Peace Army (22 page)

“That is taken care of, Grant,” Tane explained calmly. “I have already taken steps to convert the factory nearest to Violent’s Prison. The first deliveries should be made within the week.”

“Very nice, Tane. Thank you.”

“With the overabundance of the longer, handheld weapons—”

“Rifles.”

“Yes, the… rifles,” Tane muttered. “With a surplus of the… rifles, it only made sense to convert the manufacturing processes to something useful. The roller shoes and the paint rifles were good substitutions.”

“Good, Tane, good.” Grant paused before pushing on. He was unsure how to ask, but did the best he could. “And what about your secret society? Have you made any inroads into their joining Earth’s Army?”

Tane sat back and folded his hand across his stomach.

“You mean, in addition to those who are already here?” he asked. “The word has gone out, Grant. We should see the first new recruits trickle in shortly.”

Tane paused. He had held the secret so tightly, and for so long, that he still had difficulty discussing it. Grant wondered what it must feel like, hiding something so important to your being for so long. He wasn’t sure he could have managed as well as Tane had. To achieve what he had in such a short time, despite hiding his personal beliefs from the world, was nothing short of superhuman.

His respect for the little scientist expanded another notch.

“That’s good, Tane. Because I think we might need every fighter we can scrounge up before everything is said and done.”

“If that’s true, then why leave Earth?” Tane asked. “Why take forces to another world to fight?”

“Sometimes it makes sense to go to the enemy,” Grant explained. “It’s better to face them out there, where they live. We don’t want them coming here if we can help it.”

“Because of your family?”

“Yeah, that’s part of it,” Grant conceded. Fighting the Minith on someone else’s world was more palatable than fighting them here on Earth. “The more we can fight out there, the safer everyone on Earth will be.”

Grant had fought all of his earlier battles on foreign soil. He’d never had to watch his nation or its people get slaughtered by an enemy, and he didn’t want to start now. The arrival of the mothership offered them a chance to take the battle elsewhere. They’d never had that chance before, but now that it was here, he wasn’t going to waste it.

“And if the Minith show up next week? What then?”

“The forces I’m taking are a drop in the bucket,” Grant explained. He was only taking a fraction of the fighters and equipment they had accumulated over the past six years. “Plus, the fifty thousand soldiers you’re bringing into the fold will more than replace the ones I’m taking with me.”

“I know that. But why must
you
go? You are the one person we cannot lose if we are to defend ourselves against the Minith.”

Grant wanted to argue. He wanted to say that Mouse could do what needed to be done. Or that the Council could fill in while he was gone. Or that there were enough trained forces to fight off any Minith invaders that decided to land on the planet.

But he couldn’t.

Because he thought what Tane said might be true.

Even with the additional soldiers Tane and Randalyn delivered to Mouse for training, Earth would be easy pickings for any force—Minith or otherwise—who possessed a large, moderately trained army. Despite the advances of the last six years, humanity was still woefully unprepared to defend itself against a superior force.

Which was exactly
why
he had to go.

“Tane, if we can meet the enemy on their turf, or—better yet—on a middle ground like Telgora, we have to do so. “We can’t afford to let the Minith come here. We’d be like five-year-olds against grown men,” Grant said.

He felt certain that the decision to fight the aliens somewhere other than on Earth was their only chance. He wanted Tane to feel that certainty also.

“There’s no better time than now. With Minith destroyed, they’re weaker now than they ever have been. And the longer we wait, the stronger they’re liable to become.”

“Are you trying to convince me?” Tane asked. “Or are you trying to convince yourself?”

“Tane, sometimes you’re not as smart as you think you are.”

With nothing left to say, Grant turned to leave the command center. If Tane couldn’t see that he was already convinced he was doing the right thing, he never would.

He tossed a final remark over his shoulder as he was leaving.

“This ship is leaving in two hours, Tane. This time, I
will
be on it.”

