Alpha One: The Kronan (24 page)

Jake felt safer now as they rounded the moons of Jupiter and saw the familiar space lanes marking the start of Alpha’s core domain. There was only limited Alpha activity, a few Jump Ships and two patrol vessels, but this was home territory and even though he knew Morvalt was in pursuit, it would not be long before they were safe.

He could sense him getting closer. The Halo 7 slowed down for her run into Earth. He felt the familiar probing of Morvalt in his mind, beckoning him to leave the ship and come to him. Jake was powerless to respond. If they wanted him, they would have to come and get him.

* * * *

Morvalt sensed Jake’s imposition. He was obviously still imprisoned.

That will not stop me,
he thought.
We will come to you Jake
.

* * * *

The Halo 7 slowed to sub-light-speed and joined the Titan space way leading directly to Earth. It was quiet; no commercial traffic would risk their cargo or passengers with invasion looming. The attack was swift and deadly. The Kryl commander had already determined the Halo 7’s weaknesses. The weakest point of shielding surrounded the exhaust manifold on the main drive system. While this drive was offline, the damage caused by the blast was too close to the operational drive section of the ship, knocking out both the stellar and the main ion drives simultaneously. The Halo 7 began to slow down.

The Kryl ship was in stealth mode as Hoskins and his crew scoured the viewing screens, looking for something that did not appear to be there.

“Our main drives are down, Sir; maneuvering thrusters only.”

“Barium Sweep. They are out there somewhere.

We have been here before, Number One. If they are after Carter, they will be looking to board. Keep those shields up.”

“I am picking up a vapor trail, twelve kilometers to port.”

“Lock onto and discharge everything we have got. Launch Rapiers and get those shields back up!”

The Kryl Cruiser was forcing the initiative and had weakened shields on both sides of the Alpha Battle Cruiser

“They are circling us. Launch the Sabres too. Are those Kryl fighters?”

“Confirmed. Fifteen Kryl fighters have launched. There are two Alpha cruisers in range; ETA two minutes.”

Hoskins grimaced. Two minutes and it could be all over, if they board and take Jake, which was all their protection, gone. This would be tricky.

“Shields to stern down, Sir. They are targeting the hanger deck.”

It was beginning to look bad, but all Hoskins could think about was Obeya.

“CAG, report.” No response. He tried again with no response.

“Get me a team down there now.”

Hoskins was in a state of panic.
Please let Obeya be okay.

Commander Jacques watched his CO’s usual coolness evaporate. It was time to step up.

“Sir, get yourself down there. I have this.”

“No, Number One. I am needed here.”

“With respect, Sir, you should stand down and see to the hanger deck.”

Hoskins knew his XO had control and he swiftly exited the bridge. It was down to Jacques now.

“Engineering. Drive Status?”

The reply was prompt.” Stellar drive is available for a quick shunt, Sir, but nothing more.”

“Comm. Observations; can you confirm the discharge is likely to be plasma coil from their star drive?”

“Looks like it, Sir. Although without visibility, I can’t confirm...”

Jacques was not listening.

“Prepare stellar drive, engage and take us out, away from Earth.”

This was not in the rule book and highly dangerous, especially if they shunted too near to the sun.

“Sir, what about the Jump Ships?”

“Engage!”

Moments later, the stellar drive erupted into life and the battle cruiser leapt forward and out of sight. The short burst of power took the Halo 7, ten thousand kilometers in a few seconds, but now, the power burst had discharged as she slowly ground to a halt.

“Silent mode.”

All communications ceased and the Halo 7 became a noiseless, drifting hulk.

The Kryl cruiser did not follow.

“Sir,” the comms officer, said quietly.

“We have no drive to return. The Jump Ships will be sitting ducks.”

Jacques glanced at his watch. “By now, the two Alpha Cruisers will have arrived. I have a hunch that Morvalt’s ship will not stick around to fight. They will be looking for us, and we are still a sitting target. They will find us soon.

Get a message to the chief engineer. We need that ion drive up and running and will someone get down to the hangar deck to update the CO.”

* * * *

Jake suddenly felt free again. They had obviously shunted some distance via the stellar drive and were in silent mode
. Genius,
thought Jake. But
h
e knew this battle was far from over.

* * * *

“Bloody dangerous, but fantastically clever, Number One. As it worked, I wish I could take the credit.”

“We are not out of this yet.”

“No, but we can lick our wounds and get the drives back up. We only need to get to Earth, for God’s sake. Any activity in this area?”

“No, we are in no-man’s land.”

“She will find us and we have no drive system and no Jump Ships. We need to be ready.”

* * * *

Morvalt was angry. They were there for the taking but his crew and his ship let him down. When the Earth ship engaged their star drive, he ordered his ship to follow but the star drive withered and died. It was back up now but it was too late.

They briefly engaged with two other Alpha vessels. Morvalt engaged his pulmonary drive and moved the invisible ship out of range. He was here for one thing. Now, he had no link to Carter and no way of finding him.

