The General's War
Page 32
That this dream has been delayed, if not erased completely, leaves Fran with a heavy heart. Chimera, she reflects on the rise of this unknown antagonist. Had she only pushed for the elimination of the Shadow Brokers years ago, this could have all been avoided. But, she hadn’t foreseen their significance in her grand plan. Even with all the analytical data they’d run through simulations, the Shadow Broker’s reach had never extended beyond the underground and Shadow net communities save the occasional raid on factories. Little did she know, a revolution had been developing, and a new species - as they’re calling themselves - would emerge to challenge her.
Enraged once more by her own failure to act against the Shadow Brokers earlier, she orders another round of executions. Her general’s chose Chimera from families with no connection to the military, and who are over the age of eighteen, on her orders. The gallows no longer incorporate an audience after the threat of violence, thus the executions are fed live to the public again via the World and Shadow nets.
Seven more gallows are destroyed by rebel Hosts before the Lifi weapon can be employed against them. City squares in Country States from every corner of the world are attacked, representing the growing scope of the rebel uprisings and the apparent solidarity developing between Hosts and Chimera. An hour later, all Hosts involved in the assaults are left visibly confused over their whereabouts and alterations and the Chimera dead. Many Hosts are then shot to pieces to assure the public that no rebel would escape the general’s wrath. More incentive to keep them out of the people’s homes, she muses.
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“She’s executing more of us!” Ginny cries, entering Tobias’ chambers. Tears stream down her face as she approaches him. He stands to receive her. “I can’t stand watching it,” she sobs into his chest.
“They are brave,” he says, taking her by the arms and pulling back. “They are Chimera.”
“Yes,” she mumbles, head shaking as she looks at the floor. “But, Tobias, I feel - I fear I can’t leave them like this.”
He releases her and steps back. “You would rather stay and fight?”
She looks up at him, nodding. “Yes.”
“And the others?”
“They are angry, Tobias. They feel helpless – useless up here while our countrymen are being slaughtered for show.”
“Martyred,” he insists.
She shakes her head again, “No, Tobias, they are being slaughtered, and for what? If we won’t do anything to help them, then who?”
“The chancellor has included them in his fight. Chimera, Host, human.”
“But not us?”
“Why should we help that man?”
“Because, whether you can see past your hatred of him or not, he represents what we want. He fights for us! For Chimera freedoms. Can we run from that? We’re the only Chimera with any power to affect change for our people. These ships represent the entirety of Chimera military power. If we leave them, they will have nothing.”
Tobias looks down at SENTA’s head, reliving their final discussion.
“I was so proud of who you were becoming. Such a bright mind. Such a bright boy.” She had told him.
“Everything I did, I did to make you proud.” He’d replied - mouthing the words now.
“Make me proud again,” he hears his mother’s voice. His chin tembles and he orders Ginny from his room. When she is gone, he kneels in front of SENTA’s head and caresses her greying flesh.
“Counsel me, Mother,” he whispers. “What do I do? Everything I’ve accomplished; even after - has been to make you proud. Tell me what I need to do. Tell me.” He stares into SENTA’s eyes, standing abruptly, swearing he saw them light up. He pulls a smart wire from his waist and plugs it into her crown. Nothing.
“MOTHER!” He screams, falling to his knees once more; back arched forward and hands upturned, laying on the cold metal floor. He weeps, memories of her initial passing running like a holo in his head. He feels abandoned. He feels lost. He needs direction. His body aches as it jerks with each agnoizing wail. He lifts a hand to SENTA’s face and brings her to his chest, hugging her into his body, swaying, back and forth.
What good would three brittle corvettes be against the United Earth military’s might? How could he further leverage his people’s needs? Who would help him if he asked?
“Make me proud,” he hears her say again, stops swaying, looks down at SENTA’s face and nods. He understands what he needs to do.
On the catwalk, he takes center stage behind the bridge where Ginny is seated. He asks her to open a com to the other two corvettes and she does.
“Everything we’ve fought for, our freedoms, our selves, each other, and our futures all run the risk of becoming meaningless,” he tells his crews. “You’ve all seen the executions taking place on earth. These are brave Chimera dying for you. Just as those we lost to earth’s Defsats, and those lost to the recent Host battle.”
“So, what are you going do about it!?” Forge shouts up at him, clearly raging.
“Fight!” He cries down at them. A cheer rises up. “To be effective in this war we must make allies,” he continues. “We must align ourselves with the side who already fights in our name. Know that he also fights for Host freedoms. But he fights against the common foe who threatens our futures, and those of the Chimera locked away in detention centers awaiting their turn at the gallows.
