The Government of The Galactic Union
A few short hours had passed since the hijacking of the station, and the high authorities of The Galactic Union had already gathered to tackle the situation. There was still no trace of the station, and Denn had already been added to the galaxy’s most-wanted list.
The Government of The Galactic Union, made up by its High Council, with its ten members and the Supreme Leader, were trying to reach a consensus regarding the measures to take.
As usual, its meetings took place in Capital City, a colossal underwater city constructed in a part of the Atlantic Ocean on the planet Earth. A city which functioned as the capital of the entire Galactic Union, in which all of the political issues and important decisions were dealt with.
Inside the Capital Palace, the Leader of The Union and his ten advisers were congregated in a hall that was completely isolated away from prying ears, seated around a circular table.
“Still nothing is known regarding the whereabouts of this Bornew,” said one of the most important members of the High Council, Voill Conner, the right-hand man to the Supreme Leader of The Union. “I have asked Tau Ceti to locate everyone he knew intimately so that they can be interrogated, in the eventuality that the situation is not resolved soon. There don’t seem to be many of them. His mother, his direct supervisor, and some soldiers from his squadron.”
“What about the station?” asked another. “Something so big ought to be relatively easy to find. With the great presence of ships and other stations in all the planetary systems, we ought to have news soon.”
“It isn’t that easy, Biherys,” said the next important member of the council, Yavar Afir. “If you had left Earth even once, you would know how vast a planetary system is.”
“I can hazard a guess… How many systems have been ruled out?”
“Seventeen,” replied Voill. “But it’s been barely a few hours since it was lost. As the hours go by, we’ll have more news. Even so, we certainly won’t know anything until the end of tomorrow.”
“We’re talking about the hijacking of a Solar System station… the central system of the entire Galactic Union… How is it possible this has happened? How does this leave our safety…? That is to say, this is where the capital of the entire Union is. It is unacceptable.”
“The public don’t know that it’s been a hijacking,” said Yavar. “What we have announced is that a failure on the station caused it to drift.”
“It’s only a matter of time before they know. This must be resolved immediately.”
The Leader of The Union, who was at the head of the table, not saying anything, got up out of his seat and walked towards a window overlooking the centre of the city constructed below the ocean. Everybody remained silent, waiting for his reaction, whilst he looked at the beautiful city full of sculptures, gardens, and fountains, populated by the most influential people in the galaxy.
He thought about all the people on the station in terms of their importance to The Union, and did not find the need to worry about them. All that mattered was what this meant for the reputation of the Solar System’s safety: the fact that one of its stations had been hijacked.
After analysing it for a moment, he came to the conclusion that that was not so important either. Now he was only worried by one thing: the robot that Denn had stolen from Earth.
“How is it that nobody knew about the robot’s existence?” asked the Leader of The Union.
The room remained silent; nobody dared to give an answer. It was as much a surprise to them that the existence of such a special robot on Earth had passed unnoticed for such a long time.
The laboratory from which it had been taken would not provide them with many answers, not after the explosion that Denn caused had reduced it to rubble. Even less the fact that this place had not been visited by virtually anybody for a long time.
It was Helagar Ust’s laboratory. He had used it during his whole life’s work for A-Corp, until the day in which he left the planet Earth, some twenty years earlier, supposedly for a convention in the Eridani System, to which he never arrived. Nothing more was ever heard of him again. A-Corp decided to shut down his laboratory, and not allow entry to anybody.
“Surely the old Helagar would have some dark intention in order to leave it in his laboratory without saying anything,” prompted Biherys.
“That bastard!” said the Supreme Leader. “He always defended his robots, even after the disaster they caused. He was very likely responsible. Where will he have got to?”
“Might he have anything to do with Bornew?” asked another member of the council. “It seems strange that this man knew exactly where to look.”
“Perhaps,” replied Voill. “Even so, it’s early days for jumping to conclusions. I made contact with A-Corp regarding the robot, and they deny all responsibility. They had no idea the robot even existed.”
The Supreme Leader was furious. The negligence of the people responsible for A-Corp was causing problems for The Union.
“I swear that if it wasn’t for A-Corp being such an important business for the economy, I would make it disappear immediately. How many problems have they given us? First the Colonisers, then the susceptibility in the semi-humans, and now this. Somebody bring me their president right now. He’s going to have to listen to me.”
“We’ve already sent for him, sir,” replied Voill. “He should be on his way.”
“Good… Capture Denn Bornew, whatever the cost. The lives of the people on board the station are of no significance. Finding that man is all that matters. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling. Why would somebody take such trouble to steal a robot that is an enemy to humanity? How did he know it was there? I suspect that what’s happening goes further than any of us can imagine.”
“We’ll take charge of it, sir,” reassured Voill, “don’t worry.”
“When Helagar disappeared, twenty years ago, I knew there would be problems for The Union…” The Leader paused, went back to the table, and, resting his hands on it, continued: “I have been in power for twenty-five years, I started just after the unfortunate death of the second Leader of The Union. The only reason my term is renewed every ten years is because I have done it in the best way possible. The first Leader lost his term after the events of 2215. Those sorts of things cause the people to lose confidence. I do not plan on giving way for the fourth leader. We need to find out how it is that this man knew about the robot, and why he took it, no matter the cost.”
“Sir, I assure you that we are doing everything possible to capture Bornew,” said Voill.
“You may go, all of you,” he said, and all the members of the council stood up, crestfallen, to leave the room. “Not you, Voill… Yavar.”
He had asked his reliable men to stay. The Leader of The Union needed to speak alone with them.
“What’s is it, Ebyem?” Voill asked the Leader.
“Remind me of what The Augur said, before his disappearance.”
“That is not important, sir. You are the legitimate Leader of The Union.”
“Remind me of it.”
Voill looked uneasily at Yavar. He was feeling worried about the Leader’s tone. After a short hesitation, he spoke:
“He said: ‘You’re not supposed to be who you are.’”
“What else?”
“I don’t remember very well, sir.”
“Yavar, do you remember?”
“Why is it important, sir?” replied Yavar.
“Say it.”
“It was more or less what Voill said, sir… But you shouldn’t think about that… it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Something’s missing. Remind me of the whole thing please.”
Yavar had no choice, the Supreme Leader was going to insist everything that was necessary.”
“Very well… he said: ‘You’re not supposed to be who you are’.”
“He told me that the second Leader should not have died. That I should not have come to power. He said that something strange had occurred in this universe. He told me: ‘I still don’t know what the cause is, but in twenty years maybe I will’.”
“Why are you talking to us about this, sir?” asked Voill.
“Well, because those twenty years are about to come to a close, and I can’t help thinking that something bad is about to happen. Denn Bornew could be the beginning of something terrible.”
Denn did not know it, but he had managed to catch the attention of dangerous enemies. He had crossed a point of no return.