Alien Revolt

by Tracy St. John

  Hope stood slowly, telling the sudden burst of her heartrate to calm down. Things must still be okay if her father was comming. Being able to do so meant he hadn’t been thrown into the brig for failing to deliver his youngest daughter as a child bride. Copeland hadn’t yet taken offense to his delays.

  That was what she told herself, anyway.

  Hope had to work to keep worry off her face, to appear natural to her supervisor and fellow workers. Everyone stared at her with open curiosity. “Thank you, sir. I’ll return to my station as fast as possible.”

  Lopez sniffed. The sound was derisive, as if she made a habit out of ducking away from work.

  As she hurried to the office, Hope reminded herself, I did call in sick for several days. I’m not exactly the model worker lately.

  She was trying to distract herself from the dread which had weighed on her all morning since finding out Copeland was demanding to marry Charity. But it had veered from fear straight into terror with the message to com her dad.

  Hope got into the office with its overflowing shelves of pieces from defunct computers. She ordered the door closed and locked behind her. She sat down at the relatively clean desk and with shaking hands, and switched the room’s sound blocker on. Using her personal device, she keyed in her father’s frequency.

  His voice came in low, not bothering with the nicety of a greeting. “Don’t talk and don’t panic. I just got word Copeland took Charity out of her class.”

  “He what?” Her voice was high-pitched with terror.

  “Stay quiet,” her father snapped. “For now, continue to behave like nothing is wrong. I’m on my way to Copeland’s chambers to make sure nothing happens. If things go bad, Charity and I will phase and get a message to you to phase as well. Then you’ll meet Charity and me in Bay Twenty-nine. Got it? Bay Twenty-nine. I have to go.”

  The com went dead, leaving Hope staring at it in horror. Her ears rang with his words. Copeland had Charity. He had taken her baby sister. Her father expected her to act natural?

  She blinked back the tears filling her eyes. “God no, please, not my sister. He can’t have her!”

  She touched the phase device attached inside her blouse. Charity wore hers as well, but the knowledge didn’t calm Hope’s racing heart. She should be running to help her sister. She should be there, making sure the monstrous bastard Copeland didn’t touch her.

  But her dad had told her to act like nothing was wrong. To carry on and let him handle it. Hope trusted her father, but she wasn’t so sure he could stop Copeland. Plenty of others had tried. With dozens of loyal followers around him, everyone else had failed.

  Copeland had Charity. He had plans to do to her what he’d done to so many helpless girls before. No, no, that couldn’t happen. Hope wouldn’t allow it. She’d kill the bastard, even if it meant her own death.

  She’d kill him.

  * * * *

  Piras was ushered into the Voice of God’s reception room. He stopped inside the doorway, blinking in confusion at the bizarre tableau before him.

  The first thing he noticed was Hope’s younger sister Charity kneeling by Copeland’s throne, in the place the red-robed girl had once occupied. The teen’s expression was pleading as she stared back at him. Even from halfway across the room, he could see how she shook with terror. An armed guard stood behind her.

  On Copeland’s left was General Nath, standing with his back to Piras. He faced the Holy Leader, as if they’d been conversing just before Piras’s arrival. Nath turned to glance at the Kalquorian admiral. The Earther man’s face was deathly pale.

  Copeland ignored Piras’s entrance. He continued the discussion he’d been having with the officer, his tone peevish. “General Nath, you’re the one always going on about our lack of resources. I realize she is your daughter and this is an event of great significance to you, but an extravagant wedding ceremony is of no concern to me. It is enough she is to be my wife. Let that serve as all the honor you need.”

  Nath bowed his head. “Holy Leader, it means so much to our family. Have I not earned enough of your esteem for at least a small ceremony? Say in three or four days, to give us time to plan something appropriate for such a moment of pride?”

  Piras approached, his stomach churning at the Naths’ desperation. The overt fear on Charity’s too-young face put his infamous temper in danger of igniting. He could have cheerfully taken Copeland apart piece by piece in that instant and stomped on the bloodied bits.