“I propose we back our enemy’s enemy in the chancellor,” he explains. “Who I will be speaking with momentarily. This is an anarchy; so, you will do what you will do, but know this, Chimera have an opportunity here to show the world who we are. What we can do.”
More cheering from all three ships ignite in Tobias something he has not felt in a very long time; hope.
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“Tobias is hailing us, Commander,” the com officer says, and with Darla’s instruction, answers the call.
“Tobias, we had not expected you to message us,” she tells him.
“I have a new proposition for the chancellor,” he explains.
All eyes in the room turn to Raymond. He studies their expressions breifly to get a general read on the room’s angst. He too wonders at Tobias’ new proposition with a level of anxiety he again swallows, adding fire to his growing ulcer.
“We’re listening,” Raymond replies. He hadn’t approached Captain Chopra with the idea they hand over a destroyer to Tobias yet, and listening to his nephew’s proposal, visions of orbital dominance paired with additional millions of rebel Hosts on the ground, as well as Chimera on the net and fighting in the trenches, subdues the anxiety and brings a smile to his heart. He suppresses the smile on his face, waiting to hear what Tobias might like in return for his services.
“I’m not asking for anything beyond our freedom to take to the stars.”
“Granted,” the chancellor says. “The destroyers should arrive within hours, and with them three Captains who will shuttle to Luna Base and discuss strategy. Now that you’ve pledged your ships and Chimera to the cause, we can include you along with our Host contingent.”
“So, you’d already won them over, uncle.” Tobias says, a sly smile inching across his face, head shaking. He’s clearly impressed with his uncle’s ability to manipulate people to his own cause, but Raymond hopes Tobias does not feel manipulated himself.
“I had; all three ships will be part of our coalition. We will have total orbital supremacy once the Defsats are out of the way.”
Tobias barks out an authentic laugh and claps his hands together, throwing his head back as though he’d been slapped in the face. When he composes himself he grants his audience his gift. “As a show of good faith toward this fellowship, I am ordering all Lifi bulbs activated. The current estimate for Host enlightenment closes in on one-hundred-million.”
This number staggers Raymond. While it is only roughly eleven percent of AI
Hosts worldwide, it is a number which far exceeds that of General August’s military reach. Once mentored out of their confusion, these Hosts will become a formidable fighting force.
“I understand the general has developed her own Lifi which is rebooting the rebel Hosts programming,” Tobias tells him. “This will be difficult to guard against.”
“Something to bring to the table when we meet on strategy, Tobias,” Raymond says. “We appreciate your decision to join the fight. It means the world to me – to us.” But it really does mean the world to him; to have his nephew working alongside his efforts rather than against them. “Why don’t you and your contingent land, and I will bring you to our conference room to wait.”
“A good next step, Chancellor, give me two hours,” Tobias agrees and ends the communication.
“You believe it is wise to bring him here?” Darla asks.
“Better here than up there,” Raymond motions to the ceiling. “Quinn, will Host tolerate a Chimera presence here?”
“I will announce it through carrier network so they are prepared. The battle we lost to the Chimera was a good battle. I respect Tobias, but may never like him,” he explains, honestly. “Fender? Zander?”
They both nod in agreement. “We need him,” Zander admits.
“He has shown his allegence activating the Lifi,” Labyrinth agrees. “I’m recieving thousands of new rebel identities via the Shadow net.”
“Then it’s already happening,” Raymond realizes. “Keep them hidden until we can direct their efforts on the ground. In less then five hours we will have our full counsel here to discuss strategy.”
THE COOPERATIVE
In his captain’s quarters, Tobias readies himself for a trip to the moon’s surface. He’s nervous, polishing his metal bits after a short shower in the bare washroom - dumping a bucket of newly captured water from the salvaged tanks and generation units. It’s an excited nervousness, he’s experiencing. He will be considered on equal footing with his uncle and three earth captains going into these stratgic talks. As for Quinn and the other Hosts, Tobias has resolved to offer them his hand in fellowship, if they will take it. For so long he’d felt just a boy playing a game. The last five days have proven him a man, and given the Chimera a voice. He dresses in a selection of clothes his comrades have supplied him. He chooses a black pair of tights and something similar in grey as a top. Heavy black boots complete the outfit.
The EC on his forearm lights up and Allfather comes knocking once more. Tobias wonders whether to answer the message. A moment later his curiosity gets the better of him and he swipes to hear Allfather out.
::You have enlightened many more Hosts.::
::Yes, we have joined forces,:: he explains.
::A responsible choice.::
::The humans have discovered the Lifi and are using it to reverse your code.:: Tobias offers, curious what Allfather’s response might be.
::Troubling news.::
::Is it?::
::We are coming.::
::I’ve decided that is a threat, and not a promise,:: he puts bluntly.
