Theogony 3: Terra Stands Alone (5 page)

“
That is correct,
” said Steropes. “
As a race, they are some of the most single-minded people I have ever met. They do believe in doing the right thing, though, so they came and helped rid Earth of the rakshasas, but not before the rakshasas had eaten enough people to make it into Hindu mythology.
”

“
What else can you tell me about the Archons?
” asked Calvin. He was enjoying getting straight answers from a Psiclops for a change.

“
The Archons are another of the founding races of the Alliance of Civilizations,
” said Steropes. “
They
are humanoid in appearance and are about seven feet tall with long, white-blond hair.
”

“
Tall and white hair,
” repeated Calvin. “
Got it. Anything else?
”

“
Yes,
” said Steropes. “
They also have wings.
”

“
Wings?
” asked Calvin. “
Seven feet tall with wings? That sounds just like...
”

“
Angels,
” answered Steropes. “
Yes...they look just like angels.
”

“
Enough,
” said Calvin. “
I don’t think I want to know any more.
” He noticed everyone was moving toward their seats; the meeting appeared to be about to start. Sure enough, everyone stood as the president walked in. “
Look, I’ve got to go,
” he said. “
The president is here.
”

“
So I can go with you?
” asked Steropes hopefully.

“
I don’t know,
” said Calvin. “
I don’t make the decisions.
”

“
But you’ll ask them for me?
” Steropes asked.

“
I don’t know,
” replied Calvin. “
Let me think about it.
”

“
OK,
” said Steropes, disappointment heavy in his voice. He played his last card. “
Once, you trusted me to fight alongside you inside a Mayan pyramid,
” he said. “
I told you I would be able to help, and that I would save Terran lives. I don’t know how many lives I saved that day, but it was probably most of the platoon, if not all of it. You trusted me then; I would ask that you trust me now, if for no other reason than in remembrance of that day.
”

“
I remember it,
” said Calvin. “
Like I said, I’ll think about it.
” The window to Steropes closed.

The
conference room had filled up while he was talking with Steropes, Calvin noted. The space itself was unlike any other he had ever been in. At its center was a table which could easily seat 20 people to a side. Behind it on both sides, the floor of the room sloped upward, with 10 rows of stadium seating. It was almost like a mini-parliament. The leaders could sit around the table, with plenty of room for their staffs or other experts that might be needed. Although most of the people at the table had implants which would translate any Terran language, all of the seating in the room had jacks that allowed users to plug in and get a running translation of the conversation, provided by a small artificial intelligence that had been replicated for that purpose. It also kept notes and logs of all of the conversations within the room, unless told not to.

At one end of the table sat the leaders of the Terran Government. In addition to the president seated at the head of the table, Calvin also recognized the vice president, the secretary of state and
guessed that the tall woman he had seen earlier was the speaker of one of the houses of parliament. Their staffers completely filled all of the rows behind them and encroached into the seating of the other participants.

On one side of the table
sat several members from Epsilon Eridani. The planet Domus in that star system supported two races, which had come together to form their own world government so they could join the Republic of Terra. Calvin could see the princesses from both of the planet’s races in attendance. One of these was humanoid, with members that could generally pass as human, although they tended to look a little more Cro-Magnon. The other race, the kuji, was a race of lizards that looked like six feet tall versions of the tyrannosaurus rex. As the kuji were unable to sit comfortably in the Terran chairs, an enterprising craftsman had built a modified stool with a back that let them relax without getting their tails caught up.

Calvin could
also see Second Lieutenant Contreras in the seating behind the kuji princess. Previously a member of Calvin’s platoon, Contreras had become good friends with the princess after he saved her life. He was currently serving as the head of her security forces.

On the other side of the table sat
the Mrowry contingent, led by Captain Yerrow and Commander Andowwn, the commanding officer and executive officer of the Mrowry cruiser
Emperor’s Paw
. Although Captain Yerrow had served as the executive officer of the TSS
Terra
when it had first been acquired by the fleet, he had relinquished that position to a Terran officer once there were a sufficient number of implanted humans.

The Fleet Command staff sat at the end of the table opposite the president, led by
its head, Admiral James Wright. Calvin had met Admiral Wright during the Sino-American War of 2018. Although their working relationship had been strained at first, the admiral was aware of most of Calvin’s accomplishments and looked in on him from time to time, like admirals will often do for their prodigies. Several representatives from the
Vella Gulf
, the only Terran spaceship currently in-system, sat with the staff. Calvin had originally been invited to sit at the table, but had been moved to the first row of the stadium seating when the Terran government higher-ups had claimed a greater number of seats than expected. He had moved a little higher on his own accord as more and more ‘stars’ had come in.

“Thank you
all for coming today,” said Terran President Katrina Nehru. In addition to the hidden microphones and speakers that transmitted her voice, it was also being sent over the implant network so Calvin had no problems hearing her, even though he was at the opposite end of the room and removed from the table. She looked around the crowded conference room and smiled. “I guess that one of the perks of being president of the world,” she said, “is that when you ask for a meeting everyone shows up on time.” Several polite chuckles could be heard throughout the room.

