Moments later, the return message came through from Commander Analock. The translator on the ship was not yet programmed with the Gliesan language, so Ah Tabai let them know what the reply was.
“We acknowledge our Solan neighbors. Welcome to Gliese System. Please remain at your current position and refrain from additional broadcast until we update central command.”
To Ah Tabai, General Gates asked, “What can we expect?”
“The majority of Gliesan government responses are dictated by a rigorous set of laws and protocols,” Ah Tabai said. “As with many Emerged systems, we consider ourselves under a constant state of siege. Though no Kulsat ship has invaded our system in over a hundred years, no one knows what might prompt them to take notice and launch a surprise attack; it’s happened before. Our protocols are in place to give our system advance warning in that event. Once central command is made aware that we are not hostiles, we’ll be formally invited to visit to Skanse Aerie, which is our main diplomatic hub.”
“It’s an incredible station,” Justine said. “You’ll no doubt be astounded by the representatives of the different star systems.” She smiled at Michael. “If you thought international politics were difficult to navigate, interstellar politics not only deal with different languages and cultures, but different biology. The ambassador from Mebsuta System is physiologically similar to a sea anemone; his mouth is also his anus, and they do not consider public defecation to be socially unacceptable. It can sometimes be unsettling for other cultures, like ours, to interact with his species.”
“I imagine so,” Michael said, his eyes wide.
The general interrupted. “How long will it take their commander to respond?”
“Very soon,” Ah Tabai said. “But it will take us a little time to fly there. Once we are cleared, I will contact the Committee of Sentinels and begin to organize them.”
Looking back and forth between Michael and Justine, the general said, “If they’re anything like our military, this mobilization could take a bit of time. What if the Kulsat attacks Sol before we organize?”
Justine nodded at the question. “From my experience, the Kulsat are a highly structured hierarchal society. Their report will have to go up their chain of command. Once their leaders make their decision, then they will begin preparations and invade our system en masse.”
Impatiently, the general asked, “And how long do you think that will take?”
Ah Tabai answered, “Historically, anywhere from one of your days to a month, depending on how much resistance they expect from the target system. Considering your criminal, Chow Yin, was able to defeat their patrol ship, they will consider Sol a high threat. They will mobilize as quickly as they can, but they will also utilize the bulk of their armada. The Kulsat believe in overkill.”
Michael asked, “What if the Committee of Sentinels doesn’t approve of our plan? Also,” he added, “what if the governments of the Collection decide to forbid the action?”
With a reassuring smile, Ah Tabai replied, “The governments only have authority over their own systems. They can set policy for Sentinel protocol while in their systems, but the Galactic Law set by the Grace supersedes local governments. When we are in a neighboring jurisdiction, we must obey local laws. When we are in an unregulated region of space, such as the Centauri System, we need only to follow Galactic Law. I am confident, once the Committee learns of the return of the Grace—Alex—they will be enthusiastic. For the past millennium, we have strived for a way to eliminate the Kulsat menace.”
Their conversation was interrupted when Commander Analock opened a communication channel with them. Ah Tabai translated:
“On behalf of the Collection of Worlds, the Gliesan Parliament extends you, General Gates, official welcome to our system. During your stay, you will not undertake to acquire our Aether technology, and you will give your oath that you will uphold all Gliesan and Galactic Laws. As your system is not recognized as Emerged, you will be granted limited access to our station and restricted from venturing outside the station-star beacon corridor. As commander of your ship, you must accept responsibility for the actions of your crew and passengers while in our system. Do you agree to these terms?”
Nodding to Ah Tabai to translate, the general said, “I do so agree.”
∞
The Liberty wasn’t nearly as fast as the Fainne, and the trip to Skanse Aerie took almost three hours.
In the meantime, Justine spoke to Alex and Michael at length about everything she’d read on the Kulsat, their history, and their solar system.
