The Lost Earth (Lost Starship Series Book 7) Page 21

  “I would hear the recording first,” she said. “Retrieve it, Thrax.”

  “I happen to have it on my person, Reigning Supreme.”

  “Why do you have it so handy?” the Assault Master demanded.

  “Oh,” Thrax said. “I see. I am to answer you first and not the Reigning Supreme?”

  “Play the recording,” AX-29 said.

  Thrax unhooked the recorder, set it on the floor and pressed PLAY. Soon, the Assault Master spoke in a low voice out of it, describing his plan to supplant AX-29. According to the words from the recorder, the Assault Master thought the Reigning Supreme stupid and vain, declaring that he would build the Imperium better than she could ever think to do.

  “Reigning Supreme,” the Assault Master said in a weak voice. “These are lies. That is not my voice.”

  “Soldiers,” the Reigning Supreme shouted. “Soldiers!”

  Huge soldiers burst onto the spongy command deck. They stared at her with readiness.

  “Reigning Supreme,” the Assault Master cried. “I beg you, listen to me—”

  “Cut him up into small pieces,” AX-29 shrieked. “Destroy the Assault Master and bloody the floor with him.”

  “No!” the Assault Master shouted. “Kill Thrax—”

  The soldiers reached him, and with their heavy pincers they began to cut apart his exoskeleton. It was brutal and fast. Soon, the Assault Master no longer squirmed or howled in agony. His blood and guts and pieces of exoskeleton littered the spongy deck.

  “Foul treason,” AX-29 whispered. “I cannot believe this happened. What are we going to do now?”

  No one answered, not even Thrax.

  “Can no one suggest anything?” AX-29 asked.

  “I have a small idea,” Thrax said. “I grew up in this region of space, so I probably know it better than anyone else in the war fleet.”

  “We are so few,” the Reigning Supreme said.

  “Compared to the weak mammals,” Thrax said, “we still have an amazing number of vessels. I believe, with your genius, that you can conquer all of Human Space with what you have.”

  “That seems like vain boasting, Thrax.”

  He waited.

  “Still…” the Reigning Supreme said. “Tell me your idea.”

  It was at that point that Commander Thrax Ti Ix began to outline his carefully conceived strategy.

  -5-

  Weeks after the Swarm’s appearance three-quarters of a light-year from the Tau Ceti System, a meeting took place out in the Beyond, many hundreds of light-years away. This was a special place, one that Admiral Fletcher and his officers had tried to find but failed to do so. Fletcher and the Grand Fleet were already headed back for Earth.

  The special place was the Throne World of the New Men. Strand and Ludendorff had colonized this world a long time ago with genetically selected colonists.

  The system had an Earth regular G-class star. It possessed four terrestrial planets and three gas giants. The third terrestrial planet from the star was an Eden-like place with low mountains, blue seas and green pastures. Several large battle stations orbited the Throne World. These stations had heavy fusion cannons and possibly the strongest force screens among the human races. Near the battlestations were large scaffolding docks. Within the docks were new star cruisers. These had disruptor cannons instead of fusion cannons, as well as improved screens.

  The Throne World System seethed with activity. The New Men lacked the Commonwealth’s numbers and lacked the great industrial base. Still, they were the most highly efficient humans in space. They could retool better than others and could accept new ideas quicker. They could also take existing technical systems and improve them through superior thought.

  They were the New Men, faster, stronger and smarter than regular humans. Their great fault was singular in nature. They could not sire girls, only boys. Thus, they had to keep raiding the sub-men in order to replenish their stock of women.

  Since the Commonwealth Invasion, that was less of a problem than previously. Despite their having to retreat, the New Men had taken a vast haul in sub-men and women. That, incidentally, had been one of the reasons that Admiral Fletcher was so hot to find the Throne World. He desired to free the enslaved Commonwealth people.

  Originally, Strand and Ludendorff had bred the New Men as defenders of the human race. After a time, the defenders realized they should be the rulers. A hard war had followed. Since retreating from the Thebes System, the New Men had been retooling and re-thinking their strategies and tactics.

