by Dale Musser
“Hmm, I see. So… do you think Jenira would agree with you? Do you think she would be better off dead, because of what she went through? You know it was not all that much different for her.”
“I…well… no. But Jenira is different from other people!” he exclaimed.
“How so? How is she different?”
“Well she is stronger and she has a purpose and cause to live. These people have none.”
“Oh, and you think when Kala and I took Jenira in she had something to live for and a purpose?”
“I…uh… I don’t know…did she? Reide asked.
“Not at first. At first, she was like a lot of the people you see here. But then she decided not to let the past stop her from doing something good in the future. Many people here will also come to that conclusion and they will carry on to have great lives filled with purpose, with new hopes, new generations to raise and teach. You’re right. Their sufferings will never be forgotten. Though they may not end up becoming warriors like Jenira, they will persevere. They will find hope and embrace their right to live and thrive. As a community they will most certainly go on to succeed and find happiness.
“But not all of them, am I right?” Reide continued.
“Yes, you’re right. Many won’t. In fact, some may have to be institutionalized for a long period of time to be helped past the atrocities that they survived here. Some may even need to have their memories erased so they can live normal lives with a new identity.”
“Dad, I understand now. I’m sorry I made jokes at home. I see now why you fight the way you do and I want you to know that I am really proud of you – so proud that you’re my father. I think Lunnie and I are the luckiest kids in the universe to have you for a dad.”
All this time, Lunnie had been listening with tears of empathy and grief filling her eyes. She slid over to me silently and took my hand. Then both Lunnie and Reide gave me a hug.
The address provided by the senator was located in one of the finer residential areas that had largely escaped the extreme damage seen elsewhere. Most of the homes had been taken over by Brotherhood military officers after they seized the planet. The house appeared to be undamaged when we landed in front of it.
“Sir,” said Commander Stiggnon, “I request that you remain here while a guard detail sweeps the house and secures the immediate area. We’ll scan for booby traps and even enemy troopers that may hiding in or around the home.”
“Right, Commander. Carry on.”
The senator approached me, “What’s going on, Admiral?”
“No worries, Senator. The guards are conducting a routine sweep for everyone’s safety. We would be remiss in our duties, if we let you enter without verifying that there are no explosives or rogue Brotherhood members waiting to ambush you.”
The senator gulped back a wave of fear and asked, “What happened to all the people who lived in these houses?”
I didn’t have a chance to answer. At that moment two troopers emerged from the house while they supported the arms of a woman wrapped in blankets. She squinted in the sunlight as if it were painful, looking around in a dazed state at the unfamiliar military presence and transport vehicles. The senator watched as everything unfolded, gazing more and more intently at the women as she came nearer.
Suddenly, an expression of recognition mixed with fear and relief came over his face as he yelled out, “Telanna!” He scrambled out of the transport and across the lawn to the woman. She stared at him blankly for a moment before throwing her arms around him, collapsing in sobs that were so weak that they were nearly inaudible. In the process, she lost hold of the blanket, which fell to the ground, revealing that she was nude and completely emaciated.”
“Dad, what’s happening?” Reide asked me.
“I’m pretty sure that woman is the senator’s sister. But I’m not sure what’s going on with the guards, though.” Reide had noticed the same thing I did. One of the troopers that had been escorting the woman had stepped away abruptly to talk to Commander Stiggnon. They spoke briefly as a medic joined them. The medic then spoke with the woman, then turned and signaled back to some other troopers by the transport, who immediately retrieved a stretcher from a compartment on the underside of the vehicle.
After Commander Stiggnon had gained sufficient information to direct his teams, he returned to fill me in on the details. “Sir, the woman was found in a locked room inside the house. She is, indeed, the sister of the senator. She said that, shortly after the Brotherhood took over the planet, they appropriated the entire neighborhood for their own use. Houses were given to high-ranking Brotherhood officers and the officer that took over this house decided to keep her as a sex slave. She’s been locked away in a room ever since. She has no idea what’s happened to her husband and children. The last she saw them was when they were taken away. She hasn’t had anything to eat or drink since we liberated the planet and her captor fled. If we hadn’t come here today, it’s likely she would have died of dehydration or starvation before we discovered her.”
“Commander, we should immediately assign teams to check out these other houses. I suspect you may find other women here, as well.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll call back to our base of operations and order several teams to be deployed at once,” he replied.
While I spoke with Commander Stiggnon, the reporters moved closer to the senator and his sister, who had since been covered with the blanket again by one of the troopers. The senator stepped forward briefly, addressing the reporters with a great deal of emotion and outrage, but I was too far away to hear exactly what he said.
“Dad, do you think that woman’s family is alright?” Lunnie asked.
“Let’s hope so. But knowing what I do about the Brotherhood, it’s nearly impossible to say what the chances are.”
Several more troopers emerged from the house, one of which approached the commander. After speaking with him briefly, the troop leader and his team returned to the house.
