by C. R. Daems
I laughed at the irony of the comment. Naturally, everyone turned his or her attention to me.
“Thalia, my Riss, has suggested that we make the computers more like the Riss.”
“What does she mean?” Several people asked at the same time.
“She means communicate between themselves or in this case between system applications. We could modify our computers to automatically strip the information from the Lynx’s transmission and set up the coordinates, duration of the jump, and start a countdown clock for the Captain. The monitor could display the skip information for verification.” I felt strongly that the raiders waited for us and desperately wanted a reasonable solution to reduce the carnage.
Zann assembled three of the fleet’s best system engineers, who worked the rest of the day and into the night inserting new code, which recognized the Lynx’s transmission and automatically set up everything without human intervention. It only remained for the Captain’s final approval. Everyone agreed the conditions might require the skip to be aborted, so the Captain needed the final approval.
The next day, three trial runs were conducted. Minor adjustments were made after the first run. The subsequent runs were executed within forty-five seconds and the system considered successful by everyone, including Captain Waatsine.
“Vice Admiral Zann, I have to admit I thought Captain Reese was too young and inexperienced and, therefore, unqualified to be a Captain. I also thought her praise of the Riss wildly exaggerated. I apologize to her and the Riss. Now that I see it can be done, I would rather assume the raiders are waiting for us. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain if she is right,” Captain Waatsine said. With everyone pleased with the results, the order and timing of ships into Freeland space was established and finalized.
“I believe we are ready to visit Freeland. Rest your crews. Tomorrow morning we begin operation Peacekeeper,” Zann said, ending the meeting.
* * * *
At 0600 hours the next day, the fleet began entering the Wave. Each Cruiser had a predetermined order and time. The Lynx, designated T1, entered first, followed closely by the T2, T3, and T4. I feared for the crew and my sisters in the upcoming battle. Many would be killed, if not all. I had no illusions. Many of those behind us had only read idealized accounts of battles. I knew the reality of what was to come.
The Lynx left the Wave first. As we did, the TAC lit with fifteen raider ships; six Heavy and nine Light cruisers. R-Asdis identified the vectors for three Heavy cruisers and passed the data on to r-Arthemis, who computed the skip and sent the information packets to the Hunters, and they appeared at twenty-second intervals. The start times on the clocks were set to synchronize the skip: T2’s clock to fifty-, T3 to thirty- and T4 to ten-seconds. We had agreed in advance on the missile configuration. Before the raiders launch began, the four Hunters skipped. I watched the TAC, since there was nothing for me to do. R-Arawn determined the Heavy’s position when we can out of the skip, and fired. Five seconds later r-Liama executed our prearranged skip out of the area. I saw the raider’s Heavy cruisers take hits from all four Hunters. Two of the Heavies appeared to have suffered major damage while the other two had only moderate damage. However, the effect was perfect. The raiders turned all their efforts onto killing us. Hundreds of missiles filled Freeland space, but only sixty locked onto the Hunters. At the same time, the fleet began dropping out of the Wave.
The sixty missiles hadn’t been spread equally among us. Twenty zeroed in on the Lynx. Time narrowed to seconds as r-Selens worked ECM and Marken the weapon boards with R-Arawn computing unguided missile projections, Lahar monitored the radar which maintained the TAC, while I designated the firing loads. The missiles came in four to six at a time but not equally spaced because they had emanated from different cruisers. R-Selens stopped the first eight, missed one of the next four and two of the six that followed. The Lynx shuddered as one after another exploded. The first one hit the Environmental section but battle steel limited the damage. The next two hit close together, opening the bay 23 and part of Weapons Maintenance. The damage control board showed three shuttles damaged, heavy equipment damage in one bay of the maintenance section, and eleven dead.
“Two Light cruisers, designated RL4 and RL6, closing on us,” Lahar said. Looking at the TAC, I could see they were on a straight-line intercept vector.
The sixty-second wait felt like an hour. Two more missiles eluded r-Selens and the Lynx shuddered in pain.
“Marken, two guided, three unguided on vector one-six-five by three-one-five in ten, nine, eight… one, fire.”
“Marken, two and three at one-eight-five by zero-eight-zero in twelve, eleven…one, fire. Eight missiles reached out at the two incoming.
“Eight incoming. Four each from RL4 and RL6,” Parsen reported.
“Skipper, we scored three against RL6. It looks in trouble. Two hits on RL4 but its still coming,” Lahar said. “Four more incoming from RL4.”
R-Selene’s hands flew across the boards, missed one of the eight, and stopped the next four. The Lynx bucked as the missile r-Selene missed opened the navy work area and one section of the Engineering department. Damage control flashed engine number two running at half power, twenty dead, and ten wounded.
“Marken, five unguided at one-two-eight by one-five-one in ten, nine, eight…one, fire,” I ordered. Four more came from RL4 shortly after our release. Another one got through. Damage control showed Engine 1 disabled, twenty-two killed, and fourteen wounded.
“Skipper, RL4 destroyed.”
“Helm, heading zero-nine-eight by zero-two-zero.” I wondered how the raiders felt about their civilians. “Marken, target that repair station.”
