Medical transports arrived shortly after Allison’s conversation with her father. Each was fully staffed with enough medical personnel, likely on loan from ships in orbit, to speed up the medical scans and inoculations. Allison was seen by members of the Arc Royal staff. They made her take her armor off before completing a full body scan. The doctor who ran the scan was very familiar with the young lieutenant.
“No white monstrosity I see. You are clear to leave, care to explain why we’re on board a ship that is from a thousand years ago and is equipped with thirtieth century technology?”
Allison shook her head.
“Sorry, sir, I am not at liberty to say. Except that they were in a place where bioweapons had been deployed. So do not let any of your team breach their suits under any circumstances. My scans showed they’re clear and the atmosphere is clear but I have no idea if I’m right because I’m not a doctor or scientist.”
He chuckled.
“Of course, you can head out. The atmosphere here is clear, so far as we can see but we could have missed something.”
Allison nodded and moved to return to Bit. She found she’d have to wait as their were long lines of crewmen waiting to see the medical staff. She sighed and climbed up and sat down on Bit’s wing so she could see the lines progressing. After a few minutes she looked up at Eden Prime’s bright sun her contacts dimmed the light reflexively. A few hours passed. Eventually Rebecca appeared beneath Allison and looked up at her.
“Are you sure this isn’t Earth?”
Allison smiled down at Rebecca and pointed west.
“Earth is uh, two and half million light years that way. You’ll see when the sun goes down, the moon is blue and much closer. The star is completely different too, our star is a blue super-giant, we’re about twice the distance from it as Pluto would be from Earth.”
Rebecca fell deep into thought then looked back up.
“I thought life couldn’t form on planets orbiting blue stars, maybe even planets wouldn’t form… or something, astronomy class was a long time ago.”
Allison shrugged.
“I have no idea, really; I think I read somewhere that stellar cartographers think Eden’s star formed when two stars merged. Some of the planets were ejected, some were recaptured by the new star. There was no blue supergiant here two and a half million years ago. That’s what they can see from Earth, no one has bothered flying here in an FTL ship and stopping every so often. I can understand why, even for me it’s almost three years at maximum FTL back to Earth.”
Rebecca blinked at Allison in disbelief.
“What is Earth like now? You said Ice Age?”
Allison motioned for her to climb into the cockpit and jumped in herself, she closed the canopy and spoke.
“Bit, Agent North would like to see Earth as it is now, please display our last Earth Fly-By.”
The 360 holo-HUD flared to life and Rebecca was treated to the lifeless grey world that was once a blue and green marble. Her hands went to her mouth and tears formed in her eyes. Allison noticed Rebecca’s reaction so she quickly spoke to Bit.
“Bit, show the Saturn fly-by and my dive through the rings, my perspective.”
Rebecca’s sorrow was quickly replaced by awe as she was suddenly orbiting Saturn then plummeting into the rings towards the transport Allison had boarded to rescue her family. It cut off just before Allison’s faceplant. Bit was apparently trying to save face for her pilot.
“Bit, show the last Eden Prime flyby with the fleet.”
Rebecca looked around herself at the glistening ships floating above a gorgeous green planet then there was a flash as Bit indicated where they were currently located on the planet’s surface. The holo-show ended and Rebecca just sat silently for several minutes before speaking again.
“This is normal for you, just travelling through space, like I’d go to the store for groceries.”
Allison bit her lower lip.
“Not quite, more like uh, flying on an airplane. With artificial gravity it’s hard to tell you’re not on a planet, besides the hum of the fusion core, and engines. On expensive luxury ships, you can’t even hear those. Hologram technology… we have a dome on Titan that honestly, you can’t tell the moon isn’t inhabitable. At night it displays Saturn as the moon would see it, kind of amazing actually… And the domes on Earth, honestly besides New Amazon, until you reach the edge, you wouldn’t know it’s not just the real sky.”
Rebecca’s face darkened again.
“How… how many people died in the ice age?”
Allison sighed.
“Most of the Earth’s population, if your universe follows ours in the timeline, you’re lucky you’re here. I’m sorry about any family or friends you left behind though, I understand.”
Rebecca nodded.
“So, most of the population was lost, yet still, we’re in other galaxies, have a fleet… how?”
Allison shrugged.
“My biological family. My mother… Amee Morris… Jace, Aunt Maria and sister Eyre, they pulled humanity together and pushed us to the stars.”
Rebecca scratched her head.
“Amee Morris, two ees?”
Allison nodded.
“She had the same name as a president’s daughter, she died.”
Allison raised an eyebrow.
