Koban 5: A Federation Forged in Fire (74 page)

Maggi responded with, “That’s exactly what we’ve heard from the Torki, Raspani, and Prada. That we may prove to be more dangerous in the long term. Yet they decided to join with us after we freed them, because we didn’t place demands on them in return. We asked for their help, and it was granted freely. The Prada were slow to do that, and until we helped restore the Raspani minds from where they were stored in ancient mind enhancers, they considered the Krall the elder and rightful rulers.”

Again, the twitch of a digit, indicating acceptance from both aliens. Frithda said, “Our original instructors described the Prada as a people fat too willing to follow the lead of an older species, just as they followed their own elders. Our ancestors avoided extensive contact with them, to prevent the Prada from becoming dependent upon them.”

Mirikami asked, “Frithda, who were your original instructors? How did any of you survive to reach a Hothor world without adults to guide you?”

“The newest class of the faster ships the builders and makers had designed, also had new advanced machine intelligences built into them, the first computer minds that were based on patterns copied from their own minds. Two of those ships saved the adolescents aboard them and came here, after a wave of deaths took all of the adult forms. They died from the anguish they experienced via their mind enhancers. This anguish happened after a consensus of our entire population agreed to destroy the densely inhabited Krall home world, to try to prevent the Krall from spreading wider. That plan failed to stop them, and the adult forms either elected to die, or perhaps their minds shut down and they starved. We now believe they were unaware how powerfully the mind enhancers would convey the terrible mass deaths experienced by the billions of Krall that died, as their world was torn apart. We have not attempted to develop mind enhancers again, for fear of the consequences.

“Even though the new ship minds sensed the same wave of deaths, not all of them ceased to function. The ships were not part of the decision to destroy a world, and they were able to delay their shutdown if they had a reason to continue in service. Some did have reasons to continue, to save the larval forms if they were aboard. Our larval forms live for years and are intelligent, but they are poorly equipped to care for and feed themselves. We believe that a number of ship minds sought a means to save them. Two of those ships came to Canji Mot, where they believed they might find shelter for those young.

“The two ship minds, named Ranlola and Birnala, became our instructors through the first generation, as the larval forms pupated to emerge in various adult forms. When there were enough adults, with adequate knowledge to guide our Hothor benefactors to help care for a new generation, the two ship minds grew silent. The ships have not responded since the early orbits of our arrival here, but they have automatically maintained themselves, so we know they retain a form of life.”

Maggi made an admission. “We have encountered other living ships from that same era. Some have retained their active minds, and some are what we describe as catatonic, or asleep. It appears possible those that are asleep can slowly recover, two of them have. Your former instructor ships may also be able to do that if they receive proper help.”

Frithda grew excited. “Others of our people had survived with those ships?”

“I’m sorry, but none that we know of did.” Mirikami told him. “We had believed your entire species was extinct. I think the Krall efficiently hunted the survivors down and killed them on worlds where you formerly lived. Finding any of you alive was extremely gratifying.”

Prola made the twitching gesture with one finger digit, then flared two unnoticed small vestigial wings on the back of her lower section, and refolded them.

She revealed the thought that had sparked that reaction. “We have recently learned through the Hothor that others of our kind must have survived, but instead of people like the Hothor, they fell into the control of the Thandol, or perhaps some species that traded them to the Thandol for some long past favor. The Thandol say those other Olt’kitapi have granted them permission to reclaim our old empire. A governing concept we would never embrace, so we know it is a lie.

“From Hanbi’s explanation, we understand you have encountered a Thandol Crusher ship at two of your worlds, and that you intend to oppose their announced plan to annex that region. I cannot believe you expect a peaceful people like the Hothor to join you in a fight, and you certainly didn’t know we were here. Not that we will join you either. That would bring destruction onto us and to our friends. What did you seek here?”

“What they have been giving us and now what you have given.” Mirikami admitted. “Information about the Thandol and the races that provide security for them within the Empire. We don't know if we’ll have to face those security forces, one or all of them, or if the Thandol will also engage us in the fight.”

