by S. H. Jucha
The conference group watched a beatific smile form on Mutter’s face from the affectionate gestures. Several glances, but no words, were exchanged. The Haraken world of humans and SADEs was ever evolving.
“Mutter, are you going or staying?” Sheila asked.
That Mutter paused for several moments told the group how difficult the decision was for her. Everyone knew her greatest desire was to return to Haraken and sing for the Swei Swee once again.
“Your message will be delivered, Mutter, and thank you for your sacrifice.” In response to her statement, the SADE delivered a gesture of respect. “Mutter, please coordinate the timing of the conversion with …” Sheila glanced at Maria, who pointed to her left, “with Minister Drake.”
“As you request, Commodore,” Mutter replied, and Sheila closed the comm.
“Meetings with Alex were always like this,” Maria said, “so informative,” which broke the group into fits of laughter — some from Maria’s statement and some just enjoying being alive and able to laugh again — none more so than Ellie.
“Well, Commodore, I imagine you have preparations to make and a schedule to keep. We won’t detain you any longer. I wish you good fortune with Mutter’s ‘search for hunters.’ Give that farseeing president of yours a kiss from me,” Maria said, giving Sheila a mischievous grin.
Eric Stroheim remained behind while the New Terrans left the Last Stand aboard one of their soon-to-be-converted travelers. Commodore and Captain urged pilots and crew to make haste, and the carrier was underway within hours, headed out of system for home, to discover what transpired at Haraken where the Reunion was headed.
-31-
Exiting FTL outside the Hellébore system, the Reunion made its way inward. Wombo beseeched Speaker García for a few minutes of his time, and they retired to the speaker’s cabin.
“Speaker García, I implore you. We should be meeting with these people — the Méridiens, the New Terrans, and the Harakens. We should be offering them alliances, treating them as equals. Not coercing them to join the UE.”
“Administrator Wombo, I don’t necessarily disagree with you. Diplomacy would be better, but force appears to be our only option. Humans must be united, one way or the other.”
“But haven’t they aptly demonstrated that they don’t wish to join the UE, Speaker? And are not allies better than enemies? Most important, these people have demonstrated they possess the military technology necessary to enforce their views.”
“Administrator Wombo, you are pushing an agenda that is contrary to UE dictates at the highest level, and incidentally is contrary to High Judge Bunaldi’s direct orders. Be extremely careful. I imagine by this time, New Terra has already submitted to Bunaldi. The people could do little else in the face of a UE battleship. We will do the same here at Haraken. Information has it that this is nothing more than a colony of a half million. They will see the wisdom of submitting. Trust me.”
Wombo left the speaker’s cabin completely dejected. It was one thing to live within the UE and hope for things to improve; it was another thing to discover other human worlds that were living in peace, perhaps not in perfection but to a far greater degree than Earth. He was never sorrier than now to call himself a human of Earth. As Wombo turned a corner for his cabin, he heard a snort and deprecating chuckle.
“Didn’t go too well with Speaker García, Administrator?” Shin asked. She was leaning against the bulkhead next to his cabin door and thoroughly enjoying the moment. “By the look on your face, you lost your argument to save your precious Méridiens or Harakens or whomever they are. High Judge Bunaldi will teach the New Terrans a lesson in supremacy, and we will do the same here.”
“You are disgusting, Shin. Go away.”
“Oh, my goodness, Administrator Wombo does know how to be angry.” Shin pushed off the bulkhead and stood toe to toe with Wombo. Although forty-six centimeters shorter, Shin craned her head back to stare at Wombo with all the hatred she could muster. “You have exposed your sympathies for these people to your own detriment. Mark my words, Olawale; you will not have your job long. You lack a stiff spine, old man, and your job will soon be mine.”
The pain from the decades under UE rule and his hatred for what they were doing to the Méridiens and their allies welled up in Wombo, and he grabbed Shin by the throat, his massive hand encircling her slender neck.
For a brief moment, Shin feared for her life, but when Wombo paused, confusion replacing the brief burst of hatred in his eyes, Shin began to laugh and Wombo released his hold on her. “You can’t even fight back against a tiny woman.” Shin strolled past Wombo, laughing at him until she turned the next corner.
Wombo entered his cabin to find his close friends waiting for him.
“I’m sorry, Olawale,” Nema said. “We couldn’t help but hear your exchange with the snake-woman.”
“Nema, it’s unfair of you to demean the noble reptiles by your comparison,” Storen said, his comment breaking the group’s somber mood.
“So your arguments fell on deaf ears, my friend,” Priita said. The expression on Wombo’s face didn’t seem to require his response.
“So who’s for a new adventure? Under the circumstances, I believe this one has run its course,” Yoram asked.
“And how would we begin our new adventure?” Storen asked.
“That seems apparent. We desert. Now, how exactly we do that I leave to you more practical types. Remember my specialty is philosophy,” Yoram replied.
The fact that no one raised an outcry caused the room’s occupants to regard one another carefully. There wasn’t a dissension in the group.
“If we were to attempt this, recognize that it could well result in our deaths,” Wombo warned.
