by D. J. Holmes
“That was days ago,” Emilie countered, “it hasn’t said a word since.”
“Which means,” Alvarez pushed.
“Which means it has not thought it worthy to bring up again,” Emilie replied.
“Or…?”
“Or it has been unwilling to in front of their fellow Elders,” Emilie said as she saw where Alvarez was going. Turning her head slightly she stole a glance towards the alien Alvarez had nodded to. “How do you even know that is Ramaln, they all look alike?”
Alvarez smiled. “That they do. Call it a hunch, I’m not sure it is, but I think it may be. I’ve been watching them. For the last several days one has always seemed to fall to the back of the group. If it was a Human I’d say it is sulking, but with Folians, I don’t even know if that is possible.”
“Well… Maybe you should find out,” Emilie said, glancing behind her again. “If I go back there, Habalan will notice and join me. You on the other hand… Perhaps it’s time you started to put some of your spy skills to use.”
“Me?” Alvarez asked as his eyebrows rose. “I’m not a diplomat.”
“You think I am?” Emilie asked as she rolled her eyes. “All this is as new to me as you. Now go and be friendly Commander. Or do I have to make it an order?”
“All right, all right,” Alverez replied as he shook his head. “But, if this backfires, just remember you’re the one who sent me.”
“And you’re the one who came up with the idea,” Emilie countered. “We can both take the blame.” If this doesn’t work, it may get us into a little bit of hot water, she thought. But at this stage she was willing to take the risk. If this doesn’t work, we may have to try something the Folians might not like even more.
Alvarez took a deep breath and slowly allowed his pace to drop off. A couple of times he paused to smell a particular flower or feel one of its petals. After a handful of minutes, he slid alongside the alien he thought was Ramaln.
“Are the gardens not as much to your interest as the others, Elder?” he asked in a low voice he hoped none of the other Folians could overhear.
“Usually they are Commander Alvarez,” the Folian replied. “There are a number of species here that are important to my family. Given the threat my species currently faces, I fear I am not in the mood to appreciate them.”
Alvarez closed his eyes for a moment and passed on his thanks to the Kulreans for their ingenuity. Their translation software gave each alien a slightly different voice. To his ear, the clicks and clangs that came from each Folian sounded identical. Somehow, the translation software picked up enough of a difference. The voice speaking to him was that of Ramaln, at least, he was pretty sure it sounded the same “I understand your concern Elder, my species faces the very same threat. I hope that the offer of help that we bring will be received well by your Elders on your homeworld.”
When Ramaln didn’t immediately reply, Alvarez looked at the alien. It was staring at a small growth of multicolored plants. “The Karacknid missiles that struck my homeworld have caused an ecological disaster that will take generations to put right. I hope the same will not happen to any of your worlds,” Alverez prompted.
Ramaln stopped and swiftly turned to face Alvarez. The alien stared at him unblinkingly for several seconds. Then their eyes flicked forward to where Habalan was. Quickly it started moving again. “I fear that your offer may not be received by my Elders, nor the Conclave meeting on our homeworld.”
“You believe your people would rather be slaves than seek to fight for their freedom against such odds?”
“That is one thing I fear,” Ramaln confirmed. “I also fear that our leaders may not wish our people nor our neighbors to have an opportunity to consider your offer.”
“What do you mean?” Alvarez asked as his suspicions grew.
“Your Captain has been honest with us. You have not hidden the risks we face nor the failings in your own species. I believe we owe you the same in return. I do not know if Habalan has passed on to our Elders all of the offers your Captain has made. Nor do I know if those Elders will bring them before our people on our homeworld for them to consider. The Conclave has been called to decide whether or not to accept the Karacknid offer of vassalage. If it has already been decided we must accept, then the information you have brought would not be helpful.”
“What about your people, if your Elders would not accept our offer of assistance, what would they make of it? Or your neighbors, surely they have a right to know?” Alvarez pressed.
“My people? I do not know,” Ramaln answered. “At the moment, it does not seem like we have any option. The Karacknids are too powerful for us. I fear my species has already resigned itself to surrender. It is the only way we can see our species enduring. But you offer us something we have not had for months. Hope. I do not know how my people would respond to that.”
“And your neighbors?” Alvarez followed up.
“They are as different as we are to your species. Some already believe we should fight. Others are more cautious. I’m sure your offer of assistance would be warmly greeted by the former. Though the information you have regarding the Karacknids’ true strength could turn those who wish to fight away from such a course. We knew the Karacknids were strong, but they are more powerful than we imagined.”
“Is there a way to ensure that the information and promises we have brought are laid before the Conclave?” Alvarez asked. “Surely the fate of your species and your neighbors should not rest on Habalan’s decisions alone.”
“Habalan has put a censure on all information leaving Betasaad for our homeworld since your arrival. It does not wish news of your visit to our world to disturb the Conclave or cause panic,” Ramaln explained. “I have no way of countermanding their orders, it is the senior Elder.”
