Diana, who had been put in charge of her group, decided to go with a version of the truth. “You’re right, we’re not freelance traders, but we are freelance. At the moment we are working with your CEO Arthur Balin on a fact finding mission to assess the situation and see what can be done to resolve it.”
Ian looked at Diana and then the others and burst out laughing. Diana could tell the Romani had not expected this reaction and looked puzzled. After he composed himself, Ian said, “That pompous, blustering CEO of ours could never have thought of something as devious as this. I looked at your weapons and I find them curious. No guns, just daggers and two short swords. Tavia tells me that your men know how to use their swords. They killed the Petrov guards at the mall before they could sound an alarm. To be able to kill quickly and quietly is certainly a plus in this city. The swords and daggers all have an eagle on the end of the handle and the letters ‘S.P.Q.N.R’. My people have checked and, no corporation has a logo that looks like it. Care to explain?”
Diana made a deduction and took a chance. “You’re ex-military, aren’t you?”
“Yea, what of it.”
“Ever have any contact with the Matsua Rim?”
“Nothing out there but a bunch of pirates and the Border Worlds.”
Diana gave some thought on how to put the next statement. She knew the Romani were about to break into corporate space like a whirlwind. She saw enough of how a small group of them fought in the Border Worlds to realize whole armies of them must be devastating. She now has to fulfill the second part of her mission, which was to get resistance forces aboard if they could find any. “Your CEO, along with a group of civilians and some of your military breached the Border Worlds space and asked for asylum and help in fighting the Petrov Corporation’s invasion. We were sent here to assess the situation and determine if there was an organized resistance we can count on.”
Ian looked at them intently. “You keep saying ‘we’, who is ‘we’? In my youth, I did some trade in the Border Worlds. They were barely keeping it together and they were fiercely independent. Somehow, I doubt you are from the Border Worlds.”
Diana continued, “What I am about to tell you will soon be common knowledge. There is more in the Matsua Rim than the Border Worlds. Beyond the Matsua Rim, there is a federated democracy called Nova Romae. We are from there and no corporation controls us.”
“Are you trying to tell me there is a civilization beyond the Matsua Rim that we’ve not heard of?”
That is exactly what Diana was telling him and she then told him about the events in the Border Worlds system and the resulting deal with Arthur Balin. Diana let this set in. Then she asked the question that was part of her mission. “Tell me, Ian, is your resistance organized enough to help us out when we attack the Petrov forces? We will need eyes on the ground to tell us about troop dispositions.”
“Ok, I am to believe that a rag-tag band of Pirates is suddenly going to swoop in and defeat the Petrov Corporation, one of the most powerful of the big seven.”
“The Romani are many things, but they are not rag-tag and they are not pirates. Our attack will happen, no matter what you do. But if you want to help reclaim your world, we are offering you a chance.”
Ian gave the offer some thought. “I can’t make this decision unilaterally. Could you give me a day to contact the other resistance leaders?”
“Ok, but we have to get back to our rendezvous with the rest of the reconnaissance team. Are we free to go?”
“Yes but how do we get in touch with you?”
Diana reached into a pocket on her vest and pulled out a small communicator. She handed it to Ian. “When our attack begins, we will contact you on this communicator.”
“How will we know when the attack begins?” Ian asked.
“When you see Petrov ships falling from the sky.”
From the expression on Ian’s face, Diana knew he was not used to dealing with absolute confidence. Not surprising, given the Balin CEO. Diana signaled the Romani to retrieve their weapons. Diana and Tom also took their daggers. “We’ll need a guide out of here and a quick route out of the city.”
“My niece will take you. How do you want me to get the information to you about our decision on the help?”
“The communicator will give you a tight band transmission to us. Just make sure you’re away from your base, so they can’t track it back to you.”
Diana could see there was something else troubling Ian. “Ok Ian, I can see there’s something else on your mind. Out with it.”
Ian took a second. “Tavia will lead you out of the city and I will contact you when I have an answer. However, I have a request. I would like you to take Tavia with you as our representative to your government.”
Diana could see Tavia was about to object when her uncle turned to her. “Tavia, what you did today was very foolish. If these people had not been at the mall, you would be dead now. I already lost your parents and I don’t want to lose you also. The Pets will be looking for you and eventually they’ll catch you. Anyway, we do need a liaison with these people and you need some training.” Tavia pouted but Diana could see she would comply like a good little soldier. Ian continued, “Diana, would your people be willing to take my niece as our representative?”
“If not, we’ll take her as a member of our crew,” Diana recognized this for what it was, a way to get his niece to safety. “Time for us to go.” Ian handed Diana’s wallet back to her, but she refused it. “That cash was a good faith offering to the resistance. Get all the weapons you can with it.”
Ian pocketed the wallet and nodded to Diana. Tavia hugged her uncle and was about to leave, when one of the Romani offered her his dagger. Diana then realized that the Romani admired her for shooting down that transport and they would guard her with their lives. She had to admit, she was impressed by the Romani code of honor. Tavia took it with a grace beyond her 14 years, indicating her family was once of high position, before the Balin Corp collapsed. Tavia tucked the dagger in the belt of her slacks and put her blouse over it so she would not appear armed.
