A Savage War Of Peace (Ark Royal Book 5)

by Christopher Nuttall

  He smiled as he caught sight of an odd bird-like creature fluttering its way through the air, flying towards a grove of strange-looking trees. Another followed, keeping a wary distance from the humans; he couldn't help wondering if they knew to be afraid of human weapons or if they were merely concerned about the strangers. The Vesy were humanoid too, after all, and the bird-like creatures might not be intelligent enough to tell the difference. Or maybe they were just naturally frightened of creatures that were larger than themselves.

  His radio buzzed. “General, we have a line of aliens leaving the city,” the orbital observer said. “They’re heading right towards the LZ.”

  “Keep tracking them,” Anjeet ordered, calmly. “Do they appear to be armed?”

  “Only with swords, spears and bows,” the observer said. “However, they are wearing long cloaks and may be concealing more modern weapons.”

  Anjeet smiled. In his experience, people liked to show their strength before starting negotiations, if only to prove they simply couldn't be pushed too far. If that held true for the Vesy too, and nothing in the Russian files suggested otherwise, they would have carried modern weapons if they’d had them. That was good, he told himself. Their new allies would be hungry for human weapons and technology, which would make them very willing to do whatever it took to get their hands on them. India would have a very strong bargaining position indeed.

  “Keep tracking them,” he repeated. “ETA?”

  “At current rate of progress, twenty minutes,” the observer said. “They’re moving at quite a clip.”

  Don’t want us to leave before they have a chance to speak to us, Anjeet thought. The one downside of his refusal to coordinate with the British - let alone everyone else who had arrived - was that there was no way to know just who the British had talked to during their six months in sole control of the planet. He rather doubted the British had had a chance to do much, but it would have been nice to know. They must be desperate after the God-King showed them that empire was possible.

  He waited, feeling sweat trickling down his back, until the aliens finally came into view, standing at the edge of the field. He’d thought himself prepared for their appearance, knowing that they were far closer to humanity than the Tadpoles, yet he couldn't help feeling a shiver as they stood there. Somehow, looking at the Tadpoles was far easier, despite the complete lack of real common ground. The Vesy were just close enough to humanity to make him feel uncomfortable, as if his mind insisted on seeing them as human even though they unquestionably weren't. It was, he hoped, a reaction he would overcome very quickly.

  The Vesy stopped, then made a show of laying down their weapons on the grass-like ground before resuming their advance, holding their hands in the air to show they were unarmed. It made Anjeet wonder if the Russians had taught them how to approach human ships, or - more likely - if it was something they’d developed for themselves. Humanity had evolved ways to signify a lack of weapons long before they’d reached for the stars.

  He frowned as he studied the group. There were six of them in all, five wearing coloured robes with their heads uncovered, the sixth wearing a long hooded cloak that hid his face from view. Was there a reason for that? He had no idea; maybe it was a woman, hiding her face from the infidels, or maybe it was the person who was actually in command. Anjeet reminded himself, sharply, that it was dangerous to jump to conclusions, not when aliens were involved. Their culture was so different from humanity’s that something as simple as shaking his head might be interpreted as a major insult that could only be washed away by blood.

  The lead Vesy stepped forward. “I greet you,” he said, in halting Russian. “I am” - he said something that sounded like a rock falling into a muddy patch - “and I rule the city of” - something else, equally unpronounceable - “as its master under the gods. I bid welcome to honoured guests from the stars.”

  “I thank you, in the name of India,” Anjeet said, also in Russian. Thankfully, he’d taken the time to brush up during the voyage. Russian wasn't common outside Russia itself - Eastern Europe and Central Asia still preferred English - but the Russian renegades had taught the Vesy how to speak their language. “It is our hope to arrange a mutually beneficial trade with you.”

  There was a long pause. Anjeet found himself wishing he knew how to interpret their body language. Two of the five stood still, the others twitched their arms in a manner that could signify anything from excitement to a maddening itch. The sixth showed no reaction at all.

  “We would welcome trade with our illustrious guests from the stars,” the lead alien said, finally. “What do we have to offer you in return?”

  Anjeet allowed himself a smile, knowing the aliens would probably understand the expression. “Land,” he said, simply. “We require territory to set up a base. We would be happy to trade goods for land.”

  There was another pause. The aliens conferred briefly amongst themselves, then turned back to face the Indians. “What are you prepared to offer in exchange for land?”

  I never claimed to be a haggling wife, Anjeet thought. It was clear the aliens were fishing for information, perhaps even making use of the language barriers to extract more insight into the human mind, and yet ... they couldn't be blind to the literally priceless goods he could offer. Did they want him to spell out what he could offer them? Or were they testing him to see if he would offer them the equivalent of beads and rattles?

  He looked right at the alien’s beady eyes. “What do you want?”

  The alien’s hands twitched. “The other humans have traded weapons,” he said. “We will trade you land for weapons of our own.”

