The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) (31 page)

There were nods of agreement all around the table. The vote was taken, and Ryan was glad to see that reason triumphed over emotion. Admiral William Keller would be the new Supreme Military Commander for the Planet Earth.

Yet even in this small victory, Ryan had no intention of making Keller’s appointment a symbolic one, as the German Chancellor had suggested. Ryan was determined to win this war against the Juireans, and not just play backup to the Klin and their so-called Recruits. Besides, it irked him to no end that people were now calling these people
‘Saviors.’
Yes, they had stopped the Juirean attacked, yet Ryan was still very skeptical of the Klin claim that they could not have prevented more death and destruction.

And right after this meeting adjourned, the President was to meet with his own senior military advisors to discuss
American
options for the execution of the war effort…

Chapter Forty-Four

President Ryan had set up a war room/residence complex in the ‘E’ ring of the Pentagon. It was a series of large and secure rooms, with sets of south-facing windows. Ryan spent most of his time in the Complex these days, rather than the White House. He had even set up a bedroom in an adjoining office, and his military chefs made sure he was taken care of as if he was still in the official residence.

He had decided to keep his wife and children in their expansive home in San Diego, rather than bring them back to the White House. He could never be sure that another attack of some kind wouldn’t befall them. Besides, his family never did acclimate themselves to D.C., not when one could enjoy Pacific Ocean views from nearly every room in his California home.

Admiral Keller had been waiting in an anteroom outside the Pentagon’s main conference room, anxious to see if he would be put in command of the war effort against the aliens. Even though he had no idea exactly how he would wage the war, he was chomping at the bit to get started.

William Keller was a sailor through and through. He had graduated the Navy Academy in 1982, and immediately set out climbing the ranks as a fleet officer aboard frigates, then CG’s and finally as Captain of the USS Ronald Reagan. After five years aboard the carrier, he had been promoted to Admiral (lower) and transferred to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, as the head of the Joint Special Operations Command, or SOCOM.

It was while at SOCOM that Admiral Keller first met then-Lt. Commander Nate Allen. Keller immediately took to the gung-ho SEAL, and helped Allen in his rise to higher rank. He was especially proud when he heard that Nat had made Admiral, and in light of recent events, had been able to put on his star the day after the alien attack.

Keller received a brief nod of the head from President Ryan as he exited the conference room. That was it; he was now the man who would lead the Human war effort against the Juireans. Even though he was ecstatic inside, he simply nodded back to the President, and then fell in step with him as they both returned to the Complex. Admiral Allen would be waiting for them there.

As they entered the outer office of the war room, an Air Force technician was just leaving the main room, a bundle of equipment in his arms.

“All secure, sir,” the E-6 said as they passed.

“Thank you, sergeant,” Keller said. For several days now, surveillance devices had been showing up throughout the Pentagon. None had been located where the President worked and resided, but one could never be too cautious.

Nate Allen rose from the couch at the far end of the room when the Commander in Chief entered. “How did it go, sir?” Allen asked.

“Bill got the post, but it was like pulling teeth,” the President replied as he walked the wet bar and filled three tumblers with a potent brown liquid. He scooped up the three glasses in his hands and then passed them out to the Admirals. He took his glass to the large desk set to the right side of the room and sat down heavily. Then he took a long swig.

He felt the liquor burn all the way down to his stomach, as he watched the other two men take seats in front of his desk. “They still insist on squabbling over stupid things,” the President said, disgusted. “They each want to gain some clout back in their respective countries. They can’t see how serious this situation is.”

“You would think that after a billion dead, they would see that this is a fight for the survival for
all
of us, and not just their own countries,” Allen said. The three men in the room shared a relaxed relationship, especially now. The protocols of rank and office did not apply throughout most of their meetings together.

The President finished off his drink, and then turned his attention to Allen. “So what have you found out? Were you right?”

Allen opened the folder he held in his lap and took out several photographs. He laid them out on the desk where they all could see. “It looks like it, sir.” The photographs were just an assortment of bright, oblong objects set against a black background. And near the objects were streaks of more brilliant white, pointing at the oblong objects.

“I got these from observatories around the world, and you can clearly see where the Klin energy bolts came from near-point-blank range to most of the Juirean ships. I’ve consulted with whatever experts we have about this sort of thing, who say that there was no way the Klin could have gotten their ships in this close without being detected. Their energy signatures would have been noticed long before this.”

