by H. T. Kofruk
The Imperialists
The Complete Trilogy
Balance of Power
Ungracious Fall
Scattered Tempest
Book 1: Balance of Power
Prologue
Chapter 1: Janpu
Chapter 2: News
Chapter 3: A Threat
Chapter 4: Return or Revenge
Chapter 5: Unleashed
Chapter 6: Wormhole
Chapter 7: A New Force
Chapter 8: Planet Killer
Chapter 9: The Shadow
Chapter 10: Kheut
Chapter 11: The Priest
Chapter 12: Differences
Chapter 13: Unearthed
Chapter 14: Birth
Chapter 15: No Loose Ends
Chapter 16: Leviathan
Chapter 17: Too Late
Chapter 18: Aftermath
Chapter 19: The Smuggler
Chapter 20: Shital Niwas
Chapter 21: Connection
Chapter 22: Decision
Chapter 23: The Plan
Chapter 24: Way Forward
Chapter 25: Exploration
Chapter 26: Stress
Chapter 27: The Assassin
Chapter 28: The Bearded Mask
Chapter 29: Bladun
Chapter 30: Huangjing
Chapter 31: Captured
Chapter 32: Lordsphere
Chapter 33: New Kaliningrad
Chapter 34: Chased
Chapter 35: The Hall of Peace
Chapter 36: Utter Destruction
Chapter 37: Hokkaido
Chapter 38: Warsaw
Book 2: Ungracious Fall
Prologue
Chapter 1: Filial Piety
Chapter 2: Lebanon
Chapter 3: Dreams
Chapter 4: Shipwrecked
Chapter 5: Dongjing
Chapter 6: Snowballs
Chapter 7: Desperation
Chapter 8: Sentience
Chapter 9: The Hummers
Chapter 10: Unity
Chapter 11: Distress
Chapter 12: Replaced
Chapter 13: Second Life
Chapter 14: The Saracen
Chapter 15: Seeds of Change
Chapter 16: Sapling
Chapter 17: R&R
Chapter 18: The Carulio System
Chapter 19: Petra
Chapter 20: Mistrust
Chapter 21: Knowledge
Chapter 22: Boston
Chapter 23: A First Taste
Chapter 24: Assault
Chapter 25: Fall
Chapter 26: Terra
Book 3: Scattered Tempest
Prologue
Chapter 1: Infiltration
Chapter 2: Nuevo Santiago
Chapter 3: Theories
Chapter 4: The Ten
Chapter 5: Britain
Chapter 6: Shame
Chapter 7: Tharoa
Chapter 8: Backpedalling
Chapter 9: Face to Face
Chapter 10: The Universe
Chapter 11: Eavesdropping
Chapter 12: Allegiance
Chapter 13: Doom
Chapter 14: Misguidance
Chapter 15: Rage
Chapter 16: Diqiu Two
Chapter 17: The Perfect Target
Chapter 18: Closure
Chapter 19: Crippled
Chapter 20: Defection
Chapter 21: A Cup of Tea
Chapter 22: Burden
Chapter 23: Mission to the Unknown
Chapter 24: The Code
Chapter 25: The Planet
Chapter 26: Liberator
Chapter 27: Cousins
Chapter 28: The Odds
Chapter 29: Second Front
Chapter 30: The Choices We Make
Chapter 31: The Beginning
Book 1: Balance of Power
Prologue
Danath couldn’t take his eyes off the gleaming sphere full of complex movements and patterns. He could clearly see the clouds moving in slow motion over golden landmasses and the deep blue Janpek Sea. He blinked in the powerful sunlight that was hitting his darkened visor, unfiltered by atmosphere or clouds. Everything was clean and clear in the vacuum of space.
Himirri chuckled. She used her gas thrusters to propel herself next to him and put her small, dexterous hand in his. It was impossible to make out her husband’s expression but she could imagine his bewilderment.
“It’s nice out here, isn’t it?” she said.
He paused a moment before answering. “I can’t believe I finally made it out. I must be one of the first male astronauts.”
“We’re trying to get more males to join” she answered. “But you’re definitely not the first. You could be the first male engineer astronaut though.”
Danath had very long and skilful fingers for a male, something that allowed him to compete against females in engineering school where dexterity was much more important than strength.
“We’ve got work to do, tenant” she said after letting him stare for a couple more minutes.
“Yes, ma’am” he answered with a sarcastic edge. His wife, a kaptan, was his superior during this mission.
The two, grey-clad figures maneuvered to the similarly grey ship they had used to get into orbit. As commanding officer, Himirri let Danath do the work while she observed. This was his first space walk and her eighth, so she understood his nervousness and awe. But it was an important mission that could really define the future of the Janpu Space Programme.
Danath opened the pressure hatch of the cargo bay in the belly of the ship. It released a stream of air but there was no hissing sound. This disconcerted him for some reason and he fumbled with the control panel that would release the generator modules from the cargo bay.
