Star Kitten

by Purple Hazel

  This led to a long dull rumble of murmuring from the crowd, as tempers cooled and angry delegates from the Pumalar and Zorgolongian sections of the assembly hall began to settle down and take their seats. The Earth delegation though, was all ears and listening anxiously to every word the old Slart spoke. His calm soothing voice was deep and resonant, but the anxiety among the Earth men was growing. Just what was he implying by all this? Was he about to state a rationalizaton for just leaving the once-suspected pirate base unmolested? Was he proposing to just forgive the Star Pussy raid; and leave things well enough alone on Rijel 12? This might have been the righteous and logical path… in the long run… but there was no way it would settle well with all those angry Earth protesters outside. And they were all most assuredly listening in on the proceedings. The whole session of the Galactic Convention was being broadcast throughout the galaxy; and outside these nearly ten thousand protesters were riveted to the broadcast on giant video screens.

  Pharynx then turned toward the Earth delegation and spoke directly toward them. “Let us not add to our already shameful past, by invading this planet now and warring upon those whom we once discarded—those whom we sent there to die,” he said calmly but resolutely. This caused a stir among the Earth delegation who began bristling at the inference that indeed they should shoulder the blame for the travesty that had occurred with the creation of a prison for violent criminals; only to have it turn into a dumping ground for social malcontents from every planet in the galaxy. True, Earth may have exploited the opportunity to rid itself of political dissidents and undesirables… but every planet shared in this practice. Why should Earth solely bear this guilt?

  “Our esteemed colleagues from Earth, he continued, “…we all understand what they’re seeking. And they’re most likely correct in assuming that the source of all the black market supply is coming from there. But let us face some more facts and other calculable probabilities.” He then took in a deep breath of air to raise his voice loudly and confidently: “They want to attack Rijel 12 and recapture it for themselves; solving their own economic problems through military aggression. That is abundantly clear to us all.”

  Gasps could be heard from within the Earth delegation. Indignation began to rise from among the delegates in their section while Pumalars sat staring blankly at them and Zorgolongians hissed with delight at the revealing spotlight being cast upon their economic rival Earth. Porkonji and Schpleefti delegates grinned slyly as well. They knew it was now Earth’s turn to squirm under the microscope of hard brutal truth.

  “This is the wrong path for us,” Pharynx added. “It will lead to—it will bring even more shame and sorrow to all of us in the Interplanetary Authority. War is never the answer, as we’ve all learned so well over the centuries. We as a galaxy cannot support this type of aggression.”

  Earth delegates were outright furious at Pharynx’s words. They murmured and cat-called; screamed and shouted angrily. And of course they made sure whenever possible to be seen on camera doing so. But it galvanized them too, making them all even more resolute in their opinions. It was as if they all just made their decision that day. Abandon logic and morality for the time being, and act on behalf of their own planet’s interests regardless of the wise old Slart’s observations. The earth delegation suddenly came together all in one dramatic moment of irrational emotion and blind patriotism. Maybe… just maybe… secession was an option after all (someday perhaps). But most assuredly Earth knew it stood alone in its resoluteness to solve the whole galaxy’s “pirate problem”, even if that threat no longer seemed to exist. They were beyond being reasoned with.

  At that point, the Earth delegation didn’t even need to wait for the vote; and several delegates began urging one another to prepare to walk out on the proceedings if indeed the measure failed to pass. When Earth’s resolution for an “armed mission to Rijel 12 to investigate or confront unauthorized illegal or illicit business activities including operations of piracy, smuggling, or clandestine trade” was put for a vote, Earth delegation prepared itself to walk out of the meeting hall united in protest, arm-in-arm, chanting “RI-JEL TWELVE, RI-JEL TWELVE.” The tension in the assembly hall, as well as outside in that sea of protesters, was nearing its boiling point.

