A New Day (15 page)

"Well, at least the weather's clearing!" Gail replied.

"They shut down the Aerie. It is a byproduct of the mining operations that creates a small, localized low pressure system around the mines," Gerent explained.

"Well, without the rain and lightning, our camo tech should work a lot better," Gail replied.

When both men looked at her in confusion, Gail explained. "We developed a type of body armor that hides most of the life signs of the occupant, as well as using a low power imaging system to mimic their surroundings. I had a squad of troops waiting in the tree line when we invited Commander Halst down here and the big ship from Argassi APC didn't detect them."

"You could hide troops from a search and rescue command ship?" Yolinar asked.

Gail nodded. "It sure seemed to surprise the Rangers, too. For a moment, I thought they might shoot us when I called the squad in."

"I would imagine so," Yolinar replied. "Rangers do not generally like those types of surprises."

"Well, let's hope the Duke's army likes them even less," Gerent replied. "General, we do have our own version of 'Marines'. They are little more than stupidly brave civilians, but they would do the initial boarding when we raided a ship. Most of them are out with the ships at the moment, but eighteen of them are still here. Where would you like them to be?"

"Please ask them to report to Commander Esau in the Marine deployment center. Thank you, Captain, you don't have to do this you know," Gail replied.

Gerent smiled at her sadly. "Yes General, we do."

While Gerent relayed the order, Gail quickly sent Esau a message about the former pirates and how he wanted him to handle them. She was going to have him mix them in with their regular Marine squads to bolster their numbers. Eighteen wasn't much of a 'bolster', but at this point anything would be an improvement and at least these folks had some experience.

When she finished, she switched back to the battle unfolding at the planetary capitol; Stardock. The Duke had a huge unit of 'Marines' held near there, and several large troop transports had been sited close by waiting for the Marines to get finished and move on to another area.

"Mother, if we can force those transports down near the Lizards, that should give them more to worry about than taking control of Stardock. Have our Aerial drones shift over to those transports, and see if we can't get the lizards moving in that direction, too," Gail ordered.

"The transports are shielded, General. The drone's weapons are mostly ineffective against them," Mother replied.

"Pull four of the anti-matter equipped drones off orbital duty to knock down those shields, but tell the pilots to be very careful of their targets. Remind them that they are shooting what amounts to nuclear weapons," Gail ordered.

"Drone fighters redeployed. They will be on station in ten minutes." Mother paused. "All missiles expended. Two carriers remain, one is still capable of dropping its pods, the other carrier's orbit is decaying rapidly. It will crash into the ocean twelve hundred miles east-north-east of the former city of Lima, Peru. The water temperature in that region is low enough to ensure any survivors will not be able to reach a land mass," Mother reported.

"Can the drones used on the destroyers target the remaining carrier?" Yolinar asked.

"Negative, Admiral. It is too high," Mother replied. "However, the Ranger ships are still engaged." She seemed to pause. "Drop pod deployment in progress. Carrier is losing altitude and propulsion." Just as Gail was about to speak, Mother spoke again. "Carrier is no longer under power. Impact in Northern Barrier Mountain Range eighty-six miles south and west of pod group AM-431. Estimated magnitude in excess of ten mega-tons."

"Issue an alert for those pods to brace for the impact and put all local repair drones on standby. Warn all local surface populations and any aircraft in that vicinity." Gail ordered. "Where are the pods it got deployed coming down?"

"Drop profile is irregular, however I believe they are trying to hit near Argassi," Mother replied.

"What is their fascination with that city?" Gail asked rhetorically.

"Forces assaulting Aeries Heldargo, Alleate, Consial, and six others have surrendered. Nine others appear to have stopped fighting, but are still considered hostile. Admiral, the fleets at Hyclarion will begin arriving in just over two hours," Mother said.

Terran Council Chamber

Command Pod Alpha One

27 Apr. 10266 CE (AD)

Sector 34871 - Great Inland Sea

Terra, Sol system

"I really like this room. It allows you to do what you need to get done without all the interruptions of open court," Hjoolous said as they reentered the Grand Council Chamber. "I might have to hire your artisans to construct one for me."

"I think this was mostly built by drones under computer control, but we'll see what we can come up with for you," Ben smiled back at his friend.

"I'll be looking forward to it." He sighed. "Back to formality. AI Mother, please send our proclamations to the court at Hyclarion."

"At once, Majesty," Mother replied.

"We imagine there will be a rather strong disagreement with my edicts, but the facts are the facts. They cannot argue those. No, the worst of it will be the military production agreements we have reached. Many of the Senate currently have very lucrative contracts with the military. By doing what I have done, they stand to lose a great deal of money and influence if they cannot fulfill those contracts now that we are at war. That animosity will be directed at you mostly, because you will be given the means to fill those orders. No, there will be repercussions for those edicts. If he hasn't already done so, we will have Yolinar assign a Marine division here whose primary duty will be the protection of you and your government." He paused. "Mostly you."

Ben was surprised. "Why would I need that much protection? Won't our existing guards be able to handle it?"

"Prime Council, by the end of the day, there will be a multi-million credit contract out for your head. It might even surpass the one on my own. I do not have many that I can call friend; I will not let some petty noble deprive me of one. Also, the people need you in charge here. I need you in charge here. With you and the advisers you have surrounded yourself with," he gestured widely to the room in general. "I know the defense of the Empire will not suffer for this decision. However, we need to speak to your Council about some technicalities."

Ben nodded. "Mother, could you ask the Councilors to join us?"

"Certainly, Prime Council. One moment please," Mother replied.

