“What’s going on?” asked Casey, looking with confusion at Ryan. “Why won’t they take our order?” She'd noticed how the server had been pointedly ignoring them but had been hesitant to mention it. There were still so many things about Humans she didn’t fully understand. That was one reason she liked the military as it was a more structured environment with rules and regulations.
The large man stepped up next to their table and stared at Ryan with a narrow look in his eyes. “I’m the manager. I’m sorry, but we don’t have any food for you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ryan, feeling suddenly suspicious. “The other customers in this restaurant are being served their food.”
“I mean we don’t serve her kind!” answered the man gruffly, pointing a finger at Casey. “We only serve real Humans.”
Ryan felt his anger begin to stir. There were an uncomfortably large number of regular Humans, who hadn’t accepted the clones into society even though it was the law. “What do you mean, her kind?” Ryan asked challengingly, his eyes narrowing sharply. His hand clenched into a fist as he struggled to control his rising anger.
“Clones!” the manager replied in a hard and cold voice. “You can eat here, but she’ll have to leave.”
Ryan let out a deep breath. Unfortunately, the Human clones were easy to spot. Their skin was unblemished and had an unusually youthful look. He closed his eyes and shook his head. This was something he'd not been expecting to encounter on Centerpoint. There were hundreds if not several thousand clones on the station every day.
“She has just as much of a right to eat here as anyone else,” Ryan spoke evenly, staring into the man’s unrelenting face. “The Federated Assembly has given clones the same rights and legal protection as every other Human.”
“Not in my eyes,” the man retorted, turning to gesture toward two burly looking men standing at the back of the restaurant. The two started walking toward the table. “You can leave peacefully or I’ll have you thrown out.”
“I don’t think so,” a male voice from behind them said.
Ryan turned in surprise, seeing Privates Rios, Parker, and Adams standing behind them. Private Parker had been the one to speak. “You’re going to serve all of us or when we’re through, you won’t have much of a restaurant left.”
“We’re not afraid of the military,” the manager uttered, his eyes flashing anger as his two men came up to stand behind him.
“Let’s leave,” Casey said with an odd look on her face. “A meal isn’t worth fighting over.” She knew this was her fault even though she didn’t fully understand why.
Lauren stepped protectively over next to Casey. “You’re just as Human as the rest of us,” she said in a soft voice, her eyes glaring with anger. Lauren stepped closer to the manager, her body posture extremely threatening. “You’ll take all of our orders or I’m going to smash your face in and my two friends will beat the hell out of your two bouncers. If we find anything wrong with our food, we’ll come back and you won’t like what we’ll do. I can assure you it won’t be pleasant as we’ll bring more of our friends along with us!”
The manager looked at Lauren, not sure what to do. His face was flushed and he clearly recognized he'd lost control of the situation. He'd never been threatened by a woman like this before. He glanced at Parker and Rios, who were standing directly behind her with their fists clenched. Rios cracked his knuckles and took a step closer.
“We’ll take your order,” the manager spoke, tersely. The manager gestured to the server and then left, taking his two lackeys with him.
The server came over and all five of them placed their orders. Lauren ordered several different items off the menu just to further aggravate the manager. “We’ll take our orders to go,” she said as the server turned to leave. “I don’t expect to wait too long!”
The three sat down at the table. “We saw you come in here and knew there would be trouble,” Lauren explained as she looked around the restaurant. The other customers looked away or down at their food not wanting to meet her eyes. “I’ve heard several complaints about this restaurant from a few of the other clones.”
“When we get back, I’ll report this establishment to Major Winfrey,” Ryan said still finding it hard to believe what had just happened. “Establishments like this won’t be tolerated on Centerpoint.”
“I don’t know,” Lauren replied with doubt in her eyes. “There’s more of this going on than you know, Lieutenant. As more clones are admitted to society each year, people are becoming uneasy. A lot of people have this manager’s feeling, but they keep it hidden.”
“I think the manager might receive a fine, but it won’t change his attitude,” Alexander added.
“I didn’t mean to cause a problem,” stammered Casey, feeling unsure of herself. There were still so many things about regular Humans she had trouble comprehending at times.
“I know,” Ryan responded in a reassuring voice.
He had been so focused on his career that he hadn’t been that aware of the growing distrust regular people had for the Human clones. When he got the opportunity, this was something he wanted to talk to his older brother about. Wade was heavily involved in the cloning program. He was best friends with Marken, the head Kivean, who helped run the massive cloning center back on Vesta.
A few minutes later, they had their food and hastily exited the restaurant. Finding a table, the five of them sat down and began eating.
“This food is really good!” Lauren said, surprised. She had about three times more than she could eat. No matter, she was sure that Rios and Parker would help her finish it off.
“It is!” agreed Casey with a grin. She'd never tasted anything like this sweet and sour chicken. She took another bite, savoring the taste. “This chicken is delicious.”
Ryan smiled; he was glad to see Casey enjoying her meal. He allowed himself to relax and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to think about what a brawl in the restaurant would have done to his career. This was a situation he hadn’t handled very well and he knew it. He was still going to speak to Major Winfrey about what had happened, and he was also going to mention it to Wade next time he had a chance to speak with his older brother.
