by Aer-ki Jyr
“That explains a great many things,” Cal-com said slowly, soaking it all in. “And your current relationship with the Elders is what, exactly?”
“We did each other a favor once, but that’s it, officially. They did send you to watch our backs though.”
“You do not serve them then, as you did within this empire?”
“No we don’t. We’re an anomaly that wasn’t supposed to exist. Zen’zat are forbidden from breeding, due in no small part to the psionic abilities that we have been given. So many generations have passed that those latent abilities grew dormant and we have to wake them up in our own people, which is why not every Human can do what the Archons can.”
“And the further you extend your empire the greater the risk of drawing their attention?”
“That is the conundrum I have been living under for the past 800 years.”
“An enemy greater than the Elders…now I fully understand your coreward boundary restriction.”
“Not quite. It seems the Zak’de’ron did not fully share their technology and knowledge with the V’kit’no’sat. They held some back, which irritated the other races. They were still dominant, just vastly outnumbered.”
Cal-com nodded, feeling as if the galaxy had just righted itself slightly. “And the Preema?”
“They had contact with the V’kit’no’sat under a different name long ago. I think they recognized us from your memories. I have to come to terms with them one way or another. The shrinking of the V’kit’no’sat empire may have severed all communications between them, but I need to find out what they know and whose side they are on.”
“What help do you need?”
“I need to meet with them, face to face so I can use my psionics to pick their brains. I have a block that will prevent them from reading mine, which is another reason the V’kit’no’sat won’t leave us alive. We were designed to be very useful tools, but gone rogue we could pose a small threat…and they don’t tolerate any threats.”
“Who are these other races you speak of? The ones that the Elders allied with.”
“Have a look,” Paul said, sending a slew of images into his friend’s mind. He went slow enough so he could process it all, but a few minutes later the Voku finally came to grips with just how elite of a crowd he was playing with.
“Thank you, Paul. I knew you were favored by the Elders, but I did not understand why until now. You are their lesser kin.”
“Ahhh, I wouldn’t say that.”
“But you are. You no longer follow their leadership, but you are one of the great races, even if in exile. And if you have possession of a database of knowledge, then you are recovering what was lost and resuming your place in the galaxy.”
“Our place is going to get squashed flat if the Preema or anyone else rat us out, which is why only a few Humans know of this. Tell no one of it, ever. If your elders want to know they can just read your mind.”
“I apologize for betraying your secret, however inadvertently.”
“We’re not exactly hiding as it is.”
“Are the Skarrons aware?”
“They are aware of the V’kit’no’sat and keep clear of their territory, but I do not think they know our ancestry.”
“Now the shape of their territory makes sense. I never understood why they expanded laterally rather than push into the core.”
“The starmaps we have are out of date, so we don’t know who is out there beyond where we scout ourselves. We didn’t know the Preema existed, and there’s no telling how many more powers are out there and who has links to the V’kit’no’sat, so we’re working through all this as we go.”
“How long ago was your homeworld abandoned?”
“About 100 millennia, give or take.”
“And there is no way of knowing how much further they have advanced in that time?”
“Nope,” Paul confirmed succinctly.
“Not an envious position to be in, I’ll grant you, but one with great potential if you are left undiscovered.”
“Right now, that’s up to the Preema. Set up a meet and greet, then show me what you’ve got going on out here. You can ask V’kit’no’sat questions along the way.”
Cal-com smiled, not knowing if his friend had read his mind or just knew him well enough to anticipate his curiosity. As long as Paul was in a divulging mood he wanted to know as much about this threat as possible, and their connection to the Elders.
Paul’s warship was escorted by Cal-com’s conglomerate as the Voku leader went with him to the system where the Preema were establishing their staging base. He wasn’t going to be present for the exchange, but Paul was going to let him listen in just the same via a pair of Voku guards that were going down to the planet’s surface with Paul. The Preema now owned one of the moons in orbit of Adolet in the Yishmur System, but given the bad atmosphere there the meeting was going to take place on the planet below.
On the way in Paul saw the hundreds of thousands of Preema ships already present as a beehive of activity was taking place on the surface of the moon, hidden beneath a dark cloud that was the atmosphere, but still visible to sensors. They were constructing huge cities that likewise bore down deep into the planet, for the canyons they were carving out were not natural, nor were the igloos that they were constructing over top of them. That was the best metaphor Paul could make, for the structures were not blocks nor spires, but half bubbles arranged in almost irregular patterns. Some larger, some small, and others bigger than the mountains that were being torn apart to make a place for them.
