“I want command,” he said. When Havelar didn’t reply, he went on.
“In a few days, weeks at most, there will have to be an armed response. I don’t see another way, and I know you too well, George. My guess is that right now, the soldiers are rehearsing the attack. To deal with them once and for all.” He paused for a moment, expecting some kind of response. Once again, Havelar remained quiet, so he continued.
“So I want to be in charge. I want to lead the force. I don’t trust some military commander to prioritize the safe retrieval of my daughter. Let me do this, and I am your man one hundred percent.”
“You are no soldier, Ramon…” Havelar began, but Ramon interrupted him.
“There are plenty of soldiers, but I want the final word. Trust me, I will get the job done. Swiftly, ruthlessly, if necessary. But I will get my daughter back in one piece.” Havelar seemed to be considering his proposal, so he pressed on.
“Beating the rebels in the field is not your biggest challenge, George. It’s what comes after you should be concerned about. When all opposition is crushed, what then? You need someone for the days and weeks and months that will follow. I am that man, and you know it.”
“So if I let you out there, you will smash the rebels, save your daughter… You have always been one of my closest associates, a friend even. I have always trusted you, Ramon, but to lead in such a task... I don’t know... To get this done, you will have to commit acts that would seem… distasteful.” Ramon paused a moment. He had expected this to get messy.
“Don’t think I haven’t considered that, George. But my daughter is more important to me than anything. I will do what needs to be done, no matter what. You can count on that.” Havelar said nothing as he stepped over to the window and looked out over the snow-covered field outside.
“I’m not entirely sure if you know what that means, but I do trust you Ramon. I just hope you are ready for this.” He went back to his seat, and wrote something on his tablet.
“There. A message to Colonel Quellar to fill you in on the details as quickly as possible. You should get your butt over to the shuttle field ASAP. The colonel will get you up to speed. If she gives you a hard time, don’t come running to me. You want to be in charge? Well, go make them follow you.”
KENNETH TAYLOR
The wind had picked up before the kids had arrived yesterday, and Kenneth was surprised to see them in such good shape when they came in, just before nightfall. The weather wasn’t as bad as the first blizzard, when that kid had been shot, but it was still no weather to be out in. Kenneth had been among the first to receive them, and the first thing he noticed was the lack of facemasks. The advice, well order actually, had been to keep them on, as the biologists couldn’t guarantee that alien microbes and bacteria were harmless. But even so, there had been talk of disobeying that order, as no harmful elements had been found yet. Now it seemed they would find out.
The youngsters had been cold, but happy, and spent the rest of the evening chatting to each other and everyone around them. No one else had removed their masks though, and Tina had reprimanded the kids for their foolhardiness. Kenneth had just smiled at them. Youthful recklessness. There was just no way around it. They would make their own mistakes, and sometimes they would learn from them. Still, he agreed with Tina that it was profoundly stupid.
By the next morning, Ben, Drew, and Lisa were coughing heavily, and they had all come down with a fever. Most thought it was a cold or something, but then Drew passed out and started convulsing, his mouth frothing. Soon after, Ben followed. By the time Lisa passed out, Ben and Drew had stabilized, fever still running high, but at least the convulsions had stopped, and they were breathing easily.
The kids were taken to a cabin, where they were put to bed. Kenneth, Tina, Kim, and Geena remained after everyone had left. Kim, who was a trained medic, examined them.
“If this is a cold, I’ve never seen one before. It looks familiar, more like the flu actually, but there is something else…” She lifted Ben’s blanket, and Kenneth had to lean closer to see. When he noticed, he drew back.
“The skin… It’s moving!” he said. Kim nodded, as Tina and Geena had a look as well.
“Stupid…” Tina mumbled quietly.
“It’s almost as if something is crawling in there. Like a hundred tiny spiders,” Kenneth said, as he carefully leaned in again. There were ripples on Ben’s chest and stomach, almost invisible, but clear enough up close.
