To The Empire, The Toils
07 Sep 2022User319792
This log was written with the inclusion of characters conceived of by CMDR Bluecrash and CMDR Tigermoon as their own, with their prior consent, as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Order of Twelve. For more expansive coverage of the collaboration, see The Order of Twelve's Milky Way Investigations' September 3308 issue, to be released shortly
I’d seen the man in the black suit and Orion far less since we’d received Coral’s last transmission. A few days after she’d sent it, during which the monitors showed her doing little more than recap her progress within her GALMAP display and look over the remainder of her journey, she disarmed all of Keystone’s NOSCOMPROTOCOL monitoring sensors, leaving us completely in the dark. Orion called up the chain-of-command to check to see if she’d been lost, to hear back from The Zero that her beacon was still capable of tracking her, receiving the NOSCOMPROTOCOL beacon code that showed her at a standstill.
I’d run into Orion during a stop in the mess and, as we walked toward the briefing room to share a meal, we discussed her risk-status,
“She’s still atemporal.”
I hadn’t the slightest idea what that meant, so I asked, “I don’t know what that means?”
“She’s no longer compartmentalizing her experiences from within a standardized unit of temporal measurement,” I lowered my head, my chin touching my left collar-bone, before extending my hand and cupping my fingers, bending my hand at the wrist toward myself repeatedly, “‘minutes’, ‘days’, ‘years’, those are just words to her right now. I’ve seen this before. How much do you actually know about Realignment, being a K-Double-N Pilot’s Federation Representative?”
I blinked a few times, before looking away from Orion and thinking through what I’d collected over the years, “I know a little bit. Coral used to say its the same thing as something called Serial Sequestration,” Orion’s breath caught in his throat at the mention of the term, and I took note of it, “and that it had something to do with sensory deprivation treatments…” I continued on for a short period of time before Orion cut me off,
“Some of that is right and some of it isn’t. In terms of your need to delve too deeply in the matter, you don’t. It’s never something that will have any great effect on you, Cadence. In short, its an aspect of the KN-series protocols that will sometimes be discharged. Coral’s position within Novus Ordo Siderum being what it is, the Los incident placed The Office in a bad spot and discharged the protocol to make sure Coral had no means of misunderstanding the severity of our positioning since you two arrived in Cubeo.
“As for Coral’s atemporality, its just something that occurs. She’s alone in Keystone and The Run is the final phase in her completion of the Realignment process. She doesn’t have a singular orbital cycle with which to ground her concept of the passage of time. Did you know that what everyone understands as a ‘day’ is based on little more than the time it takes for Earth, in the Sol system, to rotate on its axis? A ‘year’ is based on little more than the time it takes for Earth to rotate around Sol.”
I blinked my eyes again, considering what he’d just told me. He continued,
“In essence, the atemporality is just a temporary artifact of the deprivation treatments paired with the constancy of a lack of any specific orbital cycle and external order dictating the quantification of the passage of time during The Run.”
My eyes bulged into my plate of peas and lowered my head to fork a couple into my mouth, chewing slowly before asking, “But what about Keystone’s clock and GALNET?”
Orion had occupied his attention just outside the briefing room, onto a member of Violet’s crew visible through the one-way-glass, a relatively scruffy brunette with a full beard that had taken himself toward a member of Nyomi’s crew and looked to be on the verge of blows, before turning to me, only half-attentively,
“What? Oh, Keystone and GALNET. Yeah, it is what it is. A lot of KN’s are taught not to place too much trust in our monitoring equipment, so that’s probably what it is. I’m sure she’ll figure it out.”
He looked away from me toward an area of the briefing desk, his eyes opening in what looked like horror and his lips pursing upward into a tight bow, its string taut and its archer at full-extension. I took note of it for future collections.
The man in the black suit entered the room shortly afterward to call us to the bridge. He looked a little upset. He’d spent more time considering the aftermath of Salvation’s failed efforts in HIP 22460 and what it might mean for our contracts in Alliance space, with President Mahon and Li Yong-Rui’s Sirius reaffirming their bonds.
“We’ve been summoned to speak with Imperial Senator Bluecrash. Something about a conversation he’d had with Princess Aisllng and an upcoming Imperial Address by The Emperor.”
We two looked away from the man in the black suit, toward our meals before rising from the briefing desks to make our way to the bridge. By the time we’d arrived, Captain Mclean had cleared the room and the Imperial Senator’s OO12 logo was emblazoned on our holofac screen with a small message saying the Imperial Senator would be right with us.
As we waited, I asked the man in the black suit if there was anything in particular the Imperial Senator intended to speak with us about, to which he responded with little more than a shrug and a curl of his lips. Orion began asking us about the event on Emerald and the man in the black suit mentioned that we’d come close to The Empress, looking at me with heavy eyelids and a snarky smile. I looked away from them both, turning my attention to what looked to be the indentation from a weapons crate at the apex of a compartment hatch. I looked away from the ding, turning my attention then to the smudges on the hatch handle before hearing the Imperial Senator’s sonorous voice greet us,
“Ooooooo-rion Roehner, of Novus Ordo Siderum,” she stared at Orion, her dead left-eye no longer following her right but darting to the left repeatedly- in a way that was even more troubling than its usual languid trailing, “you have been named in an Imperial order as a representative for a group to be contacted following the Emperor’s speech to the Imperial Senate. I do not know where this leaves our relationship, as the majority of my work with your organization has been focused on securing Ms. Nain’s cooperation, but I must warn you that it is rarely in one’s best interest to be one uninvolved with Imperial authorities having attracted the attention of Her Empire.”