“Admiral,” the commander addressed me as he returned. “I’m afraid it’s not wise for us to allow the site visit to include entry into this house. Our men have found a stash of documents as well as a vid pad containing information. The officer who was living here was apparently of very high rank. He must have fled in great haste or gotten killed before he could destroy the data. I’ve contacted Admiral Wabussie, who is sending a team of FSO agents to examine the home thoroughly and collect the data before we allow any routine or non-military personnel inside.”
“That’s alright, Commander. I think what we’ve gained from this excursion more than justifies the visit. I’m sure the FSO will investigate the other homes in the neighborhood as needed. Let’s get everyone loaded up and moved on to the next site.”
The senator, whose sister had just been rescued, approached me as we boarded the transport. “Admiral, if it is alright with you, I would like to forego the remainder of the tour to accompany my sister to the hospital.”
“Certainly, Senator. I think it’s in everyone’s best interest that you do. I’m grateful that this impromptu addition to the tour turned out well.”
“Yes. Well indeed. Thank you, Admiral, so very greatly. I am in your debt. We just hope now that her family survived and that we can locate them. My sister said the officer who held her captive told her that, if she cooperated with him, her husband and children would be sent to a farm labor camp called Fatbok. Are you able to assign someone to investigate and find out whether they’re there?”
I turned to Commander Stiggnon. “Do you know where this farm labor camp is?”
“Yes, sir. It’s about 20 kilometers outside of town. But I’m afraid, sir, that most of the laborers there were killed by the Brotherhood and buried in a mass grave on the site.”
When the senator heard this, he sobbed desperately. “Please, Admiral. Please search for them. See if they’re alive somewhere. His name is Barrog and the children’s names are Moreck and Fanellen.”
“We’ll do
what we can, Senator,” I replied. “I believe we already have a detail assigned to reunite surviving family members. We’ll coordinate with that group while we’re enroute.
As we deviated once again from the planned tour to respond the short distance to the farm, Lunnie and Reide were even quieter and gloomier than before. From one place to another they witnessed scenes that were more horrific than they could have imagined and I began to wonder whether Kala and I had made the right decision when we allowed them to attend the site visit.
The locations we visited before arriving at the farm were alarming enough, but the atrocities we witnessed at the farm was even more gruesome and heartbreaking. One section of the central farmyard consisted of long rows of cage-like barracks open on all sides and covered only by a roof. Chain manacles could be seen inside many of these units, some of which were still attached to rotting corpses. The surviving slaves had been removed from the cages by the rescue teams and temporarily relocated to what had been the Brotherhood guard and personnel barracks. By the time we arrived they had already received a significant amount of medical care, as well as baths, fresh clothing and haircuts, but their gaunt appearance was still unnerving.
The mixed emotions of the survivors were also evident. They were elated to finally be free, while they also grieved the loss of those who had not survived. They expressed immense gratitude for even the smallest comforts and assistance, but they were also in near panic to learn whether loved ones sent to other encampments had survived. One of the survivors was strong enough to leave his bed and lead us to a huge open trench grave on the far side of a hill, where hundreds of nude corpses lay. I asked the commander on duty why the dead hadn’t been covered with dirt. He explained that troops in HAZMAT suits were going through the gravesite to collect fingerprints and DNA samples before the bodies were covered, so the data could be used later for identification purposes. Crews were also discovering additional bodies throughout the farmland area that had been abandoned where they died. These bodies and the remaining dead still shackled in the cages would be processed and added to the grave before sealing it.
In the meantime, the smell of death was terrible. Most members of the news crew and senatorial committee could not keep from retching at the stench. Reporters wept as they tried to convey in their news reports the atrocities they were witnessing. The senators remained quiet when they weren’t coughing and heaving, moving through the scene with a collectively shocked and somber countenance. I knew this trip was one that none of them would ever forget.
Lunnie clung to my arm as tears began to stream down her cheeks. She was staring at the body of a small child that one of the recovery team was placing face up in the pit. Reide just stood there, staring at the pit, fighting back the emotion with his chin jutting forward and his hands clenched into fists.
We were unable to locate the senator’s relatives among the living. It would be weeks before the entire library of DNA samples were processed and I feared that evidence of his sister’s family would be found in the results.
After returning to the main town and before passing through the newly opened Cantolla Gate that was assembled to take the visiting groups to the CHGS, I was asked to make a statement before the news crews and permit the reporters to address us with questions. I hadn’t given any thought about a post-visit statement, so I had to make something up on the spot and just hope it would be adequate.
“What you have witnessed here today is only a sample of what life under Brotherhood captivity is like. There are those in the Federation who believe that we should simply ignore the Brotherhood and allow them to keep the worlds they have taken, insisting that the approach we take with them in the future should be restricted to retaining the moons and planets that are still part of the Federation, forgetting about those we’ve lost, like Alamar-4 here. But the Brotherhood isn’t going to stop taking worlds from the Federation just because we don’t want to fight. The Brotherhood won’t stop until all the planets and moons of the Federation are under their control, which means your homes and your lives and those of your children will soon look just like Alamar-4.
