by Saxon Andrew
Grady laughed, “You have a good memory, Admiral. Are you in charge now?”
Martov remembered the beautiful woman sitting next to the man and she was just as beautiful as he remembered. “I guess you can say that. The one that’s really in charge is the Dictator.”
“So, you can’t make any life or death decisions?” Grady asked.
“If you mean can I speak for Earth, I cannot.”
“Well, you should get the Dictator involved in this conversation.”
“Are you the one that destroyed the warships surrounding Earth?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. If you don’t want your ships surrounding Earth destroyed, you should get him on the channel.”
Martov looked at his communication officer and said, “Patch the Dictator into this conversation and have it broadcast to every ship in the fleet.”
A moment later, the Dictator appeared on the display and he was screaming, “I’M ORDERING YOUR EXECUTION IMMEDIATELY! YOU’RE A DEAD MAN!!”
“Is he always this dramatic?” Taffy asked.
Martov couldn’t stop a laugh and replied, “Pretty much.” The Dictator heard Taffy’s question and jerked his eyes to the huge wall monitor in the Council Chamber.
Taffy stared at the Dictator and shook her head, “You can ruin your voice screaming like that.”
Grady stifled a laugh and the Dictator yelled, “WHO IN THE HELL ARE YOU?”
Taffy turned to Grady, “You’re right; I should watch my language. Do I look that ridiculous when I talk that way?”
Grady turned to her, “Yes, you do but you’re a lot better looking than him. That does soften it some.”
“You’re too sweet, honey.”
The Dictator listened to the back and forth and stopped talking. Grady turned from Taffy to him and his expression turned deadly, “I was just telling the Admiral that you’re planning to execute that it was my forces that destroyed the alien fleet surrounding Earth.”
“Why did you do that, and just who are you?” the Dictator demanded.
“My forces are made up of warships from the three colonies that left Earth thousands of years ago. The original planets the three colony ships landed on have been destroyed but we’ve survived and colonized other planets. We are currently at war with what you call the Core Civilization and that’s why I destroyed the fleet they sent here; it was done to reduce their forces. However, we now have to decide whether or not we’re going to allow Earth to survive.”
“I’ll have you destroyed for even suggesting that!” the Dictator said sternly.
Grady saw the Earth Admiral roll his eyes and he again fought a smile. “Do you think you can stop it?”
Taffy started jumping up and down in her chair saying, “LET ME SHOW HIM, PLEASE LET ME SHOW HIM!!” Martov and the Dictator were shocked by Taffy’s request and they saw Grady nod. Taffy picked up her communicator and said, “Maranda, if you please!!” Taffy turned to Martov and smiled, “I recommend you keep an eye on…wait a minute.” Taffy looked at her console and then looked up, “At the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Maranda!”
Martov saw the Pacific Ocean appear on one of his wall monitors. He was glad he didn’t have to order it; his crew was listening to the exchange. Suddenly, a giant white-hot beam shot out of empty space above Earth, blew through the blaster barrage surrounding Earth, barely missing two Defense Platforms, before hitting the open ocean. The resulting explosion on the ocean’s surface could be seen from orbit.
Martov turned to Captain Sato and saw his eyes were wide open in fear. Martov didn’t have to ask how powerful that beam was. Martov looked at the woman clapping her hands and said over the fleet frequency, “All ships will cease firing the blaster barrage.”
The Dictator heard him and said loudly, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!”
Martov shook his head and said softly, “Supremacy, that beam could destroy every ship in my fleet and hit any target they choose on Earth’s surface. It originated far outside the range of my blasters. Continuing the barrage is wasted energy and effort.” Martov turned to Grady, “What are your demands?”
“WHO ARE YOU TO ASK FOR DEMANDS!!” the Dictator shouted.
Martov ignored him, “What do we have to do to prevent you destroying our planet?”
“Earth will be the first planet destroyed. I have the locations of your two-hundred Colonies and they will die right behind you.” Grady nodded toward the Dictator sitting in the middle of the ten Councilors, “The first thing you’ll have to do is that your Dictator will be exiled from Earth and never be allowed to return.”
The Dictator came out of his chair and started cursing Grady at the top of his voice. Grady listened and heard Taffy say, “That clinches it, I will clean up my language!” Grady nodded and continued to wait for the Dictator to run down. Finally the Dictator yelled, “MARTOV, YOU WILL LAUNCH EVERY DEFENSE PLATFORM AND ATTACK THAT ENEMY NOW!!”
Martov knew this was a direct order and he picked up his communicator to issue the attack orders. Then he remembered Admiral Katherine Rice that was executed by this Dictator after a great victory simply because he didn’t like what she said about one of his relatives. Even Supreme Admiral Jennings was executed for no good reason by him. Martov stared at the Dictator and said calmly, “Supremacy, my duty is to defend Earth and ensure the safety of our warships and the warriors flying them. I will not attack the ones that just saved Earth from destruction and I will not throw away the lives of my sailors to defend your cowardly life.”
The Dictator almost turned blue before screaming again but everyone heard a woman sitting to the Dictator’s far right say, “I think that’s enough. Major Rose, it’s time!”
