by Clark Graham
Revlov was watching the battle from his plane. It circled the battlefield with its navigational lights on which was the same as letting the defenders know that an attack was imminent. Pavvlek had asked him not to do that but he only said that he needed to see what was going on.
Pavvlek was irate at his commander, but held his tongue.
When Revlov’s plane was directly over the mountain, Pavvlek pulled a remote control device from his pocket and pushed the button. It activated the bomb that Pavvlek had his men place in Revlov’s plane. There was a loud explosion and the plane disappeared in a flash of light. Pavvlek smiled as he put the control back into his pocket. He then turned to his aide and said, “Tell the men to stand down until we can figure out what happened to the commodore’s plane.”
It was a week later that the admiral was on the planet. He had been sent by the prince to look into the death of Revlov. He stood with Pavvlek looking from the base of the mountain up to the top where the wreckage of Revlov’s plane was.
“How do you think they shot it down?” the prince asked. He was asking the same question over and again. He seemed unsatisfied with the answer he kept getting. It was the same answer over and over again; it never changed.
“We don’t know. They have some type of weapon that can shoot down our planes, but they have only used it twice, the first and the last plane they shot down. It must be that they have only a few of them.”
The prince just scratched his head.
Pavvlek added, “we have not been able to recover either plane because they both landed in enemy held territory.”
“Why wasn’t the attack pursued after Revlov’s death?”
Pavvlek swallowed hard. He had hoped the admiral would not think along the lines of Revlov. “I deemed it ill-advised since we were withdrawing from this planet and did not have time to exploit the resources.”
The admiral looked up the hill and said, “A wise decision. Revlov should have never ordered the first attack and especially not the second one. He was about to be demoted back to captain after that first attack. What a disaster.”
“Yes, Sir.” He let out a sigh of relief.
“I’m done here. Prepare your men to move out. We will abandon the small towns first then the cities. I want to leave this place to its own devices as soon as possible. We will maintain the space ports in case the emperor regains his health.”
“What happens when the emperor dies, Sir ?” Pavvlek asked.
“You had better hope that never happens. The galaxy will divide among the princes and opportunists, whoever has the most power at the time. It will be constant war until one of them has the strength to reunite it.”
“Who are we loyal to, then, the planet where we came from or the military unit we are currently assigned to?” It was a baited question.
“Only you can decide that,” was the simple answer.
Chapter Twenty Two
East Coast of Santeria
Roving bands of freedom fighters were roaming the countryside. When one such group approached his house, Pethran fired a few shots over their heads and they backed off. Nobody was supposed to have guns and they made easy targets for the robbers. When someone fought back, it was only a matter of going somewhere else to find easier pickings.
It was what life devolved into. Pethran would carry a gun when working the fields and lock his doors at night for self-defense.
Soon people started visiting his farm for another reason, to buy food. It was a trickle at first, then a steady stream. The lines at the farms grew very long. He was paid only a few coins the year before for fifty pound of grain, this year it was a bag of coins. When they ran out of coins, it was gold and silver jewelry.
Pethran knew that this made him a larger target so he started burying the treasures under his house. Farmers started organizing mutual defense leagues and the fact that Pethran had guns made him a welcome member, despite the fact that he was considered a collaborator.
It came as a shock when the local town saw fifteen of the aircraft came down in their little town and loaded up all of the soldiers, leaving the town alone. They kept waiting for the enemy to come back, but reports that came in told the same story over and over again. The enemy was leaving.
The local farmer’s defense league, the only semblance of a government that was left in the area, called a meeting of the townspeople.
“We need to elect officials to lead us, like a mayor and a sheriff. They were both killed in the war.”
“We need to hang all the collaborators first,” came a voice from the back.
Pethran looked down from the stand and recognized one of the men that had been in his house trying to rob him. He stood up and said, “We need to arrest those among us who robbed and pillaged other people instead.”
The man slunk back behind another man so Pethran couldn’t see him anymore.
Gallmid, the leader of the farmer’s defense league, stood up and held up his hand to regain order. “We have a lot of wounds that will need time to heal, but we are a nation of laws. There is no law against collaborating, if you want to call it that. There are laws against murder and robbery, however. If you are guilty of those you will be prosecuted.”
Gallmid was a tall and strong man, having worked hard all of his life. He had organized the farmer’s defense league. He was a natural born leader. “We will hold elections in six months to elect a new mayor and a new sheriff. For now I will serve as mayor and Pethran here will serve as our sheriff. All of you who want to run for office need to get your applications in within a week’s time.”
“I will not follow a collaborator,” came a cry from the back. “He is one of those reeducation graduates.”
Pethran did not recognize the man who was talking, but he was the man whom the other heckler had ducked behind.
Before Pethran could say anything, Gallmid said, “The only ones that the enemy put in their reeducation classes are ones caught fighting against them. If you hid in your houses and did nothing, then you were not sent for reeducation. So the fact that he was sent for reeducation attests to the fact that he was a patriot and fighting the enemy. His son serves in the army as we speak. The war is over; it’s time we start living in the future and not the past.”
