“Aaliir, I’m not sure why you’re trying to get me off the hook (crap, I wished I hadn’t said hook as soon as I spoke it) here. I just annihilated most of your species because I was too stupid to ask the right questions. You have every right to hate me. If you drove that truck over me and backed up to do it again, I would not blame you. Hell, I’d pay for the gas.”
“Jon Ryan, we do not have hate in us. We do not want you dead. We want you to be happy.”
“A question, if I may. You keep saying we. I mean, you may be one hell of a fish, but I’ll bet most of the others staring at Death in the flesh don’t feel so charitably.”
“They feel just as I do. We are mentally linked. The thoughts of one are the thoughts of all. We do not wish to place tire tracks across your face, however repulsive it appears to us as it exists.”
“Was that like a joke?”
“Like one.”
“The Naldoser flush you out of the ocean at gunpoint, I shoot you like fi … few could have, and you make with the funny?”
“Life is short. Be happy. We choose to be.”
“Wow. But your species, will it recover from this loss of sheer numbers?”
“Within a few turns of the season. Jon Ryan, we breed rapidly and live but a short time compared to most other species in our waters. But we are one. Each exuded becomes one with the rest. All memories are shared. No individual is forgotten or unloved.”
“That’s the second time you said exuded. You mean born, right?”
“I don’t believe I do. Ah, I have been reminded you do not know much of us. Though we are large compared to the Naldoser and others, we have little internal structure. We feed on microscopic creatures floating freely in the seas. We eat of the abundance, grow with few limits, and exude the next generation when it is time.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
“We hope such is not the case.”
If I was still human I’d have blushed. “Aaliir, let’s get what’s left of your race back into the ocean. Turn those vehicles around and slam the pedal to the metal.”
“We do not take your meaning, but please know we cannot return home. We knew we were doomed the moment we were driven from the water and forced into these abominations.”
“Wait, you knew it was a one-way trip?”
“Yes.”
“So why the hell did you go along with it? Why not put up a fight?”
“For two reasons. First, there is no fight in us. It is a waste of emotion.”
“Do you guys have a word in your language for hippie?”
For the first time since I laid eyes on him, he changed expression. Well, at least he rolled his head clockwise. “No.”
“Never mind. What’s the other reason?”
“We met you. It has been like bliss to do so. You have made us more complete.”
“No, actually, I made you a whole lot less complete.”
“We meant emotionally complete. Spiritually.”
“You guys sure are nice. Fairly forgiving too.”
“Thank you.”
“But, Aaliir, when you climbed aboard those vehicles, you couldn’t have known you’d meet me, or anyone else for that matter.”
“Yes,” and I swear the big goopy blob smiled, “isn’t the adventure of life wonderful?”
That was pretty much my motto. Wow, again.
“Come on, turn around, and let’s get you wet again.”
“But the Naldoser are grouped at the water’s edge. They will never allow it.”
“Oh, I think they will. I wasn’t planning on asking permission.”
“We thought it was not your preferred style.”
“You’re smarter than you look.”
“You are not.”
Hey, another joke. Wait, he was joking, right?
TWENTY-NINE
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was a little. Stingray turned out to be a totally kick-ass underwater fighting machine. I escorted what remained of the Dodrue caravan back to the coast. From directly above, I was able to shield them from a brief but massive shelling. Once the Naldosers surmised what was happening, they let loose with a withering bombardment of missiles and artillery rounds. Once they figured out their efforts were completely ineffective, they did two things. First, they ceased the useless assault. Second, they shit their water, as my old Listhelon friend Offlin used to say. Of course, I can only speculate to that fact, but seriously, I bet they did.
When we arrived at the coast two days later, the Dodrue drove their vehicles directly into the sea, where they promptly abandoned them. I had asked them to group up behind Stingray on my shore side. They did so promptly and in an orderly manner. Soon enough, a large contingent of vidalt began an assault. Again, I’m not sure why it surprised me, but they did so almost exactly like land forces would. Tank-like submarines led, what else could I call them but infantry fish toward us, firing up a storm. Their main weapon was a spear gun, but not like Lloyd Bridges used on Sea Hunt. These were gas-propelled thin arrows just long enough to maintain stability for some distance in an aquatic environment. Their initial speed was more than three hundred kilometers per hour, though they obviously slowed rather quickly. Maybe I should say the arrows traveled at one hundred sixty knots, since we were in a maritime setting, but I won’t because I’m not geeky. I’m too cool for that.
The tank equivalents fired shorter metal bolts. Since they could generate more propulsion behind each round, they were less streamlined and meant to be more impactful. They moved so fast the water that trailed behind them boiled. If one struck a standard ship’s hull, like say an aircraft carrier’s, it would have ripped in one side and exited the other and still have sank a ship on the far side of the first target. Really nasty torpedoes, I had to admit.
