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Elsewhere on Mazere things were not funny or bizarre, they were just plain serious. Morning had once more come around and it found five very thoughtful individuals sitting around a small table that was within a smart apartment situated not too far from the centre of Plakara. They were all full citizens of Mazere and up until three years ago had been honest and hard working, even if they had all disagreed to differing extents with some of the things that their government did on the behalf of its people. The riots changed all that.
Johor Brecht thought that the way of life of the Non Citizens fell way beneath the sort of level that should be offered to anyone living upon a planet whose people now journeyed between the stars, but he had kept his beliefs secret in case the state police began to take an unwelcome interest in him and his family. Johor was thirty-five and worked in the biology department of the University of Plakara, the capital city of Mazere. He was thirty-five years of age, had a pale complexion that indicated that he was born in the far north of the planet. He had pale blue eyes, sandy coloured hair and was tall but of slight build. His wife who was a fellow lecturer sat next to him.
Lilliana Brecht was the same age as her husband, but she had an olive complexion indicating that she was born near to the capital city. She taught Mazeren literature at the university and enjoyed her life there. She was much shorter than her husband by some eight inches, but then most of the Mazeren women were shorter than the men of the planet, she had brown eyes and black hair and was still pretty, even if it were only Johor who told her now. Lilliana was pregnant and would soon have to give up her job, but she didn`t mind as Johor brought in a higher wage, as men always did on Mazere. She had yet to tell her husband the good news, she had held off as she knew that he would forbid her to carry on taking an active roll in their action group, ‘Citizenship for all Mazerens’, for fear of hurting the unborn baby.
Next to Lilliana was Carmen Toile, she was another women from Plakara but she was younger that Lilliana, being only twenty-three year in age, and she was two inches shorter than Lilliana but of similar colouring. She was very petite and was a housewife now that she had a young family to care for. Her son Malik, named after her husband, who was a member of the capital`s police force, was asleep in his pram in the next room. Her husband didn`t know of her association with her friends, for she had purposely kept it from him. The reason being was that he had angrily stated his belief that the status of the Non Citizens should stay as it is following a report on the protest march of three years ago, and the reasons behind it.
Staff Sergeant Roan Triage was a member of the Mazeren armed forces and was based near to Plakara. At the moment he was working in the headquarters building of the planet`s military, as he was already at the retirement age of fifty years of age for his rank. He was a heavily built man, with piercing blue eyes and brown hair that was beginning to thin on top. He put it down to the fact that he wore a hat while on duty. A two inch scar ran down his right cheek, he had acquired the scar when he accidently fell off a ladder into a large woody bush some twenty years prior, while painting the outside of his parents house.
The last person at the table was the owner of the house, Lexan DeLong. Lexan was sixty-five years of age and the leader of this small group of activists. He had started it up following the brutal way in which the state police had put down the protests three years earlier. Even back then he believed that a radical change in government was needed, but he hadn`t been foolish enough to openly resist the government, this being because he knew that they would use the brutal state police to put down any signs of discontent. He also knew that the government would insist that the state police also round up any of the supporters who had escaped the violence, but had been foolish enough to be caught on one of the many spy cameras that filled the streets of the centre of Plakara. Lexan was famous across the length and breadth of Mazere, for he was a television producer who specialised in exposés of corrupt officials, both in and out of government. Lexan was not overly tall, being three inches less than six feet which was six inches shorter than Johan. He came from the warm deep south of Mazere, and was golden brown in colour with black eyes and silver hair. At one time, he had been young and handsome, but now he had a distinguished look. The group of activists that he belonged to was one of many such groups spread around Mazere, some of which he had also helped to form. Now he hoped to bring the plight of the Non Citizens into the limelight, for later today he was due to take receipt of a recording from a senior member of the military, an officer who professed to share his hopes for a better future for all of the people of Mazere. The recording was partly about the planet Earth, a place Lexan had only just heard of during the last few weeks, it was a planet that believed in the freedom of all of its people, and what was on the recording would be the signal for worldwide protests. He had also been told of the arrival on Mazere of two starships from Earth, diplomatic relations were hopefully to be established between the two civilisations, and the talks to this end were about to commence. It had been just a day earlier that the plan had been outlined to him. Last night he had contacted his team to alert them, similar alerts would be going out in every corner of the planet.
“We start our first major operation later tonight, everyone must participate. I realise that our plans have been put to you without any notice, but we simply cannot afford one of you to drop out. Carmen is your mother willing to babysit for you?” Lexan asked.
He doubted whether he could control his anger should anyone attempt to cry out at this late stage in the proceedings. This started the series of operations against the injustices that abounded on Mazere. His team were crucial if they movement was to succeed, failure would put the entire nationwide plan on hold.
