Sullivan Saga 1: Sullivan's War

by Michael Rose

  Allen lifted himself up from the bed. He grimaced as pain shot through his torso. He pulled back the front of his hospital gown and examined the nasty bruise just above his stomach. Above that was a bandaged burn mark where the bolt of electricity had struck him. He forced himself to move in spite of the pain and put first one foot on the cold floor, then the other. He scanned the room and noticed a closet. He opened the door and found his clothes hanging inside.

  Allen had dressed and was tying his shoes when the nurse came back into the room.

  “Mr. Allen, you shouldn’t be up yet.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Please, get back in bed.”

  Allen shrugged her hand off his shoulder and stood. “I said I’m fine.”

  He walked past the nurse and out into the corridor. The door to the next room was open. Inside, he could see Kate lying in bed with her eyes closed.

  “Kate,” he said, knocking lightly on the door.

  She stirred and looked toward him.

  “Can I come in?”

  She nodded. Allen stepped up to the side of the bed and took her hand in his.

  “I’m so sorry, Kate. I’m sorry I didn’t do my job.”

  She shook her head. “No, Frank. It’s not your fault.”

  “I’ll find him, Kate. I’ll find Harvey and….”

  “No,” Kate said. “I need Rick. You need Rick, too, if you’re going after Harvey.”

  “You want me to go to Faris?”

  “Yes. Take one of my father’s experimental ships.”

  Allen clenched his jaw. “Kate, you know why I can’t do that. I made a promise….”

  She began to weep softly.

  Allen looked around the room. He bit his lip. “All right. I’ll go get Rick. But before I do, I’m going to hand-pick some men from your father’s security team to watch over you.”

  Kate reached over to the side table and picked up a sheet of paper. “I had this typed and printed. I’ve signed it at the bottom. My father’s lawyer was in this morning, and he signed as a witness.”

  Allen read over the document. “This gives me full authority to act on behalf of your father’s estate.”

  “My estate now. You have access to the ships, to men, to any resources you’ll need.”

  Allen folded the paper and put it in his pocket. “I’ll get to it immediately.”

  A throat cleared behind him. Allen turned around and caught sight of the nurse, who stood looking on with a stern visage.

  “I’m just leaving,” he said. He turned back to Kate, leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Take care, kiddo. I’ll be back with Rick as soon as possible.”

  Kate smiled up at him. A single tear ran down her cheek as he departed.

  IV:

  ALLIANCES

  15

  GENERAL THOMAS GEARY smiled as men and women in uniforms and suits filed into the conference room in Fort Hendricks, Edaline’s primary military installation on the outskirts of its capital, Agrona. He shook the hands of the people who took seats on either side of him and waited for the gathered officials from Edaline’s military and government to sit before speaking.

  “I want to thank you all for joining me today. You’ve no doubt read the security briefs from the past few weeks and can guess why I’ve called this meeting.” He picked up a remote from the table and pressed a button. The 3-D projector in the center of the table lit up. Geary pressed another button, and the image of Richard Sullivan, late of the Edaline special forces, rose from the table.

  “You all know who this is,” said Geary. “Richard Sullivan went AWOL almost three years ago, assassinated several members of our parliament then traveled to Earth where he assassinated two assemblymen. Word has reached us that he then showed up on Abilene. We believe his ultimate goal is to meet up with the rebels on Faris and help them organize an attack on Edaline. Make no mistake: if anyone can succeed at this, it is this man.”

  Prime Minister Susan Dean cleared her throat. “General Geary, we are well aware of these facts and have taken the necessary security precautions.”

  “Yes, Madame Prime Minister, but I do not believe that is enough.”

  “What do you recommend, then?” asked Dean.

  “I believe that we should make a preemptive strike on the rebels on Faris.”

  A tone of disapproval erupted from the room. Dean quieted her colleagues before speaking. “If we make an attack on another sovereign planet, we will have the Stellar Assembly to answer to. Even if they don’t respond militarily, Edaline will be cut off. No ships will be allowed to travel between Edaline and any SA planet. We will stagnate.”

  Geary nodded. “I know the possible repercussions. But you have to understand that we cannot allow a terrorist group to make plans against us without responding. However, I do have a solution. Obviously, a full-scale military assault on Faris is not ideal. But our spies have found out that Faris has given the rebels the use of an old mining complex on the northeastern continent of the planet.” He pressed the button, and a map of Faris replaced Sullivan’s image. As he continued speaking, the map zoomed in on the mining complex at the edge of a rocky mountain range. “As of eight months ago, there were an estimated four thousand people living at this complex. They are all traitors to Edaline, all people who have left their home world and now seek to overthrow Edaline’s rightful government.”

  A murmur rose from the room.

  “And how do you plan on attacking this complex without conducting a full-scale assault?” asked Dean.

  “Covert operations, ma’am. If we can get a special forces team on the planet, we can severely cripple the rebels’ operation with a few well-placed explosive devices.” Several of the buildings on the map of the compound were illuminated in red. “This is what we believe to be the main operations building here. This is the entrance to one of the old mine shafts where we believe the rebels are stockpiling munitions. A series of detonations at the landing port will take out the few ships they have available to them.”

