Aidele nodded and looked up to Grandfather. “In time, perhaps… Will you take me to them? To plead our case? To seek the solution that they have long dismissed?”
Grandfather nodded, released her shoulder, and stepped forward and around her to raise his hands to the sky. He mumbled something under his breath. Ancient words, Aidele knew. Words for Mesmerize. That he might make the journey to the skies safely and be welcomed eagerly by his ancestors. She looked to the skies too, and imagined Mesmerize running free and wild with his kin in whatever great plain awaited him in the afterlife.
DURANTE FIDGETED ANXIOUSLY. According to all the reports coming in, three Union fleets surrounded Hinon space and were just… sitting there. Waiting for what he did not know. And neither did any of the best tacticians in the HDF. With the destruction of the Invicta, nerves were on end and every emergency defensive alert was at a full One on the scales. Whatever the fleets were waiting for (and Durante figured they were awaiting orders from President Lee since their plan got derailed so spectacularly), they were waiting for it only an hour-and-a-half away. Close enough to make every military general nervous enough to have every soldier, ship, and drone on high alert for any attack on a moment’s notice.
Maybe there was still a chance for peace, he really hoped so. However, with the surprise attack ruined and every defensive element rearing to fight, there was little chance for it now.
He stood in the middle of a large amphitheater. The backup governmental chambers for the senate now that Aquila Mons was destroyed and the Praetorium with it. It wasn’t as ornate or as massive (the circular seating arrangements only rose ten aisles), but it was impressive enough. It was known as the Hyperion Hill building, a structure in the center of Grand Lurin, a domain nearly a thousand miles west of Aquila Mons. The interior of the senate chambers within Hyperion Hill saw the Council seating in the center of the flat middle section. There was no dais here, just the thirteen Council seats encircling a massive twelve-foot holoprojector that could display individual senators and consulars who were granted the floor when speaking. Each of the consular’s seating had a special monitor facing the individual consular showing them a private close up view of the senator or governor addressing the chamber. The same was true for every other seat in the house in case the projection wasn’t focusing on the individual in question. Though that was a rare occurrence. Seven of the ten rings of seating were for spectators (known as the ‘Spectator’s Ring’) looking down onto the proceedings. The other three rings of seating were for regional governors and the senators. All facing the Council seating lower down on the floor. Above all this was a domed ceiling with a window at the summit offering a view of the skies beyond.
Two entrances were at opposite ends of the chambers. Both had large oak archways surrounding them in shapes reminiscent of ancient gothic vaulted arches with a sharp point at the top. Each archway seemed to showcase five such designs stacked atop one another progressively growing larger. The entrances themselves tiny by comparison, yet still wide enough to accommodate a crowd of people five deep side by side.
Around the room, a few dozen people ambled about in shock and despair. Some sat in the spectator rings crying and/or being consoled by some other. A few senators were in the process of intense interpersonal debate over what the next course of action should be. Of the Chuhukon Council itself, only seven had survived. The others died during the bombardment of Aquila Mons, a city that was now devoid of life. Of the two-hundred-fifty-three million souls who had called it home, only two-hundred-thirty thousand (so far accounted for) had survived. They had retreated into the underground vaults beneath the Praetorium, or into subterranean bunkers below select buildings, or via corridors and installations accessed from subways and the transit tunnels. The rest simply didn’t have time or just couldn’t get inside during the evacuation.
Consular Dark Elf (whom Durante learned was actually Adrianne Starmaker) and Consular Ogre (aka, Tyson Mercer), approached with great trepidation. Consular Goblin (the now late Janus Urham) had been killed when a building fell on top of him. Durante prayed it’d been quick. The other consulars were unlucky enough to have been in the Consul Rise Apartments when it collapsed in totality. As far as anyone could determine in the week since the attack, there were no survivors from that tragedy.
“Professor Weiss,” Consular Starmaker hesitantly said as he stopped just a few feet from him, “are you prepared?”
