The sparse lands, p.1
The Sparse Lands, page 1
part #6 of Steven Gordon Series
The Sparse Lands
J W Murison
Copyright ©2019 J W Murison
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 9781077696280
DEDICATION
In memory of Nick Sutton
Every soldier realises very quickly that their lives depend on those who command. They have a tendency to become sceptical and judgemental over those that hold their lives in their hands. There are few officers that win the total respect and trust of the men they command. Nick Sutton was one of those – a man and officer I learned to trust completely. For a year, I was Nick Sutton’s driver in 4 Bravo; an armoured personnel carrier, or AFV.
He was one of the smartest men I have ever met in my life. His sense of humour was legendary; full of fun and mischief. I never heard him raise his voice in anger, or shout at a soldier. He could boot your backside with his wit, far more effectively than ever having to take disciplinary action against a solder for their indiscretions. What impressed me more about Nick than anything else was his professionalism. I felt privileged to be able to serve with him, and learned far more about the ability to command and tactics by watching and listening to him work, than I have from any other person.
RIP Sir, BYDAND.
Chapter 1
Steel shod brogues crashed onto the hard surface of the massive courtyard. Orders given out at the top of the officers’ voices were almost lost in the vast arena. Thousands of Evolka had turned up to watch the spectacle of their Emperor humbling the Human meat eaters. Strange titters swept around the gathered crowd. Chameleon-like eyes swept over the gathered Human soldiers, as well as their own. A single Human, dressed as a Goodwill Ambassador, stepped forward and thousands took a deep breath in anticipation. He climbed up the steps of the dais and bowed. The tension rippled around the waiting spectators. The Emperor placed his feet up onto a cushioned footrest and waved casually with a hand towards them.
Steven Gordon knew his life was hanging in the balance. He knew if he refused, the Emperor would simply lift a finger and he would be dead a second later. A voice came into his head.
‘He is intending to kill you Stevie, and the rest of us.’
Steven lifted a finger, and behind him the Bear gave out a word of command. The honour guard, made up of Scots and Japanese, turned outwards and each walked ten paces before coming to a halt. A split second later they hit the ground, their weapons at the ready. The crowd froze.
Steven took one more step.
‘Not a chance. Kill me, and you will be dead before I hit the ground. Your little trick with the weapons nullifier doesn’t work on chemical-based weapons, of which all of my guards are armed with. Nor will that little shield you have around your chair protect you from the projectiles fired from them.’
The Emperor’s hand froze in the act of lifting from the arm of the couch.
‘You dare threaten me?’
‘I have no problems either threatening you or killing you. A fleet of three thousand Earth ships are also on standby to attack your off-world assets, should you be reckless enough to try.’
The Emperor’s eyes swivelled around. They came back to Steven. ‘You bluff.’
‘Try me. We are well aware that you make a sport out of any race you believe may be a threat to your monopoly on ore production. You kill the ambassadors; scream you were insulted and then attack. You lay waste to your enemy’s supply of ore, or steal it, so you can retain the monopoly. That won’t work with us.
‘You may send a fleet into our space to try and destroy our supplies of the ore you covet so much, however, even we don’t know where it all is. Our sun would kill all of your people long before they were able to find any of it. A protracted fight with our people, to try and keep us out of the Federation, won’t work either. We will simple eradicate all your existing resources, return the bulk of it to their rightful owners, then destroy the rest.’
Steven pointed to the Emperor’s feet, ‘Now get those dirty articles out of my sight.’
The Emperor very slowly removed his feet from the footrest and slipped them back into his shoes.
‘You may have the upper hand now Human, but you will not retain it. I have a lot of support in the Federation.’
‘You don’t have as much support as you think you do. You know fine well you are only tolerated because of the rare ore you produce. There are many races out there who would love to see you taken down a peg or two. However, my President would rather have your support than have you as an enemy. Will you listen to his words?’
‘Do I have a choice?’
‘You do, but I can assure you that you will be by far the poorer if you don’t.’
The Emperor suddenly found himself slightly intrigued. ‘I will listen to your President’s words.’
Steven took out a small device and set it in front of the Emperor. A holographic projection of the Earth’s President appeared.
‘Emperor Voltern. If you are watching this, then my Goodwill Ambassador will have confirmed your hostile intentions towards the Human race and Humanity itself. He has been told to inform you of the forces that are arrayed against you at this moment, and also of our intent. We do not wish to go to war with you. We have worked very hard to win support from the other Federation worlds, and know that such an act would set us back a number of years. So it is in our best interest to find a solution beneficial to both parties.
‘You are a race that eats more vegetables than grasses, and we have discovered that one of your vegetables has great medicinal properties, highly beneficial to Humanity. I believe it is called a trock. We wish to purchase some of them from you and also some seed. We will be willing to pay you for it.’
