The Cimalian Princess: Invasion
by AJ Marks
Chapter 14
Tommy glanced at the monitors as activity increased. “I believe she’s coming around,” he said. He walked over to where Meia’s bed was.
“That’s good news then,” Randy said repeating the words the Tommy had said. He had rushed down almost right away after the doctor had left.
They watched as Meia’s eyes blinked open in confusion.
“Are you all right,” Randy asked her.
“Randy,” She replied. She still seemed to be confused a bit as she looked around.
“Yes,” Randy said.
“Meia, what’s the last thing you remember,” Tommy asked.
“The piano,” Meia said her eyes taking on a far away look. “I remember.”
Randy looked at her then back at Tommy who mirrored Randy’s confused face. Meia didn’t appear to be saying anything else. The look on her face hardened a bit but didn’t say anything else.
“Well, your scans look good, I’d like to keep you for observation for a little bit longer,” Tommy said. Randy looked at Meia waiting for her answer.
“Yeah, that’s, perfect,” Meia said.
Randy felt a bit relieved when he heard from the doctor that Meia would be all right. He wanted to remain but also knew that he had a duty to the fleet. His thoughts were interrupted when Yvette’s voice came over the intercom.
“Admiral Randy, message from HQ coming in.”
“You’ll let me know if anything else happens,” Randy said to the doctor then over at Meia.
“Of course,” Tommy replied.
Randy left the bridge to head to the bridge. He wondered just what message had come in from HQ that would’ve needed his attention. Arriving on the bridge both Kim and Yvette were waiting for him. He walked over to the communicator not surprised when his father’s face appeared.
“Admiral,” Randy said.
“Randy, something’s happened here, it’s a bit personal,” his father said. “I just got a police report, Greg’s dead.”
The statement hit Randy with an almost physical force. Greg was his father’s friend but had been much like an uncle to Randy ever since he was small.
“What, how,” Randy asked. He was confused by the turn of events.
“The police say it looks like he was killed,” Jack said. “I’ve asked the chief of police to keep me informed on all leads. He told me that he might have a lead as to why the military had been kept out of the information loop.”
“Well,” Randy said sitting down. “This isn’t what I was expecting. How’s mom taking it?”
“She’s your mom, well yet not well,” Jack replied. “I’m headed home for a few hours to make sure. I have a feeling that this war had something to do with it though.”
“Is the fleet at risk,” Randy suddenly asked with concern.
“I doubt it but the President is starting to pressure me on this military conspiracy, its gaining acceptance on the global web as well,” Jack said.
“Great,” Randy said. “On the plus side, we learned something. The Cimalian warships carry a weapon called the Xeno missile, it has a weakness, close to within fifteen clicks and the missile is a dud.”
“I’ll let the other fleets know,” Jack said. “When do you think you can move to Hesslius?”
“I have a scout ship heading there already to check out the forces we might encounter, but the fleet should be ready in ten hours,” Randy replied.
“I have the Victorious in route to Vernada to replace the Enterprise’s loss but we can’t continue to maintain losses like this,” Jack told him.
“The only good news is they lost two battle-cruisers but we don’t have information of how many they have,” Randy said.
“This might be only the scout fleet for the main fleet,” Jack said. “Whatever it is we must be ready.”
“My crew’ll be ready,” Randy said.
“Then I wait for your report,” Jack said. He signed off as Randy sat down in his chair. So much seemed to be going on that if they gained a bit of ground they lost it just as fast. How could they win a war when it seemed no one knew about it?
“I’m headed to my quarters for a few moments. Let me know when the Victorious makes it or when the report from the Dragon comes in,” Randy said.
“Yes sir,” Kim replied.
*****
Meia glanced over at the doctor as he walked up to her.
“Well, I’ve done everything I can, I pronounce you fit to leave,” Tommy said. “Do you need any help getting back to your quarters?”
“No, I think I can find my way,’ Meia replied. A few moments later she left the med lab heading towards her quarters. She thought she finally understood everything going on. Repressed memories had finally surfaced now twenty years later.
