Chapter 12
One week later everything was indeed ready. The original plan had been to put the Tunnel Boring Machines to good use once again and create a tunnel until right under every large base in the country. All that would then be needed was to break through the last layers of dirt and the troops would be ready to pour out directly in the middle of the base.
Which worked great on paper, until one of the TBM engineers had pointed out that even with the new technology TBMs breaking ground, as they called it, was an affair that lasted at least one hour; and even then only if you did it with unsafe quickness. This was clearly more than enough time for the base defenses to get ready to take out anything that would come through the opening in the ground.
The Resistance had been scratching its proverbial head on how to get into the bases when the answer had been delivered by a treasure that the approaching of the Air Force people had delivered. Amongst the Air Force members that have been itching to help the Resistance there had been two generals. One was a three-star general by the name of Davidson, and one was an honest to God four-star general by the name of Watts, who had even served at the Pentagon for some time before Air Force activities at that building had basically been brought back to only archive work after the war with the Bundar had ended.
It had been general Watts who had given the Resistance the idea for their new approach. He had reminded them that with the Bundar they had millions of people, while base defenses were certainly not designed to deal with such numbers. As he had pointed out, base defenses were designed to keep people out, yes. But they were designed to keep small numbers of people out. Like youngsters wanting to get onto the base on a dare, or demonstrators, or nutcases who thought that the Armed Forces were behind everything from canceling their favorite TV show, to changing the recipe of grandmother's cookies. But base defenses were not designed to cope with a group of, say two thousand people, pulling up in trucks or buses and simply swarming the base.
So teams have been put together, bulletproof vests had been handed out to the ones that would be in the front of the charge, and these groups of people that were willing to do or die... literally... had been dispersed all over the country.
The attack was planned to happen at night, at a time when every base in the country was still covered in darkness, no matter which time-zone it was in. This meant that at the base the group of friends was at, the attack started at 10 o'clock at night. General Watts was proven right because with the exception of one large base the result was the same all over the country; they were able to secure the bases with few to no shots being fired.
The scene at the smaller bases had quickly turned into what Joanne had predicted. With the soldiers with rocket propelled grenades firing a few shots to indicate that starting an aircraft or trying to leave the base were really bad ideas, and the Bundar there to make sure that the soldiers with the RPG's weren't attacked themselves, the people on those bases soon realized that they were trapped and that the only thing they could do was have radio contact.
Then a message was broadcast onto the bases and the true plans of the Council was explained to everyone. It was here that Pam once again proved to be invaluable. With her as the former A1, who the Council had said was dead, being one of the people to deliver the message, most of the off-worlders on the bases were inclined to listen to the message. Even if they didn't believe what they were told, the fact alone that Pam was on the side fighting the Council, made people realize that there had to be a second side to the story, and that it might be better to find out the truth instead of dying in a useless battle.
When the proverbial dust had settled, Joanne and the others were glad to see that with most of the off-worlders in the army camps it was the same as it was with the people on the ships. Once it became apparent to them what the true plans of the Council were for the planet that had so openly accepted them, almost all of them were willing to sit back and do nothing. They didn't actively join in the fight against the remaining Council loyalists, but they also didn't do anything to try and stop the Resistance. For almost everyone that had worked outside of the ships it was the same; once they had tasted life on a real world they had no desire to have to spend the rest of their lives on the spaceships again.
By the end of the day the former soldiers that had joined the Resistance had proven to be invaluable as well. Not only in the tremendous help they had offered during the takeover and directly after that, but also by convincing more of their former colleagues of the disbanded military to come back and once again be that military that actively protected the country. People all the way up to the rank of general had come back. And so the full system, including the command structure, was once again firmly in place.
The only thing not normal in the command structure was that the military had pledged its support to the Resistance, and not the government. This was however because the government, still fearing the power of the off-worlders, had urged the military to stand down while they would try to resolve the issue with talks with the Council. Sufficing to say that the generals and the rest of the military had no intention of standing down; not until it was truly and totally figured out just what the situation was. Now that they had control of the country back, they weren't going to give it up again; not as long as they didn't know that the country was in fact secure.
And so, the military had declared a state of emergency and for the first time in the history of the United States, the whole country had been placed under martial law. The military realized that even though this went against the core values of the United States, this was still better than there not being any United States left at all down the road.
Privately, to the Resistance leaders, the army had said that the army would concentrate on the off-worlders that had been dispersed over the country to patrol cities and secure areas where cams were being built. They would also take care of making sure that order was kept in the country where the people that normally had to do that didn't know who to listen to. While they left it up to the Resistance and its troops to take care of the Council. Though Generals Watts and Davidson did, on the invitation of Max, stay with the Resistance leaders so that they could witness firsthand what the Resistance was doing and to find out the truth for themselves.
The only exception to this over all relatively bloodless transition of power was one of the big bases. There an A2 had been visiting the base and because of that every single person on the base was on duty, and there had been an inspection of the troops going on when the resistance stormed the base. The resulting battle had been ferocious and bloody, and in the end had only been won because of the Bundar. Not because of their fighting abilities, but because they eventually simply charged ahead and took the fire; giving their lives so that the others could take out the base defenders. In the end sixty percent of the Resistance troops located to that base had died, and the Resistance could only be glad that this one base had been an exception instead of the norm.
At the end of the day the Resistance couldn't but be happy with what they had achieved. The military was in control of the country and was now negotiating with the government about conditions for handing control back to the government. Something that was still difficult because the government was now deliberately stalling. They still didn't want to make any real decisions until it was absolutely certain that the Council was taken care of, and that it was absolutely certain that their ships could not be used to take back control.
Once it became clear worldwide what was going on in America, and what the true plan of the Council was, the Council sympathizers in those other countries were quickly overpowered and confined by the former military of those countries. In the beginning some fighter planes and bombers had been sent from Canada and South-American countries, but they had quickly turned around when they came face to face with the now reestablished U.S. Air Force that was only too happy to demonstrate just who owned the space they were patrolling.
It basically came down to the fact that they indeed were in the same situation that Ben's people had once faced in their Union; being in control of the world but having no way of getting into those damned ships.
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Max pondered the irony of that situation as he walked to the command tent that night. Not a single person on those ships could leave them, so as far as that was concerned the Council had lost all of its power. Yet in those ships they were untouchable at the same time.
