Rebel Moon
Page 26
The vid wasn't a fake. He knew that, having had its authenticity verified separately by two of the foremost specialists in the field. But still he needed to speak with the colonel himself. Only then could he allow himself to be convinced that there were in fact aliens on the Moon.
We are not alone. It was an intimidating thought to some, but Antonio saw it as both an opportunity and a confirmation. Now, in the face of a potential alien threat, surely mankind would recognize that the one-hundred-twenty-four-year experiment was not a waste and that Woodrow Wilson's dream of a world government was in fact the only way. There would always be those who were blind, who could not or would not see the cohesive beauty of the dream. That he recognized clearly, but those people did not matter.
Through his doing, the lunar rebellion was, for all intents and purposes, crushed. The current impasse with the NDE was, admittedly, a major irritant, but nothing more. He had no doubt that he and Wu would soon convince the German chancellor that he'd overplayed his hand. The settlement might cost the CLD a dome, perhaps even two, but it was really just a matter of time. The Germans simply didn't have enough troops up there to hold on to what they'd grabbed so greedily.
Tomorrow morning the colonel, and tomorrow afternoon the secretary-general, Aguila decided. The day after, perhaps the world. He walked over to the window and looked up at the stars. We will unite, he thought. We will learn to unite, and then you'd all better watch out for us! Let others fear, but Antonio would dream on the promise of a new world.
He looked tenderly at the beautiful woman, still sleeping soundly with the moon casting rays of light across her face so that her dark hair appeared to be frosted with silver. Tomorrow the colonel, Aguila thought. And the next day the world. But tonight Allegria.
Farside Station, Luna
1 December 2069
08:30 GMT
The Estron leader, whose name or title sounded something like "Zzheer'ach'ill," bowed formally to the four humans. Each of the humans wore a powered battlesuit, but beyond that they were unarmed. Behind them were the large boxes of equipment and supplies that would be transported after them.
"Warrior plural, warrior god-king, make peace Estron god-king plural." Undeciperable words followed, possibly a benediction, and then it said good-bye.
The humans bowed deeply, and the Estron stepped back, making way for Patrick Adams and Amalia Trelstad.
Trelstad stepped forward. "Josef, are you sure about this?"
He smiled. "Of course. Look at it this way. If I succeed, we'll be able to continue the war. If I fail and we all die over there, then at least we eliminate four more people who know our dirty little secret."
"Four?"
He indicated Bunny, Dalton, and Jeff. "They were there. If they don't realize it yet, it's just because they haven't thought it through." He grinned at Trelstad. "Besides, Amalia, you'll make a better head of a government-in-exile than I ever would."
She nodded. "True. But you're still the spiritual leader of the revolution."
"No, I'm not. Pieter is, and you'd better not let anyone forget it, including yourselves." He looked at Patrick. "You'll broadcast the speech day after next?"
Adams nodded. "Yes. The vid will be done later this afternoon, and the audio techs tell me they should be able to wrap things up by tomorrow morning. Plenty of time before the hearings begin in the General Assembly. Fortunately, your voice is very much like Pieter's, and they can enhance the audio enough to make the voiceprints match."
"That's not your only similarity to your father," Amalia said dryly. "I think I've seen this certain muleheaded stubbornness before."
Josef took her hand and shook it. "Thank you, Amalia, and good luck." He gripped Adams's hand firmly. "Keep the fire burning, Patrick."
Adams's voice grew thick. "Always, Josef. But... come back. We need you more than you know." He cleared his throat with some difficulty. "Do you have ... him?"
"Right here." Josef patted a small container on his utility belt. "Maybe someday we'll be able to tell the world. But he'll be happy whether anyone ever knows or not. The first human to have his ashes scattered over a new world."
"I agree." At some unseen signal, Amalia and Patrick stepped back, and one of the MANTA techs pressed a button, sliding back the panel that covered the dimension gate. The portal was twice as wide as the teleport disks and bore a different symbol on the bottom, but otherwise it looked reassuringly familiar.
Dalton glanced at Bunny. Somehow her hand had found its way into his. He couldn't see her face, but he guessed she was smiling behind the mirrored visor.
"You don't think I'm scared, do you?" he said.
"Oh, no. Of course not."
"Are you?"
"Of course," Bunny admitted. "Anyone with any brains or sense would be."
"Oh," he said, surprised. "Well, I'll admit I'm a bit nervous. This is the kind of thing Britt should be doing, not me!"
Bunny laughed. "So let's do it!" she cried, and together they leaped through the gate, followed a moment later by Josef and Jeff. There was a brief flash of light, and they were gone.