by S. H. Jucha
Gino said, picking up the thread,
There was a pause in the conversation, which led each participant to believe that Theodore was desperate to say more, but particular individuals on the comm prevented him from speaking bluntly. And every Omnian knew who they were — Gino and Katrina.
The Confederation SADEs had long calculated that their heroine, Allora, who had disappeared in a supposed accident, was somehow linked to the miraculous propagation of a SADE, Miranda Leyton, that none of them had ever known of before. It was too great a coincidence to ignore.
There was another pause in the conversation, in which Miranda interjected,
The pause was much longer this time.
The enormity of what had been discovered was sinking into everyone’s minds, human and SADE. The Méridien and Haraken societies had been incredibly lax by failing to investigate the possible means by which the Nua’ll might have targeted their worlds.
Gino asked anxiously.
Alex was about to reply when Cordelia held up a finger, signaling for his attention.
* * *
Alex tabled further discussions with the Méridiens to await the arrival of Terese, but Renée wasn’t prepared to wait that long to speak to her close friend before she got the answers to her burning questions.
Renée groaned. Any number of the famous Haraken clan might have served the people well. However, the one individual, Jason Haraken, who wouldn’t have done the populace any good was the clan member who had run for the presidency.
Terese closed the comm call and returned to the bridge holo-vid view, which she had been observing.
“Notice the two Tridents above and below the ecliptic,” Tomas Monti, Terese’s partner, said.
“I’m not sure I understand what Tatia is trying to achieve. It appears she’s trying to surround a planet,” Terese replied.
“There’s the possibility the planet is standing in for a sphere,” Tomas suggested.
“Renée said Alex had important news. I sincerely hope it isn’t bad tidings about another sphere.”
“You know, Terese, Alex has been hunting for them. Why would you think he wouldn’t find them?”
“Because I’ve been hoping there was only one,” Terese admitted, her shoulders drooping desultorily.
* * *
Renée had whiled away the afternoon touring their guests, Gino and Katrina, through the enormous city-ship. The Méridiens were intrigued by the delightful elements that were incorporated into the vessel, particularly the central park, smaller gardens, venues lining these green spaces, and Cordelia’s vid reality display. The couple spent several hours in it the first time they saw it, and they visited the entertainment site several times afterwards.
On their latest tour, Renée introduced the Méridiens to Captain Hector, who had planned an evening aboard the Freedom with Trixie.
“Captain, I never had the opportunity to offer you my condolences for what you suffered at the hands of Mahima Ganesh,” Gino said.
“I was fortunate to be guided by Winston through those dark times and the decision to prosecute Leader Ganesh,” Hector replied. He was referring to the Council’s former SADE, who was freed at the same time he had been. Inherent in his words was the accusation that no Confederation human had come to his rescue.
Renée sought to rebalance the brief meeting, saying, “It was probably fortunate that one human’s concern was paramount.”
“Yes, Ser. May the stars protect him,” Hector replied. He dipped his head slightly, saying, “Excuse me, Sers. Duty calls.”
“He carries a great deal of animosity,” Katrina said, after Hector left.
“Yes, it’s difficult to tell whether that was from his more than a century of incarceration or whether it was due to his last years of mental torture by Mahima,” Renée replied.
Gina drew breath to speak, but Renée held up a hand. “President Lechaux of Haraken has arrived. It’s too late to make the bay and welcome her. We should proceed to the conference room.”
-10-
Conference
Renée and the Méridien Leaders were the last to arrive at the conference meeting.
Terese, who was speaking to Alex, abandoned her conversation in mid-sentence, when she detected Renée’s approach. She hurried to the door and intercepted her friend, as Renée came through it. The tearful reunion occupied some time before
Terese and Renée untangled themselves.
After everyone was seated, Alex opened the meeting by saying, “If I’m not mistaken, everyone here has met everyone else, at one time or another.”
Faces gazed around the table and every head nodded in agreement.
“Fine. Then we can get right to business,” Alex announced. “One of our scout ships, the Vivian, was captured. Our squadron went to the rescue, and we encountered a race called the Ollassa. They’re a derivative of flora with capabilities of thought and animation.”