Admiral Ordex had been there as had that other man. The other man though Meia really thought she should know. His face had been very familiar and why had her mother said what she did. She’d been only five but now she realized that her memory ended where her dream had. They had knocked her out for some reason. And her mother had known she wouldn’t be around. Some things started to make sense.
Her mother said one thing just before her fifth birthday, “I know you’ll assume your rightful place, when that day comes never forget where you came from, who you are. I don’t think I’ll be there, but look in your heart, that’s where I’ll be.”
She could still hear the words in her mother’s voice but one thing still seemed strange. She hadn’t found her rightful place, she knew she should be someone. That much seemed evident by the fact of several things. Emperor Henry attended all of her graduations and she thought she could remember him looking at her.
“Could it be,” Meia suddenly said stopping in the middle of the corridor. “Nah, couldn’t be, they would’ve taken greater care, done more,” Meia replied to herself. She did know that the Cimalian Empire couldn’t win the war, not with the monsters leading it.
Entering her quarters she flopped down on the bed. Now she had to figure out how to help out and prevent the Cimalians from winning, if she could.
*****
Randy pulled the clean shirt on taking a second to adjust it till it fit right. He’d managed to rest a couple of hours after learning that Meia would be fine. Now he figured he should stop by her quarters to see how she was. She’d given him a scare by fainting. The buzz of the intercom interrupted his thoughts.
“Admiral, sorry to interrupt you but we have some news from Commander Jorkins,” Kim’s voice said.
“Put it thought here,” Randy said turning to the screen. Frank Jorkin’s face appeared a second later. “What news?”
“Two things admiral,” Jorkins replied. “First, we have secured the planet, quite easy to do when the population helps. Second we’ve found Amy Barnes.”
“I see,” Randy replied. He had hoped for good news.
“It appears she was injured in the attack but is receiving medical treatment. The doctors had told me she’ll make a full recovery,” Frank said.
“I know my dad will be glad to hear that,” Randy said. He knew that Senator Barnes had been worried enough to tell the military about the two planets. More good news to report to HQ he hoped the news was a good in other sectors.
“We do have a few prisoners as well,” Frank said. “What are we to do with them?”
“I’ll ask HQ and have them contact you directly so there is no miscommunication. But for now is there a local prison we can keep them in or some other large factuality?”
“We can keep them where they are,” Frank replied. “I’ll await word from HQ then on a more permanent solution.”
“Good work commander,” Randy said then signed off. He’d have to make another report to HQ now.
*****
Jack walked back into HQ after a long night. He had broken the news to Mary about Greg. It had stunned everyone considering that Greg had been such a supporter for the military. He had a bad feeling though when Chad appeared to be waiting for him.
“Sorry sir, we have some new reports from Vernada, good news actually but President Winerich wants you to call the moment you got in,” Chad said.
“Yippee,” Jack replied. The last thing he really wanted to do was talk with the President first thing. “All right, better get it out of the way. That way I can review what’s happened at Vernada.”
Jack had to wait a few minutes until the president appeared on the screen.
“Admiral, I was wondering when you’d get around to contacting me,” Eric said. “I’d hoped to hear from you earlier.”
“Its been a rough night,” Jack replied.
“I’m sure,” Eric said. “Anyways, I’ve some orders for you.”
Jack mentally sighed knowing that the President was about to give an order that probably would endanger the lives of his men. He probably also would want him to disband the new fleet as well.
“I’m getting huge political pressure in regard to what some are even thinking is leading up to an overthrow by the military. So the military is ordered to suspend all operations at once,” Eric said.
“And the people on Hesslius, Dredius and Corrius, what about them. Are you giving up on them or just handing them over to the Cimalians,” Jack asked.
“You are out of line admiral,” Eric yelled surprising Jack. “This has already been decided by the council and the experts. It’s no longer up for discussion.”
“Very well sir,” Jack said clinching his teeth. “And what do the ‘experts’ say we should do in case we’re attacked?”
“I expect your men to act professionally. Try talking to them and come to an agreement,” Eric said.
