He looked pointedly at Ortiz but spoke to everyone. “We could run. Hell, that’s probably the smartest move. We’d surely survive longer, but it wouldn’t change the fact that we’d always be on the run. As for our families, for the reasons we took the Puller? They’d still be at the mercy of the Terran Union occupiers. Maybe someday the Alliance will get around to freeing them! How do you think our families will fare once they discover we mutinied while they endured, then didn’t come for them? To realize the Alliance only freed them to make them into pariahs, the only known families of treacherous mutineers, cowards who wasted the one chance they fought for?”
He looked at everyone and received a nod of silent encouragement from Ludovic. “I joined because I’m a patriot, willing to die for my family and the Alliance. Now that I find myself at odds with my own Navy, that hasn’t changed. I will take this ship to Adelaide and our other five lost worlds. I will fight to free them, even if my final odds of success are no better than 1%, because it’s the fight that I have to fight. And I, for one, don’t think our odds are that bad. We don’t have our trained tactical officers, like Ortiz said. True, but who actually does the fighting? I’d bet on enlisted watch standers, chiefs, and some well-crafted doctrine in any stand-up fight. And I’ve received the same tactical training other officers have, but with a more technical focus.
“As for the enemy, intel says the Turd invasion force was light and fast. They don’t have the logistics train to sustain a protracted siege. Plus, we’re not their only opposition! Does anyone else think their families, their neighbors, and all those retired, cranky-ass veterans we left behind on our colonies are going to sit still and allow a bunch of Earther Turds to enslave them without some payback?”
That got a rise out of his fellow mutineers. Several crew raised their fists in defiant affirmation, cheering, “Hell no, Benno!”
“Hell yes,” he smiled back. “So, here it is, my compromise. I’m no Captain Palmer. I’m not going to force you to do anything. Military authority and rank went out the window as soon as we took up arms against our own, so I’m not in charge unless you want me to be. But I say we finish repair and resupply, mistransit out of here when the rest of the fleet moves on, and head back to Alliance space. First populated place we hit, we let off anyone who wants to leave. We’ll probably let off the Loyalists too, at some point, as long as we can be sure they don’t call the rest of the Alliance down upon us too soon. The rest of us, the ones with something invested in this fight, will take the Puller and get to the business of freeing our homes.”
Benno looked back at Ortiz. “Do we all find this compromise acceptable?”
The crowd fell into discussions again. It could go either way. Benno had no idea what he would do if they were swayed to Ortiz’s way of thinking. He supposed he would have to go someplace along the Alliance frontier, drum up some ground level support, and charter as much of a civilian navy as he could, then take it to Adelaide to augment whatever resistance network already existed.
Damn, things would be a lot easier if he had the Puller to back him. Goddamn Ortiz…
Nodding overtook the shrugs of uncertainty and the head shaking of negativity and doubt. A murmur rose from the crowd, becoming a fervor and a mandate for action. Dufresne and Ludovic looked at Benno, smiling.
Finally, the burly engineer stomped over and clapped him on the back. “I know you’re just a damned twidget and an abandoner of the Chief’s Mess besides, but damn it if you don’t talk good.” Ludovic looked to the crowd. “I’m on board with that! How about you lot!?”
“Yes, Senior Chief!!” the crowd roared back. If it was not quite everyone, it was at least the lion’s share. It was enough to fly and fight at any rate. If Ortiz’s compatriots were out there, they were wisely keeping silent.
As for Ortiz, he kept that sly smile of his, as if the crew’s outright rejection of his motion did not faze him in the least. He waited for the crowd to settle down, then spoke again. “Roger that, de facto Captain Sanchez. But one little operational question; what world are we going to try to free first?”
Benno allowed himself a shrug this time. It seemed less dangerous than before. “I intend to keep fighting until either we or the Alliance free all of them, but my motion is to make for Adelaide first. Of the six, it has one of the largest populations and an Army base which will help with resupply.”
Ortiz nodded. “And it’s where your daughter’s been growing up with some other family.”
