by C J Klinger
For the rest of the welcoming ceremony, Jon thought about what the Vajrashilan said. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The humans on Vajrashila had survived and prospered because they had learned from the Yogamundi how to make the alien plants and animals submit to their will. Could they do the same with sentient species? Jon was anxious to discuss it further with William and then with Admiral Dexter. He broached the subject to the Vajrashilans when the last dignitary had left the podium. “William, do you really think you could convince any of these visitors to follow your suggestions?”
The Cleric-General looked at Jon for a moment and then at Talor. Finally, he said, “Talor, I do believe the Captain is plotting something.”
“I believe you are correct in your assumption, Cleric-General Bradley-Kinsley,” Talor answered.
“Well, could you?” Jon asked, not rising to their provocations.
William saw that Jon was serious and wanted an answer. “I believe I could with a little more contact to learn the nature of their logic processes,” he answered slowly.
“Good,” Jon said aloud. “Let’s go see the admiral.”
Chapter 32
Newhope
Jon woke with a start, for an instant not knowing where he was. The room was dark with only a hint of daylight coming through the drapes. Annika stirred and snuggled her warm body close to his. He reached out and cupped her breast while burying his head in her hair. They were in the guest bedroom at his grandparents’ condo. She reached up and put her hand on top of his to stop his subconscious stroking of her erect nipple.
“Stop that,” she murmured. “I’m trying to sleep.”
Reluctantly he stopped and said, “You need sleep?”
“You kept me up half the night,” she murmured.
They lay silently for a while, and Annika began to snore softly. Jon very carefully got out of bed before his desire to make love to her overcame her desire to get some sleep. Their decision to get engaged so soon after they had met seemed to please his parents and grandparents. Jon was glad of that. He felt very comfortable with his decision to marry Annika, and it pleased him that his family approved of his choice. Dressing quietly he slipped out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen.
His grandfather was pouring a cup of coffee as he came in. “Want one?” he asked, holding up a cup.
“It’s a matter of life and death, sir,” he answered.
By mutual, silent consent they took their coffee and headed for his grandfather’s office that overlooked the spaceport. There were perhaps forty ships in port including the two Alphan ships. Neither one of the men said anything, preferring to complete their survey in silence. They both turned around when Talo, Talia, and Talor came in from their sentry position by the entrance. Mental greetings were exchanged, and then the three androids joined the humans in their inspected of the field.
After a moment, Jon asked Talor, “Do you know how long the Alphans have been a space-faring species?”
“About three hundred thousand years,” the android answered without elaborating.
“Have they been nonbelligerent all that time?” Jon asked, trying to get a better feel for the aliens trying to organize the alliance against the Hegemony.
Talor elaborated a little more after understanding Jon’s motives for asking. “Their civilization developed without any adversities hindering their progress. Without the need to battle for resources, they developed much slower than your human society. Without the pressures of starvation and war, their birth rate was lower, and their population grew slowly and systematically. As you are aware from your visit to Alpha, their interests are primarily intellectual.”
Jonathon Senior asked the question Jon was working up to. “Do you think they will share some of their spaceship technologies?”
Talor looked at the elder McKinnah. “Yes, but they will expect you to share the secret of the IS-Drive in exchange.”
Grandma Marcia joined them. When Jon gave her a kiss, she asked, “Is your bride still asleep?”
“We’re not married yet, Grandma,” Jon countered.
Marcia pinched him on the cheek and said. “Well, you had better hurry. It sounded like you two were making babies all night.”
Jon turned a bright red while his grandfather laughed loudly. He should have been used to his grandparents’ lusty sense of humor by now, but it had never hit so close to home before.
A sleepy Annika came into the office dressed in one of Marcia’s old robes. She came over to Jon and gave him a lingering kiss. “What’s so funny?” she asked after breaking away.
When Marcia explained, Annika grinned broadly and said, “Well, you know what they say about spacers when they’re in port.” She looked at the ancient chronometer on the Commander’s wall and said, “I’ve got to get going. I’m on duty in an hour.”
Jon rode with Annika in the personnel carrier and made arrangements to meet her that evening for the reception being held for the alien visitors. It would be a dinner-dance like none ever held before.
He and Talor were greeted by the sentry on duty at Islandia II. They took a moment to inspect Islandia’s exterior and then decided to walk a hundred meters to where the first of the two Alphan ships were parked. There were several, heavily armed guards manning a barrier around the ships, but they could get close enough to inspect the exterior. It had a highly polished, glass-smooth, silver surface that reflected everything around it in flawless detail.
“Incredible,” Jon said in admiration.
Talor agreed and explained the Alphans had taken the path of perfecting the heavier metal elements as their spaceship material, unlike the humans who had used the Ankh technology of creating incredibly long, carbon molecule strings to ‘spin-weave’ their spaceships.
“Which do you think is better, Talor?” Jon asked, curious to see how the android would rate his creator’s technology.
Talo was factual as Jon had expected him to be. “They are equal for the first ninety percent, but the carbon technology is superior for the last ten present.”
