by C. R. Daems
"Eden must be an exception," Gleason demanded.
"Admiral Gleason is right. Eden is not only the capital but the heart of the SAS," Wattson said, glaring at me—demanding an explanation. "I know the SAS invaded Freeland, but you did—"
"If Eden must be defended at all cost, then go defend it. That includes Daiyu." I sat shaking in frustration. As I did Terril handed me a cup of kaffa.
"Leader Reese is correct, as much as it saddens my emperor and me. Our strategy must be to destroy the Ecitoni, not to save specific planets."
Plimson nodded. "I agree. Our strategy must be based on the Ecitoni's strengths and weaknesses. We no longer have the military power to leave cruisers to protect specific planets. Two wars and the government's unwillingness to modernize the fleet have left us vulnerable. Leader Reese proved that."
"I suggest we use Hayjar as our headquarters. It's an equal distance from Eden, Dunn, and Freeland—and on neutral ground. We will need Comrelays installed so we can communicate from any of our nations' planets. Secondly, we need ghost fighters and missiles—it's too late to build more cruisers. And finally, we need information about the Ecitoni. I've brought three Cerberus cruisers along that I'm hoping can outrun the Ecitoni cruisers, if they are discovered. I suggest one go to Sparrow's Nest, one to Port Lost, and one to…Commander Iglis, which planet do you think the Ecitoni might invade next?"
Iglis sat open-mouthed for several moments, then took a deep breath and began working on her tablet. After several minutes, she looked up, took another deep breath, and said, "Earthol."
"Moving toward the UFN?" Okuda asked, his voice quiet and expressionless.
"I don't think so, Your Majesty. I think they are taking the closest systems first. My guess would be Ruchild or Lord’s Landing after Earthol."
"Then Eden," Wattson said, his voice strained.
I interrupted before anyone else could speak. "That's our best guess. It will depend on their total resources, method of ravaging the planet, and overall objective, which is exactly what we need to determine. So, a third Cerberus to Earthol and the Mnemosyne and the Eirene to Ossicwater. I would suggest the SAS and UFN send a representative with each of the Cerberuses and the Eirene and Mnemosyne to witness what we discover." I took a drink of kaffa while awaiting comments. Seeing Zhu and Plimson nod, I continued. "Remember the mission is strictly reconnaissance—look and return to Hayjar."
Okuda agreed that Fleet Admiral Zhu could speak for him. Zhu would keep the emperor up-to-date via the Comrelay. Okuda intended to return to Daiyu, the Capital, and Admiral Zhu to Dunn to set the priorities for the factories and to organize the UFN Navy, and Plimson to Eden to organize the SAS Navy. Zhu and Plimson would return with their fleets, leaving only a scout ship. Sheva and Zhang would return to Freeland to set the priorities for the factories and to get Da'Maass, Alena, Elissa, and Jaelle. The war would be run from Hayjar—where the leaders of the nations and their total military force resided. It wasn't a popular decision.
I returned with Pavao to my conference room, where the other Riss-humans waited. "Here is what we decided…" I gave a brief synopsis of our discussion before making assignments. "Captain Bradshaw, you are to proceed to Port Lost, Captain Ja'Sai to Sparrow’s Nest, and Captain Katlin to Earthol. Remember, you are there to observe—go, look, and get back here. We need information about the enemy before we can formulate a plan of action. My guess is that the enemy outnumbers us by a huge margin; therefore, every cruiser is critical. Is that clear?" I held each of their eyes until they replied.
"Yes, Leader."
"Good. Captain Pavao and I will go to Ossicwater to see if we can uncover any clues based on what they left behind."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ossicwater – Nadya & Pavao
"What's our mission?" Pavao, asked via tight beam as we approached the Wave.
"Much like archeologists. Use the remains to learn about the Ecitoni."
"Sounds gory, picking over bones."
"If we focus on the death and destruction, it will be. I suggest we concentrate on learning about the Ecitoni as a people—their culture, rituals, religion, etc."
"We should take a few Riss along. They might see something we don't," Pavao said, lips pursed in thought. "See you in Ossicwater, Leader." Pavao cut the connection, and ten minutes later we entered the Wave.
Just then Terril broke into my conversation with Thalia.
"I'm reluctant to ask, but are you up to a workout? After all, I'm supposed to be protecting you." She grinned.
"I'm reluctant to say yes. After all, you can't protect me if you can't report for duty." I tried to look serious.