Most of those in the crowd applauded but a few of them booed. Gallmid held his hand up again to get the crowd’s attention. “If you think you can do better than either I or Pethran, put your name on the ballot.” With that he was done. He was tired of this crowd so he adjourned the meeting.
“That went well,” Pethran said to Gallmid after the meeting.
“No, it didn’t, but we expected it to go badly. They have to get over that collaborator mentality and having you in a position of authority shows them the way forward. Remember to name a few deputies before going around town making your rounds.”
“If I can find someone who doesn’t want me dead, I will.”
That made Gallmid smile. “Not everyone wants you dead. My son Audris is willing to be a deputy.”
“I will put a badge on him. Send him to the office.”
Gallmid said he would and then headed down the street on an errand. An hour later Audris showed up at the sheriff’s office and Pethran deputized him.
The whole thing had been Gallmid’s idea. Pethran didn’t want to be sheriff, but Gallmid wanted Pethran there, so he had reluctantly agreed, but he would not run for the office. He was there just until someone else was elected then he was headed back home to raise his crops.
Audris was young, but he was tall like his father. He was active so he had a muscular build and dark, short cropped hair. He took Pethran’s extra gun for a sidearm to protect himself and the town.
Audris had the night patrol so he went out to walk the streets. When he did so, he ran into a group of five men. One of them pulled a gun on Audris. “We were expecting the sheriff. We are going to have a lynching and he is invited.”
“Sheriff did nothing wrong; leave him alone.” Audris d
emanded.
“This one is spunky, maybe we should practice on him so we have it down for when the sheriff comes.” One of the shorter men said.
The man with the gun agreed. “Get the rope, let’s practice.”
Someone in the street saw what was happening and phoned the mayor. He called the sheriff, before he made his way to the square. By this time the rope was already over the tree and the noose was tied.
“Let him go,” Gallmid demanded.
The five men turned to look at Gallmid. “Mind your own business.” The man with a gun said.
“It is my business. That is my son.”
Chapter Twenty Three
East Coast of Santeria
Pethran had snuck back behind the group from a side street. He could see what was going on. He aimed his gun at the closest of the mob members. When they put a noose around the neck of Audris, he shot. The man went down screaming in pain. The other mob members scattered. Those with guns returned fire, those without guns fled.
Seeing that the ruffians were distracted, Gallmid ran over to Audris and took the noose from around his neck and then led him to safety. “Where’s your gun?” Gallmid asked.
“They took it.”
Gallmid untied the rope around Audris’s hands. “I don’t know how we are going to fight back.”
Pethran only had four shots left. He was waiting for a good target to present itself before he fired, but if they all rushed him at once, it was over. Suddenly the volume of fire increased. Then he heard men commanding, “Put down your weapons; this is the army.”
When Pethran turned to look there were two soldiers with guns pointed at him, so he put his gun down. They led Pethran down the street to where the last three mobsters, Gallmid, and Audris were all lined up with the hands in the air.
A very irritated looking lieutenant was standing there with about forty men. “What is the meaning of this? Are all our cities devolving to vigilantism?”
“Sir, I am the sheriff in this town and that over there is my deputy and the mayor. The other men were part of a lynch mob,” Pethran explained.
“The sheriff’s a collaborator! We were exacting justice,” one man from the mob replied.
“I am Lieutenant Harken, sent by the military to restore law and order to the places the enemy has abandoned.” He turned to the mobsters, “you are under arrest for attempted murder and assault. Take them away.”
The soldiers marched the prisoners to the local jail. Harken turned back to the sheriff, “looks like I got here just in time. Who were they trying to hang?”
“Both me and my deputy. They claim I am a collaborator since I was captured trying to fight against them and sent for reeducation,” Pethran explained.
“Relax, the army does not use the word collaborator. The occupation is over; it is time to get on with our lives.”
“Thank you,” Pethran replied. He made his way down the street to unlock the jail cells to put the prisoners in.
As the lead mobster was led into his cell he said to Pethran, “this isn’t over; my men will break me out.”
Pethran ignored him.
The doctor was called to tend to the wounded man. The bullet had hit his shoulder and had done a lot of damage. The townspeople came out when they saw the soldiers. Some of them were looking for loved ones who had been called up to active duty, but they were disappointed. Others started asking what had happened and why the enemy had left. Not even the soldiers could explain that.
Harken asked the town leaders to a meeting to discuss the situation with them. Pethran, Audris and Gallmid met with him in the dance hall.
“How can the army help you men?” Harken asked.
“There are still six mobsters loose, but they were unarmed and may be headed out of town as fast as they can go.” Gallmid said.
“I will need more ammunition and some more guns. I am down to just the one,” Pethran replied.
