“Can I clarify, you want another propaganda package?”
“I’d rather you found a different term for it, but yes.”
“Do you have any suggestions?”
“How about, edited reality?”
“Edited to present a favorable image?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“So, propaganda it is.”
Mark sighed. “That word has very negative connotations back on Earth.”
“If we ever go to Earth, I’ll remember that.”
Mark had reached Sally by now, and it seemed a good time to finish the conversation with his AI.
“I’ve spoken to the Major. He was outside the Palace waiting to hear from us. He’s on his way up here with a squad to take the rebels into custody.”
“He called the soldiers rebels?”
“Yeah. It’s a bit of a turnaround isn’t it. He’s invited the five Freedom Movement volunteers we left guarding the lander to join him up here.”
“That is a turnaround! Are they coming?”
“Yes. He said they were a bit cross when he explained the lander would protect them and didn’t need them to protect it.”
“Let’s hope they don’t hold a grudge. Now you’ve solved the problem of the prisoners, how are we going to get Mike released in one piece?”
“The Colonel will want to negotiate her escape from the Palace, probably from Tefran.”
“Then let her go. I can provide a lander to take her wherever she wants to go.”
“It’s not going to be that easy. In every hostage negotiation I’ve been involved in, and that’s a lot, the person holding the hostage has always wanted to take the hostage with them to guarantee their safe passage.”
“Have you ever let them take the hostage with them?”
“No, of course not. I’ve been dealing with outcasts. The purpose of negotiating with them has always been to buy time while we put a plan in place to kill them and rescue the hostage. “We can’t do that here, we have to take the Colonel alive, preferably uninjured.”
“That will be difficult, so what’s your plan?”
“I haven’t got one, or we would be executing it, I wouldn’t be wasting my time talking to you. I hoped we would be able to work out something between us.”
“I’ve just disabled all their weapons, so they can’t shoot her now.”
“You’ve only just done it! Why didn’t you do it before we got up here?”
“Because I didn’t think of it, OK? I’ve already been given a hard time by Mike, so don’t you start picking on me!”
Sally burst out laughing. “Mike must be OK if she managed to get under your skin that much!”
“She can be really obnoxious sometimes. I’ve half a mind to leave her there!”
“Cut her some slack Mark. She won’t admit it, but she’s probably frightened. She’s got no weapon, no armor, no backup and she’s outnumbered. I know that two of them are only Herassan soldiers, but from what she’s told me about her, the Colonel is a toughie. And remember, Mike idolized her as a child, and that was reinforced when she met up with her again here on Tefran. She must have very conflicting emotions and would probably find it hard to fight her, even if it is for her life.”
“Yes, you’re probably right.” Mark said, now embarrassed by his outburst. “It can’t help that she’s tied to a stool and can’t get to a toilet, so she’s pissed herself.”
Sally thought back to when she had just joined an army and was so frightened when she had to step into a gravity tube that looked like she was going to plummet hundreds of meters to the bottom, that she couldn’t control her bladder. She had been so ashamed, and when she stepped out, other soldiers had pointed at the wetness around her groin and down her legs and laughed, humiliating her in front of her friends and dozens of strangers. That feeling washed over her again as she thought of Mike
“We need to get her a fresh uniform.” she said.
“I’ve done that. It’s in a drone that’s just gone into the meeting room next to her office.”
“And what was that about you leaving her there? That’s why you got her a new uniform?”
“I did that in a moment of weakness. But anyway, I’ve had an idea for how to rescue Mike without her being killed, and the Major can be involved without risk to him or Mike. That helps our case for assisting the Herassans, rather than intervening. That’s better for Mike and it would be good for the Major’s career too. They are going to need a new Colonel soon.”
“Is this going to be a sensible idea?”
Mark ignored her comment, “It’s a pity we haven’t got a drone in there, but we can place everyone in their precise location in the room by their AI transmissions, and we have an accurate floor plan.
Sally nodded, “Go on.”
“The meeting room and the First Advisors office both adjoin Mike’s office.”
“So what. They are separated by stone walls almost a meter thick, The doorway from the corridor is about five centimeters thick and made of wood. We can smash that down. We would need a lot of explosives to penetrate the walls, and the blast would certainly kill anyone who was near the point of entry on the other side of it and would injure or kill everyone else in the room. Or were you thinking of drilling through it?”
“And if we were to smash the door down?”
“Mike’s guards would almost certainly kill her. They carry big combat knives and would use them as soon as they realized their weapons don’t work. So we won’t be doing that.”
