All That Glitters Ch. 18

All That Glitters -- Ch 18

Reconstruction, dealings with aliens.

The king's men try to put it all back together again, while The Wanderer deals with aliens.

Because of the amount of abbreviations in this story, I include a glossary. By popular request, this has been moved to the end of the chapter.

There is little attempt to explain the back story, so it is necessary to read previous chapters to fully understand where we are.

As before, I claim sole responsibility for the story line. This story is a fantasy, with no basis in reality. Any similarity that you may perceive to current events, people, or situations real or imaginary is completely unintended. Look no further than the story line for its intent and purpose.

A big shout out to SaddleRidder for all the help she has provided in editing. With her guidance, I'm making fewer and fewer errors, but she still finds them. If you find any errors still left in this chapter, they are mine.

Please rate and comment. But keep your comments respectful. If you rant and rave or are disrespectful in your commentary, it will be deleted.

'Nuff said...enjoy.

All Ranks Mess, The Wanderer, Liramor-23 Mining Platform, Piscium System, 106 Light Years from Terra

Senior Chief and Master Chef Siobhan Riley was working hard to make meals for a lot of extra people. With so many of Liramor-23's messes and canteens damaged in the attack, she and her staff were providing meals for those on the platform, the three TUSN ships that damaged so their messes couldn't be used, and her own ship.

While a lot of her products were being shuttled over to the platform and other ships, there were always a number of guests eating on board, especially from the platform. Siobhan was keeping an open ear to all the conversations, and she did not like what she was hearing.

Captain's Ready Room, The Wanderer, Piscium system

Capt. Noor and Raymond Clark were both in the Captain's Ready Room when they heard a knock on the hatch. That was unusual, as most people used the buzzer.

"Come," Noor said.

The hatch opened to reveal Senior Chief Siobhan Riley, the senior cook, holding trays of food.

"Oh, Siobhan," Noor purred. "Are you sucking up to the captain?" she asked whimsically.

Riley barked out a laugh but invited herself in and set down three trays of food. She popped the tops of each of the trays to reveal the most tantalizing aromas.

"By the Gods, Siobhan," Noor said taking in the wonderous scents. "You can consider me sucked up to!"

The three began to eat in silence for several minutes before Noor asked the obvious question.

"To what do we owe this wonderful visit, Senior Chief?" she asked.

"I'm a cook," Siobhan started. "A very good cook. Lots of people like to eat at my mess, including members of the Liramor-23 staff." Siobhan started. "When people are eating with good friends around, they get to talking. Sometimes what you hear is nice. Sometimes it is not.

"Commodore Marsh has a problem on her platform," she advised her senior members. "The people are frightened that the pirates will come back again. They think that Marsh abandoned them.

"I know, and you know, that is not true. But the staff of Liramor-23 don't know. Someone is spreading rumours. If the commodore does nothing about it, she will lose their confidence. But that is only half of the problem.

"The other half is that it's only three days since the attack. Someone is starting these rumours, hitting the staff while the events are still fresh in their minds, so fresh in fact that the staff cannot think for themselves because they are still in shock. That someone, has to be found and dealt with...soon," she finished.

The three continued eating their meals in companionable silence for a few more minutes.

"Any suggestions, Senior Chief," Raymond asked her.

"As a matter of fact, sir..."

Conference Room One, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Raymond came into the alternate conference room one where Fiona was working with her staff to bring Liramor-23 back online and start mining again. He waited until most of the people had left and only a select few were still in the room and sealed the door.

"Problem, Raymond?" Fiona asked, noting the lockout.

"For you, Fiona," he told her. "You have a major problem with morale on the platform."

"Yes, I suspected as much, too many people going silent when I arrive. Too many whispering behind my back. I'm not sure how to change that," she admitted.

"I have a suggestion for you," Raymond said, with a smile, laying out his 'suggestion'.

Romeo-14 Mess, Liramor-23

Celia Corden sat in one of the few functional messes, this one on Romeo Level, and listened to the rumours circulating. What she was hearing did not feel right, there was simply too much talk on the subject and all of it finger pointing at Fiona Marsh and the senior staff, many of whom had died in the fighting.