“Get me the star drive back on line now!” ee shouted.

The drone’s response was muted. “We over-stretched the drive in that last burst my Kronan. We need to cool it down before it is ready.”

“I don’t want your excuses; just get it back as soon as possible.”

* * * *

“Ion drive active, Sir. Should I engage?”

“No. Send out manual probes first. I want to see if there is anything out there.”

“Discharged. Barium Sweep?”

“No. It will use up too much energy and will light us up like a sports stadium!”

He turned to his first officer and signed. “That was way to close.”

“Yes. How is Obeya?”

“She is fine, but the hanger deck is a bloody mess. I am sorry Jean-Luc; I should have kept my cool.”

“We have all been through a lot, Jonathan. We just need to get home.”

Hoskins walked back to his command chair and pursed his hands together as he sat down.

“Probes show no activity, Sir. They could have plugged their drive leak.”

“Unlikely. She is not in this sector. Okay, set a course for Earth at maximum auxiliary drive thrust. Shields to maximum. Let’s try again.”

The Halo 7 edged forward. From here, they were five hours from home, but with little protection. If they made it, it would be a close run thing.

Koenig called a one to one with Roslyn, and once again, they agreed to meet at Roslyn’s mountain lake side retreat in Switzerland. They sat on the terrace and a service droid had just served them coffee.

“What a disaster!”

“It is not over yet, Mister President, but it is looking bleak.

“I need your reassurances that SED and the shields will hold.”

“I can only tell you, that everything is ready. The shields are at one hundred percent and all SED forces are at condition blue, but I can’t tell you how they will fare against the Kryl.”

“Then I think we need to consider the implications of failure. Do we negotiate and to what degree?”

“I am not against discussion. But negotiation suggests surrender and we are not anything like close to giving up. I suggest we send the senate team in again, but this time, we need the details.”

“The fact remains, that the Kryl could break through our defenses in a matter of days. I don’t believe we should be shy about coming forward.”

“Then, I think we will beg to differ my friend. I cannot agree to our negotiating terms. The senate team will have to follow a more reserved stance at this stage.”

“Nonetheless I think we need to ask the senate to go in under a collective agreement between us that they further discussions and determine what options would hypothetically be available to us.”

“Very well. I will contact Harrington. In the meantime, we need to make sure government continues, if there is infrastructure breakdown. I presume you have mechanisms in place to preserve continuity of administration?”

“Of course, but I will not accept marshal law. We will be able to govern and communicate from our deep-bunker evacuation facility. We will be virtually undetectable.”

“I have seen the schematics. Alpha has similar facilities already staffed and these will assume military command if appropriate.”

“And your Contingency Fleet’s advances will be governed by them.”

“Yes.”

“I was hoping for a bit more detail?”

“In what respect?”

“We are close to the point, where you and I may not talk again. If this all fouls up, then the contingency could be the human race’s last chance. My position requires that I am made aware of these plans.”

“I am sorry Mister President, but that will remain confidential. Only a few people within Alpha have clearance for this information. It is better that way.”

“Hmm...okay, I will let it drop for now. Your shuttle is waiting and I fear I must get underway shortly. Until next time?”

“Until next time.”

Koenig boarded his shuttle, which departed immediately and headed back across Europe and over the Atlantic. The western coast of America was in view within a few minutes, and the shuttle touched down at the Admiralty headquarters on the edge of San Francisco Bay less than ten minutes after Roslyn, and Koenig had ended their discussions.

Koenig had already spoken to Lieutenant Colonel Harrington, who having verified with the President’s office, was en route to a new rendezvous with the Kryl’s diplomatic team.

Koenig headed straight to his office for a comm. link with Admiral Shenke, where it became quite clear that the fleet’s participation in the battle reached an unsatisfactory conclusion.

He sat alone in his office and wondered how much longer his own position would be tenable. Was this selfish of him? He had worked hard to get where he was and he was not about to budge. All the while his contingency fleet existed, he had something to govern and right now it would be a long time before they would be called into action.

Harrington could only take who was available and at this short notice, Lieutenant Carla Stevenson, was the only candidate. She was eager to come; her enthusiasm was infectious. Actually, she was infectious and he wanted her.

The senate shuttle docked with the Kryl cruiser at 2200 hours and Harrington and Carla were again led to the round room, where the Mutan, Kravos, was waiting.

“I am disappointed that it has taken so long for you to return.”

“I apologize for the delay. My people have been considering your demands.”

“Are they ready to accept them?”

“Not exactly. However I have made progress, in so much as I now have consensus between the two parties, I represent.”

“Which helps how exactly?”

“Any movement which comes from today’s meeting will be easier to relay to my superiors and I should be in a position to disclose at least an unofficial response today. I should stress that we are seeking more detail and compromise on your part and of course, these discussions are based on a hypothetical situation, which would require us to negotiate.”

