Resolution (12 page)

She held up one furred hand. "Do not despair Prime Guardian, we are aware you do not have the facilities to deal with these miscreants either. I have not yet spoken to King Marcus, but I thought it would be fitting for these criminals to be placed on a world that is slightly hostile with orders to begin working to repair the planet. The planets I have in mind were severely damaged in the wars with your people and have only recently recovered enough to allow life back on the surfaces.

"I do not mean to argue with you, Empress, but these malcontents hate each other with an intensity that is almost pathological. They would do nothing more than fight once we placed them on this planet," John pointed out.

The Empress nodded her agreement. "That is understood and I do not doubt that would be the case if we put them all in the same place. No, what I had in mind was placing your people on one planet, and our people on another. My people would be placed on what you called Alpha Centauri four beta, while your people would be returned to you home planet." She smiled at the look on John's face. Nodding, she continued. "Our geologists and ecologists have informed us that both planets are still recovering, but that environmental levels have returned to acceptable levels for both planets. Conversely, I am told that both planets are also prime candidates for your terraforming technology to begin working on them as well. Earth, we would return to the Kingdom, while the once colony planet of Aphrodite is an open planet. Available to all races that are compatible with the natural ecology of the planet, that would include humans."

"That is very generous of you, Empress. I imagine you had some harsh words with the clans that held those planets," John replied.

"Actually, I was very surprised; the Clan leaders themselves offered this solution as partial restitution for their part in the war," The Empress explained. "I thought it was very understanding of them to make this offer, considering that those planets are only now beginning to return to a state that will support life."

"I am sure the offer of returning the planet will be well received, Empress. However, I do not know how well making Earth a penal colony will be accepted," John said thoughtfully.

"Well, I don't see it as so much as a penal colony as a way to sequester disruptive elements without killing them. By returning them to the planets I mentioned, they can live out their lives without their disruptive influence affecting others," the Empress replied. "As you know, we do not support the execution of the criminal as a means of punishment for a crime."

"I am aware of that, Empress. I have made sure that King Marcus is aware of it as well," John said. "I will do what I can to arrange this. A station will have to be placed near the two worlds in order to monitor the populations and to prevent them from being 'rescued' by sympathizers. There is a facility available for that use and I will have her relocate to that position to begin preparations for the dispatch of terraformers for the planets. Even if this use for them is not agreed upon, Empress, I will make sure that the planets receive assistance in their recoveries," John replied. "Are there any other worlds you are aware of that are in need of this type of assistance?"

"There are a few, Prime Guardian. However, not all of them are Earth type and they would require a different type of ecosystem to return them to normal. The Human race is not the only species that the Grays used us against. Those worlds should be healed as well. I was going to forward a request to the Prometheans to consider reseeding those worlds for life," she frowned. "There is much for us to atone for."

"I do not believe so, Empress. Had you known of the ruse and yet continued in the quest of eradicating the other races, then you would have been culpable. However, your race did not know of the deception and reacted accordingly once it was exposed. The destruction may have been by your hand, but you were not guiding it."

The Empress nodded. "Still, it is a difficult thing for us to accept. We feel responsible for the deaths of so many. In many of our cultures, guilt is a sign of responsibility. We knew the making of war was wrong, but yet we still followed the dictates of our Goddess. Many of our scholars believe that should have been our first warning things were not right; the Goddess would never order the deaths of others.

"Well, that is a discussion for another time, we have gotten off topic. I know you are very busy at the moment, Prime, so I will end this communication and endeavor to contact King Marcus. Perhaps between the two of us, we can work this issue out."

"I am certain the return of Earth will be appreciated no matter the circumstances, Empress. I do know that Marcus believes that the Tammerain are sincere in their quest for peace this time," John said referencing the last time peace was agreed on by the Tammerain.

"That is good, as this time, it really is us that are working for it," the Empress replied, bowing to him as her image faded.

John took a moment to compose his thoughts before returning to the command deck and the ongoing search for the other renegades.

––––––––

A
fter parting ways on the tarmac, Chloe headed for the local office of MIIO. As she expected, she got a less than warm reception from the agents working in the office.

"Look guys," Chloe said addressing the crew of agents working in the office. "Just because I have a different employer now, by no means effects my duty to the Kingdom. I am still the soldier that has served the kingdom for hundreds of centuries. Even now, I am still serving the Kingdom and protecting our people. I don't know what all of you think is going on here, so let me make it abundantly clear; I am here to discover what happened to the crews of those Tammerain freighters, who did it and why. It is your duty to assist me in this. It's that simple. Now, I don't give a damn if you either don't believe me, or simply don't think I belong here. That's your problem, not mine.

"Nothing has changed here, guys. I am still Chloe Diamond; I'm just wearing a different uniform now. So, would any of you like to tell me just what the fuck the problem is?" she finished.

"You are not part of the Kingdom anymore. You have no business here because this is an internal Kingdom matter," one of the men said. "Many of us out here on the border worlds see your new position as a betrayal. We were here dying while your lot was someplace else. We depended on you for our protection and none of you showed up. We waited and waited; we watched our cities burn and friends and family blown to pieces by Tammerain troops, all the while we believed you were going to swoop in and stop them. You never did. You never sent word; at first, a lot of us thought you had been killed yourselves. Then came the withdrawal of the Tammerain and the news told us that you had somehow stopped the entire war. We were awed. The four of you, alone, managed to somehow defeat the Tammerain so badly that they recalled all of their forces.

