by Ben Winston
John and George had also moved to help, but were slower to react.
It took a few moments for her airway to clear, but mKail did manage to nod in reply. Once she could speak, she looked to John. “Hs’ean is close, personal friends with the Emperor of known space, and you don't know anyone like that?”
John looked thoughtful. “I never thought of that. You know, I actually met Cr'ale while he was here. He was a very nice gentleman and one I would call friend. I would hope he would call me the same. It just doesn't seem to matter what his title is. I mean, yes he's the most important and powerful person I'm ever likely to ever meet, even more important than the President, but I just don't feel that way about him.”
“What am I? Chopped liver?” Ariel asked playfully, making a face like a pampered princess.
John took a moment to consider what Ariel had just said. “Uh, I never thought of that, I mean, I don’t see you that way, yet,” John replied.
mKail busted out laughing at Ariel.
“Really? I see toilets and toothbrushes in your immediate future,” she replied haughtily.
George choked on a drink, blowing it out his nose.
John threw his hands up in the air in surrender. Under his breath, he quietly muttered ‘Women!”
No longer able to contain it, Ariel burst out laughing as well.
After everyone calmed down, mKail spoke, “I can understand what John said though, I would love to meet his Majesty someday, but I know I can never. The Imperial guard wouldn't even allow me on the grounds. It is why I had to remain on the Divine Light during his visit.”
“You were hand-picked by Bri'tell as my back-up personal bodyguard, you can guard me, but can't be on the same planet with the Emperor?” Ariel asked.
“Yes Highness, I am forbidden to speak of the reason. If you order me to, I will have to kill myself for disobeying you,” the woman replied.
“Ariel, the admiral just brought the fleet to alert, and has issued a Guardian recall pending a mission brief. We must leave for the Divine light immediately. Wendy and Taylor are also recalled. We are to pick them up en-route,” Cole said via her internal comm.
“Damn! Cole get the crew on board, and prepare for departure. Folks, I'm sorry to rush away from such an excellent meal, but Sean just called a Guardian alert. Alex, can you handle my folks? Get them out here, and make them comfortable,” Ariel said as she got up to leave.
“What do you want me to tell them?” Alex asked.
“Whatever you feel they can handle, Mom. I promise I'll get back here as soon as I can,” Ariel said as she and mKail ran for the back door and the temporary landing area where Cole was readying for takeoff.
“I'll deal with it, Ariel. Would you mind if I offered them the position of our ambassadors to the Senate?” Alex all but yelled.
“Great idea, but tell them I'll discuss it with them when I get back. That way they can think on it. Finish your breakfast, I'll call later to finish this,” Ariel yelled back as the door closed behind the two running women.
“Grant said he'd followed the rumor all the way up the line to a Mr. Edward Farnsworth. Edward is a high-powered, New York, Corporate Attorney. If anyone could get through to Ms. Moran, it would be him,” Luke told his wife.
“Well, at least we know this Moran woman survived the meteor,” Karen said as Luke's cell phone rang.
When he answered it, his eyes got huge, and Karen fought the urge to ask him who it was.
“Good Morning, Ms. Moran. Thank you for calling us,” Luke said answering Karen's unasked question.
Luke paused and Karen could hear a woman speaking to him on the phone, but she couldn't understand what was being said.
“Certainly, but only if you call me Luke, Alex.”
Pause.
“Yes, we're trying to reach her, and her old roommate. Brenda, gave us your name. Please, is she okay?”
During this pause, Karen saw him close his eyes and visibly relax. That could only mean that Ariel was fine.
“Certainly, we'd love to! Is Ariel there with you?”
Luke got a confused look on his face, but nodded in agreement to whatever this Alex person was telling him.
“Okay, we can wait. However, I would like to ask if young Brenda can come with us; she is worried sick, and won't believe that Ariel is okay until she can see it with her own eyes.”
“Oh! Okay... uh, sure, we can do that. But, if she's not there, then...”
Once again Luke paused, listening.
