The Constant Star (45)

THE STORY SO FAR

“Why did it take you so long to find out Siff is alive? Wouldn’t that have been a priority for your security?”

Pluto shuffles a little uncomfortably in his seat, “We have been having…some technical difficulties with our systems. My scientists assure me that—“

“—She’s hacked the Needle.” Mars is beside himself, “You didn’t tell us? You absolute idiot. You absolute fool!”

“There is no evidence of that!” Pluto takes a breath and regains his composure, “We are slowly rebooting systems to remove the glitches. That is why we did not know she was alive. We assumed she was dead just like all of you did.”

“Don’t you see?” Jupiter’s head is in his hands, “We need to get her out of there. We need her intel. How did she get in there in the first place? The shield was down. How did she know it would be down? We need her intel.” He puts his hands on the table, “How did the enemy get their weaponry? How do they know our movements? We need her intel. What are the enemy’s plans? What are their weaknesses? We need her intel!”

“What we need is to protect this mission!” Saturn’s stern voice penetrates Mars’ prepared retort, “We have four levels of government, and we need all of them to be functioning for this mission to succeed. Not one of you has shown any care for the general population and what this war is doing to morale. What the civilian casualties are. How we are evacuating the war-zones…your heartless and selfish priorities put the very people that are the backbone of this mission in jeopardy. We do not know how many lives are lost, or how many have chosen to join the Rebellion as sympathizers. We do not know how we can win them back or restore the ship to its full functionality. We do not know how psychologically scarred our people are or how best to help them. And we don’t know any of these things because we don’t have intel.

“In this crisis situation—in this particular instance—I believe it is prudent to bring Siff in and question her. If we can figure out how she was manipulated and how to bring her back then it will greatly help us in planning our political moves to win back our people, who are undoubtedly questioning everything they have ever been taught.” She turns her attention to Pluto, “What you deem to be the best course of action in that retrieval is, of course, entirely at your discretion.”

Pluto presses his fingers together in thought, Jupiter can see his mind at work. Pluto’s narcissism has been insulted by Mars’ aggressive speech, and he just might side with them to make a point. Jupiter knows what is coming before the others, but retains his anxious persona so that he doesn’t rock the boat away from what he wants to happen.

Pluto purses his lips and smiles, “I will allow one of you to enter the Habitat through the Gate wearing the God-armour. You will have until midnight to retrieve her from the village. At that point the village shall be destroyed and all those within it. Even if you are still there. I will not spare you.”

“You can’t be serious?” Mars stands, “You want us to pull our resources from the front just so a pathetic father can rescue his traitorous daughter. The Tube may be yours, Pluto, but the military is mine.”

“With her intel we could not only win the war, but also save our people. We need your help on this, Mars.” Jupiter implores his old friend, “I know the fight isn’t easy, but with the god-armour we could break through. And if I can do enough damage on the way, we may be able to keep the position. We have to reclaim the Gate, especially if the Needle is at risk. We have to protect the Chosen Ones.”

“Your reasoning is pathetically transparent.”

“His motivations may be questionable,” Saturn interjects, “but he is right. If Diana is trying to hack the Needle, we need to make sure the Chosen Ones are safe. We need to recapture the Gate. And if, in doing so, we are able to gain more intel on our enemy, then that is a bonus we can’t overlook.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing, this is—“

“—The best course of action. Tell me, why are you so against it? We are a team, here. And yes, the military is yours to command, but surely you’re not too proud to accept that we might have an idea that works?”

Mars pauses, restraining his obvious anger. Jupiter knows he knows Saturn is right, “Fine! I’ll bring resources to the Gate.” He points his finger at Pluto, “Just make sure he keeps Diana out of the Needle’s systems.”

“And I will make sure there are civilian refugee stations. I will move the population out of the line of fire.”

Mars is already storming his way out the door,  “I’ll message when the attack is ready.”

Jupiter waits for the door to close, “So, the god-armour?”

Pluto stands, “It will take an hour to charge. Wait here while I make it ready.”

Once Pluto has also left the room, Jupiter reaches into his pocket and pulls out the protocol chip, “What’s that?”

“I pulled it off a dead soldier. It’s one of Mars’ protocol chips.”

“Why do you have it?”

“Because I had questions.”

“Because Siff said something about Brainies…?”

“Brainers.”

“Brainers. For gods sake, Jupiter. Really?”

“I’m not going to try and convince you she was right. I’m going to show you. Here. Take it. Analyze the insulation and tell me what you see.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“But if she’s right about that then…”

“Then our security is compromised by a lack of empathy and humanity.”

“I don’t want it. Take it back.”

“No. Look at it. After this war is finished there are changes that will have to be made.”

“That’s dangerous talk,

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