by Ron Francis
Admiral Bliney stood nearby, shocked at Sandoval’s dying words. He wondered if anyone else knew about this or if it had been something Natora had taunted the president with in his perceived moment of triumph. He needed to find out if anyone else knew. This kind of information could be problematic if the general public were to get a hold of it.
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The death of President Sandoval had shocked the Coalition. No one could believe it was real. It had been hundreds of years since anyone had tried to assassinate the elected leader of Earth. All of the news stations were reporting the President’s death nonstop. The coverage, the theories, there was no end. One reporter had even posited that President Sandoval’s death had something to do with the prominent mystery deaths that had recently dominated the headlines. Mourners filled the streets in support of their fallen leader. Admiral Bliney was now seen as an even bigger hero. He would forever be the man that killed the President’s assassin. He wasn’t held entirely blameless, though, the question was raised as to why he was late to the meeting, and it was also implied that he should have known the whereabouts of the military’s second-in-command. These criticisms were minor and few people were raising them, but they rankled Bliney to no end.
Nina felt nauseous as she heard the news. Jesse is not going to take this well when he returns from the Kalephi Galaxy. He’s been friends with Sandoval for a long time. He was close enough to the man that we have always had a direct link to our leader. This is now one more thing the Enclave will have to answer for. As she thought about her brother’s reaction at losing another friend to the Enclave, she felt even worse when the realization hit her like a slap in the face that Vice President Rhodes was now in charge. Ladyhawk had been pretty sure the Vice President was the last member of the Enclave. She could not provide me with proof, but I trusted her feeling. If she was right, the Enclave has won. Their last man is now not only Earth’s leader, but the leader of the entire Coalition. What does this mean for us? She hated to be thinking about herself and her people at a time like this, this business with the Enclave had robbed her of her time to grieve. As she thought about how hard Serge had taken the news of her own recent actions, she thought, The Enclave has robbed me of a lot more than that. Her thoughts quickly returned to her company and her people, how will this affect SSE? Should we continue to build our new facility on Polisia knowing that we could be putting weapons into the hands of our enemy? Her mind was filled with questions of the future while her heart mourned the loss of the Coalition’s leader. She needed to get everyone together quickly. They needed to discuss what all of this meant. She went to her transmitter and reached out to Ariel. Her face was a picture of sorrow as cousin’s face filled the screen. “I’m assuming you’ve heard the news, Ariel.”
“Everyone has, it’s unbelievable. What are we going to do?”
“That’s what we need to discuss. We need to meet with everyone. Everyone that has top level SSE clearance needs to be on Polisia tonight. Manny, Jason, Sanjay and Liam are already here with Serge and I. We need Vee-Fleet to meet up with us here. I will need you, Snyder, Briggs and Irina from the Vanguard as well as the Chief Operating Officers of our other three SSE divisions. Rodriguez from construction, Doctor Tally from medical and Jordan from entertainment all need to be here. This affects them as well.”
“I’m sending a shuttle for them now. What about the rest of the ship captains?”
“You and Manny will brief them when we are finished unless you have anyone you think you need there.”
“No, a briefing will be fine. With Snyder and me on Polisia, I want people who know what they’re doing watching over us. I don’t want Rhodes to try and bully someone that can’t say no. Make sure all of Manny’s people know that he has no authority to call them to Earth.”
“I will, and you make sure your people know to contact you immediately if he contacts them. I want everyone on the same page. I don’t think we’re going to like what is coming and I don’t want to get caught with our pants down.”
“We’ll depart as soon as our shuttle arrives. See you in fifteen hours, Cousin.”
“Safe travel, Ariel.” The transmission ended as Serge and Manny entered the room. “What are we going to do, Serge?” She put her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her back.
“I do not know, my love. One thing I do know is nothing should be discussed without a jamming field. We must be very careful until we know what we have in our new leader.” He comforted his wife even as he thought about how disappointed he was in her recent choices. It wasn’t just her choice I am having trouble with, it was the fact that she did not discuss it with me first.
“It might not be such a bad idea to stealthily begin moving everyone we care about to Polisia.” Manny added.
“Most of them are already here. Nina was able to talk them into living on Polisia during their time on the Vanguard.” Serge replied.
“Bribed them is more like it, Serge,” she corrected. “Either way, we just have to worry about a few now: Josiah’s family, Jason’s family, Charlie’s family, Liam’s family and Carmine.”
“Carmine?” Serge raised an eyebrow. “Now we are wanting to start a crime wave on Polisia?” He asked incredulously. He couldn’t believe his wife had even suggested it.
“Yes, Carmine. Jesse’s shady, not quite legit friend. Ariel loves him to death and Lana feels the same way after he saved her life. If we can talk him into it, he comes, too. Jesse would be very upset if we didn’t at least offer.”
“We should bring his chef, too.” Manny started as they both gave him a look. “What? I’m just saying, good Italian food is hard to find here.”
