Plot Twist Challenge: "The India Allman Incident"-- Benjamin Leskey

The India Allman Incident

By Benjamin Leskey

(Plot Twist: The lost Princess/Prince—In space)

“Do you have any idea where the princess is?”

General Kerry Piper-449A’s voice was tinted with urgency as Prince Zanzibar Allman-449A listened to it through his communicator.

“No, I do not,” replied the prince. “Is there a situation?”

“Where are you now?” said the general.

“The palace, I’m on the port balcony.”

“Get to the office now. We do have a situation, and the representatives are nearly volatile.”

Quickly the prince left the balcony and entered a transporter built into the wall just inside the main palace.

“Transport: Royal Office,” he said, and in a moment the human-sized compartment had turned about and was flying through the tubes connecting every part of the palace. The transporter stopped after a minute of travel, and the prince stepped out as it opened into the Royal Office. As he entered, the three hundred representatives stopped their loud shouting and arguing and turned towards him.

General Kerry Piper-449A, who was sitting at the head of the room behind the presider’s desk, breathed a sigh of relief as the crowed of unruly politicians finally turned their attention off of him as the only higher authority in the room.

Prince Zanzibar, however, was immediately confronted by Representative 17A, Maxwell Greatwater-17A. as the little man pushed his way forward to meet him.

“Prince Allman-449A!” shouted the representative. “I demand a personal audience with you, as is my legal right! Your handling of this situation is abominable and the people of 17A insist upon an answer!”

“Representative,” replied the prince, “Am I not correct that 17A has a population of one, that is to say, only you? Furthermore, 17A is due for re-purposing in 72 hours, and no one, citizen or official, has set foot or object on it for thirty days.”

“17A is an original colonial satellite orbiting Jupiter! I am still a representative, and am exercising my legal right to an audience with you, immediately.”

The prince brought his wrist communicator to his mouth. “UHT, status on world 17A?”

Immediately a crisp female voice, barely recognizable as computerized, responded: “Awaiting re-purposing in 69.38 hours, no human bodies or artifacts on board. Scrapper ships in synchronized orbit.”

The representative’s eyes widened as he suddenly realized what the prince was about to do.

“UHT, accelerate scrapping of 17A: immediate.”

“Confirm immediate re-purposing of world 17A.”

“Confirmed.”

After a pause of one second, UHT replied again. “World 17A has been re-purposed, scrapper ships en-route to World 2N Mars.”

The prince finalized his strike. “UHT, escort unauthorized person Maxwell Greatwater-17A out of the Royal Office.”

Immediately two security androids emerged from transporters and seized the former representative despite his protests and shouts. In a moment they pushed him into a transporter and he was gone.

The room had grown quiet, and the prince took the moment to squeeze his way through the rest of the politicians to this presider’s desk, where he took the central seat beside General Piper-449A.

“Explain the situation,” he ordered.

“The princess is missing,” replied the general shortly.

“UHT,” the prince said, raising his communicator. “Where is India Allman-449A?”

“Unknown. Last seen departing World 449A, Sirius system sensors lost contact six hours ago due to high-speed wormhole departure.”

“Okay. Well, what have you tried, general?”

“We sent one scout on the same trajectory, but found nothing. Her ship obviously changed course outside of sensor range.”

“Who else knows about this?”

“Only the people in this room and UHT. I have already ordered UHT to secrecy on this matter.”

“Good.” The prince paused a moment, then raised his communicator. “UHT, what ship did the princess depart in?”

“India Allman-449A was last seen entering and departing in the Royal Destroyer Bulwark-449A.”

“Royal Destroyer!?” shouted representative Elizabeth Tanner-1N as she strode up to the desk and slammed her fist on it. “Why did the princess have access to the port at all? Not even mentioning the fact that she had access to a Royal Destroyer! It is six days before her coronation, and she was given freedom to just gallivant off in a battle ship?”

“The Bulwark has no offensive weapons,” said the general.

Elizabeth Tanner-1N was not satisfied. “You of all people, a general, should know what damage an unarmed Royal Destroyer can do. It’s got a relativistic ram! And I still demand an explanation as to why the princess was allowed near it.”

“The princess is free to do as she pleases,” said the prince. “The Bulwark is authorized for use by all royalty.”

