ARMS For Eternity: (Book 8)

by Stephen Arseneault

  "So I basically wasted our weapons…"

  Tawn returned a half scowl. "Told you we shouldn't have gotten involved."

  "Well, you should have told me louder."

  "Louder? Like that would have made a difference?"

  Harris leaned back in his chair. "Guess that leaves us in watch mode. Tell us something about your home planet, Rithop. Nothing defense related, just your personal observances. What's it like? What do your people do for fun or entertainment?"

  "We meditate."

  Tawn rolled her eyes.

  — Chapter 13 —

  * * *

  The Burrell ground forces fell in place, never to draw another breath. Two of the transports attempted to lift off, only to crash into the hilly landscape beside the field. Tawn grimaced as she thought of the horrid death many of the Burrell had just gone through.

  Rithop continued with his stories of home. "We are a united people. One culture. When decisions are made there are rarely disputes over how they should be implemented. Our most intelligent join the Science Corps. The strongest the military. Our people are hard workers, accomplishing much in their lives."

  "No fun and entertainment then?"

  "For what purpose? We consider those a waste of time as nothing productive comes from them. I often wonder if that's a reason we have few close friends... as a species that is. We are hard working and responsible. Others appear to be unfocused and frivolous with their accumulated wealth and knowledge."

  Rithop turned. "Did you know the Burrell have games where their athletes are often killed? How does that better their lives?"

  Tawn said, "Sounds like your people are driven. Is that all of them or only certain factions?"

  "Every society has their less productive, Miss Freely. In ours they are given the mundane, repetitive tasks that are difficult to... mismanage. As a culture, yes, we are a driven people. What of Humans?"

  Harris chuckled. "Remember when you said unfocused? That would be us. And frivolous. But there's an underlying sense in many of us that we could be better. Those people strive to make things better. Some for their own benefit, and some for the benefit of all. When we set our minds to accomplishing something we go all-out to get it done."

  Tawn nodded. "That about sums us up. Unfocused at times, determined at others."

  Harris asked, "What's the terrain of your homeworld like? Mountains, oceans, forests?"

  "A humid climate as compared to this place. Much rain. Many rivers and lakes. Forests and mountains as you say, although, those are confined to a few locations. Sprawling cities that connect to one another cover most of the globe. Most industries were moved into space centuries ago, to free up space."

  "Must be nice to have industry in orbit. We were just in the beginnings of that revolution. I think the wars between us, that were fought elsewhere, worked to keep our population in check. At the moment, we're just over a billion people."

  Rithop's eyes darted around the room as he went into deep thought for several seconds. "We have not been a billion for a very long time. Our people now number sixty billion. I don't say that as braggery, only an obvious difference in the size of our empires."

  "Sounds like your people are working on quite the utopia."

  "Our war with the Burrell detracts from that significantly. We are pragmatic. We explore, we colonize, and we build. We take strides to respect the domains of others, but at the same time we will not back away from a justified claim. This world is known to us as Maufree. We were here long before the Burrell. Perhaps it is their belligerence and unwillingness to compromise that have them warring with their neighbors."

  Rithop turned to face the back of the cabin. "Those are stasis pods. Am I correct?"

  "Yes. That tells me you have them too."

  "My people did away with pods centuries ago. I have only seen them in historical archives."

  "Is there a problem with them?"

  "Muscle mass. When revived, you will lose a small percent over the year that follows. We found the loss to be extremely difficult to reverse. At the same time, improvements with the wormhole drive came to be. Instead of years for the longer journeys, times were shortened to months. The pods were taken out of service as no longer being necessary."

  "A small percent doesn't sound like that big a deal. Are we talking a tenth of a percent or something?"

  "Each use is cumulative and may be as high as a half percent, from what I remember."

  Tawn glanced at the display. "I see what you’re saying about your shields. The sensors indicate one section just weakened. Would that be from the failure of a generator?"

  "I'm not at liberty to discuss such."

  Harris said, "I'm guessing they'll be at this for a while. Should we take you home? We do have other missions to complete and would like to get on to those."

  "I see. Your rescue has been of a generous nature. And your attempt to stop the ground attack shows your allegiances are not with the Burrell. I'm transferring the coordinates to you now. It's a world we call Bonalee."

  Harris punched in the numbers, consisting of distance from the galactic center, elevation or declination from that center, and the degrees, minutes, and seconds moving around the arc from a stationary point within the galaxy. Seconds later, the Bangor was jumping away. At a slowed pace, the journey took two days.

  As they reached the star system, Rithop said, "It would seem your drives are superior to ours. I don't suppose you'd be interested in selling that technology?"

  Harris smiled as he shook his head. "Wouldn't sell it if I could. Might be willing to work out an eventual trade, but I don't think either of us is trusting enough for that yet. Our immediate concern is how do we get you onto one of your own ships?"

  "I will call one forward."

  Tawn held up a hand. "Hang on a sec. Make it an unarmed shuttle. And if we see anything else moving our way, we're turning to leave. That would mean we're dropping you back at Maufree, Burrell or not."

  "I will arrange for a shuttle."

