BLINK
The Chosen lay down in the stasis chambers after they had completed the great task of re-seeding the world ship. The Enemy had been defeated again, but at great cost. The world sacrificed scarred forever. Perhaps the life restored on the world ship would go a small way to rebalancing the destruction they had wrought to fight the Swarm.
BLINK
Beckenbaur and the others stood on the hillside. The seated figure continued to chip away at the rock in its hand.
“What planet was that?” Jake asked. “Was it Earth?”
“I don’t think so,” Beckenbaur replied.
“Is that what the Harbingers are?” Heather asked. “Warriors who fight these things called the Swarm?”
“The Anuvi Artifact was a weapon,” Beckenbaur said, “a weapon to fight the Swarm, and it was destroyed when the moon crashed into Anuvi III.”
“We did it,” Heather said. “It was our ignorance that destroyed it. Are the Swarm still out there? Or were they destroyed, buried on that world?”
Beckenbaur looked at the figure. The figure’s face stopped shifting and Beckenbaur gasped.
Vincent Trik!
“He’s making a weapon.”
Epilogue: Anuvi
The Dancers had existed in the hearts of stars for millions of years. Theirs was the last and penultimate stage of intelligent life forms in this Galaxy, those species that had crested the hundreds of thousands of waves of culture and civilization that surged and subsided over the long history of life in this swirling cauldron of stars. They were once the flesh and blood of millions of species, and at the peak of their powers over physical reality; they shed their physical form and joined in the Cosmic Dance. New life arose from the Joy of the Dance; they cast their seed on the winds of stars, and it moved through space and took root on new worlds born from the deaths of burned out suns.
What was this tiny but potent Spark that had come amongst them? This bright and powerful Mote that awakened passions and joys long thought forgotten. Some of the Dancers shied away from this pointed reminder of forms past, but most embraced it, and they danced with the tiny but formidable Speck, greedily feeding on its exaltation at being freed from bondage.
Then it was in danger. Could the Dancers allow this bright and beautiful particle to perish? They had seen nothing like it in millions of years; they reached out and plucked the Spark from its material form. The Dancers could not reveal all of their knowledge to this delicate yet powerful creature; it had not yet evolved past its physical form, but its power was undeniable.
The physical manifestation of Demeter Freedman, indescribably inconsequential, perished when the moon crashed into the gas giant. The Dancers had seen such physical destruction all through the long life of the Galaxy, but now they had upset the natural order by preserving the powerful essence of this creature. What would be the consequences of saving this incredibly beautiful Spark, unique in all experience? Even the Dancers could not see all ends. For some time, the Spark slumbered, unaware it still existed, and the Dancers found its light and power endlessly fascinating.
Now the Eternal Enemy has reawakened, the Destroyer of Life that prowls through the stars to corrupt that which the Dancers have created. Where are the Guardians? Are they sleeping? No, there they are, scattered about the stars, even now waking from their slumber and growing in power. This species had not yet grown past its physical form, but the Dancers recruited them to guard life, precious life, from the depredations of the Enemy.
They join The Eternal Battle once more.
Afterword
I hope, my dear readers, you found The Borrega Test as entertaining and thought provoking as The Anuvi Incident. Your feedback concerning Incident was invaluable to me, especially as encouragement to finish this work. The act of writing is the most frustrating, head-scratching, hopeless task there is, as well as the most enlightening, joyful, and euphoric. Writing is best when it seems as if the characters relax on the nearby couch, sipping wine and eating hors d’oeurves, telling me exactly what happened, while I sit in front of a laptop at the dining room table, furiously tapping at the keyboard, praying I do not miss any detail. I sincerely hope, dear readers, that these characters are as real to you as they are to me; if they are not, the fault is entirely mine.
Captains Joshua McFinn, Marcus Cortez, and Caroline Talbot, Doctors Hans Beckenbaur and Heather Ferrel, William Bandele, technician Jake Nakamura and the Tyce boys, Agent Yazdani and General Shirazi, and Sergeant Paul Matthias and his crew, will return for the third and final novel in the Hominin Union saga, The Stardancers.
