"Leader Reese, I just found out that the JPU has evicted the SAS and UFN teams from planet Red, the aliens' home base, claiming it's in JPU space," Iglis said. I nodded. The JPU wasn't in a sharing mood.
"I've recommended Admiral O'Malley leave as requested." I held up my hand to preclude comments. "You've been with the Riss long enough to know we don't believe in suicide missions. Damaass, Sheva, Elissa, you will follow close to whatever ships Admiral O'Malley assigns you. Tell Pavao that in my absence she is now Leader, and I do not wish to invoke the MSA with the SAS or UFN. Damaass, I'd like you to return to Freeland space one year from today—not a day sooner." I waited for them to nod understanding.
"Party time, dybbuk?" Damaass asked, staring at me as if that would give him the answer. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Commander Byer, Colonel Seng, and Commander Iglis, you are to collect your people and equipment and transfer to the Harpy—"
"What about you?" Seng and Byer asked simultaneously.
"I'm staying...to help the JPU," I said, smiling for the first time in hours. Somehow, I would ensure they got what they wished for—and what they wished for was not what they wanted.
"We'll stay—" Seng said, looking around the table, but I interrupted.
"No, you won't. If they caught you, you would be tortured, imprisoned, and maybe executed, as spies. If nothing else, you would be pawns to be used against the SAS. We're not going to defeat the JPU with force. If we are to win, it will have to be the Riss way—with patience and non-resistance. My staying must remain a secret," I said, meeting each person's eyes. "Tell Admiral Plimson I would recommend the SAS rebuild their fleet rather than confront the JPU over Freeland. He has Dunn, and the Riss will never support the JPU, who will find out that Freeland is not their road to power." Looking around the table, I felt a stab of pain in my chest. "I'd like you off the Mnemosyne as quickly as you can, four hours if possible. I'll miss you, my friends," I said, rising and leaving the room for the Bridge.
* * *
Four hours later, I sat with Seng and Terril in the last Scorpion combat shuttle leaving the Mnemosyne. My eyes misted as I watched the Mnemosyne slowly drift away. Everyone was quiet on the five-minute ride to the Harpy. I imagine most of the Scorpions would have preferred to stay and fight, as senseless as that would have been. I gave Seng a hug when he rose with me and exited the shuttle. To my surprise, Admiral O'Malley and Captain Keegan stood waiting.
"Who's commanding the Mnemosyne?" Keegan asked.
"The Riss," I smiled at the look on his face. "We each have positions which we fill for the good of the Riss. The Mnemosyne's Navigator is now the captain. The position would not be a good fit for her if she were going to war, but she is perfectly capable of commanding the ship under the current conditions."
"What now, Leader Reese?" O'Malley asked.
"I'd like a ride on one of your shuttles going to Freeland. I'm staying."
"You can't. You're the Leader of the Riss!" O'Malley said in disbelief. Keegan stood shaking his head and frowning.
"What if you're caught?" he blurted.
"Someone else will get the position of Leader," I said, smiling at the looks on their faces. "Gentlemen, only you must know I'm staying behind. No one else. You can always say I returned on another shuttle if someone says they saw me get off on Freeland. Much may depend on that secret."
"What about the tattoo?" Keegan asked.
"You can use that as the logic why I wouldn't have stayed on Freeland and must be in Dunn, or someplace else," I said, anxious to get to Freeland. "Which shuttle?"
"Take combat shuttle five. It's leaving for Freeland to pick up the last of the maintenance records detailing the latest upgrades to SAS fighters," Keegan said, pointing to a shuttle just being loaded with Scorpions and a tall Scorpion Lieutenant.
"Admiral O'Malley, would you contact Ni'Shay and tell him to meet you at the Fighter upgrade facility?" When he nodded, I made my way toward the shuttle. As I approached, the Lieutenant turned toward me.
"Captain Keegan said I could catch a ride with you to Freeland," I said. He looked over my shoulder in Keegan's direction and then back to me.
"My pleasure. We have room for two, not that it would matter. If we didn't, I'd imagine Gunny would throw two out."
I spun around and saw Terril standing behind me. It took a full minute before I could talk, as conflicting emotions raced through my mind—wanting her with me but knowing she couldn't come.
"Where are you going, Master Gunnery Sergeant Terril?" I asked, making it a formal question.
"Wherever you're going, Leader Reese, by order of General Garret and Admiral Plimson," she snapped off briskly with not a hint of a smile. Seeing the Lieutenant was ready to leave and not wanting an argument here with others listening, I entered the shuttle and took a seat. When Terril sat, the ramp was raised, and a few minutes later the shuttle exited the bay. The two-hour ride was made in silence.
When I exited, Ni'Shay stood waiting. "Leader Reese, have you come to say goodbye?"
"Are the elders assembled?" I asked, hoping he knew it was me and not O'Malley he would be meeting.
"Yes."
"Good, then let's get going. We have much to discuss."
My current face was too well-known, even in the JPU.
I swear the laugh I heard was evil. I lay my head back against the head rest and closed my eyes. Ni'Shay took the hint and remained silent. Whatever Thalia was doing wasn't painful, but it felt like millions of ants were crawling under my skin during the hour ride to the capital. When I exited the limo, Ni'Shay and Terril both gave me strange looks. Inside, the elders sat, clearly nervous.
"Sorry for not keeping you informed, but the situation is one best handled in person. The JPU has invaded Freeland with one hundred and fifty-seven cruisers, and it claims Freeland is in JPU space and part of the JPU empire," I said, waiting for the uproar. Nothing. Stony silence. "They have given the SAS twenty-four hours to leave. I have convinced Admiral O'Malley to do just that and...to not invoke the MSA agreements with the SAS and UFN."
"I hope you are going to tell us the solution you see and not wait for us to figure it out so we own it," Ni'Shay said.
