The Sixth Line of Defense

by Shiva Winters

Chapter Eleven: The Storm's Aftermath

  Shiva might have whined and been annoyed, but she and the others who had come down to Earth in her wake were left mostly idle for nearly all of the next three weeks as Digel base was nearly overrun by people flowing in from every corner of the colonies. The scandal was massive in proportions and while Vala didn't even register on the scale of figures that were soon in attendance her mother had always been respected by the other officers her father had served alongside. Therefore she had plenty of guests who were willing to give her information about what was happening behind close doors, some of which she shared with Vala. Shiva was frustrated enough about other matters that she was left out of the loop on those events. By ones and twos and always in the company of one of the older children or the adults who had appeared to help watch over all of them, they were taken in front of a panel and debriefed adding their perspectives on the varied missions they had undertaken and the events they gone through. Shiva for her part was in and out of courtrooms and interview rooms practically every day during that time, sometimes for as long as 10 hours at a go, as she was all but forced to tell everything that had happened. Vala had four such sessions but none of them were as ever as intense as the ones her beloved had to go through.

  Even with Shiva's mood worsening with the progression of the days as they marched steadily onward, Vala had could not doubt a lot of the children ever been so happy. With Digel base flooded with unfamiliar people they were moved on mass across the borders into officer's territory and were given nearly an entire building all to themselves. Shiva's preplanned escape in the direction of the nearest shopping center was quick to snowball into a mass exodus as all of them and enough adults to keep an eye out for all of them filled three hole buses one weekend. When it was sunny outside the officer's enclave practically broke under the far reaching games of tag, water-gun fights, and hide and seek. When it rained carts of board games, video game systems, and other things flooded rooms and gathering points for their army. As time progressed Vala almost started to believe that some of their care-takers had been secretly urged to take time away from their duties to linger in close to the children who happily greeted them every morning and hugged them every night before bed. Of course, it wasn't at all hard for Vala to see that her mother would perhaps never want to leave Poe behind even if Poe was inside Anslaw for the rest of her life.

  While everyone grew frustrated with the lack of news concerning their fates, there were distractions aplenty and some were even enough to pull Shiva out from her considerably lighter halo of dark clouds. The one currently underway was the first day she wasn't scheduled for something or expected to report somewhere, or simply wasn't being pulled away by someone who wanted to have a word, and it was one of the rare days when she got to simply relax and be herself. Armed with water guns she and the twins had been stalking the region 'assassinating' many a laughing officer, some of whom were taken hostage during lunch time. Vala smiled as she sat in the shade and watched as the youngest children chased her around the nearby grassy space with her laughing at their happy attempts to capture some random object from her control. Her mother watched along side of her even more pleased to see Poe opening up as she joined into the game of keep away. Her surgery had been weeks before and had gone off without the tiniest of hitches, and despite the circumstances she had been fondly telling anyone who really noticed the difference that her new eyes had been easier choice than trying to remember where she had put her glasses. Toned to match the color of her old eyes almost perfectly, it took a very close examination to see the mechanical irises shifting in the changing light.

  "They are having fun." Alex chuckled as he quietly slipped in beside Vala. It took her a moment to notice the wet patch on his uniform. "I was assassinated by the terrorist forces that the twins are leading back here now."

  "Rei, your eyes!! They're beautiful!" Kali announced happily grabbing her mother's cheeks to tilt her head up to the light.

  "Everyone thinks so to.." She laughed up to the younger woman. "I don't suppose the fact that both of you are here now that means that we will get some answers, before Shiva gets it into her head to start taking hostages for real."

  "Yes, but I have a feeling my siblings are scattered across creation." Kali murmured with a disappointed expression.

  "Poe!" Her mother called and then touched her fore finger and thumb to her lips, Poe giggled back to her as she prepared to whistle. Knowing it would do no good to try and cover her ears against the sound, the younger girl unleashed a shrill piercing whistle that made her empathic sense throb with the sound that seemed to carry on forever.

  "That is.. efficient.. a bit painful but effective." Kali commented as the other empaths picked up the far reaching whistle and repeated it across the distance, extending it out so that everyone would hear it.

