Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) (17 page)

Casey listened
to Major Steven’s talk about their upcoming deployment. She felt nervous,
knowing that they would shortly be going into combat. As a clone, she'd only
known seven years of life. It had been a fantastic experience and she had no
desire to see it end. She'd worked as hard as possible, even putting in extra
time at the practice ranges making sure she could handle the Type Four suit.

Casey had
passed up on several rec opportunities just so she could improve her combat
skills. She wondered now if she should've taken advantage of one or two of
those opportunities as she might not get anymore soon. There was still so much
about being Human she wanted to learn, and she was depending on Wade to teach
her. She knew that a few things were probably off limits, at least for now.  A
smile spread across her face as she thought about Wade and what she hoped for
in the future. She felt her face flush and then forced herself to focus on
Major Stevens. Some things could definitely wait until later.

Ryan and Casey
stepped out of the large lunar shuttle along with a number of other members of
their platoon. They'd been given seventy-two hours leave and decided to spend
it at Luna City.

“Have you ever
been here before?” Casey asked, excited at the prospect of seeing something
new. Other than Vesta and Centerpoint, she hadn’t traveled to any of the other
habitats scattered across the system.

“A couple of
times,” Ryan answered as they followed the crowd to the check in stations at
the airlocks that led to the city proper. “Once with my parents and another
time my brother brought me here to show me the fleet training facility.” Ryan
knew that was Wade’s last attempt to direct him toward the fleet instead of the
Space Marines.

“It’s like most
other habitats,” Private Juan Rios commented from just behind them. Rios was
from Luna City. “You have to be careful in Luna City, though. A lot of trade
from all over the system comes through here, and there are some unscrupulous
people who will buy and sell almost anything if there’s profit in it. Luna City has had to increase the size of its police force to keep the black market under
control.”

“Why not
eliminate it?” asked Casey, feeling confused. “If it’s a problem, why does it
still exist?”

“It serves a
purpose,” Juan answered with a frown on his face. “Sometimes there are things
which can only be found on the black market; even the government occasionally
procures items there.”

“Where does
the stuff on the black market come from?” asked Casey, wondering who would sell
anything to these profiteers.

“From Earth,”
Ryan said as they reached one of the lines of people waiting to be cleared for
entry into Luna City. “There are still small ships sneaking down to Earth in
search of anything that could be traded or sold on the black market. I’ve heard
there are several prospecting ships that routinely make illicit runs down to
the surface.”

After passing
through the check in station, the group stepped out into Luna City. The city itself was covered with a transparent dome, which stretched ten kilometers
across with a center height of two kilometers. A light energy screen protected
the dome from meteor impacts. Even if the dome were compromised, the energy
screen would ensure the protective atmosphere stayed in place while repairs
were made. The landscape was covered with tall skyscrapers and green parks
reaching from one edge of the dome to the other.

“How many
people live here?” asked Casey her eyes filled with wonder. Some of the
buildings she was looking at must be fifty or sixty stories tall. They were the
highest she'd ever seen. Not even Vesta had buildings this tall.

Juan grinned,
noticing how excited Casey was at seeing his home. “There are dozens of
habitats that make up Luna City,” he said in explanation. “Nearly seven million
people live here on the Moon. This habitat we’re in comprises the original one,
which was greatly expanded when the new dome was added by the Kiveans.”

“I want to do
some shopping,” Lauren announced as she looked around at the others. “I have
several months’ pay that needs to be spent. I could use some new shoes and a
few other things.”

“Shopping
sounds interesting,” Casey said, curious to see the Luna City shops. Being
closer to Earth and the ongoing salvage operations, there were products
available here that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

“I wouldn’t
mind doing some shopping,” commented Private Mary Hatterson, wanting to be
included. Mary was another clone and this was also her first trip to Luna City.

“Okay,” Lauren
replied, pleased she wouldn’t be going alone. She'd been to Luna City before and knew where the best clothing shops were located. “Why don’t we split up
and meet later at a restaurant?”

“The Chinese
Luna Express might be a good one,” Juan suggested. “It has really good Chinese
food and my cousin knows the owner.” Juan had been fortunate that when he had
been evacuated to Luna City to find that he had an older first cousin that had
survived.

