Talosian Chronicles 5: Raptor Squadron
Page 32
The Ambassador from the Russian Federation spoke next. "So the Admiral was not telling us to get rid of our military, but to use them in a different manner?"
Ian leaned forward on the podium and looked at each of the delegates. "In the coming fight, we will be facing the largest military force the Empire has ever assembled against a single target. Current estimates place that around ten thousand warships and at least three million ground troops. Currently, my fleet is about fifty ships and three quarters of a million ground troops. All but four of those ships and a third of our ground forces belong to other nations. However, at best, the estimate of Imperial strength is a guess. We honestly have no idea how much they are going to hit us with, but it will be what they believe to be an over-whelming force.
"The fight this time will not be isolated to just one country; it'll be the whole planet. Not just this planet either, but the moon, Mars, all of our stations here as well as every facility and settlement in the Centauri system." He paused and looked grim. "People are going to die. World War three is not going to be fought between our people, but for our people." He nodded slowly. "And some of our people are going to die. How many will depend on all of us. Not just my forces, but on you and your leaders as well. We have to work together on this; I mean all of us, not just those of us in this room or even just the UN member nations, but everyone. We must set aside our differences for the time being and work together or we simply won't be here anymore.
"This is why I'm here today. I would like to ask all of you to give more resources to the UN Military. I would also ask that you consider including non-member nations in this effort. We have many projects in the works to build defenses and shelters for our people on the planet. I would like to ask for your help in implementing them.
"Any disputes between your countries have to stop, at least for now. Bring the problems here and work it out. We can't build the defenses for our people if my troops are busy stopping wars. It has never been the intention of our group to exert power over any of you or force any of you to our will, but this is an emergency. We will not interfere any more than necessary; If North Korea decides to invade the South, we will stop them. During that if the South tries to use the opportunity to retake the North, we will stop that too. If India and Pakistan heat up again, we will stop it again. People, this is too important to be messing around with nationalistic issues. Which leaves one major issue that still affects all of us; terrorism.
"With the permission of this body, I will direct my special operations teams to seek out these people. We have left this issue to you unless it involved a weapon of mass destruction, we don't have the option of playing with these people anymore. The attacks have to stop now. If this redirects their hatred onto us, then so be it; at least they'll be alive to hate us."
"Admiral, are you ordering us to stop fighting each other?" the Ambassador from Sri-Lanka asked.
Ian shook his head. "No, I can't give you orders; you are a civilian authority. I am strongly suggesting you stop fighting as well as telling you that if you do chose to fight, it will be my troops you will be fighting, not your nominal enemy."
"That's kind of a dichotomy, Admiral. You say you won't give us orders, yet you will be installing defenses, shelters, and God only knows what else anywhere on the planet you want to. How is that not giving us orders?" the American Ambassador asked chuckling.
Ian smiled at him sardonically. "That's true, I guess. However, unless otherwise requested, every installation we place will be removed once the emergency is over and the area returned to its previous condition. I know it's been a major deal to you folks, but we still won't be allowing our technology into your hands. Anything containing advanced technology that we leave under your care will self-destruct if opened or removed from the location it was installed at. The emergency kits being assembled and shipped to us by the Benesians will only have food, water, and basic emergency medical supplies. The shelters will have stand-alone powers systems as well as a replicator, but if either are removed or misused, they will be deactivated or destroyed. I know that’s frustrating to you, but we are trying to protect you here, not give you the technology to kill yourselves once all this is over."
"I think we are starting to realize that, Admiral," the Secretary General replied. "What of our troops? Will you assist us with arming and armoring them?"
"Do you mean UN troops or the separate nation's troops?" Ian asked.
"Do you consider there is a difference?" the French Ambassador asked.
