Chapter Thirty-Two
Here Be Dragons
How do you know when you are about to cross the line from being pragmatic to being the bad guy? That was the question Nellie was obsessing over as she stalked back and forth in her office on the Bly’s Rest.
Somehow, she had expected that if the moment ever came to make that choice, it would be as clear and simple as a line in the sand. The situation they faced was far, far from simple. While a part of her mind spoke to Crush aboard the Fair Weather, the majority of her was focusing on trying to see that line in the sand.
The small amount of her that remained unaccounted for was busy having a rather extreme panic attack.
How far could you go to stop a great evil from being done?
True, it wasn’t going to be done to her people. That meant that she technically could sit back and let the thing play out. When it did, Nellie had no doubt the neighboring systems would wipe Cyrus and his people off the map.
The problem was she had been told what was being planned. She knew, and so doing nothing would make her complicit by the mere fact they did nothing to stop it.
What about simply sharing this information with everyone else? Could she do that? Take it to the Sagacity, the I.P.A., or others. Cyrus would simply claim she had faked the information. Even if he didn’t, no one would just take her word for it. They would have to analyze the information for themselves. By the time that was done, Cyrus would have either changed his plans or carried them out.
“Salem?”
“Yes, Nellie?” The comm line clicked open instantly. It always did. Nellie briefly wondered if Salem ever slept.
“Call a senior staff meeting for two hours time. I have some serious news to tell everyone.”
“Of course, Nellie.” Salem closed the line.
That was Salem’s gift. She didn’t waste time on questions Nellie would obviously answer later. Salem just did as Nellie asked.
Right at that moment, Nellie wasn’t sure she deserved that kind of trust.
Crush’s words kept repeating in her mind. The idea that the ‘right’ thing and the ‘good’ thing were not always the same was not exactly a revelation to her. It was just the bit where you had to actually choose to do the right thing that sucked.
Never more than it did right now.
The old Trolley Problem reared its ugly head. It was more of an ethical game back on earth than a serious topic. Basically, a trolley car is rolling down the tracks and can not be stopped. All you can do is switch the tracks. If it is allowed to continue straight on, it will kill a large number of people. If you switch the tracks, it will kill a smaller number of people.
The difference between the two outcomes is that you have to choose whether to pull the lever or not. Either way, you become complicit in the deaths.
That was what Nellie and Lucy had both assumed when Crush gave them the information—that they were choosing between two options.
Crush, being Crush, had added a third.
He wanted to derail the trolley car altogether. No, it was more than that. Crush was proposing blowing up the trolley car before it left the station, killing the driver before he came to work, or something like that.
No one on the tracks would die, but you would still have blood on your hands.
They just wouldn’t have something to point to and say, ‘See, we did it to save people.’
That was the bugger of games of Cloak and Dagger. The Cloak part was entertaining, but eventually, you had to use the Dagger.
Far away, on the other side of Transit Space, Crush stopped talking and waited for her answer. Even Lucy was looking to Nellie to choose.
Deep down inside every person’s psyche is a spot on their own mental map marked ‘Here Be Dragons.’ It was a part only ever revealed when you were put in a position where your back was against the wall, and you had to choose what you were willing to do to survive and what you weren’t.
Nellie’s answer to that had been found long ago as her people fought to survive.
Beneath even that, there is the dragon.
The dragon is the answer to the question of how far you will go to prevent something truly evil from happening. How far would you go to stop something terrible happening to someone ELSE?
History was marked by events so unforgivable that people fantasized about going back in time and preventing them from ever being. It is not marked by all the times someone stopped one of those terrible acts. It was only now, faced with that very choice, that Nellie realized the ugly truth behind all those who ‘heroically’ sacrificed their own morality or standards to prevent those deeds.
They weren’t heroes or self-sacrificing at all.
No, they did it for the simple reason that if they didn’t, they would never be able to look themselves in the mirror again.
“Well?” Crush asked, his face grave.
“This has to be volunteer only. No one is ordered to participate.” Nellie replied quietly.
