“I suppose I have missed a few things,” Tonwen responded with his eyes opened wide in surprise. He took a seat at the tiny table looking very much like a parent joining their child for a pretend tea party. “Quite an efficient use of space.”
“Glad you approve,” the second guard said as he placed a plastic bowl full of leafy green vegetables garnished with bright red, yellow and orange berries of some sort in front of Tonwen. He set alongside the bowl a small cup filled with a thick, brown liquid that looked about as appealing as a glass of sewage.
The disgusting beverage aside, Tonwen had to suppress a laugh upon seeing the serving portions; they were Novi sized and what he might consider a starter snack. “Lucky for me I am hungry or I might not be able to finish all this.”
That brought a high-pitched chitter of laughter from both guards as they took a seat on either side of him. “We can always get you more I suppose.”
The lack of meat in his meal reminded Tonwen of an inconvenient fact that he had forgotten over the many years away from this society; the Novi were vegetarians. The brown beverage was a protein blend intended to provide all the nutritional benefits of consuming meat without the many health related drawbacks. It did the job, but as Tonwen forced down a mouthful of the thick liquid, he could not help but think a juicy steak would taste much better.
“Nothing for the two of you?” Tonwen asked of his dining companions.
“I’m afraid we’re still on duty.”
“I do not suppose any other diners will come join the exotic specimen on display in the corner now will they?” Tonwen sighed.
“You are a lot to take in,” the guard on the left commented. “You seem a decent fellow now that I’ve gotten to know you a bit, but it’s tough getting over that first impression. You look almost as intimidating as an Alpha. If it weren’t my duty to stay with you, I would probably be staring at you from across the room as well.”
Tonwen conceded the point with a nod, but then delivered a counter argument. “I am also a Novi with an overflowing treasure trove of interesting stories to tell.”
“We would love to hear some of them,” an apprehensive female voice said. Tonwen looked up from his now empty bowl and found two brave Novi standing next to his table. “May we join you?”
“By all means,” Tonwen answered with an inviting hand pointing toward the thin air beside him. The pair waited for one of the guards to give an approving nod before tapping the floor twice to instruct the shimmering material to extend the table and add two more chairs.
“My name is Pacis, and this is my husband Bellum,” the female began once seated. “Is it really true? Are you really from the Missing Fleet?”
“Missing…Fleet?” Tonwen repeated, not knowing the cultural significance that the phrase obviously held for the Novi.
“The Fifth Fleet,” Pacis clarified with an energetic nod. “A thousand ships up and vanished from existence along with the collector ship carrying that fleet’s Nexus device. It all supposedly happened before I was even born.”
“It’s like a legend to most of us,” Bellum added.
“More like a scary ghost story. A terrifying tale that the war hawks in the council bring out and wave about any time they feel public support for their aggressive policies beginning to subside,” Pacis snarled.
“Or a cautionary tale they use to remind our citizenry that it’s a dangerous galaxy we live in where other species will harm us if they can,” Bellum countered. “Either way, is it true? Are you from the Missing Fleet? Did it really happen like they say?”
“I suppose it is true,” Tonwen acknowledged. “The Fifth Fleet was ambushed by four thousand Alpha ships using a previously unknown technology that created a mass density field to prevent the fleet from space folding out of the trap.”
“Admiral Tridget’s command ship was one of the first vessels destroyed in the ensuing battle, thus requiring Captain Hastelloy to take his rightful place as commander of the fleet. Long story short, both fleets were annihilated with one damaged craft remaining from each side. We both crash-landed on the planet below us now with no ability to get off again or even send a distress message home until recently.”
“Oh thank you,” Bellum exclaimed and slapped both his hands on the white tabletop. “You just settled an argument Pacis and I have gone back and forth on for many lifetimes. You see, it was an Alpha trap. There was justification for our actions.”
“I can’t believe it. I was so certain it was a conspiracy by the council,” Pacis said in a distant voice that conceded defeat. “The shock and outrage generated by the Fifth Fleet’s destruction gave the war hawks everything they needed to take power and run the war how they saw fit. It explained everything.”
All of the sudden Pacis rebounded with a confident declaration leveled at her husband. “That still doesn’t justify genocide, nothing does.”
Tonwen cleared his throat with an intentionally loud cough to cut the growing tension. “Forgive me, but I have been a little out of the know for a while. What genocide? What happened after the Fifth Fleet went missing? Is the war with the Alpha still going on?”
Pacis opened her mouth to respond, but was cut short by her spouse laying a gentle hand on her shoulder, “If you don’t mind. I was the one actually there, so I will give him his answer.”
“Just know that you might not like what you hear,” Pacis cautioned before giving Bellum leave to expound his history lesson.
Chapter 15: A Different Path
“Another fifteen cruisers have come through a set of space fold event horizons,” Bellum reported with his excitement level rising with every new arrival. “I’ve assigned each a starting position in the fleet and they are en route now.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Commander,” the fleet admiral replied with a confident tone.
“That makes nearly two thousand ships,” Bellum went on before making eye contact with his captain seated in the ship’s command chair. The mere presence of Fleet Admiral Haze onboard the ship was indication enough to both of them that something big was in the works. However, neither could have imagined it would amount to this.
