There was more scattered laughter but as she left, Sarah was frustrated and said to Dai, “Why are there always people who feel compelled to try to undo the achievements of others, spread lies, ferment discord and generally cause trouble?”
“Krilsrud Kogilkikoe is a loser. He has nothing, he is worth nothing, so he tries to pull others down to his level. He is jealous of everything you stand for.”
“But can he not see the harm he is doing? He frightens people with his lies.” She stopped. “Can I deport him after this is over?”
Dai laughed. “Good idea. Why don’t you announce that you will?”
Delighted, she did the next day: “As soon as the Keulfyd are defeated I will deport Krilsrud as an unwanted immigrant. My reasons for this are that he has been perpetrating libel, false representation and malicious gossip, all conduct detrimental to the wellbeing of others.” She was rather pleased with herself.
But Krilsrud hit back and continued his harangues. Next he targeted the Priskya and declared, “They should lose their Treaty status for not contributing. They should never have attained Treaty status!”
Sarah replied, “They performed a very valuable service in the last war, as you have been repeatedly told. They bought the shield that is holding the Keulfyd off and destroying their ships. They bankrolled this present war along with the Okme. Where do you think much of the money came from for the war supplies? Terra loaded up a Flying Fortress with troops and war supplies but it didn’t get here in time. The Niseyen are still not even acknowledging us. The Okme are doing their best to help with their own money and funds from the Priskya. They bought a huge amount of munitions and a munitions factory and got it all here in time. While you are whining, they are flat-out producing ammunition because we will need a phenomenal amount. You think fighting a war is cheap and easy?”
On the morning of the thirty-seventh day of the war, Sarah announced, “The failure of the shield is imminent. The cities will be targeted first, and we anticipate the Keulfyd will head for the capital first. You need to leave! Now! Those who intend to help us fight, follow the red flags. Those who are going to hide with the children, follow the yellow flags away from the city. The Priskya should avoid the coastline. Head for the open ocean and dive down deep. The Terrestrial population should also get away from the cities and scatter into the surrounding areas.”
She then patiently waited for an hour or so, answering questions as she listened for the pre-arranged signal from the Loridsyl that would tell her the jammers had been launched both inside and outside the shield. Receiving it she announced, “Fighters, to your stations! Non-combatants, follow the Terrans! Those of you who want to help in the fighting follow the red flags. Follow the yellow flags they are setting out now if you cannot or will not fight! Move!” Those prepared leapt into action. Most of the Niseyen milled around like sheep, watching the other Races who had things to do and places to go.
As Sarah headed for her apartment, behind her she heard a variety of comments, moaning and bitching from both sexes. She smiled as she dodged the media. Behind her, Niseyen and Okme continued to mill around, some confused and frightened. They turned almost as one as hundreds of large purple creatures came running through the trees towards the cities. As they came closer, it became obvious these people were carrying equipment. The purple people split up, some heading for the ships on the airport; some headed for the places where Terrans were organizing themselves into military units. It was obvious they were expected as some simply boarded ships while others put down their equipment and conferred. Sarah chuckled, putting on a burst of speed to keep ahead of the media who were now chasing her.
In her apartment Katy had four packs all done. “Oh, you honey,” she said as Katy handed her a pack and took a meal for her out of the food heater. “Where’s Pumpkin?”
“Miles away and safe with some Okme. I took him first thing this morning.”
Sarah made herself eat and drink. Dai and Jesan came in and Katy outfitted them and handed them their meals. They ate in silence.
Sarah changed into jeans and a heavy jacket and picked up her rifle. She checked her pack, loaded mostly with ammunition, and checked her webbing, neatly folded and secured on the outside. “Is this all the ammunition?”
“Every packet I brought. I split it in half. There’s just over four hundred bullets each. All the magazines are loaded and in the pockets. Do you want the bows?”
“No. This is heavy enough and the rifles have a greater range. Are you ready?”
“Ready.”
Sarah hugged Jesan and then Dai. He clung to her for several seconds and there were tears in their eyes as they let go. “I love you,” she said softly. “Come back to me safe and sound.” She looked at Jesan. “That goes for you too. I want us all back home tomorrow, safe and sound!”
Together, the four walked down and outside the city where Dai went to a plane and let the waiting Cats in, saying softly to the young girls with the Cats, “Thank you but I don’t need a Translator.” He breathed a sigh of relief that he would not have to condone children taking part in a war in his ship.
Frantic members of the media followed them saying,
“Who are they? Are they Cats? What’s going on? You’re not really going to fight are you?” As Sarah and Dai were trying for a last cuddle.
“Are you going to fight?” An appalled reporter asked of Sarah and Katy as his shocked gaze registered that they were armed.
“Are those Cats?” Asked another.
“A statement please!” clamoured the media.
Exasperated, Dai turned around, “Yes they are Cats. They are part of my crew my son being the other. Yes of course we are going to fight! Now will you please give us some privacy.”
But of course, they wouldn’t. Sarah hugged Jesan as did Katy. Sarah then clung to Dai whispering dire threats in his ear as to what she would do to him if he didn’t return.