  The convention chairman, who was also a human from the India region of Earth, read off the votes with a sternness that clearly gave away his bias on the issue. “The votes have been cast for the resolution from Earth to send an armed mission to Rijel 12,” he began with a nervous and thick Hindi accent. “The resolution… has failed to pass… by a vote of five to one.” He then smacked his gavel down several times to finalize the matter; and braced himself for the reaction.

  Five to one. No one needed any more detail than that. Earth clearly stood alone on the matter. And Earth would clearly have to act alone, if there was to be any action taken. Many Earth delegates did indeed stand up to march out of the convention in protest, but the brave little convention chairman admonished them harshly to sit back down. “Sit down please gentlemen!” he bellowed repeatedly over the storm of griping from the angry Earth men and the jeering hisses coming from the delighted Zorgolongian delegates. He smacked his gavel sternly and powerfully to get their attention too. Surprised at his courage, most of the Earthmen did comply with the chairman without any more drama; however outside the convention, the news was not taken so peacefully.

  Riot police in full battle gear armed with EIC’s containing cartridges full of rubber bullets and cable of launching tear gas canisters up to 100 yards, moved in to quell the enraged crowd outside. The rioting that ensued after the vote was announced; was soon suppressed with only minimal violence in less than an hour. But it surely made for great network ratings for all the media outlets who enthusiastically filmed nearly every altercation between police and protesters. The whole galaxy was watching too. They saw it on the news back on Pumalar, Schpleefti, Slartigifij, Zorgolong, and Porkonji. They all saw it on IPN broadcasts out on remote colonies days later; and everyone on all these planets wondered; just what would happen next?

  But on Earth, the message from all this was abundantly clear. Once again, when faced with the need for strong bold action in regard to a universal threat, Interplanetary Authority proved, in the minds of most Earthers, its own ineptness. Earth now remained the sole planet with the “gumption” to take bold action. Patriotism soon reached its zenith; as the media fed the frenzy and many Earthers abandoned all common sense regarding the oft-forgotten harsh realities of making war on intelligent beings fully capable of defending themselves. Within a month, the Earth Planetary Assembly voted overwhelmingly to mobilize its own forces for a mission to Rijel 12.

  Now the die had been cast. Earth would have to invade Rijel 12 all by itself, independent of IPA support. Earth would succeed (or fail) on its own now, and from that day forward, Earth as a planet began preparing for war…on a planet far far away that few people knew very much about anymore.

  Chapter 24:

  Earth Invades!

  The attack on "Rijel 12" (as Earthers still called it) was planned for a full year out. There was lots to do to prepare for it. Supplies and equipment were one issue. And battle tactics as well as adaptive gear for the troops had to be devised….

  First off, Earth's military forces were terribly unprepared for such a campaign. To defeat and conquer an enemy hidden below ground inside caves? No, the military ground troops from Earth were trained at nothing more than surface battle tactics—mainly city fighting and crowd control. What's more there really had been no armed conflict on Earth in hundreds of years. Never anything more than minor flair ups of violence in third world countries (one rebel faction fighting another; or rebels fighting a third world government… things like that).

  That said, there were certainly "airmobile infantry" (probably the most technologically advanced in the galaxy) but airmobile really knew only one thing really well and that was securing facilities on a planet surface; or boarding an enemy craft
to engage and eliminate its crew. They were elite, no doubt. They could fight at night, using infrared guidance systems. Their helmets had a lensed visor which provided infrared illumination in pitch black darkness, and also digital data readouts of information a soldier might need in combat. Inside his or her helmet; an airmobile infantry trooper could receive information about compass direction, and even messages from headquarters. Infrared heat detectors could warn the soldier of enemy presence inside a room or confined area as well. Short range radio communications could be transmitted into the soldier's helmet speakers; and the soldier could transmit to other soldiers in his unit via a microphone located on the side of his helmet which could be adjusted up or down to reach the soldier's mouth.