“She is… was from the twenty-first century, but she’s gone now, assassinated by Christian terrorists.”
Rebecca put her hand on Allison’s shoulder.
“I am so sorry for your loss.”
Allison shrugged.
“I never met her, she and my other biological mother died before I was born. I have a family that loves me very much, along with my Aunt Maria and sisters. I am really not looking forward to that briefing tomorrow with Aunt Maria. She is going to tear me a new one.”
Rebecca looked out at the deck of the George Washington, which was quickly emptying.
“What happens now?”
Allison shrugged.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“That’s for smarter people than me to figure out. Colonial Affairs and System’s Alliance Social Services will sort it out. I’d ask for you, but the Colonial Affairs Representative for Eden Prime despises me. I’m also not very popular with Social Services. I helped an underage mother escape with her baby right under their noses and also uh, I gave them a few black eyes in the media, they’re pretty pissed if I was anyone else, I’d probably be in for a nightmare.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Sounds like an interesting story…”
Allison shook her head.
“Not really, I’m sure once you get hooked up to Alliance Net you can see the broadcast. The league hyperwaved it so far and wide the Commonwealth fifteen million light years away picked up a few words. Ugg. I thought being famous in the System’s Alliance was bad. Anyway, I should get going. The President passed orders down for me to get home as soon as possible. And what the hell is my mom doing here?”
Allison’s eyes shot to the Governor’s shuttle craft which was landing on the far end of the carrier. Rebecca followed Allison’s gaze. The pair watched Apiyo who was flanked by her security detail who were in armor and armed with rifles walk off of the shuttle. It didn’t take long for Allison to get out of her fighter and to gather with the leadership of the various ships. She was so surprised she forgot to treat her mother like she was a governor.
“Mom, what are you doing here? It’s a quarantine zone!”
Apiyo narrowed her eyes at Allison.
“You and I will talk later. For now, be silent. And do not run off just yet.”
Allison blushed and focused her eyes solidly on the deck. Apiyo was dressed in a pant suit she greeted each ship’s commanding officer with a firm handshake.
“Thank you all for meeting with me. I am the Governor of this colony. My name is Apiyo Wanjala. As you now see, Allison is my daughter. The System’s Alliance thanks you for your patience as we process the medical scans and get you and your crews inoculated against the common pathogens of this planet and of the System’s Alliance. You have also been given t-cell enhancements, roughly speaking this means we’ve started the process of enhancing your immune systems. I understand how confusing this all will be for you and your crews, I am from the twenty-first century myself, though my trip here was different, I was frozen in ice. Colonial Affairs is currently organizing and purchasing tablets for each and every one of you and your crewmen and women. This is the first step at integrating you into our society.
The Colonial Defense Force of Eden Prime has agreed, with my sign off to employ all of you as defense personnel. As members of former military organizations on Earth, we have provisions for this enshrined in law. As per SAM Code 1.00 any former members of any military force within the Sol System, are considered to be full and active members of the System’s Alliance Military. As your craft are not space worthy, you have been added to the Colonial Defense arm of the System’s Alliance Military operations. I am sorry for the bad news; I do not believe being drafted into another military was what anyone expected. We are at war and in the event of any attack on the colony by enemy forces you will be expected to respond to the call. The good news is that it means you will get the standard signing bonus for Colonial Defense members and as a show of good faith, a year’s back salary commensurate with your rank and skill equivalent to current Colonial Defense policy. Once you have acclimatized yourselves to your new circumstances you can get a military discharge and access to all benefits of military veterans. As per that same law, you and your crew will be considered to have served in the Colonial Defense Forces for your entire tenure in all militaries.
The President has assigned you to this colony’s defense forces, so you fall under my command as Governor. As you are familiar with my daughter, I have placed your forces directly under her command. Her executive officer, Commander Holiday, will be acting as your representative with command. She will be in direct command of military staff being sent to assist with acclimatization, medical needs and education.
Please prepare lists of supplies required to keep your ships, fighter craft and military staff in top fighting condition. We have liquid metal and programmable matter that can in most cases substitute for other parts. We have a ready supply of jet fuel.
Medical scans are complete as of this time and in one week you will be allowed to provide leave on a rotating basis for your personnel. No more than five hundred at a time. A natural deep-water harbor is planned and will be deployed within the month. Fabrication takes time, as will the tree clearing and deployment for the road.
