Starhold (32 page)

33: Three months…

The next morning after breakfast, a meeting was held in the main conference room aboard
Tempest
. “Good morning, you two,” Captain Pettigrew greeted the OMI operatives as they arrived. “Sleep well?”

“I slept great,” answered Carr. “Thanks for the use of your quarters,” he said to Adams, who uneasily nodded her head.

Sanchez poured a cup of coffee from the carafe on the sideboard. “I hope it’s not a military secret, but for anybody who’s interested, Commander Mullenhoff snores.” Pettigrew laughed, but XO Adams looked distressed, swiftly assuring Sanchez that she would be relocated into the VIP cabin later that day.

Carr and Sanchez sat down, joining the other three Union representatives on one side of the table. Opposite them were Governor Goran and Fleetmaster Balasi. Balasi had returned to
Tempest
aboard his shuttle that morning. He had absented himself from last evening’s dinner under orders from Goran. The Governor felt that Korab wouldn’t look kindly to dining with the man who had enticed his brother into becoming a traitor, and Balasi had to admit that it was probably wise for him to stay away.

Pettigrew cleared his throat and began. “You understand, Governor Goran, that this meeting is very unofficial. Admiral Sykes and Sixth Fleet will be arriving in Sol shortly, and even he will have to communicate with our leaders on Sarissa. The entire negotiation process will take months.”

Carr stirred. “I’m sorry, but what are we negotiating, and why are Sanchez and I here? We’re just lowly OMI operatives.”

“Speak for yourself, Carr. I’m not lowly—I’m a Lieutenant Commander,” joked Sanchez. Everyone laughed but Balasi, who didn’t seem to appreciate the humor.

“You’re both here because I wanted you here,” replied Goran. “By your actions planetside and my conversations with Korab, I believe both of you to be people of honor. I also believe you are a man of honor as well, Captain Pettigrew.”

“Yes,” interjected Balasi, as if he felt he had to say something to remind everyone he was relevant. “Your retrieval of the life pods after the attack on
Imperial Wrath
was most commendable. Fleetmaster Haldryn had ordered our ships nearby not to leave the shipyard under any circumstance, lest their captains and officers be executed. If you had not acted…”

Pettigrew cleared his throat again and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It seemed like the civilized thing to do.”

“Governor, just what are you proposing?” asked Adams, rescuing her commanding officer from his discomfort at being praised.

Goran steepled his hands together. “Captain, you say that your Sixth Fleet will arrive shortly, but our forces still have fifteen functioning warships. With our shields and other tech advantages, we could defeat you in battle, even with your reinforcements.”

The Sarissans suddenly felt uncomfortable. “Is that a threat, Governor Goran?” asked Pettigrew, an edge in his voice.

Goran forced a toothy smile. “Not at all, it is a fact. However, it is also a fact that if we continued to engage your forces, and the Gerrhans, and the other starholds of the Renaissance Sector, we would eventually run out of ships and you would defeat us. Many lives would be needlessly thrown away in the process.”

Everyone reflected on Goran’s point, with Pettigrew finally speaking up. “As Commander Adams asked earlier, just what are you proposing, Governor?”

Goran glanced at Balasi, the kind of look Carr thought silently said,
“Here we go…”

“My people didn’t ask to be here, but we’ve made the best of the circumstances that we found ourselves in. We took the planet below and revitalized it. We’ve spent the last dozen years making it our home, and we won’t let anyone take it away from us now.” He paused and looked over to Balasi, who nodded encouragement. “What we fear is that now that we’ve been discovered, your people will want Earth back—if not the Sarissan Union, then someone else.”

“I suppose there would be some who might think that way,” said Pettigrew, “but understand that most of the people in this universe died on Earth three hundred years ago. All of the starholds are actually underpopulated, it’s not like…”

“Let’s not kid ourselves,” Carr interrupted. “It’s Earth. Thousands of people would relocate here if they had the chance. And something else—there’s more than one government that would make a grab for this planet, just for the prestige of owning humanity’s homeworld. It’s a helluva prize. Goran and his people have every right to be concerned.”

