Major n’Neesa acknowledged the woman, and then faced the assembly. “All right troopers, you are dismissed. You have one hour of free-time, courtesy of the Commandant.”
With that, she left the stage. Kaly could tell from the set of her shoulders alone, that she was unhappy about all of this. The Major had left without even looking back.
For a moment, none of the Marauders moved, and then the room slowly separated into three groups. The largest migrated towards the exit, but a smaller one began to cluster around the RSE representatives, and the third stayed right where they were. These were the undecided. Kaly and her teammates were in this particular camp.
“Zo? Vat do you zhink?” Margasdaater asked her in a low voice.
“I-I don’t’ know, “Kaly answered hesitantly. There was no disputing that the RSE’s offer was an impressive one, but the idea of pursuing a career in anything other than the Corps was a new and challenging concept--and more than a little frightening. Up until then, she had never really considered any other future for herself. Since leaving Persephone, the Marines had been the only life she had ever really known.
T’Jinna felt the same. “I don’t know about it either, “she signed. “But just remember what the Major told us. If we stay here, we’re sure to get sent to different units, or transferred to new posts.”
Her companions couldn’t disagree with this. There was that looming over their heads. “I think that we should at least ask some more questions,” the Sireeni ventured. “Maybe they’ll take us as a group.”
Kaly immediately dismissed this notion, “No, I don’t think so. That captain didn’t say anything like that.”
“Vell, you never know, Kaly,” Margasdaater countered. “Ve can alvays ask and zee. She zaid zat zat Zenior Troop Leader ran a team. She might give us a ztraight anzswer. Vosrt caze, zey zay no. But Nej gedaa, nej gek, yah?”
She was right. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“Goddess, “Kaly replied. “I sure hope so, Astrid. Shess, this is all so fekking confusing.” She stood at last. “All right, fek it. Let’s go talk to her.”
Ben Di had left the stage by this point and was standing near the front of the room, surrounded by a small knot of Marines. Most were women that Kaly knew, and the majority of them were reaching the end of their enlistment. When she saw Kaly, Ben Di politely excused herself and met her and her companions halfway.
“Corporal n’Deena,” she said, “Trooper Margasdaater and Corporal T’Jinna? I was hoping that you’d come talk with me.”
Kaly was unsurprised that the woman knew their names, and who they were. Ben Di was with the Agency after all. The RSE was supposed to know things, and the Major had probably mentioned their situation to her.
“Your Major hoped that you’d consider the Agency,” the woman said, confirming this.
T’Jinna took the point for all of them. “We want to know if you will take all of us as a group. We want to stay together.”
“We can do that, Corporal,” Ben Di nodded. “There are still plenty of slots left for fresh teams in the budget. Now, I have a question for you; would you mind having an orphaned Senior Troop Leader running your team? I may be a little worn around the edges, but I’m between assignments right now, and I could sure use some field work.”
This caught the trio completely by surprise and everyone looked at each other for a moment, nonplussed. “W-why no--ma’am,” Kaly answered.
Ben Di smiled. “Good. Glad to be a part of the team. And just call me Mylee. Senior Troop Leaders might be senior NCO’s but we still aren’t officers, thank the Lady.”
Suddenly, Kaly’s brow knitted in concern. “Mylee? We’re still only halfway through our enlistment. How does that work?”
“That’s not something that any of you need to worry about,” Ben Di told her. “The Captain was so busy chattering about the hiring package that I think she forgot to mention that part. You just say yes--and I think that’s what just happened here--and we get you sworn in today. It’s that fast.”
Kaly blinked, a little overwhelmed. As much as she wanted to see her and her friends taken care of, she had expected to at least have the opportunity to say her goodbyes to everyone else, and to the Corps itself. They all deserved that.
Ben Di read her mind as ably as a psi and smiled again. “You’ll have plenty of time to say your farewells, and even welcome some of your fellow troopers over to us. We won’t be transitioning back to the Sisterhood for a while yet. We’re going to stay on the Athena, at least until we get our next posting assigned.’
