by Yakov Merkin
Corras nodded. This was far from a comfortable situation, but he had trained for and endured far worse. “As I have already said, I wish to defect to your rebellion. I should note, that I do not consider myself an enemy of the Empire. Rather, I am doing this for its own good, so that it may return to what it was when I chose to serve it. That fact will not, however, do a thing to lessen the support and information I am prepared to give you.”
“An interesting way to approach this matter,” Vau said. “Naturally, you will understand if we are reluctant to take this on face value. Hand over the information you have conveyed, and we shall see if you can, in fact, be trusted.”
Corras shook his head. “Not until I am guaranteed safety, both from any declared legal system you have set up and from any individuals who might see fit to take what they perceive as justice into their own hands.”
“Then we are at a problematic impasse,” Vau replied as she leaned back in her chair. “You refuse to give us information until we give you what you want, but we will not grant you any sort of immunity until we have hard proof that you mean what you say here.”
Corras resisted the natural urge to tense up. “Very well. I am prepared to offer you both a significant piece of information as well as my assistance in regard to acting on it, free of charge. I hope that it will prove enough for you to guarantee my safety.”
He reached into a pocket, and retrieved a small data disk, which he offered to Commodore Mierran, the nearest of the rebel officers. “On that disk, you will find information as to the location of a number of rebel prisoners being held by the Empire, including a number captured through my own operations, as well as information about where they are being held that can be used to mount a rescue attempt. A rescue attempt that I will volunteer to personally take part in. On one condition. We cannot do anything that would make it clear to the Empire that I have defected. If they realize this too soon, plans will be adjusted, codes changed, prisoners moved. I understand what my presence here could be used for in terms of propaganda or as a recruitment tool, but trust me, the information I can give you, and the access I can grant you when the time is right, is something you would rather have.”
The three leaders looked at each other for a moment, then turned to face Corras again. “If you will allow us a moment to deliberate and examine this information, Director,” Vau said, then turned to Mierran. “Commodore, if you could escort our guest outside and keep an eye on him?”
It was clear from the commodore’s face that she wanted to see the information now too, but she nodded. “Of course.” She rose from her seat and gestured toward the door.
Corras nodded at the leaders, then stepped outside.
“Can I ask why you defected?” He asked once the door closed. “Or is that not something Imperial defectors tend to discuss?” Despite the wealth of data he had amassed about Mierran, and her defection, the specific reasons for it had never come to light.
“You have not earned the right to any details, Director, but I will say that, like you, I came to the realization that the Empire I had originally been proud to serve was, in fact, the wrong side to be on in this conflict. Perhaps once you’ve proved yourself I’ll be willing to share more.”
Corras nodded. He knew better than to press for answers he was not going to get yet.
Several minutes passed in silence until Commodore Mierran received a notification that they were to re-enter the room.
This time, the atmosphere was decidedly positive. “It seems you were telling the truth, Director,” Dahar said. While less experienced than Orran, the admiral and co-commander-in-chief of the rebellion’s armed forces had a reputation for being extremely insightful. “We are prepared to guarantee your safety and to grant you amnesty, provided that you deliver to us the rest of the information you possess and personally take part in the rescue mission. Be warned, however, that if we detect even the slightest hint of duplicity or treachery, you will regret it—though not for long. Am I understood?”
“Clear as a cloudless night. Now, if you will permit, I have given this operation some thought already.” When they indicated their approval, Corras launched into his ideas.
If he wasn’t a rebel before, he well and truly was one now.
CHAPTER 21
“So, any idea yet of when exactly it’ll be safe to leave? As nice as this place of yours is, I’m starting to feel a bit too confined,” Ayil said as she paced across the home’s large living room. They’d been here for almost two whole days now, and despite their dramatic welcome, and fairly comfortable accommodations, there had been precious little time spent actually discussing the rebellion, and what the Alliance spies—it still felt fun to refer to herself as a spy—and rebellion could do to help each other. The rebels had been too busy ensuring that their local Nihluran friends were safe and accounted for.
“Soon, I hope,” Reki said with a slight smile. “We have some people out assessing the situation now. But we really need to speak; I apologize for being largely preoccupied since your arrival. What’s happening out there is unprecedented, and we had to deal with it immediately. You had said you were here spying… for the Galactic Alliance? So that means your species is common over there as well. Are any others?”
Ayil shook her head. “None that we know of, at least. We knew as little about this part of the galaxy as you knew about ours, prior to the start of the war. Most people weren’t even aware of the Revittan Empire’s existence; the government knew, as there was some sort of no-trespassing treaty, and some… let us say less savory elements, unaffiliated with any government, that existed along the border region and had some minimal interaction—but such information, naturally, did not get out far. Since we—I say we, though to be honest, we had no connection to any official entity until just before the start of the war—were lucky enough to learn that my species was common here as well, and due to our connections—and because we like trying new things, we agreed to slip over here and start taking a look. The Empire likely knows this by now as well, and is probably why they began this crackdown. Sorry about that.”