A picture of a large circular rock replaced the President. ‘We have an abundance of the Spital ore that you covet so much. This rock has a radius of two thousand kilometres, and is made up of pure Spital. We are not allowed to trade in ore, nor do we wish to. We build our own ships with it. Nor are we allowed to refine it or sell it. I also believe it is on the prohibited list of metals and minerals that we will never sell across the great barrier.
‘There is no legislation to prevent us from making a gift to you of a very large rock. We could have it in your territory in about six of our months. I believe that is five of yours. My Ambassador has a small core of it for you to test. The price of this gift shall be peace between our races, your support for our bid, and your active endorsement of that bid to your allies. Please feel free to have the core sample tested before you answer. Thank you for your time and patience.’
Chapter 2
It had been an intense wait for Steven and his guard. The Emperor had dismissed them and they had returned to the ship. Two hours later Steven was invited down for a private audience. He wasn’t allowed to take any guards with him. A shuttle arrived and he climbed on board.
It didn’t take long for him to reach the planet’s surface. He was shown through a myriad of spotless and gleaming corridors, to some inner chambers where the Emperor was waiting for him. A gesture dismissed his servants.
‘Ambassador, I should have you killed for the way you talked to me earlier, but I don’t suppose you care.’
‘No sir, not really.’
‘Don’t worry, I never let an insult get in the way of profit,’ he leaned forward. ‘Not if it is a good profit anyway.’ He found his own joke hilarious and laughed for almost a minute. He finally caught his breath and wagged a finger at Steven.
‘You must have studied me really well.’
‘I have an excellent team backing me up sir.’
‘They did a good job. The stability of my empire relies solely on this ore.’ He picked up the small core Steven had given him earlier, ‘If this sample is genuine, then you have offered me trillions. It will secure my reign and that of my family for many generations to come. My people say they have never came across a sample so pure.’
‘We are aware of that.’
‘Is this bid so important to your race?’
‘Yes it is. We are one race, one planet, with no hope of expansion into this part of the universe, and desperate to protect it.’
‘How much of this do you have?’
‘We have really no idea. That rock is just one of a thousand, and the smallest of the group, the most practical to transport to this side of the barrier. We believe it was once a part of a small planet that was destroyed in some form of collision.’
The Emperor’s eyes boggled, ‘You have a whole planet’s worth of Spital!’
‘Yes sir. That is just in one location. We have found a dozen other locations.’
The Emperor held up a hand, ‘I don’t want to hear it. If any of that comes onto the market, you will ruin us.’
‘We have no intentions of putting it on the market sir. We simply don’t need to.’
‘How could you survive?’
‘It is one planet sir. One. We are self-sufficient in all things. We really don’t need the Federation, or commerce from it to survive. Two thirds of our planet is covered by vast oceans, and it has a huge diversity of life. We only need the Federation for one thing, and that is to protect our home world. With full Federation status we will be able to protect it and the diversity of life on it.’
The Emperor thought it over for a while. ‘What happens when you begin to spread out across this side of the barrier? Colonies require support from their home world.’
‘Part of Humanity’s bid requires us to stay behind the barrier. We are not allowed to colonise any other planet or planetary body on thi s side of it.’
‘That is written into your bid?’
‘Yes sir.’
‘That seems a little harsh.’
‘We really don’t care.’
That made the Emperor think again. ‘I wish some time to consider your offer and check on the details of your bid before I make a final decision.’
Steven got up and bowed.
chapter 3
Steven sat down at the dinner table with a sigh. He found a spot between Charlie and the Bear. The smell wafting up from his plate made his stomach growl.
‘Long day?’ Charlie asked.
‘Aye.’ He sorted out his cutlery and took a mouthful. They ate in silence for a few minutes. Charlie was already onto his coffee before Steven was finished. He shoved his plate away, and within a few seconds Cookie had placed a steaming hot mug of coffee in front of him. He realised that they were all watching and waiting.
Steven smiled, ‘They have agreed to sign the treaty. The Evolka are on board. Of course, he isn’t going to announce it until the arrival of his big rock; if we don’t deliver, it will fall through.’
There were a few growls of approval, the odd clap, and voices of congratulations. The smile on Steven’s face widened.
Howe leaned across the table, ‘Were his feet as bad as they say?’
‘They were stinking.’
The table erupted with laughter, the tension seeping out of the crew.
Eddie was sitting on the other side of Charlie. ‘I thought they were all going to shit themselves when he took his feet down off that thing.’
Charlie snorted, ‘They were all there to watch us get wasted. I don’t think they had never seen that before. Good plan Stevie.’
‘I'm glad we never had to shoot anyone.’
‘It was touch and go for a while though.’
‘It was that,’ the Bear agreed, ‘You could feel it.’
Steven put down his mug, ‘It was the longest two weeks of my life.’
‘Where to now sir?’ Howe asked.
Steven closed his eyes for a moment and talked to Babes. ‘The sparse lands. It would seem our lads in the Federation have ran into a little bother, and they have requested our presence.’
