Jake spoke privately to Mike.›Let Jessie tell her story. No one can doubt the value of Empire after hearing about her people.‹
›You haven’t been around enough Earthmen yet, Jake. We doubt everyone.‹
He turned to Jessie. “Will you tell your story?”
Jessie padded up to the President and sat. “My people call themselves ‘The People.’ Two thousand years ago we were already known as great warriors, and a few of us had gone out into the Empire to act as Protectors. We never developed space travel on our own, nor do we even now have a desire to do so. We’re at heart a primitive people, and we remain true predators. Our civilization is not particularly large, and we like it that way.”
She looked at the President with fierce eyes: this story still burned in the hearts of her people. “Another space-faring people were angered by certain actions of our Protectors. They decided to exterminate us, but they did not personally have the ability to do so. We are serious survivors. Instead of fighting us directly, they imported hordes of gleasons, the most feared creatures in the galaxy, to do their fighting for them, and the attempt nearly succeeded. We overcame the first and second deliveries of gleasons, but by then our ranks had been decimated. When the third delivery landed, we had little hope. The Empire came to our rescue before we succumbed, and at great risk to themselves, they helped us defeat not only the gleasons but the civilization that brought the gleasons to us. Since that time, my people have dedicated themselves to supporting and upholding the laws of Empire.”
She stared hard into the President’s eyes. “The Royal Family represents truth. The Empire enforces fairness, and within the memory of my people, it has always been so. We support both to the death.”
“Then why hasn’t your Empire shown itself to us? We have plenty of problems of our own that we could use some help with,” the President shot back.
“Earth is classified as an emerging world,” she stated. “Under ordinary circumstances, the Empire has a ‘hands off’ policy for such worlds. Interaction with the rest of the Empire changes emerging people, and like it or not, they are forever after unable to develop as they would have if left untainted. We have not come willingly to this table. Sir Mike has dragged us.”
“We’ll have to delve into this issue a lot more, but it can come later.” The President turned back to Mike. “Next issue: what risks do we incur?”
Mike had given this serious consideration. “My best guess is that there is no risk at all for the moment. That could change if our plan works, but that will be a year or two away, at least. By then, I hope to have sufficient forces in place to protect Earth. To the best of our knowledge, the Rebels do not know of our plan nor of the ineffectiveness of the Chessori mind weapon against the people of Earth. We have a plan to further delay their learning of this.
“However, I personally suspect that the Chessori know, or at least suspect, that we are different. It’s stretching the imagination a little, but if you consider all the reports here of alien abductions, and if you attribute some measure of truth to them, I think it’s possible the Chessori have been studying us for some time now, possibly to determine why we are immune to this weapon of theirs.”
He paused to let the President consider the idea. “Sir, I’m curious if the Roswell aliens are a myth or if they are real. From the stories I’ve heard, they appear to resemble the Chessori.”
The President eyed Mike suspiciously, then shrugged. “I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll definitely look into it. I see where you’re headed with this, and it could make a big difference to Earth’s level of risk. What kind of protection can you provide to the planet? Will it be effective?”
“I can’t give you absolute assurances, sir,” Mike responded, “in part because we know so little about the Chessori. But by the time the Rebels figure out what we’re up to, we’ll either be well on our way to success and more than capable of protecting Earth, or we will have failed and the Empire will be in decline. If we fail, as far as the Rebels and the Empire are concerned, the threat to Earth will evaporate. They won’t care about our special abilities.
“As for the Chessori, if they don’t already know about Earth, they will not find out from us or our activities. If they already know about Earth, we humans are probably perceived as a potentially serious threat to them, but not until we develop space travel.”
“Not true,” the President said. “We don’t have to develop space travel, we only have to travel in space, and that’s just what you’re planning to do with these recruits.”
“Consider the alternative, sir. Suppose Earth chooses to avoid this conflict, to remain on the sidelines, to stay safe. Without our help, I believe the Empire will fall. If the Empire falls, Earth will share some of the blame in condemning the rest of the Empire to whatever fates befall them. More important, when chaos reigns and some alien race decides to take Earth under its wing, it will do so whether we want it to or not. And the Chessori are still out there, ready to pounce on Earth whenever they feel like it, especially if the human race continues its steady march into space. Is that the future you choose for mankind? Do we bury our heads in the sand, give up the conquest of space, and stop being who and what we are, or do we risk?”
“That’s unfair, and you know it.”
“I do not know it, sir. Based on the best intelligence I have concerning the Chessori, two things stand out. The Empire will lose this war if the Chessori mind weapon is not neutralized, and we are the only species in the galaxy immune to that weapon.”
Reba leaned forward in her chair. “Whatever course you choose, Mr. President, Earth’s continued existence may, even now, be only at the whim of the Chessori. Sir, that’s like standing in front of a lion without any means of protecting yourself. Your only hope is that the lion is not hungry. That scares the heck out of me. Whether you like it or not, Earth is already at terrible risk, right this moment.
“Be proactive, sir. We can make a difference, and we can assure the future of our world in the process.”
“If we live long enough.” He turned back to Mike. “You’re saying that if we stay out of this, we’ll be living in fear forever. If we help, we live in fear for a little while. How long?”
“Probably at least a year, maybe two. We’re going to train the men and women you give us, then we’re going to hit the Chessori hard and fast. As soon as we have enough ships under our control, we’ll send some to Earth. It’s likely that by the time anyone realizes where our guys are from, we’ll be here protecting Earth.”
“Hmm.” The President wasn’t particularly happy with this answer, and he was less happy seeing his options melt away.
Mike stood up. “Sir, I give you my personal assurances that the Empire will do everything in its power to protect Earth. Don’t forget, I’m from Earth, too. I can almost guarantee you that a significant fleet will arrive within the next year or two, a fleet that will remain invisible to the civilians here but that will be adequate to beat off any attack against Earth.”
“And during that two year period, there’s nothing you can do?”
“There’s nothing that needs to be done. Earth has been ignorant and defenseless for thousands of years. If we keep this whole thing under wraps, no one will have reason to treat us any differently.” Mike held up a hand. “There is some risk, sir. I believe it minimal, but haven’t we always risked in order to advance?”
“What advancement are we talking about? What do you offer in return?”
“Let me be completely candid here, Mr. President. To America only, I offer nothing. To the world, I offer eventual membership in the Empire if they so choose. I won’t promise you a timetable, that will have to be worked out by experts who know a lot more than I do about people’s reactions to all of this. The last thing any of us wants is for civilization here on Earth to melt down over knowledge of extraterrestrials. It’s probably a good homework assignment for you.” Mike smiled, knowing that the President was probably not accustomed to being given assignments.