"Sorry I'm late," he said as he entered the tent where Pam, Terry, Joanne, Ben, the two generals, and some high level Resistance fighters, were waiting. "I was waiting for a message from the President."
"What did he say?" four star General Watts asked.
"Nothing really. That he and his administration were discussing the situation."
Watts snorted. "I don't know what the hell they fear."
"Well, to be fair," Joanne spoke up. "What most people don't know, not even most of the military, is that when the off-worlders showed up here I organized a little example with one of their scout ships, showing just how powerful those ships are. They were able to blow up an old arms bunker that was located sixty feet under the ground with a single shot. The government is rightfully worrying; if a scout ship can do that, than what can those huge ships do? I'm willing to bet that as much as we're telling them that the Council is now trapped on those ships, the Council is contacting them as well, telling them that they find this whole situation rather amusing, but if the government doesn't take care of this problem the Council will."
Max nodded. "I see what you're getting at. Who to believe? The Resistance that now has the backing of the military? A military who the government is pretty sure that they won't let the Resistance do any crazy things. Or should they believe the people that have proven to have very powerful weapons and are saying that they're not using them to give the government time to take care of the problem."
"Right," Joanne agreed. "As much as the indecisiveness of the government is... annoying... there's a very solid reason behind it. Simply stall until the problem is resolved and then very politically say, 'oh, I was all for you, but my administration was worried about bladidbla'."
"I guess you got a point," General Watts agreed. "But I tell you, it sure bites to be fighting to protect your country while your government pretends that they don't really want you to fight to protect your country."
"As bad as that is, there might be a good angle to it," Max said. "We now know why they did it, but the fact remains that with the off-worlders taking over the overall control of the planet, the world did change for the better. Problems were talked out; not fought out. Wars stopped, and as the dissolving of armies all over the world proved, we don't really need to have a powerful military in every country of the world, as long as we can trust each other. Maybe we can move on along that way once this is over. You know, have individual country governments but have a united world government above it, and one united world military."
Watts smirked. "I think you'll have a hard sell there. I don't think that we will stand for a second dissolving of the Army."
"Maybe it will be a hard sell, and maybe not. I don't know about you, but the arrival of the off-worlders, and the Bundar after that, sure opened my eyes. Now we know for sure that we're not alone in the universe. Ben's people are part of a group of species that interact with each other. Just look at how many species there are in their corner of the universe, living in just two solar systems. Who knows, maybe we just live in a quiet corner of the universe and that's the sole reason why we didn't meet anyone else yet. Personally I really think that it's high time that we moved on to have one united military and one united world government that can speak for the entire world."
"And are you planning on being someone with influence in that world government?" General Davidson asked as he crossed his arms.
"Not on your life," Max assured. "As suitable as I might be as Resistance leader, I don't have a politician's heart. Hell, Joanne here might be more suited then me, she has been dealing world deals for years."
"As you say, not on your life," Joanne said with a grin. "I learned my lesson well the first time around. I have no intention of letting power go to my head again. I'll give advice if it's asked for, but I don't want to be the one making the decisions."
"I can see your point," Max said, thinking back to what Joanne had told him about how at some point she had felt like queen of the world. He could fully understand how she didn't want a temptation like that again.
He looked back at the generals before continuing. "Besides, after the Council taking world control, only to misuse it, any new world control would be mistrusted from the beginning. But I've been thinking about it, and I think that the solution is simple. We don't give the power to a new institution, but to an old one. I was thinking about the United Nations being transformed a little. The UN is well established, and they know how to deal with things. The only thing that would have to change is that the UN changes from being an organization that only passes resolutions and sanctions, to something that actually can work like a world government."
"That's some plan," Watts said. "But if there's ever a single time when a change would be accepted worldwide, and actually have a chance of succeeding, it would be now when everyone is thinking; 'um, now what?' And do you also have a just as interesting idea about that world military?"
"I do," Max assured. "Though it too would need some changes. I assume that you've heard of NATO before?"
He grinned when asking the question. "I think it would pretty much fit the bill. Though obviously the core of NATO, article 5, would have to be changed slightly from starting with: 'The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.' To 'the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them shall be considered an attack against them all'. There could still be standing military in every country; this to give people a feeling of security because their military is right there to protect them, and also because the military is needed in things like natural emergencies. That way you have your national military in cases of emergency, just that these different militaries would work together as one, under one flag, if needed."
"There are possibilities in that direction," Watts said after having looked at his colleague for a moment and getting a 'could work' shrug back.
"Well, we aren't there yet," Joanne spoke up. "We first have to take care of the Council."
"I have to admit that I'm a little surprised that they're just sitting back while we are pulling more and more troops together around the ships," General Watts said. "Why don't they just lift off? I mean, they can totally self-sustain themselves on those ships; they always did. They don't need to take in air, water or food; it's all made and recycled endlessly on those ships. Plus those ships are built to work in outer-space, so they can just lift off and land on the North Pole or something where it would take us weeks to get troops there."
"We've been talking about that," Max said. "And the working theory for us is that there's 'something' on the ships that prevents them from leaving."
"If I may?" Joanne asked. After getting a nod from Max, Joanne continued. Looking at the general she said, "You're right, theoretically they could just leave. They know by now that the people outside the ships won't be back. Either because they don't want to, or simply because we sure as hell aren't going to let them pass. So there's nothing that keeps them here. So, why stay? You suggested going to the North Pole, well how about I do you one better? How about going to Mars? Just how long would it take us to get there? No, our guess is that the mother ships have a problem, and that it's the same reason that prevents their scout ships from flying. Their scout ships, their escape pods, both don't work. So it's not a long stretch to think that the mother ships don't work either. That suddenly all their ships no longer work is a little bit too much of a coincidence, don't you think?"
"Putting it mildly," Watts agreed.
"Ever had a computer virus?" Joanne suddenly asked. "Computer security is more about not getting viruses on your computer than about removing them. No matter how good you are with computers, if you have the right, or wrong, virus on your computer you're screwed. It prevents antivirus programs from being installed or running, it disables online connections with the exception of what it itself needs. Even if you're the world's best hacker you might not win, simply because the virus stops you from accessing anything at all."
"Been there, done that," Watts said. "We had a virus once that made it into the Pentagon computers. We squashed it after a while, but we had to replace over a million dollars worth of computer hardware just to make sure that all traces were gone."
