Out of the Ashes (Rise of the Empire Book 3) (9 page)

“You might be right.” Johanna said.

Soon The Second Fleet entered the high orbit of the planet. Johanna ordered the viewing screen turned on, and they were rewarded with a greenish gray world above their heads. The CC was silent as each person took time to absorb the amazing sight above them.

“I found something Fleet Commander.” Turiel’s voice sounded from the speakers. Turiel was guiding the sensors, as an Ai could greatly increase a system’s productivity.

“What is it?” Johanna asked.

“I’m sending it to sensor station now.”

Sensor Handler Mark Reddy tapped the screen on his board and a moment later a part of the viewing screen turned black and then they saw the enhanced image of the ground. The screen showed a bird's eye view of what was obviously a kind of village. It was primitive, huts made out of wood, with beings moving about.

“I guess they still haven’t left their stone age...” Johanna said.

“Should we send a team to the ground? We could better evaluate their level.” Andros asked.

Johanna thought about it for a bit, and then shook her head. “No. There will be other ships coming through after us, and we have already sacrificed seven days by visiting the planet. Set a course towards the trans-station. But keep our sensors on the planet, let’s get as much usable information as we can. And we still need to drop the comm relay. We can then send all the gathered information back home.” Johanna said.

Chapter Ten

Nelus system

Adrian watched on the viewing screen as the five ships grew closer to the Leviathan’s position. Adrian turned to Retsar Isani who was standing to his right.

“Three heavy cruisers. Either they trust your opinion of us. Or they think that my ships pose little threat.” Adrian said.

“There are those five patrol ships, light cruisers, with them they outnumber your ships with more than double the numbers. But I am afraid that they are underestimating your ships. That doesn’t bode well for the discussion.” Isani responded in English. Adrian and he started alternating English and Nel when they spoke, in order to better learn each other’s language.

“In what way?” Adrian asked.

“If they don’t consider you a threat, then they most likely don’t see any reason to ally with you. These people are not like me or Lanai Sumia. We were sent to Nuva for a reason. I was born into the lower class while Sumia’s family disavowed her. These people believe themselves better than the other Nel. They will treat you the same way they would a lower class Nel.”

“I guess that we will see soon enough. Come, let’s meet our guests.”

Adrian rose from his command chair and exited the CC. Following behind him were Retsar Isani and Ship Master Paul Isaacs. As he started to exit Adrian noticed that Akash and Sora got up from behind his chair. They went almost everywhere with Adrian, and had claimed the spots behind the command chair as their sleeping area.

“No.” Adrian said to the two wolions as they started to follow, “You two stay here.”

He could see in the debate going between them, whether they should obey him or not. Adrian looked at them sternly preparing to repeat his order, but was stopped by Retsar Isani.

“You should bring them with us.” Isani said, he had spent enough time with Adrian and his wolions to become very relaxed in their presence, “The emissaries will be bringing Laas Rett, thinking to impress and intimidate you.” Retsar Isani warned Adrian that the emissaries would be accompanied by Nel Laas Rett, their warrior caste. He told Adrian that these will not be like the people that were in charge on Nuva during the Sowir attack. Nuva was a colony they dumped those who were not good enough for Nelus. He also cautioned him that from what he has seen of human soldiers we were still much more knowledgeable about the ground war in general. But that Laas Rett were trained to protect and were good at fighting in small organized groups. They served as a special police for the entire Consortium. The meeting would be a lot more informal than the first meeting with the Nuvan diplomatic team. As Nelus was in a state of war and humans already had contact with Nel a lot of formalities would be set aside. Which suited Adrian just fine, he could follow the rules and formalities if he had to, but preferred to set them aside.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to antagonize them.” Adrian said.

“If you knew more of our people you would understand that bringing Laas Rett to a meeting of peace, is an insult. You need to keep them off balance, make them understand that you are not going to be intimidated. And that you are not below them in any way.”

“What do you think Iris?”
Adrian asked in his head.

“Retsar Isani knows these people better than we do.”
Iris answered.