“Nevertheless,” the representative said, “Either the princess decided and acted upon that decision to leave the capital world immediately before her coronation, or she was forced to do so. If she is not found in time for the coronation and seven days elapse after it, then Prince Zanzibar Allman-449A will become the Grand Presider in her place. What do you make of that, representatives?”

“What is your point here, Representative 1N?” asked the general. “We are attempting to locate the princess, not sling accusations.”

“As representative of the nations of World 1N Earth,” she replied, “We demand the coronation be delayed until the investigation is concluded to ensure no foul motive is enabled.”

“No.” the prince said simply. “That law was not put in place to be bypassed on a whim. I expect my sister to be found within a few days. Furthermore, I have always expressed that I have no desire to be Grand Presider. Now can we return to the investigation, please?”

Elizabeth Tanner-1N backed away from the desk, frowning deeply.

“As for the idea that the princess is doing this to get out of being Grand Presider herself,” the prince went on, “that notion is simply absurd, since she may abdicate at any moment. UHT, what were the actions of India Allman-449A before her departure from sensor range?”

UHT responded at once, “India Allman-449A entered the primary port of World 449A at 03:28 local time, accompanied by two independent guardian androids. She entered bay 19, where the Bulwark-449A was stationed, at 03:32. At 03:33 she ordered isolation mode in bay 19, due to which I have no information from within the bay after that point until launch. The Bulwark-449A launched at 03:47 with the only human on board being India Allman-449A. It ejected from World 449A’s artificial gravity at maximum speed, then altered course under apparent autopilot before firing wormhole engines and leaving the Sirius system.”

“Who was manning bay 19?” shouted one of the representatives.

“Royal Destroyer bays are equipped with only independent androids,” the general replied. “This is to allow for isolation mode to be completely cut off from outside sensors and control. Neither human operators nor UHT were involved.”

“Then I shall interrogate the androids,” declared the prince. “General Piper-449A will accompany me.”

He stood up from the desk and entered a transporter. “Transport: Port bay 19,” he said, and vanished into the tubes. He reappeared just before the entrance to bay 19, and the general emerged immediately following.

“Before contacting you I had ensured that no unidentified ships from any of the independent coalitions or solitary planets were in the system,” said the General. “As you probably know, we would have had three ambassadors at the coronation, from the DPC, FHF, and AUP. The former two have already arrived and were displaying no abnormal behavior, and the AUP is behaving like AUP: their planets haven’t decided on an ambassador yet according to UHT contact.”

“I don’t see how some independents could possibly force India into a flight anyway. If she was forced, it must have been from the inside. But I don’t think she was.”

“What’s your reasoning?”

“It took her four minutes from entering the port to entering bay 19. UHT, how did the princess last arrive at the primary port?”

“India Allman-449A’s last arrival in the primary port of World 449A was via transport tube,” replied UHT.

“There it is,” said the prince. “She gave the command for a transport to the port, not to any specific bay. She either didn’t know what ship she would take, or which bay her intended ship was in. Furthermore, we can deduce that, because she didn’t know this information, she must have elected to not ask UHT for directions. Why?”

“She was hiding from UHT?”

“Apparently so. It doesn’t make sense that she would actively hide from UHT under coercion, if she was being forced then a simple whisper to UHT would be enough to arrest whoever was behind it. Enacting isolation mode fits with this perfectly, though that alone could also be explained by a coercer. It also is deducible that she received no specific instructions on which bay to leave from, yet another strike against a planned coercion.”

There was a brief buzz on the prince’s communicator, and UHT spoke. “Maxwell Greatwater-17A was preparing to reveal classified information to the public regarding current events surrounding India Allman-449A. I have intercepted and transported him to the prison district.”

“I expected as much,” said the general. “Loses his position, immediately turns traitor.”

The prince nodded, and they entered bay 19. The massive outer doors, several hundred feet across to fit the ship, were shut, and the inner doors to the airlock where the Royal Destroyer should have been resting were open as expected. Several androids and a few less humanoid robots sat among the various parts, ammunition, mountable weapons, and other equipment that lined the working areas near the airlock itself.

“Where is the bay 19 Chief Operator?” shouted the prince.

One android near the bay control room stood and quickly walked towards him.

“I am the bay 19 Chief Operator, sir,” it replied.

“What was on the most recent launch from this bay?”

