Elder Jutka’s home was larger and more impressive than Burgton had expected. When told they would hold a meeting at her home, he had imagined a small group of friends around a dining table. Silly of him. Jutka was an elder and as such her responsibilities were many. Her home was not a small family dwelling; it was government house, embassy, and civic centre all rolled into one. Jutka’s apartments, that private area where she dwelled with her mate, were only a small part of the sprawling building. When he arrived, Burgton noted the battle damage had yet to be repaired, but it was confined to only one wing of the building, and the fire had not spread beyond the rooms directly above it.
The meeting was held in a large conference room obviously designed for the purpose. There was a large oval table made of a lustrous dark wood in the middle, but it stood no taller than sixty centimetres high. Carafes of water and empty glasses were positioned around the perimeter, and computer tablets for note taking were also provided. Shan ordinarily didn’t use chairs. They used padded mats on the floor. The only chairs Burgton had ever seen used by Shan were on their ships, and that was purely a safety issue. In space, acceleration couches and safety harness combinations, no matter their height from the deck, were necessary things.
Burgton found a mat and sat cross-legged. The table was exactly the right height. He poured himself a glass of water while the room slowly filled with chattering Shan. Some of them found places and switched their computers on. Burgton pushed his aside and replaced it with his own compad. Others did similar things, though Shan tech was different, they had devices that filled the same function. James sat to his left with Tei’Varyk opposite him. Gina would have sat beside him, but he indicated the mat opposite next to Tei’Varyk. Burgton preferred looking people he was likely to converse with in the eye.
Jutka settled herself, and the last few Shan, considered tardy now that the elder was ready to begin, quickly found places to sit. Jutka welcomed everyone to her home, introduced the Humans, and then opened the floor to the debate.
Burgton listened and was sadly unsurprised to learn James’ analysis was dead on. No doubt Tei’Varyk had a lot to do with that. He considered James a friend and Humans in general as his people’s natural allies. He had probably kept James informed of events. This meeting was just another in a long line of useless hand wringing that often went on in the background while the real doers and shakers got on with the real work. Varya was right. The population of this world would not leave no matter what anyone said. Burgton had seen many of them already clearing the rubble from the streets as they drove through the city.
Kazim orbited the room with his camera, pausing to film each person as they took their turn to address the room. The meeting wasn’t being aired live, so Kazim did not need to concern himself too much with editorial matters. He had explained to Gina earlier that his assignment was to cover the talks, which meant he was recording everything. Burgton realised what that could mean if he took the opportunity so casually handed to him with this invitation. He turned toward Jutka only to find her eyes already boring into him as if willing him to speak. He got the message loud and clear. As earlier, when she had used Gina to score points off Tei’Varyk, she now proposed to win the game by using him. He wasn’t opposed to being used, not for this, but he would bet almost anything she would be surprised how he did it.
Burgton cleared his throat before the next speaker could begin reiterating the traditionalist line as so many had before her. The Shan woman hesitated, turning toward him with one ear canted at an angle while the other strained upward but swivelling toward him. Burgton smiled, it was an odd look for her. She blinked, and smiled uncertainly back at him.
“Forgive the interruption, honoured lady,” Burgton said in his best Shan. “I have heard both sides of this debate now, and although I am sure your words would be as earnest as those preceding them, I do not feel I need them to understand your point of view.
“I’m not Shan,” he continued and laughed when all the Shan did. “But I feel I’ve come to know you well. I admire you... I fear for you.”
“It’s pleasing to me that you admire my people, General,” Tei’Varyk spoke without asking the elder for permission, but she didn’t seem to care. She was watching Burgton with a small satisfied smile. “But why do you fear for us? With your help the Merkiaari are defeated and already your Admiral Kuzov is helping us gather materials from the asteroids to begin construction of new orbital factories. What do you fear?”
Burgton licked suddenly dry lips. “I’ve heard it said that Shan honour their ancestors and teach their younglings by telling stories of them and their deeds.”
Tei’Varyk bowed in a sort of abbreviated nod. “The sagas are true tales, yes.”
Burgton nodded. “Then I will answer your question with a story, a true story of my people but also of my own history.” Burgton took a moment to reflect upon what he wanted to say. Should he take them all the way back to Earth’s pre-colony days, or keep things more personal and recent. Personal he decided. “I’m over two centuries old. In that time I’ve seen war, and peace, and everything in between. I’ve seen earnest but ultimately stupid men lead my people in the wrong direction many times, and I’ve seen other men struggle to undo the damage, using up their energy and lives to right the wrongs they see around them. None of them saw what they did as evil or good. They just did what they thought was right.
“I was a young man when the Merkiaari attacked us. I was just a soldier... a warrior, one among many thousands on my planet. There was no Alliance then. We didn’t need it. Earth’s many colonies had won their independence many centuries before. Like your ancestors, we fought battles between ourselves, but mostly, the colonies were at peace. We traded with each other, and even when at war we had rules. Looking back, those wars seem like play fighting to me now.”
