Several people started speaking at once. Dai held up his hand for silence and said to Sarah, “No, we don’t know why the Terrans are not being recognized but we would like to. Yes, this meeting is clandestine and where I have been getting most of my information from. I was tasked with several missions from these meetings. The ones concerning you were that I was to get you to trust me, confide the Terrans’ plans to me and all other information I could get about Terra and Terrans, and hopefully get you to Choose me to make all that easier. I was told to avoid getting emotionally entangled with you. I achieved all but the last one.” He smiled when he heard several gasps — obviously that news hadn’t got through to some yet.
“You had no right to include her!” said a voice angrily, “We know nothing about them!”
Sarah couldn’t see anyone talking so concluded he was one of the shy ones behind a blank screen. Dai answered furiously, “We’ve been to their planet! We’ve seen it! We’ve scanned nearly ten billion Niseyen on one planet and rising! Their planet! What more proof do you want? They’re our Race. And this is our planet also. I keep telling you this is our survival too!”
“We cannot risk war with the Keulfyd!” answered the voice.
“The Keulfyd commenced war on you hundreds of years ago!” snapped Sarah. “They just didn’t declare it! Dai tells me the Rules of War permit you to defend your planet. What’s the matter? Don’t want to get your nice uniform dirty?”
There were gasps. The screen Dai was looking at suddenly lit up showing a furious older man with silver hair. A jare Niseyen, Sarah noted with interest. He could pass for Terran.
“We are at war,” Sarah said softly to him. “I agree we need to contain it. But we need your help here if we are to survive. We need you to get those resupply ships. Can you do that? If you can’t, it looks like we have had it.”
“We need to get a few things sorted first,” the man replied, still looking angry. “Who is the leader?”
“That will have to be Dai. He is here and you are not.”
“He is too inexperienced and his expertise is not in battle.”
“He is here,” Sarah repeated. “He has the information. If you have a better candidate I suggest you get her or him here fast or it will have to be Dai, experienced or not. But don’t panic, he has me to help.” She smiled sweetly at the man’s apoplectic expression, wondering if he would bust his boiler at her effrontery. “Who co-ordinates the attack on the resupply ships is up to all of you and I would not presume to tell you how to do it. Likewise, don’t presume to tell me how to organize this planet’s defense. That is my job.”
“And what do you know of warfare?” asked the man.
“I’ve been in one war on the winning side and I was one of the two in charge. What is your experience apart from theory?” Sarah shot back.
There was a long silence. The man glared at Dai. “Tomorrow night, the same time,” he said, and his screen blanked out, followed by all the others.
There was silence in the room for a while, then Sarah said, “Dacklorat, will you and Kudales, and Ludmilla too, please monitor these screens around the clock. When these idiots decide to co-operate with us, we need to be available.”
The next evening at Dacklorat’s apartment there was a short meeting, part of which Sarah was asked into. Coming in, she saw all the screens lit up. Before she had time to get a word in, the same unintroduced jare man said, “And what are your defense plans?”
“Niseyen and Terrans who can fly are practicing on the simulators and are to attack and harry the fleet as it comes in past the shield generators. The Loridsyl predict that they will come through in a wedge formation. The Okme and the non-combatant civilians are going to scatter over the planet into prepared shelters. We have been busy moving supplies in for weeks. They and the Okme will treat the injured. Others will transport the wounded to them while the battle is being fought.
“The Cats are to attack with us as the ground troops. I assume the Keulfyd will try to get a foothold at the capital city, partly because I doubt they will expect much in the way of opposition. According to Dai, they are well aware of our numbers, will add the population up, subtract three quarters automatically to allow for women and children, and assume up to ten percent of the men might fight. Accurate for other Races but not ours. All our people will fight, except for the small children and those who cannot fight for medical reasons. They have other tasks such as catering, communication and medical help. The Priskya will send most of their people down deep but a few will do search and rescue and some will observe and report back. They will be the mainstay of our communication network.”
The man looked unconvinced. “The first thing they will do is launch a cyber attack, block all your communication, block or interfere with all your weapons programming and everything you use that incorporates computing. You will be helpless.”
Sarah was pleased to see this man had his priorities right. “We have another way to communicate. One we doubt they know of and if they do we don’t think there is a counter to it. We can see no way they can block it. Our weapons targeting will be manual. Some of our people can deflection shoot and we are going to use Loridsyl technology on some of the ships for weapons. The Loridsyl doubt they can block it but there isn’t enough to equip more than a few of the ships, which is why we are relying on the deflection shooters.”
The man started to look less bored. “You are using Terran technology for communication?”
“Partly.”
“Did you know this?” he snapped at Dai.
“Of course,” answered Dai calmly.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Torroxell’s.”
“Are you going to co-ordinate the battle?” the man asked Sarah scornfully.
