made against other races and thought about all the hostility that those races must feel toward his people. Would his people one day face an invasion fleet set on revenge? If his fleet had been part of the attack and all their ships were destroyed; then how many races would be headed toward his home world bent on revenge? He could think of twelve off the top of his head and the universe would say good riddance to the Glod. A warrior culture was a grand thing until it became an end unto itself. He looked at his Fleet Admiral and could see his own thoughts reflected in his face. “What are you going to do now?” he asked the Cainth leaders.
“Why fight with our clan brothers against the Alliance. We see now that the paranoia of the Alliance has infected all its members to the point where growth and development is impossible. Anyone that grows strong is a danger. Anyone that chooses their own destiny is to be destroyed. Their only answer to difference is destruction. If we perish in this fight, it’s a fight worth dying for. We will stand with our Clan brothers.’ All the Cainth in the room stood up and said, “Clan Brothers.”
“What do you expect me to do with this information I possess about the last battle? You had me watch for a reason; what is that reason?”
Terl looked at Tgon-Gee and said, “Our human clan brothers suggested that the Glod might make a good seventeenth clan if they too can commit to being tolerant. However you decide, we gave you the information with no expectations; do with it whatever you must. We have learned that to stand by and let an ally perish when it could be prevented places a debt on your soul that will eventually be paid. We think it was the right thing to do.”
Tgon-Gee looked around the room and said, “I will never betray your trust. I, too, will not stand by and let you be endangered if I can warn you. I will consider your offer and if I choose to act on it, I will want to meet with these Humans before I make a decision. Until then, thank you for your warning; it saved my race. With that he stood and left the room and went back to his ship.
The Vgrig Warleader sat in State Leader Sten’s office with Headman Dgzh recording the proceedings. “Please explain to me how you lost 4,800 ships to the Humans,” Stein said. According to your recordings, they only had 900 ships.”
“State Leader, you told me they only had 140 ships,” the Warleader replied forcefully. “You also didn’t mention the shield around their planet.”
Sten looked at the Warleader and said, “Shield? What do you mean shield?”
“I lost my entire fleet at the Humans home world to that shield. Our weapons only made it stronger and when we attempted to crash ten ships into it, the orbital installations fired energy beam more than five segs wide destroying those ships and the rest of my fleet.”
Sten looked shocked and Dgzh couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “There wasn’t a shield during the last invasion,” Dgzh said.
“Well there is now. Look at this record of the event.” The Warleader then played the recording of the beams that wiped out his 800 ships. “The only reason we survived is because we were beyond the range of those beams. Their ships also have a beam similar to the one you see here on their ships that we can’t match in power.”
“I lost 800 of my ships to those beams. The other 4000 ships were destroyed by those warships you see in the recording of the fleet action. We were only able to destroy 240 of their ships.”
“Do you think they have more ships than what we see here?” Stein asked.
The Warleader thought for a few moments and said, “I don’t know for sure but if 5,000 warships invaded your home system, would you hold any back?”
Stein and Dgzh looked at each other and Dgzh said, “He makes a good point State Leader. It would take very big nadgets to not use your entire inventory. I think it must be especially true since that screen around the planet is new and has not been tested in battle before now.”
“How many ships would be needed to defeat the Human fleet, Warleader?” Sten asked.
“At least 8,000; I don’t know what you can do about the shield around the planet.”
“We’ll talk to our scientists about that. If it absorbs energy, perhaps it can be drained. Do you want to lead the next Attack?”
‘It depends on what forces you give me to get the job done.”
Stein looked at Dgzh and said, “Contact the Safety Prime Council and set up a conference.”
The three of them sat in Steins office and waited for the Council to contact them. Stein was extremely nervous because of all the ships that had been destroyed when he had portrayed these Humans as no threat. “There’s no getting around it; they have to approve the next step,” he thought. I guess they will tell us what to do.”
The wall screen lit up with the ten members of the council. “State Leader, we have received some news that troubles us greatly,” the Councilman in the center stated. “Is it true that our entire fleet was destroyed by these so called weak Humans?”
“Yes Council Member it has. This Vgrig Warleader led our fleet and he can answer any questions you might have. I have relayed all his recordings to your consoles for your review.”
“Stand by.” Then the ten looked at the recordings of the battle and Stein could tell they were getting angrier by the moment. He could see them say something to each other but his console was not included in their discussion so he wasn’t sure about what was being said. After more than a drag the center member of the Council said, “Where did the Humans get this screen they use?”
Stein looked at Dgzh who responded, “Our Ambassador noted more than ninety stellar rotations ago that one of their scientists had developed it. We assigned an engineer to study it and he confirmed that it was invented. He traced the work done in the labs and it was not Alfont technology but something they developed. His summary was that it was nothing more than an excellent storage battery that made good use of solar power.”
The ten talked among themselves again and then said, “It appears to be much more that a storage battery. They have developed it into quite a weapons system. We can’t allow this insolence to go unpunished. This race must be totally annihilated. How do you propose we accomplish this State Leader?”
“We were discussing that and the Warleader says it will take 8,000 ships to destroy their fleet and our scientists will have to find a way to drain the screen around their planet.”
“Why only 8000 ships, State leader?”
“We think that the 900 ships they used in the battle represent their total inventory. They lost 240 of those in the battle. I contacted you to make sure I was taking the correct actions before we responded again.”
The ten again talked among themselves and then asked, “Who is going to lead the next attack?”
The Warleader has agreed to do so if we provide him with enough support.”
‘We thought you were going to use the Glod to lead the fleet.”
“That was our plan, but they contributed more than 600 ships to the initial attack and all their ships were destroyed. They have requested half a stellar rotation to complete the religious ceremonies for their lost personnel. I also understand that they have sent half their remaining ships to protect the Cainth who lost all their ships. Quite frankly, they have too much going on to provide much help. I asked them about it after the battle and they rightly pointed out that there are more than 500 members that have not contributed any ships.”
There was more discussion among the ten and then they said, “We accept the Vgrig to lead the next battle, however we don’t agree to 8000 ships.” The Warleader stood up and started to protest but then the council said, “We will send the rest of our initial reserve of 17,000 ships. We will not make the mistake of underestimating these humans again.”
Stein, Dgzh, and the Warleader were all stunned by what was being done. “Did I hear you correctly excellently; 17,000 warships?”
“The authorization is on your console. Find a way to get thru that planetary screen and destroy every living thing on that planet. Start with their fleet.”
“Yes council members. We will do as you order.”
The Warleader thought, “Over 17,000 ships to get my vengeance;” but a small voice in the back of his mind said, “By the creator, I hope it’s enough.”
Chapter 7
