Sally paused while she thought again. “I can arrange that Major. I will have her interrogated so you know who was pulling whose strings, then you can announce that she died from injuries sustained during the action to release the First of the First. You need never see her again.”
“You’ll put her out of an airlock? That seems harsh, but if that’s the way you do things, it’s not for me to question it.”
“I won’t go into details, but I’ll take care of everything.”
The major brightened up a bit at this, but his improvement in mood didn’t last long as he turned and saw the scene at the back of the meeting room. He tried to ignore the sight of the First of the First standing naked and bending over to assiduously clean the area between her legs and under her tail with a wet wipe while Mark and Touren knelt on the floor next to her, Mark holding a towel. He shuddered and walked out of the room.
Sally used the People’s communications to connect to Colonel D’Nesh, back at her army headquarters, a third of the way across the galaxy. “D’Nesh, I have a challenge for you. It involves the care and rehabilitation of an exiled Herassan Colonel, to be kept confined to Army headquarters. Are you up for it?”
“On top of organizing an army that has just got two hundred times bigger, I will hardly notice it. B’Erren Tek is proving to be invaluable. It seems weird, her calling me Sir. Do you remember how terrified of her we all were when you joined the Galactic Savior Army?”
“She’s calling you Sir? Has she joined up? I thought she was going to be a civilian advisor.”
“She is, but whenever she orders me to do something, she calls me Sir!” Sally laughed; it was so like B’Erren Tek. “Talking of advisors, do you remember Lieutenant Brog Dant?”
“I remember the name, but I never met him. I was just a lowly Corporal back then.”
“He could be useful to you. Would you mind if I reached out to him to see if he would join your staff?”
“Not at all, that would be great!”
“Good, I’ll get on it. We’ll drop off the Herassan as soon as she’s recovered and I’ll brief you then.”
Sally disconnected and spoke to the Major. “That’s settled then. I’ll have the Colonel taken to the Swift. You still have quite a job on your hands Major. Do you need any assistance from my team? I have additional troops on standby if you need them.”
“Thank you General, but I think it best if we settle this with Herassan forces, but I really appreciate all you have done so far. I will make sure that you get all due credit in my report when this is all over.”
“Thank you Major. Who does your report go to?”
“Colonel Drad Ki Jass – oh. It won’t be going to her, so it will go to the Defense and Security Advisor.”
“He should be in custody. I’ll find out from the Colonel what his part in this was, but he was certainly involved.”
“Ah yes, of course. In that case it will go straight to the First of the First.” he paused, “But I suppose she will already know what you have done.”
“Indeed she will Major, but it should still be recorded. It will become part of your historical archive. This will become an important part of Herassan history, when the constitution changes from a hereditary aristocracy to a democratic republic where every citizen has a meaningful vote. Your role as the loyal officer who thwarted the coup and rescued the First of the First so she could put their reforms in motion will go down in history.”
“Yes, I must speak to the First of the First.” He looked over to see Mike, still naked, vigorously rubbing herself down with the towel Mark had been holding. “I’ll speak to her later, when, when…” he stuttered.
“When she’s got some clothes on?” Sally asked. “Yeah, that would probably be better.”
Chapter Ninety
Free At Last, Free At Last.
“And another thing,” Mike said as she pulled her fresh uniform on, “move your fucking ship! It’s pitch dark outside still and it’s the middle of the afternoon.”
“You’ve really got into the character of being an obnoxious tyrant,” Mark said, “but can you cut down on the swearing a bit? It’s not very regal.”
“I’ll speak the way I fucking well want!”
“You must be very stressed.” Touren said. “Would you like me to administer a mild sedative to help calm you down?”
“No! That’s a stupid idea.”
“In that case, I do have an alternative therapy.”
“What’s that?” Mike asked.
“A punch in the head if you don’t lighten up. Now, would you like a sedative?”
“Fuck off!” Mike snapped. The words had hardly left her mouth when Touren punched her so hard it almost lifted Mike off her feet and laid her out on the floor.
Mark looked down at her. “You probably should have said yes to the sedative.”
Touren bent down to help Mike back to her feet. “You’re going to have a bruise there. I’ll get an ice pack.”
As Touren left, Mike said, “That was uncalled for.”
“I should have done it myself.” Mark said. “You were being exceptionally obnoxious, even for you. Will you calm down now?”
“Possibly. I’ll see how it goes. Why haven’t you moved your fucking ship yet?” she said with a grin.
“I really don’t know why you don’t get punched more often.”
“It’s my natural charm. People can’t help liking me.”
“A surprising number of people make the effort to dislike you. What do you plan to do next?”
