The Tomorrow Series Fanfiction: Who Will Lead Us? - Chapter 12
This is Chapter 12 in a fanfic of The Tomorrow Trilogy by theun4givables.
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Jazz didn’t say anything as everyone filed into the meeting room and took their seats. He bit his lip, knowing this wouldn’t be a pleasant discussion. Jordine would find out soon enough about the Resistance’s utter failure to gather support. The Hooban Queen had demanded such support as a condition of their potential alliance. Without it, she would almost certainly decide not to help them.
The nearly inevitable refusal meant the Resistance had little chance against Mitchel. Jazz understood this, and so he wanted to get the discussion with Jordine out of the way as soon as possible. There was no point in delaying.
“So, what do we do?” Nem asked in a manner Jazz found entirely too cheerful.
“Hope this Compound is as secure and hidden as it was advertised to be?” Alex suggested. shrugging.
That didn’t exactly fill Jazz with a lot of hope, but he remained silent for now.
“Do we wait for this Jordine to contact us or what?” Ravi asked, his voice level. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.
“We should wait,” Savin said.
Jazz looked over at Savin, shaking his head. “No -- we shouldn’t wait. It’s -- better if we tell Jordine we couldn’t amass the support she wanted. Let’s just get this fucking over with,” he said.
Savin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Don’t you think that might be a little premature?”
“Premature?” Jazz asked. He paused, sighing. “What good would come of waiting? It’s not like we’re gonna suddenly get the support Jordine demanded.”
“We don’t want to ruin the chances at forging an alliance by bringing bad news before we have to.” Savin clenched his jaw.
“It’s not like we’re gonna suddenly get enough support to change Jordine’s mind. Nobody wants to fucking help us. The sooner we tell the Queen, the sooner we can try to make other plans,” Jazz countered, though he had no idea what other plans the Resistance could make.
With the way Mitchel was running Second Earth’s Empire, nobody, save for a very few, dared help them. Jazz had seen that firsthand when he gone out gathering support, or attempting to do so. A painful certainty pulled at him; there just wasn’t anything else they could do to get Jordine’s help. He needed to convince Savin of this.
“You really think there’s no chance at all that Jordine will help us?” Savin asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of nose again. “You really want to give up?”
“It’s the smart thing to do,” Jazz muttered. He sighed, shaking his head. “It’s the only thing we can do.”
Savin pursed his lips. “Fine. Contact her now,” he said.
Jazz tried to ignore the dread he felt at the idea of actually contacting Jordine. They had to do it, no matter how badly it might go.
* * *
Not too long after the meeting ended, everyone waited in the communications room, preparing to contact the Hooban Queen and tell her the bad news. Sighing, Jazz sat down in front of the communications panel.
Nem leaned over and turned it on. “See? No weird bugs this time,” he said with cheer that rang false. “Do you want me to send the call through now?”
“Yeah,” Jazz sighed. “Do it now.” He tried not to bite his lip as he waited for the call to go through.
It seemed to take forever before Jordine appeared on the screen. When she did, Jazz sat up straighter and looked her directly in the eye. He didn’t want to betray any of the nervousness or dread he was feeling.
Jordine had her arms crossed over her chest and wore an expression that somehow made Jazz’s stomach sink. “Ah, former Councilman Callahan, I wondered when I would hear from you.” she said, her voice cool.
The tone of voice she used didn’t fill Jazz with much hope. It was almost as if she already knew they had failed. “As per your demands, we attempted to gather sufficient military support for our alliance,” he said.
“Our potential alliance,” Jordine muttered, leaning back slightly in her seat. “I never guaranteed my support.”
“Our potential alliance,” Jazz repeated, trying to find the best words to let her know about the Resistance’s failure. “Unfortunately-”
“Your little group wasn’t able to convince very many to move against Mitchel, was it?” she cut him off, smiling almost viciously.
Jazz’s stomach sank. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair. “No, we weren’t.”
“I realized that,” Jordine murmured. “You do understand this means the alliance is off, don’t you? I said I wouldn’t help you take back Second Earth’s Empire unless you could make it worth my while. Apparently, you were unable to do so.” She leaned forward, keeping her arms crossed over her chest as she did so. “Unless there is some secret support I don’t know about?” Her tone suggested she didn’t believe that to be true at all.
