Peace Army (25 page)

“And I did strike first,” Teng shot back. “At least I got a hit on him.”

“Yes, you did,” Soo agreed, rubbing the side of his head. “But you also doomed the attack to failure.”

“It was going to fail anyway,” the eight-year-old countered confidently. “I wanted to get in at least one good shot.”

“I’ll show you one good shot,” Arok replied. He swung his staff at his brother and connected with the younger boy’s thigh. To his credit, Teng did not cry out. He skipped backward, out of range of a second swing, and shot a look at his uncle.

Soo tossed the staff back to the boy and Teng caught it deftly.

The two brothers stepped into a sudden dance of offense and defense. Soo silently critiqued the pair as they lashed and parried. They were remarkably advanced for not having a father to help them.

Soo was pleased. They had obviously been practicing the drills and techniques he had taught them. Their time with the school’s trainers, while required of all young males, was insufficient for warriors of their lineage. While other families fought for politics and wealth, the males in their ancestry were well known for their ability in combat.

These two seemed anxious to keep that proud heritage going into the next generation. Both had good aggression and sufficient tactical skill for their ages.

As Soo knew he would, Arok, the older of the two, soon had Teng in a slow retreat. The vicious blows the older brother rained upon the younger were expertly parried, but the speed and strength of an additional two years of growth served Arok well.

Teng was tiring, and fatigue caused carelessness. Soo watched as Teng backed into one of the metal stools. Arok pressed the advantage. An overhand feint turned into a quick jab to the younger brother’s gut.

Teng dropped to the ground.

“Bravo!”

Soo had been so engrossed in the match, he had not noticed that the boys’ mother was standing beside him until she called out her approval. Rala clapped and smiled as Arok took a bow. Teng struggled to his feet and also bowed to his mother.

Soo suddenly wondered how much of Rala’s influence had led to the boys’ amazing progress. Although Soo had never seen her fight, Treel had often remarked on her abilities with the martial arts. It was a side of this woman that he had forgotten until now.

Perhaps she might consider me an acceptable match.

The thought arose without warning, but once the notion raised its head, Soo turned it over in his mind. Examined it. Enjoyed the warmth of the thought.

We would make an excellent pair.

“Continue sparring,” Rala ordered. “But do it on the other side of the house.”

The boys bowed again and left without further word. They were well-behaved as well as well-trained, Soo noted. His brother’s mate—
Rala
, he corrected—had done a good job with the two.

“Sit, General Soo,” Rala ordered. She pointed to one of the stools that surrounded them.

Soo hesitated briefly, then took a stool. The metal contraptions were short and uncomfortable, but when a potential female partner told you to sit, you sat.

Rala took a seat on a nearby stool.

“You wonder why I asked you to meet me here, yes?”

Soo was pleased that she got straight to the point. She offered no pretense or formal posturing. Everyone on Waa had an agenda these days; a plan to advance their personal standing in the new Minith society. Her decision to eliminate the acting or stage-setting that so often preceded any meaningful dialogue was refreshing.

“Yes,” the general answered simply. If she was willing to cut through the idiocy of Minith protocol, he would gladly meet her halfway.

She got right to the point.

“The Zrthns are not a threat,” she said simply.

“Interesting.” Soo had spent the last few years building up his forces to protect what was left of their race and their empire. To be informed that his primary adversary was not a threat could not be accepted without question. “And you determined this how?”

“Please, Soo,” Rala dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hand. “I meet with the Zrthns regarding trade weekly. Whatever I find, I pass along to you.”

“And you’ve found something that leads you to believe we have nothing to fear,” Soo stated. He was unconvinced. “Interesting, Rala.”

“Soo, the Zrthns do not care what happens here in our tiny little corner of the universe.”

Soo stared. He, like every other Minith, firmly believed that their “tiny little corner of the universe” was an immense empire—or at least,
had
been, until their planet was erased from the galactic maps. While Truk was convinced rogue Minith were responsible for the deed, Soo was not so sure. He had developed his own theory. And that theory had the Zrthns at its core.

