“If I’d learned of any, you’d have been briefed at our first meeting after I was briefed. I think we still have the edge in weapons, although they certainly have numerical superiority. But we have to be constantly on alert because we’ve been told how adaptive they are.”
“So where do we go next?”
“We head to the next location on our territorial assignments list and commence a new search for Denubbewa.”
“Is it possible that this was all a Denubbewa plot to have us devote most of our resources to a fruitless hunt in the Ruwalchu Confederacy while they make a move on G.A. space?”
“It’s possible that was their intent, but we really don’t know. We just have to be alert to all possibilities and follow our orders. If G.A. space is threatened, we’ll be recalled immediately.”
“But it will take us five weeks to get back to Quesann from here.”
“Admiral Carver and the Admiralty Board know what they’re doing, and I’m sure they’re on top of the situation.”
~ ~ ~
“It’s incredible,” Gavin said as he and Eliza viewed the vid made while the Pursuit was searching the area beneath the capital city on the planet below.
“It’s enormous,” Eliza said. “It appears to be half as large as the city on the surface.”
“It must have taken decades to construct.”
“Perhaps even a century, sir. No part of the cavern appears to be natural.”
“I agree. And they obviously didn’t begin constructing this when the Denubbewa entered their space.”
“We have to make contact.”
“How soon can you leave?”
“Me, sir?”
“Of course.”
“I think you would be a better choice. And you have the seniority to make major decisions.”
“But I can’t leave the Ares. This is an active warzone.”
“But we’ve destroyed all of the Denubbewa ships that were in this solar system.”
“It’s still designated as an active warzone. And all warship captains on destroyers and larger vessels must remain with their command at all times unless given different orders by a superior officer in the chain of command. Only Admiral Holt can grant me permission to leave my post.”
“Yes, sir.”
“So how soon can you leave?”
“I just have to coordinate with my staff and make sure every post is covered in my absence. I could be ready in about thirty minutes.”
“Then get to it, Eliza.”
“Uh, what do I say when we reach the planet?”
“I suppose you should play it by ear. Listen to what they have to say and see if there’s any way we can assist them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And be careful. First-contact situations are always the trickiest— and frequently dangerous.”
“I’ll be careful, sir.”
~ ~
As Eliza entered the bridge of the Pursuit, all bridge officers jumped to attention.
“As you were,” Eliza said. “Okay, Captain, take us down to the planet and show me what you found.”
“Aye, Commander.”
Eighteen minutes later, the Pursuit was two hundred forty meters below the surface of Ruwalch. The CPS-16, enclosed in a double envelope, was hovering near the very top of an enormous cavern reminiscent in size of the interior of Stewart Space Command Base. The ceiling, like that of Stewart, was constructed of plasticrete, although the task here must have been far more difficult because it had to have been constructed in a gravity environment. The cavern was as brightly illuminated as the planet surface during the noon hour on this part of the planet.
“Incredible, isn’t it?” Lieutenant Citaglia said to Eliza, both as a comment and a question.
“Yes. It’s quite a feat of engineering. Take us down closer to the base of the cavern.”
“Aye, Commander. Helm, take us down closer to the cavern floor.”
“Any particular location, Captain?”
“Commander?” Citaglia said.
“Take us down to that area off the larboard side that looks like a park.”
“You heard the Commander, Helm.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Hover about ten meters above the surface of the park,” Eliza said.
The captain didn’t bother to repeat the orders since the helmsman heard the order, and a few minutes later, they were floating motionless over the park. There were a number of Ruwalchu citizens walking or running in the park, and two teams seemed to be playing some sort of game with an oblong object that might have been a ball.
“Okay,” Eliza said after ten minutes of observation. “It’s time to let them know we’re here. Cancel the double envelope.”
As the envelope dissolved, the small ship’s Opposed Gravity system took over. The CPS-16 was now completely visible to the Ruwalchu citizens below.
Suddenly, somebody in the park noticed the floating ship and people began screaming and running away in every direction.
“Do we land, Commander?” Citaglia asked. “There’s plenty of room down there now.”
“No, let’s hover for a while. Perhaps they’ll get the general idea that we’re peaceful.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that will be the reaction.”
Within five minutes, half a dozen armored vehicles rumbled into the park. They took up positions and a turret-mounted weapon was raised so that it pointed directly at the Pursuit.
“I think they mean to shoot us down, Commander,” Citaglia said.
“It certainly appears that way, Captain. Not very hospitable of them if they open fire.”
After several minutes, Citaglia said, “Shouldn’t we try to contact them, Commander?”
“Let’s give it a try. Send a message on all frequencies that we’re from the Galactic Alliance and we’re here in response to their call for assistance.”
“Got that, Chief?” Citaglia said.”
“Got it, Captain.”
“Begin sending.”
“Aye, sir.”
As the first words of the message were spoken by the com chief, the armored vehicles opened fire on the Pursuit. The com chief completed the message calmly and without apparent concern for the barrage now peppering the exterior of the ship.