“Sounds like a
plan to me,” Lauren said in agreement.

“Let’s do it,”
Ryan said. “What say we meet at the restaurant in five hours? That should give
everyone time to do what they want.”

He wanted to
go astro gliding to see if it was as exciting as everyone said it was. It had
originally been one of the main tourist draws to Luna City prior to the
original Kleese attack. There was a large park with a high cliff where one
could be equipped with artificial wings and leap off into the open air. The
area was kept at Luna normal gravity to allow one to experience what it felt
like to fly.

The group
split up, with Lauren leading the women toward the shopping district while Juan
led the men toward the Astro Park. Around them, the city seemed to buzz with
the muted voices of excited people and the sounds of a busy city.

-

Lauren was
trying on her tenth pair of shoes with Casey and Mary watching with interest.
She currently had on a pair of black high-heeled boots that came up nearly to
her knees.

“I don’t
understand,” Casey said in confusion. “As high as those heels are, those boots
are going to be very difficult to walk in. They don’t seem very practical.”

Lauren giggled
and looked at Casey knowingly. “It’s the look,” she explained. “Men like women
in high heels and these will really catch their eyes.”

“Sex!” Mary
blurted out in sudden understanding. “It’s all about getting men to want to
take you to bed.”

“Sort of,”
Lauren responded with a grin as she slid down the zippers on the boots so she
could take them off. “Sometimes men need to be enticed and sometimes it’s just
fun to do some harmless flirting. Plus, I look really good in these boots. I
think I'll buy this pair.”

“I guess I
just don’t understand,” Casey said, feeling confused. She folded her arms
across her chest and looked at Lauren. All her clothes were pretty simple; she
either wore her military uniforms or when off duty a pair of pants and a
colorful blouse. The emphasis that normal Humans put on sex still bewildered
her.

“Excuse me,
ladies,” a male voice spoke from just behind them.

Looking up,
they saw the store clerk that had been helping Lauren. He had a concerned look
upon his face.

“I couldn’t
help noticing that two of you are clones. It might be wise if you stayed inside
the store for awhile.”

“Stay in the
store?” Lauren repeated her eyes focusing sharply on the clerk. “Why?”

“I’m afraid
you picked a bad time to come to the downtown shops,” he began, sounding
embarrassed. “There’s a demonstration going on down the street at one of the
government buildings. While it’s supposed to be a peaceful demonstration, for
your own safety I would recommend staying inside.”

“What type of
demonstration?” asked Casey, feeling curious.

The clerk let
out a deep breath and then spoke again. “It’s a demonstration against clones,”
he said. “There are a lot of people in Luna City that feel too many clones are
being created and that the process should either be slowed down or eliminated.
They also feel that clones shouldn’t have the same rights as a regular Human.
Some of the people are very vocal in their views, and I wouldn’t want to see
any of you get caught up in it.”

The three
women walked over to the large window at the front of the store and looked out.
They could see a large crowd had assembled at a building several blocks away.
Many of the people in the crowd were holding signs and others were chanting.
“NO MORE CLONES! NO MORE CLONES!”

“Does this
happen very often?” asked Lauren, turning back toward the clerk who had
followed them to the window.

“Several times
a week,” he replied with a long sigh. “Whenever it does my business generally
comes to a stop. It makes people afraid to come downtown to the shops.”

Casey was
trying to read some of the signs. She could see several that read, “CLONES ARE
NOT HUMAN!” and others that said, “NO RIGHTS FOR CLONES!”

“Do people
really feel that badly toward us?” Casey asked the clerk, feeling stunned at
what she was seeing. She couldn’t help but think about the incident in the
Chinese restaurant on Centerpoint a while back.

“Some do and
others don’t,” he answered. “I think many are afraid that someday the clones
will replace regular Humans.”

“What do you
think?” Mary asked her eyes focusing on the clerk.

“People are
people,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “To me it doesn’t matter if
they’re born from Human parents or come from a cloning tank. Now if you ladies
wouldn’t mind stepping away from the window, I have some more shoes you might
be interested in.”

