter, each labeled with a number. Colonel Jobar was standing in the crosswalk in front of the elevator door with two guards. Their weapons were raised and pointed at them.
“Halt!” Jobar said. “General Torlatir's communication to me about your inspection did not contain his 'all is well' passcode. He would only have done that if you were not who you say you are. Hands on your heads.” The soldiers with raised weapons stepped forward as everyone but Teela placed their hand on the heads.
Teela stepped toward Major Jobar. “Stand down Major. I am Teela of Kolander, daughter and heir to the throne of the Barkol Empire after Kregus, Emperor.”
“The Emperor would never do this. He respects our independence.” Jobar frowned. “Bind their hands and take them to ... ”
Teela slowly raised her hands to her head. “Yes. It does indeed seem that the military has altogether to much independence. That will have to be dealt with.” She pushed Jobar and the guards leaving them wandering around in their own minds bereft of sensory input.
From their elevated position above the monitoring station floor, Juleeta, her bodyguards, and Teela immediately located and pushed each person on the floor into a stupor. Mary ran around the upper level securing each door before she descended to the display floor.
There seemed to have been about fifteen individuals monitoring more than fifty computer screens. With the techs out of the way, Mary darted up and down the empty isles of monitoring stations glancing briefly at each screen until she stopped near the middle of the large room. “Here! Teela, uh, Mother. I found the primary command console.”
This station offered a selectable view of any of the fifty or more individual stations. Mary pointed at a second screen and separate set of switches at the same desk. “These are the controls for the uplink to Bardonis for the border monitoring data.”
“How do you know that, Mary?” Teela asked in surprise.
“Well, first, it's the logical thing, but mostly because it says so here on this label by the screen.” Mary laughed a little before she looked around nervously.
Teela began to gather her concentration for a blast of PK to disable the uplink system but Juleeta jumped in front of her disrupting her concentration. “Whoa, there! Don't you think Bardonis would notice a catastrophic loss of signal?”
Mary looked up and interjected, “They would, but it should take a minimum of two and a half Bardonian days for the loss of signal to reach them ... and it would take us the same amount of time to reach them if we left immediately, so no surprise advantage.”
“Right. We must buy ourselves at least half a Bardonian day on top of the travel time for this to work for us,” Juleeta said. “I have several squads of a thousand soldiers each, ready at the several points on the Ander border who can be here in less than half a tenthday. We must shut the border security down to allow them to cross but, at the same time, somehow keep the uplink active. Mary?”
Mary became all business. She stood perfectly still and her eyes became unfocused while she concentrated. Nothing changed for almost a hundred heart beats as Teela watched her best friend and adopted sister crunch the problem into shape.
Mary suddenly jumped to the console. “Of course. Why didn't I think of that first? Sometimes I am so stupid.” She flipped a few switches and typed a few commands before she smiled. “The orderly military mind must be the same everywhere. For efficiency, they have combined the feeds from all the various border stations into a stratified, narrow frequency band, here at this station. It is then sent as a single stratified stream to the uplink system before it is recorded for security. See?” Mary pointed to the screen showing a diagram of the system, she had just pulled up.
Teela grinned without understanding. “Great! So?”
“So I will alter the order of events slightly. I will adjust it to send the uplink stream from the recording not from the live stream.” She dragged a few symbols around the screen and it refreshed the display indicating the new system diagram. “Ta da! I just copied the past three days of border recording into the master storage. It's in there twice now, but the second copy is in the sequence needed to represent the next three days which we won't be recording or sending because we'll stop it now. Right?”
“That's my girl!” Juleeta gave her a pat on the shoulder as she grabbed her communications device. “General Barzu. Get ready. I'll signal you.”
“Teela, your strong with PK. I want you to destroy all the circuits that handle the feeds to the individual stations, but be careful no keep the machines operating. Start with the ones close to Trepac where you landed. You two go with her and help.” She ended by pointing at her bodyguards.
Teela and the two bodyguards walked, station by station, using their PK ability to reverse the polarity in the power module causing the transmission system to burn out. While moving to one of the final stations, Teela found a station depicting another satellite link. “Hey Mary, is this satellite also involved in the outbound signal to Bardonis?”
Mary rushed over and poured over the station for a moment. “Don't think so. Look at this.” She pointed to a schematic beside the screen. “The Bardonis uplink has it's own dish and fiber. The outbound fiber from here, goes to a different dish on the roof. Wow. This station is receiving input from five no, ten, military installations scattered around Kolander. Here's the list. This station is most likely the central link to the Empire's various military command centers on Kolander. It's in here for security reasons.”
“Don't mess with it just yet. They'll know immediately that something is wrong here at the command center. Juleeta spoke to her communicator. “General Barzu. The border's down. Go. Get here with all possible speed and secure this site. Split up force B into ten small units and take out the ten Imperial military base communication centers. We will disrupt the central command and control. But, do not engage the locals or servants unless attacked. After the communication centers are destroyed, proceed to secure each military base proper as well. Lets change the flag all over Kolander.”
Juleeta nodded to Teela. “Now. Go ahead and disable the command station. Our ship awaits us.”
Teela nodded both to Mary and Juleeta before she caused the stations power circuitry to overheat and burn, disabling all centralized command center functions for the military on Kolander. She knew that with the uplink to Bardonis still functional, Bardonis would never know their control of Kolander was broken.
