Covert Alliance

by Blair Wylie

  “Now, I am extremely pleased to confirm that the captured Warrior Flagship, and the six attached scout ships, are fully functional in every way.

  “And we now know the exact location of the planet of origin! I am talking about the place where Masters have established enough of a civilization to be able to send a Warrior seek-and-destroy Armada our way.

  “And, by scrutinizing the commander’s log on the captured Flagship, we now know for sure that the Master rulers intended to destroy New Earth in its entirety!

  “So, none of us should feel any remorse when I tell you our new, very secret mission is to entirely destroy the Master colony that just tried to destroy us.

  “We will be doing our part in that frankly Herculean effort by sending this now unmanned, and soon to be modified, Warrior Flagship back to its planet of origin.

  “When we have sent this Warrior Flagship on its way, we will make our own way home, that is, back to Addy Moon Base.

  “When we are underway, I will send a tight-beam, coded message to Addy Moon Base confirming that our mission has been fully successful. That is all I will say. And they will know exactly what that means. That’s because we have executed our part of the overarching plan perfectly. You should all feel a great deal of pride in that accomplishment.

  “Okay, that’s it. I will not elaborate further.

  “Some leaders back on New Earth might tell me later that I took far too much liberty with the interpretation of my letter of commission to share this top-secret information with you. If so, I will counter-argue that I simply needed your expert help. And furthermore, I will say that I strongly believed you all earned the trust, admiration and lasting gratitude of every member of our species. If they actually do take issue with any of our actions, my ass will be in a sling, so to speak, and not yours.

  “But for the record, albeit top secret, you are now all under direct orders to never tell anyone what you have just heard. Breach of these orders will be considered treason, and will result in dishonourable discharge, or far worse.

  “Now, are there any questions? No? Okay then, let us all work efficiently and effectively together to complete our remaining work program, so we can leave this ugly, depressing battlefield just as soon as we can, and return home to our friends and families.

  “This meeting is now adjourned.”

  31

  Prime Minister Patricia Hernandez was sitting hunched over, with her elbows resting on her massive, ornate desk. She was also resting with her chin on her fingertips, and unconsciously talking to herself.

  Characteristically, she was worried about many things. Her many critics would consider most of the matters she was currently wrestling with as trivial.

  But she had always struggled with prioritization. In her mind, everything must be dealt with, and immediately. As a result, her long term in office had taken an immense toll on her physical health. But thankfully, she was still as mentally acute as ever.

  She was deeply absorbed with some rather obscure and indirect indicators about the health of the New Earth economy when the telephone on her desk rang. She was tempted to ignore the call, even though she could see by a glowing button on the hard-wired, highly-secure device that the call was from her soon-to-be-retired administrative assistant. She let the phone ring three times, then she snatched up the handset.

  She snarled angrily, “Yes, what is it, Marge?”

  This was an often repeated and blatant form of workplace harassment. If she had ever had a sincere one-on-one discussion with her subordinate, Marge would have told her this abusive, recurring behaviour was the reason she had finally decided to take up early retirement.

  But Marge had always avoided conflict with her stern bully of a boss, and her intent was just to leave quietly.

  So, as usual, there was a brief pause, and then Marge replied meekly, “I am very sorry to disturb you, Prime Minister, and I know this is against your scheduled meeting protocol. But General Nils Knudsen has just arrived in reception with two members of the Privy Council, ah, Chancellor Francis Maldonado and Dean Asher Weismann.

  “They say they have a significant update to share with you, and they are looking for your immediate approval to pursue a recommended way forward. Should I send them away?”

  Prime Minister Hernandez experienced a brief flash of déjà vu. And she briefly considered blowing off this brash, unscheduled intrusion of her privacy.

  But she quickly checked herself. These three visitors were not people who could be blown off without consequence. So, instead, she sighed loudly and growled, “No, as it happens, I think I can spare a few minutes for them right now. Please show them in.”

  Then she sighed again, and added more pleasantly, “And Marge, I’m sorry I barked at you just now.”

  “That’s okay, Prime Minister,” Marge replied brightly after receiving a very rare apology from her boss. “Okay, here they come now.”

  The prime minister rose from her desk and formally greeted General Knudsen just inside her office door. The general’s handshake was as firm as ever, and he was still a handsome devil, she thought. His hair was now mostly grey, but his posture and physique were as good as ever. And he still held the top post in the combined military and security force.

  Knudsen’s wife, Doctor Francis Maldonado, was following directly behind the general. Hernandez took a moment to carefully study her face as they shook hands. Francis now had many wrinkles around her eyes, but there was still a strong hint that she had once been very pretty. Francis had just announced that she would be retiring as Chancellor of Abubakar University. However, she was still very active in politics. Unfortunately, she leaned to the left, whereas Patricia Hernandez was solidly middle-right.

  Following directly behind Francis was Doctor Asher Weismann. He was dressed in a frumpy-looking, tweed suit. He was not aging very well. After his wife passed away, he went back to wearing cheap, plastic, black-rimmed eyeglasses. But he was still the Dean of Astrophysics and Space Engineering at Abubakar University. There was a widespread rumour that he planned to remain in that position until the day he died. He was a devoted academic, and really did not give a damn what people thought about his personal views, or his appearance.

