Justice Keepers Saga--Books 10-12, page 116
Telixa sighed as she stepped away from the wall and strode across the room. “I wanted to make sure you were all right,” she replied. “To see if there was anything you needed.”
Anna sat down on the bed, folding her hands in her lap, and forced a smile. “Aw, how sweet,” she said. “You realize people are gonna start shipping us based on this conversation.”
Telixa eased herself into the nearby chair. “I have had many friends in my lifetime,” she said. “And not one of them has shown me as much kindness as a woman who should be my enemy.”
“Like I told you, we don’t have to be enemies.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“Is that why you’re here?” Anna inquired. “To take me up on my offer?”
The admiral waved her concern away. “Never!” she growled. “I could never do that to someone who…I could never do that to you.”
When Anna forced herself to lock eyes with the other woman, she saw in Telixa something that she would have never imagined. Vulnerability. It was easy to forget that this was the ruthless tactician who had ordered the invasion of Alios. But then how much of that was Slade’s doing?
“Then,” Anna asked, “how do you plan to free yourself from the virus?”
“I’m going to let you go.”
“Oh?”
In the blink of an eye, Telixa was back on her feet and pacing to the other side of the tiny cabin. She paused there with her back turned, resting one hand on the wall. “I am one of the architects of this war,” she said. “I recommended a preemptive strike against Leyria six months ago. Before Slade infected me with the virus.”
She turned around, and the grief in her voice made Anna pause. “My target was not Leyria but its moon,” she went on. “I wanted to destroy the Nassai. Because the power at your command terrifies me.”
“So, you decided to commit genocide?” Anna snarled.
Seth was disgusted by the admiral’s confession, but his anger was a pitiful thing beside the inferno of Anna’s fury. It was all she could do not to strangle the other woman.
Telixa looked away, a single tear rolling down her cheek. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” she croaked. “This virus is a penance; I see that now. What matters is that I don’t fear you anymore.”
Hopping to her feet, Anna marched across the room. Her teeth were grinding so forcefully it hurt. “Bleakness take forgiveness!” she spat. “Your little moment of clarity means fuck all if you’re not willing to do something to fix your mistakes!”
“And what would you have me do?”
Tossing one hand up, Anna stood there with her mouth agape. She shook her head slowly. “Call off your ships!” she shouted. “Order them back to Ragnosian territory and leave this world alone! How ‘bout that for a start?”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
The other woman drew in a breath, soothing her emotions. “Any decision I make has to be justified,” she said. “If I pull our ships out of this system, I will have to answer to my superiors, and if they are displeased-”
“They’ll throw you in a cell?” Anna cut in. “Wow, it’s almost like actions have consequences.”
“That’s not fair.”
Anna stepped forward, standing toe to toe with the other woman, staring into her eyes. “You started a war, Telixa,” she said. “Thousands of people are dead because of you. Maybe stopping it means you have to accept the cell. Have you thought about that?”
Instead of answering, the admiral walked away. The door slid open, and she paused before stepping through. “I will arrange for a way to send you back to your people,” she promised. “As soon as I can.”
26
DAY 37
The sky was cloudy over a narrow street lined with squat buildings of red or gray brick. Nearly a thousand people filled the road from curb to curb. Most were workers, but Melissa spotted a few military officers in uniform. It was hot and muggy. And being in this crowd didn’t help matters.
Melissa wore brown work pants and a beige blouse with the sleeves rolled up. A billed beret – or something very much like it – completed the ensemble. Hopefully, she would look like just another disgruntled factory girl. She didn’t want anyone pegging her as a threat until she was running through the corridors of City Hall. At that point, there would be no avoiding it.
Bryse stood at her side with his hand hovering over his holstered pistol. Like her, he wore simple workman’s clothing. “Jamming field is in place,” he said. “The fleet will not be able to call Telixa when Hunter begins his attack.”
Melissa nodded.
“It’ll be your show when we get inside,” he went on. “I won’t be able to do much with this.” He tapped his gun for emphasis.
“You can’t do much with a pistol?” she asked.
Bryse turned his head, fixing his gaze upon her, and she saw the frustration in his eyes. “Against trained soldiers with assault rifles?” he said. “No. We’re here to back you up, Melissa, but you and Rajel are the main prongs of this attack.”
They had to limit themselves to weapons that could be easily concealed. This had to look like a protest. People walking down the street with rifles and rocket launchers would put the Ragnosians on high alert.
As if speaking his name summoned him, Rajel pushed his way through the crowd to join them on the curb. “They’re getting restless,” he said. “A gathering this large will draw unwanted attention. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it now.”
“Any word from Jack?” Bryse asked.
“He’ll be here,” Melissa promised.
A sudden frown betrayed Bryse’s skepticism. “Maybe,” he said. “Maybe not. But one way or another, we have to move forward.”
He checked his watch, a momentary scowl passing over his face. “It’s time,” he said. “Get them moving.”
