Missa laughed a sinister and evil laugh until George brought out the needle. She then returned to her normal scowl and stared straight ahead. The diluted compound was injected and we again waited for it to take effect.
I paced back and forth, occasionally stopping to look out a window at the planet below. The normal barren rocky browns had turned to massive rain storms giving the atmosphere a gray billowy complexion. I was told the storms would begin to dissipate once we stopped the de-orbiting of space ice. According to Frig our attempt to terraform Jarhead was moving along on schedule.
An hour after the shot had been administered Missa was still awake and scowling. At two hours it was the same. By the six hour mark she was fast asleep. Several hours later the drug began to wear off and she came to. She was groggy, but she was in no mood to talk.
George had left the room to attend to other business. When he returned he offered his opinion. “Well, she survived. I think we better give at least 24 hours before attempting this with a higher dose. I can continue to do this in her cell each day until we reach the required amount. As you said, there is no big rush on this and she is our only contact. If at any point during the process she doesn’t look good I can extend the time between trials.”
I again stood at my window, looking down at the gray, cloud covered planet below. “Take her away, but the instant you think she is ready to talk have someone come and get me. The anticipation is going to be driving me nuts. I’m already nuts enough as it is!”
George smiled. “You are a good nuts Don. Just look around. Completely sane men would never attempt to build something such as this!”
Missa was taken back to her holding cell and George left the room to attend to his other duties. It took five days to bring her to the dosage level that made her talk. When I got the word I rushed to the cell to listen to the Colonel’s best interrogator do his work.
The interrogator spoke, “Your name is Missa, is that correct?”
Missa replied, “Yes.”
The interrogator continued. “What can you tell us about your world, Torrus?”
Missa opened up and began to answer every question that was asked. Torrus was a world of deep green forests and clear blue waters with majestic white buildings that rose as spires up to the heavens. It was a world beyond wealth and power. Its empire was made up of over 200 worlds that all paid a heavy tax to the empire.
The Milgari were the military force for the Torrians. Their species had been enslaved in the early years of the empire by the use of a drug administered at birth. It gave them an undying loyalty to the Torrians and a rage, which was unstoppable, against all other races. Only a few hundred Torrians were ever off the home world of Torrus at any time, tasked with overseeing the delivery of taxes, advising the Milgari military or for diplomatic relations with other empires.
Of the off world Torrians there were only a few dozen that were military advisers to the Milgari campaigns. Humans had been a particular irritant as the Torrians desperately wanted the technology behind the gravity drive that allowed their repeated escape. With the gravity drive technology the Torrians would be able to accelerate their goal of controlling the entire galaxy.
The 200 or so populated planets that they controlled made up only a small part of the arm of the spiral galaxy that we inhabited. This particular galaxy had four such arms with many worlds to be controlled and conquered. By the Torrian scientific estimates, out of the billions of stars in the galaxy, there were more than 300,000 populated worlds that were just waiting to be dominated.
Aside from the Humans they chased, the Torrians had many enemies. Their current empire-wide truces with the Mu Darker Expansion and the Nillian Conglomerate were tenuous at best. Constant border clashes kept their diplomats busy settling “minor” disputes with payments of one sort or another.
Out of the more than two million Torrians it was rare that more than five hundred were ever off planet at any given time. The life of a typical Torrian was one of leisure and luxury. When the Teldaki had been conquered, many had been enslaved and worked as servants on the world of Torrus, their own world having been overrun with their cities pillaged and burned. Those not taken into slavery for mining or as servants to the Torrians had been exterminated.
The Milgari were an early rival. Torrian spies infiltrated their birthing centers and small doses of the drug administered over a fifty year period, gave the Torrians complete control of the Milgari population. The Milgari were a docile species, they had no interest in expansion beyond their star system. That changed with the introduction of the Torrian drug. Since taking control, the Torrians were all too happy to let the Milgari do the dirty work of empire building while they sat back and collected the spoils.
When Missa revealed the drug information I immediately turned to George. “What are the chances that the drug used on the Milgari can be pulled from a blood sample and an antidote of sorts created? Think about it, the entire military wing of the empire that has chased us for a thousand years, suddenly no longer wants to fight. This could bring an end to the war, possibly without firing a single shot!”
George rolled his lips as he thought and then spoke. “That is certainly something that can be looked into. We’ll need several Milgari prisoners, but the Raiders should be able to provide that. This has been quite the eye opener as far as information goes. All this time it has been another species bent on Human destruction.”
We continued the questioning of the Torrian. I was sure more revelations were to come. The Mu Darker Expansion controlled 246 star systems with 119 populated planets. While their citizens were under dictatorial rule from the Mu Darkers, they enjoyed lives that were much closer to normal, unlike the slaves of the Torrians and Milgari.
The Mu Darkers had a fleet of largely autonomous fighting ships. Wave after wave would attack, controlled by an unseen master ship that guided the course of the battle. They were powerful, but they were only an even match for the Milgari hordes.