“I’ll tell you right now, that with your experience, the Agency will want to see you working in the ETR. They’ve told me that the Agency needs good troopers there to help them settle things down. Should be easy duty.”
Having served as they had during the recent war with the Hriss, and then the ETR, none of them flinched at the prospect. In fact, Kaly felt a certain sense of relief; ‘going home’ had become an alien concept. Deep down, she wasn’t ready for civilian life, and neither were her companions.
“Not a problem,” T’Jinna signed, speaking for all of them.
“I didn’t think so,” Ben Di replied. “I’m also glad. I just spent the last six months entering data in an office and training policewomen. It’ll be good to get back into the field.”
This sealed their bargain and then their new Troop Leader released them to enjoy the free time that still remained, with orders to return and rendezvous with her in the Major’s office.
***
Captain n’Jerra greeted Kaly and her companions warmly as they stepped into Major n’Neesa’s office. Lt. sa’Kaali was also present, and the friendly expression on her face was just as reassuring. They were doing the right thing, it said.
Just as Kaly had suspected, Major n’Neesa, did not share this sentiment. “I’m not happy about this,” she confessed. “I don’t like losing good women, but I know it’s for a good cause. As for you three, it’s about the only decision you could have made. At least your team will stay together. I wish you the best of luck in your new jobs.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Kaly replied.
The Captain stepped forwards. “Please raise your right hands and repeat after me; I swear to support and defend the Concordance of the United Sisterhood of Suns, against all enemies, external or internal; that I will be loyal and give my allegiance to the same, without reservation or evasion.’
“I make this oath freely and I will faithfully discharge the duties I am about to accept. In the Lady’s name, so swear I.”
Kaly and her companions repeated the words, each of them remembering the last time they had uttered them. It had been when they had been inducted into the Marines, and just before they had shipped out for Basic. It was no less meaningful now, and lent a deeper sense of gravity to the path they had just chosen for themselves.
When they finished, Major n’Neesa saluted them one last time, and wished them all good luck in their new careers. Kaly wasn’t certain, but as they left the woman’s office, she thought that she detected a tear beginning to form in the corner of the officer’s eye. She certainly had a lump in her own throat.
Ben Di was waiting for them as they came out and she hustled them over to Corporal n’Darei’s desk. The Corporal helped them through the process of changing the status of their military benefits and explained it to them in detail. She also had them electronically sign a non-disclosure agreement. Kaly had already been sworn to secrecy as a Marauder, and she wasn’t surprised to see the same condition extending to RSE operations. She signed it without hesitation.
To her surprise and immense pleasure, N’Darei went on to reassign all their gear, including Tatiana, over to their personal custody as ‘military surplus’--and then promptly deleted them from the Marine Inventory. She was going to get to keep her beloved rifle and all the other gear she had come to trust and rely on. Everything was now hers, and hers alone!
The final step in the process came when they si
gned their contracts with the RSE and affixed their signatures to their discharge files. With that, they all became civilians.
There wasn’t any time allotted to celebrate their new status however. Straightaway, Ben Di herded them off to the Marine Stores, where Marine grey was exchanged for RSE black. They were also issued orders to report immediately to Larra’s Lament for refresher training and an introduction to the RSE and its special mission in the ETR.
Like the mythical phoenix, Marauder Team Five had managed to survive, but only by passing through the fires of crisis and transformation. Now, they were Special Response Unit 201, and just a small part of the thousands of SRU units being formed throughout the Sisterhood.
None of them knew it, but they had also become part of a new chapter, which some would later say was a very dark one, of Sisterhood history.
Director Susa ben Paula’s Office, RSE Headquarters, Concordance Park, Thermadon Val, Thermadon, Myrene System, Thalestris Elant, United Sisterhood of Suns, 1048.07|05|03:33:33
Director Susa ben Paula’s expression was grim and she allowed a deathly silence to fill the room. She knew that the other women ranged around the conference table had already reviewed the data, but she wanted them to see it again if only to emphasize her displeasure, and punctuate the seriousness of the situation.
