Stories_update_instafreebie

by Autumn Birt

  She wanted to think he wouldn’t leave his wife and the children his expression had so obviously indicated he wanted, not for her. But in a way, he already had. War had taken so much from many people. With a hard lurch, Arinna realized she did not want to be the cause for Byran to lose his daughter and son or Isabella her husband. Besides, she was needed elsewhere. Hadn’t she just thought that?

  Arinna swung her legs from the bed and hurried to get dressed. Part of her wanted Byran to return before she left. She wanted to explain and say goodbye. But as the minutes ticked by, she worried less about Byran and more about what remained of the Guard and Jared. His loss was as large as hers if not more. She’d lost her husband. Jared had fought beside the men and women who had died. One large burden did not outstrip thousands of smaller.

  A quick glance through the room turned up no scraps of paper or pencil. She hated to leave Byran with no word, but she could hunt him down later. The need to know what happened after she had left yesterday drove her from the room without a backward glance.

  —

  Staff in Command appeared shell shocked and worn when Arinna walked into the secure room. Glances her way wavered between relief and nervousness. She guessed her abrupt departure from the emergency meeting the day before had been shared. That was expected, so she ignored it. What she didn’t expect was to find Command empty but for a skeleton staff, none of which appeared to be doing anything.

  “Where is Eldridge?” Arinna asked, grabbing a cup of coffee that made her wince and a hard muffin. It was food. If she could keep it down.

  “He is meeting with MOTHER. There is talk of contacting the FLF,” the woman looked away, her pony tail of dark hair swinging with the motion.

  “For a truce?” Arinna asked. The woman nodded. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name. I wasn’t stationed in Command much.”

  “Terri,” she answered. Her accent could have been one from a number of countries. But that didn’t really matter now. They were all European.

  Arinna walked forward to check the large screens. They were blank.

  “What do you want to see?” a man asked. His accent was French though his features were Thai.

  “Europe. Bring up the last known locations of the Guard, Kehm.” She at least remembered his name. But then, she should remember the Chief Communications Officer. He had set up most of her video chats with Michael and been decent enough to give her privacy when she spoke to her husband. Late husband. It was going to be a long day. “Where is Captain Vries?”

  “He took one of the remaining planes and flew to Kiev,” Kehm answered.

  The fact annoyed Arinna as much as she suspected he’d do that. “Was the blast analyzed first, I hope?”

  “Four small nuclear and three other large explosions as well. He went escorted and protected from radiation. The plan is to launch a recon drone to survey what is left,” Kehm answered.

  “What do we have left of the Guard?”

  “Reserves, the injured ... we have about a third of our active troops.”

  “And not all fit for fighting,” Arinna said, finishing what Kehm left unsaid.

  “That doesn’t account for the new recruits,” Terri said.

  “There have been recruits?” Arinna asked, pausing her survey of the map Terri enlarged on the screen. Without needing to be asked, Terri highlighted front lines, locations of FLF, and the locations of Guard troops and military supplies.

  “Yes. Since word got out about the loss. People have gone to military stations to volunteer by the dozens,” Kehm replied.

  “The populace wants to fight and our leaders want to yield,” Arinna said, squeezing the bridge of her nose. “Is MOTHER serious about this?”

  “To speak bluntly, you would know better than I, Minister,” Kehm answered.

  “You say we have what equates to a third of our active troops. The new recruits are untrained ... how many could we actually field in a battle?”

  “A regiment. Not one that is used to working together though,” Kehm said.

  Arinna swore. “Where is the FLF, Terri? What has it been doing since yesterday?”

  “The western line is holding. Honestly, I would have expected more movement after their victory yesterday,” Kehm answered.

  The word victory twisted Arinna’s mouth to match the seething it caused in her innards. “Put in whatever strength you can to protect our bases and embedded Parliament,” she added the last thinking of Byran. “It will be a good use for the new recruits.”

  “Should you get Secretary Eldridge’s approval for that?” Kehm asked.

