by Clay Moore
Brian took in a deep breath. He wondered how Ofana was doing.
Ofana heard her name. A shock like an electric bolt went through as if someone hit her with a Hornbeast prod. She did the same things when she went to the doctor, or she had to see the Principal of the Royal school. She regally turned and walked up to the stairs onto the stage. The master of Ceremonies bowed deeply at the waist. She returned a short curtsy, almost a nod. Then she took her place at the podium. She inserted the key that Luana provided after she gave the media she wanted to the media chief of the stadium. On the screen in front of her, she saw the four clips she wanted to play during her speech. The first clip was the one with which Ofana wanted to start. She touched it. Over the loudspeaker, a voiceover artist with sympathetic views, read what they wanted to him to say.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for our Planetary Anthem.”
In the space above her head, the trid displayed the planet Giesling from space. Then it showed the Giesel Flag fluttering over the planet. The crowd cheered. Then waving beside their flag was the Eridani Flag. At the bottom of the planet it said:
Allies in war
Allies in peace
“Hello, I was the Ofana until about five minutes ago. I was informed by my government that last night that I was named Ambassador Plenipotentiary. So let me reintroduce myself.
“My name is Amelia Grace Stegitz Ambassador Plenipotentiary For Eridani.”
It started small, but it built until nearly every throat was saying: “Welcome Amelia.” It was a moment, so touching that tears welled up in her eyes. The crowd redoubled their efforts.
She waited until the crowd noise had subsided. Then she said: “When I arrived I was met with organized attempts on my life. I was so afraid for my life that I asked my father for help, and he sent it in the form of one man, but what a man. Implacable against Eridani’s Enemies, Your enemies will be his enemies. He will be resolute in your defense. This one man made it possible for me to accomplish my mission. His mission was to take me home, but he stayed and helped. In my service, he has been shot twice and still kills my enemies. He made it possible for you to hear my words. What are my words?”
She touched the Button. Across the screen were written, the words “Time for a Change.” The voices of Giesling spoke the phrase. Everyone recognized the accents from the different areas of the southern hemisphere. At the last, one of the boys that Amarantha hired to move things from her to Brian looked at the camera and said: “Time for Change, Chango.”
“What does that mean. You have had thirty-five years of one-party rule, and by definition, that is a dictatorial rule. You were told what to do, what jobs you could perform if there were any jobs available. The basic infrastructure of the planet was allowed to decay. Yet they met the quotas that were demanded from them by those selfsame men who came to rape your world, but left and forced the Miner’s guild to toe their mark.”
She pushed the third Button, and a still trid picture showed the four barons and three of the highest Miner’s Guild in a meeting. There were Alphacent banknotes in the hands of the Miner’s guild. “This picture was taken only a week ago by an agent of Eridani just as implacable as my savior. He risked death to bring us this picture. I say: ‘IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE.’”
The crowd cheered. There was a smattering of boos which were shouted down, and not hurt, she hoped.
“Thank you. Please remember to vote for those running on my coalition. I want to leave you with one more image. This is a picture of the inner twelve of the Miner’s Guild sitting around.”
She touched the fourth and last Button on the screen to display the image. By each of the Miner’s Guild leader was a naked woman. Over their heads was the name Pink Pagoda Club.
No one else knew to what the Pink Pagoda Club belonged. She was glad that Brian could not see this picture.
Brian nearly jumped when the last cheers from the crowd came through. He heard her voice; timid at the beginning, like a lioness at this point. Brian had seen that picture and forwarded a copy to headquarters, and Brian would let them sort it out with the new government. Right now, he had his own problems.
Brian was in the middle of a problem that he called breaking a briefcase code. He had four colors to choose from. He had no knowledge if he could press the same button more than once.
"Six minutes thirty-seconds remain."
Brian was getting a bit rattled by his AI's insistence on counting down till doomsday. He took a deep breath. He began by cataloging what he did know.
There were four colors, Red, green, blue, and purple. Red and Blue were the primary colors, and He knew that from primary school. Green and Purple were secondary. Something did not seem right about his categorization. Then the flashing sequence, Red-Red-green-blue, occurred again.
"That flashing sequence came back."
"What flashing sequence? Five minutes till detonation."
"I saw these button lights flashed in a sequence twice. The same Sequence."
"They are not supposed to flash until five-seconds till detonation, and then all lights, at the same time, come on and stay on."
"A signal?"
"Where would it come from? Is there a communication system for the bomb?"
Amarantha was so engrossed in scanning the plans that were part of the manual that she missed the next time tick. Brian said it for them.
"Four minutes Thirty-seconds until detonation."
"No, Brian, there is not a communication system to the bomb. Those button lights are the only access once the countdown begins. Four minutes till detonation."
"Could this bomb be moved once set?"
"No, it was designed to be used in space or as a set it and forget it bomb on the planet. Once it was tasked to detonate after some time, anti-tampering prevents anyone from moving it."
The Sequence flashed again. Brian had a brainstorm.
"It is flashing when it is not supposed to be flashing that means that someone set it that way. Why?—they were forced to set the bomb. They did not want to set it, so they set up a combination lock."
