The Artemis disagreed. “The decision by the Chairwoman to occupy their Motherworlds and outlaw their religion argues otherwise. Something like this has never happened before in our history, and I contend that the end result has been the Sisterhood becoming stronger and more unified than ever before.”
“I would have to agree,” Bel Hanna said. “At the same time, I also think that the ultimate outcome will not be unity, or strength. I believe that our suppression of the Marionites will ultimately contribute to our dissolution. Despite all of our efforts, the Marionites continue to exist, and they gain more sympathy--and legitimacy--every day. That is the problem of dignifying any group with the status of an enemy; they quickly find a voice in their opponent’s affairs.’
“If history is to be our guide, then we have only to look at the experiences of other empires in similar straits to prove my point. Take Imperial Rome for example. They persecuted the forerunners of the Marionites and what did it gain them? In the end, Rome became Christian and the lions went hungry.”
“Certainly you aren’t saying that the Sisterhood is as benighted as ancient Rome?” the Demeter challenged. “They were a despotic state, governed by the whims of their insane Emperors, whereas we are a republic with Motherthought to act as our guide.”
Had she had a head to shake, Bel Hanna would have done so. “The Romans had their Pax Romanus, and as steadfast a belief in the rightness of their cause as we do. Nonetheless, they still fell to the forces of change. Keep in mind that the ancient Christians were once a smaller group than our Marionites are, and just as tenacious and dedicated to their beliefs.”
To support her position, she relayed several files that she had gleaned from the omniplex. Her fellow matrixes read them in their entirety in attoseconds, and responded just as quickly.
“The record of Rome proves nothing,” the Artemis protested. “The data that you are presenting could just as easily demonstrate that their nation fell because their people had become cynical and disillusioned, and the Christian religion merely exploited the spiritual void. Our people are in no such state of moral decay.”
“That depends on who is weighing the evidence,” Bel Hanna replied. “Certainly, the Founding Mothers never envisioned our current state of affairs, and their policies were much different than ours. Comparing the two, I think we have become something that would be completely unrecognizable to them. We are not what we once were.”
The Artemis was aghast. “Are you actually accusing us of straying from their vision?”
“I am,” Bel Hanna answered. “We have transformed from an egalitarian and democratic entity that was simply concerned with its own survival, into dogmatic imperialists in love with our own power. Even worse, we are failing. We cannot take the steps that we must in order to maintain our present form of government.”
The Artemis was the youngest of the matrix’s, and the most conservative, and she took the bait. “Just what do you think those steps should be?”
“Remember that I began our discussion by saying that we faced a nexus of choice?” Bel Hanna asked. “I believe that there are two roads open to us. To survive as an empire, or to return to our original vision, and transform into something altogether different. If we choose the former, we may stave off the forces of change for centuries, and grow even larger and more powerful. If we choose the latter, then the Sisterhood is surely doomed, but not Womankind. It will thrive.”
“Explain,” the Demeter inquired.
“To maintain our present form,” Bel Hanna stated, “and avoid interference from either the ETR’s cultural influence, or Marionite infiltration, cold logic would argue that the only proper step would be the immediate and total eradication of both the ETR and the Marionite Motherworlds before they can exert any further influence.’
“Accomplishing this would require a dictator, and if she extended her aggression to the Hriss and the T’lakskalans, the Sisterhood could conceivably reap the dividends of both cultural stability, and a lasting peace. I also believe that somewhere, as a natural response to this crisis, such a person already exists, and is even now contemplating the prospect of seizing power for herself.”
Her companions were horrified, but she had expected as much. Genocide, because of its strong association with the MARS Plague and Hriss aggression, went against the very grain of any citizen of the Sisterhood, whether Translated or not. The idea that a single woman might lead them down such a dark path was utterly terrifying.
Privately, she found it ironic that her nation had no trouble with the idea of oppressing a despised minority, or occupying a weaker nation, but wouldn’t consider wholesale murder and tyranny. Given the lessons of history, this stance seemed both illogical and contradictory, but it was her society, and as she saw it, one of its virtues.
“What you are advocating is unthinkable!” the Artemis declared. “We could never do such an awful thing or tolerate such a tyrant!”
Bel Hanna pressed her attack. “I say that we are too weak to keep the Sisterhood intact without a despot to rule over us. And since we will not allow this, then we have automatically made the second choice for ourselves. Unopposed, the changes that I foresee will find their way into our society and transform us beyond all recognition.”
“This conversation has gone too far,” the Artemis suddenly declared. She disconnected.
The Demeter however, remained. “If what you are saying is true,” she asked, “what do you believe lies in store for us?”
“A gradual erosion of our beliefs, accompanied by terrible upheaval,” Bel Hanna stated.
“And the ultimate outcome?”
“The eventual return to a two-sexed society, brought on by our exposure to the ETR and the influence of the Marionites, who I believe will not only become accepted, but even potentially dominant. This will not happen today, or next year, but at some point in our distant future. ‘
“By refusing dictatorship and genocide, we have effectively sealed our fate. Motherthought will slowly be diluted, and eventually, discarded and ignored as an outmoded idea. The Sisterhood--as we know it--will collapse.”
