Chapter 9.
Three months later, Terry walked to the lake's shore where she knew she would find Pam. "Here you are," she stated the very obvious. She took a moment to look at the same beautiful view that Pam was enjoying.
"It's dinner time," Terry reminded. It had become a habit over time. The five days that were generally known as 'working days', the five friends would spend dinner together. They liked each other's company, and dinner was the perfect time to catch up for the people that normally spent their time doing different things.
"I know," Pam said softly. "You know, this is exactly one of those places that I dreamed about. Well, not literally, but a setting like this."
She took a deep breath before continuing. "Untouched nature, the smell of fresh water, trees, and grass in the air. And the perfect sunset. Directly over the lake the red light reflects as if it forms a road that leads you to the sun. And then every so often, if the light hits a wave just right, a golden sparkle like the road is littered with gems that reflect the light of the sun. It's all just... perfect. Don't you agree?"
"Absolutely. Joanne and I have spent many a night watching the sunset; simply because we can. It's indeed perfect. A simple, but good house just a little walk away from the water. While the person you love is holding you in their arms while you look at the setting sun. What more could you ask for? Joanne and I were here last night, as a matter of fact, and being here with her sure felt a lot like that heaven these people keep talking about."
The redhead sighed. "That's the only part that's missing for me; the person who loves to hold me in their arms."
"So, what are you going to do about it? I know that you like Max; a lot."
Pam snorted. "I tried, believe me, I tried. It's such a damn paradox. If I hadn't been honest with him, he wouldn't have trusted me and we would never have had a chance. But now that I have been honest he's scared of me. Oh, he likes me just fine as a friend. But as he admitted a few months ago, he's scared shitless to go to sleep and have me at his side. Me, the person that was capable of killing my own sister. Surely I could kill a lover just as easily, right?"
"That's plain stupid."
"Actually, I can't really blame him," Pam said softly. "Oh, I can curse him for being a moron. But the fact is, he's acting on his feelings... and isn't that exactly what I want; for him to act on his feelings? Small problem is, he's acting on his, for me, wrong feelings."
"There are other options, you know," Terry said hesitantly. "There are people that would love to be in a relationship with you and would have no trouble having you sleep besides them, as long as they could hold you."
Pam nodded her head a little. "I know. The problem with that, is that I don't want them like that. I want Max. I want him as a friend, which I have, but I also want him as a lover."
Pam looked at Terry for a moment before admitting, "When I'm horny and, you know, take care of it, he's right there in my mind, loving me. Damn I want those fantasies to be real."
"Then, there is another option," Terry said again hesitantly, not really sure if she should suggest her idea, but she did know for sure that she didn't want to see Pam like this. "You could be satisfied with what he's willing to give. Alright, so he's scared to literally sleep with you, but does this mean that he doesn't want to 'sleep' with you? If you're in so much need to make love to him; do so, and then afterwards come back to our hut and sleep in your own bed."
"Or on the couch," Pam added with a grin, despite the situation. "I lost count of how many times I walk up the stairs only to see that 'do not disturb' sign hanging on the doorknob."
That had started out as a little joke. All three of them, Pam, Terry, and Joanne, had found that they really liked living in the same hut and so that arrangement had never changed, even though Pam had been offered her own hut at one point. There was however the small problem that the upstairs had two beds, but that it was only one big room, with the exception of the little corridor where the stairs ended. After having been asked one too many time if she didn't mind giving Joanne and Terry some 'alone time', Pam had given them something that she had found in one of the draws in the hut, which was once a resort hut after all. A 'do not disturb' sign, normally left out for housekeeping.
Pam had told them that she really didn't mind sleeping on the couch, and that the next time they wanted some 'alone time' they should simply put the sign on the doorknob. It was a little arrangement that had worked out surprisingly well, and had gone a long way to ensuring that the three of them could live in one hut without getting on each other's nerves.
"Hey, just for the record, we sometimes do really use the 'alone time' to have just some alone time," Terry defended with fake hurt.
"The key word being sometimes," Pam grinned.
Terry grinned as well. "Well, yes. I do love Jo more than life itself, and I sure as hell like making love to her."
"Do you really think they exist?" Pam asked, changing the subject totally. "Hell and god, I mean. You use those words quite frequently."
"Neh. Just as you, I've been brought up with believing in the leaders, and that they guide us well. I lost my faith in the leaders, but I'm sure as hell not going to try looking for that faith in places I don't even know exist. I like my atheist existence just fine; it takes away so much of those 'because god said so' restrictions some of these people live by. But, as for why I use the words. I like them, they make great exclamation words. 'Hell no,' sounds a lot more impressive than 'no', and 'god yes' sounds a lot more impressive than 'right there'."
Pam grinned, knowing only too well what Terry was referring to.
They were quiet for a moment before Terry sighed and said, "I just wish that I could help you with your other problem."
"But you do help. With what you suggested, I think you have a point. Just because Max can't see himself as my lover, doesn't mean that we can't be that other kind of lovers. I want him. There have been too many times on that ship that I stayed away from people because of circumstances. Not now. Even if we don't become lovers in the romantic term, I still want to be with him. At least I'll still have that friend in him and can still tell him things that I could never tell anyone on the ship, fearing that they might report it. That, I already have, that we already do. I tell him about my dreams. And on top of that, I want him. Well, if I can't have it all, I might as well take that little bit extra that I don't have at the moment."
