by G. E. Stills
****
Rho’naa rolled away from the man beside her and sighed. She turned on her side to face him and reached out with her hand to graze her fingers over his chest. These days she never thought of him as a Men-gar, a species she had grown up loathing. Instead he was the handsome man she had fallen deeply in love with. His eyes were closed and his breathing slowed. Just like her, their lovemaking had sated his physical needs. She smiled down at him while her eyes unfocused and her thoughts raced.
It was still hard for her to realize they had been here on Refuge-Sto’kan for over a year, and that their initial small team had grown to five-hundred. It was no longer practical for Stan and Madra to teleport resistant fighters to the various locations where they conducted raids. Instead, there were hideouts located over the planet and they used brief and coded transmissions to communicate. One of the new members devised a method of bouncing the signals off the relay towers from location to location until the original transmission source was untraceable. The soldiers drove in captured bug vehicles, hiked, or usually a combination of both, to the attack sites. Rho’naa grimaced. This practice, although necessary, had also increased their exposure and loss of lives. She pictured the stone markers here on Refuge that denoted each of the fallen. Most of the graves were empty, but thirty-eight markers were there just the same.
She still went on raids occasionally, to show the troops under her command she was willing to take the same risks as she asked them to take. Most of the time these days she spent with her team leaders planning raids and logistics. Keish’ar was her second in command and did much the same.
“We should probably dress and get back to camp,” she said.
Keish’ar groaned. “You’re probably right, but I do enjoy the time we spend here at our special place alone.”
“Me too.” She tucked up her knees preparing to stand.
“Sorry to bother you,” Tylee said as she stepped into the rocky alcove.
Rho’naa scrambled to cover herself until she realized who it was. Keish’ar pulled the blanket over himself.
No longer modest, Rho’naa dressed. Tylee did turn her back while Keish’ar did the same.
“So what’s up? We would have been back to camp in an hour.”
“I wouldn’t have come here, but the message I have is important. I just got a message from the airport. We’ve been contacted by the cruiser. They want to talk to the commander, which would be you, Rho’naa dear, ASAP.”
“How long ago?”
“I just found out about it thirty minutes ago.”
“We need to go to the airport right away,” Rho’naa said.
“I thought you might want to, that’s why I came out here.” A foggy portal formed behind Tylee and she held out her hands.
“Leave the blankets, Keish’ar,” Rho’naa said.
Tylee took their hands and led them into the portal. A moment later, they appeared in the airport control tower. Rho’naa quickly sat at the controls.
“R here standing by,” she said into the unit.
They waited two hours before the cruiser answered.
“C here, How are you receiving?”
“R reads you loud and clear.”
“Stand by for data burst transmission.”
“Standing by.”
The next signal received was a garbled burst that sounded like a series of high and low tones and lasted less than a minute.”
“Got it,” Drago said. “I will decode.”
“Thank you,” Rho’naa thought.
“R received message. Decoding now.”
“Standing by,” the Cruiser signal operator sent.
“Ready to hear the message?” Drago asked.
“Yes.”
“Rho’naa. There is a fleet of fifty ships stationed just outside this system. They are all equipped with shields to render null weapons ineffective. Once your go ahead signal is received they will attack in six hours. Once all enemy spacecraft have been neutralized, a shuttle will be sent to get you and your team. After you are safe, planet sterilization will commence.”
“Oh shit,” Rho’naa gasped aloud. And stabbed at the transmit button. “R speaking. Destroy birds guarding nest, but do not destroy nest. There are many non-bug hatchlings in nest. Understood?”
Tense minutes passed by before the answer came. “C calling, understood, Birds will be eliminated, but nest will be spared. Any small birds attempting to leave nest will be destroyed.”
“Then you have my go, R out,” Rho’naa said.
“C out.”
“What was that all about?” Keish’at asked.
“They planned to wipe all life from this planet. They didn’t know there are survivors other than the ones we rescued initially. We have a lot to do and not much time to do it in.”
“The bugs have eight ships orbiting Sto’kan. The battle in space alone will probably last for days,” Keish’ar said. “How many ships were our people able to bring? Ten, twelve?”
Rho’naa smiled at him. “You still have a lot to learn about human productivity when we focus it on a task. Fifty ships will be here in six hours.”
“Fifty!”
“We need to contact all our units, have them curtail operations and take shelter as far away from the cities as possible.”
“I thought you told them not to destroy the planet.”
“I did and they won’t, but if the bugs from down here shoot at them they will damn sure shoot back and I don’t want our people anywhere near when that happens.”
Communications burned through the air for the next few hours giving the warning. Rho’naa breathed in relief when all had finally been contacted. The teams located near La’new population concentrations moved away from them stealthy, but as quickly as possible.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Rho’naa stood at the head of a large group outside the cave headquarters. She gazed up into the sky, while occasionally consulting her watch. The sun sank below the horizon and daylight slowly gave way to dark. Sto’kan had no moon. Only stars lit up the night sky.
