Ep.#7 - Who Takes No Risk (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  “Seiiki! Eliason! We’re surrounded by two dozen Zen-Anor, with no fucking way out!” the corporal called over comms. “I need you to take out the Prestipino’s power plant, and then target her forward cargo bay doors!”

  “What?” Josh exclaimed in shock.

  “Take out her power, then bust her open!” the corporal repeated even more urgently. “And do it now, or we’re all fucking dead!”

  “Oh, shit,” Josh exclaimed as he grabbed his flight controls and put the ship into an accelerating turn to port.

  “Marcus! Dalen!” Loki called out over comm-sets. “Get ready to target the Prestipino’s forward cargo bay doors!”

  “If we fire on those doors, everything and everyone in that cargo bay will be vaporized,” Marcus warned.

  “Target the hinges!” Loki instructed, “not the doors themselves!”

  “Fuck that!” Corporal Eliason insisted. “Power first, then take out those fucking doors. On my authority!”

  “Oh, my fucking God,” Josh exclaimed as the cargo ship came into view. “Plasma torpedoes?”

  “Charged and ready,” Loki replied.

  “I hope this doesn’t blow the whole fucking ship up, with them in it,” Josh muttered as he pushed the firing button on his flight control stick.

  Four red-orange balls of plasma energy streaked away from the Seiiki, taking several seconds to reach the Prestipino ahead of them. On impact, the torpedoes tore into her hull, precisely where her main power plant was located. Multiple secondary explosions erupted from deep within the cargo ship, and her midsection burst open. As Josh rolled the ship over to give his gunners a better firing angle, all of the Prestipino’s running lights went dark.

  “Target has lost all power,” Loki reported.

  “Crack her open, guys,” Josh instructed.

  “Mags off! Helmets sealed!” Corporal Eliason barked over his helmet comms. A split second later, the ceiling over them came apart in brilliant flashes of red and orange. Sparks flew in all directions as power lines shorted out, and hydraulic fluid sprayed into the bay as lines were severed. Suddenly, the weakened doors over them tore away, and the entire compartment was open to the vacuum of outer space.

  Men, equipment, and cargo alike went flying upward, as all were sucked out of the massive cargo bay. Energy weapons fire, although greatly reduced, continued to fly, only it was poorly directed and was firing in all directions, even away from them.

  Corporal Eliason found himself tumbling into space, drifting away from the Prestipino, bumping into cargo pods and Zen-Anor soldiers as he spun about. He felt a hand grab at his shoulder and a knife blade glance off his helmet. The blow caused him to spin halfway around to his left, and he spotted a Zen-Anor soldier attempting to shove his knife into his neck. The corporal raised his left arm to block the parry, reaching for his own blade from his thigh sheath, pulling it, and driving it into the neck joint of his attacker. The wounded soldier let go of the corporal, grasping the wound in his neck as it spilled blood and precious oxygen into space. Within moments, the man stopped moving, his face and eyes bulging as the vacuum around him took his life.

  Corporal Eliason finally managed to activate his attitude thrusters, gaining control and ending his tumbling. He thrusted and spun himself around, just in time to spot the Prestipino as her midship starboard bay doors opened, revealing a self-powered heavy cannon operated by two Zen-Anor standing behind the weapon in the open doorway. “Seiiki! Seiiki! Portable self-powered gun emplacements in the target’s side bays! Take that fucking ship out! Repeat! Take the Prestipino out!”

  “What did he just say?” Josh wondered.

  “He said to take it out,” Loki realized.

  “What about the crew?” Josh asked over comms.

  “Fuck the crew!” Captain Nash barked as his gunship flew past the Seiiki’s port side. “They’re probably dead anyway!”

  The gunship opened fire, sending a barrage of plasma torpedoes into the cargo ship, tearing her apart in a fiery, but short-lived, explosion.

  “Jesus!” Loki exclaimed.

  “Eliason!” Josh called out. “Are you alright?” He looked at Loki while he waited for a reply. “Seiiki to any Ghatazhak, do you copy?”

  “This is Mitchell,” the comms finally crackled. “I’m alright. I’m with Inchin. His comms are down, but he’s alive. We could use a ride, though.”

  “We’re on our way,” Josh assured him.

  “I’m picking up transponders for Eliason and Gazen,” Loki reported. “They’re still breathing.”

  “Eliason! Gazen!” Josh called. “If you can hear us, we’ve got your transponders, and we’re coming to get you!”

  “Seiiki, Mitchell. There’s still Zen-Anor floating about, and they’re armed and fucking determined, so watch out.”

  “Marcus! Dalen! Feel free to fire on any hostiles you spot! Just don’t shoot our guys!”

  “Make it quick, Josh,” Captain Nash insisted. “If this was an ambush, I expect fighters will show up soon.”

  “Great,” Josh replied.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Despite being a prisoner for nearly two months, Jorus Loden still conducted himself with all the pride and professionalism expected of a man of his station. His prison uniform was clean and well pressed, appearing as if new, and his hair and goatee were perfectly groomed. He appeared every bit the man he had been when he first arrived on Earth seven years ago.