Terry took a deep breath and let it out again before giving the last step in the suggestion that she still wasn't sure about herself. "Look at it this way, the next time he makes you horny you can have the real thing take care of the problem instead of just the fantasy."
Pam smiled. "Ah, but sometimes fantasies are the perfect lover. But in this case, yeah I think that's the way to go. Besides, it might just be the thing needed to wear him down. Show him that it's alright when I'm at his side. But separate from that. You do help; you help me more than anyone else ever did. You're my best friend. Jo is only a hair behind you in being my best friend, but you're the one at the front. You know, Ben, Max, Jo, you; I've made so many great friends here, not even counting the other people I know and like. Until a few months ago my whole life was nothing more than receiving and giving orders. You know only too well what the black troops were treated like. Nobody trusted us, the only people we could get close to were other black troop members, but even there you would watch every word you said. My life changed so much, and I have you and Jo to thank for it. Terry, don't take this the wrong way, but, I love you."
Terry's whole face lit up at the words. She leaned over and placed a short, and innocent kiss on Pam's lips. "I'm not taking it the wrong way, and I love you too. Now, let's go eat. We have a busy day tomorrow."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
The next day the van stopped just far enough from the camp so that they wouldn't be seen. Max wished them good luck and got out, while Joanne stayed behind for a moment.
"Remember," she said to the three remaining people, but mainly looking at Terry. "According to our informants the Council still hasn't made it known that Pam is no longer part of the black troops. The informants guess, and I agree, that the council is taking its time to look for a replacement and haven't announced that Pam is gone, because that way people think that everything is in order and there's nothing to worry about. Having said that, if they do react differently than we expect, don't hesitate to give the signal. In that case we..."
"Jo," Terry interrupted gently. "We know the plan. We were there when it was thought up, we, in fact, brought up some ideas. Don't worry, everything will go just fine."
"I don't worry about the plan; I worry about my friends, and especially my lover. I can't help it, it's part of my job description you know? First rule of being a lover; unlimited allowance to worry."
Terry smiled and gave Jo a quick kiss on her cheek. "I love you, baby, and if I were in your place I would worry to. But I have faith in the plan and faith in us. This will work out. Now get out so that we can get going."
"Yes ma'am." Joanne got out of the car and looked at them a last time. Then she noticed something she thought needed mentioning. "Ben. You're looking too happy. I know that you're glad that you'll soon see your people again, but you're supposed to be a prisoner; having lost all hope now that you're captured."
Ben nodded his head in understanding. He closed his eyes while thinking about some situations in his life that could help him now. Within moments he looked like he hadn't just lost all hope, but also all will to live.
"That'll do," Joanne said. Before wishing them good luck a final time and closing the sliding door of the van.
Terry looked at the closed door for a moment with a smile, only to have that smile wiped off her face when she turned around and was looking directly at the A1 she had come to hate so much on the ship. Now Terry could understand some of the fear that Max talked about. Pam clearly was able to switch at a moment's notice. Who was to say that she wouldn't do the same to Max?
"Don't worry, I'm still here," Pam said with a warm voice, apparently understanding at least some of Terry's worries. "Time to get moving though."
Terry nodded her head in agreement as she moved behind the wheel. As she was driving to the camp, Pam placed some heavy handcuffs around Ben's wrists. The cuffs where very well prepared. With the naked eye it was impossible to see that they were altered, and it looked like the thick cuffs and the heavy chain between them was clearly strong enough to hold a Bundar. In reality the three inch wide cuffs had been sawn almost completely through; leaving only the edges and the outside untouched. The result was a set of cuffs strong enough to withstand a testing pull of a curious guard, but still weak enough that if needed, Ben with his strength could break free without any problem at all.
The guards motioned for Terry to stop, and as soon as they saw from Terry's red uniform that she was just a soldier, they started to throw some black troops superior attitude around. One of them barked that everyone had to get out of the van, which Terry did right away. Ben was next as the back doors were opened and he was pushed out; only barely able to stop himself from falling over. The guards were well used to seeing the occasional Bundar on the run being captured. They were just about to show Ben some of their hospitality when Pam stepped out of the van. The two guards recognized Pam immediately and quickly stood at attention. Pam on her turn had trouble placing their faces. Which was enough info by itself; it meant that they were unimportant and had some of the lower ranks in the black troops. Which explained also why they had the 'honor' of having guard duty at some boring camp where the threat was secure behind a fence instead of being given more interesting duties like patrolling, and controlling the nearby town.
"I have a guest for our summer camp," Pam said in her native language. Terry mentally gave Pam about a million bonus points for remembering something that could have blown their story with the very first word they spoke. As A1 Pam had never spoken English to any one; with the exception of the mandatory learning sessions that even she had to follow.
"Oh, I think we have a spot free for him," the guard that had barked at Terry said with a grin. "But, um, if I may ask, why are you escorting him? Normally this isn't a task someone of your importance is bothered with?"
"Are you questioning me?" Pam's voice had sounded light and dangerously friendly, and the guard knew that he was only one wrong answer away from being in a world of pain.
"No ma'am. Of course not. I'm just surprised that your precious time would be wasted by something like this."
Pam pretended to think for a moment. "Well, yes, you are correct, normally I wouldn't bother with nonsense like this. But this isn't just your average Bundar. He managed to kill a family member of one of the Council members when he was being arrested. Sufficing to say, that the Council member wanted a special treatment for him. Once this operation here starts I have the perfect job for our friend the Bundar here. But until that time we will keep him in the camp so that he can't cause more problems."
"Do you want us to put him in one of the special cells, ma'am?"
