Part 5
Isabel
This feast is as boring as the thousand other interspecies-events like I was forced to take part in since my childhood. Or it should be. But it isn’t. It’s an enthralling, beautiful night, full of possibilities and hope. The seeds of a new Alliance are being planted, and I’m not just going to witness it, but I’ll take part in it.
Draconians, antarans, renuls, and terrans are milling around in the Grand Hall. Tables are set up everywhere, with the best dishes of the three humanoid races and tablets ”written” in four languages are placed beside them. I’d spent some part of the morning trying them out with human taste buds to see what could be recommended for the homo sapiens, so I’m not really hungry just now.
I don’t cease to be amazed by the humans’ frailty. They can be poisoned so easily! None of our races are so vulnerable.
The crowd is milling around, taking up the usual patterns. Groups of five or six are forming, usually from the members of two races. The humans are of course quite shy, at least most of them.
My eyes are automatically drawn to the right hand of our new ally. He is leaning back against the railing, entertaining a group of our politicians. Humor is extremely hard to translate between different races, but if anyone can, Colonel Whitman will be able to make them laugh.
I think he notices my attention, and looks up. Our gazes lock across the dining hall. His penetrating gray eyes meet mine, and he smiles an all knowing smile. It’s a good thing we can’t blush, because I’d be red as a rose right now.
`What is it Lonnie?` Amreth senses my discomfort. I’ve been so preoccupied with Alex that I didn’t cloak my emotions properly. I just hope that he won’t guess at the origin of my embarrassment.
`Nothing, Uncle, just a memory from Earth.`
`You seemed distant for a second. Do you know anybody of our guests?` My gaze of course flickers to Alex before I realize that that was just what he wanted. The sly old fox!
`Of course you do. Why don’t you go and socialize? It’s your duty as the host’s daughter.`
`As you wish, Governor.` He can’t stand it when I address him by his title.
`Don’t make it look I’m making you.` I don’t say anything, just start to walk away from the table we were standing at. He calls after me.
`And where is your good-for-nothing brother?`
`I’ve absolutely no idea.` I tell him over my shoulder. Really, where is my good-for-nothing brother? Causing another scandal, no doubt.
I slip through the crowd, and I catch a few words here and there. Old friends and business partners greet each other and catch up with the other’s life. Politicians are discussing gossips with diplomats, women are comparing their clothes. You couldn’t tell it from a human reception. One of the main topics is Max’s speech. It’s strange that I think of him now as Max, not as Zan. Anyways, he managed to create complete turmoil. Though every major governmental figure reinforced that Antar won’t be evacuated and the media called him all sorts of names, he managed to get most of the people worried. I think he is right, but until the talronids are breathing down our neck, no one will voluntarily order the evacuation of our home system. And I’m afraid it will be too late then.
Not even ten hours has passed since his speech, but the lines are already being drawn. I announced publicly that I welcome any number of people on my estates on Apostag-V who want to seek safety there, and I managed to convince the leadership of the Raba Gep’gjar concern to start building underground quarters on the second moon of Apostag-IV. It won’t mean more than a few hundred thousand places, but maybe it will inspire a few to follow our example and prepare for the inevitable.
Alex
She’s coming up behind me, I know it from the way the talk quiets around me. I consciously take no notice and continue to talk about the weather control on Earth while I watch her reflection in the shining surface of the marvyani pillar a few meters away.
She steps into the group, and I turn to her. I stop talking and bow slightly.
`Good evening, Princess.` I can’t read the antaran expressions, I don’t know if they can smile at all. It’s unnerving to play this game blindly while she can read my expressions easily.
`Good evening, Colonel. I hope you are enjoying the feast.` An opening.
`It is quite… spectacular if I might say. Quite different from the ones at home, but the company is just as enjoyable.` I know she understands.
`Why don’t you tell us about your feasts, Colonel? It’d give us an interesting cultural insight.` The game is on, now it’s my turn to make a move. I wonder if her people know anything at all about what went on on Earth.
`I don’t want to bore the ladies and gentleman with such trivial details.` In a Terran group some idiot would blurt in that you don’t bore us at all, but these are aliens. While she is speaking, no one else does.
`Oh, but it would fascinate me. I’m sure your colleague could carry on instead of you.` Nice move, girl. Now it’s up to me. Do I want to remain in private with her? We met a few times after the ball in Genf, and you could call it dating, but we never did anything serious. She just fascinated me with her… alieness, her different view of the world. Well, hell, why not.
`I’m sure. Solomon, could you continue?` Sol looks like he is about to ask some very stupid question, but in the end, he just nods. I know I’m being bold by their standards when I offer my hand to her, but I can pretend ignorance of their customs.
She takes my hand and we head toward one of the alcoves on the right wall of the Grand Hall.
------
Liz
I’ve finished the compulsory rounds around the nobs, and now I have a little free-time. Cautiously, I peer into the future. I don’t dare to open my senses, I just taste the river of Time, but I see no threats.
I’m sitting at a remote table with some of the military commanders of the Alliance. The talk is currently about the various defensive stations our races employ. I listen attentively, while my finger is moving slowly up and down on the table, drawing letters onto the surface.
I feel stupid while I spell out “15 MINUTES IN THE GARDEN” on the rock-like substance that I know to be wood. My life-mate is sitting two seats from me and I can’t reach out to put the information into his mind. To be closed off like this is slowly eating at me. We are simply not meant to be apart from each other.
I make my excuses and head out. I know he will follow me, and I have to force myself not to check on his progress. I bump into several people, but I don’t allow myself to be drawn into the various conversations. I step off into the palace garden and sit down on a hidden bench. He will find me, no matter where I hide. In the recess of the alien-looking bushes, I lean back and turn my face to the stars.
They are twinkling at me, and I watch them, enthralled, waiting for my love.
------
Ava was sitting at the Royal table. Zan was off to some commander’s meeting, Vilondra just went off somewhere and the Queen was occupied with a group of humans too. She was bored to death, and she didn’t want any of the empty chatting of her friends.
Her boredom was instantly dispelled, however when she saw Zan walk across the Hall determinedly. She immediately stood up and hurried after him, leaving the rest of the table without even saying goodbye. She knew that she was constantly humiliating herself in front of everyone with her desperate struggle for attention from him, but she dimply did not care.
They were promised to each other since the age of ten, and she wanted him. Badly. And it hurt that he paid no attention to her at all. Even Vilondra has turned against her since they returned. She never understood why Lonnie wanted to go in the first place. That wasn’t a place for a lady. The Princess’ duty was to remain at home and help the Royals to guide their people, instead of going off to god-forsaken planets instead of people who were better suited for that.
The Prince stepped out on one of the gates to the gardens, but Ava couldn’t catch up with him in time, so he disappeared into the labyrinth of the night garden.
She steadied herself and set out in the darkness, determined to find the man promised to her.
------
`That way.` The ten soldiers were following the eleventh in total silence. He wore a purple cloak embedded with silver symbols of a long forgotten alphabet. They had their orders. The Admiral of the humans must die, at all costs. If no one noticed, it was all the better. They knew nothing of the why, neither did they know who lead them, but it didn’t matter in the end.
Twelve squads, each led by one prophetling entered the palace at different gates, and they were converging on their mark without the slightest hesitation. They clouded themselves and the soldiers accompanying them with a mist of uncertainty, trying to hide from the prying eyes of the Prophet. Little did they know that the aforementioned Prophet was trying her best not to see the future.
So the heroes of the battle against the last antaran prophet were advancing rapidly on the newest threat to their race.
A/C Tp Gigo: You remember correctly, but if you read back, you'll find some advice on fighting prophets. And on the other hand don't ever suppose that anything said in the first person parts is actually true. (For example Alex's opinion of Liz, and Liz's own self-perception)
STAR Series (Very AU, sci-fi) {COMPLETE}
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silverofroswell
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silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Chapter 1
Part 6
Kyle
Liz hurries across the chamber and I see a flick of her wrist in my direction. ‘Go,’ it says. Though Liz will disappear somewhere with Max, the wheels of diplomacy can’t stop. I’m about to do a favor for the antaran government. I look around. Where’s Alex? Ah. There. He is talking with an antaran female in private. You don’t have to have big imagination to guess who she is. I start to walk towards them, but he notices me before I cross the floor. He asks something of his partner, then nods at one of the nearby tables. I nod back, message acknowledged, then I set out to kick some alien ass.
Alex
We stand in one of the windowsills, semi-hidden from the crowd, but still able to see everything. We are dancing the same verbal dance we always did. It’s flirting and it’s something much more serious at the same time. As Liz’s example show, if antarans bond, it is for good. But it doesn’t happen every time, or most of the research team would have found their life mates in Terran party girls. If I’m objective about it, we are just torturing each other and ourselves, but we can’t help it. There might come something out of it, or it might not. I think it’s time to decide whether I want to pursue this and make it into a relationship or not.
I try to make up my mind to ask her something serious, when I notice Kyle coming towards us. Ah, so I’ve missed Liz crossing the room. Another of her follies. Well, she is our prophet, so who am I to argue? I’ve given up trying to understand what she is doing, or why, I just follow the orders.
`Where is Khivar, darling?` I ask Isabel. (She will always remain Isabel to me.)
`Darling?`
`Get over it, darling. Where is he?` Well, that was one smooth move, Whitman. It’s the one way to confess, without making a big deal of it.
`O-o-over there,` she points to one of the tables. I signal Kyle. He pulls himself out, and begins to strut in that direction.
Isabel
DARLING?!? He called me what? This is an outrage! I don’t know if I should slap him or scream at him! Instead, I look at him and answer his question. His eyes are fixed on Kyle and I turn to look at him too. What could be more important than me? With both of our backs turned to the wall, we stand side by side. I feel the light pressure of his hand on my waist, as he puts one arm around me, but I choose not to take notice. It’s not an easy thing to do, with butterflies flopping vehemently in my stomach. My outrage gone, I ease more into his arms as inconspicuously as I can. Of course he notices and gently squeezes my side. Busted! It’s so unfair! I bet he’s had lots of practice while I’m only a beginner! That’s the disadvantage of being a royal princess, you have to be prim and proper all the time, and you definitely have to remain a virgin. There’s no law as such, but it’s generally expected, and before I left with my brother on that crazy mission, I always abided the rules.
While my heart is ready to burst out from excitement, his eyes are fixed on Kyle. He is walking up to Khivar’s table, and he looks like the embodiment of impudence. I can’t really hear what they are talking about, but Khivar’s widening “smile” (it’s not the actual distortion of the mouth, but the meaning is the same) makes me want to run for cover, and I’d be seriously worried for Kyle’s safety, if I wouldn’t see the same shark-grin on his face too. They can’t read the other’s features, so they don’t know what’s going on, but it’s clear that someone outsmarted someone else, but it’s yet to be seen who. I turn to Alex.
`What is this about… darling?` I’ve said it! I’ve managed to say it! Yippy!
Kyle
`Lord Khivar?` I ask, my voice polite to the extreme. I don’t know how good their translator machines are, whether they can translate tones and intonations, but it doesn’t hurt to be on the safe side.
`That would be me,` says one of the antarans sitting at the table, turning to me. He is tall, and strongly built for his race. I can’t determine the man’s wealth or status from his clothes, I’ve absolutely no clue about antaran fashion, but if what I’ve heard is true, he must be one of the best dressed males at this party.
`I’m Kyle Valenti, your Lordship,` I extend my hand, which offers him the perfect chance not to accept it, which he gladly takes, while he is pretending ignorance to our customs.
`What can I do for you, Sir?`
`I’ve heard you are an excellent swordsman, sir, and I’m somewhat of a fan of that sport too. I was hoping maybe you could guide me to someone who’d show me your version of the game.` I’m proud of myself, I’ve never humiliated myself more in one sentence before a bigger crowd. Laugh while you can, assholes, I’ll soon wipe the smirk from your face.
`Well, you have come to the right person, but I don’t think that you’ll have enough time on Antar to learn even the basics of this Art.`
`I didn’t want to learn it, I know my sojourn won’t be long. I just wanted to test my blades against a true master.` If I’d scoot any lower, my tongue would be lashing at the floor instead of his backside. He gives me a look, I think is assessing, then says in a royally manner.
`That is possible, of course. I’d love to show something new to our “allies”.` And with that, he stands up and beckons me to follow. His cronies come with us too, in the direction the training rooms must lay.
------
`What good will come from Khivar chopping up Kyle?`
`First of all, he won’t stand a chance.`
`I know! That’s why we should intervene!`
`You are worried about Khivar?` Asked Alex, baffled.
`No! I’m worried about Kyle!`
`I told you he won’t stand a chance.`
`How can you say that so calmly? No, wait a minute! You mean Khivar won’t stand a chance?` She asked, eyeing him suspiciously. His widening smile answered instead of him.
`Have you ever seen a precog with a melee weapon? They are unbeatable. Kyle will mop the floor with him, but he will play with him a bit, first.`
`Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for humiliating Khivar, but what’s the point?`
`One less eye to pry where Max’s has gone. And besides, it will do him some good to learn to respect the human warriors.`
`And where has my brother gone?` She asked perplexed. She felt that she was left out of half the things that was going on.
`If everything went according to the way Liz planned it, she and him are already… spending some quality time in the garden. Alone,` said Alex with a dropped voice.
`Oh.` That was all she managed to say.
`Shall we go too?`, he asked in a much lighter manner, nodding towards the nearest exit to the garden.
`Of course, darling,` she said, taking the offered arm, oblivious to the glances she received from the nearby people. She could always explain it as some human custom, she felt like she could do anything. After all, why not? The night was beautiful, the stars were shining bright, and she was so in love.
When the King returned from one of the other halls, he found his family missing. Zander hadn’t been seen since he left the meeting, Lonnie was off entertaining a human, Ava disappeared somewhere, his wife was upstairs with some other ladies, even Khivar was nowhere to be seen.
He slumped down wearily beside Amreth and searched the crowd with his eyes.
`Where did everyone go?`
Instead of answering, the governor of Antar turned to him and asked him.
`Tell me, have you ever wondered what your children were really doing in the last ten years?`
Liz
He is here! He is here! My heart is beating madly as he pushes the branches apart to step into the hidden clearing I’ve been resting on. We’ve been through a lot and still, I feel like a schoolgirl when he is around. I get off the bench and hurry to him, throwing myself into his arms. He catches me, and embraces me. I look into the almond-shaped black pools that antarans call eyes, and the connection slowly unfolds. It’s like we are making slow, sweet love under the stars, though we are barely touching.
It’s an indescribable feeling. To be connected to another so perfectly, there is some innate rightness about the whole thing. We are one, and we belong together. I know it in my heart. And no one can stand between us.
I lay my head on his chest, the connection is completely open. I bathe in his love, and I worship him silently in return, praising Fate that it allowed us to become lovers. For a time there is only bliss. We’ve been apart only for days, but it seems an eternity. I couldn’t live without him on my side. The fierceness of my longing should frighten the bejeezus out of me, but it doesn’t. I’m bonded to him, he binds me. To reality, to sanity. Through him, I feel again what it is to be a mere mortal, what it feels like to have only two eyes, two ears and one nose, to hear the words of others instead of knowing them. He is my savior, my protector, my guardian. My love.
I can remain who I am. As long as I’m with him, I’m safe from the madness that threatens my kind.
I don’t know how long we stand there without saying a word, thinking a thought. He knows that I need this, and I feel my longing mirrored in him. But the world doesn’t stop just because we are back in each other’s arms. I feel a slight danger grating on the edge of my consciousness. I reach ahead, seeking its source. Billions upon billions of pathways open and crumble and I perceive all of them at the same time, yet none at all at the same time. Human minds weren’t designed to deal with the infinite, but ahead of my inner sight the probability matrix lays naked, reaching ahead as a vast many-dimensional tapestry. There are no words to describe the sight, because there is nothing to be seen, just the illusion of a monkey-brain trying to deal with the endless possibilities. I ignore the dangers that I can easily avoid: a heart attack, or a sudden earthquake. They are all in the probability matrix, and if I really wanted to, I could guide us down on a path where a fire would start in the next five minutes, burning the palace down, but it isn’t what my senses warned me of.
Two minutes ahead in time, I see Ava finding us. He knows the instant I know, and begins to disentangle our spirits. It takes only a small time and it’s painless, but the sudden loneliness is nearly more than I can bear. I want to cry, to collapse down on the grass, to reach to him and pull him back forcibly into the bond. But I can’t. I’m strong enough to stand upright alone, though barely.
`Go love, go before she finds us,` he whispers. I don’t want to think about what I would do if I saw her trying to wrap herself around him, I know his memories, and I know how disgusted he is by her. I leave before I’d do something stupid and irreversible. I completely trust him, it’s impossible for us to cheat on the other, but I hate the thought of her trying to touch him.
Reluctantly, I leave the clearing in the opposite direction that she will come from.
I walk for a few minutes. I’m lonely and the cold antaran night chills me and… and there is something else. The edge of the danger didn’t go away, it’s still there, even more pronounced.
I scout ahead, this time more carefully, throwing all caution to the winds. When you are prophet, you learn to trust your instincts.
Nothing. I see no danger. No. Wait. What is this? Something’s blurred. Haze surrounds a path. I’ve never seen anything like this. Slightly panicked, I try to enter it. I don’t know what’s going on, but a part of me that has no name in any human languages feels pressure from something else and suddenly I’m through…
------
Max
`DANGER!` The mental cry nearly sends me to the ground. The connection is wide open again, and I feel that she is terrified. I break into a run towards her, she needs me. We are only a few hundred meters apart, but the deep cold fear that radiates from her urges me to run faster than I’ve ever did before. Twelve seconds later, when I’ve crossed half the distance, she calms down enough that I can sense what terrified her, and it chills my blood too.
Assassins have been sent against us, killers of prophets. I drew my sword and turn it on with one motion. We don’t have much time. She is desperately looking for some way to slip out of their hands, but she finds none. We have to fight them all, our only advantage is that she sensed them a minute before they found us, so we don’t have to face the twelve of them at once. I urge her to run to me, we can maybe retreat to the Palace with cutting down only one of the death-squads, but she refuses to move.
She is standing in the middle of a large clearing in a calm poise. I reach her in seconds.
`Liz, what’s wrong? Let’s move!`
`No.` Her mind is closed off, immersed in the dark cloud I identify with prophecy.
`Why? What’s going on? We’ve gotta run!`
`Take care of the soldiers. The prophetlings are my business. I’ll try to take care of them.` Her voice is distant, her eyes are unfocused. I can only stand beside her and prepare for the inevitable. I want to kiss her a last time, but there’s no time.
The bushes start to move.
One by one, twelve squads of eleven step out to the clearing. They all stop and eye us. Liz is standing with closed eyes, sweat glistening on her forehead. The world stands still for a moment, and I know that everything will start to move in the next.
------
Twelve prophetlings stood facing one prophet, one prophetling against a hundred and twenty warriors.
They stood no chance.
Kyle
Liz hurries across the chamber and I see a flick of her wrist in my direction. ‘Go,’ it says. Though Liz will disappear somewhere with Max, the wheels of diplomacy can’t stop. I’m about to do a favor for the antaran government. I look around. Where’s Alex? Ah. There. He is talking with an antaran female in private. You don’t have to have big imagination to guess who she is. I start to walk towards them, but he notices me before I cross the floor. He asks something of his partner, then nods at one of the nearby tables. I nod back, message acknowledged, then I set out to kick some alien ass.
