Authors: Kyra Anderson
The Significant (84 page)
“Clearly something was going on!” Chronus
snapped. “He killed his own men! Isn’t that proof?”
“These are Gihoric leaders we are dealing
with, it has nothing to do with the truth or proof or anything like that,”
Remus said darkly. “General Decius’ younger brother was murdered. That is all
that matters. The reason is irrelevant.”
“We need to cover this up, make it an
assassination by someone else. The other delegates need to be dealt with as
well, though that’s going to be much harder to cover up,” Maki mused.
“Do you think this is why she…” Chronus
swallowed hard.
The other two Elites fell silent,
wondering if Isa threw herself into the control room out of guilt.
Isa made it through the night and
everyone anxiously counted down the hours. Dr. Busen came out and spoke to all
of them, exhausted, Paul at his side as he tried to explain what he had done.
He was worried, and his voice broke as he discussed the procedure, showing how
difficult it had been on the doctor.
“If she survives…” he whispered, his eyes
lowering, “there is no guarantee that she will be able to function as she once
did.”
Isa made it through the first twenty-four
hours, but she did not wake, remaining in the coma for nearly two weeks.
During that time, the Elites were
informed of the carnage found within the two apartments of the Gihron
ambassadors. Each of them did their part in covering up what had happened,
making up a story to tell Gihron. When Isa was still not awake after the first
week following the incident, Remus broke the news to General Decius. He
explained that the cleaning maids had discovered Colonel Amori’s body as well
as the bodies of the other ambassadors. He said that they were doing everything
they could to apprehend the terrorists, a group that, he said, had been sending
threatening letters to the Syndicate against allying with Gihron.
General Decius was furious, bellowing at
the Elite that he asked Elite Isa to take care of his brother, to which Remus
stated that she had also been attacked in the same night and was in critical
condition.
The statement seemed to appease the
leader, but only slightly.
He angrily demanded that their bodies be
returned to Gihron, but Remus reminded him that bodies were not permitted to be
transported off-planet without cremation. General Decius demanded a full
autopsy report and then to have his brother’s ashes returned to the planet.
Remus asked Dr. Busen to do the autopsy,
stating that he was sure Isa had been the one to kill the Colonel. The doctor
agreed, and did as he was asked, being sure that any evidence that could damn
Isa for the crime was destroyed.
He then had the body cremated, watching
the flames angrily.
Remus took seven criminals that were
already sentenced for execution and pegged them as the terrorist group that had
murdered Colonel Amori. He sent the status of the investigation to General
Decius and the Gihoric leader demanded the criminals be put to death right
away. He was sure to be virtually present for the execution.
During the second week of Isa’s coma,
Tarah learned of the horrible incident. She had gone to see Isa for their
monthly lunch, since Tarah was at school and could not see the Elite all the
time, but she had been told by the other Elites at the Syndicate that Isa was
in the hospital.
She quickly rushed there, but Rayal,
still extremely ill and recovering from his wounds, kept her in the waiting
room, telling her that Isa was very sick and that it was not a good idea for
the young girl to see her. Tarah broke down, claiming that she knew Isa had
been sick and she did not say anything to anyone.
Rayal took her to Anon Tower and stayed
with her until she calmed.
In that time, Dr. Busen sat in the chair
in Isa’s room and watched the monitors, his chest tight.
At the end of the second week, Rayal was
sleeping in the chair in Isa’s room, a seat he had been occupying for over a
week, while Dr. Busen sat against the wall, his legs tucked into his chest and
his head resting on his knees, sleeping.
Paul walked into the room and looked at
the silent Isa, watching the monitors document her status. He then saw Rayal
and Dr. Busen sleeping and his heart fell. He walked to Dr. Busen and gently
shook him.
“Michael.”
The other doctor jumped awake, his eyes
wide, startled.
“What?”
Paul squeezed his shoulder. “Why don’t
you come home and get some sleep?”
