“Okay, so if you have the password, and if everything is working correctly, could you operate the system and fire a missile at the ship in orbit?”
“Maybe.”
“You aren’t confident you can?”
“Mio, I’ve never seen this system before. I trained on an earlier version. It probably works similarly to the ones I used, but it may take some time to figure out. I can’t promise I’ll know how to use something I’ve never seen.
“But there’s a chance?” Mio asked.
“Yeah, assuming Dan doesn’t kill the rest of the resistance before we get back to camp.”
“You’re right; we need to stop talking and get back. Let’s go!”
* * *
Harry and Mio returned to camp after dusk to find several new people there.
Mio pulled one of the newcomers, a tall woman with dark hair, aside. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“We’re moving in,” the woman said. “We’ve all experienced some pretty heavy losses, and we’re consolidating our supplies. I think there’s going to be a meeting in a few minutes.”
“Let’s go see what’s going on,” Harry said. “There’ll be time to discuss our information once we get the lay of the land.”
The pair walked over to the meeting area, and Mio began counting. There were only about 80 people in attendance. If that was the entire resistance effort, they were going to have a tough time conducting any other major operations.
Garcia and Beaufort were waiting in front of the group, as usual, but they were alone there. Mio had heard the other three leaders were killed in the assault on the starport, but she hadn’t believed it until now.
“Welcome, everyone,” Garcia said a couple of minutes later, once everyone was there. “As everyone can see, we are consolidating our forces and supplies. We have sustained a number of major setbacks recently, and our situation has become somewhat grim.”
“That’s what happens when your leader is a traitor,” one of the newcomers said loudly.
Garcia’s face reddened. “I am not a traitor!”
Other people in the audience began hurling insults, while Garcia tried to regain control. Mio knew Garcia wasn’t the traitor; she had to help. She jumped up on the bench and waved her arms, yelling as piercingly as she could, “Hey, be quiet! Hey, be quiet!”
The crowd stopped yelling and Garcia looked annoyed as he recognized the source of his aid in regaining control. “Yes?” Garcia asked. “Do you have some more accusations to throw around about my leadership?”
“No,” Mio said. “I just wanted to say I am sorry for calling you a traitor. I found some new information, and I know you aren’t the traitor.”
“Well isn’t that comforting,” Garcia said sarcastically, receiving a few laughs from the crowd. Several faces turned to look at Mio. They didn’t look happy. “Now that I have your vote of approval, may I continue?”
“Sure,” Mio said in a small voice, climbing back down.
Garcia cleared his throat. “Now, as I was saying, we have sustained a number of setbacks recently that have caused us to consolidate our forces. We have also had some losses at the leadership level that need to be filled. We will still have a council of five members; the first person who will be added is Dan Sotherby, who will oversee our tactical actions and raids. I suspect most people already know him; he has steadfastly led our troops into battle and has killed more Terran troops than anyone else.”
Dan stepped forward from the front row to a thunderous ovation as almost everyone in the crowd roared their approval. He turned, blushing, and waved to the crowd.
The color drained from Mio’s face as she turned to Harry.
“Well, that should just about finish off the resistance,” he noted.
“We have to do something,” Mio said.
“Yeah, we do,” Harry said. He sighed. “Just don’t do it now, in front of the group again, okay?”
“But—”
“No, it didn’t turn out well last time, and I suspect it will turn out worse this time. We’ll do something…but not now.”
Mio watched impatiently as Garcia introduced the other two new members of the ruling council, Amelia Lopez and Trevor Werner. Both were from the other group, so Mio didn’t know them, but they must have been popular there as they received big rounds of applause. Jason was kind of cute in a boyish way, and looked almost as young as she did.
Of course, Dan also received great support…and he was a traitor. Mio shook her head. What they didn’t know could hurt them. Badly. She needed to tell someone soon, even though Harry said to wait.
Mio lost track of the meeting as the voices droned on until a phrase caught her attention. Dan was talking, and he had said, “…missile system.”
