The Cimalian Princess: Invasion
by AJ Marks
Chapter 18
“Admiral, incoming call from HQ, shall I put it though,” Hans said his voice breaking Randy’s musings.
Randy sat up a bit in his office a second before replying. “Put it though Hans,” he said. A second later his father’s face appeared on the screen. “Dad, what’s up?”
“Things are looking up and down at the moment,” Jack replied. “The up side is Amy Barnes, she’s taken to this cause, and she’s not letting it go now.”
“That’s good news, perhaps the government finally will wake up to what’s going on,” Randy said.
“We’ll wait and see, but I’m glad she’s on our side,” Jack said. “She’s already pissed off one President, a senator, and several other senators, but has gained the support of several governors, including many close to where the action is.”
“So, what’s the bad news,” Randy asked.
“New Zeus, we haven’t heard from them in a couple of hours, so I sent a patrol ship. The colony is gone,” Jack said.
“Gone, what do you mean gone,” Randy replied. That news stunned him a bit. It had been where the First Fleet had gathered before heading to Corestar.
“An orbital bombardment destroyed the mining colony, there were few survivors,” Jack told his son. “That’s not all.”
“There’s more?”
“You’re getting a guest,” Jack said. “I was just informed that Senator Agnes wishes to conduct a personal inspection of your ship.”
“Why don’t I like that,” Randy said.
“I don’t either, in fact it sounded real odd to me,” Jack said.
“But you still said yes,” Randy said not having to ask. “He could be trying something.”
“I know, I thought about that as well, but he is a senator. Perhaps this is the way to convince the government that what’s going on is real,” Jack said.
Randy thought about that for a second. True it might help their efforts in the long run, but the senator’s attitude would be hard to put up with.
“He’s already on the way,” Jack said.
Randy’s eyebrows rose to his hairline at that. “I guess I don’t have a choice then.”
“No, sorry Randy,” Jack said. “You’re next mission is delayed until after the visit. The last think I need is a dead senator on my hands, which reminds me, tell your crew not to kill him, we might need his help later on.”
“I’ll tell them, but no promises dad,” Randy said.
“Just do your best.”
“I have a feeling that this visit has disaster written all over it,” Randy said leaning back in his chair. He looked up at the ceiling before finally looking back at the screen.
“I take it from that reaction you’ll at least try not to,” Jack asked. “By the way, your mother wants to know how that lovely young woman you brought to dinner is?”
“You mean Meia, the one who saved out butts now twice,” Randy said. He watched his dad shake his head yes. “Well, she jumped into a fighter and launched it.”
“Wait, your saying that she stole a fighter,” Jack asked. Randy saw that now his father’s eyebrows were raised.
“Um, yeah! It seems that the higher the rank the more training you receive, both in combat and escape techniques. They are trained in Alliance ways as well,” Randy said. He knew that his father wouldn’t like that piece of news.
“They know our codes?”
“No, but they know how to break them,” Randy answered.
“Okay, but how did her taking a fighter translate to saving the fleet,” Jack asked.
“She took out the missiles,” Randy said. “Without that the Warspite wouldn’t have survived, and we would have taken greater damage and loss of live.”
“Well, I can see by your face that there’s more.”
“I’m making her a pilot,” Randy said.
He watched as his father remained quiet for several seconds before replying. “Is this wise? A blue haired, former elite enemy pilot on our side?”
“Yeah!”
“All right, but I think the senator better not see her,” Jack said to his son.
“Understood,” Randy replied. They said good-bye as the communications ended. He stood up knowing that now all he had to do was tell the crew a visitor would be coming. He had a feeling that his crew would welcome Meia better than the senator.
sssss
A buzzing penetrated though the sleep fog that Meia happened to be in. Glancing around for a few seconds before realizing someone was at the door. Rubbing her eyes she yelled out that she’d be there in a moment as the buzzing stopped. Getting up out of the bed she wondered who would be at her door. The only person she really knew was Randy. Opening the door she was slightly shocked to see John standing there.
“Hi, can I come in for a second,” John said.
“Ah, sure,” Meia replied stepping aside to allow him into the room. “What are you doing here?”
Oh, you know, I was in the neighborhood, wanted to be the welcome committee,” John said.
Meia frowned a bit not sure about what John was talking about.
“Bad joke,” John said. “Well, I am here for a reason and you can say no, but we’re hoping you say yes. Randy and I were talking and we think we’ve come up with a solution, maybe. I’m offering you a position as a pilot in my squadron.”
Meia almost choked on her own tongue when she heard the question. “Are you sure you’ve thought this though. I’m a trained Cimalian pilot, you’re not afraid that I’ll turn on you?”
