by David Buck
‘Malang’troh, thank you for the courtesy you have shown me and my party in the loan of your transport, and in promptly granting my request. I will offer you adequate compensation out of imperial funds for the loss of your facility and for these former slaves of yours. You may withdraw if you will, as we will conclude our business here before we leave, and it may offend your senses.’
Brodinal noted in terror that a second slightly larger Zronte, a female, had now come down the loading ramp to stand beside her mate. Malang’troh stood and backed away in a deep bow of respect, before turning and leaving without a backward glance. Brodinal could see the green bands on the female Zronte’s throat denoting her breeding condition, and corrected his estimation of the battle lord to that of having just taken a mate. He also knew that the female Zronte needed live prey to trigger her breeding impulses.
The battle lord now looked down at the nervous Tilmud, their strong dorsal spines stiff in fright, behind the kneeling Quixxe stricken with terror, and in contempt snarled a short command at the mercenaries.
‘It is unfortunate for the Quixxe that the Tilmud have sharp spines and are toxic to us. Now hold and prepare them for us.’
The four Quixxe were each pulled upright and restrained by a pair of mercenaries, and their sleeveless coveralls were quickly cut from their bodies by sharp knives. The Zronte female impatiently strode forward in three long strides without ceremony. She seized the second engineer in her massive mouth, before biting down and stifling his shrill shriek.
The Zronte then tossed her head back and swallowed the now still form of the engineer. The security director was next, and Brodinal was winked at by the brave Quixxe, even as the female Zronte seized him and bit down again. In moments the Zronte female had swallowed the second Quixxe, before turning to stride back slowly to the loading ramp.
Brodinal considered the beauty of his life with Apinal and their many offspring, and now sent a fervent wish their way. He would die young today in a brutal manner, but he knew that Malang’troh would keep his word about the safety of the other Quixxe artisans on this world. The Zronte battle lord hesitated for several seconds to establish that his mate had taken her fill before he in turn now strode forward. The senior engineer was selected first, and in moments he was dead and being swallowed whole like the others. Brodinal gave another fervent silent wish that the eventual fate of Zronte would be total, soon and merciless, before he in turn was killed and eaten whole.
Apinal had the sense to drop the media feed into the hover train carriage as soon as the Zronte had walked down the ramp of the transport. She knew what was to happen and she was appalled by the hopeless plight of the captives. She did take the final words of Malang’troh as a small consolation for the safety of her fledglings. The Quixxe female had occupied the carriage alone with her fledglings. She then noted that her oldest daughters sadly studying the media screen and now spoke to them softly.
‘Remember your father as always with us, he did what he had to do for us all to survive. He will always love you.’
Apinal sat back to grieve for her mate and remember him fondly, as the hover train continued the long journey to her sister’s place.
***
March, 2045 AD
On the bridge of HMAS Perth, Lieutenant Commander Steve Greene reviewed the briefing notes at the conclusion of the quick briefing he had conducted from 8am. The frigate was sailing with other naval ships back down from Indonesia to the Fleet West naval base for resupply. Steve had been transferred to HMAS Perth several months previously as executive officer. He was now acting captain of HMAS Perth after the previous day’s events.
At 10am the previous day, Steve had transferred a gravely ill Commander Brooks via a carrier based helicopter to the more comprehensive medical facilities aboard HMAS Australia. The larger aircraft carrier and flagship of the Western Fleet would be the best place for the commander to receive treatment. He now spoke to the navigation officer after looking up from his briefing notes.
‘Lieutenant, I want an update of our arrival as we have to leave again by ourselves with another medical team. As you are acting XO you will also have to check with Fleet West on the arrival of the Adelaide’s helicopter after we crane our own ashore.’
The lieutenant looked up from the chart plotter and gave a considered reply.
‘Sir, the arrival at Stirling base will be in four hours at 1300. The medical team will be here tomorrow morning, but the Adelaide’s chopper will be delayed a day.’
Steve thought about the information for before he quietly spoke again.
‘Well we will remain locked up with no leave unfortunately, as we are short crewed. Now I want the dockyard looking at one of our turbines as I am concerned about it. I also want our dead chopper off the ship as soon as possible.’
The lieutenant quietly acknowledged his orders and moved off to radio a service request ashore for the turbine inspection, as Steve now read through other information he had to hand. The only good news was that the death toll from the worst pandemic in human history was falling as the epidemic burnt itself out world-wide. This welcome news was an important piece of information, given the effects of the incredible death toll. Steve knew that several news organizations world wide had ceased to exist, and obtaining valid sources of information on the state of the world’s affairs would be a problem for many years. He regarded the good news with real relief and reviewed what he had witnessed in the last five years. The Australian air force and navy had continued to supply emergency medical teams and food supplies into major Asian cities that they could reach safely.
