Terra Dawning (12 page)

“We still did all we could to oppose them. Through captured ships and certain breakthroughs in our own technology, we finally did manage to push them back off our world; or so we thought.

“Unknown to us, another race had arrived and attacked the Sal'andori while we were fighting them on planet. This other race was the real reason we defeated the invaders. We had learned a lot about fighting from the Sal'andori and even more from watching the new race wipe out the remaining invaders.

“It's a good thing that we did too, because once they had finished with the invasion ships in orbit, the second race came down to the planet. At first, we thought that we might be able to make friends and possibly begin searching for a new home. The war had devastated this planet, and it was rapidly becoming unlivable.

“We had already begun the evacuation during the fighting with the Sal'andori, since we knew the planet was lost. However, once those ships left, we never heard from them again. It has been surmised that those ships were intercepted by the second race, which is how they discovered the Sal'andori were here. Apparently, they also discovered that we were edible.

“The second race was the Lizarrus; Duke Tammerain's people. Once this was discovered, the exit vectors for the refugee ships was altered and several of them made it past the Lizarrus and into Hyclarion space. There, they were promptly arrested as spies and incarcerated. You see, at that time, the Lizarrus and the Hyclarion were at war,”” Deirdre said.

Jance and a couple of the others nodded. Jance was the one to speak, however. “We remember the war. But I'm unfamiliar with the human role in it.”

One of the other Rangers answered his commander. “Commander, there was no 'role'. Just as Deirdre Bedouin has said, they were arrested and promptly sequestered. Due process had been suspended for the duration of the crisis, other than the arrival of more humans and their immediate arrest, the whole event was immediately forgotten by the Consortium leadership. The war continued for approximately ten more years, by the universal scale. When hostilities finally ceased, these forgotten humans got their chance to speak.

“The surviving members of the original crews presented their case to the appointed magistrate, however, the ships they arrived in had been recycled for use in other warships. The data that confirmed the story told by the humans had been destroyed.

“During these proceedings, the newly appointed Lizarrus ambassadorial mission was claiming the humans as a vassal race since they had first been discovered as originating in their space. The Lizarrus, however, claimed to have no idea where they had actually originated from. They implied it had been an unexplored fringe world on the far side of their former Empire.

“So it was determined that the humans, as a race, be returned to the Lizarrus as vassals, with the addendum that they not be used as a food source. However, since the Lizarrus would incur the cost of relocation and consolidation of the race, they would be allowed to indenture the adults, for a term of no longer than ten standard years.

“The human claim to a planet had been completely ignored because the Lizarrus had already claimed this world as part of a commercial house. Since the world was in ecological ruin at the time, very little weight was given to the human claim, and it was dismissed,” the Ranger finished.

“Did anyone wonder why the world was in the condition it was in, since none of the fighting had actually taken place here?” Deirdre asked.

“No, Miss Bedouin. The Lizarrus are not known for treating worlds very gently. The destruction evident on this planet at the time would have fit in very well with how the merchant worlds were used. I do know that the survey taken of this planet at the time was very brief and not very extensive. The evidence of fighting could have been easily overlooked,”” the Ranger replied.

Deirdre nodded. “Now, here is where the story takes a turn. Before the war, there was a very wealthy man that believed we needed to be prepared for an extinction level event. That is to say, an event that would end all life on the surface of the planet. He used his vast wealth to create thousands of large, deeply buried, underground habitats capable of sustaining life indefinitely.

“Most of those life pods, for a lack of a better term, had been completed before the original attack by the Sal'andori. One of the features of these pods were very experimental hibernation chambers. If the war were to go very badly for the human race, the inhabitants of the pods would go into these chambers and sleep away the centuries until it was deemed safe for them to reawaken.

“The original plan had been for a twelve hundred year sleep. However, due to a computer malfunction, the chambers did not reawaken the occupants until a little under a month ago. Since that time, they have been gathering information on their new world and the world they left behind.