“This way,” Tavia said and led them back into the tunnel system. They travelled a half-kilometer underground when they reached a dead end with a ladder leading up.
“What is the purpose of these tunnels, Tavia?”
“My father told me they were built during the last corporate war as a way to move about the city without becoming a target.”
“It sounds like your people have suffered before during the corporate wars.”
“My uncle says we always have the short end of the straw when it comes to wars. Our CEOs always seem to leave before the fighting starts and then there is no one left to protect us.”
Diana weighed her next words carefully, but she knew enough about the Romani from reading the materials they were given during their lakeside retreat, they would protect anyone under their influence. After all, they are willing to go to war over a small incursion into the Border Worlds. “Tavia, we will defend you as long as you are under our protection.” Of course, Diana had to admit, there might be an ulterior purpose to the war with which she wasn’t familiar.
Tavia took the statement on face value and went up the ladder, signaling the others to wait in the tunnel. She climbed to the top and slightly pushed open the trap door. After a minute or so, she signaled the others to come up as she opened the door wide and exited the tunnel. The others came up and found themselves in a room that was ransacked. Obviously, the Petrov troops looked in here for the shooter, but failed to see the trapdoor. The Balin folks were certainly good at hiding their entrances and exits. With their knowledge of the tunnel system, they will make excellent allies, provided Diana can get word back to the Romani.
The building they found themselves in was at the opposite end of the plaza from Penllyn Mall. The crowds in the plaza had dispersed and only the dead and those who mourned them were left. Diana could hear the wailing of loved ones. Diana and the Romani looked out of
the windows as Tom helped Tavia cover up any sign of the trap door. Outside it was getting dark. When they landed, the ship’s computer calculated the day as just over 26 hours long. Given the location of Penllyn on the globe and the time of year, there were about fifteen and a half hours of daylight. They had just about run out of those. This is the time most people would be leaving for home, but the activity of the afternoon guaranteed that most people left early. Tavia came over to the group at the window.
“I think we should wait until it gets a little darker,” she said. “Where exactly are we headed?”
Diana reached into a pocket of her battle vest and pulled out a map projector. This small device projected a hologram of the area it mapped during their entrance into the city. It had been returned to them with their weapons and other items. The Resistance was careful to remove reference to their headquarters, but left the rest of the information intact. Diana did not mention the resistance’s tampering with the maps. She turned the device on and the map appeared.
“This is where we are heading,” Diana pointed to the location of her ship. “Do you know how to get there?”
Tavia looked at the map closely. “That is almost exactly between the east west and the north south highways. It will take us about three hours to get there in the dark.”
They watched the activity in the square. Near dusk, emergency services finally arrived, began to clear out the dead, and wounded. It broke Diana’s heart to see the civilians who were caught in the crossfire. War should be between professionals, but the corporations waged war on civilians. Their wars are always economic and people just don’t matter. Tavia signaled them to follow and they moved in the shadows along the walls of buildings. When they got to the edge of the city, they saw a guard post forming a checkpoint in the middle of the highway.
Tavia signaled a halt and waved the group forward to have a look. She whispered to Diana, “What do we do about them?”
Diana leaned over to Tavia, “Can we go around them?”
“Yes, there’s an alley around this block that leads to a path in the jungle. If we’re quiet, we can get around them that way.”
“Lead on.” Diana waved the others to follow as Tavia led them back into the city and around a very large block of stores and office buildings along the northern border of the plaza. As they neared the alley Tavia mentioned, Diana saw a human shape lying in the plaza near one of the buildings. She quickly went over to check, and when she turned the body over, she saw the waiter who they met when they first arrived. His eyes were open with fear. The open-air café must have been hit and he dragged himself over here before dying. It was a disgrace that neither the victors nor the vanquished cared a thing about a dying citizen. Diana closed his eyes and rejoined the others. She wondered how much more death she would see before this was over.
They came to the alley and the Romani checked that the coast was clear. On their signal, the group went forward and moved through the alley. Alleys throughout the universe are the same. They are meant for the passage of humans, and they were so cluttered, humans had trouble getting through. They walked to the end of the alley in single file and found it blocked by a chain link fence. On the other side of the fence, they could just make out the beginning of the surrounding jungle. A path led around the outside of the city, and connected the major highways radiating from Penllyn. The top of the fence had razor wire angled to the outside, suggesting the fence was meant to keep people out, not in. Balin Corp wanted to regulate entrance and exit from the city. Diana thought the jungle would have done that.
Tavia looked at the fence, “They repaired our opening. Last week we could come and go through here. Its how we travelled between cities.”
Diana was impressed, “You’ve done a lot of organizing in the few months you’ve been occupied.”
“Not really. The resistance has been around for a while. We’ve been trying to oust the Balin CEO for a long time. He’s as oppressive as the Pets.”
This was news to Diana. All along, she thought they were helping the Balin CEO regain control of his corporation, when Tavia believed he was no better than the Petrov Corp. She would have to report this to her superiors, and hope the Romani can figure it out.
