S’Cinf nodded his agreement as he continued to watch the planet. “It did at that, Admiral, “he agreed. “I want visual confirmation of the effectiveness of these weapons. Send down a surveillance flight for each target.”
S’Cal waved his tail in understanding. “Yes sir. I’ll detail a flight for each target as soon as the atmospheric disturbances clear.”
The Run Point gave an approving shake of his tail and rose from his perch. “I’m going for a meal,” he announced. “Call me when the results of all the flights are in.” Without waiting to receive an acknowledgement the Kthpok leader turned to leave.
Sesum sat under a bower made of camouflage netting and branches which was situated just inside the tree line off the beach. His Command Post was hidden in the jungle a short distance away. He was here because he needed a moment away from all the confusion of getting his people off the ships and organized for the trek through the jungle.
With his back to the center of the island he stared out through the trees at the endless waves breaking on the beach. A sudden gust of wind coming off the water rustled through the leaves of the bower. The disturbance broke into his reverie and he looked away from the waves to the pad he held in his right true-hand. Included in that device was a report on what ships made it across the strait. It listed the supplies and equipment that were available to him. Also listed were the passengers of the ships and their areas of expertise.
The Swarm Leader activated the pad and keyed for the most important section of the report: The Queens. When the third female joined his merry band at the port hive Sesum was sorely tempted to send Krissen back to the Swarm Master. After dealing with her complaints and demands over the course of their journey he was more than willing to let Zelof deal with that female. Unfortunately his orders were clear: Once leaving Refuge there was to be no further contact with the home hive. Krissen couldn’t return. Besides, he suspected that Queen Dahoni wasn’t much better than his problem female and having two idiot Queens in the same place would be disastrous.
He shook his head. If he had to lose one ship in the crossing why couldn’t the fates have put Krissen on it? The only thing keeping him from sending her off to the Kthpok was his compassion for the enemy. Sesum gave a shrug of resignation. At least he had the threat of the other two Queens to hold over her antennae.
Rustlings in the jungle off to one side took Sesum’s attention away from the pad. A moment later an Iidx appeared out of the bushes and hurried over to where the Swarm Master was sitting. The Lieutenant stopped in front of him, flashed a salute then extended a true-hand holding another pad. “Sir, scouts have returned with a report on the personnel and equipment from the last ship,” he reported.
Sesum took the proffered pad and nodded. He looked at the time then back to the Iidx. “Make sure the equipment from that vessel is handed over to the Quartermaster swarm, Lieutenant. They’ll arrange transport to the hive. All personnel are to be fed, rested and organized for the journey to the hive.”
The Lieutenant waved his antennae in acknowledgement, made a note on another pad then continued his report. “The location of the last ship is noted in an appendix, Swarm Master. In accordance with your instructions the vessel has been moved up a river, grounded and camouflaged.” He paused and gave his antennae an amused wave. “Although Lieutenant Regul’s people are convinced they did such a good job in their camouflaging that the Kthpok won’t be able to find the ship they’ve gone ahead and set decoys and traps as a contingency. I think they secretly hope the Kthpok’ll find the ship and the traps. They’ve been talking about hanging around so they could see the explosion.” He nodded at the pad Sesum held. “Another appendix has a map showing the location and type of each trap on the ship.”
Sesum gave his own amused wave of antennae and held up the pad. “We’d better not lose this then,” he said. “We might need that ship to make a crossing.”
“And how soon will that be?” came an unexpected voice from behind them.
Startled at the interruption both officers turned to find Queen Krissen standing at the other end of the bower. “How soon will there be a return ship to the mainland?” she repeated.
At a wave from Sesum’s antennae the Lieutenant scuttled away. The Swarm Master had to work to keep his amusement hidden but he was sure the Lieutenant was glad to get away from what was sure to be an epic confrontation.
“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding your Highness,” Sesum said. “That was a bad attempt at humor and shouldn’t be taken literally. There is no return trip planned and won’t be one until it’s been confirmed the Kthpok have left our planet or are no longer a threat.”