“If you are sure…” Adrian said out loud. He then looked at the two beasts. “Come along then. But do try not to scare anyone, too much.” Akash and Sora trotted to him and released short barking sounds that Adrian knew signified satisfaction that they got their way. Together they started towards the landing bay. In the landing bay they were met with Sahib and his Alpha squad dressed in full battle armor, again per Retsar Isani’s suggestion. Seven of them took positions behind the party, with Sahib coming to walk just behind Adrian. The other 3 squads of his Wolf platoon were in positions outside the landing area. Just in case.

The three emissaries each chose to come in their own private “cruise” ships, yachts. They varied slightly in appearance, but all were around 100 meters long and triangular in shape, with their front narrow and back wide, like most Nel ships. All Nel ships followed similar design, where the ship's front was narrow and then it gradually widened towards the end, with a few rough corners or edges, any unevenness was curved giving them a sleek look. While Olympus ships all looked boxy, most shaped like irregular cuboids, with weapon turrets clearly visible on the hulls in most cases. Front and middle were usually the same width, with the end of a ship abruptly widening. The dreadnought class ships were the first departure from that look, with their double-headed axe front of the ship then narrower middle and widened Citadel at the back.

A few minutes later, three small shuttles landed in the bay. After the doors were closed and the air pumped back inside the shuttles lowered their ramps and their occupants walked out. The three emissaries wore long robes that were left open in the middle, each in different color, one was red and  blue and the other two, green and black, and purple and brown. Below the robes they wore the skintight suits that most Nel wore. The people following them on the other hand, had much different getup. There were four behind each emissary. And they also wore their skintight suits, but over them they had armor, gray in color and of similar make to those of the Sahib’s team, only theirs didn’t cover their entire body. The only parts covered were chest, forearms, groin, part of their tails, and shins. The helmets on their heads covered the back, top, and sides of their heads with the same gray material. While the front was covered in some kind of black smooth material that left the lower part of their face open to air, covering only their eyes and nose. Their armor and suits had lines colored in slight variations in each group, and the groups themselves appeared to be wearing the colors corresponding to the emissary they were following.

Retsar Isani leaned to whisper in Adrian’s ear. “The Laas Rett are wearing the colors of the family house they are protecting. That was forbidden the last time I was on Nelus.”

“What does it mean?” Adrian whispered back.

“It means that families have much greater control on Nelus than I believed. Laas Rett are supposed to police and protect the people, not the families. That’s why they always wear gray. The color of Nelus skies, representing the whole.”

Adrian turned his attention back to the approaching group. The Laas Rett were all focusing on the emissaries and any possible threat. But the three emissaries were openly looking around, peering at everything. And from what Adrian could interpret of their expressions they were not impressed in the slightest. But then Adrian wasn’t an expert in Nel facial expressions. The third emissary, the one dressed in green and black, seemed reserved. With a few more steps brought them standing face to face with Adrian and his party. As the three turned their attention to Adrian they noticed Akash and Sora sitting on their hind legs on both sides of him. Adrian could see their eyes widen and the one dressed in red and blue took a step back. The Laas Rett tensed, but before anyone could react more, Retsar Isani stepped forward.

“Greeting council members.” Isani said, clasping his hands elaborately in front of his chest.

The emissary dressed in red and blue stepped up to him, “Retsar Isani. I would have loved nothing better than to take you under arrest for treason. But the ruling council voted to exonerate you because your actions resulted in the successful defense of a Nel system.” He reached over to his wrist unit and a holographic screen appeared. He did something and a moment later Isani brought his own up and after glancing at it put it down again. Adrian assumed that he received something from the emissary.

“I appreciate the council’s decision. But without the help of the human ships, Sowir would have taken the system and killed everything on the planet.” Isani said.

The emissary smiled in a condescending way and turned to Adrian. “Ah, of course. The people of Nelus give their thanks, for your
help
in defending Nuva.”

“It was the right thing to do.” Adrian said.

Before anyone could say anything more, Isani spoke. “This is Sestar Niraas of house Sav Ral,” Isani gestured to the lead emissary dressed in red and blue, “And these are Sestar Nimuse of house Jar Tel and Sestar Jusan of house Dai Ven.” He said first gesturing to the female Nel dressed in purple and brown, and then to the one in green and black.

Adrian bowed his head Nel way in a respectful nod, but that of an equal. And Isani continued.

“Council members, this is Fleet Commander Adrian Farkas, commander of the human First Fleet. His companion is Ship Master Paul Isaacs, commander of dreadnought Leviathan.”

