Ben looked over the members of the make-shift, thrown-together-in-a-hurry council of officers, and then he said, "We have come to that point where there is no turning back. The revolution started the moment the tower in the prison yard turned to dust.
“This means," continued Ben, "that we will have to plan our actions carefully and quickly, only to include force whenever necessary.
"Now I'm going to turn the meeting over to the Galaef." Ben sat down. For the first time in his life he was beginning to feel a bit of impatience creeping into his thoughts. He wanted to take down Hurd as quickly as possible, then turn his efforts to taking down Thorne. He especially wanted to get back to Lyil before any harm could come to her. Damn, Thorne, thought Ben.
The Galaef didn't bother to rise from his seat. "Before we start making plans I want each of you to stand up, one at a time, and give a short history about your life and how you came to be at this place and time."
Ben shifted in his seat. His impatience was beginning to bother him. He wanted to get this operation into motion and dispense with all the trivialities. But he knew it wouldn't happen, so he waited, and he listened.
The entire group consisted of three women: Dahms, Viella, and Sharpie, and thirteen men, but this included Em who only participated during times of extreme danger: Taul, Ben, Em, Samsung, Curt, Zorn, Brale, Gaal, Xygliper, Sam, Jacob, Tillo, and Sweyn. And, of course, there was one quadruped, Roqford.
One by one the women and men rose, told a little about themselves, including how they became involved, and then sat down. Finally, it got down to the last three: Ben, Em, and Roqford. Since Em wasn't speaking and Roqford hadn't arrived, Ben started to stand up, but Taul beat him to it. He looked at Ben and then at the other members present. "This is Ben Hillar," he said as he pointed with an open palm. "He has taken Thorne's place as second in command of the Galactic Federation." He paused, then said, "This means when I'm not around or if something happens to me, Ben is in charge. I have given this information, with my voiceprint, to the on-board computer of this G15 and the other G15. If either one of these G15's get within range to communicate with the Federation computer, this information will be relayed, and Ben will then be recognized as the new second in command for the entire Galaxy.
“Furthermore each and everyone of you will be entered into these G15 computers as officers of the Federation. That will be my next task as soon as this meeting adjourns." He paused and then continued. "It should now be obvious to all of you that Thorne is trying to take over the Galactic Empire. If he succeeds, the Empire will fall into a dictatorship and wars will break out all over the Galaxy causing unnecessary deaths and hardships for countless numbers of planetary inhabitants." He let the gravity of the situation sink in before he continued. "The only way for us to stop him is to get me within range to communicate with Galactus VII." The Galaef sat down. "And now I open the floor to discussion."
Tillo stood up. "I don't understand why you need to communicate with the computer planet."
"Because," said the Galaef, "once I am in range, and I let the computer know I'm still alive, I will once again have control of the Galactic warships, and Thorne will lose his power."
"There's only one thing to do," said Sam. Everybody shifted their attention to him. "We will contact the nearest Federation cruiser and . . . ."
"It won't work," said Ben.
"Why not?"
Ben felt everyone's attention being focused on him. "Because Thorne has told the computer that the Galaef is dead. As second in command that makes him the temporary Galaef until the computer appoints a new one in two months."
"But the Galaef needs only to communicate with the computer planet, right?"
"Yes, but, in anticipation of your next statement, we have found that Thorne disabled the long range communicators in both G15's, which means we cannot contact any Federation warship."
Sam leaned back in his chair. "What the hell are we going to do?"
Taul stood up. "Without giving away need-to-know information I'm going to tell you as much as I can. Thorne has spent a lot of time over the past few years exploring old computer planets. It is obvious to me that he has gotten hold of an ancient computer with information explaining a failsafe system, which will allow him to reprogram the computer in the case of an emergency. If he can reprogram the computer, he can make himself a dictator and assure that all his future heirs will take their turn as dictators of the Galaxy."
"Then why doesn't he just do it?" asked Dahms.
"Because," replied Taul, "something went wrong with his plans when he lost the key. That's why he didn't have me killed right away. He had to keep the computer thinking I was still in command while he took up the search for the key."
"What key?" asked Dahms.