  The prime minister motioned for everyone to take a seat in the adjacent lounge area of her office. When everyone was settled, Hernandez said abruptly, “Well, isn’t this interesting? Judging by this elite cast of characters, and our shared turbulent history, might this meeting have something to do with aliens? And, you know, I am almost certain that I have said something like this before to you three people.”

  Knudsen cleared his throat, and said calmly, “Yes it does, Prime Minister. The current concern is not with our secret alien friends and allies that we have come to call the Collaborators. Rather, it concerns the infamous aliens of antiquity, that we have always called the Masters.

  “Firstly, we have a highly significant update to share with you.

  “Secondly, we have a forward plan that is completely aligned with our previous discussions with you, and with our overarching battle plan, which you secretly approved.”

  Knudsen leaned back for a moment, and quickly glanced at his wife, and his close friend, Weismann. They both looked very grim, but they nodded back at him for support.

  “If you recall,” Knudsen continued, while turning back to directly engage with the prime minister, “Five of our robot frigates intercepted a Warrior Armada of seven battlecruisers after they entered our Oort Cloud. Six of the Warrior battlecruisers were completely destroyed. The remaining battlecruiser was effectively disabled by a lower intensity, directed-beam gamma ray strike. As we suspected, that vessel proved to be the Armada Flagship.

  “Our robot ships then chased down and destroyed three Warrior scout ships that had managed to escape the initial barrage. That took some doing. The enemy Warrior pilots proved to be tough and determined, and their little scout ships proved to be highly nimble and incredibly well-armed.

  “Duri
ng the search-and-destroy mission, one of our robot frigates was completely destroyed, and two others were damaged, but not to the extent that they were totally crippled.

  “The four remaining frigates then took up watch-keeping duty near the disabled Warrior Flagship that was still moving through our Oort Cloud.

  “In parallel, to intercept the Warrior Armada, we had deployed our only manned battlecruiser, the Indefatigable, with a Company of Rangers aboard. Commodore Mustafa Chamberlain was commissioned and placed in independent command of the attack force. Thankfully, as things turned out, our battlecruiser and Company of Rangers only had to deal with one disabled Warrior battlecruiser. Still, that proved to be a highly significant challenge. But more about that in a moment.

  “That is because we are pleased to be here today, Prime Minister, to tell you that two days ago we received a light-speed, tight-beam, elaborately-coded transmission from Commodore Chamberlain.

  “It took us quite a while to decode and analyse the very large file he had attached to his very short message.

  “In his brief message, the commodore simply advised us that the intercept and capture mission had been completely successful, and that his battlecruiser and four surviving robot frigates were returning to Addy Moon Base.”

  The prime minister’s facial expressions then went through a remarkable series of dramatic transformations. She first recoiled with surprise. Then she looked relieved, and even a bit gleeful. Then after another long moment, she returned to her typical, defensive if not outright cynical demeanour. She looked stern again, and even a bit angry. Then she mumbled through gritted teeth, “Tell me all about it, General.”

  “Prime Minister, the large file attachment that Commodore Chamberlain sent to us is his formal, complete battle report,” Knudsen began. He was still calm and composed. “We will share that with you by secure email, should you wish to study it at length. And we recommend that you do indeed study it at length.

  “What they achieved way out there in the Oort Cloud was both remarkable and heroic. We think you will agree the commodore’s report is very well written, and comprehensive.

  “For now, in a nutshell, please be advised that the Warrior battlecruiser was successfully boarded. That required a lot of ingenuity, as it was out of stabilizing control, and it was rotating around two axes.

  “The spearhead Ranger boarding party entered the main, zero-G fuselage of the battlecruiser. No Warrior corpses were found in that section of the vessel. Of perhaps greater concern, they could not initially find a way to access the engine compartment located at the very aft of the vessel. That aspect of the initial phase of the operation proved to be highly significant.

  “Thankfully, the boarding party did find a way to access the bridge, which they determined was located within a separate, toroidal section of the gigantic spaceship.

  “Fifty Warrior corpses were found there. That makes sense, as that would place them within the more comfortable, full-gravity section of the normally spinning vessel.

  “The Warriors had apparently all been killed by our Alpha robot ship’s artificial gamma ray burst.

  “Our computer and systems experts then tried to break into the Flagship’s control and data management system. They first set about restoring the internal power and ship stability control systems. That required hacking through seven layers of elaborate, password-protected firewalls. But they managed it all somehow.

  “Unfortunately, about a day after the power was restored in the vessel, an attack was mounted by fifty Warriors against our Rangers!

  “They had been hibernating in a heavily-shielded chamber adjacent to the engine compartment. There must have been an independent, automated command and control system that kicked them out of hibernation just as soon as power was restored.