  "I don't suppose this means all my carefully thought out blackmail plans have been tossed out the window." Shiva growled as she moved towards them as all the others began to filter in, usually in the company of some of care-takers who spent most hours in around them. "Damn just when I had the right targets picked out."

  "She's been interrogated enough for the rest of her life, that much is certain." Ayla teased as she slipped into the scene smiling at Kali as the two of them exchanged information silently. "Go unlock that briefing room we used the other day to play games in."

  "Right, make me do all the work again." Shiva murmured with a sarcastic roll of her eyes as she offered Vala her hand. When Vala accepted the offer with a smile, they were both launched skyward in a high arching leap that crossed to the nearest roof and back towards the building claimed by all of them. A half dozen more effortlessly movements that had Vala giggling as the two of them got a head start long enough to exchange a few giggling kisses where no of the others could make teasing comments or rude noises, they moved towards their final destination. Though technically off limits to them, Shiva's curious nature would never quite allow her to leave the doors leading down into the tunnels alone, especially when privacy had been hard for them to find ever since they had been reunited. With locks that clicked open with an ease that made locking them with Shiva around quite pointless, and leaving the doors open in her wake they made their way to the conference room. The two of them settled up against the front tables to wait and see if Shiva would need to serve in her official capacity as troublemaker and military leader or if she was just one of the kids that day. Vala couldn't but giggle when she started growling like a territorial kitten when the first arrivals were lead inside by one of the many care-takers. Distracted by her many days in court and tired enough at the end of most days to simply want to curl up in a quiet spot she really hadn't been given the chance to think about what those peoples' presences might mean for her siblings.

  "Hello my favorite pair of trouble makers." Devin murmured as he reappeared. Even though he had testified in several of the hearings, he had disappeared sometime a week and a half earlier. He slipped inside with a smile for Shiva's glaring gaze, kissed Vala's cheek and looked down at her with a smirk. "I didn't have any official answers until two days ago, Shiva."

  "It better not be bad news." Shiva hissed at him, getting 'snappy' now that answers were close.

  "If it is we will lead a revolt and go straight to the media, they can't even convict any of us as adults." Vala told her with a wicked giggle shared silently by Shiva's sparkling eyes, before giving Devin a playful wicked smile.

  "And I thought Shiva was supposed to be vicious and bloodthirsty, but ouch.. that's really going for the tender places." Devin murmured back to her clutching at his chest as if somehow mortally wounded. This teasing act was just enough to draw a soft giggle out of Shiva. "Don't worry it's not bad news, and you get to be an audience member today."

  "Better not be, Captain." She whispered back to her as she allowed him to kiss her cheek in greeting. Vala gasped as she realized it, she had been seeing so many uniforms of
late she she hadn't even noticed the sudden rise in his rank. He chuckled down at Shiva, perhaps sensing just a hint of a compliment in her quasi threat since she never addressed anyone below a Colonel by their rank most of the time. Vala winked at him as she drew Shiva away and settled herself in the front row with Shiva in her proper place, curled up in Vala's lap. Her mother arrived a few minutes later holding Poe in the curve of one arm and holding Isis's hand in other while Athena glared around at Devin suspiciously holding onto the hands of the youngest two children. They were followed by a Lt. Colonel who had spent a lot of time with those two little ones close at hand, she smiled at Vala's watching gaze as one of them climbed up into her lap. All of them soon settled nearby as the crowd of children and adults filled the large tiered lecture hall almost past the point when it might burst at the seams. The last two to arrive were following at the heels of the last two stragglers, Kali and Alex. Both of whom smiled around the space and meeting all the eyes of the worried children, when Kali called all of them to order the already quiet room went deathly still.

  "As all of you have probably guessed, the tribunals have started to hand down their decisions." Alex stated as he moved to stand below them at the front of the room. "Including those decisions that will affect all of us." Vala couldn't imagine that many people were really breathing at that point. "But first.. I'd like to thank.."

  "Alex." Shiva growled at him dangerously. There was nervous laughter as he turned to meet her burning gaze with laughter in his eyes.

