TADJ8

==Chapter 8 - The Adjudicator==
Royal Palace
Tharkad City, Tharkad Star System
August, 3159
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[HPG Livenet connection, Rasalhague/Asgard to Tharkad...]
"You're still reluctant to accept my terms?" Trillian asked.
"We are quite unable to sever the ties to the Republic of the Sphere. Your recent war is one reason why."
"I assume you've found an ally or you wouldn't be quite so confident."  Trillian said.  "The Snow Ravens?"
"And Sea Fox."
"I see. That's quite a coalition.  I have a gift for you, to celebrate your figuring out how to get through this without compromising." Trillian said.
"A gift?"
"Yes. now, just to tidy things up a bit. You kept all genetic records. I assume this includes Gene records from the Star League before the fall-the Amaris records, for example, or House Cameron?"
"You know we did." they responded.
"Good. We found some old ones with interesting connections. I thought maybe you could explain it." Trillian continued, "Miss Ngo, the source of this data, it was kept by your people?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Clarissa said, "The original source was provided by the Ninetieth Heavy Assault Regiment.  According to our records, it was data that Kerensky issued. Then ordered returned after...events, but it is genuine Star League data."
"What are you talking about, Archon?"
"We know why you can't withdraw from your alliance with the Republic." Trillian said, "Only...you can.  Miss Ngo, please send them the data your office showed me?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Trillian waited, "Elected Prince, did you get the file?"
"I...i dont understand what I'm looking at." he responded
"You might want a geneticist to explain maternal DNA and degradation over generations-ours were pretty excited when they looked at it, correct Miss Ngo?" asked Trillian
"Yes Majesty, very excited. Giddy even.  The Cloning work was just short of Clan levels of advanced."  Clarissa stated.
"What are you two babbling about?"
"Devlin Stone...is Devlin Cameron. Really. He's a direct-copy facsimile of Simon Cameron, whose official DNA profile just happened to be purged from the Inner Sphere shortly after Exodus. Except for the copy hidden in a backwater paranoid nest of separatists who never liked the Star League anyway."  Trillian said, "You can't. Because  your culture is rife with ancestor worship-that is, Clan culture is. Also, Kerensky valued Simon Cameron over nearly everyone or anyone. A Cameron on the throne on Terra, it makes the Crusade a success and one-ups the old man. One being a Warden Clan, it gives you a 'Star league' to protect as the SLDF, doesn't it?"
The Khans looked shocked, the Elected Prince looked confused.
"Miss Ngo, what does their reaction tell you?" Trillian asked.
"If either of the Ghost Bear Khans was sitting in a witness box, I'd say we hit probable cause and probable guilt." the younger woman said, "They're caught and they know it...and I bet the Snow Ravens and the Sea Foxes have the same test results.  The only reason the Wolves don't, is they were fractured and it was maybe hidden from them by the others."
"Why would they hide it again?"
"Easy, Devlin Stone is gay as grandad's hatband. No kids, no heirs, not even illegitimate offspring...he liked boys or he was exceedingly careful about contraception.  He's their High king, Their Director-General, their First Lord.  The ilClan thing is about waiting for him to be gone. Only...my hypothetical falls apart, but it's all over their postures...duped-guilty and guilty.  these are the Clans, they're more bloodline obsessed than Nobles." stated Clarissa
"If you know this, surely you must end this war yourself!" the Elected Prince announced, "The Star League..."
"Has failed twice." Trillian stated, "Clarissa?"
"The Star League charter no longer exists. The treaties that placed it in effect have been abrogated by every single Great House, and more importantly, it was abandoned by the SLDF with the specific intent of triggering the Star League Civil War.  Aleksandr Kerensky and his followers killed it the first time, by abandoning it in the hour of crisis.  The second Star League was destroyed by the people most likely responsible for the cloning, training, conditioning, and deployment of Devlin Stone.  Ideologically, your Clans have been propping up a Blakist puppet. It's all in the brief I sent you. His speeches, his programs, everything you, and every other idealist proclaimed as his virtues, are all of it is drawn from Blakist political ideological and economic thinking.  He is a false prophet in the words of my mother's people. A make-believe messiah with a borrowed genetic ladder, programmed by the same mind that wanted to unleash the 21b virus on the rest of humanity to 'thin  the herd'."
"That can't be..."
"Yes, it can. You familiar with Dissociative personality disorder?" Clarissa asked. "I had to investigate this case, it involved a priest. An altar boy-and no, don't make that connection. This was a killing, not sexual misconduct.  The two of them ritually slaughtered a fourteen year old girl in a mockery of the sacrament. The problem is, there was an excellent case for multiple personalities on the part of the altar boy. We'll call him "Franz", because he'd been diagnosed with reality dissociative disorders before the murder.  OCB found that this state can be induced during the dark years. Several intelligence agencies use similar means to program their operatives.  I believe 'Devlin Cameron' is not a complete individual. I have provided examples of why based on analysis of his known public appearances. There are at least two men in that skin, and one of them has been playing us all for fools."
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