“I haven’t got a plan yet. I’ve been focused on staying alive. What’s happening to Drad and the two guards?”
“Colonel Drad Ki Jass is being taken to the Swift for medical treatment, then she’ll be taken to Sally’s army headquarters and kept there in exile. If she stayed here she would probably be executed. The guards have been taken to the temporary military prison that the Major has set up.”
“So have you moved your ship yet?”
“No, the Swift hasn’t gone yet, which is why it’s still dark. I’ve started moving it, but it has to be moved slowly.”
“Why don’t you just blink it out? If you can take it from one side of the universe to the other in a single blink, how can it take so long to move the bloody thing up into orbit?”
“The Swift is big. Very big. If I blinked it out it would leave a huge hole in the atmosphere. The air rushing back into it would cause a massive atmospheric disturbance.”
“A bit of wind doesn’t matter. I’d like to see some sunlight.”
“It would be more than a bit of wind; the Swift has got a huge volume.”
“Oh yeah? How much?”
“Kate,” he asked his AI, “what is the volume of the Swift?”
“You should be able to work this out in your head. You know its dimensions. It is approximately one hundred and fifty thousand cubic kilometers, or thirty six thousand cubic miles. To put that into context, the volume of Mount Everest and foothills, from sea level to its summit is approximately five hundred and seventy five cubic miles. You are right, blinking out would cause catastrophic atmospheric disturbances, so the safety overrides would prevent the Swift from blinking out, even if you ordered it to.”
“It’s got a volume of one hundred and fifty thousand cubic kilometers. Ask your AI what the consequences of blinking it out would be.”
“Huh. That’s ridiculous. Why do you need such a big ship anyway? Oh, I remember, it’s because you’ve got a small dick.”
“I’m beginning to wish we hadn’t freed you.”
“Whatever. Now, take me to the Freedom Movement HQ.”
“You can walk. Ask me again when you’ve learned some manners.”
“Oh I’m so sorry mister Mark sir. Would you be so kind as to assist me by arranging some transport for me to the Freedom Movement HQ? It would be very kind of you, and I would be so grateful.”
“As you’ve asked nicely, we’ll go down to a lander and I’ll send
you in that.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Mike said, “Get a move on. And get those five Herassan’s that were in the honor guard back to the HQ too.” She turned and walked out the room. Mark shook his head and followed her.
Chapter Ninety One
Mike Contemplates The Future
“Sha, have you still got the lander Mark loaned you?” Mike asked her on an AI to AI channel.
“Yes, do you want it back?”
“Yes, with you on it. Bring it back to the Freedom Movement HQ. Do you remember that young girl who came on the stage with us? Her name is Fayr.”
“What about her?”
“Do you know where she is?”
“She’s here somewhere, lots of the rebels – I mean Freedom Movement people are.”
“Find her and bring her with you.”
Mike cut the connection and saw Touren coming towards her. “Did the ice pack help?” Touren asked.
“Yeah, thanks. The swelling has gone down already.” Mike replied.
“I’m sorry I had to punch you.”
“No worries. If you had been behaving like that I would have stuck a blade between your ribs.”
So by your standards you got off lightly.”
“Yeah,” Mike grinned. “but now I’ve given you the idea I’d better be more careful when you’re around.”
“Don’t worry Mike, I wouldn’t do that to you.” she paused, “But I might shoot you.”
“Try to make it non-fatal.”
“I’ve been ordered to join the others inside the HQ building. Walk with me?” Touren asked.
“No, I want to see Alan. I’ll catch up with you later. If we get some downtime we can share a smoking bowl.”
As Touren walked away, Mike said to herself, “Now where is Alan?” Her AI located him and pointed the way.
“It is good to see you safe.” Alan said when she found him, Let us go to a lander where we can sit in comfort and talk in privacy” Alan said to Mike. As they walked he said, “It must have been uncomfortable while you were being held hostage.”
“Uncomfortable? Yeah, that’s one way to put it. Don’t say anything to the others, but I was terrified., Being one of the People you won’t understand this as you are invulnerable, but I was tied up in the dark and held captive by my oldest friend - who was threatening to kill me. I had two incompetent and stupid guards who kept arguing with each other whether they should kill me anyway and pretend it was self-defense, just because they were bored with guarding me. I was completely helpless, and I didn’t know if anyone was coming to help. I thought I was going to die for no reason, alone, tied up, soaked in my own piss.”