“I agree,” Crush nodded.
“Then we do it,” Nellie said grimly. “As of now, it’s dagger time.”
/===<<<>>>===\
Nellie sat behind her desk, thinking as everyone filed in. She had decided to hold the meeting in her formal office because the conference room didn’t seem like the right place for what she was about to tell them.
Yes, they were her senior staff, but more than anything else, they were her friends. She had no doubt that they would hear her out, but beyond that, she just couldn’t say.
“You can do this,” Lucy said; the voice coming from her inner ear was something Nellie hadn’t realized how much she missed until that moment. “I’m right there with you. If you want, I’ll come there physically before you tell them.”
Nellie shook her head.
Weirdly, it was better like this. There was a comforting familiarity to it, a safety line back to the person she had once been, one who had never had to make decisions like this.
It anchored her to her more innocent self, and Nellie needed that right now.
“Right, let’s get started,” Nellie said, mentally connecting to the holo emitters in the room to display the information and plans for her people.
Looking around at them, sitting on the couches and chairs she used for the more casual meetings, Nellie was once again reminded how lucky she was. Baz lolled on the end of the couch, a HyperDrive stain on his flight suit. Salem stood behind him, eyeing the stain with obvious horror. Remy was stiff and formal in one of the chairs because he could never quite relax in any ‘official’ meeting. Dar, always conscious of his size, trying very hard not to lean too heavily on anything. Brix, doing his best not to appear as reverential of her as he had actually become. Paren, who was looking very different since her ‘new approach’ to things. She was staring between Salem and her own reflection in the window she stood next to, apparently only now noticing how much her version of an ‘adult’ look had been influenced by Salem’s own style. It was cute, but Nellie would never, ever say that out loud.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Carl Edwards, the newest member of this group, handing out cups of HyperDrive that he had stopped to get on the way here, thoughtful as always.
Finally, a propped-up datapad with Emissary Cheape on it since she could not get away from Haven in time to attend.
“The situation in Confed space has changed,” Nellie began simply, “The Marshalls recovered some information from Cyrus’ agents on Ember’s Hearth that will force us to change how we are dealing with things over there. This meeting is to let you know what we learned and about my decision about how to move forward.”
Nellie saw the looks of concern on their faces. She didn’t sound like herself, not at all. Even as she spoke, the words sounded stiff and formal.
“Notebooks were discovered that outlined a plan by the Falling Waters Clan to acquire the planets of their remaining enemies within the Confederated planets using an old piece of technology.” She gestured, and the star map of Confed space appeared in the center of the room, with seven systems highlighted, including Ember’s Hearth and Sand’s Embrace. “Several of the targetted planets are mineral-rich; the others represent the densest concentration of technology production within the Confederated Planets.”
“They want the tech and materials,” Brix nodded. “Makes sense.”
“Correct,” Nellie nodded. “What they care less about are the people and life on those planets.” She gestured again, and the image changed to show a device design. “Cyrus is planning to use a modified version of this device in each of those systems.”
“Is that some kind of EXO-Drive?” Paren asked. “It looks a bit like…NO!” Her eyes opened like saucers.
Nellie sighed; she should have guessed Paren would figure it out quickly.
“What?” Salem frowned.
“Let me explain, please,” Nellie looked at Paren, who nodded but sat down quickly. Carl hurried over, looking almost as pale as Paren had gone. How on earth had he understood it that quickly? Nellie shook herself and went back to the presentation. “This is, in effect, half of a modern Exo-System Drive. It opens a pathway or tear into Transit Space. But that is all it does. It doesn’t create a shielded bubble to contain the energy or allow a ship to cross the boundary. It just opens the door, if you will.”
“So what good is it?” Brix asked. “Just opening the door to Transit Space, I mean?”
“It allows Transit Energy into our side of the barrier,” Paren said quietly.
“Right,” Nellie frowned at Paren.
“Can I say something now?” Paren asked her.
