“Al, bring the shuttle’s shields to five percent please?”
“Sergei, if you can destroy that shuttle, I’ll come with you peacefully. If not, you will leave, otherwise the shuttle will fire back. I’m sure you recognized its… shall we call it an amorphous entrance? You know me Sergei, I don’t bluff, the president tried to corral and break me, and she lost the game simply because I refused to play hers and fight back at all. I simply left and started my own game instead, and here you are making false accusations because no doubt she ordered you to do it. Now every world knows how much Earth screwed up. Go ahead, try to destroy it Sergei, and then go home.”
I winced. There had been way too much arrogance and self-righteousness in my voice and my choice of words. I was really angry though, and I felt betrayed.
He fired four thousand missiles, eight from every ship. They didn’t even get close, the inimical radiation from subspace wouldn’t allow matter to exist. Then he fired twice as many plasma attacks, the little tiny shuttle sat there and mocked him with its continued existence.
Damn, I needed a reality check. Now my thoughts were arrogant and snide. Still, I was really annoyed though.
“Well Sergei, what shall it be? Do I fire back and defend my home? Just a reminder Sergei, I built those shields your hiding behind, I already know the outcome. Please, just leave my home.”
And just like that the arrogance and even the anger had withered into fear, if he thought I was bluffing, then I’d have to fire. At least at one of the ships. I felt sick to my stomach. I was no ruler; I was a damned scientist with a dream of my own, because Earth had stolen the one I’d shared with it. Assholes.
Sergei threatened, “This isn’t the end of this Jones,” and cut off the connection.
Al reported, “He is leaving.”
I sighed, “Does anyone else want to talk to me still, or are they satisfied from sharing the transmission? Oh, and send the shuttle back to the void will you?”
Al replied, “Shuttle on its way.”
Bill kissed the top of my head, “You did good, you’re shaking though, cut that out.”
I smiled wanly, “I’m just really glad I didn’t have to fire back. Adrenaline crash.”
Bill asked in a surprised voice, “Would it have destroyed his ship?”
I nodded, “Yes, but that was the least it was capable of doing. It could have destroyed all his ships with one shot. That’s why I couldn’t trust them anymore, they were too paranoid and power hungry. I’m just a scientist, not a leader or power hungry person.
“I just want to have this place for like-minded scientists. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the only ones powerful enough to stop me are probably the Drenil. I just wish it wasn’t necessary to have so much firepower to defend it. I’m also not looking forward to destroying so many Bugs, even though I offered and it’s the right thing to do. That’s like, eighty-five times three million? Plus, the ones that live in the space hives, so probably a lot more.”
It was a lot of death, but if I did do it, in the long run it would save more life, both on the humanoid and Bug sides. Two hundred and fifty-five million bug ships and bugs would die, but that was just a small fraction of the billions on one bug world that would survive, multiplied by eighty-five. That was a lot of lives spared from my actions. But… two hundred and fifty-five million was a lot.
There would be blood on my hands.
I wondered if other leaders who had presided over massacres throughout history had similar thoughts, and if it really made a difference in the end what justification I had. A part of me hoped they’d say no to my bug solution. Honestly, with eight years left before the next wave, if Earth wanted to, they could build more than enough of the sixteen plasma cannon platforms to take care of it easily. They could effortlessly build enough to dominate the enemy in that amount of time. But that’s a dream, I knew they wouldn’t do it. Hell, they even stopped me from doing it.
Bill asked, “Feel better?”
I smiled and touched his face, “Thanks for listening to me whine. I’ve been a co-leader of a star system for less than three hours, and I’m already complaining about it.”
He snickered, and then tickled me. Then he kissed me and touched me, and I forgot all about the other ships, until I heard Al’s voice.
“No one else needs to speak to you, your allies are satisfied Earth backed off, and the other enemies that came must have been cowed by the shuttle demonstration.”
“Thanks Al,” I said a little breathlessly, and promptly forgot all about the tenseness of five minutes ago as I got lost in his arms…
Chapter 17
“Alright Al, hit us with an update.”
We all sat on couches in a lounge area, there were several places where families could mingle in the housing area. There were no streets, so think common rooms at a college dorm.
By all, I meant Kristi, Joe, Bill, Karen, and myself. The three founders plus Karen and Bill were the people that would run this place, at least until we needed more people. That only left out one scientist for now, and Caroline was happily working in her new lab space.
I kept thinking company thoughts, but really the five of us were the government right now of a new planet. It would take time to adjust my thoughts to that reality, which was kind of scary if I thought about it too long. Worse, Kristi seemed to be content to push me into the head position. I’d thought she’d do a good job although she hadn’t gone for it, she also had better legs than me. Okay, that was nonsensical, but still two completely true if unrelated facts.
Al cleared his throat, which stopped my nervous internal monologue.
