All That Glitters Ch. 18

"The majority of those miner's EVA suits were severely damaged and will need to be replaced. We can cobble together replacement suits, but I would rather use the bits and pieces for repairs of existing suits rather than make new suits out of three or four of the damaged ones," she told Annette.

"Like last time, there will be those who receive medals for their actions," Annette said. "It will take some time to determine who did what and allocate the appropriate medals, but many of the requests have already been forwarded to the President's office, especially those who lost their lives in the defense. The President himself will present medals to those in hospital on Liramor Prime and to families of the deceased."

"Come, let's go meet your staff," Annette said.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23

The senior staff, both civilian and military, were sitting around the conference table as Fiona and Annette walked into the room. Fiona introduced her to the new people who had taken over from those who had died, included was one Fayad Ouihya, who had been dragooned into the rank of Ops O to replace one of those people who had been killed. He was still learning his new job but doing quite well at it.

The brief went quickly, going through each of the elements bringing Annette up to speed on the condition of the platform and the repairs that had already been completed. It would take a further week to complete the list of material for all the repairs, but the staff was working hard to provide it.

Dr. Heyya reported on the issues of the hospital, the largest part just managing the large caseload of injured personnel, who did not technically need to go planet side for treatment. The loss of Dr. Ronda had impacted heavily on this as he was very familiar with hospital management protocols. They needed a dedicated hospital manager.

"I wasn't aware that Dr. Ronda had been injured?" Annette said, somewhat confused.

"Dr. Ronda has suffered a breakdown from dealing with the issues of the event," Dr. Heyya told the staff. "Many of us are under undue stress at the moment, both from the loss of staff and from the overwhelming numbers we are currently dealing with. I must commend the two hospital ships that were recently here for leaving staff with us to help us cope. We would be in much worse condition without them."

"Do you recommend sending people planet side even though they do not need to go?" asked Fiona.

"No. They would feel inadequate if they were suddenly sent planet side. They need to feel they have a purpose. Once they are deemed healthy, they can be put to work helping rebuild the platform. That will do more for their mental stability than anything else," Heyya finished.

"What about you, Heyya?" Annette asked. "How are you coping?"

"Fiona and I had our crisis moment several days ago," Heyya admitted. "We cried on each other's shoulders and then got back to work. It is not the best form of therapy, but for us, it was something we needed in the moment," she admitted.

"I am impressed, Fiona," Annette stated after the brief. "That Liramor-23 is so far along in just short of a week is something that I had not expected and is a testament to you and your staff.

"I will let you all know that Liramor Holdings has given Liramor-23 a priority budget to get her up and running fully again in the shortest time possible. This will include new ore ovens, and a faster upgrade on all computers, electronics, and electrical components. Also, the latest version of EVA suits for the miners.

"They will be seventy percent compatible with the older suits so parts, such as arms and legs, can be taken from the older models.

"We have hired Pallanders shipyard to assist in the repairs to the platform. They should be arriving mid-week. I understand the navy has also engaged them for repairs on their damaged ships in system.

"Liramor Holdings will also be placing a priority on recruitment for miners and for those positions that need to be replaced. I do not think you will have an issue with the recruitment drive after the news items that have circulated recently.

"News of the second Battle of Liramor-23 is just beginning to circulate and will likely be the talk for some time to come, especially when the population discovers just how much damage the platform took.

"We are also speaking directly with the TUSN about upgrading the platform's defence capabilities in light of the recent attacks.

"This platform has suffered a lot. We want the people who work here to be proud of this facility and to work toward making it better. A lot has happened to this platform in the space of less than two years, many things to be proud o and some things to be sad about. We hope that the proud will eventually out way the sad.

"Liramor Holdings will give Liramor-23 all the support she needs, as I know will the TGA and the TUSN," Annette finished.

"In that regard, Ms. Liramor," Fiona noted, "we have had to make some decisions due to a campaign of gossip going on around the platform. We believe this campaign is being orchestrated externally, but we are still working to confirm this.