"I can’t divulge that information at this time," replied the Galaef. "When the time comes I will tell whoever needs to know, everything they need to know about the key, but right now the first thing we have to do is overthrow Hurd and put control of the Newusa government back in the hands of the people."
Just then Zorn gripped the edge of the table so hard that his knuckles became white. Gaal half stood up, and Sam put his hand on his phasor. The three of them looked like they had just seen the warden’s ghost. "Oh crap," said Brale.
Dahms turned around and gripped the arms of her chair.
Roqford padded softly through the doorway. He looked much bigger and his fangs much longer, up close and personal. Overall he looked scarier than hell.
"Nothing to be concerned about," said Ben. "Let me introduce you to Roqford. I've appointed him as one of our generals."
Zorn relaxed a little, but asked, "How can we use him? We can't even talk to him."
Ben grunted, "I can."
"What?" It sounded like an echo of voices from around the room.
"Only psychics can talk to those cats," said Viella.
"Well," said Ben, "I'm not a psychic, but I've had many conversations with him, starting from when I first arrived at the prison. He gave me a lot of information about the prison, about the warden, about how to cope with some of the problems in the prison, and even about one of Hurd's spies. He told me about the hidden voice communicators inside the prison cells. It was his information and help, which was eventually going to help us escape. He has proven himself worthy, and that's why I appointed him to the staff."
Viella turned in her seat and looked Roqford in the eye. She spoke slowly as if not to startle him into anger. "Yes," she said. "It all makes sense. Whenever you had that far away look, you were talking to Roqford."
"That's correct," said Ben. "He has become a true friend."
Roqford walked over to a corner and laid down in a leisurely catlike position.
"Now that everyone has met Roqford," said the Galaef, "including me," he said as he scowled, "it's time to plan the overthrow of Hurd. I now open the floor to discussion."
Curt stood up and surveyed the group, then he said, "All we need is one G15, . . . and we're sitting in it. With this baby we can knock out the scent tower and take over the city with very little resistance. After that we set up a temporary military government, and then we have the citizens of Newusa vote for a new city council. The citizens will have what they want, and the Galaef’s men can repair the other G15 and take on supplies."
"You make it sound too easy," said Brale remaining in his seat, "I admit I don't know a lot about the local politics in Newusa, but I'm wondering about the PC's and the ground forces?"
"Just a moment," said Ben. "What's a 'PC?'"
"Patrol craft," answered Dahms. "They patrol the city, and they are armed with rapid fire phasor guns. "And to answer Brale's question about the PC's," she said as she looked at Brale, "there are two laser cannons aboard this G15 and two aboard the other G15, plus we were able to smuggle three into Newusa. After the scent tower has been knocked out, this G15 can go into seek and kill mode, that is, if they haven't all surrendered by then, which I believe they will have."
"What about the ground forces?" reiterated Brale.
Sam answered the question. "We have more than twenty thousand revolutionaries who are well armed and impatiently waiting to start this war. Once the scent tower is down we won't have any problems with the ground troops."
"Sounds quite optimistic and a bit unrealistic," said Ben. "I'm sure there will be resistance, and I'm sure there will be men and women killed and wounded on both sides."
"I agree," retorted Sam as he waved an impatient hand. "But we will take the city, and the casualties will not be high."
The room was suddenly filled with a loud buzz as the newly appointed Federation officers began talking back and forth in groups of two and three.
The clamor lasted for less than a minute, and then the Galaef took control. "It appears," said Taul as he rose from his seat, "you have presented the problems and come up with some possible solutions. I agree that there will be few casualties, however if any of my officers are killed or wounded, I won't be happy about it, so keep your heads down and let the noncoms do the fighting."
That was blunt, thought Ben. Let's just hope no one gets killed, except maybe Hurd.
"One more thing," said Taul, "whenever a war is planned, communications is a vital part of the strategy. Aboard this craft we have only one comboy and only one aboard the other G15."
Anticipating the Galaef’s next statement Dahms said, "Sir, the underground has smuggled forty- four comboys into Newusa along with enough weaponry to arm twenty-five thousand soldiers."
"Good," said Taul as he sat down. "That takes care of that problem. Now how do we take over Newusa?"
Sam stood up. "We'll blow a hole through the western gates large enough for the destroyer to enter. After it has taken out the tower we'll bring out the ground troops to fortify the take over."
