Just A Bit Of Trust (Constel·lación #1) (3 page)

“I agree with you brother, but you have to have faith.” Annais eyes were glossy.

“In what?”

“In all species, in humanity, in each man’s desire to believe in himself and his fellow man, you have to be rationale.”

“This man has sent an army of ten genetically engineered soldiers to attack us, and they managed to kill six hundred people. Who knows, maybe he has devised other tactics which I fear could be more efficient. Bradford has only one wish. To crush Constel·lació to destruction and he will not do this with reason or faith, Annais. He has shown that he cannot be trusted. We saw a planet in need, and we sold our resources for barely anything but today he was prepared to wipe our planet out. Should that go unpunished?”

Didac’s resolve to kill Bradford strengthened.   He couldn’t get to Mother Earth fast enough. He would offer Bradford an ultimatum. Surrender or die? Being the narcissist that he was, he didn’t expect submission. That was what he was counting on. His primary objective was to kill Bradford and minimize casualties of civilians as much as possible. This didn’t make him happy, but it was the way of war.

“He has challenged Didac’s supremacy. His failure to do something will make every planet think we are weak.” Esteve explained

“Constel·lació is not just any planet, it is the hope of every planet, we protect every planet from itself, if Constel·lació falls, every planet will fall. “ Bernat spoke up.

“This should not come as a surprise to you. I warned you about humans.” Kugawa had migrated to his planet Constel·lació from the galaxy of Kuiper before it was popular. She was a new member of Agusti’s crew.

“And tell me why you were not able to detect them before they attacked.” Didac did not like incompetent people.

“The docking ship is not equipped with sensors that isolate cosmic diversion.”

“How do you know this?”

“Our species play with more sophisticated toys than yours.”  That Kuiper snob.

Everyone winced.

Didac almost lost it. He was tired of her always pointing out what was wrong with his species, particularly in a time like this. She had to understand how things worked around here. If it were not for her sword fighting skills which made her indispensable to the team, he would have fired her already. Didac looked at Kugawa; she was beautiful; Didac had to give her that.
Like a porcelain doll. Fragile, small and looked so unsure of herself. Helpless. Demure
. Most men made the mistake of underestimating her abilities until it was too late. She just wasn’t his type and plus her snobbishness was a total turn off.

“Don’t patronize me, Kugawa. Take your repressed snobbism down to the engine room and fix those sensors.” Didac looked around, barely able to contain himself. ”Just don’t sit there. Make yourself useful.”

“Damn, I will tell you one thing, sooner or later the humans will find a way to penetrate our shields. We cannot wait for that day to come. The time to act is now.” Severus spoke.

“Think carefully before you do this.” Annais bright eyes grazed Severus’ determined face.

“Annais you have to understand that we don’t know what information Abramo has passed to Bradford, the time to act is now. I am still young, practically a virgin, I want to live, I want to find my true mate one day.”

Didac’s titled his head up to acknowledge Severus’ statement and turned to Primo. “I want you to shut down any requests for incoming spaceships.”

Primo replied Didac. “That will take some doing.”

”Then get some doing. I want you to check out every building with a camera to see if you can find anything.”

“All right boss.”

“Run down everybody. I want to know about everybody who has ever said a bad word about this planet; they might be working with Bradford and Abramo. Turn every source upside down, shake everybody, you hear me. I want to see results. The first twenty-four hours is the only twenty-four hours. Tell every damn department to call their families, find a place to sleep in our military quarters and a sleeping bag. Nobody is going home. I don’t want to see anybody walking; running is what I want to see. This is a threat that cannot be ignored.”

“I will be right on it.”

Annais made a final plea, “There has to be another way. Are you not doing exactly what you hate in humans: waging wars?”

“There is no other way. I want the name of our people to stand for peace, but to subdue another planet means total war. We leave at once. ”Didac strode out of the prison vessel onto the boarding ramp to his planetary vehicle, signaling Primo to follow him.