Jon understood which ten percent Talor was talking about; the ten percent when a ship was exposed to the maximum effects of space warfare. They walked back to the Islandia in silence. Jon had a new respect for her toughness.
At noon Jon, the Cleric-General and Talor met with the Psychology Department of the CSF Intelligence Division to review the results of their mental scans of the aliens. The scramble for any meaningful information about the visitors caused a good number of people to sit in on the debriefing. Interest in the Vajrashilans ability to read emotions drew considerable interest from the head of the department.
Later, Jon kidded William saying, “Damn, William, if you play your cards right, you could have a career in Intelligence.”
The Vajrashilan looked blank and said, “What are ‘cards’?”
Jon sighed, “Never mind, William, it’s too complicated to explain, but you need to spend some time in a spacer bar to learn our idioms.” Jon projected an image so he wouldn’t have to explain what “Spacer bar” meant. They agreed to meet at the reception later that evening and share notes on what they were picking up from the aliens in their first social encounter with the humans. Jon returned to his ship to take care of his admin duties. At 5:00 PM his com unit buzzed; it was Annika who informed him she was going in a civilian dress for the evening affair. He told her he would pick her up at 8:00PM. They had agreed not to communicate mentally while they were on duty. The possibility of disturbing each other at a critical moment was too great. It would be something they would reserve for off-duty time.
Jon had talked to his grandparents about the dangers of using their mental-talk ability on a continual basis. Both of them had been adamant about not using the gift as a substitute for verbal communication. His grandmother had given him the best advice, “Use it as a mental adjective for your verbal words. It should be used to add depth to what you’re saying, but not be the primary means of saying it.” She
paused and smiled knowingly before saying, “Except, of course for those special moments with Annika.”
This time Jon was not embarrassed by her candid reference to his sex life. He had long ago recognized that Islandian natives, those who had grown up on clanboats or small river towns regarded sex to be as natural as eating. While they usually made love in whatever privacy they could find in a cramped boat or small village, everyone else around them could hear what was going on. It was not unusual for neighbors to holler out words of encouragement or instructions in good-natured kidding. Jon had been born on Islandia, but raised on Newhope and was more inclined toward the norm of seeking complete privacy for his adventures with the opposite sex.
At seven-forty-five, a personnel transporter arrived for Jon and Talor. The three androids, Talo, Talia, and Talor, had been asked to help the Alphans with translation services. Altogether there would be seven species at the reception, the humans, the Alphans and the five visiting alien species. Such an event was unimaginable until the threat of the Hegemony made it necessary, and the Alphans made it possible. Jon wondered if this was going to be the exception or the norm for the future. In any case, the human race was going to have to change its attitude about aliens. The galaxy was apparently well populated with other sentient species they would have to get along with.
When the carrier arrived at the CSF Enderson, Annika walked down the ramp in a watermelon colored evening gown that took Jon’s breath away. Her golden hair was piled up on top of her head and held in place by a small tiara.
“My God, Annika, you look ravishing,” Jon said taking in the deep plunge between her breasts.
“Thanks, baby,” she said giving him a kiss on the lips. “But save the ravishing for later. It took me an hour to put this all together.”
Jon’s eyes narrowed, “Don’t tell me you had this dress in your kit.”
“Of course not silly, your Aunt Samantha and I went shopping,” she said with a sweet, conspiratorial smile.
The ride to the central city on the maglev was interesting. The other passengers were torn between staring at Annika and staring at Talor. The men generally settled on looking at Annika. All of them completely ignored Jon. When they arrived Jon noticed several strange structures attached to the side of the Assembly Hall. Talo informed them they were for the two species that could not tolerate Newhope’s atmosphere. They would be able to see and hear what was transpiring, but would not be able to participate directly in the festivities.
They ran into Jon’s parents and grandparents as they entered the great hall. After some comments on Annika’s dress they six of them got into the line to meet the aliens. Talor had gone ahead to join Talo and Talia with translation duties. Everyone in line was informed that shakings hand with the visitors was not required or advised and that should limit their conversation to giving their name and position in the government unless the visitors wished to know more.
Talo was standing with the first group. The android towered over the squat aliens by more than a meter. Jon recognized them as the first aliens off the Alphan spaceship, short, broad with a round face and mobile ears. Talo took a few minutes to explain who the McKinnah’s were, pointing to each one of them. One of the two aliens spoke to Talo then bowed slightly to the group. Talo explained, “These are the representatives from the Hooshag Confederation, which consist of fifteen worlds scattered over thirteen star systems.” Talo pointed to the one alien who had bowed to them and said, “This is ‘General’ Holosager, which is a phonetic adaptation of his title and name. He wishes to express his admiration for what you have accomplished here in the CIP, Commander McKinnah. He also wishes to extend an invitation for you to visit his homeworld.”
The elder McKinnah bowed back and said, “Tell the general my wife and I would be pleased to accept his invitation after this difficulty with the Hegemony has been dealt with.”
