Exodus: Empires at War: Book 8: Soldiers (Exodus: Empires at War.) (8 page)

The particle
beams struck, killing four of the defenders, but not getting through the shield
of the heavy beamer.  One shot from the heavy beam hit one of the troopers
in the helmet, burning through in an instant and converting the head underneath
to vapor and burned bone chips.  The second trooper fired a grenade into
the barricade, the explosion shattering part of the barrier and killing two
more of the Yugalyth.  The soldier then slid backward and out of sight,
while the heavy particle beam continued to fire down the tunnel, scoring hits
on the dead, digging runnels in the wall and floor.

The Yugalyth
stopped firing when no targets appeared for the next few moments.  The
next thing that came at them was one they didn’t have time to react to, as a
hyper velocity missile flew barely over the floor, ducked beneath the floating
dead troopers, and slammed into the heavy particle beam weapon before the
gunner could react.  The barrier blew apart, sending pieces of bodies in
every direction, and the rest of the squad of infantry overran the position and
continued on.

*    
*     *

“Captain Rykio,”
came the call on the com.  “You’ve got to come see this, sir.”

Ishuhi ran down
the tunnel, excited from the images the infantry officer was sending his
way.  The bodies had been taken down by that time, the barrier partially
cleaned up, and he hurried by on his way to the center of the lair.  He
passed more bodies on the way, Yugalyth who had tried to keep the invaders away
from the one who created them all.

And there it
was, in plain sight as he entered the large chamber.  It looked in no way
human, and not like any alien he had ever seen.  There were scores of
partial bodies thrusting out of the alien at the center, what would have been
operatives if given time to develop properly.  An entire squad of infantry
was arrayed around the creature, weapons at the ready.

Ishuhi stepped
in front of the creature, careful to stay out of reach.  He looked into
the multiple eyes of the creature, its huge mouth growling like an animal
beneath it.  The Captain had seen one of these before, one of the only
human alive to have done so.  The last he had seen had resisted until it
was incinerated by the particle beams of the commandos he had brought into the
operation.  But this one was alive, and looked to be under control.

“Do you want to
live?” he asked the creature, his eyes locked on its many orbs.

“It matters not
to me, human,” said the creature in a rasping voice, coming from a speaking
apparatus not made for such.  “The mission is all that matters.  And
the survival of our species.”

“And if we could
come to an accommodation with you?” he asked, thinking about what Fleet
Intelligence might think of it.  “Would you be willing to work with us?”

Ishuhi wasn’t
sure command would go for this, and he was pretty sure that the Emperor would
raise holy hell in the recruiting of such intrinsically evil creatures.

“I would be
willing to work with you, as long as you allowed my genome to survive. 
For my people to survive.”

The Captain was
not sure if he believed that, but if he could at least make it think he was
going to deal with it, he might be able to get it into captivity, where they
could study it.

“Can you
separate from your constructs?”

“They are my
children,” said the Yugalyth in a halting voice.  “They are not ready.”

“Can you
separate from your children before they are ready?  Or must we destroy
them in place, and cause you physical pain?”

“I can separate
from them, and they will survive, if you let them.”

“Then do so, and
we will also capture them.”

*     
*      *

NEW MOSCOW SPACE, MARCH 17, 1002.

Commander
Ariella Ben Gurian watched as they dropped the wormhole, one of two they
carried aboard the
Narwhal
, into space.  As soon as they dropped it
they lost control over the device, a small, one centimeter wide ring of
machinery holding the negative matter that kept the tiny wormhole from
collapsing completely.

“That’s our part
of it,” she said to her Exec, watching the plot that showed the wormhole, and
only because they knew where to look for it.  She studied the rest of the
plot, trying to find any evidence that they had been seen, and letting out a
half held breath when she realized that nothing had made them and that they
were still safe.

The tiny
construct turned in space, then began to accelerate as the particle beam
feeding in from the other end started accelerating it away, toward New Moscow
planet.  It boosted at thousands of gravities for about ten minutes, then
coasted most of the way to the planet, not generating any kind of graviton
signature, impossible to detect as it approached its target world.  At the
proper distance it turned in space and started its deceleration, going into a
shallow orbit while it turned again and the instruments looking through the
hole scanned the planet, looking for a landing area that met the requirement.

