Maria and Ashwan read over Tannis' conclusions.

Maria frowned, "I hate to say it, but she's good. The Cerian's lost a good one when you brought her in."
"She's sharp tactically as well. After I started talking to her when she appeared in the middle of my formation, I noticed that her power levels dropped off. I think she was originally going to open up with everything she had before we could target her. She'd have gone down, but we would have lost at least half the squadron."
"In that case, I'm glad you brought her in. Even if it did...shit. I'm still blaming her."
"It is hard not to. Can you do anything with what she's uncovered?"
"I" she paused "maybe. If I look at funding and voting patterns, I might get something." Maria looked thoughtful, and then looked at her husband "Shoo. You should head back to your base, bring your team up to speed. I'll call when I have something."
"Yes, ma'am!" Ash saluted her, and she swatted him over the head before grabbing him in a tight hug.
"Take care. They'll have worked out what happened by now. We'll be safe here - the house guard will see us right."
"You take care, too my love."
She hugged him again, and gave him a kiss before pushing him out of her office.

As Ash flew back, Maria started collating data about voting patterns in the Assembly, and funding of space technologies. At first there was no real pattern - funding for research would get delayed or blocked, but the factions doing so would change. Some funding still got through, though, and that must have annoyed the anti-space fanatics.

But who were they? It did not look like any of the Assembly had anything to do with it. Maria worked through the night.

Just as the sun rose, the obvious answer suddenly struck her. Who was backing the factions that opposed the research? At first the numbers did not show much, but as she refined the data, a pattern arose. Three families, through various groups, were pushing cuts. Never for the same reasons, never using the same front. They would quietly move in on an alliance, bring money and opinions, and then move on.

For a time that alliance would be anti-space, but usually got over it.

And then the war came. And space research became very focused. The same families supported that research and development. Because while everyone concentrated on that, they were not looking at the bigger picture.

Maria had to give it to them, they had been very clever. But now she had a trail. And names. These were the people who killed her little brother. And she was going to make them pay.

She packaged up her findings with the evidence, encrypted it, and sent it to Ashwan. A plaintext copy went to the family heads. And, after a moment's thought, a copy was sent to Tannis, with a note: "We've got them."

Then Maria reclined her chair and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Read the whole WIP here: https://rdmasters.lympago.com/p/cerian-and-varan-war-story-in.html

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As Humanity set forth into the stars, there were certain luxuries they were unable to leave behind. These changed somewhat between the various cultures, but ultimately came down to four things. Which of the four varied, but there was always at least one of them.

Cacao, coffee, tea, and alcohol. Every ship leaving Earth had some means of producing at least one of these. And, humans being humans, alcohol was always soon to follow no matter what the official stance was.

There were other luxury staples that went into space - hemp and tobacco being the most common - but they were not a certainty. The big four? At least one of them was always officially present.

On Ceria and Vara they had arrived with all four. Getting them to grow in the alien ecosystem, that was more difficult, and the resulting plants and their products were only passingly similar to their Earth-born ancestors. They way they were used? Very similar. Cacao pods produced a brown bitter paste rich in theobromine, coffee beans were roasted and brewed for caffeine, and tea leaves were dried and steeped.

And there was alcohol, in many forms, local fruits were adapted to make wines, herbs found to bitter grain brews, and anything that could be was distilled.

And so Tannis, after her meal, allowed herself to relax a little, and chewed thoughtfully on Cerian chocolate.

As she chewed the bitter-sweet bar, she continued to browse the oldest of the histories. As she did, she started idly drawing on a pad next to the computer.

Around an hour later, she looked down. In amongst her doodles was a question: "Who was Dejute?" She started searching. The fusion plants were called 'dejute modules', but there was no indication of how they came by that name. The existence of that person had been erased.

Tannis looked deeper, checking the other critical interstellar technologies. Not one of the inventors was recorded. Not even the inventor of the chemical rocket. Nor was there any record of any of Humanity's explorers.

The only hint of the earliest days of space flight that she could find was discussion of "The Kessler Event", and how carelessness had closed space for a generation.

She had them. She knew who the people behind Intel were. They were some kind of radical anti-space group. Not environmentalists - if they were that, then they would never have used nuclear weapons.

Tannis started writing a note for the Gould family explaining her finding. It might not help them identify them all, but it would tell them how to spot their activities.

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Cerian and Varan War fragment.

By the time day three of her captivity rolled around Tannis was getting sick of bits of nutrient bar and sugar water.

She did what workouts she could, and continued her research. History was not her strong point. She'd become a pilot because that was where her strengths lay - not doing comparative history. Still, she'd spotted some things. And passed them on.

Squadron Leader Ashwan had answered the messages tersely but politely, and she suspected that the death of his brother-in-law had affected him more than he was letting on.