“Message sent on all active frequencies, Captain,” the com chief said. “I set it to repeat five times.”
“Very good, Chief.”
The barrage by laser and explosive weapons ceased after several more minutes.
“I guess they realized the barrage wasn’t accomplishing anything,” Citaglia said.
“Or someone in an authoritative position was made aware of our message and ordered them to stop,” Eliza countered. “We should know shortly.”
As if she had been overheard, the com chief said, “We’re receiving a message, Captain.”
“Activate the overhead speaker, Chief.”
The com chief tapped a few contact points on his panel and a voice could be heard. It was an un-translated message in the language of the Ruwalchu people.
“Translate it into Amer, Chief,” Citaglia said. “And replay it from the beginning.
“Aye, Captain.”
The message started anew, this time in Amer.
“Will the ship trying to contact the Ruwalchu Confederacy please identify itself?”
“Activate the overhead microphone system, Chief.”
The com chief tapped a single point on his panel and said, “It’s now live, Captain.”
“Attention Ruwalchu Confederacy. This is Lieutenant Percy Citaglia of the Space Command vessel Pursuit. We are currently hovering above a park in the underground city beneath your nation’s capital city.”
“This is Prime Minister Pemillisa. I am the senior member of the Ruwalchu Gilesset, the ruling body of the Confederacy.”
“I’ll speak to the Prime Minister, Captain,” Eliza said to Citaglia.
“Mr. Prime Minister, this is Commander Eliza Carver.
”
“Carver? I spoke to you some time ago. Do you remember our conversation?”
“You spoke with my sister, Admiral Jenetta Carver, at that time, sir. She’s currently at our base on the planet Quesann near the center of G.A. controlled space.”
“Yes, I recall now that her first name was Jenetta. Uh, why are you here?”
“You sent a request for assistance, and we’ve come to help. Although we have no diplomatic treaty, we couldn’t deny assistance to a neighbor under attack by the Denubbewa.”
“We sent that request for help months ago.”
“Our base is thousands of light-years away. It took time for the message to reach Quesann and even more time to move forces into your space in preparation for engaging the Denubbewa.”
“Are the Denubbewa still encircling our planet?”
“Yes and no. The warships are still circling your planet, but they’re no longer a threat because we’ve reduced them to very small pieces of floating debris. They pose no further threat to this planet or any other.”
“You destroyed them? All of them? How many ships did you lose?”
“Our forces are intact.”
“I guess I can believe that as I view the live images of your ship. You appear not to have sustained any serious damage from our barrage. I’m grateful for that. The attack was ordered by a military officer who believed your ship was a Denubbewa vessel.”
“We suffered no damage at all, sir.”
“I was astounded when your sister was able to approach our planet without being observed and then leave without a single report from any of our border forces who had, by that time, been put on alert to watch for her departure. Uh, how did you get into this cavern? All access tunnels were sealed once all of our citizens were inside.”
“You managed to get all of your citizens to come down here? Voluntarily?”
“Yes, those who resided in the Capital Region. Most came voluntarily. Some were so frightened about living underground that they had to be— rendered unconscious.”
“Unconscious?”
“Drugged. It was necessary. We couldn’t allow them to remain on the surface because the Denubbewa would torture them to learn where the rest of the population had gone. Once we were all down here, we collapsed the tunnels and access tubes. They had been created with concealment in mind so we were confident the Denubbewa would never find us. Your appearance gave us quite a start. Exactly how did you manage to get your ship into our cavern?”
“This ship has the ability to— transcend the normal properties of three-dimensional physics.”
“Uh, I see. Well— actually I don’t see. But of course, it had to be something like that. But I must warn you, Commander, there’s a Denubbewa mothership somewhere in this solar system. It was spotted by one of our Space Fleet ships just before that ship was destroyed.”
“That mothership has now been destroyed, along with over a hundred warships that were inside her hull when our ship attacked.”
“Destroyed? You destroyed a Denubbewa mothership? That’s unheard of. Our fleet couldn’t even fend off the warship attacks. That’s why we’re hiding down here.”
“The danger has passed, Prime Minister— at least the danger from the Denubbewa forces in this solar system when we arrived. You can recall your military forces and then return to the surface of the planet, if there are no Denubbewa hiding out there.”
“Our entire force of spaceships was destroyed while battling the Denubbewa, and we cut off all contact with the surface so the Denubbewa couldn’t locate us down here. Perhaps you could scan the land masses to see if there are any Denubbewa left on the planet?”
“We don’t have any special sensors that allow us to detect Denubbewa cyborgs, but our ships have already performed surface scans in an effort to detect movement or the presence of biological life. They saw no Denubbewa on the planet.”
“Commander, are all your ships as small as this one?”
“No, Prime Minister. This is one of our smallest warships. But this small ship is fully capable of destroying a Denubbewa mothership, or multiple motherships.”
“Without the support of other ships?”
“Yes.”
“Fascinating. Would it be possible for me to get a tour of your ship?”
“Of course, Prime Minister. Do we have permission to land?”