"I guess that's a yes." She smiled, and we linked arms as we made our way to the workout area. When we arrived, Terril split the current students into two groups: the Blue Kraits and everyone else. "Which do you want, Nadya?"
"The Kraits can benefit from your experience. I'll take the other group." I waved my group some distance from the Kraits and began with warm-up exercises, then worked on a variety of attacks and counterattacks. I spent most of my time walking around critiquing their technique and later monitoring several matches. When Terril called an end to the class, I collected my group and joined the Kraits for the traditional closing—a critique followed by a bow to the instructors.
Before dismissing the class, Terril held up her hand. "Kraits often wonder why Si'jin is required training, since Kraits carry weapons that spew a pound of lead in seconds and wear body armor. First, it’s because you can't always count on having a weapon and body armor. Imagine you run out of ammo, or your weapon is jarred loose…and you are trapped between two SAS scorpions with buzz sticks. What do you do?"
"Hope you're close by," someone shouted to snorts and laughs.
"Master Reese was in just that situation when she was a six-knot practitioner. She killed the two Scorpions. How? Better reflexives and superior countermoves—which come with Si'jin training. But we need to work on her technique, because she let them score several blows and needed medical attention afterward." Terril motioned for me to join her as everyone shuffled back to give us room.
A stillness descended on the workout area as I approached Terril. Without warning, she exploded into me like an angry Kodiak bear. At the last second, I stepped to the side and threw a roundhouse kick to her chest, which she blocked with her forearms. The force of the block lifted me off the ground and spun me around. I used the momentum to throw a heel-kick to her back. She stepped forward with one foot and threw a back thrust at my leg. Fortunately, I sensed her counter and let myself collapse onto my other leg, turning the momentum into a leg sweep…
Time seemed to stand still as Terril and I traded attack and counterattack in an all-consuming contest of wills. We each scored several times, but Master Wei's training enabled us to redirect the force of the blow to feather-light touches. Then Terril's hand flashed by my neck. I stopped and bowed, acknowledging what would have been a disabling if not a killing blow. Clapping and
foot stomping began, and we hugged.
Terril sighed. "I needed that. Trying to learn to fight a cruiser is not only hard work but frustrating."
"No different from Si'jin. You have to learn the basic moves, then quiet your thoughts so you can get into your opponent's mind."
* * *
She nodded understanding and watched the VTH come to life as we exited the Wave. Nothing. The space looked empty. Not wanting to take chances, I changed the status to Standby—stations one-third manned at all times—and continued in stealth mode to the planet. When we were in orbit, I contacted Pavao.
"I plan on going to the planet and taking r-Galene, r-Asdis, Iglis, and Commander Tanaka the UFN observer with me." I waited for comments.
"Let me go first. I'm not up to being Leader. Give me a few hours to ensure there are no surprises awaiting us on Ossicwater."
I started to argue until I saw Terril glaring at me. "My watchdog agrees, but don't take any unnecessary chances. Terril is indicating four Cobras and eight Kraits." I laughed. "I don't think that's a suggestion."
Pavao nodded and cut the connection. She took more than two hours to reach the planet and another five before she called.
"It's creepy but I think it's safe. I flew over the major islands and didn't detect any sign of life. I've landed on Union. Nothing here but bones and bugs." She made a face of disgust. "Why don't we split the islands? I'll take Union and the islands to the West. You take Longlee and the Islands to the east."
I collected my team and left for the closest of my islands. Pavao had the right of it, creepy. Bones were everywhere, stripped clean.
She sent no images but I could feel her sadness. It made me sick to imagine something gnawing on someone while they were still alive.
"The Ecitoni must be fast, agile, and strong to catch someone and hold them while…" I gagged on the thought.
"And numerous, otherwise we would have found more bodies away from their main camp, meaning few were able to escape the Ecitoni invading party," Iglis said, her voice weak and her complexion a ghostly white. Captain Tanaka nodded agreement while his eyes darted about as if expecting the Ecitoni to appear any minute.
Even Terril looked pale. "Very numerous. Probably working in pairs or groups of three or four, which means a high degree of discipline."
"Because the bones weren't scattered around the camp but appear contained to a small area, unlike what you would expect with wild animals competing for a piece of the prize," I suggested and saw Terril nod.
We visited another twenty islands known to be inhabited or visited periodically by the semi-nomadic islanders and found them either empty or littered with bones like the first one. I couldn't believe the planet was devoid of life—not a single human or animal. We had left Longlee, the second largest inhabited island, for last because it was the most populated and relatively modern. There, we spent two days searching buildings, streets, and the surrounding area.