"What I want, is for you to open the gate so that I can continue with my task. Don't ask me more stupid questions, otherwise I might get... annoyed."
"Yes ma'am," the guard said before practically running off to open the gate as fast as he could.
"Get back in there," Pam said as she booted Ben in his behind so hard that he staggered forward a step.
"Do you think he'll let someone know that you're here?" Terry asked as she drove through the gate and into the camp.
"Why would he? First of all, he thinks that I'm about to give Ben a special treatment. Second of all, as I said, why would he? Why would he report that the A1 is here? Why would he have to report to someone lower than me that the person higher than the one getting the report decided to visit a camp? Sorry about the kick by the way, Ben."
"That's alright. It was quite... convincing," the Bundar grinned.
Terry drove to the building where the informants had said every Bundar with a higher rank was being kept. It took her actually ten minutes to reach the building. She shook her head a little at the idea. In this camp alone there were over 500,000 Bundar cramped together. So much that at all times some of them had to stay outside because there were simply not enough buildings to house them all. Then to think that this was only one of the camps. In total there were 9,000,000 Bundar in captivity.
'What a fighting force,' Pam thought, her mind on exactly the same topic as Terry's. 'And just because they are still mentally linked we could capture them all and herd them together like cattle.'
Terry parked the van beside the building and Ben was once again treated to some rough 'help' in getting out of the van. As she pushed Ben to the door of the building, she addressed the two guards.
"This is a special guest. He tried to escape on the way here, and I'll use him to show those beasts in there what we do to those that make such stupid mistakes."
Pam was quiet for a moment to see if the guards were buying her story; they were. In the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder what it was though. Even she knew that her story was not the best in the world. Even if every word of it had been true, that would still not make up for the extremely stupendous move of she and Terry entering a building full of potential... more than likely, hostile people while being totally unarmed. Martial arts were handy, but eventually you would run out of steam or be overpowered simply by fifty people piling on top of you. Yet the guards didn't even frown at the explanation. So was it her ability to act as the A1 she once was that convinced them? Or was it their upbringing? Since they were probably leaders they had been conditioned for hundreds of years that you didn't question orders; you followed them. It was probably also one of the reasons why the leaders didn't even know that they had an ability to influence people if they took the time to reason with them in a friendly setting. You didn't reason; you followed orders. And if you gave orders to lowers, you expected them to be followed no matter what.
'We sacrificed logical thinking with blind loyalty,' Pam thought. 'Which is better? I guess it all depends on your plans. The council needs people that do what they're told without thinking. But... why did it never affect me? I had beliefs, I did things out of conviction. I followed orders because it was part of the deal, but I never once thought that they were the right orders simply because it was someone of a higher level doing the ordering. In fact, I normally knew only too well if an order was right or wrong; I just didn't care as long as it meant that in the end I would end up being the A1. Why not me, we wasn't I pulled in by that spell?'
As Pam was thinking this, she never faltered in her act. She smirked before adding, "I want to enjoy my fun. I don't want to be disturbed. That building is off limits to everyone; starting right now."
"Yes ma'am," came the assurance as Pam pushed Ben forward and Terry made sure to close the door behind them. The building turned out to be not much more than a storehouse of sorts. There had to be at least 500 Bundar in the building, and not a single bed. The Bundar just had to sleep on the floor if they wanted to sleep. Terry saw a small bathroom block to the side of which she doubted that it could serve the needs of so many, for the rest there weren't even showers in the building.
"Look at this," Terry said in disbelief. "They just cramp them together like animals, and when the mining starts they'll be forced to work the entire day. I'm willing to bet that there isn't even a single doctor to be found in the entire camp. If they become sick they just have to work on until they die."
"This is no way of living," Pam agreed. "You, you have nothing to feel sorry about; you didn't even know this was happening. But I knew of the plans and the only lame excuse I can come up with is that it sure sounded a lot more clinical in theoretical plans."
In the meantime, Ben had been walking through the building trying to find the other tribe leader. Some of the Bundar had come closer to Terry and Pam, but still kept a safe distance. They had no idea what was going on. Someone had recognized Pam as the A1, but they simply couldn't fathom what was happening. The A1 had brought the second tribe's head inside, and then instead of keeping an eye on him she went and agreed with some soldier about the terrible living conditions the Bundar were being kept in.
As they walked through the building, Pam couldn't help but notice that Ben had been right in their planning sessions. Apparently perception also played a huge role with the Bundar. Ben had assured them that Terry would be safe, despite the fact that other high-ranking Bundar should also be able to recognize her as a descendent of the queen. They should, but they wouldn't. Not even if she had the words tattooed on her forehead. Because Terry was walking between the Bundar they would never recognize her as a descendent of the queen simply because they all knew that a descendent of the queen would never be able to freely place herself in such a position of potential risk.
Pam and Terry joined Ben, who by now had removed his handcuffs and handed them to Pam who took them without a word, or apparently being even surprised about the fact that he had been able to break them in the first place. It was clear to see for the Bundar that there was some kind of connection between their tribe's leader, the soldier, and the A1.
Then they saw a man lying in a corner of the building. He was lying on a pile of blankets, and Terry knew immediately that this was the man they were looking for. Simply from the fact that a lot of Bundar had given up the one blanket that they had gotten, all so that the man could lie in a little comfort. Unfortunately Terry could also see that the man was clearly very sick. Ben kneeled on one knee at the man's side and they started to talk in their native language.
