Peacemaker (The Revelations Cycle Book 6)

by Kevin Ikenberry

  Ooren nodded. He’d theorized for years that the Altar’s reports of their mineral gains did not equal the actual tonnage they’d been able to extract. For a simple species, one so comfortable doing what they were told, it seemed far outside their norms to lie. But, anything was possible in the quest for credits.

  “Perhaps. Prepare your forces for multiple scenarios. By law, the Peacemaker has 96 hours to make substantial progress to avoid armed confrontations. Once her time is up, we will attack the Altar positions by land and river.”

  “What about the GenSha? Will they see our attack as beneficial or as an affront to their own operations?” Leeto asked. “Have you broached a solution with them?”

  Ooren snorted. The sound was a choked laugh. “I do not care about the GenSha, Commander Leeto. As far as I am concerned, they are just as much an enemy of the Selroth as the Altar. If they cannot be defeated, the Consortium will broker a cooperative agreement to use the Choote for both colonies. The Altar are the key and they must be removed. If the GenSha, or anyone else, gets in our way, you will destroy them. Is that clear?”

  The mercenary commander chuckled. “Affirmative, Ooren. The Darkness will prevail.”

  Ooren turned away from the commset and peered across the river’s delta from the command center. Leeto was bold and a bit reckless, making him a perfect mercenary commander. He also understood that the simplest way to approach the conflict was from a standpoint that everyone was the enemy. A great many credits were on the line. The livelihood of his colony notwithstanding, there was money to be made from the Consortium’s goal of keeping the peace through any means possible. That they didn’t want a Peacemaker on the ground, he was sure. In the next few hours, the Consortium would undercut the Peacemaker’s position and smooth the edges of the conflict from all three sides. A workable solution was there, and all it took was credits and the removal of one colony.

  Ooren consulted his order of battle and that of the attached mercenary forces, and saw an opportunity to surprise the Altar and gain the initiative. The moment the Peacemaker failed, and she would fail, an all-out assault on the Altar position would gain the Selroth enough of the river to push back against the GenSha. With control of the lower river country, they could demand the immediate removal of the Altar colony and preserve their colony’s position for the foreseeable future.

  Ooren picked up a slate and wrote his plan.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Nine

  Klatk entered the command center to find seven somber faces staring at her. The elders ringed the tight space. With its consoles dark and quiet, the room felt like a tight cavern. Klatk understood their mood even before she met any of their eyes or said anything. Goss entered the command center behind her and closed the door. The atmosphere seemed to swell and press against her eyes and abdomen and every part in between. The youngest of the Council, a third-level worker named Erk was the first to make eye contact with her.

  “Honored Klatk. The Council feels it is time to seek the protection of the Peacemaker Guild and ask for an escort home.”

  That didn’t take long.

  Klatk squared her shoulders and looked at them one by one. Her eyes rested on Erk’s for a moment before she looked at Doort, the quiet one who never wavered in his support for her. His calm gaze centered her, and she turned back to Erk and spoke. “I will meet Peacemaker Francis in a few moments. Understanding that the council’s guidance is paramount to the performance of my tasks, your recommendation is unanimous?”

  Erk nodded. At the edge of her vision, Doort looked away and spoke. “The recommendation is unanimous, Klatk. We feel it is time to either hire a mercenary force to protect us, or ask for an escort home and invoke our contractual evacuation clause. The Consortium’s provisions allowed them to manipulate our economic collapse. Because the colony’s recent mining drought drained much of our residual funds, we feel that hiring a mercenary outfit is not the best use of our remaining capital. Nor can we risk the Consortium discovering the bounty below. We believe arrangements should be made to return home.”

  Klatk clenched her mandibles and forced herself to relax. Mining was never a sure thing, and the colony had lived through significant gains and losses during the previous six months. Her engineer’s recommendations to divert from the primary shaft structure and pursue deeper veins to the west found resistance in the very same council. Their requirement for safety outweighed their ability to accept any degree of risk. “I see. I believe you do not think we can win this situation and would rather leave here, disgracing my tenure, to save your own reputations.”

