“The Command Center,” Major Stevens informed him. “Take your platoon and guard the two adjoining corridors as well as the main one that runs directly in front of the hatch. I want four of your best people on guard ensuring there is no unauthorized admittance to the Command Center until this crisis is over.”
A few moments later, Ryan saw that everyone in his platoon was properly armed. “Let’s move it, people,” he commanded as he set out toward the main hatch to the training dome.
Casey fell in line behind Ryan and noticed Captain Taylor and Sergeant Morris were bringing up the rear. If they were going, this was indeed a serious situation. Casey could feel her heart hammering in her chest; she just hoped she didn’t disappoint Ryan.
-
General Mitchell was inside the Command Center pacing in front of the main viewscreens. He glanced up impatiently at the large tactical screen, seeing Second Fleet beginning to pull away from Mars and heading out toward the four inbound unknowns.
“Admiral Sanders reports he’s twenty minutes away from rendezvous with the unknowns,” reported General Pittman, who was sitting behind the command console on the Command Pedestal. “There have been no attempts at communication from them.”
“Fleet Admiral Kelly has placed First Fleet at Condition One and is moving it out past the Moon in case the unknowns get past Admiral Sanders.”
“Sir,” interrupted Captain Jennifer Owens. “I have Skagern on the com and he says it’s urgent that he speaks with you.”
“Put him on,” Mitchell said, cocking his eyebrow. Skagern was a Kivean and Marken’s second in command. He wondered if this involved the unknown ships.
“General Mitchell,” Skagern began in an excited voice. “We've made contact with the four unknown ships that have dropped out of Fold Space near Mars. They are Taltian and are requesting asylum. Their commander has told us that the Zaltule have conquered their system and destroyed their fleet.”
“Is that a nonaligned world?” asked Mitchell his eyes widening at the ramifications if the Kleese were already attacking nonaligned systems. The name didn’t sound familiar.
“Yes,” Skagern replied. “It’s very near the center of the Kleese Empire and is one of the oldest nonaligned worlds. Their commander has said that if you accept his request for asylum he is willing to provide you with some valuable military technology.”
“What types of ships does he have with him?” Mitchell asked as a viewscreen suddenly began showing two spindle-shaped vessels and two additional ones that were bulkier and looked more like cargo or passenger ships. The transmission was coming from an orbiting Mars satellite.
“Two warships and two passenger ships,” Skagern answered and then continued in an earnest voice. “Their commander has described a plasma weapon which is capable of destroying Zaltule warships as well as a highly advanced sublight drive. I plead with you to offer them asylum. This could go a long way in convincing the other nonaligned worlds to join our cause.”
“Inform their commander to lower their ships’ energy shields and depower their weapons,” General Mitchell stated in a firm voice. “Once we have confirmed that has been done, Admiral Sanders will establish contact and we will proceed from there. Inform them that I am sending out a civilian negotiating team to discuss possible asylum.”
“Immediately,” Skagern responded in a calmer voice. “This could be the break we need to form the Alliance.”
Mitchell turned to General Pittman. “Contact President Randle and apprise him of the situation. We’ll dispatch a battlecruiser to pick up the negotiating team and I want you to go along to represent the military. Also, pick up Gerald Lawson on your way. He’s a military weapons specialist and can verify if what these Taltians’ claim about this plasma weapon is true or not.”
“Yes, Sir,” Pittman replied as he stood up and prepared to leave the Command Center.
Mitchell shifted his gaze back to the viewscreen showing the spindle-shaped ships. He let out a heavy sigh of relief, knowing that most likely combat had been avoided. He was curious to meet the Talts and find out just what type of allies they would be as well as what had happened to their world.
-
Commander Pasha allowed himself to relax once the Kiveans confirmed that the Humans were willing to talk and would probably grant them asylum. The Kiveans had even gone on to say that once the Humans agreed they would be willing to help the Talts construct a habitat that would be acceptable to their race.
“The Human fleet has stopped its advance,” reported Sub Commander Kith. “Their admiral has requested we remain at this position until their negotiators arrive. He's also asked if there is anything we require in the way of aid.”
“We have the results from the long-range scans,” reported the ship’s sensor operator. “Their world has been destroyed by the Kleese as we'd heard, however, it seems they have spread out across the system. That red planet ahead has a large population. We’re detecting what appear to be ion cannons on the surface.”
“Ion cannons?” Commander Pasha uttered in shock, his large yellow eyes growing wide. “That’s very advanced indeed.” His own race had experimented with ion cannons but could never find a sufficient power source to make them a practical weapon. He hoped he would be given the opportunity in the future to inspect one of the cannons.
“As rumored, there is also a Kleese trading station in orbit between the Human’s home world and its moon,” added Kith. “The moon is very large and has numerous artificial habitats on its surface. There’s also a tremendous amount of ship traffic in the system. Many of the ships we’re detecting appear to be civilian, but a large number are definitely military.”
“Then let us hope they grant us asylum and are an honorable people,” Pasha replied his eyes shifting to his second in command. The survival of his people now rested with these mysterious Humans.
