each time they destroy one of our ships. Over 40 % of these ships have sustained damage in battle but have been refurbished. The Alliance should see the blast burns on their skins and figure that we’re down to our last inventory. Do you have any questions?”
“No, I just need the diagram of what the five markings on the formation dial line up with.”
“Ok, I’ll get that to you. One of our clan brothers commercial ships have dropped one of our passive sensor buoys in the main Alliance Governments system. It’s been sending a feed of all ship traffic around the planet and so far there has been no real significant buildup of ships.
“I’m hoping that that they will form up outside the jump limit this time,” Tag said. “I think that after all the commercial ships that were made to wait for six days last time will make them reconsider blocking their planetary approaches. If they stay inside the star drive limit, then this plan won’t work. We need to be able to jump into the middle of their fleet to cause enough confusion to make it worthwhile. If we’re going to basically throw away 600 ships we need to extract a good price for them.”
“You’re right. Couple that with the weapons systems being tied to sensors and we have to be close. I understand that our engineers have set up every ship to fire their full complement of needles upon emergence so we for those to be effective we have to be close,” Kosiev said.
“Do you think they will move away from our breakout points?” Tag asked.
“Everyone has seen what happens when two ships occupy the same place at the same time and no one wants to be the victim of that; there wouldn’t even be atoms left after that explosion. They are going to have so many ships coming in that I’m hoping they just think some idiot didn’t get the right coordinates. They should just move a short distance away.”
“What pattern are we jumping them in on?”
“We’ve decided to jump them in the shape of a hollow sphere and have them fly toward the command ship, which would be you, in the center of that sphere and form up on you. That should give you some space to operate and move your formation to the most target rich area. Mr. Gardner, is your wife still going with you?”
Tag looked at Kosiev and shrugged his shoulders. “Sung Lea insists that it is absolutely necessary in order for us to survive as a species. I don’t like it and I don’t understand it but I will comply with it.”
Kosiev looked at Tag for several moments and Tag said, “You’re wondering how I’m going to get us out of this situation once the groad hits the reactor, right?”
“Right, I know you must think you can or there’s no way you’d allow her to go. You just wouldn’t use this plan if you thought she would be in danger.”
“Obviously, you saw what happened on Ross. I’m going to use the same technique in Alliance Central. I believe we will survive. I am going to ask you to do one thing for me.”
“What’s that?”
“I want you to have a ship waiting at these coordinates. I want only you and enough people to fly the ship on board; wait for us to arrive there. Make sure that you trust the people you bring with you and don’t give up if we’re running a little behind schedule.”
Kosiev took the coordinates and entered it into his com. “I’ll be there; make sure you are.” Then he offered his hand and Tag shook it.
Chapter 8
Tgon-Gee looked at the Humans across the table from him as they were greeted by the Fifteen Clan leaders of the Cainth. He saw that there was joy at seeing each other and he found this unsettling because he knew all the efforts the Cainth had made to destroy the Humans in the past. How can they forget so easily? He was a great judge of people’s expressions and he could tell that these were sincere. If the Alliance knew this relationship existed, they would destroy the Cainth down to the last child. No one would be allowed to live. How could they run this kind of risk? It’s just been plain luck that the Alliance had not sent a representative to check out what was happening in this system. Who do I side with? Do they have a chance against the 820 races of the Alliance? Well, that’s why I’m here.
Terl looked around the room and told everyone to take their places and then introduced everyone and gave a brief description of their duties. He then looked at Tgon-Gee and said, “I’m sure you have some questions you want to have answered. Why don’t you begin, Excellency?”
Tgon-Gee looked at his Fleet Admiral and then said, “I’m at a loss to understand why you Humans did not destroy the Cainth Empire when you had the opportunity especially after they killed your colonists. They have also tried to destroy your species for more than 200 cycles. How could you even start to trust them?”
Everyone looked up as Danielle entered the room late and she saw everyone looking at her, so she looked at the huge Glod Ruler and said, “Actually, if they had fired one shot at our fleet as it entered their system, we would have destroyed their ability to wage war. We would not have wiped out their species because it would remove from the universe a race that may prove vital in the future. We have learned our lesson from making war on ourselves; you only lose when you are the aggressor. If there are any survivors, they will make it their ultimate goal to have vengeance. The issue between our races was one of fear; we represented a danger to the Cainth because their history had shown how stronger races conquered weaker ones. We also discovered in our initial discussions that it was perfectly fine for the Cainth to outright lie about any agreement they made.”
Dorg noticed that Tgon-Gee looked startled when he saw Danielle. He had not taken his eyes off the Glod ruler when everyone else was looking at Danielle. “What has him upset?” Dorg wondered. It only lasted for a moment and Tgon-Gee regained his composure.
“Then that’s all the more reason to attack, isn’t it?” Tgon-Gee asked. “I’m struggling with how you can possibly trust them.”
“We had to find a place where both of our races could co-exist and know that the other was not an enemy but ally and friend. We found that place where no Cainth would ever lie or deceive. It was located in their Clan laws. It is perfectly acceptable to deceive anyone except another Clan Brother. The worse possible sin a Cainth can commit is to lie or agree to things that they know are false to another Clan. There are rituals designed to instill this in every Cainth from the time they are first able to communicate to when they die. Their Clans cling to the belief and trust that their brothers will always be honest and will protect them if needed.”
Terl then stood up and said, “Tgon-Gee, we did not tell them this about us. This Human female could see it just by watching our interactions with them and each other.”
Dorg noticed Tgon-Gee’s distress. He probably wouldn’t have noticed it if it weren’t for the earlier reaction.
She suggested that the Humans had to become our 16 ^ th Clan,” Terl continued. “After much discussion and questioning of the Humans, we voted to include them into our Family of Clans. We also had to agree that in order for us to learn from our encounter, that we would no longer be an aggressor to any other race that isn’t directly attacking us. After what happened and the mistake we made with them, this was an agreement that we had no difficulty passing and incorporating into our Clan Governing Codes.
Danielle continued, “After we were voted into their Clan structure, it was important that we provide protection from the Alliance so we began the process of modernizing their defenses. We’re continuing that as we speak.”
Tgon-Gee looked at Danielle and said, “You have no absolute proof that once you arm your former enemy that he won’t turn on you.” Terl stood up and everyone in the room could see his anger.
Danielle said, “Just a minute Terl. He’s right. There’s nothing preventing you from attacking us again except the violation of your most sacred codes.” Then she looked at the Glod Crown Prince and said, “Just as there is nothing preventing any of your warriors from killing you and taking your place.”
Tong-Gee jumped up and slammed his hand down on the table and said, “No Glod Warrior would ever think of doing that, it would violate the Vermeal Succession. He and all of his descendents would be destroyed for such an act.”
Danielle looked at Terl and asked, “What would happen if one of your clans attacked another?”
Terl said, “They would be killed to the last living member.”
“What would happen if one of your clans failed to come to the defense of another clan?”
