The Resistance by Robert Charlton

Author:Robert Charlton [Charlton, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 39

From her vantage point on the thirtieth floor, Kaley could see that the Phant exodus was going well. Thousands of Phants were standing out in the burnt fields surrounding their city looking lost, forlorn, and deeply, bitterly unhappy.

Good. After what their leaders had done—carpet-bombing both Newark and her own Resistance troops—it was hard to feel much in the way of pity for them, even if most of them down there were civilians. As for the High Council members themselves, she hoped they would stand trial for their crimes someday, but that was not her decision. At least Imwe, Head of the High Council, was dead, thanks to Twyla. That afforded her some small comfort, even if she kept that thought entirely to herself.

In the distance, over to one side, she could see rows and rows of bodies laid out, many burnt beyond recognition. Those were Resistance fighters who had just given their lives to the cause. Many of them she had known and trained personally. Their bodies were covered with Phant robes—the only makeshift shrouds they could come up with on such short notice.

She and a handful of others who were staying behind to defend Kapela had paid their respects earlier that same morning. Later today, the bodies would be carried out by their fellow soldiers before being buried with honors in a Newark cemetery. Royce and Aubrey had promised to deliver the eulogy themselves, despite the risk of being tagged and out in the open. That risk was somewhat diminished, now that Kapela was theirs, but it was far from eliminated. There were still plenty of other city-ships out there, each with their own satbots and spybots.

Kaley could see the menials from Kapela milling about in a tight group. It had taken little effort to herd them together and keep them that way. Nearly a thousand were down there, and yet only one soldier was needed to watch over them. Privately, she wondered whether the former stadium being used to rehabilitate menials would be big enough to accommodate so many new arrivals.

And what about the four thousand Phants who had just been kicked out of Kapela? Where would they go? Kapela was twice as crowded as most other city-ships, due to the forced migration of Phants from Salesh, so it was going to be a struggle to house and feed so many. A prison seemed like the most likely option.

Kaley secretly found herself hoping the Phants would be appalled by their new living conditions. She imagined them living in cramped cells with basic services and no menials to make their lives any easier. She pictured them peeling their own potatoes, cooking their own food, washing their own dishes, and doing their own laundry. Now that was a sight she wouldn’t mind seeing!

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.