Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (34 page)

Trent shifted uncomfortably in the stool by
the entrance of medical bay one, watching the PDU displaying the
promenade just beyond.

“I wonder what I’ll do now,” he sighed,
thinking back to the events of the past few days.

His second trial
...they called it an
interview
...was almost worst then the first. It appeared the
majority of the TSB crewmen present thought him in the wrong,
wanting to believe the words of Sir Simwa and the other nobles over
that of a lowly Earthling. Multiple times during his narrative he
was interrupted and called a liar, many not believing his story,
even though the owner of the monotone voice, called a Program by
Taku, said clearly that they were true. In the end, most walked
away in disbelief, but a few had approached, mostly junior
officers, and shook his hand, providing him with kind words.

His attempts to find his own truth, namely
which corporation was responsible for this experiment, fell on deaf
ears. Everyone that would talk to him kept up the same story. They
were part of the Terra Space Battalion, which was an autonomous
organization within a gigantic intergalactic alliance, or empire,
no one certain which was correct, called the New Universal
Empirical Human Alliance, or NHA for short. Currently, the vast
majority of TSB crewmen and officers were in space, defected to Sir
Simwa, or prisoners...locked in freight storage facility five.

From what information Trent could glean, Sir
Simwa was the noble son of a local earl, and the NHA representative
to the TSB, that had much sway with a ruling noble named Duke
Zehman, the head of the Hulk'Zif Duchy. Sir Simwa had started a
rumor after the enlistment trial fiasco claiming that Trent had
attacked and dishonored him, while Knight Captain Quinn and
Vice-Commander Daiyu had joined the attempted murder. Trent knew
all this to be lies, but he noticed most of the TSB crewmen seemed
to trust and respect Sir Simwa implicitly, he guessed because of
his noble birth more than his actions.

After the majority of TSB personnel had left
Earth, Sir Simwa and his party of about 50 other minor nobles had
stormed the command and control center and taken over the base in
the name of the NHA. From what Taku had explained, only about 200
TSB personnel, not including the children in the orphanage, were
left in TSB Earth Base at the time and about half sided with Sir
Simwa. The loyal TSB personnel that escaped were forced to
fortify
the medical bay and fight off
raids by the nobles, their personal guards, and the traitorous TSB
crewmen.

In an interesting move, Taku found a way to
transmit Trent's interview throughout the entire base, with the
Program's monotone voice guarantying that everything he said was
true. This had caused a few defections of non-nobles, but that
quickly ended when Sir Simwa announced that it was all a
fabrication and should not be believed. About a day had passed
since then and Trent had been assigned guard duty, still unsure of
exactly what was going on. He heard footsteps approaching and his
hand instinctively went to his holster.

“I'm sorry about yesterday,” TSB Private
Jan'Lus approached cautiously, “I saw the logs, I have trouble
believing that Sir Simwa would lie. He is such a great and
honorable man,” her words didn’t match her apology.

“Well,” Trent squinted, cautiously deciding
to take her words for face value, “everyone makes mistakes. It's
hard to judge a man's true character by his words and birth alone.”
Jan’Lus’s eyes flashed, but quickly returned to normal.

“He must have a reason for all this. I'm from
his father's earldom and they have been nothing but kind to all
their people, common or petty alike,” explained Jan'Lus as she sat
herself about a meter away from Trent on the floor.

“If you don't mind me asking,” he started,
her words raising a few questions, “why didn’t you defect with the
others who are loyal to Sir Simwa?” she flashed a snarl, and Trent
could feel the heat of her stare.

“I did. The only reason I was here was to try
to find information on your location. Unfortunately, I hesitated,”
she let her anger cool as if admitting that she was a traitor had
been all she needed.

“You know,” Trent sighed, “my life has been a
load a crap for as long as I can remember. Then, due to some
strange coincidence, I end up here, being hated for being in the
wrong place at the wrong time,” his heart started racing, “and let
me tell you this. I will kill this Sir Simwa,” The declaration came
to him from some deep, dark place, brought on by a sudden rush of
pure hatred at the memory of the man who tried to kill him and
Daiyu in cold blood. Jan'Lus's jaw dropped, glaring at him in
disbelief.