After ten orbits
the small device again reoriented and sent out enough particles to drop into a
reentry path.  The tiny grabber units took over as it hit the outer edge
of the atmosphere, putting out such a tiny graviton trace that it could not be
picked up against the background of the massive body of the planet.

Winds buffeted
the device, its grabbers pulling it along against the little bit of resistance
its tiny cross section generated.  The controllers back on the planet that
anchored the other end of the hole looked over the ground as it dropped below
the clouds.  They left the device in a hover for about fifteen minutes
while the tactical staff looked over the world, making their selections. 
At the end of that time they dropped it closer to the ground, flying it into
the cover of a deep woods in low rocky mountains.  The walls of the canyon
rose up on both sides, and they let the device again hover for fifteen minutes
while they scanned the area until they were satisfied that there were no
enemies, or the enemy’s devices, around.  It also found the caverns that
had been expected in that area.  Expected didn’t always mean realized, and
a feeling of relief passed among those manning the control room when they were
found.

The device
aligned itself in the canyon and started to unfold, more structure coming
through the hole and expanding the ring, until a gate a meter wide stood under
the trees.  A small probe came through the mirrored surface and slowly cruised
around the area, double checking, making sure, before anyone was put at risk.

The first man
through was an Army Ranger, an actual specialist from a Recon unit, eyes
constantly on the move.  He sent a signal through the hole, then stood
aside as the rest of his squad came through.  In minutes they had made
sure the entire woods was secured, then signaled for the rest of the company,
which followed.  Some of them stayed above ground, providing security,
while the rest of the company took shelter in the caves.  And the first
unit to invade the surface of the planet was there.

Chapter Six

If you will have a person
enslaved, the first thing you must do is convince yourself that the person is
subhuman. The second thing you have to do is convince your allies so you'll
have some help, and the third and probably unkindest cut of all is to convince
that person that he or she is subhuman and deserves it.

Maya Angelou

NEW MOSCOW, MAR 19
^TH
,
1002.

“The humans are
probing us in strength,” said the Low Admiral in charge of intelligence. 
“We believe that they are preparing for an offensive into this space.”

“How soon?”
asked Great Admiral H’rastarawaa, looking up from the holo he was studying that
showed the processing figures for the humans.  They were falling behind on
the projected finish date, and, except for just going ahead and killing them
all, and wasting the protein, there seemed to be no way to catch up.

“My source
within their empire is telling us four or five months.”

The Great
Admiral gave a head motion of understanding, pulling up a holo of the kingdom
and the region around it.  New Moscow was in the center of a globe that
reached out in a radius of just over a hundred light years, containing just
under a million stars.   A little more than five hundred of them had
been inhabited, and most had been emptied of human life by now.  There was
a hundred and fifty light years of uninhabited space between the outer border
of the New Terran Empire and New Moscow almost directly along the antispinward
direction of the arm.  There was a space of almost two hundred light years
from the nearest border of the Republic and New Moscow on an angle that cut
across the arm.  That space wasn’t totally uninhabited.  There were
several alien species who had yet to leave their systems, if not even their
home planets.  And some small human colonies made up of people who for one
reason or another wanted to be out of the jurisdiction of any of the larger
polities.  They were not in good locations for such purposes, as they
would soon be encroached upon, most probably by the Empire.

Except the
Ca’cadasans would get around to them first, if they had their way.

“Do we have any
way to interdict these probes?”

“Sometimes we
can,” said the Low Admiral.  “Often we can’t, since they cross into this
space in such numbers that the interdiction force would be swamped. 
Unless we can get some of the ships garrisoning the major systems released.”

The Great
Admiral thought about that for a moment, looking at the blinking icons that
indicated encounters with the enemy.  One of the major problems with
tracking them was that they didn’t know how many snuck through.  There was
no way they could station ships around the periphery of that globe in a dense
enough picket to pick up everything.  They could be sending a hundred
ships a day through the periphery into New Moscow space and not pick up more
than half of them.  And once they were in that space, it was again a crap
shoot to pick them up.

“I don’t want to
uncover the major systems, yet,” he told his subordinate.  “Not until we
finish processing the humans.  We’ve picked up a few ships scouting out
this system, too far out to attempt an intercept.  Which means there were
others we didn’t pick up, especially if they’re using those damned stealth
ships of theirs.”

“And when they
finally come calling?”