Priita chuckled. “Remember to whom you are speaking, Olawale. We are a group of eminent, senior scientists. Do you think we can’t calculate the probabilities of the alternatives?”
Wombo offered his friends a smile of embarrassment. “All right, what do we need to accomplish this, by when do we need it, and how do we request asylum from the Harakens?” he asked.
* * *
The Haraken-based SADEs picked up the Reunion’s entrance into the Hellébore system from the FTL station based near the outer planet’s orbit. It was a quick and simultaneous decision among them to appoint Cordelia as their spokesperson. The logic was simple and flawless. Cordelia’s partner was Julien, and Julien’s friend was Alex. Of all the SADEs, she could best interpret the meaning of the Earther ship’s arrival and communicate that to the humans.
While there was still time before the Reunion arrived in orbit, the Harakens hurried to hide many of their assets in Hellébore’s asteroid belt or at least move them to the far side of Haraken.
Cordelia messaged Captain Tanaka aboard the No Retreat, Haraken’s second and newest carrier. It was twice the size of its sister ship, the Last Stand, carrying two full wings of 128 travelers each. On Cordelia’s request, a traveler was
dispatched to pick her up from House Racine.
It was a sign of the times. Haraken SADEs hoped to enjoy parity with humans when they converted to mobile avatars. Now, circumstances called on Haraken’s most capable humans and SADEs to step forward and protect the home world, and Cordelia’s request for a traveler and a transfer to the No Retreat was received, acknowledged, and given priority attention, no questions asked.
* * *
Captain Miko Tanaka, Wing Commanders Lucia Bellardo and Franz Cohen, and Cordelia gazed into the massive holo-vid on the No Retreat’s bridge. It was a Z special. Mickey’s mistake had been to grumble to Z that the new carrier would receive a standard Méridien display, a seemingly paltry piece of equipment for such a huge bridge.
“Any word yet?” Miko asked, glancing at Cordelia.
“None, Captain,” Cordelia replied. “If our ships are chasing the Earthers, we have no idea of their distance lag. At the explorer ship’s present velocity, if our ships arrive more than fourteen hours from now, they will be unable to run down the Reunion.”
“If our ships are late, then we must assume the defense of our people,” Miko replied.
“Z’s Shadow detailed that ship’s armament well. We have the fighters over them,” Franz said.
Franz Cohen was Hezekiah’s son and was on duty at the New Terra Joaquin Station when station personnel rescued the oxygen-starved people aboard the Unsere Menschen. His love of the Librans began that day and galvanized him to immigrate to Haraken at the first opportunity.
Trained as a New Terran shuttle pilot, Franz Cohen proved to be a natural behind a traveler-shuttle’s controller and soon after joined Haraken fighter training school. His rise in the ranks came quickly, promoted by virtue of his calm manner, natural leadership, and intuitive skills with the fighter. Only individuals such as Ellie Thompson, Deirdre Canaan, and Svetlana Valenko were superior in the fighter games, and even they admitted that Franz forced them to stay on top of their skills.
“We have the fighters, but the No Retreat is a giant target for the Reunion’s missiles, which we have no defense against,” Lucia noted.
“Unless we use our travelers to intercept the missiles,” Franz replied. Franz’s thought chilled the Méridiens.
Only a New Terran would make that suggestion, Cordelia thought.
“Then our objectives must be to halt the Earther ship’s advance and remove any temptation to launch their missiles at our carrier,” Miko said thoughtfully.
“You have a plan, Captain?” Cordelia asked.
“Yes … yes, I do,” Miko said forcefully. “We will demonstrate to these Earthers that they have made a great mistake coming here uninvited, or, at least, have failed to ask permission to enter our system. Cordelia, take the ship out of orbit to a position 1M kilometers out from Haraken directly in line with the Earthers’ approach. And, Cordelia, do it at max velocity! I believe our leader once said that he required an entrance. I want the same effect.”
Cordelia’s generous smile demonstrated her agreement with Miko’s approach.
“Commanders, when we reach a stationary position, it’ll be your turn. I want a quick and precise launch of our travelers. Make it look impressive.”
“How many fighters, Captain?” Lucia asked.
“All of them, Commander,” Miko replied. “Spread them out in a wall. Extrapolating from the Shadow’s reconnaissance, we should have a four-to-one superiority over their fighters. Let’s give them an overwhelming reason to halt and reconsider their intentions.”
* * *
On the Reunion’s bridge, Speaker García and Major Barbas waited impatiently behind Captain Lumley.
“Well, Captain,” García demanded. Alerted hours ago by Captain Lumley of the huge ship that appeared from behind their target planet, the speaker and the major had hurried to the bridge despite the lengthy distance that their explorer ship was still to travel to reach the planet. They had been shocked to hear the guide’s report that the massive Haraken ship accelerated at an unheard of rate compared to UE ships. Then, as suddenly as it appeared and accelerated to meet them, it halted — more quickly than a UE ship could have achieved. Now they waited for the guide’s analysis of the ship and Captain Lumley’s interpretation of the guide’s telemetry.