The crowd began to flow down the street toward the Central Plaza. People shouted slogans, thrusting fists into the air. Everyone knew that this was just a ruse to keep the Ragnosians distracted, and yet the anger was palpable.
“Whose planet?”
“OUR PLANET!”
“Whose planet?”
“OUR PLANET!”
Under other circumstances, Melissa might have felt inspired by their energy. Today, she was just afraid. Afraid that she might have to do violence. Afraid of taking hostages. She had repeated all the speeches about having to make the hard choices so many times that she knew them by rote. She had thought that she was ready for this, but now that the moment was on her, she wanted to run.
And it wasn’t just the thought of doing violence that troubled her.
Telixa Ethran took that ziarogat with her everywhere she went. Capturing the admiral meant confronting the creature. She had to keep her fear in check. She couldn’t run now. She couldn’t let everyone down after they put their faith in her.
Three streets met in the central plaza: one from the north, one from the west and one from the south. City Hall was on the east side of a large traffic circle that surrounded a garden. The building was even more imposing in daylight: sprawling wings of gray brick standing four stories high. Melissa half expected to see Telixa on the balcony that overlooked the front entrance, but there was no one up there.
Her group came in from the west to join with two others from the north and south. Together, they formed a mass of bodies that surrounded City Hall. Everyone knew their role. Bryse had made sure to put people in the parking lot behind the building. That way, there was no chance of the admiral slipping out through the back door.
“Whose planet?”
“OUR PLANET!”
Grumbling as he maneuvered through the throng, Bryse signaled a halt. He turned around to show her a raised eyebrow.
Melissa held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. She was ready. She could do this. Reassuring words occurred to her, but she didn’t get a chance to speak them.
Bryse was already pushing his way through bodies packed so close together no one could spread their arms without smacking someone else in the face. The protesters held signs that commanded the Ragnosians to leave this world. It was only a matter of time before the enemy decided to quell this “uprising.”
They would have to move fast.
“What is that frightful noise?” Lady Camisa exclaimed.
Dressed to the nines in one of those pink gowns with the shoulder pads, the woman sat with her back to the window and fanned herself vigorously. She had a few streaks of gray in her black hair and fine lines around her eyes. “I daresay, what have the smallfolk gotten up to now?”
Telixa had a mug of coffee raised halfway to her mouth when the other woman’s question made her pause. She shot a glance toward Voth, commanding him to step in. Perhaps he could get this meeting back on track.
The man spread his hands and offered an ingratiating smile. “I’m sure it’s nothing, my lady,” he intoned. “We’ll send someone down to make sure.”
Nearly every seat at the long conference table was filled by some functionary or bureaucrat, and Telixa could hardly remember their names. Most were older than she was. They would all insist on being heard, and she would feign interest in whatever they had to say. It was necessary to gain their cooperation. How the Halorens ran their little country was of no concern to her. As long as nothing got in the way of the war effort.
Except…
Except the war was pointless; she saw that now. A waste of life based on a false premise and the fears of an admiral who saw enemies where there were none. The Justice Keepers were no threat to her people. But now that the avalanche had started, there was no stopping it. Not without a heavy cost.
Seated across from her, General Heldoran let out a loud harrumph. “Well, as I was saying,” he began, his beady eyes scrunched into a tight squint. “These senseless attacks on our supply lines must be stopped.”
“You’ll get no argument from me, General,” Lady Emora chimed in. The woman’s leathery face was marked by liver spots, and her white hair was growing thin. “Swift and decisive action is best. If you choose to end this rebellion, I am sure that the Crown will not protest.”
Her eyes wandered to the hooded figure that had been standing in the corner since the start of this meeting. A hooded figure that hadn’t moved a muscle. Perhaps the Lady Emora was wondering what sort of “swift and decisive action” she might witness if Telixa chose to unleash her guardian on the protesters.
“You want us to slaughter your people?” Telixa exclaimed.
Emora’s cruel gaze fell upon her. The woman was a harridan by any definition of the word. “Drastic action is sometimes necessary to restore order,” she said. “Somehow, these workers have come to believe that their attempts to rise above their station will go unpunished. Better for all if they are disabused of such notions.”
“And we need the food,” Heldoran added bitterly.
Leaning back with the mug cradled in both hands, Telixa inhaled the steam that wafted up. “Not every problem requires such a firm response,” she said. “General, have your engineers studied the Leyrian vertical farm technology?”
Heldoran’s mouth worked soundlessly as he tried to come up with a response. “Um, yes,” he spluttered at last. “But constructing such infrastructure is energy-intensive.”
“Surely, a few fusion reactors will provide sufficient power.”
“Vertical farms?” Camisa inquired.
Ignoring her, Telixa lifted her mug and sipped her coffee. “If we are to maintain a long-term presence on this planet,” she began, “then I think it behooves us to construct a food-delivery system that can meet our needs.”
“Local agriculture produces enough to feed our people,” Heldoran insisted.
“At the cost of this unrest,” Telixa countered, gesturing to the window. The voices outside were growing louder, angrier, more forceful. She had only a vague understanding of what they were saying, but she knew it wasn’t good.