Counting the two passenger liners and both his warships, he'd brought five thousand Taltians to this system. He hoped it was enough to begin their civilization anew since he strongly suspected he would never see the Talt home world again.
-
President Mason Randal stood in the Control Center inside Vesta, gazing in deep thought at the viewscreen showing one of the Talt spindle-shaped battlecruisers. He'd spoken to General Pittman earlier and an assault ship with several civilian negotiators was already on its way to meet the inbound battlecruiser.
“Skagern said the Talts are a humanoid species,” uttered General Bailey with a skeptical look upon his face.
“He told me the same thing,” replied Mason, folding his arms across his chest as he gazed speculatively at the spindle ships. “We know from what the Kiveans have told us there are a lot of different species out in the galaxy. Don’t forget the Kleese are similar to tarantulas except for their upper body.”
“Do our negotiators know what they’re getting into?”
“Yes,” answered Mason. “Fortunately Skagern found several Kiveans who've had past dealings with the Talts and two of them volunteered to accompany our negotiators.”
“I wonder how much more of this we’ll see as the Zaltule attack additional unaligned worlds?” questioned Bailey. “We may need to set up a special department to deal with alien refugees.”
“It’s a possibility,” admitted Mason as he thought about the ramifications of allowing even more alien species into the solar system. He wasn’t sure how the general public would feel about that, particularly considering how they felt about the clones.
“How’s Adrienne doing?’ asked Bailey, knowing she was in the last stages of pregnancy.
“Miserable,” answered Mason with a tired smile. He'd never known women could be so demanding until his wife became pregnant. Between the cravings and requests for backrubs, it had been a wonderful and trying experience so far.
“It will be a much different world that our children grow up in,” Bailey commented as his eyes shifted back to the viewscreen. “There may come a day when alien races are
quite common in our solar system.”
“If the Alliance pans out, that’s a good possibility,” spoke Mason, wondering what his child’s life was going to be like. Would their daughter be going to school with children whose parents had lived beneath other stars? Only time would tell.
Chapter Nine
Wade let out a deep breath of frustration as he stepped aboard the shuttle that would take him back up to the Distant Star in high orbit around the nonaligned world of Lanolth. Lanolth was very similar to what Earth once was, with large oceans, white ice caps on the poles, and a warm to hot equatorial zone. It was also heavily populated with a population of nearly five billion. Lanolth was the fourth planet out from the system’s sun with two small moons orbiting it. Both of the rocky moons had large habitats sprawling across their surfaces where another two hundred million Lanolthians lived and worked. There were twelve planets in the system and numerous mining and scientific posts existed on almost all of them.
As Wade sat down, he looked across at Hyram Blake, the chief negotiator, who was based on the large passenger liner. “How can they be so stubborn?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “Don’t they know if they do nothing, the Kleese will come to this system and put obedience collars around their necks?”
“They know,” Hyram answered with a tired smile. He'd spent many long hours in negotiations with the Lanolthians. “They want an Alliance; the problem is the civilian population is so used to centuries of peace with the Kleese that the idea of actually going to war with them is nearly incomprehensible.”
“What are we going to do?” inquired Wade, feeling that they were at a stalemate. “We need this Alliance if we want to fight the Kleese.”
“There are some things going on behind the scenes,” Hyram confessed in a quieter voice. “The Lanolthians have been secretly increasing the size of their fleet and nearly every one of their major cities sits inside a ring of ion cannons. The Kleese would have a very difficult time taking the planet.”
“What!” Wade exclaimed his eyes widening in disbelief. “I didn’t see any signs of ion cannons.”
He had visited several of the Lanolthians' major cities while down on the planet’s surface. Their architecture was amazing and all of their buildings had a simple, aesthetic beauty. At no time had he seen any evidence of defensive or offensive weapons; an ion cannon wasn’t something easy to conceal.
“They’re well hidden,” answered Hyram. “From what we’ve been able to gather from our research into the flash drive given to us by the nonaligned worlds, Lanolth is where the designs for the ion cannons came from. It was also one of their ships which left the message in our solar system about the impending Kleese attack six years ago.”
Wade leaned back and shook his head, not quite understanding what he was hearing. “Are you telling me the Lanolthian government has been preparing for war against the Kleese in secret and keeping it from their people?”
“Precisely,” Hyram answered with a nod. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a set of papers, which he handed to Wade. “This document has been signed by the Lanolthian ruling council, and they have agreed to join the Alliance on the day the Kleese attack any nonaligned world within five hundred light years of Lanolth.”
Wade took the document and looking through it, saw in amazement that it was indeed signed. “Then we have the first member of the Alliance,” he spoke in awe his eyes lighting up at the ramifications.
“It’s much more than that,” continued Hyram, drawing in a sharp breath. “From what the Lanolthian leaders have told me, there were six more worlds, plus the Lanolthians, responsible for the information on the flash drive. They have assured me that the other six will become part of the Alliance once the Kleese attack. Not only that, but all six have been preparing in secret for that day once they heard about the Zaltule attack upon the Strell. Most have doubled the size of their defensive fleets, though many of the new ships are hidden inside construction bays or deep within secret asteroid bases. They were fearful that if the Kleese discovered the buildup it would cause the neutrality agreements they'd all signed to become void immediately.”
