by Tori Harris
Sexton had no idea where this conversation was heading, but he was beginning to understand the reason for Nenir’s nervousness. "What sort of transformation are you referring to?" he asked.
Nenir ignored his question for the moment, choosing instead to stick with her own narrative. "I was instructed to find a single Human representative whom I felt was not only trustworthy, but also in a position to act on the information I can provide. I believe you are that person, Admiral Sexton."
"Madame Ambassador, I am deeply honored by your trust, but you must understand that I am no diplomat," he protested. "Are you sure there isn’t a member of our Leadership Council who is better suited to receive your information?"
"I do not," she replied tersely. "The choice is entirely mine, and I have made my selection. Do you wish to decline the information?"
"Of course not. Please do not take offense at my hesitation, it’s just that communications such as this are generally handled by diplomatic representatives here on Earth. If you prefer to communicate with me, however, I will do my very best to see that your information is handled appropriately."
"I understand that such is your custom, but I believe you to be a man of both honor and action. It is these qualities that will ultimately allow our worlds to act as partners and allies."
For a moment, Nenir’s piercing, catlike eyes transfixed the admiral. He couldn’t help but feel a little like a small prey animal about to become the late-morning snack of a powerful predator. She stared at him for some time, appearing to be searching for something specific, before her expression softened once again, this time into an unmistakable look of pity.
"The cultural change that cultivated species undergo under the influence of the Pelarans invariably leads to violence. They are manipulated into serving as unwitting pawns in a grand strategy spanning thousands of light years, perhaps more. The reality is that we don’t really know the full scope of the Pelarans’ influence. We also have no idea what they ultimately hope to accomplish over time. What we do know is that all of this is part of a very long term strategy leading to domination on a galactic scale. As you know from your own history, there are many forms of domination: military, cultural, technological, etc. For now, the Pelarans seem content with domination by proxy. What I need you to understand, my friend, is that Terra is in the process of becoming the newest proxy of the Pelaran Alliance in this region of the galaxy. We, and by that I mean your civilization and mine, cannot allow that to happen."
Now it was the admiral’s turn to stare. He had been suspecting something like this from Nenir since their first conversation, but wasn’t sure how she would approach such a potentially volatile topic. After a few seconds, he stood and walked over to the large windows lining one side of his office. Outside, a beautiful spring morning was underway and the well-manicured grounds of TFC Headquarters were resplendent with pastel blooms. His attention was briefly drawn skyward as a flight of four F-373 Reaper aerospace superiority fighters streaked silently overhead – impossibly advanced machines of war, made possible by Pelaran-derived technology.
His earlier protestations aside, Sexton was a skilled negotiator who could hold his own in a debate with any politician. The subject of what would and would not be shared when (not if) representatives from extra-terrestrial civilizations came calling had been discussed in Earth’s highest political circles for hundreds of years. Most recently, TFC’s Leadership Council had provided a set of general guidelines. The problem with such guidelines is that they never seemed applicable to the real-world situation. After taking a few moments to think things through, Sexton decided that this was one of those cases where he needed to say as little as possible. He also needed Nenir to provide all of the information she had been authorized to release, while offering very little in return for the time being.
He turned back to Nenir and smiled warmly. "Would you be disappointed in me if I told you that I have absolutely no idea how to respond?"
Nenir laughed. "I don’t doubt it, Admiral, any more than I had any idea how to discuss this subject with you. Lucky for us, our immediate reaction is of little importance. The only thing that matters is how our worlds ultimately handle the situation. We do have a more pressing problem, however."
Sexton looked over his glasses at her, incredulous. "More pressing? How is that possible?"
"As I have said, we have seen the result of the cultivation program before. It always ends the same way: the cultivated species ends up in a protracted war with virtually every other species within what the Pelarans call the ‘cultivation radius.’ We believe this to be roughly five hundred light years, a vast volume of space to be sure. Within that sphere, other civilizations invariably end up banding together to resist the Pelarans' influence, but they are rarely successful. The cultivated species is always supplied with just enough technology and intelligence information to ensure their dominance of the region."
"Not to be indelicate, but since you know all of this, why not just destroy us outright rather than attempting to forge a relationship?"
Nenir emitted the faint growling sound that Sexton knew signified satisfaction. He wondered how the exobiologists would go about explaining the obvious similarity to purring mammals on Earth.
"That is precisely the right question, and the main reason Admiral Naftur took such a risk to place me here with you. From a military standpoint, the Guardian spacecraft stationed near the Sol system by the Pelarans has rendered such an attack futile, to say the least. The ship is managed by an incredibly sophisticated AI and possesses weapons technology that far exceeds that of any other civilization in this part of the galaxy. The admiral has been studying the ship’s tactics for years, however, and, with the help of our allies, I believe he is on the verge of developing a strategy to defeat it. That is our hope at least. Otherwise, the destruction of the Wek squadron you witnessed may have been in vain."
Sexton made no comment regarding the Guardian spacecraft, deciding to focus instead on the potential new threat posed by Earth’s nascent allies, the Sajeth Collective.
