by G. E. Stills
For hours they discussed strategies, established a code for communications use, then she and Keish’ar returned to the planet.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rho’naa and Keish’ar gazed at the huge screen on the wall in front of them. A large section of Sto’kan was pictured there. By manipulating controls on the panel directly in front of them they were able to magnify any area they chose. Behind them lay the large command center of Admiral Martinez’s flagship Dallas.
“The infrastructure and industrial abilities of Sto’kan are for the most part intact,” Rho’naa said.
Keish’ar tightened his lips together before saying, “Yes, it’s the people to operate that industry there is a shortage of. Sto’kan was once the home to over three billion Men-gar, there are barely four million survivors.” He almost choked on his last words. “So many lives lost. Damn the bugs.” He smacked his fist into his open hand.
Feet scuffed the deck behind them and Aunt Blaise spoke. “All my life I have hated Men-gar, but now we are allies. I’m sorry for the huge loss of life here Keish’ar and I assure you if there is anything we, your new allies, can do to prevent it, this will never happen again.”
They turned to face her. The tall red headed woman with violet eyes that faced them appeared to be in her late twenties. It was hard to fathom, even though she had been in suspended animation for much of the time, she was well over six million years old. She was also the head of the human military and answered only to Katrina herself. Katrina was the single most powerful person in the entire human race.
“I thank you, ma’am,” Keish’ar said. “I’m honored that you have chosen to come here yourself rather than sending one of your subordinates.”
“For Men-gar and human, once fierce enemies, to become allies is a momentous occasion. One I would not miss. There are a few bugs that remain down there, but they are in hiding and we hunt more down each day. The upper command structure has been eliminated so even if we should not locate all of them, the warrior bugs will soon live their short lifespan and die. The situation is under control here. Our robots will help maintain things on the planet and with time, the population will grow. Ten ships will arrive here in a day or two to guard this planet. At that time, the fleet Admiral Martinez commands will be free to carry out the next step in yours and my niece’s plan. Are you ready to do this?”
Rho’naa glanced at Keish’ar. “We are,” they both said.
“I’ll be returning to Teelan soon. Tylee, Stan and Madra will be going with me. You may want to say your goodbyes.” She stuck out her hand. “Keish’ar, you appear to be a good man and a credit to your species. I’m happy to call you, friend.”
They shook hands and she walked away.
“Wow,” Keish’ar sighed. “That is one very powerful woman I could almost feel it radiate from her and yet she seems so easy to talk to and get along with.”
Rho’naa smiled. “All of the Old Ladies are like that, don’t ever cross them though, because you have no idea how powerful they really are. Let’s go find Tylee and the others to say goodbye. I have a feeling if Aunt Blaise says soon, their departure will be in hours and not days.”
After riding a shuttle down, they searched and found Tylee overseeing the construction of a mechanical transmitter that would allow them to open a portal between Refuge and Sto’kan without her having to do it.
“I hear you are going home,” Rho’naa said to her friend.
“Mom and Dad insisted and Grandma ordered, so yes, I will be going home, but there is much to do here and I intend to return soon.”
“Ordered?” Keish’ar lifted his eyebrows.
Rho’naa laughed. “Perhaps I should explain. Tylee’s mother is Tantara her father is Blake, but more importantly, Blake’s mother is Katrina.”
“The Katrina?” Keish’ar asked.
Tylee smiled. “The one and only.”
Keish’ar shook his head. “I had no idea I was in the company of such important people. I don’t feel so bad about not telling you who my dad is now.”
All three chuckled.
“Once I get back and check on this transmitter, I’d like to join the two of you,” Tylee said.
“We’d be delighted,” Keish’ar said.
Madra and Stan blipped into being and joined them.
“We’ve been ordered back to Teelan to demonstrate to others our ability to teleport more than two people at a time,” Stan said.
“This is huge. I’ll wager with the proper seating containers we could move twenty troops at a time, maybe more.”
They were laughing and visiting when a shuttle touched down near them. A uniformed officer approached, stopped, and saluted. “Ma’am,” he addressed Rho’naa, while peering at Tylee, Stan and Madra, “I have orders to escort Tylee and the captains up to join Lady Blaise. Fifteen ships have entered the system and will be here in two hours. Ten will remain here, the other five will take Tylee, the captains and Lady Blaise back to Teelan.”
“We’ll be right there,” Tylee said.
Stan and Madra shook hands, hugged them, then headed for the shuttle.
Tylee hung back a little longer. She hugged Keish’ar first, then Tylee wrapped her arms around her. “I will be back as soon as I can, my dearest cousin and best friend. Please stay safe.”
When she drew away, Tylee’s eyes were filled with tears. Rho’naa’s vison of Tylee was blurred by the tears in her own eyes. Without further delay, Tylee boarded the shuttle and it rose into the sky.
Of the nine human prisoners Rho’naa’s team had rescued, three had died in battle, two were returning to Teelan to be with their families and the other four were remaining here on Sto’kan to assist in the reconstruction. Rho’naa grinned as she thought of them. Three of the four were involved in Men-gar-human relationships like she and Keish’ar.