“But the Kthpok are not a threat,” announced the Queen. The Swarm Master’s antennae drooped in surprise. She waved a true-hand as if to dismiss his response. “Oh, I know the Kthpok have destroyed our cities and the Space Swarm,” Krissen continued and gave a shrug. “That was all due to a misunderstanding.”
“A… misunderstanding?” repeated Sesum in a stunned voice. Was his hearing off? Had she gone brain dead?
Then he shook his head. Why were they going over this again? He didn’t have time for this!
Krissen nodded. “A misunderstanding,” the Queen repeated, “just like your misunderstanding about a return trip to the main continent. But the point I’m trying to make is that if we show the Kthpok we aren’t a threat peace will become a reality.”
Sesum continued to stare at the female in stunned disbelief. What reality was she in?
“Since our people are going to the cities specified the Kthpok will recognize our peaceful intentions,” the Queen added.
“You can’t know that!” snapped the Iidx leader. “What you’re suggesting goes against everything they’ve done. Besides it isn’t our peaceful intention that’s the issue here. It’s theirs! The Kthpok came in planning to conquer Main Hive and aren’t going to stop until they control the planet.” He glared at the female. “That means the Kthpok are working to kill each and every Queen on Main Hive.”
“You have no evidence of that,” reposted Krissen. She gave a dismissive gesture with a false-hand. “Oh, it’s true the Kthpok killed the Presiding Council and millions of our people. But, as I said, that was due to an unfortunate misunderstanding.
“After being driven from their planet and threatened with extinction they, reasonably I must add, perceived us as a threat. Moving forward all we have to do is show them our peaceful intentions by complying with their orders and we can co-exist with them while they rebuild. When their construction is complete and they leave to reconquer their hive world we can reclaim our planet.
“With our military disabled the Kthpok have promised us safety in the sanctuary cities,” she reiterated with an emphatic wave at the waters of the strait from her antennae. “They’ve kept that promise.”
“So far,” shot back Sesum.
The Queen ignored the Swarm Leaders comment and continued. “I was able to seriously consider our position during the journey across the strait. In order to protect the Iidx people from extinction we don’t need to establish secret hives in primitive conditions. And because of that I am directing you to prepare the ships for a return voyage to the mainland. We are going to comply with Queen Geddon’s directive.”
The Swarm Leader glared at the female appalled at her cavalier dismissal of the Kthpok betrayal and murder of millions of people as a simple ‘misunderstanding’. Queen Krissen adopted an adamant pose and remained silent. The uneasy silence stretched from seconds into a minute. Another gust of wind came off the strait to ruffle the upper branches intruding upon the silence.
Krissen’s antennae started to droop and she moved to repeat her demand. But before she could utter a word Sesum’s Swarm Second rushed out of the jungle into the bower and over to the two Iidx.
Sesum looked at Sinemota. “What in the name of the First Queen’s Egg has you in such a rush?” he asked. His irritation with Krissen colored his voice.
“The Kth
pok, Swarm Master!” replied the officer adopting a parade ground pose.
“What!” exclaimed Sesum. “Have they found us? Are we under attack?”
The Iidx shook his head. “No, Swarm Master,” he said. “We’re undetected.”
“That what about the Kthpok?” growled Sesum. “Make your report!”
“Yes sir,” the Second replied. “As you recall you gave standing orders to monitor all radio frequencies. You also stipulated that anything unusual was to be brought immediately to your attention.”
Sesum nodded his agreement. “I take it something unusual has happened?” he prompted, hoping the Iidx would get to the point.
“Yes, sir,” Sinemota replied waving his antennae. “Earlier today the communications officer reported the usual traffic. There were reports from the Sanctuary Cities about housing needs, the number of new arrivals, energy output, food inventories.” He shrugged. “That sort of thing, sir. Then Queen Geddon came on and renewed her call for all Iidx to find refuge in the designated cities.”
