Bugs on the Wall
By Storm
This story takes place
shortly after The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Admiral Harriman Nelson
leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head as he mentally contemplated the
carefully gathered contents of the file on his desk. He didn’t know if he ought
to be pleased or alarmed by what he’d read there.
“Humph.” It wasn’t so much a
comment on the file as his own state of mind.
Lee Crane lifted his head and
cocked an eyebrow at the admiral, but didn’t stir from his perch on the edge of
Nelson’s desk.
“Unusual fellow, Captain
Third Rank Igor Britanov,” was his solemn reply,
though there was an unmistakable twinkle lurking in the amber highlights of his
hazel eyes.
“You could say that. How the
hell does a radio-electronics specialist wind up on a command track? Especially in the Soviet Navy. Hell, that’s hard
enough to do here.” Nelson scowled as he brought a hand down and patted his
shirt pocket, looking for a pack of cigarettes. The pocket was empty, which
deepened his scowl. He really needed a smoke.
“Unusual, this is?” The file
on Nelson’s desk had arrived only an hour earlier,
hand delivered by
the third occupant of the cabin, who was now was sitting
in the middle of Nelson’s bunk, leaned back on his lower set of arms with the
top pair crossed. The two pairs of green eyes indicated intense interest.
Nelson snorted, tilting his
chair forward so he could search through the drawers of his desk for his
cigarettes. “It’s very unusual, Seldar. But it partly
explains his cool exterior. Ah-ha, here they are.” He pulled the pack out and
slid it into his shirt pocket, deftly slipping one cigarette out as he did so. “He
reminds me a lot of Chip. And not just in his looks.” Pausing briefly to light
up, he then added, “But he also reminds me a lot of Lee.”
“Formidable, then, he could
be,” commented Seldar.
“Except the Elder said he’d
save our country,” came from Crane. “Just how accurate and reliable is
that particular Elder, anyway?”
“Aditi that was.
Founder of the Path of Light, she is,” responded Seldar
in what could only be tones of reverence. “Seer of Futures, she also is.”
“Don’t you mean the future,”
said Nelson. Sometimes Seldar’s syntax could get a
bit confusing.
Seldar shook his head. “Futures.
One path only, there is not. Free will, there would not be, if only one choice.
Many paths, there are. All, she Sees.”
“So his saving our country
isn’t an absolute?” queried Nelson.
Seldar took on a look of contemplation before answering. “More
likely some things are than others. Soon this will probably happen - more
unchangeable near future is.”
“So something years away is
more easily altered into another path, is what you’re saying.”
“Yes. Unless a divergent
point something is. In any direction may go then.” Seldar
cocked his head to one side, apparently considering. “People, sometimes pivot
points are. This he could be.” The alien’s expression darkened. “If so, after him the Chaos Lords will be.”
Lee Crane made a comment
under his breath that sounded almost like a growl. Nelson felt like echoing it.
Since their encounter with Britanov at the Restaurant
at the End of the Universe three months earlier, they had, with the help of Seldar and two other Federation operatives, been carefully
gathering information on the Soviet officer. Seldar
had insisted on absolute secrecy. After his explanation about the Elders who
were known as the Chaos Lords, they could well understand both his paranoia and
his anger.
The ancient race known to the
younger races of the Milky Way as Elders was divided into two camps. One side
was composed of the Followers of the Path of Light; they felt that they had no
right to meddle in the affairs of other races, no matter how much more advanced
they themselves were. The others, the so called Chaos
Lords, disdained such beliefs and used other races as playthings. Their favorite
pastime was something they called The Games, but for those unfortunate enough
to get caught up in their machinations, it was no game, but often a matter of
life and death. Seldar had told them that the Chaos
Lords bet heavily on the outcomes of these ‘games’. Not money or treasure, but
Power. Since that meant Power could be lost or gained among them, they did have
rules of a sort governing the Games, otherwise they
would have long since obliterated themselves through private grudge wars. The
single most important rule was once a Game was in play,
no more outside influence could be brought to bear. It was then up to the
unwitting players in the Game to live or die on their own.
Unfortunately, Chaos Lords
who lost bets had a nasty habit of taking their frustration out on those
players responsible for that loss, even though the players - victims really -
never knew anything about the reason behind the sometimes bizarre events that
might suddenly envelope their lives. Seaview, it turned out, was a
particular thorn in the Chaos Lords’ sides. That she had survived was a
combination of Nelson’s intelligence, Lee’s courage and the occasional help
from the Lords of Light, as the other Elders were also known.
And
sometimes, something else. Nelson
wasn’t sure what it was and neither was Seldar,
though the Alyesk agreed with him that it was evident
that on occasion, for no apparent reason, yet against all the odds, events
seemed to subtly move in Seaview’s favor. He offered the explanation
that at times it seemed the Universe itself had some self
awareness - and the Universe didn’t seem to particularly care for the
Chaos Lords. He’d also told them, somewhat more hesitantly, that it was
possible that with so much of the Elders’ energies - both Light and Dark -
swirling around her, that Seaview had herself taken on a sort of self awareness. It would, he had hastened to add, be
unusual - but such things were not unheard of, particularly where very complex
and computerized machines were involved.