Sestar Nimuse and Sestar Niraas bowed their heads in a short dip that conveyed superiority, while the Sestar Jusan matched Adrian’s bow. Adrian’s eyebrow rose at that, he tried to discern what that meant but Sestar Nimuse spoke,

“What is the purpose of those beasts.” She said looking at Akash and Sora, she was obviously not comfortable in their presence.

“There is no need to worry, they won’t harm you. I must admit that I didn’t even realize they were here. They are always by my side and I often forget about their presence.” Adrian lied and brought his hands to rest on the two wolions heads, scratching their ears. And right on cue, they started purring, which sounded more like growling.

Isani stepped close to Sora to prove that there was no danger, “There is no need for alarm Sestar. I have spent a lot of time in their company, and I assure you that they are harmless. Humans often keep animals as pets.”

“Yes, there is no danger.” Adrian said, “Now if you would please follow me, we have prepared a meeting room for us.” With that Adrian turned and led the party deeper into the ship.

***

Jusan sat in a comfortable chair in the human meeting room. He was surprised to see that they provided furniture that accommodated Nel tails. His delegation sat on the one side of the table, while Retsar Isani and Adrian Farkas sat on the other. The two beasts sat on the floor beside the table. Behind the humans were two of their Laas Rett equipped with a full body armor, while their two Nel counterparts stood behind the Nel delegation. Jusan looked at Niraas on his left, and saw that he was bothered. And he understood why. Nothing went according to Niraas’ plan. Before they came to the human ship they met on his yacht. Niraas as the leader of the party set their policy, his plan was to intimidate the humans, and wrangle out of them a trade agreement. The man really believed that it would work, that these humans would be easily impressed by them. That they would offer some simple pieces of technology and that the humans would jump on the opportunity. Sure, Nelus might have some things that were not present on Nuva, but Jusan seriously doubted that Isani or Sumia wouldn’t tell the humans exactly what kind of technology Nel possessed. Niraas was a fool, he didn’t even entertain the possibility that what the humans said about building ships for them was true. Which meant that it was Tavaar who didn’t believe, or simply didn’t care. Jusan knew that they wouldn’t even try to make an alliance. Tavaar wouldn’t allow anything to come between him and his rule of Nelus. Even if it was a doomed rule. Because without help, Nelus will fall. And the delusions of Tavaar and the rest of the council will only seal its fate. Jusan knew that he was powerless to do anything about it. He couldn’t usurp the authority of the others, and even if could, people on Nelus have been fed the same delusions for decades. They trust that the council can keep them safe.

Jusan remembered the meeting, how Niraas and Nimuse went over the scans of human technology, dismissing it immediately as primitive. Overlooking the glaring indications that they were not. The size of their ship should have at least put them on guard. But no, they trusted the analysts of house Nor Ral, who served only to confirm Tavaar’s will. Everything that Jusan has seen, from the records of battle at Nuva, to the inside of the big ship told him that Tavaar was wrong. Yes, the humans used metals for construction of their ships. But everything he has inspected showed him an amazing level of complexity. Nel discard anything that becomes obsolete once a new thing comes along. Once better materials became available they stopped using the old. Who knew what these humans managed to do with their “primitive” materials.

But in the end it didn’t matter. He was not here to aid the talks, his only task was the sphere. He glanced to the other side of the table at the human, Adrian Farkas. He tried to discern any kind of a clue to whether the human’s knew about their - and Nel - origins. But their expressions, while similar, were not exactly the same as Nel. But it seemed like they knew, it was the only explanation for their apparent desire to help Nelus, and their involvement with the defense of Nuva. Finally the silence was broken from the human side of the table.

“I assume that your people had the chance to look at the rough proposal we sent you?” Fleet Commander Adrian Farkas asked.

“Yes, we had. But before we can talk about that, there is another thing that we need to discuss.” Niraas said.

“Of course. What do you wish to discuss?” Fleet Commander asked.

“With your proposal was included the information about your actions in the Nuva system, and your plans about the future. You brought a lot of ships and materials into the system, constructing a station and a number of “defense” platforms. That is not something the council can allow. Nuva is, after all, Nel territory.” Niraas said, “We require that you remove your presence from Nuva, before any kind of agreements can be reached.”