“General,” she began, “you are not stupid. We control fourteen worlds. We have not had communications with four of those worlds, including Earth, since Minith was destroyed. Do you really think we are a major force within the larger sphere of interplanetary trade? Or politics?”

Soo thought exactly that. Why wouldn’t he? Minith were born to dominate, to take what they needed regardless of the impact to others. This was especially true when considering other races. Minith were… superior.

“Your ears give you away, Soo. I see that you do think that,” Rala said. “Your brother never had any such illusion.”

The comparison—not a flattering one—got Soo’s attention.

“Treel was an ideologue,” Soo countered. The disdain he felt for Treel was clear. “He played at being a soldier, but he never made rank. He was always too worried about the planets we captured and the long-term effects on those we enslaved.”

“Soo, you may insult your brother all you wish,” Rala answered calmly. “But the fact remains. Treel understands the difference between power and pretense. He has always known where we stand concerning our trading partners and our place in the larger context of interstellar might.”

Soo rankled. He had considered his younger brother barely competent as a soldier. He had never thought that Treel might excel at anything else. Now Rala was telling him that Treel had a better grasp of interstellar relations than he possessed. His ears flattened.

Rala picked up the cue.

“Soo,” she reached out and placed a hand lightly on his arm. It was a placating gesture, meant to soothe. “I am not telling you this to anger you. Only to enlighten you.”

“You speak as if he is still alive,” he growled. Her hand jerked back quickly and Soo felt a morsel of satisfaction. It was immediately followed by a sting of regret. This female was still tethered to his brother. She still thought of herself as Treel’s mate.

Soo abandoned any further thought that she would select him. That knowledge helped him focus on the matter at hand.

“So, Rala, what exactly do the Zrthns want?” he asked. “Why did they collect our contracts if they are not intent on capturing our worlds?”

Rala smiled. She was obviously pleased that Soo had come back to the real issue at hand.

“They want agsel,” she replied.

“Agsel?”

“Yes, Soo. Agsel is the mineral mined on Telgora.”

“Yes, I know that. But why is agsel so important to the Zrthns?”

“Ah, Soo. That is the interesting part,” Rala said. “It seems that agsel is a very important mineral—much more important than we ever knew. It is the key component in the ships the Waa build and in the space travelling ships every other race builds. Without agsel, there is no interstellar travel—at least, no travel that is faster than light, which is basically the same thing.”

Soo had never questioned how their motherships worked, had never really cared. But if agsel was required to make them space worthy, he could understand why it was an important mineral to control.

“Rala, if agsel is so important, why wouldn’t the Zrthns try to take Telgora for themselves?”

“You are thinking like a true Minith, Soo.” Although she did not say as much, Soo felt the unspoken comparison between him and Treel bubble up, and ignored it.

“The Zrthns know about the ongoing conflicts we have with the native Telgorans and are content to let us mine the agsel for them,” Rala continued. “While the agsel flows from our mines, they do not care how we get it.”

“Rala, let’s assume I believe you. If the Zrthns are not a military threat, as you contend, what does that mean for us and for our growing defense forces?”

“It means you can focus on other things, Soo.” She returned the hand to his arm. Soo recognized the movement was not meant to placate this time, but to encourage. “It means you can send forces to Earth.”

“You mean send forces to find Treel, don’t you?”

Rala lifted her hand and settled back on her stool. Her back was straight and her head was lifted high. She did not acknowledge the question, but both knew her answer.

“Does Governor Truk know any of this?” he asked.

“Truk knows only what we tell him, General,” Rala replied. “I do not think this information will be useful to him.”

So Truk did not know the Zrthns may not be actively threatening them. And Rala was not going to tell him.

Interesting
.

Rala was more intelligent and more cunning than he had thought. Her ears had not twitched once during their entire conversation. Such bold aggression should have been apparent. Instead, her intentions simmered cleverly under the surface of a calm exterior.

