“I’m up, but that was closer than I’d have liked,” I said, joining her and Marny.
“They’re not highly organized,” Marny said, kicking a blaster rifle away from one of the downed soldiers and flipping him onto his stomach. He writhed beneath her as she locked his wrists together with unbreakable ties.
“They’re stretched thin,” I said. “I just don’t get it.”
“Perhaps I might offer an explanation,” Jonathan said.
“Please do,” I said, dragging one of the downed soldiers to an entry hatch on the side of the first of three domed buildings. The base could hold upward of forty people, but it appeared to be just as poorly manned as the dilapidated cutter I’d taken control of by the cave.
“Resources of this portion of the universe are limited. The Scatter people have done a remarkable job of creating a civilization upon a planet lacking in significant metal deposits. They have had millennia to develop their society to operate within these constraints,” Jonathan explained.
“You have a point within all that?” I asked, lifting the soldier to the hatch and palming the security panel. Unfortunately, the AI on the other side must have recognized that the soldier was unconscious because it refused to operate the airlock.
“The Belirand colony has failed,” Nick said. “We’re dealing with the hangers-on. Why else would Jiggen Mark refer to himself as a Belirand Machinist?”
“And these guys are holding the Scatters’ hostage?” I asked, stretching my firewire around the airlock. I walked back to where Tabby and Marny had already taken cover. Once I burned through the hatch, it would blow out with real force, something we didn’t want to participate in.
“Liam, we’re receiving a comm request from the base you’re about to breach,” Ada cut in.
“Go ahead,” I said.
“This is Geoff Hedren, Belirand Machinists,” the man started. “If you blow that hatch, you’ll kill all occupants. What’s your business here?”
“We’re looking for the Scatter known as Prince Thabini,” I said.
“He’s not here,” Hedren said. “Chappie Barto picked him up ‘bout an hour ago. He’s headed back to Thandeka.”
“Open the hatch. We need to make sure,” Tabby demanded.
“I’m telling you, that’s not necessary,” he said. “Barto is gone and took the Scatter with him.”
“I’m going to blow this door in ten seconds if you don’t comply,” I said.
The panel turned green and swished open. In a heartbeat, Tabby was through the door with Marny hot on her heels. The opposite door on the airlock leaked atmo, spraying a fine mist of moist oxygenated air into the vacuum of the entry chamber. As soon as I entered, the door behind me closed and Tabby forced her way into a large, round room filled with a score of Scatters, mostly women. I hated that we were adding to whatever horrors they’d experienced and winced as they cowered as far from us as they could get.
“Keep going, Tabbs,” I said.
The three domes were connected by short, narrow passageways. They were perfect pinch points if you were going to resist an armed party. Tabby spun down at the door frame and swept a short arc, securing her quadrant as Marny stacked up behind, leaned over her and secured the next section. I slid to the opposite side and completed the sweep.
“On me,” I ordered, rushing forward as we utilized a leap-frog entry tactic. The dome we’d entered was devoid of people but separated into more rooms. My AI suggested that command would be centrally located. I slowed and dropped to a knee, sweeping my portion of the next room as Marny joined me, followed by Tabby.
“Got ‘em,” Tabby said. “Going breach.”
“Frak,” I said, pushing up to a standing position as Tabby raced past. She jumped up a half flight of stairs and blooped out a single explosive charge against the armored door.
The element of surprise was critical in a breach. Even though they knew we were coming, Tabby had successfully re-established surprise with her aggressive tactic. I chinned my weapon’s panel to reduce the lethality of my blaster rifle and followed her, tapping the first target I found. I quickly acquired a second, only to watch her drop to Marny’s fire.
“Clear,” Tabby announced.
“Clear,” I said, racing forward to secure my target with a knee in his back.
“We’re clear,” Marny agreed.
“Captain, if you’ll respond to the request on the console above you, we will gain access to the station and disable the perimeter defenses,” Jonathan instructed.
I looked up and shook my head. Indeed, on the console was a prompt, asking if Hotspur should be allowed administrative access. I punched my acknowledgement. “Are you in?” I asked.