“They are still not ready to announce themselves to the rest of the galaxy, but certain circumstances have occurred that have forced their hand. So, after gathering all the information they could, they decided to make contact with a visiting representative of the Empire they now found themselves a part of,” Deirdre finished.

“Thousands of these pods? You are taking a very large risk then,” Jance commented.

“Duke Tammerain is corrupt, evil and plotting against the Empire. We cannot sit quietly hidden while he carries out his plan to attack and overthrow the Hyclarion Consortium. We know if that were to happen, we would very quickly become an endangered species. We wish to appeal to the Consortium in order to claim this planet and hopefully gain at least a small say in how we are to live,”” Deirdre finished.

“Are those accusations your personal opinions, or do you have proof? I should warn you, that should such an accusation become public knowledge and you cannot prove it, you can be executed for it,” Jance replied.

Deirdre nodded. “You will notice we have not been broadcasting it on the vid links. However, we do believe that if what we know is not proof enough by itself, it will certainly raise questions that cannot be ignored.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are arriving at the base. Please prepare to disembark,” Gail said over the intercom.

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T
erran Marine Base Alpha

25 Apr. 10266 CE (AD)

Sector 34871 - Great Inland Sea

Earth, Sol system

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A
s Gail opened the passenger hatch, she went through first, turned and stood beside the hatch.  Deirdre let her guests precede her out of the shuttle through the front passenger hatch. At the rear of the craft, the guard team had opened the troop ramp and disembarked that way.

It wasn't lost on Jance that Gail offered Deirdre her hand as if she were some kind of V.I.P. For all Jance knew, she could have been the leader of these people. As she looked around, she began to wonder just how many people and how much power they actually had.

The bay they had landed in was pretty large, and there were several other craft of various sizes and designs parked neatly along the bulkheads. But the very large bay doors on those bulk heads were clearly visible. Obviously there was much more to this base than was currently visible, but Deirdre and her people wanted to keep that hidden for now.

Considering the risk they were taking by simply inviting the Ranger team here, Jance could understand Deirdre's reluctance. But she had to know that Jance was duty-bound to report on everything she witnessed. But, so far, she hadn't seen anything that could be used to threaten the Empire, or even the Duchy of Cassius. She snorted mentally – if these people were anything like Deirdre, the Duke was probably in considerable danger no matter what strength lay hidden behind those large doors.

“Miss Bedouin, you asked that we check our weapons, where can we do that?” Jance asked.

Deirdre raised her hand to show Jance and the Rangers which way to go. “Just outside the pilot's briefing room. We took the liberty of setting aside a few lockers for your use. Once you place your gear inside, close the lid and remove the key, they will remain secured until that same key is inserted by the being that pulled it out. No one else will be able to open it –– including us, so please don't lose your key,” Deirdre explained as they walked. “The boxes themselves will remain there, under guard until you return to empty them.”

“Thank you, that will certainly go a long way to helping us relax about leaving our weapons behind,” Jance replied.

“No weapons capable of killing are generally allowed outside of this facility. However, we do have a constabulary that carries stun batons. That being said, to date, none of them has ever been used. In fact, the only emergencies our police have needed to respond to are lost children and to help get one person to the medical section; the woman in question was having a baby,”” Deirdre explained.

“You have no crime?” Jance asked. Somehow that thought seemed to bother her more than anything else she had so far witnessed.

“Not yet,” Deirdre replied. “We haven't been awake for very long and those chosen to go into cryo were pretty stable to begin with. I'm sure once the newness of our situation wears off, we'll have our share of incidents. There are a few other factors contributing to it, but again, I can't really get into those yet. Here we are.” Deirdre indicated the large lockers lined up between two of Gail's armed Marines.

“Where are we going once we're done here?” Jance asked.

Deirdre smiled at her. “Just inside here. There are a few folks you're going to want to meet and a lot of information for you to listen to. Most of your questions about us, should be answered then.”

