The Assassins Guild IIDefending the Colonies

by Saxon Andrew

  The Commander heard Tal’s anger in his voice and quickly replied, “You’re right about that. I suppose that wasn’t good judgment.”

  “Besides, we’ve watched you scout that planet for a very long time and then you attacked six other planets of its species inhabiting them. It is clear that your civilization represents the danger in this universe.”

  Tal’s comment was followed by a long moment of silence. Finally, the Commander spoke, “I suppose we attributed our behavior to you and assumed you were planning to attack us. Were you planning to attack us?”

  “That’s a rather moot point, isn’t it?” Tal answered.

  The Commander had to agree it was. “If we agree to never send our warships or come to your galaxy again, would you consider ending this conflict?”

  “Do you have the authority to make that promise?”

  “No, but before I ask someone who does, I need to know if you’re open to it.”

  Tal sighed heavily and glanced at Rachael. She raised her hands and mouthed, “Why not?”

  Tal hesitated and then replied, “I do not have the authority to make that decision either. I am going to have to contact my leaders and see how they feel about this.”

  “I’ll await your answer,” the Commander replied.

  “This could take a while.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. Take all the time you need.”

  Tal chuckled and pulled his hand across his neck, telling Jan to end the contact. “Get Duncan and the Chancellor on the monitor, Jan!”

  Jan began pressing buttons on her console and announced, “Sir, I think you should know that every ship in our task force is hearing this conversation.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s being broadcast on an open frequency.”

  “Make sure my conversation with Duncan isn’t heard!”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  • • •

  After fifteen minutes, Duncan and the Chancellor appeared on the monitor. Tal brought them up to speed and the Chancellor asked, “Isn’t this a good thing?”

  “No, Chancellor, it is not!” Tal answered firmly.

  “Why not?”

  “Because agreeing not to come to the LMC won’t stop their attacks on the colonies. What this will do is free up the ships in that fleet to invade the rest of them. We’re here to keep the bulk of their warships pinned down.”

  The Chancellor rolled his eyes, “You’re right. I didn’t think this through.”

  Tal turned his attention to Duncan, “How close are we to being able to defend Earth against the aliens, Duncan?”

  “I believe we’re there now, however, we don’t have enough ships to defend the colonies.”

  “We probably wouldn’t have to defend them if we take this war to their turf,” Tal replied.

  The Chancellor turned to Duncan, “Are you sure about that, Admiral Montana?”

  “Sir, we have thirty Alphas to defend Earth from invasion and more than two hundred of the new Epys will be completed within a month. From what I’ve seen, the aliens couldn’t get anywhere near Earth to launch an attack.”

  Tal interrupted them, “I think it’s time we revealed our hand and told the aliens what awaits them if they continue on this path.”

  The Chancellor turned back to Duncan, “Are you sure Earth can be defended?!”

  “I am, Sir.”

  The Chancellor turned back to Tal, “Do whatever you think needs to be done and I will support your actions.”

  “Thank you, Chancellor. I’ll get back to you.” They disappeared from the front monitor and Tal looked at Jan, “Connect me with that alien.” Jan pressed a button and Tal began, “Sorry it took so long but you know how it is.”

  “I do. What did they decide.”

  “They have given me permission to tell you what is going to happen to your civilization if you continue down the path you’re currently taking.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Tal turned to Jan, “Start sending video with the communication.”

  The Fleet Commander heard the request and turned to his main monitor. He fell back in his chair when he saw Tal appear smiling on it. “Surprise!”

  The Commander pointed at the monitor, “YOU’RE HUMAN!!”

  The AL spoke up, “You must be from that planet that doesn’t have a stardrive!”

  Tal noticed the alien sitting to the right of the commander make the comment and turned his attention to him, “Yes, we are. And we’ve been aware of your scout for a very long time; we’ve kept the existence of our stardrive secret to buy enough time to build up our forces to be capable of taking your fleets on before revealing it.”

  The AL blinked, looked back at the Commander, and then turned back to Tal, “I suppose your revealing yourself now means that you believe you’re capable of, as you say it, taking us on?”

  Tal lowered his head and raised it, “You are right. So, we really don’t care if you send warships to this galaxy or not; this isn’t where we’re located.”

  The Commander glared at the monitor and said, “You deceived us into thinking we were being scouted to force us to send warships here.”

  Tal nodded, “That is correct.”

  “Why are you revealing this now?”

  Tal leaned forward in his chair and said very deliberately, “We are going to stop your aggression against my species and make you pay for your actions. I’m not certain that my limited number of warships here can defeat your fleet but I’m confident few of your warships will make it back to your galaxy. My leaders will be launching our fleets to attack the survivors of this fight and then move into your galaxy destroying every warship remaining there. Once that is completed, we will start bombarding your planets burning them down to bedrock.”

  The AL quickly interrupted, “BUT WE DIDN’T CAUSE WISE SPREAD DEATH AND DESTRUCTION ON THE PLANETS WE’VE INVADED!!”

  Tal looked at him with an angry expression, “That’s the only reason we’re having this conversation! You need to know that we will remove you as a threat to us, whatever we have to do!”