“We are, Captain,” he said.
“On our way,” Ada said.
“Joliwe, there are a bunch of Scatter in the first dome. I don’t think they’ll listen to what we have to say but I don’t want to leave them behind. Do you think you can convince them to come along?” I asked.
“I will come,” she said. “We must hurry. Chappie will hear of our actions. Prince Thabini is at more risk than he was before.”
“Can’t argue with that,” I said.
Chapter 25
For Love
Even with the pressure of Thabini's imminent public execution, Joliwe agreed that to leave her people behind on Belirand's failing asteroid base would be to leave them in harm's way. It was touch and go as Hotspur entered the atmosphere. She was considerably overweight from a hold packed with human cargo, but we made it to the ground without event.
"How will you rescue the prince?" Joliwe pushed as we lifted from the clearing where we had dropped the refugees in the care of the mountain Scatters. I had to give her credit for persistence in the face of so much adversity.
"I'll come in low," I said, ignoring Joliwe. "We'll put down south of the delta, and grav-suit back in along the river. Ada, Nick, I need you to stay with the ship. Peter, you too, since we don't have a grav-suit for you. Marny, Tabby, Jonathan, and I will accompany Joliwe to the city center where Thabini is likely to be executed. Ada, you mind letting Joliwe use your suit?"
Without hesitation, Ada stood and peeled off her suit.
"We cannot show up wearing this clothing," Joliwe said, accepting the grav-suit from Ada. "We will be seen immediately."
"Already on it," Nick said. "I've replicated the cloaks we've seen mountain Scatters wearing. They should let the other Scatters know you're not locals."
"Cloaks are a good plan," Marny said. "They'll cover the blaster rifles."
"No rifles," I said. "What we know is that Chappie has a minimum of thirty troops and a sloop which is more than a match for Hotspur. We go in and pick a fight without the Scatters behind us, we'll just end up getting a lot of innocents killed. Chappie needs to reassert his dominance and he'll be looking for any excuse."
"So how are you going to rescue Prince Thabini?" Joliwe asked, standing between me and the armor-glass cockpit window. With Jonathan's help and clear skies, I'd been sailing Hotspur in without navigational systems. It was tough sailing and Joliwe was messing with my sight lines.
"Ada, take over," I snapped.
"Helm is mine," she answered, sitting down quickly.
I stood, bumping into Joliwe who refused to give me any more space. "Joliwe, you still don't get it," I said. "I would have thought visiting that pathetic Belirand base you all call the black prison would have made everything clear to you."
"You should not turn this on me," Joliwe said. "To me, it is clear that Prince Thabini was captured because he attempted to save you. You owe him a debt. Have you lost your lust for killing? I thought this was something a human would relish."
Her disgust for my species had been well-earned and I fought to hold back my first response. I'd seen racism exhibited by many species and even inter-species. It was often a complex issue used by mal-actors. I hated that when Joliwe saw me, she saw the evil legacy created by a small, non-representative group.
One thing I was certain of was that I didn't appreciate being painted with the same savage brush as Belirand.
"You're right, Joliwe. I do owe Prince Thabini for choosing my arrival as his moment to take a stand," I said. "You're missing the bigger picture, though. Bongiwe didn't give her life just for me. She gave her life because she knew it was time for the Scatter people to take a stand against Belirand. She wasn't shy about that conversation. As her sister, you know that's true."
"I am willing to give my life for my people," Joliwe said, staring up at me, her eyes boring into my own. If they'd lit on fire at that moment, I wouldn't have been surprised.
"That's not enough," I said. "Anyone can die. Your sister died taking action. The Scatter people must take action. Prince Thabini is not the only hostage today. Every Scatter on this frakking planet is a hostage. Your people’s fate hangs in the balance of what happens to Prince Thabini today. I believe he knows it and is willing to die a martyr's death to wake up his people."
"You said you'd help," she said, her voice losing its intensity.
"I am helping," I said. "We need to go."