She was unlike anyone he had ever known.

Soo was suddenly eager to please her. He would proceed under the assumption that her assertions about the Zrthns were accurate. If anyone would know, she would.

“And what do I tell Governor Truk when he asks how our defense preparations are going?”

“Tell him the truth, General. Tell him that your preparations are progressing well.” Rala paused, looked him firmly in the eye. “But that is all he needs to know, wouldn’t you agree?”

“And if he should discover the Zrthns are no longer a threat? What then?”

“General, I do not think that Truk is vital to the long-term survival of the Minith. Do you?”

The meaning was clear. Rala was content to have Truk remain as the leader of their race as long as it was convenient. When it became inconvenient, they would address it.

Soo stood and nodded, then turned on his heel and marched crisply away from his brother’s mate.

He had new orders.

Chapter 36

“When are we scheduled to land, Gee?”

“We will reach Telgora in thirteen days.”

“Excellent,” Grant replied. “I can’t wait to get off this ship and back on real ground.”

Grant was sitting at the conference table in his quarters. Titan and Gee sat across from him. They were discussing the coming landing, and Grant had some ideas he wanted to float past the other two men. Their knowledge of the planetary conditions and experience with the Telgorans were critical for what he had planned.

“What do you know about the mines on the planet?”

Gee spoke up.

“There are six mining operations on Telgora,” he offered. “All six support removal of the agsel. As far as I know, nothing else is taken from the planet.”

“What about the layout of the mines? Any idea how deep they run into the planet? How the workers get below? How large are the mines themselves?”

“No idea, Grant,” Titan offered. “We have never seen anything except the ramparts the Minith have built around the above-ground facilities, and those only from a distance. The Telgorans have let me join three of their raiding parties—and they left me behind at the edge of the battle all three times.”

“For obvious reasons,” Gee added. “Those attacks are suicide missions.”

Titan merely nodded. Grant recognized the look of a veteran who had seen things that he did not want to discuss. Titan had told him about the senseless attacks the Telgorans made on the mines every six months. Grant understood that Telgoran brains were wired differently from humans—even differently from the Minith—but making the same, useless attack time after time was lunacy.

Grant was certain that he and his forces would not make the same mistake, and, if possible, he would try to convince the Telgorans to change their ways. Not a simple task, he knew, but he would have to try.

“What about Patahbay?” Grant asked. “Would he or his people know anything about the mines?”

Titan shrugged.

“Not sure, but we can ask.”

“Can you learn what he knows?” Grant asked the former Violent. “He doesn’t like leaving his room, and you know him better than anyone else.”

“What are you thinking?”

“We can use those mines to our benefit,” Grant answered. “But we need to learn everything we can about them first.”

“I’m on it, Little Man.” Titan rose from the table and left the room.

Grant just shook his head.

“Why does he call you that?”

“Titan has always been the biggest and baddest guy around,” Grant explained. “When someone shows up who may be a little bit badder, but not quite as big, that’s how he copes.”

“Does it bother you?” Gee seemed genuinely interested. Grant guessed the engineer had never had much interaction with alpha males, other than the Minith.

“No, Gee. It’s just a term of endearment.”

“A—a what?”

“Never mind. Let’s just say he doesn’t mean any harm.”

“If you say so,” Gee replied. It was clear he did not understand.

Grant wondered how the new-age engineer would have fit into the ass-grabbing, shit-talking military units he had lived in for so long. Not well, he surmised.

“How are your ribs?” Gee changed the subject.

Grant absently stroked his left side. A weak throb from the two ribs that had been confirmed as cracked was still there, but it was getting duller every day. From prior history, he knew the injury would be fully mended in another week or so.

“Fine. Almost all healed up.”

Chapter 37

After months travelling at speeds much faster than light, the mothership had once again converted to rocket mode. As he had several times before, Gee wondered at the science involved.