  Rithop and his aide were soon away. A run was made back to Maufree, where the Burrell were continually bombarding the Crissen shield. Three additional weak points had developed after shield generators beneath had failed.

  Tawn poked around at the display, zooming in on the area surrounding the largest weak point. "Look here. See this smoke? If we go back to the first failure, there was a plume just in the center of it before it failed."

  Harris nodded. "I think you just found a telltale weakness. That might be a partial failure just before it goes offline."

  "That's what I'd say. And—"

  The view of the plume spread into an explosion. The shield cover in the area dipped to the ground. The exposed buildings were immediately annihilated in a flurry of unrelenting fire from above.

  Tawn pointed. "We have two new plumes coming up on the edge of that collapse. And there's another. This may be a cascade of failures."

  Over the next ten minutes, one generator after another failed. The protective shield over the immense Crissen compound slipped to reveal one vulnerable area after another. As sections went offline, inhabitants fled to the surrounding areas. All at once, hundreds of the telltale smoke plumes began to rise. Seconds later, the remaining shield collapsed.

  A barrage of ground fire kept the Burrell ships at a distance and taking damage, but the damage they inflicted was more than could be sustained. One section of the compound after another fell silent in its response, sending up explosions and the black smoke of death that followed.

  Tawn sighed. "If you've never seen a massacre, that's what one looks like."

  "Hard to watch. But we need to know the full result so we can report it to the colonel. We'll need to leave before this day is over if we want to give them sufficient time to plan."

  "Well, unless more troops show up, we at least eliminated the ground portion of this fiasco."

  "Agreed. Can't say I like our odds against those warships."

  "The Frizoid d
eemed this mission critical. You'd think they would at least offer backup with a fleet."

  "They can't. This has to be staged as if it was a Human attack. If Frizoid, they'd freeze their fleets in place at that other target planet. As Humans, they would be tempted to come out to confront us. Not a bad scheme as far as schemes go. At least they were content with letting us leave after our victory. I don't think taking on a full Burrell response would go well."

  Tawn grimaced at the destruction playing out on the display. "I still don't get how they knew the Burrell would be here."

  "Spies. Everyone has them. We of course don't because we are completely new to these enemies. I wouldn't doubt the Frizoid have been actively recruiting on Domicile while in charge. There are always some willing to sell-out for a price. I have to wonder if the DDI in its current state has been able to monitor that."

  Another hour passed before the weapons fire from above went silent. The three-million-man compound at Maufree had been reduced to burning embers and rubble. The first of the Burrell warships came in low, scanning for survivors. Small cannon fire from gun ports on her sides was indication of the few survivors meeting an end.

  Tawn and Harris watched from a safe distance as a dozen warships landed and dispersed their small contingents of Marines. In an unexpected action, the remaining Burrell ships moved out to free space and jumped away, back in the direction they had originally come from.

  "Hmm," Harris said. "Wasn't expecting that. The Frizoid said there would be about a dozen ships. They were exactly right."

  "And it's a twenty-six day flight back to their other planet. That will put them home right when we attack. I'd say that will give us three weeks to finish up and vacate."

  "Seven. Will take twenty-six days for word to reach the Burrell. Another twenty-six for them to return."

  Over the hours that remained, the Biomarine pair cataloged the damage on each of the Burrell warships, hoping it could be taken advantage of when the fleet arrived. Climate and terrain data were captured and collated. The colonel would be receiving as comprehensive a report as the team had ever written, with help from their escort Farker.

  A run back along the expected path found the colonel and his fleet exactly where they were expected. The Bangor docked, meetings were held, and strategies discussed. Weeks later, as the fleet entered Maufree space, the Bangor slipped back out into the darkness and hurried forward.

  Tawn crossed her arms as they slowed to a stop just inside free space. "Wish we still had those two missiles."

  "Not certain we'd have used them any differently. If used to take out two of the warships, we'd still have that major force of regulars on the ground."

  Maybe. Or maybe the Burrell would just turn and run without us having to fire anything else. That is our goal, isn't it? For them to leave?"

  "I guess it is. But what's done is done, so I guess we'll never know."

  A hail came over the general comm.

  Tawn sat forward. "That's from the Burrell. You think they know we're here? Or is this just a fishing expedition to see if anyone bites?"

  "Interesting question. Connect the receive end only. Let's see if they're talking or not."

  An image of a Burrell captain showed on the display. "Human fleet, if you are out there, please respond. The Frizoid spy has been captured and their plans revealed. There may be a chance for peace between our peoples if you respond."

  Harris rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't like the fact he knows it's a Human fleet. That would have to come from hard intel."

  "Like from a captured spy."

  "Exactly. Although I would think it would be foolish to fill that spy in on your plans. That's generally a one-way information path. Still, it appears they know we're here."

  Tawn grabbed his forearm as another hail came in. "What if we try to pull a fast one here."

  "How so?"

  "We make a deal. We occupy this system for a few days. The Burrell go back and publicly announce this heinous attack and prepare their fleet. They leave that system as if they're coming here, but only jump a hop away. When the Frizoid arrive, they have an actual fight on their hands."