Chapter 32

Gee sat in the control room with Titan and General Justice. He carefully eyed the engine and guidance systems as the mothership transitioned from thrust to interstellar drives.

He was sad to leave Earth. The short visit had given him hope for Peace, and he longed for the existence he had once known, the life he had possessed before the Minith arrived and turned his world upside down.

His melancholy was tempered by the notion that he was making a difference. The work he was doing was important. No other person alive or dead could navigate the mothership to Telgora, much less land it on the frozen patch of ground where they were headed.

The fact that they had re-stocked the food supplies for an extended stay also helped his mood. He never wanted to eat another bite of
tatal
.

* * * * *

Titan eyed the vid screen and watched Earth shrink as the mothership drew further and further away. It would not be long before the transition to interstellar drive took over and the planet disappeared altogether.

He did not mind leaving his world behind. He had learned long ago that the society it contained offered little opportunity, and even less hope, to a man like him. This visit had reinforced that knowledge.

The Peace-loving souls who lived their lives in fear of offending each other, who cowered at the thought of standing up to the Minith, were strangers to him.

He had made a short, but interesting, visit to the village where he grew up. At first, he had been excited to be back in that place, back among the apple orchards and cattle herds. He had been happy to see his mother and father.

But that joy was short-lived when he noticed how they reacted to his presence. Although his mother hugged him tightly and his father shook his hand as a man, it was evident that they had reservations about his return. In their eyes, and in the eyes of the entire village, he was a person of violence. He was someone to fear and distrust, someone they had rid themselves of long ago.

After walking on eggshells around his former family for most an hour, he made a thin excuse and a hasty exit. The relief in their eyes as he said his goodbyes and turned toward the waiting carrier was clear.

He knew he would never go back.

* * *

Grant watched over Gee’s shoulder as Earth disappeared from the screen.

Well, that’s that
, he thought.

He said a silent goodbye to Eli; tossed a mental kiss to Avery.

The last six years had been borrowed time for the soldier. He knew it now, just as he had known it every day during that time. He had been brought back from death for a purpose—to destroy the Minith and protect Earth’s citizens. His purpose was not yet fulfilled. Until that happened, if it ever did, he had a job to do.

And he meant to do it.

* * *

Patahbay tossed restlessly on the over-soft bed. He had not slept well since leaving the Family. And not just because these fragile beings—these
humans—
preferred
soft matting on which to rest their bodies.

It went beyond that insignificant matter.

Since leaving the mass-mind of the Family, he felt detached, adrift. It was as if here was an errant piece of
tatal
, floating aimlessly along one of the rivers that flowed beneath his village. With no Family to join, he experienced an ‘aloneness’ formerly unknown to his race. There was no pain. No physical discomfort of any kind, save for lost sleep, but it was a brutal existence just the same.

The Telgoran did not regret or question why he had accompanied the humans to their home planet. The Family had achieved
shiale
, the all-important
oneness,
over the matter.

The
shiale
that led to his being on this journey was not questioned. Patahbay would never be so bold. But the
shiale
had an unforeseen consequence. For the first time in his existence—the first time ever for one of his people—Patahbay had to make decisions without its comfort.

It was a frightening, but strangely exhilarating, experience. Unable to reach out and absorb the thoughts of the Family, he was forced to rely only on his own limited life experiences. It was becoming easier the longer he spent away from the Family, but he still kept to himself. Limited interaction with those who were not Family meant fewer decisions were required.

He was pleased that the journey was halfway completed, but less than pleased that the number of humans on board the strange vessel had grown. He could not leave his assigned space without encountering one or more of them. A better solution would be to stay in his space for the duration of the trip. Was that possible?

Although it caused his noggin to ache, he assessed the situation without external input.

He quickly realized he would not be able to remain in the room for the entire trip. Hunger, boredom, and the need to communicate with the humans about Telgora would not permit it.

