by Chris Burton
“Good whisky Admiral Shenke. I am not usually a malt drinker but this is very smooth.”
“It’s very rare. It was a gift from my late Uncle and was gathering dust, before I retrieved it. I don’t think the bottle will last to the end of the tour. Pity to drink it really; it would fetch a fortune at auction.”
Small talk over, Shenke leaned forward and paused before speaking again.
“As you know, we have a new battle front at Alpha Centauri and there needs to be a shift of emphasis as to how we manage the fleet and its resources. I selected you to take a lead role in this battle partly because of your experience, but also your tenacity. I need you to assume command of half of this fleet and hold the Kryl up here for as long as possible. I will take the other half of the fleet and join Commander Hoskins at Alpha Centauri.”
“I expected your departure. I am not sure how long we will be able to hold on here. I presume that you will endorse my use of whatever weapons we have available?”
“Of course. This region of space was chosen, because if we have to use high-powered sub space weapons, they will have little direct impact on the environment. However, I fear it will take much more than sub-space weapons to keep the Kryl at bay. I need you to fight to the last man, if necessary.”
That was the crunch. The point when a normal conversation becomes a dramatic one. He was asking his colleague to prepare to give his own life and to ask all of his ships commanders, their officers and their crew to do the same, to ensure that the Kryl fleet did not advance from here.
Griffin smiled. “It maybe that my tenure as an admiral is short, but I can promise you that it will be effective and enduring.”
Shenke felt relieved. This was not an easy conversation and the guilt would never go away but at least it was now out in the open.
“For now Admiral Griffin, let us enjoy this whisky.”
Admiral Griffin departed ten minutes later, to join his newly appointed flagship, The Pontiac. Their discussion had gone well. Griffin took on board what was at stake and had unflinchingly passed the prospect of his own imminent demise as an irrelevance. Shenke doubted whether he would see his colleague again. He finished his glass and poured a second smaller shot, which he downed quickly before leaving his stateroom and heading for the Viceroys Command Center. It was time to move out.
He took the main corridor, rather than the lift. It gave him time to think and a brief period away from the physical glare of the battle. He could still hear it, even in the center of this huge ship and he could feel it, as the ship was forced sharply upwards by another huge explosion. Not a direct hit, he thought, but the shields were faltering. It would be as well to be underway as quickly as possible.
Shenke ordered seventy-five of the remaining one hundred and thirty-five ships to join him. This would give him a mass of some one hundred and fifty ships to face the Kryl at Alpha Centauri, with further seventy-five Sentinel vessels also on route, having been redirected by Shenke a few hours earlier. Griffin would therefore be left with just sixty ships to face the might of the Kryl fleet, still some five thousand strong, even after the constant barrage of Jump Ship attacks. Realistically, there was only one way forward for Griffin.
He turned his attention to the battle at Alpha Centauri. The first compliment of Sentinel ships had arrived and according to Hoskins were very effective in their initial deployment. It seemed Hoskins enjoyed some success against a new Kryl strategy of trying to swarm them. But they needed support and he needed to get his contingent there as quickly as possible.
He gave the order for the fleet to split. Within a few moments they made the jump to stellar speed.
“Admiral, Sir, Commander Hoskins is on a secure comm. link.”
“Jonathan. What news?”
“Bad, Sir. The Kryl have recovered quickly from the nuclear attack and they are smashing our outer cruisers to pieces. There is nowhere for them to go. We are being crushed.”
“You need to hold them off Commander Hoskins. I suggest you release as many Jump Ships as possible and reduce their advantage. Use, all the weapons at your disposal, if you have to. You are on your own out there and we cannot help you yet.”
“There are just too many of them. Our Jump Ships have never been so out-numbered. Would you agree to a sub space deployment?”
“Don’t forget where you are Commander, Alpha Centauri may not be heavily populated, but it is still an historical, politically and ecologically sensitive system. You may use battlefield sub-space charges with the smallest possible yield. Use them to break up the Kryl fleet into smaller sections and then redeploy your additional Jump Ships to take on the individual sectors. The Sentinels dark ships are particularly potent against these smaller sections, with nuclear weapons. Use everything at your disposal Commander. We do not want Alpha Centauri to be the last graveyard of Alpha.”
Chapter Forty-Five
The Diplomatic Effort
The Senate’s chief negotiator just opened a comm. link to Alpha One, to present the results of their initial discussions with the Kryl. The discussions were brief and one-sided, with the Kryl demanding control over Alpha territorial space and all planetary bodies and the shutting down of all operations, including all fleet deployment.
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Harrington was the newly appointed negotiating lead.
“Lieutenant Colonel, can you confirm to me once again, the demands that the Kryl have made?”
“Certainly Admiral, although I stress that these ‘demands’ represent only the initial requests made by the Kryl and that we have made no representations either against them or in support of them. In essence, they seek control of Earth and all of its colonial and peripheral systems. In return, they will cease their military activity.”
“And what did you tell them?”
