Rebel's Quest

by Gun Brooke

  The infirmary was overflowing all the way out into the corridor. Paladin stopped when she saw how many injured people waited for treatment. “You can’t possibly expect your physician to pay any attention to me or O’Daybo, when seriously injured people need him.”

  “No, I wouldn’t want to waste any of his time,” Rae agreed, exchanging a look with Kellen. “But we still need to go inside. Trust me.” Don’t argue, Paladin, just do it.

  Paladin shook her head, obviously impatient, and with an exasperated sigh she followed Kellen.

  *

  Roshan wasn’t amused. She had so much to do, and Jacelon and Kellen were acting strange, to say the least. She walked behind the Protector into the infirmary, prepared to do the right thing, visit with the rebels and reassure them, which was most likely why they wanted her and O’Daybo to join them.

  Stretchers and medical beds were lined up in long rows in the fairly spacious infirmary. Two physicians and eight assistants worked with the wounded, and Roshan saw people of all ages, seated or lying down, looking pale. She walked up to a young woman on a stretcher, who held a small bundle. “Oh, Gods! A baby?”

  “My son. His name is Kellon.” She pointed to Kellen. “The male version of your name, Protector. I named him after you.”

  “I’m deeply honored. How is your baby now, Illina?” Kellen asked, and Roshan realized Kellen had rescued this woman herself.

  “The doctor says he’ll need nutritional infusions and medication to calibrate his blood-balance. Other than that, he’ll be fine.”

  She burst into tears and Kellen patted her shoulder. “We’ll try to reunite you with your spouse as soon as possible. In the meantime, I believe you have a lot in common with the young girl over there. Her name is Sarambol. She’s pregnant and was close to losing her child. She’s doing much better, but she may need someone to talk to, if you think you have the strength?”

  Illina looked over at Sarambol. “Do you think she’d like to sit here with me? I mean, there’s even room to lie down if she’s tired. I’d like the company.”

  “I’ll ask her in a bit.” Kellen smiled gently and pushed sweat-soaked tresses from Illina’s face. “Just rest now.”

  They walked from bed to bed, moving toward the far corner where the patients requiring nutritional infusions were hooked up to different units. An older man sat sideways on his stretcher, a little slumped. His white hair reached his shoulders, and he sported an impressive beard. Painfully thin, he needed all the nutrition they could pump into him, Roshan thought. She was going to smile politely, but when he looked up something inside her completely halted.

  Roshan stopped, making Andreia bump into her from behind and say, “Paladin, what—?”

  “Who’s that man?” Roshan asked, her voice barely carrying. “That old man, over there on the stretcher. Who is he?”

  “Why don’t you go over to him?” Kellen suggested, her voice low. “Just talk to him, Roshan.”

  The use of her own name should’ve sparked some sort of reaction, but all Roshan could think about was how the man’s eyes never left her face. He even raised his hand halfway, hesitant and trembling. It was the same hand she’d held so many times. Older, wrinkled, with age spots and awful nails, but nevertheless the same hand that had caressed her long braid before her father went off to work at the hospital every morning.

  “Pappa…” The old Earth word slipped over her lips. “Oh, Gods of Gantharat!”

  “It’s him, Roshan. He’s recognized you.” Rae placed a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you go over to him? He’s waited so long for this day.”

  “I…Yes. Of course.” Roshan felt like she was moving in suspended animation as she rushed among the stretchers. She didn’t take her eyes off Mikael O’Landha where he sat, shivering under a blanket. His broad face now consisted of hollow cheeks and deep-set eyes with blue-black circles underneath. But the eyes were the same, clear blue in a completely different shade than any Gantharian eyes. His teeth had seen better days, but his smile was the same—warm, if a bit tremulous.

  “Child.” His voice shook as much as his hand, but it was his voice.

