The Cimalian Princess: Rebellion
by AJ Marks
Part 17
Henry glanced at the man in front of him waiting for the answer to his question. How could such a thing had happened and for three shuttles to land and leave. As usual the person in front of him stammered out some apology and blamed a delta and the military for allowing the ships to land.
“The military had their orders directly from me, you had yours. How did she escape the enforcers?” Henry asked waiting to see how Meia could have escaped, or gotten back on the planet without anyone seeing her.
“Emperor,” the man said bowing. “I do not know. I had teams in the area right away and only found a few people. Everyone had a valid excuse for being in the area, and none matched the description of the person you described.”
“And those who didn’t have an excuse?” Henry asked looking at the man who seemed to almost cower in front of him.
“They were brought in for questioning,” the reply came back.
“Then I expect a report by the end of the day,” Henry said waving his hand dismissing the man before looking over at the admiral who was waiting patiently until called upon.
“Emperor, the Alliance ship used a different tactic this time. It dropped out of hyperspace, launched three shuttle and left without turning around. Ten minutes later it returned picked them up and left. The shuttles were on the ground for less than a few seconds,” Admiral Wambu said.
Henry took the moment to consider what was said. “Then they will probably do that again when they pick up whoever they dropped off,” Henry said. “I want a new patrol design to counter such a maneuver at once.”
“Of course,” Wambu said pausing. “Should we increase our patrols to look out for this Meia?”
“Yes, capture on sight and is considered extremely dangerous. Do not let her talk at all,” Henry said to him knowing the order was strange but if she managed to talk it might make some listen. That would be dangerous especially if they believed her.
“Is she that dangerous?” Wambu asked.
“She weaves a web of lies which people start to believe. She will tell you want you want to hear, make you doubt anything you’re doing,” Henry said watching as Wambu seemed to fail to understand. He was all right with that, as long as he carried out the orders. “Once she is captured she is to be brought straight to me.”
“By your command Emperor,” Wambu replied, giving a slight bow.
Henry watched as the admiral left the room before sitting back in his chair. His niece, Meia, had the worst timing in his opinion to show back up. Of course the only one slightly less annoying had been brandy, the clone he created to be his daughter and heir to the throne.
“I see things are not going well.”
He turned to see Brandy standing in the shadows of the room, an annoying habit she had. She also seemed to always show up when he was thinking about her. Her ability to disappear at will meant he at least had an interesting heir, and something he should have remembered from Meia’s academy days. She was always found in strange areas at night, sneaking around usually undetected. He returned his attention back to her.
“Nothing that can’t be fixed, you’re sneaking around,” he said to her.
“Nope, if I was you wouldn’t know I was here,” she replied annoyingly.
“And I suppose you have an idea?” Henry replied wondering what a five year old could do.
“I always have ideas, after all you made sure I would,” Brandy answered. “Your obsession with Meia is seems you’ve forgotten something.”
Henry waited a few seconds before asking. “And what is it that I’ve forgotten?”
“The Alliance, they know where we are, and possibly our fleet make-up. They are extremely dangerous to us,” Brandy said as Henry drummed his fingers on the desk.
“Then you don’t know as much as you think. Our ships are superior to theirs, and with the addition of the carrier, Cimal, we have overwhelming firepower,” Henry replied, a bit annoyed with her.
“The stronger force doesn’t always win, nor does the largest,” Brandy said. “They defeated you once, they can do it again if you underestimate them.”
Henry snorted at that statement. “You worry too much, as I said, I have everything under control.”
“Of course father.”
He watched as the left the room but didn’t try to follow her. She would be long gone by now. He slammed his fist on the desk in annoyance at her trying to get him to think something was wrong. He knew what was going on, everything was in his control.
Shaking his head he turned back to the stack of files filled with information that needed his approval.
*****
Dave made his way back to the Gamma apartment complex one more time, something of a surprise when Greg came back and seemed more distant than before. Something happened over the past day to change the man a bit. He also seemed more determined than ever to start a rebellion in the Empire. Greg had a fire in his eyes which Dave had rarely seen in the time he knew him.
Now as he approached the apartment complex he felt glad he encountered no enforcer as he really had no excuse for being in this area of the city. He always seemed to be heading to strange areas working for Greg. Only a few times had he actually encountered an enforcer and was able to talk his way out of it.
The few people out avoided him, probably thinking he was some sort of spy for the Emperor. He reached up and rang the bell and waited for Carl to answer, a bit surprised when a female voice answered instead.
“Yes.”
“My name is Dave, I’m here to see Carl,” Dave said waiting a few seconds before he heard a male voice.
