The Black Planet (23 page)

Chapter 49

A green light flared on Commander Logan’s instrument panel.  He cried out with relief, it had taken much longer than expected and now he was shivering uncontrollably.  ’Light them up.  Get ready to launch.’  He punched a button and the freighter doors began to open slowly.  He cried out in pain as heat flooded back into his suit and warm blood began to reach his hands and feet.  ‘Get your hands and feet working pronto.  Shields up.’

He banged his gloved hands together and stomped his feet.  Just as the doors came fully open a huge ship crashed into the planet’s surface half a mile away.

‘Holy shit!  Did you see that?’  Someone shouted, their voice so distorted with the cold he couldn’t make out who it was.

He saw it all right, ‘launch now.’

They were surrounded by blinding flashes of light, ‘keep it tight.’  A troop transporter appeared in front of them, trying to get away.  ‘Let’s get that troopship, fire!’  Streams of light streaked out from the fighters and lanced into the troopship.  It tore itself to pieces.  They were dodging in and out of the enemy battle fleet firing at targets of opportunity.  Despite their shields being up and all of their protective equipment the flashes from the nuclear explosions were almost blinding them.

Logan noticed something out of the corner of his eye and realised he was flying parallel to a smart bomb looking for a target.  It was too much for him.  ‘To hell with this, climb, let’s get the hell out of here.’  His squadron followed him high above the carnage below.  Here and there other vessels were trying to do the same.  Smart bombs were blasting against shields now as the survivors gathered their wits.  Logan was smart enough to recognise it.

He took a deep breath, ‘Alpha to command, we have broken free of the enemy formation, suggest regrouping the fighters, it looks like those who survived have got their shields up and are also beginning to regroup, our smart bombs don’t seem to be doing much damage now.’

The recall command came a few seconds later and Logan led the squadron back to the safety of The Burning Wind.  She was surrounded by a hundred cruisers and destroyers of the Earth’s main battle fleet. 

‘Any casualties?’  He asked and found to his surprise his squadron was intact.  From being frozen such a short time before, he now found he was sweating profusely.  He removed his helmet and using a small section of towel he kept in his cockpit for exactly that reason, rubbed his face and neck dry.  ‘Holy shit!’  Was about as much as he could think to say to himself at that moment.

They didn’t get time to rest on their laurels.  A single Albany battlegroup rose from the ashes of the Black Planet in a large square block, led by a massive battle cruiser.  On board The Burning Wind a call came in from the enemy cruiser.  The captain nodded to his operator and an ugly beast appeared on screen.  He seemed taken aback at the sight of the human captain.  ‘You are not Modloch, what do you think you are doing, what race are you?’

The captain grinned, ‘that would be the human race, you know the one you are going to try and wipe out.’

‘That is impossible, you are meat eaters, you have never left your planet?’

‘In that case I must be a figment of your imagination then.’  The crew burst out laughing.

The Albany shook himself out of shock.  ‘Prepare to die meat eater.’

‘Tell me how much do you weigh captain?’

The Albany hesitated, ‘what fool question is this on the cusp of battle?’

The human shrugged, ‘it’s all to do with cooking time.  I have to say you do look rather tasty today.’

The point slammed home and even their Modloch engineer howled with laughter; he approached his captain and slapped him on the back, ‘that remark will resound down through the annals of history captain.  Providing that is you don’t actually eat them.’

‘You know damn well we won’t.’

‘Yes I know; now attack before they collect their wits.’

The enemy battle fleet began to change shape as their troopships were sent into the centre. That was the moment the Earth fleet chose to attack.  As the earth fleet advanced towards their enemy, it took the appearance of an arrow head; driving straight for the battle cruiser in the heart of the Albany fleet.  The cruisers shields held for about a minute but as the humans concentrated the weight of their fire on it the ships shields began to buckle.  Strikes began to show on her hull; then flames began to shoot out into space.  Seconds later it disintegrated.  The human wedge crashed into the centre of the Albany fleet and split it asunder.

