Talosian Chronicles 3: Talosian Alliance Read online

  “Every night, in your dreams, you replay that battle and try different things. Have you managed to save any of them yet?” Serena asked.

  “How did you know?” Ian asked, surprised.

  “I am a Commander, the same as you are. I do the same thing after every battle where lives are lost,” she explained. “Nothing will ever change, Ian. You have to convince yourself that you did the best you could with the tools you had. Until you do, the nightmare will never stop.”

  “You’ve reviewed the battle, have you seen anything I could have done better?” Ian asked directly.

  “Yes, I have reviewed the battle. There are some things I would have done differently, but I doubt the result would have been any better. When the Caldarian first arrived, if you would have done anything other then what you did, I agree that you would not have survived long enough to fight the final battle. In that final battle, no Talosian trained commander would have thought to use the hypermissiles in the way you did, that single act is what sets you above the rest of us. You have the ability to think of things we cannot and act on your ideas in ways that take an enemy completely by surprise,” Serena explained. “Ian, you performed far and above what any of the rest of us could have in that situation. The fact that it was your first battle, and you had only sleep training to work with, is proof of just how good a Commander you are and how much better you are going to get.”

  “Thank you for the praise, Serena, but I still think I could have done something better,” Ian replied.

  “Ian, do any of the people from Talos blame you for not saving their loved ones?” Serena asked.

  “Not that I know of, but I blame myself. I should have been able to protect them better,” Ian said, he shook his head. “I know you’re right, and I’m working on it. I just need to quit dwelling on it and move on.”

  “It’s hard to move on when one of the ones that was lost was so important to you. Those losses are the hardest to put behind us,” Serena said. "Those losses will always be a part of us, but we cannot let them influence our actions to the detriment of others.”

  Ian’s comm beeped.

  “Williams, what’s up?” Ian said, opening the channel.

  “Sir, you asked to be reminded when the next shuttle going back to Phoenix Base was getting ready to launch?” a voice said. “I'm sending a tram for you.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Ian replied, closing the link. He looked at Serena. “It looks like play time is over for me. I need to get back." He was surprised when a small golf cart looking buggy came around a corner and stopped beside them. It was a hover craft type of vehicle, but instead of having its own drive system, it used the artificial gravity system of the station to move about.

  “I understand my friend. If you don’t mind, I would like to walk around some more. I find all of this extremely fascinating,” Serena said.

  “Of course, Serena. Let me know if you see something you don’t understand or that you think isn’t right,” Ian said. During their tour, they had come across two crewmen that were in a small altercation. It hadn’t come to blows yet, but from the sound of the yelling, it was close.

  It turns out that the two men knew each other from Earth, having lived only a few blocks apart on the Gaza strip. One of them had been Palestinian and the other Israeli.

  Ian had gotten between the two men and talked them down. It took almost a half hour, but by the time Ian had left, the men had shaken hands, and admitted that they had been holding on to former prejudices. He got them to agree to try to work on understanding each other, and to understand the other had a different point of view on a subject.

  Serena had watched Ian handle the situation and nodded at how well he handled it. Since both men had been rather large, she wasn’t sure she would have gotten between them as Ian had, but his methods worked.

  Serena didn’t know anything of their argument, since she wasn’t from Earth, but after Ian explained it to her, she had to admit it was very similar to arguments she had broken up between some of her new crewmembers from different houses.

  As she watched Ian speed away, she returned his wave, then consulted her pad that had the map of the station on it. A group of engineers were building another power section somewhere at this end of the station, and she wanted to see how they were doing it. At Ian’s request, the Prometheus was here to support the construction efforts, as well as to provide security.

  Although it split the two defending ships apart by four light years, it was the right thing to do, and it gave her and her crew something to do while they were here. Admiral Goya was overjoyed with the situation, since it gave him an excuse to assign the Prometheus to the sector. Serena had her Marines stationed throughout the large installation, and half her engineering team was aboard to learn as much as they could and assist wherever possible. Her fighters, after being brought back up to full operational strength by Ian, were patrolling the system, and her Centurions were doing a more detailed survey of the system for resources.

  This binary system Ian had called Centauri was rich in minerals and had an arable planet and moon suitable for colonization. It also had dozens of moons and asteroids rich with ores for mining and five large gas giants, four of which could be mined for hydrogen and several other gasses used in modern industry.