Each bubble had at least two connections at their base, such as an igloo would have a low entrance. Their ships in orbit were another matter, essentially built like a pair of forward swept wings with a hollow section in the center between them. The U-shaped ships were registering of an unknown hull material, but a quick sensor modification told Paul that the ships were actually scrambling sensors without having shields raised. A little trick that he knew how to accomplish, thanks to the V’kit’no’sat database, but one that Star Force hadn’t quite learned yet. Their sensors couldn’t identify the hull material or scan the interior of their ships, but the smallest models were Battleship-class, suggesting that the Preema were into heavies rather than swarm tactics.
They did have jumpships present, though, and Paul saw several of the extremely long, thin ships built with spine-like niches where the U-shaped warships would slide over a central rail and dock. The jumpships looked like fragile wisps, but each was more than 2 miles thick and over 120 long with lots of support craft flying to and from them even now, ostensibly hauling cargo down to the moon.
Paul took his time coming into the system before departing for the surface. The Voku had established a colony on the planet, but he would be meeting the Preema at a neutral location in a barren desert. A Voku detachment was already waiting there when Paul’s dropship set down, then on Cal-com’s orders they escorted the Human the short distance over to the platform the Preema had constructed for the purpose of this summit that held their native atmosphere on one half. Unlike when Cal-com had met them the Preema were already here and waiting, with Paul able to see four of them outside their armor and shining like flood lights through the dark and seemingly foul air around them.
Paul wore his golden titan armor as he walked between the dark skinned Voku, standing out against their equally black, skintight clothing augmented by defense shields that were invisible. He was the runt amongst them, but the contingent knew some of his combat capability as well as the fact that his armor was formidable in and of itself on top of his psionics and physical skill. They walked with pride and caution, knowing that even though he was the superior warrior his safety was their assigned mission.
When Paul got to the edge of the raised platform he skipped the low step and hopped straight up on top, then walked to the center were one of the Preema was waiting on the other side of a clear energy field.
“Gar cu ratch bey?” Paul asked when he look
ed into the lightly glowing quadruped’s six green eyes.
The Preema blinked three of them and tilted its head inquisitively. “I apologize. There seems to be a problem with the translational software. We will try an alternative language.”
“No need,” Paul said quickly. “I assume you can understand me now?”
“Yes we can. What language were you speaking previously?”
“One that I wanted to see if you knew. By now you must realize you can’t read my mind.”
“No we cannot, though may I assume that you can read ours?”
“You are resistant, but I can make contact.”
“You have us at a disadvantage then, but this is not entirely unexpected, nor troublesome. We are used to being the superior, it would be improper of us not to humbly accept the reverse when it occurs.”
“You wanted to speak with me. I am here,” Paul said, going through a carefully choreographed probing method that was linked to his words as he tried to provoke various reactions as he made Ikrid contact with this Preema and those standing behind it while the Voku looked on oblivious from outside the platform.
“May we see your face?”
“I am assuming that you have seen my kind before,” Paul said a moment before retracting his helmet into a small bundle of equipment behind his neck and revealing the pale skin, neon blue hair that he’d donned recently after losing a bet with Jason and decided he liked and was going to keep, and the odd twinkling grey eyes that denoted his ascension to tier 3 psionics.
“A very long time ago. You are said to be a member race of an empire near the core that once stretched near to our territory, but has receded since. May I ask why you have come back this far out?”
“What was the name of this empire?”
“They call themselves the V’kit’no’sat.”
Paul’s face didn’t betray his emotional state, but there was definitely an internal flinch. So it was true, they did know, and now Star Force’s fate was in this alien race’s hands…er, paws.
“Do you have a current means of communication with them?”
“They never deemed to set up one, preferring that we remain outside their territorial zones and not interfere with internal matters of any race, whether they had a link to the V’kit’no’sat or not. We obliged and kept tabs on them as we do all our neighbors, but when their empire shrank we knew only what we heard from travelers. We have no had official nor unofficial contact with them since that time. Does that allay your concerns?”
“Concerns?”
“We mean no offense if we are wrong, but given the current state of your technology and inability to destroy the lizards on a grand scale, we have surmised that you are a splinter race of the V’kit’no’sat, or perhaps a disconnected colony?”
“If you’re asking whether or not we can give you a line of communication back to the core, the answer is no.”
“That is not what we are seeking. Our concerns are with our own territory and our neighbors. The V’kit’no’sat are beyond our sphere now, save for you. We hold you no ill will, and only seek an acquaintance. Beyond that we believe an alliance against the Li’vorkrachnika is manageable.”
“To answer your question bluntly, we are not V’kit’no’sat. Nor do we wish them to be made aware of our existence.”
