The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension

  Chapter 91 - Medoferro’s Plan

  Trinaferro woke up to find Medoferro sitting up in the bed, staring forward. He didn’t look like he’d slept all that much that night, despite the massive fatigue he had to be feeling. She pulled herself upright and looked into her lover’s eyes, wondering what he was thinking about.

  "Did you sleep at all, Copeland?" she asked him, "You look like you’re deep in thought."

  "Trying to figure out a few things," Medo said, "This still doesn’t make any sense."

  "Personally," she smiled, "I’m still trying to figure out how we went from having one of the best nights of our lives to living a nightmare?"

  "It was still the best night of my life," Medoferro said, leaning over to kiss her, "Right up until we came home."

  "Well," Trina chuckled, "At least we don’t have to worry about hiding it."

  "True," Medo agreed, "I already had to drag you into this, that’s enough of a sacrifice. I firmly believe that we should be able to have each other as a consolation prize."

  "Works for me," she told him, "So what are you thinking about."

  "I’m thinking that all of this is starting to make sense," Medo said thoughtfully, "Stack, the assassination attempts on me, all of it. LaPorte has been behind it all."

  "I just can’t figure out why," Trinaferro said, "What does he have to gain from all this."

  "I don’t know," Medo said honestly, "That’s what remains to be seen."

  Trinaferro nodded and leaned against Medoferro. They were both still tired, so they just stayed there until Simon came knocking on the door about a half hour later. Medo, not concerned about appearances anymore, merely pulled up the blankets a little before saying he could come in.

  "Paulus made it back to the palace," Simon told them, "Looks like he has the reasons that LaPorte is doing this."

  "Get everyone together," Medoferro instructed, "I think it’s time for a conference on LaPorte."

  "Careful Medo," Simon teased, "You’re on the edge of looking like an effectual leader."

  "Do I have a choice anymore, Simon?" Medo asked him honestly.

  "Nope," Simon admitted, "But at least you have me around to keep you human."

  "That reminds me," Trina said, "Where is Stacy?"

  "Playing guard with Suvorov," Simon said, "Why?"

  "I want to talk to her up there," Trina said, "This is going to be a full conference over the line, right?"

  "That is what it sounds like," Simon agreed, "Roland said that Iggy wants to talk to all of us."

  "Make sure that Suvorov is there too," Medo said, "He has firsthand knowledge of Cirrus that most of us don’t."

  "You got it," Simon said, "See you downstairs in a few."

  Simon left the room and Medo stood up to put on some clothes. Trina sighed and did the same, not wanting to be official yet. Neither of them were ready to be anything official so they were basically wearing street clothes when they went downstairs. Toria was waiting for them downstairs, smiling as she saw the two of them emerge together.

  "You look a bit better this morning," Toria said, "I gather the sleep helped with the shock."

  "A bit," Trina agreed, "How about you?"

  "About as well as I ever am after losing a patient," Toria shrugged, "I’ll be ok."

  "You still have nothing to be ashamed of," Medo told her, "You figured it out. No one else could."

  "I guess that will have to do," Toria agreed, "Go on up to the house. Travis has everyone waiting for you."

  "Great," Medo grunted, "Come on, Trinaferro. Let’s go be official."

  Trinaferro made a face at Medo and they walked out the door. They jogged up the hill and went into the government house where everyone was waiting. Stacy, Simon and Suvorov were sitting at the table while Roland and Travis were busy talking in a corner. Medo and Trina walked in and poured themselves some of the juice that was sitting on the table.

  "What happened?" Medo asked, "Is Paulus all right?"

  "I haven’t talked to him yet," Roland said, "But the word is that he had a rough time of it."

  "Haven’t we all?" Trina asked them.

  "Good point," Roland agreed, "Anyway, Iggy wants this to be a full council. All three Mullinix and all the representatives."

  "Why are we here?" Suvorov asked, "Stacy and I aren’t in that circle."

  "I want you here because you know Cirrus," Medo said, "From the lower ends."

  "That leaves me," Stacy said.

  "That was my call," Trinaferro said, "Stacy, I don’t have time to go choosing. You’ve been a good friend through all of this. Would you mind being my rep?"

  "What?" Stacy said, stunned, "You’re kidding, right?"

  "I can’t think of a better choice," Roland nodded, "I’m sure Iggy will approve too."

  "Who would have thought?" Simon said, "Might as well drag us all in, eh?"

  "I don’t know," Stacy said, "I mean I’m years older than you…"

  "I need that experience you have," Trina said, "Not to mention I want a woman, seeing as we’re already overloaded with testosterone. You’re the only one I’d trust other than Toria and she is needed more here."

