Fall: Cross of the past, key of the future (Numbered Book 4)

by Magus Tor

  “Mmm?” said Aurelia, momentarily distracted by the fresh smell of the trees.

  “That we're sisters now,” said Tara, as though Aurelia were stupid.

  Aurelia grinned despite herself. “Well, yes, I guess we are.”

  Tara beamed, and together they all went into the house.

  Jonathon shook his head at his little sister's chatter and put a hand on her shoulder to quieten her. “We all need rest,” he said. “I suggest we see each other again at dinner; we can all talk then.”

  “I don't need rest,” Tara pouted.

  “In that case,” said Jonathon, “I need you to keep watching the screens. I want to be updated with whatever's happening over dinner. Okay?”

  “Sure,” Tara said, shrugging but looking secretly pleased to be given a task.

  She ran off to try and catch the transport pod they'd just left before it went. Nicholas and Elza disappeared off upstairs, and Aurelia and Jonathon followed behind. It wasn't until they were in their sleeping quarters that Jonathon finally sighed and sat on the bed. He looked exhausted, the skin under his eyes turning a pale shade of grey.

  “Get some sleep,” she told him, stroking his face.

  “I will,” he promised. “But first, don't we have something to do?”

  “What's that?” She sat next to him on the bed.

  “Well, I thought you wanted to test out that Presidential kiss?” he asked, with a grin.

  Aurelia laughed and leant in to let her lips touch his. Thankfully, Presidential kisses seem to be exactly the same as regular person kisses, she thought.

  Over dinner, as instructed, Tara updated them all on the news situation. Apparently, there had been an uproar in the streets when Sokba had appeared and announced that the election was being investigated for invalidity.

  “Can he get away with that?” Aurelia asked, scooping vegetables off a platter in the centre of the table.

  It was Tara who answered. “I doubt it. You haven't been out there; you don't know what it's like. Sokba's Elite, just like all the councillors, but the people out there, the ones watching those screens, they're Workers. More and more of them are coming all the time. They're leaving their posts just to come and watch the screens. They went crazy when Sokba made the announcement. I don't think they're going to let things go quietly.”

  “And with the Lunar Workers on our side, Jonathon should be able to take his seat in parliament without too much of a fuss,” Nicholas said.

  Aurelia thought about this. She actually had little idea how many Workers there were in Lunar itself. Jonathon noted her confusion and explained.

  “The Workers make up the majority here in Lunar,” he said. “Just like they do elsewhere. The difference is that, up here, the Workers have been exposed to the Elite. They understand more than anyone on Earth what's happening and how unfair the system is. They'll easily be persuaded into revolution if necessary.”

  “And Lunar City isn't equipped to deal with that,” Nicholas said, spearing a piece of meat on his fork. “Since Workers rarely live here permanently, there's not the same kind of infrastructure for protecting them, or imprisoning them, as there is on Earth.”

  “What do you mean?” Aurelia asked, putting her fork down.

  Nicholas chewed slowly and swallowed before replying. “The blocks in Earth Cities are designed to be sealed off. They're more or less self-sufficient, other than for food, and can be isolated for weeks at a time, maybe even months. Of course, they could be used to protect those who live inside the blocks, but the system was originally designed as a safeguard in case of revolution or rebellion.”

  “By cutting communication between blocks and sealing them off,” Jonathon continued, “any rebellion or revolt would fizzle out.”

  “But that's not the case in Lunar,” Nicholas said. “Lunar City was built before the Earth Cities were rebuilt, obviously, and these kinds of protections aren't in place up here.”

  “Which makes Lunar the obvious place to begin a rebellion,” concluded Aurelia.

  “Not necessarily the obvious, though definitely the most effective,” Jonathon corrected. “Once Workers here begin to flock to the cause, there's not a lot the Elite can do about it. In fact, they'd be foolish to try.” He poured water from a jug into his glass.

  “Which doesn't mean that they won't try,” Elza said.