A very serious point of contention remained in the navy and air force about the sinking of dozens of infectious refugee vessels that had attempted to enter Australian waters. The desperate need to protect the Australian public had been in total conflict with the training of the Australian forces to adhere to the basic human rights of refugees. Several Australian naval officers had registered formal objections, and a few had resigned their commissions rather than sink unarmed vessels loaded with sick and dying refugees. Over many months scores of refugee vessels were sunk as the epidemic took hold. The Indonesian navy had collapsed after four months of epidemic deaths. But Steve knew that both forces had come close to hostilities as the Australian forces enforced the quarantine on shipping and small boats entering Australian waters.
The refugee threats of contagion later resolved to the occasional drifting boat full of dead and dying refugees that were routinely sunk by patrolling Australian naval vessels. After eight quiet months in Australia, in part to the draconian quarantine restrictions, a small aircraft with several ill Indonesians had finally made an un-authorized landing in September 2040 at Karratha. The plane was loaded with sick passengers had caused the true outbreak of the Asian flu in Australia. Within two weeks the aged, the young and the infirm in many cities and towns were seriously ill with the disease.
Steve still felt the loss of his parents, who had initially missed the catching of the disease for nearly twelve months, before succumbing to the serious illness within three weeks of each other. Steve’s youngest niece had also been lost before she even reached her third birthday. The extended tours enforcing the travel and quarantine restrictions had severely exhausted the crews of many navy ships, as suitable replacement crew members were simply not available to replace victims of the flu. HMAS Adelaide and two of the submarines had been later forced back to the HMAS Stirling naval base with severe maintenance problems.
Steve knew that the technical and support resources of the Australian Navy was heavily impacted by deaths of so many serving personnel. He considered further the latest new as he hurried to his command chair. Hopefully redemption was at hand if the epidemic toll was finally falling away. The Australian Navy could now hopefully switch across to just providing humanitarian aid to the people fortunate enough to survive the greatest tragedy in human history.
***
In the early months of 2040 a deadly epidemic sp
read across first Asia and then the rest of the world, with millions of people succumbing to strains of a new flu like virus. Researchers in western countries analyzed the new virus and identified it as similar to earlier viruses like swine flu. However this new virus appeared to have a high affinity for genes from other viruses that greatly increased the virulence.
The Asian flu spread rapidly over the world due to the availability of modern travel. The large populations of China and India were decimated, even as the western countries mobilized their emergency health systems and imposed draconian travel restrictions. Fortunately the modern anti-flu medications in developed countries offered some relief from the ravages of the Asian flu, providing the victim was otherwise healthy and relatively young. With the world-wide stocks of modern anti-flu medications not at a level to protect everyone, the decision was made to only provide the medication to young adults and children.
In the now deserted rural lands of India and China, bonfires were lit to deal with the masses of fatalities. The affluent citizens of Asian coastal cities looked after their own interests first, even as the countries tumbled into lawlessness and violence. The Asian flu spread elsewhere through Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The modern societies with access to good medical facilities fared considerably better than the more disadvantaged countries. In all countries a pattern emerged as the aged, the very young, and the infirm were the most at risk from the Asian flu.
The modern countries with smaller populations faired better than the bigger western countries like the USA. Western countries including Canada, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand lost ten percent of their populations, whereas the USA and Western Europe lost over twenty percent of their populations. The population losses continued to climb further East, with Russian and central Asian population losses over forty percent. The best estimates in a census taken five years after the Asian flu first appeared, and as the third wave of contagion abated, placed the losses of China and India at seventy percent of their populations.
The effects on the world were profound, with riots flared briefly in Asia and Europe as the populations panicked. The riots quickly faded away as the full toll of the Asian flu decimated these locations. With the economic power house of China defunct, and the rest of the world’s population either dead or unable to sell raw materials or purchase goods, the world’s economy went into a depression that would last for nearly two decades.
The political changes to the world resulted in profound effects on the leadership of the USA and the European countries. The pandemic caused rioting to break out, reminiscent of the attempted coup by right wing extremists in 2024, in many major US cities. The US government commissioned an urgent senate inquiry that resulted in incidental criminal charges against senior US officials and leading business figures from the military industrial complexes. Only an abject plea from the US president for not being the cause of this disaster, and to offer every possible assistance world wide, averted a combined nuclear strike from both China and Russia.
Other ongoing effects of the virus are being researched and relate to the lowering reproductive potential of humans. There are also major changes to the incidences of major diseases in the human population. Several types of cancer appear to have disappeared to be replaced by several new types of aggressive cancers. Further research is also being conducted into losses for other species that are considered to be linked to the appearance of Asian flu. For example, the world wide populations of rats, mice, cats and dogs have been decimated by over seventy percent during the same timeframe as the outbreak of the Asian flu.
