Space Chronicles: The Last Human War (30 page)

General Tragge watched twenty-four deep
-space, star-class warships materialize from gravity loops. The Tanarac heavy spaceships immediately set course directly for the enemy.

“Hey there,
General. Admiral Frazil Loyo, reporting for duty. Request permission to kick some lizard tail. Lorm, you there?”

The general
clenched his fists. Odds just got even. It was his turn to take the initiative.

“Permission granted, Admiral Loyo. Good to have you folks on board. Admiral Paad has command and control. Coordinate your attack with him. You hear that, Lorm?”

Yep. I’m here, Fraz. Our ships have the modified shields. We’ll lead the attack. Have your commanders maintain three-ship groupings with overlapped shields. I’m transmitting attack coordinates now.”

S
everal monitors in the War Room showed Admiral Paad’s three remaining starships as they rose through the planetary shields, each one setting course for the closest Heptari heavy.

The admiral’s flagship nosed up directly toward two approaching Cosh cruisers. Both Heptari ships fired their heavy cannons from long range.

The enhanced shields held.

The nearer of the two enemy ships began evasive maneuvers as Admiral Paad concentrated his weapons on
the engines that became exposed during the turn. Weak Heptari rear shields buckled under the power of the admiral’s particle beam cannons, and the enemy ship suffered serious propulsion damage. It limped out toward space. The admiral’s faster ship set an intercept course and followed.

The second
of the Heptari cruisers came around behind Admiral Paad but lagged as the faster Tanarac flagship ran down the fleeing enemy ship.

General Tragge listened to chatter from the open channel on the flagship command deck.

“Admiral, our shields are still compressed. Engines exposed, sir. We got lizards on our tail.”

“Extend shields to cover
our engines. How long to optimal firing distance?”

“Twenty seconds,
sir.”

“Prepare aft cannons for a defensive spread on the trailing ship. Synchronize all starboard batteries to fire at the forward ship on my mark. Target their shield array.”

“Three seconds, sir. Three, two, one . . . we have resolution.”

“Aft cannons, fire.
” The admiral sent a salvo directly into the nose of the trailing Heptari ship. He knew it would not harm the enemy vessel, but it would create a momentary instrument blackout giving his flagship a few precious seconds to disregard the trailing threat.

“Full thrust to port
. . . now!”

Everyone in the Tanarac War Room watched
the huge spaceship as it rolled ninety degrees to one side, virtually sliding the giant craft sideways in space.

“First starboard battery
, on my mark.” There was a slight pause as he waited for optimal positioning. “FIRE!”

All the cannons on the
admiral’s flagship fired simultaneously at the shield projectors on the fleeing Heptari cruiser. For an anxious moment, enemy shields held. Then, a localized cascade failure opened a small breech in one shield. It only lasted a fraction of a second, but that was long enough for the sustained energy pulse to hit its target.

The Heptari shield array shattered. Without shields, the enemy ship took its only possible course of action. It began a turn, attempting to bring its big cannon into
a firing field against its pursuer.

Admiral Paad clenched his teeth
, sensing the kill. “She’s got no shields. Second battery, take her out.”

O
nce a powerful Heptari cruiser, the enemy vessel absorbed the entire destructive force of the Tanarac flagship. The end was not dramatic. She simply broke at several seams cut by high-energy weapon beams. Two large sections of the enemy ship rolled off into space while her powerful new cannon fired randomly, no longer connected to its command center. Countless flashes marked collapse of internal components as bulkheads throughout the ship buckled.

“Sir, we got company aft.
”

The pursuing Heptari cruiser closed on the
admiral’s ship during his combat maneuver. It was already in optimal firing position for its lethal cannon.

“Compress shields
.” Admiral Paad adjusted without hesitation.

“But,
sir, our engines are exposed if we do that.” the admiral’s disciplined crewman completed the shield change as ordered, despite expressing his concern.

“Sound for impact,
” the admiral issued a warning before sharing his reasoning for shield compression. “Lizards don’t know our engines are exposed. They’ll target our reactor core. This gives us maximum shield strength where we need it most.”

A klaxon rang throughout the ship.