Benno’s eyes narrowed, and he briefly considered using his pistol again. “Yes. Mio is there, along with a lot of other families. I’m not the only one here with family there.”
“Yeah, but operationally, how much sense does that make?” Ortiz looked over to one of the Astro-Nav techs. “Lawton, what was it you were telling me earlier? What order are the Lost Six in? In terms of transit distance?”
The petty officer looked startled, but brought up an image of the Alliance systems on his forearm-mounted data screen. “Umm, regarding least-time visits to each world, minimizing transits to other systems for repairs or as waypoints, Adelaide comes in third. Paradiso and Morgan’s Rock are first, with Putnam, Trinity, and New Kiev all further down the line.”
Ortiz smiled and shrugged at the crowd. “And, if I’m not mistaken, Morgan’s Rock has a full shipyard in orbit. That’s more useful as a way-station after we free up a couple of worlds. Sooo, unless this is all about you, Boss, shouldn’t we be aiming for either Paradiso or Morgan’s Rock before Adelaide?”
The crowd waited silently to hear what he would say. Would Benno be a self-interested hypocrite, a new dictator? Or did he have the courage of his convictions, to keep the Alliance and all their fates foremost in his mind, above his own desires?
Benno glared at Ortiz. Forget the pistol. He wanted to choke the life out of the bastard.
Turning away from him, Benno addressed the crowd. “I’m not going to hide it—I wanted to be on Adelaide yesterday. My little girl is there, and I have no idea what’s happened to her or to all the people I relied on to care for her. Everything I fight for is there, so yeah, Petty Officer Ortiz, I want to go there first. But I’m no fool. This isn’t about just me. This is about the Lost Six, and I won’t be stopping until they’re all free, no matter what order Adelaide is in that process. So, I’ll admit to you all, I thoroughly anticipated going there first. It’s selfish, but it’s natural.
“And now? Raoul, you make a valid point, though you might well have some shitty, equally selfish or petty reasons for making it. Adelaide will be no sooner than third. My Mio will have to survive on her own until then. And given the resources and threats, I’d propose the following order: Paradiso first. It’s the closest, but it’s also the most remote in terms of surrounding Alliance transit systems. Therefore, I think it’ll have the least TU Navy enforcement. They’ll feel more comfortable with a small, light force there, something we can take on our own. After that, Morgan’s Rock. It’s a bigger world with more resources. The Turds are going to put a heavy force there, no doubt.”
Someone called out from the crowd, “And how are we gonna face that down?”
Benno raised his hands high. “I don’t know yet. I’ve got an idea, but it depends on how well we handle our departure from the fleet. Either way, if we succeed there, we’ll have the full resources of that shipyard at our disposal before we hit Adelaide and the other three worlds.” He grew silent and looked down, no longer able to face the mutinous crew he had led to this point, which had seen it fit to delay him from immediately going to help his daughter as he had intended.
Damn you, Ortiz. I’m so sorry, Mio. Just survive, survive a little bit longer. Daddy’s coming.
“So, there is my proposal. We’ve all violated our oaths, but I make a new one to you now. I promise to lead you all straight and true, to the best of my abilities. I will see my home free. I will see all your homes free, and damn every Turd that gets in my way. And goddamn every Alliance aristo who’s lost sight
of our Constitution and opposes us! Are you with me!? Are you ready to get this done!?”
His mutineers, his countrymen, his crew, cheered, pumping their fists up and down. Ludovic and Dufresne rushed up and shook his hand. Almost to a person, they were aligned with him. Now it was up to him to lead them in the face of all that stood in their way.
Ortiz looked on and gave him a sly grin and a nod.
* * * * *
Chapter Ten: Mio
Laser fire and the sounds of men shouting alerted Mio she was close. Fear of running into a fight warred with the feeling of being too late. She wanted to charge in and do something, but knew she needed to find out what was happening first. The moon had gone behind a cloud, which didn’t help. She slowed to a walk and approached as quietly as she could.
As she snuck closer to the battle, she tripped over an unseen object and fell hard to the ground. The object was large and squishy. She reached behind her…stars! It was a body! The shape was wrong for it to be Harry, and she panicked; Dan was dead!