“The most recent launch from this bay was the Bulwark-449A. It contained one human, two androids, and standard ammunition storage: seven ‘Buster’ atomic missiles and four destroyer-class rail gun cartridges.”

“List weapon mounts on the Bulwark.”

“The Bulwark-449A is outfitted only with a destroyer-class ram and standard ratio defensive lasers, no ammunition launchers are equipped.”

“What were the orders regarding the most recent launch from this bay?”

“The orders regarding the most recent launch from this bay were to enact isolation mode and load legacy firmware over the ship’s systems with compatibility drivers installed.”

“What am I supposed to make of that, general?” the prince said.

“At the very least, she wasn’t planning a quick escape. Legacy firmware on a Royal Destroyer means she gets only one wormhole before running out of energy. She’ll be stuck at the endpoint for at least a month with all solar panels unfolded.”

“That doesn’t work. You sent a scout and found nothing along her trajectory.”

“It is possible the legacy firmware improperly interfaced with the newest wormhole drive, she might have ended on a slightly different path.”

Prince Zanzibar ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

“Right. Fine. So, general, do you care to explain to me why this wasn’t already investigated properly before I ever arrived? You could have had an entire search fleet scanning the limited wormhole landing areas, not to mention avoiding telling half the representatives about it before deciding to let the prince hear about it..”

“I’d just heard about it a few minutes before you arrived,” the general protested, “It was Representative 459N who first reported it, and she told the other representatives before me.”

“Oh! And exactly when did you think it prudent that I hear about this valuable piece of information, that you bring it out now?”

“Please remain calm, sir. I was under time pressure.”

“Give me a reason why I should remain calm when my sister, piloting a Royal Destroyer in legacy configuration and outfitted with seven busters, is lost somewhere in interstellar space six days before her coronation and three hundred representatives are standing in the Royal Office thinking I did it!”

The prince was nearly snarling at this point, but after the general didn’t reply he slowly relaxed again.

“We’re going back to the office to complete this the proper way,” he said. “Come along, and maybe you’ll still be of use.”

The two entered transporters and in a moment emerged back in the royal office. The crowd of representatives stopped talking and waited expectantly as the prince made his way to the desk.

“Well?” said Representative 1N after a moment of waiting for the prince to say something.

The prince ignored her. “UHT, list major objects on the possible trajectories of the Bulwark-449A’s last flight, noting that it used legacy firmware with compatibility drivers installed.”

UHT immediately replied. “Sovereign Ship 6 is predicted to be positioned with that trajectory, last confirmed by sensors 174 hours ago.”

“Ugh. UHT, confirm Sovereign Ship 6 is still within its projected trajectory.”

There were a few moments of waiting as UHT launched probes. “Sovereign Ship 6 cannot be found by sensors at the moment, it is no longer within projections,” it replied.

“There you have it! She’s definitely taken it over, exactly explaining why she used legacy drivers and firmware. Probably she’s using it for the wormhole drives.”

General Piper looked alarmed. “I… What do we do now? What is she planning to do?”

The prince leaned back in his seat and flicked a button to bring up a screen from his desk. “Don’t panic, things are becoming clearer. UHT, open wormhole communications with all systems and send sensor information to my screen if the Bulwark-449A or Sovereign Ship 6 arrives in a system. I want immediate notification.”

“No,” UHT said at once.

The prince’s eyebrows slammed into their apex. He was no longer leaning back. “What?” he snapped. “UHT, follow your previous order.”

Some of the representatives grimaced.

“Opening wormholes to all systems would result in a waste of energy,” said UHT. “I have already taken my own measures to locate the Bulwark-449A and/or Sovereign Ship 6 by opening communication with possible destination systems. I will report upon discovery.”

The prince’s upper lip twitched, but he did not protest.

“Well then,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait until she arrives in one of our systems.”

“It’s worse than that,” said the general, looking up from another screen. “Sovereign Ship 6 was built using standard framing, not generation ship framing. It’s equipped with forward-compatible nuclear missile launchers and 23^rd century destroyer-class defensive options.”

“Yes, I remember from my history lessons.”

The representatives weren’t nearly as calm as the prince in their response.

“What are you going to do about this?” demanded Representative Kanibalia Mason-278N near the front. She pushed her way up to the desk. “You need to stop her now!”

The representative from Earth came up as well. “World 1N Earth requires immediate, maximal measures to protect all worlds in the Origin system. Just how did you let a nuclear threat get this bad within our own central territories?”

