The Council of Hhearn Trilogy Box Set

by P F Walsh

  The crew had slipped into the ‘no-space’ drowse, tending to maintenance items or simply lounging. Doris, as usual, spent her time in the gym or cleaning her guns and had long ago agreed to spread a plastic cloth over the dining cabin table to avoid leaving an oil slick.

  Halkt-Bar, the ship’s navigator, and ship’s weapons officer, poured over his star maps as data flowed in on each system. Welkt-Tor the ship’s engineer struggled with understanding the space folding instructions he and Allister found in the advanced ‘seed kit’ from Caerus. Sean spent his time with Nasht-Mer when she wasn’t exercising or practicing her whip in the gym with Doris. He was fascinated that the slightest motions of her wrist could produce repeatable, and accurate reaches of the whip’s deadly tip. Otherwise, he spent hours reading, and rereading, the recovered Mak Journal. All was serene as the ship ran solidly on, as though it was on the ground, except for the low hums that permeated throughout.

  It was ‘dark time’ aboard Discovery, Sean had Allister set the lighting and clock times to an Earth 24 hour standard when Allister announced,

  “Stand by to transition to normal space.” Sean was awake when the soft warning announced, and he slipped out of bed, dressed and headed toward the bridge, catching a cup of coffee along the way. Mother Primitia was already there assumedly sensing the expected change before it happened. Sean strapped himself into the Captain’s chair as the unsettling effects of transition swept through the ship and him. It passed quickly, and he could hear the engines shutting down, shields going up, and thrusters engage as Allister attempted to bring the ship to a stop and shed speed as gently as possible so as not to shake the sleeping crew out of their bunks.

  “We are here.” Whispered Mother Primitia.

  “Mak?” Asked Sean silently.

  “No, this is New Mak.” She answered in his mind.

  “What do you sense?” Asked Sean, knowing that the Sisters could sense a great deal from quite a distance away from the point of focus.

  “I sense confusion, dissatisfaction, anger, fear. Nothing like old Mak. We have much to learn. Be cautious Captain, I sense no open hands here.” She whispered.

  “Allister, dispatch some collectors, let’s find out if we have an occupied world here, and who is on it. Make sure the fleet has shields up and remains silent. No radiating scans, receive only.”

  “Aye Captain, dispatching now.”

  “Also, find us a place to hide. I think it will take us a few days to learn all we can before we let them know we are here.” He ordered.

  The ships began immediately to move on thrusters, toward an asteroid field. In five hours, Allister had them parked in front of the field, and outside of it. Scans from the inner planets would not be able to distinguish the ships from the slowly tumbling rocks behind them. Sean left the bridge and went to the dining cabin to get some breakfast. Doris and Hal were already there roused from their sleep by Allister’s announcement. Both she and Hal were responsible for the ship and crew’s defense and were wide awake.

  “What does it look like Captain?” Doris asked.

  “Don’t know yet, there certainly are a lot of communication signals being radiated, so there is sentient habitation in this system. We believe they are the emigrant descendants from Mak. Allister dispatched some sneaky drones, and Mother Primitia expresses multiple impressions, but none particularly friendly, so we will wait for the collector scans and try to learn how to approach. We didn’t come all this way to just fly away because nobody left the light on.” He said as he filled his plate.

  Two days later, after listening to various broadcasts and the data returned by the collectors, the Discovery crew had at least a superficial picture of the civilization on what was being called ‘New Mak.’ It was still a Monarchy, but one that was oppressive with continuous demands for compliance and service to the Throne. Hints of repressive investigations appeared in the conflicts between the broadcast news and the data brought back by the Collectors. Secret arrests and torture seemed common. Examination of the New Mak Orbital Defense files by the collector revealed the poor state of readiness from their fleet. A shortage of ant-matter fuel had idled most of the commercial and military ships. They were all anchored together at a Lagrange point awaiting the development of anti-matter production which was presently beyond their capability. Most industrial effort was invested in food production. The soil of New Mak was poor and crop yields commensurately so. Lack of good preparation in leaving Mak, the loss of scientists in the journey, and the technical library aboard the Queen’s destroyed ship, had caused them to slip back to a near feudal system as energy cells expired, and new ones could not be made.

  Sean met with the crew and discussed what they had learned,

  “There is potential that our visit will be seen by the Throne as hostile to their control since we have all of the things that they now lack, or have a system to deliver them. We don’t know yet what they might have in trade to acquire these things. If there is not much, the problem becomes more complex since they would become a welfare state to the Council and I am not sure they will survive the threat to being thrust into vassal status almost without consideration.” He said to nodding heads.

  “So what do we do Captain?” Asked Doris.

  “Let’s hear Allister’s report on the planet.” He said.

  Allister began to recite what his collectors had observed. The planet was a multi-season planet because of its orbit. In some regards, Allister felt it was similar to Earth because of the various differences in topology. There were lots of steep mountains, deep forests, and some primitive dense areas. The collectors could see no major settlements at all. The planet was sparsely settled. Most of the undeveloped planet was wild. There were some indications of large wild beasts roaming the plains’ areas. Plenty of water was available through snow packs, streams and lakes. A large ocean was on the other side of the planet with only a small village by its edge.

