Against All Odds (28 page)

"But there surely must be hard feeling among those that lost loved ones in the battles with Space Command, or for the destruction we caused when we attacked your planet."

"Their enmity has been turned towards Maxxiloth because it was he who started and perpetuated the aggression. He sent our people out to attack a peaceful neighbor and brought the destruction down upon our heads when you defended yourselves. Many of the social programs instituted to rebuild our planet bear your name."

"I have to admit to being quite stunned by this revelation, Viceroy."

Smiling, the Milora said, "I invite you to come down and see for yourself, Admiral. I believe you will be just as stunned by the open reception you receive."

Hesitating for only a second, Jenetta said, "Very well, Viceroy, what time would be convenient?"

"It's early morning here in the capital, Admiral. How about joining us for the midday meal we enjoy when the sun is at its zenith. I'm not sure what your people call that time."

"We call it noon."

"Very well, please join me at noon. Your shuttle will be cleared to land on the palace grounds."

"I'll see you at noon, Viceroy. Carver out."

"Viceroy Berquyth, out."

* * *

As Jenetta stepped from the shuttle, a military band began playing an odd Milori tune unfamiliar to Jenetta. A small crowd gathered behind a row of palace guards hooted and slapped their semi-soft gripper claws together. Jenetta smiled uncertainly and waved, wondering if the people were being paid to welcome her or if they were palace employees herded outside by their supervisors. She still couldn't believe she wasn't the most despised person on the planet. Her Marine guard parted as she reached the bottom of the ramp to allow her through as the Milori Viceroy stepped forward from a row of dignitaries. He bowed and welcomed her to the surface before turning and introducing the eleven other ministers from the Ruling Council. Jenetta in turn introduced Lt. Commander Ashraf.

"Admiral Carver, everyone is
delighted
to welcome you here," the Viceroy said as they walked towards the palace. "I wish to be the first Milori to congratulate you on your success against the Tsgardis, the Gondusans, and the Hudeera. I admit I had serious misgivings when I received the message from you in which you said you were on Earth. I should have known you'd already be aware of the invasion and working to repel the invaders."

"I wasn't aware of the invasion until I received your message, Viceroy. Thank you for informing me so quickly."

"Then you really were on Earth?"

Yes, I was. I went home for a visit before I became so bogged down in my duties here that I couldn't get away again for years."

"The rumors are true then. Space Command has made significant improvements in Faster-Than-Light-Speed travel."

Jenetta looked at him in surprise. "I would have thought you knew all about our advances. You did have Admiral Vroman for some months before depositing him on Siena."

"The main information gleaned from Admiral Vroman was that you had tried to use a new indestructible material to cover your ships but that it interfered with the FTL drive system. There was no mention in our reports that the 'interference' was an incredible leap forward in FTL speeds. We only knew that as a result of complications the prototype had remained at your Mars facility for several years."

"It would seem that something was lost in translation. And yes, the 'interference' as you call it was the ability to travel significantly faster than the theoretical limits of FTL travel. The prototype remained at Mars while our people worked on finding ways to properly harness the incredible speed advancement so it could be used in all our new ships. Or perhaps Admiral Vroman had less information about the project than I thought. It was top-secret back then. It still is. But I doubt if it's really much of a secret anymore, especially since we started turning out new ships designed to use the speed in everyday travel. Surely your military planners must have wondered how we were able to bring the fight here so soon after your fleet attacked my command at Stewart."

"The consensus was that you had already sent ships after the first invasion attempt."

"No, we were perfectly serious about our hope to enjoy a period of peaceful coexistence when we sent your fleet home after signing the treaty. We didn't want your territory. The decision to annex it was made only because we knew Maxxiloth would continue to invade us every time he'd built his fleet to a point where he felt strong enough to take us on again."

"You were right, of course. Maxxiloth was quite mad. We would never have seen peace in his lifetime. When he announced he was going to share our metallurgical procedure for the production of tritanium with the Tsgardi, along with the secrets of achieving Light-450, the Council of Ministers knew we must act. We knew that once we lost our technological dominance, the Tsgardi would attempt to throw off the yoke Maxxiloth's great-grandfather had placed around their necks. The sharing of that information would have meant more decades of hostilities even if the Galactic Alliance didn't annex the empire. And I do apologize for marooning the Lisbon crew on Siena. The ship's database didn't contain information regarding the existence of such hostile indigenous wildlife as they faced.

"Our world is far better off now. I must admit to enjoying life a great deal more without the constant pressure of waging war."

"I would love to experience that myself for a while," Jenetta said.

"Now that you've repelled the invaders, perhaps you can."

"We've only stopped three of the four signatories to the pact that would see us driven from this territory so it could be divided up among the aggressors. The Uthlaro are still in play."

"Really? They haven't attacked any planets or former bases in the Region for many weeks."

"How do you know that?"

"After receiving your suggestion we make contact with all our people still off-world to warn them of potential problems, we asked them to send us a coded message once each day while they remained unmolested. We've been able to track the progress of the aggressors across the region by knowing which planets, outposts, or space stations continued to send. There have been no changes in weeks."

"I see. Have you been able to make contact with any who had previously gone silent?"

"The planets occupied by the Tsgardi have all resumed communications. The occupying forces have been picked up by transports and the planetary governments are reestablished, although most of the senior leadership was slain in the takeovers. From those locations that fell to the Uthlaro we've heard nothing, but we continue to try once each day."

"The Uthlaro invaders might have left jamming satellites in orbit at each location when they moved on. I hope they haven't done worse. We haven't had a chance to look into the situation yet. We've been a bit busy."

