A King's Ship (Empire Rising Book 2) (24 page)

When the terminal beeped to inform her that the data transfer was complete she sat back in relief. The mission was accomplished. After a few seconds congratulating herself Jil’lal stood and walked over to the waiter. He immediately showed her to the best seat in the restaurant and promised to bring out their finest foods. Jil’lal was starving and she needed some time to figure out how she was going to get back to Tak’ar.

After the meal she accessed the terminal to see if there were any messages for her. Sure enough there was one from Tak’ar. He congratulated her and then told her there had been a new development. After opening the link, he had sent her she listened to the audio of James introducing himself to her world.

Aliens
, Jil’lal thought with excitement.
Aliens the Overlord has attacked, this could change everything!

Today there are strict first contact protocols in place within the Empire. Yet when we first made contact with the Vestarians there were no such regulations. Most modern historians believe that if they existed back then, things would not have turned out as they did for our race.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

1
st
July, 2466 AD, HMS
Endeavour
, in orbit around Vestar

James was on the bridge watching the holo projection of Vestar, going over his audience with the Overlord for the twentieth time when Lieutenant Scott broke into his thoughts. “Sir, we are getting a communication from the surface.”

“I thought we were getting continuous COM chatter from the surface alternating between insults and demands for technology?” he asked.

“Yes Sir, but this is different,” Scott said. “We have been contacted by a group claiming to be some sort of resistance to the Overlord. They claim to have some of the information we want.”

“Let me see it,” James said.

“Ok Sir, I’m sending it to your command chair, it was text only,” Scott replied.

Captain Somerville, I am contacting you on behalf of the Resistance, we are a group striving to overthrow the Supreme Overlord and return democracy to our world. We have information regarding the Overlord’s battle fleet and their weapons technologies we would be willing to trade. We don’t have much time. If you want to speak with us, reply to this message and we will send you coordinates to a safe location where we can meet face to face.

James read the message twice and then shouted over to Sub Lieutenant King who was at the COMs station, “Contact Ferguson, Johnston and Bell. Get them to meet me in my office.

“Yes Sir,” King said to James’ back as he walked out of the bridge.

“Scott, you’re with me,” James said before he ducked out.

Five minutes later they were all in James’ office. After he let them read the message, James spoke up, “I’m going to reply. It may be a trap but I think we need to take the risk. I’ll take a shuttle down. Agent Bell, you and Lieutenant Scott can accompany me along with a handful of marines to back us up in case we get into trouble.”

“I’m not sure that is a good idea Captain,” Ferguson began. “We know almost most nothing about these Vestarians, how can we start to get involved in their internal politics? Surely it is not our place to meddle with how another species governs itself.”

“Even when that species threatens us?” James asked with a hint of frustration. He wanted to get on with his plan.

“Yes,” Ferguson answered firmly. “We have no orders from the Admiralty regarding how to handle a first contact situation, but if we did I’m sure they would forbid getting involved with rogue organizations within a week of making contact. It is simply not our place. We need to leave these kinds of decisions to our government. If we do any more we may face legal charges. If not from our government then from the UN.”

“So what do you propose instead?” James said.

“We can reply and ask for the information they have, that’s it. I don’t think we can make them any kind of promise of help or aid,” Ferguson answered.

“Unacceptable,” James said. “I am the commanding officer here in Vestar and I believe we need to do everything in our power to make sure there isn’t another attack on human space. Even if that means interfering with the god-king who likely ordered the attack. I don’t know how our government will take us contacting this Resistance, but I know I will sleep soundly with my decision.

“Besides,” James said more lightly, “I only want to talk with them. It’s not like we’re about to give them weapons or anything like that. We can just hear them out and then see where things take us.”

“I see,” Ferguson said diplomatically. It was obvious to everyone in the meeting that he wasn’t convinced. “Well in that case at least you must agree that you going isn’t very wise. We don’t know the politics of this planet. This Resistance could just as easily kill you or take you captive if they thought you were worth trading with the Overlord. The Overlord may have prisoners that they could exchange you for. It’s just too risky for you to go. You are needed here.”

“He’s right Captain,” Johnston said. “It’s not the Captain’s place to be sneaking around an alien planet. You are needed here in case the Overlord tries to contact you. Agent Bell has more than enough experience to command this mission and I can be on standby with two shuttles of marines in combat armor to back her up if need be.”

“Lieutenant Scott, what do you think?” James asked, to draw her into the conversation.

“I think the message is genuine Sir,” she said. “Everything we know about the Overlord suggests that he wouldn’t entertain the idea of admitting the existence of a resistance to us. Even if it was just a fake one to lure us in. I think we need to take the risk. We came here for information after all. That said, Johnston and Ferguson are right, it makes no sense to risk your life when we have so little information to go on.”

“You can’t argue with that logic,” Bell said grinning. “I guess it’s just you and me Scott.”

“Are you happy to be going in with so little support?” James said conceding their point.

“I’ve been in far worse situations with far less support,” Bell answered. “This will be fun, we may actually get to see more of the planet than just the Overlord’s palace.”

“Very well. I’ll send a reply to the message, Bell and Scott, I want both of you to get ready for a landing mission. Take whatever you need. Major, assign six of your best marines to accompany them to the surface. Dismissed everyone.”

*

As Bell stepped off the shuttle she was amazed by the sight that greeted her. In the distance the two suns of Vestar were both setting and as their light filtered through the forest in front of her the rays were reflected off the foliage in a number of dazzling colors.