  "It appears.. that all of you have done far better than Kali and I could have ever have hoped in our wildest of fantasies." That certainly dropped the level in tension by several large steps. "Somehow all of you have managed to convince the brass, that despite your collective potential for destruction, that you are still governed by compassion, trust, love, and a desire to help those around you, Series 6 or one of the 'normals', without regards to anything other than all of you are human." He smiled around the room at all proud faces and the rapidly easing tensions. "Even Shiva, who scares me most of the time.." This produced a great deal of laughter as everyone could see his obvious affection for her. ".. has managed to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of you are more than you were meant to be when you were created." He half flinched for a moment and then sighed as he stepped back to consider his next words. "Before we go on with all the good news, here's the bad news that might be affecting you and your siblings in the future. Nearly 40% of the Series 5 units have been smuggled off of Earth and scattered all across the Alliance and perhaps even outside of our borders by now." That was a pretty chilling thing to hear for a lot of them. "While none of you will be obligated to help when those missing people are located, the brass will be all but required to seek out volunteers to save lives and try to minimize any further damage. This will be entirely voluntary.. and even if none of you ever choose to go out on another mission, it has been put in writing that it will not affect any of your lives or the future of those still sleeping at Anslaw."

  "Not that I think any of you really care about such things, but they are also talking about financial compensation for those who do help with future missions and will offer more than fair pay scale. It is an incentive for giving up your time and risking yourselves to save the lives of others." Devin added with an apologetic smile for Alex.

  "While nothing has been set in stone, every.. single.. decision that has been thus far handed down have stated in no uncertain terms that many if not all the restrictions that have kept all of you locked up in Anslaw will be lifted and that a new set of rules will be created to help all of you gain the kinds of freedoms you have never had, but always wanted." Alex told them slowly to insure his point was made absolutely clear.

  "The details aren't exactly clear yet, since most eyes are fixed on Series 5 right now, but the brass is listening to the three of us knowing that we have perhaps the best insight into how to make this transition run as smoothly as possible. It seems likely that things will work out to something close to these lines, for starters our research projects in Anslaw will be expanded with the new budget, to insure that all of you have a home and a place at Anslaw if being out here proves to be too much for any of you. Captain Hornton,.." Kali smiled over at him as he stood nearby posing just a little with his promotion. ".. will now be heading the new task-force for Series 6 affairs. He and his men.."

  "When he gets some.." Shiva commented with a snicker. Devin fixed her with a playfully threatening pointed finger and a glare that had much of the room laughing.

  ".. will be in charge of aiding those on the outside, smoothing out the hopefully few problems that might come from this, and insuring that all of us have a damn good chance of leading happy productive lives. He will be creating programs for those inside and outside of Anslaw, helping us to find new homes out here and in the stars over our heads, and otherwise doing everything they can to give all of us a fresh start." Kali nodded over to him as if that was his cue to start talking.

  "To be honest.." Devin began with a slow smile.

  "That sounds like a good start." Ayla teased from somewhere near the back much to the delight of all, he gave her playful glaring growl for her trouble.

  "I've been getting a lot of discrete inquiries over the last three weeks from officers who have been on this base, inquiries that are directly related to all of you. Most of you probably don't know this, but when Shiva first got out and just before all the trouble really began I tried to place her with a friend as a sort of adoption. Even though that didn't work out through no one's fault, I have been getting those very same kinds of questions and offers." Vala wasn't quite as surprised as many of them, but Shiva was stunned by this news. As Vala glanced around she could see almost every single adult was smiling specifically at one of the children lingering nearby, as if telling them without any words why they had appeared and why they had stayed close. Even though she had suspected that very thing to come up, it was still a sight that got her choked up. "This would be a mutual decision, since we don't want to take even the slightest chance that someone might end up being unhappy or regretting the choices they have made. The fact that many of you are still young and the fact that you are still new to the outside world even with the information all of you share from those who have been outside makes me think this is perhaps the best course to follow as the main thrust of my new command. Since they would understand how things work a bit better and have proven themselves in the eyes of the Alliance, I tend to think we are going to avoid involving the civilian population in this adoption plan and stick with those officers who have served or are serving."