“No, there isn’t. We’ll update you if anything changes. Thank you for at least considering our offer,” he said. With that, Jazz ended the call. Defeated, he sank back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair again. Just what were they going to do?
Everyone wore subdued expressions on their faces. An air of hopelessness permeated the room. Jordine’s potential alliance had been their big hope for actually being able to do something about the situation with Mitchel. Jazz couldn’t bring himself to look anybody in the eye, especially not Savin.
If only Jazz had done more and tried harder to get support for the Resistance, maybe Jordine would have agreed to ally with them after all. It should have been possible to get the support, because who, besides Mitchel himself, truly supported the man as Emperor of Second Earth’s Empire?
Eventually, everyone trudged out of the room, leaving Jazz alone with Savin. He refused to look at the older man, instead staying in his seat and staring at the blank communications panel. Jazz sighed. “What do you want, Savin?” he asked wearily.
Savin walked over to Jazz and put a hand on his shoulder. Jazz tensed at the touch.
“I don’t want anything -- I just wanted to see if you were okay,” Savin murmured.
“I’m fine, Savin -- I just ruined our only chance at an alliance with Jordine,” Jazz muttered,
resolutely looking away from the older man. His eyes began to sting as he bit his lip. “If I had tried harder -- if I hadn’t fucking voted for Mitchel in the first place --”
“What Mitchel’s been doing isn’t your fault, Jazz,” Savin said, gripping Jazz’s chin lightly and forcing him to look at Savin. “Look at me. It is not your fault, okay? None of it is.”
Jazz’s eyes stung worse as he looked at the older man. “But--”
“But nothing,” Savin said.
“It -- it is my fault,” he cried, the words coming out strained.
Savin shook his head. His eyes were sad. “No, it’s not. I wish you could believe me,” he murmured.
Jazz wanted to believe Savin, but he couldn’t. As much as he wished it weren’t true, their situation was his fault. The certainty of that knowledge pressed down on him; there was no doubt in Jazz’s mind. Worse yet, this time he didn’t have any ideas of how to make things better. There wasn’t anyone else who would be likely to make an alliance with them, and Jazz knew of no other way they would have any chance at all.
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written for writerverse Challenge #24 - Weekly Quick Fic #8
next chapter
previous chapter
---------
Jazz didn’t say anything as everyone filed into the meeting room and took their seats. He bit his lip, knowing this wouldn’t be a pleasant discussion. Jordine would find out soon enough about the Resistance’s utter failure to gather support. The Hooban Queen had demanded such support as a condition of their potential alliance. Without it, she would almost certainly decide not to help them.
The nearly inevitable refusal meant the Resistance had little chance against Mitchel. Jazz understood this, and so he wanted to get the discussion with Jordine out of the way as soon as possible. There was no point in delaying.
“So, what do we do?” Nem asked in a manner Jazz found entirely too cheerful.
“Hope this Compound is as secure and hidden as it was advertised to be?” Alex suggested. shrugging.
That didn’t exactly fill Jazz with a lot of hope, but he remained silent for now.
“Do we wait for this Jordine to contact us or what?” Ravi asked, his voice level. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.
“We should wait,” Savin said.
Jazz looked over at Savin, shaking his head. “No -- we shouldn’t wait. It’s -- better if we tell Jordine we couldn’t amass the support she wanted. Let’s just get this fucking over with,” he said.
Savin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Don’t you think that might be a little premature?”
“Premature?” Jazz asked. He paused, sighing. “What good would come of waiting? It’s not like we’re gonna suddenly get the support Jordine demanded.”
“We don’t want to ruin the chances at forging an alliance by bringing bad news before we have to.” Savin clenched his jaw.
“It’s not like we’re gonna suddenly get enough support to change Jordine’s mind. Nobody wants to fucking help us. The sooner we tell the Queen, the sooner we can try to make other plans,” Jazz countered, though he had no idea what other plans the Resistance could make.
With the way Mitchel was running Second Earth’s Empire, nobody, save for a very few, dared help them. Jazz had seen that firsthand when he gone out gathering support, or attempting to do so. A painful certainty pulled at him; there just wasn’t anything else they could do to get Jordine’s help. He needed to convince Savin of this.
“You really think there’s no chance at all that Jordine will help us?” Savin asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of nose again. “You really want to give up?”