Durante shook his head. “I’m not a professor, consular. That honor was never bestowed upon me by the academy.”
Consular Starmaker shared a look with Consular Mercer and then back to him with an exhausted expression. “It’s yours now. We’ve given it to you. You’ve more than earned it. Had we been more… receptive… to what you and Ms. Wilson were saying, perhaps…”
“It’s too late for shoulda, coulda, woulda,” Durante raised a hand. But his voice wasn’t one of disgust or anger. Only tired exasperation. “Will she be heard?”
Consular Mercer nodded. “She will be. It has been decided that these circumstances are too dire to not let her speak. She was the first to raise the warning. And now we understand she has a proposition to raise to the senate. To go to the Continuum on our behalf to seek an alliance, yes?”
“Yeah. Given what we’re facing, there may be no other solution.”
“Perhaps not,” Consular Starmaker replied with a sad downturn of his lips, “yet convincing the senate to act against the Union in this manner… will not be received very enthusiastically. Many are already opposed to the notion.”
“Well, they better be prepared to get their big boy pants on,” Durante said in a sardonic tone. “They might not like it, but Aidele reached out to the communities of Hinon hoping to drive the point home.”
“I pray to the Spirits she is successful,” Consular Mercer frowned. “We are… skeptical at best.”
Durante kept his ire down, inhaled slowly, then said, “Suppose the public demands this action, yet the senate rejects it. Will the Council do what’s necessary? You have the emergency powers at your disposal. We can’t do this without you. Without an official writ requesting an alliance.”
Consular Starmaker looked to Consular Mercer and both shared a subtle nod. Consular Starmaker looked back to Durante. “We are. It was a difficult convergence of opinions. However, in the end, we are agreed that action must be taken in response to this unprovoked attack on our sovereignty. Let it be made clear, though, the Council desperately hopes your Ms. Wilson can sway the public opinion to her mission. Otherwise, it may appear to many as an usurpation of independence.”
Durante sighed. “Nobody ever said this was going to be easy. I’ll go get her and wish for the best.”
“Our thoughts and hopes go with you.” Consular Starmaker gave a grave semi-bow.
Durante turned and left the chambers.
AIDELE SHIFTED NERVOUSLY in the grand foyer of the Hyperion Hill building. She had been going over and over again in her head what she wanted to say, should the Council allow her to say anything at all, of course. And all that she could think about was how much she wanted to hide and vomit. But there was nothing else for it, this was an ask that needed to be made. On top of the impending gathering, one she’d spent the last week trying to arrange and reaching out to the domains all across the planet, there was also the fear of what became of Asta’s children. They’d heard nothing from them and the worst kept coming to mind. She’d even asked Durante to put forth an effort to find them. It was one of the things he was dealing with when the word came down that the Council had managed to convince the remaining senators to hear her pleas. Even now, it wasn’t certain they’d allow her to plead her case. Too much was relying on the outcome of this session. She hated politics. Nearby, Grandfather was standing stoically by a wall waiting for Durante to hopefully come get them. Or, likely, just send them home.
And then she saw Durante walking out of the meeting hall and she hurried over to greet him. Grandfather followed close
behind. Durante stopped and before he could say a word she said, “Forget the meeting! Have you heard anything about Curt or Amelia yet?”
Durante clasped his hands on his hips and looked sympathetic. “Aidele, we’re doing everything we can. Right now, though, you have to make your case before the senate. No, stop. I understand you’re worried. But there’s nothing you can do for them right now except secure this alliance with the Continuum. And that means getting your game face on and going in there to tell them why it needs to be you going.”
Aidele was on the verge of tears, she brought her hands to her face. “So… so what you’re saying is… they’re… they’re dea—”
Durante placed a hand on her shoulder. “Aidele, don’t do that. We don’t know. I don’t know.” She stared into his eyes and he tried to smile. “The search continues. Right now, they’re waiting for you in there. Please, stay focused. Leave the search to me. We’re going to find them. If… worst comes to past, we’ll hold a funeral pyre for them as well. But those people in there, they need you now. They need to know someone’s out there fighting for them. They’re afraid too. We all are. But we have faith that you’re going to succeed where the Council failed.”
