“That ship was declared lost due to battle damage, by Admiral Kekrando,” The captain mused.
“True,” the tech smiled. “This would be the first time we were lied to by the Kristang?”
The captain smiled and shook his head. “If the Kristang ever tell us the truth, that will be a first. Very well, we will pursue this lead. Good job. I will be counting on you not to lose track of our quarry.” If a Kristang frigate was in the Gehtanu system without declaring its presence, it was in direct violation of the admittedly humiliating ceasefire terms agreed to by Admiral Kekrando. Therefore, the Mem Hertall and her sister ships would be within the rules of engagement to shoot first and ask questions never. Captain Rastall had four missiles loaded and ready in their launch tubes, awaiting only a target and launch authorization. One forward and one aft maser turret was energized at all times, with the turrets being rotated as the active units had to be taken down for maintenance. Rastall was determined to kill whatever ship was lurking out there, because any hidden Kristang ship was most assuredly hostile. Once Admiral Kekrando’s ships departed aboard Jeraptha star carriers, there would be little to prevent a ‘rogue’ Kristang ship from attacking Gehtanu. Ruhar ships could pursue and destroy the attacker, or attackers, and lodge a completely useless protest through diplomatic channels. If the attack was sufficiently brutal, it might attract the notice of the Jeraptha. The Jeraptha might even authorize a retaliation; in extreme cases the Jeraptha themselves had hit the Kristang to teach them a lesson. All of those potential actions would be of no comfort to dead Ruhar on Gehtanu. Rastall returned to his command chair, and ordered his ship to change course, to follow the faint chemical trail. “Signal the Toman and Grathur our intentions,” he referred to the pair of frigates helping the Hertall to search the star system.
“What are our intentions, Captain?” The executive office asked with a knowing smile.
“I intend to find, and destroy, an annoyingly persistent enemy ship that has survived far too long already.”
“This still sucks,” Dave commented as he spooned vegetable soup into his mouth. “I mean, yeah, it could be worse, but it does still suck.”
“How bad does it suck, Ski?” Jesse knew the answer, he also knew his friend needed to vent.
“Before, if we’d all been stuck in the Buzzard six more days, that would have sucked a bowling ball through fifty feet of garden hose,” Dave declared.
“And now?”
“Now,” Dave contemplated the situation. “Maybe a baseball. Yeah. Same garden hose.”
“If the bowling ball had already gone through the hose and stretched it out, it would be easy to get a baseball through there,” Jesse pointed out helpfully.
“You’re right,” Dave said, his expression brightening.
“Oh my God,” Shauna said with disgust. “Is this what guys talk about when we’re not around?”
“What he meant,” Dave came to Jesse’s rescue, “is that if we had been stuck in the Buzzard first, this would seem great.”
Jesse nodded, not sure whether he should contradict Shauna. Unlike the vast majority of human men on Paradise, he had a semi-girlfriend. No way was he going to do anything to risk that, he was on the edge already.
“We do talk about stupid stuff all the time,” Jesse hastened to add. “That was a Nobel prize-winning conversation, compared to most of the stuff we talk about.”
“I can believe it,” Shauna agreed. She shook another pinch of hot pepper powder into her vegetable soup. It was the third day in a row they ate rehydrated vegetable soup for lunch, and they were all getting tired of it. “You’re right, Dave, this does suck.” Somehow, humans had gotten screwed on the whole deal. Most of the Ruhar had bugged out of the arctic base, leaving only one of their three Buzzards and five hamsters to prepare for the second test. As a gesture of goodwill, the Ruhar had left one of their portable shelters for the humans to live in, so they weren’t all crammed together in the Buzzard. Irene and Derek declined the offer to live in the shelter, saying they wanted more time in the Buzzard to use it as a simulator for flight training. Shauna thought her friend Irene was doing more than ‘simulating’ certain intimate activities with their cute copilot Derek, but so far Irene hadn’t said anything to Shauna about it.