Nelson wished heartily that Seldar had imparted some of this information two years
earlier while they were on Venus. Some of the events that had occurred in that
interval made a lot more sense when he now looked at them from the perspective
of such knowledge. Seldar had admitted to him he and
his people hadn’t said anything because they’d been unsure how he would react.
It had, he admitted wryly to them, seemed like a good idea at the time. Nelson
had been forced to acknowledge that without the experience of meeting the Elder
in person, he’d have been very skeptical. He was still unconvinced about Seaview
having any self awareness, but Crane had looked
thoughtful. Not, he told himself, that that particular subject had any
relevance to the issue at hand. He refocused his attention on the report in
front of him. The issue was what role the Chaos Lords might have in mind for Britanov - and what sick Game they were up to now that Seaview
was probably going to wind up being dragged into the middle of.
“Any clues at all to what
kind of Game is going on now, Seldar?” asked Nelson.
The alien sadly shook his
head. “Tried we have, but nothing discern we can. But
years, the Games can last.”
“Years.” Nelson sighed. “How can we keep an eye on Britanov that long without somebody catching on?”
Seldar coughed and held out one closed hand. As the two men
looked on curiously, he opened his fingers to reveal a small roach.
Nelson’s eyebrow’s climbed, then his eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t be showing us this if
it was just a bug. Some kind of surveillance device?”
Grinning, Seldar
nodded at him. “A saying, you have, about wishing to be a bug on the wall?”
Crane laughed and shook his
head. “Won’t Britanov eventually get suspicious if he
sees the same bug around him all the time?”
“Many, we have,” stated Seldar, “flies, spiders…”
Nelson chuckled himself. “I
believe I get the picture. So are your people going to monitor him?”
“Yes. Better it is the fewer
who know.”
“I agree,” stated Nelson,
with an affirmative nod from Crane. “So if this is going to take years to
unravel, we need to be patient.” He grimaced, adding, “Not one of my strong
points, I’m afraid.”
“Nor mine,” admitted Seldar, “but wait we must for the Game to be revealed.”
********************
Captain Third Rank Igor Britanov leaned back in his chair, thankful to be home for
a short break before going back to sea. His wife was in the kitchen fixing
supper for him and their young son while he watched what passed for the news on
television. Sometimes it was informative, but more often than not it was merely
propaganda - a cynical view he kept strictly to himself. It had been worse the
past several months though. He kept having this odd feeling of something
momentous having happened in his life - and somehow he’d missed it. Strange
thoughts would flicker through his mind on the oddest occasions, thoughts with
the most peculiar perspectives and insights on the people and events around
him. Sometimes he thought he might be going mad. Especially on those days when
he felt like there were eyes everywhere watching him.
Like now. He turned his head to watch the small green spider
that was tucked almost out of sight in a crack in the ceiling. He’d tried
several times to catch the damn thing and kill it, but it seemed to almost read
his mind. Then there was the roach on the boat…
He shook his head, muttered
something vile under his breath and rose from the chair. Turning to face the
blasted thing, he stared at it for several seconds. He could see the glitter of
its tiny eyes looking back. Infuriated, he raised one hand and gave the spider
a one finger salute.
The spider hastily pulled
back into the crack.
His eyes narrowed. A mindless insect? He studied the room to see if a shadow or
something could have frightened the creature. There was nothing. He walked over
to a point directly under where the spider had vanished. It was certainly gone
now. Just like the roach on the boat that no one but he ever saw. Natalia had
told him with some exasperation that there was no spider when he wasn’t home. She
had never seen it.
So, he wondered suddenly to himself,
does it never come out when it’s just her and the boy? Does it only come out
to watch me?
He returned to his chair and
sat back down, brooding, keeping an eye on the crack. What if it wasn’t an
ordinary spider? Then what could it possibly be? A true ‘bug’
on the wall? He had to smile wryly at that notion. As far as he knew,
the Soviet Union didn’t possess that kind of technology and he doubted the
Americans did. Of course, he had to admit there were a lot of things in
development that he didn’t know about, but as a former electronics specialist,
he felt he had a fairly good idea of just what was and wasn’t possible with
current technology. He could be wrong, of course.
But why on earth would
anybody send something that sophisticated to watch the lowly executive officer
of a Soviet submarine?
The thought seemed to
suddenly echo in his head and resonate off into a vastness that froze him in
place. Why on earth?
What if it wasn’t on earth
at all?
Maybe that was a question he
really didn’t want to know the answer to. At least not yet.
He looked up at the crack and
had the sudden feeling that the spider wouldn’t be back. Something would turn
up to replace it, of that he was certain. Someone - something - was
keeping an eye on him.
Friends or
foes? Or both?
Part of a line he’d once heard somewhere from a Western novel floated through
his head - the game is afoot. He shivered. Games.
Somebody was playing games with him.
He didn’t like it at all.