Tuesday's Short - In Service to the Pinnacle

This week’s short story takes us from the journalistic commentary of headlines on Earth's involvement in inter-planetary politics to a distant underwater world where diplomacy of a different kind is required. Welcome to In Service to the Pinnacle.
Jamie has two names, and a whole bunch of secrets that she keeps from everyone, including her employer, Odyssey—which is no mean feat, given what that company does—but, when a mission takes her to Askreya, she has to deal with an old dilemma, an old foe, and something entirely new, and her secrets begin to come to light. Can she finish her mission, without everything being revealed?In Service to the Pinnacle

Why anyone would want to serve a stone was beyond her, but Jamie Anderson just took the news with a shrug, and reached for her kit.

“What’s the aim?”
“You have to keep the rock alive for the next forty-eight hours,” Lassiter told her.
Jamie stopped, not sure she’d heard him right. Lassiter was looking at her expectantly.
“It’s a rock,” she said.
“It’s a living rock,” Lassiter told her.
“Riiight. And what kills it?”
“That’s not something they were willing to divulge. I tried to explain that it would be difficult to keep their Pinnacle alive, if we didn’t know what posed a threat to it. The only thing I could get from them was that it wouldn’t be a good idea to let the Pinnacle get wet.”
Jamie quirked an eyebrow.
“As in water causes erosion, and might cause premature aging?”
“Something like that.”
“But you said they’re visiting a water world.”
Lassiter gave a short laugh.
“I know. Ironic isn’t it?”
Jamie put her hands on her hips.
“Okay, boss. What did I do, this time?”
She watched as Lassiter’s face went from amused, to surprised, to a complete and utter blank.
“Come on, boss. What was it?”
“Well, there was that little matter on Deloran III.”
“Yeah, and how was I supposed to prevent that from becoming a train wreck? HQ got the wrong information. They didn’t verify it before they sent me out. They didn’t let me verify it, and hoots-ma-toot, suddenly we’re ass-deep in baby alligators.”
“Which you promptly shot.”
“They were tryin’to eat me, at the time.”
“HQ did point that out to the client, and it saved us some of the penalty fee.”
“And the duff gen?”
“Well, that saved us some more.”
“Oh, give it a rest, boss. That allowed them to be able to impose counter-penalties and the client then—”
“Took his custom elsewhere, and our reputation suffered.”
“That should notbe my problem.”
“Let’s just say HQ thinks your horizons need expanding.”
“Uh, huh. You mean HQ would like me to solve their next bit of misinformation with something other than my gun.”
At least Lassiter had the grace to blush.
“Something like that.”
“I don’t suppose the client gave you any information on who its enemies might be?”
Lassiter cleared his throat, and looked down at his shoes.
“Well, that’s just fine and dandy. We don’t know what would kill the rock, we don’t know who, and. I don’t suppose we have any inkling why, or why the next forty-eight?”
“Now that you mention it,” Lassiter said.
Now that she’d finished waving them around, Jamie put her hands back on her hips, and glared. Lassiter continued to stare at her for a long minute, and then he turned on the television in the corner of the room. Clicking through the channels, he finally settled on one that opened on a swirl of brightly coloured fish, and then zoomed in on solid stone structures bedecked with corals, anemones, and seaweed.
One side of the structure looked built into a cliff, above a sheer drop into an underwater trench. The other walls of the centre vanished into coral growth, or vanished into the edge of a seaweed forest, growing on the plateau on which it was built. The building was fitted with clear plascrete windows, which looked in on a conference room.
Jamie blinked and then took another look. The view through the conference-room windows was a little distorted, but she could still see the odd arrangement of a table that stood in the centre of the hall. Around the inside of the table were the usual array of seating for air-breathing delegates, but the other half of the table itself protruded into a tank that ran down the centre, and which was also set with an array of equipment meant for delegates—water-breathing delegates.
The television showed several underwater craft moving through the depths on approach to the city.
…delegates arriving for the inaugural meeting of the Cetacean worlds. This is the first face to face conference between delegates from both air- and water-breathing factions in any of the known galaxies, the commentator said.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Jamie said, her voice barely above a breath. “Nothing I did is deserving of this.”
Lassiter glanced back at her.
“You know I don’t like water, boss.”
“HQ said it would be good for you to face your fears.”
With an effort, Jamie suppressed the flash of anger, and words that not even Lassiter, for all his understanding, could overlook.
“But I just blew the last mission. Surely there are other operatives more qualified.”