Alex
We stand in one of the windowsills, semi-hidden from the crowd, but still able to see everything. We are dancing the same verbal dance we always did. It’s flirting and it’s something much more serious at the same time. As Liz’s example show, if antarans bond, it is for good. But it doesn’t happen every time, or most of the research team would have found their life mates in Terran party girls. If I’m objective about it, we are just torturing each other and ourselves, but we can’t help it. There might come something out of it, or it might not. I think it’s time to decide whether I want to pursue this and make it into a relationship or not.
I try to make up my mind to ask her something serious, when I notice Kyle coming towards us. Ah, so I’ve missed Liz crossing the room. Another of her follies. Well, she is our prophet, so who am I to argue? I’ve given up trying to understand what she is doing, or why, I just follow the orders.
`Where is Khivar, darling?` I ask Isabel. (She will always remain Isabel to me.)
`Darling?`
`Get over it, darling. Where is he?` Well, that was one smooth move, Whitman. It’s the one way to confess, without making a big deal of it.
`O-o-over there,` she points to one of the tables. I signal Kyle. He pulls himself out, and begins to strut in that direction.
Isabel
DARLING?!? He called me what? This is an outrage! I don’t know if I should slap him or scream at him! Instead, I look at him and answer his question. His eyes are fixed on Kyle and I turn to look at him too. What could be more important than me? With both of our backs turned to the wall, we stand side by side. I feel the light pressure of his hand on my waist, as he puts one arm around me, but I choose not to take notice. It’s not an easy thing to do, with butterflies flopping vehemently in my stomach. My outrage gone, I ease more into his arms as inconspicuously as I can. Of course he notices and gently squeezes my side. Busted! It’s so unfair! I bet he’s had lots of practice while I’m only a beginner! That’s the disadvantage of being a royal princess, you have to be prim and proper all the time, and you definitely have to remain a virgin. There’s no law as such, but it’s generally expected, and before I left with my brother on that crazy mission, I always abided the rules.
While my heart is ready to burst out from excitement, his eyes are fixed on Kyle. He is walking up to Khivar’s table, and he looks like the embodiment of impudence. I can’t really hear what they are talking about, but Khivar’s widening “smile” (it’s not the actual distortion of the mouth, but the meaning is the same) makes me want to run for cover, and I’d be seriously worried for Kyle’s safety, if I wouldn’t see the same shark-grin on his face too. They can’t read the other’s features, so they don’t know what’s going on, but it’s clear that someone outsmarted someone else, but it’s yet to be seen who. I turn to Alex.
`What is this about… darling?` I’ve said it! I’ve managed to say it! Yippy!
Kyle
`Lord Khivar?` I ask, my voice polite to the extreme. I don’t know how good their translator machines are, whether they can translate tones and intonations, but it doesn’t hurt to be on the safe side.
`That would be me,` says one of the antarans sitting at the table, turning to me. He is tall, and strongly built for his race. I can’t determine the man’s wealth or status from his clothes, I’ve absolutely no clue about antaran fashion, but if what I’ve heard is true, he must be one of the best dressed males at this party.
`I’m Kyle Valenti, your Lordship,` I extend my hand, which offers him the perfect chance not to accept it, which he gladly takes, while he is pretending ignorance to our customs.
`What can I do for you, Sir?`
`I’ve heard you are an excellent swordsman, sir, and I’m somewhat of a fan of that sport too. I was hoping maybe you could guide me to someone who’d show me your version of the game.` I’m proud of myself, I’ve never humiliated myself more in one sentence before a bigger crowd. Laugh while you can, assholes, I’ll soon wipe the smirk from your face.
`Well, you have come to the right person, but I don’t think that you’ll have enough time on Antar to learn even the basics of this Art.`
`I didn’t want to learn it, I know my sojourn won’t be long. I just wanted to test my blades against a true master.` If I’d scoot any lower, my tongue would be lashing at the floor instead of his backside. He gives me a look, I think is assessing, then says in a royally manner.
`That is possible, of course. I’d love to show something new to our “allies”.` And with that, he stands up and beckons me to follow. His cronies come with us too, in the direction the training rooms must lay.
------
`What good will come from Khivar chopping up Kyle?`
`First of all, he won’t stand a chance.`
`I know! That’s why we should intervene!`
`You are worried about Khivar?` Asked Alex, baffled.
`No! I’m worried about Kyle!`
`I told you he won’t stand a chance.`
`How can you say that so calmly? No, wait a minute! You mean Khivar won’t stand a chance?` She asked, eyeing him suspiciously. His widening smile answered instead of him.
`Have you ever seen a precog with a melee weapon? They are unbeatable. Kyle will mop the floor with him, but he will play with him a bit, first.`
`Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for humiliating Khivar, but what’s the point?`
`One less eye to pry where Max’s has gone. And besides, it will do him some good to learn to respect the human warriors.`
`And where has my brother gone?` She asked perplexed. She felt that she was left out of half the things that was going on.
`If everything went according to the way Liz planned it, she and him are already… spending some quality time in the garden. Alone,` said Alex with a dropped voice.
`Oh.` That was all she managed to say.
`Shall we go too?`, he asked in a much lighter manner, nodding towards the nearest exit to the garden.
`Of course, darling,` she said, taking the offered arm, oblivious to the glances she received from the nearby people. She could always explain it as some human custom, she felt like she could do anything. After all, why not? The night was beautiful, the stars were shining bright, and she was so in love.
When the King returned from one of the other halls, he found his family missing. Zander hadn’t been seen since he left the meeting, Lonnie was off entertaining a human, Ava disappeared somewhere, his wife was upstairs with some other ladies, even Khivar was nowhere to be seen.
He slumped down wearily beside Amreth and searched the crowd with his eyes.
`Where did everyone go?`
Instead of answering, the governor of Antar turned to him and asked him.
`Tell me, have you ever wondered what your children were really doing in the last ten years?`
Liz
He is here! He is here! My heart is beating madly as he pushes the branches apart to step into the hidden clearing I’ve been resting on. We’ve been through a lot and still, I feel like a schoolgirl when he is around. I get off the bench and hurry to him, throwing myself into his arms. He catches me, and embraces me. I look into the almond-shaped black pools that antarans call eyes, and the connection slowly unfolds. It’s like we are making slow, sweet love under the stars, though we are barely touching.
It’s an indescribable feeling. To be connected to another so perfectly, there is some innate rightness about the whole thing. We are one, and we belong together. I know it in my heart. And no one can stand between us.
I lay my head on his chest, the connection is completely open. I bathe in his love, and I worship him silently in return, praising Fate that it allowed us to become lovers. For a time there is only bliss. We’ve been apart only for days, but it seems an eternity. I couldn’t live without him on my side. The fierceness of my longing should frighten the bejeezus out of me, but it doesn’t. I’m bonded to him, he binds me. To reality, to sanity. Through him, I feel again what it is to be a mere mortal, what it feels like to have only two eyes, two ears and one nose, to hear the words of others instead of knowing them. He is my savior, my protector, my guardian. My love.
I can remain who I am. As long as I’m with him, I’m safe from the madness that threatens my kind.
I don’t know how long we stand there without saying a word, thinking a thought. He knows that I need this, and I feel my longing mirrored in him. But the world doesn’t stop just because we are back in each other’s arms. I feel a slight danger grating on the edge of my consciousness. I reach ahead, seeking its source. Billions upon billions of pathways open and crumble and I perceive all of them at the same time, yet none at all at the same time. Human minds weren’t designed to deal with the infinite, but ahead of my inner sight the probability matrix lays naked, reaching ahead as a vast many-dimensional tapestry. There are no words to describe the sight, because there is nothing to be seen, just the illusion of a monkey-brain trying to deal with the endless possibilities. I ignore the dangers that I can easily avoid: a heart attack, or a sudden earthquake. They are all in the probability matrix, and if I really wanted to, I could guide us down on a path where a fire would start in the next five minutes, burning the palace down, but it isn’t what my senses warned me of.
Two minutes ahead in time, I see Ava finding us. He knows the instant I know, and begins to disentangle our spirits. It takes only a small time and it’s painless, but the sudden loneliness is nearly more than I can bear. I want to cry, to collapse down on the grass, to reach to him and pull him back forcibly into the bond. But I can’t. I’m strong enough to stand upright alone, though barely.
`Go love, go before she finds us,` he whispers. I don’t want to think about what I would do if I saw her trying to wrap herself around him, I know his memories, and I know how disgusted he is by her. I leave before I’d do something stupid and irreversible. I completely trust him, it’s impossible for us to cheat on the other, but I hate the thought of her trying to touch him.
Reluctantly, I leave the clearing in the opposite direction that she will come from.
I walk for a few minutes. I’m lonely and the cold antaran night chills me and… and there is something else. The edge of the danger didn’t go away, it’s still there, even more pronounced.
I scout ahead, this time more carefully, throwing all caution to the winds. When you are prophet, you learn to trust your instincts.
Nothing. I see no danger. No. Wait. What is this? Something’s blurred. Haze surrounds a path. I’ve never seen anything like this. Slightly panicked, I try to enter it. I don’t know what’s going on, but a part of me that has no name in any human languages feels pressure from something else and suddenly I’m through…
------
Max
`DANGER!` The mental cry nearly sends me to the ground. The connection is wide open again, and I feel that she is terrified. I break into a run towards her, she needs me. We are only a few hundred meters apart, but the deep cold fear that radiates from her urges me to run faster than I’ve ever did before. Twelve seconds later, when I’ve crossed half the distance, she calms down enough that I can sense what terrified her, and it chills my blood too.
Assassins have been sent against us, killers of prophets. I drew my sword and turn it on with one motion. We don’t have much time. She is desperately looking for some way to slip out of their hands, but she finds none. We have to fight them all, our only advantage is that she sensed them a minute before they found us, so we don’t have to face the twelve of them at once. I urge her to run to me, we can maybe retreat to the Palace with cutting down only one of the death-squads, but she refuses to move.
She is standing in the middle of a large clearing in a calm poise. I reach her in seconds.
`Liz, what’s wrong? Let’s move!`
`No.` Her mind is closed off, immersed in the dark cloud I identify with prophecy.
`Why? What’s going on? We’ve gotta run!`
`Take care of the soldiers. The prophetlings are my business. I’ll try to take care of them.` Her voice is distant, her eyes are unfocused. I can only stand beside her and prepare for the inevitable. I want to kiss her a last time, but there’s no time.
The bushes start to move.
One by one, twelve squads of eleven step out to the clearing. They all stop and eye us. Liz is standing with closed eyes, sweat glistening on her forehead. The world stands still for a moment, and I know that everything will start to move in the next.
------
Twelve prophetlings stood facing one prophet, one prophetling against a hundred and twenty warriors.
They stood no chance.
-
silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Traitors and renegades
Part 7
`Go away! That’s an order!` He knew that his words won’t have any effect, but he had to try.
`I’m sorry, Sire, we have our own orders. Please step aside.` The soldiers were advancing menacingly while their leader answered him. The prophetlings were standing still, frozen to their spot, locked in some invisible duel with their enemy.
`You will cause a war! Leave her alone!` There was only fifty feet between them.
`Sire, with due respect, if you don’t step aside, I’ll be forced to remove you.` Forty.
`You want her? Only through my dead body!` Thirty. They stopped.
`Sire, this is completely unnecessary. She is only a human, but a very dangerous one. The order came from the granoliths themselves, and I’ll obey it.` The officer was reluctant to raise hands on his prince and tried to reason with him.
`She is my life-mate, you fools! Your future Queen! I’d die first than see any harm come to her!` This stopped them in their tracks. The soldiers stopped in mid-step. The officer hesitated for a second then shouted.
`Seize him!`
The blademasters lurched forward as one man.
Her eyes snapped open. They were empty wells gleaming with an unearthly light. Max’s sword cut high, through the chest of one antaran, and drew back the blade in a deadly arc, cutting the wrist of the next, faster than lightning. He didn’t rule his motions, he succumbed completely to the bond and let her guide him. He cut and cut, killing his own people without hesitation, sending them one by one to the ground, as they all came at him at once. He was dancing a deadly dance around her, protecting her.
But there was just too many of them. There were eight already dead lying on the ground, but he knew he couldn’t be everywhere at the same time, and only one had to get to Liz…
Only a second could have passed since the beginning of the combat, when he felt intense relief flooding through the connection. The iron will controlling his motions was broken and his life-mate, who had been standing still, suddenly started to move.
With the celerity of an attacking cobra, she jumped and punched one of the soldiers in the gut, taking his weapon with the same motion and twirling forward, her new blade moving on dazzling and deadly arcs.
In the next second they were dancing together, back-to-back. Their energy-blades gleamed in the moonlight as they cut through the ranks of soldiers, perfect to fault. It was a sight to be remembered. They moved as one, their bodies linked to a single, joined spirit. She cut while he parried the attack aimed at her heart, then with the same motion he pulled back his sword in a low cut, gutting one of the blademasters. They couldn’t touch them, no matter how many came at the same time. Their swords seemed to be everywhere, parrying, blocking, reposting.
Two against a hundred of the very best. They stood no chance. The death of the soldiers was decided before they ever set foot on the clearing. They were sent only as a distraction. The real battle went on between the Prophetess and the prophetlings, and it was already over.
Liz
Twelve against one, it’s unfair! Not that anyone cares. A duel between prophets doesn’t involve any physical contact. We slide between futures, they try to block mine, and I desperately struggle to survive their attack. I don’t really know what to do; they collapse the paths open to me, and I try to keep ahead of them. It’s a gauntlet run, and I’ve no idea how to fight back. I’m only barely aware of the situation around us in the physical world. It’s only a projection of our will, if I win, we will survive, if I lose, we shall die this day. It’s that simple. And I’ll lose. Still, I can’t give up. I’m dodging in multi-dimensional space, seeking open pathways on which I can go without dieing. There are fewer and fewer with each passing second.
Just when I’m about to give up, suddenly there is space before me, the vast horizon of open futures. I dive into it and open my eyes. The fight is on, and I take control of it instinctively. I direct Max to kill the first few, then get a weapon for myself at the first opportunity. I don’t know what happened to them until a blade comes out through the chest of one of my enemies. A very old and very mundane metal sword.
The dice turned. Suddenly the soldiers have to fight on two fronts. Us and the twelve prophetlings, we cut them down in a manner of seconds. I feel them smoothing the path before us, and with my will added to theirs, the soldiers have no chance. They die quickly; most of them don’t even realize that they’ve been turned on by their own. I should feel some remorse after cutting down about thirty sentients, but I don’t. There’s only the rush of adrenalin in my blood and the pounding of my heart. We’ve won against impossible odds! We fought and we won! The simple joy of survival is nearly overwhelming. The prophetlings are still there to be dealt with, but I sense no imminent danger.
Not even a minute has passed since they stepped out onto the clearing, when everything quiets and we stand face to face, them and us. He is panicking, he doesn’t understand a thing. Neither do I, but I’m not worried. There’s still no threat. There’s a heartbeat of stillness, then they kneel as one, lowering their head and holding out the handles of their blades towards us, offering it to us.
`We are yours, my Queen. Command us.` I don’t understand the words, only through him.
<What the…?>
< I’ve no idea either, but answer them. They could cut us down on the spot,> I whisper to him.
`You may rise. Give me your name, warrior,` he says regally. They stand up, and I can finally have a good look at them. Eight males and four females, all wearing the same red-green armor. They rise up, but their heads still remain lowered.
{My Queen?}There is a silent probing. It’s not telepathy, they don’t speak Terran, so I wouldn’t understand. It tingles some other sense. They found a future where I understood what they wanted to say. I try to imitate it. I reach ahead and put a message into the future. It’s a brilliantly simple, yet elegant solution.
{Yes?} I look at him expectantly, and he understands me.
{I’m Shouhanas, my Queen.} It takes me a second to realize that Max has asked him to give me his name. This reminds me:
<Max, did you hear it?>
<Barely, but I did.>
<Then listen closely.>
{Who are you, Shouhanas? Why did you…} It’s not the wisest thing to do maybe, but I’ve run out of plans. I have to improvise.
{We are the prophet-hunters, my Queen, or at least we used to be. But first and foremost we are the guardians of the future of the antaran race. And now, that future lies in your hands.} There is no tone to the time voice, no actual words, only an understanding of the meaning. {We’ve known that you’d come, and we decided a long time ago what we will do when the time comes. We will fight by your side. You need us to win this war. This is the only way for our species to survive, and we know our duty.}
Traitors and renegades
Part 7
`Go away! That’s an order!` He knew that his words won’t have any effect, but he had to try.
`I’m sorry, Sire, we have our own orders. Please step aside.` The soldiers were advancing menacingly while their leader answered him. The prophetlings were standing still, frozen to their spot, locked in some invisible duel with their enemy.
`You will cause a war! Leave her alone!` There was only fifty feet between them.
`Sire, with due respect, if you don’t step aside, I’ll be forced to remove you.` Forty.
`You want her? Only through my dead body!` Thirty. They stopped.
`Sire, this is completely unnecessary. She is only a human, but a very dangerous one. The order came from the granoliths themselves, and I’ll obey it.` The officer was reluctant to raise hands on his prince and tried to reason with him.
`She is my life-mate, you fools! Your future Queen! I’d die first than see any harm come to her!` This stopped them in their tracks. The soldiers stopped in mid-step. The officer hesitated for a second then shouted.
`Seize him!`
The blademasters lurched forward as one man.
Her eyes snapped open. They were empty wells gleaming with an unearthly light. Max’s sword cut high, through the chest of one antaran, and drew back the blade in a deadly arc, cutting the wrist of the next, faster than lightning. He didn’t rule his motions, he succumbed completely to the bond and let her guide him. He cut and cut, killing his own people without hesitation, sending them one by one to the ground, as they all came at him at once. He was dancing a deadly dance around her, protecting her.
But there was just too many of them. There were eight already dead lying on the ground, but he knew he couldn’t be everywhere at the same time, and only one had to get to Liz…
Only a second could have passed since the beginning of the combat, when he felt intense relief flooding through the connection. The iron will controlling his motions was broken and his life-mate, who had been standing still, suddenly started to move.
With the celerity of an attacking cobra, she jumped and punched one of the soldiers in the gut, taking his weapon with the same motion and twirling forward, her new blade moving on dazzling and deadly arcs.
In the next second they were dancing together, back-to-back. Their energy-blades gleamed in the moonlight as they cut through the ranks of soldiers, perfect to fault. It was a sight to be remembered. They moved as one, their bodies linked to a single, joined spirit. She cut while he parried the attack aimed at her heart, then with the same motion he pulled back his sword in a low cut, gutting one of the blademasters. They couldn’t touch them, no matter how many came at the same time. Their swords seemed to be everywhere, parrying, blocking, reposting.
Two against a hundred of the very best. They stood no chance. The death of the soldiers was decided before they ever set foot on the clearing. They were sent only as a distraction. The real battle went on between the Prophetess and the prophetlings, and it was already over.
Liz
Twelve against one, it’s unfair! Not that anyone cares. A duel between prophets doesn’t involve any physical contact. We slide between futures, they try to block mine, and I desperately struggle to survive their attack. I don’t really know what to do; they collapse the paths open to me, and I try to keep ahead of them. It’s a gauntlet run, and I’ve no idea how to fight back. I’m only barely aware of the situation around us in the physical world. It’s only a projection of our will, if I win, we will survive, if I lose, we shall die this day. It’s that simple. And I’ll lose. Still, I can’t give up. I’m dodging in multi-dimensional space, seeking open pathways on which I can go without dieing. There are fewer and fewer with each passing second.
