“It’s a trick,” the Ruwalchu representative screamed. “There’s no communication system that fast.”
“Please ask the P.M. any question you wish that you believe no one in the G.A. would know.”
“Okay,” Dakinti said confidently. “In the Gilesset anteroom, there’s a large scar on the side table. Why?”
Dakinti smiled as the clerk ended the vid and transmitted it.
“Well?” Dakinti said with a smile. “Can’t find a reference in your computers?”
“I said the communication is fast. I never said it’s instantaneous.”
Just then the monitors lit up again and the image of the P.M. began to speak.
“The scar on the side table in the anteroom was made a few months ago when Gilesset representative Peero Konicle demonstrated a new invention that he said would revolutionize water purification. He powered up the small machine and it exploded. It was quite embarrassing and we told him we wouldn’t publicize it. Admiral, I apologize again.”
Dakinti just stood there with his mouth hanging open.
“Admiral, please take this fool into custody and return him in chains. We’ll deal with his seditious efforts when he’s returned to us.”
As the sergeant-at-arms and his assistant moved towards Dakinti, the Ruwalchu citizen began shouting. “I don’t know how you learned about the scar on the table, but I know this was all a giant hoax. I alone represent the Ruwalchu people, and if you dare touch me, you’ll rue the day.” He continued screaming threats as he was dragged from the room.
As soon as the doors slid closed, Jenetta nodded at the clerk, who then sent the latest recording.
Roughly four minutes later another message arrived from Ruwalch. Jenetta had the clerk play it on the monitors.
“Admiral, I’m so sorry. I’ve just been informed that Rero Dakinti is affiliated with one of the ultra-radical-left political parties who have failed to have any of their candidates elected to office in the last three election cycles. I believe he hoped to get personal financial benefits by sabotaging the annexation process. I assure you that the Gilesset very much wishes the process to proceed and hope that you’ll continue with the presentation of the annexation petition to the G.A. Senate. If the Senate has any questions, perhaps you can record them and send them directly to me. This new communication system is absolutely incredible, and we want very much to become part of the G.A. Thank you.”
“I’ll do my best to convince the G.A. Senate of your genuine desire to have Ruwalchu space merged with the Galactic Alliance. I know it’s the very wee hours of the morning in the time zone you’re in. Thank you for making yourself available today for this confrontation. I’m sure we’ll be talking again soon. End of message.”
Jenetta looked over at the clerk and nodded. The clerk then ended the recording and sent the vid out.
“Well, that was interesting,” Admiral Woo said. “Jen, how did you know the representative was an agent for one of the political parties who were trying to use the talks for their own purposes?”
“I didn’t, but I knew something was seriously wrong in this picture. The man was obnoxious and seemed to be trying to pick a fight from the minute he arrived at Quesann. He wanted to be expelled. That’s not a trait you’ll find in a new diplomat.”
“But how is it that the Ares was available in Ruwalchu space?” Admiral Hillaire asked.
“Jen requested that I make the Ares available when the CPS-16 carrying the petition was due to arrive at Quesann,” Admiral Holt said, “so I asked Larry Gavin to orbit Ruwalch and request that P.M. Pemillisa be aboard when the A.B. met today to welcome the new diplomat.”
“It’s obvious that adding the Ruwalchu territory will place huge new demands on our resources,” Jenetta said, “but I also believe it’s a worthwhile effort. We share a common work ethic, a common code of morality, and a devotion to individual freedoms. It’s a better mix than I experienced on Obotymot with people coming from the Clidepp Empire. Those folks are devoted to a form of governance that they mistakenly refer to as a religion. They wanted desperately to escape from that lifestyle while bringing it with them at the same time. They believed they could leave the bad behind and bring only the good, never understanding that their lifestyle is so integrated with their religion that they can never be separated, and they can never properly assimilate unless they surrender previous beliefs.”
“It’s been some time since you mentioned them,” Admiral Yuthkotl said. “How has opening up your planet to them worked out for Obotymot?”
“It’s been extremely difficult. My chamberlain has been doing his best to deal with it, but it’s his most frequent topic of complaint. Before the refugees were allowed to settle on Obotymot, they had to agree that while they were free to worship whatever god or religion they chose, all worship must be kept within their abode when it’s not the officially recognized religion of Nordakia. Those who refused to agree to that condition weren’t allowed to settle on Obotymot or Nordakia. They were taken to other planets where the rules regarding radical religions weren’t so strict. The agricultural land and crop-growing climates on Obotymot and Nordakia are far superior to that on those other planets, but on those other planets they’re free to worship however they choose. The standard of living is a quarter that of the standard of living on Obotymot, but that was their choice.
“Lately, my chamberlain has had to evict a number of tenants who, once settled, began to unequivocally demand that they now be allowed to revert to their old ways. They insisted that their religion gives them the right to have massive outdoor prayer sessions regardless of our established laws on Obotymot. They’ve been blocking the main streets in local towns for hours as they lie prostrate in the streets on their prayer blankets thrice a day. They insist on following the religious laws they obeyed when in the Clidepp Empire instead of obeying the civil laws of Nordakia and Obotymot.”
