by C. R. Daems
We left Waloo the next day, after inspecting the two merchants and destroying the Lucky Lady. Hopefully, the story of the Lucky Lady would encourage the merchants to register and follow the rules. A life-lesson was always better than threats.
I decided to stop in at Eden to get a status update on the Ecitoni Mother ship and talk to Butler. I took the opportunity during the two day trip to work out with Terril, visit the various compartments, and to hold a staff meeting to sense the mood—because many of the crew were ex-SAS navy. Not surprisingly, the mood in the conference room was sober when I entered.
"I know fighting against the SAS is uncomfortable, and some may see the new MFZ as unfair," I began as I sat.
"I haven't heard of anyone being uncomfortable with the MFZ," Send said. "It's sad having to kill SAS citizens; however, we know you don't want to and go out of your way to give them a choice. Freeland is now our homeland, and we will do whatever is necessary to protect the Riss and Freeland."
"I agree, Byer said. "The Riss has always done its best to protect the SAS. Personally, I think the MFZ may be as good for the SAS as it was for Freeland. Like Seng's people, we're uncomfortable killing SAS personnel, but know it's necessary to protect the Riss and Freeland."
"My people and I know firsthand the hate emanating from the SAS over the years. We have never heard the Riss ever say one disparaging word. You have our complete support," Iglis said. "Butler sent a message an hour ago. He gave your message to the SAS Council. They are preparing an urgent directive to all systems to decommission all SAS cruisers. He says they continue to hate you, but they got the message."
That provoked laughs and side comments around the room.
"I hope so. I'm tired of killing and would love to see no more war in this sector of the galaxy."
* * *
"Welcome back, Leader Reese. I would like to entertain you for dinner if you have time."
"I'd like that, Admiral Zhu. I'm available whenever you are free."
"Tonight at seventeen hundred hours on the Dynasty?"
"Yes, seventeen hundred hours on the Dynasty."
"Any thing exciting happen while I was gone?" I asked, hoping the smiling faces meant there had been none.
"The Mother ship finally attempted to get more supplies. They sent two hundred shuttles out. Fortunately, they must be short on Light cruisers because they only had five with each group of one hundred," Da'Maass said. "So, Katlin and I had no problem with the help of red-Wraiths taking on five at a time."
"We think they must be running out of food with so many Ants on board," Katlin added.
"We notified Alena that we would like more red-Wraiths, although if our assumptions are correct, they are out of shuttles and Lights, or if not, they have only a few remaining."
"I agree but would rather err on the side of caution. We'll get together tomorrow. I'm having dinner with Admiral Zhu tonight." I cut the connection.
I clicked on Iglis's SID and she appeared immediately as if she had been waiting for my call.
"Yes, Leader. If you want to come to my office, I'm in contact with Director Butler. He's waiting to talk to you," she said, then hesitated. "It's more secure, unless…"
"No, your office is good." I made my way to the Intel area. The guards just stepped aside as I neared. Iglis waited just inside the door.
"He seems…nervous," she said as we approached the communications suite, a private area with the equipment to interface with the Comrelays and secure transmissions.
She nodded to the woman sitting at one of the consoles. The woman stood and handed the mike to Iglis and left.
"Director Butler, I have Leader Reese here," she said and handed the mike to me. I switched it to speaker.
"Good day, Director Butler. I'm sorry you have more Ecitoni on Eden, but that should be the last of them. Although they have the capacity to make more shuttles and Light cruisers, I don't think they have the resources to make sufficient numbers to matter." Food to feed the workers was the truth of it, I mused.
"I understand after my briefing, but of course, most think you are doing it on purpose. Never mind. Nothing you or I can say will change that." He paused and his next words were close to panic. "You wouldn't…can't quarantine Eden. It's the heart of the SAS."
"It's diseased, so I can and will quarantine Eden—unless someone has a cure. While the Riss and the UFN were off fighting the Ecitoni to save the SAS, the council was building cruisers to attack the Riss. All my career, I've done my best to support the SAS, but it hasn't helped. Again and again, the SAS has tried to kill the Riss-humans. Fortunately for the SAS, the Riss aren't the predators you are. They just want peace. The SAS systems can choose to live in peace and be free to trade and govern their systems without interference, or they can have war and be isolated."
Butler was silent for a long time. "Trostel and the senior members of the council would like to talk with you."
"No. I'm sorry, Butler. I've always considered you and Plimson people who could be trusted, but the SAS council has proven they can't be trusted. They need to choose—peace or war. I will abide by their decision." I cut the connection and retired to my quarters to freshen up and change uniform.
* * *
Zhu looked amused as he watched me endure the bugle and honor guard ceremony as I left the shuttle.
"Welcome back, Leader Reese. Rumor has it you encountered a few rogue cruisers on your tour of the MFZ," Zhu said as we walked back to his office. Inside, he waved me to the table. "What would you like to drink, Nadya?"
"Wine. It won't help, but I'll pretend it does." I smiled and my tension eased. Plum wine magically appeared.