“What did he just say?” Mio asked.
“He said that we have to do something about the Terran missile system. No, hush; I want to hear what he says.”
Dan continued, “It has to be our first priority. I know some of you have looked at it, and I know it’s going to be a tough nut to crack. Still, we’re going to have to destroy it, as there’s no way we can survive with it here. Its presence allows the destroyer in orbit to command our skies, dropping orbital bombardment rounds whenever it wants to. Even if one of our fleets were to show up here, they wouldn’t want to come to the planet because of the missile system. If a lone ship shows up, it’s either going to quickly leave again, or it’s going to be destroyed. Getting rid of the missile system is the only way we can ensure our safety. Once it’s gone, our fleet will be able to easily chase the ship off; heck, it may even leave on its own once it doesn’t have the missile system to reinforce its authority. Either way, with it gone, we are well on our way to freedom.”
* * *
The meeting broke up soon after that, and Mio chased after Garcia and Amelia Lopez who were leaving together. She looked over her shoulder to see if Harry was coming and ran full force into Garcia, who had stopped to talk to someone.
“Is it not enough that you besmirch my name in our meetings? Now you have to physically assault me, too? What’s next? Laser pistols at 10 paces?”
“What? Uh, no. I’m really sorry for running into you, sir. I was trying to catch up to you to talk to you.”
“Let me guess. Now that you don’t think I’m the traitor, you have new information that someone else is.”
“How did—”
“Hi, Mr. Garcia,” Harry said, interrupting her as he arrived. “Mio was just telling me that you made some really great picks for the ruling council.”
“I think they were the most qualified,” Garcia said with a nod. He turned back to Mio. “Now, if there’s nothing else?”
“Actually,” Harry said, “We’d kind of like to talk to you about the plan to attack the Terran missile system.”
“You should talk with Dan Sotherby,” Garcia said; “he’s our tactical operations planner. Now, I am late and must be going.” He turned and started to walk off.
“Well, see, there’s a problem with that,” Harry said, “and I think you’ll want to hear what it is.”
“Okay,” Garcia said. He turned and looked at his chrono. “You have three minutes. What is the problem?”
Mio knew this was the chance she had been looking for. Garcia appeared to be willing to listen for once, but was he really? Only one way to find out.
She took a deep breath and said, “I think the problem is that you are looking at the whole missile system situation wrong.”
“Little girl, I let you attend our meetings against my better judgment so you could hopefully learn something you can use when you grow up. That’s when you grow up, not today. For now, you will help us the most if you keep your eyes open and your mouth closed.”
Mio felt her cheeks go red, and tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes. Despite everything she had done for them, they still insisted on treating her like a baby. It’s not fair. More importantly, she knew this time she was right.
&nbs
p; “No!” she exclaimed, stomping her foot. “You’re wrong! We shouldn’t destroy the missile system. And you need to listen to me as to why that is!”
“No?” Garcia asked, raising his eyebrows. “Then what exactly should we do? Please wow me with the depth of your 13-year-old insight.” Sarcasm dripped from every word to puddle around her.
“First of all, I’m almost 15,” Mio replied, “which makes me almost old enough to serve. Second of all, I’ve been part of the resistance since the beginning. I’ve seen assaults, both good and bad, and I’ve learned an awful lot along the way. But more importantly, unlike you, I can think more than one step ahead.”
Garcia’s face turned an equal shade of red to hers, then went on to purple. He sputtered several times at her impertinence, looking for the words to dismiss her, and she knew she had to follow through, or her opportunity would be lost…perhaps for all time.
“We don’t want to destroy the missile system,” Mio said, “because that’s not in our best interest. If we destroy it, what happens if another of their ships comes and decides to kill us? For that matter, what if the one currently in orbit decides it wants to bomb us out of existence? We don’t have any way of defending ourselves. Until now, we’ve gotten away with our attacks because they haven’t been destructive enough to really worry the Terrans. Sure, we destroyed some things and killed some people, but we haven’t done enough to make ourselves worth their time to chase down. If we blow up the missile system, we will be seen as a big enough threat to come after, and they will send their ship after us. If we blow up the missile system, we’re all going to die.”
