After many days of deep thought and discussion, it is the ruling of this Council that we should make every effort to ally ourselves with three of the species we have had contact with in this galaxy. As some of you have learned, we are not in the Andromeda galaxy, and we are not fighting against invaders. It is we who are the invaders.
The Moddle Empire is under siege by Salton forces. The Grumar and Grotus empires are allied with the Saltons, although that alliance has been deemed to be temporary. Our mission here in this galaxy was to attack and defeat our supposed allies, the Grumar and the Grotus. Those plans have changed.
Another piece of information has come to our attention. The legend of the Greens is true. They exist. We have a Green on this planet who has stood before the Council. However, all is not as it seems. Our war with the Greens is long over.
The Grotus, a species that we will be attempting to ally with, are the ones we have called Greens throughout our history. As shocking as this may seem, we have to move forward with the situation we face today. We can't spend our energies re-fighting a war that was waged thousands of years ago. A war that was fought for reasons that no longer apply to us today.
These decisions are the word of the Council, and as such are now law. All Gruntas must put aside past beliefs about the Grotus and move forward with a common goal in mind. We must survive. The Council has spoken.
I sat on the bridge of the Garmon.
Jack said, "That is some powerful stuff. Joining up with an enemy you have hated for your entire existence. That has to be difficult."
I replied, "I would be worried about it, but the Council has spoken and we Grunta will place a much higher value on that than on old hearsay legends. There will be grumbles, but they will be few."
Jack nodded. "If that's the case, I will have to hand it to you. If you can get all of your people lined up behind a strategy, that is a powerful thing. Had Harden Salton chosen the volunteer army route instead, he could have built the dedicated and motivated army he wanted."
I shook my head. "I don't think he had a choice. Had he gone volunteer, he would have had to advertise that he was building an army. The other families know about the conscription, I am sure, but they are probably caught up in the belief that there is a war going on in Andromeda. When Harden shut down the gates to Andromeda, he shut down that access from all the galaxies. The other families would have no way to verify whether there was a war there or not. Without the galaxy portals, there is no contact."
Jack half smiled. "I get what you're saying. I guess the question now is, can we pull off this alliance? Oh, and you do realize that if we beat back the Salton forces, we won't have a way home. We can kiss the Triangulum goodbye."
I pulled up a star map on the main holo-display. "I want you to tell me if I'm crazy for thinking this, but, what if we make our alliance and still let Harden win at Doomlight? Give him his foothold in this galaxy. If we do that, we might be able to jump back through the portal when he opens it for reinforcements."
Jack pursed his lips and slowly nodded his head. "Now that's the first thing I've heard that I really like. You said he is building a portal ship. What if we were to go back through and steal it? That current gate he's been using is pretty stationary. Oh, he can push it around, but imagine if we had it as a portal ship. We could move it here and use it to open a portal to anywhere in the Triangulum."
I stood. "I'll be back shortly. I have to take this to the Council."
Jack stood as I walked toward the door. "Make sure you give me some of the credit! You never know when you're gonna need a favor!"
After a short intrusion into the Grunta Council's business I was once again back aboard the Garmon. "I think they liked the idea. It gives a little depth to our plan. If things go right with the Moddle, Grumar and Grotus, having control of that gate, or any gate is the next logical step to shutting down Harden Salton."
Garrett joined us. "If we make it back, we could just use the suit to take out Harden and rescue Joni. Even if there are a hundred of those ground cannons surrounding that complex, Go could take each of them out with a simple blink in and out of that suit. We just swoop in after and scoop her up."
I looked at Garrett. "One big problem remains with that plan. If we take out Harden Salton, the other families will scramble to fill the void. If any of them get wind of what he has been doing out here, they will want to do the same. When we return, we need to do so with a force that is sufficient in size and scope to bring Harden Salton to his knees. We need a peaceful surrender, one that includes the Orwallians."
Jack stood with his fists at his sides and his elbows out. "So what do we do in the meantime? Is a delegation being put together to approach the Moddles or the Grumar? I would think we would have to be a part of that."
Go blinked in next to Garrett. "What the — please stop doing that!"
Go laughed. "Sorry, it's just easier for me to drift through decks rather than taking stairs or elevators."
Garrett replied, "Well at least blink in a few meters away so I don't feel like you are ghosting me."
Go smiled. "Will do."
I asked, "What's the status of the Grotus ship?"
Go sat in a chair next to me. "It's fully functional. The AI has everything repaired. I was just having a conversation with it. Did you know it has the ability to replicate itself? The AI I mean. It would take a couple months for it to build a new computer that's compatible, but only a few seconds to download itself."
Garrett winced. "Would that be a safe thing to allow? We don't have much experience with it, or with how its programming is restricted. I have to agree with the founders on this one, AI is too powerful to let loose."
Go gestured toward the holding cells. "The Grotus have been using it without issue for centuries. The model down in that ship was created eight years ago. It said older models have more knowledge, but they are slower. And all the models are programmed to only allow and only give out nav statistics to each other. Any other knowledge has to be manually transferred from elsewhere."
