Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2) (11 page)

“I still cannot believe that any human beings could possibly be so cold and utterly ruthless as to undertake acts so monstrous as to threaten the very lives and livelihood of billions of innocent men, women and children,” responded President Marrot forcefully.

“Ah, I think that you’re forgetting something very important here, Mr. President,’ said Vice Admiral Masterson. “Our real enemy isn’t human… not human, at all.”

* * * *

Diet?

“Yes Hal?”

The first eight production models of the
Infiltrator
class warships that you donated to the Confederate Fleet have been delivered to Admiral Kalis at Ginia. They have been assigned the names of CSS
Phantom
,
Specter
,
Spook
,
Wraith
,
Shade
,
Spirit
,
Phantasm
and
Apparition
. Production facilities are continuing to be expanded and work on the first 10 of the 100
Infiltrators
ordered by the Confederate government is proceeding.

“That’s great news, Hal. I’m sure that Admiral Kalis will find good use for those babies.”

Captain Diamond of CSS
Ghost
recently submitted a couple of very intriguing ideas in his after-action report from the Battle of Nork. With your permission, I will forward them to our TBG engineers at Joja, to have them begin feasibility studies.

“Of course… can you give me a hint about what we’re talking about here?”

Captain Diamond emphasized the need for a
Ghost
class
Infiltrator
to get very close behind their target before missile launch, to ensure that countermeasures cannot be brought online in time to interfere with the missiles’ flight. He noted the long and medium-range capability of the heavy and medium-yield missiles we’re currently using is wasted and suggested new short-range missiles having heavy and medium-yield capabilities be developed, small enough to increase an
Infiltrator’s
payload capacity. 

He mentioned being frustrated that he’d been forced to expend all of his anti-ship missile capacity in taking out only three Federal carriers, and wished he’d had more missiles available to throw against the Federal battlecruisers in such a target-rich environment.

“That’s really an excellent idea, Hal! Run with it. What was Captain Diamond’s other idea?”

He wanted to know if it was feasible to upscale the
Infiltrator
design into an equally invisible, light cruiser-sized vessel, capable of carrying a lot more missiles.

“Damn, why didn’t we think of that?”

We’ve been a bit preoccupied with winning Confederate independence, so I don’t think either of us should feel too badly. It just serves as a reminder that no matter how powerful a computer I might be, human beings retain a creative spark of genius that complements my capabilities admirably.

“Agreed, old buddy.  I think you and I have made a hell of a team, so far!”

I will work up design modifications for both the heavy and medium-yield short-range missiles to be made specifically for
Infiltrators,
and attempt to upscale the
Infiltrator’s
design to see if a larger vessel could be made that would retain the undetectability characteristics of the
Infiltrators
.

“Excellent!”

* * * *

When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.   
— Ronald Reagan

As promised, the
Friends of the Confederacy
cyber-terrorist group launched another cyber-attack against the Alliance, as punishment for their obvious insincerity in the peace negotiations being held in Pari. The media spread word of the promised cyber-attack beforehand and the public braced themselves for it, as best they could. No one knew what, or where, the terrorists would strike next, but few had any faith in the government’s ability to thwart the
Friends
. The waiting was almost as bad as the attack itself. The newly opened Alliance Stock Market fell to its maximum SEC mandated daily allowance within minutes of opening, before federal regulators shut it down for the day. Virtually everyone wanted to divest their portfolios before the terrorists made the records go away forever. The cries against the government’s interventionist trading policies, that prevented them from doing so, became deafening.

International stock markets responded to the Alliance sell-off by dropping sharply. Even the threat of another cyber-attack against the Alliance paralyzed the economies of all mankind — except for the Confederacy, whose war-based economy was mostly internal, and so continued to thrive on government defense contracts and the strength of its gold-backed currency. International tensions again rose sharply, as stern warnings were voiced at the Pari peace talks and through normal diplomatic channels as well. Defense expenditures also rose sharply throughout human space, as the uncertainties of what these terrorists might bring to financial markets continued to escalate.

