“For that they’d still have to accept a world
government and that’s going to be difficult for them to do, but we
have to do it. We can’t expect the Sarrans to protect us forever
and I want that technology.” The President ate a piece of dry
toast.
“We have to find a way to amend the U.N.
charter to make its proclamations legally binding,” John said as he
cracked open his soft-boiled egg. The President was still on a diet
and nothing that tempted her to go off her strict diet was served
at her table. Morgan was going to be hungry this morning.
“Tell the Middle East that we’ll nuke them
into submission. I’ve talked to the Russian President, the French
President, the Chinese President, and the British Prime Minister;
they all agree that something has to be done. We want to meet the
Sarran’s deadline in five years, not twenty-five,” the President
told Morgan.
“I’m meeting with Ravenswald and Mihaylov,
the new Russian Ambassador to the United Nations this rising in New
York. I’m getting on a plane as soon as I leave here.” Morgan took
a sip of his black coffee. Cream was not allowed.
* * * *
Starlight, In Orbit above Earth
“Nothing ever happens here. We’re in orbit
around a planet that can’t seem to agree on anything and neither
they, nor we, are making any progress toward getting rid of the
Zyptz menace,” Ensign Ratac commented as he took the watch.
“The Zyptz know where they are and could
decide to descend at any moment. They recently tried to breach
Sarran’s defenses. Fortunately, they were unable to do so because
of some new technology that Bron and Tarin designed. Earth is a
soft target. If we want an ally, we have to protect them until they
get their act together. WarriorPairs on shore leave say they are
making progress. It’s the Caliphate that is giving them problems.
They’re the ones who treat their fems badly,” Lieutenant Puter
informed Ratac.
“From what I’ve heard treating fems badly
isn’t something limited to the Caliphate,” Ratac rejoined with some
sarcasm.
“That may be true, but the Caliphate is the
only nation that codifies it into their laws.” Puter took a sip of
his coffee, one of the few perks of this assignment. “We go home in
ten phases. That’s not too long and there are Warriors and young
fems waiting to be bonded. From what I understand, all of the
bonded Earthen fems have given birth. Our population has increased
by almost twenty-five percent.”
“It’s our job to make sure the bebes make it
to puberty and they don’t get wiped out by the Zyptz because we
couldn’t get Earth to cooperate. I hear Brightstar has returned for
another group of fems. Who knows, we may even have Earthen bonded.
Two of our Warriors have bonded to Earthen Warriors. Both were in
what Earth calls the
military
. One was in their version of
PsyOps, a clandestine Warrior, and the second one was up to be the
leader of one of the great nations,” Puter said.
Commander Ostreo joined the Ensign and the
Lieutenant on the Bridge. “You haven’t seen them fight—they’re
fearless. Turning all that aggression, to say nothing of the sheer
number of Earthen Warriors, against the Zyptz may finally send the
Zyptz looking for another galaxy to torment.”
A loud horn blasted. “We’re under attack. Get
the Captain. Get out the signaler. We have to notify Sarran.”
* * * *
United Nations Security Council
“I hereby call the Security Council into
special session.” Rosseau of France had the chair.
Captain Minneta transported directly into the
chamber. “We’re under attack. There are five Zyptz ships, one
starship, and four lightslips. You need to unite now. I’m going to
try to transport myself to Sarran to get some help. If you have any
Earth satellite weapons, now is the time to use them. Here are the
codes to recognize Sarran ships. Anything else out there right now
is the enemy. Mobilize now! They may try to invade. I’m sending
down one of my engineering commanders with weapons and a Warrior
crew that know how to use them. Your people better be quick
studies.”
The Captain transported himself out of the
chamber.
“Fuck the Caliphate. We’ll put them under
interdiction. Call your leaders. I’ll call the President.”
Commander Suzzo appeared in the chamber.
“Captain Minetta sent me down. I’m Commander Suzzo, Chief Engineer
of the Starlight. We have enough Warriors and laser cannons to put
one in every capital. We have more cannons we can deploy after a
short course in their use.”
All five permanent members of the council
began to speak at once.
“How long do we need to hold until the Sarran
fleet arrives?” asked Ravenswald.
“We’re going to try to transport the fleet,
if we can’t, it will be one tide,” Suzzo told them.
“How long is a tide?” Rosseau asked.
“Ten risings. Give us the coordinates for the
sites where you want us to place the cannons. We have a new
defensive weapon. Two of our Elders will come to put it up. It’s a
Sky Shield. It will prevent them from coming in from space and
leave the battle up in the sky. We have to fight a holding action.
The Zyptz are what you would call roaches. But they are six foot
tall. They have a hive mentality. Generally, if you cut down the
leader of a force, the others will be in disarray. Close up you can
use your poison chemical DDT. Stockpile supplies of it. Even though
it’s a poison, it’s better than the Zyptz.”
