Sleeping in the Stars

by D Patrick Wagner

  “Let’s get those three in conference. I don’t want them doing anything wonky while I try to figure out what is going on.”

  “Any special time?”

  “It’s been a long haul from Cencore. Let’s do it tomorrow, mid-morning. Say ten o’clock local time.”

  I’ll set it up.”

  * * * * *

  At the proscribed time, Vice-Admiral Weiskoff again positioned himself at his desk, this time with formal military dress and medals. Wrapped in his position of power, he waited the few moments required to establish a connection with the governor of Nye-Nippon. The link opened. Weiskoff saw three men, all sitting at an oval-shaped conference table made of some sort of highly glossed wood. An elderly gentleman wearing a plain grey suit occupied the center seat. To his right sat a man a decade younger. He wore a fairly expensive, coal black business suit, with an ambassador pin on the left label and a few medals on the right. The third individual dressed in the traditional robes of the royal family. They all sat and waited.

  Weiskoff hated coming to Nyu-Nippon. He hated the whole oriental inscrutable demeanor game that everyone played whenever he interacted with them. He pressed on, secure in the backing of the Federacy might.

  “Governor Ishii, gentlemen. Thank you for meeting me.”

  The grey-suited man in the middle gestured his left. “You are most welcome, Vice-Admiral Weiskoff. May I introduce Lord Demura, Chamberlain to the Emperor.” Then gesturing to his right, “And this is Ambassador Suzume. What can we do for you?”

  “This is about the scout ship Attestant of Light and the information it carried from Yeni Persia. Are you all familiar with it?”

  “Yes, we are.”

  “Who else knows?”

  “Just me, my communications office and my personal secretary,” the Governor responded.

  “Only my self,” the Ambassador spoke next.

  “The Emperor’s inner circle.” This from the Chamberlain.

  “We need all of that information withheld. Suppressed. This is a civilization-shaking event. And we cannot allow this information to get out. It will cause panic throughout the Federacy. Riots, anarchy. You must, at all costs, stop any dissemination of what the ship brought back.”

  “We understand,” replied the governor.

  Chamberlain Demura interjected, ”We hear What you are saying. But we are under the purview of Emperor Kaneko. We will take your request to His Highness.”

  Playing his power card, Weiskoff continued, “This is a direct order from the ministry, the military.”

  “We understand, Vice-Admiral.” The governor’s non-committal response did not agree to accept the Federacy’s demand or follow its mandate.

  Weiskoff continued, “Our first action against this unknown life form is for a complete intelligence operation. We will implement our plan of action for sending stealth drones and ships to the Yeni Persia system. In the mean time, the Federacy is going to quarter a fleet here and we expect full cooperation and support.”

  “As you wish.” Again, the non-committal response and unreadable facial expressions.

  An angry Vice-Admiral Weiskoff severed the connection and proceeded to implement the plan to gather intelligence on this obviously hostile alien race.

  Nyu-Nippon Capitol

  The three very powerful men sat dumfounded, staring at the now-blank communications screen.

  “He certainly has a lot of his father in him,” commented Chamberlain Demura.

  “Yes. Just as arrogant and condescending,” added Ambassador Suzume.

  “We’ve all seen the video, read the intel. Ambassador, you were once the commander of the Royal Guard. You are the closest thing we have to a military advisor. Regardless of what the vice-admiral had to say, or how he said it, what do you think?”

  “I think we are at war, Governor. For the Dorogon Empire, the killing and dying just hasn’t started yet.”

  “Lord Chamberlain?”

  “The Emperor concurs. And so do I.”

  “Where do we go from here?”

  Chamberlain Demura spoke first. “The Emperor has bestowed upon me final decisions concerning the outcome of this meeting with the Vice-Admiral. We have discussed various scenarios. Emperor Kaneko also believes that Ambassador Suzume is the most qualified as Nyu-Nippon’s military tactician. The current commander of the Royal Guard is very good in his position of commanding troops. But, when it comes to military strategy, the Ambassador is the best.”