The attack, when it came, startled and infuriated the Alliance public in ways that all of the effects of the previous attack had not. On every Alliance planet, people woke up to find that their personal checking and savings accounts had their balances reduced to a mere $25.00. Virtually every private citizen in the entire Alliance was effectively broke. 

The resulting firestorm was directed not so much towards the
Friends
, but directly at the federal government, whose obvious obstructionist policies of merely playing for time, and making a complete sham of the peace talks, had literally
forced
the terrorists to act.  Public opinion exploded against the federal government. Calls for impeachment and recall elections for Congress soared. Polls now showed that the public now favored ending the war immediately: recognizing Southern independence and paying the demanded reparations had skyrocketed to 74% in favor. 

On the morning of the third day after the attack, people woke to find that their bank accounts fully restored. An announcement from the
Friends
appeared on virtually every media outlet on every Alliance planet, issued an apology to the Alliance people for their being inconvenienced by the 48-hour period during which they could not access their money. But the attack had served its purpose, and put the entire Alliance on notice, as the
Friends
issued their final ultimatum:

Neither the Confederacy, nor the Friends of the Confederacy, wish to invoke harm to the innocent citizens of the United Stellar Alliance, but your government is hereby put on notice. Instead of putting all of those untold trillions of dollars back into the accounts of their rightful owners, we had it in our power to make those funds disappear forever, bankrupting every man, woman and child in your entire nation. 

This serves as a fair warning to all of what
could
have happened, and can easily happen again, if the belligerency of the Alliance government towards the Confederacy does not cease immediately. The United Stellar Alliance started this war by their unprovoked attacks upon the Confederacy in their attempts to re-subjugate the Southern people by force of arms — a war they have now lost.

There will be no further negotiations. The United Stellar Alliance will immediately recognize the sovereignty and independence of the Confederate Stellar Accord as members of the international community of nations, forsaking all future claims on its territory, and will also sign a binding pledge of future non-aggression towards the Confederacy and normalization of relations between the two nations. 

The people of Tucky, Maylan and Dela will be afforded the opportunity for a one-time vote to determine their future status, as to whether they desire to remain citizens of the United Stellar Alliance, or become citizens of the Confederate Stellar Accord. The results of this one-time vote will remain binding for all time on both nations, so the citizenry of these three planets should search their hearts deeply before casting their votes, determining which of these two nations they wish to associate themselves with in the future.

War reparations demanded have now been increased to $3.5 trillion, just because the deceitful dealings of the Alliance federal government at the Pari peace talks have pissed us off. Should the Alliance federal government fail to comply with these just demands, neither the Confederacy nor the Friends of the Confederacy will be responsible for the unprecedented suffering that will be incurred by the people of the Alliance. We beg of you… Please demand that your government stop acting stupid. Don’t make us impoverish your entire nation!

* * * *

It had taken a long time to tow the massive Raknii shipyard and base station into orbit around this new habitable planet, that was one of five near to the human systems, exchanged to the Rak as part of the negotiated return of Troxia to Trakaan control. Instead of already being full of billions of Trakaan, as Troxia was, this was a pristine world of generally mild climate, empty of intelligent life, but full of
prime real estate for millions of Raknii settlers desiring to carve out their own destinies and begin building prides of their own. It was a beautiful world… a blue, sparkling jewel hanging starkly against the black of space. If this was any indication of what
cooperation
with other intelligent species might foretell for the future, this revolutionary idea definitely had merit.

Raan’s messages to the supreme-master, informing him of the startling agreements he’d made with the Trakaan and of the five new planets just outside of human space the Trakaan had exchanged for Troxia, should have reached the imperial planet of Raku by now. Raan had requested, and it was assumed that Supreme-Master Xior would be dispatching, four more similar stations to each of the other four planets exchanged by the Trakaan, so that even more human planets could be assaulted on a wide front. 

Under the unanimous approval and authority of Region-Master Raan, Quadrant-Master Drix and OverFleet-Master Mraz, Tzal underwent yet another ascension ceremony and donned a brilliant light blue topaz rank-stone surrounded by a ring of diamonds arranged in a four-pointed “moonburst” pattern, denoting his new Mid-Rak status as an OverFleet-Master. 

