Emily’s Revenge (The Mamluks Saga Book 3) (2 page)

“This is it, My Friends,” a worried soldier called out from behind.

I fretfully glanced at the soldier sitting next to me. “How’s that search coming?”

“Still nothing,” he said with a fearful tone in his voice. 

In the distance, I saw one of the rebel ships explode into tiny particles. I banged my fist on the control board. “No!”

A moment later, another ship went down, then another shortly after. Finally, I sent a frantic message to Mother over the radio. “All right, stop! Please stop!”

She didn’t respond, and moments later, another rebel ship exploded.

I desperately kept trying to reach her. “Mother, answer me!” I knew she could hear me. Nevertheless, after calling to her over and over for a while longer, I gave up. Out the window, in the battle, the abundance of flashing, bright lights was blinding, and the continuous buzz of lasers firing was deafening. One by one, more and more ships went down.

At last, Mother responded.
“Ceasefire, Soldiers.”

The shooting stopped, and my sight and hearing gradually cleared up. I took a deep breath and waited for her to go on.

“Do you see now, Juozas? Do you see how tragic this situation has become?”

Angry, and deeply saddened, I sent her a fierce reply. “You will answer for this brutality, Mother. One day, I swear you will.” 

“I am only doing what’s best for my people. As Ruler, that is my responsibility.”

I covered my forehead and looked down as I waited for Mother to continue.

“Well, Juozas? Are you coming home?”

I looked up and stared out the window. I could see the tiny particles from the destroyed ships floating away like feathers in the wind.

“Answer me, Juozas!” 

I leaned back and put my hand over my mouth. “The search, My Friend?” I mumbled under my hand to the soldier watching the scanner.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him shake his head. “Still nothing.”

“Juozas...this is your last warning. Return to Earth with Samantha, or I will end this rebellion now.”

Finally, I reached out to the control and pressed the button on the radio to respond. “Please, Mother. Give us some time. Let us think about this decision. Can you at least give us that?”

She took a moment before sending a reply.
“You’re stalling, Juozas. I know that the only way you and your pathetic band of traitors can get out of this is to find a habitable planet to escape to.”

I quickly sent my reply. “I beg you, Mother...please.”

“No. This war ends now. So again, return to Earth with Samantha at once—or you all die.”

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I
ordered the soldiers to carry on with the destruction of the rebel ships. However, they were also instructed to leave Juozas’s ship for last. I wanted him to watch his followers die, hoping that by the end of it, he would finally realize the error of his ways and return home with Samantha.

As I waited, London and I began to eat. On my
sija
, I played some music from a new Mamluk band I had discovered called
The Fire
. They were a group of drummers who lived on Marsden, and they were the creators of a lot of popular songs.

I swayed to the beat as I ripped apart my meat with my fingers.

London caught me dancing to the music and smiled. “I like your moves, Great Emily. I didn’t know you could dance.”

I shrugged. “I do all right.” I ate a slice of meat and licked my lips. Claudia was an excellent cook. I sucked my fingers clean before going to my cup of wine. I took a big gulp and let the sensation take over.

London sipped his cup of wine and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. “My, oh my, I can’t get enough of this drink. It’s tremendous.”

I nodded. “Yes it is.” I took another swig and set the cup down. I turned in my chair toward the screen and watched the battle. With each passing second, another rebel ship went down. I merrily laughed and went back to the wine. “It’s over, Dear. We’ve won.”

London grabbed a slab of meat and bit off a huge chunk. While chewing, he turned his head and stared at the screen. “Juozas will surrender. I know him all too well,” he mumbled.

“So do I, and yet I’m not so sure.” If Juozas didn’t surrender, I would be forced to take his ship down, meaning I would be forced to kill Samantha.

With that conclusion, my reign would end, and after the next title fight, the mother of the winner would become Ruler. Still, at that moment, I didn’t know if I was capable of making such a difficult decision.
Take advantage of this opportunity and end the war? Or continue my quest to save Samantha?

