Horizons

by Donald B McFarlane

  Joe nodded. “I suppose we’ve just jumped onto their radar.”

  “Not necessarily.” Dinalis countered. “The force that was sent here was not impressive in any shape or form. It was a probing attack being conducted by someone who was searching for information. Had it been a full-fledged assault, the forces involved would have been significantly larger. Other than the Sentinels they landed here, they didn’t have any troop ships.”

  “That didn’t seem to matter. Those drones they had were enough to make mince-meat of our fighters.” Joe rested his head and looked at the high white ceiling of the room. “We’re not equipped to fight in this war.”

  Dinalis sighed and crossed his arms. “No, you’re not, which brings me to another point. “A Jin-Mona has arrived from the Alliance to take responsibility for this planet, and its defence.” Dinalis paused and looked Joe in the eyes. “This development will bring change. I cannot guarantee what kind of change, I am afraid.”

  “What? Well, who is this guy, and what’s he going to do?”

  “The Jin-Mona are a group of beings that were selected at birth for their strength, intelligence, and ability to be formed into the most lethal beings the galaxy has ever known, and they only originate on a select number of worlds. They were almost like the enforcers of the old Empire, but neither harsh nor unfair. But since the war began, their numbers have fallen. There are perhaps only five or six left in the Alliance, and those are spread over hundreds of worlds.”

  “Then why has one come here?”

  “The Princess and her advisors must feel that Earth’s ascension to membership in the Alliance cannot be delayed. He is here to push through change, and to help prepare this planet for accession.”

  Joe looked around the room. Other than himself, there were a few Canadian soldiers on beds not far away, who had been wounded in the recent attack by the infiltrators. “When you say push through change, what do you mean?”

  Dinalis let out a sigh. “If he has been told to make Earth eligible for Alliance membership, then he will do so as fast as possible in whatever time frame he has been given.”

  “I see.”

  “I have never witnessed this happen in the past. Perhaps because a new world hasn’t joined the Alliance in years, but I must warn you, Major, this individual has great powers, and they also have brought with them a massive fleet.”

  Joe looked at Dinalis, dead in the eyes. “Is this an invasion from the Alliance?” he asked coldly.

  “No, but this is the beginning of the Alliance starting to pulling the Earth, not gently guide it like we have been.”

  “Jesus.” Joe looked back at the ceiling. The implications of this were massive. He knew that this was going to go down like a tonne of bricks in Washington and at the UN. But it didn’t sound like they had a choice. Fuck. Things were going to go from sticky to bad, to worse.

  37

  Sinus Fu was breathing hard when he stopped to rest against a large oak tree. His suit had been punctured and was venting air. Worse, he had lacerations to his torso and had internal bleeding, and he wasn’t convinced that the suits med-system was working properly to treat the injury. The explosion that had killed Testa and ended the mission had come much sooner than he would have liked. They had been unable to obtain any intelligence of value, and he was now faced with a perilous swim to the nearby island where the drop-pod had landed.

  Moving down to the rocky beach that was in front of him, he gingerly stepped into the water’s edge before wading out into deeper water. As he eased himself further from the beach, the cold water made its way to the hole in the suit and sent a chill through Fu’s body.

  Trying to swim with one arm was challenging enough, made more complicated by the dangling rifle that was weighing him down. Kicking as hard as he could, he un-slung the weapon and let it go, letting it sink to the depths of the channel. Putting his head back down he rolled onto his side and began pulling and kicking his way away from Lasqueti Island with as much speed as he could.

  He was surprised that he had been able to make a getaway after Testa had been killed and somehow had managed to avoid the hail of gunfire that lit up the island once the explosion had gone off. Even the pursuing Sentinels had been unable to find him, even with the damage that was done to his suit. Fortune had been on his side, and now he had to flee for his life before he was discovered.

  Two hours later Fu was laying on his back on the beach of Texada Island, completely out of energy, and shivering from the cold. His suit had had to work extra hard to keep him warm, and its power reserves were dangerously low. Looking up to the sky, Fu could see an assortment of aircraft moving overhead, and the occasional Alliance ship took off and land on the island he had just made his escape from.

  He knew that the drop pod was only a few hundred metres away and that his survival depended on a swift return to the mother-ship on the far side of the moon. Rolling onto his side, Fu pushed himself up, and scanned the rest of the beach, and then turned to the tree-line, only to spot a young child accompanied by a fur-covered four-legged animal. The boy was looking skyward when Fu spotted him, but his luck suddenly took a turn for the worse.

  A loud bark from the animal alerted Fu to his peril. He looked down at his forearm tactical display unit and realised that the cloaking system on the suit had failed. Looking back up, he saw that the animal was running towards him, its tail wagging in the air from left to right.

  Instinctively, Fu drew his pistol, and aimed it at the animal, then back to the young child. When the large brown animal reached Fu’s feet, it sat and looked up at Fu, its tail still wagging vigorously. Looking back to the child, Fu noticed that the young boy was running towards him with a small device in his hand, but didn’t appear to present a threat.

