Nebula (39 page)

“Welcome to Earth,” Seduro began. “I trust that the accommodations in our transport ship were suitable.”

“Dispense with the pleasantries,” Minister Naroo replied. “The trip took only a few minutes of our local time, so adequacy of the accommodations is irrelevant. We came here to inspect the areas of your planet that you propose for us to settle, not to engage in idle chatter. So let us proceed without wasting time.”

Seduro glanced at Billingsley. “Diplomacy certainly wasn’t one of their major strengths,” he silently said to himself. Billingsley nodded as if he could read Seduro’s mind, and had precisely the same thought in his own mind. Brad and Harry just smiled a bit. They’d been dealing with these aliens for more than a day and knew how abrupt and disrespectful they could be.

“Fine,” Seduro replied. “Then let’s get on with it. We’ll go first to the region in the north, near a body of water that we call Hudson Bay. The climate can be a bit cold in winter, but we will assist you to establish suitable structures and to modify some of the local areas to support agriculture or whatever else you need to live comfortably. Then we will show you the second region, in another place that we call Siberia. It is also cold in the winter, but we can assist you there as well. Then we will go to a region that is more temperate, but very dry. This is part of a territory that we call the American Southwest. We have means to provide any amount of water that you need, so you will find this very suitable for types of agriculture that are not possible in the colder climates. We chose these regions for two reasons. One is that they will give your people sufficient variety of climate to suit all your needs. The second is that these places are not populated as densely as others, so we can minimize the disruption to our own people when we have to relocate them to make room for your people.”

“Very well,” Minister Naroo said. “We will see these places and determine if they are suitable.”

Harry noticed, from the body language, that General Kragin seemed somewhat uneasy during the exchange. His manner wasn’t belligerent; it seemed more that he was uncomfortable with the way that Minister Naroo was speaking. He would have to try to speak with the general and get a better sense of what was going on.

*

The inspection tour took three days, one at each location to allow a very through exploration and the collection of samples of soil, air, water, and a variety of plant life.

The three Chanreeks who accompanied Naroo and Kragin had the duty to collect all the samples and to make detailed recordings of all the environmental conditions, including videos wherever they went. The two leaders directed them but did little other than that, except to scowl occasionally. During the three days, they rarely spoke except to give orders. One humorous exception was when a large bear wandered nearby during the visit to the Canadian territory. The five Chanreeks were startled and apparently had never seen such a large animal. There was a lot of commotion until Nebula’s military escorts shooed it away. Naroo grumbled that the humans would have to provide a means for defense against beasts such as this. The others continued as if nothing had happened.

On the second day, while they were exploring one local area in Siberia, Harry had a chance to speak with General Kragin while Naroo was a distance away, with one of the scientists. “What is your impression so far?” he asked.

“I am impressed by the very large amount of territory that you say you will provide for us. We expected less.”

“Well, we do want you to be able to live in relative comfort while we prepare Mars as the longer term world for your people. We realize, as I think you also do, that this war was a very bad mistake. If you had come in peace, we might have been able to avoid all the death and destruction.”

“Yes,” Kragin replied. “I agree. We, in the military, did recommend that we send a delegation to try to negotiate with you before resorting to war. But the politicians like Minister Naroo and Prime Minister Akaree wouldn’t hear of it. They don’t understand war and the misery that it can bring. They only understand power, and they wanted to overpower you, to destroy your people, and to take your world by force. They wouldn’t listen to us, and we have a duty to obey their orders. Isn’t it the same with your people?”

“Our military does have to obey orders, but our politicians aren’t quite that bad, and they do listen to advice. But what do you think your politicians will decide about our offer?”

“It’s hard to say. I think that they may accept the offer. Even Minister Naroo seems to be impressed by what we are seeing, but Prime Minister Akaree and some of the others on the council are against it, and they have the power to make the decision. I know that I will recommend it very strongly, and while advice from the military is often ignored, I think that what I say and what the scientists report will have some influence. But you do understand that we do not trust your people and that we will be very careful in how we respond and how we maintain some degree of assurance that you are dealing with us fairly.”