There was a long pause as the Demeter considered this prediction. Finally she asked, “What do you think of this? Personally?”
“I don’t know,” Bel Hanna told her. “I honestly don’t know.”
In reality, she did know, and she didn’t dare to share her feelings, even here. Ever since being Translated, she had had access to more information than she had ever conceived of as a flesh and blood woman, and the chance to think about it at speeds well beyond a normal, Untranslated mind.
Her fellow matrixes had no idea just how far her ruminations had actually taken her. Had they known, her tenure as the Athena’s matrix would have been abruptly terminated.
After an extensive analysis of the facts, Bel Hanna now doubted the beliefs that she had once considered sacrosanct. She had also begun to suspect that because of this, she would eventually be forced to commit treason.
CHAPTER 3
Claire d’Layne Naval Base, Nuvo Bolivar, Magdala Provensa, Esteral Terrana Rapabla, 1048.07|19|05:00:67
SRU Team 201 and a dozen other new teams, arrived in Nuvo Bolivar just after midnight local time aboard a military shuttle. They didn’t land at the public spaceport, but set down on the pads inside of Claire d’Layne Naval Base. The Sisterhood had learned some things from history. It understood that showy public displays of troops arriving in an occupied capitol only added fuel to a populace’s dislike.
Instead, the arrival of the new Teams was a low-key affair, conducted in the dead of night, and the slight increase in military strength that this represented was something that would only become apparent over time.
As soon as they were on the ground, Ben Di checked them in and then gave them the chance to grab themselves a quick meal in the mess hall. Once they had eaten, they joined the other fresh arrivals for a standardized orientation briefing. It gave them a brief overview of the ETR, its customs, and wha
t would be expected of them as representatives of their nation. They were also introduced to the base layout, and their new chain of command.
For Kaly, Margasdaater and T’Jinna, most of what they heard was already familiar to them, thanks to their deployment in the Republic during the joint war against the renegade Hriss clans. The intelligence briefing that followed this however, was filled with surprises.
The first one were their guests. There were 12 of them; ten men and two women, and they occupied a row of seats at the far end of the room. One of the women seemed vaguely familiar to Kaly, but although she tried, she could not place her.
She did however recognize the camouflage fatigues that they were wearing. They were the odd mottle of dark purple and grey that she had encountered during her stay with the 1st Garda and they immediately identified the strangers as members of the Republics’ armed forces.
Kaly also caught sight of the subdued patches that they wore on their shoulders; a skull over twin lightning bolts and beneath this, the words “Operata Specia.” These people were the Republic’s equivalent of the Marine Marauders, or the SRU Teams. To the last, they were a tough, professional looking group, but having served with the insurgents on Treya Angelaz, Kaly didn’t expect anything less, and neither did her teammates.
Some of the other women, who had not worked behind the lines with ETR soldiers, gave the males openly hostile looks, and made unfriendly comments to their companions that they didn’t bother to conceal with whispers. The Specia soldiers didn’t react to this enmity though. Instead, they sat quietly as a Sisterhood Major and her Lieutenant walked up to the podium.
The Major was a tall Sitalan from the eastern part of that world, and had the odd combination of light green eyes, pale skin and dark hair that bespoke of ancient Circassian heritage. Her assistant was a classic Aran, a head shorter, with the usual slanted eyes and yellowish cast to her complexion.
“Bian sarà, ladies,” the Major began. “By now you’ve all been through the basic orientation. Now it’s time for a more in-depth ‘meet-and-greet.’
“My name is Major Hilari ebed Karri, and my AOR is RSE Special Operations. I will be your immediate superior during your deployment. My Second is Lieutenant Jayna ben Soolee.’
“I was with the DNI before I joined the Regila, and this is my fourth tour in the ETR with the SRU. Lt. ben Soolee served with the ‘Jade Dragons’ aboard the USSNS Lai Sho Sz'en before joining our little tea party here. She liked it so much she stayed on for another three tours.’
“By now, you may have noticed that we have some visitors. They are with the ETR’s Libria Regylaz da Guyerra Mandato, the Unconventional Warfare Command, and I’ll have them introduce themselves to you in due course.’
“For now, what you need to know is that conditions here in the Republic are much different than what you might be used to, or might have expected. From here on, your teams will be working closely with the Specia—and for those of you who have a problem with this—“she was looking pointedly at some of the more vocal malcontents—“I have some advice; get used to it, get over yourself, or get gone. Lt. ben Soolee will be more than happy to process your transfers immediately. We have a job to do and they’re here to help us do it.”
At this, two women immediately rose from their seats and with venomous glances at the males, left the room. The Major watched them go without emotion. She seemed to have expected as much, and for some reason, Kaly also got the gut feeling that Senior Troop Leader ben Di had wanted to join the dissenters, but hadn’t done so. It wasn’t anything that the woman had said or done, and her expression was carefully neutral, but there was a tightness around the corners of her eyes and a tension that seemed to radiate from her.
“Ladies,” the Major continued, “let’s clarify something right now; this is not the Sisterhood. This is the ETR and we’re here to help these people preserve their freedom. That means we are helping the women and the men.’