“We’ve had some concern but you’ve had more than one time to destroy us, or join the Cimalian way again. Don’t forget you also stole a fighter, saved my butt and helped save the fleet so I think that goes a long way to earning trust,” John said. “So what do you say.”
“Its ironic, I trained for years to destroy the Alliance, what I considered the greatest evil in the universe, and now,” Meia shook her head. “It really boggles the mind.”
“Do you still consider us evil?”
“No, I’ve learned a lot in the past couple of days, my mind is still trying to understand it all,” she replied. “You treated me with something I’ve never had before, respect even after knowing who I was, what I was.”
“Well, most of us grow up with the knowledge we’re all the same,” John said.
“Most,” Meia asked frowning.
“Well you always get those bigots and such teaching hate,” John said.
“What about the rest of the pilots?”
“I’m the leader, my orders go,” John said smiling.
Meia took a breath knowing that after this, she’d never go back. The problem was did she even want to go back to the Cimalian way of life. No, she didn’t.
“I accept then,” Meia said.
“Good,” John said. “We have a briefing in thirty minutes. I’d like for you to be there, the briefing room.”
“I’ll be there,” Meia answered. John nodded his head then left the room.
Meia walked over to the sink looking at the mirror. She thought she looked horrible, her hair looked like it had been slept on, which it had. Deciding to shower before the meeting she walked into the bathroom to get ready. She only hoped that John told the truth in how the other pilots reacted to her.
Randy walked into the briefing room looking around at who was already there. A few had come in already but he was early to the meeting. He wanted to speak with John before the meeting started.
“Hey,” he said to his friend.
“Randy, well good news,” John said to him. “She agreed and will be here.”
“Good, anyone we should keep an eye on,” Randy asked. He looked around at a few of the pilots who had walked in.
“Only one I can think of, Victor,” John said. “I had to break up a fight earlier between the two before Victor got hurt.”
Randy raised an eyebrow waiting for an explanation.
“Victor is Pam’s brother,” John said.
“Blaming Meia for her death,” Randy stated as John nodded his head. “And you?”
“Myself more than anyone else,” John said. “I was careless and it led to the death of a loved one,” John replied.
“We’ve lost too many already my friend,” Randy said. The explanation did explain a lot about his friend’s attitude. He’d been trying extra hard to be perfect. Perhaps having Meia would be good, if you tried for perfection you usually made a mistake.
The door opened before Randy said anything else. Meia walked in quietly taking a place in the back of the room. Randy thought she appeared a bit out of place, but hoped she’d fit in quickly. A few other new pilots had arrived barely giving Meia a glance. They noticed her hair but that was about it.
He glanced over to see Victor standing there talking to a couple of others. Either they didn’t see Meia come in or they didn’t tell him. Randy wasn’t sure which one it was yet.
“All right skipper, everyone’s here,” John said.
Randy quickly counted the pilots in the room, twenty. About two-thirds of the normal effective fighting force the Akagi usually carried. He knew that the other ships had about the same number of pilots making the effective force almost half what it should be.
“Everyone, let’s begin,” Randy said watching as they quickly found seats and turned their attention to him. “As you all know things are tense politically back home. The government seems insistent that the military is behind the invasion.”
“Maybe they should fight instead,” one pilot said.
“Now that you mention that we are getting a guest,” Randy said.
“We’re getting replaced,” another pilot asked.
“No, not quite, we’re having a senator join us for an ‘inspection’,” Randy said. He used his hands to emphasize the ‘inspection’ part.
“Guess that means best behavior,” John asked.
“Yep,” Randy said. “Aside from that there is one other piece of news. Many of you already know Meia, and it’s been decided, and she accepted to add her to the fighter squadron 116. Now she earned my trust, I hope she’s earned yours.”
“She has mine,” John quickly spoke up. Randy felt glad his friend spoke up. It might mean that others would accept her as well.
“Are either of you concerned she might stab us in the back,” Victor said standing up.
“Have you faced her in combat,” John said suddenly getting right up to Victor.
“Well, no but Pam…”
“I made a mistake checking out what might be a hostile ship, not a fighter, that cost Pam her life. A mistake I won’t make again,” John said now nose to nose with Victor who seemed to shrink before John. “I’ve fought her, and she’s saved my life. If she’d wanted me dead, I would be so already.”
Randy looked around at the others knowing they’d be confused at John’s words. Before Randy could say anything John continued.
“In the first battle, I engaged Meia in one on one combat, my fighter was damaged, but I never touched hers. In the last battle she saved my ass from two of their elite pilots then went on to destroy several enemy missiles targeted at the battle-cruisers. She’s earned my trust,” John said.
