by Saxon Andrew
• • •
The Elder looked over at his Scan Officer, “How many?”
“More than twenty seven thousand, Elder.”
The Elder looked at his display showing the site of the battle and then it turned bright white and went offline.
• • •
One of the Gracken warriors, angered at the loss of his brothers to the explosions, grabbed the hatch of an Abram Tank and pulled on it. It didn’t budge. He put both feet on top of the giant tank and gripped the hatch with both hands. He was pumped high with hormones and he pulled on the hatch with all his strength. The hatch snapped off and all thirty tank’s reactors received the self-destruct signal and went critical. The giant tanks blew up in massive explosions sending shrapnel blowing out into the ranks of the surviving Gracken. One of the tanks was blown into the air and landed on top of the Planetary Commander’s Control Center, killing everyone inside. The massive blasts and shockwaves rolled through the Gracken killing everything they hit. The force fields protected them from the blast but the violent acceleration smashed their bodies against their force fields and pulverized their organs.
• • •
The Unit Commander watched the final struggle and shook his head at the savagery of the enemy. He stared at the wall display as the images of the cleanup changed and he saw a Warrior reaching down to open one of the tanks. His eyes went wide as he realized the Warrior was fully released. There was no way to stop him in time. He immediately turned and ran out of the central control room knocking down three doors as he left the building. The PC watched him leave and couldn’t understand what was going on. The Unit Commander arrived outside the building fully released and sprinted at an incredible speed over the rise that the camp was on and down the hill toward the next row of hills. He was a mile away when he felt the heat of the blast on his back. The shrapnel missed him because there was a hill between him and the camp but the following shockwave blew him off his feet and rolled him a hundred yards. He got up on his knees and shook his head. He looked back toward the camp and saw the giant mushroom of fire rising into the sky.
• • •
The Elder looked at the violent explosion’s aftermath and his Scan Officer said, “Make that a hundred and forty six thousand dead, Elder.”
The Elder was close to rage but forced himself to be calm. He looked at the Secondary Video and saw the ten white ships still in orbit above the planet. The Military Commander on his ship said, “Do we launch our attack against them now?”
The Elder stared at the display and picked up his communicator. “It appears I should have accepted your offer.”
“I really wish you had.”
“I was planning to attack your ships after the ground assault but I can’t do that now. Was that part of your plan?”
“It was.”
“You’re smarter than I thought. We will meet again.”
“I’m sure of it. Perhaps you’ll respect our future offers.”
The Elder slammed the communicator down and looked at his pilot, “Get us out of here.”
The Military Commander said, “I thought we were going to attack those ships?”
The Elder looked at the Commander with a sneer, “Did you not hear our wager?”
“I did.”
“I agreed that whoever won the wager would have the other save their mate at the end of hostilities. How can I attack those ships knowing that being’s mate is on his ship?”
The Commander’s eyes went wide and he said, “You can’t attack that being’s ship.”
“I thought he had made a fools wager. It appears that it was I who was the fool. Set a course for the Capital.”
• • •
The ten Q ships remained in place over the site of the Regiment’s death. There was only silence as they bore witness to the bravery of the valiant warriors making their lives count at the end. They watched along with all the people on Sparta as the Gracken were blown away by the tank’s self-destruction…there were no cheers. Everyone watched and remained silent.
• • •
The six hundred Gracken warships activated their jump drives and disappeared. After a moment Bowen said, “I expected them to attack us after what happened on the planet.”
Tilly said, “They couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because my brilliant husband prevented them from doing it.”
After a few moments Jeanette said, “I’m sorry but I don’t understand. Just how did he stop them from attacking?”
Mike blew out a breath and said, “I want all of you to download the Gracken language at your first opportunity.”
Jeanette said, “Will that answer why?”
“It will. You’ll discover when you look at their language that they are a warrior culture that fully expects to die young. As a result of this fate, they have become a civilization that will gamble on anything. They have a set of norms that are built around making and accepting wagers. They will literally bet on the most insignificant things and the honor around the wagering process is staggering. People will die if they don’t pay their wagers. To win a wager through stealth is looked at as an honor to the winner.”
Tilly said, “That Gracken that Mike made a bet with thought Mike was a fool. He had no intention of using any of his warriors to kill our warriors. That would have been an example of using something unsaid to win the bet.”
Jesse said, “But General Daniels didn’t wait to be beamed to death. He attacked the Gracken and won the bet.”
Mike nodded, “I wondered why Daniels wanted to know how long those crews worked on the heavy blasters when they arrived. They were converting them to conventional heat blasters. He knew he could attack them once the crews began changing them back to their advanced beams. He took advantage of a small detail that the Gracken Wager missed.”
Jeanette leaned back in her chair, “That still doesn’t tell me why they couldn’t attack us.”
