by J D Huffman
The other possibility, the one William scarcely liked to consider, was that both the dreams and the rendezvous on Cainin were entirely products of his mind, and he was suffering some kind of serious mental illness that kept him wrapped up in elaborate fantasies. Certainly, that he failed to respond to Angel in a timely manner could have given her that impression, as she continued to call his name and stare into his vacant eyes while he adjusted to his surroundings again.
“William! Are you okay?”
He blinked, finally making eye contact with her. “Yes, I’m sorry.” He tried to stretch and immediately realized what a bad idea it was, quickly pulling himself inward and groaning painfully. “Ugh, what happened to me?”
“You’ve been through a lot. Most of your injuries were from the Totality beating you, as I understand it. They did not go easy on you.”
“No, they didn’t,” he moaned, rubbing one of the ribs they’d either bruised, cracked, or broken outright. His body was bandaged just about everywhere. He felt significant swelling in his face, to the point that it interfered with his speech. He didn’t feel like himself, and that wasn’t solely down to being ensconced in Devon’s life for… “How long was I out??”
“Six days,” Angel reported. “We kept you sedated so you could heal faster. Sasha decided it was time to wake you up as we’re planning to leave Actis today. It’s the middle of the night right now. I just couldn’t sleep.”
William tried to smile but took care not to make it too big, lest he hurt himself again. “So, that’s good news? We beat the Totality and took the mining facility?”
Angel nodded. “And the cargo train. Well, part of it.”
There must be more to that. “Part of it??”
“We lost two of the ships. Out of four.”
Shit. That’s not good. Sasha was counting on three ships, according to Fred. Two may not be enough to get everyone out of here, at least not comfortably. “Can you send her to talk to me when she has time?”
“Sure. She’s very busy, though. It might take her a while. I’d be happy to send Demeter to you. He’s been bothering me about talking to you ever since I brought you here,” she noted with an annoyed eyeroll.
That’s right. Demeter’s here. I’m sure he has quite an explanation for that. “Send him, too. And I’m starving. Is there anything to eat?” William’s stomach rumbled as if in echo of his request.
“I’ll see what I can turn up,” she said, not sounding especially optimistic. William wondered if it was because he couldn’t eat normally yet, or because food was short. Let’s hope it’s the former.
He watched as Angel left the infirmary and glanced around to see who he shared the relatively small space with. The bed to his right had a young man with a slave brand on his forehead and whose right arm was wrapped in bandages which had soaked through green and yellow. William realized a foul smell was coming from that direction, and it was one he’d known before. Infection. Death. That young man’s not going to live much longer, he thought grimly. He didn’t know the man, but assumed he must have acquired his injury fighting the Totality, and that was all the courage William could’ve asked of anyone. He saw the man’s starkly pale face, beads of sweat covering his trembling skin, and felt pangs of pity. Don’t these people have antibiotics?
He noticed a little boy and a woman who was past middle age occupying the other beds. The boy was awake, sitting and playing with glowing green crystals that looked quite a bit like the ones William had seen down in the mines. Surely that isn’t safe. I suppose there aren’t a lot of toys for kids around here. The woman appeared to be asleep—William hoped that was the case, instead of the alternative. It wasn’t as if he could have stood up to investigate further. As he examined her, he failed to notice Demeter enter the room until his former subordinate pulled a chair across the floor with a loud screech. William winced and gritted his teeth, then turned to the source of the racket. “Dammit, Demeter. Was that necessary?” he growled.
“It’s good to see you again, sir,” Demeter smiled, ignoring William’s crankiness.
“I think you know what I’m going to ask,” William said, trying to fold his arms while pretending they didn’t hurt.
“The same questions I would ask you, I suspect,” Demeter replied, cocking an eyebrow. “I thought the Totality had taken you, but here you are in a uniform I know is not of Trepsis or Lexin. I believe it was mentioned that it’s of something called… the Order?”
“Yeah. I was on an Order ship. You remember the Sages back on Lexin?”
Demeter nodded. “Of course.”
“I knew one named Zotz. He got his hands on an Order ship at some point. I know this is going to sound crazy, but he took me up to his ship the night Trepsis was attacked. I was away from the planet with Zotz and a couple other people. When we came back, everything was destroyed and you were all gone. We eventually figured out something called the ‘Totality’ had you, and tried to pursue some Totality ships to determine where you’d been taken so we could free you. Things didn’t really go well, as you’ve probably guessed.”
“I noticed you came alone, for one thing.”
“We hired this guy to get us inside the Totality Fortress. He betrayed us and called the Totality in. I guess he was getting a payoff or something. Zotz shoved me into a ferry ship—against my will, I might add—and sent me off while he got his big Order ship destroyed. I would’ve liked to still have that. Could’ve made taking this facility and the cargo train a lot easier.”
“I agree, that would have been a great asset over the past several days. It’s a shame you lost the ship,” Demeter said skeptically.
