ONE: Epilogue of Hermesh

23. Rearming the Enemy

"You look more shocked now than you did on seeing me alive, Nole," Commodore Reemon Erra commented, closely inspecting his silent, brooding Helmeshi guest.

"Can't imagine you, of all people, talking of treason, Commodore," Nole replied candidly, "I never met anyone more loyal to the Zaarnan Empire than you."

"The last Emperor died over 2,000 years ago, Nole. The subjects of the empire are the ones I defend and serve or at least used to."

"And now you don't?"

"If what Sheel says is true then you, I and everyone fighting this enemy are defending every single living being in Hermesh," Erra replied, "To succeed, we all have to stand together till the very end. If we don't, we'll suffer total annihilation."

"And you believe that can only be done by overthrowing the existing order?" Nole persisted.

"Do you honestly think those now in power understand the magnitude of this crisis?" Erra retorted, "Do you really think they will or can accept the reality? If it is indeed as dire as that alien says, then can they do what must be done?" Erra asked directly.

"But Commodore, you said it yourself that you agree with all the decisions taken so far," Nole argued.

"All of which have been taken by the military and not the civilian authorities. My dear friend, you have fought and survived three great wars. After Damook, you are the most experienced Helmeshi Admiral. Can you tell me, standing here today, that the Boran Expanse is the impregnable fortress that the deluded War Council is leading everyone to believe?"

Nole's immediate impulse was to argue the Commodore's stance. But deep down he knew that as defendable as it may be, the expanse would eventually yield to the sustained enemy offensive.

Erra looked at Nole for a few moments, giving some thought to his next question before asking, "Tell me Nole, if Sheel had come to you in my place, what would you have done?"

"Honestly, I don't know. But Commodore, are you assuming everything that he has said about the situation is true?"

"Imagine that to be the worst case scenario," Erra answered, "Can the War Council accept a reality where no matter what we do, how hard we fight the Kaya, no matter how many battles we win, we can never win the war?"

Again, Nole knew the answer to that question but was not yet ready to accept it.

"Can they ever summon up the courage to confess to the trillions of living souls across Hermesh that at some point in the near future, we will run out of places to keep them safe from the Kaya? And that, when the time comes, their fate will be the same as the last inhabitants of Ralnac?" Erra's voice rang through the empty room.

The recorded images of the last moments of Ralnac, when that planet-cutter tore through its 7 million inhabitants reared its ugly head in Nole's mind, leaving him with an involuntary shudder.

"Commodore, you've made your point," Nole rushed to stop Erra, "But you can't just unilaterally stage a coup against elected representatives. There will be backlash."

"You misunderstood me, Nole. I won't need to go after them. What I'm about to do, will force them to come after me."

"And what are you planning to do?" Nole asked warily.

"I plan to help you hold the expanse for a while longer," Erra confessed, as he moved towards the transparent wall that looked out onto Kal'narth.

Nole saw Erra tap his communicator and mutter something inaudible into it.

“It took a hundred years of peace to design and build these. Some would say, they're ready just in time,” Erra said, still looking directly at Kal'narth.