by Ben Winston
“We have a way of teaching people built into the hypersleep modules that we used to get here. The hypersleep function no longer works, but the sleep teaching does. You can check with Addson Dee if you have questions; she has gone through them. We can offer all of you at the very least our language, but we can also give you all the history we have as well,”” Deirdre explained as she guided her new friend to a chair.
“That is something I will have to discuss with Elrond. However, I think it might be something that will be accepted on an individual basis; at least at first,” Arivan replied. “Uh, I am unfamiliar with this food; it all smells wonderful.”
Jorga 'overheard' Arivan's last statement to Deirdre, so she stood. “I know our four new friends are unfamiliar with our food. However, I did check with Doctor Lyam as well as Alice, the emergency medical AI from Addson's skipper. All of you can tolerate these foods and nothing should make you sick. Since we all wanted this style of food tonight, I thought I would simply create a buffet and let you all try some of it and see what you like.
“I should warn you that some of it is spicy and some of it has a very subtle, delicate flavor. You are welcome to try it all. Please enjoy your meal,” she said as she sat down. Beside her was a pitcher of milk, and a couple of glasses to help cool down the over-heated mouth.
As the group ate, even the other two people from Elrond's group began to relax. By and large, the new people avoided the spicy stuff, although Arivan thought it was by far the best and enjoyed the more subtle foods.
Jentse, the other lady that had been taken with Elrond, loved the milk, but had to be excused to use the restroom as she discovered she was lactose intolerant. While she was gone, Deirdre had the replicator replace Jentse's glass with a drink that tasted just like milk and had the same vitamins in it, but was lactose free.
Conversation was a little slow because of the translators, but all the questions asked managed to get answered. Ben had to call a halt to the meal as he only had thirty minutes before he had to be back in the Council chamber.
As Jorga and Deirdre cleaned up the table, Ben pulled Gail aside. “Now, about that special mission I had for you; there is a person on the surface of the planet we need to keep track of. I believe Mother would be your best bet for now, but I'd like you to be ready to invite her to visit us here.”
“Sir?” Gail asked raising an eyebrow.
“I actually mean invite, Gail. I think she would put up a hell of a fight if we tried to abduct her. She's the leader of the Ranger team that's here investigating the Great Falls incident,” Ben said.
“Sir, I will, of course, do as you order, but I'm afraid I can't follow your logic on this one. Isn't she the last person we want to know of us?” Gail asked.
“Maybe, but there have been a few new developments that you might be unaware of. Mother has discovered proof that the Duke is the one that has been issuing the orders to Elrond and his people. She is eighty percent sure that this whole mess is all part of a plan the Duke has to attack and over-throw the Empire,” Ben explained.
Gail whistled. “Wow, you've been busy! Now your other orders make sense, but I'm still not following you on inviting the Ranger Commander down here for tea.”
Ben grinned at her. “Right now, she is the only person on this planet that has the power to make sure our evidence gets to the level needed to crucify the Duke for treason and clear Elrond's people of all charges.”
“Yeah, that much I got, but what about us? She'll be duty bound to report our presence here as well. We'll be toasted,” Gail said.
“No, we won't because that young woman will also be taking our claim of this planet, as well as all of our evidence to support it with her to Hyclarion. The upcoming events should present the best and quite possibly the only, chance we will have to claim this planet as our own. Anyway, I only want you to keep tabs on her, I don't actually want you to go get her until I have the chance to talk it over with the rest of the Council first,” Ben explained.
“Pardon me, Prime, General, but if you wish to follow this course of action you must hurry. The window of opportunity will be closing tomorrow. I have been monitoring the computer systems at Argassi. Task Commander Warmake of the Anti-Piracy Command will be escorting the entire HRO team on a final inspection of the destroyed Aerie site. She will be departing the planet sometime after that,”” Mother said.
“Huh.” Ben snorted. “I guess I better get my happy ass back to the Council Chamber and convince them of the need to do this. So much for getting any sleep tonight.”
Chapter Five
“Because, I said so.”
- Any two-year-old's mother
Grand Council Chamber
Command Pod Alpha One
24-25 Apr. 10266 CE (AD)
Sector 34871 - Great Inland Sea
Earth, Sol system
“Good evening, brothers and sisters. I trust you all had a good break,” Ben said as he noticed all the lights switching from yellow to green.
“Before we recessed. We were discussing our options and possible actions, if any, in reference to the pirate issue and the new information uncovered by Mother. Councilor Carlyle; as a former Intelligence operative and later an Intelligence analyst, would you please share with us your thoughts on the hypothesis that the Duke is plotting the over-throw of the Empire?””
Councilor Carlyle bowed her head in acknowledgement and spoke slowly and clearly. “Since my inclusion in the initial interview at the request of the Prime Council, I have been in communication with two of my former colleges from the former intelligence agencies of the old world. All of us agree with Mother; however, we are more certain of the possibility then she is. Call it a gut instinct if you will, but we believe she is not only correct, but the Duke's plans are further along than even she can forecast.
