Machast, the Hontoata Commander, said, “We have not yet located it. We know it is within the Xalcek system. Analysis of recent sensor readings indicate it arrived four days ago, well outside the cometary shield. We presume it has used the intervening time slowly approaching Xalcek itself. We haven’t detected anything since the human’s arrival that gives any clue as to the ship’s whereabouts. We’ve also updated our sensor detection system to flag the kind of energy reading their ship left in the future.”
“What have we learned from the captives?”
“Nothing yet,” Hu-Ji responded. “We plan to begin interrogation later today. Our information extraction techniques are still being adapted to human physiology. Scans of their bodies has given us plentiful information, much of it is verified by our historical information. These humans do exhibit some genetic abnormalities compared to their forebears. Until now, we’ve never considered the possibility of human captives for interrogation.”
Ktenu nodded. “Very well. See to it they are thoroughly questioned. What have you learned from analyzing their equipment?”
Gretulk, the Yaderiedea Commander, said, “They used some kind of stealth body armor which also greatly enhances their physical strength and agility. It’s ingeniously designed. We should consider copying it for our forces, should such a capability be needed.”
“Excellent,” Ktenu said. “Continue your efforts to find their ship. We will capture the crew and interrogate them. Place emphasis on discovering how they managed to destroy a force of more than two thousand Ulef ships. The Ulef would not have committed to an attack unless they believed their force capable of defeating them. It’s worth remembering that they were originally moving into the human’s system with only a thousand ships.”
Huiewulo, the Unam Commander, waved his two left arms. “Commander Ktenu, by what means do you plan to abrogate the human threat? The Ulef have failed to defeat them, and they now have technology that is sufficient to make them a power unto themselves. Barring the resumption of hostilities between us and humanity, how will we convince humans to leave us in peace?”
Machast said, “Why should we pursue peace with these upstarts? If we cannot convince the Ulef to engage them once again, we can return to the method of our ancestors. I have inquired with our historians to discover the exact means by which we threw these humans back before.”
Ktenu, Gretulk and Huiewulo all looked uncomfortable, each in their own way. Ktenu looked to his left where the Yaderiedea and Unam sat. “We’re not in agreement with this proposal, Commander Machast. Unfortunately, your inquiry will not yield results. The means by which humanity was stricken down has been sealed away and cannot be revealed except by unanimous decision of the council.”
Machast and Hu-Ji rapped the table gently with their knuckles. They continued for several seconds before Gretulk reluctantly joined in. Ktenu and Huiewulo watched impassively, their hands sitting in their laps.
Ktenu spoke into the fading echoes of those gentle knocks. “It is decided. The historical records will remain sealed. Our founders sealed those records with good reason, and we will not question their wisdom.”
Machast snorted through his nose slit. “Ktenu, your leadership of this council has been a dramatic failure. Your arrogance and deceptive manner have destroyed the possibility of a cooperative Alliance with the humans and your attempt to use the Ulef to destroy them has failed in the most spectacular fashion.”
Ktenu sputtered for a moment before saying, “I find your evaluation of my actions without merit. Humans are deceitful. They cheat and lie as naturally as they breathe, and they are without morals.”
“It’s a wonder, then, that you did not find them the most natural of allies,” Hu-Ji observed, his tone acerbic.
“Commander Hu-Ji, I find your implication offensive. My actions have always moved towards protecting the people of the Alliance. By saving Alliance lives and using the Ulef, I gained moral ground, and by refusing to allow the humans to use their lies and cheats to deceive us, I have also gained moral ground. Intimating that I am in any way like the immoral and repulsive humans is an insult of the highest order. In light of your insult, I request that the other council members censor your comments and strike them from the record as unseemly of a being of your rank.” Ktenu put deed to word and began rapping the table gently with his knuckles. Gretulk and Huiewulo joined in almost immediately, but Machast stared impassively at the trio, his dark purple eyes never leaving Ktenu’s face.
