“You want me to talk to the Ch’Tauk?” Lee said, astounded at the turn of battle. “I don’t speak Ch’Tauk and they wouldn’t listen to me anyway.”
“Language is no barrier to the mind, Captain,” the projection said. “We will provide the language if you provide the reason.”
“I don’t understand,” Lee replied.
A shimmering image coalesced on the bridge. Farthing let out an involuntary snarl as a Ch’Tauk appeared on the bridge. He was tall for his species and wearing a silver-white sash smeared with some green substance. It held a small bundle in one arm. The figure reached down to collect a knife from the ground. For a moment, he looked at both hands as if to make a decision Lee wondered what the significance of the two objects was, thinking for a moment the elf was showing a statue. The Ch’Tauk hunched over, though, protecting the bundle and glancing rapidly around the bridge. Lee noticed the bundle moving. There was a strange, keening whine coming from the folds of fabric in the enemy’s arms. Lee realized it must be a child.
“Wait…” Lee began before being cut off by a series of clacking and hisses from the image.
“Stand back!” the Ch’Tauk said over the clicking. “This child is the Emperor Ch’Tauk. Guards will cleave your bodies in two!”
Lee realized the Ch’Tauk must be seeing a projection of them. The elf was translating over the clicking sounds. The words fluttered across Lee’s mind the same as the little creature’s. The voice was deep and grating but unmistakably male. The swirl marks on this one’s armored skin were different from others he had seen. They seemed deeper in places, and more defined. Given what he knew about Ch’Tauk society, this one must be from one of the higher castes. He had called the child Ch’Tauk Emperor, but Lee remembered being told they had an empress. Changes in politics could mean a more rational regime, although this one did not seem very rational.
“My name is Captain Lee Pearce,” Lee said, hoping the translation worked both ways. I am not really there. This is a projection from one of the creatures we call elves.”
The Ch’Tauk looked back at Lee with a mixture of hatred and nervous fear. Four eyes blinked together at Lee’s words. He waved the long knife in front of him, trying the air around himself. He raised his arm quickly, and in one motion threw the knife straight at Lee. Despite knowing it was a projection, Lee raised an arm to defend himself as the intangible knife passed through him. He felt the tiniest thrill of motion passing as the knife disappeared upon exiting his back. The elf continued to stare at the two men as they squared off.
“What manner of engineering is this?” the Ch’Tauk replied. You are standing in the Spring Palace as I am. Ghost or not, I will have your head.”
“Listen to me. I am in a ship near your planet,” Lee said, lowering his hands and showing his open palms. “I am here to negotiate peace between our people.”
“There can be no peace,” the Ch’Tauk replied, holding the child closer. “You are an arrogant, child race who thought nothing of invading our empire. We showed your kind the true nature of your own arrogance and you could not accept it. We took from you before you could take from us, and now, like a child who was slapped and wants revenge, you come to us and ask for peace. You will have the peace of the next life.”
“Emperor,” Lee said, stepping forward hesitantly. “I understand what you are saying. My people did plan aggressive action six years ago. We have learned and we are taking our planet back as we speak. I didn’t come here to invade, though, but to stop a slaughter.”
For a moment, lee wondered at his own words. He was trying to grapple with his desire to take revenge on the enemy and the conflicting needs of his race. Thoughts of Ronald Chang and Alfredo Ortiz flickered across his eyes as he began to understand the true burdens of command. He stared at the black eyes of the Ch’Tauk before him. The creature was nearly shaking with rage.
“I am not the Emperor Ch’Tauk, may his light guide my people through the darkness,” the man said, holding the child high above his head. “I am the Father. This is the Emperor who I am not worthy of in my hands, and I will die defending his life with my own!”
“I apologize for any transgression,” Lee said, trying to make sense of what the alien had just said. “How am I to address you?”
“You will kneel in the presence of my Emperor and son,” the man replied. “And you can call me … Ki’Bara. I am the Father.”