“By then we will
either have received reinforcements from home, or we will be long gone from
here, and the humans are welcome to the temporary occupation of a world they
are no longer extant on.”

*    
*     *

KLANG CAPITAL WORLD, MARCH 20
^TH
,
1002.

“The humans are
here,” announced the General, running into the throne room to stop before his
King, staring at the big, horned male.

King Thrashanja
of the Klang looked up, his fierce eyes staring from out of his mane wreathed
face.  The monarch wished he could turn his anger against the humans, to
drive them from his world.  If that were possible he would have already
done it, before the human force had destroyed the combined warlords’ fleet that
had attempted to defend their monarch’s capital.  Now their cruisers and
raiders were so much drifting debris and plasma, as the purpose built warships
of the enemy had pounded them from long range.

And where were
their allies while this was happening?  The Ca’cadasans had promised the
Klang undying friendship and loyalty, and had reneged on every promise they had
made.  It was just like a carnivore to do such, to the mind of the king of
fierce herbivores.

“They are on the
surface?” he asked in his rumbling voice.

“They are at the
entrance of the palace, my Lord,” said the General, going to one knee. 
“The guards are prepared to resist with their lives, if you so order it.”

The Monarch
lowered his head and shook his horns from side to side, negating the suggestion
of the officer.  He didn’t see what good it would do to resist, except to
get even more males killed, when the damned war had already killed over half of
the adults of that gender.  Some of the clans had sustained almost total
losses of their adult males, while many others were reduced to a couple score
of breeding age.  Their people would be weak for most of a generation, and
the memory of this defeat would continue through the ages.

“Do not attempt
to stop them,” he told the General.

“Then I cannot
guarantee your safety, your Majesty.”

“No one can
guarantee my safety,” said the King with a grin that held no humor.  
“But you can guarantee your own deaths, and that will serve no one.  No,
let them in, and we will see what they do.”

The General
saluted and turned, marching with heavy steps from the throne room.  The
King sat there on his throne, looking at the entrance the male had left
through, waiting for something very different to come back.  He wondered
if he would even be alive at the end of the next hour.  The humans weren’t
exceptionally cruel, not like some species.  But they could be ruthless,
and his people, under the command of his warlords, had done great harm to their
empire.

The sound of
metallic boots hitting the stone came to his ears, a number of them marching in
unison, coming closer by the second.  Moments later the first of the
humans appeared, slightly larger than normal in their medium combat armor,
which still made them smaller than a full grown male of the Klang.  But
the King knew what kind of capabilities those combat suits, much more advanced
than any his own people used, possessed.  A human in one of those suits
could kill a dozen fierce males in hand to hand combat, though they really
wouldn’t need to do that with the weapons they carried holstered at their
sides.

Three of the
humans in the medium suits that were worn by their Fleet personnel came through
the door before the first pair of Marines advanced into the room, their suits
towering over the other humans, a meter and a half tall, about the size of a
male, though much stouter.  Those warriors carried rifles much the size of
what one his warriors would have deployed with, but they were much more
powerful, particle beams that could have penetrated multiple armored Klang with
a shot.  Another pair followed the first, then another, until a full squad
of fourteen was marching behind the Fleet officers.  The last being to
enter was one that caused the King to widen his eyes as he stared at the
massive creature.  Walking on four legs, with another set of limbs coming
from the torso that towered over the humans, the huge creature was familiar to
the King, who had seen pictures of the Phlistarans from battlefields across his
kingdom.

“King
Thrashanja,” said one of the officers through a suit speaker that translated
her speech into perfect High Klang.  “I am Captain Marsha Gilligan, the
Admiral’s flag staff captain.”

The King nodded toward
the female, remembering that both genders of humans were equal in almost every
way.  The men were stronger, the women quicker, and they counted both
among their warriors.

“What is to be
my fate, Captain?”

“That is up to
you, your Majesty.  Tell all of your warriors to lay down their arms, and
we will retain you as the titular king in our occupation government.”

“I cannot
promise that every male in my kingdom will obey such an order.  Some are
under oath to other lords, who, though they have given their fealty to me, may
have other ideas.”

“But you can
give the order, and those who obey will survive to carry on their line. 
While those who don’t will be destroyed.”

“And my people?”

“We will occupy
you at first, for a generation or two, until we know that we can trust you.”