Mike slowly shook his head, “I knew the Gracken would not accept a wager that would lead to our forces being released. He also wouldn’t accept a bet that would restrict his actions. It had to be something irrelevant to what was happening. Sparing either of our mates at the end of the conflict was insignificant. The Gracken accepted the wager simply to embarrass me and show me that he was my superior.” Mike paused, “But he lost the bet…and my mate is on the ship with me.”
Jeanette smiled, “He couldn’t attack us and possibly kill Tilly. That would violate the wager you agreed on.”
“I think he saw at the end that he had been outmaneuvered. He left with a higher regard for us than when he arrived. As long as they saw us beneath them, they would never negotiate. Now, I think we’ve at least earned their respect and, at best, their fear.”
Mike looked at the display and said, “We can leave now. Go back to your assignments and I’ll be in touch when we kick off the next drop.”
Elle’s eyebrows went up, “Are you seriously thinking about another drop on this planet?”
“We owe it to our dead warriors. What do you think is going to happen if we delay?”
Jesse said, “They’ll make changes to their technology to handle what they’ve learned about our weapons. I suspect they will start using a combination of conventional and advanced force fields.”
Mike nodded, “I’ve always considered you a very smart person, Jesse. You’re absolutely right. We need to make the drop as quickly as possible.”
Bowen said, “Why would things be different this time?”
Mike looked at Bowen on the display and said, “The Warthogs will be coming with us.”
Bowen smiled.
• • •
The Elder arrived back at the Gracken Capital and took a vehicle to the Grand Chamber. He walked in the building and moved at a slow pace as he moved through the corridors. He thought about the species he had just lost a wager to and began to see things he had missed. By the time he entered the Chamber, he knew that species wa
s going to be a real danger to the Unity.
He walked to the front of the room and took his seat in the front row of the Elders. There were ten rows of twenty Elders and those on the front row were the ones that made the real decisions. It would take a unanimous vote from the other nine rows to defeat a vote made by the front row. Those on the front row held the position for life and nothing they did could be used to change their status. They had earned the right to be on that row and the Elder that lost the wager along with a hundred and fifty thousand warriors did not worry about any punishment for his actions. He did, however, take that loss personally. He watched at the giant wall at the front of the Chamber activated and the battle on Fippen began. The video only covered the time of actual combat between the two forces but it took more than four hours for the video to complete.
At the conclusion, an Elder on the front row said, “What conclusions can we take from this?”
There was a moment of silence and an Elder on the fifth row said, “I notice that you communicated with one of the beings in those white ships. Was there a reason for that?”
The front wall split in half, showing the questioner on one side and the Supreme Elder on the other. The Elder addressed his comments to the wall. “I initially said nothing to that being. But when he offered to serve us one of our favorite meals if we would come and get it, I found it humorous. Both of us knew that we couldn’t approach the other without high losses. It made me curious about one; how did he know how to speak my language without an accent; and two, how did he know about that meal? My counter offer was to see what he knew about our civilization.” The Elder paused and said, “I think that the initial remarks were to start communication but then he got to the point. He used knowledge about our competitions to suggest that I allow him to remove his forces from the planet. Does anyone present know what species this being is or how he could have possibly known about our Heradal Contests?”
The wall went blank waiting for a response and after a few moments went back to the questioner and the Elder. The Elder continued, “It made me wonder if they know our location. I don’t know of any other way he could have had such an intimate view of our society.” He paused and said, “I saw that this species was using weapons that defeated our technology. It was that lack of knowledge and the use of weapons never seen before that led to my communicating with that being.”
A loud voice said, “Correction to statements.”
A video started on the wall and a battle between two Gracken forces appeared and the weapons they were using were very similar to those used by the invaders. The Elder said, “Where were those weapons used?”
The computer said, “The question should be, ‘when were they used’. The video was taken more than seventy five thousand years ago on our home world.”
The Chamber was silent. The wall cleared and the questioner reappeared. “I also notice that you made a wager with that being.”
The Elder reappeared on the wall and his expression showed his anger. “I made a mistake doing that. That being had the gall to suggest that his warriors were superior to mine. I accepted the wager knowing that I was not going to send another one of my warriors in to attack their formations. I was going to use the Beamships and Heavy Blasters to disintegrate every one of them. I made the wager to teach that being who was the real power present and also beat some humility into him when he saw his forces burned out of existence.”
An Elder on the front row said, “But that didn’t happen.”
