{"id":2686,"date":"2024-06-29T14:29:36","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T21:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2024-06-29T14:29:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T21:29:36","slug":"accidental-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/29\/accidental-general\/","title":{"rendered":"Accidental General"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write a story in which a case of mistaken identity plays a pivotal role.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desperate people do desperate things. Jen convinced herself that what she was doing was desperate rather than insane. If anyone had the cure for her mother, it would have to be the aliens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019d arrived on Earth a few years ago, spending an inordinate amount of time dealing with human governments, greed, and tribalism. In the end, they were given places where their trade vessels could land, sell goods, and buy from the local populace in dozens of countries. One of those alien port markets happened to be just a hundred kilometers or so from her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans weren\u2019t allowed near their ships, and they were very careful to not let anything they called \u201cforbidden for primitive trade\u201d out of their sight. They had no use for precious metals, human currency, or gemstones. They traded what they brought for other goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen had been lucky, in that a large part of the recent trades at her \u201clocal\u201d port market had been live chicks, ducklings, goslings, and rabbits. She\u2019d bluffed her way to the back streets of the market, nearer to where their ship lay hidden, by explaining to the aliens in detail how to care for the baby birds and rabbits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she\u2019d finally been shooed away, she managed to hide in the back streets, creeping ever closer to the ship. Which is how she made her way to the cargo hold with the animals, where she found herself wondering what her next step would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She hadn\u2019t felt anything other than a slight reduction in her weight when they left. She knew from the spate of news stories and documentaries that the aliens came from a system nearly eight-hundred light-years away. That they could cross those distances meant they had<\/em> to have the technology to cure her mother\u2019s cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long it would take, though, she wasn\u2019t sure. Water was taken care of, as the tank carrying it for the animals was easy to get to. For food, she carried a case of two dozen meal bars, and a couple kilos of mixed nuts. It wasn\u2019t ideal, but it was what she could find spur-of-the-moment when her desperation turned to action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen guessed they\u2019d taken off about two hours earlier, but she hadn\u2019t eaten at all that day. She unwrapped a meal bar and took her time with a bite of it. When she was about to take the second bite, she heard movement, and large cargo door began to open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She ducked behind the water tank. One of the aliens was probably coming in to check on the animals. A peek around the side of the tank, though, showed that the outer doors were open as well. A dim, red sun illuminated a world no other human had ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panic began to set in. She hadn\u2019t planned for what came next, beyond begging for help. She ducked back behind the water tank and calmed herself. Deep, slow breaths brought her heart rate down, and helped her settle her mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the aliens ducked behind the water tank with her, holding a bundle in their arms. \u201cYou\u2019re finally here. Put these on and I\u2019ll get you out of the port,\u201d the alien said in perfect English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bundle contained clothes like those the aliens wore, with a head covering that was somewhere between beekeeper and hazmat. The gloves only had three fingers and a thumb that sat too low and was far too long. Still, she did her best to cover herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She followed the alien out of the ship, through the port, and into what must be a city, though there were no cars or analogues. The roads themselves, if they could be called that, moved. Everywhere she followed the alien, the other aliens gave them space, many bowing or holding up a single, long, middle finger. For a brief moment, she thought they were flipping her the bird, until she reminded herself that these grey-skinned, black-eyed, three-fingered aliens were not<\/em> human and not given to human gestures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They finally stopped in front of a low building with a yellow glass roof. The alien led her inside, then straight through the open main hallway beneath the skylight to a back room. There, the alien unlocked a panel on the wall and led her down a winding staircase to a dim basement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More aliens waited for them in the basement. A map on the wall showed symbols she didn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs that the human?\u201d some of them asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen stripped off the gloves and lifted the headpiece off to the astonished gasps of the other aliens. \u201cIt\u2019s true! You\u2019re here!\u201d they called out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am Renthion,\u201d the alien that had led her said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHi. I\u2019m Jen. What\u2019s going on, and how do you speak English?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do not speak English, Jen, but the devices we wear around our waist translate for us.\u201d The alien that spoke raised a middle finger. \u201cI am Abalorth, and I am honored to be in your presence, great general.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUm, wait, great what?\u201d Jen asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe understand you will want to secure payment,\u201d Renthion said. \u201cWhat is your desire?