Captain Callast spent some time weighing all his options. Captain Latimer intended to take his thirty disk ships deep into the Vorn formation so he could fire upon the motherships. Callast just didn’t see any way the Glaymons could make it. Even with their superior shields and weapons, too many battleships would be firing on them. Callast was certain they would be destroyed well short of their targets. Unless they were protected somehow, he thought.
Then the solution came to him. It would be reckless and extremely dangerous, but it just might get the Glaymons close enough to take out the Vorn motherships. He sat, thinking for several minutes, searching for other solutions, but could think of nothing else that even held a sliver of success. There was only one way to ensure Captain Latimeer reached the Vorn motherships.
Callast turned toward Danall. “I have the answer, but you won’t like it.”
“I’m listening,” responded Danall, his attention focused on the captain.
Callast explained his plan and watched as Danall’s eyes opened wide in understanding.
“It might work,” Danall said when Callast stopped talking. “I’ll run come combat scenarios through the tactical computer and see what they show.”
“Let me know.” Callast stood to go to his quarters. If they implemented his plan, there was a good chance he would not be returning to Lakiam. However, he had come here to stop the Vorn and to save Zumwald. That was exactly what he would do, no matter what the cost.
Chapter Eighteen
Deep in, toward the center of the galaxy, a Glaymon disk ship entered the nebula that held the hidden Glaymon Dyson Sphere. The ship was operating its sensor-dampening field to prevent any of the races who inhabited this region of space from detecting it. Captain Lilith knew the dampening field would not prevent the powerful sensors on the Dyson Sphere from detecting her ship. Her greatest fear was that her vessel would be fired upon as soon as it came within range of the sphere’s powerful defensive and offensive weapons.
“I am curious to find out what were the ramifications of our ships leaving the Dyson Sphere,” said Marcus, Lilith’s second in command.
“Marshton and Valan felt they would be quite severe,” commented Arleen, the ship’s AI. She stood on a small platform, which projected her holographic image. “When we left the Dyson Sphere, we violated a number of our long-standing laws. The council will have punished the Aggressives for taking part in this revolt against their rule.”
“It was necessary,” defended Lilith, as they neared the Dyson Sphere. “Arleen, see if you can contact Marshton or Valan.” Lilith would really like to speak to one of them before she landed her ship in any of the spacedocks. Ideally she wanted to land in one of the spacedocks controlled by the Aggressives.
Arleen seemed to concentrate as she accessed the ship’s communications system. After a moment she looked directly at Lilith. “Marshton and Valan are not available. However, I have managed to reach Gaylith.”
Lilith nodded. She knew Gaylith. The woman was in charge of monitoring communications in the galaxy so the Glaymons in the Dyson Sphere would be aware of major developments in the war with the Vorn. “Inform her that we have returned with a message from Fleet Captain Waelt and would like to address the council. Also ask her if it’s possible to land at one of the spacedocks.”
Arleen did so and then looked at Lilith. “She says, if we land, our ship will be seized by the council, and we may not be allowed to leave again. They have already received a message, informing them not to allow our ship to land at any of the Aggressive spacedocks. She also doubts if the council will listen to you. Gaylith says we should have never come back.”
Arleen suddenly became quiet, as if concentrating. “I have received a message from council member Aalik. He instructs us to land at a spacedock under the control of the council. He says failure to do so will result in the immediate destruction of our ship.”
“Inform him we have valuable information for the council.”
“He doesn’t believe the council will be interested in listening. It will be all he can do to prevent us from being banished to an isolated habitation square to live out our lives in solitude. In my case it will mean the deletion of my program.”
“Tell him the Lakiams and the Andocks have captured a Vorn mothership, and I have in my possession the full download from the ship’s computer.” Captain Waelt and Tasid had given her this to be used as a bargaining chip with the council.
Several long minutes passed without a reply as the ship neared the spacedock specified by Aalik. Then Arleen’s eyes brightened.
“The council has agreed to listen to you if you turn over the information to them.”
“I agree,” Lilith replied. “Arleen send a copy of the files to Gaylith and ask her to get them to Marshton and Valan. It’s essential they see them before I go in front of the council. Also send them a copy of Fleet Captain Waelt’s message as well as the one recorded by Tasid.”
“I suppose you prefer a tight beam so the council won’t be aware we sent a copy of the computer files to Gaylith?”
“That’s correct,” Lilith replied. She would need support in the council meeting, and this was the best way she could think of to give her some leverage.
Looking at the main viewscreen, she saw the Dyson Sphere. It seemed to go on forever. Inside was enough habitable area to cover ten million normal-size planets. Also twelve trillion Glaymons were spread across eight thousand habitation squares. Unfortunately most of them, except her own more primitive people, were pacifists and had no desire to fight the Vorn. She hoped she was about to change that.
-
The disk ship entered the massive spacedock and flew down its center to the assigned berth. Inside the spacedock were hundreds of the larger two-thousand-meter disk ships. These were battleships, the most powerful ships the Glaymons possessed. Unfortunately Lilith’s people were only allowed to build the smaller one-thousand-meter vessels. She wished she could take some of these larger ships with her when she returned to Fleet Captain Waelt. That is, if she was allowed to return. This greatly concerned her after what Gaylith had said.