“She’s an enemy.”
“And this isn’t a democracy,” John replied. “WE have made a decision, you will stand by or I’ll kill you myself. Is that clear!”
A muffled ‘yes sir’ could be heard.
“I said is that clear!”
“Yes sir!”
“Good, not boys and girls, we have a diplomat to prepare for. I want to show him what the squadrons of the Akagi can do, dismissed,” John said.
The pilots filed out but Randy kept an eye as a few glanced back at Meia. The only really hostile look was from Victor. He made a point to make sure to inform John about that. For now though he had to figure out how to handle the Senator.
sssss
Jezic glanced down at the orders that just came in from High Command. They had given him the instructions on when to attack. The order had been real specific and strange to him considering they had ordered him there as soon as possible. He wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that Meia was still alive. Whatever was in her file seemed to make high command nervous? Even Admiral Ordex had been nervous about the fact she survived.
Remembering that he had her file he quickly opened it hoping that the answers would be in the file. He knew that she had been an epsilon class citizen and naturally assumed that her father had been as well. Children carried their father’s class so if your father was an Alpha any of his children would be an alpha regardless of the mother’s class, except for an Alpha Supreme. Anyone who had a parent as an Alpha Supreme would be an Alpha Supreme.
He scanned down the file noting the normal notations, and promotions that he already knew about. Her mother had died, but there was more information this time. He noted his name this time, something he already had known. However it was Meia’s father that caught his attention.
“It can’t be,” he said. The door opened startling him. Olin walked into his office. “Don’t you ever knock?”
“I did sir, but you seemed preoccupied,” Olin stated. “And you wanted this file right away.”
“I did but you stay out there until I say otherwise,” Jezic said, anger tinting his words. Olin seemed to shrink from the force of the words. “Come back in a couple of minutes.”
“By your will admiral,” Olin said. Jezic watched as the pilot walked out of the office.
He returned his attention back to the screen in front of him. The information had to be wrong, it just had to. There could be no way that Meia had an Alpha Supreme as a father. His mind seemed to try and grapple with the implementations that this had. Even while he thought about that his rational mind realized that it explained why High Command had been so interested in the young woman for so long. If word of this got out it might cause a disruption in the public considering that Meia actually was the true Empress of the Empire, not Henry.
The only good news he could think of was the fact she had no way to find out her heritage. She had no memory of her father and very few knew who she really was.
Sssss
Randy stood on the hangar deck of the Akagi waiting as the shuttle carrying the senator powered down. He still felt some uneasiness concerning the ‘inspection’ considering that Senator Agnes didn’t like the military at all. The door opened allowing the senator to walk out.
Randy might have felt a bit better if the senator had done the inspection of the Hood back at Pacifica, or the Lexington which now stood on patrol at Corestar. But the fact the senator had chosen the Akagi didn’t add up very well. He had the officers all on alert if something happened.
The senator walked out as Randy noted the man seemed to wear a permanent frown on his face. Randy briefly wondered if the man could even smile at all.
“Senator, welcome aboard the flagship Akagi,” Randy said, as he walked up to the admiral.
“Bah,” Agnes replied. Randy put his hand down knowing that the senator wouldn’t shake his hand. It didn’t surprise Randy at all.
“This way and we can begin the tour,” Randy said.
“Waste of money if you ask me,” Agnes said waving his hand towards the fighters in the hangar.
“Then who’d defend the Alliance against the Cimalian invasion,” Randy said. He happened to glace at the senator as he asked the question. The brief shocked look seemed to catch Randy by surprise. Just as quickly the look disappeared with the normal scowl.
“Everyone knows that this invasion is just the military in an attempt to keep the military around when its purpose has come and gone. This is a time of peace and diplomacy,” Agnes said. “People talk when they have a problem.”
“So you think this invasion is a hoax, a conspiracy,” Randy said as they approached the elevator.
“Of course, it’s so clear and childish that to believe otherwise is, is,” the senator trailed off for a second thinking as they waited for the elevator. “All I can think of is idiotic, but even that’s too weak of a word. I find this too convenient that when we’re about to begin to seriously disband the military some ‘unknown enemy’ suddenly appeared attacking our colonies. Then when that didn’t work your intelligence officers dredge up this story about the ‘Cimalians’. The more elaborate the lie the harder it is to keep up.”
“A lie, and what if it’s not a lie,” Randy asked as the elevator moved towards the bridge level.
“Only warmongering fools believe that,” Agnes replied in disgust. “Let’s get this over with.”
Randy inwardly groaned at the senator’s attitude. He had the feeling this would be a long tour. He just hoped nothing else happened.
End chapter 18
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