Favia said, “We are here to surrender ourselves. I have given orders for my other officers to do the same. They should be meeting with your other teams momentarily.”
The high ranking Dedrus officer replied, “Eight of your war council have reported in at that location. The five other government officials we seek have also been taken into custody. The three of you leave only two others.”
Favia asked, “Who is missing?”
The officer replied, “My list shows a General Keona and an Admiral Blogue. Our terms were strict. Those officers have only moments to surrender themselves.”
Johnny whispered, “I’m not liking this.”
Mace replied, “I’m wishing we had kept her aboard.”
Johnny huffed. “I bet Stark is a no-show as well.”
The officer checked his comm. “Our terms have not been met. Your kingdom has been forfeited. You are now subjects of King Solololomi. A tribunal will be conducted to address the charges against you. If found guilty you will be terminated without appeal. In the coming days a colonial government will be set up on all the former Dominion colonies. Any resistance to this rule will be met and dealt with using extreme force.”
Favia asked, “What happens now?”
The officer replied, “You may remain here in your palace until the tribunal convenes. I would expect that to be at most two of your days from now.”
The officer turned and marched with his squad back to a Dedrus ship parked on the landing pad.
Johnny said, “Not overly friendly, are they? And what’s with those antennae? They kept flipping around the whole time he was talking. And they were in uniforms, not battlesuits.”
Mace replied, “I think we should pay another visit to Earth. They will be hunting for Stark.”
Mace stepped close to Favia. “We’ll be back. If it comes to the tribunal and it looks like you’re being railroaded, we might just have to make you disappear.”
“Only if the war council goes with us.”
Mace drew in a long breath. “We’ll do what we can.”
The Organ Cave arrived back at Earth. After a check with the sensors, it was determined the cave complex remained in operation. The holo-projectors still showed the heavily treed rolling hills of West Virginia, shielding the buildings that were on the site. A shuttle was taken to the surface, landing under the projected image.
Mace walked down the ramp. “I was sure Stark would make use of this place.”
“Why?” asked Johnny. “He knows that we know where it is. And those projectors, he probably has them running on all his facilities now.”
Liam said, “The Dedrus are still here. Stark did not turn himself in.”
Mace nodded. “I think we need a visit to town to see what they know. If the Dedrus are taking over, word has already been put out. The message they sent on Promexa was broadcast to everyone.”
Johnny clicked his helmet in place. “What’s the plan?”
Mace followed with his own helmet. “Go to town. Poke around. See what you can hear. We’ll meet back here in an hour. If we need more info we’ll go back out again.”
Johnny set an alarm on his arm pad. “One hour. Got it.”
Turning his back to the others, Johnny said, “See you then.”
The near-three-hundred-pound Human disappeared from view.
Mace said, “Stay on the ship. If anyone comes through here, lift her off the ground until they leave. We’ll be back soon enough.”
In the blink of an eye, the former Army Ranger vanished. A five minute run had him crossing the river into Ronceverte and entering the community center. With a short walk he was standing in the dining hall.
A middle-aged man and woman were sitting and eating a pair of nutrient bars. “Again we’re someone’s slaves. And where is the king?”
“Probably off-world on some plush ship,” the woman replied. “Every plan he’s hatched for us has ended in disaster.”
The man sat back, sipping on a beverage. “Yeah. I do give him credit for keeping us alive, though. Don’t see these new people being good for us. They aren’t weak-looking like the others. Heck, I saw one of them that was at least my height. What I don’t get is they aren’t wearing any battlegear. They’re just carrying simple weapons. Our own troops in those battlesuits at least look intimidating. These people look like low-grade security guards.”
The woman frowned. “Doesn’t matter, we don’t have air-power to back us up. Those black ships will rule our skies. And with their sensors there’s no place to hide. They can count how many of us are in this building from space.”
The man replied, “That’s why we aren’t fighting this. We’d get slaughtered.”
The man took another sip from his beverage. “Have you heard from your brother?”
The woman shook her head. “They shut down comms except for the general channel. Only they can broadcast on it. He did say DC was crowded with Deadless soldiers, or whatever they call themselves. That was just before the comms went dead.”
The man laughed. “I think they’re called Dedrus. Deadless makes them sound like an army of zombies.”
The woman frowned. “Whatever. They might as well be zombies. You still have that rifle in your room?”
The man nodded. “And a couple boxes of ammo. I traded a deer I hit with my transport for it. The old man I got it from had a garage full of them. Enough to start his own war.”
The woman leaned forward. “You think you can get me one?”
The man nodded. “I suppose. I would expect them to be announcing a weapons ban any time now though. If we can get you one, we’ll need a good place to hide it. Won’t be inside this building though. This will be the first place they look. If you want, we can go over there once we finish here.”
The woman said, “I’m done. Let’s go.”
The man laughed. “I’m not. You’re just gonna have to cool your jets for a few more minutes.”
The woman grabbed him by the knee, pinching hard with all the grip she could muster. “Hurry.”
The beverage was turned up and downed. The plastic style bottle was thrown into a recycling receptacle. The ambitious couple left the room.
Mace walked to a new corner. Three older men sat watching a holo-display.