Celia had been an IPPF Special Agent for going on ten years now, and she had learned a lot about rumours and how they spread. They were usually started by someone who had a special purpose, either a disgruntled employee, or one who was happy to share the glory of their superiors. In either case, they initially spread slowly, moving from group to group in a natural progression. When they didn't, it was a sure sign that the 'rumours' were being deliberately spread, textbook propaganda.

Celia was waiting to see who approached her this time. In each of the cases of new rumours, she was approached by a different gossip, and that was what they were, gossips. Celia could tell the difference between those who gossiped and those who created and fed the rumours to the gossips.

That was the person or person's she was looking for, and she now thought she knew who it was. Because Celia did not spread the rumours, she was left alone by the creator, but not by the gossips.

Celia had been watching for most of the day, not an uncommon occurrence now that mining was on hold until the platform was repaired. On numerous occasions now, she had seen the same person approaching the natural gossips to pass 'rumours' onto them. She knew her by sight, but not by name. She had to make sure that she was indeed the creator, and not a gossip herself, as she wanted to act to stop the rumour mill in it's tracks, something that couldn't happen if she picked out the wrong person and allowed the creator to move off unchecked.

The noise around her suddenly quieted. She looked over to see one of the platform's runners standing in the doorway looking around. He spotted her and moved to her, leaning down to whisper something to her.

Celia played the game, looking shocked, pointing at herself, and saying 'me?'. She then stood up and went with the runner when he nodded his head. The noise level came back up as the two of them left the mess. She didn't say anything, playing the part of a nervous miner as she followed the runner to the conference room on Whiskey deck.

She found Fiona Marsh, Raymond Clark, Fayad Ouihya, Cynthia Stewart, Capt. Beverly Davis, and Cdr. Helga Hellebore all waiting for her arrival. That piqued her interest.

"To what do I owe you the pleasure of my company, Fiona?" she asked. Those around the table smiled at her banter. A few days ago, they would have laughed. They were still a little shell-shocked, but that was understandable.

"We have a problem," Fiona informed her. "There are rumours going on around the platform and they are not particularly nice."

"Yes, I know," Celia told her. "I may have found the one starting the rumours, but I'm not sure just yet." She pulled up an image on her comp and sent it to the monitors. "Anyone you know?" she asked.

The image was not familiar to any of the senior staff. They used a face recognition protocol to identify her and discovered that she was new to Liramor-23, arriving just days before the attack.

"Loane Ste-Armand, from Gabin sur Lafronte, Rémy Province on Liramor Prime. Been a miner for eight years, previously on the Liramor-14 platform," Fiona read. "I'll send her particulars back to LMC and ask them to do a more thorough check on her, see if there is something in her background. That will likely take a bit of time. In the meantime, what have you found out?"

"She is moving between the known gossips," Celia told the group. "She knows the gossips, so she was probably primed before arriving on platform. She is pushing rumours that discredit the senior staff, for what reason I don't know."

"Did pulling you out via a runner do anything to discredit you or make you suspicious in anyone's eyes?" Fiona asked.

"No, I don't think so," Celia responded. "I was part of the counter force in EVA miner suits. I will spread the rumour that some of us have been tagged for medals. That should make things interesting for the gossips. At least it will give them something other than the false rumours to gossip about."

"Right, I don't need to tell you how to do your job," Fiona said. "If she has been primed, then there is likely someone else on the platform with her. We need to identify that person as well. Do what you need to, but let's see if we can sort this out quickly.

"You are authorized to do whatever is necessary to find out who she is, what her agenda is, and if she is working alone or not." Fiona told her, practically giving her carte blanche. "You know your limits as an IPPF officer," Fiona reminded her, pulling back some of the carte. Celia just smiled. Yea, she could work around that.

Personnel Quarters, Hotel Level, Liramor-23

Celia waited patiently out of sight as the target left her quarters. She gave her several minutes before quietly entering the sealed door, something any special agent was capable of doing, leaving a wide-angle micro-camera outside for when she made her exit.

