Ep.#14 - "The Weak and the Innocent" (The Frontiers Saga) (32 page)

“Not exactly,” Commander Ellison corrected. “A comm-drone from command jumped in a few minutes ago. There’s a Jung battle group on their way here from 82 Eridani and they’re only two weeks out.”

“Then we’d better get ready to fight,” the captain said. “I’d love to see the look on their faces when one of their own ships opens up on them.”

“Not going to happen, I’m afraid,” the commander commented, handing his data pad to the captain.

Roselle read the message. “Are they fucking joking?”

Vladimir looked expectantly from the commander to the captain, and to the others at the table, wondering what the message was.

“They want to pull half our cores and turn them into antimatter mines to knock the Jung out of FTL so they can take them down before they arrive,” the captain announced to the rest of them.

“It does make sense, Captain,” Commander Ellison admitted.

“Yeah, I know it does,” Captain Roselle reluctantly agreed. “It doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”

“Captain, with only half our cores, we will not be able to run shields, weapons, and FTL systems at the same time,” Vladimir warned.

“Not your problem,” the captain told him.

“What?”

“The communiqué included orders for you as well,” Commander Ellison told Vladimir. “You are to pull the eleven cores and bring them back to Karuzara as soon as possible. Several cargo shuttles will be arriving in a few hours.”

“But, there is still so much to do, so much to learn,” Vladimir argued.

“Look, Lieutenant Commander, you got us up and running and on our way. You did good, son,” Captain Roselle assured him. “Captain Nash managed to scrape up another fifty Tannans to come and help us out. They’re not all as qualified as we’d like, but they’re warm bodies and they want to help. We’ll be fine,” he assured them. “We’ll be without half our damned cores, but we’ll be fine. Just make sure our cores don’t go to waste. Make sure those mines work.”

* * *

“I thought this room might be more appropriate for the interview,” Admiral Dumar said as he led K
ata Mun and her porta-cam operator, Karahl, into the massive chamber.

“Whoa,” Kata exclaimed, her eyes wide and her mouth falling open. One whole wall was transparent, looking directly out into space. The Earth could be seen along the lower left corner, with her moon in the upper right corner in the distance. Beyond them both was Sol, shining ever brightly.

Karahl kept his porta-cam aimed at Admiral Dumar, as the admiral extended his right arm, waving it in a graceful arc from front to back as he spoke. “It’s the only actual ‘window to space’ in the entire facility. We call it, ‘the gallery’.”

Kata strolled out into the center of the room, turning around slowly as she walked to get a full view of the room. There were ten rows of seats opposite the window, each of them raised two steps higher than the one before, giving every seat in the room a clear view of the outside. “It’s perfect,” she agreed. “What’s it for?”

“In every ship on which humans serve for long periods of time, there is always an area such as this. Some have a window, others use a large view screen linked to external cameras. People need to
see
outside every so often. They need to be reminded that their existence is not confined to the windowless corridors and compartments within.”

“Where did you get such a large window in the first place?”

“Actually, the materials used to create it came from the excavation of the kilometer-long corridor leading to this chamber, which, originally, was a small cave on the outside of this asteroid.”

“I noticed there are several large caverns with simulated outdoor spaces within this base as well,” Kata commented. “Were those built for the same reason as this chamber?”

“Yes and no. Both are meant to expose the staff to something beyond the interior spaces, but
this
room does something unique. It shows us the vastness and the majesty of the environment that we work in. More importantly, the view of Earth reminds us of what we are here to protect.”

“But that is just one planet,” Kata pointed out. “Isn’t the Alliance made up of many worlds?”

“Yes, but the Earth is unique. It is the birthplace of us all. It is the center of the entire, human-inhabited portion of our galaxy. It is a symbol that reminds us that we are all linked. Regardless of where we were born or raised, or where we currently reside. As long as
it
survives,” he explained, pointing to the planet below, “there is still hope that we can all co-exist, peacefully.”

Kata nodded in understanding.

