HADRON Havoc

by Stephen Arseneault

  Mace leaned in closer to the camera. “I can only guess from your response at the warstation that your fleet is not as strong as you’d like it to be. The Karthians have a lot of reserves. And they don’t have a problem with committing them. Talk to your people. You could potentially end this war today.”

  Frado nodded. “I will pass your offer along. But I don’t see our leaders accepting. We were attacked, we suffered losses, and we are being asked to give up territory.”

  Mace thought for a moment. “OK, then how about this… the UF gives up the Mawga and Canto, the Karthians give up Earth and the former Galactic Union planets. That space will remain as a sort of buffer zone between your peoples.

  “As you’ve seen, there are plenty of other systems for each of your empires to expand out to. You can both grow without interfering with the other. I would also like to add this… the Karthians are flush with gatrellium. I’m talking having enough to conduct heavy operations for as long as they want. My guess is your supplies are very limited. You can’t afford to be jumping back and forth trying to protect your colonies… you don’t have the available fuel.”

  Frado Knuttin asked, “And you are certain you can deliver on this attack?”

  Mace nodded. “We’ll even throw in a bonus city should they be indecisive. You can end this now, Mr. Knuttin. And it would be in the best interest of all parties involved. Ask your leadership and ask them soon. And give me a coordinate where I can contact you again. We can spare the gatrellium for a comm. You probably can’t do the same.”

  Seconds later, Jenny was enabling a wormhole. The shuttle slipped through, settling at a newly established Knuttin Corporation colony base. A small crew came out to aid the rescued citizens. Mace and the others sat in wait, giving their Kohamian counterpart time to discuss their options.

  Johnny said, “I can’t believe this opportunity presented itself. What you offered, it makes complete sense. The only thing standing in the way of this working is egos. And the Karthians and UF both have big ones.”

  Mace stood. “Jenny, open a jump to Hoorka space. I need to talk to Favia.”

  Jane asked, “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking the Targarians are completely exposed right now. That UF marker we had down, it’s now a magnet for the Karthians to attack. Open a comm to Jasper while we’re heading for a jump point.”

  Jasper came over the comm. “What happened at Canto?”

  Mace replied, “Don’t have time to explain. Your people on Hardy are sitting ducks right now. If the Karthians just attacked UF territories, that means Hardy is now a target.”

  Jasper nodded. “We figured as much. All assets are being moved into our new facilities. In two days those facilities will be fully operational. We have scout ships watching the Karthian fleets for any movement toward Hardy.”

  “I don’t think you have two days. I’m making a jump out to see Favia. I’m hoping I can talk her into offering up a temporary claim stake. If the Karthians think the planet now belongs to someone else, they are less likely to invade.”

  “An excellent idea. We thank you for your efforts. Have you decided on a time for our attack on Terrex?”

  “About that, I’m in the process of negotiating with the UF over ending this war. They would give up the Mawga and Canto and in return get peace from the Karthians. The Karthians would give up Earth and Galactic Union space in exchange for said peace.”

  Jasper scowled. “The Karthians aren’t gonna go for that!”

  “They will if they think the UF was responsible instead of the make-believe Harpoonians. I know that would take away your broadcast speech to the Karthians, but it might bring peace to us all at the same time.”

  Jasper stood from his command chair, pacing back and forth in thought.

  Jenny said, “Ready for our jump.”

  Mace followed. “Jasper, I need a decision.”

  The Targarian king stopped, clenching his fists in frustration. “OK. Do it. You take all the fun out of this job, you know that?”

  Mace said, “Nothing set yet. Just keep watch on your people.”

  A jump was made and a comm opened to Favia. “Mr. Hardy,” she said. “How are things on Earth? The same?”

  “At the moment, yes. We’re working to change that, though. In the meantime, we’re in need of a favor. I need a Hoorka colony claim spike. We need to dissuade the Karthians from attacking a colony for just a couple days. After that we’ll be in the clear. Is that something you can provide?”

  “Will this involve us in your war?”

