Alien Manifesto

by T. W. Embry

  “I have delayed revealing the treasssure I found jussst ssso you could catch your assssassssin,” hissed Snarth, equally frustrated, but for a different reason.

  He was frustrated at the lengthy wait for his guests, many of whom were important people on their respective planets or in their chosen occupations. Snarth was not sure how much longer he could delay before the demands of his guests’ positions required their immediate departure. Howler for example, was just one of many.

  The death of a foolish king was of lesser importance to Snarth’s plans. Nevertheless, he owed a life debt to his old friend, the dead stealth master. A debt he could not repay. His team had all volunteered to help defend the King without his objecting to it.

  Always a difficult thing that, hiding something in plain sight, from a group of six-foot two hundred pound felines, all with moves better than Bruce Lee. We managed, or so I thought, pondered Snarth. He knew, once any one of his guests lifted ship, most would soon follow. That entirely defeated the purpose for Snarth’s special gathering. Snarth would be left with with an estate full of social moochers of the worst sort, the expensive ones, not one of which could negotiate a price for the banking jewels on behalf of their home world. They would be the only ones to stay.

  Snarth needed to measure his guests’ response to the number of banking jewels. He could only cash a fraction of the forbidden planet’s fortune in without any serious economic damage. He could only do that at the reveal of the banking jewels, with SSlice’s help of course.

  That kind of damage made bad enemies very fast, enemies that would spare no expense in relieving Snarth of his living body. He very much wanted to keep this one alive a little while longer. His new clone would not be ready for quite some time; until it was ready, Snarth must protect this one.

  The stress was beginning to show on the team members, the constant vigilance wearing them down. The addition of Kareen to the team, left the Irishman the odd man out. The social dynamics had changed again. It could be months before Kareen became fully acclimated to the team’s training regimen, thought Snarth worriedly. Now, what to do about the Irishman? He has finally agreed to enhancements. Then he will finally be ready to permanently mate.

  PART THIRTY-SIX

  A Destiny Debated

  The young Queen gathered her courage and her strength, then thought out boldly in front of all of the Old Ones. I am convinced that war with the galactic alliance will be the end of our people. Our home world will be destroyed and our people will become extinct. It is this chamber that holds your very essence. If that is destroyed, so will you be, she defiantly-thought. If we are attacked before the proper preparation is complete you will all die.

  Silence! thought the Old One who headed the Council of Elders, she being the most recent Old One, the evil Queen. The council has decided WAR, thought the Leader.

  The young Queen was reeling from the ferocity of the thoughts that burned into her mind. I say NO! thought back the young Queen, weakening with the effort. I will destroy our home world and all of you with it before I go to war.

  You have no choice in the matter, gloated the Leader. You cannot escape your destiny. Nor can you resist us.

  I would rather die and take all of you with me, thought the defiant young Queen.

  Brave thoughts sister, I once thought as you do, thought the Leader gently, soothing the pain her thoughts had caused the young Queen. Yet even now your power to resist us weakens and it is just I, she gentlly thought. When the others join me we will all become one. You cannot escape your destiny. Why resist, join us and live forever. Become a guardian of our children.

  The young Queen sensed the guile from the Leader. Perhaps she was not as strong as she thought she was, maybe the other Old Ones could not or would not join her. Then the Leader would be alone and vulnerable.

  Emboldened by the Leader’s attempt at guile to cover her weakness, the young Queenthought loudly I demand my right to appear before the Council. I want to hear it from them.

  As you wish young one. At the height of the season of the sun, appear before us, commanded the Leader. You will obey the will of the council or die.

  I hear and obey, thought the Young Queen.

  As her true reality spun back into focus, the young Queen realized she was indeed very weak. Thankfully, the sun would soon rise above the horizon. Then she could regain her strength. With thoughts of deep regret, the young Queen began the plans to destroy the Queen’s chamber and everything inside it. She intended to be able to carry out her threats to the Old One Council.