Tavia pulled some wire cutters out of a utility bag slung over her shoulder. She was about to begin cutting when one of the Romani asked her for the cutters and started rapidly cutting a large hole into the fence. When he was finished, he pulled out the section and the group passed through, into the jungle. The vegetation was very dense. Tavia indicated the direction they had to follow and the Romani went before her, using their short swords as machetes. All along their path, small, unseen animals could be heard scurrying out of their way. Although, sentient life was unknown to the corporations, lower forms of life were abundant on planets with atmospheres. The going was slow but soon they crossed a maintained walking trail. After verifying the coast was clear, they moved along the trail in a southwest direction. Once on the trail movement was swift and, when they reached a marked jungle trail, Tavia changed course onto it and a few meters further, they came to the clearing where the ship was docked. Tavia was about to exit the undergrowth when one of the Romani pulled her back and signaled all to be quiet. Diana could see the Romani guards at the ship looking in their direction. They had heard the rustle of Tavia in the jungle. The Romani with the group gave a low, melodious whistle and waited. Very quickly, there was a similar whistle returned from the ship guards, but with a slightly different pitch. The Romani with Diana then gave a short, sharp whistle and broke cover suddenly. The others followed and they were welcomed by the guards at the ship.
When Diana entered the ship, she saw immediately that the other group hadn’t returned. She quickly introduced their new shipmate. She and her group had been up for the past day and part of the night. She decided to get some sleep. Tom checked on communication and started a conversation with Allen Farnsworth, whose watch it was. Tavia was assigned a bunk and before she went to bed, she offered to return the dagger to the Romani who had lent it to her. To everyone’s surprise, he insisted she keep it. The Romani from the mission had already told the others of the courage shown by Tavia in shooting down the transport, and Diana could tell they admired her. She told them she would treasure the gift of the dagger as long as she lived. Diana had no doubt she would fit in well on Nova Romae. After the momentary excitement of one group’s return, the ship again settled into a quiet night routine.
As dawn broke, the ship came alive and everyone turned out for breakfast. The night watch was relieved and they went to get some rest. Tavia was up with the others and as she walked into the conference room/mess hall, she was suddenly confronted by Sly. Diana realized she had not prepared her for this, and frankly, most of the time they forgot he was with them, but the jungle seemed to awaken something in the serpent and he was not hibernating as usual when not on duty. Tavia almost fainted at the sight of the serpent and Diana just managed to catch her as she let out a little scream. The Romani thought this highly amusing, as they have seen this played out many times when people first encounter the serpents.
“Hold on, dear,” Diana said to Tavia as she let her lean on the table and began to explain the serpents, their gift to the humans and the usual threat of death for mentioning them.
After the initial shock wore off, Tavia had a typical teenage reaction, “Wow, a real live alien.” She then looked at the serpent, “Hello Sly, my name is Tavia,” speaking the words slowly and loudly, as if Sly were deaf or could not understand.” She then looked at Diana, “Do I extend my hand?”
Diana nodded, “If you want to, but mind the claws. They’re very sharp.”
Tavia extended her hand and Sly carefully took it so as not to harm her. His lips began to quiver and then undulate in the way they did when he was about to speak. “Sss. Sly welcomes Tavia. Sly likes humans.”
Diana could see Sly’s hypnotic speech having a mesmerizing effect on Tavia. The teen girl relaxed and took back her
hand as she sat down to eat. Sly picked up his live worms and went back to his carpet at the cloaking station on the bridge. As this interchange was taking place, there was a beep heard on the bridge. Tom Gardner recognized it as the communications panel and went to check. When he came back, he reported that the message came from the resistance and consisted of two words, ‘we’re in’.
“Excellent,” Diana remarked and the others nodded.
The mission of Diana’s group was very successful. As she thought this over, Diana heard a commotion outside and exited the ship to find out what was happening. As she exited, she saw Decanus Marshal and Captain Rand. They had returned from their mission but the Slones were nowhere in sight. Others also exited the ship and soon there was a small group standing in front of the vessel. Tavia was also there and Diana introduced her to the others.
“Where are Chris and Alaya?” Diana asked.
“They were caught in the explosion of the hover transport,” Decanus Marshal stated. “We had split up after our mission. Captain Rand went to visit his family and I, along with the Slones, took the main street out of the city. As we were moving away, we saw a missile vapor trail and it led to a transport that was stricken and falling from the sky. We ran and separated, after it hit a nearby building and then the ground. There was a massive explosion. I went back to where I left the Slones and they were just being loaded up in an ambulance hover and taken to the nearest hospital. I followed a bit but lost them.”
As the story was told, Tavia looked increasing upset. “It’s all my fault. I shot down that transport.” She then proceeded to tell the newcomers about the resistance and her part in it.
“We all know the risks of war, and resistance is important to keep the enemy off balance. What we need now is to mount a rescue,” the Decanus stated.
Nova Romae (The Adventures of Christopher Slone Book 2) Page 9