Riss Series 4: The Riss Accession (10 page)

Salazan and Nelem entered just as I sat.
All the individual guards remained in the hallway, except for Terril and two
Scorpions.

"Where are we being taken?" Salazan
asked. He seemed more subdued today.

"We are on our way to Fools Landing
and should arrive in two days. There, you may tour the
Medusa
and one of their Light cruisers, and I will answer any
questions you have. After that, you are free to leave, and I will take you
anywhere you want."

"Admiral Wattson, we have much to
discuss. I am convinced the threat is real, and I'm interested in forming an
alliance with the SAS, and JPU if they are interested. If not, then with the
SAS and their Riss allies." Zhu said.

"I'm willing to discuss an alliance
with the UFN and the SAS," Salazan said.

* * *

For the next two days, the group met
several times each day. Much time was spent discussing what we knew about the
Aliens and the size of their forces as they found, quarantined, and occupied a
system. When they moved on to trying to determine the most likely spread of the
Aliens within the JPU, SAS, and UFN, I had Commander Iglis included in the
discussions. Afterward, they attempted to extrapolate the size of the Aliens’
forces for each potentially vulnerable system, based upon its size and defensive
strength. Hayjar had provided another information point, since it was the first
military base attacked. They decided a scout had visited prior to the delegation’s
arrival, and the force they encountered was the initial quarantine force.

"If you knew a scout ship was in
system and where it was, why didn't you destroy it? It will have gathered valuable
information about all our cruisers," Wattson asked, looking angry.
"The
Medusas
may have assumed
the scout would report the action. In that case, the Aliens still wouldn't have
knowledge of our capability."

"Surprise is our best
defense," I said, repressing a smile at everyone's open-mouth reaction.
"Based on our performance at Hayjar, they will assume we will be easy to
defeat. Had we destroyed all of their Light cruisers or taken out one of their
Medusas
, I would have destroyed the
scout."

Salazan glared at me but said nothing.

Zhu nodded agreement.

"Perhaps you're right, Reese. Based
upon what happened, it’s obvious they didn't need a third
Medusa
. That may well influence their future decisions to our
benefit."

* * *

We arrived at Fools Landing the next day
and spent three full days touring the
Medusa
and one of the Light cruisers that was too heavily damaged to be worth towing
back to Freeland. The first day, I accompanied the group, since I had never
been on a
Medusa
. Pavao had been the
one to examine it while I ensured the cruisers were nonfunctional. The second
and third days, I stayed on the
Mnemosyne
.

"Wattson and Stenberg weren't too
happy you insisted on Scorpion guards for them," Terril said while she,
Damaass, and I sat drinking kaffa in the privacy of my office.

"Riss ship, Riss rules," I
said, grinning.

"Wattson could order Seng to take
over the ship. He… and I would have to obey."

"As you should, Terril. At least we
would be together."

"What do you mean?"

"Who would fly the
Mnemosyne
to a port?" I asked. Damaass roared with laughter.

"This is a Riss ship which requires
knowledge of Symath. Who on board is capable of making Navigational
computations? The Army? Shark pilots? Intel? And what would happen on Freeland
with Wattson and
Leader
Reese
gone?"

Damaass took a sip of kaffa.
"Terrible stuff, this kaffa. What’s next, Leader?"

"I don't know. Salazan is a
problem. He believes in overwhelming force, people following orders to the
letter, and being supreme leader. Wattson is a skilled tactician,
but
his senior
officers will limit his effectiveness if he can't control them. Zhu may be even
better based on what I've observed. Of course, I don't know the extent of his
control over his
senior
officers."

"That leaves you,
dybbuk
."
Damaass actually looked serious.

I laughed.

Terril choked, spitting out the kaffa
she had just sipped.

"Even if I were the right person,
which I'm not, there is too much prejudice against the Riss. Too many consider
the Riss aliens and not trustworthy. All I know is that the fate of the human
race may well depend on who emerges as the leader." I had many concerns.

"What about the Riss? If they don't
trust the Riss or the Riss doesn't trust them, then what?" Terril asked.

"That is a potential problem.
Consider Damaass. Without Plimson's unconditional support, he wouldn't be a
Riss-human. Neither Wattson nor Stenberg would have supported our agreement.
Without that agreement, we wouldn't have a third functional Riss cruiser now or
in the foreseeable future, and never a fourth. And what about Freeland and the
clans, who are crucial to the war effort? They appear tied to the fate of the
Riss."

"So over the next few days, the
delegation will determine the fates of the humans, the Riss, and
Freeland," Damaass said.

* * *

The delegation met early on the morning
of the fourth day.

Stenberg called the meeting to order
with a few taps on his glass of water. "You are the leaders of the four
nations. You saw the Aliens in action, examined one of their
Medusas
, and heard what the SAS learned
from our encounters with them. We do not have years for our governments to form
committees to discuss the problem and come up with a mutually agreeable
solution. By then, the Aliens will have star maps and have crippled one or more
of us. And although they represent the people of our nations, they do not
understand war. Therefore, any agreement would be political and unlikely to be
a viable option. If there is a solution, it's here and now." He sat. He
had accomplished his mission by getting the nations together, and now it was up
to them.