  She wondered how long it would be until the aliens returned looking for more treasure. Time was of utmost importance. If they returned too soon, her physical body may be destroyed. The council would then wake her army. Then the war that would destroy her children would begin and she would be powerless to stop it. She must risk the scouts; time and her options were running out too quickly.

  Desperation always clouds one’s good judgment.

  PART THIRTY-SEVEN

  Time to Show off the Treasure

  “I cannot wait any longer. Have all of our guessstsss gather in the main ballroom,” Snarth hissed into his com-link at SSlice. “All team membersss meet me at the treasssure vault. It isss time to get the party ssstarted. Human Tom, I want you and the feline massster cloaked until I sssignal otherwissse,” he hissed.

  “Yes sir,” echoed across the com link as each team member acknowledged Snarth’s orders, heading for the treasure vault.

  All of the team members except SSlice were waiting for Snarth when he arrived at the vault. After the biometric scan of Snarth’s living DNA the vault opened. The inside glittered with the reflected light of three hundred banking jewels.

  Wondering what they were waiting for, I settled into my waiting stance, sensing my mate next to me. From the sound of her breathing, she was doing exactly the same thing. I was slowly learning the art of waiting and the patience it required. The arrival of the maintenance mech with the portable repulser-lifted cargo pallet answered my silent question, signaling an end to my waiting.

  My mate and I led the way for the rest of the team and the now loaded cargo pallet. The canine fight masters followed the pallet into the main ballroom; with Snarth and the Irishman bringing up the rear. This caused all conversation to stop and everyone in the ballroom to stare.

  It was not every day that any one being would ever see three hundred banking jewels in one place: it was a stunning fortune. One empires within the Galactic Alliance would go to war for, needing only an excuse to ignite old debt disputes and simmering hatreds.

  “My friendsss, now that I have your attention,” hissed Snarth in the silent ballroom, from the top of a table carved from a huge slab of stone, “I would like to announce that I have found a very large cache of banking jewelsss. I have certified their authenticity azsss thoroughly azsss any private citizen can. However, it will not be official until the banking minister hasss hisss technical mechsss run their ssscansss. Once that isss done, I will be taking bidsss for purchassse. All sssales are final and to the highessst bidder,” he hissed. “Thossse of you who need to may, of courssse, avail yourssself of my communicationsss array.”

  There was not a stampede for the com terminals, but hand held communications devices appeared in almost every hand or its equivalent. A steady stream of guests filed out the main entrance, heading toward the estate’s landing pad and their waiting ships. Howler was so busy on his communicator that he did not even have time to say good-bye to Snarth and the team.

  “All right my friendsss, back to the vault,” hissed Snarth as he was now furiously using his own wrist communicator.

  PART THIRTY-EIGHT

  To Fight or Flee

  The leader of the Old Ones gave much thought to the foolish young Queen. There is only one way to save our race, thought the Leader. I must ask for the rejoining. Even as naive as she is the young Queen must sense the Council’s weakness. Only a Queen in corporeal form could command the arm
y of the Ones. If the young Queen could not be persuaded to enforce the Council’s wishes, she would cause a joining of the Council: only the second time a young Queen required the council’s intervention in the known history of the Ones’ race. The entire council would join power, overpowering the young Queen’s mind. Her corporeal body would then be bent to the will of the council.

  On the day the giver of life reached its zenith of the season, the young Queen appeared before the Council, resolute in her beliefs, defiant.

  The time has come, we must waken the army, thought the Leader of the Council. Are you with us? she thought at the young Queen. Or do you still cling to that foolish notion of equality? Do you still wish to run like a coward?

  Calmly, determinedly the young Queen addressed the council in formal thought. I am not a coward. I am trying to save our race. If you start a war, what will the army eat? Each other? During the siege, the Leader’s children stripped every living thing off the surface of the home world. You would know this if you respected our children rather than treat them as slaves, she angrily-thought to the council.