Joanne nodded. "Now imagine a 'virus' that has been created by alien beings that were already millions of years ago so advanced that they could build ships that could travel through space at faster than light speed. We think that the answer is that there's some kind of... virus... an intelligence, on those ships; call it an Artificial Intelligence. We guess that this intelligence was programmed by the original builders of the ships to kick in, so to speak, when a certain set of criteria were met; something that would prevent the ships from being misused. Now, we, if we have a computer virus we might resort to something drastic like ripping out the hard drive and installing a new one. New software after that and we're good to go again. They can't do that on the ships. They have a computer system that's been used for as long as they've been traveling through space. They don't have backups since it always worked. They can't install a new hard drive because they themselves don't even know how to work on the computers since... they always worked, and they never trained someone in how to handle the things. We think that the ships are fighting them just as much as we are. Having said that, none of us have any real idea. What I just told you is only just a guess; an option we could all find ourselves in."
"Or they're so damn sure that they are untouchable in those ships that they simply decide to sit us out," Davidson said. "After all we may be able to pull our troops around the ships now, but sooner or later we'll have to concentrate on other things. Who says that those long living leaders don't simply plan to wait 50 years or so until our interest has watered down? And even more importantly, until a new generation of people is in power on our planet and the Council can simply pretend to be the misunderstood good guys. Time makes villains into heroes and heroes into evil bastards. I for one admire Alexander the Great; most generals do. But I'm pretty damn sure that if you were to travel back in time and ask someone in Tyre what they think of him... well, you would need to ask one of the women and children that were sold into slavery because all the men were crucified on Alexander's order. Yet he's seen today as one of the greatest people that ever lived. What if the Council wants to go down that route? "
"They could have done that on the planet where Ben's people came to the rescue of the planet," Joanne said, partially agreeing. "But here they can't take that risk. As much as Ben's people fought each other in wars in their history, they never developed the weapons of mass destruction we developed."
"You're talking about the nukes?" Max asked. "But you yourself said that even those wouldn't do much good against those ships. Before we would be able to reach the ships, the damage would have repaired itself again."
"One nuke? No, that wouldn't make much difference," Joanne agreed. "But what about more nukes? They know that we're now in control of all military material again; including the nukes. Hell, just one Ohio class submarine has 24 trident rockets with 8 nuke warheads each. What do you think? If one nuke can damage the ship, but it can repair itself, then what would 192 nukes all aimed at one and the same spot do to one of those ships? And that's just one of the 14 subs, and not taking into account the land based nukes. "
"I don't think there would be much left of the ship," Max said. "No matter how strong the Sentient Metal is, even it has its limits. But the Council would know that we would never do that. They know that all of America would be uninhabitable just from the fallout."
"Yeah, but Max, we were talking about them taking the risk," Joanne persisted. "They simply can't take the risk that we would sacrifice America so that the rest of the world, and others in the Universe I might add, would be rid of the Council and those ships once and for all."
"I see your point," Watts said when Max merely nodded in understanding. "For some reason they can't leave, even though they probably would like to. Which leaves us with the problem of those ships. As you just said; we can't get into them, and they're guarded by black troops. They sure aren't going to let us come close to give it a try. We can try to swarm them, but that will take out a lot of our people."
"And it won't do us much good anyway," Pam pointed out. "It will only bring us to the door, which we will still have to get open somehow. On top of that there's a security measure on the ship that I'm willing to bet that the Council has implemented by now. Whenever the sensors count more than 15 people in a group, the doors in the corridor the group is in no longer open unless the Council overrides the lockdown."
"That means that they can also set that number lower, right?" Watts asked.
Pam shrugged. "I've never heard of them doing so. The 15 is a compromise of sorts. After all, you need to limit the groups, yes, but you also still need to be able to move the black troops around in groups bigger than just a few. I'm pretty sure that it will still be 15 people max. Besides, as far as they know we have no way of getting onto those ships, so why would they set a standard security measure to an unnecessarily strict level?"
"Yeah, and not to forget, what can fifteen people per ship do against all those black troops on those ships?" Davidson pointed out.
"We only need to enter with fifteen people at a time," Pam corrected. "If the groups are far enough apart than this isn't a problem because the system sees them as two separate small groups instead of one big group. We also have the advantage that the black troops will be divided over the ship. After all, we can't enter the ship, so there's no need to pull the black troops close to the exits and let the control on the rest of the ship slack. Add to this that I know the secret corridors on the ship, which are only known to the Council and the now new A1, and my guess is that we should only meet a couple black troops, if that. And once we've taken care of the Council we don't have to worry about the black troops anymore because according to their own rules, we will be the ones in control then and the black troops, and anyone below them, will have to follow our orders."
"That easy?" Watts asked skeptically.
Pam smirked. "Well, that's what the rules state. But those rules weren't set up for a situation like this; they were set up to make sure that the council would always be in control. So it's all up to just how the black troops feel like interpreting the rules."
"Which only leaves one problem," Watts said thoughtfully. "Just how exactly do you intend to actually get onto that ship? Somehow I don't think that just anyone will be able to open those doors for us from the inside, and we most certainly won't be able to open them from the outside just by knocking politely."
"You're right," Pam agreed. "If the situation is in effect where the number of people in a group is limited, then the doors can only be opened by the black troops, and seeing that the codes to open the doors are changed every so often, and a hand palm read is needed to activate that code for that person, even I won't be able to open the doors."
"Then how?"
"We took a risk," Pam started to explain. "Some weeks ago I happen to recognize a black troop member in the town we were visiting; an A12. I found it interesting that he was walking around in normal clothing instead of his black uniform. So we captured him and interrogated him. It seemed that he had done something the Council didn't know about; he had fallen in love with an Earth human. Sufficing to say, we found that very interesting, so we made him a deal. Without telling him the rest of the plans we had, we told him that when the time came, we needed someone to let us into the ship."
"He'll open the door?" General Watts surmised. "And what's your part of the deal?"
"Our part of the deal is; whatever he did on order of the Council until now will be forgotten; including things done before they reached Earth."
"That bad?" Davidson asked.
"Not really," Pam assured. "But enough for him to be arrested and put into jail if we wanted to hold petty grudges. Besides that he and his girlfriend will be taken care of. Meaning, for him a job that pays enough to be able to live a normal life without having to worry about making monthly bills."