“We can offer this advice to the Council; giving over the evidence of the Duke's treachery will undoubtedly gain us much favor with the Imperial court, provided they believe the evidence we have. We are still analyzing Imperial Law, to see if that will also clear yon good Captain and his people. Although, to our way of thinking it certainly would; that is no guarantee it would for an alien judicial system.
“We have also identified another, possible course of action for your consideration, but again, since we do not understand the laws, we have no idea how the result will be accepted.”
“What is the other course of action, Councilor?” Ben asked.
“We could simply assassinate the Duke, thus removing the threat to the Empire,” Carlyle said. “We ken that, 'tis far the easier task to beg forgiveness, than to ask permission.””
Ben nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you and your people for your advice in this. The question then becomes are we willing to cross that line? Are we willing to assassinate what amounts to a Head of State? When I arrived back down here, I was going to ask you all to let me invite the Ranger Commander down here to let us present our case to her in person. In fact, I've already asked General Greenwold to keep an eye on her in the event you agree.
“As we speak, our military is in the process of relocating the balance of the Captain Coir's people here. We are going to strip their base and seal it up. Their space ships will also be moved here, if it can be done safely.
“Mother is monitoring the computer systems at Argassi and has discovered that our window for action on my proposal is short; the Rangers will be leaving the planet tomorrow after a final inspection of the Great Falls site. We have much to discuss and little time. I would like to hear your thoughts. If you approve, I will spend the evening learning the new language to help insure there is no misunderstanding between us.”
“Councilor Andre Stienbrunner requests to speak,” Mother intoned and Ben nodded to him.
“Thank you Prime Council. Brothers and Sisters. Before the Fall, I was a professor of religious studies and theology at Yeshiva University in Jerusalem. As such, I apologize if I seem like I am speaking from a religious point of view. How
ever, I do not believe that any of us could condone assassination without at least due process. I find even that to be abhorrent, but I can at least understand it.
“None of us are capable of making decisions without at least some form of religion playing a part whether we are aware of it or not. No matter what each of our belief systems actually are, the idea of killing someone cannot be an easy one to make. If it does seem too easy, then perhaps we do not have all the information we need to make that decision in the first place.
“It would be very easy to simply decide to assassinate this being and thus remove the threat of our discovery, as well as the threat to the Empire at large. But we must ask ourselves, do we have the right to make that decision? Does not this being at least deserve his day in court? Would it not also set a dangerous precedent and make it easier for us to say yes the next time?””
When he finished speaking, there was a general round of applause for his words as most of the rest of the Councilors agreed by clapping.
“I don't think we'll need an official vote to remove assassinating Duke Tammrain from the table. I'm not comfortable crossing that line either, so thank you all for your wisdom. Now, what do you think of getting the Ranger Commander down here for a nice long chat?”
Pirate Headquarters.
Planet Terral III
Cassian March
Duchy of Cassias
Hyclarion Imperial Consortium
“Where the hell have you been? We were going nuts looking for the four of you!” Elrond's second yelled at him when he and the other three climbed off the shuttle. “Uh, who the hell you got with you?”
Elrond put his arms up on his friend’s shoulders. “I'm pretty sure they are the answer we've been looking for. Pass the word for a general meeting in the mess hall immediately.”
The man shook his head. “People are going to freak, but you're the boss.”
“Don't worry, I'll fill everyone in during the meeting. I'll introduce our guests there. Now, get moving! We have a lot to do and very little time to get it done!” Elrond said, grinning.
The man turned and began yelling for people. Elrond looked at the women that had accompanied them. “Come on, let’s get to the mess hall while we still can. Otherwise, it'll take us forever to get through the masses.”
“Masses?” Jorga asked.
“Well, not masses really, but everyone will want to welcome me back personally. We're a pretty close community,” Elrond said, but he was still smiling as he led them towards a side door.
Jorga soon understood what he'd meant when they got to the mess hall. While they'd been walking, they had heard an announcement about the meeting, so those that had been closer had made it there before them. The large room was filling pretty quickly.
Again, true to his prediction, many of those that had arrived before them had welcomed Elrond and his small group back. As kindly as he could and with many good-natured insults thrown back and forth, Elrond managed to keep the group moving up to the dais at the front of the room.
By the time they had made it to the front, the room had reached capacity and a little beyond. Jorga could see that the doors had been blocked open, and people were standing out in the hallways.
When Elrond's second got his attention and nodded, Elrond stood. The room quickly went quiet.
“Folks, you all know me and we all know each other. Because of the last general meeting we had, you know of the dilemma we are now faced with. I think I've found a solution for us, but it will call for each and every one of you to trust me like you never have before,” he held up his hands to forestall the immediate proclamations and vows.
“No, I know you trust me, but what I'm asking for this time will go far and away beyond that. What I'm going to ask you for is your complete and utter trust in my judgment of a situation that could very well kill every one of us; man, woman and child. I'm making a decision based on information the four of us,” he gestured to the four people that had been kidnapped. “Have seen and witnessed.