“No one knows Askreya better than you.”
Jamie’s heart plummeted. Askreya. Officially, her home world.
“There’s a reason I left home as soon as I came of age,” she said. In truth, she had hoped never to see the world again.
“I know. You said it was because there was too much water.” He left the news report running in the background and gave her his full attention. “Is that the truth?”
Now, it was Jamie’s turn to blush. As he had no doubt guessed, that was indeed not all the truth. Lassiter waited, his calm brown gaze never leaving her face. Finally, Jamie found an answer that best explained it.
“There’s a reason I don’t like water, boss.”
“You nearly drowned?”
“I wasnearly drowned.”
“Hard to imagine you irritating anybody that much.”
“Is that meant to be a joke?”
Lassiter didn’t dignify that with a reply, but his half-suppressed smirk said it all.
“You want to tell me about it?”
“Did I tell Recruiting?”
“You should have.”
“I didn’t want them to send me back.”
“It might have made them think twice about assigning you to anything on that world.”
“When I’m the one that knows it best, and a galaxies’ first conference is going on? Give it a break.”
“True.” Lassiter’s smirk disappeared. “Tell me what contingencies I need to have in place.”
“You mean you actually want me back?”
This time, Lassiter looked sympathetic.
“Despite what HQ wants to believe, you’re one of my better agents.”
“Gee thanks.”
“So, spill.”
Jamie did.
“I was sixteen,” she said, “when one of the corps worked out I could hear the fish.”
From Lassiter’s suddenly raised eyebrows that was news, too.
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t tell HQ. Anyway, the corp decided they wanted me to work with them to track down the purple divers.” She hesitated, then made a wide armed gesture towards the television. “It was wrong. The corp was hunting them for their oil and their scent. I pretended to be willing to accept their offer, and started packing, but they found my blog and figured out I wasn’t about to help them.”
Her blog. She hadn’t told the company about that, either. So far, she thought she had gotten away with it, kept her head down, not made any updates since leaving Askreya. There had been nothing for the corp to trace, a complete break in her trail—and with her past.
“How well do they know you?”
“They probably have my biometrics, as well as photographs. And they’re vindictive enough to be updating it for age.”
“You don’t just hear the fish, do you?”
Jamie felt her face heat. She’d forgotten Lassiter’s ability to pick when she left something out. She just hadn’t realised he could work out exactly what.
“Well?” he pressed, and this time she felt the nudge inside her head that told her why.
“HQ know you’re a low-level psych?”
His expression remained stern.
“Don’t change the subject,” he said. “Yes, HQ knows. And you should have told them. Now, you can tell me, or I’ll pull it out of your head.”
From the look on his face, he meant it. Great, now she’d managed to irritate Lassiter as well. Jamie raised her chin defiantly and looked him in the eye.
“I can speak with them, as well,” she said, “and I can project an emotion, or direction, to them. If they trust me, the fish will do as I ask.”
“Including swim into the corporation’s nets.”
“Including that, and if there were no survivors to warn the others—no witnesses, so to speak—then I’d get away with it again, and again.”
“Not such a low-level psych, are you?”
Jamie remembered Lassiter’s threat to pull the knowledge from her mind.
“About as much as you,” she said.
They stared at each other for a long moment, Jamie half-listening to what the reporter was saying about the convention, and its guests.
This is also the first time the creature known as the Pinnacle has left its world to attend the convention…
Lassiter’s sudden expletive made Jamie jump, and they both turned to stare at the screen. A pure white craft, comprising sleek, sharp lines was gliding through the water towards the conference centre. At first she didn’t see what had caused his reaction, and then she noted the distinctive mountain peak with its overarching part-circle.
“That’s going to make it a bit difficult for me to keep it safe,” she said. “Weren’t they told I was to travel with the principal?”
“They were told you’d meet them there.”
“Well, that’sgoing to be a bit difficult, isn’t it?” Jamie bit out. “I’ve only just learned of the assignment—or is this going to be another baby-alligator scenario where I’m somehow to blame for not being prescient?”
“You’re sure?”
“Dammit! I didn’t see this coming. I take it the Odyssey contract is already in place?”
“It’s set to start at 13:45 on the tenth.”
“The tenth on whosecalendar?” Jamie asked, and watched as Lassiter paled.
“Oh, stars and heavens above!” He got no further than that, before his mobile started to ring, and both their pagers activated.
Jamie headed out into the hall to make her call-back, leaving Lassiter alone in her flat.