Pam couldn't understand the words, but she could clearly see the reactions. First she saw sadness when the sick man thought that Ben was captured as well. Then she saw disbelief when Ben told him that Pam and Terry had joined the Resistance, just like Ben himself. Then there was hope on a lot of the Bundar's faces when they realized that this meant that the ritual could be performed. Then Pam saw something she didn't like at all. The man was shaking his head; clearly the man was declining to perform the ritual.
"And?" Pam asked when Ben moved away from the man's side to join Pam and Terry again.
"He is refusing to perform the ritual." Ben said, confirming Pam's guess.
"Why?" Pam asked in disbelief. "Performing the ritual means freeing his people, doesn't he want that?"
Ben dipped his head a little. "I think I misspoke. What I mean is not that he isn't willing to perform the ritual; it's that he's not able to. He is sick, and the ritual is a very demanding process. If he were to die in the ritual there would be no way to break the connection between him and me, and this would result in us both dying."
"Then proclaim someone else tribe's leader," Pam stated the, in her mind, very obvious.
"That won't work. The thing is that only the tribe leaders know the words that have to be spoken during the ritual. It takes years to learn the words, and just as important, to learn the pronunciation of the words. Just one word pronounced wrong, or even just said out of order, will destroy the ritual. Pam, there's a reason why this is done by the tribes leaders who learned for years as apprentices how to do the jobs a tribe leader has to do. If appointing a new tribe leader was that easy, I would have been replaced long ago by one of my tribe's members that are here and the ritual would have been performed then."
It was then that Terry came a little closer. She had the same feeling that she had when she knew 'somehow' how to convince Ben that she was the one. "Ben, I know how to solve this problem, I have to talk to him."
Ben shook his head a little. "I'm afraid I can't permit that. He doesn't want to talk to either of you. He doesn't trust you and doesn't want to have anything to do with you. I have to respect that wish."
"Ben, believe me, it's in all our interest that I talk to him," Terry suddenly said in Ben's native language.
A collective gasp went through the building, right before it became so quiet that the proverbial pin dropped onto the floor would have been heard. All the Bundar were thinking the same; this was impossible. No human should be able to speak the Bundar language. It was so difficult to pronounce for humans that no human should be able to speak three words without making a mistake.
The sick Bundar had sat up when he had heard Terry talking and now waved her closer.
"Who taught you our language, did Ben teach you?" he asked, even though he knew that this was impossible.
"No, I just somehow know. It's weird, when Ben told us his name and his position as tribe leader, I didn't understand him. In fact, when you were talking to him a moment ago, I couldn't understand you two either. But as soon as he told us that you refused to talk to us it... it was just like a block was lifted and I just somehow 'knew' your language. There's just 'something' that makes me know things when I need to know them, like how I had to give Ben the chance to kill me to prove that I was the descendant of the queen that would bring the change."
"Yes, I did see the traces of the lineage in your face, but I dismissed it since you were standing between us. But it really doesn't matter anyway. It doesn't really change a single thing about the fact that I'm too weak to perform the ritual," the Bundar said, as he already felt the strength leaving him that was given to him by the surprise of hearing Terry speak in his language.
"You can, with my help," Terry disagreed.
"Just because you know our language, still doesn't mean that you know the words of the ritual."
"But I do. More than that; I even know in which order to speak them."
"Impossible."
Terry knew that there was only one way she could convince the sick Bundar and started to recite the words.
As this was going on, Pam had leaned against the wall taking it all in, even though she didn't understand a word of what was being said. She was pondering how Terry could possible know all of this, and just what she was changing into. For the fact that Terry was changing had been clear to Pam for some time now. Pam looked at Terry as she was talking to the sick Bundar and had to smile. She wasn't worried though. Somehow she knew that Terry the person would never change, just that some of her abilities were changing. Pam guessed that Terry was slowly, but surely, accepting all that she was. All the things that Ben had mentioned; the normal person, with the leader abilities, and the queen's abilities on top of it. The changes had made Terry a fuller person somehow.
She was still the person that could joke, and that Pam could do the 'girl talk' with. She was still the person that would play with Joanne to the point that the blonde would simply ask for mercy regardless of who was around them and would hear her plead for what seemed to be no reason at all. And yet, she was also the person that could spend hours talking with Ben about theoretical and philosophical things that frankly sent Pam's head spinning, and that while the redhead had the intelligence that had made it possible for her to become the A1 at some point.
"Stop," the Bundar almost shouted. "The words are only allowed to be said in order with more than fourteen words in a row in the ritual."
"I know... somehow... but I thought that this was the best and quickest way to convince you. The ritual has to be performed now, or else all will be lost for your people. We two have to form a connection so that I can take your place if needed."
"And you think you can form such a connection with me?"
"Without a doubt," Terry said right away before she could even think about whether she really would know how to do this.
The man looked at Terry in silence for a moment before finally nodding. "In that case, we indeed don't have a minute to lose."
He moved to sit in front of the pile of blankets, gesturing for Ben to sit in front of him. While Terry took a kneeling position behind him on the pile of blankets so that her head was just above that of the sick Bundar. He started to recite some words and Terry started to do the same. After having recited the same words several times they were now both in time as they stopped with the recitation at the exact same moment. The man nodded to Ben and now the three of them started to recite different words. It only took seconds before Pam noticed a difference starting to form.
