Sten felt a rage building and said, “Excellency, why don’t you have the next fleet form up at your planet and see if I’m timid. The Humans could have totally wiped out the 17,000 ships we sent against them and they could have totally bombarded my world to ash. They did neither. They did warn us that the next time we gather a fleet that they will destroy those responsible. Are you willing to gamble your world against whether or not they can carry out their threat? I will have my resignation sent to you immediately.”
The Council Leader disappeared from the screen. Sten sat in his office after he commed his resignation for more than nine drags while he waited for the security team to come and arrest him. He refused to go home and endanger his family but after he had spent the rest of the night waiting, he notified his assistant of his resignation and left for his home.
Headman Dgzh looked at the Glods home world thru the viewport of his ship as it approached. He had jumped into the system 10 hours earlier. He saw on his ships sensors that his ship was surrounded quickly after he broke into normal space. The dreadnaught that challenged him was unlike any ship he had ever seen. It was white with its screen extending more that a trig from its hull. It had the characteristic glow of the Human screen and it flashed up on his ships at a speed that amazed him. The 3,700 deg ship was actually beautiful in its smooth lines that lacked the normal bulges and bumps from weapon ports. “Looks like the Glod have become much more powerful.” He felt a chill from that realization because he knew the ferocity of their warriors.
“Stop your engines and declare your intentions,” his communication board announced.
“I am Headman Grezel Dgzh and I’ve been sent by State leader Sten to discuss the recent developments. I ask permission to speak to your crown prince.”
He only waited a moment and the dreadnaught’s Commander commed, “Follow the ship next to you to a parking orbit. He will see you upon your arrival. If we detect any weapon charging, we will destroy your ship, do you understand?”
“Yes, I do and thank you.” That was ten hours ago and now the ship he was following told him to park in front of one of the asteroids circling the planet.
A shuttle left the Glod ship and he was instructed to board for the trip to the planet’s surface. It arrived then it flew thru the planets screen to the main city of the Glod Union. “The screen around the planet didn’t stop the shuttle. How can that be?” He was escorted to a massive building near a huge arch in the center of the city and was left in a large room surrounded by portraits of past Glod leaders. He saw a picture of the main Glod Temple and as he looked closer he saw two Glod long swords sticking out of the two pillars at the entrance. He was looking at one of the most famous when he heard behind him, “That is a portrait of Nim-Qur. He was the one that destroyed four civilizations and took their worlds to establish the Glod Union. He never lost a battle and until recently was considered our most famous warrior.” The Glod crown prince Tgon-Gee was standing behind him. “Those two swords you were looking at were thrown into those two pillars by our Queen’s mate when her right to rule was challenged. Now every warrior on the planet is making a pilgrimage to our temple to swear allegiance to our new ruler. What brings you to our world, Headman?”
“This Glod is huge,” Dgzh thought. “I’m here at the request of State Leader Sten to try and get a better understanding of the Humans. You are now an Ally of them and perhaps your view of them would be easier for a member of the Alliance to understand. There is some fear after their ships surrounded our planet.”
Tgon-Gee smiled and said, “Fear is often the byproduct of a lack of understanding. However, you might want to discuss this with our new Queen who now is the ruler of our Union.”
“So what I was told by the Ambassador was true; a Human now rules your race. Were you forced to accept her?”
Tgon-Gee laughed and said, “Come with me. If she had not agreed to be our queen, we would have bowed to the ground and begged her to accept the position until we all died of starvation. She is quite literally becoming the soul of my race. She and her mate are also the leaders of the Human home world. You saw him when he had his conversation with your State Leader.” Dgzh arched his brow and Tgon-Gee said, “I know, you think him young. Don’t be misled.” The Prince led Dgzh to a room where a young Human female was sitting talking to a small group of Glod children. The Glod approached the female and bowed on one knee to her and waited. She looked up from the children and said, “Tgon-Gee, welcome to our class. This must be the headman that the Alliance sent. Let me introduce you to the future royalty of the Glod.” She then gave each child’s name and they stood up and nodded to Dgzh. “Children, you will have to excuse me. We will have our class again in three rotations.” Even Dgzh could tell the children were disappointed to leave but they stood and left the room.”
Tgon-Gee was still bowing when the Human said, “Please stand Tgon-Gee, it is I who should be bowing to you. You’ve been royalty so much longer than I.” Dgzh could tell that she meant what she was saying, this Human was not self important.
Tgon-Gee said, “This is headman Dgzh and he is a member of the Yatcur race.” Danielle thought that he looked almost exactly like an otter except that he stood upright. His fur, his head, everything reminded her of an earth otter. The only thing missing was the whiskers that an earth otter had. “I’m pleased to meet you,” she said.
Dgzh looked at the young Human female, “I don’t know if I’m supposed to bow or what is the proper greeting.”
Danielle laughed and said, “I accept the bows from those I lead as an honor. I suppose that you should treat me just as you would any other person you meet seeing that I am most certainly not your leader.”
