Star Clusters: New Arrivals (10 page)

BOOK: Star Clusters: New Arrivals
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“Lossuh. Right. Go on,” Lanis said.

“I am one of the Arcamil’s founding members and leaders. We have a considerable amount of resources and secret bases, and - much like the Xargans - infiltrators scattered throughout the known galaxy. The reason the information you gave me is so disturbing is that Lurvat is…
was
one of our operatives.”

“And you believe he has been compromised?” Zeshaira asked.

“After hearing what you’ve told me, yes. Unfortunately, your arrival into our space has caused a great deal of chaos, allowing the Xargans to accelerate their plans. As a result, we were forced to act - remove or subvert the unstable element before too much damage was done.”

“The attack on the Tarhedia,” Fanra said, realizing what he meant. “Your people did that, didn’t they?”

“Yes. A regrettable action, as we were forced to destroy the Carthan station - but a necessary one nonetheless. Don’t worry, Zeshaira,” he turned to the Tarhedian, noticing the sudden anger in her expression, “your people are fine. A bit battered, but they’ll recover.”

This wasn’t very reassuring to her. “What have you done to them?” she demanded.

“Stunned, gassed or otherwise incapacitated, then held at one of our bases. Your leader was quite willing to answer my questions, though; it didn’t take long for us to understand our mistake.”

“So why are we locked up like this?” Herrun asked.

“Because it is best if you know as little as possible about the operation of our facilities and ships. Anyway, when we heard that the Tarhedians were going to dispatch a fleet to assist in the fight, we decided that letting them go was the best course of action.”

“And what about us?” Lanis asked.

“I wanted to talk to you, see what had gone wrong on Petra. After all, a considerable portion of the situation there can be traced directly to you - I wanted to know where that trail led after you.”

“And expose any infiltrators that may have been responsible,” Zeshaira said.

“Precisely. Although our knowledge of the Xargan infiltrators’ identities is considerable, there are always missing links. It is not helping us at all that they occasionally manage to identify some of our operatives - or their assets - and assassinate them at key moments.”

“So… what happens now?” Fanra asked.

“Now you meet the Tarhedians and leave. As soon as we arrive, of course.” After saying that, Lossuh left the room.

Herrun turned to the others. “You think he’s telling the truth?” he asked.

“Well, he’s hiding
something
, but there’s really no way of knowing what it is, much less if we need to know it,” Lanis answered. “Let’s get some rest while we can - looks like this is going to be a loooong fight…”

Hours later, the transport dropped out of hyperspace in deep space - the only object in the area was the Tarhedia, which appeared to have been waiting just for them. The Ivory Eagle had already been landed in one of the hangar bays, but the Arcamil ship was simply too large to fit, instead heading towards the nearest landing pad. As they were released from their room and disembarked, Lanis and the others could see a significant amount of crates being unloaded onto the Tarhedia - and that the Tarhedians aboard were not alone.

One of the Terrans waiting on the platform eventually noticed Lanis’ boots, immediately taking his pistol out of its holster and pointing it at him. “How did
you
get here?” he asked Lanis in an alarmed tone.

Lossuh came out of the ship before Lanis could answer. “Tom,” he addressed the Terran, “what’s wrong?”

“Have you verified this man’s identity?” Tom asked back.

“He’s clean. Why?”

“Remember my report on a failed data transfer on Earth some five years ago? About how the Xargans killed the courier minutes after I left? Well, that courier - Dennis Salztriem, if you forgot the name - was wearing those boots when he died, and the boots weren’t anywhere near the murder scene. The police eventually concluded that they must have been taken by the killer, but they couldn’t even figure out what they looked like, let alone where they disappeared to.”

“Are you sure they’re the same boots?” Lanis asked. “I got these from a beggar around September that year.”

“That’d be just about right,” Tom answered, putting down his pistol. “He once told me he found them near a dig site on--”

Lanis knew where this was going. “Don’t tell me… Daserus Three? Did Hatos tell you about the boots?”

“He did,” Lossuh said, “but the description wasn’t detailed enough, and Tom wasn’t there yet. Now that’s been straightened out… Lanis Baltor, this is Thomas Barnes, one of our senior permanent operatives.”

Barnes shook hands with Lanis. “Sorry about that - I saw your boots and just… acted first, thought about it later. I’ve been assigned to be your liaison to the Arcamil - Lossuh thinks coordinating with the Tarhedia’s going to be useful, and quite frankly, I can’t say I disagree.”

“Well, all things considered… welcome aboard, Marrick,” Lanis said.

“Barnes,” Tom corrected him, failing to notice the deliberate nature of his error. “Most people just call me Tom, though.”

“No, it’s a-- never mind,” Lanis answered. “What now?”

“Now,” Hatos said, having arrived on the platform in time to hear the question, “we make plans for the future. Although some of our problems can - and will - be remedied by our alliance with the Arcamil, many issues yet remain that must be addressed. Follow me.”

The entire group headed to the conference room. Once everyone was seated, Hatos brought up a map of the region. It was clear that the initial Xargan attack had proceeded with little resistance; by now, they had penetrated as deep as twenty light years past the border, wiping out everything in their way. Several red blips indicated locations where they had - having managed to bypass the rapidly forming perimeter - attacked specific targets deeper in allied territory such as the Orion. The most disturbing part, however, was that the majority of the enemy fleet seemed to be pushing into Petran space, where the oddly uncoordinated nature of the defenders - as well as the Petrans’ refusal to call for help - meant that this invasion would result in the quick capture of Petra.

After Hatos and Barnes explained this to everyone else, Lanis got up. “That sounds bad - but I think we should take a look at
all
of the data before we make our plan,” he said, proceeding to explain - with some help from Kaa’nt and Zeshaira - everything they discovered after leaving Cartha.

