“Casualty reports?”
Dyer shrugged. “Don’t expect anything reliable for days, sir.”
Stone paced around the room, with its circular table and its walls covered in screens. His officers came and left, only a few of them remaining in place for longer than a handful of minutes. The only person who couldn’t leave was Stone himself – he needed to be here, where he could be found.
A moving image on one of the nearby screens caught his eye and he glanced over. One of his team was replaying the moment when the Nullifier finally succumbed to the intense bombardment directed against its energy shield. The battleship’s vast, flaming shape descended through the atmosphere, new explosions blossoming like fireworks upon its surface.
The Nullifier struck the surface of the Pacific – mercifully travelling at only a few dozen meters per second, before vanishing underneath in a vast spray of steam and water. In the background, what seemed like half of the ULAF fleet hovered, watching and waiting, powerless to stop the enormous ripple that spread outwards from the impact site.
Stone averted his gaze. “How long until the Sekar arrive, assuming the Nullifier’s intention was to lead them to Earth?”
“We have no data upon which to base a prediction, sir,” said Lieutenant Cherry Meadows, Stone’s research analysis liaison.
“I thought we had entire teams making predictions based on unknowns,” said Stone.
Meadows shifted uncomfortably. “We do, sir. We can’t guess at every eventuality.”
“Someone’s working on it now?”
“We’ve got about five hundred people making adjustments to the simulator input data, sir.”
“Are the Fangrin assisting?”
“I think the bulk of their analysis teams are trying to figure out when this is going to come to one of their planets, sir.”
Stone grunted. “What updates from the Hantisar fleet? The Nullifier was designed to combat the Sekar. Those other ships have enough firepower to destroy every planet in the Unity League.”
“Like you ordered, sir,” said Dyer. “We’re installing remote-detonated nuclear devices on each of those spaceships. If they go rogue, we’ll blow them to pieces before they can so much as launch a single missile. So far, they’ve given us no direct reason for concern.”
“How long until the work is done?”
“There’s a delay on the FTL comms, but I’m expecting a report any time now.”
“Let me know when you receive it.”
Stone gritted his teeth. The Hantisar fleet was a powerful attacking force, but one which was now tainted by the actions of the Nullifier. Captain Griffin believed the threat was limited to the battleship and Stone wanted more than anything to put his faith in this assessment. With so much at stake, he was unwilling to take the risk.
One of the alloy doors slid open and an officer hurried in. He looked around and caught sight of Captain Dyer.
“What is it?” asked Dyer.
The officer handed him a brown folder containing the latest updates from the comms team. Dyer opened the folder and scanned the contents, while Stone waited for the summary.
“The Sekar presence on Runston is now contained,” he said.
“What about Involar?”
“Nothing new – the forests in the northern hemisphere are withering at an increasing rate. We’re able to track the enemy progress, but the terrain doesn’t allow us to make an effective counterattack.”
“The last report suggested a few thousand Sekar on Involar.”
“This new report indicates that number has grown significantly, sir.”
“How long until the Sekar reach the populated areas in the south?”
Dyer glanced at the folder again. “Two weeks with their current numbers.”
“Five warships from the Hantisar fleet would be enough to saturate the affected area with tharniol explosives,” said Lieutenant Pete Moss. “We could have those ships in orbit less than three days from now.”
“What effect will that have on the planet’s atmosphere?” asked Lieutenant Mike Forbes. “It’s a quick fix that might screw things up in the future. Assuming we get out of this.”
“We have to do something,” said Dyer. “If the Sekar have opened a rift somewhere beneath the surface, we don’t know how many might spill through before it closes up. We don’t even know if the damn rift will close. If we dropped a million troops on Involar it may not be enough.”
Stone closed his eyes. The Sekar had opened numerous rifts on the now-dead planet Rundine and estimates suggested ten or fifteen million aliens had been enough to make life extinct in only a few days. The same thing couldn’t be allowed to happen again and it was time for Stone to put his trust in the resources available.
