Chapter 23
Splitsville
“So, let me get this straight,” Crush said, putting his feet up on the desk dividing him from Duke. “The council, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that the residents of this quarter are the problem?”
“That is not what I am saying,” Duke insisted. “We are offering those who do not like the direction the colony is headed the opportunity to leave and then govern themselves in another location. You will all still be a part of the colony, just with a separate and self-governing settlement.”
“And we are to be given what supplies?” Crush asked. “Warm wishes?”
“Well, we must obviously keep what we brought with us,” Duke said placatingly. “After all, you are the ones choosing to leave.”
“Funny that,” Crush said, leaning back in the chair and lacing his fingers behind his head, “We are being asked to leave but choosing it ourselves. Isn’t that polite? It sounds so much better than ‘exiled.’ I’m sure you’ll all sleep like babies knowing we ‘chose’ to leave.”
“I see no other option left to us,” Duke sighed.
“I do,” Crush said seriously. “You run the colony, and we sling the bastards on the council out the door. Everyone is happy. We joined YOUR colony, Duke. Not theirs.”
“We are where we are,” Duke said stiffly. “The offer will be made, and all those who remain will be expected to swear loyalty to the council.”
“Change your mind,” Crush urged him. “Oaths of loyalty? His Royal Highness Duke Duke sounds stupid. It won’t suit you.”
“This is happening!” Duke snapped, “I urge you to take it seriously!”
Crush got slowly to his feet as he began to speak, “I’m not taking things seriously? Are you fucking cracked? I’m taking this very fucking seriously, you giant moron! We came with you on faith. Faith! So far, your ship might as well have been made of clay, your council is the biggest collection of assholes you could find, and your sister is a fucking pirate! Who’s the one not taking things seriously?” Crush yelled at the rapidly purpling Duke. “You’re running this place into the ground.”
“That is it!” Duke smashed the desk into splinters. “Get out! Take your rabble and get the fuck out! Anyone who so much as utters your name will pay for it come tomorrow morning!”
The two men stood, glowering at each other.
“Everything okay, Crush?” Brix’s presence cut out the light coming in through the door.
“He actually did it!” Crush snapped at Brix.
“Well, you said he would,” Brix shrugged. “I’ll get everyone moving.”
“I never thought he would actually go through with it!” Crush yelled after his friend.
Crush watched Duke storm out the gate of the Marshall’s Quarter and shook his head. Even when he saw the conversation in the council room headed this way, some part of him still thought Duke wouldn’t go through with it.
If this had all come as a shock, Crush and the others heaved out of the colony—which was what they were doing, no matter how noble they made their intentions seem—would almost certainly either die or be forced into virtual servitude when they came crawling back.
“You need to try and relax,” Vicky said, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. “We will be okay, thanks to you.”
“I know,” Crush hissed. “But he doesn’t, and he’s doing it anyway.”
“Well, how about you help now and seethe about it later?” Vicky teased. “We got shit to do, Marshall Crush.”
Crush couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that.
Besides, Vicky was right. There was a lot to do.
“Thanks,” Crush gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll get to work.”
And work he did. Their plans were pretty far advanced as they were, but the return of the Last Chances forced them to accelerate their plans by a significant margin.
Luckily, And had the kind of smile that worked on the lady who monitored the communications. That, plus irritation that her husband was always the one to actually answer the comms was enough to ensure that the Quarter knew about the returning ship within minutes of the first communication.
Work crews had been going for almost twenty hours now, working in non-stop high gear in order to get as much done as possible. Still, sacrifices would have to be made.
“Maddy, we need to leave the last third and get the vehicles moving,” Crush called as he found her supervising the latest compartment.
“No way!” Maddy protested. “That would leave us without enough housing.”
“We can make it up with local timber,” Crush replied.
“Yeah? Did you forget about the moss?” Maddy shivered. “I’m not sending people to even LOOK at those trees.”
“Well, time is up,” Crush shrugged. “We need to move before they realize what has happened.”
“Really?” Maddy fidgeted with her earring. Crush knew she did that when nerves were starting to get the better of her.
“It’ll be fine,” Crush reassured her. “I’ll ask the Captain for help if we need it.”
“You realize she has a name, right?” Maddy smirked. “Everyone always just calls her ‘the Captain.’ It’s almost like she’s the only one.”