They moved down the line to where Talor was standing with the three, cat-like aliens. The tallest of the three, the one the Cleric-General had pointed out as being interested in ‘examining Jon’ immediately said something to Talor. Jon felt the mental sensation of an unknown voice trying to be heard in his head. Annika and the elder McKinnahs must have also felt the same sensation because all three of them reacted slightly. Talor said something to the staring alien and then waited for her/him to answer.
Up close, they were strikingly beautiful by human standards; almost feline in their gracefulness. The white fur on their skin was barely discernible. Their large green eyes were expressive and slightly almond-shaped, and the mane of hair on their head and neck moved in concert with the expression showing on their face. Talo informed him the aliens used the movement of their mane as a means of emphasizing what they were saying. Two of the aliens were silent and carefully watched the exchange between Talor and the lead ‘female.’ Jon had decided she was female. The protruding breasts-like features were too human-like to be anything but mammalian glands. The other clue was how the lead alien kept examining Annika’s cleavage.
After a lengthy exchange, Talo explained, “This is Commander Adalan-Kyfor of the Hylox Empire. Her companions are her assistants, who identities and titles she has not disclosed. The commander wishes to express her apologies to you, Jon for any inadvertent references to mating she may have made when she first encountered you. She had not expected to encounter empaths.”
Jon felt Annika’s grip tighten on his upper arm. “God, I hope there’s not going to be an interstellar cat-fight,” he thought and then realized Annika could hear him.
“So, you think you’re worth fighting for?” she shot back.
“Absolutely,” he mentaled her with a grin. Aloud he said, “Tell Commander Adalan-Kyfor that my life-mate and I understand and are not offended. We look forward to working together to defeat the threat that endangers both our worlds.”
Commander Adalan-Kyfor looked at Jon and Annika while Talor translated. She said something in response and Talor translated, “The commander thanks you and you are correct, Jon, she is a female and has a biological system similar to humans. She has asked that the two of you join her at another time to educate her on human customs so she will not make a similar mistake again.”
Before Jon could respond, Annika said, “We would be most pleased to accommodate the Commander at her convenience.”
The rest of the evening was a blur for Jon. He danced with Annika and fended off fellow officers and aspiring government bachelors who wanted to dance with the most beautiful woman in the room. Several times he caught Commander Adalan-Kyfor watching them with her large green eyes. Each time she knew he was looking at her, he got a mental contact sensation. Being careful not to articulate his thoughts mentally he decided that, aside from what she had told Talor she was still interested in him in a decidedly non-military way. He would have to watch his step around her in the future.
Chapter 33
Newhope
The Aliens stayed for ten days. With help from Cleric-General Bradley-Kinsley, the odd collection of allies forged an agreement. William never explained how he influenced the aliens and the humans to set aside their personal agendas in exchange for a working defense alliance, but Talor explained that the Cleric-General had kept broadcasting the images taken from Jon’s thirty-second dash across the Khruellian spaceport. Apparently, the images of the size and might of the Khruellian fleet was compelling enough to hasten their agreements. Jon promised himself never to play poker with any of the Vajrashilans.
The agreement called for the formation of an allied defense organization, immediately shortened to ADO by the bureaucrats. The members agreed to form a command group, responsible for strategy. A senior representative from each species would gather in special quarters on Alpha. Jon was not surprised by the Alphans’ admission that the quarters were already built and ready for occupancy. They also agreed, after some discussion to let the humans be in command of the operations end of the alliance. The CSF had the largest fleet in the group and some experie
nce at fighting an interstellar war. The CSF would name a supreme commander to be in charge of executing the strategy developed by the allied command group.
There had been some discussion about the wisdom of letting a CSF ship conduct a preemptive attack on the Khruellian’s military space complex. A lengthy discourse went on about whether it was better to wait for an aggressive neighbor to attack or to take preemptive steps to disarm him. In the end, they all agreed that the CSF’s action was probably the better of the two choices, especially since The Khruellians had adequately demonstrated their intentions to ruthlessly conquer all their neighbors, without exception. That, plus the fact that only military targets had been hit had settled the issue. Jon was personally relieved to have the subject aired and decided on. Attacking the Khruellians without it being in response to an aggressive act on the part of the Hegemony had been the one thing that bothered him about the raid.
The Alphans had agreed to act as scouts. They had been exploring Khruellian space for centuries, and the Khruellians tolerated their presence to a degree, principally because the Alphans had been impossible to capture and also because they had not exhibited any belligerence toward the Khruellian expansion plans. It was expected that would change as soon as the Khruellians discovered the Alphans were operating in conjunction with the fleets attacking Khruellian worlds.
Like every other officer in the CSF fleet, Jon waited for orders. He made one trip to Fairworld to inspect a new frigate coming off the line. He and Talor met with the ships’ designers to go over details of Islandia’s operational performance to see if any changes needed to be made in the next round of similar ships. There were very few, but Jon did suggest they install another pulse cannon pod on the aft bottom hull. He explained the ADO plan to wreak havoc on Khruellian installations, which would require downward facing weapons as well as defense coverage of the aft quadrant while they were in strafing formations. The designers agreed, and the additional weapons were ordered.