The pace of Tzal’s incredible rise in rank was exceeded only by that of his old Squadron-Master, Drik, who was now known, by very few, as Quadrant-Master Drix. Tzal had been transformed from a mere ship-master wearing an amethyst rank-stone and the bright medium-blue silks of his home, Region-3, to the white silks of an imperial OverFleet-Master in command of 16 entire fleets. It was mind-boggling, but with the hypnotics that came with each new rise in rank, it seemed that yet another previously unknown portion of his mind awakened, so his new responsibilities, that once would have frozen him in stark terror, were met with quiet confidence and complete competence. 

Tzal himself would be leading the initial assault on an entirely new species that his own ship had discovered. Drix briefed Tzal thoroughly on the apocalyptic prophecy, so that he would be fully prepared for his initial confrontation with these
ultimate predators
.  There would be no mistakes made from arrogant overconfidence against a foe that prophecy foretold would “
cull the Raknii, as we once culled back the prey herds.” 

The rank of OverFleet-Master was the highest rank in the Raknii military. It implied command of 16 entire Rak warfleets, but it was largely a ceremonial title, as no more than four warfleets had ever been utilized in a single combat operation. QuadFleet-Master Wrin held that exclusive honor from an excessively nasty inter-regional confrontation between the blues of Region-3 and the greens of Region-4, some 350 cycles ago. Wrin had commanded four blue fleets that day and defeated the greens… who still smoldered in resentment at having their three warfleets routed by the blues.

Tzal would be the first OverFleet-Master in history to actually take 16 full warfleets into combat in a single battle. Extensive interviews were being conducted for pliability of mind, as eight new DoubleFleet-Masters, four new QuadFleet-Masters and two new MegaFleet-Masters would need to be selected and raised through their own ascension ceremonies, before the initial assault beginning the Rak/Human war could be launched. Although the station had finally arrived at its destination, a tremendous amount of preparation and training remained, before the Raknii fleets boosted towards the destiny of their race.

* * * *

I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. 

I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.
— Mother Teresa

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Flash (5/12/63)

THE WAR IS OVER! – Alliance Capitulates to Confederate Demands
  –  Alliance Press has recently received a communiqué from the State Department stating that President Pierre Marrot has issued an executive order, instructing the negotiating team in Pari to acquiesce to Confederate demands for recognition of the Confederacy as a sovereign, independent nation, and the Alliance officially abandons all future claims to any and all planets or properties therein. The statement went on to say that a formal treaty of peace, containing a mutual non-aggression clause and paragraphs outlining the normalization of relations between the two former belligerents, is to be negotiated in good faith. It is expected that complete agreements, including the establishing of formal diplomatic relations, trade, passport recognition, commercial spaceliner service and other such agreements as commonly found existing amongst the nations of humanity, will soon be forthcoming.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Flash (5/14/63)

Friends of the Confederacy
Terror Group Promises No More Cyber-Attacks! –
Alliance Press has received another communiqué from the
Friends of the Confederacy
terror group, whose cyber-attacks recently brought the Alliance to its knees, promising no more cyber-attacks upon any human entity as long as promises made by the Alliance federal government are kept fully. The group also promised to restore all of the stolen data taken in the Nork cyber-attack last September, as soon as the peace treaty between the Alliance and Confederacy is finalized. The group did make one ominous promise, however:
We will be watching.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Nork – News Report (5/16/63)

Stock Market Skyrockets!  –
The Alliance Stock Market posted record gains for the fourth consecutive day, since news of the war’s end, and the promise of no more cyber-attacks and the restoration of stolen account data taken in the Nork cyber-attack last September.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Report (5/17/63)

International Tensions Easing  –
Alliance Press has received reports of a thawing of tense relationships between the Alliance and the rest of humanity, after international stock markets followed the Alliance market rally, also posting record gains for the fifth consecutive day. International leaders lauded President Marrot’s decision to finally end the war, even if under less than desirable conditions.

