The Short End: Broken Galaxy Book Four

by Phil Huddleston

  Rachel stood stock still in astonishment. She thought for a moment she had misunderstood.

  “Venus?” she stuttered. “Wh…why…do you want Venus?”

  That’s too damn close to Earth. Bonnie will never agree to this. Nor will the UN. Nor anyone else on Earth.

  “Venus is of no use to Humans. There is nothing on the planet you can utilize with your present level of technology. But we can. You think in terms of years, decades, centuries. We think in terms of millennia.

  “We can build Dyson structures around Venus. Over time, those structures will cool the planet. We can terraform it to be suitable for our use. Within a few centuries, we’ll have a planet perfect for those of us who choose to live on the surface. All without interfering with Earth in any way.”

  Rachel stood in shock.

  I can’t agree to this. But if I don’t…

  If I don’t, we lose this war. And humanity may die. Rita made that clear. She told me to do anything that was required to gain the assistance of the Goblins.

  But if I agree to this…I’ll end up in prison. I’ll be the worst traitor humanity has ever known.

  Trying to buy time, she spoke her first thought - her first objection.

  “But…you’ll block the sunlight! Earth will lose energy!”

  The judge smiled. “Evidently you are not as expert on your own solar system as we are. Venus transits the sun relative to Earth only twice in every 243 years - and then for only six or so hours at a time. All you’ll see from Earth during those transits is an interesting dot moving across your star. You’ll lose virtually no energy at all. In fact, we can easily provide a boost in energy, if you wish to receive more. The technology is simple.”

  “But…why? Why would you even want to be so close to a biological species? And why us?”

  “You are the Human standing before us, asking us to risk our neutrality. So you as a Human must provide the gesture of good faith. As assurance you will not turn on us once this war is done.

  “And for one final reason; something I can tell you only in part, because it is not time to tell you the full story. But there is another enemy to face, distant from us now. They could soon be here. And when they come, it will take every species in the Arm, working together, to fend them off.

  “If we are a distant species from you in those days - 1,275 lights away - you will not remember the help we gave you. Our help in this hour of your need would suddenly be forgotten. You would turn your back on us. Because we are different. It is the biological way.

  “But if we are your neighbors, only one planet away - ah, you won’t be able to run. You’ll have only one choice - fight beside us or become extinct. And then you’ll be glad you did this, Human Rachel. In those future days, you’ll be glad of our help.”

  “And how will you help us? Will you send a fleet?”

  The judge smiled.

  “We have no need of a fleet of warships anymore, Human. Only a few destroyers for patrolling our border. We will send Tika. That will be equivalent to a fleet.”

  Rachel stood in shock.

  One android? They will send one android?

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The other species call us Goblins. Have you not wondered at that name, Human? Have you considered why the ancient biologicals gave us that name?”

  “The legends say you can travel through space without a spaceship. Thus, the ancients had to fortify their ships with many defenses to protect themselves against you.”

  “That is essentially correct, but not for the reasons you probably suspect. We can, under the right conditions, travel through space without a spaceship. But only for short distances, and only under the right conditions. The ancient biologicals never understood that - which is why we survived here in our fortress.”

  “But your Ashkelon - they have forgotten that small detail. You may accept my word for this, Human - Tika is all you will need. She will be equivalent to a fleet. This is the only offer you will receive. Take it or leave it.”

  Rachel thought furiously.

  I’ve got only one chance at this.

  If I say no, then all is lost. We can’t beat the Ashkelon without them.

  And the Ashkelon have made it clear they will wipe Earth clean if they win this war.

  It’s agreement or extinction.

  Forgive me, Earth.

  I have no choice.

  “Agreed,” Rachel spoke loudly. “Venus is yours.”

  Ashkelon System - Planet Deriko

  Battlecruiser Merkkessa

  “She what?” asked Tatiana.

  “She gave them Venus. If I sign the treaty, they get title to Venus,” replied Bonnie.

  “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” Tatiana said in astonishment.

  “Still. There it is. They demanded Venus, and she agreed to it.”