By the time they reached the station, Ah Tabai informed them that he’d sent word to the Committee of Sentinels, and that they’d approved the plan. With one of the Grace on their side, everyone believed history had come to a turning point.
Though most systems in the Collection had numerous Kinemats, few of them chose to join the Sentinels. Many systems did not have any representative Sentinels; uncommonly, Gliese system had four. With their membership spread out among the twenty-thousand or so Emerged systems in the galaxy, it would take some time to get the message to everyone.
The plan was to have all the Sentinels converge in Gliese, where the Grace was, and then jump to Kulsat in small waves—the only way to get into an Emerged system guarded by Aetherbeings.
The attack would take place in twelve hours.
∞
On Aerie Station, Ambassador Yoatl was at the dock to greet the new arrivals from Sol System.
“Envoy Justine,” he said. “You should not have given me such a scare.” His words were tinged with remonstration, but he smiled through them. “I’m glad you are unharmed.”
General Gates said, “We have a number of prisoners on board. Is it possible that we can transfer custody of them to the station while we make repairs and prepare for the incursion to Kulsat?”
“Of course,” Yoatl said. “I will make arrangements. I’m sure you’ll find our holding facilities more than adequate.” He spoke into his collar communicator in a series of whistles and chirps. When he finished, he glanced at Justine. “Speaking of which, Red Spot has been asking after you. Once she learned that you were back in Gliese with one of the Grace, she requested a meeting with both of you.”
Justine nodded. “I was hoping to see her, anyway.” She turned to Alex. “Unless you need some rest, did you want to go now?”
“Absolutely.”
Michael said, “If it’s all the same, I was wondering if I could have some time with Ambassador Yoatl.” When Justine raised an eyebrow at him, he added, “Whether we’re successful in stopping the Kulsat or not, we will need to join the galactic community. I’m sure there will be a lot of protocols and procedures to becoming a member of the Collection of Worlds.”
“That is a fact,” Yoatl said. “It is a long, complicated process. There is much to learn.” He nodded approvingly at Michael. “I will bring you to the offices of the Gliesan Councilor. That will be the best place to start.”
“I know the way to the holding facility,” Justine said.
General Gates looked up as a tall, imposing Gliesan approached. Military men seemed to recognize other soldiers automatically, and the general saluted.
“I’m Commander Analock,” the Gliesan said, the translation coming out from his collar translator a fraction of a second later. “I am at your disposal, General.” The two officers headed off to organize repairs and the transfer of Chow Yin and the other prisoners.
Yoatl pointed to the opposite end of the docking bay, at an awaiting shuttle. “It will be quicker to fly to the Councilor’s offices from here. He has a private dock where we can land.”
“We’ll catch up soon,” Justine said to Michael and Yoatl, and motioning for Alex to follow, she led him out of the docking bay and to the holding area where Red Spot waited. All the while, she gave him a running commentary of the workings of the station.
∞
Though she’d described the Kulsat in detail to Alex, she sti
ll saw his look of amazement when Red Spot swam up to the computer console to greet them.
“Justine,” she said. “You are continuous.”
With a smile, Justine replied, “Yes, thank you. How are you?”
“I continue as well.” A moment later, she said, “The Gliesans informed us of the return of the Grace.” It was difficult to tell if Red Spot was looking at her or at Alex.
Justine gestured to her young friend. “This is Alex Manez. He is the first of the Solans to attempt the Rising, and he has become one of the Grace.”
Red Spot waved three of her tentacles in a rippling motion. “It is my honor to be in your presence, Your Grace.”
“Please, call me Alex.”
“It is not permitted to be so familiar, Your Grace.”
Justine caught Alex’s puzzled expression. She said to the Kulsat, “Now that the Grace have returned, we hope your Consortium will end their conflict with the rest of the galaxy. We have made plans to journey to your system and make your people aware of the Grace.”
“That will never happen,” Red Spot said, and Justine paled, not sure if there was trouble with the translation.
“What do you mean? You said they would surrender if we found the final component.”