“Absolutely. You may land in the open area of the park below your hull. I’ll get there as soon as possible.”
“Very good, Prime Minister. I’ll see you when you arrive.”
Lieutenant Citaglia looked towards the com chief and indicated that the communication link should be closed by sliding his open right hand across his throat. The com chief immediately closed the frequency connection, then nodded.
“Captain,” Eliza said, “set the ship down.”
“Aye, Commander,” Citaglia said and passed the order to the helmsman.
~ ~
Although the Ruwalchu basically resembled Terrans, they had no necks. That is to say, they had no point between their heads and bodies where the area was distinctly different. The torso just sort of slowly narrowed until suddenly the Terrans realized they were looking at a very wide face. With their average height being just under five feet, most adult Terrans were taller, and some Terrans towered over them. But their height wasn’t as much of a problem as it was with Arrosians and Selaxians, whose height was between three and four feet, and who were referred to as munchkins by some Terrans.
A motorcade of seven vehicles finally arrived near where the Pursuit had settled onto the cavern floor. Although this wasn’t technically a first contact, it was the first fact-to-face contact. Eliza and Lieutenant Citaglia had left the ship and were waiting a few meters from the ramp. With no knowledge of the customs of Ruwalch, Eliza would follow the lead of the Ruwalchu Prime Minister.
As the motorcade came to a halt about ten meters from where Eliza and Citaglia stood, the doors on the lead vehicle opened and several Ruwalchu emerged. All three approached Eliza and Citaglia, both of whom were wearing a tiny device on their belts that would translate the spoken Ruwalchu language and send the Amer translation to their CTs.
When the trio of Ruwalchu stopped about two meters from Eliza, the one in the center said, “Raise your arms so you can be searched.”
Eliza calmly said, “No.”
“If we cannot search you for weapons, the Prime Minister will not meet with you.”
“Fine,” Eliza said. “We’re done here.”
Turning back towards the Pursuit, Eliza began to walk towards the ship. Citaglia turned and followed.
“Commander, wait,” Eliza heard in her CT. She stopped and turned back towards the trio.
The one in the center said, “It’s just protocol.”
“It’s an insult at this level of diplomatic contact for one party to be so untrusting of senior military personnel. If I wished the Prime Minister harm, my ship could destroy this cavern in seconds and then destroy the entire planet as we left.”
“Uh, please wait while I talk with the Prime Minister’s personal security detail. They’re the ones who insisted we check for weapons.”
The Ruwalchu turned and hurried back towards the motorcade. As he approached the sixth vehicle, a door opened and another Ruwalchu— one wearing a uniform similar to the ones the trio wore except he had a lot of gold braid on his shoulders— stepped from the vehicle.
After a brief discussion, the guard with the gold braid opened the rear door of the vehicle and spoke with someone inside. A few seconds later, a Ruwalchu not in uniform stepped out. The two uniforms stepped out of his way as the new man walked unhurriedly towards where Eliza and Citaglia stood.
When the Ruwalchu reached Eliza, he said, “I apologize, Commander. The damn fools wouldn’t let me out of the vehicle until they first checked you out. The security protocols are the only things I can’t change, and the security personnel actually order me about at times.”
“I un
derstand, Prime Minister.”
“The security guard said you threatened to destroy the cavern and the planet when you left.”
“No, that’s not correct. I said that if I wished any one of you harm, I had the ability to destroy the cavern and the planet. I never intended to do any such thing. I was just trying to make him understand that I would hardly be carrying a weapon into a diplomatic meeting if my goal was to harm you.”
“I see. Well— security personnel are very brave and willing to put their lives on the line to protect their charges, but they’re not always the most intelligent members of our species.”
“I understand. Would you care to come aboard the ship?”
“Very much. But first, please tell me,” the Prime Minister said as he looked at the undamaged hull of the small ship, “how was it able to ward off the attack by my forces? They threw everything they had at it and yet I don’t see any damage or even a minor scar.”
“All of our warships are sheathed with a special material that’s resistant to most forms of attack. The only species who has anything that can damage it are the Denubbewa. When they first entered our space, two of our ships went to greet them and welcome them to G.A. space. Without warning, they destroyed the two ships. Since then, we’ve initiated attacks against them whenever and wherever we encounter them. We understand their intent, and we don’t allow them the opportunity to carry out their mission.”
“How many ships have you lost to them?”
“Just the first two— and only because the captains didn’t anticipate a hostile attack without warning.”
“And how many Denubbewa ships have you destroyed?”
“I don’t know exactly, Prime Minister. There’s probably someone who attempts to keep such statistics, but it’s not really important. I know the number of kills is in the thousands.”
“Thousands? Of ships? Or Denubbewa cyborgs?”
“Ships. I have no idea how many cyborgs were aboard, and there’s no way of determining that.”
“I see. Impressive.”
“We’re not proud of what we’ve been forced to do. We just wish they’d stop attacking us and our allies.”
“Tell me, would it be possible to purchase the material you use to sheathe your ships?”
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