See further entries for:
Population statistics and Asian flu
Estimated death toll from Asian flu at 3 billion people
The Asia Pandemic, published by World Health Organization
The loss of fertility due to the Asian flu, Department of Medicine, John Hopkins University
The extra-terrestrial origins of the Asian flu, the Trader medical notes
The ramifications on the world economy post Asian flu, Department of Economic development, University of Toronto
Co-incidental losses due to pathogens to other species post Asian flu, Biology Department, University of Sydney
Online media entry for Asian flu, October 2060
***
The Barus operative strode down the dusty street and ensured that the six Jerecab mercenaries he had recently employed kept their eyes moving around their surroundings. He would have preferred to use Barus or Deltas Vass guards, but so many new arrivals on this remote world would have triggered too much interest. It had been five years since he had led the successful operation on the Vorinne world. The operative had hidden the sensitive weapons equipment in crates in a non-descript warehouse on a small Barus colony world, as he sought to find a way to implement the second part of his plan.
After several minutes the Barus was sitting in a dusty courtyard of a merchant’s house. He had left his mercenaries waiting outside for him to return. He declined all offers of food and drink as the merchant came to rest across from him. His trading partner was an ancient Cephrit that had traded in the outlying border colonies for many hundreds of years. The Cephrit merchant sat on its rear four legs, flexed its chitin carapace, and then rubbed two front legs together as it quietly regarded him. The Barus kept perfectly still until the merchant finally spoke.
‘So you have learnt well the customs of other races and do not pace around as others of your kind do like a caged vleetch. I also understand your promises have always been kept, unlike those vermin Jerecab outcasts we occasionally deal with now.’
The Barus kept his face impassive and he replied carefully, for he had spent years studying the customs of the Cephrit, also known as the unnamed.
‘I take it we have a deal then, though it will still be some time away. I am also informed the ship will be free to trade with others as it sees fit. I will build my cover story in the intervening period.’
The old Cephrit silently approved the economy of the Barus operative’s words before it replied.
‘It is as you have stated and I wish you luck. The rendezvous details will be specified when your small ship reaches Cephrit Star Base 31 about five years from now. Now please select some of my wares to buy to retain your cover.’
After another hour, the Barus operative left the courtyard, and he was careful to place several older laser rifles he had just purchased across the shoulders of his Jerecab mercenaries. As he was escorted away down the street, a shutter on a second story window of a nearby house was opened slightly. A massive form loomed out of shadows and peered out the window at the departing group. Intelligent eyes in a wide blue and grey face with ornate gold and silver tattoos down one cheek, considered the Barus operative, as he walked past and disappeared down the dusty street.
***
The navy bus had halted at the gangway to HMAS Perth just after 8am and the first passengers now left the bus. The tall blonde Army reservist quietly cajoled her charges into a line, and headed for the foot of the gangway. The petty officer standing with two ratings that studied her group with detached interest, but they all quickly came to attention and acknowledged her rank.
‘Buffer, Lieutenant Samantha Edwards reporting to board ship with my medical aid team. Also several truck loads off medical supplies are following shortly, can you please organize a detail to load and secure these supplies when they arrive?’
The petty officer sketched another quick salute.
‘Lieutenant, welcome aboard, I am Buffer Rogers. I will take care of the supplies after I show you aboard.’
The buffer turned to the two ratings and he ordered one to stay at the gangway, and the other to trail the medical aid team onboard so that no one was lost. Lieutenant Edwards thanked the buffer for his assistance, and further queried him about the ship status and when the team would get to meet Lieutenant Commander Greene. The buffer smiled at the lieutenant briefly as he politely replied.
‘We are waiting
to swap helicopters and additional spare parts with the laid up HMAS Adelaide. Lieutenant Commander Greene would be the best person to answer your questions after the medical team is settled into their quarters.’
The conversation continued between them, and the buffer learnt with growing respect that the lieutenant and her medical team had already spent two years treating the epidemic in Asian refugee camps.
***
Gindane slowly paced her bridge in abject exhaustion, for a further two years her crew had monitored the effects of the pandemic on the humans since the journey to replenish her ship at the forward research base. Professor Elysius had led the initial investigation at the Dradfer forward research station and had decided that the incident was an act of a lone terrorist. The matter would have ended there, but Gindane knew that due to the extreme death toll, senior galactic officials would be conducting a formal trial at a later stage. Yet again she though dark thoughts about what she would like to do to the senior engineer that had unleashed this disaster.
Gindane coolly read the last message from Professor Elysius and reviewed with considerable unease the formal orders attached to his message. Her ship had been finally ordered back with the rest of the research fleet to Cephrit station 31, hundreds of light years from the disaster at Earth. Specifically the orders from Barus foreign affairs had been counter signed by Barus high level military commanders.
The orders explicitly stated that her research ship was remaining in lockdown for the extended return voyage, and that the now long frozen remains of the dead technician and his belongings be guarded at all times. The research commander now knew that a board of inquiry would be eventually called in line with galactic edicts, and would be convened under the control of the Cephrit Station master.