  “She can’t do that,” objected Tatiana. “It’s not hers to give. Venus belongs to the people of Earth!”

  “Does it?” wondered Bonnie. “Mars is independent. Granted, there’s only a few hundred people there. But they declared their independence, and the major powers accepted it. Mainly because they couldn’t do anything about it, but still - a done deal.

  “And by the logic of Earth’s own history, the first people to arrive at a new land claimed it. Of course, they ignored the claims of any who were there first, as long as they could take it at the point of a gun. But…the precedent is still there. If you can get there and claim it, and then hold on to it, it’s yours. Right or wrong, that seems to be the precedent established by Humans.”

  “But they can’t get there and hold on to it before we do. Can they?”

  “Evidently they can. They’ve already launched a mission to land an expedition on Venus. They’ve got some kind of temperature-hardened androids that can survive on the surface. So according to Rachel, they’ll land a team on the surface and plant a flag, take pictures of it, send it to Earth, and claim the planet.”

  “But we can fight them! One nuke and that’s the end of their mission!”

  “Sure. We could do that. And that would be the end of our alliance with them. Not to mention they would probably go over to the Ashkelon and fight against us.”

  Tatiana squinted her eyes in puzzlement and shock. “Wow. Rachel really screwed us on this.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Bonnie thought out loud. “We needed them as allies, and she got that done. So we have sentient androids as neighbors. If they’re good neighbors, then maybe it was the smartest thing we’ve ever done.”

  “But what if they’re bad neighbors? We already know they’ve hated biologicals for centuries. What if this is some kind of ploy? A trick?”

  “There’s always that danger. But…we can still nuke them on Venus if this gets out of hand. I hate to be that cold about it, but we could even let them help us defeat the Ashkelon, then nuke them on Venus. It would be a horrible thing to do; but if they turn out to be a threat, we could do it.”

  “So we have an out…”

  “Sort of. Not one I would ever take, but then again, there are people back on Earth who’d do it in a heartbeat.”

  “So…we’d better ensure they make good allies, and it doesn’t come to that,” said Tatiana.

  Bonnie nodded. “You got that right. Because I’d hate like hell to fight a war against sentient androids with the technology to build a Dyson swarm.”

  Tatiana grimaced. “So what are they sending us? A fleet of battlecruisers would be nice…”

  “Well, that’s the other strange thing,” Bonnie said. “They state they will send us one individual Goblin, by name Tika.”

  Tatiana recoiled in shock. “What? One Goblin? We give them a planet and they send us one Goblin?”

  “They say one Goblin will be equivalent to a battlecruiser fleet if properly used, so that’s all they’re sending. One Goblin.”

  “You can’t sign this treaty. It’s crazy! One Goblin for an entire planet? It m
akes no sense!”

  Bonnie shook her head. “I know it makes no sense on the surface. But I really have little choice. We’re too heavily outnumbered. Even if it’s only a tiny bit of help, we have to take it. And these Goblins are right about one thing - Venus is useless to us. We can’t live there, we can’t mine the minerals, and we can’t use it for anything else.

  “So I’m going to sign the treaty. If by some miracle I survive this next battle, Earth can put me on trial for treason. But quite frankly, I don’t think I’m going to have to worry about that.”

  Thinking about it, Tatiana looked across the room at a picture mounted on the wall opposite. It was an old World War II fighter, a P-51 according to the label. Two women were standing beside it, wearing flight suits, arms around each other’s shoulders. With some shock, Tatiana realized it was Rita and Bonnie.

  I guess the stories about them are true, Tatiana thought.

  “…so it’s time. We can’t stand here alone. I’m relocating the fleet to Dekanna,” Bonnie said.

  Tatiana returned her attention to the conversation. “Oh. Well, I know you must do it. But…what about Deriko? What do you want us to do here after you leave?”

  “I’m going to leave two cruisers behind to protect your orbitals. I don’t think Zukra will attack you. He’ll be focused on chasing us to Dekanna. I think he’ll ignore you for now. He’ll assume he’s going to defeat us at Dekanna, and then have all the time in the world to come back here and dig you guys out.”