Once the knocking stopped, Machast said, “A vote of censure must be unanimous. You’ve failed to silence your opposition once again, Ktenu. Your leadership continues to unravel.”
Huiewulo interrupted the increasingly heated exchange. “What, then, would you have done in his place, Commander Machast? By what deed and word would you have sealed the humans to our cause?”
“I would first have allowed the humans their conceit. In so doing, I would have gained both moral and military power. I would also have been better able to determine the veracity of their claims. I would not have dismissed them out of hand as Commander Ktenu did. My team has conducted an analysis of sensor records from the training incident in which the humans demonstrated their improvements to our ships. I have also completed an analysis of the one ship they returned to our Alliance. It indicates that their claims may not have been exaggerated.”
Gretulk said, “Exaggerated or not, the humans are dangerous.” He thumped the table with a closed fist for emphasis. “They strike with lethal force without thinking. They have demonstrated this clearly through their actions against the Ulef. That has not changed since the last time they moved among the stars with us five thousand years ago.”
“Their violent natures are certainly beyond dispute,” Ktenu said, “I-“
“Yes, their violent nature is part of what I want to talk about,” Machast interrupted. “Their intransigence presents a clear threat that we must take direct action against.” The alien Alliance was founded on principles of non-aggression. To suggest that it take offensive action was counter to its core philosophy.
Ktenu shook his head. “When the humans suggested we attack the Ulef, we could not join them in their act. This council nearly divided itself over the idea of providing them with the ships to attack the Ulef. We will not entertain further thought in that direction, Commander Machast.”
“In that, I fear you are mistaken, Ktenu. For more than three thousand years, the Xalcek have led this council. And before that, the Unam from the founding of our Alliance. For too long have your species’ principals overridden those of the Gol and Hontoata. I call upon the Unam and Yaderiedea to join us in seeing to the safety of the citizens of the Alliance. The human threat is too great for us to cower in our ships and bases, allowing them to take whatever action they choose unchecked.”
Gretulk snorted through his long, drooping snout. “Your suggestion is offensive, Commander Machast. The aggression of the humans and the Ulef are degenerate traits that destroy the moral fiber of their races. Even should we become so lost in our base instinct as to agree to what you seem to be suggesting, have you forgotten what our sensors have told us? The humans destroyed a force that outnumbered them more than nine to one. Yes, their ships are individually more powerful than those the Ulef use, but the numerical advantage held by the Ulef should have been overwhelming in the extreme.”
“You elucidate towards my point, Commander Gretulk,” Machast said. “These humans must be controlled or destroyed. While there is much merit in the idea of annihilating the humans, would it not be of more value to subjugate them?”
Ktenu thrust himself out of his chair and shouted, “Unconscionable!” He slapped the table with one of his open hands. “First you suggest we attack another sentient species and in nearly the same breath, you suggest we take that same species as slaves? Is that truly the moral thought you suggest for this council?” Ktenu was breathing hard after his impassioned speech. He was about to continue, but Hu-Ji waved his hand f
or attention. Ktenu nodded to him.
“Machast suggests much that we may fear, What choice have we? The humans obviously regard us as enemies. They have invaded our most important military base and stolen secret information from us. What will their next step be, once they’ve had the opportunity to review the data they’ve stolen? Will they decide to leave us be, having convinced themselves of our relative harmlessness?” Hu-Ji rose up to his full height, towering two meters above the table, his head nearly touching the ceiling of the council chamber. “I think not. The human threat is impossible to ignore. Our Alliance must survive. Some of us will be called upon to sacrifice the morals and worth that makes us true members of that Alliance. This is a sacrifice I would gladly make to ensure the safety of our citizens.” Hu-Ji’s vivid yellow eyes narrowed as he continued. “I would ask you to join me in this sacrifice to save our races from the madness the humans represent.”