  “No,” Arinna replied and didn’t elaborate. She would shoot Eldridge before she asked anything of him again. While Terri and Kehm worked to relay the order, one of the screens dissolved into static, pixels of blue sky and dark ground appearing in rapid flickers.

  “I repeat. Are you receiving anything yet?” Jared asked.

  “Yes. The display isn’t clear, but we are reading you,” Arinna answered.

  “Arinna,” Jared breathed her name, the word holding relief and something tentative. She didn’t blame him for nervousness. She had abandoned him the day before. “It’s the radiation. Hold on, I’ll filter it out.”

  The image cleared as Terri moved the scene to the large overhead. The world didn’t look real. A blue sky shimmered over a land of black wreckage and grey ash. Automatically, Arinna scanned the shapes for wings or the triangle of a tail. Relief washed through her to not recognize anything even if it left her empty as the emotion drained. She steeled herself to analyze the image without reaction.

  “What did you see while you flew over?” she asked.

  Jared coughed, not denying he had done exactly that. “It is all the same. Nothing is left. No movement. I see no survivors.”

  “No FLF either?” she asked.

  “No. Assuming there was a base here, there hasn’t been anyone trying to salvage any materials. There are FLF tanks outside the blast zone. I wouldn’t touch them for the radiation. But I would expect if FLF is around, it would be hunting down the ammo in them.”

  “It was a base,” Arinna answered, thoughtfully. “I agreed with MOTHER there. It was just a little too visible.”

  “You think they were planning it as a target, hoping to take us out? You said it was a trap yesterday when ... when we talked.” Jared stumbled on the discussion of when she’d told him of the loss. “But they caught themselves in it too. At least MOTHER’s quick strike had one plus.” Jared’s voice was sour on the last sentence. Arinna let it pass again. If anyone deserved to know the truth, it was Jared. But not over a comm line.

  “Send in the drone to be sure and get back. Pick up the best of any seasoned troops on the way, or at least order them to this base ASAP,” Arinna told him.

  “MOTHER got more plans?” Jared asked, voice bitter.

  “Yeah. They want to give Europe to the FLF. Get back here pronto. And destroy the tanks too.” Jared was still swearing when she clicked the line closed.

  Arinna spent the day in Command. She didn’t mean to. But with the drone flying, she surveyed the damage along with Kehm and Terri. At first it was with a faint hope of finding survivors. But as they spread the search pattern away from the devastated city, her fantasy of seeing their planes or troops out in the barrens beyond died.

  To fill the void, she perused the blasted hulls of the FLF tanks, fire still burning on two. It was odd to see a line of tanks stationed so far from the city, standing guard over fields and ... railroad tracks. Heart beating, Arinna directed Terri to have the drone follow the tracks.

  There was nothing going into the blasted remains of the city. At least nothing left to be seen. Terri turned the drone and zipped away from the blast zone. The lines of well maintained tracks twisting off toward the horizon.

  “Kehm, I need a map of the rail network coming into Europe. And ... has anyone been looking at how the FLF has been resupplying?” Arinna asked.

  “Not recently. We�
�ve only just reestablished front lines.”

  “And so busy we’ve barely taken stock of our supplies.” Arinna shook her head. “This isn’t any way to win a war.”

  “I didn’t think we were winning,” Kehm replied. They glanced at each other. “Terri, compile a list of all supplies and ammunitions on hand. We need to know what we have after yesterday.”

  “Include any notes on agriculture too. We can’t depend on supplies from abroad if most of the world is caving to the FLF,” Arinna added. “We’ll have to feed ourselves.”

  “We should be protecting our best agricultural land,” Kehm added.

  “Shouldn’t MOTHER be making these decisions?” Terri asked, glance darting between Arinna and Kehm.

  How far could she push her authority? Officially she was a minister on the Defense Council and a liaison with the Guard. But Eldridge had proven it only took one person to direct the army. MOTHER ruled Parliament, though Parliament did not know it. Eldridge and MOTHER had shown they couldn’t make decisions fast enough to win battles. How many times had Michael railed against a command sent down? How often had she fought to make Eldridge see a reasonable military solution?

