“I am, Donna. Major Spivey was a Lieutenant then. He assigned two Corporals for the disinformation campaign on that one. Your case trained new unit members.”
“No! I had no idea! Please, though, don’t remind me. That was so long ago.”
“Everyone needs a little reminder to understand how far they’ve come.”
“What I remember most from that time is you. Your patience, your kindness.”
“Now you have the chance to show Azin the same kindness.”
They sat together for a while in silence until Donna remembered the knee.
“We need to get you healed. Into the couch, you go.”
She picked him up like a small child before he could object and placed him in the couch. A much younger Chase might have felt humiliated, but the mature Chase was grateful in spite of a twinge of wounded pride. His younger knee would still be intact. Donna closed the room door behind her.
***
Nina made contact with her ship. Nayar and Osae were starting to worry. They received orders to move the ship and land it six meters from Exile One. When Nina used the human name for the vessel, the two young soldiers grew even more worried. Orders were orders, so they complied.
Nina stood outside waiting. The ship landed, its doors opened, and she wasted no time boarding.
“Plans have changed,” she announced as the four crew members stood on the deck behind the flight couches, “This was an unusual mission from the start, and it is still ours to complete. I have new intelligence that the situation with the Silicoids is much worse than previously understood. For this reason, we have strategic matters to address.
We are now allied with the Humans and the Advocate Exiles. For the seed mission to succeed, we need to deal with this new Silicoid threat first. Under normal circumstances, I would order you to comply with this without explaining anything to you. You should know by now that these are not usual circumstances,” and she paused to let the words take root. “So I give you all an opportunity. You can choose to take part in this mission, or you can go where you please, that means anywhere on Earth or back to Homesphere.”
Azin snapped her head toward Nina. Disbelief and anger flared to life on her face, but she held her tongue.
“I will not judge you for leaving,” Nina continued, “but if you want to stay, you will follow my orders just as before.”
***
The news from the farmhouse was bad and getting worse. Major Spivey’s mission was growing by the hour. Nearly every major astronomy station on Earth was now focused on Venus or preparing to. Every rotation of the planet brought more attention to bear on the secrets the Units were designed to conceal. Global news was frantic with wild speculation, and the Internet was crackling with conspiracy theories. Some of those theories were disturbingly close to the actual conspiracies with which the Units were involved.
Some good did come from the increased collaboration between Units. There was nothing like a crisis to bring people together. Or tear them apart. Major Spivey was doing an excellent job using this emergency as glue rather than a wedge. She was only concerned that he needed to delegate more. She advised him to prioritize and shift some functions to other teams. She wanted Major Spivey’s talents available at a moment’s notice should she need them. If she had to pull the Major, she didn’t want his entire operation falling apart in his absence. The Major seemed to understand that, so Rachel moved on to the next set of factors. Meanwhile, General Breslin was unusually quiet.
Ray reclined behind her in an extra flight couch formed just for him. She was linked with him over the ship network. He was also more silent than usual. She let him do his work.
***
Nina stood for a moment before leaving her crew with its weighty decision. They were all still grappling with surprise as Nina turned away. She wanted to see Talin. The forge area felt colder than the rest of the ship, although Nina was sure the temperature was uniform throughout. It was cold dread that lowered the temperature here. She had too many questions and all of them tried to shine the light on how this was possible. How did Talin survive the Silicoids and the atmosphere with those injuries?
Nina was not aware of any other soldiers who survived this way. Nina was forced to leave a soldier to die with injuries far less severe than Talin’s. She held that thought. Nina ordered others to leave that soldier behind. That was her training. In urgent situations, severe injuries were ignored. Now that Nina realized she had true choice, she decided that she would never do that again.
But, Nina thought Talin was dead, now she was alive. She opened the lid on the healing bay and kneeled beside it. Talin lay there suspended in the liquid behind a transparent panel like a specimen in a sample box. She looked oddly peaceful. Nina queried the chamber and discovered the healing cycle was nearly complete. She kneeled there until the indicators showed completion and the fluid drained.
Talin’s eyelids fluttered. Nina held her breath. Talin opened her eyes, looked up at Nina and smiled a familiar pixie grin. Nina tapped on the panel and pressed her palm against it. Talin covered her ears, then rapped back on the panel.
“Why won’t this thing open!” she exclaimed. Finally, it did.
Talin sat up shivering and wet. Nina quickly retrieved a standard battle robe from the supply cabinet and draped it over Talin’s shoulders. The inner garments of the robe hung around her body unfastened, making her look like a primitive covered in animal pelts. The robe was at once too baggy and too short. Nina noticed it was one of hers. They would have to fabricate a new robe for Talin.
“I remember everything,” Talin said. Her eyes were centimeters from Nina’s face. The scar tissue of Talin’s cheek was much paler than before and resembled layers of candle wax.