Dgzh spent the next three hours talking with her and learning how she had become the leader of the Glod, Cainth, and Humans. He also learned from Tgon-Gee the power of her husband and how it was demonstrated during the ritual challenge of her selection. He questioned her in detail about why the Humans had chose to release their ships and had not destroyed the Central Alliance Planet. By the time she was though explaining, he understood that Humans were not what he thought. They would not war on other people unless they were made to do so. He finally asked the question that brought him to the Glod world. “Your, what did you call him, husband? Anyway he said he was releasing our ships because if he didn’t, the Alliance would have a massive civil war. How did he reach that conclusion?”
Danielle looked at Dgzh and decided that he deserved the truth. “You are going to have a civil war. One of our psychics on earth has the ability to see possible futures. Sometimes she says there are thousands of possibilities but at others there could be as few as four. In three of the possible futures she saw, she could see hundreds of Alliance worlds bombed into rubble by other members almost immediately after we destroyed your fleet. There is a lot of bad blood between too many races. Even the Glod have a large number of enemies that have a blood debt they want to have paid. They are just now starting to realize how the mistreatment of others always comes back to be balanced.
“My people are trying to repair the past damages they caused.” Tgon-Gee said, “We have released all the slaves on the four worlds we originally attacked and have given them homes and full citizenship in our Union. We have apologized for our prior actions and though we cannot change what has happened, we hope that they and their descendents would someday be able to forgive us. We have promised to defend them and watch over their welfare.”
“I find it interesting that the slaves refused to believe the Glod at first but once they proved their sincerity, most celebrated their new freedom and chose to remain in our Union,” Danielle said. “We offered free transportation to any that chose to leave along with financial means to support themselves. So far, only three families chose to leave. All the others have been paying attention to the news and feel the Alliance is a very dangerous place to live right now. However, our psychic made it clear to us that if we destroyed the fleet you sent against us, then
more than 900 billion would die in the ensuing war and that we would be the cause of all that loss of life. Headman, we can’t live with that knowledge and continue to feel good about our future. So we released your ships.”
Dgzh dreaded his next question but he had to know, “What about the fourth future?”
Danielle looked at Tgon-Gee and then made a decision, she walked over and placed her hand on Dgzh’s shoulder and said, “The war is coming. We have only delayed it. You will start it yourself and more than 75 % of the Alliance’s total population will be killed. We estimate more than a trillion will die quickly and most of the survivors will die of starvation because of the dependency that has developed between your planets. Sten’s planet’s sole function is government. As there is little or no agriculture, his world will be the first to resort to savagery to feed itself. Your world will be attacked for its food supplies, your population will be killed and your planet taken.”
Dgzh was stunned. He didn’t want to believe what he was hearing but as she talked he recalled all the hate that members of the Alliance had toward one another that had been building over the cycles. He listened to world after world threaten each other in the State Leaders office but were prevented from venting their anger by threats of Alliance intervention. The bullying of the stronger members and of the Alliance itself was the nature of being in the Alliance; he knew she was right. His planet was one of the few worlds that was predominantly agricultural and had a limited fleet. If the Alliance weakened, many would take the opportunity to seek vengeance against past wrongs and would take his world for its agricultural value. He felt an overwhelming sadness grip him and then said, “Will you let me know if any other future is seen?”
Danielle could feel his pain and felt badly for Dgzh. “I will headman. Peace to you and your people,” she paused, “I know your race is not up to defending itself if the war starts but we will pray for you.”
Tgon-Gee escorted him back to the shuttle and saw the depression that had gripped the headman. The Crown Prince felt a profound sadness for Dgzh’s future. He remembered how he felt fear before he had joined the Cainth and Humans. Just before Dgzh boarded his shuttle Tgon-Gee said, “Headman, when the war starts, I will have six of my ships go to your home world and try to protect it. Maybe your people can be saved. We will not just stand by and let your world die.”
Dgzh smiled at the huge Glod and felt almost a kinship to him. The Glod stuck his hand out and Dgzh took it and shook hands with the Crown Prince. Just as he started to board the shuttle the Glod’s com beeped and Danielle said excitedly, “What did you just say to the Headman?”
Dgzh and Tgon-Gee both looked confused. Tgon-Gee said, “I promised him to send six of my ships to his world when the war broke out to try and save his people.”
Danielle was laughing out loud, “New futures, new futures, there are hundreds of new futures and the two of you caused them with your agreement. It’s possible to save the worlds of the Alliance. Come back Headman and let’s explore the possibilities.”
Tgon-Gee and Dgzh looked at each other almost in shock and then they both smiled. “You heard the Queen,” he said. “Let’s go save some worlds.”
Dgzh said, “This time I bow.”
Chapter 16
The Safety Prime Council was meeting over their com network. The leader, Mikne was repeating what the state Leader had told him and he replayed all the video taken of the prior Human battles. The last video he presented was of the 300 new battleships that had jumped in to the Alliance Central Government Planet. They all watched the ships appear around the planet then disappear as they jumped. This caused immediate discussion between the council members. Most refused to believe that it could have possibly happened. Science has proven that close proximity to stars prevented Star Drives from working.