  "Kinda hard to refute that logic," Medo chuckled, "You coming in, Stacy?"

  "Sure," Stacy said, "If you need me, I’ll serve."

  "I’ve set up the chairs," Travis said, "The operator should be regulating the line. It’ll be tight, but all of you should fit, though a couple will have to stand."

  "I can sit in Medo’s lap," Trina chuckled, "That’ll free up one chair."

  "I’ll stand," Stacy said, "If I sit I’ll fall asleep. I took most of the suicide watch on Coblein last night."

  "That works," Medo said, "Let’s go."

  Everyone piled into the room, taking the chairs that were fitting in. Stacy leaned against the wall in the back while Medo and Trina took a chair at the side with Medo sitting back and Trina sitting across his legs using the wall for back support. The light came on quickly as the operators made the connection.

  "You there, Medo?" Insegniferro asked over the line, "Or is this another test."

  "We’re all here, Iggy," Medo said, "Trinaferro, Simon, Roland, Stacy Cossy, Rav Suvorov and me."

  "Very well," Insegniferro said, "Paulus and I are here on this side. I take it there’s a reason for Stacy and Rav’s inclusion?"

  "Stacy is going to be my representative," Trinaferro said, "We don’t have time for me to search and she’s already in the group."

  "I applaud your good sense, Trina," Insegniferro told her, "Welcome to the circle, Stacy."

  "Thanks," Stacy said, stifling a yawn, "I think."

  "I invited Rav because of his experiences in Cirrus," Medoferro said, "I assume that Roland told you about what we found out from Coblein last night."

  "It fits with what we now know," Paulus said, "That son of a bitch LaPorte has gone Rogue on us. He threw me in jail when I tried to report in, that’s why I’ve been out of the loop for so long."

  "I knew it went high up down there," Suvorov said, "But I didn’t know it was LaPorte personally."

  "He couldn’t resist coming down to gloat to me while he had me locked up," Paulus said, "He intends to give Cirrus over to the Mavelans. Lock, stock and barrel."

  "Let him," Suvorov grunted, "Probably could be the nicest thing that son of a bitch could do for us."

  "Those people chose to become Mullinix, Mr. Suvorov," Insegniferro said, "They defected to get away from that tyrannical regime down there."

  "Not to mention it would put them a stone’s throw away from Taliaferro Village," Paulus said, "That’s not an answer."

  "I don’t think we can put off dealing with it any longer," Medoferro said, "We need to take some action and take it now."

  "What about the conference?" Simon said, "Don’t forget, we have the Siraqis coming here in a couple days."

  "That’s what I heard," Paulus said, "Tony Stack knew about that too, said that’s why LaPort
e chose this time to do it."

  "How did LaPorte find out though?" Trinaferro asked, "I mean this came on quick. You didn’t know until you were already halfway through your trip here, right?"

  "Good question," Insegniferro said thoughtfully, "How did they know?"

  "You don’t think the Siraqis and the Mavelans are working together on this do you?" Simon said, "I mean it would explain why they agreed so quickly and without reservation."

  "The Siraqis don’t hold any special love for the Mavelans," Roland said, "But I can see them agreeing to do it if they were assured that Massimaferro would be impaired for the conference."

  "That’s why LaPorte’s people set Coblein to drug Massy," Medo said, "They figured that I wouldn’t be as hard to deal with or that Massimaferro would be impaired enough to give the Siraqis a good deal on the trade talks."

  "They probably didn’t expect the mellemaic to kill him," Trinaferro said, "Nobody uses it anymore. If Toria hadn’t run into it in the past she probably wouldn’t have caught it either."

  "I’m betting the Siraqis are going to be shitting themselves when they find out," Roland said, "I mean, they just wanted trade deals. They are tyrants, but they don’t have the economy to support a war with us. Hell, if we even close the border in response to this their economy will fail."

  "The King of Siraq is a bully and a misogynist son of a bitch," Insegniferro said, "But he’s not as fundamentally stupid as King Facie is down south. He also doesn’t have the zeal for defeating us that Facie does. Especially not since we fund half their economy now."

  "Do you think they’d agree to moving the meeting?" Medo wondered, "I mean given Massy’s death and all…"

  "I think they’ll do more than that," Roland said, "I mean, they were complicit with the Mavelans in this."

  "We don’t need to fight a battle on two fronts," Iggy replied, "We don’t want to push the Siraqis into doing something stupid."

