Star Kitten (50 page)

The convention chairman,
who was also a human from the India region of Earth, read off the
votes with a sternness that clearly gave away his bias on the
issue. “The votes have been cast for the resolution from Earth to
send an armed mission to Rijel 12,” he began with a nervous and
thick Hindi accent. “The resolution… has
failed
to pass… by a vote of
five
to
one
.” He then smacked
his gavel down several times to finalize the matter; and braced
himself for the reaction.

Five to one. No one needed any more detail
than that. Earth clearly stood alone on the matter. And Earth would
clearly have to act alone, if there was to be any action taken.
Many Earth delegates did indeed stand up to march out of the
convention in protest, but the brave little convention chairman
admonished them harshly to sit back down. “Sit down please
gentlemen!” he bellowed repeatedly over the storm of griping from
the angry Earth men and the jeering hisses coming from the
delighted Zorgolongian delegates. He smacked his gavel sternly and
powerfully to get their attention too. Surprised at his courage,
most of the Earthmen did comply with the chairman without any more
drama; however outside the convention, the news was not taken so
peacefully.

Riot police in full battle gear armed with
EIC’s containing cartridges full of rubber bullets and cable of
launching tear gas canisters up to 100 yards, moved in to quell the
enraged crowd outside. The rioting that ensued after the vote was
announced; was soon suppressed with only minimal violence in less
than an hour. But it surely made for great network ratings for all
the media outlets who enthusiastically filmed nearly every
altercation between police and protesters. The whole galaxy was
watching too. They saw it on the news back on Pumalar, Schpleefti,
Slartigifij, Zorgolong, and Porkonji. They all saw it on IPN
broadcasts out on remote colonies days later; and everyone on all
these planets wondered; just what would happen next?

But on Earth, the message from all this was
abundantly clear. Once again, when faced with the need for strong
bold action in regard to a universal threat, Interplanetary
Authority proved, in the minds of most Earthers, its own ineptness.
Earth now remained the sole planet with the “gumption” to take bold
action. Patriotism soon reached its zenith; as the media fed the
frenzy and many Earthers abandoned all common sense regarding the
oft-forgotten harsh realities of making war on intelligent beings
fully capable of defending themselves. Within a month, the Earth
Planetary Assembly voted overwhelmingly to mobilize its own forces
for a mission to Rijel 12.

Now the die had been cast. Earth would have
to invade Rijel 12 all by itself, independent of IPA support. Earth
would succeed (or fail) on its own now, and from that day forward,
Earth as a planet began preparing for war…on a planet far far away
that few people knew very much about anymore.

The attack on "
Rijel 12
" (as
Earthers still called it) was planned for a full year out. There
was lots to do to prepare for it. Supplies and equipment were one
issue. And battle tactics as well as adaptive gear for the troops
had to be devised….

First off, Earth's military forces were terribly unprepared
for such a campaign. To defeat and conquer an enemy hidden below
ground
inside
caves
? No, the
military ground troops from Earth were trained at nothing more than
surface battle tactics—mainly city fighting and crowd control.
What's more there really had been no armed conflict on Earth in
hundreds of years. Never anything more than minor flair ups of
violence in third world countries (one rebel faction fighting
another; or rebels fighting a third world government… things like
that).

That said, there
were
certainly "airmobile infantry" (probably the most
technologically advanced in the galaxy) but airmobile really knew
only one thing really well and that was securing facilities on a
planet surface; or boarding an enemy craft to engage and eliminate
its crew. They were
elite
, no
doubt. They could fight at night, using infrared guidance systems.
Their helmets had a lensed visor which provided infrared
illumination in pitch black darkness, and also digital data
readouts of information a soldier might need in combat. Inside his
or her helmet; an airmobile infantry trooper could receive
information about compass direction, and even messages from
headquarters. Infrared heat detectors could warn the soldier of
enemy presence inside a room or confined area as well. Short range
radio communications could be transmitted into the soldier's helmet
speakers; and the soldier could transmit to other soldiers in his
unit via a microphone located on the side of his helmet which could
be adjusted up or down to reach the soldier's mouth.