Just when I’m about to give up, suddenly there is space before me, the vast horizon of open futures. I dive into it and open my eyes. The fight is on, and I take control of it instinctively. I direct Max to kill the first few, then get a weapon for myself at the first opportunity. I don’t know what happened to them until a blade comes out through the chest of one of my enemies. A very old and very mundane metal sword.
The dice turned. Suddenly the soldiers have to fight on two fronts. Us and the twelve prophetlings, we cut them down in a manner of seconds. I feel them smoothing the path before us, and with my will added to theirs, the soldiers have no chance. They die quickly; most of them don’t even realize that they’ve been turned on by their own. I should feel some remorse after cutting down about thirty sentients, but I don’t. There’s only the rush of adrenalin in my blood and the pounding of my heart. We’ve won against impossible odds! We fought and we won! The simple joy of survival is nearly overwhelming. The prophetlings are still there to be dealt with, but I sense no imminent danger.
Not even a minute has passed since they stepped out onto the clearing, when everything quiets and we stand face to face, them and us. He is panicking, he doesn’t understand a thing. Neither do I, but I’m not worried. There’s still no threat. There’s a heartbeat of stillness, then they kneel as one, lowering their head and holding out the handles of their blades towards us, offering it to us.
`We are yours, my Queen. Command us.` I don’t understand the words, only through him.
<What the…?>
< I’ve no idea either, but answer them. They could cut us down on the spot,> I whisper to him.
`You may rise. Give me your name, warrior,` he says regally. They stand up, and I can finally have a good look at them. Eight males and four females, all wearing the same red-green armor. They rise up, but their heads still remain lowered.
{My Queen?}There is a silent probing. It’s not telepathy, they don’t speak Terran, so I wouldn’t understand. It tingles some other sense. They found a future where I understood what they wanted to say. I try to imitate it. I reach ahead and put a message into the future. It’s a brilliantly simple, yet elegant solution.
{Yes?} I look at him expectantly, and he understands me.
{I’m Shouhanas, my Queen.} It takes me a second to realize that Max has asked him to give me his name. This reminds me:
<Max, did you hear it?>
<Barely, but I did.>
<Then listen closely.>
{Who are you, Shouhanas? Why did you…} It’s not the wisest thing to do maybe, but I’ve run out of plans. I have to improvise.
{We are the prophet-hunters, my Queen, or at least we used to be. But first and foremost we are the guardians of the future of the antaran race. And now, that future lies in your hands.} There is no tone to the time voice, no actual words, only an understanding of the meaning. {We’ve known that you’d come, and we decided a long time ago what we will do when the time comes. We will fight by your side. You need us to win this war. This is the only way for our species to survive, and we know our duty.}
-
silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Part 8
Aviana
`Dear Zander, what brought you out here?` I ask him softly.
`I just wanted to be alone for some time, far from the crowd.` Something’s not right, I can sense it. He is… anxious? Why? I think I’ll take try the straight path and just ask him.
`You seem disturbed. Tell me, please, what ails you?`
`It’s nothing just… SHIT!` He shouts and breaks into a run.
`What is it? What’s wrong?` I call after him, but he doesn’t even hear me. I hurry after him and try not to lose him in the dark again. I hear movement from here and there as I’m following him, the palace grounds seem to be a busy place tonight. I’m not as fast as he is and I don’t want to spoil my dress, so I lose sight of him quickly.
I follow the direction he went in, trying not to trip in the darkness. I hear shouting from the distance.
`…your future Queen! I’d die first than see any harm come to her!` I forget my dress and I break into a run. He is defending me! So these are his true feelings for me! I’ve always known! I run as fast as I can. When I hear the sound of weapons and cries of pain, I increase my speed even more. I have to be at his side to protect him, to save him! But my hopes are crushed as I burst into the clearing a few seconds later.
He is in the middle of a small army. I look for the palace guards, where are they? In the middle of the battle, protecting him? No. He is all alone, fighting against a horde. I’m about to jump in to, to at least die by his side, when something happens. A bond flares up. A human draws blade on his side. I don’t believe my eyes. I try to deny it for a second, then reality crashes in on me. That female is bonded to him. They are moving seamlessly together, sending one warrior to the ground after another. They have the grace of decades spent practicing together. Their bond is like a bonfire in the night, they are more entwined than anyone I’ve ever seen. I see that they cut down three soldiers with two simultaneous thrusts through a blurry mist, then everything goes hazy as I faint.
------
Liz
{You have to get out of here soon, my Queen,} It’s one of the other prophetlings, though I can’t tell which one. It doesn’t matter. Through Max’s senses, I know that these creatures are nearly one; they’ve spent too much time locked together, only with the others as company. They form a formidable unit, but they no longer have different personalities. It must be something like the bond, only it goes twelve ways.
{Now that we’ve failed, the granoliths will send other troops, maybe even use atomics. For your own safety you must leave the planet.}
{I agree. What do you suggest?}
{Get out of here quietly Get back to your fleet and leave the system.}
{And leave every one of my own behind? That’s not an option.}
{You can’t collect them unobtrusively in time, my lady.}
<He is right, Liz. No harm will come to them. I’ll see to it. Leave.>
<And you, do you sincerely believe that you could remain here after what you’ve done?> I look around. We are standing in the middle of a battlefield. There are dead bodies everywhere. If they were human, I’d be throwing up already, but they are alien, and the instincts linked to the sight of the dead simply don’t kick in. Anyways, energy-blades make clean wounds, there is almost no blood.
<They’d never dare to touch me.> I know that he is lying, and he knows that I know. <Okay, they would. But I don’t have any other idea.> I don’t answer the unspoken question. Instead, I take a deep breath and start to concentrate. If we come out of this alive… I don’t know exactly what, but I’ll do something very charitable.
Kyle
I parry and thrust. He dodges and launches an attack that I can easily fend off. We are circling in some arena watched by quite a few people. He thinks that he is playing with me, and I act convincingly as a beginner, which is, by the way, a true, even if completely irrelevant fact. I was introduced to blades only a few days ago, but there is no way in hell he could defeat me. We are simply not in the same league. He is only an arrogant asshole, while I’m a human warrior. I think it’s time to end the charade. Max and Liz got to wherever they wanted to go, so now I can have a little fun too.
I spin back twice with four quick steps, this puts a four meter’s distance between us. I stop for a second, breathing in and out, in and out.
`Tired, human?`
`Not really, milord. Do you yield?`
`What? Excuse me?`
`Do. You. Yield?` I repeat, slower. There is some laughter in the crowd.
`No. I think not.` I hold back for a second, opening myself to the future.
`Then so be it!` I shout as I launch forward. I strike down, his blade raising to parry. With a small flick of my wrist, I modify the course of my sword, while I launch a kick. It touches his shield, sending him backwards, his blade is pointing upwards. Quicker than lightning (actually, I am quicker than the lightning this time, my reaction time is about minus two seconds), I thrust forward, my sword splits his shield in two and stops an inch from his throat. The shadows of the future grow still as I let go of my combat awareness.
There is a moment of stunned silence, until the first sentient begins to clap – an antaran, I think. I let out a long breath. Combat always takes a lot out of me. With my blade still at his throat, I ask him again.
`Do you yield?`
`I yield,` he mumbles.
`Louder!` I urge him.
`I yield!` It is still somewhat lacking in volume, but I don’t humiliate him anymore. I turn off my blade and start to walk back to the shelves to put it back. I could remain here and kick into him a few more times, but there’s simply no point in it. The instant I leave the circle in the middle of the room, the crowd tightens around me. Everyone congratulates me, and there are many who’d like to test their blades against mine, but I shake them all off quickly and politely. It still takes fifteen minutes till I can get them to leave me alone.
I’m getting a drink from the table reserved only for humans when I know that someone is about to embrace me from behind.
`Hello, darling,` I say without turning. Instead of doing what she intended to do, she steps up beside me and helps herself to some punch.
`You are getting just as annoying as Liz.`
`Yeah, she’s always had this positive influence on me.` We don’t go into the topic, there might be wandering ears about.
`You were really great against that guy.` I put one arm around her shoulder.
`It was a piece of cake.` I lower my voice. `Where are the lovebirds?`
`Who? The admiral or her adjutant? Because they are both gone.`
`Alex too? Wow…` I’m about to make a rather less than majestic comment about a certain princess’s bedroom when something inexplicable happens. From the depths of the future, a voice calls to me, it’s so loud that in nearly deafens me. I try to cover my ears in vain, falling to my knees in pain, and so do the other pilots all around the room.
{THIS IS THE ADMIRAL. WE ARE ALL IN GRAVE DANGER. COLLECT ALL THE HUMANS QUICKLY AND UNOBTRUSIVELY. MEET ME AT THE AIRCARS IN TEN MINUTES. THOSE WHO ARE LATE WILL BE LEFT BEHIND. HURRY!}
A/C: Thank you for all the feedback!
mareli: your wish is granted. You didn't think I would leave something that cool out, did you? I just had to postpone it for more important matters.
For a detailed explanation on why the prophetlings betrayed their masters, you have to wait some time, until about part 12, so don't ask me of it.
I love you all!
Gege
Aviana
`Dear Zander, what brought you out here?` I ask him softly.
`I just wanted to be alone for some time, far from the crowd.` Something’s not right, I can sense it. He is… anxious? Why? I think I’ll take try the straight path and just ask him.
`You seem disturbed. Tell me, please, what ails you?`
`It’s nothing just… SHIT!` He shouts and breaks into a run.
`What is it? What’s wrong?` I call after him, but he doesn’t even hear me. I hurry after him and try not to lose him in the dark again. I hear movement from here and there as I’m following him, the palace grounds seem to be a busy place tonight. I’m not as fast as he is and I don’t want to spoil my dress, so I lose sight of him quickly.
I follow the direction he went in, trying not to trip in the darkness. I hear shouting from the distance.
`…your future Queen! I’d die first than see any harm come to her!` I forget my dress and I break into a run. He is defending me! So these are his true feelings for me! I’ve always known! I run as fast as I can. When I hear the sound of weapons and cries of pain, I increase my speed even more. I have to be at his side to protect him, to save him! But my hopes are crushed as I burst into the clearing a few seconds later.
He is in the middle of a small army. I look for the palace guards, where are they? In the middle of the battle, protecting him? No. He is all alone, fighting against a horde. I’m about to jump in to, to at least die by his side, when something happens. A bond flares up. A human draws blade on his side. I don’t believe my eyes. I try to deny it for a second, then reality crashes in on me. That female is bonded to him. They are moving seamlessly together, sending one warrior to the ground after another. They have the grace of decades spent practicing together. Their bond is like a bonfire in the night, they are more entwined than anyone I’ve ever seen. I see that they cut down three soldiers with two simultaneous thrusts through a blurry mist, then everything goes hazy as I faint.
------
Liz
{You have to get out of here soon, my Queen,} It’s one of the other prophetlings, though I can’t tell which one. It doesn’t matter. Through Max’s senses, I know that these creatures are nearly one; they’ve spent too much time locked together, only with the others as company. They form a formidable unit, but they no longer have different personalities. It must be something like the bond, only it goes twelve ways.
{Now that we’ve failed, the granoliths will send other troops, maybe even use atomics. For your own safety you must leave the planet.}
{I agree. What do you suggest?}
{Get out of here quietly Get back to your fleet and leave the system.}
{And leave every one of my own behind? That’s not an option.}
{You can’t collect them unobtrusively in time, my lady.}
<He is right, Liz. No harm will come to them. I’ll see to it. Leave.>
<And you, do you sincerely believe that you could remain here after what you’ve done?> I look around. We are standing in the middle of a battlefield. There are dead bodies everywhere. If they were human, I’d be throwing up already, but they are alien, and the instincts linked to the sight of the dead simply don’t kick in. Anyways, energy-blades make clean wounds, there is almost no blood.
<They’d never dare to touch me.> I know that he is lying, and he knows that I know. <Okay, they would. But I don’t have any other idea.> I don’t answer the unspoken question. Instead, I take a deep breath and start to concentrate. If we come out of this alive… I don’t know exactly what, but I’ll do something very charitable.
Kyle
I parry and thrust. He dodges and launches an attack that I can easily fend off. We are circling in some arena watched by quite a few people. He thinks that he is playing with me, and I act convincingly as a beginner, which is, by the way, a true, even if completely irrelevant fact. I was introduced to blades only a few days ago, but there is no way in hell he could defeat me. We are simply not in the same league. He is only an arrogant asshole, while I’m a human warrior. I think it’s time to end the charade. Max and Liz got to wherever they wanted to go, so now I can have a little fun too.
I spin back twice with four quick steps, this puts a four meter’s distance between us. I stop for a second, breathing in and out, in and out.
`Tired, human?`
`Not really, milord. Do you yield?`
`What? Excuse me?`
`Do. You. Yield?` I repeat, slower. There is some laughter in the crowd.
`No. I think not.` I hold back for a second, opening myself to the future.
`Then so be it!` I shout as I launch forward. I strike down, his blade raising to parry. With a small flick of my wrist, I modify the course of my sword, while I launch a kick. It touches his shield, sending him backwards, his blade is pointing upwards. Quicker than lightning (actually, I am quicker than the lightning this time, my reaction time is about minus two seconds), I thrust forward, my sword splits his shield in two and stops an inch from his throat. The shadows of the future grow still as I let go of my combat awareness.
There is a moment of stunned silence, until the first sentient begins to clap – an antaran, I think. I let out a long breath. Combat always takes a lot out of me. With my blade still at his throat, I ask him again.
`Do you yield?`
`I yield,` he mumbles.
`Louder!` I urge him.
`I yield!` It is still somewhat lacking in volume, but I don’t humiliate him anymore. I turn off my blade and start to walk back to the shelves to put it back. I could remain here and kick into him a few more times, but there’s simply no point in it. The instant I leave the circle in the middle of the room, the crowd tightens around me. Everyone congratulates me, and there are many who’d like to test their blades against mine, but I shake them all off quickly and politely. It still takes fifteen minutes till I can get them to leave me alone.
I’m getting a drink from the table reserved only for humans when I know that someone is about to embrace me from behind.
`Hello, darling,` I say without turning. Instead of doing what she intended to do, she steps up beside me and helps herself to some punch.
`You are getting just as annoying as Liz.`
`Yeah, she’s always had this positive influence on me.` We don’t go into the topic, there might be wandering ears about.
`You were really great against that guy.` I put one arm around her shoulder.
`It was a piece of cake.` I lower my voice. `Where are the lovebirds?`
`Who? The admiral or her adjutant? Because they are both gone.`
`Alex too? Wow…` I’m about to make a rather less than majestic comment about a certain princess’s bedroom when something inexplicable happens. From the depths of the future, a voice calls to me, it’s so loud that in nearly deafens me. I try to cover my ears in vain, falling to my knees in pain, and so do the other pilots all around the room.
{THIS IS THE ADMIRAL. WE ARE ALL IN GRAVE DANGER. COLLECT ALL THE HUMANS QUICKLY AND UNOBTRUSIVELY. MEET ME AT THE AIRCARS IN TEN MINUTES. THOSE WHO ARE LATE WILL BE LEFT BEHIND. HURRY!}
A/C: Thank you for all the feedback!
mareli: your wish is granted. You didn't think I would leave something that cool out, did you? I just had to postpone it for more important matters.
For a detailed explanation on why the prophetlings betrayed their masters, you have to wait some time, until about part 12, so don't ask me of it.
I love you all!
Gege
-
silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Chapter 2
Part 9
`There’s trouble! I can feel it!` She was starting to get hysterical.
`Don’t panic! What’s wrong?`
`My brother! I can’t reach him! He is in danger! He needs me!`
`Isabel, calm down! Concentrate, where is he?`
`I don’t know!`, she cried out, exasperated. `He is completely closed off!` She stopped suddenly. She froze in motion for half a minute, concentrating hard. When she next opened her eyes, the panic was totally gone, she sounded calm and determined.
`Alex, you’ve got to run to the aircars. Her cover’s blown. They are fleeing the planet. I have to get back to the palace.`
`What?`
`Run! Just run!` She pointed at one of the trails leaving the fountain they were sitting at. `That way!` His reflexes kicked in, there wasn’t time for anything. He jumped up and started to jog backwards, still turned towards him.`
`Goodbye, Isabel!
`Just run!` He obeyed and turned, and started to sprint. He couldn’t have run for more than ten meters, when she cried after him to wait. He turned back and nearly fell backward when she jumped into his arms. Soft, human lips found his own, for a first and last soul searing kiss. When Vilondra drew back, she could only pant.
`Now, go! And come back soon.`
`I will, I promise.`
------
The humans left the palace in twos and threes; the pilots escorted the people out, then went back for more. They were sure of the authenticity of the message they received and they acted according to the order. Everyone moved without any hesitation when they had been told the news; they didn’t want to be left behind. They said their goodbyes politely and quickly, then accompanied the pilots to the garden doors.
The king only took notice when the last of the humans disappeared, but when he asked around he only received shrugs as answers, so he left it at that. He returned to enjoying the feast and the story of Khivar’s defeat at the hands of a human. However, his peace didn’t last long. Five minutes later a servant came running with a top priority message from the Granoliths.
------
Kyle
Well, I’d never thought I’d live to see this. We are speeding down an empty highway, with a skinny, silvery guy sitting in the pilot’s seat, fleeing the Palace of a currently hostile King, whose only son is being abducted by our Admiral. It’s a smaller miracle that none of us was left behind. Max, excuse me, Prince Zander ordered the original pilots of the aircars to surrender their radios, then his cronies knocked them out. Liz didn’t give us any explanation, only that we’d be in grave danger if we stayed, and that the Prince and his bodyguards are coming with us.
These guys give me the creeps. They must be some sort of precogs, ‘cause they communicate through time, but I thought antarans didn’t like prophets. It’s a funny thing, speaking into the future. Once we saw how it is done, all of us could do it, and by all of us I mean all the human precogs. If I concentrate hard enough I hear what the others are communicating.
{Mortal-Seven to Mortal-Three: Do you think we gotta fight our way outta hear?}
{Negative, Hopkins. If they wanted us down, they would be shooting at us already doncha think?}
{This is Angel-Three: Don’t we need to inform Mama that we are coming home early?}
{This is Angel-One: cut the chatter guys, combat-engagement radio rules for time chatter too. Roger?}
{This is Angel-Three: Roger, sir. Clear as the sky.}
{Good. Stick to combat information from now on. Questions, anybody?}
{This is Swordsman-Six: With due respect, Sir, I have like a million, Sir.} A new, much firmer voice interrupts the easy banter.
{Keep them to yourselves, Swordsman-Six. They’ll be answered in good time. But now, gentlemen, let’s concentrate on our survival. The day is far from over. Admiral Parker out.}
The final word has been given, now silence covers the depths of time again.
------
Five minutes later
`Angels, Mortals: mount your craft. Swordsmen: get into the shuttles.`
`What?` Kyle asked back, astonished.
`It was an order, Kyle.` He realized that it was neither the place nor the time to discuss his superior’s orders.