Crush smirked; he had noticed it himself but didn’t seem to be able to break the habit. “She’s pretty unique.”
They both silently watched the frenzied work around them for a minute before Crush nodded to Maddy and headed off to check on the other compartments.
All through the quarter, word was being passed.
The time had come to leave.
Their actual preparations had started the day they got a vehicle. That first trip had taken as long as it had because they did not, in fact, head straight for the new embassy. Instead, they had gone and found the thing most people seemed to have forgotten about.
The rest of the Arc.
It had not been a pretty sight, but it had been found, which was half the battle. The other half took longer, but it was about to pay big dividends.
The tunnel was almost a mile long and took a good few minutes to trot down, but it came out into a hidden valley that had allowed the people working on the other tunnel to at least have somewhere to set up camp. That tunnel was three miles long, and the earth they had removed was all piled up between the walls of the Quarter. It had given them solid walls in case they were attacked and also kept anyone from wondering where the hill of dirt had come from.
An actual win-win situation.
Cara had been hard at work for the last week, and the results of her work awaited him in the valley where the second tunnel emerged.
“Looks bigger than I expected,” Crush said as he found her tightening the straps on one of the massive anti-grav sleds.
“It’s the interiors of a good dozen and a half compartments,” Cara grinned. “It ain’t small.”
“The parts from the grav truck worked okay?” Crush checked.
“They are floating, aren’t they?” Cara replied tartly.
“Just checking,” Crush grinned. “Is Bil on his way?”
“Left this morning,” Cara nodded. “It’ll take him a few days, but he’ll get there.”
“I should have kept my damn bike,” Crush grumbled. “He could have been there and back in two days.”
“We’ll come out six miles from the walls, heading in a different direction than they expect, and have more supplies than they know,” Cara said confidently. “It’s three-one to us at the moment.”
“See, it’s that last bit that worries me,” Crush muttered to himself.
===<<<>>>===
It was difficult for anyone to ignore the fact that there were almost a third fewer people at the town meeting later that night.
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Still, despite the crowd's tension and worry, Duke got up and made a very polite and serious speech about the colony's problems, the very serious approach that the Council had taken to dealing with them, and the final decision. Once the announcement had been made, people began to mutter and talk over him, at least until Brenda fired her blaster into the sky. That quieted things down quickly.
“I want to stress that this is an entirely voluntary option,” Duke called loudly. “No one is being forced to take this offer. On the contrary, I want to warn anyone against taking it. We came together for a reason, and for that reason, we should remain together as one. If people do take the option, however, I can only wish them luck. It will be a difficult, hard life to attempt to establish a colony without supplies, or even shelter.”
“Those who do decide to stay will have to signal their intentions with a simple ceremony,” Hadrian stepped forward with a smile. “A small celebration of the more formal founding of this great colony and our intention to work together. Oh, there will also be a quick oath of loyalty.”
Duke visibly winced at that while Brenda openly laughed. Still, it seemed to go over very well, which was explained by the fact that everyone there already owed something to the council as it was.
Inevitably, someone eventually asked the question.
“So, where are the others?” A voice called from the crowd. “No one from the Quarter is here!”
It was a very good question and one that Duke had been worried about for a few hours. No one had been seen leaving the Quarter since he himself left. It wasn’t his finest moment, and the meeting had obviously gotten out of order.
Perhaps it was the twisting worm of guilt in him, or maybe there really was more of his sister in him than he thought, but Duke was beginning to get very angry.
“You see?” He asked the gathered crowd. “This is why we need to let them go. They have been absent for this whole meeting. A town meeting. An important meeting. Yet, they stay away; they keep to themselves. How are we supposed to work with that?”
After the meeting, the uncertain crowd was dispersed with the aid of Brenda’s crew and the Council met again. The subject was a simple one.
What to do about the Quarter and its denizens if they refused to come out and leave, or take the oath.
“How long can they possibly stay in there?” Nancy asked. “They don’t have enough supplies to keep them fed for more than a few days.”
“If that is all they are doing, then let them,” Warrick offered. “I want to know if that is all they are doing.”
“What do you mean?” Duke asked. “What else could they be doing?”
“Preparing to fight?” Hadrian asked. “Perhaps warning them was not the best idea?”
“It was only right,” Duke hissed. “And what could they hope to win by fighting?”