  Lowering his pistol, he watched as the young child stopped five metres from his position and yelled at the dog, which quickly turned on the spot and looked at the young boy. After a second or two, the boy was moving again towards Fu, waving the object in his hand.

  The boy stopped right in front of Fu, and shoved the device towards his face, yelling something in the local language, which Fu was unable to decipher, but a careful look at the device revealed that there was an image of Fu and the animal on the screen. Looking past the device, he noticed that the child was still smiling when it moved so that its back was to Fu, and stuck its arm out, with the device still in hand for a moment, before turning around again, and showing Fu another image, this one of him and the child.

  Sticking his pistol into its holster, Fu knelt down next to the boy and pulled out his science scanner from his utility belt and ran a full medical and biological scan of the child and its furry animal. Once the scans were complete, Fu returned the device to its proper resting place and stood back up, grimacing in pain. Looking down at his wound, he noticed that it was still leaking blood, and he had no time to waste.

  Stepping to the side of the boy, Fu started moving towards the wood line, the boy and its furry animal in tow. The suits built-in navigation system was still functioning properly, and the drop-pod was still transmitting its beacon, guiding Fu to it.

  Reaching the trees, Fu felt a sense of relief and quickened his pace through the brush, knowing that if the young child and its dog could find him, others would not be far away. After no more than a five-minute walk, Fu found the drop-pod, and immediately opened the ship's hatch, and started prepping for launch. Turning back to the child, he noticed that the boy was still pointing his device at him, and shook his head.

  Walking to the child, he gently put his hand on the boy's shoulder and walked him ten metres from the pod. He then pointed at a spot on the ground, which he was sure the boy noted. He knew that if the kid were too close to the pod when it launched, he would be killed.

  Returning to the pod, Fu stepped off the ground, and leant up against his harness, and strapped himself in. Initiating the launch procedure, Fu watched as the young child waved as the hatch of the pod slowly closed. Fu mimicked the mo
vement for the split second that was left before the pod shut tight.

  Resting his head, Fu listened to the countdown and felt the engines come to life, flinging the pod skyward at an expeditious rate.

  38

  December 9th marked the first day that Joe Hunt had left the med-bay since his injury, and it also marked the first time without any sign of Coalition forces in the Sol System twenty-four hours. As Joe zoomed out of the medical centre of a hovering med-chair, he was greeted by Dinalis who was on his way to attend a meeting with the Visitor Liaison Team, who did not seem happy to see him.

  “Something wrong, Sector Prefect?” Joe asked rather sheepishly.

  Dinalis looked down at the American and shook his head. “We detected a jump late last night. It must have been the remainder of the insertion team slipping away.”

  “Well you have two of them prisoner, I trust they’ll be interrogated. Perhaps you’ll get some valuable information from them.”

  “Perhaps. But doubtful.” Dinalis handed Joe a data pad, “And then there is this”

  Joe looked down at the image and noticed it was from someone’s social media account and was of a young kid, his dog, and someone in a burgundy red suit, which Joe assumed was part of the infiltration team. “Ha. Cocky fucker!” Joe handed the pad back to Dinalis.

  “This is an embarrassment, and part of the reason Lord Soturi is here.”

  “Who?”

  “The Jin-Mona I told you about the other day. He has taken command of this system, and kept me in place as his deputy.”

  Joe nodded as he struggled slightly with the hover chair to keep it moving in a straight line. “Any word on when I’ll get a prosthetic leg?”

  “Soon. We don’t have stock prosthetics on board, one must be brought down from the medical ship that is in orbit.”

  Joe nodded.

  The pair reached the lift to the conference area and found a full complement surrounding the table. The Alliance Contact Team was present, along with all of Joe’s team.

  Rhea approached him first and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Good to see you out of medical.”

  “It's nice to be out of medical.” He replied. “A little too stark an environment for my liking.”

  Keegan came up and shook his friend's hand. “An eventful few days we’ve had.”

  Joe nodded. “Never a dull moment.”

  Doctor Ji-woon and Janssen approached and gave their regards. Only the media specialist, Sarah Chan, stayed sat in her chain, negotiating multiple handheld devices.

  Charles noted that Joe had spotted the Chinese woman and bent down to whisper in his ear. “She’s pissed that some kid got a selfie with an alien, and she didn’t.”

  Joe laughed. “Scooped on that one.”

  Dinalis interrupted the group and prompted them to take their seats. As the humans took their chairs, and Joe his position, he noted that Dinalis had shifted down and the seat across from him was now empty.

  Leaning towards Rhea, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “It feels good to be off my back.” He smiled.

  Rhea gave his hand a squeeze, and was about to reply when they noted the steady hum of the lift, and directed their attention down the table, just in time to see the arrival of the Jin-Mona, Lord Soturi, who was unlike any species Joe had seen yet.

  Joe had been told that he was from the Maz Fine Cluster, a group of stars and mini-planetoids that were on the fringes between the Core and the Etelainen Periphery. The humans had limited data on the region, but Joe recalled there had been a mention of pirates and other dangerous characters occupying the cluster, and it was almost a no-go zone since the times of the Empire, almost being a necessary evil in the galaxy, acting as a valve for all the dark things people needed or wanted to engage in.