  "That would also mean we have to make an alliance with the Burrell, which would negate our efforts with the Crissen. And who's to say they would honor that alliance should the Frizoid return to Domicile? That's if they even left. I'm kind of feeling like the small kid stuck in the middle of three big and belligerent bullies."

  Tawn chuckled. "You've never been the small kid."

  "Not me personally. I'm talking about all Humans. These three empires are huge compared to us."

  "True. Should we move out and warn the colonel, or at least get his input?"

  Dozens of wormholes opened on the edge of free space as the Human fleet came through.

  "Crap. Guess that means we answer now or give up our opportunity to do so."

  Before Harris could enable the comm, a second set of wormholes opened on the opposite side of Maufree. The Burrell fleet that had departed... returned.

  "This is Harris Gruberg speaking on behalf of the Human fleet. You gave indication you might be willing to negotiate a peace with us. I'm here to hear you out."

  A comm came in from the colonel as the Human fleet came to a stop. Harris patched it into the general channel.

  "I am Captain Boutis, commander of this modest fleet. Your move is a wise one, Mr. Gruberg. I can assure you of that."

  "This is Colonel Robert Thomas. Whatever you ask of me, you ask of him. Whatever he agrees to, I agree to. You indicated you knew in advance of our plans. Convince me."

  "Very well. We were to attack the Crissen on this planet, as happened. The bulk of our fleet was to return to our home base. Your fleet was to attack our remaining force and to occupy this planet for a short period of time. The Frizoid had agreed to leave Human space, invariably heading to our base for an attack. Does that sound correct?"

  "Keep going."

  "You were to spend a day or two on this planet and then depart for home, where you were supposed to find the Frizoid had departed your space. Your involvement in this affair would end with the Frizoid becoming your trading partners and somewhat of an ally. Does that scenario match what you've been told?"

  "It does. So what is it you're offering?"

  "A truce between Humans and the Burrell."

  "No trade or protection?"

  "I'm afraid I'm not in the position to offer either at the moment, Mr. Gruberg. You see, we don't trust Humans, and therefore there will be no trade between us. And we aren't in the position to offer protection, nor do I believe you want it. So the deal is you turn your little fleet around and go home. You deal with the Frizoid on your own terms, or you stay here and fight with us. With the ships you have just shown, I place the odds of victory heavily in our favor."

  "I see. May we have a few moments to discuss?"

  "By all means. I only ask that you keep it brief as we wish to head back to our base before the Frizoid arrive."

  "Wait, why didn't you just leave with your entire force? You still could have surprised the Frizoid. And you already knew we would be leaving here. Why would you want to make a deal with us at all?"

  "We are at war with the Frizoid, Mr. Gruberg. Knowing you betrayed them would be an irritant and a distraction. And if we planned properly, perhaps we could surprise a modest fleet that would have been sent to punish you."

  "So your game here against the Frizoid is to push them back a few meters at a time? Why not go all out and bring this to an end?"

  "You fail to grasp the enormity of our empires, Mr. Gruberg. Neither side is willing to risk it all with an all or nothing strategy. The loss of life and property would be tremendous. It would also leave us vulnerable to attack by others."

  "Like the Crissen?"

  "Precisely. So our game, as you call it, is one of strategic victories that move the marker a few meters at a time."

  Harris slowly nodded. "Believe me. I completely understand thi
s war. We just fought it among ourselves for the last few thousand years. Mostly due to you, the Burrell, bringing us to where we are. Of course, who knows, as Humans we may have been fighting with each other back on Earth anyway. We've had a propensity to do just that in our past."

  The captain smiled. "Please, consult among yourselves for, let's say... two hours? We are eager to hear of your decision."

  The comm to the Burrell closed.

  Harris shook his head as he looked at the colonel. "Can't say I like either option."

  "Come to the command ship. We can talk it over here with the rest of the staff."

  Minutes later, the Bangor slipped into the docking bay. Tawn and Harris joined the colonel and the others in a conference room.

  Colonel Robert Thomas stood and paced. "We have several options before us. We accept their deal and head home, having to defend ourselves from a betrayed Frizoid when we arrive. We decline that deal and fight it out here with the Burrell. Or… we offer a new deal."

  The room was quiet for several seconds as everyone waited for the colonel to continue.

  Harris asked, "And the new deal is?"

  "The new deal is whatever we're able to come up with in this room in the next hour or so. Lay it out. Tell us what you've got."

  Harris looked around with a surprised look on his face. "Me? I don't have any ideas."

  "As expected. Which is why we've gathered here. So, for expediency, I'd like us to break into three-person teams, hash out your ideas. I don't care how strange or bizarre, or what the odds of us winning may be. We'll vet each of those ideas in phase two. Freely, Gruberg, you're with me. Drag your asses over to this corner. The rest of you set up your own groups."

  — Chapter 14 —

  * * *

  Tawn shook her head. "Won't work. No way the Crissen agree to that. We just met them. Besides, they aren't here."

  Harris replied, "We go get them. At full speed that outpost is less than a day away."

  "The Burrell won't give us that kind of time. And even if they had a fleet waiting, it would take them the two and a half days to get here. Like I said, I don't see the Burrell sitting around waiting for us to act."