Rebel (The United Federation Marine Corps) Read Free Page A

instigating a strike. She wanted to catch his eye and motion for him to calm down, but he was on a roll.  She looked over to Hokkam to see if he would put the brakes on Franz, but the chairman was simply smiling and nodding his head.
    “What would they do?” Franz continued.  “They could not survive, and they know it.  And that, my friends, is our leverage.  Our labor, our sweat, the very thing that puts those profits in the bank.”
    Franz was interrupted again as clapping filled the square.  Once again, he had to hold up his hands to quiet the crowd down.
    “I am not saying we should crush Propitious Interstellar or destroy it.  We just need to get them to treat us according to the law at the least, and as partners at best.”
    There was stirring in back of the speakers’ platform.  Franz turned around to look behind him before turning back to the crowd.
    “The PI goons evidently don’t like the idea of us being valued partners with the company.  But just keep calm folks.  We’ve done nothing wrong.”
    The jacks?  What are they doing? Michi wondered, craning her neck to see over the platform.
    “Calm down, everyone.  Don’t interfere with them,” Franz told the crowd.
    Michi felt panic start to rise in her, a welling from deep in her gut that threatened to take over her body.  Franz hadn’t actually crossed any line, but he still was an indentured, and if the jacks wanted to take him into custody, they would.  Michi was sure nothing Franz had said would hold up in even a Propitious Interstellar admin hearing, but people had the habit of falling down a lot of stairs while in jack custody.
    Cheri and a few others moved forward to stand in solidarity with Franz.  Hokkam, however, actually edged further back on the platform, away from Franz.
    Chicken shit chairman , Mishi thought as she moved forward, intending to join Franz on the platform.  Since Michi was a free citizen and not an employee, the jacks had very little authority over her, and she had vague ideas of trying to protect her fiancé. 
    There was shouting in back of the platform and some screams as the jacks moved forward in lockstep, pushing aside anyone in their way.
    “Don’t resist!” Franz shouted out.  “Let’s see what they have to say.”
    Michi pulled herself up onto the platform.  From the higher vantage point, she could see the massed jacks bulling their way forward, several people falling down in front of them to be trampled under.  Other people had turned and were trying to flee, but the mass of others in the crowd worked as a barrier. 
    “ Officers ,” Franz shouted out, sarcasm oozing from his voice, “no one is offering any resistance.  If you want to talk with me, just come on up.  No one will stop you,” he said, holding his hands out as if he were going to be cuffed.
    Michi was walking across the platform to join Franz when the first shot rang out.  She didn’t know from where it was fired, or even that it was a shot at first.  It registered with her, but only peripherally.  The fusillade that immediately followed was different, though.  The jacks had opened up and bodies were falling in front of their ranks.
    “Franz!” Michi screamed as she bolted into a run to reach him.
    “Stop firing!  Stop firing!  We are not resisting!” Franz shouted, his mic turned up high so his voice reverberated throughout the square. 
    He turned towards the jacks, running to the back of the platform.
    Panic erupted through the crowd as people started screaming and pushing to flee.  More shots rang out from the jacks, and Michi saw more bodies fall.
    “Get down, Franz!” she shouted, just steps behind him.
    “I surrender, I—” Franz shouted, his voice cutting off as the front of his head exploded into a gout of blood and brain matter.
    Michi let out a mindless scream of terror as she closed the last few steps to her fiancé.  She fell on his motionless body, pulling him up and into her lap. 
    No, no,