“I have already given you the detail you need. Accept my demands or all your people die!”

“Yes, but if we do accept your demands, how many people will die?”

“That is the first good question you have asked Colonel Harrington. Our objective is to perpetuate your species, not to kill it off.”

“By perpetuate...the overall number of people, the worldwide population would have to stay the same. Deaths would have to be balanced by births.”

“Does that surprise you? For your own livestock, you maintain stock to keep the supply going.”

“That’s barbaric!” Carla spoke up for the first time.

“Why? We consume the brainwave activity. It is clean and painless.”

Carla held back her anger and allowed Harrington to pursue further.

“So, how many would you need per year?”

“Now, that is a good question?”

“And fairly critical!”

“Why? Not when you consider the alternative.”

“That is contradictory. You have constantly maintained that you need us for your food supply. Just because you don’t get agreement from us, does not mean that you will not feed from us.”

Kravos smiled, for the first time this evening, revealing his graying and rotten teeth.

“It is better to have an understanding. You are an intelligent species, who would be best maintained by continuing your lives, much as they are now.”

Harrington sensed he was onto something now.

“So, you are talking about a quota?”

“Define quota?”

“A percentage, an allocation, a proportion.”

“Yes, to sustain our people and maintain your population levels.”

“So, how many? We have a population on Earth of over twenty-five billion, with a death rate of about two percent against a birth rate of one point two-five percent. That means the population is currently growing by about one hundred and eighty million per year. If we sustain the current birth rate and assume deaths from natural and other causes will remain the same, then you would be looking at one hundred and eighty million per year to feed from.”

Kravos smiled again. “Our requirements would be higher.”

“How much higher?”

“That would need to be defined.”

“When? If we are trying to negotiate, hypothetically, we need figures now.”

“I think that is enough for now. You have a greater understanding of our intent. I suggest you take what you know and speak to your president and his admirals. Using your Earth time, we should meet here again in twenty-four hours.”

* * * *

Carla was exasperated.

“Oh, my God. I can’t believe you just had that conversation. We surely can’t be considering agreeing for the Kryl to murder so many of our people. One death is too much surely.”

“Of course it is. Please believe me. This is not me. I am simply trying to gain an understanding of what they want so we can minimize the impact and present their demands to the authorities. It is not for us to make decisions or moral judgments. I am just as appalled by the prospect as you are.”

“You and I are at the forefront of this. If it comes down to it, the deaths of millions of our people will fall on our shoulders, irrespective of whether we authorized it or not!”

“We are not the decision makers. We are the messengers. Do you want out? I will certainly understand if you do?”

“No! Let’s just be careful. Let the Kryl make their proposals rather than us putting words in their mouths—that way we take away some of the moral responsibility.”

“I am trying to gain his confidence and get Kravos to open up. Today we learned far more than any of our previous visits. I am hoping this will be a catalyst to a fuller disclosure tomorrow.”

“Are you going to report back?”

“Yes, right now. Do you want to sit in?”

“Yes, please!” Carla suddenly sounded enthusiastic again—excited by the prospect of being involved in a conversation with the President and Alpha’s CIC.

Harrington set up a three way secure comm. link with a complex algorithm security coding to make it difficult for the Kryl to intercept. The respective administration staff for both Koenig and Roslyn opened the comm. link and established the live feeds. The link was open.

“Harrington. What news do you have for us?”

“Mister President. Kravos opened up a bit today. They are looking for continuity of our species but with a quota of persons per year to be sacrificed. With the very rough figures we discussed, it is likely they will want in excess of the population growth surplus per year.”

“How many people is that?” Koenig was in uncertain territory but Harrington’s update grabbed his attention.

“Certainly in excess of a hundred and eighty million people per year. To be honest we are still scratching at the surface. We are due to go back to him in twenty–four hours where we will look for a much fuller disclosure of their intent.”

“What about governance? Would we continue to control ourselves?”

“We did not discuss that Admiral. The Kryl stopped us before we had the chance to pursue this further. They did allude to us continuing our lives much as they are now.”

“They will go ahead with this irrespective of whether we agree or not. It is in our best interests to reach an agreement which allows our species to continue with potentially some form of self-governance.”

“Yes, Mister President. This war is not lost yet—not by a long shot. I will not agree to negotiations. These should be discussions only!”

“Gentlemen.” Harrington sensed the need for a little diplomacy.

“I assume I still have consensus to continue our discussions. They will remain as just that until I have something concrete to submit or you instruct me to act in a different way.”

The President replied calmly. “I believe I can speak for the Admiral on this still. For now, continue as you are but try to get as much detail as possible without compromising our position. Do you have anything to add Admiral?”

Koenig said nothing.

“Very well Lieutenant Colonel. I suggest we close for now and await your update tomorrow night.

The comm. link terminated and Harrington sighed.

“This does not get any easier, does it Carla? Let’s get some supper and then rest. I think we must be at our best tomorrow.”