Sesum kept silent although he wanted to tell his officer to wrap this up. What was being reported hardly merited a head long rush and an interruption, especially when he wanted to tell off an idiotic Queen.
Before he could issue a reprimand the officer was continuing his report. “There was nothing unusual until the transmission was cut off.”
Sesum’s antennae stiffened in shock. “It was cut off, you say,” he repeated. “How?”
“We don’t know, Swarm Master. Geddon was speaking as I said,” replied Sinemota. “She was repeating her call for all Iidx to gather to the sanctuary cities. She was cut off mid-sentence by a short burst of static then complete silence.”
“Silence?” wondered Sesum. “There’s nothing else?”
“Correct, Swarm Master,” replied Sinemota with an emphatic bob of his head that set his antennae waving. “Communications reports there isn’t any traffic at all from any of the designated cities. There isn’t even a carrier wave.”
The antennae on Sesum’s head drifted down over his back for a moment as he considered the problem then straightened to their normal position. “No carrier wave,” he repeated then looked at the officer and began to fire off commands. “We’ve got to get under better cover than this! Alert Lieutenant Regul’s people! They’re to have their commands ready to leave within two hours. I want them to confirm their readiness to the Command Post.” He paused for a moment, cocked his head to one side then asked, “Have the leaders of each swarm submitted their routes for coordination?”
The Second waved his antennae. “Yes Swarm Master. All routes have been submitted,” he reported. “They’ve been confirmed. As you’re aware the swarms take separate routes to the new hive and will arrive at different times. We won’t be bunching up at the entrance.”
Sesum nodded his approval. “Let Lieutenant Regul know that I need to see him. I’ll meet him at the Command Post shortly. Get the swarms ready,” he repeated.
Queen Krissen had waited and listened to the back and forth between the two Iidx leaders before speaking. When Swarm Second Sinemota had left the bower to carry out his instructions she confronted the Swarm Master. “We are not going inland!” she exclaimed. “I have decided otherwise and I have issued new orders. We are going to return to the mainland! You are to get the swarms to their ships and make ready.”
Sesum took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His antennae swayed in disgust. “Are you finished?” he asked at last. “Or do you want to give more orders that I’m going to ignore.”
The Queen’s mouthparts moved but no sound came out. Her agitation was betrayed by the quivering of her antennae. Before Krissen could get over her shock at such impudence the Swarm Master spoke again. “You heard Swarm Second Sinemata’s report but you obviously don’t understand its implications. Our communications officers monitored Geddon’s broadcast which was cut off. A scan revealed nothing worldwide was broadcasting.”
“A simple power outage can explain the loss of signal,” argued Krissen.
“It would explain a localized event, yes,” agreed Sesum. “An event like that would be a temporary occurrence. But that is not what is being observed. All transmissions worldwide have ceased at the same time.”
“It’s obvious you don’t believe the interruption was caused by a simple loss of power,” said the Queen. Her tone was icy and her posture took on a defensive stance. “What is your explanation?”
Sesum gave a shrug of ignorance. “Since I have very little information all I can do is venture a guess. But the extent of the interruption indicates an artificial source. I suspect the Kthpok have used a weapon that disrupts all electrical activity as a byproduct.”
He paused to peer out at the ocean then turned back to the Queen. Seeing her antennae quiver in confusion at his last statement he explained. “By depriving our people of power and the equipment run by it the Kthpok is insuring their starvation when the current food stocks are depleted. “
The Swarm Master shook his antennae. “Another possibility for the loss of signals is that the Kthpok nuked the sanctuary cities.” He paused for a moment as he thought that over then shook his head. “I don’t think they did though. They need the factories in those cities to maintain their ships and make new missiles. So that gets us back to what I said about a new weapon.”
