S’Cinf stalked into the Center Room of his Colony Ship and paused just inside the hatch to look around. He ignored the muttering of officers into their boom microphones and the movement of people between stations to concentrate on his task. It took a few moments of searching through all the activity to locate the Fleet Admiral. That particular Kthpok was moving about the room, checking consoles, receiving reports and giving orders.
Brushing past an aide the Run Point moved over to the Engineering Suite where Fleet Admiral S’Cal had stopped to speak with the Kthpok there. “What is going on down there?” S’Cinf demanded gesturing toward the planet shown on the rooms’ main screen. “Why was I called here?”
Ignoring the interruption S’Cal finished his conversation with the engineer then, after gesturing for the Run Point to follow, moved for his own station. S’Cinf trailed behind, his tail twitching in anger at the impudence of the Admiral for not answering the question immediately.
“I apologize for the delay, Run Point,” explained the Admiral as he leaned over his console to check its readings. “We need to let our people get on with their duties. It’s better for discipline.” He looked up at his leader then nodded to his equipment. “Now sir, with your permission?”
After receiving a curt gesture from the Run Point, S’Cal worked the keyboard for his station and a map appeared on the battle plot. At an encouraging nod from the Admiral the Run Point moved closer to look at the image. “As you can see, your Eminence, this is the island of our original landing.” S’Cal said and pointed out features as he continued. “Our base is in the center of the landmass with a suitable water source nearby. The island is separated from the main continent by a deep water channel adding a layer of security.”
“I’m well aware of those particular geographic features, Fleet Admiral,” growled S’Cinf. “I was involved in the selection of the site, you know!” His nostrils flared as he worked to contain his anger.
“Forgive me, Run Point,” said the Admiral and dipped his head, a gesture of submission. “I merely desired to provide you with the appropriate background.”
Once again S’Cinf bobbed his head and the officer resumed. “Your Eminence, you’ll recall that on several occasions the enemy has attempted to destroy our facilities on this island. All have originated from the mainland, all attempts have utilized aircraft.”
“And?” prompted S’Cinf.
“They tried again,” replied S’Cal in a curt tone and the Run Point stiffened. The Admiral pointed at an area on the plot and continued speaking before S’Cinf could ask questions. “One of our night patrols from the garrison we’ve reestablished on the island was flying over the strait in this area and discovered the attempt. Our analysts have determined that the Iidx were hoping to use the darkness of a rare moonless night to slip a sea vessel across the strait. Their strategy failed because our flight found and destroyed the ship. We lost two aircraft in the engagement but no pilots. Our people were able to eject and were picked up by our SAR teams. There were no observed Iidx survivors.”
S’Cinf took a deep breath at the announcement then emitted a low growl. His scaly lips exposed his sharp teeth in a ferocious snarl. The talons at his fingertips appeared and disappeared in an agitated, almost involuntary response to his desire to tear chunks of flesh from someone. That there was no enemy nearby only added to his frustration.
He turned from the plot to glare at the Kthpok officer. “This will not happen again, Fleet Admiral,” he snarled. “Prep the new weapons. I want the Iidx sanctuaries destroyed; all of them, at the same time.”
The Admiral took a deep breath, dipped his head and curled his tail in a show of deep respect. “With all due respect Run Point, the latest projections from our analysts have close to seventy-five percent of the surviving Iidx in the target area,” he said. “If we act now the enemy who were making their way to the havens will scatter. It’ll take longer and be harder to clear the planet.” He nodded at the world shown on the screen. “Perhaps it would benefit us to wait a few more days before eliminating our enemy. That would guarantee that more of their Queens would be present.”
The Run Point shook his head. “Waiting won’t get all the Queens,” he replied. “Some are already in hiding, remember?” He waited for S’Cal to acknowledge his statement before continuing. “In one sense you’re correct, Admiral. It will take longer to clear the planet,” S’Cinf added, “because the Iidx will be hiding. It won’t be harder because they’ll be in the jungles or mountains, away from civilization. They’ll be forced into a pre-technological stage and that level is not a threat. Even if they have Queens to perpetuate their species all they’ll be is prey, fit only for hunting.
“We also have to consider what it’ll do to the Iidx military and their supplies. Remove the cities and bases and their supplies dry up.” The Kthpok leader looked at the image of Main Hive shown on the main viewer and growled. “Eliminate the targets!”
“Yes, Run Point. Eliminate the sanctuary cities, simultaneous assault, time on target,” repeated S’Cal. “It will take some time to prepare. I’ll need to assign targets, transfer the weapons, and position ships.”
S’Cinf pondered the Admiral’s announcement for a moment then gave an approving shake from his tail. “Notify me as soon as everything is ready.” After receiving an acknowledgement the Run Point stalked from the room.
Several Hours later S’Cinf was back in the Center Room sitting on his Command Perch. The Fleet Admiral moved over next to the Run Point and came to attention. “Run Point, your fleet is ready,” S’Cal announced in formal tones. “They await your command.”