“Maybe you can’t, but we could,” Alvarez said as he stopped and turned to Ramaln. “We could take our ship to your homeworld. If we left now, could we make it to the Conclave in time? We could bring the information we have to share to your homeworld and your neighbors personally. They can hear first-hand the offer of help that we wish to make.”
“Habalan would not allow it,” Ramaln said as its antennae went rigid. “Many see you as threat as great as the Karacknids. They came with promises of peace and prosperity and then attacked the Nanee. Who is to say you are not the same? It could be dangerous for us to allow you to proceed into our territory.”
“You do not believe that,” Alvarez guessed. “You would not be talking to me if you did. And Habalan cannot stop us if we wish to go. We have analyzed your ships’ capabilities, if we want to leave, we can. But, we do not know where to go. We do not know where your homeworld is, or how to get there. If you could share that information with us, then we could bring our warnings to the conclave ourselves.”
“Commander Alvarez,” Habalan’s voice called out from further ahead. “Come up here and join us. There is a particular specimen I would like you to see.”
Alvarez held Ramaln’s gaze for a moment before turning. “Of course Elder, you have piqued my interest,” he called, keeping his irritation from his voice. As he looked towards Habalan, he thought he saw a strange twitch in the alien’s antennae, Habalan’s gaze was looking past him to Ramaln. Whatever the gesture meant, Alvarez didn’t know, but he doubted Habalan was happy.
“Well, how did it go?” Emilie whispered to him.
“I was right,” Alvarez replied. “But I don’t know if it will do us any good.” He gave Emilie a look that said they should discuss it later in private.
With a nod she showed she understood.
*
Intrepid, in orbit around Betasaad, 5th February 2482 AD (two days later).
“The time has come,” Emilie said as she clenched the hand that was resting on the briefing room table into a fist. “We have wasted too much time here. If the Folians won’t help us, then we need to press on. Perhaps we can discover one of their neighbors. Or maybe discover other new species. It see
ms the Karacknids have their eyes on this entire sector of space. There have to be allies out there we can find.”
“I don’t disagree,” Alvarez replied. “I just think we need more of a plan. The chances are very high that the other systems we know about that connect to Betasaad are also owned by the Folians. If we go charging off into the unknown we may cause more harm than good. We could end up getting stuck not knowing where to go. If we have to search out new shift passages it could take us months to explore them.”
“Then we head back the way we came,” Emilie countered. “We know of two systems that are in the direction of Karacknid space. The chances are at least one of them was owned by the Nanee. We can go there and make contact with them. I’m sure they would appreciate our offer of assistance. There may be some kind of resistance we could make contact with.”
“We could find ourselves surrounded by a Karacknid squadron. We’d have next to no chance of escaping and we would alert the Karacknids that Human warships can access this area of space,” Alvarez pointed out. “I’m not saying we should not consider the possibility, but it does have significant risks.”
“Greater risks than Earth facing another invasion fleet?” Emilie asked as her voice rose. Images of the scene she had witnessed with her uncle just hours after the nuclear missiles had detonated on Earth’s surface continued to haunt her dreams. She knew it was unfair to Alverez to use such an argument, but her patience was quickly running out. “Because you know that is what will happen if we fail here, don’t you? We have a chance to expand this war, to distract the Karacknids and draw away their strength. We have to take it.”
“I’m not denying any of that,” Alvarez said as he looked at Lieutenants Jones and Maguire, neither of them looked like they wanted to get involved in the argument. He didn’t blame them. “I’m just saying that we need to think carefully about how we make use of this opportunity. Habalan has appreciated our honesty to date. Perhaps we should share our frustrations with them. If we inform them that we intend to take our offers elsewhere, they may decide that their Elders need to hear what we have to say after all.”
“Or they will continue to string us along,” Emilie replied. “We are wasting precious time.”
“Ah… Captain,” Maguire said softly. “We may have another option.”
“What are you talking about?” Emilie asked in a harsher tone than she normally used.
“Hassan just sent me a data file. He noticed it in the latest supply manifests the Folians sent us to select supplies from. It was encrypted. That’s what caught his attention. He has just decrypted it,” Maguire answered, not meeting Emilie’s eyes.
Alvarez raised an eyebrow when she glanced at him. When she spoke her tone had returned to normal. “What was on the file?”
Instead of answering, Maguire reached forward and activated the briefing room’s holo projector. “This,” she said as she pointed. A star map had appeared, it contained more than sixty systems. “I believe this flashing dot is the Folian homeworld.”
“Ramaln?” Emilie asked as her frustration left her.
“Who else would it be?” Alvarez said as he jumped to his feet. He circled around the briefing room as he took in the star map. “Look, there’s not just the Folian’s territory on here. There are five other separate political markers. We have access to all of their neighbors. We could visit each of them if we wished.”
“But their leaders will all be at the Conclave on the Folian homeworld,” Emilie replied, she hadn’t taken her eyes from the flashing dot. “How far away is it from here?” she asked Maguire.
