Sisterhood of Suns: Pallas Athena

by Martin Schiller

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “I’m with the DNI,” the officer explained. “I need to have your PIFSDat Units.” The Personal Infantry Fighting Suit Data Processors, processed all of the data that their suit cams and other devices took in, and also acted as digital recording devices.

  None of them had the slightest idea why the woman would want them, especially so soon after the fight. The information from the PIFSDat units was usually collected just before debriefing aboard ship, but Kaly and her companions didn’t argue with her. Instead, they unsealed the little pouches on their shoulders, and unhooked the units from their cables.

  The officer took Kaly’s first and plugged it into a portable data terminal. From the green flashing light on the side of the PIFSDat, Kaly knew that she was downloading all of the data inside of it.

  Finishing, she handed it back to Kaly and worked on Jon and Lena’s next. “I made a copy of the data in your units,” she said as she returned them, “and if anyone asks you about it, have them see Captain n’Kyla with the Intel Company.”

  While everyone plugged their units back into their suits, the officer gestured towards the ruined C and C building. “Has anyone been inside that structure?”

  “No, ma’am,” Kaly answered. “Not yet. We were waiting for some EOD women to come along and check for traps inside.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” the woman grinned. “We’ll handle the interior. I want you and your troopers to secure the entrance. Other than DNI personnel, I don’t want anyone going in, and nothing disturbed inside. Zat klaar, Marine?”

  Kaly gave the woman another salute. “Yes, ma’am. Klaar.”

  The officer left, and they gathered up their gear, and shared a questioning look at one another. But Kaly just shrugged.

  Why they were being asked to guard a room filled with blown up rubble was beyond their understanding, but being ground-pounders, they also knew that it was none of their business. So they marched down to the building and took up guard positions around the soot-covered entrance.

  After several minutes, a team of Navy Intel women arrived, carrying an assortment of cased equipment with them. Whatever they did inside did not take very long, and when they were finished, Kaly and her companions were told to report to the staging area for the APHC’s.

  This was one order that they did comprehend clearly. It was time to leave and return to the Athena.

  USSNS Pallas Athena, Battle Group Golden, Agleope System, Sagana Territory, United Sisterhood of Suns, 1043.03|21|06:64:24

  Lilith hadn’t seen a holo-conference as large as this since the War of the Prophet. The battle group had returned to Sisterhood space as soon as the Intel women had finished their work on CD48 2259 and transmitted the data back to Rixa.

  Now, she was seated in the Athena’s conference room with all of her senior officers, and surrounded by images of every Commander in the Topaz Fleet. The meeting itself was being led by none other than Jora t’Kayna, the Admiral of the Navy. The Admiral’s holo floated over the baaka wood table, flanked by images of Admiral ebed Cya and all the other members of the Admiralty.

  “Ladies”, T’Kayna began, “I have grave news. Thanks to the information that we received from Battle Group Golden and other sources, we now believe that the Hriss are massing their forces for a general war against the Sisterhood. We predict that this conflict will come in the next six months.”

  T’Kayna vanished, and a display showing Hriss space replaced her. Where it abutted the Sagana Territory, Lilith could see star systems that had been marked out as supply depots, as well as forward bases. A few of them were old, but many were new, and as the animation played out, groups of Hriss warships could be seen taking up stations at the very edges of the Imperium’s borders.

  Most of these vessels were marked, showing their clan affiliation, and those that weren’t had been labeled with the DNI’s best guess. Quite a few were Imperium forces, and loyal to the Emperor himself. And there were far too many of them to be explained away as either border security, or in system patrols, Lilith concluded.

  “Naval Intelligence has picked up chatter that indicates that the clans are getting restless, and that a number of them of have been considering making a bid for the Throne of Bones,” T’Kayna’s voice continued, “and you all know what that means.”