  Mace replied, “At the moment, no. The Karthians haven’t attacked. With a Hoorka claim spike planted, I believe they would leave the planet alone.”

  Favia thought for a moment. “Would you be willing to sell this asset to my kingdom? I would be willing to pay you a single credit in exchange for it. That would make it legal and binding and would provide the protection you seek. When the couple days had passed, the asset could be sold back to you for the same one credit price. No one here would argue over my purchase of a planet for a single credit.”

  “Couldn’t you just lose a claim spike for a couple days? I don’t know that I’m comfortable with selling it to you.”

  “I’m afraid not. I would be willing to hold up the paperwork for the transaction on our end for two to three days. If unreported, the agreement could be destroyed with none the wiser.”

  “I suppose if that’s all we have we’ll take it. Where do I sign?”

  “This conversation is proof of the deal. I only need to enter it into permanent record for it to be official. Give me a moment and I’ll have one of my engineers send you a claiming code that can be broadcast.”

  Mace smiled. “You’ve been a huge friend to the Humans. We can’t thank you enough.”

  Favia bowed. “It is I who am still in your debt. Consider this transaction done.”

  Several minutes later, the Hoorka code came through. A jump back to Hardy had the broadcast spike changed to emit the new claim. Shortly after, a Karthian scout ship jumped into the system. Several scans were conducted before the ship turned to leave. Hardy remained a free planet.

  Chapter 16

  *

  A comm was opened to Frado Knuttin. “Mr. Hardy. The United Front would like to make a counter offer. We will retain the Mawga Empire, as well as Canto, and offer peace to the Karthians. In exchange, they will release all claims to Earth and the Galactic Union territories, and they will declare peace with the United Front. The United Front will then provide protection to Earth for a period of at least five of your years.”

  Mace sighed. “I can tell you right now the Karthians will not go for that. We’d end up having to destroy a dozen of their cities, something we are not prepared to do. So here is my counter… the UF will give up Canto and the Mawga territories. In exchange they will receive peace. The Karthians will give up Earth and the Galactic Union territories, and in exchange they will also get peace.”

  Frado replied, “That’s the same as you’re original offer.”

  Mace nodded. “It is. And time is wasting. Those Karthian stations are sitting right on the other side of that rift as we speak. They now know where the heart of the United Front resides. They’re probably making a starmap of your entire territory. And if they attack, they rarely take prisoners. Just look at what they did to most of the members of the Galactic Union. Gone. Genocide.

  “Now, you can tell your people they can be bullheaded about this, or they can have peace. It’s their choice. But if we’re going to make this work, I need to know now. They have one hour or the deal is off and the Karthians are gonna be a much bigger problem than a lost warstation.”

  “I will pass on your message, Mr. Hardy. Let’s hope they can come to a proper decision.”

  The comm closed.

  Mace let out a long breath as he sat back in a chair. “I’m gonna need a vacation. The muscles in my neck feel like they’re gonna explode.”

  Jane said,
“You’re in the middle of playing hardball negotiations over entire planets and species. The fate of the Human race is hanging in the balance. That’s more than any one man should have to deal with in a thousand lifetimes.”

  Johnny said, “You did great, by the way. Like I said earlier, I’m in awe of everything that’s happened. How we came to this point in time, the problems we’re dealing with… talk about above and beyond… things couldn’t get any bigger than this.”

  An hour had passed when Frado Knuttin again opened a comm to Mace. “Mr. Hardy, I have what you would consider good news and bad.”

  Johnny rolled his eyes. “Here we go.”

  Frado continued: “We reached out to the Karthian fleet at the rift. After a series of hastily-put-together negotiations, a peace agreement has been reached. Canto will be spared. In return, the Mawga will be released from their protection bargain. The Karthians, in return for that, will relinquish their claim to the former Dellus colonies, providing each of us with a buffer between our territories. We will forgive their transgression against Warstation 56 and will refrain from formally declaring war.”

  Mace sat silent for several seconds. “What brought on this quick capitulation from the Karthians? That doesn’t seem right. They clearly had the upper hand.”