“Come on up,” the voice said and he thought he recognized it. He pulled the door opened as it buzzed and headed up the stairs to the right floor. Knocking on the door he waited glancing around, glad to see no one in the corridor. The door opened and a female stood there, he realized it had to be Carl’s wife, Ewa before stepping into the apartment and spotting Carl.
“Get in here before someone sees you,” Carl whispered. He walked in and the door closed leaving them all to look at each other. The apartment didn’t look any better the second time, a small kitchen, a table and chairs where Carl sat, the TV on the opposite wall and a door leading to the bedroom and bath.
“What brings you here?” Carl asked.
“I have some news you might be interested in,” Dave said. “My boss met with your friend.”
“And?” Carl asked after a few seconds.
“He believes her, and thinks the time is now, our only chance at real change,” Dave said. “He says we need to organize quickly.”
“You realize any revolt will be crushed by the military,” Ewa said from where she stood.
“I’m under the impression that our friend will be taking care of the military. She appears to have gathered some forces which can handle the military for a while allowing her to take over,” Dave replied back having heard this part from Greg. He had misgivings about it but Greg seemed to trust this Meia.
“Meia has a military force?” Ewa asked.
“I don’t know what type of forces she has, only that she states she has the ability to tie up the military long enough to make a move,” Dave said, watching them both for several seconds. Carl appeared thoughtful.
“So, what does your boss want us to do?” Carl finally asked.
“Anyone you can trust to help out?” Dave asked.
“The resistance is a joke, I learned that,” Carl said. “Its leaders are controlled by the Emperor.”
Dave recalled hearing the same thing from Greg so he wasn’t surprised. “Is there anyone who you might trust?”
“Well, Frank might be able to help,” Carl said indicating someone Dave didn’t know before continuing. “He knows more people than I do. I’ll talk to him.”
“All right, any idea how long this might take,” Dave asked.
“A day or two, maybe more or less depends on his work schedule,” Carl finally replied.
Dave nodded wondering how much time they had. Greg had been pushy about getting things done quickly. “All right, we’ll need to set up a way to contact you.”
“An upper class citizen among the lower ranks will stand out, especially if you continue coming around,” Carl said, something Dave understood. “I’ll try and find out quickly. I’ll come to you when things are set up.”
“We’ll work on a better communications system to limit contact,” Dave said, wondering if Greg had any ideas about that. He bid them good luck and headed back out for one more mission, this one he wasn’t looking forward to.
He was to meet with their mysterious contact, the one who loved to talk in riddles and seemed to give no information or answers. At least he thought so, Greg seemed to be able to figure it out.
*****
Dave finally arrived at the meeting place after talking with Carl, wondering how many times this week he’d have to come here. The last couple of times he had been met with silence, now a few days after meeting with Carl he was here again, hoping the contact would be there.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” the voice said, causing Dave to turn around but could see no one. He knew if he tried to close the distance the stranger would only disappear.
“Well, I have information for you as well, hopefully you have something for us as well,” Dave said trying to be vague back to the voice.
“Let me guess, Meia thinks her time is now, right?” the voice said.
“No, we think its our time. Time to make a better life for ourselves,” Dave replied back wondering how the person would reply.
“Interesting phrase,” the voice replied back to him. “You realize such actions will always have unforeseen consequences which could be even worse.”
Drave frowned at that wondering if the person had some sort of crystal ball giving them a glimpse of the future, or where they got their information. He refocused back on the task he had. “You have any useful information or not?”
“The Emperor is consumed with Meia, making him blind to other aspects of this current war, not just the resistance but the Alliance as well,” the voice said back to him. “That can be used to your advantage, a weakness he has allowed to grow.”
Dave nodded thinking about what he know about Meia. The fact the Emperor was so consumed with her only reinforced the fact she was the true Empress.
“I have an idea which might help confuse the military, and help out Meia when the time comes for the assault on the palace. It will also help her to get in close,” the voice said.
“Assaulting the palace?” Dave said, not sure he wanted to do that, but it was something which was probably a necessity for ending this rebellion.
“Yes, Meia will understand that,” the voice said. “Tell her that I’ll be in touch when things are in place at the palace for the assault, after all, take the Emperor and you win.”
Dave considered that. The voice seemed so sure about it but he felt unsure about it all. He thought about it for a few seconds before making any reply.
“I’ll give him the information,” he said, only to receive nothing back. He waited a few seconds before realizing that either the mysterious person wasn’t going to say anything else, or they had left.
Not wishing to stand around by himself he left the area heading back to report back into Greg and let him think about what to do next. Things were getting way too complex.
End part 17