Clidepp Deja Vu

by Thomas DePrima

  Although each of the levels in the former satellite habitat were just under sixty meters long by nine meters wide— a meter of width on every level in every container being dedicated to a corridor that ran the full length of the container— there didn't seem to be a spare bit of space anywhere. Sydnee toured each of the three container levels once the new arrivals had settled in. As soon as word spread that she was the ship's captain and responsible for their salvation from the oppression on Yolongus and the Clidepp Empire, the adults all wanted to touch her and thank her for taking them home. Most of the older women cried as they told her of their capture and separation from parents and loved ones at the hands of the Raiders, and then of the indignity and humiliation they suffered during decades of slavery at the hands of their owners. Sydnee told them she was ecstatic they were now free and that she was delighted to be able to bring them home. She told them that in the following days, each would be interviewed so Space Command could locate and contact their relatives in the GA and tell them the good news. She told them that each person would be allowed to record a brief message that would be sent once the ship began the trip home. When asked when that would be, she would simply say, "Soon. Very soon."

  After completing her tour and ensuring that the rescued Terrans and Yolongis were as comfortable as was possible on the crowded ship, Sydnee returned to her office to think. She had known when approving Blade's repeated trips to rescue the people in the caverns that the satellite-seeding mission was over. The food they had on board, even when supplemented with the food brought from the caverns, would not feed the number of people on board for more than six weeks at most. Since it would take almost thirty days to reach GA space, they could not remain where they were for long. They still had no idea where Winston or the slaves he'd intended to bring to the Justice had been taken. Sydnee had just begun recording a message to Captain Lidden informing him they would be returning to GA space without completing their mission when the door annunciator declared that Major Blade was at the door.

  "Come," Sydnee said as she cancelled the message she had just begun.

  Blade opened the door with a huge smile on his face. "I have a present for you, Captain," he said as he stepped aside to allow an older woman to enter before himself.

  "Hello, Captain. I'm Anese. Once upon a time, on Earth, I was known as Sharon Gilbreth. We met a short time ago."

  Sydnee smiled at her and said, "I remember, although you didn't tell me your name at the time."

  "I'm sorry. I was too overcome with emotion. I've been praying for someone to rescue us for over forty years. I couldn't find my voice when you visited us in the habitat. My throat sort of constricted."

  "I understand perfectly. You're safe now. I promise you we'll get you home."

  "Home. It sounds so welcome, and yet— so foreign."

  "I realize it will take time to adjust to your new situation. Why don't you go relax and try to remember all the good things about Earth and the GA?"

  "I can't relax just yet. There are others on the planet who must be rescued."

  "I'm afraid we're filled to capacity. Actually, we're well over our capacity, so we can't take anyone else on board. Once we get to GA space, you can tell the senior officers there and they will decide if additional ships should be sent to pick up slaves. I'm sorry because I'd love to take every single slave back home. But it's just not possible. Our food stores are finite."

  "I'm not talking about rescuing a group our size— just the ones who were supposed to be in the first wave with Cornwallis."

  "You know where they are?"

  "As I was just telling Captain Blade, I have a lot of contacts in the Moonlight Brigade."

  "Moonlight Brigade?"

  "That's what I call it. In Yolongi, it's Aleoxlene Reqoppl. A more direct translation is Darkness Flows. But I like Moonlight Brigade."

  "I see. And do you know where Cornwallis is now?"

  "Not exactly. We only know that he and the others were taken by the Qummuc. We barely had time to get our people in and cover the tunnel entrance. The Qummuc are not as clever as your people, so once we had closed the entrance we were safe. It still might be possible to recover him if I can contact the Aleoxlene Reqoppl and request they try to learn where he's been taken."

  "You're welcome to use our communications."

  "No, I can't. The Aleoxlene Reqoppl can only be contacted in face-to-face meetings. I know a woman who can put us in touch, if she hasn't been arrested."

  Sydnee looked at Blade for a second, then back to Anese. "So you're saying you need to go back to the planet?"

