Undersea (21 page)

Herri stood, and swirled the rest of his wine around in his glass.

“Then I stepped in. Before I ran for office, I...” The statement just sort of hung in the air. And when the words stopped, Ralla noticed that everything about him stopped. It wasn’t until he started talking again, having sorted out his thoughts, that he even appeared alive at all. “I have a certain knack. A gift, if you will, of explaining. A gift of getting people to listen, to believe. People have always looked to me for direction. So running for office was a natural thing; it just became a matter of timing. To win, though, to be sure of a win, I needed to promise them something. Something big. So I promised them you. You were the cause of all their problems. The old regime had been hiding the facts. You were stealing all the resources. You were waging a war of attrition. It was easy. People
wanted
to believe. The violence stopped overnight. We started putting people to work building the new fleet. We tore out all the old ships from inside the hull and converted them to new subs.

"But it's all lies. There have to be people who realize that.”

 “Is it? Is it a lie? Your people control the resources that my people need, for reasons too complex for most people to understand. I've merely taken that truth and... simplified it. My predecessor took over our only media a decade ago. The government has all the mainframes. We inserted reports, stories, testimonies dating back years to show the
Universalis
's
 treachery. Within a few weeks, the citizens of this great ship were united. It's easy to get people to rally around a common enemy, wouldn't you agree? ”

Ralla grimaced at his obvious reference. Oppai smiled his eerie smile, and continued. “My people have pulled together in a way they haven’t since the last war. They’re happy now, or as happy as can be. They don’t care that they have no food and live in squalor. They’re willing to make sacrifices because they know it’s for the greater good. And that greater good is the destruction of the people who put them in this situation.”

“But you’re lying to them. You're creating this conflict, this animosity. You’re killing innocent people.”

“
Your
people.”

“
Our
people! It’s just
people
you maniac. We all come from the same place. You have to stop this.” Ralla stood and leapt over the table. She knocked the glass out of his hand and grabbed him by the tailored suit. “Stop this. Stop all of this. You created this mess, this insanity. You can stop this. Please, you must stop this!”

Oppai gently but firmly removed Ralla’s hands from his suit and held her by her wrists.

“Hating you was the best thing for my people.”

“You couldn’t possibly believe that.”

“I took the rage of a populace on the brink of annihilating itself and turned it somewhere else. If you honestly think there’s any way to calm that sort of rage without giving it an outlet, then you are every bit the naive girl I first thought. Look.
Look at them
.” He took her by the wrist and walked her out onto the balcony. The briny air was thick with the smells of metalwork and construction. The war machine in the shipyard hadn’t abated, subs of all sizes being built, modified, armed and readied. He made a sweeping motion with his free arm. “These people live with purpose. An energy and a purpose and
I
got them here.
I
saved them from ruin. So no, Ralla. I’m not going to stop anything. This is better than anyone could have dared dream just a year ago. We have jobs, we have food, we have mining and farming domes.”

“Which you stole!”

“Which my people needed. Still need. But soon we’ll take the
Universalis
and our needs will be met.”

“Killing thousands of innocent people as a consequence.”

“Their innocence is known only to myself, my Cabinet, and you. My Cabinet I trust implicitly.”

“Was that a threat? Are you going to kill me?” Ralla asked, surprised at her lack of fear. This close to the railing of the balcony, she figured she could bring him with her if he tried anything. Seeming to notice where she was looking, he led her back inside. The smile returned.

“No, Ralla, I have no interest in killing you. The guards will see you back to your, shall we say, accommodations.”

Thom was tired of sitting in the dark. They had struck out at the first dome they’d snuck up on, its docking bays empty. The second was perfect timing. From the thermal layer above, they could see a transport being loaded through the permiglass dome. The place was lit so brightly, they had joked they could have seen the thing from the surface. They waited for a few hours for the sub to leave, then shadowed it.

It kept a straight course for the better part of a day, then on the long range sensors Thom made out a blip. They slowed, cut power, and dropped beneath the thermal. Sure enough, the
Pop
loomed in the distance. They determined its course, and rose above the thermal. This time, there was no one else around. They sped off for their intercept position.

The intercept was a planned version of how Ralla and Thom had gotten on the
Pop
in the first place. They cut all power to their sub, slowly descended to the sea floor, and landed softly on a bed of gray silt. Then it was a waiting game. They calculated that if
Pop
continued on the same course it would pass over them in six hours. Plenty of time to eat and drink their rations and get in a short nap.

If all went according to plan, they would flood the rear compartment and float up to the passing sub, all but invisible. Finding a way in would be the tricky part, but they were prepared to hang on for a little over two hours for the ship to stop and open a bay. If it took longer than that, they would let go, return to the transport, and start over at a different location. Thom didn’t relish that idea, as the tiny suit motors could only propel them at a fraction of the speed the
Pop
moved. Worst case it would be nine hours in a suit in the dark.

The main sensor screen, set to its lowest brightness, showed a mass moving in their direction exactly at the calculated time. Thom switched it off and put on his helmet. The others did the same. He sealed the cockpit behind him. Tegit activated the pumps that would store the air in the compartment, replacing it with water. In the dark, with just the glow of their helmet readouts, Thom would have been surprised to find a single man in the bunch who wasn’t terrified. He looked over at Cern, whose ghostly face looked ready to snap. Thom grabbed Cern by the shoulder and locked eyes with him. Cern closed his eyes and let out a long slow breath. His eyelids rose slowly, but he seemed stable, if not relaxed.

The cabin fully flooded, they opened the hatch and stepped out onto the dark sea floor.

VIII

This time, after they stood in unison, they started to chant “food,” quietly at first, but with quickly escalating volume. Stomping feet soon followed, a few at first, then a few more. Soon the noise was deafening, the shouting, the chanting, the banging of the feet.