Everyone in the Council Chamber turned to the woman as an armored Guard walked up behind the Dictator and placed a blaster to his head. He pulled the trigger and the Dictator’s head vaporized. He then turned to the woman sitting beside him and killed her as well. The Councilors were shocked speechless, and the woman looked up at the monitor, “I trust that meets your requirement that the Dictator be removed.”
Martov, Grady, and Taffy were shocked speechless at what transpired and Grady finally managed to say, “I’m forced to say that it does. What exactly are you doing?”
The woman turned to the Major, “If anyone says a word, kill them.”
“Yes, Councilor!” the Major replied.
The woman turned back to the monitor, “A group of us have been planning to overthrow the Dictator for years but haven’t had the right opportunity to do it. It’s clear if we were going to act, our time has run out.”
“Do you think you can get away with this?” Taffy asked.
“That is going to be up to Admiral Martov.”
Martov’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean by that?”
“You control the military. Whoever has that control, rules Earth.”
“I have no desire to rule Earth!” Martov responded firmly.
“You have no choice, Admiral. My group will handle the political side of things, but you will play a role in making the critical decisions on Earth’s future.”
Grady listened to them and his eyes narrowed as he said, “The days of Earth being ruled by a dictator are over. The people of Earth will be freed from their imprisonment!”
The woman looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. She looked at Martov and said, “For someone smart enough to destroy the alien fleet he’s really quite stupid, isn’t he?”
“Please don’t make him angry, Amy. He can still destroy Earth! Martov instantly responded.
“But you must agree that he obviously hasn’t thought this through!”
Martov shrugged and Grady asked, “Do you agree with her?” Martov raised a shoulder and then nodded, “I do. You don’t know what you’re asking.”
Grady glared at them and sat back and said sarcastically, “Please educate me in the error of my ways.”
“Several thousand years ago, the Dictator was overthrown, and freedom was declared f
or the planet. Do you know what happened?” Grady shook his head. “Within six months, a new Dictator was elected, and things didn’t change.”
“Why not?” Taffy asked.
“The people on Earth have been ruled by a dictator for thousands of years. The government provides them work, a place to live, food, and all the other necessities of life. The prospect of losing that terrified the population back then and it would happen the same way now,” Amy answered. “The people of Earth and our colonies must be slowly acclimated to freedom in small steps. Removing the travel restrictions would be a good place to start, followed by lowering taxes giving the population more money to spend. That would prompt them to go outside their local areas to spend their new wealth. Eventually, they would never accept being restricted to a small area. But this must be done in small steps.”
Martov asked, “Are you planning to assume the role of Dictator?”
“Or you can do it! But the council that would be chosen to assist in ruling Earth would have the power to control me, or you, or anyone else chosen to replace the former Dictator.”
“I will not accept the position!” Martov stated firmly.
“But you will be part of the Council, Admiral!” Amy responded.
Martov sighed, “I guess I could do that. But I may not live long enough to do it?”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Why not?!” Grady asked.
Martov turned to him on the display, “If what you said is true about taking the war to the Core Aliens…”
Grady interrupted, “It is.”
“Then I will be taking my Defense Platforms with you.”
“WHOA!!” Grady instantly replied.
Martov held up a hand, “You know that once the fleet you just destroyed doesn’t report in, they will be coming back here, right?” Grady nodded. “Then it is in both of our best interests that we do this together. The aliens may not know where you live but they do know Earth’s location. We’re fortunate they never discovered our colonies but I’m sure they’ll start a search if Earth is destroyed.”
“But your Defense Platforms can’t stand up to them, Admiral.”
“Even if all of them are destroyed, they give you a better chance of winning. We will act as shock ships to get you through their defenses.”
“Sir, I think they can make a bigger difference than you think.” Grady saw RJ appear on the display and tilted his head. “Sir, what if we replaced the blaster barrels on their defense platforms with one, we construct.”
“What?”
RJ asked, “Admiral, how many reactors do you use to power your blasters?”
“Twenty; they can’t handle any more than that before melting,” Martov replied.
“How many could you connect?”
“A hundred are available.”
Grady’s eyes flew wide open and RJ smiled, “Sir, if we built a barrel a hundred yards long, they could connect a hundred reactors to it. Think about what that could do to our chances against the Britannia Aliens.”
“RJ, you’re suggesting we provide Earth technology that would make their ships more powerful than any in our forces! You know Earth is an aggressive, conquering civilization! The Colonies and I would never agree to that!”
“Sir, they’re not as dangerous to us as you believe.”
“Why not?”
“As long as you can destroy their Defense Platforms, they do not represent a danger to us. Even with the new barrels, we could destroy them at will,” RJ replied.
“But…”
RJ interrupted him, “You heard the Admiral say he would not attack us because we prevented Earth’s destruction. You also heard him say he was willing to sacrifice all of his ships to improve our chances of success against the aliens. He said these things without duress, and I believe that Earth is undergoing a big change.”