“Alright, Alex, we'll be ready. Thank you for calling us back so promptly.”
Luke smiled while the woman spoke.
“Oh, we look forward to meeting you as well. I can't say that Ariel has told us much about you, in fact, until we spoke to Brenda, we had no idea she'd met someone.”
“Okay, we'll see you there. Bye.” Luke listened a moment longer to make sure she wasn't going to say anything more, then hung up the phone.
“Okay, I got that Ariel is okay, but what's all the rest?” Karen asked, all but pouncing on him.
Luke smiled and took his wife's hand. “Yes, Ariel is fine and apologizes for forgetting to call for so long. She is out of town on business at the moment, but asked Alex, Ms. Moran, to call us for her, and bring us out to the house. Alex asked if we could meet the car downstairs in about an hour. Alex settled the bill with the hotel, and once we are ready, we are to call the Bell-Captain to carry our luggage down to the car.”
Karen blinked. “Why do I feel like we just entered the Twilight Zone?”
“Oh, it gets better. She got a little cagy about answering questions until we arrived at the house. She promised she would answer everything she could once we arrived. We are invited to stay at the house for the duration of our visit.”
“But didn't you say Ariel wasn't out there?” Karen asked.
“I did, but I guess she's supposed to be back soon. What I don't understand was why Ariel couldn't call us herself and tell us that this Alex person was going to be doing all this?”
“Don't ask me, Alex said she couldn't answer that until we were face to face,” Karen said.
“Pretty much. So, I'm going to let Grant know what's going on, so he knows where we'll be,” Luke said as he got ready to dial his cell phone.
“Wait a minute please. What did she say when you asked if we could bring Brenda along?”
“She asked if we could wait on that, until she had a chance to explain what was actually going on. She also wanted to wait until Ariel was back for that, since Brenda would panic anyway.”
Karen frowned. “I guess I can see that, but the poor girl is almost fit to be tied. I think Ariel is the only real friend Brenda's ever had. With the way her parents have treated her, Ariel would be more important to her.”
“We'll call her as soon as we know what's going on, okay?” Luke asked.
Karen nodded and got up to go repack their bags. “Did she say how long we had before the car got here?”
“It's already here. Apparently, the driver is 'on staff'.”
“What has our baby girl gotten mixed up in?” Karen asked as she walked into the suite's bedroom. She reminded herself that Ariel was safe, and it was just the 'mothering reflex' that was nagging at her.
Fleet Command Briefing Hall
Command Super Dreadnaught, I.S.S. Divine Light
210 degrees south, 43 degrees west trans-solar orbit
Sol System, Horon-A Sector
“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to a nightmare,” Hs’ean began. “Two hours ago, Sector tracking picked up over four hundred and fifty individual inbound traces. Last week, Imperial Astrometrics issued a navigation update listing a stable, permanent, transit lane terminus point less than ten light years from here, in the newly renamed Vega Sector. It appears that the travel restriction placed on this point is being completely ignored.”
Sean sought out Ariel, and made eye contact. “With her Highness' permission I am dispatching the Assault Cruiser Thraskas,
the Heavy Missile Cruiser Valor and the Heavy Construction vessel Anvil to begin construction of an Imperial Customs and fire base near the terminus. The transit point leads directly into the core worlds. If the Kragen discover this, we could be in trouble.”
Ariel nodded agreement with the deployment. Both of them knew it was only a formality, but it must be observed. However, Ariel did have a suggestion and sent it through the special Guardian link. “Sean, could we send Wendy or Taylor in a standard Guardian ship too? They could help watch their backs, and do a 'quicky' survey of the local system. Then we could swap them out after a week or so. After all it is an unprotected sector.”
“Good idea. We don't really know that much about that sector. A short cruise by an almost-guardian could hardly be considered a thorough survey, but with both of them doing sweeps, it should be enough to have an idea if there's something worth more investigation,” Sean replied, but got back to the main briefing.