Heldoran stood up, and his pudgy cheeks reddened. “Enough of this!” he barked, gesturing to the uniformed man who stood by the door. “Lieutenant, put together a team and disperse the crowd outside.”
“No!” Telixa yelled.
Everyone froze.
Calming herself took some effort. She still had to play the game. But the thought of Anna Lenai’s disapproving stare had her on edge. Telixa had damned her soul by starting this war. Was there any way back from that? She didn’t know, but she had to try. “These are a free people, are they not?” she said. “With the right to express their grievances. If they are to believe that we are anything more than conquerors, we must respect their rights.”
“As you wish, Admiral,” Heldoran said. “You are in command of this occupation, after all. But I would note that we will have a difficult time getting back to the shuttle if we have to wade through a crowd of several thousand people who want to peel our skin off strip by strip.”
“Have you grown timid in your old age, General?” she said. “Need I remind you that we are perfectly safe.”
At a wave of her hand, the hooded figure stepped forward and drew back its cowl to reveal a bald head and two silver eyes. The Salusians shifted in their seats. For that matter, her own people were not immune to the ziarogat’s stare.
Yes, they were safe here.
The crowd parted before Bryse, making way for him to approach the building. Bodies moved aside almost instinctively. Sometimes, Melissa wondered if she could ever command such respect. Probably not. People didn’t leap out of the way for mousy young women. But then maybe she was learning to be a little less mousy.
Bryse didn’t go for the steps that led up to the main entrance. Instead, he chose a first-floor window that looked into an office. It was hard to tell when the interior was so much darker than the street outside, but Melissa was fairly certain that she saw a desk and a bookshelf.
Bryse stepped back, reaching into his pocket to produce a multi-tool. “Stand clear.”
He held the metal disk in his palm and pressed a button to summon the holographic menu. A blue desktop with colourful icons appeared in the air. Bryse made a few quick gestures with his finger, and then the image vanished.
The disk used a blue laser beam to map the contours of the window, tracing every inch of it from corner to corner. When it was finished, nanobots emerged and crawled over Bryse’s fingers.
They moved onto the pane, scurrying over the glass, and formed a large rectangle. Melissa heard a faint, high-pitched whir – like thousands of tiny drills operating at the same time – and then the pane fell outward into Bryse’s waiting arms.
He set it down against the side of the building. “Let’s move!”
Melissa was the first one through the opening, dropping to land crouched behind a wooden desk. Her mouth tightened as she scanned the room for any signs of trouble. Not that she was expecting any, but you could never be too careful.
There was indeed a bookshelf on the wall to her left and a painting of some roses hung next to the door. Other than that, the place was unremarkable. “We’re clear!” she said and then quickly moved aside so the next person could come through.
She hurried out the door and found herself in a long corridor where a musty scent lingered in the air. Two guards in brown uniforms froze in their tracks, shocked by the arrival of this stranger who shouldn’t be here.
One was literally right outside the office: a tall man was with a black mustache who gasped when he saw her. “What the-” The other one was further back. About thirty feet or so.
The nearest guard foolishly eschewed his pistol in favour of a truncheon that hung from his belt. Which made sense. These men were probably trained to use minimal force, and they would have no experience dealing with Justice Keepers. “Joni, find Adom. Tell him that some of the rabble have broken into the building.”
He swung for her head.
Melissa hopped back, the baton passing in front of her eyes. She kicked him in the stomach, producing a wheeze, then jumped and kicked him again, in the face, this time. Blood dripped from the poor oaf’s nose as he fell onto his backside. His truncheon rolled over the tiles.
The other man reached for his sidearm.
Melissa dove for the floor, somersaulting past her fallen opponent and snatching up his weapon. She came up on one knee and threw it as hard as she could.
The baton tumbled end over end through the air.
It struck the second guard’s hand as he tried to aim, causing his fingers to uncurl. His pistol went flying, bounced off the wall and landed well out of arm’s reach.
A very frightened young man stood slack-jawed in the middle of the hallway, watching her with eyes that looked like they might fall out of his head. “What…What are you?” he breathed.
Standing up slowly, Melissa faced him with all the gravitas that she could muster. She assumed a crane stance, one knee raised, arms thrust upward with limp wrists. “I am the scream of those who have been silenced.” Was that her voice? It was so firm. “Run.”
The young guard did so, turning around and bolting for the stairwell at the end of the corridor. “They’re in the building!” he bellowed. “They’re in the building!”
Bryse emerged from the office, gesturing to the fleeing guard. The man’s question was obvious, but he chose to voice it anyway. “Why didn’t you put him down? Now, they know we’re here.”
Melissa rounded on him, crossing her arms and matching his glare with one of her own. “I’m not killing a helpless man,” she said. “They would have found out anyway. Let’s get upstairs before they rally the other guards.”
Muffled shouts came through the floor. Telixa couldn’t make out the words, but it was clear that the situation had grown dire. Some of the protesters must have made their way into the building. Which meant this wasn’t just a protest.
