Confrontation: Aliens and Humans. Allies and Enemies. (Space Fleet Sagas)

by Don Foxe

  They entered through blast doors in the side of a mountain, and received a military escort to an interior chamber. The six from the PT-109 joined Nathan Trent and Pam Patterson, already present. The half-dozen board members greeted them from seats behind a curved desk, on a raised platform.

  Amed Hosny acted as speaker for the Board. He sat center right, looking down onto the gallery and the eight petitioners.

  “The United Earth Council does not appreciate extortion. We are especially displeased with extortion from those we have tried to assist,” he said in English, with a distinct Egyptian accent.

  Tasha Korr stood to respond. “First, we are honored you have agreed to speak with us, my lords. Some of us are recent arrivals to your world. We may not fully understand your rules, and regulations regarding commerce and trade. I ask you allow us leeway. In no manner do we wish to appear impolite. We appreciate your treatment of us, and all of the displaced refugees you graciously accepted to your planet.”

  She presented a compact bow, according the assembled representatives of Earth their due status as leaders of their world.

  “We are here to discuss trade,” she said, a bit of steel added to her tone. “The galaxy is filled with worlds of assorted, and diverse histories. Over the centuries, to avoid conflict, improve communication, and co-exist, a system of barter and trade developed. No monetary unit is universal. What one society may hold dear, another may see as inconsequential. Nearly everyone has something of value to offer others. Trade, Governors, is the diplomatic glue of the galaxy.”

  She allowed her comments time to resonate before continuing. “It is not extortion by ASparquila, and AStermalanlan of Fell. They represent a planet with a storied history of using technology as their coin. What they create, is theirs to do with, as they see fit. As a galactic judge, and mediator, I can assure you, if the issue we now discuss was brought before me in dispute, I would look upon their ownership of the communications designs as undeniable.”

  “Even though they developed these designs on board an Earth ship, with assistance from humans, and our own artificial intelligence unit?” Hosny asked, then added before receiving an answer, “AStermalanlan is a contractor to Space Fleet. We have something on Earth we call intellectual property rights, Judge Korr. A contractor, while employed, cedes their ownership of intellectual designs to their employer.”

  “If declared in the contractor’s agreement,” Korr countered. She had been warned about intellectual property rights. “I have read everything signed by AStermalanlan, and there is nothing regarding intellectual concepts worked on during her personal time. ASparquila has no agreements with Earth, or Space Fleet. He was, in effect, on his way for an interview.”

  Tasha moved ahead quickly. “Even so, I would expect the Fellen to recognize their debt to Earth. They do so by offering the UEC first opportunity to own this original technology. Should you decide not to barter for their design, they can negotiate a percentage of the profits to be shared with Earth when the ability to communicate across extreme distances, and between folded and natural space is sold it to someone else.”

  “They cannot sell it from prison,” another governor interjected.

  “Nor can Earth take advantage of it, if they are in prison,” Tasha countered. “But threats do not result in solutions. This is an opportunity for Earth to join the alliance representing a major portion of the sentient beings within this galaxy. There are those who refuse to trade, or to deal with anyone. Now a group attempts to take our property, and our lives, with force. But the majority of civilized worlds accept barter as the way of assuring their societies continue to grow. It is our way of creating diplomatic ties. We create economic ties binding us more closely, and more honestly than any agreement based on faith alone. Trade, and respect for the contract insure peace through mutual prosperity.”

  “The Fellen request a lot in exchange,” Hosny said.

  “The Fellen ask that you liberate Fell,” Tasha Korr said. “If your world was under siege, your people under constant threat of death, and the opportunity to save them presented to you, would you not take the opportunity?”

  “Judge Korr, we have limited resources. If we dedicate those resources to attempt a forceful liberation of Fell, we leave our own solar system open to attack. Advanced technology is not valuable, if the cost risks the safety and security of our people. Advanced communications will not protect our people from missiles and lasers." Hosny sat back, having made his most important points. He continued, “We have already shown our willingness to open trade agreements with others in the galaxy. Prince Yauni sits with you. We provided Rys the means of protecting their world, and in return we received the crystals needed to advance our agenda for space travel. Have we not demonstrated Earth is ready to join the other worlds?”

