Star Viking (Extinction Wars Book 3) (31 page)

“They made the Lokhars, Gitan and Ilk smarter?” I asked.

“No. The ancient machines gave out information; the artifacts informed the Lokhars, the Gitan, Ilk and others of our movements. Jade League fleets ambushed us many times. Our numbers rapidly dwindled. Finally, we disengaged from open predation, suing for peace. The league members never gave it to us, but in time their depredations lessened as they began to strive against the Jelk Corporation.”

“Are you saying the Forerunner machines are helping Doctor Sant?” I asked.

“After listening to his emissary,” Baba Gobo said, “I believe the artifacts are divided among themselves. They have relayed intelligence to Seer Sant. I think they have also told the Emperor choice bits of information.”

“That’s all very interesting,” I said, stunned by these revelations. “Now, what are we going to do about it?”

Baba Gobo leaned forward. “You have a secret weapon, do you not?”

“That’s right, I do,” I said. “It’s called my brain.”

“We have no more time for your boasting. You have something other than your arrogance.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me what you think I have,” I said.

“I do not know, but I would like to.”

“If I did have such a weapon,” I asked, “why would I tell you?”

“It should be obvious,” Baba Gobo said. “To give me a reason to throw in the Starkien lot with Orange, Yellow and Green Tamikas.”

“And fight the Emperor?” I asked.

The baboon actually straightened, holding his head high. “Yes,” he said.

“You’ll have to give me a minute,” I said. “I need to talk this over with my people.”

“I grant you ten minutes,” Baba Gobo said, trying to sound generous. “After the time limit, my fleet will begin to maneuver to net you so we can capture your vessel and take your secret if we must.”

“Right on,” I said. “Until then, Commander Creed out.”

Ella cut the connection so the holoimage vanished.

Bemused, I exhaled and sank back into my cushioned chair.

“We didn’t see that one coming,” Ella commented from below.

I scowled at her. “I thought you did something to Sant’s brain on Mars. He’s supposed to help us, not throw us curve balls.”

“Sant has helped,” Ella said. “My original effort has yielded great dividends. To begin with, through the baron, Doctor Sant gave us this speedster.”

I ingested her words before looking at each of them in turn. “Okay. I’m open to suggestions. What should we do?”

“If the Starkiens join Orange Tamika,” Rollo said, “we might have the numbers to beat the Emperor in a straight up space battle.”

“Even if we convince the Emperor to leave us in peace,” Ella said, “humanity is going to need allies to survive. This sounds like a golden opportunity for us.”

“N7?” I asked.

“I foresee several problems,” the android said. “What does Doctor Sant know? What does the Emperor know? If we win, the battle will likely decimate both fleets.”

“And why would that be bad?” I asked.

“There will come a time when the Jelk defeat or lose to the present invaders?” N7 said.

“Okay,” I said. “I see your point. If the Jelk win, they’ll send the Saurian fleets back to the border.”

“And if the Jelk lose,” N7 said, “the invaders will likely come to the border.”

“So what are you suggesting?” I asked.

“That we win the present struggle without mass destruction of warships,” N7 said.

Rollo laughed. “That would be a mighty fine trick. How do you propose to do it?”

“With our secret weapon,” N7 said. “We bargain with the Emperor. That has always been the plan. It is still the best one.”

“Let’s say we force the Emperor to back off,” Rollo said. “That still leaves Purple Tamika with a massive fleet. As Ella has suggested, that creates problems for us in the future.”

“We must take one step at a time,” N7 said.

“What do you think, Creed?” Rollo asked.

“That both Ella and N7 are right,” I said. “Humanity needs allies, and we can’t afford to decimate ourselves, knowing the Jelk or the invaders will come in time. Before we do anything, though, we need the Starkien fleet. We have to have enough numbers to make the Emperor and his admirals pause long enough to listen to me.”

“Can you trust Baba Gobo with our secret?” Ella asked.