The general spoke, cutting off the prince who was about to reply. “Let me assure you none of your worlds are in immediate danger. Minimally required orbital defenses and surface-exosphere rail guns are sufficient to destroy Sovereign Ship 6 without damage to the world. Unfortunately, due to the UHTSTAR act, UHT cannot operate the defenses against Sovereign Ship 6 itself. I have already issued galactic warnings to ready invasion defense posts with independent androids and human forces.”

“So as I already told you,” the prince said, “We must simply wait for India to arrive somewhere. I expect she’ll be popping into a system soon, she’s not one to stall.”

True to his prediction, after around thirty minutes an alert sounded and the desk screen flashed.

“Urgent: The Bulwark-449A and Sovereign Ship 6 have simultaneously arrived in orbit around World 458N.”

Displayed on the screen was a tracking image of the two ships. The Bulwark-449A was attached on the back of the far more massive sovereign ship. Only the sovereign ship’s engines were active, flinging great arcs of electricity around its gigantic cylindrical frame as it left the wormhole. The front end of the ship conglomerate was pointed at World 458N, a small rocky planet with several tremendous industrial zones breaking up the monotonous icy surface.

A moment after that alert arrived, there was another. “Priority communication received from India Allman-449A,” announced the system. There was a click, and the message began playing.

“You must comply with my demand,” she said. Her voice was soft and clear as it played throughout the room. “Evict UHT presence from World 458N. Failure to do so within one hour will result in immediate destruction, by nuclear missile, of every link unit and vital industrial complex on the surface of World 458N. If I am forced to this measure, I will subsequently wormhole to the next system and threaten World 459N in the same way. I will not negotiate. I will not receive any transmissions until I detect UHT communications have been terminated with this system or one hour has passed. I will not monitor the population of World 458N. I have programmed Sovereign Ship 6 to obliterate any hostile military vessels entering the system.”

The transmission finished with another click.

“Kerry,” said the prince, “Can you get a Bernard Ramship there in less than an hour?”

The general swallowed. “No. One hour and ten minutes.”

Representative Dwight White-458N yelled and stomped. “Why aren’t the ground defenses active? Why aren’t you stopping her? Well? Where are the guns!?”

“Warning,” said UHT. “The majority of surface-exosphere defenses on World 458N are currently disabled, despite hostile forces within range. I suggest immediate manual activation as I am restricted and unable to perform standard operations due to the Universal Human Tool Sovereign Territory Activity Restriction Act of 2314.”

“I ordered manual activation already,” the general growled.

“Here! Here!” shouted Dwight White-458N. “I got a message from my president! He says- he says that nearly all of our defenses are disabled!”

“Under whose orders?” asked the general quickly.

“I don’t know!” squeaked the representative helplessly.

“Then ask him,” put in the prince.

The representative sniffed and did so, quickly receiving a reply. “He says- he says it was ‘unknown sabotage.’”

Now Representative Huberta Arnold-459N marched forward. “Look, you have fifty-some minutes left to decide what you’re going to do. Even if you don’t withdraw UHT early from World 458N, the communication lines with it will certainly be severed after an attack on all industrial centers. Either way, cutting off UHT from World 458N will also result in my World 459N losing contact. And as we are the border with AUP, the moment UHT goes down they’ll sniff out the opportunity and have an invasion fleet slamming into our surface within ten minutes. The same goes for World 458N too, as soon as my system is dominated they’ll skip to the next unprotected one. And nobody wants to lose two systems to AUP, least of all myself and Representative 458N who will lose our homes to the enemy.”

“You’re saying I should blow my sister’s vessel apart before she betrays two systems into the hands of AUP,” said the prince. “And I agree with you. Unfortunately for all of us, my sister is very good at what she does. Only a Bernard Ramship could destroy that vessel from outside the system now, and she knew where the closest would be.”

“Why are you so calm?” bellowed Dwight White-458N, as the prince seemed to relax even further into his seat.

“I know where India is now,” he replied. “So I can relax. Besides, it seems she has thoroughly outplayed us. I didn’t anticipate this in the slightest, and I don’t think we can respond besides withdrawing UHT.”

“Don’t do that,” said Representative 459N. “Don’t send evacuation orders to World 458N. She won’t bomb occupied cities.”