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, I, uh, I just came here to find a cure for my mother\u2019s cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They turned off their translators and spoke among themselves. Their speech sounded more like the murmur of water in a stony brook than anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, they turned back on their devices and Abalorth said, \u201cWe accept the price.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renthion pointed at the map and began explaining what all the symbols meant. It was a war map, with different troop types and sizes and terrain on display. It reminded her of the strategy games she regularly played, right down to \u201cthis unit type is weak to that one and stronger than that type.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are badly scattered, as you can see. But we have it on good authority that the human great general that will stow away on a government ship will know how to turn things around for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m not a great general, I\u2019m just\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour modesty is appreciated, but unnecessary. We will leave you alone with the map for a while to make your plans. Writing materials are just there, by the map.\u201d They filed out of the dim room and Jen sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She didn\u2019t know who they were fighting, or what was their cause, or whether it was even just. No matter what she did, though, someone was going to pay the price for what she decided. Either this group meeting in secret, or the others that had them outnumbered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She paced the small room, stopping in front of a mirror. \u201cWhat are you doing, Jen?\u201d she asked her reflection. \u201cAre they trying to overthrow their government? Probably, judging by the huge amount of armored type units on the other side. Does their government need<\/em> to be overthrown, or are these guys religious fanatics?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She groaned and paced some more. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the look on her mother\u2019s face when the doctor told her they\u2019d have to stop the chemo because it wasn\u2019t working and there were no more options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScrew it,\u201d she said to herself, \u201cmom\u2019s worth whatever price I put on my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen studied the map as if it were one of her strategy games and began scribbling out early plans and options for each unit. Then she addressed any actions the enemies might take with counteractions by the troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it was her favorite strategy game, she\u2019d have the seemingly overwhelming army defeated within twenty turns and lose at most a tenth of her own armies. She was still looking for any stupid moves the enemy might make \u2014 she\u2019d addressed every smart, logical move \u2014 when the door opened ant the aliens came back in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abalorth looked over the pages of notes she\u2019d scribbled on the smooth paper. \u201cCan you explain your plans?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure.\u201d Jen picked up her notes, in order, and stepped in front of the map. As she pointed to units on the map and explained their best course of action, those unit markers would move on the map. As she talked through the action-reaction portion of the combat, the enemy markers would move, and the friendly markers would follow her recommendations. She detailed everything, including the possible need to sacrifice two units in order to bring down four to six enemy units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an hour of explaining what took her twenty minutes to figure out, she looked at the aliens. They all sat in silence for a long minute before Renthion raised a hand, his middle finger up. \u201cIt is as our spy said, the general is a genius.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abalorth and another alien cut her off with a bow, holding out a large case. \u201cThis contains an automated healing machine. It is not allowed for trade with your people, but since you held up your end of the deal, we will uphold ours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I haven\u2019t really\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe troops began moving quite a while ago. It was as you said.\u201d Renthion pointed at the map. The units reset themselves to a position in what Jen considered the \u201clate early game.\u201d The enemy troops were responding in some cases in the most obvious way, in a few cases the second or third most likely she\u2019d expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She heard explosions outside as one of the enemy armored units barreled past their location, getting themselves trapped in a kill funnel at the edge of the city. Explosions could be heard further afield as well. Units began disappearing from the map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four armored units and two light mounted met up at the edge of a clearing. Jen felt sick. This was the point where the purpose of two entire light mounted units was to draw them out and get obliterated while infantry closed in from behind to mine their escape from the heavy artillery that would begin to pound them from the far tree line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alien numbers depicting the size of the sacrificial units began to fall until they pulled further out into the clearing. Jen found herself sweating, silently urging the enemy units to take the bait. They did. She watched them advance in formation, while infantry units moved behind them to mine their escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bait units continued to maneuver and dwindle until one blinked out existence on the board. The other made a beeline for far trees when artillery began raining down on the pursuing forces. They pulled back in a hurry, almost running into the infantry units that were scattering in the woods behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the enemy retraced their steps, their unit numbers began falling, until three had blinked out of existence, and the remaining three were trapped by the damaged vehicles. The infantry reformed around them, and those three enemy unit markers also soon disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were battles happening in other locations on the map but watching that one closely left Jen feeling sick. She\u2019d just sent a bunch of people to their death, and she didn\u2019t even know what for. She clutched the case with the healing machine. Was her mother really worth that many lives? What gave Jen the right to decide?