Alliance, p.9
Alliance, page 9
The fleet captains were now thankful that the training had been maintained, even though there had been no evidence of alien life for hundreds of years after the Settlement Wars.
At the same time as the Antarian ships attempted a pincer movement, each of the fleet ships undertook a tight circular move that had been practiced many times, fanning out in all directions both along, above and below the plane of battle. Only one Antarian shot hit a target. The Space Frigate Raleigh, unable to maintain its full-circle manoeuvre, headed away from the battle as the crew tried desperately to get back control. Meanwhile, the AI on the Magellan had taken control of the fleet’s combined trajectories as it had been programmed to do and brought the Earth ships around to confront the Antarian ships that were now also trying to turn as fast as they were able.
The opposing ships came around towards each other at full velocity. Two shots from the Magellan took out one of the Antarian ships. It flared briefly in a fireball that cleared to reveal space debris flying out from the position of the ship in all directions. Three survival pods, or at least that was what they seemed to be, were seen heading off into space as the junk cleared. Evasive action was needed. The AI control successfully avoided any major damage being inflicted. The remaining Antarian ship, realising that it was outnumbered, flashed through the fleet so fast and close that the weapons could not focus on it, even with the AI in control. It was a move that the Earth Fleet was familiar with – so near and so fast that the reaction time was virtually zero. The enemy ship continued to accelerate away and was soon beyond the sensors of the fleet.
The Challenger had been involved in its own battle with the Antarian Flagship and the other enemy ship. The captain of the Flagship was obviously very skilled. The spin of the ship was brought under control and it was soon headed back towards the Challenger accompanied by the enemy cruiser, quickly taking up a position on the opposite side of the huge, blue Tressillian ship. They were ready for the attack. Simultaneously, glowing beams were emitted from the sides of the Challenger that targeted the enemy ships. Their shields held for several seconds before both ships exploded with blinding flashes. There was no chance of anyone surviving.
Vice-Admiral Clarke led the debriefing. He acknowledged that they were lucky to come out of the engagement relatively lightly. It had been the first battle that any Earth fleet had been involved in as a united force. The damaged ships in the fleet were still able to maintain power to their drives. There had been some casualties; seventeen fatalities, eleven human and six Tressillian – the first space fatalities suffered by humans in combat with enemy ships.
The importance of the allied ships continuing their journey as soon as they could was now clear. The fleeing Antarian ship would certainly inform their high command about the battle and the involvement of the Earth Fleet. Earth and its colonies were now involved in the fight against the Antarians. There was no going back. The ships once again jumped onto the Vector Line they had been following before the battle and headed onward toward the Tressillian home system, albeit at a reduced speed whilst repairs continued to be carried out.
The mood on the ships was subdued as the journey continued. Casualties were treated in the sick bays of the ships that had been damaged. One was transferred from the Raleigh to the Magellan for the medical team on board to assess and treat, as they had the necessary operating facilities. The bodies of those killed in action were deep frozen. If the fleet returned to Earth safely, they would be given full military honours.
12. Enigma
Thankfully, the remaining journey time passed uneventfully, at least as far as engaging in any further battles with Antarian forces was concerned. One Earth Day out from Tressillia, an incoming message beam was detected simultaneously on all the Earth ships.
The image of an Antarian flashed onto the screens on the bridge of each ship. In the background could be seen a large circular emblem, the same as had been on the Antarian ships. The AI translated the Antarian language into English as the figure began to speak.
“I am Commander Trigon of the Antarian Forces. I speak for all Antarians. We are aware that you have joined the Tressillian Forces. That is a mistake. You will regret joining forces with a race that is inferior to us. We are the dominant beings in known space. We will give you one chance to join us in our quest even though you are also inferior to us. Surrender to our forces now and your home planet may be spared. Continue to oppose us and we will destroy you and all like you. We give you one solar day as recognised in the Tressillian system to consider your fate. This is your one and only chance to avoid annihilation, as will surely happen to the Tressillians. We give you this chance of life because we know your past. YOU ARE US! JOIN US OR PERISH. IT IS OUR DESTINY.”
The screens went blank.
There was silence on the bridge of the Magellan, as there was on the bridges of the other Earth Fleet ships. An urgent communication flashed onto the screens where the Antarian Commander had been seen only seconds before.
“This is Janraken. We detected a closed beam message directed at you and your ships. It was shielded from our networks and came from outside our solar system. I presume it was the Antarians.”
“It was indeed,” replied Captain Osaki. “I will relay the message to you.”
Janraken sat impassively as the message was relayed to his ship and played for the Tressillians to see. By this time the captains of the other Earth ships in the fleet were clamouring to speak with Gerry Clarke now that they had got over the initial shock of the Antarian ultimatum. Vice-Admiral Clarke asked them to have patience.
When Janraken and his officers had viewed the ultimatum, he sat back in his command chair and was silent for a few seconds. When he spoke, his voice was low and it was obvious he was choosing his words carefully.