  "What about those of us who are older.." Someone in the back murmured reluctantly, Devin smiled back towards the speaker as if had already been thinking ahead on that one.

  "I know some of you might feel ready to simply forge ahead with your lives on your own. For you and them, I would suggest attending some of the better private or public schools, hopefully with a few of your siblings so you are not left alone like Shiva was. I realize you are probably way past most children your age in terms of basic knowledge, but that time spent in a semi-controlled environment will hopefully give you the social skills you will need later, and more importantly establish a public record of your existence that will help you in later life." Devin told him and the others. "But no matter what, I want you to understand that you will be free to return to Anslaw at any point and for any length of time of your choosing. We aren't simply trying to shove you out the back door, we are trying to give you the best possible start we can give you so that there won't be any problems, and so that none of you will have to live as unhappily as Shiva did for the last two years."

  "What kind of security concerns are they looking at?" Shiva asked him, cutting through a bit red tape to address one of her personal issues.

  "No matter how big command gets.." Devin told her with a smile. ".. it will never be big enough to employ prison guard
s with me as the warden, but yes we are going to do what we keep all of you out of the public eye. As part of Series 3 I can tell you that I wouldn't want all of you to go through the kinds exposure and public outrage that Rei and I endured when we became free to pursue our lives. At the very least we are probably going to ask that all of you have a tracking device, not to stalk you from the skies like we did with Shiva on occasion, but in case there is a problem and you do need help we will know where you are and one of my people can get to you as quickly as possible."

  "Are we going to get tattoos like Shiva?" The twins piped in and giggles ensued.

  "Possibly, or have them removed or changed so that they simply can't been seen, again some of the details haven't been worked out." Devin looked around to see if there any more questions before nodding as he decided to wrap things up. "The most important thing I have to say is that all of you have choices now, so think about what you might want in the near future. And lastly, I think most everyone would agree given time to think about this, is it would probably be for the best that we start this new cooperative off, by giving Digel base back to those who still have a lot of work ahead of them. All of us should return to Anslaw to tell those who were left behind about what has happened and what has just been said. It is going to take me at least a few weeks to get my new command up and running and all of these programs underway, and I think all of you should get some time to relax and absorb the last few weeks in a quiet more stable environment while I do that. However, since there are many here who have some stake in that decision, I have been authorized to take as many shuttles as I might need to get all of you back there, which means should there be any.. 'guests'.. who can take time off from their duties there are as many seats as we could possibly need, for those here and those who could not attend our unplanned meeting. My unset schedule for departure is sometime tomorrow afternoon.. so there is still time to tender invitations."

  "Me?" Her mother's voice asked softly attracting her attention down to Poe's slightly worried expression. "Sweety.. I'm going back to Anslaw with all of you." Poe smiled sweetly at her and perfectly content the settle in her mother's arms. When she caught Vala watching the scene it seemed absolutely clear to her that her mother was already scheming something in the background, and Vala couldn't help but smile at her.

  Shiva told her with some authority that it had taken two standard sized shuttles to get all of the others down to Earth, to get them back to Anslaw it took three heavy shuttles. The adults that followed them back across the void of space were happy and laughing as the pilots turned off the gravity plating and most of the children spent those hours bouncing around above their heads and colliding off the walls. Shiva and the twins curled up with Vala and her mother and slept peacefully despite the ruckus swirling around them. While nothing had been said concerning Shiva's fate, Vala seriously doubted that Devin would ever let them confine her to Anslaw. However it seemed almost likely to Vala that her mother seemed ready to announce that her place had already been decided if not because of Poe but because of the twins as well, which she was already calling her precious grandchildren, much to their delight. The scene of their homecoming was chaotic and wonderful and in truth it was somehow comforting to Vala to be able to walk through those now familiar tunnels after the chaos of Digel base and everything that happened there before and after her arrival. For as much as she had been ready to move towards her adulthood and her independence in the so very distant and so very recent days she had spent at the Academy with Shiva, such concerns seemed to simply fade in the background when faced with her new view of reality. Since Shiva was just as content to let her handle those kinds of concerns as long as they were together, Vala secretly began to explore the options that seemed to have opened up in front of them.