“I asked for all of you to come here today,” she continued
in a more serious tone, “so that we could formulate a coherent strategy for the defense of the Solar System. Admiral Wright, could you please give us a status report?”

While Admiral Wright began summing up the battle at Stargate #1, Calvin had a thought. “
Solomon, Calvin,
” he commed to the artificial intelligence (AI) onboard the
Vella Gulf
. “
Are you receiving me?
”

“
I am receiving you,
” answered the AI. “
I am currently orbiting overhead. What can I do for you?
”

“
I understand that Steropes had you run some simulations,
” said Calvin. “
Is that correct?
”

“
Yes,
” replied Solomon, “
I did not have any prohibitions on that, and the ones he asked me to run were not of a classified nature. Am I no longer allowed to interact with him?
”

“
No,
” said Calvin, “
it’s OK to talk to him. His status is still being evaluated. Can you tell me about the simulations?
”

“
Certainly, Calvin,
” answered Solomon. “
He asked me to run simulations on when the Drakuls would be likely to return, and what size force they would show up with. Based on information I received from the
Emperor’s Paw,
I tried to answer those questions for him.
”

“
And what did you determine?
” asked Calvin.

“
There are several caveats I must make before I give you the results,
” advised Solomon. “
First, there is not much data on the new Drakuls on which to base the simulations, so I used historical data from the original race of Drakuls. They may act differently, but I cannot control for this. Second, I have no access to their order of battle, other than what the Archons had passed on to the Mrowry as of two years ago. They may have more ships or less than what I am using, which would speed up or slow down their fleet’s movements. Third, I do not have access to the current situation at 54 Piscium, where the Drakuls and the Archons are fighting, which would also be a major factor in their planning. These things will have a major effect on the simulation’s outcome.
”

“
Got it,
” said Calvin. “
With those caveats, what did you determine?
”

“
The Drakuls will be back between five and nine months from now,
” said Solomon. “
They will return with at least one dreadnought, eight battleships and 16 battlecruisers, as well as a number of smaller ships. A host of cruisers will lead the assault, sacrificing themselves to clear out the Terran minefield. They will be met by two to three Terran battleships and five battlecruisers. The battle will be fierce, with neither side asking for or giving quarter. The Terran forces will be destroyed, and the Drakul forces will still have two battleships, five battlecruisers and eight cruisers left over. The Earth will be conquered and become a pastureland for Drakul food harvesters.
” Damn, thought Calvin. If they brought a dreadnought, Terra was in trouble because dreadnoughts were bigger than anything Terra had in its inventory. Way bigger. He doubted they could stop one if it showed up.

“
Is that a sure thing?
” asked Calvin. “
How many times did you run the simulation?
”

“
I ran it 3,869 times,
” said Solomon. “
In over 30% of them, the Drakuls also destroyed at least part of the planet during the battle, launching missiles at it to split the focus of the defending forces.
”

“
So,
” Calvin asked, “
How many did we win?
”

“
None of them,
” replied Solomon. “
In most cases, all of the Terran spaceships were destroyed within the first hour.
”

“
Damn,
” said Calvin. “
Did Steropes ask you about what happened if we got aid?
”

“
Yes, he did,
” replied Solomon. “
If the Archons respond with aid, you were more likely to survive the initial assault.
”

“
How likely?
” asked Calvin, noticing that Admiral Wright was finishing up.

“
If the Archons respond with aid, you have a 5% chance of surviving the initial assault,
” replied Solomon.

“
Thanks,
” said Calvin. “
I’ve gotta go. Could you please push that info to Admiral Wright of Fleet Command? Tell him it’s something I said he needs for this discussion.
” Calvin knew that the admiral had gotten his implants a week ago. A gift from the Psiclopes, implants allowed recipients to download information directly to their brains, as well as to talk to each other via a special communications network. Calvin doubted that getting bad news in the middle of a briefing was one of the reasons the admiral wanted them.

“Thank you for the recap of the battle,” said President Nehru. She looked around to see if there were any questions. When she saw none, she asked, “What are Fleet Command’s intentions to ensure that we are equally successful next time?”

The admiral didn’t answer. When she looked down the table she could see his eyes slightly unfocused and a frown on his face. She recognized the look of someone that just got implants carrying on a conversation. The fact that he took the call in the middle of a presidential meeting meant that it was either incredibly important, or he had requested information about the topic of conversation from someone outside the conference. With a start, his eyes focused, and he realized that everyone was waiting on him.

“I’m sorry, madam president,” he said, trying to recover. “I...um...asked for some simulations to be run
to project what the Drakuls would do next, and I just got the results.” He took a breath and released it, trying to put off the news as long as he could. “They’re not good,” he said finally.