Tales of the Spinward March Book 2: The Red Queen

by David Winnie

  The General grinned and bowed. “As you order. I will make it so.”

  Annika asked, “How bad on the plaza?”

  General Han touched a control. “We had over two million guests on the Plaza today for your ceremony,” he answered. “I had thirty thousand troops on security. We are fortunate indeed that the raiders were only using high explosives as opposed to incendiary devices. The casualty lists will be high, but not as high as I fear they might have been. I have also alerted the nearby garrison in Persia; there will be another fifteen thousand troops here by evening. Our biggest difficulty right now is due to the sheer size of the event. Already, the hospitals in Cairo are overwhelmed. We have begun to transport the wounded to the surrounding communities, but I am afraid many will die before they can receive treatment.”

  The numbers were numbing, but the would-be Khan grasped the situation quickly. “General, you have my authorization to use whatever means you deem necessary, for the duration of the crisis.”

  Then she felt a surge of panic. “General a…friend of mine is a guest. He was in the Plaza when the attack started. I need him found. He is very important to me. I must know he is safe! Please, General!”

  He sighed. “Captain,” he snapped, pointing to Campion.

  “Major.” Annika corrected.

  “Major. I see she has attached herself to you. Take a platoon of soldiers and secure this friend of hers... Will that do?” he asked her.

  Annika realized that was a huge concession, given the situation. “Yes, General, that is exceedingly generous.” She gave Campion Yuri’s description and where he had been sitting when the attack occurred.

  For hours, she sat and watched the activity as it swirled around the command center. Reports came in, the data would be sent to whomever was responsible and rapid decisions made. Aides reported to General Han and hand him a slip of paper or a data pad. He acted quickly on each piece and move on. Officers would cluster together, have a hurried discussion, and then move on. It looked chaotic, but she could see the pattern, the organization, the fluidity. The teamwork.

  Teamwork. Annika began thinking of her siblings. The Proctors would give them assignments that forced them to act collectively. Not to find any one weak spot, but to enforce the importance of working together and presenting a united front. Blue always excelled at these games, confident and charismatic. He always seemed to know just the right thing to say when she or one of the others would disagree. Once they hit puberty, she and Orange could seemingly never agree on anything. But Blue was always there, laughing and cajoling, so that in the end, the two sisters could work closely together.

  Orange. Anja. Annika closed her eyes and tried to see her dead sister’s face. But all she could see was the orange slipper on the lower leg. The rest of her was gone. Annika bit her lips and tried to see Blaise. She could feel the blood on her hands. Victor’s headless body swam into her daydream. Jiro, where was Jiro?

  Annika began to shake. A tall, muscular sergeant was passing by, stopped and dropped to her knee. “Hey,” in a soft voice that belied her size. “Are you all right?” Annika didn’t see her, only saw Blaise trying to mouth his final words, and her tremors increased in violence. “Crap!” said the sergeant. “O.K, Honey, stay right here.” She ran over to General Han, who saw Annika’s condition and nodded assent.

  Returning to Annika, the sergeant knelt and took the heir’s face gently in her large hands. “Hey, Sweetie, listen. I’m Pamela. I’m the Quartermaster for this part of the facility. What say you and me go for a little walk, maybe let you freshen up and have a bite to eat?” Annika allowed herself to be guided. Then a door opened and they entered a three-room suite.

  “Look Annika, a shower. Why don’t you undress and clean up? I’ll order us some supper and rustle you up some clean clothes.”

  Annika nodded, listlessly undressing on the spot, her clothes falling to the floor. In the bath, she stared helplessly at the controls. Pamela, hearing no noise from the shower, hurried in, turned on the water and directed it on the young girl.

  Annika found soap and washed herself. The warm water sluiced over her, relaxing her tense muscles. She began to feel herself lifting slowly from her catatonia. Fighting down the images running through her head, she resolutely washed the remainder of the dirt, grime...and blood, that streaked her body. She untied her hair and washed the stink of the day from it, too.