“It appears to be a larger version of the ship that we caught sight of as we fled … pardon me, Speaker García … as we left the Méridien system,” Lumley replied. “It’s our opinion that the Méridien-based ship was a fighter carrier with few defensive capabilities, which is why it remained hidden after it launched its fighters. The configuration of this ship is similar, only larger. While I would not want to presume, it is highly probable that this ship has no defensive capabilities either.”
“Excellent, Captain,” García replied, “wait until we are close, then launch a full spread of missiles.”
“Speaker García, shouldn’t we hail the ship and at least order it to stand aside?” Lumley entreated his superior.
“I’m done coddling these people, Captain. We get close. We launch our missiles and remove their vaunted technology in one quick chop of the blade,” García replied.
Barbas wore an ugly leer. Still smoldering from the duplicity of the creature called Z, the thought of revenge tasted so sweet that he could barely control himself.
“One moment, Speaker García,” Lumley interrupted. “The guide has detected a launch of fighters from that carrier.” Lumley ordered the telemetry on the bridge’s central monitor. The entire bridge personnel watched open-jawed as the fighters flooded from the ship, sped to precise positions, and formed a wall of equally spaced fighters, floating in space.”
“Are humans flying those craft?” García asked. The eerie way in which the fighters flew to their positions shook his confidence. Glancing around at the bridge crew, García saw that it had the same effect on them.
“Eyes on your instruments,” Lumley ordered, hoping to restore his crew’s focus. The unnatural, machine-like forming of the fighter wall also scared him. “Speaker García, the guide counts 256 fighters. Since that carrier launched what well might have been its entire fleet, it negates a missile strike against the mother ship. We would achieve no tactical advantage.”
“I’m certainly aware of the effects of their maneuver, Captain,” García ground out.
“Captain,” the comms officer called out, “we are being hailed.”
“Comms, does the guide have a vector on the transmission? Is it that carrier?” Lumley asked.
“Negative, Captain, the guide indicates the broadcast originates behind us,” the officer replied.
“Navigation, what’s behind us?” Lumley demanded.
“Nothing, Captain. The guide doesn’t indicate any ship is back there.”
“There’s that vaunted technology that you would so quickly dismiss, Speaker García,” Captain Lumley said with a resigned shake of his head.
“Explain, Captain,” García demanded.
“It’s my estimate that a ship from the Méridien system has followed us and exited FTL behind us. Its captain or commander is hailing us,” Captain Lumley replied.
“Impossible,” Barbas snarled. “Even if there was a means of hiding their ship visually, the guide would pick up their energy signature. The Méridien ships have significant engine flares.”
“As I began to explain, Major,” Lumley said, turning to face Barbas directly and holding the major’s dark gaze with one as fierce, “I believe that ship is not trying to hide, and the guide will detect it eventually. Light is traveling at its expected velocity, but these people are transmitting their comms in an accelerated manner. I would imagine that they have that capability ship-to-ship, throughout their systems, and among their worlds.”
“Captain, put their hail on the monitor,” García ordered.
The major held up his hand to Lumley to forestall his actions. “Speaker García, are you sure that’s wise?” Barbas whispered, nodding toward the listening bridge crew.
&n
bsp; “Put it on the monitor, Captain,” García repeated.
Lumley nodded at his comms officer and from the monitor’s speakers was heard, “Speaker García, this is President Racine. You and your people appear to be quite dense. I would have thought by now you would understand that we don’t want your heavy-handed presence in our systems. At this moment, you have two choices: reverse course, leave this system, and return to Earth or die, and I don’t much care which one you choose. I’ll wait one hour by your clock system, and then I will direct our fighters to obliterate your ship. President Racine out.”
“So close, so close,” García muttered when the message ended.
“We still have our armament. We can still fight,” Barbas argued.
Lumley regarded the major as if he had lost his mind.
“Calm down, Major,” García replied. “We have an hour to think. Let us retire and consider our options.”
-32-
Surprised by Wombo’s invitation to visit him in his cabin, Zhang Shin arrived expecting the administrator’s apology. Although, in her mind, it would be a useless gesture on his part. However, Shin decided to humor the old man, even accepting a cup of some tasteless, native drink.
Wombo caught the cup before it tumbled from Shin’s hand. With her petite frame, only a half-cup of Boris’s brew was needed to put her in a deep sleep. While Wombo wouldn’t have thought of himself as a cruel man, he couldn’t resist leaving out the analgesic that Boris cautioned him to be sure to add to the sleeping mixture. The compound would have tempered the effects of the dose. Without it, Wombo smiled, Shin would wake hours from now with a migraine that she wouldn’t soon forget.
“Our spy is out,” Wombo said after placing a call to Priita’s cabin where the rest of Wombo’s compatriots waited. “We are free to leave. Remember to leave one at a time and take different routes to the bay. Wait in the small office opposite the bay’s airlock until I arrive.”
Wombo hoisted Shin out of her chair and deposited her in his head’s cramped shower space. He covered her with a blanket, more to hide her than to prevent her from getting cold.