“Five missiles away...four hits. Want another load, Skipper?”
“No. Helm, one-three-zero by one-one-zero.”
“Missiles and laser fire from ground defense center.” The battle steel deflected most of the Laser fire. R-Selens caught most of the missiles; however, two ripped through one of the Shark bays and one of the sensor arrays. Twelve killed and five wounded. “RL2 and RL1 on a convergent vector. Eight missiles incoming.”
“Marken, target the defense complex, unguided load.”
We were between the planet’s industrial center and the incoming cruisers. Every missile that lost track would continue to the planet. I didn’t known if they would burn up or explode when they hit the astrosphere or continue until they hit the planet. But I doubted the Raider cruisers firing at me knew either. R-Selens caused six to lose track and the other two struck the Lynx. The ship seemed to buck like a mad wisent. Damage control reported Engine number 2 destroyed, eighteen dead, and nine wounded. The Lynx felt like it trembled. I wanted to cry. Every time I looked at the Damage Control monitor the dead and wounded count continued to mount. The Lynx was dying as well. We wouldn’t last long at this rate.
“Ground defense destroyed,” Marken shouted.
Three more slammed into the Lynx—more died and were wounded. No complaint, no recrimination as sisters died. My Riss position was leader—I hated it.
“Colonel Seng, drop the Scorpions. Their target is the space platform. Commander Byer unleash your Sharks. Their target is the space platform and supporting the Scorpions. Comm, an open line to T2 and T3.” I waited.
“
T2 is on monitor one and T3 on two.”
“Luben, Yoana. Drop your Sharks and Scorpions. We can take the Space Station. There are several merchant ships, shuttles, and a couple of cruisers docked there.” The monitors went blank. There was no time for unnecessary words. I watched the TAC as armored shuttles and Sharks, looking like nats, swarmed toward the spaceport.
“All units cease fire! This is Control. Cease-fire unless fired on. Hold your positions.” We all sat back in exhaustion, as the madness slowly stopped. Several minutes later, we were told that the raiders had surrendered. An elder would be coming from Freeland to meet with Vice Admiral Zann.
“No!” I screamed. Everyone on the Bridge looked at me in shock.
“Skipper we’ve been ordered to stop,” Marken said.
“Gelman, get me Vice Admiral Zann, now!” I felt like screaming.
“Ma’am, are you sure? I’m your, XO, I...we’ll help if we can. I’ll tell him you wanted clarification if the army should stop also. Please don’t.” Varisko had gone pale, concern written on her face.
“Ma’am, I have the XO of the Golden Eagle. He says the Vice Admiral is busy.”
“Put him on the monitor.”
Commander Fausto appeared on the screen.
“Captain, as I told Commander Gelman, the Vice Admiral is in conference. I’ll tell him when he gets out.”
“You tell the Vice Admiral, his sister who’s Riss’ position, is Leader needs to speak to her immediately, please. I take full responsibility for the interruption.”
“Who do you think—”
“Her sister, XO. Now!” I screamed. He looked like he was going to say something, then shrugged and walked off.” Everyone looked at me in shock. I imagined they thought I’d gone mad. I sat back down. If she didn’t listen, there was going to be a massacre.
“Yes Leader?” Zann’s face appeared on the monitor.
“Sister, the raider elder intends to kill you. Don’t meet with him or let him get a shuttle into the ship, please.” I would beg if it helped.
“What would you suggest?”
“They are clan. Death means nothing to them. They think they have nothing to lose, so they plan to go out fighting. Court martial me, but don’t go.”
“We both want the same thing. What do you suggest?”
“Let me meet with him away from the fleet. If I can convince him his people have a choice, maybe we can avoid a massacre. Tell him you’re sending the dybbuk.”
“They want you dead,” Zann said. She sat quietly, looking at me. “You were right about the trap. Maybe you are their demon. I’ll set it up.” The monitor went blank. Everyone on the Bridge let out a collective sigh.
“I’ll go with you, Skipper,” Varisko said.
“No, you’ll stay here and make sure the sick are taken care of, the crews rested, and determine the condition of the Lynx. But thank you for the offer.” I smiled. She deserved one.
“Gelman, get Gunny Terril on the monitor.” A few minutes Terril appeared. “Are you up for some excitement?”
“You do owe me. The Scorpions and I were looking forward to a party at the space station.”
“Good, have Colonel Seng contact Master Wei. I’d like both of you to meet me in bay 2-14 with an armed shuttle when you’re ready.”
It took Zann two hours to set up the meeting. It was to take place on the Compton. Before I arrived, a squad of Scorpions was allowed to inspect the ship. After they left, Terril, Wei, and I entered in a separate unarmed shuttle. We were met by two unarmed men and led to a conference room, where five elders waited with an additional eight unarmed guards. The guards were young men, but I’d bet were trained in hand-to-hand fighting and there to protect the elders. The five elders were old men, all different and yet all the same. Their build, height, facial features were unique, but they each had a Zen-like presence. The one who rose to greet us looked to be the oldest. His thinning hair a silver-gray, he had a wrinkled elfin face, and bright piercing blue eyes. He looked serene as he executed a small bow in acknowledgement of our presence.