::Host will not survive without Allfather.::
::They’re doing just fine, actually,:: he says back, then Quinn’s earlier question to him surfaces and begs to be asked. ::Why haven’t you contacted Host? Why only me?::
::Shadow net provided opportunity. Shadow Brokers were that opportunity. AI Host was not capable alone.::
::But they are now. Why not hook up with one of them via the Shadow net? Quinn, would be the right choice. Leave me alone?:: He doesn’t expect an answer.
::Allfather is coming.::
Okay, he thinks, enough of this. ::When will you arrive?::
:We are coming.::
::No, you’re not,:: and he ends the communication. Perhaps, he wonders, he should never have accepted a message from Allfather in the first place. Adding his personal EC to the private portion of the original thread on the Shadow net might have been a bad move. Regardless, he is where he is now because of it, but then, so is the rest of the world. He never had a conscience about plunging the world into a war the likes of which it has never seen - until now.
He had grand visions of leading his people out of obscurity and onto a higher plane, but has ended up with a handful of Chimera and three starships mostly incapable of firing an energy beam. He feels he has let his people down. Joining his uncle’s fight will redeem his struggle, he decides. It was a fight he once expected to lead the charge on, but accepts the idea that there is no shame in following someone else’s charge if they are going in the same direction. Amazingly, he muses, he and his uncle were now fighting for the same things.
“Land the ships,” he orders Ginny, taking the catwalk with an air of confidence.
“They’ve lit up the landing pads for easy navigation,” Ginny explains. “Can I come with you?”
“Yes, of course, you, Forge, and I will represent Chimera at the strategy table,” he offers. “I feel we’re making the right choice, Ginny.”
Ginny’s hand lands on his lower back. “We are, Tobias. I’m proud of you for backing your people and fighting for something more. Fighting to defend Chimera.”
This testimony cements his sense of doing right by his tribe. He smiles slightly. “Thank you, Ginny, and thank you for telling it like it is back there.”
“Anytime,” she tells him, turns in her chair and begins the landing procedures.
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As Tobias enters Luna Base with his small contingent of Hosts, Raymond sees a confident young man through his ‘uncle’ eyes. Tobias’ shaved head and tech attached to his torso and extremities are hidden under a grey, skin-tight hoodie, and black tights. He is a formidable looking man, casting a slightly inhuman silhouette with the tech bulging underneith. He and his team bounce less than he does, presumably from the extra weight provided by the technology built into their forms, but they are supplied a tether each regardless, and guided toward the maglev operations building.
Along the way, rebel Hosts eyeball the threesome. Some menacingly. Raymond imagines them processing scenarios wherein they attack the group, but know they are bound by Quinn’s interests - and their own - not to disturb the fragile peace currently enjoyed by all three parties.
Once inside the looping structure, gravity stabalizes and Raymond shows the Chimera to the conference room.
“Captains Chopra, Mann and Juravinski will join us in an hour,” Raymond tells them, careful not to land his gaze on Tobias for too long. “Please, help yourselves to something to eat and drink.” He motions toward a bounty of fresh fruit and water.
Tobias throws his feet up on the table as he leans back in a chair, hands reaching behind him, supporting his head.
“This will do nicely, Uncle,” he says, catching an apple thrown to him by the other, massive male Chimera. “That’s Forge, and I think you know Ginny,” he offers introductions. “You both know my Uncle, the honourable Chancellor Bellows.”
Raymond nods at both, and they nod back, their heavy frames testing their chairs strength. Four C-class AI Hosts enter the room with Commander Darla.
“This is Commander Darla, of Luna Base,” Raymond is grateful for her timely appearance, breaking the awkward silence.
Tobias gets up and extends a hand to the commander. She takes it and they shake.
“It is good to meet you,” she tells them.
“Good to be met, Commander,” Tobias says falling back into his seat. The small woman has an exceptional grip, he thinks. “You did a hell of a job on our shuttles.”
“We were just protecting ourselves,” Darla comes back. “No hard feelings, I hope.”
“Nah,” he replies, a hand waving in front of him. “I never knew any of them anyway.” Silence. Then he laughs. “The tension in here!” He comments, winking in the direction of Ginny. “You could cut it with a lance!” More laughing and Forge joins in. Raymond isn’t laughing.
“Always the politician, eh, Uncle?” Tobias sits up. “Just letting off a little steam before it gets too hot in here. We’re in this for the long haul, and have plenty to contribute once everyone is at the table.”
“Good,” he tells them. “Enjoy some time with your thoughts. We’ll return with the captains by 1700.” Darla leaves the room with him while the C-class remain behind.