Burgton shook his head, his eyes distant. “Then came the Merki,” he said in a harsh voice. “And the peace was shattered. Everything was panic and chaos. No one knew what was happening. We sent ships to talk to the invaders, but none returned. We lost worlds in the Border Zone to the Merki while our leaders dithered and talked. What shall we do, they cried. We must make them talk to us. More ships were lost trying.
“Worlds fought back and slowed the Merkiaari, mine did, others as well, but we didn’t fight smart. We didn’t join together. Finally, the obvious became clear to those in high places. I say obvious, because those of us actually fighting and dying knew it long before. The Merki would never stop. They had to be stopped, not talked into stopping. They couldn’t... can’t be talked to. The homeworld of man, Earth, stepped up and took control. Even then there was mistrust and many used the situation to gain political advantage.”
Burgton gave each of the Shan a hard stare, aware that Kazim’s camera was glued to him. “The Alliance was born, and each member world donated ships and warriors to fight as one against the Merki. Soldiers like me were recruited and changed forever to fight that war in the desperate years of the slow retreat. We lost many millions of soldiers on worlds under alien suns far from home. Thousands of ships died at the heart of nuclear fires, in solar systems that meant nothing to their crews except the Merki were there and wanted them. Slowly we retreated, forced back and back, but then one day, a day like any other, something amazing happened. We started winning and it was the Merki who retreated. Decades of fighting saw the Merkiaari defeated. Defeated like here, but not destroyed. They’re still out there, readying themselves. Building more ships, breeding more troops, getting stronger, getting ready to come back and kill us all.”
Burgton lifted his glass and drank his water. An alert flashed on his display, and surprised, he took note of it. The water was high in minerals. He dismissed the flashing datum.
“At the end of the war, the Alliance faced exactly the same situation as you face here, but where you have two worlds to reconstruct, the Alliance had more than eighty. At that time, those eighty comprised almost half of the Alliance. The Council chose n
ot to pursue the Merkiaari beyond our pre-war borders, and turned its attention to reconstruction. As you have. That decision allowed the Alliance to regain strength, but also allowed the Merki menace to remain a threat. The Merkiaari have regained its strength as well, and now here we are two hundred years on reaping the rewards of the Council’s decision.”
Burgton turned to catch Jutka’s eye. “What you do here will have far reaching consequences. Remember that. If you decide to retreat to your homeworld, abandon your only colony world, abandon your dreams of expansion as the Alliance did back then, your descendants will curse your names.” Burgton said coldly, ignoring the shocked indrawn breaths. They needed shaking up. “When the Merki return and your younglings or their younglings fight for their lives or hide under the mountains as you so recently did, what do you think they will say of your choices made here today?”
Jutka spoke up. “What would you have us do? We have no ships or the ability to make them. Even if we did, we must defend our worlds not scatter ourselves among the stars.”
Burgton nodded. “Your words are familiar to me. I heard them spoken often by councillors back then. They were wrong then and they’re wrong now. I don’t have all the answers, I wish I did, but I do know that hiding upon any single world is not the answer. It’s not sound strategically, it’s not sound tactically come to that, it’s just not safe for any race or species to put all their eggs—cubs in this instance—in one basket.”
The entire room erupted in murmurs and questions. Jutka was no longer smiling at Burgton. Maybe she had expected a different argument. He didn’t care. He would make her see what was needed, or he would go directly to Kajetan herself.
Burgton went on, “As for the immediate situation here on Child of Harmony. It’s obvious that the reconstruction must go ahead. If for no other reason than the change in season, you must get power back on in the cities. The weather has turned. It’s not that cold yet, but winter is coming. Unless you plan upon everyone spending years in the keeps, you need to rebuild your power plants and water pumping stations.
“In the long term, you should explore and colonise nearby worlds. You need to do that and increase your population base rapidly. I know there are difficulties to overcome, but think on this: the Alliance found you while surveying worlds in this direction. What do you think the plans for those worlds are?”
Silence.
Burgton smiled a little as understanding slowly circled the room. Jutka was looking at him strangely, and he realised that this was the argument she had probably expected him to use in the first place. He didn’t laugh, but nodded to her instead.
“If you don’t take those worlds, or claim the habitable ones at least,” Burgton went on. “I assure you that in a few years my people will. We’re expanding too slowly in my opinion, as I told you, but we are expanding.”
Tei’Varyk had a faraway look in his eyes, but then he focused upon Burgton. “Before the war I spoke with Captain Colgan about this very thing. I expressed my wish to explore the stars and rebuild the Great Harmony out there. You do not know how much I want what you describe, General Burgton, but how can we explore and claim new worlds when we cannot even scrape together enough lift capacity to even reach orbit here without your help?”
Murmurs of agreement filled the room.
Burgton raised a hand and achieved quiet. “As I said before, I know there are going to be challenges, but all journeys must begin with a first step. Your first step must be deciding to make the journey. Only then, can you plan how to make it. You will have help no matter what you decide. Kajetan has bound your people to mine by joining the Alliance, but wouldn’t you rather join us as equals—as a star spanning culture?”
