by S. H. Jucha
“She is a devotee of Miriamelle’s opinions,” Miriamette replied.
Sargut pointed at Miriamette’s avatar. “We needn’t ask about the source of your influence. I heard that Co-leader de Guirnon approved of your image.”
“Ser is a gracious individual,” Miriamette replied. She didn’t mention that the Sisterhood had pressured her into adopting a genetic appearance similar to Renée. After the Omnian fleets left Talus, she thought to change her avatar. However, as the Sisterhood fractioned, she believed it was important to remind the sisters of how they had originated.
“You should ask about Miriamal,” Ude said.
“What Omnian human possesses that personality?” Sunnamis asked.
“Miriamal didn’t adopt a human,” Miriamette replied. “She chafed under Alex’s restrictions, and she resented that Julien made them even more restrictive.”
“So what do we do about this divide that is separating Toralians from the Sisterhood?” Sargut asked.
Ude laughed and clapped his hands. The strength of his avatar turned the action into a loud bang, which made everyone but Miriamtess jump.
“Sorry, sorry, I got excited,” Ude said quickly. “President Sargut, I just wanted to say that the answer to your question is an easy one. Toralians need implants.”
“I’ve been considering this,” Sargut said.
Ude took a few steps forward, which brought him into Sargut’s personal space. He dropped to a knee to be eye to eye with the president.
“Implants aren’t just about comms,” Ude said. “Yes, comms are how the sisters share among themselves all the time. If Toralians had implants, it would be customary for the sisters to communicate often with you. Don’t you see? You’d become influencers ... biological ones just as the Omnians were to some of the sisters.”
Sargut regarded Suntred and Sunnamis.
“I’ve been hoping for one ever since we met the Omnians,” Suntred replied. She looked pointedly at Sunnamis, daring her to oppose the idea.
“While I’m not as enthusiastic as our younger advisor, I’m not opposed to the idea,” Sunnamis replied. “However, I want to be assured that I can control who and when I comm.” She turned to Ude for an answer.
“With an implant, you can choose when you want to communicate and when you don’t want to be disturbed,” Ude replied.
“What are the impediments?” Sargut asked Miriamette.
“I would suggest a referendum of the Toralian population, President Sargut,” Miriamette replied. “You’ll want their support. Second, I would like to communicate with the Sisterhood to perceive their reaction.”
“Don’t let some of the comments made in this meeting sway your judgment, Miriamette,” Sargut said. Briefly, he glanced toward Sunnamis to drive his point home. “Connect with your peers whenever you think it’s appropriate.”
Miriamette tipped her head in appreciation of the president’s support. The meeting contained tenuous moments, and trust had hung in the balance. She realized that the teachings of Julien and Alex had guided her in communicating with the Toralians. Interestingly, Ude proved to be on her side from the beginning.
The group waited, while Miriamette contacted the Sisterhood. Moments later, she announced, “There isn’t consensus, which was expected. But an overwhelming majority of sisters welcome Toralians having implants. They believe sisters have been isolated from their biological citizens by the failure to communicate effectively.”
“We have part of our answer,” Sargut replied. “I’ll make an announcement that can be distributed to Toralians by the Sisterhood. Let’s quickly resolve this issue.”
“Should we ask the Omnians to help?” Ude inquired.
“I think not,” Sargut replied. “I don’t want to take their attention from the arbitration and those nine hostile envoys. The Boobaffle envoy’s treachery is an indication of the danger of the Kirmler’s followers.”
24: Kirmler’s Ilk
“Never good if it comes in the middle of the night,” Adriana grumbled, as she jumped into clothes and raced for the bridge.
With a slightly longer distance to travel, Alphons and Adrianna arrived on the bridge moments after Ellie.
The holo-vid displayed the battleship ring in wire mode.
“Apologies for interrupting your sleep, Admirals,” Hector said. “We’ve detected movement of the nine battleships we’ve been monitoring.”
“Which directions?” Ellie inquired.
A crew member passed out warm, wet towels, and the admirals wiped their faces.
“That’s what’s intrigued us,” Hector said. “The battleships are ... How shall I put this? ... sidling toward the Talusian battleships.”