  Piras drew near and forced an enthusiastic smile on his unwilling face. “A wedding ceremony? That would be a magnificent occasion. I’ve never seen such a rite as done by Earthers. It would be a fitting celebration following our victory over Haven. Or am I assuming too much to hope for an invitation?”

  General Nath swung back around and hurried to Piras, offering his hand. As they shook, the Earther said, “It would be an honor for you to attend, Admiral. You’re right; it would be the perfect commemoration of our shared triumph.” Under his breath, he added, “Charity’s phase device was confiscated by her teacher.”

  Piras stiffened. He’d worried what would happen to the mission if Charity had to use the phase, but it wasn’t even an option. A bad situation was now much worse.

  Nath turned back as Copeland clucked reprovingly. “As the representative of a most moral and compassionate God, I cannot be boastful with an elaborate celebration. Modesty, my dear general. However, feel free to tell our people you have been blessed by my choice to make your lovely daughter my bride.” He gazed at the shuddering girl. “I declare us married, my pretty. Congratulations to us both on what I am sure will be a most fulfilling partnership. Guards, take her to the bedchamber. I will be in shortly, after I’ve dealt with Admiral Piras.”

  A couple of the guards lining the walls stepped forward. The one standing over Charity caught her up by the arm, and she screamed. She tried to pull away. “Dad!”

  Nath ran to her. “No! I order you to back off!” He shoved the man yanking her arm.

  The guards halted for a brief instant, giving Piras a moment’s hope that they would turn on Copeland. Instead, they leveled their blasters at the unarmed general. Charity screamed again and reached for her father. Nath, horribly aware of the weapons aimed at him, put his hands up and jerked away from his sobbing daughter.

  Copeland shook his head and spoke to no one in particular. “This is such a shame. My most trusted officer has shown himself to be a traitor. He has put family before me and God.” His sigh was the height of drama. “Take him away. My heart is broken to be betrayed by this man.”

  Nath reached for his collar. Thinking he must be about to phase and all the ramifications such an action might bring, Piras moved towards him, calling out, “General, please rethink your options. Now is not the time for such behavior.”

  Because Nath’s outburst had caught them off-guard, the soldiers were slow to react. It gave Piras an opportunity to get close enough to the general to whisper, “I won’t let him harm her.”

  Nath looked at him. Piras gave him a warning shake of his head before the guards knocked the admiral aside to grab the Earther. They pushed and shoved Nath away to the accompaniment of Charity’s hysterical screams. Nath’s face was set, his gaze locked on Pira’s face until he was taken through the door at the back of the room. The demand that Piras keep the promise didn’t need to be spoken.

  Copeland chuckled, as if he’d been treated to a comedy. He dropped the farce of being aggrieved by Nath’s disloyalty, sneering at Charity. “Such a silly display. Let this be a lesson to you, wife. God before all, including family. As I am the living embodiment of Him, my word is forever law, above even that of your father.”

  He waved a negligent hand. Charity was escorted—or rather, dragged—out the same doorway her father had been taken through. Her sobs slowly faded in the distance.

  Piras’s hand twitched, itching for the blaster which had been confiscated outside the throne room. It was a good thing he didn’t hav
e it. Even if it had meant his own death, he would have blasted the sneer right off Copeland’s face at that moment.

  Copeland finally acknowledged him, appearing obscenely merry. “Don’t look so grim, Admiral. Before he forgot whom his allegiance belongs to, General Nath assured me our ships are ready for the attack.”

  Wanting nothing more than to scuttle the whole mission simply for the pleasure of killing the white-robed bastard, Piras buried his feelings and played along. “That is excellent news, Holy Leader. I would appreciate the name of his replacement. We still have a few details to iron out before the battle.”

  “No, I don’t think so. Just blast a hole in the planet’s defenses. My ships will assist you, and then we will claim the heretics on Haven.” Copeland’s tone was lofty with serenity, but he managed to be insulting all the same.

  Piras clenched his fists, feeling his temper building to the outermost edge of control. “That’s not the Basma’s plan. Besides, if we could ‘blast a hole’ through the cordon of ships, don’t you think we would have by now? It takes finesse and planning and—”

  “I do not answer to Maf. I answer to no one but myself. Give me Haven, or I’ll take my battlecruisers elsewhere and he can lose his silly war against Kalquor.” He smiled and made the sign of his blessing towards the guards. “Show the admiral back to his shuttle immediately. He’s done here, and I have a new bride to teach her wifely duties to.”