“It’s the smart thing to do,” Jazz muttered. He sighed, shaking his head. “It’s the only thing we can do.”
Savin pursed his lips. “Fine. Contact her now,” he said.
Jazz tried to ignore the dread he felt at the idea of actually contacting Jordine. They had to do it, no matter how badly it might go.
* * *
Not too long after the meeting ended, everyone waited in the communications room, preparing to contact the Hooban Queen and tell her the bad news. Sighing, Jazz sat down in front of the communications panel.
Nem leaned over and turned it on. “See? No weird bugs this time,” he said with cheer that rang false. “Do you want me to send the call through now?”
“Yeah,” Jazz sighed. “Do it now.” He tried not to bite his lip as he waited for the call to go through.
It seemed to take forever before Jordine appeared on the screen. When she did, Jazz sat up straighter and looked her directly in the eye. He didn’t want to betray any of the nervousness or dread he was feeling.
Jordine had her arms crossed over her chest and wore an expression that somehow made Jazz’s stomach sink. “Ah, former Councilman Callahan, I wondered when I would hear from you.” she said, her voice cool.
The tone of voice she used didn’t fill Jazz with much hope. It was almost as if she already knew they had failed. “As per your demands, we attempted to gather sufficient military support for our alliance,” he said.
“Our potential alliance,” Jordine muttered, leaning back slightly in her seat. “I never guaranteed my support.”
“Our potential alliance,” Jazz repeated, trying to find the best words to let her know about the Resistance’s failure. “Unfortunately-”
“Your little group wasn’t able to convince very many to move against Mitchel, was it?” she cut him off, smiling almost viciously.
Jazz’s stomach sank. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair. “No, we weren’t.”
“I realized that,” Jordine murmured. “You do understand this means the alliance is off, don’t you? I said I wouldn’t help you take back Second Earth’s Empire unless you could make it worth my while. Apparently, you were unable to do so.” She leaned forward, keeping her arms crossed over her chest as she did so. “Unless there is some secret support I don’t know about?” Her tone suggested she didn’t believe that to be true at all.
“No, there isn’t. We’ll update you if anything changes. Thank you for at least considering our offer,” he said. With that, Jazz ended the call. Defeated, he sank back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair again. Just what were they going to do?
Everyone wore subdued expressions on their faces. An air of hopelessness permeated the room. Jordine’s potential alliance had been their big hope for actually being able to do something about the situation with Mitchel. Jazz couldn’t bring himself to look anybody in the eye, especially not Savin.
If only Jazz had done more and tried harder to get support for the Resistance, maybe Jordine would have agreed to ally with them after all. It should have been possible to get the support, because who, besides Mitchel himself, truly supported the man as Emperor of Second Earth’s Empire?
Eventually, everyone trudged out of the room, leaving Jazz alone with Savin. He refused to look at the older man, instead staying in his seat and staring at the blank communications panel. Jazz sighed. “What do you want, Savin?” he asked wearily.
Savin walked over to Jazz and put a hand on his shoulder. Jazz tensed at the touch.
“I don’t want anything -- I just wanted to see if you were okay,” Savin murmured.
“I’m fine, Savin -- I just ruined our only chance at an alliance with Jordine,” Jazz muttered,
resolutely looking away from the older man. His eyes began to sting as he bit his lip. “If I had tried harder -- if I hadn’t fucking voted for Mitchel in the first place --”
“What Mitchel’s been doing isn’t your fault, Jazz,” Savin said, gripping Jazz’s chin lightly and forcing him to look at Savin. “Look at me. It is not your fault, okay? None of it is.”
Jazz’s eyes stung worse as he looked at the older man. “But--”
“But nothing,” Savin said.
“It -- it is my fault,” he cried, the words coming out strained.
Savin shook his head. His eyes were sad. “No, it’s not. I wish you could believe me,” he murmured.
Jazz wanted to believe Savin, but he couldn’t. As much as he wished it weren’t true, their situation was his fault. The certainty of that knowledge pressed down on him; there was no doubt in Jazz’s mind. Worse yet, this time he didn’t have any ideas of how to make things better. There wasn’t anyone else who would be likely to make an alliance with them, and Jazz knew of no other way they would have any chance at all.
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written for writerverse Challenge #24 - Weekly Quick Fic #8
next chapter