Salazan spoke hurriedly. "It's
simple. We need a leader who can develop a coherent strategy and direct its
implementation." He looked from Wattson to Zhu, ignoring me. "As Admiral
Stenberg has so elegantly pointed out, plans made by committee take too long
and are unworkable. Someone has to be in charge."

"Admiral Salazan, would your nation
or you put your military under the control of another nation's Admiral?" Zhu
asked.

"Of course not!"

"Nor would any other nation."
Zhu looked to me. "The Riss is aligned with the SAS, but I doubt
Leader
Reese would submit to Admiral Wattson controlling her nation. Support yes,
control no. Why? Because only she knows how to effectively fight her
ships."

"Admiral Zhu is correct. We must
develop a strategy and agree to support each other in implementing it,"
Wattson said, his eyes meeting mine for a brief second.

"Someone must direct the
strategy." Salazan's face was flushed with anger.

"I think our experience at Kamboja
provided a good example on how we must work together. We sent a Riss and an SAS
cruiser to intercept the Alien scout. Neither commander was in charge. They
agreed on a
tactic
and worked to
implement
it. As usual, the scout didn't cooperate with
the plan. Only their independent command permitted a successful capture of the
scout ship, because they couldn't keep in touch with each other when the scout
outran the SAS cruiser."

"That will require Commanders who
trust each other to support the other and the agreed upon strategy. And that
will require us to trust each other and to provide trustworthy commanders."
Zhu looked to me. "
Leader
Riss."

"If you cannot control your senior
commanders, the best plans in the universe will not matter. They will fail, and
you will soon lose the trust of the other leaders."

"Can you trust your beasts?" Salazan
asked.

"I am fortunate or cursed,
depending upon your view of life, because my words are the words of every
Riss."

"That’s ridiculous."

"To humans, yes. That would
appear
impossible.
To the Riss, the fact that a leader doesn't speak for everyone appears
ridiculous."

"Yes, truly a
curse
," Zhu
said quietly. "Every greedy man's dream. Every
humble
man or
woman's
nightmare
."

"I would suggest that rather than
decide on a leader, we decide on a strategy and then decide how to implement
it," Wattson said. Salazan reluctantly nodded after seeing Zhu and I nod
agreement.

* * *

We included Iglis the next day and
identified the most
likely
systems to be infiltrated based on the currently
quarantined systems, the number of cruisers it had taken to quarantine it, and
the
probable
size of the occupying force. After eight hours of work, we
identified ten in the JPU, eight in the SAS, and only one in the UFN.

When we adjourned for the day, Zhu
exited with me. "Leader Reese, you were quiet at our meeting." He nodded
when I motioned for him to follow me.

I decided level three would be the best
place to talk—visible yet private.

"The Riss are a small nation and
can only play a supporting role in the overall strategy," I said,
understanding Zhu’s remark was really a question—why?

"Small but critical. Your nation
has developed the technology everyone will need in the upcoming confrontations;
your people have the math we will need in an engagement, and you are the
designated leader because you see past today." He smiled, stroking his
goatee. "Salazan sees only his own status. Wattson is a good tactician but
may not be able to totally trust his senior Captains."

"And you, Admiral Zhu?"

"My words may not be the words of
my captains, but they are steeped in tradition and will obey me or bring
dishonor to themselves and their families. And I am willing to listen to those
who see past today. I would trust you and the Riss."

I left Zhu sitting lotus style with his
eyes closed. As I took the steps down to level two, I couldn't shake the
feeling something wasn't right, but what?

problem
.> image of
me surrounded by the three, each pointing in a different direction.

image of me with
two huge ear plugs.

image of me
standing alone with binoculars.

Thalia was right. I had stopped thinking
and was waiting on the delegation to solve the problem. I needed to clear my
head.

"Terril, are you up to a
match?"

"Sure, but are you? You look
tired."

"Well, do you think you can wake me
up?" I said. The thought of Si'jin had me feeling better already. I
changed and
made
my way to the workout area.

As always, it was nice to see army and
navy people working together. As a result, the Si'jin
class
had nearly
doubled in size, with one-third navy and Intel personnel. And the area had a
fair amount of navy personnel exercising.

For the first hour, I took half the
class and Terril the other half. Afterward, Terril and I prepared for our
usual
match
, which by now
everyone expected, so a large crowd had gathered to watch. I noticed Zhu and
Xun standing off to the side.

"Seems ironic that your bodyguard
is going to send you to the Regen unit, if you're lucky." Terril said as
she readied herself.

"Seems ironic that I need a
bodyguard who can't even take her charge in a fight," I said as I
approached her. That got some laughs and snorts. Suddenly, Terril burst into me
with a low sweep at my legs, which I countered by jumping up and executing a
side kick to her head. She continued to spin, slamming her forearm into my
kicking leg. I used the force of the blow to spin me and my other leg in a
round-house kick to the back of her head, which never landed... Time seemed to
stand still as we executed blow and counterblow in a continuous nonstop
barrage. For no reason I could consciously determine, we stopped and bowed to
loud and boisterous shouting. I saw Zhu and Xun give slight bows.
Interestingly, Zhu reminded me somewhat of Wei. They walked off without saying
anything.

