Fontana
D’or, director of the Socialist Alliance stared out the massive window in her
office looking at the dry barren mountains to the south of the city. Few people
appreciated the beauty of a desert landscape. She loved it. The jagged peaks
had not been worn by water and she appreciated the subtle shades of brown and
red. The life that did grow in the desert was tough and resilient. A bit like
her, a farm girl from Rio Querino, now head of the Socialist Alliance. She had
scraped her way to the top. There was always lip service to equality between
men and women, but when it came right down to it some fields would always be
dominated by men. She had come through the ranks of military intelligence and
while they were happy to use her assets in field work promotions and commands
were hard to come by. Javis had appreciated her work and promoted her
accordingly. Since his death she had taken the reigns of command and had the
support of the military, even if some of her Generals begrudged it.
The com
panel on the desk lit up. “Yes?” Fontana asked.
A tinny
voice came though the speaker. “Agent Lydia ____ is here to see you as
requested.”
“Send her
straight in.” Fontana brushed at invisible dust on her impeccable uniform and
sat down behind her desk. Her short cropped black hair and olive skin
contrasted the gray of the uniform and she cut a striking figure.
Agent Lydia
_____walked into the room, she had shoulder length blonde hair and sparkly blue
eyes. She was wearing tight denim pants and a plain white shirt. She looked to
be only about seventeen but was actually a decade older. She had been recruited
directly by Fontana for intelligence work.
“Reporting
as requested Ma’am.” Lydia stood at attention and kept her face impassive. She
had met Fontana before several times, they both came from the same small town
in the pepper farming region. Lydia’s aptitude tests had drawn attention of
high ups and when Fontana saw where she was from she had personally come to
recruit her. It was all heady stuff to be wanted and known by the highest
ranking officials in the government and Lydia was happy to serve.
“Congratulations
on finishing boot camp and your agent training. I’m promoting you to Special
Agent, and you will report directly to me. You will not take orders from anyone
else regardless of their rank.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
Lydia was blown away. She knew she was good, but not that much better than any
of the other agents that she had just gone through training with.
“I have a
very unique assignment for you. You will be deep undercover as a high school
student. I’ll be placing you on Pangea.” A look of confusion past over Lydia’s
face and Fontana smiled at her. “Few of my predecessors as heads of this
alliance have really understood that the war we wage against capitalism will
not and cannot be won on the battlefield. Zarahemnah Zaragoza waged a war so
intensely that he even managed to capture the Republic’s capital Galantos, but
what did it get him? Rebellion. Not only rebellion, but it cost him his life
when they assassinated him. No the way to spread socialist equality across the
galaxy is not by force, but by ideas.” Fontana slid a tablet across the table,
Lydia picked it up and began to flip through the open files. “Six young girls
on the planet Pangea. All come from wealthy families. All attend the same
private high school. All have natural leadership abilities, and all have a
stubborn or rebellious streak. You start school there next week. Befriend them
and teach them about socialism. Your task is to convert them to our cause. We
will undermine the Republic from within and eventually as the rising generation
takes power they will simply unite with us under one great galactic wide
socialist banner.”
Lydia
smiled. “Equality for all, Director.”
“Equality
for all.”
****
Emily Giagua
was bored. She stared out at the ocean from the front room of her parent’s posh
house. Her dad, Middoni, was one of the richest men in the galaxy and after
Pangea had become part of the Republic he had bought the large island Jedan and
moved his family to it. Emily had an entire tropical island, but she was bored.
The storm blowing through limited any outdoor activities and communications had
been spotty. A message had come through from her friend Lydia though and Emily
was hoping the storm wasn’t ruining the flight that was bringing her.
There was a
bit of a break in the water coming down from the skies and Emily smiled seeing
the hovercopter coming in for a landing on the private field. There was some
perks to being rich, ordering your dad’s pilot to run over to the mainland to
pick up your friend was certainly one of them.
Lydia came
running towards the house as the rain picked back up again. Emily thought that
she was pretty, tall and blonde and always getting attention. Not that Emily
didn’t get a great deal of attention too; she just didn’t have the same model
look. Emily’s hair was brown and curly, and her light greenish blue eyes took in
a great deal. She dressed stylishly but not outrageously like so many of her
other rich friends.