“You are right that I cannot put myself in your place Mike, but I will share a secret with you. I will keep what you have told me secret, you must keep what I tell you a secret. We, the People, are seen as being cold and uncaring. Our emotions are different to yours, different to any other species we know of, but we have a strong sense of empathy. We may not have the same emotions as you, but we feel your response to your experiences. Now that you are with me, I can feel your fear and loneliness, and it affects me almost as though it were my own. But you must have known that Mark and Sally wouldn’t abandon you. I have no doubt that either of them would have willingly risked everything to rescue you, and the only reason they didn’t free you sooner would have been because they were unable to.”
“Yeah, maybe. Thanks for those words Alan. You’re not bad for one of the People.”
Alan nodded as he said, “I think you meant that as a joke?”
“Yeah, sort of. I wanted to see you to find out what you, Bob and Sean are planning to do now.”
“You, or those organizing your transition to a democracy, are going to need guidance and assistance. Sean is planning to stay here to provide that assistance. He will also arrange for the necessary technology to be supplied and set up for you to allow the simultaneous distribution of voting requests, and for the collection, analysis and redistribution of the results. I will stay to assist him for the initial planning until he is happy that he is in control of the process. He does not really need me; he will get all the help he needs from the People’s support community. I do not know what Bob’s intentions are. I believe he will decide after he has spoken to Mark. I confess I am surprised at how high a regard he holds Mark in, considering how experienced Bob is. I see potential greatness in Mark, I believe Bob does too. We are privileged to know him.”
“We may be, but don’t tell him that. It will change him and I, well, I like him the way he is.”
Alan nodded, “I don’t think it would change him much, but I wouldn’t tell him what I told you. He will come to realize it himself in the fullness of time, and he has almost endless time ahead of him.”
“We all heard about how Bob was to Colonel Drad Ki Jass when he met her with Orange. If Sean behaves like that with us, it’s going to be a difficult relationship.”
“Bob is different from other People. All the Tolen are. It’s why I worry that Mark may join them one day. Perfectly normal People change when they join the Tolen. What they do, it changes them. Bob has changed more than any other. He has become brutalized by his experiences. He could never fit back into normal People’s society. He is condemned to spend eternity in the Tolen, or to exile himself and never have any contact with us.”
Alan closed his eyes briefly, then looked at Mike. “His fate is a cause of great sadness to the People.”
“So Sean will be different?”
“Yes. Sean is gentle and can seem naïve, but he is one of the People. You can trust him and rely on him.”
“So what should I do next Alan. My life isn’t here on Tefran. I am a soldier; I need to be on active service.”
“You know what you should do Mike. You don’t need me to tell you. You will do the right thing.”
“But I don’t know. I know what I should do, and I know what I want to do, and they are two different things.”
“You are in a dilemma. You don’t know whether to follow your heart or your head?”
“That’s exactly it. Which should I do?”
“If you choose either, you will have regrets. Life is not black and white Mike. You must find a way that satisfies both of those paths. I will leave you in the lander. Set your status to ‘do not disturb’. Don’t focus on the two alternatives but open your mind, allow yourself to explore possibilities. You will find a way and you will be surprised at how simple it is?”
“You’re shitting me. If it was that simple I would know it now.”
“I think you do know it Mike, you just haven’t realized it yet. If you need to, we will talk again tomorrow.” Alan got up and left the lander, leaving Mike sealed in.
‘Thanks a bunch Alan.’ she thought. ‘That was as helpful as giving someone who has been spaced a glass of water.’
She laid back in her seat and closed her eyes. She thought about what Alan had said and let her mind drift.
◆◆◆
Mark met up with Sally back at the Freedom Movement HQ, “What’s next on the agenda now we’ve rescued Mike?” Mark asked Sally. “Major Bryd Sa Dett seems to be in control of the combined armed forces.”
“You will probably want to get the prisoners off the Swift.” Sally said. “That’s going to take a lot of lander trips.”
“Not as many as you might think. I added some expanded landers to the Swift’s build program. They have four times the capacity of a standard lander, I thought they might be useful at some time, though I didn’t expect it to be so soon.”
“That will help. How many have you got?”
“Two so far. Do you know how many prisoners we’ve got?”
“No idea. You contact the Major and tell him you are going to deliver some more prisoners to him, I’ll arrange on board guards for the landers “
“And after that?”
“There’s nothing urgent at the moment. The Herassans can guard the HQ – aided by all the automat
ed defenses we’ve got here, but I don’t think there are any threats anyway, so I’ll get Simon, Seltet and Bekkreshan here, then we’ll have some R and R on the Swift.”
“Rest and recuperation?” Mark asked.
“Of course. What else could it mean?”
“Rescue and recovery.”
“That’s something completely different in my language. Have a word with your AI to give you context when it translates.”
“Did you hear that Kate?” Mark asked his AI.
First of the First Page 48
