A New Day (6 page)

"What advancements could you have made thousands of years ago that would have any bearing on modern society?" Glandril asked. "Perhaps this will also support my assertion that you cannot be from this world."

Ben knew the being was only trying to bait him and smiled back. "Not at all, Senator. Many of the advances I am speaking of were made as, or based on, an innovation created during the war here. I would speak of them here, but even in this time, such technology is still classified. After we discuss these issues, if His Majesty wishes the information shared with you, I will arrange a briefing for you. Until then, we must keep the secrets entrusted to us."

Hjoolous nodded agreement. "Well put. Glandril, stop trying to bait the Prime into an argument. We have bigger problems right now," he turned back to Ben. "My apologies, Prime Council. I had to bring a representative of the Senate and since she has been chosen to be my official mate, it stood to reason to bring her along."

"I understand Majesty. Just so we can adjust if we need to, does she also share your quarters?" Ben asked.

"No, not yet. We will not be officially mated until I reach full maturity. Besides, she will not be the only one to share my bed; in our society it is common for males of higher rank to mate with multiple females. It ensures an heir will be created and the offspring are not ranked by the standing of their dame but rather by birth order.

"I'm certain you could care less about our breeding habits! Mother, please share the history files with us!" Hjoolous said energetically.

Terran Marine Base Alpha

Command and Control

26 Apr. 10266 CE (AD)

Sector 34871 - Great Inland Sea

Earth, Sol system

As Gail led the large being to the Command Center, she told him of what they suspected regarding the Hyclarion fleets. "Admiral, we believe that your fleets sent into lizard space are in considerable danger. In order for this plan to work, the Imperial fleets cannot be allowed to return to Hyclarion."

"That was our thought as well, General. We have information that says the lizards have been building warships on the far side of their space for the last few decades. We have been unable to confirm the information, but with the discovery of the fleet near Hyclarion, I tend to believe it. Lizard Dukes are a paranoid bunch. They would not have given Tammerain so many ships unless they were certain they could still defend themselves. Which means, many more lizard warships exist than what was sent to Hyclarion. We could be in for some trouble."

Gail nodded. "I've been told it is entirely possible that Tammerain is also betraying the rest of the Dukes."

Yolinar stopped and looked at her. "How so?"

"Well, in order to get the size of force he would need to take Hyclarion, as well as getting the other Dukes to leave him alone long enough to do it, he had to strike a deal with them. They would give him ships and troops to take Hyclarion and overthrow the Emperor in exchange for restoring the original Lizard royal line.

"We feel he will take Hyclarion and declare himself Emperor before any of the other Dukes could get into position to stop him. We can't prove any of it, but we do believe it," Gail replied. "Which means he has another fleet of ships stashed somewhere else to defend Hyclarion once he takes it."

Yolinar nodded thoughtfully as they began walking again. "That would make a lot of sense. Tammerain is a crafty snake, I am actually surprised the rest of the Lizards would have entrusted him with something like this."

"Maybe they don't," Gail said. "They have to know that Tammerain is going to pull something like this. My question is, what do they have in place to keep him in line?" She shook her head. "It's a very confusing mess."

Yolinar chuckled. "War is always a confusing mess, my young friend. It is our job to bring sanity out of chaos. I only wish I could have brought my staff along. Conducting a war under these circumstances handicaps us."

Gail nodded. "We did what we could to make certain we could at least monitor the planet. With Mother invading the rest of the systems on the planet, we should have more options available." She paused. "Mother, if His Majesty and the Prime Council do not need her, could you ask if Councilor Carlyle could join us in the Command Center?"

"General, Councilor Carlyle has already sent three of her analysts to assist you. They should arrive shortly after you do," Mother replied.

"Ah, I forgot she brought friends with her. Thank you, Mother. Can you give me a status on the drone modifications?" Gail asked.

"Planet wide, we are at fifty-two percent complete. I am told they should all be complete by the end of this day," Mother said. "I would mention that by taking control of the planet's computer systems, it will make controlling the drones much easier.

