Human Chronicles Part 2 Book 3: A Galaxy to Conquer (25 page)

“I have another offer, Lord Wydor,” Nomar said as he turned his gaze from the former Langril and back to Wydor.

“I feel there is very little left for us to talk about, Nomar,” Wydor said. “You are only delaying the inevitable.”

“This new offer is one extremely hard for me to utter, and yet I do it for the good of the Kracori race—”

“We do not care about the good of the Kracori race,” Command-Overlord Enulic said.

Nomar seemed unfazed by the interruption. “Elder Wydor, as the Langril of the Kracori race, I hereby and humbly offer you the surrender of the Kracori forces to you and the Juirean fleet.”

Wydor couldn’t hide his shock. This was the last thing he had expected to hear from the mouth of the Kracori. He looked to Enulic, who was equally stunned.

“I must ask that you to repeat your last statement,” Wydor commanded.

“I offer the surrender of the Kracori to the Juireans.”

“Is this some kind of delaying tactic, one to throw us off guard while allowing additional forces to be called up for a more effective defense against the Humans?”

“I admit that this action is designed primarily as a deterrent to the Human invasion, yet I also do it to preserve the Kracori race. I feel it better to live as slaves under Juirean rule than to suffer a complete annihilation of my race.”

“And what if I accept your surrender, and then destroy Elision anyway? It would only be an equitable trade for what you—and Langril Daninf—did to Juir.” Wydor pushed back his chair and smiled at his Command-Overlord. “Yes, I like that idea best. The Blood Fleet will survive, and the Kracori will not. We can accomplish our mission, and without the help of the Humans. Yes, Langril Nomar, I accept your surrender!”

“Lord Wydor, I do not offer our surrender just so you can destroy us. I offer it as a form of annexation. The Kracori are superior warriors and can serve the Expansion well. We could help supplement your forces as you go about reclaiming the mantel of the Expansion.”

“Calm yourself, Nomar,” Wydor said with humor in his voice. “If I intended to destroy Elision after your surrender, I would not reveal such to you in advance. Your only warning would come when Juirean warcraft block out your sun and rain fire down upon the surface.”

The humor had faded from his tone, and he looked steely-eyed at the Kracori. “This is a serious proposal you bring to me. How will your forces react to such once they learn of it?”

“They will resist—at first. Yet we are all aware of the nearing Human fleet. The population can be shown that it has no choice if the Kracori are to survive.”

“So you would be willing to submit to the complete abdication of your planet and race to Juirean will? And what if Juirean will is that the Kracori are to be exterminated?”

“We will offer reparations—onerous and generous—all we can offer to make amends for what we did to the Juirean people, as we participated in the manipulations of the Klin against Juir—”

“Yes, the Klin!” Wydor interrupted. “You have allied with the Klin, both against us and against the Humans, and as recently as only a few months ago.” Wydor looked to Enulic again. “I will accept your offer ... on one condition.”

“And what is that, Lord Wydor?”

“That you surrender the Klin to us. Although the Kracori hold a special place in the hearts of all Juireans, it is the Klin who keep our offspring awake at night with terrible nightmares. Give us the Klin and I will spare your world.”

Wydor saw the tension on the face of the Kracori. That did not bode well for the growing excitement in Wydor’s gut. Destroying the Klin, after four thousand years of trying, would be even a greater accomplishment than destroying the Kracori.

“Is there a problem with my counteroffer? The Klin have done nothing but cause problems for the Kracori. You owe them no allegiance.”

“I realize that, Lord Wydor, however I must be honest with you. The Kracori and Klin do not share good relations at this time, not after the failed attack upon Earth.”

“Then allowing us to destroy them should be without question.”

“That is not the issue. We do not know where they are.”

“How can that be? You are allies—have been allies—for hundreds of years.”

“At one time the Klin resided on our sister world, yet no longer. However, Lord Wydor, if you accept our annexation—”

“—Surrender.”

“Yes, surrender, then the Kracori will do all we can to help you in your quest for the Klin. With our intimate knowledge of their past movements and involvements, we could be a valuable asset in your search. The Kracori now consider the Klin our enemy, just as you do.”

“This is a very interesting proposal, Langril Nomar.”

“And what of the Humans?” Command-Overlord Enulic interjected, interrupting his Elder.

‘Yes, what about the Humans, Nomar?” Wydor echoed, the humor returning to his voice.

“It is the belief of our analysts that the Humans are fully expecting to find both our fleets greatly damaged upon their arrival. They will see us as easy targets, both the Kracori and the Juireans. With our alliance—call it as you will—they will arrive to face a combined force of Kracori, Juirean and Nebula defenders. They will be crushed.”

“I do like the sound of that,” Wydor said. He knew if the Human fleet was destroyed, then the path to Earth would be clear. And with a fully-intact Blood Fleet, his dream of razing Earth would become a reality.

The Juirean Council Elder remained quiet for several moments as he ran the various scenarios through his mind. In one fell swoop, he could conquer the Kracori, making them subjects—no servants—of the Juirean Expansion. And yet it went deeper still. His people could receive needed reparations, along with a supplemental military force comprised of beings physically-superior to all other races in the galaxy—except for the Humans. And yet this offer would also allow Wydor the opportunity to turn the Humans into a non-factor in galactic affairs.

When this meeting began Wydor could not have imagined a more advantageous outcome for Juir or himself. And all the while he was accepting the unconditional surrender of the race of beings that had so viciously ravaged the planet Juir, his beloved homeworld was in the process of being repatriated. In a few short weeks, Wydor bin Sulic, Elder of the Juirean race, could be standing on the surface of Juir once again, victorious in all arenas.

