I stepped forward and took her by the arm. "You have done an excellent job of raising and protecting our brood. They are well adjusted, excellent fighters, smart and mature. Their mother did as good a job as any Grunta mother could have. You gave them all solid foundations to stand and build upon. I have no doubt they will excel at whatever it is they do. They all got that from their mother."
Chapter 21
* * *
I walked up the ramp onto the Garmon. After a quick visit with Go, I found myself sitting in a chair on the bridge.
Jack said, "The bots are almost done with the scheduled repairs. Given our losses in this last battle, we'll have enough room to fly everyone, including the Talisans, out of here. We'll have to focus some energy on food-stocks if we plan on a journey of any duration."
I replied, "It's all still dependent on how the Council votes. I have to wonder what's in store for us. That fighting above will be finished within the day. What are the Kergans and Saltons going to do next? What's their latest deal?"
Jack referred to the nav display. "They are evenly matched with this latest fleet coming through. Too bad we can't get Joni back on the Sutherlin."
Joni popped into view. "If I go back on there, we lose having someone in this suit."
Garrett said, "I'm sure Go is eager to get back in there once he's healed up."
I looked at Garrett with a solemn expression. "He didn't tell you, did he?"
Garrett replied, "Tell me what?"
Joni continued, "His arm, he didn't mention his arm?"
Garrett grabbed his own right forearm. "His right arm? Yeah, it's got some heavy healing to do, but so what? Give him a month or two and he'll be back."
Jack shook his head. "He probably just didn't want to tell you. The Talisan surgeons are taking his right arm off tomorrow. It's essentially dead and starting to drag down his overall health."
Garrett sat in a chair with his mouth partially open. "I was in there for an hour this morning and he never said a word about it to me. His whole arm?"
Joni nodded. "Up to the shoulder socket. His right lung is badly scarred as well. He won't be going back into that suit anytime soon. And if he did, he wouldn't be able to move himself around without that BHD glove. So I'm kind of stuck in this thing for a while."
Garrett sighed. "He never said a word to me about any of this."
I said. "He looks upon you as both his best friend and the caring brother he never had. His family life was messed up before he came to work on SS241. We have been like his family ever since we got there."
Garrett looked up. "What about his overall health?"
Joni answered, "He'll be weak due to his lung scarring, but otherwise he should be fine. He's eager to get that arm removed so he can at least get back into the lab. He's used his time in bed to think about the sodium material issues. He has a few things he wants to try. And with the rest of us having been so busy lately, he's been Raptor's new best friend as well."
A call from Getta came over my comm. "The new Council is convening and they wish to speak with you."
I nodded. "I'll be right there."
As I left the bridge of the Garmon, the others were quiet. Garrett needed time to soak in the news about Go. Jack and Joni looked over displays of plans for getting close enough to the Sutherlin to once again receive information from Garrett's tag. When I entered the Council's chamber, there were several broken discussions going on. My presence wasn't noted for almost a full minute.
The new lead councilwoman said, "Everyone, please take your seats. We need to move forward with our discussions. Mr. Beutcher's time is valuable, just like our own."
The comment drew scowls from several of the new councilwomen. Getta smiled as she sat.
The lead councilwoman, Gaale Crommus, continued, "Mr. Beutcher has a plan he believes we should discuss. Mr. Beutcher, if you would..."
I cleared my throat. "First. I would like to thank you for this honor. The decision you have before you is a difficult one. We have already seen that the Saltons do not keep their word. If this Council chooses to stay here on Jorus, know that we are at the mercy of the fleets up above. We will have to comply with whatever it is they decide.
"If that decision is to load everyone onto the transports and fly to Bolitha to fight the Kergans, we will have no choice but to do so. If that decision is to load onto transports to fly to Mayanis to fight the Grotus, we will have no choice but to do so. If we stay here now, we lose our ability to choose.
"I would like to offer this alternative. We load everyone onto the transports, which are almost at the ready, and we fly out of here as free citizens. Where would we go? That would be a decision this Council would have to make. I would suggest that we locate an uninhabited world, set up a colony, and work to build ourselves a fleet.
"Now, that is not a simple task. We have to survive, we have to build, we have to establish ourselves on a planet we don't know and that we have no attachment to. But once we have established ourselves, once we have a fleet assembled, we can journey back here to claim our home world."
Gaale Crommus asked, "What if the Saltons and Kergans offer us peace and allow us to stay here?"
I shook my head. "I don't believe they will make that offer with any intention of keeping it. Harden Salton looks upon us all as nothing more than soldiers in his grand expansion plans. Any deal we make with him is tenuous at best. He can't be trusted, and certainly not trusted with the lives of our entire species. Please consider my request to leave Jorus, if only so we can return here later in a position of strength."
A second councilwoman said, "You would have us leave this planet in search of another? How is that better? Why would the others not just follow us or search us out? And what if we cannot find a suitable planet?"
I shrugged. "If we get out there, and we determine that life here on Jorus under the Saltons or the Kergans is preferred, we can just turn around and come back. I believe we will only have this one opportunity to govern ourselves, to make our own way, to only have to fight for ourselves. I've taken the initiative to have the transports repaired and stocked. After our latest casualties, we now have enough room to take everyone, including my Talisan citizens, plus additional food and supplies."