The Elder who made the comment appeared on the wall and the Elder shook his head, “No, it didn’t. But I ask all of you, would any of you have refused the wager claiming our warriors were inferior?” The wall went blank but no one spoke. After a minute the Elder reappeared on the wall. “That being was much more than I thought. He wagered the protection of our mates at the end of whatever conflict we had between our species and I accepted it. What he was wagering was insignificant. Killing my mate if that species ever came to my planet meant nothing. I knew it would never happen and I would expect her to die if it did. However, he was quite clever. When he won the wager, it prevented me from attacking his ships because she was on board his.”
The Elder paused and said, “We were asked what conclusions we can take from what happened. I’ve had some time to think about this and I’ve determined that this species, whoever they are, is the biggest danger the Unity has ever faced in our long history.” The Elders were shocked by his statement and some of them even mumbled their disagreement. The Elder smiled, “You’re making the same mistake I did. You can’t fathom that anyone is as powerful or as smart as we are. My superiority complex prevented me from accepting his offer to withdraw. That was a ludicrous suggestion. But look at what happened; we lost an entire Right Hand to those eight hundred invaders. I must say if the offer is presented again, I believe I would accept it. This species is at least as smart as we are and I hope you can see that they’re just as dangerous as any of our warriors. They also appear to know more about us than we do about them. Drang, we don’t even know what species they are, much less anything else.”
The Front Row Elder said, “What do you think they’re going to do now?”
The Elder appeared on the front wall again as he said, “Let’s consider, for the moment that they think like us. What would we do if the roles were reversed?”
An elder on the back row said, “We’d go back to that planet and kick the guts out of them.”
“I believe that is exactly what is going to happen.”
The Chamber erupted in confusion. The Elder watched and knew they were not accustomed to being frightened. This was a new experience for all of them.
• • •
The Unit Commander walked back to the site of the former Control Center and found it destroyed. He took a deep breath and saw the Support Officer standing on the other side of the building. She looked up and saw him staring at her. She smirked and said, “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“When you sprinted out of the room I looked at the monitor and saw the warrior pulling on that vehicle’s hatch. I ran out right behind you; I appreciate your removing the three doors. It made my escape easier.”
“What about the Commander?”
The Female looked at the huge tank in the center of the demolished structure and said “I believe he’s under that thing.”
The Commander shook his head, “They really played us.”
“That they did.”
They heard a noise overhead and saw a Beamship dropping toward the ground. They stepped away from its thrusters’ blasts and the huge vessel settled to the ground. The ship’s Commander stepped out carrying a mobile transmitter. “I have a transmission for you.”
The Commander said, “Who is it?”
“One of the Supreme Elders.” The Commander closed his eyes and lowered his head. He took the communicator and looked at the video as the ship’s Commander held it. “I see you managed to survive again, Unit Commander.”
“I ran when I saw the danger, Elder.”
“As well you should have. Your former Commander wasn’t smart enough to issue orders forbidding anyone to approach those vehicles.” The Elder paused and said, “I am promoting you to Planetary Commander.”
The Gracken was shocked. “I’ve done nothing but fail, Elder. Why would you want me?”
“Your plan to attack them at the buildings wouldn’t have failed except for the stupidity of the other two Unit Commanders. The delay is what caused your forces to die. Your running from the control center was the smartest thing you could have done. I expect the species that we just killed will be returning shortly to avenge the deaths of their fellow warriors. I want you to prepare our forces on the planet to meet them.” The Warrior stared at the Elder and the Elder said, “Say what you’re thinking; you won’t be punished for honesty.”
“If that species has a way of destroying our Beamships, I don’t know that we can defeat them with our current weapons.
”
“I agree with you.”
The Warrior was shocked by the response. The Support Officer said, “I would suggest that you get as many transports here as possible as quickly as possible to remove the stockpile of metals we’ve collected. The Unity will need them, Elder.”
The Elder looked at the Female and smiled, “Now that is the first good suggestion I’ve heard since this fiasco started. I’ll start the transfer immediately.”
The Warrior shook his head, “What do you think I should do to prepare?”
“That’s why I chose you. Use your own good judgment. You are going to have to come up with strategies that we can use against them.” The Elder paused, “Think like they did. How could you make them pay for attacking you?”
The Video went dark and the new Planetary Commander said, “You will be my Support Officer. I want all of our forces moved into the cities and once the stockpiled metals are removed, I want the local populations moved back into the cities.”
“What are you thinking?”
“When those invader first appeared, the Pacifiers met them inside the city and killed more than five hundred of them before they were all killed. The reason they were all killed is because the former Commander ordered them to charge the force field complex. I’ve learned this much; a frontal charge against them is tantamount to suicide. Our best chance is to take them on one on one or two by two.”
“What makes you think they just won’t blast the city?”
“Why are they attacking in the first place? Those ships clearly show they’re associated with the civilization this planet is a part of and I suspect they would frown on blasting the people they’re sent here to free from us.” The Commander paused, “Did you take a good look at the city just before we burned it to the ground?”