  "LaPorte and the Mavelans are the most important thing right now," Trinaferro said, "I know I’m new, but even I know that if Cirrus falls there’s going to be little to stop the Mavelans from trying to move north. It will be cheaper to take care of this now than to wait."

  "I’ve got an idea," Medoferro said, "It’s going to take some teamwork, but it might be crazy enough to work."

  "You’re better with tactics than I am," Insegniferro agreed, "What are you thinking, Medo?"

  "First off," Medoferro said, "Trina is right. Cirrus is the big problem right now. No offense, Iggy, but Cirrus has been a festering clusterfuck for nearly a decade."

  "You’re right," Iggy said, "I’ve been reading over the records. LaPorte has been lying to us for a long time. We should have caught this long before we did."

  "That doesn’t matter now," Roland said, "We just have to fix it."

  "Exactly," Medoferro said, "Who knows about what we do right now?"

  "Just us," Iggy said, "Though the news about Massy’s death is starting to leak."

  "Release that," Medo said, "But call it a heart attack for now. Leave out anything related to Coblein or LaPorte. The Siraqis will agree to a hold for now due to the death, especially since they don’t want to call attention to their complicity."

  "True," Insegniferro agreed, "But what does this gain?"

  "LaPorte has to be watching the news wires," Medoferro said, "I take it that he already controls the press down there."

  "I didn’t get any news until I got up to Taliaferro village," Paulus confirmed, "And some of the leaders in Taliaferro Village are in LaPorte’s pocket by the way."

  "I have a feeling we’re going to be doing one hell of a purge down there," Insegniferro said, "So what are you thinking, Medo?"

  "Let LaPorte think we’re too busy dealing with Massimaferro’s death to worry about him," Medoferro said, "Trina and I will do a funeral convoy from here to the Centre to keep attention off the other activities."

  "What other activities?" several of them said, almost in unison.

  "We’ve got a class about to graduate down there," Medo said, "How many of them are soldiers?"

  "Just shy of 1100," Iggy said, having the best head for numbers, "But they are raw recruits. No veterans. Most of them are spread out at the borders."

  "And few of them would want to go to Cirrus," Paulus said, "LaPorte has done a good job at alienating most of the corps who served under him."

  "So let’s turn that to our advantage," Medoferro suggested, "If he’s been alienating people for years, a lot of them are probably going to want a chance to kick his ass out of Cirrus, along with the Mavelans."

  "That’s brilliant," Roland said, once he realized what Medo was suggesting, "Get motivated volunteers to seed the units of newbies."

  "That’s going to take some time," Insegniferro said, "Time we may not have."

  "Shine LaPorte on," Medo said, "Do your normal contact and pretend to buy his bullshit. Make like Paulus is still nowhere to be found."

  "That may buy us a little time," Trina said, "But how are we going to build trust back up?"

  "We schedule that to coincide with the ceremony we’re required to do," Medoferro said, "Trina and I will leave here in a few hours. Stacy will play double duty for today and do the security for the trip back."

  "Where does that leave me?" Suvorov asked.

  "You take Coblein and haul ass to Mullinix Centre," Medo said, "You know a lot of those people and between you and Paulus you may be able to convince a lot of the people we need to join up. Basically, keep it quiet and start pulling people in."

  "We can’t keep it quiet forever," Insegniferro said, "How long are you thinking?"

  "I’m thinking that Massimaferro’s funeral will serve a triple purpose," Medoferro said, "It will serve as a farewell to a friend, it will introduce Trinaferro to the world and it will give me a chance to try to build support among the people in the crowd for going down and cleaning up that mess."

  "That’s going to take some oratory," Insegniferro warned, "And Massimaferro was the one who was good at that."

  "I’m going to have to learn quick," Medoferro sighed, "But do any of you have a better plan?"

  "I don’t," Simon admitted, "But it’s going to take more than a few words. We’re going to need to give them a reason to fight for it."

  "And a leader," Suvorov said, "That’s the main thing that has been lacking in this situation. Most of us who were in those trenches were told we were doing it for the Mullinix. All bullshit, but we need something to counter that bullshit."

  "That will have to be Medoferro," Stacy said, "Trina is too new, and Iggy is considered tainted by a lot of them. Can we build him up in time?"

  "I don’t intend to sit in the palace and watch," Medo said, "I’m going to go down there and handle the tactical deployments."

  "You’ve not been here long enough for that," Roland said, "I mean…"

  "You can’t get that close to it, Medo," Trina said, shuddering at the thought, "I mean… It’s dangerous!"