“Relax, tenant” she said. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
Danath didn’t like it when she called him by his rank even though he understood she was doing it to stay professional.
“Yes, kaptan” he said simply. He exhaled slowly trying to relax.
He started punching orders into the control panel with more measure. The first module was released and edged out of the thickly packed cargo bay. The markings on it indicated that it was a solar generator. The module was bulky so Himirri helped him slide it out of the ship. Using their thrusters, they moved the generator towards the Janpu Space Station, itself made of over three hundred black hexagonal modules.
“Module two-one-three. It needs to go on the far end” said Himirri. “Hey, use your thruster sparingly.”
Danath remembered that due to the lack of friction in space he required only a short burst of gas to travel at a constant speed. He reminded himself that he would also need to use gas to slow down eventually.
They attached four modules to the station, all of them solar generators. When the last one slid into place, identical to the hundreds of others except for the markings, Himirri stopped and smiled.
“Ok, we have to start the generators before we attach any more modules.”
The lower technical deck of the station was almost complete, looking like a giant black honeycombed slab. The modular approach to building it was a stroke of genius in Danath’s opinion. Each hexagonal prism was made to be easily built, transported, fitted and replaced. As a result, the entire mounting phase of the station would be finished ahead of schedule.
“Do you want to make the call, Danath?” she asked. Though it was really her job to contact Ground Support, she wanted her husband to get a bit more recognition. It was her way of giving him a leg up the organizational hierarchy dominated by females.
“Okay” he replied nervo
usly. “I’ll do it.”
“Just relax and talk naturally.”
After a deep breath he turned a dial on his helmet which would open a channel to Ground Support in the Amber City. “Amber City, this is Tenant Khuir. Phase one is complete. Requesting generator activation” he said in the most relaxed voice he could muster.
“Tenant Khuir, This is Amber City. Generator activation in three, two, one.”
Four of the modules suddenly ejected their hatches.
“We need to go and recover those” said Himirri, well aware that such space junk could easily become deadly.
The pair flew to recover the hatches while black, semi-transparent ‘wings’ emerged from the modules. Danath looked on with wonder as the solar panels unfurled in slow motion. He knew that each one would reach a size as large as the station itself, generating enough power to sustain fifty people and their equipment.
“Amber City, the panels are deployed. No problems noted” he said once the wings reached their maximum size. “Moving to phase two.”
“Acknowledged Tenant Khuir. Good job.”
Danath was almost ecstatic. He had participated in the design for the solar panels and knew that when not in use, they would feed power to the sixteen power cell modules also attached to the station.
They still had sixteen more modules to attach, not least the computer mainframe and the communications module. After that, the technical deck would be complete and the next mission would consist of adding the housing modules on top. At this rate, they could have a fully functioning space station within six months.
“To think, we’ll be one of the first races in the galaxy to build a space station with only native technology” remarked Himirri, pride swelling in her chest.
“Well, it’s a far cry from wormhole stations that Rendens build” said Danath knowing that his remark would have her rolling her big round eyes.
“It’s a good start” she said.
“Perhaps our grandchildren will get to travel the galaxy and colonize planets like Rendens. Maybe they’ll even get to see Earth.”
“Ok, tenant, enough dreaming and more working.”
Danath laughed. “Yes, kaptan.”
They had to go back to the ship twice to recharge their gas tanks, both of oxygen and propellant gas, and discharge the methane generated by their porous bodies. It took them three more hours to slide the remaining modules in place. The colour of the land mass below them had become a richer shade of amber in the dusk sunlight by the time they finished.
“The gas converter module is in place. Current seems to be running smoothly” reported Danath after analysing the data display in the control panel.
“Next trip will be to install several housing units. How would you like to spend some time weightless in space?”
“Alone? Depends how long”
“No, stupid” said Himirri. “With a science team. I’ll be part of the team, of course.”
Danath knew what this meant; she was willing to get him selected for a maintenance assistant for the research activities scheduled in the space station. He had no idea if she could really pull it off, even with all her connections.
“You’ll have to complete a few more successful space walks, obviously. If you can show you can handle space, nothing disqualifies you from the list.”
He would have loved nothing more than to be in a cocoon looking at celestial bodies in their vacuum clarity with his wife. They would be away from the stress and chaos of the Amber City.
“That would be a dream. Us, spending weeks together on the space station. I would love nothing more” he replied.
“Mind you, you’ll probably be the only male member of the team. Get ready for a lot of sexist remarks.”
“I think one of the first experiments we should undertake is whether we can procreate in a weightless environment” he responded slyly.
“Now, now. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There won’t be that much privacy in the cramped quarters. We might not even be able to go together and we’ll surely be working on different maintenance shifts.”
“I wonder how exactly Rendens create artificial gravity in their ships and wormhole stations” said Danath in a tone suggesting he hadn’t heard what his wife had just said.
“I heard that it was by converting centrifugal energy from a hyper-rotating gravity shield generator, or something like that. Their technology is too advanced for us to really understand.”