"Yes and no, I suppose. Look, if you give us troops to train, we'll be keeping them. We'll need as many able bodies as we can for both the Marines as well as the ships being built. We'll be increasing our recruiting efforts considerably on planet for the next few months. As for giving your troops weapons and armor; I'll have to think about that. If a way can be found that would allow us to increase their protection while still keeping the tech our secret, we’’ll do it. But I can't promise it's possible," Ian replied.
"As I understand it then, you are going to enforce a ban on fighting while guaranteeing national sovereignty. While you do that, you will be installing weapons systems and defensive shields in our countries to protect our people from the coming attack. To that end, you are asking us to use the resources of the UN as well as each of the member nations to support this effort. You are also asking us to approach the non-member nations and try to get them on board with this plan as well?" The Secretary General asked.
Ian nodded. "In addition to the weapons systems, shields, and shelters, we will also be building several fighter and Marine bases in strategic locations around the world. We already have one base on planet, in international territory, that will be used to support our construction efforts until the other bases can be built and brought online. We are also asking you to supply some of your military personnel for us to train as defensive crews and soldiers, but remember those will become Terran troops. They will be fighting for the planet, not just one of the countries."
"As usual, you've given us much to think about and discuss Admiral. Please let us deliberate and see if we cannot reach agreement on what you have asked of us," the Secretary General asked.
"That's all I ask. Thank you for your time this day. Ambassadors, please treat this issue with urgency; the faster an agreement can be reached, the more we can get done to protect our world," Ian replied and bowed to them. "Good day."
Cindy walked beside him as he left the Council room. "Long one today; do you think it'll do any good?"
"I hope so, Cin; we need their help and cooperation this time. If they don't give it, we could lose the planet," Ian said softly. "We can't afford the games they've played in the past; this time it's for all the marbles. I just hope they'll see that."
That night, Ian stood in his darkened living room looking out at the planet. Star Dancer was in high orbit and the European continents had just rolled into view. How was he going to protect that world from the forces coming to destroy it? Would he look out at it someday and not see the green and blues, but the brown of a dead world? Did they have enough time to build up enough force to stop the murder of the planet?
"You're stressing out again," Beth said quietly coming up behind him. The family had gone to bed a couple of hours ago and the apartment was dark.
Ian sighed and took a drink of his beer. "Probably. I've got a few things to think about I guess."
She nodded as she sat down on the small couch facing the window. "You know, if a problem is keeping you awake, then you should try talking to someone about it. Letting it fester won't help you any."
Ian nodded. "Yeah, I remember. I don't think this is festering so much as it's just so large it takes more time to think it through."
"I don't see it as being overly large. Yes, the scale of events is massive, but the issue itself isn't all that big," Beth replied.
"Really?" Ian snorted and looked back at her. "How do you see it then?"
"We are to defend a specific target from dest
ruction by the Empire. That's it. One sentence, nothing more nothing less," Beth replied.
Ian chuckled softly and shook his head. "The 'target' you so blithely mentioned has twelve billion souls living on it. That isn't counting the rest of the sector. I just can’t see that as anything but large."
Beth nodded and stood. She held out her hand to him. "Come on, I want to show you something."
Ian sat his beer down and took her offered hand. She led him back to the kids' room. They were all still young enough to still use the nursery even though that would be changing soon. Beth opened the door and led him into the room. She stopped in the center and pointed to each of the sleeping children. "This is the true scale of the problem facing you. Not twelve billion, not three million; five. The target you have to protect is right here in this room. If you do that, and focus on just that, the rest will take care of itself."
"Beth, it's not that simple…" Ian began.
She put a finger over his mouth. "Yes Ian, it is. Just think about it for a few minutes. If you focus your mind on protecting the people in this room, the rest of this issue will solve itself. I actually saw this in a movie, but you know, it's the truth; trying to save the entire planet is impossible; it'll drive you mad. So don't try to save the planet; try to save these five people. That's a problem you can get your mind around; that's a point for you to focus on."
Ian giggled. "Hon, if it were just these five little ones, I'd bundle them up and run like hell. I can't do that with our people."
