The Cimalian Princess: Clone
by AJ Marks
Part 24
Meia turned at the sound of approaching footsteps to see one of the guards come walking up to where she stood.
“Follow me, the council has made their decision,” he said to her, not sounding very cheerful to her.
She looked over at Carl and Ewa before following the man back into the room where the leaders were. She stood waiting to hear what they had to say, and what decision they had come up with as it would decide what path she took.
“We’ll help, the personal are being asked now,” the person Meia assumed was Dave said slightly shocking her.
“We need to do this quickly then,” Meia replied realizing the longer she stayed in one area the more dangerous it was for both her and those with her.
“I realize that,” Dave replied giving her a glare. “That is why the personal are being gathered now from the people who are here now. We should be ready to go in about an hour, our people will provide the cover for you and after that it will all be up to you.”
“I understand,” Meia answered despite the fact she was already making changes to the plan in her mind. “Where is this freighter at?”
“The closest is the Delta shuttle port for transport of workers to the nearby mines,” Dave answered. “I agree, that time is of the essence for this mission and once all personal have volunteered and gathered you may leave.”
“I still say we are rushing things,” another member said and Meia had the feeling there was some argument over this. “I mean, she just escaped and we’re already helping her escape, I say again, I am against this course of action.”
“It is time for us to act, not react,” Dave said.
Meia looked around at the rest of the group.
“I agree, it is dangerous but we should act, and be nothing but quick,” another one stated.
“The quicker I get away from you the better it is for you all,” Meia said to the group looking at several and noting their expressions. “Let me know when everyone’s gathered and ready to go.”
“Of course,” Dave said to her as she turned to leave the room.
Meia stopped in front of Carl and Ewa who were waiting for her. She paused then went inside a small room waiting as they followed a bit confused by her actions.
“What’s worng?” Carl asked. “Are they not going to do anything?”
“No, they are, do not come along, and,” Meia paused gathering her thoughts.
“Something is wrong,” Ewa said.
“I think almost everyone on that council except Dave is reporting to the Emperor. I wouldn’t’ come back after this,” Meia said to the watching their faces in shock.
“What?” Carl said.
“This mission is a suicide mission for anyone involved, they will all be killed,” Meia said.
“What about you?” Ewa asked. “If this is a suicide mission why go on it?”
“I have no choice in the matter and its my one shot to escape back to the Alliance where I can actually gathered real help to overthrow the Emperor,” Meia said.
“If you are sure about this, we’ll try as well,” Carl said.
“Good, you’re still important to the rebellion, just in another way now,” Meia said knowing things would probably change here once she was gone. If Carl and Ewa told the others I could cause a lot of problems within the rebellion, but It would also mess up her uncle’s plans.
Another person approached.
“We’re ready,” he told her, and she thought it was fast to gather the manpower to undertake such a mission.
She walked back seeing the group assembled in front of her and knew they were ones who were already in the building, and probably assembled from people who the leadership might consider troublemakers within the rebellion, or spies who were there to get her captured once more.
“All right, let me say good-bye and we’ll be ready to go,” Meia said watching as the man nodded and the group left to wait for her. She turned back to Carl and Ewa. “Stay low and out of sight, I think my leaving will cause a lot of problems for everyone, including those in the rebellion, especially if my escape is successful.”
“If it’s a suicide mission why should we be worried?” Carl asked.
“I have no intention of failing, that’s why,” Meia said with confidence she gathered from somewhere.
“If you succeed, we promise to be careful,” Carl said.
“Good,” Meia said, then headed off to where the others had gathered and counted about a half a dozen and might be just enough for the mission. She also realized any more would give them away.
“Ma’am, if you’ll follow us we’ll get you through the enforcers and to the port,” one man said, who Meia assumed to be the lader.
“Lead on,” she said already making plans for how she would make it home.
*****
The communicator buzzed interrupting Randy’s concentration on the reports he had been attempting to read. He was only looking at them trying to keep his mind occupied instead of thinking of ways this mission could go wrong. Meia kept popping up and he felt that something was wrong, but had trouble placing what that problem was. He reached over acknowledging the hail.
“Admiral, we’ve reache the point, and all ships are reporting no problems,” Kim’s voice said.
“Very well, I’ll be right there,” Randy said closing the documents on his computer before locking it. He made his way to the bridge knowing he’d have to alert Meia soon and have her brought to the bridge.
Entering the bridge he saw everyone at their stations ready to do their duties. If nothing else, he had a well-trained crew on board the Akagi. Kim handing him the data pad which had the latest reports which he scanned through, all ships’ engines were reporting normal. One nightmare seemed to have been avoided with this, now he had hope all ships were ready for battle if it came to that.
“All ships have their orders?” Randy asked.
“Yes admiral,” Aaron replied.
“Good, and the status on the engines?”
“All ships report they will be ready in five minutes,” Arron said. “The trip is an estimated forty minutes.”