  The meeting was held in the palace of the Emperor of the New Men. At the meeting were the captains of the star cruisers. They were the highest-ranked among the superiors, as they conceived of themselves. They realized that a smarter and more talented group would be impossible to find in the galaxy.

  The capital city shone with brilliance. Tall, mirrored buildings reflected the star’s light. The palace was a white mansion with extensive gardens. In the palace was a great room and a vast round table. The table was patterned from the lore of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. It had a marble top, with large chairs surrounding it. At the de facto head of the table sat the Emperor on his throne.

  The Emperor was the tallest man in the chamber. He wore a golden crown and a velvet cape. He had golden-hued skin and long facial features, with deep-set eyes that shone with strength of will.

  There were others who could almost match the Emperor in height and bearing. The greatest of them was Golden Ural, an equally tall and slender superior.

  One man at the table did not captain a star cruiser. His name was Darius. He’d returned to the Throne World with Methuselah Man Strand in tow. He’d brought Strand from the Sind System. Darius had also told the Emperor of Ludendorff’s wish for the New Men and sub-men to unite against the terrible threat of the coming Swarm assault.

  Now, news of the Swarm invasion and talk with the Lord High Admiral of Star Watch had caused the Emperor to summon his star cruiser captains. It was time to decide on the correct strategy for the master race.

  -6-

  As Golden Ural sat at the improved Round Table, he picked at his silver uniform. He wore the Sunburst Star, a gold medal set with precious diamonds. It wasn’t for courage in battle. All superiors were expected to show courage. The Sunburst Star was for excessive cleverness in battle. He’d won the star at the end of the Commonwealth Invasion because he’d taken great quantities of woman from the sub-men, and had made the theft stick without further war.

  Admiral Fletcher had been hot to attack at the time. Many of the star-cruiser captains had wanted to demolish the sub-men’s augmented Third Fleet. Now, even the hottest fighters in both factions were glad they had not destroyed or wounded each other in an annihilating battle.

  The Emperor had just finished giving a holographic report of the Swarm Fleet. Thousands upon thousands of Swarm warships streamed for Tau Ceti. The vast number staggered the imagination. Many of the insectoid ships were vast things. As impossible as it was to believe, the enemy tonnage was even greater than their numbers.

  “I do not believe the Commonwealth will survive the coming assault,” the Emperor said. “The Swarm used Builder technology—a hyper-spatial tube, I am told—to cast the fleet against the Commonwealth. According to the Lord High Admiral, the jump was over two thousand light-years in extent.”

  A relatively short New Man stirred at the table. He was not short in actual terms, but compared to his brethren he was.

  This New Man’s name was Lord Drakos. Perhaps in compensation for his “shortness,” Drakos had wide shoulders and was famous for his quickness and mental acuity. He had green eyes, and golden skin shades lighter than anyone else at the table. In the past, a few superiors had suggested DNA testing to see if Drakos had the genetic quality to maintain his higher status. Naturally, Drakos resented the whisper campaign directed against him. At the same time, he championed genetic purity above all else. Perhaps he reasoned that in championing the issu
e, others would relent about the DNA testing, believing he must have the best genetic purity if he publically argued as he did.

  Drakos had fought splendidly during the Commonwealth Invasion. He’d also had a knack for picking the choicest loot. That meant he was one of the richer star cruiser captains.

  Lord Drakos stirred at the table and said with a sneer, “What grandiose titles the sub-men give themselves. Lord High Admiral indeed.”

  “We are not here to debate titles,” the Emperor said. “The point is that Admiral Cook has never lied to us. We are here to debate on the correct strategy concerning the Swarm Invasion.”

  “As you say, Lord,” Drakos replied smoothly, although his green eyes smoldered at the rebuke.

  As Golden Ural watched the exchange, he calculated swiftly.

  Lord Drakos represented the hardliners, those who desired genetic annihilation of the sub-men. The hardliners had chaffed at the peace, wanting to renew the invasion of so-called Human Space.

  Clearly, the Emperor knew all this. Ural wondered how his cousin would prepare the hardliners for his bombshell.

