The Cimalian Princess: Invasion
by AJ Marks
Chapter 19
Meia walked onto the hangar deck where her fighter had been placed for routine maintenance. There were several people already working on the fighters. In fact many people seemed to be working extra hard. She figured it had to be because of the senator who had come aboard.
“Hello, I see you’re back,” a mechanic said walking up to her. “Just finishing up your fighter here.”
Meia glanced at the fighter in question. She walked around it running her finger along the cool metal of the fighter as she did a mental inspection. She wasn’t as familiar with the Alliance fighters but it didn’t strop her from her inspection.
“Had an engine problem, but we’ve fixed that now,” he said to her. “The fuel line had been damaged so now you should get full power unlike last time.”
“Thanks,” Meia replied. “What about the weapons, everything’s good?”
“Ahyep, in running order,” the man said. “You’re Meia, right.”
“Yes.”
“Name’s Ben, head mechanic, over there’s Jean and Mike,” Ben said pointing to two other mechanics working on a fighter close by.
Meia smiled at them feeling more at home now then she’d been in a long time. She had spent a lot of time with the mechanics instead of others in her command. Usually no one wanted to deal with an Epsilon class citizen, let along talk to one. The mechanics didn’t care. Many were of the lower class anyways. Meia understood they worked hard, yet seemed more at peace than many others.
“How are you adjusting little lady,” Ben asked.
“About as well as I can expect,” Meia replied.
“I’d think it’d be hard leaving your parents, friends, and family behind and fight for th’other side,” Ben said, picking up his tools.
“Wasn’t difficult really,” Meia replied. “Cimalian way of life isn’t pleasant. There are five major classes of citizens, working in the hangar like this a person probably would be a gamma or epsilon, the lowest ranked citizens of the Empire. No hope of improvement of your situation, or social class. Your superiors will look for any reason to punish you, even being late to work.”
“Well then, looks like Mike would be in trouble all the time,” Ben said.
“I heard that old man,” Mike’s voice said.
“Then you be knowing I be correct laddie,” Ben said.
“Stop encouraging him Mike,” another female voice said. Meia assumed the voice belonged to Jean.
“Ah, the lovely Jean speaks, be still me heart,” Ben said placing a hand over his heart.
Meia smiled at the antics of the hangar crew. Ben turned back towards Meia.
“Your way of life doesn’t’ sound very nice,” he said to her.
“A low-class citizen has very few choices in their life. Aside from when to wash or what to eat, almost everything else is determined by the government.” Meia told him.
“My two daughters wouldn’t have liked that at all,” Ben said.
Meia could see a sad smile cross the man’s face for a second before he continued on.
“They loved exploring. I’d never seen them happier then when they were assigned to the Explorer. The ship mysteriously vanished ten years ago,” Ben said.
“I’m sorry,” Meia said.
The echo of footsteps interrupted anything else they might have said as they turned to see John walk in. Meia watched as he stopped when his eyes met hers and for a second she wondered what, if anything, she’d done wrong.
*****
Randy led the senator out of the elevator to the other hangar. For some reason he had wanted to see the other hangar to his surprise. So far there had been almost nothing the senator had seen that he agreed with. That didn’t surprise Randy at all though. He had sent John on ahead to make sure that the mechanics would behave themselves. They were known for times being rowdy while they repaired the fighters.
As they approached the hangar he noticed the familiar music was absent this time. He was thankful for that. The Senator would’ve complained about that for sure. He opened his mouth to say something when movement caught his attention. Actually it was the movement and color, blue.
Turning he saw the blue hair of the one person he’d hoped he wouldn’t see the entire tour with the senator. A mental groan went thought his mind as he quickly tried to figure out how to explain Meia to the senator. He doubted the man would believe she was a mechanic wearing a flight suit.
“So this is where the fighters are repaired,” Agnes’ voice said. “Do you also use this to repair the ships you use for this invasion you keep talking about as well?”
Randy glanced over noticing that Agnes hadn’t seen Meia yet, but he knew that wouldn’t last very long.
“Well, this place obviously takes…”
Randy took a breath knowing that the senator had seen Meia. Looking at Meia then back at the senator he noticed that the man didn’t seem too happy about seeing her. Glancing over at John and the others in the hangar it seemed like everyone was puzzled as to what would happen next. He hadn’t expected for such a tense look between Senator Agnes and Meia. Agnes he might be able to explain, at least a bit, but Meia’s eyes held the same vacant look, as if she wasn’t there, but remembering something.