`Yes, Admiral. I’m sorry, Admiral.`
The pilots quickly ran to their crafts and began the takeoff routines. The pilots of the Swordsman squadron grudgingly walked up the ramps of the shuttles. Prince Zander signaled two of his new man to follow the rest of the officers into the Zeus shuttles, then he climbed into one of the waiting crafts. The prophetlings followed his example, copying his movements to every detail.
Max
God, this is fucking hard.
<Don’t complain we don’t have much time. It’s only a matter of minutes and we are stuck here.>
I don’t answer, instead I do what I was told. I don’t have too much control over my body right now. Liz is using me as a sort of relay station. Mental links are much faster than normal communication, faster even than the time-speech. Ten prophetlings are connected to me from one side, while she is explaining to them how to operate a human fighter through me. No, explain is the wrong word. She just does it, and lets her routine flow through me. I feel that it’s quite a drain for her, but we might need this. Ten prophetlings as fighter escorts… If they are any stronger than Kyle and his friends, they will be unbeatable.
My father must already know what Liz is, and if I were in the granolith’s place, I would have told him of his son’s part in this whole mess too. Everything is up to him. Once we are airborne, I don’t think he could catch us, but he could start a battle with the humans stationed in the system. While I know that there’s no way someone with Liz’s power will be downed (or to be more precise, she doesn’t think), I don’t think he knows that. While I managed to convince the spaceport authorities to leave us alone, someone must have already informed the palace, that’s why it’s imperative that we take off as soon as possible.
I feel that Liz’s lesson is over, I’ve got control back over my body and mind. The time to think is over. I check the fight controls, but someone’s already done that. Whoops. Must have been Liz, while I was sleeping in my own body.
`This is the Admiral in Swordsman-One. Swordsman squadron is ready for the takeoff.`
`Angel squadron’s ready for takeoff,` comes Kyle’s reply almost immediately.
`Admiral, what are you doing in a fighter? What is this all about?`
`Later,` she dismisses him, whoever he was. `Mortal squadron?`
`Almost…YES! Mortal squadron’s ready for takeoff, Admiral!` Mortal-One sure sounds enthusiastic.
`Zeus One ready.`
`Zeus Three ready.`
`Zeus Two ready.`
Now that the shuttles checked in, everyone is set for departure. There’s no sense in waiting for my father’s troops to arrive.
<Let’s go, darling!>, I send.
`Zeus squadron take off!` {Mortals, Angels, Swordsmen, take off!} The AG engines of the thirty-nine crafts come alive, and we begin to rise through the atmosphere of my home planet. The Admiral checks in with the Flight Control, and informs them that we are leaving, not that they don’t know. Once we leave the shadow of the planet, she immediately begins to transmit.
`Fourth Human Fleet! This is Admiral Parker. Red alarm! I repeat: red alarm! All ships begin docking procedures immediately! Prepare to leave the system when all crafts aboard!`
------
The Central Command Center, under the Antaran Palace
`They are not reacting to radio messages, your Highness!`
`They are leaving the trajectory of the Third planet, Your Highness!`
`What should we do?`
`Silence!`, shouted the King. Everything went quiet. `Now give me the radio. Thanks.`
`This is the King of Antar. Zander do you copy?`
`I copy,` came the reply almost instantly. Prince Zander’s voice was identifiable even through the radio. It might have been a fake, but the King was sure that it was his son.
`What happened, son? Where are you going?`
`You know all too well. The granoliths sent assassins to kill me, and with the help of the Admiral, I repelled them. I’m staying with the human forces until it’s safe for me.’
`It was a mistake, son. A misplaced order. Please come home, you’ll be safe here.
In the cockpit of his fighter, Max sighed. His own father was lying to him, to lure him back to destroy him. He knew all too well, what that “mistake” meant. He chose to obey the customs. The betrayal was expected, but it still hurt.
`A misplaced order? I think not. It doesn’t agree with what the prophetlings were telling us. Don’t listen to the granoliths, Father. Our only hope is to unite under a prophet, she is the only one who can turn the tide. Please, listen to reason. Their own assassins have joined us. I beg you, don’t force me to turn against you. I’ll stay with my beloved no matter what it costs me.`
`Son, you are ill, you don’t know what you are saying. Please stay where you are. I’m sending crafts to pick you up.`
He shook his head, fighting with tears. Max turned on the radio for one last time.
`Goodbye, Dad.`
It was the last time the Prince of Antar ever spoke with his father.
A/C When I said that there will be an explanation in part 12... I was wrong. There won't be more explanations. I think that you'll have to survive the next chapters without a Liz POV. Alex, Max, Therand, Kyle and Serena will be the main "speakers", and of course Isabel, in the Antar parts (part 13, the nearest) But with the Invasion starting, there won't be much time for personal life, so it doesn't matter much. (I LOVE hinting things {well, it's not exactly subtle hinting, but it's still hinting})
The problem with my writing method (ie: that I keep ahead of the story with five parts, so when I change something in the past, I don't have to change what's already written) that I can't keep my mouth shut. Does it disturb you very much that you know half the story weeks ahead?
Gege
`There’s trouble! I can feel it!` She was starting to get hysterical.
`Don’t panic! What’s wrong?`
`My brother! I can’t reach him! He is in danger! He needs me!`
`Isabel, calm down! Concentrate, where is he?`
`I don’t know!`, she cried out, exasperated. `He is completely closed off!` She stopped suddenly. She froze in motion for half a minute, concentrating hard. When she next opened her eyes, the panic was totally gone, she sounded calm and determined.
`Alex, you’ve got to run to the aircars. Her cover’s blown. They are fleeing the planet. I have to get back to the palace.`
`What?`
`Run! Just run!` She pointed at one of the trails leaving the fountain they were sitting at. `That way!` His reflexes kicked in, there wasn’t time for anything. He jumped up and started to jog backwards, still turned towards him.`
`Goodbye, Isabel!
`Just run!` He obeyed and turned, and started to sprint. He couldn’t have run for more than ten meters, when she cried after him to wait. He turned back and nearly fell backward when she jumped into his arms. Soft, human lips found his own, for a first and last soul searing kiss. When Vilondra drew back, she could only pant.
`Now, go! And come back soon.`
`I will, I promise.`
------
The humans left the palace in twos and threes; the pilots escorted the people out, then went back for more. They were sure of the authenticity of the message they received and they acted according to the order. Everyone moved without any hesitation when they had been told the news; they didn’t want to be left behind. They said their goodbyes politely and quickly, then accompanied the pilots to the garden doors.
The king only took notice when the last of the humans disappeared, but when he asked around he only received shrugs as answers, so he left it at that. He returned to enjoying the feast and the story of Khivar’s defeat at the hands of a human. However, his peace didn’t last long. Five minutes later a servant came running with a top priority message from the Granoliths.
------
Kyle
Well, I’d never thought I’d live to see this. We are speeding down an empty highway, with a skinny, silvery guy sitting in the pilot’s seat, fleeing the Palace of a currently hostile King, whose only son is being abducted by our Admiral. It’s a smaller miracle that none of us was left behind. Max, excuse me, Prince Zander ordered the original pilots of the aircars to surrender their radios, then his cronies knocked them out. Liz didn’t give us any explanation, only that we’d be in grave danger if we stayed, and that the Prince and his bodyguards are coming with us.
These guys give me the creeps. They must be some sort of precogs, ‘cause they communicate through time, but I thought antarans didn’t like prophets. It’s a funny thing, speaking into the future. Once we saw how it is done, all of us could do it, and by all of us I mean all the human precogs. If I concentrate hard enough I hear what the others are communicating.
{Mortal-Seven to Mortal-Three: Do you think we gotta fight our way outta hear?}
{Negative, Hopkins. If they wanted us down, they would be shooting at us already doncha think?}
{This is Angel-Three: Don’t we need to inform Mama that we are coming home early?}
{This is Angel-One: cut the chatter guys, combat-engagement radio rules for time chatter too. Roger?}
{This is Angel-Three: Roger, sir. Clear as the sky.}
{Good. Stick to combat information from now on. Questions, anybody?}
{This is Swordsman-Six: With due respect, Sir, I have like a million, Sir.} A new, much firmer voice interrupts the easy banter.
{Keep them to yourselves, Swordsman-Six. They’ll be answered in good time. But now, gentlemen, let’s concentrate on our survival. The day is far from over. Admiral Parker out.}
The final word has been given, now silence covers the depths of time again.
------
Five minutes later
`Angels, Mortals: mount your craft. Swordsmen: get into the shuttles.`
`What?` Kyle asked back, astonished.
`It was an order, Kyle.` He realized that it was neither the place nor the time to discuss his superior’s orders.
`Yes, Admiral. I’m sorry, Admiral.`
The pilots quickly ran to their crafts and began the takeoff routines. The pilots of the Swordsman squadron grudgingly walked up the ramps of the shuttles. Prince Zander signaled two of his new man to follow the rest of the officers into the Zeus shuttles, then he climbed into one of the waiting crafts. The prophetlings followed his example, copying his movements to every detail.
Max
God, this is fucking hard.
<Don’t complain we don’t have much time. It’s only a matter of minutes and we are stuck here.>
I don’t answer, instead I do what I was told. I don’t have too much control over my body right now. Liz is using me as a sort of relay station. Mental links are much faster than normal communication, faster even than the time-speech. Ten prophetlings are connected to me from one side, while she is explaining to them how to operate a human fighter through me. No, explain is the wrong word. She just does it, and lets her routine flow through me. I feel that it’s quite a drain for her, but we might need this. Ten prophetlings as fighter escorts… If they are any stronger than Kyle and his friends, they will be unbeatable.
My father must already know what Liz is, and if I were in the granolith’s place, I would have told him of his son’s part in this whole mess too. Everything is up to him. Once we are airborne, I don’t think he could catch us, but he could start a battle with the humans stationed in the system. While I know that there’s no way someone with Liz’s power will be downed (or to be more precise, she doesn’t think), I don’t think he knows that. While I managed to convince the spaceport authorities to leave us alone, someone must have already informed the palace, that’s why it’s imperative that we take off as soon as possible.
I feel that Liz’s lesson is over, I’ve got control back over my body and mind. The time to think is over. I check the fight controls, but someone’s already done that. Whoops. Must have been Liz, while I was sleeping in my own body.
`This is the Admiral in Swordsman-One. Swordsman squadron is ready for the takeoff.`
`Angel squadron’s ready for takeoff,` comes Kyle’s reply almost immediately.
`Admiral, what are you doing in a fighter? What is this all about?`
`Later,` she dismisses him, whoever he was. `Mortal squadron?`
`Almost…YES! Mortal squadron’s ready for takeoff, Admiral!` Mortal-One sure sounds enthusiastic.
`Zeus One ready.`
`Zeus Three ready.`
`Zeus Two ready.`
Now that the shuttles checked in, everyone is set for departure. There’s no sense in waiting for my father’s troops to arrive.
<Let’s go, darling!>, I send.
`Zeus squadron take off!` {Mortals, Angels, Swordsmen, take off!} The AG engines of the thirty-nine crafts come alive, and we begin to rise through the atmosphere of my home planet. The Admiral checks in with the Flight Control, and informs them that we are leaving, not that they don’t know. Once we leave the shadow of the planet, she immediately begins to transmit.
`Fourth Human Fleet! This is Admiral Parker. Red alarm! I repeat: red alarm! All ships begin docking procedures immediately! Prepare to leave the system when all crafts aboard!`
------
The Central Command Center, under the Antaran Palace
`They are not reacting to radio messages, your Highness!`
`They are leaving the trajectory of the Third planet, Your Highness!`
`What should we do?`
`Silence!`, shouted the King. Everything went quiet. `Now give me the radio. Thanks.`
`This is the King of Antar. Zander do you copy?`
`I copy,` came the reply almost instantly. Prince Zander’s voice was identifiable even through the radio. It might have been a fake, but the King was sure that it was his son.
`What happened, son? Where are you going?`
`You know all too well. The granoliths sent assassins to kill me, and with the help of the Admiral, I repelled them. I’m staying with the human forces until it’s safe for me.’
`It was a mistake, son. A misplaced order. Please come home, you’ll be safe here.
In the cockpit of his fighter, Max sighed. His own father was lying to him, to lure him back to destroy him. He knew all too well, what that “mistake” meant. He chose to obey the customs. The betrayal was expected, but it still hurt.
`A misplaced order? I think not. It doesn’t agree with what the prophetlings were telling us. Don’t listen to the granoliths, Father. Our only hope is to unite under a prophet, she is the only one who can turn the tide. Please, listen to reason. Their own assassins have joined us. I beg you, don’t force me to turn against you. I’ll stay with my beloved no matter what it costs me.`
`Son, you are ill, you don’t know what you are saying. Please stay where you are. I’m sending crafts to pick you up.`
He shook his head, fighting with tears. Max turned on the radio for one last time.
`Goodbye, Dad.`
It was the last time the Prince of Antar ever spoke with his father.
A/C When I said that there will be an explanation in part 12... I was wrong. There won't be more explanations. I think that you'll have to survive the next chapters without a Liz POV. Alex, Max, Therand, Kyle and Serena will be the main "speakers", and of course Isabel, in the Antar parts (part 13, the nearest) But with the Invasion starting, there won't be much time for personal life, so it doesn't matter much. (I LOVE hinting things {well, it's not exactly subtle hinting, but it's still hinting})
The problem with my writing method (ie: that I keep ahead of the story with five parts, so when I change something in the past, I don't have to change what's already written) that I can't keep my mouth shut. Does it disturb you very much that you know half the story weeks ahead?
Gege
-
silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Chapter 2
Part 10
”I will attack,” plans the apprentice;
“I’m attacking,” realizes the adept;
“I’ve attacked,” thinks the master.
---Ancient Chinese proverb---
`Angel squad, brace yourselves, interceptors are coming up from behind. Three minutes ‘till reinforcements get in range.` Enteroff was deploying a moderate number of elite fighters to escort the shuttles back to the battleships preparing for departure. The Alliance forces were beginning to move everywhere in the system. After the conversation between Antar and the escaping crafts, the nearest cruisers started to launch fighters. They didn’t look like they were about to do anything to the bulk of the human fleet, but there was a deadly race forming to Liz and her friends.
The Angels gave the rear guard for the Zeus shuttles. About a hundred or more drones were zooming towards them with much better acceleration than what a human could survive. If they turned and fought, they could easily eradicate them, but there was a second wave behind them and a third behind those and so on. So Kyle and his men tightened their grips around the flight control joysticks and prepared to evade the incoming crafts’ fire.
Meanwhile, acting on a sudden impulse, Swordsman-Two turned on his radio again and started to broadcast.
`This is the Prince of Antar. Fellow antarans! Tonight, the granoliths tried to kill me in my own gardens. And for what? Because I fell in love with the wrong woman. With a human. I’ve bonded with Admiral Parker, and my parents found this so gruesome that they wanted to eliminate the both of us. I chose not to go to the slaughterhouse willingly. I seek refuge with the Human Republic. But my father is sending fighters against me and the innocent human military officers who defended our system just a few days ago! Is there no one out there who finds this injustice intolerable? Is there no one out there who would help us? Please, help me escape!`
<A nice mix of truth and baldfaced lies, even if a bit too melodramatic..>
<Thank you, love. I’ve learned from the master.>
<You embarrass me.>
<Yeah, I know. Sometimes even I’m ashamed by what you do.> An evil grin.
< I didn’t mean it that way!> An outburst of mock offence.
< I know.> A half-laugh.
<Do you think anyone will bite?>
<Watch and learn, Miss Machiavelli.>
<Mrs., please.>
<Sorry.> A touch of warmness, which is disrupted by blinking lights.
<I’ve got to go if I want to keep the Angels alive. Fly ahead. We will catch up with you.> And in the next moment Swordsman-One turned a hundred and eighty degrees.
{From Two to Six, follow me!} She didn’t need to send the thought, though. Five other fighters did a back flip exactly the same moment as her, following her towards the first wave of enemy fighters.
------
Kyle
We are sitting ducks here. Their acceleration is far better than ours. Though we are really good at evading fire, but even we make mistakes sometimes, and our shields can take only so many hits. I don’t have the energy to command my ships, everyone is on his own. I’ve never concentrated this hard in my entire life. This is about raw survival. I can either pick a path where I evade the energy waves directed at me, or I can’t. In the latter case, I’ll probably die. I don’t see or feel anything with my “conventional” senses. There is only the vision. It was never like this during training. In a controlled environment, precognition is little more than a small boost to the pilot’s skills.
Here, on the battlefield, it’s life and death. I’m running the gauntlet, for every shot I stay clear of, ten others come at me. I don’t think I’ll last the two minutes left until our escort arrives. It’s a really stupid way to die. If I turned, maybe I could distract enough of the enemy to let the rest of us reach safety.
With the first conscious decision of the last forty seconds, I flip my craft and begin to accelerate in the opposite direction. Enemy fire is incredible, but I slip through it easily and open fire. I don’t know exactly what I’m shooting at, but yellow symbols flash in front of my eyes; the computer is informing me that I’ve destroyed two drones. I chase after another – there are plenty of targets to pick. The computer is telling me that allies are evaporating the rest of the bad guys. My squad followed me? For the first time, I tear my gaze from the targeting HUD to glance at the radar.
Half the Swordsmen squad is here. While I maneuver through the chaos that is erupting around us, I watch their kills. Each “frag” is marked by a flashing white triangle on my HUD – allies eliminating a drone nearby. The light doesn’t even have time to dim before another replaces it, and this is the same for all the six fighters. These guys are fast.
Well, I’ll show them! With a battlecry, I finish making evasive maneuvers and dive after a draconian droid, firing with my three lasers. We’ll see who wins the day!
------
Alliance Cruiser Napshuga’R
`Ten, no fifteen, no twenty-two… Hell, what’s going on here? They are going through those fighters faster than I can count!` The Napshuga’R was watching the battle from a safe distance. She was part of the Alliance fleet instead of the Antaran, so they didn’t obey Antar’s orders of pursuit. As far as the captain was concerned, it was an antaran-human internal affair, and an Alliance cruiser had no right to interfere. Which of course didn’t mean that he didn’t plan to.
Captain He-Telek of the renular race looked to his spouse.
<I’m curious about what someone, who can see the future could do for us.>
<So am I, love. And besides we promised the Princess that we would help.>
<Yes, I remember that too.>
Upon deciding what to do, the Captain turned to the navigation officer and gave the order.
<Enter the path of the next wave. Destroy the fighters and help the humans to escape.> After this, he reached out to the other renulars of the Alliance fleets stationed in the system to inform them of his decision.
------
Ten minutes later
There was no actual battle – after eleven Alliance and two antaran cruisers moved to block the path of the stationery fighter bases, the antarans were cut off from reinforcements. The little task group that visited Antar reached the docks without losing a single craft. Luckily, the human fleet rested at the edge of the system, so shortly after the last fighter docked, it was ready to leave.
Showing brilliant leadership skills, Prince Zander managed to persuade the battleships supporting them that it would be safer if they left the star system under the wings of the Moiras. The rest of the antaran fleet showed no intentions of pursuit, and they didn’t send any other fighters, after it became clear that they stood no chance.
There was complete radio silence between the two races – Antar hadn’t made a fool of itself by demanding Liz and Max back, and the humans didn’t taunt them. Neither side wanted to be the first to say: “We are at war.”