  Frado smiled. “Perhaps we are better negotiators. This is the best of both worlds for the corporation, Mr. Hardy. The Canto colony and our investments there go unharmed. And the corporation will receive rich defense contracts as fleets need to be rebuilt, as well as two warstations to be parked at the rift.”

  Mace shook his head. “None of this makes sense, Mr. Knuttin. It doesn’t seem like the Karthians.”

  “Perhaps it was getting a look at our defenses. A dozen of those warstations would have shown on their sensors from their viewpoint. I believe they think we have perhaps hundreds more they would have to contend with. They were able to defeat Warstation 56, but at a high cost. Our planets near that rift are heavily defended. I’m certain they saw that as a deterrent.”

  “I think you’re making a mistake. The Karthians won’t honor their peace pledge for long. Now that they know what they’re up against, they’ll make every effort to prepare for dealing with it.”

  “It buys us time to rebuild as well, Mr. Hardy. I’m sorry about your people. I wish they could be freed. Just not at our expense.”

  Mace countered. “OK, how about this… you keep Canto, the rest of the deal stays. I think I can make that work.”

  Frado slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid that deal is not possible.”

  “You do realize we are still going to attack the Karthian capital, right? And there is always a possibility they will want to pin that attack on you, seeing it as retribution for their attack on the warstation. You’d be right back where you are… only without a negotiating position.”

  Frado slowly shook his head. “I’ve been asked to tell you to not go ahead with that attack.”

  Mace pulled back with an indignant look. “Why would we do that?”

  Frado sighed. “Because our military now knows you are the Harpoonians. I’m sorry, Mr. Hardy. It seems their name came up during the negotiations. We denied any knowledge of them of course. Afterward, Miz Golese told me of your mention of them while she was on your shuttle. I had to pass that vital information on to our command.”

  The Kohamian businessman turned back for word from an aide. “I am sorry, Mr. Hardy. I’ve just been told this deal is final. There will be peace with the Karthians.”

  Mace drew in and let out a long breath. “Thank you for your efforts, Mr. Knuttin. We at least gave it a shot.”

  Frado replied, “No, thank you. It was your negotiation and suggestion of a peace deal that started this rolling. I will make sure to give you full credit.”

  Mace grimaced as the comm closed.

  Johnny pinched a finger and thumb on his left hand together. “Wow. We were that close. The deal you offered was perfect. I doubt Mr. Knuttin did an adequate job of selling it. And he’s gonna make out like a bandit in all this.”

  Jane grabbed Mace by the back of his neck. “Let it go. You did good. They screwed this up.”

  Johnny said, “Well, we at least have good news for the old man. He gets to play monster and then blow up a city. Maybe we just have the Harpoonians demand Earth’s release.”

  Mace shook his head. “That would just bring reprisals against Earth, and now possibly from the UF if they felt a need to defend their position. Either way, maybe it’s time we rethought our Harpoonian strategy. If we hold the destruction of those cities in reserve, maybe another opportunity will present itself. We need to sit down and seriously think all this through. Everything we do from here on should have something to do with Earth’s freedom.

  “Retaliation is no good if it doesn’t come with something more than a mental benefit. I had a sergeant in bootcamp drill that one into me. Of course, he was probably the most vengeful person I’ve ever known.”

  Jenny said, “Where to?”

  Mace replied, “Back to Alpha Centauri. I have to give Mr. Collins the bad news.”

  The Royal Fortune landed in the docking bay and the ramp lowered. Mace’s frown was met with a scowl by Jasper Collins. Johnny chuckled at the expression.

  “I know that look. I won’t be happy with what you’re about to tell me, will I?”

  Mace shook his head. “We need to hold off on the attack at Terrex.”

  Jasper wiggled his fingers in a ‘come on’ motion. “Spill it. What happened?”