“Engage the enemy, Fleet Admiral” ordered S’Cinf completing the formula.
The Admiral saluted then turned to the Fleet Communications Officer. “Lieutenant L’Art, send to the ships of Force Destiny,” S’Cal said, “Timed fire plan ‘Final Destiny’ begins,” he paused to glance at a timer on the wall, “now!”
L’Art acknowledged the order then transmitted a single code phrase to the appropriate ships. The order set in motion a series of events. Twenty seconds after the transmission two missiles were launched from the Command Colony Ship and dove for the planet on separate courses. At the same time a destroyer near the middle of the main continent launched a series of missiles. Thousands of miles away, at the far end of the continent another ship, this time a Battleship, launched still more missiles.
Mere moments after the command had been given Lieutenant L’Art began receiving confirmations. When the last call disconnected he turned from his equipment and looked at S’Cal. The Admiral who was watching the communications tech twitched his tail in a question. L’Art bobbed his head then returned to his console.
“All weapons have been launched, your Eminence,” reported the Fleet Admiral. He moved a few feet to his post and checked a reading on his console before continuing. “The weapons are confirmed on course. Time to target is two minutes.”
“Put targets one and two on the main viewer Admiral. Split the screen,” ordered S’Cinf. “I want to see what these weapons can do. I’m particularly interested in the city where Queen Geddon is supposed to be.”
The Admiral gave the order to the Battle Point and a moment later the image shown on the main screen shifted. “As you ordered, Run Point, the targets are displayed,” S’Cal announced. “Target one is on the left, two on the right. They’re indicated by the purple rings.”
The Run Point examined the screen for a few moments to make sure he had the target cities located. The two small blinking circles sat amid the browns and greens and whites of the continent. Craning his long neck around S’Cinf faced the Admiral. “It appears that one of the two cities is covered by clouds,” he commented. “Is there a storm?”
S’Cal who was still at his post checked his console then looked up at his leader to reply. “The clouds are of the high altitude type, your Eminence, and aren’t considered a storm risk.” He paused, as more data became available. “Although it looks like two of the eleven cities is experiencing rain in varying degrees.”
S’Cinf’s tail began to jerk and writhe in anxious confusion at the news. “Are the storms of sufficient strength to blunt the effectiveness of our weapon?” he asked.
The Fleet Admiral gave a negative shake of his tail. “No, Run Point,” he said. “Before they were killed the scientists who designed and oversaw the construction of the devices stored notes in a secure data base. I’ve reviewed those notes and can assure you that these weapons will be effective regardless of the weather. When the devices detonate those cities are dead.”
S’Cinf turned back to gesture at the screen. “We’ll know soon enough if you’re right,” he said.
Commander R’Gon’s voice came over the intercom as he began a countdown to the detonation. All conversation in the Center Room stopped when the count reached twenty and everyone turned from their consoles to stare at the image shown on the main screen. At zero two brilliant dots of light appeared on the split screen. S’Cinf saw the clouds hiding a target city pushed away from the detonation center by the shock wave. A short time later the dots of light faded and disappeared.
The Fleet Admiral craned his long neck around to look at his Run Point. “That was a bit anticlimactic, your Eminence,” he commented and gestured at the screen. “From here that looked just like a regular nuclear explosion.”
S’Cinf nodded his agreement as he continued to watch the planet. “It did at that, Admiral, “he agreed. “I want visual confirmation of the effectiveness of these weapons. Send down a surveillance flight for each target.”
S’Cal waved his tail in understanding. “Yes sir. I’ll detail a flight for each target as soon as the atmospheric disturbances clear.”
The Run Point gave an approving shake of his tail and rose from his perch. “I’m going for a meal,” he announced. “Call me when the results of all the flights are in.” Without waiting to receive an acknowledgement the Kthpok leader turned to leave.
Sesum sat under a bower made of camouflage netting and branches which was situated just inside the tree line off the beach. His Command Post was hidden in the jungle a short distance away. He was here because he needed a moment away from all the confusion of getting his people off the ships and organized for the trek through the jungle.
With his back to the center of the island he stared out through the trees at the endless waves breaking on the beach. A sudden gust of wind coming off the water rustled through the leaves of the bower. The disturbance broke into his reverie and he looked away from the waves to the pad he held in his right true-hand. Included in that device was a report on what ships made it across the strait. It listed the supplies and equipment that were available to him. Also listed were the passengers of the ships and their areas of expertise.
The Swarm Leader activated the pad and keyed for the most important section of the report: The Queens. When the third female joined his merry band at the port hive Sesum was sorely tempted to send Krissen back to the Swarm Master. After dealing with her complaints and demands over the course of their journey he was more than willing to let Zelof deal with that female. Unfortunately his orders were clear: Once leaving Refuge there was to be no further contact with the home hive. Krissen couldn’t return. Besides, he suspected that Queen Dahoni wasn’t much better than his problem female and having two idiot Queens in the same place would be disastrous.
