I looked over to Jane. “I think I just wet myself,” I said.
“I’m fine,” Zo? said. “It wasn’t that bad, really.”
“You know, even for a teenager, you might be a bit blasé about this,” I said. Zo? grinned. I hugged her again, even more tightly.
“And the general?” Jane said.
“Survived it too,” Zo? said. “And not just survived it. Came out of it furious. He’s using the attempt to call people on the carpet. To demand their loyalty to him.”
“To him?” I said. “That doesn’t sound like him. He said to me that the Conclave wasn’t an empire. If he’s demanding loyalty, it sounds like he’s making himself an emperor.”
“Some of his closest advisers did just try to murder him,” Zo? said. “He could use some personal loyalty right now.”
“I can’t argue that,” I said.
“But it’s not over,” Zo? said. “That’s why I came back. There’s still a group of planets holding out. They’re led by someone named Eser. Nerbros Eser. They’ve been the ones attacking the Colonial Union, he said.”
“Right,” I said, remembering what General Szilard had said about Eser.
“General Gau gave me a message for you,” Zo? said. “He says that Eser is coming here. Soon. Eser wants to take Roanoke because the general couldn’t. Taking Roanoke gives him leverage, the general said. A way to show he’s more able to lead the Conclave.”
“Of course,” I said. “Everyone else is using Roanoke as a pawn. Why not this asshole?”
“If this Eser is attacking the Colonial Union at large, then he’s not going to have any trouble finishing us off,” Trujillo said. He was still keeping his distance from the pile.
“The general said that his information says that Eser doesn’t plan to hit us from space,” Zo? said. “He wants to land here, to take Roanoke with troops. The general said he would use just enough to take the colony. Sort of the opposite of what the general did with his fleet. To make a point. There’s more in the files the general gave me.”
“So it will be a small attack force,” I said. Zo? nodded.
“Unless he’s coming with just himself and a couple of friends, we’re still going to have a problem,” Trujillo said, and nodded toward me and Jane. “You two are the only ones with any real military training. Even with our ground defenses, we won’t last long against real soldiers.”
Jane was about to respond, but Zo? beat her to it. “I’ve thought of that,” she said.
Trujillo appeared to stifle a grin. “You have,” he said.
Zo? turned serious. “Mr. Trujillo, your daughter is my best friend in the world,” she said. “I don’t want her to die. I don’t want you to die. I’m in a position to help. Please don’t condescend to me.”
Trujillo straightened up. “I apologize, Zo?,” he said. “I meant no disrespect. It’s just I wasn’t expecting you to have a plan.”
“And neither was I,” I said.
“You remember a long time ago I complained that being an object of worship for an entire race of people wasn’t even good enough to get me out of homework,” Zo? said.
“Vaguely,” I said.
“Well, while I was away I decided to find out what it was actually good for,” Zo? said.
“I still don’t get it,” I said.
Zo? took my hand, and then reached out to Jane for hers. “Come on,” she said. “Hickory and Dickory are still inside the ship. They’re keeping an eye on something for me. I want to show it to you.”
“What is it?” Jane asked.
“It’s a surprise,” Zo? said. “But I think you’re going to like it.”
FOURTEEN
Jane woke me up by pushing me out of bed.
“What the hell?” I said, groggily, from the floor.
“The satellite feed just went down,” she said. Jane was up, grabbed a pair of high-powered binoculars from the dresser, and went outside. I woke up quick and followed her.
“What do you see?” I said.
“The satellite’s gone,” she said. “There’s a ship not too far from where the satellite should be.”
“This Eser is not one for subtlety,” I said.
“He doesn’t think he has to be,” Jane said. “It wouldn’t suit his purposes anyway.”
“Are we ready for this?” I said.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re ready,” Jane said, and dropped her binoculars to look at me. “It’s time.”
To be fair, after Zo? returned, we let the Department of Colonization know that we believed we were under imminent threat of attack and that our defenses against such an attack were almost nil. We begged for more support. What we got was a visit from General Rybicki.
“You two must have swallowed a handful of pills,” Rybicki said, without preamble, when he walked into the administrator’s office. “I’m beginning to be sorry I suggested you for colony leaders.”
“We’re not the colony leaders anymore,” I said, and pointed at Manfred Trujillo, who was seated behind my former desk. “He is.”