by Ira Tabankin
“I am proposing you follow me to my home world and meet our Emperor. He has to hear this and the best way to hear it is directly from you.”
“I need to request permission from my superior officer before I can agree to such a mission. In the meantime, is there anything your ship needs?”
“My AI is in need of some replacement cores.”
Admiral Dune asked, “AI, will your cores work in their AI?”
“Admiral, I am not sure. However, I am sure their AI will be able to use part of my spare cores. I could send them with the Captain while you’re waiting for word from the Fleet Admiral.”
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Rhett was shocked when he heard Admiral Dune’s story. He told the Admiral he would get back to him within an hour. Rhett placed a call to the President and to Kalteck. The President was hesitant to lose Rhett on the eve of the invasion. “Madam President, I will leave the coordinates to open a wormhole and send a message through to alert me if the enemy arrives.”
“Are you going to take Kalteck with you?”
“I have asked him. He is very eager to go. He believes that if he shows up at their capital, he can convince them his story is correct because he has the knowledge that can fill in all of the holes in their history. He has their records of the Neanderthal’s history and of their Overlords, the enemy. He believes there’s a chance we can turn the Neanderthals into an ally, a very powerful ally who knows the enemy inside out. They have known the enemy for thousands of years, they know their technology, and their weapons and ships. They were trained in the enemy’s way of fighting. They can be an immensely powerful partner. We already know their ships are just what we need for the upcoming war.”
“Admiral, please do not be gone for more than a few days. I have an awfully bad feeling about the calendar. I feel in my bones the enemy is coming.”
“Yes, Madam President. Thank you.”
“Admiral make them our friends and allies. I agree with you, they could be a very powerful and surprise ally which might turn the war around. You have my permission to go.”
Kalteck took Rhett to meet the Neanderthals and dock at the Lincoln. When they arrived Captain Nugril’s body shook. He fell to the floor and prostrated himself out in front of Kalteck. “Overlord, I am sorry. I must have done something wrong. I, we, the Emperor didn’t know you would be here. This human told me a very strange story. I am sorry I listened to him and doubted you. How shall I redeem myself in your eyes?”
Kalteck frowned, “Rise Captain Nugril. I am not an Overlord. I am from the same race and the same home world as your Overlords. My name is Kalteck 208. I am the two hundredth eighth Kalteck in the service of the ruling council of the Northern half of what used to be paradise, the fourth planet of this system. The same home world that gave birth to your Overlords. I was the one who has been educating the humans. I’ve been on Earth for over eighty of their rotations preparing them to be prepared for the coming of your Overlords who want to enslave them and once they do, they’ll destroy your people.”
“You are not an Overlord?”
“No.”
“You look just like them. You speak as them.”
“Rhett, can you confirm I have been here since 1947? Can you confirm my story to the nice captain?”
Rhett began explaining the story of Kalteck’s to Captain Nugril. Kalteck stopped him. “Please verbalize it. I think Admiral Dune has the right to hear the story if he is going to accompany us to Captain Nugril’s home world.”
Rhett began with the night of 1947 when Kalteck’s ship crashed. Admiral Dune asked, “Admiral, how old are you?”
Rhett smiled while looking at Kalteck who nodded. “I was born in 1916 that makes me, 122 years old, on my next birthday. I wasn’t born Rhett McIntire, I was born Everett Yahnig.”
Admiral Dune stood staring at Rhett shocked. “Kalteck altered you in some way, didn’t he?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny anything. I guess I have good genes.”
Admiral Dune laughed and shook his head. It’s been a very long time since I heard that phrase. Did you serve in the Second World War?”
“Yes, I was a fighter pilot, an ace. I shot down six German Me 109s in two days.”
“Captain Nugril also shook his head. You must be a warrior of special skills to have survived such a long time. You flew a fighter and are now your people’s Fleet Admiral. You understand war. Our Emperor will enjoy meeting you.”
Rhett bowed his head towards Nugril, “It will be my honor to meet your Emperor. Could you please educate me on how one acts and addresses him? I will be a stranger in a strange land when we arrive at your home world.”
Nugril returned Rhett’s bow. He then snapped to attention and his left arm snapped to his chest in the Neanderthal salute. “Admiral, I salute you. It will be my pleasure to lead you to our home world. Please follow my instructions when we exit the wormhole as our ready action squadrons will respond to any wormhole entering.”
Admiral Dune nodded, “AI, please contact the Neanderthal’s AI and provide all aid and assistance you can. Identify which spare cores you can spare and share our history of their people with them. Learn their IFF codes that will be required when we arrive in their system.”
“Yes, sir. Sir, I will require the Fleet Admiral’s override code in order to exchange detailed and technical information with their AI. Admiral?”
Rhett used his implant to communicate with the Lincoln’s AI. “Admiral, thank you. I have received the override codes and have contacted the Neanderthal’s AI, we are currently exchanging information and I have tasked two IT crew members to transport the cores, unless Captain Nugril would like to handle it himself.”
