Alien Backlash

by Maxine Millar

  “I knew what our younglings were doing. I also knew about the simulators. That was one of the things that decided us. We knew they were going to defy us in their hundreds. We knew other People would find out. With our contribution, do you think we can win?”

  “Yes. But probably not without you. Our Intel indicates they will not bomb us from space because they want information. They are coming here partly for revenge and partly for Intel. We know some of the Intel they want but we think he will know the rest.”

  “What Intel?”

  “There is an Okme man coming here. He should arrive just before the fleet, with a huge amount of information about the Keulfyd. He used to work for them, for their Supreme Ruler.”

  “Are they coming here because of the virus?”

  “Yes.”

  “We wondered about the wisdom of that. We thought it dangerous to use it.”

  “Using it beat dying, in my opinion. And I admit to being somewhat angry about all the people they killed without a thought. I knew a lot of them! A lot of them were my friends! So, we should keep your numbers and abilities secret until the shield goes into blackout mode and information can no longer get out to the Keulfyd. We know there will be a huge number of informers among the Niseyen.”

  There was a long pause then the Cat said, “I am not pleased but I see the wisdom and the logic. From Ilse I see this tactic is sneaky and has much merit. I will convince my People.”

  Abruptly the Cats got up and left. Sarah ran to the room set up for interplanetary communication. She put a call through to Mathew. At least he was awake this time. “The Cats have now made up their minds and are in the process of mobilizing,” she said. “Mathew, there’s millions of them. They want Julia and Karl to teach them Terran tactics and how to use weapons. They’re already training in the simulators and confessed they pinched quite a few and have been training for months. One faction of them, anyway. Against the wishes of the majority. They’re also going to start to learn to use guns having been appalled at their casualty rate and very much aware it was well above the Terran rate. They know that blows their secret out of the water. They’re easily big enough to use the Keulfyd weapons that are too big for us, but we don’t have a fraction of the weapons we need. But this is all so last minute!”

  “Give the weapons to the best shots. How many are we talking about and in what roles?”

  “We already had at least two Cats organized for every ship for communications and weaponry in every area of fighting, plus Terrans to translate and spares. But now we can have enough Cats to operate all the weapons control or whatever it’s called of all the ships, plus they will handle all the communication roles. We have no idea how long they will have to fight for. I don’t know how much concentration the communication takes, how exhausting it is. I suspect very. I think the ones on weapons will tire within an hour or so if it exhausts them as much as prolonged practice shooting affects me. I lose my edge.

  “This has all been kept secret. Some Cats have been training in the simulators to fly; some want to fight. Mathew, these deflection shooters among them are outstanding. Their accuracy at these speeds is incredible. Dai says the Keulfyd will launch a cyber war first and knock out all communication and a lot of computer-driven instrumentation on our ships. Some Niseyen found out about the Cats, so they may not be secret. But they don’t know all their abilities or their numbers. We can really use them. We can use all our ships now. The Okme thought to bring the weapons for civilian ships and the programs so they can be run from the bridge.”

  “You know there are cyberwar programs to block targeting?”

  “Yes, the Loridsyl have countermeasures. They’ve been added. I’m on a steep learning curve here. We don’t know if the countermeasures will work. There is a facility being put in for eye-of-sight manual firing. The Okme found that. I left that to them. Some Okme military arrived and we’ve handed that over to them to do. They seem confident.”

  “The Okme have been a surprising contributor.”

  “Yes they have, and I didn’t allow for them so it’s all a bonus. The Cats want to ‘come out’ but I have persuaded them to stay under the radar as our secret weapon.”

  Mathew chuckled. “You’re getting better at this military thinking.”

  “I am, but we miss you. We all wish you were here. And Julia and Ilse say the Cats are hiding something. Something big.”

  “Don’t worry. It may be something pertinent only to them. Everyone has their secrets.”

  “I guess.”

  Mathew noted Sarah sounded a little doubtful. “Yeah, I wish I was there too but Oberterk is sure interesting as well, and I’m a consultant for the Zeobani. Keep it a secret how many Cats there are. Need-to-know only. Tell the kids not to talk to others. There are too many people on the planet these days that we don’t know.”

  As Sarah left the air-traffic control room she was thinking that communication was going to be a real problem in so many ways. The Niseyen military were secretive and even Dai was struggling with them. The Cats were coy, the Okme were astonishing in their efforts but most didn’t let her know what they had and what they were doing, and sometimes they didn’t know how to use what they had supplied. In a sudden flash, she saw what she could do but did she have enough time? There were only a few hours to get this organized. She ran back to get Dai.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The next morning, one day before the attack fleet would arrive, Ali contacted Sarah: “Another lot of refugees have arrived from Bangladesh, eight hundred on a Niseyen ship. This ship says it is staying because there is no time to unload and leave. The weather where they have been allocated is foul so unloading is slow but there is no hurry.”

  Sarah had had her mind on so many things she had forgotten this ship. She was exhausted from no sleep last night but for once she was grateful for the long length of the night. Dai was in the back of the room, asleep. She shook him awake and said, “The latest ship from Bangladesh has arrived and is unloading. Where did we allocate this one?”