  “And he may be right. What if he does win at Dekanna?”

  “Then I suggest you pack all the people you can into the supply ships and get the hell out of here.”

  “Back to Earth?”

  Bonnie shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t recommend it. If we lose at Dekanna, that’s the last place you want to go. Zukra will wipe Earth clean. He won’t leave anyone alive.

  “I would suggest you head out into the galaxy, away from the Arm. Start a new colony someplace, as far away from here as you can get. Because there won’t be any Humans left in the Arm. It’ll be up to you to carry on the species.”

  Sol System - Planet Earth

  Battlecruiser Victory

  “Did you hear?” asked Shigeto. “The EDF fleet is leaving for Dekanna tomorrow.”

  Captain Joshua Westerly of the battlecruiser UNSF Victory stared across his desk at Captain Dewa Shigeto.

  “I heard,” he said, shaking his head. “The war gets farther away from us every day.”

  Shigeto closed his eyes, his face making a frown of anger. Then he opened his eyes again and shook his head.

  “Elliott is an idiot,” he said.

  Westerly grimaced. “You know I don’t like talking about my superiors behind their back.”

  Shigeto leaned forward. “Joshua. Think this through. This battlecruiser was built for the people of Earth. Not for Ken Elliott. And the future of Earth depends on what happens at Dekanna - not here in orbit. Admiral Bonnie Page is leaving for Dekanna. It will be a battle that will decide the fate of our species. The future of every man, woman and child on Earth is a pair of dice bouncing on the tablecloth. Don’t you think your obligation is to the people of Earth?”

  Shigeto leaned back into his chair.

  “Or is it to Ken Elliott, who sits in his office at the top of the UN building kissing his Chinese minder’s ass while Rome burns…”

  Now it was Westerly’s turn to close his eyes and frown. He heaved a large sigh.

  “Dewa, you have a way of putting me in an impossible situation.”

  “There’s nothing impossible about it. Call the captains of the two cruisers. Tell them to prepare for flight. They’ll support you, Joshua. In fact, they’ll be thrilled. Then we tell Ken Elliott to stick it up his ass and head for Dekanna.”

  Westerly shuddered in his turmoil. “That’s mutiny, Dewa. That’s plain and outright mutiny.”

  Shigeto nodded. “You could call it that. Or you could call it saving Earth.”

  “Besides - I’m not sure we could even get there in time. Intelligence is reporting the Nidarians will be leaving for Dekanna any day now. Zukra is forming up his fleet. He won’t be far behind the EDF Fleet.”

  Shigeto gave a nod. “Then we should probably get our ass in gear, don’t you think?”

  Westerly closed his eyes again. Another shudder went through his body. Shigeto saw an honest man wrestling with his conscience - and it was a fierce battle going on inside him. Westerly didn’t move for a full minute. Then he suddenly opened his eyes and spoke to the ship’s AI.

  “Victory, set condition Yellow. Recall all personnel. Prepare to depart for Dekanna in four hours. Inform cruisers Shannon and Vengeance they can join our little expedition or stay here and kiss Elliott’s ass.”

  Shigeto grinned at Westerly.

  “Welcome to the real world, Captain.”

  Westerly stood and reached out a hand to Shigeto, who stood as well. They shook hands, smiling.

  “I hope you brought your seabag, Dewa. We don’t have time for you to go back down and get your things.”

  “Oh, I brought it, Joshua. I was fairly sure I’d need it.”

  At that moment, they were interrupted by a message from the ship AI.

 

  Captain Dewa Shigeto winked at Captain Joshua Westerly. “Told ya,” he said, determined to have the last word.

  Ashkelon System

  Ashkelon Naval Headquarters

  In the holo, Zukra and his aide Damra watched as the Human flagship Merkkessa lifted out of orbit at Deriko, quickly gaining speed as she headed out for the mass limit. She was tended by a screen of four destroyers. Behind her, ship after ship followed, forming up into a long extended elliptical mass of warships, with interlocking fields of fire in case of attack.

