Resolute Victory (The War for Terra)

by James Prosser

  The big dreadnought flared as its own cannon tried to let loose an energy beam. The projectile and the plasma beam met. For a moment, Lee hoped the plasma would succeed. The thick red-orange beam instead fragmented into thousands of scarlet bolts of lightning. The kill object continued into the dreadnought, splitting the ship along the axis. The Ch’Tauk ship burst, releasing a massive energy wave across surrounding space. Victory bucked under the onslaught but continued along her course. Resolute held together, but slowed into the wave. Smaller fighters were swept away against their larger ships, and the larger ships staggered.

  Lee felt his knees go weak as the ship rocked under them. The energy wave caused local gravity to fluctuate for a moment. After a moment, the ship resumed normal up and down. It took a few seconds for Lee to realize the tilt to the deck had corrected itself after the energy wave. The display flickered back to the tactical display as the systems reset.

  “Get it back!” Lee shouted. “Let me see her.”

  The holographic projection flickered back over just as Alice’s ship disappeared behind the tilting destroyer. He lost sight of her and his knees buckled for real. The pain of his knees striking the deck was momentary, though, as the pain in his soul took hold. He relived the moment of Alice’s death again, losing sight of her as her ship tumbled away. He felt helpless; tears began to fall down his face. He had lost the game. Banu Rao had won and Lee wondered if he cared anymore. He refused to lose her again this way. He slammed his good hand against the deck and stood roaring at the screen. It took his mind almost five seconds to realize the lack of noises around him.

  Goldstein was staring at his panel as the lights faded away. Lee looked around him. There were no sounds from any of the consoles save for the ineffectual tapping of the operators. Farthing was trying to raise any kind of signal without success. Lee felt the absence of the humming power systems under his feet. He had lived on an artificial surface for so long that the lack of almost imperceptible vibrations under him felt unnatural. Gravity was still holding him down, and the oxygen scrubbers seemed to be clearing the air, but the ship was otherwise powerless.

  As the air began to clear, Lee became aware of a new presence on the bridge. Standing just above his command chair was an unusual figure. The creature was less than a meter tall and entirely white. It was dressed in a long white robe and its head was covered in translucent hairs that cascaded from its bulbous skull. The white-on-white eyes stared straight at Lee. It did not open its mouth, but Lee heard a voice in his head.

  “This war ends now.”

  29

  The War for Terra

  In times of great stress, men have claimed to see angels on the battlefield. In one instance, an entire battalion claimed to have been rescued when an agent of some unknown god swept down and disabled the artillery raining death upon them. As the war raged across the galaxy, strange visions appeared simultaneously to every creature engaged in dealing death to another. The image was small and pale but with unmistakable authority. It spoke in the minds of the warriors and said only one thing.

  “This war ends now.”

  On Earth, Henry Moore had rejoined his unit and was fleeing from an enemy barrage. Emma was carrying the body of a young woman who had lost a leg in a plasma burst. Both had known the moment they had seen the explosion above what it meant. They could not see the battle overhead, but they were determined to fight it to the death.

  The image of the creature stopped Henry cold. His rifle fell away as he recognized the alien from his time on Resolute. The power of the voice compelled him to stop. Silence fell over the darkened battlefield as the enemy forces abruptly stopped shooting. It was an eerie silence after the screams of battle, and Moore had no idea what it meant. He looked to Emma for comfort, and the woman stared back at the white alien before them. Neither spoke in the face of the unknown.

  Ronald Chang coughed through the smoke on the bridge of Baal. They had been on the brink of failure as their shields flickered out and the weapons system off-line when the cessation of energy and noise interrupted their death. Systems all over the carrier suddenly shut down as the little creature spoke in his head.

  “This war ends now.”

  The holographic display flickered back to life, showing ships in orbit over their planet. They were drifting across the screen in helpless silence. Ships that had been nearly ready to fall into the atmosphere were suspended in space. Debris bumped against the hull with no shields to protect it. Chang had no idea what to say, but he agreed with the voice. The war was over. He closed his eyes and said a prayer for his brother.

  Commodore Franklin Dalton slipped into his chair, startled at the apparition on his bridge. The noseless face of the creature looked placid in the midst of the former chaos of war. The clean white robe seemed incongruous floating over the bloody walkway above the pit. If the silence was indicative of something, it was the absence of an overwhelming sense of defeat and death. When the voice thundered in his head, he was almost relieved.

  “The war ends now.”

  The loss and pain he was feeling welled up in him and he gripped the armrests of his chair. Rage swept over him as he thought of Diana Bach and his father and all the others this war had taken from him. As quickly as it came, the rage bled away, leaving only regret and sadness. He stared at the little creature and wondered what it had all been for.

  It took Commodore Browning almost ten seconds to stop issuing orders and realize her display had vanished. She had requested the hemispherical display installed after hearing Chang’s plans for retaking Earth. In the absence of the hologram, Browning felt empty. She glanced around her bridge at the dedicated crew. They were all staring at a small white creature standing in the air just in front of her. For the briefest moment, she considered ordering it removed so she could continue the landing.