Two more Human fleets appeared and blocked their retreat.  Logan and his men were in the thick of it.  The Burning Wind forced its way through the far side of the Albany fleet only to find itself facing another Battle cruiser that had arrived from the planet below all guns blazing.  Logan’s fighters were ordered in and they played havoc with the enemy’s shields.  They didn’t get it all their own way though.  Half a dozen of his squadron fell to the cruisers guns enraging him.  As more and more human ships cleared the Albany fleet, they added their fire power to that of The Burning Wind.  The enemy cruiser began to launch fighters to aid in the battle but it was too late.  Her shields collapsed and she blew spectacularly.  Logan led his men on a hunt of the enemy fighters that had already been launched.

What was left of the enemy battle group tried to retreat.  Both sides knew this was a war of extermination and there would be no surrender.  Human destroyers ruthlessly pursued the troopships in a deadly game of cat and mouse amongst the stars.  Less than a dozen would reach the safety of the city ship.  The remainder of the human fleets turned their attention to the damaged vessels they had left in their wake.  Thousands of emergency pods flew about in disarray.  Most made it to the planet’s surface where they were left to the mercy of the radiation.  Here and there the odd remaining smart bomb would target large groups of these pods as they began to gather.  Burning debris slowly descended towards the planet, pulled in by its gravity.  Large explosions covered its surface.  Now the surface of the planet no longer absorbed the light.  Much of the surface was now covered in a thin sheet of black glass that reflected it.

On board The Burning Wind the Captain recalled his fighters.  The Modloch engineer stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.  ‘No, never recall your fighters in a battle Zone.  Slip to a safe distance and have them follow.  Send them coordinates.’

The captain nodded, ‘thank you.  Bellay that order.  Prepare to slip.  Once we arrive send our coordinates to the fighters.’  He turned back to his engineer, ‘thank you for all of your assistance today.’

‘No, thank you for allowing me to stay on the bridge during the fight.  It makes a pleasant change from sitting in the guts of the engine room shitting yourself with fear because you haven’t a clue what’s going on.’  The two beings laughed in their own manner together.

Chapter 50

Steven slid over the planet like an invisible wraith.  He watched the readings.  ‘Lift us out of this radiation cloud Hailey, we are leaving a radiation free bubble that could be detected by any enemy that may be in the area.’

There was a grunt of approval from the Modloch engineer at his side who had insisted on coming on this reconnaissance.  ‘You are very smart Captain.  That is a mistake many rookie captains make; yet I hear you have no military training.’

Steven shrugged, ‘it seemed obvious.’  Steven checked something else before going on, ‘you are right though.  I have no military training of any kind ambassador.’

The engineer laughed, ‘yes, I have no political training and you have no military training, yet here we are.’

Steven smiled, ‘here we are.’

They were silent for a long time, each lost in his own thoughts.  The devastation below was incredible to observe.  When they reached the spot where the facility had been there was nothing but a large hole over twelve miles in diameter.  The engineer was shaking his head.

Steven noticed, ‘you don’t like it?’

‘It makes me very uncomfortable, I admit.  I can’t think of any race that developed nuclear weapons.  By the time we took to the stars we were far more advanced than nuclear fusion.  There isn’t a ship out there that can’t protect itself from a nuclear blast, yet you destroyed an entire invasion fleet with little more than what is considered a primitive weapon.’

‘And the element of surprise.’

‘It won’t work again.’     

‘I know,’ Steven agreed.  ‘But we don’t really need it too.’

‘Yet I hear that is exactly what you are planning to do.’

Steven shrugged, ‘it really depends on what they do next.  They may be primitive weapons but they can still play havoc with a ships instruments.  If the opportunity arises, we will use them as a distraction until we have all our fleets in a good kill position.’

The engineer watched Steven closely.  It had taken him a long time to realise that this man was the real power behind the human race.  Despite all their committees and governments; it was this one human who had wielded it all together.  Even by human standards he was diminutive in stature.  His emperor was huge by comparison, and of regal bearing.  Even if you have never met the emperor before, even the stupidest of being would realise his imperial bearing and bow their heads.  Yet this man set off no such alarm bells.  His eyes lowered to the destruction below, and witnessed the destruction this man, this human had sown.  Almost a third of the fleet destroyed on the ground.  The rest almost before they could recover from the shock.  So few had gotten away.