  Nicholas almost choked on a mouthful. “They'd be fools,” he said when he got his breath back. “The Military side with Jonathon, and the Workers outnumber the Elite by thousands to one.”

  “Old habits die hard,” Elza said calmly. “They're used to having the power whenever they want to use it. They won't yet have grasped the concept that they no longer have that power.”

  Tara shook her head. “I'm with Nicholas. If you'd been out in the City today and seen what support Jonathon had, you'd see too that the Elite would be idiots to try and do anything to stop him.”

  Aurelia hoped this was the case. If they could take Lunar quietly, then the chances were a lot easier that they could take the Earth Cities too. Once they controlled the government, they should be able to control the Cities, at least in effect. Except...

  “I saw a councillor reserving seats on an Earth shuttle after the election,” she said.

  “Some of them will run,” Jonathon said, putting his silverware neatly on his empty plate. “Some of them will stay. It depends how much they're willing to compromise their beliefs. Either way, the Elite won't know the lives of luxury that they know now.”

  Aurelia wasn't so sure of this. Once on Earth, the Elite were so highly regarded, so respected by the enslaved Earth citizens—citizens used to obeying every order—that she didn't think an Elite would have a terribly hard time gaining a following. But she said nothing, which she later regretted.

  “Do you think that Lunar City will come quietly?” she asked. “Honestly?”

  Jonathon sighed. “I hope so. It will make things easier for us all.”

  But Aurelia noticed Elza slowly shaking her head. One of them, at least, didn't think that the capital would be taken so easily.

  “I think I should come,” Aurelia said, hurriedly trying to fasten her dress.

  “Why?” Jonathon said, coming up behind her to help.

  “Because...” She sighed. She could think of no earthly reason why she should be accompanying Jonathon to the parliament building.

  “See?” he said, standing back now that her dress was fastened. “There's no reason for you to be there. As you said yourself, we don't know what's going to happen. So why put yourself in possible danger when there's no reason to be there? I'm going to go, make it clear that I am the President, and start trying to form a cabinet. And with any luck, there should be at least a few Elite who have decided to side with me, which could make it easier to persuade the others.”

  “You're taking Nicholas,” pouted Aurelia, aware that she sounded like a spoilt child, and hating herself for it.

  “Look, Aurelia, be reasonable,” Jonathon said, turning her around and taking her hands. “I don't think that anything is going to happen at all, to be truthful. Which means it's going to be a boring day at the office. There's work to be done, and you will play your role, I promise you. But just for today, I'd like you to stay here with Tara.”

  “And Elza?”

  Jonathon shook his head. “No, she's coming with me. She's always been my right hand, and she will have her seat on the cabinet. She deserves it.”

  Aurelia sighed again. “Fine,” she said. “Fine for today, though, not for any other time.”

  Jonathon laughed. “Understood. And if you're worried, just watch the screens. Tara will take you out to see them if you want. There's one pretty close to here. They're sure to broadcast my entry into the building so you can see that everything goes okay.”

  Which was how Aurelia found herself surrounded by people, craning her neck to look up at the large screen on the side of a residential building.

  “There he is,”
squealed Tara.

  The screen showed a transport pod hovering in front of the parliamentary building, then landing. Automatically, Aurelia reached for Tara's hand. A cheer went up from the throngs of people surrounding them, all Workers, all glued to the screen to see what Jonathon was going to do. They were already calling him the Worker President.

  It happened as soon as the pod door opened. From around the corners of the parliamentary building, two lines of soldiers appeared. The picture wasn't defined enough for Aurelia to see whether they were Clones or not, but they were uniformed and held weapons at the ready. Almost immediately, two further pods swooped in behind Jonathon's—transport pods, she saw—and began unloading Military Class before the pods even landed. These were clearly Clones, as to a man they looked at Nicholas before proceeding.

  The crowd gasped, and Aurelia squeezed Tara's hand. They wouldn't possibly be foolish enough to do this, would they? But they did.