  “I’m the liaison with the Guard. Leave MOTHER to me. Just do it.” It was one step from outright mutiny or a coup. Arinna knew it. Kehm did too. He nodded, turning to bring up the map. They’d kill her for this. But if they lost or yielded to the FLF, that would happen anyway. Besides, part of her was beyond caring. Mostly, she wished she’d taken the leap when Michael was still alive. It might have saved him.

  Kehm brought up the rail map at the same time a shape appeared on the tracks the drone followed. There was movement around it. Troops in FLF black unloaded boxcars of food onto idling trucks. They’d found the supply train the tanks had been waiting to protect. Gunfire ripped past the drone, then the screen went dark. Arinna released a breath.

  “It looks like two of the high speed lines went into Kiev,” Kehm said.

  “Which is why it was a big base. The rigged explosions were most likely in case they needed to pull back, but they couldn’t resist the opportunity to take out most of our armed forces. Where are the other lines?”

  “The next big one is through Moscow to Brest, Poland. But that one was damaged early on with the fighting through Russia. We could send recon, but I’m fairly certain it isn’t operational.”

  “Which leaves the southern route through Turkey,” Terri said, enlarging the area on the screen.

  “Send recon to double check the Moscow route and another south. I want to know where the FLF is getting its supplies. Get me the lists of our supplies and soldiers, including the new recruits. I want to know what we have.”

  It was late. She had never found Byran to explain her departure that morning. That made her feel guilty. On the other hand, Eldridge had not come down to Command and there had been no word from MOTHER. Did they think the war would wait while they debated handing over Europe?

  Arinna took the reports and left Command, hoping to run into Byran and knowing she should track down Eldridge. She couldn’t find either so she located a corner to start delving into the mess the Guard was in.

  —

  If she’d thought morning would bring rationalization and she’d regret her rebelliousness the day before, a night spent reading over reports cured that idea. Grief altered her emotions, but it was to put her into a place beyond worry. From there, she could see how close they were to losing.

  They had been fighting a running battle dictated by the FLF. Sure, the FLF had gotten sloppy towards the end. Most likely their seasoned troops had been killed or pulled back. Something had altered how they reacted so that the smooth destruction brought about by dismantling communications, power, and internet had stalled, leaving spotty islands of civilization. Terrorize, divide, and conquer: it could have been the FLF motto.

  When Arinna walked back into Command in the morning, she was certain of one thing: Europe needed a respite to train and arm new troops. The worry on Kehm’s face when she arrived told her that wasn’t going to happen without a fight.

  “The tracks through Turkey are now the main supply line. From what I’ve managed to gather off our remaining satellite feeds, all FLF traffic is being directed that way,” Kehm told her.

  “And they are moving a lot?” she asked, guessing the answer from his nervous movements.

  “Yup. They know we took a hit two days ago,” he confirmed.

  “And Eldridge is looking for you. He heard you were in here yesterday,” Terri added.

  Arinna swore. “Is Jared back? Get him here. I’ll return in half an hour. I need to talk to MOTHER.”

  She went to the well appointed room that MOTHER had taken over in the old manor and entered without knocking.

  “What will our terms be?” Gerschtein asked. “And we should have Parliament ratify the truce offer to legitimize it.” Only le Marc appeared ill at the notion.

  Arinna pulled up a chair, sitting back and crossing her arms. “And who in the FLF will you be delivering this message to? I wasn’t aware you had a direct line of communication with them.”

  Eldridge glared at her. “I can understand you are upset, but we need to do this to save Europe,” he snapped.

  “No. You are doing it to save yourselves. Europe is pretty much in tatters. And surrendering makes the whole war seem a little pointless. The FLF took out their biggest base to destroy our troops. We are equally hurt at the moment. Have you bothered to think about that?”

  “If you have nothing constructive to add to the conversation, you may be dismissed, Minister,” Eldridge said.