****
The human fleet of fifty ships entered the planet’s solar system and long-range cameras quickly scanned it searching for any Men-gar craft. Hundreds of small fighter craft disgorged from the five aircraft carriers of the fleet. All the ships, small and large, spread out bound for multiple locations. As they encountered the many intrusion detectors, they were disabled, eliminating the chance the single inhabited planet would receive warning.
Rho’naa faced the large wall screen on the command deck of the Dallas. Keish’ar stood beside her and beside him was Admiral Martinez. The magnified image on the screen showed fifteen Men-gar war craft ranging from cruiser size to battle-cruiser orbited the planet.
“So far so good,” the Admiral told them. “We have only encountered one private craft. That one has been disabled and is undertow. We may miss small ships, but nothing in this system larger than a destroyer will escape detection.”
“How close do we have to get before we can employ the null-weapon, Admiral,” she asked.
“Maximum range is one-hundred million kilometers.”
“Will the ships spot us before then?” Keish’ar asked.
“Doubtful. They, just as we, rely heavily on the remote intrusion detectors to supply warning. Before the null-weapon, nothing would have been able to neutralize all of them.”
Rho’naa shuddered slightly, only two small destroyer class ships and an unarmed transport ship accompanied the Dallas as they closed on the fifteen well-armed Men-gar warships. She watched with growing apprehension when the engines ignited on six of the Men-gar ships and they turned to face them. Although she knew the rest of the fleet was closing on the same planet, for the moment they faced the Men-gar ships alone.
Admiral Martinez remained calm. “Looks as if they were alert after all,” he said.
To the left of the screen a display counted down the distance to the planet. When it reached the hundred million kilometer mark. The admiral addressed one of the technicians. “activate,” he ordered.
The tec
hnician engaged a relay.
Rho’naa gazed on in amazement when, as one, the glowing engines on each ship turning to face them winked out and the ships began to drift unpowered. One of the human destroyers boldly approached the first large Men-gar warship. Tractor beams lanced out from it and stabilized the drifting ship.
“Ready?” Admiral Martinez asked.
Keish’ar nodded and the admiral led them to a control console. When he indicated, Keish’ar took a seat. “When you told us of your plan, our research people got busy and came up with this transmission unit. It allows you to use any unpowered speaker in range. The bandwidth can be adjusted from narrow to wide. For now, it is set to narrow and will allow you to address the crew of that warship alone through their PA system. You can also hear their response.”
“Do you know what you’re going to say?” she asked.
“Not exactly, but here goes,” he answered. “To the Captain of the warship Ak’sar,” he began. “This is General Keish’ar of the Human-Men-gar alliance.”
Rho’naa smiled and mouthed, “Nice promotion, love.”
Keish’ar winked and continued. “As you are aware, all electronics on your vessel have ceased to function. This includes all of your weapons, hand held ones, the atmosphere generation unit, gravity controls, and even the electronic controls of your environmental suits. The Human ships surrounding you have no such limitations. You are powerless to resist. I command you to surrender. The terms are unconditional, but I can assure you, if you surrender, you and your crew will not be harmed.” He took a long breath and continued, “We are scanning your ship right now and will know if you choose to resist. If we detect this, we standoff and wait for you and your crew to suffocate. I will give you further instructions when you respond. I remind you that time is not on your side.”
Keish’ar switched off the transmission switch, sat back, and they waited. The minutes ticked by. While they were waiting, more human ships arrived. One of the bridge crew announced. “All Men-gar ships disabled. The planet has been blanketed. Nothing electrical works there.”
The speaker crackled to life. “This is Captain Kas’an of the Ak’sar. You have left us no choice. I surrender. State your terms.”
Keish’ar toggled the switch to transmit. “A wise decision, Captain. You will assemble your crew in the landing bay and wait to be evacuated. When all are there, you will inform me. At that time a boarding tube will be attached to the bay door and power will be restored to your ship long enough to open that door. You and your crew will proceed through the tube into the waiting ship. Each person will be scanned for weapons as they board. If any are found, that individual will be dealt with harshly. I will wait to hear from you that all have been assembled.”
After the crew had been evacuated, they left the Ak’sar drifting in space. They evacuated each Men-gar ship in the same manor and the ship itself was set adrift in space in the same area as the Ak’sar. One after another, shuttles ferried the crews to a vacant area on the planet. After being at the communicator for hours, Keish’ar took a break to get a cold drink and relax before he began dealing with the people on the planet below.
Rho’naa glanced around to make certain they were alone then massaged his shoulders. “Are you holding up okay, dear?”
“Yes, so far. The bloodless part is over though. There will be deaths in the next step.”
“I know.”
Keish’ar downed the last of his cold drink and straightened his shoulders. “Time to take that next step.”
