by Rachel Ford
“Maybe. But I doubt it.”
She nudged him. “That’s the spirit.”
They walked for a space in silence. It felt good to stretch her legs and give her eyes a chance to focus on something beyond print. “Oh,” she remembered, “the Thetan representative arrives tomorrow, doesn’t he?”
“That’s right: Brek Trigan. I was going to talk to you about that, actually. I think you should be there to meet him.”
“Me? Davis said he had that covered.”
Giya nodded. “Yes, he did. And Davis is a good friend, but…” Here, he shrugged. “I’d prefer to have someone a little less preoccupied with building the profile of Davis Telari meeting Trigan. That colony is an important one. We can’t afford to let any one faction get too cozy to its representative.”
“Faction?” Nik raised an eyebrow. “Is that what we are, now? Factions?” A few weeks ago, they’d been bleeding in the streets together for the promise of a new world. Were they so soon at each others’ throats?
He sighed. “You know how it is: put two Tribari in a room, and get three opinions. I’m not criticizing. Dissent is good, argument is good: it makes us stronger and healthier. But we can’t forget ambition, either. I know you have none. But you’re in the minority, Nik.”
She nodded wearily. “Gretchen said he’s been putting out feelers, for the Supreme Leader’s seat.” Gretchen Mira was another provisional MP.
“And I’ve heard that Gretchen is putting out her own feelers,” Giya said. “Gretchen and half of parliament.”
Nik glanced over at her friend. “What about you, Gi? Would you ever run?”
He considered. “Would you support me, if I did?”
“You know I would.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I trust you. You’ve got vision, commitment, integrity.”
“You don’t always agree with my methods.”
“No.” She grinned. “But when you’re wrong, you’re amenable to reason.”
Giya laughed. “Is that so?”
She nodded. “So? What about it? Shall we start campaigning for Supreme Leader Giya Enden?”
He smiled, but shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Well…I’m short, fat and balding, for starters.”
“Gods, Gi, that doesn’t matter. You’re brilliant, and you’ve been fighting for our freedom longer than any of the MP’s. Decades longer than Telari.”
He shot her a bemused look. “Oh, Nik. You’re very sweet, but – I’m sorry to say it – very naive.”
She frowned at him, at the combination of patronizing and affectionate tones. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that, you put short, stout me on a stage next to tall, handsome Davis, and he will win. Every time. It doesn’t matter what he says or what I say.”
“Oh bollocks. Where’s your faith in the electorate?”
He shrugged. “I do have faith in the electorate, but within reason. And – as you say – I’ve been in politics a long time. I know how it goes. I’ve got the face to be a treasurer, a secretary, a campaign manager, an MP even: someone who rolls up his sleeves, and does the dirty work.
“I don’t have the face to be the front man. I don’t have the face the empire will want to envision representing them. I don’t have a face people will want to see plastered all over their casts.”
“Well,” Nik said, patronizing just a touch in her own right, “that may be the silliest thing you have ever told me, Giya Enden.”
He laughed. “But what about you?”
“Me? Gods no.”
“Why?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when this is done, but it won’t be politics.”
“When what’s done?”
“When the new government is elected.”
“So you’re not planning to run for your seat?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why?” He was frowning, now.
“I hate politics, Gi. I really do.” She shook her head. “What we were talking about, just now? Meeting Brek, so Telari can’t get too close to him? We sit in a chamber with Davis every day and smile to his face. Then we plan like that.”
“We were elected to safeguard the empire, Nik. Unless you think Davis Telari is the best vision we have for the future, it behooves us to make our own inroads with the colonies and their representatives. It behooves us to make sure they put their faith in the empire as a whole, and not one man. Doesn’t it?”
She sighed. “I know, Gi. I’m not arguing with you. But that’s what I hate about politics.”
“It’s a dirty business,” he conceded. “But the people who hate it are exactly the kind of people who need to be a part of it. Otherwise, we’ll be ruled by the people who enjoy that kind of game.”
