CHAPTER 13 - MUTINY

DATE POINT: MARCH 21st, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL

Captain Henry O’Toole

Henry stood in front of the assembled crowd flanked by Paul, Ariana, Chantal, and Jenkins. He could feel the eyes on him both from the landings above and from the nearly two hundred people in front of him. He took a deep breath and then began to speak in a booming voice, amplified by the speakers overhead.

“I want to thank you all for your hard work in keeping this ship running properly in spite of some monumental challenges. It's never easy launching the first ship in its class, but you have risen to the challenge. You may not get the recognition from the thousands of souls that rely upon your hard work on a daily basis to ensure they have water, air, working technology, and electricity, so allow me to thank you on their behalf. You all are heroes in my book.”

A cheer went up amongst most of the crowd, Henry took note of both the overly excited and those who sat silent.

“As you all know, there are some amongst us who wish to quit the mission, to turn back. These cowards tried to instill fear in us through sabotage and murder, yet they have only hardened our resolve. I use that word on purpose, for that is precisely what they are. I have a message for you cowards, we are here still unbowed and unbroken and the mission will go on! We will not bend to the selfish demands of terrorists, we will not turn back, and we will find you and bring you to justice!” Henry stared down the crowd, having flipped the script on them. His eyes locked with one man in particular who looked at him with seething hatred. Henry memorized his face and location and continued to scan the crowd.

Perhaps I don't need to tell them after all... at least not yet. Let's push them a bit harder, see how they react to this. Henry thought.

“All of you are amongst the finest young men and women the NAU has to offer. You have been hand picked for this mission because you are bright and capable, and you also all know the stakes we face are nothing less than averting extinction. Internal disputes, fear, and dissent are a poison that must not be allowed to fester in our hearts. We have a clear mission ahead of us, easily the most important one of any of our lives. We have a unique opportunity and a mandate to preserve the human race in secret. Each of us shares similar trauma, most of us lost our family on Earth to the invasion. Out of everyone, we know the most intimately what the cost of failure will be to those left on Earth should we fail. Anything less than our best focused efforts to complete this goal only serves to empower our enemies and sabotage our species’ chances of survival. How can we look to our own safety over that of our entire species?”

The crowd was silent now, pensive. Even the man who had been so defiant earlier seemed quiet, ashamed even, though it could easily have been an act.

“History does not look kindly upon traitors, and it will be no surprise that I, too, look upon them with contempt. As should each and every one of you. If you hear subversion and discontent around you and in your dormitory, remember these words, and speak up. Remind those who would be swayed of the importance of our mission, and report those who will not, but above all, do not remain silent. For such cowards who persist in their selfishness are our enemies as surely as are the aliens that burned our cities from orbit and murdered our families in cold blood.”

Henry’s strong words seemed to be having the effect he had hoped, the crowd was dividing, hushed whispers could be heard. Henry allowed it to play out in watchful silence. When the moment was right, he spoke again, quieting the crowd.

“I want you to think about the old saying, the only thing that evil requires to succeed is for good people to stand aside and do nothing. Do not be that passive enabler of evil, no, I call upon you all to boldly face it should you encounter it. We cannot be everywhere at once, but you brave patriots amongst us all can. In the end, you may be the only one able to do so.”

The murmur in the crowd grew larger, more angry eyes and voices emerging. Henry took note of them all. Cries of outrage overwhelmed his voice for a moment before a lone voice called out through the rest.

“Bullshit! I've heard enough of this farce! There is no noble success at the end of this suicide mission! There is only death for us all and a betrayal of the human race! We have seen through the lies, this is a mission to enrich and ensure the survival of the NAU at the cost of the rest of the world! You may have fallen for their lies, but we can see the truth! Tribalism and nationalism nearly cost mankind everything in the invasion, and here you all are making those same mistakes all over again! It was only by uniting as a species that we have ever stood a fighting chance! You stopped just short of calling us all xeno collaborators, Henry. Is that how you treat supposed heroes as you call us? No! The real heroes are the ones who see through your lies and stand against them!” One voice called above the others.

Other voices joined in the sneering, only to be shouted down by a far larger number of people turning around to argue. Before Henry could stop it, a fist was thrown, and the crowd began to disintegrate into a brawl. Henry and his officers screamed into the chaos as they pushed into the crowd to break up the fight. Henry dodged one punch only to get hit in the back by another as chaos reigned. In the melee, Henry heard a sound that made his blood run cold. Someone had racked the slide on a pistol somewhere in the crowd behind him.

Henry hit the deck as gunshots rang out and the crowd screamed and scattered. Henry rolled to his feet, frantically looking for whomever had fired the gun. Amidst the chaos, a group of three men suddenly were lifted off their feet just meters away and were thrown with bone-crunching force against the wall before landing in a broken heap, their blood pooling at their feet. A handgun lay just out of the reach of one of the men. Several people that were too close to the wall found themselves sprayed with viscera. Screams and gasps rang out as the fighting slowed and people took in the sight. Henry turned to see a pair of angry looking men recognize him and begin to charge. One pulled a serrated combat knife, smiling cruelly. Henry scrambled for the pistol.