  The issue regarding fighting on Rijel 12 though, was getting enough breathable air to the soldier so that he could function in the harsh climate and thin air of Rijel 12. Therefore scientists on Earth devised a full faced helmet and body suit to keep that fresh oxygen trapped inside the trooper's one-piece battle suit. Sealed up completely, the suits kept the soldier cooled and hydrated with fresh air from a small oxygen tank built into their field pack. In this way troopers would be impervious to extreme temperatures for extended periods of time; barely even noticing radical climatic changes. Earth generals figured that if their soldiers could breathe and if their soldiers could see in the dark—if they could keep their bodies protected from extreme heat too—then they could likely find their way through the caverns and caves of Rijel 12 to hunt down the enemy.

  It seemed simple enough, anyway. They certainly had superior technology, after all.

  And so, the Earth military set itself to preparing for invasion; and the other planets simply backed away to let them have at it. "Rijel 12", after all, was an Earth problem to begin with. That's how other planets saw it. Earth originally set up the mining operation there; and Earth had overseen its conversion into a planetary prison. Earth came up with the idea to use prison labor too. Therefore Earth could... for all intents and purposes... do whatever they wished with it. So there was no potential for conflict between Earth and other rival planets also wanting a piece of the action. No, this was Earth's problem and no one on Zorgolong or Porkonji was going to intervene and go against Interplanetary Authority—which had overwhelmingly voted down the Earth resolution.

  After a year of preparation, the Earth mission to Rijel 12 was finally ready. A fleet that included ten advanced warships and troop transports containing around 10,000 mobile infantry sped across the galaxy. It departed Earth with great fanfare too! The press, of course, broadcast live updates constantly; and most everyone cheered them on—if they agreed with the war that is. Of course if they didn't agree well, no one was listening to those annoying pacifists anymore anyway.

  It didn't matter even if the liberals disagreed. Public support was largely behind the idea of conquering Rijel 12, even if reality was Earth was invading a world that likely was home to thousands of intelligent beings likely to defend themselves vigorously. No one really knew just how many there were either; and no one really knew what defenses they had (not yet anyway).

  Despite that, many expected little in the way of resistance even if the inhabitants could mount a decent defense. After all, they were only former prison convicts and barbaric Pirates right? How could they stand up to the most technologically advanced troops in the galaxy? Earth mobile infantry could and would—most likely—just mow them down. That's what the generals boasted and that's what most soldiers wanted to believe in the first place. Of course they wouldn't have been the first generals in history to publicly underestimate their enemy on purpose so that the troops would be brimming with confidence going into combat.

  On New Australia though, it had now been many years since the rebellion and several years since Felina and Solomon had married, adopted a child, and became essentially New Australia's first family. The planet surface now sported two giant domes; one old and weathered—the other brand new and gleaming in the Rijel sun. Each was nearly filled with ripening crops beneath the tinted glass panes of their roofs. Plus there was the enormous terminal garage where ships could park and get refurbished or be stored for major repairs. Everything was basically peaceful, and to any outside observer it could have—in fact it actually did—really look like any other nonmilitary settlement on some otherwise forbidding planet surface. However, now cruising toward them was a battle fleet that was bent on conquest. And not just an invader looking to capture and imprison them! No, this fleet of airmobile troops and warships was tasked with "complete eradication". And that order had come from the very top of Earth military command. Once Earth’s own Planetary Assembly delegated the task of commanding the fleet for the mission to Rijel 12; the generals who received these orders simply decided for themselves: They were going there to wipe out the planet; to cleanse the globe of all intelligent life and start anew.

  This was brutal, cold-hearted logic. Rijel 12, in the view of Earth's most conservative politicians and military leaders needed to be cleared and purged of all potential resistance. IPA would not support the mission—no, most certainly not—but that also meant the planetary alliance was willing to look the other way and let Earthmen resolve the matter themselves. What better opportunity could one ask for? Earth could once again colonize the planet and turn it into a mining mecca. The whole infrastructure was there already. Tunnels and shafts were all dug and the only thing needed would be labor. Well, Earth had plenty of that already. Tens of thousands of unemployed miners back on Earth were champing at the bit for a job! Earth merely needed to wipe out every living soul on Rijel 12 and pave the way for the creation of the galaxy's largest most incredible mining colony.