"Four minutes till detonation. Who would do that."
"I think it was Jasmine, here. I shot her with the Colonel's energy weapon. She is very much dead."
"Three minutes Thirty-Seconds till detonation."
"Crap. There is something about those colors. Give me a thirty-second warning, and a ten-second countdown, Amarantha."
"Will do. Do you want me to shut up until those markers?"
"Please."
Brian looked at the body of Jasmine, or whatever her name was really. He could not have been that wrong about her. The Colonel's gun really fried her chest. He looked at her hands., and They were as soft as Linox Wool. She was not a worker bee in Alphacent. She was a technician; A bomb technician? She was here for both bombs. She fired one to prove the weapons were still good. She agreed to fire off the second bomb. Then she found where it was going to blow.
She may be a cold-hearted bitch out for money, but she was no mass murderer. She got cold feet, and Anton put her in confinement. She pretended it broke her. Jasmine must have written some code which Jasmine injected into the bomb's software probably here. Anton would have been here and wondered what she was doing to the weapon. No, Anton could not come with her. He would send a Gorilla to intimidate her and kill her. Where was this Gorilla?
He looked around and did not see another body on the catwalks. He leaned over and looked down into the poor lighting. He could see a body shaped shadows near to the door that controlled acted to this level from the surface.
He assumed that was the Gorilla. "Good girl," he said to no one.
He was on the right path. He went back to the bomb. A big boo from the crowd as Ofana explained what the picture meant. It distracted him for a moment. Where was his concentration today? The same pattern showed on the Button light, again. Was the code an emergency stop?
He looked at the body of Jasmine. He remembered the times when she
must have thought herself one of Brian's merry band. She would suspect he would come down here on detonation day.
"Thirty seconds, Brian."
"Red-green-blue."
"The primary colors of white light."
"I've been thinking in pigments." White, Ofana's White Caftan; Jasmine kept touching it when she thought no one was looking. The code was aimed at him!
He thought he knew what it was. He put his right hand near the red button light. He pressed the Sequence. During the manipulation, Amarantha counted down.
Amarantha was about to say: "two-Seconds" when Brian hit the blue button. He blew out a breath. He did not realize that he had been holding his breath when he entered the code sequence.
Brian looked over at Jasmine. She wore a talisman on a belt loop of her pants. It was a furry thing painted with two red bands, a green band, and a blue band in that order.
"Amarantha, remind me not to defuse another nuke ever again."
"Okay, you need to get the nuke into a bag and get on board. That cheering you heard is the end of Amelia's speech."
"Crap."
Brian saw the Bag that the nuke came in. He unzipped the Bag out popped a pair of shears to cut the metal cord. Brian cut the metal cord holding the bomb to the stanchion. He put the bomb in the Bag. Then Brian ran out of the catwalks of the Festival Surface. He started running as if he was trying to catch one of his foxes. He made it by the slimmest of margins.
“What you are seeing here,” began Ofana, “are the twelve prefects of the Mining Guild having some recreation at the expense of the Government.”
Everyone chuckled. Everyone knew What a Brothel was.
“Have you noticed that these men are fat. How many Miners are fat? Food is expensive on Giesling. People only eat what they can afford. Look what these gentlemen can afford, food and drink piled high in front of them and their lady-friends. Is that what government ministers should be doing with the public funds?”
“No,” shouted the crowd.
Ofana let the crowd murmur. She looked at the ministers under the Miner’s Guild Regime. She could see it dawn on them that the crowd might turn murderous. They departed the stage where they were met by the constabulary. They were going to holding cells.
She turned around and held her hands up. Pleading for quiet which she got after a few minutes. “When the time comes they will be hauled before a tribunal and tried for their crimes. Let the law work for you.
“My name is Amelia Grace Stegitz. Is it Time for a Change?”
A resounding “Yes” came from the crowd.
“Thank you.” Amelia Grace Stegitz walked off the stage.
She was immediately surrounded by her bodyguard, and They led her off stage. No one impeded them. They were able to move up to a light run. Then they were running across scrubby land that belonged to the Starport. Brian showed her a picture of what the Amarantha looked like.
Amelia saw the cargo ramp fold down to touch the ground. Then she saw a man dressed like her bodyguard run into the cargo bay. Amelia tried to double her run speed. The central irony was that she was running from nothing. Nobody was following her. They got to the ship and ran up the gangplank so see Brian putting a bag with a round object in a locker. He was covering the object with all kinds of padding. Then Brian locked the cabinet. When they all ran into the cargo bay, they did not see that the cargo ramp had closed.
Everybody shook hands or hugged each other. Then Brian called them all to attention. They formed up in line in front of him. Brian went to a cargo hold bulkhead. “Amarantha, would you do the honors?”
A locker in the wall unlocked and opened. A rod was extended out. On the rod were hangers of clothes. Brian took off a dress. He handed it to Amelia.
“Where I come from we don’t always give gifts of money, although we are going to do that last,” said Amelia. “This is a Giesling dress of the highest quality for you Luana. These suits are the highest Fashion on Giesling. These are from me. Please Remember Amelia in your thoughts and prayers.”
