Command Decision

by S. E. Smith

  “Perhaps you need a little encouragement,” the commander said in a clipped tone, nodding to another soldier..

  “Father,” Jesup cried out, trying to twist free of a soldier that was pulling him to the front of the group.

  “Release him!” Jemar ordered, turning toward his youngest son. “He knows nothing.”

  “He’s lying,” the soldier holding the scanner replied.

  Jemar took several steps toward Jesup before he jerked in surprise, looking down at his stomach. A harsh cry escaped Jesup, drowning out Cassa’s horrified denial. The Legion commander stepped back, retracting the blade in his hand.

  “Search every building,” the commander ordered, turning away.

  “What should we do with the prisoners, sir?” The soldier standing next to the commander asked.

  “Kill them all except for the boy. He will be reconditioned to serve the Legion,” the commander instructed.

  “No!” Cassa furiously cried, stepping out from behind the building as the soldiers opened fire on the small group of workers.

  The blast from Cassa’s rifle struck the Legion commander in the center of his chest. Josh immediately stepped out, firing as well. Fury poured through him and he carefully aimed, making sure that each shot counted.

  “Jesup, run!” Cassa yelled, wincing when a blast grazed her arm. “Run!”

  The young boy turned and ran for the house. He was almost to the door when a soldier turned and fired on him. Josh watched Jesup jerk and fall before lying still on the walkway. Cassa’s grief-stricken cry filled the air. He saw her flash past him, running toward her brother. Turning, he systematically fired on the soldiers.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cassa struggle briefly with one of the soldiers before she pushed far enough away to use the blade he had given her. He fired on another soldier that was aiming for her before turning and focusing on the airship that was coming in at a high rate of speed. He waited until he knew he wouldn’t miss. Pulling the trigger, he fired on the incoming ship, striking the left engine. It spiraled out of control, slamming into the ground and sliding before coming to a halt. Josh walked up to it, firing repeatedly through the cracked windshield, striking the two men inside.

  Turning slowly, he rotated and scanned the area for any remaining Legion troops. Josh stepped over the bodies littering the area. He quickly checked each of the soldiers lying on the ground; three out of the seven surviving workers helped him.

  He paused over the Legion commander. He knelt down and gripped the man’s shoulder, rolling him over onto his back. The man was gasping for breath, but Josh knew he wouldn’t live much longer. Already, he could hear the death rattle in the man’s chest.

  “Who… are… you?” The commander demanded in a hoarse, barely audible voice.

  Josh stared dispassionately down at the man. He had seen men like him before; men that only lived for the power to control others. His eyes swept down over the man, noting the insignia on the commander’s collar.

  “Lieutenant Commander Joshua Manson, United States Navy, asshole,” Josh replied in a grim voice. “Why are you searching for me?”

  “The Director…,” the commander choked before his head rolled to the side and his sightless eyes glazed over, frozen in death.

  Josh cursed, rising to his feet. He turned when he heard Cassa’s soft weeping. She was holding Jesup tightly against her and rocking back and forth. Blood stained the left sleeve of her shirt and the rifle and blade lay by her side. Her head remained bowed over Jesup.

  “Cassa,” Josh murmured, walking toward her. “Cassa.”

  She didn’t turn her head toward him. He could see her shoulders shaking and her breathing was ragged and harsh. Her fingers were coated with blood. In that moment, he knew the little boy was gone. He dropped down, sitting beside her and wrapping his arm around her.

  Several minutes later, she raised her head. She still didn’t look at him. Instead, she gazed through tear clouded eyes out over the burning vineyard. Dark streaks marked her face where fresh tears fell. Her hands trembled as she tenderly stroked Jesup’s dirty face, as if memorizing it.

  “We need to leave,” Josh murmured in a gentle voice. “We’ll take care of the dead, but it isn’t safe to remain here. I’m… sorry, Cassa. I’m so sorry I brought this to your home.”

  Cassa drew in a deep, shaky breath and wiped her cheek on the sleeve of her shirt. She pulled Jesup closer to her, as if willing him to wake up and tell her that it was all a mistake. Holding him close to her chest, she released the breath she had sucked in and finally spoke.

  “It is not your fault, Joshua. It was the Legion. Father….” Her voiced thickened in grief. “Father warned that they would come. He said he feared that nothing could stop them, not even the Gallant Order. He was right.”

  “Is there somewhere you can go?” Josh asked quietly.

  Cassa’s lips parted. “I will find my brother, Pack,” she whispered, turning to look at him. “I will join the Gallant Order and fight with the rebellion. There is nothing left for me here.”

  Josh’s lips tightened as the heavy weight of responsibility settled on his shoulders. He turned his gaze to look out over the vineyard. The flames were beginning to die down. In the distance, he could see the skeletal remains of a large harvest robot.

  “I have to find out if the other members of my crew survived. The Legion commander said something about a Director. If they are alive, they are in danger. I have to find them,” Josh stated, turning back to stare at Cassa.

  “We will bury my brother, father, and the others; then, we will go find my brother, Pack. He can help us find your missing friends.