I flexed my fingers and rolled my shoulders. That was the question, wasn’t it? “Let’s put the baboon back online,” I said. “We’re about to find out.”

***

“Ah…” Baba Gobo said, as if tasting a rare and wonderful vintage. His dark eyes glowed with lust. “This is amazing. You are a scoundrel, Commander Creed, an interstellar rascal,” he said, heaping Starkien praises upon me.

I sat in my command chair, watching his holoimage. I’d just informed the baboon that I held the key articles from the Purple Tamika Hall of Honor in Zelambre on Horus.

“You are a thief,” Baba Gobo added.

“Star Viking,” I said, correcting him.

“I am unfamiliar with the term.”

“When you look at me,” I said, “that’s what you’re seeing.”

Baba Gobo rubbed his hands. “Yes. You hold a powerful secret weapon. For safe keeping, you will now deliver it into my keeping.”

“Is that what you think?” I asked.

“Your vessel is fast, but it is under-armored and possesses few weapons. Anyone can take the articles from you.”

“When you say
anyone
,” I said, “I hope you realize that doesn’t mean you or any other alien.”

“Yes, yes,” he said. “You are a vainglorious beast—”

“Man!” I said, interrupting him. “I’m a vainglorious man, human, person of high intelligence. You’d do well to remember that.”

“Don’t goad him,” Ella whispered to me.

I made a slicing motion with my finger at her. She got the message and zipped her lips.

On the holoimage, Baba Gobo became oily in his manner. “Commander Creed, you must be reasonable. The Starkiens hold the key to victory.”

“Wrong,” I said. “Commander Creed and his Star Vikings hold the key.”

“No!” he said, angrily. “Have you counted the number of my warships?”

“Sure have,” I said. “It’s an impressive amount.”

“We can easily destroy your vessel.”

“That’s true,” I said.

“Since you understand this, you realize that you must bring the articles of honor to me at once.”

With a smirk on my face, I leaned back in my chair, staring at him.

“What is this you’re doing?” Baba Gobo asked. “I disapprove of your leers and grimaces. We have serious business at hand.”

“Creed,” Ella pleaded, “please don’t goad him.”

This time, I ignored her altogether.

“I am ordering my ships to ready their weapons,” Baba Gobo told me.

“Let me ask you a question,” I said.

“There is no more time. Decide.”

“If you destroy my ship, what happens to the articles of honor?”

Baba Gobo blinked several times. Then his scowl deepened.

“Good,” I said, “I see you’re finally thinking about this.”

“The articles will be gone,” he said, “and you will be dead. Then, we Starkiens shall leave his part of the Orion Arm.”

“Good luck with that,” I said. “You must realize the Purple Tamika Lokhars will know what you did.”

“Who will tell them? You? I do not think so, as you shall be dead.”

“Yes. I’ll be dead.”

“That’s my point,” he said. “How will the Purple Lokhars ever learn of our deed?”

“How do they learn many things?” I asked. “In time, the Forerunner artifacts will tell them. Then, nothing will protect the Starkiens from the vengeance of the Lokhars.”

“Because of your present stubbornness,” Baba Gobo said, “humanity’s fate is death.”

I shook my head.

“The Purple Tamika Lokhars will never forgive you your raid on Horus,” Baba Gobo said.

“I don’t care about their forgiveness. I just want their words of honor that they’ll leave humanity and Earth alone.”

Baba Gobo stared at me. Slowly, he began to nod. “You are a clever—” I’m sure he almost said, “Beast,” but he stopped himself. “You are very clever, Commander.”

“Coming from you,” I said, “that is high praise indeed.”

“I’m glad you can recognize that.”

“Good. Now let’s get down to it. We’re keeping the articles of honor. You’re coming with us to just outside the solar system. Let’s make it Alpha Centauri.”

Baba Gobo pursed his lips in a baboon-monkey manner. Then he looked away, sighing deeply. Finally, he shook his head before regarding me once more.