The holo floating in the air before them displayed the most recent electronic attacks on the omniplex. The most successful of these, only a few days earlier, had interrupted the City AI’s ability to track the movements of its citizens.
It had also come at the worst possible time. Dr. Shandra n’Aida had not only managed to commit two murders in the very heart of the Odyne Medical facility, but she had slipped away altogether and was still at large. Somewhere.
Neither Ben Paula, nor her associates, had any doubts about who had enabled her to do this. Ever since the Marionite backlash against the Sisterhood, cyber-attacks by the so-called Daughters of Eve had not only occurred, but it was now becoming patently clear that the terrorist organization was receiving additional aid from another thorn in their nation’s side, the Bio Action Army. Contrary to what the public believed, the Bios were still a very credible threat, despite the massive efforts that had been expended over the decades to wipe them out. Now, these two groups had united and had set their sights on far more than merely disseminating anti-Sisterhood propaganda.
Ben Paula wasn’t entirely certain why the mysterious Dr. n’Aida was valuable to the Daughters or the Bios, but the evidence was clear; hackers who considered themselves sympathetic to the Marionite ‘cause’ had definitely been behind the service outage.
“What new leads do we have?” she asked her guests. She was looking at her seniormost subordinate, General Angelique bel Thana. Bel Thana, ever elegant and poised, did not flinch from her gaze, and merely inclined her head towards her sister, Colonel Josette bel Thana. The ongoing investigation was Josette’s responsibility.
“We have managed to apprehend one of the hackers,” Josette told her, “and we are in the process of subjecting her to vigorous questioning. So far, we know who her immediate contact is, and I am confident that that woman will lead us to the rest of her cell.”
Ben Paula responded with a cruel smile. She knew exactly how ‘vigorous’ the Regila could be when it wanted information. The Agency’s psi’s were experts at invading reluctant minds and stripping them bare of their knowledge--and they were none too gentle about it. “Good,” she said. “I want them all. We cannot tolerate another attack like this.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Josette replied.
“In the interim,” the Director went on, “I trust that the communications between you three will remain open, and free flowing.”
The three sisters nodded jointly. Angelique and Silvi bel Thana had been charged with the job of identifying and rounding up the leadership of the Daughters of Eve, and also seeing to it that none of them enjoyed any troublesome public trials. Since ‘hacking’ had been re-classified by the new administration as a form of economic terrorism, anyone that Josette caught up in her net would enjoy the same terminal justice.
The days of simply incarcerating cyber-terrorists, or worse, preserving them as so-called ‘experts’, were well and truly over. Now, they were simply executed.
Harsh times call for harsher measures, Ben Paula reflected. She was confident that these women would see to it that those measures would be meted out to the fullest.
USSNS Pallas Athena, Battle Group Golden, Topaz Fleet, In Orbit, Nuvo Bolivar, Argenta Provensa, Esteral Terrana Rapabla, 1048.07|06|05:83:99
It had been a long time since Lilith had visited the Officers Lounge. Her memories had kept her away. It was where she and Alex Rodraga had spent most of their off time together and the space served as a painful reminder of their friendship--and what she had been forced to do to him in the end.
When she had mentioned this to the new Ship’s High Priestess, the cleric had insisted that she return. She believed that this was the only way for Lilith to move past her guilt, and her regrets. For her part, Lilith wasn’t sure that the tactic would really be effective, but she had come to trust the young woman who had taken over Ophida n’Marsi’s position, and she needed the closure.
Pausing briefly at the threshold to gather her strength, Lilith made herself enter and took what in happier times had been her favorite chair. Then she called up a cup of tea for herself. Even this simple act was difficult; the seat and the one across from it, were where she and Rodraga had played chess, and read together.