“We do understand that,” Harry said. “You would be fools to just trust us with the safety of your entire population, especially after the biological attack that killed most of them. We know that you will prepare some way to assure that we don’t do something like that again. Once we begin to work together, and once the terraforming of Mars begins, I think that the trust between our people can grow.”

“Let’s hope so,” the general responded. “But remember that it was our people who suffered most from this war, so we’ll need a lot of time to build that trust.” Then he turned away and both he and Harry rejoined the group with Minister Naroo and the scientists.

The Chanreek delegation departed as soon as the inspection tour was completed. Seduro and Billingsley had expected them to remain for another day or two to discuss some of the issues that they might have, but Naroo said that this wouldn’t be necessary. They asked to be taken immediately back to their ship so that they could report in person to the council.

Once they had returned to the
Chanreek fleet, Naroo went straight to the council room, where Akaree and several others had gathered. General Kragin and the three scientists accompanied her.

Kragin could see that the prime minister was in a very bad mood. This surprised him, since a message had been sent prior to their departure from Earth, and it gave very positive information regarding the three regions that the humans had set aside for them. The mood certainly should have been less grim. He sat down at his usual place at the conference table and waited for the prime minister to speak.

“I see that the humans put on a good show for you,” she began. “But did they offer to let you see anything other than what had been prepared? Did you get any impression that they were hiding something from you?”

“We saw only what they had told us they would show us,” Minister Naroo replied. “We were kept in relative isolation for the entire visit. We spoke only to a few humans, and we were heavily guarded by armed escorts the entire time. We were not taken to any places other than those that are being prepared for our occupation, but we were able to go anywhere in those regions that we wanted to see. But, to answer your question, yes, they definitely did conceal much of their planet from us. We saw their military facility, and did see some of their warships, but only the types that we already saw in battle.”

General Kragin then spoke. “Madam Prime Minister, my impression is that the humans are being honest with us. I had several opportunities to speak with the one called Harry Ambrose, and I came away with a feeling that we can trust them and that they regret the loss of life that their biological attack caused. You recall that we intended a similar attack on them, and it was only through their clever trickery that we suffered the loss and not them. You also will recall that we kept the two humans in isolation when they were here. We saw much more of their planet than they saw of our fleet. I recommend that we accept their offer and proceed according to the plan that we have formulated. If they do prove to be dishonest, then both our species will die, but I think that they realize this. Harry Ambrose spoke vaguely about their understanding that we would have some sort of assurance against attacking us when we are living on Earth and exposed to another plague or some other type of attack. They know that we are smart enough to have some means to protect ourselves. So I say that we should go ahead and take the offer. It is a generous one and probably the best that we can hope for.”

Prime Minister Akaree was silent for several seconds and then spoke directly at General Kragin. “We appreciate your advice, general. But the council needs more assurance than a simple conversation between you and Harry Ambrose. The data collected by our scientists do show that the regions set aside for us are adequate, but we wonder why we have been offered so much space on their world and have not been able to visit other areas to get a better impression of how the humans live and how they might interact with us. Did you even ask to see other places and meet other humans?”

“We did,” replied Minister Naroo. “But we were told that this was not possible. No explanation was given.”

“So they appear to be hiding something from us,” the prime minister continued. “Why would that be? What is it that they don’t want us to see? I’ll tell you what I think. I think that they are much weaker than what our military fears and that they have no planetary defenses at all. I think that we could overpower them easily with only one or two more attacks. And if that failed, we could launch a thermonuclear strike and spend a few hundred thousand of their years at near-light speed before returning to take control of the planet. Even if they did have robotic devices to dispense pathogens, we would have outlived them. So I say that we should reject their offer and proceed with the war.”