  “The war ends now.”

  There were no words that came to mind to respond to that. It wasn’t a request for a cessation but a statement of fact. Browning had spent her life in the Confederate Military Service before the fall of Earth. She had never been faced with a time when she couldn’t plan for a battle. Now she faced the end of not only battle, but her way of life. It frightened her. She was scared not because of the implied threat, but because she had no idea what to do after it was all over.

  Alfredo Ortiz looked out the small display window on the secondary command center at the planet below. He had not imagined he would ever see Earth again, not to mention his home in Costa Rica. When the bridge lights snapped off, he assumed they were dead. Godfrey Rowling had come to their rescue with an old-fashioned electric flashlight on the end of a key fob. The Ch’Tauk had been insane to get to him, but Rowling was a fierce fighter. They made their way to the kitchen and accessed the secondary controls. They had managed to get the asteroid defense laser firing just as the little white creature appeared. He remembered the first time he had seen the aliens on his flight deck. They seemed harmless then, but now more menacing.

  “The war ends now.”

  Memories of his wife and children came flooding back to him in the instant the voice rang clear. She had wanted him to live a long and happy life in their cabin in the mountains but he had dreamed of the stars. He had suppressed the memories for so long that as they were assaulting him he burst into hot tears. If the war was over, he would keep his promise and leave space forever. The only question was where to go after this.

  Alice Bennett was tumbling through space one minute and static the next. Her Eagle had stopped moving in an instant. Rather than be pressed through the console by the loss of acceleration, she felt calm and steady. She had assumed she would be dead after the suicidal run at the destroyer. Thoughts of Lee and the life she might have had led were gone as the warship seemed to move in for the kill. It had been regret that had caused her to bring the nose up. It had been hope for her and Lee which had steadied her hand. The enemy had taken so much from her and she wanted to take it back.

  “The war en
ds now.”

  The voice did not come from the cabin speakers. It was all around her in her head. Rage and fury swept over her. How dare these things tell her when it was over? Alice screamed in the cabin of the still fighter. She wanted her revenge on the Ch’Tauk and someone had taken it from her. Her fists slammed against the controls, cutting her skin and leaving bloody marks. After the pain began to dawn on her, she stopped, tears in her eyes. She needed to get back to Lee. He would hold her and tell her what they would do after this.

  A joyous sound arose in the forests of Karisia. Four-limbed amphibians raised their arms to the sky and sang. They knew already. They had been the caretakers of the Engineers for so long they could feel the energy of their actions before they were taken. The song had not been sung for ages, but now it seemed appropriate. The song had only a few words in their language, but they were the most beautiful in the Karisien language.

  “The war ends now.”

  The song echoed across the great swamplands of the planet, filling the trees with noise and joy. The song lasted for hours, long after the energy faded away. In the end, the Karisiens stopped the song and went about their lives. It was another day and another song to sing. For a few of the amphibians, the song had meaning. For most of the population, it was just another song and the start of the next one.

  On the floor of the Spring Palace, the Ch’Tauk once known as Ki’Bara pulled the knife from Ki’Bualan’s chest. The failure of the Ch’Tauk fleet to stop two human battleships was inexcusable. The man had clearly outlived his usefulness. The infant Emperor was mewling in his other arm as the Engineer appeared above the body. The palace’s lights had gone out just as the knife plunged into the Primero’s . The glowing image of the Engineer seemed angry as it looked directly into his eyes.

  “The war ends now.”

  The Consort wiped the bloody knife on his sash, leaving a green stain on the pristine cloth. The Engineers were revered in Ch’Tauk society for their contributions. They had created nearly every technological advancement in the Empire. The Consort, howling with incoherent rage.

  “You Can’t do this!” Ki’Bara screamed. “Your kind gave us everything. You can’t take it all back. I will not allow it! I am the Consort and you are just…”

  Ki’Bara looked to his hand to see the hammered metal weapon. Years of doubt about his own worth and lack of faith moved his arm as he hurled the knife at the creature. The shard swept through the image to clatter on the ground. Whatever it was, it had disabled all power systems for the palace from a remote location. The Consort vowed to hunt the little creature down and kill it. After that, he would wipe the human fleet from space.

  First Minister Banu Rao gripped the edge of the rail as Victory lurched to the side. The great M-Space engine pumped energy to the Hypervelocity Accelerator Cannon. Humming power relays crackled around him. After the bridge had taken a massive blow, Rao had escaped to the engine room to regain control. As he approached fire control, he noticed a foot protruding from the enclosed room. He looked into the room to see the body of Haley Lamont lying in a pool of blood. Crimson streaks were dribbling all around as the ship rocked from side to side. At the console to the left, a small, stocky figure was tapping controls. Rao could not believe what he saw. The figure turned and Rao was faced with a porcine alien in his ship.

  “They’ve stopped firing, Rao,” the man said, hands above his head. “I think it’s over.”