“No,” Dr. Busen said, shaking his head
and straightening. “Not until she’s out of this coma.”
“Michael, you haven’t left this hospital
in two weeks. It’s not—”
“I can’t leave her here alone, Paul,” Dr.
Busen said, his voice straining. “I need to know that she will wake up. I want
to be here the moment she does.”
Paul let a small, sad smile tug at the
corners of his mouth. He sat next to Dr. Busen, putting an arm around his
shoulder and pulling him closer. Dr. Busen rested his head on Paul’s shoulder,
closing his eyes and falling back to sleep immediately.
Four hours later, Rayal shifted in his
seat and woke, confused and disoriented for several moments. He glanced at Dr.
Busen on the floor with Paul, sleeping against the younger doctor’s shoulder
while Paul rested his head against Dr. Busen’s, sleeping as well.
Rayal shifted as quietly as he could,
standing and stretching out the kinks in his body without jarring his abdomen.
He walked to Isa, looking her over, the
tears in his eyes.
“Come on, Isa,” he breathed. “You can’t
leave us like this…”
Isa did not move.
For twenty minutes, Rayal paced around
the room, timing his steps to the beeps on the heart monitor, his eyes down,
his arms crossed over his chest.
Suddenly, the rhythm of the beeping
changed and Rayal turned quickly to Isa.
When he saw her eyes opening and closing
slowly, he let out choked breath and ran to her side.
“Isa?” he whispered.
Isa’s eyes blinked slowly and her
breathing changed. One of her fingers twitched and Rayal felt his heart soar.
“Dr. Busen!” he gasped. “Doctor, wake
up!”
Both doctors jumped awake, startled. Dr.
Busen scrambled to his feet and ran to Isa’s other side, looking at her with
wide eyes. When he saw her blink the one eye that was not covered with
bandages, he put a hand over his mouth and his legs gave out from under him. He
sank to his knees at her bedside and took her hand tenderly.
“Isa…Isa, if you can hear me, and
understand me, let me know somehow…”
Isa’s eyes closed and she let out a
shuddered breath, her fingers slowly closing around the doctor’s hand.
Dr. Busen let out a sobbed laugh and bent
his head forward, pressing Isa’s hand to his forehead, breaking down in relief.
Isa was in the hospital for eight long
months. In that time, the people were notified that there had been a horrible
accident that had almost killed the Golden Elite, but she was recovering and
getting stronger every day.
But Isa got worse before she got better.
Now conscious, Isa could feel the pain of
her reconstruction surgery and it was agonizing. She would often cry out in
pain merely trying to shift in the bed. She went through physical therapy
several times a day. When she was in bed, quiet, Paul would sit next to her and
coax out the truth of what happened, Dr. Busen standing quietly behind the
younger doctor, listening.
Paul did not relay to anyone what Isa
told him until after he had heard the entire story, which it took several weeks
to get out of Isa. He explained to the Syndicate the beatings, the
microbionics, and what happened with Saera. He told them about Venus being
weaponized, and that Isa had been the one to kill Colonel Amori.
The Syndicate went about damage control,
all being tested and treated for the microbionic cells. In that time, they also
worked on removing the codes that allowed Venus to be weaponized, reprogramming
everything they could, though it was a very long process that left most of them
frustrated and exhausted.
Isa called the Syndicate to her hospital
room three months after the incident.
“There is something very important I want
to discuss with all of you,” she started quietly. “First of all, I must
apologize for the hell I have put all of you through since this started.” She
swallowed hard. “I should have handled things differently, and I take
responsibility for that. I hurt all of you, and I hurt myself in the process. I
wish I could take it all back.”
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.
“This incident has proven to me that I am
not fit to lead Tiao,” she murmured. All the Elites straightened, their eyes
widening. “Therefore, I will be stepping down as Golden Elite.”
“Don’t you dare do that,” Chronus hissed.
“No, Isa, you did everything in your power to save as many lives as you could.