The Heptari warship fired directly into the side of Admiral Paad’s flagship, just as he predicted. The ship shuddered with the energy blast.

“Good call, Sir. Minor damage.”

“Return fire. Target their bridge.”

Admiral Paad’s gunners were the best in the fleet. Most of their
shots dissipated harmlessly on Heptari shields but a couple lucky shots found vortices in the shields. Some of their energy passed through to impact on the command section of the enemy ship.

The Heptari vessel began maneuvering for another attack.

“Reverse thrust. Full power!”

General Tragge
watched his monitor as the large enemy starship overran the admiral’s rapidly slowing flagship. Two great vessels barely missed colliding, as the sudden deceleration caught the Heptari heavy unprepared.

Just as the Cosh cleared the nose of the Tanarac flagship, Admiral Paad closed his trap.

“Full starboard thrust. Port gunners target their engines.”

The enormous mass of the flagship groaned under
the strain of extreme maneuvering. Slowly, the Tanarac ship rolled its entire port side across the tail of the Heptari cruiser.

“FIRE!”

The enemy’s weak rear shields failed under concentrated weapon fire, and its three main engines burst into giant pieces, exposing the interior of its engine rooms.

“Target the antimatter reactor core.”

“Sir, we can’t see it from behind the ship.”

“Burn a hole through the damn engine room
.”

Admiral Paad knew the main gun on the Heptari ship was still lethal. He had to finish off this enemy from the rear while he held a momentary advantage.

His gunners fired a steady stream of high-energy particles into the exposed engine rooms while the admiral’s pilot worked to hold their position behind the Heptari ship.

The Cosh cruiser tried to maneuver with its weak local space thrusters.

At first, a steady stream of molten metal and loose engine room parts spewed into space from the Heptari ship. Then, the admiral’s tactical officer saw the growing risk.

“Sir! We hit the primary conduits.
Antimatter breech in progress. She’s gonna blow!”

Admiral Paad knew t
hey were too close to survive a matter-antimatter explosion.

“Helm over, full. Course, zero-zero-zero! (Straight at the sun.) Grav jump
, engage!”

A white-hot flash filled the area where two defeated Heptari ships and Admiral Paad’s flagship had been floating in space.

“General Tragge,” a War Room technician called out. “Grav field opening, sun side. It’s Admiral Paad’s ship.”

Communications with the
admiral restored as soon as the ship fully reappeared.

“That was close, Byn. Those new shields are saving our butts. What’s our fleet status?”

“Heps broke off the attack, Lorm. They’re regrouping out by the belt. You guys did great.”

“Is my telemetry correct? Did we lose fifteen heavies?” The
admiral knew such losses could not be sustained.

“Yeah, we lost five of the heavies from the 10
th
. The 11
th
is down to four. All the ships in your group are still fully battle capable. Hep losses stand at five heavies destroyed and three badly damaged. You guys in the 9
th
accounted for all five kills. Those new shields made the difference.”

“How did the 11
th
lose so many ships?” The admiral quickly calculated his new odds. “That puts us down to fourteen heavies against their twenty-one.”

“Actually, it’s fourteen to eighteen. Three of their ships are damaged beyond
the point of combat capability.” The general corrected his fleet commander. “You sent the 11
th
after that command ship. We both thought overlapping shields would hold up against those new cannons. We were wrong. The 11th lost six ships in the first pass. That big command ship has four of those damn cannons. Even with overlapped shields, our guys didn’t stand a chance. You were busy, so I gave the order to disengage. We lost two more heavies when they turned away from Rotaga’s ship for exit maneuvers.

“
We’re going to have a serious problem with that flagship before this thing is over,” the general observed. “It’s got the firepower of four Rahls. Good thing they depend on central command structure. Even though Rotaga’s ship destroyed our heavies, they pulled back their fleet to protect the flagship. For now, Heps want to keep that big ship out of the battle.”

“Byn, that’s eight.
How did the 11
th
lose the other two?”

“T
hey broke shield overlap protocol during an attack run. Without the extra shield strength, they were easy targets for lizard gunners.”

The general
knew his space fleet could not sustain such losses. There were no more reserves coming.

