Chapter 13
Peter felt quite relieved at being untied, but Maynard was still quite suspicious of their captor. Based on Neville Sage's past actions, it was clear it would not take much to push this unstable man over the edge. Together they were taken back to the ruins of Port Kennedy, where more members of Sage's forces remained hidden.
"Wow... when you break an agreement, you don't mess about do you?" Maynard noted.
"Shaddup" Lex Morrison shoved Maynard's shoulder just to make a point.
Growing up in the United States during such uncertain times, had made Lex a very tough man, but still one with an analytical mind. Raiding the farming communities in the south made sense at the time. Everything he had been told about their comfortable life of safety in a network of massive underground tunnels, while he, his family and friends suffered great hardships from living on the surface of a dying planet, made it easy for him to justify taking what he needed to survive from people unwilling to share their good fortune. Finding out the Raiders and the Farmers were both suffering while being manipulated by Prime Governor Redding, certainly changed his mind about his former foes, but it still caused some confusion for him.
It was true the Farmers had finally manage to beat back the Raiders, thanks to the help they received from Captain Reed Branson and his crew on the One and All, but then those same Farmers has offered to help his people to get off the planet.
Maybe things would have been different if Neville Sage had not arrived first. He had offered the Raiders approximately the same thing, but only if they would rise up as his army. He claimed would lead them to victory at the Railgun Complex and from there they would all depart for the long journey to Mars, where they would never have to worry about a rogue meteorite destroying everything they had worked so hard for. Sage had said the people from Sumatra could not be trusted; maybe this was true but then again, maybe it wasn't. But in the end, he and the other Raiders had made their choice to follow Sage, so he had decided to see it through to the end.
But that did not mean Lex would give Sage a completely free hand to control his friends and family.
"In here" Lex directed the men he still considered enemies.
The sad old building that had once been somebody's home had not been cleaned in any way. Sage had merely ordered his people to clear aside some of the remaining junk and set up a few workable chairs at an old table. Only Lex stayed inside with Sage as the other men were sent outside to wait while in this imperfect setting, the short negotiations began with Peter Moke.
"Right... here's what we're offering; I don't know what you told your people, but you've done interplanetary trips before..."
"Many times" Sage interrupted.
"Exactly; so you know this is not gonna be a walk in the park. If you want to get to Mars with enough people to take over the place, it'll take some planning along with the training of your crew."
"Hold up a minute" Sage crossed his arms and looked at Peter with suspicion "You don't seem very upset about me leading an invasion force to the place you've been supporting for the last few decades."
"Should we be? This Deep Council, whose members ran Mars from behind the scenes, lied to us too. They were the ones you were working for when you tried to kill Luis and Abigail, and other council members tried to kill April, Saffron and many more of my friends. We're working on plans of our own for a settlement in the asteroid belt so as far as Doctor Spencer and I are concerned, Mars has it coming. We don't want to help you, but here you are; and we think things would turn out better for us, if we just get you on your way with a minimum of fuss, rather than try and stop you by literally going to war."
Sage scratched his chin as he pondered what Peter had told him.
"Alright then, I'll listen to your offer" he said eventually.
"Thank you" Peter replied with clear sarcasm, and then continued.
"What we are offering, is to take as many people as you can safely transport on the expanded MTV..."
"Wait... expanded?" Sage asked.
"When April Dias escaped from Mars, she uh... well... to be exact... stole the Mars Orbit Station and took it to the Asteroid Belt to use as a temporary base. When we found out what you were up to, Sarah Spencer sent Luis and the MTV back pick it up and re-integrate it with the ship. He's not back yet but he'll be on his way soon. In the mean time, the Railgun Staff will do their best to get your people ready for space flight; and start training them on the kind of work they'll have to do to survive, once they get to Mars."
Lex Morrison smiled to himself. From the way General Sage had been talking, anyone would have believed he and the Raiders would have nothing to do on the red planet but take turns pointing their weapons at the staff on Mars, order them to do all the work, and spend their off hours living in luxury while sipping on the local equivalent of a Pina Colada. Deep in his mind Lex knew there would be some work to be done, but he was still sure it would be a much better life than what he had experienced on Earth; if it were not so, Sage wouldn't be in such a desperate hurry to get back there.
"So I'll be able to take a large contingent of Raiders on the first trip" Sage looked very satisfied.
"Yes; Doctor Spencer figured you would be more inclined to be flexible with us if we could provide you with more than you expect" Peter admitted.
"So what do you want in return?" Sage's expression turned to one of suspicion.
"Four things" Peter replied "One, while we know you will want to oversee everything, Doctor Spencer doesn't want you making everyone nervous by marching around the complex and barking orders at the point of a gun. Nervous technicians tend to make the kinds of mistakes that can get people killed. If you have to yell at someone, Sarah asks that you yell at her and then let her sort out the Railgun staff."
"Fair enough; what else?"
