How about you Admiral; do you still hate them?
The most remarkable thing happened, Ambassador. They showed me where my hate was misplaced. I blamed them for something we did. Once I saw that, I knew that the Humans were no danger to us. We were the danger to them; yet they were willing to help work out a foundation for cooperation between our races, Admiral Dorg said. Now I hope I can get an opportunity to make up for the Humans I killed out of my hatred and fear.
Tgon-Gee looked at his Admiral and then asked, How did you resolve your differences?
We made the Humans our sixteenth Clan. They are now our Clan Brothers pledged to protect us and we are pledged to protect them.
They appear to need very little protection from anyone, Tgon-Gee observed. I assume that those forts overhead is a gift from them.
They have also converted all our warships to their technology, Terl said.
Tgon-Gee looked surprised. How could they trust you after all these years of trouble you caused them? They must be crazy to put that kind of faith in an enemy.
Admiral Dorg stood up and walked around to face the Ambassador and said, Youre right. They have to be crazy; or they found the thing that would make it work. It is part of our culture that we never betray a clan. When we agreed to their clan membership, they became part of our family. Incidentally, we didnt come up with the idea. One of their leaders saw it in us and suggested it to us. They also taught us something else that was alien to our culture, tolerance. We have always shot first and asked questions later. They showed us the benefit of looking at everyone as a possible ally instead of an enemy. We agreed to change that part of our culture to insure we could be trusted with their technology. My warning to you was the first part of keeping our word. I couldnt just let you walk in blindly to what I knew was waiting for you in the Humans system.
Tgon-Gee sat there in silence and thought about what he had just learned. If he had been in the Humans place, he would have destroyed the Cainth down to the last one. He thought about all the attacks his world had made against other races and thought about all the hostility that those races must feel toward his people. Would his people one day face an invasion fleet set on revenge? If his fleet had been part of the attack and all their ships were destroyed; then how many races would be headed toward his home world bent on revenge? He could think of twelve off the top of his head and the universe would say good riddance to the Glod. A warrior culture was a grand thing until it became an end unto itself. He looked at his Fleet Admiral and could see his own thoughts reflected in his face. What are you going to do now? he asked the Cainth leaders.
Why fight with our clan brothers against the Alliance. We see now that the paranoia of the Alliance has infected all its members to the point where growth and development is impossible. Anyone that grows strong is a danger. Anyone that chooses their own destiny is to be destroyed. Their only answer to difference is destruction. If we perish in this fight, its a fight worth dying for. We will stand with our Clan brothers. All the Cainth in the room stood up and said, Clan Brothers.
What do you expect me to do with this information I possess about the last battle? You had me watch for a reason; what is that reason?
Terl looked at Tgon-Gee and said, Our human clan brothers suggested that the Glod might make a good seventeenth clan if they too can commit to being tolerant. However you decide, we gave you the information with no expectations; do with it whatever you must. We have learned that to stand by and let an ally perish when it could be prevented places a debt on your soul that will eventually be paid. We think it was the right thing to do.
Tgon-Gee looked around the room and said, I will never betray your trust. I, too, will not stand by and let you be endangered if I can warn you. I will consider your offer and if I choose to act on it, I will want to meet with these Humans before I make a decision. Until then, thank you for your warning; it saved my race. With that he stood and left the room and went back to his ship.
The Vgrig Warleader sat in State Leader Stens office with Headman Dgzh recording the proceedings. Please explain to me how you lost 4,800 ships to the Humans, Stein said. According to your recordings, they only had 900 ships.
State Leader, you told me they only had 140 ships, the Warleader replied forcefully. You also didnt mention the shield around their planet.
Sten looked at the Warleader and said, Shield? What do you mean shield?
I lost my entire fleet at the Humans home world to that shield. Our weapons only made it stronger and when we attempted to crash ten ships into it, the orbital installations fired energy beam more than five segs wide destroying those ships and the rest of my fleet.
Sten looked shocked and Dgzh couldnt believe what he was hearing. There wasnt a shield during the last invasion, Dgzh said.
Well there is now. Look at this record of the event. The Warleader then played the recording of the beams that wiped out his 800 ships. The only reason we survived is because we were beyond the range of those beams. Their ships also have a beam similar to the one you see here on their ships that we cant match in power.
I lost 800 of my ships to those beams. The other 4000 ships were destroyed by those warships you see in the recording of the fleet action. We were only able to destroy 240 of their ships.
Do you think they have more ships than what we see here? Stein asked.
The Warleader thought for a few moments and said, I dont know for sure but if 5,000 warships invaded your home system, would you hold any back?
Stein and Dgzh looked at each other and Dgzh said, He makes a good point State Leader. It would take very big nadgets to not use your entire inventory. I think it must be especially true since that screen around the planet is new and has not been tested in battle before now.
How many ships would be needed to defeat the Human fleet, Warleader? Sten asked.
At least 8,000; I dont know what you can do about the shield around the planet.
Well talk to our scientists about that. If it absorbs energy, perhaps it can be drained. Do you want to lead the next Attack?
It depends on what forces you give me to get the job done.
Stein looked at Dgzh and said, Contact the Safety Prime Council and set up a conference.
The three of them sat in Steins office and waited for the Council to contact them. Stein was extremely nervous because of all the ships that had been destroyed when he had portrayed these Humans as no threat. Theres no getting around it; they have to approve the next step, he thought. I guess they will tell us what to do.
The wall screen lit up with the ten members of the council. State Leader, we have received some news that troubles us greatly, the Councilman in the center stated. Is it true that our entire fleet was destroyed by these so called weak Humans?
Yes Council Member it has. This Vgrig Warleader led our fleet and he can answer any questions you might have. I have relayed all his recordings to your consoles for your review.
Stand by. Then the ten looked at the recordings of the battle and Stein could tell they were getting angrier by the moment. He could see them say something to each other but his console was not included in their discussion so he wasnt sure about what was being said. After more than a drag the center member of the Council said, Where did the Humans get this screen they use?
Stein looked at Dgzh who responded, Our Ambassador noted more than ninety stellar rotations ago that one of their scientists had developed it. We assigned an engineer to study it and he confirmed that it was invented. He traced the work done in the labs and it was not Alfont technology but something they developed. His summary was that it was nothing more than an excellent storage battery that made good use of solar power.