End of the Innocent

by Clark Graham

  Zedra just turned and walked away. He wanted to find Tedric. He hoped at least the two of them would be able to stay together.

  When he found him, Tedric was looking out one of the larger windows in the forward part of the ship. “Amazing, isn’t it?” Tedric said. Zedra could hear the excitement in his voice. “All of these ships coming and going. One wonders if there is a force anywhere in the universe as powerful as this one. The size and the majesty of these ships leave me almost breathless.”

  “They are going to take us off this ship and assign us to another one after they train us.” It was bad news but Zedra figured it was better that Tedric hear it from him.

  Tedric glanced back at Zedra then back out of the window. “I hope I get on one of the battleships. Can you imagine the size of those engines?” The bad news was lost in the moment.

  “Those ships will soon be at war and everyone in them also. I think it would be better if we found a small corner of the universe to hide in.”

  “Oh, you can’t be serious. How could any force in the Empire be more powerful than this one? Look at the size of those ships.”

  Zedra just shook his head. “I hope you’re right. If we find a bigger force we will be in a lot of trouble.”

  Chapter Twenty Five

  East Coast of Santeria

  The space port that the Empire had built was a massive cement and brick structure with many landing pads for the spacecraft that were coming and going on a regular basis. It was an architecture that had never been seen on the planet of Andaria. It had spires sticking out from every corner and a lot of the buildings were domed. Very few buildings on the planet were made out of cement as the natives had not perfected the use of it yet, but the aliens had.

  General Borist and his staff approached the city. The General watched as produce from his own country was trucked into the port and whisked away to the stars and beyond. Borist had no idea that was happening. He thought that there was no interaction between his countryman and those who he still considered the enemy.

  They had managed to arrange a meeting with Commodore Pavvlek, who was now in charge of the planet. The city was heavily guarded with heavy armaments coming out of corners and walls.

  The group had to stop and be searched before being allowed to enter into the city. A hovercraft took them across the city to a large central building. As they gazed out of the windows they saw the city pass before them. It was a large city with sidewalks and streets. There was no cobblestone anywhere, but asphalt and cement. Hover cars moved in all direction and the streets were busy with people walking around.

  The soldiers were led through ornate hallways made from precious metals that came from their own planet. They were taken to a room with a large beautiful wooden table and told to wait. They waited for half an hour before the commodore could be bothered to come in.

  Pavvlek sat down without a word and folded his arms. He then looked at the group before he spoke. He despised the locals. They didn’t understand how much power he had in the palm of his hand, nor was the war enough to convince these farmers about who they faced, even though a significant portion of the planet’s population had been killed during it. “What is it that you want?”

  General Borist cleared his throat. “We were hoping to arrange a prisoner swap and to get back our young men who were taken off the planet. After that we were hoping we can arrange a negotiated peace.”

  Pavvlek just laughed. “First off, let me explain how things are so you don’t make yourselves look like fools again. The Empire does not negotiate peace treaties. We take what we want when we want it. We don’t want our prisoners back. They failed in battle. As for your prisoners, most of them have been incorporated into our army along with your young men. They will serve the Empire for as long as we want them to. All you managed to do is embarrass an incompetent leader. Had you been up against me, your mountains would have been overrun.”

  He continued, “You are only a group of peasants that have no idea who you are up against. I have weapons that could melt the rocks of your precious mountains. You are clueless as to the technologies and the type of life that you have given up. The best thing for you to do is lay down your arms and capitulate to the inevitable. When the Empire comes back, they will not be in any mood for the small battles you have seen in the mountains; it will be a tidal wave of soldiers attacking you.”

  Pavvlek then stood up and walked out of the room leaving the general and his staff just looking at each other. He was bluffing, but there is no way the general could know that.

  “That didn’t go well,” Borist concluded. He then stood up and let the guards escort them out of the building and back into the hovercraft. They were escorted to the edge of the city and let out.

  They walked out through the gate and got back into the car they had come in and drove away. The chief of staff looked over at the general and asked, “What are we going to do?”

  “Any merchant or farmer found trading with the enemy will be arrested and charged with treason.”

  “Yes, Sir .”

  The posting of roadblocks around the space port upset the local farmers. Commodore Pavvlek was also notified what was happening. His orders were to keep his men inside the space port unless attacked so he did not venture out. If less produce, left from space port, he didn’t care. He had no quotas to meet in that regard.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  East Coast of Santeria

  Pethran had grown used to watching movies and shows at night on the thing he called a picture radio before he went to bed at night. All of the shows were broadcast from the space port. He even watched the news once in a while to see what was going on in the galaxy. Before they withdrew, one of the farm agents had even showed him how to contact Zedra on the set, so he could video conference with him once a week.

  He was just about to go to bed when he heard the front door opening. He had locked it, but whoever it was had been able to open it up. Pethran grabbed his gun and crouched down as he took aim at the front door. He would shoot as many of the intruders that he could before they could storm the house. He froze when he saw his son’s face.