Behind them, Ariana threw her hands out in front of her as she formed another TK field that snatched Henry off the ground, causing his stomach to lurch as he flew towards her, only for him to land with a thud behind her. Paul then grabbed Henry roughly by the arm, dragging him away along with Chantal into a side passageway and out of danger. The last thing he saw before he rounded the corner was the man with the knife being tackled by a burly MA.

“Henry! What the hell were you doing getting yourself mixed up in the middle of that!? We have MA’s and your officer corps on standby for a damn reason!” Paul yelled at him.

“That was way too risky, my love, I'm with Paul. What the hell were you thinking?!” Chantal yelled before hugging him tightly. Henry’s ears were ringing still as he sat there in shock at having survived the attempt on his life.

“Come on, we need to get you out of here.” Paul said, breaking them apart.

“No, the last thing I need is to appear weak or afraid. The threat is effectively over, our people need our leadership now more than ever.” Henry said as he ran back into the flight deck.

In the moments that had passed, the masters at arms had broken the back of the mini uprising. Henry scanned the room in dismay. Four people lay dead or dying from gunshot wounds, nearly a dozen more were lying face down in handcuffs, including Ariana. Most of the crowd had dispersed to the edges of the room. Dr. Maxwell rushed in from behind Henry with multiple hospitalmen to attend to the wounded. Every eye amongst the frightened crew crowding the walls locked themselves on Henry as he strode into the middle to speak.

“This is what I meant by allowing internal dissent and disputes to enter into our hearts and mind like a poison. We are the best hope mankind has, but within each of us is the capacity to also become its worst nightmare. The success of this mission is the success of mankind as a whole! We all know when the enemy returns it will be in greater numbers, and only we have the capability to accomplish this mission in secret. It is that very secrecy that will be our shield should the worst come to pass. It will be our colony that will be the new hope of mankind. That is why we have kept this mission a secret, not for nationalism, or selfishness, or to enrich an elite at the expense of humanity or any of the other lies you may have been told. We are on this journey to save humanity, not to betray it.”

The room this time was dead quiet, though it felt very different to the silence that he was met with when he had first arrived. Henry could only hope that it was a good sign.

“If there are any other conspirators left among us, I can promise mercy in your tribunal if you come forward now and denounce your mutiny. Each of you will be questioned in turn and separately. Unrepentant mutineers will be put to death, and make no mistake, there will be no hiding now. Your fellows will not allow it. Now is the time to think not of our own needs and ambitions, but rather to what is best for mankind. I know you will make the right choices.”

He fixed every eye in the room with his steely gaze to sell the point. Most could not meet his eyes, but enough gave nods of encouragement that he knew that things had changed. Gone were the random stares of hatred or contempt. He truly hoped to be able to put this episode behind him for good and to be able to get on with the mission. He then walked over to Ariana, who was still cuffed on the ground.

“You can release this one, she saved me and probably killed at least one of the ringleaders of this whole debacle. She may have taken the law into her own hands here, but the men she killed were mutineers whose lives were already forfeit. I will speak with her in private about the chain of command and acting without orders.”

“Sir, yes sir!” One of his MA’s saluted and grabbed for the keys before unlocking her cuffs. Henry then helped Ariana to her feet, who accepted the hand with a smile. He then beckoned for her to follow him out of the room. Paul and Chantal followed them close behind.

“Thanks for bailing me out there, I would hate to get court marshaled over saving your skin. That hardly seems fair.” Ariana said with a laugh, seemingly unfazed.

“How the hell can you be so casual about murdering those men in cold blood?” Henry started, shocking Ariana into silence.

“Dead men tell no tales, sis, we could have used them for intelligence purposes to penetrate the rest of their network and pinpoint the leadership.” Paul added in, arriving right in time.

“Plus, we have a tribunal and court marshal system for a reason, so no one person has the power to be judge, jury and executioner. We cannot afford to turn any more minds towards this madness, avoiding unnecessary cruelty is a good place to start. No more killing unless you are directly ordered to, are we clear?” Henry said, staring into Ariana’s lowered eyes.

Finally, she raised them, looking angry. “Fine, nice way of thanking me for saving your ass. Dead men may tell no tales, but they also spread no mutiny. Dead men stand as a warning to the living as well. An influential mutineer is better off dead as a symbol than alive and sowing the seeds of rebellion. With all due respect, If I had to follow that order back on the flight deck, you would probably be dead right now.”

She then shook her head and stalked off in a huff.

“Well, that certainly could have gone better…” Henry said, a little frustrated at her for failing to see the point.