  “And?”

  “It is our decision that, since we must move to a war footing, Ambassador Suzume must relinquish his position as Interplanetary Ambassador and assume command of the Nyu-Nippon Military Forces. You will be awarded the rank of Taishou”

  “Ambassador?”

  “As my emperor commands. It would be a great honor. I will compose my resignation as ambassador immediately after this meeting.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador, I mean Taishou Suzume. Do you have any thoughts on how we should proceed?” the governor asked.

  “The size of the invading alien force indicates that there might be thousands, tens of thousands of alien troops. From the videos generated at Sasania, those four-legged creatures are large, well-armed and disciplined. If they drop fifty thousand of these troops on our planet and equip them with heavy weaponry we won’t stand a chance in a straight up fight. We re-form our military into a guerilla military. Everyone goes to ground, or more precisely, to water. These invaders appear insect-like, air breathers, land dwellers. We move every military piece of equipment, every military person, and their families, that we can to the deep water cities. We use Suichuu-Shigai as our base of operations. What we can’t relocate, we bury. We hide, sabotage, strike in the dark.”

  “That is why the Emperor picked you to lead our defense.”

  Sasania Capitol

  The changes in the Sasania Capitol were profound and horrible. Four-legged monsters patrolled the streets. Covered in armor and carrying strange weapons, they marched with authority, striking fear in the still surviving human population.

  Giant tanks and machines of destruction overspread the city, emphasizing that the people of Sasania no longer had control of their lives. A giant processor squatted on the parade grounds of the former world government buildings. A continuous flow of wheeled vehicles pulled up and disgorged their contents of living, still stunned cargo. Mortek laborers continued to throw the living victims into the gaping receiving maw of the evil machine.

  Periodically a container ship would detach itself from the processor, lift off and join with the massive cargo vessel in geosynchronous orbit over the capitol.

  This scene repeated in every heavily populated center over the entire planet.

  War, Flight, Logistics and Intelligence stood in the conference room of Ravage Maker, staring at the jewel of a planet below.

  “Logistics. How is it going down there?”

  “Everything is on schedule. We are due to launch our first cargo ships back to the colony within the next three planet cycles. We have found suitable locations for our breeder domes and are constructing them as we speak. We should have full birthing capabilities within twenty to thirty planet cycles.”

  “Excellent. Lord Minister will be pleased. Intelligence? How are we coming with translating the soft skin language?”

  ”Slowly. Their vocal physiology is very different from ours. Their sound combinations have no logical system of meanings. But we are moving towards success.”

  “What of the ship that we captured, trying to flee the system. The one that displayed apparent luxury and power?”

  “All of its occupants are in our cells below. We are using them for our linguistics and translation efforts. They all seem extremely pliable, attempting to do anything we ask.

  “The second gate. What have you discovered?”

  “We’ve sent our spy drones through. There is another star system with livable planets. The soft skins also inhabit that system. There appears to be a stron
ger military presents with a command ship that is about three-quarters the size of our dreadnaughts. From the gathered information, it also appears to be a flagship. However, this military presence, at the current time, is too weak to stop our attack if we push forward immediately.”

  “Flight, where do we stand?”

  “All ships have been repaired and refitted. First Fleet Assault Leader reports that we are short six thousand warriors, a small amount spread across all five fleets. His warriors are forced to engage with various small military groups that hide and strike at vulnerable targets. First Fleet Assault Leader believes that, in time he will have it under control. About the next star system, I’ve studied the information that Intelligence has supplied. Even though there is a small military force there, we can still conquer that system if we begin by flooding the gate with attack ships and invade with an overwhelming force. We are ready. We can launch within a planet cycle.”