"Two; you can post a few guards if you want but we don't want any of your people armed while we're instructing them. Mistakes can happen with loaded firearms and as you know, the equipment we use is very sensitive. Also tell the people you do put on guard, not to get over inflated egos and start pushing us around. The last thing we want is for someone to be shot by an overzealous guard just because they may have looked at him in a funny way."
"I'll talk to them... and believe me, they Will listen" Sage was adamant.
"Thank you; thirdly, we realise we're going to have to supply you with almost everything to survive, so we'd like to have some of your people make themselves available to help with the everyday work; farming, food production, moving equipment, and that sort of thing. And we don't want any of them thinking they can just take what they want, when they want. I'm sure you have a leadership team, so have your people tell their own leaders what they want, and we'll have a team on hand who will do their best to sort out all supplies."
"I'll make sure they know the score" Sage nodded "So what is the last of your demands?"
"This is the most important thing..."Peter pause and leaned forward "and it is Not negotiable; we want you to release your hostages unharmed, and we want it done now."
Sage leant back in his chair and gave the smile of a man who knew he had all the power on his side.
"And if I do... how can I be sure you'll keep your end of the bargain?" he asked not with suspicion, but in a gloating kind of way.
"Come on... seriously. Don't you think we know what will happen if we don't hold up our end of the deal? Of course you know full well we really don't want to have anything to do with you and your crazy plan, but we're also smart enough to realise the only good outcome for both of us is for you to get what you want, and be on your way."
"Nevertheless, if I do give your friends back, I think you and this... scowling sailor here should remain with me for now" Sage motioned towards Maynard "Just until Doctor Spencer and I have sorted out any fine details of our arrangement."
"So you agree to let everyone else go, even Professor Adisa?" Maynard was suspicious.
"Yes Popeye, I do!" Sage smirked, clearly showing he enjoyed making fun of Maynard.
"In fact, I'll give the order now... as a show of good faith" Sage continued.
Peter and Maynard looked at each other. Neither of them expected Sage to agree to everything they asked for. Maybe he really was satisfied with what he'd offered. The two men sat at the table for a short time while Sage went out to talk to his men, with only Lex Morrison left to watch over them.
"So what do we do now?" Peter asked.
"We wait" Lex replied.
And wait they did, for almost fifteen minutes. When Sage finally returned, he still wore a very satisfied smile on his face.
"Everything has been arranged" he told them "so if you will accompany me, we shall return to my Flagship and be on our way to the Railgun."
Having no other choice, Peter and Maynard followed Sage outside and down to the beach. A large group of armed men fell in and followed behind so at last, Peter finally knew the considerable size of the force Sage had brought with him to the island. It was clear he trusted no one.
Several wooden and aluminium launches awaited them on the shore, and Peter and Maynard were placed in the lead boat. As they made their way out to sea, Peter could easily make out the ship they were headed for. He had become so used to being on a sailing vessel, the sight of a larger, powered ship felt like quite a surprise. It was as they drew closer though, that he started to feel like something was not quite right. As the small flotilla slowly approached the ship, three other launches could be seen headed back to the island. As they drew closer, Peter was horrified to see Professor Linton Adisa in the lead boat.
"What the hell is going on here?" he growled at Sage.
"Please... calm yourself" Sage replied, not even bothering to look at Peter as he spoke.
"But why are you..."
"I am merely following our agreement... to the letter" Sage interrupted "You said you wanted me to release my hostages immediately, so I am doing precisely that."
"You... you can't just leave them on the island!" Peter gasped.
"I have to" Sage pretended to look innocent "I made a deal with you and I must live up to my end of the bargain."
"Wait... please... what will it take to..."
"Now you listen here" Sage interrupted "I'm putting up with you and your crap for one reason only. I want to get off this planet as soon as I can but remember this; I do NOT... like being given ultimatums. So the sooner you and Spencer learn not to push me around in front of my men, the better things will turn out for you."
"But... they'll die here' Peter begged.
"Maybe" Sage admitted "but I'm not a monster. I'm leaving them with some supplies so if you can get a rescue boat back here in time, everything will turn out just peachy."
Peter and Maynard glanced at each other, not wanting to let on that they already had a rescue boat standing by, and although Sage couldn't see this boat, he was currently looking straight at the top of its mast.
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Although he missed the warmth of the smouldering volcano, the small dragon found there were many advantages to be had in his new home. One of these was the forest that covered most of the island. When the wind blew hard, the trees gave enough shelter for him to keep flying as long as he kept close to the ground. There was also an abundant amount of fallen wood to be found so the dragon was able to keep a constant, comforting fire going inside his cave.
That night, as he lay down after dinner, he decided if any other dragon should appear on this island, he would not let fear chase him away as it had last time.
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Almost didn't get this one ready in time as I spent three days this week outside the city, driving to some small country towns. Saw a small mob of Roos, a few lizards sunning themselves, but fortunately no snakes (yay!)
Until next week, bye for now ;)