The membrane worked perfectly well in water, so the arrows and bolts all bounced away harmlessly. To their dying credit, literally, once the attackers realized their weapons were ineffective, they stopped firing, advancing nonetheless. I couldn’t use Stingray’s gamma-ray laser underwater. It would be futile and make a total hot mess of the local waters. But the rail cannon worked better than I would have thought possible. The first few rounds I fired were traveling so fast they generated tremendous Cherenkov radiation in the water. But when I had Stingray slow the balls way down, they were deadly both in terms of accuracy and lethality. I took out the tanks in seconds and those explosions took care of most soldiers.
“Als, status report?” I called out.
“Masses of enemy vessels are departing the area at high speed,” was Al’s response.
“Can we take them all out easily?”
“Yes, they are currently tightly grouped so that we can overtake and destroy them all in less than ten minutes.”
“Make it so,” I ordered.
“What about the Dodrue?” I asked.
“They have dispersed laterally along the shore and are making for open water.”
“Any pursuit of them?”
“None. They stand unopposed in their egress.”
“Excellent. Alert me if that changes.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Since we didn’t fold space, and I didn’t bother watching, I wasn’t aware of the destruction of the Naldoser fleet. I only knew it was over when Al told me it was.
“Where are the Naldoser cities?”
“We detect several. There are more out of our range.”
“I want the local cities fried.”
“Yes, sir.”
Thirty minutes and three cups of coffee later, Al announced twelve underwater metropolises were in ruin.
“Hopefully that’s enough of a message that they will leave the Dodrue and the Kaljaxians alone,” I said to Sapale, who’d been a quiet observer since I returned from my first contact with Aaliir. Despite her native grit and long experience at war, I think she was a bit overwhelmed with the extinction threats on both the Kaljaxian side as well as the Dodrue.
“That was
messy,” she said in reply.
“It was inexcusably messy. I haven’t screwed the pooch that badly in a very long time.”
“Remember, I wasn’t kicking and screaming for you to stop.” She visibly melted in her chair. “I’m just as guilty.”
“War is one endless Charlie Foxtrot. Always has been, always will be. If you sink to doing it, sooner than later you’ll be crying yourself to sleep.”
“That realization in no way decreases how sick I feel.”
“Me neither. But the ends justified the means.”
“Jon, even for you that’s remarkably insensitive.”
I guess she was extra sensitive on that topic, having witnessed EJ transform into the murderous psychopath he’d become.
“True that. But we won the Kaljaxians a big window of time to settle in and fortify their colony. Your species will survive. That makes a lot of shit worth the smell.”
She was quiet a second too long. “They’ll survive this time. But, Jon, it never ends. Kaljax is lost. Azsuram is gone. How long until this tiny settlement is brutally wiped from existence? Are you and I to spend our eternity putting out one fire after another with no hope of stability on the horizon?”
I leaned my head to one side. “You might spend your eternity doing that. Me, probably not so much.”
“Gods, Jon, I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. I’m wounded in a way that there’s only one cure.”
She crossed her arms. “Let me guess. Does the treatment involve you and me and one of us clapping our hands?”
“You forgot the no-clothes part, but otherwise, you’re quite correct, Doctor.”
She raised her hands and clapped.
A while later, she was resting with her head on my chest idly twirling a patch of chest hair. “Jon, between the nastiness with the Plezrite and this engagement, your year’s almost up.”
I craned my neck and kissed the top of her head. “Yes indeedy, it is.”
“You don’t seem upset.”
“Wouldn’t help a thing.”
“Jon, there’s good calm and there’s lobotomized calm.”
“Are you offering me a choice?”
She tugged a hair out.
“Ouch.”
“There’s more where that came from. I’m serious. Whatever half-baked plan you’re working on must require some time. You’re apparently going to face EJ before you even get started on saving your hide. I’m kind of getting worried.”
I stared into the distance a while. “Me too, I guess. But I had to do what I did. I lost a lot of valuable time, but it was necessary.”
“Putting others first is noble, but I don’t think nobility is rewarded in hell.”
“Let’s hope I never find out.” I tapped her head soundly with one finger. “But if I do, I’ll call you and let you know.”
That cost me a couple more chest hairs. Double ow.
“I want to help.”
“I know. I just don’t know if I need help. I’m being serious, so no more depilation please.”
“How can you know you don’t need help when you don’t know what you’re doing?”
“I don’t want to risk that jerk-bait capturing you.”
“Then forget about EJ until after you finagle your way out of your debt.”
“No. I can’t do that.”
She looked up at me with frustration. “Because you’re stubborn, inflexible, and thoroughly maddening in every manner?”
I kissed her head again. “Something like that.” I placed both hands over my remaining chest hairs, just in case.
“I spent an eternity with the pig,” she said, resting her head back down. “He isn’t worth it.”
“Isn’t worth what?”
“Whatever you think is so damned important to do. Jon, if it cost you a day’s pay or an eternity of torment, it doesn’t matter. He’s not worth any expense.”
“I hate to disagree with one so close to my remaining chest hairs, but I believe I do. He’s despicable in a major way.”
She moaned softly. “He’s insane and psychopathic, but he’s only a danger if he has a goal and if anyone stands in his path. For years, he was ruthless in his pursuit of the Deft. Now he knows he can’t have them, so that period of reprehensible behavior is over. He’s been crazy about killing you. But if you’re spoken for, he’ll have to let that go. Trust me, he’ll just sit in some dark place and brood.”