Nina ordered the ship to form a long bench from the forge wall and the two sat. Nina retrieved a pouch of nutritional wine from the supply bay and handed it to Talin, who drank from it greedily.
“Slow down,” Nina warned. “I’m guessing you haven’t had much real food.”
“You’re right,” Talin said. “But even duty wine is wonderful.” and she smiled.
Nina forgot her doubts in her gratitude to sit beside her lost friend. Talin’s presence gave her an extra measure of confidence.
“I have to see the Traveler,” Talin said, lowering the empty wine pouch. It took a while for Nina to process that.
“How do you know about that?”
“I know everything,” and Talin rounded on Nina. The pixie grin was gone and a depth appeared in her pale blue eyes that drew Nina to an unknown place.
Azin appeared in the doorway. A rare unguarded expression draped her face. Had she not been so unnerved, Nina would almost have laughed at the sight. She was certain Azin had very few unguarded moments, and Nina was equally certain she’d witnessed most of them.
“Welcome back,” Azin said simply.
“Hello, Azin,” Talin said.
“Captain,” Azin said, “I’m with you. You will have my service. It is the same as before. You serve the Queen, I serve your command,” and she turned on her heel and left.
“That one is charming,” Talin said. Nina did laugh then.
Nayar and Osae also stood in the doorway. The waited a few moments and Nina almost urged them to say what they came to say.
“We are with you,” Nayar said simply. Osae affirmed this. They both glanced at Talin, then left.
Talin stood shakily and rummaged through the supply cabinets until she found a robe that fit better than Nina’s spare. It turned out to be Azin’s. It was still too short, and a bit too baggy, but was a better fit overall. She looked uncomfortable.
“It will be good to have my own robe again. The Queen’s garments are ridiculous,” she said.
Chapter 23: Earth, Antarctica, Conclusion
The conference room of Exile One seemed small now. Nina’s full crew, combined with General Breslin’s officers and Donna filled the table to capacity. Arnold was back on his feet and had a place a
t the table again. He made certain to sit opposite Nina this time. Ray was already seated when the rest filed in. Sergeants Nichols and Makon closed the door and stood guard outside.
General Breslin began the meeting by saying, “We’ve all been formally introduced, but I want to take a moment to acknowledge our new additions,” the General turned to Nina’s crew, said, “I understand how difficult this is for you. I am humbled by your dedication to service.” Nina’s crew thanked him politely.
“Ray, your briefing,” the General said.
Ray began without preface, “There is open conflict between General Olthan and the Queen. The nexus of conflict is Olthan’s challenge of the Queen’s command. So far, the challenge is not overtly violent. The attack on the Seed Mission is the only violent act of which we are aware. It appears that this may change depending on a number of factors, not least of which is the disposition of the Queen’s guard.
It appears there is little impact on war fighting operations. The Advocate population shows signs of strife, but the command structure of Divisions seems to be holding. We believe this is due in large part to the political work of one General Zebrak.
The Kapteyn appraisal is that open conflict is manageable while violent conflict on Homesphere will be catastrophic. The physical configuration of Homesphere itself cannot support open warfare.”
“Any faction that gained control of infrastructure could eliminate millions just by cutting off cavern life support!” Nayar blurted out in horror. Nina did not stop her.
“This is true,” Donna said, “And as Advocates, we know that our brand of warfare is not nuanced. If the mindset applied to the Silicoids turns Advocate against Advocate, the scenario is very bleak.”
“Each side will fight for complete eradication,” Azin said. Her pale, damaged face looked paler. Nina recognized fear in her eyes for the first time.
General Breslin thought to himself that this was just the Advocate side. His concern essential was Earth. Similar problems would arise among human populations should the Advocate conflict spread to his Homeworld. He found himself now trying to avoid civil strife on two worlds.
“So what are the solutions?” Nina asked. “Where do we look?”
“We look to the Silicoids,” Talin said. Her demeanor was as placid as her voice.
Ray picked up the offensive baton before the room could erupt, said, “I’m afraid that I have one more surprise for us,” and he turned to Nina, who looked a bit sheepish.
“Please don’t worry,” Nina said, holding up her hands in a gesture apparently common to human and Advocate. “Now that I have choice, I can manage the truth much better.” Arnold chuckled in spite of himself, and little snorts of laughter circled the table.
Ray continued, “Talin was in contact with the Silicoid on the Third Arm. The Kapteyns retrieved several infected soldiers during the battle. Talin was the only survivor. She has knowledge of the Silicoid intelligence.”
“What kind of knowledge,” Nina asked, rounding on Talin with great concern.
“That is the difficult part. The Silicoid is a single entity. It is vastly different from every known form of life. To understand it, someone had to join with it."
So that was it. The picture was complete. Nina understood. That understanding still enraged her, but now she could follow the grotesque rationale. The Queen needed someone to join with the Silicoid and come back alive to gain information.
