"Okay," he said, but not sounding like he believed it.
Sarah found a specially prepared place for Michael, and she laid him in it, and buckled him in. The rest of the team came in and sat next to them.
"All delivered," said Serena.
Another pop-up showed what looked like a stadium for tens of thousands of people. It was half full, and people were still streaming in. They watched people sit, and also buckle up.
Explosions rocked the site of the main fighting, and some of the defenders went down, and didn’t get up again. Their suits were shredded, and underneath was the metal of droids.
"Combat droids," said Jane before anyone could ask. "There are no human troops at risk here, just droids."
"Shouldn’t you pull them back anyway?" asked Jack. "It looks like they're going to be overrun."
"Timing," said Jane. "They need to hold them out for just long enough to get everyone seated."
"Why?" asked Fred.
"Watch."
They watched. On the roofs, more shuttles began to land. The defenders used Meson Streamers to punch holes in the hulls, but continued to fire stunners at the attackers. In the main entrances, with three now being defended, explosives were being tossed in as fast as they could now. Not all of them made it, with many being prematurely detonated in the air by Meson pulses from the defenders.
At last, everyone in the stadium was seated. Jane made a last announcement to make sure everyone was buckled up. She checked everyone, and double checked every single person was accounted for, as were their pets.
"Time to go," she announced in the CCC.
"Go?" asked Fred. "Go where?"
Jane laughed. Another pop-up appeared, this time showing the city from above. Several more came up next to it, showing the city from vantage points to the sides.
An earthquake shuddered through the ground underneath the city. Every person standing was thrown down, although most of the droids remained upright. As one, all the defenders retreated through doors, and locked them after them.
"No," said Winona, as on the vids, the city seemed to shudder for a moment, and slowly rose into the air, shedding building and road material, dirt and trees; anything on the edge of the city limits as it tore free.
"Yes," said Jane. "We're leaving."
The city gathered speed, moving straight up. A few of the attackers jumped off the side while it was only a few meter jump, and the rest stood there wondering what was going on. They soon wished they'd jumped. The city climbed straight up, and continued going up.
Several shuttles which were still able to fly began to collect people stranded on the roofs, but they were not going to have enough room.
"Are we just going to let those people die?" asked Fred.
"No," said Jane. "But I wanted them thinking they were going to."
An airlock opened in the underside of the city, and dozens of search and rescue droids streamed out, heading for the entrance battle sites. By the time the city was three thousand meters up, most of them were heading back to the ground. But not all. Dead attackers littered the battle sites, and a few who hadn't made it off, were now gasping their last. The city kept going up, and the last living people on the surface, died.
Shields came on around the entire city.
"Where are we going?" asked Fred.
"Borgcubia."
Forty Two
Jane was watching freighters rising from all three orbit four planets. They were a mixed lot, some of them barely more than shuttles. More than half of them were armed in some way. All were packed full of armed people. The front runners all set a course for Gaia Three.
She split the Excaliburs into three groups and had them form wall formations where they would intercept each group.
Her shipyard opened twelve bay doors, and a Missile Cruiser slid out of each. They formed three groups, and headed to join each Excalibur group.
The missile platforms spread around the planet began moving as well.
Three approach vectors, three threats, three responses.
Phoenix2 still had four satellites to deploy. If the original Phoenix hadn't been destroyed, the job would be done by now, but it wasn’t. The unintended consequence of that incident, was now the increased likelihood she'd have to kill people. And she wasn’t where she needed to be.
Jane sighed. Why did beings keep forcing her to kill them? What was it about carbon based lifeforms they always felt the need to take what wasn’t theirs, force beings to do their will, or stop them doing something they thought shouldn't be done.
The repeating theme of politics. Never about 'stop me from doing something I shouldn't be doing', or 'stop me forcing my views on others', or even 'stop me from taking what others have'. Always the representative of a majority forcing everyone else to fall in line.
Well not this time. Not this little black duck.
Jane hesitated for a moment, and wondered where that last thought had come from. A short search found the reference. Jane smiled.
"I sent a present for you to the Gaia Three orbital," sent Cayuga.
Jane checked. A Lightning had just docked with a belted security droid on board. She grinned, and took control of it, shifting it to look like her current form on Phoenix2, wearing 'slinky red' without any insignia. She picked up the Gatling stunners also there, holstered them, and cloaked the holsters. She set off.
The new council were watching hollo screens of the ships heading towards Gaia Three. She noticed there was no British ambassador present. Nor were the Japanese, Australian, or American ambassadors. The Sci-Fi ambassador was looking uncomfortable, clearly not liking what he was seeing.
Standing unnoticed in the doorway, she threw up a hollo of the hole in the ground on Gaia Five.
"What's that?" asked a Gaia Six city delegate.
"It’s a hole in the ground," answered a Gaia Four city delegate.
"Why are we watching a hole?"
"Where is this hole?"
"That," said Jane, walking in, "is where the Hunter's Run city was a few minutes ago."
"What do you mean by was?"
Jane threw up another hollo. The city was emerging from the atmosphere above Gaia Five.