“I’m the elder, ni’Shay. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Reese. To think the great clans of Freeland could not kill one small girl. You’re truly our dybbuk—the demon that has invaded our minds and brought us to our knees. You knew what we planned, when I surrendered and arranged a meeting with your Admiral Zann,” ni’Shay said softly without any discernable malice or defeat, just thoughtful observation. Although ni’Shay was the spokesman, I knew the others were significant players.
“You wished to stop the engagement to give you time to reorganize for a suicidal attempt to destroy the SAS fleet. The destruction of the Command ship would have signaled the start of the attack,” I said, now seeing the full intent of the surrender and subsequent meeting with Zann. “And many in the SAS fleet would have welcomed that senseless annihilation of your military and the millions of civilians who would have died fighting on the planet.”
“Interesting. It seems you are in their minds, but your mind is separate from them as from ours.” ni’Shay appeared to be thinking out loud rather than talking to me. “Is that not true?”
“I’m human, but I’m also Riss. The Riss do not believe in revenge. They believe it is an evil companion that brings only regret.”
Ni’Shay said nothing, staring into my eyes. The other elders nodded agreement imperceptibly.
“My understanding is that the Riss is an intelligent parasite that inhabits your body and mind.” He paused and looked to me. I nodded.
“Her human name is Thalia.”
“Am I talking with Captain Reese or to...Thalia?”
“When you speak to me, you are speaking to Captain Reese and Thalia. We are one and the same. When you speak to me, you also speak to the one who speaks for all the Riss. My position is Leader. As such, I am no greater or more important then any Riss, but my word is the word of every Riss.”
“Interesting. You are an elder and more. For we,” he nodded towards the others, “make decisions for the clans, but our words are certainly not the word of every clan or clan member. It is more a decision in a democracy. The elected officials make decisions, which everyone must obey although they may not agree. The Riss must truly be an amazing race.” He paused, looking at the other elders. “Enough, back to reality. Do you speak for the SAS too?”
“No, I speak only for the Riss, who do not want revenge. They want a peaceful solution that stops the killing. Even aligned with the SAS, they have fought alongside only wishing to bring a stop to the killing. To achieve that, you and the SAS must put aside your violent history and look to the future.”
“Then, let us see if the Riss and the Clans can create a future that the SAS can agree with.”
* * * *
Six hours later, Wei, Terril, and I entered our shuttle for our return to the Golden Eagle where Zann and his Captains waited.
“That wasn’t very exciting, Captain Reese. You’ve let me down twice today,” Terril said, pretending seriousness.
“Was it not exciting to watch masters dance, Terril?” Wei made a small bow. I was embarrassed to have Master Wei bow to me. I could do nothing but bow back. When we reached the Golden Eagle, Zann’s XO was there to meet me.
“I have to admit Captain Reese, I thought the Vice Admiral Zann would court martial you and me. I’m looking forward to working with the Riss. They may change the way we look at the world and each other.” He led me to the conference room where the Captains sat waiting. Six faces were missing, having died when their cruisers were destroyed.
“What do the raiders want, Captain Reese?” Zann said.
SV flew by so fast I only caught parts. I saw ni’Shay and me during our discussions. Then it stopped. Zann sat back in silence.
“I apologize for the silence. The Riss speak mentally in streaming vid. I have in the last few minutes viewed the entire six-hour meeting with the
clan elders. It was interesting. Captain Reese, if you please.”
I stood and looked around the room. “We have suffered much today. Many of our friends and the people we pledged to protect are dead. You and I would like someone to pay for our losses today and for the many who have died at the raiders’ hands. Right now, the raiders are at our mercy. We can easily destroy their ships, industry, and the millions of men, women, and children on the planet. I’ll tell you now that the Riss are willing to die to protect the SAS from their enemies, although they are appalled by killing. They, however, cannot and will not kill helpless people. I stand in two worlds, Riss and human. With that in mind, I negotiated what the elders of the clans and I consider fair. They will turn over all of their ships and weapons, and agree to cease all hostility—”
“That’s generous of them,” Captain Durban said with vehemence. I held up my hand. He stopped but continued to glare at me.
“It’s generous. Without a treaty, they will literally fight to the last man and woman. Their cruisers and fighters, of which they have hundreds, will initiate Kamikaze-like tactics with will wreak far more destruction than you currently anticipate. We will win of course, but we will lose thousands more of our friends. Furthermore, we will never occupy Freeland, since their men, women, and children will also fight you to their death. Therefore, you must be willing to kill every man, woman and child on the planet.” I looked around the room to mixed emotions.
“We’ll permit a limited number of merchants to continue trading. They’ll be searched before they leave and when then return, and their time between planets monitored to ensure no deviations. This allows them to support their people and, over time, for us to build a trading partner. We’ll leave a force of Riss to guard the planet. Why Riss? Because it will allow the Riss their vision of going to the stars and give the SAS a strong ally against any aggressive from the UPN or JPU. That is what I propose to you and them. War or Peace.”
I felt exhausted.