“What do we do?” Geena almost whispered. No one said anything for a few seconds, until Tina broke the silence.
“Nothing.” Kim was about to say something, but Tina shot her a hard look.
“There is nothing we can do. We don’t know what it is. All we know is that these kids took of their masks yesterday, and now they are unconscious. Something in the air caused this, so we’ll have to emphasize that people cannot remove their masks.” She paused. Kenneth was almost expecting something to burst out of the young man’s chest, like in a movie he saw once, and took a step back without thinking.
“We’ll do what we can to keep them alive. Kim you will make sure they are fitted with IVs to keep them hydrated. We’ll keep the part about the ripples to ourselves, since we don’t know what it is yet. It may just be some kind of an allergic reaction or… Well, I don’t know. Taylor, get Solis, she’s a biologist. She may have some idea of what this can be.” As he left the cabin, he heard Tina give orders to make sure the kids were taken good care of.
He went straight over to where he knew Maria would be, and told her everything he knew, which wasn’t much. Maria immediately got up and grabbed her jacket, and he brought her over to where the kids were. If there was anything they could do for them, Maria would find out, and make sure it was done.
GEORGE HAVELAR
George Havelar had a good view from where they were standing in the northern corner of the shuttle field, watching the bustle of soldiers preparing for combat. He had kept Thomas out of the loop for the last few days, as he had been busy mapping possible opposition within Fort Andrews as well as dealing with the detained scientists, but now he wanted to bring the younger man up to speed on the latest development. From what he could see though, Thomas was already putting two and two together, and he had expected no less.
“What are those for?” Thomas said, pointing at the modified rocket launcher being mounted on one of the heavy snowmobiles. Havelar didn’t know a lot about weapons, but he’d seen enough to know that the one Thomas was pointing at looked different from any other rocket launcher. It had a sort of sphere on the tip, and two thick coils running along the length of the rocket into the launcher itself. The green and yellow markings were unreadable from this distance, but Havelar knew what they meant. He kept it to himself though, for the time being. Thomas didn’t need to know.
“It’s a surprise I’ve been storing for a while, in case Port Hammer was unable to know what was good for them,” he said. Thomas didn’t inquire any further, so he changed the subject.
“Our biggest assets should be safely locked away now though.”
“The containers?” Thomas said.
“I guess it’s about time I told you more about them,” he said. A jerrybird flew overhead, screeching, and he paused until it passed.
“Each container held a nuclear weapon.” Thomas raised his eyebrows, but said nothing as Havelar explained.
“They were never meant to be used. At least not in an internal conflict like this. No way. But I’ve said it before, we’re vulnerable, and we never knew what to expect before coming here. We still don’t know, to tell the truth. So it’s basically insurance. The most powerful weapon ever created by human beings, in order to make sure we’re no easy targets should we encounter intelligent life. Hostile intelligent life.” Thomas nodded, but said nothing.
“The thing that bothers me about the sabotage though, is that Port Hammer has made no accusations toward us for keeping nuclear weapons. I’d expect them to be in an u
proar about it, from their perspective.” Thomas looked toward the soldiers again.
“Do you think others may have done it?” he asked. Havelar shook his head.
“No, I’m pretty sure it must have been them. Who else? The only other possible explanation would have been that someone here must be guilty. But then, why wouldn’t they tell Port Hammer about it?” Havelar trailed off, and they both stood silent for a moment. Both explanations should have led to an outcry, but not one word had been said about the containers. Havelar didn’t know what to make of it, and it seemed Thomas had no good ideas either. The only thing that seemed apparent was that Port Hammer didn’t know they existed.
“And now there are only two left,” Thomas said, and Havelar smiled.
“Yes, but I don’t expect us to need more. In time we will replace the lost weapons and more. We have the knowledge and the technology, and all necessary materials should be out there. The geological analysis tells us that much.” Havelar turned toward Thomas again.
“Speaking of which, has Professor Lowell given you any trouble?” Thomas shook his head.