Gaale Crommus stood. "Mr. Beutcher, you will have our decision today."
I bowed as I said, "I understand this discussion will take time. All I ask is that you keep in mind that our window of opportunity for making an exit is small. And that window could begin to close at any moment. The war in the heavens will soon be at an end."
I again bowed as I backed out of the chamber.
As I walked down the hallway toward the massive bunker door, Joni blinked in beside me. "I thought that went as well as could be expected."
I sighed. "What is it with you people? Doesn't anyone respect the privacy of others?"
Joni chuckled. "So you want me to go back in there?"
I nodded. "Please. If they plan to stay, we have to make alternate plans. I'm taking my Talisans out of here no matter what. Jack, Garrett, Go and I cannot stay here. And you can't stay and keep that suit."
Joni blinked out. I made my way back onto the Garmon, going straight to the med lab to see Go. He was busily typing away on a holo-keyboard with his good hand as I entered the room.
Go looked up. "What'd the Council say?"
I shook my head. "They haven't. They are meeting about that right now. This is a whole new Council, but given the past record of decision making, I'm not holding out much hope. I've ordered my Talisans to begin the boarding process on our Odenta transports. They will all fit on those ships after our last fight."
Go winced. "How many did we lose in that last fight?"
I frowned. "We are down to three and a half million from our original six."
Go stared. "What?"
I nodded. "That last fight with the Kergans was costly. Much more so for the Kergans than for us, but we lost a lot of good fighters. I lost a lot of good citizens."
Go grimaced. "Sorry to hear that."
I looked at the holo-display floating in front of him. "Is this the sodium material?"
Go nodded. "I thought I'd make myself productive before tomorrow's operation. Doc say I'll be down for two days."
I furrowed my brows. "Two days? I would think a full amputation would go quickly, as would the recovery."
Go half smiled. "Unfortunately, they have scar tissue to deal with. Both in my shoulder and my right lung."
I sat in a chair next to his bed. "I didn't know they were taking the lung as well."
Go swiped away at several screens until diagrams of his surgery came up. "They're taking the right arm all the way up to the shoulder socket. They're taking the outer half of the right lung, my right kidney, and a portion of my intestines. The cells are dead and the decay is killing me."
I looked over the diagram. "Not much of you left after that. I had no idea the damage was so extensive."
Go half smiled. "If it hadn't been for the bio-gel in the suit I would be dead."
I leaned back in the chair. "Now two days in recovery seems short."
Go laughed. "That's two days I'll be under. Recovery will take weeks. But I do have something to keep me occupied. I have the AIs working on an artificial lung and an artificial arm. I'm fairly certain they will be able to devise an arm with a set of sensors which can be attached to nerve endings. I would be able to control it through thought, like normal. I mean, it won't be normal at first, I'll have to train it. But I think I could eventually have full movement back."
I nodded. "That's fantastic!"
Go looked down at his dead arm. "It's only a possibility, but I'll be keeping a positive outlook regardless."
I smiled. "That's one of the things I've always respected about you. You try to keep a good outlook. And I would like to say here and now that I have relied on your positive perspective on more than one occasion to help improve my own soured outlook."
Garrett walked into the room. "The Sutherlin will be landing just outside in a few minutes. I can only guess the Saltons are about to try to strike another deal."
I nodded. "Thanks for letting me know."
I stood, raising Joni on the comm as I walked into the hallway. "You are about to have a visitor in there. Ambassador Gottlieb is landing just outside. Which way is the discussion leaning?"
Joni replied, "I can still patch that feed through to you."
I shook my head. "No, I would prefer that I not violate the trust of the Council. I know it makes no sense, but I would prefer not to see or hear their deliberations directly."
Joni smiled. "OK, well, we have four in favor of leaving and three in favor of staying, with two undecided. And I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but Getta is one of the undecideds."
I shook my head slowly. "It looks as though I failed. The ambassador will undoubtedly offer them peace and security for staying. And they will undoubtedly accept."
Joni replied, "The ambassador is coming in. I’ll let you know how it goes."
As I came back into the room, Go pulled up an image of the sodium material. "I'm very close on the material. It's showing signs of activation which are similar to the suit. It's covered with billions of nano-gravity generators, and then the sodium coating. The sodium binds with the surface of the generators, which allows it to exist without interacting with moisture in the air when it's inactive.
"When activated, the gravity field, although tiny, is intense. It's strong enough to stop the electron spin of the sodium atoms which in turn makes the sodium act the way it does. All energies, all matter, is absorbed into the sodium skin, passed around if necessary, and expelled on the other side. It's fascinating… even if I don't have a good reason as to why it works."
I sat back in the chair. "You said you're very close?"
Go nodded as he brought up a diagram of the nano-gravity generator. "I'm having trouble getting the gravity wave strong enough to transfer the required energy to the sodium."
I looked over the image and replied, "Too bad you can't make use of the Odenta tech we use on the gravity beam cannons and GPRs."
