Book of the Guardian 3: The Last Mission (10 page)

"Please give that some thought the next time you hear one of our people telling you that the Tammerain will leave us alone if we simply got rid of our weapons. The Tammerain will never leave the human race alone. I don't claim to know why they won't, but as long as they believe their Goddess is telling them we need to die, we will be hunted and murdered like those people on Haven. It's up to each of you to decide, in your own heart, what you are willing to do about it. I'm John Aster, Good evening."

The entire studio, which had gained a few dozen people while John had been speaking, erupted into applause as the over-head lights faded out and the lights on the cameras shut off. John realized he had a larger audience than he had thought.

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G
loria, at Mark's request, spent the day with him as he dealt with the normal, mostly mundane business of the Kingdom. She was expecting to be bored, but was soon very fascinated by how much of the interplanetary business the Kingdom actually handled. For the most part, that's exactly how Mark ran the government; as a business.

Past a normal introduction, no one seemed to question Gloria's presence either. That is until there was a security alert, at which time Gloria was quietly escorted back to her quarters. She didn't mind since the alert happened very close to the end of the day and she was getting a little tired.

The over-all retreat of the Tammerain forces gave the kingdom the time it needed to get most of its forces moving to the positions they needed to be in to defend the population centers. Now the Tammerain fleets were once again on the move. No attacks had happened yet, none of the Tammerain forces were even close to the border yet. The alerts had come from the hyperspace sensors along the border registering the large scale movement of ships towards the border.

Even though it had been established the Tammerain forces had discovered cloaking technology, it was impossible to 'cloak' a hyperspace signature. Since the Tammerain Ambassador had left the palace, Mark no longer had anyway to contact the Tammerain leadership to try to stop what was coming diplomatically. However, deep down, he knew there could be no diplomatic solution to this war.

After talking to each of his commanders and letting them know what was going on, Mark felt he should go to the studio and record a message for the people. He arrived just as John was finishing his speech. In the control room, Mark noticed that the controls had been set to live transmit. What John had been saying was being transmitted. He found the young woman in charge of the small studio and asked her about it.

"He said he wanted to talk to the people, Sire, we set it to go live. I don't think he knows that though, because he's not censoring his words. I've tried to tell him a few times, but... My Gods, Sire, did you know he was going to talk about his life as a Marine?"

Mark looked concerned when she said he hadn't been censoring himself. He doubted John would reveal any state secrets, but the last thing they needed was to offend people with bad language. "I knew he wanted to record a few spots, but I had no idea about this. How bad's the reaction going to be?"

"I don't think bad is going to describe it, Sire." The woman said. "Over the last five hours, I've cried, laughed and been scared, gotten mad, then laughed again. He's made me think without telling me what I should think. He's asked questions that every person in the kingdom should be asking; he's taken the icon we've made of him, and turned himself back into a person. One of us that just happens to be a Marine."

"Highness, I doubt you're going to have to worry about recruiting for much longer," a new voice said from the door. His Press Secretary had just arrived. She looked at the young Studio Manager, "Tomorrow, you'll want to schedule a replay with the major networks. This caught most of them flat footed, and now they're hounding me for a copy of this. Of course, you'll have to break it up, but I wouldn't cut anything out."

The young manager nodded. "I can do that Ma'am. Would it be possible to add some footage from some of the places he was talking about?"

"Yeah, it would be possible, but I don't think it would be a good idea. This was live, and totally unscripted. I really don't want to change that." The Press Secretary said.

The younger woman nodded. "Yeah, I think that's really where its appeal lies. I know I certainly not only have a new respect for him in particular, but also for all of our armed forces. More than I had before. He brought home to all of us just how much our soldiers do for us, and what they give up to do it. He didn't glamorize anything. If anything, for everyone that saw this, he brought home the reality of what it means to be an enhanced Marine."

"You almost sound like you want to sign up, Jen," Mark said smiling.

The woman nodded. "Actually, I am considering it. With the way the Tammerain are acting up, we're going to need more Marines, not less."

