Galaxy of War II

by Robert Boren

  “This is better than I thought,” Elizabeth said as she continued to read. “This oscillation starts with the mind control, to prepare for the egg implantation.”

  “That’s why we saw the fatigue. It’s rough on the human body to swing back and forth like this.”

  “Janiza says here that the high doses of Vitamin D would actually kill eggs in the human body,” Elizabeth said, “but it had to be above a certain threshold. Humans with slightly high amounts of Vitamin D were more difficult to take over, but if they did fall prey to implantation, the eggs would survive and incubate. The elevated dosage required to kill the eggs and remove the infection is too high for humans to sustain for long periods of time.”

  “That isn’t good,” Ecason said.

  “It’s not a problem. It’s like most infectious diseases. You take a course of medicine, in this case the ultra-high doses of Vitamin D, and when the disease is defeated, you go back down to normal levels.”

  “I should talk to XC22475 about this. They might not know.”

  “You should, yes. Can you call him?”

  “Last time I went to the door,” Ecason said. “I can do that.”

  “We should watch the video… or at least I should, just in case there’s something we need to tell him.”

  Ecason nodded, his brow furrowed. He spoke into his PA, and the video displayed, the pretty face of Janiza showing, framed by frizzy gray hair.

  Hi, sweetheart. I’m so sorry about everything. My team has finished the infection test. I’m sending it to you now, to broadcast as you’re leaving the ship. Hopefully it will get into the right hands, even though we’ll all be gone. The test is easy, thanks to that striking temperature oscillation. The Vitamin D regiment seems to work well, but humans can’t keep on it too long. It can cause kidney failure, among other things.

  I wanted to tell you once more how much I love you, honey. You were the perfect partner in work and in life, and I’ll die happy remembering the bliss we had during our marriage. My last thoughts will be of you, dearest. I love you so. Good bye.

  Ecason broke down, rushing out of the room, getting onto his bed, face buried as he sobbed.

  ***

  Chairman Vermillion sat at his desk, going over production schedules and revised delivery dates. He was tired. Things hadn’t looked this good for many months, but there was that tickle in the back of his brain. The other shoe, teetering, getting ready to drop.

  Your stress level is too high, and you’re on the border of depression.

  “Drake, I didn’t know you were on.”

  Sorry to sneak up on you like this.

  “You have news?”

  No, but I’ve been thinking about the issue with atmospheric entry heat.

  Vermillion chuckled. “Of course. You probably figured out a way to solve the problem.”

  We all know how. Slow down re-entry below Q.

  Vermillion chuckled. “Of course, we could slow down, but the amount of fuel we’d burn trying to do that would make it impractical.”

  Yes. Elementary space mechanics. Nolan is looking into masking using the shields. He’s looking at the correct system, but he’s trying to use it in the wrong way.

  “You didn’t contact me to talk about this. You would’ve just gone directly to Dojo or Emerald if this was all you were interested in.

  I’m worried about your stress level, and I know this is the thing that is bothering you the most.

  Vermillion laughed. “You’ve been looking at my recorded thoughts again.”

  You found me out. I wanted to find out what the issue was. I’ll get with Dojo and Emerald on this issue, but I wanted you to know that the problem is not as difficult as you think. Aeon won’t defeat us due to this issue.

  “You’re worried that I’m not up to the job.”

  Absolutely not, but you’re too involved in these types of details. We need your powers of negotiation and diplomacy more than ever now. Peteralinia will be a good ally, but he’ll be looking out for Pentant Simtar above all else. He’s a very good multi-dimensional thinker, but he lets emotions take him too easily.

  Vermillion leaned back in his chair. “The attack on Aeon’s Palace.”

  Now you’re with me. I want you to concentrate on working with the personalities of Pentant Simtar. You’ve also got challenges with your team. Simone has awakened to Trey Clarke.

  “That doesn’t mean they’ll do anything.”

  If she starts coming up with reasons to be in the same physical space that Trey is, we need to manage the situation. Without either of them getting it, of course.