Kragin couldn’t believe his ears. It was inconceivable that they could have made such a decision before receiving the report from his delegation. “Madam Prime Minister, I urge you to reconsider. Our forces have taken too many casualties. If the humans have even the most basic planetary defenses, the likelihood of our success would be low. I’ve had time to study the humans while we were on their planet, and they are very determined and very competent. We cannot underestimate them. If we proceed with the war, our species could be eliminated, even if we do eliminate the humans as well. The terms that the humans have offered us are generous. Peace with them is the only logical course, and we have our robots to assure that we still live with the humans in peace when they return and probe this system. You must think again before deciding to continue the war.”

“We have thought enough, General Kragin. The time has come to act, and the only course is to finish this war on our terms.”

“Has the decision already been made?”

“Yes,” was the reply. “We considered all factors during your absence, and we have a unanimous decision of the council to proceed with the war, that is if Minister Naroo agrees. Her vote is the one that remains to be cast.”

Naroo nodded her agreement, and Prime Minister Akaree smiled and stared defiantly at General Kragin.

“This is a mistake,” General Kragin replied. “But if that’s the will of the council, I will meet with my senior commanders and prepare.” He then rose from his seat, bowed to the ministers, and turned and left the room.

*

The seven senior commanders sat silently as Kragin explained the position of the council and also explained what he had seen on Earth. “So, do we go ahead with the plan to continue this war as directed, or shall we proceed with the alternative that we have discussed previously?”

General Grabatin spoke first. “We are in no position to continue fighting. The ministers do not understand how much damage our fleet has sustained. If the humans have any planetary defenses, we would be unable to defeat them and could lose what warships we still have. Our only option would be the thermonuclear strike, and even that could be blunted by heavy weapons on the planet or hidden in space nearby. And even if it were successful, we could never know if the humans did have many layers of robotic devices that could survive many successive strikes over hundreds of thousands of years. I say that we should proceed with our alternative plan.”

“Any other comments?” Kragin asked. He waited several seconds and then continued. “Fine, then we are agreed. Our objective is to remove the ministers from power and to take charge of the government so that we can begin to work with the humans to move our people to Earth and to begin to prepare Mars for our eventual home world. General Korbu, have you made the arrangements with the security force commanders?”

Korbu replied that he had and that they were prepared to act when the order is given.

“Good, and are our infantry and space forces also onboard?”

The others around the table nodded. General Darukee spoke for them. “All the commanders agree with the plan. There is no dissension. Some were concerned with this breach of policy, but all agree that it would be insane to continue, so they all support our plan to take control.”

“So we proceed,” Kragin said. “Now what remains is to decide on the time to act and to develop the detailed plans to minimize bloodshed. The council protective force will be the main obstacle, and they will almost certainly be loyal to the ministers. Our first move will be to neutralize them, probably by a direct and massive attack on their headquarters and on the forces that are deployed at the council building. That will be your job, Korbu. I expect that it will be the only significant resistance that we’ll encounter. The rest of the operation will be to seize control of all communications and information systems and to place our troops at the key points in each of the inhabited ships. That will be the job for the infantry. The space force will provide transport and firepower to support our takeover of all the ships. We may encounter some resistance from the local police, but it should be minimal. We’ll broadcast an announcement that we have taken control of the government once the council’s protective force is neutralized, and that should put a damper on most other resistance. Please develop detailed plans for each of your parts, and we’ll meet again tomorrow.”

*

Back at Nebula Prime, they waited for word from the
Chanreeks. Nothing came for several days, and that was interpreted as meaning that the proposal was being discussed but not yet accepted.

Harry continued to monitor information from Robby, using a series of robotic relays that jumped from the
Chanreek robots beyond the orbit of Jupiter to small relays that Nebula placed in concealed locations in the asteroid belt and then to Mars, where the transmissions were sent back to Earth through Nebula’s microwave links.