Aidele threw herself around his neck, hugging him hard. Her body pulled against the new half-robe Durante had gotten for her. It fell from her shoulder and to her mid torso where she wore velvety red dress pants. The crimson outfit was trimmed by white embroidery in designs drawn from ancient Chuhukon society. Her braided hair danced against her back as she trembled against him and Durante being hesitant, gripped her firmly back, hugging her as tightly as she was hugging him.
“If you find them,” she whispered into his ear, “you take good care of them until I get back.”
“I swear I will,” he whispered back tightening his embrace. “I promise you they’ll be cared for… however we find them.”
Aidele drew back, wiping her sleeve over her eyes. “Thank you.”
She turned to Grandfather and he nodded towards her with a smile then said, “Good luck.”
Aidele hugged him tightly as well and then turned to march into the Council chambers, her half-robe flowing off her lower buttocks in a waving flap.
GARRRET AND DURANTE stood watching her walk through the archway. He was immensely proud of her and how far she’d come. To think, only a few months ago she was hellbent on a quest of revenge. Now, a whole world is waiting for her to save them from this crisis. He looked to Durante who was watching her disappear into the archway intently. Durante was a man who’d come a long way as well. But he was too serious. Too afraid of failing once more. Garret knew his role would be large moving forward as well and didn’t want him doubting himself. He looked from Durante to Aidele and back again, a huge grin on his face.
“Hey,” Garret said drawing Durante’s attention, “stop staring at my granddaughter’s ass.”
Durante’s face dropped into total shock as he shook his head. “I… what? No! I wasn’t… I just… it’s not like that!”
Garret gave a hearty laugh and clapped Durante on the back so hard he almost fell over. Mission accomplished. We’re going to be alright, I think.
AIDELE WALKED INTO the Grand Council Chambers. The senators were seated and muttering in hushed tones. The remaining consulars stood behind their seats watching her enter and approach a speaker’s platform, raised up a few feet as a three-quarters enclosed podium. She was more nervous than she’d ever been in her life. Even more so than when she went after Kern Michaels. She took the podium and only then took in the gathered masses. Thousands lined the spectator’s rings making the thirty-four remaining senators in their seating look inconsequential and fearful. A total silence had befallen the chambers as she entered and all were looking to her for answers. She stood in awe, trembling at the sudden attention.
“Ms. Wilson,” Consular Starmaker looked to her, hands folded into his sleeves. His next words resonated through her soul like a soldering iron. “The floor is yours.”
Aidele looked around hesitantly. So many eyes were on her (the silence unbearable, just a cough would echo with impunity!) and she didn’t even know where to begin. What could she say? How could she plead her case? She elected to stick to her truth. What she knew to be true, anyhow.
“Uhm… hi… ah’m… I’m Aidele Wilson. I live in the Wastelands. My father was a scientist, Professor Cooper Wilson, and he saw a threat coming.” She just let the words fall out, hoping they’d resonate. “That threat was coming from the Union. They never considered us their equals and still view us as their property. Look around you, how many of us are left as a result of their attack on Aquila Mons? They want to conquer us, again. Make us once more a part of their collective. A return to the days when we had no freedom, no right to independence. And I ask you, is this what you want? To be subjected to their justice? A justice that requires that you kneel before them? Swear fealty to a government you never believed in? Never recognized? A government that works only for itself and gives you no say in your own lives?” She could hear murmurs of agreement coming from the spectators. But the senators were dead silent. And the consulars merely watched, waiting. She affixed her gaze on the representatives of the people. “They came here hoping to take away what our parents and grandparents fought and died for. This is our world! It isn’t perfect, it isn’t always nice, but it sure as hell doesn’t kneel to despots!”