Ben stood up. "I’ve gone over the personnel list, and I find that we have five hundred and twelve prison guards and forty-nine prisoners who are healthy enough to help with the ground assault. If I speculate correctly, one pilot could use this destroyer and shuttle one hundred ten or twenty at a time to a designated area a few miles outside the city gates."
"That's right," said Xilil. "We can do it in five trips." He punched some figures into the computer. "And it'll take approximately six hours."
"With the Galaef's consent," continued Ben, "I'll put Dahms in charge of the ground forces with Curt as second in command. On board the G15 we'll have the Galaef, myself, Samsung, Sam, Sweyn, Tillo, Zorn, Brale, Viella, Xilil, Phist, and Roqford. Sharpie and Xygliper will also accompany the ground troops. If any of the guards, or anyone in this room, as far as that goes, does not wish to participate in this battle, they will have the option to stay behind."
The Galaef nodded his consent.
Ben sat down, and Sam turned to Dahms. "What about the mountain clans? I'm sure they will want to participate in the revolution. You know how they feel about Hurd.
"Yes," said Samsung, "they are good fighters.”
It surprised Ben that Samsung said anything, usually he was quiet and stoic, then he remembered that Samsung and Everette were good friends.
"How long will it take for them to get to the city?" asked Sam.
Dahms thought for a moment. "We can't radio them, because we can't take the chance that the communications will be intercepted, therefore one of us will have to take a transport, and since I know the area, it should be me. And because Samsung has lived with them, I’ll take him with me." She gave Samsung a questioning look.
But the Galaef spoke up before Samsung had a chance to respond. "No," said the Galaef, "Samsung goes with me."
Dahms responded quickly. "Of course,” she said in an apologetic tone. “I only thought that Samsung could help since he knows the mountain people, but I know Everette and some of the others, which means I can do it without him." She paused, and then continued, "Considering it will take me a half day to get there, and two days to contact all the clans, and another half day for them to get to the city, it adds up to a three days."
Silence took over the room as if everyone were wondering about the battle. Ben stood up. “Sounds good,” he said. He studied his newly made officers. “Anything else?”
"What about the toral?" asked Sharpie.
"That won't be a problem," said Ben. "You'll have enough fire power and enough men to wipe out hundreds of them."
"Yes, but if we have to kill toral as we wait outside the gates, then the city will be alerted that we are there."
“It won’t matter,” replied Ben. “What are they going to do—run out and attack a thousand heavily armed men and women?”
“I guess you’re right,” said Sharpie.
"Well then," said Taul, "two days from this morning we attack. We'll start shuttling the prison guards twelve hours before the time of attack.." He stood up. "It is a rather simple plan, but the fact is we have a G15 and Hurd doesn't. That makes it simple, and it puts the outcome of the war in our favor." He looked around the room. "Now if there are no more questions or comments, we shall adjourn the meeting, and I want to invite all of you to the Warden's house for food, drink, and leisure time." He waited to see if anyone had anything more to say, then seeing they didn't, he stepped away from the table and walked out of the room.
Dahms looked at Sam. "I'll have to leave for the mountain nation this afternoon," she said.
"Wait," said Sam.
"What?" asked Dahms.
"I . . . Never mind. I guess I'll see you when it's over."
"Count on it," she said.
Ben ended the meeting. "We'll start the attack at 8 o'clock in the morning, three days from tomorrow." He paused. "Well, I guess that's it."
The rest of them stood up. Sam, Gaal, and Xygliper started talking about the attack.
"Are you talking to Roqford," Viella asked Ben.
"Yes, I was," he answered. "He thinks the plan will work, and the sooner we blow Thorne out of existence the better. But more than that I think Roqford likes the idea of being a General."
Viella looked at Em. "What are we going to do with him?" she asked.
"Keep him with us," replied Ben. Though Em wasn't an officer, Ben had brought him along to keep an eye on him and also because in times of emergency he had proven to be of great help.
*
*
Eolia stooped over and picked a flower. Life was beautiful in the fields. There was no strife, no worry, no pain. It would be right to spend forever walking the grassy fields of this world. Who would care? Nobody.
He laid under the oak tree and sniffed his flower.
Chapter Sixty-Three