Resilience (Warner's World Book 6)

by Dave O'Connor

  “Good morning sleepy head” said Dave in a soft voice.

  Rihan detected a lightness in his voice that had not been present of late. “You’ve meditated?” she asked.

  “Yes. It was wonderful” he replied with a smile.

  Rihan smiled back. “That’s nice.”

  Dave sat back down on the bed next to her. “You want to hear?” She nodded and Dave gave her an account of his experience in mediation.

  Rihan watched as Dave’s face enlivened with the telling. When he finished she said “You look like a new man.”

  “I feel like one too and you know what?” he asked as his eyes dipped to admire Rihan’s curves.

  “What?” asked Rihan with a smile of anticipation.

  “I feel like fucking the living daylights out of you.”

  Rihan beamed and grabbed the back of his head. She pulled him onto her, rapped her legs around his body and used her locked feet to push his groin onto hers. “Oh that’s more like it” she exclaimed.

  Their shorts went flying, followed almost immediately by their tee shirts. As Dave finished flinging his tee shirt Rihan stared at him with a gleeful expression on her face. “Looks like you’re back with a vengeance Dave Warner!” she said.

  He leant back over her with lust in his eyes and kissed her. She thrust her tongue into his mouth as he thrust into her below. They rocked together in ecstasy. As she came, she exclaimed “Oh yes! Oh yes!” Hearing her voice Dave exploded inside her and began to laugh. Rihan laughed too which only made Dave laugh louder.

  “Shsh…” said Rihan as she put her finger to his lips.

  Dave rolled off of her and with a smile said “Oh you think I’m the noisy one.”

  Rihan gave him a gentle smack on his cheek with her opened hand. “Yes, noisy but very nice.” She got up and headed for the ensuite.

  Dave lay on his back. He felt terrific. There wasn’t a tense muscle in his body. He lay there content until Rihan’s naked form reappeared.

  “You just gonna lay there all morning?” she asked. “We’re supposed to meet Sue and Art in…twenty minutes, remember?”

  She was looking for her underwear in the set of draws. Being rogan the top draw was still not far off the ground and Rihan was bending over as she tried to find the set she was after. She had her back to Dave and didn’t hear him rise from the bed. But she did feel him make contact with her buttocks.

  “I think I might be too exhausted in twenty minutes” said Dave.

  “Oh…I think you might be right” said Rihan.

  Chapter 33. Orina 1000, 3 October

  Angina was concerned. She had expected to hear from Cheklin as to when the ships would arrive. She had everything in place now. Her agents were just waiting on the signal from her. But that wouldn’t happen till she gave Torine the order and she would not do that until she knew the ships could arrive within 24 hours. The longer she delayed the more chance that something could go wrong.

  Milus appeared in the doorway to her temporary office. He had that look which she knew all too well. “What is it?” she asked expecting a bad answer.

  “You’re not going to like this first bit.” She shrugged her shoulders. He passed over the ePaper with the signal from Felis.

  She read it quickly. When she got to the bit about the dates slipping she cursed “Damm them, what do they think they are playing at. They are supposed to be our allies.”

  Milus moved his forefinger over the ePaper indicating she should read on. She raised her eyes up to meet his, then rolled them and focussed back down onto the signal. “Mmm” she muttered as she read about the additional ships. “I see” she finally exclaimed as she read the news about the additional ground forces. “Well I suppose it’s not all bad. But it’s going to be another month before they leave Qwantum.”

  Chapter 34. Slidwon 1100, 3 October

  Emilius entered the council chambers with the usual phalanx of security guards. These were his ‘consul’ guards. They reported only to him and were paid by him. The procedures for securing the chamber were well honed. But most of the sixteen ‘consul’ guards accompanying him were posted to protect an attack from outside. They occupied positions within the main circular corridor that ran around the chamber, guarding the four entrances to it. Only four of his guards actually accompanied him inside the chamber.

  The outside of the building itself used to be guarded by the ISS. But now that responsibility rested with the Internal Security branch of the FIA. There were normally 24 troops but this had been doubled due to recent hostilities. The guard commander for the day was Fenton Zavid.

  Fenton had posted the additional guards in the main corridor. He had also set the bomb in the old library on the east side. It went off at 1110 killing the three consul guards at the adjacent chamber entrance. It also set off an immediate alarm not to mention a little pandemonium within the building and especially within the chamber itself.

  The consul guards went into a well-rehearsed drill. The guard commander made an almost immediate call to remove the First Consul. The contingency plan given an attack from the east was to withdraw to the western exit. The consul guard commander hailed the detachment within the chamber and issued the code word for a westerly withdrawal.

  Chusium Kornola gave all the appearances of one who was shocked and scared but a wry smile came over his face as the First Consul was bundled out the western entrance. He was joyous a few minutes later when he heard another explosion outside the chamber.

  The consul guard commander was in the first vehicle of a three vehicle convoy. He got out of his vehicle and raced back to what was left of the second vehicle that had carried the First Consul. He stood there not knowing how to proceed. Eventually he remembered the protocols and hailed the Second Consul.