“Seven star systems will be a significant boost in forming the Alliance, but we need more,” responded Wade, handing the document back to Hyram, who placed it securely back inside his suit pocket.
“I know,” Hyram said, leaning back and staring at Wade. “Much of the discussions my team and I've had with the Lanolthian ruling council have been about other nonaligned worlds that might rally to our cause when the Kleese reveal their true intentions. The Lanolthians have given us a list of fourteen more worlds they feel might come into the Alliance with the proper inducements.”
“What kind of inducements?”
“The Lanolthian Council feels if we offer those worlds ion cannons for defense it will go a long way to bringing them over to our side. They have agreed to supply the designs for a basic cannon if we agree.”
“You said inducements,” Wade pointed out suspiciously. “What else do they want?”
“Space Marines,” Hyram spoke in an even voice his eyes seeking out Wade’s. “All of these worlds can fight from a spacecraft where computers control the weapons, but hand-to-hand combat against the Kleese, particularly the Zaltule, is beyond them. We would need to offer to provide sufficient numbers of Space Marines in Type Two or Type Three battlesuits to handle any physical invasion of these worlds.”
“I suppose the Lanolthians and the other six nonaligned worlds involved with the flash drive want Space Marines also?” asked Wade.
“Yes,” responded Hyram, letting out a deep breath. He cocked his eyebrow and glanced out the viewport next to him. The shuttle was already out of the planet’s atmosphere and well on its way back to the Distant Star. Then he shifted his eyes back to Wade. “Can we do that?”
“I don’t know,” answered Wade, truthfully. “I would need to speak to General Mitchell as well as President Randle. “It might be necessary for us to expand the clone program to get the necessary numbers.”
“How many could we deploy immediately if it becomes necessary?” asked Hyram. “It may be what makes or breaks the Alliance.”
Wade was silent for a moment as he ran the numbers through his head. “We have forty thousand Space Marines currently in our solar system,” he answered, pursing his lips in thought. “We could possibly deploy twenty thousand of them to the Alliance without compromising our own security.”
Hyram nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I hope that’s enough.”
“It'd better be,” Wade said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his seat as he mulled over all this implied. “It will take a while to train more.”
“We may need to provide a demonstration of our ability to fight the Zaltule on the ground,” added Hyram, worriedly. The Lanolthians had indicated the other races would want proof that the Humans could defeat the Zaltule in combat.
Wade closed his eyes in consternation as he realized what Hyram was suggesting. There was only one group of Space Marines being trained to fight the Zaltule in armed combat, and that was Major Steven’s Space Marine company, of which Ryan was a member. With a cold chill, Wade wished he'd spent more time trying to talk Ryan out of becoming a Space Marine. Now his brother might be going into battle with an enemy, which was more frightening than most could imagine. How was he ever going to explain this to his parents?
-
Beth looked over at Harnett and sighed heavily. “You want to add medical nanites to the Type Three battlesuits to handle extreme injuries?”
“Yes,” replied Harnett, nodding her head. She was Marken’s lifemate as well as a highly trained physician. “They would be injected in the same manner as the other medicines the suits are capable of providing.”
“What to you think, Marken?” asked Beth, looking over at the other Kivean. She had witnessed just how powerful the nanites were at healing severe wounds. Punctured skin and contusion
s could heal in just minutes and bones could be mended at astonishing speeds.
“It will be simple enough to add to the suits,” Marken answered with a thoughtful look in his eyes. “It'll take some minor programming of the suit’s central computer and some small modifications, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.”
“If a marine gets severely injured in a battle, this will give them a much better chance to survive,” Harnett spoke her voice sounding hopeful. “We could save lives with this technology.”
“How long would it take to modify the suits?” Beth asked. The medical nanites had always made her a little bit nervous. Having microscopic robots injected into one’s blood system gave her a cold chill, but she understood the necessity.
“A technician could modify a suit in less than an hour,” Marken replied.
“Alright, I’ll agree to a trial,” Beth said after a moment. “Can you modify all the Type Three battlesuits in Captain Stern and Captain Foster’s companies?”
“I believe so,” responded Marken, cocking his head slightly. “The Fire Fox has the necessary technicians and we can start immediately. “We should be able to make the necessary changes to the suits in a little over forty-eight hours.”
“Make it so,” Beth said, reaching a decision. “If we go into combat on this mission I want to give my people every chance possible to survive.”
-
After Beth left the small conference room, Harnett turned to her lifemate. “Are we doing the right thing?”
“If it’ll save lives, then yes,” Marken answered.
“I know it’s the right thing to do,” responded Harnett, sounding a little nervous. “The computer in a battlesuit is not a medical computer; we can only program it to react to a limited number of possible injuries. I worry about what might happen if the suit’s computer can’t decide what to do about injuries it’s not programmed for.”
“We’ll cross that road when we come to it,” Marken said, reaching out and taking Harnett’s hand. “The Humans have come so far since we first met them and now they’re forming an Alliance to fight the Kleese. We must do everything we can to ensure they survive, even if we have to take a few risks.”
Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) Page 13