by Aer-ki Jyr
You’re the one who insulted him.
Hard not to, he’s such a big target. What now?
We wait and see if the superior intelligence comes up with something. At the very least, he’s going to be hesitant to throw everything they’ve got at us. He’s going to be looking over his shoulder constantly now.
As we already are.
We had time. Now, if he leaks this, we won’t. We have so many weak spots the Dragons could hit. And I really don’t want to have to fight the Voku.
Neither do I, but we can’t warn Cal-com without the Zak’de’ron being informed. At least not until the V’kit’no’sat leak this out.
You assume they will?
50/50.
And what are we gaining from this?
Hopefully a frenemy, Davis said, watching Mak’to’ran pace. It’s a bad play, but the only one with the potential benefit of victory in the long run.
I still hate them.
And you should, unless they change…and I have a feeling that this one might.
Wanna put some credits on that?
Sure. If we die I don’t have to pay up.
Not that I can use credits for anything anyway. We’re both beyond rich, but the point holds. This is very risky.
I know, Morgan, I know. But if we wait this out it only gets worse in the long run. And the longer the V’kit’no’sat hold out, the more time we have to deal with all our threats.
Unless the Dragons come after us first.
If that happens, you get to become a dragonslayer.
I do like the title, but they’re likely to use their servants for most of the combat. And unless they develop drone technology, they’re not going to use their own ships for anything other than a beatdown. They don’t have the population to spare.
Unless they figure out a way to disrupt our comms.
Please don’t let that happen, Morgan pleaded.
It’s all physics. If they’ve found some corner of it we haven’t yet, there’s a threat. If they haven’t, we’re good. Care to place a wager on that?
You used to be a card shark, weren’t you? Morgan joked.
Yes, I was, Davis admitted, surprising her. But this isn’t a bluff. This is a laying out of our cards so he can see our hand. I’m trusting he’s smart enough to not do something stupid, and an escalated war would be incredibly stupid.
4
November 13, 4883
Jamtren System (Era’tran capitol)
Holloi
Hamob had been in Itaru when he’d received Mak’to’ran’s request for the elder Era’tran to return to Holloi so they could speak in person about the deal he’d made with Star Force concerning the Hadarak, but he knew there was more to it than that. No such talk was necessary, for the terms of the deal were straightforward, but it surprised Hamob when Mak’to’ran refused to meet him at his personal estate. Instead he insisted that Hamob come to a random location on the planet, far from any infrastructure and out in the Dennari Plains.
Mak’to’ran was waiting there when Hamob’s barge arrived and telepathically instructed the pilot to leave until called for. Hamob didn’t say anything, merely scanning the perimeter with his senses until the barge disappeared over the nearby ridgeline.
Why are we here? Hamob finally asked telepathically.
“You may speak freely. There is no one here but us. I have scanned the area thoroughly,” Mak’to’ran said, his voice sounding odd…with Hamob realizing that he was truly afraid of something.
“What is it?”
“We are in trouble, and I do not know what to do. I need your wisdom now more than ever.”
“This is not about the deal with Star Force?”
“The deal has been made, but it was merely a ploy for them to talk to me alone. They needed the cover, for the Urrtren is compromised. Everything transmitted on it unsecure.”
“Who has compromised it?”
Mak’to’ran could barely make eye contact with Hamob, and the elder knew something was seriously wrong.
“Who?” he repeated.
“According to the Humans, whom I do not doubt, we missed a single vessel in the purge. A vessel with one occupant and a cargo hold full of eggs put into stasis.”
Mak’to’ran didn’t say the name, rather looking at Hamob as the elder put the pieces together. Then his eyes went wide.
“The Zak’de’ron?”
“Yes. They are still alive and plotting to destroy us.”
Hamob didn’t seem too shocked, at least not as much as Mak’to’ran had been. “They were the ones who unlocked Terraxis?”
“Yes. Did you know?”
“I had my suspicions. I always felt our victory over them was…incomplete. Why have they not moved against us previously? How long were they in stasis?”
“The Humans stumbled onto their hidden ship two millennia ago, reviving the occupant without knowing what they were doing. Rather than kill them, the Zak’de’ron repaid their naivety by unlocking the planetary defense station and using it to get up to date with what had transpired during his slumber. I do not know if this is correct or subterfuge, for the Zak’de’ron may have lied to the Humans, but there was only one Zak’de’ron remaining. All others had previously been killed. We missed one ship, Hamob. One ship. Why were we so convinced we’d gotten them all?”
“I do not know, but my gut tells me we had intelligence of their positions. It would have to be something fiercely efficient, but if we got all their ships but one, then it proved extremely effective.”
“The vessel was not one of theirs,” Mak’to’ran continued. “They showed me what they look like. It is their technology, but the design has been changed. I did not recognize it at first. Could such a simple alteration fool our ancestors?”
“Unlikely, but there are a few remaining who could answer that question.”
“I am telling you this because I trust the fate of the V’kit’no’sat on your loyalty. If we know of the Zak’de’ron but they still think they are hidden, then it is a small advantage, and one I do not want to give away…”
“But you have no idea what to do to fight them?”