One of the men remarked, “Anyone think those grey-green uniforms with all the badges make them look like Nazis?”
The man to his left replied, “I was thinking the same thing. Can’t say that reptilian skin helps. They’re almost our size. If we have to fight it won’t be like jacking around with all these midgets.”
The third said, “Don’t let the size of the fighter fool you. Having size might help you in a fistfight, but it’s a detriment in a gun battle. It pays to be a small target.”
The second old man coughed several times as he nodded. “I guess I never thought of it that way.”
The first asked, “You gonna get that cough looked at?”
The man waved his hand. “Already have. Too many years of smoking. They claim to have a treatment for it, but I have to go to D.C. to get it done. That’s not gonna happen now.”
The conversation about health continued for several minutes before Mace moved to the next group of individuals. The additional spy sessions revealed nothing new. A quick run had the Ranger back at the cave with less than a minute to spare. A look inside told him that Stark had left everything, except the stockpiled gatrellium, as it was. The shuttle ramp lowered and he was soon inside.
Johnny was sitting with his helmet off. “Stark didn’t show for the deadline. Martial law has been declared. The Dedrus will begin collecting weapons in a few days. The people are being told to cooperate and to expect fair treatment if they do. They are also being warned to expect swift and harsh treatment if they don’t. Comms have been closed off, as well as all travel. If you were out of town for whatever reason, you’re stuck. Until the disarming of Stark’s army and the populace is near complete, travel will be restricted.
“The Mawga are being repatriated. Those big shuttles have been busy ferrying them home. Without their weapons, of course.”
Liam added, “I’ve been looking over the sensor logs. As we were coming down we had indications of three Dedrus bases here in the U.S. One near D.C., one just east of Denver, and one near Sacramento. Toronto and Mexico City were two others. I’m certain there are more. Each of those showed about a hundred fifty thousand bios.”
Mace said, “I didn’t see any Dedrus in or around Ronceverte. They haven’t begun their disarmament efforts yet. Probably still looking for Stark.”
Johnny nodded. “Too bad we ruined our gatrellium copper paint in Doc’s building and the cave. They might have come in handy.”
Mace replied, “When we get back to Gellos, we’ll make it a priority to come back out here to repaint. If we’re gonna work to free Earth, that will be as good a place as any to start.”
Johnny chuckled and sighed. “Free Earth. That might be too big of a job for us now. We don’t have anything that will match up with those Dedrus ships. And somehow I think our strategy of sneaking into their territory to destroy their ship factories might be more difficult. These guys seem a lot more organized than the others.”
Mace looked over at Liam. “Mr. Hobbs, take us home. The sooner we get this place back up and running, the sooner, well, the sooner we can do whatever we do next.”
The shuttle set down on the hard stone ground of the Gellos landing area. Mace, Johnny, and Liam joined the others in a conference room. The status of Earth was relayed to the others.
Jane said, “I think re-enabling the cave is a good move. It gives us a familiar place to base our efforts.”
Mace added, “Other than needing the coating paint, everything else is still there. Stark took the gatrellium but he left the food and all the spares. The reactors are all still chugging along.”
Johnny followed, “Slap on some paint and we’re back in business.”
Jeff said, “You aren’t expecting me to move again, are you?”
Mace shook his head. “No, you stay where you are and get that device working. By the way, is the Royal Fortune back in working order?”
Jeff nodded. “It’s close. The last of the plating should be installed tomorrow. We can begin testing for holes once that’s done. Oh, and not that it matters, but I’ve been letting Roge and Zax run some extra tuning on your wormhole generator. Roge will be applying the same circuit updates he has done here. You probably won’t notice much difference. The changes to what happens with creating a wormhole may be faster by a few microseconds, which in turn saves a tiny bit of fuel.”
“Every improvement is a plus, Doc. I look forward to getting our old shuttle back.”
Mace looked across the table at Jasper sitting with his arms crossed. “Mr. Collins, anything new from your scouts?”
Jasper scowled. “Not that it matters, but the Dedrus landed troops on all the UF colonies, not just the one where the latest battle was being fought. Their excuse for taking over there was because the UF ships attacked them when they first arrived. My guess is they were just looking for an excuse. The Dedrus didn’t suffer any losses from it. They have ships lurking about in the Karthian colonies, too.”
Jenny said, “This plot by Stark and the others has only been going on for days. There’s no way the Dedrus were ready to move that many ships and men in that time. This was a planned invasion. That plot just gave it justification. And I hate to say it, but it probably saved a lot of lives. Had the Hoorka fleet been protecting Promexa when they showed, there would have been a fight. The Hoorka were down half their ships and half of the half that remained were fighting the UF fleet. The timing for a Dedrus invasion was perfect.”
Mace stood and walked to the front of the table, placing his fists on top, knuckles down. “So we restore the cave. What do we do from there? Once they start disarming Earth, any mutiny gets infinitely tougher. Jeff? You said thunder glove production was ready… how many of those can we turn out a month if we need to rearm forces on Earth?”
