Gorruk looked up, astounded. The old kone had gone insane.
"You old fool!" Gorruk growled, regaining his composure. Imperial army soldiers and their officers appeared at the entryway. The PDF troopers fell back. Gorruk turned to face Talsali. "This is a joke. Order your troopers to eject the senile old fool from the briefing room. The attacks will continue! The aliens must be destroyed! If you cannot do your duty, I will have it done for you, General Talsali."
"I am afraid it is not that simple, General," came a familiar voice. Gorruk turned to confront the intruder. It was Et Kalass, throwing back the hood of his white robe as he made his way to the front of the room. General Et Barbluis and other noblekones followed in his wake.
"General Gorruk," Et Kalass announced with nervous gravity. "You have been deposed. In the name of the—"
"Deposed?" Gorruk snarled. "You are all dead!" He turned to his generals and barked orders, but a low, thunderous rumbling far in the distance—artillery fire—captured his attention. Gorruk stood straighter and sniffed the air.
"General Gorruk!" Et Kalass shouted, his voice shaking. "It is useless to resist! Your army cannot help you. For once in your life, resist combat! Do not cause more death."
Gorruk' s generals, roaring orders, rushed for the exits.
"I will see you die at my own hands," Gorruk menaced, advancing on the noblekones. Et Kalass bravely held his ground, but his fear smell added strongly to the growing symphony of odors.
Detonations shook the structure's foundation. Armored windows high overhead vibrated like timpani; air pressure in the bunker fluctuated violently with the passing shock waves. Gorruk stared upwards. Another explosion, massive and perilously close aboard, reverberated through the building, shattering windows and knocking kones to the ground. Gorruk recovered his balance, shot a glare at the noblekone, and trotted toward the exit. Revenge could wait.
A loud commotion stirred at the main entrance, and the assembled kones turned as one to see what was upon them. Smaller explosions sounded, and the singing of laser blasters resounded in the near distance. The odor of burnt air wafted into the auditorium, and council members started flowing to the exits; a tight panic ensued. On one side of the building, a dozen imperial soldiers, their faces blackened and bloodied, retreated inwards, blocking the side exits. Gorruk pushed his way through the shouting crowd, but as he reached the main entryway the thick inner doors burst open, and militia soldiers poured onto the floor, laser blasters ready to fire. A squad of Gorruk's soldiers rushed bravely forward and was annihilated. Other soldiers threw down their weapons and lay prone, arms empty and extended.
Gorruk did not flinch. He rose upon his hinds and faced the enemy, his face flushed with anger and contempt. Et Avian, dressed in combat uniform and surrounded by elite militia guards waving their weapons, stepped through the press of soldiers and halted before Gorruk. At least twenty laser blasters focused on the ruler's hulking form.
"General Gorruk! Do you submit?" Et Avian demanded, his voice strained with emotion. Endless explosions continued in the distance. The very ground heaved.
Hundreds of angry red barbs, symbols for enemy ships, hurtled toward the blue and white icons representing his fleet. The pilots of the alien vessels were heedless of their own safety—totally committed to destroying his ships. His corvette screen was nonexistent; eight of the valiant craft had been destroyed, and the others were low on fuel and scattered across the vastness of space. Eire was operational, but Tasmania was reduced to space garbage and was jettisoning the balance of its crew. Lifeboat beacons dotted the tactical plot. The next engagement was less than an hour away.
"Commodore Wells, bring the fleet to grid stations!" Runacres commanded, wrenching his eyes from the tactical display. "Prepare for emergency hyperlight entry. On my command!"
"But, Admiral, Tasmania's link is down. Her lifeboats!" Wells. Remonstrated "Admiral, the corvettes!" exclaimed the group leader. "Obey the order, Franklin," Runacres said sternly.
"Aye, aye, Admiral," Wells said. The fleet commander officer initiated a command sequence on his control console. Warning Klaxons resounded throughout the fleet. Runacres pushed off from his command chair and floated to the end of his station tethers. He pounded gloved hands together in frustration. More deaths on his hands. Meaningless deaths.
He looked up to see Cassy Quinn standing quietly at the back of the flag bridge and vaguely remembered that Peregrine One had diverted to Eire. She was staring at him. Runacres signaled for her to approach. Quinn pushed off from the bulkhead and glided to his command station.
"We're leaving, Commander. I'm sorry."
"You did everything possible, Admiral," Quinn replied. "You have nothing to be sorry—" The brave officer choked in her welling grief.
"Admiral! Admiral!" the tactical officer shouted. "We have established radio contact with the aliens! They are speaking Legion, Admiral! Very good Legion."
"Wha-a—?"Runacres turned from Quinn.
"We have radio contact! From a broadcast source on R-K Three. Transmission delay is five seconds," the tactical officer shouted. "They want to talk to our leader—to you, sir! Linking to command frequency."
"Notify ship captains to monitor," Runacres ordered. He tried to analyze the confusing inputd=s. Why would they be trying to talk now? Their attacking forces had routed his fleet. It had to be a trick!
"Patch in Commander Quinn," he ordered, turning to face the planet survey officer. "I may need your help, Cassy.""I'm ready, sir," she replied, her eyes welling with tears.
"Keep everyone alert and ready to jump, Franklin," Runacres commanded. "Order out all tugs and recover the lifeboats still in the grid. How much time until the next engagement?"
"Five minutes before the corvettes are engaged, Admiral," the group leader reported. "All are low on fuel and ordnance. They're hung out to dry—"
"All motherships except Tasmania can jump on command," Wells interjected.
"Very well," Runacres answered thickly. "Let's hear what our.. hosts have to say." He looked over to Quinn. She nodded back, her jaw firm. He selected the command frequency, and a deep, rumbling accent could be heard speaking.
"…urgent that-ah I talk-ah your leader. Please connect-ah me with your commanding general." Silence cut with static.
Runacres looked around the flag bridge and inhaled deeply.
"Fleet Admiral Runacres of the Tellurian Legion Space Force," Runacres broadcast. "Identify yourself and by whose authority you speak." The circuit was silent for long seconds as the radio signals flew across the wide distances.
"Fleee Ad-ah…miral Run…aakerrs," the voice returned, hesitantly. "I am Mistress Kateos, speaking for Et Avian, Prince of House Ollant, and-ah the konish people." More silence, as if the speaker was intimidated by her own responsibility.
"We have come in peace," Runacres said, initiating the conversation. "Why have you made unprovoked attacks upon us? Over." Seconds dragged by.
"The answer to your question is not-ah simple. It-ah take time to explain, and-ah the explanation can be saved for a more better time," replied Kateos, her voice firmer. "We have stopped our attack. Do not-ah continue your attack on us. Please respond-ah."
"We have not attacked you. We are defending ourselves. Over."
"Over? Ah, yes. That means it-ah is my turn to speak. It-ah is sometime difficult to tell the difference between attacking and defending, Ad-ah…miral. I ask that-ah you demonstrate your peaceful intent-ah by halting forward progress. Not-ah all of my people are convinced you come in peace. Cooperation will serve to illustrate your peaceful intent. Please respond-ah, ah… over."