The Lost Aria (Earth Song Book 3) Page 29

  Minu kept careful head count and knew when the last one was there. She'd sent individual emails from her university email account to keep the Chosen leadership out of the loop. To her surprise, they all accepted her invitation. Cherise told her some time ago that her status among the other female Chosen was approaching legendary, even the older ones. But this was the first tangible proof of that assertion. So here they were, every female Chosen except one. She didn't bother inviting Jasmine Osgood. As a member of the Chosen council she was likely duplicitous in this whole thing anyway.

  Minu moved to the far wall of the conference room and cleared her throat. All conversation quickly fell off. “I wanted to thank you all for coming on such a strange and short notice.”

  “Are we leading a coup against the council?” asked Heather Mansford, a tall blond Chosen scout with more muscles than half the men Minu knew. To her relief there was a ripple of amused laughter. Her piercing brown eyes watched Minu intently. It was no small secret that the woman harbored resentment against the Chosen leadership, resentment spurned by the four black stars she wore after many years of service.

  “Not yet,' she replied under her breath, then spoke up. “I know you're all curious what’s going on. I recently had a small training accident while working with a group of scouts. One got in a punch on me I wasn't looking for.”

  “Getting slow?” the only other female scout asked, Tamara Komatsu, and that brought more laughter. Minu smiled at the girl whom she knew from their trials. Tamara was the adopted daughter of a racially Japanese Peninsula tribe family. They raised her as one of their own despite her blond hair, blue eyed ancestry. The Shinto/pacifist upbringing common with their people didn't take and she went off to join the Chosen. Her parents hadn't spoken to her since. Minu only saw her occasionally after basic training and thought she'd grown five centimeters over the years. More interestingly she carried a long sword into the meeting along with a gym bag. Her long meticulously braided ponytail looked still damp from the shower.

  “Probably, I'm nineteen now after all. Anyway, I ended up with some serious internal bleeding and barely made it to the hospital.” She saw the fear and concern on Cherise’s face and continued anyway. “It turned out the punch didn't do the damage, but something it dislodged.” She pulled the birth control pump from her pocket, now cleaned of course, and held it up for them all to see. “This is an implanted medicine pump, similar to what they are using for diabetics and others needing regular injections. Only this one contained birth control hormones. It was inserted in my body immediately after the trials, without my knowledge, and was dislodged by that hit I took. The vein it was hooked into bled and I almost died.”

  There were surprised looks between many of the women there, some twice Minu's age, many younger than her. Some shook their heads and others spoke up demanding to know why they did it to her. “Not just me,” she said, loud enough that they could all hear her.

  “No!” someone in the back screamed.

  “Mother fuckers!” another snapped.

  “Wait, that can't be right,” one of the oldest among them called out. Faye Martinez from the Summit Tribe was the oldest serving female Chosen and just celebrated her fiftieth birthday. She proudly wore the three green stars of logistics, like Cherise. Her black hair was attractively streaked with silver but her face was still line free. “I've had three children, how could I have one of those?” Two other women both stood and agreed with Faye.

  “But what about me?” A woman in her twenties spoke loudly to be heard. “Me and Bill have been trying to have a baby for two years! The doctor keeps telling us to keep trying...”

  “Because you're not married, are you?” Minu asked. She shook her head no. “These are implanted in us when we're made Chosen. Some sort of excuse is made for a medical procedure. In my case an excuse wasn't needed,” she said and unzipped her jumpsuit uniform to the crotch. She spread the fabric to show the scar over her uterus. “When they were fixing the wound, they stuck in this damned thing. The wound that caused this also ruined my uterus, so I can't have babies, ever. Something else they didn't tell me.”

  Despite her desperate wishes tears were pouring down her cheeks. She easily found Cherise and saw she was crying too, as were most of the women in the room. Some looked stunned, others, confused, and more than a few were furious. At least one dangerously so.

  “That fucker Jacob,” Heather snarled and made fists with both hands. “Why I ought to-”

  “Do nothing,” Minu said. They all turned and looked at her again. “That's what I said. He didn't start this program, it goes way back.”

  “But he sure as hell perpetuated it,” Heather pointed out. “I know how you found out you had that in you, since you gave us the whole story. But how did you know most of us have them?”

  “I'll only tell you on condition that he doesn't suddenly fall down a malfunctioning jump tube.” She looked around the room, making eye contact one after another. It took a full thirty seconds of staring at Heather before she grudgingly nodded her head. “It was Dr. Tasker.”

  “Why did he tell you?” Cherise finally broke her silence.

  “Guilt, I think. It started long ago when the first women joined. I'm guessing they quietly did it to be sure they were not lost from service due to a pregnancy. I think the Tog were involved, but again, I'm not sure.”

  “You're their liaison,” Tamara pointed out the obvious, “ask them!”

  “It isn't the kind of thing you just bring up over a latte.” There were angry grumbles and she raised her hands in a calming gesture. “I will find out, somehow. The important thing is you know, and now you can have them removed.” She gave them the specific details of their location and function, reminding them to go to a private physician and inform them of the anti-coagulant function to avoid bleeding. Then one at a time, she went around the room with a compact field medical scanner and confirmed their fears. Every woman in the room had one, even the three married women. “When you got married, it was deactivated by remote control,” she told those women. “I want you all to understand I still have faith in the Chosen as an organization,” she told them near the end.