“Hard terms for
my people to accept,” said the King.  “We are a proud folk, and not so
willing to bend our necks to outside conquerors.”

“We cannot trust
your people,” said the Captain, raising her face plate and looking at the King
with cold blue eyes.  “Our Emperor is not willing to trust your
people.  So we will occupy your people.  That is his order, and the
Fleet is willing to do whatever is necessary to implement his command.  If
we can do that with minimal bloodshed, then we will do it that way.  If we
have to occupy planets stinking from the rotting bodies of your people, we will
do that as well.”

“And if I order
my soldiers to attack you right here and now?”

“That would be a
mistake, wouldn’t it, Sergeant Major.”

The Phlistaran
stepped forward, his faceplate retracting and showing the fearsome visage of a
supreme predator, something to strike fear into the strongest herbivore. 
“I am normally a peaceful being,” rumbled the terrifying creature in his deep
voice, showing his alarming teeth as his lips moved.  “But I will fill
this room with blood if you even attempt to threaten my Captain again.”

The King
shivered as he listened to the massive Marine, believing every word he
said.  He could imagine this creature sans armor tearing through a score
of his warriors.  With the advanced armor he carried on his form, he would
have had no trouble defeating most of the palace guard.  And there were a
thousand more Marines within five minute call of the palace.

“I will order my
people to stand down, if you give me your word that they will not be
harmed.  And that includes slave labor, or any kind of incarceration.”

“What I can
promise is that we will only detain your warriors, and for the time necessary
to make sure they are not a threat.  Otherwise, they will not be harmed,
physically or mentally.  On that you have the word of my Emperor.”

The King thought
for a moment, knowing that he had little choice, but still loath to give up so
easily.  This Emperor had a reputation as a warrior, and, if word was to
be believed, honesty in his dealings with aliens.  He was not known for
weakness, and would probably be a harsh master if that proved necessary. 
Which meant it was up to Thrashanja to make sure it didn’t prove necessary.

“Call for my
scribe,” the King ordered, standing from his throne.  “I will issue the
order.”  He looked down at the Captain.  “And what is to happen to
me?”

“You will stay
in the palace as both figurehead and hostage, your Majesty.  Along with
your females and children.  And, hopefully, one of your sons will again
rule an independent kingdom, one which is allied to our Empire.”

First, they had
to defeat the Ca’cadasans, which Thrashanja knew would not be an easy task, and
might even prove beyond the humans.  But after the way those aliens had
treated his people, he hoped to see the humans triumphant over them.

*    
*     *

FENRI EMPIRE CAPITAL WORLD, MAR
21, 1002.

“Why can you not
stop the humans?” whined the Supreme Emperor Jrastrina Jastrinae of the Fenri
Empire.  “They are halfway to the capital, and you have not even been able
to slow them.”

“Oh Supreme One,
oh blessed of the gods, who is nearly a god himself, the humans confound us at
every turn,” said the Supreme Fleet Leader Kalisana Jastrinae, himself a member
of the Imperial family, as were all Fenri is high leadership positions
throughout the Empire.  Kalisana didn’t believe any of the song about the
Emperor being blessed of the Gods, or being a near god himself.  Neither
did the Emperor, truth be told, as was true for most of the adults of the
species.  They followed the forms because they were the forms, and because
it helped to keep a sense of awe in the slaves of the Empire, without which the
polity could not function.  “Their mighty fleets overwhelm us at every
encounter, and their masterful warriors route ours in every ground battle.
 Our warriors are doing their best to just slow them as much as they can.”

The Emperor
stared at the Supreme Fleet Leader for a moment, causing that worthy anxiety
that he might be asked to take his own life, in the manner of his people’s
warriors when faced with failure.  He knew the Emperor knew as he did that
the New Terran Empire outclassed them in tech and the competence of their
warriors, as well as possessing superior numbers.  The Fenri prided
themselves on their martial ability, but when it came down to it, the humans
were just better, and the aliens in their service had picked up much from the
primates.  If anyone was to blame, it was the Ca’cadasans, who had tricked
them into attacking the humans after promising the Fenri maximum support, which
had never materialized.  At least when they had kept the humans busy on
another front the Fenri had not had to face the enemy in such numbers. 
Now that the Ca’cadasans had been defeated on their primary front, more human
ships had been assigned to their invasion force, and more of their allies had
appeared in Fenri space as well.