The Treaty of Ten Systems

Vidol looked up, his mind working furiously. That's a beginner's trick. Cheat when you've got the cards, then trick 'em into thinking you're cheating again. Then again, this Voider's no beginner. She might have done it in reverse, knowing that I wouldn't take the bait. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. No, it's too risky. Besides, she wouldn't have done it this blatantly. No one plays three of the same card twice in a row - even a beginner could pick up on that one. He settled back, allowing a soft smirk to play across his scarred features before playing his own cards, "Two Queens."

The Voider seemed about to call his bluff, when the door slid open to reveal a messenger boy. He glanced momentarily at the card table, taking in the money before meeting the hard stares of the three card players. He gulped, understanding, "L-lieutenant Oratal?"

"Yes?"

"The Captain would like to see you, sir."

Lan waited in his office. Drumming his fingers together he waited. The ship was ready, all they needed was his order. The door chimed, "Enter," the captain replied. Lieutenant Oratal entered, formal and nearly unreadable.

"You requested me Captain?"

"Yes, I am giving you a rather special assignment. One you are to deny being given as this is more of me asking a favor than giving an order." Lan could see a slight sign of interest, something he could continue on. "I am sure you have seen Dr. Undulaker, I would like you to keep a slight eye on him. As much as I dislike asking this of you, I wonder of his intentions and would like to have some sort of source able to see him more than I do."

"Then why not choose someone from the labs, I'm sure they could keep a better eye on him."

"Because, Undulaker is clever, more so than I like to admit. I need someone outside of his authority." He was still hard to read, trust might be an issue, but Lan thought Vidol would be perfect for it. "So, will you accept this task?"

Vidol mulled it over, the captain was clearly smarter than he had first believed, probably worthy of respect after all. Still, there were parts about this assignment that didn't quite make sense, "How would I be able to observe him, sir? It would be...difficult, unless I had some reason to be in the labs."

"Just watch him from time to time, trail him a little in the hallways, happen to be around to listen to his conversations, nothing too obvious or too major. It's optional, as well. If you don't feel up to it, I could always find someone else."

The Diosu looked up, picking up on the challenge, "No, I'll take it. I just needed to know exactly what I needed to do."

"Very well then. Report back to me when you have something you think I should know."

Vidol nodded, he turned to leave. Just as he was about to go out the doors, the captain spoke up again, "Oh, and Vidol."

"Sir?"

"Try and keep the gambling to a minimum. I'll tolerate it, but I don't want to hear about ridiculous amounts of cash changing hands."

Vidol couldn't hide his surprise, "Y-yes, sir."

"That's our party over," Adelaide groaned as the Diosu left the room. Jason nodded and followed him out, holding the door open after a moment's hesitation. When Adi did not immediately relieve him of the weight, he looked back to see her picking up the remainder of the money.

"That's Vidol's share."

"I was going to win," Adi replied, flashing a grin as she slipped past him and out of the room. Jason looked back, a twinge of anxiety jumping across his forehead. Adelaide watched as he returned to the room, placing his own money on the bed. She rolled her eyes and waited until he had closed the door behind them before speaking -

"That was stupid," she said.

"It was honest," he corrected, stepping towards their room and opening the door. Adi shrugged, following him in.

"If you think I'm going to give you his share just because you did the right thing, I might be tempted to eat your brain right here but..." she sighed and handed the money over, "it would be terrible to fall out over a few coins. I'd rather be disliked for taking something useful."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jason said, gathering his night clothes.

The next morning, they woke early and filtered out into the corridoor along with the other recruits. They walked in single file, not quite sure where they were going or who they were following and found themselves in a large room.

"You will eat breakfast here every morning," a disembodied voice announced, "and then you will be given instruction."

Erik printed out the data sheet and tapped his earpiece.

"Yes, sir?"

"Our suspicions have been confirmed," he replied. "It's the Sorences. Have we received any intel on their weapons program?"

"I'm uploading it to you now."

Erik opened his console and saw the files being transferred. He opened the first few, quickly glancing over them. "Excellent." He clicked off the communication and turned off the frequency jammer.

He tapped his fingers lightly against the desk as he considered the new information and his report. After a few moments of deliberation, he logged out of the system and left his room.

As he walked the corridors, he passed a Diosu he had seen earlier. He nodded and smiled.

"Sir?" the Diosu said seconds after they'd passed.

Erik stopped and turned around, arching his eyebrows. "I'm sorry. Can I help you?"

The Diosu stepped towards him and extended his gray, scaly hand. "I don't believe we've met."

Erik locked eyes with him and remained still. "No," he said finally, extending his hand, "I don't believe we have. You are?"

"Lt. Vidol Oratal," the Diosu replied.

"Good to meet you, Mr. Oratal," Erik smiled. "I'm Lt. Col. Erik Undulaker."

Vidol nodded. "Nice to have made your acquaintance."

"No," Erik shook his head and laughed, "I'm sure the pleasure is all mine."

"Yes..." Vidol said, averting his eyes from Erik's to the paper in his hand. "Well, I assume you have somewhere--"

"Yes," Erik nodded. "I need to go. See you around, then." Erik turned and continued down to the prep-room. He had made sure that his visit coincided with the lower level's breakfast so as to secure their discretion.

"Gy. Sgt. Hammer," he said, entering the room and closing the door behind him. Hammer was looking down at his computer but glanced up when he heard the door close.

"Dr. Undulaker," he said, walking over and taking the paper in Erik's hand. "What is this?"