"We have the following presentation going out over Liramor-23 later today. It will be repeated several times so that all those on different shifts will be able to see it," Fiona finished.

She gave a nod to Cynthia who opened a twenty-minute news clip on the events of the Second Battle of Liramor-23. Annette was impressed when it was finished and said so.

"This will go a long way to curtailing the gossip, I think," Annette said. "I just wish it wasn't necessary. I would like a copy of that wonderful clip to circulate on Liramor Prime. That will go a long way to helping with recruitment."

"There is more to this," Cynthia told her. "I have a six hour long documentary on the event including on the command decisions to the event. It clearly shows that the senior levels of Liramor-23 were initially overwhelmed by the attack and were working hard to bring events back to where they could control them form the outset.

"The attackers lost control of the engagement once the initial attack occurred. From that point onwards, both parties were responding to events rather than from a coordinated play book. This led to the attackers doing things off the cuff to retrieve dominance over the event, something they fortunately failed to do.

"That the command structure of Liraor-23 managed to gain the upper hand and bring the event back around to their control is a testament to their abilities," she finished.

"Right, I would like to see that documentary as well," Annette let her know.

"We can give you a copy of both," Fiona told her, "but you will need TUSN permission to circulate it. For now, it is restricted to the platform."

"Celia Corden, could you let us know what you have found out?" Fiona asked.

"Loane Ste-Armand, a woman from Gabin sur Lafronte, Rémy Province on Liramor Prime with eight years of service on Liramor-14, is in fact Loan Ste-Armand, a man from that city who recently retired from Liramor-14 Mining Platform after eighteen years of service, earning enough to start a business back on Liramor Prime. This woman is working under a fictitious name. We do not know her real identity at this time.

"She is working with this man," and here she showed the image of the man who she saw in Loane's cabin, "who is identified as Billy Lester, new miner who has been on the platform for almost two months."

"Wait!" Cynthia interrupted. "I know that man! He is William Clenet, a reporter who was recently fired from Pan Galactic News on Planet Hanover. He was fired for threatening someone that had taken Pan Galactic to court over news items on his business.

"His claim that Pan Galactic had deliberately maligned him because of his stance on certain views by Pan Galactic was proven in court, and Pan Galactic had to issue an apology but, in the meantime, William Clenet had started a rumour campaign against the man and his business, something else that Pan Galactic had to apologize for.

"Want to bet that Clenet hadn't actually been fired by Pan Galactic but just sent to a new location to start a new rumour mill?" she asked the assembly.

"Your sure of his identity?" Fiona asked.

"Positive," Cynthia replied. "He took a scoop from me a couple of years back, set my career back six months. I would never forget that man."

"Right, Celia, let's send his particulars to IPPF on Liramor Prime and request confirmation on his identity," Fiona asked. "At the very least, we can get Mr. Clenet for falsifying his identity when applying for a job on this platform.

"We can also pick up Loane Ste-Armand on the same charges. Put both of them in the brig until such time as we can positively identify them. We'll see if they have anything on them in regard to the rumours on the platform and if those rumours are going to Pan Galactic News or not. We are going to finish the notifications within the next two days, and we will have to release withheld e-mails, and such, sent by the platform staff at that point.

"I'll bet that there is something buried in their files going out to be intercepted by Pan Galactic. I'd rather intercept that myself." Fiona looked at the Navy Intel rep, Capt. Sutor.

"Can I get you to take a look at anything those two sent out recently to see if there is anything buried in their communications?" she asked of the captain. He confirmed he would do a check.

"Want to bet this has something to do with the legal threat that came our way recently from Pan Galactic and the legal statement we returned to them?" a very pissed off Fiona said.

"You make sure to put those two where I cannot get my hands on them, or I might not be responsible for what happens to them," Fiona growled at Celia.

Celia just smiled at Fiona. "Don't worry, ma'am. These two won't be bothering anyone else on this platform for awhile. They will have false identity charges to deal with as well as dealing with Navy Intel. We will let platform security do the arrest so that I can remain in the background for now.