Dwight White-458N shrieked.

“Won’t work,” frowned the general, furiously tapping at his screens. “She will expect evacuation, and she said that she will not receive transmissions or population information, therefore foiling this very idea.”

“You need to do something before it’s too late to evacuate,” said Elizabeth Tanner-1N.

“Obviously,” the prince said. “But it’s horrible to see India rebel against all we have built over the millennium. I ask, ‘why?’”

“Is that really important?” began someone in the crowd of representatives, but he was interrupted as the prince suddenly raised his voice.

“The answer is simple. She rebels against the things that make us able to withstand for all these years. The very core of the Universal Human Federation. She understands nothing. Who gave her these ideas?”

“Look,” said the general as he showed one of his screens to the prince. The prince nodded.

“UHT,” he said. “Model resource comparison: Immediate withdrawal of UHT from World 458N or mass destruction of industrial centers and link units on World 458N.”

“I recommend mass destruction,” replied UHT. “Analysis indicates that the result for AUP will be a loss in resources required to repair damage after occupation.”

“Right then, everybody!” the prince said loudly after hearing this. “We will issue evacuation orders for the affected cities, then let India blast the surface. In less than an hour, World 458N and 459N will be out of our control.”

“No!” screamed Representative 458N. His colleague from World 459N stood stony-faced beside him.

“No?” said the prince. “Don’t think I’m not aware of the masses of population on your worlds who favor AUP domination. Nobody would expect this came from nowhere. ‘Sabotage,’ indeed. I intend to squeeze every possible counter out of this setback. India will be forced to bomb her own new allies’ cities in order to kick us out. General, immediately prepare a zero-defense swift strike. I want at least three independent Bernard Ramships in the system to destroy that Sovereign Ship before it’s used against us again, no matter if they’re blasted in the process.”

“There are three thousand dormant colonists on that cryosleep cruiser!” shouted Elizabeth Tanner-1N.

“And my sister too,” the prince replied. “She knew what she was doing when she betrayed us to the AUP before our very eyes, and she is the one responsible for the lives of those on the Sovereign Ship. I cannot, by law, ignore this massive threat to the safety of our federation. If AUP grows in strength, if our enemies have even one more advantage than what we can counter, eventually our federation will splinter. If we splinter, the human species will be plunged into slaughter and conflict for thousands of years. Everyone everywhere will suffer if the last great political agreement of our kind is broken. The death will be on an unthinkable scale. How can I even think of letting this go?”

The remaining part of the hour dragged on. The general issued his orders, and far away three Bernard Ramships began blasting their way through warped space towards their target. At the same time, the people of World 458N were herded into evacuation shelters as the massive cryosleep cruiser stared down at them.

No protests by the representatives were useful now, now was the time to wait. On the screens surrounding them they watched the still and silent vessel as it lay in wait, commanding the fate of two worlds.

The massive cruiser began arcing electricity again. Weapon systems spooled into action as the frame shifted to expose glowing launchers. There was a moment of anticipation. A flash of light on the screen.  Then, an error message.

UHT spoke, “Urgent: World 458N and World 459N, along with their corresponding systems, have been severed from the UHT network.”

And in the next moment, another transmission arrived from India Allman-449A.

“I have won,” she said. “My victory comes at cost, but I am satisfied. This is the first strike I make against the dread we have built for ourselves in the Universal Federation and Tool. I will join the efforts of the Autonomous Union of Planets, and in the end the dread will be defeated forever. My confidence in the abilities of my people, the human race, leads me to know that once freed from the tyranny decided centuries ago we shall rise to far greater heights. We will not ever again build for ourselves a monster. My plan is set, and I will not fail.”

There was a click, and the transmission ended.

“The Bernard Ramships arrive in ten minutes,” UHT announced.

“She’ll know they’re coming,” remarked the prince. “But I have to try.”

Representative 1N drew her breath sharply. “What now?”

“Well,” the prince said, stretching in his seat, “We have two traitors in our midst. UHT, remove unauthorized persons from this room and confine them appropriately.”

The former representatives of World 458N and 459N were escorted out of the room by security android.

“And now,” said the prince as he stood up, his voice rising as he spoke. “Now we prepare for an ignorance-fueled, all-out, multi-front war in which we have just lost one of our best to the enemy’s side. Quit standing around, we’ve got a fight to win!”