"We thought it was safe to assure that," Max added, "Especially considering that if we take care of the Council we'll also be in control of the money they earned from patents like the one on Sentient Metal. Well, we being the people that will eventually be the new leaders of the off-worlders."
"What, you want to put someone else in charge there? Why not just let those ships fall under U.S. law?" Watts asked.
"Because if we did that, it would also fall on the U.S. to take care of another 300 million citizens, think we can handle that? Fact is, once this is over those ships will have to be handed back to the off-worlders and those ships will have to be treated as a separate country, just that this country is located inside U.S. territory. Kinda like the Vatican is located in Rome, Italy, but an individual country nevertheless. Same here; it worked just fine until now, so why not continue like that? Just that this time we'll decide who the ones in charge will be and we'll make sure that it's not people that are set on conquering others or treating a part of their own people as second place to them."
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The next day they were looking at the ship that the Council was in. It all just seemed to be totally out of proportion. There was this huge ship mocking them, but it all came down to a little door; a small escape hatch where the Sentient Metal of the ship was created as a real door so that it could still be used if power totally failed and the other Sentient Metal doors no longer worked.
"That's our problem right there," General Watts said as he pointed at the defensive structure that had been built in front of the door. "Black troop members behind and under a cover of Sentient Metal walls and a roof. No way to take them out because even a tank grenade won't get through those defenses. We could put some snipers on them though; take them out if they stick their head up to have a look."
"No," Pam said decisively after having taken a look through a pair of binoculars. "I know them, and I can tell you exactly why they're selected to guard the entrance. It sure isn't because of absolute loyalty. It's because they have families, with children. Guess what incentive the Council gave them to be here on the outside to guard those emergency doors."
"We could try one of the other emergency doors," General Davidson suggested.
"I'm sure that those would be guarded by people in the same predicament," Pam said before reminding, "Besides, we need to be here because that's the door that will be opened in..." She checked the time before adding, "... Fifteen minutes."
"I thought the black troops were so absolutely loyal to the Council," Max noted. "So why the trick of having children as a pressure point?"
"Pretty much all of the black troops are indeed loyal to the Council," Pam agreed. "And almost all of them are leaders, so they know that they will be getting the chance to leave the ship to live on a planet. Be it this time, or the next planet they take over. But that doesn't mean that they're blind. They also know that their ships aren't working, and that means that for the first time ever they're stuck on a planet."
"And if you're stuck here, you sure don't want to be seen as part of the people that tried to enslave the people of Earth," Max said in understanding. "Instead you want to be seen as; 'Yeah, I did that, but I was only following orders; I really didn't want to, but they made me do it'. Alright, time is ticking away. Now what do we do?"
"Now, I'm going to have a little talk," Pam said.
As Pam handed the binoculars to one of the generals and started to walk towards the ship, Max grabbed her arm. "Hey, you just wait a minute. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Getting us to that door."
"Getting yourself killed, you mean," Max corrected.
"I was kinda hoping to avoid that part."
"Pam,"
"Max," Pam interrupted. "We don't have any time. When that door is opened and we aren't there, those black troops will only close it again; taking away our one chance. Besides that, I would really like to prevent people from getting killed... including me. If anyone has a chance of getting close it's me. If for nothing more than them asking me how I can still be alive after the Council made it known that I'm dead. This, right here, is the moment where we see if we can deal with individual black troop members. Not with the Council, but with individual people that have to make their own choice."
Max didn't want his lover to put herself in danger like this, but he
also knew that she was right; they only had this moment to get to that door. "Do me a favor; put a vest on, alright?"
Pam smiled. "Max, remember, I'm trained to dodge bullets. A vest would only be in my way. I got to go now. Wish me luck."
"Pam, just... just in case. I love you, you're the best thing that ever happened to me."
Pam gave him a broad smile before treating him to a passionate kiss; not caring in the least who was standing around them. "I love you too; and I'll be back before you know it."
And then she was gone.
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"We need to talk," Pam shouted in their native language as she walked closer to the little metal bunker that had been built against the ship, and the three black troop members in it.
"That's far enough," one of the black troops said, pointing a machine gun at her. Then they recognized Pam for who she was and their eyes got a little wider, right before realizing that she was wearing a uniform that the enemy was wearing. "Ma'am? What? I thought you were dead?"
"So the Council thinks," Pam agreed. "The truth is that once I discovered the real plan the Council has for this world, I decided that this had to be prevented and I joined the Resistance."
"Then you will die now," the man said, lifting the machine gun again so that he could shoot over the protecting wall.
"Alright, then what?" Pam asked, crossing her arms while waiting for an answer.
"Then you will be dead for opposing the Council."
"And so will you; be dead I mean. I'm the third in command in the Resistance; the people in charge here. Just what do you think will happen to you if you kill me? Do you think you'll ever see your family again? Do you think, Gradian, that you'll ever kiss your little boy goodnight again? I know exactly why you, all of you, were selected to be guarding this door from the outside; but do you? Face it, you might be leaders, but you are played by the Council just like the rest of us."
"And if we don't stop you, I'll also never see him again." But despite the words, the machine gun was lowered once again.
"Not necessarily," Pam disagreed. "This is over; it's only a question of how long the Council can prolong this. If we can take care of the Council, they can no longer give orders that would make sure that you don't see your son again."
"And we would go directly into jail for supporting the Council's plan, or worse."
"Again, not true," Pam assured. "As you can see from the fact that I, the former A1, got a leading position in the Resistance, they only want to protect their planet, and make sure that no other planet will have to suffer through this. They make a clear difference between those that got orders and carried them out, and the people that gave those orders and created the policy. What will be looked at is how everyone acted here on Earth, so right now you still have a choice. The Council will be dealt with because of the plan they set up for Earth. But right now, at this moment, what have you done here on Earth that warrants any punishments? I'm not going to lie to you. There are some people that did do things already that they'll have to face trial for; but it will be a fair trial and not some punishment thought up by the Council. Another thing that will be over is the rule of the leaders. I'm sorry to tell you, but the time that people had a privileged position simply because they happen to live longer is over. From now on the leaders will be treated just like any other human."
"Our species needs to expand," one of the other two said. "That's why we're settling on other planets. That this happens to be the planet where human kind, ours and theirs, come from is only a side issue."