“Yeah? Yes, I saw the news. No. Because I have only just been given the assignment. Yes, I agree, I cannot save anyone’s ass when said ass is in the next system. No, I’m not being facetious. Yeah? You beam me up, and I’ll be there, but I’ll need”—light flared around her—“Sonuva…! You should warn a girl.”
She shut her mobile down, and glared at the assignments officer standing in the interview room. He didn’t waste any time.
“Where’s your gear?”
“I’ve only justbeen told of the mission. I haven’t even agreed to take it.”
“Why not?”
“Ask the boss,” Jamie retorted, remembering all the times Lassiter had advised her to let him handle HQ.
Lassiter arrived on cue, minus the cussing. He merely oriented himself on the assignments officer and raised an eyebrow.
“She hasn’t agreed to go?”
“She has history we weren’t aware of.”
“Can it jeopardise the mission?”
“That depends if you consider the personal protection officer being a target a jeopardy.”
“Not as big a problem as not having protection in place on the agreed on date.”
“It’s not yet the date intended.”
“The client has a different opinion.” The assignments officer reached down, and picked up a duffle bag Jamie hadn’t noticed sitting at his feet. “Catch.”
She had just enough time to wrap her arms around the bag, before she was bathed in light again.
This time, when she reformatted, she hit the floor on her knees and threw up. Three sets of boots waited patiently until she was done. Three tall, green-skinned men in uniforms of crisp white cloth viewed her without a trace of emotion on their faces, as she slowly stood up and slung the duffle over her shoulder.
“Odyssey?” one ventured, and Jamie nodded.
She swallowed, wished she had a water flask, or ten minutes privacy to wash her mouth out.
“Yes?” she managed, her voice a croak.
“We break orbit as soon as you’re seated.”
Seated? Jamie didn’t need to ask the question; she was escorted quickly to a small waiting room with padded flight couches.
“For late arrivals,” one of the men explained, taking her duffle, and stowing it behind of one of the locker doors, while another indicated where she should sit.
Jamie wanted to ask how close they were to breaking orbit, but she didn’t have to. Her escort took the seats nearest them and strapped in. The officer attending her checked her webbing, and followed suit.
As he buckled down, Jamie felt a soft vibration run up through the seat, and then the ship accelerated. She was wondering why she needed to strap in for a simple departure, when the world around her shuddered, and her stomach felt as though it had gone into freefall.
Oh, crap. She’d been hoping to be in her cabin and sedated before the ship shifted into warp. Her day had just gotten unbearably long, and she hadn’t had time to inspect the gear she’d been assigned. She tried accessing her Odyssey implant on the off-chance they’d uploaded any data on the mission in between teleporting her in, or shunting her out. No such luck.
With a sigh, Jamie closed her eyes and tried to sleep. It was the only real answer to warp travel. In minutes, she was out to it, and she didn’t wake again, until one of the crew members touched her shoulder.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Three days out.”
“Of Askreya?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He waited for her next question, and turned to retrieve her duffle when there wasn’t any. “I’ll show you to your cabin. Your employers have forwarded a secure message to your private terminal. They assured me you knew the protocols.”
“Do they differ on this ship?”
“No ma’am. The protocols have nothing to do with us. We use standard secure data procedures, and leave the rest to our guests.”
“Thank you,” and Jamie followed him to a small cabin several decks down from where she’d arrived.
Within minutes of securing her cabin, she opened the data packet and went over the very few mission details she’d been provided. By the time she’d arrived at Askreya to meet the delegates she was meant to be protecting, she felt no more prepared than when she’d left HQ—save for the fact that she had a new identity, a quick nanite cocktail to muddle her biometrics, contacts to disguise the colour of her eyes, skin dye, and a different hair colour.
Fantastic, she thought, viewing the faint patina of scales that dusted her cheeks and throat. Now, I look like I should be out partying with the fish.
“I need to know what to protect you from,” she reiterated, once she had secured a private moment in her principal’s quarters. Her request was met by a sense of open curiosity.
“Did your employer not explain the situation?” it asked.
“They said you needed to be protected from water, and would not share the nature of the threat, or the reason there was a threat.”
Comprehension sounded in the voice, although Jamie could discern no obvious features on any of the rock facets opposite her.
“It is the same as the misunderstanding with the date. We were most anxious when you were not present when we arrived.”
“I am sorry to have caused you concern.”