  Lilith nodded grimly to herself. Whenever the clans started eyeing the Throne, the Hriss Emperors countered the threat by stirring their warriors up against the Sisterhood, and the clan leaders were more than happy to go along with this. They had threats of their own to deal with from junior clan leaders. Sending the hotheads out to almost certain death by promising them glory and riches had worked well for centuries, and the Sisterhood had always been forced to play the executioner.

  Whether it wanted to or not.

  T’Kayna went on. “Topaz Fleet, in conjunction with Silver and Onyx, will be posted to the Sagana Territory. Based on enemy movements, this command believes that the attack will begin there, and additional forces are being moved up to bolster the area’s defenses. The general public doesn’t know about any of this yet, but senior officials in Sagana and elsewhere have been briefed, and they are ready to work with us at a moment’s notice.”

  The last time that this had happened, and despite the best efforts of the Navy to prevent it, civilian lives had still been lost, Lilith recalled. Space was just too vast to prevent every incursion and she shuddered at the thought of the casualties they would suffer when the Hriss managed to sneak through and conduct quick raids. And not for the first time, she whispered up a curse against the Hriss leadership and the Emperor himself.

  The display disappeared and T’Kayna’s image returned. “I will now turn the briefing over to Admiral ebed Cya and her staff. Thank you for your attention, and May the Goddess watch over us all in the weeks and months ahead.”

  The holo-conference went on for another twenty minutes, and when it concluded, Lilith and her staff found themselves alone again.

  Well,” she said to them. “There you have it. Go and brief your department heads, and start instituting more emergency battle drills. I want us to be as sharp as possible.”

  Katrinn and the others rose, their expressions somber. Lilith however, remained in her seat.

  “I’ll be up on the bridge in a few minutes,” she told them. “I want to replay the data.”

  After they had departed, Lilith gave herself a moment, and then ran the holo again, watching the Hriss ships as they shifted from one system to the next, and coming closer to the edge of Sisterhood space with every new phase. Although she wanted to, there was no refuting the data, or the Admiralty’s conclusions.

  Goddess, she thought, another war. Will it ever stop?

  Leaning back in her seat, she sighed wearily and rubbed at her temples, suddenly feeling very, very old.

  “The Hriss never do seem to get tired of their aggression, do they?” an unknown voice asked. “But then neither do we. Especially when it comes to lost branches of humanity.”

  Startled, Lilith sat bolt upright in her seat and spun around to face the speaker. She was an unremarkable woman, with forgettable features, and dressed in a Captain’s uniform. She was also occupying a chair that just a few seconds earlier, had been empty.

  Lilith wasn’t misled by her uniform though. She knew every officer aboard her ship, and this woman wasn’t a member of her crew.

  “Who are you?” she demanded, immediately sending a thought to the holojector and switching off the display. “How did you get in here? This briefing was classified.”

  “I’m a friend of a friend,” the intruder responded with a wry smile. “We’ll call the woman that I know Lady Spider. Her real name is unimportant. What is important is that Lady Spider knows your daughter, and she sent me here to deliver a message. Oh, and if you’re about to call Security, don’t bother. They won’t hear you.”

  Lilith had been in the process of doing that very thing, and had just discovered this for hers
elf. Her psiever simply wasn’t detecting the Ship’s network of relays. For all intents, she was shut out of the system. But that only happened when the ship, or a psiever, experienced a major malfunction—or when the OAE was involved. Her credits were riding on the Agency.

  The stranger nodded. “Yes, I am with the Agency, but it’s a special unit that’s not tied in with the departments that you normally deal with. We’re somewhat—independent—and we don’t have to follow the Agency’s policies. We operate under our own special mandate.’

  ‘And what you’re thinking right now is also correct. I am a psi. But I’m not here to talk about me, or my unit. I’m here to talk with you about your daughter.”

  “What about my daughter?” Lilith challenged. “What do you know about her?”

  The agent leaned back in her seat, steepling her fingers together the way that Lilith herself tended to. “Commander ben Jeni, your daughter is alive. I was sent by my friend to tell you that.”

