The Day The Sun Fell From The Sky (8 page)

Raid

We are raided by the Imperial Police at four in the morning. They are the secret service of Hven and their presence here is not an accident. They must have been tipped off by someone and we’re all looking at each other in the uncomfortable mutual conclusion as to who it would have been.

“Which of you is
Myc?” Asks the lead agent.

“I am.” I raise my hand.

“Myc.” Hash whispers in protest.

“How could you do this to us?”
Iv is shouting at Pav.

“I don’t know that I can explain it in a way that you would understand.” He replies.

“You need to come with us.” The agent tells me.

“And you can go kiss a cow.”
Iv is shouting at him.

“Watch your mouth,
Knax.” The man warns.

“They haven’t cuffed us.” Hash sa
ys to Iv. “Think about what that means.”

“They don’t need to. They have guns pointed at us.” She replies.

“This is different.” Says Pav. “If they were being hostile, they would have all their guns trained on Myc to force us to do what they tell us.”

“I’ll come with you.” I tell the lead agent.

“So am I.” Says Hash.

“No you’re not.” I tell him.

“You’re all going to come with us.” Says the lead agent. We’re very lucky that there are no recovering girls with us this morning.

Iv
looks like she wants to murder Pav and Hash’s eyes are thoughtful as I turn to follow the police out of the building.

“You can release the morgue attendant.” I tell them. “He’s not part of our group.”

The attendant, who has been supportive of us and has never told anyone that we were here, is allowed to return to his job of attending and we are taken into a large helicopter.

*_*

Pav is silent because, as the traitor of our group, he’d said more than enough. Iv is trying not to say anything because she has come to regard him as more than a friend and if she opened her mouth, she probably won’t be able to shut it. I’m silent because the view is breathtaking – the whole city of Hvin is spread out before us. And also because I really don’t want to think about what might happen to us from here on.

Hash is the o
ne to ask the question that we’ve all been avoiding. “Okay Pav, how does handing Myc over to the Imperial Police help our situation?”

“You know that the Uri peace delegation have been granted entry into this country, right?”
Pav replies.

“So?” I ask him.

“They are going to try to negotiate a resolution to the conflict.” He explains.

“You think that the president will use us in his negotiations.” Says Hash.

“The president needs someone like Myc on his side.” Pav nods.

“What do I have anything to do with it?” I ask him, annoyed that someone is once again trying to make a decision for me without even telling me.

“You’re the only person that both the Venry and Knax general populations respect enough that they will actually listen to what you have to say.” He replies.

“What makes you think that anybody is going
to listen to me?” I ask him, not seeing his point.

“What could be so bloody important that you would terminate our rescue operations?”
Iv asks him with rage in her eyes.

“Do you have any idea how close we are to civil war?”
Pav exclaims.

“War?” Hash asks, reflecting the surprise in each of us.

“Okay, let me ask you one question.” Says Pav. “Who has the most to gain out of this sorry mess that you’ve named the Aurora?”

“The guys at the top.” I
remark.

“Okay, besides them.” He
replies, impatient.

“The army.” Hash says with understanding.

“Exactly. You have no idea how powerful the army has become from this exercise.” Pav agrees.

“You think they’ll try to stage a coup?” I ask him.

“It’s a possibility.” He nods.

“You think that if I talk to the peacekeepers, we might be able to avert an armed conflict?” I ask him.

He nods, not daring to say what’s on his mind – what’s on everyone’s mind: This will never work.

“You shouldn’t have compromised our rescue operations.” Hash says quietly. “And you especially should
not have compromised Myc’s safety and her identity.”

“I don’t know what more we can do.”
Pav shakes his head. “Saving girls slowly one at a time. That doesn’t solve the problem.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we didn’t set out to stop the Aurora. No one can.
It’s too widespread and people are running these programs on their own.” Hash’s tone is becoming harsher.

I agree with him. For the girls who have become enslaved, there isn’t one Aurora. There are many Auroras happening at the same time throughout
Hven.

“But we have a real chance here.” Says
Pav. “Possibly our only chance – before this conflict turns this country into an active warzone.”

“You come into our lives with guns blazing. And now you want to
negotiate
for peace? Do you realise how incredibly stupid and hypocritical that sounds?” Says Iv without sympathy.

Negotiation

I am sitting opposite the most hated man in Hven (at least amongst the Knax), President Vann. I have no idea what I am going to say to him. I know what I’d like to say but of course most of those words cannot be said.

“Have a drink.” He says pointing to the glass of water in front of me. We are inside
the mansion that is the presidential residence.

“I’m not thirsty.” I shake my head. I know he’s not stupid enough to poison me in his own kitchen but I don’t want to engage in pleasantries with him.

“You don’t look surprised to be here.” Vann observes.

“What did you want me to say to the peacekeepers?” I ask him.

“That you want peace.” He smiles.

“And wh
at do you not want me to answer?” I ask.

“I want you to answer everything.” He replies.

“But you’re not going to like some of the answers that I’m going to give them.” I tell him.

“Then change the way that you give those answers.” He replies. “You and I, we both want the same thing.”

“What do I get out of it?” I ask.