  Finished, she stood and soaked in the hot water for a time, trying to wash the horrors of the day

  away. She took the soap and scrubbed herself again. Rinsed again. Soaked for a few minutes, then reached for the soap once more. “Hey, hey there, now, that’s quite enough,” declared Pamela, opening the shower door. She held a huge, soft towel. “Come on, Sweetie, that’s enough scrubbing. Time to dry off and get dressed. Supper will be here soon.”

  Annika willed herself to step towards Pamela and the towel. The older woman embraced the shuddering girl who was briskly dried and rubbed down. Pamela had her sit while she brushed out and braided Annika’s once again golden hair.

  “Sorry about the clothes, Sweetie, best we could do on short notice.” A uniform lay on the bed. An Imperial Officer’s uniform, although there was no rank. The underwear fit well enough, but the rest of it was too large for the slight girl. The pants were worst; she couldn’t get them to stay up. Exasperated, Annika tried to bite and tear a strip from the bedsheets. Pamela pulled a switchblade from her pocket and cut the bedsheet into a makeshift belt to hold the pants up. The jacket covered the pseudo belt.

  The meal was simple fare, soup, bread, cheese and fruit. Annika was surprised at her appetite. It had not occurred how many hours had passed since she and her siblings had been together and eaten.

  Her siblings. She stopped chewing and tears clouded her eyes. Once again, she quivered and shook. Pamela quickly wrapped her arms around the girl. “When I was not much older than you,” she whispered, “I was on a combat drop. It was a pissling little planet that only the Gods below knows why we were taking. They were pretty well equipped; it was taking more effort than it should have.

  “We were dropping on what we were told was a command and control site. They were shooting damn good that day, and suddenly the other side of the drop pod was gone, along with a half dozen crack Imperial Troopers. All of them my friends. We entered a spin and I braced myself. The Gods above must have been looking me over that day; I was awake the whole crash. We hit and tumbled, which tore our craft to pieces.

  “The impact killed most of the rest of my friends. I found out later I had broken my back, but when what was left of our pod stopped moving, I was hanging from the wall that my drop rig was hooked to. There were some moans around me, so I knew I wasn’t the only survivor. I had to get out.

  “I struggled and got my harness to release…and promptly fell on another Trooper. Rodriguez. From one of the farming colonies. He was trying to make enough scratch to buy his own farm. He was still alive, I know, because he cried out when I landed on him. I could tell he was a goner. He looked at me with his one good eye.” Pamela swallowed and went silent for a minute.

  “Yeah, I got out,” she said, her voice strong again. “I crawled over fifteen of my friends. Most of them were dead, smashed to a pulp. But a couple were like Rodriguez. Still alive, but dying. There was nothing I could do but get out.” She put her hands around Annika’s cheeks again and stared into her eyes. “I can still see each one of them.”

  Annika sighed. “Does it ever stop?”

  Pamela shook her head. “I still see them every night.”

  There was a tapping at the door. The messenger announced, “The General would like to see you back in Central,”

  “I’ll stay with you,” Pamela stated,” We’ll be fine.” They followed the messenger back to the command center.

  Annika startled when everyone leaped up and stood in brace. “I understand tradition and the respect you’re giving me,” Annika smiled, “but for the duration of the crisis, would yo
u all please stop all the jumping up and down when I enter a room? It’s really starting to make me jumpy.” A nearly audible chuckle rolled around the room. “Now, do that stand easy thing, would you?”

  At the holo on Level One, General Han set to his report. “First,” he said, “The Imperial Council, along with the File Board, wish to see you in the Grand Council Room at ten hundred local tomorrow. I will make sure we have a proper fitting uniform.” Annika nodded, pleased. The uniform she had on was much too big; the hint of acceptance from the General in his offering of a uniform was a welcome relief.

  “Second, unpleasant news, I am afraid.” He pointed to the holo. The map was of the North Sea. There were Green arrows, but no red. Instead, there were two red X’s. “The first turned and engaged the fighters out of Norway sent to intercept them. The fighters had no choice. I approve of their decision to shoot down the enemy. The second was more disturbing.” He touched a control. The view changed to a cockpit view of an Imperial Buccaneer. “This is view from the flight leader. As you see, he is head on with the raider. Now watch.”