The Alliance was doomed if the humans turned on them, and they knew it as well, but what was done, was done and they couldn’t take their actions back. Instead, they just let them leave without saying a word. Later, it could always be declared as an unfortunate accident, but right now, they didn’t risk saying anything with a possibly hostile fleet under the command of a Prophet in-system. So the Antaran crafts remained near the inhabited planets, watching in silence as the Terran fleet left.
It took the next ten minutes for the Fourth to assume traveling formation, incorporating the thirteen new crafts in the battlegroup, and when they were ready, they left the system immediately, absolutely uncaring of whether the use of the SI drives in-system might disrupt the trajectories of the outer planets.
------
Safely outside the Star System Antar
`What happened?`
`Why were we pursued?`
`What’s the reason for…?` The room was filled with the highest ranking officers of the Fourth Human Fleet, and there was utter chaos.
`Silence!` Shouted Liz into the microphone. Her voice reverberated off the metal walls and kept echoing long after everyone shut up.
`The reason for today’s fiasco was that a certain faction of antarans has problems with my person, or rather my abilities. The Prince of Antar succeeded in warning me of the assassination attempt, and with the help of a few antarans, they managed to defend my life.` You could have cut the silence in the room.
`Unfortunately, this left about a hundred dead soldiers in the middle of the Royal Palace. I thought that it was for the best if we were in the safety of our ships instead of on an alien planet where a powerful enough religious group’s only desire is to see me dead.`
<Good choice of words.> The religions of Earth started to die in the early twentieth century. Their death struggle lasted about two centuries – by 2100, only a few thousand churches provided service to the whole world. Religion was only a bad memory from the ancient times, the synonym of stupidity, brainwashing, and fanaticism.
She continued as if she didn’t hear his comment.
`This, by no means, has anything to do with the relationship of the Republic and the Alliance, as the presence of the cruisers who helped us clearly shows. The Prince of Antar expressed his sincere hope that the government will be able to deal with the so-called granoliths soon. In the meantime, we shall go home, resupply our ships, integrate the data we’ve acquired , and most importantly of all, begin the preparations for the coming war. Questions? Yes?`
`Are we going to Sol or to one of the outlying colonies?`
`To Sol. Don’t forget that we are loaded with new technology that must be made available to the other fleets as soon as possible. Next!`
`What is the exact problem of this religion?` asked the chief engineer of Destiny.
`They hate prophets, and unfortunately, they think I’m one.`
`Are you a prophet?` It was the captain of one of the battlecruisers belonging to Doom’s battlegroup.
`Yes, I’m the reincarnation of Mohammed. I’ve reached Enlightenment as well, and thus become Buddha. Next question, please.` There was a roar of laughter.
<Remember that bastard. I want to replace him at the first opportunity.>
`Can we use the IG net from now on?`
`I don’t know yet. I don’t want to spoil our homecoming by letting the rest of the universe know how successful we have been. However, I understand your desire to contact your loved ones. So I offer a compromise. You can send messages home, but you can’t say a thing about anything that happened. You can describe me as a “cruel, ruthless, bitch” if you need someone to blame.` She held a short pause, waiting for the laughter to subside.` The messages won’t be edited of course, but you have to get approval before sending them. Is this alright with everyone?` A general murmur of agreement followed.
`Who piloted the Swordsmen? It was fantastic to watch.`
`I was in Swordsman-One, Prince Zander and his buddies took the rest. If I might add a personal comment, it was fun to see the battle from the cockpit once.`
`Admiral, you’ve piloted a fighter?` It wasn’t really a proper question, instead a loud expression of disbelief.
`Yes. I don’t have much experience, but I thought that I was a strong enough precog to survive. It seems that I was right. The same stands for the rest of the squad.`
Max was standing in the shadows behind Liz, and watched the “debriefing” with wide-open eyes. He never saw his lifemate speaking before an interactive audience before. It went on for nearly an hour, in a cheerful mood, a totally informal meeting, where Liz was only separated from her officers by the podium. And the whole thing went out to the whole fleet live. He shook his head, and quietly smiled to himself..Humans.
Thanks for the feedback!
”I will attack,” plans the apprentice;
“I’m attacking,” realizes the adept;
“I’ve attacked,” thinks the master.
---Ancient Chinese proverb---
`Angel squad, brace yourselves, interceptors are coming up from behind. Three minutes ‘till reinforcements get in range.` Enteroff was deploying a moderate number of elite fighters to escort the shuttles back to the battleships preparing for departure. The Alliance forces were beginning to move everywhere in the system. After the conversation between Antar and the escaping crafts, the nearest cruisers started to launch fighters. They didn’t look like they were about to do anything to the bulk of the human fleet, but there was a deadly race forming to Liz and her friends.
The Angels gave the rear guard for the Zeus shuttles. About a hundred or more drones were zooming towards them with much better acceleration than what a human could survive. If they turned and fought, they could easily eradicate them, but there was a second wave behind them and a third behind those and so on. So Kyle and his men tightened their grips around the flight control joysticks and prepared to evade the incoming crafts’ fire.
Meanwhile, acting on a sudden impulse, Swordsman-Two turned on his radio again and started to broadcast.
`This is the Prince of Antar. Fellow antarans! Tonight, the granoliths tried to kill me in my own gardens. And for what? Because I fell in love with the wrong woman. With a human. I’ve bonded with Admiral Parker, and my parents found this so gruesome that they wanted to eliminate the both of us. I chose not to go to the slaughterhouse willingly. I seek refuge with the Human Republic. But my father is sending fighters against me and the innocent human military officers who defended our system just a few days ago! Is there no one out there who finds this injustice intolerable? Is there no one out there who would help us? Please, help me escape!`
<A nice mix of truth and baldfaced lies, even if a bit too melodramatic..>
<Thank you, love. I’ve learned from the master.>
<You embarrass me.>
<Yeah, I know. Sometimes even I’m ashamed by what you do.> An evil grin.
< I didn’t mean it that way!> An outburst of mock offence.
< I know.> A half-laugh.
<Do you think anyone will bite?>
<Watch and learn, Miss Machiavelli.>
<Mrs., please.>
<Sorry.> A touch of warmness, which is disrupted by blinking lights.
<I’ve got to go if I want to keep the Angels alive. Fly ahead. We will catch up with you.> And in the next moment Swordsman-One turned a hundred and eighty degrees.
{From Two to Six, follow me!} She didn’t need to send the thought, though. Five other fighters did a back flip exactly the same moment as her, following her towards the first wave of enemy fighters.
------
Kyle
We are sitting ducks here. Their acceleration is far better than ours. Though we are really good at evading fire, but even we make mistakes sometimes, and our shields can take only so many hits. I don’t have the energy to command my ships, everyone is on his own. I’ve never concentrated this hard in my entire life. This is about raw survival. I can either pick a path where I evade the energy waves directed at me, or I can’t. In the latter case, I’ll probably die. I don’t see or feel anything with my “conventional” senses. There is only the vision. It was never like this during training. In a controlled environment, precognition is little more than a small boost to the pilot’s skills.
Here, on the battlefield, it’s life and death. I’m running the gauntlet, for every shot I stay clear of, ten others come at me. I don’t think I’ll last the two minutes left until our escort arrives. It’s a really stupid way to die. If I turned, maybe I could distract enough of the enemy to let the rest of us reach safety.
With the first conscious decision of the last forty seconds, I flip my craft and begin to accelerate in the opposite direction. Enemy fire is incredible, but I slip through it easily and open fire. I don’t know exactly what I’m shooting at, but yellow symbols flash in front of my eyes; the computer is informing me that I’ve destroyed two drones. I chase after another – there are plenty of targets to pick. The computer is telling me that allies are evaporating the rest of the bad guys. My squad followed me? For the first time, I tear my gaze from the targeting HUD to glance at the radar.
Half the Swordsmen squad is here. While I maneuver through the chaos that is erupting around us, I watch their kills. Each “frag” is marked by a flashing white triangle on my HUD – allies eliminating a drone nearby. The light doesn’t even have time to dim before another replaces it, and this is the same for all the six fighters. These guys are fast.
Well, I’ll show them! With a battlecry, I finish making evasive maneuvers and dive after a draconian droid, firing with my three lasers. We’ll see who wins the day!
------
Alliance Cruiser Napshuga’R
`Ten, no fifteen, no twenty-two… Hell, what’s going on here? They are going through those fighters faster than I can count!` The Napshuga’R was watching the battle from a safe distance. She was part of the Alliance fleet instead of the Antaran, so they didn’t obey Antar’s orders of pursuit. As far as the captain was concerned, it was an antaran-human internal affair, and an Alliance cruiser had no right to interfere. Which of course didn’t mean that he didn’t plan to.
Captain He-Telek of the renular race looked to his spouse.
<I’m curious about what someone, who can see the future could do for us.>
<So am I, love. And besides we promised the Princess that we would help.>
<Yes, I remember that too.>
Upon deciding what to do, the Captain turned to the navigation officer and gave the order.
<Enter the path of the next wave. Destroy the fighters and help the humans to escape.> After this, he reached out to the other renulars of the Alliance fleets stationed in the system to inform them of his decision.
------
Ten minutes later
There was no actual battle – after eleven Alliance and two antaran cruisers moved to block the path of the stationery fighter bases, the antarans were cut off from reinforcements. The little task group that visited Antar reached the docks without losing a single craft. Luckily, the human fleet rested at the edge of the system, so shortly after the last fighter docked, it was ready to leave.
Showing brilliant leadership skills, Prince Zander managed to persuade the battleships supporting them that it would be safer if they left the star system under the wings of the Moiras. The rest of the antaran fleet showed no intentions of pursuit, and they didn’t send any other fighters, after it became clear that they stood no chance.
There was complete radio silence between the two races – Antar hadn’t made a fool of itself by demanding Liz and Max back, and the humans didn’t taunt them. Neither side wanted to be the first to say: “We are at war.”
The Alliance was doomed if the humans turned on them, and they knew it as well, but what was done, was done and they couldn’t take their actions back. Instead, they just let them leave without saying a word. Later, it could always be declared as an unfortunate accident, but right now, they didn’t risk saying anything with a possibly hostile fleet under the command of a Prophet in-system. So the Antaran crafts remained near the inhabited planets, watching in silence as the Terran fleet left.
It took the next ten minutes for the Fourth to assume traveling formation, incorporating the thirteen new crafts in the battlegroup, and when they were ready, they left the system immediately, absolutely uncaring of whether the use of the SI drives in-system might disrupt the trajectories of the outer planets.
------
Safely outside the Star System Antar
`What happened?`
`Why were we pursued?`
`What’s the reason for…?` The room was filled with the highest ranking officers of the Fourth Human Fleet, and there was utter chaos.
`Silence!` Shouted Liz into the microphone. Her voice reverberated off the metal walls and kept echoing long after everyone shut up.
`The reason for today’s fiasco was that a certain faction of antarans has problems with my person, or rather my abilities. The Prince of Antar succeeded in warning me of the assassination attempt, and with the help of a few antarans, they managed to defend my life.` You could have cut the silence in the room.
`Unfortunately, this left about a hundred dead soldiers in the middle of the Royal Palace. I thought that it was for the best if we were in the safety of our ships instead of on an alien planet where a powerful enough religious group’s only desire is to see me dead.`
<Good choice of words.> The religions of Earth started to die in the early twentieth century. Their death struggle lasted about two centuries – by 2100, only a few thousand churches provided service to the whole world. Religion was only a bad memory from the ancient times, the synonym of stupidity, brainwashing, and fanaticism.
She continued as if she didn’t hear his comment.
`This, by no means, has anything to do with the relationship of the Republic and the Alliance, as the presence of the cruisers who helped us clearly shows. The Prince of Antar expressed his sincere hope that the government will be able to deal with the so-called granoliths soon. In the meantime, we shall go home, resupply our ships, integrate the data we’ve acquired , and most importantly of all, begin the preparations for the coming war. Questions? Yes?`
`Are we going to Sol or to one of the outlying colonies?`
`To Sol. Don’t forget that we are loaded with new technology that must be made available to the other fleets as soon as possible. Next!`
`What is the exact problem of this religion?` asked the chief engineer of Destiny.
`They hate prophets, and unfortunately, they think I’m one.`
`Are you a prophet?` It was the captain of one of the battlecruisers belonging to Doom’s battlegroup.
`Yes, I’m the reincarnation of Mohammed. I’ve reached Enlightenment as well, and thus become Buddha. Next question, please.` There was a roar of laughter.
<Remember that bastard. I want to replace him at the first opportunity.>
`Can we use the IG net from now on?`
`I don’t know yet. I don’t want to spoil our homecoming by letting the rest of the universe know how successful we have been. However, I understand your desire to contact your loved ones. So I offer a compromise. You can send messages home, but you can’t say a thing about anything that happened. You can describe me as a “cruel, ruthless, bitch” if you need someone to blame.` She held a short pause, waiting for the laughter to subside.` The messages won’t be edited of course, but you have to get approval before sending them. Is this alright with everyone?` A general murmur of agreement followed.
`Who piloted the Swordsmen? It was fantastic to watch.`
`I was in Swordsman-One, Prince Zander and his buddies took the rest. If I might add a personal comment, it was fun to see the battle from the cockpit once.`
`Admiral, you’ve piloted a fighter?` It wasn’t really a proper question, instead a loud expression of disbelief.
`Yes. I don’t have much experience, but I thought that I was a strong enough precog to survive. It seems that I was right. The same stands for the rest of the squad.`
Max was standing in the shadows behind Liz, and watched the “debriefing” with wide-open eyes. He never saw his lifemate speaking before an interactive audience before. It went on for nearly an hour, in a cheerful mood, a totally informal meeting, where Liz was only separated from her officers by the podium. And the whole thing went out to the whole fleet live. He shook his head, and quietly smiled to himself..Humans.
Thanks for the feedback!
-
silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Chapter 2
I'm back at last, with three long, long parts ready plus this short interlude.
INTERLUDE
The main invasion force was just passing through the edge of the Milky Way when a twin fleet of two young Talrons, barely ten Heart-ships each, stumbled across Antar accidentally. Many star systems were checked in the first wave of the new invasion, and some of them contained valuable prizes. And some nuts were too tough to crack. But only for the first try.
Apart from finding a sun with no less than seven inhabited planets and planetoids, the fleets have found the jackpot as well – the new Victorious One. And as expected, they perished. Most of the intergalactic conquerors continued on their path, undisturbed by the news, but one very old and very large Talron decided to change its course. With something that could have been interpreted as a grunt, it turned its multi-appendaged body with a mighty effort and started out on different hyperspace-path. It didn’t know whether it would find the Victorious One there, but it was worth a try.
After all, it survived the rage of the first, so it could probably beat this new one too.
INTERLUDE
The main invasion force was just passing through the edge of the Milky Way when a twin fleet of two young Talrons, barely ten Heart-ships each, stumbled across Antar accidentally. Many star systems were checked in the first wave of the new invasion, and some of them contained valuable prizes. And some nuts were too tough to crack. But only for the first try.
Apart from finding a sun with no less than seven inhabited planets and planetoids, the fleets have found the jackpot as well – the new Victorious One. And as expected, they perished. Most of the intergalactic conquerors continued on their path, undisturbed by the news, but one very old and very large Talron decided to change its course. With something that could have been interpreted as a grunt, it turned its multi-appendaged body with a mighty effort and started out on different hyperspace-path. It didn’t know whether it would find the Victorious One there, but it was worth a try.
After all, it survived the rage of the first, so it could probably beat this new one too.
-
silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Chapter 2
Part 11
Alex
The last days were... intense, to say the least. The alliance ships have been temporarily incorporated into the Fleet, and this means that alien officers are turning up at all meetings. It’s more or less common knowledge that the Prince and the Admiral are an item, or at least have a connection that surpasses the boundaries of mere allies, and the surprising thing there is, that it doesn’t seem to bother anyone. No one seems to have followed up what that thought means in the light of the past events. I’m glad that they are so trusting, but I bet that Earth won’t be.
We are still receiving messages that were sent before they had been informed that the Pact was signed, and if I do the math, we’ll continue to receive them for a few days. Of course we’ve told them that we are coming – in fact some of the outlying colonies have even replied to our messages. After the limitations on access to the InterGalactic network was lifted, the mood got considerably better. Now everyone can send mail home saying that we are alive and well and more importantly, we are coming home victorious. Let them have that little happiness, our stay at Sol will be a short one, and after we leave again, even more time will pass before? we set foot in human space again.
Liz is already planning the next offensive, where to begin the search for the enemy, how to arm our ships and so on. She plans to claim most of the Fifth as her own, and to set up a new command center on the outskirts of the Republic. Of course, most of her plans are based on the assumption that the Council will commit joint suicide the moment she arrives home, but not before signing a law that gives her supreme executive power.
I think it’s quite evident that the Council won’t take the aforementioned path, or at least not without some persuading, and that “persuasion” probably includes the threat of orbital bombardment. I’m afraid that Liz’s only idea is to offer them this alternative. Her plans are more or less rational – seeking out an enemy instead of waiting for it to come to us, but I doubt that those politicians would accept that on face value.
Her negotiating skills have become frightening, though. She is far better than a telepath- she doesn’t know what the enemy thinks, but she knows what she has to do to make the opponent react in a certain way- usually by agreeing with her. Antar was prepared for prophets, she didn’t dare to unleash her power in the King’s chambers, but Earth isn’t. If it ever comes to negotiations, there will be bloodshed, figuratively speaking.
Maybe she has a chance of convincing them, after all.
------
Six days after leaving Antar
The Fleet was plowing through the emptiness with nominal maximum speed, nearing the borders of Republic space. The engineers onboard had already started to analyze the blueprints they received, so the factories of Sol would be able to start the production immediately after they arrived.
An unusual quiet and tranquility settled on the men. At last, they weren’t rushing headlong into uncertainty; at last, they were heading home. The repairs of the damages sustained in the battle near Antar were already completed; suddenly there was nothing to do for most of the crew. They settled back into the routine of the long forgotten days when there were no spacefaring races apart from humanity. There were no double shifts now, everyone could catch up with his missed sleep finally, and they could get settled into some routine again.
The way their Prophetess and the Prince acted around each other during their escape didn’t go unnoticed, and the news was soon all over the fleet. Combined with the translations of the conversation between Swordsman-Twelve and Antar and that he had spent nearly a week on Destiny even before the talks… Well it didn’t take much to put two and two together. Luckily, no one was aware of the antarans’ shapechanging abilities yet, so instead of forming conspiracy theories (which would have been quite right in this situation, because there was a conspiracy), they just wished them both luck, though not to their faces.
With antaran and draconian sailors turning up everywhere, personal contact was unavoidable. Of course there were quite a few who found their new fleetmates unattractive, even repulsive. But there was a strict order issued shortly after leaving Antar, forbidding anything but politeness towards the visitors. The promised punishments had been most severe, so those who didn’t want to mingle simply avoided the aliens. There were many though, who were curious and open-minded enough to start talking with them, getting to know them. The prophetlings stood especially at the center of attention, everywhere they went. All of the crew heard about their performance against the antaran drones, and there wasn’t a single soul in the delegation sent to Antar who hadn’t felt indebted to them. They weren’t judged so positively amongst their own, however.
Therand
Oh god, don’t look at me like that, I’m not going to jump down your throat, I groan silently. She answers to my thought immediately.
