Alien Alliance (33 page)

As the day passed, everyone studied The Art
of War. To make it easier for the children, the tasks were divided
up further into smaller categories. All could write their ideas
into the categories. The ideas exploded. Bea and Yogabala went to
see Mathew the next day. Neither could write or spell very well but
they didn’t want to tell him that. He sat down with them as
Yogabala told him,

“The balloons could carry things into the
city. We are sure we can teach them. But we don’t want the balloons
to be hurt.”

Mathew was very interested. They talked at
length as the two girls told him what they had learned about the
balloons. But Mathew kept stumbling over Yogabala’s name. In the
end he said,

“I’ll call you Bella. Belle means beautiful
in French.”

“Oh,” said Bella, very pleased.

The ideas continued to flow. People tried to
think them through. Mathew finally declared a Council of War that
night. Everyone was to think through their ideas and how to
implement them.

That evening on the shores of the city,
after dark, Mathew stood looking out at his guerrilla army. The
Terrans were now up to 17 boats of various sizes. A few more
stragglers had come in. He even had some unhappy Kepis here who had
reluctantly been volunteered to come. This was risky, being on land
but the Kepis had refused to go onto water. So far there had been
no night attacks. They should get away with it. There were Terrans,
Niseyen, Kepi, Okme, Priskya and a Cat. Mathew refused to be
daunted. This was his chance. He looked around at the area, crowded
with People on the land, on the jetty and in the sea.

“You all know what this is about. We need
ideas. Lets have them.”

Surprisingly it was Donny that spoke up
first.

“I think our best chance is Helkmid. We’ve
been talking a lot about this.” He indicated to the Okme to come
forward.

Helkmid looked a little uneasy to be the
centre of attention. He turned the volume up on his Translator.

“I have been talking a lot with Kelly,
Donny, Az, Li, Kaz and Stella among others. Between, us I think we
have come up with some ideas. It is not possible, before you ask,
to steal the gas. Someone already thought about that many attacks
ago. It will be well guarded and almost all used up anyway. And I
cannot make it. I do not have the bits. Pity. It would be one
solution and much less trouble.”

“There are many different People we need to
target but among them are some who are similar and will be affected
by the same solutions. This reduces our targets to six groups
because one solution will affect two People. I have possible
solutions to five. This includes all the military and pilots. The
non-combatants shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I am looking at toxins, viruses and
bacteria. You must work out how to get these to the targets. I will
time the exposure-to-effect so the solutions are as near
simultaneous as I can calculate it.”

“I have a virus for the Keulfyd. I will have
sufficient in a few days. Az tells us we must move fast. We will
have to risk that they will not have good doctors. It is fairly
sure. A doctor accompanying an illegal mercenary force would
probably not be a good diagnostician. Such doctors are unlikely to
be competent at this as they will be, like most doctors,
specialised. In this case, in trauma. Most specialists become lazy
in other fields and quickly forget what else they know except what
is now familiar. They should not recognise this virus and should
have no solution if they do. The Keulfyd will have no immunity.
This virus is all it should be. It is reliable, potent, highly
infectious, aggressive and airborne. It is also sneaky. It starts
out as a mild illness, common symptoms, mild fever, not feeling
well, headaches, mild breathing trouble. Most important, it is very
infectious at all stages. I found the genes to increase the
virulence. Centuries ago, before the vaccine and anti viral were
developed, it used to cause 30-40% fatality to those who caught it
and that was with good medical facilities and knowledge. Now I have
ensured the vaccine and anti viral will not work, it is more
lethal, the incubation period is shorter and it is more infectious.
It is an encapsulated virus so it can live for a few days outside a
host. This is crucial for what we are planning. I have made it
airborne. It was never that before. This makes it many times worse.
This is called weaponising. They will not know that, even if it is
diagnosed. It will be quite a while before they find out what I
have done as they are unlikely to have a programme that can check
for virus tampering. Hopefully, not until the last stages will it
be obvious what this virus is now. By then it will be too late.
They will bleed out. For those that do not die, they will be in no
state to fight nor well enough to escape in their ships. And
looking after the sick will tie up their resources. The Keulfyd
now, according to the Priskya, are concentrated in five main
cities. Few, if any, come and go between cities. Therefore we must
expose each and all the cities within two nights of each other.
Three at the most. The cities are on three continents. Kaz had
suggested stealing two flyers.”

