"Understood," Sarah said. "My father didn’t value conjecture, and neither do I. We’ll review your report and meet to discuss the results."
Eamonn shook his head. "We must prevent the MSA from sabotaging our effort to control the moon. We must act now. Not a day, an hour, or a minute later."
"You must have patience," Sarah replied.
"We can’t sit on Lunara for much longer. We have to make an aggressive move before it is too late."
Sarah swung her head toward the crowd, then tilted back toward the men. "I have already thought about our reaction to the MSA. We need to plan a war tribunal and start to orchestrate a plan to take back Mars."
Parker narrowed his eyes. This was the first he had heard about a war tribunal and hoped Sarah’s emotions wouldn’t defeat her. He was afraid that a foolish foray against the MSA would destroy the Alliance’s fragile existence.
Chapter 7
"It was nice of Jan and Ty to give us their extra bedroom for the next little while," Chloe said.
"Yes," Seth said, splashing water from the tub over his body. "Ahh." He gritted his teeth.
"Hold still," she ordered. "I can’t clean this burn with you moving…and stop splashing. I’m not the one taking the bath. Use the detoxifying soap the doctor gave you. You smell like an ash tray."
"I still taste the smoke."
"You will have to live with that for a few days." She dabbed the palm-sized burn with an antiseptic cloth on his upper-right shoulder. He grimaced again. "Stay still. I’m almost done."
A buzz came from the outer living room. She put down the cloth and stood. "Who is that?"
"Someone for Ty or Jan?" said Seth.
"Just wait here and wash your hair."
She walked into the living area and moved over to the door. She touched the outside camera, and Sarah appeared on the screen. Chloe wondered for a second why she would show up here of all places. Maybe she expected Ty to be here. She pressed the button, and the door slid open.
"Minister, I’m sorry but Jan and Ty aren’t home. I thought they were with you."
"Call me Sarah. And I came to see you," Sarah said. "May I come in?"
"By all means." Chloe waved her arm. "Where is Parker?"
"I planned a meeting, and he is readying for it. With the security around here, you probably know about it already."
Chloe nodded.
"Where is Seth?" asked Sarah.
"In the tub. I’ve been scrubbing the smoke out of him for the last hour. I would get him, but he isn’t decent."
"No problem."
Chloe eyed Sarah with a measure. She could sense that a pang of apprehension lingered in Sarah’s mind, but Chloe’s senses weren’t fine-tuned enough to understand it completely. "What is the matter?"
"Against my better judgment, I need to ask Seth and you a favor. We had words before, and I don’t apologize for them, but Ty stands by your integrity, and the mission I’m planning will need both of you. I read the report from this afternoon’s explosion. Seth was brave. He saved the woman when no one else could."
"Parker and Eamonn helped him."
"Yes, but Parker told me the whole story. Only Seth could have done what was needed. He has special abilities."
"He is special." Chloe felt a surge of pride for Seth. "You need time to forgive us and to learn that we were only trying to help the people of Mars. What can we do for you? You made it abundantly clear we aren’t trusted, so how can we do anything for the Alliance with the weight of everyone’s eyes on us?"
"I came to ask you and Seth to the war tribunal to hear out my plan and to decide for yourself. You are correct. My trust in you is lacking, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on you. If we were in Aethpis, I would lock you up, but you are a guest in Chief Falloom’s quarters, and that carries a lot of weight toward your freedom."
"Then I’m glad we are on Lunara."
"Always remember, powerful friends are a privilege, not a right. You actions will show your true allegiance."
Chloe bristled. "I think we went over this before. Is there anything you want to add, or should I kiss your feet for forgiveness?"
Sarah eyes glowered. "If I wasn’t so civil, I would take your head off."
"I’m right here!" Chloe used the extra inch she had on Sarah in an attempt to tower over her.
Sarah backed away.
Chloe sensed the emotional conflict oozing from Sarah’s mind.
Sarah, in turn, let her shoulders relax. "I want you at the tribunal because you are one of three things the chancellor wants the most. He wants Lunara, control of the three major colonies, and both of you. Your opinion and insight might prove useful to our decision."
