by Richard Fox
He ignored the constant string of demands and questions and made his way to the dais at the back of the room. Captain Handley stood from the seat in the center of the platform, the seat Hale normally occupied, and Hale waved him down.
“Just hand me the mic,” Hale said. Handley handed it down and Hale turned to face the audience.
“I’ll wait,” Hale told the assembled crowd.
Several more people shouted questions about housing and food. One demanded he step down from his director’s position so someone more qualified could take over. It took several minutes for the audience to quiet, and Hale waited.
“This isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Hale said after the silence had held for a few seconds. “Is our situation really that difficult to understand? I thought we were past this.”
Elizabeth Tanner, sitting on the far-left end of the dais, leaned forward. “That was before you diverted the foundries from our housing and bunker projects to making components for tanks and fighter planes and rail gun parts. Without advising the council beforehand, I might add.”
“I made an executive decision based on new information about our situation,” Hale said.
“Governor Hale,” Tanner said. “You aren’t running your own little dictatorship here, sir, despite what you might think. And you are not the only person responsible for the success and survival of the colony. We,” she gestured to the rest of the senior members of the council sitting on the dais with her, “are all part of the leadership of Terra Nova, not just you.”
“I am in charge of the defense of this world and I’m the commander of 2nd Colonial fleet. We are in a time of war. This isn’t the time to be playing politics. There are tough decisions that have to be made, decisions that can’t be bounced around by committee after committee.”
“Do you think we aren’t aware of the gravity of our situation, Governor Hale?” Tanner asked him. “But building a military force isn’t the only thing our colony needs.”
“What is this new information you’ve come into?” Allison Trumble, one of the remaining leaders from the original colony, asked.
“I can’t say.”
“You can’t be serious,” Tanner said, throwing her hands up. “Keeping secrets from the council, Governor Hale?”
“No secrets,” Hale said. “Unfortunately, ma’am, this isn’t the venue to discuss that information.”
Tanner leaned back in her chair. “This is ridiculous. And what about the diverted printers? You’re building fighters and tanks and weapons that don’t even have the manpower to operate them.”
“We have identified over 100 potential pilots and over 200 former mechanized soldiers who possess the requisite skills to operate the vehicles,” Hale said. “And we’ve already started the process of training more.”
“It doesn’t matter,” a woman in the crowd said. “The Triumvirate will come back here, and we won’t be able to fight them. It’s impossible.”
“It’s not impossible.”
A man near the edge of the room stood up. “I didn’t come all the way out here to fight another war. That’s why I left Earth.”
A round of agreements echoed around the chamber.
“So, what would you rather us do?” Hale asked. “Surrender? Just give up? Let the Ultari and Triumvirate or these Regulos come back, enslave us again? Is that what you want? Because that’s what’ll happen if we don’t stand up and fight.”
“Why haven’t we started building another Crucible?” someone shouted.
Hale turned and glared at Tanner.
“A very good question,” the woman said, locking eyes with Hale. “Why haven’t we? Or is that something else you’d rather keep from the people?”
“I wasn’t—”
“Let’s go home!” someone shouted.
“Is it true?”
“Why haven’t you told us this before?”
“Why fight if we can just leave?”
Hale turned back to the crowd. “Yes,” Hale said, turning back to the crowd. “It is true, we do have the components to build a Crucible Gate. However—”
“How long will it take?”
“Why haven’t we started already?”
“Enough!” Hale kicked the base of the dais, his outburst silencing the audience. He fought hard to keep his anger under control. “Yes, we could start building a gateway, but what everyone needs to understand is, that even if we build it, we have no idea when another transit window will open. Even if we did, Keeper wouldn’t be connected to this Crucible and we don’t have the specialized knowledge about the Gate System to make the necessary calculations needed for such a long jump.”
Hale paused, waiting for anyone to contest his assessment. When no one did, he continued, “This is our home. We all knew the risks when we signed up for this mission. We can’t just pack up and decide to go home because things didn’t go the way we expected them to go. There is no going home. There are no reinforcements; it’s just us. If we are going to survive, it’s going to be because we all came together and made it happen.”
Hale looked over the faces of the audience, all of which were now solely focused on him. His gaze traced up the crowd and fell on Marie, standing by one of the exits. She stood, arms crossed, and smiled at him, the reassuring smile he’d come to love so much. A smile he wasn’t about to let anyone, or anything take away from him.
“There is a war coming,” Hale said. “A war that we are all going to have to fight. A war we must win. There is no other option. Either we stand together and win, or we stand alone and die. I leave that decision up to you.”
Chapter 23
“Finally,” Carson said, reading the identifier on her incoming call. “West?”
“Chief, are you okay?”
“Fine. Did you get the money?”
“Got it. What’s your location?”
Carson looked up at the large orange and black feline head rotating on a pedestal, two levels above. “We’re in front of a casino, big cat head, by the Governance Node. Can’t miss it.”
“Roger that, we’re enroute.”
“Ask him if they found any food,” Birch said, not looking up from the directory board he’d been studying.
Carson ignored him. “Are you all right, Sergeant? You sound a little out of breath.”