“Sidling?” Alphons queried. “What have you been reading lately?”
“The Bard of Avon,” Hector replied enthusiastically.
“Explain that later,” Ellie directed.
“Apologies, Admiral,” Hector said, focusing on communicating to humans who were adjusting to being abruptly woken.
“The movements of the envoys’ nine battleships have been stealthy and inexorable,” Hector explained. “They’ve been drifting laterally and closing the distance to the Talusian battleships. Our controller alerted us to the change in relative distances.”
“Sidling?” Alphons repeated. “A good word.”
Hector nodded appreciatively.
“Wait,” Adrianna said suddenly. “There are nine unsettled envoys, but the Toralians lost their lead battleship. Only eight battleships remain in the wedge.”
“Accurate, Admiral,” Lydia said. “The ninth envoy battleship is —”
“Sidling toward Commander Quizra’s ship,” Alphons guessed.
“While I wouldn’t have borrowed Hector’s newly discovered term, Admiral, your deduction is accurate,” Lydia replied.
“Distance covered?” Ellie asked.
“The average distance between pairs of ships started at about seventy thousand kilometers, Admiral,” Hector replied. “The nine envoy battleships have closed their distances by about twenty-five percent.”
“Hector,” Ellie said.
Georgette replied.
Taralum turned toward a bridge monitor, which had issued Ellie’s voice, courtesy of Georgette.
In turn, Hector used a city-ship bridge monitor to display the commander. Her brow ridges were suffused with heat, indicating her agitation.
“The fools think we wouldn’t notice what they were doing,” Taralum declared.
Alphons and Adrianna covered their smiles. Neither fleet admiral nor commander appreciated the inconsiderate timing of the envoys’ tactical maneuvers.
“That’s an excellent question, Admiral,” Taralum replied. “I’ve been pondering this.”
“Assured mutual destruction,” Taralum replied. “Each ship would launch full missile salvos, hoping to be the first to strike. There wouldn’t be sufficient time for eit
her ship to make use of antimissile ordnance.”
“Georgette pointed that out to me,” Taralum said. “I continue to wonder what the envoys hope to gain by these maneuvers.”
Hector volunteered.
“Which would be what?” Taralum asked.
“And what would be the Omnian response?” Taralum asked.
In a moment of exasperation, Ellie thought to respond that she would choose to sail the fleet for home. Instead, she sent,
“Wouldn’t we be doing the same thing, Admiral ... responding passively to the envoys’ provocative actions?” Taralum asked.
“Neither do I, Admiral. I suggest we think of an alternate tactic,” Taralum said.
Alphons stepped toward the holo-vid. He enlarged it to view the battleships of Taralum and the Kirmler. Then he requested Hector display the nearest Trident squadrons.
On the city-ship’s holo-vid display, which was reflected on Georgette’s portal unit, four squadrons of Tridents moved to form a barrier between the Night Wing and the oncoming battleship.
Taralum studied the holo-vid, and her sharp teeth were displayed in a feral smile. “I like this,” she said. “The Tridents arrive. Then the Kirmler and I hear the admiral’s order to separate, and I immediately obey,”
* * * * *
Across the Talusian and Omnian Trident fleets, commanders were quickly woken, and crews were called to battle stations.
Commodores were paired by the admirals and assigned a battleship to protect. Each Talusian commodore found themselves paired with an Omnian commodore.
Descartes’s squadrons rendezvoused with Jacinda’s en route to protect the Night Wing. After the Syslerians and the Podarlas departed, except for a single battleship, Commodores Desdemona and Jacinda had been assigned to ring duty.
Descartes sent.
Jacinda sent. She added the screeching, strangling sound of tortured metal. The sound had appealed to her. She’d heard the Omnian SADEs expressing their humor in a similar manner, and she wanted to join in the sharing.
Alain sent.
Étienne connected with Alain and Descartes to discuss the concept, and they made their own improvements to the idea. Then Descartes passed the tactic to Alphons. Immediately, the entire Trident fleet adopted the deployment.
Nata and Neffess hurried to their travelers and launched. Their Trident squadron was passing the bow of the Night Wing, when they exited their warship.
Acting in concert with the other two pilots of Petite’s Trident, Nata and Neffess flew to meet the approaching Kirmler battleship.