  “Just not their leadership,” Heather barked. Minu reluctantly nodded her head.

  “Maybe it's about time a woman ran things,” someone suggested. Minu almost caught herself laughing, what a ludicrous idea!

  “Yeah,” said more than a few others.

  “And who do you think could do that?” she asked them.

  “You, of course,” Cherise said, almost knocking Minu over with the audacity of it. She shook her head and looked around for support against the idea, and instead found them all nodding and encouraging each other.

  “Don't even think about it,” she said, shaking her head. “This isn't a democracy, if you recall.” But even Heather was looking at her with a respect the powerful woman had never shown before.

  “It would take time,” another woman said, “we'd have to plan this out carefully.” More head nods and more conversation.

  “I'm not going to listen to this,” she said and packed up her gear.

  “Just as well,” Cherise said and took her by the arm. To her surprise she was being shepherded out the door, “we need to talk this over.”

  “Cherise, don't you dare-” but the door to the small conference room was closed, and then locked. She stood there for more than a minute gawking at the metal door, unable to believe what just happened. Exactly what had just happened she wondered as the sound of conversation drifted muffled through the metal.

  Two hours later the group came out. Unlike the way she'd left them they were all smiles, talking to each other and joking. Almost every one of them caught her eye as they went by and either grinned, waved, or winked. Minu felt her stomach sink as the last three, Heather Mansford, Tamara Komatsu, and Cherise, walked up to her. They all shared a big conspiratorial smile. “What did you do?” Minu asked.

  “Congratulations,” Cherise said.
/>   “For what?'

  “We've decided to have you made First among the Chosen.”

  Minu heaved a great sigh of relief then burst out in nervous laughter. “Oh, thank goodness, I thought you were going to do something foolish. Crazy is much more acceptable.”

  “We're not kidding,” Heather growled at her, crossing her powerful arms over her rather small breasts.

  “I don't care, you're all still crazy. Twenty two women, none of us higher than three stars, can't elect a First among the Chosen. Damn it, we aren't even five percent of the corps!”

  “We might be only one percent,” Tamara agreed, her strong Peninsula accent at odds with her equally strong Summit tribe looks, “but we represent ninety-five percent of the women Chosen.”

  “Fat lot of good that will do us.”

  “It means something to us,” Cherise said. Minu looked at the three and saw their resolve.

  “I don't know what you expect this to accomplish.”

  “We expect you to look out for our interests.”

  “How am I supposed to do that as a three star command Chosen, marooned in Training branch?”

  Tamara smiled and Minu felt worried again. “We expect you to do that when you are named to the council.”

  “You're crossing over into foolish now.”

  “We don't think so,” Cherise said, just as gravely as the others. “We might only be twenty-two, but we're assigned all over the Chosen, we have the ears of a lot of powerful movers in the organization, and even more politicians, scientists, academia, etc.”

  “You all believe it is possible to manipulate the Chosen council so that I end up on it?” They all nodded and she almost laughed in their faces. Then the conversation with P'ing came rushing back. How she came to be born, the way the Tog manipulated and molded her career, then tried to have her moved way beyond her station much sooner than any would like. Were her friends here being used by the Tog like pawns in a grand chess game? She almost asked them, and then came up short once again. Starting to talk and stopping again must have looked quite comical because the girls all laughed. “Look, I don't know what to say.”

  “Just say you’ll do the best you can to help the other women when you are named First,” Cherise said.

  “I bet Jasmine, would have something to say about that, she’s got eyes on the job herself.” Minu said, bringing up the head of the science branch who'd taken over from Bjorn.

  “Screw her,” Heather said and they all shared a good laugh. “So what's it going to be?”

  After it was done she caught Tamara and pulled her aside. “What can I do for you?”

  “I was wondering about the sword.”

  “Oh, this?” she hefted the sheathed blade. “It's a Bushido thing, picked it up from my adopted dad.”

  “Shinto pacifists practicing a thousand year old warrior philosophy? That's a dichotomy if I ever heard one.”

  “It's part of the reason I ended up here in the Chosen. They want all the power of Bushido in their lives, but none of the responsibility to community, namely Bellatrix.”

  Minu nodded, understanding where the other woman was coming from. “So you know the katana fighting style?”

  “Sure, trained under a master in Peninsula.”

  “I have an idea, and maybe you and a guy from the Desert tribe can make it all work out.”

  Chapter 11

  January 3rd, 522 AE

  Junk Pile, Deep Blue, Galactic Frontier

  “I'm really not going to play this game with you idiots anymore,” Minu snapped as she ran up with her weapon out. The bright blue sky blazed above them in the late afternoon, the temperature a comfortable nineteen degrees, just like almost every other day on Deep Blue. What wasn't normal was shooting.