Both engineer-astronauts enjoyed contemplating the technology behind Renden inventions but Danath was almost passionate about it. Though Janpu was an independent planet, Renden influence was hard to resist. Renden merchant ships sometimes appeared in the orbit of Janpu and requested trade. That only happened every few years and Danath was often frustrated at his failure to see the dominant galactic species in person though he had managed to collect some of their ‘artefacts’, some of which had come all the way from their home planet, Earth.
“It’s time to pack up and go back home, tenant” said Himirri with an authoritative edge to her voice.
“Yes, kaptan.”
He couldn’t help feel a little bit disappointed. He would have loved to stay and just stare a bit more at his planet and every other object that populated the sky. Space felt like a dark, cool blanket around him.
Both of them felt the weak shock wave. Even the weighty ship budged a little bit from the sudden invisible push.
“What was that?” cried Danath.
Himirri was already communicating with Amber City for readings. She signalled to him to check the ship for any malfunctions.
“Amber City, this is Kaptan Khuir. Do you have any readings for some disruptions in the upper atmosphere?”
The only response she received was static.
Danath went back to the control panel of the ship and checked all systems. “No damage to the ship!”
“I’m not getting any answer from Amber City.”
“Let’s just get into the ship and head back.”
The green light outshone even the sun. Danath darkened his visor even more in an attempt to identify the source. He saw a ring of brilliant green light surrounding a whirlpool of black and green.
“A wormhole” he gasped.
“Amber City. We are seeing a wormhole open before our eyes” reported Himirri, hoping that someone was receiving her message on Janpu.
Danath didn’t know whether he should be excited or anxious about witnessing the opening of a wormhole. He was sure that he and Himirri were the only Janpeks, among a population of billions, who had ever witnessed first-hand such a phenomenon. He found himself waiting excitedly for a Renden ship to come out.
The first ship was bigger than any artificial structure he had ever seen. The sheer size and the alien design captivated him. Two more ships appeared right afterwards followed by another three. Within two minutes, twelve giant Renden ships had appeared, though the first one remained the largest by a good margin. Each white ship was shaped like a giant flat sword. Suddenly Danath remembered the videos and holographs he had seen of Renden vessels and gasped; these weren’t merchant freight carriers but warships!
“We have to get out of here, Himirri!” he shouted. His wife was still reporting everything she was seeing.
“What are those?” she shouted back.
“They’re Renden warships. This is an invasion!”
As he spoke, hundreds of beautiful blue streaks fanned out of the fleet of ships. Danath had seen videos of exactly the same thing; they were launching missiles.
One of the missiles didn’t target the Janpu, however, and instead swerved around and headed directly towards them. Both Danath and Himirri knew that it was too late to board the ship. Though the blue streaks looked relatively slow in the vast expanse of space, Danath knew that a pulse-propelled Renden missile could travel a hundred times the speed of sound.
The bright blue ribbons of light, each tipped with explosives powerful enough to leave great holes where ci
ties had lain, changed colour upon entering the atmosphere of Janpu to yellow and then red. Danath was hit by the ironic beauty of destruction.
“Why?” said Himirri weakly. “Why are they attacking us? We’ve done nothing to hurt them.”
He looked at his wife who had stopped trying to contact Amber City. She just floated in space as if she had given up trying. The pain of seeing her so helpless stabbed him in his heart. Was it because of their space program? Were they afraid that the Janpeks would one day challenge them for supremacy in the vast galaxy? But wasn’t Renden technology centuries ahead of their own? And did they not have a right to explore and colonize space, just as the Rendens were doing?
“Perhaps that’s it” he thought aloud.
“What?” said Himirri, a hint of irritation entering her voice.
“We’re being colonized.”
A single, relatively small missile struck the space station and turned the carbon modules into dust. The force of the explosion destroyed both the station and their small shuttle. Himirri died almost instantly since she was near the ship.
Danath, however, was pushed virulently towards his beloved planet. He immediately felt the drag of gas when he started entering the atmosphere. His suit wasn’t designed for such high temperatures at such a velocity. His screams were muffled by the roaring fires that enveloped his body.
Chapter 1: Janpu
‘When my daughter asked me why we were ruling other planets millions of parsecs from Earth, I couldn’t give an honest answer that was in any way noble. Sure we talk of exporting civilization, religious salvation and mutual trade benefits. After fifteen years in the Marine Corps and another six as a civilian employee at the Department of Colonial Affairs, you know why we’re there and it sure as hell isn’t to give health care to aliens.’ – Major James T. Coke (ret),
The large Goroth alien looked down at the high priest who had been shouting through a translator the words of the Pure Bible. The blue-haired Goroth leader, an exceptionally large and strong specimen, merely blinked his four red eyes in apparent confusion. The smooth blue-tinged white walls of the palace were adorned with pictures of other Goroth warriors as well as their gods. The high priest was telling them that these gods were false idols and they had to be renounced.