  The guards who had not taken Nath and Charity away stepped forward, their blasters once again pointed in threat, this time at Piras.

  He had two choices: phase right away and screw the whole plan up in order to keep his promise to keep Charity safe, or get his ass out and regroup. One young girl’s life versus the lives of the women and children of Haven.

  With a snarled oath, Piras whirled and hurried out of the room, the guards right behind him.

  Piras sputtered in rage when the soldiers outside Copeland’s chambers refused to return his blaster. It wasn’t worth a fight though, not if he were to thwart any part of Copeland’s evil. With the soldiers having to trot to keep up with his long strides, Piras stormed towards the shuttle bay.

  As he went, he grabbed for the com on his belt. There was a shout of alarm and his escorts pointed their blasters at his face.

  Piras stopped and showed them the device. With his fangs fully extended, he screamed at the panting Earthers surrounding him, “Does this look like a weapon, fools? Are you as ridiculous as every other Earther slinking around here? Are you that fucking stupid?” He stepped forward to rant an inch from one man’s face. He waved the com around wildly. “Is this a weapon? Is it? Answer me, asshole!” His demands ended in a crazed shriek.

  The guard was armed with a blaster, but he took a step back, putting space between himself and Piras. The other guards appeared as terrified, their eyes uniformly round with whites showing.

  Piras was not surprised at the reaction. He’d gotten the same response from battle-hardened Nobeks. His rages were legendary, because he seemed capable of killing without a second’s thought. At moments like this, he was.

  Even though he knew he had little time to indulge his fury, Piras was unable to choke it off now that it had been let off its leash. The only control he could hope to exercise was to keep up his guise as the Basma’s ally—and not lose his temper to the point of committing bloody mayhem.

  He turned in a circle, bellowing like a lunatic at them all. “Morons! Imbeciles! If we lose Haven, it will be because of an idiot who thinks with his tiny Earther dick! A disgusting worm who can’t handle a woman, so he fucks little crying girls! Do you think I fear him? Or you gurlucks who worship him? Put those fucking blasters down, or I’ll shove the barrels up your precious virgin asses and pull the triggers!”

  Piras wheeled around and continued his speedy march down the corridor. He took little satisfaction in seeing Earthers scatter to get out of his way. As the admiral stormed forward, he clicked the com frequency of someone he could scream at some more, without the fear he might reach out and tear that person’s head off.

  “Dramok Sitrel here.”

  Spittle flew as Piras shouted in English at the unfortunate man, making sure anyone within earshot heard each word he said. “I want the Basma to know he needs to cut the Earthers loose. They are impossible to work with and a hindrance to our effort. They will doom the attack on Haven.”

  “Uh, Admiral Piras?”

  “Who else would it be? Copeland is worse than useless. His ships are barely worthy of being called debris. His lackeys are too cowardly or too stupid—” Piras wheeled around to yell in the faces of the guards “–to recognize they follow a fool!” He jerked about again, continuing to his shuttle.

  Sitrel sounded tired and defeated. “Admiral—Admiral, I share your dismay. I truly do. But the Basma has not heard my complaints in some time. There’s nothing I can do.”

  “Oh, so I – the person supposedly in charge of this joke of a mission – I am supposed to be fine with being thrown off Copeland’s ship at blaster point?”

  “Why don’t you come to my ship? We’ll discuss the matter—”

  “I’m not in the mood to discuss anything except disemboweling the lot of them and shoving their shit-filled intestines between their teeth. Chew on that, Sitrel!”

  Piras continued the tirade as he stormed into the bay and marched to his shuttle. “I’m getting on my shuttle. I’m sitting in this fucking useless bucket of bolts until Copeland stops putting his shriveled cock in whatever convenient hole he can find. I’m waiting right the hell here until he takes this attack on Haven and Rokan seriously! Piras out!”