  “Agreed, Representative Hosny. You make valid points. We cannot and do not argue with the facts. You must protect your system first. You have shown your willingness to bargain honestly with another world. I simply need you to understand not every world produces material items for trade. Rys has crystals, but they also have cutters who know how best to turn raw crystals into power sources. Fell has devices, but they are cheap when compared to their expertise in creating improvements, and inventing imaginative devices.”

  Korr pivoted from her presentation. “The Fellen would like to alter their offer to Earth,” Tasha said, and turned to Storm and Sparks.

  The two aliens, dressed in somber, conservative clothing, stood, and Storm addressed the board.

  “We understand you cannot promise to liberate Fell,” she said. “We will provide everything you need to build arrays to provide Earth the ability to communicate with ships, or ship to ship from anywhere within the galaxy, in real time. We can provide you the ability to communicate with ships traveling in space-fold . . . in real time. These advances in communications will place Earth decades ahead of most systems in the known galaxy. This technology will complete your ability to defend your solar system against any invaders.”

  “And in return?” Hosny asks.

  “We ask you allow Admiral Patterson and Captain Cooper to devise a plan to free Fell from the tyranny of the Mischene, and the horror of the Zenge, in a manner that will not place your own planet at jeopardy. We request, if their plan is acceptable and you agree Earth will remain secure during the implementation, that you fully support it.”

  Tasha interjected, “Human’s most wonderful assets are your innovative thinking, and adventurous nature. The Fellen will trade their innovations in communications for your innovations in war. For your intervention, in an attempt to free Fell, whether it is successful, or not, free Fellen will pledge to align with Earth against any who would attack your planet.”

  Prince Yauni stood to add, “Rys, has already signed trade and alliance pacts with Earth. We offer assistance in this endeavor. If Fell is freed, it sends a message to other worlds. The Zenge, and their masters, can be defeated. Such an action would demonstrate Earth represents the strongest force in the galaxy. Rys would take pride in standing with such a force for good.”

  “Dr. Trent, you are this planet’s foremost scientist,” Hosny said. “Are the communications advancements the Fellen offer worth the trade?”

  “Instant communications across trillions of miles of space, and the ability to communicate with ships in space-fold?” he asked, rhetorically. “That reality against the potential Admiral Patterson and Captain Cooper can devise a plan of action to save an entire planet, while not endangering Earth? I would take that trade one-hundred out of one-hundred times, Governor Hosny.”

  “Admiral Patterson, your thoughts please?” he asked of the uniformed woman, sitting attentive in the second row, beside her famous Captain.

  Patterson, not a tall woman, but when she rose, in full uniform, ribbons and decorations proclaiming her service to Can-Am, and the UEC, she commanded the room the way she would command the bridge of any ship in the fleet.

  “If Storm and Sparks o
ffered nothing to trade in return for our help freeing their planet, I would still petition this board, and the entire planet on their behalf,” she said. “I am career military. I have served my entire adult life. As such, I have also been a student of history. While Earth’s history is only a tiny sample of galactic history, our experiences, our evolution due to our history, bring us to this place in time. This is a time when Earth stands at the tipping point upon which history turns.”

  She stopped for a moment before quoting, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." She looked each board member in the eye, then said, “Edmund Burke spoke those words in the Eighteenth Century. His words proven true too many times in our short history. We cannot deny their truth in this case, at this time. If the UEC accepts the Fellen offer, Space Fleet will create a strategy to repel the invaders on Fell, but present nothing that would leave our solar system under-defended, and Earth vulnerable to attack.

  “Captain Cooper acted to protect the Star Gazer. The UEC rushed to the aid of Prince Yauni’s planet. Humanitarian acts in the best traditions of mankind. We are already at war. Sooner or later, we will be forced to advance the battle to the enemy, or the conflict will land on our doorstep.

