by J W Murison
‘I am sorry to hear about your parents. Were your siblings in the army too?’
‘Everyone is in the army Ambassador, no matter what you do. We are fighting for our very right to exist. We are involved in a racial war. In fact, this is the first time I have met an alien species that hasn’t tried to kill me. Very unusual.’
‘How did you manage to survive?’
‘Luck, more than anything else. As soon as the battle fleet appeared our Captain realised we had no hope of outrunning them. He directed all energy to the shields and ordered us to abandon ship. Most of us made it to the escape pods. I saw my men on board. When they hit the engines, I jumped in and launched. As soon as the ship was destroyed I turned back and concealed my pod within the debris. I waited a full day before activating my distress beacon. Advice my father once gave me. This is the second time I have had a ship shot out from under me. Worked the first time too.’
‘Good advice.’
‘Is this the female of your species?’ He indicated Komoru.
‘Yes, this is my mate Komoru, she is also a Goodwill Ambassador.’
Morval bobbed his head. ‘A pleasure to meet you lady.’
‘Likewise Morval. Don’t worry, we will see you safely back to your family.’
‘Can you tell me a little about your planets?’
‘We only have one.’ Komoru smiled. ‘We have prepared a little demonstration for you. If you look to your left.’
It was the standard ten-minute video that all got to see. Morval was enthralled. When it was finished, he turned back to face them.
‘What a beautiful planet, I have seen no others like it. It is no wonder the grass eaters covet it. Be very wary of them. Do not trust them, ever. At least until you are a full member of the federation.’
‘I can assure you that we don’t trust them.’
‘Then you are wise. They must be very frightened of your people to allow you so much as a step in the door. Is your technology so much more advanced than theirs?’
‘No it isn’t. In fact, like you, it is captured and borrowed technology that keeps us safe, that and our sun.’
‘Then it must be your fighting ability.’
‘We use tactics that have smashed great fleets of invaders, we are also used to fighting on the ground.’
Morval immediately saw the threat. ‘Are they going to use your people against ours?’
‘We won’t allow that to happen. Neither can they force us, not until we are full members. It has been suggested though. Our military experts however believe it would be an impossible task.’
‘I can assure you, it would be very costly. All our people are taught how to fight, Ambassador.’
‘I do not doubt you Morval. I fear my people would have suffered the same fate, even worse, as we do not have cities underground.’
‘Your people would have been wiped out Ambassador. I have seen it with my own eyes. Towns, cities of the dead, nothing left but bones.’
‘I thought they terraformed a planet after they wiped it out?’
‘In those areas of the planet that will support grass, they flatten everything. Pound it to dust, cover with fresh soil and plant grass. The areas of a planet that are less habitable and won’t support the grass they wish to grow, they leave alone. It is those places I have seen.’
‘You mean in places where it isn’t economically viable to terraform.’
‘That’s exactly what I mean Ambassador. Your allies are evil, and your people are joining a federation of death and destruction.’
‘We are becoming more aware of what our allies are capable of as time goes by Morval, yet we have little choice it seems. Our sun protects us at the moment, but they would eventually find a way to destroy us. If we are a member of the federation, then we will become free from attack on our home world. In the meantime, we are beginning to change how the federation looks upon meat eaters. We are at this moment little more than a curiosity, however mankind has unlimited resources at its disposal. We also have the will and the determination to become a major player within this federation.’
‘Maybe there is a small ray of hope for all meat eaters.’
‘There could be Morval, but not while you are eating federation citizens.’
‘We have no choice Ambassador. Could your people provide us with livestock that can survive on our planet?
‘We have domestic animals that can survive in harsh and hot climates, but no way of getting them to you without some form of official treaty. Any attempt to deal with your race would be seen as hostile on our part, with the consequences to go with it. Besides, as far as anyone in the federation is concerned, our two peoples have never met yet.’
‘Of course, you are on a secret mission. Still, we are not a stupid race Ambassador. I am sure our top brass would be able to think of some official way of contacting your people.’
‘You also have a great bargaining chip: thousands of federation citizens enslaved on your planet.
‘I can see exactly where you are coming from Ambassador.’
Steven smiled. ‘We are going to use the rest of this week to see what Human foods you can eat.’
‘Now that is a condition of captivity that I can live with Ambassador.’
Steven wondered if he had done the right thing. They had slunk into Ortea space and beamed out the life pod. True to his word Morval hadn’t activated the space beacon until an hour after they had dropped him off. Steven hung on the edge of range of the beacon and waited. Ten hours later it was deactivated. Side by side the two ships headed for safe territory.
Chapter 20
‘Morval you ugly prick, how can you still be alive? I heard the Catataracs blew the shit out of your ship; killed the lot of you. Hell, I got as pissed as a fart at your wake.’
‘Of all the arseholes in all of the star systems in this galaxy, I had to be rescued by you.’