"Councils are frequently annoying. We are fortunate to have an emperor to overrule them on important issues. Maybe you should be the emperor of the SAS."
I choked on my wine, spraying it over the table. Zhu laughed.
"I see the idea doesn't appeal to you." He nodded to the server and the table was quickly cleaned and a new tablecloth and dishes put down.
"I'm not happy being the Leader of a magnificent and peace loving race. I would rather try to walk in space without a suit than be the emperor of the SAS."
"How does the future look?" Zhu asked, changing topics without changing the topic.
"Sort of like years ago when we had raiders. We will win the peace, but there will be those who feel they have to break the rules—for money, or power, or just to prove they can," I said, knowing it was in the human DNA.
"Yes, the merchants will have to be monitored regularly, because your Erises will seriously limit unregistered ships," he said.
Talk during dinner was more personal, reflecting back on our early years. Afterward we discussed the MFZ rules for the SAS and JPU, a tentative schedule for monitoring each system, and a formal treaty between the UFN and the Riss.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Earthol – Touring a mini-Mother ship
"Are you going to tour the Mother ship?" Terril asked, frowning with concern.
"Bradshaw says the Kraits inspected the ship and there are no Ecitoni left alive."
"Although I'm sure Bradshaw loves you and wants you safe, I'm responsible for your life, and an Ecitoni Mother ship doesn't sound safe."
"Bring whoever you feel necessary," I said, knowing she would anyway.
It took four hours to reach the Cerberus-1 and the UFN squadrons and arrange for a meeting on the Mnemosyne with Bradshaw and Senior Captain Jian, whom Admiral Kishi had left in charge.
I wanted to grab Sean and run off to my cabin, but had to settle for a hug and a kiss, because we were e
xpecting Captain Jian within the next few minutes.
"I missed you, Leader Reese. Are you sure you don't need an XO?" he whispered in my ear as we hugged.
"You wouldn't want to be XO, and I couldn't concentrate with you on the same ship as me. So, we’re stuck with just leave time."
"Which you never take," Sean said, but held up his hand. "Understand, I'm not complaining. This is far better than before when I didn't see you for years at a time. But I'm staying tonight."
"Try leaving. Terril has orders to shoot you it you try," I quipped as the UFN shuttle slid into the Mnemosyne's bay.
"Congratulations, Senior Captain Jian. I think this entitles you to bragging rights. The first UFN Captain to kill an Ecitoni Mother ship," I said, and he gave me an ear-to-ear smile.
"To be honest, I had my doubts we could kill an Ecitoni Mother ship. Peace will be very boring," he said and laughed. "And promotions very slow."
I led him and Bradshaw to the third level, because the UFN personnel were fascinated by the serenity of the area.
"I know your commandos and the Kraits have inspected it, but I would like a tour in case we see more in the future," I said. Jian's eyes grew wide momentarily.
"Maybe boring isn't too bad." he laughed. "Who would you like to accompany you?"
"I'd like you and Captain Bradshaw and whatever security you and Colonel Terril think necessary—just in case something got overlooked. It's a monstrous ship." I said and Jian nodded agreement.
Terril spent the next two days coordinating security for the tour, while Sean and I spent a good part of each day in bed, talking about our lives, hopes, and dreams in between lovemaking.
she sent with a feeling of amusement.
When we reached the opening, Captain Jian was waiting. Terril had brought all of my Cobra detachment and forty Kraits. I was tempted to say something but didn't. She was right. I was far too reckless at times, and she had a right to be nervous.
Surprisingly, the tunnel had no dead bodies. I stopped to feel the walls, which were like a hard rubber which I had been told could repair itself. It would be nice if battle metal could do the same. The first cavern we came to was the size of six of old-Earth's indoor sports arenas. The area was devoted to making fighters, and at least twenty were in various stages of production. Although there were a few bodies scattered around, the area was relatively clear except in one corner, where hundreds of bodies had been stacked.
"Sean, I'd like a large piece of that rubber-like material and one of these fighters taken back to Freeland for the Riss to study. They don't look fancy, but maybe we can learn something from them," I said while examining one of the half-built units. We left the cavern through a tunnel headed toward the rear of the ship. About a hundred meters later it opened into another cavern of equal size. This looked like a kitchen of sorts, except it appeared to have only one recipe—a light-brown paste. The Ecitoni were very tidy, and it was apparent the equipment hadn't been used recently. The wooden tables had little on them, although the bits and pieces remaining suggested that humans and animals were used in the processing of the paste we had found. I wondered if the paste was for immediate consumption or packaged for periods between inhabited systems. The next two sections were training areas with simulators of various types. Again the areas were relatively clear of bodies—the few scattered around the area looked as if they had just dropped dead while working. The last cavern contained eight massive engines and other machines that maintained the ship’s infrastructure: gravity, electricity, plumbing, air, water, and some yet to be determined functions.