"So I trust that you are not here to tell me that we should expect an attack from the Sajeth Collective once Admiral Naftur finds a way to defeat this Guardian ship, am I right?"
"There are those in high ranking leadership positions within the Collective who advocate precisely that approach. They argue that the only effective means of controlling a cultivated species is destroying it before it reaches a state of military superiority to its neighbors. That assertion puts Terra in a tenuous position at the moment, Admiral Sexton. The deployment of Earth’s first starship seems to be a success thus far. That implies that you are on the threshold of becoming a significant threat, but have not yet reached a point where you could repel an attack yourselves."
Sexton was a bit taken aback by Nenir’s candor on such a far-reaching topic as interstellar warfare. Unsure at this stage whether the Sajeth Collective would end up being Earth’s greatest ally or worst enemy, he opted for the time-honored tactic of saying nothing, hopefully compelling Nenir to feel an obligation to fill the uncomfortable pause in conversation.
After what seemed like a long period of silence, the admiral’s tactic worked. "At the moment," Nenir continued, "Admiral Naftur’s opinion still holds a great deal of influence within the Collective. To a large degree, he speaks for the Wek on matters of military significance, and it is the Wek who provide the majority of the Collective’s military assets. His long-standing position, which is shared by four of the seven members at the moment, is that Terra provides an unprecedented opportunity to observe and intervene in the cultivation process before any hostilities begin. He believes that a moral species, such as yourselves," Nenir smiled and actually winked at Admiral Sexton, "would naturally recognize the mutual benefit of working with their neighbors to avoid violence."
"And subjugation by the Pelarans," Sexton added, following the longstanding tradition of diplomats everywhere of being agreeable, while committing to nothing.
"Just so," she replied. "It’s almost as if the Pelarans see violence on a galactic scale as a sport. We even know of one instance where two civilizations who are both under the influence of the Pelarans are now fighting each other on the frontiers of their respective spheres of influence. At the very least, the Pelarans promote wholesale violence among other races for their own benefit. That is not the behavior of an honorable civilization, Admiral."
"I can’t disagree with you there, but how might we go about ‘intervening’ in the cultivation process without ending the flow of valuable information?"
"If we can come to an agreement on how we might share information and work together, Admiral Sexton, I believe Admiral Naftur already has some ideas along those lines."
Chapter 10
TFS Ingenuity, TFC Live Fire Training Range
(3 days later – 2 light years from Earth)
"Welcome, Ingenuity, to the Terran Fleet Command Live Fire Training Range," the range AI hailed as Ensign Fisher eased the ship into the designated starting location. "The first exercise will begin in zero five minutes; please prepare your vessel for combat operations."
"Alright, listen up, everyone," Prescott announced. "I don’t have any more of a clue what to expect than you do, but the general idea is to ‘train like we fight,’ so let’s try to make this exercise as realistic as possible. XO, set General Quarters for combat ops. Lieutenant Dubashi, reply to the range AI that we are prepared to enter the range."
The lighting on the bridge was dimmed slightly and accented with a red hue to provide a visual indication of impending combat operations. Throughout the ship, crew members hurried to their action stations as the AI’s synthetic voice repeated the order for General Quarters. In a significant improvement over recent simulations, all departments reported their readiness in fifty-four seconds.
"Both reactors available and operating at one hundred percent. All weapons charged. We are at General Quarters for combat ops, Captain," Commander Reynolds reported.
"Very good, Commander, much better than yesterday, but let’s see if we can get that time down to forty-five seconds or less," Prescott said.
"Aye, sir, will do," she replied. "Have you heard anything else about what types of targets they have set up? I’m having a hard time envisioning how this is supposed to work."
"Only a little. Fleet has been pretty tightlipped about it. I can only assume that means it will become part of officer performance evals. Patterson said it has only been operational for a couple of weeks."
"A couple of weeks, huh?" she groused. "I guess that means there were other ships out here at the range before we were even finished with our shakedown cruise. It’s kind of a letdown to know we weren’t the only ones out here blazing a trail to the stars."
"I know what you mean," he laughed. "We were still first out of the gate, but we were clearly Fleet’s cover story rather than the one and only vessel in our inventory. At this point, I think you’ll agree that having more than one operational warship is a very good thing. Besides, I think we can still safely think of ourselves as trail blazers. They have been applying everything they learn from us to all the other ships that are nearing completion. Besides, to my knowledge, the only other operational ships at the moment are two frigates. Two Ingenuity-class frigates."
Patterson looked up and raised his voice in order to address his entire bridge crew once again. "What I can tell you is that we will see a combination of what they are calling ‘animate’ and ‘inanimate’ targets. The inanimate ones will most likely be asteroids of varying composition. Our weapons can be employed at full power on those targets. The ‘animate’ targets will be drones programmed to perform certain maneuvers and even return fire. Lieutenant Lau, the ship’s AI will coordinate with the range controller to ensure we avoid destroying anything we shouldn’t, so you can manage the tactical environment just as you would during combat."
