by RJ Johnson
"But... it was my destiny." Rincon slurred, and then his body slumped. It was over.
Meade coughed violently, trying, but failing to catch his breath. The Pit rattled and shook some more as the stress from the engines and the Homeworld's gravity began to tear the asteroid apart. He almost couldn't hear his ArmBar pinging him loudly. He opened it and saw Emeline's face.
"Meade!" She shouted over the din. "You have to activate the Higgs Generator now! We're out of time!"
Meade nodded, unable to vocalize a response, bruised as his throat was. He tumbled off the top of the payloader and moved slowly to the Higgs generator's manual controls. Ready for it this time, he connected his ArmBar to the Generator and pushed the gravity settings to maximum.
The effect was immediate. There was a violent heave to one side as the two powerful Higgs fields combined. Slowly, the asteroid began to move out of the orbit of the Homeworld. At first it didn't look like it would make it, but slowly meter by meter, the effect became cumulative as the asteroid began picking up speed laterally. Rosetta was aiming away from the Homeworld. They had done it. Humanity would live to see another day.
His ArmBar pinged and Meade opened it. On the other side he heard celebration and shouts of victory, and he was relieved. They had done it. Emeline appeared on his viewscreen shouting victoriously. "Jim you big beautiful man, you did it! Sinjakama's run the numbers and you did it! Just wait til you see what saving the world sex is like!"
Meade grinned and was about to respond when the shaking within the Pit became more violent than it ever had before. His ears popped and he heard the sound of whooshing air.
"That's not good." Meade muttered and looked up. Above him massive cracks appeared in the ceiling, and soon those cracks turned into massive fractures that began to run up and down the sides of the Pit. He scrambled back up into the payloader and grabbed the emergency rebreather suit. He put the helmet on just in time as he heard a massive groan and CRACK from above. Debris showered around him and suddenly he was thrown up against the wall next to Rincon's dying body.
The Higgs field had generated so much thrust it had stressed the weakest point of the asteroid to its breaking limits. Caught between the Homeworld's gravity and the artificial gravity well created between the overdriven Higgs generator on Rosetta and the Garuda, the stress had proven to be too much for this section and it ripped itself free, plunging back towards the Homeworld.
Meade watched as the side of the asteroid containing the Higgs generator ripped away and hurled itself down towards the planet beneath them. The biggest part of the asteroid was already on course for a slingshot around the Homeworld, but a large chunk, with him on it, was now free-falling towards the Homeworld Meade's parents had fled and he had never seen.
Tumbling end over end, the chunk of the asteroid fell towards the Earth as Meade clutched to the side of the rock, holding onto the javelin that had killed Rincon to keep from falling off the rock himself. If he didn't know Rincon was already dead, he could have sworn he heard the man laughing.
"Not like this." Meade shouted. "Not like this!"
Meade stood and pulled on the javelin in Rincon's body, pulling with all his strength to get the embedded javelin out of the solid rock it had entered. He felt it give and then, he was holding it in his hands. He turned and reeled the javelin back into its launcher, aimed it towards the retreating large portion of Rosetta and fired blindly, hoping against hope, that his aim was true.
It was.
Meade felt the line go taught in his hand and he was yanked off the slice of asteroid as it plunged into the atmosphere, the rock beginning to glow as its incredible speed created massive amounts of friction. Meade held as tight as he could onto the javelin's cable knowing if he let go that was it.
Hand over hand, meter by meter, Meade climbed his way back towards what remained of the Pit. It was quite possibly the most arduous thing he'd ever done in his life. And when he was able to, he sat down, resting on top of the payloader's cage, and watched the shining blue marble, the place that had once been his home long before he'd even had memories and appreciated the view.
He'd have to come back someday and get a tour of the place, Meade decided, though, he doubted he'd ever have a view that rivaled this one.
His ArmBar pinged and he saw Emeline's worried face break into tears when she saw him alive and well. He was wrong. Her joy at his being alive was the most beautiful thing he'd ever see. He decided to replace his rule on love with a new one.
Rule #13: Love is beautiful and you're a fool if you miss out on it.
Meade vowed to never be a fool again.
Chapter Thirty-Three
It took longer than Meade would have liked for the Garuda to catch up with Rosetta and land in the landing bay, but after the slingshot around the Homeworld's orbit, Rosetta was now traveling at nearly 35,000 kilometers per second. It was nearing the top speed of the Garuda and took everything it had to catch up to the asteroid.
Meade had made his way through the tuns to the launch bay while he waited for rescue. For all the stress and torture the engines had put the asteroid through, it was still in remarkably good shape. Meade didn't want to climb all the way up to Koschei's former headquarters, but from what Emeline had told him, most of the asteroid had remained intact, although, he was sure it would need a spit shine and some real work to get things back on track again.