“As I said, we have no contact with them, and if it is your wish we will let any meeting occur without our involvement. We will not tell anyone that you are Ter’nat, for we know the death penalty that would bring.”
Paul’s eyes narrowed. “What else do you know of the V’kit’no’sat?”
“We watched and learned. They gave us very little information beyond that which was necessary to identify themselves and make clear that they were not to be trifled with. Some of their targets fled to us for sanctuary. We did not officially help them, but a few that had already eluded their pursuit vanished permanently when they crossed our borders. I trust that is a secret you will keep as well, given that we now both have knowledge of the other that the V’kit’no’sat would not be pleased to hear.”
Paul smirked. “Perhaps, but with us it’s an internal matter that they would never overlook. For reasons that I will not go into detail with you about. You might not rate high enough for them to concern themselves with.”
“Our historical records suggest otherwise. They do not tolerate opposition in any form.”
“I’m just saying that we’d be the higher priority.”
“I do not contend that, but they would come for us in time. It is said their memory of adversaries never grows old.”
“They are a bit grumpy,” Paul admitted, losing some of his formality as his mental searches continued to come up clean. This Preema wasn’t trying to hide anything from him. “And here’s to hoping they stay in the core and leave us both alone. Right now though we have another matter to worry about, and I get the feeling you have some questions regarding the Li’vorkrachnika.”
5
“You have shown an ability to defeat them handily, based on the information the Voku supplied us. You have a tech advantage, but you are doing better than that should allow. We believe this is strategic and would like to know exactly what it is you are doing before we bring our fleets into contention with them. We do not doubt that we will be victorious, but efficiency is key given the size of the enemy territory.”
“They adapt,” Paul said bluntly. “We adapt as well, so there is no set strategy. We preserve our troops while they sacrifice theirs. Take away their ability to do that in order to achieve objectives and you thwart most of their attacks.”
“How have you done this?”
“Armor, shielding, extensive training. We don’t give them any soft targets to hit, and most of their territorial expansion is through taking over soft targets.”
“Do you use your telepathy in battle?”
“Yes we do.”
“What level of casualties do you accept?”
“None. We don’t launch an attack unless we expect everyone to survive. During defensive engagements we do what we can, but the enemy is the one who chooses the battlefield and the timing.”
The Preema tilted its head back. “You don’t lose troops in battle?”
“Rarely.”
“And when you do?”
“We learn from the mistake and move on.”
“How can one fight an enemy without putting themselves into jeopardy?”
“A lot of good equipment that takes the hits for you. The lizards send infantry into battle with only a thin protective vest. All of our troops are in full armor that also carries shielding. Combine that with tactics that rotate damaged units out on a regular basis and we have a self-sustaining combat philosophy that works so long as we don’t get too overloaded with numbers.”
“Lizards?”
“Sorry, habit. That’s what we refer to the Li’vorkrachnika as.”
“The Voku do not have a long term plan for victory against the…lizards. They accept that they must be fought now or the threat will grow worse with time. Do you have a plan?”
“A partial one. There is a line towards the core that we will not cross. The lizards have already spread beyond it so destroying them entirely is beyond our reach. Our goals lie with their colonies rimward of this line, and we do intend to destroy all of them we can find.”
“And the purpose of this line is?”
“We cannot approach the V’kit’no’sat. To do so would risk our discovery.”
“We are in a similar position in that we will not expand beyond our borders. We may fight beyond them, but we will not grow our empire externally. This limitation also seems to negate any chance of destroying the lizard civilization entirely, and from the information we have gathered it seems they can regrow from a single colony.”
“That is our understanding as well, though they suffer from supply limitations like everyone else.”
“Their population growth is predetermined and selective?”
“They grow who they need when they need them, yes.”
“High turnover rate?”
“Very high when they fight us.”
“Then their talent pool is shallow.”
“We believe so, though their leadership is kept safely away from the combat. We know little about them or their longevity.”
“Have they any allies?”
“On occasion they have used other races as tools, but we believe they intended to betray those who would help them eventually. For them there can be no cohabitation of the galaxy. At least that’s our read on them, and we haven’t seen anything to contradict it yet.”
“Point of origin?”
“A world in what we refer to as their core systems. At present they are too well defended to assault, but our ultimate goal is to get there and destroy them. In every engagement we offer them a chance to surrender and in every instance they have refused to do so. We believe annihilation is the only solution, though feel free to point out anything you think we have missed.”
“Some enemies are intractable and must be destroyed. Regrettable as this is, it is the way of the galaxy. The Voku have also offered similar conclusions. If they are to be destroyed, the Skarrons would be the logical ally to combat them coreward of your line. I know you are aware of them. Have you made any overtures in that regard?”