Chloe’s mind twitched. Seth’s rage would spike at the thought of them deciding their future, and for once, his stubbornness was right.
"You have no right on my status. I’m Lunaran. If there was one thing I learned on Mars in the last month, I’m not Martian property and I never will be. So don’t tell me some trivial meeting can decide my future. Seth and I are above war. We tried to stop it. If everyone was like us, Mars would be—"
"Mars would be what? Free, safe, peaceful. It isn’t that easy, Mrs. Smith. I know it better than anyone does. I have worked my entire life for Aethpis and Mars. I’m not about to allow a wrench-headed little girl to tell me how easy it is to make Mars a better place for our children."
"Who are you calling wrench-headed? If Daddy’s girl can’t handle the role of leader, she should step down."
"Don’t ever let reference to my father come out of your mouth. Don’t ever." Sarah brought her hand up.
"Try it again. I dare you." Chloe’s cheek tingled, thinking of the last slap delivered by Sarah.
"What are you two arguing about now?" Seth said from the hallway.
Sarah turned to leave. "I expect you there in an hour." And she left.
Once the door closed behind her, Seth turned to Chloe. "What was that all about?"
"Oh, shut up," she replied and stormed up the stairs toward Jan and Ty’s bedroom.
By the time Seth and Chloe arrived, everyone was gathered in the conference room. Chloe shook off some curious eyes and sat next to Seth at the two remaining seats.
Sarah shifted her datapads and arranged them in a specific order. Chloe sensed uneasiness in Parker as he looked toward his new wife. It was the sting of a painful memory; his interrogation on Mars was flashing into his thoughts. Chloe felt it odd she could sense more from Parker than from anyone else in the room. His mind was open to her. It was a curious oddity that she figured might have to do with his willingness to trust her.
Sarah shuffled the datapads in front of her. Everyone waited with an apprehensive patience for her to speak. "First off, I want to tell you why I invited you. Captain Terry and Captain Matthews of the Sheriff and the Regulator, I have known each of you for many years. Your complete devotion is unquestionable."
"Always, my lady," Captain Terry replied.
"Though there has been only a brief relationship between us, Ty and Jan Falloom have shown nothing but love for Lunara and for my people as well. You are great leaders. Eamonn Dalton, you guided the Alliance fleet to what will turn out to be the Alliance’s most important victory at the Battle of Lunara. We owe you so much.
"Seth and Chloe Smith, I invited you here because the MSA want you. You are special, and we’ll need your guidance on how to proceed with your abilities and your situation. I can’t pretend to understand what is happening, but you are an important element in deciding the outcome of our war.
"And lastly, my husband, Parker McCloud. He is my hero and the leader for our troops and our morale. He has become an icon for the Alliance, our poster boy if you will. His valor during the Battle of Lunara is something I will never forget. She paused for a few moments and then sighed. "This will be a tough meeting to get through with a lot of tough decisions to be made. We will argue, but let’s not fight."
"We will do what is best for the Alliance
, Minister Cortez," Captain Terry replied.
"One other point of business," Sarah said. "I’m no longer Minister Cortez. I’m Minister Sarah McCloud. The public will need time to adjust, but please correct them in the future."
Parker grinned.
Chloe wanted to tell him how proud she was. The potential he showed to the crew every day was showcased brightly within the Alliance. She hoped to catch up with him after the meeting and talk about all the wonderful things that had happened to him in the last two weeks.
"The first point of this tribunal will be an update on our current shipyard status," Sarah said. "Captain Terry has been overseeing the repairs. Please offer your report."
"Our fleet status is better than when we left Mars. We managed to repair the two remaining light cruisers, the Regulator and the Sheriff. We added more tracking systems and gun turrets to its hull. The Protector is repaired, and the starwings were retrofitted with duel guns and two boring missiles, a variant of a resonant charge. They are faster, more accurate, and they can avoid antimissiles towers as well as any in our fleet. Like the rest of the older ships, key locations were retrofitted with metalor hull paneling, and our plasma shields were thickened with new power generators.