I stalked off the bridge and jumped to the galley deck. Marny was already in the armory and handed me a familiar-looking, large brown and green hooded cloak. I popped a nano-blade onto my waist along with a back-up blaster pistol and a grenade strip.
"Leaving the blaster rifles behind is a mistake," Marny said.
"Flechettes," I said. "They're quiet and won't cause panic. We don't go loud unless we have no other choice."
"We'll be standing by," Ada said over tactical comms. "Things go south, we're coming in hard. Don't even argue with me."
"Counting on it," I said. "Just make sure you don't have any other choice. There'll be a lot of innocents on the ground."
"I know," she answered.
"What's our play here, Liam?" Tabby asked, pulling on her cloak. "We can't go against thirty soldiers without getting a lot of people killed. Even then, that's long odds for the three of us."
"Four," Joliwe said, pushing her way into the armory.
"I really don't know," I said. "To be honest, we may have to let Chappie do what he came for."
"You would let him murder the prince?" Joliwe asked.
"I would if it meant saving hundreds of others," I said. "What do you think is going to happen if we start shooting at Belirand soldiers?"
"I don't know," she said.
"It's not hard," I said. "They're going to shoot back. Are you going to just stand there and let them?"
"No. Of course not. I'll move."
"And when there's a child standing behind you, will you move?" I asked. "What about that child's mother or father? What about then?"
Tears formed in the woman's eyes. The realizations I’d already come to finally hit her. We weren’t going into town to rescue Thabini. We were going to town to watch an execution.
"So, this has all just been a big lie? You only came to rescue that woman in the cave? My sister died for you."
We'd already been through this, but I felt I needed to hit it one more time. "No, she didn't," I said. "Bongiwe died because she wanted to stop Belirand. Today we rescued thirty of your people from the black prison. We destroyed one of Belirand's ships and disabled three more. Bongiwe's sacrifice made all that happen. You're looking at the wrong person here. You need to be asking what you are willing to do to save your people."
"Me?" she asked. "I'm nothing. People followed Bongiwe. I am her bitter older sister. No one will follow me."
"Then you've already lost," I said. "Now get out of my way. I'm going to see if there's any chance of making this work."
"Cap, not to point out the obvious," Marny said, "but we'd be better off letting this play out and then use Hotspur to hunt down Chappie. We might be out-gunned, but it's not the worst odds we've been up against. Give us a few months and we might be able to end this for good."
"Let's call that Plan-B," I said.
The sun was high in the sky when we arrived in the town center. At first, we sailed in, using our grav-suits to glide a few meters above the water. Upon entering the city of Thandeka, we soon ran into small, sullen groups who were all headed in one direction, toward the city center. As before, the Scatters didn’t startle when we rose up from the canal and joined their ranks.
"We must hurry," Joliwe said, rejoining us after conferring with a group of Scatters. Fresh tears ran down her face and she refused to look at me. "It is worse than expected. King Nkosi tried Thabini this morning in private. Thabini has been disowned and will be executed within the hour."
"How is that worse?" I asked.
"Chappie is holding King Nkosi responsible for the prince's actions. King Nkosi and Queen Cacile will also be executed along with their entire staff. You have brought ruin to our people."
We pushed forward, increasing our pace. Unlike human crowds, the mild-mannered Scatters gave way, seeming to anticipate our need and parting just in time to let us through.
If not for Chappie's heavily-armored sloop and the two smaller vessels that sat at the edges of the large courtyard, we might have been in medieval times. A raised stone stage was backdropped by the tall walls of the breathtakingly beautiful crystal castle. Atop the castle's walls sat a carefully constructed parapet which ran its length. It was impossible to tell the age of the castle, but the abandoned defenses bespoke a past long forgotten.
Thousands of Scatters crowded into the sloped yard in front of the stage. As we worked our way forward and to the side, I took it all in. Chappie had stationed ten, or about a third of his force, atop the parapet looking down over the crowd. The men weren't highly disciplined, but their intent was obvious as they scanned the crowds through the scopes of their older-model blaster rifles. If things got out of control, Belirand had high ground that was well defended.