Once the five of them finished their meal, they headed back toward the training dome. In two more days, they were going to try Charring Mountain once again. Ryan wanted to spend some time with his platoon discussing strategy and what they'd done wrong the first time. He was determined to beat that damn mountain on their next attempt even though he knew the odds were stacked heavily against him.
-
Wade watched with interest as the Constellation arrowed down toward the surface of Vesta. A massive airlock slid open, revealing a lighted entrance, which would take them to the massive spacedock deep inside the asteroid. Around the perimeter of the airlock, eight small particle beam cannons ensured there was no unauthorized entry. The helm officer brought the ship smoothly inside the tunnel, and they were soon traveling along its lighted length toward the spacedock.
“It’s good to be back on Vesta,” spoke Wade, looking forward to seeing Beth.
He'd been gone for several weeks consulting with General Mitchell and recently promoted Fleet Admiral Thomas Kelly about possible action against the Kleese. Kelly had been the former executive officer of the Constellation but had shown a knack for strategy and understanding space warfare. It hadn’t taken him long to move up to commanding officer, then admiral, and now Fleet Admiral with the retirement of Fleet Admiral Kirby. Wade knew that Kirby had always felt uncomfortable in his command position. He'd heard that Kirby had gone back to prospecting in his old prospecting ship the Raven.
“Vesta is our mainstay,” responded Adamson, turning toward Wade. “Everyone knows what Vesta did to save the Human race. If not for President Randle, none of us would be here today. It’s going to be a sad day when he steps down as president.”
Wade nodded his head in agreement, but it was time for the civilian gove
rnment to take a more active role in managing the habitats and even the war. President Randle couldn’t do that forever, nor would it be wise. However, there'd been talk of him taking on some type of advisory position to help guide the next president through all the pitfalls of managing a Human civilization scattered across the solar system
On the main viewscreen, another pair of large airlocks slid open and the Constellation entered the massive spacedock or, as some preferred to call it, a landing bay. The bay had been enlarged several times over the past few years. It was now eight kilometers in width, two kilometers in length and a full kilometer from floor to ceiling. Inside the bay, numerous ships could be seen in their berths, prospecting ships, cargo ships, passenger liners, and even a few battlecruisers. On the far end of the bay, three new battlecruisers were nearing completion.
“There’re over two thousand Kiveans inside Vesta most of the time,” commented Adamson, turning to look over at Wade. “We’ve come a long way since our rescue mission.” He knew that many of the Kiveans were technicians or scientists helping in ship construction or research projects.
Wade nodded; the rescue mission Adamson was referring to was when they had taken a fleet to the Kiveans’ home world to rescue what survivors they could after the Kleese used antimatter weapons on the surface of the planet to annihilate most of the population. They'd managed to save over seventy-five thousand Kiveans, many of them scientists, technicians, students, and their families. They were mostly living in two habitats inside a nearby asteroid where Marken had established the original Kivean habitat for the six thousand Kiveans that had escaped with Wade and General Mitchell from the trading station.
“The Kiveans have been a tremendous help with the cloning program,” Wade commented. “They also serve as instructors at the Academy.”
“Speaking of the clones, I heard there was some unrest in Luna City recently,” Adamson spoke with a trace of concern showing on his face. “We still have a lot of people who don’t like the cloning program; they feel we should have built up our military forces with Human volunteers.”
“They simply weren't enough,” Wade responded with a deep sigh. He was well aware of the unrest caused by the cloning program. He knew the latest survey showed that only thirty-two percent of the Human population agreed with producing the clones. “With only eighteen million survivors to pull personnel from, we couldn’t have reached the numbers we needed to resist the Kleese. Even so, we’ve had a tremendous amount of volunteers from the civilian population.”
“When the Kleese attack us again, the rest of the civilians will see the wisdom of creating the clones,” responded Adamson, confidently.
Wade nodded; they all knew it was only a matter of time before the Kleese returned.
“What’s next on your schedule?”
Wade allowed himself to smile. “I’m sure you’re curious why the Constellation brought me back to Vesta instead of a shuttle.”
“The thought did cross my mind,” admitted Adamson, looking over at Wade.
“Give your crew some leave time,” Wade suggested with a secretive look in his eyes. “They may not get another for quite some time.”
Adamson nodded his eyes widening slightly. “I suspected something of that sort when I heard you were coming aboard. I don’t suppose you can tell me where we’re going?”
“No; at least not yet,” Wade answered his eyes meeting those of the commander. “There are still a few details that need to be ironed out. Once everything’s ready, I’ll let you know what’s going on.”
Adamson nodded; he would begin making arrangements for his crew to take leave immediately. From past experiences with Colonel Nelson, he knew they could be gone from the solar system for quite some time. At least Vesta, with its large habitats, was the best place in the system to take leave.
-
Wade exited the Constellation to find a female marine major waiting impatiently for him. She walked up to Wade, put her arms possessively around him, and kissed him on the lips.
“About time you came home,” Beth said, stepping back after the kiss and smiling. “Your parents have been asking about both you and Ryan.”