  Piras clicked the com off. He reached the open hatch of his shuttle and turned to the winded guards. They cringed, taking several steps back as his burning gaze fell on them. “You all heard me. Until Copeland coms me to say he’s ready to act like the leader he’s supposed to be, I’ll be sitting here waiting. Until then, don’t touch my fucking shuttle. Don’t look at my shuttle. Don’t fucking think about my shuttle. If anyone gets anywhere near it, I’ll come out, blast your stupid faces to pieces, and serve the bits on toast for my lunch.”

  He boarded the craft, shutting and locking the hatch behind him. He took a deep breath. He let it out.

  “Window vid on,” Piras said. His voice was raspier than usual from the extended bout of yelling.

  The Earthers who had followed him and some of the bay personnel huddled in a confused knot. Fearful glances were thrown at his shuttle. They appeared to be arguing amongst themselves for a few moments. Piras was about to turn on the audio when most began to drift away, leaving three distinctly unhappy-seeming men behind. After the main group of guards left and the bay personnel got back to work, the remaining sentries put several yards of distance between themselves and his vessel.

  Piras nodded and turned on his phase. It was a stupid move to go after Charity. He knew it was a monumentally imbecilic action from a tactical standpoint. From any standpoint, in fact, when it came to winning the damned war. Hadn’t he just made a speech to Kila’s crew about putting the mission first?

  Yet he could not leave Charity Nath in Copeland’s clutches. Even if she had not been Hope’s sister, he wouldn’t have been able to consign her to such a horrendous fate—though her relationship to Hope made it all the more important he do something to save her.

  Phased, Piras left the shuttle at a run. He flew back though the corridors the way he’d come, hoping he could get to Charity before anything terrible happened to her.

  * * * *

  Hope tore through the ship’s halls, heading for the Holy Leader’s cabins. She’d gone against her father’s wishes to carry on as if nothing was amiss. She’d been unable to ignore her gut instinct, which told her the situation had gone bad.

  Phasing in her supervisor’s office, she’d escaped Hacker Heaven and hurried to the family’s quarters. She’d turned on the bugging device Kila had planted on Copeland and accessed the security monitors in time t
o see Piras enter the throne room. She’d watched and listened in horror as the whole scene played out, right up to the moment Piras was forced out at blaster point.

  She’d hoped Charity and her father had phased. She’d prayed the guards hadn’t decided to shoot Piras.

  Even though she’d received no com from Borey, Hope had rushed to the shuttle bay and waited by the craft docked in space twenty-nine, expecting to meet her father and sister there. Minutes ticked by, and no one came. She tried to com them. No one answered.

  Something had gone terribly wrong. Her family wasn’t coming. With terror giving her feet wings, she sprinted back out of the bay, not even pausing when she heard someone angrily shouting from the other end of the vast space.

  Hope ran and ran, praying something awful hadn’t happened to those she loved, cursing that Copeland’s suites never seemed to draw closer no matter how fast she raced.

  Chapter 18

  Veko’s voice emerged from his impenetrable wall of hair. “Captain, there’s a priority message coming from Dramok Sitrel. He’s demanding to talk to you.”

  “To me? Not Admiral Piras?” Kila looked at his faceless com officer in confusion.

  “Confirmed. Dramok Sitrel with an emergency communication to Captain Kila.”

  “Patch him through.”

  “Com open.”

  Kila adopted his most official tones. “Captain Kila here. What can I do for you, Dramok?”

  The voice on the other end had a screechy quality which set the Nobek’s teeth on edge. “You can explain to me what the fuck Piras is doing! I don’t care what the Earthers have done. We have to have Copeland’s help!”

  Real concern wormed its way into Kila’s gut. “As far as I know, we do have the Holy Leader’s help. We have mutual goals with him, after all. Why wouldn’t Copeland help us?”

  “Because Piras wants to cut him and his ships out of our force! We need those battle drones to clean out Haven, damn his hide!”

  Everyone on the bridge had turned to their captain, confusion written on their faces. Confusion Kila shared—especially since Piras had gone to Copeland’s ship. The admiral had gone alone this time. With the attack coming so soon, each member of Kila’s crew had to remain at his station until they’d played their part to the end.