Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2 - Ch.39

Chapter 39

Game On

Ahern slammed the pad against the table until it shattered. He roared and swept the bits aside before noticing the cowering aide and snapping at the idiot to get out. Prit-Mal would not have cowered! She would have understood!

“Second! Get in here, now!” He slammed the comm line closed and gripped the edge of his desk until his knuckles turned white. His entire fleet was gone, air support was gone, and his escape plan was gone.

“Reporting as Ordered!” The man saluted smartly in his too pressed uniform. Ahern could smell the awful cologne from across the room.

“I want all troops prepared to march within the next two hours!” Ahern snapped. “All atmospheric craft are to be armed and ready to fly.”

“Sir?” The man blanched. “Is that quite wise?”

“Wise?” Ahern laughed. “You jumped up, little idiot. Would you question my commands as well?”

“We have no air cover, sir,” his pathetic second quailed. “They could take us out from orbit!”

“They are too damaged to attack, you pathetic excuse for a soldier!” Ahern growled. “That is why we have to attack now.”

“Understood, sir,” The man saluted and left the office without being dismissed.

“The second this is over, I am having that man shot in the face,” Ahern huffed. “And his entire family will watch!”

Ahern paced back and forth. The window for a victory was closing by the second, and his troops were dragging their feet! How long could it possibly take? Before Danforth’s betrayal, the men had regular drills, but this second had apparently let those lapse.

He was standing in front of the large window wall in his office when the explosions rocked the HUB. He saw the flashes from the landing pads before the sounds hit him. He was glaring at the spot as the knock came on the door.

“Enter!” He snapped.

“Sir, the ships on the pad–” The aide reported.

“I have eyes!” Ahern growled. “What was the cause?”

“Sabotaged power packs, sir.”

He turned to shout his outrage at the aide only to see another one run up, pad in hand.

“What the fuck now?” He asked.

“Report from the second city,” the man swallowed hard, “Rebels attacked the barracks with some kind of poison in the rations. We lost almost half our people.”

Ahern nodded calmly as he went and got his pistol from the drawer.

By the time he fired, both aides had fled, and his shots did nothing by mar his door.

Ahern collapsed in his chair, head in his hands as he wept for the first time in twenty years. His private comm line lit up, and Prit-Mal’s ID was on display. He swallowed hard. Was there still a chance?

===<<<>>===

Prit-Mal smiled widely as Ahern accepted her call. She was lying on the bed next to the paralyzed Danforth.

“Prit-Mal?” Ahern frowned at her, “What is this?”

“Oh, this?” She picked up Danforth’s head and patted it gently on the forehead. “This is your Chief Security Officer; he’s completely paralyzed. But don’t worry, he transferred command of his forces to me.”

“What?” Ahern laughed. “That’s fantastic!” She could see the repellent man’s relief.

“It is for me,” Prit-Mal laughed. “I can finally stop dealing with you pathetic pair of idiots!”

“You dare!” Ahern snapped. “You’ve done well, but–”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Prit-Mal shook her head. “Your ships are gone. Your troops are decimated. I control the skies; I control this city and soon the others as well.”

“You would turn on me, too?” Ahern looked flabbergasted.

“Oh, wait!” Prit-Mal pressed a button and captured a still of the screen. “I’ve been looking forward to that look for a long time.” She laughed. “I never turned on you,” She said seriously. “I just played you two against each other until you destroyed each other!” Another screenshot was taken.

“But! But!” Ahern blubbered. “I’ll kill you–” He cut off as troops burst into his office.

“Ah, your men have made their choice,” Prit-Mal grinned like a tiger. “I gave them a choice. Your head, and they can live.” She laughed at the brief fight on screen before he jerked twice and slumped.

“What about Danforth?” A young man appeared on screen, “Will he be a problem?”

“No, officer,” She said seriously. “I am in command now.”

“Understood, Ma’am.” He saluted and cut the line.

She hopped off the bed and dragged a chair over before putting some pillows behind the immobile Danforth to raise him into a sitting position. Finally, she sat back and smiled.

“I know you were probably asking why I did this,” She said seriously. “So let me be clear. You are an invading force, one who captured me and my friends. I am not some soldier to wave that away as the fortunes of war. I am a security officer. It was personal to me.” She pulled out her blaster pistol and rested it on her knee while she talked. “At first, I hoped to make things easier for everyone by working for you. It got my friend Brix marooned outside the cities to die, and another friend died thinking me a traitor.” She frowned at that. “I probably was, at least then. Imagine my surprise when I found out about the factories burning the dead in secret. That was my recruiter’s reward for ‘proving my loyalty.’ I got to see exactly how much I was working with our ENEMY!” Her face flushed. “I believe some part of me died that day. A part I suspect I will miss for what remains of my life.” She stared blankly at Danforth for a moment before shaking her head and going on. “I actually would have respected you if you hadn’t been a willing participant in all this. You’re worse than Ahern; you know that, right? He was just a self-serving little dick. You enabled him while knowing full well it was wrong. That is why I made sure not to kill you till last. That is why we are having this little chat.” She waved the gun at him. “It’s also why you will die slowly.” She shot him twice in the stomach. “It’ll take hours for that to kill you.” She walked to the door, looking back before she went out, “Oh, the poison was in the HyperDrive, by the way. It comes from something native to this world that a friend of mine called an Abomi-Toad.”