"Aye, sir, let’s do this!" Lau replied enthusiastically, obviously excited at the prospect of obliterating his first set of actual targets and proving himself in his new role at Tactical.
"One minute, Captain," Lieutenant Dubashi reported from the Communications console.
"Thank you, Dubashi. Now, I know you’re all excited, but I want each of you to work on relaxing and keeping a cool head. In combat, your ability to focus under stress may save all of our lives. Everyone ready?"
A chorus of "aye, sirs" filled the bridge seconds before the range AI began issuing instructions for beginning the exercise.
"TFS Ingenuity, you are clear to enter the range. Waypoints for each portion of the exercise have been uploaded to the Helm console and will be indicated on the bridge view screen. Please proceed to the first waypoint."
Prescott couldn’t help noticing that the range controller AI’s synthetic voice was also that of a female and, while different from that of his ship, still had a sultry, vaguely sexual quality to it. Once again, he made a mental note to ask one of the techs at Fleet why that was the case.
"Ensign Fisher, while we are on the range, you don’t have to wait for my instructions to move the ship wherever the controller wants us to go," Prescott instructed. During normal operations, helm officers did not have the authority to issue commands that changed the vessel’s position in any way without direct orders to do so. The only exception was during an emergency situation where failing to act immediately would endanger the ship.
"Understood, Captain. Entering the range now," Fisher answered.
On the view screen, a set of green brackets indicated the precise location in space of the first waypoint. The brackets grew larger as the ship approached the starting point for the first exercise.
"Warning, the range is now active," the range controller AI announced over the bridge speakers. "The first three targets provide gunnery practice. Engage and destroy the targets using railguns and directed energy weapons."
At one of several massive artillery platforms located just outside the range area, a modified railgun fired its thrusters, making last second adjustments to its projectile’s flight path before firing. Rather than the relatively small, hardened projectiles fired by Ingenuity’s guns, the range gun accelerated a massive sled between two rails to hurl asteroids of varying size and composition downrange.
"Contact!" Lieutenant Lau bellowed, still obviously a little over-excited. "M-type asteroid, crossing our current flight path from the port side, range, three hundred kilometers and increasing rapidly."
"I have it as well, Captain," Fisher announced from the Helm console.
"Very well. Plot an intercept and pursue the target," Prescott replied, working hard to project the very personification of his ‘focused, but relaxed’ philosophy.
Without hesitation, Ingenuity banked hard to starboard, her sublight engines engaging at maximum thrust. The ship’s inertial dampening systems lagged slightly behind her acceleration curve, pushing every member of the bridge crew back in their seats.
In less than a minute, the ship had closed the gap with the target and was holding position at a distance that would give them sufficient time to dodge large chunks of metallic asteroid flying apart at high speed.
"Sir, we have a firing solution on all weapons," Lau reported, having placed a zoomed-in image of the speeding asteroid on the left side of the bridge view screen.
"Beam weapons only, Mr. Lau. Fire at will."
Along what was still referred to as the ship’s ‘wing root,’ due to the flared, wing-like shape of the hull, four massive emitters unleashed tremendous quantities of directed energy at the speed of light. Ingenuity’s AI automatically took into account the physics involved, allowing all four beams to converge at the same location on the surface of the target. The point of impact took on a wicked, red glow for a fraction of a second before the coherent beam melted its way through the center of the metallic asteroid and exited the other side. The forces created by the enormous changes in temperature caused the target to explode, sending pieces hurtling off into
space.
"Target one destroyed," the range AI announced cheerfully. "Targets two and three will be launched simultaneously. Engage and destroy both targets using railguns and directed energy weapons."
"Contacts," Lieutenant Lau announced, this time in a more businesslike tone. "They changed their trajectory a bit to avoid launching on a collision course, but they are definitely headed in our direction at high speed. Two targets, one C-type and one S-type asteroids. Intercept plotted to split their flightpaths."
"Helm, let’s meet them head on. Good choice, Lieutenant Lau. Hit the C-type with beam weapons, the S-type with railguns. Standard kinetic energy rounds only, please. Fire as soon as you have a solution."
Anxious to see what his ship could really do and unable to resist flying the two-hundred-meter-long frigate like a fighter, Ensign Fisher again pushed the sublight engines to full power, beginning a vertical climb as if to perform a loop. As the ship passed over the point where he began the maneuver, he performed a half-roll. The perfectly executed Immelmann turn now had the ship heading in the opposite direction with the two targets dead ahead on both sides of their flight path.
"I have both targets, sir. Firing," Lau announced.
To port, the converged energy beams had much the same effect as before, slicing completely through the dark, carbonaceous rock. This time, however, the resulting explosive expansion pulverized the target into what looked like nothing more than an expanding dust cloud on the view screen. Simultaneously, the four railgun turrets mounted near the frigate’s bow opened up with streams made up of thousands of kinetic energy penetration rounds flying at nearly ten percent the speed of light. To the Human eye, both the time to impact and its results were identical to that of the directed energy weapon. The stony, S-type asteroid simply disappeared from the view screen in a cloud of dust.