Everyone flicked ears or nodded in the Human manner. That was something. Now for his offer, Burgton decided. He wondered what would happen when Kazim’s recording reached Admiral Kuzov.
“Elder Jutka invited me to your meeting as a courtesy. I have no power over your deliberations. I actually came to visit a friend and make her an offer, but I wonder if perhaps it might be of interest to you as well?”
Jutka stirred. “You speak of The Blind Hunter’s plight?”
Burgton nodded. “One of my people,” he gestured to Gina, “made a promise to Shima to repair her sight. I’m here to uphold that pledge. To do this, Shima must journey far from home, all the way to my home where she will have new eyes grown, or if that proves impossible, she will have biomech replacements fitted. She will become one of a handful of Shan ever to leave your system, joining the select group headed by Tei’Varyk and the brave crew of Naktlon.
“I make the following offer to you, not as a representative of the Alliance, but as a representative of my own planet, Snakeholme. I’m offering to allow Shan to immigrate to my world, and set up a colony there. I will provide transportation along with Shima on Grafton, and will provide all necessary materials to allow the colony to flourish. In exchange I ask only that your people honour our laws and defend the planet should that ever be necessary... it won’t be. Snakeholme is my regiment’s home base, and its defence comes second only to the defence of the Alliance itself.”
“You are inviting us to join the viper clan?” Jutka asked and the excitement died down to hear the answer.
Burgton didn’t need James’ warning look. “You call my regiment a clan—the viper clan. We are not a clan of any sort, or a caste. We are a specialised military unit. My men and I have been enhanced to better fight Merkiaari. I’m not offering your people enhancement, only a home with us on Snakeholme. Think of this as your first new colony outside your home system—a safe place for younglings to grow up. Another basket for your eggs if you will.”
No one spoke for the longest time, but inevitably politics raised its ugly head. It started when one of the traditionalists spoke up to reiterate his position regarding Child of Harmony’s reconstruction, as if the last fifteen minutes had not occurred. Burgton sagged. His offer had fallen upon deaf ears. They would go on debating for the rest of the day and achieve nothing.
It made him feel sad and his age. He was so very tired of people making the same mistakes over and over. Human or Shan, it made no difference. He was so tired of the same senseless excuses.
* * *
6 ~ The Blind Hunter
Zuleika, Child of Harmony, Shan System
Shima sat quietly in the centre of her contemplation grove. She preferred sitting on the rocks next to the pool and facing east into the sun. She couldn’t see it any more, her long feared blindness had finally come to pass, but she could at least feel its warmth on her face and remember it. The grove was at the rear of the house she had lived in with her father and her sib before the war, and it had suffered no ill effects from the conflict. Much of the city had burned in the early days of the Merkiaari invasion, and later during its liberation, many districts had been bombed by the Humans to flush the aliens out, but random chance had spared her district. It was on the opposite side to the line of march that the Merki had chosen from the port and took no damage, then later, Tei’Burgton’s tactical plan had used the blasted zones of the city as entry points and her district was spared again.
Tei’Burgton’s plan had made perfect sense to her when he had explained it to James. She had been there and had translated for the other resistance team leaders. The Merkiaari had been softened up by artillery and the bombing preceding it to give the vipers the advantage. It had worked and the Merki in Zuleika had been wiped out in a few cycles of intense fighting. She looked back proudly on those times. Fighting side by side with James and later with Gina burned brightly in her memory. A good thing, as her life had burned down to embers now. Like the last glowing coals in a dying campfire, her time was over.
Before the war she had been a gardener, an agricultural geneticist, and had enjoyed her work at the Centre for Agricultural Research. There she had worked upon new variants of food crops with her colleagues, and expanded their knowledge of genetics. It was an expanding field; a r
elatively new one within her caste of scientists and engineers. She had followed her father into the caste, but her interests did not lean toward engineering as his had done. Her mother had also been an engineer, and had worked with her mate researching and designing new technologies. Shima sometimes wondered if her mother would have understood the choices she had made in her life. She hoped so. Choices were a thing of the past now. She had none left to make. Her life had narrowed down to waking and sleeping... all of it the same, all of it in darkness.
Shima took a deep breath and chuffed, expelling the air in a low groaning roar. It was a quiet expression of despair. She held in the more violent and scream-like roar she wanted to voice. It would feel so good to roar her challenge to the world. Good but pointless. Who was there to answer it? Back in primitive times, someone in her position would have left the clan to wander the wilds and challenge the wild things to a last glorious hunt, or seek out an old rival for one last battle. She would have travelled to an enemy village perhaps, and roared her battle cry like the time in the wilderness when she had fought Merki in the dark to rescue Merrick’s family, but now in modern times she was trapped and cared for like a youngling. Held prisoner by love in a life she loathed by her sib and her sib’s mate. Chailen and Sharn lived with her and cared for her, when they should have been on their own cementing their bond with lovemaking and the siring of cubs. She was a burden to them; she felt it no matter their rejection of such notions.
Merkiaari Wars Series: Books 1-3 Page 87