The Alpha Protocol: Alpha Protocol Book 1 by Duncan Hamilton (free ebook reader for iphone .TXT) 📗

appeared again. An emergency might feel urgent to a commander experiencing it first-hand, but the Admiralty—where they could offer little help beyond words of reassurance and the promise to dispatch support—took a more pragmatic approach. They were so far away, there was nothing they could do to directly influence the situation. All that was within their power was to gather the intelligence and formulate a long-term response. In naval operations, there was no such thing as the cavalry arriving at the last moment to save the day. You had to be sure that whatever you brought into a fight would be enough to get you out the other side of it.

‘Frontier Operations. Commodore Iyabo. I understand you’re reporting the loss of TUS Sidewinder. Who am I speaking to?’ The image of a powerfully built man in later middle age appeared.

‘Samson, J. Lieutenant. 414-3187. I’m transmitting a file with the names of the other survivors.’

‘Sidewinder is a complete loss?’ Iyabo said.

‘Completely, sir. Blown to pieces.’

‘By whom?’

‘I don’t know.’

Iyabo frowned. ‘I’ll need a complete report, but for now give me the main points.’

Samson walked him through everything that had happened, from the moment they had hailed the Bounty up until their arrival at the station, but chose to omit the mutiny. He still didn’t know how he wanted to deal with it. The fact that it had happened at all felt like a mark of no-confidence in his ability as an officer, and he felt he was on tenuous enough ground as it was without highlighting that his own crew had defied him. There was a time for that—he very much intended that Harper and the others would answer for turning on him the way they did—but that time did not feel as though it had arrived. There were more important matters to deal with first, and he wanted to give the impression that he had everything under his control.

‘At first glance it sounds like an overly ambitious pirate,’ Iyabo said. ‘Did Sidewinder get involved in any operations focused against any individual or organisation in particular?’

‘Not during my time aboard,’ Samson said.

‘Well, pirates don’t randomly decide to attack and destroy warships for no reason. Is there anything you’ve left out?’

Samson grimaced. ‘There is something, sir. I don’t know quite what to make of it, nor how to put it.’

‘Spit it out, Lieutenant.’

‘Sir, we found some unusual objects on the Bounty. I’m pretty sure they were what the old man was willing to die to protect.’

‘Unusual?’

Samson described the two objects, saving the most intriguing for last. ‘The piece of metal looked like it had writing on it, sir. I suppose it could have been decoration, but even if it was, nothing about it seemed human in origin. I can confirm I’ve never seen anything like them before, but I realise that doesn’t mean a whole lot.’

Iyabo frowned and remained silent a moment. ‘You’re saying you think these objects are of alien origin?’

Samson took a deep breath. Even with all he had seen, he felt like an idiot saying it. ‘Yes, sir. I think the objects may have been of alien origin.’ He took a breath and waited for the reaction.

The commodore’s face was inscrutable. That struck Samson as being a better reaction than it might have been. At least he hadn’t burst out laughing.

‘A big claim,’ Iyabo eventually said, stroking his clean-shaven chin. ‘The objects are not recoverable?’

‘I don’t think so, sir. Assuming they weren’t destroyed with the Sidewinder, I suspect they’re now in the possession of the ship that destroyed her.’

‘A shame. Having the objects would be useful. Get all of your sensor scans to us immediately,’ Iyabo said. ‘If something has been discovered out there, we need to know about it. We’ll extrapolate what we can from them. Are you familiar with the Alpha Protocol?’

‘I, uh—no, I’m not, sir.’ Samson could see from Iyabo’s eyes that he was reading something on his screen.

‘I see,’ Iyabo said. ‘All Frontier officers are given a briefing on it before posting, but yours was a little hastier than the norm. Capsilan Depot’s computer will have everything you need to know on file. I suggest you read up on it as soon as we’re done here.’

‘Aye, sir.’

‘Alpha Protocol deals with procedures for first encounter with any alien life. The salient detail is that all sites, objects, and life-forms are to be secured by naval personnel until diplomatic or scientific strategies can be implemented. As the only man on the ground, that responsibility falls to you until we can get another ship out to you. If your data checks out, invoking the protocol will be my next step.’

‘When will that be, sir?’

Iyabo’s eyes started scanning his screen again. ‘I can have the Peterson to you in ten days, and Nautilus three days after that. The destruction of a warship alone justifies me sending them to the system, but if what you’ve told me about the objects is accurate, I suspect the Peterson and Nautilus will be the tip of the spear.’

‘I don’t believe anything I haven’t seen with my own eyes, sir. The objects were strange. Strangest things I’ve ever seen.’

Iyabo hmphed. ‘Probably a good attitude to have. This needs to be dealt with carefully. Ordinarily I’d be more sceptical of a report like this, but with the destruction of a naval vessel involved, I’m willing to accept there may be more to it. I want to make one thing very clear, Lieutenant. Enacting the Alpha Protocol is a very big deal. If you’re wrong about this—if you’re making more out of something than is there to try to get your career back on track—you’re finished.’

‘I can assure you I’m not,’ Samson said.

Iyabo nodded. ‘I’m not going to be the man who dropped the ball on this one, Lieutenant. This could either be the biggest thing to happen to mankind since the Nexus, or it could make us both into the biggest idiots in the galaxy. Do not screw this up, Lieutenant.’

‘I’ll do my best.’

‘I’m going to