There suddenly was an atmosphere in the building that could only be described as mythical. She noticed that more and more of the Bundar started to go into some kind of trance, and mere moments later she felt herself being sucked into that same trance. The ritual became more and more intense, and it wasn't long before Pam felt herself becoming one with the Bundar. She could feel what they felt, and they could feel what she felt. All the Bundar could feel how the death of the little girl had cut Pam deeply in her soul, and thereby making her realize that she actually had a soul at all. While Pam could feel how freedom was one of the most important things to the Bundar, and that they were gladly willing to die to ensure that freedom for others.
Then suddenly something changed and Pam could feel how the connection between the Bundar was becoming weaker. It was still there, but clearly getting weaker with every passing moment. She looked at Terry to see what was going on, only to see that the sick Bundar in front of the brunette was close to dying. It had to be a matter of seconds at most... which it was. It was only Terry's hold on the body that kept the Bundar from falling over. And yet, despite that, Pam could still feel his presence. Terry leaned the body of the Bundar against her and took over the ritual.
Pam could clearly feel Terry's strength. Where before the link was getting weaker, now it seemed to double in power. Somehow Pam knew that all the Bundar of these two tribes were participating in the ritual; regardless of where they were in the universe.
'What a noble people,' Pam thought as the mixing of feelings between the Bundar continued in full force. Now she finally understood what honor meant to these people. It was more than could ever be described with mere words. She now knew that if a Bundar said something and gave its word, he or she would do everything in their power to keep that word. Everything; including dying. Slowly Pam felt the connection between the Bundar change. It was still there, just different. Where before it prevented the Bundar from going all out in battle, now it would make them even stronger. Now they were one people, one people that would do anything to protect their people and stop any threat there might be to their people.
Pam now understood that the reason that she was pulled into this ritual was because she was literally standing right besides its source. She realized that as a result of her being part of the ritual, the Bundar now saw her as one of them. She now knew that no matter what would come in her life, she would never be alone again. Whenever she would look over her shoulder to see if someone was at her back, she would now see a whole people standing there ready and willing to help her no matter what the odds. And just as importantly, the Bundar knew that Pam would offer them the exact same thing.
And then, just like that, it was over. The connection had changed. It was still there, but now it was more like a connection between warrior comrades that would help each other, and fight for each other, no matter what the odds. Pam felt that now, despite her training, she would have a tough time against a Bundar. With their strength, and now the ability to ignore pain, they truly were those formidable warriors the Council had always talked about. But unlike the Council, Pan knew that she didn't have to worry. She was now one of them; she belonged to their people now.
Even though the ritual was over, Pam had the feeling that there was still more to come. Terry still wasn't herself; she was still in a trance, and the connection between her and the now dead Bundar still existed. Terry called Ben by his real name before changing to English so that that Pam could understand them. She knew that this wasn't a problem for the Bundar, since they all had learned English just like Pam and Terry had on their journey to Earth. But as Terry spoke, Pam could hear from her voice that it was actually still the old man speaking.
"There is still a difficult road ahead of us. We don't have the time to appoint a new leader for my tribe and teach him all that is needed to be a tribe leader. I will soon be gone and normally Ben would then teach my replacement the words needed for the ritual. But that is not needed now; we have a second person that knows the ritual. With the secrets of the ritual being assured, that only leaves finding a replacement for me. Ben, I know it's not standard, but my will is that choosing a replacement for me is postponed until this conflict is over. Until that time I want you to lead both our tribes. The only condition I set is that a replacement for me is chosen within a week after this conflict ends."
Ben thought about it for a moment, wondering if he was ready to lead both tribes; with being fair to both tribes members. When he had assured himself that he could do this, he nodded his agreement.
"Good. Then my task here is done. Be well, and lead my people to victory."
And with those lasts words, the Bundar was gone and Terry was finally herself again. Herself, with one difference. Just like Pam, Terry was now a part of the Bundar.
"We really need to get out of here now," Terry said as she stood up. "I have a feeling that those guards are starting to wonder what we've been doing in here for so long."
Ben agreed and used his mental link to let the Bundar in the camp know what was planned next. Then he walked to the door, Terry and Pam right behind him. Once he left the building the guards came running right away to beat the stupid Bundar back into the building. Ben didn't even slow down to take care of them. With his newly freed strength he simply pushed the two guards aside; sending them flying several feet through the air. As this was going on, the Bundar that had been outside the buildings had all rushed to the gates as one. The guards had opened fire, but there were too many of them. Soon the guards were out of bullets and the tide that were the Bundar still kept coming.
Terry, Pam, and Ben, got back into the van and slowly drove to the exit where according to plan Joanne and Max should be waiting. As they drove, they past the dead bodies of the Bundar that had been the first; the ones that offered their lives so that the others could take out the guards.
Ben noticed how both women were looking at the dead. "We may be stronger now, but we still aren't bullet proof. They will get the death ritual, and from now on always be known as heroes of our people."
Once at the gate, Terry stopped and they took a moment to explain to Max and Joanne that Ben now was the leader of all Bundar on Earth.
"Alright then, now what?" Max asked.
"With us?" Ben asked to clarify. "Nothing really changes. I am still a member of this Resistance, still fully prepared to do whatever it takes to beat the queen and her puppets. It's just that now I can talk for all the Bundar on Earth. My question however is; what are we going to do with these camps? It will take time to destroy them and I don't really want to hang around here too long."
Max had already thought of that. "We'll leave the camps untouched for now. The off-worlders will take them again, and improve on them; make them more secure, assuming that they'll quickly have captured you all again. Then when this conflict is over we ourselves will need places to keep people while we investigate what possible crimes they have committed, and how much potential prison time they'll have to serve. We'll be able to use those camps very nicely then."