“I would have thought that avoiding a war would be compensation enough.” He raises an eyebrow.

“Not if I don’t live to see the peace that it brings.” I counter.

I know how it works. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he’ll get rid of me (and probably
Hash and Iv too) the moment we are no longer useful to him.

“What? Y
ou think that I’m going to make you a martyr?” He chuckles.

“It’s what I would do.” I shrug. Not the martyring bit but the killing everyone bit.

“It’s what Vinn would do.” He counters. “But I am not Vinn.”

“You two are brothers. You really expect me to believe that you’re that different from him?” I ask him.

“You know that you just equated a soldier with a politician?” He replies with a smirk.

“I am calling it for what it is.” I tell him. “You promoted the idea and he implemented it. You’re as bad as each other.”

“We can place the blame later.” He says. “Right now, we deal with the problem.”

“I thought we
were the problem.” I reply, dryly.

“You’re part of the problem.” He admits. “But not the whole problem.”

“What was the point in killing us?” I’m not able to stop myself from asking.

“Your people. You know too much.” He replies with honesty.

“You mean we’re over-educated?” I ask him.

Vann nods.
“I have not met a Knax who does not at least have a university degree. You might not use what you know to start a revolution but there are people who will.”

“How does my speaking to the peacekeepers help you to avert this revolution that you’re talking about?” I ask him.

“You’re a survivor. That gives you celebrity. People listen to what their survivors tell them.” He replies.

“And you want me to pacify them.” I laugh
with understanding.

“I want you to tell them what they want to hear.” He
smiles.

*_*

“You’re really going to go through with it?” Iv asks me in the mirror as she finishes up my hair because there will be cameras present when the peacekeepers get here.

“
Pav’s right. Despite how horrible the last six months have been, no one wants an all-out war.” I reply.

“This might not even work. We’re talking about trying to stop a military coup with
talks
.” She exclaims.

“The coup will only work if
Vinn has majority support.” I tell her. “Right now he does because he’s doing everything in his brother’s name. Everyone thinks that Vann is the ruthless one and that Vinn is just following his orders.”

“What? Y
ou think Vann is any better than Vinn?” She asks me.

“He’s the lesser of both evils.” I smile.

“You know that if he gets his way, we will still be hunted.” She tells me.

“Not in the same way.” I reply.

“Yeah but it’s not going to end.” She says with despair.

“It
never does.” I tell her quietly. “One day, someone is going to use what happened in this campaign to justify doing something terrible against the Venry. Pretty much the media are the only winners in any of this. They’ll have more violence to report on.”

“You’re saying that we brought this on oursel
ves?” She accuses.

“No. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t be the ones to perpetuate it.” I clarify.

“Can I have a word with her?” There is a knock at the door and Hash enters the room.

“Sure.”
Iv gets up to leave.

“Do you think she’ll ever forgive him?” I ask Hash.

“That depends on whether or not we go to war after this.” He smiles.

“You know what I mean.” I shake my head.

“He’s not certain of how he feels.” He replies.

“She is.” I tell him.

“What are you going to tell the cameras?” Hash asks me.

“That the V brothers are
arseholes and no one should trust them with a fifty foot pole.” I reply.

“Is that what you’re really going to say?” He raises an eyebrow.

“No. But it’s what I’d like to say.” I sigh.

“What you say or don’t say is completely up to you.” Says Hash. “Just don’t go thinking that you can really change what people think from this one meet
ing with the peacekeepers. They’re not going to change overnight. And most of them have already made up their minds anyway.”

“But I have to
at least try.” I tell him. “They can’t get rid of Vann just to have him replaced with someone like Vinn.”

“What did you get out of Vann from your chat?” He asks me.

“He doesn’t like us but he doesn’t want a war either. His call for peace seems to be genuine but you won’t get a reconciliation from him.” I reply.

“So he wants
you to give him the silence of our people to preserve the status quo?” Hash says, more to himself than to me.

“Do you think
that we’re doing the right thing?” I ask him.

“I know that
Pav thinks we’re doing the right thing. Iv finds the idea of the government trying to silence us to be nauseating and I’m having trouble believing that any of this peacekeeping business is actually going to work.” He tells me.

“You know what?” I ask him.

“What?” He replies in surprise.

“Since my capture, there have been at least three separate occasions where I should have died but didn’t.” I tell him.

“I promise you there’s not going to be a fourth.” He says with a look of determination.

“That’s not what I meant.” I
shake my head. “I just meant that there was always a way to get out of it. If it got too much – I just wait and hope that it will all end.”

“Not going to happen.” He continues to voice his protectionist thoughts.

“This is so different.” I try to explain. “There is no way to get out of this.”

“All you can do is to tell them the truth.” He encourages me. “Tell them everything that happened. Don’t skip over the details. Then tell them to go
and do what they feel is right. What the majority wants will happen if you don’t try to spin it either way.”

Disclaimer

Just thought I should address this because I know that people are going to draw comparisons and ask. The genocide described in this book is a fictional event and was not based upon any specific modern genocide from the real world.

Thank You

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The Day The Sun Fell From The Sky
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Amelia Gold
2014