  Erk stiffened. “You cannot believe that we can win any type of prolonged conflict, Klatk! They attacked our outermost tunnels and killed 700 of our young! The GenSha and their mercenaries can cut through our defenses like a blade through soft dirt.”

  “They tipped their hand when they went after our young. They know, now, that we can go after them just as easily. We will not allow them to enter our tunnels again. We collapsed the southern complex. All brood units have been moved to the main complex. These mercenaries will have to take the central mine to destroy us.”

  Doort spoke quietly. “They will simply overwhelm us with their weapons on the surface.”

  Klatk looked at him and shook her head. “We barely fired our defensive systems.”

  “We need to find a way to use the Raknar,” Goss said from behind her. The gathered councilmen collectively gasped. Goss laughed. “You believe the Raknar’s power is absolutely fine, no—necessary for our survival. If it has power, it can fire its weapons! We need to bring them to bear against those who would drive us from our lands.”

  Erk stepped forward, his forearms raised and waggling. “We cannot attempt to use the Raknar’s weapons.”

  “Why not?” Goss pressed. Klatk placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him back as she turned to Erk. Goss was right. Why not try to use the Raknar against their enemies?

  “We need the power to incubate our colony.”

  Klatk tilted her head toward him. “We can engage solar or geothermal conduits to do that just as easily, Erk, despite the weather problems. We used the Raknar simply because it was there and available to us. It was a matter of speed, not a matter of necessity.”

  “It will take too long to convert from the Raknar’s power, Klatk. You know this,” Erk said. “We should ask for the protection of the Guild until our brood hatches, and then we should depart for home immediately thereafter.”

  “You would give up this home? The one thing we’ve worked toward for cycles—our home on this planet. You would give this away because the GenSha and the Selroth want the water? You hear them say we should leave, and you agree? They cannot use our lands—only the water that flows through it. There is nothing that says we cannot stay here except your unwillingness to stand.”

  “Why stand when we are certain to lose?” Erk asked.

  Klatk laughed. “We are only certain to lose if we do not fight, Erk.”

  “You cannot believe we can win against two enemies without additional support that we cannot afford.” Erk pointed at Doort. “We’ve done the numbers. Plec says the brood is four weeks from hatching. The Peacemaker Guild is obligated to help us until the brood is hatched.”

  Klatk inclined her head to agree. “You’re right, Erk. They would be obligated. But we then forfeit our lands and our rights to the Consortium.”

  “They will protect us! We have a contract!” Erk shouted.

  Klatk shook her head. “No, they will not. If anything, the Consortium will want us to go as quickly as we can. Even to the point of enabling the mercenaries on either side of our colony to eradicate us in the process.”

  Erk rubbed his claws together. “You’ve overreacting. The Consortium would pay for our way home.”

  “They would take all of our residual funding, our property, and everything but what we can carry. That is unacceptable.”

  “Unacceptable to you,” Erk smirked.

  Kl
atk reared up on her hind legs. “Our people voted to come here. They chose this land. They knew the risks and the trouble it might cause, but they chose where we stand. I will listen to their hearts. Have you asked them for their support of your plan?”

  None of them met her eyes. She knew they had not asked their people and acted solely on their own interests. A sick feeling rolled up through her abdomen, and she resisted the temptation to ask if their needs had been purchased because she already knew they had.

  Erk spread his arms in a shrug. “There is no time to conduct a vote of the people. We have barely avoided a vote for emergency action.”

  There’s the threat. Klatk forced herself not to smile. While they couldn’t overthrow her governmental responsibility, they could enact rules against her that would place the colony in their hands. As long as she was capable and in control of her armed forces, they could not act on such a threat. She checked her slate and looked at them.

  “The Peacemaker is arriving in five minutes. I intend to meet her and discuss our options and your...recommendations,” Klatk said. “Once I have done that, I will take the Peacemaker’s guidance and consider a course of action. I will share that with you when we meet again tonight.”

