AMP Private War (22 page)

George’s bio-lab continued to study the Torrian drug that controlled the Milgari. Progress had been made on the understanding of how it worked although we still didn't know why. That barrier would need to be overcome before an antidote could be designed and tested. We maintained a small group of Milgari prisoners for that purpose as we waited for a breakthrough.

Frig now had the data from the derelict ship to research. There were no blue-prints or documents detailing the wormhole drive other than diagrams for maintenance. Frig hoped that with time we might be able to reverse engineer what we had seen and used. A drive that could transport ships instantly to a different point in the galaxy would be a game changer in the fight with the Torrians and Milgari. It could be used to place the Grid far away from danger while our fleets took down the Torrian Empire.

In the months that followed our return, the Milgari pulled their ships back deep into the Pollus sector. There had been several skirmishes with the Dakar and their automated ships. The borders of the Torrian Empire were no longer secure and their resources were running thin.

The loss of Tantric ore had been a critical blow to their war effort. After the incident with the Durian they had been unable to purchase Tantric from any of the surrounding empires. It was the first time since we had been made aware of Admiral Zimmerman's stealth fleet that I did not feel directly threatened by the Milgari. It was the first time I felt I had time to rest.

As my energies turned towards attempting to manage the small but growing nation of Defiant, I received a comm note from Doris Jenkins on the Grid. She had word of Ashley Elizabeth and her activities. She was frequently off the Grid, visiting a number of planets and stations.

Doris had arranged for a tail on several of the trips and reported that Ashley had brief meetings with a number of diplomats and military officers from other governments. On several occasions she had been seen conversing with known SCore agents on the Grid. There was a high possibility that she was directly on their payroll or at a minimum was doing leg work for them.

The SCore connection suddenly had me wondering if she had come to me initially because she was snooping around. It was a blow to my ego to think that I might have only been a pawn in her game of intel. I sent a note back to Doris, thanking her for her hard work and asking her to keep digging. If Ashley Elizabeth was indeed a SCore agent then perhaps one day I would be able to put that connection to use.

After three months of living without the threat of death all 119,234 of the Teldaki had decided to stay and join our cause. They were a hardworking and friendly species and I was happy to add them all to our citizenry. I reinforced the idea with them that they were free citizens and as such they were free to leave at any time, unless of course that time was during hostilities while on military duty. Desertion from a force that was voluntary could lead to a Court Marshall with the possibility of execution. No military would survive or be effective if desertion was left unpunished.

Raiders had been sent to Barithia and the reports coming back told of a Milgari fleet that was half its earlier size. The growing skirmishes with the Dakar had moved many of their ships to border outposts. The mining assets required protection while the Torrians decided what their next move would be. I hoped it was war with the Dakar, giving my own efforts time to mature and grow.

I stood at my office window, once again looking down at the cloud covered world of Jarhead. The rains were coming down non-stop and deep valleys had begun to fill. The ice freighters would be busy for another two years before the water levels would reach the designated height. Two years following that time the rains would stabilize and our terraforming of the land could begin.