<Come on, he is just doing his duty.>
<He is a little too vigilant for my liking. If you ask me, I don’t trust these guys at all.>
<The Prophetess and the Prince trust them, and that should be enough for us as well. Pay attention to what’s going on instead.>
We are on the Destiny, one of the human battleships. She is an impressive piece of metal, and my respect towards her has greatly increased since I’ve first seen the human fleet. They might look like crude barks, but they really are extremely efficient death machines. This is a moderate size room; around 20 sentients are sitting around one long table. Our leaders took place at the head, and the humans, antarans, and draconians are scattered on the sides. Prince Zander suggested that the renulars should stay on our ships; a race relying only on mental communication might be a bit unsettling for the humans to stomach. That’s why She is watching the whole scene through me.
`We need to make a strong first impression. So, the Alliance ships will be put in front, where everyone could see them. I’m afraid we can’t be sure whether the Council accepted the fact that the Pact is signed or not, so I want everyone to be ready.`
`Admiral, do you think that they will attack us?` The man asking the question is a white-haired human, the captain of this ship.
`There’s no chance of that. They will invite us into the system no matter what their real intentions are, but when we are inside... I want to keep the fleet tight until we know what the real situation is.`
`And what can we tell our men? How long will it take?`
`I’ve a few well-placed agents, but it will take some time till they can report to us safely. No more than a couple of hours, three at most, but we have to know where we stand. According to reports from Captain Wronsky, the Third was sent out to protect outlying worlds, and the Sixth is being refitted in the docks of Earth and Alpha. So there are five battleships at Sol currently, and I want to take two of them with me when we start back.`
`Admiral, do you truly think that they want to turn on us?` It’s another human officer, with a yellow tone to his skin. Maybe skin color is a sign of maturity in humans? I’ve never looked into their physiology. I can tell male from female most of the time, but that’s where my knowledge ends.
<Darling, skin color has nothing to do with age. Fur on the top of their head does. But they paint it, so it’s mostly irrelevant.> Ah. Why do I have to learn a new “code” every time I meet a new race?
< Imagine how bad it would be if we were all alike. “Our differences are our greatest strengths.”>
<Alliance Charta, page two.>
`Colonel Mieco, let me present the worst case scenario as I see it. The Council, when notified of the Pact, decides that they don’t want anything to do with it, and the easiest way to negate it, is to claim that I’ve acted against their orders. This means that all of you are declared untrustworthy, because you placed your faith in my judgment instead of their orders based upon events that happened more than a week before we received them. So do they arrest me while I’m on my flagship in the middle of my loyal comrades, or do they wait for all of us to get ashore, and then arrest all of us, on the basis that it’s better to be safe than sorry? If we really want to consider the worst case scenario, then we have to assume that after our apprehension, they move on to attacking our new allies, thus starting a war that will leave all of our races at the talronids’ mercy.` This is quite a good assessment of the situation, as far as I can see it; I don’t understand the stunned silence that follows her words.
<Maybe the terrans never gave it enough thought.> She is just as clueless as I am, why are the humans so flabbergasted.
<Maybe.>
`And what will we do then?` I can’t read human expressions, but their emotions sound a lot like helplessness.
`It was only the worst case scenario, Colonel. It all depends on whether the Council realized the seriousness of the Talronid threat. If they still live in the world where we were <b>the</b> superior race, then I’m sorry, they have to go.` There is a moment’s pause. `Sirs, and ladies, my friends. The stakes we are gambling are frighteningly high. There is a solid chance that the terrans, draconians, antarans, renulars, and all the other races of our galaxy will disappear in the flames of the coming war. We have to stand united in the face of the oncoming tide. If, and only if the Council tries to stop us from entering this war on the side of the Alliance, will we act. It is crucial that we join our forces while we can. As the catastrophe of Vertigo and the recent attack on Antar shows the invasion has begun anew, and no place is safe. If we stand back and allow the Alliance to be destroyed, we will shortly follow them. If someone doesn’t manage to grasp this, then he is an enemy of our race and a threat to our very survival. That’s how I see it.`
Alex
The last days were... intense, to say the least. The alliance ships have been temporarily incorporated into the Fleet, and this means that alien officers are turning up at all meetings. It’s more or less common knowledge that the Prince and the Admiral are an item, or at least have a connection that surpasses the boundaries of mere allies, and the surprising thing there is, that it doesn’t seem to bother anyone. No one seems to have followed up what that thought means in the light of the past events. I’m glad that they are so trusting, but I bet that Earth won’t be.
We are still receiving messages that were sent before they had been informed that the Pact was signed, and if I do the math, we’ll continue to receive them for a few days. Of course we’ve told them that we are coming – in fact some of the outlying colonies have even replied to our messages. After the limitations on access to the InterGalactic network was lifted, the mood got considerably better. Now everyone can send mail home saying that we are alive and well and more importantly, we are coming home victorious. Let them have that little happiness, our stay at Sol will be a short one, and after we leave again, even more time will pass before? we set foot in human space again.
Liz is already planning the next offensive, where to begin the search for the enemy, how to arm our ships and so on. She plans to claim most of the Fifth as her own, and to set up a new command center on the outskirts of the Republic. Of course, most of her plans are based on the assumption that the Council will commit joint suicide the moment she arrives home, but not before signing a law that gives her supreme executive power.
I think it’s quite evident that the Council won’t take the aforementioned path, or at least not without some persuading, and that “persuasion” probably includes the threat of orbital bombardment. I’m afraid that Liz’s only idea is to offer them this alternative. Her plans are more or less rational – seeking out an enemy instead of waiting for it to come to us, but I doubt that those politicians would accept that on face value.
Her negotiating skills have become frightening, though. She is far better than a telepath- she doesn’t know what the enemy thinks, but she knows what she has to do to make the opponent react in a certain way- usually by agreeing with her. Antar was prepared for prophets, she didn’t dare to unleash her power in the King’s chambers, but Earth isn’t. If it ever comes to negotiations, there will be bloodshed, figuratively speaking.
Maybe she has a chance of convincing them, after all.
------
Six days after leaving Antar
The Fleet was plowing through the emptiness with nominal maximum speed, nearing the borders of Republic space. The engineers onboard had already started to analyze the blueprints they received, so the factories of Sol would be able to start the production immediately after they arrived.
An unusual quiet and tranquility settled on the men. At last, they weren’t rushing headlong into uncertainty; at last, they were heading home. The repairs of the damages sustained in the battle near Antar were already completed; suddenly there was nothing to do for most of the crew. They settled back into the routine of the long forgotten days when there were no spacefaring races apart from humanity. There were no double shifts now, everyone could catch up with his missed sleep finally, and they could get settled into some routine again.
The way their Prophetess and the Prince acted around each other during their escape didn’t go unnoticed, and the news was soon all over the fleet. Combined with the translations of the conversation between Swordsman-Twelve and Antar and that he had spent nearly a week on Destiny even before the talks… Well it didn’t take much to put two and two together. Luckily, no one was aware of the antarans’ shapechanging abilities yet, so instead of forming conspiracy theories (which would have been quite right in this situation, because there was a conspiracy), they just wished them both luck, though not to their faces.
With antaran and draconian sailors turning up everywhere, personal contact was unavoidable. Of course there were quite a few who found their new fleetmates unattractive, even repulsive. But there was a strict order issued shortly after leaving Antar, forbidding anything but politeness towards the visitors. The promised punishments had been most severe, so those who didn’t want to mingle simply avoided the aliens. There were many though, who were curious and open-minded enough to start talking with them, getting to know them. The prophetlings stood especially at the center of attention, everywhere they went. All of the crew heard about their performance against the antaran drones, and there wasn’t a single soul in the delegation sent to Antar who hadn’t felt indebted to them. They weren’t judged so positively amongst their own, however.
Therand
Oh god, don’t look at me like that, I’m not going to jump down your throat, I groan silently. She answers to my thought immediately.
<Come on, he is just doing his duty.>
<He is a little too vigilant for my liking. If you ask me, I don’t trust these guys at all.>
<The Prophetess and the Prince trust them, and that should be enough for us as well. Pay attention to what’s going on instead.>
We are on the Destiny, one of the human battleships. She is an impressive piece of metal, and my respect towards her has greatly increased since I’ve first seen the human fleet. They might look like crude barks, but they really are extremely efficient death machines. This is a moderate size room; around 20 sentients are sitting around one long table. Our leaders took place at the head, and the humans, antarans, and draconians are scattered on the sides. Prince Zander suggested that the renulars should stay on our ships; a race relying only on mental communication might be a bit unsettling for the humans to stomach. That’s why She is watching the whole scene through me.
`We need to make a strong first impression. So, the Alliance ships will be put in front, where everyone could see them. I’m afraid we can’t be sure whether the Council accepted the fact that the Pact is signed or not, so I want everyone to be ready.`
`Admiral, do you think that they will attack us?` The man asking the question is a white-haired human, the captain of this ship.
`There’s no chance of that. They will invite us into the system no matter what their real intentions are, but when we are inside... I want to keep the fleet tight until we know what the real situation is.`
`And what can we tell our men? How long will it take?`
`I’ve a few well-placed agents, but it will take some time till they can report to us safely. No more than a couple of hours, three at most, but we have to know where we stand. According to reports from Captain Wronsky, the Third was sent out to protect outlying worlds, and the Sixth is being refitted in the docks of Earth and Alpha. So there are five battleships at Sol currently, and I want to take two of them with me when we start back.`
`Admiral, do you truly think that they want to turn on us?` It’s another human officer, with a yellow tone to his skin. Maybe skin color is a sign of maturity in humans? I’ve never looked into their physiology. I can tell male from female most of the time, but that’s where my knowledge ends.
<Darling, skin color has nothing to do with age. Fur on the top of their head does. But they paint it, so it’s mostly irrelevant.> Ah. Why do I have to learn a new “code” every time I meet a new race?
< Imagine how bad it would be if we were all alike. “Our differences are our greatest strengths.”>
<Alliance Charta, page two.>
`Colonel Mieco, let me present the worst case scenario as I see it. The Council, when notified of the Pact, decides that they don’t want anything to do with it, and the easiest way to negate it, is to claim that I’ve acted against their orders. This means that all of you are declared untrustworthy, because you placed your faith in my judgment instead of their orders based upon events that happened more than a week before we received them. So do they arrest me while I’m on my flagship in the middle of my loyal comrades, or do they wait for all of us to get ashore, and then arrest all of us, on the basis that it’s better to be safe than sorry? If we really want to consider the worst case scenario, then we have to assume that after our apprehension, they move on to attacking our new allies, thus starting a war that will leave all of our races at the talronids’ mercy.` This is quite a good assessment of the situation, as far as I can see it; I don’t understand the stunned silence that follows her words.
<Maybe the terrans never gave it enough thought.> She is just as clueless as I am, why are the humans so flabbergasted.
<Maybe.>
`And what will we do then?` I can’t read human expressions, but their emotions sound a lot like helplessness.
`It was only the worst case scenario, Colonel. It all depends on whether the Council realized the seriousness of the Talronid threat. If they still live in the world where we were <b>the</b> superior race, then I’m sorry, they have to go.` There is a moment’s pause. `Sirs, and ladies, my friends. The stakes we are gambling are frighteningly high. There is a solid chance that the terrans, draconians, antarans, renulars, and all the other races of our galaxy will disappear in the flames of the coming war. We have to stand united in the face of the oncoming tide. If, and only if the Council tries to stop us from entering this war on the side of the Alliance, will we act. It is crucial that we join our forces while we can. As the catastrophe of Vertigo and the recent attack on Antar shows the invasion has begun anew, and no place is safe. If we stand back and allow the Alliance to be destroyed, we will shortly follow them. If someone doesn’t manage to grasp this, then he is an enemy of our race and a threat to our very survival. That’s how I see it.`
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silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Chapter 3
Part 12
Alex
This is insane! Liz has certainly gone mad! It’s one thing when she talks about her ideas when we are among friends, but to voice them in the open… It’s political suicide! The silence that follows her words is quite different from the one before. What she said was high treason. End of story. Any one of these officers has the right to stand up and arrest her.
But no one moves. The silence is deafening. She slowly looks at everyone at the table, trying to make eye contact.
`Do you agree?` If I were her, I’d ask who disagrees, but she takes it one step further. If anyone nods now, he or she will be shot along with her if we fail. To hell with it! I solemnly nod with a grave expression on my face, so does Jim and Vasilij. One by one the others follow our example. Liz chose whom to talk to carefully; there will be no need for “accidents” like Yian’s. The truth slowly sinks in to me and for some reason, it chills my blood. She planned this since the beginning of this meeting. She’s not just planned this, but forced us to obey somehow. Her view on the universe completely excludes free will, and for the first time, I think she may be right. She would make a terrifying despot. No wonder the antarans hunted down the prophets so enthusiastically for thousands of years.
Someone with her power set loose could do unthinkable damage. And I couldn’t do anything against her, even if I wanted to. We need her. Humanity needs her. If the dangers are truly as great as she wants us to believe, she is the only one who can stand in the talronids way. Our Holy Redeemer, as they said in the old times.
With this dramatic, overly dramatic, in my opinion, ending, the meeting is concluded. The plan for the next weeks is somewhat clear. We will act according to a twenty-something woman’s sudden impulses who is playing the role of the Saviour Of All Life. Nice prospects.
Max
I watched the crowd while she spoke. She asked me to stay clear of her thoughts during the meeting; she wanted me to have an outsider’s point of view. She steered the conversation masterfully towards the desired goal. Now she has them convinced of the necessity of their possible betrayal purely by her words. I didn’t feel her reach forward , she used sole rhetoric.
With each passing day, I’m getting better with this prophecy stuff. It’s fucking weird, but I’m getting used to it. It’s like walking in some gelatin, or at least that’s how I perceive it. The echoes of tomorrow reverberate through today. Hmm. This sounds very cool. Maybe I should write it down.
She has been spending nearly all her time with the prophetlings lately. When she does that, I’m completely excluded from her mind. She asks me to forgive her each time she does that. By keeping things to herself she decreases the number of variables in the equation, she says. Now, that she has minds she can converse with that have actual theoretical knowledge, her power is expanding even more rapidly. She shared some of her discoveries with me. Most of it cannot be explained in actual words, but I’ll try.
She categorizes visionaries into two groups: precogs and prophets. The rest of the antarans, her, and I are prophets. We sense paths ahead, while the precogs see the probability matrix. It might be possible to construct a biological computer that could emulate the abilities of our pilots, but none that could compare to a prophet. Neither type is superior to the other - they are two sides of the same coin. With practice, a precog can become simply unbeatable, while a prophet might be cut down with a sword. Our strength is in planning, and in that we can avoid combat.
She is finding newer and newer facets to her ability everyday. She can now cloak herself, hide in the futures so she will project no “shadow” ahead. Of course, this leaves gaping holes where she moves, but if you don’t pay attention, you might not notice.
Our schedule is more packed than it’s ever been. What time she has, she spends on planning our return to Earth. We’ve barely had the opportunity to be together. I’ve become busy lately as well.
Luckily, the integration of the Alliance craft into the fleet is proceeding smoothly. The cruisers give the Fourth about a twenty-five percent increase in firepower. On the first “night” after leaving Antar, the captains decided that I’d be their commander, since no high ranking officer came with us. I was expecting that they’d choose me as their leader, and I even knew it a few minutes earlier than they did, so it didn’t come as a surprise.
So, now, I have to get to know the men under me, and they have to get used to me before we can go into battle. The cruisers are here with the unofficial consent of their Generals. This means that they aren’t renegades, at least not the renulars and the draconians. However, until this whole mess I caused is concluded satisfactorily, the antarans can’t return, right, they are traitors. I have far worse problems than the stupidity of my far-away home planet.
I’m maintaining contact with Antar, though. Getting farther from Lonnie, it takes more and more time for the messages to reach me, so I’m not exactly up-to-date. Officially, nothing happened. Isabel managed to contact me and she said that they act as if I never existed. On one hand, there is the fact that I, the heir to the throne, has fallen in love with an alien, a prophet, and on the other is that we won’t survive without the Republic. They continue to refuse to evacuate Antar, and I greatly fear for my home planet. There were several clashes with talronids in the outlying bases. The invasion has restarted and they simply play blind and deaf.
And I simply can’t get in contact with Rath. He is in deep space somewhere, chasing a group of Talrons. I need his experience and advice, and Liz needs it too. We are knee-deep in designing an offensive, we go to sleep dreaming of star charts and wake up with supply routes. She is planning on using all the Alliance fleets as her own, organizing them into a vast net that can sweep the stars and reveal the locations of the Talrons, so we can attack them outside our systems.
Just to watch her work, draw diagrams of patrol routes, and plan the places of new starbases makes the heart of my men soar. Under her, we will go on the offensive for the first time in sixty years! With humanities resources mobilized to support the war, everything is possible. It will take years before the new fleets will be battle ready, but it will be worth the wait.
With the SI drive technology, our reinforcements won’t be locked out of the battle by their bloody wormhole inhibitors. With our intricate mental shield systems, they won’t be at the whim of the first Talron adept at telepathic offense. We can learn so much from each other! The joint forces of the Alliance and the Republic will finally stand a chance at going on offensive. We can maybe even end this war once and for all!
So much depends on luck. I shudder, when I look back. If I decided against going into the Siren that night… Or if I had been a little stronger when I wanted to kill her, or a little slower when it came to stopping her in mid-air. So much depended on chance, not chances we took, but chances we had nothing to do with. If anything went wrong we could both be dead, or worse, warring against each other while the talronid horde destroys us.
<Don’t worry yourself. We are past that.>
<Sorry, didn’t mean to bother you.>
<Suddenly you sounded so worried, so I had to drop in to see what’s wrong.>
< It’s just…> I can’t put it into words.
< It sounds like a fairy tale or a wild novel, doesn’t it? To me too. I’m still amazed that I have you.>
<You have me. You captured me, and I’ll be here for you forever.> A thought bubbles up in her, and before I could catch it, she represses it.
< I very much hope so.> She sounds rather sorrowful.
<What is it, love?>
< It’s just… It doesn’t matter, okay?> Maybe I should press it, but I trust her judgment. With a forced cheerfulness, she asks.
<Should we go and dine then? Enough work for today, what do you say?>
------
Fifteen minutes later
They ate in Liz’s apartment with their small group of friends. They were just past the soup when Liz stopped, frowning. Max felt her following up a line, far ahead of his own abilities, and even Kyle’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth. It took her only ten seconds to come out of the trance. She picked up her com and started speaking.
`Engine room: begin SI drive disengagement procedure. Navigation: plot a course to New Earth with well over the maximum speed. Bridge: yellow alarm. Inform Fate and Doom. Begin preparations for the battle. Entering combat zone in thirty-five hours,` she said calmly and casually. Seeing Kyle’s raised eyebrow, she uttered a short sentence before reaching back for her fork.
`Three Talrons exited hyperspace just outside New Earth eight hours ago. We will receive their request for assistance in fifteen minutes. If we hurry, no one will get hurt. It will be a piece of cake.`
To Gigo and frenchkiss70: Liz knows what's going to happen in the next ten seconds without paying any attention, and can listen to everything one minute ahead. When she seeks out, she can find things three days ahead, or even more if they are really important. Crossroads, for example battles, block her vision, so she can't see past them. It's like normal seeing. You won't walk into a wall even if you are deep in thought. You won't walk into people, if you raise your head and watch your step. And if you have a good binocular you can see far-far away, provided that nothing blocks your vision. I think as analogies go, it was a rather good one. Now they are many days from earth, so all she said was just guesswork.