I looked toward Orion and he didn’t so much as blink. On his face remained the placid smile it usually presented, and he nodded to the Senator,
“I hope nothing is out of sorts, Imperial Senator Bluecrash. Our work has remained relatively afield of Imperial concerns since our last meeting, other than their,” Orion gestured toward us, “attendance of your Emerald Art Gallery opening- which, I’ve been told, happened to have been a great success. I’d been told Cadence was in the presence of-”
“That is all, Mr. Roehner,” the Imperial Senator interjected, “Please be sure to make yourself and your staff, including Cadence and her immediate chain of command, available at a moment’s notice. I have matters to attend to.”
And with that, the Imperial Senator’s side of the holofac went red, but for the intersecting lines of black that formed the seal of the Senator’s Order of Twelve party. We three looked at one another, our faces a mixture of concern and confusion, and I elected to hop into Galileo to do some flying.
I returned to N.O.S. and the hangar was already a blur of activity. Paloma’s and Violet’s crew had been re-tasked to the transport and disposal of various information stores. Boxes of hard files and NOSCOMPROTOCOL electronics were being shuttled from the multiple briefing rooms and bridge crew compartments to the airlocks and shuttled out before being destroyed by N.O.S.’ turrets. I stopped one in progress, who immediately shrunk six inches in the face of my glare, to demand that he explain to me why they’d been re-tasked without my prior knowledge and he did little but knock his knees, his eyes darting wildly, before I dismissed him with a shriek contempt.
I found Orion and the man in the black suit seated in the bridge with Captain Mclean, who immediately excused herself upon my entrance. The man in the black suit looked relieved to see me until his eyes locked on mine. He immediately raised his hands, his palms toward me, and began to explain,
“Cadence, The Emperor’s announcement came minutes before an organization-wide order from The Zero to sanitize all Novus Ordo Siderum of all Imperial operations.”
I looked toward Orion, who was watching us both with a plaintive smile on his face, and he spoke up,
“It appears to be the case that Her Empire was not speaking flippantly when they reminded us that our operations under the supervision of those that turned out to be Her enemies would be forgiven but not forgotten. For the time being, Senator Bluecrash will remain our main contact, and we’ve other operatives and command units operating within Imperial space in a non-official capacity, but The Zero believes it to be in our best interest to concentrate all information under the direct oversight of The Office, with all future organizational contact with Her Empire being undertaken on a single-channel basis. I requested that Captain Mclean direct her crew to dispose of all hard copies and NOSCOMPROTOCOL electronics used prior to The Emperor’s announcement, which are to be replaced by equipment already underway to N.O.S.”
I took a step back, lowering my chin, my eyes never once leaving Orion’s face. The man in the black suit took a step forward, positioning himself between us,
“Cadence, this has to happen fast. Coral is still outside the California Sector Nebula. We have no idea whether or not the Proteus Wave failure is going to contribute to more dangers on The Run that the organization had initially had to consider after the initial increase in xeno-activity. Achenar has information on The Galileo Incident, which gave them an inside look into NOSCOMPROTOCOL that we hadn’t considered providing before Salvation’s initial incursion into the Pilot’s Federation’s communication protocols occurred, and we haven’t figured out who was responsible for what happened to Galileo, nor any information pertaining to what Achenar’s discovered since.”
I clenched my jaw, looking back and forth between the two, before turning my back on them and walking briskly to my captain’s quarters. Coral’s pea structure stood as it had since she’d departed for The Run and I stared at it, shivering as the goose pimples on my arms rose to vent my anger. I traced the lines of rubber and plastic tubing connecting the transparent glass and opaque metal compartments, following the curve of one into a loosely hanging other. The peas had continued their unceasing movements, some huddled and vibrating in clusters and others traveling in a mixture of chaotic solitude, and still others in coordinated solidarity. I tried counting them as they passed, hoping to pass the time as my fury at being undermined subsided, finding myself incapable of keeping track of the kaleidoscopic pattern of the whole of the structure.
A single pea caught my eye, seemingly frozen amidst the reigning chaos. Peas traveling toward it would slow, halting just prior to contact, before reversing direction, leaving it undisturbed, stolid. I continued watching the pea for quite some time, continuing to observe the patterns developing amongst the other peas in the tubes surrounding it. Before knowing I’d been at it, I found myself standing right before it, with it inches away from my face, as it sat alone. I raised my hand toward the tube and pushed it slightly, the pea remaining motionless as the tube gave way to my effort. I tapped the tube again, lightly, and still it sat, static. Finally, I curled my finger against my thumb, slowly extending my finger against the opposing effort, before letting it slip past. I felt a light tap against the thick rubber as my fingernail made contact, and for the briefest moment, the pea traveled an inch to my right, before reversing direction and returning to its previous position. I moved my face closer to the tube, striking it with my fingernail again, and I heard it- the faintest of hisses escaping the otherwise airtight contraption.