After a couple of long, gut-wrenching and tear-filled seconds, the moon came out and washed across the person’s face. The face had a mustache. It wasn’t Dan; it was one of the Terrans, and it was wearing one of their camouflage suits, which is why she hadn’t seen it in the dark.
She took a couple of deep breaths to get her heart under control. The laser fire ahead of her had stopped, and she could hear voices, but couldn’t tell what they were saying. Dan could still be in trouble; she had to help.
Mio climbed to her feet, then immediately stepped on something hard. She bent down to pick it up—it was the soldier’s rifle! Her heart raced, and her spirits soared—she was finally armed!
Rifle in her hands, Mio crept up on the men, hoping Dan had prevailed. The voices got closer, and she could finally make out words. Her spirits, so high a moment ago, came crashing back down again. An unknown voice was asking questions in an angry voice; the Terrans had won. “Where is your camp?” the voice asked. “How many people are there in your group?”
Using the voice as her guide, she approached a small clearing. The sky was graying in the east, and there was already more light to help her see. She reached the edge of a small open area and saw Dan sitting next to Harry, who was lying on the ground. The remaining Terran soldier stood about 10 feet away from them with his back to Mio, sighting down his rifle at Dan.
Mio couldn’t see Harry’s eyes, but he looked awfully still.
“Your friend isn’t in very good shape,” the Terran said, confirming her worst fears, “and the longer we sit here, the worse his odds are. Tell me where the camp is, and I’ll make sure he gets medical treatment.”
“You’ll probably just shoot him once he’s got no value to you,” Dan replied.
“Maybe,” the soldier allowed, “but I could also go ahead and kill him now to show you how serious I am.” He turned slightly and pointed his rifle at the other man.
Kill Harry? Mio couldn’t allow that. Even though she hadn’t known him that long, he had been nice to her, and he believed girls could do important things. Maybe saving his life would be Mio’s important thing.
She put the rifle up to her shoulder like she had seen the men do and looked down the barrel at the Terran. There was a little dot sticking up at the end of the barrel and a small circle at the end closest to her, and it seemed obvious to her—put the dot on the target and in the center of the circle. That was easy. She looked through the sights at the man, then paused.
Shooting a man in the back was ‘bad,’ wasn’t it? Wasn’t that murder? Could she really murder someone? Maybe she should give him a chance to surrender before shooting him. As soon as she had the thought, she dismissed it. The man was a soldier, a trained killer. If she gave him a chance, he might very well dive out of the way and shoot her instead. He had gotten the better of Dan, who also seemed to have excellent warfare skills.
“On second thought,” the Terran said, “I think I will kill him. He looks too heavy to carry, and you killed my squadmate. What’s it going to be? Are you going to talk? You have five seconds to decide.”
Dan looked around wildly, as if searching for help, and his eyes alighted on Mio. Seeing her with the rifle aimed at the soldier, he glanced back to the soldier and nodded.
“Five…” the soldier said.
Did the nod mean Dan wanted Mio to shoot the soldier? She thought so but wasn’t sure.
“Four…”
Dan looked back at her, then at the soldier, then nodded again. He obviously did want her to shoot the soldier. Okay, if Dan agreed, it was obviously necessary.
“Three…”
Mio gathered all her courage. She could do this. She would do it. She would kill the Terran soldier.
“Two…”
Wincing, Mio pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The trigger wouldn’t move! It was stuck! She took the rifle from her shoulder and looked at it, her brows knitting. What had happened? Had it broken when it fell?
“One…”
Despairing, Mio looked at Dan and shrugged her shoulders, her confusion apparent.
“Okay,” Dan said to the soldier. “I’ll tell you what I know.”
“About time,” the Terran said. “You better have some good info for me, or your friend is going to die. The first time I think you’re lying to me, I’m going to shoot him.”
“Okay, okay,” Dan said. “Just take your finger off the trigger. I don’t want the rifle to go off accidentally.” He looked at Mio again. Was he talking to her? She realized her finger was on the trigger, and the rifle was pointed in his general direction. Oops. Both her dad and Mr. Rogers had always said never to point a gun at something unless you intended to kill it, and she definitely didn’t want to kill Dan. She removed her finger from the trigger.