I took a deep breath and thought about it long and hard. Finally, after an agonizing debate in my head, I made my decision. My reign was more important than ending the war at this particular moment. Also, even if Juozas escaped, it wouldn’t be difficult to track him down.

“I can’t do it, London.”

He looked at me. “Do what, My Ruler?”

“I can’t kill Samantha.”

He let out a stressed sigh. “Forgive me, Your Greatness, but our duty is to end the war. We must kill Juozas—even with his trivial rebellion, he is still the greatest threat our society has ever faced.”

I stared at him with great firmness in my eyes. “You can report me to the caregivers, London, but I won’t kill Samantha.”

Without hesitation, he shook his head. “No, My Ruler. If the caregivers question your decision, they will come for you themselves. I am simply a soldier, and my loyalties lie with you.”

“Good. So send the message to my fleet. We’re not taking Juozas’s ship down.”

––––––––

I
was pacing back and forth across the walkway of our ship with my arms crossed. Everyone was looking at me, waiting for me to make a decision. Finally, I went to the control board and sent a message to Isabella. “My Love...can you hear me?”

She responded right away, crying.
“Yes, I’m right here, Juozas.”

Hearing the pain in her voice made me shudder. I struggled to go on and put my head down. I didn’t want to fail her, or my fellow rebels, or our adorable spawn Samantha.

“Juozas? Are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here, Isabella.”

“What should we do?”

I took a moment to ponder. At last, I looked around at the soldiers on my ship. “Mother is right about one thing. It’s not just about us and Samantha.” I exhaled. “I have made a decision, My Friends, and that is that we will make this decision together, as a group.”

Isabella sent a quick reply.
“I don’t understand, Juozas.”

“We can’t be selfish, My Love. We are not the only ones involved. Therefore, as rebels, we decide as one.”

“But what about Samantha?”

I cringed as I held my tears back. My voice got choppy as I replied. “Believe me, I didn’t want it to come to this. I would give my life for her, but we
can’t
decide the fate of our friends. They should have a choice.”

Right after, I got a response from Robert.
“Juozas, this is Robert.”

I was pleased to hear his voice. “Hello, My Friend.”

“I have a suggestion.”

“Go on.”

“To be fair, we should put this decision to a vote.”

––––––––

I
narrowed my eyes. “A vote?”

On my ship, everyone gathered around the control board as he went on. “Let me explain. A vote is when everyone in a particular group makes a decision—a choice—and whichever decision is the majority—that is the decision the group follows.” 

I checked everyone’s responses. They were all nodding. “Seems like the
majority
decision on this ship is that we agree with you.”

“Then I suggest we hurry and place our votes before Emily blasts us to hell.”

“You’re right.” I called to her in a hurry. “Mother?”

She took a moment to respond.
“Yes, Juozas?”

“A member of the rebellion has introduced a satisfying proposal.”

“Tell me.”

“We would like to conduct a vote on the decision to surrender or continue the rebellion.”

Again, it took her a moment to respond.
“Make it fast. My patience is running thin.”
She ordered her fleet to stop shooting.

“Very well.” I quickly addressed the other ships. They had already heard my plea to Mother over the radio, and heard Robert’s explanation of voting. “Are we prepared to vote, My Friends?” I got a resounding ‘yes’ from a few ships, and no one radioed to oppose the idea.

Afterward, we did a count of all the participants. There were approximately four-thousand and seventy-four rebel ships left. In the Mamluk society, each ship was operated by two soldiers, and after adding myself, Isabella, Robert, Bill and the other humans from the cave in the northern ice lands, we had a total of eight-thousand, one-hundred and seventy-two voters.

To make it quick, we used Robert and Bill as choices. Robert represented the rebellion, and Bill represented surrender. To vote, all we had to do was send a private to message to one of them, and when it was over, whoever had the most messages would show us the majority decision.

“Send an ‘R’ for the rebellion, or an ‘S’ for surrender,” I radioed to everyone.

Robert sent a reply.
“Bill and I are ready, so let the voting begin.”