“Fine, ma’am. Will fill you in when we link up.”
“Roger that, Carson out.” Carson terminated the link. “Huh.”
Birch turned away from the directory. “What’s up?”
“He sounded like he’d just run a marathon.”
“Ah, I’m sure he’s fine. I think I’ve figured out how to read this.” Birch pointed to the directory. “It’s a map of the bazaar. The different colors indicate what level the store is on. I’d really like to get a look into one of those tech shops. Looks like there’s one not too far from here, if we had some extra—”
“There they are,” Carson said, cutting him off. She pointed, then waved a hand at West and the others, just coming out of a side alley, forty or fifty meters away.
They met in the middle. Carson frowned, seeing Moretti helping Nunez along, all three of the Pathfinders still trying to catch their breath. Three Zeis followed close behind.
“What the hell happened?” Carson asked. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, Chief,” Nunez said through gritted teeth. “Just a little sore.”
“Had a little run in with Yogi and Boo Boo,” West said. “They got the worst of it. Here.”
He held out her gauss carbine. She looped the strap over her shoulder, then took her pistol back, shoving it back into her thigh holster. “We need to get back to the Adjudication building. They with you?”
West nodded, falling into step beside Carson. As they walked, West relayed what had happened after leaving the money exchanger’s shop.
Floating orbs of light began to appear over the concourse as the sun dipped below the horizon. Colored lights and signs flashed and glowed, reminding Carson of pictures she’d se
en of the old city of Las Vegas back on Earth.
They reached the Adjudication Node just as he’d finished his rundown of the restaurant fight. “My guess is that bastard Abendu set us up in the restaurant,” West said. “Not that I’ll be able to prove it. Burathi don’t seem to be the talkative type.”
Carson looked over West’s shoulder. “Should we be worried?”
“No,” West said. “I don’t think they’ll be in the mood for a rematch anytime soon.”
“And your new friends,” Carson said, nodding at the three Zeis.
One of the females stepped forward, bowing her head slightly, touching her forehead. “I am Jena. These are my companions, Sheena and Kin.” The other two aliens nodded in turn.
Carson nodded. “Nice to meet you.” She turned, letting out a long, frustrated breath at the lines inside the Adjudication Node. It didn’t look like they’d moved at all. “I don’t know if I have the patience to sit through that line again. I’ll kill someone.”
“Don’t forget about the additional fines,” Birch said, giving her a mischievous grin.
Carson glared at him. “The next droid to give me that spiel gets a tungsten round through its chrome-plated dome.”
“Forgive me for asking, but do you have a grievance to file with DIN Adjudication?” Jena asked.
“No, we already took care of that,” Carson told her.
“Then why wouldn’t you not just pay your fine over the local network?”
“What?”
“Generally speaking, the only beings that use the nodes to take care of their fines are low-functioning races or beings with grievances. If you are just wanting to clear your fines, you can use any network connected device to pay them.”
The Zeis woman produced a palm-sized data pad from a pack on her hip. “Do you have your account chip?”
“This would have been nice to know beforehand,” Carson said, holding up her chip.
Jena pointed to a slot on the top of her pad and Carson inserted her chip. A moment later, account information began populating on the pad’s screen.
“Ah,” Jena said. “Balai has smiled on you today.”
Carson frowned, leaning in to get a better look at the information. “What do you mean?”
“It seems your fines have already been taken care of,” Jena said. “According to your account records, your account has been settled.”
“That can’t be right. Governance said we’d still be responsible for some of the violations.”
Jena pointed to a line of text. “An anonymous benefactor has cleared all your remaining fines.”
“Who would pay our—” The thought hit her like a sledgehammer.
“Abendu,” she and West said in unison.
“Shit,” Carson said, tapping her IR, trying to open a connection to the Valiant. “No dice.”
“I had problems reaching you earlier,” West said. “Maybe some local interfere?”
“That is highly unlikely,” Jena said. “DIN Central doesn’t allow for unwarranted signal disruption in or around incorporated areas of the city. The fines for such action are quite substantial.”
Carson pulled her chip out of Jena’s pad. “Let’s go.”
****
Jerry Hale stepped closer to the edge, craning his head to look out from Valiant’s open rear hatch. The enormous spaceport stretched out before him, surrounded by skyscrapers that reached through the clouds. Light from the setting sun cut through the buildings, casting long shadows across the tarmac.
Watching the endless stream of air traffic flying above the city, Jerry couldn’t help but wonder what the Pathfinders were doing and what he should be doing to help them. He felt like such a child, being left behind while the grown-ups went out and handled all the adult stuff. He should’ve have been with them, not stuck back here babysitting.
He clutched his shoulder bag tighter, gathering his courage, the weight of the pistol and extra magazines it held reassuring him. They should’ve been back by now, he thought. Greer and Popov didn’t seem to be worried about it, but Jerry felt it. Something was wrong.
Elias’s voice behind him made Jerry jump. “You’re not seriously thinking about going out there, are you?”
Jerry’s stomach turned. He looked over his shoulder at his brother. “Damn it, Elias, what the hell is wrong with you? What are you talking about?”