“You can't kill a noble! It's...it’s wrong!”
she shouted, stumbling to her feet. A feeling had taken him over.
The same feeling that burst forth when in danger, the instinct to
move with no emotion...but now he was in complete control.

“Are you going to try to stop me?” he asked,
emotionless. Jan'Lus continued to stare, turning her head
side-to-side to see if anyone else was present.

“If you do it, Duke Zehman will have your
head!” she shouted like a child, using her words as a weapon.

“Then I will kill Duke Zehman as well,” he
told, the urge for revenge on all those who had harmed him boiling
within.

“That's blasphemy! Even stating such words
are a death sentence!” she continued to scream. Trent snapped. He
raised his weapon, which he learned was called a laser arc,
pointing it at Jan'Lus's head. She froze, her face draining to a
pale white.

“I will kill anyone who tries to stop me.
This man you love tried to kill me in cold blood, then tried to
kill Vice-Commander Daiyu while she was unconscious on the floor.
All because he thought I was what...trash...that I didn’t deserve
to live because of my birth,” he trembled, his voice like a
freezing blizzard mixing with a raging volcano, full of his
swirling emotions and rage. He steadied his breath, staring
wide-eyed at the trembling woman, preparing to fire.

Don’t do it, Trent,
a voice of reason
appeared within the back of his mind, one he'd never heard
before.

Why? Why shouldn’t I kill her?
Trent
shouted in response. He’d finally had enough, all his life they'd
walked all over him, people like Jan'Lus.

Just don’t kill her, please Trent
, the
voice replied calmly, a gentle voice, a woman's voice. Trent
blinked with confusion, an image of a woman flashing in his mind’s
eye, seeming to be born of his BC node....or so he thought. He felt
his anger release, then subside.

Trent walked over to the door, still aiming
his laser arc at Jan'Lus, unhooked the bar and swung it open.

“Go.” That's all he needed to say. She
sprinted out of the medical bay like the wind. Trent didn't even
watch her leave as he closed and barred the door behind her,
stumbling back over to his stool, trembling uncontrollably.

“You should have killed her. She knows too
much about our defenses,” sighed Taku from the shadows, before
sauntering over to Trent's side, “though she is right about one
thing, Trent; say you're going to kill a ruling noble next to
almost anyone in the NHA and they are well within their right to
report you,” Trent looked up at the man who he had come to trust,
but started to raise his laser arc at what sounded like a veiled
threat. Taku quickly put up his hands. “Hey, I'm with you. Sir
Simwa sacrificed his right to protection...but I just wanted to
warn you,” Trent let his arm fall, placing the laser arc in its
holster, then buried his face in his hands. He couldn't get the
image of the beautiful black haired woman out of his mind.

“This is all so...so strange. My whole world
has been turned upside down and my emotions are going crazy. She
made me think I was willing to kill everyone to get my revenge
but...but that's not me,” he explained as Taku walked over, placing
a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Well, they did mess with your genetics, so
it may be a side effect. There should have been medical technicians
present to help with any trace chemical imbalances when you awoke,
but I think they were both killed early in the fighting,” Trent
looked up, surprised. He heard about the BC node being grown in his
brain, the origin of the voice in his head, but he didn't realize
they actually altered his genetic structure, “I'm concerned about
one thing,” Taku continued, seeming to notice Trent falling into
confusion, “nothing seems to add up. I know Knight Captain Quinn
has a bad history with the nobles, which is why most of us assume
Sir Simwa is creating a ruckus now. But to go to all this trouble
just to remove him...seems a little excessive.” Trent raised his
head.

“What do you mean bad past?” he asked,
deciding to dig deeper, hoping discussing someone else's history
may help him forget his own.

“I don't know the details, but supposedly he
disobeyed orders, then ended up killing a ruling noble, a marquees
or earl I believe,” Trent nodded, though found it hard to believe
that the kind old man that protected Trent from Sir Simwa's verbal
and physical attacks had killed in cold blood.

“Do you know what the order was?” Trent
asked.

“If I recall correctly, it was to raze a
planet. But most of the information was muddled in the channels at
the time...too much propaganda from both sides...it was hard to get
the facts. The only thing I know for sure is that the NHA noble
faction known as the traditionalists still want his head,”

That makes sense
, Trent thought,
Knight Captain Quinn seemed to have too much honor to follow an
order to kill innocents. Trent pondered for a moment, an idea
appearing in his steadying mind.