"As you know, we're going to Seluza, the Sorence home planet."

"Yes, I know. You delivered this information earlier."

Erik nodded, then, "At the risk of belaboring the obvious, Gy. Sgt. Hammer, this will go much smoother if you follow my advice. Now," Erik put the paper down on the table and pointed to some of the figures, "these are the optimal training specs for this mission. If you--"

"These are insane," Hammer shook his head. "Nobody can train in these conditions!"

"I believe that's why they hired you, sir: because you get men to do what no one else can." Erik let this sink in for a moment. "That said, I'm aware what the USA advises for trips to Seluza, but I feel, as I'm sure you do as well, that we should take the utmost care to make sure our first mission is a success."

Hammer nodded slowly, mind already working on this information. "And your position aboard the Unity is...what, again?"

Erik smirked. "I'm a man of many hats and persuasions--I offer many consulting services to the units aboard the ship; strategy is one of them."

"So you're asking me to double the training requirements on our first mission." Hammer handed the paper back to Erik. "We're not even entering a combat zone, Dr. Undulaker, and while I appreciate your consultation, I neither requested nor require your 'services.'"

"Very well," Erik said dryly with a tilt to his mouth that on anyone else wouldn't look anything like a smile. "You know where to find me if anything changes." He made sure Hammer saw him put the data sheet back on the prep-room table before he left.

Vidol watched the human leave, running through what he'd seen on the sheet of paper he was holding. A number of figures he didn't know the meaning of, and something about Seluza. Seluza...we must be heading there now, then. I don't like the sound of that.

He retraced his steps, returning at last to his cabin to find the other two gone. This didn't surprise him - though the pile of money on his bed did. It seemed that Voiders could be honest after all.

After making sure his door was closed and his intercom off, he went through his bag and pulled out his uplink, switching it on. After a moment the Seer's face blurred into view, "This had better be important, Vidol. I only have a little time before I need to leave. Earlier in the day would be good, next time."

Vidol narrowed his eyes a little, "You know I only risk using this when I think there is something important. I need you to look into another crew member for me. Lt. Col. Erik Undulaker, I'm meant to be keeping an eye on him for the captain."

"Anything in particular you want me to look at?"

"I want to know why he might be interested in Seluza and the Sorences."

The Seer looked up abruptly, "What?"

"I saw a report that mentioned Seluza. I think he has some kind of interest in them, but he's a careful man - I wouldn't count on finding what he's got to do with them, just a few possible reasons why."

The training began immediately.

It would not be easy, many of the Marines had not been through a training session in some months. They would need to not just reach their operational goals, but to exceed them by 150%.

The mission requirements went from training in 30 degree weather to -60 degree weather. Hammer shook his head. Not many creatures were capable of handling those weather extremes and Humans would not last very long without some form of protection.

He made a note to see if Dr. Undulaker had anything that could help humans live longer in cold weather conditions. In the meantime, they would train in 0 gee suits. They were air sealed and self heated. If the suits were breached, the effect would be about the same, although it would be a slow death by freezing.

Hammer put these thoughts out of his mind.

First, he had to bring them up to their operating levels. He assembled the marines and began leading their exercise. Any marine that lagged was given a tongue lashing.

"We're at one hundred percent sir," came the chief engineer's voice through the com link.

"Very good, We will launch immediately." Lan flicked on the ship wide intercom, it made a funny chime when activated that made him sigh in disgust. "All hands, this is the captain. Prepare for launch procedures. I repeat all hands prepare for launch procedures." The com clicked off and Lan clicked a few more buttons on his chair.

"Sir," chimed Lan's helmsman, "all systems are in the green."

"Good, take us out then, half quarter thrust. And do try to not scratch the paint. I rather like it." Lan smirked a moment, clearly making his crewmen uncomfortable rather than relaxed.

"Y-yes sir."

The ship shuddered as energy poured from the rear burners. Inertial dampeners quickly adjusted for the force, making the crew not flat against their chairs. The Unity slid smoothly from its construction yard. Fireworks exploded on either side of the ship, allowing those still participating in the week long festivities to give a showy send off.

Say goodbye to home. If I can really call it that anymore.

"Sir, We have cleared the shipyard, what are your orders?"

"Set course for Seluza. Max Speed."

"Affirmative, Sir."

Adelaide followed the masses down to the training room, her irritation growing as they tramped around the ship, seemingly in circles.

"Is this part of the training or what?" Adi growled, just loud enough that the three or four beings closest heard her. One nodded but the other three took no notice, marching smartly, eyes directed straight ahead.

Minutes later, the crowd were filtering into a room and Adi noted a significant rise in temperature. A human began to assemble the marines and run them through a standard drill. Adelaide aimed to remain in the middle of the group, running fast enough that she didn't receive a reprimand but slow enough that she didn't waste energy. Afterall, there was no sense in exhausting her body during the warm up.

"Back on your feet you excuse for a marine. Get moving!" Adelaide did not look back to watch this spectacle though she felt a strong urge to do so. How fun it would be to watch another being suffer. But no. That was how you got yourself noticed.

"Faster!" the human barked. Adelaide picked up her pace. Minutes later, she noted another rise in temperature.

"Look who's on the menu tonight," Adi sniggered.

"Training, they call this training?" I muttered. The temperature had to be at least eighty, which meant some of the aliens were wilting. But hey, try doing this in full protective gear. I've seen worse.

When rest was called, we all gathered to hear the report. Not bad, I thought.