Alien Manifesto (36 page)

“
Fear not, young one,”
whispered the Queen. “They will come to my call. Soon, my dear, you
will not have to be chief aide any longer.”

This shook the young nymph
to his core.
Not be the chief aide!
Not be chief aide!
That
is all I want,
thought the young
nymph.

“
My queen, have I failed
you?” asked the young nymph, trembling.

“
No young one, I am only
trying to lift a great burden from you,” answered the new Queen as
she realized just how deeply the young nymph’s loyalty
went.

“
My only wish is to serve
you, my Queen,” said the young nymph, scraping his chest plate on
the chamber floor in a frenzied reverence.

“
Very well then, as my
chief aide I order you to deliver this royal decree to your clan’s
elders at once,” whispered the new Queen in her musical voice as
she handed the young nymph an official scroll.

“
Thank you my Queen, I will
not fail you, as you command so shall it be,” answered the young
nymph as he scurried away to deliver the royal scroll.

PART THIRTY-ONE

An Understanding
Reached

“
Snarth,” hissed the feline
assassin master, “I could use the assistance of your team to
prevent my king’s death.”

“
I cannot ssspeak for my
team; you will have to asssk them yourself. I will be there to
explain the risksss,” hissed Snarth.

“
You don’t trust me,”
laughed the assassin master. Then he growled with a wicked smile,
“I don’t blame you, I wouldn’t either.”

“
I have life debtsss to
each one of my team mates and they to me,” hissed Snarth. “I have
alwaysss been honessst with each one and I will be now. If you have
any double crossss planned I want no part of it and I will sssee to
it that my team matesss do not either.”

“
On my honor sir, I plan no
deception,” growled the assassin master frostily and very formally,
standing ramrod straight.

Just as formally Snarth hissed, “On my
honor sssir if you double crossss any of usss I will hunt you down
myssself. I have lived a very long time,” Snarth hissed angrily. “I
fought in the One war and countlessss sssmaller onesss. I worked
for the galactic sssecurity ssservicesss for longer than you have
lived. I am not afraid of you or your clan. I have ssseen a hundred
generationsss of feline kingsss come and go, many by
assssassssination. I will help you becaussse I sssaid I would. I
alssso owe it to my friend, the only one to ever beat you,
becaussse I owed him a life debt too,” Snarth hissed.

“
Then we understand each
other,” growled the feline assassin master coldly.

PART THIRTY-TWO

Two Become One

As Rowl awoke first after the frantic
mating of the night before, he turned his head to gaze at Kareen’s
face, the object of so many of his nighttime dreams. Now she was
finally his. Lovingly he noticed the dried sweat in her matted
fur.

The smell of her musk was driving him
nearly insane with new lust. Stirring, Kareen whined
submissively.

“
You have to feed me before
we join again. I don’t know about you but I am famished,” she said
as she stretched lazily on the sleeping furs, teasing Rowl,
painfully. With a quick nuzzle and a lick Rowl headed for the food
dispenser by way of the fresher. “Not that way,” Kareen growled,
now fully awake and standing. “I want the traditional first feeding
of Nhu buck,” she yowled.

Rowl froze
midstride,
where am I going to get fresh
Nhu buck?
he thought,
panicking.

As if reading his mind Kareen yowled,
“You will have to hunt for it.”

“
There are no Nhu bucks on
this estate,” Rowl growled back.

“
There are now,” howled
Kareen, unable to contain herself any longer. “Bring me a fresh
kill, husband, and I will be yours forever,” she howled.

Rowl howled his acceptance of Kareen’s
vow, “And I will be yours forever, wife.” Then he vanished out the
door to begin his hunt.

Rowl hardly got out the door when he
picked up the scent of Nhu buck. He reached instinctively for his
swords. He remembered they were in his quarters back at Snarth’s
estate house. He would have to do this the traditional way, with
stealth and fang, no weapons.

Slipping silently among the tall
grass, it was not long before Rowl could smell the nearby swamp.
Instinctively he knew the Nhu buck would head for the nearest water
source. As Rowl circled toward the swamp, he caught a whiff of
fresh Nhu buck scent. It was heading his way. Moving in, closing he
crouched, hiding in the tall grass, waiting; the buck was close.
Closer the buck came, ten units, five units, heading for the water.
Even though the buck was in easy range Rowl waited until his kill
was absolutely certain. Now was not the time to look
foolish.

With a short leap, Rowl locked his
jaws on the buck’s throat, wrestling it to the ground, sealing its
fate. As soon as the buck had stopped thrashing, Rowl raised his
head, took a huge breath, threw out his chest and howled at the top
of his lungs his success to his mate Kareen. Now together they
would complete the wedding ritual with the traditional feast of
freshly killed Nhu buck. They would soon be one, mind, body and
soul.

~

Kareen soon joined Rowl. He had
waited, saving the best parts for her, the soft underbelly.
Centuries of civilization slipped away as the two savaged the Nhu
buck carcass, just as their primordial ancestors had centuries ago.
Much later, completely sated, the pair slumbered in each other’s
arms, unabashed and completely covered in the blood of their
joining kill.

Once again waking first, Rowl was
uncomfortably aware of his need to use the fresher. Or in its
place, the nearest growth of tall grass. Yet he was reluctant to
wake his blissfully sleeping mate.

The problem solved itself as Kareen
suddenly woke, looking deep into Rowl’s green eyes. “My love, you
need the fresher,” she said as delicately as possible, wrinkling
her nose.

“
Or a swim in the swamp,”
yowled Rowl. “Loser has to bathe the winner.”

“
You’re on,” yipped Kareen
as she leapt toward the swamp with Rowl close behind.