  It took several seconds for Lilith to process this. “W-what do mean?” she finally managed to stammer.

  “Exactly what I said,” her uninvited guest answered. “The Agency has lied to you. Your daughter didn’t die and she was never missing. She is alive and well, and very shortly, she’ll make contact with you.”

  Lilith gaped at the woman. Then anger and suspicion replaced shock. “Is this some kind of Agency trick?”

  The woman shook her head and laughed softly. “No, Commander. No trick. Just the simple truth. Lady Spider has been her mentor for many years, and she knows your daughter better than your daughter knows herself.’

  “And it’s time for your daughter to come home. There is much more at stake here than just another Hriss invasion, and Sarah will need you as much as you will need her to get through it. Lady Spider felt that you deserved to know the truth and to be given the opportunity to prepare yourself.”

  As astounded as she was, Lilith started to rise, intent on reaching the door and summoning the Marine guards. She never even got as far as leaving her seat. The figure vanished into thin air, and she just managed to catch the flicker of a shadow crossing the room. In less than an eyeblink, the woman reappeared. She was standing right next to her now, resting her hand gently on Lilith’s shoulder.

  Inexplicably, Lilith couldn’t move a muscle. Something that the stranger was doing to her was preventing this.

  “I’ve been watching you for several weeks now,” the woman said quietly into her ear, “and waiting for the right time to give you the news. You’re a good woman, Commander, and a capable leader. After all that she’s been through, Sarah is truly blessed to have you for a mother.”

  A strange compulsion made Lilith look back to where the intruder had been seated. There was an object on the table that hadn’t been there before. It was a rose, she realized, but unlike any that she had ever seen before. The flower was completely black. Not simply a dark purple, but a pure ebon hue.

  “The rose will tell you everything that you need to know, Commander,” the woman said, “and please, don’t be angry with Sarah. She was only doing what her country asked of her.”

  At that, the feeling of the hand on her shoulder went away and Lilith’s strange paralysis dissapeared. When she looked behind her, no one was there. She was alone again.

  For a moment, she stood there blinking in astonishment and then she recovered, and sent a signal to security. This time, it got through and the Marines rushed in to the room.

  “Commander? Is everything all right?”

  “Did anyone just leave this room?” Lilith asked them.

  “No, ma’am,” one of the troopers answered. “My partner and I have been standing outside the whole time. The last people to come out of this compartment were Lt. Commander Bertasdaater and the other staff officers.”

  “I see,” Lilith replied slowly. “Very well, trooper. Return to your post.” Her next move was to call up the security footage from the room itself and the corridor outside.

  All she saw was an image of herself, talking to an empty chair. The rose winked into view towards the end of the clip, as if it had been delivered by some supernatural force.

  And Lilith certainly didn’t believe in magic.

  The intruder must have been wearing some kind of sophisticated cloaking device, she concluded, and she did something to the vid feeds and the psiever relays. But the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ completly eluded her.

  Her eyes fell on the rose again. It was still sitting where it had been left, waiting for her. The rose will tell you everything that you need to know, the woman had said.

  She went over to it, and examined it. Despite its odd coloration, it seemed to be completely conventional. Gingerly, she brought it to her nose and inhaled.

  The scent registered in her brain, followed immediately by a thought. It came to her as clearly as if someone had just sent it to her by psiever. It was accompanied by a vivid mental image of a holojector with a personnel file on display.

  Use the ‘jector, it suggested. Call up your daughter’s file. You’ll find that Sarah n’Jan’s information has been amended.

  Hands trembling, Lilith sent the command to the holojector that had been built into the conference table and ordered up the file. When it came up, she had to read and then re-read the status box several times before she could bring herself to believe what it was telling her. Instead of listing her daughter as ‘Missing/Presumed Deceased’ as it always had, it now read ‘Active/Pending Reassignment.’