"However, I feel I need to remind you that neither I nor any of my fellow AI can fire the weapons they carry. Because of this, I have tasked many of our troops with 'piloting' the vehicles. I have even asked the Council for volunteers from the populations to assist. Those people are in training at the moment and should be ready by the time the drones are finished. The control consoles are very intuitive."

"That was a good idea, Mother. Thank you," Gail replied.

"It was not actually an idea, General. I saw that there was a need to be filled and took steps to fulfill that need according to standing protocol. That being said, you're welcome," Mother replied.

"She is a very intuitive AI," Yolinar replied. "It is hard to believe she is as old as she is. Her designers must have been far ahead of their time."

Gail nodded. "Yes, in a way I am sad they didn't get included in our population, but if they had been, Mother would never have been completed to help the people that remained. I sometimes wonder if we hadn't taken so many of the planet's scientists and researchers, how well our people would have fared in that war."

"There is no way to know. All we can do is deal with the present to the best of our ability and knowledge. The past is there to give us knowledge and to provide a strong foundation upon which to plant our feet and deal with what is before us," Yolinar said as they arrived at the Command Center.

"Attention on Deck!" the guard yelled as the two entered.

Yolinar smiled. "Please continue," He turned to Gail. "Does everyone here speak Standard?"

"The Command Center staff and guards do. I have ordered all military forces to learn it, but some have yet to get it done. You should have no trouble either getting information or giving orders," Gail replied. She then turned to the room in general. "Listen up everyone! This is Hyclarion Admiral Yolinar. He is the Commander In Chief of all Hyclarion forces. Please follow his orders as you would mine. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am!" the crew replied as one

"Currently, Mother is in the process of taking control of the planet's data systems. Once she completes that task, you will have a lot more information available to you. Please make sure you will be ready to handle it." She nodded, "Back to work, folks." She turned to the guards at the door. "There are three civilians on their way here at the request of Councilor Carlyle. Please let them in once they arrive and direct them to us down at the table."

In the center of the room, three techs were still installing a black topped table, but on each of the walls, huge monitors displayed information from different places on the planet and one clearly from a feed in orbit.

Both men nodded and Gail led the Admiral down to the sunken center of the big room. She knelt and touched a tech on her sleeve. "I'm sorry for the interruption, but can you tell me how much longer you will be?"

"Not long, Ma'am. Damn thing should be up now, but we had a glitch in the new control system; probably five more minutes maximum, but we'll stick around for a while in case it messes up again," the tech replied.

"Understood. You guys have done great work here. This is a lot of new stuff in a very short time," Gail replied.

"Actually Ma'am," the tech replied as she kept working. "It's not so much new equipment, but a new way of handling and formatting the data. Some of the equipment is new, but that was a redesign of something we already had; like this holo-table."

"Well! There goes our reputation as miracle workers!" another tech joked. "There, that should do it from my side. How ya doing Charlie?"

The tech that Gail had originally spoke to replied. "Just about got it, Bill. Why don't you start on the laser alignment while I finish this?"

"Will do, watch your eyes!" the male tech said and crawled out from under the table. "Mother, please initialize the table and bring up alignment grid four."

Yolinar and Gail waited while the techs finished up their work and put the access covers back in place. While they were finishing up, the people Janet sent arrived and joined them at the table.

"Admiral, General, I'm Selena Thoms. This is George Arens and Jesus Veracruz. Janet Carlyle sent us," the woman that arrived first said, introducing her companions.

"Gail Greenwold, This is First Admiral Yolinar of the Hyclarion Imperial Command. Please treat him as you would me. It’s nice to meet you, and thanks for coming. However, you might wish you hadn't. We have a mess to deal with, and we're going to need you three to analyze the incoming data as quickly as you can so we can decide how to deal with it. Treat this as if we are at war, because we are." She gestured around her. "Feel free to use any empty terminal if you need to step away from the table here." While she was talking, she saw an older gentlemen approach them and recognized him. She waved her hand at him. "This is Commander Talbert, Operations Officer. He'll be joining us." Gail quickly introduced the new officer to everyone.

