Peace World (15 page)

Sabatina slumped in her chair and closed her eyes.  Randalyn knew the Urop'n Leader was crushed at being abandoned by her final ally for Peace.  She reached across the table and squeezed the other woman's hand.  Although Sabatina was alone in her beliefs, the N'mercan Leader wanted her to know she was not alone in her grief or her distress. 

After a few moments, the Urop'n representative opened her eyes and nodded her understanding.  She was a strong, intelligent woman who knew when she was defeated.

"Fine.  I will take up a weapon."

Randalyn gave a final squeeze.  Then she stood up, opened the door, and called for the army officer that waited outside. 

The officer—a major from the Afc'n Culture—entered, received her nod, and immediately went to the crates.  He opened the lid on the top box and removed two rifles.  He passed them to Randalyn, who passed one along to Primo Esteval.  The second one she passed to Sabatina.

It was time for training.

CHAPTER 18

The chattering group of children rushed from the east entrance of the prison to the small fleet of waiting carriers.  The playful jostling for position was interrupted by periodic squeals of excitement as they fought to board the six vehicles waiting to whisk them to safety.  Their gleeful approach to the adventure almost made Ceeray believe this was a day like any other.  Unfortunately, it was not.  This group of five- to twelve-year-olds was made up of forty-plus evacuees.  They were the last group of orphans to be relocated from the place they had called home for the past few years—the large military fort formerly known as Violent's Prison.

The ability to see in daylight was still new to the interpreter after so many years on the alien mothership, and she paused for a few, brief moments to absorb the sights that surrounded her.  The exterior of the mammoth structure was a hive of activity.  The three-hundred-meter area immediately circling the prison was a canvas in motion as countless carriers touched down or lifted off with no apparent rhythm or reason.  Each vehicle was at the mercy of its pilot and the task to which he or she had been assigned.  Some delivered equipment or soldiers to the field, while others carried supplies or—like the fleet she was now loading—civilians away from the area.  Still others had no objective that Ceeray could discern. 

In the distance, beyond the field of harried carriers, the forces of Earth—the so-called Peace Army—assembled, prepared, and waited.  A brown, dusty haze hung over a teeming mass of tents, vehicles, and warriors.  The haze and the mass grew with each incoming carrier. 

Ceeray's attention was inevitably drawn back to the brightly colored jumpsuits of the children dashing around her.  She briefly considered what her life might be like if Derk had lived.  They had discussed having a child, but life with the Minith had made that impossible.  The dream had been rekindled briefly after their escape, but Derk's death on Telgora had snuffed out that glimmer of hope before it had a chance to become real.  The best she could do now was to lend her help and protection to these orphans—they were her children now.

She shook off her scattered thoughts and refocused on the task of ushering the young evacuees into the aircraft as quickly and efficiently as possible.  The evacuation from the prison to the mine had not gone as quickly or as smoothly as Mister Blue had planned or hoped.  Despite the administrator's overwhelming competence, moving thousands of civilians and non-essential personnel from their homes was not as easy as they had anticipated.  As a result, they were woefully behind schedule.  With the Minith craft less than a day from Earth, every able body that could be spared from military preparations was being asked to pitch in and get the remaining civilians moved out.  This group of children did not have to worry about being safely nestled into their new quarters when the Minith arrived, but some of the groups scheduled to follow them did.  It would be close.

Over a few protests, the interpreter had to re-balance two of the carriers before they could take off.  Friends wanted to ride with friends, and breaking up close-knit groups was not accepted as readily as she would have hoped.  Finally, she shooed the last of the children onboard.

*     *     *

Eli ducked back inside the empty apartment as Ceeray, his mom's friend, rushed by.  She was looking at the papers in her hand, which was good.  It meant she wasn't looking for the three runaways.  When her footsteps disappeared, he finally released his breath and gave a thumbs-up to the two orphans with him in the darkened room. 

Adrienne, his team leader on the purple squad, looked scared, and Eli felt a twinge of guilt.  Because of his own fears and doubts, he had convinced her to hide away while the rest of their group boarded the carriers.  It was probably the most daring thing she had ever done, and he was responsible.  Without his begging her to join him, she would be aboard one of those carriers now—headed for safety.

Jonah was a different story.  The twelve-year-old had spied them sneaking away from the group and followed them into the vacant apartment.  He'd then refused to leave until Eli and Adrienne told him what they were doing.  When they had finally admitted that they were staying behind, he announced his plans to stay with them.  It was not a situation that sat well with Eli, but he had no choice but to allow the older boy to stay.  It was either that or have the red team leader rat them out to Ceeray and the other adults. 

"You'd better not be lying about the Minith, Eli," Jonah threatened.  The older boy was excited about the prospect of visiting Treel and helping the alien get back to his family. 

"Don't worry.  I'm not."  Eli was still kicking himself for spilling the entire plan to Jonah.  He should have told the boy they were just having some fun and were going to wait for the next flight of carriers.  "We're going to help Treel get to one of those motherships."

"How are we going to do that?"

Eli wanted to ignore the question, but knew the other boy would not accept that, so he offered the truth. 

"I'm not sure yet.  Just put on your blades and get ready to move.  We need to get to the south corridor."

*     *     *

The capabilities of the mothership continued to astound.  They were still hours away from entering Earth's atmosphere, but the view of the planet's surface was surprisingly clear.  General Soo wondered what other wonders the ship might possess and made a mental note to question the alien builders carefully when he returned to Waa.  Either his people were incompetent at comprehending and using the technology, or the Waa were purposely hiding things from the Minith.  Knowing his people as well as he did, Soo thought either possibility equally as likely as the other.  The Minith were not known for their technological contributions.  Most of their advancements in the field of science and engineering were stolen, or won in battle.