Amy spoke up, “Earth’s days of going out in conquest end today. I can tell you with certainty that Earth does not represent a danger to your civilization. Admiral Martov, do you agree?”
Martov was silent for a long moment and then sighed, “I think I’ve seen that conquest only leads to your own destruction. Having allies to defend each other is far more important than conquering other worlds.”
“But how do I know I can trust you?!” Grady asked.
RJ quickly said, “We don’t have to trust them, Grady! They have to trust us not to destroy them.” Grady looked at Martov and saw him nod. RJ continued, “Grady, the conflict at the core is not going to go as smoothly as it did here?”
“Why not?”
“The new command system won’t function efficiently on a wide-open front. The upcoming battle is going to include thousands of light years of space and it will be won by the crews, not this new command system,” RJ answered. “It was developed for this battle alone to prevent the loss of our forces and it served its purpose.”
Grady stared at RJ and said, “You’ve been planning to include Earth in the war from the start, haven’t you?”
“I was hoping it was possible,” RJ answered. “It’s time humanity came together again in peace and harmony. All of us are fighting for humanity’s survival now and it’s way past time for us to grow up and come together.”
Grady looked at Admiral Martov and asked, “Admiral, when I led you to the Core Aliens years ago, why didn’t you send ships down to Britannia to enslave the survivors?”
Martov’s expression showed his disgust, “We do not enslave our own!! I didn’t send ships down to Britannia because every ship was needed to prevent the aliens from coming back and killing the survivors. We had no idea how many warships they had, and I failed; the aliens eventually attacked Britannia.”
“How can you say that when the people on Earth are little more than slaves?” Grady asked.
Amy spoke up, “If you asked any person on Earth if they are slaves or prisoners, what do you think their response would be?” Grady stared at her and was silent. Amy waited a moment and then continued, “All of them would say they are free to do what they choose and have a government that protects and cares for them. They don’t know any difference between real freedom and their current lives.”
“How do you know the difference?” Taffy quickly asked.
Amy looked at her, “My ancient ancestors left on the Colony ships. But they left a record with one that chose to stay behind of what it was like to live in the free nations that launched the colony ships. That record has been passed down from generation to generation and I am the current keeper of it. My chosen destiny has always been to return Earth to that vision one day.”
Taffy smiled and looked at Grady, “I like her. She reminds me of me.”
Grady rolled his eyes and turned to RJ, “Even if we wanted to do this, there’s no way we have the time to convert their ships before the aliens return with a fleet.”
Maranda suddenly appeared on the monitor, “I think I might have an answer for that, Grady.” Everyone on the display turned to the new image and Maranda said, “We’ve collected five of the alien message probes that were undamaged, and I can launch one a month telling the aliens that all is going well.”
“You can’t speak in the alien’s accent, Maranda!”
“No, I can’t, Grady. But we’ve intercepted enough of their communications for our computer to put the message into the probe. It might not work but it’s worth trying.”
Grady looked at Taffy, “I can’t make this decision. I trust your judgment and it’s up to you to decide.” Taffy stared at Grady and he said softly, “This is not a head decision; it’s a heart decision and I trust your heart.”
Taffy stared at him and then turned to Admiral Martov, “It was your disgust at being accused of enslaving humans that makes the difference. I say we arm their ships.”
Grady looked at Maranda, “Will the Colonies go along with this?”
“You build the barrels and get them here. I’ll have enough engineers come to install them.”
Grady looked at Amy
and Martov, “It looks like mankind has been reunited. Please don’t disappoint me.”
Martov smiled, “All of my sailors have been listening in to this conversation and I know they would never harm the hand that saved them. And that includes me.”
Grady nodded and lifted his communicator to contact Joshua on New Britannia.
• • •
Three weeks later, Martov sat on his command chair and heard Captain Sato announce, “Sir, I’ve detected ten giant vessels moving in from the edge of the Solar System.”
“Can you tell what kind of ships they are?”
“No Sir. But they’re not as large as the Core Alien’s major warships.”
Martov looked up at Gary, his Second-in-Command, “It must be our new friends.”
Gary stared at the monitor and asked off handedly, “Were you serious about never attacking our new friends?”
Martov’s eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed, “You don’t think I was?”
“Sir, I know you’ve always looked forward to leaving Earth to go look for planets to conquer. That lust doesn’t die easily.”
Martov frowned and said, “Take a seat, Gary.” Gary sat down in his command chair next to Martov and he asked, “Why do you think I always looked forward to leaving Earth to look for new conquests?”
Gary shrugged, “I’ve always assumed you enjoyed doing it.”
Martov snorted, “I looked forward to leaving Earth to get as far away from the Dictator as possible. Being anywhere near HIM has always been a dangerous proposition at best and deadly at the worst. I never enjoyed attacking other civilizations and I detested the fact that I was ordered to do it. I meant what I said and I’m going to have to leave you in command if I survive this coming war when serving on the council. How do you feel about it?”
Gary was silent for a moment and then turned to Martov, “These new humans could have destroyed us and I’m reasonably certain they can still do it. It’s too dangerous to do anything that would anger them.”
“That’s not an answer, Gary.”