“Oh no. That’s not my area of expertise. Some others are much better trained for that. There will be a group co-ordinating the battle in the main control room, which is underground. The technology being used is top secret so only a few are allowed in there. Another main feed of information from the ground troops will come in from the Air Traffic Control room. All Races are allowed in there and will help. The Keulfyd will not be able to detect the communication going into or out of it. There will also be one ship designated as an observer, watching the aerial battle and relaying tactical information. The nearest ship to that one will be the backup if the Keulfyd go after that observer ship. Dai warned me the Keulfyd will see that ship and realize its purpose. It will be a prime target. But I thought of having several ships that look as if they are the observer ships, as decoys.”
“But how are you going to co-ordinate the ground war? What if they attack several cities?”
“That’s unlikely, according to the Loridsyl. The Keulfyd have twelve troop carriers and about fifteen gunships left, which the Loridsyl say they will deploy as a Foothold. They will almost certainly target the capital city. The Loridsyl have the Keulfyd manuals. That’s where they get this type of information from, directly from the source,” Sarah said mischievously. “The plan is to let them through, then attack the Flying Fortresses which are the real danger. Our priority is to ignore the Foothold and get them. Meanwhile the ground troops will deal with the Foothold.”
“How do the Priskya communicate fast enough to be of any use?”
“They can use the secret technology and will be communicating, via a relay, directly to the main control room.” That surprised him, Sarah thought, watching his expression which had been changing from scornful to thoughtful.
“So where are you going to be when the fighting starts?”
“Up a tree with a sniper’s rifle. With my daughter.”
“Fighting?”
“Of course. I would never ask my people to do something I wouldn’t do.”
The man glared at Dai who said, “Don’t look at me. I can’t stop her.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Eight days before the fleet was due, Sarah laid out her final plan for Defiance and her cargo. Sh
e told Steve, “Starting off at dawn, the Loridsyl say to come in here” — she held up the map — “and drop off the first fishing village. We’ve organized babysitters for the little kids. Those people then have four days to get their village erected before rain comes. The next village load goes here. The buildings are already there, just move in. I have organized one village needing unloading and building followed by one drop to an established village. You choose who goes where. How fast can you unload a village like this? Is four days enough time to build this first one? Can the whole ship be unloaded in four days?”
“We have people skilled in building them among those who were administering the refugee camps. They say three days to build and get the furniture built and inside, given fine weather.” Steve sounded doubtful but he had been assured this was so.
“Working administrators? I like that! I found out that the Loridsyl have a meteorological station as part of the shield so I am directing the landings to places with fine weather. Every area should have no rain for four days. Except for the last drop. Can the container village be dropped last, and can it be dropped and set up in a day?”
“With this anti-gravity, yes, so I am informed. One day. So long as flat sites are found and marked. Can someone do that?”
“Already done. Dai has turned out to be very useful and he has even had the forethought to get town planners here. The sites are already in the process of being prepared.”
Steve grinned, “Yes,” he drawled, “we found out how useful you thought he was. Husband, Vice President and Minister of Finance, I hear.”
Sarah wondered who had told him that, given the latter two had been decided and passed only that morning. She blushed. “It made sense. And he has been involved in restarting areas devastated by war and other disasters. He has more experience in this than any of us. There is a bank on his ship, too. Anyway, any questions?”
“Are the Niseyen colonists going to the cities?”
“Yes. I know it is a little bit of favouritism in a way but we can hardly direct them to villages. They are used to cities. And all the spaceships, boats, planes, and ground cars belong to us, except for some smaller ones that I sold to the Niseyen. If it helps, as the population rises we are not counting the Terrans who live out of the cities. Our quota will be only those Terrans who live in cities.”
“What did you mean by babysitters?”
Sarah smiled mischievously. “You’ll find out.”
That evening, she didn’t catch up to Dai until late. He said, “The negotiating team for the bank will arrive in the morning and come straight here.” Sarah nodded and yawned. It had been a long day and her focus was on bed: a little exercise and then sleep.
The next morning was six days before the arrival of the fleet. Sarah dragged herself out of bed with her usual lack of enthusiasm. Dai, typically, was already up and tucking into something she didn’t recognize. Because Sarah’s apartment was more spacious than his they had delegated that to be home. Dai’s moving in included a large amount of food and cooking equipment despite his usual tactic being to eat out. That hadn’t changed. They mainly used the apartment to sleep and for breakfast. She sniffed: smelt good. She showered, downed her coffee, and was about to head out the door when she saw Dai looking, puzzled, at his fancy organizer. “One of my cousins has just arrived. I wonder what she’s doing here. I’ll get back to her after the negotiations.”