  “The UF went behind our backs and made their own peace deal. They gave up the Mawga, the Karthians gave up the Dellus territories. They’ll now have a no-man’s-land buffer between them. The UF was scared of an invasion they were not ready for. The Karthians were scared of a defense they misread. They’re now officially at peace. We’re still stuck where we were.”

  Jasper huffed. “I don’t see where waiting for the Karthians to make another move helps us. We should go in, pancake that city, and then just keep doing it until they have nothing left. All this back-door dealing is ridiculous. We’re always the ones drawing the short straw.”

  The team moved into a conference room. Four hours of back and forth was spent on options and their potential costs and benefits. When the meeting broke up, no new plans had emerged. The Royal Fortune and her crew headed back to Earth as King Jasper Collins readied for another pirate raid. Three days passed before another visit was made to the Alpha site.

  As Mace waited for Jasper’s return from a raid, a comm came in. “What did you do?”

  Mace replied, “Not sure what’ you’re talking about.”

  Jasper gestured over his shoulder. “There are half a dozen Hoorka warships sitting in orbit over Hardy. I’ve got four Karthian freighters awaiting disassembly. I can’t just fly them down there in full view.”

  Mace sighed. “Give me twenty minutes to get in touch with Favia. You’ll have to hang on.”

  Mace reached for the corner of a picnic blanket. “We have to cut this short. The Hoorka are sitting at Hardy. Jasper has four freighters ready to unload. Care to fly me out to Hoorka space?”

  Jenny smiled. “You name it and I’ll fly you anywhere in this galaxy you want to go… free of charge.”

  Mace half smiled. “I hope we didn’t screw things up with Favia.”

  The Royal Fortune slipped through to Hoorka space. A comm was soon through to the reigning queen.

  “Mr. Hardy, I must apologize. I asked an aide to hold the submission of our deal for two days and to then check back with me. There was a miscommunication. The deal is now part of the official record. Our military command was interested in the newest planet in our kingdom. They were already there before I got word of what was happening.”

  Mace said, “So just let me buy it back for the single credit.”

  Favia winced. “I cannot do that. That planet is now part of the royal treasury. I can make suggestions to the House of Lords, but they have t
o sign off on any deal. And I can assure you, a planet for a single credit is not a deal they would agree to. I am sorry for this mix-up, Mr. Hardy. Please allow me to work on making this right.”

  Mace replied, “This is the Targarian home. We cannot give this planet up. They have too much invested in it already.”

  Favia bowed her head. “As I said, I will make this right, Mr. Hardy. You entrusted me with keeping this safe and I have failed. All I ask is to be given time. I cannot tell the House that I jeopardized the kingdom out of an act of friendship to an unrecognized nation. And putting the kingdom in jeopardy is exactly what I did. I will make this right, Mr. Hardy. I don’t yet know how, but I will find a way.”

  The Royal Fortune departed for the planet Hardy, stopping just short of comm range. As Jasper had reported, six Hoorka dreadnoughts were sitting in high orbit. The Targarians, having completed their move into the underground complex, remained silent and unseen.

  A comm was opened to Jasper. “We have trouble. Favia is working to correct the issue, but for now we have to stay away. I had to sign over the planet for a single credit in order for us to get a Hoorka claiming code. One of her aides mistakenly put the transaction into their royal system. Their military and their politicians are all giddy over her acquisition of an entire planet for a single credit. And she can’t tell them the transaction was phony because by making the claim she put her kingdom in jeopardy. We have to give her time to straighten this out.”

  As the Royal Fortune waited, an opening wormhole was detected.

  Jenny said, “We have a Karthian ship coming through. It’s flying diplomatic banners.”

  Mace said, “Keep us cloaked and take us in for a listen. Absolutely no broadcasts. We can’t afford to be detected.”

  Jenny nodded. “Outgoing comm is disabled. Moving in…”

  A comm went out over the general hail from the Karthian vessel. “This is the Fratingvoss. We’re a diplomatic vessel of the Karthian Empire. We noticed your recent claim of this planet. There are subjects of ours residing down there that we would like to remove. With our request, no assets will be taken, only the individual subjects.”