Go stared at me for several seconds. "I don't know what I was thinking! That might be exactly what I need. I've been trying to amplify the power rather than to focus it! You may just have solved our biggest issue!"
I half frowned. "I come in and get you all excited just before you go under the knife."
Go laughed. "What? Are you kidding? That doesn't happen until tomorrow afternoon. I can have the bots working on this in twenty minutes. You just gave me something to keep my mind busy until the surgery. Thanks!"
Joni came back over the comm. "Man, this guy is smooth. They just voted eight to one to stay. Getta was the holdout. She's talking right now, but I don't think anyone will be changing their minds. The ambassador should be back on his ship. Wait ... they’re calling for a vote. Her arguments were rejected. I count nine hands. They're staying."
I asked, "What did the ambassador offer?"
Joni scowled. "Exactly what you said... peace and security. They'll be asked to participate in the attack on Mayanis. Which they eagerly accepted. The Kergans wanted to trade particle beam tech for the inhibitors, but the ambassador told them he didn't feel it was in their best interest. He asked about the GPRs, as the Kergans had also asked about them.. The Council told him they weren't their weapons. I think he's still trying to figure that one out."
I opened a comm to my Talisan commanders. "How are we doing with the boarding?"
A Talisan general responded. "The last of our people are boarding now. Supply loading should be complete in the next five minutes."
I nodded. "Send out an order to all AIs and bots. I want them aboard our ships. They go with us. The Council has voted to stay. They will have to make do with what they have."
The general bowed. "I believe we are leaving them in good shape. All power and water systems have been restored. Their transports are ready for flight as well."
I thanked the general and closed the comm. I nodded to Go as I got up to leave the room. His mind was fully occupied with his nano-gravity generator problem.
As I walked onto the bridge, Jack said, "I hope you are ready to go. The Sutherlin has been talking to the Salton commanders non-stop. Ambassador Gottlieb delivered the bad news. I think we need to make our exit before the skies are full of Alliance battleships."
I opened a comm to Joni. "I think you need to come back aboard the Garmon. It's time we left."
Joni blinked in beside me. "Let's go."
Garrett came up from the docking bay. "What's up? The bay is filling up with AIs and bots."
Jack gestured toward the nav display. "We're leaving as soon as they're aboard. Oh, and Knog, I hope you don't mind, but I commandeered a couple of the Alliance transports to carry the rest of the bots. The ambassador might cry foul, but I don't particularly care."
I took a deep breath. "Have all the ships move to a single staging location. I want any AIs on those Alliance transports transferred to our ships. If the Alliance ships wind up slowing us down we may just have to scuttle them. We'll leave as soon as all ships are there."
Jack passed the orders along. A hail came over the Garmon's comm from the ambassador.
I answered, "Hello, Ambassador."
"Mr. Beutcher," Amabassador Gottlieb replied, "you are an enigma. I continue to hear of your demise only to have you show up later. I really do wish you could be trusted to join our team."
I shook my head. "I'm afraid I already know too much about your team and what it stands for, Ambassador. I prefer to be free, and to treat everyone fairly."
The ambassador laughed. "Mr. Beutcher, you have a false impression of what's really going on. All that we do, we do for the New Alliance. I have heard it's your desire that we return to the AMP? I can assure you that our goals are aligned. We wish a single government ruling all the galaxies. The figurehead at the top of that government is the only true difference."
I scowled. "Your twisted lies don't work on me, Ambassador. I know about Harden Salton's desired dictatorship. And I know about his expansion plans out here and beyond. I'll be taking my Talisan citizens and leaving."
Ambassador Gottlieb waved his hand. "Do as you will, Mr. Beutcher. You may go freely. I know that you have Joni Salton there with you. Her uncle wishes her no ill will. And if she is listening, she can return whenever she likes, so long as you no longer meddle in the affairs of the New Alliance. And as to your Talisan troops, take them. We have an ample supply back home still waiting to come through. Upwards of one hundred fifty million I believe that have been conscripted, trained, and are waiting for battle. And we have you to thank for that, Mr. Beutcher."
"What do you mean?"
The ambassador returned an evil grin. "It was you who gave them the order to follow our orders, was it not? I believe you directed them to return home and offer no resistance? Am I correct?"
"I didn't tell them to go to war for you!" I said.
The ambassador shook his head. "You are talking to a diplomat, Mr. Beutcher. Those words are merely semantics. You gave an order, they followed. Simple."
The ambassador then offered a stern look. "And you would do good to stay away from the Gruntas, Mr. Beutcher. If word was to get back that you are meddling in our affairs, well, things might not go well for your family. I believe your wife, Getta, is now in a position of power? She would not be difficult to find if the need should arise."
I took a deep breath. "So you are threatening my family?"
Ambassador Gottlieb thought for a moment. "Again, semantics. You stay out of our business with your little troop of disrupters and we won't have any issues. Oh, and before I forget, your Odenta friends on Doomlight, they decided against joining the New Alliance. Our new Moddle friends should be arriving there shortly to take care of them. Sorry to have to give you the bad news."
I turned to Jack. "Get us out of here before I fire one of those fermium missiles down his throat."
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