“Where do they go when you evict them from the planet?”
“Where they go is their business. We just want the troublemakers gone, so we send them off-planet. I’ve heard that most join the people who weren’t allowed to remain on Obotymot or Nordakia originally. It’s sad because those colonies quickly developed a reputation for extreme violence, mayhem, and poverty. But if that’s what they choose, that’s what they’ll have. We don’t try to run the private lives of our tenants on the planet, but disruptive behavior is not permitted. Everyone benefits when tenants are not pressuring other tenants to worship the same god or to follow archaic rules from a distant past that have been masked as religious tenets solely to keep the ‘faithful’ in line. The official religion of Nordakia teaches its followers to be fully accepting of all people who have different religious beliefs and viewpoints, but our people are not required to tolerate having the religion of others forcefully shoved down their throats. The major religion from the Clidepp Empire demands that everyone accept and obey only their religious leaders and blindly follow all laws passed down from centuries past where the religion was mainly used as a way to control the peasantry.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty
~ September 30th, 2292 ~
“Good Morning, Jen,” Admiral Holt said when Jenetta responded to his call and the image of her seated at her office desk appeared on the wall monitor in his office.
“Hi, Bry. What’s up?”
“I received two messages overnight. One is from Larry Gavin. He says P.M. Pemillisa has requested that he be allowed to send a replacement for the fool who first arrived here as representative of their government.”
“I have no objection other than that it will take another CPS-16 away from the force left to protect the Ruwalchu Confederacy.”
“Yes, but the first ship is already on its way back. It should arrive there in about four weeks.”
“The decision is yours, Brian. If we have questions about Ruwalchu history and geography, we can use the new com system, but having a knowledgeable and diplomatic individual here at Qu
esann could have benefits.”
“Okay. Since you have no objections, I’m going to approve it. Now, for the other issue. This is a serious one so I wanted to get the easy one completed first.”
“I’ve got a fresh cup of coffee so I’m ready for almost anything. Lay it on me, Brian.”
“Okay, here it is. The Miami has reported that upon coming into DeTect range of Husteus, they found three Denubbewa warships in orbit. They pulled back to prepare their CPS-14s for an attack and to send a message of their discovery. As you know, if they had opened their bay doors to launch the CPS-14s without pulling back, they might have shown up on Denubbewa DeTect screens.”
“Yes, that’s how Christa discovered the seven abandoned motherships.”
“The attack by the CPS-14s was successful and all three warships were completely destroyed in the first seconds. Captain Caldwell then sent the ships down to perform a simple reconnaissance of the planet from altitude but with strict orders not to land. When they completed that task, the lead ship reported that they’d observed no indication of sentient life on the planet. They complied with the Space Command directive that they not land on any non-aligned planet unless invited, but they noted that there are a number of cities on the planet where people could be in hiding. Captain Caldwell is waiting for instructions on how he should proceed.”
“You said they saw the warships at the edge of their DeTect range. So the ships weren’t sheathed in Dakinium?”
“That’s correct.”
“So that means they are either new to G.A. space, or— they were never part of the invasion force. Those ships may have been in orbit around Husteus for some time— easily long enough to convert all the inhabitants to cyborgs.”
“If there are cyborgs there, they weren’t detected. Of course, they don’t show up as lifeforms on our thermal sensors, so if they stop moving, we can’t distinguish them from a road sign.”
“We’ll have to put boots on the ground to learn what happened.”
“In violation of the G.A. Charter?”
“From what’s been reported, the planet appears unoccupied. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“The Charter only pertains to inhabited planets. Since Husteus appears to be uninhabited, for whatever reason, it seems that the restriction about landing should be lifted.”
“Very well. We have Marines in all seven of the new Space Command bases, but I really hate the idea of pulling them out, given what we’ve just been through.”
“No, I don’t want to pull our Marines from the bases. That would play right into the hands of the Denubbewa.” Jenetta took a deep breath and released it slowly as she thought. “I guess we’re going to be needing the new GFI forces sooner than we expected. Many have completed their basic training, so this will be their ‘trial by fire.’ We’ll need transportation from the Second Fleet.”
“I can have a taskforce of destroyers and cruisers ready to go in forty-eight hours. We just need time to cancel all leaves and get all personnel back aboard, replenish all supplies and ordnance, and prepare the ships for the cruise. If necessary, I can have them ready to go in twelve hours, but I prefer to give them the two days so they’re properly prepared.”
“This is important so prepare your taskforce properly. I’ll notify General Scott that we have a need for all the people who’ve completed their training, as well as those very close to completion.”
“Okay, Jen. The ships will be ready.”
“If you can spare any of the ships currently patrolling in the sectors out near Husteus, you might want to send them down to support the Miami.”
“I don’t want to reduce patrols in the other areas too significantly, and we’re already greatly shorthanded because of the Ruwalchu operation, but I’ll see who I can send.”
“Thanks, Brian.”
