Chapter 19

Our driver obsequiously assisted us into the back seat of the limo, as if he was personally at fault for the CPSD shakedown, then he got in the front and gunned the motor. We sped off into the night.

I gave a hard-edged gaze to Sash. “Where do you want to start?”

He didn’t respond immediately. He seemed to be collecting his thoughts.

“Let’s start with Colette,” I demanded. “Is she not with the Gaian Intelligence Bureau? Are you people part of the government at all?”

Sash took a deep breath, and laid his deep, sweet eyes upon me. “Colette….is not with Gaian Intelligence. It would be far beneath her.”

“Apparently not so far beneath her to lie to me about it.”

Sash sighed, regretfully apologizing for someone else’s actions. “She felt it would give her a needed air of legitimacy in winning your assistance.” Sash’s mood seemed to pick up suddenly. “However, suggesting to you that she was operating undercover was not far from the truth.” His expression shifted from one of encouragement to one of command. “Colette Thornbush is a great woman,” he declared, holding his finger up at me. “You must never forget that.”

“Boy, you people have a pretty twisted definition of greatness on this planet. That woman spied on me, helped herself to my personal and financial records, manipulated me, lied to me, stalked me, and damn near kidnapped me. All so that she could maneuver me into the middle of a whirlpool of personal politics that I have no business being in.” I fired him my final allegation. “And I was even starting to like her!”

Sash’s finger wagged at me as he clucked. “You’re judging her.”

“You’re goddamn right I’m judging her! This is…just…way out of line!” I was not only mad at her, I was mad at how inarticulate I was in expressing my rage over it, at how stymied my own tongue had become considering the lashing I wanted to give the two of them. I redirected. “So who does she work for? Anybody? Is she a criminal? A…a….revolutionary? What?”

“Colette is a woman of strength, vision, power, and conviction – she is also the mother of a dying child, do not forget. Colette is the leader of Gaia’s largest opposition political party, as it were. We call ourselves the Gaian Strength and Unity Party. We believe that the people on this planet are first and foremost Gaians, and we believe in a strong, unified government that represents them first and foremost as Gaians, a government that is sovereign and which has the military and political might to ensure our people’s self-determination. We oppose the spineless, appeasing policies of the existing Provisional Government which, as Colette so eloquently put it, always seem to benefit Earthlings and hurt Gaians.” Sash hurried to clarify, apparently for my sake. “We are not opposed to Earthlings or to their well-being, only that it must not come at our expense. We want to deal with Earth as equals.

“Our party is very popular on Gaia. However, it is also somewhat underground, because it has been de-legitimized, threatened, and attacked by the Provisional Government, by a frightened leadership that knows its days are numbered, and only knows how to push authority down, not out.” Sash snorted in derision, indulging in an unnecessary aside. “They’ve been in power for generations and they still call themselves a ‘Provisional Government’, which just shows how poorly they wear the mantle of leadership.”

I shook my head. How had I gotten myself into this mess? My life for the last six months had been nothing but a string of very costly and unfortunate incidents. Getting run out of Atlas by that jerk Brixom, then losing all my money to Geelan on some ridiculous con game, and now being pawned into this civil mess on Gaia, which had nothing whatsoever to do with me. I was only on this godforsaken rock because Geelan had been reported seen here. But how could I trust anything I had been told by these people? Sash had shown me a short video clip – easily doctored – and then he set me up to be strung along with this story about him having some people inside Atlas who would “ask around” about Geelan. He could string me along forever with that little one. Very convenient that Geelan was stuck inside a heavily guarded compound. And Geelan would probably leave that compound the day after I had served my function to the Gaian Unity Party, or whatever the hell it was called.

I looked at Sash as I searched my own conflicted soul. Sash had an undeniable charisma like Colette’s. No, beyond Colette’s. I had been growing to like Colette, but it had been in spite of her more than because of her. But as I looked at Sash’s dark, soft face, I saw a man I wanted very much to believe and to trust. His manner was one of such confidence and wisdom. Such authority in his carriage, and yet he carried it so benevolently. He was like a strong father that gently, lovingly, but undeniably compelled you to obey and serve.

“And what about you?” I asked him tiredly. “What’s your story, ‘General’?”

Sash seemed surprised by the question. Perhaps Colette and the politics of it all had occupied the center stage for so long that he forgot about himself. Forgot that he had a part in it all. But the surprise in his face seemed to shift down into frustration and sadness. “I was a high-ranking Gaian military officer, some years ago,” he answered. “The Provisional Government made a half-hearted attempt to build a military. I supervised the effort, and in the early days, was even training the soldiers myself. Our world’s defense force was nonexistent, and I was trying to build something out of nothing. I was being constantly undermined by my superiors. I finally got tired of lying to myself. The Government was never going to make a serious effort to build a respectable military, one that could ensure our safety and self-determination as a planet, and I was a pawn of their public relations campaign to the Gaian people. The Provisional Government wanted to answer the complaints of the people, but they had always kow-towed to Earth, and they always would. Their heart just wasn’t in anything else.”

