Sector 4 - Tellus
Darius Gray, Alyssa Ophidian
Darius rubbed his temple’s and let out an exhausted sigh. His head hurt, the same way it always did when he exerted himself.
The ringing wouldn’t stop. He should buy a sound-dampening system, something so that at least high-frequency sounds like gunshots wouldn’t echo so damn much. Or at least he could invest in some earplugs.
Not that it would matter if he wasn’t given time to put them in. He hadn’t been expecting the gunshots; they weren’t part of his original script, but he considered them a good improvisation under the circumstances. And Alyssa had followed along perfectly with her puppet master impersonation. She was a firebrand.
That’s what he loved about her.
The ringing finally diminished. He brushed the half-eaten pastry off the armrest, no longer hungry, and pressed a button on his communicator. “Send someone in to clean up this mess,” he said. “And two glasses of water.”
He didn’t wait for a response before clicking the communicator off again. He stretched and looked down at the Captain below. The man’s blood was pooling. Bits of his brain matter and gore from his skull were covering the remaining pair of Keepers, who were cowering. Darius walked down to them and eyed them slowly.
“I thought we weren’t going to kill him,” Darius said.
Alyssa shrugged. “Not originally.”
“I thought he would serve as an example. Send him back to the First Citizen properly cowed. A warning. What changed your mind?”
“He wasn’t worth the effort,” Alyssa replied. “He was a coward. It barely even took a suggestion to get him to do it.” She was sitting at the bottom of the stairs now, rubbing her temples. “He didn’t even fight back. I could have made him dance before shooting himself.”
“Did you make him wet himself?” Darius asked, glancing down and stepping around the mingling puddles.
Alyssa chuckled.
“No. He did that by himself.”
“You’re right, though. He was easy to read. I got all his passcodes and command sequences. Did we secure his ships?”
“The entire crew is being checked already. They surrendered almost immediately. Our logistics officer said he thinks fifty thousand soldiers might remain loyal after his ‘vetting’ process. It will take a few months, though, to accomplish.”
“So many?” Darius asked. He’d expected about twenty thousand to make it through his rigorous tests. He needed to stamp out problems. He didn’t like the idea of executing so many, but he needed to make sure that he only kept soldiers he could trust.
And that he made his point. The point was everything. These men might be loyal from pride or trust one day. In the meantime, fear would have to do.
“That’s just an estimate. He’ll give you final figures in a few weeks.”
“What about your sister? Is she making any progress? It would be nice to recruit some loyal troops and start causing real damage. I’m sure they would be more than willing to fight.”
Alyssa stood up and sidled over to Darius, wrapping her arms around him. “So, curious about my sister? Perhaps I can take your mind off dear Maven.”
“Perhaps,” Darius agreed.
Already a cleaning crew was assembling, waiting for them to back away from the mess.
“Can you believe he tried to offer us Keepers as a gift?”
“I thought everyone knew you hated them,” she said with a chuckle. “What an arrogant ass, to not even consider your history before coming here. What will you do with them?”
Darius half turned and cocked an eyebrow. “You have to ask?”
She shrugged. “It seems like such a waste to kill them.”
“It’s draconic, I know. But they terrify me. It’s a chilling reminder of what the Ministry had in store for me.”
“Murdering them seems a rather extreme punishment, though. They did nothing wrong.”
“You have a better alternative?”
“Let them live. They are simple. They will never bother you.”
He turned sharply toward the rest of the servants. “Clean these bodies up. I don’t want a speck of blood left,” he ordered. They sprang into action, grabbing the bodies and swiping mop heads across the floor. He turned to Alyssa. “They will always bother me. Send me a report on your sister.”
2
Alyssa glided down the hallway, struggling to keep her face and raging emotions under control. Sometimes she hated Darius. Hated the way he would ignore her. The way he treated her. The way he looked at her sister.
She walked with purpose, heading through the lobby and servant quarters to a war room they had prepared in the back. She passed several holographic projectors, each showing a different speech Darius had made in the last six years throughout Sector Four. Those speeches were getting common viewership even outside Sector Six.
She stepped into the war room and glanced around. One of her lieutenants was leaning over a table, his scraggly beard hanging from his chin and sweat pouring down his face as he typed furiously on a data pad. She doubted he’d worked so hard in his entire life.
“Adrian,” she said, her voice sharper than she intended. The man turned to her, a haggard look in his eyes.
“Yes, ma’am?” he asked, standing up and rubbing his forehead with a bandana.
“How are the preparations coming?”
“We have seized all four of Captain Queston’s ships and begun logging inventory. I must say the munitions depot is rather more stocked than anticipated. There are more than sixty-two class G light cruisers in the hangar of the Lady Falla alone. Which is regrettably more than we have pilots for, so we will have to begin training—”
“Sixty-two?”
Adrian looked mildly angry at the interruption but said nothing. “Yes, ma’am.”
“How big are they? Do they have warp capabilities?”
Adrian gestured in frustration. “Big. Several hundred tons apiece. And, yes, they can warp. They are docked inside the warship.”
“But they can also land on planets?”
He made a humph sound. Alyssa considered wiping the condescending look—the why are you asking stupid questions? —off Adrian’s face, but decided against it. Right now, she was angry, and if she let even an ounce of that frustration out to play, she might not be able to stop.
“Bring one down here.”
“Here?”
“Yes, here!” she said vehemently. “And if you question another order, I will force you to tear off your own testicles. Bring two, in fact. I want one stored close by. Look for a large abandoned building to hide it, and make sure no one can find it. The other will be my personal transportation. Mark sixty on the report.”
“Can you fly it?” Adrian asked. His eyes went wide as he realized what he’d said. “No, no, what I meant was, do I need to find a pilot to train you as well?”
“Yes, a pilot to train me would be excellent. Find one who is suitable. Both ships need personal crews to maintain them and keep them in peak condition, in case I have to—” she almost said flee “—leave the planet in a hurry.”
“Is there anything else you require?” Adrian asked.
Alyssa thought for a long moment and then let out a sigh, cursing under her breath. “Yes,” she said. “Send me an update on my bitch of a twin sister.”