Around midday, the comm pinged, and she picked it up "Hello?"
"Hello Tannis." It was one of the matriarchs of the Gould family.
"Madam Londry, what can I do for you?"
"There will be some work going on outside the study. You know there is a small airlock there?"
"I've seen it. I know I'm small, but I doubt I'd fit."
"We are going to be fitting an adapter to the outside. Your flight dropped some cargo pods for you. They are sealed, but they won't fit inside, so we're going to make it so you can open them one at a time without going outside."
"Cargo pods? My flight?"
"Going by what is written on the outside, yes. X-rays suggest that they have clothes and food packs inside."
"Oh. Thank-you. I'll suit up just in case something goes wrong."
"Very wise. I'll call when we're done."

Tannis suited up, and waited, listening to the sounds of the workers. After three hours, everything went quiet.

The comm pinged again. "Tannis."
"Good news! They are done. The outer area has been sterilised, so you can open both doors safely."
"Thank you Madam Londry."

Tannis went over and opened the inner door. The airlock would fit about half of her. She opened the outer door as well. Beyond was a small metal box, with the outer wall curving inwards - it was the shell of a cargo pod. There was also a spanner.

She got to work undoing the bolts holding the hatch closed, and pulled the cover off. Inside she could see bags, with numbered cords attached.

Pulling on the first cord pulled out the nearest bag. She kept pulling. After the twentieth bag came out, she stuck her head inside, and looked around. Empty. Tannis put the cover back on and closed the airlock doors.

Only then did she take the respirator and flight suit off.

Opening the first bag, she saw clothes from her locker, and (thank-you Hitomi!) some scarves. Even before looking for the food, she re-wrapped her hair, and felt properly dressed for the first time in days.

Then she looked for the food, and discovered several weeks worth of rations. Enough variety to stop her going completely nuts, but it was not going to be fine dining. But compared to the last three days, it was silver service.

Tannis opened one of the packs, and got out a main meal. Real food. At last!

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Read the whole WIP here: https://rdmasters.lympago.com/p/cerian-and-varan-war-story-in.html

While Tannis mulled over old records, Ashwan had other matters on his mind.

Maria's initial reaction to the news of her kid brother's death had been tears. Ash had not been much better. Eric had been annoying as anything while he and Maria had been dating, but he'd grown out of it. Especially when Maria proposed.

Since then, he'd looked up to Ash as a big brother - and had followed him into military service.

Now, though, the tears had given way to anger. "It's that Cerian's fault Eric's dead" she announced.
Ashwan thought for a moment "Yes. You're right. It is absolutely her fault."
"If she hadn't..wait, what?"
"You're right. It is Tannis' fault. She's completely to blame."
Maria stared as her brain rebooted. Ash wasn't supposed to be agreeing with her. "You're not defending her?"
"Nope. You are correct. If she had not brought the news that our Intelligence agency was lying to us, and then started to blow themselves up, Eric would not have gone in and cut that power cable."
"You bastard."
"My love, you needed to rage at someone. Our guest was convenient. But we both know it is not really her fault."
"Ash, that was a horrible thing to do, but thank-you. Those Intel sods are going to pay, aren't they?"
"The few that are still alive. And we need to find the rest. They will have collaborators elsewhere, you can be sure. And that is where you come in"
Maria tilted her head slightly.
"We need you to look at the records. Find the gaps, and find who could have made them."
"And then we make them pay."
"With interest. They are going to live long enough to regret ever crossing House Gould."
"He was supposed to be safe, Ash."
"I know. And he chose to stop them."
"It's your fault too, you know."
"I know. I was the heroic pilot" he shook his head "If only he'd known the truth."
"Ash, you didn't know the truth."
"We're going to make them pay", Ashwan looked grim, "dearly."

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Read the whole WIP here: https://rdmasters.lympago.com/p/cerian-and-varan-war-story-in.html

Tannis resumed studying what early histories existed. A lot of the very early documentation was fragmentary, something she now suspected was not accidental. Especially as other documentation - technical, scientific, engineering, even literature - was considerably more intact. There was something rotten.

After a couple more hours, and another half ration bar, she noticed something else. There was another gap. This one was so conspicuous that the only reason no-one would have asked about it was that it was not there to ask about.

There was nothing about why the colony ships had left Old Earth in the first place. Not a single word.

She picked up the communicator again. "Madam Londry?"
"Yes, Tannis?"
"Why did the original colonists leave Old Earth?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Why did we all leave Old Earth at all? It must have been very expensive, and very risky. So why?"
There was a pause. Tannis could hear keys clicking. They stopped.
"That, my dear, appears to be a very good question indeed. What do you think?"
"I think the answer to that question will tell us exactly who Intel really are."

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The full work in progress: https://rdmasters.lympago.com/p/cerian-and-varan-war-story-in.html