“Get out the GPS and give the Warrior the
coordinates for the capitals. Call the world leaders to the U.N. we
are getting a united planet within the next twenty-four hours. I
will not leave the defense of Earth to aliens,” Morgan snapped.
“We’ll see how the Caliphate responds when they are the only spot
on Earth not protected.”
* * * *
Sarran, Castle Air
“You transported through space?” Zoran asked
in amazement.
“I did what I had to do. Most Sarran Warriors
have been to Earth. If we try to transport us and the Brightstar in
masse, we may get there in time. Can we put up Sky Shield on
Earth?”
“Yes. Both the hardware and the software can
be fabricated. I’ll bring it with us.” Zaron turned to the rest of
the council who had answered Zaron’s call. “We go to Earth. Is
there anyone unwilling to make the journey?”
No one spoke. “Transport to Brightstar. We
leave immediately.”
“Poppie!”
“Not now, Naffer.”
“Yes, now. Michael and I can transport the
Brightstar. Michael knows where Earth is and I can help him
lift.”
Zaron looked at Naffie in amazement.
“We’ve been practicing. Michael knows how to
get us all to his Grandpa’s house with the Brightstar
overhead.”
Syn and Sara looked aghast.
“Syn, Sara?”
“The Warriors will protect them?”
::
We will too
,:: Aloysius said. ::
I
put out a call for all of our Warriors to get to the fleet. The
kits will stay here and guard the fem and bebes. Find a fem who is
a chemist and have a Warrior help her fabricate DDT. We’ll send it
after you
.::
“Michael and I have the highest psy power on
the planet. We must do this, no one else can,” Naffie stated
impatiently.
Michael turned to Anya, “TaAnya, tell Mary we
love her and we’ll be back.”
“We go. There is no time for goodbyes,” Bron
told the fems.
The council transported en masse to
Brightstar. Naffie and Michael had told the truth. They put the
Brightstar in orbit to join the battle and then transported the
council to Sam’s Washington D.C. home.
“Michael, Naffie, transport back to the
Brightstar and stay in Quarters. You did well.” Zaron watched them
until they disappeared.
::
Captain Minetta, did the offspring
arrive
?::
::
Yes, TeZaron, they’re here on the
bridge. They claim they can help our Warriors target the
lightslips
.::
Zaron regarded Bron, Mark, and Juraens.
::
Let them, they’ll do it anyway
.::
Zaron could see Juraens’ whole body vibrated with tension.
“We need to go to the United Nations Security
Council. Minetta said they were meeting there,” Sam said.
“Get a Warrior to the capitol of each country
and have him transport the leaders to the United Nations. Have the
ambassadors contact their superiors and tell them to expect
us.”
Within thirty minutes the leaders were in the
General Assembly. The Warriors placed a translator chip behind each
leader’s ear. Zaron and Bron got up on the podium. “You need a
world government now. The Zyptz are about to invade and we have to
give you the technology to defend yourselves and later to fight
them off. We are the eight WarriorPairs who are the heads of state
for the planet Saran.”
Sam approached the podium. “Most of you know
me. It is now necessary to do what should have been done after the
first Zyptz attack. Until you have elected delegates and they have
elected a council, we will deal with the five permanent members.
But this is only a reprieve. The Zyptz will come again and you need
to be united and ready. We don’t have the Warriors to guard both
planets and it will take two phases to install the Sky Shield and
train your Warriors in its use.”
The battle raged above. Sam transported
insecticide to every ship in the fleet to guard against boarding,
along with masks to prevent them from breathing the air. When it
was finally over, the Sarrans with the help of Earthen soldiers
armed with DDT destroyed all the invaders.
Earthen media and citizens demanded that
their governments support a United Earth. After the Caliphate got
no help against the Zyptz, they capitulated and joined the rest in
the General Assembly.
Earth had yet to pound out an agreement. But
they made a start. The Sarrans now had allies…
THE END
* * * *
ABOUT A.C. KATT
A.C. Katt was born in New York City’s
Greenwich Village. She remembers sitting at the fountain in
Washington Square Park listening to folk music while they passed
the hat. At nine, her parents dragged her to New Jersey where she
grew up, married, raised four children, and became a voracious
reader of romantic fiction. At one time she owned over 2,000
novels, until she and her husband took themselves and the cat to
New Mexico for their health and its great beauty.
Now most of her books are electronic
(although she still keeps six bookcases of hardcovers), so she
never has to give away another book. She is new to both GLBT and to
writing, being—as she claims—a late bloomer; however, she has found
her niche writing GLBT romance. This is a very opinionated kitty,
and on her website at
ackatt.com
, you may find
snippets of her current releases, as well as some from works in
progress.
ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC
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queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance,
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