"And who says that this won't happen?" Pam asked reasonable. "If these ships can't be fixed, who says that we can't build new ships ourselves? We never did so because the Council never saw a reason; we had ships we could never hope even to equal. But we sure have the technology. On top of that, the Bundar ships might have been destroyed, but all their information, including how to build new ships of that kind, was saved as data. These Earth humans have been trying to get into space for decades. They have the drive and the ingenuity; just not the means. Our technology, their know-how... In a couple of years we should have a new generation of space ships. Over a couple of decades we'll have space ships that can reach other solar systems. They may not be as advanced as these ships, but they will be ours, and we'll know how to maintain them. We can still expand, just that this time around we won't be settling on planets that are already populated."
"But," one of them started, only to be interrupted by Pam.
"Look, I can stand here and play 'yes but' with you all day, but there's no reason to. The fact is, these ships don't work, so unlike the last time there's no escaping the situation this time. You're trapped here, and we won't give up. The time of the Council is over; the time of enslaving is over. You only have one choice; you either step aside, or you go down with the Council."
"Unlike my two colleagues here, I was with the black troops that executed the Council's orders the last time," the third black troop member said.
Knowing only too well what he meant, Pam assured, "We guarantee, whatever happened before Earth stays there. At worst you might never be able to leave Earth again because we can't assure a pardon on any other planet, but here you're safe as long as you didn't do anything wrong here. Did you?"
"Hardly, we haven't been of this ship yet," the second one said, and Pam heard a tone in his voice that gave her hope; a tone of longing.
The first black troop member wanted to speak up again, but they were interrupted by a click and the door behind them opening slightly.
"As you can see," Pam said to draw the attention back to her, "We aren't the only ones that want this to end peacefully. Some other black troop members do as well. Now, what are you going to do? You didn't do anything wrong here on Earth, yet. Are you going to start now? Or are you going to be an active part of the history that's still to come for our people?"
"Your words are very persuasive, but then, you've been trained to be so," the first black troop member said. "How do we know we can believe them?"
"You know, I could say 'trust me', but instead I'm going to let you make your own decision by telling you this. All of you trained with me, you know what I can do if I really want to. If I had been lying, if I had been deceiving you to get close... wouldn't you be dead by now? Ask yourself this, you know me, can I or can't I get over that wall and kill all three of you from where I'm standing now, before you could lift that machine gun again?"
The three black troop members looked at each other for a moment before finally the first of them nodded his head. "You might get wounded, but yes, we would be dead."
He let his gun drop to the floor and placed his hands on the wall; where it was clear to see that they were empty. "I for one want to see my family again."
The other two did the same and Pam gestured for Max and the rest to come closer, but as they were still far enough away she assured. "Thank you. Believe me, you did the right thing."
"Anything I should know?" Max asked when they arrived.
"I explained to them what the standard deal is; only what they did here on Earth counts; they agreed."
Max nodded his head and pointed at two Resistance members.
"These two people will lead you to a holding place. It's not a prison," Max was quick to assure. "It's a secure area where people are being held until we've taken care of this problem. After that you'll be freed, unless you're on file as wanted for a crime."
The black troop members looked at Pam a last time, who reassured them with a nod. Then they moved out of the bunker and into a new and unknown future.
Once the black troop members were gone the Resistance members entered the ship, not at all surprised to find that the person that had opened the door was already long gone. Max, Pam, Terry, Joanne, Ben, the two generals and three other Bundar made up the group. The question of one of the generals as to why not more, was answered by Pam.
"Because if we have 15 people with us, and we come across one more person in a corridor, we'll be seen as too big a group; the sensors don't check where the groups come from, just how many people there are together."
"Of course, I didn't think of that," Davidson admitted. "So now where to?" he asked as he looked around him to take in the inside look of the ships he had only heard of, and only seen from the outside until now.
"I think that the Council room would be a good place to start. Normally when they discuss something they're either there, or in the room behind it," Terry suggested, and Pam agreed.
Pam guided them through a few secret corridors for a few minutes before eventually exiting directly beside the door that led to the small corridor that in its turn led to the Council chamber. As they entered the Council chamber they found that the Council was indeed present, but that they weren't alone.
"Who dares to," Eric started to say when the door opened without someone first being summoned. But as soon as he saw who entered the room, his eyes got wide and he, along with the rest of the Council, stared at the group in disbelief. "You are dead," Eric finally said.
"The reports of our demise were highly exaggerated," Pam said amused before getting serious. "May I introduce, Max Weinberg, leader of the Resistance. Ben, leader of the Bundar. Terry Lee, you already know, of course, she is our mediator. I'm the commander of the Resistance's Special Forces. Joanne Rock you also know, she is chief advisor of the Resistance. And these two gentlemen are General Watts and General Davidson; representatives of the U.S. Air Force. Since the official U.S. government is still very busy with diplomacy games, we are for the moment the leaders of this country, with the support of the military of course. That's why these two gentlemen are here; to see if they agree with what we do."
"You, are nothing but people that are playing a game they don't understand; people that are going to die now," Eric said hotly. He gestured to the three people that weren't part of the Council. "Here, let me make introductions as well."
Even though Eric did so, the three people didn't need an introduction to Pam and Terry. They knew that it was the new A1, and the two people that had trained him, as well as Pam. From the new A1 it was said that he was even better at fighting than Pam was, and the two people that had trained him were just as good, otherwise they would not have been able to train him. It was just that they didn't possess some other abilities that were needed in an A1.
"As good as they are, they are unarmed, while we are armed," Pam reminded. "And with enough people to keep them busy while the others actually use those weapons. All you'll end up doing, is getting more people killed; nothing more."
Though as Pam said the words, she wasn't so sure. If they took out Pam and two of the Bundar first, they would take out three of the best fighters and then also have bodies they could use as shields against the bullets.
"Oh you almost sound convincing," Eric laughed. "I would call getting rid of you all a pretty good start."
Then he looked at the two men and the woman in the black uniforms. "Alright, get it over with. Kill them."
The three looked at each other for a moment and when the new A1 lifted his eyebrows in question, the other two nodded their agreement. The new A1 stepped closer to Pam. The redhead took a defensive stand but then was pleasantly surprised when the new A1 shook his head slightly. "There's no need for that, Pam."
"Oh really, and why not?"
