A bus picked up Leek and the rest of the new recruits and drove them to where the reception party was waiting, They climbed out and quickly made their way to an anxious group of soldiers, officers, and politicians. The base commander, General Zitor, shook their hands and offered his congratulations for their accomplishments and expressed his happiness to see them in one piece. Lorin embraced Peter and Jake patted him on the shoulder. Peter's smile widened when he looked at Luci with her round little tummy walking toward him. He rushed over to her, picked her up and swung her around in delight. She laughed, then they embraced and kissed passionately.
When they finally let each other go, Peter looked her in the eyes and said, "Oh, I’m so glad to see you."
She smiled and replied, "Me too. I’ve missed you.”
They started walking away from the crowd so they could talk privately.
“Have you really?” he said skeptically.
“Of course,”
“Well, I’ve definitely missed you. You look wonderful,” he said, stopping to pat her stomach.“Both of you.”
She turned to him and laughed. “Yes, he’s an active one. He kicks a lot. I guess he’s anxious to get out and meet his father.”
“But he won’t know his real father, will he?” Peter asked sadly.
“Yes, in fact, he will,” she replied smiling wryly. “I guess they didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“We've been mated, so you and I will be raising him."
"What?" Peter said.
"We've been mated," she repeated cheerily.
"We have?" Peter said not believing what she was saying. "How could that be? You already have a mate."
"The Councillor arranged a revocation."
"A what?"
"I guess they call it a divorce on Earth. It almost never happens here on Tarizon, but in extraordinary circumstances it can be done. You have powerful friends."
Peter’s heart was filled with joy.
"Wow! They didn't tell me they were going to arrange that. . . . Jeez,” Peter said taking Luci in his arms and hugging her. He broke away barely able to contain his joy. “What a nice surprise.”
Luci gave him a tentative smile.
“So, . . . are you happy about it? I hope," he asked.
She smiled and took his hands in hers and replied, "Happy, but a little sad too.”
“Sad?”
“To leave my mate so suddenly. He was shocked and badly shaken when I told him of the revocation.”
“Oh, Jesus. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt your mate. I’ve never met him, but I know you are fond of him.”
“No. It was for the best. When you left me in Shisk, I didn't expect that I’d miss you. I’ve been a guide for many Earth-aliens and never felt any remorse when it came time to leave them, but with you it was different."
"You couldn't stop thinking about me?" Peter said knowingly.
She nodded, "Yes. I don't know why. Maybe it was because you were so distraught that you wouldn’t be with me to raise our child. Or maybe it was because you said you loved me and I believed you. No one has ever said they loved me before. Love is not something that is discussed between mates.”
“You don’t think your old mate loves you?”
“No. He didn’t care that I slept with other men. It was my job, but I don’t think you would feel that way.”
Peter nodded. “Yeah. You’re definitely out of the guide business, I promise.”
“What if I like being a guide?” she teased.
“No. Sorry. Raising our children will be a full time job.”
“Children?”
“Yes. If they don’t allow contraception on this planet, then I think you’re going to be pregnant for the rest of your life.” They both laughed. “There were four of us born in the first six years of my parent’s marriage. That’s when they decided to stop, but if they hadn’t been allowed to stop . . . well, you can do the math.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
Peter raised his eyebrows. “Well, I’m glad it’s you and not me. I’ve heard childbirth can be a bitch.”
“Not on Tarizon. Our medical science is very advanced. I’ll have a little discomfort but with the meds they give me it won’t be bad and when it comes time to deliver I’ll be artificially induced and will sleep painlessly through the entire procedure.”
Peter laughed. “Really?”
“Uh huh.”
“Wow. That is wonderful.”
“Anyway, it was hard to function on my job when my thoughts were always on you. When Lorin called and asked if I'd come to see you, I was . . . well . . . I guess, relieved."
"Relieved?”
“Yes, if I couldn’t get you out of my mind, I was glad that I didn’t have to try any longer."
"You sure? I don't want you to have any regrets."
"I won't if we can be together."
Peter looked away and didn’t respond.
“We will be together now, won’t we?” Luci pressed.