Fifteen hours later, Ariel arrived and they went right into their meeting. They began to hammer out a plan to deal with what this new President might throw their way.
“If President Rhodes is the last remaining member of the Enclave, do we want him in control of our ships and facilities? He will have the power to take them from us.” Serge stated as he looked around the room and noticed expressions that ranged from resigned to shell-shocked.
“Serge’s right,” Ariel added. “But we have to ask ourselves the question: what does Rhodes get out of it if he does take our facilities? He’s already our leader, so he doesn’t need our ships to take power, and he has to know that if these alien threats are legit, swooping in and removing us from the picture is a bad idea. It would just take too long to get anyone else up to speed on how we do things and the Coalition wouldn’t be able to afford the drop in production, so why would he take our facilities from us?”
“How about spite,” Jason cut in. “He has to know we’re behind the death of his cabal members. Or have we considered that this Enclave may actually be working for someone else?”
“What do you mean, Jason?” Manny asked, interest suddenly piqued. He hadn’t thought about that at all, even though it did seem unlikely.
“I don’t really know. It’s just something we haven’t mentioned yet. I’m just putting it out there. What if the Enclave is working for one of the threats facing us? What if they are working for someone who wants to take over the galaxy, or at least a large part of it?”
“That’s a good thought, Jason, and a scary one. If there is another power behind the throne, it’s doubtful they will be satisfied with our thirty-two worlds, especially given how easy it was for them to take control of them.” Nina added, praying they were not right.
“If Jason is right, then they have every reason to take Sea Side Enterprises away from us, and probably kill us all in the process.” Sanjay added with a grimace at the unsavory thought.
“I know I’m the junior member here,” Liam began apprehensively. “But it would seem to me that we need a lot more information before we jump to these types of conclusions.”
“You’re right, Liam,” Nina replied. “And if you’re in this room right now, it’s because we value your opinion, so don’t be afraid to give i
t. We may not know anything for certain yet, but we do need to prepare for all contingencies. On that note, let’s begin to talk about our next steps. Step one is to slow down the construction of the Polisian facilities until we knew more.” Nina continued to lay out the steps with plenty of input from the rest of the team as they spent the rest of the night discussing what might come next.
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Three weeks later, Nina was heading back to her air speeder with her detail after her first official meeting with President Rhodes. It had not gone well. Nina thought about what was discussed as she walked. Thank God Admiral Bliney was in the meeting. Neither man was happy that the construction of the SSE Polisian ship building facility was behind schedule, but it seems as though Bliney has the power to pacify President Rhodes’ wrath. I can’t believe I just lied to the President and told him it was the price of doing business outside of the Core. I would have never lied to President Sandoval. She knew they were placated, but she also knew that her excuse would not work again. They were happy that Serge had already delivered to them thirty-six vessels from their Earth facility and had another twelve due to be finished in five weeks. Nina had slated them for Polisia against Bliney’s wishes, but she reminded him that Polisia would be a target if the aliens knew they were building Leviathans and War Hawks there. He reluctantly agreed and she knew he was going to try to keep those ships on Earth. I’m going to have to get Serge to have them ready a few days early and then put through their paces on the way to Polisia, or we’ll never see them.
She was still almost ten meters from her speeder when a blast hit the vehicle, causing it to explode. Two of her men were caught in the explosion and she had been thrown several meters. Her remaining men surrounded her immediately as she struggled to find her balance. Buildings were spinning around her and the smell of burning metal and flesh were thick in the air. Her detail began trying to get her to the nearest building for cover as her eyes were continuously drawn to the fiery wreckage her speeder had become. She noticed tiny droplets of blood and when she went to wipe them away, she felt the tiny pieces of broken glass that had embedded themselves in her cheek. She looked around again and for the first time noticed that several windows had been blown out by the explosion and there were fresh char marks on several walls. Her detail was stopped short of their cover when almost forty men popped up from various cover and began firing on them. They were using heavy weapons and the remaining ten men on the detail were taking a beating, even in their battle suits. Nina fired, hitting an attacker in the chest and barely slowing him; it was then that she realized that these men were also in battle suits and she knew they were in trouble. She was still having trouble standing and the bitter taste of blood was on her lips. She knew she needed medical attention; so did some of her men, but they were continuing to fight for her and she was almost overcome by their dedication.
We’re completely exposed and surrounded with nowhere to go in Prague, Earth’s capital. This can only be the work of our new president. Prague’s Law Enforcement doesn’t seem to be coming either. That thought hung bitterly in her mind as she continued to go where her men directed. She had her blaster out and was firing from behind her men. We can’t take much more of this. With that thought fresh in her mind, a minor miracle occurred. Suddenly several of their attackers began dropping and they had an escape route. Several more dropped and she looked around and saw Maria Tejada with two dozen ex Special Forces commandos lighting up their attackers. Grenades were flying and heavy particle cannons were causing damage to the pristine streets of Earth’s capital city. After only a couple minutes, it no longer seemed like they were in Prague. The damage around them almost made it seem like another planet. Her men were able to get her to cover, which bought them time. Two minutes later, four assault shuttles descended on their position and took out the remaining attackers in a spectacular display of firepower that left a couple dozen speeders and one outdoor cafe ruined. Maria helped Nina onto the shuttle as her men and Nina’s detail boarded, and then they were gone.