Brian stepped forward. “From the 210th themselves, they want you to keep the uniforms. They also ask that you come and march with them at the first sitting of the new Parliament.
“From me, Those Sub-assault rifles are yours as well as this crate of Ammo on the cargo deck.”
“From both of us, we paid for a suite for each of you.” Amelia handed out the keycards to each person. “We also paid for a 1000 crown credit for you to spend at the shops in the hotel, or room service, enjoy.”
“One last thing,” said Amelia, “You all were my assistance when I had none. I would not have survived until Brian came without you. My father, as the representative of the People of Eridani, grants you ten thousand crowns each.”
Brian reached into another locker and pulled out a white linen bag. He opened the drawstring bag and took out a brick of one hundred crown notes. “One brick contains five thousand crows in one hundred crown notes.” He handed each member of his team two blocks from the linen bag. That was all his ready cash.
“Now, Attention! The Giesling Ofana bodyguard unit is dissolved.”
“God bless you all for the work that you did these twelve days,” said Amelia, her eyes brimming with tears.
The members of the unit, one by one, walked out of the ship and down the cargo hold.
As the last member of her erstwhile bodyguard walked down with their prizes, Amelia put her left arm in the crook of his right arm. “Show me your ship. Can we make love in every bed in your ship?”
Brian counted the beds in his head. That was 14 beds if you count the medical beds and gurneys. “Lord, help me,” he exclaimed.
“I’m sure he will, honey, I’m sure he will.”
Brian found out that his absolute maximum was 5 times. He also found out that he should wait an hour or two to recover a bit. Before he knew it, it was the day of the election. Brian really did not care about his appearance. Something made him take a shower, shave, and put on a Tuxedo. He went to the galley where Amelia had made coffee. He sat down and drank from the cup she offered him.
“This is an important date, but formal wear is not required.”
“You are going to have to make a speech to all of Giesling. You know; much work to do, let’s all roll up our sleeves, let’s be Giesling’s first and party members second.”
“Can I use all those cliche’s.”
“Go ahead, I don’t own them. The thing is this could happen quickly. When it becomes obvious most people will concede and hope for a job. That means that we need to present an image of Formality and celebration. I have a bottle of Bon Preminger, okay I have a case. I’ll start icing a bottle at one in the afternoon.”
At noon Amelia came out of the bathroom and her session at the vanity table. Her long black hair was up, but she let a black lock of hair fall down her right shoulder. Amelia wore the spider pin in her coiled hair on top of her head. She wore a white formal sheath. Woven into the fabric were threads of gold. When she walked, she shimmered like a fountain of gold. That might work on Giesling, but Eridani would love it.
“Playing to two worlds, love?”
“What—oh the Gold threads, I guess I was thinking about that. I still have to win the vote in Parliament.”
Brian handed her his Slate. “You are an Ambassador Plenipotentiary as of 3 pm Eridani time. Congratulations, Ambassador Stegitz. Both the Emir and The Secretary of State have dibs on your time.”
“Sounds like you and your job.”
“When you are good at your job…”
“Hush, first counts coming in.”
“I got to set up our escape with Amarantha. I’ll be in the Cockpit. Oh, that personal comm has been set up for media and your rivals to call. Would you be a dear and answer it?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Victory is sweet, and defeat is bitter
Brian walked into the cockpit and sealed the door behind him. "Amarantha got an unusual job for you,"
"Really?"
"Yep, it will be a surprise for all of Giesling and Eridani. Remember the slide with the cross banners and the two lines underneath?"
"Allies in war; allies in Peace?"
"I want the flags fluttering a little. I want the text at the bottom in three-dimensional looking letters and gold in color. I want the outside lights on the Ofana and nothing else."
"A nice bit of theatrics, Brian."
"I swear this mission has made a politician out of me."
Brian heard a slamming on the ceramaglass window dividing the cockpit from the rest of the Ship. He turned around. Amelia had a huge smile on her face, and She was pointing to the trid. One of the candidates was conceding the election. He got up and left the cockpit.
Amelia embraced him. "Ohh, Brian, it's working." As she said those word another candidate conceded to the coalition of parties that she cobbled together. "Is it not wonderful."
"It is a wonder."
"Can I cook, or can I cook?"
"At this rate, you may wind up with the majority in their Parliament. I need to go back into my quarters."
She followed him into the bedroom. Between the moment she rose late in the morning till now, he had managed to make the bed with those hospital corners. Now he reached into his closet and pulled out a strange black tuxedo jacket. The jacket seemed stiff. Then he took off the one he put on earlier and put this jacket on. Once it was on his body, the jacket seemed like a regular jacket, except the pockets were not real. When the front of the coat came to gathers, it snapped as if magnets were holding the coat closed.
He went to the Ship's locker and opened it. He took out a belt-line holster, and He put that on and got one of the full sized pistols. He took out three magazines; one went into the gun, the other two went into the magazines' holster. He closed up the jacket. He looked the same as he did before.
The com unit, Brian had rigged for people to contact her rang. She picked it up and put it to her ear after removing a clip-on earring. Amelia announced her name and then listened on the com. She took her ear away from the phone.