by P. S. Power
Tiera didn't see how, unless he meant killing Sandra before she could act, but he didn't explain, going on instead.
"Patricia Morgan... Gerent Lairdgren. You were in the way, so I sent word to Gala, which ended with you both being abused in that jail. Otherwise you might well have walked away without ever being known. I do have word however that the new Baron Gala, Rico, passed in his sleep? I don't know if that will make any of you feel better... From what I gather you might think that a good thing. His people do."
Trice blinked, and then nodded a little, abstractly.
"I don't hate that. He was a monster. Apparently you are too?" It was a mean thing to say, given that the man was apologizing so humbly.
Not that Tiera didn't agree, in spirit. She could forgive him not taking action and saving Regina, but the rest... That was a list of things that he'd actually done.
"And... Kolb. When you were ten, and wanted to go to school to learn engineering? I was the one that signed the papers to send you to advanced combat training instead. Sorry about that. In hindsight, I can see it wasn't the right move. I should have helped you to be whatever you wanted, not what our masters said you had to be."
Then he sat up, since no one had moved in to give him the good kicking he deserved yet. Tiera was tempted, but Kolb spoke, his voice bland sounding.
"So, is that it? You killed the others, you helped kill millions, tens of millions of people in the last year, and now you kneel and grovel a bit and think it's going to be fine? That we'll all forgive what you've done and let you go? Perhaps give you a nice job on the new colony? Make you King of all the Earth or the High Lord of the Star System?"
Mitchell shook his head. He looked sad, even as a small smile came to his lips.
"No... Kolb.... All of you... I just wanted you to know that it was never about you. That you, all of you, are good and fresh and new. Lead them wisely, the people of your worlds, and remember, in the end, to go out gracefully. It's the best any of us can hope for."
He looked at Tiera and smiled.
"Well, we'll always have the woodpile at least, won't we?" There was a playful air to it. The smile he gave her was cute. Charming even.
So Tiera was caught off guard when he took the shining weapon in his right hand, put the end of it in his mouth and made the back of his head fly off in a shower of blood. It made a more muffled sound this time, she noticed, a feeling of shock hitting her, as she watched Mitchell from her morning classes die.
Then they all just stood for a bit, looking at the bodies, and the spray of blood on the floor.
It was, Tiera realized, over. And they'd won. So had the enemy, she thought, if that little speech at the end had been correct. There was no reason it shouldn't be, was there?
Everything that had happened was done. Not forever, and really, not everything, since there was still a rebellion in Noram, and the Earth was in danger of dying from what had been done already, but the Ancients, the old ones, were finished. That left only her friends and the Young Ancients, to set things right.
After a few minutes, she signaled to Timon. His eyes looked like steel in the hard light.
"Yes, Tiera?"
"Do you have a box on you? We need to get rid of the bodies. We can just put them in something and toss them at the Sun, right?"
He smiled, and nodded.
"That would be a better end than many get. Then we can go to the new colony and start whatever we're going to do there? I also have some space stations to set up."
Tor looked at her and shook his head though, softly.
"We need to get that tour done first, for real, so everyone can see Rolph. Alphonse, I mean. Then we can go. Do you think they need bakers, on the Moon? They have your food devices..." There was a slightly sad sound to his voice, but he grinned when she tilted her head and nodded a bit.
"Honestly? People will want that, I bet. Anything handmade is going to be worth more there, since it means that someone spent real effort, and time, on it. I bet we can still find you a good location too." She glanced at the others and smiled. "For me, it's back to school I think. That, and Queening. Is that a word?" She meant it to be funny, but Trice ruined it nodding her head carefully.
"If you say it is, then yes?"
"Oh. Right. Let's forget it then, that's a stupid sounding word. So, a box?"
Trice had one, and smiled while she passed it over. Then, with more care than she would have thought, they packed their problems away in a magical case, and sent them out toward the Sun.
Then they all managed to work, and grieve, for what they'd lost and might never regain. All the fallen friends and family. The lost loves that Tiera had never even known about. Everything. She cried a bit, for Green and Brown. Even for Julie White, and Lyn red. They'd all died so bravely. When she got around to crying for Regina, she realized that she was actually just shedding tears for herself.
In the end, the girl would have wanted her to be happy, she knew. She couldn't feel it yet, not really, but with everything else being done, maybe now she could?
It wouldn't be the last of her tears, but she had people that needed her, and family. She could go on, for them.
Finally, a few days later, they managed to get the Space Fleet tour done for real, and then, as soon as they left to tell everyone in Noram where the Prince was, they went home.
To Harmony.