  “Pappa, I thought you were dead.” It was hardly the most appropriate way to start a reunion of this magnitude, but it was the truth. “They…the Onotharians, said you died during transport. They said…” Roshan couldn’t go on, couldn’t find the words to explain any more. She took the last step forward and wrapped her strong arms around the mere shell of a man that was her father. “Oh, I’ve missed you all these years. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

  “Whatever for, child?” Mikael asked, his face buried in her shoulder.

  “I believed them. I gave up on you, didn’t try to find you. I believed them.”

  “Then I’m sorry too, for my crime is worse.” Mikael pulled back, and his eyes were tormented. “When prisoners arrived and called you a collaborator…there were moments when I believed them.”

  His words stung, but she could hardly blame him. She gazed down at the man who’d loved her mother with an undying passion, and who had worshipped Roshan and supported her in anything she wanted. He’d always told people how proud he was that she wanted to be a doctor, like him.

  “Everyone was supposed to buy into their lies, which was the point,” she said. She looked Mikael over once more, stroking the white hair, smoothing it down. “We’ve lost so many years, and I…I just want to hold you, Pappa, and never let go.”

  “I can’t believe I’m seeing you again, that I’m out of that hellish place and that I have, perhaps, a few more years with you.” Mikael slumped more over to the side, and Roshan caught him in her arms. “Doctor!”

  “No, no, I’m all right, Roshan. Just a little tired.”

  The SC military physician walked up to them, scanned Mikael, and frowned slightly. “Mr. O’Landha, I think you need to lie down for a bit. All this excitement has become a bit too much for you. Your…friend, here, can perhaps—”

  “My daughter,” Mikael whispered, then cleared his throat. “She’s my daughter,” he repeated in a stronger voice. “Though I hope my daughter is also my friend.”

  Roshan’s tears spilled over and streamed down her cheeks, where they soaked the tall collar of her shirt. “Pappa, yes, yes, I am. I’m both those things.” She helped Mikael get comfortable on the stretcher and bent down to kiss his wrinkled cheek. “Rest, now. I’ll be back later, once we’ve completed our mission.” It tore her apart to have to leave him, but she was immensely grateful to Rae for not keeping him from her. If something happened to her now, at least she’d held her father close and felt his loving arms around her once again.

  “You’ll be careful?” Mikael asked as his eyes began to close.

  “I promise I’ll be very careful. I’ll be back soon.”

  As Roshan dried her tears with the back of her hand, she sensed, rather than felt, Andreia’s presence just behind her. Gazing down at Mikael, she reached for Andreia’s hand and vowed on everything she held sacred in life that “soon” wouldn’t mean another two decades, this time.

  *

  Andreia saw Roshan straighten her back as she spoke to Jubinor over the comm channel. “What’s going on?”

  “Apparently the entire Onotharian government is in an uproar, and they’re conducting a planet-wide search for Andreia M’Aldovar,” Roshan whispered to her. “Their propaganda machine is saying that the Supreme Constellations and the rebels have kidnapped you.”

  Andreia’s heart began to race. “What else can you tell us?” she asked Jubinor, amazed at how calm she sounded.

  “The news of Kovos and Vaksses is crossing the planet quickly. One of our junior rebels has listened into unauthorized civilian transmissions, and the Gantharians have new hope for the first time in years. People are also praying that their loved ones are among the prisoners saved.”

  Roshan placed a hand on Andreia’s shoulder, squeezing it tight. “And the Onotharian government?”

  “They’re in
session more or less around the clock. M’Isitor has broadcast twice and managed to turn this into a personal vendetta, calling it ‘an act of cowards and misguided fools,’ which is a total insult, and he knows it. He isn’t trying to convince the Gantharians, because he knows that’s a lost cause, but he’s probably trying his best to keep the Onotharian civilian citizens in check.”

  “You mean there’s been trouble in paradise when it comes to his own people?” Roshan squeezed Andreia’s shoulder again. “I’d think they’re as sick and tired of this situation as we are.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “How are you doing?” Andreia asked. “Is the camp secure? The first prisoners should be arriving any minute.”

  “We’re as secure as we’ll ever be.”