He shook his head. If he had to lose one ship in the crossing why couldn’t the fates have put Krissen on it? The only thing keeping him from sending her off to the Kthpok was his compassion for the enemy. Sesum gave a shrug of resignation. At least he had the threat of the other two Queens to hold over her antennae.
Rustlings in the jungle off to one side took Sesum’s attention away from the pad. A moment later an Iidx appeared out of the bushes and hurried over to where the Swarm Master was sitting. The Lieutenant stopped in front of him, flashed a salute then extended a true-hand holding another pad. “Sir, scouts have returned with a report on the personnel and equipment from the last ship,” he reported.
Sesum took the proffered pad and nodded. He looked at the time then back to the Iidx. “Make sure the equipment from that vessel is handed over to the Quartermaster swarm, Lieutenant. They’ll arrange transport to the hive. All personnel are to be fed, rested and organized for the journey to the hive.”
The Lieutenant waved his antennae in acknowledgement, made a note on another pad then continued his report. “The location of the last ship is noted in an appendix, Swarm Master. In accordance with your instructions the vessel has been moved up a river, grounded and camouflaged.” He paused and gave his antennae an amused wave. “Although Lieutenant Regul’s people are convinced they did such a good job in their camouflaging that the Kthpok won’t be able to find the ship they’ve gone ahead and set decoys and traps as a contingency. I think they secretly hope the Kthpok’ll find the ship and the traps. They’ve been talking about hanging around so they could see the explosion.” He nodded at the pad Sesum held. “Another appendix has a map showing the location and type of each trap on the ship.”
Sesum gave his own amused wave of antennae and held up the pad. “We’d better not lose this then,” he said. “We might need that ship to make a crossing.”
“And how soon will that be?” came an unexpected voice from behind them.
Startled at the interruption both officers turned to find Queen Krissen standing at the other end of the bower. “How soon will there be a return ship to the mainland?” she repeated.
At a wave from Sesum’s antennae the Lieutenant scuttled away. The Swarm Master had to work to keep his amusement hidden but he was sure the Lieutenant was glad to get away from what was sure to be an epic confrontation.
“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding your Highness,” Sesum said. “That was a bad attempt at humor and shouldn’t be taken literally. There is no return trip planned and won’t be one until it’s been confirmed the Kthpok have left our planet or are no longer a threat.”
“But the Kthpok are not a threat,” announced the Queen. The Swarm Master’s antennae drooped in surprise. She waved a true-hand as if to dismiss his response. “Oh, I know the Kthpok have destroyed our cities and the Space Swarm,” Krissen continued and gave a shrug. “That was all due to a misunderstanding.”
“A… misunderstanding?” repeated Sesum in a stunned voice. Was his hearing off? Had she gone brain dead?
Then he shook his head. Why were they going over this again? He didn’t have time for this!
Krissen nodded. “A misunderstanding,” the Queen repeated, “just like your misunderstanding about a return trip to the main continent. But the point I’m trying to make is that if we show the Kthpok we aren’t a threat peace will become a reality.”
Sesum continued to stare at the female in stunned disbelief. What reality was she in?
“Since our people are going to the cities specified the Kthpok will recognize our peaceful intentions,” the Queen added.
“You can’t know that!” snapped the Iidx leader. “What you’re suggesting goes against everything they’ve done. Besides it isn’t our peaceful intention that’s the issue here. It’s theirs! The Kthpok came in planning to conquer Main Hive and aren’t going to stop until they control the planet.” He glared at the female. “That means the Kthpok are working to kill each and every Queen on Main Hive.”
“You have no evidence of that,” reposted Krissen. She gave a dismissive gesture with a false-hand. “Oh, it’s true the Kthpok killed the Presiding Council and millions of our people. But, as I said, that was due to an unfortunate misunderstanding.
“After being driven from their planet and threatened with extinction they, reasonably I must add, perceived us as a threat. Moving forward all we have to do is show them our peaceful intentions by complying with their orders and we can co-exist with them while they rebuild. When their construction is complete and they leave to reconquer their hive world we can reclaim our planet.
“With our military disabled the Kthpok have promised us safety in the sanctuary cities,” she reiterated with an emphatic wave at the waters of the strait from her antennae. “They’ve kept that promise.”
“So far,” shot back Sesum.
The Queen ignored the Swarm Leaders comment and continued. “I was able to seriously consider our position during the journey across the strait. In order to protect the Iidx people from extinction we don’t need to establish secret hives in primitive conditions. And because of that I am directing you to prepare the ships for a return voyage to the mainland. We are going to comply with Queen Geddon’s directive.”
The Swarm Leader glared at the female appalled at her cavalier dismissal of the Kthpok betrayal and murder of millions of people as a simple ‘misunderstanding’. Queen Krissen adopted an adamant pose and remained silent. The uneasy silence stretched from seconds into a minute. Another gust of wind came off the strait to ruffle the upper branches intruding upon the silence.
Krissen’s antennae started to droop and she moved to repeat her demand. But before she could utter a word Sesum’s Swarm Second rushed out of the jungle into the bower and over to the two Iidx.