I looked forward to life on our planet, a world where men were free to pursue their dreams and a world where children grew up in peace instead of always on the run. We had much too still do to achieve that dream. But I had hopes that our private war had sped us along on the way.

~~~

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A year had passed since the Milgari pullback, they could now only be found deep within the Pollus sector. During that time George had purchased five new automated construction docks. We were turning out 30 Raiders and four troop transports a month. A second Milgari mining planet had been attacked and another 100,000 slaves, the Bollites, had been liberated.

Our stockpile of credits continued to grow along with captured freighters from the Milgari. The Colonel and his men were keeping the Milgari busy using their hit and run tactics with the new Raiders. An additional nine captured frigates had been added to his fleet which now totaled out at 108 ships.

I maintained the Defender fleet for special missions. Gy had worked his magic and increased the number of Tantric layers of armor to 26. It was a needed update as the Milgari cannon's power output had increased by 50%. Several Defenders had escaped battle while being on the verge of a hull breach. I wondered how long it would be before more our advantages were overtaken.

The Milgari had not seen that type of a power increase in more than three hundred years. It had come through the capture of ships from a star system that was overrun during their pursuit of the Grid. We suspected the new increase had come from the Durians. They continued to actively trade with the Milgari. I couldn't help but wonder if the Durians were secretly allied with Torrus. Frig had countered that idea with the more likely scenario of the Durians playing both sides of the war, turning a large profit by selling to each party.

We had taken the Swift and the Hammer deep into the Pollus sector for reconnaissance of the Torrian home world.

Frig spoke, "Sir, we have been monitoring the airwaves for days and have heard nothing but drivel. The Torrian citizens are about the most uninteresting lot in the galaxy. They are consumed with their appearance to others; social status is their most valued possession."

I placed my feet up on the left hand console as I listened to a conversation between two of the royals.

"Diamond studded boots? Such a commoner thing to do. I would expect as much out of him. He wore the same boots to the last commitment dedication ceremony. And he had that smirk on his face as if he was proud of them. Those have not been in style since the House of Pilnar was in power more than 800 years ago."

I turned towards Frig, "I know what you mean. We have been here for two weeks. Their war with the Dakar is not going overly well and yet their focus is on diamond studded boots. If the Doc ever figures out the cure to that drug they will be wishing they had Tantric boots."

As we continued to listen and watch there was suddenly an immense explosion on the planet's surface. The city of Tunnit, along with the House of Tunnias and all of its descendants, followers and close friends had been wiped from the face of Torrus. The immense fireball was in the shape of a mushroom cloud, a telltale sign of a fission explosion, but our sensors had no readings of radioactive material.

The blast created a crater 1,500 meters deep in the center that went outward for 12 kilometers in each direction. The concussion wave that followed leveled everything within 50 kilometers of the detonation point. My next thought was that it was time for a change of plans.

I pressed the comm button, "Hammer, listen up. I think we may want to move back from this system for a while as it may get hot around here. A direct attack on a Royal family will light some fires under somebody about raising their home defense. We also need to go back over our sensor logs and see if we missed anything unusual being transported into this sector. Might be to our advantage to know who was responsible for that blast."

As we turned our Defenders to move out to a safer position we were confronted with a new threat. A Dakar warship was suddenly visible on our monitors. There was no indication of its prior arrival. Before we could react we were fired upon with multiple shots taking our armor layers down to near zero.

A hail came over the comm, "You are now guests of the Dakari Expansion. Any attempt to flee will be met with your destruction. Power down your generators or meet your end. You have 10 seconds to comply."

I pulled the Hammer up on a private channel, "Set your destruct to four hours and then power down as they say. Those circuits and the weapon associated with them are shielded and will not be detected by their sensors. It looks like we now have four hours to figure this out."

The Dakar warship was much taller than wide. With its dark exterior superstructure it had the appearance of a giant black fish with a scorpion tail. Arrays of antennae covered each side with evidence of numerous ion cannon turrets that could be turned in any direction. The size of the ship was similar to a cruiser making our Defenders appear tiny in comparison. Moments later we were being pulled aboard.

Once inside the docking bay of the Dakar vessel Frig checked the atmosphere. "It is breathable Sir. I would suggest we exit with our helmets attached just in case. If they decide to vent the air in here we would be dead in seconds without them."

As I stood up and looked at the cargo door of the Swift I decided against it. "Forget the helmets. They said we were guests; let's act as though that is what we are. Before we step out of here though, how about setting up a little program that will power up those generators and start to blasting the inside of this place if you should feel the need for that to happen. Think of it as a safety mechanism for the self-destruct."

Frig spun around in his chair and typed feverishly at his keyboard. 49 seconds after he had begun his application was up and running. An addition of a small charge well to our computer systems saw to it that they could achieve an immediate boot up. With the charge well for the weapons also ready to use the Swift could become deadly to the Dakari ship with the press of a button.

When the cargo door of the Swift opened a small, square, gray robotic assistant was waiting for us. "Guests of the Dakar, please follow me."

We were escorted to a room where a bench seat lined the wall. "Please wait here, you will be attended to shortly."

The gray box then went silent. I sat on the bench as Frig walked around the room. Several minutes passed before the door to the room opened. A tall thin yellow creature entered.

I assumed it to be a Dakar. "You are of the Human race. I do not have record of the green one. Why were you spying on our world?"

