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mec -> Chronicles of Scaven (6/18/2009 9:15:09 PM)
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This is a book I have been working on for some time now, with no real effort to publish it or get funding to do it myself.
So I would like to post the epilogue, Grammar isnt perfected, but hey its close to it.
Chronicles of Scaven by Mike Cundiff, (MeK)
Deceit
Max Lenart leaned back in his black leather chair. He then put his hands behind his head, trying to understand what the man in front of him was arguing about. Sitting across from Max was a well-decorated officer. His name was Lox Cosgrove. Cosgrove was a pushy officer; he had been reassigned to head the biotech facility, after he had been discharged from the Galei Wars. His battle scars and aged appearance made him look ten years older, when in fact he was only forty-five. It didn’t help he already had white hair. He had been pushing the lab to pass the TX109-B, a military approved steroid. In charge of the project is Max Lenart, the original architect behind the steroid.
“We cannot go any further in this department without your approval, Max,” Cosgrove stated.
Max unraveled his arms from behind his head and said, “Look, I know you wanted to use this drug; but it’s not safe. You are rushing too fast. You want answers to hypothetical questions. We cannot guarantee a signed affidavit of approval!”
Max let out a sigh of discontent. “I wanted to see my work published as much as you wanted to use it. I cannot sign of on it.”
Cosgrove was enraged by Lenart’s statement. He had to have approval or he would be finished here too. “What is your problem? Cosgrove asked, holding back his anger. “What are you afraid of?” he added.
Max got up from his chair and walked over to the picture window overlooking a work bay.
“Come here, I want to show you why I cannot sign. You need to understand my position here.”
Cosgrove reluctantly stood and paced slowly to the window.
“What do you see here?” Lenart asked in a dry voice.
Down below, in the work bay were six men dressed in camouflage pants and gray undershirts.
The men were working out, at the time. Each one was working independently of the others. They did not communicate with the others.
Cosgrove scuffed, “I don’t see what you are complaining about. I see six healthy yet strong men working out.”
“Do you not see the obvious” Lenart asked.
Cosgrove did know, in fact that was part of the steroid side effect. The steroid was to make each one independent of the others. Cosgrove replied, “What is so obvious to you.”
“Look at them! They do not respond with the others, in any way. If one falls or drops the weights, the others do not help them. They have no communication skills. They only talk when spoken to.”
“And that’s a problem because....?” Cosgrove rhetorically asked. He continued, “ May I remind you, this is the military way of life?”
“That’s a problem. How could you have a military that has no gut feelings or passion in what they do? What if the communication problems get worse? These acute responses were not to be a factor with TX109-B.” Lenart stopped seeing that Cosgrove was getting uneasy with his report.
Are you done yet? Cosgrove sighed.
“Not yet. Lenart snapped back. I understand that they are in fact stronger. They are also more aggressive in the work field. They feature more stamina in the use of the muscles than ordinary military infantry. They do not appreciate teamwork. They only work together when told. They lack social skills in the work field when not spoken to. They retain knowledge and only remember task detail. They do not remember names or places. This one is the problem: they cannot remember previous missions in the field.”
“I am impressed Max. I never thought you would understand the importance of the TX. We wanted the steroid to impose these conditions. They weren’t the side effects but the mere drive behind TX.” Cosgrove sat back down in the chair, watching the great professor’s reactions to the news.
Lenart was surprised. He sat back down behind his desk and stared down at the floor for a minute. He thought of the backlash of having this knowledge now. “Why?” he asked. “Why the push for this kind of drug?”
“Saving lives really.” Cosgrove replied. “You look at all the stupid decisions that are made by basic infantry units. They make mistakes every time you turn around, and someone pays with their life for it. They had a gut feeling or they felt ‘it wasn’t right’. It wasn’t their choice to make. We have a lot of soldiers who do not respect authority out there and it will get them or men around them killed. So, we devised a way to have a steroid issued to all of lower rank military units, and here we are.”
Cosgrove believed everything he said. He knew that he, himself, was knowledgeable in warfare and what he talked about really happened. He looked up at Lenart and said, “You will sign Max, you don’t have a choice.”
Lenart replied, “Is that a threat?”
“No, it’s not.” Cosgrove sneered. “But think about the repercussions of not signing your own work. This would be a failed experiment at the cost of the government. Do you think you would ever get funding for research again? They would black list you if you do not sign. You would be finished on any system.”
“Bio Lye would keep me.” Max hesitantly said.
“Who do you think heads Bio Lye?” Cosgrove asked. Bio Lye is funded and operated by Shadostro and the Shadow La. You would be finished, my friend.”
Max Lenart was in a tight squeeze, knowing his career was shot if he didn’t sign. Could he live himself signing off on a biotech steroid, that could endanger lives? “Alright,” Lenart sighed, “Alright, I’ll sign it.”
Cosgrove pulled out the petition already signed by the rest of the research team. He smirked as he laid the paper on the desk for Lenart to sign. Cosgrove knew he had Lenart wrapped around his finger.
Lenart signed the paper and sat back down behind his desk. “Now I them to understand I had no choice here. If this fails, I am not responsible for any consequences the occur.
“It will be ok Max.” Cosgrove said in a calm manner. Cosgrove walked to the door and said, “It was a pleasure working with you Max.” He turned around as said, “ I am proud of you, but I am sorry.” He pulled out his sidearm and shot Max Lenart where he sat.
