Annihilation: The Power of a Queen (5 page)

Tag looked at Dorg walked over and took one of his hands shaking it and said, “Fear, anger, and hate makes one do things that would never normally be done. I have a best friend that has proven to me that good people can do terrible things. Those colonists lost their lives but if we can make this work, then their deaths would not be in vain and we’ll never see that happen to each other again. Admiral, we forgive you and perhaps you’ll work hard to make this agreement work so that you have a chance to redeem yourself. Incidentally, one of our prisoners is a General Dorg. Are you related?”

“He’s my brother,” Dorg said with relief in his voice. He knew for certain now that these humans were going to be his clan brothers. He would defend them to the death even if he had to take on the entire fleet of the Alliance. His brother was alive. Thank the creator; his brother was alive. His hatred for the humans was gone and now he was looking forward to what the future held for his race, but his soul felt the weight of the human colonists he had ordered executed. He knew that this was a weight he was going to carry for a long time.

Tag and Danielle looked out the viewport of the Washington at the planet below. They could see smoke plumes rising from some of the cities and knew that order was being restored while the Cainth leaders met with the clans to inform them of the new member. He was stroking her hair as he looked at the planet below. “Now I see why Sung Lea wanted you here. You did things in that meeting that amazed me. We have made a bond here that if we can survive the Alliance’s response will make us stronger over the years. I would have never considered even opening a dialogue.”

“They are motivated to right all the wrongs from the past.” Danielle answered. Then she looked at Tag, “Tag, are we going to be able to defend them and ourselves? You know the Alliance will not take this lightly.”

“Terl has agreed to a subterfuge. He’s moving all his ships out of the system and having them take station a short jump away. He’s going to tell the Alliance that we destroyed his fleet and threatened to return and destroy his planet. He’s requesting Alliance protection which they will probably decline to provide. If we have enough time, we’ll place the asteroid shield around their planet. They have convinced me that they can now be trusted. They have also sent their fleet to their colonies to protect them. We will hide some ships in the outer system here to insure that their home world is not attacked.” He paused for a moment, “Do you feel that we can safely give them Coronado technology, Danielle? Am I misreading them?”

Danielle played back all she had seen during the Clan meeting and said, “No, sharing our technology with them is what will cement the union; they will know we can truly be trusted and that our destinies lie together. It also helps that they have agreed to talk first in their future encounters with other races. To withhold it would be a red flag that we don’t see them as equals.”

“I’ve just finished talking with the Director and she supports all of our decisions. The SFT also say we’re doing the right thing. I’m going to have Admiral Dorg start sending his ships to our facilities and start converting his hulls to Coronado screens.”

“Those ships are huge, Tag. Can we armor one that big?”

“Size is not the issue. If we can cover an asteroid, we can cover a ship. We just saw no reason to make a ship that big. Can you imagine a dreadnaught covered with power cells? It would be a beast.”

Danielle smiled, “Would you make that call later, Darling? I have something else in mind for you right now if you don’t mind.” Tag turned his com off and reached for her.

S
tate Leader Sten was back in his office listening to his staff scream at each other again. “I guess the more things change, the louder they get,” he thought while gazing out his window at a wintry city. “The cold season always puts everyone on edge,” He then sighed, “Well, let’s see if we can make some sense out of this rabble.” He sounded the tone on his desk and watched as everyone slowly became quiet until there was not a sound in the room. After a pause for everyone to become uncomfortable he said, “Headman Dgzh. What is the latest news on the Human/Cainth conflict?”

“It appears, State Leader, that the Humans have totally destroyed the Cainth Empire’s war fleet. We have received a request from the head Clan Leader for assistance in safeguarding their worlds.”

“He should have thought about that before he executed those colonists and invaded five weeks early. They deserve what happened to them. We might send an occupation fleet after we handle the problem with the Humans. Is there any word from the Humans about recent events?”

“Yes, they respectfully ask why they were attacked so brutally when they had built all the structures for the occupying forces you requested and surrendered immediately.”

“That is a valid question however; we are still the power here. They have no right to question our actions, only to follow our directives. Where do we stand now on a new occupation?”

Headman Dgzh looked very uncomfortable but replied, “They have said that there is a high level of distrust now towards the Alliance of Worlds especially when an invasion fleet was sent to destroy their planet. The Cainth have unfortunately told them that was the plan from the start.”

“It wasn’t the plan! It was their plan not ours!” He yelled at the assembled group.

“Yes State Leader, but can you really blame them after what happened when they followed our orders? They have also been shown what happened to the Grendap by the Cainth invasion fleet to let them know what was coming.”

“I should destroy the Cainth Empire for their stupid behavior. Their membership is the only thing that prevents me.”

“The Humans have done a pretty good job of that on their own, State Leader.”

“How did they do that, Headman? I understand that they only had 350 ships total to face 2000 of ours.”

“According to the Cainth Military Leader, they were surprised and out of formation. He also informs us that more than half the Earth fleet was destroyed in the conflict. He further estimates that they only have less than 140 ships remaining after their attack on the Cainth Home World.”

Sten looked at the leader of his staff and said, “Does that make any sense to you? We outnumbered them seven to one and thru surprise they destroyed our fleet. I watched the video until it was interrupted and our fleet was destroying their ships faster than I could count then they destroy 1,800 warships. Something isn’t right. What do you think our response should be?”

“State Leader we are divided on what we should do. The majority of us think we have treated these Humans poorly and they should just be left alone.”

“And the others think?”