"We managed to salvage one hundred single pilot fighters from the MSA hangars and the battlefield. We only have sixty active, and the other forty will ready by the end of the week. Our pilots are training the colonists on how to fly them. It isn’t hard to learn, but they will need fifty hours in the simulators before they are qualified. The learning curve after that is virtually flat."
"How many pilots do we need to fill out the fighters?" Eamonn interrupted.
"Twenty to thirty. We found some excellent recruits. We aren’t too worried about it. They are all coming along," Captain Terry said. "One point of ingenuity that I commended my engineers on is the transformation of the Unity’s forward hull into a serviceable ship. As you may recall, the Unity crashed into the lunar surface. We combined the bridge and the computer with one of the MSA’s massive back engines. She’ll lose a beauty contest, but the Unity Hybrid is the most formidable midclass cruiser in our fleet. She is nothing but a war machine. The Unity Hybrid will be in command of our bulk fighter armada, sixteen ships in total."
"Thank you," Sarah said to Captain Terry. She stood and walked with paced steps around the table. "I have been asking myself three questions for the longest time, keeping them to myself. I hoped the answer would show, but it hasn’t. I have accepted the fact that we will have to find the answers for ourselves.
"Chloe and Seth sought the first question; they arrived at Memnonia Sulci only to find the answer wasn’t there. Where is the secret base of the MSA? They have to have a base of operations in some cave or building. My teams on Mars are trying to locate it but to no avail.
"The second and third questions are troubling me the most. Seth and Chloe discovered that Aethpis was hiding a large supply of meteor stones somewhere on Mars. We all assumed the MSA used it, but why would my father approve such an undertaking?" She paused, letting the rhetorical question linger. "He wouldn’t—he knew nothing of the plans of the MSA. So if my father approved removing a portion of the stones, where did they go, and why would he approve them?" Sarah paused again. "Parker and I met for the second time when I was interrogating him."
Chloe felt a sting resonate through Parker’s mind.
Sarah fiddled with the ring on her finger. "I don’t care to recall the situation, but he did point out something that got me thinking. He discovered in my father’s personal records plans for a megacruiser class starship."
"Yes, I had forgotten about it," Parker said. "Maybe all the stones were used to build it."
"Exactly. If the MSA can have a secret base on Mars, why couldn’t my father?"
Parker bit his lower lip. "Maybe he hadn’t started it yet."
Sarah shrugged. "He would still need a hidden facility."
"Hold on," Eamonn said. "What in the world are you two talking about? What is this megacruiser class starship?"
"Sorry," Parker said. "In the Aethpisian Security Center database, a file contained a blueprint for a massive cruiser. It could reach speeds and levels of flight that no starship in the solar system can match, easily flying to Jupiter and back in under a month. The technology aboard the ship could put either of our sides in a position of advantage for years."
"Okay," Eamonn said. "If the MSA got their hands on the megacruiser, they might be able to find a way to replicate the engines and who knows what else."
"Why don’t we just use the blueprints and take what we can?" Jan said.
"Because there were no schematics for the actual technology," Parker said. "Pardon to Sarah, but it was only a dumbed down version for the minister’s benefit and protected against potential espionage."
Jan frowned. "So this could be fiction. None of it may exist but in theory."
"Yes," Parker conceded.
Sarah leaned forward. "Nevertheless, I want to take our fleet back to Mars to find it."
"We can’t leave Lunara unprotected," Ty said. "Lunara is the key to the MSA’s plans. They will be back." His face tightened with concern.
"The explosion in the utilities district left Lunara overworked. It can’t support the Alliance population anymore," Sarah said. "Besides, they can’t strike Lunara for a long time. Our intelligence can see from their numbers and ship assignments on Mars. We can’t stand idle as they entrench on Mars. If we attack them, we’ll become a big enough handful so they can’t regroup and strike Lunara."
"Lunara can’t be left unprotected," said Ty. "Even with the upgraded defense perimeter, the gun turret towers, and the new missile system. We are a sitting duck against a cruiser. We’ll get pounded."
Sarah raised her hand to temper his fears. "I’ll leave twenty-five fighters behind to help Lunara."