Max looked around him at the Bundar that were milling about. Now that they had escaped they didn't really know what to do next. "But for now, you were right; we have little time. The off-worlders will soon start to show up when they notice that they can't contact their camps anymore. For now, let's get your people moving to those hideouts I talked about. Once the dust settles and the roadblocks are lifted, we can then regroup them. I just had contact with the other section commanders and in the other camps things went pretty much like they did here."
"Alright," Ben agreed, mostly to affirm the situation now as leader of all Bundar, since after all, he had been part of the original planning and knew the plan. "Just remember one thing though. Now that we've performed the ritual, there is a time limit in which we have to act. In about half a year the connection between us Bundar will start to change again and we will go back to the way we were."
"I don't think that will be a problem," Max assured. "I think that this will all be over in half a year; one way or another."
Ben noted with some satisfaction that the planning had paid off. His people were slowly but surely being moved away on busses and trucks, but most of them were simply led away on foot to safe havens in the area. Ben knew they would be safe there. They weren't kept in houses amongst the population, where there was always a chance that someone would talk; for whatever reason. Instead they would be housed in a network of underground tunnels that had been created with Tunnel Boring Machines made of Sentient Metal.
Ben had to chuckle. Yet another thing that would come back to haunt the council. When the qualities of Sentient Metal became known amongst machine builders, of lot of them turned to use it; like the people that created the Tunnel Boring Machines for the biggest subterranean project ever launched in the U.S. The fact that spaces between moving parts made of Sentient Metal could be made so small that not even a grain of sand could pass through it, and the fact that it was the hardest metal to be found, and on top of that didn't really suffer from wear and tear if you treated it right, had meant that it was perfect for the TBM machines. TBMs that had been created for urban plans all over the country. Since the economy had been booming so much before the war, and new innovations had been presented, a lot of cities had decided that this was the perfect time to put a lot of their main roads in the city underground in big tunnels.
Exactly for those same reasons the Council could also not oppose the plans to better the city. After all, they were supposed to bring all that was good; leaving cities polluted and congested didn't make you any points there. So instead the council had opted to prolong the creation of the tunnel systems by installing urban planning boards on a localized level. Which basically meant that individual boards were fighting each other for who would get the best, and the first, and the fastest, and so on. People were arguing and discussing while in the mean time TBMs were being built with nowhere to go. And 'just' when the time came to actually use the machines, the government, on order of the council, had finally scrapped the whole deal. Stating that the money needed for the project was needed to prepare for the coming war with the Bundar. But that after the war the tunnel projects would start up again, really.
The result was that the TBM's had been sitting in some storage buildings. Rusting away, in a proverbial way since Sentient Metal didn't actually rust. Then, later when the Resistance was planning on where to hide the Bundar, one of the people at the table said that he knew someone that knew someone, that knew someone else, that had been talking about a waste of money of having TBMs stand around and doing nothing. And that also happen to know just where exactly those TBMs were standing. Contacts were made, and soon not only had the resistance access to TBMs, but even the crews that knew how to operate them.
The real reason for not allowing the plans to have new tunnels under cities had been told to their A1; Pam, who had explained it to the rest once the TBMs had been brought up. The simple reason was that the Council didn't want a lot of extra tunnels under the cities. Sure they were handy in normal city life, but they were very hard to control once you were trying to turn a city into a city wide forced labor camp.
And to top it all off, the TBMs hadn't been guarded or kept track of to see if they were still where they had once been placed. After all, who would steal a machine bigger than a house? And even if you did steal it, nobody would know how to operate them... Unless you just happen to know the right person who knew how to contact the crews of those TBMs.
But to be fair, Ben could see how the Council would not expect this. After all, who would ever expect that TBMs would be used by the Resistance? That was the one mistake that the Council had been making from the beginning. Even after Joanne's explanation and warnings, the Council had always continued to see the Resistance as a bunch of idiots who wanted guns to feel safe. They never realized that this Resistance was just as comfortable while sitting in a meeting, discussing things, and along the way persuading very smart people to help them. That this Resistance was just at home with a clipboard in its hand while discussing with engineers how building a tunnel was also resisting.
But they were, and in fact, at that very moment the machines were already packed away again; ready and waiting to be moved to any other place where they might be needed. And since contacts had been used that wanted to help, which had resulted in machines that weren't used anyway just... disappearing, nobody had pointed it out. No claims had been made. Nobody had reported the machines stolen or destroyed. As a result of this the Council assumed that the machines were still where they had been stored, and there was nothing to make a connection. Nothing to make a wondering Council member think, 'wait a minute, maybe they used those machines that disappeared last month'.
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Once back at the camp a meeting was held to determine on how to precede from there. The meeting room was quite full. Besides Max, Ben, Joanne, Terry, and Pam, there also happened to be two section heads that had overseen the rescue of the Bundar at other camps and that had been within driving distance to join the meeting. Lastly there were two Bundar; the second in command of both tribes, now both under Ben's direct command.
"So I think that now the time has come for a frontal assault," Max said at the end of his summery. "We focus on those ships so that we can take out the council and shake up their power pyramid by removing its top. Does anyone have a different suggestion, or even a whole different plan? I'm open to suggestions."
He looked across the room and let his eyes settle of Joanne when he saw the frown on her face. "Jo, you think otherwise?"