“We have no idea what the slavers are up to, sending this many ships all at once, but it can't be anything good. Right after this meeting, I'm going to bring the fleet to yellow alert. A warning message will be issued to the incoming ships to give them a chance to turn around. Five minutes after the warning, I will order the fleet to Battle Stations. I want a full deployment; everything we have is to be brought into this. If we're lucky, maybe we'll spook some of them.
“Stop them with the minimum use of force. However, none of them are to reach the planet. If they'll turn and run, let them. If that doesn't work, disable them, and we'll send marines to drag them in. If you can't disable them, destroy them. No one is to endanger themselves. Blow the idiots up if you have to, but do not put yourselves in harm's way.”
“All Guardians, and Guardian trainees stay here.” came over Ariel's internal comm.
“Intelligence will continue to analyze this 'attack' and will let us know if they figure anything out. Dismissed, and good hunting,” Sean said.
The majority of the assembled crew got up and left the room. Ariel was surprised when about twenty people remained for the Guardian briefing.
“Candidates Wendy and Taylor. You are to report to the maintenance shack on the service deck to meet your ships. As a shake down, you will proceed with the Anvil and her escort to the Vega sector. There you will test out your new ships by performing a brief survey of the sector, primarily the system closest to the transit point. If you have problems with your new ships, you'll be able to call for help from the escort. Good Luck. Dismissed,” Sean said to the two excited young women.
As the girls were leaving the room, they both waved to Ariel, but were smiling like it was Christmas.
“Now the rest of you aren't off the hook. You will be sent down to the planet in teams of two, in your modified Vrastic class fighters. You will seek out any slavers that get through. Once you find them, call for help. A marine strike team will be dispatched to your location. Use stealth and stay hidden.”
“You are not authorized to fire unless fired upon. The goal here is to make damn sure the civilian population of the planet remains safe and blissfully unaware of our existence. Do not let any discovered ship lift off. Your on-board computers will help you target each ship's engine so you don't destroy it. Remember, there are most likely innocent people in their holds.”
“Lady Guardian Ariel is the operational commander, however, I will maintain over all command. Are there any questions?” Sean finished.
One trainee stood. “Sir, what do we do to keep them from gathering people as slaves?”
“You don't.” Sean replied. “Folks, I know it'll be hard to watch, but trust me here; wait for the strike team. If you can keep them from taking off, then we can rescue the civilians.” She paused and took a deep breath. “You should be prepared for civilian casualties. It's going to happen, and there is nothing we can do about it. These fuckers are ruthless and don't care about anyone but themselves and their profit.”
“Forgive me, Sir, but if they're that nasty, shouldn't we intercede on behalf of the civilians in order to lessen potential casualties?” another candidate asked.
Sean nodded in apparent agreement. “I can understand your point, Johns, but what would happen if you saved the civilians and they called the police. They would immediately try and arrest everyone, and the slavers would kill them. The firefight would bring in more police officers, and possibly some military, depending on proximity. The slavers will never let themselves be captured by 'slaves' and will fight back with advanced weapons, body armor, and shields.”
“Before you know it, we have full planetary disclosure, resulting in mass suicides, rioting, sky-rocketing crime and eventually war. So, after the smoke clears, how many civilians did you actually save?” Sean asked in turn.
“Won't that happen anyway, Sir?”
“I imagine the authorities will be called, eventually. However, by the time they arrive on scene, there won't be any hard evidence remaining. It's pretty much a daily occurrence for someone to catch a 'UFO' with their cell phone, but no one really believes it,” Sean finished.
Another person stood. “Sir, thank you for taking the time to explain your orders to us. We know you didn't have too. I think you can count on us following them to the letter.”
Sean nodded to the candidate. “You're all trainees. If you had your shoulder guards, I would have chewed your asses for questioning orders. However, you're not Guardians yet, and this is the time to learn. Contact Flight Control for your ship and wing-man assignments, and get ready to launch. Dismissed.”