Goran saw the opening for his proposal. “We have a very small population, only around twenty thousand. We would welcome immigrants, as long as they renounce their citizenship to their current starhold and pledge loyalty to Earth. However, we need more than population. We need minerals, natural resources. Our terraforming revitalized the planet’s biosphere, but it didn’t replenish the iron ore, the copper, and all the other minerals that humans consumed for thousands of years before they abandoned the planet.”

“You need trade,” stated Adams. “But that’s a two-way enterprise, Governor. What can you offer?”

“Technology. We need one of the established starholds to be an ally of the New Earth and assistance in safeguarding our independence. We have certain tech that we intend to share with everyone in the Renaissance Sector, as a kind of goodwill gesture, you might say. However, in return for a military alliance, we would share other particular technologies exclusively with the Sarissan Union.”

“Shields?” asked Pettigrew, cutting to the chase.

“Shields,” answered the Governor, “and engine technology.”

“We could make your fleet very powerful,” added Balasi in a masterstroke of understatement.

Pettigrew appeared to be pondering, trying to play it cool. Adams was beyond looking cool—she was practically salivating at the upgrade possibilities. Just as Carr was about to open his mouth, Sanchez beat him to it.

“Why us?” she asked. Why don’t you shop around? What about the Gerrhans? Or the Pontians—nobody loves a good bargain like a Pontian.”

“Commander,” Pettigrew broke in, not knowing whether to be amused or angry with Sanchez. “I think if our friends—”

Carr interrupted again. “No, she’s right. If they truly are our friends, Chaz, then we need to advise them to be careful. Maybe they should shop around, see where they can get the best deal.”

Pettigrew leaned back with an exasperated look on his face. Next to him, Adams’s expression said that she was mentally preparing two court-martials on the grounds of treason. On the other side of the table, Goran clapped his hands together and grinned.

“You see!” he exclaimed, pointing at Sanchez and Carr. “That’s why you’re here! Do you think anyone else would have told us to shop around? Besides,” he said, sliding into a more serious voice, “we have analyzed the data our people have collected on all the various starhold governments during the past twelve years, and your people are the ones who can best assist us.”

Balasi leaned forward. “And you have defeated a Rhuzari titan in battle. I mourn the loss of so many comrades-in-arms,” he said looking straight at Carr, “but still, it was no small accomplishment. Our people have a saying: ‘the only true ally is a former enemy.’”

The meeting continued for another thirty minutes. Finally, when the discussion seemed to have wound down, Fleetmaster Balasi requested that Commander Adams assist him in coordinating several inter-fleet tasks. After the two of them left, Pettigrew grinned across the table at Goran.

“This meeting’s not quite over yet, is it Governor?”

“Regrettably, no,” Goran answered. “Sorry for the deception, but I didn’t wish Commander Adams to hear what I have to say.” The thin man gathered himself. Goran had shown amazing composure and courage over the past few days, but now Carr thought he looked almost frightened. “There’s something I wish to share with you three, because I think you’ve earned the right to know, but you must keep this to yourselves. Once I share it with your superiors, I’m sure your government will classify it as the most secret of secrets.”

Pettigrew glanced at the others. “You can count on us. Please continue.”

“I understand that humankind in this universe has yet to encounter any sentient alien life.”

Carr leaned back in his chair and ran one hand over the top of his smooth head. “I already don’t like where this is going.”

“Are you saying that the Rhuzari have encountered intelligent alien life, back in the Otherverse?” asked Sanchez.

Goran nodded. “Remember that the original Threshold sent us across both space
and
time. Our Otherverse, as you call it, was two centuries ahead of the time here in this universe. Our humanity had explored a much larger area of the galaxy than you have.”

“And you found something,” said Pettigrew.

“Or it found us—we’re not sure. We don’t even know who or what they are. We call them the Adversary. We’ve tried to communicate with them, but it’s clear they don’t want to talk with us. Every military force any government has ever sent against them has been annihilated. Colony worlds are simply erased, wiped from the surface of the planets they occupy. We’ve been fighting them for almost three decades now. Balasi says nearly half of all human worlds have been destroyed. In my native universe, these beings are conducting a slow, inexorable march across human space. The only thing saving us for the time being is that the Adversary is extremely deliberate and methodical, but even a tortoise reaches its destination eventually.”