“Ryan’s doing fine,” responded Wade, taking Beth’s hand. “He just took his platoon up Charring.”
“Really!” Beth spoke her eyes widening. “How far did he make it?” Both she and Wade had been trained by Marken when they had been Kleese conscripts. She recalled how difficult getting to the top of the mountain had been. It was the same dome they had trained in, though there'd been a lot of modifications done, including changes to Charring Mountain.
“All the way to the top,” Wade said, feeling proud of Ryan’s first attempt.
“He won the first time?” Beth said her eyes growing wide in disbelief.
“No, he died at the top,” Wade answered with a laugh. “No one wins the first time.”
Beth nodded. Charring Mountain was a tough lesson. She had seen marines get frustrated and never beat the mountain.
“How’s your mom doing?”
“Better,” Beth replied with a sigh. “She’s moved into a retirement home where she can be professionally looked after. It’s a really nice place with lots to do. Mom was hesitant at first but seems to be settling in.” Then she looked deeply into Wade’s eyes. “What did General Mitchell want?”
Wade let out a deep breath. He looked over where the two eight hundred-meter military transports were berthed. They were the biggest ships in the fleet and General Mitchell had placed them under his command.
“We have a new mission,” Wade answered as he and Beth began to walk toward an airlock that would allow them to exit the bay. “We have several advance scouts which have reported back and the war between the Kleese and the Strell will soon be over if it isn’t already.” The fighting was taking place so far away it was impossible to get real-time information. Everything they had was months behind.
“Are the Kleese going to win?” asked Beth, growing concerned. It had been hoped that the two Empires would weaken one another to the point that they wouldn’t be a serious threat anymore.
“It’s those damn Zaltule,” uttered Wade, shaking his head. “Their warships are more powerful than those of the Strell and they have superior numbers. The Strell have taken some horrific losses and Marken feels they’ll have no choice but to surrender shortly rather than risk the destruction of any of their home worlds.”
“Then the Kleese will come after us,” Beth said, feeling a cold chill run down her back at the prospect of more of the massive disk ships coming to the solar system.
“No, Marken doesn’t think so, at least not at first. He believes they’ll go after the nonaligned worlds.”
“Even with their neutrality agreement?”
“The Zaltule don’t believe in neutrality,” responded Wade, grimly. His eyes took on a more worried look. “The Zaltule believe you’re either a part of the Kleese Empire or you’re their enemies.”
Beth stopped in mid-stride and looked back at the Constellation where some of her crew were exiting the hatches. Then she looked at her husband accusingly. “You’re going to the nonaligned worlds,” she said with dawning comprehension. “That’s why you came back in the Constellation.”
Wade was silent for a moment before confirming Beth’s words. “We’re going back,” he corrected her. “We’re going to some of the nearer nonaligned worlds; you and I and a very carefully handpicked group of marines. We’ll be escorting several high-level diplomatic ships, which will be making a last ditch effort to bring as many of the nonaligned worlds as possible into an alliance with us.”
“Will there be any combat?” Beth asked her eyes seeking Wade’s. It had been years since any of the marines under her command fought in a battle.
“We’re taking the Fire Fox and the Crimson Star,” Wade answered solemnly in explanation. “If there is, we’ll be prepared.”
“What about warships?”
“A full fleet,” Wade answered. �
��We’re taking the Constellation, the three new battlecruisers, sixteen light cruisers, and two hundred of the latest disk assault ships.”
“You expect us to fight a major battle,” Beth said sharply her eyes widening at hearing how many assault ships would be going. “Are the Kleese that close to returning to this sector of space?”
“We think so,” Wade said as they resumed walking and stepped through the airlock. “If the Kleese attack one of the nonaligned worlds in our sector of the galaxy we have a plan. It may only work once, but if it does we have a good chance of bringing a number of the nonaligned worlds into the Alliance.”
“What if we can’t bring them in?”
“Then we lose,” Wade said in a softer voice. “By ourselves, we can’t hope to stand up to the Zaltule in a galactic war; at least not yet. Many of those nonaligned worlds have a science and technology more advanced than the Kleese. You’ve seen some of that technology from the computer flash drive they gave us.”
Beth nodded. The cloning technology, new ion cannons, and even better sensors and energy shields had come from the nonaligned worlds. There had also been some modifications to the Fold Space Drives to improve their efficiency to allow for greater speeds. The flash drive had been a gold mine of information and still was.
“How soon do we leave?” she asked. She still needed to make sure that her mother was settled in at the retirement home and could get by without her presence. She'd felt guilty about putting her there in the first place, though she knew it was for the best.
“Four weeks,” Wade answered. “The new battlecruisers have to go through their space trials and some special weapons we’ve designed have to be finished. We also have to make some modifications to the Constellation.” Wade stopped and turned toward his wife. “Beth, I didn’t want you to go on this mission, but we can’t risk this failing. We have to have our best people.”
“I understand, Wade,” she responded, taking his hand. “We’re marines and we’ll do whatever is necessary. Now, let’s go home. I think we can find something more pleasant to do for a while. The war can wait until tomorrow.”
Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) Page 5