A hand was offered and grasped. Morval grinned, ‘How the hell are you cousin?’
‘Not as good as you obviously. Shit man, you look like you put on weight. How the hell did you get here?’
‘It’s a long story cousin.’ Morval dipped into the escape pod and came up with a plastic bag. He tore it open. ‘Have you ever eaten beef jerky, Trlune?’
‘What?’
Morval shoved a piece in his cousin’s mouth. A few chews later his cousin’s legs almost gave way. ‘Oh wow! Where the hell did you get this?’
‘Would you believe that a race of meat eaters have joined the federation?’
‘Nope.’
‘Well you need to think again cousin. I need to get in touch with the brass and fast.’
‘Being rescued light years from where you were supposed to be killed is going to get you all the attention you need Morval. Any more of that?’
‘Yup, unfortunately I’m going to have to save it for the brass as proof of what I have to tell them. I’ll give you another piece if you let the family know I am all right.’
Morval tossed the pack of jerked beef onto the table. He had lost count of the number of interviews he had been subjected to, but this was the big one. Before him sat the three people responsible for the three solar systems, their great leaders. The three opened the pack and sniffed the contents.
‘Are you sure this is safe to eat Commander Morval Oralia?’
‘Yes sir, perfectly. It was a gift from a Human called Lewis.’
They each took a piece. Morval had a good idea of what was going to happen next. Sure enough, they were soon grabbing for pieces like they were young pups again. He had met his own leader before, but not the other two. His leader was the youngest, the other two were much older and had grey around their muzzles.
The three finished munching with very embarrassed looks on their faces.
‘That was very unexpected, and delicious,’ the supreme leader admitted. Soon all three were laughing. He had to wave his hand to calm them down before turning his attention back to Morval.
‘Your leader s
peaks very highly of you Morval. I know you two are acquainted and he trusts you with his life. So we three have decided to trust in your words and know you will be telling the truth. Tell me what the Humans were up to in Catatarac space.’
‘I have no idea sir, they would not tell me. It was a secret mission of some sort.’
‘You don’t think it was a plant of some kind?’
‘No sir. For a while I genuinely thought they were going to toss me out an airlock.’
‘The thing is, we have known about this race of meat eaters for quite a while now.’
‘Is it true that they are on probation with the federation?’
‘It is true. We have gained quite a bit of information on them from captured vessels in the past year. The Catataracs were involved in a plot to wipe out the Human’s home world with asteroids.’
‘So they weren’t lying.’
‘No Commander, I don’t think so. What are they like?’
‘A lot like us really. The major difference is their strength.’ He turned to his own Commander, ‘Do you remember that old knife I bought sir?’
‘I do, it was a nice knife.’
‘My interrogator snapped it into four pieces with his bare hands. It was an obvious show of strength to subdue me and it worked.’ He reached behind and tossed the knife Charlie had given him on to the table. ‘So as not to insult me, he replaced it with this.’
His Commander took it from its sheath and inspected it. ‘This is a beautiful knife, so well balanced. He replaced it with one of higher value.’ He passed it on. ‘Then they truly are a warrior race.’
‘I believe so. Their females also fight.’
‘That is encouraging, the grass eaters won’t like that much.’
‘I don’t suppose they will.’
The Supreme Commander returned the knife and addressed Morval personally again.
‘Truly a remarkable weapon. Why do you think those Humans rescued you?’
‘Curiosity. It was mentioned that the federation were considering using them as ground based troops to fight us.’
‘So they were trying to gauge the quality of our fighting men.’
‘I believe so sir.’
‘Did they come to any conclusions in your company?’
‘Yes sir, the Ambassador told me that his senior military commanders considered it a near impossible task. He said his people would also refuse to do it.’
‘They could be ordered to once they gain federation status,’ Morval’s Commander interrupted.
‘No, they are one planet; their contribution will be minimal. They couldn’t be commanded to field enough foot soldiers to be a threat to us. It would take a combined force from the whole federation to even be a threat. If the Humans were in charge and trained them properly then that would be a serious threat, and very damaging. One of the ships we captured a few months ago had details of the Humans’ attack on a city ship built by the Albany, and some details of the battles fought.’
He took out a note pad and showed a couple of pictures to Morval. ‘Are these the Ambassadors you met commander?’
Morval looked closely, ‘That’s the ones Commander.’
‘A Steven Gordon and his mate Komoru. They came into possession of two builder ships that we had chased across the great barrier. Were you blinded at all during your captivity?’
‘No sir, it looked like an old war ship.’
‘They must have disguised who they were then. They were obviously skulking behind enemy lines and got in and out of our defensive perimeter without being detected; it has to be builder technology. These two are very high on the Albany hit list. Because of these two the Human race survived. They used builder technology to build a fleet of ships that slaughtered the Albany invasion force. Did you notice any metal plates on their hands and face?’
Morval thought it over, ‘Yes sir, they both had metal plates on their hands and one behind their left ear.’