  “A vicious, mostly hand-to-hand battle then ensued. Thankfully, our Ranger Captain, Joachim Fitzpatrick, on his own initiative, had very creatively and professionally armed and trained his company in the use of archaic but nevertheless highly lethal weapons. They confirmed the hard way that these weapons could be used to kill Warriors in body armour, while not damaging the vessel or its contents.

  “In the end, eighteen Rangers were killed, and twenty-two were wounded. But all fifty of the post-hibernation Warriors were killed. None of them wanted to surrender. It was a fight to the death for them, which frankly led to one of the goriest and bloodiest battles that can be imagined.

  “Subsequently, the Warrior Flagship was stripped of everything of immediate use to our attack and salvage force out there, or that might improve our understanding of the Masters.

  “Many curious devices were found. More importantly, the Warrior Flagship Commander’s log was located and uploaded to our battlecruiser. It was then fully translated and analysed. Commodore Chamberlain attached the translated variant of the log in its entirety to his recent transmission.”

  General Knudsen then turned to nod and smile at his close friend, Weismann.

  Doctor Asher Weismann then cleared his throat and said, “Prime Minister, the ship’s log has given us the exact coordinates of the Master colony that sent the Warrior Armada to destroy us. We now know that colony is on a rocky planet in a star system about 80.2 New Earth Light Years away from us.

  “Looking back at the timelines, it seems that the Master civilization must have received the transmission that ‘the Collaborators’ told us about. You know, the one from the failed, follow-up, Master exploration visit to New Earth.”

  Prime Minister Hernandez just stared back blankly, so without referring to any notes, Weismann added, “If you recall, Prime Minister, that message said:

  ‘We have confirmed the failure of our first attempt at colonization on the planet. Expect to encounter an advanced, competitive, probably hostile alien civilization when you get here. The ecosystem of this planet is toxic to us right now, and will no doubt be far worse after generations of further alien intervention and contamination. Annihilation of the entire planet is therefore recommended, if you have the technology.’

  Weismann then added, “That message had been sent at light speed, and it referred, of course, to New Earth, and to our species.

  “It seems that as soon as the message was received by the nearest Master colony, the leaders there ordered a Warrior Armada to attack us. It looks like that Armada had been previously engaged in another search-and-destroy mission. They had been exploring the blasted ruins of a suspected ‘enemy’ base on a moon orbiting a rocky planet in a star system that is only 12.3 New Earth Light Years away from us! They referred to the enemy as something like ‘the Cowards’ or perhaps ‘the Retreaters’.

  “They could very well have been referring to the highly-intelligent and advanced alien species that we call ‘the Collaborators’.”

  Knudsen then intervened, and said, “Thank you, Dean Weismann. That was a good summary, sufficient for now.

  “Prime Minister, when Commodore Chamberlain realized he had found this critical piece of information, he immediately and correctly set about making the captured Warrior Flagship ready to return to its planet of origin. Only, as planned, it would be returning with a… ah… highly toxic cargo, and the means to precisely deliver that cargo.

  “Furthermore, the commodore and his staff officers devised a way for the Warrior Flagship to be controlled by a very elaborate over-riding artificial intelligence system. But more about that later.

  “For now, just know that in line with our overarching battle plan, the one that you approved a while back, the Warrior battlecruiser is now traveling directly to the nearest and only known Master colony at about one-twentieth of light speed.

  “Now, in addition, it seems the Warrior’s communication protocol was highly restricted. In the event of failure, a rigidly prescribed message was to be sent. And in the event of success, a different, also rigidly prescribed and very brief message was to be sent.

  “So, Commodore Chamberlain sent the prescribed ‘full success’ message from the b
ridge of the captured Flagship just before the vessel was sent on its way home. The message was directed in a tight beam at the planet with the offending Master colony, or more precisely, where that planet will be in space 80 years from when the message was sent.

  “Commodore Chamberlain exercised his own initiative in deciding to send that message. But I believe his decision is fully in line with our overarching plan, so I fully support what he did.

  “So, where does all of this leave us, you may want to ask?

  “We suggest, Prime Minister, that we are now ready to exercise our part of the remaining battle plan. General Ibrahimović on Addy Moon Base has recently informed us that two highly modified robot frigates are now fully operational, loaded with… ah… cargo, and ready to go. The two frigates are parked in standby mode in a stable orbit around Addy.

  “Are you okay with this so far, Prime Minister? I know we have presented you with a lot of information to absorb, and to ponder…” He trailed off with a questioning look.

  “Yes, I think so,” replied the prime minister with a bit of hesitation. After a moment, she said quietly, “I remember some parts of the ‘overarching plan’. I definitely remember that it will deliver the harshest punishment we can possibly devise. Are we sure we still want to do that?”

  Knudsen then looked tenderly at his wife, and asked with a bit of discomfort, “Francis, would you take that question… ah… the toughest one?”

  Without hesitation, Francis said forcefully, “Yes, Prime Minister, we are absolutely convinced this still has to be done.

  “The Master civilization that attacked us will not stop at just one attempt to destroy us. In eighty years or so, they will believe that they have succeeded. And that is exactly what we want them to think.