Nina, aware of eyes staring, said, “Please proceed,” in a calm voice.
Ray continued again, “You ask about solutions. One would be to help Talin understand the nature of Silicoid intelligence. The Kapteyns will help with this.”
“What would this accomplish?” Azin asked.
Rachel answered the question, “It will give us information that would allow us to find its weaknesses or a means of communication.”
“Communication? As in dialogue?” Nina asked, following the reasoning again doubtfully.
“Yes. If it is sentient, we might reason with it,” Rachel replied. “It is a path to follow that might produce results on the battlefield and, more importantly, will show Olthan that she may not need to follow the radical path she is on now.”
Donna added, “We have to understand that our actions all have political implications. Advocate politics have changed overnight. It is no longer a homogeneous society.”
“What of the Seed Mission?” Azin asked.
General Breslin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was not yet ready to reveal that the Seed Mission could not be allowed. Earth policy did not allow Exos to abduct humans. For the first time in five-hundred years, Earth was in a position to enforce that policy. Rachel’s eyes told him to be careful.
“That’s on hold,” the General said.
“Yes,” Nina agreed, placating Azin. “The mission specifies a twenty-five-year window. We can still achieve retrieval and deal with this new situation.” Azin seemed satisfied.
“But the Silicoid threat,” the General said, “is not the top priority. War among Advocates means no hope of countering the Silicoids at all.”
“I believe there is more to that statement, General,” Nina said. She wanted to get this meeting over with.
“How right you are. Lieutenant Triska?” the General said, and turned to Arnold.
“Captain, as you main know, Earth is very familiar with political conflict. We have unique insight that we believe can help with the Advocate's emerging strife.”
“We Advocates are also skilled in managing political conflict on other worlds,” Azin flared. The Human Lieutenant was referring to her job description, after all.
“No doubt,” Arnold answered in stride, “but I submit that it has no experience addressing political conflicts internally, which is a very different thing.” Azin had to agree. Arnold turned to Nina and said, “What we have on the Advocate Homeworld is a freedom movement. We propose working with the factions to come up with a system of self-governance that will allow all Advocates the same choices as the Exiles and Nina.”
“Not possible,” was Azin’s reflexive response.
“No?” Nina asked, “It was possible for sixty Exiles a century ago. It was possible for General Zebrak. It was possible for Olthan. They all made choices. The precedent has been playing out far longer than we realized.” Azin considered this in brooding silence. It seemed to be her favorite type of silence.
“And there you have it,” General Breslin said. “If we continue this meeting, we will be beating a dead horse.” Nina’s crew looked confused.
“A figure of speech,” Donna explained. “It means repeating the same task whether it’s useful or not.”
“Well,” Nina said, “This is much to consider. You have my support.”
“We will rely on it, Captain,” the General said, “Your insights and the skills of your crew is nothing short of the key to success."
Nina and her team stood, exchanged courtesies and walked back across the tundra to their ship. General Breslin remained at the table with his officers, Donna and Ray. They had much to discuss. Their meeting went on for hours.
***
Back on the Queen’s Shuttle, Nina set Nayar and Osae to work on surveying their landing site to search for minerals and draft plans for building a compound. She ordered Azin to study Earth civilization, paying careful attention to politics. She seemed happy to do so, as far as Nina could tell. At the very least, Azin didn’t glare or glower when she received those orders.
Nina exercised her prerogative and left the ship for a walk with Talin. They headed out Northeast toward the ocean. Talin was still recovering, but they still made a decent pace. Their comm crystals kept them in touch with the ship. In a few hours, they stood on a crumbling cliff of ice overlooking the ocean.
“A new world to explore,” Nina said.
Turning her face to the sky, she let the frigid breeze ruddy her cheeks and excite her lungs. Her wild black hair grew more so as the wind played with it. She smelled salt
and the leavings of creatures below the cliff that wallowed on rocks and barked with sharp voices. Talin pointed to white birds with black heads that dove into the water and came up with fish. The sea drew their eyes into its wide expanse, and that was when they noticed gigantic black forms break the surface and send out plumes of water. They displayed giant tails as they dove back down under the water.
“What are those?” Nina asked with unbridled wonder. Talin just stared in awe.
They loosened their robes and used the unfurled skirts as individual blankets. Nina pulled her robes around her folded legs. She drew the hood from the collar section and pulled it up to cover her forehead. Talin left her head bare to feel the wind.
“Nina,” Talin said, still fixated on the ocean, “I will be going with the Travelers.”
Nina considered this for a moment, “That occurred to me,” she said.
“We should enjoy the time we have until then.”
“We will,” Nina replied, “It is a choice we can make.”
***
The End
Farewell
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Other books by P. J. Cherubino
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Knight’s Struggle: A Kurtherian Gambit Series (book2)
Knight’s Justice: A Kurtherian Gambit Series (book3)
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Realm of the Nince Circles: The Grind (Book2)
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