Sesum looked at Sinemota. “What in the name of the First Queen’s Egg has you in such a rush?” he asked. His irritation with Krissen colored his voice.
“The Kthpok, Swarm Master!” replied the officer adopting a parade ground pose.
“What!” exclaimed Sesum. “Have they found us? Are we under attack?”
The Iidx shook his head. “No, Swarm Master,” he said. “We’re undetected.”
“That what about the Kthpok?” growled Sesum. “Make your report!”
“Yes sir,” the Second replied. “As you recall you gave standing orders to monitor all radio frequencies. You also stipulated that anything unusual was to be brought immediately to your attention.”
Sesum nodded his agreement. “I take it something unusual has happened?” he prompted, hoping the Iidx would get to the point.
“Yes, sir,” Sinemota replied waving his antennae. “Earlier today the communications officer reported the usual traffic. There were reports from the Sanctuary Cities about housing needs, the number of new arrivals, energy output, food inventories.” He shrugged. “That sort of thing, sir. Then Queen Geddon came on and renewed her call for all Iidx to find refuge in the designated cities.”
Sesum kept silent although he wanted to tell his officer to wrap this up. What was being reported hardly merited a head long rush and an interruption, especially when he wanted to tell off an idiotic Queen.
Before he could issue a reprimand the officer was continuing his report. “There was nothing unusual until the transmission was cut off.”
Sesum’s antennae stiffened in shock. “It was cut off, you say,” he repeated. “How?”
“We don’t know, Swarm Master. Geddon was speaking as I said,” replied Sinemota. “She was repeating her call for all Iidx to gather to the sanctuary cities. She was cut off mid-sentence by a short burst of static then complete silence.”
“Silence?” wondered Sesum. “There’s nothing else?”
“Correct, Swarm Master,” replied Sinemota with an emphatic bob of his head that set his antennae waving. “Communications reports there isn’t any traffic at all from any of the designated cities. There isn’t even a carrier wave.”
The antennae on Sesum’s head drifted down over his back for a moment as he considered the problem then straightened to their normal position. “No carrier wave,” he repeated then looked at the officer and began to fire off commands. “We’ve got to get under better cover than this! Alert Lieutenant Regul’s people! They’re to have their commands ready to leave within two hours. I want them to confirm their readiness to the Command Post.” He paused for a moment, cocked his head to one side then asked, “Have the leaders of each swarm submitted their routes for coordination?”
The Second waved his antennae. “Yes Swarm Master. All routes have been submitted,” he reported. “They’ve been confirmed. As you’re aware the swarms take separate routes to the new hive and will arrive at different times. We won’t be bunching up at the entrance.”
Sesum nodded his approval. “Let Lieutenant Regul know that I need to see him. I’ll meet him at the Command Post shortly. Get the swarms ready,” he repeated.
Queen Krissen had waited and listened to the back and forth between the two Iidx leaders before speaking. When Swarm Second Sinemota had left the bower to carry out his instructions she confronted the Swarm Master. “We are not going inland!” she exclaimed. “I have decided otherwise and I have issued new orders. We are going to return to the mainland! You are to get the swarms to their ships and make ready.”
Sesum took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His antennae swayed in disgust. “Are you finished?” he asked at last. “Or do you want to give more orders that I’m going to ignore.”
The Queen’s mouthparts moved but no sound came out. Her agitation was betrayed by the quivering of her antennae. Before Krissen could get over her shock at such impudence the Swarm Master spoke again. “You heard Swarm Second Sinemata’s report but you obviously don’t understand its implications. Our communications officers monitored Geddon’s broadcast which was cut off. A scan revealed nothing worldwide was broadcasting.”
“A simple power outage can explain the loss of signal,” argued Krissen.
“It would explain a localized event, yes,” agreed Sesum. “An event like that would be a temporary occurrence. But that is not what is being observed. All transmissions worldwide have ceased at the same time.”
“It’s obvious you don’t believe the interruption was caused by a simple loss of power,” said the Queen. Her tone was icy and her posture took on a defensive stance. “What is your explanation?”
Sesum gave a shrug of ignorance. “Since I have very little information all I can do is venture a guess. But the extent of the interruption indicates an artificial source. I suspect the Kthpok have used a weapon that disrupts all electrical activity as a byproduct.”
He paused to peer out at the ocean then turned back to the Queen. Seeing her antennae quiver in confusion at his last statement he explained. “By depriving our people of power and the equipment run by it the Kthpok is insuring their starvation when the current food stocks are depleted. “
The Swarm Master shook his antennae. “Another possibility for the loss of signals is that the Kthpok nuked the sanctuary cities.” He paused for a moment as he thought that over then shook his head. “I don’t think they did though. They need the factories in those cities to maintain their ships and make new missiles. So that gets us back to what I said about a new weapon.”
Sesum turned to confront the Queen. “Until we know the Kthpok have permanently left our planet we will follow Swarm Master Zelof’s orders to establish a new hive,” the Swarm Second announced. “I remind you that those orders were given by the only Iidx on the planet who saw the situation clearly from the beginning. We’ll move for the new hive as soon as our people are ready.
