Nusyns sighs, then says, “Frenik’s command will be some time off then?”
Voknor points at Nusyns and says, “You know, you’re right.” Addressing the entire room, he asks, “What if we were to send a token force to the world where we built Tilpak’s vessel. Perhaps we could offer them some minor technology in exchange for resources. They seemed quite agreeable, and they did gain something in return.”
Lokarz excitedly adds, “They were delighted when we gave them specs on gravity plating. I suspect they were doubting we would.”
Malflik grins as he suggests, “What if we shared enhanced mining techniques upon our arrival?”
Voknor nods, “We could share sub-light technology as well, once the first replacement craft is built, then something else with each new vessel.”
“How many craft do you think we can build there?” Malflik asks, as it dawns on him that Voknor means to build more than one.
“Three!” Then we can focus on the cruisers, I mean, construction ships.” Voknor replies.
The room goes quiet as the Primes digest the monumental undertaking.
During the pause, Voknor warily suggests, “We could share thruster technology, and life support systems. That would give them something significant with each vessel, yet nothing that could be directly used against us.”
Roggard stands, and says, “The Emperor has specifically ordered that no clan, assist another race!”
Voknor grins widely, “Emperor Dosec did yes, however Emperor Yoolon has issued no such proclamation!”
“You dance on dangerous ground!” Roggard warns with a shake of his head, then sits down.
“I would have three vessels at that world, while the rest of our fleet engages the Atlans wherever we can!” Voknor counters, changing the subject back to the task force.
“What of the force at that planet?” Roggard asks.
Voknor paces back and forth, then states, “Regent Glarth, you would have full discretion at the construction site.”
Glarth tilts his head and asks, “So if they decide to play games…” He lets his voice trail off.
“Full discretion. Get those new ships built, and supply them with technology as they comply,” Voknor steps closer to Glarth as he adds, “and eliminate them if they don’t!”
“Primes Glarth, Nusyns, Gentak, and Lokarz. You shall go. The first craft shall be Lokarz’s, until we build the construction ships, the second, Frenik’s.”
“The third?” Glarth queries.
“We shall see if all three are built first.” Voknor replies.
Glarth stands, narrows his eyes, and states, “You dishonor me! By your order, three shall be built!”
“Then, Gentak shall be given the more prestigious vessel!” Voknor states, adding, “and we can nominate a candidate for his current craft.”
Gentak blinks in surprise, he thought he would be relegated to reclamation for his whole life. He regards his fellow Primes and realizes that he always felt inferior, due to his ship’s limited combat capabilities.
The nominations continue for some time, until all finally agree that Glarth’s nominee, Bralk, will take over the ship. Once again Skylow is overlooked, but Voknor is selfishly happy to be keeping his veteran officer.
Glarth beams proudly, and says, “Regent, you honor me again.”
“You honor the clan Glarth, as do all of you! Now let’s figure out how to never have this kind of disaster befall us again!”
The debate rages for a long time, until they finally come up with a series of changes to the way they contact, and interact, with other races.
The Primes depart, and then as the three vessels leave the fleet, Voknor sits in his chair and orders, “Resume normal duties!”
Prytec stands on the bridge and says, “I am not sure if I trust Glarth to return, he is still well liked by many Primes.”
Voknor sighs, then replies, “I have done this to allow for a bloodless coup. If Glarth wishes to leave the clan, to strike out on his own, we won’t be forced to fire upon each other.”
“So, you’re still not sure of his loyalty?” Prytec presses.
Voknor stands, then paces the bridge as he replies, “I have placed my trust in him, but, this way, we will know for sure.”
The main bulk of the clan travels back and forth across their region of space, with minor skirmishes ending with the Atlans hastily retreating. Though their shield enhancements help, their weapons are no match for the clan’s defenses.
Personal Matters
Lilpax closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and prepares herself. She has waited for this moment for a long time, and now that the opportunity is upon her, she is shaking nervously. The bridge is deserted, save for Voknor and herself, the others are enjoying a brief respite from their constant duties.
She steps away from her console, then slowly walks toward the command chair.
Regent Voknor suppresses a smile as he glances upward. The Den Mothers recently spoke to him about the protocols regarding younger females, especially those who are subordinates. It is obvious who they were referring to.
Lilpax glances around, then with her heart pounding heavily, says, “Regent, my life is yours. I would offer you my first egg, as well, if that would please you.”
Voknor stands, then clasps his hands to her shoulders as he replies, “I would be honored to receive any you offer.”
Blushing, she blurts out, “I would offer all!”
Voknor is surprised by her bluntness, and responds slowly, “That would only be permitted if you were my mate, and not one of many who offers eggs.”
Lilpax goes weak at the knees and cautiously asks, “Are you asking me to be your life mate?”
“With the approval of the Den Mothers, and at the appropriate time, yes.” Voknor replies softly, revealing a rarely seen side to any Gamin, especially the Primes and Regents of the Empire.
Lilpax’s voice fades as she responds, “That would please me greatly, my Regent!”
“We should confer with the Den Mothers, and gain their seal of approval.”
