The Colony on Meranda IV - Part 27
This post started off as a one-off response to a writing prompt in the Freewriters Community. Then I wrote a part 2 (with the outcome literally determined by a coin toss).
But that naturally leads to a part 3, which is where this short series comes in. I felt that doing it in just one post really wouldn't give enough time to build up a bit of suspense 😀 Enjoy !
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
It was a fortnight since Garrad had left Meranda. Within hours of his departure the comm screens had gone blank, the routine traffic of interstellar administration, commerce and friendship replaced by static and white noise.
Meranda was cut off, to await it's fate.
But they weren't entirely without information. The whole hive mind had instantaneous contact with the Glory of Chalima, the Imperial battle cruiser the Spineders had purloined and hidden in an elliptical orbit in space, planes and dimensions.
The ship reported that they'd intercepted communications from Imperial forces who had started looking for them. They'd be lucky to stumble on the ship; computers calculated that the search patterns and random elements meant it would likely take a decade or two of searching.
As an early stage colony, Meranda was virtually blind. There were no defensive orbital bases or long-range sensor satellites, just a few ground based in-system tracking stations to control local space traffic.
So it came as a shock when a strong Imperial squadron dropped into the system, appearing out of nowhere as they translated from an adjacent dimension. They arrived into an area of clear space, free of debris, planets or moons. Clearly they'd learned from the trick Wardek had pulled on the Einheriar.
Almost immediately the comm screens came to life. The face that appeared was Garrad.
"Governor Dafang, I know you can hear me. I'm here in command of the 15th Special Service Legion. As you would expect, my orders are to destroy the Meranda system and eliminate the Spineder threat. But the Imperium isn't completely monstrous. So I have an offer for you, but you'll have to decide fast."
In his office, and in mental contact with the Spineder alphas, Dafang waited for the offer. He struggled to focus, as more and more of the hive mind switched it's focus towards the unfolding events.
After a suitable pause, Dafang hit the transmit button.
"I'm listening." He couldn't help it, it came out in his driest tone.
"The offer is simple. All Imperial citizens who want to will be taken off in secure, segregated transports and given a new life. It'll be under strict quarantine on a class G planet, to prevent the infection spreading. Technology will be limited but you'll be provided everything you need for a comfortable pre-industrial life. We don't want to shed Imperial blood, it's the infection's source we have to clear, that's all."
So that was the offer; a life of sorts on a dead-end quarantine world, cut off from their Imperial friends and family with no chance of re-joining civilisation. More importantly, cut off from the Merandan hive mind that would be extinguished by Imperial Nova bombs. Garrad was trying to sound reasonable. In his own mind, he probably thought it was a good offer.
The wave of indignation sweeping through the hive mind mirrored Dafang's own thoughts.
This time he didn't hesitate. He stabbed the transmit button, and said two harsh words.
"No deal."
Previous posts in this series;
- https://peakd.com/hive-161155/@alonicus/24-january-2025-mariannewests-freewrite-writing-prompt-day-2626-mother-love - the post that started it all, and introduced the spine-spiders
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/escape-from-the-caves-of-meranda-iv - the sequel, where the science team escapes back to base and recommends the planet not be colonised. They were too late.
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-1 - we meet the Governor Dafang and get the first hints that the colony isn't going to plan
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-2 - Governor Dafang takes a trip to the Greenfields settlement, only to find it is not there any more
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-3 - a fractious meeting of the co0lony's government, and a worrying foreshadow
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-4 - this is where things start to really go sideways for the colony
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-5 - Doctor Helen Thwaites returns to Meranda to reveal the cover-up
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-6 - Garnes tries to arrest Helen, and gets told to go away
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-7 - Meranda Base finds itself surrounded by a broad band of patterns
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-8 - Mr Garnes makes his move
https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-9 - Mr Garnes' juniors aren't impressed by his self-promotion
https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-10 - Wardek breaks Dafang out of prison, but Doctor Thwaites is swallowed up by the ground. - https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-11 - The fugitives use micro-drones to find out what Garnes is up to.
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-12 - Dafang finds out that Wardek was actually a senior NCO in one of the toughest units the Empire has
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-13 - Captured by Imperial Marines
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-14 - A whole battlecruiser goes missing
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-15 - Helen Thwaites makes a re-appearance
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-16 - Helen delivers the Spineders' demands
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-17 - Helen and Dafang go underground to meet the Spineders
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-18 - Dafang wakes up to find he's been absorbed into the Spineder hive mind
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-19 - The return to Meranda Base
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-20 - Garnes gets what's coming to him
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-21 - The Einheriar enter the picture
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-22 - The Einheriar break through the Imperial defence line
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-23 - Wardek delivers "The Package"
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-24 - The full power of the Hive mind is focused to destroy the Einheriar
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-25 - Garrad pronounces a death sentence on Meranda
- https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-26 - A discussion between the different species in the Meranda hive mind on their forthcoming fate
A cool story. Garrad really thinks exile on a quarantine planet is a generous offer. The hive mind's no deal was the only right answer. Meranda will fight back, I wonder how though
An interesting chapter. That proposal could trigger a confrontation. We'll see what happened in the next chapter.
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Excellent day.
I am very curious as to what is going to happen next!
Garrad that bastard!
Cheers ! Garrad's not so bad, it's just his job as one of the Empire's "fixers" to solve problems in ways that don't give way to fragmentation and chaos 😉
I suppose... I suppose your Empire made him that way.