Warrior Chronicles 2: Warrior's Blood (28 page)

BOOK: Warrior Chronicles 2: Warrior's Blood
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“Speral,” Cort finally offered. As the tiny woman turned to him he continued, “That means ‘yes’, she finds the planet acceptable.”

 

“Cort Addison, that pleases me. The arrangements we spoke of have been made. The Collaborative Government is pleased with your terms. There are formalities and the landing procedure I spoke to you about but all is in order.”

 

“Is there any protocol we need to follow prior to landing Speral?”

 

“Cort Addison, only the procedure we discussed.”

 

Kim finally came back to the ship mentally and rejoined the conversation Cort and Speral were having. “What is the landing procedure?” she asked. “I’m ready.”

 

Speral’s ship hovered two meters above the area they decided to land, with Cort and Kim standing in the airlock. The outer door was open and Speral said, “Cort Addison, I am ready.”

 

“Okay,” Cort replied. He turned to Kim and said, “After you, milady.”

 

“Isn’t she going to land?” Kim asked.
 

“Not yet. Jump.”

 

“Okay
....” Kim replied as she dropped the two meters to the ground.

 

Cort looked down at her and said, “May I join you?”

 

“Get down here! What is going on?”

 

Cort jumped to ground beside Kim and grasped her armored hand. Speral then asked, “Kim Point, may I land on your planet?”

 

“Of course. Wait, what?” Kim’s mind suddenly found its memory of the conversation between Cort and Speral on the ship. “Yes, Speral. Land now. My planet? How?”

 

As Speral landed she explained the procedure that was required by the Collaborative Government to claim a world. “Kim Point, this planet was in conservatorship by the Collaborative Government. At Cort Addison’s request, the government released the planet due to its position in the projected path of the crystal incursion. Any planet that is not in conservatorship or presently occupied by a legally defined higher being may be claimed by occupying the planet. You were the first legally defined higher being to occupy this planet, Kim Point, therefore this planet belongs to you.

 

Kim looked at her atmosphere display and twisted off her helmet to unlock it once the dust from Speral’s landing settled. She removed the helmet and dropped it on the ground before she looked up at Cort, who barely had his own helmet off before she knocked it from his hands and pulled the neck ring of his suit down. “You got me a
planet
?” she screamed before kissing him.

 

Once Kim let him come up for air, Cort asked “I’m never going to be able to outdo this gift, am I?”

 

“No one will ever be able to outdo this present, Mr. Addison,” Kim laughed.

 

Speral stepped out of her ship and approached the couple. In Cort’s memory, it was the first time he had seen her smile. “Kim Point, your reaction pleases me.”

 

“Speral, Kim and I would like to be alone on the planet for a while. Will you return for us in two days?”

 

“Cort Addison, yes. Do you need to remove your equipment from the ship before I depart?”

 

“Yes, I will get it,” Cort said as he walked away.

 

“Speral, thank you for helping Cort do this for me.”

 

“Kim Point, you are welcome. It is good to see your love for Cort Addison. I would like to think that Glydnal loved me as much.”

 

“I didn’t know Glydnal, and I don’t know your species very well, but I do know that you loved him very much.”

 

“Kim Point, yes, I did. But I recognize the faults he had as well.” Speral’s nostrils began to run, leading Kim to think the alien was crying. “Kim Point, did you know that I sent Glydnal to your Earth?”

 

“You sent him?”

 

“Yes. We did not expect there to be a species as developed as yours on the planet. Our initial survey of the planet indicated it would be some millions of your years before the planet was no longer suitable for seeding.” Speral went on to tell the story of losing their first ship a million years earlier, then detecting the signals that both Ben Natsumo and Cort had activated. Finally she related her side of the attack by Atlantica, Glydnal’s response and the confrontations at Mars. 

 

“I’m so sorry, Speral. How did Glydnal attack Earth’s satellites and respond to the attack from Atlantica?”

 

“Kim Point, our Collaboration allows us to defend ourselves, but we cannot act aggressively. We have the ability to use gravity to deflect objects.”

 

Kim considered Speral’s words for several minutes as they walked around the clearing. Suddenly she said, “Oh my Gods, Speral! That means Glydnal didn’t intend to attack us on Mars. And the large fleet you sent, it was merely a bluff. Oh, Speral!”

 

“Kim Point, yes the fleet was merely to show your people we had the ability to defend ourselves, but Cort Addison did not give us that chance. The whole war was a misunderstanding that I caused.”

 

Kim kneeled in front of Speral, her own eyes filled human tears. Taking Speral’s tiny claw like hands in her own, she said, “There are so many other things that could have changed this. If Glydnal had understood our language better, or Atlantica had not assumed it was Cort attacking them, or even if Cort had still been on Earth. Oh, Speral! Things just happened. It’s chance. Luck. Just pure, bad luck.”

 

They both turned to the sound of the MERV as Cort came to a stop a few feet from them. Keeping his face neutral, he stepped out and began pulling gear from the vehicle.
Oh fuck. What’s going on?
“Is everything okay?” he asked.

 

“May I tell him Speral?” Kim asked.

 

“Kim Point, you may. He has a right to know.”

 

An hour later Speral lifted off, leaving the two humans on their new planet. Kim looked up at Cort and realized his burden had become even greater. “What I told her goes for you too, Baby. You acted the only way you knew how. You are no more guilty than Glydnal or Speral herself. Beards is the only one who didn’t check his target. The rest of you acted the way you felt was best for your people.”