  Then you leave us no choice, thought the Leader of the Council angrily, We must join now, she thought to the other Old Ones.

  No, No, No! screamed the young Queen, feeling herself losing control of her corporeal body.

  The time has come, sisters! We wake the army! screamed the Leader.

  The young Queen felt her body raise its antennae to the Sun, the giver of life. When the Sun peaked, a beam of light shone directly on the huge crystal at the top of the Queen’s throne. The throne’s crystal then reflected the sun’s energy to each of the carefully placed Queen’s crystals, magnifying with each refraction, building more and more connections until a beam of pure energy was directed into the young Queen’s Life crystal. Giving her all the power she would need to wake all of her widely scattered warrior children at the same instant, even from across the galaxy. Beginning the Ones’ opening attack on the unsuspecting and complacent galactic fleet. The war had begun.

  PART THIRTY-NINE

  Unexpected Consequences

  Snarth watched as the feline King’s procession headed directly for him, causing him to grimace as only he could. A bright flash of pure energy out of nowhere knocked Snarth off his table, stunning him on the floor. Snarth slowly regained his senses to the screaming of his guests, some in agony, and some in terror.

  The sight that confronted him was an impossibility. A full-grown One warrior was bearing down on him. It was swinging a makeshift club right at his head. Where did that come from? thought Snarth as he scrambled out of the way of the club. But he was pinned by the wall behind him, trapped. The One warrior was extending his feeding appendage toward Snarth’s head, overpowering him quickly.

  ~

  With a howl of rage Kareen landed on the warrior’s back, her twin swords held high over her head. With her right sword Kareen severed the warrior’s feeding appendage. The left she plunged in between the warrior’s exoskeleton joint, into its soft inner body.

  As she kicked the dead warrior’s body off the pinned Snarth, she gave him a hand up. “Blasters are useless,” Kareen growled. “We will have to do it the old fashioned way,” she howled as she launched herself at another One warrior, intercepting its makeshift weapon intended for Snarth. With a graceful backspin and a precisely aimed thrust she dispatched the warrior with an elegant yet deadly grace.

  “ROWL” Kareen howled again, desperately trying to locate her mate.

  “KAREEN,” Rowl howled in answer. They began to fight their way toward each other, dispatching at least a dozen One warriors before meeting in the middle, where they stood back to back, slashing, paring and killing.

  My mate and I were shadowing the feline king when the energy blast hit. I wasn’t going to let any assassin near the feline King. Only this King could grant me that which I wanted the most, the safety and acceptance of my new family. Well, safe from the King anyway, I thought. It would seem that our chosen career was inherently very dangerous.

  ~

  As I came to, I saw a decloaked feline standing over the fallen king: it was Tasha’s uncle. I gathered my strength, struggling to stand, my legs weak, my breath still short from the blast. I instinctively planned my attack on the feline assassin master. Somehow, I knew that he was not going to help the king; he was here to kill him.

  I started my attack by jumping the last fifteen feet, drawing my feline blade midair. My kick to the feline’s head went wide as he evaded and cloaked, my feline blade only slicing empty air. I did a double forward flip to put some distance between us. Then I became the stone, slowing my breathing and heart rate. I stretched out with all of my senses. Yes, I could sense the king’s assassin, see him in my mind’s eye, he could not hide his anger. He was coming this way.

  I set the point of my attack about fifteen feet to my left. The feline hadn’t seen me jump. He will underestimate my range if he has me zeroed in. Just before the rogue feline reached my jump point, he must have remembered the king, veering toward him, hoping to finish the job.

  That was his mistake. He didn’t evade my flying front kick this time. He never saw it coming. I felt the satisfying crunch of bone as my foot connected with the feline’s lower jaw. He was out for sure, possibly for good. Felines have terribly fragile bone structure, especially the neck and jaw. I finished the job by decapitating the feline before his body fell to the ground, with a spinning backward blade slash, just for style. I say if you are going to save a King’s life, do it with your best moves.

