Alien Alliance (47 page)

More in touch with his crew and their
physical health, Tyrid understood. His bridge crew were making
mistakes, tired all the time, their concentration was rotten and
some couldn’t focus properly. Either their attention or their eyes!
He had had to move them around to different jobs and he was
frequently having to send them to the hospital or off duty. Some
had collapsed at their posts. Reports of sickness and crew unable
to do their jobs were coming in from all over his ship, from his
medical staff and his officers. He knew this was bad but he had
come to this meeting expecting to be told how soon he could expect
them to recover. And he had noticed the first signs in himself two
days ago.

“Stop exaggerating. There will be enough of
us to continue. Even with double the death rate,” argued
Lijfomid.

“You are not listening! Can’t you count?! It
will not be double. The only ones who are sure to survive this are
those who have already survived. Or those that had a full treatment
in the Machines. I only know of eight who have had that. They may
still catch it but they should have some resistance. They should
survive. I will check with the Okme but I suspect of the ones who
have just been treated, only those who have had a Full Treatment
will have some resistance. But there will not be enough People to
care for us. There are not enough facilities, respirators, the
vaccine does not work; we have already tried it. Without the
vaccine, the fatality rate was 30-40%. The infection rate is
already at least 45%. Calculate a fatality rate of 40% of those
45%. Nearly a quarter of us dead and another quarter too sick to
work. And who is going to look after us? But it will be worse. I
feel it. Looking at the increase in the virulence, I suspect most
of us will catch it and most of us will die. If this is the second
generation, what will happen in the fourth of fifth? If enough of
us are left alive. And who will crew the ships?

But it is not just us. I don’t understand
what is happening. The Vubicik virus also shows signs of tampering.
It is much worse than it should be. And there seems to be a huge
rate of infection there too. The virus affecting the Trydshell and
Opodskell is one of the nastiest illnesses they have. It will kill
large numbers of them. More because we cannot treat them. And
because their sanity will be in question, we have to disarm them.
They cannot fight.

The Sasgy toxin has been tampered with. The
parasites are proving very difficult to kill. We do not have enough
treatment for the toxin, nor solution to kill the parasite
producing it. We have run out. Almost all of them seem to be
infested.

The Bidifix virus is also nasty. Again, we
have run out of the solution to kill these pests. Again, the rate
of infestation is very high. High meaning almost all of them. All
the death rate data assumes full medical facilities.”

“Will you stop panicking? These illnesses
are not that severe. I have looked them up.”

Isjidakawi, who had tested positive for the
virus, lost his temper, “There are nearly 3000 just of us! There
are medical facilities for 350! That is not enough facilities even
for the sick of our Race! We are equipped for trauma not illness!
We are already running out of supplies! Most of our medical staff
are sick! Including me! Have you had a Full Machine
Treatment?!”

“No,” said a now very frightened Lijfomid
who was finally catching up with the math.

“Neither have I. We are not young. It is
hopeless. We are dead without an anti viral. Whoever is doing this
should have it. This has taken a lot of work. Years of work. A full
laboratory or more. A lot of research. I wouldn’t know how to
start. Which enemy is it? Who is doing this? Why is this attack so
encompassing? Why all the other Races as well? Who is the intended
target? I thought it was us until I calculated the fatality rate of
all the other affected Races. I don’t know for sure who the target
is now. Or why. This is so confusing.”

Tyrid by now was in shock. He didn’t pay
attention to much apart from his ship. He had had no idea that
disease was rampant in the other races. He had considered asking
for some help from them even though other races on his bridge drove
him nuts. Scrap that plan. For the first time he wondered if they
would survive this. If they could. He never expected to die like
this.

But this was the puzzle. The three looked at
each other in confusion. “How did this happen? Who is doing it?”
asked Tyrid. “An inside job?”

“I think so,” said Isjidakawi. “The
Yakkidimux are our chief suspects as they are aggressive and
numerically the largest race not affected. But they all seem as
frightened as everyone else and paranoid about the least sign of
illness. And their medical science is not that good.”