“Ki’Bara,” Lee replied, trying out the odd click in the word. “If I understand, your son is the emperor. I am the captain of the bat … Alliance vessel Resolute.”
The topmost two eyes narrowed in the alien’s head. It was a strange expression on the armored face. Ki’Bara lowered the knife and stood to his full height. Lee had the feeling there were more people, maybe guards, in the room with him. He glanced around himself and waved off someone with the knife. There was a new confidence in his body as he addressed Lee again.
“Lee Pearce, your name and ship are known to me,” the voice said above the clicks. “We have met before. I believe I recovered something of yours above the planet of the caretakers.”
It took Lee a moment to understand. Tuxor had once called his people caretakers for the elves. If Ki’Bara was referring to the battle over Karisia, it meant the alien was responsible for taking Alice from him. His fiancé had told him of the torture and inhumane treatment visited upon her after her capture. Rage threatened to overcome him as he stared at the sashed alien.
“You haven’t taken anything from me I haven’t taken back,” Lee replied. “You and your people won’t be killed if you let us take our ship and go. You have my word.”
“You have your ship and my fleet will destroy it,” Ki’Bara spat back. “Release your hold on my fleet so I can send you to the next world myself.”
“I‘m not the one responsible for your fleet being disabled,” Lee replied, swallowing his anger and trying to regain reason. “The ones you call the Engineers are holding both your fleet and my ships. The only way to resolve this is to make some kind of peace.”
A clawed hand extended and grasped a thin piece of plastic from a mysterious source. Ki’Bara pulled the flimsy sheet closer and took a look. Lee waited as the man dropped the knife and slid a finger down the side. Two of the eyes followed Lee as the other two read the information on the small screen. After a few moments, all four eyes looked up at Lee. There was a snarl mixed with clicks and Lee became very worried.
“You lie!” Ki’Bara spat. “We show your ship holding our fleet while another advances on our planet. It is the same ship which destroyed the monastery planet.”
Lee looked around his bridge. The tactical screen had been forgotten, but was so crowded with dots he could barely make out one from the other. He glanced at the octopod at the weapons station. The creature was waving its arms wildly, trying to get the attention of the other crew members. Lee remembered its vocoder had been damaged in the battle and cursed him for not paying more attention. He stepped past the projection and looked at the nearly dark screen by the weapons station. He saw what Ki’Bara had mentioned instantly.
The dot identified as Victory was moving slowly closer to Ch’Tauk under its own power. While he had been talking to the enemy commander, Victory had moved beyond the range of Resolute’s cannons. In minutes, the ship would clear the debris field and have an open path to Ch’Tauk. He wondered briefly why they hadn’t already fired, but prayed that whatever gods were watching would keep them from unleashing the weapon. He turned on his heel and stared down at the elf on his bridge.
“Get my ship moving!” Lee ordered the creature. “We need to stop that ship!”
“Move that ship and I will destroy you and your entire fleet!” Ki’Bara cried. “Once those vessels are moving, I will order the complete destruction of every human in the galaxy.”
“You damned fool, Ki’Bara,” Lee said, stepping closer to the alien image. “He’ll destroy your planet!”
“Your people are slow-witted and dull,” K
i’Bara responded. “Whatever your fleet did at the monastery world will not be repeated. Our planetary defense systems will destroy your weapon-ship and then destroy you.”
“Ki’Bara,” Lee replied. “It wasn’t the fleet that did that. It was that ship and that ship only. One of our scientists, a human named Heyerdahl, created the design. It will destroy your world.”
“Heyerdahl?” Ki’Bara said, uncertainty entering the translated voice. He blinked his eyes at Lee for a few moments, clearly trying to digest what he had been told. “Heyerdahl was an agent of the Ch’Tauk Empress.”
“He was a human,” Lee responded. “You know we can’t be trusted.”
“Why should I trust you now?” Ki’Bara asked, holding the child closer to his chest and dropping the flimsy sheet.
“You have no choice,” Lee said. “Give me your word you won’t fire on us and we will hunt down Victory and put an end to this war.”
