by Lincoln Cole
The sound and wind dissipated, leaving colored streaks floating in the sky, separating into drifting plumes. The crowd went wild, cheering and whooping and shouting. Alaina felt the excitement and emotion. The release. She didn’t understand what was going on, but that didn’t matter. The passion was in the air, in her blood. She could feel her father, bursting with energy as he hollered and whooped beneath her.
Darius leaned forward to the microphone again. His voice was steady and loud.
“My name is Darius Gray. And today, our world is free.”
2
“I think he’s crazy,” Alaina’s mom said, scrubbing pasta sauce off of the plate and down the drain. They were in the little kitchen of their one-story home, packed in around the sink. Kate handed the clean plate to Alaina, who began wiping it with a towel. She liked drying dishes with her parents. She liked to help. “At best, he’s crazy. Or a charlatan at worst.”
Kate Naylor’s movements were precise and short as she cleaned. She was angry, Alaina knew, and attempting to stifle it. Alaina dried the dish off quickly with her semi-wet rag and handed it to her father, who placed it in the cabinet on top of the stack. Then he picked up a long-stemmed glass of wine and took a sip, pursing his lips.
“He’s definitely crazy,” her father agreed. “But that doesn’t change anything. He’s right; about everything. We can’t keep living like this. We can’t just accept the poverty while all of our money gets shipped off to the Core worlds.”
“He’s going to get us all killed,” Kate replied, dipping a cup into the soapy water. Her arms were shaking. “He wants us to turn our back on our leaders. To turn out back on the Core worlds and the Republic. He wants us to fight for our freedoms. It’s a fight we can’t win.”
“We can win,” her father said.
“How many rebellions have worked in the past? None, and there have been hundreds in the last few years alone.”
“This is different.”
“It isn’t.”
“Darius is a good man. A great leader. People are rallying to his cause and already we have millions supporting him. The International Council is already rallying to the cause.”
“And you don’t find that suspicious? I saw the way he paraded them on stage,” Kate said, her voice bitter. “He must have some control over them. Some sort of blackmail.”
“That’s not fair, Kate,” Carl said, moving over to rest his hands on her shoulders. He gave them a gentle squeeze. “They want to support him.”
“Why?” Kate asked, turning around. She was half a head shorter than Carl, so she had to look up into his eyes. He was the one to flinch from the gaze, though. “Why would they support him? It doesn’t make sense. He’s only been here for three months. We don’t know very much about him. And what we do know doesn’t seem good. He served the damned First Citizen as one of his personal bodyguards!”
“So he knows firsthand how bad the man is,” Alaina’s father said, still looking away. “We should be grateful that he joined us. That he wants to lead us. He was one of the Shields, Kate. One of their best. And now he’s one of us. He has the least to gain and the most to lose by rebelling, yet here he is, ready to fight for our freedom.”
“I don’t trust him,” Kate said. “We’re nothing to him. Just chattel.”
“We need to trust someone,” Carl said, reaching out and rubbing Alaina on her head. He was a big man with strong hands and a friendly face. He grinned down at her. Alaina giggled and swatted his hand away. “No one wants to live with our chains. No one wants to be slaves.”
“What chains?” Kate asked, holding up her wrists. “What bonds, Carl?”
“It’s a metaphor,” Carl said.
“Metaphors are stupid,” Kate replied. “Is it worth more fighting for perceived freedom or staying alive?”
“Can’t we have both?”
“No,” Kate said bluntly. “No, we can’t. Tellus is just one planet. The First Citizen will bring his armies and destroy us in a day.”
“More will join. Three other planets are already promising to sign our treaty once it is ratified.”
“And that would make us four planets against hundreds. Thousands even. And they have the army, not us. Better not to rebel when we don’t have a chance of winning.”
Carl sighed. “If we don’t try, we can’t succeed. This has to start somewhere.”
Her mother turned back to the sink. She handed the soapy glass to Alaina and leaned heavily against the counter. She rubbed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
“Yes, yes it does. But I’m afraid it’s going to end here too.”
Carl wrapped his arms around Kate, drawing her close. He kissed the back of her knock and rocked her body in a slow dance. She was smaller than he was, tiny in his arms. She looked frail. Scared.
“It won’t,” he said. “You’re right that Darius only arrived three months ago. You’re right that it’s hard to trust him. But look what he has done in those three months! He’s given us a chance. A path to winning something our parents wanted but could never get for themselves. Freedom.”
