The emperor stood. "What have you done?"
Harris shook his head. "This wasn't us. I warned you about teaming up with them."
"Bring one of those bombs, I implore you. Save my people! I will gladly abdicate and go into exile!"
Harris took in and let out a long slow breath. "Our device can't help you. They're already in your territory. I would suggest you get on a ship and run. If the remains of your fleet decides to defend, have them target the Dulons. Those ships are carrying the toxins."
The emperor closed his eyes for several seconds.
"You probably only have minutes to flee, Mervin. I would get my ass moving."
The dejected ruler sat on his throne, watching the coming invasion on a holo-display. "It is too late, Mr. Gruberg. I've played the game and lost. As you said, I was a fool to think them trustworthy. In fact, I have freighters loaded with herbicide that have been waiting to deploy. The order for them to do so has been given. Gondol will not be growing any toxic plants for the foreseeable future."
"I'm sorry, Mervin. I wish there was something I could do."
The emperor leaned forward. "Avenge the death of my people, Mr. Gruberg. Make the Denzee pay for their treachery. Not for me. I deserve my end. But for the innocents I have doomed."
The captain of the Hailstorm remarked: "We've just made the jump to New Earth. The Dulons have entered low orbit. We're showing dispersion of what we believe are the toxins. What's that? … I've just been informed we have a chemical match to the release. The Earther ships are not defending, they're jumping to Beckland."
The emperor said, "I've given the fleet orders to align with and follow Domicile."
Harris held up a hand. "Wait, I'd like to ask they throw their allegiance to the Indie Empire under the leadership of Colonel Robert Thomas. If given to the Domers, the president will only have them disbanded and the ships destroyed. If you want revenge against the Denzee, give those resources to us."
The emperor sighed, before opening a comm for most of a minute.
Upon return he said, "Very well. I've abdicated my throne to your colonel. That includes my fleet, my colonies, all my remaining resources. All have been passed to him. Sadly, the very people I have most despised have turned out to be those I could most trust."
The emperor stood.
"Where are you going?"
"Out to walk among my people for the last time. As I've been told, there's no hiding from this toxin. A single molecule will stop your heart once it reaches your nervous system."
The emperor eschewed his litter and its crew, encouraging them instead to walk beside him as his equals. The comm camera from his throne room followed him until he passed through the massive golden doors into the outer hall.
Tawn said, "That's over a billion people we've just lost."
Several seconds later, the colonel broke the silence. "I've ordered the Earther fleet to the Retreat. A check of the remaining Earther colonies shows more than twelve million colonists are still vulnerable."
Harris replied, "Keep making those bombs. We'll start dropping them at Jellon to freeze the Denzee there. And you on the Hailstorm... dump your bomb and detonate it there at New Earth. If we can freeze those two hundred ships there, it at least makes for a smaller force for us to contend with should we have to."
"Detonation in three minutes, sir. And good timing on the call, the Denzee Ratoons are moving back toward free space."
The colonel said, "I attempted to send notice of the current events to New Earth. With that field negated, they'll be out of touch for a week."
Bax said, "I left a long list of propaganda pieces to be released in my absence. The narrative with those fits perfectly with what just happened. Most people will be content with no wormhole travel, but they'll be demanding the fleet be rebuilt. I hate to say it, but the death of New Earth may be the thing that finishes off the pacifists. You can't hide or talk away a mass genocide such as that. Even if they were at one time our mortal enemies, they were still Human."
A day passed without effort to change the course of history. Earthers by the millions were dying and nothing could be done to save them. The Denzee fleet prevented any ships from leaving New Earth space.
A comm was opened to the colonel. "Miss Rumford would like to return to Midelon."
Harris replied, "We'll come out to get her in a few minutes if she's ready."
Bax leaned into the camera view. "I'm ready."
"Any word on anything, Colonel? It looks like the bombs you designed should last for the full week as suggested. At least the decay rates tell us that."
"We've been kicking around a few ideas here. One involves a raid on Jellon."
"Too many ships there. We'd never get through."
"I don't think that's true at the moment. Their fleet has been bunched up on one side of that planet for the last twenty hours. If we come in behind the Jellon moon, we may be able to make it to the atmosphere before they catch us."
"You wouldn't be coming back out."
"Not our intention to. Once in the atmosphere, the Hailstorm would reign supreme."
"Are you forgetting about those Vaaka ships? They were able to destroy our Banshees while fighting in-atmosphere."
"We've studied the footage you provided us of those encounters and believe we have a solution. Our weapons people have been working on a low-power rail cannon with six sets of rails. Sort of a Gatling cannon. We have a set of sixteen of those we've been testing out. They would sit in our docking bays, knocking down any incoming missiles before they could strike."
"One problem, those Vaakas were releasing as many as a thousand missiles at the same time. You couldn't possibly track and destroy that many at once."
"I agree. Not with sixteen units. But we think as few as forty-eight would be able to handle the mission."
Harris grimaced. "We don't know that a Vaaka can't fire two thousand or even five thousand of those missiles at once. I'd rather not risk the Hailstorm when we don't have a replacement."