  "Yes. We can hardly expect the Aleoxlene Reqoppl to come here."

  "How soon do you want to go?"

  "It's morning there right now, so we should wait until dark."

  "My people and I will be ready, Captain," Blade said.

  "No," Anese said, "I can't approach the Aleoxlene Reqoppl with armed people wearing those hideous black uniforms."

  "We'll wear a standard Yolongi cloak over our uniforms and stay back a short distance."

  "Well— okay."

  "So we're on for departure nine hours from now," Sydnee said. "Good luck to both of you, and to all of us."

  * *

  Just after nightfall on the part of the planet they intended to visit, Shuttle One and Shuttle Two separated from the Justice and headed for Yolongus. Sydnee had decided to send Shuttle Two as backup. They would either hover nearby or land in a secluded area from which they could respond to a call for assistance. Sydnee knew that sending two shuttles into a populated area increased the chances of having one or both shuttles being spotted, but time was short, both for their ability to remain in Clidepp air space and to recover Winston before he died under torture or was killed for being a spy.

  *

  After determining that the roof of a deserted factory building on the outskirts of a town named Porgwuq should be able to support its weight, Shuttle One, running dark, silently touched down. But Weems didn't allow the full weight of the shuttle to rest on the roof. The shuttle was actually floating in position. If the entire building beneath it suddenly collapsed, the shuttle would remain in exactly the same place.

  Porgwuq was the town where Anese believed she could make contact with a woman known to her only as Merlooa. The Aleoxlene Reqoppl organization was a typical cell structure in which most members only knew the names of three other members, usually the escorts or either brought runaway slaves to a safe house or picked them to continue their journey to Sanctuary, and a district coordinator. If anyone was caught and tortured to reveal names, the maximum information they could surrender was limited. This gave the organization a little time to help the members most in danger escape the authorities, perform damage assessment, and patch the hole so they could resume operations. Only the district managers knew everyone in their district who worked for the organization.

  The contact Anese believed could best help them was only one lowly individual in a large operation, and Anese only knew her because she had helped Anese reach the relative safety of the cavern. But the woman might provide a chance to locate the Terran Anese knew as Cornwallis.

  Anese left the shuttle in the company of Blade and Team Alpha. All were dressed in the oversized grey cloaks worn by most of the population on the planet. The distance to the house was over a kilometer, and Blade had feared they might have to carry the woman most of the way. But Anese proved to be surprisingly resilient and had no difficulty keeping up with the Marines.

  "That's the house there," Anese said as they approached a modest cottage that was in need of a bit of repair. "There's a secret stairway to a basement area where we waited until the time was right to move to another location closer to the cavern."

  "There are lights on inside, so it's a good chance someone is there."

  "I'll go to the door alone. Merlooa may be frightened if she sees someone she doesn't know."

  "No. You haven't been here for a while. Merlooa may be long gone and the person
inside might not be friendly towards an escaped slave. You can do the talking, but I'll accompany you."

  "I'd prefer to go alone."

  "You're the contact person, but I have to insist. The captain will have my hide if I lose another person."

  "Lose another person?"

  "Winston, or rather Cornwallis, insisted that he had to go to the cavern alone. I let him. And that's the last we ever saw of him. I'm not losing anybody else. If you don't want me to accompany you, we go back to the ship."

  "Very well, but stand a meter behind me."

  "Deal. Let's go."

  As Blade and Anese walked towards the cottage, Team Alpha blended into the surrounding area and in seconds was invisible to anyone in the cottage.

  Reaching the door, Anese pulled a rope lanyard lying flat against the doorframe. A bell sounded inside the house, then a woman of advanced years opened the door slightly and stared at the two cloaked figures. "What is it?" she asked.

  "Hello, Merlooa."

  "Who is that? I can't see with your hood pulled down so far."

  Anese pulled the hood back to reveal her face.

  "You're a Terran slave. What do you want here?"

  "You helped me a long time ago. I need your help again."

  "I don't recognize you. I never helped you with anything."