The issue regarding fighting on Rijel 12 though, was getting
enough
breathable
air
to the soldier
so that he could function in the harsh climate and thin air of
Rijel 12. Therefore scientists on Earth devised a full faced helmet
and body suit to keep that fresh oxygen trapped inside the
trooper's one-piece battle suit. Sealed up completely, the suits
kept the soldier cooled and hydrated with fresh air from a small
oxygen tank built into their field pack. In this way troopers would
be impervious to extreme temperatures for extended periods of time;
barely even noticing radical climatic changes. Earth generals
figured that if their soldiers could breathe and if their soldiers
could see in the dark—if they could keep their bodies protected
from extreme heat too—then they could likely find their way through
the caverns and caves of Rijel 12 to hunt down the
enemy.

It
seemed simple enough, anyway
. They certainly had superior technology, after
all.

And so, the Earth military set itself to preparing for
invasion; and the other planets simply backed away to let them have
at it.
"Rijel 12",
after all, was an Earth problem to begin with. That's how other
planets saw it. Earth originally set up the mining operation there;
and Earth had overseen its conversion into a planetary prison.
Earth came up with the idea to use prison labor too. Therefore
Earth could... for all intents and purposes... do whatever they
wished with it. So there was no potential for conflict between
Earth and other rival planets also wanting a piece of the action.
No, this was Earth's problem and no one on Zorgolong or Porkonji
was going to intervene and go against Interplanetary
Authority—which had overwhelmingly voted down the Earth
resolution.

After a year
of preparation, the Earth mission to Rijel 12 was finally ready. A
fleet that included ten advanced warships and troop transports
containing around 10,000 mobile infantry sped across the galaxy. It
departed Earth with great fanfare too! The press, of course,
broadcast live updates constantly; and most everyone cheered them
on—if they agreed with the war that is. Of course if they didn't
agree well, no one was listening to those annoying pacifists
anymore anyway.

It didn't
matter even if the liberals disagreed. Public support was largely
behind the idea of conquering Rijel 12, even if reality was Earth
was invading a world that likely was home to thousands of
intelligent beings likely to defend themselves vigorously. No one
really knew just how many there were either; and no one really knew
what defenses they had (not yet anyway).

Despite that, many expected little in the way of resistance
even if the inhabitants
could
mount a decent defense. After all, they were only former
prison convicts and barbaric Pirates right? How could they stand up
to the most technologically advanced troops in the galaxy? Earth
mobile infantry could and would—most likely—just mow them down.
That's what the generals boasted and that's what most soldiers
wanted to believe in the first place. Of course they wouldn't have
been the first generals in history to publicly underestimate their
enemy on purpose so that the troops would be brimming with
confidence going into combat.

On New
Australia though, it had now been many years since the rebellion
and several years since Felina and Solomon had married, adopted a
child, and became essentially New Australia's first family. The
planet surface now sported two giant domes; one old and
weathered—the other brand new and gleaming in the Rijel sun. Each
was nearly filled with ripening crops beneath the tinted glass
panes of their roofs. Plus there was the enormous terminal garage
where ships could park and get refurbished or be stored for major
repairs. Everything was basically peaceful, and to any outside
observer it could have—in fact it actually did—really look like any
other nonmilitary settlement on some otherwise forbidding planet
surface. However, now cruising toward them was a battle fleet that
was bent on conquest. And not just an invader looking to capture
and imprison them! No, this fleet of airmobile troops and warships
was tasked with "complete eradication". And that order had come
from the very top of Earth military command. Once Earth’s own
Planetary Assembly delegated the task of commanding the fleet for
the mission to Rijel 12; the generals who received these orders
simply decided for themselves: They were going there to wipe out
the planet; to cleanse the globe of all intelligent life and start
anew.