“I am afraid you cannot do that, Captain Pearce.”
Lee looked past the Ch’Tauk commander to the image of the elf. The little creature stared placidly at the two men before him. He seemed to be struggling with some decision. Other voices seemed to echo in the room. The elves were communicating with such fervor their mind link was leaking into the projection. Lee stepped forward to the little creature. The image of Ki’Bara focused on the similar image before him.
“What are you saying?” Lee asked the elf. “Why won’t that work? I thought you can lift this thing. You built it, you can stop it.”
“I’m afraid we cannot work like that,” the creature said. “It takes all of our concentration to keep both fleets and armies at bay. We cannot let one ship go without letting all of them go.”
Lee heard the reference to armies, but shoved the thought aside. If ground forces were involved, Chang’s plans had to have been underway for a while. He pushed thoughts of the battle aside and concentrated on the present. His mind raced as he tried to work out a solution.
“You mean you can’t stop that ship?” Ki’Bara said, holding the infant even closer to his chest. “Our defenses will stop your ship.”
“Unfortunately, they cannot,” the elf replied. “We created all of your technology. We left many orbits ago, Ki’Bara, but we still created it. What we created, we can control.”
“Can you stop that ship?” Lee asked, pleading with the creature. “You upgraded all of our ships. You can stop it.”
“No, Captain Pearce, we did not,” the alien creature said. “Your Banu Rao refused to allow us access to that ship.”
Despair began to creep into Lee Pearce’s mind. They were so close to success, and now he watched it move slowly towards defeat. He wanted to pound his fists against the panels in front of him. He wanted to scream at the elf. Most of all, he wanted to fly out and rescue the woman he loved.
“Captain Lee Pearce,” Ki’Bara said quietly. “I have seen you in battle. You are a warrior of the highest caliber. If I could issue the order to let you go, I would, but I fear it is already too late.”
“You may be right, Ki’Bara,” Lee said. “But I would gladly give my own life to stop what’s about to happen.”
The two men looked at each other. Even with four eyes, Lee could read the other man’s emotions on his face. He looked down at his infant son and stared. Ki’Bara was no longer the commander of a fleet or even the emperor of an empire. He was a father who wanted to protect his son but could not. For the first time in six years, Lee Pearce saw the enemy as real people. They were not just the invaders of Earth, but creatures who felt the need to protect their territory from an arrogant imperialist confederation. He understood his enemy.
“I don’t know what to do,” Lee said. “I don’t know how we can stop that ship.”
Captain Lee Pearce,” Ki’Bara replied. “I understand your people have no gods as ours do. I wish you understood the glory of our living Emperor. It might comfort you in your last hours.”
Lee stared at the image of the Ch’Tauk commander. The man held his son tight and looked down. Lee’s arm had begun to throb as his adrenaline ran down. He looked around the bridge at his crew and wondered how many of them were thinking of their lost friends. He wished Henry was here with him. He hoped wherever the man was, he was at peace while the fighting slowed. The last six years had seen so much loss and pain he felt nothing would ever be right again. As he looked to the tactical station, a tiny glimmer of hope blossomed in his soul.
“My people trust in their gods, Ki’Bara,” Lee said. “I personally trust in my friends. We’ve still got one chance if you haven’t already killed him.”
“If it will save the Emperor … if it will save my son, Lee Pearce, I will swear to end the battle,” Ki’Bara said. “My people will honor your right to survive if you can honor ours.”
“It’s out of my hands,” Lee replied. “I hope my friend is still alive. He’s the only thing we have left.”
31
Battleship Victory
Wellick squealed as Banu Rao slammed the thick metal wrench against his hide. Rao was much larger than the stocky porcine and used his size to his advantage. Wellick swung an arm up under Rao’s reach and connected with the human’s ribcage. He felt a satisfying give to the bone as he slammed his fists into him. Rao let out a cry of his own and dropped the wrench. He staggered back, gasping for breath as Wellick struggled to stand.