Goran paused to take a drink of water. The man was shaken just discussing it.

“The Threshold was supposed to project us hundreds of light years away, to begin the process of relocating our people. Of course, you know what happened. It malfunctioned and we all found ourselves here. Until Sheel had it destroyed, the new plan was to use the Sol Threshold to relocate my people to this universe.”

“The Rhuzari Empire—couldn’t they build another Threshold?” asked Pettigrew.

“Not likely. The only person who even remotely understood the whole concept was Dr. Acree, and he was on the Threshold when it was destroyed. That and the fact that the original project nearly bankrupted the Empire. By the way,” Goran added, “the mighty Rhuzari Empire consists of two planets, and one of them is a desert wasteland.”

“Goran, I’m sorry for your people, on the other side I mean,” said Carr. “But in a way, the Threshold malfunction that sent you here was a blessing in disguise. At least you’re safe now.”

“No, he’s not,” said Sanchez. “Parallel universes. Two Earths. Two sets of humans…”

“Two Adversaries,” finished Pettigrew, looking up as if casting his eyes toward the heavens. “And our aliens are out there somewhere.”

“I have to warn your leaders,” said Goran earnestly. “We know the general region of space they came from in my universe and I would think it would be the same on this side. There’s also going to be the problem of unifying everyone.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sanchez.

“A single government can’t stand against these aliens. Humankind in this universe must unite if our descendants are to have any chance of survival.”

Carr looked around at the others. “We have to unite humanity to work toward a common goal? Well, even with a two hundred year head start, we’re probably screwed.”

* * * *

The following day, Chaz Pettigrew and Uschi Mullenhoff accompanied Carr and Sanchez to Bakkoa. The chief reason for going dirtside was to retrieve the scout ship
Kite
from the outskirts of town. Since Pettigrew and Mullenhoff wanted to sightsee as well, the quartet borrowed a groundcar from the Government Compound for the day’s journey.

As they moved through the city, Sanchez joked that she could give them a tour of the back alleys, which she and Carr knew quite well. By the time they had hit open country, Mullenhoff had decided that Pettigrew was a better starship captain than chauffeur.

Both Pettigrew and Mullenhoff were amazed by the terraforming and the simple fact that they were really on planet Earth. Mullenhoff speculated that the tourist trade was going to be enormous. Carr wondered aloud how long it would take humans to mess up the planet again.

They found
Kite
just as they had left her, and the ship welcomed its masters back reporting that all was well. Goran had promised that the craft had not been tampered with, despite Fleetmaster Balasi’s desire to send in an engineering team for what he called a “quick look around.”

It was about 13:00 hours when the Sarissans walked to the small outcrop of rock Carr had found that first day on Earth, the one Sanchez said would be a good spot for a picnic. Before leaving town, they’d stopped at Mr. Annar’s grocery store and purchased food and wine with government vouchers, compliments of Governor Goran. Annar greeted them and was very pleasant, but he was evidently still under the impression that Carr and Sanchez were secret police.

Sanchez was right about it being a perfect spot for a picnic. After lunch, the women went back to the ship. Engineer Mullenhoff wanted a peek under the hood of
Kite
and Pilot Sanchez was more than happy to oblige. The men kicked back to finish off the last of the wine.

“Well, Chaz, since
Goshawk
is getting under way tomorrow, I’ll miss Admiral Sykes and the gang. Don’t let him pin too many medals on you at once, you might tip over,” Carr teased while doing a mock toast with his paper cup.

Pettigrew finished his wine. “Medals? I’ll be lucky to keep my command. You do realize we lost something like eight percent of the Union fleet last week, don’t you?”

“We both know it was a no-win situation. Honor the dead, Chaz, but also remember that there are nearly a thousand men and women up in space who are still alive today because of your leadership.”

“And your schemes,” added Pettigrew, toasting back at his friend with an empty cup.

“You think the government will go along with this alliance thing?”

“Are you kidding?” Pettigrew laughed. “They’ll jump at the chance to upgrade to that tech and who could blame them?” Chaz paused and carefully placed his empty cup and used napkins in a trash bag. If humanity were going to trash up Earth again, they wouldn’t get Pettigrew’s help in doing it. “You do realize what’s going to happen though, don’t you?”