Before Ktenu could rebut Hu-Ji, Machast spoke. “Agreed, Commander Hu-Ji. I call upon the council to agree to change leadership to myself, that we may better defend ourselves against the humans.” Machast began rapping on the table, followed quickly by Hu-Ji. They stared at Gretulk fiercely until he, too, began rapping on the table. The three gazed fixedly at Huiewulo as the imperturbable Unam slowly lowered his right two hands and began tapping on the table with the other three commanders. Sighing and knowing that a four to one vote against his would permanently destroy faith in his leadership, Ktenu bowed to the inevitable and tapped the table gently, signifying his acceptance of the judgment of the rest of the council.
He stood and moved to the chair formerly occupied by Machast, while the Hontoata walked stiffly to the central chair. “I call on the council to now agree to open the archive and divine the method of our previous dominance over the humans.” Again, Machast tapped the table, followed by everyone excepting Ktenu.
“Surely, you must know I will never agree to this, Commander Machast. No cause is so dire that we descend into the hatred of genocide. I can only assure you that I will never agree to reveal this information.” Ktenu sat back in his new chair and placed his hands firmly in his lap.
Machast turned his bulbous head and regarded Ktenu with a calm expression on his face. “Then we must seek the knowledge from another source. I call upon the Woduur ambassador. Is it possible to strike a bargain with your people for the Alliance to deal with the human threat?”
Ooto, the Woduur ambassador stood from his seat in the observation gallery. Long, heavy metallic limbs flashed with ornate decorations. He stepped forward on six legs, gently rasping against the stone of the floor. “An agreement can always be made. Your offer must match the task.”
“And the Woduur still possess the knowledge of how humanity was cast down by our forebears?”
“We possess that knowledge, Commander Machast. Strike the bargain with us once again, and we will provide what you seek. Humanity will be destroyed.”
Ktenu lowered his head into his small hands. The Alliance he had known for his entire life had just died.
Stokes held the arms of his command chair tightly. Weightlessness made him slightly nauseous. “What’s our status, Exec?”
Stokes heard Bendel’s voice come out of the utter darkness to his right. “No response from any system, sir. One moment... Ah, here it is.” A light suddenly sprang into being. Victorious was equipped with emergency lighting powered by internal batteries. Lights sprang up around the bridge within seconds, illuminating powerless consoles and plots.
Stokes surveyed his bridge crew, most of whom were floating near their stations. All eyes rested on Stokes. “Send a runner to the engine room. Have Commander Murphy report on the status of our power generations systems and life support.”
“Aye, sir,” Bendel said. He turned and sent a junior enlisted sailor to the engine room.
“Captain,” Woodard said.
“Yes, Miss Woodard?
“There is no power getting to anywhere on this deck. The distribution panels are all dead.” She pulled a small datapad from her pocket. “This is a diagram of the power systems on Victorious.” The displayed schematic showed a spider web of interlocking, lines showing the multiple paths inherent in a highly fault tolerant system. “The ship is designed so there is no single point failure in the power system. Even a failure of all three reactors would still leave us access to the battery which would give us lighting and life support. There are six power distribution matrices located fore and aft of each reactor that handle all of the main and backup busses. This is the most likely point of failure.”
Stokes nodded and said, “Yes, I remember this part of the design spec. What’s your point, Lieutenant?”
“Ah, excuse me, sir. I suggest we send someone to these points and see if this is where the power has been interrupted.” Woodard paused, organizing her thoughts. She chewed her lower lip for a moment before saying, “Also, sir, without functioning life support, we have less than two days breathable air. We have emergency oxygen packs that can extend that time and individual suits issued to all hands have three days emergency supply. That gives us a maximum endurance of just under six days to get power back to our life support systems before we start losing people.”
“Understood, Lieutenant. Have we heard from engineering yet?”
“No, sir, Bendel replied. “I suggest we work on getting our wrist comps into an ad-hoc communication network so we can coordinate our efforts.”