“But Mio, you don’t understand,” Amelia Lopez said, waving a hand at Garcia to let her handle it. “If we don’t destroy it, no one will ever be able to come help us or bring us supplies. They won’t be able to get past the missile system.”
“I understand all that—” Mio said.
“Then there’s nothing more to discuss,” Garcia interrupted.
“—but you’re not looking at the benefits of the missile system,” Mio concluded.
“Honey, there aren’t any benefits to having the missile system here,” Lopez replied. “It will kill every ship the ALS sends.”
Mio smiled. “Not if it belongs to us.”
Garcia’s eyebrows knit. “What do you mean? It’s a piece of Terran Union gear. It doesn’t belong to us.”
“It would if we took it from them. What if, instead of destroying it, we attack the missile system and take it for ourselves? Then we could use it against the destroyer in orbit, opening the way for aid to get here.”
“That’s stupid,” Dan said, as he joined the group, coming from behind Mio. “First of all, nobody here knows how to operate the system, so even if we took it, we couldn’t use it against the destroyer in orbit. More importantly, though, there’s no way to approach it. The TU troops have a 500-meter killing zone around it. I’ve seen it! Anybody who tries to approach it will be slaughtered. It would be much easier to destroy it from afar than risk everyone’s lives trying to get close enough to capture it.”
Mio saw the other leaders nodding; her time was running out. “What if I told you we have someone who can operate the system? Would that help?”
“And who would that be?”
Mio looked at Harry, who shook his head. She pressed on, anyway. “Harry is a former Terran Union soldier,” she said. “He operated one of their missile systems. He could probably figure this one out.”
All eyes turned to Harry. “Is that true?” Garcia asked.
Harry scanned their faces and cleared his throat. “Yeah, it’s true,” he said with a sigh. “I’m former TU, but only because I was forced to join, and I did work on a similar system.”
“And you think you can operate it?” Lopez asked.
“I can’t tell you for sure without seeing it, but the system I worked on was very similar to the one the TU forces have here.”
Garcia turned back to Mio. “So, we have someone with experience, even though I don’t know if I trust him. How are you going to get him to the missile system without getting him or the rest of us killed?”
“Remember where you first found me?” Mio asked. “There is a system of tunnels in the plateau there that leads right up to where the missile system is stationed. A smaller group could sneak up on the Turds and hit them from behind while the majority of the forces keep their attention.”
“I still say trying to capture it is crazy,” Dan said. “What if they’re waiting for you in the tunnels? Well-armed soldiers could easily wipe out our group in the tight confines of a tunnel. All it would take is a couple of grenades, and we’re all dead.”
“I like the idea of capturing it,” Garcia said, “but I think Dan is right. It’s a lot safer if we destroy it and be done with it.”
“Well, there is one other reason for capturing it…” Mio said, allowing her voice to trail off as she drew her laser pistol.
“What’s that?” Garcia asked. Having made the decision, he appeared impatient to be on his way.
“The other reason for capturing it rather than destroying it, and perhaps the best reason of all, is that Dan wants you to destroy it.” She raised her pistol, pointed it at Dan, and saw out of the corner of her eye that Harry had drawn and pointed his pistol as well. “I suspect that’s something he discussed with the Terran forces when he was at the missile system talking with them today.
“What’s this?” Garcia asked.
“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Dan said.
“She’s right,” Harry said. “Mio took me through the tunnels today, and I saw Dan exit the missile command vehicle and speak with several of their soldiers, just as plain as day. He’s your traitor, folks. You may remember he was also on all of the raids that went bad…and he also seemed to come away without a scratch.”