“Good,” Dan said, his gaze returning to the soldier. “Wouldn’t you also feel more comfortable if you safed the weapon?”
“No, I wouldn’t,” the soldier said. “I’ve seen you in action, and I want to be able to kill you at a moment’s notice. Now, where’s the camp?”
Dan looked back at Mio, and she feigned incomprehension. If the last thing Dan had said was also for her, she had no idea what he meant. Dan sighed, his eyes returning to the soldier. “Okay, I’ll tell you all about it. But first, are you sure you don’t want to turn on the safety on the right side of your rifle?”
“No, I don’t,” the soldier replied, “and I’m done playing games. Last chance, or your friend dies.”
The safety? She looked at the right side of the rifle and saw a small lever. It was currently pointing to “Safe” but looked like it could be rotated to “Armed” and “Burst.” Mio looked up and nodded, a smile on her face. She understood! She needed to rotate the lever. But which position? She wasn’t sure what “Burst” meant, and it sounded bad, but there was no doubt about “Armed.”
Slowly, to keep from making any noise, she rotated the lever to the “Armed” position.
Immediately, the rifle made a high-pitched whine as it powered up. Mio winced as she quickly put the rifle back to her shoulder. Hopefully, the noise couldn’t be heard where the men were.
Dan jumped; obviously it could. “Okay, I’ll tell you,” Dan said in a loud voice, trying to keep the soldier’s attention. “The camp is only a few minutes from here…”
Mio looked through the sights at the soldier. The ring now had a small yellow glow to it. What did that mean? She’d have to ask Dan later. She sighted on the soldier and pulled the trigger. It was still stuck; it wouldn’t move.
She removed the weapon from her shoulder again and looked at Dan, her head cocked to the side and shoulders raised in incomprehension.
Dan’s eyes rolled, and he sighed. “The camp is in a group of green trees, and usually has a campfire going in it.”
Mio put the rifle back to her shoulder. Green? Fire? She sighted down the barrel and noticed the light on the ring was now green. Oh! She had to wait for it to go green to f
ire! It should now be ready.
Mio looked through the sights and saw the soldier looking at her, his mouth open. He must have finally turned to see what Dan was looking at. His rifle snapped up to his shoulder, faster than Mio would have thought possible. Mio closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. This time, the trigger wasn’t stuck, and she pulled it all the way back.
The rifle fired once, and she opened her eyes. The Terran soldier was down, and Dan was on top of him. A knife appeared in Dan’s hand, and he drew it across the soldier’s throat. Mio looked away, nauseous, as blood fountained from the soldier.
“Mio, come here!” Dan called, and she looked up again. Thankfully, there wasn’t blood spraying anymore. “Quickly!” he exclaimed.
She jogged over to where he was inspecting Harry, careful not to look at the soldier.
“He’s unconscious,” Dan explained. “I’m going to have to carry him.” He pointed to a pile of rifles she hadn’t noticed before. “Grab as many of those as you can and follow me.”
Mio walked over to the pile. They looked like the one she had in her hands, so they must be laser rifles, too, she decided. Each of them had a strap running from one end to the other; that was how Dan had been carrying them. She put her arm through the strap of the one in her hands and positioned it on her shoulder.
“Hey,” Dan said; “you did put the rifle on safe again, right?”
Mio had no idea; she honestly couldn’t remember anything about killing the man besides the fountain of blood. So much blood. She had to bend over a couple of seconds as her stomach threatened to revolt.
She stood back up when she was sure she wasn’t going to throw up and took the rifle off her shoulder. The lever still pointed to “Armed.” She flipped it to “Safe” and felt the small vibrations from the rifle cease.
“It’s on “Safe” now,” she said in a small voice.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dan said. “Not your fault. We should have taught you more about operating a weapon sooner.” Mio heard a grunt. “Grab what you can,” Dan added. “We’ve got to go.”
The Mutineer's Daughter Page 15