  “I hate doing this,” Vermillion said.

  You know what you should say right now.

  Vermillion sighed. “Yeah. Comes with the job.”

  Exactly. Don’t worry about the heat problem. Worry about the personalities.

  “Yes sir, I understand,” Vermillion said. “I’m very glad you’re still with us. I know I’ll never be alone.”

  Likewise, old friend. Talk to you soon.

  ***

  Admiral Boeraton came onto the Forestall bridge, finding only Kymm and Zindra there.

  “Where’s Captain Cain?” he asked.

  “He went to get a bite to eat with X22945,” Zindra said. “Can we help you with something?”

  “Did they say when they were coming back?”

  Zindra looked at Kymm, who shook her head. “Guess not, but Captain Cain is never gone for long. Feel free to wait, or call his PA.”

  The door opened, Captain Cain and X22945 walking in. They froze when they saw Boeraton there.

  “Are you two up to something?” he asked. “You didn’t look happy to see me here.”

  “Just surprised, that’s all,” Cain said. “What can I do for you?”

  “I just came looking for status,” Boeraton said. “Any sign of the five Razors? Seems like they should’ve caught up with us by now.”

  “We’re moving forward on impulse power,” Cain said. “They’ll see us as soon as they come out of their jump. I’m expecting them within the next four hours, assuming they didn’t take any side-trips.”

  “All right,” Boeraton said. “Let’s go to the dining room.”

  “Zindra, keep up those scans,” Cain said. “Call me immediately if those Razors show up.”

  “Aye sir,” Zindra said.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Cain said, leading the group off the bridge. They made it to the dining room in a couple minutes, taking seats.

  “Feel free to order food,” Boeraton said.

  “We just ate,” Cain said, “but you go ahead.”

  “Something’s wrong,” X22945 said.

  Boeraton shook his head. “I’m glad we don’t have those communicators that Vermillion has. The Prime Minister has been thinking of one thing after another to call me about. I was hoping we were close to being back in the jump.”

  Cain burst out laughing. “Well, can’t blame you there.”

  “He’d probably gut us if we were still on Devonia Axxiom.”

  “Why do you say that?” X22945 asked.

  “His two most important spies on Pentant Simtar are no longer answering him.”

  “He thinks we’re responsible?” Cain asked.

  Boeraton shrugged. “He doesn’t know who to blame, so he’s lashing out at everybody.”

  “I got the impression that General Corsi was in trouble,” X22945 said.

  “He was on the last call, so I think he’s still okay,” Boeraton said, “but I did get that impression too, when we chatted with him earlier.”

  “What do you really expect to happen when we get into the Clan Zone?” Cain asked. “Honestly? You know we have no chance of springing Ecason, if he’s even still alive. The five extra Razors might get us to the planet, but they’ll be watching us the entire time.”

  “We’ll worry about that when the time comes,” Boera
ton said. “This was your idea, you know.”

  Cain chuckled. “I came up with the idea hoping we could leave the Central Authority Zone.”

  Boeraton shook his head, looking exasperated. “X22945, when was the last time you’ve talked to anybody on C1111-A?”

  “It’s been several years.”

  Boeraton eyed him a moment. “Do you really think you’re just the victim of a change in leadership?”

  “I honestly don’t know what to think. Clan diplomatic posts aren’t political the way they are in the Central Authority Zone. I survived several administration changes.”

  Boeraton sat silently, thinking.

  “You look really worried, Admiral,” Cain said.

  “When we get there, IF we get there, we aren’t going to the surface until we understand what’s been going on. Even if we’re invited.”

  X22945 chuckled. “Hell, I don’t want to go there at all.”

  Cain’s PA buzzed, and he raised his arm, reading the message. “We got problems. Zindra said we’re being hailed.”

  “By whom?” Boeraton asked, watching Cain get up.

  “A Clan battleship,” Cain said, leaving the dining room, jogging to the bridge, Boeraton and X22945 trying to keep up.