The Nillians controlled the largest known empire in the galaxy arm. They were industrial capitalists and boasted a free conglomerate of 387 planets. Once a planet became a member of the conglomerate they received all the trade and defense benefits that its members enjoyed, but they could never leave; once a member, always a member.
The Torrians were a tall slender race with an alabaster skin and small beady eyes. Their long face and narrow, turned down mouth gave them the appearance of a snooty old woman. Missa, although previously silent, continued to spill her guts.
The Milgari were indeed organized as warlords over each sector that was taken under their control. A milder dose of the drug since birth had given them the wit and ability to make decisions on their own. Those decisions however, were always loyal to the Torrian cause.
I asked why the Torrian population was so small. Missa replied, “It has always been viewed as more for the rest of us. When the empire reached a hundred planets we were more than five billion strong, those in power did not see any reason to have that many bodies consuming the riches of the empire.”
“The great culling then took place. That was almost 400 of your years ago. At first it was a culling through attrition, but the most powerful families decided to accelerate the cull through the addition of a birth rite ritual. Families were only allowed one offspring. Soon after, that number dropped to zero and the population soon stabilized at its current level. Now, except for the royal families, births are dependent on a lottery system. The twelve royal families retain unlimited birthing rights.”
I asked what they were doing on the ship, away from their world. “Our mother controls 32 worlds, she has 16 daughters, we have all been given duty of one year away from the planet so that we would grow to appreciate its beauty and wealth. It is a practice that our family has undertaken with each new generation. It is frowned upon by many others in our ruling class, but our mother is a powerful woman. She is third in line to the throne.”
“I am Princess Missa Maliashe of t
he House of Maliashe. Our wealth in the empire is surpassed only by the Queen. Queen, Trilia, from the family Girge, rules the empire from its most powerful and beautiful city, Moffial. The palace is paved with Diamond floors and the walls are Thurrian Silver with inlaid streaks of Rubies and Emeralds.”
“I have been to the palace once when I was betrothed to the eleventh prince. I was only four at the time, but the beauty of the palace stayed with me. The Queen took a special interest in me as the eleventh prince was her favorite. When I return, I am destined for the palace and the prince, I am eager to rule over him as is the Torrian way.”
I asked Missa the location of Torrus; she shrugged and said she did not know. When they were taken from their world it was without knowledge of how to return. When their time in the outer worlds was over, someone would come for them. They were four months from that time and the planet they would be waiting on was Barithia.
I turned to George and the Colonel who had joined us. “Barithia is in the sector we were in. If we find it and have a ship in wait, we may be able to follow them back to Torrus. If we can find that planet we may be able to end this war with a single mass attack.”
I turned back to Missa and asked about the defenses around Torrus. “I am not privileged to the full extent of that information, but I can say that it is formidable. We have much wealth to protect on our planet and other empires that want it. The region around our planet has great ships, ships that are the size of your grid. They are heavily armed and their numbers are in the hundreds if not thousands.”
I asked where the Mu Darker Expansion and the Nillian Conglomerate were located. She stated that they were on the far side of the Torrian Empire, stretching out towards the end of the galaxy arm. I then asked why it was that the gravity drive of the Grid was so important to them.
“In the early days of the empire we were allied with the Nillians. When your Human ships arrived we moved together as a team to capture your ships. Your people fought a brave war, but they were losing. Two of your Grids were about to be overrun when they self-destructed. A third succumbed to battle with an internal explosion nearly ripping it in half. Your Grid and one other, fled at a speed we could not match.”
“The other ship was lost, but our scientists and engineers determined how to follow you. We have been following ever since. Our alliance with the Nillians fell apart when they claimed the remaining damaged station for their own. It had been moved to their territory as we attempted to pursue your Grid.”
I asked if the Nillians had the gravity drive. “The drive on the remains of the ship had been too badly damaged for them to unlock its secrets. But their treachery drove a wedge between our empires, a wedge which still exists today. One day the Nillians will pay for that treachery. When we obtain the gravity drive our ships will be unstoppable.”
I then turned the conversation back towards the royal families. The Colonel insisted that we continue with their military power and history. I overruled him.
Missa continued, “As I said, my mother Monta Maliashe, has eyes for the throne. Her every moment and every move are spent scheming and planning for the House of Maliashe to one day take rule. That day may be by my daughter or my granddaughter, but it will happen.”
“With my betrothal to the eleventh prince she placed me as third in line to assume power. The first and second princes, should they be deemed competent, will wed the new Queen and the first princess. The favorite son, my betrothed, the eleventh prince, may be moved up the line of succession, in this instance he has been. When I return and the ceremony is complete I will become the second princess. My daughters will be in line to be betrothed to the second prince of the then Queen.”
The Colonel was agitated with my line of questions, but I continued, “If we were to return you to your home planet, and if we were to assist you in becoming Queen, would you repay the favor and end the war on the Grid?”
