by H. T. Kofruk
“Keep the light speed drive charged. Redirect energy from the lasers and use only pulse cannons and missiles” he ordered. Many of his crewmembers carried faces full of amazement at his decision to not use their most reliable weapon.
“Evade at light speed!” he cried. “Use randomised coordinates within a five hundred mega-metre radius every fifteen seconds.”
To the enemy, it looked as if the ship disappeared and then reappeared fifty mega metres away. The enemy fire swiftly shifted direction.
“Get closer this time” ordered Fann. He knew that his tactic was highly risky. In such a crowded system, going on short bursts in light speed meant that the ship was likely to collide with other solid matter, and if they did the ship would become a white-hot mass of particles in less than a millisecond.
The ship reappeared behind a tiger-shaped cruiser still bearing the golden dragon insignia. The name painted on the black carapace was CIN Qi Jiguang. The UTR Novelty fired a volley of invisible pulses as well as two dozen missiles before blinking out again.
“The hull is taking a lot of strain from the constant acceleration and deceleration, captain!” reported one of his officers.
“Keep going” replied Fann through gritted teeth. He had to try and find out why Chinese ships were here.
“We’re receiving a hail from one of the ships” reported another.
“Ignore. Try and get closer to the planets.”
The ship appeared behind an Orthodox destroyer and launched more missiles before disappearing again.
“A fission missile has successfully homed in on the last target, captain”
One of the holographs on deck showed a bright explosion rip into the log-shaped grey vessel. This time the ship decelerated between two Chinese ships, a dragonship and a smaller turtleship. “Include five fission missiles in the mix against the dragonship.”
The lone United Terra ship disappeared before the mysterious crew of either ship could launch any weapons. Two of the five fission missiles exploded and sent the giant dragonship spinning and crashing into two cruisers.
“Sir, we are picking up a strange vibration” reported the science officer of UTR Novelty.
“Hull compromise?”
“No, sir. It’s similar to the ones recorded during the Carulion attack. I think the enemy ships are preparing Death Beam.”
The news hit Fann like a hammer. Of course! What was left of the New Han Empire and the Orthodox had acquired Death Beam technology in exchange for…the ability to create wormholes? Fann knew he had to get out soon; unlike missiles that could be intercepted and the relatively bearable damage from pulse cannons and lasers, Death Beam couldn’t be tempered, deterred or even detected accurately. But he had to find out what was going on down on the two planets. He suddenly realized that none of the Carulion or Tzak battle satellites had started attacking him. Why weren’t any of the alien defences kicking in? Why were only Renden ships engaging them?
“Their reaction speed is strange” said Kinsai who also acted as Fann’s first officer. Fann looked at her questioningly. “They fired weapons almost as soon as we arrived so all ships should be fully battle-active. But it almost seems as if the ships are being run by amateurs.”
Fann realized that her assessment was correct. Even with his high-risk tactic, state-of-the-art ship and highly experienced crew, he was running too many rings around his enemy. The ships shook after being hit by a laser bolt on the lower hull, making Fann cling to his chair. Kinsai stayed perfectly erect, aided by her almost supernatural sense of balance.
“Get near the planets. Prepare a ten second scan of any known population centres.” He decided that he could take the chance to get more information.
The Novelty blinked out and appeared below a turtle-shaped destroyer and started firing on it. The enemy crew’s response was much more adequate this time and hundreds of shock shields shot out to create a wall of silver circles between the two ships. The next jump brought the Novelty within scanning distance of Tzakbaht, the desert planet. Luckily, one of the two great salt lakes that looked like giant blue scars on the yellow-gold planet surface was facing the ship.
“Scanning Himeulbaht, capital of the South Lake Nation” said the surveillance officer.
What Fann saw left Fann’s mouth hanging. The gold and red city of over a million inhabitants had become a giant slaughter house. Many of the buildings were on fire or burnt and hundreds of thousands of Tzak bodies were lying in the sandstone avenues drenched in pink blood.
“Fighting still seems to be going on” said Kinsai.
The holograph zoomed into a specific neighbourhood of the Tzak city and for sure, two parties seemed to be firing at each other.
“Who are the Tzak fighting?” All he could see were blurs.
“They’re Nikruk” said Kinsai with her keener eyesight. “The Tzak and Carulions are being exterminated, just like us.”
“Sir! We are picking up vibrations again!” said someone on the bridge.
Fann decided to think about what he had just discovered later. Now, he had to survive against Death Beam attacks.
The Novelty disappeared once again but didn’t reappear within the system. Instead it travelled at light speed in the direction of the Jibaru System which was two hundred light years away. Two enemy tigerships and a log-shaped mothership immediately followed in its direction with Death Beams fully charged.
Chapter 16: Diqiu Two
‘Divine right? Money? The threat of force? What gives any individual or political body the right to rule over others? There was a brief period in our history when the right to govern oneself, to select one's own leaders was the dominant form government on Earth. It is unclear how or why democracy went out of fashion, its bright light visible only in certain pockets of our world. But what a compelling idea!’ - Terry Southend,
Terry tried hard to hide any emotion from his face. He never thought in his life that he would lay foot on the fertile soil of Diqiu Two, the most Earth-like of all the planets in the known galaxy. It gave him a pang of anger since Lordsphere, the Atlantic Alliance equivalent, had been destroyed by a Chinese fusion-tipped missile, a weapon that had previously never been used in any known conflict.