  Dinalis had also given Joe a warning about Lord Soturi, and it was simple, and to the point, he was not someone to trifle with, and he had the full backing of the Royal Council back on Mechcharga.

  As the man approached, Joe tried to size him up. He was a few inches taller than Joe and wearing an immaculate dark navy uniform with a set of buttons running in a V shape up towards his shoulders. His trousers were tucked into a pair of dark brown boots that reminded Joe of riding boots, and he had a thick brown belt around his waist with a series of small pouches. The rest of the uniform was devoid of decoration or any noticeable identifications of rank.

  The Lord’s skin was light brown in colour, and his eyes were a darker brown and darted around with the intensity of a predator. The hair on his head was short and cut into three lines, one that ran down the centre of his head, and two others that ran above where his ears would have been, had he had ears. His face was cleanly shaven, and there wasn’t a mark on the man’s face, other than a few wrinkles, showing his age.

  Joe wasn’t certain, but it looked like the Lord was powerfully built, but not stocky, and had an air of half swashbuckler half general about him. Joe knew that this was indeed someone who was not to be underestimated.

  Reaching his seat, Joe watched as the man, with just the movement of his eyes, forced the chair back from the table, he then moved up to the table, and waited for the chair to slide back in under him.

  Taking his seat, he looked up and down the table until he spotted one of the men that was at the very first meeting with the Visitor Liaison Team, and as Joe recalled was psychic, and without a word being said among them, the junior representative got up from his seat, and excused himself from the table.

  Once the individual was on the lift and out of sight, the Lord finally broke the silence.

  “I’m very sorry for that, I prefer to be the only psychic at the table when I conduct negotiations.” He gave the table another scan and then focused on Joe. “Major Hunt, I am Lord Soturi. I am taking over responsibility for this star system and am under orders to assist your species in meeting all Alliance membership requirements promptly.”

  Joe cleared his throat. “It is an honour to meet you, and I, on behalf of my team, and humanity, welcome you to Earth. I do not want to sound out of order, but I was under the impression that Sector Prefect Dinalis was under the same instructions.”

  Soturi looked at Dinalis who was sat next to him, then back to Joe. “That is correct. I am here to ensure that everything is kept to a tidy schedule. And to increase the level of defence on this world, now that the Coalition is aware of your existence.” Soturi looked down the table. “Regarding the current security situation, I have a reinforced squadron in the system, much more capable than the 73rd Reach Guard. I can assure you that it would require a massive effort to directly threaten this world again.” Soturi picked up a datapad that was on the table and gave it a quick glance. “I have read the casualty reports that the local government have provided from the recent attack, they were light, considering the attacking force involved.”

  Rhea jumped at that comment. “Almost two hundred thousand dead in a matter of minutes? You call that light?” Her torso was pressed against the table, and her head jutted out towards Soturi.

  “Doctor Stokes. The capabilities of Coalition are such that they might have decided to destroy the entire city of Vancouver had they wanted to. I think that you should consider that when taking into context the number of dead. The fact that just two operatives killed over one thousand armed persons in the Iraqi desert should illustrate to you how woefully outgunned and incapable you are right now of providing your own security. One of my goals is to change that.”

  Joe put his hand on Rhea’s thigh and gave it a light squeeze, hoping she would calm down.

  “Very well, Lord Soturi, but I hope that we are not in store for some form of occupation as a result of your presence here.” She said, before sitting back in her chair.

  “Doctor, if I were not here; if the forces under Obo Pullo had not been here, and the Coalition had arrived in this system, there would not have been a negotiation or a discussion about the next course of action. If Alliance intelligence is accurate, the Coalition
is suffering an acute shortage of manpower and resources at this time. This world and the other planets in the system would have provided a rich bounty for them.”

  That last part peaked Joe’s attention. “How could their conquering of Earth solve their manpower crisis?”

  “Mind control, Major. The technology was banned during the years of the Empire, but it exists, and we are on good authority to say that Coalition has used it on captured Alliance forces, and has even forced neutral worlds into the struggle on their side.”

  “Jesus.” Joe replied.

  Soturi looked at Rhea, then back at Joe. “I am here to ensure that this world remains free, and as you call it, Democratic. But for that to happen, change must take place. You have been given five goals to accomplish in a view to meet standards for Alliance membership, and I am here to see that this planet starts moving towards achieving those goals.”

  “There are people here who will object.” Noted Lysa.

  “There always will be. But we are not barbaric in our methodology. I prefer to offer inducements, as a form of motivation, as we move forward.” Soturi replied.

  “What do you have in mind?” Asked Doctor Ji-woon.

  “Medical treatments. I have a medical ship in orbit with two hundred medical shuttles and eight hundred medical drones. We have a complete database on human medicine and current medical crisis around the globe. I can have the shuttles deployed at a moments notice.”

  “That’s amazing.” Charles commented.

  “It is, but some countries are not going to want your drones on their soil. They’d see it as a form of infringement, hell, your presence on this planet alone has made some people miserable.” Joe noted.