Lizzy took her turn on watch like everyone else. Just because she was a newly minted second lieutenant changed nothing. She still had responsibilities.
It took a long time for a commendation and commission to come through based on her actions the day Shay had been arrested. She hadn’t expected anything to come of the incident other than she wouldn’t have to look at his ugly face again.
But things happened, and she became the boss.
The others had grumbled at first, but she tried to take care of them and they eventually came around. Her friend, Lindsey, had backed her one hundred percent, even yelling at some of the others when she thought Lizzy wouldn’t know. Lizzy would do what she could to help her friend get promoted when she could.
Much had changed since the day Shay had been arrested.
Guns were outlawed, other than for border units, unarmed police presence increased significantly in an attempt to end looting and violence, and the prisons were emptied.
The last change seemed counterproductive to what the leaders of Utah were trying to accomplish, until it became clear that prisoners who wouldn’t agree to cooperate with the new rules, or were deemed too dangerous despite what they promised, would be exiled instead. Buses had driven them to Lizzy’s checkpoint where they had been sent into the desert with food and water, but no weapons.
When they complained, they were told Las Vegas was less than a hundred and twenty miles away. They could make it in four or five days. Their pioneer ancestors had walked almost a thousand miles to Utah from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Some had tried to sneak back in, but patrols had been beefed up and every attempt was made to keep them out. The rest of the exiles just glared at the guards from their former home state and trudged off to whatever fate awaited them. Lizzy had seen Shay leave with one of those groups.
An alien aircraft appeared in the air a hundred yards or so in front of her now. She jumped.
It settled down on the ground.
This was her second visit by the aliens. The first time, Lizzy’s squad almost immediately opened fire, but she had kept everyone calm. The aliens, several tough looking black men in black uniforms, had left their vehicle and had walked up to the border without weapons. Only one of them had spoken, but he seemed pleasant. He had asked questions, had told them his people would respect the borders and air space of Utah, and then the aliens had gone their way.
Lizzy had made sure everything was recorded and transmitted immediately. For a couple of days after that, she’d had a lot of brass visiting her.
“Record everything,” she said now as she stood and started climbing down the ladder off the top of the guard building. “But don’t shoot. Everyone’s weapons on safety.”
Some of that brass had told her what the aliens were capable of. If humans shot first, humans would lose.
“Way ahead of you, girl,” Lindsey called from inside the building. Her best friend never called her ‘ma’am’ or ‘Lieutenant’ unless she was making fun of her.
Three black soldiers climbed out of the ship. One carried a black girl, one helped another girl walk, and the third, she recognized him as the one she had spoken to before, led the way.
Lizzy set her rifle down against the side of the building, put her arms down to her sides, extended a little, and held her palms forward. That way they’d know she was unarmed.
“Be careful out there, honey,” Lindsey said to her as she walked past the entrance to the guard building. Lizzy nodded in response.
She walked past the barricade. The tire shredders were still raised although no vehicles had come their way in a long time. Travel by vehicle was now permitted for official government business only in an attempt to conserve what little fuel remained.
The desert beyond her fence seemed forbidding to her now, and with the Hrwang vehicle sitting in it, even alien. She watched that desert every day, but stepping out into it at this moment scared her. She kept her hands out.
The aliens stopped about ten feet from her. The lead one spoke first.
“Greetings, Second Lieutenant.” He nodded.
“Greetings, Over Sergeant,” she replied. The aliens seemed to only use rank, not names. He had introduced himself as Over Sergeant Third Assault the first time they’d met.
“We found these girls. One is sick. We can’t help her. Can you?”
Lizzy stepped forward and looked at the girl in the other soldier’s arms. She looked young, fourteen or fifteen, her face thin, her eyes withdrawn.
“Follow me,” she said and turned back to the guard building. The aliens hadn’t come inside the border during their first visit, but they followed her now without hesitation. She realized she had earned their trust. Probably simply by talking to them instead of shooting.