The worst part of the deal was that, at the end of the projector test, the humans would be expected to take down and pack away not only their own shelter, but also the shelter being used by the Ruhar technical team. The weather shortly after the test would be a full-blown blizzard, and the Ruhar would be sure to blame the humans if either of the shelters were damaged in the process of taking them down and stowing them in the Ruhar’s Buzzard. After securing the shelters, Perkins and her team would need to finish stowing away the drill rig. What should have been a matter of two or three uncomfortable hours was now looking like it would take a full day, or more. The humans would be working outside in the cold, freezing fingers while the Ruhar sat inside their warm, cozy Buzzard’s passenger cabin, eating snacks and taking naps. Any delay would give the Ruhar one more reason to remove humans from any meaningful assignments on Paradise. That was the deal the team had signed up for; humans did the crappy grunt work, and they were expected to smile and keep their mouths shut about it. Shauna picked up a slice of potato with her spoon. “Dave, do you still think this is better than farming?”
“Oh, hell yes,” Jesse answered on behalf of Dave, who nodded vigorously. “Way better.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Baturnah Logellia came directly from a very uncomfortable Ruhar-only meeting, to her regular weekly meeting with the UNEF chief of intelligence. She was dreading what was going to be a very, very uncomfortable conversation. “Good morning, General Marcellus,” she said as she walked into her office and sat down heavily in her chair.
“Good morning, Administrator Logellia.”
“General, we’re going to skip the usual briefing today. Something has come up; your headquarters will be officially informed soon, I want to tell you personally.”
Marcellus kept himself from showing the exasperation he felt inwardly. For a brief time, things had been going reasonably well for UNEF, now that the Ruhar fleet had stationed a battlegroup at Paradise. Marcellus had been waiting for the spell to be broken, for disaster to strike UNEF again. Was this it? “I am listening.”
“These Keepers of the Faith among your people have created a very serious problem for both of us,” Baturnah explained. “They actively assisted the Kristang during the projector crisis. They rejected UNEF’s declaration of loyalty to the Ruhar coalition. Now thousands of them have volunteered to leave this planet with the Kristang. You can understand that these developments have made my people question whether we could ever trust humans.”
The Jeraptha were sending star carriers to transport the survivors of Admiral Kekrando’s battlegroup, and his ground troops, away from the Paradise system. That the Kristang had offered to take their human allies with them when their remaining forces left Paradise had surprised both Ruhar and humans; UNEF and the Keepers. That any human would volunteer to leave Paradise with the Kristang had also been surprising to UNEF. That so far, five thousand Keepers would be leaving had astonished UNEF HQ and alarmed the Ruhar. “These ‘Keepers’ have left official military service, we can’t prevent them from going with the Kristang if they choose to do that.”
“Yes, you could.”
“Excuse me?” Marcellus asked, confused. “We could what?”
“Stop these Keepers from leaving with the Kristang. You could do it; you have chosen not to. Even though you surely know the Keepers are making a horrible, foolish mistake. Humans who leave this planet with the Kristang will almost certainly be killed; either to punish humans in general, or for sport. The Kristang are absolutely not acting for the benefit of humans.”
“The Keepers are adults, they are capable of making their own decisions, even if our leadership strongly believes the Kristang are likely leading them to their deaths. It is not our
way to force people to act against their personal beliefs,” Marcellus explained. What he did not say was there had been much debate on that subject at UNEF HQ, with many, including Marcellus, arguing they should indeed forcibly prevent the Keepers from going with the Kristang. The debate had been heated, and ultimately, the decision had been made that UNEF would not interfere with the Keepers who wanted to join the Kristang. UNEF did demand those Keepers remove UNEF and other military insignia from their clothing, which had become a sticky situation. The Keepers were happy to remove UNEF insignia, but refused to surrender their national military symbols, or rank insignia. It was UNEF, the Keepers declared, that were the traitors. In their minds, the Keepers the only ones continuing the mission they had been assigned by lawful national authorities on Earth, so only Keepers had a right to wear military insignia. For now, UNEF HQ had decided not to contest the issue with force.