"This is unacceptable!" Jan cried. "For all we know, they have cruisers sitting behind the Earth waiting for us to fly off to Mars."
"Our numerous scout ships haven’t seen any sign of them. Not even Ion dust from an engine."
Jan shook her head vehemently. "They can trick our radar easily enough. Why not our sensors?"
"Minister McCloud is right," Captain Terry said. "We must strike back at the MSA on Mars. We can’t let them build a comfort level. Mars needs our help; they call for it every day."
"Granted, Mars is in trouble, but we can’t risk losing Lunara," Jan said. "We have the largest supply of meteor stones in the solar system. And with the meteor cluster aimed at the Earth, we will continue to be the main supplier for the foreseeable future."
Ty waved his hand for them to stop arguing. "Sarah, it is prudent to protect what we know is their most wanted target. But let’s just say for argument’s sake, once you get to Mars, what makes you think that you can find the MSA secret bases or your father’s base?"
"Simple. I want Seth and Chloe to accompany me. I’ll let it be known we are protecting them aboard one of our cruisers. The MSA will attempt to kidnap them again, and we’ll watch where the snakes slither out and nab their locations."
"Absolutely no chance you will use Chloe and Seth as bait," Ty said, his forehead contracted on his reddened face. "They aren’t allowed to leave Lunara while this war is going on. That is nonnegotiable."
"Ty," Chloe said. "We can’t let Martians die."
"You listen to me," Ty said. "You are under direct order from me to remain on Lunara until this war is over. As the chief of this station and as your guardian, do you understand me?"
"But Ty—"
"But Ty nothing. Do you understand me? I’m protecting you. Remember what they did to you?"
"I was there, and I will stop them from hurting her," Seth said.
"Staying here is how you do that!" Ty’s glance shot over toward Sarah. "You can take your fleet to Mars with my support. I hate the idea of leaving Lunara less protected. However, your point about the utilities in the colony is valid. We could do with fe
wer people, but under no circumstance are you to take these two with you." He glared at Seth and Chloe. "I will be watching you, and any defiance of me will be disrespectful and unforgivable in my eyes."
"They’ll remain here," Sarah replied. "I’ll respect your wishes and alter my plans."
"Thank you," Ty said. "I’m going back to my duties. Any attack on Mars doesn’t include me. Send me a list of the fighters and pilots you are leaving on Lunara."
"We discussed all we needed to discuss for now," Sarah said. "Captain Terry and Captain Matthews, will you meet with me tomorrow morning to go over the battle plans for our return to Mars? Captain Dalton, can you bring Shannon Buckley to my office in thirty minutes for a private meeting? I have something to discuss with both of you. Everyone else is dismissed."
Chapter 8
Questions from the captains delayed Parker from leaving the meeting for a few minutes. He wanted to catch Seth and Chloe as soon as possible. He had important matters to discuss with them—namely, their involvement with Sarah.
He exited the meeting room and sped down the hallway in the direction of their quarters. They had been staying with Ty, and that was the best for them. It was the safest spot in the colony. He had heard several snide remarks from Aethpisians, and it appeared that they didn’t try to keep their feelings secret from him either. That led him to believe the hate was deeper than he had suspected.
After several corridor shifts, he spotted Seth and Chloe in the distance and was about to call out to them when he noticed several Aethpisians approaching them from an adjacent corridor. Muffled voices drowned out the content of the conversation, but Seth’s stance and his protective arm pushing Chloe away from the Aethpisians told Parker the context.
Instead of going to help them, he slipped behind a strut protruding from the white and gray walls of Lunara colony. He had to see how they would react. As he listened to the argument, he couldn’t help but notice the colony’s usual spotless shine had deteriorated, and dirt and grime were everywhere. With surface visitors few and far between, the colony tracked in little debris. It seemed the events of the last two weeks and the quadrupling of the population had taken a toll on the cleaning robots that roamed the corridors. He hadn’t seen one since he had been back and guessed Ty had ordered them shut down to provide a more welcoming atmosphere for the people lining the main concourses and using the dead ends as temporary housing.
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