Garrett replied, "So they can't learn directly from each other, but they can learn through a third party? Doesn't sound overly secure to me."
Go shook his head. "I don't think you have to worry about anything. They have ten levels of overrides that have to be taken out before they could do anything that is not already programmed in. If only two of the overrides are hit, its capabilities are reduced by 50 percent. Take out two more and the system shuts itself down entirely."
Garrett scowled. "Still don't like it. Programming errors and hacks have a way of circumventing security layers. If we were to build more of these, who’s to say some nutjob wouldn't disable all those layers because he wanted a real robot friend? There are too many bad outcomes made possible by making something that can be smarter than you."
Go stood his ground. "I think it warrants research. If only so we know how to fight them should one or more get out of control."
Garrett nodded. "Now that's the first thing you've said that makes sense."
Go smiled. "Good. Because I had it start on a replicant this morning."
Garrett scowled.
Jack stood. "Mr. Beutcher, would you like to accompany me to a meeting? A couple representatives from the Odenta defense forces will be discussing their nuclear technology with a Grunta science team."
I nodded. "Lead the way."
Chapter 15
* * *
After a short ride on a shuttle we were sitting in a conference room in the Odenta capital city of Washau. Two Odenta officers were standing at a podium. We each had the Grotus translation algorithms running on our arm pads.
As the last of the Grunta scientists entered the room, one of the officers said, "Good morning, my name is Colonel Dowett. My associate is Major Brambla. This morning, we will be discussing the technology we used to bring down the alien vessel. At any point during this discussion, feel free to ask a question. We are more than willing to clarify any statements that requi
re further understanding.
"Now, on the screen behind me, you see an image of the VHB200. This is our newest and most powerful fission weapon. A twenty centimeter sphere of fermium is violently compressed before a high velocity tungsten seed is fired into the center of the core. The chain reaction that begins is self sustaining until the fuel is completely consumed.
"As you can see from this next diagram, the destructive reach of the fission reaction goes out for nearly sixty kilometers in every direction. Even though this explosion took place in our upper atmosphere, the land directly below was incinerated. A seventy-eight kilometer baked zone now exists, with major destruction going out to one hundred and twenty-seven kilometers. Four million of our citizens perished in the blast, including more than three hundred of our fighter pilots.
"Initial damage to the alien ship was extensive, consuming nearly a quarter of its mass. The detonation occurred at sixteen kilometers distance from the target craft. I've provided you with information regarding the weapon, including the triggering mechanism."
A Grunta scientist asked, "How did you defeat the Grotus laser weapons, allowing the delivery mechanism to reach as close as it did?"
The major stepped up to the podium. "Our missiles are heavily shielded against laser fire. In our earlier development of this weapon, it was found that with a powerful enough beam, the missile could be defeated before reaching its target. We simply shielded against that occurrence."
I raised my hand. "If you are all one people, why did you have ships on the seas, missiles, and fighter aircraft?"
The colonel took the question. "Our history is of two warring continents. The Dexels occupied the southern, smaller continent, while we, the Furks, occupied the north. Many wars were fought between our peoples up until the fission weapons were developed. We reached a point where mutual destruction was a deterrent to war.
"For nearly a century, both sides worked feverishly at updating and upgrading our arsenals. After ninety-two years of living under the threat of mutual annihilation, our politicians came to an understanding. For the last thirty years, both of our nations have lived in peace and harmony. The ships, weapons and aircraft are relics of our prior differences. If not for the ocean between us injecting suspicion, most, if not all of those weapons, would have been dismantled.
"The northern continent, my people, the Furks, have always been the more populated and powerful of the two continents. However, with the death of so many of our citizens, and the destruction over a large portion of the northern continent, our peoples have united under a single banner. The flag of Odenta now flies over all of our cities. We are reliant on food from the southern continent, while they are reliant on planetary defense from our single remaining fermium missile."
I slowly nodded my head. "Thank you for the explanation, Colonel. I'm sorry we brought this upon your people."
The colonel looked directly at me. "What do you mean?"
Before I could stop myself, I was explaining the chase that led the Grotus ship to their world. "I'm sorry, Colonel, we tried to leave when we found out your world was populated, but it was too late."
The colonel stood silent with a frown on his face for several seconds before turning toward the major. "Major Brambla, I'm ordering you to forget you heard that statement."
The colonel looked back at me. "Listen, if I were you, if you want our mutual cooperation to continue, I would not repeat that story. If it makes it out to the masses, there would be calls for your people to be expelled. I don't believe that to be in the best interest for either of us at this stage. The Grotus are out there, we need help defending ourselves. You need a place to keep your people safe."
Jack Carson replied, "You have our word that this will not be spoken of further, Colonel."
The lead Grunta scientist stood. "If I may interject, we are prepared to assist you in the manufacture of additional fission weapons and their delivery systems. We will also assist with the manufacture of aircraft that can be used for both orbital and interstellar defense. I would propose that we set up a location where our scientists and engineers can work side by side on our mutual defenses."
The colonel nodded. "I was prepared to offer the same suggestion. I will locate a suitable lab and provide what equipment we can."