She led them into the building and pointed to one of the bunk beds inside used for guards on sleep break. The soldier set the young girl down gently on it.
The second girl wouldn’t come inside the building.
“I want to stay with you,” she cried, holding on to an alien soldier.
Lizzy stepped back outside. The second girl nearly hid behind the soldier who helped her. The Over Sergeant joined her.
“I don’t want to leave,” the girl said.
“It’ll be okay. We’ll make sure you’re taken care of,” Lizzy told her. The girl looked gaunt, but her eyes blazed defiance.
“That’s my sister. Take care of her. Her name is Jada.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She was brutally raped. She’s not right in the head now. And we haven’t eaten much in a while.”
Lizzy understood. Rumors of man’s inhumanity to man swirled through the ranks of the border guards and found their way throughout the state. No one in her squad wanted to share the fate of those like Shay. Exile frightened everyone.
“You stay with your sister,” the Over Sergeant said.
“No,” she cried and clung to the soldier she was with. He grinned helplessly at the Sergeant. They exchanged words in a foreign language.
“Can you tell her? We are soldiers. We can’t take care of her,” the Over Sergeant said to Lizzy.
“I can take care of myself,” the girl said. “I can be a soldier.”
The Over Sergeant repressed a laugh. “Women cannot be soldiers.”
Lizzy bristled.
The Over Sergeant noticed and stared at her. His face softened.
“I apologize,” he said. Lizzy nodded acceptance. He seemed pleased with her response. “On your world there are many women warriors. It is hard for my people to understand this. It is even harder to understand that women command.”
“We believe in equality,” Lizzy replied.
“We believe women are above the horrors of war,” the alien said.
“If more women were soldiers, maybe there wouldn’t have to be war,” Lizzy offered.
The Hrwang soldier nodded.
He turned to the girl and the soldier she clung to. The two Hrwang spoke in their language for a couple of minutes.
The Over Sergeant turned back to Lizzy.
“I apologize,” he said. “The Under Captain does not speak your tongue. He has given permission for the girl to become a soldier, if you agree.”
“Yes,” the girl said.
“I don’t have any jurisdiction over her,” Lizzy replied.
The alien pulled out a tablet and scrolled on it for a moment.
“Ah. She is not in your chain of command.”
“That’s right.”
“But you are an authority from this world. It is enough.”
Lizzy focused on the girl.
“Is this really what you want? You’ll be safe with us and you can stay by your sister’s side,” she said.
The girl shook her head. “I can’t leave them.”
“Why?”<
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The girl clung tighter to the soldier.
“We rescued them,” the Over Sergeant said.
“From the men who attacked them?” Lizzy asked.
“I apologize,” the Over Sergeant replied. “It is too horrible to tell a woman.”
Lizzy bristled again but faced the girl.
“This is really what you want? To become a soldier with these men?” she asked.
“Yes,” the girl said, confidence growing in her voice.
“How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“You don’t look eighteen.”
“We haven’t eaten much lately,” the girl said and rattled off her birthday. Lizzy did the math. She was eighteen.
“And you just want to leave your sister behind? Just like that?”
“I’ve done everything I can for her. She needs a mental doctor, not me.”
“Family helps with recovery.”
“She doesn’t even know me, ma’am.”
“Well, you’re an adult,” Lizzy said. “I’m not gonna stop you.”
“Thank you,” the girl said.
“You have my blessing,” Lizzy said to the alien, only half sarcastically. “Just take care of her.”
“She will be designated Second Under Private Third Assault if you wish to contact her.”
“Okay,” Lizzy replied.
She never would have agreed to let the girl stay with the aliens if she’d even guessed how much she’d be yelled at over the next two weeks.
“What’s Second Under Private Third Assault mean?” Jayla asked the Over Sergeant once they were safely back aboard the Hrwang vehicle. She almost couldn’t believe they’d allowed her to stay. She loved her sister, hoped her Daddy wouldn’t be too disappointed that she had left her behind, but Jada would be in good hands now and there was nothing Jayla could do for her anymore, anyway.