  As expected, he showed no surprise when he was led into the warden’s private office and found, not the chief administrator of the facility in which he was incarcerated but, rather, the President of the North American Union-the leader of both the Earth and Sol Alliance. The man standing before him in a suit and tie, waiting for him with an equally unreadable expression, was technically his enemy, but Jorus could not help but respect both the man and the office. Such respect went part and parcel with his position as the Jung ambassador to Earth.

  “Ambassador Loden,” President Scott greeted with a nod.

  “President Scott. To what do I owe this honor?” the ambassador asked, extending his hand.

  One of the president’s two bodyguards stepped forward, his hand held out to block the contact. He inspected the ambassador’s hand, then his sleeve, and then patted him down from head to toe.

  “My apologies,” the president offered. “I instructed otherwise, but they refused to listen.”

  “I take no insult, I assure you,” the ambassador insisted. “Such are the times, I’m afraid.”

  The bodyguard nodded his approval to the president, then he and his cohort stepped back, assuming positions on either side of the well-appointed office.

  “Please, Ambassador,” the president said, gesturing toward the seat next to him.

  Ambassador Loden took his seat, as did President Scott. The president then leaned forward, touching the sound-suppression field generator sitting on the small table between them. Once the green light came on, the president began. “My biggest regret will always be that I did not have this conversation with you at the outset of this situation.”

  “My response would have been easily anticipated,” the ambassador admitted. “The logistics of linear, faster-than-light communications systems are somewhat limiting.”

  “Which is why your operatives have been piggybacking messages to your leaders, via the jump-comm diplomatic link between our worlds, for years now,” the president replied.

  Other than a slight rise of his left eyebrow, the ambassador still showed no emotion. “I take it this conversation is ‘off-the-record’, allowing us to be more direct than men in our positions might otherwise be?”

  “That is my hope, yes,” the president agreed.

  Ambassador Loden smiled. “Then, perhaps you should call me Jorus.”

  “Please, c
all me Dayton,” the president replied.

  Ambassador Loden nodded. “What is on your mind, Dayton?”

  “You are, no doubt, aware that several Jung warships trespassed into Alliance space fifty-six days ago,” the president began.

  “I am aware of the reports, yes.”

  “And that, when ordered to withdraw, several of these ships engaged in armed conflict with Alliance ships.”

  “Again, I am aware of the reports,” the ambassador stated, obviously choosing his words quite carefully.

  “At the same time, warships, many of which were of Jung design, invaded the Pentaurus cluster, conquering the Takar and Darvano systems, both of which are allies of Earth, killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people, military and civilian. Were you aware of this fact, as well?”

  “They do allow us to watch the news in here,” the ambassador stated, already tiring of the president’s approach.

  “Are you saying that you had no foreknowledge of these actions?”

  “As I have already attested, yes,” the ambassador replied. “I must say, Dayton, if your intent is a direct, informal exchange, your approach is less than inspiring.”

  President Scott took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Old habits, I’m afraid.”

  Ambassador Loden smiled. “Perhaps I can be of assistance, Dayton. It is my belief that these ships, whomever they may belong to, were not acting under the authority of the Jung Empire. And while I understand why you felt a retaliatory response was needed, I regret that you did not speak to me first, as well, for such death and destruction could have been avoided, and all of this,” the ambassador added, gesturing with a sweeping motion of his arm, “might also have been avoided,.”

  “New intelligence has convinced us that the trespassing ships were operated by the Dusahn, not the Jung,” the president stated.

  Ambassador Loden finally revealed an emotion in his expression, one of considerable surprise. “The Dusahn? Are you certain of this?”

  “We are certain the Dusahn have invaded the Pentaurus cluster, and we are reasonably certain the Dusahn also operated the Jung ships that trespassed into Alliance space. We suspect that this was a false-flag operation, executed with the hope of preventing forces in the Sol sector from coming to the aid of our allies in the Pentaurus cluster.”

  “I see,” the ambassador replied. His mind was obviously in overdrive, contemplating all the possible ramifications of this new information. “And was their false-flag operation successful?”

  “You are a prisoner, are you not?”

  Ambassador Loden smiled, nodding. “Then, the Dusahn have somehow acquired your jump drive technology?”

  President Scott couldn’t help but notice a hint of pleasure in the ambassador’s tone. “That would be correct.”

  “And your next question would be, do the Jung have this technology, as well?”

  The president said nothing.

  “Unfortunately, I can neither confirm, nor deny this. As you might expect, if, in fact, the Jung did possess such technology, it is highly unlikely they would reveal this to me, for fear of a meeting such as this.”

  “Of course,” the president said.

  Ambassador Loden, who was quite adept at reading people, noticed a hint of disappointment in the president’s voice. “Dayton, allow me to share with you what I do know. I know that the Jung science directorate has been attempting to acquire, and or recreate, your jump technology long before the Aurora made her first jump. As you probably know, we have had spies on your world since before your people were aware of our existence. Yet, to my knowledge, all our efforts have yielded little to no success.”