  Unable to remain standing, she collapsed into the nearest seat and let her emotions take over. Suddenly, the Hriss and the possibility of a war didn’t matter at all. Nothing did except the fact that after all the years of worrying, and wondering, her deepest wish had been granted.

  Sarah was alive. It’s true! she thought. My daughter is alive!

  ***

  “You did good down there, troopers,” N’Darei said. She was only looking at Kaly and Lena, and it was obvious that her praise did not include Jon. Fa‘Teela was a non-entity as far as she was concerned.

  “You two need to report to the mess hall straightaway.” Then she finally deigned to acknowledge the neoman and her smile vanished. “Fa‘Teela, you can go stow your gear and stand down in your rack.”

  “Yes, Corporal,” Kaly replied, speaking for all of them. Whatever it was they were needed for in the mess, she desperately hoped that it wasn’t going to take too long. They where exhausted, and none of them wanted to do anything more than throw themselves into their racks, and get some sleep. And with the exception of unsealing their boots, the added step of undressing was optional, and highly unlikely.

  “Well, let’s get it over with,” Lena said wearily. They stopped just long enough to stow their blasters at the armory, drop their field packs in their lockers, and then they trudged off to the lifts, leaving Jon to remain behind at his rack as he had been ordered to.

  At the mess, Troop Leader da’Saana greeted Kaly and Lena with a grave expression. “Today was the first time that you greenies saw combat, wasn’t it?” she asked them.

  “Ma’am, yes, ma’am,” Kaly answered raggedly.

  “Please, come with me,” the Troop Leader said. They followed her to one of the tables. A bottle sat in the middle of it, filled with an amber colored liquid. It was unlabeled, and unsealed, and the rest of their unit was gathered around it with serious looks on their faces.

  “Have a drink,” Da’Saana instructed. “It’s something that every trooper does the first time they see action with the Hounds.”

  Kaly brought it up to her lips, and without further ceremony, drank a mouthful. Whatever it was was on par with the potency of the drinks that she’d had at graduation, including the Aqqa. She coughed and nearly dropped the bottle before someone rescued it from her.

  Lena went next, and suffered nearly the same reaction. This earned them a smattering of laughter from their fellow Marines, but Da’Saana didn’t join in. She took the bottle from Lena, and solemn
ly toasted them with it.

  “Welcome to the 115th,” she said, taking her own pull from the bottle, and shuddering slightly as the stuff hit her. Then she slammed it back down onto the table.

  That was the signal for the assembly to relax and start passing the bottle around. Kaly and Lena were quickly invited to join in, and in short order, more alcohol was produced and everyone was talking and joking with them as if they had been with the unit for years. Only Lena seemed uncomfortable with all this.

  “This is wrong,” she finally whispered to Kaly. “Jon should be here too.” Her battle sister nodded in agreement, but said nothing.

  It was only after they had finally been allowed to leave, and return to their racks, that Kaly revealed the bottle that she had managed smuggle out. It wasn’t the rocket fuel they’d been toasted with, but it was still strong.

  They went straight with it to Jon’s rack. His privacy curtain was down by then, and Kaly gave it a tug. When it opened and Jon peered out, he regarded them quizzically.

  “For you,” she explained, holding the bottle out to the neoman. “You did good. You deserve this.”

  Jon took an appreciative sip. “Thank you” he said.

  EPILOGUE

  Colony Manager’s Office, Storm, Agleope System, Sagana Territory, United Sisterhood of Suns, 1043.03|22|03:13:33

  Darna n'Marni sat in her office, seething with anger. A month earlier, the fools in the Rampart had agreed to disband, and now she’d received a message that some of her closest associates were backing out of her plan to leave the Sisterhood and form their own union. It was unbelievable!

  The women that she had once thought to be so strong and far thinking had turned cowards and had actually capitulated to the Sisterhood. She knew that their agreement to build a fancy naval base in Sagana was nothing but nonsense, and she was amazed that her associates--her ex-associates--she reminded herself, had let themselves be duped by such empty promises.