"Because the three of us talked, even before I was appointed the new A1. In fact, it was their suggestion to the Council that got me appointed. There's no technical reason why these ships don't work. We can only come to one conclusion; they are rebelling against our plans. Either that, or there's some other reason, and we're still stuck on this planet. There are too many people on this planet to control, and the last years have proven that we don't need to either. They now think that we were here to save them; that we in fact did save them. We are heroes; the good guys. I'd much rather be seen as the good guy, than having to wonder when some assassin will take me out."
"I see," Pam said, indeed fully understanding. "If that's so, if I may give you a suggestion; a suggestion you can give to other black troop members... Change your story a little. The ships aren't rebelling against 'your' plan, but against the Council's plan. And as soon as you found out the real plan the Council had for Earth, you were appalled and searched for a way to prevent it. This on its turn is why you helped us get into the ship and deal with the Council."
Pam looked behind her to Max, Ben, and the generals and asked, "Right?"
All four nodded and Max spoke up. "Right, but we still will prosecute anyone for crimes committed here on Earth. Any such cases will be fairly handled, and seeing that this was handled before true atrocities were committed, we will actually buy the, 'I was just following orders' line, within reason."
"Like the guards that killed my people in the camps where we were held," Ben said with a sneer, knowing that by forgiving the deaths, he might just be saving many more lives of his people because they wouldn't have to fight to try and get into the ships.
"Those guards were following the orders to secure the camps and make sure that nobody escaped."
The new A1 looked at Ben for a moment before lowering his head in a gracious nod. "Thank you. We appreciate your generosity in this new start."
Then he looked back at Pam. "Ma'am, the black troops are hereby at your command."
Pam smiled when she heard the new A1 address her with the title normally only used in the black troops for a female commanding officer.
"Alright, you are hereby demoted to A2, and will take for now position as my personal second-in-command."
Then looking at the other two she said, "And you, would you please go give the commands that this is over? There's no reason why any black troop would still have to die defending ships that no longer need defending."
"Yes ma'am."
"Which only leaves," Max began as he turned to where the Council had been standing, only to see a door closing.
"Crap!" He could not believe that none of them had noticed the once so over confident Council slip away. But then, all of them had been looking and listening to the conversation between Pam and the now A2.
Pam let out a deep sigh before pointing at Max. "You really should have known better. You were there when I taught people to watch their surroundings. Just because it's not two girls kissing now doesn't mean that surroundings aren't important."
Max shook his head a little in puzzlement, only belatedly realizing that Pam was teasing him... mostly. "Hey, you were the one doing the teaching and you didn't see them sneak away either."
"I was part of the distraction," Pam objected. "So it was your task to look at the surroundings."
"People, can you stow the lover's quarrel until later?" Joanne spoke up before asking, "Can they lock corridors from in there?"
Pam was about to answer, but before she could, her new second-in-command did. "Normally yes, but now no. That's one of the other things that told us that the ships are somehow rebelling. It started with the engines of the ships not working. But lately other things started to fail as well; like the Council's remote controls. The locks at the doors still work when activated there, but the Council is no longer able to close off sections of the ship."
"Alright, you two, get going and inform the people of the new situation," Pam ordered, privately thrilled to see the two black troops reacting without a word. As much as she loved her new 'me', and never wanted to give that new 'me' up again, there was still something about having the highest black troop members listen to her command.
In the mean time, the four Bundar were trying to force open the door with sheer power.
"That's no use," Terry informed them. "Once a Sentient Metal door is fully closed or fully open, it can only deform again by the internal sensors sending commands to the heater/cooler units in the metal."
"So how are we going to get through that door?" Davidson asked.
Terry thought about that for a moment. "The hard way; by melting it away, I guess. That's how we normally get rid of walls we want to get rid of. We have burners for that in the Maintenance department."
Joanne frowned at the answer. It just somehow seemed wrong to her. They had always assumed that somehow the A.I. on the ships was stopping the ships from flying. The black troop members said that the Council had lost even more control than that. And now the only way to get through a door would be the slow process of melting it away with burners? It just sounded wrong. Looking at her lover, Joanne wondered about the things Ben had said about Terry having some of the abilities of a queen. Maybe that was the answer.
"Terry, would you mind trying something for me for a moment? You've been evolving that 'feeling people' thing ever since you left this ship. Maybe it's more than just 'feeling people'. Would you do me a favor? Concentrate on that feeling like you're trying to feel a person, but this time think about how much you want that door open."
"Feel the door?" Terry asked disbelievingly.
"Basically, yeah. Come on, there's nothing to lose by trying."
"I guess you're right," Terry had to agree. She put her fingers against the opening panel, but nothing happened. Then she concentrated on wanting the door open, like Joanne had asked and touched the opening panel again. To everyone's surprise, especially Terry herself, the door actually reacted. The door opened up just far enough to put a hand between it and the wall, but it was enough. Now that the door was out of its starting position, one could pull it further open and the safety sensors would open the door further to prevent injury.
It was Pam that finally broke the silence. "Well, damn, guess you really can talk to these ships. How cool is that?"
"I would rather call it weird," Terry noted.
Pam put her hand between the door and wall and started to pull, seconds later helped by the Bundar. "Hey, if it gets us through locked doors, I call it cool."
They found another room behind the Council room; the room that the Council had been in when Terry overheard their plans all those months ago. As they walked through the door, Terry couldn't help but wonder how different things would be at that moment if they hadn't heard the Council's plan back then. She and Joanne would still think that the Council had nothing but good in mind. Pam would probably be dead because she would have done something else than come with Joanne and Terry. And they would probably never have met Max or Ben. Who knows, maybe the Council would have even been able to play them to where they would have helped in taking down the Resistance. All those changes, because one door had stood open.
In the room there were two other doors; both closed. Not knowing which door to choose, Terry tried the left door. Again the door opened, but it wasn't the door Terry was standing at; it was the other door.
"What the hell?" Joanne asked.
"I don't know. I asked for that door there to open. I guess it's the ship. It's leading us in a certain direction," Terry guessed confused.
"Probably," Pam agreed, "Especially considering that this door now opened fully instead of just a bit."
"That might just be because Terry is now sure that she can open the doors where the last time she was just doing me a favor by trying," Joanne pointed out.