“I don’t know why we’re standing out here looking up at the night sky,” one of the Men-gar men complained. “The battle will take place out there in space and I doubt we’ll see anything.”
Although it was humorless, she smiled. “Just wait and watch.” She consulted her watch again.
There was no sound, but abruptly eight points of light formed in the night sky. Their brilliance caused the stars behind them to fade from sight. The brightness slowly faded until the stars were visible once more. “And that people, means the La’new ships orbiting Sto’kan are no longer a threat.”
Drago spoke to her mentally. “There is an Admiral Martinez on board battleship Dallas contacting us through computer link, Rho’naa.”
Rho’naa addressed the crowd. “Shows over. Go back to you normal duties.”
“Answer him, Drago.”
“Go ahead, admiral,” she thought.
“The La’new ships above Sto’kan have been destroyed. My fleet surrounds the planet. You need to inform us of the situation down there and we will take needed steps to rid Sto’kan of the invaders.”
“I have five-hundred troops in my command. They are divided into small units and scattered over the planet. I’m certain there are a few Men-gar hiding that we do not know about, but the balance of the surviving population is interred in a few holding camps.”
“The prisoners are Men-gar? And what about the La-New?”
“Yes, there are only a few of us humans down here. The La’new have a number of smaller units spread over the planet, but most, thanks to our raids, are consolidated into a few large command bases.”
“I see.” There was a lengthy pause before the next communication from him. “Rho’naa, the fleet I command is not prepared for a planetary i
nvasion. The Men-gar are our enemies too, I remind you. We came with the intention of sterilizing the entire planet.”
“The Men-gar, at least on this planet, are no longer enemies, they are allies. My second in command is Men-gar.”
“I understand. I need to establish that you are outside the chain of military command. You are a member of a special unit and answerable to only the ladies in charge. My fleet and myself will follow your orders.”
She felt her face sober at his thought. Although Kyra had told her, it wasn’t until now that the realization hit home. The authority to give an admiral orders and command an entire fleet was hard for her to grasp.
“So how may I, and my command, assist you?” he asked.
She thought quickly and prioritized. “Bugs, that is how we refer to the La’new, Bug aerial vehicles are our biggest threat down here.”
“You have no aerial capability?”
“None.”
“Then anything in the sky is bug?”
“Yes.”
“Then that will no longer be a threat. We have complete control up here and will keep watch. Anything that leaves the ground down there will be destroyed. With your permission I will dispatch a shuttle to pick you up. Any subordinates you wish to bring, up here will be welcome. We can do further planning in person.”
“That will be fine.” She gave him the coordinates for her location.
“Then we will continue our planning soon.”
The mental conversation ended. Rho’naa informed Keish’ar and several of her subordinate commanders they would be accompanying her. They gathered world maps and an hour later, a shuttle arrived.
Admiral Martinez met them in the landing bay of his flagship and escorted them to a large briefing room. As they passed, the ship personal gave the Men-gar representatives many hard stares.
Rho’naa spread the Sto’kan world map out on a large table. Markings on it designated all known large La’new bases and the internment camps where the Men-gar prisoners were held.
Admiral Martinez studied the map then addressed Rho’naa. “You are neither military nor civilian and therefore not in the chain-of-command, I have, however, been told by Commander Blaise you are in charge, so what I suggest we do is only that—a suggestion.”
“Go ahead, I value your expertise,” she said.
“I will send a request to Teelan for ground forces. The message will require three weeks to arrive. I’m certain they will act on the request right away and can begin the journey here in a few days. Nonetheless, it will take them at least a month to get here due to the distance so in my estimation we are faced with waiting nearly two months before ground forces are here to begin ground operations.”
Rho’naa sighed. “I conclude the same.”
“In the meantime,” the admiral continued. “I think I can assemble around a thousand men and women from my forces to supplement the one you have. Plus we control the air.”
“And that is a big plus,” Rho’naa said. “If we do not need to fear attack from the sky, we can handle ourselves in any battle against bug ground forces.”
Keish’ar cleared his throat. “I have a delicate question to ask you, Admiral.”
Martinez shifted his attention to the Men-gar. His body language fairly shouted he was not comfortable being in the company of a former hated enemy. “Go ahead.”
“Will your ground force be able to fight alongside our Men-gar forces?”
Admiral Martinez stroked his chin. “My people will follow orders, can you assure the same of yours?”
“I can. Any arguing or fighting with humans will be dealt with harshly.”
“I can promise the same.”
Rho’naa stepped between the two men to ease the escalating tension. “This is not going to be easy. Our peoples have grown up hating each other, but to my way of thinking, if they are fighting and dying beside each other against a common enemy they will quickly adapt to the new conditions. Human and Men-gar have been fighting side by side here on Sto’kan for over a year as proof.”