I looked at Frig before speaking, "My friend here is a Gambit. His world was overrun by the Torrians too. If you know that I am Human then you know why I am here. We are at war with the Milgari and the Torrians just as you are. For you this war is recent, for us it has gone on for a 1,000 years. We are here gathering knowledge with the hope that we can somehow bring this war to an end."

I continued, "My name is Grange, Don Grange. My friend here is called Frig. Who is it that we have the pleasure of speaking with?"

The yellow alien stared for several seconds. "My name is Lunge. This is my ship, the Paswari. I am curious Don Grange. You have been out maneuvered, outwitted and outgunned. You are seated on a warship of another species with no defense and yet you seem to be calm. It is an unusual reaction."

I nodded my head and spoke, "The way I look at it, we are of value to you. Not as prisoners or enemies, but as allies. We have a common enemy in the Torrians and Milgari. Perhaps our discussions should be ones of cooperation about how we remove the evil species from our lives. You are the first of the Dakar that we Humans have met. And if I were you I would be asking myself this. If Humans are calm and collected under these circumstances, would they make for an ally that could be counted upon or for one that could not be trusted?"

Lunge looked at Frig for several seconds. "And what of the Gambit? What does he think of this?"

Frig sat on the bench with his hands to either side. "I think the Humans are going to win this war. And for those who are allied with them, they will be the beneficiaries of any victory. The Humans will survive. The others in this sector may not."

Lunge nodded, "Spoken with confidence. But I do have another question for you Don Grange. If you believe it is in our best interest to cooperate then please explain the three hour and twenty-two minute self-destruct timer that is running on your ship? That does not speak of cooperation."

I leaned forward, "You did fire on our ship. We offered no threat and yet we are sitting here in this room on your ship. Guests are not taken by force, they are offered an invitation."

The Dakar replied, "If we had offered an invitation you would have accepted? Not knowing who we were or our intentions?"

I leaned back on the wall. "We know who you are. And I am pretty sure we also know your intentions. You want your home world back and the Milgari and Torrians gone, preferably dead, but gone just the same. If those are your intentions and if there would be interest in discussion of cooperation, I would suggest a show of that cooperative spirit by allowing my other colleagues to take our ships and go. I will remain with you as a liaison for the Humans."

The Dakar thought for several seconds before he replied, "You are unusual Don Grange, I'm not sure yet if I like the fact that you do not feel threatened. If you Humans are capable of defeating the Torrians then perhaps we can discuss this further. I accept your offer Mr. Grange. You will be my guest as we discuss our options."

The Dakar waved his hand and the assistant turned for the door, "Green guest, please follow me to your vessel."

Frig rose with a concerned look on his face. I gestured towards the door, "Go, get the ships back and get them repaired. If anyone wants to know where I am then tell them I am a guest of the Dakar. Mr. Lunge and I are having discussions of cooperation."

The Swift and the Hammer left supplies of food and soon departed. Lunge invited me up to his bridge as we sped off towards an unknown Dakari base. The bridge on the Paswari was dimly lit; the room itself was small for a bridge, measuring ten meters by ten meters.

I spoke, "Where is the rest of your crew Mr. Lunge?"

The alien settled in his chair in front an extensive array of controls and displays. "I am the crew Mr. Grange. And the name is Feta, Feta Lunge. Our ships are largely autonomous. I am here merely for situations such as that which just came about. Had it been up to the computer I am sure you would not be treated kindly, if you had survived the initial encounter at all."

I replied, "It would have been a loss for the Dakar had that happened."

Feta nodded, "This vessel is largely autonomous due to the level of its artificial intelligence. Much as a child is born and raised so are our computer cores. Paswari is the name of the core on this ship. You may speak to her at any time. Just keep in mind that with things that we may interpret as being a gray area she only sees black and white. Her reasoning is sound, but limited."

Feta continued, "If you would like to sit you may make use of the bench. My assistant, Passi, is constructing a chair for you as we speak, it should be operational shortly. We are proceeding to a forward base where I will place your request for cooperation up for discussion. If approved, you will be taken to another larger base where the process will be repeated. I would suspect, if our military staff is interested, that you may be sent all the way to Regents Tower, the location where any final decision would be made."

The Dakar crossed his arms, "I must warn you that the highest security precautions will be taken during this process. If at any time those making the decision have no interest in an agreement of any kind you may be returned to your people or you may be executed. As I said, our security is our highest priority. Since this process has already begun, your fate will lie with the chain of inquirers. I would advise that you make your best effort to impress them."

I discussed the war with Lunge. He was hesitant to answer my questions until I told of the Milgari history with the Grid. I chose to hold on to the fact that the Milgari were savagely loyal to the Torrians due to a drug. I had a suspicion that any other species with that knowledge might feel the temptation to use the same tactic to make the Milgari work for them. The Milgari changing allegiances to someone else was not my idea of a good solution. A cure needed to be found so that the Milgari would one day be free.

When questioned about the war with the Torrians, Lunge finally opened up. Their empire, which was largely at peace, spanned more than 150 star systems. The Milgari had rushed in and taken the home world and the surrounding systems before reinforcements could be sent. The remaining Dakari politicians then negotiated a peace accord with the Torrians where they would each refrain from attacking the other’s planets.

Other than border skirmishes that truce had held for the 12 years the Torrians had occupied their world. During that decade the Dakari had waited patiently while they built up their forces. The recent sign of weakness by their foe was used as the trigger to escalate hostilities. The Dakari were getting bold with their military power, the explosion on the planet was only the first of many planned.