  “And what’s that fourth target?” asked Dean.

  “That is the largest residential structure at the mining complex.”

  “You mean where they live. Where their families sleep.”

  Geary straightened. “Madame Prime Minister, there will, of course, be collateral damage.” He cleared his throat. “However, this operation will save many more lives in the long run, and, if our team is successful, there will be nothing to trace it back to Edaline.”

  “But everyone will know it was us,” said Dean.

  “Perhaps that’s true. But you know how the SA works, Madame Prime Minister. They don’t do anything without being certain. They’ll have their suspicions, but an investigation will find evidence lacking to link the explosions to Edaline. They’ll drop the issue. Besides, Faris isn’t an Assembly planet, so they won’t spend too many resources on it.”

  “I still don’t understand why we need to strike preemptively,” said Dean. “If they attack, they won’t be any match for our defenses.”

  “You’re quite correct. But there is another consideration.”

  “What is that?”

  “The people of Edaline have been… restless, as of late. As you are well aware, the military is not required to inform the government of every operation that we conduct, but I think, in this case, you should be privy to certain information.”

  Geary pressed the button on the remote and a bar graph was projected into the air in front of them. “These are the number of dissidents that have been captured or killed, by year. This particular chart goes back twelve years to the rebellion. You can see that after the rebellion was put down, the numbers decreased. Until seven years ago. They began increasing due to the Sergeant Riley incident and there was a big jump after Sullivan killed our ministers. They’ve been going up every month ever since.”

  Dean studied the graph. “This ends with last year. How many dissidents have the military captured or killed this year?”
<
br />   Geary displayed another chart. “Here is this year, by month. Once news of Sullivan’s actions on Earth made their way here, we began hearing a lot of chatter about a second rebellion. As you can see, last month alone we captured or killed over two hundred dissidents.”

  Dean nodded. “And if the rebels on Faris do attack, even unsuccessfully, it might rally support for their cause.”

  “Precisely, ma’am.”

  Dean rested her chin on her hands. “If we do this, it has to be absolutely untraceable.”

  Geary smiled. “A four-man team will travel to Faris in a private freighter. All the paperwork—flight plans, cargo manifests—will be in order. Once on the ground, they will contact the rebels at the mining complex and say they wish to join the cause.”

  Dean sighed. “I suppose there’s no other way?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “All right, then. Even though it isn’t required, I give my approval to this operation. If word about it gets out, the people should know it was sanctioned by the government as well as the military.”

  Geary smiled. “Thank you, Madame Prime Minister. You’ll be pleased to know, then, that the team is already en route to Faris.”

  Dean raised her eyebrows. “So you didn’t really care about my approval at all, did you General?”

  Geary smiled. “As you said yourself, ma’am, your approval was not required.” He clicked off the holographic display and brought the lights back up. “But by granting your approval, you’ve shown yourself to be a strong and decisive leader. The people will reward you for this.”

  Dean shook her head. “I hope so, General. But even if this attack is successful, we may still have a rebellion on our hands. This may give them something to rally around.”

  “Perhaps. But I’d rather they not see us defeat the rebels with their own eyes. I’d rather it happen remotely, where the ugliness of war will not be so… vivid.”

  Dean stood up from her chair. “If anything goes wrong, Geary—if your men are captured or identified—I will have your stars.”

  Geary smiled again and saluted as she left the room, followed by her advisors. As soon as she was gone, the smile faded into a scowl. Geary turned to the military officers around him. “Now, gentlemen,” he said, “let’s get back to more important work.”

  16

  FRANK ALLEN WAS tense with anticipation. The experimental ship had entered hyper-hyperspace only a few hours previously, and ever since then, Allen’s senses had been tuned to pick up any indication that one of the entities was present. He was thankful that Dale Hammond, the same pilot from his first trip into hyper-hyperspace, was at the helm. It helped to have a friendly face around.

  Hammond looked over at Allen and grinned. “Why are you so jumpy?”

  Allen hadn’t told Hammond about his encounter on the way back from Damaris. He decided to lie. “It’s just that I have to go tell Sullivan about Mr. Alexander’s death. He’ll think I wasn’t doing my job. I did let Harvey into the penthouse, after all. I did put Kate in danger. I don’t know how he’ll take that.”

  “When we were coming back from Damaris, after you and Sullivan rescued Kate, I got to know him a little. I wouldn’t worry about it. I think he knows the kind of man you are. He knows you did everything you could.”

  Allen nodded. “I suppose so. Still, it’s not good news to have to deliver. He’ll have to delay his work on Faris and come back to Silvanus.” Allen got up and stretched. “I’m going to get a little shuteye. When does my shift start?”

  “Twelve hundred.”

  “All right. I’ll be back then. See you in a few hours.”

  Allen stepped out of the cockpit and into the rear of the ship. He passed the galley and lounge, but as he was about to step into the cabin and crawl into his bunk, he faltered. Sitting on the bottom bunk was Liz Wagner. She smiled when she saw him.