Two more soldiers entered carrying a large square device between them. They set it on the platform where the food was usually set. One pressed a button on the side, and a projected image filled the wall above and between the two double entrance doors. The image was of the room they were in, from a camera somewhere above the projector. The noise slowly abated as people tried to see what was going on. The image of the room was replaced by a new image, and the near explosive energy in the room was extinguished as if by open lock. The image was of Ralla, with a plate of food, glass of wine in her hand. Murmured confusion rippled through the crowd. Those near Ralla looked in her direction, their faces looking for explanation. Then it got worse.

The image was actually a video. Speakers hidden in the walls supplied audio. It cut to Oppai, looking resplendent in his dark green suit. This must have been recorded at a different time, she though, as he was in mid paragraph explaining who he was. Then it cut back to her, just her face. This was from the night before, where she had said her name and title. Then it showed the wine glass in her hand, mostly empty. There must have been cameras all over the room. The next shot was Oppai, starting one of his bizarre rants.

“Do you know who ordered innocent people killed on stations all across the hemisphere? Entire domes flooded, full of woman and children?”

Then it cut back to her.

“My father.”

The shock hit her entire body at once. All she could do was collapse to her knees. Her mouth agape, her whole body paralyzed with the horror of it. Yet she couldn’t look away.

“Your Council has been systematically and surgically trying to eradicate the people of the
Population
for decades.”

“Yes,” her projected avatar responded, forcefully.

The video continued with Oppai’s questions and her with either a dismissive look, or worse, one of her many yeses. The video ended with Oppai’s grand tirade that had seemed so confusing two nights before. The video went black, then Oppai appeared again, this time with the backdrop of the shipyard. He wore an outfit similar to what he wore when he addressed the crowd months earlier; neat, but not as showy as the suit from the video.

“Men and women of the
Population,
the video you have just seen was recorded on the security cameras in the Dignitary Dining room. I had invited a representative from the
Universalis
here to see if we could come to some peace between our two peoples. As you can see, I was met by condescension and disdain. When I asked her up front about their role in our troubles, she didn’t deny it. She didn’t even try to hide it. It is clear to me that we mean nothing to them. They would as soon have us die as to lend us a handful of grain. It saddens me, but we will be proceeding to the next stage of our action against the
Universalis
. It is our only path to peace, and our only path to survival. Thank you, everyone.” The screen went dark.

Ralla couldn’t move. She kept her eyes shut, but could feel all the others in the room burning holes in her flesh. They would have no way of knowing it was cut-and-pasted lies. It would be her word against a video. And with the food and wine, why would they believe her? She had failed. These people would never listen to her again. She had failed them, and she had failed her father. There was a part of her, a familiar part, that just wanted to hide, have her father fix it. But as this thought fully formed in her head, she rejected it. He wasn't here. But she was.

No. If they wanted to believe him, that was their choice. But not without a fight. She wasn’t going to sit back and let this psycho twist the minds of
her
people with her own twisted words. Eyes still closed, she stood and started walking towards where she knew the platform was. She opened her downcast eyes and watched the worn red and gold carpet pass under her feet. People moved out of her way. She could hear whispers, but couldn’t make out what was being said.

At last, she reached the platform and stood, facing the room. At last, she opened her eyes. She didn’t focus on any of the faces, but they were all looking at her. Then, off to the side, her eyes focused on Dija. The tiny young woman stood rubbing her hands together. On her face wasn’t anger, or even astonished disbelief. It was confusion. Ralla looked at other faces. Some were clearly angry, but most were like Dija. Confused. Waiting for... Waiting for...

Then it hit her. It hadn’t worked. His plan had failed. They were waiting for her to explain. To explain what they had just seen, because they didn’t believe it. She lifted her right hand high over her head, and put her left hand over her heart.

“On my life, and on my father’s life, everything you just saw was a lie,” Ralla said in so serious a tone that she didn’t recognize her own voice. A few in the audience motioned to their neighbors in a “
See?
” gesture. The rest remained unconvinced.

“I was taken from this place each of the last two nights against my will. I drank the wine Governor Oppai gave me the first night and had you smelled it, let me tell you, you would have too. I thought we would be having some sort of meeting to discuss our situation, but when he brought out such a lavish meal, I suspected his motives were otherwise. I was hungry, as we all are, but I didn’t have the stomach to eat. Not when none of us has eaten real food in a week or more. What you saw on that video, as I hope many of you suspect, was an edited version of several conversations between myself and the Governor. Now, if you want to believe him over me, that is your right. All I can say is that I know many of you have met my father. If you’ve met him you know he could never do the things he stands accused of. As far as the Council goes, no current member of the Council was in office the last time we had contact with the
Population
. The longest serving current member has been in office less than 10 years. And if you think any policy or doctrine could survive the changeover, well, I know all of you see how little the Council agrees on; how could you expect them to have held one policy together for decades? Sorry, I don’t think so.” She looked around the room now, and knew she almost had them back on her side.

“You shouldn’t be surprised by a stunt like this. We are organized, we are angry, and that makes our captors nervous. If you want to believe him and go back to the way we were, fine. But I’ll tell you right now, I won’t give up on us until you tell me to. You trusted me once, and we are all better off for it. Please, trust me now. I would never say those things. I would never have betrayed you, my father, or the
Uni
. If you don’t want me leading you, fine. But I’m still going to help in any way I can. You just let me know what you want. And if you still don’t believe that I’m on your side...” She stepped off the platform and walked directly towards the two soldiers, who eyed her with caution. She walked up to the right one, punched him in the neck—this time on purpose—and removed his sidearm as he stumbled. This could be tricky, she thought. But as she turned towards the other solider, she realized she needn’t have worried; his rifle was already up, the butt about to slam into her face.