They followed the corridor behind the door and after a moment came to a clearly visible blue door that indicated the Councils private part of the ship. But as Terry tried to open the door, to everyone's surprise, it wasn't the blue door that opened, but a door a little further down the corridor. They walked to the door and looked inside, not at all surprised to see the Council there. They were surprised however to see an old woman with the Council.
"The queen," Ben said as if the word alone left a bad taste in his mouth.
The queen and the Council were used to being in control, so all they could do in a situation where they lost all control was to cower in a corner like a pack of scared animals. All in all they looked simply pathetic.
"I think we have a conversation to finish," Max said as he stepped closer and crossed his arms.
Eric somehow managed to find some bravado. He straightened up and faced Max. "How dare you act like you're in charge here? We have just been patient while we waited for you all to see that all of this nonsense is useless. But now I have had enough. If you aren't careful you won't be leaving this ship alive."
Max chuckled and with that simple reaction, Eric's bravado was gone again. "That talk didn't work minutes ago, it sure won't work now. This is over; we both know that. It's over, and you lost."
Suddenly the old woman straightened up and moved closer to Terry, only to stop when Pam stepped between them and warned with a deadly voice that the old woman was close enough.
"Terry, you need to help me. You are one of us, you need to make sure that justice prevails."
"Make sure that justice prevails?" Terry asked disbelievingly. "Woman, what the hell do you think I'm doing?"
Knowing that Terry was her only chance of getting away, the queen decided to play her trump card. "Terry, you have to help me. I'm your mother; you have to help me, your mother."
"And that's supposed to be news to me?" Terry asked, not at all impressed. "If you're my mother, then where were you my entire life? Tell me, when you gave birth to me, did you even hold me before you gave me away to be raised by the caretakers? The fact that you gave birth to me doesn't make you a real mother; it just makes you a breeder. I never had a mother; and I managed just fine."
"But,"
"But what?" Terry interrupted. "Are you going to tell me that you love me? That you just did it all for my wellbeing? That you missed me for every second of your life? Tell me, what happened to your other children? No, I don't mean the ones you left behind on planets to rule; I'm talking about those that didn't have what it took? Just what would have happened to me if I hadn't been born with the abilities I have? How long would I have lived?"
Seeing the old woman gape at her words, Terry knew that her guess had been spot-on. "Thought so. Yeah, you are sure one caring mother alright."
The old woman slowly walked back to her corner and sat down on the floor. She knew it was truly over. Even the ships weren't listening to her anymore. It was over, and she was the queen that had failed all the queens before her.
"Who is she?" Pam's second-in-command asked.
"That," Terry said, "is the true leader of our people. Or better said, she was the true leader. Now she is nothing. She's the one that told the Council what was going to be done."
"Um, if that's true, than doesn't the 'I was just following orders' line apply to them as well?" the second-in-command asked.
"Yes," Eric was quick to say after having seen how the queen was willing to leave them all behind.
"No," Terry disagreed. "They still gave the orders. The queen said 'what' she wanted to have done, and the Council said 'how' that was going to be done. They gave the orders. They made life or death decisions."
Looking at Pam, Terry added, "They were the ones that decided that a family that was being difficult was going to get killed instead of merely relocated. Daily life situations, they handled. But situations like whether people on planets had to be enslaved, they were decisions made by the queen."
"Alright, so it's over," Sandra Hill spoke up for the first time. "We lost, you won. We will accept the punishments you deem fitting for our crime."
Sandra couldn't help but smirk at the words as she thought at the same time, 'Yeah, go on and punish us. You people and those things you call punishments. What are you going to do? Send us to jail for some time? How long? Ten years, a hundred? I still have about six hundred years left; so what if I have to spend some of that time in jail? Jail, I'm so afraid. With my abilities I'll be running that place within days.'
"Good," Max said while he had a pretty good feeling that he knew what some of the Council members had to be thinking. It was time to take them out of their dream. "There's just one thing. See, you aren't just some criminals that have to be punished; you were the government of your people. We feel that as such you deserve a privilege that we would not extend to common criminals. We feel that since you set up the rules for your society, it would only be fair that you are punished according to those same rules and laws. For the moment, until a new government is selected, we are now the government on these ships. This means that you, who were fighting against us, and who were giving orders to have us killed will be judged for opposing your rulers. You will also be judged for warfare against the government. You know your rules; guess what kind of punishment you can expect for that."
Sandra looked at Max with an open mouth. She knew their rules alright. She also knew that if they were convicted of that, then under their own rules their punishments would be a slow and very painful death that would last at least a couple of hours.
Max let them be consumed by their own fears for a moment before adding, "But, lucky for you, we aren't such bastards as you. Pam told us that you all carry a pill with you all the time; just in case. I guess you started doing that after one of the Council members was captured the last time around, right? Of course you can only be punished, if you happen to still be alive at the time that your punishment is supposed to be carried out. It's your own choice. Either we give you a trial and then execute you by giving you one of your own punishments, or you end it yourself, right here."
"You'll never get away with that," Eric said, not knowing what else to say.
"Sure we will," Max assured. "You see, the way it all looks now it all seemed to be a smooth transition for anyone that doesn't know the real story. In a couple of years we'll have worked out the official story and told it so often that all that weren't an active part will believe it. It will then look like all, even most of the black troops, wanted a change. But that you, the Council were working against that because you didn't want to lose your power. So the black troop members, like the A1 and the A2 asked the U.S. government for help, right Pam?"
"Oh, absolutely," Pam assured, knowing the plan that they had come up with for the time after only too well. Though in the original plan it had been just the A1, and not also her second-in-command.
"Right," Max continued. "The U.S. government of course wanted to help end such terrible oppression like the one you were conducting and put the full U.S. military at the disposal of the people that wanted to bring this correct and much needed change to their people, right generals?"
"Um, sure, I guess," Watts said. "It sure sounds better for the history books than that we acted despite the government."