Sorry guys about the italics, something went wrong. When a thought "<" begins with "i", the interpreter thinks I want to put it in italics. I went back and changed it, maybe that conversation will make more sense now.
Alex
This is insane! Liz has certainly gone mad! It’s one thing when she talks about her ideas when we are among friends, but to voice them in the open… It’s political suicide! The silence that follows her words is quite different from the one before. What she said was high treason. End of story. Any one of these officers has the right to stand up and arrest her.
But no one moves. The silence is deafening. She slowly looks at everyone at the table, trying to make eye contact.
`Do you agree?` If I were her, I’d ask who disagrees, but she takes it one step further. If anyone nods now, he or she will be shot along with her if we fail. To hell with it! I solemnly nod with a grave expression on my face, so does Jim and Vasilij. One by one the others follow our example. Liz chose whom to talk to carefully; there will be no need for “accidents” like Yian’s. The truth slowly sinks in to me and for some reason, it chills my blood. She planned this since the beginning of this meeting. She’s not just planned this, but forced us to obey somehow. Her view on the universe completely excludes free will, and for the first time, I think she may be right. She would make a terrifying despot. No wonder the antarans hunted down the prophets so enthusiastically for thousands of years.
Someone with her power set loose could do unthinkable damage. And I couldn’t do anything against her, even if I wanted to. We need her. Humanity needs her. If the dangers are truly as great as she wants us to believe, she is the only one who can stand in the talronids way. Our Holy Redeemer, as they said in the old times.
With this dramatic, overly dramatic, in my opinion, ending, the meeting is concluded. The plan for the next weeks is somewhat clear. We will act according to a twenty-something woman’s sudden impulses who is playing the role of the Saviour Of All Life. Nice prospects.
Max
I watched the crowd while she spoke. She asked me to stay clear of her thoughts during the meeting; she wanted me to have an outsider’s point of view. She steered the conversation masterfully towards the desired goal. Now she has them convinced of the necessity of their possible betrayal purely by her words. I didn’t feel her reach forward , she used sole rhetoric.
With each passing day, I’m getting better with this prophecy stuff. It’s fucking weird, but I’m getting used to it. It’s like walking in some gelatin, or at least that’s how I perceive it. The echoes of tomorrow reverberate through today. Hmm. This sounds very cool. Maybe I should write it down.
She has been spending nearly all her time with the prophetlings lately. When she does that, I’m completely excluded from her mind. She asks me to forgive her each time she does that. By keeping things to herself she decreases the number of variables in the equation, she says. Now, that she has minds she can converse with that have actual theoretical knowledge, her power is expanding even more rapidly. She shared some of her discoveries with me. Most of it cannot be explained in actual words, but I’ll try.
She categorizes visionaries into two groups: precogs and prophets. The rest of the antarans, her, and I are prophets. We sense paths ahead, while the precogs see the probability matrix. It might be possible to construct a biological computer that could emulate the abilities of our pilots, but none that could compare to a prophet. Neither type is superior to the other - they are two sides of the same coin. With practice, a precog can become simply unbeatable, while a prophet might be cut down with a sword. Our strength is in planning, and in that we can avoid combat.
She is finding newer and newer facets to her ability everyday. She can now cloak herself, hide in the futures so she will project no “shadow” ahead. Of course, this leaves gaping holes where she moves, but if you don’t pay attention, you might not notice.
Our schedule is more packed than it’s ever been. What time she has, she spends on planning our return to Earth. We’ve barely had the opportunity to be together. I’ve become busy lately as well.
Luckily, the integration of the Alliance craft into the fleet is proceeding smoothly. The cruisers give the Fourth about a twenty-five percent increase in firepower. On the first “night” after leaving Antar, the captains decided that I’d be their commander, since no high ranking officer came with us. I was expecting that they’d choose me as their leader, and I even knew it a few minutes earlier than they did, so it didn’t come as a surprise.
So, now, I have to get to know the men under me, and they have to get used to me before we can go into battle. The cruisers are here with the unofficial consent of their Generals. This means that they aren’t renegades, at least not the renulars and the draconians. However, until this whole mess I caused is concluded satisfactorily, the antarans can’t return, right, they are traitors. I have far worse problems than the stupidity of my far-away home planet.
I’m maintaining contact with Antar, though. Getting farther from Lonnie, it takes more and more time for the messages to reach me, so I’m not exactly up-to-date. Officially, nothing happened. Isabel managed to contact me and she said that they act as if I never existed. On one hand, there is the fact that I, the heir to the throne, has fallen in love with an alien, a prophet, and on the other is that we won’t survive without the Republic. They continue to refuse to evacuate Antar, and I greatly fear for my home planet. There were several clashes with talronids in the outlying bases. The invasion has restarted and they simply play blind and deaf.
And I simply can’t get in contact with Rath. He is in deep space somewhere, chasing a group of Talrons. I need his experience and advice, and Liz needs it too. We are knee-deep in designing an offensive, we go to sleep dreaming of star charts and wake up with supply routes. She is planning on using all the Alliance fleets as her own, organizing them into a vast net that can sweep the stars and reveal the locations of the Talrons, so we can attack them outside our systems.
Just to watch her work, draw diagrams of patrol routes, and plan the places of new starbases makes the heart of my men soar. Under her, we will go on the offensive for the first time in sixty years! With humanities resources mobilized to support the war, everything is possible. It will take years before the new fleets will be battle ready, but it will be worth the wait.
With the SI drive technology, our reinforcements won’t be locked out of the battle by their bloody wormhole inhibitors. With our intricate mental shield systems, they won’t be at the whim of the first Talron adept at telepathic offense. We can learn so much from each other! The joint forces of the Alliance and the Republic will finally stand a chance at going on offensive. We can maybe even end this war once and for all!
So much depends on luck. I shudder, when I look back. If I decided against going into the Siren that night… Or if I had been a little stronger when I wanted to kill her, or a little slower when it came to stopping her in mid-air. So much depended on chance, not chances we took, but chances we had nothing to do with. If anything went wrong we could both be dead, or worse, warring against each other while the talronid horde destroys us.
<Don’t worry yourself. We are past that.>
<Sorry, didn’t mean to bother you.>
<Suddenly you sounded so worried, so I had to drop in to see what’s wrong.>
< It’s just…> I can’t put it into words.
< It sounds like a fairy tale or a wild novel, doesn’t it? To me too. I’m still amazed that I have you.>
<You have me. You captured me, and I’ll be here for you forever.> A thought bubbles up in her, and before I could catch it, she represses it.
< I very much hope so.> She sounds rather sorrowful.
<What is it, love?>
< It’s just… It doesn’t matter, okay?> Maybe I should press it, but I trust her judgment. With a forced cheerfulness, she asks.
<Should we go and dine then? Enough work for today, what do you say?>
------
Fifteen minutes later
They ate in Liz’s apartment with their small group of friends. They were just past the soup when Liz stopped, frowning. Max felt her following up a line, far ahead of his own abilities, and even Kyle’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth. It took her only ten seconds to come out of the trance. She picked up her com and started speaking.
`Engine room: begin SI drive disengagement procedure. Navigation: plot a course to New Earth with well over the maximum speed. Bridge: yellow alarm. Inform Fate and Doom. Begin preparations for the battle. Entering combat zone in thirty-five hours,` she said calmly and casually. Seeing Kyle’s raised eyebrow, she uttered a short sentence before reaching back for her fork.
`Three Talrons exited hyperspace just outside New Earth eight hours ago. We will receive their request for assistance in fifteen minutes. If we hurry, no one will get hurt. It will be a piece of cake.`
To Gigo and frenchkiss70: Liz knows what's going to happen in the next ten seconds without paying any attention, and can listen to everything one minute ahead. When she seeks out, she can find things three days ahead, or even more if they are really important. Crossroads, for example battles, block her vision, so she can't see past them. It's like normal seeing. You won't walk into a wall even if you are deep in thought. You won't walk into people, if you raise your head and watch your step. And if you have a good binocular you can see far-far away, provided that nothing blocks your vision. I think as analogies go, it was a rather good one. Now they are many days from earth, so all she said was just guesswork.
Sorry guys about the italics, something went wrong. When a thought "<" begins with "i", the interpreter thinks I want to put it in italics. I went back and changed it, maybe that conversation will make more sense now.
Last edited by silverofroswell on Thu Dec 18, 2003 12:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
silverofroswell
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:29 pm
- Location: Hungary
Chapter 3
Part 13
Star System New Earth
Vice Admiral Louis Bauer was standing on the bridge of the Avalanche, his battleship. He watched his retreating troops crestfallen. They had tried to beat back the invasion fleet, but he couldn’t risk his battleship, and the seventh-class battlecruisers were simply not enough. The fighters and gunships drew back behind the defensive curtain of the stationery gun platforms.
New Earth was the second largest industrial complex after Totality, the seventh world. While the actual shipyards were in the Sol system, Totality was the center of the military production. Commercial companies gathered at New Earth, and while it’s output was much higher than Earth’s, microchips and owens can hardly stop an invasion. Though New Earth was surprisingly far from the cradle of humanity, one of the Second’s battleships was always stationed there.
Though the stations protecting the planet had considerable firepower, it was clear that they wouldn’t be able to stop the Talrons. Commander Bauer could only hope that the reinforcements will arrive before the talronids launched an all-out attack. The rest of the Second was on her way: Hailstorm was three days away, and there was only a hundred hours until the Waterfall’s arrival. The First couldn’t leave Earth in this situation, and even if they could, they were too far. The Fifth had no real firepower, the Third was heading out of human territory with full speed, and the Fourth that was passing by the system at a few light-years’ distance didn’t respond to the cries of help.
So his only hope was that the Talrons wouldn’t start to move in the next three days. He tried to break out of the blockade, but the enemy’s numbers were simply superior.
`Sir! Incoming call from the Governor.` The Vice-Admiral nodded to the com officer and took the call.
`Good evening, Miss Thompson.`
`What happened up there, Vice Admiral?` The woman was clearly panicking.
`We attempted to break the blockade. We failed. Now we’re retreating behind the guard stations.`
`And what of the asteroid field?`
`The dogs can have it.` He was tired and defeated. He just lost a lot of good men in the failed attempt and didn’t have the patience for bureaucrats.
She gulped then said, `I understand. Vice Admiral, please tell me honestly, what are our chances?`
`Slim. If the reinforcements don’t arrive soon.`
`Maybe we should evacuate the planet?` He just laughed.
`What do you think we were doing? We tried to get through. It’s impossible.`
`Then what should we do?`
`Nothing, Governor. We wait. We hope. Maybe we pray. We’ll do everything we can to hold back the enemy. We’ll die before they get to you. That’s all I can promise.` There was moment’s silence. Then, `I’m sorry.`
`...Well... I hope that the rest of your fleet will arrive in time.`
`Sir! Approaching SI signal!`
`Hold a moment, please, Governor.` Then, `Commercial?`
`No, Sir, military. The Fourth!`
------
The battleships of the Fourth exploded into normal space in the middle of the system. Among the metallic human ships, sparkling blue and silver Alliance cruisers sailed. The strengthened fleet lurched forward as one with the maximum possible acceleration. The fighters left their docks in minutes and formed up before the fleet in three separate groups. While one remained in the vicinity of the Fourth, the other two sailed towards the Talrons, leaving the rest of their fleet standing. While the main body lagged behind, they engaged the enemy fighters.
Admiral Parker, being the highest ranking officer on the field, ordered the Avalanche to redeploy her crafts and join the battle. The talronids were soon facing not one, but five battleships worth of firepower, under the command of a prophet.
When Fate, Doom, Destiny, and the Alliance cruisers got in range, the battle was over. In the crossfire, the talronid motherships perished one after the other. While the Second’s officers obeyed the often seemingly pointless orders, they wondered if they weren’t commanded by a madwoman. The Fourth, however, was beyond such doubts. They rushed gladly into battle side-by-side with the draconian cruisers, trusting that their Prophetess will arrange it so that they will come to no harm.
And they were proven right. Though this was their toughest battle so far, against three Talrons instead of the two they faced at Antar, and they haven’t even had their nukes in place well before, they won quite easily. One-by-one, the red dots representing the talronid motherships faded from the 3D radar. They’d lost some men though. A dozen fighters, lots of drones, but no gunboats this time. The Admiral kept them well out of the range of the enemy. They turned out to be totally unsuited for real battles, all the advantages they had over fighters couldn’t measure up against the fact that the fighters were piloted by precogs. There was a lot of damage on the larger ships though. All Liz could do was prevent them from hitting a sensitive spot – after all, the enemy did fight back, and even she couldn’t make all their shots miss. But the close range tactics, she and her tactical officers came up with, seemed to be pretty efficient. Because the long-range energy weapons were ineffective against the talronid ships, they had to engage them at close quarters –about ten to fifty kilometers - with plasma cannons, then trust the Admiral and their shields to keep them alive.
After hunting down all the small talronid crafts, the Fourth began docking with the orbital stations of New Earth. Most crew got shore time, the Admiral considered this a safe system, with no real risk of treachery, and the men desperately needed some fresh air and an opportunity to celebrate their three victories. While the sailors of the Fourth received the warmest welcome they’ve ever known from the locals, a closed doors meeting took place, with the participation of the Governor of New Earth, the Vice-Admiral, Admiral Parker, and a few surprise elements…
------
Kyle
Well, that had been fun. We are getting so good at hunting dragonlings that I’m getting ashamed of the statistics. It’s almost too easy. But just almost. We are good, but they aren’t bad either – it’s simply not a fair fight. But if I missed a beat, I’d die instantly. I mourn those who did, but it probably wasn’t their fault. From the two thousand one hundred something pilots of the Fourth, only about thirty died so far, and I seriously doubt that we’ll lose more people. Unfortunately, there are some from the future-blind, who get in. If you have near-perfect reflexes and dexterity, you can achieve the same scores in a simulator as a clumsy precog. But only in simulation. In real life, those who don’t see what’s coming up, remain on the field, in the form of space debris. It’s a tough thing to say, but that’s what evolution is about: the survival of the fittest.
Before the war, only sim-stats mattered, not precognition, so some guys, who wanted to pilot a fighter but didn’t necessarily have the real skills, got in. Liz always tried to keep the fleet future-blind free, and it’s clear now that she was right. No one will ever again allow someone without time-sight into a fighter.
Apart from these few men, we are fine. The morale couldn’t be higher, though I said the same thing after Vertigo, and I was wrong. I always thought the men would die for Liz, but even I had no idea of how deep emotions she could call forth from them. There are rumors of a meeting where the top heads decided that if the Council stood in their way, they’d simply remove them. Hmpf. Decided. Liz told them and somehow made them believe it was their own idea. Anyways, since that rumor, the fleet has become a buzzing nest of rebels. In every cantina, when the talk is about the leaders of humanity, all I hear is “We’ll show them!” and “If they dare to try….” Honestly. If Liz decided one day that coloring your skin green is the way for humanity, we would be looking like a bunch of Martians the next day.
Zeus-2 has just landed on the top of the New Earth Parliament building. A guy from Mortal squad and me are the first down the ramp. There are a few people waiting, a couple of security fellas, and loads of govt people mixed with some military. I look around, but I sense no danger. I project into the future.
{Seems clear.} One from the Navy flinches, his shoulder tag says he is a colonel. I guess he must have some Talent, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to eavesdrop; the best precogs had been always with the Fourth, and by now we’ve learned how to whisper in time-speech, so only the intended listener will hear us. Jones and I take up positions at the foot of the ramp. After us come Liz, Max, Valenti, Alex, and two colonels from Fate and Destiny. They walk down casually then move forward to greet our hosts. I hear gasps and securities tense up like springs. Liz is wearing her best uniform and its pearly white makes a nice contrast to the shining blue of Max’s breastplate. Shouhanas and Saelshicoy walk behind them in the usual bodyguard’s positions, their hands resting on the hilts of their blades. Antaran eyes are without an iris, so they always look emotionless and threatening. As they approach the welcoming party many drew back in horror or disgust. The political and the military leader of the system remain in place however, if only to give an example. I don’t know what they expected, with ships in the fleet that are clearly of a non-terran design, but they were clearly not-prepared for ETs. I guess Liz has “forgot” to mention that she’ll bring some of our new allies with her.
`Governor, Vice-Admiral, it’s nice to meet you`, she says while shaking hands. `Please allow me to introduce Prince Zander of the Royal House of Antar, the heir to the antaran throne and the representative of the Alliance of the Nine Races.` They clearly have no idea how to react after such a barrage of titles.
Max solves the problem by extending his hand and firmly grasping the Governor’s. She is a moderately attractive, relatively young woman. I suppose she must be quite clever and opportunistic, if she could make it so far so fast, but now she can barely keep control. I’ve shaken hands with antarans before, and it’s a funny feeling. There is a sense of wrongness about it, they have slightly too many fingers and all are in the wrong places. Liz is clearly enjoying the situation. The Governor finally manages to utter something like “welcome”, and Max responds absolutely properly. After that, he shakes hands with the Vice-Admiral, who having had the time to prepare for the ordeal takes it much better. After the leaders were introduced, they lead us to a big audience chamber. It lacks the majestic beauty of the Main Hall of the antaran palace, but it’s grand enough. The Governor is trying to do some damage control. She is trying to keep ahead of us, but it’s hard to keep ahead of someone like Liz. At the first opportunity when she says “This way, please”, she simply thanks her and informs her that she knows the way. When we reach the hall, we get settled, on one side us and the antarans, the locals on the other. I feel that the Governor is just about to attempt to regain control again. She is about to start a speech about thanking us for our timely arrival, etc, etc, bullshit. Liz is (of course) faster.
`I want to make something clear. This is not a courtesy visit. I’m here to give orders.` she holds a moment pause. `You probably don’t know but the Human Republic and the Alliance of the Nine Races have signed a military cooperation treaty a few days ago. That’s the reason Prince Zander and his ships were helping us out. When the Talronids occupied Vertigo, they managed to obtain the coordinates of all of our worlds.` My stomach lurches at the word managed. Once again, I’m dead sure of why this war is a good idea.
`What matters now is that we’ve recently received information from our allies that a large number of enemy ships are heading towards Human territory. General Rath is in hot pursuit with the Eleventh Draconian Fleet.` What? Michael’s coming? That’s funny. It must have been either a very recent message or there was no message at all, just Liz not wanting to ruin her credibility by sprouting things like “I’ve seen it in weeks advance.”
`We’ve calculated the route of the invasion fleet and at the end of their trajectory lies New Earth. With the Terran battleships that are heading here, and with the help of the Alliance, we can make a stand and beat back the attackers. In order to do this, we must gather the largest possible force in the system.` I can practically see the wheels turning in the Vice-Admiral’s head.
`So you want to invite an alien fleet into Republic space?`
`No I don’t “invite”. General Rath is coming to our aid in the spirit of the Pact between our races. There is no Republic space anymore. The universe has become one gigantic battlefield. A week or so ago the Fourth fought off a talronid attack fleet at the homeworld of the Prince. The talronid invasion threatens everyone. The draconian ships will be able to give us the necessary plus to win that battle.`
`Admiral, the Hailstorm and the Waterfall will both arrive in ninety hours. There will be six battleships in the system. Do we really need any more firepower?` Knowing the size of the Alliance fleets we saw at Antar, the Eleventh Draconian can make little difference. They consisted of twenty cruisers each, and that’s about one and a half battleship’s worth of guns.
