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.