by Aer-ki Jyr
Leif crossed his arms over his chest as he thought. “I thought you didn’t consider the Skarrons to be that great of a threat?”
WE RECOGNIZE THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE THREAT. WE DISAGREE ON THE SIZE OF THEIR TERRITORY. IF THE DVAPP CANNOT ASSIST US AGAINST THE CAJDITAL, THEY CAN FIGHT THE SKARRONS AND FREE UP MORE OF YOUR FLEET FOR THAT PURPOSE. WE BELIEVE THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO ACCEPT THESE TERMS. THEY ARE LOSING TERRITORY QUICKLY AND HAVE NO VIABLE OPTIONS.
“But are they trustworthy?”
YOU WILL HAVE THE CAJDITAL CHEMICAL. TRUSTWORTHY OR NOT, THEY CANNOT BETRAY YOU. STAR FORCE IS NEEDED TO BATTLE THE CAJDITAL. WE SEEK TO INSURE YOU ARE NOT DESTROYED BY THE SKARRONS. THE DVAPP WISH SANCTUARY AWAY FROM THE CAJDITAL. THEIR TECHNOLOGY WILL BE EFFECTIVE AGAINST THE SKARRONS. THEY CAN FIGHT THE CAJDITAL INDIRECTLY BY PROTECTING STAR FORCE AND THE PROTOVIC FROM ANOTHER ENEMY. THIS IS OUR LOGIC AND OUR PROPOSITION.
“In theory there is potential in this,” Leif agreed. “How much of their civilization is transplantable? It’s taking everything the Scionate have got, plus your jumpships to move them out, and they’re considerably smaller than the Dvapp according to the Alliance data sheets.”
THEY WILL LOSE MANY. THIS IS UNAVOIDABLE. WE WILL SEND JUMPSHIPS TO AID THEIR EVACUATION. THEIR NUMBERS WILL BE SIGNIFICANT, BUT GIVEN THE DISTANCES INVOLVED WE MUST ACT QUICKLY TO BEGIN THE PROCESS. THEIR WARFLEET CAN TRAVEL INDEPENDENT OF THEIR POPULATION AND IS LARGELY INTACT AT PRESENT. THAT WILL NOT REMAIN TRUE FOR LONG.
“Have you discussed this proposal with them?”
NOT AS OF YET. WE DID NOT WISH TO SUGGEST HOPE WHERE THERE MIGHT BE NONE IF YOU WERE NOT IN AGREEMENT.
Leif took in a deep breath, then let it out very slowly, thinking fast. “How much infrastructure support will they need?”
WE BELIEVE THEY WILL REQUIRE NONE. AVAILABLILTY OF BUILDING MATERIALS WILL DICTATE THEIR RATE OF CONSTRUCTION AND ENHANCEMENT WOULD BE PREFERRED. HOWEVER, WE BELIEVE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ASSIGN THEM WORLDS AND ALLOW THEM TO COLONIZE THEM WITHOUT SUPPORT. THEIR FLEET SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO INSURE SECURITY. WHAT THEY REQUIRE IS DISTANCE FROM THE CAJDITAL.
“How fast are their ships compared to your jumpships?”
APPROXIMATELY 40%.
Leif wrinkled his nose. That was slow, considerably slower than Star Force’s jumpships, but far faster than their drone fleet was capable of jumping, which was why they still used jumpships.
“I’ll require an advance colonization team with a small defense fleet moved into position quickly to secure a foothold, then you can bring the rest along at whatever pace you choose. If all they need is territory, we can accommodate them. But make sure they understand the threat the Skarrons pose.”
HOW MANY WORLDS CAN YOU OFFER?
“How many do they need?”
WE ASK THAT YOU OFFER A MIMIMUM OF 10.
“I’ll have to do some map checking first before I can commit to a number. I also need to know what their habitability ranges are, and what level of desirability they want.”
WE BELIEVE THEY WILL TAKE ANY YOU OFFER. THEY ARE ALREADY FLEEING THEIR CURRENT TERRITORY AND COLONIZING WORLDS BEYOND OUR KNOWLEDGE. IF WE OFFER THEM SAFE HAVEN WE BELIEVE THEY WILL TAKE IT REGARDLESS OF TERMS.