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stared at the map in stunned silence over the next hours, watching more and more of the previously outmanned units coalesce and claim more of the map. The final push was for the center of the city, where the halls of government lay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen said a silent prayer to any god or gods that might be somewhere out there, to forgive her weakness. Tears ran down her face unbidden for the unknown lives that were lost. The room grew silent around her, and then exploded in sounds of joy and celebration. \u201cWhat have I done?\u201d she muttered under her breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The map changed to show video from the government building. Grey aliens like the ones around her celebrated as massive, reptilian aliens were led out of the building in chains. With the devices on the aliens around her, she could understand what the alien shouting into what must have been a microphone was saying to the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have thrown off the shackles of the bordlenorb and now are masters of our own destiny. Freedom for the people, freedom for Rorbenthor\u201d The translators didn\u2019t translate their word for the reptilian aliens or the planet\u2019s name, but it was enough that Jen understood what was going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She didn\u2019t feel quite so bad about the dead enemies any longer, but it didn\u2019t assuage the guilt she felt for trading so many lives for her mother\u2019s. She dropped the case and fell to her knees, sobbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renthion sat on the floor near her. \u201cAre you injured?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. Yes. I mean, not physically, but I just caused so much death, and for what?\u201d She forced herself to look Renthion in the eye. \u201cI am selfish, and thought only of my mother, not what my actions would cost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renthion put a hand on her arm. \u201cDo you know why we were not allowed to trade that device?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would mean that humans would live far longer, healthier lives, and likely reach the stars sooner. The bordlenorb, our previous lords, forbade us to help any \u2018primitive\u2019 world advance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abalorth helped her to her feet. \u201cYou may have only been thinking of your mother, but what will others do with this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs this something we have the technology to recreate?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe not today, but very soon.\u201d Renthion stood, picked up the case and handed it back to her. \u201cYour scientists and materials experts have the know-how, it will just take some time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen sighed. \u201cOnly governments and big corporations have the resources for that, and it\u2019ll be limited to the ultra-wealthy in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abalorth bowed slightly. \u201cScarcity economy, of course. Perhaps if you<\/em> had the resources, it could be shared in a fair manner?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, but that\u2019s not happening any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They turned off their devices and burbled among themselves again, checking the alien script on the map screen while they directed it to do something. After they reached a consensus, Abalorth turned back to her and asked, \u201cWould thirty-two-thousand kilograms of gold be enough resources?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen stared. \u201cWould what? That\u2019s \u2014 a lot<\/em> of gold. Like a billion dollars\u2019 worth? Two billion?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould that be enough?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen nodded. \u201cYeah, yeah it would.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell then, general, we have an agreement, and we expect to see great things from humans in the near future,\u201d Renthion said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike I said, I\u2019m not\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNonsense. You figured out how to best use our remaining troops in almost no time at all. All of our field commanders are taking your lessons as they move forward to clearing out the last of the bordlenorb.\u201d Renthion motioned for her to follow but didn\u2019t make her put on the clothing again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they passed through the streets on their way back to the port, the passersby cheered and held up a middle finger. Renthion\u2019s translator caught their cheers for the human great general that had freed them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She rode back to Earth in a comfortable seat, then was taken in a smaller craft to her home along with a vault that opened only to her touch, crammed with gold. She bid the aliens goodbye and brought the healing machine to her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the machine did its work, she began researching how to set up a non-profit research organization and how to hire top talent scientists. She would not feel at ease with her actions until she had saved at least a hundred times as many people as she had condemned to death on Rorbenthor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something Renthion had said on the return trip echoed through her mind. \u201cOnly a great<\/em> general  weeps for the cruelty of war, even after winning it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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