by Charles Lamb
Jake watched as KaLob began scanning the images that came up on his system. He wasn’t sure, but it appeared the General was becoming agitated as he read.
“This information is accurate?” the General finally asked as he went back to flipping through the information.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Jake replied truthfully.
“Are you insane? There was a reason these items were forbidden. How did you even come across the references for building this, this Pandora’s Box of Death? This data is classified at the highest levels.”
The reference to Pandora’s Box caught Jake off guard. Apparently, the good General had been studying Earth, as Jake suspected. It was something atypical for the NeHaw and not to be underestimated.
“All the required information was obtained from a crashed NeHaw exploration vessel. You say it’s classified and yet your ships carry access to it?” Jake asked in reply.
“As you say, that was unfortunate. Unlike combat vessels, research ships have greater access to sensitive materials should they run across weapons or other such items in their role as first contact explorers. The ability to construct such things are still highly protected, with Captain’s only access, how did you manage that?” KaLob asked suspiciously.
“Perhaps the crash removed such safeguards, I do not know as it occurred well before my time,” Jake lied. Apparently the ALICEs had inadvertently been able to access NeHaw encrypted data natively, which would explain why they never saw protected content in the NeHaw communications net until recently when things were dramatically changed. It was all open to them previously.
“So, the intent of this meeting is for you to threaten me with the use of these weapons on my home world?” KaLob asked pointedly.
“No, the intent of this meeting is to ensure that the use of these weapons never occurs on either side. On my world, in its history, we experienced something called Mutually Assured Destruction. Several countries had the ability to vaporize their enemies, should they get pushed in a corner. Thanks to your predecessors, that never happened as we were collectively almost obliterated.”
“If they were aware you have these weapons, I would have done the same,” KaLob replied firmly.
“Only you can confirm that. I am led to believe it was other factors that drove the attack on Earth. Regardless, we are now in a position where another attempt on my planet would force us to retaliate in a fashion detrimental to both species. Please note the navigation data on your screen,” Jake finished.
“That is the NeHaw home world,” the General acknowledged.
“So, we are even. You know where I live and I know where you live.”
“What are you proposing?” KaLob asked after a moment’s consideration.
“An armistice. No one claims victory, or both do; I do not care. We just stop fighting. We need to agree to a buffer zone, a demilitarized area in space, composed of these sectors.” Jake said as he manipulated the display once more, showing NeHaw 3D space navigation charts.
“You stay on your side and we stick to ours,” Jake finished as the sectors he proposed for Earth outlined clearly.
“You claim space you do not occupy?” KaLob noted absently as he manipulated the 3D charts to better analyze the proposal.
“Some of those sectors contain species aligned with our efforts and sympathetic to our cause. In addition, we chose natural voids where distances between sectors provided clear boundaries. A complicated web would be impossible to monitor and enforce, creating a high probability of conflict due to errors on either side. Besides, we occupy territory well on the other side of that boundary,” Jake replied, referring to Robert and Bo sitting on G-43578.
Jake watched as the General moved through all the data provided, stopping and reviewing several pieces. Jake knew the NeHaw were an arrogant species, so he suspected that the General had more than just this to consider. He had to sell this back home.
“And I am to take you at your word you have these weapons?” the General finally asked.
“I was afraid you would want a demonstration,” Jake replied before hitting some keys.
With one motion, he activated systems that made the walls of their module transparent. Both could see the ships they arrived in as well as the open space around them. Jake motioned to the General to watch the three rocks floating a good distance away.
“I believe you are familiar with this,” Jake said before activating the weapon.
As both watched, one of the three bodies displayed a bright white flash as the weapon Jake had secretly placed there earlier was triggered. The two watched in fascination and horror as the first of the three bodies began to fold in on itself, the explosion consuming matter until it was nothing but a bright flash of white.
Next it reached for the closest of its neighbors, consuming it while reaching out for the third. Within minutes all three spheres were gone, leaving only black empty space.
“Good enough?” Jake asked as he returned the walls to their previous settings and focused on his counterpart.
“You really are insane,” the General replied sadly.
“No, just desperate. We cannot beat you without escalating things and that is something I will not voluntarily do. Please do not put me in a position where I have to choose between your survival or mine. I have no doubt that you can create these weapons, or that you may already have some stored away,” Jake explained.
“It is meaningless as you have a vast Empire to draw from and would eventually exhaust our ability to fight. Only a truce will provide the means for us both to move forward. Who knows, maybe someday we can even be friends,” Jake added.
Jake watched as the General sat staring at him, as if studying a specimen in a lab. After several minutes, he finally replied.
“You will withdraw your troops from those areas on our side of these boundaries and cease all combat activities on a date and time to be agreed by both parties, D Day, H Hour, M Minute, NeHaw standard time. In return, I will order my ships to withdraw to our side of this DMZ and cease all harassment of shipping as well as other hostilities. Know that we have the technology to detect FTL traffic and will deploy such along the established sector boundaries,” KaLob stated.
“As do we,” Jake lied. He had no idea how one would detect ships in FTL, but was sure that was now their top priority.
“Then I agree to the terms as stated. I believe this is a step in the right direction General,” Jake added.
“And I believe we no longer need to battle with you. Your species is going to destroy itself,” the General replied sternly.
----*----
The two Generals spent several hours hammering out an agreement that both promised to enforce back home. While Jake had no concerns about keeping his side of the deal, he wondered if KaLob would have trouble with the hard sell back home. Both agreed to keep it simple and not complicate matters with complex requirements.
The NeHaw assured him that while this was a one-of-a-kind event in NeHaw history, the relief this offered his people would be obvious to all. His bigger concern was in unraveling the mess the war left behind. Even now, the upheaval caused by the overthrow of the corrupt political class had him rebuilding a civil service organization intended to take over the non-military management of things.