An appreciative applause from the spectators, people who’d lost everything in the last week, rang out. “I’m here because… we’ve lost so much. So many lives gone because the Union, sitting at the outskirts of Hinon space ready to pounce, consider us little more than chattel to their machinations.
“We won’t let them have Hinon! We have to stand strong! And to do that, we need help. I’m not the greatest speaker, probably not the best negotiator. But I swear, if you’ll have me, I’ll get the alliance we need to stand against the Union. Because the Union won’t be content with just Hinon. No, it wants all of Sol! Send me to the Continuum. With your vote of confidence, I can negotiate an alliance. One stronger than it ever was with the Union. With such an alliance, we can drive the Union back and protect what’s ours for good! I have the means. And the will. And I swear, I will not fail!
“So… there’s my pitch, senators. Consulars. Will you agree to forge an alliance with the Continuum in the outer rim? Or do we turn over, let the Union reclaim Hinon for themselves? What do you say? A vote?”
Murmurings echoed throughout the chamber and the remaining consulars raised their hands. The senators seemed less than thrilled, though some were nodding in agreement. The spectators, though, were shouting out their demands for action and many of the senators hesitantly looked around at their gathered citizenry. The ravenous looks in their eyes (their overriding need for answers to why so many died in the capital city) made many turn back towards the Council, a look of grim determination now fresh in their own eyes. Aidele saw her face still being projected behind them and it made her self-conscious.
Consular Starmaker spoke, “Will there now be a vote? Time is of the essence and the citizens have spoken.”
The senators grumbled among themselves for several long moments as the spectator’s rings erupted into a repetition of chants. ‘Vote! Vote!’, ‘Send the envoy! Send the envoy!’, ‘Let her go! Let her go!’, and ‘Down with the Union! Down with the Union!’
One by one, the senators signaled their willingness to cast their vote. The consulars opened the monitors before them to see the end vote results.
It took less than a minute.
Consular Starmaker quirked a brow and looked to Aidele. “It would seem the results are unanimous. You will represent us as you seek this alliance out. We place our hopes in you to secure the alliance you have asked for. Consulars, the vote is cast. The envoy will be sent. Do you recognize these results?”
Each Council member gave a verbal acknowledgement.
Aidele almost fell to her knees. The spectators applauded wildl
y. She cast her view around to all those present. The senators all had their eyes downcast as if this wasn’t the outcome they had desired. The Council themselves were just as dispassionate as ever. But the people, the looks on their faces were of pure elation. The pumping fists. The thirsty look in their eyes. The eagerness. She knew this look and feeling all too well.
They wanted revenge. And they were spoiling for a fight.
“We hope this alliance will not be necessary,” Consular Starmaker said looking to her gravely. “However, given what we’ve faced, better to have that insurance should our envoy to Earth fail. When do you plan to leave?”
Aidele looked around once more, then to the consulars. “Immediately.”
The crowd roared its approval as she made her way out of the Grand Council Chambers.
A FEW HOURS later, her goodbyes said and her supplies packed, Aidele sat in the pilot’s seat of the waverider. Her duster and Grey Lance were packed away (maybe she wouldn’t need them, but they were a small comfort, reminding her of who she was and of her parents who would never stand at her side again), and she wore a pressurized atmosuit. She was scared out of her mind. All around her, the depths of space spread out like the blackest void pricked with pinpoints of starlight for an eternity and beyond. And the comforting (but no less terrifying) view of Hinon spun below her. She had to fight her every urge to fly back down to the surface, and just call it at that. ‘Sorry! I was mistaken!’
Okay, woman. You took this on yourself. Find some allies. Drive back the Union.
She was alone on the vehicle, yet still had the sounds of space pumping through the shielding. She found it more and more fascinating and calming. But she had to concentrate. She had to get to the outer colonies located out past Jupiter, Saturn, and even Pluto. Convince their governors that it was in their best interests to fight with Hinon against the Union.
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