Elias nodded to the bag. “You’re not fooling anyone, you know. And when she finds out you’re gone, she’s going to be pissed. She’ll do more than just yell at you this time.”
Jerry rolled his eyes. “No she won’t. Besides, I’m not doing anything. I’m just looking. There’s no harm in that. It’s not like I’m leaving the ship or anything.”
“Cause you weren’t planning on it?”
“I wasn’t.” Jerry turning back to the sunset.
“Uh huh.”
“And you’re one to talk,” Jerry said. “Weren’t you the one who got us into this mess in the first place?”
“I said I was sorry!” Elias said. “How was I supposed to know? I didn’t know!”
Jerry sighed, holding up a hand. “You didn’t, I know you didn’t.”
“So…”
“So, what?”
“Are you going to stay? Please. I’d rather not have the chief pissed off at us any more than she already is.”
“She wasn’t pissed,” Jerry said. “That’s just how she has to act. When you’re in charge, you have to put on your command face. You remember what Dad always used to say: ‘At home, I’m your dad, but at work, I’m Colonel Hale’.”
“I’m not sure it’s the same thing.”
“I’m telling you, Carson wasn’t upset.” He looked, eyes following a conduit running along the ceiling. “At least, not very.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Elias said.
Jerry put a foot on a crate. “Trust me. I bet she’s thrilled to have us on board. Hell, with your computer skills and my marksmanship skills, she should be glad we’re here to help.”
“I wouldn’t let the chief hear you talking like that,” Popov said, stepping out from behind the rover in the middle of Valiant’s deck.
Jerry felt his face flush. “I didn’t mean...”
Popov smiled, waving a hand through the air. “Forget about it, kid, I’m not going to tell the chief. Besides, I’m sure she’s got much bigger things to worry about right about now. Just do me a solid, and at least try not to take me down with you. Carson made me responsible. If you go down, I’ll be right there with you.”
Jerry looked down at his feet, embarrassed. “I was just trying to help.”
“Hey, I know you were,” Popov said. “You’ve got no complaints from me, I promise.”
Jerry looked up at the ceiling. “Did you guys hear that?”
“I—” Popov started. She bent over, looking at something out on the tarmac. “Shit. Jerry, Elias, with me now.”
Jerry turned. “What’s—”
Outside, nine figures were running across the tarmac, charging toward Valiant’s ramp. They had masks covering the lower halves of their faces, and large, almost elephantine ears flapping as they ran. The rifles they all carried gave Jerry no doubt as to their intentions.
“Jerry!” Popov hissed. “Come on!”
Jerry turned, pulling his bag from his shoulder, fishing inside for the pistol as he followed Popov and Elias.
“Greer!” Popov shouted. “Greer, the ramp! Close it now!”
Jerry couldn’t hear the pilot’s response. Popov led them up the stairs at the front of the bay.
Torgeson stepped out of the crew section, frowning. “What the hell are you yelling about?”
“Pirates,” Popov said, breathing heavying. “On the tarmac.”
Torgeson slammed his palm onto the ship’s internal comm. “All hands, prepare to repel boarders!” He and nodded to the two Hale boys. “Get them somewhere safe.”
“What about the ship?”
Jerry slapped
a magazine into the grip of his pistol. “I can help.”
Torgeson looked at Jerry, then back to Popov. “We’ll take care of the ship. You take care of the boys. Go!”
He pushed past them, heading down the stairs. Several crew emerged from the crew berths behind him, throwing tactical vests on over their flight suits. The boots clanged down the ramp as Torgeson shouted instructions.
Jerry could hear yelling now, shouts from outside the ship. The ramp unlocked and started closing, compressed gas from the pistols on either side straying out in long streams.
“I know where we can go,” Elias said. “The maintenance passages.”
All three flinched as the first round fired, echoing through the bay.
Popov nodded. “Go. Hurry.”
Elias led them up the stairs to Valiant’s top deck, then turned toward engineering. He stopped at the hatch, fingers flying over the security panel on the bulkhead next to it.
More shots rang out below them, followed by shouting, then more gunfire.
Jerry took a step back toward the stairs. “We should be helping them.”
No,” Popov said, grabbing his arm. “There’s nothing we can do. They’re already inside the ship.” She keyed her IR. “Greer… lock out the nav… okay… roger that.”
“Got it,” Elias said, pushing the hatch open.
“Go,” Popov hissed.
“Crawlways are this way,” Elias said.
Jerry knew where his brother was taking them and wasn’t thrilled about it. The confined space was cramped with just him and his brother; how small was it going to be with Popov in there with them? Reluctantly, he followed.
A string of gunshots echoed through the ship, accompanied by shouting from both sides. Jerry couldn’t make out what the attackers were saying, their words a jumble of vowels. He felt his frustration growing as the shouting and gunfire grew in intensity. He should be out there helping, not hiding in here like a scared little kid.
Elias twisted underneath a large, round conduit, turning into a small access way between two thumping compressors. Jerry ducked under the conduit, turning sideways to squeeze do the access way. Elias dropped to his knees and started working on a rectangular access panel.