  She turned and Goss opened the door for her. Out in the warm afternoon sunlight, she heard him fall in behind her. “What will the Peacemaker say?”

  Klatk looked over her shoulder. “I don’t know, Goss. The council’s recommendation carries some weight. A Peacemaker must listen to all sides and determine the best course of action. I believe that our lack of need for the water rights to this land will cause the Peacemaker to move us somewhere else. If we do not have the Raknar, our ability to fund a geothermal power source or a viable solar grid falls short. The Trading Guild may have asked the Consortium to assist us, but that would be a loan with interest that would be unbearable over time unless we hit a motherlode of precious metals outside the bounty. The chances of that aren’t good.”

  “What if the Peacemaker doesn’t want to move us?” Goss moved alongside her as they descended from the command center toward the colony’s main deck. Klatk could see the Tchrt One approaching in the distance and considered the question.

  There were two courses of action if the Peacemaker did not want to move the colony. The first was for the Peacemaker to declare no contest and let the Consortium deal with the problem. That meant the colony would have to move, or ask for protection and evacuation home. The second course of action was for the Peacemaker to declare a cessation of hostilities until the colony could either appoint or contract a mercenary force. Since the colony could not afford a quality force the second option seemed impossible.

  “I don’t know, Goss,” Klatk said. “I believe the Peacemaker is human.”

  “Human? They have Peacemakers?”

  Klatk met his incredulous eyes. “It would appear so.”

  “Humans are too presumptuous and unpredictable to be Peacemakers.”

  Klatk nodded. Tchrt One glinted in the sunlight as it pivoted on an axis and landed on the dusty ground between the colony walls and the river’s edge. As the sleek yacht settled on its three landing struts, Goss remained behind as protocol demanded. Klatk looked over her shoulder. “That unpredictability may serve us well.”

  * * *

  Klatk waited as the Peacemaker offloaded her bags from Tchrt One. Behind her, a Caroon in the typical dark attire they preferred jumped to the ground and gathered his things before standing off to one side with a disinterested look on his elongated face. Administrator Kenos made no effort to help the young human woman with her bags and stood in the boarding hatch with a scowl on his face. Klatk stood 10 meters away completely alone, with the colony’s defenses lowered as required. Tchrt One’s engines spooled up, and the sleek yacht rose from the ground and accelerated to the west before the Peacemaker even grabbed the handles of her two large bags. As she did, Klatk moved forward and grabbed the larger bag easily.

  “Peacemaker Francis.” Klatk bowed her head. “I am Klatk, the Queen of the Altar Colony and the commander of our armed forces. My colony is grateful for your intervention per our request to the Peacemaker Guild. I am at your service.”

  The human woman brushed away her auburn hair from her face and reached out a hand. “Honored Klatk, the pleasure is mine.”

  Klatk looked at the outstretched hand for a long moment before remembering the Galactic Union’s comical training holo programs about interaction with human beings. She reached out a clawed forearm and gently took the Peacemaker’s hand. “Welcome to Araf, Peacemaker.”

  “I appreciate your hospitality, Klatk. I’ll set up my quarters here at the Raknar,” Francis said.

  “Will you be in need of provisions?”

  Francis nodded. “Administrator Kenos will have a temporary domicile delivered by sundown along with some supplies. I would be grateful for anything you might think I would need.”

  Klatk nodded. For a human, the Peacemaker seemed very confident and strong. There was nothing the Altar could provide a human besides the only common denominator between them—water. “We’ll make sure you have what you need.”

  Francis squinted at her. “What is it, Klatk? You’re hesitating.”

  Klatk shifted her weight from side to side unconsciously. “I am considering my options, Peacemaker. I want to defend my colony, but I cannot do that and not risk losses. I am prepared to seek the Peacemaker Guild’s protection and escort if the situation merits it.”

  Francis shook her head. “We’ve not even started negotiations. I cannot recommend you take that opening position, especially in light of the attack you perpetrated against the GenSha central paddock.”