James Vincett
Las Cruces, New Mexico, June 2017
Appendix I: Dramatis Personae
Main Characters
Caroline Talbot, former Exploration Service captain, captain of the Trieste
Cyrus Yazdani, agent for the General Intelligence Directorate
Darius Shirazi, Lieutenant in the Borregan Resistance
Dylan and Danner Tyce, former Imperial Army, weapons specialists on the Trieste
Fangrik of the Kolon Bloodline, political prisoner on Ovak, former Lord Commissar in the Naati Command Authority
Frances Arrington, Senator for Phoenix and Imperial Ambassador
Gavanus of the Jureen Bloodline, Lord Commissar in the Naati Command Authority
Hans Beckenbaur, Ph.D., geologist and adventurer, former crew member of the HSS Vitus Bering
Heather Ferrel, Ph.D., biologist, former crew member of the HSS Vitus Bering
Jake Nakamura, technician on the Trieste
Joshua McFinn, Imperial Navy Commander, executive officer of the HSS Angau Coch
Krenlar, Fendl and engineer on board the Trieste
Lars Pederson, Assistant Director for Operations, General Intelligence Directorate
Macsen Kruger, agent for the General Intelligence Directorate
Marcus Cortez, Imperial Naval Captain, commanding officer of the HSS Naginata
Paul Matthias, Sergeant in the Imperial Army Rangers, AIV commander
Robert McFinn, Joshua McFinn’s father, Minister for Intelligence of the Hominin Union
William Osatari Bandele, Exploration Service Captain, former commanding officer of the HSS Vitus Bering
Appendix II: Definition
test of sovereignty – political, military concept
During the Reunification Campaigns of 2437-2454 and the Justified Conquest Campaigns of 2458-2486, the Diplomatic Corps and the General Intelligence Directorate developed a process for the annexation of Human and Hominin worlds that became independent during the Dissolution of United Earth. They called the process a test of sovereignty. The purpose was to minimize the expenses of annexation to ensure the world would contribute to the overall economic well-being of the Hominin Union. Despite this economic rationale, the ultimate goal was the unification of all Human and Hominin worlds, as called for in the Reunification and Reconciliation Act of 2436. The ruling Destillières family felt it was worth bearing the costs of annexation in order to unite humanity into one political, economic, and military entity.
The test of sovereignty proceeded in two stages, with a third and fourth stage possible depending on the initial results. The first stage involved insertion of propagandists to spread the idea that joining the Hominin Union would bring many benefits and few costs. The second stage involved infiltration of industry and government with spies and saboteurs to destabilize the ruling classes and to disrupt economic systems, casting the ruling government in an unfavorable light when compared to the Hominin Union. If the subsequent annexation attempt failed, the third stage involved military blockade to force the fall of the government using total disruption of interstellar trade. If the second annexation attempt failed, stage four was military invasion, with an effort to preserve as much infrastructure as possible, and to minimize civilian casualties. Only 23% of tests proceeded to stage four, a number that confirmed, in the eyes of its creators, the validity of the process.
The test of sovereignty as practiced during the Reunification Campaigns had much influence on subsequent Imperial naval doctrine and led directly to the rise of Naval Intelligence within the Imperial Navy. In addition, control of space and access to worlds became far more important in the eyes of strategists than control of the worlds themselves.
During the Kalix Campaigns of 2580-2584, the Hominin Union attempted to annex the majority of the remaining independent Human worlds rimward of Earth; however, the economic rationale was no longer applicable due to the vast wealth of the Hominin Union. Consequently, the first two stages were ignored in favor of military blockade, and almost all proceeded to military invasion.