“I know Carl.”
“But he’s given us something even more important than that.”
“What?”
“Hope,” Carl said. “Until he showed up, we had no hope. It’s hard to believe that freedom could be possible, but look how many people come out. The treaty isn’t signed. It isn’t even written and already millions of people are ready for it. We live in quiet desperation.”
“And now we’ll just be desperate.”
“Maybe. But we will be free. A lot of people want to be free, not just us.”
“A lot of people don’t,” Kate said. “No one in the Core is speaking of rebellion. Even the planets in Sector Three aren’t talking about it.”
“It won’t matter,” Carl said. “Not once the war really starts. We’re drawing a line in the sand and forcing people to pick a side. And when their backs are to the wall and they have to make a decision, most will side with us.”
“And what happens when they don’t?” Kate asked, turning to face Carl. Her pale blue eyes searched his face. “What happens when they side with the Republic?”
Carl hesitated. “They won’t,” he said.
“You can’t know that.”
“But I do,” Carl said firmly. “They want freedom as badly as we do. They will join our Union.”
Kate shook her head, closing her eyes. “I can’t stop this war. I don’t think anyone can now. I just don’t think anyone understands the real cost.”
“We know the cost,” Carl said. “We will win.”
“Promise me,” Kate said, her voice shaking, “that you won’t join when they come calling. That you won’t fight. I won’t allow you to die for this man.”
“Kate…”
“Promise me, or…” she didn’t finish the thought.
Carl pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “I promise,” he said. “I have a beautiful wife and four glorious children. I’m not about to put my life at risk for anything. Even freedom.”
Kate nodded. A tear slipped down her cheek. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Carl agreed. He let her go. They stared at each for a long minute. Both looked sad. Finally, Carl stepped over and picked Alaina up off her stepladder. He took the glass and towel away from her and set them on the counter. “And now that this is settled, I think it’s time for someone to go to bed.”
“But dad,” Alaina said, yawning, “I’m not even tired.”
“I know,” he said, holding her against his shoulder. “I meant me.”
He carried her down the hall. They passed her siblings. Her brother was in his bedroom playing a VR game with a big headset on his face. Her sisters shared their own bedroom and were watching a show. Both were nibbling on little green crackers.
Alaina slept in the smallest room at the end of the hall. It was barely bigger than a closet and had very little floor space. She was supposed to sleep with her sisters, bu
t they’d thrown a series of catastrophic fits when her parents proposed it: they refused to sleep with a baby in the room.
And Alaina didn’t mind. Her walls were painted a deep blue and there were two windows. She could look outside and see the moon peeking down on her, silver in the sky. She enjoyed being alone.
It was also the farthest room from her parents, but that wasn’t an issue either. Alaina usually slept soundly, without many dreams. It was a rare night that she slept in bed with her parents.
Alaina was gently lowered to the soft and cold sheets. She looked up at her father and yawned.
“Goodnight, honeybee,” he said, tucking her into the covers and kissing her on the forehead.
“Goodnight, Daddy,” she said. He turned and started walking toward the door. “Daddy?”
“Yes, Alaina?” he asked, pausing at the entrance. His body was silhouetted by the light.
“What was that man talking about today?”
Her father was silent for a few seconds, thinking. Finally, he said, “He was talking about you.”
She scrunched up her nose in confusion. “Me?”
“He was talking about what we had to look forward to. The future. You are our future.”
She yawned. “I am?”
“You are,” he said with a nod. “And what a future you will be. I love you, honeybee. Sleep tight.”
She closed her eyes. “Okay, Daddy,” she whispered, drifting off to sleep.
Check it out!
Argus Wade was born into the Ministry, an archaic and barbaric religion that’s taken ahold of the Republic. He knew from an early age that he was different from the other students who learned there: the threat of death - or worse - loomed over him because of his special gifts.
When he tries to protect his daughter from this fate by hiding her from the Ministry, he finds out that all he’s managed to do is make things worse. He’s running out of options and growing more desperate by the day.
Meanwhile, the galaxy is facing a new conflict in the outer reaches: a rebellion is forming to tear down the Republic, led by a charismatic upstart named Darius Gray. Battle lines are being drawn and everyone is choosing sides. But, they are all going to find out that the cost of war is higher than anyone could have anticipated…
https://www.LincolnCole.net/goe
Free Offers
Get free samples of my books, as well as exclusive content!
https://www.LincolnCole.net/signup