No sooner did the Garuda land in the launch bay did the doors open and Emeline rushed out to grab hold of Meade kissing him passionately as they celebrated their reunion. Suresh and Amla held Ratters as they supervised the prisoners who were being escorted out of the Garuda one by one, their heads low unable or unwilling to look up at their captors.
"What will you do with them?" Meade asked Sinjakama.
Atel Sinjakama shrugged. "The Consortium is rounding up the remaining Lightbringers who ejected in the lifepods along the journey. They stuck to their plan and formed colonies of sorts as they linked their lifepods together." Sinjakama smiled maliciously. "It made then rather... easy to capture."
Meade decided he didn't want to know the end result of those poor bastards capture. With Rincon dead, someone had to answer for the attempted genocide, and the Lightbringers who survived were as good as any.
"What about these people?"
Sinjakama raised his eyebrow. "I am uncertain. From what Ms. Hunan has told me, their compliance chips had been reprogrammed to follow certain suggestive language patterns. Every night as they fell asleep, their subconscious was being programmed to respond to suggestions to overthrow the Consortium and follow Rincon and his plans for 'resetting' the natural order of things. She assures me that with Rincon's death, they are no longer a problem for the Consortium."
"What will you do with them?" Meade asked.
Sinjakama looked troubled. "I am of the mind to try and execute every last one of them on Rosetta, but then..." he paused, looking upset, "If it wasn't for my family and how we had treated these people, they may have never began following Rincon in the first place, who in turn would never have had the opportunity to reprogram their compliance chips. So..." he shook his head. "Sufficed to say, I am at a loss."
"Let them go." Emeline said her voice low and insistent. Sinjakama waved her off.
"Yes, yes, you've said that several times now." Sinjakama replied, "I will be honest with you, it has crossed my mind as a solution."
"You should listen to her Sinjakama." Meade added. "Honestly, I can't think of a more just punishment, and opportunity for you to redeem yourself to these people by leaving them here on Rosetta."
Sinjakama looked shocked, as did Emeline. "What are you talking about?"
"Let them stay on Rosetta and create a new colony here." Meade replied. "From what I was able to gather while I was waiting for the Garuda to catch up, the thrusters have completely burned themselves out, and will never work again. If you want, you could even destroy the navigational equipment and ensure they wouldn't be able to find their
way home. Let them stay and farm Rosetta as it floats out of our solar system and into the great beyond. It'll give them a life, and yet, keep them far away from the Homeworld where they might cause damage.
"Besides, if you allow them to return home to stand trial, it will be the biggest scandal the Consortium will ever see. Not even someone with your kind of power could escape the scrutiny it would create. If word got out that it was your father's engines who powered the asteroid that nearly killed the Homeworld, you would be hounded until the day you died, and then your heirs would have to answer for their grandfather's sins." Meade added with a flourish. He knew how serious family honor was in the Consortium. "If you allow these people to start fresh on Rosetta and allow them safe passage as a new colony destined for..." he pointed out to deep space, "Whatever there is out there, you'll go down in history as the man who helped save the world instead of a man who lives the rest of his days tainted with scandal."
Sinjakama thought about Meade's argument before finally nodding. "All right, these people will be allowed to stay and live. The only thing is they are lacking is a leader."
Meade clapped Suresh on his back, "I can't think of anyone better."
Suresh's eyes went as wide as saucers. "Sir, I appreciate the faith but..."
"It isn't faith that I have in you Suresh. It's your qualifications. You always did what you believed what the right thing was, even when it wasn't. You made mistakes, just like every other human being out there has. The difference between you and the majority of humanity is the fact you learned from your mistake. You learned how people can manipulate your fear and what that can do to a man. You learned how your past can be used against you to keep you from doing what you know is the right thing. Most of all, you knew what the right thing was and you did it anyway, no matter the cost to your life. You were willing to sacrifice yourself and that above all, makes you a great leader."
Meade looked into Suresh's soft brown eyes and smiled. "Besides, you really wanna go back to being a pauper servant after all this?"
Suresh stood up straight and shook his head. "No sir."
"Then I think you've found yourself a new life." Meade grinned. "That is, if Amla agrees to stay with ya. You are of course welcome to come join me on Mars. Like I said, the offer to crash on my couch still stands if you're a mind to."
Amla shook her head and leaped up to hug Meade, kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you." She said her voice stronger and clearer than he'd ever heard from her before. Meade smiled and nodded.
"You're welcome. Take care of Suresh and be ready to lead yourself. You're just as strong as him, if not more so based on what I've seen you do over the last few days."
She nodded gratefully and clutched Suresh's arm. Sinjakama coughed politely and stepped forward withdrawing O'Donnell's ArmBar offering it to Meade.
"I was able to liberate this for you." Sinjakama said displaying the best ArmBar Meade had ever owned. "It has been fully charged and updated with all the latest in tech courtesy of my friends in the Consortium, even some programs that I'm not allowed to know about yet. My friends in the government felt you would do some real good with them."