  Anjeet kept the smile off his face. “It will be our pleasure to trade weapons,” he said. “We can offer you a demonstration of their power right now, if you wish.”

  He wasn't surprised the talk had moved so quickly to weapons, not after the God-King had started to build a genuine empire. Human weapons had tipped the balance of power so decisively in his favour that any state without access to such weapons, even primitive muskets and cannons, was doomed. Anjeet was quite happy, in line with his orders, to supply as many human-designed weapons as his new friends could possibly want. They would be enough to ensure their allies became much more powerful, even to the point of building an empire of their own.

  His lips twitched. Furthermore, any human-designed weapon would require human-designed ammunition. He could practically give the weapons away, in exchange for land, and then drive a hard bargain over each bullet. And, as the weapons had been designed in India, they would have problems obtaining compatible ammunition from other human powers.

  The aliens held another brief conference. Their words would be recorded and fed through the translator, Anjeet knew, although the translations were very far from perfect. This time, one of the aliens leaned up to the veiled alien and muttered to him, so quietly that Anjeet couldn't hear a single word. The answer, if one came, was completely inaudible.

  “We would be happy to see a demonstration,” the lead alien said, finally.

  Anjeet nodded to one of the soldiers, who had already been carefully briefed. The young man unslung his carbine, then pointed it into the air, tracking one of the bird-like creatures as it swooped over the field. He pulled the trigger - the Vesy jumped at the sound, hands reaching for weapons they were no longer carrying - and the bird-like creature disintegrated into a mass of feathers and bloody chunks of meat. The Vesy seemed shocked, even though they had seen - or at least heard about - human weapons in action. Perhaps it was the staggering accuracy of the weapons. Everything Anjeet had heard about longbows suggested that accuracy wasn't one of their prime attributes.

  Although a skilled man might be able to shoot a bird out of the air, he thought, as the aliens conferred once again. It would still take years of training for them to learn how to use a bow so effectively.

  His eyes narrowed as he looked, once again, at the veiled figure. He had shown no reaction at all; it might have been
concealed by his robes, but Anjeet was starting to have a suspicion that the figure was quite familiar with the sound of guns. Indeed, the more he looked at him, the more he wondered if he was staring at a human, rather than another alien. No human could hope to walk like one of the aliens, not without breaking multiple bones, but the robes would conceal anything strange about his movements.

  “We will talk,” the alien leader said, finally.

  “We will,” Anjeet agreed. He motioned towards his shuttle. “Would you care to join us in the shade?”

  He had been curious to see what the Vesy made of the shuttle, but it didn't look as though they were particularly impressed. To them, he realised dully, the inner cabin looked like a soulless metal room. Indeed, it was the sheer preponderance of metal that seemed to impress them the most. Their world didn't lack for metal, according to the Russians, but gathering so much together in one place would be a remarkable feat, for them. The shuttle would be literally priceless even if it was completely grounded, unable to return to the skies.

  “We require five square kilometres of land,” he said, once the Vesy had explored the shuttle and squatted oddly on seats designed for human posteriors. “For this, we are prepared to trade ...”

  The Vesy might have been aliens, but they knew how to drive a hard bargain. It took nearly two hours before they had agreed to sign over the land, in exchange for three thousand human rifles, machine guns and various other weapons, as well as 10’000 rounds of ammunition and free human passage through their territory. The whole concept of an exclusive agreement seemed foreign to them - Anjeet had the feeling they would probably try to play other human factions off against the Indians, once other human factions arrived - but for the moment the Indians were the only humans who had made contact, save for the British. And it didn't seem as through the British were interested in selling weapons.

  Assuming they have them to sell, Anjeet thought. Fort Knight had looked tiny, when he’d peered down at the base from orbit, and had a mere Corporal in command. They didn't come here expecting to run into aliens, so they didn't bring anything they might have wanted to trade.

  “We will move the shuttles to the land as soon as possible,” Anjeet said, when the discussions were complete. “And start ferrying down your payment immediately afterwards.”

  It would be more than that, he knew. His freighters held enough prefabricated components to put a small fortress together on alien soil. If things went sour, they would be able to hold out indefinitely against the best the aliens could do ... or shelter while they called in KEW strikes from orbit to obliterate the imprudent aliens.

  He looked at the veiled alien, once again, then took a gamble. “Who are you?”

  There was a long pause, then the alien pulled back his hood to reveal a pale human face. It wasn't familiar - the Russians had refused to provide lists of potential deserters on Vesy - but that hardly mattered. All that mattered was that the Russian had spent the last six months trapped among the Vesy, learning more about them than anyone else.

  “I am surprised the Indian Government was the first to send ships,” the Russian said, in poor English. “The British should have been able to take the lead.”

  “There were too many political battles on Earth,” Anjeet explained. “And to whom do I have the pleasure of talking?”

  The Russian clammed up. Anjeet felt his patience start to fray.