Hjoolous leaned closer to Ben and spoke quietly. "Remember one thing above all else, Ben. In this sector, you will be speaking with my voice. You will be the ultimate ruler here, with only me to worry about. No matter what you're told, or it seems you will be forced to do, you will be, in effect, the Emperor in this sector. If you do not agree with something, or something doesn't sit well with you, change it, stop it, or do whatever you feel you may need to do. You can also call and talk to me about it. Don't let anyone push you around here," Hjoolous finished as the monitors began to lite up with the arrival of the Council.

"Except you, right?" Ben asked grinning.

Hjoolous nodded, but chuckled back at him. "Except me. But I do expect you to argue with me from time to time, if for nothing else than the sport of it."

"I imagine we will argue quite a bit, Hjoolous. But no matter what, I will always be your friend," Ben replied.

Hjoolous looked him in the eyes. "If I had even a minor doubt on that Ben, this situation would have turned out very differently. You are vastly too much of a threat to the Empire to allow to become our enemy."

Ben shook his head. "I don't see how that could ever happen, Hjoolous. Our peoples are too much alike, have too much in common. As long as we respect each other's differences, there can never be a problem. As with any relationship, communications is the required element for success."

"This move will frighten a great many people, Ben. We will have to work to assuage their fears. You are now responsible for a great many more people than you can imagine. A good share of them will be rescued from the Lizards. You are going to need our help to deal with that; we are going to need your help to fight the lizards. Once the people see your strength and loyalty to them, it will be an inspiration to them. That is the goal we must attain," Hjoolous replied.

"Majesty, Prime, the Council is assembled," Mother replied.

Hjoolous turned back to the main camera. "My Lords and Ladies, we apologize for intruding on you once again, but I needed to make sure you were all aware of a technicality within the laws of the Empire. A silly thing to be sure, and one I will work to change if you wish it.

"The current political structure of the Empire does not acknowledge the title of Prime Council and a 'Councilor' is either a lawyer or a mental health professional. So, although your duties will not change because of this, you will be officially given titles and named to the nobility of Terra. Your Prime Council will be officially listed as your King."

"Uh, Majesty, Yes, I would very much like it if you could change that. I don't feel comfortable with a title like that," Ben replied.

Hjoolous shrugged. "As I said, it is a silly thing. However, the duties and responsibilities you have assumed are those of a King. To the Hyclarion court, you will be a treated as a King, no matter what we change it to," Hjoolous said. "You will also need to appoint an Ambassador to the court. Someone that can act as your liaison between the Hyclarion court and you."

"Councilor Yoshi would like to speak," Mother replied.

Ben nodded to him.

"Prime Council… Uh, Ben. When I spoke to your father before the fall, and he convinced me to join this effort. I did ask him what kind of government we would be under. I believe his answer is most appropriate here. He told me that, because of the fluidness of the situation, he was taking steps to make sure you would be the over-all leader, but he would also make it so the rest of us could advise you. He told me that while, yes, it is actually a monarchy style of government, titles and whatnot are irrelevant. The important thing was that the people were getting taken care of. It is the people that are the most important part of any government or society. Whether you are a King or a President, as long as your first priority is the people we are here to serve, then what you are called is not important. It is what you do that counts, not what you are called.

"The truth of the matter is that your office is already hereditary, since your father set the precedent. Your son or daughter will be raised in the same manner you were. I imagine we will get to know them as well as we have gotten to know your family already. When the time comes, they will take your place as our leader. It is the simplest, as well as the easiest and safest way to handle it." He shrugged. "I would say just accept the title; after all, the head ditch digger is still a digger of ditches is he not?"

The rest of the Councilors applauded Councilor Yoshi.

Ben smiled and nodded to Yoshi as the smaller man grinned back. When the applause died down, Ben looked at the different monitors. "Brothers and Sisters, whatever title we accept actually is rather unimportant right now. Our Empire is at war. Which means we are at war. As we speak, our citizens are fighting and dying for us. It is our job to bring this war to an end as quickly as we can to save their lives. To that end, His Majesty has agreed to relocate the bulk of Imperial warship production to this system and give us the ships and training we will need to begin mining and manufacturing the materiel we will need to protect our people until they can stop the beings that would kill us.

"Do not misunderstand me, now that I know and understand the Lizard mentality better, that is exactly what we, as humans are facing. The Lizards would turn us into a race of cattle used to produce food for their race." He was very serious now. "We did not ask for this war, and I damn sure don't want to fight it, nor do I want to ask our people to. But this isn't about what we want, this is about survival. It is the dawning of a new day for humanity. It will be up to us to make sure that day does not become tragic."

Ben Winston (1965 - ?) was born in Iowa and grew up in Minnesota on the family dairy farm. Upon reaching adulthood, he joined the United States Army as a communications technician. Before getting out of the military, he decided to go to school for computer electronics.
Shortly after getting out of the military, and after getting a new job with an over-seas company, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. A month after beginning the new job, he was laid off due to budget over-runs on the project he was hired for. Upon returning to the United States, he had difficulty maintaining employment because of the chronic illness.
He began writing as a form of stress release, from being home bound and not being able to work, and found he liked writing erotica. Ben wrote a trilogy called the Talosian Chronicles (Currently in rewrite to remove the graphic sex and finalized his vision of the story). The first book, Star Dancer, won awards and was nominated for many others by the online communities where it was posted.
Ben Winston returned to school for literature, after completion, he began writing professionally. Being an avid fan of science fiction he focused on this genre. He was, and still is, influenced and inspired by Gene Roddenberry, Anne McCaffery, David Weber, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury. Some of his favorite movies and TV shows are; Battlestar Galactica (both versions), Andromeda, Star Trek, Firefly, Star Wars, and many of the B-rated movies that were actually box-office bombs.