“Aye, sir,” Bendel said. He went to where Woodard was floating, and they began working together on a pair of datapads.
Stokes watched with little to do, so he tapped his wrist comp and checked for any active data signals within its scanning range. There were no signals the tiny computer recognized.
Stokes was still tapping away at the small device when Bendel said, “Sir, I think Miss Woodard and I have gotten a comm protocol for our wrist comps. The protocol can be transferred to each computer on the fly. Right now, all we have is a common channel, but I built in the ability to update it as we go.”
“Excellent work, both of you,” Stokes nodded towards Bendel and Woodard. “Send two runners to begin distributing the new communication protocol. I want you to start taking a head count, and status as each person is added to the new network.”
“Aye, sir,” Bendel said.
Time passed slowly on the bridge while more and more people checked in. Datapads were set up at various consoles, detailing system statuses and running a head count.
Stokes’ wrist comp chimed at him. He tapped the accept button and said, “Stokes.”
“Sir, this is Lieutenant Murphy. I have an engineering status update for you, sir.”
“Proceed, Lieutenant,” Stokes said.
“We have power at all three reactors. The system is functioning perfectly, and we have power to most of the engineering systems. Power is being interrupted by a series of power distribution nodes around the ship. I have a team trying to rig up a power shunt to one of the maintenance bays so we can build new power nodes.”
“Have you figured out what’s wrong with the power nodes, Mister Murphy?”
“No, sir. We’re trying to get the ship functional right now. I haven’t even started on troubleshooting the problem.”
“I think the ship may have been interrupted by an external signal. The Aeternum was broadcasting a message from the Woduur. Something they sent out might have interacted with our ship.”
“Uh, the Woduur, sir?”
Stokes sighed. “Sorry, it’s a long story, Lieutenant. Concentrate on getting Victorious back into fighting form. Once we have minimal power back up, I’ll brief you on Woduur.”
“Aye, sir. Murphy out.”
Bendel said, “Sounds like we at least know where the Woduur attacked us. Now all we need is to bypass the compromised systems.”
“I’m not so sure it will be such an easy fix,” Woodard said.
Stokes glanced at the shadowy form of his science officer. He thought he knew wh
at she was about to say, but he gave her the opportunity to speak. “Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
“These ships are all made by a manufacturing process we barely understand and have no chance of replicating. I think we can safely say from the message the Woduur sent that they intend to maintain control of their technology. Who knows what safeguards they have built in to keep that control?”
Stokes nodded. He’d been considering the same thing. “Mister Bendel, I plan to head to engineering. Take command here and alert me to any new developments.”
Bendel nodded, his wispy, pale hair floating around his head like a halo. “Aye, sir. We’re breaking the comm net into three channels. One general channel, one officer channel and an emergency channel that overrides all others. I’ll let you know when we’re starting the update. Also, we’ve heard from all hands. Everyone is accounted for. No serious injuries reported and no damage other than the system malfunctions.”
“Very well,” Stokes said. He propelled himself to the aft bridge door and then began working his way to the center reactor. The primary engineering bay was just aft of reactor two. Backup engineering spaces were located at the other two reactors. After about twenty minutes of hauling himself through weightless passageways, he passed through a door and fell headlong to the floor. Growling to himself, he got to his feet and began walking briskly to the engineering bay.
Engineering, unlike the rest of the ship, was brightly lit with consoles humming away. Voices were shouting across the space, coordinating recovery efforts. “Lieutenant Murphy,” Stokes said in a loud voice.
Silence sprang up around him, and a few seconds later, the engineering lieutenant popped out of a maintenance hatch. “Sir, what can I do for you?”
“For starters, put up warning signs at each entrance to the area where you’ve restored gravity. People expecting weightlessness may fall and hurt themselves.”
Murphy nodded and said, “I’m sorry, sir. I will detail a runner to take care of it immediately.” Murphy turned and sent a pair of enlisted engineering ratings off to complete the task.
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