And she wanted to be with the captain of this group.
His eyes, the eyes she had seen when he rescued her, penetrated her soul. She could stare at him for hours, although when she did stare at him, some of the other soldiers laughed. He was tall, and strong, and an officer. The kind of man a girl could be proud of.
And he had saved her.
She couldn’t imagine life without him. She had fallen completely in love with him.
“There is an Under Private in our squad already. You are lower than him. So you are Second Under Private.”
“Why not just Private?”
She waited while the Over Sergeant interpreted into his language. She had gotten used to the routine quickly. She spoke, the sergeant translated, her captain spoke, then the sergeant spoke back to her. That’s how they negotiated getting Jada help. The Hrwang had told her that only one group of people hadn’t immediately shot at them as soon as they appeared and that perhaps they could take Jada there.
“How far is it?” she’d asked and they’d laughed. The Over Sergeant had explained how their craft worked.
“An AI is inserted into a vehicle and then that vehicle can go wherever the AI can think.”
“How?”
“Magic. And physics. But physics I can’t explain.”
In action, she decided it must be magic.
“In our military,” she tried to explain now, “there are a bunch of privates and corporals and then an officer over them. They’re all the same rank.”
After the interpretation, the other Hrwang laughed, including Fifth Under Captain Third Assault. Her Under Captain.
“Confusing. How would you know who was supposed to do each task if everyone is the same?”
“You take turns.” Translation. More laughter.
“What’s wrong with taking turns?” Jayla asked.
The Over Sergeant explained, “If the Over Private is assigned a task he does not want to do, he assigns it to the Private. If the Private does not want to do it, he assigns it to the Under Private. Simple.”
“Like a pecking order,” Jayla realized.
The Over Sergeant shook his head. He didn’t understand.
“Like chickens. One is in charge, then one next, and so on until the lowliest. They peck each other to enforce their place. That’s why it’s called a pecking order.”
“Pecking order,” the Over Sergeant said into his tablet. He held it up to Jayla. “Explain it again.”
Jayla did, speaking carefully into the tablet.
“Thank you,” the Over Sergeant said.
“What happens with what I just said?” she asked, pointing at the tablet.
“All the soldiers will soon know what a pecking order is.” He smiled at her.
“That’s how you share information with each other? Do you have your own network? I can’t access anything on ours.” She reached for her phone, but it was gone. She didn’t even remember where she’d left it, in the hospital or in the SUV. It didn’t matter. Either way, she’d never see it again.
“Network?” he asked.
“You know. Wireless. You transmit data everywhere over it.”
“Wireless? No,” the Over Sergeant replied, shocked. “No transmission. Download. We download what we learn, we upload what others have learned.”
“How?”
“At our headquarters. The Under Captain will show you.”
The Hrwang craft landed. Jayla hadn’t even felt it take off.
The Under Captain invited Jayla to step out with him. He stopped to retrieve a device from the wall adjacent to the door then climbed out through the hatch. Jayla followed him, stepping onto a parking lot in the mountains somewhere.
The place had an incredible view.
“Where are we?”
The Under Captain scrolled on the device a second. Now that Jayla got a close look at it, it appeared to be an oversized tablet. He showed her a map on it.
Most of the map was labeled in Hrwang writing, but English words were under some of the alien ones. She looked at where he pointed and it read, ‘Los Angeles.’
She looked at the building where Hrwang soldiers milled around and some waited in a line. A tall white statue sat in front of the building. Three domes adorned the building’s roof, one large and in the middle, like a telescope, and two smaller ones on either side. The domes were brown, the building white and familiar.
She’d never been there before, but she’d seen it in movies. It was a pretty building with a pretty view and was so close to Hollywood, she’d seen it in a lot of movies.
She was at Griffith Observatory.
Jayla looked around her. There were a lot of Hrwang soldiers. Other Hrwang craft appeared and disappeared from the parking lot where theirs sat and all the soldiers waiting in line held large tablets like the one Under Captain carried.
She followed him into the line.
