Hugh Howey - Molly Fyde and the Fight for Peace

Saunders imagined not only his rank showing up, but also his currently assigned quadrant, half a galaxy away. Perhaps the machine was even saying he was presumed killed in action. The guard with the scanner twisted the device to show his companion. Both of their bodies tensed with formality.

“Sirs!” the second guard said. He snapped a salute to all three of them.

“At ease, Soldiers.” Saunders reached forward to accept his credentials back, the rain coursing down from his flattened hair and off his chubby nose. “Now if you would, call for transport and notify the President.” He replaced his ID, pulled out another laminated card, and held it out. “This is my clearance badge. It should patch you straight through.”

“Which President?” the lead guard asked. He fell in beside the trio as they marched toward the guardhouse and the gate. His partner had already sprinted off in that direction to summon a surface ship.

“The GU President,” Saunders said. “Do I look interested in domestic affairs?”

“Of course not, sir. And what should I tell him?”

“Tell him to put down whatever he’s doing. He’s about to have visitors with very good news.”

The marine Rynx set down in front of the GU building, the craft’s rotors thrumming with the whump whump whump of shuddering air. Saunders gazed out at the great structure. It was a sprawling palace done in the triple-post modern style from the twenty third century. Its grand façade, broken up by ornate columns, overlooked the ancient spread of old D.C.—a perfect vista from which it could watch the monuments of yore dilapidate in time along with their ever eroding significance.

A contingent of Galactic Guards met Saunders and his two officers by the Rynx’s deployed loading ramp. They all wore serious faces and fitted armor that clapped against itself as they hurriedly marched to get in place. Between the two lines of guards hung an anti-grav awning erected against the steady rain. Standing at the base of the ramp was an instantly recognizable figure: Susan Karlton, Secretary of Galaxy and a one-time presidential candidate.

Susan smiled when she saw Saunders. “Griffin,” she said, greeting him warmly and informally. “I asked them to run your credentials three times. I didn’t believe it.”

“The hits are gonna keep on coming,” Saunders said. He stepped close and clasped Susan’s hand. He had seen her as recently as his promotion ceremony a month or so ago, but it felt like a lifetime had passed since. “Just wait until you see what I’m bringing along.” He let go of her hand and patted the chest of his borrowed Navy Regs, feeling the Drenard peace treaty folded up within.

Susan glanced at his companions.

“Oh, I apologize, I’m not sure if you know my senior officers.” He turned to the other two figures huddled under the awning and raised his voice as the rotor overhead continued to thwump loudly. “This is Commander Sharee Rickson and my second in command, Lieutenant Major Robinson.”

Susan smiled and nodded at them, then looked Saunders up and down. “You look like shit,” she said.

“I feel worse.”

“I bet. I’d offer you the chance to shower and rest up, but Marine Two said you wanted to debrief at once?”

Saunders nodded. “It’s urgent.”

“Very well,” Susan said. She waved the trio toward the South wing entrance and continued to talk as they walked, lowering her voice to a reasonable level as the Rynx gradually powered down. “The snippets we’ve gotten from Lok were hard to believe. I—We saw pictures of Gloria nose-down in the dirt. Locals are posting them on the net. I’m—I’m very sorry. What exactly happened?”

“I’d rather not discuss that right now,” Saunders said, feeling on the verge of getting choked up. “I’m not here to debrief on any one battle. I need to discuss the larger war.”

They approached the entrance, and a guard stood ready with a scanner. He tagged Susan’s credentials hanging from her chest. Once again, Saunders waved his junior commanders off and used his own ID to validate the three of them. He let the guards fume over the breach of protocol as he and the others stepped inside and out of the humid D.C. air. Susan picked up the conversation again:

“So, you’re not here to debrief on Lok or the loss of Zebra? The President will want to know—hell I want to know what went down out there.”

“Bad choice of words,” Sharee said.

Susan blushed and continued walking sideways, leading them toward the elevators as she spoke. “I apologize. I haven’t slept in two days. I’m pretty much running on coffee and adrenaline right now. But still, the fact that you’re standing here is the best news we’ve had in weeks. We—Well a lot of your friends had given up on you. All of you. How many survived?”

“Not many,” Saunders said, shaking his head. He stepped into the waiting elevator. “And we’re not here to debrief on that.”

“Then what are you here for? ” Susan asked. She stepped aside and waved the other two crewmembers into the elevator.

Saunders reached inside his coat pocket, drawing out a folded document. “We’re here for the President’s signature,” he said. “And we wouldn’t mind something warm to sip on while we listen to his broadcast on the cessation of hostilities.”

Susan’s eyes widened with curiosity. Her gaze drifted down to the documents in Saunders’s hand.

“What is that?” she asked.

“This one is a formal registration of ambassadorship between the Galactic Union and the Drenardian Empire.”

He teased apart one of the sheaves, holding it to the side and watching Susan’s stunned expression follow.

“It’s a mere formality, of course, but necessary to assure that this one is official.”

“And it is—?” It came out a squeak, all Susan seemed able to muster.

“This one is the immediate and complete surrender of all Allied armed forces and a call for peace, accepted by a member of their War Council, the new ambassador to the Terran forces, and currently the second in line to the throne of the Drenard Empire, one Anlyn Hooo. It’s also been ratified by their council member specializing in alien relations, and you wouldn’t believe who he was if I told you. Combined, these documents demand an end to a war that’s been raging longer than you and I have been alive.”

The elevator dinged as they arrived at the President’s residential wing, and the doors opened on a sophisticated array of security stations and guard booths. Susan exited and waved the trio forward, her gesture meek and subdued as she seemed to reel from the bizarre claims of her old acquaintance.

Saunders strode out confidentially, relishing having had the opportunity to practice his delivery before seeing the President—not to mention the chance to shock an old friend into stunned silence. What he hadn’t explained was that the cessation of hostilities with one enemy would just be the beginning, a chance to root out the traitors in their midst and align forces for the true threat pouring into the galaxy. Still, the end of a war that had raged for generations was near at hand, a monumental and historical moment. Saunders walked toward the final guard station between himself and that slice of history, his mind spinning with the implications, his mood giddy from being so close to fulfilling his portion of the mission.

Beside him, Commander Sharee strolled with a likewise bounce in her step, her erect posture and loping gate letting him know that she too was taking no small amount of delight in the significance of their actions.

Behind them both, Lieutenant Robinson brought up the procession’s rear, preventing the three Humans from glimpsing his dark expression. The Bern agent felt along his ribs as he walked, comforting himself with the presence of his internal munitions.