“Yes, Run Point.” The Admiral agreed quickly and started to relax. It appeared he was going to escape punishment. “What are your orders?”
“Do you have any idea where those missiles were launched from?”
“There’s a minor Iidx base across the channel on the mainland, your Excellency,” replied S’Cal. “It’s where the first attack originated. Although we didn’t see the missiles launch that seems to be the likely launch point. As I said it’s a minor base and isn’t scheduled to be destroyed until Phase Three begins.”
“An exception to the timetable is authorized,” announced S’Cinf. “The Iidx have to learn that attacking the Kthpok or our facilities will be met with overwhelming force. Use a nuclear missile and eliminate that base!”
“One missile, Run Point,” repeated the Admiral, saluted and turned to leave.
S’Cinf stopped him. “One more item, Fleet Admiral. I’ll want a damage report for our surface base as soon as possible,” he ordered.
S’Cal dipped his head to acknowledge the orders. “Yes, your Excellency. One missile and a damage report,” he said. “It will be done!” Then the Admiral left the Conference room.
It was just mid-morning as Rian and Forst followed Lieutenant Regul and the rest of the Swarm up a steep slope towards a ridge. They were climbing into a pass between two mountain peaks. Once on the other side they’d steer to the right and head straight for their mountain.
“That was amazing,” said Rian for the tenth time that day. This had been an ongoing, never ending topic for the Lieutenant since they’d watched the attack yesterday. “Those missiles came in, following the contours of the terrain,” he added. While continuing to walk he moved his true-hands mimicking the flight of the missiles. His false-hands parted the bushes to ease his path.
“Whoever dreamed up technology like that is a genius! Those weapons flew in; confused the Kthpok scanners then hit their target without endangering a single Iidx. And doing all that from long distance.” He threw out his true-arms in admiration. “That’s accuracy!”
Rian abruptly stopped his verbal replay of the event and turned to Forst. “Why didn’t the Colonel use those missiles in the first attack?” the Lieutenant asked as both Iidx halted beside the moss covered trunk of a large tree. His antennae began to droop at the thought. “We lost a lot of good people that didn’t need to die.”
The Captain gave a sigh and nodded. “We lost a lot of good people,” he agreed. “They were brave and did their duty. Unfortunately, those cruise missiles weren’t available when we went in. They were experimental and hadn’t been tested yet. No one below Swarm Command even knew about the weapons. And it’s obvious the Kthpok weren’t aware of them. Since we hadn’t regained contact with the Swarm Master he couldn’t have told us they existed before we attacked. But as soon as contact was re-established and the Swarm Master learned what we’d done he notified Colonel Levron of their existence. He ordered the missiles we watched shipped to Levron.”
At a nod from the Captain both Iidx resumed walking. They climbed up the slope, crossed over the crest and started down the opposite side. Ahead of them was a break in the jungle that gave them a wonderful view of the green canopy leading to the coast. On the far side of the clearing Lieutenant Regul and the rest of the Swarm were disappearing into the trees. Beyond the jungle was the oceans blue expanse separating them from the continent. To their right in the distance was the hazy purple outline of their mountain.
Forst paused to look over the strait to where their home base was. He wondered if they’d ever get back to civilization or if their civilization would even survive. Turning away from the view he went to speak to Rian who’d stopped to enjoy the view as well.
A sudden flash of light rivalled the sun. Rian gave a cry of pain and raised his true-hands to shield his eyes. The Captain kept his back to the source until the brightness began to dim. Then he whirled around to see the fading glare was coming from the far side of the strait.
A moment later Regul appeared at the edge of the clearing. “What was that?” he called. When the two pilots didn’t answer he scuttled back up the slope. “Now,” began the Lieutenant turning to look in the same direction that Forst was staring, “what’s so…int…rest…ing?” By now the glare had faded to be replaced with a small roiling, black cloud on the horizon heading skyward on a column of smoke.
“What is…?” Regul’s question tapered off as the realization hit.