  “And more,” Roshan said. “Our physicians have found that many of the prisoners, especially the ones at the Vaksses facility, have been tagged. Jacelon’s engineers decoded the nano-tags, and for some reason, they’ve been divided into four different groups. The Onotharians evidently managed to get some information out of them about their expertise and so on, and tagged them for future reference. Fortunately the SC tech people showed our doctors how to neutralize the nano-tags fairly easily by merely setting the new medical scanners they gave us to a corrupting frequency.”

  “They won’t have the time to check every person on the ships. Will we get more scanners to use planet-side?”

  “Yes, they’ll include more with every shipment of rebels, and also, SC marines will stay in the camp until we know who can go home and who can’t.”

  “I just hope that most of them can rejoin the fight,” Jubinor sighed. “You can’t blame them if they’ve had it, though.”

  “From what I understood on Vaksses,” Andreia said, “there’s a lot of fighting spirit left. The morale’s high among many of the ones from Kovos too.”

  “Sounds good.” Jubinor seemed to hesitate. “When are you two returning?”

  “As soon as we can.” Roshan looked into Andreia’s eyes. “Something’s come up that we need to take care of.”

  “All right. I’ll keep the soup warm for you.”

  Roshan smiled faintly. “And, Jubinor, I made sure that Berentar is on the first transport. He needs medical attention, but should be all right, according to Doc and the SC physician.”

  There was a brief silence. “Thank you.”

  The simple words, uttered with such softness, stirred something in Andreia, and she leaned against Roshan. The many reunions were wonderful, but also emotionally draining. She knew Roshan couldn’t stop thinking about Mikael, and that it was hurting her that she had to be away from her father so soon after they’d found each other again. It was somehow so right that Kellen had returned Roshan’s father to her, since Roshan had done the same for Kellen, years earlier.

  “Good job keeping the base camp safe, Jubinor. Over and out.”

  Roshan leaned her hip against the communication console. They’d borrowed the captain’s quarters to talk to Jubinor, and now Andreia tried to wrap her brain around the fact that she was listed not only as missing, but also as a “victim” of the rebels’ and the SC’s actions.

  “I need to go back. I have to make an appearance and—” She spoke quickly, but stopped when Roshan put a hand up.

  “Wait! Not so fast. If you go back, as things are now, you’ll of course show the world that the Onotharian leadership is way off base. But you’ll be stuck there. They’ll want to use every single bit of your goodwill to further their agenda. And let’s face it, sweetheart, you’re popular among your own people, but many younger Gantharians also think pretty highly of you.” Roshan spoke passionately. “They’ll use you, from the time you get up in the morning until you fall asleep at night, as their prize possession. Their salvation, even.”

  “But I can’t stay away and let the Gantharian population think that the rebels are holding me captive or, worse, that they’ve killed me.”

  “Wait a minute…we need to think about this.” Roshan rubbed her temples, and Andreia could almost see her mind whirl, turning the dilemma around, inspecting it from all angles. “If you return, the Onotharian propaganda machine will concoct a huge lie, saying you were held captive, but managed to escape a fate worse than death, or something similar. If you stay with us, they’ll say you’re dead and turn you into a martyr, which won’t be difficult since you’re so popular. Any suggestions?”

  Andreia folded her arms in front of her. She could think of several ideas, and none of them appealed to her. Roshan was right. No matter what, it came down to the two versions she’d just described.

  Placing one hand on Roshan’s chest, Andreia pulled her closer with the other. “I don’t think we have a choice,” she said, her voice husky and deep with emotion. “I have to go back.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Andreia adjusted her clothes and made sure she looked just as wrinkled and dusty as someone who’d been hiking. She’d changed clothes at the base camp where she’d arrived only hours ago, among the returning rebels. She was amazed at how efficiently the SC marines had moved them with the transporter shuttles, which managed a couple of thousand at a time.

  The vast majority of the rebels had ended up in the mountain camps, which had the largest camouflaged structures. The rest were dispersed at smaller, safe locations all over the northern hemisphere, where most of the rebels resided. It would take some time to return them to their loved ones, but Andreia knew that was Roshan’s top priority, coupled with aiding the SC in their advance toward Onotharian territory.