She closed the door behind her, locking it with her command code.

“Ma’am?” An aide was waiting a few steps down the hall. “Your orders?”

“Prepare an address to the entire planet. Widest broadcast possible. We are evacuating the planet until this all passes.”

The aide nodded and raced away, carrying her orders to the others. Her command. It wasn’t like they had any other choice at this point. She had seen to that.

===<<<>>>===

“Crush!” Brix burst into the room, ignoring Vicky’s protests as she scrambled to cover herself. “You have to see this!”

“Brix, dammit!” Crush pulled a pillow over his modesty and glared at his friend. “Couldn’t it wait five minutes?”

“Is that all it takes you? Brix asked, “No, wait. I don’t want to know. Look at this!” He held out a pad. “Just came in on wide band repeating broadcast.

Crush grabbed the pad and gave Brix another glare before looking at it.

“Fuck!”

“Right?” Brix said.

“Did you know?” Crush asked immediately.

“No!” Brix insisted.

Crush looked at the pad again before flicking the video onto the wall display so Vicky could see as well…

“Citizens, my name is Prit-Mal,” Prit looked good, standing tall and proud in Fed armor that had been repainted with a black and yellow stripe. “You may not know me, but I have been leading the resistance against the Fed invaders for a while now. I come to you today with good news. The occupation is over.”

Crush exchanged a look with Brix, looking back as Prit continued.

“Last night, a battle between the two commanding officers of the Fed forces resulted in the destruction of most of their fleet. Only two vessels remain in orbit, and they have put themselves under my command.”

“Whoa!” Vicky sat on the bed next to Crush.

“A coordinated surgical strike against the remaining loyal fed troops was undertaken at the same time. Understand me, these people did not choose to come here and have little desire to stay. They were doing something they had no choice in. As such, all troops who have renounced Federal loyalty have been spared and are now under my command as well.” Prit-Mal smiled briefly, “In short, we won.” She waited for a few beats, letting that sink in, “I just wish we could celebrate, but unfortunately, our planet is dangerously unstable, the sun is blocked, and the wildlife is running rampant. In short, we can not stay here. I am announcing a worldwide evacuation, effective immediately.”

Crush swallowed hard. For some reason, seeing someone he knew decided the situation was unrecoverable made him feel less like a traitor for coming to the same conclusion.

“Over the next few days, the stations Fig-Seven and Mog-Five will be brought back online and aired up. Once they are ready, we will begin to ferry people up to them, starting in five days. Everyone who can make the trip, come to your nearest city to be evacuated. If you have your own means to leave the planet, you will be free to do so after the stations are online. Anyone attempting to board the stations before that? Well, I still have two warships.” She cleared her voice and went on, “Those who wish to remain are advised to come to the HUB. The best defenses are here, and we will be moving the defenses and power stations from the other cities to create a citadel. Together, we will ride out this storm, and when the skies clear, we will take back this planet, just like we did before!” She had fire in her eyes now. “It will be tough. We will lose people. We will suffer. But we will survive. When the government abandoned us? We endured. When the Feds invaded us? We endured. Now, our planet rises against us! WE. WILL. ENDURE!”

The screen cleared and showed a new logo. A white circle with black and orange stripes lay across the middle. It was labeled the ‘Hublander Alliance.’

“Still think I should have waited?” Brix asked.

An hour later, Crush and Brix were crowded into Duke’s small comm room while they waited for their call to clear the queue. It seemed that the person in question was rather busy, which wasn’t surprising considering. It took twenty minutes of arguing with various officers to get into the queue. If it hadn’t been for Brix being a recognized resistance leader, they would not even have managed that.

“Can we make this brief? I’m sorry, but there really is a lot to do,” Prit-Mal came on screen, looking down as she shuffled various pads around the desk.

“Hey, Prit,” Crush said, seeing the woman freeze.

“Clear the room!” Prit-Mal snapped, and they saw various people hurry out. Only then did her eyes look at the screen. “Crush?”

He waved, smiling widely.

“You’re dead,” Prit-Mal said, and Crush was alarmed to see tears in her eyes. “They told me you died.”

“I, uh, faked it,” Crush admitted, feeling guilty now for some reason. “Sorry I couldn’t warn you, but…”

“I was working with the enemy.” Prit-Mal laughed. “That changed.”

“I see that!” Crush grinned.