“We expected nothing more from the Antarians,” he said. “This is not how we wanted to welcome another race into our alliance and we hope that you will remain in that alliance, despite the ultimatum from the Antarians.”
“That goes without question,” said Vice-Admiral Clarke. “I am certain that all of those in our fleet and in our home system do not want to be under the thrall of the Antarians in any shape or form.”
“If I may suggest a meeting between us and the Tressillian Council of Elders as soon as possible after we jump from the Vector Line, if that is agreeable with you. In the interests of security, it is probably best for that meeting to take place on Tressillia. Once your ships are stationed off our home-world I will arrange for a shuttle craft to take you and any personnel you wish to accompany you down to the planet’s main space port. I will join you there. We are now very near the point where we can jump from the Vector Line. We will guide you to our world when all your ships are in normal space. In the meantime, I think that you will have much to discuss with your fleet captains. I will contact you again very soon.”
“Thank you. It was not our wish that the first time we visited the planet of another sentient race we would be discussing such a grave threat to both our civilisations. We look forward to meeting you and your Council of Elders. I will discuss the situation with the fleet captains as you note and, once we are in normal space, I will message Earth with the Antarian ultimatum.”
Only a few hours after the fleet meeting had ended the ships jumped from the Vector Line they had been following into normal space. It would take a further two Earth hours at the maximum speed possible, allowing for the repairs that were still ongoing on some of the ships, to reach Tressillia. Once they had stationed the fleet within shuttle distance of the planet, a small craft was detected on the monitoring systems coming from the planet towards the Magellan. The inter-ship shuttles had already brought three of the captains to the Magellan to accompany the vice-admiral and Captain Osaki to the planet’s surface. Even though the air-lock seals were slightly different on the Magellan and the Tressillian shuttle, an airtight seal was made and the fleet personnel transferred to the smaller craft. The shuttle was spacious, with a great deal of head room. The seats though were only just wide enough for the human cargo, the first humans to enter an alien ship. The pilot of the shuttle then took them on a wide arc over the surface of Tressillia and then down through the atmosphere at an angle that kept the re-entry as smooth as possible. Once through the clouds that covered the surface, much as they did on Earth, it was possible to see what looked like cities connected by what on Earth would have been major highways. The pilot directed the shuttle towards the largest of the cities and brought the craft in to a smooth landing at what was obviously a space port. Planetary and inter-planetary ships of all shapes and sizes could be seen around the port. The layout was not unlike an Earth space port, but busier with comings and goings than even the largest space port on Earth.
There had been confirmation quite early in the journey that the atmosphere of Tressillia was similar to that of Earth, but gravity was slightly less. The humans had been warned not to try to go anywhere at speed as they stepped down from the shuttle. It was a strange sensation to be on a planet where the atmosphere was breathable, but the pull of gravity was less. The small party moved slowly from the shuttle to a waiting vehicle that was to take them to the Council Building of the Tressillians. By the time they had walked across the forecourt and up the steps of the Council Building, they were already becoming used to the gravity and were finding it fairly easy to move around. Captain Osaki wondered what the high jump record was on Tressillia, then laughed to himself at the thought.
It was obvious by now why the Tressillian shuttle had such a high ceiling and narrow seats. The lower gravity meant that their race had grown much taller on average than humans. They were also very slender. As the group entered a large reception hall, High Governor Janraken was there to meet them as promised. He was tall, even for a Tressillian and towered over Gerry Clarke, even though the vice-admiral was tall for a human. Janraken raised both of his hands to shoulder height, palms facing forward, and bowed slightly.
“Welcome to Tressillia. We are honoured to greet you in our Council Hall. My greeting is our usual way of welcoming anyone. Our raised hands show that we are hiding nothing and a small bow indicates that we respect those we are greeting.”
Gerry Clarke mirrored the high governor’s greeting, as did the rest of the delegation.
When in Rome… he thought to himself.
They followed Janraken across the vast hall, the high governor pointing out portraits around the walls that showed many Tressillians in their flowing robes. He explained that they were past members of the Tressillian Council. The similarity to the Command Centre back on Earth struck all the delegation. As was the case here, there too were pictures of past Earth leaders. Human and Tressillian ways of doing things were obviously very similar.
A couple of minutes later Janraken turned left and a pair of doors swung open in front of him. He motioned for the Earth delegation members to go into the room. High backed chairs surrounded a table that reflected the light coming into the room from roof windows far above. Several Tressillians were already seated around the table, whilst others stood around the room deep in discussion. On the journey to Tressillia there had been time, despite the Antarians, for all the members of the delegation to have their neural implants upgraded so that there was no language barrier. The improvements suggested by the Tressillians and quickly put into practice by the Magellan’s AI, meant that, although the mouths of the Tressillians moved in a way that no human could have lip read, the voices heard via the neural implants were in near perfect English.