Lydia was
different though. Emily could only describe her as political. She was finding
herself agreeing more and more with Lydia’s ideas of the world. Emily went to
the door as she watched her friend dash through the rain. She placed her hand
on the door and the scanner flashed while the door slid open. Lydia ran in and
smiled at Emily.
“Hey Em,
little wet here today.”
“You think?
You remember where the bathroom is right, go get dried up.”
“I don’t
want to stay long, but I wanted you to come with me.”
Emily looked
quizzically at her friend. “Where to?”
“I have had
just about enough of the propaganda we’ve been hearing lately about the
Republic. I’m going to run away and join the Socialist Alliance.” Lydia smiled
at Emily’s shocked look.
“Are you
serious?”
“Absolutely!
The SA could use two smart girls like us. What do you think? Run away with me?”
Emily
continued to stare at her friend who was still dripping water from her hair.
She had had her rebellious moments, but nothing like this. Her parents were
going to freak out when they found her gone.
Like Lydia
could read her thoughts she smiled knowingly at her. “We’ll tell your parents
you’re going to stay at my house for a week or so, we’ll be long gone before
your Dad wigs out.”
The idea was
growing inside Emily, she would be eighteen soon. There wouldn’t be anything
her parents could do about her wanting to work somewhere else. The
impulsiveness of it all was appealing to Emily as well. Life was just too
structured sometimes. “Okay, we’ll do it.”
“Great, get
your things. I told the pilot to wait for us.”
Emily
grinned mischievously and dashed upstairs to pack a bag.
****
Emily
practiced her bored I’m too good for this look that so many of the girls at
school had perfected. She figured it was a good way to blend in while waiting
at the space station. Just let everyone believe that you’re a spoiled rich kid
and that your parents are around somewhere and no one will bother you. So far
it was working well. Lydia was off looking for a ship that would be going to
one of the Socialist worlds. It wasn’t easy anymore, once every ship leaving
this station was heading for a Socialist world, now that Pangea had joined the
Republic all the ships were heading to Republic destinations. Something would
surely be going in the right direction. Lydia was sure that she could arrange
transport. Emily’s job was to watch arriving ships and make sure that no one
was looking for them yet. Her parents had bought the story that she was going
to spend some time with Lydia. But there was no telling with her dad just how
soon he would check up on her.
Emily
spotted Lydia making her way through the crowd. Their eyes met and Lydia
flashed a smile and waved Emily to join her. “I found us a ship heading to
Verde. It is making a stop at Atlantis II before that, but I managed to
convince the Captain to take us all the way to Verde. The ship is called the
Farseer.”
“Sounds
great. How soon are we leaving?”
“In just a
couple of hours. Downside is that we have to berth with the female crew members
of the ship.”
Emily
shrugged. She had never traveled anywhere but in a private ship, “Should be an
adventure.”
Lydia
grinned. “Grab your stuff, let’s go get onboard.”
****
The trip on
the Farseer was uneventful, Captain Bemer made the girls feel welcome and they
had run of most of the ship. The girls spent most of their time in the
observation deck watching the swirl of hyperspace pass by. They were confined
to the observation deck when the ship landed on Atlantis II. Bemer didn’t want to explain passengers to
customs officials. The girls watched the transfer of cargo out the viewport and
were amazed at how soon the ship was loaded and ready for take off again.
As the last
crates were being loaded Emily turned to Lydia. “How are we going to explain
ourselves to the officials on Verde?”
“Don’t
worry, I have a friend there who is going to meet us.” Lydia shrugged and continued
to watch the crew outside.
“You never
told me that you had a friend there already.”
“I guess I
should of. His name is Sam, and he’s going to help us get to Rio Querino, he
said he has jobs already lined up for us in the capital there.”
Emily was
surprised by all this, “Why didn’t you tell me all this?”
“I wanted it
to be a surprise. He said he can even get us introduced to Fontana.”
Emily was
even more shocked, it was setting in just how little she had thought this
through. The memory of Fontana D’or was not a pleasant one to the people on
Pangea. She was remembered as Javis’s right hand General, and was known for
being ruthless. Emily believed in the idea of equality between classes, but was
Fontana really the right woman to work with?