“Plants?” Katrina asked.
“Of a sort,” Alex replied. “During the Vivian’s capture by the Ollassa warship, the SADEs aboard the scout ship collected an abundance of telemetry data on the Ollassa system. In that data was evidence of a great deal of debris. Most of it was from the host system, but some of it was similar to the Nua’ll sphere.”
“You say similar?” Gino pressed.
“According to Omnian SADEs, the material was similar enough to be positively identified as Nua’ll, but it was not a match to the sphere at Libre. It was during negotiations with one of the Ollassa Life Givers, a tree that produces one of the species’ sects, that Renée managed to convince the giant tree to grant us access to their records.”
“Does anyone else find this story tearing you in two different directions?” Tomas interjected. “I would love to hear more about the Ollassa, but I’m desperate to know about the sphere.”
“Darryl Jaya, the Minister of Space Exploration, will be upset that he missed out on the discovery of another intelligent species,” Maria added.
“In reviewing the Ollassa data,” Alex continued, “which incidentally only the SADEs can see because it’s outside human’s visual spectrum, we watched a SADE-converted vid as the Ollassa threw unarmed ships, by the handfuls, at two bullet ships, which had exited the sphere.”
“Why only two?” Maria asked. “Aren’t there supposed to be four?”
“The Ollassa sphere had the large bays around its circumference, separated at 90 degrees, as did the Libran sphere,” Z explained. “That indicated it should have had the four defensive vessels, but only two engaged the Ollassa. When two Ollassa ships rammed one of the bullet ships, exploding it, the other one retreated into the sphere, and the Nua’ll ship left in a hurry.”
“Alex, you say that the Ollassa ships rammed the bullet ship. How could they get close enough to do that?” Katrina asked.
“That’s because, my dear Leader,” Miranda remarked, “the Ollassa, who had no armament at the time, threw themselves against the Nua’ll defenders by the hundreds. They literally overran the bullet ships in an effort to drive the invaders from the system. Quite a contrast to the Confederation’s reaction against the first sphere over the course of decades, wouldn’t you say?”
Gino and Katrina gritted their teeth and bit back their remarks. It was true. The Confederation watched colony after colony get turned to dust, while they did nothing but flee to safety — those who could.
“The woman who led the Council during that time is no longer in power,” Alex said sternly, and the individuals around the table could feel the power radiating from his implants. “Recriminations about the past don’t help, and, yes, the Ollassa exhibited unimaginable courage and self-sacrifice to save their home world. But, let’s remember, they had only the one. Their fronds, so to speak, were against the wall.”
“Apologies,” Miranda said to the Méridiens.
“Accepted,” Gino said quietly.
“The point of my story,” Alex continued, “is that we couldn’t understand why the sphere chose an exit vector that didn’t immediately remove it from harm’s way. Up or down from the ecliptic would have been a faster escape course. It did outrun the Ollassa ships, but that got us wondering how and why the Nua’ll chose that tangent. Obviously, there was a reason for that choice, which made us ask how the sphere collected the information about the potential destinations.”
“Alex requested telemetry data from the Confederation detailing what our ships monitored during the sphere’s incursion into the Confederation,” Gino said, stepping into the story. “He requested all our telemetry data. The message stated that he wanted his SADEs to search for evidence of probes.”
“Probes?” Maria, Terese, and Tomas echoed, at the same time.
“We immediately investigated the data for ourselves and discovered the presence of Nua’ll probes in our systems. I can report that you have rarely seen our Council in such turmoil as when the existence of the devices was announced to the public,” Gino said, with a grin, recalling the Leaders’ furor.
Renée chuckled, which drew attention her way. “I believe I can imagine the Leaders’ consternation, having personally witnessed that sort of reaction, once or twice.” She smiled at Alex, who was seated across the table. She was referring to the occasions when Alex had confronted the powerful Confederation Council.
Human eyes swiveled momentarily to Alex, and the SADEs shared comments among themselves, far different than the thoughts of the humans.
“Maria, Terese, you’ll be receiving the data on the probes,” Alex said. “It will allow you to identify their signals and locate them. My advice is to sweep your systems clean and continue to do so. I would love to have you record as much of their broadcasts as you can before their destruction, but that would be selfish on my part. My recommendation: Destroy them as soon as they’re found.”