“Yes, that is one possible reason,” Baturnah cocked her head in an eerily humanlike gesture. “Your leadership may also be thinking you are better off without the most fanatical of Keepers causing problems here on Gehtanu. Having them voluntarily leave the planet solves a lot of problems for you.”
Marcellus smiled with one side of his mouth. “You might be correct about that, I can’t speak for all of UNEF leadership.”
“What worries me deeply is I do not understand their motivation; it is extremely puzzling.”
How to explain human motivations to an alien, Marcellus asked himself? He wasn’t sure he fully understood the motivations of the Keepers, because to Marcellus, they were stubborn idiots who refused to accept the truth. “Each person has their own set of motivations for choosing to leave with the Kristang. Many of the Keepers-”
“General Marcellus, I believe we have experienced a miscommunication,” the Burgermeister said slowly, taking care to pronounce each word with as little squeak in her voice as she could manage. She checked her zPhone to assure it was translating correctly. “When I said ‘their’, I was referring to the Kristang, not to humans who are choosing to leave Gehtanu. These humans, as you said, each have their own reasons. It is difficult to accept that your people were lured away from Earth to serve a species you now know to be your enemy. I believe these ‘Keepers’ are unwilling, or unable, to accept the harsh reality of their situation.”
“Oh. I understand now,” Marcellus nodded, smiling, although he did not like the alien’s judgement on humans the Ruhar could not possibly understand.
“Good,” Administrator Logellia returned the smile, showing her substantial front teeth. “What I do not understand is why the Kristang are bothering to bringing the Keepers with them? Over five thousand humans have volunteered to go offworld with the Kristang, and the numbers are increasing as the evacuation day approaches,” she observed. Would those numbers decline as Kristang transport ships arrived in orbit, and reality of leaving Gehtanu and UNEF set in? The Ruhar government, and UNEF, were eager to see what would happen. The Ruhar military was concerned the Keepers going offworld might someday present a security risk although no one could imagine how that might happen. “That many humans, aliens, presents a substantial logistics burden on the Kristang. They will need to provide human food, at least until they arrive at their destination and the Keepers are able to grow their own food.”
“Maybe the Kristang are planning to bring the Keepers to a planet where the native life is compatible with human nutrition needs?” Marcellus was guessing, and guessing on the hopeful side of the unknown. The idea that the Kristang were bringing Keepers offworld only to kill them was too depressing to contemplate.
Baturnah lifted one shoulder in the Ruhar equivalent of a shrug. “The Kristang have refused to say what their plans are for the Keepers. We inquired, and were told that under the cease-fire terms, the Kristang have no obligation to reveal their plans or destination for after the Jeraptha star carriers rendezvous with the Thuranin.” She frowned toward Marcellus. “Legally, they are within their rights. What the Kristang plan to do with your Keepers is not our concern, although I fear for their fate. My question is what the Kristang hope to gain by bringing your Keepers with them. In my opinion, it would be better for the Kristang to leave your malcontents,” she paused to check whether that word translated correctly, “here to create problems for UNEF and my government. The only reason I can think of to motivate the Kristang would be for them to sow discontent within UNEF, but,” she held up her hands.
“Yes, why would they bother?” Marcellus mused. “They are leaving this planet, and UNEF is, I have to admit, of no military importance.”
“I am pleased that we agree,” Baturnah said with another toothy grin. “The reason I mention the Keepers is they have caused considerable anxiety within my government, and some decisions have been made at the Federal level that I do not fully agree with. As you know, the population of Gehtanu is increasing, there are transport ships arriving every month. My people are moving back into villages that were evacuated during the, well, we do not need to mention that unhappy time,” she frowned. What she meant was when UNEF had been enforcing the Kristang’s evacuation of the planet. “What matters to you is many of my people have expressed interest in residing on the continent you call Lemuria.”