"Illusion," said someone.
"Not an illusion," responded Jane. "That is the city of Hunter's Run, now on its way to Borgcubia. You will notice the Dreadnaught escorting it."
The Dreadnaught looked small.
"How?" asked an incredulous voice.
"You people are so predictable. It was obvious you were never going to take no for an answer, even back before you even knew there was a question. When the city was built, it was deliberately designed as a ship, capable of flying away from any threat to it. Which it is now doing."
"But…"
"But nothing. You people never learn. The Duchy of Hunter's Run became a Kingdom with its own space and planets. Sooner or later, the Kingdom's people were all going to move there. All you had to do was wait, and you gained a fully functional city when everyone left. But no, you had to attack it. There are always consequences and this is one of them. There is no longer a city to have, just a big hole in the ground. But as consequences go, that’s the least of them."
"Who exactly are you?" asked the man now in the Chair.
"My name is Meg Henman. Colonel Justine Henman was my sister, and you people killed her."
"You're not military?"
"No. I work for Queen Jane on her shipyard, and for this event, I'm her duly authorized ambassador to this council. Have you seen what we built yet?"
Jane waved again. Three groups of four Missile Cruisers were now showing heading away from the shipyard. Jane waved yet again. A tactical map of the inner system popped up, showing the positions of the missile platforms, Excaliburs, Missile Cruisers, and the civilian ships. It was very clear from only a few seconds viewing, all the military assets would be in position well before the civilian ships arrived.
Three left.
"You're outgunned," sai
d Jane. "Call your ships off before people start to die."
"It's not about guns," said the Chair. "It's about spiritual groups on the planet, and their unwillingness to share; and the Kingdom's unwillingness to fight."
"You think so?"
Heads nodded all around the chamber. The Sci-Fi ambassador rose, nodded to Jane, and left. A half dozen other ambassadors and delegates followed him. Jane made a note of who they represented.
"Fine, let's see where this goes."
All eyes returned to the hollo's.
On Phoenix2, Jane opened a channel to the planet.
"Madam Chair, my name is Meg Henman, Justine's sister. I'm in orbit, just finishing things up here."
"I'm sorry to be meeting you under these circumstances."
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. As soon as the twelve arrived on planet, we initiated a vote of the entire population. It's never happened before, but we had one hundred percent in favour of the motion. It's what we want."
"Okay. Any last words for Jane?"
"Thank her for us all. She's been Divine sent. We wish her happiness as she sets up her own Kingdom out there in the galaxy. We will always remember what she and all of her people have done for us. Bless you."
"I speak for Jane when I say, good luck."
Madam Chair bowed to her, and Jane bowed back. The channel ended.
Back on Gaia Three Orbital, Jane waited down the last few seconds.
The first of the civilian ships crossed the line bringing them into range of the capital ship missiles.
"Time's up," said Jane into the silence. "Turn your ships back now, or suffer the consequences."
"Somebody get her out of here," said Mr. Chair.
Jane sighed, in both places at once. Aboard his ship, Cayuga also sighed.
Two left.
Missiles began launching at the civilian ships.
Forty Three
"You're bluffing," said Mr. Chair.
"No, I'm not."
Jane opened a channel to all the ships approaching Gaia Three.
"Attention. You are standing into danger. All ships approaching Gaia Three have a missile locked onto you. There are no self-destruct codes. You have only one chance to avoid damage, or if you are a smaller ship, outright destruction. Turn around now, and outrun the missile. Once it runs out of fuel, you will be able to avoid it safely. Even if you are a big ship, your missile will collapse your shields, the hull will be breached, and people will die. Live or die, it's your choice."
She closed the channel.
"You're bluffing," said Mr. Chair, again.
"No, I'm not."
Jane counted down the seconds. Several of the smaller ships wisely pulled up and turned, trying now to race away from the missile following them. The rest kept on going.
"Too late," said Jane quietly.
"What's that mean?" asked a Gaia Five city delegate.
"It means people are about to die."
"It means you lot have failed to represent your people properly."
"It means, I'm not fucking bluffing!"
One left.
Several ships began turning now, in a last ditch bid to stop the missiles hitting them, but it was too late. The missiles followed them into the turn.
The first missile hit a small freighter. It disintegrated. There was a chorus of indrawn breaths, and all eyes went from the hollo to Jane and back again. The next freighter was bigger, but the missile removed the first third of its length. Faces in the room took on horrified looks.
The missiles continued to hit, one per ship, leaving debris and damaged ships littering the approaches to the planet. It took several minutes for the whole salvo to hit home, the last ships desperately trying to avoid them, but to no avail since they were now too close. The missiles did their job. Thousands died. Thousands more were now very close to dying.
"Now you have a problem," said Jane into the silence.
"We have a problem?" yelled someone at the back, in a high pitched screech.
"Yes. You have thousands of people who need rescuing."
"Can't you rescue them?" asked Mr. Chair.