“All twenty-five of the new treaty worlds have accepted us, and more than half, fourteen of them, are already offering their scientists the opportunity to come and work with us. They are also to a world, pushing hard in the media and to their contacts on the older treaty worlds, to please back down and allow the Bug problem to be resolved. They are even using the last battle as a lever, and suggest if it takes too long, those Bug ships with the anti-anti-FTL missile weapons will lead the charge during the next group of waves, and roll over the current Seltan defenses and right up the Orion arm.”
He paused for a moment, “The other old treaty worlds, are fighting amongst themselves. Many want to annihilate them down to the last Bug no matter the cost, but some are counseling the sure and quick solution would be better. As you surmised, the press and leaders of most of the old treaty worlds are vilifying you all for holding this over their heads to get your way.”
That was crap of course, not just regular crap either, but entitled crap. They weren’t blaming all the other worlds not in the fight, who were basically saying the same thing, back off of genocide and we’ll assist you. It’s only because we offered a full solution with no more battles and deaths for their people, that we had that kind of rhetoric flung at us. Because they felt entitled to it simply because we had the ability.
He added, “So far you are being tried in Earth’s press, for stealing technology and fleeing rightful prosecution, but the rest of the worlds are ignoring it as you predicted. Even the old treaty worlds told the Earth to show proof of the crime, or shut up about it. There is no speculation in the press at all about your confrontation with Admiral Abramov on any world. I can only conjecture that all those present, which at the end was thousands of military ships from thirty-two worlds, are keeping your military might a secret from their populations.”
I shrugged, no surprise there. Military secrets and stuff.
I asked, “Is that it?”
Joe spoke when Al didn’t, “Several worlds have already contacted me and are eager to set up business for the nanites and quantum computers. It will actually work out pretty good, because I’ll wind up with all those contacts when you egg heads start to hand out free ideas.”
“Egg heads?” I asked with a sharp look.
Joe just winked, he seemed just as invincible to my glare as his lovely wife.
; Speaking of, Kristi said, “I built a database that will track projects, since this is an open and free thing, almost an extremely large think tank, it will correlate and suggest other scientists with overlapping interests and suspected synergies.”
I nodded slowly, “So like a dating site, but for science.”
She snickered, “Pretty much.”
Bill shrugged, “I haven’t had to arrest anyone yet,” he joked, and then said, “I’m pretty familiar with what’s available now though, mostly gravity emitters in every deck which will apprehend and hold anyone doing something stupid, dangerous, or illegal. It can even move a suspect to the brig and remove any objects or articles from their clothing, which I admit is pretty impressive. My only staff right now are the five A.I.s which run the security protocols for the city ship.”
I nodded, “Just let me and Karen know when you need more staff.”
Karen shrugged, “I’ll just do what I did before, until something new comes along. It won’t be that much different, I just need to assign a living space in addition to a lab and office.”
I added, “Well, it seems like we’re ready. The hydroponics are just getting started, and the park needs to grow some, but other than that we’re in good shape. We have plenty of food in stasis until it’s needed. If we get a huge influx of people at once, I’ll have to hire a few Knomen from Athiren, otherwise… anything else?”
No one had anything else, so we broke up the first semi-official official meeting, and hunted down lunch in the kitchen. Bill and I took a walk after that, the center of the ship was still very nice already, although when the trees grew in it would be even better. Ironically, that would happen about the same time the surface of Minerva was suitable for human life.
It didn’t take very long for the arguments to play out. Human nature took over, and the worlds argued about cost in lives and equipment, and if they could get the bugs quarantined they should let us. Some even said they’d agree just to call my bluff, they didn’t believe I could do it, which of course it wasn’t a bluff. Hopefully they wouldn’t push me by changing their minds afterward.
The last holdout a few days later was the Seltan, and I actually called Dral personally to try and persuade him. Of all the tough nuts to crack, he was the one that was against backing down for actual reasons of honor. He wasn’t afraid of the bugs, he wasn’t prejudiced against their differences, and he wasn’t filled with hate and disgust at what they were, unlike most of the humanoid races which had been determined to annihilate them.
Dral just thought it was dumb to leave such a deadly and determined enemy alive, an enemy that his people had fought against for so long.
Worse, it was really hard to talk someone into letting me do something I didn’t want to do, something that would damage my heart. Sure, they deserved it, but that was easy to say for the people that didn’t have to pull the trigger. I could have walked away, absolved myself of the responsibility. It truly wasn’t my burden; I had picked it up.
Merely because I had the ability, and didn’t trust anyone else to be its steward.
“Al, go ahead and connect me to Dral if he has a moment?”
Dral looked imposing, or his hologram did. I was sure I looked like a puny, young, short, scientist. I knew I was attractive, but I doubted I had any effect on this giant four armed being in that way.
“Dral, it is good to speak to you. I wish to ask you to yield the burden of quarantining the Bug worlds to me, and I swear by my honor I will keep them penned up.”