This is why we fight. This is why we must reclaim and rescue the planets we’ve lost – not because we seek power through imperial expansion, as the Brotherhood would have you believe, but because we have a moral responsibility to protect, defend and rescue people from this evil oppression. Peace doesn’t happen simply because one group wants it. Both sides must agree to a truce and practice a peaceful existence. As long as one side gets what it wants, as the Brotherhood always does, it has no reason or motivation to pursue peace.
“In order to stop the enemy from turning all of your homes into replicas of Alimar-4, we must take the war to the Brotherhood. We must strike their bases and home planets and make them realize that when they hurt others, they will be hurt in return. Only when the enemy has suffered, as they have made us suffer, will they begin to see the value of peace and seek to live in cooperation with others. It is not an ideal situation, but it is a reality.”
“Admiral,” one reporter called out, “are all the worlds seized by the Brotherhood like this?”
“No,” I answered, “some are much worse.”
“Admiral,” another reporter called out, “we saw only a small area of this planet. Has the rest of Alimar‑4 been decimated like this, or are the areas we visited today the most heavily affected regions?”
“What you have seen today is a fair representation of what has happened across the entire planet. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like and look for yourselves. We’ll be opening the Cantolla Gates here to all Federation citizens in a few days. Anyone is welcome to come here and witness the devastation for themselves. I hope in the process you will see to arranging long-term assistance on your home planets for those here who have survived this ordeal. They will need your help as they try to restore their lives by setting up new businesses and reclaiming their homes and cities. It is also my hope that the Senate will appropriate and expedite significant funding to heal the people here and re-establish the planet’s standing as a productive and thriving member of the Federation.”
“Admiral,” another of the reporters called for my attention. “We’ve noticed that you have two young people with you. We assume these are your children. Could you tell us why you brought them on this trip?”
“I brought them because they wanted to see firsthand what it is that I do and what the Federation is fighting for.”
“What are their thoughts, now that they’ve seen it for themselves?” the reporter asked.
“You’ll have to ask them directly, if they choose to speak publically,” I responded.
I glanced at Lunnie and Reide who waited nearby. Reide stood in a sort of numb-like stoic state, while Lunnie glanced about the crowd before slowly making her way to my side. She swallowed hard before she began to speak.
“I never really appreciated what kind of work my dad has been doing until today. I knew he was an important figure in the military and that he is well liked by the people of the Federation; but I’ve always taken that for granted. Today, after seeing the horrors that the Brotherhood inflicts on people, I now understand why he is away so much and why he struggles day and night to keep the Federation safe. I have always loved my father and thought him a great man, but today that feeling has increased a thousand fold, as has my understanding of what he fights against.” After she finished, she gave me a hug and stepped back. After a few moments of silence, she nudged Reide, who looked like he’d just been snapped out of a trance. Slowly and somewhat reluctantly he stepped forward, stopping to look at me as he gathered his thoughts. After a long deep breath, he turned to face the reporters.
“I guess what my sister said pretty much sums it up. She and I live a pretty fantastic life and I guess that, up until now, we’ve taken pretty much everything for granted. I mean, we’ve never before seen the devastation, starvation and suffering like we’ve seen here today on Alamar-4. It’s one thing to hea
r about the suffering of others and it’s something else entirely to see it, hear it and smell it in person. I know my dad has seen more of it that most people will ever and I now have a greater appreciation of what he fights for – and against. I’m proud to call him my dad and I hope I can live up to the example he’s set for Lunnie and me – and for us all.” He glanced at me with a mixed expression of pain and pride and then returned to Lunnie’s side.
There were more questions after that, but I don’t recall what they were, as the words of Lunnie and Reide echoed in my thoughts and the love I felt for them at that moment welled in my heart.
I knew the news was broadcasted live across the Federation, but I had no idea to what extent the people had been watching. As soon as we retraced our route through the Cantolla Gates and stepped into the NEW ORLEANS, the twins and I were immediately approached by dozens of people who were compelled to comment on our statements that aired in the live news vid. Lunnie and Reide, who had been largely insulated from the public eye until now, were somewhat dazed and embarrassed over the praise they received regarding their brave participation in the visit and the well-stated testimonials they had given before the entire Federation.
Kala was beaming when we finally arrived at the suite, advancing immediately to hug both Lunnie and Reide, who were still grappling with the experience. “I’m so proud of both of you,” she said. “I can see in your faces how disturbing this has been for you.”
“Mom, it was terrible,” Lunnie said. “It makes me want to see all the Brotherhood dead!”
“Now you sound like Jenira. That’s how she feels about the Brotherhood.”
“Dad, why do you let the Brotherhood prisoners live? You should just kill them all!” Lunnie exploded.
“Lunnie, what I don’t want you to take away from your experience today is to think that every Brotherhood member is a willing participant in the violent crime and destruction. Some of them only go along with things because that’s all they’ve ever known or because they don’t have much chance of surviving if they don’t. You’ve met Captain Felenna who heads up the security forced at Alle Bamma. She was once a member of the Brotherhood, but she didn’t like it and wanted out. I think there are a lot more people in the Brotherhood like her – people who were manipulated into pledging their loyalty without realizing what the organization really was and who want out but don’t want to die. Ultimately, they know if they attempt to leave, they’ll be hunted down and killed.”