"Right," Max continued. "And so the A1, the leader of the Bundar, the U.S. military, and a leader chosen by the people, which is Terry of course, took on the rest of your loyalists who promptly realized the error of their ways and also joined the right side. You see, such a nice story, all ends well. The world is better, your people are better, and the Resistance? Those people will get their rightful due in other ways, like the U.S. government recognizing them as civilians that went above and beyond the call of duty in helping to free an oppressed people. In a couple of years there never was a Resistance, the military was always under full control of the U.S. government, and people like Pam's second-in-command here never had anything but good in mind for Earth. We don't really need a trial against you to make this story work. But on the other hand, a nice widely publicized trial in which you continue to say that you're so innocent while we bring evidence after evidence of your evilness would work nicely as well. You know; show that everyone gets their day in court. So it's up to you; if you want to die quickly, you can take that pill. If you want to die slow and painful, you can wait and then have your day in court in which we let people like Pam here tell just what kind of orders you gave them."
Max looked at the old woman before adding, "Unfortunately for you, I've been told that you can't put yourself deliberately in a position where you could get hurt. So unless one of your Council members here is nice enough to end things for you, you will be trialed. Not only for trying to enslave Earth, but for all we can find about what came before as well, like the war with the Bundar when you tried to occupy that other planet."
The queen didn't say anything, but Eric opened his mouth only to be stopped by Max lifting his hand.
"No, you had your chance to speak." Looking at Pam's second-in-command, Max asked, "Pam told us that there's a security measure that can be put into effect that limits the size of groups to 15; has that measure been used?"
"No. We tried though, but it too is one of those things that no longer works."
"Alright, in that case, Ben, would you mind getting a group of your people in here, armed, so that they can guard the exits from the outside while the Council in here decides if they want to die fast or slow?"
Ben nodded his head before telling one of the Bundar to go get some more people.
"You know," Joanne said slowly. "Just because they didn't run any further doesn't mean that there isn't a second exit in this room. If there is a hidden exit there's no way for us to find it, as the corridors we used showed. If Pam didn't know where the doors to them were, we would never have found them."
"So you think we should put guards in this room, or move them to somewhere that we know they can't get out of?" Max surmised.
"Maybe, and maybe not. Maybe Terry can give us the answer."
"Me?" Terry asked surprised.
"Yes," Joanne said as she softly caressed Terry's cheek. "It seems that somehow you can communicate with this ship. Maybe there's more to it than just doors opening if you want them to. Maybe it's time you tried to see if there's more. Try it; the worst that can happen is... nothing. Try asking if there are more corridors attached to this room. Asking in the same way like you did when you wanted those doors to open."
Terry smiled, took Joanne's hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles before trying what Joanne had suggested. After all, like the blonde had said, the worst thing that could happen was that nothing happened.
'Are there any other exits in this room; something hidden maybe?' Terry thought, pretty much sure that she would get no reaction, which was why she almost had a heart attack when there was actually a reaction.
'No.'
"Holy crap, did you hear that?"
"What?" Pam asked confused.
But as Pam asked, Terry already realized that the others wouldn't have heard the word, because she realized that she also didn't actually 'hear' the word. It was more like it was just in her mind, like it had passed the hearing part, and directly gone to the part where the brain registered what it had 'heard'. "Um, never mind; I'll tell you later. Uh, no, there aren't any other exits."
"Alright, then let's leave these people to think about what they want to do," Max said as he walked to the door.
Once they stood in the corridor and the door was closed again, Ben ordered the last two Bundar that were with them to guard the door and let nobody enter unless it was one of the group that was now standing in the corridor, and to also give that order to the other Bundar once they arrived.
"So, that's it? We're done here?" General Davidson asked.
"Looks like it," Max agreed, though now that it was over it seemed a bit anti-climatic to him as well.
"Alright," Watts said slowly. "In that case, can you tell me just who is in charge here now?"
"Um, actually, that's a good question. We had thought of setting up a committee of sorts, but I guess now that Pam's been accepted by the black troops as the A1, I would suggest that we have her in charge while we set up a new government here. Maybe,"
Max stopped talking when suddenly a little further down the corridor a door opened, but nobody entered the corridor. He walked to the door, only to see another empty corridor. He looked at the others, but nobody really knew what to make of it. With a shrug, Max entered, quickly followed by the rest. It soon became apparent that they were being guided to somewhere. Doors continued to open that would reveal yet another corridor. One of them was again a blue door so they knew that they once again were in the part of the ship that had been off limits to anyone but the Council and the queen. Then all of a sudden they stood before a door that didn't open.
Joanne pushed the plate that would normally open the door, but even that didn't help this time.
"You won't get that door open," Terry assured. "None of you will." Then all of a sudden the door opened.
"What the hell?" Joanne asked.
"Quite simple," Terry explained. "I asked for the door to be opened."
"That easy?"
"Yeah," Terry said before slowly admitting, "But, um, I also got a message. When Ben guessed back then that this ship had selected me for some reason; he was right. This ship, in fact all of them. All the mother ships, the scout ships, and even the escape pods no longer listen to the old queen; they now listen to me. In fact, we won't have to trial the old queen because the ships already did. Now that the connection between her and the ships has been severed, the old queen will die soon."
"I thought these ships needed a queen, then why are they listening to you?" Joanne asked.
Terry smiled. As brilliant as her lover was, sometimes she could be extremely dense. "Baby, you just said it yourself. These ships listen to the queen. The reason why they listen to me now is because they selected me as their new queen."
There was a long silence after that revelation, and finally it was General Watts that broke that silence. "Well, at least that answers who is in charge here now."
"Hot damn," Joanne finally said with a grin. "Look at that. My babe is a queen. Do I know how to pick 'em or what? Alright, let's get in there and see what this is all about."
Terry stopped Joanne by placing a hand against her chest. "I'm really sorry that I have to say this, but, um, no. That door opened for me; and for nobody else."
Looking at the generals she said, "I hope you believe me when I assure you that I'm not hiding anything from you, or from my friends here. I'll tell you later exactly what happened in there, but for now, at the moment, these ships are set up so that only a queen can enter this part of the ship. If any of you were to come with me, none of us would actually see what's in there; not even me."
"Alright, but we would appreciate a full report later," Watts said after a moment of hesitation.
"And you'll get it," Terry assured. "You're welcome to be present when I tell my friends what I found in there."
Looking at Joanne she added, "Sorry baby."
"I understand," Joanne assured.
"Thank you. Well, in that case. Excuse me as I go and see just what exactly I'll find in there."
Joanne placed her hand on Terry's arm and added, "Be safe."
"Don't worry, I am," Terry assured before entering the room and the door closed behind her.
"Well, um, I guess we can go out and see how the situation is there," Pam suggested, to which the others agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
Continued...