  The enemy craft flashed into view, then lifted its nose and began to climb. The fighter pointed its nose and decreased the range, climbing faster. Suddenly, the raider arced over, and dove straight down. The fighter turned and followed, breaking away at the last possible moment. The enemy did not, smashing into the sea at least two thousand miles an hour. The plume of water was impressive.

  “Gods below!” exploded Annika. “May his soul be cursed to cleaning the crack of the Eighth Khan!”

  “My feelings exactly,” said Han, “until one of my junior officers offered up an idea. Lieutenant?” An officer who seemed barely older than Annika appeared.

  “I am Second Lieutenant Beckman, Ma’am,” he reported. “I am from historical records. I am serving the command post intelligence division, offering historical data when it seems appropriate. My family has a long heritage of military service. Back in the early years of the twentieth century, one of them served in the Kriegsmarine of the nation state of Germany. His specific service was on a submarine. I was studying the course of the raiders, puzzling with everyone else why they were taking such a course. They could have been leading us away, a decoy, so the mothership might slip out of orbit, but I quickly dismissed that idea as every scanner on the planet was looking for them. Then I thought of my many times great grand-sire. I thought ‘What is the difference between a jump capable ship and an ancient submarine?”

  Annika quickly grasped the idea. “You found them. Where? How?”

  Han smiled. “When he told me his idea, we went back to the time he mentioned. There was nothing there. However, within one hundred years, Russia had developed what was called a blue light scan laser. The blue spectrum is capable of penetrating fluids, such as water.”

  I am familiar with blue light scan lasers, Annika thought.

  “We adapted some satellites, extrapolated the raider’s course and found this. He touched a control and the view changed to map mode. It rolled over the northern polar cap and stopped over a body of water.

  “Bering Sea?” Annika asked. “There? Why?”

  “It is a very remote location,” explained Han. “A clever idea, really. From there, they could have lifted right through the radiation zone of the Van Allen belts. Under the best of circumstances, it is difficult to track anything through there.”

  “When do you take them?” Annika asked.

  “Soon,” Han replied. “We have assembled assets to capture them when the surface. Better to take them once they leave the water, less of a chance of an accident that way. They are ours, they will not get away.”

  It was the best news she had heard all day, Annika decided. On a terrible day, good news at last. “Will that be all, General?” she asked.

  “No,” he answered slowly, “I have one more bit of news for you.” He broke into a wide smile.

  “Hullo, my little Red Heired girl.” Annika whirled about.

  “YURI!” she screamed.

  Chapter 8

  Annika leapt into Yuri’s arms, her arms around his neck. She kissed his face over and over, then buried her own face in his chest. Her body shook, relief coming at last in tears. Yuri was alive and right here with her. She couldn’t contain herself.

  “Annika, Annika,” cooed Yuri, stroking her hair. “It is me. I’m here for you. My beloved Annika.”

  “Thank you,” she said, turning to the room. “Thank you, everyone. Gods, Yuri, it’s really you.” She buried her face again. “What happened, where were you?”

  “I remember you announcing your name,” he said. “I made the connection right away. You chose my great, great grandmother’s name, yes?” Annika nodded. “You have no idea how honored I am that you did that,” Yuri said.

  “Then the first bomb exploded.

  “It happened so fast. The bombs started falling; everyone went into a panic. I was buffeted about, but fortunately I didn’t fall. Many were killed by the bombs, but many more were killed when they fell and were trampled by panicking people trying to escape. I remember seeing a big bomb hit the stage where you had been standing. I nearly collapsed; I thought for sure you were there. I had to get to you. I don’t know how long it took and I remember throwing punches at people who wouldn’t move out of my way fast enough. I saw your sister and brother’s remains. Someone had covered them up. I’m so sorry for your loss, Annika.”

  “Thank you, Yuri.”