“Further, this is an all or nothing deal. We have to be fully united here, no one can decide to say fuck it and go their own way. This decision will also be irreversible. I honestly believe it will save all of us and we'll gain much, much more, but the risk is great.
“What I'm about to tell you will sound like a fairy tale. I assure you, everything you are about to hear is true. I do ask that if you have questions, please hold them until we're done. Also, can someone fire up the big pots? We're going to be here awhile tonight.”
“We're on it, Captain!” a large woman said. She and three others, two other women and a young man, began moving through the crowd that parted for her as best as it could.
“Thank you, Laren. A couple of days ago, Arivan and myself, as well as Jaric and Jentse, were kidnapped by a small team from a nearby hidden military base. Before any of you panic, this base and the people that control it are not part of the Empire and have no connection to the Duke of Cassius. Rather, they have far more to fear from those groups then we do. As to who they are, well, that's where it's going to get hard for you to believe. Even I had a hard time with it, but I swear to you, they really are who they say they are.
“We all know that this planet was inhabited by some unknown race thousands of years ago. In fact, there is a thriving business centered on recovering items from this lost civilization. This base is hidden in the ruins of one of their cities." He paused a moment. "Folks, I would like to introduce to you a member of that civilization; Jorga Bedouin.”” He turned and waved his hand to the softly smiling blond girl.
Jorga had gotten the language directly from the computer systems and had mastered it in seconds thanks to her nanobots. She was also in constant contact with Mother and the security forces at the base, as per Ben's specific orders. She stood and approached the front of the Dais with Elrond.
“Ladies and Gentleman, as Captain Coir has said, I am a survivor of the war that took place on this planet roughly eight thousand years ago. I was born in a hospital that once stood only a few klicks from where we are standing right now. The ruins that surround us are what's left of one of our cities. It was called St, Louis.
“We managed to arrive here, in your time, through the planning of one man. He built and equipped several thousand survival pods to ensure that our race would survive the war that destroyed our planet. We used what we call hypersleep chambers in pods buried deep beneath what was then the surface of the planet.
“Those chambers are not like the ones you may be familiar with; they did not put us into stasis as your current technology does. Instead, we were basically frozen and revived at a predetermined time.
“Because of a computer malfunction, our trip through the ages was far longer than we had planned, and many of us died during the extended sleep. However, I can prove to every single one of you that we are standing on the home planet of the entire Human race. A claim we have the records to back up with the Imperial Court on Hyclarion.
“I'll leave it to Captain Coir to explain the details, but my husband, Ben Bedouin, acting on behalf of our Ruling Council has granted all of you emergency asylum with us. We are willing to take you in, feed and house all of you. We will also do our very best to make sure that fat fucking lizard pays for his crimes against you,” she said, finishing. Jorga turned and nodded to Elrond who winked at her.
Elrond turned back to his people. “Obviously, there is a lot more to this story than we have time for at this point, but if you're interested, we do have unrestricted access to the history files in the computer systems of the survivors.
“However, right now, I need to tell you that I have accepted, on our behalf, the offer of asylum.” He had to hold up his hands again as several grumbles and objections could be heard. “I know, none of you know what's fully going on. Honestly, there isn't a damn thing we can do to correct that without going through with this.
“I want each of you to stop and think about this though; we will be joining these peopl
e as free citizens of the planet, of our planet. Not to mention the small fact that right now, there is a team of Hyclarion Rangers on planet looking for us. If they find us, and you know as well as I do that they will, we are all going to die.
“At the very least, by making this agreement, I have ensured that our families will be safe from prosecution if we do get caught. Part of the terms of this offer was an agreement not to share our knowledge of these people with anyone not of their enclaves before they can approach the Hyclarion court with their claim to this planet.”
Before he could continue, one man near the front, stood. “Elrond, do you trust these people with our lives?”
“Yes, Gerent, I do, without doubt or reservation,” Elrond looked the man directly in the eyes and answered without hesitation or reservation.
The man called Gerent nodded his acceptance of that answer, but looked at the rest of the folks on the dais. “Jeric? Jentse? What of you? Do you trust these people?”
Both of them stepped forward, but Jentse spoke first. “Yes, Captain. I was leery at first, because it all sounded... well, you know how it sounds! But, I've seen the pods, I've seen the hypersleep chambers. More importantly, I've met and talked with some of the people. Not the people that they wanted me to meet, but just random people I met in a hallway or in the arboretum. These are good people, Sir. I feel that we can trust them.”
Again, the Captain nodded acceptance of her testimony. “Jaric?”
“Sir, you know me, I was terrified at first. I knew these people were simply going to kill us or hand us over to the HRO to save themselves. When we first arrived, we got out of the ship into a huge military base. Sir, I don't have your military knowledge, but I know that base was very well armed. If they had wanted us dead, we would be. So I figured there had to be something else they wanted us for.
“They didn't take us to a holding cell, but to an empty apartment. They took the time to show us how everything worked and told us how to get information from the computer systems available in the apartment. They did leave a guard outside the door, but considering they didn't know us either, I guess I can understand that.