  At the end of the Human fleet, allied detachments of Taegu and Bagrami took the place of honor as the rear guard, ensuring the Ashkelon couldn’t come in behind with a surprise attack as they departed the system.

  Zukra glared at Damra, who had presented the hologram to him showing the EDF fleet leaving the system.

  “You’re sure it’s Dekanna?” he asked.

  “Yes, m’lord,” answered Damra. “No doubt about it. A direct course for Dekanna.”

  Zukra cursed. “I didn’t think those animals were that smart,” he fumed. “I assume they’ve worked the numbers correctly?”

  “Aye, m’lord. If we launch a fleet to Earth, they could be here and attack Ridendo before we could get back.”

  “And they could also intercept us at Earth if we tried that.”

  “Yes, m’lord. They could go directly to Earth and arrive shortly after we do. But of course Ridendo would still be uncovered. So they could send a small detachment to bombard Ridendo and the rest of their Fleet could meet us at Earth. We might win the battle at Earth, but we wouldn’t have much of a planet to come back to.”

  “And if we split our fleet, to leave a protective detachment here at Ridendo and took the rest to attack Earth?”

  “They’d have the option to bring their full fleet to attack either one of our detachments. If they brought the full fleet to Earth, they’d most likely wipe us out there. And if they attacked Ridendo, then again, we’d have nothing left to come back to.”

  Zukra stared out the window at the distant spaceport covered in shuttles and small craft and cursed again. Finally he turned back to Damra.

  “Alright, Damra. Prepare the fleet to invade Dekanna. We’ll go wipe out that nest of animals first. Then we can destroy Earth without interference.”

  “Aye, m’lord,” Damra answered.

  “When will we be ready?”

  “Another two weeks, m’lord. We can launch in two more weeks. Then two weeks to Dekanna. We can hit them in a month.”

  Zukra nodded his agreement.

  “Just make sure this time we wipe them out. No more excuses!”

  Chapte
r Sixteen

  Ashkelon System - Planet Ridendo

  City of Mosalia

  “Right there,” said Helen, pointing to the holographic diagram.

  Jim stared. It was a holo of the Ashkelon Empire’s main orbital space dock - a wheel-like structure spanning more than four kilometers, in geosynchronous orbit high above the capital city of Mosalia. Highlighted in the holo was a medical bay, deep in the center of the huge facility.

  “He’s keeping her there?” Jim wondered.

  “Yes. When he discovered she was dying, he moved her from his palace back to the orbital station. We think because he’s trying to keep the masses from knowing she’s dead. He continues to tell the mass media she’s alive and being tortured and giving up vast amounts of intelligence to him.”

  “What an asshole,” Jim muttered.

  “Exactly. Anyway, according to my sources, Rita’s body is in this room right here…”

  Helen pointed to a location deep inside the medical space of the space dock.

  Jim spoke bitterly. “So he keeps her body there as if she is still alive, to fool the masses.”

  “Look like it,” agreed Helen.

  “No way you can get in there, Jim,” Ollie spoke. “That orbital station is plenty secure. Zukra may be stupid, but his Intelligence Chief Orma is not. And the security of that station is Orma’s responsibility.”

  “Then we need a serious distraction,” said Jim.

  Helen looked at Ollie. A smile ghosted across her face.

  “Well, aren’t you lucky. We just happen to have one.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jim saw Ollie grimace as if in pain. “What do you mean?” he asked Helen.

  “How about I blow up their fusion plant while you sneak into medical - is that enough of a diversion?” Helen said gleefully.

  Jim looked at Ollie, who still had a look of pain on his face.

  “Did you sign off on this?” he wondered.

  Ollie rolled his eyes. “Yes. Not too happy about it, though.”

  “I shouldn’t wonder,” Jim said. “Not much chance of success.”

  Helen showed anger. “More chance of success than you getting into that medical facility and out again with Rita’s body!”