The Directors
“It’s done. The Shadow Host was signed”, Cosgrove said. He felt as if a heavy burden was lifted from his shoulders. The problem was now in the hands of the directors, the men Cosgrove was on the phone with.
“Well done, Cosgrove”, said Marcus Allen, one of the directors. Seven men sat around a circular table, in a darkened room; speaking into an intercom. The only light entering was coming from the large picture window facing the twin suns: Deio Deio II and I.
Marcus Allen was a quick-witted man. He was the youngest man in the room, yet he outranked every else, except two. He was always shaven, clean cut, as if he actually spent a day in the military. He never had, and he never thought otherwise. He had short brown hair, greased back as if he was conducting a business relationship, almost as short as his attention span and temper. He was very impatient, wanting answers before the question was asked.
“You can retire now, Cosgrove. Just leave it to us”, Darren Stevens said. Stevens was laid back, he didn’t have the stress that Marcus presented. He was an older man scarred by war, something Marcus never ‘appreciated’. He was also rational in his thinking, not using “ordering about” based on opinion. Stevens understood that he, with the two, pretty much controlled the senate. Their words were gold. Everything the directors asked was followed. There were no questions.
“You have done well” This was director Viktor, the eldest. He was the only one born on Shadostro. He had fought and bled for his planet. He was an admiral who was deemed the nation’s hero. But that was behind him. He has now become a powerful individual; he could care less about military might.
There were only three directors per se, there were five others present: Admiral Karl Roland, Commander Tyler Krowe, Adm. Norton, Adm. Grove and Commander Soltazo.
“Good, now to pass it before the senate,” Marcus shuffled before the men.
“Hold it, are we administrating to every one?” Grove questioned. He was considered the weak link. He, unlike most of comrades, actually cared about the condition of his men.
“What if they refuse?” Adm. Norton asked. Norton didn’t really care about the condition of the men. He cared about the number of men he would have to replace; he had a sizeable fleet to consider.
“Any officer refusing direct orders will be court marshaled and discharged,” Stevens replied quickly. Stevens made no joke about anything. He was a harsh director, and very strict.
“What if we lose to many?” Norton fearfully asked. “We can’t replace that kind of man power!” Admiral Norton was getting stressed and Marcus wasn’t helping.
“We could hire mercenaries.” Marcus added in sarcasm.
“Wait, wait. We’re getting too out of hand. We have to resolve this problem ourselves. And not by adding more fuel to the fire.” Stevens said. “I agree that we can hire mercenaries, but not now.”
“Only as a last resort,” scuffed Viktor.
“Calm down Norton, you won’t lose your fleet.” Stevens said, trying to unravel Adm. Norton.
“The men are replaceable. They are pawns in this game,’ Marcus added, not knowing he was playing with fire.
“See, that’s where we disagree,” Grove said. He was getting into the feud now.
“Marcus, you better keep your mouth shut,” Viktor said, putting Marcus in his place.
Grove understood that Marcus was silenced; he could get back to point.
“Wouldn’t it be difficult anyway, for superior officers to engage with such men?”
“Not if they are ordered to,” Stevens remarked.
“Wait, you don’t mean administrating TX to commanding officers?” Grove stated frantically.
“No way! Not a chance”
“Why not?” Marcus added. “We, as a group and with the senate’s approval, would be in charge of the navy.”
“Complete control?” Roland asked. Karl Roland was conservative, like Grove. “I don’t like the idea that senator’s have the choice of war, or even some members in this room.” He was looking as Marcus; so was everyone else.
“My problem is, TX doesn’t exist,” Stevens said. “Officers can not know about this drug.”
“We are in fact lying to them,’ Grove stated. He showed that he was not happy with this.
“How do we keep them from suspecting problems or mood changes in their own men,” Norton asked.
“They must not know.... and the only way to do that is by giving it to them too.” Marcus stated.
“So, the commanders under us will be on it?” Roland asked. He, too, wasn’t happy about this.
“This is for the good of military.” Krowe added. Krowe just sat there listening to both sides trying to determine who was right and who was wrong. He was the under ranked officer in the room. He felt like he should sit and listen. Not take sides.
“We will be saving lives. We don’t have to worry about insubordination,” Norton agreed.
“We won’t have to worry about other officers in our own fleet making irrational decisions based on gut feeling or whim,” Krowe added. Krowe had seen this kind of actions. He was almost killed twice.
“Is that why Commander Scaven is not present?” Roland asked plainly. The room was quiet. They knew if they could introduce a drug to the crew, he would not accept under any circumstance. Matt Scaven flew with his gut feeling and made those irrational moves that the others feared.
“Scaven is not here, because it will be administered to him,” Stevens said, lowering his head. “ I didn’t want to really, but he must be controlled. How can we keep him in line?”
Roland was shocked. He couldn’t believe his friend, his mate from Academy was going to be betrayed and he could not do anything about it.
“We just can’t risk the chance, Roland,” Stevens said, knowing of Roland’s friendship.
Roland sunk in his chair in disbelief. “Ok.......ok,” he reluctantly said. Roland turned to Grove who was Scaven’s and his own mentor. Grove was going to accept the fact that Scaven was deemed unsafe untrustworthy.
“So, it will be done,” Viktor said.
The men turned to each other in agreement, nodding their head in approval. Roland approved, but did so reluctantly.
“So be it.” Stevens said. “We will take this matter to the senate.
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