  “The sooner the better. We cannot allow the soft skins to bring more war ships to this system. I mandate that you, Flight, begin the assault on the next star system, to begin as soon as you deem your forces ready.” War flexed his Red vestigial wings to their fullest, punctuating his pronouncement.

  Flight, matching War with his own green wing flexing, responded, “It shall be done, My Lord.”

  Sanctuary

  Lawrence sat and watched his command counsel as they nervously re-skimmed their briefs and whispered to each other, anxious in their gestures and manner.

  “Gentlemen, Ladies, let’s show some professionalism,” commanded Harriet.

  Lawrence raised his hand to halt his overly controlling daughter. “We’ve heard the rumours. We now know that they are true. Thanks to Mrs. Grey and her team, we have procured some video of what has occurred in Yeni Persia. Mrs. Grey?”

  Patricia Grey worked her control board and a two-dimensional video displayed on the large view screen that covered one wall. Chairs scraped and shifted as everyone adjusted their positions and craned their necks for better views. Lawrence rotated his seat one hundred, eighty degrees to also watch.

  The video ran. Strange alien ships broke through the gate. The patrol ship died. The video jumped to the lone patrol ship around Sasania. It also exploded and died. The video jumped again, this time showing assault ships burning through the atmosphere, attacking the planet. Another video jump. Four-legged monsters stormed the capitol buildings, shooting anyone and everyone. The video stopped.

  “Never in the history of mankind have we had first contact. And, unfortunately, our first contact is with a war-like race.”

  Everyone began to speak at once, asking questions, offering advice, showing fear. Harriet slammed her palm on the table and glared around the room. Everyone responded to their boss’s daughter. The room quieted.

  “We can’t hope that those alien monsters are going to stay in Yeni Persia. From my informants, this video shows only a small portion of the attacking force. I think this is a full-on invasion that won’t stop at Yeni Persia. This is what we are going to do. We are going to consolidate everything we have and bring it to Arium.”

  Sean Miller, Lawrence’s second in command, interrupted, “People too?”

  “Yes, Sean, people too.”

  “Sanctuary is maxed out. We can’t bring in all those people. And Latinia is a hell hole. Our people would never survive there.”

  “You’re right, Sean. Both of those choices are unacceptable. We settle on Tolimar. It’s a little rugged, but it’s liveable. All non-essential personnel, we move to Tolimar. We build our own city. We go legit.”

  Heads nodded all around the table. Tension dispersed. Relief pervaded.

  “Mr. Blandini. You run the warehouses. I want everything, every machine, every rack, every piece of inventory ready for transport. All people are to be ready to ship out. Anyone wishing to stay, we’ll give them a severance check. Understood?”

  “Yes, Mr. Gregor.”

  “Mr. Thomas, same thing. All your production lines. Everything comes here.

  Mz. Forsythe. You run the fleet. Get everyone involved. Every cargo ship, every transport, every ship available. Work with Mr. Blandini and Mr. Thomas. You’re the one that will keep every thing, everyone moving. And get with Mrs. Grey. The two of you can create algorithms to keep everything coordinated, running smoothly.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir,” the ex-military pilot answered.

  “Harriet, keep things moving. You are the expeditor. Anything anyone needs, you make sure they have it, regardless of cost. You’re the glue. You’ll be the one holding this migration together.”

  “Jeff, keep yourself available for any communications or requests. Me, I’m going to Tolimar to negotiate for some land, maybe a small continent or island.”

  The energy in the room continued to rise. Everyone took in the self-generating excitement that continued to build.

  “Let’s go, people! Let’s get this done. Let’s save, protect as much, as many as we can!”

  Epilogue

  “My Captain, a strange ship just appeared on our viewer.” The bipedal, cat-like creature sitting at the viewer station announced.

  “What do you mean by strange, Mr. Jaham? And what do you mean by just appeared?” Captain Kakkarna asked as he gracefully strolled over to the viewer station.

  “It just appeared. It’s travelling at a very slow speed, maybe one fiftieth of the speed of light. But it just appeared on my viewer.”

