Riss Series 4: The Riss Accession (11 page)

The next morning, the delegation met
again to continue planning our strategy, now that we had determined the
anticipated Alien response at each site. It was obvious from the discussion the
first hour that the strategy would be to weaken the Aliens using a model
similar to that used at Zigzag.

"Although the UFN is in little
danger for the foreseeable future, we are willing to help," Zhu said
during one of the pauses. That sounded reasonable, but…

"I believe the UFN is as vulnerable
as the JPU and SAS. If true, I don't think the current strategy is going to
work," I said, finally realizing why I had felt something didn't feel
right.

Salazan and Wattson stared at me.

Zhu smiled. "Interesting observation.
Why,
Leader
Reese?"

"I and everyone else have concluded
that we are being invaded by an Alien armada of hundreds if not thousands of
spaceships. And they are discovering inhabitable systems by releasing a
merchant ship and following it to another system."

 
"What we’ve discovered indicates
that, " Wattson said.

 
"But the initial premise isn’t
consistent with what is happening. If they had hundreds of
Medusa
-like ships, why send scouts to determine how many ships it
would take to quarantine a given system? Why not just send ten or even a
hundred
Medusas
? "

 
"But how would they find the next
inhabitable system if they destroyed all the spaceships when they invaded?
" Wattson asked in his instructor mode.

 
"Each of their scouts looks for
inhabitable systems. When it finds one, it waits for a
ship
to
leave
, then follows
it. Again, it waits for another ship to leave and then follows it. At some
point, the scout returns to the home base with its findings. Then information
collecting scouts are sent to those identified systems. That would be faster
and easier. "

 
"What are you suggesting? "

 
"I believe the Aliens have been in
our galaxy for a hundred or maybe hundreds of years— "

 
"Nonsense! " Salazan said.
 
"That Riss parasite has destroyed
your brain. "

 
"Intriguing, Leader Reese. Continue,
I’m interested, " Zhu said.

I felt like a student being tested by a
master.
 
"It indicates caution
and patience. They are being cautious, testing us just as we are attempting to
test them, because they don’t have a thousand ships. They are patient, knowing
it will take time because their history—probably tens of thousands of
years long—tells them so. "

 
"You said they have been here only
hundreds of years, " Salazan sneered.
 
"And if they had been around tens of
thousands of years, they would have thousands of ships and weapons of
unimaginable power. "

 
"That does appear contradictory,
Reese, " Wattson said in that probing style of his.

 
"I think they are a part of a galaxy-traveling
race, whose mission is to quarantine this galaxy. "

That generated stony silence.

 
"Of course, I’m guessing, but they
would enter this galaxy knowing there was intelligent life here somewhere and
which was the most likely area to support… organic life. They came with only a
few spacecraft, probably several
Medusas
,
a Central Base ship, and a manufacturing ship. Their task was first to create a
duplicate task force to begin seeding the galaxy as part of the process of
monitoring it for intelligent life. They may still be in the process of creating
duplicates, or they may be one of the duplicates. In any case, having found a
dangerous intelligent life form, they are now in the process of gearing up for
their mission of quarantining us. "

 
"And, if you are correct, there
might be a duplicate close to the UFN, or the scouts may have already located
some of our inhabited planets. A very disturbing theory, " Zhu said, his
eyes closed.

 
"Nonsense! " Salazan said.
 
"That Riss parasite has destroyed
your brain. I can take no more from her. " His face twisted in anger while
his finger pointed in my direction.
 
"She’s proven she’s a coward by
running at Hayjar— "

 
"That saved our lives, " Watson
interrupted.

 
"That does not change the fact that
she is a coward and cannot be trusted. She claims to have destroyed a
Medusa
, but she ran from them like the
coward she is. I’d bet she found a destroyed
Medusa
and then claimed to have been the one to destroy it. Was
anyone there to see her destroy it? " He looked to Wattson and Stenberg.
 
"And this ship. The Riss didn’t
build it. The SAS built it. " He stood and banged the table, causing
Terril and Xun to rise.

 
"She and her beasts contribute
nothing to the Alliance. If you want the support of the JPU, the Riss will not
be part of the delegation. Call me when you’ve made up your minds. " He
turned on his heel and stormed out of the room with Nelem trailing.

Stunned silence followed.

I decided I should say something.
 
"I have no problem leaving the
discussions to the three empires. My
presence
is not worth the loss of the JPU
,
and the Riss
will still be committed to the SAS, so nothing is lost. "

 
"Except your input, in
which
I for one am interested
. " Zhu said, thankfully interrupting my exasperating
exchange
with Thalia.

 
"I think Reese is right. Even though
she's not part of the discussion, there is no reason we can’t talk with her.
" Wattson said.
 
"I
too
value her
input. "

 
"I suggest we adjourn for today. I
would like to think on what Leader Reese has said. Our strategy to combat our
first conjecture would not be the same for the second. We may win or lose with
either, but I’d like to give the Supreme Council of the
Gods our best effort
, " Zhu said.

Stenberg nodded agreement and rose,
signaling the end to the meeting.

As he and Wattson exited the room, Zhu
came walking towards me.
 