  “It’s on screen, Captain,” Kymm said. “That’s not a Razor.”

  “That’s our main-line battleship,” X222945 said. “I need to provide my diplomatic code, before they blow us away.”

  “Bring them on screen,” Boeraton said.

  “Aye,” Kymm said, the screen lighting up, a stout, heavy-set man with short-cropped gray hair showing up.

  “Greetings,” he said. “This is V33556, of the Clan Federation. Who is aboard, and what is your business here?”

  “I’m Captain Stuart Cain of the Central Authority Zone, on a mission for Prime Minister Aeon. Admiral Boeraton and Ambassador X222945 are with me on the bridge.”

  “Ambassador?” V33556 asked. “Code please?”

  X22945 stepped up. “My code is bbbescde-233.”

  “Thank you,” V33556 said. “Ah, the code checks out. You’re wondering why you’ve lost contact with C1111-A.”

  “Yes sir,” X22945 said.

  “There is a plague on most of the C-class planets,” V33556 said. “They’re under quarantine. Have you any illness onboard your ship?”

  Boeraton moved up. “No. We need to chat about that, though. I’m Admiral Boeraton, and I report directly to Prime Minister Aeon of the Central Authority Zone.”

  “We’ll need proof you are not infected in order to let you pass,” V33556 said. “We’ve had a group of deserters attempt to come back infected. Sadly we’ve had to sterilize them.”

  “Sterilize them?” X22945 asked.

  “He means they blew them away,” Cain said. “We don’t think the ships attempting to come back to your zone were infected with anything that was a threat to your Zone. We’d like to know why the captains deserted, though. We’re sheltering the survivors in the Central Authority Zone now.”

  “They won’t tell you?” V33556 asked.

  “They said they could no longer contact their leadership, and fled to escape piracy,” X22945 said.

  V33556 looked down for a moment. “The plague has killed most of our leadership, or rendered them unable to do their jobs. We don’t know where the plague came from. We received video of illness onboard several of the deserter ships. Some think the plague came from ships such as those.”

  “You know that’s not true, don’t you?” X22945 asked.

  “I don’t know what to think, Ambassador.”

  Boeraton sighed. “Okay, cards on the table. Some of your deserter ships went to a world called Hodge in our Zone, chasing rebels for Prime Minister Aeon. That world does have an organism which is deadly.”

  “And yet you say the plague didn’t come from there,” V33556 asked.

  “How long ago did the plague start in the Clan Zone?” Cain asked.

  “We first saw it four years ago on C1121-B,” V33556 said.

  “The incident at Hodge took place within the last month,” Boeraton said. “There’s another thing about the Hodge situation that you need to understand. That parasite dies off quickly after it gets off the surface of Hodge. It was dead long before any ships made it out of the Central Authority Zone. There is a compound unique to Hodge’s atmosphere. It was not in the atmosphere of the ships. The parasite must have it to survive.”

  “Then how do you explain the ships that died when they were almost out of your zone?” V33556 asked. “Surviving deserters destroyed several ships that were infected.”

  “Those ships weren’t infected with the parasite on Hodge,” Boeraton said. “The deserters were helping us to fight rebels, who used a new weapon.”

  “A new weapon? Are the rebels using a biological weapon against you?”

  “It’s not biological,” Cain said. “Admiral, could we show him the video from that battle on Xnander?”

  Boeraton thought about it. “Sure, why not? Show them the aftermath, so it’s obvious this isn’t a biological weapon.”

  “Zindra, find that video and run it to the screen so V33556 can see it.”

  “Aye, sir.” The video appeared a moment later, Central Authority storm troopers rushing around a large base, and then they stopped, all of them blowing up like balloons and exploding.

  “Oh no,” V33556 said, his eyes wide. “That sure looks biological to me. It’s killed the entire population. Reminds me of what I’ve heard about C1121-B, but it’s happening a lot faster on the video.”

  “Keep watching, and note the running time indicator,” Cain said. “It will take a few minutes.”

