The other great thing about the system is that all their screens overlap. If the Alliance should fire every primary beam on every ship in the Alliance’s inventory at one of those forts; it would be spread out over the entire screen and be shared by all of those forts.”
Terl said, “Are you saying your home world will be safe from attack?”
“I firmly believe so unless they have something in their arsenal I don’t know about but if we allow them to occupy our planet they will have all of our technology. I suspect that’s why they’re coming back.” He looked at Danielle and she nodded for him to keep going. “Can’t you see? The Alliance is driven by paranoia. Fear of the Alfont; fear of any race becoming stronger than another; fear of anything they don’t control, these are what drive the Alliance. They stifle development and growth. Don’t think I don’t understand that absolute power corrupts absolutely and we have learned that lesson thru bloody nuclear wars. One need look no further that our new friends here at the table with us to see we do not desire to rule other races. We only desire to mutually learn and grow from our contacts. Now is the time to face this danger and let history decide who’s right. I know if we give them our technology, no one will ever be safe again.”
Silence ruled the room. Misty said, “Danielle, do you agree with him?”
“Yes, I do. Now is the moment to control our destiny.”
“SFT, do you agree?”
“We have chosen our speakers and they are the wisest voice. Listen to them.”
Terl said, “I don’t care about our Alliance membership. We have 1,400 ships that will be modernized and can help defend your world. We would appreciate your forts but we will not stand by and watch a clan be attacked without helping.”
Danielle looked at Tag who nodded. She then looked at Misty who also nodded. “Clan Leader Terl, we have already begun hollowing out eight new asteroids for placement around your world. We were going to hold them here until they were completed. We have placed star drives on them to move them to your home world. You may take possession at the time of your choosing; they will be completed in another six weeks. Your help is greatly appreciated Clan Leader but you should know that we have more ships than just the 200 you’ve seen.”
Terl looked at Dorg and said and in a flat voice, “How many more?”
Danielle looked at the Command staff and said, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but about 7,250 more”
Colonel Salerio said, “7437 as of yesterday.”
Every Cainth in the meeting looked like they had been sucker punched. Dorg’s mouth fell open.
“So you see Clan Leader, we also would not allow you to be attacked after our agreements. We have 1,500 ships hidden in the outer system of your home world and 500 for each of your colonies in the event the Alliance launched a fleet against you.”
Terl and Dorg were struck dumb. They looked at the other Clan Leaders and they too were numb. “Why did you only use 350 against us? We never really had a chance against you did we?” Dorg asked.
“Because we have to keep the Alliance in the dark about our strength until we even the odds. They have more than 50,000 warships available for an all out attack. We hope to lower the odds before we reveal our numbers.”
Admiral Dorg took a deep breath, then smiled and said, “Admiral Kosiev, you’re going to have all the fun. May I respectfully request that I be present at the next battle?”
“Certainly if it is approved by our leaders,” Kosiev said.
Terl said, “Be there. We have a long way to catch up. Would it be possible for our ship commanders to also be observers?”
“Clan Leader, we will still use very limited numbers against the forces we face. Your commanders will be in danger as you know, we lost 150 ships.”
“Yes, but the ones that survive will be seasoned which will save more lives in the long run. I also think it will help bring our clans into a fuller understanding of what Clan Brotherhood means in our culture.”
Tag and Danielle looked at Misty and she said’ “Transport your officers here quickly. They’ll be assigned a ship that corresponds to their command in you navy as much as we possibly can. I don’t think we have anything that will correspond to those dreadnaughts of yours, but they will see firsthand what their weapons are capable of doing.”
Tag stood up and said, “So we are agreed that we will resist. We are also agreed that our Clan Brothers will share the battle with us. Finally, as soon as the asteroids are available they will be transported to the Clans Home world and put into operation. Is there any opposition to these decisions? All in favor please stand.” Everyone in all three locations stood and shouted their agreement.
“This meeting is adjourned,” Danielle announced.
Tag looked at Danielle, “How did I do, honey?”
“You were fabulous.”
Later after the conference in Clan Assembly Hall, Terl looked at Dorg and said, “We nearly lost it all when we took on these Humans. We were just lucky to have not been destroyed. Seven thousand ships! It’s like attacking a grneck with a small stick. We should have been eaten alive. We were so incredibly stupid. We came so close to being totally wiped out.”
Dorg said, “Haven’t you been listening. They never kill out of aggression, anger, or vengeance. The same can’t be said for those huge carnivorous grnecks. This is a lesson that we also need to make part of our culture. We’ve been made fearful by the Alliance when we should have embraced new races. We were so proud of being warriors that we attacked anything we touched to demonstrate our toughness instead of using our strength to protect those that needed it. Clan Leader, for the first time in thousands of years we are truly free and we have them to thank for it.” Terl nodded and smiled. Then Dorg said, “There remains one issue to take care of, Clan Leader.”
“What’s that?”
“The self-destruct mechanisms on our ships have to be changed to allow our crews to escape. The prisoners that have come back from their incarceration with the Humans are raising almighty Torg about it and I think they are right.”
“See that it’s done, Admiral. We learn. We grow.”
Chapter 4
Admiral Kosiev, Tag, and Danielle were sitting in Washington’s briefing room drinking their favorite beverage and eating popcorn. They were staring at a feed of the fleet assembling at the Central Alliance Government planet. They were getting it from a Cainth commercial ship parked just outside the orbit of the fleet. Admiral Dorg had arranged for the ship to be there on the pretense of delivering food that was part of their price for being an Alliance member. The Central Government covered the entire planet with its administration offices so there was very little land set aside for agriculture. “Can you believe that they are making the Cainth ship park there until the fleet leaves?” Kosiev remarked.
“Great! We’ll have early warning of their departure,” Danielle observed. “How have you two decided to handle this conflict?”
“Admiral Dorg says that those massive ships in the center belong to a race called Vgrig,” Kosiev said. “Evidently, the Alliance must really want to teach us a lesson because the Vgrig gain status in their society by how many they kill. The only reason the Glod are feared more is there are more of them. Admiral Dorg also says that we have got to kick the holy groad out of this fleet so the Glod will be suspicious of the Alliance.”
“Danielle, we’re not sure if we should use more ships which would give away that we have more than they suspect. The Problem is that obviously, 140 ships can’t take on four to six thousand. We still don’t want to give away our total but we’re going to have to decide how many to use. What would you guess would be an appropriate number?”
“Six hundred ships,” she answered.
Tag and Kosiev both looked at her with open mouths. “Why that many, Danielle,” Tag asked?
“If we’re successful this time, how many ships will they send next time no matter how many you use; do you know how many they’re sending this time?”