  “I didn’t see any sign of you, alive or dead. But the smoke was clearing and I could see and hear there were thousands on the Plaza who needed help. I am a doctor first and last, Annika. I swore an oath, I had to help. There were others, doctors, nurses. But most were just ordinary people, who helped.

  “We began to go through and save who we could. A soldier showed up. I explained to him how a triage works and he helped us organize. More soldiers showed up and we began to make good progress. A lot of people died today, Annika. But a lot more were saved because of your citizens and your soldiers. They did a fine job.

  “Finally, about an hour ago, your Major Campion came to our triage, looking for me. He told me you were in trouble and needed me right away. There are doctors there now and I had to come if you were in trouble. And so, I am here.”

  Han cleared his throat and said, “Well, Miss, I have nothing more for you today. I would suggest you and your friend go get a good night’s sleep. You’ve had a very hard day and I expect you will have many in the days ahead.” He called, “Attention!” Everyone snapped to brace again, then bowed to the young woman. Annika let go of Yuri, braced and returned the courtesy.

  “On behalf of the Empire,” she said, “thank you for the magnificent job you all did today.” She held her bow for a minute, then straightened, took Yuri by the hand and gestured to Pamela to lead on.

  The suite Pamela led them to was larger and more ornate than the earlier one. Bedrooms were on their right, each with a large bed, the bath to the left. Yuri explored and returned wide eyed. “Good Lord,” he gasped. “How big a bath does one really need? We could bathe my whole family in that tub and still have room for half my cousins!” Annika shrugged. She had been seeing such things all her life.

  “Good that you found the bath, Yuri,” Annika teased. She wrinkled her tiny nose. “You certainly need it.”

  Pamela had moved to the window and opened the drapes. “Oh, my!” she said, stepping back. She tried to close the drapes. Yuri stopped her.

  The suite overlooked the Plaza. The sun had gone down and the Plaza was dark as the void. Here and there in the dark were pools of light, exposing frantic efforts. Other, smaller lights were moving about, amongst the stationary pools of light. Lines of lights swept along, stopping and frantically signaling. A transport lifted from one lighted area and raced away, another arrived right on its heels.

  “I’m so sorry,” Pamela said. “I had forgotten the direction this suite faced.” She was clawing again at the drapes. She finally stopped, grab
bed Annika by the arm and said, “Come on, let’s go. I know of a better suite.”

  Annika held up her hand, “No, we’ll stay here,” she said quietly. She watched for a while, then turned away.

  “Dohlman,” Annika called.

  Dohlman appeared. A tall, stately man, dressed in a high collar suit with a blue plaid cummerbund and white gloves. His hair was slick and parted in the middle. Below his upturned nose was the thinnest of moustache. Although only a holo, he was programed as the head of the house staff and served its master and mistress exclusively. “Yes, Ma’am?” he queried in a voice reminiscent of the highest level of elegance and perfection.

  Annika ordered, “Pour a bath for my friend Yuri and get him a set of pajamas. Send a servant around to his hotel and fetch his wardrobe. Order a light supper for three…”

  “Two, Ma’am,” interrupted Pamela. “I have to be getting back to my husband and children.”

  “Two, then,” continued his mistress. “Arrange transportation for the sergeant. Yuri and I will be dining in tonight.” Dohlman tipped his head and disappeared.

  Moments later, they could hear the bath running. Annika shooed Yuri to it and he was soon splashing away. She changed into a soft, flannel set of pajamas, topped by a long robe. Then, resting her head on the windowsill in one of the suite’s luxurious teal chairs, she watched the work below. Yuri exited the bath and the supper cart came, but Annika scarcely noticed. Her eyes were locked on the Plaza.

  Yuri ate in silence. Occasionally, Annika would turn and take a bit of bread or fruit. But she returned immediately to the window. Finished, Yuri poured himself a coffee and moved his chair next to hers. For hours they watched, silently. The lights were less frantic and the fliers were no longer rushing in and out. Yuri understood all too well what that meant. They were no longer searching for survivors. The mission had changed to recovering bodies.