*****
Meia stared at the man who’d entered the hangar after John. The familiar face made her think of her past. It confused her that she was thinking about her past when looking at someone from the Alliance. She had no idea as to what a senator did but figured it was part of the government. The Cimalian government didn’t have anything like that, but the question kept coming back to her. She should know this man.
The image of her mother floated though her mind as she looked at the man. Then another image came to her, one she’d only seen a picture of, her father. The eyes were the same. Her fathers and this man’s, for some reason they were similar. Why did that seem important?
*****
“You must be Senator Agnes.” Randy noticed Ben the head mechanic walking forward towards them. Randy watched as the senator finally tore his eyes away from Meia to the mechanic.
“A mechanic, shouldn’t you be repairing something,” Agnes replied.
“Nah, just finished,” Ben replied pointing at the fighter behind him. “Fighter 155, it’s for our newest pilot. Of course I made sure it’d work, wouldn’t want it malfunctioning in the middle of a battle.” Ben motioned towards Meia as he was talking.
“An enemy,” Agnes said catching Randy off guard. “Why isn’t she locked up?”
“Locked up,” Randy asked confused. Only a few seconds ago this same senator had said the enemy invasion was made up, a hoax fabricated by the military. Now the same man was asking why an enemy wasn’t locked up, something didn’t make sense to him.
“Yes, where scum like her should be,” Agnes said.
“Ah, senator, just a second ago you were saying there wasn’t any enemy, now you’re saying this is an enemy,” Randy asked glancing at John who picked up on Randy’s words.
“This is proof that the military is part of the hoax, if they allow their ‘enemy’ to be freely on board a warship. No wonder we should shut you down,” Agnes said. “I promise you this, everyone will hear about this. The military is thorough!”
Randy opened his mouth to reply but his attention was diverted as something close to a growl was heard. He turned to see Meia in motion, right for the senator and nothing he could do about it.
*****
Meia allowed the conversation to roll over her until the man called her an enemy. That caught her attention. It was the tone the man had used, something familiar with it. She thought back to where she’d heard such tones, and one memory came to her mind. It had been so long ago, and forgotten she almost didn’t remember it.
A secret conversation she’d overheard in the middle of the night. She had learned quickly how to get around the academy without being seen, and this night was like any other.
*****
Meia stopped her exploration at the sound of voices. She didn’t want to be seen so she hid in the shadows listening to the men.
“It’s done,” one man said.
“That’s one less thing we have to worry about,” another man said.
“You’re excused,” another voice said, with authority. The sounds of footsteps indicated one of the men walking away from her. A few seconds later the conversation started up again.
“Damn him, he would have to be weak,” one said.
The authoritative voice replied back. “It’s under control now. She’ll be under our control now, and with the right conditioning she’ll be ours. The good thing is if she gets out of control, poof, she’s gone.”
A slight chuckle came after the words chilling Meia as she listened to the footsteps begin again and fade out.
*****
The hangar came back into focus as Meia looked at the man. The tone, the words, they had been the same. This man had been in that room. She recognized the other voices as well, Admiral Jezic, and Emperor Henry! He had been one of the ones who had ordered her mother killed.
Anger swelled up as her vision washed red. The only thing that mattered was the senator in front of her. A low growl came to her ears as she briefly understood it came from her. Her feet began to move even before she thought about it. All of her training snapped into place creating a moving lethal form headed straight at the senator.
*****
Randy stood frozen in shock as Meia attacked the senator with a speed he didn’t think existed in a person. The senator barely managed to avoid the first attack. And when Randy thought back to it later he was sure the man knew the attack was coming.
The miss didn’t even slow Meia down as Randy watched her continue her follow though into another kick catching the senator in the midsection causing him to stagger back several feet. Agnes rolled away avoiding another combo from Meia. He then swept out a leg knocking Meia down. Randy watched as the senator now went on the attack. His foot missed as Meia rolled away and ended up on her feet.
“You little bitch,” Agnes said. His face contorted in anger.
Randy then did something he wondered about later on. Instead of breaking up the fight, he stepped back motioning the others to do so as well. John appeared torn but reluctantly stopped but didn’t step back. An inner feeling told him that a lot was about to be explained to him.
Meia appeared to be concentrating on the senator to let any words affect her. Her fist balled up she feigned on direction then moved another with a spinning kick catching Agnes as he fell for the deception. Her foot connected with his left cheek quickly snapping his head. Agnes however maintained his balance and countered with his own right hand. Meia ducked but Agnes allowed his momentum to spin and kick. However Meia had already moved out of range of any attack.