“I called our ships back under the planetary shields
,” he said. “Rotaga will take a while to regroup. Our retrofit teams can use this time to upgrade shields on the surviving heavies from the 10
th
and 11
th
. How long until you’re under my shields?”

“Fifteen minutes, if we don’t run into trouble. Thanks,
General. Those shield mods were critical. How are we doing with atmospheric defense? You guys okay down there?”

“By the grace of Vaal-al, our pilots got one hundred percent kills. All our shields are at full strength.
Fleet defense fighters took out most of the first wave. They did a great job, but we lost a lot of your fighters in the effort. Without those fleet fighters, our atmospheric pilots are going to get a lot more business in the next attack.”

General Tragge sat back in his command chair. For a moment, the war was at a standoff. War Room monitors showed widespread rubble of destroyed spacecraft, slowly
rotating in space, and the enemy fleet holding far out by the asteroid belt. He finally had a moment to think, and reality set in like an icy dagger.

“Outgunned. Outnumbered,
” he muttered to himself. “And, no more reserves.”

From this moment forward,
the general knew his decisions in the next few hours could determine the fate of his entire race.

#

“Prime Skah, Rotaga. Why did you recall us from battle? We destroyed fifteen Tanarac ships at a cost of only eight.”

Rotaga snapped at the question from one of his ship commanders.

“You imbecile! YOU, did not destroy fifteen! YOU, only destroyed seven! My command ship destroyed the other eight. And, you lost eight of my heavy ships in destroying only seven Tanarac warships. That rate of loss is too high. As long as their starships can hide under planetary shields, we will be denied victory. Await my orders.”

Rotaga turned his command chair to look out his personal view-port
.

“I have superior forces. He has a superior defensive position. He knows it. He is patient and determined. We have a standoff.”

Rotaga slammed his fist on the arm of his command seat and shouted, “I will NOT be denied my destiny!”

Adam was surprised how fast Benjamin mastered the controls of the field transporter. As they approached the jungle on the far side of the quarry, the young Loadmaster sought a little reassurance.

“We’re just picking up humans, right? You’re not gonna spring any more of them hicays on me, are ya?”

“I don’t know.
Many scouts volunteered to help the Taskers defend this quarry. They may bring their hicay companions. I have no control over that.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not gettin
g in this cab with any of those monsters!”

“Fine, you can walk back,
” Benjamin mirrored the young man’s sarcasm, although he followed it up with an understanding smile.

The quarry vehicle lurched to a stop in some loose ferns at the edge of the jungle.
The senior scout wasted no time stepping into the nearby scrub brush. He surveyed the shadows, cupped his hands at this mouth, and made a short series of lifelike jungle sounds. There was no response.

“We’re go
ing back now, right?” Adam was disturbed by the possibility of being in close proximity to another hicay.

“No.
I’m not sure where my scouts will exit the jungle, so we have to patrol this entire side of the quarry.”

Benjamin drove from place to place, repeating his calls each time. This pattern continued for nearly an hour.

“Nobody’s coming. Can we go back now?” Adam grew impatient.

“Young man, my people always keep their promises. You have much to learn about the responsibilities that come with freedom.”

“I keep my promises,” Adam bristled.

“You may keep promises that are easy to keep, but will you keep your promises when they become difficult? Would you face a wild hicay because you promised to protect someone else?” Benjamin stopped the vehicle and looked directly at Adam. “I have.”

“I thought you said you didn’t know anyone who survived a wild hicay attack.” The young man jumped at the chance of catching his leader in a fib.

“She didn’t attack. If she did, I would have been killed. I stood my ground between the hicay and my injured friend. I maintained eye contact with her and showed no fear. When she hissed at me, I hissed back . . . louder. My actions confused her. Hicays expect prey to flee
, and they run it down. She didn’t know how to deal with me and just slipped back into the jungle.” Benjamin chuckled. “I don’t recommend staring down wild hicays for recreation.”

Adam looked at
him with newfound respect. This man actually stared down a wild hicay.

Before
the young man could ask another question, Benjamin jumped out of the vehicle and began his familiar calls into the jungle. This time was different. Immediate responses echoed back, and several men emerged from the jungle. Two hicays strolled out with them.

