by Randal Sloan
Robert nodded. “You’re correct on the logistics issues we face, and to complicate it, we’ll have to do it tonight under cover of darkness, but you also have much greater resources than you’ve ever had before. I’ll be able to loan you several Marines to assist and we should be able to commandeer enough vehicles to support you. We also know of a warehouse loaded with food that we intend to appropriate.”
He smiled. “To be specific, it’s the warehouse where they store all the food for this resort, so it will be much better than just rations.”
Krissy looked up at him in surprise. “But they keep that warehouse locked down even tighter than the others. Not even I can get in there.”
Beside her Sissy shook her head. “Oh, you could get in there, Kris. We just haven’t had the manpower to do something about it.”
Robert gave them a smile. “For my boys, that’ll be a walk in the park. That’s even if I tell them to keep it non-lethal, which I intend to do for now.”
He saw the look in their eyes. “Yes, girls, at some point if this escalates like we think it will, it’s going to get very lethal. These guys have no idea what kind of hell a squad of Imperial Marines can bring, especially an elite squad like our own, but if they do this, they’re going to find out.”
He laughed. “They don’t know how lucky they are that the Princess is not here. We all love her more than life itself, but I gotta tell you, when she wants to be, she’s one of the most lethal human beings in the galaxy.”
None of them missed the look they would have sworn approached fear that crossed his face. Somehow, he had seen enough of her in action that even this hardened Master Sergeant would not have wanted to stand in her way. They couldn’t help but wonder about this Princess of his. Not much fluff at all.
He managed to get control of his features, giving them a smile. “I kinda feel sorry for the aliens that are thinking they’re going to be in charge of a planet in human space. Not going to happen — the Princess can’t let that stand. Something tells me she’ll get here in time, despite the fact we haven’t reached her yet.”
Robert didn’t know it but his eyes had grown unfocused and he was using a part of his mind he’d never used before. Just for the moment, he glimpsed a view of the future. His smile grew big as he anticipated her arrival. It was going to be quite spectacular.
He shook his head. “But I digress. Put together your lists and contact your people. We want to save as many as we can. We’ll stay here today and move tonight, making stops as needed to pick up everyone. If it all goes down tomorrow like we think it will, we’ll be ready.”
He smiled at them. “Come with me and I’ll get you set up in a suite. It has an area where you can work and also a place where you can get some rest.”
They had all risen to follow him, but looking at the others, Missy shook her head. She could tell they felt the same way. “I don’t think that we’ll be able to sleep…”
The Master Sergeant gave them a gentle smile. “I know you’re worried, but we'll do our best to take care of you. You think you’re too wound up to sleep, but I promise you it’ll hit you in a little while.”
Missy still wasn't sure but she nodded. “We’ll do our part with the prep and hopefully get some rest. As Protectors, a lot of our work has been at night, so I guess it makes sense. We should be used to having to snatch a little sleep in the daytime.”
The Sarge just nodded. “Good. Tonight’s when all the fun starts, so you’re really going to need it.”
They had reached the door to an empty suite in the resort complex. The Sarge threw the door open, indicating the area beyond.
“Here we are,” he said. “Have fun!”
Stepping into the resort suite, the girls just stared. With a smile on his face, Robert closed the door behind them. Even with Jackson’s help, he had a lot to do. That left the girls to check out the most elaborate suite they’d ever seen.
The main area was big enough for a dozen of them to fit in with room to spare. All the furniture was new and gleaming, a 3D VR screen covered an entire wall, and the view out the huge window on the other side of the room was spectacular. Finally tearing themselves away from the view, the girls hurriedly checked out the rest of the suite.
Missy threw herself down on the gigantic master bed, luxuriating in the feel of the huge down comforter. “Wow!” was all she said as she sank down into the extremely soft surface.
Sissy had run into the huge bathroom. “You could practically swim in this bathtub!” she proclaimed breathlessly.
Following her, Krissy caught sight of the soaps and hair products. “Oh my!” she said. “This all comes with the room. If I had something like this to use, even my wild hair could be tamed.”
Beside her, Sissy just laughed. “Honey, I’m not sure even that would work, but it sure would be fun trying.”
Finally, they wandered back out into the main room. Sissy was the first to speak. “Well, then. I guess we can stand around and gasp, pondering how the rich and famous can afford to enjoy this kind of place, or we can get to work…”
She looked over at Krissy, whose mouth was still hanging open. “Kris, is the room secure?”
“Sorry,” Krissy replied. She briefly waved her wands. “No bugs. The NET’s secure —” she looked specifically at Sissy “— as long as you follow the proper protocols and use my systems.”
“That was one time,” Sissy said. “It wasn’t like I gave any of our secrets away to the Imperials. I was just browsing.”
“Yeah, and if any of the Imperials had seen, they could have figured out what you were doing. We’re not supposed to have that kind of tech on our Block.”
“But they didn’t. It’s not like they pay attention to stuff like that.”
Missy stepped between the two. She barely managed to smother the laugh that wanted to burst out. She’d heard this argument more than once between them. Neither was willing to give in.
