Mindshard (ON HOLD)

Disclosure

     Some twenty minutes later found the two in a conference room deep in the Sidhe ship’s belly.  Deks closed the door behind him with a wave of his hand and turned to Vaughn, just settling into a nearby chair.  It was one of a full dozen sitting at equal intervals around an oval table of what appeared to be hand carved wood, its golden brown grain polished until it glowed.  The center was intricately and beautifully carved into a wondrous forest scene, complete with animals, trees and a flowing river, so detailed and lifelike that it appeared to be moving.

     In remarkable echo, the room was also oval in shape, with gently curved walls in pastel blue to compliment the polished table.  The floor was the same ambiguous padding that seemed to be everywhere in the massive Sidhe vessel and the chairs were modern curves of plastic in the same blue, padding on the seat and back for comfort, hovering above the floor on cushions of energy.  Those cushions gave the chair the ability to adjust to the user’s maximal comfort level, both in regards to the table’s height and ease of motion.

     Adding to the ultra sophistication of the chamber were floating holographic panels around the room’s top edge, each a metre tall and two wide.  The panels displayed data streams from the ship’s sensor arrays, various tasks the ship’s AI was currently at work on, and ship status information in beautiful alien script, as sinuous and graceful as the language itself.  The panels were angled slightly for best viewing from the seats around the table, and reached down a third of the wall’s height.  The roof was unadorned, except for a dropped edge from which illumination shone; diffuse enough to fill the entire room with a warm, pervasive white light.

     Other than the table, a work of art crafted by caring and experienced hands, it was the kind of conference room Vaughn was beginning to expect from the Sidhe, who seemed to possess some sophisticated technology.  That impression was given further credence when Deks activated a warding field with another wave, the room filling with a soft hush of white noise to indicate the anti-eavesdropping field was working.

  “What I’m about to tell you hasn’t stepped outside Isivir Command so I’d greatly appreciate you keeping it under your hat, colonel.”  Deks murmured as he joined Vaughn at the table.

  “I’m rated with top security clearance in the Directorate, Mr. Rountree.”  Vaughn quickly replied.  “I know how to keep a secret.”

     A smile briefly flitted over Deks’ lips before he was once again deadly serious.

  “Good.  For what I’m about to tell you is powerful enough to split the Pax into a thousand pieces, if it ever got out.”

     Vaughn’s eyes widened slightly in astonishment.  Instead of commenting, however, she wisely kept silent to allow Deks to go on.

     Settling into the seat beside the slender marine, Deks leaned one elbow on the table and a hand on his knee.  His face was a mask of intent seriousness.

  “I won’t bore you with the eons of history that stand behind this issue, saving that discussion for another day.”  He paused, then:

  “The Pax Drakonus has stood for thousands of your years, mostly in peace. But as torn as your Directorate is, with contention over resources and dwindling space threatening to rip apart the fragile confederation your leaders have built from nothing, the Pax now faces a severe challenge to its own survival.  What first started as a peaceful movement for reform in government and policy, has become full-blown rebellion.  A group calling itself the Praetor Alliance has gone from moderate protests to guerilla warfare to achieve its goal of toppling the Pax Coalition Council, our ruling body.  Citing rampant government corruption and military irresponsibility, the Praetors want to oust the council in the name of renewal, saying only radical change will heal the cancer gnawing at the vitals of our venerable federation.”