Meade took the proffered ArmBar gratefully. "Thanks, but I think I'd rather stick with my dad's model. Fits better than this one. However, I do believe Suresh could use an ArmBar if he's gonna be leading a nation of people."
He gave the ArmBar to Suresh, his mouth agape in shock. "Sir, I cannot..."
"Yes Suresh," Meade said gently, "You can."
Suresh nodded and slide the ArmBar over his left arm as it fit itself to the contours of his arm. "I am so grateful sir," Suresh said softly. "I do not know what I will do without you."
"You'll hang onto that pretty lady and tell her you love her and she'll hang onto you and tell you the same. That's what you'll do." Meade replied.
"Look at you, turning into a big ol' softie." Emeline said punching him lightly on the arm.
"Well, that's what love will do to a man I suppose." Meade replied sweetly and kissed Emeline. He decided he liked the way she tasted when they kissed. It was a pleasant feeling.
"I do not wish to interrupt," Sinjakama began, "but we have a limited window of opportunity. The longer we stay on board, the longer it will take us to return you to Martian soil."
"Well then, we shouldn’t waste any more time." Meade said decisively. He scooped Emeline up in his arms and headed towards the Garuda. "Suresh, you take care of yourself and your people. Sinjakama, I'm afraid you're gonna have to work like one of the little people for awhile and take over piloting duties for the next day or so. I've got some things to do that I've put off for entirely too long."
"Better learn how that autopilot works!" Emeline cried back to Sinjakama, and Meade laughed as he carried her into the ship. It felt good to be going home.
Epilogue
FIVE DAYS LATER
Meade was dressed in the best clothing money could buy. The hazard pay and bonus Sinjakama had paid him for the job was more money than he'd seen in his entire life. Conceivably, he could pay off Emeline's debts, his debts and retire in a modest home in one of the orbital cities above the Homeworld. However, he wasn't going to do that. Money didn't seem to be as important as it was to him when he left Mars a week ago.
He considered that for a second. Only a week had passed since he had gotten involved with Sinjakama, but for him it felt like a lifetime. Funny how time worked, Meade thought to himself as he strode confidently into the Coalition's Central Federal Building on Mars. He walked up to the secretary who was again painting her nails several different shades. The secretary saw him coming and sat up straight and put on her best smile. Strange how she treated him when it looked like he had some real money behind him.
"James Meade to see Ambassador Palmetto."
"Do you have an appointment?" She asked sweetly.
"I do not. Tell him I'm here. He'll want to see me."
"Of course. Would you like some coffee while you're waiting?" The secretary asked as she dialed the Ambassador's extension.
"No, I'm fine." Meade replied evenly. He wasn't going to take anything from Palmetto, not even coffee. The secretary nodded and spoke into her headset.
"I have James Meade to see you sir." She paused, waiting for the response, and quickly nodded. "Understood, I'll have him sent up right away."
"I know where I'm going, thanks." Meade said to her before she had a chance. He turned and walked towards the elevators across the hall and pressed his thumb against the black panel. His photo came up and the elevator doors closed.
A short ride later, Meade exited the elevator and walked directly past Palmetto's personal secretary before she had a chance to speak. He opened the enormous doors and directly towards Palmetto.
"Ahh, Mr. Meade, I'm very pleased to see you alive and well." Michael Palmetto's voice was anything but pleased, but still, appearances had to be kept.
"Right." Meade said sarcastically. He sat down opposite Palmetto and stared at the Ambassador waiting for him to make the first move.
"I trust your time on Rosetta was productive."
"You know exactly how my time was spent on Rosetta." Meade could hardly keep himself from punching the man in his fat face. How he loathed him, but he was there to do business. Not take out his frustrations on the man.
"I understand that Rosetta is no longer producing ORI for the Consortium." Palmetto's voice was definitely happy with this news. "The price has skyrocketed and the Martian mines are back in full swing once again. They don't have enough workers for all the work we have. We've taken on an immigration program in fact to help spread the word about the type of opportunities Mars has to offer." Palmetto leaned forward and smiled at Meade. "And for all that we have you to thank my friend."
"I'm not your friend." Meade shot back, his skin was crawling. The sooner he got out of here the better. "I'm pretty fucking far from being your friend in fact."
"Now, now, Mr. Meade." Palmetto said leaning back in his chair, "
This is no time for acrimony, you've single-handedly saved the Martian and dare I say, Coalition economy. You're a hero! Enjoy it!"
"I'm no hero." Meade spat back at him. "I want what I came for. Wipe out Emeline's debts, pay me my money, and stay the hell away from my life. I never want to see you again."
Palmetto frowned and clucked disapprovingly. "Of course. Did you think I would renege on our deal? Ms. Hunan's debts were wiped the second you stepped foot back on Martian soil. There were many businessmen who were upset by that, but I took care of their objections." Palmetto leaned forward and waved his ArmBar over Meade's. "And now, you have your money. You're a very rich man Mr. Meade. How does it feel to join our exclusive little club?"