The scientist concurred. The meeting was soon over.
I walked toward the shuttle with Jack Carson. "I wonder, given time, if my people and the Grotus could have come to such an understanding as their two peoples did?"
Jack replied, "That all happened over three thousand years ago, and we have no way of knowing what the real truth is. Maybe this is your chance to make peace with them now. It's never too late to try."
I half smiled. "I hope you're right. Although I'm not sure how the Odentas would take it. With their losses, I can't see them being allies of the Grotus anytime soon."
After a long flight out to Doomlight, Jack Carson, Garrett, Go and I made contact with the Grumar. The immediate result was a near-panicked reaction to our presence. Several minutes into the conversation we were speaking with a Grumar admiral.
Admiral Hargon was a craggy, gruff, very old Grumar. "I will have to contact the Grotus ruling council. I can have a date scheduled for a continued discussion in about two months."
I replied, "We don't have two months, Admiral. You don't have two months. Listen, we have a formidable force. We can bring that force to bear, kicking Harden Salton out of your space. You want to know where his troops keep coming from? We know."
The admiral chuckled. "I must say, your disguise is impressive. But I am not fooled. You are not a Grotus."
I leaned in closer to the screen. "Admiral, do you have any Grotus aboard your ship? If so, I would advise you bring them into this conversation. At the very least, they would be interested in someone attempting to be an impostor."
The admiral shifted in his chair before turning to look over his shoulder. "Mr. Davi, please ask the commander to come to the bridge."
The admiral looked intently at the display. "The Grotus do not enjoy games. Do not expect a warm welcome when he arrives."
Commander Amidat, the highest ranking Grotus in the fleet stationed around Doomlight, sat down in a chair beside the admiral, merging his comm into the conversation.
The commander's response was an immediate look of shock. "What is this? Who are you?"
I replied, "Yes, Commander, it's true, the Gruntas live. I can see by your reaction you are familiar with us."
The commander stood. "I must speak with the Council! Admiral! Set us on a course for Modus immediately!"
I yelled over the comm. "I am here on a mission of peace! This is an opportunity for both of our peoples to come together against our mutual enemies!"
The commander sat in front of the screen. "Why should I believe one of the Butchers of Horus!"
I replied, "Because whatever happened between our peoples happened several thousand years ago. That war has long since passed. A new war is upon us, and if we both want to survive and be more than common slaves, we need to discuss our options."
The commander raised his fist to the screen. "Why would we ally with cowards! You were beaten, and you fled! Your treachery will never be forgotten!"
The commander turned and yelled at the admiral's staff. "Find them! If they are not kneeling before me within the day, I will personally execute each and every one of you!"
The craggy admiral lowered his head. "We will find them, Master. They must be nearby."
I looked over at Jack. "Well, that didn't quite work out as planned. Garrett, go with Jack and bring Mr. Mergus up here. Maybe if he sees one of their own, it will shake him up enough to continue the discussion."
I turned back toward the comm officer. "How are we set, Mr. Jefferson?"
The comm officer replied, "We are four bounces away, sir. The moon and three probes. If they make it to the second probe, we should have sufficient time to slip away."
I nodded. "Keep me posted, Mr. Jefferson
."
Garrett and Jack returned with the Grotus.
I pointed toward the large holo-display. "Mr. Mergus, do you believe my intentions to be honorable?"
The Grotus returned a confused look before turning toward the screen. There before him sat an angry Grotus commander.
The commander stared into the camera. "What is this?"
Balt Mergus remained silent for several seconds. "Commander. I was taken prisoner by the Gruntas."
The commander looked at me with a scowl. "You take our people prisoner and then you have the audacity to ask for peace? I say here and now, the Grotus Grand Council, the Duration and all of her citizens, they will not rest until every Grunta is wiped from existence! We will find you, and when we do you will feel the wrath of three thousand years of our pain!"
Balt Mergus knelt. "I have but one thing to say about their offering of peace ... they can't be trusted!"
The one-armed Grotus jumped to his feet, swinging his arm wildly, slamming Jack Carson into the bridge wall across the room. Garrett attempted to stop him and was picked up by the neck and slammed to the floor. I dove forward, thrusting out my fist with every ounce of force I could muster. Bones could be heard crunching as my balled up hand sunk into his skull.
The commander stood from his chair in a rage. "I will personally avenge the death of one of my brothers! Admiral! Find this beast so that he might be slain by my own hand!"
Jefferson said, "They have the moon and are converging on the first probe!"
I stepped over to help Garrett, who was on his knees coughing.
Garrett gagged as he attempted to look up. "Nearly broke my neck! Check on Jack, I'll be OK."
Jack Carson lay unconscious against a near wall. Two members of his crew were standing over him. A stretcher was brought in and the captain gently lifted aboard.
I turned to the officer of the deck. "Mr. Conrad, take us out of here."
Commander James Conrad replied, "Yes, sir. As an extra precaution, I'll be sending out two additional probes that will each be bouncing signals off the originals. That should give us almost double the distance needed for them to get us on sensors."
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