Chapter Fifty-Three

The Revolt

The announcement when it came was greeted with dismay. A new list had been published and individual messages were distributed to over two hundred million persons across the globe. One hundred and fifty million of those selected would be sacrificed. The people of Earth were in no mood for further unnecessary and pointless deaths. The reaction was swift and widespread.

In the continental North America, rioting had been the worst, with large areas of New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago now effective no go zones. Crime was rife, with loss of life running into the thousands. Throughout the world, rioting followed in all the major cities. The ECG lost control and The Kryl just sat back and watched it happen. Rather than try to curb the anxiety by culling a mass of rioters as they had done before, this time the Kryl Governor elected to hold off and allow the disturbances to follow their natural path. Instead of petering out, it escalated, with smaller and smaller populations taking to the streets in protest, with the inevitable bloodshed that followed.

The security forces did not know how to respond, largely because they felt the same way. The rioters lacked direction and leadership. There was no one to fight and once the inevitable looting and pillaging died down, the urban landscape became deathly quiet, no one daring to come out.

President Thomas Roslyn was in crisis talks with Alpha’s official Commander in Chief, Admiral Yamoto on how the ground, air and sea forces of Strategic Earth defense should respond. Admiral Koenig had remained in the background. His responsibilities had not yet started. Yamoto had tried to engage his forces and to get troops on the ground but the consensus of the population was simple: destroy the Kryl or we will destroy you. Roslyn’s worst nightmare had come true.

“This is ridiculous, Ryoichi. We cannot have this happen now; not when we are so close. How can we engage the support of the SED forces if they no longer trust us?”

“I fear there is only one solution, Thomas. The situation has deteriorated far too quickly to contemplate any other. We must reject the agreement and turn and fight the Kryl. We must give the population a direction to fight for. If they know who there enemy is, they will join us.”

“Yes, but how can we get our message across? I am totally sold on the idea of rejecting the agreement; but with so many of the population now taking matters into their own hands we no longer have control.”

“We can exercise control via the social networks. We don’t need to say much; simply that the Kryl are now the enemy and we must turn and face them together. We must only have a matter of hours before they intervene anyway. Their lists are due to be fulfilled tomorrow. You must engage the media and announce that the agreement is over…we will then launch an offensive against those Kryl on the ground. We will be outnumbered but as word gets out we will gain support.”

“I am sorry to have to ask you this…Thomas Koenig is now back. Who is in command down here?”

“I am. Thomas is responsible for the invasion fleet. When this is all over, we will fight it out to see who remains CIC. Rest assured, SED is under my control. I understand your reticence. Remember, only a few people know Admiral Koenig is even alive.”

“Okay…thanks for the reassurance. We will draft a suitably assertive and unambiguous statement and will release it to the networks and other media this evening. Thanks for your help Ryoichi. I will see you on the other side.”

* * * *

“The Earth/Kryl agreement has ceased. There will be no more human sacrifices and the list published and distributed is no longer valid. Those selected should NOT travel to the collection centers. They are closed and will remain so. The Kryl have been advised that the agreement is over and that they are no longer welcome on Earth. I know you will join me in helping to remove them from OUR planet.”

Roslyn sat in silence as the short broadcast ended. The broadcast networks had agreed to air the message continuously for the next twenty-four hours. His job was done. Now it was up to the people.

* * * *

The Kryl Governor was angry. He just received word of Roslyn’s broadcast, which reaffirmed the earlier communiqué received from the President’s office; “The Kryl/Earth Agreement is null and voided and the Kryl are required to leave Earth within forty-eight hours.”

Safrec had assembled his senior commanders and was about to address them. He would not stand and wait for Alpha to dispatch their radiation weapon and he would not be remembered as the Kronan who resided over the death of the Kryl. He would keep the radiation threat to himself; his commanders would work much better if they did not think that their very existence was in jeopardy.

“My fellow commanders; the agreement is no longer in place and the humans once again stand against us…but we will not crush them…not yet. The agreement was put in place as the best method of extracting humans for relief. With their consent we can live side-by-side, allow the disease to be managed and continue to seek a cure. We have seen rebellion against us before and we have removed the threat and returned to a good relationship with our food source. A symbiotic relationship is the best one. We will hold off any action for one day and if the agreement is not returned, we will take one hundred and fifty million humans ourselves. However, we will do this within the framework of the agreement. We will not take lives indiscriminately and we will keep within the stipulated number.”

Safrec waited as the five senior commanders surrounding him digested the information. No one would say anything until invited to. To do so would be disrespectful and a strong Kronan would act immediately by killing them where they stood. He had never been interrupted.

“Are we quite clear on what terms we will be acting?”

This was the opportunity for his commanders to respond, but they still needed to maintain decorum and respect in their comments.