Dai smiled at her and kissed her soundly with tears in his eyes well aware that Leasan had never seen him off and would never place herself in any danger. They boarded.
Inside the ship, Jesan and the Cats looked at each other. Cautiously, Jesan reached out as one extended a paw. His mind was deluged by images and he realized, jubilant, that he could communicate with her.
Dai entered and looked at his delighted son who was wearing an awestruck look as he held the Cat’s paw. “I can’t pronounce her name,” Jesan said in frustration.
Dai smiled. “Well, that’ll make things easier,” he said and sat in the pilot’s seat, motioning one Cat beside him and Jesan and the other Cat into the seats behind. The Cat behind Dai moved so she had one paw touching Dai and one touching Jesan. Into their minds came her delighted anticipation at flying, which she had never experienced before, along with the information that her friend up front was chosen as a communicator because she had a long range whereas she herself was a gunner who was an excellent deflection shooter.
As the ship lifted up Dai said to Jesan, “I call this one Mykad, which is the closest I can get to her name, and the lady next to you is Dylam. We expect all our communication to go down shortly and Mykad will take over. Dylam will take over the shooting with you to help.”
“OK. Where’s the command post?”
“In a cave with all the Commanders. They will co-ordinate everything from there.”
“Do the Loridsyl know this?”
“Not about the telepathy. We have some faked equipment set up for the Cats to pretend to use in the command post and there are Terrans there who pretend to understand their speech.”
“How close do we have to get?” Jesan asked Dylam.
“How far can you communicate?” Jesan didn’t know how to speak in images so had to use words.
“How are we going to do this?” he asked his father.
“We fly in rough formation until our communication is cyber-scrambled. Then we act uncoordinated but keep going. Some of the ships with us are decoys. On command, they will fly in a very confused fashion, pretend to be crippled and go back to the planet. In case someone up there is watching, some will ‘crash’ into the sea. They have Terran children on board who are good swimmers and these are ships we didn’t have time to arm or that were not space-worthy. The Keulfyd will think we are crippled, that they have reduced our numbers before the fight starts, and that we cannot communicate so cannot target the same area. They will find out too late that we can. An apparent initial failure for us will make them over-confident and hopefully encourage them to underestimate us yet again.”
“So we let them think they’re winning?”
“The biggest weakness of the Keulfyd is overconfidence and we intent to exploit that as much as possible. They will find out to their shock that we can co-ordinate fire.”
“Which is how we will overpower their shields,” finished Jesan.
“Yes. Someone came up with a very good idea to cause confusion and waste the time of those conducting the cyber war. Lights will start flashing on every ship in a random sequence and different colors but occasionally repeating a pattern. They will assume it’s how we are communicating. It should cause a huge distraction and drive them nuts.”
< Sarah told everyone she needed a method to explain how the ships were communicating. To protect us. So no Keulfyd would guess it is telepathy.>
“Which would be very dangerous for you.”
“And every communication board is going to have a piece of Terran equipment, identical devices, attached to the board and ‘fried,’ so if any ships are captured, they will think we destroyed secret Terran or Cat technology before we died or were captured.”
“What’s the secret Terran technology?”
“Don’t know, didn’t ask,” Dai answered.
Jesan felt the delight at this subterfuge in Mykad’s mind and her joy that the Terrans had gone to all this trouble to protect her people’s secret. “When did all this happen?” he asked.
“Someone thought of each method and Sarah decided to use both. She hoped it might explain both the communications and the weapons targeting. The light system was set up on all the ships first and the ‘fried device’ idea was thought up by a kid and implemented the night before the Declaration of War. It was a scramble to get the Cats and translators off the planet before the Keulfyd got here. They came in on one side of the planet as the Cats scrammed out the other to help with the battle to get the resupply ships. The Keulfyd didn’t shoot them down, we think, because they probably assumed they were running away. The Cats and Terrans took the mystery technology on board and set it up first. Just as well. Bet those bits in the command post that are ‘being used’ are driving the Loridsyl nuts. And I’ll bet the Loridsyl are still studying the ‘fried technology’ they found on the ships they rescued. The real communication system is a mix of Cat and Terran technology and Terran culture.”
“Culture?”
“Yes. The encryption key is some type of cultural knowledge which is common knowledge among the Terrans. Sarah told me an actress invented the technology that goes with it last century. Something to do with cell phones and frequencies that alter.”
As Dai lifted off, back on the ground the media were becoming annoying. Katy pushed a reporter out of the way and said to the cameras, “What’s the problem? All the Terrans and the braver of your people are now going to fight while most of you pathetic and cowardly Niseyen can run away to the hills with the little children, the old and the pregnant. They will protect you from your friends the Keulfyd, who want to exterminate your Race.”
Sarah shrugged. As the media turned to her she said, “I would have put it more tactfully but that’s about right. Get to your stations. If you find you have some courage after all, follow the Terrans or anyone with weapons. Or go with the Okme and help with the wounded.”
“What wounded?” asked a reporter.