Lydia seemed
to know her thoughts, “Hey, remember that the winners are the ones that write
history. Everything I’ve heard about Fontana says that she is good leader, I
don’t think all the stories about her are true. I’m excited to meet her. Maybe
I can even give her some of my ideas on how to make the Republic more
socialist.”
Emily
nodded, that was her goal too. To help the Socialists spread equality to the
Republic. She would wait till she met Fontana and make her own decision. If she
was willing to listen to Emily and Lydia’s ideas then she would be someone
worth working for.
****
The Farseer
was soon on its way again and the girls were enjoying dinner in the officers
mess. Captain Bemer sat down next to them. “We’ll be at Verde by morning. Are
you two sure that this is where you want to be?”
Lydia smiled
at him. “Of course, I know people there, we’ll be fine.”
Bemer
focused his attention on Emily. “Are you sure? Cause when your dad finds out
where you are he’s likely to start a war.”
Emily drew
in a deep breath and looked at him stunned. “How do you know who my dad is?”
Bemer leaned
back in his chair. “It took me a while to place your face. But when I heard on
Atlantis II that Middoni Giagua had a half million credit reward for
information on the disappearance of his daughter it all clicked.”
“Are you
going to tell him?”
“Of course.
I’m in the business of making money. I’ll fulfill my contract though and
deliver you safely to Verde though, unless you would like a return ticket home.
It sounded like your parents were very worried.”
“Fine, he
won’t find me. And make sure you tell him that I ran away of my own accord.”
“I’ll do
that. Just make sure you take care of yourself. If you get hurt out there your
dad is likely to blame me, and while he may have started out in the same
business I’m in, he’s got a whole lot more power now and I don’t need his
weight coming down on me.”
“Don’t
worry. I can take care of myself.”
“And if you
change your mind and want a ride home, call me.”
Emily nodded
and she and Lydia went back to their quarters to get everything ready for the
next morning.
****
Verde lived
up to its name. It was even greener than Pangea. The Farseer touched down on a
landing pad cleared out of a jungle. Even the ground was green covered in thick
lichen. Lydia’s friend Sam had gotten her message and was waiting for them as
they exited the ship. He was exceptionally tall, and very thin. His skin was
black and his closed cropped hair reminded Emily of some of the ball players on
her dad’s team back home. She suspected he would be good at zero g ball with
his long reach.
He smiled
wildly showing off perfect white teeth and pulled Lydia in for a hug. “Good to
see you again Lyd.”
“You too
Sam. You been waiting long?”
“Nope,
you’re right on time. Let’s get into town though. Your ship was spotted by the
space traffic controllers and they’ve got people on the way. I thought you said
this guy never gets caught?”
“Bemer must
be getting sloppy, or he wanted to get caught.” Lydia looked at Emily, “Unless he
wanted us to get caught.”
Sam grabbed
the girls bag’s and headed for the tree line, “Either way it is just easier not
to explain. Let’s go.” He led them down a thin path through the thick foliage.
Insects chittered away and brightly colored birds dodged in and out of the
branches. They soon came to a hovercar tucked under the trees. The car was old
and had a large bubble dome on top. It opened at Sam’s approach and the girls
climbed in. “Sorry my ride is old, but it’s small enough to duck down into trees
when I need to, and you can’t beat the price of an old tourist car. Enjoy the
view. It’s nothing but jungle from here to the capital, and then I’ll be
putting you straight onto a ship for Rio.”
Lydia
frowned, “We don’t get to hang with you any longer than that?”
“Sorry love,
I got you and your friend jobs on Rio, and they want you right away. Hopefully
business takes me there in a couple of weeks though. In the meantime though
some friends of mine pulled some strings and you got you and Emily an interview
with Fontana D’or. Apparently she sounded excited to meet Emily Giagua and is
thrilled to hear that the children of capitalist leaders are interested in
socialism.
Emily
smiled, the excitement of the adventure was coming back and she found herself
looking forward to meeting the most powerful woman in the galaxy. The car rose
up over the trees and shot off towards the setting sun. Emily watched the
greenery below and found herself drifting off to sleep.