Nugril smiled, “I would be honored to host your crew members. Admiral McIntire, I believe we will be ready to leave three Earth hours after the cores are installed and my AI is rebooted.”
“Agreed, simply let us know and we’ll be ready to follow you through the wormhole.”
Chapter 21
The two ships entered the Neanderthal’s home system and they were immediately challenged by three battle cruisers who had been alerted to the wormhole forming. Once the IFF codes were exchanged and accepted the communications channels were burned up with the information of the humans and their history.
The Emperor was taking a mid-day break with his new human slave when blue lights began flashing in his private bedroom. The lights were followed by an alarm which continued to increase in tone until the Emperor picked up the blue flashing phone next to his bed. “WHAT is it? Didn’t I tell you not to bother me?”
The Emperor’s CoS replied, “Sire, I am sorry to bother you, but we have received a Race Omega One code message.”
The Emperor pushed the woman away from him as he sat up. “Repeat that.”
“Sire, we have received, and I have confirmed, a Race Omega One code. Sire, the stealth ship has returned with a human war ship. They have transmitted the message, “We have discovered our home world. Confirm, we have discovered our home world and am returning with proof.” Signed Captain Nugril.”
“Order them to orbit our home world and not the base. I want my shuttle prepared, I want to meet them as quickly as possible. Did he say he’s brought home a human warship?”
“Sire, that is correct. Based on the data he sent, the ship is a monster, it is larger than ours and has weapons which discovered our stealth ship while it was protected under its masking. Nugril also reported the ship has a mass driver/rail gun which could destroy one of our ships. Sire, he also sent a very classified message that the Overlords are not who they claim to be.”
“No one, I repeat no one talks to those ships. I will meet them and see for myself what news they brought back. I want the news he has returned with a human ship classified. Tell the fleet to keep their distance from them and do not challenge them.”
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Nugril escorted the Emperor to the Lincoln’s landing bay. The rows of Piranhas had been polished till they gleamed under the li
ghts. The officers of the Lincoln stood at attention in their best dress uniforms, the pilots and ground crews stood next of each of their Piranhas. The massive ship had been cleaned and polished till every inch of the ship glowed.
The Emperor’s glowing shuttle landed in the huge bay. Two rows of the Emperor’s guards exited and lined up along the shuttle. The last person who exited was the Emperor who was dressed in his own military dress uniform of midnight blue with glowing and flowing gold that moved up and down his right leg. The gold slash that crossed his chest was covered in war medals and awards actually won in various battles.
When the Emperor placed his right foot onto the deck of the Lincoln, he heard his own national anthem played through the ship as Admiral McIntire called, “United Earth Star Ship Lincoln, attention and present arms.”
The Emperor crossed his chest with his left arm and stood at attention while the anthem played, and the anthem of the United States was played next. When it was finished, Admiral McIntire stepped forward and he bowed his head towards the Emperor. “Sir, welcome to the United Earth Star Ship Lincoln. We call this ship a Monitor class. The Emperor spotted Kalteck standing next to Admiral Dune. The Emperor stopped and bowed his head. Then he bent to his right knee and offered his hands out, palms up. “Overlord, I had no idea you were here, forgive me if I disrespected you.”
Kalteck slowly walked forward, he responded, “Emperor, I am not an Overlord. I am from the same home world as those you call the Overlords. They are not lords. They are in fact my enemies.”
“You are not an overlord? You look like, you speak like one. What do you mean they are not lords?”
“Nor are they gods or anything other than a war like group who took your ancestors from Earth so they could breed you to become their warriors. I bet they gave you technology, they taught you how to build star ships, and how to build immensely powerful weapons. They took what was a peaceful race and made you into a warrior race, one they trained and bred to fight for them. I bet they told you they were coming soon to ask you to be ready to support a massive war, a battle where you’ll fight shoulder and shoulder with them, am I right?”
The Emperor stared shocked into Kalteck’s eyes. “Is this true? How could this be?”
Kalteck replied, “Sire, let us give you a tour of this ship, let me show you my real history and the history of your so-called Overlords. Let the Admiral show you his history which is intertwined with yours. I believe when you learn the truth, you’re going to be incredibly surprised and then angry your race has been used.”
Five hours after arriving onboard the Lincoln, the Emperor invited Admirals McIntire and Dune to join him at his palace. He also spot promoted captain Nugril to the rank of Admiral and congratulated him for locating their original home world. The Emperor told Nugril, “Tomorrow I will announce to the world your great accomplishment and I am going to name a world holiday in your honor. You and your tribe will go down in our history as a hero and one of our greatest explorers. I would like you to join the human admirals for diner with me so we can continue our discussions.”
“Sire, this is an honor I don’t deserve.”