Instead, she kept her cool. “Give it up, Sissy. You got lucky, but if they only knew what you’d been doing, it would have been trouble,” she told the one, and turning to Krissy, “and enough from you. We both learned our lesson.”
She knew it was time to get serious. “Anyway, that’s enough. We’ve got work to do. First, I think we need to agree to keep our special abilities secret as much as we can. Krissy, I know you can only hide some of yours, but at least try not to show off too much.”
Sissy had no argument there. “You’re right, especially with the Master Sergeant. I think he's a lot more clever than he looks. It’s not like we even know how we do what we do.”
Missy shook her head. “Still don’t think we need to advertise it. I will say, though, there’s something about this Princess that makes me believe if she shows up, all bets are off. I think she’ll be able to see right through us.”
“Is that one of your ‘special’ insights?” Sissy asked her, using the words they used to describe her sometimes visions of the future.
“Yeah, I can’t see very much, but I think so. You know how I am. I’m never absolutely sure, but I think this one is.”
Sissy believed her friend knew this one was real. She just needed a little more confidence more than anything else — to believe in herself. That, and she needed to control her emotions better. Sometimes she tried too hard and her emotions overruled her willingness to accept what she saw.
But she just smiled. “Interesting. I’m not sure if I want to meet this Princess of theirs or not, although apparently we don’t have a choice in the matter. We’ll just have to worry about that if it comes about. Anyway, back to our tasks. I’ll work on the list of the Imperials we think are worth saving. It won’t be a very long list. Missy, you’ve worked with the children the most. Can you put together that list? Krissy, I know what you’ll be doing.”
Krissy managed to tear herself away from her wands for a moment. “Yeah, I’m checking out the Galactic tech we have here. No point in putting all that bandwidth to waste…” She had alr
eady been at it, waving her wands, and once more her eyes glazed over. Sissy knew she was deep in her cyber world, so deep that she almost would become a part of it. That was her secret ability; something that no other hacker the trio had met could come close to.
The girls went about their tasks quietly. When Missy and Sissy finished their lists, they passed them to Krissy who quickly sent them on. Then they took advantage of some of the luxuries the room offered, something they expected they’d never see again. Krissy especially enjoyed the bathroom products and the other two agreed that her unruly hair was almost tamed afterward. Neither were they surprised when she slipped the small bottles in her pocket.
They also found that the Sarge was right — they did get some rest too. After all, there was nothing else they could do and the night before had been a long one. Missy wasn’t wrong about their practice at doing such and it didn't hurt that the beds were softer than anything they’d ever slept in before.
They also knew the upcoming night was going to be even busier.
Chapter 5
The Empire Responds
Despite the distance of New Earth from the Galactic Capital, it only took a short half hour for the com drone to reach a system node so its message could be sent forth. With the credentials the Master Sergeant had been given by the Crown Princess, it was immediately given priority in the queue. That priority also sent it on to the Imperial Palace where unfortunately the Crown Princess was not available. That was the response the Master Sergeant received back.
If the message had been a normal standard priority message, that would have been the end of it. It would have been placed in her personal queue to wait for her to pick it up. It would have waited however long that took, not a perfect solution, but it worked for most messages.
But because the Master Sergeant’s message was sent with emergency status and valid com codes provided personally by the Princess, the message was forwarded to the Imperial com tech on duty that evening at the Imperial Palace, and he immediately realized it needed to be passed up to the highest level, the Emperor himself. The Emperor was one of the few people who knew how to reach his niece, Crown Princess Jarraosa Christinee Von Hasson, and had the authority to respond to the message.
As Emperor, James was not one to shirk his duty, so when the call came in he quietly thanked the Com officer despite the late hour which had interrupted his attempts at rest. Then he listened to the message. If he hadn’t known it was indeed the Master Sergeant in the message and could verify the com codes, he’d have thought it was a hoax. More rebels and more aliens! was his first thought, but he quickly realized it was more like a bunch of criminals than rebels. Still, the alien thing bothered him.
This required an immediate response, although James first made sure he forwarded the message on to his little Jarra. He wasn’t sure what she could do about it, way across the galaxy in the Borjon arm, but he knew she would want to see it immediately. Although she was literally half a galaxy away, he knew better than to hesitate in the slightest to get the message to her. He’d pay dearly if he did.
The message he’d sent on would have to pass through the relays the Empire had imbedded in the core areas of the galaxy solely for the purpose of allowing the transmission of messages between the human and the Borjon arms of the galaxy. So as a result, it would take some time to get there, time that they might not have.
That meant the second thing he did was place a call to his nephew John. Currently on board the Imperial Navy super-dreadnought Dauntless and in orbit around the Galactic Capital world, Crown Prince John was the best choice to get Imperial ships to the planet in the fastest possible time. Plus, he wanted to make sure they sent a strong response, stronger than the Navy admirals would have normally done. With John, he wouldn’t have to argue, nor wait on the bureaucracy it would take them to get underway.
