Connection (12 page)

“You are relieved of command, colonel. I will find competent staff and we will destroy this plague on LesMa.”

“General. The list I received will be made public later today…not be me but by the rebels.  All communications will be disrupted later today with this information. All civilians in the threatened areas will be given twelve hours warning before being destroyed. The first two sites on the list are already being warned. The Xale rebels knew you wouldn’t just do the ‘right thing’.”

“Cassandra. We’ve mapped all the radar coverage and we can detect their ships far easier than they can detect us. Any more on Skip?”

“Boss. I’ve picked up a lot more ‘chatter’ about him but so far haven’t pinpointed which cell he’s in – we know which wing of the prison he is in but that’s about it. There has been no move to release him or move people – some of the areas are fairly remote. I gave eight areas the twelve hours warning we had proposed. We’ve installed remotes on twenty-seven transmission points,” Cassandra responded.

Robert worried that they had missed something. “Do we have more material if we need it to print more circuits and drones? Do you think you can override their transmissions?”

“Yes. Their analog video television was a bit tricky to duplicate but we can sever their transmissions and replace it with our own. I have computer avatars from scans of subjects on Xale – I am told some of the women we will use are ‘hot’ – I don’t see it. I think Twlise is far prettier but it’s an eye of the beholder type thing. I have created an army of actors using CGI – they have never seen that and there is no way they can differentiate between people and computer graphics. We have video of the impact crater on the base on Xale. I have four asteroids that I’ve designated for the different impact points. They are pretty small and I can coordinate their impacts to within minutes of each other. We have plenty of material to print the circuits and drones – they’re small and we still have the ability to print large replacement panels and parts for our ship,” Cassandra said. “We will redirect orbits of the asteroids we’ve already picked. We’ve already stabilized their orbits.”

“Do you think they are the right size for the job? Will it be too much – too little?”

“Relax Robert. We’ve picked nickel-iron asteroids and they’ll be more consistent than the stony asteroids. The smallest is about 40 meters in diameter – the largest is seventy meters across. We’ve told them where they’ll hit and when. They will all be traveling approximately twenty-meters per second. They will be like small nukes without the radiation. The largest will be about the power of the Hiroshima blast. We are about to rendezvous with the largest one of four asteroids we’ve picked. Now is the last chance to back out – you sure?”

“How much loss of life can we expect? This isn’t a garrison of soldiers who’ve been abusing the native population.”

“Cold feet boss? We have the potential to kill millions if I direct these wrong but we have given adequate warning. We have scanned the targeted rural areas and show all LesMa personnel moving out of those areas. We have a ninety-nine percent chance of killing no one and little property damage. We must broadcast immediately after impact. We will have four drones in position to broadcast video of the impacts. Stop it – do it?”

“Go for it Cassandra. We’re going to get condemned no matter what we do.”

                                                                              ****

“He cannot speak the language. I have Le teaching him. I think he is important. Found out he is here for smuggling in Twasolo from a new source – some super concentrated form. He was in some type of superfast ship that has been tying the Prath in knots. He was working with LeSlur – there was a big shootout and his partner got away.”

“What happened to his partner?”

“That is why I’m making sure he learns the language. His partner escaped from LeSlur – somehow got his ship back from the Prath and went to Xale.”

“How did he get the ship back?”

“Wait – wait…I’m just getting to the good part. He takes his ship and it’s rumored he wiped out all the military on Xale. He partnered with the Xale rebels – Zhast – I didn’t know there were rebels. Then his partner comes back here and threatens all of LesMa – he is demanding his partner is released.”

“How did he destroy the military there and threaten the military here?”

“That is the part that is so crazy. I got this from the guy in the library. They have one of the new televisions in there that some of the guards watch on break. This guy’s partner – takes over all the televisions and radios on LesMa – all of them. He shows what the military has been doing to the people on Xale – and they say we were bad. He drops a big rock on them and kills them all – then captures their general by himself and kills all his troops on a half dozen armored vehicles. He comes here and says he is going to drop rocks on a list of places all over LesMa if the government doesn’t free his friend and give independence to Xale.”

“When are they supposed to start dropping these rocks? Really? Rocks?”

“…I think about an hour.”

“Will we hear if this guy isn’t bluffing?”

“Probably…Thraman is on the list.”

“Zhast…Why teach this guy if we’re on the list?”

“If they let him loose – I want to be on his side…you?”

                                                                              ****

“General. You’ve seen the pamphlets spread over all of …every country that supports our position about Xale. We’ve tried to counter the information about LesTo but public opinion went from a majority ‘Don’t know’ to a majority ‘Free Xale’.”

“The public will forget,” said the general.

“General. Did you forget the list? What do you plan to do about this person ‘Skip’? Do you plan to go anywhere? Thraman City is on that list.”

“I don’t think anything will come of this phantom ship, phantom asteroids, or phantom rebels. This is just a trick – a passing whim of the public.”

“What about the broadcasts?” the colonel asked.

“We have stopped those. It is less than fifteen minutes before the supposed strikes and no broadcasts,” stated the general in a huff.

“General. Colonel. Sorry to interrupt you but I was ordered to interrupt the colonel if there was a new broadcast from the ‘rebels’,” said the aide.