“We can’t do that. Scanners will find them,”
someone called out.

“No,” said Az. “The flyers have a device on
them that sends out a signal but it cannot get through deep soil or
rock. With some work, I think I can disable it. If we can steal
two, they can be hidden underground then used to fly over the
cities using the same equipment that spread the gas.”

“Sounds like a Global Positioning System.
That can’t signal from underground, I’m sure of it,” Dan paused.
“Well that’s true of our technology. And they’d have to be looking
for the planes to find them in the air.”

Helkmid continued, “For the two main
military groups, the Trydshell and the Opodskell, I have a virus
that causes also mild symptoms to start with. These People were
originally one species and the same virus will work on both. It is
highly infectious with a high level of lethality but it also
incapacitates those who get it. After four or five days comes high
fever then confusion, paranoia, fear, hallucinations and insomnia.
It affects the brain first in the thinking. It then spreads over
the brain. Death comes when the vital organs no longer get told
what to do. The heart stops or the lungs don’t get told to breathe.
This is because the disease first causes swelling and inflammation
and then targets the sensory and muscle nerves starting at the
brain and spinal cord.”

“Military with paranoia and confusion?
Sounds like a recipe for killing themselves.” Sarah shivered.
“Still, rather them than us. Will any of these viruses affect
us?”

“That is almost impossible. The risk is very
small. While gases and toxins can affect many Races, a virus,
parasite or bacteria is usually specific to its host. I was talking
to Kelly about this. You call such a thing ‘the species barrier’
and your medical science is well aware of this factor. And that is
on just on your one planet. It would be even more unlikely for a
virus from another species on another planet to be able to infect
you.

Now for the Sasgys I have another solution.
They often carry a small parasite. I have been very busy breeding
these up thanks to the help of the Kepis in getting me the Sasgys
out of the ship that crashed. Although they didn’t live long, one
had a good crop of parasites. The toxin of these parasites will
make the Sasgys very ill if it is in sufficient quantity and I will
make sure it is. A few will normally not hurt them but I have
tinkered with the parasites a bit to make them reproduce more. This
parasite should not cause suspicion. I will have ensured it is
immune to the normal solution they use to kill it by the time it is
released. That will make matters worse.”

“I will use a similar solution for the
Bidifix but this parasite will be infected with a virus. I will
need someone to catch me some Bidifix please. Alive or recently
dead. Preferably alive. Again, the virus and parasite will die with
the host.”

“Mahmoud came up with an idea for the
Yakkidimux. A very good one, very sure, very fast. They love
shellfish and have been gathering them every day or so. The more
they have, the more they are likely to share. They fly all over the
planet. I can put a toxin in the water where they are gathering
them. We should get most of them. Their eyesight will be affected
badly and their balance. They wont be flying! They would need to be
nearby though.

“For the Vubicik, I have a common sort of
bacteria not quite a bacteria, I don’t know your word if you have
something like this on your planet; you may not. I can make it very
nasty I think. I am trying but not too sure. I need someone to
catch me some Vubicik to practice on please.” He abruptly moved
away.

Mathew stood up. “I’m dizzy just thinking
about all these Alien Races. This is all very complicated. Isn’t
there an easier solution? A one size fits all? Like the gas?”

“Not that I can think of. Not that can be
made, or distributed, without affecting you too.”