  “Yes” said Chusium “Are you sure? That is terrible. You better come back here and secure the chamber before the terrorists attack again.”

  As soon as Essena got the news from Fenton, she initiated a communications blackout. She knew it would not stop the indie stations. She had actually thought of having the Dernalin space station jam all transmissions. But that would affect her own ability to communicate and so she baulked at that. The main aim here was to prevent the military from intervening before they got out their own broadcast.

  She called her own Comms Manager in to see her and told him to arrange for an immediate broadcast. When he asked who would be making the statement, she replied “The new First Consul.”

  Chusium wasted no time in calling the councillors to vote on a new leader. One of his fellow conspirators proposed that Chusium should be the new First Consul. Two other candidates put themselves forward. One was Palmidius Plentun. But Chusium carried the day.

  Shortly thereafter Essena looked at her display to see her father making a sombre announcement about the death of the First Consul cut down by terrorist. He swore to continue the fight and that the security of all rogan citizens would be his number one priority as the new First Consul.

  Satisfied, she then lifted the blackout.

  Chapter 35. Orina 1200, 3 October

  “Damm her!” cursed Angina loudly when she saw the broadcast. She looked up at Milus who had alerted her to it. He had a grim expression. “Why would she do this?” asked Angina.

  “Torine?” queried Milus. “Maybe she didn’t.”

  “Who else would have done this?”

  “I don’t think Quazor had a shortage of enemies.”

  “Yes…but how many could have actually pulled this off. I want to know what actually happened. I want to know that now.”

  “Right” said Milus who was expecting just such a request. “I’ll get onto it then. But in the meantime do we commit or wait?”

  “We wait. I’m not going to trigger our agents till I know what happened and preferably who pulled the strings. There’s another player in the game and we need to find out whom.”

  “Leave it with me” said Milus and he left her office. Angina thumped the desk. T
hen she picked up her communicator. She hailed the number Torine had given her.

  “It wasn’t me” said Torine straight out. “I’m not even in Slidwon.”

  Torine has seen the broadcast a few minutes earlier. Her first reaction was fury. Whoever had done this had just blown away her best chance for an amnesty from the likely successors. But then she realised that perhaps the Resistance may not come out trumps after all. But right now she was keen to ensure that the Resistance was not targeting her. So she added “There is no reason at all why I would have done this today.”

  “Perhaps” said Angina.

  “Someone else did do this and you need to deal with them.”

  “But that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to terminate them. I have your number. Make sure you remain contactable and available. I will call.”

  Chapter 36. Slidwon 1210, 3 October

  Nestor Quazor was outraged when he saw the broadcast. He would miss his uncle. It was not because he had a deep emotional bond. With both his parents dead he had relied on his uncle’s patronage to advance his career, not to mention line his pockets with the wealth that he so enjoyed. No, he felt outraged because he still needed his uncle’s patronage.

  Then a thought occurred to him ‘Do I?’

  He pondered for a moment. His uncle’s death had created a power vacuum. ‘Yes Kornola is trying to fill that’ he thought ‘but so could I…mmm…I need to act fast.’

  He hailed his ops officer “I have a new task for you.”

  An hour later a troop of walkers and a full battalion of warriors surrounded the council chambers building. A major from the battalion approached the FIA security forces at the main entrance and demanded to speak with their commander. Fenton appeared soon after looking very wary. “You must submit to my authority now” was all the major said.

  “And who gives you the authority?” queried Fenton.

  “Hum…” replied the major. With a smug smile he said “General Quazor and those.” He pointed to the giant walkers standing not more than 50m away.

  “I see. What are your intentions?”

  “To secure the chambers and the councillors.”

  ‘Yes’ thought Fenton ‘and I can just imagine how you will secure the councillors.’ He smiled at the major and said “OK give me a minute to speak to my troops. We don’t want any unfortunate accidents here, do we?”

  The major smiled back smugly. “No, we do not.”

  Fenton turned and went back into the building. He directed one of his agents to start evacuating the councillors out through the tunnel that led from the Chambers to the old, now defunct Assembly building. Fenton even smiled as he realised the symbolic nature of the act – the councillors returning to the seat of the old Republic.

  Then he found the head of the ‘consul’ guard and told him a coup was underway and that he was to secure the elevator to the basement. As soon as he was told that the evacuation had started he hailed Essena and warned her of what was happening.

  She took the news badly. It was everything she had feared just a lot sooner than expected. “Our troops are not going to cut it against the Imperial Guard” she advised.

  “I know” said Fenton who was now at the elevator while his troops were hurrying the councillors. “You need to contact the resistance. It’s the only way.”

  “What are you talking about and who to” interjected Chusium as he came scurrying in to the elevator area being shepherded by two of Fenton’s guards.

  “It’s Essena” said Fenton to Chusium.

  “I have not gone through all of this just to hand everything over to the Resistance” replied Chusium. “Give me that” he demanded and Fenton gave him his communicator.

  “Now listen to me” said Chusium.