The colonel leaned in. "You're forgetting one important item here. We have the Earther fleet. With a handful of destroyers we could defeat a Vaaka. And those Ratoons, other than transporting troops, they're almost useless in atmosphere."
"It's still a one-way trip, Colonel. You couldn't leave the protection of the atmosphere."
"A sacrifice we would be willing to make to put a stop to their ship manufacturing. I'm surprised at the resistance you’re giving me here. You aren't going soft on us, are you?"
Tawn patted him on the back. "Sometimes I wonder that about him myself."
"Is this gang up on Harris day? Look, Colonel, if you have a plan and you think that plan to be worthwhile, I'm certainly not going to stand in the way. I wish I could send forty-four Banshees in with you, but I don't know that we could trust them. Until such time as we can, they stay parked."
"We'll have the additional Gatlings ready in about twelve hours. Mounting will take another four. As of now we're counting down the hours to a raid. Of course, should the Denzee redeploy, the mission would be scrubbed."
Harris nodded. "Best of luck, Colonel. We could use a good win about now. And, Bax, we're on our way. Be waiting this side of free space for us."
The comm closed. A short run had a wormhole open for Baxter Rumford to come through.
Tawn said, "Is that the Fargo?" A comm was opened. "You still have the Fargo?"
"She's still kicking. Had her tucked away in a safe place. What's the latest there at Midelon?"
Harris shook his head. "Nothing good."
The run back had the two ships landing beside each other. The trio joined the others in Trish's shop as Alex was once again working his gamma ray simulations. Idiot, Boomer, Emily, and Flynn were standing guard at the door.
"What do we have going on?" asked Harris. "Where's Gandy and Reggie?"
Trish replied, "Out rounding up a bogler. Time to restock our supplies."
"How is it we restock bogler? I mean, I ge
t the slaughter and all. Where are we storing this stuff?"
Trish pointed to the corner of the shop. "See that unit? It's a freeze-dryer. We can preserve about thirty kilos of meat in there at a time. The one next to it is the cooler we use until all the meat has been moved through it. Those MREs you're ripping open are the result of that process."
"Interesting."
"You think they just appeared out of nowhere?"
"From my perspective, yes, that's exactly what they did."
Alex said, "To your first question… I'm attempting to reverse the direction of a gamma ray. Our best result has been a momentary thirty-degree deflection. At this time, we're uncertain of the principles involved. Gamma ray lensing has had little study in the last two thousand years."
"Have you consulted the AI?"
"As suggested, that route of study has been avoided. I have access to the archives from Domicile. I had Sharvie retrieve a copy of those from the AI and have them based here on an isolated system I can query."
"How'd you achieve the 30 percent?"
"Thirty degrees. I've simulated the effect of the gravity drive on a set of gold atoms. Through manipulation of the atoms, I was able to construct a prism with a decent refractive index. The effect was only momentary. The energies required are greater than what we have available with the drive."
Harris said, "Forget the drive. Aren't we dealing with a nuclear explosion to generate those rays? How much power do you need?"
Tawn chuckled. "And the Biomarine scientist emerges."
Alex held up a finger. "No, he may actually be on to something with that. Please excuse me while I evaluate my current thought."
Harris grinned. "Chief Biomarine scientist."
"You have no idea what you’re talking about."
"That would be a correct statement. Are you hungry?"
"I am. All that talk of bogler a minute ago has seen to it."
Gandy walked in the door. "Gonna get gruesome in here for a bit. Reggie's bringing in a quarter of a bogler in a couple minutes. Unless you want to see how your meals are made, I would suggest you leave."
Sharvie hurried for the door. "You don't have to ask me twice."
— Chapter 17 —
* * *
The following day, a comm was placed to the colonel.
"You're still a go?" Harris asked.
"As of five minutes ago. The Denzee remain bunched up. None of us get the reasoning for it. It's almost as if they're inviting us to attack."
"Keep that in mind, Colonel. You don't want to be flying into an ambush."
"We're on top of it. And to ease what I'm certain is on your mind, the answer is no, I won't be going with them. As the acting president of the Indie Empire, my duties now lie here."
"Glad to hear it, Colonel. Your leadership is needed at home."
Several additional minutes of chatter were exchanged before the channel closed.
Tawn said, "Wonder what the status is on New Earth? That was a hard backstab after the emperor aligned with them. Can't say he didn't bring it on himself, but still, dooming an entire very populous planet…"
The Bangor was soon slipping into the Jellon system as an observer. The colonel's attack squad, consisting of the Hailstorm and a dozen New Earth destroyers, moved through a wormhole at a location that was completely blocked from the Denzee sensors. As had been the case for the prior day, they remained bunched in a group near free space.
The attack group moved in quickly and silently, their presence only becoming known as their hulls burned brightly coming through the atmosphere. Two dozen Ratoons were dispatched to intercept, but were too late.
A hail came over the general comm. The colonel's team ignored it, beginning to shred the massive Denzee complexes on the ground with their rail and plasma cannons.
Harris connected to the hail. A Denzee ambassador stood in front of the camera at the other end. "Humans, I urge you to cease this raid and to join forces with us."
