The Turquoise Queen, page 24
part #1 of Coalition Series
Miguel raised his hands, placating, spilling a bit of his just acquired beer in the process. He wore a form-fitting blue shirt and looked about a decade younger than her.
"Sorry! I had work to finish. Urgent, couldn't wait. Though upper management wouldn't tell us what it was about. Plus you didn't give me a heads up, how was I supposed to know you'd come visit? Here, in my hometown?"
"Alright, Belo Horizonte is a little off the beaten path," Natalie said, tilting her head from side to side, dispelling any doubt that she was a couple of drinks ahead of him.
This visit was just a stop along the way, she felt a bit guilty to admit. Although she liked him, as far as she remembered. After an introspective pause, she let out a groan of frustration.
"If we were in Scarlet Reef, I could tell you what you were working on. I had informants there, you know, a network. I could even find out what your boss was working on, get him fired and put you in his place!" She slammed her glass on the counter, deflated right after. "Okay, maybe not all that, but here I feel blind."
He patted her on the back, reassuring. He couldn't understand that, to someone like his cousin, or Erchtria, that network of spies was like an additional sense, and that having it amputated felt very unpleasant.
"We are the Coalition! United we stand!" The exclamation drew Natalie's attention back to the screen, dispelling her sudden moodiness. The regent had just finished her speech. She cheered the image again, saluting it with her glass then finishing it off, before gesturing for another. In the news, a team of commentators came up next, to deliberate on what had been said. But the feed changed to an ancient music video. A bar was no place for watching in-depth political analysis.
"That's Erchtria. Woman's been scheming to put this alliance together for who knows how long. We've met you know, talked a few times. I might even have had a hand in making it all happen." It was a proud whisper. Now Illuminated Ocean's secession was completed, there was no longer need to hide her involvement. Still, she felt it was not a subject to shout about in a public space.
"Friends in high places, nice!" They toasted to that.
The two spent the rest of the evening catching up, sipping their drinks, eating snacks. Even drunk, she omitted the part about having a high ranking Aquatic official assassinated. All she admitted to was playing some crucial, mysterious role in Corhadriam's coup. Her mood turned sour when talking about the Rageris' plans, and her true reasons for traveling to Earth.
"So that's why your mom and dad are taking such a long vacation," he said. She'd just yanked him from the bubble of peace most people in the bar were still in. He already knew about the Empire's recent military maneuvers from the news, it was hard to miss. Hearing it from a first-hand source, however, brought it closer, made it real.
Natalie closed her eyes and nodded, almost slamming her head on the counter in the process. They'd just finished their second bowl of cassava chips, and lost count of the glasses long ago. It was getting late, and she had places to be the next day. She asked for the tab, to some protest from her cousin, who tried to insist she stay a little longer, for just one more drink.
The pair stumbled out of the place, whose population was already dwindling. Leaning into each other for balance, they made it out into a wide hallway, where the rustic decor gave way to glass and glossy tiles. The bar was located in the bowels of an arcology's commercial sector, the lack of windows allowing it to mimic an old pub at night, even in the middle of the day. Now, however, it really was night outside.
With a bit of difficulty, they reached the nearest elevator. Her hotel room was a few dozen floors up. Miguel still had to get to a landing pad and hail a pod. Despite the short distance, going to ground level and walking home, in his present state, was not an option. At her door they hugged goodbye, promising not to let so much time go by before next time.
It had been fun. Sobered up by a long morning's sleep, however, Natalie realized how little chance there was of them keeping that promise. Outside her window, the sun already shone high over the rolling hills.
The ceiling tilted out of place as she looked up. There was also a ringing sound. It took her a moment to realize the ringing was real, coming from the communicator on her nightstand. She guessed who it was before even putting it in her ear.
"Hi! So did you watch it, what did you think?" Erchtria had a big, stupid grin on her face, pedipalps bent down heavy. The Earthling gave her a hazy, confused stare that made her expression turn to worry. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just a little hung over."
"So? Take a pill for it."