 

“I suppose,” Cort said with almost no emotion in his voice. Kim knew he was compartmentalizing, and he wouldn’t think about it again until he was alone and could process the information in his own mind. He turned to her and said, “So, have you ever camped before?”

 

“Camped?” Kim asked.

 

--

 

Two days later, Speral landed in the same clearing as before and waited while Cort drove the MERV into her ship. Kim greeted her and the two took one last walk around area before they returned to the Ares Federation.

 

As they walked Speral said, “Kim Point, you do have responsibilities to this planet.”

 

Kim turned to watch Cort with a touch of sadness in her eyes. “I know, and once the crystal gets here, it will be consumed. But until then I will be happy.” Turning to Speral, she said, “Speral, how long until it gets here?”

 

“Kim Point, at the current rate of expansion, the crystal will infect this system in approximately two thousand three hundred and fourteen human years.”

 

“Approximately Speral?” Cort grinned as he walked up.

 

“Cort Addison, the estimation has a margin of error that approaches three human years based on current expansion rates.”

 

“What else do I need to know, Speral?” Kim asked.

 

“Kim Point, according to the agreement made, you are required to protect this planet from exploitation by higher species. In addition, should the need arise at some later time for this planet to be seeded, you must cede control of thirty percent of the required area for population by the seeded species.  Only one species may be seeded to this planet without your consent. Total seeding will not exceed thirty percent of the planets area or population without your consent. Those are the major requirements of the agreement. Cort Addison has the full agreement. None of the lesser requirements are significant. They involve pollution control, native species protection, and other simpler regulations.”

 

“Okay. Thank you so much, Speral. I don’t think I have grasped the full effect of owning a planet yet.”

 

“Kim Point, you may also change the designation of the planet if you choose.”

 

“What is the current designation, Speral?” Cort asked.

 

“Cort Addison, the current designation is 213-3.”

 

Kim smiled, saying, “Yes, I will be renaming it.”

 

“Okay ladies, let’s go back to Mars,” Cort said as he gently led them both to Speral’s ship.

 

 

 

Nineteen

 

Ares Federation

 

“Wow! Live dinosaurs. They are amazing.” Rand couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Kim was sharing a video from the ‘camping’ trip with everyone in the conference. There were meter high two- and four-legged creatures in several scenes. Some were even as tall as Cort. Many had feathers or some form of down, and a few had skin that was completely bare. Most could be loosely compared to dinosaur species from Earth’s history and there was one that even looked almost identical to a tyrannosaur, though it was a fraction shorter than Cort’s CONDOR.

 

Cort and Kim had watched the various species in their vicinity for hours before deciding which ones were harmless and which ones warranted caution. When they weren’t around the more aggressive species, they spent most of their time either in or out of the FALCON suits.  The latter was not in the video they shared.

 

Doctor Verne was both happily amazed and put out that Cort had negotiated the acquisition of an entire planet without consulting the government. “Cort, this is incredible, both scientifically and diplomatically. But may I ask how you intend to both protect and develop the planet?”

 

“No you may not, Doctor. The planet is in Kim’s care, not my own. Any questions regarding it should be directed to Kim,” Cort replied smugly.

 

“Uh…” Doctor Verne was suddenly unsure of himself.

 

Kim said, “Doctor Verne you may not be aware that at the onset of hostilities with Earth, Dar Sike transferred the entirety of the Addison Trust wealth, including its recent acquisitions to the Asianic Alliance. Cort is actually a citizen of Asia. He has made his wealth available to me to ensure the safety of my planet.”

 

“Oh,” Doctor Verne said. “I see. So the planet is not associated with our federation?”

 

“Not unless I sign a treaty with you,” Kim replied. “It was done this way for a reason. This is a gift from Cort to me specifically, not something that he has offered to the Federation.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Relax, Doc.  She’s just busting your balls,” Cort said. “She does have a very specific plan for the planet, but other than giving some of her time to managing it, it will not affect our government.”

 

Rand had an uneasy feeling about where the conversation might lead, so he changed the subject saying “Kim, have you decided what you are going to name it?”

 

“Yes. I’m calling it
Solitude
. I’m setting it up as a nature preserve. Scientists can study there, people can vacation there, but I plan on minimal planetary impact. Cort is arranging for a defensive network to be arrayed around the planet.”

 

“Well, I for one am ready for a vacation,” Doctor Black said. “When can I go?”

 

“Doc, I would love your help in setting it up, if you are willing to donate some time,” Kim said.

 

“I would love to, Kim. To be able to study a planet that young would be worth donating my free time.”

 

“Okay,” Cort said. “let’s get started with business. First up, I have some news. We are in several transitions at once. We are now a multi-planet government. We are also a player on the galactic stage. And we are transitioning back to a state of peace locally.”

 

Cort hadn’t talked to Kim about what he was saying, but the speech had been evolving in the back of his mind for months. “I’m not a bureaucrat, I’m a warrior. My place is out there,” Cort waved his hand, “fighting for the future. I’m not stepping down from my military role, but I can’t continue to be a part of the decision making process for the government as a whole. When we were little more than an outpost under constant siege my leadership was necessary, but as a galactic player taking center stage in this conflict we need diplomats as much as we need soldiers.”

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