by Charles Lamb
Before long Jake could see the Chinese troops pressing into the compound as vast sections of the barrier fence was powered down.
“Looks like Bo and Robert delivered as promised,” he said to the open room filled with people as a loud cheer broke out.
----*----
HeBak was a bit surprised by the meeting request he received first thing in the morning. The message simply asked if he was available to speak to Colonel Thomas later that day. He was aware that was the name of the human resistance leader and that the two had met several times before, however HeBak treated the question as if it were a request for an audience.
So far the humans had been more than accommodating to his prolonged stay. In part that was because they originally captured him trying to escape after stealing precious metals. However, the fact that he had never actually asked to leave held a certain sway in the circumstances.
He eventually accepted the request and then spent the remainder of his day doing nothing particularly special to prepare for the visit. He was sure the humans wanted something from him or they would have simply arrived at the door to his ship and requested entrance.
That particular point did strike him as strange, as the humans had never actually demanded anything from him once he declared himself a refugee from his home world. Though he doubted they actually believed the story he had provided, thin as it was, they had simply accepted it and moved on.
So far HeBak had profited greatly from the current relationship, and he firmly believed that the humans had done so as well. The last time the humans had reached out to him, it was to assist in the eventual location of the space armada that was destined to attack them here. The reward for that mission had been particularly large.
Since then HeBak had been left to his own devices, patiently awaiting the day he could return to civilization and begin spending the massive wealth accumulated in his ship’s hold. He has still not decided on whether to return to the home world or if he wanted his own moon as a massive display of wealth.
It was as he was considering his options that the ship’s systems notified him of his visitor. Moving from his sleeping quarters, where he had been resting, to his lounge space on the ship, he was in no particular hurry. He finally settled into a comfortable chair before releasing the lock on the airlock hatch and allowing the human access to the airlock.
HeBak maintained his native atmosphere inside his vessel to provide for his comfort. He was keenly aware that the humans couldn’t breathe inside his ship so they would be at a disadvantage, something he had experienced many times when dealing with them on the outside.
A noise at the entry to his lounge drew his attention as he watched the human they called Jake standing at the opening.
“May I come in?” he asked as he motioned.
“Please, do have a seat,” HeBak replied as he indicated one of the least comfortable seats in the room.
The human wasn’t wearing one of their uniforms, as HeBak had expected, rather this one wore only a face mask that covered its eyes, nose and mouth. He could also see the headpiece that only this particular human seemed to be able to use to communicate. He had never seen it used by any other.
While it still required its simplistic audio speech to be translated, it could natively hear HeBak, something that frankly disturbed him. It was like having a pet that could suddenly write.
“How may I help you?” HeBak finally asked, after the two sat quietly for several microcycles.
“Actually, that is exactly why I am here. I need your help in arranging a face to face meeting with the new NeHaw leadership,” the human replied.
At the statement, HeBak did something he could not recall ever experiencing. He laughed aloud.
“Not to be rude, but why would they agree to such a meeting?” he finally managed to get out after calming himself.
“There have been certain events recently that you may not be aware of. The Empire has suffered certain losses that might be the incentive for such,” the human replied.
HeBak stopped mid retort. He was about to tell this upstart that nothing they could do would inspire NeHaw leadership to meet with beings so far beneath them. Then he remembered that those leaders were gone, and those now in power might want an opportunity to see these creatures as he had. Once that set in another thought came in its place.
“You may recall, I am not in favor on the home world right now. My sympathies for your people has made me an outcast, a refugee of sorts,” he replied, sticking to the cover story he had created when captured. Frankly the thought of returning home under the current circumstances terrified HeBak. It was possible they would execute him on sight.
HeBak watched the human for a reaction. He felt he was getting to the point where he could tell what they were thinking by their body language and facial expressions. So it was with great surprise that he listened to the response.
“Let’s cut the crap shall we? You are no more a refugee than I am a NeHaw. I don’t know what you did back home to get exiled, nor do I really care. Frankly, considering we caught you stealing, I suspect you are some form of criminal and hiding here is your best bet at staying alive. Putting all that aside, you are far more likely to survive a trip home than any of us would just trying to find it,” the human finished.
“Perhaps you are correct, however, why would I choose to take such a risk,” HeBak responded in a candid moment.
“Two reasons. The first is at some point you want to leave here so you can spend all that treasure you have in your hold. I doubt seriously that just sitting down there and staring at it all day is all you want to do? This might give you an opportunity to make amends for whatever you did to get exiled in the first place by bringing them a very valuable opportunity. We will give you something to present to the new leadership there that will insure your safe arrival.”
“And the second?” HeBak asked after considering the first and accepting the statement as valid.
“Besides paying you a vast sum for your effort, if you don’t do this you may be here for a very, very long time.”