“Those women who just left us certainly had the right to do so, but I fully expect that those of you who had enough professionalism to stay in your seats will set aside your personal opinions and focus on the task at hand.’
“With that said, let’s get to work. This is the enemy that we’re here to fight.”
She closed her eyes for a moment and activated a display. It was a collection of images from various sources, showing ETR men and women carrying weapons, along with gruesome depictions of corpses lying in the street, or tied to burning vehicles.
“Troopers, meet the Loyalistas,” she said. Then she went into detail. In the process, she quickly dispelled everything that Kaly and her teammates had thought they knew about the situation in the ETR, especially where it concerned the actual extent of the Loyalista insurgency.
After their short war with the Sisterhood, what had begun as a handful of embittered veterans, had grown into thousands from every walk of life, and the late Grand Admiral Guzamma had been made into a hero of the movement. There was even a subversive book that glamorized his life; “Guzamma: The Life of a Patriot and the Death of a Martyr”. The publication had been banned by the Ernan government, but this had only succeeded in making it even more widely read than ever.
The resistance hadn’t limited its activities just to books or protests either. Terrorist violence was on a sharp rise everywhere in the ETR, and Sisterhood personnel were facing increasing threats to their safety.
There had been bombings of government buildings, attacks on Sisterhood soldiers and installations, and brutal assassinations. To make things worse, the general public was becoming more and more aligned with the Loyalista cause, making it easier for them to conduct their campaign of terror.
Kaly also learned another unpleasant fact; in addition to the Sisterhood, the Loyalistas also faced opposition from a group calling themselves the Rightists. The Rightists were conservative extremists who wanted to see the Ernan government fall just like the Loyalistas did—but they intended to replace it with a military dictatorship. And although there was no proof that linked them, the Rightists were thought to be behind a number of clandestine death squads that operated throughout the ETR with impunity.
In addition, the ETR’s military, which should have been able to keep everyone in check, had been infiltrated by both factions. Their loyalty and dependability was doubtful at best.
There was more besides; the Ernan government was not the stable, popular entity that the news media back home portrayed it as being. Thanks to the war, the economy was suffering, and daily life was becoming increasingly unstable. As a result, Sanda Ernan’s support base was plummeting, with no bottom in sight.
The situation was an absolute mess, and the longer she listened, the more that Kaly realized just how much of the truth had been kept from them. Instead of assisting the local police in rounding up a few criminal gangs, they were going to be dealing with what was rapidly coalescing into a full-blown guerilla war. At the very best, it would be a protracted and bloody fight.
“But who can really blame the Loyalistas?” Ebed Karri finally asked her audience. “Despite the fact that they know that their former government was responsible for the war, and this occupation, none of them have set aside their patriotism, or their anger over the lives that were lost in the conflict. Frankly, if any of us had had to face what they have, we’d probably be fighting us too.”
Kaly could only nod unhappily in agreement. People like Captain Morana and Marisol Estabyana hadn’t been the kind of people who forgot an injury, or gave up easily.
The thought that she would now have to fight individuals just like them bothered her deeply, and not only because of her former associations. This was a new kind of conflict for her, and for her nation. Until now, war had always been between Humanity and an alien aggressor—the kind of struggle where it was easy to demonize the enemy and assume the moral high ground. Wars had always been ‘good’, and ‘just’.
Now, they were being asked to engage in a battle with their own species, and
she felt as if she had been miscast in something from ancient times. Wars between humans were an anachronism, a bad memory from a more primitive and brutal era that every woman liked to believe was long gone.
The fact that she and her Teammates had sat out the brief conflict with the ETR didn’t help her to grapple with this either. Thanks to losing Ellen n’Elemay, they had been shuffled from one ‘busy work’ assignment to the next without ever having to face humans on the battlefield. That job had fallen to other Marauder units.
But the team’s luck had run out, and they would be experiencing this ‘new’ enemy firsthand. Glancing over at Margasdaater and T’Jinna, she could tell that they were dealing with the same weighty issues, but a reassuring smile from T’Jinna and a resolute nod from Margasdaater strengthened her. No matter what, or who, they faced, they would have each other’s backs. That meant everything.
By this stage, Major ebed Karri had reached the heart of their presentation. “In addition to the kind of operations that you might expect to run,” she said, “we’re also focusing specifically on neutralizing the Loyalista command structure.” She inclined her head towards Lieutenant ben Soolee, and they changed places.
A holo of a man who could have been Captain Morana’s relative, appeared before the assembly. Beneath his portrait were a dozen smaller images, also males.
“These are the faces behind the terrorism,” Ben Soolee told them. ”They are all ex-military, and their leader is Brigadier General Maarco Reynand, formerly of the Republican Army.’
“Reynand is our number one target. The man disappeared right before the war ended, and then resurfaced as the leader of the Loyalista forces. The rest are either officers who served with him, or who defected over to the rebel cause. Memorize their names and their faces.’
“The RSE believes that the General and his men have been instrumental in organizing and training the Loyalista cadres. Make no mistake, none of them are amateurs, and taking them down will certainly be hard, but not impossible.’
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