Jeff frowned. “Fifty, tops. I wasn’t expecting to have any sizable volume running through there. Several of those parts are quite difficult to produce. Some of those parts are more than 80 percent scrap. We aren’t highly efficient, given our current situation.”
Jane said, “What if we set up a few lines to produce some of our good ol’ Earth firearms? This planet should have all the resources we need to produce ammo.”
Jasper said, “Those are metal parts. My boys can fabricate machines to stamp those out. Metalwork is something they’re really good at. If you want, I can have an evaluation team together in an hour. You bring me a copy of what you want them to build and we’ll get to work on it.”
Jane smiled. “I’ll do exactly that.”
Jenny said, “Tell me the natural resources you need and I’ll take a shuttle out to find them.”
Johnny said, “I can work with Jasper’s engineers on the ammo loads. I’ve experimented with those enough to know what the best combinations are.”
Mace shook his head. “Seriously… you think we can rearm Earth with rifles? I’m assuming you’ll be building more AR-15s. How many do you think you can produce in a month?”
Jasper said, “For the guns themselves… I would bet a couple thousand in a month, with ten to twenty thousand the month after. I have the workers, and they know how to build stamps and presses. Give them three months and they could be turning out fifty thousand a month. I’m confident of that number. The ammo casings and slugs are even easier.”
Mace looked around the table. “Well, at least we have spirit left. Mr. Collins, have your people get to work on that ASAP. Jenny, Johnny, and Jane, do whatever you can to support this effort.”
Jenny asked, “What are you planning to do?”
“I’m heading back to Promexa. If they start up a tribunal I want to be there to pull Favia out if need be.”
Jenny held up a hand. “Mr. Hobbs, would you mind scouting out the resources? I’d like to pilot my man to Promexa.”
Liam laughed. “I’d be delighted to swap with you. Your task there is likely to be a lot of sitting in the shuttle and waiting.”
Jenny nodded. “I realize that, but I’d prefer it just the same.”
Liam smiled. “Consider it yours.”
The shuttle lifted out through the cave, accelerating up through the atmosphere and into the darkness of space. A micro-wormhole opened and the ship slipped through to the Promexa system.
Jenny brought the shuttle to a stop in high orbit. “Where to, Hoss?”
Mace pulled up the nav logs on a holo-display. “Two thousand Dedrus ships. Nine hundred Hoorka ships. Two orbital battlestations. The Hoorka are outgunned. Take us down to the palace courtyard. If Favia is still there I want to get her take on all this. I’m curious as to why the Dedrus haven’t landed more troops here. They have five times this many on Earth.”
“Same with the UF worlds. They’re loaded up with soldiers. Maybe they know the Hoorka won’t fight. Humans and the UF are unknowns to them.”
Mace nodded. “Could be. Take us down. I’m curious as to whether or not they found Keona and Blogue.”
The shuttle settled in the courtyard. Mace hopped to the ground as the ramp closed up, making the small ship once again invisible. A short walk had Mace standing in the throne room. Two queens were on the steps leading up to the throne. One was badly beaten, bruised, and bleeding. The other sat two steps above her with her elbows on her knees.
Admiral Pran walked into the room and up the steps. “My Lady, Keona has confessed to everything. Were you able to get anything from the impostor?”
Favia typed away on her arm pad. “Just transferred her recorded confession. She didn’t put up much of a fight. Would have been a weak ruler.”
Pran took one of Favia’s hands in his own, looking over her knuckles. “I can get you something for the pain.”
Favia smiled. “Not necessary. They are sore,
but it’s a satisfying sore. This one is soft… she didn’t even land a punch. Had I used my talons she would have been dead in seconds.”
Pran sat. “I’m afraid many of our people have grown soft, and the Dedrus know this. I haven’t received notice of any resistance.”
“What would they do? Our fleet was our strength. We wasted all those ships attacking the UF, leaving ourselves vulnerable.”
Pran placed his hand on her shoulder. “We could not have stopped this invasion… even with the full fleet. They are too powerful. Our centuries of war was just them toying with us.”
Favia frowned. “Or we were evenly matched, and they used the diamonds we paid them to build up this fleet. Were we so naive as to pay their ransom with the hope that they would just leave us alone? Did we fund this invasion?”
Mace sat behind them, still cloaked by his holo-projector. “Favia, has there been word of the tribunal?”
A startled queen turned to look behind herself. “Mr. Hardy, your sneaking about is disconcerting. And no, there has been no further word of a trial. They did capture Keona and Blogue. They were attempting to flee in a shuttle. Ceola here walked up to me and demanded I be the one thought of as an impostor. As you can see, that didn’t sit well with me.”
Mace replied, “I’ve witnessed your ability to fight. You nearly tore open my chest when we first met.”
Favia smiled. “I am glad I was unsuccessful, Mace Hardy. You have been a true friend. We have been told the tribunal will be meeting this afternoon. Even with the confessions of Keona and Blogue, I do not see a positive outcome for my people. We have no means of ejecting the Dedrus from our territory. Resistance now would not be helpful. Those ships up there… we have no defense against them.”
Mace asked, “What are they doing with your crews?”
Favia shrugged. “We do not know. I have asked and my requests to know have been denied.”
HADRON Emergent Page 9