“Nonsense, you discovered what we’ve been searching thousands of rotations for. You are a hero to all of us. You’ve answered the one question we’ve been asking all of our lives.”
The Emperor and his military staff gave the two human admirals and Kalteck a tour of two of their orbiting bases. They next toured the largest and newest ship in their fleet. This ship was comprised of four large saucer sections, two saucers on the bottom and two on the top connected by the central section. The Neanderthal weapon’s designer outlined the design of their ships. Kalteck waited for the tall dark-skinned Neanderthal to finish before responding, “You have an extremely dangerous flaw in your ships. There is a vulnerable spot where the lower section connects to the central hub. One strike there can damage the lower section which is filled with your fighter’s weapons and fuel. The explosion destroys your entire ship.”
The weapon’s designer looked frustrated, “There isn’t any flaw in my design.”
“I can prove there is. Should I show you?”
Kalteck used his implant to project his fight with the Neanderthal ships and the destruction his strike on the spot he mentioned caused. “Does this prove my point?”
“Your one small ship destroyed one of our battle cruisers? That’s impossible!”
“Would you like to see it from another angle?”
The Emperor leaned forward to study the images, “You destroyed one of our ships?”
“Sire, I did when they attempted to lure me to a meeting and then opened attack on my ship. Should I show you the battle from another angle, I can let my AI replay the entire event, including our discussion and how your ship opened fire on mine.”
“Did they know who you were” asked the Emperor.
“No, I didn’t show myself to your crew. I try to hide my appearance due to some races believing I’m related to their demons. I use a diffuser so my image is distorted until I know if I can trust others I meet in space.”
The weapon’s designer began to speak when the Emperor raised his hand to cut him off. “Kalteck, how would you recommend improving our ships? You are closely related to our common enemy so if you easily discovered our ships’ weakness, so would our enemy. I would appreciate all of your help.”
“I would be happy to. There are a few simple things you can do to better protect your ships. One simple task is to increase the number of shield generators where the saucer sections connect to the central section another is to place blast shields behind the launch tubes so if a fighter is hit while launching the explosion can be contained. I was lucky in that I was able to hit one of your fighters as it was launching, the explosion blew into the saucer section which ignited the waiting weapons and fuel. A blast shield and vents to the outside of the saucer would have forced the explosion outside of the ship rather than allow it to destroy the ship.”
The weapon’s designer went to speak, and he wrote some designs on a tablet, and then stopped and smiled at Kalteck. “Yes, yes, I see that. It’s a simple modification. I will issue the instructions to our shipyards to begin making the modifications.”
The Emperor smiled. “See, that wasn’t hard. We can share the specific knowledge each of us has. Kalteck, can you share with us what happened to our missing ships?”
“Sire, in the first engagement, I damaged one ship, the second generated something I’d never seen before, a bubble or something like it which enabled the undamaged ship to take the damaged one into the wormhole with it. Once it entered the wormhole, I have no idea where they went or what happened. The second engagement was a little different, one of our mine weapons got sucked into the wormhole with your damaged ships. I am going to assume if the ships didn’t return home then my mine exploded and tossed the ships out of the wormhole. The mine most likely also damaged or destroyed your AIs and your androids or whatever you call them. On that subject, I’d like to ask, what are they and why did you make them?”
The Emperor looked at Kalteck, his weapon’s designer looked at the Emperor and exchanged an unverbalized question. The Emperor took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “How do you know about them. We didn’t think the Overlords knew of them.”
“I’m not saying they do or don’t know about them. I saw them on the bridge of the ship that opened fire on me. At first glance I thought they were normal crew members until my AI alerted me to the fact, they were not Neanderthals and they had been altered. My AI couldn’t determine if they still had some brain or if they were being completely controlled by an AI. My people and your Overlords fought a very nasty war against such beings. You shouldn’t play with them, without proper controls they can turn on you and if your Overlords ever hacked their AIs, they could turn them against your people. Why did you make them?”
The Emperor drank from his glowing cup of a beverage similar to coffee. He paused before responding, “Kalt
eck, the AI controlled beings are something we can delay speaking about to another time. We have much larger issues to discuss. I consider this issue an internal issue and one I’d rather not discuss. I can assure you, we have taken every measure to ensure they can never turn against us. Let’s return to how we can work together. Our Overlords usually visit us at this time of our year. They come as they say, to see what they can do for us and to see if our weapons production is meeting their goals. They have ordered us to build hundreds of our ships and many thousands of fighters. They’ve also ordered me to raise a massive ground force, which I now know is to invade the Earth, our home world.”
Rhett nodded, “Sire, we will leave the issue of the androids to you. All we wanted was to make you aware of the lesson Kalteck’s people had learned. I had the honor to visit a shrine of how the people of the fourth planet in my system lived. I experienced the war between the AIs and Kalteck’s people. The AIs almost won the war. He was simply warning you, so your people didn’t have to fight both your own inventions and the Overlords.”