“I want ten warships from the Hantisar fleet at each of planets Involar, Runston, Centrium and New Destiny. A further twenty to Earth.”
“I’ll get that done, sir,” said Moss.
“Thank you.”
“What about the ground troops?” asked Dyer. “We can pull significant numbers from nearby worlds, but that might bite us on the ass if the Sekar show up elsewhere.”
Stone checked the page of hand-written notes on the desk in front of him. “Governor Terax has offered a million Fangrin troops.”
“Have you accepted, sir?” asked Lieutenant Meadows. “This will be the first significant deployment of Fangrin on a Unity League planet.”
“I think we’re beyond worrying about the motives of our allies, Lieutenant. I’ve accepted Governor Terax’s offer. The first contingents will arrive in the coming days.”
“That might be too late,” said Lieutenant Pittman.
“It’s what we have.”
Stone made a few orders to divert ULAF ground troops from currently unaffected planets to those places under attack. It felt like he was shuffling a deck without aces and the troop numbers didn’t look anything like enough. While junior officers communicated his orders to other parts of the Unity League, Stone turned his attention to the next item on the endless list of problems.
“What’s the latest on the rift above New Destiny?”
“It’s still growing, sir.”
“Any sign of enemy activity?”
“None.”
The Sekar had yet to emerge from the New Destiny rift, yet the significance of the rift’s expansion wasn’t lost on anybody. Eventually, something would come and Stone didn’t want to think about the consequences for the people living on the planet only half a million klicks away.
“Increase the number of Hantisar ships heading for New Destiny to thirty.”
“Yes, sir.”
Stone puffed out his cheeks and expelled the air from his lungs. The pain in his chest was noticeably declining with each passing hour and the medical report from yesterday found a significant reduction in cancer cells floating through his bloodstream. Dr Austin sat quietly on a chair in one corner. She looked up the moment his eyes fell upon her, like she was perfectly in tune with her patient. Stone pretended his gaze was just passing through.
“What’s the latest on the ULS Juniper?” he asked.
Dyer had a habit of checking his watch, even though the command and control room had a screen clock mounted on every wall. “They should be loaded up at New Destiny and ready to depart.”
“Keep me informed. I want to know as soon as they hit lightspeed.”
“Will do, sir.”
Another officer entered the room, this time carrying three brown folders. Soon they’d have to find someplace else to dump them, since not one inch of the table was visible underneath the ever-growing pile. Once again, Dyer checked over the contents to pick out the most important details.
“Preliminary casualty report from the Nullifier’s dark cannon attack on ULAF-1.”
Following its arrival at Earth, the Nullifier had known exactly where to go and it had spent many long minutes turning the base surface facilities into powder. Luckily, Stone and the majority of his persona
l team had survived long enough to make it underground. Many others had not been so fortunate.
“Early estimates suggest we lost 35,000 personnel in the dark cannon attack, sir. Plus two heavy cruisers.”
“Until this is over, I have to tell myself it’s just numbers,” said Stone. “Big numbers, but numbers nonetheless.”
The officers in the room knew when it was time to stay quiet and they did so, most of them looking straight ahead with glassy eyes and blank expressions as they waited for the moment to pass. Stone couldn’t blame them. Anyone who tried to carry so many souls around their neck would choke. The time for reflection was later.
Stone’s PA broke the silence with an abrupt lack of concern that betrayed the computer behind it.
“Fleet Admiral Stone, your meeting starts in five minutes.”
“Thank you. I know where it is.”
“Need company?” asked Dyer.
“Not this time. That goes for you as well, Dr Austin.”
“I’ll wait outside the meeting room, sir,” she said firmly.
It was the best concession she could offer and Stone accepted it. He strode from the room and into the corridor outside. With Dr Austin a pace behind, Stone turned left and then right. The new corridor ended at a door which opened when he approached. He didn’t need to remind Dr Austin and she made no effort to follow him inside.