She followed him as he strode back to the communicator control panel. The wall screen in front of them displayed the largest city on the planet Bein’ar. The entire population was located in or in smaller communities around it. The rest of the continent was uninhabited as were the other three continents. Keish’ar toggled the switch. “To the people of Bein’ar, this is General Keish’ar of the human-Men-gar alliance.” As he spoke, his transmission was bounced off the human starships that surrounded the world and broadcast from every speaker on the planet at once.
“For countless years our people have been governed by a ruling class, often ruthlessly. This class was restricted to those born into it. Their rules were enforced by their own security force. For you, those days have ended. The ruling class here and their security are no longer in control and will be dealt with by you or us in the Men-gar way. You need not fear retribution from the central Men-gar rulers. Our alliance will not allow it.”
She handed him a cold drink and squeezed his hand. Keish’ar was not accustomed to public speaking and the evidence was plain by the sweat on his brow and the nervous drumming of his fingers on the desk in front of him.
“For generations, our government and the ruling class have told us any intelligent life we encountered was a threat to our existence. This is untrue. It was only a threat to them and their rule. The humans we were told, were our biggest enemy and in the past, this was true. They didn’t tell us we tried to exterminate them millions of years ago and again fifty of their years ago. The humans fought back and turned our forces away. Since that time, our two races have been at war. Because of our actions, they have every right to hate us and want to destroy us, and yet when a new threat appeared, one that threatens our existence and theirs, they came to the aid of my planet and shed their own blood in its defense and liberation. They have allied themselves with us against this new threat. I have learned how they deal with intelligent life they encounter. They extend an offer to join them on an equal footing and if the offer is refused, they do not interfere with that life further. I call on you now to cast off the oppressive rule we have lived under for many generations. A new way of life has arrived. When the ruling class is no longer a threat, electrical power will be restored.”
Rho’naa shuddered, Keish’ar’s last words had just sentenced every member of the ruling class and their security forces living on Bein’ar, to death.
“If times were different we would depart once the tyrannical ruling class on your planet had ceased to exist and let you decide your own fate, but time is not on our side. The La’new blight is spreading and they do not just defeat any life they encounter, they eat them alive. In a short time survivors of my planet Sto’kan will be among you to further explain the horrors of the La’new. As a show of fairness, you will be given two choices, join us in our struggle or be relocated to an uninhabited world where you will be given supplies then left to your own devices. I leave you now to make your decision and I will speak to you again at this time tomorrow.”
Rho’naa tightened her lips hoping not many chose the latter decision. What Keish’ar had not told the people below was if they chose relocation, they would not be defended from either the La’new or the Men-gar rulers by the alliance. Nor would they be allowed to leave the planet.
Keish’ar activated a view screen and using a controller, zeroed in on one location. He magnified the picture. “This is the compound where the security forces are housed.” He shifted to another location. “And this is where most of the Highborn live. Our troops will attack these two places first.”
“Surly not all the security forces and Highborn are in those two places alone,” Rho’naa said.
He was certain the smile that stretched across his lips reflected the fact he felt no humor. “No, they won’t all be there, but we will locate them quickly even when they hide.”
“How? Are you depending on the masses to turn them in?”
“When they are toddlers, the Highborn get a communicator implant and a tattoo. The security forces also have implanted communicators. It allows them to contact each other and none of the common classes has one. In addition, each Highborn has a tattoo on their upper left arm. It is used to distinguish them from the lower classes, to let those around them know they are of the superior class and have unquestionable authority. Their desire to set themselves apart from the masses will work against them. The communicators ar
e not working, but the units themselves can be detected by the scanning equipment our forces have.”
“Their arrogance is their undoing.”
Keish’ar nodded and glanced to Admiral Martinez. The Admiral in turn issued orders. Forty shuttles departed from the troop transport ships that had accompanied them. Each shuttle carried fifty Men-gar survivors from Sto’kan to the planet below. The Men-gar soldiers were armed with weapons and powered body armor immune to the effect of the null-weapon. Their job was to help in the execution of the rulers and their security forces. Their other mission was to spread the word about what had taken place on Sto’kan. They had video equipment that showed bugs and what Sto’kan looked like now.
Keish’at rose to his feet. He bowed his head and whispered to her, “And so the destruction of the Men-gar empire begins.” He glanced over at the Admiral. “I’ll be in my cabin if you need me.”
She fell in beside him and together they strode from the command deck. In a low voice she said, “Let’s hope the new Human-Men-gar Empire lasts as long or longer.”
Hours later, the communicator in Keish’ar’s room buzzed the attention signal. “Yes,” he answered.
“The Admiral would like you to come to the command bridge right away,” the male voice said.
“Okay. Has something happened?”
“There is lots of activity down on the planet.”
Keish’ar glanced at her seated on the bed in her scanty nightgown. “I’ll be there shortly.”
The two of them strode briskly to the transit tube and exited at the command deck entrance. They joined the Admiral in gazing at the large view screen. Small squares showed six of the larger communities on the planet below. The admiral chose one of the squares and manipulated a control. It filled the screen and magnified. He paned to one area of the city. A number of fires raged in what appeared to be a very expensive residential section of the city.