  All the soldiers lay dead in bloody pieces, and then another group of men, in different uniforms, rushed into the picture, looking at the bodies, starting to clean up the scene.

  “They’re not wearing protective gear,” V33556 said.

  “Exactly. That’s not biological,” Cain said. “If I had to guess, I’d say it was some new kind of nano weapon. We have similar video from Devonia Axxiom showing rebel commandos using this weapon to explode our forces.”

  “You’re saying this is what happened to the deserter’s ships?” V33556 asked.

  Boeraton nodded. “We believe these nano weapons were introduced into some deserter Razor ships. We haven’t figured out how.”

  Another man appeared on the Clan’s video feed. “We captured video from C1121-B.”

  V33556 looked at him. “That’s classified, X44889.”

  X44889 shook his head violently, his shoulder-length hair swinging. “Just stop. Nobody’s left. These people know things we don’t know. That’s valuable. We need to stop blowing up our own ships when they come back… and quit calling these captains deserters. Their leadership deserted them. The ones who fled are better than the ones who have turned to piracy to survive.”

  “Captain, the five Razors have come out of their jump,” Zindra said. “They’re hailing us.”

  V33556 looked alarmed. “You’ve got more ships?”

  “Prime Minister Aeon sent them as a delegation. You can see that they are identified as diplomatic ships, correct?”

  V33556 glanced at X44889, who nodded.

  “All right,” V33556 said. “We’ll hold our fire. Where do you wish to go?”

  “C1111-A,” Admiral Boeraton said.

  “That planet is riddled with plague,” V33556 said. “I’d suggest an alternative nearby. All of the C-prefaced planets on this end of the Clan Zone are compromised.”

  “So there’s nobody left alive on C1111-A or C1121-B?” X22475 asked.

  X44889 shook his head. “There are still people alive, but they aren’t themselves. They act like they’re possessed, and they’ve been moving from one C planet to another, taking over. There are only two C planets left, and they’re on the far side of the Zone, under strict quarantine. Nobody goes there. We don’t care what type of credentials are presented.”

  “We
believe there are still some survivors in the bunker complex on C1111-A,” V33556 said.

  “Rumors,” X44889 said quickly.

  “No, S1133-C has been getting production instructions from the security forces holding the bunker,” V33556 said.

  “Is S1133-C the planet building Razor battleships?” Boeraton asked.

  “Yes,” X44889 said.

  V33556 froze, looking at him. “That is also classified. We can be executed for revealing that.”

  X44889 smiled. “That planet only builds Razor ships for export. Do you think Aeon’s representatives want to shut it down?”

  “Perhaps that is where we should go,” X22945 said.

  X44889 nodded in agreement. “That would be my suggestion. You have the coordinates?”

  “We do, Captain,” Zindra said.

  “Proceed to that location,” V33556 said. “We’ll let them know, to insure you aren’t attacked.”

  “Thank you,” X22945 said.

  “You are welcome,” X44889 said. “Nice to see you, cousin.”

  X22945 smiled and nodded, and the screen went blank.

  “You’re related to him?” Boeraton asked.

  “I’m related to all who have the single X prefix, but I don’t know him personally. It’s kind of a running joke with those of us who aren’t in the ruling class.”

  “Shall I give the coordinates to the other five ships, Captain?” Zindra asked.

  “Yes, and then let’s jump out of here before one of the pirate ships takes interest,” Cain said.

  “Do we need to notify the Prime Minister before we jump?” X22475 asked.

  Boeraton got up. “No, let’s just jump. They’ve been tracking those five ships. Aeon knows we’ve made contact. Let’s get out of here.”

  They felt the dizziness as Forestall jumped away.

  { 13 }

  Hosts

  C yrus was on the Animus bridge, working with Commander Klemperer on selection of nursery worlds to monitor for Aeon’s probes.

  “Wayne, do you have the list of nursery planets with Boron deposits yet?”

  Yes, I’ve got a list. Far enough away to be safe, close enough to avoid a very long jump.