“I know, I know.” She shook her head. “But I’m going to be a mom. And now – with Grel gone, and my parents too…I have no one. No one to help raise her, no one to look out for her: it’ll just be me.”
“Now that is the silliest thing I’ve heard,” Giya said, and his tone was kind but serious. “You’re not alone, Nik. You’ve got me. You’ve got this entire city. We have all got your back.”
Chapter Two
“Well, Captain Elgin,” Governor Nees greeted, extending a hand toward the open seat opposite her desk, “I can’t say I expected to see you back here so soon. Couldn’t get enough of Trapper’s Colony, I suppose?”
The military man cast a glance around the room, his eyes settling on Tal Imari for a moment. His manner was easy and casual though as he took a seat. “Well, that’s just because you don’t know me well, Governor. I’m something of a bad penny: it’s hard to get rid of me.”
She smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Elgin.”
“And you, Governor. I see you’ve made some changes around the place.” This was said with a significant glance in Tal’s direction.
“Call me Ari. And yes. This is Mister Imari, my head of security.” Now, to Tal, she added, “Captain Elgin, of the TS-Supernova.”
The two men exchanged nods. “Last time I was here, Ari, your security team looked more likely to put a hole in their feet than any bad guys.”
She smiled behind steepled fingers. “Something tells me you aren’t here to reminisce, though, Elgin.”
“Call me…” He hesitated. “Drake.”
“Drake?”
“It’s my name, technically. And I’m getting back into the habit of using it. New era, new me, and all that.”
She fixed him with a bemused expression. “Okay. Drake, then.”
“But, you’re very right: as much as I’d love to tour the museum again…” Elgin shrugged. “I’m afraid I am here on official business.”
She sighed, glancing askew at him. “We’ve got to stop doing this, Captain.”
“What’s that, Governor?”
“You, coming here on the orders of some Central bigwig, with demands you know I can’t and won’t meet.” She spread her hands. “Me, telling you I can’t and won’t meet their demands. We’re probably about two breaths away from ultimatums, yes?”
He smiled. “Not this time, Ari.”
“Oh?”
“No demands, this time. I’m here on behalf of the provisional government, not Velk. They have a request. They don’t make demands.”
Tal was still reeling from the news that Supreme Leader Velk had been deposed and executed for his crimes against the Tribari people. Hearing his name now put a knot of unease in the protector’s stomach.
Nees didn’t seem fazed though. She scrutinized the starship captain for a long moment. “Your provisional government realizes that our comms work just fine, yes?”
“What?”
She shrugged. “You say your new government has no demands, Drake, only a request. And yet they send a battleship into our airspace to deliver this ‘request.’”
Tal felt his eyebrows
raising. She was good, this governor: cool as a cucumber as she went for the jugular. He wouldn’t have wanted to be in Captain Elgin’s seat right now, on the receiving end of her piercing stare.
“I requested the mission, actually,” Drake answered.
It was Nees’ turn to be wrongfooted. “Oh?”
“I knew you’d be suspicious. I thought, given that we’ve sparred before, you might at least hear me out.”
She drummed her fingers on the desktop, then nodded. “Not a standard recommendation, but you’re right: I will.”
“Thank you.” He reached into a pocket in his jacket, and produced a data card. “I have the official request here. I’ve also been briefed by several of the MP’s involved about the contents, and their reasoning.”
Nees took the chip and nodded. Then, she slipped it into a data pad at her desk. For several minutes she read whatever Elgin had given her. Then, she sighed. “I’m sorry, Drake. It’s very prettily put, and I appreciate the admission of crimes against the people of Trapper’s. But I can’t accept this.”
The military man shifted in his seat. “Can I ask why?”