  As she ran up Chris was pumping his fist in the air and whooping as Michael grinned and watched through his Shock rifle scope. This was the first training mission they were issued live Shock rifles and they found something to shoot. She only hoped it wasn't a higher order species.

  “They were sighting us with weapons!” Chris yelled back and pointed from their third floor vantage point. The afternoon was warm for Deep Blue, and sweat made his light brown skin look shiny in the sunlight.

  “They? Who’s they? Patch me the recording from your scope.” Chris looked surprised and stared at his gun. “Didn't have the recorder on, right?”

  “Yeah,” Michael grumbled.

  Just in case they were telling the truth, Minu dropped to her knees and crept up on the edge of the roof. A small utility building about a kilometer away had three smoking holes in the wall accounting for the weapons fire she'd heard a minute ago. “Did you at least hit what you were shooting at?” Chris acted like he was about to brag then seemed to change his mind. “Shit,” she shook her head and drew her own Shock rifle from off the sling.

  Hers was one of the new mark II designs which incorporated the improved optics and target designator. She ran a quick spectrum scan on the building and detected three heat signatures. “There's something in there alright. What species?”

  “I couldn't be sure.”

  “So just because they checked you out, you opened fire? That's going on your record, mister.” Chris grumbled and Minu activated her radio. “All units report in, I have potential hostiles in search sector two.” The other three misfits quickly checked in and wanted to know if they should rendezvous with her. “That is negative, circle back to the Portal. Do not enter the building. Run a sweep for hostiles and hold position until I say.”

  Once they'd confirmed the order she returned to her problem children. “So let’s wait and see who pops out.”

  “Let’s just go down there,” Chris complained, “it was only two bipeds, unarmored; I'm sure of that much. We have them outnumbered.”

  “Yeah!”

  “No. First because it’s an unknown situation. If they have backup they may be waiting for just that, us to go down there and present our backs. And second because scouts don't go sticking their dicks into stuff just because they can.” Chris glanced down at Minu’s waist and grinned so she smacked him in the forehead with the heel of her hand.

  “Ow!”

  “Keep your head in it, dipshit. Now quit arguing and take up positions a few meters to either side.”

  Once they'd repositioned as she'd instructed, Minu picked up her observation again. Depending on how skittish the beings down there were, or how pissed off at being shot at, it could be hours. She was just thinking about a ration bar in her pack when the signatures began to move. A second later a pasty skinned little head peeked around the corner of the door.

  “I got him,” Chris hissed and he thumbed the safety off on his weapon. He squeezed the trigger nice and slow. “Bye bye,” he said, only nothing happened. “What the fuck?”

  “I disabled your guns,” Minu told them as she watched. The alien had a flattened head with oversized ears. Red, almost glowing eyes surveyed the area as it crept out, a nicely made linear accelerator rifle held in its delicate, clawed hands. “Vampires,” she said. There might be some validity to Chris's claim. They were known to shoot first and ask questions later. They were also incredibly aggressive fighters and a serious threat.

  “Why, damn it?” Chris asked and stabbed the trigger twice more. Minu's special command gun had control over all the others in the team. She could arm or disarm them with the flick of a finger. Should she die, the weapon would automatically release all the other guns. “See, they're Vampires. Crazy bat-faced bastards have killed several Chosen over the years.”

  “Because we're scouts, not instruments of vengeance. We don't run around the galaxy looking for revenge for every wrong done to a human. We log this incident and go home. The fact that Vampires are on Deep Blue is news. They've never been spotted here before.”

  A minute later two more pasty skinned aliens skittered out. Their arms were almost as long as their legs, allowing them to move equally well on four limbs as well as two. They panned th
eir weapons around, searching for the source of the earlier attack. Minu hoped they didn't have anything sophisticated enough to pick them up through the stealth fields on their combat suits. After a minute they formed up and raced off down the avenue in the opposite direction from the Portal.

  “Seems like a waste to pass up an opportunity like that,” Chris complained, not willing to let it go.

  “Yeah,” Michael agreed.

  “Scouts from most species don't snipe at each other. How would you like it if every small species like us routinely took a shot at you?”

  “I'd shoot back!”

  “If you survived.” Minu stood and slung her weapon. The Vampires were out of sight as she consulted her tablet, noting the location and number of the sighting. “Their weapons aren't energy based. Our armor is based around energy defense with only light ballistics defense. We can't plan on every scenario.” Chris looked annoyed but he stayed quiet. “If you can't learn more restraint, you're going to find yourself with green stars instead of black.” Chris made a face and looked down. She'd hit a nerve. “This is Minu,” she spoke into her radio, “report on the Portal.”

  “All clear,” Tanya came back right away, “most recent thermal is several hours old.”

  “Very good, we're on our way back.”

  As they were lowering down to an adjacent rooftop, Minu caught her new belt and almost lost her grip. Michael leaned out and caught her leg, steadying her while she renewed her grip. “Thanks,” she said to the young scout who nodded.

  Chris hadn't moved a muscle. Maybe he hoped she'd fall to her death. “Why do you wear that stupid thing, anyway?” he asked and pointed.

  Minu placed a hand on the sword hilt and grinned. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”