I decided it was time to speak up for myself.“Good sirs, if I may speak on my own behalf? I do not need a wayout of this. If these are the Emperor’s wishes, then I will proudlyserve.”
The room fell silent at my remark; a look ofsurprise fell across everyone, except Larath and the captain.Larath was as stoic as ever, and the captain just smiled as if thatwas exactly what he had been waiting to hear.
“I would prefer not to take my team, though.None of them has any real combat experience and most are onlytrained in processing reports, not frontline data collection,” Icontinued.
“So be it then,” stated the captain. “Zalith,I would like you to hand-pick a team for Vydor. I want to be surehe has the best possible chance of success, and I know you are thebest person to assure that.”
“Absolutely,” stated Zalith. Somethingabout the way he said this told me that he already knew who tosend.
“So what do we really know about the Magi?Other than that they appear powerful enough to scare the entireEmpire. Do we have any unofficial leaks on them?” questionedCommander Jones.
“None of my normal contacts have told meanything. Heck, I cannot get half of them to talk to me. They areall running scared. I have one … umm, unofficial is a good word …source who says, ‘The secret to the powers of old is hidden on thatplanet.’ That is it, nothing more. I don’t know what he means byit,” answered the captain.
“The powers of old? What in the Emperor’sname is that supposed to mean? Are we going to find old projectilehandguns down there?” I asked.
“I don’t know. That was his last message tome. He is dead now; apparently his space cruiser had a freakaccident. Vydor, you have complete authority over this mission. Youhave excelled in all your tasks and have certainly proved able tocarry your own weight, but I suggest you lean heavily on your moreexperienced crewmates. You will have two weeks to create a securefoothold. If you fail, our orders are to bombard the planet andensure nothing survives.”
Planetary bombardment was a very drasticmove, and one that was expensive on resources. This was notsomething that the Empire would order lightly, and was only usedwhen total genocide was determined to be the sole option. Once wereached the asteroid belt, the fleet would gather the largest spacerocks it could find, and fit them with powerful engines. Once thedeadline was reached, these massive rocks would be sent towards theplanet at extreme speed.
The tremendous force generated by the impactswould liquefy the crust of the planet, ending in its completedestruction. Nothing had ever survived this, not even in computersimulations. There would be no safe haven, not even deepunderground. In addition, the Dragon Claw and its fleet would benearby to destroy any craft that attempted to escape. Thedestruction would be complete and there would be no chance ofsurvival.
This prompted me to ask, “Sir, should Iassume that we are at war with the Magi?”
“For now, assume this to be a diplomaticmission. I know they destroyed our probes and possibly our taskforce, but until we know their intentions, I will not send theEmpire to war. But, I expect your squad will meet resistance, andit should be dealt with as needed,” responded the captain.
“Sir, you’re sending troops on to soil theypresumably claim as their own at this stage, and establishing abase. That would definitely be seen as an act of war by mostcultures,” commented Commander Jones.
“I know, Commander Jones. That is why theinstant Vydor succeeds you will be sent to take over communicationswith the Magi,” said the captain.
It was customary that the first contact wasthe honor of the ship’s Alien Relations Officer. He doubled as anemissary in times like these. We were lucky to have such a highlyexperienced officer. He had been in five first contacts and, ofthose five, three joined the Empire after their meeting withhim.
“Sir, it would be better if I went with him…” began Commander Jones.
“I know that, Commander Jones, but it is badenough that I must send one of my top officers on this suicidemission; I will not make it worse by sending two.
“This mission is to be considered classified.Only the people in this room and the men who will be on the missionare considered to have a need to know. The operation will becodenamed Quiet Storm. People, we are making history here. Let’smake sure it’s a good one. Bring the fleet into position and engagelevel-one defense screens. Zalith, see what you can do with theplasma weapons research. If they can do it, so can we,” said thecaptain.
Chapter Five
It was time to call in some favors. There wasjust too much about this mission that could not be explained byusing the standard channels. I went to my office where I could workin private. “Computer, find me Karathlathornka.”
Suddenly a massive cat-like humanoid hologramappeared before me, one that would easily tower over any man.Karathlathornka was an old, but still quite vibrant-looking,Cathratinairian, an almost extinct species that lived on the edgesof society. Most of them avoided all contact with other species, asthey saw them as inferior and unworthy. This one though (I did notknow if it was a he or she or genderless) seemed to know just abouteverything that was happening anywhere in the known galaxy.Karathlathornka was completely fearless, and was the only one Ithought I could go to for this kind of information.
“I see the great and mighty Vydor has finallyrealized he needs help,” Karathlathornka said.
“Greetings, Karathlathornka. I take it thenyou already know what I plan to ask?”
“You have been assigned to a top position inthe Navy and are being sent on a suicide mission. It is easy toextrapolate from this that you need answers fast.”
I always did my best to keep a totallyexpressionless face, but revelations like that never made it easy.“Good, then you have already done the work and have thoseanswers?”
“Maybe. Why should I tell you?”
“Our normal agreement should hold here,unless you think that you no longer need it?” This caused him torecoil slightly, and I knew that was a bad sign. He really held allthe cards in these negotiations; he could have easily just claimedignorance or fed me bad information if I pushed too hard. Time toswitch tactics. “Look, I have no intention of breaking thatcontract, but you are of course right about the suicide missionand, if I am to continue our agreement, I need to survive.”
He seemed to think that one over a bit, as ifweighing the possibility of not having me around. I wondered if hehad found another way to get what he needed. He sighed, then said,“As you already know, I still need our agreement to stand, so sitback and I will tell you the tale of how you got where you aretoday…”
He produced information from extremelyclassified reports on the colony that we were approaching, many ofwhich I was not authorized to know the existence of, never mind toread. The wealth of information at Karathlathornka’s disposal wasalways nothing short of miraculous. I was thinking that one day Imust discover his sources.
When he had finished his report I said, “On amore personal note, be careful. It seems that people who getinvolved with this end up having ‘accidents.’”
“Vydor, do you honestly think I got thisinformation for you by being careful? I will be fine. You had bestbe concerned with your own hide.” And with that he ended thetransmission.
I thought back to our first meeting, howtimid and foolish I was, but darn lucky. I had been working in thefield as an apprentice when my instructor was assigned to anemergency meeting. A call had come in for him …
“This is Cadet Vydor, the lieutenant is outright now …” Just then I lost the power of speech when a massivecat-like creature appeared before me. His bright orange fur, spikedhead, and massive claws were far more impressive than anything Ihad to offer.