Her voice sounds distant in her own ears as she replies, “I hope they approve!”
Voknor suppresses a smile as he responds, “Oh I am sure they will.”
She is unsure what to do, and returns to her console where she resumes monitoring the ship’s systems. Her thoughts are so distracted, she barely notices anything before her. Fortunately, the fleet is traveling slowly toward their next planet, allowing the bulk of the fleet’s crews to rest.
As expected, the Den Mothers endorse the union, and as is their roll, offer advice to both parties. As a consequence, Lilpax moves to quarters next to Voknor’s; she is still feeling as though everything is surreal. It dawns on her as she looks at her mate, that if she were to ever be Prime, she would have to be on a different ship!
Lilpax continues to perform her duties, though the days seem a little less dull now. The fleet has few engagements with the Atlans, which is fortunate as they are at reduced strength. It would seem the Atlans are either preoccupied elsewhere, or are giving the entire region of space a wide berth.
Regents Hemlax and Jukalore report that they are experiencing few contacts as well, which causes all to wonder what the Atlans are up to.
Voknor’s engineers busy themselves with research enhancements, while at the same time, building and assembling many of the internal components that will be required on the larger construction vessels.
Chapter Ten – Reunited
Frazik hurriedly reads a message on his console then, with mounting excitement, turns and says, “Glarth reports that he is on the way, with three new vessels!”
“He did well, especially considering the loss of the construction ship!” Voknor replies as he reviews the Empiric calendar.
“That was faster than I thought possible!” Voknor exclaims, then mumbles quietly, “Glarth has exceeded my expectations.”
Lilpax gleefully announces, “We’re at twenty-five clanships now!
“Great progress,” Voknor agrees, then adds, “and we will expand all the more!”
Frazik presses, “Shall we move to intercept?”
Voknor nods, “Yes! Intercept.”
The two forces meet in open space, where Voknor orders a meeting of all Primes. The fleet is still three vessels down from when he hatched, and twelve less than when the clan launched during the exodus, but their numbers have increased under his leadership.
Glarth proudly strides into the meeting room, approaches Regent Voknor, and states, “Three vessels, as commissioned. In addition, I did not have cause to harm the local population! I also handed over basic plans for technologies, as we discussed.”
Voknor strides closer, places a hand on Glarth’s shoulder, and says, “You have honored this clan, and myself, beyond all measure.”
“Not true Regent!” He counters, “I am only Prime by the stay of your hand, and your wisdom.”
“Your actions prove my decision to be correct, but they prove your worth to the clan more than anything else, don’t forget that.” Voknor replies as he lowers his hand.
Glarth stares at Voknor for a moment, then bows respectfully, and sits down.
As the last of the Primes enters the room, Voknor speaks, “To our new Primes, I congratulate you on your postings. You can thank those around you for their endorsements!”
Frenik and Bralk stand, raise their fists in the air, and in unison shout, “My life is yours, Regent Voknor!”
Voknor grins, clearly they were instructed what to do, but none-the-less, the gesture is well received. He nods respectfully, then states, “I have one other matter to attend to, before we start our general business.”
The Primes glance back and forth as Voknor turns silent.
After he feels that they have waited long enough, Voknor makes his way to Glarth. He is perplexed, and stands.
The Regent holds his hand out, revealing a fist sized medallion, one that is exquisitely crafted, and states, “I award Prime Glarth the ‘Order of the Archon.’”
The room goes silent, that award has never been given out by any Regent, and was historically handed out by the Archons as a sign of great respect for deeds of excellence.
Voknor casts his gaze around the room and says, “I spoke with the Emperor, and informed him of our clan’s recovery since our disastrous attack on the Atlan Construction facilities. He personally endorsed my awarding this to you, Prime Glarth!”
Glarth stares at it, then says in disbelief, “You got the Emperor’s approval to award this to me?”
“Your loyalty is beyond reproach, and your actions honorable. Enjoy the moment Prime Glarth! You’re well deserving.” Voknor raises his hand and shouts, “For the clan!”
The other Primes join in, adding their voices, creating a huge ruckus which can be heard all the way to the bridge. Lilpax beams, she had known of her Regent’s plans for Glarth, and was the one who suggested contacting the Emperor for his authorization.
Voknor lets his Primes enjoy themselves, then once they begin to calm down, he brings their attention back to clan matters. They decide to continue manufacturing components for the two planned construction craft, and discuss ways of integrating a variety of planetary reclamation craft into the design. As for the actual construction, they are too few in number, and as it is, most craft are undermanned, thus they are forced to wait.
The design suggestions are forwarded to the engineers, who are excited about the concepts, and begin factoring these into the final design.
The clan is whole once more, and with the additional craft, have less to fear from the Atlans, who retreat more and more often when they encounter Voknor’s forces.
Intruders
Lilpax stares at the alarm on her console in disbelief, then gazes around at the bridge. No one else seems to have noticed anything wrong, yet. She checks the information once more, then says, “I am reading indications of a hull breach!” She frowns in confusion, then says, “Wait, it’s gone! I could have sworn there was a loss of pressure for a moment.” She sighs, then checks once more.
