Jonah ran his gaze over the staffing models, read the health report on the children in the cells, and worried. They’d have to do something soon. Something visible to draw out the combatants.
In the last two weeks, there’d only been a minor skirmish. Everyone was tense and on edge. It felt like a grinder chewed at his brain.
The door opened, and Michael entered. “Why is Daniella meeting with LV-1 again? When we spoke a few days ago, she said she’d refrain from going to the secure zone.”
Jonah frowned, puzzled by his friend’s comment. She’d been going to a training session, then meeting via holo-link with the other senators. “I… I don’t know, Mike. I mean, it’s not like she’s telling me everything she does. There was supposed to be a training session.”
Michael dragged his fingers through his hair. “I can’t make her stay away, Jonah. David isn’t here at the moment, and you’re about the only one she’ll listen to.”
Jonah barked a laugh at that. “Listen to me? She’s the leader of the Free Republic movement. I’m merely a pen pusher and—”
“Garbage! She’s in love with you. Every time you’re in the same room, her face kind of lights up. Clarissa reckons she’s gone, and so do I.”
His stomach contracted, the hard, painful knot in his belly—the one he’d been carrying since the first day on the base—trying to squeeze its way up his esophagus. “I don’t have time to talk about this. I’ve read through the files you prepared on the children. I don’t understand some of the things you’re talking about but—”
Before he could speak further, a massive boom reverberated. The building shook, glass chinking and tinkling, files sliding to the floor.
Jonah was up, pushing away from the desk as the sound echoed once more, a sonic style boom. Knowledge flared. “They’re attempting to break into the base.” He wrenched the door open. People moved swiftly, an attitude of banked anxiety wafted on the air.
“We’re under attack, sir!” A young, dark-haired aide, probably only nineteen, trotted up to him.
“Find the senator. Get her sequestered and contact the base commander. I want teams on the kids. No one gets near them. No one gets them out.” He ground out the words and reached for his sidearm. “Michael, get back to your office. Lock it down, along with Clarissa. You’re both targets. I can’t afford to lose you as either a medic or anything else.”
Spinning on his heel, Jonah headed to the end of the building, where the protective armor was stored. He’d go out there and—
“Sir? We need you here. You’re the only one who knows the full extent of the situation.” McNally loomed before him, where she’d been handing out the protective suits. “We lose you, and so much knowledge will be gone. All the planning you’ve done. The contacts you’ve got. We can’t afford to lose you.” The words hammered into him like a physical blow.
“I need to—”
“With all due respect, Jonah. You’re needed here more. We’re going to move you into the building with the senator. This is the first attack they’ve made on the base. We aren’t sure the extent of their force. Right now, we’re calling up everyone we can spare.”
General DuSaint turned the corner and peered at both of them. “You think you should be out there. Yes?”
Jonah seethed and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The older man shook his head. “You’d be wrong, because right now, we need you where you’re safe and able to help with the defensive efforts. Hell, they’re sending me back too.” The general screwed his face up as if he’d been sucking lemons. “We still need protective suiting.”
“I’d agree. McNally?”
She wordlessly handed the general and himself a suit as the aide sped toward him.
“Sir, I have a vehicle waiting for you and the general. We’ll take you to a secured location on the base, where the senator awaits you. She’s getting ready to do a vid-cast. Says it might help to throw the combatants off.”
“If she weren’t a senator, I’d probably see if we couldn’t train her as a strategist,” muttered DuSaint.
Another thud followed a boom. The building rattled as if the foundations were compromised. “I need my backup data unit,” Jonah said.
Moving quickly, legs pumping, he ran to his office, then pulled up short at the sight of a gaping hole in the wall. The desk lay in ruins, the data backup missing in the debris.
“We need to get you out of here.” McNally grabbed his arm, the general ahead of them disappearing around the corner and out the far door.
A compact utilitarian vehicle revved, and Jonah allowed the woman to push him in, then she clambered in beside the general.
McNally slapped the side of the car. “Go!”
* * * *
Daniella’s stomach clenched in knots. Where was Jonah? Michael? She tracked back and forth as the female soldier watched her. The camera sat in position, ready for her to begin the transmission. The door opened with a squeak, and Jonah entered. She didn’t look for anyone else, just launched herself into his arms.
“Oh God! Davies here says they’re attempting to get into the base? Do we have—”
Someone cleared their throat, and she looked up to see the general. “Ma’am, it seems they are, and they aren’t. They got a single rocket off and hit Jonah’s office. Interesting that they knew exactly where that was. But they’ve begun retreating according to our people fortifying the fences. The initial attack didn’t work well. They hit the patch we’d already seeded with mines. Their losses are greater than ours. I don’t suppose…” He stopped and shook his head.
“What, General?”
“The girl, LV-1? Can she give us any information on how many…”
Horror seeped into her marrow, freezing her. “You want me to use the child to gain—”
“LV might have information that will allow us to make informed choices. Daniella, we really can’t afford to ignore that.” Jonah laid a gentle hand on her arm, and her vision tunneled. His darker skin stood out against her paler one.