“I can give you what you need. How long have these men been roaming the streets unopposed?”
Pethran explained, “they were part of a group that claimed to be freedom fighters and barged into people’s homes so they could steal food and other items. They never even fired a shot at the enemy.”
“I see. The general doesn’t like armed citizens roaming around in bands. My orders were to deal with them first.”
“Has the enemy left our planet? Are they coming back? Did you defeat them and drive them off?” Audris was full of questions.
“No, they still control the space ports they built. One on each hemisphere and ships come and go from these ports. We have not decided how to deal with them yet, or if we want to deal with them at all. It could benefit us as we may be able to purchase goods from other planets and buy ourselves more technology. As for the coming back question, we don’t know. The information that we got from those men we captured is that their emperor is ill and not expected to live out the year. When he dies, having left no heir, the whole galaxy will go to war with each other. We don’t know where that leaves us. As for your last questions, we threw off their attempt to storm the mountain, nothing more.”
“What if they come back?” Gallmid asked.
“We cannot win another war with them. We didn’t win the last one. We have lost over half of our army. Other countries have lost over eighty percent of theirs. We are currently looking for a negotiated peace with the enemy, so they will not attack us again and they will release our prisoners or exchange prisoners with theirs, although not all of their prisoners want to go back. There is also the problem with tens of thousands of missing young men from all over the planet. We are told that they have been taken into their navy, but have no evidence of that.”
“They took my son out into deep space. I was able to talk to him with one of those technology devices. He was in one of their uniforms. They tell me he will have to serve for ten years before being allowed to come home,” Pethran said.
“So the rumors are true, they have taken almost every fifteen to twenty year old male on the planet and pressed them into their navy. Nearly a whole generation is gone.” Harken shook his head as he said it. “Maybe we can negotiate their return also.”
Chapter Twenty Four
Deep Space
When the space destroyer finally slowed down, Zedra looked out the narrow window in the engine compartment. There before him was a massive station floating in mid space. It was round with domes on the top and the bottom. Long arms stretched from the central core and along these arms were docked many military ships. Zedra saw how small his ship was in comparison. There were massive star battleships and space plane carriers. There were also a lot of ships that were just larger than the star destroyer he was on; he guessed those were the star cruisers that the master had talked about.
“Impressive; isn’t it?” came a voice from behind.
Zedra turned to see the engine room master behind him. “I thought you said that the Admiral had sold off his fleet. There are a lot of ships here.”
“Prince Rignar has brought his fleet here to keep it from getting destroyed in a surprise attack. If another fleet comes to this sector they will have to come a long way to find it. The admiral fled when he heard Rignar was coming. We got all of this from our communications.”
“Is the emperor dead then?”
“No, but he barely lingers. Two of his sons keep him alive artificially. They have the most to lose and are in league together. They gather their forces in preparation for the day they let him die. They will be the first to know.”
“It’s all very bad.” Zedra shook his head. “I should not even be a part of this. Why was I stolen from my home and brought out here to face an imminent war?”
The old master smiled. His yellowish teeth briefly appeared under his grey mustache. “It is the way of the Empire. It is always hungry and eating planets as it spreads across space. One day, however, it will find a more advanced space going race and they will thrash it. For now, it hungers for food, manpower, and m
etal. It will attack any planet that can supply those things.”
“Did your communication say how the war is going on my home planet?”
“The Empire has withdrawn for now. It owns most of your planet and controls the space port that we built. The war is on hold until the Empire figures out who is going to lead it over the next few decades. You planet is doomed however. It will suffer the same fate as all of the other planets that were gobbled up, stripped of their resources and then abandoned. You will find those types of planets all around you, especially in the edges of the galaxy, where we are.”
Zedra just shook his head. A few minutes later there was a clunk and the whole ship shook slightly.
“Ah, we are docked,” the engine room master said. “I have taught you all I could about engines on the journey over here. Now you will have to become a soldier of the Empire. You will learn the rich, but cruel, history. You will drill and drill until you are sick of drilling and then you will be reassigned to another ship.”
“Can’t I just stay here?” Zedra had no idea about all things that were about to happen to him. He was panicking inside. “With all of the patrols we did on the way here and all of those missions, I feel I know what I’m doing. I can work on any type of engine.”
“No, this ship will only be here a day or two and then we will head back to its patrol duty. You have been assigned to the admiral that controls this section of space. After your training, you will be assigned to one of his ships. Good luck to you.” The master walked away and then started working on one of the engines.
It was his way of saying goodbye; he had had plenty of practice over the years. The boys who were assigned to him were young and healthy. He would see some of them again years later and they would be hardened and angry. They were always angry. It made him sad, but at least these two were not angry yet. Time would destroy them. Ten years was a long time to serve and then they would be abandoned at some out of the way planet, making it almost impossible to make their way back home. Most of them would have no choice but to reenlist. That was where the anger came from. Once you learned your fate you would hate it.