  "It was a long time ago. You helped me reach Sanctuary."

  The expression on Merlooa's face reflected her growing anxiety as she stared at the figure of Blade. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know about any place called Sanctuary. Who's that behind you?"

  "A friend, as you were once. Are you alone?"

  "Uh— no. I have company. Go away."

  "I can't. We need you to help another who works for the movement."

  "I don't know about any movement. Go away."

  "The movement is the Aleoxlene Reqoppl."

  "I don't know what that is. Now go away."

  "Please Merlooa. We have nowhere else to turn."

  * * *

  Chapter Twelve

  ~ January 22nd, 2287 ~

  "I've told you I can't help you," Merlooa said. "Now go away."

  "I once asked you why you'd risk your life to help escaping slaves. You said that no sentient life form should ever be enslaved, and that you had dedicated your life to freeing the slaves on Yolongus. Have you lost that zeal?"

  Merlooa appeared to be weakening. If not, she probably would have already slammed the door closed. "Who's that behind you?"

  "A friend, like you. He's working to free the slaves on Yolongus."

  "I want to see his face. Hey you, pull back your hood."

  As Blade reached for his hood, he used his eyes to select an animated image that would appear on his helmet's faceplate so the woman wouldn't be frightened by the blank appearance. It wasn't an image of his face, but it would appear that way, and no one could ever really identify him after seeing it.

  "He's a Terran also," Merlooa said as she studied the image. "We can't stand out here. Someone might see us. Come in."

  "What about your company?" Anese asked.

  "There's no one else here. That was a lie to get rid of you."

  As Blade closed the door behind him, he saw they were in a hallway with several doors, all of which were closed. Merlooa immediately reached out and pulled Anese towards her, embracing the Terran with genuine affection.

  "I really thought you didn't recognize me," Anese said as she returned the embrace.

  As they separated, Merlooa said, "I have to be careful in case someone is watching. But how could I ever forget you? You were here for almost a month because the Triumvirate managed to identify and arrest several escorts. That was a difficult period. The operation ground to a halt and you were stranded here with me. I expected to be arrested any day, but I guess the escorts died without revealing my name."

  "I've never forgotten you or the kindness you showed me and the many others who have passed through this house."

  "Where have you been all these years? Did you get recaptured?"

  "No, I made it to Sanctuary. I've been there ever since. But now a ship has come from the GA to take us home."

  "A ship from the GA? Really?"

  "Yes. We were aboard until about an hour ago. Over six hundred former slaves and their children are now safely aboard the ship and Sanctuary is empty— at least until new escaping slaves arrive. We had to take a lot of the food stores to the ship because they weren't expecting such a large number of slaves, but there's enough left for new arrivals at Sanctuary to survive until the hydroponics gardens produce again. And the fish pool is well stocked."

  "Then this Terran male isn't an escaped slave?"

  "No. The Major is a Space Marine assigned to the Space Command ship."

  "I'm so happy for you. For all of you. But why have you come back?"

  "As the first group of slaves were preparing to leave for the ship, the Qummuc attacked."

  "No!"

  "Yes. Half the first group of slaves had made it aboard a shuttle, but the small ship had to leave quickly as the Qummuc armored ships approached. So the rest of the first group was unfortunately left stranded on the ground. The shuttles returned after the Qummuc was gone, but so were the slaves, and we don't know what happened to them. We were fortunate that the main group was still well concealed in a different cavern so the Qummuc never discovered us. I was hoping your contacts might be able to find out where the recaptured slaves were taken."

  "You surely can't believe that an attack on a Qummuc compound would be successful."

  "The people who have come for us can do amazing things. They might be able to work something out. In any event, they want to try."

  "If they can raid a secret police compound and rescue the slaves there, it would be the most glorious day for us in the Aleoxlene Reqoppl since the ambassador's ship was boarded in GA space and a Space Command officer shot him and his security guards because they were abusing one of the ambassador's Terran slaves. With that, the GA finally had verifiable proof of Terran slavery in the Empire."

