Page 34 of Captured
Chapter Seventeen
Juliet
It’s a surprisingly short story and not a pretty one. The Senators’ influence is like a spiderweb, with ramifications running deep into every level of every department of the Human Alliance government. For almost thirty years now, their scheme worked. They got richer, more powerful. They’re a hungry, thirsty beast who will never be satiated.
“They always proceed the same way. They pick a planet with a native population without great technological advancement, without allies. The kind of population that won’t send an alarm to every corner of the Galaxy once they attack. The planet always has great natural resources, the kind that sell fast and high. Mineral, mostly, but also radioactive fuel when it can’t be traced back. They cleanse the land of it all, using the population as labor. Unwilling labor.” Rakir speaks in simple words but I can see the haunted look in his eyes. He’s seen things that no words can describe, horrors best left undisturbed.
Only he can’t leave them behind.
“They use up everything, every resource, until there’s nothing left of value on the entire planet. When they’re finished, the land is barren and bald.” Rakir continues. “What little population survives after they’re done, they kill. There’s nothing left alive when they’re done.”
No one left behind. No witness, no proof. Not even a grave.
The images of the massacres, of planet after planet come back to my mind. Each time, the Drakians were blamed and the war intensified, human outrage blazing bright hot against such cruelty. But the Drakians were never the true enemies. It was always the Senators.
My spine crawls with horror like a cold, wet hand.
I hate them. Hate them like I have never hated anyone in my life. Those faceless men who pull strings that end the lives of others for no other reason but to amass riches.
“Drakian Command has tried for years to infiltrate them without success. All we could do was gnaw at the edges of their organization like rats. All that changed about a year ago. We can finally end this war, save billions of lives, take down their entire organization.”
I pull myself back together. I can’t let the horror and the shock prevent me from thinking straight.
“What changed? What do you have now that can stop this?” What could possibly be strong enough to bring down an organization like that? The Senators are too powerful, too well-ingrained, like a cancer that feeds from the bloodstream of the entire human civilization. It would take more than just some files or some bones to change things.
“It’s not a what, but a who.” Rakir inhales deeply, then nods like he’s giving himself permission to tell me. “There is a girl, her name is Sara. She’s the daughter of General Jarrahdal, one of the most powerful Senators.”
I listen to Rakir, a stone settling in the pit of my stomach. I know General Jarrahdal, or more precisely, I know of him. He’s the Commander in Chief of the Human Alliance ground army, but everyone knows he’s had his view on the Presidency for years. I shiver just thinking of the implication should he achieve his goal.
“Fifty-six people I lost trying to steal it. Fifty-six people I sent to their deaths, all for nothing until Sara came along.” Rakir says, his gaze far and dark. “She risked her life, too. Her father would not hesitate to kill her if he found out her treachery, but she never stopped.”
What is he talking about? What did the daughter of a Senator give him that no else could?
Rakir turns around to face the innocuous wall of blinking lights and coils that make the ship’s main computer. Without hesitation, he retrieves a small, clear piece of material from one of the slits in the main computer. I can’t be sure because it’s Drakian technology, but I think it’s a memory chip or something close. He flips it between his fingers, a pensive, almost longing look on his face.
“General Jarrahdal had this data frame designed specifically for containing the most sensitive data available. It’s a marvel of encryption, totally sealed from any attempt at hacking it. Simply attempting to access it without the proper key will destroy it.” Rakir scoffs, shaking his head with an air of disgust. “It contains a list of all those who work for the Senators, at all levels of the organization.” He inhales deeply, then turns around and hides the data frame back in the main computer. “Every single name.”
This is so momentous, so big, I can barely believe it. Yet, there’s no denying the obvious.
“How? Why?” I can’t take my eyes off of the tiny crystal device. I can’t think of any reason why a Senator would keep such an obvious liability on hand.
“Some sort of life insurance, if you will. The Senators are not the most loyal of friends. The organization is as bloody on the inside as it is on the outside. General Jarrahdal was about to mount a coup, one that would get him to the very top. He kept this list as both blackmail and insurance. Every name on that list risks death if he’s found. Every name on that list can also be blackmailed. It’s his most prized possession, the source of all his power. At least, it was, before Sara stole it.”
I take a few minutes to allow the information to sink in. It is a clever thing, what General Jarrahdal did.
“And this is the only copy?” I say with an uneasy voice. Because knowing one’s enemy is the first step toward winning, but it’s only that. A first step.
“Yes. General Jarrahdal kept it in a vault, making sure only he had access. He was the only one who knew where it was or what the key for accessing it was. Until Sara came along. She risked it all, but she gave us the data frame.”
“And the key?” Destroying the List would hurt General Jarrahdal, but it wouldn’t do more good than that. “How will you find it?”
“The key is Sara,” Rakir says with what I can only interpret as sadness. “He used her DNA to seal the data frame. As his only daughter, she was the perfect key. She’s safe under my brother’s protection. It was too dangerous to keep both the key and the data frame together in case we were attacked.”
A precaution that proved fortuitous. At least, the data frame would be useless without Sara should the Senators get their hands on it.
“If you know who they are, then you can destroy them. This can bring all of them down, one by one.”
“It’s a start.” Rakir nods. “With this we can expose them, target them in ways we’ve never been able to. Cut their supports in key Human Alliance agencies, hit them where it hurts. In their pockets.”