  “Some were relocated en masse to some fishing villages and market gardens. As usual there was a rise in population during the trip from births but there are also dead to be cremated. There were multiple problems on board. Cultural ones. There are some very upset Niseyen crew and there were several shipboard romances. Some of the matches were forbidden by the parents of the girls. We are going to have to deal with these cultural issues, Sarah.”

  “Not now! After the war. This job is overwhelming,” she muttered. “Now I see why all the American presidents go grey during their terms!” She made yet another note on her notepad under the heading, “After the War”.

  The evening before the fleet arrived was the time designated by Sarah for the Council of War. Representatives of all Treaty Races were to be there plus the Loridsyl. Sarah, Dai, Pickdaa, Chris (with Ilse to translate), Kasjeindid and Helkmid attended.

  Sarah opened the meeting. “You all understand that you are here to speak for your Race, immediately, no going back and no time for consulting. That includes making military decisions. Majority rules, simple majority of three out of five. The Loridsyl are to consult only. The decisions must be ours. All must so agree to this.” They all concurred. “Good. Up until now we have been so busy we have had no time to sit and decide. I am keeping the topic to military. I am aware there are multiple other problems but now is not the time. If all goes as the Loridsyl expect, maybe we can sort out some of those problems in a few days. I have instructed that all incoming or outgoing ships are to be landed or gone by today. Except there is one ship still incoming and I understand the Loridsyl have gone to rescue it because it wouldn’t have made it in time? Apart from that there is now only local traffic and I have ordered all planes to be landed by morning. The skies are to be clear by lunchtime. The fleet is expected early evening but it will be in range by mid-afternoon.”

  “The Okme ship, there is someone on board who is vital to our defense.” Helkmid looked very
worried. “I asked the Loridsyl to help him. They sent two rescue ships.”

  Sarah looked at Helkmid in surprise but he would say no more. She wondered if he had offered payment. She suspected the Loridsyl would not be doing that rescue for nothing. The payment could be astronomical.

  “What can we expect now?” Sarah directed her question both at Dai and Kasjeindid.

  Kasjeindid answered, “There will be a demand that you surrender and drop the shield.”

  “No chance.”

  “Then you must either concede or declare war on only the specific attackers. Not on all Keulfyd or you will be fighting twenty-five planets and all their Allies.”

  Sarah smiled. “You write it down and I’ll say it exactly. What will happen then?”

  “I assume they will open fire and the shield will hold them. They will launch multiple varieties of hunter/killer satellites and surveillance satellites and we will dispose of those.”

  “Apart from the shield, do you have any plans or advice?”

  “Yes,” answered Kasjeindid. “You must get those five resupply ships. Those, plus the fleet, will be too much for this shield. Destroy them or damage them to a great degree. If they all arrive, intact, they will probably hold enough weapons to annihilate the whole planet. Even the triple shield won’t cope because there will be too much of a barrage. Their tactic will be to keep us occupied and keep up the barrage with resupply ships. We must defeat them, and quickly, to prevent this. The shield needs time, while not under fire, to recharge.”

  “We know,” answered Dai. “We have a plan to destroy them.”

  “How?”

  “Niseyen military, with help from others.”

  “Do you have any other advice?” asked Sarah.

  “Yes.” Kasjeindid briefly explained the three plans their advertising manager had come up with several months ago.

  Sarah smiled. “I agree for the Terrans. I prefer Plan C.”

  Kasjeindid was startled. It had expected fear, stupid comments, ignorance, rejection and to have to do some explaining and persuading. She hadn’t even thought about it before agreeing!

  Dai looked at Sarah in surprise. She hadn’t even thought about it — or had she? How fast could she see the ramifications? “The Niseyen agree. I also prefer Plan C.”

  Ilse spoke up. “The Cats love Plan C. They agree.”

  Helkmid sat with his head in his hands, an oddly human gesture. Why were they waiting for him to speak? They had their majority! He was in a turmoil of regret for entering into any Alliance with these reckless, idiotic, hot-headed, short sighted… Abruptly, he decided he was way out of his league. “I cannot make a judgment on this for my people. I give my proxy to Dai, for this and all other military decisions.”

  Dai was startled but they now had their majority plus one. “I agree for the Okme,” he said, “to Plan C.” Why hadn’t Helkmid given his proxy to Sarah? She seemed as startled as he was.

  Everyone looked at Pickdaa. “This is an incredible risk. People will die. But we all had decided not to surrender so that automatically rules out Plan A.” She was silent for a long time, the others patiently waiting. Although Pickdaa only had one vote, she spoke for billions while Helkmid spoke only for thousands. “You hope to catch them off-guard, I see this. To encourage them to be overconfident, to let them think they have won. I understand that a crossfire will be many times more effective.” She slowly thought it through. “I know of no way they can block our communication and I agree it will be vital and decisive. I see why you do this. I think it is a gamble but I agree the Keulfyd will not give up and the shield will eventually fail. I agree with the Loridsyl assessment that although the cost of beating the shield will be horrendous, the Keulfyd will persist. Other Races would give up but they will not. They are after the source of the virus. You land-dwellers will bear the bear the bulk of the casualties and you have already decided. There is probably little risk to my People. So be it. I agree for the Priskya. Plan C.”

