{"id":1171,"date":"2015-12-20T07:17:25","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T13:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=1171"},"modified":"2015-12-22T07:16:50","modified_gmt":"2015-12-22T13:16:50","slug":"the-cimalian-princess-clone-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=1171","title":{"rendered":"The Cimalian Princess: Clone – Part 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cimalian Princess: Clone<\/span><\/h2>\n

by AJ Marks<\/span><\/p>\n

Part 6<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Meia watched the bridge crew go through the startup procedure for the next hyperspace jump. She had been on her way to the rec room when Randy caught back up to her, asking her to come to the bridge instead.\u00a0 She was unsure why, but agreed.\u00a0 Now the crew worked for the jump and the preparation they might enter Cimalian space.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngines are green admiral,\u201d Meia heard someone say. She looked over seeing an unfamiliar face on the bridge, he had short black hair and appeared to be in his mid-thirties, slightly overweight as well.\u00a0 She noticed his rank as a colonel and figured he was the new XO of the Akagi.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrepare to jump,\u201d Randy said from his position on the bridge.<\/p>\n

Meia pushed back a lock of hair behind her ear only to have it fall back in front of her face again. She eyed it for a second before turning her attention back on the bridge crew.<\/p>\n

Eagle and Valiant report ready admiral,\u201d Hans said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngage,\u201d Randy ordered.<\/p>\n

Meia heard the high pitched whine of the jump engines as power built up then a sudden drop in pitch as the ship jumped. She felt a slight vertigo as the dampeners struggled to keep up before everything normalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cEagle and Valiant made successful jumps as well admiral,\u201d Kim stated.<\/p>\n

Meia looked over watching Randy acknowledge the report. She looked around the bridge, recognizing most of the faces on the bridge seeing two new faces.\u00a0 She had briefly met the woman on the hanger when she came aboard.\u00a0 She recalled the woman\u2019s name, Toni.\u00a0 She was tall, about a half a foot taller than Meia, and even taller than the other new person on the bridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeia?\u201d Randy said, breaking Meia\u2019s thoughts. She looked over at him waiting for his question.\u00a0 \u201cTell John that we\u2019re on our way, I\u2019d like fighter protection red to go the moment we drop out of hyperspace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can do that,\u201d Meia replied, heading to walk off the bridge but paused at the entrance and turned back to face Randy. \u201cOh, and I\u2019d like something spicy.\u201d<\/p>\n

She walked off the bridge before Randy could even reply. Stopping at the elevator she thought about what she had done but the shocked looked on his face made up for it.\u00a0 Stepping onto the elevator she went down a couple of levels.\u00a0 Perhaps after this mission she might actually want to have a relationship.\u00a0 That meant returning safely and she hoped to put some of her past behind her with this mission.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Meia walked out onto the hanger of the bridge where she was told she would find John. She saw several mechanics working on the fighters, a few looked over at her, waved and continued working.\u00a0 She noticed John standing with a group of pilots in the hangar and made her way over.\u00a0 She spotted him using his hands to demonstrate some maneuver.\u00a0 Getting closer she recognized it as a classic slide technique.<\/p>\n

She kept walked over and could hear him explaining the mechanics of the technique but he stopped upon seeing her. \u201cAh, the pilot who can best do this maneuver, don\u2019t let the hair fool you, she\u2019s an elite pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meia looked down knowing she was probably blushing at the compliment before looking back up at John then the others. She did not recognize any of them and figured they were replacement pilots for those who had been lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, what\u2019s the skipper want now?\u201d John asked thankfully changing the topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants a patrol ready to launch the moment we\u2019re drop out of hyperspace, and fighter cover,\u201d Meia said, knowing John was talking about Randy. Early on she thought he was talking about the captain of the Akagi, but realized it was a term John used for his friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can manage that,\u201d John replied looking at the others. \u201cAll right, report to the ready room thirty minutes from now ready to launch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meia watched as people left with the dismissal. They probably were headed off to get a nap, or something to eat before returning to the ready room.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, how about a quick bite to eat, I\u2019m starved,\u201d John said to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d Meia replied, she could always use something to eat to help calm her nerves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe skipper expecting trouble?\u201d John asked as they headed to the elevator.<\/p>\n

Meia filled in John with what she knew about what was going on, watching as his eyes got big.<\/p>\n

\u201cWow, wasn\u2019t expecting all that. It seems we\u2019ve really found it then,\u201d he said, pausing at the elevator thinking about it all.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know, something\u2019s strange about all this, it doesn\u2019t feel right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meia looked over at him unsure how to reply to that comment. She noticed he was deep in thought and went over everything.\u00a0 It seemed like he and Randy both thought the same thing.\u00a0 She was uncomfortable because the Emperor was not a person who made such mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, what do I know, I\u2019m just a fighter pilot,\u201d John finally said with a slight laugh. Meia watched as his face changed back into his normal jovial self.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re only a fighter pilot than so am I,\u201d Meia replied back to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHa, guess we\u2019re both pilots then,\u201d John finally replied as they made their way off the elevator and towards the cafeteria.<\/p>\n

Meia looked around as they walked in seeing several pilots already there. They were eating or snacking before they might go on a long patrol or have to go into combat.<\/p>\n