But he was not here as an Atlantic Alliance representative; in all practical terms the former super-state no longer existed and the Pope of the One God Church had gone missing. The scant news from Earth painted a bleak picture; no real government structure had been left intact and pockets of resistance were on the verge of being overrun by the Nikruk whose numbers had swollen in the past year. Some estimates put the number of alien invaders on Earth at five million, which meant that the aliens had found out how to utilise the wormhole stations and were now shipping in new troops to exterminate humanity. But from where?
That was the question for which he needed the answer. The New Han government-in-exile was loth to swear any kind of loyalty to United Terra. Everyone in the higher ranks of the U.T. military knew that what remained of the Chinese Imperial forces could not be trusted, especially given their animosity towards their compatriots who had joined United Terra. They were seen as traitors, the lowest form of treacherous scum.
Up to now, none of the Chinese members of United Terra seemed to know where the Nikruk home planet was, or even the breeding facility. Terry had found it difficult to believe that even the upper echelons of their military leadership didn’t know where the source of their terrestrial might came from. But apparently the Chinese Emperor had taken painstaking steps to ensure that information was strictly partitioned, leaving basically everybody in the dark about most things. This had been one of the key methods employed to concentrate power on the Imperial Family with the aid of the Shadows.
After the fall of Huangjing, during which the newly crowned Han Xiao had been allegedly murdered by the Nikruk, the Shadows had mysteriously disappeared. Terry was sure that they had come to Diqiu Two to serve Empress Han Wei, the new leader of the Imperial Fa
mily.
The Pearl Palace was not as large as the Heavenly Tower or the Summer Palace on Earth, but it seemed almost magical. It was built entirely from laser-cut zhenzushi, or pearl rock, a creamy, shiny mineral found only on Diqiu Two. The effect was dazzling; in the evening sunlight, the whole palace looked as if it gave off a rippling iridescent glow.
Thousands of black-clad Chinese soldiers lined the streets as the formal delegation from United Terra made its way in an armoured pulse-glider. The estimated population of Diqiu Two was three million and it almost seemed that most of them had been round up to play their role as enthusiastic onlookers.
Terry was not intimidated by the show at all. It was Prime Minister Han Fei-Long, a distant relative of the Empress, who had attempted contact with the U.T. leadership. To Terry it meant that the Chinese were desperate and perhaps seeking a face-saving way to align with the new entity. What made him angry was their tardiness; the late President Ray Razak had attempted many times to contact Diqiu Two but had never gotten a response. How many millions had died on Earth while the Chinese leadership dithered and worried about its own image?
The interior of the palace was decorated in a much simpler manner than the prevailing Chinese style on Earth. Yet Terry could still feel the oppression of history and honour in the pearl-rock statues of Chinese emperors. Most of them wore flowing robes with belts, crowns and chains accentuated in gold. Beneath them were smaller obsidian statues of soldiers, each one in a different fighting stance as if to ward off any enemy of their monarch.
The Empress sat on a pearl-rock chair wearing a golden silk dress and large black earrings that matched her other jewellery. Her pale, almost white skin contrasted with the dark make-up on her eyes and her lips. Terry could see that despite her determined, slightly insolent expression, she was just a young girl barely in her twenties.
Terry had come with his right hand man, Lieutenant-Colonel Anton Sagawa, a Phantom who called herself Agent Shin and a young man named Yann Vicaire who had been a junior diplomat before the war and who consequently spoke Imperial Chinese and knew the customs to respect when before Chinese royalty.
“Welcome, friends” said the Empress in the One Tongue, surprising everyone in the delegation.
Terry took the cue from Yann and bowed his head. “May you live ten thousand years, Your Highness.”
The young Empress nodded. “You have come a long way to see me. I am pleased that you accepted my invitation.”
“I hope my acceptance will be fruitful” said Terry.
“Likewise.” Two Shadows appeared from behind the throne. The way the Empress looked at them gave away a hint of nervousness. “You have had a tiresome journey. Please allow my servants to help you to your rooms. We shall see each other later tonight after you have freshened up.”
Terry didn’t want to waste time waiting for a diplomatic dinner but the way Yann looked at him made him understand that he had no real choice in the matter. “You are most kind, Your Highness. I wait impatiently for our meeting.”
Terry’s room was spacious and modern compared to the history encrusted in the main hall of the palace. He took off his khaki class-B uniform and took a shower. The legendary spa water brought up from deep in the ground supposedly had almost magical healing powers. It was said that it could cure any dermatological condition and even help impotency. Terry didn’t believe any of that but the hot water did make him feel relaxed and refreshed.
He put on his ceremonial class-A uniform after wondering if he should wear the thin impact armour beneath it. He even thought about wearing the discreet greaves on his wrists under his shirt that could deploy powerful laser weapons and hyper-vibrating blades. In the end, he knew it would be a severe diplomatic discourtesy if any found out and even with the weapons, he wouldn’t last long surrounded by an unknown number of Shadows.