Once the ship docked, Lilith exited the vessel, finding a small group of Glaymons waiting for her. One of them was Councilor Aalik
“Your crew is to remain inside your ship for the time being,” he ordered. “It will be several days before the entire council is ready to listen to you. That will give them time to study the information from the captured Vorn mothership.”
“What about me?” Lilith was nervous, not sure what to expect.
“You’ll be in isolation until we decide what to do with you.”
Lilith blinked her eyes. “Will I be allowed to return to Fleet Captain Waelt?”
“No,” Aalik replied, his face taking on a deep frown of disapproval. “No more ships will be allowed to leave the Dyson Sphere. The defenses have been set to automatically destroy any vessel attempting to leave. Your own ship would have come under fire except for the information you claimed to possess. Is it true you have copies of computer files from a Vorn mothership?”
“We do,” Lilith responded. “Information in those files can affect the entire war effort.”
“We’ll see. For now you will come with me, and I will take you to your quarters. You will stay there until summoned.”
Lilith nodded. After speaking to Gaylith, this was what she had been expecting. Her eventual freedom would depend on how persuasive she could be with the council. That was one of the reasons Fleet Captain Waelt had chosen her. She was very good at speaking; however, sometimes she tended to say too much.
-
Early the next morning, Lilith was in her quarters listening to music. That was one area she was particularly proud of in regard to her race. Music and the arts were highly coveted careers. She was about to listen to some of the newer offerings, made since she had left the Dyson Sphere with Fleet Captain Waelt, when her door chimed, indicating she had some visitors.
“Enter,”
she said, knowing the computer system was monitoring her quarters and would allow in the visitors if they were authorized.
The door slid open, and Marshton and Valan came in.
“Captain Lilith,” said Marshton, stopping in front of her with a puzzled look. “Why did you come back?”
“Fleet Captain Waelt sent me. He needs more ships to fight the Vorn.”
Valan looked at Marshton meaningfully. “I told you.”
Marshton’s shoulders drooped, and he let out a deep sigh. “The council will never allow it. Even if we wanted to launch more ships, the defenses on the outside of the Dyson Sphere have been set to automatic. Any ships we launch will be destroyed. There’s nothing we can do.”
“Have you studied the data I sent you from the Vorn mothership?”
Valan nodded. “It’s frightening, knowing they have that many habitats. We estimate they could easily have over one million warships inside those structures.”
“Yes,” Lilith said. “But, if we wait on the council’s plan, it will be several million more years before they deal with the Vorn, if ever. How many more of those massive habitats will they have by then? They also know that, somewhere in our galaxy, a race has escaped their notice for millions of years. When this harvest is over, they’ll come looking for us.”
“Yes, the council is greatly concerned about that,” Marshton replied. “It has been a subject of great discussion since Fleet Captain Waelt left the Dyson Sphere. They have decided we shall be punished even more severely than we originally expected. Our numbers are to be reduced to one hundred million.”
“One hundred million!” cried out Lilith, stunned at the announcement. “We have over eight billion now. They can’t do this!”
“They can, and they’ve passed the resolution. We are bound to obey.”
Lilith bit her lip as she thought. This was much worse than what Fleet Captain Waelt had anticipated. “Is there anything we can do?”
“We’ve tried,” Marshton replied with a tired look in his eyes. “At every council meeting we bring up our objections, and they are overruled.”
“I can’t believe there is no sympathy for our cause in some of the councilors. There are over eight thousand of them. Surely a few would support us.”
Valan looked at Marshton, who nodded. “A few have spoken to us privately. Some habitation squares would be willing to support us, but there just aren’t enough. Too many fear what the rest of the council would do to them. They too could suffer severe penalties, as we have. We have told them to remain silent rather than take the risk.”
“The war against the Vorn is being fought now,” Lilith said pointedly. “Already we have had several significant victories against the Vorn. We could stop them if we had more ships!”
“We have been monitoring Fleet Captain Waelt’s activities with our long-range communication systems. Gaylith keeps us informed of what’s occurring. We’re sorry. I wish we could do more, but our involvement in this matter is over.”
“So, you’ll allow the council to let our people die out? We’re just to roll over and play dead? I thought we were better than that!”
Marshton shook his head. “You don’t understand. We have no choice. If we attempt to disobey the council, we could lose everything.”
“No,” Lilith answered, her gaze drilling into Marshton. “Not if we take our people out in the galaxy to live. Tasid is already building a habitat that can hold several million of our people. We’ll take our race out into the galaxy, where we belong.”
“It’s too late for that,” replied Valan, shaking his head. “We must go. We will be at the council meeting when you speak.”
Lilith watched them leave, feeling let down. She had expected so much more from those two. She realized she should never have volunteered for this mission.
-
Later Marshton and Valan were in a small ship, taking them to their habitats.
“I hated being so dishonest with her,” Valan said as he watched the habitation squares below the shuttle. They currently were passing over one that was an immense desert covered in huge sand dunes and massive sandstorms. Even here some life existed which was suited to such inhospitable conditions.