“OK. I’ll leave that bit to you Helkmid.
I’ll stick to what I know. It’s going to be my job to organise the
delivery system. Helkmid, I’ll need to know exactly when the bugs
need to go out, where to, in what type of containers, all airborne
except for the shellfish?” Helkmid nodded. “Also what, if anything,
can we use as a propellant”

“Most can go in the gas tanks. Two could be
sprayed if we can find or make a sprayer, the parasites I’ll have
to think about. They can’t be sprayed by air or dropped, it’ll kill
them. Getting them into sleeping areas or communal areas would work
but the camps have scanners protecting them.”

Bella had been listening hard, “Could I do
it?” she asked, “I’m little and…” She was promptly howled down
especially by Rani but Mathew remembered something a Priskya had
said,

“Would the scanners just see her as a small
animal and ignore her?”

Az and Kaz looked uncertainly at each other.
“We don’t know,” Az said.

“Can the two lots of parasites be put
together and delivered together? Will they eat each other?” asked
Sally.

Helkmid looked thoughtful. “I didn’t think
of that. That would save time. I’ll find out.”

“How long will it take to grow enough bugs?”
asked someone.

“Four to eight days for the viruses, longer
is better, three weeks for the parasites to get a lot but I’ve been
breeding them for four days already so another 17 or 18 days. I
don’t know about the bacteria like bug. I’m still trying. Not long
if I get it right.”

“What is the timetable for delivery of each
system? asked Mathew.

Helkmid opened his notebook and pressed some
keys;

Seven days for the Keulfyd virus to act,

Five for the Trydshell and Opodskell virus

Three to four days for the Sasgys parasite toxin

Two to three days for the Bidifix parasite virus

One day for the Yakkidimux shellfish toxin.

I don’t know how long for the Vubicik
bacteria. A bit longer than the virus I think. Maybe ten days. I
don’t know. We may just need to deliver it as soon as it’s ready to
go.”

“So if we plan the attack to hit on the
30
^th
day after the attack started? Is that around when
they’ll start the ground offensive?” Mathew looked at Az and
Kaz.

“That would be about right. We were told the
timetable was five days to do the main gassings, twenty five days
to dispose of the bodies, then the mopping up. I suspect they will
start dumping the slaves around 21 to 25 days. The Priskya are
watching that. Thirty days is cutting it fine. Can it be a day or
two earlier or can we delay them somehow?” asked Az.

“What about releasing one of the bugs early
to slow them down?” asked Sally. “Which would work well and cause
the least suspicion?”

“The virus for the Trydshell and Opodskell
could be ready to go in six days.”

“They together make up about a third of the
mercenaries and some are pilots. A lot of them are also in the
support staff,” said Kaz. He grinned, “That’d slow them down.”

“Are you sure about the numbers and about
just six main Races?” Mathew asked Kaz and Az

“We don’t know but we think so,” answered
Az. “If where we were was typical and Helkmid agrees with our
suspicion that the slaves will all be killed before the offensive
begins. The mercenaries guard the slaves. That frees them up for
offence.”

Mathew was very satisfied with the nights
work. The suggestions were way beyond where he had expected to get
this early. It was obvious to him that people had already been
thinking. He was, however, very startled with the preparedness of
Helkmid. Not for the first time, this particular Okme had been well
equipped. Mathew wondered what Helkmid was a part of but decided
not to ask. This was a gift. He would use whatever he could.

Donny just happened to be present, working
for Helkmid as usual, when Helkmid and his staff met to discuss
their revised plans and explain them to Mathew so Mathew and others
could plan the delivery system.

“Who has written the protocol?” Helkmid
asked his staff as he rose to speak. There was a smattering of
laughter from some including Mathew but puzzlement from Donny.
Helkmid said sternly,

“There needs to be a written protocol, with
detailed and scientific justification for the project. The
methodology must be detailed and informed consent obtained. The
intended recipients must have the procedure explained including
risks, intended purpose and /or outcome. There must also be precise
and detailed description of procedures to be used. On second
thoughts I think we’ll skip that bit. I always did hate paperwork.
Let’s just kill the bastards.” He smiled as the others laughed and
his face lit up. “Now to explain what I am doing about the
Keulfyd.” He paused to think.