  An electronic whirring sounded, and a Clone who was disembarking fell to the ground. In an instant, the screen was filled with the blue flickering light of stunners, smoke, and screaming. Aurelia herself began to scream, and Tara clung to her.

  “Look!” Tara yelled, pointing at the screen, which showed a small group of Clones surrounding Jonathon, Nicholas, and Elza.

  The group moved slowly, weapons pointed outwards, but gradually they approached the parliament building. Jonathon was determined to enter the building, to claim what was his. Aurelia watched, holding her breath as the group mounted the stairs. Then the door swung open, and they disappeared inside. The screen cut to black, the broadcast discontinued, censored by someone, somewhere.

  “We've got to get out of here,” Tara said, her face ashen.

  Aurelia nodded but couldn't tear her eyes from the screen. People around them were shouting, crying, and the screen began to stutter. They learnt later that Jonathon had had men watching the communications office since the day before, aware that the Elite would try to stop broadcasts that could incite revolution. There was a shrill hum, and the screen came back to life, but Aurelia couldn't watch any more.

  Grasping Tara's hand, she pulled the girl through the mass of people, ignoring the shouts from the few who recognised her. She stepped on feet and pushed bodies out of the way, barely knowing where she was going until Tara took the lead and directed her. The crowd finally spat them out, and the two women ran back towards the house.

  “No, this way,” huffed Tara, leading Aurelia away from the main security gates.

  They tripped the alarm as they went over the fence, but they didn't care. They could see a crowd forming in front of the security booth, and Aurelia was glad that Tara had thought quickly enough for them to avoid it.

  Aurelia could hear the com system ringing as she pushed open the door.

  “Answer, answer!” she shouted, coming into the house.

  “Aurelia, it's me. We're all fine,” came Jonathon's voice from the speakers.

  She began to cry.

  Jonathon did not make it back to the house that day, though he was safe. At three o'clock that afternoon, he declared a state of emergency and announced that the Empire was at war. Civil war.

  Chapter Four

  Under armed escort, Jonathon, Nicholas, and Elza eventually made it home, long after the Lunar dome had turned deep midnight blue. Aurelia was deeply grateful to Tara, who despite her youth had been sensible enough to keep her new sister-in-law busy. After hearing Jonathon's announcement that the Empire was at war, Tara had taken Aurelia down into the kitchens of the house.

  “They're going to need food when they get back here,” she'd said. “And good food, so get to cooking.”

  The logical task of cooking was exactly what Aurelia had needed to stop her from thinking. And when one meal was prepared, Tara, at a loss for anything else to do, had ordered her to start another. This meant that once everyone was safely home, Aurelia served up a spicy stew, the savoury smell of real meat making her mouth water.

  “I'm starving,” said Nicholas, predictably, picking up a spoon and starting to eat.

  Aurelia looked over at Jonathon, who seemed drawn and tired. She doled out a large portion of food and slid it across the table to him. “Eat,” she said.

  He didn't question her, just did as he was told—thankful, it seemed, not to be in charge for the moment.

  “Now,” Aurelia said, getting her own bowl, “I don't understand what happened out there. Would someone care to explain to me?”

  She was determined to understand as much as she could, knowing that understanding was the first step to overcoming fear.

  “We were ambushed,” Nicholas said, through a mouthful.

  Elza shook her head. “Not exactly. If you remember rightly, I told you this might happen. The Elite are just too used to winning, to being in control. It was natural that the first thing they’d do would be to try and defeat Jonathon using force.”

  “But he has such support,” Tara said. “We saw it, out on the streets. There were thousands of Workers out there, and more coming all the time.”

  “Who was fighting?” Aurelia interrupted. “I mean, who were those soldiers who shot at you?”

  “Mostly sec Workers, from what I could tell,” grunted Nicholas. “Some Clones as well.”

  “I thought the Clones were on our side,” said Tara, reaching for a canister of water.

  “Most are. But there's a problem,” began Nicholas.