“Well, why don't we find out why they're
doing this? If it's really about revenge or some other matter that
no one has thought of,” Trent explained, though not his own agenda,
Taku being another of those that fully believed they were part of
this TSB, and not a corporate experiment.

“What do you have in mind?” Taku asked,
intrigued, as he seated himself beside Trent.

“Well...I noticed that there are a lot of
these.... biological access points I think they were called.... for
BC node access within the walls.” Taku raised an eyebrow, “They
must break from time to time...”

Distant stars streamed slowly past the
viewscreen as the ferry shuttle cut towards the heart of the
Earth’s star system. The closest star, Earth's yellow-white sun,
shined brighter than all the rest, threatening to drown out their
faint existence as they moved ever closer.

Sasha yawned, stretching her stiff limbs in a
useless attempt to release their incessant ache. Having been
trapped in the tiny ferry shuttle for almost 12 hours, and spending
the majority of that time trying to sleep in a chair never meant to
be slept in. Whenever she closed her eyes, hoping for the embrace
of sleep’s sweet nothingness, she found herself instead dwelling on
her mistakes, the faces of the dead appearing one after the other,
asking her why...
always why
. Though thankfully, during her
latest attempt at rest, someone else, someone she never expected,
touched her dreams.

She glanced over her shoulder at Regalia and
Gil'Da, still curled up in their seats, sleeping fitfully. Lia'Sil
lay just beyond, her breathing shallow, skin a pasty white. Tiana,
having been the first to fall asleep from her tears, sat
cross-legged in the co-pilot’s seat, her expression distant,
probably recording a journal or composing a message, something to
help pass the time. Sasha leaned over to lightly tap her friend’s
shoulder.

“Oh,” Tiana feigned surprise, “you're awake,”
she stretched, glancing to the ladies still sleeping behind
them.

“I think they will be out for awhile yet,
it's been a difficult few days,” Sasha whispered as she followed
Tiana's gaze. Tiana nodded, yawning as she stared curiously at
Sasha, eyes twinkling.

“You have something on your mind...I can
tell,” Sasha stiffened
.

“I had a dream,” she started reluctantly,
knowing it useless to hide her concerns from her best friend, “a
very vivid dream,” she caressed Terra with an outstretched finger,
who mimicked Tiana’s exaggerated stretch as he climbed free of her
cleavage, the memories of Trent returning. She felt herself flush
and her heart race. Tiana caught the change immediately, showing a
wide, delightful smile. She turned her entire body towards Sasha
while keeping her legs crossed beneath her.

“I
want...every...single...detail......understand? You are not allowed
to leave anything out...anything!” Tiana lectured with obvious
excitement. Sasha giggled and suddenly they were back on Tidelia,
whispering about some silly prank they pulled on their guards, or
the latest noble boy who would try to gain her favor. She sighed
dramatically, already knowing the response to come.

“I dreamt about that man from Earth, Trent I
believe the name was,” she actually remembered his name quite well,
but hoped to mellow Tiana's cresting enthusiasm, “I saw his face,”
the young woman started bouncing in her seat, “and he was angry,
Tiana. I felt like I could see through his eyes...a woman was
shouting at him, telling him not to speak badly about Duke Zehman
and Sir Simwa. It was so very strange...and so...so very real...”
Tiana steadied, a curious look creeping over her face.”His anger,
Tiana...oh his anger...it exploded forth like it’d been restrained
for an eternity! It felt like he was going to kill her...that she
was going to try get in his way. I screamed for him to stop, to
calm down...that if he killed her, he would never be the same,” she
remembered the dream like it was real, the feeling of his raw
emotions, “and he listened, Tiana, oh he listened, letting the
anger fade...and let her go...but oh...oh Tiana, the hurt in his
heart, I could feel it! The pain from his past was like a shell,
smothering him. I wanted to hug him so badly, but I couldn't...I
just couldn't...” her voice faded, unable to mask the grief the
memory called forth. Tiana stood, stepping the meter between them
to kneel at her feet.