“Let’s go see this then,” ordered the general and they went to an adjacent command post that had four television screens and numerous radio broadcast consoles. It appeared that four sites were being targeted and a voluptuous young woman – four of them – one on each broadcast channel, was explaining what was about to happen. The video would cut to a different scene showing the recorded devastation of the garrison on Xale, interview snippets with captured general LesTo, interview sound bites from the victims of LesTo, and the young woman saying the government was doing nothing to protect them. Each of the four main broadcast channels was showing the pirated signals – live from the drones.

“Call the local station and order them to cut their broadcast.”

The aide ran out of the command center and within ten minutes, the broadcast from Thraman City went dark. The other three channels kept broadcasting and the countdown started showing on each along with a text overlay showing it was live, the location, and a countdown clock. Only the Thraman City station remained dark. The room got deathly quiet as the countdowns went to zero and there was almost a simultaneous flash, as a pristine mountain area, a lake, and a forest disappeared in a flash with a billowing surge of ash and dust. The drones retreated before a shock wave knocked them off the air. There was a site within sixty-five miles of Thraman City. The aide motioned them outside and they could see the darkening sky to their west. It was just a few minutes later that the ground shook for a full forty seconds as the shock wave from the impact rattled the command bunker.

Three of the video stations came back on the air with the pretty female and spoke again. “Citizens. All Xale wants is independence. We want the LesMa government to stop raping, killing, and enslaving our citizens. We want our independence and free trade. These four areas were not populated areas. Do not force us to take more drastic action…freedom and trade… only that…call your representatives. Here are the contact numbers for your area.” The screens went back to their original broadcasts. When Thraman City resumed broadcasting – a pirated signal took over and showed the last minute of the countdown, the impact, and the young woman’s response.

The hotline call from the government center was answered quickly. The general seemed angry but nodded and answered politely. He disconnected and turned to his colonel. “Get the Zhast Prath commander on the line. We go release this ‘Skip’ immediately. Contact the Xale representatives – did anyone record the contact information for the Xale representatives from the previous broadcasts. Get them on the line. Get moving…NOW!” he yelled.

                                                                         ****

“LeAt. Did you get that broadcast from Cassandra? What do we do about that ship? They are out of control. They dropped four asteroids on LesMa. What will he do next? We have LeEck. We have Twlise. We can hold them hostage and make him do what we say,” LeToms said.

LeAt was disappointed with his brother. “Are you insane? Robert and his ship Cassandra have brought us in weeks what we couldn’t do in years. You want to threaten him. We need to negotiate a trade agreement while public sentiment is in our favor. Did LeEck figure out how to manufacture those lasers?”

“I don’t trust him. He is capable of anything. I still think we need to control him.”

LeAt grabbed his brother’s shoulder. “LeToms. We will not do to him what LesMa tried to do to us. Control is always an illusion. It is temporary.”

“LeEck said the plans were easy to follow. The weapons are installed on all our other freighters. They are everything Cassandra said they would be. The lasers are scary powerful. Cassandra gave us plans we could use easily. Robert said his ship was unarmed. What would an armed ship from Earth look like? Is he trying to make us independent from LesMa so Xale is more vulnerable? Robert said it took only two of his hours to come here.”

“I think we must believe he is what he says. He is immensely skilled from what you said he did capturing General LesTo. He cares for Twlise and LeEck. I think we have no choice. I like Twlise too. He dislikes people who take advantage of others – he may be alien but he has been trustworthy with us. He has put his life in jeopardy to save others. He may not have killed anyone on LesMa,” LeAt said.

“I worry about the future of Xale,” LeToms said.

LeAt laughed. “Robert said something very similar to that before he left for LesMa. I will be leaving in a few hours to aid in negotiations. He says the Prath have offered to meet him to exchange his friend for General LesTo. Will you come with me to guard LesTo in route? He seems a lot less trustworthy than our alien friend.”

LeToms nodded. He would have gladly killed LesTo if he weren’t so valuable. The trip from Xale to LesMa would be dangerous because it would take them a day to get there. He must be guarded the whole time and there were only five others available to go on the trip.

                                                                          ****

LeSlur was having words with his father LeChak LeSlur III. “Yes. The alien, was the one that destroyed those four areas on LesMa…and yes, he is the one behind all the broadcasts on the radio and television. You saw he has destroyed the military on Xale. The LesMa government, the Prath, and the military have decided to negotiate with Xale.”

“You know this will cut off our Twasolo trade. We will have nothing – no income except from your Zhast sema. That liquor will not fund us like Twasolo. Where are they going to do the negotiations? You have gotten that information haven’t you,” LeChak said obviously disgusted with his son.

“They plan to exchange General LesTo for his copilot – this ‘Skip’ fellow at the abandoned airfield we met initially. They are to do it tomorrow morning. I do not know the time. They plan to negotiate after that with LeAt – our former Twasolo connection.”

“Did you not learn from me that you have to control the people who work for you? You offer them something they desperately want or need. This alien, Robert, desperately wants to free his friend. We should take them when they least expect it during the trade. If we disrupt the negotiations – there will be no freedom for Xale – no trade agreement. With conflict comes opportunity. We can reestablish the Twasolo trade.”