Regardless of how little they previously knew about the ship's video capabilities, the fact remained that they were taking advantage of it
now
, and for that, Soo was grateful.  The views of Earth easily captured the activity taking place near the population center where the human leadership made its home.  That was not entirely unexpected.  The humans had obviously advanced in the past several years.  Their ability to capture and command their own mothership was proof of that.  To think they might also develop advance warning of an invading force's arrival was not a stretch. 

It was also not unexpected that, once an invading force was detected, the humans would move forces to protect their leadership.  That was happening.

What was unexpected was the amount of activity taking place around the large, strange structure known by the humans as Violent's Prison.  The importance of that location had obviously changed since the information in his ship's databanks had been updated.  The building was not being used as a place to store errant humans any longer—at least, that was not the
only
purpose for which it was being used.  Soo had been a warrior for nearly all his life.  He knew what an army looked like.  The humans had assembled one.

Also unexpected was the size of the force the humans had put together.  Though not large by Minith standards, it was larger than he had expected.  From all published accounts of Earth, the humans were tied to their concept of "peace"—an ideal that was completely foreign to the Minith.  Peace supposedly prevented the humans from fighting or from any other form of violence.  Something had caused that to change.  The destruction of the home planet, the events on Telgora, and now the forces arrayed on the planet below were all clear signs of the change. 

Not that it mattered.  Although his forces were outnumbered five to one, Soo did not respect the humans' abilities to fight.  War was not learned in the space of a few short years.  Strategy requires intelligence and knowing what to expect from your enemy; sound tactics require training and experience on the battlefield.  The humans possessed neither, so he discounted the numbers disadvantage.

His ears twitched at the thought of an army of sheep waiting for his arrival.  It was an amusing thought, one that brought him much pleasure.

He quickly did the math in his head and reevaluated his attack plan.  Dividing his force was not ideal, but if the human flock wanted to die on two separate continents, he would be pleased to accommodate them. 

*     *     *

Three hours after the carriers left the prison, they alighted at the receiving field of the mining facility.  The children, lethargic after three hours of forced inactivity and bored with seeing the same scenery from the tiny viewports, exited the vehicles slowly.  Within minutes, though, their arrival at the new location kindled sparks of excitement and the chattering began anew as they lined up to be processed into the camp.

The receiving personnel assigned to record each arrival and get the new visitors situated went about their tasks professionally and calmly.  They had been processing evacuees for over a week and knew their business well.

When three of the expected guests were found to be missing, the supervisor was not overly concerned.  It was not unheard of for expected arrivals to miss their assigned flight.  It happened daily.   He simply followed the process that his superiors had developed and entered a note into the system.  Because they were children, he also made a mental note to check the status of the three prior to the end of his shift.  If they did not arrive on site within that four-hour period, he could take additional steps to find them and get them to safety.

Unfortunately, mental notes often get misplaced.

CHAPTER 19

Eli, Jonah, and Adrienne hid out in vacant rooms while the exodus continued from the prison.  As they watched from darkened doorways, cooks, administrators, and technicians—basically, all the remaining civilians left in the building—made their way to the exit in this wall of the square to board their assigned carriers.  When the opportunity presented itself and the corridor was vacant, they bladed farther south.  Each small bound took them a bit closer to where Treel was being held.  In between their quick dashes down the long east corridor of the Outer Square, they took turns sleeping and keeping an eye out for their next opportunity.

After a few hours of this wait-dash-wait movement, the hallway was finally empty.  Eli assumed that all the workers who lived here were either busy elsewhere in the prison, or they had already been evacuated.  Whatever the reason, it made their lives easier.  They rolled without incident the last two hundred meters to the corner where the east and south corridors met and stopped.  Treel's room was around the corner and fifty meters down the south corridor.  Like all the apartments in the Outer Square, it was located on the outer wall of the structure. 

Using a tactic he learned on the paintball course, Eli knelt down near the floor and quickly poked his head past the corner and back.  As expected, the guard was still stationed outside the alien's room.  He did not see anyone else in the entire length of the corridor, which extended for a long, long way.

The six-year-old stood up, gave his partners a quick thumbs-up, and skated into the nearest dark doorway. 

"Now what?" Adrienne asked when they were inside the vacated apartment.

"Now we wait."

"What are we waiting for?"  Jonah was obviously not used to taking orders from someone much younger.  He also seemed to have picked up the taste of Adrienne's fear.  He was no doubt questioning his earlier rash decision to follow the two purple team members on this adventure.

"The alien ships to arrive," Eli stated.  "Duh."

*     *     *

The door to the lab slammed open and Avery looked up to see Mouse and a half-dozen armed soldiers stomping toward them.  She, Tane, and Ceeray were gathered around Tane's desk, comparing notes on what had been completed and what still needed to be done.  

"I don't believe it," Mouse accused.  "All four of you should have been out of here by now!"

"That's what I have been saying," Blue sniped from the other side of the room.  The administrator's uppity tone irked Avery as usual, but to his credit, the man
had
been urging them to leave for the past hour.  On the other hand, his urgings were based on a highly amplified sense of self-preservation.  The four civilian members of Mouse's "inner circle" were scheduled on the same carrier, and Blue could not depart until the others did.  In other words, he was stuck with them, for good or bad.

"We're just finishing up some last-minute items, Mouse.  Then we will be on our way."

"Not acceptable, Avery," the general replied.  His normally pleasant countenance had been replaced by a mask of tense anxiety—an obvious result of being in charge of Earth's defense against the approaching motherships.  "Your pilot has been waiting to lift off for two hours.  He raised the issue with one of my commanders, who finally escalated it to me.  Frankly, I don't need to be thinking about the four of you.  I don't need to be wondering if you're safe or not.  I need to be thinking about a hundred things right now, but not this."