“Does your Alliance know about us? The rebellion, I mean.”
“Not that we know of,” Dran cut in. “We ourselves only learned about it after some time in Imperial space, and we wanted to wait to report that to our boss until we had more information. It is, of course, possible they are aware via other means. I doubt we’re the only source of information the Alliance has.”
“I hope that’s true,” Ayil added.
“And what… what is the Galactic Alliance like?” Reki asked, her eyes widening, which accentuated the colorful patterns on her face. “By your roles here, and based on what little we’ve learned since the war began, it seems that the different species are all treated fairly, not dominated by an oppressive regime?” She sounded so hopeful.
Ayil nodded. “Officially, at least, that is true. There are, of course, still plenty of those who hate other species for one reason or another, and one example of that hatred played a large role in our last war. And there are some things I don’t like about it, personally.”
“Many things,” Liya interjected.
Ayil grinned. “Many things, but after spending time here, I realize how much better things are in the Alliance. Every planetary system has representation in the Assembly, and most disagreements are resolved without violence.”
Reki looked almost like she was about to cry. “I… that is wonderful, sounds wonderful. Something like that is what I, and many others, have dreamed about for years now. Do you think your Alliance would be willing to help us?”
It would never stop feeling weird, hearing the Galactic Alliance called “your Alliance,” but now was not the time to fret over minute issues like that. “Probably,” Ayil replied. “Assuming they could find a way to effectively get said support to you, I am sure they would see the advantage of a persistent thorn in the side of their current adversary distracting them and diverting resources that would otherwise be
used against them. Of course, they would want to know both that they would be supporting a cause that is actually organized, and that is not simply some criminal gang. Only very specific criminals get hired by Alliance personnel, off the record.” She winked at Reki, who looked both confused and intrigued by that last comment.
“And, well, I presume you have some way to contact your handlers?” Reki asked a few moments later.
“We do,” Liya replied, “but it’s on our ship.”
“I should have figured as much,” Reki said, then trailed off, clearly mulling something over, and ran a hand along one of the tendrils that rested on her shoulder. “How many passengers can your ship carry?”
“Depends on how comfortable you care to be,” Dran said. The ship was technically his, after all. “We have stuffed in as many as thirty or so before.”
“Remind me to tell you about the time we helped evacuated a whole city’s worth of primitive aliens—after saving them and some of the Alliance’s most important people from an army of different primitive aliens,” Ayil said.
“Alright, that could work,” Reki said, sadly either ignoring—or completely missing—Ayil’s very blatant prompt for an ego-boosting story. “I don’t have the number at hand, but we have around twenty dedicated personnel who we need to get off world soon. Can your ship get past an Imperial security blockade?”
“Of course,” Dran said. “The hard part will be getting to her and getting in the air before the authorities can stop us.”
Reki smiled. “Don’t worry about that; we have a fair amount of experience messing with Imperials. I’ve got a plan.”
“And do your plans usually work?”
“Do they go all according to plan? Not always.” Reki stood up and began to quickly braid her long hair, presumably to make sure it did not become a liability when things got hectic. “But we always make it work.” She winked, then pulled out her communication device. “This won’t take long to organize.”
###
“I thought you said the crackdown was relaxing,” Ayil hissed over to Reki as they, Liya, Dran, and several other rebels crouched around the corner from the main entrance to the spaceport currently housing the River Lark.
“Apparently, not here,” Reki replied. “You didn’t say they knew that you were on-world, which is likely the only reason there is so much security here.”
“I don’t see how they would know,” Ayil replied, “unless this has something to do with the police officers we had to assault during our trip over to your place.”
“Mentioning that earlier might have been helpful,” Reki said with a shake of her head.
“Sorry, I, we, kind of forgot about that.”
“Don’t worry,” Liya said. “I am sure we can still get past twenty, no wait, thirty troopers and that… is that a tank?”
“Armored personnel carrier,” Reki replied. “Arguably more of a problem for us, as a tank’s main cannon would not be all that helpful against us and would likely do a lot of damage to the buildings here. But I agree that we can’t just go through them directly.”
“Is there another way in?” Ayil asked.
Reki shook her head. “Only one entrance, and when it’s locked down like this all of the exits are completely sealed up. There’s no way to break in through one of those, right?” She asked, turning toward one of the rebels, a middle-aged Nihluran male who looked to have some inherited genes from at least four different species from this part of the galaxy.
“We’ve tried several times, just to see if it was possible, and never came close to succeeding,” he said. “Even if we did, there are alarms rigged to go off if anyone enters through a dedicated exit.”
“So what’s the plan, then?” Ayil asked.
“A rebel classic. Diversions and distractions.” Reki pulled out her communication device, which Ayil desperately hoped was properly protected, and sent off several text messages to, presumably, other rebels nearby.
“What’s the signal?” Ayil asked.
“You’ll know it when you see it.”