Entering the cabin, she looked around carefully for telltales that her target may have left behind. She didn't see any, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Next, she checked the obvious places for micro-cameras. Again, she found none.

With intense concentration, she looked around the tiny cabin for anything out of the ordinary, again finding nothing. That likely meant that her quarry was using her comp to do business with, not a wise thing to do unless the comp was specially designed, like Celia's own.

She moved into the bathroom area, checking once again for telltales and micro-cameras and, finding none, began to search around the target's toiletries. She heard the hatch open and leaned back out of sight.

She lifted her comp and aimed it at the mirror in the bathroom. It allowed her to see who had entered. Someone she didn't know came into the cabin and left something small, probably a memory chip, in a draw. The man quickly left, locking the door behind him.

Celia went to the draw and looked in. She didn't see anything. Checking carefully, she found a false bottom she hadn't noticed on her quick check. There were several chips hiding there. She picked up one of the older ones and linked it to her comp. It was encrypted and would take time to decode.

She left the other memory chips in place and checked the corridor before silently slipping out the hatch into the hallway, sealing it behind her and retrieving her micro-camera. She had some work to do.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23

Fiona sat with Raymond Clark, Capt. Liana Dostier, the designated navy 2 I/C for the Piscium system, Cdr. Helga Hellebore, her aide-de-camp, Diane Ancien, HR and acting Deputy Director for Lirmaor-23, Weston Brest, the SLO, and Cynthia Stewart, independent reporter for Interplanetary News Network.

"Is this legal?" Fiona asked of the suggestion by Raymond Clark to help with some of her difficulties.

"Yes," Brest, the SLO, said immediately. "You need the authorization of both the Local Authority and the Navy Commander Piscium system to do this. Fortunately, those two positions both reside in you."

"Would that not be a conflict of interest?" she asked.

"There could be a conflict of interest, as both those roles do reside in you," Brest admitted. "However, you would be endorsing as Commodore rather than Commander of the Piscium system. Capt. Dostier and Ms. Ancien would be acting in the roles of Commander Piscium Defence and Director of Liramor-23."

"I still think this is rather self-serving," Fiona stated.

"And the point is?" Raymond asked. "You have a serious problem with morale on this station that is likely being actively worked by outside sources. If you do nothing, that problem will grow into something that is not manageable, probably in only a few short days, possibly to the point of having you removed as Commodore and as Director. Something that is definitely not in the best interest of Liramor-23, LMC, Liramor Holdings, the TUSN, nor you."

"I suspect that is precisely the outcome that the instigator of this problem is hoping for," Dostier told them. "This comes at just the right time to cause the most problems for you and your career, after almost loosing the platform to a pirate attack.

"The loss of life and damage to the platform are things that Liramor Holdings are going to have to answer for, so they might want a scapegoat. That could be you if this gossip issue gets out of hand, you need to deal with this gossip issue now," Dostier finished.

"I would suggest that you make your decision and send this entire debate to FAdm. Thenton for confirmation," Cdr. Hellebore stated. "We could get an answer back within the day with the new FTL comms probes. That would give you the opportunity to start the process and stop it if he disapproves, but I suspect he will not.

"Besides, this is for local distribution on the platform," Hellebore elaborated, "it's not like anyone else will see it."

"Really?" Fiona asked. "You do realize that these kinds of juicy news clips rarely remain hidden. If it is made, it will likely get out. Recommendations?"

"Continue blocking the sending of e-messages out from Liramor-23," Brest said. "Use the official excuse that LMC wants to notify all family members of the deceased and LMC does not want to have the families find out through rumour, gossip, or through the news before they are officially notified.

"Give our resident reporter full access to all recordings of the attack and defence in order to show positively that you acted within your authority and helped to defend the platform, this action recommended by the Acting Director of Liramor-23 and the Acting Commander of Piscium System Defence.