The Raiac looked puzzled. Natalie preferred not to explain that she chose to experience the negative symptoms of her habits now and then. Because that would require explaining why she did it. She just gave it a dismissive hand wave.
"I liked the speech." Changing back the subject wouldn't fool someone like Erchtria, but she hoped the regent would be understanding. "Glad to hear you got them all on board."
"I did, despite your president's best efforts." Her victorious grin had returned, as she pointed a pointy finger at Natalie, at all Earthlings. "Holt's an idiot by the way. Fortunately, Mirmaian was there to shame him into reason."
Erchtria narrated the Saint Veshirra meeting in some detail, proud to describe how she'd convinced each of the others to follow her lead.
Before hanging up, they wished each other good luck in the days to come. Natalie had a lengthy trip ahead. Her parents were sightseeing in Egypt, an ocean and half a continent away. She was going to meet them there.
She went to the arcology's nearest landing pad. The long-range pod was different from most of the ones darting across the city sky. Its rounded body was more elongated, with larger thrusters on its rear.
The interior was more spacious and comfortable, with room for luggage, though Natalie carried little. Just a small suitcase with clothes and a few useful belongings. A nomad of sorts, she lived in hotel rooms, most of her possessions represented by digits floating in the net.
The vehicle took off, speeding towards the coast. Within minutes, the cityscape fell behind, giving way to hills, solitary ancient roads, and greenery. In a thermal storage compartment, Natalie found a precooked meal she'd selected in advance from a list of available options. Pasta with mushroom sauce, provided by the transport company. She took a whiff of the steam coming from the plate, unpacked the cutlery, started eating.
Later, the horizon turned to a shimmering streak of blue. It took up more of the landscape by the second. Twice she saw another pod pass her by, a tiny glint in the distance. No sound but the wind roaring against the hull. And a ringing in her ear. Louder than ever before, refusing to be ignored.
"Nat!" It was her cousin. His yellow hair was disheveled, his brow glistening with sweat. "You're in a pod right? Good. Have it take you to a spaceport. Now!"
The shout shook Natalie into acting. Before asking any questions, she imputed the new destination into the computer and waited for it to plot a new course. With a soft beep, it confirmed the change, its engines pushing it into a sharp turn.
"Done! What's this about?"
"I'll explain. Tell me the name of the spaceport, I'll give my mates there a call, have a shuttle wait for you."
She gave him the name, because everything about his attitude told speed was of the essence. She watched him send a hurried text message, to a flight control tower or ship captain, she presumed. Then she gave him a blank stare and wave of hands that begged for explanation. He took a deep breath.
"The Sencris. A fleet just transited into orbit. Hundreds of dreadnoughts." He paused, teary-eyed. "Command gave us a list of people we are supposed to evacuate. You are on it."
She grew more aware of the pod's rapid movement. The wind, the hum of the engine. With each breath, it put many more meters between her and her original destination.
"My parents." She mumbled, a hand hovering over the control screen. "My parents! I have to turn around, I have to go get them!"
Natalie was shouting now. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut short.
"There's no time. It'll take hours to reach them, by then it'll be too late." He tried to sound calm, though his face looked anything but. He raised his hands when he saw hers get closer to the controls, as if he could reach across the communicator and stop her. "Listen. They're nowhere near any military facilities, right?"
She nodded. They were probably visiting some ancient ruin in the middle of the desert. Being tourists, like she told them to. Far from danger, she began to convince herself, dragging her hand away from the screen.
"They're civilians, they'll be safe," he continued. "Okay. The Sencris are too busy battling the defense fleet now. That should buy us some time. Once they're done with that." He stopped, swallowed hard at the image this conjured. "They'll impose an orbital blockade, and anyone still on the surface stays there."
Natalie looked at the sky. Bright, blue, spotless. Impossible, in the middle of the day, to see what went on up there. Hard to even believe it was really happening. It must be a mistake, or some kind of large-scale military exercise, she thought. No way an entire Sencris armada had, undetected, made it into the heart of Earthling space.