  "Who else is going to?" Medo asked testily, "Who do you trust to do it at this point? Another Colonel? Someone in power has to show that they care about what happens down there."

  "Medo is right," Simon said, supporting his Mullinix, "I’ll go with him too. This is too important to leave to someone outside the circle."

  "Is that even legal?" Paulus asked, "I mean, usually…"

  "I think he’s crazy," Insegniferro said, "But unfortunately he is right. Part of the problem is that nobody has taken the time to go down there. Tali was too old to handle it. I never was good at that end of things and Massy just never had time to make it down there. We’ve got one chance to make it right and Medo and Simon are it."

  "If they’re going, I’m going with them," Suvorov said, "Someone needs to watch their asses."

  "I don’t like it," Trinaferro sighed, looking with sad eyes at Medo, "I don’t want to risk losing him so quickly."

  "I’ll keep out of danger," Med
o promised, "But face it Trin, you haven’t been trained for this yet. Even Massy admitted that Simon and I were nearly his equals in tactical matters. No more half-assed measures, no more military rulers. We’re going to take care of Cirrus and do it right."

  "It’s Medo’s call as Mullinix," Insegniferro said, "I don’t like it, but I don’t have a better alternative. At least he has a plan."

  "We still have to deal with the Siraqis," Roland said, "I guess that is going to fall into my lap."

  "No," Iggy said, "I’ll go up there and handle Siraq at the conference after we do the transition. Trina can hold the fort here while Medo goes south."

  "I haven’t had any training yet!" Trinaferro said, "If something goes wrong…"

  "I’ll be staying with you," Roland said, "I don’t think they’ll need me in Cirrus. I’m too old to fight and would just get in the way of war planning."

  "I can handle Siraq on my own," Insegniferro said, "This plan requires all of us to stick with our strengths. Mine is diplomacy, Medo’s is the tactics."

  "And my job is to keep you both from screwing up," Trinaferro sighed.

  "Where do you want me?" Stacy asked them.

  "If I’m staying in Mullinix Centre," Roland said, "Iggy is going to need someone to go with him. Think we can switch advisors for a bit? Iggy? Trina?"

  "I think that we’ve got the beginnings of a plan here," Medo said, almost smiling.

  "It’s going to take some luck," Paulus said, "But I think I know some people to talk to."

  "I’d best go get Coblein ready to travel," Suvorov said, "I want to get down there quickly."

  "Why not just put Coblein in the covered part of the barge?" Trina asked, "Medo and I are going to be putting on an act for the public, so we’re not going to need it."

  "Works for me," Medo agreed, "Just have to keep him quiet."

  "I had Toria sedate him earlier," Stacy said, "We’ll get her to administer another dose of sedation so he’ll sleep until we get to Mullinix Centre."

  "Another thing you can do to keep the press off guard," Insegniferro said, "Talk to them on the way. There will be reporters begging for interviews along the way. Talk to a few of them. Give them some facts, but not all of them."

  "They can just act like themselves," Simon chuckled, "That will raise eyebrows enough."

  "What does that mean?" Paulus asked, as he was unaware of the intimate nature of Medo and Trina’s relationship.

  "Medo and I are lovers, Paulus," Trina said, very unashamed by this, "It was just bad luck that we both got dragged in to this."

  "It’ll be better to let that out now as a matter of fact thing," Roland agreed, "It’ll save problems arising from it later."

  "Is that even legal?" Paulus wondered, "I mean, has it ever happened before?"

  "It has," Insegniferro, ever the historian, informed them, "Dadiferro and Caldoferro, about four centuries ago. They were about ten years apart in age, with Dadiferro being the new Mullinix. They ruled as a couple for years, first with him as Mullinix and her as apprentice, then with her as Mullinix and him as Elder. It’s happened before. They can’t marry, but there’s no problem with them being a couple."

  "Then it’s best to release that information now," Paulus agreed, "If you try to keep it in, it’ll get out anyway and look a whole lot worse."

  "We’ll pick up some reporters near Polonion," Medoferro said, "It’ll take that long for us to rest and make ourselves look somewhat presentable."

  "I’ll go ahead and make the announcement locally," Insegniferro said, "About Massimaferro’s death I mean. That news will overcome the rest of it. I take it you’ll be back down here probably around sundown."

  "Sounds about right," Medoferro said, "We’ll leave here in about two hours or so."

  "And I’ll leave on my own now," Suvorov said, "I’ll be down there by noon."

  "Let’s do it," Medoferro said, "Everyone knows what to do."