  Sarah let out the breath she had not realized she was holding. Unanimous! She turned to Kasjeindid. “Please implement that plan. We will get the population organized on the surface. Pickdaa, we will notify you of the timing. Scatter your people to minimize casualties. I assume depth would help?” She looked at Kasjeindid. “Do you have weapons, tactics, and defenses for the Priskya? I have never fought a marine war and don’t know how.”

  “What about supplies? Where are your weapons for your part in this?” it said, stalling to give itself time to think up an answer for that one.

  “Mostly here, some still coming,” Dai answered.

  “Dare I ask where from?”

  “Best not to publish that fact,” said Sarah. “There is a flood of supplies entering the planet from all directions. A huge amount of weapons and ammunition is being unloaded and sorted that was brought from all over the galaxy by the Okme. Some of the military supplies are from the Niseyen military who are breaking a serious number of regulations as soon as it leaves their ships. But of course that is what they have been doing since Dai’s ship unloaded the first supplies, originally bound for God knows where. All illegal. Regretfully, the Terran’s munitions will not get here in time, the distance was too great.

  “Most of the incoming Okme ships contain an eclectic mix of weapons from all over the galaxy, wherever and whatever they could find. Surprising what they collected, as they tend to be non-combatants. They told me they take their part-ownership of this planet very seriously and are determined to keep it. Very useful. We had sort of not counted on them militarily speaking but they are determined to do their bit. Now the ships are unpacking. While the shield holds the Keulfyd off we have to be training, assembling weapons and manufacturing the ammunition — or batteries, since so many weapons in this galaxy use batteries as the explosive force.” She smiled. “We weren’t the only ones who thought of importing factories. The Okme did too and are busy putting one together. They say it will be operational in about a week. It is a munitions factory and they also bought the raw materials! They will prioritize ammunition.”

  She paused, trying to keep up with the flood of information she had been deluged with. The Priskya. “Should the Priskya dive deep? Is that the best way to keep them safe?”

  “Yes. They need to go as deep as the fish can go. Best defense. We assume they did not come to fight a marine foe. We have planned for both but mainly for a Terrestrial war,” it said lying through its teeth. It tried not to laugh at the thought of a fish with a gun.

  “How long do we have?”

  It wrenched its thoughts back to Sarah. “That will depend on the Keulfyd. If you eliminate most of the resupply ships, at their normal rate of fire and if they deploy all their ships, no sooner than thirty-eight days, maybe twice that if you can’t eliminate most of those resupply ships or at least keep them busy. I’d plan for around forty days. We will keep a current estimate and can choose the timing to suit you.”

  “I gather that means you won’t be able to destroy them?”

  “Not the resupply ships. We were employed as shield cover, not mercenaries. We would have to declare war on the Keulfyd to be able to attack them with our ships and you are not paying us enough,” Kasjeindid said, rather understating the situation, it thought.

  “Can you destroy the ships that attack the shield?”

  “Doubtful. Their ships’ shields are very good. They will test us. The original shield that came here did have weapons. Like ours, their computers will count our weapons output and calculate when we should run out. We will also calculate their output and be able to estimate fairly accurately what their capacity will be.”

  Sarah looked at the others. “The Terrans are well organized and training. We will need to make no changes except for timing and a little change of focus. They will be ready. Non-combatants will be hidden. Maybe the Okme would like to go with them?”

  Helkmid nodded. Very few of his People, if any, would choose to fight. Non-combatants summed them up nicely
. “We will organize the medical response.” He thought there would be no trouble with the Treaty. “My people have bought weapons and a munitions factory and will provide free medical treatment for all injuries.” That will gain us our continued place in the Treaty, he thought. “Some of our more reckless youngsters have declared they will fight.”

  Dai sighed. “My spoilt and disobedient civilians expect us to surrender. They cannot believe we will fight the Keulfyd. Most will be in for a shock. I anticipate less trouble once the shooting starts. That should focus their attention on the important issues. I do have a lot of military personnel, though, and could spare some. Do you need some?” he asked Sarah.

  “Could I suggest we combine? So long as your men will agree to fight with our women.”

  Dai winced. She couldn’t mean that? But she was giving him a hard stare. She meant it. He nodded: what else could he do? This would get him into trouble with his men. She had told him what her particular battle skill was. That had him wincing too.

  Ilse watched this exchange in amusement. Her parents’ skill in battle had astonished her. But now she needed some information. “My Mum and Dad are training with the Cats,” she said. “They are using the captured Keulfyd weapons that are too big for humans to handle. Chris wants to know is there any way the Keulfyd can see what is happening on the surface?”

  “No, not at the moment, but the Cats’ training needs to be kept secret. Sorry, but there will be spies among the Niseyen informing the Keulfyd,” Sarah said, carefully not looking at Dai.

  The Loridsyl commented, “We are already monitoring that as Dai requested and will trace any communication from the planet to the fleet and from whom. We will give you that information,” it said to Dai, who wondered apprehensively what he would do about that and decided to prioritize it, like Sarah, under “After the War”.