“Before we had them in the open. Now they are in shadow and will not reveal themselves until a time of their choosing…and they have the Uriti the Knights of Quenar stole from us. They attacked and stole it from them, unwittingly leaving a single survivor that reported back. They assume their theft has gone unnoticed.”
Hamob’s demeanor changed greatly. He might have subconsciously suspected there was a chance that the Zak’de’ron were still alive out there somewhere, even if just as an academic matter, but this completely floored him and Mak’to’ran finally saw the same fear in his eyes that was uncomfortably seething in him.
“It gets worse, my friend. The Chixzon are not destroyed either. The Humans would not be specific, for they fear us obtaining the ability to control the Hadarak, but the Chixzon are in some form of stasis and spread across the galaxy, waiting for some trigger to awaken them. I believe Star Force found one, and they admit they now have the full database of Chixzon knowledge, which is how they know of their plan. They are seeking out and destroying all they can find, but they claim they will never discover them all. And to make matters worse, the Zak’de’ron have mind raided an elite Human and stolen most of Star Force’s secrets, including the existence of the Chixzon. So they may very well have the ability to command the Uriti.”
Hamob was silent for a long moment, but the elder Era’tran quickly regained his composure and focused on the problem at hand. “Why did the Humans share this?”
“Because they recognize the threat to us both, and they value our mission against the Hadarak. I spoke with their leader, Director Davis, personally. The trailblazer Morgan-063 preferred to let us die and take their chances, but their leader did not. He does not know how to fight these two threats, but argued that a resumption of our war would be folly.”
“They want to ally with us against the Zak’de’ron and Chixzon?”
“They want the Rim and to leave us the Core. Then we fight separately without diminishing each other’s forces.”
“That is all they suggested? It is blunt pragmatism, but if they chose to betray the Zak’de’ron’s confidence I would have thought they would have a grander plan.”
“Perhaps they do. There was much about the Chixzon they were not sharing, but they offered their knowledge of the Zak’de’ron freely. They have met with them on a handful of occasions, and most recently they were granted a jumpline sensor that even we do not possess. In compensation for the mind raid. They wish to keep the Humans as their allies, but the Humans have seen through their ploy. They will only be treated well so long as they serve, and the Humans will not accept a master, so they know their own throats will be slit when it becomes advantageous for the Zak’de’ron to do so.”
“There is the wisdom I was expecting from them,” Hamob commented, pulsing outward with his Pefbar again, checking for security threats. They should have been having this conversation telepathically, for such things were virtually impossible to intercept unless the recorder was situated between the two Era’tran, but apparently Mak’to’ran didn’t wish to admit such inferiority. On Holloi, of all places, they should be safe. And if they couldn’t hold an open conversation in the wilderness on their most sacred world, then the Era’tran were already lost.
“I do not believe they could possibly be ready to strike after two millennia, but we have only their word that the ship that Star Force discovered was their sole survivor. They are out there, with sufficient strength to ambush and totally destroy the Knights of Quenar fleet that took the Uriti from us. That does not give me comfort that we have a great deal of time. How much of our infrastructure can we replace?”
“If you’re referring to the Era’tran, we’ve already quietly replaced 7%, but we don’t have equivalent systems designed yet for most of the rest, including the Urrtren.”
“We have to develop a secure line of communication. If they can monitor it, they can also shut it down on a whim.”
Hamob flinched, not having figured that out yet, but Mak’to’ran had had months to go over the possibilities.
“If they want to break us down before they attack, they can do it now,” he warned. “We have to established a secondary communications grid and guard it. Star Force said the Zak’de’ron have not been able to breach their systems remotely, and that they have not tried physical contact with their grid out of respect. Again, the Zak’de’ron could be lying, but even the mention that they would attempt to hack a grid using physical contact means anything we produce must be guarded or they will literally rebuild it in order to bypass our security, and their cloaking technology is superior to ours.”
“Did the Humans tell you that as well?” Hamob asked.
“They did. They cannot penetrate their stealth, even with the Neavi sensor technology that they stole from us.”
“How?” Hamob asked.
“From a wrecked scout ship. They have their own version, and it will not detect the Zak’de’ron ships. They claim a defense against it, but that defense also means the Zak’de’ron cannot use the sensor to track other ships.”
“Why have the Zak’de’ron confided so much information in Star Force? Why trust them at all?”
“I believe they are a useful tool against us…as well as a taunt. If we were able to conquer them and pull the information from their minds, it would be a way of letting us know the Zak’de’ron were still out there. If we didn’t conquer them, then they would know they found a trustworthy ally. They can monitor the Urrtren, so if they were ever found out they would know. That has not happened, and cannot happen now.”
“So they were testing the Humans, and pushed that test too far with the mind raid?”
“Yes, but something else happened that the Humans would not share. Something they say the Zak’de’ron are also unaware of. Something that has shown their true colors. Perhaps it has to do with the Chixzon knowledge. Maybe something they could understand about them that we cannot. I do not know, but they now hate the Zak’de’ron and know they are not in a position to fight them…but they are preparing for the Chixzon and have warned me that they might attempt a poison attack against us. One that the Kich’a’kat would not be able to heal.”