‘Have they been fighting?’
‘Yes Colonel. A meat-eating race called the Ambatta. They have captured one of them and wish us to talk to them.’ He turned to Charlie, ‘It is going to take us a couple of weeks to get there. I am going to need everything you can find on them.’
‘There isn’t much. I have a dossier on all of the meat-eating races. There are a few pictures. They look quite feline in nature. It wasn’t easy to make out too much detail, I only had a pictures of a few corpses. Their planet exists in the middle of an asteroid field. They were an advanced race that had reached the stars. The asteroid field is full of precious minerals and extends for thousands of miles around the planet.
‘I know their planet has been attacked many times, their ferocity and tenacity is legend. Apart from that, not much is really known. The Federation patrols around the borders of the asteroid field to keep them contained. They were knowing for attacking the home planets of their enemies. The Federation retaliated with a massive force. They did reach their planet but were eventually beaten off. The Ambatta weren’t adverse to throwing huge asteroids at them. The casualty rates were huge on both sides. No one really knows the state of their home planet, but I believe the Federation threw all the normal nasties at them.’
‘Who were their enemies?’
‘The ones that started it are called the Catataracs and the Haspsopot.’
Steven’s right hand jerked up, ‘I have heard of them.’
‘The Modloch went to war with Haspsopot. It was Darrick’s father. They kicked their arses. I have no idea what sparked the war. The Modloch took a fair chunk of their territory off them, but because they were so far away, they eventually were persuaded to give it back through diplomatic routes. There was some compensation paid.’
‘Where are they in relation to the races we know; do you know?’
‘Fair idea. The Haspsopot border the Sparse Lands on one side, the Modloch on the other and the Catataracs on the other side of the sparse lands.’
Steven groaned, ‘Which means we aren’t a kick in the arse from the Albany.’
‘Steven!’
They all got a little surprise. Komoru was standing behind him.
He shook his head, ‘What?’
‘Language please.’
‘Eh! I never swore.’
‘Bad enough,’ she scowled at Charlie.
Charlie took offence, ‘What are you scowling at me for? I wasn’t swearing.’
‘That makes a change.’
Charlie snapped upright and stuck his face close to Komoru’s. ‘You really need to stop blaming me for everything around here. It is severely getting on my fucking tits.’
Charlie stormed past her and out of the canteen. Komoru’s face went a darker shade as she found all the men looking at her. She tried to make light of it.
‘Oops.’
There were a few weak smiles and the rest of them got up and left, leaving Steven. She took Charlie’s seat, still embarrassed.
Steven looked at her and shook his head. ‘Did you really have to? I thought you two were making an effort to get on better.’
‘It just slipped out. Sorry.’
Steven lounged back in his chair, he was really feeling tired.
‘Make a bigger effort please.’
‘I will try.’ She decided to change the subject, ‘You look exhausted.’
‘I feel it.’
‘You should have let me take some of the strain.’
‘He wouldn’t deal with a female. You know that.’
‘It isn’t right.’
‘I know. We already have our next job.’
‘I haven’t heard yet.’
‘It’s right next to Catatarac space, and very close to Albany space as well.’
‘Oh shit!’
Steven picked up his mug and took a sip of his coffee without taking his eyes off her. Komoru’s face darkened again.
chapter 4
Lights flashed past the right wing of Commander Logan’s fighter.
‘Get this arsehole off my tail Alfie.’
‘Kick it right, in three two one, now.’
Commander Alfie Lloyd fired at the spot he felt the fighter was going to pass through to chase Logan. His first shots bounced off the fighter’s shields as they walked down the side of it. By the time they reached its tail, the shields had weakened and a couple of shots slammed into the target.
Both Humans peeled away, leaving the stricken fighter spinning off into empty space. A hundred fighters appeared on the other side of the Burning Wind. Its shields rippled in response. The fighters jumped out, then reappeared on their side of the ship. The two Humans were now in the perfect position. Their guns fired again. Two fighters staggered out of formation. They failed to jump, and the automated guns from the Burning Wind finished them off.
The remaining fighters disappeared into the black and never returned.
‘What the hell was that all about?’ Logan asked no one in particular.
Alfie decided to answer anyway, ‘Maybe they know we are new here and just wanted to test us.’
‘That was an expensive test Alfie.’ He glanced down to confirm. ‘I still have all of our flights on the board here.’
‘Beats me. What about that fighter we knocked out?’
‘Let’s swing around and take a look.’
The fighter was drifting in space. They pulled up alongside. They could see a figure inside punching at their controls. A panel appeared in their right hand and disappeared again. Logan put on his interior light and waited. It took a while for the pilot to notice him. When he did the pilot stared for a moment then sat back in his seat, resigned to his fate.
‘Looks like he thinks it’s all over Alfie.’
‘Should we haul him in?’
Logan scanned the ship. ‘Looks like he still has ammo and his guns are working fine. Let’s kick it upstairs.’
