“They did. Once we dug deeper, we found so many things the Kraski didn’t even seem to think important any longer,” Chen said.
“Is Dalhousie still here?” I asked.
He shook his head slowly, before taking a sip of his coffee. “She left to New Spero, in Proxima, with the last wave of colonists. We have an elected world government. Valerie Naidoo from South Africa is in charge. World President Naidoo, if you will. Speaking of which, she’d like to have a meeting with all of you.”
Mary smiled at this, and I appreciated the forward evolution we’d taken. Leading this healing planet would be a lot of work, but they finally had the mindset and resources to do it.
“Now what can you tell me about your adventures?” Chen asked.
I started in on our planned story. Meanwhile, our ship was translating the data we’d found on the Bhlat outpost.
TWENTY-SIX
The wheat fields stretched for miles in the remote South African meeting place. As we’d lowered to the Earth, I couldn’t help but feel how different it was on our planet. The air felt cleaner, and even though our technology had vastly improved, there was something that made me feel like we’d stepped back into a simpler time. Food, shelter, happiness for everyone. It was a mantra I could get behind. I looked and made sure Nick had the ring I’d brought along on his finger, turned inward so the green gem wasn’t visible. Slate had an earring on him, though I couldn’t see it. Clare was staying in the ship.
“Quite the place,” Mary said as she landed the ship on a dirt pad. A building stood a short way away, and three Jeeps sat parked beside it. “You sure all this is necessary?”
“Looks like this is a low-key meeting. We’re survivors, and we didn’t make it this far by being naïve.”
Mary rolled her eyes at that. “Well, maybe at first we were a little naïve.” My pointer and thumb separated about an inch, and she laughed at this.
“Watch your backs,” Slate said, giving us a hard look.
“Don’t be so paranoid, we’ll be fine,” Nick said, clapping him on the shoulder.
The air was warm… dry.
“Greetings, heroes.” A woman waved to us from the building’s front door. I recognized her from the pictures Chen had shown us: hair cut short, smooth skin showing a youthful strong woman leading the world.
Mary waved back, and we crossed the space. Guards became visible.
“Beautiful earrings,” I said to Mary. “They look as fetching as ever.” She laughed it off, never quite agreeing with my over-concern, but still playing along. My own green pendant sat against my chest, cool in the heat.
Before we were in earshot, I tapped my earpiece. “Clare, be ready on my mark. If this goes south, and my instincts are leaning that way, execute the plan.”
“Done. I just hope you’re wrong,” she replied.
I patted my breast pocket, feeling a small circular lump sitting over my heart.
The guards weren’t wearing the EDU uniforms we’d seen in the station above Earth. Instead, they were more classic military. They had strange-looking semi-automatics, which I imagined had both bullets and pulse power behind them. I smiled at them and got no expression in return.
“We’re so glad to have you here,” the World President said, sticking her hand out to shake ours. Mary shook it first and said some pleasantry or another. I didn’t quite hear it as I scoped out the area. A tower a few hundred yards away looked to be housing another guard.
When it was my turn to shake, I was surprised by the sweaty palm I found. I just smiled. “It’s a real pleasure to meet the woman who controls it all.”
“Oh, I don’t control much, but I facilitate our leaders, and it’s been working well so far. Please, come in.” She had a slight accent; probably grew up in a South African private school.
The building was squat and square, most likely built just for this type of off-the-radar clandestine meeting. The inside was plain, a large room with what appeared to be a couple of offices and bunk rooms at the far end, washrooms to the right.
“Can we get you anything?” she asked, glancing at Mary’s ears.
I pointed up. “Chen took good care of us up there.”
“Of course. General Chen is nothing but the best we have. He takes great pride in that station, and I don’t blame him.” She stood straight, poised.
“You wanted to see us?” Mary asked.
“Yes. You’re heroes, and Heart sent you away on some mission seven years ago. Everyone on this planet wanted to know what happened to you, and here you are. It’s a miracle.”
“Look, if you need us to do a press conference or something, I think we’re done with that sort of thing,” I said.
She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Don’t be silly. We just want to know what happened to you.”
“Apparently, flying through wormholes that take you thousands of light years away causes some time loss. Who’d have known?” I tried to laugh it off, but her face took a serious tone. “All this time, and no word from these Bhlat, huh? Thank God, because they look like some bad dudes.”
This got her attention. “Look?”
“Yeah, they’re huge. Big square ships, thick body armor.” I puffed up my chest in a display of size, and Slate grinned at me.
Her eyes moved to my chest. “No, we haven’t had word from them.”
“Really? That’s not what Chen tells me.”
She gave it away right then. My instincts paid off. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If they’ve contacted us, I know nothing of it.”
But guards were already coming into the room, pulse rifles held up to their chests.
“Don’t make a deal with them. They’re not friendly. We have a drive with information from an outpost database. They’ve mined over one hundred planets, on sixty-three of which they either enslaved or killed entire races. The Kraski were one of the smarter ones, and they got away before the big fight.” We’d learned a lot, since we’d told Chen a mostly made-up story of our trip.
“Never mind. Give me the drive, and give me that,” she said, pointing to my pocket. If she knew what it was, she had been speaking to them for sure, but how had that information made its way to her already? Unless they had some schematics of a similar weapon on one of the few Deltra ships, or from a turned hybrid. In my mind’s eye, I saw someone with Bob’s face hanging from chains on a wall as the details were ripped from him at the same time as his skin.
The guards were getting closer, and we backed away. “We aren’t here to cause any trouble. Just hear us out. You can’t negotiate with them. The facts are there.”
“Do you think I got to be the president of Earth by being stupid? I’ll make the decision that is best for myself, and for humanity, and if that means cutting a deal with an alien race, then so be it.”
“Fine, here it is.” I tossed the device at her, and she let it slip from her fingers, the metal circle clanging to the floor.
I tapped my earpiece as the guards raised their rifles. “Clare, now!” I called, and the building shook as our ship hovered over it. Green beams entered the building, lifting the five guards and Naidoo. As Clare flew the ship away, they lifted in the beam, and I saw the guard in the tower looking on in confusion as we ran outside. He didn’t know what to do and knew his firing at the ship would be fruitless.
“Dropping them,” Clare said in my earpiece. Half a mile away, we saw the beam turn off, and the ship rushed back to us. The ramp was lowering even before the ship stopped, and we jumped the three feet up onto the metal grate, letting it shut once all four of us were inside.