Mio could see Dan looking back and forth between her pistol and Harry’s, his body tense and ready to spring. “Please don’t do it,” she begged. “I don’t want to shoot you, but I’ll kill you deader than the Terrans I shot.”
“I’m prior Terran Army,” Harry added, his voice level. “She may flinch ’cause she likes you, but I won’t.”
Dan sagged, the tension leaving his body. “Okay, you got me,” he said. He looked at Mio. “I was sure you wouldn’t go back into those tunnels ever again.”
“I wouldn’t have, for anyone other than my father,” Mio replied. “But right now, those missiles are keeping him away, and we need to do something about them.”
“More so than you know,” Dan said. “You’ll never be able to take back the city, because the missile troops will blow it up. They have orders to hit the city if the ship in orbit is destroyed.”
“Can they do that?” Garcia asked. “How much damage would they do?”
“Those missiles are meant for combat in outer space,” Harry said. “The warheads on them are nothing more than glorified 50 megaton nuclear bombs. Could they use them in a surface-to-surface mode? They could, and just one of them would destroy the entire town.”
“So, if a ship showed up and destroyed the Terran spaceship?” Lopez asked.
“You might as well attack the missiles, as you’d have nothing to lose. They’re going to nuke the town in any event.”
“That’s horrific!” Lopez exclaimed.
“I don’t understand,” Mio said. “Why would you do that?”
“I got caught the night of the raid on the food warehouse. I was carrying Mio and it became a matter of being captured or leaving her behind…and I couldn’t leave her behind in the condition she was in. When the Terrans found out I was prior ALS Special Forces, they captured my wife and took her up to the spaceship. They’ve been holding her there and forcing me to do what they wanted. I’ve killed an awful lot of them…but I’ve also led our folks into a lot of bad situations for her sake.” Dan looked up into the sky. “No!” he exclaimed. “Not now! No, no, no!”
Harry’s eyes flinched upw
ard, and Dan sprang. Before Harry could fire, Dan slapped away the pistol and punched him in the face. Harry fell backward, and Dan turned. The laser bolt from Mio’s pistol struck him in the chest. He took another step toward her, and she shot him a second time. Dan fell to his knees, then collapsed to the ground.
He twitched on the ground, his hand fumbling with the button on one of the cargo pockets on his pants.
“Easy with that,” Harry said, grabbing his pistol and aiming it at the fallen man.
“Just…want…to see…” Dan said, his motions becoming slower.
Mio stepped forward and opened the button with her free hand. Inside the pocket was a memory cube, an almost exact replica of the one in her own pocket. She put it in Dan’s hand, and he triggered it.
A hologram of a beautiful blond woman appeared. “I love you Dan,” she said. “No matter what they do to me, even if they kill me, I will always love you.” Dan smiled, then the light went out of his eyes.
“I didn’t want to kill him,” Mio said, looking at Dan’s body, tears already streaming from her eyes; “he made me do it.”
When no one said anything, she looked up to find all three adults staring at the heavens.
“Call everyone together, right now!” Garcia ordered. “We don’t have a second to waste!”
* * * * *
Chapter Nineteen: Benno
Commander Howard Beam, the commanding officer of TNV Mare Crisium, sipped a bulb of hot, black coffee and regarded the beautiful world below him. Whorls of green, brown, and black, vast seas of the deepest violet blue, all wrapped in white wisps of brilliant cloud—these defined the loveliness that was Adelaide. It was among the prettiest and most well-disposed to earthly life of all the many worlds he had visited. It was arguably a more beautiful, more hospitable planet than Earth had ever been.
He’d had plenty of time to look at the view and plenty of time to ponder. Perhaps he had looked upon it for too long, because he could not quite explain why Adelaide unsettled him so, and why his dread had grown so much of late. The situation on the ground, apart from some particularly tenacious insurgent action, was soon to come under their complete control. And as for the security situation in space? Aside from the mind-boggling logic of the Alliance to apparently abdicate the entire world, things up here were great.
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