“And if they refuse to talk and open fire on us then what,” Jack asked. He had to know how far the government could go to please the Constrict radicals and their ideas.
“You have you’re orders admiral,” Eric said.
“Then we should have some of these Constricts on our ships to do the talking so when it fails they can’t blame my people,” Jack said.
“Just suspend all military operations for now admiral, or I will have your replaced,” Eric said.
Jack wanted to say more but the screen went black. He turned to Chad to see what the reports from Vernada were to get his mind off what the President had just said.
Scanning the report he noticed that it all had good news for a change. That made him feel a bit better considering he’d be giving Randy bad news.
“Hmm, they found Amy Barnes, I’ll have to inform the senator, he’ll be happy to hear that,” Jack said. He then composed the message that he didn’t want to send out to the fleet. He just hoped his commanders did the right thing and protected their men and women.
Meia glanced down at the table wondering what would happen next. She’d heard the rumors that the fleet would be leaving for another planet that had been attacked by the Cimalians. Rubbing her eyes she decided that a change in scenery might help her out. She paused at the door as she thought about leaving ‘her quarters’. In reality she her mind told her that she was a Cimalian, the enemy of the Alliance yet she felt more at home with them then she ever had on board the Kitakim.
Walking away from her quarters without a real destination she looked up a few minutes later to see the piano in front of her. She noticed John sitting at playing another song, one she hadn’t heard before. Running hand though her hair to dispel some nervousness she finally started forwards only to stop when she heard a voice.
“Hey, I heard about you,” the voice said. Meia turned to see a young man in a pilot’s uniform walking towards her. “So are you really a Cimalian?”
“I was,” Meia said telling the truth. She’d thought about this a bit and decided to tell the truth for later on.
“Then you’re the one responsible for my sister’s death,” the man said. “I’m going to make sure you pay.”
Meia watched already knowing what would happen next. The man’s body had telegraphed his next move. He moved forward quickly throwing a powerful swing that would’ve caught most people unaware but her reflexes were already moving out of the way. The man found his punch meeting thin air as Meia already had begun a counter move. Her swift kick startled the man causing him to fall back against John’s feet.
The man got up quickly glaring at her. “Think that’ll stop me,” the man said. He went to attack again but found himself restrained from behind.
“I think that’s enough,” John said quietly holding the man. “Pam wasn’t killed by Meia, she was killed by one of their scout ships that we destroyed.”
“And how would you know,” the man said angrily.
“Because,” John ground out, his teeth clenched. “She was my wing-mate that day. At first I blamed them as well, but we knew something was going on, and I made a bad decision. I was to blame for her death.”
“You go on ahead in your self-pity, I’ll blame her,” the man said shrugging John off. “Remember that!”
The man pushed his way thought the gathered crowd until he was out of sight. Meia couldn’t dispute the man’s claim, she had killed some of the Alliance pilots in her battles. Knowing that she understood the man’s anger for the loss of his sister and she wondered if the roles were reversed what she’d do.
“Sorry about that,” John said. “I didn’t know you were there otherwise I’d have interfered a bit quicker.
“No worries, Meia said. “Just getting out of my quarters.”
“I think we all can relate with that,” John said. “Though I must admit your fast, were you trained that way?”
“I’ve always had fast reflexes. At the age of five all children of the Cimalian Empire are tested and placed, I became a fighter pilot and since the age of five I’ve been trained to fly and fight in space or an atmosphere.”
“Sounds like a rough childhood,” Randy said. Meia hadn’t seen him walk up and wondered how much he’d heard.
“It explains why their so good,” John said.
“Well, everything in the Cimalian society is centered around the military. It’s a way of life for most people,” Meia said. “It’s also a hard way of life for those in the lower class. Many have no way of having a better life, freedom is limited and punishments are a way of life. If you disobey punishments are harsh, and the lower you are the more harsh the punishment.”
Meia finished then turned no longer wanting to talk about it anymore. She had the feeling that Randy and John wanted to know more, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk about it anymore. Not wanting to return to her quarters she headed to one place she always thought of as home, the hangar.
End Chapter 14
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