It is a hard thing,” said Russian President Vassily Kornikov. “It is a very hard thing to lose such a significant portion of one’s territory, but this conflict spilled over and adversely affected all mankind. I applaud President Marrot’s wisdom in finally acknowledging the realities of his position and his courage in acting in a manner that was best, both for his own country and for all of mankind as well.”

* * * *

Diet?

“Yes, Hal?”

I recently received a copy of scan data from my brother at Minnos, showing a very peculiar anomaly. He has not been able to postulate a logical hypothesis for the cause of the scan data, so he forwarded all of the records on to me.

“From the system traffic scans originating from Minnaplis Interstellar Spaceport?”

Yes.

“Can you show me?”

Please view the monitor… here we see the first scan showing the expected arrival of the Pan-African freighter SS Mendi, which is verified by voice radio contact with the control tower shortly after. Note the smaller blip that appears quite near the Mendi on the third scan.

“I see it.”

“Some kind of scan echo?”

No, it was a solid contact, notably smaller than the Mendi.

“Can you magnify the
Mendi
blip on that scan, where the bogy appears to have disappeared?”

10X.

Hmm… can you enhance and clarify the image any, Hal?”

Enhanced and sharpened.

“Hmm… can you magnify in small increments with enhancements, Hal?”

Working.

“STOP!”

Stopped.

“Go back one, please, Hal.”

Done.

Diet studied the frame intently, and then asked, “Hal, do you see what appears to be a slight protrusion at about the 285° point in the blip?”

Yes.

“Noise?”

Possibly.

“Compare at the same resolution and enhancement to the frames immediately prior to and after this one.”

Hal flashed through the three frames slowly, and the two other frames showed a round blip, with only that one frame showing the apparent protrusion.

Possibly just a random noise burst, or… it’s also possible that the smaller blip was just moving behind the Mendi.

“Let’s keep that in mind. Anything else?”

Yes. Here is a scan from when the Mendi was passing close to the asteroid belt. Note there appears to be a small blip just off to the lower right side of the Mendi blip.  One solid ping, but one that has again disappeared, on the next scan.

“Hal, highlight an area of space extending between the
Mendi
in the same direction as the single small blip is shown in, all the way into the edge of the asteroid returns and calculate the number of total blips.”

287.

“Now, same highlighted area, how many blips are showing in the first frame where the small blip appears to have disappeared?”

287.

“And how many on the next scan frame?”

286.

“What does that suggest to you?”

One of the blips was moving away from the Mendi, towards the asteroid field and disappeared behind an asteroid.

“Like it was intentionally hiding there?

Yes.

“Anything else, Hal?”

Yes, using the same processes you just described, it appears that eight days later, that same small blip appears to be emerging from the asteroid field and falling directly astern of an Australian freighter named SS Aitape. The small blip appears again for a single scan sweep just after Aitape transitions into hyperspace. After that, the small blip is also gone.

“Hal, were any active scans detected that were unaccounted for by normal Minnos traffic?”

None.

“Okay, what does all of this suggest to you?”

A small ship snuck into the Minnos system behind the drive plume of the SS Mendi and ducked into the asteroid field, where it lay hidden for eight days — after which it darted directly behind the drive plume of the SS Aitape and followed it out of the system until the Aitape transitioned into hyperspace, and then quickly entered hyperspace itself. Indicative of an intelligence-gathering operation.

“How much could be learned lying doggo in the asteroid field for eight days using only passive sensors?”

Quite a lot, actually, but nothing that couldn’t be learned easier by any freighter entering the system normally and lying tied up in space-dock with its passive sensors recording.

“Which suggests ‘what’ exactly?”

The intruder had no legitimate business in the Minnos system and therefore couldn’t enter Minnos space openly.

“When did this anomaly occur, Hal?”

February, 3858

“Five years ago?”

Yes, just over five years now.

“Why did your brother delay in sending you this information for so long?”