In the distance, a solitary metal and glass spire jutted out of the green hills. Latched to its topmost floors, gravity-defying, were several passenger shuttles. As she approached, two uncoupled and fired up their afterburners, propelling themselves upwards. All around, rivers of pods, big and small, converged into the spaceport. Far too many for the docked vessels to accommodate. Not a mistake or an exercise, this was real.
Flagged as high priority by Miguel and his superiors, other vehicles made way for her. Inside, their passengers must've cursed and attempted to override their controls, to no avail. Aside from being told where to go, the pods were automated. The same system that kept them from crashing into each other now had passed them over for escape.
"I've got everything sorted. Someone will be there to take you to a shuttle. We'll talk again when you're across." He paused and looked into her eyes, as the long-range pod made its descent. "Goodbye Nat!"
"Goodbye! Stay safe." The transmission ended before she could say his name.
After a bit of searching, the vehicle found a tiny free patch to land, on a pad by the building's lower floors. Suitcase in tow, she disembarked and rushed to the door, into a flowing mass of Earthlings.
At the entrance, an armored figure grabbed her by the arm and pulled her aside. She looked up at the featureless mirrored visor of a combat helmet. The man was tall and wide. His head too, wider than an Earthling's ought to be. And the weapon in his hand, not local. A Raiac heavy pistol.
"I am here to take you to your shuttle Natalie. Follow me!" His amplified, level voice cut clean through the ambient chatter. She recognized it right away. The Voldrajuh, the sober, professional version of him.
No time to demand an explanation, to ask why or how he'd gotten to be there, waiting for her. He must've been following her all along. She just nodded, holding on to him as he forced open a path through the ever-thickening crowd. In people's faces, the initial panic of hearing about the invasion had given place to a sort of resignation. The stressful, tense boredom of someone in a hurry, standing in a queue. Waiting for their turn to inch forward, with the promise of liberation at the end.
Her escort's authoritative presence and brute force permitted her to cut in that line. He made swimming in the crowd seem easy. They reached a packed moving walkway, located at the center of the spaceport's structure. It spiraled upwards to the docks at the top floors, where everyone was headed.
People remained civilized enough. The realization hadn't stricken them yet. That there would not be enough ships to get them out of the star system, not by a long shot. That the Sencris might win the battle at any moment, and start intercepting civilian vessels. When the last shuttles started locking their hatches, it would begin. Panic, stampedes, the occasional trampling.
Natalie waited as the walkway carried her, and thousands more, up. At a snail's pace. The ship's captain had been instructed to wait for her. The Voldrajuh knew exactly which shuttle to take, how to get there intact. She had a far better chance to make it out than most.
But she wasn't certain leaving was the right thing to do. It felt cowardly to abandon her parents. And her cousin, who worked even now to get her to safety. Part of her wanted to get left behind, to be forced to stay and fight off the invaders.
Deep inside, however, she knew she'd be of more use out there, with whatever remained of Erchtria's newborn Coalition. Other core worlds might be under attack as well. Her skills would be better employed trying to keep them together than fighting on the ground. Except there was one question bothering her.
"Did she know this would happen?" She shouted, leaning close to the Voldrajuh's ear. "Is that why you're here? Did she know the Sencris would come?" She insisted when he pretended not to listen.
"No, Natalie, she didn't know. She's got people like me all over," he replied at last, but they ran out of walkway before he could elaborate further. As they were stepping off it, Natalie got pushed forward by the crowd, losing balance for a panicked instant. To fall might mean getting trampled.
When she regained her footing, her suitcase was gone, dragged away by the current. She made no effort to retrieve it. Nothing there that couldn't be replaced. With renewed determination, she pressed on, led by the Voldrajuh.
After a few more meters of squeezing through, they came to the narrow, round entrance of a docking tube. There, two guards were checking people's identifications before letting them pass. They were regulating the flow, rifles at the ready, set to stun Natalie hoped. If not for their narrower, Earthling frame, they might've been the Voldrajuh's clones. Their gear, from the mirrored visor to the black boots, was of identical design to his.