She had barely taken her seat when Ariel was on the transmission. “Thank God you’re safe, Nina, someone has declared war on us. Jason and Raina were also attacked. They got away, but Raina was hurt pretty bad. She is in med-bay and Lana won’t leave her side. Rodriguez, Tally, Jordan, and their families are all dead. Liam and his family were killed when his parent’s house exploded during his sister’s birthday celebration. Manny wants heads to roll for that one. Irina got Dmitri to the Vanguard just in time. His soccer team’s locker room exploded. They should have all been in there, but Serge was able to convince the coach to get them out, so no one was hurt, thank goodness. The rest of Jason’s family is onboard as well as Charlie’s family and Josiah’s family. Someone took a shot at Mathias, but he was wearing one of Jo’s old battle suit jackets. It saved his life. It didn’t take much convincing to get them on the Vanguard after that. Four of our top people dead with their families: thirty-two in all. There were nineteen at Liam’s house for his sister’s birthday. You and Jason would have made six of our top people. It’s impossible to tell what the death toll would be if Dmitri and his soccer team had been hit and Josiah and Jason’s families were killed. We also lost fourteen of our protection specialists.”
“Sixteen,” Nina said sadly. “Vic and Dane didn’t make it”
“I haven’t been able to reach Carmine. He’s either underground or committing a crime, impossible to tell. I’ll keep trying. We’ve lost enough of our friends today.”
“Yes, we have.” Nina was trying to keep her temper in check; they were on a transmission which could be hacked, so she had to watch what she said. “Whoever it is that has declared war on us will pay dearly. Of that I can assure you. My detail and I would all be dead if not for Maria and her men.”
Ariel looked at Maria and smiled.“Thanks Maria, we owe you big.”
“No problem, but it wasn’t as selfless an act as you might think. The same people are after us and we need a safe place to lay low. We figured they’d go after Nina. We also figured if we saved Nina, she might be inclined to help us. I’m just happy we got there in time.”
“So are we; and, Maria, for the record, we would have gladly helped you anyway.”
“Thank you, Ariel. We need to get your cousin to med-bay as soon as we land. She took several shots and while she may not complain, she probably has a couple cracked ribs. She also may have hit her head during the initial explosion.”
Nina frowned, “I’m fine, and we don’t have time. We need to come up with a response,” she said, although she knew she wasn’t fine. She did need the pod, but she couldn’t spare the recovery time.
“We will, after the doctor checks you out. No arguments, I can’t have wounded walking around my ship without receiving medical attention.”
“I’m your boss,” Nina protested.
“Fire me if you don’t like it. I’ll see you in a few, Cousin. We will be heading straight to Polisia when you’re onboard.” She scowled, still angry that another attempt had been made on her cousin and ended the transmission.
“I hate it when she does that,” Nina complained.
Maria smiled and said, “You should be happy you have people that care enough to do that.”
“I am, Maria. I just don’t know what to do. If Jesse were here, he would have plans and backup plans and contingencies for the backups. We would not have lost four of our best in one day if Jesse were here. I hope we can last these next seven weeks.”
“Me, too, Nina. I have a feeling our fortunes will change as soon as Jesse gets back.”
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Lucien had just finished up an unsatisfying transmission with his man on Earth. The construction of the new SSE production facility on Polisia was progressing much too slowly. I’m going to need to go to Earth earlier than expected. The alien armada is several hundred ships larger than I thought it would be and I don’t think the Enclave has enough assets to win. I need E
arth, and I need the transition of power to be quick and painless if I’m going to be able to marshal Earth’s military might against the aliens. War is upon us, and when the Enclave emerges victorious, the galaxy will be mine. Deep in the heart of the Enclave on Enclave Prime, he called his fleet commanders together. Lucien ended the meeting with a summary of what was going to happen. It would be up to his people to make his wishes viable, he was their leader; they served at his whim.
“I will be leaving two hundred ships to fight off the aliens random and pointless attacks on our minor resource worlds. I will also leave five hundred ships at Enclave Prime as well as an additional one hundred ships at our seven most important targets. Together with the planetary defenses at each of those locations, they will have more than enough defensive firepower to hold off whatever the aliens sent until reinforcements arrive. I will be taking the final four hundred ships of my fleet to Earth. Hopefully, I will soon have all of Earth’s twelve hundred ships and their two hundred SSE ships under my command. Dismissed.” As his men filed out, he thought about his upcoming trip. I like the thought of Earth’s fleet under my command; then I will surely be Lucien, Supreme Commander of the Galaxy.