"The reason I came down here was to record a message to the people to tell them that we have just been informed that the Tammerain have once again mobilized their fleets. They are still two or three days from the border, but considering what's been going on, I doubt they are going to be stopping this time," Mark said. "The highest casualty rates are from the newly enhanced soldiers because we use the soldier's temporary insanity from enhancement as a form of shock troop. Jen, immediately after enhancement, the data feeds are simply too much for the human mind to handle, and it takes time for it to adjust. During that time, the soldier will be just as likely to fuck an enemy as it is to kill it. The soldier has no control at all for at least the first two months. That's the reason for the mandatory three month 'internment' period. No, we don't really bury a soldier, but we restrict them to the point where they can't hurt themselves and isolate them from everyone so they don't hurt anyone else. We lock them in unpowered armor and lock their controller into the medical computer until the mind is capable of at least rudimentary control of the enhancements."

"Sire, I know..." Jen began, but Mark cut her off.

"No, Jen, you don't," Mark replied. "Even today, we lose ten percent of newly enhanced soldiers due to mental shut-down. The mind simply crashes; unable to process the data from the enhancements. The soldier dies because the mind is not capable of making the transition. The worst part of all of it, the part that we don't tell everyone, is that you are still in there during all of this. You're aware of what's going on, but you have no control. You're trapped in there until you can figure out how to force your mind back under control. That's the real horror of enhancement."

"My God, you were aware of everything you were doing, but couldn't stop it?" Jen asked.

"Enhancement will imprison you inside your mind for almost two years, Jen. It's the first couple of months that are the hardest, because you have no control at all," Mark replied.

When everyone started clapping, the trio realized that John had finished and added their own applause for the now blushing man. John waved at the crowd and entered the control booth. The clapping techs and other visitors stood up for him. John shook his head and held up his hands. "Come on, guys! Enough, please?"

People stopped clapping but still thanked him or congratulated him on such a good performance.

"Well, that should give you a few hours’ worth of commercials, Sire. I got some stuff off my chest and recorded about five hours’ worth of footage for you guys to use however you want," John said.

"John that was a live broadcast to the entire Kingdom. All the major networks are clamoring to replay it since most of them missed the first part," Mark said.

"Is that what brought everyone down here?" John asked.

"Everyone but me, it would appear. Tammerain's on the move again, and I came down here to record a message to the people," Mark replied. "You're gonna be a hard act to follow!"

"Sire, you're the King!" John replied. "People will always listen to you!"

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T
he next day, Mark kept his promise to Mary, as he had scheduled the morning for her. They ate breakfast together, waited for Manny to arrive, and then Mary surprised everyone by asking John and Chloe to leave.

"I had hoped to be able to talk to Mark before you guys got here. As it turns out, you beat me here, but I still need to make my case to him and Dr. Halverez without you two trying to talk me out of it," Mary explained.

John nodded. "Enhancement is not something to be undertaken lightly, Mary."

Chloe narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean? Who said anything about Mary getting enhanced?"

Mary pursed her lips. "How long have you known, and when did you figure it out?"

"I figured it out when I found out about this meeting, and who you had invited to it." John said. "She thinks that if we allow some parts of our scientific community to be enhanced, the knowledge gained in the long run would be worth it. She'll argue that she wouldn't need the full combat enhancement package since she wouldn't be a soldier. But she would be able to carry her research forward for as many years as it took. She would also be able to help enhanced soldiers in a more direct way since she could survive an attack. She would also be able to have physical relations with us."

Chloe looked thoughtful. "I can see you're points, Mary. I agree that we would probably make tremendous strides in any area where a scientist decided to become enhanced. However, enhancement is like using a mass driver to swat a fly. Granted, there is no middle ground here, but you don't destroy a planet to stop a single enemy soldier."

"Okay you two, sit down. Yes, you guessed what I was going to talk to them about, but you don't have all the information," Mary said. Both Mark and Manny had been listening and had been shocked at the suggestion, but chose to let John and Chloe handle it.

