the screen, you fire greatly weakened beams at them that their screens will have no problem handling. I think we will then have them within 40 miles of the screen. That’s when we bring the fleet in. We have a cavern carved out on the moon that will hold three thousand of our ships and it has 800 launch tubes that can launch five ships each in less than five minutes. The remainder of our ships will be parked unpowered on the opposite side of the planet from the route the Alliance fleet enters our system. At that point we englobe their fleet and pick off the ones that escape your beams.”
“All of this depends on them thinking they have destroyed our fleet,” Kosiev said. “They won’t come close if they think we still have ships to threaten them.”
“Well, as soon as the last dreadnaught is refitted, I believe the fleet will be arriving. Let’s hope they form up outside the star drive limit; it shouldn’t take long now to find out.”
Chapter 9
Tgon-Gee was talking with Admiral Dorg and discussing what the Cainth were going to do if the Alliance discovered their new relationship with the humans. Dorg said, “It’s only a matter of time until the Alliance sends a representative to visit.”
“Perhaps that visit can be delayed.”
“How can we make that happen?”
“What do you think would happen if I notified the Alliance that we have scattered our ships beyond the star drive limit and were attacking as soon as any ship was detected breaking out of star drive. Further, I’ll tell them we launch high speed missiles at the breakout point immediately. Then I’ll tell them that that’s the only way we can defeat the Humans screens and that we have destroyed eight of their ships so far and they haven’t attempted to jump in the last 1ten rotations.”
“That would at least make them warn us of their coming.” Dorg said.
“That’s one benefit, but the other is that when they tell us where they are going to be breaking in, we’ll just destroy that ship and tell them they had the misfortune to jump in just as the Humans were attacking us.”
Dorg smiled and said, “Excellency, what a great idea. You would be a formidable adversary.”
Tgon-Gee smiled and said, “Admiral, I went to that meeting expecting to leave in support of the Alliance. Those Humans are remarkable aren’t they?”
Dorg sat up in his chair and looked off in the distance at a beautiful 3 ^ rd quarter day and said, “I never expected to see another day like this again. If it had been either of our races we wouldn’t have hesitated to totally destroy the other. I think being in the Alliance as long as we have diminishes the value of other species. Their answer to any problem is total destruction. Now I sit here and look out at this beautiful day with the two suns shining and the pale blue rain falling from the condensation and thank the creator that we were given a second chance. Excellency, they will do the right thing even if it doesn’t support their best interests. Somehow they have ingrained into their culture, right things for right reasons. Of all the Humans I have met that couple named Gardner is the most remarkable. Their race follows their lead with very few exceptions. It seems their psychic leaders have selected them as the one’s most able to insure their future. I don’t understand how they come up with that but I can see that she is especially talented at seeing the truth.”
Tgon-Gee got a far away look in his eyes, “Do you know how our Royalty is selected, Admiral?”
Dorg looked quizzically at the Glod and said, “No I don’t.”
“Our race has a group selected at birth for their psychic skills. Some of my people are able to see the aura that surrounds the ones that have psychic talents. I am one of those that have that ability. When they see a foundling with an aura, then the young Glod is taken to the schools that will develop their skills. The adults that graduate from this school can challenge one of the 50 members of the Guidance Peers for their position. They do this by predicting an outcome prior to it taking place. Only the most successful are chosen for this group.”
“Are you a member of this group, Excellency?”
“No. I wasn’t strong enough in my skills. There are seventeen royal families in our race that the ruler is selected from. When a ruler dies, the fifty members go into a conclave and select the next Crown Prince. They do this by looking as far into the future as possible and seeing which of the possible choices leads our race safely. This choice is made as soon as the current ruler dies. That way there is no gap in the succession.”
“So you were selected by them to rule your race.”
“Yes and I think it was because of my only psychic skill which allows me to see psychic auras that caused me to be selected. I think I was chosen because no one else would have been able to see what I saw in that meeting. Anyone else from my race would have left to inform the Alliance of your relationship with the Humans.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because as soon as I saw the Human Female Danielle and saw the aura surrounding her, I knew we were in the presence of true Royalty.”
“I don’t understand?”
“I was taught in our schools to recognize psychic auras for their strength. The strongest auras are violet the weakest green. Only ten of our fifty strongest psychics have a blue aura; none of them are anywhere close to violet. I saw that every one of their, what was it called, their SFT team, all had varying degrees of blue auras. That impressed me. Her aura stunned me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Her aura was deep purple almost violet. There has only been one member of my race with that strong an aura in the entire history of my species.”
Dorg looked at Tgon-Gee with wide eyes and finally said, “Does that mean something to our chosen path.”
“The reason I swore loyalty to her was that she will take us where we need to go and won’t even know she’s doing it. We are safer following her than opposing her.”
“Does your race know you’ve agreed to make her your sovereign?”
“Our strongest psychic was watching the meeting thru my eyes and the others were getting it thru his view. When I saw her aura, the Guidance Peers called for me to bow down to her and ask her to be our sovereign.”
Dorg was speechless. He stared at the Crown prince of the Glod and had no words for what he had said. Now he understood Tgon-Gee’s behavior at the meeting. Tong-gee saw his amazement and commented, “Your race following my lead was the wisest thing you could have possibly done. However, her aura was not the most amazing thing in the meeting.”
Dorg looked at him and said, “What could have possibly been more amazing that that?”
“You remember her husband was standing off to the side out of sight while the meeting was taking place.”
Dorg thought a minute and then saw in his mind that the Human named Tag had been to the right of the Clan Leaders in a wing that wasn’t visible from the Glods position. “I remember, he was off to the right of your group.”
“Exactly; and when he spoke and stepped out to meet his wife I got my first look at him.”
Dorg looked at the Glod and saw the fear in his eyes. Then Tong-Gee said, “His aura was deep violet with a red glow around it.”
Dorg looked confused and said, “What does that mean?”
“He is death incarnate. When the Guidance Peers saw his aura they demanded we surrender to the Humans unconditionally. Fortunately, I was the one they selected to be there and I was able to keep my head and simply make his wife our sovereign. That removed us from his list of enemies.”
“I don’t understand?” Dorg said. “How does that color aura mean death? I’ve had many dealings with the Human named Tag and he doesn’t appear threatening at all.”
“When the humans came to conquer your world, who made the decision to see if you would try to communicate?”
Dorg thought hard and tried to remember the discussion that Terl had with the Human Director. “I seem to remember that their SFT team said she had to be at his side at every battle after their victory or their future was in jeopardy. The Director said that she was given equal power to his and she had said that they would only attack us if