“Lemuria. In territory you gave to UNEF?” Marcellus asked, alarmed.
“Unfortunately, yes. The communication that will be officially delivered to your headquarters today states that your people will be relocated to southern Lemuria, across the mountain range. The area we have selected is not a jungle like where you are living now; this new area had a climate more like Georgia in your United States.”
Marcellus did not immediately reply, while he considered the implications. Southern Lemuria was in many ways greatly preferable to the steaming jungles where UNEF was now living. Many Earth crops did not grow well in the jungle, and daytime temperatures could be uncomfortably hot. If the Ruhar had given UNEF the choice between being near the equator, or in southern Lemuria, UNEF would not have chosen the jungle. The only reason UNEF had been moved to the jungle was it was closer to the northern continent, reducing transport time and effort for the Ruhar. But now, when UNEF personnel had expended enormous time and effort to clear land, plant crops and construct villages, it would be a bitter pill for the humans to be forcibly relocated and start over. “Is this issue open to negotiation?” Marcellus asked fearfully.
“No,” she shook her head. “Many of my people feel that your current location is too close to our population centers, and to critical infrastructure such as the cargo Launcher. Also, there are commercial interests among my people who wish to develop the northern seacoast of Lemuria. Having humans in close proximity would not be good for,” she did the one shoulder shrug, “property values. I am sorry that commercial concerns affect relations between our peoples, but please understand that maintaining a battlegroup at Gehtanu requires not only an ongoing search for Elder artifacts, it requires a substantial and growing population. To encourage people to move to Gehtanu, we must offer business opportunities. The battlegroup protects your people as much as my own, so encouraging development is to the benefit of UNEF.”
“I understand.” Real estate? UNEF was being relocated, again, because of a real estate deal? Marcellus reflected ruefully that in this regard, the Ruhar were no different from the humans they deemed primitive. “Administrator Logellia, I feel I must point out that after the Keepers leave with the Kristang, the overwhelming majority of UNEF forces will be people who have formally declared loyalty to the Ruhar. I also remind you that Major Perkins’ team rescued this planet from the Kristang by destroying a battlegroup.”
Baturnah nodded slowly. “We appreciate what Major Perkins and her team did. And we understand the importance of UNEF’s pledge of loyalty. General, there simply is not enough trust of humans within my people. This relocation will be inconvenient; however, it may actually be for the best in the long term. Having our peoples physically separated will allow tensions to cool, and it will remov
e the possibility of incidents that could further damage relations. Over time, my people may come to view humans as farmers who happen to live on part of our planet, rather than occupiers who have been conquered.”
Marcellus hoped the harsh words of her last sentence was a function of the zPhone translator. The Ruhar would be happy for humans to be living quietly in far southern Lemuria, until the Ruhar population increased, and the aliens decide they needed lebensraum. What would happen to the defenseless humans then? “Thank you, Administrator.” He stood and made a short bow toward her. “I will convey your concerns to my leadership.” As he was escorted out of the building, he thought to himself that it was good he hadn’t put any effort into replacing the tent he lived in with a real hut.
Major Emily Perkins was escorted across the airfield by a Ruhar guard. A smiling, friendly Ruhar guard who kept his sidearm in an unobtrusive holster. Still, Perkins had an armed guard escorting her everywhere she went on the Ruhar airbase. She was allowed access to the military base. But she was neither trusted nor particularly welcome. As they walked toward the administration building, Perkins saw Ruhar giving her unfriendly looks, and one gave her a rude gesture using crossed fingers lifted in her direction. Perkins looked straight ahead, a ghost of a smile on her lips. Be friendly, she reminded herself. Don’t provoke anything. We just came back from a miserable mission in the frigid arctic, where we helped reactivate maser projectors that will protect this planet. If all the Ruhar on the airbase knew about that, would they be more welcoming?
Trouble on Paradise: an ExForce novella (ExForce novellas Book 1) Page 6