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Reunion: Chapter 14

"C-Chalie Protocol?" Prime Minister Wallace stuttered. The term was entirely alien to him which was surprising since he was in charge of the government. Not much went past his desk without his knowledge. That led him to the correct assumption that this was something that had never reached his desk, it actually gone around him entirely, cutting him out of the loop. "I don't know what this is?" He slapped the piece of paper that had been handed to him by an official Dominion courier which meant that it came right from the party, not the government.

Many people saw the Sol Dominion and the government as one and the same. That was a false assumption, though understandable. The Dominion had been the leading party for decades with a member in the office of the prime minister for most of that time. That created the illusion that covered the truth. Even Wallace answered to higher powers.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" He asked the courier who stood at an attention like pose and looked straight ahead at nothing in particular. He wasn't there to inform the receiver of messages about anything, he was only there to deliver notes.

When he got nothing in response, Wallace dismissed the boy, no older than twenty by his cheeks that still had a slight amount of youthful fat clinging to them. The courier gave a curt bow and left the room without ever saying a single word.

Wallace looked back down at the letter and read the rest of it. It was a summons for him to make contact with the party immediately over a secured network that not even the government could track. That was were the illusion of the government and the Dominion ended, both had their secrets that they kept from each other, Wallace simply acted as a sort of bridge at times.

The aged man sighed and pressed a button on his desk that activated a comm connection to his secretary. He didn't wait to make sure she was there. "Cancel all my appointments for today. I'm heading out." He let go and got up. They expected him to make contact as soon as possible and he had a long ways to go to get to the secured spot to make contact.

It was cold out this Martian evening and Wallace quickly pulled his long coat tightly to his body as he walked towards his car. Normally he would have a driver ready to receive him and take him home to his home at the center of the city, on the top floor of the "Everest Summit." He couldn't let anyone know where he was going, the party was paranoid about their secrets.

Wallace's vehicle, a jet black, trans-car with sleek lines and blackened windows automatically unlocked when he got close enough. He slid into the custom made leather seats that formed themselves around his body for maximum comfort and turned on the vehicle that hummed to life and rose a foot off the ground.

"Good evening." The on board computer said in the voice of a woman. It was supposed to sound like a Russian from Earth, but Wallace believed that the car makers just said that and they actually had no idea what a Russian woman sounded like. He didn't know either so there was no way he could prove them wrong. "Where can I take you today?" It asked sweetly and seductively.

"Manual control." If machines could be offended, this one would have. It was a machine though, so it instantly turned from auto to automatic.

The front seat shifted back slightly and the dash in front of Wallace shifted and a wheel came out. It was an ancient design that was obsolete, but one of the things that managed to survive from Earth was many of the traffic laws and beliefs. The wheel was still a common sight in cars when their manual function was turned on. The only real difference was that it could be tilted to increase or lower elevation.

Wallace grabbed the wheel and backed out of his reserved parking space and left the underground parking that had enough security that there was no chance of someone braking in for any reason.

Wallace entered traffic with no lights on the interior of his trans-car and the radio off. He proffered the silence, it was welcoming after hectic days at work. He would often spend time at the end of each day just staring out of his window of his top floor home, watching the ever-awake city move. It was also the perfect environment to be alone with his thoughts.

The class 5 specialist canine, X-031a, had escaped custody earlier that day. New had reached him only moments after it had happened at the subject had escaped before the nearest Dog Catcher squad could get their. Wallace knew that this was the reason he was being dragged out from work to call his own bosses. They had made it clear that the only person in the Dominion, the chairman, had a special interest in the dog. For what reason's, no one knew. The chairman was a legendary figure of the party.

Some say he's been with the party since before its inception, well before its inception. It was preposterous to Wallace to think that. People died, even the wealthy did, it was the part of nature that could not be overcome without great sacrifice. People had tried to live forever by looking at AI technology. They had biological technology and it was theorized that it was possible to digitally download a mind into a computer to avoid biological death. That never got anywhere. AI technology was highly controlled, simply having it or knowing someone with it who doesn't have enough clearance was a punishable and serious offense.

Most of the stuff was stored in deep space labs where any accident could be handled behind closed doors and avoid panic in the public. The Dominion had done a great job at keeping the fear of AI strong for all this time. Fear kept them in power, in control, though there was just too much good discoveries to be made not to take advantage of their technology, so distance was put into play.

Wallace was using the main sky ways, traffic was the most regulated there, making for a speedy cross of the city. Eventually he had to dip down to the lower levels of the city. The amount of vehicles, once so dense that vehicles were bumper to bumper, was quickly dwindling. As Wallace got further and further away from the human dominated center and deeper into the Canis filled outer limits of the city, Wallace found himself flying alone.

He kept his eyes straight ahead, only glancing at Mar's two moons which were both out tonight. He flew far past the city limits and over miles of farmland that fed both Mars and her outer colonies since it was expensive to build hydroponic facilities in space. Even then, the farmland faded away to the red Martian landscape, untouched by man.

It was ridiculous how far he had to go to make a secure call, but the communication traffic in or close to the city was too high to even chance a call there.

After some time, Wallace began to approach a a plateau where the land suddenly shoots up a full mile into the sky and then proceeds flat again. There on the edge of the cliff was a single light from a single building. Wallace headed right for it.

"Clear travel history." Wallace ordered the computer as he set down the vehicle in front of the shack of a building that had a single armed guard in full body armor, his face covered by a T-visor.