I woke in my captain’s quarters in the morning, to a knocking from the hatch, and as I pulled myself out of my bunk toward the door, I took another look at the pea, still frozen in place. I opened the hatch to the sight of Orion and the man in the black suit, both staring past the far bulkheads. I looked back and forth between the two, before turning my back on them and heading toward my work-area. They followed me in and we discussed the Emperor’s announcement to the Imperial Senate, with our questions about the future of Novus Ordo Siderum’s still unanswered.
“Was anything discussed,” Orion asked, “on Emerald that might have hinted at this as a potential outcome?”
I looked at Orion and opened my invisible box, “One: No. Two: This decision came in the aftermath of everyone’s being an abject failure. No, we didn’t discuss anything. The only thing Bluecrash said to us was something about how we were gonna find out about the Thargoids when Salvation’s efforts were finally complete.”
Orion looked at the man in the black suit, who shrugged, before asking further,
“And there’s nothing with regard to our operation in Cubeo that he believes would have resulted in the current course The Emperor has decided on?”
I opened my invisible box again, turning my head from side to side, “That was your idea and I was the one that had to spend the night in a prison colony.”
The man in the black suit turned away, his shoulders shaking for a few seconds, and a request on the holofac arrived. I accepted the request and the Imperial Senator’s face appeared. She looked visibly upset. Her eyes met no one, and her statement was delivered in a monotonous drone that caused a panel in my locker to vibrate in harmony.
“Mr. Roehner, your staff and Cadence’s immediate chain of command have been summoned to Ehlanda by representatives of Her Royal Highness Princess Aisling of the House Duval.”
Orion and I looked at one another, and the man in the black suit chimed in,
“Is there something that we might be made aware of, with regard to our current Imperial contract with the Senator, under the new Imperial ruling?”
The Imperial Senator looked toward the man in the black suit, measuring his outline,
“You were in attendance at my opening in Emerald, were you not?” The man in the black suit looked away, nodding. “You would do well to reconsider black. Its far less useful a color to a man in your position. As for our contract, the information relayed to the GALNET Digest is the least of Her decisions that should be concerning to you. I expect you to arrive in Ehlanda shortly.”
The screen cut to the Senator’s Order of Twelve party logo, yet again, and we looked at one another. Captain Mclean immediately set preparations in order for the trip to Ehlanda and I began looking for potential trading opportunities in the region, mainly for the Pavonis Ear Grubs.
I set myself to trading off the grubs just outside of Cubeo, in addition to unloading my stocks of various minerals and artifacts collected, and returned to the sight of an Imperial convoy already waiting for me at the N.O.S. I crossed the hangar bay, seeing Captain Mclean standing at the door to the bridge. She put her hands up, rotating them in circles and shaking her head, her eyes wide and her lips sealed shut. I stopped walking, looking at her and opening my invisible box, and she nodded her head toward the briefing room, in which stood Orion, the man in the black suit, an array of Imperial forces, Imperial Senator Bluecrash, and a woman I’d never seen before.
Her face was cold and emotionless. A strip of white bisected her lower lip, her mouth otherwise concealed under a shade of blue, and a long scar stretched from her the left corner of her mouth across her cheek, as if her face had been torn open. I tore my eyes away from her and the Imperial Senator spoke, her voice quiet, but languid, like the drawing of a bow against the string of an old Earth bass,
“Cadence, please be so kind as to introduce yourself to Elder Four of the Order of Twelve. We in the Order of Twelve have a tendency to conduct ourselves with our proper titles, but you may also speak of her as CMDR Tigermoon in our future endeavors.”
I looked away from the woman for a short period of time before looking back. The woman remained motionless and did little other than look at me as though I were a landscape outside her canopy. Imperial Senator Bluecrash turned toward the Imperial forces which stood behind them and nodded. Then, the woman spoke,
“On behalf of the Order of Twelve, with the approval of Her Empire, Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval, and at the request of Her Royal Highness, Princess Aisling of the House Duval, I have come to inform you that your vessel, Novus Ordo Siderum, Fleet Carrier identification number V2L-45B, will be taken into the possession of the Imperial Senator Bluecrash and Imperial Intelligence Services, until such a time as Her Royal Highnesses have obtained the information they require under jurisdiction of Imperial Internal Security Services.”
It sounded like she’d said that they were taking my Fleet Carrier away from me, so I hadn’t been sure what it was that she’d said, and I shook my head, looking at the man in the black suit, who looked toward Orion with his eyes widening slowly. Orion, for his part, immediately looked toward Imperial Senator Bluecrash, who gave a short flick of her wrist.
To a person, the accompanying Imperial forces fanned out, their Manticore Intimidators pointed in our direction, with our backs to the bulkhead of N.O.S.’ briefing room.