Astronomicon: Icarus

37 - The Ambassador

Kefler arrived in his office feeling a weird mix of emotions. He knew he did not genuinely have much to complain about, but the entire Wagner mission annoyed him. The mission had largely been successful, but a badly damaged prototype vessel and a special operations team in need of transport back to Earth were untidy loose ends that he did not appreciate. He wanted the whole operation filed and forgotten and that was not going to happen until the SAS team were home and the Wagner recovered and refitted.

There was still a few hundred million left from the US contribution to the budget. It seemed unlikely that they were going to demand the money be returned. Hopefully, that would cover the salvage and refit costs to get the Wagner back into a working condition.

He threw his coat onto the stand just inside the doorway of his office then walked across to his desk to place his minimalist briefcase on top of the leather-framed writing pad. He had not even reached his leather chair when the intercom pipped and his personal assistant spoke, "Sorry sir, but..."

She had barely reached the third word when his office door burst open with considerable force. The barrel-chested, neatly-bearded form of the US Ambassador stormed into the room, red in the face and out of breath. Kefler continued to position his briefcase then pulled out his chair from under the desk.

"YOU lied to me, Kefler!" shouted the Ambassador, still puffing from his exertion.

"Lied, Ambassador? I..."

"Your crew on the Wagner were presented as run-of-the-mill astronauts, part of the ESA program."

"That's what they..."

"What you put on that ship, sir, were a fucking Special Forces team!"

Kefler casually dropped into his seat, "Would you like to sit down, Ambassador?"

The Ambassador looked like he was about to explode. His face reddened further, the furrows in his forehead deepened and he stared in disbelief at Kefler.

"Please, take a seat, Ambas..."

That was pushing the Ambassador too far. His temper snapped. He gave an involuntary, grunted scream before turning quickly around, raising his right foot and kicking the side of the seat of the antique-style wooden chair beside him. The toe of his shoe struck the wood with impressive force, launching the chair across Kefler's office, before it smashed into the wall and fell onto the floor in at least broken three pieces.

The Ambassador took a deep breath and tried in vain to calm down. "Kefler...this mission was meant to be a cooperation between our two countries, between ESA and NASA, to rescue American citizens stranded in space. Instead, you put Special Forces undercover on the ship and a firefight broke out."

"Ambassador, drop the fiction now. I know as well as you do, that your 'salvage' team never had any intention of rescuing those survivors. You never intended to bring the Oppenheimer back to Earth and your team had been given a free hand to do whatever they thought necessary to complete their mission, even if that meant taking out the Wagner crew. Did you really think we were going to include a US crew on board our latest prototype vessel without taking measures to protect it?"

The Ambassador turned and walked a short distance away from the desk. Kefler let him think for a few moments until the Ambassador was ready to face him again.

"Kefler, what you did was an unacceptable breach of trust. The relationship between our two countries could be irreparably damaged by such aggressive and underhand action. You expect our people to forgive you for so many people dying?"

"And was your team exactly what you claimed they were?"

"We gave your their files."

"No, you gave us a piece of fiction, made up just for our benefit."

The Ambassador gave an angry laugh, "I gave you everything I could give you."

"What you gave me in the files was a naval salvage team with a mix of relevant skills. What you put on board the Wagner was a covert team of specialists to board the Oppenheimer, deal with the surviving crew members and clean up your mess. They were authorised to take control of the Wagner and who knows what else. Ambassador, YOU started this." He jabbed his finger at the ambassador.

"This was supposed to be a quiet operation, a cooperation between allies. We're not letting this one go. Complaints will be raised at the highest levels and don't be surprised if sanctions follow."

"That's an idle threat, Ambassador. You're not going to make this any bigger than it is already."

"Your little country is going to regret this, that I promise you. Don't think this is over!" he said, staring coldly into Kefler's eyes for an uncomfortably long time.

Kefler struggled to match the stare, but before it turned into a competition to see who could go longest without blinking, the Ambassador turned and walked calmly towards the exit. A visible air of calmness returned to him just before he reached the door. He pulled his jacket straight and checked his tie before reaching for the door's shiny, brass handle.

As he twisted the handle he looked back over his shoulder, "When you see the way things go over the next few years, think back to this mission. Things could have been so different."

Kefler did not reply. The Ambassador strode out through the door, leaving it wide open. Moments later Kefler's rather startled-looking Personal Assistant arrived in the doorway to close it.

"Is everything okay, sir?" she asked quietly.

"It will be, Hilary, it will be," he sighed, "But things might be a bit bumpy for a while."

- The End -

(Wattpad.com version of  Astronomicon: Icarus by Paul Vincent)

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