"I have discovered something that could have a profound effect on our people as a whole. It's something I've been working on since I was still in school. There is a type of enhancement that we can make available to everyone. In fact, I would recommend it for first generation colonists simply because of the risks that come with founding a new planet." Mary began, and for the next three hours presented her findings and (for Manny) her data.

"Marebella, this is not bio-molecular, this is neuro-cybernetic," Manny said.

Mary nodded. "Yes, it was based in the neuro-cybernetic part of the enhancement process. To summarize, this is the addition of a specially designed bio-crystal, not unlike a Marine enhancement controller, into the human cranium. The person this device is installed in would gain the Marines ability to heal and have the ability to build up their own bodies to almost one hundred-fifty percent of current maximums."

"Manny?" Mark asked.

"I see nothing wrong in any of it, Sire. It would require a bit more testing before we allowed human trials, but from everything I see here... Marebella, it says here that reproduction would be unaffected, is that correct?" Manny asked.

Mary nodded. "Yes and no, Doctor. Reproduction is possible, but every system in the human body would be affected. Much like it is..."

The doors to the Royal apartments opened suddenly, to a very serious looking man in the uniform of a Vice Admiral. "Sire, forgive me!" he bowed quickly before rushing forward again. "The listening post at 4 Antares Sigma has gone dark. As have the solar observatories at Halston's Trinity, the University of Juno's Deep Space Telescope, and six other remote installations!" The man finally puffed to a stop. "Sire, we are under attack!"

Mark nodded. "I'm sorry Mary, your times up. Please get with Manny and work on this as you can. In the meantime, please excuse us, it seems our friends the Tammerain are getting anxious."

"Of course, Sire. Marebella, shall we return to The Center, and delve into your wonderful new idea?" Manny said.

Mary nodded. "Mark, you can't send them out without the new controllers. I'll make the arrangements, but when you're finished with them, send them to The Center for upgrades."

"If there's time, I will Mary, I promise," Mark replied.

Mary put her hand on his arm gently. "This is important, Sire. Please make the time, order them. Their lives depend on it."

Mark looked into her eyes and saw that she believed every word she said. He sighed. "Okay Mary, I'll send them all to you as soon as we're finished here. But keep in mind, every minute they are in The Center from now on will cost lives."

"If they don't get this done, it will cost many more, including their own," Mary said and kissed her friend on the cheek. She kissed both John and Chloe then ran after Manny who had almost made it to the door.

Mark stood, "Okay, come on everyone. Let's go into the viewing room so we can see what we're dealing with."

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T
he 'Viewing Room' Mark was talking about was actually a large, dark chamber that had holographic emitters mounted in the featureless walls. There was a table and chairs for visitors to use, but the main feature of this room was the powerful holographic projectors, and the computers that controlled them.

"Computer. Exaggerated display of the Border with Tammerain Space. Interface with MIIO and add the last known positions of the Tammerain forces so far detected. "

In response to his voice the room darkened almost completely and the image he asked for took form in the air above them.

"Good, now add in the positions of our forces, include course plots to destinations," Mark added and the computers added that information to the image as well. Finally, Mark directed the computer to add in the facilities the Admiral had told him about. That was when they discovered three more facilities had also gone dark. One of them a major communications relay station that had been servicing an entire sector of the Kingdom.

"Lay it out for us Admiral," Mark ordered.

"Yes, Sire," The man replied. "Beginning about an hour ago, with the loss of the Telleram Six Nova Observatory, or TELSNO, we have systematically lost several expensive facilities in the Kingdom's delta quadrant, sector nine. While this sector of space is along the Tammerain Border, it is far from the main thrust of their attacking forces. While the possibility of accidental failure has been ruled out, we honestly can't pin this on the Tammerain either. We have no information from these facilities prior to them going off-line, and there was no hyperspace signature to indicate ships jumping into that system.