“Shall we sit?” the admiral suggested, gesturing to the two chairs that had been perfectly placed in front of the window facing back inward.

“Thank you,” Kata replied as they took their seats.

Karahl moved around to the middle of the front row of seats, taking his porta-cam off his shoulder, while keeping it trained on both Kata and the admiral. He pressed a button on the side of the porta-cam, and the bottom opened up, allowing a stand to unfold into a tripod. He lowered the porta-cam onto the floor, made a few adjustments, then nodded to Kata that he was ready to continue recording.

“Admiral, this probably is unimportant in the grand scheme of everything, but I just have to ask… Why spend months jumping an asteroid a thousand light years, when a ship, or even several ships, would have been easier?”

“Logistics and opportunity,” Admiral Dumar replied. “We already had this base within the asteroid, although it was considerably less complex at the time. In addition, the people of Earth
needed
a base of operations, one where they could service their ships, or even build new ones. The asteroid was already ours to use as we saw fit, and there was plenty of its interior that we could mine for the raw materials needed for not only its construction, but also for the fabrication of equipment, weapons, parts…all manner of things. Then, when Prince Casimir noticed that an opportune alignment was approaching, it just seemed pre-destined.”

“Interesting that you should bring that up,” Kata said. “I was reviewing the history of events since the Aurora was originally flung out into space. It almost seems like a string of fortunate events and circumstances.”

“Some call it destiny, some call it fate, others call it ‘dumb luck’.”

“What do you call them?”

“Opportunities.”

“What about the legend of Na-Tan?”

“Myths and legends,” he said dismissively.

“You don’t think it is an amazing coincidence?” Kata wondered. “That the man who suddenly appeared, against what most would agree are astronomical odds, bears the same name as the legend predicts?”

“He could’ve had any other name, and those that wanted to believe him to be the
Na-Tan
of legend would have done so,” Dumar argued.

“Yet, Captain Scott not only
allowed
them to believe he was the
Na-Tan
of legend, but in some ways he even helped perpetuate their belief.”

“It was a tactical decision on his part. However, in his defense, I must point out that a woman named Jalea was the one responsible for feeding the fires of their beliefs, and without the foreknowledge
or
the consent of Captain Scott.”

“Of course. I’m just curious as to
why
he allowed it to happen.”

“Perhaps
that
would be a question better asked of Captain Scott?”

“Of course.” Kata paused, glancing down at the list of discussion topics on her data pad. She took a deep breath, and then looked back up at him. “Admiral, many of the inhabitants of the very worlds the Alliance have liberated feel that the Alliance had no right to interfere with the running of their worlds. They feel their worlds have been attacked without justification, and that innocent people have been killed. Many consider these attacks to be acts of war against their people, and not ones of liberation. How would you respond to these accusations?”

Admiral Dumar took a deep breath and sighed. “It is always difficult to justify acts of aggression, especially when such acts result in the loss of life, be they innocent or not. However, the Jung occupation of worlds within twenty light years of Sol represents a significant threat to the security of Earth. Steps had to be taken to mitigate that threat, especially in the wake of the Jung’s repeated attempts to not only capture and control the Earth, and its people, but also to destroy it once they realized they could
not
control it.”

“But why attack the ground forces?” Kata wondered. “Surely
they
presented no threat to the people of Earth?”

“Of that we cannot be sure. There may have been comm-drones hidden within each system that could have been used by those forces on the ground to communicate with the nearest Jung forces, or the Jung homeworld itself. Such calls for help could result in renewed attacks against Earth.”

“But
innocent
people died during those attacks.
Civilians
, in addition to military.”

“How is it that a civilian population of a world that hosts, and possibly even
supports
the Jung empire’s actions, holds no responsibility
for
those actions?” the admiral countered. “If you tell me you are planning to murder your cameraman, and I do nothing to stop you—perhaps warn the authorities, or the potential victim himself—am I not considered culpable in the eyes of the law?”

“What if those people were unaware of the Jung’s actions outside of their system?”