The ache in his noggin grew and he lay back down. The softness of the “pillow” was still foreign, but it cradled his large head and Patahbay found a small measure of comfort. Interesting.

He closed his eyes and the answer came to him like a gift from the Family.

I will stay in this room unless there is a good reason to leave it.

Yes, the process was becoming easier with each new decision.

Chapter 33

Eli zipped around the corner, neatly dodged a group of Tane’s scientist friends, and raced as quickly as he could for the closest doorway. He looked back over his shoulder and saw the fastest of the kids turn the corner… slow … stop.

On his roller blades, he was too quick for that crowd.

“Yeehaw!”

Eli pumped his right fist and slowed his pace slightly. Now that they had given up on catching him, there was no need to rush.

Until the next time.

A few minutes later, he spied the doorway leading to the courtyard between the Second Square and the First Square.

He could not wait to tell Treel how he had outraced the bunch of older kids. The big green booger would get a kick out of it.

Eli laughed at the word “booger.” It was what his dad called the Minith when he didn’t want anyone to know who he was talking about. When Dad told them what it meant, Mom didn’t like it very much. But to Eli, it was one of the best jokes going.

“Booger, booger, booger.”

He passed through the eastern doorway and began the bumpy trip across the hard dirt path that cut across the open courtyard. Rolling across it was easy, but not as fun as cruising smoothly through the buildings that made up the prison. The wide, smooth corridors were perfect for blading—that was his new word—“blading.” Add the moving mass of pedestrians—Dad’s word—and the occasional pack of orphans looking to have some fun, and blading through one of these buildings was about the most exciting thing Eli could imagine.

Even more fun than chess, but he wouldn’t tell Treel that. He knew the booger liked it when they played. Not that Eli
didn’t
like it—it just wasn’t as much fun as blading.

Maybe he’d ask Uncle Tane to get Treel some roller blades. Now that was a funny thought.

A big green booger racing down the corridors of the Second Square. Man, the orphans and the pedestrians would really pee themselves over
that!

“Ha!”

Eli told himself to remember to ask Uncle Tane about it the next time he saw him. They would have to be big roller blades, though. Boogers had humongous—Dad’s word—feet.

Eli rolled quickly, but carefully, along the corridor of the First Square. He reached Treel’s room, noted again the lack of guards, and turned his body in to the nifty skid-stop move his dad taught him before ever letting him put on the blades. They had then practiced it for
at least
fifteen minutes before his dad let him start blading for speed. Boring. But Eli did as his dad told him and, he had to admit, it made sense. Mom had not liked the roller blades. She would definitely like them less if he got hurt.

When his dad had told him that he could see Treel again, Eli was very happy. He had already visited the big booger several times and, each time, he always expected to see the guards back outside the door. So far, they had not reappeared. Eli had never understood why he needed guards anyway. Treel was a good guy, even for a booger.

Eli knocked on Treel’s door and heard a faint, “Come.”

He entered and saw Treel already seated behind the white pieces of the board.

“Not gonna help you, Treel,” he chided the large alien. “You can have white all day and I’ll still kick your butt.”

Treel gave Eli one of his fake snarls and led out with a pawn.

Eli kicked off his blades and hopped onto the purple-padded chair that faced the black side of the chess board. He made his move quickly.

As he waited for Treel to make his next move, Eli scooted back and looked under the table.

“How big
are
your feet?”

* * *

Avery was on her way to meet Ceeray and Tane in the Third Square. She was a few minutes late and increased her pace.

She clenched her teeth over Mr. Blue’s comments regarding the work she was doing. Just that morning during the weekly planning session, he had boldly proclaimed the project “Grant’s Folly.” Avery knew he did not approve of the project, but to insult Grant in front of the workers tasked with building the facility was too much. She knew Blue would never say such a thing if Grant were still on the planet. People can be quick to dismiss an idea when it is not their own. They can also be quick to pass judgment when the person they are offending is not in the room.