I nodded as I sat in the captain's chair for the first time in months. "Thank you, Mr. Conrad. The extra effort is appreciated."
Garrett stood in front of me while rubbing his neck. "I thought I had the jump on him, and next thing I know I was heading for the floor with my feet in the air. I hope Jack's OK."
I sighed. "He is in good hands with the medical team. There is nothing you or I can do for him now except stay out of the way."
A signal came over my comm. "This is Major Keller, I'm down here with the captain. It looks he has a mild concussion and a few bruised ribs. He's a little groggy, but awake. We have a few more scans to run before we can clear him of any internal injuries. I thought you might want to know that he will survive."
The bridge erupted in a cheer.
Garrett sat beside me. "Don't get too comfortable there. He's gonna want that back."
I smiled. "And I will gladly give it."
I looked up at the still-seething image of the Grotus commander. Balt Mergus had indeed been feeding me propaganda. The commander's attitude and demeanor spoke of the true Grotus temperament.
I stood in front of the holo-display, rubbing my bruised knuckles. "I made a genuine effort for peace here today, Commander. The Grotus are the ones who have shown that you cannot be trusted. One day soon our peoples will again meet on the battlefield."
The commander returned a nasty grin. "I look forward to that day. The Grotus will put an end to your continued cowardly existence. Or will you run away again just as before?"
I replied, "It is the Grotus who will run or suffer. You will suffer a fate that should have been yours three thousand years ago, a fate matched to your own brutality. Our women eagerly await that fight."
The commander laughed. "Yes, I had forgotten that it is your women who do the fighting for their cowardly men. I look forward to the sound of the Grunta women squealing in pain as I tear their limbs from their bodies!"
As the commander made more painful promises, I closed the comm channel and sat back in the captain's chair. "Mr. Conrad, take us back to Odenta in a roundabout way."
Garrett sat beside me. "I think our work out here just became difficult. With the Grumar and the Grotus we could have crushed anything Salton sent this way."
I nodded. "It would have changed our approach. I believe the Moddle will have no choice but to join with us. I also believe that Harden Salton will delay his attack on the Grotus there at Doomlight. Without his Grunta force to assist, he will change his tactics. If our team reaches the Moddle worlds before Harden's, we have a good chance of turning them to our side. If we are late, Harden will force a surrender and conscript them into his army."
Garrett swung his feet around to lay back on the bench-style chair he was seated on. "Let's just hope the team your council sent out to talk with the Moddles are convincing enough. Otherwise, we'll be out here fighting by ourselves."
Jack came walking back onto the bridge with the medical officer in tow. "Let go of me, I'll be fine. That's not the first time I've had my ass kicked. And you, Beutcher, get out of my chair!"
I smiled as I stood. "Glad to see you are feeling better."
Jack winced as he sat down. "Feeling better? I just got slammed against a wall and have two broken ribs. Frankly, I've never felt much worse!"
Garrett sat up and laughed. "Nothing like taking a beat-down from a one-armed opponent, huh?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, well, he got his. Mr. Jefferson, can you roll back the bridge recordings and display that short fight on the big display for me?"
Jefferson complied. "Yes, sir."
Jack commented as he watched the seven seconds of fury. "Whoa, that hurts just watching. I've gotta work on my react— hahaha! Ow, that hurts!"
Garrett raised his hands. "Hey, I'll admit I was outclassed."
Jack again attempted a laugh as he paused the video. "Look, right here. It looks like he's throwing around a ragdoll! Hahaha! Ow!"
Garrett scowled. "Well, at least I held onto him. He smacked you around like you were inflatable."
Jack continued the recording. "Whoa, WHOA! What was that? I gotta watch that again! You punched right through his skull!"
I rubbed my knuckles. "The bone is thinnest in that spot. I was lucky it gave way."
Jack shook his head. "Still, your image is almost blurred on that recording."
Garrett laughed. "Yeah, well, from what he says, the Grunta women are even faster. I can't imagine that, and I'm not asking one of them to show me either."
Go cut into the conversation. "Both of you need one of these suits. Had he taken a swing at me he would have missed. With only minimal effort, I could have made him vanish from existence."
Garrett replied, "Sounds like you're getting a big head from wearing that suit. Don't get too cocky or someone's gonna come along and put you in your place."
Jack smiled. "It's a thin line that separates confidence from arrogance. Just be careful that you don't cross it or what Garrett said will be waiting for you just around the next corner."
Go grinned. "That's an easy one. I don't go around corners anymore. I just drift through them!"
Jack gingerly held up his right hand. "Just saying. If you lose that instinct that comes from fear, it will be your downfall."
Go nodded. "I'm more than scared enough. I was just pulling your chains about getting knocked around. That's what friends do."
Several hours had passed when the nav officer yelled out: "We have a blip on the sensors! It's coming from the direction of Doomlight!"
Jack swiped away at the large holo-display until a zoomed-in image of the blip came to life. "Tell me the instant you have a fix on its direction. If it is coming directly for us, alter our course by three degrees."