“No, sir. He is still upset about his confinement, and has expressed so loudly, but he hasn’t done anything stupid, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Havelar snorted. Jeremiah Lowell could be loud sometimes, but he knew he’d better play by the rules. So he continued his work on analyzing the constant stream of data coming down from the Exodus, orbiting Aurora, with a team of scientists currently confined to the science buildings. Their movements were restricted by armed guards, and temporary housing had been arranged within the facilities. Havelar wouldn’t risk losing any more scientists, he’d lost too many before the soldiers managed to shut down the perimeter.
“He’s still talking about that fire though, to the south. Seems he just won’t let it go,” Thomas said. Havelar snorted.
“It was just a forest fire, dammit. Right now we’ve got more important things to do than mounting expeditions all over the place. Ah, whatever. Tell him he’ll have his damn expedition, come spring. Guess he just has to get it out of his system.” Thomas smiled crookedly, and Havelar almost laughed. Thomas had to deal with the stubborn geologist, and Havelar didn’t envy him. He looked at the soldiers again, and saw Ramon approaching. He still looked a bit uncomfortable in uniform, but from his new sidearm he’d just taken to wearing, it seemed he was taking the task seriously. As Thomas nodded briefly to Ramon before walking back toward town, Havelar thought he understood Professor Lowell’s impatience. There was so much to be done. An entire world to explore, and here they were, fighting amongst themselves. Hopefully this colony would be whole again by spring. He smiled at Ramon, who seemed determined to step up and do what had to be done to make that happen.
Chapter 10
RAMON SOLIS
As soon as Thomas left, Havelar and Ramon walked onto the shuttle field. The soldiers had several fast, light snowmobiles that could carry two men, and a few heavier-duty models, able to carry four men and a rocket launcher or a heavy machine gun. There were crates of ammunition all over, and soldiers were tending to the vehicles, and making sure their assault rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, sniper rifles, and side arms were in ship shape. At first Ramon had found the heavy weaponry nauseating, but he realized they were preparing for war and he was in charge. He knew his most important mission would be to contain the damage and to make sure civilians were spared. And most importantly, to protect his daughter who had chosen to remain at Port Hammer.
“If they won’t work with us, we will destroy them,” Havelar said. When Ramon didn’t reply, the governor continued.
“Otherwise, the last human colony will end up divided amongst ourselves. Have you thought about what such a split would mean to our future growth rate? It is the same thing that happened on Earth, over and over again. When people don’t agree, they spilt up, and then, instead of working together toward a common goal, they start working against each other. That’s how human development was stalled, time and again, throughout history. That’s why we had the dark ages, and the great wars, hunger, the plague. All because humans do the same thing every time they disagree on something. Nations, bah…” Havelar didn’t continue his thought.
Ramon agreed with much of what he said, although he thought it was a bit too simplistic. It seemed Havelar needed to get this off his chest though, as if he somehow realized how destructive this was.
“I refuse to accept it! Not here! That a stubborn few should determine our common fate? No. Aurora shall not be divided into rival factions. That was the biggest mistake of the old world, the division, the wars, the rivalry between nations.” Havelar shook his head. Ramon thought his old friend looked conflicted, and he thought he knew why. George Havelar had changed. When they learned Earth was doomed, Havelar had stepped up to become the de facto leader of the effort to save humanity. But the struggles, the resistance, and the clock constantly ticking away as doomsday crept closer had taken its toll. The man beside him had ended up alienating a large portion of those he had saved. It had to be disappointing, Ramon thought. He turned his attention to Havelar as he spoke again.
“I want this world to be a democracy, Ramon. I know some people don’t think so, but I do, I really do,” he said, sighing as they walked among the bustle.
“I even want to restore some of the old liberties, from before the reforms. Not all, mind you, but some. But that is something in the future. For now, we need to stick together.” Havelar stopped, and they both looked at a man walking briskly toward them. Ramon had seen his face before, but he didn’t know his name. The man had a stern face, with hard lines, and would have been handsome if not for the ragged scar across his cheek, from the hairline to a jaw set in stone. Havelar though, greeted him warmly, and introduced him to Ramon.