As the delegation entered the room, discussions stopped and the Tressillians raised their hands and bowed slightly in greeting as Janraken had done. The humans responded, feeling slightly odd at performing the greeting, before they were shown their seats around the table. Janraken sat nearly opposite Vice-Admiral Clarke. Immediately opposite was a very distinguished looking Tressillian who smiled at the Earth delegation members as they took their seats. Gerry Clarke couldn’t help noticing that his robe was very elaborate, with swirling patterns of colour that reflected the light from the Tressillian sun as it shone down on them from the high ceiling window. The window at the centre of the ceiling was almost like a stained-glass window that Gerry had seen in the many ancient cathedrals back on Earth, but the coloured parts of the window slowly changed and rotated, casting intricate patterns on the upper wall of the large circular room. If the Tressillians had meant to impress the Earth delegation, it had worked.
Janraken was the first of the Tressillians to speak once all the assembled Tressillians and humans had settled into their positions.
“Welcome to the Great Hall of Tressillia.”
He began.
“May I introduce the Most High Governor, Kronos Trabet, our leader.”
The most high governor bowed his head in response.
Janraken continued to introduce each of the Tressillians around the table. The Earth delegation members had no chance of remembering the wonderful sounding names, but as each one was introduced, a small display in front of each human lit up with their names and their positions as they were seated around the table. There were also remote participants from the Tressillian colonies spread across their area of influence. As they were introduced a hologram of each was projected in the centre of the table. As each of the off-world Tressillians bowed in turn, their hologram expanded slightly to indicate that they were responding.
Vice-Admiral Clarke introduced the Earth delegation captains who had accompanied him to the planet and also made a special point of noting that Theo and the three friends were the first humans to have the neural implants that had been very kindly augmented by the Tressillians. He could see that the names of each human popped up on the screens in front of everyone sat around the table, but that the script that each one appeared in was obviously Tressillian, as it was totally unintelligible. There was a vague resemblance to Ancient Sanskrit that Gerry had studied as part of his initial university degree, but it was just that – vague.
Although the Tressillians systems were under attack from the Antarians, the Tressillians were obviously not a race that panicked. There was a serenity about each of them as they bowed slightly as each was introduced. Not only were there the High Council members, but also high-ranking representatives from the Tressillian Space Forces that were seeking to repel the Antarians. Where the High Council members each wore an elaborate cloak, the space force officers had smart uniforms with various emblems and shoulder patches that had Tressillian script on them. They’re not unlike the uniforms of the top brass back in the Solar System, thought Theo, as he realised that his neural implant was responding to each Tressillian as if a connection was being made between them as each was introduced.
Governor Trabet then spoke in a quiet, but deep voice, “Welcome again to Tressillia. Your support for the Challenger has been recorded with many thanks. We are sorry that, as you have expanded from your home world and finally contacted another civilisation, you find yourself in a conflict not of your making. The situation is grave for our outer planets. The Antarians have already completely taken over a galaxy on the edge of our systems that we know as Sentari. Our outposts there have been brutally destroyed with much loss of life. We did manage to evacuate some of the settlements before the Antarians arrived, but we were powerless at the time to respond to their aggression, such was the speed and force of their incursion into our systems.”
A large hologram then appeared that showed the Tressillian home galaxy at the centre, plus the galaxies surrounding it. One of the galaxies was coloured red, as were parts of others on the display. They were tracing the progress of the Antarians in their relentless incursions into the Tressillian systems.
“As you can see,” he continued, “we have lost many of our outposts and colonies to the Antarians. Our Space Battalions are only now just beginning to successfully repel them in some areas. Our home galaxy has so far been successful in combating the attacks, but where our forces are spread more thinly, the Antarians are still advancing quickly. Now that many of your people have been connected to the Tressillian net, we hope that you will be able to help us in our struggle. Amongst your delegation are four humans who possess abilities that go far beyond many of us Tressillians. Our scientists would be most grateful if those humans would become part of our efforts to repel the aggressors. They too have neural nets they use to communicate and for control, but we have found that their plans can be disrupted by co-ordinated shielding and mental probes by high order neural net users. You have been willing to join our forces in fighting the Antarians, as shown in the battle at Helm. I cannot guarantee the safety of your ships, but if you are willing to join us in our continuing fight, you will have the gratitude of all our worlds.”
He paused and looked around the assembled company, then directly at Gerry Clarke as the senior human. The vice-admiral in turn glanced briefly around the Earth delegation. Each one in turn nodded their agreement. He paused when looking at Theo and his party.
“What do you think, Theo? Are you four willing to be part of this conflict as requested?”
Theo, in turn, looked at the rest of his small team, a team that had become almost fully integrated into the Tressillian neural network just by being on the planet itself. There was agreement that the team would be of any assistance they could.
Captain Oluso of the Space Cruiser Medway then spoke. As she did so, she was lit up by a glow that seemed to emanate from the table in front of her. It was apparent to the Earth delegation that anyone who spoke was illuminated a split second before they actually said anything out loud. It was almost as if someone or something knew that there was an intention to join the conversation before anything was actually said.