~ ~ ~
“You sent for me, Captain?” XO Mollago said as he entered Christa’s office just off the bridge of the Koshi.
“Yes, we have new orders from Quesann. They were routed through Ellask Space Command Base because Ellask has one of the new com systems like the one installed on the Ares.”
“I really wish we could get one of those new systems. We’re out here on the tip of the spear and could really use near-instant communication with Command.”
“We’re just a Scout-Destroyer. The first systems are being installed in the bases and in the larger warships like the Ares. We’ll get the new system when it’s our turn and they have enough units available for Scout-Destroyers. In the meantime, the new system has saved almost four weeks off the S-Band time by routing the message through Ellask. But I agree with your sentiment about getting the new system. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Aye, Captain. So what do they want us to do now?”
“We have orders to head for Husteus.”
“Husteus? That’s a non-aligned planet.”
“Command says the Denubbewa have landed there. We’re being sent in to support the Miami, which has already destroyed three Denubbewa warships that were in orbit around the planet.”
“Damn. I thought we took care of every Denubbewa in G.A. space when we destroyed their armada.”
“As did I, but no one believes we’ve seen the last of them. That’s why we’re out here on patrol. These ships were probably not part of the armada we fought because none of the ships destroyed by the Miami were Dakinium sheathed. They likely represent a separate force and may even have been outside G.A. space when we took the armada down. There’s no way of knowing now that they’ve been totally destroyed. We have no idea if there are more of them, but we’re being routed to that area in case the Denubbewa have managed to bring in another armada.”
“Do you think they got that massive CJ Gate in operation?”
“No idea. But we have to be prepared in case they have. Quesann is also sending in a new Marine unit that’s part of the Ground Force Initiative my sister’s been fighting for. It was finally approved by the Senate after the Denubbewa tried to invade Quesann by using workable Gates in the refuse piles at Lorense-Four.”
“How soon will they get to Husteus?”
“It’ll take at least five weeks. Too bad we don’t have our own Armada CJ Gate.”
“I don’t know if I ever want to travel that way. Just the idea of having my body broken down into energy particles and then reassembled at the destination isn’t number one on my list of things to try.”
“Scared?”
“Damn right, Captain.”
Christa smiled before saying, “Our engineering CPO was no less worse for wear despite his Personnel CJ Gate trip from Lorense-Four to Jussento SCB.”
“We can’t know that for sure. We didn’t know him until he arrived at Jussento. Maybe he was another Albert Einstein before he was transferred.”
“I’m sure the system won’t be approved for use until it’s been checked, double-checked, triple-checked, and quadruple-checked. We’ve already had the technology for some time, so if there was going to be any rush to implement it, we’d already have it in use. Contact our squadron of CPS-16s and get everybody on our six as we head for Husteus.”
“Aye, Captain.”
~ ~ ~
“Hey, Billy, you awake?” the Marine PFC whispered to the Marine corporal in the bunk next to his.
“Yeah.”
“You heard anything about where we’re going?”
“A sergeant told me he overheard a couple of staff sergeants talking this morning. He says they were discussing the different planets in Region Three that are close to the far border with unclaimed space. According to them, those planets could be where we’re heading. That’s all I know.”
“Region Three? Hey, maybe we’re going to land on one of those pleasure planets so we can free all the beautiful female slaves.”
“Dream on, Romeo.”
“No? Then maybe we’re going in to take over a planet the Raiders have been using for one of their bases like when Carver took Stewart
SCB.”
“Come on. Are you serious?”
“No? Well then what do you think we’re doing out here?”
“What’s the biggest problem facing the G.A. right now?”
“Uh— I don’t know. Wait, you don’t mean cyborgs, do you?”
“Bingo!”
“Then it’s no big deal. We have Dakinium armor and they don’t. We’ll wipe the floor with them.”
“I like your confidence, kid.”
“Kid? Hey, you’re only a few years older than me.”
“It’s not the years, kid. It’s the battles you’ve been in.”
“Are you saying you’ve fought cyborgs?”
“Just once, but that was enough to give me a healthy respect for their fighting abilities.”
“You fought cyborgs? Really? When?”
“It was back in November of 2289.”
“That was almost three years ago.”
“Yeah, but it seems like yesterday. I was almost as green then as you are right now.”
“Well, tell me about it.”
“Space Command located some partially completed Denubbewa ships under construction in Region Two. They appeared to be deserted, so we were sent aboard to provide protection for a bunch of eggheads who were tasked with learning everything they could about the Denubbewa. We’d go through an area of the ship and verify it was clear of cyborgs before the eggheads were allowed in. It was all going pretty smooth until a couple of eggheads got tired of waiting for us to clear sections of the ship they wanted to investigate. They snuck away and began examining areas that hadn’t been cleared. My team had ended our work for the day and were having chow when we got a call that the two eggheads were screaming excitedly about seeing Denubbewa cyborgs.
“So we got suited up again and headed for that area. The eggheads were so rattled that they didn’t know exactly where they had allegedly seen the cyborgs, so the lieutenant had us checking every room in a corridor that seemed to stretch on for kilometers.
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