Kosiev looked away from his display for a moment and asked a question of the person off screen then turned back and said, Well be ready in 12 hours.
Tag smiled at Kosiev and said, Do I smell popcorn?
Kosiev actually laughed and picked the bag up from the floor beside his chair where he had hidden it from view, Of course. Theres going to be fighting isnt there. Honestly, I agree with Admiral Dorg; this stuff is addicting.
Tag lifted his bag and said, Someday in the far future this will be known as the popcorn conflict. They will try to say that popcorn drove us mad.
Only if we didnt have any. They both laughed and Tag cut the connection.
Dgzh had commed Sten and asked him to come down to his former office. Sten came in an hour later and looked at all the people gathered around the wall display. Whats going on?
Dgzh pointed to the display and said, The council has ordered a gathering of ships to attack the Humans.
Sten sat down heavily. Are they that crazy? The Humans will destroy them and then come for us.
Well, theres another issue.
Sten looked at Dgzh and recognized his expression. Uh, oh, something serious is about to happen isnt it?
Wellll, there are more than 5,000 ships in our system defying the Councils orders and are refusing to attack the Humans again.
Sten turned dark from the blood leaving his face. His races blood was actually white in color which lightened the normal dark color of his skin. His race was from a bright star system and his skin was thick and looked like the hide from an elephant. His eyes were big orbs that had a membrane that filtered out bright lights but magnified light at night. He was humanoid in shape but was hairless and only stood 4 feet tall. Dgzh asked, Are you going to be alright?
Sten looked up and said, Yes, I think so. Why did you call me?
The fleet asked me to contact you to see if you would come to communicate with the Council when they come here. Theyre pretty certain that they will attack here first.
You could do just as good a job as me. They dont need me.
Youre probably right; but they believe in you. You resigned before you would throw away any more ships. They know that and they want you. Plus consider this; if we are attacked first, then your family is in danger. We could use all the help you could give us.
Sten rubbed his eyes and said, They didnt kill me the first time I told them the truth. Maybe they wont if I tell the truth again. Get Council member Mikne on a channel.
Sten sat and looked out the window at crowds going about their business at the government center. There were thousands of bureaucrats whose sole job was to administer the Alliance government. He knew that they were in danger if the Hargon council member chose to attack. He was the most bloodthirsty of them all. He also bullied the other members and threatened them if they didnt do things his way. Mikne was the leader in name only. His display came on and Mikne was looking at him. You asked to talk with me, Sten?
Yes, I have. We have a problem and Im not sure how you might choose to resolve it.
What problem is that?
There are more than 5,000 ships here in my system refusing to attack the Humans again. The number is growing as we speak. I am afraid that the civil war the Humans warned us about could be touched off by whats happening now. Headman Dgzh has spoken with more than four hundred of our members about whether they would feel compelled to attack another member of the Alliance if they were allowed to do so and 374 of them were excited at the prospect of being allowed to do so. If the central government is weakened, our members will destroy our civilization. If the Hargon attacks here, there will be civil war. If he takes his fleet and attacks the Humans, there will be civil war. I am certain the Humans will totally destroy his fleet. We will be so weakened that the civil war will start. Can you not stop the Hargon council member from doing this?
Mikne stared at Sten and finally leaned back in his chair and took a drink from a goblet on his console. I was going to have you killed after our last talk. I was already ordering it when I watched the videos of the battles we have fought against the Humans that you sent to my console. I realized that you were telling me something that I had to understand before I made a bad decision. I believe what you are telling me now. Unfortunately, we are trapped by our history. We have always destroyed civilizations that represented a threat to us. Two thousand cycles have made us what we are. It may very well be that the only way to change is to be destroyed and rebuild.
But how many billions of civilians will lose their lives in that conflict. Perhaps its not necessary to destroy our worlds if people in power decide not to allow it to happen.
Mikne leaned forward into the display and said, If any of us went against the Hargons, then we would be accused of treason and attacked. The Hargons have more than 10,000 ships in their confederation. Let me share with you what Im doing right now. I have called all our warships home and Im having more than 7,000 agricultural transports bring food stores to my home planet. I also know that there are many members that feel they owe my race destruction. I know youre right, and so do most of our members. The other eight council members are doing the same thing I am and my sources tell me that hundreds of planets are also planning for the war. Im afraid that the Safety Prime Council no longer has a function. As of this moment, The Alliance is pretty much over. I would suggest that you do what you can to protect your planet however, with your lack of agriculture, your short term outlook is bleak.
Stens display went dark. Dgzh was sitting off to the side in the room and saw his former leaders face turn dismal. Sten then took a deep breath and said, Who is commanding the fleet in our system?
Dgzh smiled and said, The Vgrig Subleader is trying to bring order out of the chaos. His ship was one of the first to arrive.
Get him on the com.
The wall display came on and the Subleader was looking out at them. We find ourselves in a totally new situation now, Sten said. Are you willing to help us try to resolve it?
Yes, State Leader, I am.
I am no longer the State Leader, Im asking you as one individual concerned about the welfare of our people.
You are my State Leader. Talk with the ships here; they will listen to you. You are the only one that can give us hope.
Sten looked at the Vgrig and knew he was letting others dictate just how much power he had. He had as much as he wanted to take. Open an open channel to the fleet and broadcast what Im about to say to as many member as are willing to listen.
Dgzh said, The channel is open and it is being sent to all members of the Alliance.
I want to thank those ships that have chosen not to join in on another attack against the race known as Human. Our history is replete with the number of worlds we have destroyed because of fear. Fear of Ancient technology, fear of them being too strong, fear of them being too different. The tie that holds us together is fear. No one would dare attempt to leave the Alliance, it would mean annihilation. Right now our member worlds are once again gathering forces to attack a race that is peaceful and wants to only be left alone. Our attacks against them have demonstrated to us that there is another way to live; that we should support each other and find commonality in our desires to live in harmony and peace. Now we face the pivotal moment of our history. Our fleets are divided and will probably be fighting each other shortly. All of the races that make our Alliance of Worlds are now waiting to take the moment to right old wrongs. There is such a heavy debt of anger that civil war is a real possibility and if that happens, billions of lives will be lost. We could quite literally kill more than 75% of our populations if that war breaks out. I ask all members of the Alliance to refrain from attacking another member until the fleet action is over. I beg all of you to think about what the future will be if the first attack happens, it will escalate out of control. To the ships in my system, I am appointing the Vgrig Subleader over our forces. He managed to save many of you after our last invasion of the Humans system and I believe he will do the best thing now. We will keep all of you informed of whats happening as long as we can.