"Captain Sutor, we'll get the memory chips from Ste-Armand's cabin for you to look through, and you might as well do the interrogation. They might be a little more forthright if they believe they are being held for supplying information to the attackers," Celia finished with a smile that ended up on all the faces around the table.

Brig, Liramor-23

"What the hell am I under arrest for?" Loane Ste-Armand asked for the tenth time as she was brought into the brig. She was being moved to the female side of the facilities when she saw something she didn't want to see, the man she knew as 'Billy Lester' being led into the facility. The image was abruptly cut off as the door to the women's wing shut.

The day before, Annette Liramor had come to the platform, and she had thought that the rumour campaign to remove Director Marsh had been working, as she could see no other reason for a Liramor to come directly to Liramor-23.

Now, she realized that she might well be in over her head. She would play the innocent until such time as definitive proof was placed in front of her.

Ste-Armand was processed none too gently and placed in the orange Day-Glo coloured jumpsuit with a large black 'P' on the back.

She was brought into an interrogation room and locked into the desk; her arms secured in cuffs through a large half-circle pipe. A female guard stood by the door, eyeing her like she was some kind of smelly garbage that needed cleaning up. The door opened and someone she hadn't expected to see came into the room, a navy captain with Intel pips on his collar. Loane started to panic.

"Ms. Ste-Armand, please don't lie to me, as we know for a fact that you are not Loan Ste-Armand, a gentleman who recently retired from Liramor-14," the captain began.

He laid out several packets on the desk and three memory chips.

"Now, you are going to tell me all you know about the recent attack, and who orchestrated them. Do not leave anything out. We know you are not who you claim to be, and we have found memory chips in your cabin with serious encryption on them.

"We will eventually get through the encryption, but your cooperation would go a long way to easing the formal charges against you. Likewise, any resistance to helping us will be noted and stronger charges will be applied because of it. Do you understand, Ms. Ste-Armand?" the captain finished, looking at her like she was something less than healthy.

A very frightened woman looked back at the captain, slowly shaking her head no. She suddenly realized just how deep in the shit she truly was.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23

"Oh, you should have seen it," Capt. Sutor said with a smile. "Easiest interrogation I ever conducted. She broke like porcelain china dropped on the floor," he said with a smile.

"Her name is Katryana Harlona, originally from Moscow, Terra, but more recently from Tova's Planet where she worked for guess who?" he asked without waiting for an answer. "You guessed it, Pan Galactic News. She was sent to Liramor-23 because she speaks French, among her other languages.

"William Clenet also confirmed his name and that Pan Galactic sent him here to start a rumour mill aimed at eventually removing Fiona Marsh as the Director of Liramor-23," he finished.

"That may be," Capt. Dostier interrupted. "But she is also Commodore Fiona Marsh, and that means the Pan Galactic has deliberately interfered with a TUSN Operation. They may not have done so knowingly, but we don't have to play nice with them on that issue.

"We need Clenet to confirm who sent him and Harlona, and then arrest that person or persons and see how far up the food chain we can push this. The powers that be at Pan Galactic News need to be reeled in and this will do just that.

"The news agencies have the right to investigate issues of public interest. They do not have the right to use their power to disrupt or interfere with government operations, nor private operations for that matter, unless said operations are illegal or not in the interest of the people." Dostier finished.

"Does this stay with Navy Intelligence, or does this go to IPPF?" Fiona asked.

"Best it stays with Navy Intel until such time as it moves high enough on the food chain," Cynthia Stewart stated. "The IPPF wouldn't have the power to force the issue up the food chain like Navy Intel would, especially as they are looking for connections on this latest attack. That they don't find those connections could be the reason Navy Intel sends this to the IPPF.

"Intel could break through any deadlock that Pan Galactic Lawyers would throw at them. "Once we establish how high up the food chain this goes, then we can break the news publicly bringing the current leaders of Pan Galactic down. They have become a problem lately by abusing the power of the press in the most tenuous of manners, as has been shown with William Clenet and Katryana Harlona."