“Nothing. These were meant to be introductory discussion only. We did not expect to receive or in any way request, what in essence are surrender terms.”
“So now, you will go back and reject their demands out of hand and put forward our terms for a negotiated settlement?”
“Yes, but we will not be so blunt, so as to directly reject their demands. We will put forward our stance and determine in more detail what they are seeking. At this stage, these matters are straightforward. As a team we have the expertise to deliver the best conclusion to these discussions possible.”
“This is anything other than giving into their demands. Let me make this quite clear Lieutenant Colonel, the battle with the Kryl is far from over and we will not concede anything. It is obviously important for us to open a dialogue and I am pleased that this has been achieved, but you will offer nothing. Is that clear?”
“Yes, of course. Although I should point out that, the Senate does not report directly to Alpha. We have a dotted line responsibility to both the ECG and Alpha.”
Admiral Koenig was growing tired of Harrington’s reluctance to tow the line
“The senate may be funded by the ECG, but it is a division of Alpha and as such ultimately you report to me. You will update me both in advance and following any subsequent discussions with the Kryl and I will tell you the limits of any offers that you may make. If you fail to observe these simple instructions, I will have your commission. Is that clear Lieutenant Colonel?”
“Yes, Sir. While I accept the line of authority, I hope you appreciate that I must at least attempt to follow any guidelines imposed by the ECG.”
“Lieutenant Colonel, do what you have to. But not if these guidelines contradict Alpha’s.”
* * * *
Harrington terminated the comm. link and reflected on his first conversation with Alpha’s CIC. He had accepted his promotion and the new role as lead negotiator willingly but now thought the problems he would likely encounter would not be with the Kryl, whose aim looked quite straightforward. The compromise he needed to achieve, be it on whatever platform, had to be one acceptable to Alpha and the ECG and that was a far bigger problem.
The last
forty-eight hours were hectic. He could not quite believe that in just two days, he had been promoted, travelled to Alpha Centauri, commenced his negotiations with the Kryl and then spoken to the CIC and the President of the ECG.
The negotiating team made numerous attempts to contact the Kryl, right from the moment they first entered the Tri-star System. Up until a few days ago, there had been no reply. All that changed in an instant, when an encrypted long-range message was received, accepting the Senate’s invitation to meet.
The Senate replied and a dialogue commenced, resulting in the negotiating team being hastily dispatched to a remote sector of Alpha Centauri, where the Senate and Kryl ships converged and the first meeting took place. Harrington was joined by his assistant, Lieutenant Shrive and two junior officers, Lieutenants Padanski and Stevenson.
The first meeting took place on the Kryl ship. The Senate team boarded and was led by two Kryl Drones to a large circular room on the top deck of the Kryl vessel. The two drones were joined by the Kryl negotiator, whose complexion was more sullied than his drones. He was older, greyer, and somehow he looked more important.
“We always had every intention of contacting you. You are losing this war and huge numbers of humans are losing their lives. This is unnecessary because your resistance is pointless. You will stand down your vessels, shut down all operations, power off your planetary defense shields, and surrender your governments to Kryl control immediately. We will then cease further military action against you and assume control over all Alpha territorial space and planetary bodies.
Harrington was incensed but kept his diplomatic front.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us. My name is Lieutenant Colonel Harrington and these are my colleagues, Lieutenant’s Shrive, Padanski and Stevenson. Our perception is this should be an introductory meeting to allow us to establish common ground. Clearly, your demands do not take into consideration how the battle is ensuing. Furthermore, it is our contention that it is unlikely your invasion threat will be successful.”
“Your pathetic attempts to defend your galaxy against the might of the Kryl armies will be fruitless. You will lose and if you fail to surrender, billions of your people will die. There is no compromise—surrender or die!”
It was astonishing how clear and precise the Kryl’ s accent was—even if there was a hint of anger in his voice as he finished his last word.
“Do you wish to establish a relationship, which will allow this process to resolve itself amicably? I am compelled to put forward our stance and to report the events of the meeting to my superiors. I can do that now, but it appears that we may have missed the opportunity to establish some ground rules.”
“The only rules that apply are ours. You will comply one way or another. We do not wish to ‘establish a relationship‘, ‘common ground’ or ‘ground rules’. This is simply a means to confirm what you are required to do. It is not negotiable nor will it change.”
Harrington managed to hold back his feelings.
“Then I will report to my superiors and come back to you as soon as possible. We will remain aboard our diplomatic, non-aggressive ship in this sector, while we await their response. I presume that you will respect our diplomatic status.”
“You and your ship will be safe in this corridor for the time being. Do not take too long Lieutenant Colonel Harrington. Many others will die while you delay the inevitable.”
Harrington felt like punching the Kryl but retained his diplomatic stance and continued with his attempts to establish a relationship.
“Before we leave Sir, would it be pertinent to ask you for your name? In the interests of pursuing smoother relations.”
The Commander smiled, his graying, putrefying teeth revealed for the first time.
“I am Kravos. I am a Mutan, a higher caste Kryl.”
