Exodus: Empires at War: Book 14: Rebellion.

by Doug Dandridge

  MAY 30TH, 1004. PLANET KALLFER, CA’CADASAN SPACE.

  Mrrarraras, known to the humans as Striped Wolf, looked up at the sky as he noticed the contrails of large aircraft high in the air. Not that they were that unusual on Srrastrra, known to the Cacas as Kallfer. It was a populated world, one that his people had inhabited for over five hundred years, a gift from the masters. That very thought brought spit to the mouth of the large intelligent carnivore, soon to be projected onto the ground. The Maurids had been playing the game for over a thousand years, pretending to be the loyal servants of the hated masters, while always looking for a better deal. One that put them back in charge of their own fate. They hadn’t been able to find one, until now.

  It felt good to be back among so many of his own people, though the warrior was not really one for crowds. Good thing most of his people weren’t really enthused to be crowded in with too many of any species, even their own. That was one reason why Kallfer, a heavy vegetation planet that would be home to six to eight billion in most cases, had barely more than a billion, almost all of them Maurids.

  Low buildings, mostly of faux wood or stone construction, stretched across the hills overlooking the large lake. His people preferred the natural look, but weren’t so naive as to not recognize the advantages of modern building materials. They didn’t blow down in storms and they didn’t go up in flames, which was enough reason to use them. And for aesthetic purposes it fit the look of the homeworld, something all agreed was a good thing.

  There were more than a hundred boats out on the lake. The water stretched to the horizon, looking much like an ocean, though it was deep inside the largest continent on the world. Maurids loved to sail, to pit their brains and muscles against nature. There was a stiff breeze today, allowing the sailing craft to fly over the surface of the water. They weren’t good swimmers, having muscular bodies without much buoyancy. Most wore floatation devices, the more daring among them not. A storm was forming over the horizon. When it rushed in the lake would be filled with every boat capable of putting out. Maurids were like that, and the challenge called to them.

  “It is good to see you again, my friend,” said Kressrras, his childhood companion and coleader in the resistance.

  The other Maurid sniffed the air, taking in the scent of his friend. Mrrarraras did the same, his mind filling with memories of adventures with his friend, hunting through the forest, pursuing females in a gathering place in the cities. Sense of smell was an important mode of interacting with the world for the carnivores, more so than sight, and memories were held tight with the nuances of scent.

  “I wish the big bastards had allowed us to plant this world the way we wanted,” said Striped Wolf, showing teeth as he looked at the forest rising up the hillside to the stark mountains.

  The Maurid homeworld was a riot of reds and oranges, all with a distinctive scent that awakened the genetic memories of the race. Maurids had terraformed several worlds before contact with the Ca’cadasans. The big aliens had been horrified, and they had sterilized those worlds, leaving only the original homeworld with life from the time of the creation of the species. Now the species was restricted to worlds with their own natural life forms, though the Cacas had made sure that they were biologically compatible with the intelligent forms they planted there.

  Not that either of the males believed in the creation any more. Like most of their species they had embraced the science that had brought them the stars. Times had been good, and the Maurids had been poised to expand across their arm of the Galaxy, before the Ca’cadasans had found them. From there they had gone into a thousand years of slavery after a very short war that had humiliated the proud creatures.

  “How much longer?” asked his friend in a low voice. Collaborators were extremely rare, but not completely unheard of, though if found they did not last long.

  Striped Wolf didn’t have to ask his friend what he meant. He looked back to the sky for a moment, the sky that the enemy controlled, then back over at his friend as they loped along on four feet.

  “The humans are progressing quickly into the Empire. Unfortunately, they still have many light years to go. It will probably be years before they liberate this world, more years before they actually reach the homeworld.”

  “The young hotheads want to do something,” replied his friend, eyes narrowing. “They want a general uprising against the masters.” The last word was spit in anger, and several sharp eared Maurids nearby turned to look at them, then moved on quickly. “The masters,” reiterated the other Maurid in a low voice. “They are hungry for revenge.”

  “And they will get death if they rise up against the big bastards without the humans taking out their fleet. You must hold them in check, or the masters will start to treat us like the other slaves, and we won’t have the freedom of action we need to continue to operate against them.”

  It hadn’t taken the Ca’cadasans long to realize that their new slave race was not suited to most of the tasks they put their servants to. They were not good to eat. That didn’t mean they weren’t edible, but they tasted foul to most other carnivores. They were quick to anger and slow to scare, and with their natural weapons they were not safe to be around. But they were good at what they had evolved for. Hunting. Which made them the perfect overseers of other species, and the best at security and surveillance. The Maurids had thereafter received special treatment from the masters, given their own worlds and allowed to form their traditional societies, as long as they worked for the benefit of the Empire. The Cacada were good enough warriors, their size and strength making them more than most aliens wanted to handle. But the Maurids were much quicker, with a much more sensitive sensorium, and did a better job of tracking down those slaves who tried to escape the attention of the masters by fleeing into the wilderness of the worlds they worked. It was a task that shamed the proud aliens, but they did what they could to serve their species.