We
should apologize to you for not
understanding that you were asking for help. We learned too late that there was
a problem, and because of that…” he trailed off.
“I did not handle the situation
appropriately,” Isa said slowly. “I let personal interests guide my judgments.”
“How can you say that?” Maki whispered.
“You took a calculated risk and chose the option best for you and your people
at the time.”
“That’s correct,” Anders said strongly.
“You saved our lives, you saved the lives of everyone in Anon.”
“…not everyone,” Isa whispered. “The
operators of the Syndicate were killed because of me. And Saera…” She closed
her eyes. “I should have contained him the moment I understood he was
dangerous. I did not handle the situation as the Golden Elite should have.”
“No, you didn’t,” Remus agreed. He took
her hand, squeezing it. “You handled it like a leader. An Elite would have
immediately had him executed or arrested and risk war with Gihron, no matter
the reason. You tried to keep everything contained to save as many lives as
possible while not sparking a war with a very dangerous planet.”
“But I have,” Isa whispered. “I…I was the
one…” She took a sharp breath in and cringed. The other Elites looked at one
another before turning back to her.
“Isa, you have always been our leader,
friend, and colleague,” Hana said. “And you always will be. You cannot step
down. We have too much left to do, and you are the only one who can do it.”
Isa closed her eyes, leaning her head
back against the wall behind her headboard.
“I don’t think I can,” she murmured.
“We will stand behind you,” Anders said
strongly.
“You know that we will always be here for
you,” Aolee seconded.
Remus smiled at her, his eyes showing his
own pain.
“If you forget your strength, you can
always turn to us for support,” he said. “You are still the Golden Elite, and
you will remain so, because your Syndicate is standing with you, and we’ll
remind you of the leader you are.”
Isa looked at the gentle smiles and
determined eyes around the room. She let out a broken chuckle and shook her
head.
“You are all too good to me,” she
whispered.
The Syndicate Elites smiled wider, ready
to stand by their Golden Elite to the end, even knowing that, eventually,
Gihron would rear its head again.
Tensions were running very high at the
Syndicate Building as they prepared for General Decius’ arrival. Now knowing
what had happened six years previous, Kailynn understood everyone’s
apprehension and worry. She found herself watching Isa’s actions very
carefully, looking for anything that would tell her the Elite was struggling
stay strong.
Isa was having difficulty handling the
stress. Not only was General Decius coming to the planet himself, meaning that
Isa would be confronted with the image of the man who tormented her, but she
was also sure that Colonel Amori would be brought up in conversation.
On top of that, she was worried that she
was already being spied on by the approaching Gihrons, which meant that every
time the Elites would come to her and ask her questions about dismantling
Venus, she would quickly quiet them and tell them to figure out a plan on their
own and discuss things with Dr. Busen and Paul to be sure they were ready for
the plan to move forward.
The day before General Decius was to land
on the planet, a strange visitor came to the Syndicate Building.
Kailynn, who had refused to leave the
Elite’s side and sat in her office while the Golden Elite worked, remembered
the woman from their time on Fortunea.
Isa straightened when she saw the woman.
“Vanessa…” she breathed, motioning her
hand to close the hologram files she had been looking at on her chair. “I did
not realize you were back.”
“Only briefly,” Vanessa said, hugging the
Golden Elite. “I heard that General Decius was coming.”
Isa’s jaw clenched and she nodded slowly.
“I want you to know that, no matter what,
you can ask for my help,” Vanessa said. “Even if you think you’re overreacting
to something he says or does, I want you to call me immediately.”
Isa smiled weakly.
“Thank you.”
Vanessa turned to Kailynn, who was eyeing
the woman cautiously.
“I recall seeing you on Fortunea,” she
said, walking to Kailynn. “I am Vanessa Henricks, a former professor of Isa’s.”
Kailynn shook Vanessa’s hand, still
unsure about the woman and surprised by how
warm
her hand was.