Red Spot said, “No, Justine. I said the only way to stop them is to find the final component. The Risen will not surrender. It does not matter if the Grace has returned. We are all well-schooled in our history and our people’s enslavement by the Grace.”
“Enslavement?”
“How else could it be described? We had to obey the Grace, or they would take away our ability to travel beyond our solar system.”
“But,” Justine said slowly, “how, then, do we stop the Kulsat?”
“I will explain.” Red Spot typed on the console for a few more moments. “Until we attempt to receive the Gift, we Kulsat are slaves. To us, it will make little difference who are our masters; the Grace, or the Risen. The Risen, however, will never relinquish their status. They will die first. Finding the final component, and bringing about the return of the Grace is the only way to stop the Risen. Alex Manez must destroy all Kulsat Risen. Only then will the non-Risen once again swear fealty to the Grace, and begin to rebuild our society.”
The pallor that came over Alex’s face at the statement spoke volumes. Justine was aghast at the notion. It was tantamount to genocide. Even if he agreed to such a horrible undertaking, the obstacles just became insurmountable. Disabling hundreds or thousands of ships was one thing. Seeking out and killing hundreds of thousands—perhaps even millions—of Risen was an impossible task. Discounting the moral implications of such an action, doing so would take a lifetime.
“No,” Alex said. “I won’t do it. There has to be another way.”
“Over the past millennium, the Risen have become completely consumed by their power. They will never stop.”
Alex turned to Justine. His face reddened with rage and horror. “We need to stop the invasion. Even if I were insane enough to go through with this, there’s no way I can do it by myself. Maybe if there were hundreds of us with the power of the Grace—” He shook his head. “No, it’s unthinkable. If I had the knowledge to convert someone to the Grace, I wouldn’t if I knew they were going to do this.”
Taking a deep breath, Justine nodded. “Neither would I. It’s monstrous.”
While the two were talking, Red Spot continued typing. Her words came out. “There is only one way to stop the Kulsat without destroying the Risen. It is an enormous risk to us, but it is possible.”
Both Alex and Justine said, “How?” at the same time.
“I will only tell you once we are in Kulsat System.” When neither of the humans responded immediately, she typed again. “You must return me and my comrades to our home. This is not negotiable.”
“Red Spot,” Justine said, her mind racing to figure out if the Kulsat had planned this from the beginning, or whether she was playing them now, “how can we know if you are … practicing deception?”
“I will not betray my world,” Red Spot said through the translator. “Neither will I betray the Grace, nor the galaxy. The only way to stop the threat of the Risen is to save Kulsat from them. Only the Grace can achieve this. For the sake of the trillions of my people who are at the mercy of the few million Risen, you must help us.”
“Save Kulsat?” Justine asked. “How?”
“I will only give my knowledge to the Grace, and only once we are in Kulsat System.”
Red Spot typed again. “Your Grace, will you save us?”
45
Skanse Aerie :
Gliese System :
“There’s no way,” General Gates said when Alex and Justine approached him and explained what Red Spot had told them.
The two found the general in the Gliesan councilor’s suite. Michael and Yoatl were also there.
The general’s face grew a deep shade of crimson as he spoke. “Not only are we already so far beyond my mandate that I’m probably going to be court-martialed when we get back home—if I’m lucky—but even if I had any inclination to follow through on this mission now—which would be sure sign I’ve had some kind of psychotic breakdown—I can’t imagine the Council of Sentinels would go on what’s tantamount to a suicide mission.” He took a deep breath when he finished his rant, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two.
“It’s not a suicide mission,” Justine said, but her next words were cut off when the general raised a forestalling hand.
“First you tell me that, no matter what we do, the Kulsat won’t surrender. Then you say there is some kind of secret method to stop the Kulsat—by saving them!” He shook his head in disbelief. “But the only one who knows how is one of the Kulsat prisoners, who won’t tell us how unless we bring her with us.” Giving Justine an exasperated look, he asked, “And you don’t find anything suspicious about that?”