Adam’s heart pounded as the beasts walked right into the middle of the group of humans
and received the same warm greeting from Benjamin as had been shown to his scouts.

Soon, a dozen men and three golden animals stood next to the field transport, catching up on the current
events. Adam declined an invitation to join the group, opting instead to listen from the safety of his seat inside the transport.

One by one, scouts reported that free humans got his message and returned to deep hides.
The Elder leader nodded in satisfaction as the last scout completed his summary.

“Thank you. That’s a relief.” Benjamin addressed the task at hand. “My friends, you have a chance to mold the future. People in this quarry are new members of our community. They have been told of our existence, but neither our captive humans
nor Taskers have ever seen a friendly hicay. It might be best if our companions wait in the safety of the jungle. Please explain this to them and ask for their cooperation.”

Adam watched through a closed window,
intrigued by two scouts gesturing to their companion hicays. The beasts nuzzled their human partners before strolling, almost casually, back into the nearby undergrowth.

The third hicay did not seem paired with any scout. Benjamin stepped in front of him and scratched softly behind his ears, before kneeling and making hand gestures. This last hicay soon joined the others in the jungle, pausing for a moment, at the edge of the
ferns to look back.

Adam exhaled in relief.

The quarry transport parked outside the human quarters and the human jungle men followed their leader into the cafeteria. Awkward silence filled the room.

Human scouts had never been inside a real building
. Most had never even seen a building, other than those in their caves. They were as mesmerized by their new surroundings, as the quarry residents were with the odd look of these people.

One person took initiative to break the silence.

“Hi, my name’s Kate. What’s yours?”

The old woman extended her hand to the nearest scout and began introducing her
fellow human leaders to the jungle guests. Newly freed humans were uncertain about major changes coming to their lives and began asking questions of their free-living counterparts. Benjamin allowed the questions to flow for a short while before taking control of the meeting.

“My friends, there will be plenty of time,” he spoke
as he crossed over to stand beside Kate, lending her his authority, “to answer all your questions. Right now, my scouts must work out security matters with the Taskers. Kate and your senior council members will help you organize an interim quarry committee to represent you in future negotiations. There is still a problem with planetary shields, so please remain inside the building for the time being. We will let you know as soon as the risk passes.”

Benjamin and his scouts left to meet the Taskers while Kate took over control of her people.

Jungle humans had a sinister appearance to the Taskers. Many of these wild humans wore facial hair. Clothes came from animal skins or some kind of crude fabric. Scouts possessed enormous muscles compared to typical quarry humans and their skin was dark and leathery. Taskers found it particularly intimidating that jungle humans made eye contact which conveyed confidence and pride, threatening customary Tasker authority over humans. Tanarac guards had been taught strong eye contact by humans represented defiance. It was to be punished.

To the scouts, tall thin Taskers appeared weak, incapable of much threat.
Free humans wondered why more captives had not escaped long ago. Distrust was mutual, as each group avoided contact with the other.

“May I have everyone’s attention, please?” Dr. Hadje spoke to his Taskers first
, and the microphone translated his words into human dialect for the benefit of scouts. He explained the situation, ending with, “In summary, these human scouts are to be treated as your peers. Work closely with them. Learn from them, as they will from you. Share with them. They are comrades, fighting for a common cause. One more thing. Benjamin is to be treated as my peer in command. Any directions from him carry my full authority.”

The doctor handed the microphone to
his human counterpart.

“Thank you, doctor.” He addressed his own people first. “Scouts, you have heard Dr. Hadje through a set of translating speakers. This method of communication will not work in the field. Each of you has been given a small bag. Please open it now.” He paused while his men pulled a small ear bud from the bag. “That is a universal translator. Taskers already have such devices. Place it in your left ear like so.”

He demonstrated the technique and scouts followed his instructions. Taskers and scouts remained in separate groups while they listened.

“Let’s see. How many Taskers are here?” Benjamin did a quick head count. “Okay, I’d say there are about sixty
, and we have twenty human scouts. Please form groups of three Taskers to one scout.”

No one moved.

“It’s okay. Do it now. Please.”