“Hey, Prit!” Brix waved happily. “Well done with the coup!”

Prit-mal laughed again. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you two again.”

From there, they talked about what each of them had done since they last saw each other. It was all shortened for time, of course, but it still felt great to catch up. Naturally, that led to talk about what they planned to do next.

“We have a way off the planet already,” Crush said. “You don’t need to worry about us.”

“Crush, I have to ask… do you want a position in the administration? You too, Brix.” Prit-mal said.

“No,” Crush said immediately. “I’m on to something good here, Prit.” He smiled to take the sting out of it.

“She’s called Vicky,” Brix offered, causing Prit to smile.

“Wasn’t what I meant, but yes,” Crush said. “I’m tired of all this, Prit. I want to go somewhere new and just worry about what is in front of me, you know?”

“I’m heading out too,” Brix said. “I want to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed, and, uh,” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I was never that great as a security officer anyway.”

“I won’t say I’m not disappointed,” Prit-Mal said despite her wide smile, “But as your friend, I completely get it. Stay safe, you two.”

“Have fun running the sector!” Crush said as they said goodbye, catching a fleeting, stricken look on her face that made him laugh. He had that same look the first time he volunteered one too many times and ended up an officer.

“When do you leave?” Vicky asked, her back to him as he got back to her room.

“What do you mean?” Crush frowned.

“You’re going to go help her run the sector or whatever, right?” Vicky said lightly.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Crush said as he plopped himself on the bed.

“She’ll ask,” Vicky said. “I know I would.”

“She did,” Crush said sadly. “I’d love to help her, really. I’m just not interested.”

“Why?” Vicky asked, sounding careful for some reason.

“I’ve got you,” Crush shrugged. “That's not–”

Vicky crashed into him moments later, tears in her eyes.

“Uh, what?” Crush asked, holding her and trying to figure out what was happening.

“I thought you were going to leave,” Vicky said. “I wanted you to stay.”

“You could have asked,” Crush added.

“If I had to ask, it wouldn’t have been worth asking,” Vicky said. “Are you really staying for me?”

“Well, you and the whole leaving sector space. I think exploring somewhere new with you will be fun.” Crush added, getting a smile in return.

“Let me show you how fun it will be,” Vicky said with a smile as she pushed him back into bed.

Crush grinned. He was liking his new life more every day.

===<<<>>>===

Duke waited impatiently for his sister to answer his call. Minutes stretched by as he tapped his fingers in irritation.

“Duke,” Brenda sat in her captain’s chair and gave a mock salute to her big brother. “Times change quickly around here, don’t they?”

“Not usually,” Duke said. “What is going on, Brenda? Is this Prit-Mal really in charge now?”

“Oh, yeah.” Brenda laughed. “She got Danforth’s captain on board with her by saving his ship.”

“The troops on the ground are loyal to her?” Duke asked. “They will take her commands?”

“It’s that or die down there on the planet,” Brenda grinned like a wolf. “You know she made Danforth watch while she shot him and left him to die, right?”

“What?” Duke asked. “How would I know that?”

“I kind of dig the girl,” Brenda said mildly. “I love the whole ‘work for me, or you die here’ angle she has going with the remaining Fed forces.”

“Thinking of staying in the area?” Duke asked. He knew his sister's plans had been to either leave the sector as a pirate or go with him for a while. His kid sister had a mean streak a mile wide, and her crew was the most loyal he had ever seen. She had agreed to cover her big brother as a way to forever separate herself from their Fed family, much as he had done long ago. Joining an insurgency would certainly do the job.

“Might do,” Brenda said. “I’ll have to meet her first; make sure this isn’t all an act.”

“Will we still need cover?” Duke asked.

“Not if you wait till the end of the five days,” Brenda said. “We have strict orders that after that point, we are not to fire on any ships leaving the planet.”

“We can hold five days,” Duke said. “Send a signal as soon as we get the all clear, okay? Things are tough down here.”

“You’re tougher,” Brenda said. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

Duke sent out the orders, and the process to reveal the ship was begun. They would not bring it up until the last minute, just in case it caused anyone to head their way. Not that Duke was worried about security. He had his own group of soldiers now. He had been pleasantly surprised they chose to stick around once the news of Prit-Mal taking over got out. Only a handful had even considered leaving, and they had ultimately changed their minds.

After almost a decade and a half of planning, it was finally happening. He would leave the sectors behind before the week ended and start a new life and a new colony in a new place. His pulse quickened at the thought.

His hand-picked people were all gathered in, and his supplies were all grown right here. In short, the timing was just about perfect.

If only the damn Captain Bea would have come and joined him… There had still been no word, and to be honest, he feared the worst. He swore and grabbed his wrist comm.

“Get some people together, armed to the teeth.” He growled into the comm line, “I want to go and check on Bea.”

“On it,” Leo called back, sounding relieved.