“Now, I have two other Queens. After experiencing the ‘benevolence’ of the Kthpok first hand they are enthusiastic about finding a nice, safe hive to hide in. Since I have them I don’t need you! Or the aggravation you’ve been giving me!”
He fell silent when Lieutenant Regul appeared out of the jungle and stopped at the edge of the bower. “You have something for me?” the Swarm Master asked.
The Lieutenant hurried over, came to attention and saluted. Sesum returned the salute then motioned for the Iidx to make his report.
After dropping his salute, Regul began. “When the officer-on-duty heard there was silence on all frequencies used by the Iidx he sent out two messengers, sir. The first one was to notify the Second so he could notify you of the find. The other was to advance our departure plans. Because of that we should be ready to move within the hour.”
Sesum nodded his approval and made a mental note to find out who the OOD was. That Iidx showed promise. Then he looked at Regul then asked, “Is there anything else?” When the Lieutenant shook his head the Swarm Master nodded. “Go back to the Command Post so you’ll be available for any questions our guides may have. Send the word to get the swarms moving. They’ll depart according to the timeline we’ve established. I’ll be joining your shortly.”
He watched the Lieutenant disappear into the jungle then turned back to the Queen. “Thanks to a young officer using his initiative it seems the time I was going to give you to reach a decision has been drastically shortened,” he announced
“Queen Krissen listen carefully because I want you to understand this. We’ve passed the point of no return and aren’t going to be having this conversation again. If you choose to keep making life difficult for me I won’t take you with us. But I won’t let you be found by the Kthpok either. Coming across a lone Queen in the jungle would let our enemy know Iidx are on the island. And if they knew that they’d scour this place until they found the hive. I can’t let that happen. I also can’t waste the resources to send you back to the mainland. It’ll be much easier and more satisfying to dump your lifeless body in the ocean weighed down with heavy rocks.”
He paused for a few seconds to let her recognize the threat before continuing. “If you remain with us you will not be allowed an opportunity to recruit adherents in an effort to return to the main land. Any attempt to do so, will result in your immediate execution for treason and insubordination.” The Queen went to reply but Sesum held up a true-hand to cut her off. “I won’t allow anything or anyone to compromise our mission, Krissen. Not even an idiot Queen who refuses to recognize reality.
“Another understanding you need to have is that I command. I decide what we’re going to do and what we aren’t. The responsibility of the Queens is to increase our numbers and nurture the young. If you make any attempt to countermand my orders or to undermine my authority with the other Queens or my people you will be placed where it will not happen again.”
Krissen’s antennae shivered with indignation as her mouth moved without any sounds coming out. At last she found her voice. “This is mutiny! A revolution!” she exclaimed. “Your shell should be cracked and body parts separated to prevent the spread of this heresy.”
The Swarm Master gave an amused shake of his antennae which didn’t help to ease the Queen’s agitation. “That would’ve happened before the Kthpok began the extermination of our people,” he said. “But the stupidity of the Presiding Council in not listening to Swarm Master Zelof has changed that.
“Simply put your options are these: Agree to my terms and you live; refuse and you die! You choose.” He paused to check his watch. “You have ten minutes to decide. I can wait that long but no longer.” Without another word the Swarm Master left the Queen standing in the bower.
The screen flickered off and the lights in the conference room that had been dimmed were raised to their regular intensity. Run Point S’Cinf bobbed his head in approval of what he’d been shown. “Eleven weapons and eleven cities,” he said. “Everything in those cities is dead. That is impressive. Ten were untouched by the blast although Iidx accidents set fires that are continuing to damage areas of those cities.” He glanced over at the Fleet Admiral. “One target, however, had some evidence of blast damage. What happened?”
The Fleet Admiral consulted his electronic pad. “The target you refer to was Betran, your Eminence,” he said. “As to what happened? Simply put, we built that particular device to well.” The Run Point gave a questioning flick from his tail and S’Cal shrugged. “Although we manufacture components for nuclear weapons to strict specifications they’re never perfect. Because of that some weapons are more efficient and others less.” He scowled. “It seems Betran was targeted by a device that was more efficient than the others and that is the reason the output was more powerful than anticipated.”
O’Den, the scientist who’d been put in charge of developing weapons after the first development pack had been killed spoke up. “There is more to consider than just the destructive output of the weapons, Run Point.” S’Cinf turned to glare at the Kthpok who had not been given permission to speak. If the creature recognized his peril he gave no sign but naively continued his explanation. “Each weapon is controlled for altitude detonation by some very sensitive equipment. Adverse weather can have an impact causing early or late detonation.”
At that moment the Fleet Admiral took up the explanation to divert S’Cinf’s attention away from the scientist. He needed that Kthpok to develop weapons for their return to the Nest World. “We took into account the possibility of something going wrong in targeting the weapon, your Eminence. All weapons were set to detonate over areas deemed useless to the Kthpok such as residential areas or shopping centers. That way an error in the instrumentation or programming the detonation altitude wouldn’t cause damage to areas vital to our needs. Overflights have confirmed that the facilities we need in Betran remain undamaged.