Later after a thorough cleaning from
Rowl, Kareen asked, “Shouldn’t we get back to the party, my love?
Our families are waiting,” she said.

“
Your family is here?”
growled Rowl in disbelief.

“
Yes my love, all of them,
your parents and your sisters as well,” whined Kareen
softly.

“
How did you get my father
out of his distillery anyway?” growled a still shocked
Rowl.

“
Don’t thank me,” growled
Kareen. “Talk to the Irishman and Snarth, they invited us all,” she
whined submissively.

“
You insatiable wench, I
wish we could but we have to get back,” growled Rowl with sudden
urgency. “We shouldn’t keep the family waiting.”

“
Then get in that fresher
and do not come out till you smell civilized again,” growled
Kareen. Rowl meekly obliged with air in his step and a huge grin on
his face.

PART
THIRTY-THREE

The Old Ones

It was several light cycles before the
young nymph returned to the Queen’s chamber, well fed and followed
by all of his clan. They were once again at the Queen’s
behest.

“
Welcome, my children,”
greeted the young Queen, head bowed. “Now that you are here we must
begin moving the nest. The enemy knows of our home world. We must
strike swiftly to disable the enemy fleet,” she said. “Then we must
disappear into a space unknown to our enemies. The days of conquest
are behind us, my children. Once we exact revenge on the enemy
fleet we will find a new home and live in peace,” proclaimed the
Queen.

“
As you wish so shall it be
done,”
echoed through the birthing
chamber, as each of the clan of scribes pledged its allegiance to
their new Queen.

“
No, my children it is not
as it once was,” exclaimed the new Queen. “You all now have an
equal say in the affairs of our people. From this day forth let no
order from the Queen go unchallenged unless it is by unanimous
decision of the council. From now on the Queen has only the
deciding vote. You may speak freely as I have no desire to
foolishly waste one of the few resources we have left,” she said,
waiting for a reaction.

None moved except the young nymph and
the senior elder. “If we are to have equal say, then I must ask,
why attack the enemy fleet? Why not just flee?” asked the senior
elder.

“
Flee in what?” asked the
young Queen.

“
We have stores of ships in
the great hall,” answered the senior elder.

“
We have nothing large
enough to transport the Promise of Life,” answered the Queen. “Even
if we did, can you pilot a star ship, senior elder? If we are to
leave I must waken my army and its pilots. If I waken the army, we
do not have enough ships in the great hall to carry all of us.
No-one will be left behind.

“
Then there is the issue of
the Promise of Life that has been scattered around the enemies’
populated planets. How without my Army am I going to gather all my
children?” asked the young Queen patiently.

The Queen knew the senior
elder must come to the same solution she had, on his own. The
senior elder paused then said, “What must we do to begin the
quickening of the Promise of Life my Queen?” with a deep bow,
scraping his chest plate on the chamber floor.
Not as stupid as he appears,
thought
the Queen to herself.

“
First we must prepare the
throne room for the transference,” said the young Queen. “Then we
must give She who gave her life a proper honoring. We must move
quickly, the season of the sun is almost upon us. Only then will I
have enough power to awaken the Promises of Life from far away. The
enemy has scattered my children across the galaxy and I may not
reach them all. And for that they will pay in blood,” said the
young Queen, her agitation scents causing the scribes to furiously
scrape their chest plates on the floor in submission.
Perhaps they are truly meant to be ruled after
all,
thought the young Queen. That thought
settled the young Queen’s mind, bringing her a newfound inner
peace.

The more she thought about her
revenge, the more powerful she felt. Without realizing it the young
Queen slipped into the world of the Old Ones for the first time.
She was suddenly face to face with her predecessor, the evil former
Queen.

So you think they should
all have a say in state decisions,
thought
the evil Queen, her words burning into the young Queen’s
mind.
You will soon realize as I did, they
can only be led. Left to their own choices they are weak. Unable to
defend themselves or properly bring glory to the giver of life, the
Sun
.

Reeling at the onslaught,
the young Queen fought back.
It is only
through them that I exist. I refuse to enslave them in another
failed attempt to conquer the unbelievers. The space is too vast
and our enemies too powerful. If the unbelievers are truly destined
to bring glory to the giver of life they will seek its knowledge
through us. We cannot force them, they must want to believe,
thought back the young Queen
defiantly.

With a sneer the evil Queen
thought,
You cannot escape your destiny.
Only the giver of life can change the destiny of a Queen of the
Ones.

With a jolt, the young
Queen snapped back into her reality, severing the link between her
and the evil Queen, now Old One, shaking violently. The intensity
of the encounter surprised her, serving as a warning about the old
Queen’s power. However, it also gave her an idea.
If I can commune with an Old One that
easily,
thought the young
Queen
, then why not try and convince the
other Queens? Or even all the Old Ones at once? We will let the
majority decide the destiny of the Ones,
resolved the young Queen, quite firm in her beliefs, as the
young are prone to be.

PART
THIRTY-FOUR

Must it be War?

Many light cycles passed before the
young Queen could make her entrance to the main throne room. The
old Queen’s carcass had been properly disposed of and all of the
Queen’s crystals were in their proper place on the domed ceiling
and walls. The season of the Sun had begun this very light cycle.
Everything was ready.

Soon the Sun would be at its height
and the young Queen could wake her army. Her heart was heavy; argue
as she might, the Old Ones had decided on war rather than retreat.
If only they would listen, a suitable planet had already been found
in the archives.

It was a large life planet, one with
plenty of live prey to sustain her children. It had the right type
of star to recharge her crystals, and those of her children. Dare
she risk discovery of her plan? If even one scout ship were
detected, the enemy fleet would descend on the home world and
finish destroying what they missed last time.