Prola twitched one antenna. “We have no combat skills, but we have studied the Empire, and how the Thandol control the species within its boundaries. For intimidation, they will send one or more of their eight Crusher class ships. They have thousands of much smaller, but similar shaped warships, but the giant ships were built to present a dominate appearance, to awe their opponents into submission without a fight. They will use their massive technology advantages if they need to personally confront a rebellion, or annex a combative star traveling new species.

“If intimidation fails, their next mode of attack is to send one of the security forces to impose the Emperor’s rule. The Ragnar are physically the strongest and most ruthless of those, if not the most populous. In addition, their race is the one that enforces obedience in this third of the empire, because their home world is located here. If you fight the Empire, they might be the first opponents to attack your worlds, to capture your leaders to force your capitulation.”

Mirikami disagreed. “The
first
attack on us was delivered by a Crusher. It killed every human in one city, over fifteen thousand people on a new colony world. They were unarmed and didn’t understand the messages. We don't call that intimidation we call it murder. It struck a second time, at a Torki colony, but they managed to escape with only one life lost on a ship that fled from them at first sight. The Empire didn’t use a surrogate for those attacks. It was the Thandol themselves, in that giant ship. They are the ones we intend to make answer for those attacks.”

“That was their effort to awe you into surrender without a fight. Not the start of a war.”

“They’re wrong! It started a war with us. There’ll be a price they have to pay.”

“You truly are a brash and impetuous people. How will you make the Thandol compensate you for your losses?”

Mirikami blinked at Prola a moment, before he recognized her misunderstanding. “I didn’t mean I would ask them for property or trade goods, to pay for damages. The human lives lost can’t be recovered. I mean they’ll suffer a similar loss in exchange. Something appropriate and precious to them, and it will happen where they won’t think we could strike.

“Where will you do this?”

“We have the coordinates for Wendal. Where the Emperor lives seems a good place to start.”

“Will you gather all your forces to go there? They will see your wake through Tachyon Space, and be waiting for you. They will then trace you back to your origins and send forces there. We have seen their tactics before, and they work.”

“No, we don’t need more than the five ships we brought with us to introduce ourselves. I don't think they’ve had the pleasure of facing anyone like us before. We’re tricky bastards in a fight, as a friend describes us.”

“Please do not leave a trail back to here as you leave, but I wish you success. I hope we can spend more time talking, if you somehow survive this adventure. I don’t think you will have long to wait before the Ragnar visit your worlds. The Thandol are not a nice, tolerant, or patient people.”

“Neither were the Krall, and the Thandol wisely avoided them.”

****

The five Kobani ships were widely spread and in level one of Tachyon Space, dragging their butts for days at what seemed like a snail’s pace on the navigational displays of nearby star systems. They were honoring their promise to protect the Hothor and Olt’kitapi, by not leaving a traceable wake in the sea of low energy tachyons back to them.

Finally, they had altered course at a right angle to their previous group track, and rotated to level two for an increase in speed. That would leave a more discernable wake. By originating so deep inside the Empire, they expected it to be ignored as probable traffic from some of the nearby colonies of member species. They could be cargo vessels, or the less frequent passenger ships. Only the Thandol and their security forces had T-cubed capable ships. All of those were built by the Thandol, and when used outside of direct Thandol control, they were sparingly issued to the three security forces of their enforcement species.

There was rather a lot of T-squared wakes to be found, particularly so far inside the Empire. Unknown T-cubed travel drew notice, but so long as it was isolated, it wasn’t of real concern. A fleet or a squadron of ships in T-cubed travel would draw prompt attention. Entering a Jump hole, the mobile monitor stations could communicate instantly with stations that rotated in and out of Tachyon Space to pick up and then disseminate messages to planets in Normal space. The news would reach the Thandol Military High Command quickly.