  The Emperor stared at Drakos as he said, “The Lord High Admiral desires a war alliance with us against the Swarm.”

  Ural raised his eyebrows. His cousin had decided on directness and shock. That was interesting. Ural examined the others around the table.

  As expected at such a pronouncement, surprise showed on many faces. Others seemed thoughtful. A few laughed quietly, nudging a neighbor.

  Drakos spoke with controlled heat. “Can chimpanzees ally with men, Emperor?”

  A murmur of assent rose from the hardliners.

  “A moment,” Golden Ural said lazily. He championed the realists, as they called themselves. They were greater in number than those following the hardliner philosophy.

  Drakos faced him, forced to look upward due to Ural’s substantially greater height.

  “In the interest of clarity,” Ural said lightly, “I am formally asking if you mate with chimpanzees.”

  A new murmur drifted around the table.

  Drakos rose from his chair, his features frozen with anger.

  The breach of protocol caused an even greater stir than the Emperor’s or Ural’s words.

  Ural knew his target, had studied him for quite some time. Drakos did not like anyone forcing him to any particular action. With him, reverse psychology often proved successful.

  “Do you wish to challenge me to a duel?” Ural asked in a mocking manner.

  Perhaps Drakos understood his boorishness by standing in the Emperor’s presence at the Round Table when all other captains sat.

  “Such a question gives me legal cause for a duel,” Drakos snapped.

  “Does it indeed?” Ural asked, pressing his case. “Maybe you should first answer the question in order to discover its intent.”

  “This is rankest slander,” Drakos declared, growing angrier.

  “Nonsense,” Ural said. “If you would simply answer the—”

  “A moment,” the Emperor said, interrupting the exchange.

  Everyone fell silent, although Drakos visibly struggled to do so. He sat, though. Because the Emperor spoke, protocol demanded that he resume his seat.

  “I…request that my captains keep personal slurs out of the debate,” the Emperor said, staring at his cousin Ural. “Unless, of course, there is someone who would care to duel to the death with me.”

  No one dared take up the Emperor on his offer. He was, without a doubt, the finest duelist among them. In his day, he’d slain six champions, those hoping to dethrone the Emperor and take his place.

  “No!” Drakos said, his answer like a rifle shot. “I have no chimpanzees in my zoo. Why, do you?” he asked Golden Ural.

  “How many women have you impregnated?” Ural asked blandly.

  “Hundreds!” Drakos boasted, as he looked around the table. “I have also sired hundreds of sons.”

  Ural nodded. “Thus, your actions prove that sub-men are not chimpanzees, for you do not mate with chimps. Furthermore, if you sire sons from sub-women, are they truly sub-women at all?”

  “Of course they are,” Drakos said. “We must medically heighten the fetuses so they become like us.”

  “Ah,” Ural said. “Do you find sub-women ugly, perhaps?”

  “Emperor,” Drakos said. “Must I answer these continuous slurs?”

  The Emperor took his time answering. “Let us see where Golden Ural is taking us.”

  Drakos glared at Ural. “I only mate with the most beautiful women,” he boasted. “They are privileged to have lain with me and sired such noble sons.”

  “No doubt, no doubt,” Ural said. “Now, I wonder, if the Commonwealth lies in ruins, the bugs have slain all the sub-species, where will your sons find women to breed?”

  Drakos stared at Ural. He must have finally understood the thrust and finality of the argument. He became thoughtful. While Drakos could act hot-headedly, he could also shift direction and sometimes swiftly, showing his New Man nature in that.

  “That is well-reasoned,” Drakos said at last. “Why should we let the bugs destroy our harem supply by blotting out the sub-men? If the Swarm destroyed everything…”

  “No more beautiful women for the superiors to bed,” Ural said. “Given that truth, I suggest we help Star Watch defeat these monsters. I, for one, wish a bountiful supply of ladies for my lusty sons.”

  A ripple of laughter spread across the giant table.