“Yes,” Baba Gobo said. “We will do as you say. The Starkiens have entered the lists once more, ready to do battle in order to win our rightful place in the Orion Arm.”

It was the grandest speech I’d ever heard a Starkien make. Afterward, the
Quarrel
headed for the jump gate. Behind us, the Starkien fleet began to maneuver into its battle formation.

***

Two days later, we made it to the solar system. The crew cheered, and everyone slapped each other on the back.

To make N7 feel like he was part of us, which he most certainly was, I made sure to pummel the android’s back until he finally asked me to stop. Both Ella and Zoe gave him hugs.

Soon, the
Quarrel
orbited Mars. Diana and Murad Bey waited down there in the dome.

“I’ll tell you what this is going to be,” I told the assembled people, both assault troopers and Earth Council delegates. “This is like the Sea Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Back then, the Ottoman Turks tried to smash the assembled Christian fleet. The Turks had been making sweeping conquests, and this was Europe’s answer. Papal ships, Venetian and Spanish combined to face the dreaded enemy.”

“Face the glorious conquerors,” Murad Bey declared.

I glanced at him. “Yeah, I get it. You have a different outlook on the event. My only point is that the Papal commanders, the Venetians and the Spanish all quarreled with each other like crazy up until the cannons began firing. On the day of battle, they put aside their differences just long enough to win a smashing victory. We have to figure out a way to get Lokhars and Starkiens to listen to us so I can talk sense to the Emperor.”

“That may be more difficult than you realize,” Diana told me.

“Probably,” I said. “But that’s our goal. I also think we humans will have to take all our warships to the battlefield. We’re going to be the final reserve—that’s if it comes down to a slugfest. It’s all or nothing for us. It’s too late to run away. If we tried that, the Emperor’s approaching armada would just chase us down.”

“Can you really make the Emperor see reason?” Ella asked.

“If not, I’ll destroy the Purple Tamika articles of honor,” I said.

“That will only enrage them,” Murad Bey said. “They will boil with fury at humanity and seek vengeance.”

“That’s how you would react,” I said. “It might not be what a tiger will do. Maybe it will dispirit them. They’ll fight listlessly afterward.”

“We must not destroy each other,” N7 said. “The Jelk or the invaders will eventually return to the border region.”

“Why is that a given?” Diana asked him. “Maybe the Jelk and the corporation invaders will destroy each other just as you’re worried we’ll do here.”

“Good point,” I told Diana. “Anyway, Baba Gobo sent us a message a day ago. The Emperor’s battlefleet is two weeks out. It’s massive, likely fifty percent bigger than our combined force.”

“The Starkiens will run away for sure,” Rollo said.

“I’m not finished,” I said. “We have to buy time. The bulk of Orange, Yellow and Green Tamikas is three weeks out. I have to convince the Starkiens to engage in hit and run raids in order to slow down the Emperor’s armada. I suggest all Earth’s warships go out and help in this task.”

“Risky,” Diana said.

“It is that,” I said. “It’s also our only hope. Is anyone opposed to the idea?” I scanned the strained faces staring at me.

No one opposed.

“Very well,” I said. “I’m giving us two days to get ready. Then, our fleet moves out to Alpha Centauri to link with the Starkiens.”

“What is to prevent them from rushing into the solar system and holding our freighters hostage?” Diana asked.

“Not a damn thing,” I said, “other than Starkien integrity.”

“You can’t be serious,” Rollo said.

“If they lacked honor,” I said, “they’d never fight in the first place.”

“So you hope,” Rollo said.

I studied my massive friend. Nodding, I said, “Yeah, I hope.”

Rollo crossed his arms but didn’t say anything more.

“Is that it?” I asked. “Or does someone else want to add something?”

No. The meeting ended on the sour note. The struggle against the Emperor’s crusading armada was about to begin.