"Then the news told us about the new Guardian organization you had agreed to form. How it was to be a multi-national, multi-racial police force. You were no longer our protectors, but the protectors of the very same people that murdered so many of our families! What the hell where you thinking? Did you honestly think we would just happily forgive and forget? You people were our heroes! We knew it all had to be a lie because you would never betray us like that. Well, it wasn't a lie. You really did accept the Tammerain into this new force. You really were protecting them too. Even after what they had done to us!" The man paused. "Even the King has gotten into bed with those murderers. All of you really have gotten too old to relate to us anymore. You have no business here and none of us wants or needs you any longer."

Chloe nodded. "Now that is an explanation I can understand. Thank you for telling me the truth, Citizen. Unfortunately, you are incorrect in at least one thing; I do have business here, as this was not an internal matter because it involved the citizens of another nation. Because of that, I have been given the duty of investigating the crime. I can only apologize to you on my own behalf for what you see as our betrayal. We honestly thought we were acting in your best interests by ending the war by any means possible. In order to do that, we had to agree to form this organization. Although, I personally agree with the reasoning behind it, I know none of you were ever told what those were."

Even though she was on a schedule and time was short, she sat all of them down and explained everything to them. She told them what had happened to them after they said good-bye to Will. She told them of the restrictions they had been operating under and the reasons for them. She related the theory of the Tammerain being used as pawns by another race and how the Guards had been heading there when they met the Promethean. She told them of the deal Malthis had offered them, and what it would cost them. She told them that none of them even hesitated because accepting the deal meant the end of the war.

"We know it is hard to separate the events here, but the Tammerain have never been the real enemy of humanity. It's always been the Grays that were trying to kill us off. They were only using the Tammerain like you would a weapon. We had to agree to accept the protection of the Tammerain as well as humanity in order to get access to the tools we needed to make sure humans stayed safe. We didn't betray any of you, although I suppose it could be seen as that. Instead, we did what we felt we had to do in order to make certain you were protected; not just from this war, but from any future wars that could be prevented."

"So how much of that is the truth? Why didn't the King simply tell us this when he told us what you'd done?" another man asked.

Chloe shrugged. "All of it's the truth. I have no idea why Marcus didn't tell everyone the whole story. Maybe he thought it was simply too soon to tell you. Remember, at that time, the Tammerain warships hadn't even gotten completely out of our space yet. There was still fighting going on in some places because not everyone got the word or if they did, they were still only trying to defend themselves against others that didn't want to stop fighting. Adjusting to this is going to take time, folks and it isn't going to be easy for any of us.

"I met someone a few weeks ago that really drove that home to me. One of the applicants that came to the base was none other than the commander of the force that I had faced about a hundred and fifty years ago. That commander was responsible for a lot of my teammates being killed, and for a long time I hated him. I mean I really hated him, and would have killed him on sight had we been in any other place than where we were. The fact that I didn't kill him made me realize that we really could live together."

"What happened to him? Did you accept him into the Guardians?" a woman asked.

One of the Guardians that had accompanied Chloe stepped forward and removed his helmet. It was an aged Tammerain. "Yes, I was accepted. I remembered that encounter myself. In fact, I had been having night terrors about it ever since. You see, my unit knew that we were facing one of the mythical human 'demons' that could not be killed and had magical abilities she could use to kill my people. We were all so frightened that we fought insanely. We were absolutely convinced that she was hiding around every corner, or she would come for us during our rest cycles. Because of that, we couldn't sleep. Most of us couldn't even eat because we knew she had poisoned our food supply. Many of my soldiers fell ill from a lack of sleep but we saw it as her magic." He paused for a moment. "What she didn't tell you was that when it was time for us to be relieved, we fired on our own troops because we were sure she was attacking us from a new direction. Because I was an officer, I was reassigned to a support unit, but my soldiers had to be sent home; to my knowledge, they are still seeing the demon in their dreams.

"I have never held ill feelings for your people, Citizens. To my knowledge, none of our people have. In point of fact, there is a great deal about you that is admirable. However, our goddess had decreed that you were an abomination on her universe and had to be removed. I was never high ranked enough to question my orders; I could only do what I was told. I did not like it, I did not agree with it, but I also did not have a choice. Failing the Goddess in our mission was grounds for termination of the clan." He looked down. "No one dared to argue that we were failing her by carrying out her orders. Which is something I have always believed to be true. Although we may not agree in all things, that is no reason to take up weapons and destroy one another. I have sworn an oath, one I would be happy to show all of you because I am very proud to have been allowed the opportunity to take it. It is an oath I can believe in fully, without reservation, because it embraces life. Not just Tammerain life or Human life, but all life. A future where our children do not have to worry about war, or where a terrified Cordoni Farmer's son has night terrors for the rest of his life," he looked at Chloe with admiration. "I have faced my demon and discovered she is not what we were told. In fact she's a commander I can believe in and follow her orders without doubt or regret. I am sorry for the deaths that have occurred in the last war. If I could bring even one of them back I would devote my life to that task. However, all I can do is work to ensure it never happens again. I have devoted my life to this task. I will breathe my last breath reciting the oath of the Guardians."

It was quiet in the room for a few minutes. "I think we need to read that charter you folks put out," one of the older men said quietly. "But, until then, we do have a job to do, folks. Let's get the Guardians the information they need."

E
pilogue

––––––––

B
ecause of the incidents of the renegades attacking civilians on both sides of the border, John instituted a new policy. One where Guardians now patrolled the border sectors in ships much like his old ship, the
Flyer
. They had many duties in addition to the primary one of keeping the peace. Chloe's report of the events during her investigation of that first incident noted the need to explain the details around the Guardian's history and new role, and he took it to heart. Guardians now had the duty to make sure the people understood the Guardians and what their duties really are.