Timestar

by Robert George Mertens

  Delivery of supplies for the Okofani war machine had become sporadic and inconsistent, often even non-existent. The Okofani had finally lost patience, locked up ex-Emperor Wellum in the prison cell right next to his cousin Deetknarl, and took matters into their own hands.

  Still, the slave rebellion had not been put down. It was rumored now that even the Okofani were having troubles with the rebellion.

  And the rebellion continued. What few patrollers that had not been captured by the rebellion were in hiding. Slaves openly marched through city streets during the day, and at night they disappeared into secret places that the Iskolians never knew existed. So they were not able to find them.

  It had almost been humorous, had it not been for the seriousness of the problem. Slaves would stage a march down main street in the city and the Iskolian military would show up in another town to stop the march. The news agencies had a field day with it, having cams at both localities, one viewing the march and the other viewing the military, showing up in all the wrong places to put down non-existent uprisings.

  Iskolian military commanders were stumped. Newspeople crowded them, asking why they were here and not there? Had they not been watching the news? Then when they did watch the news, the information got botched again.

  Finally, the Okofani stepped in, removing the old government at the highest levels and replacing them with their own administrators. Though there were a few skirmishes, there was a bewildering plague of miscommunications along the Okofani lines that sometimes put their commanders on opposite sides of the planet from where the uprisings were taking place.

  Word spread quickly across the galaxy of the Okofanis’ inability to deal with management problems on this one little planet.

  ~

  Okofani General Unok was in a sour mood this morning, as he was on most days lately. He had been called back from the war to deal with the supply problems here on Iskol. Never in his career had he so much difficulty putting down a small rebellion, something he had done a hundred times on a hundred planets. It was a simple thing, especially with such a backward people as these slaves.

  "Enter," he said, in response to a buzz at his office door. In came a young Okofani lieutenant, efficiently brimming with energy in his gait. He marched up to Unok's desk, stopped and waited, eyes to the wall above the general's head. Never would such a low-ranking officer make eye contact with a general.

  "What is it?" General Unok finally said, not looking up at the young officer.

  "Sir, news from friends on Okofa. Word has been passed through certain… 'channels,' that there is talk among the Royals of abandoning this planet," the lieutenant replied.

  "Abandoning? You mean we just walk away from here? Just get up and leave?"

  "It seems sir, that this is not the only planet we are having management difficulties with. Apparently, the problems all started here. The Royals believe it may be some sort of plague. They cannot determine the precise cause of the problems, but they are spreading… rapidly."

  "And so, by getting up and walking away from this planet, we will solve all of our difficulties? Fools believe in such things!"

  "Unless the situation here is brought under control, General, it is certain to happen."

  "Then we will bring things under control if we have to wipe out the entire population. If we walk away from this planet, we will not leave it untouched. Summon my commanding officers. I want them all here before the day is out."

  "Yes, General." The lieutenant turned on his heel and marched out of the general's office.

  As ordered, all of the commanding officers collected at General Unok's Headquarters before evening fell. That evening, he brought them together to formulate a plan for a permanent solution to the slave rebellion. Seated around the large ornate table were the collected leaders of the Okofani occupational force of Iskol. General Unok sat at the head of the table.

  "Our analysis' tell us that the supply problems, which are obviously acts of sabotage, could not be entirely caused by the slaves—they've had help from the Iskolians. Every time we attempt to track down the cause of a particular problem, we are led in several diverging directions," the analyst explained at the meeting.

  "Then the Iskolians themselves are in on this as well," General Unok commented, "So much for their claims of innocence in these matters. Captain Yokap, first thing in the morning we will set an example. You will take a small fleet of starships and destroy the the City of Rekorta."

  "Destroy the entire city, General?" Yokap asked.

  "No building should be left standing, Captain."

  "Yes, General."

  "Colonel Nosivet, arrange that one thousand citizens and slaves from each city on the planet with a population of greater than one million be executed."

  "Yes, General. It will be done first thing in the morning."

  "Make sure that all of the newsnets are there to witness and record everything. Similarly, make sure that all of the newsnets are represented inside and outside the City of Rekorta."

  "As you command, General," Nosivet replied.

  "In the morning, I will also call a conference. Be certain that the newsnets are present. After this, we'll see how many supply problems there will be."

  First thing the next morning, General Unok walked into the newsnet conference. All of the local news agencies were present, along with several of the planetary and intersteller agencies.

  At the moment he stepped up to the podium, an aide whispered to him and he stepped down. He spoke with the aide briefly, then stepped back up to the podium.

  "Please excuse me. I will be back in a few moments," he said, then stepped away from the podium and left the room.

  "They say they're under attack, General," the aide explained as the walked down the hallway back to the control center. On arriving at the control center, he sat and took up the communications device.

  "General Unok?"

  "Yes," he replied.

  "This is Commander Ulosot. I have bad news, sir."

  "Where is Captain Yokap?"