“Give me an hour to consult our charts.”
WE WILL AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.
The image of the shrunken Hycre disappeared and Leif deactivated the comm with a few telekinetic button presses as he jogged out of Balboa Lane, headed back to his quarters. When he got there he sat down at his personal terminal and brought up the master Star Force map and highlighted Beta Region. The current systems held he disregarded, for they weren’t going to share them with what amounted to strangers. Likewise he ignored the communal Alliance systems they were setting up, leaving some 98% remaining.
A few of those were inhabited by other races, some with space travel, some without, but most being single system entities. Beyond those there was a lot of unclaimed territory, with some of the systems being used as trade routes by the other races. He didn’t want to put the Dvapp down on any of those so he ruled them out, then began a search function on the available planetoids based on environmental conditions, which he double checked with the information the Alliance had on the Dvapp.
He got a list within half a second, then switched from data form to map form, with the available planets triggering their systems to glow red. He cut off the list with the top 100 and looked at what they had.
It was a shotgun spread, as he had expected, but within a few minutes he had a basic outline of a region near to Randy’s most coreward colony. Not so far out that it would leave the Dvapp exposed, but it would put them squarely on the line that the trailblazers had drawn as their furthest border. So far the Skarrons hadn’t hit another Star Force system, choosing to focus all their efforts on Protovic territory where both sides were going at it hard. If the Dvapp could slip into the region relatively unnoticed with a warfleet to cover their colonization efforts…this could work.
Leif pulled up a few of the planetoids in question and gave them a quick look over. Most were volcanic worlds with oceans present, places that Star Force could colonize but otherwise wouldn’t want to. That said, he pulled up a secondary map from his personal files and overlaid it on the primary, making sure none of the tagged worlds were included in the alternate networks the others were setting up.
One was, and Leif removed it from his list, which after a little more trimming left him with 22 viable candidates. He saved them and their data to a separate file, knowing that he’d have to get final checks from Randy, but even if a few of them weren’t available he could promise the Dvapp the 10 worlds the Hycre suggested and then some if they could get enough of their people there to colonize them.
With a quick glance over to make sure he hadn’t made any glaring oversights, Leif contacted the bridge and reinitiated communications with the Hycre directly from his quarters.
10
February 11, 2475
Numar System (Calavari Territory)
Sashneo
Dre’for flew his Valerie up to orbit over the Alliance world for the last time, rendezvousing with a Scionate cargo ship that had been converted into a carrier. Onboard he met up with a host of other pilots, all of which were moving on from the still growing world as more Scionate and other races’ refugees were coming in. His time guarding this world was done, and once he and a few others finished up loading the carrier it moved to a higher orbit and docked with a Scionate jumpship.
Another two days of waiting while other ships arrived followed, then the massive jumpship left the system on a 6 jump course enroute to Drema, after which it would follow the Human ‘conduit’ into their region and branch off to one of the Alliance worlds they were setting up there.
Dre’for’s carrier was eventually dropped off along with the other 21 ships in stellar orbit, then the jumpship left immediately to maximize time, leaving the Scionate ships to make microjumps of their own to reach the 2nd of three Alliance worlds in the Lkat system, where the Scionate had established a transitional base of their own.
When the carrier arrived in orbit it met several hundred other ships from 8 different races. There were few orbital facilities, all Human, and they likewise had a few warships of their own present patrolling the area. The rest of the ships belong to the Gardeen, Irondel, Yammot, Hammids, and three more races that Dre’for wasn’t familiar with. They weren’t part of the Alliance, but apparently they’d been given slots on a sanctuary world?
As he flew his Valerie down to the surface he saw the expansive Scionate cities under construction in their sector, with him heading to the largest one as he descended. The Scionate had been given sector 7, which occupied one of the four southern hemisphere quadrants. Their immediate neighbors were the Irondel, Hammids, and one of the races he didn’t know. That one had more infrastructure built up than any of the others, but still it only occupied a small amount of the land space allotted, given that the entire planet had no oceans, forests,
or other native life. Just vast tracks of desert underneath a humid atmosphere.