  “It seems they were ill prepared to settle a new planet. I suspect the crisis of their star becoming unstable suddenly came about, and frightened them to leave quickly. Our finding one ship that was already out of fuel and abandoned was an indicator of that panic to leave. Their political system is a Monarchy. Indications are that it is in control but deeply unliked and not trusted. There are many postings on bulletin boards about missing persons that are never found. I believe we need to approach this planet fully armed and prepared to defend. My collectors did find very large, rich deposits of rare earth just below the top crust. That certainly is a trade possibility but I don’t think they know about it. With an Ocean as large as the one they have; investigation of a sea food export is also a consideration. Basically, it is an untouched world they found and have not made much impact on it for having been there about a hundred years.” He finished.

  “Allister, what is their Orbital Defense?” Sean asked.

  “There are no defense drones or droids. There is one defense ship, a small cruiser in orbit, not much bigger than Discovery. The collectors say it is manned, but on low power ostensibly to conserve what anti-matter and energy cells they have. No weapons were energized, but it was not possible to tell if the ship was passive scanning.” He reported.

  “Mother Primitia, what weapons would they have on board.” He asked silently.

  “Captain, they will have high power lasers and some torpedoes like the ones used on the Queen’s ship. She whispered in his mind.

  “Allister, have you identified the contact frequencies and any approach protocols?” Sean asked.

  “Captain, I have all the frequencies they use. There doesn’t seem to be any one that is used for approach, nor is there a protocol that we could find out. I suggest the one used by the parked Cruiser to contact its base, and to contact them while we have maneuverable space around Discovery.”

  “I agree, but let’s include a half dozen other frequencies. I have a feeling it wouldn’t be smart to have our presence here only known by the Defense Force. They will be obliged to
the Throne, and they may wish to keep our presence a secret. I don’t think in this case that’s a good thing. It is possible we could be the first ships ever to arrive since they got there. It will be a big deal, and may startle their defense team, not to mention the Throne. Remember that we are an extraordinarily valuable item. There are certain to be discussions on how to take our ship from us.”

  “Shall we bring the fleet with us then?” Doris asked.

  “No, let’s keep the fleet out of short scan range but within response range. Arriving with a fleet, puts us at an advantage, and I prefer equal footing. They are more likely to reveal their true stance to our arrival more fully if they do not feel threatened. Copy the fleet in on our knowledge of New Mak so far Allister. They need to know the risks we will be taking.” He ordered.

  “Aye Captain, Sending now.”

  “Comment anyone?” Sean asked the assembled crew. They shook their heads negatively as Sean looked at their faces.

  “OK, then. It’s night there now. Let’s move Discovery closer in about six hours so we can be seen when we contact them in the morning, this will give us a closer look for a few hours while it’s dark. Allister, send a collector around the planet to make sure there are no other ships, and send one to monitor the other side of the existing cruiser as we approach. It can get closer to pick up sounds within the cruiser. Their attention will all be on us once we get close.” He ordered.

  “Aye Captain” Acknowledged Allister.

  “Everyone not on duty should get a few hours of sleep. Once we announce ourselves, things may get exciting. Keep in mind, this is a Monarchy. Laws are made by declaration.” Sean said.

  The crew and the Sisters dispersed except Nasht-Mer,

  “That rest should include you Captain.” She said as she took his hand and drew him toward their cabin, anticipating that he would spend the time watching and planning.

  Three hours before dawn, above the main City of New Mak the Discovery quietly slid into an approach position with shields up and parked.

  As dawn broke across the City and life began to stir, Discovery broadcast a message in the language of Mak,

  “Attention New Mak, this is Explorer and Diplomatic ship Discovery. We are requesting approach instructions and full diplomatic accord. We request permission for a diplomatic shuttle to land and meet with your officials.”

  On Caerus,

  “Gentleman, my name is Colonel Mel Kaplan. Welcome to Caerus Station. If you were like me, hanging around letting your rifle get rusty, you’ll be glad to have something exciting and meaningful to do. What we have here is an alien world of unknown age. It is fully functional, full of possibly dangerous things we do not yet understand, and mechanically run by an artificial intelligence called ‘Central’ who answers to Artie Fields the Station manager. The intention is that this will be a research center for science and medicine.” He announced.

  He was dressed in his new uniform with the Caerus Station logo, facing the row of twenty-five men and three women standing at ease in front of him at the Hotel LaGrange on Caerus Station. This roster was all retired decorated military. Mostly Seals or Rangers who were single and were anxious for a new assignment to break up the loneliness and boredom of retirement. For all, this was their first trip into space on a US Starship. The President had made a few calls on Sean’s behalf and passed on the list of recommended staffers for Security duty on Caerus station. All except for five, eagerly accepted the invitation to recruit.

  “You may come under the impression that watching a bunch of nerds pot about trying to figure out how things work will be without much concern. You would be wrong. This entity is extremely valuable, and all its contents are classified. That means, no discussion of anything about this place is to leave here. All communications will be monitored and censored when necessary. You will sign on for a one-year tour, renewable. We will enforce the non-disclosure agreement you signed before lifting off from Earth. This is our new Area 51.” He said looking at each face as he went down the row.