As newly recognized citizens of the System’s Alliance everyone will be implanted with ident chits. These are equivalent to your credit cards, drivers’ licenses and military ID. Every citizen of the System Alliance has one and is legally required to have one. Removing, or modifying one is strictly forbidden and comes with harsh penalties. These ident chits will allow you and your crews to access your funds. Only people who have had ident chits implanted will be allowed to leave these ships.
Sorry, for the long winded legalize, are there any questions?”
Allison stared at her mother then held up her hand.
“Yes Allison?”
“Mom, how did you get all this done so fast?”
Apiyo raised an eyebrow.
“We were already making plans to rescue them, without their ships. I had already agreed to house them here.”
Allison nodded then promptly looked at the deck again. Her mother’s eyes told her just how much trouble she was in. Admiral Yamamoto bowed slightly to Apiyo before speaking.
“We thank you for this opportunity.”
He then bowed to Allison.
“Battlelord, we will serve you as we served the emperor. It is our honor.”
Rebecca held her hand up. Apiyo looked towards her.
“Yes, I don’t see a uniform, are you?”
Rebecca blushed.
“Sorry, Governor, I’m actually not military, I’m a… I was a federal agent for the United States Government, I just worked along side the navy. I’ve been appointed the civilian representative for those that are not military. How do we fit in here?”
Apiyo held up her finger then started tapping around on the HUD provided by her cybernetic eyes. She nodded to herself and finally looked back at Rebecca.
“Non-military personnel must stay on the ship until the t-cell enhancement has taken effect, and you have been implanted with an ident chit, which should be one week in most cases, at this point you are free to leave or stay at the discretion of the ship’s commanding officer. If you stay you may not hold the System’s Alliance or its various departments and personnel legally responsible for your safety and accept the same risks as the crew.”
She scrolled on her AR HUD.
“Social Assistance will be provided to any civilians on a case by case basis so they can access housing, food and education. The only provision on your freedoms will be that you must reside on Eden Prime and not leave it until such time as I, as Governor, sign off. Basically, I need to make sure you are prepared for life in the System’s Alliance. You’re my responsibility until such time as you can earn your own way.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Those of us who are former military and military adjacent, could we be considered for active service? In my case, I was a member of the Navel Criminal Investigative Service. We investigated crime, worked to prevent domestic and foreign terrorism, enforced any breaches of information security, and secret documents. I was working as an agent afloat.”
Apiyo paused, she wasn’t even sure how to handle that. Allison bounced slightly; This was a question she could answer. She spoke up.
“Actually, we have Military Intelligence which covers that. So technically you would be military here, like me. I can arrest people. I’m the equivalent of a SEAL, CIA agent and I guess NCIS. So, you’d be part of my branch when I’m not commanding a special response force. Welcome! Maybe we can work together again!”
Apiyo glanced at Allison.
“You are right. Now go home and get some food and sleep.”
Allison blushed.
“Yes mom. See you there.”
Apiyo raised an eyebrow.
“Likely not tonight, you have just doubled the number of refugees I have to deal with. They will all need homes. There are a lot of people working overtime because of you.”
Allison nodded and hung her head after waving to the assembled command staff. Rebecca glanced after Allison with a sympathetic look. Apiyo addressed them once again.
“I apologize for my daughter, sometimes she acts before she thinks it through fully. We are scrambling to catch up.”
Admiral Yamamoto bowed again.
“With respect Governor, she acted with integrity, bravery and honor. Sometimes moving as swift as the wind is what is required.”
Captain Zhao nodded.
“She is a remarkable young woman, a remarkable soldier. We owe her our lives.”
Apiyo smiled.
“Yes, I see. It is hard to separate the military officer from my child. My apologies.”
She turned to Rebecca again.
“I will see to it you are put in touch with System’s Alliance Command. Likely they will want you to keep representing the civilians, but Allison was right, you would not fit into Colonial Defense. In the time being, these tablets are for you. Those who are from the twenty-first century are likely comfortable with this technology, any assistance you could provide those from earlier periods would be appreciated.”
Apiyo handed out physical tablets. They were actually more powerful than the holo-tablets because there was more physical space for a better quantum processor network. Each could easily best a supercomputer from the twenty-first century.
“These will allow you to submit supply requests and coordinate with my staff. They will also grant you unlimited access to the Alliance Net. It is our version of the internet except that instead of a planet it spans several galaxies. Winter Wolf Inc has supplied each tablet and will do so for your crews a year’s subscription to their streaming services.”
Allison turned off Bit’s external audio receptors as she lifted off and she headed straight to her personal hanger. She drove her pickup truck home. It was midday and she should have been at school but Allison was so exhausted she basically peeled her armor off and fell into her bed.