“They might be more worried about what they could lose,” Hadrian countered. “They are supposed to leave all but their own things behind. It might be enough to tempt them to desperate measures.”
“You didn’t think of that option before?” Brenda asked with a sinister smile. “You disappoint me, Hadiran.”
“I admit the option did occur,” Hadrian inclined his head. “I simply hoped to call on your own crew, as well as our own forces to dissuade such ideas.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Brenda asked with a grin. “Let’s go grab them out of there.”
“I think they deserve time to decide on the better option themselves,” Duke said gravely. “We can give them a day, surely?”
“It might let them dig in,” Brenda warned. “I mean, we could hit them from above with my ship, but that is going to make accurate fire difficult.”
“There are children in there!” Duke told her, aghast.
“They took ‘em in there,” Brenda smiled. “They are in charge of keeping them alive.”
“They can always surrender and leave quietly,” Nancy said smugly.
“It would be kinder to just shoot them,” Brenda said simply. “What?” She rolled her eyes at her brother’s look of distaste. “You are sending them to either crawl back on their knees or die. Don’t pretend you aren’t, brother.”
“I am not our father,” Duke growled at her.
“No, you are not,” Brenda grinned. “Dad would say it openly. You’re more like Mum. You want them to thank you for it.”
“Enough!” Duke glowered at his grinning sister. “We will give them a day or two and see if they come to their senses.”
“And if they don’t?” Hadrian asked.
“Then, we will have to take matters in a more serious direction,” Duke growled and stalked out the door.
The following day, people gave the gates to the Marshall’s Quarter a wide berth. Everyone had a bad feeling about the place now. For a start, they had officially been declared as ‘other.’
It is an old trick—practically as old as civilization itself. There are us and them. Everyone wants to be an ‘us.’ No one would willingly choose to be one of ‘them.’ It’s one of the defining urges that form civilizations in the first place. Two groups form, each one describing themselves as ‘us’ while painting their neighbors as ‘them.’ Sure, things might be peaceful, at least for a while. The old line goes that we have nothing against ‘them,’ but they really aren’t like ‘us.’
Naturally, and over time, there is an incident or a thing that both want. Then, the whole concept suddenly becomes a darker issue. Politicians in every society in the universe, therefore, are huge fans of finding a ‘them,’ and immediately blaming everything people don’t like on that same ‘them.’
So, just the idea was enough to keep most people away.
Add to that the general feeling that the people there were more than likely both angry AND desperate. So, is it any wonder that people avoided the place?
The long and the short of it was that two days later when the combined forces of the Council and the Last Chances approached the gates heavily armed and demanding they be opened immediately, they were the first ones actually to approach the place since the town meeting.
Their demands going unanswered, a very junior member of Brenda’s crew approached the gates and carefully burned through the hinges.
What they found inside became the source of several rumors and even a small but growing legend.
The empty streets of the Quarter were lined with bare walls and empty planting boxes, while not a sound could be heard except for a single compartment door clanging occasionally in the wind.
“Where are they hiding?” Nancy demanded from her spot safely behind the armed men she employed.
“I don’t think they are,” Brenda handed a hand scanner to Duke, who swore.
“What?” Warrick demanded.
“There’s no one here,” Duke sighed. “They’ve already left.”
“Search this place from top to bottom!” Brenda snapped to her crew. “If there is a hole in the wall, find it!”
“This may not, in fact, be a bad thing,” Hadrian said thoughtfully. “If they have left already, there is no need to throw them out. We can even claim they stole things; after all, who is to know?”
“I don’t like lying,” Duke snapped. “Haven’t your half-truths cost us enough already?”
“You may not be lying,” Brenda said after a hurried whispering with her First. “It seems the compartments are empty.”
“We saw the scan, thank you,” Warrick said sarcastically, only to pale and shift as Brenda stared at him, unblinking for several seconds.
“She means they are stripped,” First Barrata replied smoothly, a slight smile on his face. “They have taken everything down to the bolts.”
“The bolts?” Nancy asked.
“Allow me to demonstrate,” Burrata said and kicked a nearby wall. The covering wavered and toppled over with a clang, revealing the sturdy frame inside. The compartment inside was exactly as described. Nothing by smooth metal skin on the very outer layer. It was held to the framing by nothing more than inertia.