"Travel history cleared." The car responded and Wallace stepped out.

Out here in the middle of nowhere, it was colder. The guard didn't seem to notice either the wind that kicked up flurries of red dust at his feet since his suit was internally heated and servos kept the impact of the wind to a minimum.

"Good evening, prime minister." The guard said, not moving from his spot. "The meeting has started and they're waiting on you."

"Great." Wallace mumbled and opened the single door into the building. Inside was just as impressive as the outside. There was no need to be high tech in appearance when the only people who used the building were more concerned with other matters than aesthetics. The walls did have advanced blocking insulation though to prevent any would be eaves droppers if anyone even knew about the meeting in the first place.

There was a single chair and a single table to go with it. The back wall was a monitor that showed several blacked out faces and several other faces that could be seen. Those that were blacked out were high ranking members of the Dominion who did not hold a public or military position, so it was believed that if they didn't need to show their faces, then they wouldn't.

Wallace recognized those that weren't blacked out. Various members of government and the military. He had met many of them before and even saw a few earlier in the week at a bi-monthly board meeting. The rest, he didn't know who they were, but the figure at the top of the screen was known to all.

"Glad you could join us." The Chairman said, his voice distorted, ran through a modulator. "We were just discussing you. Please take a seat."

Wallace sat down immediately. He owed all his power to the chairman, everyone at the meeting did. He ran the show, nearly every decision that could impact the party ran through him. Yet, no one knew what he looked like. Wallace was sure that people met him, but no one ever claimed to.

"Now, where were we?" The chairman said to get the conversation going again.

"We were discussing the accumulation of ships in the new system." Another blacked out figure responded.

"Ahh, yes." The Chairman clapped his hands together, the modulator causing it to sound like static like thunder that was booming in the distance. "We knew that when the Dominion took power by causing the colony ship to randomly jump to a system, we were sending them to a system that had once been under control of the AI. Who knew that it was still occupied." He chuckled, not at all concerned.

"Over the past few weeks." A general that had been at the bi-monthly meeting spoke up. Wallace tried to remember his name. He was in charge of special operations and was in charge of the Dog Catchers. He believed that his name was Nix. "Scouts have reported a large amount of ships appearing around each of the system's gas giants as well as around the sole terrestrial planet. We haven't been able to get close, but it is apparent that these ships are outfitted with weapons."

"Hmm." The chairman shifted in his seat. "Very interesting indeed. What do you propose General Nix?"

Wallace waited patiently as the General went through various plans. Some called for advancing plans weeks in advance to destroy the ship facilities before the amount of ships reached critical mass. Other plans were more patient and relied on hit and run tactics to dwindle down what was slowly becoming a numerically superior force.

No one spoke up as Nix talked. He was young for his rank, only thirty seven and talked fast, but he went into great detail. Everyone paid attention to what he said and no one looked bored even if they were. It was known that the chairman hated inattentiveness and rudeness above all other things.

"What plan do you think would be the best, Andrew?"

A blacked out figure sat up straighter, being called on. "Chairman, the increase in ships is fast, but not so fast. If we stick with current plans, our fleets should be able to establish a beachhead to take out their facilities. I recommend that we do not divert."

"I see." The chairman nodded. "Very well. Stick with the current plan."

The meeting went on for hours, only going as fast as the chairman allowed it. No one was dismissed from it, except for one of blacked out figures who pardoned himself to use the restroom. The chairman allowed it, stating that nature did call on occasion. That got a few chuckles and the meeting continued once the person returned.

One by one, the individuals were addressed. They went over party politics, military, funding, everything. Wallace sat through it, putting input when asked for his opinion, but for the most part he remained quiet until it was his turn.

"Wallace, my friend." The chairman said and Wallace stiffened. "What news do you have for us?"

Never lie to the chairman, hold nothing back. Wallace told the group everything even though he knew that most of them were aware of what happened. He went into as much detail as Nix about how the Canis escaped by breaking his shackles through brute force and how he used his abilities to force his way through guards and then stole a ship.

"We tracked it to Earth." Wallace ended his twenty minute verbal presentation.

"Earth." The chairman replied. A single word and then silence. No one spoke as they waited for the chairman to say something else.

"Where exactly on Earth?" His voice was different. Was it excitement, anger? Wallace couldn't tell and it terrified him as well as several others as well. They were sweating and swallowing.

"New York." Wallace managed to say. He was parched. No water had been provided and he didn't have any inside his vehicle. "They landed close to the remains of Central Park."

"I see." The chairman mumbled, more talking to himself.

Wallace had never seen the chairman like this. He wondered if he had done something wrong. He wasn't in charge of the Canis. He had done everything that had been asked of him. It had been the fault of others. Nix was in charge of the Dog Catchers, he should have posted a squad closer. He knew that there was this Canis in the facility.

"Andrew." The chairman said and the figure stood up. "Take care of this."

The screen shut off and Wallace was left in the dark, The power hadn't been lost. They had just been dismissed and it was a relief. Even though it hadn't been official, this was now Andrew's problem and he didn't even think about how he was going to take care of a Class-5 specialist on Earth. As far as he was concerned now, the Canis had never existed and he could go home. He didn't care about Charlie Protocol anymore even though it wasn't brought up once during the entire meeting.

He got into his vehicle and lifted off. He still couldn't turn on the auto pilot, so he drove himself home. This time he didn't want to be alone with his thoughts so he turned on the radio.

Nothing but static, he was still too far out.