  “Accept the trade. Let us take the fight to them, and let them know they have stepped into the lion’s den, and this lion bites.” Finished, she retook her seat.

  “Captain Cooper, your thoughts?” Hosny asked.

  Cooper stood, also in full uniform. He looked to the Board, and said, “What she said,” and sat down.

  “If you will excuse us, we need to discuss the proceedings in private,” Hosny told the attentive assembly.

  The eight petitioners exited the chamber. A UEC Army captain escorted them to the officers’ mess. Here they could have drinks, order something to eat if they liked, and await the decision of the Board.

  They congregated at an oversized table, each ordering a drink from an obviously star-struck waiter. Manny, who said nothing before the Board, looked at Coop, raised his glass, and toasted, “What she said!”

  The others took the cue to release the tension, and as one, toasted the Admiral with “What she said!”

  Patterson raised her own glass, and echoed, “What I said.”

  “Whatever the outcome,” Sparks said to the group, “I want to thank you. Storm has discovered incredible friends.”

  “What do you think they will decide?” Storm asked Coop.

  “Politics and politicians,” Coop said. “I have no clue how a politician comes to a decision. We sit, we wait, and we hope. Right now, that’s all we can do.”

  In this one case, the politicians reached the appropriate conclusion. The Board agreed to recommend to the UE Council to accept the offer. Everyone in-the-know, realized the Board of Governors represented the real power within the Council. A recommendation equalled an order. Following a short celebration, the Admiral and Cooper departed for Fleet headquarters in Toronto. Trent and Hernandez headed for research and development laboratories in Indiana. The UEC provided Yauni a shuttle to New Zealand, where he would prepare his people for their return to Rys.

  Sparks, Storm, and Tasha returned to the 109. Kennedy downloaded the research and data regarding the tachyon communications systems, and relayed it to Manny Hernandez.

  In an operations and tactical planning studio at Space Fleet’s Headquarters in Toronto, Patterson and Cooper began determining mission parameters.

  “You already had a plan,” Patterson said to Coop, “or you wouldn’t have gone through that whole tit for tat show with the Board of Governors. Now the performance is over, and your surrogates wowed the audience. What’s up your sleeve?”

  “Access to Kennedy or Roosevelt is out of the question,” Cooper said. “No way they allow those two ships out of the solar system while the Mischene and Zenge rampage through the galaxy. The completed battleships remain a year away. If you double up on shifts, perhaps eight months until completion, but the UEC will still refuse their use.”

  “We have Angel 7, Demon, and Demon 2,” Patterson said. “Three ships, and nine people are not going to liberate Fell.”

  “Angel 1 was a beautiful ship,” Coop said. “She hangs in a museum in Tampa, Florida. Numbers two and three were stripped down, and recycled. But four, five, and six sit in an underground hangar in Nevada. In less than a month we can retro-fit them with the latest tech, add a railgun, and a tachyon cannon. Then we possess four Angel-class fighters with space-fold capability, high-tech weapons and the ability to communicate while in space-fold, or across space instantly. With Demon 1 and 2, we can deploy a full fighter squadron.”

  “We now control six ships and eighteen crew members,” Patterson replied. “You have no hard intel on the number of ships or enemy troop strength currently on Fell. Based on your little excursion to Fell, when you were supposedly in the Quentle system, you estimated more than a half-million Zenge soldiers on the surface. Troops supported by motherships, mini-motherships, and Mischene battlecruisers surrounding the planet. Any number of shuttle ships, launches, low atmosphere fighters. A count of forty-eight Parrian cargo ships, some of which may or may not have refitted weapons. That was then. By the time we mount a counter-invasion, those numbers could change dramatically. We may outclass them, but numbers do not lie.”