  “There is a problem, though,” Drakos said. “I counted the number of Swarm ships. What can we gather to face such mass? One hundred star cruisers perhaps, maybe one hundred and ten?”

  “One hundred and thirty,” Ural said. “There are a few secret ships—”

  Drakos waved that aside as he snorted. “I’ll grant you one hundred and thirty star cruisers for the sake of argument. Among those, only a handful possess the new disruptor cannons. What can Star Watch muster?”

  “Three hundred first class fighting vessels,” Ural said. “By those I mean capital ships.”

  “I would count it a little differently,” Drakos said. “But I’ll grant you that as well. Let’s add another four hundred lesser vessels, patrol boats, missile launchers, frigates and such. We might finish another ten star cruisers before we engage in battle. Let us grandly allow that the sub-men and we could gather 800 ships. Now, I ask you, how do 800 spaceships defeat 80,000?”

  Lord Drakos scanned the throng. “Can we destroy one hundred Swarm ships for every one loss of ours? If we do, we each break even. Our one hundred and thirty star cruisers is the extent of our might. If we lose them, we have lost too much. If the sub-men lose their larger number of vessels, they can more easily replace them in the future as they have a greater industrial base.”

  “Our one hundred and thirty star cruisers can do a staggering amount of damage compared to the sub-men’s ships,” Ural said.

  “Of course,” Drakos said. “My point is that there are no good solutions. If we wait for the Swarm to annihilate the sub-men—”

  “What is your suggestion?” the Emperor asked Drakos.

  “We must gather more ships, Excellency,” Drakos said. “In his report, Darius spoke of Juggernauts earlier. We could use such vessels against the Swarm.”

  “An excellent point,” the Emperor said. “Darius, do you believe you could hijack the Juggernauts from the Sind System?”

  Darius took his time answering. “I’d have to talk with Strand first,” he finally said.

  The Emperor scowled, shaking his head. “That is out of the question.”

  Many of the superiors appeared puzzled.

  “Strand is the most cunning man in existence,” the Emperor said. “Even in these dire times, we dare not give him leeway. He has ruled us in the past with an iron fist. Later, while on the run, he controlled some of us through wicked means. No, we will not talk to Strand.”

  “Sire—” Drakos said.

  “No!” the Emperor sai
d. “My mind is made up on this. The only way Strand will see the outside of his cell is if someone kills me first.”

  That ended the majority of the debate. Thus, after another half hour, the captains of the star cruisers decided to work with Star Watch in order to defeat the massive Swarm Fleet. They would send one hundred star cruisers to Human Space, leaving the rest in the Throne World System as a last-ditch defense.

  At the Emperor’s insistence, Golden Ural would lead the star cruisers. Ural’s tasks, in order of descending importance, were to defeat the bugs, save as much of the fleet as possible and make sure no star cruisers “accidently” fell into the hands of the sub-men. In the meantime, Darius and his crew would use one of the newly completed and improved star cruisers to return to the Sind System and bring as many Juggernauts as possible to the Solar System.

  -7-

  As the Swarm Invasion Fleet accelerated for the Tau Ceti System, the elected officials of the Commonwealth debated on various actions. As word seeped out of the coming Swarm attack, panic spread. Tens of thousands of the richest people in the Tau Ceti System fled. Vast sums exchanged hands as people paid fortunes for a berth on a spaceship. Independent contractors raced to Tau Ceti to make a killing.

  Even so, those that left hardly dented the overall population. Riots seethed on the Tau Ceti planets and space habitats. The riots grew until chaos threatened Star Watch’s plans to turn the system into a fortress and Swarm killing zone.

  Finally, Brigadier O’Hara asked to speak to the assembled electors of the Commonwealth. She worked on her speech for days, keeping the content secret. On a Thursday, she went to the Hall of Electors. Those in the vast auditorium waited impatiently for the old woman to give her talk. Many electors were indignant that the secret police chief of Star Watch would dare to address them.

  O’Hara trembled as she approached the podium. There were a thousand and ten seats for the electors. Each elector also had several aides in attendance. Above them, masses had packed the galleries. The giant auditorium brimmed with people.