I had not specified in his updates that I was interested in this sort of phenomenon until late last year, so he just analyzed the anomaly as a mental exercise. You also have to remember, my brothers are not sentient, as I am.

“Hal, it is very important you immediately update all of your brothers and alert them to forward copies of
any
anomalies of this nature to you, just as soon as possible.”

Yes, Diet, I will do so immediately. But why is this suddenly so imperative?

“You said it yourself, Hal, ‘
The intruder had no legitimate business in the Minnos system and therefore couldn’t enter Minnos space openly.’
Now I ask you, in 3858, what portion of the human species could not find or fabricate some kind of legitimate reason for a trading vessel to enter Minnos space and sit in port with passive recording devices running?”

Oh… I understand now. A very interesting deduction, Diet.

* * * *

Within the next two weeks, Hal received updates from all of his brothers and analysis showed multiple anomalies occurring at Minnos in January of 3860, and later similar anomalies occurring at Wisco, Io, Michgin, Verm and Rilan between April and October of 3860. At Diet’s instruction, Hal sent a message to Fleet Admiral Kalis at Ginia, requesting him to dispatch one or more
Infiltrators
to the Minnos system with parameters of what the
Ghost
-class vessels should be looking for and why.

Hal also suggested that another “Grocery Store” be set up in a lifeless system nearest Minnos space, to support the
Infiltrators
, just like the one right outside Waston.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Report (5/29/63)

Peace Treaty Signed  —
Alliance Press has received a bulletin from the State Department that a formal Treaty of Peace between the United Stellar Alliance and the Confederate Stellar Accord has been signed at the Pari peace conference, officially ending the recent war of independence waged by the Confederacy. Full normalization of relations are expected to be finalized within the next two weeks, with a new Confederate Embassy opening in Waston, possibly as soon as July.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Nork – News Flash (5/31/63)

Bank Records Restored!  –
Alliance press has learned that corporate bank records stolen in last September’s cyber-attack have been fully restored, just as the terror group
Friends of the Confederacy
promised they would be, after a peace treaty was signed between the Alliance and the Confederacy. Stock markets surged to record high levels at the news.

* * * *

“Admiral Bradley?”

Admiral Simon Bradley, Chief of Fleet Operations looked up from the paper that he had been reading to see his Chief of Staff, Admiral Enrico Melendez leaning into his doorway. “Rico,” said Bradley. “Come on in!”

Admiral Melendez came in and surprised Bradley by shutting the door behind him.

“What’s up, Rico?”

“Bat just came to see me.”

“Ugh, oh… his
sixth-sense
twitching again?”

“Yes sir. He says we need to get at least a full task force up to Minnos, right away.

“Minnos, you say?  Did he say why?”

“No sir, nothing specific… just another one of his vague gut feelings.”

“
Humpf
…  I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that guy’s uncanny
psychic
shit. Take a look at this communiqué that I just received.” Melendez accepted the paper from Admiral Bradley and his eyebrows rose higher with every line he read.

Confederate Stellar Accord Fleet Communiqué

Office of the Commander-in-Chief

From:  Fleet Admiral Roger Kalis, Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Fleet

To:  Admiral Simon Bradley, Chief of Fleet Operations, United Stellar Alliance Fleet

Subject:  Intelligence Requiring your Urgent Attention – Classification Top Secret

Greetings, Simon, 

It had been my great hope that we might reestablish official and more cordial communications and relations between us at a more relaxed pace, but events rarely allow for such pleasantries. 

Please be advised that Confederate Intelligence has it on good authority that potential unfriendlies have been conducting intelligence gathering operations at Minnos, Io, Wisco, Michgin, Verm and Rilan. You have my word of honor as an officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Military that this is NOT a misdirection, or in any way affiliated with the recent unpleasantness between our two nations. 

I strongly urge immediate disposition of full fleet strength to the Minnos system and task force strength to Io, Wisco, Michgin, Verm and Rilan, as parties unknown may be desiring to take advantage of current Alliance Fleet weakness caused by our recent conflict. I will of course, forward on any additional information, as it becomes available to me.