`The Eleventh Draconian has half the draconian Navy. It will double our destructive power, and there is serious doubt that even that will be enough. But we can’t retreat. If we give up New Earth, they’ll simply choose another target. So we hold our ground and fight.` She has most of the govt guys scared to death. They’ve fallen into some kind of stupor. The first contact shock still hasn’t worn off, and she uses this to her advantage. She is sitting there peacefully saying all those dreadful things, while her elbow is brushing an actual alien’s. She looks extremely competent and omniscient, and they have no idea how to react. Like she was this, strict but fair teacher and they were a class full of frightened students. They don’t dare to contradict her. On the other hand, the military people are coping well – they must have been put through hell in the last few days, knowing that billions depend on you, and knowing that you will fail . They are battle hardened now, and ready to make a pact with Satan himself to stop the talronids. There is bloodlust glimmering in their eyes while Liz is explaining her plans, and yes, even eagerness, to prove that they are worth something, to take revenge for their comrades.
`…so all of the planet’s energy outputs must be redirected to building up a planetary shield.`
`Excuse me, Admiral, but that’s simply impossible! Even if we drew away all the civilian power, we simply can’t maintain a shield, much less charge up one!` Creating a planetary defense field is one of the most taxing challenges a world can face. It takes immense amounts of energy to maintain, and much more to build it up. Most worlds’ energy output would be simply insufficient to accomplish it, but I doubt that New Earth would fall into that category.
`I don’t see a problem here, Governor. Simply turn off all the industrial installations and reallocate the freed energy resources.` Her voice suddenly turned icy; I know her, there is a storm coming. The Governor, however, is either too stupid or too brave for her own good.
`That’s nonsense. We can’t deny the energy from the industry. We’d lose trillions every day! The planet would go bankrupt!`
`You can’t, can you? You see this badge here? It says that I’m an Admiral, and this is a war zone. I’m a ruler of life and death here, more than you’ll ever know. So all the energy produced by this planet goes into the shield generators within two hours or I’ll have you arrested for treason and replace you with someone who can obey simple commands. I don’t care if you go bankrupt as long as you live to go bankrupt. There’s going to be a battle here, do you understand? Nothing like the skirmish a few hours ago, but a battle, where this planet will most likely get bombed despite our best intentions. Did I make myself clear, or do I have to repeat it to your successor?` I think Liz went over the edge just now. She said all of this in a quiet and controlled voice, but her smile made it only more terrifying. You can’t simply threaten a planetary governor this way. A simple order would have done it, maybe with a hint that the central government may reimburse them. The woman goes white and sits back slightly trembling. I don’t really understand what Liz is playing at.
{Why did she make an enemy out of her?}, I send to Max.
{She wasn’t the target. Watch the Commander!} Vice-Admiral Bauer’s expression could be best described as gleeful. Humph. Maybe Liz does know what she is doing. {That man spent the last five years taking orders from the Governor and believing her omnipotent. Trust me on that, I just checked.}
{Another ally to the Fourth?}
{Maybe even a fourth battleship. That’s what she is currently planning.}
{Will you two stop talking about me behind my back? I’m trying to work here. Thank you.} I’m sure that our conversation was as tightly focused as a pin, but she heard it anyway. This woman is starting to creep me out. Are there no limits to her power or what?
<Sorry it took me so long, I switched frequencies.> The voice is talking directly into my head. I felt it coming so I didn’t flinch.
Wow, that’s weird. I didn’t know that you are a telepath. I shoot him a questioning glance, I don’t know if he heard that.
<Generally not, but I’ve a useful little gadget with me. I’ve just finished checking the officers. It’s likely that we will have to replace Governor Thompson. Her second in command seems a lot nicer fellow. And I think he is likely to be grateful.
Tell me, are there really Talronids coming towards us?, I think then I wait for his answer, careful not to think about Serena. Have you ever tried not thinking about something? It’s frustratingly hard.
<Yes and there’s more to it. It will be a tough battle. It will take some luck to survive.> A moments pause. <Sorry, I must quit chatting. Work awaits.>
I spend the rest of the afternoon thinking about the maintenance routine of our crafts. If I didn’t I would think about Serena and what I’ll do to her when I get back on the ship.. Aargh! I did it again!
Star System New Earth
Vice Admiral Louis Bauer was standing on the bridge of the Avalanche, his battleship. He watched his retreating troops crestfallen. They had tried to beat back the invasion fleet, but he couldn’t risk his battleship, and the seventh-class battlecruisers were simply not enough. The fighters and gunships drew back behind the defensive curtain of the stationery gun platforms.
New Earth was the second largest industrial complex after Totality, the seventh world. While the actual shipyards were in the Sol system, Totality was the center of the military production. Commercial companies gathered at New Earth, and while it’s output was much higher than Earth’s, microchips and owens can hardly stop an invasion. Though New Earth was surprisingly far from the cradle of humanity, one of the Second’s battleships was always stationed there.
Though the stations protecting the planet had considerable firepower, it was clear that they wouldn’t be able to stop the Talrons. Commander Bauer could only hope that the reinforcements will arrive before the talronids launched an all-out attack. The rest of the Second was on her way: Hailstorm was three days away, and there was only a hundred hours until the Waterfall’s arrival. The First couldn’t leave Earth in this situation, and even if they could, they were too far. The Fifth had no real firepower, the Third was heading out of human territory with full speed, and the Fourth that was passing by the system at a few light-years’ distance didn’t respond to the cries of help.
So his only hope was that the Talrons wouldn’t start to move in the next three days. He tried to break out of the blockade, but the enemy’s numbers were simply superior.
`Sir! Incoming call from the Governor.` The Vice-Admiral nodded to the com officer and took the call.
`Good evening, Miss Thompson.`
`What happened up there, Vice Admiral?` The woman was clearly panicking.
`We attempted to break the blockade. We failed. Now we’re retreating behind the guard stations.`
`And what of the asteroid field?`
`The dogs can have it.` He was tired and defeated. He just lost a lot of good men in the failed attempt and didn’t have the patience for bureaucrats.
She gulped then said, `I understand. Vice Admiral, please tell me honestly, what are our chances?`
`Slim. If the reinforcements don’t arrive soon.`
`Maybe we should evacuate the planet?` He just laughed.
`What do you think we were doing? We tried to get through. It’s impossible.`
`Then what should we do?`
`Nothing, Governor. We wait. We hope. Maybe we pray. We’ll do everything we can to hold back the enemy. We’ll die before they get to you. That’s all I can promise.` There was moment’s silence. Then, `I’m sorry.`
`...Well... I hope that the rest of your fleet will arrive in time.`
`Sir! Approaching SI signal!`
`Hold a moment, please, Governor.` Then, `Commercial?`
`No, Sir, military. The Fourth!`
------
The battleships of the Fourth exploded into normal space in the middle of the system. Among the metallic human ships, sparkling blue and silver Alliance cruisers sailed. The strengthened fleet lurched forward as one with the maximum possible acceleration. The fighters left their docks in minutes and formed up before the fleet in three separate groups. While one remained in the vicinity of the Fourth, the other two sailed towards the Talrons, leaving the rest of their fleet standing. While the main body lagged behind, they engaged the enemy fighters.
Admiral Parker, being the highest ranking officer on the field, ordered the Avalanche to redeploy her crafts and join the battle. The talronids were soon facing not one, but five battleships worth of firepower, under the command of a prophet.
When Fate, Doom, Destiny, and the Alliance cruisers got in range, the battle was over. In the crossfire, the talronid motherships perished one after the other. While the Second’s officers obeyed the often seemingly pointless orders, they wondered if they weren’t commanded by a madwoman. The Fourth, however, was beyond such doubts. They rushed gladly into battle side-by-side with the draconian cruisers, trusting that their Prophetess will arrange it so that they will come to no harm.
And they were proven right. Though this was their toughest battle so far, against three Talrons instead of the two they faced at Antar, and they haven’t even had their nukes in place well before, they won quite easily. One-by-one, the red dots representing the talronid motherships faded from the 3D radar. They’d lost some men though. A dozen fighters, lots of drones, but no gunboats this time. The Admiral kept them well out of the range of the enemy. They turned out to be totally unsuited for real battles, all the advantages they had over fighters couldn’t measure up against the fact that the fighters were piloted by precogs. There was a lot of damage on the larger ships though. All Liz could do was prevent them from hitting a sensitive spot – after all, the enemy did fight back, and even she couldn’t make all their shots miss. But the close range tactics, she and her tactical officers came up with, seemed to be pretty efficient. Because the long-range energy weapons were ineffective against the talronid ships, they had to engage them at close quarters –about ten to fifty kilometers - with plasma cannons, then trust the Admiral and their shields to keep them alive.
After hunting down all the small talronid crafts, the Fourth began docking with the orbital stations of New Earth. Most crew got shore time, the Admiral considered this a safe system, with no real risk of treachery, and the men desperately needed some fresh air and an opportunity to celebrate their three victories. While the sailors of the Fourth received the warmest welcome they’ve ever known from the locals, a closed doors meeting took place, with the participation of the Governor of New Earth, the Vice-Admiral, Admiral Parker, and a few surprise elements…
------
Kyle
Well, that had been fun. We are getting so good at hunting dragonlings that I’m getting ashamed of the statistics. It’s almost too easy. But just almost. We are good, but they aren’t bad either – it’s simply not a fair fight. But if I missed a beat, I’d die instantly. I mourn those who did, but it probably wasn’t their fault. From the two thousand one hundred something pilots of the Fourth, only about thirty died so far, and I seriously doubt that we’ll lose more people. Unfortunately, there are some from the future-blind, who get in. If you have near-perfect reflexes and dexterity, you can achieve the same scores in a simulator as a clumsy precog. But only in simulation. In real life, those who don’t see what’s coming up, remain on the field, in the form of space debris. It’s a tough thing to say, but that’s what evolution is about: the survival of the fittest.
Before the war, only sim-stats mattered, not precognition, so some guys, who wanted to pilot a fighter but didn’t necessarily have the real skills, got in. Liz always tried to keep the fleet future-blind free, and it’s clear now that she was right. No one will ever again allow someone without time-sight into a fighter.
Apart from these few men, we are fine. The morale couldn’t be higher, though I said the same thing after Vertigo, and I was wrong. I always thought the men would die for Liz, but even I had no idea of how deep emotions she could call forth from them. There are rumors of a meeting where the top heads decided that if the Council stood in their way, they’d simply remove them. Hmpf. Decided. Liz told them and somehow made them believe it was their own idea. Anyways, since that rumor, the fleet has become a buzzing nest of rebels. In every cantina, when the talk is about the leaders of humanity, all I hear is “We’ll show them!” and “If they dare to try….” Honestly. If Liz decided one day that coloring your skin green is the way for humanity, we would be looking like a bunch of Martians the next day.
Zeus-2 has just landed on the top of the New Earth Parliament building. A guy from Mortal squad and me are the first down the ramp. There are a few people waiting, a couple of security fellas, and loads of govt people mixed with some military. I look around, but I sense no danger. I project into the future.
{Seems clear.} One from the Navy flinches, his shoulder tag says he is a colonel. I guess he must have some Talent, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to eavesdrop; the best precogs had been always with the Fourth, and by now we’ve learned how to whisper in time-speech, so only the intended listener will hear us. Jones and I take up positions at the foot of the ramp. After us come Liz, Max, Valenti, Alex, and two colonels from Fate and Destiny. They walk down casually then move forward to greet our hosts. I hear gasps and securities tense up like springs. Liz is wearing her best uniform and its pearly white makes a nice contrast to the shining blue of Max’s breastplate. Shouhanas and Saelshicoy walk behind them in the usual bodyguard’s positions, their hands resting on the hilts of their blades. Antaran eyes are without an iris, so they always look emotionless and threatening. As they approach the welcoming party many drew back in horror or disgust. The political and the military leader of the system remain in place however, if only to give an example. I don’t know what they expected, with ships in the fleet that are clearly of a non-terran design, but they were clearly not-prepared for ETs. I guess Liz has “forgot” to mention that she’ll bring some of our new allies with her.
`Governor, Vice-Admiral, it’s nice to meet you`, she says while shaking hands. `Please allow me to introduce Prince Zander of the Royal House of Antar, the heir to the antaran throne and the representative of the Alliance of the Nine Races.` They clearly have no idea how to react after such a barrage of titles.
Max solves the problem by extending his hand and firmly grasping the Governor’s. She is a moderately attractive, relatively young woman. I suppose she must be quite clever and opportunistic, if she could make it so far so fast, but now she can barely keep control. I’ve shaken hands with antarans before, and it’s a funny feeling. There is a sense of wrongness about it, they have slightly too many fingers and all are in the wrong places. Liz is clearly enjoying the situation. The Governor finally manages to utter something like “welcome”, and Max responds absolutely properly. After that, he shakes hands with the Vice-Admiral, who having had the time to prepare for the ordeal takes it much better. After the leaders were introduced, they lead us to a big audience chamber. It lacks the majestic beauty of the Main Hall of the antaran palace, but it’s grand enough. The Governor is trying to do some damage control. She is trying to keep ahead of us, but it’s hard to keep ahead of someone like Liz. At the first opportunity when she says “This way, please”, she simply thanks her and informs her that she knows the way. When we reach the hall, we get settled, on one side us and the antarans, the locals on the other. I feel that the Governor is just about to attempt to regain control again. She is about to start a speech about thanking us for our timely arrival, etc, etc, bullshit. Liz is (of course) faster.
`I want to make something clear. This is not a courtesy visit. I’m here to give orders.` she holds a moment pause. `You probably don’t know but the Human Republic and the Alliance of the Nine Races have signed a military cooperation treaty a few days ago. That’s the reason Prince Zander and his ships were helping us out. When the Talronids occupied Vertigo, they managed to obtain the coordinates of all of our worlds.` My stomach lurches at the word managed. Once again, I’m dead sure of why this war is a good idea.
`What matters now is that we’ve recently received information from our allies that a large number of enemy ships are heading towards Human territory. General Rath is in hot pursuit with the Eleventh Draconian Fleet.` What? Michael’s coming? That’s funny. It must have been either a very recent message or there was no message at all, just Liz not wanting to ruin her credibility by sprouting things like “I’ve seen it in weeks advance.”
`We’ve calculated the route of the invasion fleet and at the end of their trajectory lies New Earth. With the Terran battleships that are heading here, and with the help of the Alliance, we can make a stand and beat back the attackers. In order to do this, we must gather the largest possible force in the system.` I can practically see the wheels turning in the Vice-Admiral’s head.
`So you want to invite an alien fleet into Republic space?`
`No I don’t “invite”. General Rath is coming to our aid in the spirit of the Pact between our races. There is no Republic space anymore. The universe has become one gigantic battlefield. A week or so ago the Fourth fought off a talronid attack fleet at the homeworld of the Prince. The talronid invasion threatens everyone. The draconian ships will be able to give us the necessary plus to win that battle.`
`Admiral, the Hailstorm and the Waterfall will both arrive in ninety hours. There will be six battleships in the system. Do we really need any more firepower?` Knowing the size of the Alliance fleets we saw at Antar, the Eleventh Draconian can make little difference. They consisted of twenty cruisers each, and that’s about one and a half battleship’s worth of guns.
`The Eleventh Draconian has half the draconian Navy. It will double our destructive power, and there is serious doubt that even that will be enough. But we can’t retreat. If we give up New Earth, they’ll simply choose another target. So we hold our ground and fight.` She has most of the govt guys scared to death. They’ve fallen into some kind of stupor. The first contact shock still hasn’t worn off, and she uses this to her advantage. She is sitting there peacefully saying all those dreadful things, while her elbow is brushing an actual alien’s. She looks extremely competent and omniscient, and they have no idea how to react. Like she was this, strict but fair teacher and they were a class full of frightened students. They don’t dare to contradict her. On the other hand, the military people are coping well – they must have been put through hell in the last few days, knowing that billions depend on you, and knowing that you will fail . They are battle hardened now, and ready to make a pact with Satan himself to stop the talronids. There is bloodlust glimmering in their eyes while Liz is explaining her plans, and yes, even eagerness, to prove that they are worth something, to take revenge for their comrades.
`…so all of the planet’s energy outputs must be redirected to building up a planetary shield.`
`Excuse me, Admiral, but that’s simply impossible! Even if we drew away all the civilian power, we simply can’t maintain a shield, much less charge up one!` Creating a planetary defense field is one of the most taxing challenges a world can face. It takes immense amounts of energy to maintain, and much more to build it up. Most worlds’ energy output would be simply insufficient to accomplish it, but I doubt that New Earth would fall into that category.
`I don’t see a problem here, Governor. Simply turn off all the industrial installations and reallocate the freed energy resources.` Her voice suddenly turned icy; I know her, there is a storm coming. The Governor, however, is either too stupid or too brave for her own good.
`That’s nonsense. We can’t deny the energy from the industry. We’d lose trillions every day! The planet would go bankrupt!`
`You can’t, can you? You see this badge here? It says that I’m an Admiral, and this is a war zone. I’m a ruler of life and death here, more than you’ll ever know. So all the energy produced by this planet goes into the shield generators within two hours or I’ll have you arrested for treason and replace you with someone who can obey simple commands. I don’t care if you go bankrupt as long as you live to go bankrupt. There’s going to be a battle here, do you understand? Nothing like the skirmish a few hours ago, but a battle, where this planet will most likely get bombed despite our best intentions. Did I make myself clear, or do I have to repeat it to your successor?` I think Liz went over the edge just now. She said all of this in a quiet and controlled voice, but her smile made it only more terrifying. You can’t simply threaten a planetary governor this way. A simple order would have done it, maybe with a hint that the central government may reimburse them. The woman goes white and sits back slightly trembling. I don’t really understand what Liz is playing at.
{Why did she make an enemy out of her?}, I send to Max.
{She wasn’t the target. Watch the Commander!} Vice-Admiral Bauer’s expression could be best described as gleeful. Humph. Maybe Liz does know what she is doing. {That man spent the last five years taking orders from the Governor and believing her omnipotent. Trust me on that, I just checked.}
{Another ally to the Fourth?}
{Maybe even a fourth battleship. That’s what she is currently planning.}
{Will you two stop talking about me behind my back? I’m trying to work here. Thank you.} I’m sure that our conversation was as tightly focused as a pin, but she heard it anyway. This woman is starting to creep me out. Are there no limits to her power or what?
<Sorry it took me so long, I switched frequencies.> The voice is talking directly into my head. I felt it coming so I didn’t flinch.
Wow, that’s weird. I didn’t know that you are a telepath. I shoot him a questioning glance, I don’t know if he heard that.
<Generally not, but I’ve a useful little gadget with me. I’ve just finished checking the officers. It’s likely that we will have to replace Governor Thompson. Her second in command seems a lot nicer fellow. And I think he is likely to be grateful.
Tell me, are there really Talronids coming towards us?, I think then I wait for his answer, careful not to think about Serena. Have you ever tried not thinking about something? It’s frustratingly hard.
<Yes and there’s more to it. It will be a tough battle. It will take some luck to survive.> A moments pause. <Sorry, I must quit chatting. Work awaits.>
I spend the rest of the afternoon thinking about the maintenance routine of our crafts. If I didn’t I would think about Serena and what I’ll do to her when I get back on the ship.. Aargh! I did it again!