Annais watched the soldier on the floor, her heart heavy. Looking at a good man die was hard. It was not his fault. Cyborgs were not illegal in any way. Genetically enhanced soldiers who were created just for the express purpose of destroying upon orders were illegal. The man behind the robotic limbs was as human as he could be, with feelings that Annais had felt once the chip in his brain had stopped working.

“Every planet is aware that Constel·lació is a self-sustaining planet. Whatever trade negotiations, they have with other planets and galaxies are in good faith.”

“Why should there be good faith between us and these aliens. The humans are a far more superior race.”

When things went his way, Martin Bradford could be charming and pleasant. And this was not one of those times. His mission to take over Constel·lació had failed. He backhanded Michelle, and she held on to the table to maintain her balance. Michelle was speechless. Even in the face of death, he didn’t want to listen to reason.

“You have to surrender, Martin. It is suicide. You don’t need to do this. Think about your people; think about your children and me.”

“The war will continue until one side concedes defeat.” Martin was resilient.

“How much more must die because of you? “Her petition to constrict her tears almost failed. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing how helpless she felt.

“It’s an unavoidable consequence.”

“What would it take for you to open your eyes, the destruction of an entire planet?” Michelle made an emotional appeal to her husband. ”Do you understand what it means if you start something like this?”

He wasn’t satisfied with being the most powerful man in the biggest planet in the solar system. To attempt to take over Constel·lació was a stupid and dumb idea.  Constel·lació was a military state. They were a good and kind warrior people. It was common knowledge that they found honor in death if provoked. They had combat experiences, training, and equipment far superior to any other solar system. And what they lacked in numbers they made up for in strength and speed. It was widely rumored that they had psychic abilities too.  Colossus had nothing on them.

“We must fight, we will not surrender.”

For the first time in more than thirty years, she stood up for herself. She had nothing to lose. In a few hours, they could all be dead. God willing, if Didac was a good man like he was known to be, he would spare her children.

“You are nothing but a coward.”

He was a coward who only saw his leadership and privilege as a way to amass wealth and power, not as a social responsibility.

There was nothing he could do now that he hadn’t already done to her. She started laughing hysterically. Martin looked surprised. Michelle was uninclined to hysterics.

“You will die like the dog you are, but you will not drag my children with you. “

He slapped her harder. Blood trickled from the corners of her mouth. She licked her lips. Martin felt blood rush to his dick. She laughed harder when she noticed the bulge in his pants. “You are a sick bastard, you know.”

Martin rubbed the blood on the corner of her mouth with his thumb and kissed her.

Michelle pulled her mouth away and slapped him. ”Screw you.”

He gripped her neck tightly, lifted her and slammed her on his desk. She struggled to breathe and tried to push him away. Inserting himself in between her thighs, he ripped her panties and fumbled with his zipper. He thrust forcefully into her dry pussy, and she winced in pain. Michelle looked him in the eyes defiantly. Her defiance met with more forceful thrusts. Michelle remained still while Martin fucked her to a climax. When he finished, she pulled her skirt down and crossed her arms over her chest.

What have I done to deserve this?
Michelle’s soul wept.

Martin pointed a finger in her face, “Don’t you ever disrespect me? Could I make it any clearer? When I hit you, it’s always for a reason. You cannot interfere with my affairs. “Is that clear?”

“What is clear to me is that I have wasted a lifetime hoping that you will be the husband, I always dreamed you would be.” Michelle wondered out loud, “Did you ever love me at all?” She had given her body up and everything in it including her time and energy to elicit love from him, hoping that when he got through with all his theatrics, he might become a better man.

“You know why I married you, whore?” He smiled. He always took pleasure in her pain.