Related entries: Diplomatic Corps; Imperial Navy of the Hominin Union; Reunification Campaigns (2437-2457); Reunification and Reconciliation Act (2436); Justified Conquest Campaigns (2458-2486); Kalix Campaigns (2580-2583); General Intelligence Directorate; Hominin Union Head of State
From The Concise Historical Encyclopedia of the Hominin Union, 3rd edition, 3.1.2802, translated from the Xochilian Prime language by T. Polomarchus.
Appendix III: Borrega Diplomatic Brief
Delivered-To: Imperial Naval Captain Joshua Andrew McFinn (O-5 2268340923), attaché to Her Excellency, Senator Frances Anne Arrington of Phoenix
Received: QBD node 223.690.432.258.099.898, Finwarden Station, Beta Jurov, 01.04.2648
Encryption-Key: RRX-2389238642816432-TT4A
From: Elizabeth Forsythe, Director, Diplomatic Corps Research Group
Subject: Borrega Diplomatic Brief
Classification: Restricted
Executive Summary
The world of Borrega orbits a class G stellar primary designated G0V 5539210735. There is one rocky world that orbits at a closer distance to the star, another outside the orbit of Borrega, and a small gas giant with several moons further out. A thin Kuiper belt of comets and other ice objects occupies the outer reaches of the system. The system remains mostly unexplored, but is probably rich enough in resources to warrant exploration and exploitation.
Borrega itself is a class 1 world. Ocean covers approximately 68% of the surface. Two major continents, one each in the northern and southern hemispheres, are situated on one side of the world, with several long island chains spread out over the remainder of the surface. Biomes range from tropical at the equator, to tundra at the northern and southern extents of the continents. The northern continent, Aviz, is the most habitable, with lush coastlines, and an interior of grasslands, plains, and forest. The southern continent, Kabir, is the largest and most inhospitable, with vast stretches of dry plains and desert, and a series of mountain highlands that bisect the continent roughly from east to west. Despite the harshness of the environment, there are habitable coastal areas on the southern continent that maintain populations. Average surface temperature is 1.47 degrees Celsius, and average atmospheric temperature is 17.2 degrees. Seasonal change is minimal given the two-degree axial tilt of the world relative to the stellar primary.
The environment of Borrega is well within technical parameters for military operations.
The dominant inhabitants of Borrega are Humans of Earth genetic lineage. They originated primarily from the southwestern and southern regions of Asia in the early twenty-third century, with a sizable minority from East Asia and South America. They fled the ongoing purges of religious minorities instituted by the aggressively secular United Earth government starting in the 2220s. This population settled and then abandoned Alexie, Phoenix, and Kursk, three worlds rimward of Earth, before finally occupying Borrega. More populations on these three worlds, oppressed by the growing secular power of United Earth, joined the core group. By the time they reached Borrega, the majority practiced a derivative of Shia Islam. However, sizable minorities practiced Sunni Islam, as well as the Roman Catholic, Georgian Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Russian Orthodox forms of Christianity. There is no doubt that elements of these faiths have merged or changed in the four centuries since. The primary language of the population is Persian; however, sizable Christian minorities speak Spanish, Georgian, Armenian, Assyrian, and Russian.
A theocratic monarchy is the dominant political power on Borrega, with the Shah a symbol of divine might, and an elected Prime Minister and parliament representing the people. The Shah claims the entire northern continent of Aviz, as well several coastal colonies on the southern continent of Kabir. The majority of the population, 125 million, are subjects of the Shah, and live in cities on the southern and eastern coasts of Aviz. The remaining 50 million are split up among wandering tribes and self-ruling religious sects that occupy settlements on Kabir, primarily on the coast, but with several million occupying the interior. The ruling Shahs have waged various military and religious campaigns over the past two hundred years to bring these minorities under rule, but has always failed due to the vastness and harshness of Kabir, combined with the tenacity and stubbornness of the inhabitants.
Given such a small population, there are vast uninhabited regions on the two continents, and the oceans and island archipelagos remain largely unexplored.