-

Ryan had just
leaped off the tall lunar cliff for the third time. The feeling of flying was
exhilarating. Gliding high up in the air, feeling the warm air in his face as
he made gentle sweeping circles in the light lunar gravity was fantastic. The
pair of wings he was wearing were ten feet across and gave him just enough lift
to allow him to glide in the gentle air currents. He wore a control belt that ensured
he stayed in control of the wings. If he became unbalanced, the control belt
would quickly take over control of the wings until he was in stable flight
again. So far, that had only happened once when he descended too fast.

“This is
great!” yelled Alexander as he swooped by, catching the wind currents with his
wings.

Ryan had to
agree. He thought flying in the battlesuits had been fun, once he had gotten
the hang of it. However, nothing compared to what he was now experiencing. He
wished he and Wade had come here when they came to Luna City. From this height,
he could look out over the park and into part of the city itself. The scurrying
people looked like ants, and in the distance, he could see what looked like
some kind of disturbance. He could see police vehicles rushing toward one
section of the city with their lights flashing and now he could hear their
sirens. He wondered if there had been an accident.

A few minutes
later, they were all safely back down on the ground. Checking the time, they
noticed it was nearly time to go meet the girls. Reaching the edge of the park,
Juan flagged down a cab and gave directions to the restaurant. The electric
powered vehicle quickly moved off, turning onto a main street and headed into
the city.

“What were all
the sirens about earlier?” Ryan asked the driver.

“Clone riot,”
the man replied stone faced. “There was a demonstration at one of the
government buildings where a number of clones work. It got a little violent and
the police had to move in to break it up.”

“Does that
happen often?” asked Ryan, wondering how close the riot was to the shops the
girls had gone off to.

“It doesn’t
turn violent often,” the cab driver answered. “But recently, the demonstrations
have been getting larger and more out of control. If something isn’t done soon,
this whole clone thing is going to get out of hand and people are going to
start getting hurt.”

“What do you
think about the clones?” Alexander asked.

“They’re grown
in tanks so they’re not Human,” the cab driver answered definitively. “They may
have their place in the military to save Human lives, but they shouldn’t be
allowed to take jobs regular Humans can do.”

Alexander
started to reply, but Ryan caught his eyes and shook his head. He decided it
was best if they remained silent. No point in getting the cab driver
aggravated. Ryan leaned back in his seat and thought over what the cab driver
had said. It was becoming more obvious to him every day that the public’s
feeling against the clones was getting worse. The problem was he didn’t see
what could be done to change their minds.

-

Xatul stood in
front of the Kleese Council of Overlords listening to the current dispute. The
warrior caste was demanding more resources be allocated to their ship building
program and that contingents of Zaltule warriors be placed on all of the
trading stations.

“The trading
stations will remain under our control,” spoke Raluth in a cold and hard voice.

“I operate
three stations,” Syndat spoke in a loud voice. “I will not turn over control of
the stations to the Zaltule!”

“Control is
inconsequential as long as there are members of the warrior caste on board for
security reasons,” Creedal responded.

“Those trading
stations represent massive investments by some of us here on this council,”
Martule spoke his eyes focusing on the four Zaltule Overlords. “They will not
be turned over to the warrior caste.”

“We do not
wish control,” Darthu responded in an impassionate voice. “As we strike more of
the nonaligned worlds there is a danger that the trading stations may be
targeted. We only wish to ensure their safety.”

“We will agree
to a small security force of the warrior caste,” Xatul spoke in a commanding
voice, reaching a decision. “Our own security forces on the stations should be
sufficient to resist any attack by the nonaligned worlds, though I doubt if any
such attack will take place.”

Bixutl
remained silent. So far, no one had mentioned to the Zaltule that such an
attack had taken place years ago when the Humans managed to take control of a
trading station and fly it through Fold Space to their star system where it
still remained. Two days previously, he had received a report from the
exploration ship he'd sent to check on the Humans. An assault ship had managed
to slip into the extreme outer reaches of the system and take sensor scans. The
Humans were still there and stronger than ever.

The question
now was how Bixutl could use that information to his advantage. At some point
in time, the Zaltule were bound to learn of the Humans and what they'd done. He
wondered what their reaction would be to that information. So far, the other
council Overlords had remained silent about the Humans either believing their
threat had faded away or fearful of what the Zaltule response would be if they
learned a trading station had been lost to an inferior race.