“Be ready for anything once we get there,” Randy said to them. “I have no idea what to expect but call red alert five minutes before we drop out of hyperspace, I want all ships ready for anything, and all fighters ready for immediate launch.”
“Understood,” Kim said.
“We’ll be ready skipper,” John’s voice said as Randy looked over to see John had stepped onto the bridge.
“Remember, our missing is to get in touch with someone, hopefully someone who will listen to Meia, not start a shooting war. However, if we are attacked you have my permission to return fire. If we are attacked by superior numbers retreat at once back to this point,” Randy said knowing the orders would go to the other ship captains.”
“I think that’s the easy part,” John said. “I’ll go make sure all pilots are ready.”
“I’ll make sure all ships know the orders,” Hans stated.
Randy waited hearing the engines begin to power up knowing that in a few minutes they would be hurtling through space faster than the speed of light towards their target. Once they left everything became automatic, they would either be fighting or talking.
*****
Meia glanced at the group around her, many of them appeared nervous about what they were about to do. She understood the upcoming battle could not have more than a dozen participates in it, but it could decide the upcoming war in ways none of them could even begin to comprehend.
“So, what’s the plan?” Meia asked hoping to see what they were planning on doing before actually getting that, and seeing if the plan could be changed at all.
“Our main objective is to get you on board a freighter at the Delta port, after that we’ll work out own way out,” the man who appeared to be in charge stated, not much of a plan.
“And what about you after this?” Meia asked, seeing some of them had already thought about that.
“After you leave, we’re to head back to HQ where we’ll hide,” the man said, his voice indicated they held little hope of actually making it back alive.
“How about I make it a bit simpler for us all,” Meia sad to them.
“What do you mean?” the man asked as they all came to a stop, waiting to see where the conversation was going.
“You must know that your leadership is already full of the spies of the Emperor and his men, and they probably already know where we are headed,” Meia stated bluntly watching as no one seemed to deny that truth indicating they already knew.
“So what do we do? We can turn you in,” one stated.
“Yes, you can, but then what will you have gained? The man who betrayed me when I arrived here, they killed,” Meia said. “No, we head to the Epsilon port.”
“What? That’s an additional thirty minutes away, in that direction,” the leader said pointing in a different direction than they were headed.
“Exactly, we’ll be doing what they are not expecting,” Meia replied. “And if we do the unexpect3ed we increase of chances of living. The other change, come with me.”
She watched them think it over for several seconds, an unexpected opportunity presented itself and now they had to make a choice. Meia didn’t envy them, it could be a hard decision, to leave everything you ever knew behind to an uncertain future.
“You may stay behind, but leaving with me will make our odds of everyone surviving easier,” Meia said. “And it might help in the long run.”
“I don’t understand?” one asked confused by Meia’s statement.
“You are part of the rebellion, you have contacts, you can make a difference unlike anyone else in Cimalian history can,” Meia stated looking at them. “I don’t want power, I was raised an Epsilon and despise the current rulers. What makes you think I want to take over and keep everything the same?”
“Well, we just assumed, it seemed like everyone wants power, I know I’d like some,” the leader of the group said.
“I’ve seen power, and know I have it, but it doesn’t make me any better, only more isolated. Since leaving the Empire I’ve gained more friend and freedom and actually learned who I was for the first time since I was five,” Meia told them. “Now, we either head to the Delta port where they are waiting for us, or to the Epsilon base where we might have a chance.”
She waited as they struggled to make a decision. They then proceeded to a port.
*****
Randy turned on the communicator to inform Meia that the fleet was going to arrive at the destination in a few minutes. While waiting for her answer he looked on at the rest of the crew. Everyone appeared ready and alert for whatever events might happen.
“Admiral,” Meia replied. “I take it we’re almost there.”
“Ten minutes,” Randy replied. “Long range scanners haven’t picked anything up yet, but by the time you’re up here we should have a clearer picture of what type of ships are in orbit.”
“Then I’ll be right there,” Meia said
The communications ended and Randy now felt nervous about the mission. So many things could still go wrong, and he had a feeling this mission would test his leadership abilities.
“Admiral, Captain John is asking for your orders,” Aaron stated.
“Patience, we don’t know what to expect after arriving,” Randy replied back. He had no idea what to expect and hoped to gain a bit more information before actually making a decision.
“Yes sir,” Aaron replied.
The door opened allowing Meia to enter the bridge still wearing her flight suit. Randy made his way over to her.
“You all right?” he asked. He wanted to make sure she was fine, they were asking an awful lot of her, and the mission seemed to depend on how she performed. The last thing he needed was to ignore a major problem.
“I’m fine, are we ready?’ Meia asked him.
“We’ll be leaving hyperspace in five minutes,” Kim said. “Scanners are still clean around the planet.”
“Good, let me know if that changes,” Randy said, hoping things remained the same. He needed to know if they needed to retreat quickly, or if they could actually try for communications.
End part 24