“Putting this together,” Terese mused out loud. “You’ve found evidence of the existence of a second sphere, which means, odds are, there are probably more.” She was regarding Alex, as she spoke, and watched for his agreement, as she worked her way toward the reason she came to Omnia. “In addition, the Nua’ll have probably been planning their expansion across this part of the galaxy for a while, as evidenced by the use of probes at who knows how many stars.”
When Alex acknowledged her reasoning, Terese turned to Tatia. “Which brings me to my question about your battle strategy, Admiral. Obviously, this slip of a man and you, along with this foolhardy outfit, will be charging after this sphere, with the aid of your trusty computationally capable, digital friends.”
Many at the table were grinning at the personality surfacing of the woman they had known for nearly a quarter century, who was often referred to as the fiery redhead.
“Why, thank you for asking, Madam President,” Tatia replied, rising to the occasion. “We’ll be trying to trap the sphere in system by surrounding it. With fortune, the Nua’ll might surrender once we defeat its remaining bullet ship.”
“And is that your estimation of the expected outcome?” Terese asked.
“That would be a negative, Madam President. I expect the sphere to sacrifice its remaining defender and make a run for it. At which time, I intend to have the Trident squadron cut it to pieces,” Tatia replied, displaying her patent wolfish grin.
Maria politely covered her broad smile. In many ways, the TSF major she knew hadn’t changed one bit.
“And that brings me to my reason for coming here, Admiral,” Terese replied. “Wouldn’t your strategy have a much greater opportunity for success if you had more Tridents? Space is huge, and the sphere is fast. More ships mean less chance for the sphere to slip past you.” When Terese finished, she turned in her seat to eye Alex.
“I’m listening, Madam President. What are you proposing?” Alex asked.
“I’ve come here to understand Omnia’s intentions, concerning warships. It looks like I’ve arrived just in time to learn how far behind humans and SADEs are in defending our worlds from the Nua’ll. Therefore, I’ve decided that Haraken must get in on the construction of faux-shell ships, and we’re willing to commit a portion of our Trident force, with travelers, to assist in your search.”
“What portion?” Alex asked.
“Say a quarter,” Terese replied.
“Say a half.”
“Say a third.”
After a moment’s consideration, Terese replied, “Half is acceptable.”
“Omnia Ships will give you the specifications for the Tridents, the scout ships, and the faux-shell technique, but it will require a license fee for each ship produced. Furthermore, you can’t use the faux-shell technique for any other type of vessel, except Tridents, fighters, and scout ships.”
Terese started to object, but she caught Renée’s subtle shake of her head. Her friend was warning her off from pushing Alex on this subject. “How many credits for the licensing of each type of ship?” Terese asked instead.
“Speak to my bankers,” Alex replied.
Terese would have asked for more information, but she spotted the four SADEs, each holding up a finger, which they were gently waving in the air. “I should have guessed,” Terese said, chuckling.
Alex turned to Gino, who demurred, saying, “I believe the New Terran envoy should go next.”
“That’s where you’re uninformed, Council Leader Diamanté,” Maria replied with a grin. “New Terra already has a deal with Omnia Ships. Three of those eight Tridents out there are ours. Although New Terra would be interested in amending our agreement to get the same type of deal that Haraken is being offered.”
When Alex’s eyes narrowed at her, Maria added. “More production capability means more Tridents, fighters, and scout ships sooner, which means we find the spheres faster than they find us.” Alex nodded grudgingly, and Maria felt like she had won a major concession. Now, if I can just keep Admiral Tripping from screwing up our relationship with the Omnians, we might be able to defend ourselves, in the future, Maria thought.
“Then I believe I am next,” Gino acknowledged. “As odd as this might sound, coming from the Confederation’s Council Leader, we want Tridents, fighters, and scout ships too.”
Conversation, both vocal and comm, came to a halt. The Confederation had resisted the idea of offensive capabilities throughout the invasions of the alien sphere and Earther warships.
“Is this you talking, Gino, or the will of the Council?” Alex asked.