As she finished speaking, Deirdre looked toward the door and grinned. “Speaking of people to meet, here comes one of them now.”

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Jance looked up to see a young, human male walk through the door. The fact that all the nearby troops came to immediate attention when he walked out was not lost on her. He was obviously someone very important. The young man was smiling and bowed slightly to Jance as Deirdre introduced him.

“Commander, may I introduce my brother, Benjamin Bedouin. Ben, this is Ranger Commander Jance Halst and her team.”

“It's a great pleasure to meet you, Rangers,” Ben said in accented Imperial Standard. “I only wish it could have been under less official circumstances.””

Jance bowed at the waist in a show of respect. “It is our duty to serve, Sir.”

Ben tilted his head to her. “Okay, so what gave it away?”

Jance nodded to the guards. “They did. They reacted when we walked up, but I already knew that Deirdre was someone important. However, it was nothing compared to the reaction you got. You are the leader here, even if you look barely into manhood.”

Ben nodded. “I won’t deny it, but I was hoping you wouldn’t figure it out quite this quickly. I am sure my advisers will be rather displeased that you had. Because of security issues, they were against my being the one to address you.

“Considering the important and sensitive nature of this situation, I felt I had to be the one to meet with you. If for no other reason than for you to understand how strongly we feel about this. A lot of people’s lives are on the line here; more than you are currently aware of.””

“I am beginning to get that idea, considering everything that’s happened so far. I cannot make guarantees without knowing the whole story, but I will say that my team and I will treat you fairly,” Jance replied.

“At this point, I believe that is the best we can hope for. However, before we enter this room, there is one more person I would like you to meet, if that would be all right?” Ben asked.

“Certainly, Sir,” Jance replied.

Ben opened the door and said something to someone inside. When he turned back, a person followed him out that she had only seen in incident reports. The young woman placed her left hand over her heart and bowed her head to the Ranger.

“Greetings, Ranger Commander. I am Addson Dee, formerly of Anti-Piracy Command, Argassi Aerie.”

Jance returned the greeting. “Addson Dee, I need to verify your identity. You are listed as deceased in the Imperial Network.”

“I would be happy to, Commander, however, by doing so, must I give my current location?” Addson asked.

“I see your point. I will place the scanner into local only mode. It can still verify your identity, but it won’t transmit any data,” Jance explained. ““With your permission, Sir, I would like to do the same with you and your wife. Before you ask, no, I don’t expect it to know who you are, because I believe you, though, my superiors will need more than my belief.”

“I understand Commander. I can only allow this as long as such information will not lead to our discovery. We have stayed alive and free for this long. I would like to remain so until we can speak to the Empire,” Ben replied.

“Your sister explained this to us on our way in. I can make sure this data will not leave the Ranger data network. Neither will my team reveal your location, without your leave, or unless ordered to by Imperial decree,” Jance said looking back at her team members.

Deirdre looked back at the other members of Jance’s team. “Rangers, all of our accommodations here are currently set-up for human occupation. However, if you need anything special in order to make yourselves comfortable here, please just ask.””

As one, the other Rangers bowed to Deirdre in thanks for her hospitality. “Milady, you have already shown us more hospitality than we’ve seen since arriving at this planet. We thank you for your concern.”

While Deirdre had been speaking, Addson Dee held her hand on the scanner that Jance produced from her pack. When it beeped softly, Addson removed her hand and Jance looked at the screen. “You are indeed Addson Dee. I am relieved to find you healthy, Citizen. Welcome back from the dead.”

“Thank you, Commander. If it weren’t for these remarkable people, I would have died out there. They saved my life,” Addson replied.

“So noted, Citizen,” Jance said smiling at the young woman.

Ben held his hand out for the scanner. It didn’t take nearly as long because the scanner started tweeting a soft alarm. The person just scanned did not exist in the Imperial Database. Jance touched a couple of Icons, and had Ben place his hand back on the scanner. “Please state your name and rank, if any, for VoCode verification.”