Thinking we were on the lower level, we took a tunnel going up, which brought us into what appeared to be a storage area about a quarter full of missiles, weapons of various types, and harnesses. Moving towards the front of the ship, the next cavern contained a machine shop with ship components, ammunition, and electronic devices. The next cavern looked to be a sleeping area. Here lay thousands of bodies which looked to have died in their sleep, probably due to a lack of food. This area was two times larger than the other caverns. Then we entered the Queen's chamber, with tens-of-thousands of Ecitoni in various stages of birth or development. All dead, along with thousand of attendants, who appeared to have dropped dead in the process of tending the infants. It was obvious from the thousands of bodies lying around that the Ecitoni weren't cannibals.
The Queen lay at the head of the chamber on an elaborate throne containing a suite of electronic equipment and several large Ecitoni who could have been guards or consultants or dignitaries. They looked like the Terracotta Army in China except all the figures were lying down rather than standing. The Queen was massive. I doubted she had been capable of moving, with or without help.
The next chamber was another sleeping area, but the occupants were the large Ecitoni which we assumed were the officer caste. Finally, we arrived at the Control room with its computer systems, weapons, and navigational stations occupied by the larger Ecitoni. We called it a day—a very long day at that point—and made our way back to our shuttles.
The next day, we discovered two levels below the one where we had entered and two upper areas above the one we had toured. They contained more manufacturing areas for processing raw material and building shuttles, more sleeping quarters, automatic laser bays, and launching platforms. There appeared to be no entertainment or non-work areas. The ship was a living organism like the human body where every Ecitoni’s sole responsibility was to keep the ship functioning. The tour left me feeling depressed.
I decided to assign a team of Riss to investigate the Mother ship, like we were doing at the Red Dwarf. Maybe they had stumbled on some innovative concepts we could use. If nothing else, we would be better prepared if we met another group of Ecitoni.
* * *
I next traveled to Sparrow’s Nest, where they too had decided the Mother ship was dead. They were preparing to investigate. I briefed Katlin and the senior UFN captain on what we had found so they would know what to expect. Afterward, I stopped in at Eden to see Admiral Zhu.
"You think we have won the war?" Zhu said as we sat in his office after a very pleasant dinner.
"Unlike humans, who would fight each other for the last scrap of food, I have the impression the Ecitoni are conditioned to serve the ship and therefore everyone would be fed so that all the functions continued. That's the feeling I got when I toured the Mother ship on Earthol. If I'm right, once the food supply is cut off, the whole ship collapses just like the human body will if starved of food."
"Good, I would like to get back to Dunn." He took a sip of wine before continuing. "My intelligence chief tells me you may have scared the SAS Council into submission with your threat to quarantine Eden."
"Maybe the next generation can be happy without wars."
"That’s what my brother Zhang and I admire about the Riss. They don't want power or to control anyone into thinking like they do, and the reason they must have a few human hosts is to navigate the humans' predilection to seek power and control. But …" He left the sentence hanging, but the meaning was clear—would the humans corrupt the Riss.
"Ironically, we serve at the whim of the Riss. None of the eleven Riss-humans could do anything the Riss did not condone. They can take complete control anytime they wish. It's the reason for the tattoo. The SAS has always worried the Riss wanted to control their human hosts. The Riss just wanted to be Riss in their Gorillai form, but they needed humans to help them achieve sp
ace. They will let us defend them, but no more."
"I wish we had some species to control us," Zhu said in a whisper. "Nadya, you must continue to see the future for us."
Freeland - Six months later
Everyone stood when I entered—although I would've preferred they didn't—but they ignored me, a concession to my position as the Riss Leader.
"Commander Iglis, for someone with so much responsibility, you look remarkably rested," I said as she walked to the front of the room for her usual presentation on the status of the MFZs. Under the old system, Iglis would now be a vice admiral. Today, she looked comfortable with her position and responsibilities.
"Leader Reese, elders, and commanders, I'm happy to report that the Ecitoni Mother ship on Eden has been certified as dead. In addition, MFZs are operating smoothly." She took a small bow when everyone clapped. "The SAS now has twenty licensed merchants, the UFN twelve, and Freeland six. All the JPU and the SAS systems have working Eirises, and they have detected no unlicensed activity. Furthermore, the UFN made fifteen merchant inspections and the Riss ten. No violations were noted."
"Kind of makes you want to run out and check the Eirises to see if they are working," Da'Maass said. "Unbelievable that no one has tried to beat the system."
"The potential punishments exceed the potential rewards," Sheva said. "And then there is the threat of the merchant losing their ship, and of Eden being quarantined."
"Has the time come for us to raise the next generation of Riss-humans?" Elissa asked, which got everyone's attention.
"When did you find time to look for a potential husband, Elissa?" Pavao's voice held a note of surprise and amusement. "Our Leader hasn't given me a vacation in… Never, come to think of it."
"I just thought we should start looking before we were too old to attract the right man or woman." Elissa smiled and her eyes twinkled.
"Before we start looking, we need to check with our Leader to see what's on her to-do list, now that Iglis has conveniently cleared her old one," Pavao said, holding her chin and staring in my direction. One by one, each person mimicked Pavao's posture, and the room went stony quiet.