  The commander’s face showed his concern, “And you think you can make that happen?”

  “That depends,” Tal shot back.

  “On what?”

  “If you have ten more fleets the size of the one you’re commanding now, it might prove a little more difficult. We’d have to take some time to destroy your fleets before blasting your planets.”

  The Commander glanced at the AL and they both knew this was the only surviving fleet. He turned his attention back to the human and asked, “What can be done to resolve this issue?”

  Tal sat back in his chair, “What?”

  “What would we have to do to prevent this from escalating any further?”

  “Why don’t you tell me!?”

  The Commander took a breath and replied, “I need to contact my leaders to discuss this.”

  Tal smiled, “Go right ahead.”

  “This could take some time!”

  Tal waved a hand at the monitor, “Take all the time you need, I’m not going anywhere.”

  The Commander tried not to smile but couldn’t stop himself, “I’ll get back to you.”

  • • •

  The Commander ended the contact, turned around, and ordered, “Get the Elder Governor on my panel, now!”

  The AL sat back, “This isn’t going good.”

  “At least we’re still alive,” the Commander said with a grimace. The AL shrugged; the Commander was right about that.

  • • •

  The Governor appeared on the main monitor and he snarled at the Commander, “WHY HAVE YOU DEMANDED MY ATTENTION!!”

  “Supremacy, I’ve had a conversation with the alien commander of the fleets that we’ve been attacking. I believe you should view the conversation and tell me what I should do next.”

  The Governor’s eyes went to slits, then he appeared to gather himself, and order, “Send it!”

  The Commander
looked over his shoulder and saw his operator nod, “It’s been sent, Supremacy.”

  The Commander leaned back and wondered if his next order would be to attack. He glanced at the AL and all he could do was shrug. After a moment, the AL smiled, “You must admit, this was a shocking development. Who would have suspected we’ve been attacking more humans?”

  “I hope the Governors think this is as humorous as you do.”

  The AL smiled, “I don’t think they will.” The Commander knew he was right.

  • • •

  Captain Sager appeared on Tal’s monitor, “Sir?”

  “Hold you fire, Captain.”

  “If the aliens change course…”

  “If they change course, you will flee and not fire your missiles!”

  “But Sir…”

  “That’s a direct order, Captain!”

  Sager stared at Tal and added, “Permission to stay and fight, Sir?”

  Tal saw Sager’s expression and nodded before replying, “Permission granted but you will not open fire until ordered, Captain.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  • • •

  The Commander waited an hour before pressing the button on his chair, “I’m sorry about the delay. I sent a recording of our conversation to our Elder Governor and I’m reasonably certain he is discussing it with the other four Governors.”

  “Some things you can’t control,” Tal replied.

  “That’s true,” the Commander responded.

  “You surprised me by opening a conversation. What’s the real reason you did it?” Tal asked.

  “Why do you think I didn’t believe it was the right thing to do?”

  “Was it?”

  “Not really.”

  “What’s the real reason,” Tal pressed.

  “When the Governor contacted me and issued orders that I would lead this fleet, I was only four hours from retiring from the service. After more years than I can count, I was finally going to be with my family.”

  “What happened?”

  “The Governor rescinded my retirement and ordered me to lead this fleet.”

  ‘Why did he choose you?”

  “I was the Commander of the fleet that invaded the first planet. He felt I was successful where every other commander had failed.”

  “Thank you for not causing widescale destruction and mass killings at Australia,” Tal remarked.

  “We are forbidden from doing that. I must confess that after I lost forty-percent of my landing forces to those assassins, I wanted to blast the planet. My associate here talked me out of it.” The Commander leaned forward, “What about you? Do you have a family?”

  Tal’s expression changed, and the Commander knew he had touched a nerve. “My wife was on the first ship killed by one of your warships. I no longer have a family.” Tal heard Jan hiss loudly and saw her angry expression. She glared at him and he closed his eyes. He turned back to the Commander, “I need to correct that. I do have a young woman and her brother that I consider a part of my family. Their father died with my wife on that ship.”

  “I’m sorry. I would think you’d be driven to kill as many of us as possible to avenge their loss.”

  “I felt that way for a long time, but you didn’t kill her. I can’t blame you for what another has done.”

  “War does that.”

  “Does what?” Tal asked.

  “Take those we love and leave our dreams shattered.” Tal nodded, and both were silent. Tal saw the Commander turn, as he said, “I need to take this contact.” Tal nodded, and the video went dark.

  Jan’s expression was still clouded with anger and she exclaimed, “TAL, WE LOVE YOU! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!”

  Tal sighed, “I know, Jan. Thanks for getting me to see it.”

  Jan glared at him, “I’d come over there and hug you, but I can’t leave my station.” Tal nodded and smiled.

  • • •

  The five Governors appeared on the Commander’s monitor and the Elder asked, “Do you believe what that alien said is true?”

  “I do.”

  “Why?”

  “If it weren’t, they would have attacked my fleet and continued the hostilities here to keep us distracted. It’s clear to me that they don’t feel keeping our fleets here is needed any longer.”

  “We’ve come to the same conclusion. Link that Alien in to my frequency.”