“Ramon, this is Major Henry Carroll. He was one of the founders of Port Hammer, until he had enough. Now he’s here. He will be your right-hand man when you move out.” Ramon took the major’s hand. His grip was firm, and when his eyes met Ramon’s, the icy blue stare made his hairs rise. Those were the eyes of a killer, he thought.
“Major Carroll is preparing the troopers, and he will fill you in on the plan,” Havelar said, and Ramon averted his eyes from the major’s. Havelar continued though, seemingly oblivious to the silent exchange.
“I’m sure the rebels will be swiftly dealt with, but just in case they are better prepared than we expect, we may need to have a few surprises in store for them.” Ramon turned his attention to Havelar, who waved it away with a shrug.
“Anyway, we’ll leave that to the major, right? You make the calls, but in the field, his experience will be invaluable. He will be your executive, so to speak.” He paused for a moment. Of course, Havelar didn’t want a civilian running the actual attack. Major Carroll would give the orders in the field.
“But, once the rebels are subdued, Ramon, I want you to take charge,” Havelar said. He nodded to the major, who saluted them both formally before striding across the field toward the snowmobiles. Major Carroll hadn’t said a word throughout the exchange, but Ramon had a bad feeling about him. Not that he thought the major wouldn’t take his orders, but he doubted he knew the meaning of restraint when it came to battle. This was a man set to fight with every means available.
“Actually I have another job for you, Ramon,” Havelar said, surprising him. The governor squinted and cocked his head slightly, as if awaiting his response. When Ramon didn’t say anything, Havelar continued.
“I want you, personally, to end this revolt.” Ramon looked at Havelar quizzically. Wasn’t all this about ending the revolt, he thought.
“Major Carroll will be informed. He will keep the troopers in line, as long as you fulfill your task.” There. As Havelar said the words, Ramon understood. The major would make sure the soldiers let him save his daughter, as long as he did whatever it was Havelar would have him do. He felt his throat constricting, realizing that he would have to do things he wouldn’t eve
n have considered had Maria been safely with her mother. Ramon saw it clearly now. Havelar had never intended for him to negotiate a peace, or have Port Hammer surrender.
“What… What exactly do you want me to do?” he said slowly. Havelar grimaced and looked away, clasping his hands behind his back.
“I want you to execute Tina Hammer and Greg Hamilton.” Ramon’s jaw dropped, but Havelar looked determined.
“That will end the revolt. Effectively.” Ramon felt himself resisting the urge to shout, as he begun to see the madness of it all. Havelar had him by the neck and would use him as a puppet to destroy his enemies once and for all, and there was nothing he could do about it. Havelar must have noticed, because he smiled slyly at him.
“Your daughter, Maria. She’s still with the rebels. A shame really.” Ramon couldn’t find the words, even though every cell in him wanted to protest. Havelar didn’t stop though.
“Aren’t you angry at them for kidnapping her so brutally? Or maybe… who’s to say she didn’t join them voluntarily? What a shame it would be if she was caught carrying a weapon…” He paused and looked at Ramon. Ramon felt as if he was seeing his old friend for the first time, and realized he had been wrong all along. Havelar had gone completely insane!
“Remember, I will have them executed for treason, no matter what you do. It will just take a little longer.” Havelar almost whispered as he leaned forward, almost touching Ramon’s ear with his mouth.
“You do this favor for me, and I will be in your debt forever. And your daughter, well… I will make sure she doesn’t come to any harm, and no charges will be pressed. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” Ramon said nothing, stunned both by the transformation of George Havelar, his friend through so many years, and by his own inability to see the truth for so long. Now though, he had no choice. He was basically a prisoner, and would do whatever Havelar would have him do. He didn’t have the luxury of choice, and had just become the tool of a deranged mind, bent on total domination.
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