“That’s what I thought. What do you think would happen if your phase shift armor was set fairly high and you punched a stone wall?” Mark asked.
“You might be surprised to hear I have never given it any thought.”
“This wall next to us is stone, do you want to try it?”
“No thanks.”
Mark moved closer to the wall, looked at Sally and smiled, drew back his arm and punched the wall hard.
“Oh, I think I see what you mean.” Sally said.
Chapter Eighty Eight
Ready To Go
Major Bryd Sa Dett brought fifty soldiers who quickly rounded up the prisoners and marched them out. “We’ve set up part of the City Guard headquarters as a secure area to keep the prisoners until we decide what to do with them.” he told Sally.
“Remember they are soldiers, just like you.” Sally said. “They were only following orders and probably didn’t even know what was going on.”
“You can leave them to me. They are our problem to deal with. I’ve got units going through the Palace. They’ve already found a few groups of rebel soldiers. They haven’t put up any resistance. They’ve found some of the ministerial aristocrats in the Palace too.”
“What have you done with them?” Mark asked quickly.
“We’ve released them of course.”
“Shit. Round them up as quickly as possible and bring them back here. Put them under armed guard and shoot them if they try to escape.”
“But they are aristocrats. We can’t arrest them, and we certainly can’t threaten them!”
“I’ll send some of my team.” Sally said. “They won’t have a problem threatening them, and they won’t mind shooting them if they don’t comply.”
“Are you mad?” the Major said.
“You’d be mad to let them go.” Mark said. “Some of them were involved in this coup.”
“Why do you think that? The idea is preposterous!” the Major asked.
“We’ve already had a run-in with some of them.” Sally said, “We are sure the Defense and Security Advisor had something to do with the murder of the First Advisor, and he ordered soldiers to attack Mark and me.”
“Are you all right?” the Major asked anxiously.
“Mark smiled and shook his head. “Of course we are. “Unfortunately we had to subdue the soldiers. The Treasury Advisor ran away as soon as we kicked off, but the Defense and Security Advisor got a bit mouthy, so I had to subdue him to
o.”
“You attacked the Defense and Security Advisor?” the Major asked, aghast.
“Just self-defense.” Mark said. “I may have got a bit enthusiastic, but I don’t think I broke any bones. Not many anyway.”
“He was definitely involved.” Sally said.
“Definitely.” Mark echoed.
“Are you sure?” the Major asked.
“I’m sure.” Mark said. “What about you Sally. Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“That’s very worrying.” the Major said, looking worried.
“I’m not worried.” Sally said.
“Or me.” Mark said.
“And you say you hurt him?” the Major asked.
“I hope so.” Mark said. “He’s a traitor and an arrogant prick.”
“Um, yes, well, I can’t argue with that.” the Major said. Then he smiled. “I wish I’d been there.”
“If we find him again,” Mark said, “I’ll show you what I did.”
“But right now, we need to rescue the First of the First. We’d like you to help us.” Sally said.
“You want my troops to rescue her? We have hostage negotiators””
“Major, I have no doubt about the willingness of your troops to be involved and the skill of your negotiators, but the evidence we have from the First of the First is that we have very little time to act, and only decisive action will succeed in rescuing her before she is killed. Mark has a plan that only he can execute which will rescue her and hopefully won’t kill the hostage takers.”
“I don’t care if you kill them. They are traitors and have threatened the life of the First of the First. General, you army famously doesn’t take prisoners when you engage with outcasts, these people are no better than them.”
“This is not a normal mission for me Major. We do not fight professional armies. We have taken every care to limit Herassan casualties. We are here purely to protect our friend and colleague, who happens to be the First of the First. I will leave any judicial process to your government.”
“Very well General. Now, what part do you wish me to play in this rescue?”
While Sally briefly explained the plan and his part in it, Mark opened a channel to Mike and explained what they were going to do.
“I don’t care what you do, just get me out of here!” she said and disconnected.
The Major asked, “Does the First of the First know what you’re planning.”
“Yes,” Mark answered. “She is fully briefed.”.
“And does she approve of your plan?”
“Oh yes,” Mark said, “she’s very enthusiastic about it. Particularly as you are playing a key role in it.” It was only a small lie.
“But you just want me to tag along.” he said.
“Major, the Empire is going to need a new Colonel in charge of City and Palace security when the dust settles, and possibly even a new General in charge of planetary security. Your involvement in the rescue of the First of the First could be key to your promotion. Do you want to join us or not?” Sally asked.
“Of course I’ll join you!” the Major snapped. Then he smiled. “And I’ll try not to kill anyone.”