This must be the Hrwang headquarters, she thought. But why Griffith Observatory?
The Lord Admiral stared out a port window on his command ship at the planet below. He’d heard the report on Hearst Castle and he anticipated seeing it with desire. It had better please him more than Griffith Observatory.
That thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. He’d been humiliated.
When the girl had laughed at him, he’d almost changed his mind and had her killed on the spot. Instead, he’d decided she’d done him a favor. He needed a true palace and Hearst Castle sounded like it would suffice.
He had business to take care of in space while he waited for the Ambassador to heal enough for the journey back down to the planet.
But not enough business. The Acting Fleet Admiral served effectively in his new role and the Lord Admiral felt temporarily superfluous.
He longed to leave.
One item of business he had to conduct entered his presence now. The Lieutenant Grenadier, planetside, had sent Second Captain
Grenadier as a courier to tell him about the castle and about an armored column moving through the desert in the direction of his current headquarters, toward the observatory. The Lord Admiral had sent his reply by a newly awakened reconnaissance team.
Second Captain Grenadier now stood patiently at attention.
The Lord Admiral couldn’t even look at the man.
“Did you know this location that had been mistaken for a palace was simply an observatory?” the Lord Admiral asked. His voice sounded bitter.
“Yes, sir,” the man replied. His voice sounded subdued.
“And you deceived me?”
“No, sir.”
“Explain.”
“The building appeared palatial from space and from the satellite images we downloaded from the aliens. It had a commanding view. When we landed and realized its true purpose, we considered simply reporting it. But its location was ideal, sir. We tried to make it suitable for your presence and your command center, sir. There was no deception. Only a desire to make it worthy of you, sir.”
The man probably just saved his own life, the Lord Admiral thought. He’d been prepared to put him out an airlock.
“Understood. We will speak of this no more.”
The Captain relaxed, visibly relieved. It made the next part more enjoyable.
The Lord Admiral consulted his tablet.
“That’s all we have to discuss,” he said after finding what he was looking for. “Please report to Third Assault, Third Under Private, for further orders.”
The newly demoted private nodded his head in salute, turned, and left without waiting for his commander to acknowledge. The Lord Admiral didn’t care. The deflated look on the man’s face was priceless.
His Adjutant entered next and got right to the point.
“I just learned that after the assassination attempt on your Ambassador, he asked that one of the units bring some of his people to a location on the other side of their continent,” he reported. “After the Second Colonel died, the Major in charge agreed.”
“What? To what purpose?”
The Adjutant shrugged.
“Anything else?”
“Nothing that would interest you, sir.”
“Thank you. I have to go see our Ambassador anyway.” The Lord Admiral sighed and stood. The Ambassador was finally free of medication and working on his recovery.
The Adjutant didn’t leave immediately. He looked like something was on his mind. The Lord Admiral waited for him.
“Sloppy assassination attempt, wouldn’t you say?” the Adjutant asked.
“His own second-in-command. Who knows why?” the Lord Admiral replied.
“I’ve been thinking about that. Do you think she guessed the truth?”
The Lord Admiral grinned at first, then realized what his Adjutant’s words meant. If the woman had figured out what was going on, others might also. His plan was bold but delicate. Its success would be his greatest challenge and his greatest accomplishment. He needed to remain focused.
“At least it permanently rid you of a problem,” the Adjutant added.
“Not only did the fool die, he also ensured the Ambassador will trust us more than ever. I’m sure he now believes the Hrwang would sacrifice themselves to protect him,” the Lord Admiral replied.
“Do you think he’ll play his part?” the Adjutant asked.
“I’m confident of it,” the Lord Admiral replied and said goodbye to his Adjutant. They left the Lord Admiral’s cabin together, the Adjutant heading one way, the Lord Admiral the other.
The Second Colonel’s sacrifice made the Lord Admiral’s next task simpler, more straightforward. He moved quickly along the corridor toward the medical section in anticipation of its accomplishment.