Agent Shin was waiting for him at the door when he came out. She was wearing an elegant grey dress but he knew that she wouldn’t have hesitated in wearing all the tiny gadgets and weapons that she possibly could.
She looked at him with piercing brown eyes as if to assess him. “No evidence of spying devices in my room. I took the liberty of scanning your room from outside.”
Terry was slightly taken aback. He knew that tiny nano-bots were stuck to her optical nerves and she could relay images fed from external scanning devices directly to her brain. That meant that she had basically watched him shower. Yet she showed absolutely no sign of being abashed. “Thank you, Agent Shin” he said while wondering how human she actually was.
Anton had also changed into his class-A which was almost identical to Terry’s but for the rank and the small dots on his shoulder that indicated awarded medals. Yann, being a civilian, was wearing a formal black suit with a dragon-motif tie, perhaps as a courtesy to their hosts.
They were led to the dining hall by a short, black-clad servant who Agent Shin seemed to ascertain was a Shadow by the intense way she stared at him. Not many people could win a staring match with her but the servant didn’t seem at all intimidated. Terry observed him as they walked and by the time he reached the magnificent, well lit hall, was sure that he had received the highest levels of military training.
There were five people in the Chinese party, including the Empress. Terry recognized the prime minister, a tall, slender man with an uncharacteristically long chin and a thin, wiry moustache. There was a short, stout man in his fifties wearing a black, formal military uniform who Terry guessed was the head of the Chinese Imperial Forces, at least what was left of them. The elder lady in a white silk dress resembled the empress; hence she was probably her mother or aunt. The last man with a pale face wearing a dark suit was a complete mystery. He looked to be in his mid-forties and had a dangerous, crafty look to him.
“My friends, I see you have refreshed. May I please introduce you to my betrothed, Minister Bo” said the empress.
The name sent an alarm ringing in his head but he couldn’t remember why. He glimpsed Agent Shin’s expression and knew that this man was extremely dangerous.
The atmosphere in the conference room of the UTR Horizon was grim. The meeting had not been as fruitful as Terry had hoped and everyone sensed his frustration. The position of the New Han government-in-exile was clear; they would operate as a separate entity and would take no part in any international or intergalactic government. Without the Chinese fully aboard, United Terra would be an incomplete, toothless organisation and its Chinese members would become orphans. Terry knew that most of them desperately wanted to be back home on Earth with their families but their unresolved status would give ample room to be interpreted as treacherous.
Throughout the meeting, everybody could sense the tyranny of Minister Bo. The Empress seemed especially threatened by his presence and looked nervously at him time and again as if to check whether she had said the appropriate thing. Terry finally understood the position of the young monarch; she was being held hostage by remnants of the Shadow organisation. If anything, she had seemed more than ready for humanity to finally become one and her eyes had shined when Terry explained to her the raison d’etre of United Terra. She was close to tears when Terry mentioned her cousin, Fann, though Colonel Bo maintained an expressionless face like a porcelain doll.
The Chinese had rejected any plea for information concerning the Nikruk home planet. Terry had been tempted more than once to bang his fist on the table out of frustration; the lives of countless billions on Earth was being treated like a bargain chip. The most he had gotten out of them was support when the time came for a full scale attack on the Nikruk forces in the Home System. He knew that even that would be an only half-hearted assistance, enough to lay claim on Chinese territory should the combined forces manage to reconquer Earth.
He still couldn’t understand the reluctance to divulge information about the Nikruk though. It was Anton who had suggested during the debriefing aboard the orbit-bound transport shuttle that perhaps the Shadows wanted the reinvasion of Earth
to fail; maybe they thought that if they couldn’t get Earth, then nobody else would. The Chinese proposals would most certainly drive a wedge of tension between the Chinese rebel elements within United Terra and the rest. With abject realization, he knew that he had completely failed his first diplomatic mission. Only God knew how many would pay with their lives for his failure.
With a sense of hopelessness, the thought finally dawned on him that the next encounter with the New Han government could only be conflictual for several reasons. Firstly, the Chinese rebels within U.T. would push for it. Secondly, a semi-hostile Chinese Empire was unpredictable and dangerous. Lastly, only the threat of annihilation seemed a plausible option for them to give up the required information. He despaired to think that force seemed to be the only viable and effective method despite all his idealistic reverie.
“He was the man in charge of Han Xiao’s security when Huangjing fell” said Agent Shin.
Terry looked up at her. “What?” he said somewhat pathetically.
“Minister Bo. He was one of our targets before the war. He was a major back then.”
“How can you be sure?” said Terry while remembering the story Han Fann had told him.
“No picture has ever been taken of him but he was a ruthless assassin that was known for killing anybody in the proximity of his target. My team was mobilized to take him out before we found out that he had switched to the Imperial security detachment.”
Terry nodded. “Dishonourable fuck. He should have died with his liege if that was his job.”
Agent Shin remained silent though Anton nodded in agreement.
The projector came alive with the head of the ship’s communications officer. “General Southend. We have just exited the wormhole and Admiral Bongani requests that I patch you through to him right away.”