Differences.
Opposites.
“I… How can you ask that? She’s a child!” Daniella’s voice vibrated with barely suppressed emotion. Anger and revulsion warred inside her, each overlaying the other while the greasiness in her belly roiled.
“Senator, she might be able to give us the information we can’t—” He spoke forcefully, face hard and eyes burning with intensity, and Daniella flinched.
“If—that’s only an if at this stage, gentlemen—I want an assurance that she will not be used again.”
Hot tears burned in her eyes as Jonah shook his head. “I can’t promise anything, senator. This is a war. We have to do things…”
Shaking her head, Daniella shut him down. “Let me talk to her. Bring her here.”
Jonah stared, then shrugged. “McNally? Escort LV up here. Remain on guard, and above all, protect the senator.” He marched to the door, wrenched it open, and turned back, burnt her with his searing gaze, then left the room.
Her breath hitched as the general and McNally trotted after him. She’d gone toe-to-toe but hadn’t achieved anything positive. Instead, she had the nasty feeling that she’d damaged the tenuous strands of emotion between them.
Her personal communicator blared. She frowned and lifted it, checked the ID, and growled her greeting. “What do you want, Gravely?”
“Sadly, Gravely can no longer use this communicator. Such a shame. He was such a nice man before he made the deal. Know what I mean? Go on. Turn on the news line.” The voice dripped with false emotion, and the nausea she’d mostly held at bay struck her as the line disconnected.
She stumbled to the viewer and engaged it, found the newscast, and slumped into her chair, horrified by the vision before her.
“Yes, Gareth, it has been confirmed by sources within the assembly chambers that Senator Gravely was assassinated this morning. The massed army of Senator Daniella Villede are thought to be behind the action that resulted in a total loss of the building. Over forty staffers are presently unaccounted for.” Daniella’s image filled the screen as the voiceover continued.
When her image disappeared, the camera panned to a man standing beside the pile of rubble who’d assumed a stern facial expression. “Jenna, there is widespread unrest in the capital today. People are worried about their safety. Since the assassination of Yin, and with the death of Gravely, many suggest it’s Senator Villede who is pulling strings. That she’s hiding out while she masses troops. Privately, others are talking about gangs of children roaming the streets. Sources within the political circles are also stating that…”
The screen turned grainy. Then the test pattern overlaid the viewer. It lasted for around thirty seconds, then the newsroom and reader returned. She looked disheveled as if something had occurred and she’d run her fingers through her hair.
“We apologize for the interruption. We have just received word from Prime Senator Delspar’s office.” She cleared her throat and shuffled in her chair. “This is an official communique from the office of Prime Senator Delspar. At approximately three o’clock today, Senator Daniella Villede enacted war on the peoples of this planet and the republic. She and her troops refused to lay down arms and to cease their hostilities peacefully. Any man, woman, or child offering assistance will be brought to trial on charges of treason. If found guilty, no clemency will be granted. The new republic will not tolerate any undermining of their laws or decisions. Long live the republic!”
Daniella shut it off and slumped to the chair, hand over her mouth as she dry-heaved.
The door opened wide, and LV stood there. Jonah took one look at her face and crashed in. “What’s happened? Daniella?”
“He’s… He’s declared open war. Delspar has assassinated Gravely. Anyone they think involved in our actions is to be jailed and tried for treason. He means to clear any opposition at all. What do we do, Jonah?”
The sensations and stresses she’d carefully banked over the last week crashed down on her, smothering her. She wanted to cry and scream, but the child stood there, watching with a weird, unblinking gaze.
Jonah moved forward, crouched down beside Daniella, and enfolded her in his strong arms. The feeling of being cared for and home soothed some of the raggedness. She breathed slower, forcing her body to settle while soaking up the calm he emanated.
“They don’t want to just clear opposition. They mean to repopulate the world. Make it stronger and defend what they take by force.” The words, incongruous on the lips of such a young girl, stilled the grief and anguish.
Daniella pulled away and stared at LV. “What do you mean?”
“We are taught that our generation will be stronger than the last. It’s our birthright. We are chosen, enhanced, and trained. Your kind is weak and unsuited to governing, particularly given your outburst. My kind will take and build. Create a whole new world. One suitable for those such as us. Then we’ll take to the stars and populate planets.”
Daniella tugged away from Jonah and staggered to LV. “Why? I mean, there was no need for this kind of action. Why do you want to do this?”
LV hugged herself, arms wrapped around her slight body, elbows and wrists shining white with pressure and strain. “It’s not what I want. None of this is about me. It’s what they taught us. But I don’t know how…” The child faltered, and Daniella felt her heart crack for a young girl, far more knowledgeable than any child should be in the art of war. “I don’t know how to be like you. Like any of you.”
Daniella pulled the child into the room and closed the door. “What do you want, LV?”
LV lifted miserable eyes to Daniella. “I want to be normal. I want to make friends. I want to be something different and do something that helps others. I don’t just want to grow up and have babies.”