“There is going to be fighting.” Katy said slowly and sarcastically. “People will get hurt. They are called ‘wounded.’”
As Sarah left with Katy, she heard the confusion behind her and remembered that Mathew had suggested just such a message framed like that to try to shame the Niseyen into helping, but she had felt she couldn’t do that. She wondered if any Niseyen would help. Mathew had assured her some would, maybe most. As with everything else, it was coming together at the end. She remembered what Steve had told her about emptying the refugee camps: “Just start and people will come up with offers of assistance.” He had been right. That’s how this war is being fought, she thought: all the things that had come together at the last minute as people put their minds to it and came up with solutions. And so many solutions from children!
Onboard the flagship, the Communication Officer addressed Kedlijercylix as he came onto the bridge: “We have heard from our agents on the planet! That Terran woman has that the shield is about to fail and the land dwellers are to scatter over the surface of the planet. The fish are to dive down as deep as they can and all are to prepare for invasion.”
Kedlijercylic rumbled in satisfaction, “Contact the Loridsyl. I will accept her surrender but she will pay the price of her defiance. That will be my condition.”
With great relish he went down to the communication room, switched on the screen, and said loudly to the Loridsyl on duty, “I will accept your surrender and that of Torroxell.”
As the broadcast linked onto the media stream and automatically went out to countless billions on a multitude of planets, the Loridsyl casually answered, “She will not surrender. She and her daughter are armed and are going to fight personally. Those on the planet intend to fight you also. We Lorisdyl do not contemplate surrender either.”
Kedlijercylic furiously cut the link. His whole family would soon see that further humiliation. He did not understand. What was this Sarah thinking? He was livid. His crew watched from a distance and stayed out of his way as he stalked through the ship, looking for something, someone,anything to vent his anger on.
Kedlijercylix stomped into his planning room and called a meeting of his officers to plan the invasion of the planet. Warily, his officers entered but they saw with relief that he had had time to calm down. He was staying calm by mentally shredding Sarah into tiny pieces. When all were seated he said, “Torroxell refuses to surrender and so do the Loridsyl. We must assume the shield is not depleted of weapons although it seems to be depleted of defensive power.”
“We have been informed that major preparations are now underway,” said the Communication Officer. “Ships are launching all over the planet. Fools! They think they can fight us? What idiots! We have launched more communications satellites plus some spy cameras and reactivated the ones that could not formerly communicate through the shield. It is as we have been informed, incredible as it sounds. The cities look mostly deserted and the population is scattering throughout the planet. This is crazy. What will they eat? Cleaning up is going to be a problem.”
“Their leader Sarah didn’t surrender. They chose to scatter. They can die of starvation — I’m not rescuing anyone,” declared Kedlijercylix. “Forget conventional warfare protocol for civilians and concentrate on defeating these bastards. We will simply say there were no non-combatants or that the combatants were being concealed among the civilians. I despise these rules of declared warfare. Ideas, observations, plans?”
The Tactician opened. He knew the remaining firepower of the fleet. “Our munition situation is barely adequate for what we need. Scattering the population was a good tactic for them but a lousy one for us. We cannot threaten the cities. As they have deserted them and mounted no defense, according to our spies, I would surmise they are prioritizing the population, not the cities. I cannot understand their tactic. They must hav
e taken all their supplies with them but we have observed hundreds of people of various Races and they do not seem to be carrying much. Maybe they have stockpiled supplies and are going there. This could have been very carefully thought out and they may be well prepared. If so, this was concealed from our spies. But they are mostly on foot and have small children with them so they cannot be going far. If this is spontaneous they will starve in their hundreds of thousands. We will be blamed, but it is their own stupidity. How could they think they can fight us?” he said ignoring the demise of the resupply ships.
“We do not know these Terrans, and we should stop thinking of them as just jare Niseyen. We still have no idea what the Cats are or how many there are now. We can see nothing that looks like another Race. They have been hidden or they are not there. My worry is that they may be on their way in an attacking fleet from another planet. And where are the Terrans’ Flying Fortresses? Will they attack with these Cats? Our long-range scanners see nothing that looks like an attacking fleet on its way, but I remain apprehensive. We can only see Niseyen, unknown numbers of whom will instead be Terrans, and we see the Okme who don’t fight. Many Okme ships. The Cats could be the military tacticians and the organizers. I cannot understand how they can hide from us. Maybe they have left the planet and are in some of these ships. It is infuriating that we cannot scan ships when they are shielded. Someone else must be involved. I wonder if it is the Ridianit. They might have made a deal to get the planet back, or to be added as a Treaty partner. Niseyen do not normally act like this. They know better than to fight us.”
No one disagreed with him. “The civilians probably have a reason for what they are doing. Maybe we should not assume they will all die in the forests. The Terrans, being Amphibian, may be able to get fish from the sea and rivers and survive that way. And they drink water. So can the other Races if their survival is at stake. We do not know how many of the other Races there are but there has not been enough time for many to get here. Surely the population is only into hundreds of thousands.”
Alien Backlash Page 35