****
The trip to
Rio Querino was dull and quick and before Emily knew it she was standing side
by side with Lydia looking up at the massive sandstone building that comprised
the capital building for the entire Socialist Alliance. Lydia had explained to
her that most of the government operations were run out of the old capital
complex on Balsavis, but that Fontana liked governing from her home planet, and
so wherever she set up camp was the capital of the Alliance. The landscaping
around the capital was minimal, mostly rock and cactus with a few trees that
required little water. Rio Querino only had a very small ocean and was located
at the edge of the habitable zone around its sun. It was very hot. But it had
many large rivers that welled up from deep underground that created rich
fertile zones in the deep canyons that they carved. Rio Querino was especially
known for the peppers that it grew, both sweet and spicy. The finest chefs
around the galaxy preferred to only use Rio peppers in their dishes.
Two burly heavily
armed guards watched the girls approach the main doors. The glass doors slid
open automatically at their presence and they stepped in to the cooled interior
from the blazing heat outside. The lobby was polished sandstone and a fountain
bubbled in the center of the room. On the other side of it a line had been
formed leading through the security checkpoint to the rest of the building.
A woman in
uniform approached the two young women. “May I help you?”
Lydia turned
to her, “Yes, I’m Lydia ____ and this is Emily Giagua. We have an appointment
to meet Fontana D’or.”
The woman
checked her palm computer. “Yes you do, please proceed through security and
take the lift to the tenth floor. Someone will direct you from there.”
“Thanks.” Lydia
led Emily around the fountain and in a few minutes they had passed through the
weapon scanners and were in the lift rising quickly to the top level. The door
opened and they stepped out into another lobby.
Several
armed guards eyed them and another woman looked up from a reception desk. “Ah,
you must be Lydia and Emily. Right this way please.” She beckoned them to
follow her through a large double wide door into the adjoining room. “Please
wait here and Director D’or will see you soon.”
Emily
plopped down on a thickly cushioned couch and Lydia wandered over to a window.
Emily watched Lydia go. “Aren’t you excited? I would think this would be a
dream come true for you.”
“Oh it is,
I’m just so nervous now that I’m here.”
The door
opened and Fontana D’or stood there in full uniform looking out. Her dark eyes
took in the two young women and she smiled broadly at them. “Welcome to Rio
Querino and the Socialist Alliance. I’ve heard so much about the two of you and
cannot wait to get to know you. Lydia, why don’t you come in first.”
Lydia looked
at Emily who gave her a smile of encouragement. The door closed behind them.
Once the
door was closed Lydia came to attention. “It is my pleasure to report that my
mission has been successful director.”
Fontana
smiled ruthlessly at her protégé. “Well down Lydia, well down. Any
difficulties?”
“No ma’am.
Emily believes completely that I am her age and her friend. I discovered
quickly that she and many other republic youth are primed for a socialist
takeover. They feel the injustice of their system keenly. Even the children of
the one percent feel that wealth is unfairly distributed. Emily has had to work
for everything herself despite her dad being one of the wealthiest men in the
Republic. He doesn’t give her money, except for an excellent education and a
few other perks of their wealth. But she has always had to work for the fun
things she does.”
Fontana sat
down at her desk and crossed her arms. “Does she know how her father made his
money?”
Lydia shook
her head. “I don’t know, we’ve never discussed it. All I ever heard was that he
got rich in the war.”
Fontana
nodded her head, “A basic truth. He got rich in the war stealing from the
Socialists and selling it to the Republic. He and his team stole dozens of
warships, and all kinds of new technology.
The Republic paid for it all and Middoni Giagua and his brother got
filthy rich, off the work of our hands.”
Lydia became
incensed at the passion in Fontana’s voice as she relayed the information.
“What can I do director?”
“I need you
to stay undercover as Emily’s best friend. Once she is completely on our side
I’ll redeploy you to the field. Now go back out there and send Emily in. If all
goes well she’ll soon be the poster child for the future of the Socialist
Alliance and the galaxy.” Fontana smiled again and it made Lydia think of a
calculating beast on the hunt.
