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Selene grimaced. ‘It sucks that we never invested enough in the defences needed to protect our planet. And that father was a pacifist who moved too slow on decisions about planetary security.’
‘We were getting there,’ Rina said quietly. ‘Until Massimo waged his little war. Fokk xentium! Fokk politicians and their greed!’
Selene slumped back in her chair and blew out her frustration from her lips. ‘So what do we need to take back our cities?’
Rina thought for a moment. ‘Some serious firepower, a dreadnought or two, corvettes, a spaceport, soldiers who know what they’re doing and a hell of a lot of luck. Not too much to ask, hey?’
The two friends fell silent, their minds desperately searching for answers.
‘There might be a way,’ Selene softly said, carefully choosing her words and lowering her voice in the busy mess tent. ‘The night before Massimo stormed the Parliament, father and I sensed all was not well. We guessed Massimo might make a move against us, but only from a resource perspective. We just had no idea how or when he’d do it. We thought he might twist arms in Parliament to get control of Dunia’s finances and xentium production. So we managed to transfer all key accounts - our own family’s finances and those of the government - into my control with secure codes. Now Makori can’t access the coffers even though he wants to. From what I last heard, he’s in desperate need of funds. So he’s probably used most of his family’s wealth to finance the internal coup.’
Rina cocked an eyebrow. ‘How much cash do we have?’
‘A few hundred million,’ Selene confirmed. ‘Enough to rent a few corvettes, maybe even buy one and ammo.’
Rina shook her head. ‘The problem is from whom. Rhesus, our closest allied planet, is a skip jump away, and we can’t access hyperspace or any jump points without an interplanetary warship.’
Selene dragged her hands over her face in frustration. ‘Even if they wanted to, the Rhesian Realm of Nations, I believe, don’t have the means to help us. They’re dealing with their own shit right now.’
Rina sighed. ‘Aren’t we all? Oh, and we also can’t send any tight beam comms beyond the system to Galicia.’
The two women fell wearily back into their seats and lapsed into silence for a moment.
Suddenly Rina’s eyes lit up.
‘What?’ Selene said, probing her friend’s reaction.
‘You won’t like it. But hear me out. To win against Makori’s rogue action, we may also need to go rogue.’
Selene blinked. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Let me show you.’ Rina grabbed her friend’s forearm and pulled her out of the mess tent. Then she pointed upward to where a round, silver orb was hanging up high in the sky.
‘That’s who we talk to,’ she declared smugly.
Selene laughed out loud. ‘Eden II? You can’t be serious.’
‘Dead.’
‘Oh fokk no!’
‘Why not?’
‘Are you suggesting that we reach out to the most rabble-rousing, uncouth individuals in the system to help us take back our planet?’ Selene scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief.
A group of privates jogging past stared at the squabbling pair.
Rina threw up her arms in frustration. ‘Uncouth? Who uses the worduncouth? I’d describe them as more anti-heroes, less rabble-rousers. They apparently have a strong honour code and are known to stand by their word. Anyway, we’ve no choice, given we can’t even comm anyone else but them for help.’
Selene nailed Rina with a glower. ‘Convince me why we should consider reaching out to mercs and ex-cons on a hunk of floating rock and ice.’
Rina met Selene’s scowl with a cool glance of her own. ‘Remember how your father, many years ago, signed an agreement with the kingpins of Eden II?’
‘Vaguely. Remind me of the details.’
Rina obliged. ‘It was, in essence, a quid pro quo. When the civil war in the Allorian home world broke out, and we were faced with thousands of refugees that our planet could not physically home here, we struck a deal with Eden II. They would welcome the refugees, and in turn, we would provide them with xentium to bolster their biomes, build ships and add tech to their security. They’d been taking in refugees for many years, especially from their home, Eden City, so they had the infrastructure to handle the Allorians. We also agreed to provide them with regular food drops, raw materials and necessary planetary resources. In essence, your father wanted to help legitimise a lawless lunar settlement while stabilising the balance of power in the sector.’
‘Sounds about right,’ Selene agreed. ‘It all went down about twenty years ago while I was still a young teen. Father involved me in writing out the details of that deal. He started training me on the role and responsibilities of a Prime even when I was that young. But I haven’t kept up to date with what’s been happening with Eden II since then. That was father’s domain.’