  President Scott sighed. “You will forgive me if I take your statement with a grain of salt.”

  “An interesting expression,” the ambassador said, appearing entertained, “but, yes.”

  “What can you tell me about the Dusahn, Jorus?”

  The ambassador leaned back in his chair. “The Dusahn were once the most powerful military caste in all the empire. More than half of the Jung’s forces fell under their control, a fact that, at the time, worried the leadership caste greatly.”

  “What happened to them?”

  “The leadership castes voted to disband them, to break it up into smaller ones, so no one military caste controlled enough firepower to overturn any other caste or group of castes.”

  “In order to protect the empire itself,” the president surmised.

  “In a manner of speaking. The proposal was made in secret, but the Dusahn learned of it and took action before the vote could be held. They attempted to seize control by force. Our history refers to it as the ‘Day of Blood’.”

  “I take it they failed.”

  “Yes, but only by the narrowest of margins.”

  “What I don’t understand is why they were allowed to leave,” the president wondered. “No disrespect intended, but from what I’ve seen of the Jung, I would have expected a more severe punishment.”

  “The Dusahn caste did not fail, not in the sense that you might understand,” the ambassador explained. “Rather, the battle reached an impasse. I believe you would call it a stalemate. It became obvious that no matter who might be victorious, the cost would be more than either side could possibly bear. The empire would be no more. And so, the Jung Leadership Council offered the Dusahn an out. They were allowed to disengage, and to keep what remained of their forces, on the promise that they would depart Jung space, never to return.”

  “Exile.”

  “Precisely.”

  “And the Jung never heard from the Dusahn again?”

  “Directly, no. We did keep an eye on them as best we could, however. For centuries, they wandered the galaxy, feeding on small colonies formed by those who had escaped your bio-digital plague, but to our knowledge, they never found a civilization with sufficient industrial or technological capacity on which to build their own empire. At best, they were barely able to maintain the few dozen ships with which they had departed. Unfortunately, we lost track of them more than a hundred years ago.”

  “Is that all you know about them?” the president wondered.

  “I know that they are not to be taken lightly. The Dusahn were once the greatest warriors in all the empire. Their Zen-Anor troops rival the Ghatazhak who helped you drive our forces from your world. They are ruthless, and they do not suffer defeat well. In fact, many Jung historians assert that, prior to their departure, the Dusahn swore they would someday return and conquer the Jung, once and for all.”

  “They said that, and your leaders still let them walk away?”

  “Not directly, no. It was what you call a veiled threat. Of course, that was centuries ago, and probably a dozen or so generations of leaders, of both the Jung and the Dusahn, have come and gone since then.”

  “Then, your leaders are not concerned with the Dusahn’s actions?”

  “I doubt my leaders are even aware of the Dusahn’s actions. My staff and I were taken into custody before we could send that information back to Nor-Patri.”

  “And if they knew about the Dusahn’s actions in the Pentaurus cluster?”

  Ambassador Loden took a long breath, letting it out slowly. “I honestly do not know. On the one hand, it might quell the anti-alliance fervor that has been building within our population since the cease-fire began. On the other hand, there are still many who believe the Dusahn were right, that the leadership caste has gotten soft and no longer follow the original edicts of our founders.”

  “And what are those edicts?”

  “That one must take what is needed to survive and use it to create order so that all may survive.”

  “And what does the current leadership believe?”

  “Let’s just say that our interpretation
of the word ‘take’ is in question,” the ambassador replied.

  “I don’t understand,” the president admitted.

  “The Jung language is really a conglomeration of many languages. The original edicts were not written in the same language that our people speak today. Hence, the translation can vary. Many believe that the word ‘take’ means ‘to obtain’, as in through barter, trade, purchase, or negotiation. Those who believe in the literal translation understand ‘take’ to mean ‘to obtain by use of force’. That was the basic disagreement between the Jung leadership caste and the Dusahn. According to history, Lord Issias Dusahn believed it was the responsibility of the Jung to rebuild the human empire but to do so in an orderly fashion that would ensure the safety and well-being of all humanity. He believed untempered freedom inevitably led to anarchy and that such was the cause of the bio-digital plague…the plague that nearly destroyed all of humanity.” The ambassador smiled. “Ironically, the Dusahn once wanted to obliterate the Earth, and all the core worlds, in order to ensure the plague was completely erased from existence. It was the original Jung leadership caste, the very same caste that your Admiral Galiardi wants to destroy, who once saved all your worlds from destruction.”

  “And here we stand, on the verge of war,” the president muttered.

  “It is an unfortunate reality. Even more unfortunate, is that it may be inevitable.”

  “How so?”

  “Many of my people wish this war to occur, regardless of the cost.”

  “Surely they understand the level of destruction that would occur?” the president said. “The number of lives that would be lost would be staggering. We are talking trillions of lives, on both sides. The result could be worse than the plague itself.”

  “And the Jung Empire is better suited to rebuild after such a war,” Ambassador Loden insisted.