William growled. “Don’t talk like I lost it. I told you, Zotz did. Or we all did, if you want to look at it that way. I didn’t know that snake-headed bastard was going to screw us over.”
“My apologies, sir. We’ve all been through an ordeal. I’m not as trusting as I used to be.”
None of us are, William figured. “So, what about you? How’d you end up here? Have you seen Torres? Or that Rios woman?”
“I’m afraid not,” Demeter shook his head. “I was put on another vessel right away and separated from the rest. I couldn’t tell you where they were sent. I arrived here several weeks ago, was processed and put to work. I learned the language quickly—one of those knacks I’ve always had. Finally came in handy, for once.”
“And you’ve just been here since then?”
“Indeed. It’s a fortunate coincidence you made your way here.”
“No kidding,” William puffed. “Not sure what the odds are, but I definitely didn’t expect to run into you or anyone else from Trepsis under these circumstances. Maybe I just got lucky.”
“Perhaps,” Demeter said, as if contemplating the odds. “You mentioned other companions. Are they all dead?”
William shrugged. “I don’t know. I assume they are. The ship was destroyed. I mean, it’s possible the Totality took them prisoner, but they could be anywhere by now. I’m not the kind of person who likes to hold out futile hope. Well, who am I even talking to? You’re from Lexin. You know what it’s like. We aren’t a people made for idle hope.”
Demeter agreed. “Not at all. Lexin isn’t a friendly place to the naive.”
“That’s one way to put it.” William lowered his voice for what he said next. “So, while I have you here… what do you think of this Sasha woman? Is she a good leader? She is the leader, isn’t she?”
“She is,” Demeter confirmed. “Self-appointed, from what I can tell. Fred—the tall one, the troll—strikes me as being far more qualified in terms of having intelligence on the Totality, but for some reason he defers to Sasha. The man in the bed next to you is Tau. He was injured in a crystal fire a few days before we took the facility. I’m sure you’ve noticed his condition.”
William frowned. “I take it you two aren’t close?”
“He’s not a bad person, he just wasn’t especially useful in the revolt, and his recklessness in starting that crystal fire brought down considerable punishment on all of us,” Demeter scowled, eyes fixated on Tau.
“I’m sorry to hear that. But we need to focus on what’s happening now. Angel mentioned we’re leaving this planet soon. Today, I think?”
“That’s correct.” This time, Demeter brought his chair closer so he could speak more discreetly, in case Tau or anyone else happened to be listening. “Sasha took the Totality crew from the ships prisoner and is housing them in the living quarters. There’s already been one raid by other former slaves out for revenge on the Totality. She intends to leave the prisoners behind and with no means to communicate so that the next Totality ship to arrive will retrieve them, whenever that happens. She’s even agreed to split the revolt—those that don’t wish to follow her can take one of the ships, and she will take the other with her followers. I think you can recognize what foolhardy choices these are, even if you haven’t been awake for most of them.”
William recalled second-guessing his superiors on Lexin, whom he frequently considered to be ignorant, misguided, incompetent, even corrupt. It doesn’t sound like she’s corrupt. Overwhelmed? That seems likely. She must know how brutal the Totality are if she’s grown up under their reign, so why would she spare their lives? Does she think that will bargain anyone better treatment later? William decided to put his response in the most diplomatic terms possible. “I want you to do what she tells you, Demeter. Whether you agree with her decisions or not, she’s taken up as the leader of this… whatever it is. Revolt. Uprising. Call it what you want. If you still respect me as your superior officer, I’m telling you to listen to her.”
“I believe there’s an alternative, sir. You.“
William balked. “Are you kidding me? I don’t know these people at all. What makes you think they’d follow me in the first place?”
Demeter leaned back slightly, raising his hands. “I’m not suggesting you simply usurp Sasha’s position. She needs people she can trust. You’ve helped her and you have knowledge beyond this planet—she doesn’t.”
“Fred seems to have a lot more of that knowledge than I do,” William pointed out.
“That’s true,” Demeter conceded. “But he is rarely proactive. He follows her lead. You should be proactive, yourself. There’s a weapons depot she plans to hit once we leave Actis. The intention is to arm our little uprising so we can strike at other planets, free more slaves, and grow the movement. I think it is a sound, if risky, plan. If you can help take the initiative with missions such as these, she will grow to respect you and give you more responsibility. You are a natural leader, William. You were sent to be the Chief Militiaman of Trepsis for a reason.”
William had considerable doubts about Demeter’s praise. He wasn’t there when I doomed the people of Golden, or destroyed those three dead planets, or got us betrayed by Bentek. How can he trust me at all when I wasn’t on Trepsis when I was needed most? I don’t think I’ve ever met such a born follower as this guy. Maybe he’s right, but this can’t be the best time for me to make inroads against Sasha. We have no reason to be enemies, as far as I can tell, and I worry that Demeter’s approach would put us at odds. I don’t want to compete with her, not if we’re serving the same goal.