She followed John over to the serving area and noticed a new mystery meat in one of the trays which did not look appetizing. The chicken, however, looked much better and she took that along with a serving of vegetables and a glass of water and went over to sit down along with John.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess we better enjoy it while we can,\u201d John said as Meia took a bit of her chicken.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I think that mystery meat is probably better than what they serve in the empire,\u201d Meia said to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes no sense to me, bad food, horrible punishments and no rebellion? I would think it would be primed for such a thing,\u201d John said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did try a rebellion about a hundred and fifty years ago. Emperor Tylin crushed it and it brought about the electrowhip and increased punishments including death,\u201d Meia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA hundred and fifty years ago, huh, that was when the Third Pirate War wound down and the beginning of the Raiding Cartel,\u201d John stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t know much about Alliance history,\u201d Meia said.<\/p>\n

Her training never went over the history of the Alliance, only how to escape using their technology. She also knew only a bit about the history of the empire, what they wanted you to know.\u00a0 The revolt was spoken of as a reminder of how things change for the worse among the lower classes when people revolt against the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder how much of the news vids we were shown were real or propaganda to keep us pacified,\u201d Meia asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose in power do not wish to share,\u201d John said finally.<\/p>\n

They sat there in silence each lost in their thoughts. Meia thought about her life, how much had been a lie?\u00a0 Had everything been twisted to serve the Alpha superior\u2019s whims?\u00a0 She realized she herself was an Alpha Superior now.\u00a0 No one here had any answers to her questions and the more questions she had the only source of answers was the emperor.<\/p>\n

She shuddered slightly at the thought of confronting him. Deep down she realized one day they would meet.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Trina glanced around her small apartment having arrived back after a twelve hour work day. Since the move the upper class had been working them harder than normal.\u00a0 Her own project had been given some importance recently.\u00a0\u00a0 She did not see why, the medical community had made tremendous improvements in the past hundred years.<\/p>\n

Her apartment was quiet and empty, she had lost her oldest son six months ago on board the Oi when it exploded, and her youngest had turned five two months ago and moved to the training academy. She learned he would be a fighter pilot like his two older brothers.<\/p>\n

Trina looked at the wall to see the pictures of each of her three sons and one daughter. Her husband was a mechanic and worked on board one of the warships.<\/p>\n

Turning around she realized she hated life. She loved her family, but never saw them.\u00a0 The empire use them and spit them out with no care at all to their lives, all because her parents had been Epsilons.\u00a0 A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and went over pulling it aside to reveal her next door neighbors, Ewa and Carol.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome in,\u201d Trina said, not expecting to have company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you don\u2019t\u2019 mind us dropping by, I brought something to eat as well if you wanted it,\u201d Ewa said, always helping people out.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, I wasn\u2019t looking forward to fixing anything anyways,\u201d Trina said heading over to the table and clearing a space out. \u201cSo, what brings you here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDirect as always,\u201d Carl said, as they set out the food;<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well you usually don\u2019t bring food,\u201d Trina said as they sat down with the food on the table<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst off,\u201d Carl said, putting out a device which scanned the room. \u201cClean as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI should hope so, after all, I\u2019m a good outstanding Epsilon citizen working and putting out children for the empire,\u201d she said, the bitterness of it seeping into her voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen you should be interested in this bit of news, the latest rumors which are hard to come by,\u201d Carl said to her.<\/p>\n

Trina leaned closer to hear what they had to say. She had heard nothing and for them to be here and doing the scan it had to be something big.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mostly from the survivors of the 3rd<\/sup> CF.\u00a0 At first we dismissed it, but we feel that it\u2019s something which we can\u2019t ignore,\u201d Carl said to her.\u00a0 She wondered if her oldest son knew about what she was about to hear.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that Emperor Henry isn\u2019t the rightful ruler, Boris had a daughter and the 3CF had orders to kill the person who is the rightful ruler,\u201d Ewa said to her.<\/p>\n

Trina stared in shock at what she was being told. If so then someone else should be the ruler, and that person could change everything, or make it worse.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do the leaders think?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know how they are, skeptical. The last time there was a battle for the throne it was a disaster for the lower classes, especially those who supported Tylin over Wylan were punished eve thought they were for him,\u201d Carl said.\u00a0 \u201cWe have to move cautiously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is news,\u201d Trina said, thinking about her job for a second and wondering if that had anything to do with the current rumor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019cha thinking about?\u201d Ewa asked her.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething at work,\u201d Trina said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting a tremendous amount of pressure from above to finish the project.\u00a0 Something is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you working on?\u201d Carl asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething about cloning, that\u2019s my best guess. They try to keep me in the dark, maintaining equipment, but I see enough and I\u2019m not dumb like they think I am,\u201d Trina said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould be they are trying to clone the perfect soldier, we lost a lot of people in the last invasion attempt,\u201d Carl said, thinking about it for a few seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s the case then we\u2019re the last generation to think for themselves,\u201d Ewa said.<\/p>\n

They sat in silence with Ewa\u2019s comment. If that was the truth then they must act quicker than anyone anticipated.\u00a0 They finished the meal in silence each of them thinking about how their lives might change in the future.<\/p>\n

End part 6<\/p>\n

Continued in part 7<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cimalian Princess: Clone by AJ Marks Part 6 Meia watched the bridge crew go through the startup procedure for the next hyperspace jump. She had been on her way to the rec room when Randy caught back up to her, asking her to come to the bridge instead.\u00a0 She was unsure why, but agreed.\u00a0 […]
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