  It was as good a life as any of the subservient species of the Empire could hope for. A place to live, food, even security. The one thing it was lacking was the one thing that Maurids valued above everything else. Freedom. The freedom to do what they wanted, to go where they would. Security had never been a primary concern to the adventure seeking carnivores. They chaffed under the dominion of the aliens, but without a fleet there was no way they could fight the Cacas and gain their freedom. Until the humans had come along.

  At first it looked like the masters would roll over another species, though in this case they had sworn to kill every one of the enemy, something rare for the religious aliens. At first they had done just what they wanted to with the humans, and the Maurids had been called in to track down the refugees on newly conquered worlds. They had become a new terror to a new species, and the humans had come to hate them. But the humans were fighters, if nothing else, and the Maurids didn’t always get their own way in battle. It was not unheard of for human civilians to kill a party of Maurids, ambushing them. And some of their warriors had been able to take on small groups of Maurids in close combat, something that surprised the people that considered themselves the ultimate hunters.

  And then the unheard of had happened. The humans started to win battles. First a couple of small contests here and there, and then larger ones. Then had come the major shock as the humans had defeated a Ca’cadasan conquest fleet. After that the Council had realized that this might be the chance they were looking for. If the humans could possibly win this war and defeat the masters, then the race might be free. Or would they just be trading servitude to one species for another.

  “Do you still feel the same about the humans?” asked his friend, who had never had the chance to meet any of them. “Are they still the avatars of freedom you thought them to be?”

  Mrrarraras thought for a moment as they walked down the street. He nodded to other Maurids that he knew, ignored those that he didn’t, and used the time his friend gave him to visualize some of the contacts he had made with the human Empire. The Phlistaran
s, huge six limbed aliens that made the masters look small. The fierce Gryphons, honor bound warriors who were the best pilots he had ever seen. Even some of the humans, normally soft and weak. Some were as strong as Maurids, and he recalled the one they called Hunter, who was said to have killed a trio of Maurids in hand to hand combat.

  “They have their alien races,” he told his friend, showing his teeth in a smile. “Many of them, serving in their military alongside the dominant race.”

  “Then what is the difference between them and the masters? If they use their other species to serve as beam fodder, same as the Ca’cadasans?”

  “The difference is that the human Empire treats all of their aliens the same as they do themselves. I spoke to an admiral who was of another species, and heard of many officers in their fleet and army who were not humans. The aliens are full citizens, able to vote in their elections of counselors, engage in what business they would wish, and go where they want.”

  “And can an alien become Emperor? Will we be able to aspire to that position?”

  Striped Wolf barked a laugh, then looked up as more contrails crossed the upper atmosphere, eyes narrowing as he wondered what that was about. There was always a lot of traffic to and from the surface, but so far he had seen dozens of craft that were not on the usual air corridors. He looked back over at his friend.

  “I don’t think even the humans are that egalitarian, my friend. But why should they be, when they founded their empire and hold it together. And they make up over eighty percent of their population, after all.”

  “So the other species do not take part in the government?” asked the other Maurid in an angry growl.

  “Not as Emperor, no,” said Striped Wolf with another barking laugh. “I do believe that a third of the Emperor’s Council are non-humans. There are also many of them in their Parliament, their law making body. And I have met several who are lords of the realm, on equal footing with the human nobles.”

  “Wait. You mean that the Emperor does not make their laws?”

  “No. He has a lot of power, especially in wartime. But the bodies of the Parliament actually make the laws, and depend on the Emperor to enforce them.”

  “And you think we’ll be happy in this Empire of theirs?”

  “There is no telling if we’ll even be included in their Empire. Some of their allies are worried that the human empire might grow too mighty. Talk was, they might allow the species of our empire the freedom to form their own nations.”

  The other Maurid stopped in his tracks, staring open mouthed at the leader of their movement.

  “By the Gods of the Ancestors,” said Kressrras, using the ancient oath. “We might have a Maurid nation, one of our own.”

  “We might, though I would vote for joining our fortunes with those of the humans myself. I fancy becoming one of their dukes, and letting the rest of you bow down to me.”

  The other Maurid laughed. Maurids might obey their leaders, but they never abased themselves to them. The Ca’cadasans now, maybe. But even then it was more likely that one would refuse and face execution. Even more likely that they would fight a hopeless battle against the masters.

  “Welcome,” greeted one of the waiting group, standing just outside the drinking house. The female sniffed the air, taking in the scent of the pair and verifying their identities. “Come in. The brothers and sisters await.”

  The drinking hall was packed with Maurids, all stopping what they were doing and sniffing the air as the trio entered. Identities verified, the majority of the beings in the house went back to their conversations and drinks. They looked like the customers of any other drinking house on a Maurid world, but Striped Wolf had recognized the scent of all within the chamber. All were known to him, and all were members of the resistance, providing cover as well as security for the meeting he was here to attend.