Deshler was the first to respond.

“My Kronan. I think I speak for all of us here. We will conform to your instructions and to the agreement. But, if we take humans forcibly, there will be indiscriminate loss of life. We will kill far more than those required for relief.”

“Yes, inevitably. But you, Deshler, know all too well, that without a firm hand your drones will rampage first and answer to crimes second. I will hold you and your colleagues responsible if the number of battle kills is too high.”

A second Kryl commander now had the confidence to speak.

“My Kronan. I feel compelled to ask—respectfully—why we should wait twenty-four hours? We need to send a cold hard shock to the people of this planet, that we are still the masters and they are the food source. We can do this by extraction of course; but we must show them why we rule and they don’t.”

There was silence in the room now as the second commander Methos waited for Safrec to respond. This comment was a calculated and dangerous strategy. If it went wrong and was badly received, then he could well be breathing his last breath.

Safrec knew he must be strong, but he needed his commanders. Too soft an approach now could have a material impact on his leadership quality. He stood and approached the viewing window, which looked out over the huge hanger bay of the Queen’s ship. From here he saw every ship that came and went. He needed to be strong…

“Methos. Your responsibilities lie elsewhere with the estranged Alpha Fleet. Why do you question my judgment?”

Safrec held his hand aloft and Methos brought his hand to his throat. The Kronan was squeezing the life out of him…he yelped out in pain and fell to his knees. Safrec brought his hand down again and allowed the commander to live and Methos fell to the floor gasping. A few second more and Safrec would have killed him. Safrec still attached some value to his commander’s abilities.

“You have your orders and you have each received your individual commands. I expect all of you to comply.”

With a wave of his hand, the meeting was over and the commanders left Safrec’s throne room in silence.

Safrec smiled. He enjoyed the power he held over them; but he wanted to kill Methos. He held back because Methos was important. He was tasked with stopping Alpha’s rogue fleet. Now it was time to speak to Roslyn.

* * * *

They took him directly from the Presidential Office. Six drones had marched across the Palace lawn through the main entrance hall and corridor and into Roslyn’s office without any resistance. He expected them and they were allowed straight through.

Less than a minute later, he boarded the shuttle alone.

The shuttle took off immediately and after clearing Earth’s atmosphere and shields it headed straight to the Queen ship. Safrec watched the shuttle arrive from his throne room.

* * * *

“Why have you terminated the agreement between us?” Safrec stood in the corner of the room and spoke as soon as Roslyn was ushered in.

Roslyn had obviously been expecting a visit or summons and had been contacted within an hour of the Kronan receiving the communiqué. When the Kryl drones arrived, he asked they be allowed to collect him, without contact or harassment from his security division. Now, he regretted that decision.

“I warned you, Safrec, that one hundred and fifty million people on the HSL list would not be accepted and so it has panned out. Once the rioting reached pandemic proportions, I had no choice to act.”

“A foolish decision. Without the agreement, your people will be pulverized into nothingness.”

Roslyn couldn’t help but smile, even though expressing amusement was far from the sentiment he felt. The Kryl had a manner, when they spoke English, that was almost quintessential and traditional Anglo Saxon English, like something out of a Pathe news reel from two hundred and fifty years ago. It was always a source of constant surprise that so many Kryl understood Earth’s Key languages. Most were fluent, even to the point of portraying humor and irony, accurately and fluently.

“What amuses you Roslyn?”

Roslyn decided to exploit this tactic. He knew he would not be able to deviate from the main topic of conversation for long; but at least he could frustrate him.

“I was just reflecting on your remarkable accent. Your understanding of our language is astounding.”

“Irrelevant! You have destroyed the relationship between us and placed all humans in grave danger. You must seek to quickly repair the damage you have done, rather than try to divert my attention by complimenting my language prowess. The agreement is dead. How are you going to resolve this?”

Roslyn quickly realized his tactic was not working. His intention had always been to deal with this matter straight on and now was the time.

“Safrec. I am sorry you don’t recognize a compliment when you see one. As people we are always keen to find the good in others. But we cannot find anything good in the Kryl…and the agreement is a reflection of this. I am sorry, Safrec; we will no longer comply with the agreement and my people will remove you from Earth and the outlying colonies—by force if necessary.”

“You fool. What makes you think your limited resources are any match for ours? We will crush you and kill you all.”

“I don’t have to know Safrec and I don’t have to explain either. I just believe…”

He felt the tightening in his neck as soon as he had finished his sentence. Safrec has decided the conversational part of our meeting is over. He felt like his neck was about to snap. Then he felt the probing, the deep probing inside his mind and he felt powerless to defend himself. This was not about the pain. He knew that his every thought, sub consciously or otherwise was the Kronan’s to take. His resistance was over.