  Aurelia knew immediately what that problem was. “Clones can only do as they're ordered,” she told Tara. “Which means that unless they've been given orders to fight for Jonathon, then they must obey whoever orders them to fight against him.” She cursed the fact that she hadn't thought of that before. But Nicholas obviously had considered this, since he was grinning.

  “Sort of,” he explained. “But I took a leaf out of your book. Do you remember what you said to me the night I left the dome with Bryn?”

  Aurelia nodded. She remembered that night as clearly as if it were yesterday. She had told Nicholas, no, ordered Nicholas, to use his own judgement and hurt whom he thought necessary.

  “So, we did the same to all Clones who decided to join us,” Nicholas said. “Well, Elza did. Only a human can give orders to a Clone. But we didn't get to all of them; we knew we hadn't.”

  “So why didn't you just yell it to them from across the fight?” Aurelia asked, knowing that that was an all-too-obvious solution not to be thought of.

  “We did. I did,” Elza said. This didn't surprise Aurelia, since Elza was fast on her feet. “A few stopped fighting, but not many.”

  “There are those who are happy with their lives,” Nicholas said, scraping his bowl with his spoon. “Which is natural. We're bred to fight, and that drive is stronger in some of us than in others. Still, there are many Clones who will continue to fight for the Elite Army, simply because that's what they know how to do and they enjoy it.”

  Aurelia sighed in frustration. “And what does that mean for us?”

  Nicholas shrugged. “Not as much as you'd think.” He held out his bowl for another serving of stew. “We've got plenty of Military on our side, and many of the Workers. I estimate we still outnumber the Elite by hundreds to one, even if not all the Workers or all the Clones side with us.”

  Jonathon had been silent, steadily emptying his bowl. Now he put down his spoon. “I had hoped that we could take Lunar without a fight,” he said slowly.

  “You still might,” Elza told him.

  He shook his head. “I'm not so sure.”

  Elza pulled her screen for her pocket and pressed a few icons. Suddenly, a picture was beamed onto the wall of the dining room.

  “Look at this,” she told Jonathon.

  The picture showed a crowd of Workers, many of them carrying things, furniture for the most part. They looked focussed, and all seemed to be moving in generally the same direction. Aurelia really didn't understand the significance of what she was seeing.

  “The
y're building barricades,” said Elza, quietly. “They're blocking off the streets to prevent the Elite Army from moving too quickly around the City. They're on your side, Jonathon.”

  “But they're not fighters,” he said.

  “I've been thinking about that,” Nicholas said, finishing his second bowl of stew. “We should assign a Clone to each block—more, if we can. That way we'll have at least one experienced Military man for each section.”

  Jonathon nodded. “Agreed. See to it.”

  Nicholas was about to stand up, but Jonathon stopped him. “It can wait until you've finished eating,” he said, smiling for the first time since he'd arrived home. “Unless you're done, that is.”

  The Clone grinned back and slid his bowl over to Aurelia for another helping.

  Tara had been keying things into her own screen while all this was going on, quietly nodding to herself. “I think that's going to be your strength,” she said, putting her screen down.

  “Huh?” Nicholas had lost track of the conversation now that he had more food.

  “That you're going to have experienced leaders,” she explained. “Here, check this out.”

  Elza dimmed her own projection, and Tara beamed an image onto the wall. It was a table filled with numbers.

  “And what's that?” Nicholas asked. “No, wait, I see it.”

  For the benefit of everyone else, Tara explained what she was showing them. “These are the shuttle records from Lunar shuttle bay for the last twelve hours or so. Compare them to these.” She tapped her screen and brought up another list of numbers.

  “So, more people are going out. That makes sense,” Aurelia said. “There are those who won't want to stay for the fighting. And there are children too. Perhaps Workers are sending their threes home to Earth for safety.”

  “Some of the increase could be due to that,” Tara said. “But look more carefully at the third column. Remember that the Elite take precedence over everyone else. Those numbers show that the Elite have been taking seats reserved by others. They're leaving in far bigger numbers than it appears at first. And if they're going, it means two things.”