  “Show me the history log of that section of space.” The captain’s spiked ears bent forward as if he could hear the screen. His tail flicked in anticipation.

  Jaham extended the claw on his primary finger and used it to flip a toggle. Retracting the sharp spike, he used the now-soft digits to spin a dial. Once he was satisfied with its position, he again extended a single claw and flipped another toggle.

  “This is a tenth of a sedeca ago. As you can see, the area is clear. Now watch.” The view log rolled forward.

  The view operator’s paws flinched at the same time as the captain jumped. Where nothing showed, suddenly a ship appeared. Captain Kakkarna’s ears flattened and he hissed then quickly recovered his poise. Every being on the bridge stopped whatever they were doing and focused their attention on the captain and the view operator.

  “What is the ship doing now?”

  “Nothing. It is just drifting along, ballistic. I read power being generated but nothing is causing it to accelerate or change direction.”

  “And you don’t recognize the hull design.”

  “No, Captain. It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen or heard of.”

  “How large is it?”

  “It can fit into our collection bay.”

  Switching to mindspeak, Captain Kakkarna telepathically contacted his princess. “Princess Analyn, if you are not otherwise occupied, could you come to the bridge? I need your guidance on an issue. And, if you would be so kind, could you have Doctor Ganakin join us?” After receiving a positive response from his princess, Captain Kakkarna returned to staring at the strange space ship drifting through space.

  Speaking to the air, the Captain asked, “Vidhee, have you been inspecting the ship?”

  “Yes, Captain. But with only passive sensors. I haven’t tried any probing as I thought that this might be interpreted as an act of aggression.”

  “Thank you, Vidhee. You are right. Does the ship have any weapons?”

  “Yes, sir. But they appear to be at rest. I don’t detect anything that would indicate that they are being prepared for battle.”

  “Let’s keep it that way. I would rather not destroy something so strange. After all, we are an explorer ship, not a war ship. Do you detect any life forms on board?”

  “I haven’t gone deep enough to ascertain if there are any on board.”

  We will wait for the Princess and then ask for her guidance.”

  The Princess rushed in, in a very un-princess like manner. Splotches of grease and oil stained the fur on her arms and paw
s. A set of magnifying goggles rested on her head. Instead of the gowns of royalty, she wore a worker’s tunic with large pockets and protective padding. Her bodyguard, Sir Mahajani, matched her speed, but with a much slower, longer gate.

  Captain Kakkarna moved out of the way of the charging princess and flicked an ear at Mahajani. The huge Elonian gave a shrug and an ear flick in return.

  “Vidhee said we’ve discovered an alien ship.” The princess breathed as she hurried over to the viewer that held the image of the strange ship. Even as a young adult, at times she still acted like a wide-eyed juvenile.

  “If that is her analysis, then that is probably what it is.”

  While this bustle occurred, a sedate, elderly Elonian entered, followed by an obviously artificial entity.

  “My Princess,” the elder bowed.

  “Doctor Ganakin. Vidhee.”

  “My Princess,” the artificial life form answered.

  Making an inviting gesture towards the viewer, Princess Analyn asked, “What do you think?”

  “It is definitely alien,” the doctor proclaimed. Nothing in any readings or research that I’ve come across. But definitely alien.”

  “Ballison?”

  “Nothing in our ancient texts describe a ship like this. But our records are incomplete.”

  “Do you think it is hostile?”

  “Not at this moment. But situations change.”

  “Just in case, let’s have our deflectors attend their stations. But not power up.”

  “Excellent recommendation, Princess,” responded Captain Kakkarna. “Lieutenant Talwana, please have your people post their stations, without powering up their deflecting cannons.”

  The lead deflection officer began talking into his communicator, issuing the required orders.

  Turning to her lead scientist, Princess Analyn asked, “Doctor, what are your recommendations on how to proceed?”