  Chapter 12

  Cassa gently lifted the box containing the Staffs belonging to the Knights of the Gallant Order. Her fingers trembled as she opened it. Inside were the four Staffs. Only one was missing; the one belonging to Pack.

  “Cassa,” Josh quietly called from the doorway.

  Cassa nodded, drawing in a deep breath before she reached into the box and withdrew two of the Staffs. She turned and held one of them out. She saw the puzzled look in Josh’s eyes.

  “Father was training you to be a Knight of the Gallant Order,” she said in a soft voice. “Only a Knight can train an apprentice. The first night he handed the Staff to you, I knew what he was doing.”

  She watched as Josh took the Staff out of her outstretched hand and gently held it. Reaching out, she curled her fingers around his hand so that his fingers closed around it. He turned his gaze to her.

  “I’m…,” he started to say, stopping when she raised her other hand and placed the tips of her fingers against his lips.

  “He saw something in you, Joshua Manson,” Cassa said with a shake of her head. “The Staff is yours, wherever your journey takes you. I will help you find your friends, if they are alive. The journey to Pack will be dangerous. Word of what has happened here will spread quickly and the Legion will not stop until we are dead.”

  “Cassa,” Josh muttered, grabbing her arm as she started to turn.

  Cassa turned to look up at him, her head lifting in stiff resistance. They had buried her father and brother just a few short hours ago. The workers that had survived had helped with burying the others before leaving to tell the rest of the villagers what had happened. She knew that they would be fleeing as well. It was only a matter of time before the Legion sent more troops to investigate their missing commander and troops.

  After the burial, she had retreated to the house. She had taken a quick bath and doctored her wounds before gathering the supplies they would need for their journey to the Spaceport on the other side of the mountains. It would be a dangerous journey. There would be Legion troops there from the Battle Cruiser. Still, if they were to leave the planet, it was their only choice. There were no ships at the local airstrip.

  “Josh…,” she started to say.

  “No, I need to say this,” he interjected, sliding his hand down her arm. “I never meant a
ny harm to come to your family, Cassa. Your father and Jesup….” He paused when he felt the shudder of grief that ran through her body. Pulling her closer, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what happened.”

  “You had no way of knowing what would happen, none of us did. We were already in danger from the Legion before you came,” she replied, looking down at the front of his shirt. “I do not regret finding you and bringing you here. I regret my own stupidity for not realizing just how dangerous the Legion had become and my blindness in believing that we were immune to it. No one is, they have proven that. I will not make this mistake again.”

  “I’ve seen men like this before, Cassa. They feed on the fear of others. This is war and war does not care who it hurts,” Josh warned, lifting her chin so she was forced to look at him. “But, I do. I care and that scares the hell out of me.”

  A slight, sad smile curved the corner of Cassa’s lips. Tears burned brightly in her eyes, but didn’t fall. She rose up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips.

  “We must go. We need to get over the mountain before it grows dark,” she said, pulling away.

  Josh reached out and ran his fingers down her cheek before giving her a brief nod. Cassa turned and closed the box. She quickly finished packing the last of the items that she wouldn’t or couldn’t leave behind. With a last glance, she turned away. In her heart, she feared she would never return to the only home she had ever known.

  She handed a bag to Josh before picking up the last one. Turning on her heel, she stepped out of the room and made her way through the house. She stiffened her shoulders when she felt the flood of grief threatening to drown her. A shuddering breath escaped her and she pulled the door open and stepped outside.

  *.*.*

  Darkness had fallen by the time they reached the Spaceport. They had barely made it through the forest before the sun set. The darkness worked in their favor. There was a flurry of activity. Cassa had only been to the Spaceport a handful of times, but she knew enough from listening to her father and brother to know where she needed to go.

  “Keep your face covered,” she warned as she slowed the large land transport. “Word of what happened must have reached the Legion.”

  Josh nodded. Both of them kept their eyes diverted when six Legion soldiers walked past them. The feeling of relief Cassa felt faded when two more soldiers waved her down. She slowed the transport, gliding to a stop next to the soldier.

  “Where are you coming from?” The soldier demanded.

  “Los Grapos,” Cassa replied, holding up a receipt for the items. “I have cloth for the General Merchant. He is to use it to make some items that we need.”

  The soldier took the receipt and glanced at the back of the transport. Cassa had piled several bolts of canvas material used for making covers on top of the weapons they had brought. She had also retrieved an order list they might need from the compartment from her father’s last trip to the Spaceport a few weeks ago.

  “Have you seen anything unusual?” The soldier asked.

  “No,” Cassa replied with a shrug. “I was not aware that Tesla Terra was under the Legion’s control now. What are you looking for?”

  The soldier did not respond to her question. Instead, he looked toward Josh and nodded.

  “Who is that?” The man asked.

  Cassa looked at Josh and smiled. “My husband,” she replied. “He suffered an injury in a mining accident two years ago. A severe fire has burned his face and people stare at him. He prefers to keep it covered.”

  She turned to stare up at the soldier, keeping her face and body calm. She was thankful the man didn’t carry a scanner on him. It would have picked up her lie.

  “Go ahead,” the soldier replied, waving his hand when he saw several other transports arriving.