“Ah, the stranger’s key,” Hatos remarked as they finished telling them about Daserus Three. “I was wondering when we would hear of it again. Zeshaira’s reaction is somewhat understandable, though I do not approve of it. Unfortunately, the story behind it is a long and complex one, and one I do not fully know; but now that we have discovered how to use it, I believe my decision to send for it may have been justified.”

“Can you tell us more about it?” Fanra asked.

“As I said, it is a long and complicated story, and telling it would not provide any useful information in this conflict. I would gladly tell you about it later, when this situation has been resolved. Please, continue,” he requested, and the trio continued their report; Zeshaira described her dream in great detail to everyone around her.

Strangely enough, Barnes, Herrun, and Fanra stated that they hadn’t had the dream yet. “Maybe they don’t think we’re important enough,” Fanra speculated.

“Perhaps. I have had the same dream; its content suggests that the location of our new homeworld is no longer a secret. Considering its distance from your territory, we may have to abandon it. That, or you shall have to expand into the region. Nonetheless, that is something that must be discussed with both of your governments
after
the battle is over.” Hatos paused. “As for the dream itself, our only option is to keep on fighting until the end, whatever that end may be. Their attempt at psychological warfare lacks one key attribute: providing a viable alternative, even if that alternative does not truly exist; we should be glad that they have made that mistake.”

After this, Lanis explained that they found nothing of value in the Holsen system, and had started describing the Xargan interdictor when Barnes interrupted him. “Yes, this interdictor is quite an interesting find - if it weren’t for our informant aboard the Orion, we wouldn’t have found out about it until now. It looks like the Xargans have infiltrated the Interdictor project, using the schematics for the finished product to guide this thing’s evolution.”

“‘Interdictor project’?” Fanra asked confusedly.

“As all the non-Tarhedians in here probably know already, hyperspace disruptors are a very useful thing in defensive operations. If we didn’t have them, the Xargans could - and, as demonstrated by the Orion attack, would - just bypass our fleets and hit undefended star systems deeper in our territory. Sure, they can do that now to a degree, but you get the idea. The catch is that no viable hyperspace disruption technology exists that can easily be moved around. You need to know several weeks or even months in advance that your target’s going to go through a certain region of space or you won’t be able to put the disruptor together before they’re gone.”

“As much as I enjoy the opportunity to learn more about foreign technology, we may not have the time,” Hatos noted.

“Right. The Interdictor project was started by the United Systems Navy late in the Carthan Wars with the goal of constructing hyperspace disruptors which are portable enough to be used aboard battlecruisers. It was deliberately kept a secret from the Petrans so that in the event that the war was reignited, the Terrans would have a major tactical advantage. We’ve always believed that the Xargans hadn’t gotten into the project, but not all of our field data survives the trip to our bases. For all I know, it could have been in the data Dennis was supposed to deliver - I couldn’t remember most of it, and the agent who actually
got
the data was killed before he could send another report.”

“Hold on a minute - we were
hiding something
from the
Petrans
?” Lanis asked. “I mean, okay, the Petrans have their fair share of secrets, but at least we know what they’re related to!”

“Oh, you’d be surprised if you heard half of what the Petrans are hiding from the Terran government,
or
the other way around,” Barnes assured him. “There’s more out there than just crystals. Funnily enough, though the Petrans do have their own version of the Interdictor project, ours was the first to get a working prototype out into the field.”

“You are straying away from the topic,” Hatos reminded them. “We have received the data from Lieproi; unfortunately, that survey was just as fruitless as the one on Holsen Seven. Now, we should plan our next move.”

“Why don’t we help Poteran fix the Petran government?” Lanis suggested.

“We think that any attempt by a foreign power to influence the outcome of any conflict in Petran space at this point could result in a war - either a civil war between two Petran factions or worse, a repeat of the Carthan Wars. Based on the data our operatives in his fleet have been sending us, Poteran is thinking the same thing. The most we can do for him right now is nudge things, help his plan go as smoothly as possible and pray that it doesn’t result in a civil war,” Barnes explained.

“He’s right,” Fanra said. “Even if everything goes according to plan, there’s too much prejudice out there after the Carthan Wars. You might not even have noticed it, but most of us were avoiding you back at Cartha.”

“So, we’re in trouble if we do help them, and we’re in trouble if we don’t? Did I miss the bit where helping makes things
worse
?”

“No, it just wasn’t there,” Herrun matter-of-factly said.

“Even if I thought you were right, the Arcamil can’t do anything, and the US has enough Xargans to fight on their own territory,” Lossuh pointed out.

“Perhaps,” Hatos observed, “but we are not constrained by politics and xenophobia, and most importantly, we are by no means preoccupied. It seems to me that the Tarhedia’s next task is clear; we must protect the Petrans from the Xargan fleet regardless of whether they want our help.”

“That’s insane!” Barnes protested.

“It is
necessary,
” he simply answered. “Where long-term planning is unlikely to achieve a satisfactory result, our only recourse is to take whatever action has the most desirable short-term effect. Based on this intelligence, the battle where we will be most valuable will be taking place in this system here,” he finished, pointing at a system near the Petran front lines.

“Actually, I think helping with the evacuation of the Vaanle system here,” Fanra countered, pointing towards the densely populated system near the one Hatos had selected, “would be a better idea if we’re trying to convince the Petrans that we’re on their side.”

The discussion continued for several more hours until a plan was formulated; as Fanra suggested, Vaanle would be the location where the Xargans faced the full might of the Tarhedia and its crew for the first time.

However, as they would soon learn, no plan survives contact with the enemy...

BOOK: Star Clusters: New Arrivals
5.31Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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