The next few minutes passed by excruciatingly slowly, but then, finally, Ayil spotted movement beyond the stationary Imperial forces. Moments later, rebels opened fire on the Imperials. A couple of troopers went down immediately, but the shields and armor of most of the soldiers held, and they began to return fire toward the rebels, who immediately fell back.
“Come on, come on,” Reki muttered, eyes locked on the Imperial troops.
Finally, a few seconds later, about half of the troopers ran off in pursuit, and the armored personnel carrier moved slightly away from the entrance to allow its large, top-mounted repeater to fire at the rebels, who had found cover and were firing again.
“Now?” Ayil asked.
Reki shook her head, but Ayil saw her hand tightening on her pistol.
Then, the sound of more weapons firing began to come from another position near the entrance. Another group of rebels, which drew the attention of the rest of the Imperials.
“Now!” Reki hissed, then led the way, opening fire on the officer operating the armored vehicle’s top-mounted gun.
After a quick glance to be sure Dran and Liya were following, Ayil rounded the corner as well, firing at the closest troopers. Thankfully, they had caught the soldiers by surprise, and they managed to take out those between them and the entrance, while most of the rest were too focused on the concealed rebel team that had attacked first.
“Cover me,” Reki said as they reached the door, then she attached a device to the locking mechanism and began to work frantically.
Ayil and the others took cover behind the armored vehicle, which was not a direct threat with its gunner dead, at least not until someone replaced him, but there was no stopping them from calling for help.
“Are we planning to get the rest of them out, too?” Ayil asked.
Reki nodded, though she remained focused on the door. “I’ve got something that will hopefully give the others a chance to slip inside after us before reinforcements arrive. They’ll barricade the door behind them, and we should be good to go, at least until we have to get past the fleet.”
A few moments later, there was a loud beep, and the doors began to slide open. “Everybody in!” Reki shouted as she tapped at her comm device, presumably alerting the others.
“I hope you remember where your ship is docked,” Reki said as things quieted down, the sounds of weapons fire growing more distant and a faint smell of grease and ship fuel wafting towards them.
“Of course,” Ayil said. “Docking Bay 69.”
“Wasn’t it 96?” Liya asked from just behind her.
“Um, well, I had been drinking a bit before we landed,” Ayil replied as she looked around. Like most Revittan structures, this place had pretty, but fairly simple decorations everywhere, in a floral pattern. She’d have to ask someone about that one day. “Well, we can always try both.”
“Do you realize how far apart those two are?” Reki said, eyes widening. “We don’t have time to waste on—”
“Relax,” Dran cut in with a shake of his head. “It’s in Docking Bay 70. They’re just messing with you. Don’t worry, that means they like you. Just be glad you don’t have to live with them.”
“Hey!” Ayil snapped at him, and reached over to smack him on the side of the head, only for him to grab her by the wrist. “Not this time, woman,” he said, though beneath the sharp tone, he smiled. “You get to bother me all the time, go back to bugging our new friends.”
Ayil looked back at Reki and shrugged. “Males,” she said, then shook her head.
Reki, still looking a bit confused, smiled back, but before she could say anything, the sounds of weapons fire filled the wide hallway.
Two of their number went down before the rest of the group managed to scramble back around the corner.
“I thought you said there wouldn’t be any inside,” Ayil said as she peeked around the corner long enough to get a few wild shots off.
“There shouldn’t have been, there shouldn’t be,” Reki replied. “They must have been inspecting the docked ships, or something.”
“More to the point,” Dran said from a short distance away, “what do we do now? There are too many for us to take head on, time is not on our side, and honestly, if they just rushed us now that’d lead to the death of us all.”
“Just give me a second,” Reki said through clenched teeth as she looked around them, and eventually settled on something just behind their position. Ayil prayed it was a workable solution; this little operation had gone from fun to far too dangerous way too quickly for her morning. At least the Svetoran was cute while stressed.
“There,” Reki said, pointing at a large, blocky object against one of the walls of the wide hallway, which, in truth, was more of a lobby promenade. “Someone get that open!”
Two of the larger rebels ran to do so, while the rest of them continued to fire wildly toward the Imperial forces.
“What’s the plan?” Ayil asked.
“That is a fuel loading station, through which the docking bay’s internal tanks are filled. But more important to what we need now, it also connects to each docking bay through the overall fuel conveying network.”
“Okay, and? We do need to hurry.”
“Yes, right. The pipes are wide enough for a small enough person to crawl through them, reach our docking bay, get inside it, and get the ship moving.”
Ayil looked over at the loading station, which the other rebels had just opened. Some fuel spilled out, its rancid smell turning several noses.
“Don’t worry, it’s not full now.”
Ayil motioned for Liya and Dran to join them as the other rebels returned to the corner. “One of us needs to make that crawl, I suppose,” Ayil said. Only she, Dran, and Liya could get into and operate the ship.
“Looks to me like I’m just too large to fit,” Dran said quickly, as some of the other rebels called for them to hurry. One unlucky Revittan was caught in the head and killed instantly. “You girls will need to decide who goes.” He grinned, and moved away to help the others.