  "He's dead, sir. I've taken command of the ship. We're under attack, sir. We believe it's the Shadow Ship. Our small fleet intended to destroy the City of Rekorta has been devastated by their fleet. It appears that the attack strategy was similar to that used above the planet Relm. Their starship released many smaller destroyers, cruisers and gunships."

  "You did not see them approaching?"

  "They were upon us before we knew it, General. Captain Yokap was killed in the first wave. We are nearly destroyed. The ship is barely holding together."

  "What about reinforcements?"

  "Other forces joined us quickly, but the battle is not going well. The Shadow Ship is different now, General—not like it was at Relm—it's more powerful now, much more powerful."

  "Are the reinforcements there now?"

  "They were not able to come here. The assault was massive, they attacked us everywhere at once. General, we also spotted troop carriers dropping to the planet surface, many of them."

  "How many?"

  "Hundreds, perhaps thousands. They were being dropped everywhere."

  "Captain, are you able to carry out your initial orders?"

  "Destroy the City of Rekorta? All of our weapons systems are destroyed, General. It’s the only reason we're still alive. Once the enemy realized that we were unable to fight anymore, they stopped atacking us. We're running life support systems only—all other systems are damaged or destroyed."

  "General, I'm receiving emergency communications from Colonel Nosivet," the operator interrupted.

  "Commander Ulosot, advise the other warships as best you can. Keep us informed about the battle as best you can. From here out, you will observe and provide tactical data. Put Colonel Nosivet on."

  "General, it's Nosivet. We have a problem here. We have a thousand citizens and slaves gathered and we were preparing to execute them but we were attacked. We believe they are the machine fighters of the Shadow Ship."

>   "Those machine fighters on Relm were formidible, Colonel, but their numbers were small."

  "There are more of them now, General, and they're different, more powerful, faster, and their armor is better."

  "Where are their forces concentrated, Colonel?"

  "Nowhere, General. They're everywhere across the planet. My officers report from across the planet that they're all under attack by the machine warriors of the Shadow Ship."

  "Are your warriors fighting, Colonel? Are they standing their ground?"

  "They are, General, but it's becoming a slaughter. We won't last much longer. Soon they will destroy all of our ground forces."

  General Unok paused at this to consider his options. It took only a few moments to make his decision.

  "Stand down your forces, Colonel. Order all of your troops to drop their weapons and surrender."

  "Yes, General."

  "Contact all of the battle forces above us in orbit and order them to stand down and surrender," General Unok said to the control room operator, "then get me in contact with the captain of the Shadow Ship."

  Within moments, his orders were complied with.

  "This is Captain Suni Tashika. I understand you are the commander of all of the Okofani forces on and above this planet."

  "I am General Unok. Yes, I am in command of all of those forces. Where is your captain?"

  "I am the Captain."

  "What about your captain… Jameson?"

  "He is not the captain of this starship. He is the owner. You wished to address me?"

  "I wish to negotiate a surrender. What are your terms?"

  "No terms. Your surrender will be unconditional."

  "We can cause much trouble before we surrender."

  "My forces report otherwise, General. The terms of your surrender are unconditional."

  General Unok realized that this Captain Suni Tashika was right. His forces were not even able to inflict minor damage before being destroyed. The attack by the Shadow Ship had been swift and destructive, catching his own troops and ships almost completely off guard. It was the last thing they expected after reports from the Battle of Relm of the Shadow Ship limping away, escaping by dilating time rather than jumping beyond light speed.

  Now, the Shadow Ship was back, with many times the firepower it had at Relm. He could not fathom how this was possible. Then again, many past stories of the Shadow Ships were as incredulous as the situation he now faced. The Shadow Ships were the most feared in the galaxy and, it was sometimes said, in the universe.

  "Very well, Captain Tashika. We surrender… unconditionally." He only hoped that they would not decide to do something worse to his forces than the glory of dying in battle.

  Thirty-Seven

  "Ah! Wellum… and Deetknarl," Frank said, discovering the two former rulers of Iskol in adjoining cells.

  "Frank Jameson," Deetknarl replied, "It's good to see you back."

  "I guess it's time for me to name my price, isn't it?"

  "I've known all along that this moment would come, Frank Jameson. You've saved my world and my people. You name it. Anything you want of me."

  "Release him," Frank said to the Okofani guards. Many of the Okofani had taken up posts formerly held by Iskolians, so that it would take a while before those positions would be filled again. In the meantime, the Okofani were charged with keeping order on the planet until the Iskolians could come back in to do those jobs.

  Deetknarl walked out of his cell, casting a grin at Wellum as he did so, "You might want to get used to that cell, Wellum," he said.

  "Emperor Deetknarl, and you are restored to your former title… for the time being," Frank began. I have a few demands on you and your society as compensation for the restoration of your planet."

  "Name them, Frank Jameson."