That also floored Hamob, and he was becoming all too familiar with the emotion he hadn’t experienced in over a million years.
“They will come at us sideways. That is what they said. They will not attack us strength against strength. They will use guile and intermediaries. Star Force fears such an attack and has been developing immunities for the biological weapons already created by the Chixzon, but they warn they could create new ones easily.”
“They did create the Hadarak,” Hamob agreed, which was a feat that V’kit’no’sat biology could not match.
“They also acknowledged that they could theoretically create new Uriti, but would not, for it would involve torture of a captured Hadarak. I do not think the Zak’de’ron would be so easily blunted.”
“Star Force can create new Uriti?” Hamob said, again floored.
“In theory, yes. The Chixzon knowledge did not give the method, but they have figured it out none the less.”
“If the Zak’de’ron also possess the knowledge of the Chixzon…then we are at risk of a biological attack from them as well.”
“They will show their face at some point. They will not be content to destroy us from the shadows. It will be different than the Chixzon.”
“You are right, I believe, but it does not mean they will not weaken us with it. I understand your panic now. Is there any other bad news you have for me?”
“The Zen’zat coding contains additional psionics that we are unaware of. The Humans did not fashion new ones. The Zak’de’ron put them in there for those who are worthy to discover. Apparently we have failed to measure up, yet Star Force has at least in one case for each. Then they share what they discover. There is a fourth tier and a linked set called Pa’no’semak that we never even suspected.”
Hamob lowered his head in shame. “We are truly the inferior, and if they have obtained Chixzon knowledge we are even more so.”
“What can we do, Hamob? I see no way to do more than delay our destruction, even if we abandoned the Hadarak front. And we definitely can’t fight the Zak’de’ron and the Hadarak at the same time.”
“Did the Humans have an estimated time for the Chixzon to return? They have been gone for millions of years, correct?”
“6 million since their defeat. They say it is growing close, but they do not know exactly. Perhaps another million years, if we are lucky.”
“And if we are not?”
“They could already be awakened now. Whatever mechanism used, it will not be the same for all across the galaxy.”
“Staggered release, in case one group fails to survive,” Hamob theorized. “It seems we were not the only ones who mistakenly believed we wiped out our foe, but six million years of stasis seems implausible.”
“I do not believe it is simple stasis, Hamob. But rather something more clever.”
“Granted. But if the Zak’de’ron have their knowledge, will they seek them out and destroy them before they can revive?”
“Only if we are lucky. Right now I can count on nothing as assured beyond the Zak’de’ron’s wrath.”
“This is not a threat the Era’tran alone can face. We must consult others.”
“We cannot breach security, Hamob. We can take no chances. The Elder Conclave cannot be informed or the Zak’de’ron will know instantly.”
“Not the Conclave, but there are other elders who we can trust. Not in all races, but in many. If we are going to find a way to survive, we need to work together.”
“Can you assemble them without suspicion?”
“I will use couriers so no record is on the Urrtren, and I will use genetic locks on the message orbs. I will summon those I trust, and we will see
k a path forward. At this point, I have no answers for you, Mak’to’ran. I feel this is due payment for our collective arrogance and assumption of dominance where none truly existed, but I am at a loss at how to proceed. Have you not come up with any possibilities in the past months?”
“We cannot find them, so we cannot fight them. They did not reveal their location to the Humans, and we rely on the Urrtren too heavily. Without it, we are not an empire. We are widespread and easy targets that cannot be sufficiently defended against a threat of this magnitude. We must have our eyes to see and move, and the Zak’de’ron can blind us at will. I have no way to count this other than to build our own network anew, and that will take an enormous amount of time.”
“And will give away our knowledge of a problem.”
“We finally have a small means of defeating the Hadarak after all these years, and now we are faced with our destruction from two other threats we thought were long gone. It seems our efforts are being rewarded with plagues.”
“Our territory…” Hamob said, realizing another problem.
“Is too spread out,” Mak’to’ran finished, already having been down this logic path. “We can’t consolidate our strength. We either fight as an empire, or we die split apart. The Zak’de’ron sabotaged us from the very beginning.”
5
February 3, 4885
Attiov System (Unclaimed Territory)
3rd planet
Hamob was the last to land on the uninhabited planet, due to the location being almost opposite Holloi across the galactic core, but there were 34 drop pods waiting for him on the planet with their starship transports ostensibly cloaked somewhere in orbit. When he walked down the boarding ramp onto the light gravity of the hot and very dry world he saw that the others were waiting for him…one for each drop pod.
They were 34 elders from 34 different races. Ones that Hamob knew could be trusted on his life, and in this case, on the life of the empire. There were many others who should be here, but he couldn’t be absolutely sure about their intentions and he had scratched them off the list for even the slightest doubt, leaving these 34 peers of his who had come on nothing more than a cryptic message from him.