"I could. But at the moment, we are in a state of open war. You attacked my city. You attacked a planet under our protection. A lot of your troops died. The city you attacked is now lost to you. Your fleet has been confiscated, and the crews are now themselves in escape pods and shuttles. Your invasion forces are in pieces. And you want me to rescue them?"
"Will you anyway?" asked the Gaia Five delegate.
"Do you surrender?"
"No," said Mr. Chair quickly, cutting off anyone else. "But we will declare a truce. Save our people."
"What's the magic word?"
"Please?"
"Good enough. Have your remaining undamaged ships set course for Borgcubia. Do it now." The Chair immediately opened a channel and gave the order. Those ships still capable of moving, changed course. "The damaged ships will also be taken there."
"Why there?"
"Internment camp. Since you refuse to surrender, those people will be interned where we can control them, until such time hostilities cease fully. Do you have a problem with that?"
Silence.
Done.
On Phoenix2, Jane sighed. Done at last, but too late to save lives. She shifted to her normal self, and to her dress uniform. Above Gaia Three, the Excaliburs were moving as fast as they could to take damaged ships in tow. The Missile Cruisers and Platforms, were now moving away from the planet.
She took a few nanoseconds to second guess herself. Couldn’t she have waited a little longer? Not fired missiles at all? Not killed anyone? No. She had to stop them getting too close to the planet, had to give her own ships, and especially the slower platforms, time to get further away. It had come down to a matter of minutes, but the insurrectionists had killed themselves when they blew up Phoenix. The lost satellites had been the difference between no-one dying, and thousands dying. And really, it all came down to their choice of timing. Had they waited a day, no-one would have died at all. But they didn’t. It was done, and couldn’t be changed.
"Queen Jane has sent a vid," she said in the council chamber.
She waved herself to the wall, but instead of running a vid, she opened a channel from Phoenix2 to the council chamber, also to the City CCC, and the various rooms and the stadium where the city's population were still buckled up in their seats.
Jane looked down on the council with a sad look on her face.
"The Kingdom of Hunter's Run is withdrawing from the Human Federation. I am also authorized to tell you the planet of Gaia Three is also withdrawing from the Human Federation. You have attacked us both. You have forced us to kill to defend ourselves. We take this seriously, and while we regret the loss of life, we did give you the chance to avoid it. Repeatedly. Since you covert what we have, and have made it plain you would seize it through bloodshed, we will remove it from your space."
She looked down on them for a few moments. All eyes were on her.
Another hollo popped up, showing the planet of Gaia Three.
"Observe," said Jane.
The planet vanished.
In the city CCC, Fred raised his fist and yelled "YES!" Those with him laughed. In the rooms and stadium, there was a mixture of emotions. In the council chamber, the predominant emotion was shock.
"What did you do?" asked the Chair.
"I assume someone just asked what just happened," said Jane from the hollo screen, while her avatar held back her grin. "Gaia Three is now shielded. The shield will allow nothing but light in, and nothing out. It is a very powerful version of ship shields. A glancing blow will strip the shields off even a capital ship. If the ship's shields go down, it will atomize whatever comes in contact with it. Please don’t test it, you will only kill more people. But alas, I know you will."
"Gaia Three is populated with people descended from groups who wanted to withdraw from human society. They wanted to be left
alone. They travelled for three hundred years to find a place, and for another three hundred years they lived as they wished to. Then came the exodus, the need to sacrifice their way of life to save humanity. They did so. They weren't happy about it, some of them actively opposed it. After the memory wipe, they accepted the inevitable, and welcomed you here. And what did humanity do for them? Were you grateful? Did you thank them? No. You tried to take from them what was their most cherished possession."
"Humanity destroyed their home planet of Earth, through greed and stupidity. The people of Gaia Three vowed never to allow that to happen again. They compromised themselves to give you three planets, knowing full well history will probably repeat itself. They will not give you the best one ever found, just so you can destroy it again."
"They have once again withdrawn from Humanity. The shield is designed to last forever. There is no communication possible. There is no way in, and no way out."
"You wanted the planet."
"You can't have it."
"Ever."
Jane let the silence hang there for a full minute.
"Hunter's Run City is being moved to Borgcubia. All our stations will be leaving Human space as fast as they can be moved, with the exception of Borgcubia, which will wait for the loading of emigrants to the Kingdom to complete. This task will however be speeded up. Within a week, the Kingdom will have no presence here. In another week, we will be gone from your space. All the systems from here to G036 are yours. The Kingdom starts at HL14, which used to be called A001. Until we have a peace treaty, any Human Federation military ship entering into HL14 will be fired on. We hope this will not be necessary, and we establish a treaty within the fortnight."
"It is now your decision what you do about the quarantine zone. Any ship entering Kingdom space with the purple plant or an addict aboard will be destroyed. Once you wish to start trading with the rest of the sector, freighters will be allowed to pass through our space. They will pay docking fees at our stations in the normal way. Your ambassador to the sector will be escorted to the Sector Capital System. We will introduce him, and he will then become your sole representative. The first thing your diplomatic party will need to do is find accommodation on the station, since I will now want my liner back."
A.I. Destiny 2: Queen Jane Page 16