“Ah. Eventually.”
“What does that mean? I was told we’d have a few weeks before you had to report for duty.”
“Right. Unfortunately, the situation has changed. I’m going to have to go on a mission right away and when I get back we may have to evacuate the island.”
“Oh, don’t tell me that!”
“I’m sorry. The civil war is starting and I’m afraid I’ll be right in the middle of it. We may not see much of each other until it’s over. ”
“No!” she exclaimed. “You make me fall in love with you and then you leave me. . . . . That is so cruel.”
Peter sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to leave you, believe me, but I have to obey orders. I don’t have any choice.”
"Leek!" Tam yelled. "Come on. They want us for a debriefing."
Peter sighed deeply and said,"I'll see you soon and we can sort this out, okay? I love you and I’m so happy to find out you’re my mate. I promise I’ll make this work somehow, no matter how difficult it might be for us. It will be worth it in the end."
She raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Peter squeezed her hand one last time, then turned, and followed the crowd heading for a nearby building. She watched him leave and then went off in the opposite direction. Inside the building Tam, Red, and Peter joined Sy, Jake, Lorin, Lute Vincente, General Zitor, and several staff members in a conference room. On the wall was a map of Tarizon. Peter noted the five continents of Lamaine Shane, Turvin, Azallo, Lower Azallo and Oct Mezan. The Beet Islands, with a big star designating their base, was in the lower left corner of the map just southeast of Lortec. General Zitor stood up. "Welcome to Loyalist Base 1 or LB1 as we call it."
Peter smiled and the general continued. "As you know Videl Lai has advanced to the post of Supreme Chancellor of Tarizon's Global Assembly. Since his inauguration, seven Chancellors of the 31 Tarizon provinces have died under suspicious circumstances. Under the laws in each of these provinces the Vice-chancellor immediately replaces any chancellor who is unable to perform his duty until the next regular election. The deaths were carefully calculated to insure Videl Lai supporters would gain control of the Tarizon Global Assembly. Yesterday, in the first conclave of the Assembly, they did just that and passed several shocking mandates.
General Zitor looked down at his notes. First they declared a state of emergency which has the effect of suspending three fundamental rights of the Tarizonian people: the right to speak freely, the right to fair accusation and legal counsel, and the right to assemble. Secondly, they ordered the conscription of 1.2 million men and women to bolster the TGA which has been severely strained by recent defections to the Loyalist cause. Thirdly, they ordered the immediate summary execution of anyone deserting the TGA or joining the Loyalist movement. Finally, they ordered the immediate eradication of the Nanomites, Rhutz, Seafolken, and any others who refuse to serve the will of the Central Authority.
"What this means is the TGA is in turm
oil at this moment. It will take them many phases to get their forces back to full strength and many more to get them trained and effectively deployed. We must therefore strike quickly and cripple the TGA before it again becomes strong.
"Recently it has been confirmed that the enemy knows of LB1. Lt. Lanzia and his companions have discovered a huge TGA base on Lortec obviously built for the purposes of waging an attack on this base. How did they find out? Well, we fear there is a traitor amongst us. Who that might be, we don't know at this time, but the traitor will be discovered and dealt with swiftly and severely. We don't think the enemy knows our precise location yet, but in time they will no doubt discover it. So far we’ve been lucky. LB1 is on an island chartered as uninhabitable and cannot be seen by satellite due to general atmospheric conditions and its own volcano, Mt. Javiyan, which provides a continuous cloud of smoke and steam over the island. But if the skies clear, which I’m told is a possibility in the next few days, they will surely find us by tracking air traffic in this area.”
"In the meantime we must make plans to launch a preemptive strike against the TGA on Lortec. We must cripple them before they have the strength to destroy us. . . . Are there any questions?"
"Peter raised his hand. "Did you say Lt. Lanzia?"
"Yes, we've decided to consider you and your companions as graduates of officer training school given the contribution you've already made to the Loyalist movement. Accordingly, you have all been promoted to Lieutenant."
"Thank you, Sir. We appreciate your confidence in us."
"You're welcome. . . . Now are there any more questions?"