  "I've heard about that from other slaves. How did you hear about it?"

  "A freight-hauler told a shipper and the shipper told someone in the movement. The story then spread through our network around the planet. I can't wait to pass along that a GA ship has finally come to take you away from the misery of Yolongus."

  "Yes, but first we need to know where they took the slaves and the Terran male who arranged for our ride home."

  "There's another member of the Aleoxlene Reqoppl in town. He coordinates the movement of slaves so he always has far more information than me. He may not know what you want, but he might be able to find out. I'll learn what I can."

  "Should we wait here?"

  "Yes. Remain in the hallway so you won't be spotted through a window. And don't open the door for anyone or even answer it. Let them think I'm not home." Taking her cloak from the rack in the hallway, Merlooa wrapped it around herself and pulled the hood portion over her head. "I'll be back as soon as possible." Pointing to a door on one side of the hall, she said, "Stand in that closet while I leave so you're not seen when I open the front door. After I unlock the door on my return, I'll pretend the door is stuck to give you a chance to get into the closet again." With that, she waited until Blade and Anese were inside the roomy closet before opening the front door. Blade and Anese heard the sounds as she stepped outside and turned the key in the lock.

  *

  As soon at the front door was closed and locked, Blade opened the closet door and moved out into the hallway. Shifting his gaze to the external speaker control in his helmet, he winked his right eye. The movement immediately deadened the speaker. With another wink at a different control, the com to Team Alpha was activated and he said, "Alpha-One this is Sierra-Leader. Have two of your people tail the woman who just left the house, but make sure she doesn't know she's being tailed. I want to ensure she's contacting a member of the Aleoxlene Reqoppl and not
the military or the secret police."

  "Roger, Sierra-Leader. Should we take out the female if her contacts are military or police?"

  "Negative, Alpha-One, unless they present an immediate threat to you and you can perform the action without notice. Just report when contact is made."

  "Roger, Sierra-Leader. Alpha-One out."

  "Sierra-Leader, out."

  Blade shifted his eyes to the external speaker control and it was re-activated.

  "I sent two of my people to watch Merlooa."

  "What?" Anese said. "Why?"

  "I know she helped you once, but people have been known to turn. Sometimes the secret police have a loved one in custody to use as a lever, and other times it's simply a personal choice because some event altered their previous loyalties."

  "But she saved my life."

  "I understand, and my people will only observe from a distance to ensure she's not alerting the secret police."

  "And if she is?"

  "Then they'll notify me and we'll be gone from here before they can reach here and surround the house."

  "And Merlooa won't be hurt?"

  "Not by us. Not unless she physically tries to stop us from leaving."

  "I'm sure you're wrong, Major."

  "There's no wrong or right. My action was simply a preventative measure. Sort of like insurance. You buy insurance with the hope you'll never need it."

  "What if we can't rescue Cornwallis and the others?"

  "We're going to do our absolute best to get them back. I imagine you know most of the slaves that were taken away?"

  "I— I know them all. I don't know the Yolongi very well— the ones who were waiting to board the second shuttle because they had only recently arrived and they remained in the one cavern— but I hope you can free them as well. Many Yolongi have risked their lives to help us and they shouldn't rot in one of the Qummuc prisons. Cornwallis assured us that we would all be rescued, but he insisted on not telling whoever was coming to get us that there were many more of us still in the main cavern. He said he had to wait until the first group had been transported to the ship. He said that once a large group was already aboard the Space Command ship, it would be easier to convince the captain to take everyone. We held a lottery to see who would go in the first group. I was the leader at Sanctuary, and most wanted me to be among the first group to leave, but like the old tradition of the captain always going down with his ship unless everyone aboard is first safe, I refused. However, I asked that one of the young slaves be allowed to go in my place. I expected to see her when we got to the ship, but she wasn't there. One of the Yolongi told me she had been among the slaves who were to board the second shuttle. She must have been recaptured and taken by the Qummuc. I was devastated when I learned."