Earlier in the day, when the admiral first arrived, the captain looked at Bellum with mild envy in his eyes. The captain’s obligation was to his ship and maintaining its smooth operation. These duties left him no meaningful time to spend with the admiral and possibly further his career prospects by ingratiating himself to such a prominent individual within the fleet’s central command. Bellum was another matter entirely. As the ship’s first officer with more free time on his hands than the captain, he was conscripted by the admiral to serve as his fleet coordinator for the pending mission.
Bellum’s heart skipped a beat with excitement when he first received the assignment. He envisioned the mission involving at most a few dozen ships. Bellum knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could easily manage that task and distinguish himself in the eyes of the admiral. It would be nice to finally stand out to the top brass for something other than his spouse’s very public and controversial political views.
Everyone in his life cautioned Bellum against taking union vows with Pacis. They all said a pacifist and a career fleet officer would never make a union work. They could not have been more wrong in that regard. Bellum and Pacis recently renewed their union vows for a second life cycle. They were as happy as any military family that spend most of their time apart could be.
Bellum’s friends and family also cautioned him that having an outspoken critic of the council for a spouse would kill any career advancement prospects for him. They were right on point with that prediction. Time and time again, promotional opportunities came and went with Bellum receiving little more than a chuckle from his superiors when he applied for a promotion. Before meeting Pacis he rose quickly to the rank of commander, but there he remained for two lifetimes now with little indication of that changing any time soon.
Still, Bellum would not trade his time with Pacis for anything, even
a promotion to captain or admiral. He made his choice and had long ago come to terms with a life of mediocrity and he was fine with his decision until today. This opportunity made him dare to dream of bigger things once more, that is until the enormity of the task hit home.
A few dozen ships was an opportunity, but a couple thousand was overwhelming and presented a situation rife with the perils of looking incompetent. Still, Bellum shot his captain a confident smile he only half believed. The risk of failure was greater now, but so was the potential reward for a job well done. Bellum was ready for this opportunity. In fact, he had been ready for several lifetimes and things were running like clockwork up to this point.
A notification on Bellum’s workstation pulled him back from his musings of a brighter future to the task that might make his vision a reality. “Admiral, a shuttle is requesting permission to dock.”
“Excellent, they’re finally here. Allow them aboard and see that they are escorted to the bridge without delay,” the admiral ordered with no small amount of relief evident in his voice.
In that moment, Bellum wanted to kick something. He was certain the admiral’s own support staff was aboard that shuttle and would take over from here. Bellum had managed the tedious task of assembling the fleet, but he would not have the chance to shine during the actual mission itself. Figures!
A few minutes later when the lift doors opened behind him, Bellum turned his head expecting to see a cadre of hotshot officers take things over. What he was treated to instead made him almost jump up and down and squeal like a giddy school girl who just met her favorite celebrity. It was the Chancellor.
Pacis likened Chancellor Malum to a demonic plague unleashed upon the galaxy, but Bellum revered the man like no other in existence. After the Fifth Fleet vanished, the Chancellor stepped forward and took charge of the Alpha war effort. The successes this great man amassed while leading the council these last hundred years were staggering, unparalleled. Before Chancellor Malum took charge the Alpha war raged, seemingly without end, for over ten thousand years. Now the Alpha were on the verge of collapse, and it had all been achieved in the last hundred years with Chancellor Malum’s inspired leadership.
The Chancellor was so effective and popular with the people in fact that the laws of succession were rewritten specifically for him. No one had ever been permitted to serve more than one successive lifetime as Chancellor. As defeat of the Alpha drew near, the Chancellor’s health began to diminish with his advanced age. The council mandated that he remain the head of state during his next lifetime in order to finish what he had set into motion. To do otherwise seemed…ungrateful.
Pacis did everything she could short of open rebellion to block the measure. ‘It will tear down our Republic until nothing but a totalitarian empire is left,’ she cautioned, but no one listened. Chancellor Malum was a winner, and people line up in droves behind a winner.
The memory of Pacis and her ardent protests staged in the Republic capital made Bellum’s stomach tie itself into knots as Chancellor Malum walked past him without notice. Would he remember her words? Would he ascribe them to Bellum? Would he still hold a grudge five years later?
“Is the fleet ready?” Chancellor Malum asked of the admiral. An affirmative nod prompted him to next look at Bellum. “Please open a communication channel to every speaker on every ship in the fleet. I’d like to say a few words.”
“Channel open,” Bellum replied.
“Officers and enlisted men and women of the fleet, this is Chancellor Malum speaking. It is my great privilege to address you now on the eve of our Republic’s greatest triumph. It has taken two lifetimes, but we have beaten the enemy back into the tiny corner of the galaxy from which he came.”
“There are a select few back home on Novus who have criticized the efforts of our fleet in this war,” the Chancellor went on while leveling an intense stare at Bellum; the man remembered all right. “Those cowards said a Novi could not beat an Alpha standing twice as tall and ten times as strong. They said we Novi did not have that kind of fight in us, but every one of us knows that sentiment is a load of garbage. You men and women of the Novi fleet love a good fight.”