Knowing what she had to do next, and dreading it, she opened the small case she had brought with her and pulled out a book. She hadn’t touched one of them, or attended any of the Book Club meetings, since Alex’s death, and holding it only sharpened her memories.
She managed to get as far as opening the cover before she re-closed the tiny volume and set it aside with a ragged sigh. It was just too much for her. She wasn’t ready to read again, she realized. Not yet.
As she made to leave, Mearinn and Katrinn walked in.
The Tethyian smiled at her. “Lily,” Mearinn said. “Good to see you! Sa’Vika has just gotten something very special for us to watch. Do you want to join us?” She had a holocube in her hands and Lilith recalled that the Athena had just received new supplies from the Fleet.
“Oh?”
“Yes, it just came in,” Katrinn volunteered, “It’s something new from Thermadon. It’s a holo called ‘Casablanca’. ReVision Studios made it.”
Lilith was quite familiar with “Casablanca”. She loved old movies only a hair less than she did antique books, and she had seen the film many times, along with its numerous remakes. But in her present mood she simply wasn’t up for the experience, and shook her head.
“Sorry Kat, but as Mearinn will tell you--it’s not a new thing. In fact it’s more than 1,600 years old, and I’ve already seen it, a couple of times. Thank you both, but I’ll take a pass.”
“No, Lily,” the Tethyian insisted, “you don’t understand. This one really is different. It’s all the rage on Thermadon and it has the critics up in arms. Some of them are calling it a masterpiece, and the best thing that ReVision has ever done. Others are calling it pure trash and actually saying it should be banned! With that much controversy, we simply have to see it.”
Lilith raised a speculative eyebrow. ReVision Studios had made a name for itself with the great epic “Amazonis” and the poignant classic, “Three to Karrisone”, and they were equally as famous for their remakes of ancient Gaian and Martian films.
How “Casablanca” could have created the kind of stir that her friends were claiming it had, mystified her. It was good--for an ancient, male-oriented, pre-Sisterhood production--but hardly controversial.
“All right,” she conceded. “You’ve got me. Let’s watch it.” She didn’t want to disappoint her friends, and she was eager for anything that might banish her depression.
As they took their seats, Mearinn inserted the
holocube in the Lounge’s player. Katrinn also took the added liberty of ordering some popcorn for all them to enjoy, and the appearance of the Zommerlaandar treat a few moments later brightened Lilith’s mood.
Munching on a handful, she forced her depression to the back of her mind and put her attention on the film instead. ReVision had kept the production in black and white, retaining the feel of the original, which met with her approval. This was something that had always been a sticking point with her. Several digital remakes of ancient ‘movies’ had opted for color, and had even gone so far as converting them to full 3-D, ruining them in the process as far as she was concerned. ReVision’s “Casablanca” had retained its purity though. It was 2-D, monochromatic, and all the richer for it.
Many changes had been made to the film itself however. While it was still set in the pre-World War Two era, the announcer was now a female, and lesbians and homosexuals had been added to the list of refugees fleeing Nazi oppression.
Another ReVision alteration was even more startling. Rick Blaine, whom Humphrey Bogart had played so ably, had been replaced. In his stead, was a digital version of Ava Gardner, and her character had been renamed ‘Ricky Blaine’. The fact that she also wore Bogart’s clothes, right down to his signature tuxedo and broad brimmed fedora, only underscored the drastic nature of the substitution.
But as she watched Gardner, she did have to admit that transforming Blaine into a cross-dresser, and a lesbian, lent her a certain relevance that Bogart hadn’t managed to carry off. Such a figure, living in an era as repressive and primitive as the 20th century, would have had every reason to hate the Nazi’s, Lilith realized.
She made sense.
It also brought her relationship in Paris with Ingrid Bergman into an even sharper focus. Not only was it more passionate and haunting, but all the more forbidden and endangered.
Bergman herself remained unchanged though. She still possessed the same magnetic beauty and the scenes where she and Gardner appeared together, were truly breathtaking.
Sisterhood of Suns: Daughters of Eve Page 5