‘You look shocked ambassador.’

His eyes swivelled back to Steven, ‘I find it frightening the destruction you wrought on your enemy and the manner in which you delivered it.’

‘We call it an ambush.’

‘I know what a damn ambush is,’ he growled back at Steven.  ‘I have just never seen one on this scale, or carried out so effectively.  What is it you call those traps?’

‘Bobby traps.’  Steven offered.

‘Yes, that’s right.  That is a new word the people from my universe would do well to learn.  It is so hard to believe all this was set off by one action.  I have a funny feeling it won’t be long before this booby trap is banned by universal law.’

‘What’s really bothering you ambassador?’

‘I want to know if the human casualty figures are correct.’

‘As far as I know yes.’

‘A few dozen injured, less than twenty dead, three ships in need of repair and you wiped out a whole damn invasion fleet.’

Steven found himself nodding, ‘we were very lucky.’

‘It isn’t lucky; it’s obscene.’

Steven was shocked by the ambassador’s tone, ‘how so?’

‘Look around you.  I have seen many battles but nothing so one sided as this.  You are going to frighten a whole universe.  That isn’t good.  It could lead to your extinction.’

‘May I ask what you expected?’

‘We expected you to lose.  If you did win it should have been by the narrowest margins human.  When you appeared in our universe it should have been with your cap in hand, as you say, looking for the protection of the great emperor.  We would have made great alliances.  You humans would have made great trading partners.  We could have made your planet rich beyond your dreams and rebuilt the empire as well.’

‘But not now; is that what you’re saying?’

‘Look at it from our universes point of view.  You are meat eaters, detested as it is.  Weak meat eaters with wealth people can accept; or at least tolerate.  A strong race of meat eaters, with the capability to cause this much destruction, against a far superior race, with superior military training, will frighten many races.  I know it frightens me.  My instinct tells me to wipe you all out.  If you capture that city ship, your only chance of surviving as a race will be to destroy it completely.  That would make you far too powerful.  You would be stupid to take it to your home planet with all the bio weapons on board.  If you try and cross the great barrier with it; every race will turn against you, including mine.’

‘Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.’  Steven suggested.

‘Maybe, maybe not.  They are illegal in my universe, which will be enough to precipitate a war if you are stupid enough to cross the great barrier with or even without it.  Destroy it completely human, remove the threat or suffer the consequences.’

‘There maybe another option open to us.’

The engineer turned towards Steven, ‘I can’t see one.’

‘Let’s stop beating about the bush ambassador.  I suspect what you are telling me is advice straight from the emperor himself.  As we both know he needs the legal status of a treaty in order to distribute our grass legally.  With the city ship out of the equation, he can at least plead our case with the other worlds. 

The thing is, by now or, at least by the time we reach the great barrier, many of them will realise that’s exactly what he is after.  They will no doubt wish your empire to remain weak.  That in itself will give them reason enough to wipe us out. 

Now they can’t cross the barrier to do it, so they will have to wait until we cross over before they can take any kind of offencive action.  That will of course precipitate a war with humanity.

If we don’t cross; there is a good chance that many races may well try and reach Earth with biological weapons of their own.  If we remain strong, our very existence will constitute a threat too many races, especially after this battle.’

‘All of that is true.  Your only hope is to go with the emperor’s plan and hope you lose enough forces during your attack of the city ship to appear weak to those on the other side of the great barrier.  Weak enough as not to constitute a treat.’

‘There is another solution to the problem.’

The engineer made a gesture with his hands, ‘I can’t see it.’

‘If we win the upcoming battles, then all that we capture becomes our by legal right, correct?’

‘I suppose.’

‘An alliance is sealed by the giving of gifts is it not?  The emperor no doubt wishes to announce the seeds we have sent him as this precious gift.  Without some legal status, he cannot distribute the grass.’