This was
brutal, cold-hearted logic. Rijel 12, in the view of Earth's most
conservative politicians and military leaders needed to be cleared
and purged of all potential resistance. IPA would not support the
mission—no, most certainly not—but that also meant the planetary
alliance was willing to look the other way and let Earthmen resolve
the matter themselves. What better opportunity could one ask for?
Earth could once again colonize the planet and turn it into a
mining mecca. The whole infrastructure was there already. Tunnels
and shafts were all dug and the only thing needed would be labor.
Well, Earth had plenty of that already. Tens of thousands of
unemployed miners back on Earth were champing at the bit for a job!
Earth merely needed to wipe out every living soul on Rijel 12 and
pave the way for the creation of the galaxy's largest most
incredible mining colony.

Yes, they had
sold a real bill of goods to the media and to the public about the
threat posed by this isolated little planet far away across the
galaxy; and now these evil cold-hearted leaders within Earth’s
conservative intelligentsia and its military industrial complex
were bent on committing yet another terribly immoral act. And it
was all for economic reasons, mind you… no objectives for freeing
an oppressed people or enabling a nation’s political independence.
There was no higher ideal being espoused here; of making an entire
world “safe for democracy” or anything noble like that. This was
just an armed attack for the purpose of seizing an
asset.

And what about
the Pumalars? Didn't they want a piece of the action? No, not in
the least. Surprisingly these very warlike beings chose to just sit
this one out. Not nearly as greedy as humans, they'd weighed the
cost of a campaign versus the potential benefit of getting a share
in the winnings. They could have, of course... Earth would have
gladly given them a minor stake in the mine just for aiding in the
campaign. But alas, the planet elders on Pumalar just chose to keep
the troops at home.

But w
hy?!!!
Pumalars?!!! The most warlike of all known beings? How could they
sit at home and miss out on a chance for real battle and bloody
combat? Could it have been because of the whipping they suffered on
Star Pussy? Most of those Star Pussy Police units were made up of
Pumalar military veterans, it was said. Many political talk show
wags back on Earth would indeed argue this as the true reason for
their passing up the chance to join the campaign. After all, by
Pumalar standards, Star Pussy had been a well defended facility
with seasoned experienced troops; and whoever was behind that
pirate raid REALLY had their shit together. Those "pirates" really
did a number on Star Pussy and the resulting defeat of its security
forces at both the Pumalar and the Earth Environs, was a
humiliation many in the Pumalar military simply could not
fathom.

One would think
vengeance would appeal to them. One would
think
, that a chance to square that account would
be
in
order
. But no. The
Pumalar Planetary Council chose to support the Galactic Convention
delegation returning to Pumalar from Earth, and when military
leaders "rattled their sabers" for a chance to join the mission to
Rijel 12; Pumalar elders calmly waved them off. "Let the Earthmen
handle their own problems," they admonished their generals. "Should
they call upon us for assistance, we will surely respond to their
aid," they added, "but for now let us respect the decision of the
Galactic Convention." That's all it took to quell the more
passionate elite warrior class of generals and proud officers
spoiling for a fight. No one ever questioned the ruling of the
planet elders. Never. And with that, Pumalar bowed out of the
conflict.

Porkonji and
Zorgolong did the same. Schpleefti as well. To all of them the
Slartigifijian delegation chairman Pharynx was right all along.
Earth had every "right" to deal with Rijel 12 as it wished, because
the planet had once been an Earth colony. But what Earth was
intending to do was yet another moral wrong that only compounded
the mistakes all planets had made originally by sending their
unwanted violent criminals—then political dissidents—then frankly
any undesirable social malcontents—to New Australia Planetary
Prison. And what had become the net result of combining brutal
hardened criminals with disgraced intellectuals and educated
political rebels? Well, as wise Pharynx had put it, "we have all
reaped what we have sown."