On the sixth day, Harry received first information about the coup and the seizure of power by General Kragin. The military plan was kept secret, even from their own robots, until the moment that they acted. Then, all the information was uploaded into the robot network, simultaneously with the broadcast to the population.

When Harry informed Billingsley and Seduro, they thought at first that this meant that the proposal would be rejected, but Harry calmed them down and explained his previous conversations with General Kragin. He told them that the military seemed more willing to accept the proposal and end the war than the civilian ministers were. Brad backed him up on this, explaining how Prime Minister Akaree and Minister Naroo were far more hostile than the general when they met at the Chanreek fleet and also here on Earth when they inspected the resettlement regions. But things were still tense, as they waited for a direct reply from the Chanreeks, and Brad and Haverford intensified their preparations for an attack even though neither of them expected that to happen.

A message from the
Chanreek fleet finally arrived two days later. It explained that General Kragin was now in charge of the government, and that Nebula’s offer had been accepted. Very little was said of the events leading to this change of government or of the current status of the former ministers, but the implications were that the military was now firmly in charge and that they were fully committed to working with the humans in peace. What remained unsaid was that the civilian ministers apparently had decided to reject the offer and proceed with a direct attack on Earth, and the military opposed this strongly enough to remove them from power.

Brad and Harry weren’t as surprised as Seduro and Billingsley by this news. Their negotiations during the meeting at the
Chanreek fleet gave them a clear impression that a rift existed between the military and civilian leadership, and the degree of difference seemed to be even greater, judging from remarks by General Kragin and Minister Naroo during their visit to Earth. The mood projected by General Kragin throughout the discussions, and again on Earth, gave them an impression that the military might be more open to the offer, having suffered first hand in the previous battles and fearing more devious tricks by the humans if they did attack Earth directly. Harry and Brad hadn’t expected an open revolt by the military, but regardless of what went on back at the Chanreek fleet, the outcome appeared to be positive.

Nebula now prepared for the arrival of millions of
Chanreek civilians and military personnel, but they still also were concerned about some sort of trickery by the Chanreeks, possibly a sneak attack while the human forces were not ready. So Brad and Haverford continued to prepare to defend Earth even as they also prepared to provide a more peaceful escort of Chanreek refugees to their temporary home on Earth.

The human governments and populations knew of the plan, but now they would become more involved in carrying it out. One important part of the plan was to conceal the true state of Earth’s defenses until the
Chanreeks were settled on Earth and to allow only unarmed Chanreek ships to come any closer to Earth than the orbit of Mars. It was important to hide the true nature of human technology and to keep the new arrivals isolated in the resettlement regions, with Nebula providing security and transport, and with the nations standing aside while this occurred. Seduro met with the heads of state and told them what they could and couldn’t do. They were not pleased with this intrusion into their power in their own countries, but they recognized that they had no choice but to obey. Nebula was now fully in charge on Earth and in space all the way to Mars.

Messages were exchanged between Nebula and the
Chanreek military leaders to iron out all the details, and all parties agreed with little difficulty. The Chanreek military force would stand back, beyond the asteroid belt, with only a minimal number of armed escorts accompanying the transport ships to the rendezvous point near the orbit of Mars. Nebula agreed to allow the refugees to bring a small security force with small arms, mainly to enforce civil order and to protect the civilians from the “vicious beasts” that Naroo and Kragin reported to have seen in the wilderness areas.

A peace treaty was signed at the Nebula base on Mars, and a
Chanreek delegation, led by General Kragin, took the opportunity to explore the planet that would be made into their new home world. Brad and Harry accompanied them and noted that they seemed pleased with what they saw. They spoke a bit about the terraforming plans and suggested that both humans and Chanreeks could participate on Earth and on Mars to build a suitable world and to establish commerce and intellectual exchanges between their people. They even discussed the establishment of human-Chanreek universities and industries both on Mars and Earth.