“I agree,” Keish’ar said.
“Which brings me to ask this, we are allies here, but what about when we encounter other Men-gar?” Admiral Martinez asked.
“Rho’naa and I have discussed this. Our species is governed by a ruling class. Many, most I would wager, of the people do not agree with their polices for dealing with other intelligent species.”
“You mean conquer and over time exterminate,” the Admiral said.
Keish’ar grimaced, but nodded his head.
Rho’naa watched the look of shock wash across the admiral’s face when she reached out and took Keish’ar’s hand. “Keish’ar and I have discussed this often over the past year. We have learned much about each other’s people. The common people have much more in common than they have different. We have a plan to propose. Keish’ar, will you tell him what we suggest?”
“You have the shield that neutralizes the null-weapon. Logic tells me that you have or have the ability to equip your human ships with the null-weapon itself.”
“Go on,” the Admiral said and Rho’naa watched his body relax some.
“My people have neither. You can approach each planet we control and without firing a single shot, render planet and all Men-gar ships there helpless.”
“And then what? We can’t remain there forever.”
“No you can’t, but here is where I or someone like me comes in. Through a broadcast that cannot be silenced, I can tell the entire population of the new situation and offer them to join us or be annihilated.”
“You or someone like you would stand by and watch us destroy an entire world of your people if they failed to agree?”
“Yes, not all the Men-gar on each planet will be receptive to this, but the vast majority will when they hear and see the indisputable evidence. I need to explain our social structure more in depth.” Keish’ar shifted uncomfortably. “For millions of years the ruling class of Men-gar has controlled the common class. They retain an elite guard that carries the power of life or death over everyone except the ruling class. The members of the guard have been mentally altered to insure absolute loyalty. No dissention is tolerated from the lower class, either by actions or words. Over the years, the few that have tried to resist were publically executed as an example to the masses. The guard and the ruling class on each planet we take control of will have to be neutralized.”
“By neutralized?” the admiral asked.
Keish’ar shrugged his shoulders. “They will mostly be of the ruling class and harbor no love among the masses. They will be dealt with.”
“Dealt with?” Admiral Martinez asked.
“I don’t think I need to elaborate.”
“You mean they will be killed.”
“No mercy will be given, it is our way,” Keish’ar said.
“You are talking about complete overthrow of the government on a planet by planet basis.”
“Yes I am. What I’m suggesting will not be easy or without bloodshed, but I believe it will be successful. Our people have no love for the government, the ruling class or their guard. They have controlled and directed our civilization for millions of years and crushed without mercy any who dared to resist. With the exception of a few core worlds, I believe all will join us.”
“This proposal of yours would need to be presented to Katrina or someone she designates. It is far too momentous a decision for me to make.”
“Understood.”
“And what about the La’new while we are doing this?”
“The human race must hold them in check or at least slow their spread while forming the Men-gar-human alliance. From what we have deciphered, the La’new are a relatively new spacefaring civilization, but they are spreading through the universe rapidly, like a plague.”
“Sort of like the locus
t plagues from our history only they don’t consume vegetation,” Rho’naa added.
The Admiral shifted his attention to her. “What you propose would place a huge task on the humans and their allies. Holding back the La’new on one front while helping to overthrow the Men-gar empire on another.”
Keish’ar squeezed her hand. “I don’t think we have any choice. I’m certain the Men-gar can’t stand-up to the La’new invasion. I don’t think the humans, even with their allies and huge industrial capabilities, can either. Together though, I think we have a chance. Each Men-gar planet that joins us will add all of their capabilities and their navies to our cause. If we do not unite, then I foresee ultimate extinction of both our species.”
The admiral’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you to be deciding the fate of your entire species, Keish’ar?”
“I am a native of Sto’kan, my mother was of the common class here.”
“And your father?” the admiral asked.
Keish’ar gazed at him for a moment then transferred his attention to her.
“I am the illegitimate son of one of the top men in the ruling class.”
Rho’naa’s mouth dropped open. This was something about him that he had never shared with her.
“I will send a message to Teelan, requesting ground forces and submit your proposal. In the meantime, let us concentrate our efforts toward taking back Sto’kan from the bugs.”
Admiral Martinez studied the map spread out on the table in front of them. “So the large red Xs denote the major La’new bases. The green circles indicate the compounds where the prisoners are being held?”
“Yes. The smaller Xs denote the smaller bug bases we know of.”
He looked up at her and Keish’ar. “I suggest for now that you curtail your attacks and instead use your people, and those I will provide, to gather more intel. I see that the prisoner compounds are located near the major bases. I need to know how near.”
“Okay.”
“I also need to know where the spaceports are located and the aerial commands. I think if we have better information we can destroy many of them from up here without risking any of our lives.”