Tears rolled down her eyes. That had been a stupid question. She had dared to believe that maybe somewhere in that cold heart, Martin did love her a little. Yes, she knew why he had married her. Because he was an ambitious sadist who only cared about her father’s influential name. It hurt every time he reminded her. If only her father were still alive, this wouldn’t be happening. She couldn’t believe that she had once accepted and loved this man, unconditionally. The humiliation she had been subjected to by this man was beyond comprehension. Hiding the abuse was a price she had been willing to pay even it meant being beaten and humiliated. When she wasn’t willing to pay that price anymore, Bradford had almost killed her and threatened to take her children. Everyone working at the Whitehouse knew that Martin Bradford was the law. She had nowhere to run. Leaving him hadn’t been an option. After thirty years of being faithful and putting up with his abuse, she had found out he had an illegitimate daughter just a few years younger than her daughter, Vivian. Martin had refused to acknowledge the poor girl. As much as she wanted to hate her, she couldn’t. Michelle had been quite taken by the young woman. Paka had turned out to be a well-grounded girl despite being raised from one foster home to another. It broke her heart when Martin thwarted any attempts on her part to help her.

A knock on the door broke the stiff silence. Bradford walked over to the door and opened it.

The Chief of Staff who also happened to be Michelle’s sister looked at her sister’s swelling lip, the purple bruises on her neck and face and ran to her. ”Not again! You bastard! Michelle, you don’t have to put up with him. I don’t even understand why you stayed with him so long.” Maxine walked over to Michelle and touched her cheek.

“He is my husband. He is the first man I ever loved and the only one.”

“Love! Your love has meant nothing to him. The only thing that he ever loved was the power and money that came with marrying you.

“He is just having a hard time.”

“This is the time for you to stop making excuses for him.” Maxine knew there was nothing she could do, but standing up to him made her feel better. Martin didn’t answer to anyone. It broke her heart to see her sister like this.

“It’s none of your business,” Martin said to Maxine.

“You have manipulated and stolen my sister’s life and everything that was important to her. You threw her in a hole until she was off her mind and you tell me if that is not my goddamn business, what is? ”

Martin pulled Maxine by the elbow, and she shrugged him off. ”Go ahead motherfucker. Is this how you get your moppets to winkle? I am not Michelle, you know.”

“I don’t have time for this.” He pulled her by the hair and dragged her to the door. He opened the door and threw her out.

The lingering smell of war permeated Michelle’s nose. The smell of gunpowder, the metallic smell of blood and the skunk spray smell of burning bodies filled the air. She understood the concept of war as they were taught in history. It had not been dignified Mother Earth in centuries. This was his entire fault.

“Clean yourself up.” Michelle took that as a dismissal and walked outside towards her sister.

“I wanted to protect you.”

“I know, Maxine.”

Michelle looked up and noticed all the leaders from the International Security Council waiting obediently outside for their President. The crowd of politicians in the white house disconcerted her as if they were rubbing shit on her nose with their complacency. Hypocrites. They all stood by and watched Martin abuse her all those years and did nothing.

******

“Sir the aliens have breached our defenses.” The Secretary of Defense, Callahan informed Martin.

“Three-quarters of Mother Earth is now a wasteland. Our best troops have proved to be more than useless.” The Chief of the Army stated.

“Our last squadron has been lost.” The Chief of the Department of Air Force, William added. ”With all due respect, sir, I suggest we surrender, there is not enough of us left. It was a poor decision to attack Constel·lació.”

“I do not make poor decisions.” Martin shot him a cold look. ”Are you questioning my patriotism?”

To hell with patriotism. It was getting out of hand. He used patriotism to control everyone.

“No, sir, I am questioning your judgment. I think we need time to think about what we are going to do next.”

Martin shot William in the head. ”I don’t.” And then he turned around. “Does anybody else have something to say?” Martin asked. Everybody in the room looked at each other discontent, but said nothing. ”I thought not. This is how everything is going to work from now on. I will be giving orders to the army.”

“But sir………..”Callahan didn’t finish what he was going to say before Martin shot him in the chest.

“I hate people who do not listen. I am the law around here, right here and right now. Everyone listen to me carefully: Do not speak unless spoken to.”

The next day

”Mr. President there is no time. Didac and his army are approaching. They are signaling for permission to land.”

Martin Bradford was aware it wasn’t a request and responded bluntly. ”Grant it.”