Harris chuckled at the audacity of his request. "And why would we do that? You just wiped out half of our species yesterday. Today it's our turn."
"The Hoya have reached the edge of your space. They are only weeks from this location. Should they capture one of your vessels and remove the wormhole generator, they will overrun this space in a matter of months. The force we've detected is as many as forty thousand warships strong."
The coordinates of the coming invaders were passed over the comm. A wormhole was opened and a scan performed to verify the information. The nav display filled with listing after listing of Hoya ships.
Harris leaned back in his chair. "That's huge. What can we possibly do to stop that?"
Tawn opened a comm to the colonel's attack team. "Abort the mission. I repeat: abort the mission. Withdraw to our position."
"Acknowledged."
The Denzee ambassador said, "I know it unthinkable at the moment, but we ask for an alliance with all Humans. The Hoya will crush all in their path."
"You knew they were coming. Why attack us beforehand? How would we benefit from this request?"
"Our goal when we arrived was to restock our food supplies. The deya flower we harvested on the planet you call Gondol was key to that endeavor. The toxin delivered to New Earth was retribution for activities against us that were being undertaken. The Earthers could not be trusted to keep their word. Our sources identified a weapon to be used against our crops. Without those crops, we would be unable to continue our journey out of your space."
"So you really did intend to leave. Funny, we checked the planets in the direction you claimed to be heading. None would support your people."
"Our true destination is a planet we have designated as Omrus IV. I'm sending coordinates for your evaluation. You will find it fully capable of supporting our needs. It's a nine month journey from your space. And just a stepping stone to our next location, wherever that might be. Far from the reach of the Hoya is our only desire."
Harris shook his head. "You've given us nothing to show a benefit to us with this alliance. Why would we not go make a deal with the Hoya? I could open a wormhole right now that would allow them to send ships through to this location. Tell me why I shouldn't do that?"
"If you assist us in moving to the other side of your known space, we are prepared to turn over 60 percent of our Ratoon fleet. That would be five hundred powerful ships to add to your own. A formidable force. And I have one further item of value to offer. The return of your systems at the planet called Midelon. We gained control during a recent network attack. The fertilization of Gondol was a result of gaining that control. We would also be willing to give you the method used to gain that control… should you desire it."
Harris turned to face Tawn. "I knew there was something wrong with that AI."
Tawn said, "So the Hoya show up and you're just looking to get out of this space while you can, leaving us to fight your fight. Not a very benevolent people, are you?"
"We came into this system and found two factions of Humans who detested one another. Our decisions were based on the need for our survival and the information we had at that time. Today is a new day. We are prepared to leave your territory, but we require your assistance to do so."
"I'm not seeing where you're in need."
"We do not have the jump fuel required to move the remainder of our fleet across your space. Your destruction of our refining facilities has stranded the bulk of our fleet in its current location. You assist with moving those ships, and as compensation we leave you with five hundred Ratoons, including their crews. If you somehow manage to defeat or stop the Hoya, it will be the responsibility of our crews to follow us to Omrus. They will ask nothing further of you, your people, or your resources."
Tawn said, "Wow, this is huge. Everything just changed."
"Give us the method for reclaiming our systems on Midelon. The rest we'll have to discuss."
"The routines required to expose and remove our cyber warfare programs are coming a
cross your comm. For the rest, I ask that this decision be made within the day. The Hoya may not arrive in this space for weeks, but we have much to do during that time."
Ten minutes passed before a wormhole was opened to the Retreat. All Human controlled ships, including the Bangor, passed through. Harris and Tawn were hurrying into the colonel's office minutes later.
"We have bigger problems, Colonel."
"I saw the data feed. That explains the odd behavior of the Denzee. They were preoccupied."
"We have some big decisions to make," Tawn said.
"With what we know, I would have to accept their alliance. Maybe push for another few hundred Ratoons, as they appear to be against a wall without jump fuel."
Harris asked, "With the Hoya coming, how does that help us against forty thousand ships?"
"We take the Ratoons only as a contingency. We then move the Denzee to the edge of our space. We follow that up with a deal with the Hoya. We'll deliver them to the edge of our space if they agree to leave us alone."
Harris chuckled. "Sorry to laugh, but why would they do that when they have an overwhelming force?"
"Because they want the Denzee. Why else would they be chasing them? As to how we deal with them afterward, that's a separate issue. What we'll want to do now is give ourselves time to come up with a longer term strategy. Are you suggesting we take the fight right to them?"
"No, sir. I was just looking for the reasoning behind your suggestion."
A comm was opened to Midelon. "Sharvie, I'm passing you data from the Denzee. Make sure you're on an isolated and secure system. Check it out. They claim to have infiltrated our network and to have control of the AI. Could explain the whole fertilizer fiasco. Anyway, dig into it and see if it’s legit. If so, do what you can to restore the AI and the bots."
Harris turned back to the colonel. "I have a different suggestion. New Earth is likely dying off as we speak. In a week the boson field there will collapse and disappear. I want to send in our bots to gather materials for more Banshees. We build factories here and on Midelon and start turning out ships and processors as fast as we can.
ARMS Domers Unite: (Book 6) Page 15