“I don’t think the Kthpok liked us dropping missiles on them,” said Forst.
“We’ve got to get back to the cave!” said Regul taking one of Forst’s arms to urge him forward. “We have to find out what happened.”
“I think it’s obvious what happened,” was Forst’s somber reply as he watched the distant mushroom cloud.
By this time the rest of the Swarm were crowded around the three Iidx on the hillside clamoring to know what had happened. But their questions were ignored. The Lieutenant turned to Navaj, Jerah and Fairron. “We have to get back to our cave!” he said. “We don’t have time for delays and we go by the shortest way possible. We’ll have to chance running into a Kthpok patrol.”
The three Iidx nodded their valentine-shaped heads in understanding. Then Navaj gestured at Rian who was whimpering and pawing at his eyes. “What happened to the Lieutenant?” he asked.
“Flash burn,” replied Forst. “He was looking in the wrong direction when the weapon detonated.”
“Weapon?” wondered Fairron.
“Weapon,” confirmed Regul. “The Kthpok have started dropping nuclear missiles on us.”
The antennae on the Ranger’s head began to quiver. “Nuclear missiles?” he repeated. “The radiation…,” then his antennae took on a firm stance. “The Kthpok have much to answer for.”
All the Iidx nodded their agreement. “They do,” confirmed Regul. “It may come after much sacrifice and suffering, but they will answer!” At his gesture the Swarm resumed their trek back to their hive.
Forst moved over to take of one of Rian’s arms. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll help you until you get your eyesight back.”
S’Cinf sat on his perch in the Center Room of his flagship staring at the planet shown on the main view screen. The brilliant dot of light which had appeared on the east coast of the main continent a moment before was starting to fade. “Report!” he called.
Admiral S’Cal left his station and walked over to stand next to the Run Point. After flashing a smart salute he gestured at the screen. “Your Excellency, that flash of light was our weapon obliterating the Iidx base that fired missiles against our facility on Tarren Island,” he announced. “It will no longer threaten that facility or anything else for that matter.”
“Good,” returned the Run Point and craned his neck around to look at the Admiral. “I approved the use of a nuclear weapon against that base. How effective were the Iidx defenses?”
“There were none, sir. The missile was set up to detonate immediately if a hit by a laser pulse or counter-missile was imminent. That wasn’t needed. Our telemetry shows the weapon detonated on impact with the surface. If they tried any ECM it didn’t work.”
“If I remember correctly you told me earlier this was a minor installation,” commented S’Cinf. His tail gave slow flips as he contemplated. “The Iidx may not have installed adequate defenses.”
“Yes Run Point. That seems to be the case here as our EW techs didn’t have to deal with anti-missile fire.” He shook his head in disbelief. “There weren’t any missiles or lasers; not like the major bases we attacked earlier. Although this base was destroyed with ease the larger bases and cities that remain will have better defenses.”
“The strength of the Iidx defenses is no longer relevant,” announced the Kthpok leader with a decisive twitch of his tail. “Our conquest of this planet is assured.” He swung back to look at the planet framed in the screen and missed the Admiral’s look of shock and surprise. “We’ll deal with their defense
s when the time comes,” S’Cinf continued. “Now I want to know how much damage our facility sustained.”
“Yes, Run Point.” S’Cal said and paused to consult a pad. “The data transmitted by the base commander shows the Iidx launched five missiles,” he announced in a flat tone. “One was in the lead with four following. The lead weapon detonated early and spread a chaff cloud. Since our scanners couldn’t penetrate the metallic cloud the remaining weapons came in unopposed.” He looked up and bobbed his head. “Their plan was brilliant and their execution flawless!”
S’Cinf turned an angry eye on S’Cal. “I didn’t ask for a critical review of their tactics, Fleet Admiral,” he said and the officer flinched. “I want to know what damage they caused to our base!”