“Langril Nomar Polimic, you have just saved your race from extinction.”

Wydor saw the immense relief flow through both Kracori. Now it was time for him to voice his final condition.

“However, there is one more thing I must ask of you before final acceptance.”

“Anything Lord Wydor,” Nomar announced before hearing the new terms.

Wydor turned his intense glare on Daninf. “The former-Langril will be turned over to me, to pay for the war crimes committed under his reign. It was by his order that Juir was ransacked. And it was also by his order that former Elder Hydon Ra Un was murdered. Accept this final condition ... or else we meet on the battlefield and the process that will lead to the extinction of the Kracori will be put in motion.”

Wydor reveled in the shock and distress now painted on Daninf’s face. He looked panicked. He turned to Nomar Polimic. “Nomar, is there another way?”

“When we embarked for the Juirean fleet, we both accepted the possibility that we may not live beyond this meeting. You must realize that I have no option but to accept Lord Wydor’s terms. I am sorry.”

The shoulders of the old Kracori slumped and his eyes turned blank and emotionless.

“Be comforted, Langril Daninf,” Wydor began, “that your sacrifice will save your race. Most creatures would be proud of this opportunity and accept it without reservation.”

“I agree, Lord Wydor. Even then, the reality is not easy to accept.”

“I am sparing your entire race; however someone must be held accountable for the atrocities the Kracori have committed against the Juireans. Your death will represent the symbolic death of billions.”

“I accept,” Nomar Polimic said softly.

“Good!” Wydor now stood, a new vitality flowing within his body. “Lord Enulic will return the current Langril to his ship, and then he will move the fleet to an obscure region of the Dysion Void to await the arrival of the Humans. I would suggest, Nomar, that you use the Nebula defenders to help stage a convincing display for them. They will come expecting to see a shattered fleet. They must enter the trap unsuspecting, and then we will strike—the combined forces of the Juireans and the Kracori will strike. The Humans will not stand a chance.”

Chapter 34

“W
elcome aboard, Admiral,” Jacob Nash said warmly, grasping the outstretched hand of Andy Tobias.

“Glad to be here. The quarters on the
Pegasus
were getting kinda crowded, and alien body odor was reaching critical mass.”

“I can imagine. So your alien friends will be okay with hanging out aboard her by themselves? I understand there’s a little tension between a couple of them?”

“They’ll be fine. The gravity is too strong for them here, and the tension is mainly between the Formilian and the Tel’oran.”

“The Formilian is that good-looking dude, right?”

“There’s a whole goddamn planet of them, Jake. And the women—holy crap! But enough of that; did you get the package?”

Nash broke away from the greeting and moved to the beverage processing center in the Fleet Commander’s away cabin. “Sure did. It’s amazing, but that’s the first Kracori prisoner we’ve ever had.” And then he chuckled. “That Sherri Valentine is one tough cookie; she really messed up that dude.”

“We owe our lives to her. But she did what she had to do.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Andy. I think she’d make one heluva good SEAL–tenacious, courageous and fearless to a fault.”

“Just be glad she’s on our side.” Tobias took the offered drink and downed half of it in one gulp. “Oh, how I have missed you, my little friend,” he said to the half-empty glass.

“So it’s been a tough few months for you? I was concerned when I heard that an old geezer like you had hitched a ride with Adam Cain. He always seems to end up smack dab in the middle of some big-time shit.”

Andy Tobias laughed. “That’s putting it mildly. But it looks like we may be on the downhill slide. You guys got here ahead of schedule, didn’t you?”

“The refit to the Cain Drives—see what I mean, even our new engines are named after him! The refit took less time. I’d say we’re a good two months ahead of schedule.”

“Couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Fleet Admiral Jacob Nash suddenly turned serious. “Yeah, let’s get down to brass-tacks, Andy.” Nash moved behind his desk and took out a notepad and pen. Tobias sat in a chair on the other side of the desk and finished his drink. “So the huge spaceships we’re following belong to the Klin? We originally thought they were some secret weapon that the Kracori were waiting to spring on us or the Juireans.”

“They may still be. The breakaway group is heading straight for Elision.”

“Yeah, and each of those ships is like a small Deathstar. You would think they would have turned on us by now.”

“I was talking to Cain about that and it’s his opinion that the Klin ships don’t carry much firepower. They’ve never had to; others have done the dirty work for them.”

“So what are they doing here?”

“Camping out, under the protection of the Kracori, I would imagine. Big colony ships where most—if not all—of their population resides. Remember, both races have warrants out on them. Only makes sense that they would gravitate to one another. And they did just gang up on us for that f-ing nuke attack on Earth.”

Nash made some notes and then shook his head. “This has actually screwed up some of our planning, Andy. We were counting on slipping into the Void unseen and then hanging out until the Juireans and the Kracori slugged it out. Not sure how the knowledge of our presence here is going to affect that battle.”

“Any updated intel yet?”

“Not yet. The scouts are about a day out from reaching the theater of operations.”

“If the Kracori leader’s timetable was followed, as Cain related, the Juireans should already be hurting pretty badly. And I don’t care what that Nomar character said, the Kracori have to suffer major casualties as well.”

“In a worst case scenario we’ll face a near-full strength Kracori force. We’re prepared for that. It’s this surprise element of the Klin that has me worried. It wouldn’t take much to tip the battle one way or the other.”

“I suppose the one ace we have up our sleeve is the Cain Drive.”

“In more ways than one, Andy,” Nash said with a serious look on his face.

“How’s that, Admiral?”

“If things get dicey, we can sure beat a quick retreat.”