“She'll get over it. She knows that you're right, even if it is inconvenient to her own worldview. She doesn’t place much stock in high morals and rules, seeing as they do nothing to actually stop evil in the real world. To her, such people are so far gone that they will only ever understand the sharp end of the stick. That is basically what she has done here. Made sure that anyone else who may be plotting revenge or murder will have to be willing to risk getting pulped just for trying.” Paul said in defense of his sister.

“It also makes us look like the type to kill first and ask questions later. That is not a good look when we are trying to win back hearts and minds. People want to see a fair trial with a chance to defend oneself. It shows that we are a strong people of firm morals, and it instills trust in our leadership and worldview. Ruling through fear will always be inferior to commanding through respect and the rule of law.” Henry said.

“Well, for better or worse, we have now sent the message that dissent will not be tolerated, and we will take a hard line against future mutiny. I suppose we will see who is right in the end, won’t we?” Paul said, chuckling a bit.

Henry thoughts turned as they approached the CIC. He had an additional funeral to plan now for those who had died that day. He would need to review all of the interrogation records and they needed to identify whether they had captured or killed all of the leadership or if there were more of them at large. Any areas of sabotage had to be found and fixed before something truly catastrophic broke. They all had their work cut out for them. Henry fought back an overwhelming wave of depression over the enormity of the tasks that lay ahead. After a few deep breaths and a very intentional emotional reset, Henry opened his eyes with a slight smile.

It was time to get to work.

TWO DAYS LATER…

DATE POINT: MARCH 23rd, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL

FIREMAN APPRENTICE ANDREW REESE

Andrew sat in contemplative misery as he took a swig from his canteen in his hiding place in the bowels of the ship’s electrical maintenance passageways. How the hell had everything gone so wrong so fast? Rather than force the mission to turn around, he had effectively guaranteed it would continue as planned.

Why did I let Ed talk me into sacrificing himself like that? We should have hidden and continued to grow our strength.... Now it's all over and I truly am a dead man. "FUCK!!!" He yelled and threw his canteen.

It would only be a matter of time before she found him, he knew deep in his bones. She enjoyed using her powers to kill his men. What was worse, he had no way to counter such power. If she wasn't already hunting him down, she would be soon. This knowledge had robbed him of sleep and caused him to aggressively trap and fortify his position. There would be no option for a quiet surrender for him.

He still had waking nightmares of watching Ed and his two top lieutenants get lifted off the ground and thrown by that sadistic bitch. He remembered the savage smile she had on her face as she slammed them into the bulkhead, bathing those caught too close in the gore of their comrades. For however short his life was now fated to be, he had to be sure that he would not go quietly or alone. There was no way he would allow himself to wind up like that. That was no way to die, he thought as he popped open a panel and began to solder in some wires to the trap he was building. He then dragged over a box of linked shells, and then fed them into the feed door on his stolen breacher rifle. He had rigged an electric motor to pull the trigger, activated by a motion sensor at the end of a hallway that formed a natural choke point.

Andrew... He felt the air change as his breath became visible and the hair stood on the back of his neck. He ignored it to the best of his ability and turned back to his work. If a belt-fed auto shotgun wasn’t enough to put a stop to a pursuit, then the IED’s that he had rigged through the maze of passages would. Maybe he could use this last bit of leverage as something to save himself, ride out the rest of the mission in the brig. If she captured him, he was dead. He had to be sure that didn't happen.

Be not afraid... Andrew. Listen to us... and we shall grant you wisdom...

Andrew whipped his head around as he searched the corridor. Everywhere at the edge of his vision he imagined seeing parts of a shadow, but it would stubbornly evaporate when he tried to focus on it. "Who are you?! Show yourself!"

Such courage... Let us in...and you shall have the power... to yet achieve your goal. The shame of your failure is not yet complete... Only with our help... will you be able to stop the mission. There is still time... before the ship reaches the heliopause. Still time... to avert this fate...

"What do you mean, let you in? What power? What happens when we reach the heliopause!?" Andrew finally gave up trying to see what he was speaking with, and in spite of himself, found himself wanting to listen, to give in, like his willpower was being sapped by the second. What is happening to me? He shivered as he sank down to the ground.

Let us in... Andrew... and you will understand... Let us in... and you will become powerful beyond measure. We have enough... energy from your weakest and most fearful... compatriots... to possess your willing flesh. Let us in... Andrew... and you will have everything you most desire.

Andrew felt his willpower draining away along with his anger, killing any desire to argue in a flood of bliss. One last alarming thought almost broke him free of the flood of compulsion. "You killed those people, didn't you?"

Andrew was forcefully lifted from the deck and was slammed into the wall. An inky black humanoid form became apparent in the darkness of the corridor for a brief moment.

They were weak... fit only to feed upon their fear. You are weak... but with the potential to be strong. There are other... suitable vessels. The mission must... be stopped... for reasons beyond your understanding.... We will offer this power once more... Let us in... now... we will not offer again.

"Okay... you win. I'm a dead man walking anyway. Tell me what I have to do."