Dre’for flew down through that humidity in the form of a thunderstorm enroute to the spaceport, with many more of the tiny, isolated weather patterns popping up across their territory. He’d been told that the weather would be active, but as he came down near the spaceport he found the wind to be negligible with the rain falling gently, as if bathing the relaxed cityscape beneath.
He ducked his Valerie underneath the spaceport canopy and landed in amongst a bay full of military craft, finding a berth reserved specifically for him. The quadruped opened the canopy on the fighter and sniffed the air, finding it as humid as the thunderstorms suggested.
“Welcome brother.”
Dre’for slid off the top of the Valerie and dropped to the floor next to the other pilot, one far younger than himself.
“Who are the other races on the planet? They are not part of the Alliance.”
“Star Force and the Protovic are engaged in a separate war against a powerful race known as the Skarrons. Their territory is far coreward of here, but when the Nestafar diminished under Calavari attacks they grew bold and attacked the Protovic and others in the region. Many of these races have sought sanctuary with Star Force as well.”
“I was told these worlds were to be shared by the Alliance, not others,” Dre’for said as he looked over the scattering of pilots and techs within the hangar, taking their measure in little more than a glance. He was amongst the most veteran of pilots, and knew the others of his race well enough that it didn’t take him long to ascertain their mettle.
“The other two in the system are, but there were slots left available on this world that the Alliance chose to use rather than expanding to another system.”
“More population under the same naval umbrella,” Dre’for surmised, rotating his shoulders around to stretch them…then his hips.
“Exactly.”
“I trust the same is not true of our allotted worlds?”
“I have no knowledge of that.”
Dre’for huffed. “No, you wouldn’t. My stay here will not be long. I leave with the colony expedition when it is fully assembled. Do you know where I will be billeted until then?”
The other Scionate bowed slightly. “I am your reception. If you wish I can take you there now? Or perhaps you would like something to eat first?”
“Show me to my billet, and I will find my way from there.”
“Follow,” the Scionate said, turning and walking lazily across the fighter bay.
Dre’for did so silently, and was led on a circuitous pathway through the Scionate city until they eventually arrived at the den where 13 sets of quarters were located, set around a small courtyard. His guide pawed the doorframe, opening the vertical door and allowing him access to the small, private chambers.
“You are dismissed,” Dre’for said graciously as he entered.
The other Scionate bowed and walked off, leaving him to acclimate himself.
Dre’for shut the door behind him, then began to peel off his armor now that he was safely within the confines of their own city. Unlike on Sashneo, this city fully belonged to them and there was no mixing of the races. Each zone on the planet was similar, belong to a single race who controlled immigration, commerce, and all other aspects. Other races might have allowed public access to their cities, but the Scionate did not, preferring to be left alone save for select visitors.
There had been some conditions to be given territory on this world, because ultimately it belonged to the Humans. They had a scattering of their own settlements here occupying a narrow strip of land that separated the eight sectors. Those settlements contained resource markets that the Scionate and others could trade with, securing goods and assistance with construction or tech issues as they built up their territories, if necessary. They were also open to the public, allowing the Scionate and others full access, making them the communal points on the otherwise divided planet.
There was a long list of rules governing conduct within those settlements, and a lesser list regarding what the Scionate and others could or could not do here. Normally the Scionate would have found that offensive, but their restrictions were inconsequential save for one, given that Scionate society already operated by the same.
That one was a decree that meat production was not allowed. The Scionate didn’t wholly rely upon it for their food supply, but they did maintain herds of animals to consume as a delicacy. Those herds were not permitted here, under threat of forcible confiscation and punishment. That rule also applied to the worlds the Humans were outright giving them, along with a handful of other conditions that the Scionate had negotiated. It had been rumored that the Humans had rescued several such food herds from the Cajdital, not for their own consumption, but to give them sanctuary.