  “We also use the Star Gazer, and our own Parrian cargo ship,” Cooper said. “We can take on the ships surrounding the planet. What we lack in numbers, we make up for in tech, speed, and experience. When we obtain air superiority, we then deploy a counter-incursion force on the surface. With the Star Gazer and the Parrian cargo hauler, we carry enough munitions, armaments, and supplies to turn the Fellen resistance into a billion soldiers.”

  “You would pit civilian Fellen against a trained Zenge army, led by capable Mischene officers?” Patterson asked.

  “I would. The Fellen are innate warriors. The rest of the galaxy does not try to cheat them because they kick ass. They do not represent an average civilian population. But we will not set a ship on the surface until, and unless we can take out the Mischene air support. When we do put boots on the ground, they will be Space Marines, UEC Rangers, Special Ops teams and the Space Rangers.”

  Coop added, “Rys will also provide ships and personnel, but we cannot expect approval to fit them with space-fold, or the tachyon-based communications tech. Without those improvements, coordination would prove tricky.”

  “The plan involves the UEC signing off on refitting retired test ships. Then finding people to crew them. People who can fly like crazy, and shoot worth a damn. We devise a mission plan where those six ships engage a full battle group of alien warships. If you survive that, a ginormous Osperantue cruise ship lands on the surface, filled with Earth’s best and brightest fighters. Besides directly confronting the Zenge forces, they will also contact, recruit, arm, train and lead a native population against a highly trained, highly motivated army of religious fanatics who would rather die than surrender.”

  After finishing her review, Patterson sat motionless, looking at Cooper.

  “That pretty much sums up the big picture,” Coop said. “We still need to work out the little details.”

  Patterson actually laughed out loud, tears running from her eyes. “Damn, Coop. I don’t know if the plan this plan is insane, you are crazy, or I’m just plain nuts for going along with it.”

  “Do we present it to the UEC?” Coop asked.

  “Sure, the broad strokes,” Patterson said. “We’ll have to make sure they realize only volunteers are asked to join the mission, otherwise they’ll nix it from the get go. If we can get them to let us start putting pieces together . . . “

  “It will take on a life of its own,” Cooper completed her thought.

  “These events normally do. Hell, every major battle ever won started out as a bad idea,” Patterson said. “Just don’t mention Hannibal, elephants, or mountains,” she warned him.

  “The Spanish Armada, the
Light Brigade, Or Custer,” Coop added.

  CHAPTER 39

  The UEC, with the Board of Governors’ consent, allowed the refitting of the older Angel space ships, while they reviewed the other aspects of the mission stratagem.

  Angels four, five, and six received modern versions of their sub-light engines. Their crystal-laser arrays improved, enabling an Angel-series ship to match the sub-light speeds of the newer Demon class star fighters.

  Demon and Demon 2 constituted the only fighters capable of launching torpedoes or mini-missiles. All six ships received an up-fit of the latest railgun design, including ceramic-Martian alloy composition. The updated railgun offered a smaller footprint, and would store concealed in the forward, lower section of the ship. When needed, it would deploy on a 360-degree swivel. The heat generated by the weapon dissipated by the cold air of space.

  Engineers redesigned a portion of the rear cargo bay, and segmented the storage area to accommodate a compact version of the tachyon cannon. Activated, the cannon would elevate and slide forward. The firing position placed it behind the cockpit canopy. A swivel provided the ability to target anything above the ship’s sight lines.

  The original Angel design did not include armament. Mission-specific improvements added four laser cannons, embedded in the flying wing design. Two forward facing, and two covering the rear.

  Underneath the ships, technicians attached a cylindrical tube, one-foot in diameter, and twenty-feet in length. Looking from beneath the airframe, it appeared made of wire-mesh. The tube represented the avant-garde Hernandez - ASparquila Tachyon Communications Housing (HATCH). The HATCH contained the communications transmitter, and data catch (receiver). The transmitter performed as a rifle, firing information on a tachyon particle stream. The transmitter aimed the tachyon ‘rifle,’ and fired a tachyon stream at any other address in the universe. A specific address assigned each HATCH catch allowed the system to receive audio, video, and digital media embedded within the tachyon particles.