  He had heard of beings in the human Empire that could duplicate any form, given time. They had given the humans fits until they had figured out how to spot them. He wasn’t sure if they could pass for Maurids, who used their sense of smell to identify each other with great precision. And as far as he knew, the Cacas didn’t have such allies. Still, something to think of in the future.

  Strassafa, the female, as large and strong as any male, led them into the rear room, where the council waited. Twenty males and females sat around a table, speaking and sipping from their cups. All looked up as the trio entered, several calling out Mrrarraras’ name in greeting.

  “What news of the humans?” asked the male who was in charge of this region’s resistance.

  He had a scowl on his face, and Striped Wolf knew him to be one of the fire eaters of the movement, ready to rise up and slaughter the masters. It wasn’t yet time, and he hoped this firebrand would listen to reason.

  “They continue to roll up the masters on both fronts,” he told the assemblage, taking an offered seat. “It looks like there is still a hard fight ahead, but they will be here.”

  “But when?” asked the local leader, Hressassa by name. “How long will we have to chafe under the occupation of the big bastards. My claws and teeth hunger for their blood. My young warriors hunger for the lives of our enemies. I would see them fall before long.”

  “Patience. The humans are moving as fast as is tactically feasible. They want to aid us, but not at the cost of unnecessary casualties.”

  “I don’t believe they truly want to help us,” hissed Hressassa, glaring at Mrrarraras in challenge. “They use us, just as the masters do. They will let us spill our blood on their behalf, and then rule us in the master’s stead when they run to victory on our backs.”

  “I have worked with the humans. I have planned with them, plotted with them. I will vouch for their honor, and that of their leader.”

  “You will, but I know them not,” said Hressassa, his wiry fur bristling. “How do I know they are not just letting us run the risk of feeding them information, which they will use to become the new masters.”

  “You doubt me?” growled Mrrarraras, starting to stand as the claws in his hands extended. He had not come here to fight, but it was looking like he was about to get into one. Unless someone stepped in and stopped it. He looked around and saw nothing in the faces of the others that told him that the fight would be stopped.

  “Watch the viewer,” came an excited voice from the doorway as another female looked in.

  The viewer came to life, and breathes were sucked in as the members of the council watched the procession of armored Ca’cadasan warriors marching across a landing field that most recognized as belonging to the capital. Scores of shuttles sat on the tarmac, hundreds of warriors forming up from each pair of spacecraft, then marching off. The shuttles on the ground lifted back into the air, more jockeying into position to land and disgorge their own cargos.

  Mecha walked off some of the larger shuttles. Whatever was going on, it was not just a change of garrisons. Striped Wolf had a bad feeling about this, and was wondering if he would be able to get off the planet and back to the humans. Without a wormhole here that might not be possible.

  “They’re landing at the local field as well,” shouted the female who had reported to them that there was news on the vid.

  “Are you ready to fight, boy?” asked Hressassa, glaring over at Mrrarraras.

  “I guess I had better be, since they’ve brought the fight to us,” said Striped Wolf. “But I need to advise caution. We don’t need to meet them in open combat in the field.”

  “I should have realized that a sniveling sneak like you would feel that way,” said the regional leader with a sneer. He ignored Mrrarraras and looked over the other Maurids in the chamber. “My people. We must arm ourselves and strike back, before these creatures take what little freedom we have.”

  Half the people in the room ran out in the fast paced gait of their kind. The rest stayed in place, shouting and arguing about what they should do.

  “We need to lay low until we know what is going on,
” said Mrrarraras, staring at the vid for a moment before looking at the people who remained.

  “Will you stay with us and fight?” shouted one of the remaining females. “Or will you run back to the humans with your tail between your legs?”

  “I will stay,” said Striped Wolf, shoving his rising anger back down. With a challenge like that he now had to stay, when the best decision would have been to get off world, if possible, and back to his position as an intelligence agent to the human Empire. He was a Maurid warrior after all, and his courage had been called into question. So what else could he do? There was still the human stealth craft sitting on the edge of the system, his means of entry into Ca’cadasan space. He would be able to get information to the humans through their wormhole. With luck, he might be able to get that portal moved to the planet to supply the fight when it really kicked off.

  “I still caution patience,” he told the others. “At least let’s see what is going on before we start a revolution going that we can’t win.”

  Several hours later, when the Ca’cadasans started rounding up civilians for execution, Mrrarraras realized the time for patience had passed.

  * * *

  “It’s looking like our botched intelligence hand off is coming back to bite us, your Majesty,” said Vice Admiral Ekaterina Sergiov, looking at her leader where he sat at the head of the table, his wife by his side.

  Sean winced as he heard those words. The operation had been botched because he had ordered a priority hand off. If he had left well enough alone, and waited several days for the next scheduled transmission, it never would have happened. Instead, the incoming message to the station had been intercepted, and the outgoing Maurid ship had been caught near its destination. It had still transmitted its information to the stealth ship sitting in Caca space, and that data had come back to the Empire. But the conduit had been ruptured, and no further information would be coming that way from their capital system.