She replied without hesitation, “No, the Torrians are beholden to no one. The galaxy is rightfully ours and we will not stop until its riches have been returned to Torrus. Alliances and friendships only lead to daggers in the back. Other species shall nevermore be our equal.”
The Colonel added a comment, “She might as well have put a gun to her head with that one. Once we have all the info from her we need she is no longer of any use. At that time I say we pop her and send the body back to her mother with a note.”
I looked at the Colonel in shock. He again spoke, “What? She killed Rauch and Harvey back there on the Helix. If you don’t have any interest in doing the deed I have about a thousand Marines that will step up. She doesn’t deserve to live after what she did.”
I felt bad for Missa as the Colonel was right. We were not in the business of taking prisoners and holding them. For a moment I thought of sending her to Admiral Zimmerman when we were done. While the day’s revelations were stunning, they did not clear the Admiral or his man Cortes from suspicion.
I then asked Missa about the Prassi and the new sector, who on or off the Torrian world was in charge there. “I have heard some of the Prassi campaign. They are a powerful species, but they will succumb to our forces as the resources we have at our disposal will lead to their eventual fall.”
“We call the sector Pollus. The campaign is governed by the second princess and her family, the Savens. The word before my departure was that the Savens have fallen out of favor with the Queen. There are only three sources of Tantric ore in the Torrian Empire. One was the Milgari home world, but that source has been long depleted. And it is at too great a distance to be transported.”
“A second source is small and will be mined out in the next fifty years. A great discovery was made in the Pollus sector. Our dwindling stockpiles were on the verge of being replenished with enough ore to last 500 years. But pirates have been an issue, with the ore stolen after it was mined. The Savens then made a deal with another species for ore and that shipment was stolen as well. That and the seeming inability of the Saven forces to kill off the Prassi have placed the second prince in jeopardy. Should he be ruled incompetent, I would benefit by becoming the first princess.”
I posed another question. “So, who is the first princess, of what family?”
Missa replied. “The first princess is of the House of Olivia. They are obsessed with gold. Their palace is like a golden flame inside where every floor, wall and ceiling is covered with gold. The reflecting lights give a feeling of a palace that glows, that transcends all other things in nature.”
“It is a family that has ruled Torrus many times. I have heard rumors that the first princess, Daliat, wishes to once again explore alliances with the Nillians. I know this rumor to be false as I have known Daliat since we were small children. She is more selfish than could be known, spiteful and evil in her ways. The other families fear the time when she will become Queen.”
I asked when that time would come, when the throne would be passed to the next in line. Missa replied, “Daliat will assume the throne two years after our return. During those years, she will be tested for her ability to lead, tests that she will be ready to pass.”
We continued to question Missa late into the night. By early morning the drug was wearing off and her answers were slow to come. She was given a sedative and placed on the bunk in her holding cell. The Colonel, George and I returned to our quarters for a rest. Missa would need at least a day off from the Dutellium before the interrogations could once again begin.
I was awakened in the middle of sleep by a loud knock on the door. “Sir, we thought you should know. The Torrian committed suicide.”
I sat up as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. “What? How?”
The voice at the door answered. “There was a chair in her cell Sir. She turned the chair over and rammed a leg into her eye Sir. She had been dead for an hour when we found her.”
I got dressed and met the Colonel at the holding cell. “Grange! That’s a shame. That girl was a gold mine. I wish we had stuck with questions about th
e Milgari. Where are their fleets, how many ships, you know, the usual stuff you like to know when you are fighting a war!”
The Colonel did not hold back about his displeasure with my line of questioning. We were indeed at war. But war can be fought on many fronts with many tactics. Sometimes a war can be won from activity behind the lines. There were 13 other House of Maliashe sisters out in the sector they called Pollus. We had four months to try to find one.
Chapter 18
After the suicide of Missa I ordered all Raiders to the Pollus sector to search for more Torrians. Two newly commissioned Raiders brought our numbers to six. The Colonel was given the orders he wanted, orders to search for more Tantric freighters. If he could knock out another shipment the Torrians would be in dire straits when it came to their ability to build warships. The Milgari would not be permitted to commit to battle if they were unable to replenish the supply of ships. The Milgari that piloted the ships were themselves expendable.
We placed the Swift in the hold of the Helix and I joined Jarrod Mashburn on the ride out to Pollus. Davis was on the Hunter ferrying the Hammer in its hold. The Swift and the Hammer would be used to extend our hunt for the Torrians while the remaining Defenders flew with the Colonel and his warships.
Jarrod had interest in the Torrian’s story. I relayed to him what I could. “So, all this time, the Milgari have been chasing us under orders? And it’s all about the gravity drive? Wow. I bet the politicos would have a field day with that one. I could see a big movement to try to trade the Grid of a planet of our own. Only problem is, the Torrians would not hold up their end of the bargain. We would be enslaved before we knew it.”
AMP Private War Page 19