“You mean like at Peg’s?”
“Yeah, like at Peg’s. Lords and Lights, I haven’t through about that dump in eons.”
“I rebuilt it, with Peg’s holo and everything.” I beamed.
“You would.”
“Hey, I loved that establishment. I loved Peg too, if such an emotion was possible in her case.”
“You loved feeling sorry for yourself. The difference between you and EJ is that you got off your butt and left. He wouldn’t.”
“Well there you have it. If I’m confined to eternal damnation, give him Peg’s address, and it’ll be the last the universe sees of EJ.”
“I’ll pencil that in under dumbest ideas I’ve ever heard.”
“Why pencil? I think that stupid notion will stand the test of time.”
“You’re not locked into your new gig just yet, so I’ll use pencil if it’s okay with you?”
“Be my guest. Hey,” I said gently lifting her head. “Speaking of which, I best be going.”
“To the Hantorian System?”
“None other.” I stood and reached for my clothes.
“And you’re not taking me?”
“No. I told you, I won’t risk it. Look, if I need help, I swear I’ll call you.” I looked into her eyes. “Seriously.”
She relented. “All right. If you do need help, I will come. It’s a deal.” We shook on it. Kind of silly for two naked married people in bed, but there it was.
THIRTY
“Let’s get this meeting to order,” Calran Klug said as he tapped the table with a claw.
Reflexively, the lone Loserandi began to slowly rise.
Calran held out a paw. “That won’t be necessary. New council, new traditions. You may go, old one.”
Without a glance to the Prime, the old dog shuffled from the room
“Thank you,” said Darfos. “That fossil is most annoying.”
“They can’t kill us twice, so whether it’s for lack of accomplishments or for breaking with custom, what does it matter?” replied Calran as he sat. “I believe we’re ready to hear Sevrop’s amended report.”
“Yes, Prime,” responded Darfos. “His initial report to this council last month was incomplete in some minute details. He was directed to fill in the gaps that existed.”
“Very well,” responded an already bored Calran. “you may begin, Master Sevrop.”
The fact that the term master held no meaning or status rendered it a petty insult.
“Last time I was able to update our naval strength. The losses during the Battle of the Periphery were complete, and the number of vessels lost was great. Nonetheless, those ships and personnel represented only one point three percent of our current effective assets. Given that all the big ships can move instantaneously anywhere they are needed with their exotic matter drives, the losses are truly inconsequential.”
“Yes, Sevrop, you said that last time. But you are counting only numbers, not actual preparedness,” said Darfos evenly.
“I’m not certain what you mean by that?” he responded, a bit rattled.
“Preparedness is not a thing, a tool hanging on the wall for one can use. No, it is a spectrum of attitudes, beliefs, and prejudices that a fighting force develops. One hundred equally armed soldiers opposing one another in battle are not necessarily equal. One side may have the advantage when it comes to its preparedness. That superiorly prepared force is more likely to come out victorious.”
“Darfos,” said the always pompous and irritating Nalvir, “I have no id
ea what you are babbling about. I have less of an idea why you feel it’s important enough to mention to the council, your musings being so out of context.”
“That you do not see nor appreciate the subtleties I do not find remarkable,” returned Darfos. “But preparedness must always factor into planning a military campaign.”
“Everyone in this room knows that,” returned Nalvir.
“I believe the point here,” said Calran trying to avoid a fight, “is that we may have a vast number of resources, but are they optimally prepared for battle? Do you see that much, Nalvir?”
“I most certainly do not. You hand a grunt a blaster, and you point him at the enemy. How complicated do you imagine war is?”
“War need not be complicated,” replied Darfos, “but winning a war is. If you were to allow young Sevrop to continue his report, we might all learn if the impact of the massive loss we suffered recently has adversely effected the morale of our fighting force to the extent that it might be less effective than we assume it is.”
“What?” yelped the incredulous Nalvir. “Are you daft? Is the air thinner on your side of the room? Are you suggesting that the most massive, well-trained, and well-equipped war machine the galaxy has ever seen is impaired because it might be sad?”
“I move Sevrop continue,” responded Darfos coolly.
“I agree,” replied Calran. “Continue, Sevrop.”
“I … er … I’m not certain I have anything to add. Our ships are more numerous than the stars in the sky, and our troops are more numerous than grains of sand on a beach. I wasn’t actually considering if the warriors were mindful in a negative way about our losses along the periphery, but I can’t imagine—”
“Wedge Half Sevrop,” snarled Darfos, “you were not asked or paid to imagine. If we wanted imagination, we would have assigned your task to a poet. You were assigned to research and report facts. I hear now that you squandered all the time this council generously allotted you. Your superficial investigation has caused a two-month delay so far in our ability to plan or act as a fighting force. That you request an additional month to actually do what Prime asked you to do in the first place borders on insubordination and treason. Do I in any manner understate my passionate thoughts on this matter?”
Dragon Fire (Galaxy On Fire Book 5) Page 16