As Randy watched the fighting he realized their styles were almost identical. He glanced over at the other and then John. John seemed to be watching intently almost as if he was waiting to see who would win. Randy turned back as the two combatants went after each other again. Meia connected again this time splitting Agnes’ lip causing a small trickle of blood to appear.
“First blood, congratulations Meia,” Agnes said calmly wiping the blood away from his lip. “I told Henry we should’ve killed you as well. You’re father was a weak man, wanting to marry an Epsilon, and now you’ve jeopardized everything we’ve worked for!”
Agnes then launched into another attack. But even Randy could tell that while Agnes was skilled in fighting, Meia was better. Each attack missed or was blocked with skill and ease. Meia went on the offensive once more forcing Agnes back again.
“You had my mother killed,” Randy heard Meia growl to the senator.
“Is that what this is about, your mother,” Agnes said laughing a bit. “Actually it was our grandfather who ordered it.”
Randy watched as Meia stilled for a second. It was all Agnes needed as he attacked catching Meia and knocking her down. She rolled again avoiding another attack. Randy could tell that Meia seemed to be struggling with an inner demon.
“Yes, your grandmother, who also ordered your father’s death,” Agnes said proudly. “And poor little Meia never knew, never knew who she was, and never will.”
Randy finally moved forward noticing that the fight was no longer going on, but had degenerated to a fight of words. He’s also heard enough, Senator Agnes was working for, or had always been a Cimalian.
Agnes didn’t seem to want to end the fight. Randy was glad as Ben chose that moment to step forward and restrain the senator as Randy held onto Meia. He felt anger still coursing though her body as she briefly struggled to free herself. He looked over at the senator who’s face still held anger toward them.
“Go ahead ya bum,” Ben said. His superior strength from his years of bending and twisting steel gave him a natural advantage. He also knew how to use it.
“Let me go,” Randy heard Meia said.
He wasn’t sure if Meia would try attacking the senator just yet and continued to hold on.
“We’ve got something here, something we need to combat the Cimalians,” Randy said not loosing his grip.
He felt the fight leave Meia’s body a second later. He glanced down noticing for the first time she was crying. Pulling her into a hug he gave the best comfort he could at the moment.
“Touching,” Agnes said from his position. “One pilot won’t make a difference, even knowing this won’t make a difference.”
“No, you’d be surprised,” John said walking into the area.
“One pilot helped us defeat two fleets so far,” Randy said.
Agnes snorted. “The Alliance is weak, I’ve made sure of that!”
Randy watched as Meia straightened and he released her, mostly sure that she wouldn’t attack the traitor.
“That one pilot can make a difference, uncle, if she’s an alpha supreme,” she said.
Randy noticed the senator’s eyes show surprise.
“That’s what my mother tried to tell me, that’s why you kept me drugged, that’s why my career was so interesting to the Cimal family. Obviously I’m not your offspring, or even Emperor Henry’s, so that leaves Boris, the older son, killed in an accident. Is that why all pictures were blocked of him, so I wouldn’t know who my father was,” Meia said. “You see I was outside that room the night Jezic reported that my mother had been killed to you.”
Randy watched as Agnes’ face paled a bit at the news. Meia still was crying but they had more information then ever. He also realized that Meia had found out something important about herself that she hadn’t known before.
“It won’t matter, they won’t follow you anyways,” Agnes sneered.
“No, but I know who I am now,” Meia said. Her tone changed as did her posture as one who now understood they were a leader. “You underestimate the lower class.”
With that Meia walked off the bridge leaving Randy torn. He wanted to follow her, but had a job to do. He turned back to the others as a couple of guards ran into the hangar.
“Admiral, we got a report that you wanted us,” the guard said.
“Yes, escort the senator to the brig, don’t follow any orders he gives. He’s actually a Cimalian spy,” Randy said to them.
“Yes sir,” they said their eyes changing to disgust of the senator.
“You know you can’t win, we’ll never stop, and the Alliance is a weak sorrowful excuse for an empire. The strong will win,” Agnes said.
“Maybe, but we’ll see,” Randy said. He watched as the guards led the senator away from the hangar.
“Is this wise,” John finally asked.
“I don’t know, but I can’t allow him to poison the Alliance anymore,” Randy said.
“Boy, wish I’ll be there when you tell your dad,” John said smirking then walked off.
“Yeah, that’ll be fun,” Randy said then walked toward the elevator himself thinking about where Meia might have gone.