“Yes your Excellency!” S’Cal said and ducked his head in submission. “You have my apologies. All four weapons were targeted on a specific sector of our base. While they weren’t nukes the missiles destroyed the entire manufacturing section.”
“What about the building for the special weapons?” asked S’Cinf. His tail went rigid then began twitching. “That was in the manufacturing section. And the scientists? They were supposed to be in the building working on preparing more weapons.”
“All gone,” replied S’Cal in somber tones. “That was the first place the SAR went to. They confirmed there were no survivors.”
The Run Point’s tail stopped twitching and he gave a sharp look at the Admiral. “What’s our inventory of the Anti-personnel nuclear weapons?” he asked.
Once again the Admiral checked his pad. “The last shuttle brought up five new weapons,” he replied. “That brings the total of available APN’s to eleven.”
The Run Point blinked at the news. “Eleven,” he mused. “There are more untouched Iidx cities and bases than that.” He gave a snort and shrugged. “Well, I guess that number’ll have to be reduced. Take out the smaller cities and all the bases, Admiral. Reserve the cities with critical resources for the APN’s.”
S’Cal made a few notes on his pad. “With your permission, Run Point, I’ll assign targets to the ships of the fleet. This fire mission will provide an excellent drill for our gunnery people.” He placed the pad in a harness pouch and moved for his post but kept talking. “The targets will be of low priority and have few defenses. That would be in keeping with your plan to drive the Iidx into high population centers.” The Run Point bobbed his head in an almost careless motion, his attention being drawn back to the planet shown in the screen.
The Admiral was almost to his station when S’Cinf called him back. “There’s just one more item, Fleet Admiral,” the Run Point announced when S’Cal had returned to stand next to him. “You mentioned that the Iidx struck one section in our surface facility: The manufacturing sector.” The officer nodded his agreement. “Doesn’t that seem odd?” the Run Point asked. “Why would the Iidx hit just one area and not the whole base? Their first attack wasn’t concentrated but tried to do as much damage possible to the whole complex.”
A thoughtful look came over the admiral’s face as he pondered the puzzle the Run Point had presented. With the Kthpok ruler following S’Cal moved over to the Battle Plot and looked at the icons showing the fleet formation. Reaching out a hand he called the image of the surface facility to the plot. “This latest Iidx attack concentrated on the manufacturing sector,” he said to himself as he stared at the image. “Why did they select that area? How did they know that area was so important to us? It’s almost…” He stopped talking to look at the Run Point as the revelation came. “It’s almost as if they had someone watching,” he completed.
S’Cinf nodded his agreement. “The downed pilot,” he said.
“Records show a craft came across the strait from the base we just destroyed, stayed a very short time then left,” explained S’Cal. “Our Analysts concluded that was when the Iidx picked up the pilot.” He gave a shrug of his tail then continued. “We suspected they’d left someone on the island. The base commander sent out patrols to look for Iidx but didn’t find anything.”
“Perhaps the Iidx did more than retrieve their pilot as was originally thought,” suggested the Kthpok leader. “They could have delivered a trained spotter or pack of spotters to the island; someone experienced in evasion. It is a big island after all and they’re familiar with the place. They’d know where to hide.”
“Ah,” breathed S’Cal. “After seeing this latest attack I’d say that’s exactly what they did.” He pulled out his pad again and began keying in more notes. “In order to conduct a more comprehensive sweep of the island the garrison will need more personnel. I’ll have them sent down immediately and the search initiated.”
Swarm Master Zelof waited in the main Conference Room deep inside Refuge and stared at the two data pads lying on the table. The pad closest to him contained a number of reports from Colonel Levron. One report described the attack by aircraft on the Kthpok surface complex and the results. While they’d lost most of the craft which had been sent out one bright spot remained: An observation Swarm had been landed. Some of the reports in the pad had come from those observers and described their hive of operations in a system of caverns near the islands west coast.