“It’s hard to say, we need to analyze this data more, but their homeworld is only three systems away. If the shift passages are short, it would not be far away at all,” the Second Lieutenant answered.
“Then there’s still time,” Emilie said as she joined Alvarez on her feet. “We can get there before they make their decision. “Come on,” she said as she moved out of the briefing room.
Alvarez shared a glance with Jones and Maguire, they knew where she was going, Intrepid’s bridge. Quickly following her, they found her already sitting in her command chair. “Bring us to battle stations, power up our reactors and engines,” she commanded. “Then open a COM channel with the planet.”
“Habalan is on the line Captain,” Intrepid’s COM officer reported less than a minute later.
“Elder, I wish to thank you for your hospitality. Your people have been most generous to us,” Emilie said when their face appeared in front of her.
“As I have said many times, you are most welcome Captain,” Habalan replied. The alien looked away for a couple of seconds before looking back. “My people tell me your ship is powering up its engines. Are you planning to depart? I thought we had a shipment of supplies scheduled to be brought to you later today.”
“Something has come up Elder, I’m afraid we must take our leave. I did not wish to do so without passing on my thanks one more time. I’m sure my people will send more missions to Betasaad to make contact with your people and speak with you. I will bring your greetings to my leaders.”
“I’m sorry to see you go Captain, perhaps you would like some of our ships to escort you back to the shift passage to your space? They could transfer what supplies you might need on your journey if you are in such haste,” Habalan suggested.
Emilie smiled, Habalan could be tricky when it wanted to be. “There is no need Elder, we are perfectly capable of looking after ourselves.”
“Then I will bid you farewell Captain, I hope we will have the pleasure of being in one another’s company again someday.”
“As do I Elder, it is my hope our two species can aid one another in the difficult days ahead,” Emilie replied. As she had come to expect, her covert reference to the Karacknids made Habalan’s antennae twitch.
“A friendship between our two species will benefit us both,” the Elder said in reply.
Emilie glanced at her COM officer to cut the COM channel. “Take us out of orbit,” she ordered. “Set course for the shift passage we took to enter the system for now.”
For ten minutes Emilie watched Betasaad recede on the holo-projector. A handful of Folian warships had powered up their reactors, but none had broken orbit. They are happy to see we are heading home, she suspected. That’s about to change. “Okay, change course, take us towards the shift passage to the Folian homeworld.”
Emilie smiled when she saw the Folians’ reaction. Ten warships broke orbit and put themselves on an intercept trajectory. Moments later her COM officer reported Habalan was demanding to speak with her. “Ignore them,” she said to her officer. “Take us to full speed,” she said to Intrepid’s navigation officer. In seconds, the Folian warships that had started to gain on Intrepid fell behind. Their propulsion technology was decades if not a century behind Intrepid’s. Technology we will be happy to share with you, Emilie thought to the warships’ Captains as she imagined their frustration. Hopefully, your Elders on your homeworld will be more open to our offers.
Chapter 18
Sadly Earth was not the only inhabited planet to suffer at the hands of the Karacknids’ willingness to use nuclear weapons on civilians. Any who stood up to them ran the risk of meeting the same fate.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
Damial, Folian home system, 18th February 2482 AD (thirteen days later).
“What is our plan now Captain?” Alvarez asked from his command chair. “It looks like we’ve made it in time for the Conclave.”
Emilie nodded. Intrepid was sitting on the extreme outer edge of the Damial system. Her passive sensors had been sifting through every piece of electromagnetic radiation that was coming from the inner system for the last twenty minutes. The Folians’ home system wasn’t nearly as impressive as Sol, but it was still a significantly built up system. So far at least two hundred warships had been identified and the planet Damial had an impressive amount of stations in orbit. Of most interest were the five other gro
ups of ships that were also in orbit. It was clear from their designs and emissions that they were not of Folian origin. “Take us in at one tenth maximum acceleration, we will remain in stealth,” Emilie said as she made a decision.
“They’re not going to take too kindly to us sneaking up on them,” Alvarez responded after Jones and Maguire carried out Emilie’s orders.
“No, I don’t expect they will,” Emilie replied as she turned to him. “But they’re just going to have to live with it. I’m done tiptoeing around them.”
Alvarez knew Emilie well enough to know the smoldering look in her eyes meant her decision wasn’t up for debate. Not for the first time, he wished he had acted upon his feelings for her. As daunting as she looked now, he couldn’t help but think she was cute. On board the Nanee freighter he had decided to open up to her. Yet with everything that had happened he had pushed such ideas to the back of his mind. Their feelings for one another, if Emilie thought as he did, were secondary to their mission. And you are afraid, he admitted to himself. It was one thing to resolve to do something, it was another thing entirely to carry it through. And now is not the time to second-guess yourself. They were sneaking into a possibly hostile system and he was thinking about his crush on Intrepid’s Captain! “When we do reveal ourselves then, may I suggest we try something other than our initial first contact message,” he suggested as he turned his mind to the matter at hand.