Mark messaged Sally, “I’ve disabled his weapon.”
“Good thinking.” she messaged back.
Sally turned to address the team, who had all come to join them. “Mark, the Major and I are going to effect the rescue. We are entering via the meeting room. Simon, Ranesh, I want you in there standing back. If any hostiles try to leave without being restrained, stop them with kill shots. The rest of you stay in the corridor with weapons ready, just in case. Any questions?”
There were none, of course. Mark, Sally, the Major, Simon and Ranesh assembled in the meeting room, Simon and Ranesh stood right at the back, ready to move forwards with their heavy KE weapons held down, safeties off. The high velocity, armor piercing rounds from these weapons would penetrate Herassan body armor easily.
“We’re ready to go.” Mark told Mike.
“Just stop dicking about out there and get on with it!”
As Mark got into position just in front of Simon and Ranesh, with Sally ready to fall in behind him and the Major next to her ready to bring up the rear, the Major said, “Are you sure about this? Those walls are nearly a meter thick and made of massive blocks of stone. Have you done this before?”
“Now that you come to mention it,” Mark said, “I haven’t tried it before, but I’m sure it will be fine. Masks on everyone and turn your air supplies on. On my mark, mark!”
Leaning forward into a sprint, Mark sprang forward and ran for all he was worth straight at the wall. The major winced as Mark ran, unconvinced of the viability of the plan.
Chapter Eighty Nine
Mark Hits The Wall
When Mark hit the wall, instead of bouncing off, or sliding down and leaving a smear of blood, he continued straight through. With his phase shift protection turned up, nothing could prevent him from moving in the direction he wanted to go in. However, his physical presence wasn’t removed from this quantum phase of reality, which meant that whatever was in his way, in this case a meter thick stone wall, had to move to allow him through. Meter thick stone walls aren’t prone to moving without at least some show of resistance, and this one was no exception. An explosion of stone dust and fragments filled the air as Mark passed through the new hole in the wall into the left hand side of Mike’s office. The Colonel, somewhat surprised to be assaulted by a blast of debris from what had appeared to her until a few moments ago to be a perfectly serviceable wall, was lying under a heap of rubble. Sally and the Major rushed in behind Mark and secured the shocked and dust covered guards.
Mark called out, “Simon, come and take care of the Colonel. That doesn’t mean kill her.” Then he ran to Mike. She was lying on the floor still tied to her stool, covered in dust and small stone fragments. Not taking the time to pull out a knife and cut her free, he picked her up and carried her out to the meeting room, calling the drone with her clothes over. He sat her on the floor, pulled out his oversized knife, the one Kar Fen had given him when fighting alongside him on Gnn’Ath, and cut her free. He grabbed a thick herbal smelling wet wipe from inside the drone and started to wipe the dust away from Mike’s eyes and nose.
“Give that to me you fucking cretin!” she snapped, snatching it out of his hands. “You nearly killed me! Give me a drink!”
“Tea or water?”
“Water. Then tea. Have you got me a fresh uniform?”
“Yes. Have another wipe.” He said, handing her another of the thick wet wipes.
“I need a lot of these. You better have brought enough!”
Mark tried to suppress a smile and handed her another. “Get your wet uniform off and wipe yourself down. I’ve got plenty of wet wipes and a towel for you to dry yourself with afterwards. Do you want me to help you off with your uniform?” he asked reaching up to pull it open at her neck”
“Get your hands off me, you mammalian pervert! How dare you try and get the First of the First naked!” she yelled at him, her face contorting as she tried to keep a straight face.
“What, what…” the Major said, so shocked that he looked like he was about to have a seizure.
“Just ignore them Major. She may be your First of the First, but they act like naughty children whenever they get together.” Sally said. “I’m seriously thinking of getting a children’s therapist to try to get them to behave.”
“But, but she’s the First of the First!” he spluttered.
“Yeah, and apart from the People, he’s the most powerful person in the galaxy. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“Am I having a bad dream?” the Major asked.
“Uh, yes, that’s a good way to think of it.” Sally said. “Just a dream, Major. Let’s get Colonel Drad Ki Jass somewhere secure. She needs medical treatment. Simon said she’s got multiple lacerations and bruises from flying rock fragments, and she’s got a gash on he
r head which is probably the injury which knocked her unconscious.”
“She won’t get much treatment from us.” the Major said. “There’s no point. For the level of the treasonous act she has committed we still have the death penalty.”
Sally thought for a moment. “I could have her taken to Mark’s ship. We can treat her there.”
“Good riddance to her. It would be convenient if she never came back!”
First of the First Page 47
