Silhouette (2 page)

The mediabay buzzed. Sue pushed the throw pillow off of her face and sat up. Her movie had paused and been thumbnailed to the corner of the display. Through bleary eyes, she focused on the center of the screen where it read “Boss Lady Calling…” in gradually enlarging text.

Brrrrzzzzzp! Brrrrzzzzzp!

“Answer,” said Sue. “Yes, Presider?”

“Hello Sue. We need to meet. I’m already down by the edge of Crater Bay. Can you be at Coyote Hills in fifteen minutes?”

“Be there in ten.”

Sue slipped on her shadowsuit and left her apodment. One of Presider Folami’s personal transports was stationed outside of the doorway. Sue stepped onto the transport’s loading platform and sat in its lone seat. The stabilizing cushions puffed up, filling in around her body, and the transport shot off towards the public gate nearest to Coyote Hills.

The transport landed and Silhouette hustled over to the bayside park. Coyote Hills was one of the few places around the bay which had not yet been inundated with city lights. Despite the late hour Silhouette was able to quickly locate the Presider standing near a dry creek bed and saw that not another soul was out wandering the park. Silhouette was standing next to Presider Folami before the woman noticed her, but Folami did not startle.

“Presider,” said Silhouette.

“Sue.” Folami turned to look at her Enforcer, but all she could see was darkness. Silhouette peeled off her suit’s headpiece. Her bright hair gleamed in the dim moonlight, and her head appeared to hover in the darkness. Folami’s brown eyes met Sue’s red stare. “You must be well acquainted with the recent upgrades to your ocular implant, seeing as you found me so swiftly in the night.”

“I’m still getting used to the vision enhancements and stuff, but at least no one can tell that I’ve had the illegal modifications done. My Ocu isn’t just the standard media player that everyone else on Erde is getting installed these days, that’s for sure. ”

“No one will ever know.” Folami stepped forward and gave Sue a hug. “How are you, Susan?”

“Fine, Presider.”

“But are you well, Sue? Really? We haven’t been conversing lately, not as much as we once did.”

“There has been a lot of action recently, Presider. A lot of progress. The Cooperation has gained some serious momentum in the last year. We’ve been busy, is all.”

“That we have, Sue. Rebuilding the bridges of humanity is a difficult task. It has been taxing on us all.” Folami grabbed Sue’s hand. “Victor was a good man, but sacrifices must be made. For humanity to stand, we must be united. No individual is more important than the freedom and security of all sixty-billion of us spread across the dozen worlds. We are being dissected by the scum of the galaxy, decimated through our own self-created division. We must stand together.”

“I couldn’t have said it any better myself, Presider.”

“And you, Sue. You have had to sacrifice more than many of us. You have had to put aside your emotions, your heartache, for a long time. And your family. For all of these years that you have been by my side, I have known your true desire. I have asked you to bide your time, and you have done just that.”

“I’ve done what I’ve had to for the Cooperation, just as you have, Presider. My family will be free the day the Cooperation is reborn, and if that day comes later rather than sooner, well, then at least I know the people of my planet will one day be free. My father is a strong man, strong enough for himself and my brother. They’ll dig the mines for as long as their bodies can hold out.”

“Your mother was strong as well,” said Folami. “From the stories you have shared with me, she was stronger than anyone could have asked of her. She struggled through her sickness to care for her family. Your mother remained resilient as she stared down Death himself. She kept you out of trouble and helped build you into a strong person, despite her weakening body. She surrendered her remaining strength and put it into you, Susan. She sacrificed herself for you and your family. I believe it is time for you to make right the reason for her sacrifice.”

“Presider?”

“Susan. We have been preparing for this mission for a long time, the one only you and I have ever discussed. This is a task which will remain strictly confidential; not even the members of my council will know of this.” Folami put her hands on Silhouette’s shoulders and met her eyes.

“Susan. I want you to infiltrate the Burmin slavers on Planet Nye and destroy their Juggernaut, the orbital command ship of the invasive alien party. As you already know, the Juggernaut is not only the Burmin headquarters for the planet-side forces, but also a hub for Burmin galactic transport and communications, the keystone that holds together their planet-wide domination. It is time for you to free your family.”