"You are going to add me to the Council of Elders, and I'm afraid we are going to have to develop the solution together. Call me Ioana..."
"Ja'Tuva," Crina La'Teppe said, with a slight laugh. She had replaced Kolos Ja'Tuva, who had died.
"Ioana Ja'Tuva." I repeated. "I'm recommending we cooperate with our new masters—"
"You want to help them?" Radu Sa'Velte shouted. Emotions of anger, disbelief, and shock bombarded me.
"You're aligned with the Riss, so you must learn to think like them. Not too many years ago, humans hunted the Riss for their fur. If the Riss had chosen to fight, they would be extinct today. They chose non-resistance. Because of that decision, today they are a space-going nation. I suggest Freelanders choose non-resistance, but instead of disappearing into the mountains like the Riss, you help upgrade their cruisers with Riss technology. Of course, it may not work the way the JPU would expect."
Now the room exploded in multiple conversations. I sat back and closed my eyes, content to let the elders talk among themselves. I don't know how long I sat there, but I woke to a scream.
"She's dying!" Oana Ja'Dalle screamed. I opened my eyes, looking to find whoever she was talking about, only to find her staring at me. Just then, Terril walked up and handed me a mirror. At first I thought she had handed me a picture.
In the mirror, I saw that my hair had streaks of silver-gray through reddish-brown hair, the skin on my face had become wrinkled and patchy, my eyebrows longer and grey, my nose arched, my tattoo was gone, and the skin on my arm was thin and wrinkled.
I held up my hand. "Think of it as plastic surgery for my new role as Ioana Ja'Tuva. Speaking of which, you should begin to refer to me as Ioana or Ja'Tuva beginning immediately. A slip could have disastrous results."
"What do you want us to do...Ioana?" Vali Ba'Tasuo asked.
"We will have to ease into our role as cooperative citizens of JPU. From listening to Fleet Admiral Neifeh give the SAS his ultimatum, I think he will start by using force. It won't be easy, but we must resist him, while convincing him we are willing to be cooperative if we are treated like citizens rather than slaves."
While the elders got the general information out to the clans, I was set up with quarters in the Ja'Tuva clan complex as an elder aunt, introduced to the clan members, and given a Freeland wardrobe. Terril was also given a makeover.
CHAPTER FOUR
Freeland: Compromise
I sat in the conference room with the elders, awaiting Fleet Admiral Neifeh. Reports had been coming in all day about UPN atrocities: rape, murders, stealing, destruction of property, and the hunting of Riss. It was late afternoon when the doors to the room burst open and four combat troops dressed in black and armed with assault weapons rushed in. After walking around examining the room and each of us, they took up positions near the entrance. A few minutes later, Neifeh swaggered in, followed by four more combat troops, a Riss skin draped around his shoulders. It took all my will and Thalia to stop me from screaming.
I felt my rage leaving me, although I desperately wanted to hang on to it.
Si'jin? I couldn't seem to focus, even though Thalia's infusion continued to dampen my emotions. Neifeh's voice jarred me back.
"You now belong to the JPU Empire. You raided the citizens of the JPU, so you cannot expect to be treated as citizens, but...if you please us, life will be tolerable," he said, smiling as he surveyed each of us.
"What do you want of us?" Ni'Shay asked, his voice trembling, not from fear—as I suspect Neifeh thought—but in rage.
"You will help upgrade the JPU fleet with the new technology you sold to the SAS."
I laughed and laughed again, causing Neifeh to charge to my end of the table and backhand me out of the chair to the floor. The blow hurt, but because I knew it was coming and didn't resist, the force was minimal, although my spinning out of my chair, crashing to the floor, and Thalia making my nose to bleed and my cheek to turn purple did make it look impressive. I continued to laugh. He drew his gun and pointed it at me.
"Yes, shoot me. You and your gun-happy maniacs have already made it impossible for us to give you the new technology. So shoot us all. We are of no use to you." I laughed between faked coughs complete with blood. Neifeh reached down, grabbed a handful of my tunic, and hoisted me up inches from his face.
"What are you babbling about, old woman?" he snarled. I tried to talk, but the tunic was choking me. I could only gasp for breath, but I did manage a smile, which caused him to shake me like a rag doll. When he let go, my legs refused to hold me, and I collapsed into a sitting position. I coughed a few more times, spraying blood onto his shining calf-length leather boots. That got me a kick in the chest, which I mostly deflected as I spun backward and rolled over several times. He followed me, giving me another kick.
"Laugh again, and I will have you shot, you worthless old bitch," he shouted. I certainly had his attention—maybe I had overplayed it. Well, I couldn't stop now.
"That new technology you want...requires software...the Riss developed and are the only ones who can install," I choked out between coughs and spitting blood. "And you just killed them all." I laughed while holding my throbbing chest. Neifeh spun back to face the elders. They had left their chairs and were standing pressed back against the wall.
"Is that old bitch crazy? The Riss are dumb beasts." He leaned on the table, glaring in the elders' direction. Eventually, Ni'Shay spoke.
"She's telling the truth. The Riss wrote the software, and only they know how to install it. The SAS didn't trust us any more than you do." He looked frail and afraid standing there, but having known him for years, I could tell he was warming to the game I was playing. Neifeh stood silent for several minutes. I could feel his shifting emotions: rage, anger, frustration, and fear. He pulled a handheld device from his belt, clicked the screen, and waited. "General Nahas, cease killing Riss immediately." He stood listening for a minute, then shouted, "Immediately! Shoot the next soldier who kills a Riss and his sergeant and his lieutenant. Is that clear enough! Capture using minimal force." He grabbed a chair, slammed it down in the middle of the room, and sat. "Who is she?" He pointed in my direction. I lay still moaning between coughs.