“Beautiful,” Scott whispered from behind her.

“Thank you for coming,” a voice said from the edge of the forest and was quickly followed by its owner as a Vestarian made its way to the shuttle. Bell guessed it was a male, probably past his middle age based on other Vestarians she had met at the palace and watched through
Endeavour’s
optical sensors. The age was largely a guess though, for they still hadn’t figured out exactly how long the Vestarians lived. It seemed that once they reached adulthood they continued to grow albeit at a slower rate. From what they could tell the older Vestarians were taller than their younger counterparts but usually did not have the muscle mass they once did.

“My name is Tak’ar,” the alien said. “I lead the Resistance in this part of our world. If you don’t mind, could you order your shuttle to take off right away? The longer it waits here the more chance that we will be discovered.”

Turning her back to Tak’ar momentarily Bell opened her COM unit. “Ok Sheils, we have our feet on the ground. You can take off now. Just be ready to come back and get us if we need you.”

“Yes Mam, I’ll be here when you call, have a safe trip,” the pilot called back.

As Bell turned back to Tak’ar she was surprised to see he had extended his hand to her. “Welcome to our planet, I believe this is how your people greet each other?”

“Indeed it is,” Bell said with a smile as she shook his hand.

“I see you have been informed about our meeting at the palace,” she concluded.

“Yes, we managed to steal some details about your meeting. But follow me, this is not the place to talk. There could be a military patrol craft overhead at any minute,” Tak’ar said and turned to lead them further into the forest.

For the next twenty minutes they trudged through the thick Vestarian forest. Tak’ar, with his four legs and arms was clearly far better adapted to his environment as he seemed to glide through the forest effortlessly. Bell, Scott and the marines were all panting hard by the time Tak’ar stopped.

“The city of Zekath is just a few kilometers ahead of us,” Tak’ar said pointing through a gap in the thick foliage where some of the city’s large spires could be seen. “That is the city I was born in and the city where both my parents were executed.”

Before Bell could commiserate with Tak’ar he turned back to the cliff they had stopped beside. With two of his arms he pulled back a number of thick vines growing up the cliff and with his other two he knocked out a specific pattern. “Over a hundred years ago the Overlord at the time built a number of military bases adjacent to the main cities to house his troops. This base was never finished so the Resistance has taken it over.”

As he spoke, a crack appeared on the cliff that rapidly widened until it was just large enough for a Vestarian to fit through. Tak’ar led the way as Bell and the rest of her team followed him in. For another ten minutes the group followed Tak’ar deeper and deeper into the abandoned military base. Here and there they saw other Vestarians lounging about but for the most part the base seemed empty.

Bell had been trying to remember all the twists and turns they had taken but by the time Tak’ar stopped again she was completely lost. “Now we can talk,” Tak’ar said. “I have had refreshments prepared for us in here, I hope they will be suitable for you” he added gesturing through a door into a room with what looked like a Vestarian table in the center.

Bell wasn’t so sure but she was confident Scott would be able to determine if the food was safe. As she walked in to the room two Vestarians reclining at the table stood and came over to meet her. “This is my wife, Mul’li’la,” Tak’ar said as the older looking Vestarian held out her hand. “She runs this Resistance base.”

“And this is one of our best infiltrators, Jil’lal,” Tak’ar said as Bell shook the second alien’s hand.

“A pleasure to meet both of you,” Bell said. “You truly have my respect for trying to stand up to your Overlord. We have seen his palace and some of his military units. It’s can’t be easy taking on an opponent who wields such overwhelming force.”

“No,” Mul’li’la said with what looked surprisingly like a human expression of sadness. “We have lost many good friends over the years. But they all died willingly. None of us are prepared to rest until we see the Overlord’s rule ended and freedom restored to our people.”

“Maybe you could tell us something about the history of your people,” Scott asked. “It would help us understand who you are and allow us to follow each other better. We would be happy to share some of our history with you.”

“Yes,” Tak’ar said. “That would be a good place to start. “Please make yourself comfortable,” he added as he gestured to the table.

Once all the humans had found a way to sit somewhat comfortably at the Vestarian table he began. “We count our years as one revolution of our planet around the two suns of our system,” Tak’ar explained.

“As do we,” Scott said smiling.

“Well,” Tak’ar continued, “just over five hundred years ago our planet was divided between many small and large nations.”

Bell mentally did the calculation and worked out that Tak’ar was talking about three hundred Earth years ago.

“There was an almost constant state of war between several of the larger nations over territory but for the most part the people lived in peace. The wars largely consisted of border skirmishes.

“There was great celebration when one of the dominant nations launched its first satellite into space but within days an alien ship showed up. They called themselves the Kulreans and they came offering us technology to help us better ourselves. They had one condition though. We had to form one planetary government and put an end to all our wars. A small military force was allowed to keep the peace but we were to abandon every other form of military technology.

“To show the authenticity of their offer, they gave each of the nations a number of agricultural and energy production technologies that were vastly superior to anything we had ever seen. The introduction of these technologies quickly began to change our culture and there was a large movement among the population to form one government and gain access all that the Kulreans had to offer. After a series of democratic votes our nations unified. The Kulreans then built the large satellite you have no doubt seen and slowly began to feed us new technologies that improved our healthcare, our food production and the quality of life of all Vestarians.