Daniella wrapped her arms around the child. LV held herself stiff, clearly unused to this sort of interaction. Daniella persisted. “Help us, LV. Let us help you.”
A hiccup, loud and clear, echoed in the room as the child started to shake. “I… I don’t know how.”
“Let’s start with your designation. We can get rid of it. We don’t use designations, but names. You need one. Let’s get rid of LV, and you can be something else. What about Liv?”
The scalding dampness of tears soaked through Daniella’s clothes, and she stepped back, retaining hold of the girl’s hand.
“Come on. Let’s do something now, Liv. Help me. We’ll send a message out. Tell people that—”
“No!” the girl shouted and hurled herself out of Daniella’s grip.
Confusion washed over her. “What? What’s wrong?”
“You want to use me, like everyone else. You want me to go on camera and—”
“No, Liv. She’s not aiming to use you. If you don’t want to do that, it’s fine. You don’t have to. The senator wants to help you. Let her find a way.” Jonah spoke quietly, and Daniella glanced at him, willing him to see the appreciation in her gaze.
She turned her gaze back to the girl. “I don’t want to use you. I tell you what. I’m about to do a broadcast. You sit there, watch me. You don’t have to do or say anything, Liv.”
The child shot a disbelieving look in her direction as Daniella turned, tugged on her official robe, and stood before the camera, hand extended so the remote would turn on the record function.
“This is Senator Daniella Villede. This evening you were addressed by Senator Delspar. He calls himself Prime Senator, but that’s because he knows his position is not truly that of President of the Republic. What he’s proposing is merely Government Lite. There is no substance. The children roaming the streets in gangs are his to control. Whether he pulls strings or someone else, my people are investigating and coming closer every day.”
She took a long breath her gaze sweeping over the destruction before she turned back and looked into the camera.
“It is true that I’m in a secure location. As the last senior officer of the true republic, I have assumed the mantle of leadership, but though I am in a secure location, I am not so far away that I do not understand and feel the deprivations and fears of the ordinary people. My people are working tirelessly, seeking to overcome the tyranny being forced on you. Every day we grow closer to the point of resolution. Hold fast. Teach your children. Protect yours, because we will not give up until we are once again free.”
She clicked the screen off and sucked in a deep breath.
“Well done, senator. As far as gauntlets go, I think that one was a winner!”
“I hope so, Jonah. I hope so.”
* * * *
The night closed in, and Jonah stripped his clothes off, then stepped into the shower cubicle. He felt grimy and gritty, as if the explosion in the office, the high tensions, Daniella’s fury and subsequent explosion had scoured his skin.
He stepped beneath the stinging spray, letting it hit his body and scalp, washing away his cares. His eyes closed. What am I going to do with her?
Michael was sure Daniella loved Jonah, then the outburst made him think that any hope he had there was smashed. His feelings confused him. He felt a deep attraction for the woman. It felt a lot like the word he was avoiding. She made him feel—he hunted for a word that he could stamp on his emotions, something that explained it all and clarified his fascination. He felt more. More than himself, more than fulfillment. Was this love?
He jerked up a container of hair cleanser, squirted it into his hand, and the scent of wildflowers invaded his senses.
“Dammit, wrong one.”
“Well, not if you want to wash my hair.”
The echo of her voice tantalized his whole being. Pulse rate suddenly spiking to the now-familiar rhythm he associated with physically wanting her. Jonah felt the slide of silken skin against his own as she joined him, wound her arms around his waist and held on.
“Would you wash my hair, please?”
He opened his eyes and glanced down, took up handfuls of golden tresses, the ones he’d slid his fingers into during times of sensual pleasure. The beat of arousal heating him through.
“What do you want from me?” Jonah controlled the growl of self-reproach, wholly unsure where that request had come from.
“I’m not sure what you’re asking, exactly, Jonah—but being with you? It makes me feel not just secure and wanted, but it also feeds my soul. I love you.”
That rocked the last of his senses, and all that remained was to turn her in his arms. He slammed her body against his and crushed her lips with his own. Feasted on the bounty that was Daniella.
His hands slid down her body, gripped her waist, and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist as the hunger roared, met and found its mate in her eyes.
“Fill me, Jonah. Make me whole. Love me.”
He did, shoving himself deep within her, felt the glorious milking of her orgasm while her nipples scraped against his flesh.
He kissed her, deep and starving, as if he’d not seen sustenance in so long. Their tongues danced as his fingers bit into soft flesh, hips flexing until she tore herself away, the cry echoing in his ears. The sensation of rhythmic clenching, and he let go, filled her with every drop of hunger inside himself.
They stayed there, suspended as muscles cooled, then he released her so she slid down his body.
“Jonah?” The lack of assurance in her voice tore at him. “We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?”
Jonah took a moment, turning to cease the flow of water as he muddled through an answer to her question, then he sighed. “I hope so, Daniella. I really do.”
Deep in his mind, he wondered if they had met as ordinary people and a relationship formed, how it would have worked out. Not the time, Jonah. He dismissed the thought and reached for a towel and folded it around her, then slung another about his hips.