Rich and extensive coal deposits provide energy and chemical stock for transportation fuels, plastics, dyes, and other material. The planet’s crust is rich in metal ores and rare earth metals. The Borregans once enjoyed fusion energy and a decent low-orbital infrastructure, but the Naati destroyed these technologies when they occupied the world in 2504-2511 and 2547-2558.
Borrega first came to the Union’s attention during the Naati War of 2504-2511. Before that time, the Union did not know that this population even existed; many historical records were lost during the long conflict with the Snirr. The Naati occupied the world as a strike point into Union space, and Naval Intelligence made an effort to assist this population, but that effort failed. Millions of Borregans lost their lives during the occupation. That conflict did not end in a treaty; rather the Imperial Navy selected an arbitrary border. Borrega remained outside that border for political and strategic reasons.
The Naati returned to Borrega during the Great Sophont War of 2547-2558 and destroyed much of the technological infrastructure the Borregans had rebuilt since the first occupation thirty years previous. The devastation wrought by the Naati was far more extensive, and the inhabitants regressed to a technological level roughly matching that of mid to late 20th century Earth, and have not recovered. The Union made no effort to assist this population given the desperation of its fight during the war. The Treaty of Phoenix placed Borrega within the newly formed Neutral Zone between the Hegemony and the Union, so any assistance the Union could provide the Borregans would violate the negotiated Treaty.
Defeat in The Great Sophont War forced a change in the Naati Command Authority. Instead of confrontation, a newly emerged faction, the Tolkists, sought to increase their understanding of Humans and Hominins. They began to engage in a number of espionage activities, one of which was covertly assisting the ruling Shah in its ongoing efforts to subjugate the religious minorities on Borrega. In exchange, the Shah allowed the Naati to harvest Humans for the purpose of medical, genetic, and psychological testing. Naval Intelligence and the General Intelligence Directorate believe this effort began around 2620. Naval Intelligence soon uncovered these activities, and duly reported them to Naval Command and the Crown, but no action was taken, except for attempts by Admiral Kenneth Kilgore of the Fifth Fleet to aid the Resistance in its fight against the Shah’s rule with shipments of arms and supplies. In hindsight, elements of Naval Command, the Diplomatic Corps, and the General Intelligence Directorate believe this support should have been continued, but Kilgore broke the law at the time. After the Anvui Incident in 2633, the Naati withdrew from Borrega, probably because the individual Naati responsible for helping the Shah was killed in the Battle of the Third Moon of Anuvi III.
Appendix IV: Order of Combatants, The Borrega Test
June 8, 2648
Hominin Union, Imperial Navy, Fifth Fleet, Ambassador’s Fleet, Commanded
by Admiral Cassius Tor
1 Titan class battleship, the HSS Crius
1 Midway class light carrier, the HSS Coral Sea
1 Montmorency class heavy cruiser, the HSS Louis-Joseph Montcalm
4 Gladius class light cruisers, the HSS Cestus, the HSS Katar, the HSS Tekko, and the HSS Xiphos
1 Victory class assault transport, the HSS Gallipoli, carrying the 686th Imperial Marine Battalion.
1 Hermes class courier, the Swiftsure
Hominin Union, Imperial Navy, Consul’s Fleet, commanded by Supreme Admiral Marie-Élise Singh Caroillon des Destillières, Consul of the Hominin Union
1 Archangel class heavy battleship, the HSS Archangel
3 Titan class battleships
6 Montmorency class heavy cruisers
1 Consul class heavy carrier
4 Gladius class light cruisers
4 Warlord class light cruisers
12 London class destroyers
2 Victory class assault transports
1 United States of America class tender
3 Trusty class supply ships
10 Hermes class couriers
2 Viper class special operations ships
Hominin Union, Imperial Navy, Expeditionary Fleet, Borrega Test Task Force, commanded by Fleet Admiral Biming Gao
The Battle Fleet, commanded by Admiral Salwala Idowu
The Borrega Test Page 37