----*----
General KaLob was not in a particularly good mood. He had just witnessed the capture of four NeHaw cruisers and the facility they were relying on to give their ships a fighting chance. In addition, the total destruction of supply depots on K-82734, a supposedly safe place.
He was still weighing the options between retaliating against the humans elsewhere or directing those same forces to retake the planet and destroy the ship in orbit there. The latter was much more desirable, but he knew it would come at a great cost.
At one time his people might have brought to bear one of the now forbidden weapons to deal with the situation. They had learned at a terrible cost; some things were not worth the price you had to pay. That lesson had almost cost them their very existence.
Pushing the thought from his mind he continued to work through his resourcing reports. He was trying to find the right combination of ships and crews to push the decision one way or another without gutting their harassment of the Earth aligned planets.
----*----
Robert and Bo were wandering the compound identified as Target 3 in their attack plan. The NeHaw had not gone down without a fight, and Robert had the broken wreckage of two fighters, one tank and one fighting vehicle to prove it. Stuffed into one of the transports, they had sent it and one of the Combat Patrol ships back to Kola with one squadron.
Since both squadrons had lost a fighter, the pilots surviving the crashes as they safely ejected, it seemed irrelevant which went back to Kola and which stayed behind to cover the ground forces, should something unexpected come up.
The big concern presently was that a NeHaw force would be sent to retake the planet before the humans had retrieved the Intel they came for. Almost laughably, the Wawobash had appeared right after Target 3 had fallen. Even now, Robert could see them scurrying around as they bounced between the cruisers under modification and the building surrounding
the landing pads.
“Major, may I have a word?” Robert heard from behind him. As he turned, he found the Marine Sargent he had met the day before approaching them.
It had been quite a sight that day, as he and Bo had been organizing the security forces within the compound, to watch the four man team come strolling in from outside the fence. Bo seemed to have some eureka moment as he realized the Scout/Sniper team had been assisting in the assault on the compound.
“What can I do for you?” Robert replied, not overly concerned about the rank thing. In his eyes, this man and his team had earned the respect of everyone here.
“If you don’t mind, my people and I would like to hitch a ride back to the ship. We have been in the boonies for weeks, so a hot shower and cold beer would be very welcome right now.”
Looking at Bo for a response, he received a nod of agreement.
“I can’t see a good reason for you to stay unless you want to go out and look for escaped NeHaw,” Robert replied. There had been a small number of NeHaw security force members that had slipped out after the fall of the compound, but most had been quickly rounded up.
“Thanks sir, but no,” Jason replied with a smile.
“Check and see when the next run to Kola is scheduled and get on it. If anyone questions you, tell them to see me or Colonel Bo.
----*----
While the Earth was battling aliens in space, Joe and Abby were on duty, watching the art recovery teams back at work in Central Park. They had complained to Jake that they would be of far greater use on the battlefield than here babysitting. He had replied that while others were securing their future, they were insuring the past would not be lost or forgotten.
So now, besides working as security for the teams scrubbing the museums throughout New York, they were doing double duty as a team of medics worked an ever-increasing line of civilians. The rag tag group of men, women and children had come from all over the city to seek medical attention.
Arriving before the ships, the 10th had established an ironclad rule that once the ships had landed in the park, no weapons would be allowed within the boundaries of the park, no exceptions. There were a few incidents in the beginning, and examples had to be made of some nonbelievers.
After one of the troopers took a shotgun blast to the chest with no effect, in front of a large crowd, the point was made. The unconscious form of the offender was drug off by his gang, and no other challenges of the restrictions were made. Joe was happy to see the gangs policing themselves at the very next visit.
He was concerned, however, that Jessie had made mention of crossing the Atlantic soon in search of more museums to plunder. With the troubles here, he wondered how many other cities they were going to have to subdue.
Chapter 22
The tracker they had placed on the NeHaw HeBak’s ship was designed to report back to Earth every time the ship dropped out of FTL and then go to sleep to avoid detection. Attached to the ship's navigation system, it would use the same link the pilot used to verify their location in NeHaw space by attaching to the nearest link point.
Linda had a 24-hour monitor on the feed, creating a track and following the NeHaw as he bounced around the star systems of the NeHaw Empire. Apparently, it was a standard practice for a NeHaw to never return home in a straight run, thus protecting the location.
Linda wasn’t sure what Jake’s plan was, but it all hinged on learning the exact location of their home planet.
“He has dropped out of FTL again,” one of the analysts commented as the display lit up with the latest data. The red dot in the 3D holograph showed a haphazard pattern leapfrogging all across the map, from sector to sector. If Linda didn’t know better, she would swear HeBak was procrastinating.
----*----
Colonel Banks and Leftanant Atkins were sitting on the bridge of the Phantom, evaluating a fresh piece of Intel. After their successful raid on the supply planet, K-82734, they had paused to do a damage assessment when the information came in.