"Why not? We have a year to evacuate. Surely we could get a lot of people out of here by then," Beth asked.
Ian shook his head. "It's the people that are the target, not the system. If you look at what Janet said, the people have to be the target, otherwise they would simply try to take the system, not destroy it completely. If we evacuated, they would just keep hunting us. No, this has to be done here."
"Okay then, bust the big problem into a series of smaller ones and deal with them one at a time," Beth suggested as they walked quietly back out to the living room.
Ian nodded. "That's pretty much what I've been trying to do. My mind just keeps refocusing on the big picture; so, all I can do is keep trying."
"So why are you still awake tonight?" Beth asked.
"Thinking of the little problems and which one needs to be done next," Ian grinned at her.
"Is it really going to be that bad Ian?" Beth asked.
Ian nodded slowly. "It'll probably be the worst battle in the history of this entire war, Beth. It'll be so bad, I'm sure the religious nuts will be out in force once this gets out. Unfortunately, they won't be wrong; this is going to very much be biblical in proportion.
"What was it called in the Bible? Wasn't the ‘end of days’ war named after some small village in the Middle East somewhere?" Beth asked.
Ian nodded. "Yeah it was. The name will definitely apply to what's coming; Armageddon."
About the Author
Ben Winston (1965 - ?) was born in Iowa and grew up in Minnesota on the family dairy farm. Upon reaching adulthood, he joined the United States Army as a communications technician. Before getting out of the military, he decided to go to school for computer electronics.
Shortly after getting out of the military, and after getting a new job with an over-seas company, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. A month after beginning the new job, he was laid off due to budget over-runs on the project he was hired for. Upon returning to the United States, he had difficulty maintaining employment because of the chronic illness.
He began writing as a form of stress release, from being home bound and not being able to work, and found he liked writing erotica. Ben wrote a trilogy called the Talosian Chronicles (Currently in rewrite to remove the graphic sex and finalized his vision of the story). The first book, Star Dancer, won awards and was nominated for many others by the online communities where it was posted.
Ben Winston returned to school for literature, after completion, he began writing professionally. Being an avid fan of science fiction he focused on this genre. He was, and still is, influenced and inspired by Gene Roddenberry, Anne McCaffery, David Weber, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury. Some of his favorite movies and TV shows are; Battlestar Galactica (both versions), Andromeda, Star Trek, Firefly, Star Wars, and many of the B-rated movies that were actually box-office bombs.
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Ben Winston
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Books Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.
by Ben Winston
Pollux Paradox
Tides of Mars
Tides of Mars (Omnibus)
Ascension – Book I
Conflict – Book II
Talosian Chronicles
Olympus – Book I
Star Dancer – Book II
Talosian Alliance – Book III
Neptune’s Massif – Book IV
Raptor Squadron – Book V
*Armageddon – Book VI (2016)
Novellas
Abraxis Complex
Origin of Prometheus – Book I
Sword of Damocles – Book II
Abraxis Code – Book III
Forging Aegis – Book IV
Book of the Guardian
Home – Part One
Pest Control – Part Two
The Last Mission – Part Three
Resolution – Part Four
Bedouin’s Travels
Twilight Earth – Book I
A Long, Dark Night – Book II
Terra Dawning – Book III
New Day – Book IV
*Homeworld – Book V (Coming 2016)
Series
Temple of S.A.R.A.H.
Prototype – Episode I
Subroutines – Episode II
Base Functions – Episode III
Hard Wired – Episode IV
Debug Mode – Episode V
Beta Test – Episode VI
by Michael McClain
Chronicles of Atlantis Series
Chronicles of Atlantis (Omnibus)
Atlantis Rising – Book I
Euthara – Book II
Table of Contents
Raptor Squadron
Disclaimer
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
About the Author
Connect with the author or Blue Space Publications, LLC.
Books Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.
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