After the general gave Councilor Ijallanna a pleading look, the tall Gliesan ruffled his dark-gray neck feathers and said, “Officially, our government has no say in whether you undertake this action—Sentinel business is not in our purview. However, if the Sentinels are on board with this, I’m certain I can convince our security council to hand custody of our Kulsat guests to you, General Gates. After all, we have taken precautions against giving them access to any vital information on our system.”
At the general’s incredulous look, the councilor said, “Perhaps we should invite the Sentinels into this discussion.” He strode to his computer console and spoke a few commands into it.
Within moments, the monitor flared to life. Ah Tabai stood in the frame, with Aliah, Naila, and Fairamai in the background.
“Councilor Ijallanna,” Ah Tabai said. “I was just about to let you and the others know. Word has come back from the Sentinel Council. Every available Sentinel will be ready to go to Kulsat System within six hours.”
“There seems to be a significant hitch in the plan, Sentinel Ah Tabai. I will let the Grace explain.”
Alex took a step closer to the monitor and said, “We have information that the incursion may not convince the Kulsat Risen to surrender. Red Spot indicates that they are so power-mad, they will most likely fight to the death. There’s an alternative, but we don’t have all the facts. Instead of an offensive, we require the Sentinels to provide a distraction. We need to bait all Risen in the galaxy to return to Kulsat, at which point Red Spot will reveal how to stop them permanently. She won’t tell us how until we are in the system, however.”
Ah Tabai frowned. “Do you believe she’s telling the truth?”
Alex, shooting a quick look at Justine, who nodded, said, “It might be our only option.”
Taking a moment to confer with the three other Sentinels, Ah Tabai returned to the screen. “We’ll need to get confirmation from the Council, but we all follow the law of the Grace. I see no reason not to follow you, Your Grace.”
The general let out a deep sigh. Justine and Alex lo
oked at him.
He gave a terse shake of his head. “I must be as crazy as the rest of you.” Addressing the Councilor, he asked, “Is there any way your people can assist us in building a grapple to secure the Kulsat’s shuttle to our ship?”
∞
Five hours later, Alex stood on the bridge of the Liberty, along with the general and his staff as they went through a final systems check. They, and the twenty-thousand sentinel ships, were in formation around the Gliesan star beacon.
Red Spot and the ninety other Kulsat were already aboard their shuttle, which was firmly secured to the Liberty with an electromagnetic grapple. A direct communications line was set up between the shuttle and Alex’s station on the bridge. When he’d reminded Red Spot about a quantum pilot’s limitation of how many beings they could quantize, the Kulsat leader had assured Alex that they were all more than willing to take that chance.
While Michael stayed on Aerie Skanse—he did not have any practical experience either as a Kinemat or as a pilot—Justine had insisted on doing her part.
“I’ve been training for this all my life,” she’d said. “I’ve studied the Sentinel ships. I can fly one. You need every able body.” When the general and the Council of Sentinels approved her participation, Justine hadn’t been able to hide the elation from her face. Alex knew, from previous conversations, she’d never believed she would ever pilot a spacecraft again, and—he kept the dark thought to himself—this might be the last time she ever did.
Though they’d gone over the plan several times, the general reiterated it for both Alex’s and Red Spot’s benefit. “We’ll go through the star beacon into Kulsat space last. Once we arrive, we won’t directly engage the Kulsat. We’ll get out of the thick of the battle, and hang back until we’re certain the bulk of the Kulsat Risen ships have returned to the system.
“Alex, you will nullify the quantum drive of any enemy ship that comes close to us, and we’ll retreat out of their line of fire. Once the bulk of the Kulsat armada is in the system, and Red Spot lets you know whatever it is you’re supposed to do to save the Kulsat, you do it. Then we’ll get the hell out of there.” He shook his head in bewilderment as if he couldn’t believe he was going along with the plan.
Worlds Away (The Interstellar Age Book 3) Page 32