"Well," Joanne said slowly, still thinking about the suggestion. As she did so she was absently tapping on the table with the pen she had been using. "My first inclination was to agree with you, but the more I think about it, the more I get the feeling that we would be kicking ourselves in the ass. True, you're absolutely right; if we can take out the council then this fight is over. This especially because of that pyramid they created. Get rid of the top and you as the new top can tell the rest of the pyramid what to do. Good plan, and with the Bundar now at our side we have a fighting force we could only dream of before. We now have the power we need to overpower the black troops and the others that will put up a fight, so it all sounds good."
For a moment, Max's attention was drawn by the tapping pen, but when Joanne stopped speaking he merely asked 'but,' knowing only too well that there indeed had to be a 'but'.
"But, we can't forget those ships. Ever since the off-worlders landed, the Council has never left those ships. Let's for a moment ignore the most simplest of solutions; that they would simply start the ships and fly to another location. Let's assume that whatever is affecting the scout ships and is preventing them from flying is affecting the mother ships as well. If we were to focus all of our troops at those ships, and they just stay happily in the ships. They'll have more than enough time to call all their forces that are somewhere else on Earth in for support and close us in. Then we would be the ones trapped. All they would need to do then is send over some bombers to drop some bombs on us and their problem would be solved."
Max nodded his agreement, he had indeed forgotten about those damn ships. It was so normal now for the off-worlders to use the former Earth army material that he had totally forgotten that the off-worlders' ships were in a whole different league.
"But would they be willing to place themselves and their people in such a danger?" one of the other section commanders asked.
"What danger?" Joanne wondered.
"Well, if they drop bombs on us if we're surrounding the ships, they're bound to hit their own ships as well."
"And why would they care?" Joanne asked. "You seem to forget that those ships are made of Sentient Metal. We don't have anything that will get through those hulls; not even the former army bombs. I did a lot of research into the Sentient Metal back when I thought that it was the perfect instant gratification gift. My educated guess is that even a precisely aimed nuke would only get through the hull itself. After that the blast then would be stopped by the normal walls and floors in the ship; all made of the same Sentient Metal as the hull, and all just as strong. And an added problem then is that the ship's Artificial Intelligence would then send the commands needed to the Sentient Metal's sensors that it repairs itself. By the time we could actually reach the hole, not counting that we would be exposing ourselves to radiation, the hole would have sealed itself again. Not, that I think of or condone the use of, such weapons. After all, we want to save Earth; not destroy it in the process."
The section commander leaned back a little in his chair. "You're right. I forgot all about that metal. Back in my part of the woods we don't use the Sentient Metal that much; we're a bit too old fashioned for that. We don't like change. You never know what change will bring."
He looked around the table before adding, "I mean, before you know it you'll be sitting at a table with a bunch of aliens."
The dry remark had the desired effect and sent everyone, including said aliens, into a fit of laughter.
"Alright, Joanne, you have some good points," Max said before asking, "Now, do you also have some good points on how to deal with it?"
"Well, I actually think that those ships are only the secondary concern. The thing we focus on, yes, but while we do so we take care of something much more important. To begin we have to contact the Resistances in other countries and ask them to keep the forces that are there busy, so that no reinforcements can come to the aid of the Council from there. But most of the work has to be done here. Because the Council decided to land the ships here in the U.S., they made our country the focus point, with having enough forces in other countries to control them if needed. Here the density of forces is much higher. We have to divide our forces accordingly. As you know, there's a main base in every state, and three smaller bases as well. The smaller bases aren't a real problem. We just have to send some forces there with Rocket Propelled Grenades, and the forces needed to protect them from attacks from the base. The base itself has to be left alone. But when an airplane even just starts to taxi, or even a simple car tries to leave the base, the RPG's have to be used to persuade them that they're better off not to try that. With... about 300 or 400 troops per base we should be able to keep it under control without ever setting a single foot on base grounds."
"That could work," Max agreed.
"The main bases are a different story though," Joanne reminded. "There they have the heavy material stored, including the material that can easily wipe our forces out. There we have to use Pam's troops and the Bundar. They have to forcibly occupy the basses... at any cost. They have to surprise the people on the base and take control before the people in the base can react and use their weapons. Just as importantly, this has to happen all over the country at exactly the same time so that no one base can come to the rescue of another. We can ignore the space ships all in all. We obviously have to send troops there as well to lay down some fire so that no ground troops can leave the ships."
"Those ships are armed," Terry reminded.
"They are," Joanne agreed. "But because they're landed they still only have a limited range. The weapons they have are more geared to ships flying around and shooting at stuff. Strong and powerful weapons that can destroy things in one hit, but range wise not that impressive. Let's say that two hundred miles around the ships are a danger area; that's my educated guess. And since they are located in the Colorado Plateau desert anyway..."
She shrugged to indicate that all in all she didn't worry too much about the ship's own weapons. Then she continued. "We're in luck, the scout ships don't work so they can't use those to come to the help of their troops. This leaves taking off with the mother ships, if they still work. But those aren't built for ground attacks or maneuvering in atmosphere. All they can really do in an atmosphere is land the ships and take off again."
"But that still leaves the problem of the Council contacting troops in other countries and having them come in for help," the section commander that had spoken up before said. "I mean, sure, I get the fact that this is why the resistances in other countries have to keep them busy. But keeping busy won't last forever."
"I know," Joanne agreed. "That's why I suggested that the smaller bases will be left alone. Once we have control over them and the army material inside, the council can call in help from the other countries all they want. Again, we're damn lucky that the scout ships don't work. The scout ships, made of the Sentient Metal, wouldn't even get scratched by a RPG or a SAM rocket. But since the scout ships don't work they need to use Earth material, and the Council is free to let them come with that, once we have the control again over the U.S. army material like the fighter jets."