  Klatk’s pincers twitched. “A decision under duress that I regret.”

  “Do you?” Francis asked. “I don’t believe you do, Klatk. I believe you wanted to hurt the GenSha. I believe you don’t want to run home with the remnants of your colony. I believe you want to stand and fight.”

  Klatk looked away. Three of her soldiers approached. “My detail will see to it that you are settled and can begin your work.”

  “My first work is with you. I can have that conversation right here and right now.”

  Klatk balked. “I cannot, Peacemaker. I have to tend to my colony right now.”

  “Forgive my flippancy, Klatk, but your colony needs you to commit to a course of action.”

  Klatk locked eyes with her detail. The three young soldiers were third-level squad members. They approached rapidly with their heads down as a sign of respect. A glint of sunlight caught her eye. “I cannot—”

  The soldier in the rear darted to his right and came up with a rifle in a millisecond. Klatk stepped forward, between the rifle and the Peacemaker, knocking the human to the ground with a shoulder. The young soldier fired once and missed the Peacemaker. She spun and tore the rifle from his claws and made to strike him. He wore a bandolier with its pockets stuffed full. A third-level soldier did not carry a bandolier, and she realized in a millisecond that it was an explosive device. Before he could reach for it, she tore off one of his arms with her claws and rendered the other unusable with her mandibles. The soldier screamed and fell to the ground. Black blood pooled around him.

  Klatk roared. “What is the meaning of this?”

  The soldier armlessly reared up, anger filling his twisted face. He spoke in a guttural dialect from the deep mines. “She is not here for us! We cannot trust her.”

  Klatk blinked at the harsh language. Through a universal translator, it would have sounded like gibberish. She knew the Peacemaker would not understand it either. She inflected the same dialect. “Who told you that, drone?”

  “The Consortium. They say all we have to do is give up the Raknar...” His eyes rolled back and the soldier collapsed into the dust.

  Francis came forward with a large pistol in her hands. “What did it say?”

  Klatk spun towards her. “He. Most of my colonists are males. He said you needed to
die. That the Peacemakers cannot save us.”

  Francis kept her pistol trained on the other two soldiers. “Stand them down.”

  Klatk motioned at the soldiers and they scattered into the colony. “They won’t harm you.”

  “I have to question them! If they are a party to this attack —”

  Klatk turned to her. “I will deal with my colony, Peacemaker.”

  Francis met her gaze for a long moment before holstering her pistol. “You want to take the colony and run, the Consortium wants you gone, and your own men just tried to kill me. I’m tempted to give you exactly what you want even though that gives the Consortium what it wants and sends you home in disgrace.”

  “I haven’t said what I want, merely what I am considering.”

  Francis looked at the slate on her wrist. “We will meet soon, Klatk. I suggest you have a better idea of where you want to go and what you want to do then.”

  The Caroon, dressed from head to foot in blacks and reds, bounded up behind the Peacemaker. He spoke without emotion. “Peacemaker? Are you injured?”

  Francis turned. “No, I’m fine, Taemin.”

  “I must protest your decision to stay here, Peacemaker. This colony is clearly agitated by your very presence. I must insist upon setting the neutral site at D’Nart.”

  Klatk saw Francis study the Caroon’s face for a long moment. The human female looked back at her and then at the Caroon. “My command post is the Raknar, Taemin. Ensure that Kenos places the promised supplies near the mecha’s head. I want a housing unit, too, not a tent or anything of the sort. A second one would be best for the negotiation site. Please radio the Tchrt One and do that before Kenos attempts to leave us here without anything.”

  The Caroon actually smiled a bit. “Indeed, Peacemaker.”

  Francis gestured to Klatk. “Taemin, this is Klatk. She is the colony Queen. Taemin is my mediator.”

  They bowed toward each other, but said nothing. She’d never met a Caroon mediator, and while it didn’t seem likely that one would enter the practice of Union Law, she’d seen stranger things over the course of her life. “Well met, Taemin.”