“Give it up, Rao,” Wellick said, taking his feet and advancing on the larger human. “It’s over. I’m taking this ship and heading back to Earth.”
“You have no right to my planet, you filthy pig!” Rao screamed. “I am going to finish this now. We will wipe out the alien scum who took our world and prove to the galaxy that humans are superior!”
“Now you’re just getting personal,” Wellick said, bracing his knees and throwing a powerful punch at Rao.
Banu Rao’s feet lifted from the deck as Wellick’s four-fingered fist slammed into his abdomen. He dropped to his knees as his legs gave out. Again, he wheezed for air against the pain of his injuries. He looked around him. The bodies of several crewmen, as well as two of the scientists who had created the ship, were scattered around the room. Rao’s intake of breath became a scream of rage as he looked forward into Wellick’s eyes. Rao lunged from his knees, clawing at the smaller man with hooked fingers.
Wellick fell back, trying to brace himself against the weight of the human. Rao’s robes enveloped him as the man rained blows down upon him. Wellick felt the soft cartilage of his snout crack as Rao slammed into it with an open palm. Deep purple blood blossomed across the porcine face and he fell back again.
Rao was relentless. He continued pounding Wellick with his arms, elbows and chest. Wellick could no longer stand as the damage became too much even for his hearty system. He felt his knees impact the hard metal floor even as Rao brought two fists down onto his shoulders. He collapsed and lay among the dead, pain his only world. He thought of Lellda, the cute little Tonal on Admiral Chang’s flagship and hoped she was still alive.
Rao ceased his blows as the compact alien landed on the floor. He stared wildly around the room again, gaining his bearings and trying to regain reason. He saw the control panel on the other side of the room. Wellick had driven him back from the panel three times, and each time Rao rallied and got closer. He was finally able to cross the room, limping from a knife wound in his left thigh. The pig-man had not expected the politician to fight so hard. He had thought the battle would be over quickly. It was his arrogance, Rao thought, which had defeated him. Aliens always underestimated humans.
The control panel lights flashed red, indicating the damage to the auto-targeting system. Rao had managed to lock the ship into an evasive course through the debris field. He had no idea why the enemy had stopped firing at them, but was not about to forsake the opportunity. He pressed the pre-fire sequencer and waited to hear the hum from behind. It would take the ship thirty seconds to charge, and then another ten for the launch sequence to fire
. After that, he would take the ship out of the system and await the so-called Alliance to rescue him. He would be hailed as a hero among his race. He keyed in the sequence and locked the controls. There would be no way to stop the launch from the secondary controls.
His hand hovered over the glowing keys. For a moment, he thought of his family back home on Earth. His father had never accepted him. He was the product of a failed affair. His mother had been of the lower caste, and as a boy he had suffered under the hands of the boys from the Brahman. Time after time he had been passed up for advancement in school by the alien races who had subtly invaded his home. As a man, he had stood by as Tonal and Vadne and others were promoted beyond him at work. He was one of the most brilliant programmers on Earth. He knew it. The aliens, though, were not from Earth. They took from him again and again. When he had finally had enough, he rebelled and struck out against his persecutor. He was sent to counseling, and finally on a long vacation to relax. The final, total takeover of Earth happened while he was away. With a single push of a key, he would take it all back. His finger shot down and tapped the key.
Pain shot up from his lower back. His knees buckled as another blow slammed into his back. Wellick grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. The Tonal was furious and covered in blood. His already ugly face was now a mask of fury. Wellick brought his arm down across Rao’s neck. Rao had just enough time to raise his arm. The porcine forearm would have cracked his windpipe had he not blocked it. Instead, he was shoved down onto the floor. Rao rolled under the console to avoid the thick black boot that descended towards his face.
Wellick looked at the panel and tried to make sense of it. The lights were slowly changing from red to amber as the charging sequence began. He could feel the rumble of the M-space generator as strange energies were gathered from space. He looked around for a cut-off switch, but none presented itself. Frustrated, he slammed his thick arms down onto the panel.
Resolute Victory (The War for Terra) Page 24