  “Don’t roll over for the FLF. Not yet.”

  “Leave.”

  Arinna wanted to fight him just to let him know she would not listen to his authority again. But leaving quickly was the point. She walked out, swinging through the Guard barracks on the way back to Command. She needed clothes and the idea of entering her room in the manor, the closet that it was, wasn’t something she was prepared for. Michael’s memory still lived there. She couldn’t disturb it.

  The barracks held a confusion of activity. New recruits mingled awkwardly with battle weary soldiers. All were directionless. Things needed to change.

  Jared was waiting in Command when she returned, leaning against a desk with ankles crossed and an impatient frown. He didn’t move when she entered.

  “Kehm, scramble all communications to the other bases unless I approve it,” she ordered.

  “Yes, Minister. May I ask why?”

  “They want the other sections of Parliament to ratify the truce offer and I want to ... delay that for a bit. And don’t call me Minister. Not anymore.”

  Jared snorted, but there was appreciation in the glance he sent her way. “I hear you’ve been busy.”

  “Very. But first will you walk with me?” Arinna asked as she headed toward the door, Jared keeping pace at her side. “Something has to be done about the new recruits and there are a few good potentials we need to look at. Do you think you could organize enough soldiers for an operation?”

  “Give me a week,” he said.

  “How about three days? We are under a short timeline.”

  The next few days were a flurry of activity and lies. She told MOTHER communications had been damaged by the blast. Kehm backed her up. With no one else to ask to learn the truth, MOTHER’s truce plans ground to a halt. In the midst of it, Jared formed a battalion out of the scraps of an army.

  Arinna knew MOTHER would catch on to her subterfuge eventually. If she couldn’t win Europe the respite the army needed, truce, surrender really, would be their only option. If she did win, maybe she could convince Parliament to keep fighting. It was a sliver of a chance, but it was all they had left.

  Early the morning of the fifth day after the attack, Arinna braved her room. It had been hers and Michael’s for nearly a month. The chaotic fighting and need to protect Parliament had reunited them in the end, bringing him in from the front tho
ugh he continued to lead missions. They needed the pilots. Now they needed soldiers. And like her late husband, Arinna was trained.

  The room was tiny, holding a narrow bed and a few bags of clothes. Guard headquarters moved with the front, seeking locations before the FLF could target them. She and Michael had been married eleven years, and all she had now were random clothes, several pictures, and a few portable mementos. It hurt.

  She looked through his clothes, packing them in his bugout bag. Smells, textures, and memories rose, but it wasn’t the time for that. She tried not to linger too long. Hopefully, she would return to them later. Next, she took off her wedding ring and slid it on the chain with her tags. She wished she had his: ring or tags. Something with his name and a piece of what they had been. But both were gone along with him. Nothing remained to be recovered from the wreckage of Kiev.

  Arinna left out one photo, an old one taken of the times they had camped in the Outlands. Michael’s hair was so short, she couldn’t tell the color. But there was no mistaking the laughter in his hazel eyes. She put the picture in her pocket. Glancing up, she caught her reflection in the dark and dusty window. Her reddish hair was too short to be pulled into a pony tail but long enough to be a nuisance. She didn’t need distractions.

  Fumbling, she found remembered scissors in the drawer of the bureau. They weren’t sharp, but worked better than a knife. In under ten minutes, her hair was sawed to an inch long. The shorn locks slipped through her fingers, their softness reminiscent of Michael’s buzz cut when he’d been forced to enlist in the newly formed Guard. With a laugh that held a sob, Arinna dropped the scissors on the bureau and grabbed a jacket. It was February out. She might be going south to Bulgaria, but she’d need protection. Including probably a flack jacket if she could dredge one up from the barracks.

  There was one last thing to do and barely time. She pulled out the paper she’d brought with her and wrote a quick note to Byran: “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay. I have to end this war. Please, if you can, don’t let them vote for the truce. Not yet. Give me a few days. Love, A.”