“This is Kailynn,” Isa introduced. “One
of our Intelligence Agency employees.”
“Ah, it would be best to keep your eyes
on absolutely everything until Gihron is pushed back to their corner of the
system,” Vanessa said with a strong nod. “And, also, Isa,
anything
that you need after Gihron is gone, please do not hesitate
to ask.”
Isa chuckled quietly.
“I’ll be sure to keep you informed.”
The following day, when General Decius’
ship landed on Tiao, everyone was put on high alert and under high security.
Everyone understood that the Gihoric leader was dangerous, even if they did not
know his grudge against Isa. The Elites of the Syndicate were the most
on-alert, constantly monitoring Venus’ mainframe to be sure that there were no
unexplainable changes. However, monitoring Venus’ mainframe was a
nearly-impossible task since implementing the various viruses and blocks
against the computer’s attacks on Isa. There was concern that the viruses
slowing down Venus’ machines would make her more vulnerable to hacking, but
they were not about to expose Isa to the violent, painful attacks from the
artificial intelligence.
Therefore, every employee of the
Syndicate was told over and over again to keep a sharp eye out for anything out
of the ordinary and to immediately report to Rayal or Remus.
Kailynn had special orders to keep a
close eye on Isa—orders she took very seriously.
General Decius, Colonel Ikan, and their
delegation of seven Gihron officers were brought to the Syndicate in the late
afternoon and were led to a large conference room where the entire Syndicate,
Rayal, Kailynn, and nine other employees, advisors, military personnel, and
intelligence agents were waiting to receive the Gihron politicians.
The moment General Decius walked in the
room, everyone felt the tension become nearly unbearable. The General’s uncanny
resemblance to his brother made many of the Elites question if General Decius
was four years older than Colonel Amori, or if they had been twins.
Isa stood when General Decius walked into
the room, and the others followed suit.
“General Decius,” Isa greeted. “We are
honored that you have made the long journey to be here in person to negotiate
the peace between our planets.”
“It is an honor to finally be on the
illustrious Tiao in the presence of the Golden Elite,” General Decius said,
bowing his head.
Isa motioned for the Gihoric leader to
take the seat opposite her on the long conference table. General Decius walked
to his seat and stood by the chair, waiting for the rest of the delegation to
decide on their seats. Tension was so high that everyone was watching everyone
else and it was not until Isa sat that the rustling of chairs being occupied
filled the room.
Isa took the brief moment to take a deep
breath and prepare herself.
She sat straight in her chair, leaning
forward, her shoulders square with General Decius.
“I understand that you have had a very
long journey,” Isa started, her voice strong and unwavering. “Therefore, I do
not want to discuss the entire peace agreement today. I would like to introduce
your terms for your conditional surrender and we will discuss them in detail
over the following days of your visit.”
“Very well,” General Decius said,
reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out a drive. He placed it on the
table and slid it down to Isa. Before it could reach the Golden Elite, Remus
grabbed it off the table, looking it over briefly before plugging it into the
table and allowing the terms to appear in front of every seat.
At first, Kailynn glanced down at the
terms until she realized that everyone’s eyes were elsewhere.
Some Elites were staring down other
members of the delegation, but Isa and General Decius were locked in an intense
staring contest. Isa’s eyes were unwavering, her blinking perfectly timed, but
she never tore her eyes from General Decius. Likewise, he did not turn away
from her. The feeling between the two leaders was growing more intense by the
second. Kailynn saw the two of them waiting for the other to back down. General
Decius seemed sure that Isa would break the intense gaze first, and Kailynn
believed she would, as well, considering her past with Colonel Amori.
However, in the growing silence, General
Decius finally turned his eyes to the terms in front of him.
It was only after he looked away that Isa
also looked down at the terms.
“I see that you have opened your terms
with title one demanding the transfer of all government offices to humans over
the next twenty years,” Chronus said, turning to the Gihron leader. “If I may
be so bold, General Decius, you were quick to say that the Alliance did not
have a right to dictate the way any planet ruled itself or structured its
society. Yet, you believe that Elites are unfit to rule over Tiao.”