“However,” he paused to look at S’Cinf, “as you saw accidents caused by dying Iidx have started fires in all eleven cities. Without active suppression those fires could gut large portions of the cities.”
“What measures are being taken to protect the manufacturing centers?” asked the Kthpok leader.
The Admiral dipped his head and gave a sorrowful shake of his tail. “I’m sorry your Eminence, there isn’t anything we can do at the moment,” he replied. “We don’t have the right equipment or the population to fight the fires. The best we can hope for is that a strong rain will douse the flames or winds will push the fires away from the manufacturing centers.”
“I see,” acknowledged S’Cinf. He walked back to his position and settled onto his perch letting his tail take some of his weight off his legs. The Kthpok leader looked at his staff who were sitting around the conference table then bobbed his head as if coming to a decision.
“I am declaring the initial phase of our conquest complete,” the Kthpok leader announced. The slight sound of tails stirring at the pronouncement was heard. "With our ships in orbit we control the planet. It is time to begin the next phase.”
“Run Point,” interrupted S’Cal, “although we’ve killed millions of Iidx there are still millions left. Landing our people now may be premature.”
S’Cinf turned to look at his Fleet Admiral. “In controlling an entire planet some things have become obsolete, Admiral,” he said. “The title of ‘Run Point’ is an example. We are not comprised of separate Runs anymore nor do I govern a single Run. I rule an entire world with a united people comprised from many Runs! Therefore, I am a Planet Point and will be addressed as such!”
All the Kthpok bobbed their heads in understanding and murmured, “Yes your Eminence.” They knew the Kthpok leader was not asking for their approval.
The newly declared Planet Point looked once again at his officers and resumed his instructions. “With that decided your orders are to implement the next phase of our plan. First we will add soldiers to the garrison already placed on the island. They will guarantee the island is secure then the colony ships will be scheduled to land and offload. As before we will use that location as our center of operations.” He gestured at the Admiral with his tail. “By operating on the island we’ll be secure. Any Iidx who desire to attack us will have to cross the strait. We will see them and destroy them!”
S’Cinf stood on his perch, leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. “We have routed the enemy in space, obliterated their bases on the planet. Their cities are radioactive wastelands. Those who survive have taken to hiding in the forests and mountains like animals. This planet is ours!” he announced. His voice was strong and confident. A finger jabbed the table to emphasize each point. “We will not be timid in taking our prize. We will land our ships on the island and build up our forces. Then we will leave the island to populate the main continent and hunt the Iidx who remain for sport.
“Let there be no question,” he continued. “Our ultimate goal is to return to our nest world and reclaim it from the humans. But it will take time. In fact, it is probable that those living now will not be alive when our people make that triumphant return. It may take centuries and even millennia but we will not forget the treachery of the humans and our vengeance will be sure.”
Swarm Master Zelof traced his path around the conference room for what seemed to be the thousandth time in the past hour. Two days earlier Lieutenant Chattan in the communications suite had been listening to a message from Queen Geddon. There had been nothing unusual in that. Geddon had been calling for all Iidx to gather to the Sanctuary Cities for months now. What was unusual was that the speech had been cut off in midsentence by a burst of static. A further check by the Lieutenant’s people had revealed that all bands used by the Iidx in the sanctuary cities were silent. Then two hours later an encrypted message came in from the patrol assigned to scout Zimri, one of the nearby cities designated by the Kthpok as a haven. The message stated that the city had been attacked with a nuclear weapon but the structures were relatively untouched.
When he heard the report the Swarm Master couldn’t understand what the Kthpok were doing. How could they miss like that? The patrol didn’t understand either but they had visual records to verify their report. At that point Zelof had ordered the patrol back to Refuge. He needed more information about what had happened. Now he was waiting for a report from the swarm evaluating those records.
Zelof was on the far side of the conference room when the door opened and Rayel led several other officers into the room. The Iidx leader stopped pacing and faced his staff. “Well?” he asked, “what’ve you found?”
The Swarm Second nodded at the Iidx standing next to him. “As you’re aware Swarm Master Commander Shunshin presided over the evaluation swarm,” he announced. “He’ll make the report.”
“To answer your question sir, we’re not sure,” replied the Commander as he stepped forward. “It’s not like anything we’ve seen before.” He shook his head. “Well, we have seen something like it before but we can’t explain the results. It doesn’t fit our experience.”
Shunshin gestured at an input receptacle. Responding to the unspoken question Zelof dipped his antennae in approval.
The commander walked over to insert a data cube into a slot in the console. He waited until a blue light showed on the cube then his true-hands flicked across the keyboard. In response to the keyed commands the large wall monitor for the room flickered and brightened. Commander Shunshin turned back to face Zelof. “Whatever it is the Kthpok used on our cities,” he said, “it’s deadly.”