  “Mom, Dad, Zedra, I’m home.” Greten said as he entered. He was still in his uniform. “I’m on leave. Where are you?”

  “Greten,” Pethran called out when he stood up. He dropped the gun to his side.

  “Dad, why do you have a gun?”

  Pethran set the gun down. “Things have not been good here.” He walked over and hugged his son.

  “Where are Mom and Zedra?”

  Pethran got a very sad look on his face. “Your mother died of a heart attack during the invasion. Zedra has been taken by the galactic troops and he is in a space station halfway across the galaxy.”

  Greten was in utter shock. He had envisioned coming back home and everything being as he left it. He sat down on the floor of the entryway and put his head in his hands. He sat there for the longest time. Pethran sat down next to him and put his arm around him.

  “I am sorry to have to tell you the news that way. I didn’t know how else to do it.”

  “Mom’s dead. It can’t be real. Wasn’t she happily cooking in the kitchen just before I left to go to the dance hall? How can she be gone?”

  After a long while Greten looked up at his father. His eyes were bloodshot. “What did you say about Zedra?”

  “They took him, deep into space. He is on what they call a space station. They forced him to be part of their army. He wears the uniform of the Empire now.”

  Greten just shook his head. “Poor Zedra.”

  “Were you in the battle for the mountains?” Pethran asked.

  “We were in the thick of the fighting. I lost a good friend. Is my room still like it was or has everything changed?”

  “I have not moved anything in your room.”

  Greten stood up. “I left my duffle bag on the front porch. I am going to go get it and put it in my room.”

  “That’s fine, how long w
ill you be home?”

  “I have a one month leave but that may be cut short if we see a lot of enemy activity. They have threatened to come back in force.”

  “They won’t be back anytime soon,” Pethran said. He had been listening to the news about the emperor and knew what was happening out in the galaxy. He didn’t want to have to explain to Greten how he knew. That would happen soon enough anyway.

  “I hope you’re right,” Greten said as he came back out of his room. “It’s been a long journey; do you have anything to eat?”

  “Yes, in the electronic ice box.”

  Greten just stared at him for a moment. “The what?”

  Pethran took Greten into the kitchen. Things that Greten didn’t even imagine existed were all in there. An electric oven and range, a microwave and a refrigerator. He stood there wide eyed for a minute. Gone was the ice box and wood fired stove that he was used to. “What is all this stuff?”

  “Appliances,” Pethran said. He then swallowed hard because he knew what was coming next.

  “The aliens gave this to you, didn’t they? They gave fancy things to the collaborators. My own father was working with them as I was fighting against them and watching my friends die. My own father.” He was upset and not guarding his words like he ought to have.

  “Wait a minute before you judge me harshly. I was captured when taking up arms against the enemy. The sheriff had called us out and we were to meet him south of town. Only I didn’t make it and it is a good thing that I didn’t because those who were there are all dead now. I had to take a reeducation class. I would have to take it over and over again until I passed and everyone passes in the end. They were the government. There was no other government besides them. We had to do what they said or you got punished. All they wanted out of me was to grow crops and raise chickens. So I grew crops and raised chickens. As a reward I was given things by them as payment. Now I’m labeled as a collaborator along with everyone else who were captured fighting them.”

  Greten looked at the gun his father had. It was still sitting in the hall. “I suppose they gave that to you also? That is an army gun. The only way you can get one is to be in the army. Did they get it off of a dead soldier?” He was angry.

  Pethran was getting upset by now. “No, the army gave that to me. The aliens took all of our guns away and I am the sheriff of the town now. The army knows my history and they don’t have a problem with it.”

  Greten felt sorry he said that. Now he was looking like a fool. He knew the army had not liked locals taking up guns against the enemy. What was his father supposed to do, die fighting? He was so glad to see him alive just a few minutes ago.

  Pethran sensed his feelings and said, “If you are going to leave, at least let me feed you before you go.” Pethran got some leftover chicken out of the fridge and put it in the microwave to heat. He then set it before Greten.

  “It’s hot.” Greten said as he tasted it. “It was only in there a few moments, and yet it’s hot. How does that work?”

  “I don’t know, but wait until you see the picture radio, that is really going to blow you away.”

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  East Coast of Santeria

  When Greten awoke the next day, he went outside to watch his father working in the fields. To his surprise, his father was plowing the land that once belonged to the neighbor. The tractor he was using was bright white and it hovered over the ground by about two feet. It was pulling a plow that was ten times larger than the largest one that the old tractor could pull. It seemed to turn on its own, and was making perfect furrows without overlapping the old row at all. When Pethran saw that Greten was up, he pulled up the plow and drove the tractor over to him.

  “Good morning, Son.”

  “That sure is a fancy tractor, Dad, but why are you doing the next door neighbors’ lot?”