A wide, four-stranded wake, as from the corners of a large pyramidal shaped Crusher, was totally disregarded, since it could only be a Thandol operated ship, and therefore wasn’t subject to any questions or scrutiny.

That particular tip, passed back to Canji Mot by the Hothor servant/spy network years ago, was about to see its first practical application. Assuming the trick worked.

Mirikami ordered all five ships to drop to level one, move a few light years in untraceable motion, and then White Out in a region multiple light years from any star system. “OK, people, as we discussed; line up at the corners you were assigned, at the 1.2 mile spacing of an equilateral tetrahedron. The Mark will take the center point, and Thad your lead corner will point directly towards Wendal. I’ll line up directly behind you when we Jump. When our AIs say we are positioned properly, let them hold the positions for you. We need to leave a Crusher’s trail.”

It was only a few seconds before they were positioned. “Now we use normal Space drives to match Wendal’s orbital speed, and we want to have our AI’s time our Jump and arrival, to place us almost directly above the Palace at three to five hundred miles. I don’t know if Farlol number 84 will be home, but I hope we cause him to drop a big lumpy pile of Thandol turds if he is.”

When the AI’s agreed that within the limits of the uncertainty they had to work with, that the speed and positioning was optimum, the five ships performed a simultaneous rotation into the T-cubed level of Tachyon Space.

“OK folks, we have less than thirty minutes. The Mark will be the only ship to White Out, and I’ll do it stealthed, but the package on our hip will be visible until it separates. You four stay ghosted and on station, to perpetuate the masquerade of a Crusher. After we do what we came to do, we’ll head back in the same formation, to the coordinates we just left from, then do a star burst departure in five directions at level one, then go to level two, and finally T-cubed to our coordinates closer to home. I have the package ready, docked at my side. All I need do is feed the AI a good coordinate, send my message, and then get the hell out of there before their Decoherence bomb launchers can come online.”

Maggi made a suggestion. “Perhaps I’d better deliver the message, dear. You talk too long and might try to reason with them. We’ll be disintegrated before you can finish. At least we will be if you speak at your normal Socratic pace. Besides, I thought we wanted to give them four warnings, like they delivered to Paradise. We can’t hang around long enough to do that.”

He tapped his lip a moment. “That AI can do more than fly to its coordinates. It has a transmitter. You record the message, we’ll tell the AI to transmit it four times after we release it, and have it take evasive action as it does that. Then it will launch itself. The Thandol won’t know your gender, but the Hothor said they don’t like having to deal with females of any species. It would be symbolic to have the message delivered by a female, even if we’re the only ones that know.”

He snapped his fingers. “Hey, got an idea! Since it will be translated into the Thandol tongue anyway, have Jakob use the feminine grammar mode for you. That’ll piss them off.”

In barely a half an hour, they arrived over Wendal, four hundred two miles directly above the sprawling palace of Emperor Farlol the 84th. The Mark of Koban performed a White Out, released an unstealthed object that quickly moved away, then reentered a Jump Hole, and the five-ship formation started to retrace their route.

****

Thandol Sensor Specialist third class, Hebol Filpap, hesitated to call his supervisor this late in his night shift, Lord Monitor Rupen Blitforn, who was incessantly bugling directly into his ear or via his mind enhancer about Fippap’s job performance. He would have to wake him, which would not improve his mood.

Besides, the movements of Crusher’s were not normally of interest to any monitor station, even one located inside the Emperor’s Pride, the Crusher that was regularly assigned duty in the Wendal system. After all, only Thandol were permitted aboard a Crusher, and they were completely loyal to the Empire, if not always to the current Emperor.

The Emperor’s Military High Command monitored the movements of the eight giant craft, and decided their deployments. They spoke to them directly when they were in Jump transit as this one was now, and it was nearing Wendal, where it would discharge its huge complement of crew for shore leave, replenish consumables, and receive maintenance for the vast array of equipment within him. No Thandol thought of ships as a “she.”