  "First, free the slaves—all of them. Second, until they're able to protect themselves, you and your people will provide protection for the native people of Relm, against other races that would enslave them. Third, your world must move toward a more democratic society, giving more power to the people."

  Deetknarl winced at the last, realizing that it would be the end of his absolute rule over Iskol. He would still have some power, but only a fraction of that which he had before.

  "Your demands will be met and exceeded," Deetknarl acquiesced.

  "I am glad to hear it, Emperor."

  "Frank Jameson, you will always have friends here on Iskol. If there is anything that you will ever need for as long as you live, you will have it here on Iskol."

  "Be careful, Emperor, this discussion is being recorded."

  "It is an historic occasion. It is time for my people to evolve in galactic society. We are capable of so much more, and you've shown us this."

  ~

  Attending another formal dinner reception at the Emperor's Palace, Frank noticed a few new faces serving drinks. These were not Relmish, but Iskolians. And they were a bit clumsy. Already two dish-dropping incidents had occurred, both of which resulted in the immediate dismissal of the errant employees.

  "'Tis good to see you back, Frank Jameson," Ambassador Rofful of Eldews greeted him, "I told you that you had friends among other races. Why did you not call on us?"

  "My apologies, Ambassador. We were a bit busy."

  "Not a problem. We're glad that we could have been of service anyway."

  "Oh?"

  "Yes. The Mechanical warriors on Relm were ours."

  "But they fought against us."

  "They were not intended to. They were sent there to fight alongside you."

  "I don’t get it. How could we have misinterpreted what they did?"

  "They're programmed to defend themselves. Your people attacked them, remember? But when your machine warriors dressed up like ours, we saw what you were doing and joined your ranks—or—you joined ours. That was an interesting tactic."

  "You mean you knew our machines were among yours?"

  "Of course. One moment we were a complete force, moving as one. In the next moment there were strangers among us, who looked like us, but wouldn’t answer any of our coded transmissions. For a while, we were completely baffled. We didn’t know if our transmissions were being jammed or what. For a time we theorized a series malfunction that had only cropped up in a specific group of Mechs on the battlefield.

  "Then we did a body count. That’s when we realized that there were strangers among us. We knew that your forces had passed us by earlier, so we guessed they were yours."

  "This is a bit confusing…"

  "We had attempted to meet you off the battlefield prior to your attacking the main body of forces, but your warriors blasted their way through our main body before we could make contact with your leaders. Your warriors moved incredibly quickly. We were a bit shocked at how fast they were. We just wish you hadn't destroyed the last of our Mechs on that field. They're very expensive, you know."

  "Sorry. Why didn't you simply contact our ship and let us know?"

  "Impossible. Our communications would have been picked up immediately and our starships would have been destroyed in minutes. The only way we could make contact with you and your forces was to be there, on the ground, when you arrived."

  "But your starships didn’t fight the enemy."

  "We have a tremendous military ground force, but I'm afraid we haven't much in the way of warships. It was a huge effort just to supply the ones we did. Had we given ourselves away as one of your allies, they would have blown us out of the sky, and our Mechs never would have landed."

  "But wouldn’t the other forces have realized what you did and attacked your ships?"

  "By the time your forces met ours, our ships were already retreating and accelerating out of the system. By the time our enemies realized what we had done, we were already been well out of reach. If you check your own records of the battle, you’ll note that our warships never fired a single shot. In fact, we started moving off as soon as the first cowards started running from the
battle. We pretended to be among them."

  "You have my gratitude, Abassador. If your Mechanicals hadn't been there we would surely have lost that battle."

  "I like you, Frank. I don’t know what it is, but your people seem to have a lot in common with mine. We’re alike in so many ways, that it’s probably even a bit scary. It surprised our mutual enemies when we went along with them to ‘attack’ you and your people. But they were so desparate for as many military forces as they could scrounge that they allowed us to come along without even asking why. It was like riding alongside a band of blathering fools."

  "Mutual enemies?"

  "Of course. Before you came here, there was peace in the galactic core, but it was a tenuous peace. Many of the worlds represented on Relm during that battle were… well… not very friendly toward us. If we did not have the force of Mech warriors that we have, they would have long since attacked our world and taken us as slaves. Believe it or not, we are actually one of the premier military powers in the galactic hub. We are quite well armed. And when we offered up some of our Mech warriors in the attack against you and your people, they jumped at the opportunity to have us along."

  "Then you planned this?"

  "Of course. We’re masters at strategy and deception. It’s one of the reasons we’re so formidable."

  "Wow."

  "I was wondering, Frank Jameson, Shadow Rider, we noted that your machine warriors were quite formidible in battle. What would you say to selling some of them to us?"

  "Well, I'm no businessman, but I'm certain that you would not get a very good deal out of that."

  "Oh? Why not?"

  "My warbots are loyal to me and me alone."

  "Loyal machines? That's unheard of."

  "It's in their blood."

  "It's in their… machines don't have… what kind of blood could they possibly have?"

  "Well, mine."