“So they were already there.” The President’s face began to turn red.

“It looks it. They were powered down so that the Juireans wouldn’t detect them.”

“And they didn’t strike when they could have, to prevent the first salvos,” Admiral Keller stated, his words hanging heavily in the air.

After a moment, Allen spoke again. “No they didn’t. They let the Juireans attack. This is just what Cain suspected.”

‘And I threw
him
under the bus…”

“You had no way of knowing at the time, Danny,” Keller said. “It was the narrative the Klin were looking for. They needed a scapegoat to present to the world, and Cain was it.” He looked over at Allen. “Unfortunately, it was one of your people. Did they ever find the body?”

Both the President and Keller recoiled slightly when they saw a wide grin stretch across Allen’s face. “Yes, they did,” he answered. “And he’s alive and well, and currently back in space.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Nate?” the President asked.

“I managed to get Cain out just after the first salvos. He and Lt. Andy Tobias were able to take the shuttle that Cain landed in back into space. They rendezvoused with the Juirean battlecruiser, and are now heading back to Juirean space to start a seek-and-destroy mission to help soften the Juireans for our invasion.”

The President just shook his head, while Keller continued to stare, open-mouthed, at his junior admiral.

“How do you know all this?” Keller finally asked.

“I established communications with them yesterday. I knew they had gotten off the planet, but that was all I was sure of until then. I had originally assumed they’d been destroyed, along with the Juirean fleet. It seems they weren’t, and now they’re laying communication buoys all along their route.”

“This is incredible news, Nate,” Ryan said, a look of excitement on his face that had not been there for nearly a month, not since before the Juireans attacked. “So what are your plans?”

“With your permission, sirs, I would like to set up a clandestine operation based out of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. I will need to resupply Cain, which will involve me having access to a few of the Klin spaceships, and without them knowing about it. Also, I will be receiving intel from Cain’s Team as their mission progresses.”

“Who’s with them?”

“There’s a force of 18 SEALs, plus 15 of the men that Cain brought back with him. He also has Sherri Valentine and Riyad Tarazi. Oh, and he even picked up seven of the scientists who were examining the shuttle.”

“Amazing, simply amazing,” Ryan stated. “This should help, if they don’t go get themselves killed right away.”

“I’m sure they’ll be careful. Remember, Mr. President, Cain, Tarazi and Valentine are the only Humans who have actually been in Juireans territory – except for the Recruits. And in light of this new information,” he tapped the photos on the desk, “I don’t think we can trust
them
very much. Cain’s assertion was that the Klin set up this entire war between us and the Juireans. And they caused the needless deaths of a billion of our people.”

The President’s face turned even a deeper shade of red. “You’re right, of course,” he said. “This complicates our efforts now. I can’t simply go and confront the Ambassador with this information, and accuse him of masterminding the killing of a billion Human beings. He may just pick up his toys and go home. Then where would we be against another Juirean attack? No, this is going to have to be played very carefully. But for now, gentlemen, we have two enemies to fight, one overt and the other covert.”

The two admirals looked at each other, wicked smiles on their faces. Then Keller turned back to the President. “That’s what we’re good at, Mr. President. The Klin picked the Human race for a reason; because they knew we could fight. Someday, hopefully, they’ll find that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.”

Chapter Forty-Five

After spending nearly a week hopping from one system to another, analyzing the data from various candidate worlds, Adam and his scientists were finally pretty sure they had found the planet Calamore.

They stationed the huge Juirean battlecruiser on the far side of the planet’s single moon, and Adam sent Riyad and couple of the scientists in the landing craft to the other side, where they landed and began to monitor the planet with equipment relayed through the shuttle’s computers. Over the next two days, they surveyed the planet, using high resolution cameras to photograph the entire surface.

When Riyad returned, the SEALs and scientists huddled over the photos and videos for another day, as they came to the solid conclusion that this was indeed the planet Calamore.

What the data revealed was a planet that was slightly warmer than Earth and with a surface gravity equal to about .97 of their homeworld. They were also able to easily identify the Klin base. Where the bulk of the planet was undeveloped, there was a large settlement measuring approximately 25 kilometers square that stuck out like a sore thumb against the forested backdrop of the planet. It was the only settlement of its size on the planet.