  It had been so hard to say good-bye to Roshan, not knowing when, or if, she’d ever see her again. They had stood inside the airlock, people passing by behind them, which made it impossible to exchange anything but pained looks and fake smiles.

  “Is there any way I can talk you out of this?” Roshan had asked.

  “No, henshes, there isn’t. I have to return and make sure they don’t use my absence to their advantage. We can’t let any shadows fall on the rebels. Our situation is already vulnerable.”

  “Be careful among those people,” Roshan said, squeezing Andreia’s hand. “They may know more about you than you realize. Use your instincts. If you suspect anything—”

  “I know. I’ll get out of there.”

  “I wish there was another way.”

  “So do I.” I don’t want to leave you. Ever. Andreia looked down, studying her boots when Roshan’s smoldering eyes became too painful to gaze into. “I…I haven’t had a chance to tell you everything. I mean, about how…I feel.” She stuttered and was aware of shuffling feet behind her where their fellow rebels were entering the large transporter.”

  “I know. Me either.” Roshan’s short words spoke volumes, and Andreia had to look at her again.

  “Henshes,” she breathed. “Tell me we’ll see each other again soon.”

  The brief delay before Roshan spoke told Andreia of her fear. “Of course we will, love.” The term of endearment came over Roshan’s lips in a rush, but Andreia knew she’d cherish the moment forever.

  *

  “Ma’am? Your security badge, please?” A young Onotharian guard in the Onotharian headquarters smiled politely at her and startled her out of her reverie. He wasn’t familiar and didn’t recognize her, obviously. Andreia knew she looked different from her official image, hair a curly mess and no makeup.

  “Oh, right. Yes.” Andreia pulled the card up and slid it through the reader. The detector read her biosignature and pinged approval. The whole process with the detector brought back the feeling of dread that had momentarily spread through her when she entered the Vaksses asteroid prison. Andreia held her breath for a while as she began walking toward her parents’ offices.

  Her steps were heavy, but she forced herself to act casual when she stepped out of the elevator. The door to her father’s office was half-open, and even from the elevator, Andreia could hear the raised voices. People were running down the corridor, seemingly in a
frenzy. Armed guards stood next to the exits, the elevator included, their plasma-pulse weapons raised across their chests.

  Andreia almost made it all the way to her father’s office without any special attention from the guards. She turned a corner and suddenly found herself staring into the metal-plated chest of a tall Onotharian guard.

  “Ms. M’Aldovar,” he said. “Come with me.” He pointed toward her father’s office.

  “No need for the muscles.” Andreia sighed, but wasn’t surprised when the guard escorted her conscientiously all the way to the door.

  Peering inside, she saw her mother standing by the window, arms folded in a defensive posture.

  “I don’t care what you say, Valax. We can’t leave the border unprotected. To bring back a large part of our fleet for this unfortunate event—”

  “Unfortunate event? You’re absolutely, unbelievably ignorant when you talk like that! We’re losing control of the situation here. Vaksses and Kovos, our best and safest places to put those damn rebels, are empty. Even the prisoners on death row are gone! This unexpected guerilla warfare is highly disturbing, not to mention dangerous.” Andreia’s father rose and rounded the desk. He stood in front of his wife, hands on his hips as he challenged her. “We have to get more space vessels here to deter this surge of military activity.”

  “Where the hell did they come from?” Le’Tinia asked. “I’ve heard rumors of thousands of SC soldiers flooding the tunnels of Kovos, which is impossible, of course. More unbelievable yet, some say that the Protector has been sighted.”

  “Oh, Gods, that’s all we need. If she’s here and everyone finds out, the situation will stampede totally out of control.”

  Andreia decided it was time to go in. “I see that I’m just in time to find out what the hell’s been going on as soon as I turn my back for a vacation.” She strode into the office, casually dropping her bag onto the low couch.