With the exact date and time set for the agreement to begin enforcement as tomorrow, at the NeHaw version of noon, Jake had begun the peace process as soon as he departed the meeting with General KaLob. He transmitted the agreement home before going to FTL, in part to postpone the inevitable questions. As part of their agreement, both parties sent the cease and desist orders out before departing the module. It required all warships to retreat to their side of the boundary within a fixed timeframe, and for Jake to insure that Robert and Bo were to come home with Kola immediately.
Once they were back in their ships and preparing to leave, Jake destroyed the module, leaving no trace they had ever been there. General KaLob was quite happy to agree that the meeting an
d its contents, beyond the agreement, would remain undisclosed. Besides the revelation of the weapons locked away on Earth, it might be considered a sign of weakness should anyone learn about his collaboration with a human.
It took several weeks for Jake to get the word out that the war was over and the NeHaw had agreed to a truce. As the ALICEs were integral parts of the initial proposal, they were prepared to explain the Neutral Zone to all the allied planets. While the concept of a DMZ was foreign to them, they understood the part about no more NeHaw warships in their space.
During the entire trip home, Jake was flooded with questions of who, why and how. Most he could answer, but the one as to why the NeHaw had agreed to come to the table was one he skirted.
----*----
Grace Middleton was awash in work as she concentrated on the display in front of her. General Thomas had been good to his word, as she was now home in Georgia and working from the ALICE-9 facility there. While not officially doing anything for ALICE-9 herself just yet, the pair of them actively analyzed the southern states to locate possible communities to recruit.
After the announcement of the truce with the NeHaw, the need for combat analysts had dropped to a point where she was just in the way. With others intent on making that their career, she was more than happy to opt out.
Once she was free, Jake had agreed to approve her transfer, on the condition that all her activities in Georgia be supervised by ALICE or Dallas. Considering ALICE-9 was still a newborn, the pair of them were on probation.
The restrictions were hardly an issue as the two were already conspiring to prove to everyone they had what it takes to make ALICE-9 a full-fledged facility.
“ALICE-9, look at this one,” Grace said as she brought up the file and what she thought was a promising find.
Chapter 29
The weather in Lanai was a balmy, sunny, 75 degrees as the beach party was getting into full swing. Jacob and Gemma had been more than happy to host the party celebrating the Truce with the NeHaw. The beach they had chosen for the event was wide and long, providing more than enough space for the 100 plus people that had traveled to be there.
Jake and Sara had brought the twins from Nevada, with both Linda and Kathy along for the ride. Sandy had come separately with Becky, as they had swung north to pick up Jessie, taking the long way around. Robert and Bonnie had come as well, completing the parenting count as all the kids were there.
Tracy, Julie, Timothy and Ryan were all old enough now to be mobile and attracted to the sand and water. Amber and Jade were safely tucked away under a shade, preventing any overexposure. Finally, both Jon and Padma were in heaven as they raced up and down the beach, chasing any sea birds foolish enough to land nearby.
Adding to the mayhem, Jake had brought Kona along for the trip. The Shepherd was having a blast, as she chased the kids up and down the beach. She was also mixing in among the adults as she begged treats from those eating. Twice, Jake saw her herding one of the little ones away from the water’s edge, before even the mothers could intervene. He was positive the dog was having the time of her life.
Besides the kids directly related to Jake in some fashion, there were other families enjoying the freedom that Lanai provided in its natural safety and security. Jake was delighted to see so many people out having a good time. In his opinion, it was about time.
That thought brought him back around to others, mostly those regarding Earth. Now that the NeHaw were a concern rather than a threat, as he was not foolish enough to believe they would go away permanently, it was time to look inward.
New York was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to issues they would encounter with every city they visited. Europe, Asia and everywhere else they went, people had reestablished themselves in nontraditional ways. Who was he to say that the gangs now running New York should be displaced, any more than a Warlord in Nepal or an Archduke in Germany?
And then there were places like Iceland, where they had never really stopped being…. Icelanders. Those places in the world where the people had just continued being themselves, ignoring the fact that the government didn’t exist anymore.
“Why are you frowning?” Jessie asked Jake as she strolled up the beach in front of him. He couldn’t help noticing the bikini she had chosen for the event was incredibly sexy. Who says moms can’t be sexy, he thought to himself.
“You are just the right person at the right time,” he replied as he recalled her interest in world history.
“There’s a dune over there where no one would see us?” she replied as she gave him a wink.
“I was referring to your mind, not your body,” Jake replied, while wrapping his arm around her shoulders in a hug,
“Both are yours to do with as you please,” she replied in a sultry voice as she pressed against him.
“Let’s talk first, shall we?” He replied.
As they stood there, Jake shared all he had been thinking. Jessie would ask the occasional question as they exchanged ideas on his concerns and possible solutions for future interactions with the world’s populations. While he spoke, he could see Jessie staring at the shore, where he assumed his words were giving her cause for thought. At one point, he paused, asking for her thoughts and she replied.
“I think you are right in worrying about those things, but I fear we have another issue right under our noses,” she said.
“What?’ Jake asked, confused at her reply.
“Why aren’t those two actually speaking to each other?” Jessie said as she pointed to the water.
From where they stood, no more than a few feet from the water, they could see Julie and Timothy at the water’s edge. As they watched, they saw Timothy point to a stick floating near Julie, who was not looking at him but turned to where he was pointing.
The adults watched as the two children gestured to one another, and Julie squatted to pick up the floating stick and handed it to him. During the entire exchange, not a word was spoken and as Jake and Jessie watched, the two began to wander away toward the other kids.
“Did you see that,” Jessie asked, looking for validation.
“Not only did I see it, I heard it,” Jake replied while pointing to his head.
Table of Contents
AL:ICE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29