‘Builder ships. What about the physical capabilities of these Humans, did you challenge them?’
‘I attacked the moment that I blew the life pod lid. I was tossed about like a rubber ball. I have never seen a race that could move faster than we can before. I was interrogated by a soldier, a Captain in the Ambassador’s personal guard who barely came up to my breast bone, yet must have been three times stronger than me. He snapped my knife blade into four parts as though it were a dry twig.’
‘Yes you mentioned that before. What about the rest of the crew?’
‘Most I saw were bigger than my interrogator. The one who gave me the food you ate was almost as tall as I am, his physical presence is astounding. I took a picture of the two of them without them realising it. My interrogator and Lewis.’
Morval took out a small device and projected the picture onto the wall behind him. He made some adjustments and stood beside the two figures.
‘This is a life size representation sir.’
His three leaders were lost for words for a moment or two. The Supreme Commander found his voice first.
‘Did you say the small one was three times stronger than you?’
‘Yes sir.’
‘Not the giant?’
‘No sir, I never even tried to challenge him.’
‘No wonder the Albany got their arses kicked.’
There were mumbles of agreement.
‘Did you try and make friends with these Humans?’
‘Damn right I did sir, I didn’t want to get kicked out an air lock, besides the food was freaking awesome. The Humans tried out all kinds of their food on me. Meat, bread, soups, all of it. I honestly didn’t want to come home. There was some of their food I didn’t like. They called them greens. They came up as a negative on my food tester, but non-poisonous. I couldn’t eat them anyway, made me gag. There were other foods they called pulses. They must have been like the staple food of old. They used them in soups and dishes like that. I found them very nutritious, delicious in fact. The meats, the gravies, were out of this world. I didn’t want to leave.’
‘You certainly look fit and healthy after your captivity.’ He turned to his companions. ‘Any more questions for the commander?’ They shook their heads. ‘Then that will be all for now. Oh! One final question. Were you actually able to make friends with the Humans?’
‘I believe so sir. I wouldn’t want to eat one of them anyway.’
‘That will be all, thank you.’
Morval left and the three leaders discussed the revelations.
‘What do you think they are up to, these Humans?’ Morval’s immediate superior eventually asked the Supreme Commander.
He thought about it long and hard. ‘Imagine you are a meat eating race that has just joined the federation. There must be a lot of bias, especially in areas where there are meat eating races like us. We have been fighting the grass eaters for almost two thousand years. We raid their supply lines, fight them at every opportunity, capture their people and breed them like livestock. I have read the Commander’s report a dozen times. I think they want to form a bridge between our race and the rest of the federation. It would be a huge feather in their cap if they could bring an end to a two-thousand-year war. The Humans stated that they have animals that can survive in the extremes of our home climate, which means they most likely have the crops that will grow as well.
‘I think we should test the waters, ask for a Goodwill Ambassador visit.’
‘They won’t send one. We ate the last half dozen they sent,’ interrupted the third Commander.
‘They will if we request the Human Goodwill Ambassador. Besides, we have never requested one before.’
‘Good point.’ He conceded.
‘I doubt if they would care much if they lost a meat eating Goodwill Ambassador anyway.’
‘That is another good point, but what the hell do we have that could persuade the federation to even talk to us? The point of their peace negotiations before were to simply gain information to help eradicate us.’
‘That is also true, but read the part where the Goodwill Ambassador states that they were unaware that we enslaved many of our captives. The federation does not capture our people and interrogate them, or if they do, it is to gain tactical information, not domestic. Do you have any high value captives? I have at least a dozen of noble lineage over three different races in the capital, and that’s just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.’
‘I have at least two,’ Morval’s superior admitted. ‘They work cutting sea weed.’
‘I have a few too.’ Admitted the third.
‘Then we have a starting point. We could ask for domestic livestock from the Humans to replace our slaves. Seeds for some of these pulses. Bread! I have never tasted bread.’
‘But no one knows how to make it?’ Morval’s superior smiled.
The Supreme Commander smiled back, ‘That is true. Still, we are a long way from making bread; even planting out crops. We will also have to word our invitation very carefully. We must not let it be known that our people and the Humans have already made contact. We wouldn’t like to tip the Catataracs hand to the fact that an enemy has been skulking behind their lines. According to one of the reports, the Catataracs were involved in firing asteroids at the Human’s home planets. The Humans destroyed a large mining base and an Albany fleet that were protecting their assets. For some reason they never fired on a Catatarac fleet that was doing exactly the same thing. According to the Commander, they were caught not very far from the asteroid field. Which leads me to believe that the Humans were doing something in the vicinity of the asteroids. Maybe they were on a scouting mission, to see if any more asteroids were being prepared to be fired at their home world. However, my gut tells me that isn’t a job for an Ambassador.’
‘They are the only ones with builder technology. They can make themselves invisible.’ Morval’s superior pointed out.