Dre’for liked that they had offered such insult to their enemy, but otherwise didn’t care for the Human’s squeamishness. He respected their piloting and hand to hand skills, along with the way they’d stepped up on Daka during the Nestafar betrayal, though that had mostly been due to the fact that the Nestafar hadn’t seen fit to consider them a worthy enemy and had trashed the other race’s fighters first.
Never the less the Humans were scrappy fighters, but the idea that they would be dictating to the Scionate was laughable. Why Dre’for’s leaders had agreed to the Humans’ terms he didn’t know, but he was certainly going to miss the meat once their stockpiles ran out. Apparently the Humans didn’t mind them eating the meat, they just didn’t want them bringing their herds into their territory.
He supposed it was a small price to pay for getting away from the Cajdital, if only temporarily, but he didn’t like sacrificing part of Scionate culture in exchange for it. Hopefully this colony still had some meat reserves. If not he’d adjust, but after such a long trip out here he had a serious hankering for a slice of bernen.
After Dre’for shed his armor he walked around the three-tiered billet, finding all as expected to be, then he pawed the door open and set off to explore the surrounding area and get something to eat…meat or not.
“We’re getting deviation again,” Ryan Umberson said, watching the vid screen displays. “Just like last time.”
“Damn it,” Tennisonne swore, monitoring a different readout on the other side of the research lab in Avalon, one of 18 Atlantis-style oceanic surface cities on Earth where most of Star Force’s small scale research and development occurred…save for what had to transpire within the pyramid.
“Shutting down,” the third engineer in the chamber said, in charge of the reactor controls.
“No!” Tennisonne said sharply. “If the computer keeps chasing the rabbit we’re not going to get anywhere,” he said, glancing at the wall between him and Ryan in the triangular room and telekinetically pressing a button, with equipment folding out of a hidden compartment. “We’re going to try this manually.”
“How is that going to be any better than the computer?” Victoria asked.
“If I can stabilize it for even a few seconds longer we’ll be able to gather data to build a better program, at minimum. The current one we’ve got is crap,” the senior level 5 tech said as he walked over to the Ikrid interface and placed his hands on the sphere. “Ryan, link in. We’re going to have to double team this.”
“Right,” his fellow engineer said, opening up an identical interface on another wall, with the reactor standing middle of the room blocking their view of one another, though from his current position Ryan could see Victoria at her corner station.
“You sure about this?” she asked. “We’ve almost lost it. If you can’t do something in the next 20 seconds I’ll have to shut down.”
“Then we have our work cut out for us,” Tennisonne told his fellow level 5 engineers, though in truth they were still his junior. He was really a level 6, but thus far Star Force hadn’t bothered to create that distinction, and skilled as they were, some of the other level 5s were still hesitant t
o improvise on the fly…but then again he’d had far more experience doing that than they had coming up through the ranks. Tennisonne had been at the forefront from the very beginning, and never had anyone else’s lead to follow.
Ryan got his Ikrid interlink out of the wall and mentally connected with the reactor controls, simultaneously sensing/detecting Tennisonne’s presence and the functions he was asserting control over.
“I’m in.”
“Regulate flow, I’ve got the shielding,” Tennisonne said, claiming the toughest task for himself. The reactor behind him was constraining a series of very specific and active reactions between matter and energy, set up in a mousetrap like chain designed to create a specific product at the end, but the physics involved were so new that the computer had insufficient modeling to regulate it all, which was accomplished by a series of intricate energy shields, far more dense than anything employed in combat, and designed to accomplish specific tasks rather than block anything thrown their way.
Tennisonne saw in mind’s eye the settings they were currently running, as well as the computer modifications that had them fluttering like a flag in the wind as it tried to overcome the erratic nature of the third reaction. Try as it would, it couldn’t compensate for the fluctuating nature and continually took bigger and bigger swings at the shield adjustments trying to null it out…which in turn made things worse.
The senior engineer took direct control over that shield setting and forced smaller adjustments, with the containment security warnings rising towards dangerous levels as he did. Not dangerous as in blowing up the reactor, but in overcoming the containment fields and messing up the interior…which would require days if not weeks for a rebuild, considering that everything in the reactor he and his two peers had designed and built from scratch.
“Hurry,” Victoria prompted.