"What good are planes without pilots? Ever since their scout ships stopped working they started to use Earth planes; flying them themselves and sending the pilots home, just like the rest of the army by the way," the section commander reminded.
Joanne grinned. "Ah, but just because they got booted doesn't mean that they suddenly don't know how to fly planes anymore. It just means that they haven't been training for about a year now."
"That's why you suggested that we keep track of the fired army members, and keep a list of their addresses," Max noted. "I thought that you just wanted that to check up on people that were trying to get into contact with the Resistance to join us."
"Well, yes, that's what I wanted the list for to begin with. I just realized that that's not the only thing we can use the list for. But there's a problem. If we do try to get the former soldiers help, we need to put a lot of work into it. We'll have to make it look like we, well, went insane and are killing off the former soldiers so that they can't be used against us. If we don't do that, and the Council notices that former army members start disappearing, they might just decide to kill the rest that haven't disappeared yet so that we can't get to them. But if we make it seem that we're killing the former army members so that the Council can't use them against us, the Council might actually sit back and give us a little more time. This because we, they think, are taking care of the former army and by the time the Council starts enslaving us, there won't be a former army left to put up a fight."
"I could see them thinking that," Pam spoke up. "But there will come a time that the Council will act regardless, simply because we're 'killing off' too many people that could be used as slaves. I would suggest focusing on one group, let's say the air force. We have an army now, and we won't be fighting on the sea anyway. If we focus on that one group which exists out of the pilots, and the people needed for support. Then the Council will indeed think that we're killing them so that the air force can't be used against us. Which will be fine with the Council for the reason you just mentioned. On top of that, they'll not mind because they think that they now have their own pilots trained to fly the planes anyway."
"Wouldn't it be easier to only make the people 'disappear' that can't be trusted?" the section commander asked reasonably. "That would cut down severely on the number of people we 'kill' and therefore a lot less funerals, which in turn means a lot less reasons for the Council to start looking for us."
Pam shook her head. "I wish we could do that, but we can't. As you said, it would be so much easier. We could simply approach them, ask for help and tell them to go on with their daily life until the day we need them. But... can you trust every single one of the people we approach? Can you be sure that not a single one of them will think that we are lying and goes to the authorities, and indirectly to the Council? Or how about the possibility that they might believe us but actually like the idea of a slave race? Can you guarantee that not a single one of them will go to the Council and try to make a deal? Tell them what our plan is, where to find us, all in exchange for, when the time comes, they as a regular human getting... say, Texas... as a reward for their help?"
She shook her heads before answering her own question. "You can't. You can't even be sure of that with the people in this room. The only reason we are pretty sure that we can trust the Resistance members we now have is because of nothing else than the fact that we're still here proves that nobody talked. But now imagine if we approach hundreds of former army people, maybe thousands. Are you certain that not a single one of them would be willing to sell us out? Sell the entire world out? In exchange for becoming king or queen of their little part of Earth? But alright, let's say you can even trust them. Can you also trust their partners? Tell me, are you married; does your wife know what you do?"
"She does; she's a Resistance member as well, but only localized," The section commander said. "I see where you're going. Because beside her my brother and my wife's sister also know, and her parents. They don't know exactly what I do, but they know that I'm part of the Resistance. And they never had a problem with that because until now the Resistance has always been seen as... well, somewhat of a hobby of mine. Just like in the past some people had bomb shelters just in case there might be a war some day. But if you were to ask me if I can vouch for all of them... I'm not sure about my sister in law. I love her as family, as if she were my own sister, but she has expensive tastes. And an offer to be the ruler over an area the size of Texas, to be able to take whatever she wants, to have personal servants..."
He let his words trail off before shrugging. "I don't know."
"So, we have to make sure that nobody gets wind of our plan," Pam pointed out.
"We'll have to lie to those people though, at least in the beginning," Terry noted out. "We'll have to tell them that they have a free choice of joining us, or not. But that won't be true, completely. Once we've approached them we can't leave them be if they don't want to join. Even if they don't know about the plan or not even talk to the Council, just the fact that we approached them and didn't kill some of them will warn the Council that we're planning something that involves the air force. To keep up the elusion we have to take all of them; including the ones that don't want to join. We'll have to keep them imprisoned until the conflict is over. I don't like that part at all."
"If they don't want to help us save the world, then they just have to be happy with being imprisoned while we ourselves save the world," Max said resolutely. "But I think that once the situation is explained to them, most of them will be burning to join us."
"It's a bit more complex than that," Terry pointed out. "If we want to pull this off we have to make the elusion complete. Funerals will have to be held, families will have to act like their loved one is dead."
"We could approach the families," Pam suggested. "We don't tell them who we are, or where their family member is, or not even actually tell them that this family member is still alive. But what we do is give them some private information that only their loved one could know. And then tell them something like that their loved one 'still' loves them very much, but that it's of paramount importance that the funeral continues."
"We could do that," Max agreed after thinking about it for a moment. "Alright, let's consider what we just discussed the working plan for now then. Anyone have any objection?"
No objection was forthcoming and so Max continued. "Alright, then that's it for now. Tomorrow Joanne, Terry, Ben, Pam, and me, will go over that list and see who we need."
With that, the meeting was over and people started to leave the building one by one, some lingering a bit to talk a little more.
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Continued...