“It was necessary,” Marshton replied. “We know the council is monitoring her quarters and any visitors she has. We only confirmed what they already know.”
Valan nodded. “They can’t become aware of our real plan until it’s too late. We still need a few more councilors to come over to our side.”
“I’m hoping, when Captain Lilith speaks to the council, that will happen. It’s our only hope for a future and to help Fleet Captain Waelt.”
“The council meeting is set for the day after tomorrow. Let’s just hope our plan works.”
Valan looked down, watching as they passed over the next habitation square. This one was covered in a massive forest, and a race of humanoids lived there. They were quite primitive in the way they lived, but that was what they preferred. They had come to the Dyson Sphere several hundred thousand years in the past and had elected to give up all their technology to live with nature.
“We have to put our faith in Captain Lilith,” said Marshton. “If she speaks to the council with the intensity and emotion she did with us, I believe we will get the support we need.”
Valan remained quiet, thinking about all they had done since Fleet Captain Waelt left. If they succeeded, they would shake up the council, and there would be repercussions across the Dyson Sphere. Perhaps that would be for the best as most Glaymons had become too cut off from their emotions over the long years since the great megastructure was built. Time they went back to their roots. It was difficult to accept that all their hopes relied on a ship captain who believed everyone had abandoned her.
-
Lilith spent considerable time dressing to make sure she had the appropriate attire for a meeting with the Glaymon Council. Over the long years a certain decorum was expected of anyone addressing the full council. She would honor that decorum, but she would speak with her heart and with the truth. Her words would offend many members of the council, but her goal was to sway them just enough to allow her to return to Fleet Captain Waelt with more ships. If she failed, then even Fleet Captain Waelt would lose in the end against the Vorn.
When it was time, Aalik came to escort her to the council chambers. They walked along several long corridors before finally reaching a set of large ornate wooden doors with huge symbols on them symbolizing the Glaymon’s original home world. Aalik opened one of the doors, indicating for Lilith to enter. Stepping inside, Lilith paused. She had never been in the council chamber before. She was in a huge amphitheater shaped like a horseshoe with a raised center stage; a Glaymon in richly colored robes stood before a podium. Lilith looked out across the amphitheater. She could barely make out the end of the room. She knew over eight thousand Glaymons were in attendance. She also knew that most of those Glaymons were holograms.
“Captain Lilith,” spoke the Glaymon behind the podium. This was Lead Councilor Lavin, the current spokesperson for the council. “For this meeting of the council we will not use telepathy but our spoken language. You have requested to address the council on the war with the Vorn and the discoveries made on the mothership the Andocks and the Lakiams have under their control. Be aware that we will not tolerate insults or disrespect toward this council. We won’t be going to war against the Vorn, and you will not be leaving this Dyson Sphere again. You may speak your words to the council.”
Lilith approached the podium, standing close to it and facing the Glaymon councilors. “I come from Fleet Captain Waelt with a plea for aid.” Lilith knew she had to choose her words carefully. “Already we have fought a great battle with the Vorn and won a decisive victory. We have found allies among the stars who are willing to fight at our side to protect this galaxy from the Destroyers of Worlds. They sacrifice their lives willingly so others might live and not become food for this ancient enemy. An enemy so cruel an
d callous who has harvested countless galaxies and turned more civilizations than we can count into food for their hungry race.”
Some of the Glaymon councilors were murmuring among themselves.
“Imagine what it must be like to know your family has been turned into a black ash and then transported to a Vorn mothership, where the ashes are converted into food pellets to feed their Queens and their other castes?”
“The Vorn are evil,” a lone female voice said from the depths of the chamber.
“They are more than evil,” Lilith replied. “They are an aberration that should never have come to our universe. They are creatures that have nothing in common with the races of this universe. To the Vorn, we are nothing more than a food source.” Lilith paused, wanting the councilors to feel the full impact of her words.
“The Andocks and the Lakiams have captured a Vorn mothership and, with our aid, have decrypted its computer files. We now know the location of the system where the Vorn are staging their ships to attack this galaxy. But, of even more importance, we now know where the Vorn home system is.”
More murmurings came from the council. Several turned to look at one another, and a few tense conversations broke out.
Lilith took a deep breath as her gaze moved across the chamber, meeting the gazes of as many councilors as she could. “We know where the Vorn home system is, and this Dyson Sphere has the ships to destroy all of their habitats, if we so want. We can stop this threat now! We can save countless galaxies from the horror of becoming food for the Vorn!”
“Hold,” ordered Lead Councilor Lavin, looking disapprovingly at Lilith. “We have told you that we will not engage in a war with the Vorn. We have a way to send them back to their universe. When the time is right, we will do so. We will not send our ships to engage the Vorn in a fruitless war.”
“Then we let countless galaxies die as the Vorn grow in strength!” challenged Lilith, her focus on the lead councilor. “What happens if they find us before then? They know we exist. When they have harvested this galaxy, they will come looking for us. If they find us, they will try to destroy this Dyson Sphere.”
The Star Cross: The Forever War Page 25