  “It’s over when I see Ch’Tauk bodies floating in space,” Rao replied, pulling a chemical pistol from his robe. “I don’t know when you boarded, but you are a traitor to the human race and I will execute you for your treachery.”

  Neither man could see a white alien. It did not appear to them. Victory continued on towards its target, leaving the other ships behind.

  30

  Battleship Resolute

  “The war end now.”

  Lee blinked uncomprehendingly at the small creature. In the three years since they had first encountered the alien species, he had believed them to be intelligent and telepathic, but not powerful like this. He held his arm tight as he rose and advanced on the creature. Its edges were indistinct and he realized he was seeing some kind of projection. It turned to face him directly.

  “Captain Pearce,” the voice said in his mind. “We have disabled the weapons we created. Your war with the Ch’Tauk is over.”

  “Disabled the weapons you created?” Lee asked. “How can you do this?”

  “We created the technology used in all Ch’Tauk vessels and we rebuilt most of yours,” the elf said. “What we built, we can control.”

  “I’m not sure I understand,” Lee replied. “Are you saying you stopped the war yourselves? I didn’t think there were that many of you left.”

  “There are fewer of us than once there were,” the creature said in a passive tone. “We are still legion amongst you. We are all one and one of us is enough to control the whole.”

  With this cryptic comment, the creature rose nearly a meter above the chair. He turned silently to survey the damaged bridge. Lee stepped closer to the creature. In the back of his mind, he wondered if the same creature appeared on other ships, disabling their systems, or if each ship had one that did the job.

  “Captain,” the elf said. “The answer to your question is both yes and no. We are all on each ship and, as one of you humans once said, we all look alike and so must be the same person.”

  Lee thought about the statement for a moment before realizing it didn’t matter. The creature had the power to stop plasma bolts as they traveled and burning ships from falling to the planet. It was only his trying to make sense of the sudden cessation of battle.

  “Why have you done this?” Lee asked the creature.

  “Long ago, we made a mistake. It is time to correct the damages caused by that mistake.”

  Images of a small, arboreal species with thick skin and an appetite for insects flashed across Lee’s mind. He saw the creatures as they evolved and crew plated skin. There was an error in the evolution, and the creatures became possessive of things. They were like children fighting over a playground toy. The engineers of the evolution tried to correct their change and direct the creatures to the stars. It only made the greed worse. Lee could see it all in his head. Somehow he knew everyone in the battle could see the images. Attempts to impose a religion to pacify the lust for empire failed and the two societies separated forever. He watched as the little creatures left their product behind, disappointed in the results.

  “This is your fault,” Lee said.” You created the Ch’Tauk.”

  “We came to your galaxy when life was new. We observed for centuries before realizing we needed more. We wanted to see what it would take.”

  “Take to what?” Lee asked, stepping closer. “What were you trying to achieve?”

  “Life,” the elf replied simply.

  “They were already alive,” Lee said. “You didn’t need to do anything.”

  “This is not our life, Captain Pearce,” the creature said. “It is a projection into your world that you can perceive. We were hoping to create a consciousness in your dimension which could equal ours.”

  “Why?” Pearce asked, realizing he was speaking to the creators of the Ch’Tauk.

  “We were…” The elf stuttered for a moment, searching for the words. “Lonely.”

  Lee was astounded. Billions had died on his world and across the galaxy so these creatures could have someone to talk to. It was outrageous to consider. He struggled with his anger, wanting to control it and remain rational, but was unable to suppress the rage he was feeling.

  “What gave you the right?” Lee questioned. “What made you think you could create the most warlike race in existence and then just walk away from them? Who the hell do you think you are?”

  The elf projection seemed to fade slightly under Lee’s anger. Placid eyes stared back at him in helpless resignation. For a moment, Lee felt pity for the little creature. The moment pa
ssed and the anger returned as Lee glanced at the situation board and saw the green dot representing Alice’s fighter.

  “Let us go,” Lee said through clenched teeth. “Let us finish this.”

  “You wish to cause more death?” the elf asked. “Perhaps we did not create the most warlike race after all.”

  Lee lunged across the room, arms outstretched to grasp the creature. His hands passed through the projection. Lee felt only a trickle of resistance as he missed the creature and tumbled over his own command chair. Goldstein had stood and now caught Lee as he slid across the chair. Both men staggered back against the control panel until the captain could right himself. He turned to see the creature staring once more at him.

  “Captain Pearce,” the elf began. “We have always found you to be reasonable. It is the reason we seek to use you to end this war.”

  Lee controlled his breathing before he opened his mouth. He wanted to curse the little being. He wanted to lash out and demand the creature return control of his ship to him. Instead, he calmed himself and stood straighter.

  “What can I do?” Lee asked, raising his hand and pointing at the screen. “I can’t move my ship. You have ended the war on your own. I cannot change time and space like you. I am helpless.”

  “No, Captain,” the elf replied. “You have a mind and a voice and compassion. That compassion is present in your enemy. Appeal to them and they will end this war.”