  “Thank you,” Cassa replied, holding out her hand for the paper she had given the man. “Pleasant evening to you.”

  Cassa inched forward before picking up speed. She released an unsteady breath. Her gaze flickered down to where Josh held his hand slightly inside his jacket. The hint of a laser pistol showed.

  “Your husband?” Josh asked, glancing at her.

  Cassa gave him an uneasy smile. “As my husband, you are less likely to be questioned. Luckily for us, my… father had picked up this for a friend from Los Grapos which is on the far side of the desert, in the opposite direction of the vineyard,” she explained.

  “What do we do now?” Josh asked, shifting so he could see her face.

  Cassa glanced at him before focusing on maneuvering through the marketplace. She glanced at the different figures she passed. Patches of bright light lit the area.

  “We find someone to buy the transport,” she replied. “My father had several friends here. They will help us.”

  “Can we trust them?” Josh asked, moving his hand and touching her arm.

  Cassa nodded. “Yes,” she murmured.

  “Can they get us off the planet?” He added.

  “Yes. Hutu was a member of the old Gallant Order and a true friend of my father,” she replied again, this time in a softer voice.

  “This is like something out of a movie,” he murmured, glancing at all the unusual figures with a shake of his head. “If you had asked me a month ago if I thought I’d be waking up in an alien world and stuck in the middle of a fight between ruling powers, I would have asked what you were smoking.”

  A soft chuckle escaped Cassa and she glanced at him. “You do not have different visitors to the Spaceports in your world?” She asked.

  “We don’t have Spaceports, period,” Josh admitted. “The Gliese 581 was the first intergalactic voyage ever done.”

  Cassa shot Josh a surprised look. “But, how does your planet trade with the neighboring worlds?” She asked with a puzzled frown as she pulled to a stop outside a building with a dim light flickering over the entrance and shut down the land skid.

  “Cassa,” Josh said in a hesitant voice. He waited until she turned to look at him. His expression serious. “We’ve never met anyone else. The Earth is the only planet in our Solar System that has life on it… that we know of.”

  “But… How did you get here?” She asked in confusion.

  “There was a strange object discovered a little over ten years ago,” Josh admitted. “An international collaboration created the Project Gliese 581g to investigate it. It was the only mission of its kind. It was some type of gateway. My crew and I were sent to inspect it, try to figure out what the hell it was, and return with it if we could.” He turned to look down the road at the alien terrain and its residents. “We accidentally activated the gateway and were sucked through it. The Gliese 581, my spaceship, was destroyed. In an effort to save the crew and myself, we used the emergency pods to escape.”

  “The capsule that I found,” Cassa stated more than asked.

  “Yes,” Josh turned to look back at her. “I have to believe the others survived. All of this….” He waved his hand outward. “We’ve never seen anything like this except made up in a movie.”

  “A movie? You said that word before, but I’m not sure what it means,” she repeated with a small frown.

  “You know, moving images captured and replayed for entertainment,” Josh explained.

  “Ah, yes. We have those. How many were on your ship?” She asked in a husky voice.

  “There were five of us. Julia, Mei, Sergi, and… Ash,” Josh murmured, running his hand down over his face. “I should never have allowed Sergi to see if he could repair the damn thing.”

  Cassa could hear the exhaustion and regret in his voice. She couldn’t imagine how she would react if she suddenly awoke in an alien world where everything was foreign to her; a place where species from dozens of different worlds lived together. For the first time, she saw her world through new eyes.

  Turning to look at him, she raised her hand to his cheek. Her thumb moved over his skin, enjoying the sligh
t roughness. A shiver went through her when he raised his hand and cupped her hand in his.

  “I would like to know more about your world,” she whispered. “In return, I will tell you all I can about mine.”

  Her gaze held his as he leaned closer. She knew he was going to kiss her again. After everything that had happened that day, she needed it. She needed to feel his warmth. She needed it to drive away the cold that had seeped into her soul when she saw her father and brother lying lifeless. Tears burned in her eyes and she closed them, pressing forward and closing the distance between them.

  The touch of his firm lips against hers soothed her battered heart. A low sob caught in her throat, captured by his lips. Her eyelashes fluttered open a few minutes later when he pulled back.

  “You are an incredible woman,” Josh muttered, wiping the tear that escaped from her cheek.

  “Hey, what do you want? There is no parking here. You need to move your transport before I blow it out of the way,” a voice growled out of the darkness.

  “Hutu, it is Cassa de Rola,” Cassa called in a soft voice.

  “Cassa? Where is your father?” Hutu exclaimed in a startled voice.

  “Killed by Legion forces earlier today, as was Jesup,” Cassa replied in a strained voice. “We need your help.”

  “Oh, child,” Hutu muttered in anguish. “Come in, come in.”

  Chapter 13

  “The Legion forces are checking every spaceship before they depart and scouring the planet for something they think has landed here,” Hutu said twenty minutes later. He placed a cup of hot tea in front of both of them before turning back to pick up a tray with food on it. “They haven’t stated what they are looking for, but word spread that the commander of a Battle Cruiser and his troop of men have gone missing.”