Marny worked as we moved, tagging each of the Belirand soldiers and marking them for our tactical AI to track. If bilge water hit the fan, she'd prioritize those targets. The problem wasn't really the soldiers on the walls as much as it was Chappie's sloop, the turrets of which slowly swung menacingly back and forth. If the sloop's gunners went weapon's free, the dead would number in the hundreds if not thousands.
"Where's Chappie and the royal family?" Tabby whispered. We'd stopped at the edge of the crowd where our height differential wasn’t nearly as noticeable. The stage was filled with more of Chappie's soldiers and a group of twenty Scatter people held only by a thick rope that encircled them. Their escape would only require that they drop the rope and run. "Who are all those people?"
"They work in the castle," Joliwe said.
I scanned the crowds and tried to work things out. I couldn't see any clever tactical maneuvers. We were considerably outmanned and with Chappie's ship, we were also significantly outgunned. One-on-one, I'd have been happy to take on his sloop with Hotspur. We gave up some armored weight as well as weaponry, but we had speed on him. Having already seen his crew in action, I knew they'd eventually make a mistake I could capitalize on. That was a fair fight. Like all despots, however, Chappie knew better than to ask for a fair fight.
I was a little surprised when I recognized a group of the mountain Scatters standing several hundred meters from our position. I hadn't expected them to be in attendance. I was shocked to see the male Scatter I'd talked to the day before at the homestead. He must have felt my eyes on him because he turned, looked directly at me and gave a small nod of acknowledgement. My mind spun. Scatters moved through the country at speeds I couldn't comprehend, but there was nowhere near enough time for him to have run over here. I nodded back and pushed the mystery from my head. It was the least of our problems.
"They're coming," Marny said.
The packed crowd quieted as King Nkosi stepped up onto the stage from a trap door below our line of sight. A moment later Queen Cacile followed and behind her, Prince Thabini. A murmur of shock coursed through the crowd as the poor condition of the three was recognized. Fresh cuts oo
zed from the Queen's broken lips. Her once pristine white gown was ripped and sullied. Through it all, she stood straight, even defiant, as she was pushed forward.
The king looked worse for wear and unlike his wife, he found it impossible to look up from the stage. Like his wife, his face was battered and bruises formed on exposed skin. When urged forward, he hobbled, indicating an unseen injury to his leg.
By far the worst was Prince Thabini who looked to have been severely beaten, his face all but unrecognizable. Like his mother, he stared out at the crowd and stood as straight as he could. A gag, splotched with darkened blood, had been pulled through his mouth and was tied behind his head.
"They didn't break him," Tabby observed. "Chappie's afraid of him."
"You are not correct. Chappie is not afraid. He has nearly killed my prince," Joliwe said.
"You’re wrong. Don't you see it?" Tabby nodded toward the stage. "He's gagged. Chappie fears Thabini so much that he won't let him talk. Even when Chappie tortured his parents, Thabini must have stayed true. Chappie is making a mistake. He should never have let people see Thabini unbroken."
"People of Fraxus." Chappie's voice echoed off the walls of the castle as he stepped up onto the stage. "Loyal subjects." He stepped up behind King Nkosi and pushed him to his knees. "Today is the beginning of a grand, new moment in our history together." When he tried to push Queen Cacile down, she resisted. He followed up with a telescoping club. After being hit on the back of her legs, she fell next to her husband on the stage.
"But first we need to deal with that which stands in the way of progress," he said. "Three centuries ago, the first Belirand mission to this beautiful planet arrived. At first, we believed we'd found paradise. But as many of you know, those who sent us here decided that they would not send a second mission. Why, you ask? Well, it wasn’t because of a recalcitrant indigenous people. No, unlike today, the people of Fraxus welcomed us with open arms. It was a simple matter of a bad roll of the dice in that giant crap shoot called the big bang. You see, Fraxus doesn't have the material needed for advanced civilizations. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Metals." He waited for the confused murmur to die down before he continued. "Fact is, you just don't have much of them. And for that, our forefathers chose to abandon us and leave us to fend for ourselves.
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