* * * *

Roslyn passed out again and now lay slumped over a chair. Safrec sat in front of him on his throne. The human would wake shortly and Safrec would tell him exactly what would happen now. He had delved deep into the humans mind; sensing there was no further resistance he now had a more complete understanding of exactly what Alpha was planning and he knew his people were at great risk. He would do everything in his power to prevent their plans from coming to fruition and that would start with persuading Roslyn to reinstate the agreement. He was stirring now. Good it was time to seize the initiative.

“I am pleased to see you have survived the experience Thomas. Your mind is unharmed. You will feel well again in a few moments.”

Roslyn sat up and shook his head as if he trying to remove an invading parasite from inside his head. He sighed and then turned his attention towards the Kryl commander.

“Okay. So, you have what you needed to know. It does not change anything. I have told you my people will not accept your rule again.”

“Not good enough! You have one day to change your stance on this. If you persist we will take our share of your people indiscriminately.”

“I have told you already, I have no choice. I still believe the agreement is the best option, but not if my people tell me no. I do want to maintain our status quo. Can we have a little longer than twenty-four hours?”

“No! You will get your people back under control or I will do it for you. You don’t want that to happen President Roslyn. Many humans will die…take him back to Earth.”

As the Kronan barked out his final order, two drones appeared from the shadows and led the silent Roslyn away.

Safrec waited until the human was gone. He smiled again. He was back in charge and his stance would win through. Now, he must speak to his Queen.

* * * *

The Queen sat patiently as the Kronan took the long walk towards the center of her Sanctuary and her throne. As he drew nearer, he saw someone was with her. It was the human Carla Stevenson. What was she doing here?

“What are you going to do about the agreement Safrec? This is a disaster?”

“My Queen. I will not discuss matters of state with the human here. She needs to leave now.”

“Relax Safrec. Carla is not here in an official capacity, although I am sure she will be keen to know what you have to say.”

“Then broadcast it to President Roslyn. My Queen, I must insist she leaves or I will.”

“You will not overstep your mark, my Kronan. I wanted her to meet you that is all. Do you have a message for the ECG President that Carla can relay?”

Safrec could not believe he was having this conversation. Trieste had clearly lost control and was using this human now as her confident…or was she here for some other reason? The Queen seemed in good health. Was she using Carla’s brain stimuli as relief? He looked closer at Carla and felt her draw to him. He could have her right here in front of the Queen. He saw now why Navalion wanted her by his side.”

“My Queen. I have already spoken to Roslyn and I have given him one day to reinstate the agreement. You could reaffirm your support of my actions to your confident and she can advise Roslyn accordingly.”

The Queen stared at Safrec. She was clearly not happy for Carla to be referred to as her confident.

“Carla is not my confident. She is here in a diplomatic capacity and assuming your actions are warranted, she will know they have my support. Carla thank you for your time today. As always it has been beneficial. Please reinforce to President Roslyn our wish to continue the Earth/Kryl relationship in a friendly way. These skirmishes on Earth will be dealt with and then we can move on.”

Carla coughed and looked a little uncertain as to what she should do now. A gesture from the Queen, moving her arm towards the sanctuary exit was sufficient to engage her.

“Thank you, Trieste. It has been a pleasure and I am pleased to meet you, Safrec. I assure you that I will reinforce your stance to the President.”

Carla stepped away, but paused as Safrec stared at her. He was probing her mind.

Good he saw she was powerless to resist him. That could be useful. Of course she was the mate of Jake Carter. A good lure to bring the killer of Navalion to the Queen’s ship. He saw she was troubled…another human was the object of her affection…no it just been sex. It was curious why her having a second partner should be a problem to Carter. And finally as he drove to the very depths of her mind, he saw the ultimate truth. The Queen was slowly absorbing her. The cosy relationship between them was just a ploy. Trieste was consuming the human after all. He withdrew, smiled, and allowed the human to exit. He waited until she was out of earshot before he spoke.

“So, you have been consuming her after all.”

“Yes, but I will not harm her…it is enough to keep me going between your visits.”

“Are you acknowledging me as your mate?”

“Yes…but not as my chosen one and only until Sorgan arrives home. In any case you will depart with the fleet shortly to join him.”

“Yes, my Queen. I will take you this evening—before I leave for the fleet. Will you take a human in full sacrifice to provide you with relief while I am away?”

“Yes…but not Carla. Sorgan is bringing me a suitable human. Enough of this, my health is not relevant here. What are you doing to get the agreement reinstated? This is critical to our survival.”

Sorgan again, thought Safrec. I will deal with him my own way. The Queen will never see him again.

“As I have told you, my Queen; the ECG have one day. If they don’t comply then we will take the one hundred and fifty million ourselves. We have been here before. The humans will comply when they realize just how little choice they have.”