  “There are several hostile countries that will be extremely interested in stealing the secrets that lay all over the place here. Some will send their best tactical teams to infiltrate, and kill some of you that are caught unawares. Some will attempt to destroy it by violent means. Our biggest burden is getting bored, and not see it coming. We are located beyond what other countries can reach that do not have starships, but we are not beyond reach of a silent nuclear missile to deny us the benefits of what we have here.”

  “Our initial sharing will be with the British. All scientists and Doctors will be vetted, but there is always the one who wants to slip a tidbit or two to line their pockets or serve as spies, so part of our job will be working with the retired intelligence officers who will be coming aboard later this week” He stood there looking at their faces, and then continued.

  “Anyone who doesn’t want to get rowdy when shit happens can leave without any disgrace or criticism. You are, after all, retired, but I suspect you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t long for the smell of gun oil in the morning.” He smiled and continued,

  “We have recruited three lieutenants. Each of them will draw for a shift that will be rotated every three months. They will be in charge of setting up a security rotation for patrol and manning the security center. Let’s get you squared in quarters, kited out with uniforms, and weapons. We will have orientation in the morning. Grab your bags and follow me.” Colonel Kaplan turned and walked into Hotel LaGrange. The men and three women followed.

  The next morning after breakfast they pulled all the tables together and Colonel Kaplan began,

  “The first item on the list for today is to clean your weapons. Each one of you has received the weapon you were assigned in the military. If you have a preference for another, see me today after dinner.” He said.

  “The second item is to examine all the maps I passed out. These were printed out by Central and are accurate. They cover this city and the planet. Each of the three groups assigned to a lieutenant will have two days to plan and detail an assault on this planet and city with intentions to hold long enough to loot and plunder its secrets and escape. Attached to the plans are the defense systems of the planet.” He said, and added, “Get to work.”

  Two days later as they gathered for dinner, the Colonel spoke,

  “I have looked over your assault plan and I am convinced you all know what you’re doing. Two were similar, but one was different. I want you to exchange plans so you can read what the other team had in mind. Now, these are only two plans, and we all know how that stuff goes. The point is, you now know what spots are vulnerable, and which obvious ones we have to protect and watch. Those locations will be our beginning points for policing and protecting this Station. Each Lieutenant will draw up patrol and staffing to detect and rebuff that assumed assault. After we have a working system, we will go from there based on future threat assessments and plan refinement. Never stop thinking about how someone could infiltrate. All our lives may depend on it.” He dismissed the team for dinner call.

  The Hhearn Senior Councilor was getting a news update from his aid,

  “He did what?”

  “He moved a whole planet forty-two light years to Earth’s Solar system, sir.”

  “Zom’s Balls! Is that even possible?’ The Senior Councilor asked.

  “Apparently it is for Captain Flynn sir.” The Senior Councilor’s aid responded after receiving Sean’s latest drone report to the Council.

  “He is calling it Caerus Station, sir, under total ownership by a company founded in partnership with Duchess Nasht-Mer.”

  “That’s remarkable. Captain Flynn continues to amaze me, in fact all of the Earth people I’ve met seem so full of energy. It was a very good move for Hhearn to have them as Council members. Look at the changes here in our city in just the last year. Two new gorgeous buildings built by the twin worlds we didn’t even know about two years ago, an outdoor music festival shell under construction
. Even my Mate is so busy now with preparations and planning for the next State Ball. Earth fashion shops, and of course The Top of The World Restaurant upstairs. Have you had dinner there yet?”

  The Councilor asked.

  “No Sir, it’s hard to get reservations.” Hekt-Lar, his aid said.

  “Well keep trying. It’s definitely worth it.”

  “Now, what was the big panic at the hospital all about? I could hear the howls of the Rules Enforcement landcars heading there yesterday.”

  “That was an emergency caused by another Earth person sir.”

  “Who? What now?”

  “A seriously injured Zakarian Warrior was brought in with life-threatening blood loss from being struck by a truck. The Earth Cultural Attaché Maejel Tripperty transfused her blood to save his life.”

  “What? They will kill her and the hospital staff for doing that!”

  “Yes sir, the Zakarian father arrived with his dagger drawn ready to kill several people and he was stood down by Ms. Tripperty!”

  “What? Hekt-Lar, what are you talking about? Once they become enraged, no one stops them without a stun gun set on high.”

  “According to the witnesses, she drew the injured Zakarian’s sword and stood ready for battle when the father stood down and conceded the challenge. The rumors were, that the son had made her a blood sister last week for giving him the sword which was from Earth and can cut like no other.”

  “Maejel is definitely a Zakarian blood sister then?”

  “Yes sir. I am told the witnesses were so stunned at her courage; they were speechless.” The Councilor began to laugh,

  “I should say so. Bravo! Remarkable woman. She’s a credit to both our worlds. Set up a luncheon next week with her so I can get the story first hand. Now, has that Hhearn woman accepted the new Duchy?” He asked.