One of the Talisan engineers came over the comm. "Your Highness, the alien ship is emitting a tracking signal. We checked back in the recordings, it came online when we were in contact with the Grotus ship."
I followed Go and Garrett down to the cargo hold where the teardrop ship sat open.
Go spoke to the alien computer: "Why did you activate the beacon?"
The AI responded. "It is standard protocol to report when in contact range."
Go banged the palm of his hand against his head. "I should have thought of that! Computer, disable the signal immediately!"
The AI replied, "The beacon has been terminated. May I assist with any other tasks?"
The Talisan engineer stood away from his console. "Sir, the beacon signal has stopped."
I gave a command to the AI: "Before initiating or accepting any communications coming from outside this ship, please confer with me or Go as to whether or not to accept a connection. This order is to override all protocols or pre-programmed responses."
The Anterra responded with an acknowledgment. I then returned it to its prior task of replicating a computer system that would be compatible with its software. The ship that was following soon slipped off the sensor screen. The rest of our ride back to Odenta was uneventful.
Chapter 16
* * *
I stood before the Council as the lead councilwoman gave a statement. "We have read your report and watched the video recordings of your conversations. All went as expected. We thank you for your efforts."
I replied, "If you don't mind my asking, do we have a set of backup plans in the works should the Moddle also refuse?"
The Council lead gestured toward the door. "We do mind. Your question is not appropriate for this time. Please excuse yourself as we deliberate."
I nodded and hurried out of the council room. Garrett and Go were waiting. "So? What's next?"
I stopped and looked at Garrett. "They are deliberating, and took offense to my asking about plan B. I had hoped a bond of trust would be granted to me, but the Council, as always, does not allow their deliberations to be known until such time as an edict has been voted upon. It's possible that my visits with the Council have come to an end."
Go complained. "That's n
ot right! You of all people should be allowed in there. They would all be dead if it wasn't for us!"
I placed my hand on Go's shoulder as we walked down the long hallway outside the council chambers. "I appreciate your confidence in me."
Garrett looked back at the guards at the council door and scowled. "OK, so let them figure it out on their own. In the meantime, what should we do?"
I replied, "Let's head back to the Garmon. We can discuss our options there."
As we arrived, two Odenta engineers were leaving.
Jack waved us into a room. "In here, quick."
An excited Jack Carson gestured for us to sit. "I just worked out a deal with the Odentas for four of their fission missiles, complete with laser shielding. Your Talisan engineers will be integrating those missiles, with launch tubes, into the Garmon's systems. I also asked them if they could update our EMP shielding. If we ever have cause to fire them off, we don't want to kill ourselves as well."
I replied, "You said you made a deal?"
Jack nodded. "In return, we're providing them with the AI replicant Go made, and an autobot the AI now has under construction. The new AI will only accept commands from the people in this room, or from the two engineers you just saw leaving. They plan on using it to update their power generation systems to use ionics instead of their standard electric. Their generator efficiency will be nothing like what we have with the Orwallian amplifiers, but it will be far superior to what they currently have."
Garrett shook his head. "Here we go. How long before the AI’s are hunting us down?"
Go jumped to their defense. "Hey, I think we can restrict them enough so they won't be a danger."
I held up my hand to avert the growing argument over different fundamental beliefs when it came to AI’s. "We know both of your positions on this. Go, just make sure one of the parameters of control on that new AI is set so that it can't replicate itself, or pass off any piece of its software that would allow such replication. And, Jack, I know you are excited about adding nukes to our arsenal of weapons, but please confer with the rest of us before making any major decisions like that again."
Jack placed his hands on the table and leaned in. "You do realize that with these weapons we can take out not just one, but four of those battlecruisers? I'm gonna have your engineers work on an upgraded drive for those missiles as well. At the moment, they are very sub-light in their speed. Imagine jacking that speed up to match our own. That would make it a formidable weapon in space as well as in atmosphere. Imagine the shock as this little ship takes out one of those battlecruisers!"
Garrett sat back. "Imagine their shock if we dropped a couple of those onto the Grumar home planet."
I turned to look at Garrett. "I think that is exactly what our next move should be. Jack, how many of those fermium warheads do you think they will give us?"
Jack scratched his chin. "They don't have a lot of that material, and it takes a lot of processing to make it weapons grade."
Go leaned forward. "If we could convince them to postpone their power generation project, we could have the autobot work on speeding any materials processing that is needed. Rebuilding or constructing machinery is something they are good at. And if I'm not mistaken, both the Dexels and the Furks have stockpiles of the raw ores used. Leftovers from their prior armaments race."
Jack looked at me with, looking pensive. "I can go and bring them back. They're waiting just outside for a shuttle pickup."
"Do so."
Two minutes later, the Furk engineers entered the room. "Ladies, please have a seat. What I would like to know is how many of these fission weapons you could make and how quickly you could make them."