The meeting room was furnished with a single table, a couple of chairs, a desktop communicator and a large wall screen. Stone took one of the chairs.
“Inbound transmission, Fleet Admiral,” said his PA through the ceiling speaker.
“Let’s have it.”
The wall screen backlight came on and then specks of jumping static appeared. A couple of indicators in the upper corner told Stone that the incoming stream was FTL and amplified in order to reduce the travel time further.
An image appeared, vanished, reappeared, flickered and then stabilized. The feed was of a room on a warship or a planet elsewhere, with alloy walls and not much else. Three Raggers sat in a row at a table facing the sensor lens, their huge eyes unblinking and their narrow, thin-lipped mouths open in what Stone guessed were expressions of hatred, mockery, or a combination of both.
Stone knew their names, from the first meeting he’d arranged not many hours ago. This was the follow up and it seemed the Raggers had gathered some new intel during the intervening period.
“The Sekar have found your planets,” grinned Riviss-Uld-95. “This is not a good day for the Unity League.”
Those words were enough to dash Stone’s hopes that this meeting might somehow lead to the Raggers offering up their genetics or stealth technology. Nevertheless, he kept a straight face while his mind tried hard to work out how he was going to bluff something useful out of these alien bastards.
Chapter Seven
“Our planets are fine,” said Stone, as if it was unimportant. “I hear the Sekar are interested in the Ragger teleportation technology. I wonder how many of your worlds have been sucked dry.”
The comms travel time left Stone waiting.
“The Seekers are of no consequence to us, human,” said Riviss-Uld-95 at last. “Like every other species, they crumble when confronted by the might of our empire.”
“That is strange. I have heard reports to the contrary,” said Stone, with an exaggerated furrow of his brow. “In fact, I have heard that swathes of Ragger territory are under threat.”
“Do not think you can fool us,” said the second Ragger, this one called Excan-Jao-87. “Our intel is proven. Yours is speculation.”
“Have it your way,” shrugged Stone. “The terms of the truce do not permit either side to execute reconnaissance missions in the territory of the others. If your intel is proven I must assume you have broken the terms of the truce and I demand reparations.”
“We owe you nothing,” hissed Riviss-Uld-95. “The ceasefire makes no provision for reparations.”
“You admit spying on the Unity League, then?” asked Stone mildly.
“We admit nothing.”
“Might I remind you, the Unity League and Fangrin fleets have been significantly bolstered by the discovery of new technology. Against it, our friends are safe.”
In fact, this was the first hint Stone had given of the Hantisar fleet. He watched carefully to see if the Raggers would take the bait. Like a starving fish lured by a wriggling maggot, Excan-Jao-87 came in for a nibble.
“You have nothing new, human. This is a feeble effort.”
“Your rogue operative on Glesia knew the value of what lay within the Refuge 9 base.” Stone leaned forward. “And what lay in ruins upon the surface.”
“A single battleship,” said Riviss-Uld-95 dismissively. “You may eventually extract something useful from your theft, but the time has been too short.”
“Has it now?” mused Stone. “Because I think otherwise.”
“Words, human. We can speak them also.”
Stone leaned back, as if none of this was of any concern to him. “The species who built the Nullifier fought the Sekar for many years and learned many things.”
“They learned how to die.”
The third Ragger, who had been quiet so far, finally spoke. “We know these games you play, human, for we play them also,” said Resz-Val-28, the most senior of the three by number. “Remember: this is how we are. You have read the first page of the rulebook and think you can join as an equal.”
He's playing, Stone reminded himself. Trying to shut me down, but it’s still the game.
“This is not how we are, Ragger,” said Stone with a nasty smile. “The games are yours, not ours. Let me assure you that the Unity League - and our allies the Fangrin - are in possession of something terrible. You do not wish to discover what it is from a position where you are our enemy.”
“You want something,” said Resz-Val-28.