Zelof moved around the table to get a better view of the screen. Shown in the distance was a city. “Is this Zimri?” he asked and glanced over at the briefing officer who nodded. “Before or after the event?” he asked.
“Before, Swarm Master,” was the reply. “As you’ll see. I’ll play the entire sequence for you.”
Zelof watched the screen as Shunshin made another entry on the console and the playback began. Specks of reflected light over the city meant aircraft were operating. Then the person taking the video zoomed in to get a better picture. Now vehicles and Iidx on the surface streets could be seen going about their business. In the background voices of the patrol were heard. It seemed that one member of the patrol had been raised in Zimri and was describing the local landmarks for his Swarm Mates. The camera was following to record the narrative.
After a few minutes of looking at items of interest a voice was heard exclaiming, “What’s that? That streak in the sky.”
“Where?”
The camera view shifted to show a bright streak leaving a trail of black smoke tracking across the sky. The camera followed the object with an occasional jerk to keep the object in the middle of the screen.
Zelof heard the patrol making guesses as to what was causing the streak, where it was going and what it would do. The prevailing opinion was that they were observing debris burning up in the atmosphere. The top of the largest buildings in Zimri had just come into the bottom of the picture when the missile (because by now it was apparent the object was a missile) erupted into a blinding sun.
The intense flash overloaded the filters of the camera for a moment. Curses were heard as the soldiers of the patrol experienced temporary blindness. A moment later the image cleared and Zelof saw the ground. Then the picture shifted and caught a fading fireball as it rolled skyward.
“That was a nuke!” exclaimed a voice.
“But it missed,” said another. “Look! That airburst was too high to do any harm.”
“I’m not so sure,” replied a third. “The Kthpok haven’t missed yet and I don’t think they did now. Get a close up of the city. Something doesn’t look right.”
An almost ear splitting explosion was heard followed by a deep, chitin-shaking rumble. The sound of the distant blast was finally reaching the patrol as the image shifted from the black, roiling cloud to the city. Now the observers saw smoke had appeared above the buildings in several places and was starting to climb into the sky. There was no sign of aircraft which wasn’t a surprise. The shock wave alone from the explosion would have knocked them out of the air.
The camera operator singled out one of the rising plumes of smoke and zoomed in. Nothing could be seen but some buildings blocking the view of the source of the smoke. The image shifted to another plume and the people in the conference room saw a tanker type vehicle had lost control, overturned, slid into a building then burst into flame. A check of the other sources of smoke revealed similar accidents; some caused by personal craft, some freighters and others from aircraft falling out of the sky. Still using the magnified view the operator scanned a large area of the city. No movement was observed. Then the image blanked.
“The patrol commander spent some time examining the city through magnifiers,” commented Shunshin. “When he couldn’t see anyone he broke radio silence and called us. He thought it was vital to get word back to us of the attack.”
Zelof turned away from the screen to look at the evaluation swarm. “I agree with his assessment,” he said. “But what have you shown me? That air blast appeared to be too high to have caused any damage.”
Commander Shunshin responded by bringing the picture of the city after the explosion back to the screen. “Using the angle of the picture, the location of the city and the elevation of the patrol - they were in a mountain range twenty miles from the city - we calculated the altitude of the event,” he announced then consulted his pad. “The nuclear detonation was at or near an altitude of twenty thousand feet. Unless the Kthpok have suddenly become inept they deliberately placed the device where it couldn’t physically damage the city.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” commented the Swarm Master. “Why would the Kthpok give us a free fireworks display? And that doesn’t explain why all transmissions worldwide have ceased. Was the patrol able to make contact with any inhabitants of the city?”
“They didn’t see any alive,” replied Shunshin with a shrug from his antennae, “although they didn’t move in closer either. Their orders kept them at a distance. Then we ordered them back to Refuge for their visual records.
“Once they got here we were able to run the video they took through computer filters and enhancement.” As he was talking the Commander was entering another sequence on the keyboard.
Once again the screen flickered and a still picture of the city appeared. Zelof recognized it was after the attack from the columns of smoke. A square showing an area away from an accident was identified. The square enlarged to fill the screen as the computer enhanced the picture. This process was repeated several times until a portion of a city street intersection had been magnified and enhanced. Now, no sign of any damage to buildings could be seen.
Zelof moved a little closer to the screen and took note of what he was seeing. There were vehicles haphazardly arrayed in the road. Some were crumpled together in accidents that could’ve been caused by the explosion while others appeared to be parked in the middle of the street. But what drew the Swarm Master’s attention was the Iidx scattered along the walkways, in doorways, and hanging out of windows. They were lying on the sidewalk and along the edge of the roadway.
The Swarm Master pointed at the screen with a true-hand and turned to Shunshin. "Are they dead?” he asked. “Perhaps they’re stunned by the shock wave?”
Shunshin shook his head. “I think they’re dead,” he said in a low voice and waved his antennae at the screen. “Look at the time indicator from the recording. This was taken long enough after the event for the people knocked to their feet by the shock wave from the explosion to start to get to their feet.”