Without thinking twice, I sent an ‘R’ to Robert. For the few who didn’t have a
sija
, they told their vote to someone who did and they sent the message for them. When it was over, Robert had eight-thousand, one-hundred and thirty-nine messages, and Bill had thirty-three.

Robert replied with a laugh
. “That’s what we call a landslide.”

I smiled before sending my reply. “I’m sure that means an overwhelming majority of one decision.”

“That’s exactly what it means.”

Mother interrupted in a hurry.
“Juozas? Is the voting over? What’s the decision?”

I pressed the button for the radio and bent down toward the small, oval-shaped transmitter with tiny holes. “The rebellion will continue, Mother.”

“Then prepare yourself for death.”

––––––––

“F
ire at will, Soldiers. Destroy them—and remember, disregard Juozas’s ship. I have something special planned for him.” But that wasn’t the truth. I had to rescue Samantha.
You will surrender, Juozas. One way or another.

I finished my food as I watched the battle on the holographic screen. The rebel ships were falling like dominos. Feeling a bit relieved, I turned to London and sighed.

He smiled and gave me a kind bow. “Victory is ours.”

I shook my head. “Not quite. The mission is to rescue Samantha.”

London looked at the screen with great angst in his eyes. “How could he be so selfish? That’s his spawn, and she should not be subjected to this foolishness.”

I sat back for a moment and pondered the situation.
Come on, Emily—think.
I looked back at the screen. My soldiers were completely eviscerating the rebel ships. It was an amazing sight to see all the explosions on the screen. In fact, from this view, it looked like a massive fireworks show.

A little while later, I got a call on my
sija
. I glanced at the screen on the device and realized it was Katie. I knew she would be asking about Lauren-Lynn, and I felt I owed her an explanation. When I answered, I heard her crying. “Hello? Katie? Are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here, My Ruler.”

I smiled. “It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“It’s good to hear yours, too.”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between us.

“Your Greatness, what happened?”

I sadly shook my head. “Juozas killed her, Katie. I tried to stop him but I couldn’t.”

Katie let out a frenzied cry. “I wish I could have been there for the ceremony.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know. And trust me; I wanted you here, too, but as you know, we’re at war, and I need my advocates to remain in place for now.”

She went on with a lot fear in her voice. “I understand, My Ruler. I just—’’

“Hey, hey...relax, Katie. It’s still just me, your old friend.”

“I’m sorry. I just miss her so much.”

I put my head down. “I miss her, too. We all do. She was a great soldier, and an even better friend.” I looked up and sighed. “But don’t you worry. She will be avenged. I have the rebels pinned down. We’re about to end this war and restore peace.”

“I know. I’m watching it at the control center.”

I nodded. “Well, I should get back to it then— and I’m planning on taking a trip to Rumza soon, so I’ll be seeing you.”

“That sounds wonderful, Great Emily. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Katie.”

We shared another unnerving silence before ending the call.

“OK, I have to go.”

“Take care, My Ruler.”

“Goodbye, Katie.”

––––––––

T
he enemy ships had stopped attacking my ship, and were now solely directing their fire at the others. I was a bit puzzled at first, but after pondering for a moment I realized the ploy. Mother loved being Ruler, and I knew she wanted to remain Ruler for as long as possible. Killing Samantha would force her to name a new Champion, and because the bloodline would be broken, the caregivers would not allow her continue her reign under a new bloodline.

Watching our ships go down was heart-wrenching, and not being able to do anything about it was even worse.
This is the end.
Still, I was proud that we had chosen to rise against injustice—and even prouder that we were standing by our beliefs.

“Juozas, look!” the soldier by the scanner said. He was pointing at a blinking dot on the screen.

I bent down and took a closer look. Everyone rushed to the control board and stared at the screen. The dot was the reading of a habitable planet. Over my shoulders, I heard a lot of loud cheering, and I couldn’t help but smile.

I hurried as I radioed to the other ships. “My Friends, we’ve found a habitable planet. I’m sending you the coordinates now.”