"Capt. Sutor, I leave this with you," Fiona stated. "You will investigate this lead until you confirm without issue that Pan Galactic News is not connected with the attackers.

"Once this has been confirmed, you will hand over all leads to the IPPF to deal with as at least two different Pan Galactic News groups on two different planets have been implicated. I want this kind of bullshit to stop, and that means you will have carte blanche to investigate any connection that Pan Galactic News might have with the attackers.

"Your orders come from me for the moment, and that limits your actions to the Piscium system, but I will send this conversation to Adm. Rallond Heist, Chief of Navy Intelligence, and have him confirm or deny your orders beyond this system. For now, keep the interrogation going to find out as much as possible from these two idiots." Fiona finished.

Annette Liramor watched without saying a word. Fiona had grown in capability over the last year and she was proud and impressed with her friend. She would have quite the recommendation for her father when she returned to Liramor Prime.

Hallon Mansion, Tova's Planet, Forty-Three Light Years from Terra

Marcus Hallon was in a good mood. He had just been nominated as News Director of the year for Pan Galactic News. Many of the stories he had brought to light in the last year had significant impacts on the local political scene. Corrupt officials that deserved to be taken down as far as he was concerned. At least those who were not in his pocket.

However, Hallon lived in fear of retaliation for his actions as a News Director for the last five years. Because of this, his mansion was built like a fortress, with all kinds of security and secret hidey-holes that he and his immediate family could slide into and hide from almost any assault. The hidden rooms would survive even if the mansion was burned down around them.

His butler came into his office. "Sir, there is a gentleman from IPPF at the main gate requesting entrance. He claims to have a warrant for your arrest."

"Unlikely," Hallon scoffed. "I have done nothing of late that would attract the attention of the police on this planet nor on any other planet. As such, this is probably a scam by someone trying to gain entrance to this mansion.

"Please call the local police and let them know that someone is posing as IPPF and attempting to gain entrance to my home. Never mind, I'll do this myself." Hallon stated.

Hallon activated his comp and called up emergency response.

"Hello, this is Marcus Hallon, out at the Hallon Mansion. I have a fake IPPF agent attempting to gain entrance to my home. Can you send someone out immediately please to deal with this?" he asked.

"Sir, there is someone already at your home, they are waiting to gain entrance. I have indicated that I have you on the line, and they wish to speak with you. One moment while I connect you," the disembodied voice indicated.

"This is Chief Inspector Tallus of the IPPF. Please open your gate or we will destroy it. We know you are in the house as we watched you enter your home twenty minutes ago. You have ten seconds to open the gate and surrender to us, or we will take your house be force," the inspector notified him.

"What is the meaning of this Inspector?" Hallon demanded. "I have done nothing that would merit such use of force. The only people who want me dead are those who Pan Galactic have put in jail in the last few years!"

"Mr. Hallon," the Inspector returned. "You are charged with Grand Treason to the TGA. As such, I am authorized to use whatever force I deem necessary to capture you, preferably alive, but I will take you in whatever state you allow me to. Should you surrender, you will live. Resist, and I will take great pleasure in bringing an end to you.

"I would rather have you alive and responding to the charges than take you as a dead martyr to your cause, Mr. Hallon. How do you wish to proceed?" the Inspector asked.

Hallon activated his security system and saw all the police vehicles around his estate. They knew he was there. They would not leave without him.

"How do I know that you will not kill me arbitrarily, Inspector? After all, I have no knowledge of an act of Grand Treason on my part."

"Mr. Hallon, I have representatives of TUSN Intelligence, and the local police force with me," the Inspector informed him. "You can surrender to Navy Intel if you choose not to surrender to the IPPF, nor the local police."

"What of my wife and children?" Hallon demanded.

"We have no reason to detain them at this time, sir," the Inspector replied. "However, they are not free to leave the local area until such time as your indictment has been released.

"I need an answer from you, Mr. Hallon, I will no longer consider answering questions, as I believe you are just stalling," the Inspector informed him.