The taller of the two engineers replied, "We have enough material standing at the ready to build several hundred. Our Dexel brothers probably have the same. After the attack of the Grotus, we are both moving forward with plans to convert that material into warheads. I expect to have four warheads ready this month, in addition to the four we have promised."
I nodded. "Given the power of these weapons, how many would it take to wipe out the population on this planet?"
The engineers returned an angry look. "What?"
I held up my hands. "I apologize for the phrasing of that question. How many for a planet of this size? If the Grotus planet is typical of this one, which I suspect it is, how many warheads would be needed to knock such a planet back by, let's say ... 90 percent?"
The second engineer replied, "The Dexel, and us, have run the numbers for this many times. For coverage of the two continents, sixteen. For coverage of the oceans as well, thirty-two. And our estimates place the initial death toll for such an occurrence at 99 percent. To reach an initial 90 percent figure, I would scale the number of warheads needed back by about a quarter—though even that is probably overkill."
The first engineer concurred. "Those figures sound correct. If your goal was to incapacitate 90 percent immediately, it would probably only require half. You would still achieve the 99 percent within three months."
Jack nodded. "Sounds like we need at least sixteen missiles."
I asked, "If the autobot were prioritized to assist in the construction of the warheads, how long would it take to deliver twenty such devices to us?"
The two engineers talked quietly to each other for most of a minute. "With our current resources, and the full backing of our government, we feel comfortable with a sixty day figure. Most of the resources are in place already, they only require assembly. If the autobot were to be included in that assembly, well, we have no way of estimating its efficiency other than to say the time required may be less."
I looked at Go and Garrett. "Do you think the two of you could go with them to facilitate things? We would like twenty of those missiles delivered in as short a time as possible. And, Garrett, when you return, see what you can do to their designs to make them as stealthy as possible. Something that size, traveling at the speed of our ships, would leave them only twenty minutes or so to react. If we can cut that time by half or three-quarters, we might just be able to catch them off-guard."
As the engineers left, Jack sat at the table. "You would wipe out a whole planet? There are some who would consider that to be barbaric."
I sat as well. "These are the Grotus we are talking about. If we have to go into combat against them, millions of my people will die. I believe a surprise attack on their planet to be our best option."
Jack gestured toward the door. "Is this something the Council should be deciding?"
I took a deep breath. "It is. And they would probably decide against it, choosing instead to fight. Even with the thousand Alliance destroyers we have sitting out there, I don't believe we would fare well against those Grotus battlecruisers."
Jack frowned. "So we burn their planet but their fleet remains intact? I don't see us coming out on top in that scenario either. And as far as their will to fight goes, with that action, I don't think you could make it any stronger. What we really need is a couple of these missiles on each of those destroyers. Let's take out the planet and the fleet."
I shook my head. I don't think we have the time needed to do that. With that beacon the teardrop had running, they now have a general idea of where we were going. Space is big, but you send several hundred scout ships out in our general direction and we would be lucky to escape detection for more than a month or two. If we can arm the Garmon, and if they do discover this planet, we could at least buy some time with the threat of elimination of their planet. That in itself makes this venture worthwhile."
Jack nodded. "OK, I can buy that, but don't you think the Council will want in on this?"
I stood. "I think the Council would be slow to a decision on this. I would rather put forth the initial effort to get this going than wait even a week for them. If they discover our plan, well, we deal with them at that time."
Jack smiled. "I guess you know better than I that you don't want a bunch of unhappy Grunta women angry at you. I can't se
e that going well for either of us."
I paced the room as my nervous energy began to get the best of me. "You don't have to worry about the Council. You are Human, they would brush your behavior aside. I, on the other hand, I would have to answer to my wife. Even if she sided with me against the Council, she would be furious for not being informed."
Jack laughed. "So tell her!"
I stopped as I looked down at the floor. "No, I cannot do that. She would then be obligated to disclose it to the Council. She took a commissioned rank as a military colonel when all this began. I can't put her in that position of having to choose."
The nav officer interrupted our conversation. "Sorry, sir, but I have an interesting fact that I think you'd want to know. On the star maps you took from the Saltons, there is a planet named Jorus. It's about three weeks from here, and the Grumar world is another two months from there."
Jack looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Jorus? Horus? It might be worth a look. In the time we fly out and back, the engineers might have our missiles ready. And we could work on the launcher integration while in flight. We would even have Go and that autobot for any exterior work."
I nodded. Let's give them a couple days with the Odenta engineers. If everything looks to be on track, we could give it a go."
Jack looked back at the door. "Thank you, Mr. Conrad."
I pulled up the star map on my holo-display and searched for Jorus. A yellow star system with six planets came into view. The second and third planets occupied what would be considered the habitable zone. Jorus was the closest of the two habitable worlds to the local star.
Jack looked over the display. "You know, one of those two might actually be your home world. Jorus and Horus, sounds pretty close to me. Could be a pronunciation difference by Balt Mergus that we didn't pick up on. You said your history had you and the Grotus starting on the same planet. Maybe that world is Jorus."
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