During the assault on G-43578, the analysts on Earth were alerted to a large-scale moment of vessels away from their stationary locations but not to a mustering point. That movement left other targets of opportunity unprotected.
The current object of interest was an asteroid floating free in space. As a celestial body unattached to a solar system, the NeHaw had been using it as a base of operations for several sectors. Unlike the supply depot they had just destroyed, this was a command center of some kind.
Both men envisioned it as a wonderful chance to grab intelligence as well as an opportunity to disrupt the NeHaw command and control for the region.
“I’m submitting the request now,” Banks said as he hit the transmit key.
“Let’s hope they see the brilliance of our proposal,” Daniel replied with a broad smile.
----*----
General KaLob had decided on a course of action regarding the humans’ latest activities. It made little sense to try and drive them off G-43578 as they were now the entrenched defender, and it would require a significant force to overcome them and the massive ship protecting them.
It was the opinions of his planning division that the facilities there would not survive the encounter intact, therefore they would be fighting over nothing. With that decided, they turned their attention to other opportunities throughout the rebellious region.
The Earth capital ships were usually clustered near their home world, making any attempts at striking at the heart of their civilization risky at best. Now, however, they found the human resources scattered throughout the universe, providing a rare opportunity.
So it was, with rare NeHaw urgency, that KaLob issued an emergency recall command for a significant number of ships to converge on a new target.
----*----
HeBak was not as sure as he had once been that this was going to turn out the way he had hoped. The human they called Jake had made a good argument that should this mission be successful, his safe return to NeHaw space would be not only possible, but likely.
In preparation for the voyage, as he would need his ship for the return flight to the NeHaw home world, his vessel had been emptied of its precious metals. He had not been so eager to see his wealth removed from his hold for safekeeping. As they would certainly search the vessel once he returned home, that much wealth would not only raise suspicions, but would likely be confiscated, taken for the good of the empire.
His only hope of retaining his hard-earned retirement was to leave it behind for safe keeping with the humans. It also insured his completing the mission and not just skipping off, as the human had candidly explained.
So, HeBak had left the Earth and began the long and monotonous voyage to the edge of their solar system. Once there, he got a good look at the monstrosity they had constructed there. While it was not a NeHaw trait to build such free floating orphaned structures, as they tended to utilize planets, moons and asteroids for such fortifications, he understood the need.
Finally, he engaged the navigation system auto pilot to perform a sequenced set of FTL jumps designed to confuse anyone attempting to track his movements. There would be several jumps to irrelevant locations before finally arriving at the desired destination. This was a standard NeHaw practice drilled into anyone who went off the planet.
Once engaged, HeBak retreated to his lounge where he planned on becoming one with a meal.
----*----
“Can you repeat that please?” Jake asked incredulously as he conferred with the lead Wawobash scientist responsible for reviewing the facility on G-43578.
“We have determined that the NeHaw are utilizing an older process for creating hull plating. We once used the same process, but abandoned it long ago as it is quite time consuming and expensive. The materials required for the manufacturing process are only found in certain parts of the Empire. This planet is the most well-known source of that material, which is why they came here.”
“So, you are telling me we took
this planet to learn about something you already knew how to do?” Jake asked, doing his best to remain calm.
“It is unfortunate you did not discuss this with us prior to your attack, you might have been able to avoid the encounter entirely. However, I should point out that you now control a significant source of materials that resist your railgun weapons. That alone is of some value to you,” the Wawobash scientist finished with what Jake took to be a smile. Unfortunately, with the canine features it translated to a snarl in the human experience.
“We will be providing a detailed report on the facility and how the plating materials work against your weapons. I hope you find that information equal to the payment provided, as we do not find fault in our work here. Our contract was to analyze your conquest for military applications and provide recommendations for use and countermeasures. That work was made simpler for us as it is a known technology.”
“Yes, thank you,” Jake replied as he waved Patti over to handle the logistics of the situation.
“This is unbelievable,” Jake mumbled as he left the conference room.
----*----
With the minor damage to ALICE-3 created by the NeHaw attack repaired, Brian and ALICE-3 had moved to the edge of the Wawobash system. The events on both G-43578 and K- 82734 had them on edge, so the move put them in a position to jump to FTL for either location, at a moment’s notice. In a reversal of roles, they had the four Combat Patrol ships placed in a picket line between them and the shipyards.
In an effort to prepare for the worst, they had all four ships resupply from the battleship’s stores to ensure they could survive for an extended period, should ALICE-3 need to vacate the area. Noting their tolerance for a broad range of foodstuffs, the Russian crews joked that they could always hit the Wawobash up for food. Brian explained that it was likely a private joke neither ALICE-3 nor Brian chose to explore.