“When you were firstlings, you all admired the champion marksman or the fastest shooter. The Novi love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. We Novi play to win all the time. The very thought of losing is hateful in our minds and is purged from our vocabulary at a young age. Battle is the most significant competition in which we can indulge. It brings out all that is best and removes the rest.”
“These last hundred years have been trying times for us all. We’ve been stretched, tested and exhausted like never before, but it has all been for a purpose. It has all been to bring about this moment.”
“Those cowardly critics back home,” Chancellor Malum went on, still eying Bellum and no other, “say we pressed too hard. They wanted all of us to come home rather than press on with the war and finish it on our terms. We all know that is a load of academic trash. We all know the quickest way to get this war over with is to reach the Alpha home world and clean it out. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can all go home…for good.”
“Against their cowardly sentiments, we have kept moving forward to reach this moment. Ladies and gentlemen of the fleet, at long last we have reached our final destination. Our target today is planet Alpha and we are going to get it.”
“I must warn you, it is well defended and some of you may be afraid. That is a good and natural instinct, but from here there are but two choices: run away and hide with the critics, or take this one last fight to the Alpha. You are Novi and you love a fight.”
“Thirty years from now when you’re sitting in your homes with your grandson on your knee and he asks, ‘What did you do in the great Alpha war?’ You won’t have to cough and say, ‘Well, I raised a sign in protest in the capital.’ No sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say ‘Son, I flew in the Republic fleet into the final fight, and it was glorious.’ Glory awaits us all, now let’s go get it. That is all.”
Chancellor Malum made a cutting gesture across his neck, prompting Bellum to close the communication channel. Afterwards the Chancellor continued staring at him and asked, “Are you with me, or are you with your wife and the protesters back home?”
“I am with you, Chancellor, and it is an honor to do so.”
A broad, eager grin grew across the Chancellor’s lips before he turned to the admiral and recited the words that arrived in the first Alpha transmission that started this war so long ago. “Let it begin.”
A silent nod from the admiral prompted Bellum to issue the Chancellor’s order to the fleet. Then he watched the course of history unfold right before his eyes. A shimmering disk materialized in front of their vessel and grew to encompass the entire viewscreen and the ship moved through the space fold event horizon, as did the rest of the fleet.
One instant the view was alive with the electric blue and purple crackle of matter colliding, and the next moment the viewscreen displayed an orange planet off in the distance surrounded by an endless array of ships, orbital battle platforms, and remote torpedo launchers.
“I thought you said we would come through in close orbit of the planet?” Chancellor Malum demanded of the admiral.
“They have a large constraining field set up around the planet which our ships cannot pass through. We’ll have to fight our way in from here,” the admiral answered.
“Against that?” a crewman behind Bellum asked with a healthy helping of doubt framing each word. “That looks like every weapon of war that the Alpha have ever manufactured. Even with a fleet this large, we can’t break through that, can we?”
Bellum was as bewildered as his fellow crewman. He had no idea how they would, or even could break through. They had backed these rabid dogs into a tight corner, possibly too tight. Spread out, the Novi could take the Alpha apart piece by piece, but clustered together like this? He did not know what could be done other than conta
in them here. They are no longer strong enough to punch their way out, but the Novi lacked the firepower to break through without losing the vast majority of their fleet.
“It’s starting,” the admiral said without regard to the vocal crewman as he pointed to the upper right section of the viewscreen. Bellum saw a flight of five ships dart into the Alpha lines and provoke a maelstrom of wave blaster fire. The powerful blasts raked the Novi shielding, destroying one of the ships before their flight path took them out of range. It was a test of the Alpha’s defenses and unfortunately they passed with flying colors, yet the admiral and Chancellor were undeterred.
Bellum looked away from the viewscreen to assess the fleet’s situation. Other than a few minor skirmishes, the only activity of note was a cluster of ships gathering near the center. He pulled up the ship details and found an unarmed cargo vessel was joining a grouping of twenty attack ships, but they were clustered too close together for it to be an effective attack formation.
He was about to direct his attention elsewhere but stopped mid-motion when he observed dozens of transport shuttles leaving the surrounding ships to rendezvous with nearby vessels.
As fleet coordinator, it was Bellum’s duty to bring this to the admiral’s attention. “Sir, in sector eight we have twenty crews that are abandoning their ships for no apparent reason.”
“Oh they have a reason,” Admiral Haze replied while shooting Chancellor Malum a knowing smirk. “Those ships are about to make a one way trip into the Alpha defenses and that will carry them beyond Nexus range. Make sure they are arranged good and tight around that transport ship to provide a protective cocoon before the crews completely abandon those ships.”
For the first time since arriving in the Alpha home system, Bellum felt a rush of confidence fill his heart. The transport had to be loaded with explosives that would be delivered deep into the Alpha defensive formation. It would certainly create a break in their lines for the Novi to exploit. Bellum could barely contain his excitement as the cluster of ships sped away toward the defenses arrayed around the Alpha home world.
Origins: A Greater Good Page 9