"You're
an interesting person,
Leader
Reese. You speak for a nation of extremely intelligent Aliens, have developed
cruisers with advanced technology, fight like an elite bodyguard, and see
tomorrow. " He stared at me for what seemed like an eternity.
 
"I think your level three is the
perfect place to consider what you said."

dybbuk
.>

not rule him
.> Image of
Zhu and Buddha sitting next to each other.

someone we can
trust
.>

I laughed.

 
"What’s so funny,
Leader
Reese? " Terril asked
from behind me.

 
"The players. Salazan rules his
forces with an iron fist, believes in overwhelming force, and thinks only of
his self-interest. His forces will not deviate from the plan even when it isn’t
working. Zhu’s loyalty is to the UFN, and he commands a force steeped in
tradition. His forces will follow the orders of the person leading the force
without question. Wattson’s loyalty is to the SAS, and he commands a force used
to acting independently. While independence can produce creative solutions, it
can cause commanders to ignore orders and jeopardize the overall strategy. And
none of the current three nations’ military have extensive war experience. Yet,
we are facing a nation that is loyal, dependable, and experienced in war.
"

 
"Cheery thought. What do you say:
you make me a Riss-human, gather the Riss, and let’s
blow
this galaxy.
"

*
* *

Later that evening, Wattson called a
meeting of everyone except Salazan and Nelem.

 
"We need to address the JPU’s
concerns and reach a decision, " Stenberg began without pleasantries. The
idea behind these meetings was to form an Alliance of the three empires. And
while I don’t agree with Admiral Salazan, the loss of the JPN would be
significant. And as
Leader
Reese
said, we aren’t losing the Riss as an ally."

 
"An Alliance is only meaningful if
the parties agree on the threat, the need, and the strategy to remove the
threat, " Zhu said.

Stenberg shrugged.
 
"I thought we all agreed there is a
threat and on the need to join forces to fight it. "

 
"No, that’s not true, " Wattson
said. We all agree the threat is real, but the strategy to fight the Alien
threat will depend on whether we believe the Aliens just arrived or have been
here for generations. " Wattson looked to Zhu.

 
"That is true, Admiral Wattson. I’m
inclined to assume they have been here for generations since a strategy to
combat the
just arrived
scenario
won’t eliminate the threat if the
been
here for generations
scenario is true. Whereas, a strategy to address the
been here for generations
threat will
address the threat from the
just arrived
scenario. "

 
"I’m afraid I agree, and Admiral Salazan
won’t, since
Leader
Reese
suggested it. "

 
"Leader Reese, it’s my understanding
that you are willing to share the Riss technology, including Symath, with
anyone in the alliance. Is that true? "

 
"The Riss have shared all of their
technology with the SAS, and they are free to share it with their allies.
However, I will not put Riss on any ship that considers them dumb beasts, nor
will the Riss participate in any engagement that the JPU is part of, as they
have made it clear they do not trust us. "

Zhu laughed softly.
 
"Admiral Wattson, I do not object to
a meeting with Admiral Salazan to discuss a possible
alliance
and will
join
you and the
JPU if we can come to a mutual agreement. But I think Leader Reese has just
made the good Admiral redundant. "

* * *

 
"Damaass, set a course for All
Flags. The delegation needs to be taken to a system with a working Comstat so
we can get them a ride home. We will be leaving within the hour. "

 
"Have they come to any conclusions?
"

 
"Admiral Salazan has. He thinks I’m
a coward, the Riss are
dumb
beasts, and our cruisers are worthless. "
I smiled at the monitor. Damaass was choking on the wine he had been drinking
while I talked.

 
"I guess that means he doesn’t get
Riss for any of his ships and can’t expect a Riss cruiser to save his ass.
"

 
"How did you guess? See you in All
Flags. "

* * *

After a workout with Terril, I decided
to
visit
level three for Thalia’s sake. She loved the feel of openness the
area created. When I arrived, I saw Zhu and Xun sitting lotus style by a small
stream. He motioned for me to join them.

 
"Good evening, Admiral Zhu, advisor
Xun. " I said as I approached.

 
"
Sit
, please, " Zhu said.
 
"I understand we are heading for All
Flags, where Admiral Salazan and I can contact our militaries for rides home.
"

 
"Yes, it’s the closest SAS system
from Fools Landing. We should arrive tomorrow. I’m sorry I can’t give you a
lift home, but I need to get back to Freeland. "

 
"I imagine you’ve heard that Admiral
Salazan will not be joining the alliance. "

 
"No, I hadn’t. I would imagine the
sticking point was your unwillingness to let him be the supreme leader of the Alliance.
"

 
"He used you as the reason, but
you’re right. He had his heart set on being the Alliance commander. " Zhu
studied me for a long while before speaking.
 
"I understand you are looking for
Riss-human candidates? "

 
"Yes. The Riss aren’t suitable for
war. They lack the necessary aggressiveness. Or maybe the truth is that I don’t
want them to learn it. We have three other Riss-humans who will eventually
qualify after they get a couple of years of war experience. But the need is
now. So we are looking for captains who have war or demonstrable tactical
experience, admire the Riss, and have no psychological issues. "