  It was only then that I noticed the battle raging around me. Rowl and Kareen were cutting through whatever these things were like a pair of two bladed scythes. The Irishman and Snarth were trying to hold the exit. The King had recovered and he and his security detail were holding their own. All of the other guests were dead, killed in the energy blast, or by stray blaster fire, their blood making the floor slick and treacherous.

  As I looked for my mate, she decloaked next to me. “My love, we really do have to work on that front kick of yours. We should help Snarth and the Irishman, they seem to be getting the brunt of it,” she yowled, her tail twitching rapidly. “Slash them between the armored skin,” she yowled as she slid sideways to avoid being clubbed by one of the warriors, dropping him with just the thrust she wanted me to use.

  With our addition to the battle around Snarth, and the only exit, the tide quickly turned into a slaughter to the last one. Who, despite the death of all of his comrades, attacked Rowl without fear of dying and with an undiminished ferocity.

  After it was over the team paused a minute to catch their breath and figure out what was going on. “What the hell were those things?” I asked Snarth.

  He seemed to not hear me as he was furiously tapping commands into his wrist communicator. Finally pausing he hissed angrily into the com link, “ssSSlice, get me Howler’sss ssship, use the emergency channel. I only hope we are not too late.”

  “SNARTH,” I yelled: “What were those things? Talk to me.”

  “There isss no way I could have known,” he hissed aloud, still not answering me, covering his eyes with his hands. “There isss no way I could have known” he hissed again swaying, nearly collapsing, seemingly grief stricken.

  “Could not have known what?” I demanded.

  “That the banking jewels we brought back are actually One warrior eggs,” whispered SSlice who had just arrived. “If all of them are not crystals but eggs….,” SSlice spluttered, becoming severely agitated. “There are millions of them scattered in every major city on every civilized planet in the galaxy.” That means there must be a new Queen. She planned this. How many others did she leave scattered across the galaxy? HOME! SSlice almost fainted.

  PART FORTY

  A Destiny Decided

  It was after the successful awakening before the young Queen became aware of her individual self again. Gathering her strength, she pushed against the great weight of the Old Ones. To her surprise, she
nearly broke through, almost regaining control of her body. They must be weak from their effort.

  Emboldened by her near success the young Queen pushed harder, breaking through just a little farther. Far enough to see that her army was not doing as well as the overconfident Old Ones’ leader had expected.

  Sisters, she formally thought to the Council. We must act now or all is lost for our children and for us.

  Silence, screamed the Leader. I will hear no more about running and hiding. My warriors have nearly defeated the entire galactic fleet without any weapons of their own, she gloated.

  A great victory to be sure, but for how long Sisters? thought the young Queen. We have only dealt the enemy a crippling blow, not a fatal one. We will have to build our fleet from what we can salvage from our enemies until we build ships of our own. While our enemies also rebuild in the shipyards they already have. We have none, she finished bluntly.

  Silence! screamed the Leader.

  Let her speak, boomed into the Leader’s and the young Queen’s minds, causing both to recoil unconsciously from the power of that command. It was the Oldest One, she who was only called upon in the most serious matters of the Council. Speak your mind, young one, commanded the Oldest One.

  The Leader’s plan before hibernation was flawed from the beginning, forcefully thought the young Queen. She failed to anticipate the technological advances the enemy would make. It provided neither adequate supplies nor weapons for our far-flung children.

  Tell me your plan, young one, command-thought the Oldest One.

  Just after the aliens killed the Leader’s body, I sent scout ships to find a suitable life planet far from this space. A life planet, one as yet unknown to the galactic council, answered the young queen formally. A life planet with an abundant water source has been found, one hundred thousand light units from here. It is as yet unclaimed by any other Empire. It has a population of indigenous life forms. Enough to sustain our people for generations, once proper taming and herding techniques are implemented. Most importantly of all it has a star to match our beloved Sun.