  “Your comrades have been shot for desertion and various other crimes, chief amongst them embarrassing their government,” Anjeet lied smoothly. In truth, the surviving Russians were being milked of everything they knew about the Vesy. “However, I need someone with experience of talking to the aliens on their terms. Come work for me and I will ensure you leave with a new identity and a small fortune.”

  The Russian eyed him, darkly. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

  “You don’t,” Anjeet said, wondering if the Russian had cracked. Six months without seeing another human face, six months surrounded by aliens who might easily turn on him at any moment ... it was enough to drive anyone insane. “But do you really want to spend the rest of your life here?”

  He watched the Russian closely, wondering just which way the man would jump. It would be easy enough to trade additional weapons or ammunition for the Russian, if he demanded to stay with the Vesy, and the Russian had to know it. Or, even if the Indians showed no further interest in him, his own government would want his head. Embarrassing the Russian Government carried a death sentence, particularly now. Anjeet had no idea just why the other Great Powers had practically sent the Russians to Coventry, without supplying any of the aid they’d promised as part of the peace deal, but the Russians were clearly furious about it.

  “My name is Nikolai Petrovich Zaprudnyi,” the Russian said, finally. “I was an advisor to the Vesy when ... when the base was captured by the British. The Vesy I was with were captured by another city-state, who took me and sold me onwards.”

  Anjeet nodded. He didn't blame the Russian for not trying to escape his captors. Where would he go? The British would be supremely unwelcoming and there were no other human bases on the planet, at least as far as he knew. Now ... absently, he made a note to ensure that Zaprudnyi was properly debriefed. He could tell the Indians more about local politics than they could hope to find out for themselves.

  “We’ll buy him off you,” he said, to the Vesy. Slavery was legal on Vesy, after all, and they’d bought Zaprudnyi from his former captors. “I can offer an extra 1000 rounds of ammunition for him ...”

  Another long haggling session followed. The Vesy had relied on Zaprudnyi to tell them about humanity, it seemed, and they weren't keen to let go of him. Anjeet didn't really blame them, but he needed the Russian himself. In the end, Zaprudnyi was sold to the Indians for 3000 rounds of ammunition and a handful of radios. Faster communication between the city-state - which Zaprudnyi insisted was called something that translated as Flowering Spring - and its armies would only help their expansion. It would probably also lead to micromanagement, Anjeet considered, but it was something he would leave them to find out on their own.

  “Thank you,” Zaprudnyi said, when the aliens were shown out the hatch. “I ... I thank you for saving my life. They would have killed me eventually.”

  “You’re welcome,” Anjeet said. “My intelligence officers will debrief you, thoroughly. Tell them everything they want to know; indeed, help them as much as possible.”

  He paused. “Why did they bring you with them?”

  “They wanted my impressions of the shuttle and your offers,” Zaprudnyi said. “I told them to take what they could get.”

  “Excellent advice,” Anjeet said, dryly. The shuttle rocked as the pilot prepared to move to the land he’d purchased at such high cost. “And I’m sure you will be very helpful in the future.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Transit complete, Captain,” Armstrong said.

  John nodded in relief. The passage through Pegasus had been slower than he’d expected, as they’d needed to hold a long-range conversation with Governor Brown and his team of experts. Unsurprisingly, Brown had complained - hugely - about diverting so much material from his supplies to Vesy, while Captain Minion had been forced to remain at Pegasus, rather than spread his ships between the two systems. It had boded ill for the future.

  “Send a standard IFF pulse to the satellite network,” he ordered, shortly. “And then take us towards the planet, best possible formation speed.”

  “Captain,” Lieutenant Gillian Forbes said. “I’m picking up multiple IFF signals orbiting Vesy, sir, and several more in the out-system.”

  John swore, mentally. “How many?”

  “At least thirty orbiting the planet itself,” Gillian said. She worked her console for a long moment. “I’m picking up Indian, American, French, Israeli and Turkish signals, sir.”

  We were beaten here, John thought, bitterly. It wasn't entirely unexpected, given how badly the political deba
te had broken down, but he’d hoped to get to the planet before anyone else could arrive and complicate matters. God alone knows what’s happening on the surface.

  He frowned, thinking hard. It was a minimum of seven hours to Vesy at their current speed, as the freighters couldn't hope to match Warspite’s acceleration. He could shave that in half by leaving the destroyers with the freighters - and the troop transport - but that would make him look frantic. And he would be frantic. It didn't look as through the various newcomers had started a fight, either with Fort Knight or each other, and he had no legal right to deny them access to Vesy. God alone knew who would win that debate in the World Court.

  Because if we follow the standard rules, he thought, either the Vesy hold the legal right to tell us all to fuck off ... or the Russians own the system. Neither one will please the Admiralty.

  “Send them all a standard greeting,” he ordered, finally. “And then send a message to Fort Knight, requesting a complete update.”