“Yes Lexan, I have told everyone that I am meeting some old friends from college at Johor and Lilliana`s house, and my mother has agreed to look after her grandson for the whole night. I have told Malik the same thing, which is that I am going to a college reunion thing, and he is quite happy for me to go alone. He has met both Johor and Lilliana and as he thinks they are both boring, sorry you two but Malik thinks all college lecturers are snooty overpaid bores. Anyway he doesn`t want to come along to the reunion party. Instead he is going to have a night out with the lads, lots of sport and lots of drink I imagine, I just hope he doesn`t overdo it.” Johor and Lilliana both began to object to Malik’s description of them but Lexan butted in.
“As long as he is happy to let Carmen come alone then that is all that matters, for Carmen`s part is not only crucial to the success of our plan, it should also prevent the state police from getting their hands on any of us. As you all know, Carmen worked in the studio`s security office prior to having baby Malic, and is familiar with the office and its procedures. Now if there are no more questions then I will go over our plan, please concentrate on your individual roles.
“Later this evening I will open the side door of the television studio`s on the pretext that I am in need of some fresh air.”
Delong then went over their roles twice to ensure that they all understood exactly what had to be done. He was now sure that they knew their individual roles and shouldn`t mess up their one and only chance to strike a blow for the people of Mazere.
“This is a one time opportunity for us; for we are taking advantage of a set of events that my contact ensured would happen, the disruption yesterday, of the live broadcast of the national music festival. One of our operatives exploded a small device that blacked out the whole district around the television studios and caused a beauty of a security nightmare. This has meant that there is only a minimum of staff there tonight as the others are not now required. The rest are all at home watching the recording of the festival that is now being aired tonight. Are there any questions?”
Delong looked at each of them to check that they were all still ready to participate in the nights action, when he looked at Johor Brecht he saw a question in the man`s eyes.
“What about you Lexan,
won`t the security men remember you opening the outer door?” Johor Brecht asked. He was just a little worried that he may have uncovered a mistake in their well-laid plans.
“No Johor, they will not, what they will see is Planum Class, for I will be wearing a hat and jacket that was procured for me, and as Carmen will tell you, no one else but he would ever wear such an outfit, and also the hat will effectively hide my features.” Delong replied with a cruel smile playing around his mouth. “As for Class himself, well we are in luck there, for he has been invited to a party some two hundred miles away, so he won`t get in our way during the evening. Another of our movement`s operatives arranged for his invitation.” Delong said but Brecht had not finished yet he brought up yet another minor flaw in the plan.
“Shouldn`t you dispose of your disguise immediately after Carmen and Lilliana disable the security men Lexan, just in case the items are discovered later when the state police search the studios? For they will search the studios as soon as they realise that there had to have been an inside man to aid the perpetrators in the plot. You will be questioned in any case as you will have been known to have been working in your office at the time of the raid.” Johor Brecht said, worried now that the state police could get on to Lilliana and him through Delong.
Lexan silently cursed himself, but he had only had twelve hours to go over the plan and to fine-tune it. He should have thought about the need to dispose of his disguise so as to ensure that the state police didn`t find any traces of his DNA on the coat and hat when they eventually found them, which they would for they might be a little dim but they were methodical in their methods. What else might he have missed?
“You are quite right Johor; I should have thought of it, I will need to dispose of them and also my canister of super glue. Carmen, will you wait for me around the rear of building and I will drop them down to you in a carrier bag, you can take them along with your own canister and the two gas masks and dispose of them on your way home.” Delong looked at Carmen Toile who looked back just a little worried.
“Of course Lexan, I will be waiting for you beneath your office window, but please don`t make me wait too long, I don`t want anybody wondering why I am there and then reporting me later to the state police.” Carmen Toile said in a slightly worried and even more annoyed voice. She didn`t like this addition to the plan as it meant that it increased the risks that she would have to bear.
“Thank you Carmen, and don`t worry, I will not waste even a second in time. Now then, are there any more points that anyone would like to raise? Oh and remember to wear gloves tonight, we don`t want to leave any clues behind for the state police to find.”
There weren`t any more questions so the meeting broke up with everyone feeling just a little more anxious following Delong`s warning about the need for gloves, had they now thought of everything, or would an unthought-of problem arise to make them slip up? They all returned back to their normal lives for the rest of the day, which for all of them was around the centre of Plakara, but they were all keyed up, and as the night progressed the more anxious they felt. They were all constantly checking the time as the evening approached, they wished that the night was over, or that they could stay home and forget about their previous desires to help the NC`S.
Rescue Mission to the Stars Page 20