“We saw some blue sky on the way here from Muhl. Has the sky over LB1 ever cleared? If so, it could be that the base has been seen by satellite.”
“It is true that when certain wind currents prevail the clouds thin in this area, but we have not seen any clear blue sky in many cycles. If the skies did clear and our base was detected we’d be obliterated in a matter of kyloons, as the TGA would launch a missile attack that would destroy the entire island.”
“So,” Red said. “Even if we destroy the TGA forces on Lortec, they could still destroy LB1 if they could find its precise location.”
“Yes, that is why we are watching a new weather pattern that is currently developing. The weather stream that controls our local weather has been sinking in a southerly direction farther than we’ve ever seen it. We don’t know what’s causing it, but, if it continues, strong upper winds could actually clear the skies over the Beet Islands. If that happens, we’d have no other choice than to evacuate LB 1 and we’d only have a few kyloons to do it.” The general sighed. “This couldn’t have come at a worse time with our imminent attack on Lortec.”
The room went silent with this chilling news. Finally, Peter broke the silence.
"Assuming the sky doesn’t clear, we prevail at Lortec, and the war continues; what is our overall strength compared to the TGA."
"We control only nine of 31 Tarizon’s provinces. We have 21 secondary installations in these nine provinces with total troop strength at 197,000."
"So, its 197,000 versus how many million?" Peter asked.
"There are 2.1 million TGA troops by last count so to anticipate your question, yes, we are out numbered more than ten to one. In addition, as time goes on we expect significant human defections to our side, particularly if we can win a few early battles."
"A couple of rhutz have already come to our rescue on Muhl and I can see how the Nanomites have helped in building this base, but how will the Seafolken and the Mutants help us defeat Videl?"
"The Mutant Army has defected to our side. It is about a million strong but lacks experience and modern weaponry. There are a lot of Seafolken in the TGA who we expect to defect if they have the opportunity, but will be fighting against us until we can liberate them."
"What kind of numbers are we looking at?"
"There are approximately 200,000 Seafolken in the portions of the TGA under Videl’s control."
Peter nodded. He didn't know much about the Mutants or the Seafolken but he didn't think the general would want to educate him on those subjects right then, so he kept his mouth shut. He figured Lorin or Jake could fill him in later. As they were wrapping up the meeting, General Zitor told them to take the rest of the day off, but to report for a planning and strategy session early the next morning.
After the meeting Lorin showed them to their quarters. Peter went inside and found Luci sitting on a bench waiting impatiently for him.
“You’re finally back,” she moaned.
Peter went over, sat down and took her hand in his.
“Yes. Sorry, there was a lot to talk about.”
She sighed. “So, how much time do we have?” she asked looking him in the eyes.
He looked away. “Less than twenty-four hours, I’m afraid. Videl Lai has been elected Supreme Chancellor and he’s ordered the execution of anyone supporting the Loyalist cause.”
“Well, you expected that, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but he’s also ordered the genocide of the Seafolken, Nanomites and Rhutz unless they submit to slavery.”
“That means they want to kill Rhin?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“The Councillor has her. He’ll make sure she is safe.”
“Why would the people elect such an evil man as Chancellor. I don’t understand it.”
“The Purists don’t play by the rules. They have used bribery, blackmail, intimidation, and even assassination to make sure they would have a majority in the World Assembly when it came time to elect a new Chancellor.”
“How can they get away with that?”
“Rupra Bruda has mastered the art of telekinetic assassination. It leaves no evidence and can be done at a distance so there are no witnesses. Everyone knows he’s behind all the assassinations but we can’t prove it.”
Luci sighed. “I can’t believe we only have less than a day before you must leave. What am I going to do without you?”
“Councillor Garcia will make sure you and the baby are looked after. I’ll come to visit you as often as they will let me.”
“It’s so unfair.”
“I know, but we can’t do anything about it, so we better make good use of what time we do have,” Peter suggested, pulling her closer to him. She inched toward him warily until their lips finally met. Although they were both frustrated and angry with the way their new relationship was playing out, they gave into their passions forgetting for one night about the turmoil and dread that boiled around them.