  “Yes, Governor.” The image disappeared from his monitor and now it was up to them to decide his fate.

  • • •

  Tal saw the five Governors appear on his monitor and the first thing he noticed was that these aliens were old…really old. He looked at them and the one in the center asked, “What are your demands?”

  Tal thought a moment and began speaking, “First, every warship attacking one of our planets will be immediately recalled.” The Elder looked to his right and the Governor on the end stood and walked away. The Elder turned back to Tal, “Done! What else?”

  “You will return all the metals you stole from the first planet you invaded.”

  One of the Elders quickly said, “The Prince will not accept that!”

  The Elder turned and snarled, “I don’t care what the Prince will or will not accept. He is going to be punished for his poor decision making and he’ll be replaced by another if he opens his mouth.” The Elder turned back to Tal. “Would you consider an alternative?”

  “Such as?” Tal asked.

  “What if we pay for the metals. Would that be acceptable? Surly there is something your civilization values that we can use to make payment?”

  “All of our currencies are backed by gold.”

  “Then may we offer a payment in gold for the metals that were taken?”

  Tal kept his eyes on the Governor and knew the answer to that question was far above his paygrade. “I need to put you in contact with the leaders of my civilization and you can work this out with them.”

  “Please, do so.”

  “Give me a few minutes.” Tal turned to Jan, “Get Duncan on the monitor!!”

  Duncan and the Chancellor appeared, and Tal immediately said, “You need to link the President of the Colony Council on this call.”

  Duncan turned to set up the link and the Chancellor asked, “Why?”

  “I’m in a conversation with the leaders of the alien civilization and they’re asking questions I’m not qualified to answer.”

  The President appeared on the monitor, “What’s going on, John. Every alien warship has left the planets they invaded at high-speed.”

  “Ed, the leaders of the Alien Civilization are attempting to resolve this conflict and you need to be a participant in the conversation.”

  The Chancellor turned to Tal and nodded; Tal turned to Jan, “Link them in on the frequency.”

  The monitor went dark, and Tal knew that the situation was now in the proper hands. Tal sat back, “This is being handled by politicians and we’re going to be here a while. You can give me that hug now, Jan.” Jan’s had a huge grin as Tal ordered, “Order the ships to standby battle stations.”

  “You just did, Sir. The task force is still connected to the frequency.” Jan stood up and rushed to Tal, as he stood up and took her in his arms.

  “What happens, now, Sir?” Rachael asked.

  Tal shrugged, “Well, if this is resolved, we go home. What are you going to do, Jan?”

  Jan walked back to her chair, “There’s a certain Epy Captain I want to spend some time with.”

  Suddenly, the wall-speaker erupted, “And there’s a certain Epy Captain that wants to spend some time with you.”

  Jan’s eyes flew wide open, “Damn. I forget we we’re still on an open frequency.” She looked down and stopped the open transmissions, “I didn’t want him to know that.”

  Tal laughed, “Yes, you did.”

  Jan turned to him and, after a moment, smiled, “Yes, I guess I did.”

  “Well, settle in, this could take a while.” He turned to
Rachael and smiled, “Do you have anything in the refrigerator?”

  “I do!” Rachael stood up and left the bridge.

  “Get Duncan on the monitor, Jan.” Tal turned to the monitor and smiled as Duncan appeared, “How’s it going?”

  Duncan smiled, “They’re making progress. It looks promising.”

  “I need you to make one more promotion, Duncan.”

  “Who?”

  “I need you to promote Rachael Meadows to one star and if this thing ends, give her command of training our weapon officers. She’s fully qualified to command a fleet and she deserves it, Sir.”

  “Are you sure about this, Tal.”

  “I’ve never been more certain about anything, Sir.”

  Duncan smiled and nodded, “I’ll send her papers immediately.”

  “Thank you, Duncan.”

  Rachael arrived back from the kitchen and began passing out the food. Jan saw Rachael’s promotion papers arrive and she forwarded them to Rachael’s console. Rachael sat down and took a huge bite of her sandwich and heard her console ping. She looked over her shoulder and saw a message from Fleet Admiral Montana. She turned around, opened the message, and started reading. Tal and Jan watched her and saw her lower her head into her hands. Tal walked over and put his hand on her shoulder, “Are you ok, Rachael?” Rachael nodded, but didn’t raise her head. Tal lifted her from her chair and hugged her. Rachael was quietly weeping and Tall held her, as he said softly, “You’re ready. You deserve this, and I want you to know that I would serve under your leadership at any time.” Rachael wrapped her arms around Tal and gave him a long hug. Tal smiled and said, “Now sign the papers!” Rachael smiled, wiped her tears, and sat down in her chair. “You did it, Sir.” Rachael said over her shoulder.

  “Did what, Rachael?”

  “Made me the kind of officer I should be.” Rachael turned around, “Thank you.” Tal smiled softly and nodded.

  • • •

  Two days later, Jan activated the intercom, “Tal, you need to come to the bridge!”

  Tal ran into the bridge, “What’s going on?”

  Jan looked up from her console pointing to the front monitor, “The alien fleet has reversed course and is moving away.”