Salazan
sat
staring
at Nelem, who
looked back expressionless. They were in the cabin assigned to Salazan, with a
nearly empty bottle of wine sitting on the table between them.

 
"Reese must go, " Salazan said,
draining what was left in his glass and throwing it. He smiled as it smashed
against the wall and shattered.
 
"Her lies are gaining her
status
she doesn’t
deserve, and that will interfere with my being appointed the supreme commander
of the Alliance. "

 
"That is true. She seems to have a
great deal of influence with Wattson, and at very least, Zhu appears to
like
her. "

 
"She has Wattson under her thumb,
and Zhu is old and slow. What kind of leaders would they
make
? I’m the only
logical choice. "

 
"I agree, " Nelem said.
 
"But we are limited in our options
while on her ship and under guard. And the guards are very attentive. "

 
"What do you know about her? "

 
"Quite a bit. We have been
collecting information on the SAS Riss Project for years. Reese has been the
most visible and therefore the easiest to track. She is a very controversial
figure. Many hate her and the Riss project and have tried to get her thrown out
of the navy. But the project leaders protect her for their own reasons. "

 
"So that they don’t look stupid
having granted the Riss
nation
status. Some nation, a few thousand beasts pretending to be as
intelligent
as humans. They
can’t even talk! "

 
"They are apparently telepathic.
"

 
"Can we prove that? I see them
making hand signs. Maybe that is why the SAS think they are telepathic. Yes,
the Bridge was
quiet,
but was that because they are
telepathic
or because
the computer was running the
operation
with a little help from Reese? "

 
"It’s possible. As you said, it is
hard to prove without a scientific study of the Riss. "

 
"What about Reese’s advisor? "

 
"From what I’ve seen and overheard,
Terril is her bodyguard. The scorpion on her sleeve identifies her as a member
of their elite air commandos and apparently one of the best at Si’jin—a
unique style of fighting.

 
"Not an advisor. A bodyguard, or a
keeper? "

 
"I don’t have enough information to
know. "

 
"What about Wattson? "

 
"He's their
top
tactician and
head
instructor
at
Camalus,
the SAS War College.
He has
war
experience against the JPU and did… quite well during his
engagements. "

 
"That’s because I wasn’t there,
" Salazan said with a snort.

 
"Yes, that was before your time.
Judging from his participation so far, he does act more like an instructor than
a leader. And afraid of Reese, since he allows her to assign a guard to monitor
him. "

 
"Their navy? "

 
"They have somewhat around three
hundred cruisers and keep them well maintained. They also continue to upgrade
their fleet. Their latest is the Hunter class, which is smaller than a Heavy
but has the same fighting capability. They are meant for war. "

 
"Aren’t all cruisers? "

 
"Yes and No. The SAS has been at
peace for a long time, and their cruisers and captains are used more to support
their colonies. The Hunters were created to track and engage the Raiders, who
have been active over the past several years. "

 
"And Zhu? "

 
"Zhu is somewhat like Admiral
Plimson. They have both been in power for over twenty years. They are respected
and well liked. Zhu’s power comes mainly from the UFN’s strong sense of
tradition—everyone has a role and is expected to act in a certain
traditional way. Failure to do so brings dishonor to the person and his family.
"

 
"Mindless sheep. What about their
navy? "

 
"They have somewhat less than three
hundred cruisers. They are slow to replace them, and replacements have remained
relatively the same over the past two decades. However, their electronic
systems have improved: missiles, ECM, and computer systems. "

 
"So, our four hundred
cruiser
fleet is the
largest and most up-to-date. "

 
"Except for the Riss, possibly.
"

 
"Nonsense, Nelem. They may be more
stealth-like than ours, but does it look like a fighting ship? Level three is
useless;
the engines
are small, and you
notice
they haven’t given us a
tour
. Our guards are
careful to limit our access. Their ships are built for lazy, stupid
beasts
to hide from
the enemy. We must somehow get rid of Reese if I am to gain control of the Alliance.
"

* * *

Zhu and Xun sat side-by-side,
lotus-style on level three, close to a small stream and several large boulders.

 
"This is a wonderful ship. War seems
so far away. Even during the invasion of Hayjar, the silence on the Bridge
created a sense of peace. "

 
"Yes, like in
Shuzen
, the best
fighters are those who can quiet their minds. But if they are telepathic, are
their minds quiet? "

 
"No, but the mere absence of sound
has got to be less stressful. I’ll have to ask Reese. Being both Riss and
human, she will know. What do you think of Reese and her advisor? " Zhu
smiled.

 
"Her advisor is her bodyguard and
friend. Both are masters in hand-to-hand combat. Reese has considerable control
in not responding to Salazan's insults against her people, who she obviously
loves. So, I’d say she has master level control and thinks before she acts.
Terril has master level control but is more action oriented. "

 
"Yes, that is my assessment. But
what makes her even more interesting is her tendency to see past today. Someone
worth listening to. "