*****
Meia walked away from the hangar feeling strangely calm after such a fight that had revealed so much about her past. Her father had been one of the highest ranking citizens in the Empire, and died because of he wanted to marry her mother. Boris Camil, had died before she’d been born according to the history. He died in another ‘Alliance’ attack that again had probably been the Cimalian government eliminating another person. The senator had declared that her grandmother had ordered it. That meant her grandfather had been Emperor Aaron.
That meant if she was the child of Boris, then she actually was the next leader of the Cimalian Empire. She knew that Henry didn’t have any children, some rumor that he couldn’t have any had come out. But there had, for a while, been a rumor of a hidden heir to the throne, at least before Agnes, or she should call him Charles, had married and had two children. After that the rumors seemed to die down.
As she approached a corner voices stopped her.
“Did you hear,” one male voice said.
“Nah, but you look like you’re dying to tell me,” another female voice said.
“Senator Agnes is really a Cimalian,” the male said.
“A spy, no way, how?”
“It seems that he saw another pilot down in the hangar and lost it. Something about her being an enemy, and then killing her parents, or something like that. It gets real confusing there,” the man said.
“Wow, intense,’ the woman said.
“Yeah, it seems that the senator was taken to the brig, that’s where I found out about it, my friend Kerry works there,” the man said.
Meia backed away from the voices not really wanting to hear any more. Her ‘uncle’ was in the brig, which is where he deserved to be in her opinion. She wondered how long it’d be before the rest of the ship knew about what happened and that it had been her that had been involved. Deciding she didn’t want to answer any questions at the moment she headed towards her quarters.
Randy waited on the bridge for the communication to connect with HQ. He thought about what he would say, and how he would say it. After all it wasn’t everyday you tell your superior that someone high up in the government is an enemy. He’d thought about doing this in his office but had already heard a version of the story from Kim when he arrived on the bridge. He decided one better way would be to make his report on the bridge where things wouldn’t get messed up. His father appeared on the screen.
“Admiral, we’ve got a problem,” Randy said to his father. He watched as his father made a face before answering.
“Don’t’ tell me you pissed him off,” Jack asked.
“Ah, no, close but not quite,” Randy replied.
“Well its obvious that something happened so you might as well tell me. That way I’ve got time to prepare for the consequences,” Jack said.
“Well, this is going to sound strange, and believe me it felt strange standing there while it happened. I was showing the senator the hangar when he noticed Meia there,” Randy said.
“Let me guess, he took one look at her hair and assumed something,” Jack said.
Randy took a breath before continuing. The next part would be the strangest one to tell. “Well, yes and no, first off he said that she was part of the conspiracy and her hair proved it. But then, well, let’s just say Meia attacked him.”
“She attacked the senator?” Jack said in disbelief.
“Yeah, but that was only the start of what would to come,” Randy replied. “And then they fought, and I mean fought. Both of them had to have learned the same technique for fighting.”
“Hold up, same technique?”
“Yes, and then the senator starts talking, taunting Meia about her mother and father,” Randy said. “I don’t know everything but he’s partly responsible for her parent’s deaths.
“Now I’m lost, how could he be responsible for that,” Jack asked.
“It seems that their related,” Randy answered. “I don’t know how but after everything was said and done it seems out senator is actually a Cimalian.”
“That’s a might heavy charge to put on one of the most influential senators in the government,” Jack said.
“I know but he all but said he was, and how Meia might have cost them everything they’ve worked for,” Randy said. He watched his father think about that for several seconds.
“I’ll have to talk with a few people but this changes a lot of things rather quickly,” he said.
“I know, but there is one thing that has me concerned. It seems like the timing is too coincidental. We don’t know what the enemy fleets are up to,” Randy said.
“I’ve sent a scout ship to several known systems under Cimalian control, I’m waiting on the reports back,” Jack said.
“Keep me informed of everything,” Randy said.
“I will,” Jack said. “And I’ll let you know about the senator. In the meantime can you keep him there?”
“I think so, most on board don’t like him anyways,” Randy said.
“Good, I’ll be in touch then,” Jack said.
Randy watched as the screen went black then he turned to the rest of the crew.
“All right, I know that many of you heard what was reported. Senator Agnes of the Constrict party is being held in the brig for possibly being an enemy. The evidence against him is quite good, so everyone be ready for anything. Let’s stay on our toes in case anything else might occur,” Randy said. “Captain, I’ll be in my office if anything else comes up.”
“Yes sir,” Kim replied as Randy walked off the bridge.
End Chapter 19
Comment below or send to AJMarks01@aol.com