When he’d learned of the caves that sparked a thought and Zelof had ordered an extensive search of all databases. To his relief it was confirmed that there was no record of caverns on Tarren Island. And that meant the Kthpok wouldn’t know of their existence.
With the Kthpok Swarm in orbit Zelof knew there wasn’t much chance of the Iidx keeping their planet. Their only hope was for the Kthpok to grow tired of the attempt of conquest, recognizing the damage they’d have to do to the planet and leave the system. The Swarm Master gave a derisive shake of his antennae. With the Kthpok successes to date there wasn’t much chance of that happening so, in order for his people’s long term survival, there needed to be a new plan. It was the cavern system on Tarren Island which would figure prominently in the Swarm Master’s new plans.
The last report on that particular pad was not from Colonel Levron but the commander of the battalion sent to reinforce Levron. They were to take ten more cruise missiles to be fired at the Kthpok base. According to the Lieutenant Colonel they’d been delayed in picking up the missiles. There was a parts issue in the factory which had halted production for two days.
The reinforcements were a hundred miles away from their destination when an advance scout reported seeing the flash and mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion rising ahead of them. A short time later the battalion’s commanding officer learned that the base he was heading for had been obliterated by a nuclear weapon.
Zelof shook his antennae with grim amusement. It seemed the Kthpok had been irritated by something.
The sound of the conference room door opening cut through the Swarm Master’s thoughts. He looked up in time to see his Second usher the two Queens into the room.
“I can’t believe his audacity!” he heard Krissen, the junior Queen, exclaim to Queen Dahoni. “There was no consultation, no requests. He just enters my room without permission and orders me to pack for a long journey. Then,” she huffed, “then he orders me here! This is getting out of hand, your Highness. Males don’t give commands to a Queen! We have got to do something about this!”
Zelof gave no sign he’d heard the comments but scooped up the two pads from the table with a false-hand then stood to face the Queens. He gestured at the saddles that surrounded the table. “Please find a place around the table Queen Dahoni, Queen Krissen. We’ll begin as soon as you’re ready.”
Krissen gave a disapproving wave from her fluffy antennae as Dahoni, the senior Queen, found a position next to the Swarm Master. Then the junior Queen settled onto a saddle next to her while Sesum moved over to stand next to the Swarm Master who’d gone back to his saddle.
“We are ready, Swarm Master,” announced Dahoni in a regal tone. “You may begin your briefing.”
Zelof nodded his acknowledgement then looked
at the junior Queen. “Queen Krissen,” he said. “Did I hear that you’re packed and ready to go?”
The Queen struck a regal pose. “I am neither packed nor ready,” she announced in icy tones. “Why would I want to do that?”
Zelof stared at the problem female as he stifled the urge to say ‘Because I told you to!’ When he was sure his irritation was hidden he spoke. “Your Highness, a swarm is being assembled to escort you to a new hive.”
“Escort me?” Krissen bristled. “I am not moving from Queen Dahoni’s side!” Her antennae took on an adamant pose. “Nor am I leaving this facility,” she said.
The Swarm Master was just starting to reply when Queen Dahoni put a false-hand on Krissen’s thorax and spoke. “I am not desirous of losing your company either, Queen Krissen,” she told her junior. “But before issuing a royal decree or rejecting the council of the Swarm Master we should at least listen to the reasons behind his proposal.” She inclined her head to indicate Zelof. “After all he was the lone voice in the dark that warned us of Kthpok treachery. He also prepared this refuge that may well prove the salvation of our people.”
Krissen let her antennae twitch in frustration at the idea of having to take council from a male. Nevertheless, accepting the direction of her senior, she gave a nod to signal her willingness to listen.
At Dahoni’s gesture Zelof told of the base on the coast nearest the Kthpok enclave. He explained that the Colonel commanding the base had ordered an attack on Tarren Island while the Kthpok were in space destroying the Iidx fleet. The attack had experienced heavy casualties in return for minor damage. But an observer swarm had been left on the island to watch the Kthpok.
Betrayal Page 43