“Clever bastard,” Brenda grinned when they found the tunnel beneath the Marshall’s back room. The entire floor was removable, with a wide, steep slope dug into the dirt beneath. The scorch marks of mining lasers were still visible on the walls but were clearly faded. “He must have had them start digging this out the day they moved in.”
The search continued, finding the stripped compartments and empty rooms all the way to the back of the Quarter, with varying levels of stripped components.
Nancy sent some of her people into the tunnel, but it had been collapsed after a couple of dozen feet.
“So, they left without telling us and took our rightful property,” Hadrian said with a slow smile. “I can’t see how this fails to work in our favor.”
“He’s right,” Nancy said with apparent delight. “We should send people after them to recover our things. Armed people. Captain Brenda?”
“Fuck off,” Brenda laughed. “You want to walk into a trap, go ahead.”
“You think it would be a trap?” Warrick frowned.
“Why not?” Brenda smiled. “He’s run rings around you lot so far.”
“You can always track them from your ship,” Nancy said as nastily as she dared.
“Pay me, bitch,” Brenda snapped back. “Pay me, and I’ll do it.”
“There’s no need,” Duke snapped. “Let them go. They have some meager supplies to survive with. Much good may it do them.”
“Fine,” Brenda shrugged. “Now, let’s get to the important work of getting my ship sorted out. Or did you lot not want that freighter?”
===<<<>>>===
Banjo met Nellie at the door of the Embassy, doing his best to stand to attention. It didn’t come naturally to him, but the attempt was slightly adorable anyway.
“He’s inside, Captain!” Banjo burst out. “He’s knackered but wanted to see you right away. Don’t worry, I got the band watching him.”
“The band?” Nellie asked.
“Yeah?” Banjo looked worried. “Uncle Banjo and the Four Cents, what do you think?”
“Can they play instruments?” Nellie asked, her mission wholly derailed by the conversation.
“They can learn, right?” Banjo grinned. “But what a name!”
“Uncle Banjo?” Nellie asked.
“Well, sort of,” Banjo said defensively.
“I like it,” Nellie said with a grin. “Be sure to invite me to the first concert.”
“Count on it!” Banjo beamed. “This way!”
Nellie followed him through their new, slightly small Embassy. It was larger than she had planned, that was for sure. It was also completely bare.
“We sent you with furniture, right?” Nellie asked.
“Naah,” Banjo said with a half-shrug, “But I don’t mind roughing it.”
“We’ll send some down,” Nellie insisted. “If we have to have this place, we might as well do it right.”
“Nice!” Banjo hesitated. “Think we could get some instruments as well?”
“I don’t see why not,” Nellie shrugged. “Don’t you want to get back to the station?”
“I’m good,” Banjo said happily. “This is, like, my domain. You know?”
“You built it, so you want to look after it.” Nellie nodded. She could certainly understand that. It was how she had felt about the Bly, after all.
Bil-Tor stood from his spot against the wall and almost saluted before turning it into an awkward wave.
“What’s wrong?” Nellie asked immediately.
“The Colony has split,” Bil-tor said, standing at ease and reciting the words like he was giving a report. Crush certainly trained his people well. “Crush, Brix, and about sixty others are currently on their way to this border with whatever they can scrounge. Marshalls leading them, of course.”
“Of course,” Nellie said. “What do they want from me?”
“Permission to settle on the border and maybe a little loan of a shuttle so we can gather some of the broken compartments, Captain.” Bil-Tor did salute that time.
Nellie frowned.
The last thing she wanted was to be mixed up in a civil issue with Duke’s Colony. They were not her people, after all. If she was going to get involved, it would be easier to just move them to the station and get it over with.
Of course, that would cause tension between them and the synths on her crew….
Okay, so that was out.
So, in short, what could she do?
What did she want to do? Well, they needed help, and she wanted to help if she could….
“Lucy, advice?” Nellie subvocalised.
“Crush was careful not to ask too much, just enough to give them a chance. I don’t see where it could hurt to give them a shuttle, one of the old ones, to use. We still have the one we used on the Hub world. Maybe also offer them some materials to help them build. That would probably be offered against some future trade, of course.” Lucy answered immediately.
God, it was handy to have someone there to help whenever Nellie needed it.
“I have a plan,” Nellie answered. “Thanks.”