Once more, the duo forced their way past the others to the head of the queue, to general roars of protest. For all they knew, any of those people might just have unwillingly ceded their seat onboard to her. The Voldrajuh showed Natalie's identification to the guards, who nodded in firm acknowledgment, as if he were an actual higher ranking officer.
"I still have business on Earth, so here we must part ways. Have a safe trip Natalie!" He spoke quickly. She felt his gloved paw push her forward, past the open hatch. Before she could say anything, it closed behind her with a loud clank. She'd been the last to embark.
After the trudge through the crowded terminal, the short, narrow docking tube felt like an ample, well-ventilated hallway. She took a brief moment to breathe, before moving on at a brisk pace. Not out of danger yet.
All the shuttle's seats were taken. Its corridors were filled to the brim with people standing. They were of all ages, wearing everything from business suits to sweatshirts. Different from a shuttle's usual population only in their numbers. Few had brought hand luggage with them. They'd all left in a hurry. Far more people aboard than the original design intended for. The same would be true of the transport ship they were to dock with in orbit. This meant the journey must be brief, lest they risk running out of supplies, or straining the air recyclers.
The shuttle uncoupled from the spaceport. The sudden jerk made people lean into each other for balance. Small children tumbled, gripping their parents' hands. A much stronger jolt followed as the engines fired up, throwing to the floor everyone who wasn't already sitting down.
For a while, there was no moving. They were all pinned down by acceleration, as the vessel tilted its nose up and ascended. Until it stopped. Outside, blue faded into black. Too much weight turned to none at all, as the crowd floated up into the corridors.
Gripping each other's clothes or the seats, most people tried to stay in place, near their companions, with varying degrees of success. With a push from her feet, Natalie made it for the handles lining the cabin's ceiling. A frequent traveler, she was more accustomed to zero gravity than most. Crawling above the seated passengers' heads, she rushed, from one handle to the next, to the nearest window.
It was happening closer than she thought. In space's vastness, less than a step away. Through the thick glass, she saw a flurry of blinking lights. Against the shinning blue backdrop of Earth, were slender, graphite parallelograms dotted with bluish lights, with small hexagonal apertures in their undersides. Earthling frigates, dozens of them, each surrounded by a squadron of torpedo boats.
Far beyond, shining golden in the darkness, the Sencris dreadnoughts. Countless, glowing red orbs flew forth from their sides at every moment. As did salvos of fusion torpedoes from the prows of the Earthling vessels and defense platforms, their exhaust streaking the sky.
Many of these deadly projectiles were taken out by lines of crimson or blue light. For each that did find its mark, a blinding flash followed, and a shield erupted into iridescent flames, or a hull splintered open.
Meanwhile, swarms of remote-controlled fighter craft fought for dominance of the black chasm between the two fleets. Natalie couldn't see them, she could barely make out the shapes of their massive parents in the distance. But she could see the flashes of their weapons, a million vicious fireworks.
As the shuttle flew by, a cluster of torpedoes smashed into the nearest dreadnought, close to the structural weakness of its circular transit aperture. The detonations cleaved it in half, eliciting a wave of cheers from the passengers by the windows. Frightened cheers, however. Because, even from afar, it was clear the battle did not go well for the defenders. In the short time it took Natalie to clear the distance to the awaiting transport, she lost count of how many frigates, torpedo boats, and platforms had been destroyed. The enemy suffered losses as well, but the Earthling lines were dwindling fast, and would soon crumble. By the time the shuttle docked, it was clear hers would be one of the last vessels to leave orbit before occupation began.
A voice in the intercom announced the shuttle was about to enter the transport's artificial gravity field. Under normal circumstances, it would be a matter of returning everyone to their seats, making sure straps were in place. Having every corner of the shuttle packed with people, however, made the transition trickier. In a second, weight returned to everyone's bodies. Most, Natalie included, had already secured themselves. A few smashed into the floor with pained grunts. Or, in some small children's cases, gleeful squeals.