Mikne interrupted the meeting by saying, “Enough! The ships jumped in next to the planet. We don’t know how they can do it but they can. We don’t understand how they put a screen around their planet, but they did. We don’t understand how their ships are so much faster than ours, but they are. I can go on and on but the reality is that we have now run into a race that is technologically superior in all categories. The State Leader resigned and quite frankly I was in the middle of ordering his execution when what he said broke thru my consciousness. I delayed the order and starting taking a good look at the battles we’ve had with these Humans.” Mikne paused and looked at the other nine members and said, “We are so accustomed to overwhelming any opposition that it never occurred to us that there was a possibility that a single race would be strong enough to beat us. After the fact we now know that they had numerical superiority in every battle but hid it to make them look weaker than they are. It is also clear that they had many more ship building facilities than the two on their home planet. I want to show you something.”
Mikne started a video of the Human ship named Washington that was surrounded by seven dreadnaughts. The council watched as the Human ship blew two of them into rubble with its two primary beams then struck the other five with small intense beams that went right thru their screens. There was a short delay and then all five dreadnaughts started blowing apart. “I don’t know what was in those small beams but it is death to any ship it hits. Seven dreadnaughts killed in less than 30 seconds. Now look closely.” The video brought the image of the Washington closer and closer until the hull filled the screen and then moved with a view of a small part of the ships surface filled the screen. “Notice those small circles that cover the ships surface is where their screens and energy weapons appear to emanate. We estimate that they are smaller than 2 degs. Now look at the new battle ship that jumped into the central planet.” The view of the new ships hull was clear. “This new ship is twice the size of the old one and the circles on its hull are easily twenty times larger than the previous ships. If we assume they are twenty times stronger than the old one, then what will it take to kill one of these new ships. Also keep in mind that if it gets into trouble, it can jump to safety where ever they are and jump back in to continue the attack.”
“Mikne, are you saying that we can’t defeat these Humans,” one of the others said.
“I’m beginning to have my doubts. The real question is do we even try. The Humans said they will destroy any fleet that is formed to attack them and punish the ones responsible for sending it. Do any of you volunteer to have the fleet to form in your system?”
There was universal silence until Harauk broke the silence by saying, “I’ll do it. Send the order out to all the members to send their ships to my system. I’ll teach these humans to fear us.”
Mikne looked at Harauik and knew that most of the Alliance heavy handed tactics originated with the Hargons. They were the original world that organized the other nine into what was to become the Alliance. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
Harauik screamed into the com, “Place the orders now! We attack immediately.”
Mikne said, “As you wish.” The other eight members showed their concern but would not cross the old Hargon.
“Tag,” Danielle thought at him.
“Yes Dear.”
“I’ve just received word from Dgzh that a call up for ships had been issued by The Safety Prime Council and that failure to respond will be considered treason. The Hargons system is where they are to report. Dgzh also says that more than 600 Alliance warships have refused to answer the call and are forming up instead at the Central Alliance planet. The number refusing to go is increasing every minute. Our sensors from the drone we left in their system when we jumped in have intercepted messages from numerous Alliance members that indicate that they have chosen not to Attack our race again. The original 600 ships have now grown to more than 4,000. We have had the Saratoga jump in to the Hargon system where 9,000 ships have reported. It appears that the bulk of the ships in the Hargon system are from the fleet that stayed in the outer system during their last attack. The ships at the Central planet have many of those
crews we released. It appears they heard our message and understood it. Tag, what are we going to do? This could trigger the war.”
“Let’s see what the Hargon fleet chooses to do first. Once we determine that, we’ll plan our reaction. Relax, Dear. We can do nothing yet, wait and be patient.”
Tag commed Kosiev and said, “Admiral, I need you to form the fleet up and issue one of two plans. We are going to fight the Alliance here and then go to the offending system or we are going to defend the Alliances Central Planet. Either way, immediately after the battle starts I want the fleet to be prepared to implement Kidnap Sixteen.”
Kosiev looked away from his display for a moment and asked a question of the person off screen then turned back and said, “We’ll be ready in 12 hours.”
Tag smiled at Kosiev and said, “Do I smell popcorn?”
Kosiev actually laughed and picked the bag up from the floor beside his chair where he had hidden it from view, “Of course. There’s going to be fighting isn’t there. Honestly, I agree with Admiral Dorg; this stuff is addicting.”
Tag lifted his bag and said, “Someday in the far future this will be known as the popcorn conflict. They will try to say that popcorn drove us mad.”
“Only if we didn’t have any.” They both laughed and Tag cut the connection.
Dgzh had commed Sten and asked him to come down to his former office. Sten came in an hour later and looked at all the people gathered around the wall display. “What’s going on?”
Dgzh pointed to the display and said, “The council has ordered a gathering of ships to attack the Humans.”
Sten sat down heavily. “Are they that crazy? The Humans will destroy them and then come for us.”
“Well, there’s another issue.”
Sten looked at Dgzh and recognized his expression. “Uh, oh, something serious is about to happen isn’t it?”
“Wellll, there are more than 5,000 ships in our system defying the Councils orders and are refusing to attack the Humans again.”
The power of a Queen a-2 Page 19