"Her responsibility will be to make a short presentation on the attack and defence and show one way or the other the scope of your involvement in the defence of the platform," Brest finished.

"I concur," Dostier said. "I would recommend that certain capabilities NOT be included in the presentation, such as the full capabilities of The Wanderer, but otherwise give Ms. Stewart full access to the files on the event."

"I agree also," Ancien stated. "We need to show all of the workers that the senior staff was doing the best they could in a very bad situation. Otherwise, we could have a mutiny on our hands, and that WOULD end more than just your career."

"The downside of this," Brest continued, "is Cynthia Stewart is a very good reporter and if she finds something that confirms the gossip, you will likely be out of a job."

"Alright," Fiona began, "I'm not afraid to open up to Cynthia's 'deep probe', as I believe the senior staff acted in the best way possible during the attack. Based on your recommendations, I will allow complete access to Cynthia Stewart for the purpose of building a news event that will be distributed on the platform.

"She is reminded that certain capabilities should be withheld from public knowledge, especially if this item suddenly becomes public knowledge outside of Liramor-23, which is always a possibility. These kinds of things are very rarely kept under wraps.

"This discussion, in its entirety, will go to FAdm. Thenton for his review and comments. He can, should he choose, kill this plan. We should be ready to act on that order within the next twenty-four hours. Until then, Cynthia has all rights to the events and access to any of those in the senior command chain she wishes to interview. One stipulation is that she gets a copy of the records and NOT the originals. They must be maintained in a chain-of-evidence sequence.

"Thank-you for your assistance in this difficult discussion. This will remain confidential until such time as this article is published on the station. That is all." Fiona finished.

Hospital, Liramor-23

Dr. Marc Ronda was having a hard time doing his daily tasks. Inevitably, he was being bothered by 'what-could-have-been' recriminations on his actions during the 'Event', as everyone in the hospital was calling the attack. It was weighing heavily on his mind and his soul. His staff was starting to notice his somewhat erratic behaviour and going around him to get things done.

More and more, people were turning to Heyya to conduct the day-to-day minutia of the hospital. Even though she was one of the newer doctors, her time as a senior nurse gave her an appreciation of the work required to maintain the hospital and an understanding of the methodology necessary to accomplish this, more so than the more senior doctors.

Two days later, Marc came into Heyya's office, intending to discuss the ongoing issues in the Trauma Ward and he fell apart, collapsing into Heyya's arms. The two of them cried hard for a long time over the loss of friends and patients.

Dr. Marc Ronda was temporarily relieved of his duties as he was placed into one of the private rooms under suicide prevention protocols. He was being watched carefully by his former employees and the new nurses and doctors left behind by the hospital ships NS Mercy and NS Girard-Mangin.

The ships were not expected to return before the end of the week, when it would be decided if Dr. Ronda could be left on the platform or had to retire.

VIP Suites, Victor Level, Lirmor-23

Cynthia Stewart had been displaced because of the damage to E-Deck. Fortunately, the platform was mirror-imaged above and below the ore processing deck, so she was able to move into a suite similar to the one she had just vacated. It took her thirty-five minutes to set up her hollo-editing suite the way she wanted and get ready to go through all the information.

The first thing she needed to do was review all the data and set up sync-lines that would allow her to switch seamlessly between singular events, such as the launch and impacts of torpedoes and missiles. This would take the most time. Then, she needed to blend the events together to tell the story.

Understanding the story was critical. She had something specific that she had to present, the actions of senior staff during the event, but working from a fixed point-of-view was second nature for Cynthia, as critical issues usually centered around single characters or newsworthy events in news clips.

Her cabin buzzer sounded, and she opened the hatch to find a TUSN Intel officer waiting with something for her to sign. Right, the legal stuff first...

Conference Room One, Liramor-23

All were present when the FTL comms probe returned from Folden Naval Base the following morning. They waited for Fiona to arrive before running the image.

"All right everyone," Fiona started immediately after sealing the conference room. "Whatever FAdm. Thenton orders are, we follow. If that means we quash this idea, then that is what will happen. Play it," she ordered.