Sue stood speechless. Her mind raced with thoughts and questions, and she turned away from the Presider, looking off into the dark hills. She watched the tall brown grass as it undulated in the soft nighttime breeze. The wind was brisk, salty. She turned her eyes to the stars above, focusing on the few twinkling lights she could see between the hovering apodments overhead.

“Why now, Presider? After all this time, all of this waiting. Why now?”

“In a few days time I will be elected as Archon of Erde by the Delegation. In a few weeks the inauguration ceremony will take place. In a few months many of my new policies will be voted into law and some real progress will be made. I am sure of all of this, and I can assure you that everything will go according to plan. I will make it happen.

“At the time when my aptitude as Archon is widely known, and my more radical ideas are called into question, it will be the aid that Erde gives to Nye which will propel the desire for cooperation among all of the human worlds. There will be an outcry of support as planet after planet joins our cause in the wake of Nye’s liberation. We will eradicate the Burmin menace from our section of the Verse, and then the Yarlian gangs, and then the rest of the scavengers and thieves that plague our space. But the liberation of your homeworld, Susan, that will be the spark which ignites the fire.”

* * *

Sue returned to her apodment where she grabbed her homehub tablet and swiped over to the appliances. Coffee. She flicked on the brewer, knowing that a long night of thinking lay ahead of her. A red square blinked in the corner of the tablet, meaning that someone had left her a recorded message via facemail. Sue activated the message and her friend’s face took over the screen. Sue swiped Linn off of the tablet and the image was projected in front of Sue as she walked around her home. The message played and Linn’s image followed Sue. When Sue directly looked at her friend they made eye contact, otherwise Linn’s image moved off to the side to avoid being in the way.

“Hey lady,” Linn’s voice rang out from the tablet. “I have to cancel our plans for tomorrow night. All of a sudden, Elise decided to have another party for her bridesmaids. You know if I blow off her gig she’ll have a fit. I don’t get this whole parade up to the wedding crap, but it is what it is. At least her douchebag groom won’t be there. Whatever. Let’s reschedule for Saturday? Get back to me. There’s this awesome beer garden down in Fusion Valley I haven’t shown you yet. We can hit up the Laugh Track after. Anyways, face me back!”

Linn’s smiling face disappeared from view as the message ended. A cup of pressed coffee waited on the counter. The aroma was light, floral, heavenly. Sue took the hot coffee, placed it on the parlor table, and then she cozied up on the couch, triggering the mediabay to resume the movie she had started earlier. Her coffee cooled as the opening scene unfolded. Sleep took her before she could take her first sip.

* * *

Thoughts raced through her mind as she transitioned from deep sleep to waking panic. The world spun. Her mind felt pressurized, like it was going to explode. Was she going to die? Memories of her family clashed with the possibilities of her pending decision. She could feel her thoughts as they overworked her brain. They were like a colony of ants running around inside of her skull. They itched. They stung.

Sue noticed that she was hyperventilating. Her fingertips were going numb.
Calm
, she thought.
Calm down. Breathe
. Her thoughts were out of her control, but she could restrain her breathing.
Slow breaths.
Her heart was beating too fast. She covered her face with a pillow and inhaled.
Deep breaths
. After a minute of focus, she had it under control. By concentrating on her breathing, Sue had also slowed her racing mind. She had regained her composure.

She had only then noticed that her alarm was beeping, and so she shut it off.

Could she do it? The mission was too big. Too much. What was Folami thinking? Her family: her father, her brother. She could save them. Smuggle them off of the planet to a safe place. But take down a command ship? Rescue a planet of people? Alone? There was no way. How could she ever presume to take on such a responsibility?

There was little time for her to recover from her panic attack as she had to get ready for an appointment with her trainers, not unlike any other weekday morning. Stand-up grappling was today’s focus. It was a grueling exercise and she hated it. Because of her small frame, grappling nearly any opponent was an uphill battle and she would never win a wrestling match, but there was reason for the training. She only had to pull her opponents close, eliminating any reach advantage they may have over her. The goal was to hold her enemies long enough to stab something into them or punch their throat.