“Could they have contracted this out?” asked
Lijfomid. “And who should we surrender to?”

And there was another little problem,
unsaid, worrying them all. The identity of the Planet Attackers was
a closely guarded secret. Should this secret get out their own
people would deal most unkindly with them.

They ended the meeting with no decisions and
more confusion and despair than before. Lijfomid thought furiously.
He had to urgently reduce the risk to themselves from themselves.
He suddenly thought of the hunter/killer satellites that were still
orbiting. If someone changed the ID of a Flying Fortress, which was
very easy to do, the ship would be targeted. He had to get those
satellites down! He ordered them all recalled. Many had already
returned, out of ammunition or fuel. What else? The cleanup
satellites! They could also be used to target the ships as they
could be programmed into an intersecting orbit and ordered to
ignore ID signals. Colliding with one would cause a lot of damage.
He ordered them recalled as well. Normally these tasks were done
last.

Casually, he explained that this could and
should be done now to save time and effort later due to all the
sickness. And their job was done. This made sense to his staff so
they made no comment. Over the next several hours, the satellites
folded up and landed near the ships on the ground, or docked within
the ships still orbiting. Due to the lack of fit personnel, it
would take a few days for these to be stowed away but that could
wait and it was another hazard dealt with. To the crew this made
sense. Another job to be dealt with as and when they got around to
it. The storing away could wait.

Lijfomid was exhausted. He hadn’t worked so
hard in years. He couldn’t eat, he could barely tolerate fluids, he
felt awful. All he wanted to do was sleep. His stomaches hurt so
badly and he felt nauseous. He kept vomiting up blood. He was
frightened but this only served to make him more alert and more
cautious. He just had to survive this. He took a moment to consider
his own fate. His fortune was well diversified and well spread. His
risk taking was planned and careful. He never risked it all, he
hadn’t for decades. He would survive with enough to restart. Heck
he could retire if he really wanted to. He could hide. He had been
prepared for something like this for years. Best to get on with it
then.

He trudged back to his cabin and accessed
the carefully hidden Communication panel. Only one other person on
board had one of these panels. It had cost him a small fortune to
have it installed but it would now save him a very large fortune!
He could send a message off world. To do so was forbidden but no
one would detect this. Which was why he had installed it. He sent
off a pre-arranged signal to his wife and children. It would take a
while to get there as it would be redirected so its point of origin
could not be traced and vice versa. It helped one survive to be
paranoid. His wife would now set in place a plan rehearsed for
years. Just in case this went badly. It might. His instincts were
now screaming and they were generally right. He wondered if he
would survive. He had aliases organised; vastly expensive and
elaborate thanks to some unregretably deceased People who had tried
to cheat him. He would be physically unrecognisable if this
nonsense carried on. He chuckled at that unintended consequence. He
was going to lose a lot of weight. Pity. Weight was status for
Keulfyd and their bodies were designed to compensate. Muscles grew
largerand stronger, including the heart and other internal organs.
Added weight did not make them unhealthy. It made them
formidable.

*

Meanwhile, back among the Terrans, Mathew,
Az, Kaz, Ludmilla, Nial, Sarah, Mohammed, Bert, Kelly, Ali Nedri
and Pieter and Sally Easton were going over The Plan.

Mathew had the floor, “We have four planes.
Enough to hold all of us. Az, have you sorted out the pilots?”

“Nial and Helene pilots, Mayling and Miyuki
co-pilots, Navigators, Jolene and Akira. But all the pilots can fly
these now.”

“Right. The Cats have sorted out flat
paddocks to land in, north of the four target cities. Look for the
lights. It will be an hour or so to walk. We sort out the perimeter
of the scanners and send the four smallest children in first, with
their string. They will then drag the blow guns along the ground,
so they shouldn’t be detected, and hide. Once they are secure, the
bigger kids go in the same way.