  Allen steadied himself against the hatchway for a moment then entered and closed the hatch behind him. He sat in the swivel chair next to the desk and swallowed a few times before speaking.

  “Are you the same one? The one who came to me before?”

  Liz nodded. “It’s good to see you again, Frank.”

  Allen shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t say the same. I was anticipating this, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. I suppose you want to talk about the other ship that passed this way recently. Sullivan’s ship.”

  “We noticed his passing, yes.”

  “You have to understand that I told them about your wish to be left alone. And it’s only because of difficult circumstances that I’m here now.”

  “We know, Frank. We can see it in your mind. And we spoke to Sullivan when he passed.”

  “You did? What did he say?”

  “He was apologetic. He told us how important it was that he get to Faris quickly, about the rebellion and his desire for justice.”

  Allen swallowed again. Looking at Liz, he could feel himself beginning to tear up. “And is that good enough? Do you—will you—allow it?”

  “You’re still in pain. I can feel that. If you like, I will take another form.”

  Allen bit his lip and shook his head. “No. It’s all right. I’ve had some more time, and I think I can handle it.”

  “Come over to me, Frank.”

  Allen got up and moved to the side of the bed. He sat and cradled Liz in his arms.

  “You asked a question,” she said.

  “Yes.”

  “We have decided to allow Sullivan—and you—to travel in hyper-hyperspace until your goals are accomplished. These ships will allow you to stay one step ahead of your adversaries.”

  Allen broke the embrace with Liz. “You mean Sullivan’s adversaries. This isn’t my fight.”

  “Are you so sure?”

  “I’m positive. Once we take care of Harvey, I’m done. I’ll stay on with Kate if she’ll have me, but I have no intention of going to war with Edaline’s military.”

  “But isn’t that why you joined the Bureau? To fight injustice?”

  “You’re right. When I was young and naïve, that is what I thought. I know better now.”

  “What do you know?”

  “That even the Assembly is corrupt. Even the people who we elect to serve our best interests are only looking out for themselves. It’s that system that ultimately led to your… to Liz’s… death. But I’m done fighting it. I’ll just live with it as best as I can.”

  Liz’s eyes saddened. She held out her hand and put her palm over his heart. “That’s not what’s inside here. That’s not the Frank Allen that Liz loved.”

  Allen shook his head as tears began to stream down his cheeks. “Liz is dead. And that Frank Allen died with her. I’m sorry, but I just can’t keep fighting. I can’t. I can’t.”

  He wiped the tears from his eyes then dried his face on his sleeve. When he looked up again, he was alone.

  17

  TO MANY, FARIS was an example of everything that had been done right. The first settlers had been careful to keep the environment pristine, the cities clean and the inhabitants satisfied with life. As a result, they had been able to keep out the less savory element that had gone on to inhabit many of the other non-Stellar Assembly planets. In fact, if one didn’t know, the level of prosperity on Faris would lead one to believe that it was, in fact, an SA planet. The only reason it wasn’t was because the people of Faris didn’t believe the SA went far enough in protecting the environments of the inhabited planets. If they joined the SA, they would have to conform to the Assembly’s environmental standards. On every other planet, those standards would mean a tightening of regulations. On Faris, they would mean a slackening, allowing corporations to come in and exploit the planet’s resources.

  Faris, in addition to having strict environmental standards, endorsed as free a society as possible. Within the semi-socialistic economic structure, the people enjoyed a level of freedom unmatched by any other planet. Poverty and hunger were unknown, and crime
was almost non-existent. With Faris’s constitution forbidding any private money from being spent to either endorse or slander candidates and strictly-enforced anti-lobbying legislation, political corruption was minimal. Most of the citizens of Faris supported this system enthusiastically.

  The ideals of the Farisians being as they were, the government—and the people—were more than happy to offer a refuge to those escaping the tyranny on Edaline. Many Edalinians had joined Faris’s society and were living quite happily on their new home world. But for four thousand Edalinians, escape from Edaline’s tyrants was not enough. They sought to overthrow the planet’s government and put in place a free and fair system.

  The mining camp that Allen arrived at had been abandoned for nearly a decade when the refugees from Edaline first started coming to Faris. Faris’s government had shut it down after it determined that further mining in that area would have had too-detrimental an effect on the environment. Open pit mines were out of the question, and what was left was a single, straight shaft boring down into the ground at a fifteen degree slope.

  After they’d dropped out of hyperspace, Allen had messaged ahead to the rebel camp that he was en route. Sullivan met him at the landing port at the edge of the camp. The ships that had once transferred the ore to the smelters elsewhere on the planet had been replaced by a handful of aging freighters and small passenger ships, the few vessels the rebellion had managed to acquire.

  “Frank,” said Sullivan as the other man stepped out onto the tarmac. They shook hands, and Allen looked around at the complex.

  “Hello, Rick.”

  “Is everything all right? What brings you here?”

  “I think we should talk in private, Rick.”

  Sullivan turned to the two men beside him, part of the complex’s security team, and nodded. “It’s all right. He can be trusted.”

  The men departed, and Sullivan followed Allen back into the ship.

  “Have a seat,” said Allen, after leading Sullivan into the ship’s lounge.