The creature rocked with what Jamie understood was amusement. She might not be able to find a face, but she could still hear its emotions, and something of its thoughts.
“It is why we asked for you,” the Pinnacle said. “You can hear the thoughts, and send your own.”
“How did you know?”
“We read your file.”
“But it’s not in my file.”
“It is not in your Odysseyfile, Jamie Kleay.”
“That’s not—”
“—your officialname. We know. But we did not read your officialfile.”
Jamie was out of her seat, weapons drawn, and backing towards the door, but the rock person did not move, and its servants made no move towards her, either.
“Unlike those from whom we obtained the file, we mean you no harm, but we do need your help.”
That made her hesitate, one hand on the door.
“I cannot protect you if you cannot give me more detail on the threat,” she said.
“Then it is a good thing we do not need you for that.”
Jamie felt along the door’s edge until she had the control pad beneath her fingers, and then she waited, fingertips hovering above it.
“What do you need me for?”
“The people you know as purple divers have not been invited to this conference. They asked us for help.”
“You don’t strike me as brokers.” It was out before Jamie could stifle it. Again, she felt a wave of amusement from the creature.
“That is a mistake many people make. Just because we are made of stone does not mean we are slow, or raised under a rock. We obtained your records from Selicourt without their knowledge, and tweaked the biometrics they had on record.”
“You lied to Odyssey.”
“We were not entirely truthful with them, no.”
“They will put you in breach of contract.”
The level of smug Jamie was sensing went up several notches.
“They can try.”
“What do you mean?”
The smugness toned down.
“We have other matters of interest to them. I believe we can come to an agreement, but it is your help we require now.”
“Does the task pertain to your personal well-being and safety?” She felt the living rock hesitate, knew when it was somewhat less than honest in its reply.
“Of course.”
“You aren’t really in any danger are you?”
“Not from the water, no,” the creature assured her, and again Jamie felt the evasion in its answer.
“Do you need me, or not?”
“Yes. We need you.” That reply, at least, was the whole truth.
“Very well, what do you want me to do?”
“We need you to call the purple divers to the conference. We need you to tell them they mustreveal their secondary form to the attendees, and we need you to translate between them and the gathered worlds.”
“How do you know they will hear me?”
“They have not always been confined to this world,” the Pinnacle replied. “Nor are their communications limited. Representatives asked for our help in finding you.”
“Very well,” Jamie said. “When?”
“We have a tour of the reef booked in an hour.”
“You were very sure of my assistance.”
“We did our research.”
“Odyssey will complain.”
“I don’t see why. They will be paid for your protection of our interests, and you will earn them a significant bonus. Once our contract with the divers is complete, and they have regained their voice to the worlds, we will need to speak with your Odyssey. I believe our areas of interest intertwine. Are you willing?”
“And the threat to you?”
“We have our own security. If you will focus on the task to hand, we would be suitably gratified. Consider it a duty of protection, just not exactly the kind of protection for which you thought you were being hired.”
And so she did. For one thing, it enhanced Odyssey’s reputation, and, for another she had been wanting to make Selicourt pay for the atrocities it had committed in its pursuit of profit. This way, she managed both.
Typically, Lassiter remained unimpressed.
“You have some explaining to do,” he’d said, once the conference was over, and the purple divers had revealed themselves to be another intelligent form of shapeshifter. Mermaids, indeed! Jamie hadn’t heard so much hogwash in all her life, but if it made the reporters happy…
“I put everything in the report,” she said.
“Except that you lied about Askreya being your homeworld.”
Ah, yes, there was that.
“And you’ve been giving us a false set of biometrics every year since you joined.”
Jamie sighed. That was only partly true. The fact that her biometrics shifted with the form she chose to take wasn’t entirely her fault—even if the form she chose wasn’t exactly the one she’d been born with. Lassiter ignored her sigh, and continued.
“Just because you’ve made Odyssey the first name for protection and client confidentiality, once more, does not make you immune to the consequences of hiding things from the company.”
Jamie scrubbed at her cheeks. The patina of scales she’d thought a result of the nanites had not disappeared, when the nanites had been flushed from her system. She should have realised it was a bad idea to mess with her bios.
“What can I say?” she said. “A girl has to have some secrets.”
“Not any more.”
Jamie hid her smile behind a glare. Well, they could try.
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In Service to the Pinnacle is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: books2read.com/u/bzpvPn.
You can also find Kristine Kathryn Rusch's latest free short story over on her blog: kriswrites.com. Why don't you go and check it out?