Ensure the kids understand they must not get
caught. The blue toxin will take at least half an hour to work. The
kids must target all they can but especially the Yakkidimux and
Relogs. Radio silence. The communicators Helkmid and Kaz designed
will be detectable. Speak only in English. Translators off.
Communicate only when you are discovered. We will then attack
together. The older kids, with the stunners, are to stun all who
surrender. The red toxin is to be used exclusively by the adults
until the attack starts in earnest. Then all can switch to the red
toxin. Make sure every one understands that the toxins will kill
them. Load only with gloves. No naked skin anywhere. No gloves, no
loading. And be careful handling those balls!

It will take about 30 minutes for the blue
toxin to start to kill depending on size, vulnerability and dose or
numbers of hits. So quicker if there are multiple hits or the
Aliens are smaller. But by 15 to 30 minutes Helkmid assures me they
should be too sick to fight. We need to remain undiscovered for at
least an hour in order to get the maximum kill. Longer if possible.
We then attack. You have all been told where to lead your teams.
Try to capture as many weapons as possible. Again thank God for Az
and Kaz for their tuition in using them plus the weapons we got
from the other survivors. Ali, Nial, Mohammed and Kaz, get me those
armouries. All those weapons we got and so little ammunition that
they were useless for this. But at least there was enough ammo that
we all learnt to use them.

Helkmid thinks that if we take the cities
and say we have the anti virals, they’ll surrender. Once we get
them to land the ships, we’ll start moving the survivors to the
nearest small islands the Priskya identified and the dead to the
deeps. It will be one Hell of a job. We have less than 80 people
fit enough for that. We will get extra planes though. Make sure you
all know how to fill the tank and check the fuel gauges before you
fly the planes. You must ensure you do your pre flight checks. All
the pilots must fly. Except Kelly who will probably be needed. The
kids can go on guard duty. Kelly will slaughter me if they find out
how many are dead.

We start at 4 a.m. Get an early night. Any
questions, comments, alterations?”

There were none. The Plan had been done to
death. Everyone knew exactly what to do, where to go and what their
targets were. They were impatient to get on with it. Many thanks to
the Cats and the Priskya for their Intel.

The girls were waiting for Kaz and Az. They
went off for an early tea, then to bed. It would be a long night.
But imminent possibility of death changes one’s perspective on some
things. As Li and Az got into their bag, dressed as usual, sleep
was not on Az’s mind. Mindful of what he had overheard, Az thought
he would try taking the lead.

He kissed Li very thoroughly, then his hands
started to wander. Gently, he began to remove her clothing. He had
seen the women in their bikinis, then borrowed a bra off the
clothesline and figured out how to open it. He removed Li’s bra and
cupped her breasts in his hands. Then he removed her shorts,
discovering she was wearing a smaller pair under them. She did not
stop him but she didn’t encourage him either. Careful. He figured
she was inexperienced. This was a risk him taking the lead. If he
hurt her, forced her, or she changed her mind, this could be a
short relationship, Chosen or not. He could end up in jail. And he
didn’t want to frighten her.

He removed his shorts then pulled her on top
of him. He was still kissing her but in lots of interesting places.
But something was troubling him. He was getting no guidelines from
Li. What did she want? He stopped himself with a considerable
effort.

Li was in turmoil. Her legs were tightly
together! She wanted to, and had been expecting this, but she was
getting frightened. She had never expected all these emotions. Li
had never been kissed before Az came along. And never like this!
She generally didn’t like boys in general. They were so childish.
But this was too adult!

Sensing she seemed frightened Az cupped her
chin in his hand and tilted her head up, “Are you OK with this? Do
you want me to stop? Do you want me to go slower?”

“Stop.”

He reached over and handed her her shorts.
She quickly put them on then reached for her bra. Az grabbed it,
put it under him and said,

“I promise to behave and put my shorts on if
you’ll leave it off.”

She held out her hand, he handed it over
with a sigh. She finished dressing but she stayed with him!