When everyone knew everyone else, Gail and Yolinar took positions at opposite ends of the big table. "Mother, before we get into the big picture, what is the status of the surface investigation of the Dalphine's landing?"

"Since nothing was found that indicated anything more than a meteor, the skippers were recalled. It is currently believed the meteor burned up at low altitude or simply fell into the ocean. No further investigation is underway," Mother replied. "There are no surface or subsurface contacts within three hundred miles."

"Thank you, how are you doing in your attack?" Gail asked.

"One final system remains; the secure military network. It has intrusion detection and defenses. We are currently working around them and should have control in twenty minutes," Mother replied. "While this is the primary target for this attack, all other systems are secured and you can now communicate off-planet without fear of detection."

"Excellent. I'm certain the Admiral would like to open a channel to his own command as soon as possible," Gail replied.

Yolinar nodded. "Indeed. Mother can you please access the MilNet Comm network. I will input my codes manually."

"Accessing now, secure input mode enabled, Admiral," Mother replied.

"While he's doing that, we'll also need a channel opened to the Ranger fleet in orbit," Gail ordered.

"Admiral, it is good to hear from you. Our ships in Lizarrus space have come under attack," another Hyclarion said from one of the big monitors.

Yolinar shook his head and gave Gail a half-smile. "You were right on the money with your predictions, General." He quickly introduced those around him to his staff and both teams quickly got to work.

Terran Marine Base Alpha

26 Apr. 10266 CE (AD)

Sector 34871 - Great Inland Sea

Earth, Sol system

When Mother finished her recitation of the history pieced together from the survivors records and those taken from the DataNet and Addson's skipper. Ranger T'Gree presented his findings on Ben's claim to the planet.

"I'm sorry, Senator, but there is no doubt at all as to the veracity of this claim. This planet is undoubtedly the origin of the human race," Ranger T'Gree finished. "Further, there is evidence that indicates that, at the very least, Duke Tammerain has known that fact all along. Quite possibly, all of the lizards know."

"Which adds the charge of species suppression to the list for the Duke," Hjoolous replied. "Thank you, Ranger T'Gree. You have been very thorough, and your efforts are greatly appreciated."

T'Gree bowed. "Thank you Majesty." He rose and took a seat near his Commander.

"Senator, do you still dispute the claim?" Hjoolous asked.

Glandril shook her head. "I cannot, Majesty. However, the Senate will be very concerned about such a valuable and important planet being given over to the humans. I mean no offense by this, Prime Council. The simple fact is that it is well known that humans have no experience in galactic commerce. The Empire needs the ohto this planet produces, naturally we would be concerned if that supply is threatened."

"Senator, before the Aeries where installed here, how did the rest of the empire breathe? For that matter, our atmosphere is not even the optimal one for most of the races of the Empire. So how did Terra become so important to the production and mining of ohto, when there are better atmospheres available in abundance on other worlds?" Ben asked.

"Because of the diversity of races in the Empire, it is necessary for the atmo-processors on ships to use ohto in varying levels for the comfort of the crews. Without the ability to vary the ohto levels, it would not be possible for a mixed race crew to serve together on the same ship," she explained.

Ben nodded. "A viable reason. Let me ask you one other question then, this base is almost a mile under an ocean, and several hundred miles from the nearest land. How do you suppose we get our air?"

"I have no idea, Prime Council. I would imagine you are extracting it from the water or perhaps importing it from another location," the Senator replied.

"I can tell you that we are not importing it from another location, but your first assumption was partially correct. In fact, a good portion of what we use down here is taken from the sea, although not in the way you would imagine. This is one of the secrets we must keep, but the original point I was trying to make is that the Empire doesn't need ohto from this planet, it wants it because your equipment is designed to use it.

"Regardless, we would continue to run the processors and fulfill the ohto contracts. No disruption should come from our claiming of this planet. While not in the Imperial economy, we do have several people that are qualified to handle the business aspects for us. Since I am told we do have patentable technology here, we might be considering forming our own company to handle those ideas and any new innovations that might crop up,