by Danny Brown
A pale-faced Admiral Lee, who was now sweating, looked from Jackie to the dead men and back a few times, still not sure how to address this woman. She finally said with a loud gulp, “how is it they are doing this for the greater good?”
“They believe they are trying to prevent our destruction,” Jackie answered. “They honestly think that if we become too advanced, a great darkness will come against us to destroy us all, and the way to stop that is to be agents of chaos.”
“Save us by committing mass murder?” asked the admiral, shaking her head.
“Yes. Their logic is to kill millions, or even billions, to save trillions. Antagonize, make war, prevent unity. It is a wild and crazy logic. Nevertheless, these three are, were, true believers.”
“How can that be that they are responsible for something like this on such a large scale? The pirates released on Wellington were unorganized, almost mindless killing machines. These were not a thinking people.”
“I was not able to get all the details there,” Jackie responded evenly. “What I do know is the ground troops they used were criminals taken from prison planets. I suspect if everyone were to check, there would be far fewer prisoners than once believed. While the ones who landed appeared as an unorganized mob, those who managed them were quite the opposite.
“Concerning ‘The Chosen,' they operate on a cell basis. No one inside of it knows many details regarding the organization itself, nor knowledge of who is in the other cells. What I do know is they have operatives in all the spheres of human influence, and we have not seen the last of them. This attack was but the tip of the spear.”
The admiralty and His Eminence seemed to take it all in, distinctly uncomfortable at this general knowledge, and in the displays of power Jackie has performed.
“Commander Campo,” the admiral said, “I have another question, this one equally as uncomfortable.”
Great, what now?
“Ask.”
“How do we know you won’t seize power. After what we’ve seen during the battle, and today, I imagine it would be an easy matter for you,” Amy asked meekly.
Jackie froze. Were they that afraid of her?
<
But I want none of that for myself.
<
Jackie was clearly uncomfortable with the question. But she cleared her throat to respond.
“It is for me to serve the people, not the other way around,” she said, as she looked each member of the Commonwealth High Command in the eye.
Epilogue
“Admiral Ziolkowski, sir? Incoming call,” the dingbat receptionist said, ducking her head in.
Difficult to find good help, the admiral thought to herself.
“Thank you,” she responded. “Now get out!”
Twit.
With the press of a button, a highly encrypted video call was put through.
“Ah, Maggie, good to see you!” the voice said.
“I told you not to contact me again! And I hate being called ‘Maggie’! Sounds like a yappy dog! I am Margaret, Admiral Ziolkowski, or SIR!”
The voice just boomed laughing.
“What do you want, other than to discuss the disaster at Wellington?” ask the admiral, trying to maintain her composure.
“Our plans fell short. We will need to move up our timeline if we are to succeed.”
“It was that Earth woman!” she scolded.
“Looking for excuses? That’s being a real kiss-up,” he responded.
“And you’re a demented sicko with delusions of grandeur,” she said.
“I try my best!” he laughed some more. “And your hands are not exactly clean, I might add!”
She knew he knew the dirt in her life. It played a large part in how she got involved with The Chosen to begin with.
He pushed a file over to her across the net. Her eyes went wide upon reading it.
“This is insane! I could be exposed!”
“You took an oath, Maggie,” she winced when he said that name again, “and you will do as I say! Just remember who owns you!”
“My contact will be burned. It will change some of our plans!”
“Make it happen,” he commanded.
“Yes sir,” she said through her teeth.
After the video feed had turned off, she sat there thinking.
Where’s that dipstick of a receptionist?
She pressed a button and said, “Get me Admiral Anderson!”
##
After terminating the connection, he sat back, pondering for a few moments. He reached over, pressed another button, and a sergeant came into his room.
“Reese, I’ve changed my plans. Listen, clean up this mess for me and then schedule a conference with the Zikars for this afternoon.”
“What mess, sir?” the man asked.
As the man looked over at the bed there was a young girl bound by her wrists and ankles, naked with welts and small burn marks covering her body. He then took his pistol, aimed it at her head and fired at the whimpering girl.
A large smiled grew across the sergeant’s face. “I’ll have that cleaned up for you right away, sir!”
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Jackie, Jackie, Jackie,” he whispered to himself. “You always were my favorite.”
The General just sat there, reminiscing.
##
Jackie was shocked at the news. She looked away from Tabitha and to Jeri.
“Did you know?” she asked in a sad, almost accusatory voice.
“No, neither of us did until this morning,” Jeri responded gently.
“Do you agree?” she asked with more urgency.
“No!” he answered, hurt evident in his face. “But they are making a very legal argument saying you are augmented, no longer entirely base human, and therefore no longer fit to serve. Everyone Commodore Summers and I have spoken to cannot believe this judgment has come down, especially now! As far as we’re concerned, you have more than proved yourself, Jackie! But this comes from the highest levels.”
“Jackie,” Tabitha broke in, “it was going to be worse.”
“How much worse can it be having my commission terminated?!”
“They wanted to discharge you dishonorably,” the commodore answered. “I called in several favors to prevent that,” Tabitha continued. “I made sure yours was an honorable discharge, as I believe you are an honorable woman.”
At that, Jackie’s eyes got wide in disbelief.
They wanted a dishonorable discharge? Someone had to fight just to make it an honorable one? How did it come to this?
And just like that, her career as a naval officer in the Westerly Federation ended.
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading my book! This book is my first venture into the world of writing science fiction, a genre I genuinely love.
I want to tell stories I want to hear, like space pirate building up enough bad karma that you just cannot wait for the smack down. And who does not want to hear about space pirates getting their butts kicked?
In all seriousness, sitting down for hours on end to read a novel start to finish is a commitment of time, and I am so humbled you have taken that time to read my book, thank you!
I would greatly appreciate it if you would rate or even review my book. As a brand-new author, yes, I am a newb, I want to make stories that people will enjoy, and would love feedback, even the if it is not very flattering!
Lastly, I just want to thank my loving wife, without whom, none of this would have been possible. She inspired me to write this story, and her love and support have been crucial to following through on this dream.
Future Releases
So, does Jackie have a future in the military? Will the treaty fall apart? Where is this relationship with Rick going? And this ‘General’ dude, what kind of trouble is he stirring up? Find out more this summer!
The Askirti Chronicles
Book 1 �
� Interloper
Book 2 – Rumors of Wars (early summer 2017)
Book 3 – Head of the Snake (late summer 2017)
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