“Yes. For exactly the reasons they lay out: under Velk’s man, the people of Trapper’s were worked into early graves. You saw how many Governor Halford put in the ground in our cemetery. Then they put a blockade in place, to starve us out. And that’s what they actually did. I’m sure you read about the plans for invasion, and the biological weapons they were going to introduce into our atmosphere.”
Captain Elgin nodded. “A despicable business.”
“Yes. The Empire would have poisoned an entire planet full of people, to get Trapper’s oil reserves. How can we go back to them, knowing that, Drake?”
“That was Velk,” Elgin answered simply. “Velk is dead. Ari, the only reason you know about the biological attack is because of this new provisional government – they’re the ones who released those files. They’re clearing house, and making a clean start. They’re exposing the old regime’s crimes.”
Nees considered this, then nodded. “And you trust them?”
“I’ve seen no reason not to trust them. They promised elections, and they’ve set dates. They’re sending supplies to the colonies, like Theta. They’re closing the prisons, bringing home prisoners. They’re doing what they promised.”
Here again, Tal glanced up. He’d only just escaped the frozen prison planet, Zeta, a month and a half earlier. The nightmares were still as vivid as ever.
“So it seems.”
“So it is.”
“Drake, you’re asking me to sign our planet, my people, back over to an empire that almost exterminated us all. You have to realize, I need more than a month or so of good behavior.”
“I’m asking you to come back to the empire, Ari. We need you. The oil reserves here are critical to protecting the home planets. They’re critical to protecting all of us – not just the home planets, but Trapper’s Colony.”
She shook her head. “A blessing, those reserves, and a curse. But I’m not planning to cut off the empire’s access. That’s never been in the cards. The empire produce supplies we need. We have the oil they need.” She shrugged. “We can still look out for each other, without putting the yoke of imperial control back on the necks of my people.”
“Yoke?” Elgin raised an eyebrow. “Every man, woman and child here was born into the empire. It’s your empire as much as anyone else’s. When those early settlers came to this planet, they weren’t doing it for Trapper’s. They were here for the empire, to stake a claim on another imperial planet. To build for the glory of the empire. And – forgive me for saying so – but you wore the same uniform I did, Governor. You swore an oath of loyalty to the empire and her people, the same as I did.”
“That was before the empire would have sentenced us all to death.”
“This is a new government, Ari. It’s an empire that protects the people. It’s an empire like nothing you or I have ever seen before. And if it’s going to succeed, if it’s going to be strong, it needs us all.”
“Ari,” a voice called, cutting through her thoughts. She looked up to see Tig Orson stepping onto the veranda, and, despite herself, she smiled. She wasn’t sure why, exactly, but she and the former-accountant-turned-escaped-convict had been spending a lot of time together lately. It had started with a tour of the city, when she’d been trying to convince his friend, Tal Imari, to stay on as her chief of security.
Tig had managed to bump into her a lot after that. He’d had a lot of questions early on – so many that, for a while, she wondered if he was just inventing reasons to hang out in the governor’s mansion with Tal. Now, he didn’t seem to have a reason, but he was always around anyway.
She wasn’t sorry for it. It was true, he wasn’t like most of the other settlers on Trapper’s. They didn’t get many ex-cons here. Still, he was far from a hardened criminal.
She knew, because she’d pulled his records. He’d worked for Gulan Construction’s Theta branch, and gone down for skimming money after the company implemented a series of pay reductions.
When she thought on it, the way her mind would arrange events sounded a bit like rationalization to her. Her soldier’s brain told her that the pay cuts and working conditions probably didn’t excuse the crime; the law was the law. Then again, Ari figured she wasn’t one to judge. She’d overthrown a governor appointed by the Supreme Leader himself, after all. She’d led a revolution of sorts, and defied the will of parliament and Velk. What was a little fraud compared to that?
Certainly, it hadn’t justified a sentence of hard labor on the frozen prison planet Zeta.