He sighed. One of these days he would have to tell Sarah. Not yet, though. He was enjoying this so much. Dai wondered if his cousin had brought Jesan with her. Jesan loved to just casually turn up, without notice, whenever Dai made planetfall anywhere and Leasan would send him at every opportunity. That way Dai paid maintenance, paid Jesan’s and Leasan’s fares, and paid Jesan’s keep as well, as she never sent him with any money despite the allowance Dai paid automatically every week to Jesan. Leasan also sent him, whenever possible, with any bank or family flight going so he was safe and she didn’t have to go with him. That was after she sent him once, alone, on a commercial flight when he was thirteen and she had Chosen yet again. She had slipped up there. Never before had she given Dai any grounds to contest custody. Being toxic, a wastrel, a gold-digger, parasitic, lazy, a cheat, and narcissistic were not grounds — but sending a thirteen-year-old alone while she went on holiday with her latest man was. Dai had been furious.
He would be pleased to see his son, who was now nineteen. Only a few more months and he would no longer have to pay Leasan. He smiled at that thought. Her latest man was going to get a shock. Jesan was going to be a problem, though. Like his mother he had no work ethic, was a poor student, and believed his father should keep him for life. With the training his mother had given him, his idea of adequate keep was eye-watering. There were going to be sparks soon, but not now. He would have to ensure Jesan left with the negotiating team, as he didn’t want him here during a war.
An hour later Dai walked into the conference room designated for the meeting to find eight members of his family there. He was astonished. “What are you lot doing here?”
“Who did you expect?” replied his cousin Irakid.
Dai started to have a terrible suspicion. “Oh no!” he said, his distress all too obvious.
“What’s wrong?”
“This meeting isn’t with Sarah, is it? I didn’t think they’d send the family. Not into a war zone!”
“Of course we sent family. We’re not paying staff a war excess! We’ll do it ourselves. Why? You didn’t say anything. Did you not want to do the negotiating against her? We thought you’d have an inside edge.” Frionna grinned at his discomfort. She was his aunt and as hard a negotiator as him. That took some doing.
“She doesn’t know.”
“Doesn’t know what?”
“Who I am. And I’m leading for the other side.”
They stared at him in shock.
“Sarah Chose me and I’m the Minister of Finance, so I’m leading for the other side. I’ll have to tell her. She’ll kill me!”
“When did all that happen?” Frionna yelled.
“A couple of days ago,” answered Dai as he headed out the door. The newscasts should have reached his family. It wasn’t his fault they hadn’t kept up with current events.
Very apprehensive, Dai contacted Sarah, saying it was very urgent. She met him outside and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“There’s something I have to tell you. The negotiating team are my family.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m supposed to be heading their team. I haven’t been checking on business. There’s been a lot going on and I was preoccupied! I didn’t realize they’d send the family and they assumed I knew that they would be the ones coming and that you knew who I was. I wasn’t in government when I organized the meeting. I didn’t anticipate switching sides!”
“But you’re primarily a spaceship Captain aren’t you? What’s going on?”
“I have two jobs. Well, I guess, three.”
“Are you serious?” Her voice was rising. People were looking at them curiously.
“Yes. Sorry. Umm, one of my jobs was start-up, recovery, clean-up, going in after disasters, wars, civil unrest, or start-up for new asteroids, mines etcetera. The two are fairly similar. It’s sort of how I got the spaceship job, my banking and administrative expertise. I had already done the banking part of the job previously and then I changed careers and went into in the military, but then the military thought they should handle everything. They didn’t like dealing with civilians. So I got a promotion. It was a political thing, too, the military being able to use one of their own under their control.”
“Are trying to tell me your family are major shareholders in the bank?” Sarah was trying to get a grip on the immediate relevant facts here.
“Ah, not exactly. We own it. I’m part-owner.”
“You bastard! I’ll have to declare a conflict of interest! This is embarrassing. You should have told me! You’ve put me in a bad political s
ituation here. Now what? Should I call it off?”
“No. You won’t get a better deal. We’re the best.”
Sarah glared at him. “I wasn’t thinking about that! This is going to put me in a very bad light. It’ll look like nepotism. I’ll have to declare this. Now.”
Sarah stormed back into the room to tell the others, leaving him in the corridor with a lot of interested onlookers. Some would be reporters. He sighed. Serve him right. Was it too much to hope that none of them would have had a mike aimed this way?
Sarah faced the hastily arranged news conference, at least she had picked out more moderate reporters from the usual mob that perpetually followed her. She hoped she didn’t look as embarrassed as she felt. “I apologize to you all but I have to declare a major conflict of interest. My husband has just informed me that he is a member of the Ineffid family of Medala which owns the financial institution we are talking to to get start up capital from. I am very sorry. I did not know. I will get him back for this later,” she muttered half under her breath. There was a smattering of laughter.
Those who knew Sarah believed her. Those who didn’t were sceptical. How could she not have known who she Chose? Wasn’t that why she had Chosen him?
Sarah went back to her conference room and sat with her head in her hands. Worse, minutes late she found out the whole conversation with Dai had been recorded as the news crew took great delight in repeating the clip per popular demand and got paid for each repeat; a rather profitable little segment and very entertaining.
Back in the conference room, Sarah looked at the other Terrans. “What do I do?”
The other seven looked at each other. Ludmilla answered for them. “Carry on. You’ve declared.”
Alien Backlash Page 26