“Is it not their responsibility to
know
what those they allow to reside upon their worlds are really doing,
especially
if they are helping them by providing resources?”

“Some of those worlds were taken by force, were they not?” Kata answered. “How are they ‘culpable’, as you put it?”

“They are not. However, those worlds have welcomed their liberation, haven’t they?”

“Couldn’t you have warned the populations of those worlds prior to invasion in order to reduce or eliminate the deaths of innocent people?” Kata asked.

“We are outnumbered, and outgunned, by a substantial margin. Our two greatest weapons thus far have been our ability to instantaneously jump between the stars, and surprise. Had we alerted the worlds we intended to attack prior to doing so, we would have lost the element of surprise, and quite possibly might have lost the battle as well.”

“But you could have conducted a surprise attack against the ships in space, and
then
issued a warning to the civilians on the surface that you intended to attack the Jung forces on the surface as well.
That
would have given them time to get out of harm’s way.”

“Had we done so, the Jung forces on the surface would have either taken the civilian population as hostages, using them as a shield against attack, or simply executed them to punish
us
for daring to attack them.”

“Admiral, I find it hard to believe that the Jung would murder the entire population of a world just to send a message to the Alliance…”

“I must remind you of the Kentarans,” the admiral interrupted. “They had no foreknowledge of our attack against those forces, and we did not even
attempt
to attack the Jung forces on the surface, for exactly the reasons that you seemed to be so concerned about. Yet, the Jung had no problem driving a battleship loaded with more than twenty antimatter cores on board,
with
their containment fields in the process of collapse,
into
that world, utterly destroying it, just to send us a message. The Kentarans did not rebel or revolt against the Jung, despite the fact that their world had only recently been occupied…
by force
.”

“But…”

“Miss Mun,” the admiral continued, not allowing her to get a word in just yet, “are you aware that the Jung have been rounding up anyone on Kohara they suspect of being an Alliance collaborator, and executing them on the spot? No investigation, no evidence, no trial…”

Kata Mun glanced at Karahl behind the porta-cam, wondering if he had heard anything about the executions on their homeworld, but he only shrugged his shoulders.

“…And why might they do that,” the admiral continued, “if not to send a message to either your people, mine, or perhaps both? Are those the actions of a just and benevolent ruler, or are they the actions of a totalitarian regime bent on galactic conquest, regardless of the human cost?”

Kata took a moment to regain her composure before continuing, obviously affected by the admiral’s revelation about the continued suffering on her homeworld at the hands of the Jung. “If the Alliance is outnumbered and outgunned, how do you expect worlds with no space-borne military to resist Jung occupation? You yourself said the Jung are willing to destroy entire worlds just to send a message. How can Kohara, who has never had
any
military forces, let alone ones in space, fight such a force?”

“They cannot,” Dumar replied. “And I do not expect them to. That is
why
the Alliance takes the actions it does… To protect the weak and the innocent from those who would prey upon them.”

Again Kata had to stop and think, as none of her remaining questions seemed relevant. After a heartfelt sigh, she finally continued. “Admiral, why now? Why not years from now, when the Alliance is stronger, the Earth is stronger…”

“The Earth did not start this war,” Admiral Dumar replied, “and neither did the Alliance.” Dumar paused a moment. “Earlier we spoke of destiny…of events falling into place, a string of opportunities that when seized led to bigger things. This
is
such a string of opportunities…or, if you prefer…destiny. Could it have been avoided? Yes. In fact, the unified government of Earth was building the Aurora for the very purpose of reaching out diplomatically to the Jung in order to explore ways to coexist in peace. Unfortunately, the Jung were not interested, and chose to attack the first ship that attempted to leave the Sol system. Did they do so
because
of its jump drive, or because they wanted to destroy it
before
it could be put into use, for they
knew
it would lead to their downfall? We will never know. However, I do know this. We must
all
deal with the Jung now, while it is still possible to do so. For if we chose to turn our backs, eventually we will have no choice, and by then it will be too late.”

* * *