Skylow glances at her, then as he is about to dismiss her comments, considers that she does not usually make mistakes, nor report frivolously. He queries, “Lilpax, where did the pressure drop?”
She reviews a schematic of the ship, then states, “Past the hatchery. Ah, it’s the forward resource storage area!”
Regent Voknor observes with curiosity as Skylow adjusts the forward viewer, to focus on the hull section.
“What the hell!” Frazik exclaims loudly.”
Voknor stands, then shouts, “Intruders!”
Three small alien craft rest on the forward hull, and they are not paying a friendly visit. Gas vents briefly from a hole in the hull, before it is covered by what appears to be a passageway of sorts. They all stare in shock at another spacecraft which hovers over their hull, undetectable by their systems.
“Who are they?” Lilpax asks.
Skylow spits out in disdain, “Effen Raiders!”
Voknor has heard reports of these raiders, but this is his first encounter with them. He contacts Prytec, who listens to his instructions, then assembles his force. It takes quite a while to get to the forward section, and by the time they arrive, the intruders have long gone. Prytec stares at the empty storage area in dismay. They took everything! Four circular holes in the ceiling open up to space, beyond which the sparkling effect of the shields containing the atmosphere is visible. Three of these holes are small, not much larger than his arm span, but the fourth though, is big enough that a shuttle could fly through.
The bridge crew all saw the raider’s craft take off from the hull, then seemingly vanish, all before Prytec’s forces could get into position. Neither their sensors, or weapon systems had detected the alien craft.
Regent Voknor considers Prytec’s report as he paces the bridge, agitated. He stops, then demands, “We need a more effective way of moving around the ship!”
Skylow offers, “Some clans use personal shuttles, others, elevators or moving walkways, but Regent Xasturz wanted us to walk, and not be lazy.”
Voknor shakes his head and states, “Inefficient! Get the engineers working on an internal transit system, immediately!”
“Yes Regent,” Skylow responds, dejectedly.
Voknor considers the loss of the resources, then relaxes. His supply Officer, Sharz, has been distributing their supplies amongst all the ships, thus the losses, though significant, are but a small fraction of the fleet’s total.
Skylow considers the attack, then turns to Lilpax and compliments her, “Good job on noticing them in the first place!”
She lowers her head; she does not feel as though she did a good job.
Regent Voknor sits down in his command chair, and says, “We got lucky, they could have just as easily destroyed the hatchery!”
Skylow shares his thoughts, “Well, if it was resources they were after, they knew exactly where to hit us!”
Voknor replies, “I want to learn all there is about these Effen Raiders.”
“There is not much to know,” Skylow responds, “once in a while they sneak up, take resources, then leave. I have never heard of us ever destroying one of them.”
“They must have a home world?” Voknor contends, then quickly adds, “Well, we don’t, so, why must they?” He taps his chair’s armrests with his claws uneasily, then says, “Frazik, mark the star-map, and send a warning to nearby clans that Effen Raiders are in this area.”
“Yes Regent!” Frazik replies, before suggesting, “I have located a world around one hundred seventy light years away where we may be able to refill that storage area.”
“Let’s get out of here!” Voknor orders, dejectedly. He slams his fists onto his armrests as he snarls, “We will find these raiders, and when we do, they shall pay!”
Remnants
Skylow is alone on the bridge and stares in disbelief at the scene before him. What long range sensors show
ed as a viable planet, is a handful of massive chunks and swirling debris. Some unimaginable force has shattered the planet into three enormous portions. Its atmosphere and water have dissipated into space, while all plant and animal life appears to have been extinguished. Gravitational forces keep the shattered pieces close together, with the lesser pieces forming an orbiting ring.
Skylow taps his console and says, “Regent, you’d better come look at this!”
Voknor replies, “On my way!” He then informs the rest of the bridge crew to report to their stations.
Skylow immediately contacts the fleet, and says, “I am holding relative position, and scanning for hostile forces.”
The fleet’s Primes are used to Skylow’s style. He does not issue orders, as he is below their station, however, by informing them of his actions, they are obligated to remain with the flagship, and they do so.
Cushkull enters the bridge and stops when he notices the destruction. He gasps, “What happened?”
“I don’t know, but it’s recent!” Skylow replies.
“Atlans?” Cushkull queries.
“No, I don’t think so.” He replies hesitantly.
“Then who?”
Skylow turns and says, “I have found the source of the detonation!”
Regent Voknor strides onto the bridge as the main viewer zooms in on the edge of one of the massive chunks. He frowns when he sees a huge crater, in an area that would have been deep underground, from which enormous fracture lines radiate. He sits in the command chair, and waits for his crew to complete their analysis.
Lilpax steps onto the bridge, and stops, aghast at the sight. She mumbles quietly, “Unbelievable!”
Voknor leans forward and asks, “Assessment?”
Skylow shakes his head in disbelief as he reports, “It would appear that this civilization was either attempting to tap into an exotic form of thermal power, or they tested a powerful weapon. In either case, there was an underground explosion which shattered their planet’s mantle, exposing the core.”
Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles) Page 157