  “They are all dead. All my neighbors died in the war. The government of the Empire deeded that land to me. When the local government was reestablished, they wanted to make sure the land was still productive so they have honored that deed. I now own the land as far as the eye can see.” There was pride in Pethran’s voice.

  Greten was a little dubious about the whole thing. Dead neighbors and a father who was a collaborator. He knew that the general didn’t want anyone using that word. He wanted the land to heal now that the enemy was gone. The problem was they were not gone and they were threatening to come back in force. Still Greten looked around and admired the land. It was a lot of land and his father would need him to help work it. He would be wise to swallow his anger and come home after his enlistment was over.

  “What happened when the enemy withdrew? Were things bad?” Greten asked.

  “A strange thing happened. All of those people who hated me started coming around to buy food. The food distribution system under the Empire was very efficient, but when it ceased to exist, the people started going hungry. The farmers were given money, a lot of money, and when the money ran out they started giving us gold and jewelry. All the farmers became very rich during that time as food prices went through the roof. Then when the government was reestablished, the food distribution system was, too. They modeled it after the one the Empire uses. Now we have stores with full shelves and no starving people.”

  “So how much money did you make?”

  “Millions.”

  Greten just looked at him in amazement. He finally asked, “why are you working then?”

  “The farmers formed a group; we decided it was important for us to make sure the people were fed. It is this group of farmers who run the local government. We are the sheriffs and the mayors and governors of this area. It is us who reorganized the it. We will hold elections soon so I won’t have to be the sheriff any longer.”

  “You don’t like the job?”

  “No, I don’t like getting shot at. Speaking of sheriff, I have to go into town to make my rounds soon. Do you want to come?”

  “Sure.”

  Greten was surprised that his Dad still drove the old car he had before the war. He had just assumed that with all of the new technology, like he had around the house’ that he would have a new vehicle, maybe even one that hovered.

  When they hit town they went into the sheriff’s office. Audris had already fed the prisoners and there was a soldier sitting and talking to him. Martial law had been declared in other districts, but since this one had an organized government they stayed in the background, just lending extra muscle when needed.

  “The army is sending a transport and they are taking the prisoners to the mountains for trial,” Audris reported. “Most of the freedom fighters have laid down their arms but we have yet to track down the others who attacked us.”

  “It’s a small town, they will show up eventually.”

  Audris had the unenviable task of sleeping at the sheriff’s office to keep tabs on the prisoners. He looked dragged out, like they had been keeping him awake, or maybe it was the small uncomfortable cot that he was sleeping on. Either way, Pethran took pity on him. “Why don’t you go take a nap. Be back in a few hours.”

  “Thank you, Sir ,” Audris said and he didn’t wait, but walked out right away, in case Pethran changed his mind.

  “So this is your home away from home,’ Greten said as he looked around the office. It was different than he remembered. The cells had been upgraded from the iron bars to a steel alloy that was shiny. The floors had been all redone and there were closed circuit monitors that kept track of all the prisoners.

  “Yes, and those are some of the men who wanted to hang me. Several others were caught earlier and are now serving long prison sentences.” He pointed over to the cells.

  Greten walked over to them and said, “Why have a trial? Why don’t we just take them out back and shoot them?”

  “I don’t want to lower myself to their level. They will get a fair trial and then be shot.”

  Greten laughed as he walked back. “It’s funny, but it isn’t. We had
a peaceful town until all this happened. Now we have robbers and murders walking the streets and half of the town is dead, disappeared, kidnapped, or incarcerated.”

  “It’s the other half who is trying to pick up the pieces, and there are a lot of pieces.”

  Just then the mayor rushed in. He was out of breath and had Audris in tow. “Did you hear the news? The enemy is willing to negotiate. We are going to have peace in the land.”

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Space Port on Santeria

  Commodore Pavvlek was summoned back to his quarters because he had an urgent message. He supposed it would be that the emperor had finally passed away. He was glad he was on this calm planet that no one would really pay any attention to until the war was over. It was an unglamorous assignment, but also a relatively safe one and he was thankful for it. When he sat down at his desk and turned on his monitor he was surprised to see Prince Dignar on the screen.

  “Yes, Sir, how can I help you, Sir?”

  “Food and raw materials have stopped coming up from your planet. What is the problem down there?” The Prince was angry.

  “The locals came to me wanting a peace treaty. When I refused, they stopped the supply of food to the space port.”

  “You fool! Give them their peace treaty, it doesn’t matter. The Empire that gives them the piece of paper won’t exist in a few days. Promise them anything. I want that planet exporting fifty tons of food and supplies a month and I also need 100,000 volunteers for my fleet. Train them down there. All of the major shipyards are in the other domains so I will not be able to build more ships once the war starts. I am sending an expert down to establish a small shipyard on the planet. It will only be able to build patrol craft and destroyers, but that is better than nothing. Buy the local metal because I don’t want to have to send you any. Do not fail me in this endeavor.”