  “No, you listen to me father” said Essena “we don’t command the forces necessary to challenge let alone prevail against the Imperial Guard. That was the weakness I warned you about. We either seek help from those who can or we perish.”

  Chusium was holding up the flow of bodies into the elevator. He felt the press of their physical presence but it was the emotional turmoil swilling in his own head that caused him the most stress. He was paralysed with fear.

  “Come on Sir” said Fenton and he turned Chusium and shoved him into the elevator before he could react. The doors closed and they descended. When Fenton retrieved his communicator he put it to his ear but the connection had been terminated. ‘We’re in a right royal pickle now’ he thought to himself. ‘Essena better come through damm quick.’

  One councillor who did not follow the throng was Palmidius. He took the opportunity of all the chaos to slip into one of the rooms off the main corridor. He was now sure Kornola was behind the political coup. He was also confident that it would be Nestor Quazor instigating the military coup outside. He had long believed in the need for a firm hand. He would rather have a dictatorship than chaos. He had been aligned closely with Emilius Quazor and felt confident he could do a deal with Nestor. He just needed to stay safe long enough to stitch up the deal. He opted to seek shelter under the large heavy desk. It wasn’t edifying but security has its price.

  Meanwhile in the FIA HQ Essena called in her comms manager and asked “I need to put a call through to Brigadier Miokin.” She looked deadly serious.

  Her comms manager was suitably surprised but he had just heard of a report about the walkers outside the council chambers. He was putting two and two together and then trying to come to a decision about where his best interests lay. “Of course Maam. Directly.” He gave a slight smile that was met by a slightly stronger one from Essena.

  When her comms manager put her through it was a female voice that greeted her. It was one she recognised as belonging to the head of ISS. She had dealing with Angina Slirinus off and on for years now. She had always been cordial but it was a cautious sounding Angina which hailed “Yes Essena, what can I do for you.”

  Essana was surprised. “I thought you were dead?”

  “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

  Essena explained what was happening, though she didn’t mention about her or her father’s role in the assassination of Emilius Quazor. But the penny had dropped for Angina. “I understand” said Angina in measured voice that conveyed a hint of compassion but no more than that. “But I am not sure what you expect of us.”

  “We need to defeat this coup and that means defeating the Imperial Guard.”

  “Well that didn’t work out too good for us last time did it” stated Angina.

  “But you are holding them at bay now aren’t you?”

  “Well let’s say neither side has an upper hand. But it would not be in our interests at this juncture to mount an attack on Slidwon. The best I can offer you is sanctuary. I can’t say any more than that on this call. If you want to accept my offer of sanctuary then we can talk face to face and I can tell you more.”

  It was not what Essena had hoped for. Her spirit was deflated. But then a hard streak within her reminded her that it was better than death. “OK I accept your offer. How do we get through to you?”

  Chapter 37. Mt Pesminitar 1900, 3 October

  Ivan crunched up the packaging on their field tucker. He recoiled at the thought of how it had nearly gone up in smoke when he had pulled the plastic strip that was supposed to start the heating process. But he smiled at how Jasmin had insisted they do it the old fashioned way and actually light a fire.

  She had overridden all his concerns about the risk of starting a major fire. In fact the more he reflected on it he had to admit that she had that effect, of removing his concerns, on just about everything. ‘Yes we’re so compatible’ he thought. ‘And tomorrow will be our last day out here just the two of us.’

  He looked to her and her big brown eyes were smiling at him. The rest of her face was sublime, completely relaxed. He smiled at her. She reciprocated.

  The embers of their small fire were glowing in the early evening twilight. There was still just enough li
ght to make out their expressions. The sound of the falls below them and the creatures of the night provided the soundtrack. The scent of the trees wafted around them on the wind that was now freshening.

  Ivan took the branch they had found on the ground on the edge of their little clearing and made his best effort at extinguishing the fire. But he felt Jasmin’s hand restrain him. He saw her head shaking, so he dropped the branch and when she patted her thigh he leant back and lay his head on it. She ran her long fingers through his short blond hair and then massaged his scalp. How he loved that.

  “You’re too good to me” he said softly.

  “I know” she replied softly.

  “We’re good together aren’t we?”

  “We are” she said in an equally soft and measured tone.

  He adjusted his position so he was now virtually lying down with his head in her lap. His eyes were focussed on the sky above. She continued to massage his head. Her eyes casually scanned the tree line.

  “When this war ends will you marry me” he asked. He did not shift his focus from the sky above.

  “I’d marry you right now” she replied. Her eyes too kept scanning the tree line. Well at least until Ivan rolled over onto his stomach and used his hands and arms to raise his torso so he could look her in the eye.

  “Really?” he asked.

  She nodded with a smile. He came up onto his knees. She did likewise and they kissed. It was full of warmth and love and Ivan felt a wellspring of joy rise up and fill him. There was tenderness in that moment that he had not experienced before. He had the realisation that it was her gift to him and he was overwhelmed with gratitude.

  At the same time Jasmin felt an enormous strength envelop her. She felt so secure, so supported and she knew it was because of him. It was his gift to her. She too felt enormous gratitude.