“Is that lower or higher than a Kronan?”
Harrington immediately regretted his latest question. He was not trying to antagonize his host.
“Enough of these futile discussions. My caste is irrelevant. I represent my Queen and my Kronan. That is all you need to know.”
The Mutan stood and departed the room without further word. The two drones moved forward and pointedly gestured the Senate team towards the door. Clearly, the meeting was over.
* * * *
The Senate’s articles stipulated the ECG should be contacted in the first instance following discussions of this nature and Harrington made contact with Earth’s government. Within minutes he was speaking directly to the President. President Roslyn listened intently but gave little away, preferring instead, at least at this stage, to allow Alpha to take the lead. Harrington then made contact with Admiral Koenig.
* * * *
It was time to make contact with the Kryl again to advise them that their demands were not acceptable. This was dangerous territory. There was no way to tell how they would react. Would the senate team’s diplomatic status be still valid?
Harrington already decided he would reduce the size of his team. He was pondering the question of who he should take, when the decision was made for him as Lieutenant Stevenson joined him in the conference suite.
“Hi Tom. The Kryl have made contact and enquired when we would next be attending. It seems they are aware that our external communications have ceased and we are presumably ready to meet again. Should I arrange another meeting?”
“Yes, thanks. I am not taking the whole team though this time. Just me, and you if you want to tag along. Just bear in mind, the stakes are raised as obviously the Kryl’s demands were deemed unacceptable.”
“Sounds good. I am not averse to a bit of danger and I do want to continue to be part of this process.”
“Excellent set it up and I will speak to the others.”
* * * *
Thomas Harrington and Carla Stevenson were again greeted on the Kryl ship by two drones and led to the circular meeting room. Kravos joined them immediately.
“Only two of you, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Harrington and Lieutenant Carla Stevenson. Are the others not relevant?”
“Not really. I assumed we would just be meeting with you again. My policy is to ensure I do not attend meetings of this kind alone and I asked Lieutenant Stevenson to join us.”
The Kryl negotiator smiled, once again revealing the rotten, graying teeth. He had obviously just eaten and it was clear dental hygiene was not on the Kryl’s personal agenda.
“How thoughtful of you. Did you feel your team may be at some risk, now you are about to reject our demands?”
“Of course not. We are still protected by our diplomatic status aren’t we, irrespective of what we have come to say?”
“What have you come to say?”
Harrington felt distinctly edgy. Kravos was one-step ahead of everything. Did he know already that their demands were rejected? Had they somehow monitored and deciphered the encrypted comm. lines to the ECG and Alpha or was he reading his mind?
“It will be of no surprise to you that your demands were rejected as they have no relevance. However, this should just be the start of our discussions.”
“Enough! I was already aware of the content of your conversations. Your secure communication lines are hardly secure. I would not respect you as a race, if you gave in so easily. Your inadequate security protocols were very helpful. Now I have the names of your superiors, there seems little point our discussions continuing. I can contact them directly.”
He was mocking them now
“That would not be appropriate. This delegation is set up to deal with this matter and we should continue down this route.”
“Of course. Very well, since you have been more than clear about the direction you are taking, it is fair that I am. We will defeat the two remaining Alpha battle fleets in good time and then take Earth. We will systematically destroy every living creature on your pathetic planet and its colonies and then hunt down every single remaining Alpha vessel and destroy it. Humans will cease to exist.”
Carla gasped and buckled slightly before Harrington restrained her. Harrington tried to remain calm. He had him talking; now he needed to push.
“That would be counterproductive to your current demands, which suggest you want control of our planet and our people. If you are willing to destroy everything as a result of our non-compliance, what faith could we place in your not doing the same if we agreed to your demands now?”
“A good question. You need to be aware that your planet is of little relevance to us. We do though have need for your people.”
“In what context? Are we to be some kind of food source?”
Again, Carla struggled and eventually slumped down in the chair in disbelief.
“Why would you be so surprised about our intentions Ms Stevenson? I am very much aware of your previous contacts with the Kryl. You are already aware of our capabilities.”
Harrington looked at Carla in surprise.
“Did you not know, Thomas? Carla was taken as a hostage by our now dead Kronan, Navalion. I believe you knew him as Winterburn. She was present when he was murdered.”
“I don’t see what relevance that has to this conversation,” Carla was stirred into speaking.
“Your people want to use us as a food source. Do you intend to kill all of us?”
“No. But for now, that is not relevant.” Addressing Harrington now
“I suggest you take the details of this conversation to your superiors again and ask them to reconsider. I can assure you it will be better for you now than it would be if you leave it until after your fleet is defeated.”
Harrington held his hand to his mouth and pondered his next move.
“Okay, I will take this information to my superiors directly via the Senate ship, since our privacy is put into question. They will want to know more about what you propose. I am not for one moment advocating the acceptance of your demands, nor am I suggesting that we will lose these battles, but in the interest of expediency—is there any further detail you can provide me with at this time?”