Zelof turned back to the images. “But how were they killed?” he asked. “It was an airburst. There’s no visible shock or heat damage to the infrastructure.” He faced the officers of the evaluation swarm with a single question. "Radiation?”
With a bob of his antennae the Commander replied, “Radiation is the only answer we could come up with, Swarm Master. But we have no idea of the dosage generated by the device or the type.”
“It had to be fairly substantial,” commented Talax, the base medical officer. He’d been included in the analysis process because of the need for medical expertise. “The radiation reached into buildings and other shelters. A review of a computer-enhanced version of the first sequence did not find any movement. Anywhere! And that matches what the patrol master found when he searched the city with magnifiers.”
“There was no movement,” repeated Zelof; his antennae drooped at the news.
Talax shook his head. “No movement anywhere,” he confirmed. “We didn’t find anyone leaving the buildings to see what had happened or to fight the fires.” He shrugged. “Any weapon has ranges, Swarm Master. Someone probably survived if they were deep enough underground or far enough away. Our patrol surviving to report the attack shows that. In a side note, our people from the patrol are being given an extensive examination by my people to make sure there aren’t any delayed side effects.”
The Swarm Master looked back to the image shown on the screen. “Run the full sequence again,” he ordered.
Everyone remained silent as they watched a busy city, one designated by the Kthpok as a haven, die. Vehicles could be seen driving on roads and aircraft flying over the city. Then the missile was detected. Seconds later it detonated. The sequence ended with the enhanced image of the street intersection on the screen. Zelof stared at the dead Iidx strewn on the street.
“The Kthpok can kill our people,” Zelof said. His voice was filled with sorrow and regret. His antennae sagged down his back. He turned back to the officers gathered around the table. Their postures also indicated the despair he felt.
“The Kthpok can kill our people,” he repeated in a stronger voice, “and they can do it without damaging any infrastructure or endangering their own people.”
He paused to take a deep breath and let it out through his abdomen ports. “Our enemy will be landing soon to claim the planet they’ve conquered,” he announced.
“When we learn where their main landing is we’ll attack!” exclaimed Rayel trying to work up some enthusiasm. “We’ll wipe them out!”
The Swarm Master shook his head. “I appreciate and understand your enthusiasm Second but the Kthpok will be expecting that,” he explained. “Since they created this weapon they will know how to protect against it. All they have to do is let us mass for an attack, retreat into protected bunkers and detonate another device like the one that killed Zimri. Our main force would be eliminated and with it any chance our people would have of surviving to reclaim Main Hive.”
Zelof looked back at the screen and his antennae lowered. “I suspect from the silence of the other cities that Zimri wasn’t the only city attacked.”
“Surely a surprise assault would succeed,” protested the Second.
“A surprise assault with overwhelming numbers couldn’t be done,” replied the Iidx leader. “Part of that’s because of where the Kthpok will land. They’ll return to their facility on Tarren Island to build up their strength. Crossing the channel with a force strong enough to defeat their defenses and kill the inhabitants is impossible.”
“Then we simply cede our hives to the Tails!” said Commander Shunshin his antennae stiffening in indignation. “What about the people who’ve already fled into the wilderness. Are you forgetting them? They’ll starve or be hunted like animals if we don’t do something.”
“We forget no one!” bristled Zelof, his antennae stiff with anger. “And you forget who you’re talking too!”
Shunshin started at the rebuke then nodded his head in apology and stepped back.
The Swarm Master turned to the rest of the Iidx in the room and continued. “Let me tell you what we’re going to do! We’re going to send out teams to help our people hide and make sure they remain hidden. We train them. We develop a secret network of hives and rebuild our civilization under the Kthpok’s very snouts.
“The Kthpok have a limited number in their population and they’ll need resources which can’t be found on Tarren. When they leave the island for those resources we’ll be waiting. We’ll attack quickly then melt away into the jungles and deserts and they’ll have nothing to fight. The Kthpok will lose people in groups of two or three. Because of their low numbers they won’t be able to afford these losses. This war will be won but not with battleships and missiles. We will win by using subterfuge and guile.”
The Swarm Master paused to see the affects of his words before continuing. Antennae began to rise and postures lift. He could tell the aura of defeat was lifting. Then Zelof spoke again. “Everyone here needs to realize this will take time and a lot of hard work. We must get our people organized and train them in the techniques of survival. They must work to endure the harsh life of guerillas. After our people are prepared and when our enemy thinks they’ve succeeded we begin.” He glared around the table. “And when we begin we don’t stop until the Kthpok are dead. Not just off planet, not fleeing. I want them dead!”
With his instructions given Zelof sent his officers out to begin designing training programs for the civilians. He knew that his people were entering a time of darkness that could last for decades. But all nights had to end. So would this.
After the door slid shut he took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. Zelof straightened his harness and took a last look at the image frozen on the screen. The Kthpok would be defeated. Their betrayal of the Iidx people would have justice. He turned off the viewer and headed for the door with that vow burning in his mind. It was time to begin the long, hard road back.