"As I can imagine."

"Viceroy, I was a bit surprised to see your shipyards so active as we passed the planets they orbit." Jenetta had waited until she felt the Viceroy was somewhat off-guard before informing him of her observation."

"Of course, Admiral, of course. Oh! I hope you don't think we're attempting to build a fleet to oppose the Galactic Alliance."

"The thought did cross my mind."

"You can put your mind at rest because it's nothing of the sort. You have to remember that our economy was focused almost
entirely
on the business of war. After you attacked us, the planet was in ruins. In the solars after the attack, our entire economic infrastructure began to collapse in on itself. I decided that we had to get people back to work immediately, both earning a living and paying taxes. Since so very many of our people had only worked in the shipyards for their entire lives and had no other training, I ordered them to start repairing the damaged ships. Our engineers had told us the repairs would take substantially more effort than starting from scratch, so it was the ideal solution. The workers would have jobs for twice as long as if we had simply started building new ships while we slowly retrained our workforce and moved our manufacturing base to consumer products our people could buy. Our public works projects kept people busy while factories were retooled. The program was hugely successful and it's helped get our economy back on track. We haven't built even one
new
warship and, as workers complete a ship, we transition a percentage of them to permanent jobs in other industries such as the production of home appliances and private vehicles."

"I see. Have you been able to rebuild your power grid and telecommunications systems?"

"We still have many projects in progress, but most basic services have been restored. In those communities where repairs to permanent power systems haven't been completed, we have portable generators that provide power for half of each day. Within an annual, the entire power grid will be restored and better than ever because it had been neglected annual after annual while Maxxiloth continued to shift budgeted funds to military projects. The lives of our people are better already because new household appliances are available again from factories that had been converted to produce only military goods and munitions."

As they neared the palace's main dining room, two attendants pulled open the doors so the party could enter. The sumptuous dining hall was quiet, but one table near the center of the room had been prepared for dining. Once they had taken their seats, a small army of waiters swarmed in carrying platters of foods. The Terrans received foods appropriate for Terran palates while the Milori received foods appropriate for their physiology. Jenetta had never been adverse to new dining experiences, but she preferred her food at least be dead when she ate it. The Milori, on the other hand, preferred it still be wiggling as it passed down their gullet. They used an eating utensil that reminded Jenetta of chop sticks. It attached to their gripper claws so they could pick up the food without damaging it before they ate it. The Terrans were given forks.

"I'm delighted you've been able to make such wonderful progress in overcoming the damage from the war," Jenetta said. "The attitudes of your people will hasten the day when Milor will be welcomed as a full voting member in the Galactic Alliance Senate and Council."

"Having a voice on the august body that oversees the quality of life in so much of this quadrant of the galaxy is something we would welcome," the Viceroy said. "We
are
a part of the Galactic Alliance now and look forward to the day when we become a fully participating member."

"Has your planet experienced any shortages of vital necessities such as food or medicine?"

"Some supplies are low and we've been making do without some food items from off-world that we had become accustomed to, but things are improving. Our freighters are resuming work now that they know they won't be attacked by Space Command vessels."

"We have never attacked unarmed freighters, even in time of war. Even armed freighters aren't attacked as long as we believe that their weapons are only for protection and they submit willingly to inspection when ordered to heave to."

"I know, Admiral, but under Maxxiloth our warships had orders to attack and destroy any ships of an enemy nation, including passenger liners. Our freighter captains were frightened after your last visit here. It's taken awhile for them to acknowledge they're in no danger from you."

"Yes, it will take a while for our people to know each other, and become comfortable in each other's company."

"Exactly.

"The Galactic Alliance's policy is basically live and let live, although we do restrict the transport of certain dangerous materials and substances, forbid the development of certain dangerous technologies, and have no tolerance for the abhorrent practice of slavery."

"What will you do now against the Uthlaro?"

"I'm not sure about our near term activity. We've upset their original plan and, as you know, they've stopped attacking targets in Region Two. We've lost track of them, but if their goal remains one of confronting us at Quesann, I estimate they could be there in just under two Terran years. We'll be there to meet them when they arrive."

"I wish you luck, Admiral. I mean that sincerely. I would not like to find my world under the thumb of mercenary Uthlaro masters."

* * *

Following lunch, Viceroy Berquyth invited Jenetta to take a tour of the city with him. Although she tried to decline politely, he practically pleaded with her to come along and she finally, reluctantly, agreed. They stopped at several historical sites in the city and concluded the tour at a new hospital that bore her name. The Admiral Jenetta Carver Hospital specialized in serious injury cases and emergency care. There were far too many places where her name appeared on wall signage, ID badges, and uniforms for them to have been created since she first arrived for the unscheduled visit. The cornerstone of the new building also bore her name, engraved deeply into its surface. Everywhere she went, she was applauded in the Milori tradition of slapping their gripper claws together.

The SC task force left planetary orbit as the day was ending at the Palace of the Viceroy. Jenetta had finally become convinced that the remarkable attitude expressed towards her was genuine. She knew, of course, that the Milori Council of Ministers wanted a voice in the Galactic Alliance Senate and that the fastest way to get that was by convincing the GAC they were deserving of a seat. It was amazing what a planet-wide propaganda campaign could do. They had suffered incredible hardship when Jenetta had carried the war back to their solar system, but they would be better off in the future, and even the ministers had benefited from Maxxiloth's death. Being in the inner-circle of a tyrant doesn't ensure one lives either a long or happy life.