“I do,” General Decius said with a strong
nod. “Elites are created from the technology that forced humans from Earth. We
have studied the trends in your society and have found the frightening pattern
in the way the Elites change your society.”
“Regardless of any imbalance that the
Elites create in our society, I agree that it is a problem for which the
Syndicate must determine the appropriate course of action, not Gihron,” Isa
said strongly, looking back at General Decius.
Several of the human employees of the
Syndicate, Kailynn included, were startled by the strength in Isa’s voice.
“We will not negotiate on this title,”
Isa said strongly. “You will strike it from your terms.”
General Decius was still for two long
moments before his lips pursed briefly and a half-smile took over his lips.
“If I recall correctly, Elite Isa,” he
said, leaning forward in his chair and resting his arms on the table over the
terms of surrender, “this was a point that we tried to negotiate six years ago,
when my brother was in your care.”
Several bodies in the room tensed, from
both Gihron and Tiao. However, Isa did not flinch at the words.
“That is correct,” Isa affirmed. “And my
stance has not changed in six years. The Syndicate will remain in the hands of
the Elites and Venus.”
“I wonder,” General Decius started,
looking at Isa with darkness in his already-dark eyes, “had we come to a
compromise on this issue, if my brother’s stay would not have been so extended,
and he could have returned home
alive
.”
Isa’s eyes were cold.
“I do not compromise to my planet’s
disadvantage,” she said. “I will not compromise on any of the terms listed in
title one. You will strike them.”
General Decius’ smile widened.
“And if I am unwilling?”
“I did not give you a choice.”
The tension was making it difficult for
everyone to breathe. While Gihron was getting increasingly nervous, most of the
Elites, Isa, and General Decius were unwilling to back down, making tensions
rise higher.
“Then perhaps this negotiation was
immature,” General Decius said.
“If you wish to return to senselessly
destroying all of your technology and killing your men, then we will meet you
in battle,” Isa said with a shallow nod. “However, considering that
you
were the one to reach out to me with
a conditional surrender, I do not believe you have the resources to continue a
longer battle. It is for you to decide if you are willing to doom your planet
further by straining your assets, or if you are willing to comply with
my
terms and stop this war so we could
both get on with leading our planets.”
“You were quick to accept my conditional
surrender, which tells me you were desperate to end this war.”
“As Tiao is not a militaristic society
and, therefore, does not believe that war is the only answer, I am quick to
stop any war in which I find myself involved.”
General Decius chuckled.
“You are not as I remember you, Elite
Isa.”
“Glad to know that I exceed your
expectations, while mine were perfectly met.”
Kailynn had to purse her lips and turn
away from Gihron’s side of the table to hide the laugh threatening to bubble
out of her at Isa’s sharp words.
“You insolent—”
“Colonel Ikan, sit down,” Isa ordered,
turning to the second-in-command of Gihron. The man, half-standing from his
chair, turned to General Decius, who nodded quietly. He slowly lowered himself
to sit, though his eyes were brimming with rage.
“Moving on to title two,” Isa continued,
“I agree that all those involved in this war shall pay appropriate reparations.
From the analysis of the debris collected from the battles, we have determined
that two percent of reparations will be paid by Urya, twelve percent Ulam,
twenty percent by Jakra, twenty-nine percent by Hyun, and the remaining
thirty-seven percent will be paid by Gihron.”
“How did you obtain those numbers?” one
delegate asked, confused.
“From all the debris and refuse that we
collected after each battle,” Isa said. “Tiao was sure to clean the mess made
after every fight, as Gihron would not.”
“It would appear that Tiao is quite
skilled at cleaning up messes,” General Decius said darkly.
Kailynn expected to see Isa waver at the
words, however, she did not.
She turned back to General Decius.
“Pardon, General Decius?”