“Sir?” Demeter asked, his face puzzled.
William frowned, realizing he’d been lost in his own thoughts. “Sorry. I was just thinking it over. I can definitely help this movement, but I’m not in favor of trying to take over. Unless I see some indication Sasha herself is incompetent or incapable, I’m content to take her direction and contribute to her revolt. If nothing else, it should eventually lead us to wherever the Totality took the Trepsis colonists. That’s why I came out here in the first place—to get them back.” He chuckled. “Well, I guess I got one of you back, didn’t I?”
Demeter grinned. “Good point, sir. For what it’s worth, I intend to take your orders, and yours alone. You are still my superior officer.”
William blew out a flustered breath, hiding his annoyance less well than before. “Like I said, my orders are for you to follow her orders. Don’t create strife where we don’t need it. Got it?”
Demeter gave a deferential nod, then stood up. “Is there anything else, sir?”
“Send Sasha if you happen to see her. I already told Angel, but maybe you’ll get to her first.”
Demeter agreed to William’s request, then made his exit. William leaned back on the bed, sighing. I don’t know what’s wrong with Demeter, trying to get me to rise up against Sasha like that. I suppose he means well. Maybe he just doesn’t recognize her authority. Must be hard to get past all that Militiaman training. She’s the sort of person we were trained to despise and destroy. Lexin always had its share of political malcontents. If Sasha had ever met Andrew, I wonder what she’d think of him. Would she agree with him about the mining companies exploiting natural resources and condemning our people to servitude? Then again, Andrew’s got no idea about servitude compared to someone like Sasha. These people were true slaves—their lives completely owned by the Totality, disposed of when their masters saw fit. I’m starting to understand why Kina didn’t tell us she was one of them. Did she escape? That seems the most likely explanation. It would make sense. She might have been afraid we’d turn her in. Maybe the Totality offer rewards for escaped slaves, or maybe it’s not worth it and they just kill them. Why keep a slave you know is a troublemaker? I probably can’t ask Sasha about too much of this. She might be sensitive about it. Fred would probably be the better one to interrogate. That guy’s a wealth of information, even if he refuses to share most of it.
Sasha finally arrived, breaking William out of his introspection. He raised his head and gave a measured wave with his hand, not moving too quickly. “Nice to see you,” he greeted.
“Nice to see you awake again,” she said courteously, then followed up with a yawn. Covering her mouth, she stood at the foot his bed and then folded her arms. “You sent for me?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to hear everything from people who don’t know what’s going on, so I wanted to ask you. I understand we lost some of the cargo train?”
“Two ships,” she confirmed. “Out of four. We lost about a hundred people on the one we’d already taken, that I sacrificed to destroy the one attacking us. If you’re here to question that decision, I’m—”
William shook his head. “No, I’m not going to question that. You’re in charge. You have to make decisions like that. It’s no one else’s place to second-guess them. I’ve been in charge. Trust me, I know what it’s like.”
“You know what it’s like to be responsible for hundreds of lives, do you?” she put to him, brandishing her skepticism.
William’s voice turned slightly harsher. “I do, as a matter of fact. I told you when we met, I’m responsible for the population of a colony that the Totality abducted. I take that seriously. I’m trying to tell you I’m on your side.”
“Are you? Or are you working for the Order?”
Where is this coming from? “I thought Fred explained to you that I don’t work for the Order. I came here in an Order uniform, yes, but I’ve never actually met anyone from the Order. I had a friend who came into possession of an Order ship. I’ll admit, his explanation was never completely satisfactory to me. Maybe he worked for the Order, but I never have. You can believe that or not. Just remember, I sacrificed my only conveyance—that little ferry ship—for your little revolt. I didn’t have to do that. I could have just left and tried to go it alone.”
“You stayed because you need help.”
He didn’t know if she was guessing or making it as a definitive statement. She’s right, but what’s she getting at? “I do need help, yes. But I think we have the same interests and goals.”
“Oh? You care about the
people here?”
He shrugged. “I’m not going to lie and say I’d lose a lot of sleep if anything happened to them right now. I don’t know them. I barely know you. What I do know is that you intend to attack the Totality, and I intend to attack the Totality. Seems to me like that’s a clear alignment of goals, don’t you think?”
“I suppose,” she breathed. “It was Fred’s idea that I trust you. I’m still skeptical.”
“But you didn’t leave me to die, so you must trust me at least a little,” he grinned.
She did not return the expression. “I was simply being humane. To let you die after everything you’d been through would have been unfair to you. But you have to understand how this looks from my perspective. You came here, seemingly from nowhere, wearing the uniform of another government, possessed of a ship from that government, and with the convenient intention of helping me sow rebellion against the Totality. You must admit that it seems suspicious.”