  Yes, they had sold a real bill of goods to the media and to the public about the threat posed by this isolated little planet far away across the galaxy; and now these evil cold-hearted leaders within Earth’s conservative intelligentsia and its military industrial complex were bent on committing yet another terribly immoral act. And it was all for economic reasons, mind you… no objectives for freeing an oppressed people or enabling a nation’s political independence. There was no higher ideal being espoused here; of making an entire world “safe for democracy” or anything noble like that. This was just an armed attack for the purpose of seizing an asset.

  And what about the Pumalars? Didn't they want a piece of the action? No, not in the least. Surprisingly these very warlike beings chose to just sit this one out. Not nearly as greedy as humans, they'd weighed the cost of a campaign versus the potential benefit of getting a share in the winnings. They could have, of course... Earth would have gladly given them a minor stake in the mine just for aiding in the campaign. But alas, the planet elders on Pumalar just chose to keep the troops at home.

  But why?!!! Pumalars?!!! The most warlike of all known beings? How could they sit at home and miss out on a chance for real battle and bloody combat? Could it have been because of the whipping they suffered on Star Pussy? Most of those Star Pussy Police units were made up of Pumalar military veterans, it was said. Many political talk show wags back on Earth would indeed argue this as the true reason for their passing up the chance to join the campaign. After all, by Pumalar standards, Star Pussy had been a well defended facility with seasoned experienced troops; and whoever was behind that pirate raid REALLY had their shit together. Those "pirates" really did a number on Star Pussy and the resulting defeat of its security forces at both the Pumalar and the Earth Environs, was a humiliation many in the Pumalar military simply could not fathom.

  One would think vengeance would appeal to them. One would think, that a chance to square that account would be in order. But no. The Pumalar Planetary Council chose to support the Galactic Convention delegation returning to Pumalar from Earth, and when military leaders "rattled their sabers" for a chance to join the mission to Rijel 12; Pumalar elders calmly waved them off. "Let the Earthmen handle their own problems," they admonished their generals. "Should they call upon us for assistance, we will
surely respond to their aid," they added, "but for now let us respect the decision of the Galactic Convention." That's all it took to quell the more passionate elite warrior class of generals and proud officers spoiling for a fight. No one ever questioned the ruling of the planet elders. Never. And with that, Pumalar bowed out of the conflict.

  Porkonji and Zorgolong did the same. Schpleefti as well. To all of them the Slartigifijian delegation chairman Pharynx was right all along. Earth had every "right" to deal with Rijel 12 as it wished, because the planet had once been an Earth colony. But what Earth was intending to do was yet another moral wrong that only compounded the mistakes all planets had made originally by sending their unwanted violent criminals—then political dissidents—then frankly any undesirable social malcontents—to New Australia Planetary Prison. And what had become the net result of combining brutal hardened criminals with disgraced intellectuals and educated political rebels? Well, as wise Pharynx had put it, "we have all reaped what we have sown."

  And that begged the question. Was Earth about to learn a very harsh lesson? Was Earth about to trample out an inferior foe? Or was Earth about to land on a DEATH TRAP... a quagmire from which the invaders could not possibly escape once fully engaged? As the Earth fleet approached New Australia, news reports seemed to follow their every move; announcing battle plans, strategies, tactics, and military objectives for the campaign even before the fleet left. And for weeks (the whole voyage would take a minimum of SIX WEEKS) the press reported on Earth's progress toward their goal. It made for great entertainment on the nightly news! The government's approval ratings soared. But... all this information was also broadcast throughout the galaxy. In other words everyone in the galaxy saw it; and New Australia knew all about what was coming their way a full month before their guests' arrival.