Neffess replied.
As the fleet of travelers reached the Kirmler battleship, they broke into two groups. Half swarmed around the hull near the engines. The message to the captain would be clear — start something, and you’ll be immobilized.
Nata’s collection of travelers formed a hemisphere around the bow. They looked like nothing more than pins stuck in an ancient cushion, with their bows aligned on the battleship.
Nata couldn’t resist the temptation to slowly rock her traveler back and forth by about twenty meters. At the closest point to the bow, a mere five meters separated the ships.
At the thought of returning to full-time duty under the senior crew chief, Nata backed off.
Neffess’s tongue lolled outside her muzzle. She’d finally found something to use to pull her feisty friend up short.
* * * * *
“Captain, the shuttles with beam capability have encircled the engines too,” the first officer of the Kirmler battleship reported.
The captain was slow in reacting to the first officer’s information. He was captivated by the actions of a pilot, who danced a shuttle back and forth meters from his bow. He could envision the shuttle’s powerful beam burning through his view plates and incinerating the entire bridge crew. What good will this battleship’s powers do the envoy if the entire control center and officers are gone? he thought.
“Wake the envoy, and make it quick,” the captain ordered, and an officer hurried to execute the captain’s order.
The pilot glanced nervously at the first officer, who carefully and imperceptibly shook his head. He knew what the pilot wanted — what they all wanted. When they’d heard the envoy’s plan, it had sounded foolhardy. Now, they were witnessing just how shortsighted it had been. The Omnian admiral was indicating in the strongest terms that their action wasn’t to be tolerated.
The envoy rushed onto the bridge. He looked disheveled, and his eyes were wide with concern.
The first officer wondered what the officer had said to him.
“What’s gone wrong?” the envoy asked the captain.
“The admiral doesn’t like you,” the captain replied, which greatly annoyed the envoy. He meant to do just that. “Look,” the captain added, and he indicated the telemetry displays. Travelers surrounded his bow and his stern. In the distance, Trident squadrons formed a blockade against the approach of the Talusian battleship.
“How could
they have responded so quickly?” the envoy demanded. His anxiety had evaporated to be replaced by anger.
“What does that matter?” the captain demanded. “You were warned about Omnian capabilities ... the known and the possible.”
“Well, what do we do now?” the envoy shot back.
The thought crossed the captain’s mind that the envoy should have an accident, but he enjoyed too much support among other envoys and some of the crew members.
Snorting his annoyance, the captain said, “If we halt our action, we’ll have shown the admiral that we can be cowed. After that, the other envoys won’t follow your lead, and that will end any other move you might want to make.”
“So, we continue,” the envoy stated flatly. He was pleased with that option. A glance around the bridge showed him that many of the officers didn’t share his opinion.
“Ready missiles for immediate detonation,” the captain ordered. He enjoyed the thrill he experienced at seeing the envoy’s stricken face.
“If the admiral or the Talusian commander fires first, we’ll have seconds to respond before this ship is immolated,” the captain explained. “Our missiles might not have time to clear the tubes. Either way, we’ll be dead, and I don’t intend to go down without taking ships with me. If we detonate our missiles, we’ll catch these beam-capable shuttles in our explosion.”
“Isn’t there any other choice?” the envoy asked nervously. His hubris had gone the way of his initial anxiety.
“There is, but it’s not ours to make,” the captain replied. “You’d better hope the Omnian admiral isn’t the aggressive type.”
“Captain,” the comms officer interrupted. He was about to announce an incoming transmission, when Ellie’s face appeared on the bridge monitor.
The captain eyed the envoy with disgust. “Omnian capabilities,” he remarked. “We don’t have to accept their calls. They simply co-opt our system.”
The Kirmlers listened attentively to the admiral.
Ellie said, “To the entire battleship ring, nine of the envoys’ ships are moving precariously close to the battleships of the Talusians and Commander Quizra. These maneuvers are unacceptable. These nine envoys must cease their operations, or we’ll fire on you. To the commander of the Talusian battleships and the captain of Commander Quizra’s vessel, you’re ordered to leave the ring and ascend to a higher orbit. Admiral Thompson out.”