Dral nodded, “I trust you Alicia Jones, with my life and that of my people’s, your words always speak true. Yet, what happens when you pass from this world, who then will ensure the Bugs do not regain space and once again come for us? Perhaps even that is easy to answer, your issue may take up the cause, or some worthy successor, but what about in a thousand years, or ten thousand? Shall we abide this threat for eternity? Who will or even can watch for that long?”
Did he just say my kid would do it?
I argued, “The hope is that they’ll overcome their instincts, as we have started to do with ours, yet still continue to struggle with. I can’t guarantee forever, no one can. But the technology will continue even without me for a very long time. It’s not as if we will forget they are there, or not grow even more powerful while they are restricted and kept behind stuck on their worlds.
“Do you not have fierce predators on your world that can still kill your kind?” I asked curiously.
When Dral nodded I continued, “As does Earth, and most other humanoid worlds. We do not seek to destroy a predator to safeguard the lives of the unwary and stupid, unless the animal becomes a hunter of all humans, because we know genocide is ultimately wrong, even against an animal without sentience. How much more wrong is it to commit genocide against a sentient race. They are strange, alien, but sentient.
“And like the fool that wanders on my old world where he shouldn’t go, and is taken down by the fierce jaws of a lion, if our descendants are foolish enough to stop watching for the danger that is right before their eyes, then so be it. I will not take part in an abominable act such as genocide, just to safeguard those that should be watching out for themselves. The goal should be to remove the threat, not an entire species. Without any danger our descendants will grow up soft and unwary, and be taken easily by the next threat. Competition for life is not a bad thing.”
That was pretty harsh to say, and I wasn’t sure if I completely agreed with the sentiment of letting my foolish descendants die, but in a way it was true as well. If they were dumb enough to walk off a cliff with closed eyes, that wasn’t cause for me to do something that would destroy my own soul.
He frowned thoughtfully, “Your words are wise. I was too focused on the threat, and had not considered the damage removing it completely would do to my people. Quarantine them and remove them from space, and I will abide by your wishes in this manner, and not attack them when they are helpless and disarmed.”
I held in a sigh and nodded in agreement, and then he signed off.
I stared at the blank wall for quite a while before I gave the order.
“Al, operation clean-sweep please.”
Al replied, “Please verify order.”
I cleared my throat, “Order verified, clean-sweep is a go.”
I sat down and wept as I watched the hologram of eighty-five worlds have their orbitals completely sanitized. Not looking away was the least I could do as I destroyed all those lives.
That’s a good word right? Sanitized. It sounds so nice, clean, and bloodless. Not nearly as bad as the word massacred. They didn’t have a chance, and it took a mere few seconds at each world. The platform stopped at a strategic spot, fired three targeted waves at the hives that annihilated all matter in its reach, and then moved to the next world. A second or two at each world, and a few seconds to move between them, that was twelve worlds a minute for each of the four platforms.
So it took less than two minutes, and my chest ached as I watched the slaughter, yet I couldn’t look away even as it became blurry through my tears.
I’d just saved billions of lives, thousands of billions of bug lives on the surfaces of their worlds, and perhaps billions of humanoid lives that might have been taken had I not used the power I’d created. Billions.
I’d just had to kill about two hundred some odd million of the enemy Bugs to do it.
I hoped that would be it. I’d be able to build a city, and then a world of scientists making things better. Maybe take a peek at our neighbors, the other galaxies, to see if they were another experiment altogether with unseen lifeforms, or a duplicate experiment with the same four lifeform types, or maybe just random evolution. It would be interesting to see. I kind of doubted we’d ever solve the mystery of the seeders though, and that was fine. Then again, maybe they left us a message to find, and we’d find it someday.
In the end it didn’t matter, this wasn’t about them, it was now our story. That was the seeder’s gift, w
hether meant as one or not.
I didn’t want any part of the military any longer. I didn’t doubt that the Bugs should be stopped, they were ravenous and never ceased, and they would have attacked us until we were all dead. But that didn’t matter, it wasn’t about them dying, what made me weep was that I’d been the one to pull the trigger.
I wondered what was next, and I wondered what the Drenil thought about what I’d just done, I had no doubt they knew. I got up to seek out Bill, he would be a balm for my soul, I hoped so anyway…
Afterword:
I hope you enjoyed this story, if you did please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, and I would greatly appreciate any constructive feedback or opinions.
This story was hard to write, mostly the ending, and I hoped I caught the right tone for what went on. Anyway, there’s only going to be one more book to tie Alicia’s story up. Alicia Jones is the last of my original three series, so it’s a strange feeling to be able to see the end of it. I have more Spirit Sorceress coming, and I’ll also be releasing a new series here soon, which has an odd twist on the person sent to another world genre.
About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at [email protected] If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book. I can also be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7456808.D_L_Harrison
Other books by D. L. Harrison:
http://www.amazon.com/author/dlharrison
The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.
Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately, she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.
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