Ariel and mKail walked up to the podium while the candidates filed out talking among themselves. Sean smiled when she saw them coming. When they got close enough, Sean spoke first.
“Do you have any questions, Milady?”
“Only to ask if you've taken leave of your senses! How did I end up with command? I don't know the first thing about it!” Ariel asked while mKail tried not to laugh.
“Actually, I might have thought twice about it if it had only been you and Cole, however, you have a shipload of resources, and you need to learn how to use them,” Sean replied. “Other than mKail, there are two others that have had command experience on your guard detail. If you're going to become a viable team, you're all going to have to get used to each other's skills and strengths.”
“I'm not going to get out of this am I?” Ariel asked.
Sean put her hand on Ariel's shoulder. “Ariel, one day, you will be in command of the entire Empire. Before that, you will be leading us in our little 'rebellion'. You need this experience.”
Ariel looked thoughtful, and slowly nodded her acceptance of the situation. “Yeah, I guess you're right. It just seems like things jump me when I least expect it.”
“Problems rarely announce themselves, Highness,” mKail replied.
Ariel sighed. “Okay, okay, now that I understand what's happening, I can work on fixing the problem instead of worrying about not being able to fix it. Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Not that I can think of,” Sean replied. “Except you need to get going.”
With a sigh for the inevitable, Ariel led mKail back to the bay where Cole and the rest of her team waited.
Chapter Twenty-Five
As they were leaving the city, Luke leaned forward to ask the driver where, exactly, they were going?
“From what I can tell, Sir, the Villa is out in the middle of nowhere. The GPS says it's thirty-eight miles out of town on Northshore Road,” the driver replied.
“You've never been out here before?” Luke asked.
“No Sir. I was given a set of GPS co-ordinates as the location of the Villa.”
“Why do I suddenly feel like we're very alone out here?” Luke said softly.
Karen tried to smile bravely, even though she was feeling it too. She patted her husband's shoulder. “It's all this cloak and dagger stuff. I'm sure it's just our imaginations, and that we will get a good explanation once we get to this 'Villa'.”
/>
Looking at his cell phone, he saw that they still had good signal strength and sighed. “Well, maybe I am just being paranoid; we still have service at least.”
“Sir, our clients don’t care to see 'no service'. We have a built in satellite hookup and cellular repeater for our clients,” the driver replied. “It's supposed to work for the television too.”
“Well, that's a relief anyway,” Karen said looking at her husband.
“I suppose,” he admitted. “I still feel really.... vulnerable.”
“...so that's what's happening. Did you get my folks taken care of?” Ariel asked.
“Yep. They're in a limo as we speak, and should be out here in another forty-five minutes or so,” Alex replied.
“Hmm, I'm going to send two of my ships to escort them in. They can still do their primary mission while they make sure my parents arrive safely,” Ariel said, as mKail sent the instructions.
Alex chuckled. “It's a bit of over kill isn't it? Sending two fully armed star-fighters to escort a limo?”
“Humor me,” Ariel replied grinning at Alex over the vid-link. “The last thing I need is for slavers to grab my parents.”
“The odds of that are astronomical, Ariel. I mean think about it; how would they even know where to find them?” Alex replied. “The only way they would get picked up is by random occurrence.”
“Still, I don't want to take any chances; I've let them down once, I'm not going to do it again,” Ariel said. “If it weren't for me, they wouldn't be out here to begin with.”
“Well, I do need to get some work done before they get here. Good hunting, Ariel.” Turning, Alex continued “Keep an eye my girl, mKail!”
With a sparkle in her eyes, mKail nodded at the woman on the screen before it went black.
“Careful, mKail, I think she likes you!” Ariel teased, causing mKail to blush slightly.
Behind the two women, in the gunnery chair, the guard looked a little tense at hearing the banter between the Princess and mKail. He had his orders, but he still didn't like letting mKail this close to Her Highness.
“Gringo, this is control. Need you to drop down and escort a vehicle to Home Plate. GPS locator hand-off on my mark. Three-two-one; mark!”