Finally, Arin reached the comm room. The doors slid open, revealing a brightly lit area filled with panels of blinking equipment. Most of the equipment was rendered useless because of the network blackout enforced by the Federation,but the comm room contained a secure line that was used for distress calls and classified communications. The same line was also connected to the navigation room, but she couldn’t afford to have this discussion in front of anyone.
Arin scanned the equipment, looking for the familiar shape of a holoscreen.
There.
She identified the device and sat down, putting her pack and the EI launcher aside. She brought up the input pad, entering a special code that she’d memorized, one that she’d been given by the nameless, dark-suited ghosts back on Earth.
The holoscreen flickered as the device did its thing, logging onto a secure satellite network.
“Yes?” The answering voice came through with a mild degree of distortion and static, the result of a signal being transmitted thousands of miles through space.
“Agent E1?” Arin instantly recognized the woman’s voice. Moments later, her image appeared on the holoscreen.
“Sergeant Varga. I’m assuming this is urgent.”
“I don’t know what your relationship is to the Powers That Be, but I need to get a message through to the Senate. They need to start getting off their asses and organize an evac mission. It’s time to get these people off the freighter.”
“The Senate is still deliberating on the best course of action. We can’t risk any move that might lead to retaliation from the Kordolians. We can’t risk any further loss of life, and we still don’t understand what their motivations are.”
Yes, we do, Arin thought in frustration.They want to kill the Xargek, and that’s what we want, too. What’s so fucking complicated about it?
Politics. She hated politics.
“They won’t harm us if we honor our end of the bargain,” Arin declared.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Trust me, they won’t. They won’t save us, but they won’t intentionally harm us either.”
“Have you obtained a DNA sample for us yet?”
Arin clenched her jaw in frustration. “I have not. Now, are you going to help me, or are you going to be obstructionist?”
“We have procedures to follow. We can’t influence the actions of the Senate. The matter is currently under debate.”
“They’ve found Xargek on the freighter,” Arin informed the woman.
“The Senate should reach a decision soon,” was her only response, as if the matter was routine and not abso-fucking-lutelyurgent. Her cold indifference was in direct contrast to Arin’s rising anger. Did this nameless woman not understand the situation? Sometimes, it felt like the entire world had gone mad, and Arin was the only sane one left.
Or perhaps it was the other way around.
“So let me get this straight, E1. You’re saying you can’t help me right now?”
“We will act when an appropriate course of action has been decided upon. Rest assured, we have your best interests in mind.”
“You won’t help?”
“We cannot go against protocol.”
Arin couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Perhaps Marat had been right, and humans had forgotten how to fight a good war. Four hundred odd years of peace could do that to a race. “Go fuck yourself, Agent,” she whispered as she terminated the comm, paralyzed by anger and disappointment.
Un-fucking-believable.
The whole world was nuts.
Arin tapped the comm in her ear. “Private Shepherd,” she said, waiting for the voice-recognition system to connect her to Riana. At least the ship’s internal wireless still worked.
No response but static.