She arrived at the gym, and during warmups she knew that her head was not going to be in it today. Her instructor took advantage of her distant mind and twisted Sue into some painful holds. She could not stop it, but she did not quite want to. The pain was a useful distraction and helped her focus her thoughts.
 

Worrying accomplished nothing. Sue had been waiting for this opportunity ever since her freedom was purchased by the Presider. She could set her family free, or at least she could try, and she needed to try. Sue was knocked down by her trainers, taking open palm strikes to the chin and wooden staffs to her sides. She was pinned into agonizing positions and held until she screamed, and through the pain she transformed her fear into fuel. Instead of fearing what she could lose, she focused on what could be gained. Now was the time. There was no longer any doubt in her mind as to what her decision would be.

Sue left her dojo with her body beaten, but her mind strengthened. She set off to meet with the Presider.

* * *

“When do we begin?” asked Sue. They met at one of Folami’s residences, a modest house set in the foothills of large, snow-covered granite mountains. It was the house where Leslie Folami had raised her adopted child, Susan Singh. The house they had both called home.

“I will soon be inaugurated, and so you must begin your journey immediately.” Folami moved a sheet of fresh baked cookies from the oven to the counter. “I’ll be signing bills into law before you even arrive on Nye. You’ll have some months to complete your mission, but when the time comes for Erde to attack the Burmin, you must be ready. Syncing the timelines is crucial, all must line up tactically and politically for this to work. Here,” Folami took off her oven mitts and reached into her pocket. She handed Sue a data drive. “Load this into your Ocu.”

“Anything new?” asked Sue.

“An updated timeline of events, a comm code so you can send me an encrypted message from inside the Juggernaut, the most recent information we have on the Burmin, and the coordinates of a man we’ll call X. He will provide you with more intel than we could have ever hoped for.”

Sue loaded the information wirelessly into her Ocu, the data becoming instantly accessible to her mind and stored for future use. “That’s quite a few things, Presider.”

“Sue, please call me Leslie. We’re alone here.” Folami put two of the cookies onto a plate. “Here, have some.”

“Sorry Leslie, and thanks.” Sue took a bite. Warm gingersnaps were her favorite. She could not help but continue to chew as she spoke. “So go on, explain the new things.”

“The timeline better lays out what I expect to transpire over the next six months politically, and when I need your mission to be completed.
 

“You will use the comm code to relay to me when to launch our attack on the Burmin with the Erdian armada. The Juggernaut must be destroyed or disabled before our fleet can move in, otherwise that behemoth will devastate our forces. Put together a plan and notify me forty-eight hours before we should attack, and there will be no contact before that to prevent the Burmin from breaking the encryption and tracking your location. I will not respond to any messages you send, and so you must trust that they will go through.

“You can read over the new intel on the Burmin when you find time. It’s not much, but I expect you will receive a great deal more from X. Your transport will depart on Sunday. Toruk, my pilot, will take you most of the way, and from there you will be launched in a dropcraft which will land in an abandoned quarry. There should be minimal Burmin presence nearby, but you will have to quickly vacate the area and make your way to the provided coordinates. You will find a farming residence. Inside will be X. He will give you all of the intel he has gathered on the nearby Burmin compound and anything else he can provide. I trust the man, but be cautious. We do not know if he is being watched.”

“Land on planet, get intel, infiltrate the Burmin compound, find my way up to the command ship, blow it up somehow, but give you a call before I do,” said Sue. “Got it.”

“Yes. Do not be overconfident, Sue.”

“Oh, I’m not. I’m scared as shit that I’m going to fail. If I don’t make it…”

“Sue.”

“If I don’t succeed, Leslie, Presider, you will still work to free my family, right?”

“Of course. Not only your family, but the entire planet of Nye, and all of humanity. We are all prisoners in one way or another as the situation currently stands.”

“I’m not talking about your life’s work to rebuild the Cooperation and unite humanity and all that. If I fail, I want my family’s freedom to be your top priority. Leslie, do I have your word on that?”