I shook my head. “That doesn’t make any sense to me. What sensible government would tolerate that kind of relationship? What rational government would fail to build a military to protect itself?”

“No sensible or rational government would. Don’t assume the Provisional Government is either.”

Sash reached down beside him and pressed a button. A door opened, and I could see bottled drinks inside. He took one. “Want something to drink?” I waved him off. Who could drink fruit juice at a time like this? He popped the cap and took a long, refreshing pull. Then he returned his attention to me. “It helps to understand the political history of our world.”

“If you say so.”

“When Gaia was discovered by Earth astronomers, it was very exciting and there was lots of debate about what to do about it. Namely, who would colonize it. At the same time, there was a huge social crisis occurring on Earth, between the Progressives and the Separatists. There were a lot of people who didn’t like where Earth was going, socially and technologically. They were religious conservatives, environmentalists, Luddites of various grades, and so on. You could also throw in to that pot refugees and other oppressed peoples, like the Native Americans.

“Well, these groups got together and formed a cooperative council to direct the colonization of the planet, mostly to provide a new start for their respective constituencies, who had nothing in common with each other but that one promise. The Earth government allowed them to do this, but stipulated that refugees and hardened criminals be included in among the colonizers. This coalition became the provisional government on Gaia, which has never changed its name and is still that loose group of people who have very little to do with each other.

“My point is that our political system is badly fragmented, and the people of Gaia are not being represented by a single voice to the outside. We don’t have a unified polity, so we don’t have a military to speak of, and we continue to serve at the pleasure of Earth’s whims. Colette and I believe this is unacceptable. We Gaians deserve better.”

“So how did you get mixed up with her?” I asked with unhidden cynicism. It seemed that ‘mixed up’ was a perfectly appropriate term. Lord knows it had happened to me.

“When I resigned my post in the Gaian government, I found a new home in Colette’s organization. Colette believes in a strong military. She believes in a unified political voice and in giving the Gaian people equal footing with Earth, underwritten with military force. I joined the cause and have become her second-in-command, as it were.”

“So, what do you do? Engineer these sabotage escapades at Atlas? Does that meet your needs for a building a ‘respectable military’?”

He paused, and looked carefully at me. I simply waited for him to speak. “We have engaged in some tactical operations, yes. But more importantly, we have been building and training a military force for our planet.” His chest seemed to swell a bit with pride. “Small though it may still be, Gaia’s only properly trained and equipped military force is under my command.”

“Hm. Does the government know that?”

He didn’t answer.

“So what you’re really talking about is a revolution,” I said. “A coup d’etat. Sorry, buddy, but I want no part of it. This stuff is none of my business.” I looked around the car, as if doing so suggested an exit.

“No, Sean, no. We are not talking about a coup d’etat. We believe in a democratic political process. No, we are preparing for the time when the Party does come to power – peacefully.”

“Which brings me back to my original question. If this Atlas situation is so unpopular, why not use your little band of guerrillas to take it over?”

“Lord knows the people of Gaia would rise up in support if we did so, perhaps even push us into political power. The Atlas situation has pushed the Provisional Government into a certain crisis of legitimacy, and further pushes might topple it completely. Colette has argued that we try that very approach, but I am not willing to take the risk. What Colette told you was true: we couldn’t take on the Earth reinforcements that would follow. Secondly, our military force is not public knowledge, because it would be a political powder keg, and would bring the wrath, such as it is, of the Gaian government on us. I just don’t think the time is right.”

“All right, forget about ousting them. Why not just bust in there one night and get some of that Koralizine for your people? Or use your ‘insiders’ to get it somehow?”

Sash’s head tilted in acknowledgment. “It is a compelling argument. If things were just right…it would be a justifiable action. The risk is that it threatens everything we’ve built. The CPSD could theoretically shut us down for good, militarily and politically. We have to balance our short and long-term objectives.”

I tried to put myself in their shoes. I imagined being pushed around by a schoolyard bully, and being told by my big brother that I couldn’t defend myself. I imagined my loved ones suffering because of my big brother’s impotence. And I thought of Colette, watching her nine year-old daughter dying in a hospital, her brain being turned to mush because of that damned rimonium and a government that couldn’t say no. And although I felt pulled into a mess that was none of my business, I understood what Colette and Sash were fighting for, and I admired Colette. Can you imagine watching your daughter die, trying to balance ‘short and long-term objectives’? I shook my head. I was way out my depth here. I returned to my focus point.

“Is Geelan really here? At the Atlas facility?” I asked Sash.

“Oh, yes, he’s here. I’m hoping to hear some news soon from our insiders on his status.”

“That would be nice.”

I was tired of surprises. I sure wanted something to make sense for once. I really wanted just one thing to be what I thought it was. I looked forward to hearing about Geelan. And I hoped it included him leaving the compound. I wanted something tangible, something I could hold in my hands and say, yes, what’s happening here is true and it can’t be changed. But then, I had forgotten the maxim to be careful what you wish for, lest you get it…