The two groups looked at each other and awkwardly began assembling into mixed race teams. Benjamin waited patiently.

“Good. All of you have translator buds, so there should be no difficulty communicating. Let’s take a short break. Get to know each other within your group. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.”

Discussions started tentatively
, but curiosity soon prevailed, and the two races began answering questions about each other. Benjamin and Dr. Hadje would have preferred this process take place over many months, but events beyond their control forced the issue. In the next few hours, these teams would be working together with their lives depending on mutual trust and familiarity.

The doctor
returned to the microphone to begin a more detailed and honest briefing.

“We have a planetary shield generator close by. This quarry offers the only open space for landing a troop ship. There is a good chance any Heptaris that reach ground will land here. Shaz and Balo, please come forward.”

Two older Taskers stepped up. The human scouts noticed these Tanaracs were darker blue than the rest, and they were the only Taskers who appeared to carry decent muscle mass.

“These two Taskers are former military combatants
,” the doctor said. “They fought in the Syntic Rebellion and will help you understand the challenges you might face in combat.”

He instructed
the veterans to speak to the group about the difference between Tasker duties and combat. They both offered the same warning.

“As Taskers,
” one said, “we have been trained to avoid harming anyone. Our stun cords have built-in safeties, so we don’t accidentally injure a human. Even when dealing with a hicay, it takes time to override the safety before our cords become lethal. That, my friends, is not war. If you hesitate to use lethal force against an enemy at your very first contact, he will kill you.”

The second veteran took over. “We are scheduling each of you for daily training on the pole range. You must re-train your telepathic overrides. Stun cord energy must be at maximum the instant it is released from your throwing hand. Any questions?”

The military combat veterans fielded a few questions from the Taskers. Then, one of the human scouts motioned to Benjamin.

“
These Taskers have stun cords. What weapons are we going to use?”

The Elder man
hesitated. It was difficult for him to taint the honorable nature of hunting tools, transforming them into weapons for killing sentient beings.

“In your early years, you learned to hunt. You learned to hunt with compassion and with respect for the game.
Scouts provide food for our people, but none of us has ever harmed another person. Even the thought of such behavior is repugnant. I’m sad to say, you will be asked to use your hunting skills against Heptaris if they land here. Each of you has mastered the tools for hunting. Your equipment is hidden in the edge of the jungle. After this meeting, I will take you back, so you can retrieve your weapons. Demonstrate your proficiency with each hunting tool to Shaz and Balo. They will decide which of your tools will best serve to protect this compound. You will train in the pole range alongside our Tanarac brothers. Let’s all hope we are never forced to use these skills in combat.”

Benjamin then broadened his
discourse to include the Tanaracs.

“
Let us fight together as brothers. Freedom of both our peoples is at stake. Some of you will begin patrols immediately while others will rest before patrol later. Use this time to get to know each other. In the next few days, your lives and the lives of all our people may depend on your ability to work together. Thank you.”

The doctor
took a few minutes to assign temporary quarters to each of the new four-member teams, but the Taskers seemed unhappy about something. Several of them were arguing amongst themselves at the back of the crowd when one of their human partners spoke up.

“
Benjamin, our friends have a problem,” one of the scouts called out above the discussion. “They’ve been trained never to question authority, but they’re worried for their families in the Tasker compound over there. We sent our own people into safe holes. Is there something we can do for their families?”

Both leaders
had overlooked the family compound. The doctor responded immediately.

“I’m very sorry. I did not consider this matter
, and you are right to be concerned. Those of you with families may use transports in this facility to move your loved ones into homes of nearby friends and relatives. I will make housing arrangements at the local university for families who have nowhere else to go. I deeply apologize for the oversight. Please step forward if you have families.”

About a third of the Taskers hurried away to tend to the safety of their families. The Head Tasker reassigned the remaining Tanaracs and scouts into balanced patrol squads.

Dr. Hadje leaned over toward Benjamin and spoke in a hushed tone.

“What do you think? Your men have never harmed a person. Do you think they will be able to kill a Heptari soldier?”

“I don’t know, Rosh. I’ve never been in combat. What about your Taskers? Can they?”