Stanley worked out in the therapeutic device the Hrwang doctors had attached to his shoulder. His shoulder felt better than it ever had, even better than before Irina shot him. Zero gravity therapy worked miracles.
The Lord Admiral entered the medical area. Several of the staff stopped what they were doing and nodded. He acknowledged them and floated directly over to Stanley. Stanley’s doctor joined him.
“Recovering, Ambassador?” the Hrwang commander asked, grinning.
“Yes, Lord Admiral. Your doctors know their stuff.” Stanley felt pleasure at the Lord Admiral’s concern for him. The man genuinely cared. Stanley couldn’t fathom how he’d earned the honor to work with such a great individual. The Lord Admiral scared him at times, but powerful men were that way. They set high standards for those who worked around them, and Stanley had to live up to the Lord Admiral’s standards. He rededicated himself to that effort.
“That is great news, Ambassador. We have to get you back to your planet as soon as possible. Things are going...poorly,” the Lord Admiral said with a slight hesitation.
Stanley didn’t know what to say. He’d focused on the therapy the Hrwang had given him to allow him complete use of his arm again. He hadn’t thought past the moment. The entire experience at the UN had been a bust. He had no idea what he should do next.
“Is there a chance I could speak to the crew of the Beagle? You know. To tell them about Irina?”
The Lord Admiral seemed caught off guard. He glared at the doctor floating next to him as if the man had just been accused of murdering babies.
“You have not told him?” the Lord Admiral asked harshly.
The doctor replied in a Hrwang language.
“Speak English. For our guest’s benefit,” the Lord Admiral scolded. Stanley appreciated the Hrwang’s concern.
“I apologize. I know nothing of the Ambassador’s spaceship, sir.”
The Lord Admiral sighed at the incompetence of everyone around him.
“Ambassador, there was a terrible accident. Our artificial intelligence unit that transported your ship back to the planet they were investigating failed to take into account the orbit of the two moons. One of the moons struck your ship immediately after the jump. They never had a chance.”
“What?” Stanley couldn’t believe what he heard. Sherry dead? “Were there any survivors?”
The Lord Admiral shook his head sadly. “No. Not even our artificial intelligence unit, a valuable resource, survived. It was completely at fault. I apologize.”
Sherry was dead? Purcella was dead?
Stanley thought about the rest of the crew. He hadn’t always liked them, but they’d lived together in close quarters for months, and he’d come to know peculiarities about each of them. Especially Sherry. She couldn’t be dead.
“Are you certain, Lord Admiral?”
“We sent an investigative team. Their report was conclusive.”
“Could I see it? Please?”
“It is in Est.” Stanley had learned Est was one of the Hrwang languages, the one the Lord Admiral and the Second Colonel spoke.
He stopped exercising, his shoulder floating strangely in the Hrwang device. Not moving, he didn’t like the sensation.
He thought about Sherry. He missed her again. He didn’t know how he felt about her, but he’d thought about her more than he’d thought about his wife, whom he hadn’t even tried to contact yet. Maybe he should.
“I also brought something to show you,” the Lord Admiral said. He handed Stanley a picture.
A smiling man stood in the picture, a woman about the same age as him under his arm and another, younger woman, under his other. A second man stood next to the younger woman, his arm around her waist. They all looked like they were on a beach, in casual clothing.
“This is the family of the Second Colonel Grenadier. He will be sorely missed by them,” the Lord Admiral said.
His words stunned Stanley.
So much grief. So much death. All of it needless.
Stanley had to sit down.
; “We have to end the fighting, Lord Admiral. We have to bring both our peoples, Hrwang and Human, to peace.”
The Lord Admiral looked like he wanted to say one thing but, with compassion in his eyes, changed his mind and said another. He put his hand on Stanley’s good shoulder.
“Your world needs you now more than ever,” he said solemnly.
Stanley nodded agreement and stared back down at the picture of the man who had given his life to save him. Tears came to his eyes. He didn’t even notice everyone leaving him alone or the Lord Admiral leaving the medical unit.
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