Sesum turned to confront the Queen. “Until we know the Kthpok have permanently left our planet we will follow Swarm Master Zelof’s orders to establish a new hive,” the Swarm Second announced. “I remind you that those orders were given by the only Iidx on the planet who saw the situation clearly from the beginning. We’ll move for the new hive as soon as our people are ready.
“Now, I have two other Queens. After experiencing the ‘benevolence’ of the Kthpok first hand they are enthusiastic about finding a nice, safe hive to hide in. Since I have them I don’t need you! Or the aggravation you’ve been giving me!”
He fell silent when Lieutenant Regul appeared out of the jungle and stopped at the edge of the bower. “You have something for me?” the Swarm Master asked.
The Lieutenant hurried over, came to attention and saluted. Sesum returned the salute then motioned for the Iidx to make his report.
After dropping his salute, Regul began. “When the officer-on-duty heard there was silence on all frequencies used by the Iidx he sent out two messengers, sir. The first one was to notify the Second so he could notify you of the find. The other was to advance our departure plans. Because of that we should be ready to move within the hour.”
Sesum nodded his approval and made a mental note to find out who the OOD was. That Iidx showed promise. Then he looked at Regul then asked, “Is there anything else?” When the Lieutenant shook his head the Swarm Master nodded. “Go back to the Command Post so you’ll be available for any questions our guides may have. Send the word to get the swarms moving. They’ll depart according to the timeline we’ve established. I’ll be joining your shortly.”
He watched the Lieutenant disappear into the jungle then turned back to the Queen. “Thanks to a young officer using his initiative it seems the time I was going to give you to reach a decision has been drastically shortened,” he announced
“Queen Krissen listen carefully because I want you to understand this. We’ve passed the point of no return and aren’t going to be having this conversation again. If you choose to keep making life difficult for me I won’t take you with us. But I won’t let you be found by the Kthpok either. Coming across a lone Queen in the jungle would let our enemy know Iidx are on the island. And if they knew that they’d scour this place until they found the hive. I can’t let that happen. I also can’t waste the resources to send you back to the mainland. It’ll be much easier and more satisfying to dump your lifeless body in the ocean weighed down with heavy rocks.”
He paused for a few seconds to let her recognize the threat before continuing. “If you remain with us you will not be allowed an opportunity to recrui
t adherents in an effort to return to the main land. Any attempt to do so, will result in your immediate execution for treason and insubordination.” The Queen went to reply but Sesum held up a true-hand to cut her off. “I won’t allow anything or anyone to compromise our mission, Krissen. Not even an idiot Queen who refuses to recognize reality.
“Another understanding you need to have is that I command. I decide what we’re going to do and what we aren’t. The responsibility of the Queens is to increase our numbers and nurture the young. If you make any attempt to countermand my orders or to undermine my authority with the other Queens or my people you will be placed where it will not happen again.”
Krissen’s antennae shivered with indignation as her mouth moved without any sounds coming out. At last she found her voice. “This is mutiny! A revolution!” she exclaimed. “Your shell should be cracked and body parts separated to prevent the spread of this heresy.”
The Swarm Master gave an amused shake of his antennae which didn’t help to ease the Queen’s agitation. “That would’ve happened before the Kthpok began the extermination of our people,” he said. “But the stupidity of the Presiding Council in not listening to Swarm Master Zelof has changed that.
“Simply put your options are these: Agree to my terms and you live; refuse and you die! You choose.” He paused to check his watch. “You have ten minutes to decide. I can wait that long but no longer.” Without another word the Swarm Master left the Queen standing in the bower.
The screen flickered off and the lights in the conference room that had been dimmed were raised to their regular intensity. Run Point S’Cinf bobbed his head in approval of what he’d been shown. “Eleven weapons and eleven cities,” he said. “Everything in those cities is dead. That is impressive. Ten were untouched by the blast although Iidx accidents set fires that are continuing to damage areas of those cities.” He glanced over at the Fleet Admiral. “One target, however, had some evidence of blast damage. What happened?”
Betrayal Page 54