I made my way out of the building I had been inspecting, which hadn't been looted as I would have expected by an invading force. Outside, I followed r-Galene's directions and found her and r-Asdis in an open area on the outskirts of the town. A mound of bodies lay as if thrown there. They had been stripped, judging by the broken harnesses and shattered helmets lying nearby. We found no uniforms nor other clothing. On close examination, they had four legs, two arms, and large heads with compound eyes, stunted antenna, and short mandibles—ant-like in appearance except for their size. Most were around a hundred and forty centimeters tall—an average young teenager. A second pile had larger Ecitoni, about a hundred and eighty centimeters. They too had been stripped of clothes and weapons.
"How many?" I asked.
"How killed?"
"SAS weapons?" I asked.
Terril nodded. "There are a lot of standard army issue weapons lying about."
"Makes sense. There were army units based on both Union and Longlee."
"There were plenty of discarded uniforms…no bodies…just bones and heads," Terril said, her voice low but cold. "Fewer bodies…bones than uniforms, I think."
"I think I prefer the followers of the Supreme Council of the Gods."
"They don't bury their dead," Iglis said, looking at the scattered bodies.
"But they move them." I stood, wondering why. Yet, they were discarded as having no value. Workers, I wondered. "To be stripped for needed equipment, maybe."
"They aren't going to be easy to fight if their lives have so little value."
Nodding agreement, I mused aloud, "I wonder if they store what they eat and then don't have to eat for some time…or if they carry some food back to their ships for others…and whether it's food that drives them to migrate to other systems?" Lots of questions that need answers, I concluded.
* * *
"What did you find, Pavao?" I asked when we met on the Mnemosyne eight days later. I had assembled my staff and the individuals who had accompanied Pavao and me to the planet.
"Lots of bones and a great many Ecitoni bodies on Union. No animals alive except for those that live underground or in the water. I saw signs that water dwellers near the shores had been attacked, although they may have been on land when the Ecitoni found them."
"Conclusion?" I asked.
"They're feeding millions." She didn't smile, and I felt no amusement. I didn't disagree. Ossicwater had twelve million citizens at last count, and we had found no one alive.
"We found a lot of bodies, but I doubt we found twelve million," I said, thinking back to the islands I had visited.
Pavao nodded agreement. "So they are taking large numbers back to their ships. The question is whether the captives are alive or dead."
"Iglis, your priority is to monitor the sites that go dark. It's possible they move to collect food. If that’s true, maybe we can guess at their movement based on the size of the planet they move into."
"You mean…a week per million population sort of thing?" she said just above a whisper. I couldn't blame her. Time per people eaten seemed a grizzly measurement.
"Yes. We need to understand the Ecitoni. What drives them, how many, size of their fleets, type of cruisers, etc. I suspect they greatly outnumber us, so we have to fight smart, and we can't fight smart until we know their strengths and weaknesses."
"That sounds rather callus, sacrificing planets to find their weaknesses," Byer said, then held up his hand. "I'm not suggesting the Riss are cowards…"
"It's a gamble. If we attack the Ecitoni force in Port Lost with our present combined force, we may win or we could lose to a superior force
. Even if we win, our losses could prevent us from defeating the remaining Ecitoni. In either of those scenarios, all humanity in this sector will be annihilated. So, I believe it's better to err on the side of caution, hoping to save as much of the SAS, UFN, JPU, and Riss territory as we can." I understood Byer and the others’ concern. They were ex-SAS military who had taken oaths to serve and protect, and this seemed like a betrayal even though they weren't in the SAS any longer. "Fighting stupid will benefit no one." What I didn't voice was the real possibility that even fighting smart, we might not be able to save anyone. The only survivors might be those in cruisers that survived the war.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Port Lost - Bradshaw
Bradshaw sat watching the ship's chronometer display the seconds remaining to Wave exit into Port Lost—thirty. He felt excited, and adrenalin pumped through his veins. He commanded a magical cruiser and in less than a minute he would encounter an alien race.
The thought was like being hit with cold water. He realized at that moment all the Bridge crew were calm and focused on their specific functions. Only he had exited the Wave before his cruiser.
Bradshaw studied the VTH as one massive white dot appeared located only one light-second from the planet, tagged E1. They were too far from the planet to detect activity around Port Lost, yet one object was clear to see. He concluded it must be massive.