Something told him that this was far more important than just a single planet and he wanted to insure that he responded appropriately. If it did turn out to be a dud, John and his crews could spend a few days to appreciate the resort on the planet and they wouldn’t have reason to complain. John knew the importance of duty too, but he wouldn’t turn down a chance to relax either.
John must have been sleeping, for it took a brief moment for the connection to be passed on to him. He was sitting on the side of his bed in his quarters when he answered, which pretty much proved it to James.
“Uncle,” John answered quickly. “Is everything all right?”
James shook his head. “No, it’s not. I just received a rather urgent message from Master Sergeant Gibbons and his Marine squad, who our little Jarra sent to our newly discovered planet, New Earth, for a little R & R. That’s not how she phrased it, but we both know that was her intent. It doesn’t sound like it’s working out that way. I’ll forward you his message but the gist of it is we have more aliens, this time involved in a local uprising against the human government on New Earth.”
He gave John an intense look, the one that so terrified most of the people in the Galactic Empire that they immediately jumped to action. John wasn’t entirely immune, although he was more resistant than most. He knew his cousin would have just returned their uncle's stare eye to eye, but Jarra was the only one in the galaxy that could pull that off.
“I need you to make your fastest possible speed to bring support to the Master Sergeant. I know you’re still in the process of resupplying and have part of your crew on leave, but time is of the essence. Leave people behind if you have to — I’ll make sure there’s no repercussions for that.”
“I’ll be underway within the hour,” John told him. “Most of our supplies have already made it aboard and most of our people are back because of the late hour. It’s about time we did something to shake out some of the complacency that's been slipping in.”
“That oughta do it,” James replied with a smile. He didn’t disagree with the sentiment, especially now with the Empire facing trying times.
John returned the smile as he sent the command on to his Squadron Exec. The man would have to do the impossible once again, but John knew he’d get it done. They’d be underway at the appointed time, no matter what.
Then John had another thought. “Have you passed the message on to my cousin yet?” he asked, his smile growing bigger as he considered the ramifications. At his uncle’s nod, he went on with a smile.
“You know she’ll beat me there,” John told him, practically beaming at him.
“Surely not,” James told him. “She’s on the other side of the galaxy.”
“I don’t know how she can possibly do so, but she will. You mark my words.”
James just shook his head. “You’re probably right. Still, I need you there.” He laughed. “Just in case.”
“We’ll do it. With the new reactor upgrades and our shield enhancements, we’ll be able to move much more quickly than in the past, but it’ll still take time — time that we don’t have if what you say is true.”
“Hopefully, the Master Sergeant can hold out that long,” James replied, not that he believed it himself.
John started to break the connection, but another thought came to mind.
“You know, Uncle, I was supposed to attend the Imperial Ball a few nights from now. If I’m going to be gone on this mission, someone needs to take my place.”
James groaned. That was the last thing he wanted to do, but he also knew he’d have to go if the Crown Prince was away. “You know I try to avoid those things. Everyone there will be trying to fix me up with a daughter or cousin or niece in the hope of getting special consideration from me.”
“Would that be so bad, dear uncle? I know you still miss Aunt Michelle, but perhaps it’s time to move on. Not to replace her, but still someone to offer companionship, someone you can confide in.”
James refused to answer John’s plea, this being one of the things they had disagreed on more than once. Begrudgingly he told him. “I’ll attend, but don’t think I’ll forget this
one.”
He grew serious once more. Time to end this conversation before John tried to stress the point even more. “Good luck on your mission. You have my permission to do whatever it takes to accomplish it. Keep me informed on your progress.”
“Thanks. I’ll do my best. John out.”
James disconnected the call, but he sat there in silence for a few moments. So much was happening now that was beyond his control and he wondered how much longer he could keep everyone safe. This last time with his dear Jarra had been much too close.
I’m just tired, mentally if not physically. If only my dear Michelle were still here — John’s right about that. She would have been quick to help me bear this burden. He smiled as he thought of her. She had always been able to do that, often sensing a problem before he even knew it himself, and she would have been able to set him at ease with just a word. Just the companionship with her had meant so much to him.
Maybe it was time to think about finding someone else. No one could ever take her place, but perhaps someone could help bear the burden.
He chuckled to himself. But I can guarantee I’m not going to be interested in most of the bimbos I’ll see at that ball.
John quickly dressed, using his AI to view the Master Sergeant’s message even as he prepared to assume his duty station. He shook his head when he heard the message. It sounded bad, even worse than what he had first thought, and John feared the worst might happen before he could get there. Despite his boast earlier, and even the fact that the Master Sergeant expected it too, he still didn’t see how Jarra could possibly get there before him, although he still had a feeling about it that she would.
But feelings are just that and facts don’t lie. That’s all I have to work on and I need to plan accordingly. This one might well be my problem to handle, if there is anything left to handle by the time we get there. It sure doesn’t look good.
John quickly made up his mind to not worry about that which he had no control over. There’s nothing I can do until I get there, so I best be about optimizing that. That I can do.