“Sure,” Nellie felt something cold seep into her. If Paren had—
“I’ve seen this kind of device before,” Paren said, not beating around the bush. “A very, very tiny version of it anyway. Robot created it to allow him to channel Transit Energy into his arms. As they don’t have any organic elements, it was safe enough, so he thought it would be an endless source of energy. He wasn’t wrong, but… he couldn’t touch anything. The moment he touched anything organic, it was twisted and destroyed or horrifically mutated.”
“Ostie,” Nellie whispered. “Did they get this from us?”
“NO!” Paren said quickly. “Only I knew about his arms until about three weeks ago. No one else had even seen them. Plus, his arms use a crystal-type mechanism to do it. This is just,” She waved at the image, “like a steam engine compared to Robot’s fusion core.”
“So when they try and use theirs to power their ships…” Salem gasped.
“They are not using it as an energy source,” Nellie shook her head. “Like I said, they are targeting these systems. The device is intended to rip open a hole to Transit Space within the atmosphere of a planet. Without a shield to keep the energy contained, it will flood the atmosphere with the Transit Energy, destroying or mutating anything organic it comes into contact with.”
Stunned faces all around, and Nellie knew precisely how they felt. It had been her first reaction as well.
“I’ll prepare my forces for a full invasion,” Brix recovered first.
“We’ll use all three Imperium Class ships,” Baz stood. “Hell, our entire fleet. We’ll burn a hole through the Confeds and kill this before he even gets started.”
“Then, we throw Cyrus out of the ship on the way back,” Edwards growled. “In Transit Space.”
Shocked eyes locked on the usually kind man.
“Holy shit, that’s hot,” Paren grinned.
“Stop!” Nellie called as everyone started to move toward the doors. “We are not invading the Confederated Planets.”
“Then what are we doing?” Baz flopped back into his seat. “And why doesn’t it involve using Cyrus as a heat shield on reentry?”
“We beat the Line,” Nellie smiled weakly. “That doesn’t mean we could beat everyone, especially if they all gang up on us.”
“Which they would,” Lucy’s voice came from the speakers in the room. “When the already scary Imperium invades the Confederated Planets in a show of force so overwhelming that the entire galaxy wants us dealt with.”
“But when we tell them what Cyrus was planning—” Edwards started.
“No one will believe us,” Remy finished. “Well, some will, but they will still use it as an excuse to get rid of a powerful neighbor.”
“Exactly,” Nellie nodded.
“We can’t just sit back and let this happen,” Salem said slowly.
“Well, we could,” Nellie admitted. “But we won’t.”
“If we can’t invade and can’t ignore the situation, then what are we doing?” Brix asked.
“Before I answer that, I want you all to know this was not an easy decision for me. If I could think of another way, I’d take it in a heartbeat.” Nellie paused. “Please remember, I’m not heartless. I understand what I am ordering here.”
“I mean, you are,” Baz interjected. “Heartless, I mean.” He grinned. “We all are. Literally without hearts—Ow!”
“Thank you, Salem,” Nellie said with a sad smile as Baz rubbed the back of his head. She cleared her throat and looked straight at them, deciding to get it over with. “I am authorizing a system of assassinations, sabotage, and theft to cut off Cyrus’ operation from the ground up. We will be operating in total secrecy. Nothing to trace back to the Imperium, but still, it will be us.”
“Theft?” Baz perked up. “Like piracy?”
“Frankly, yes,” Nellie nodded. “I intend to strangle his supply chain with attacks against supply ships, hostile takeovers, and worse. We will end up killing innocents on this—people who did nothing wrong except supply the wrong people or carry the wrong cargo. We’ll do everything we can to avoid it, but let’s not kid ourselves. It will happen.”
“There’s more, isn’t there?” Salem asked.
“Yes, we will also be blackmailing people, sending people undercover to get information, and worse besides. Not to mention, Leah and her people will be killing anyone they can get near in Cyrus’ organization. Most of them won’t even know what he plans, but they’ll die for it nonetheless.”
“Bloody hell,” Dar shook his head. “This is nasty.”