‘That is all correct,’ the engineer admitted.

‘What if we crossed the barrier in great strength, with the city ship intact and made the city ship a gift to the emperor.  As a trophy of war it becomes ours to dispose of as we see fit.  If we gave that as a gift to the emperor, then it will give the ship itself legal status.  By the laws of your own universe, there is no such thing as an illegal gift.  We arrive through the barrier in your sector of the universe to be met by a large fleet of your ships.  We hand the city ship over to your emperor in a fancy ceremony and the two fleets combine together.’

The engineer was in shock, ‘with the imperial battle fleet, the city ship and your battle fleet we would have a force that no one would dare challenge.’  He shook his head, ‘no I can’t see it.  The emperor would suspect a trap.’

‘Not if you took immediate command of the city ship after the battle.’

‘Me!’

‘Why not?’

‘A grand commander?’

Steven shrugged, ‘why not?  You would be in complete control all the way home.  We would supply you with the resources you needed to repair it.  You know much more about this technology than we do.  I have no doubt that you would discover anything untoward happening on board and warn your emperor long before you arrived home.’

The engineer was very uncomfortable now, ‘no one would dare challenge our combined fleets if we also had the city ship.’  His heart beat faster.  He realised he was so far out of his league now it was becoming frightening.  If he said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing it could cost him his life, and make his family’s existence precarious for a very long time.  ‘I would have to talk to the emperor about it.  I cannot accept it on his behalf without his express permission.  Besides you still have to beat the rest of the Albany fleet and take the city ship.’

Sid Tulane grabbed his attention, ‘sir, we are monitoring radio signals.’

‘Where?’

‘240 degrees sir.’

‘Hailey, take us there, slowly.  Is it more distress signals Sid?’

He shook his head, ‘no sir regular communications.’

Two large grey ships appeared over the horizon.  Babes identified them as hospital ships involved in rescues.  ‘OK Hailey, take us out of here.’

The engineer grunted with distain, ‘aren’t you going to attack?’

‘No they are hospital ships involved in a rescue mission.’

‘You would be well to destroy them all.  They intend to wipe out your race.’

‘I will not get involved in the slaughter of helpless beings.’

‘Yet your people took no prisoners during the battle.’

‘It was a fight to the death.  They asked for no quarter and gave none.’

‘You slaughtered them; why aren’t you doing it now?’

‘These people are out of the fight, injured, sick no doubt.  We did well in the first battle but the biggest one is still to come.’

‘Very few have ever assaulted a city ship and won human.  You should use massive fire power to destroy it.’

‘Then we would have no bargaining chips left on the table.’     

‘You would rather risk millions of lives that blast it to pieces.’

‘I don’t make policy ambassador.’

‘I have studied the scans of the city ship human.  It may not be as heavily armed as most, but they still have enough weapons to keep your combined fleets at bay.  You won’t get a landing force anywhere near it.  Their shields are almost un-penetrate-able when all their spare power is diverted to them.  They can just sit there for months and absorb it.’

‘We humans have been assaulting cities for generations ambassador; I have been assured that our planning is in an advanced stage.’

‘What do you plan to do about the millions on board the city ship?’

‘As most are non-combatants, we wish to take them prisoner.’

He laughed, ‘you haven’t taken any so far.’

‘No but we hope to in the next battle, to show them that they can surrender.’

‘They will never surrender to a subspecies.  Every single one of them will take up arms.  To surrender would mean certain death.  You have studied the records from some of the captured data banks.  Only a fraction of the civilians on board that city ship have been inoculated.  Their only chance at life will be to fight their way through to Earth and wipe out your people.  Save enough of you to make serum.  They know it even if you don’t realise it yet.  Besides, if one of them did surrender I wouldn’t trust him.  They Albany are well known for their treachery.  If any of them do surrender it will be because they have something up their sleeves as you humans like to say.’

Steven conceded the point, ‘I will keep that in mind.’

They went back to their vigil.  The engineer trying to hide his concern over the destruction and Steven trying to hide his horror over the massive loss of life.