For all that, though, Tig seemed to have survived alright. He’d come to Trapper’s looking like a half-drowned cat, beaten down and long in the tooth. With a little medical attention, and a lot of soap and water, he didn’t look so bad now. The haircut and shave had probably helped, too.
“Hey,” she said. “What brings you here?”
He shrugged. “Got off work early. Thought I’d stop by. Tal tells me the imperial guy is still here?”
She nodded. “That’s right.”
“So you must be thinking about it, then?” he prompted.
“About what?”
“Returning to the fold.” He raised his eyebrows portentously as he said it, but she could hear the laughter in his tone. “Going back under the empire’s benevolent wing.”
She shook her head. “Tal has a big mouth. That was a private conversation.”
“Come on, don’t be mad at him.” He plunked into a seat opposite her. “He wasn’t going to tell me. But you know how it is.” He grinned. “I’m irresistible.”
Ari rolled her eyes. “Incorrigible, you mean.”
“Basically the same thing.”
“It’s definitely not.”
He laughed, then prompted, “Well? We going back?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tal says, if we do, we’ll probably be okay, now that they’re shutting down the prison planets.”
“That’d be a pre-condition,” Ari said. “Everyone on Trapper’s would be granted full pardons for any prior convictions and immunity to charges stemming from actions prior to the time we rejoin.”
He nodded. “Sounds alright, then, I guess.”
“Does it, Tig? After everything we went through to win our freedom?” She shook her head. “Am I nuts to even think about it? I mean, do I even have the right to consider it, after how much the empire took from everyone here?”
He considered for a moment, and something of the lightheartedness left his manner. “These people, Ari? They elected you to make calls like this one. To make the call to leave, when you had to make that one. We have faith in you to make the right call. Whatever it is.”
She snorted. “You didn’t vote for me, Tig.”
“Only because I didn’t live here yet,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, but should you be bound by my choice, when you didn’t even have a
say in putting me here in the first place?”
He shrugged. “I trust you. If you need my vote of approval, well, consider this it: I’ll abide by whatever choice you make.”
She laughed, rubbing her temples. “Gods, you’re no help.”
Now, a mischievous green light crept into his eyes. “Well, if you need someone to be contrarian, I can do that too. ‘It’s a terrible idea, Ari, and you’re a damned fool to even think of it.’” He grinned, asking, “Better?”
The governor shook her head. “Not in the least.”
“Well, I may be incorrigible, Ari Nees, but you’re impossible to please.”
She found herself grinning too. “Good gods, I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do, and I’m supposed to meet with Elgin tomorrow morning. But, since you’re obviously not going to give me any peace, you want to stay for dinner? If you don’t mind me bouncing ideas off you, anyway?”
“You forget,” he returned, “how many months I spent on Zeta. I’ll put up with a lot for a free meal.”
She laughed again. He was damned impudent to talk to her like that. But, somehow, his irreverence seemed to do the trick. She was no closer to knowing what she’d decide, but she felt the weight of the impending decision a little less. “And I,” she shot back, “surround myself with brilliant minds, who can offer all kinds of practical advice. Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from that.”
“We all have our roles to play, Governor,” Tig nodded sagely, his tone light. “We all have our roles.”
Chapter Three
Brek Trigan stepped off the transport, limping as he went. He’d injured his ankle a good month or so ago. He wasn’t sure of the exact date, as it had happened when he was lost in the natural tunnels running through Theta’s underbelly. In that eternal darkness, day ran into night and night into day, with nothing to delineate the transition or mark the passage of time.
And though he’d been out for weeks, it still hadn’t quite healed. Probably because he hadn’t been able to stay off of it. There was just too much to be done to make it from one day to the next to sit on his laurels.
He suspected he wouldn’t get the opportunity any time soon, either. Still, as he stepped foot on the surface of Central for the second time in his life, he drew in a long breath. The fact was, he never thought he’d see this world again. For a long time, he didn’t believe he’d see the surface of Theta again.