“Eighteen hundred ships is not something we can overlook especially when thirty other members of the Alliance provided ships that were also destroyed. The Cainth and Glod lost the most but every other member that contributed to the fleet lost warships.”

“I’m inclined to think like the minority,” and he held up his hand as Dgzh started to protest. “These Humans are not members of the Alliance and they destroyed 2,000 of our best ships. Do you really suggest we should leave them alone to build more ships unsupervised? I think we need to take a close look at one of their ships and control their actions.”

Headman Dgzh thought for a moment and said, “Put that way, I think you make an excellent point. They have never shown any aggressive patterns and only defended themselves, however they obviously defend themselves quite well for a non-aggressive race.” He looked around the room and saw everyone thinking about Sten’s observation. “Does this change anyone’s view? He asked the assembly. “Does anyone think we should ignore the humans?”

One staff member is the rear of the assembly said, “I do. Following one wrong with another is never good policy. This might also be a cake we shouldn’t eat; the price may be too high.”

State leader Sten said, “Possibly you are right but we are going to examine the ingredients of this particular recipe. Headman, contact the Humans and tell them that a new occupation fleet will be arriving in six weeks and to be prepared for its arrival.”

“How many ships are you sending this time, State Leader?”

“Four thousand should do it. Notify the Glod representative that they will command this occupation. The Glod make the Cainth look absolutely tame and they should handle this easily enough.” Headman Dgzh thought this feels like déjà vu’ all over again.

LT. Kelly looked up from his console and said, “Mr. Gardner, the Director is on a channel requesting to speak with you and Mrs. Gardner.”

“Admiral, Will you and Captain Mikado join us and have the call sent to the briefing room, Mr. Kelly.”

“Yes sir.”

The briefing room was located next to the bridge and was used to discuss issues not for general crew information. They entered and closed the door and then Admiral Kosiev pressed a button and said, “Madam Director, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are here with me. They have requested my presence if that meets your approval.”

“Good, I’m glad you’re there, Admiral, you need to hear this too. We have just received a message from State Leader Sten of the Alliance of Worlds notifying us that we will be occupied in six weeks. We are to prepare for the occupation forces as before and that the Glod Union will be commanding the fleet. When I asked how many quarters need to be prepared he responded that enough for 3,000 ships.”

Tag looked at Danielle, “Then you can expect between four and six thousand ships. The Alliance treats everything as a nail; if one hammer won’t do it, two will. Terl has told them that we are down to 140 ships. It looks like they don’t buy that analysis.”

“I think they do,” Danielle said. Tag gave her a look and she went on, “They want to impress not only us but every other member of the Alliance who holds the real power. He probably thinks it can be done with half of what he’s sending, but after losing 2,000 ships, he’s making sure everyone knows one battle does not win a war and here’s what happens if they lose. All of our surviving ships will be totally destroyed and our planet invaded.”

Tag and Kosiev looked at her and then Kosiev said, “Madam Director, I think Mrs. Gardner is probably right. Have you thought about what our response should be?”

“I wish I knew more about these Glod. Are they a peaceful race? What’s their history?”

Tag thought a moment and said, “Misty, I’ll contact Terl and Admiral Dorg and see what they know. They have been allies with the Glod and perhaps they can shed some light on what to expect. I’ll contact you within an hour and we can look at our response at that time. Would you like the Cainth to listen in?”

“Yes. I think that would be a good idea.”

“They’re going to do what!” Terl said.

“You know it was going to happen,” Admiral Dorg said. “You can’t win a battle and not face a bigger and stronger force. That’s the Alliance’s way of maintaining control over all of its members.”

“Tag, we are allies of the Glod Union, but they are warriors first and civilized second,” Terl said. “They will be absolutely oppressive in ways that would make our occupation of your colony look tame by comparison. They just can’t help it; the weak are nothing to them. They seek combat where ever they can find it.”

“Then it looks like we have to resist,” Kosiev said.

Admiral Dorg said, “Let me contact a Glod Ambassador I know and discuss the possibility of them not participating in the occupation.”

Terl looked at Dorg, “Do you think he’ll listen to you now?”

“How could he not after our crushing defeat here in our home system? Give me a drag and I’ll see what I can achieve. I’ll contact you immediately after our contact.”

Danielle said, “I’ll call the Director and tell her our call may be delayed. Terl, you and Admiral Dorg have been invited by our Director to participate in our planning session. Would you like to take part?
“Absolutely, would you want to include the other Clan Leaders?”

“If we have too many, we may not get anything done,” Tag said as Danielle elbowed him in the ribs.

“Clan Leader,” Danielle said, “we would welcome their participation, would they take part in the discussions?”

“No, their task is to observe and counsel me. I think it would give them a rare opportunity to know our clan brothers better.”

Tag said, “I apologize, we would certainly like to have them participate.” Then he rubbed his ribs and mouthed to Danielle, “I’m Sorry.”

Admiral Dorg said, “Alright. Everyone be on call. I’ll contact the Ambassador now,” and he broke the connection.

Admiral Dorg and Ambassador Tgon-Gee were looking at each other on their respective communication monitors. Dorg asked, “Is this a secure channel?”

Tgon-Gee reached forward and flipped a lever, “It is now. You want something; what is it this time?”

“I’ve been told that your race has been chosen to lead the next invasion of the Humans. Is there any truth to that?”

“Yes we have as a matter of fact. They destroyed 360 of the ships we loaned to the previous invasion fleet and we owe these Humans a blood debt.” Dorg didn’t say anything; he just stared at the Ambassador. Tgon-Gee said, “You know something, don’t you?”