“Perhaps.”
“We have a truce, nothing more.”
The opening moves are done, thought Stone. Let’s see where this leads.
“We have the means to defeat the Sekar,” he said.
Riviss-Uld-95 shifted a little in his seat, though he otherwise gave away nothing. “We do not need assistance.”
“You have lost entire planets. I have a recording obtained from a spaceship called Zemilius which we rightfully obtained from your teleportation facility on Qali-5. That recording shows a Ragger planet in the aftermath of a Sekar attack.” Stone stared unblinking at the screen.
“We have many planets,” said Excan-Jao-87. “We are not sentimental about our losses. Any who die will be regrown.”
“Your teleportation experiments draw the Sekar. They have found you and they will not forget.”
“They succumb to tharniol,” said Resz-Val-28. “That is a substance we have in abundance. The Seekers may find temporary success against our planets but ultimately, their efforts are insignificant in the endless bounds of Ragger space.”
“You say Ragger space is endless. I have data taken from your comms station on Reol which says to the contrary. I remind you of Qali-5 and the other planets of yours we visited. The Unity League and Fangrin have extensive intel on your limitations.” Stone narrowed his eyes. “I assure you that in comparison to the Sekar, you are not so powerful.”
“The Unity League and Fangrin are desperate,” said Resz-Val-28 with a hissing laugh. “On the brink of defeat against the Raggers, you find yourself facing a second opponent you cannot challenge. You come crawling to us for assistance, hoping to buy an extension to your pitiful lives. Why should we offer you succor?”
There it is. The question.
“To reset the war between us. To begin anew without distraction.”
“We have a truce,” said Excan-Jao-87 gleefully. “Why do you talk of war?”
“Because we are not stupid,” Stone replied. “Once the Sekar are gone, the Raggers will pursue war against the Unity League and Fangrin.”
“So untrusting,” mocked Res
z-Val-28.
“To be expected from a species whose only dealings with the honorable Raggers was through the traitor Hass-Tei-112,” said Excan-Jao-87, in apparent delight.
“In that case, the Raggers have little to worry about,” said Stone. “You are more powerful than the Sekar, the Unity League and the Fangrin combined, as you have just told me.” He raised a single eyebrow - a subtlety that was probably lost on his audience. “Unless of course you are more worried than you are letting on? After all, you Raggers have already underestimated the Unity League and the Fangrin, and as a consequence have lost a significant portion of your manufacturing and replication facilities, not to mention having had comms data and alien spaceships stolen from right under your noses.”
“What do you want from us, human?” said Resz-Val-28, like he’d grown bored of humoring Stone’s impertinence. “Speak quickly or this meeting is over.”
“Our scientists are interested in your genetics research.”
“You will grow an army of your own? Numbers will not defeat the Seekers.” Having unintentionally acknowledged the Sekar as the primary threat, Riviss-Uld-95 rubbed his pointed chin, as if in thought. “Or perhaps you believe our research data contains the means to increase your resistance to the Sekar life drain.” He looked up. “Is that what it is, human?”
“Maybe you are hunting for a weakness in our genetic make-up that you wish to exploit at a later time,” said Resz-Val-28, before Stone could answer. “Given our dealings with the Unity League so far, I am inclined to suspect treachery.”
“In truth the Ragger genetics data is corollary to our efforts,” Stone replied. He stifled a yawn and glanced at the clock on the wall. “Best case, it might reduce the workload on a few of our research teams. We’ll achieve the same outcome without it.”
“Except that time is of the essence, is it not?” asked Excan-Jao-87. “For the Unity League, that is.”
“Our territory is under full control,” Stone replied. “Like you say, the Sekar are vulnerable to tharniol. We might not possess such abundant reserves as you Raggers claim to hold, but our requirements for the substance have fallen by ninety-five percent. Like you, we have ample spare.”
Scum of the Universe (Fire and Rust Book 7) Page 5