“And it will get worse,” Nellie admitted with a stab of shame. “By doing things this way, a lot of people get hurt in the crossfire. Not to mention, we probably won’t be able to stop Cyrus completely.”
“But it's that, or we basically commit suicide to stop them,” Salem said gravely. “That’s what it would be, bringing the whole galaxy down on us.”
“And I’m not willing to do that,” Nellie said, feeling like a shit but sure in her decision. “We’ll get our hands dirty doing it this way, and we might not save them all, but I won’t sacrifice my friends and people. I’ll just get bloody to save as many as we can.”
Brix said something so quietly that Nellie didn’t quite hear him.
“What was that, Brix? Please, speak freely.” Nellie asked, dreading what he was going to say.
“I said the Beacon lights the way,” Brix drew himself up. “Bloody or broken, the Beacon still shines in the dark. In this dark hour, you shine even brighter.”
Nellie gaped.
“Way to make it weird, big guy,” Baz chuckled. “But basically, what he said.”
“This is not the kind of thing the good guys do,” Nellie protested, not even sure why she was arguing with them. Shouldn’t she just be glad they didn’t hate her for the decision?
“We were never the good guys,” Paren said. “We weren’t the bad guys, but we were never the good guys.”
“I’ve seen the good guys,” Carl said, coming to stand next to Paren. “The good guys don’t survive too long. They die heroically or suffer nobly, but they don’t get much done. I prefer your way if that matters,” Carl scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as everyone was staring at him. “You aren’t the good guys, and a lot of people will call you the bad guys on this, but… you’re the ones who get it done. Right? You do the thing that needs to be done.”
“Carl, innocent people—” Nellie started to try to explain.
“Die every day,” Edwards shook his head. “But you won’t just be killing for no reason or to get rich. You will be killing to save lives, as fucked up as that sounds.” He cleared his throat. “Like I said, I don’t know if it matters, but I think you are doing the right thing. You didn’t start this, but you can finish it, and so you should because everyone will still be wringing their hands about what to do long after Cyrus is done. Oh, and once he does it, others will as well.”
Carl Edwards, the nicest man anyone in that room had ever met, looked around at them once, nodded, and sat down again.
The meeting broke up, and Nellie was still stunned by Carl’s speech when Paren hesitated, letting everyone else leave before coming over to Nellie and giving her a long hug.
“Paren, you okay?” Nellie asked.
“I think I get it now,” Paren looked out the door, where Nellie had no doubt Carl was waiting for her. “I’ve been trying to do what you asked, but I think I understand why now.”
“What do you mean?” Nellie smiled, glad Paren was growing as a person.
“I thought making scary creatures and horrible weapons would make people afraid of me, but it would just lead to someone having this exact conversation about us, right?” Paren asked with an embarrassed smile.
“Pretty much,” Nellie nodded.
“The thing is, I thought that was what people should be afraid of, you know?” Paren sighed. “The scary, mad genius. Now, I know better. That’s not what people should be afraid of at all.”
“Oh?” Nellie frowned, wondering where she was going with this.
“Carl’s the kindest, most loving, most caring guy I know.” Paren beamed as Nellie nodded. “And he just agreed to a campaign of murder and piracy. People need to stop being afraid of monsters and get very afraid of the really nice people who one day decide that the universe is better off without certain people in it. The moment he said it was fine, everyone felt better. Did you notice that?” Paren chuckled. “The moment he agreed it was worth it, we all agreed. That’s fucking scary.”
“You’re-you’re not wrong,” Nellie said; she’d felt so much better once Carl Edwards had agreed it was the right thing to do. Just having him on board made her feel she was doing the right thing.
“When the truly good people decide you are a threat, you are beyond fucked. I get that now,” Paren nodded. “Now, if you will excuse me, Carl’s whole down with murder speech was so fucking hot I may have to invent new kinds of sex!” She cackled as she hurried out of the room.
“Too much information, Paren!” Nellie yelled after her with a whole body shiver.