  She crossed to the other side of the main corridor, and her attention was immediately captured by the large planet below. Almost twice the size of Earth, the planet Atlas had nearly twice the volume of Earth and only slightly higher gravity. It was so much like Earth and New Talos, that it was as if it had been terraformed specifically for their race.

  She had yet to visit that planet, but she vowed to herself she would visit the surface before she left this sector. She surprised herself when she felt a sense of peace settling over her she hadn’t felt since the loss of her home planet years ago. Yes, this wasn’t a combat assignment, but she knew it was very important, and, in her mind, it was possibly of critical importance to the Talosians. These remarkable people had awakened something in her.

  When she realized that, she stopped walking and simply stood looking out at the planet. One of the two stars, the distant one, was visible in the upper left, but it was hard to look at directly, even when looking through the shielded plasti-glass. The main star was currently ‘above’ the station and out of sight. Just peeking over the horizon, the green moon named Apollo was just becoming visible, and the other smaller moon named Hades was heading behind the planet.

  She let herself get lost in her introspection, hoping to clarify what she was feeling. She knew it wasn’t just her either. She had seen an improvement in her crew as well. The Marines, once they returned from the planet, stood prouder. The crew of the ship went about their days with purpose, the over-all attitude of the ship felt different.

  People, tired of fighting endless battles and knowing that only more battles awaited them, had her crew moving about their duties like automatons. But since arriving here and seeing what these people had done, and continued to do, had seemed to inspire them. They acted like they had been reminded of their reasons to fight; even the children that had been so subdued were playing and laughing again.

  Meeting Ian and his people had given her people something they had not even known they had lost. This mission had given them back the one commodity that no supply ship ever built could deliver; hope.

  She smiled now that she had identified the feeling, and continued on to the secondary power room.

  Terran Defense Ship TDF Star Dancer

  Lunar Orbit

  Selene (Earth’s Moon)

  Sol System, Sol Sector

  Commander Ian Williams, Commanding

  Since it wasn’t an automated ship, the jump back to the Sol System only took about fourteen hours. Ian arrived back home just in time for a late dinner with Jenny, Cindy, and the kids. Talena was on duty, and Beth had a medical emergency.

  After dinner, Cindy winked at Jenny and took the kids back to their bedroom to play with
them a little before bedtime. Ian grinned at Jenny, now aware of the obvious plan to give them some time alone. When Ian started to ask about her day, Jenny put a finger over his lips to silence him, then rose, and took his hand. She led him to the big bathroom, where a table was set up.

  “I’ve been taking a class in massage, and I wanted to surprise you,” she said. “No business tonight, let’s shower, then I’ll see how well I can make you relax. Let’s leave tomorrow’s problems for tomorrow for just one night.”

  She must have been paying attention, since she had to wake Ian in order for him it go to bed.

  The next morning, he was in much better spirits and far more relaxed. “Okay, since you got me feeling like a human again, what’s going on?” Ian asked grinning at Jenny over breakfast.

  “Another surprise for you; at oh-eight-hundred hours, you have an appointment with an Ensign Melinda Cruze. She will be your new assistant. She was selected by the Council and approved by both Star and myself. She is very good at her job, and you will accept her as your aide,” Jenny said.

  “I’m not trying to argue with you, but what do I need an aide for?” Ian asked.

  “Ian, I don’t know if you realize it or not, but you are no longer just the commanding officer of the ship, you are now commanding the military of the entire sector. That job is usually handled by an Admiral. Now, we know you’re not an Admiral, but that’s just paperwork, you’re doing the job, you need the help.”

  “I wouldn’t be comfortable as an Admiral. I’m way too young for it.” Ian replied. “But, I thought I’d been doing pretty good on my own. Why do I need an aide?”

  She sighed. “Ian, you’ve been doing so well because Talena, Cindy and I have been working twice as hard as we should be to make sure you have the information you need and are kept up to date on the projects you need to know about. Frankly, it's gotten to be too big of a job, and it’s affecting our job performances. Cindy even missed a patrol because she was taking care of something for you. Talena had to cover for her at the last minute.”

  Ian looked at her in shock. “I had no idea. Why hasn’t Star...”

  “She has her duties as well, Ian. She was the one to suggest an aide. You haven’t noticed, but the Council did, and Luke called me. This is the solution we came up with,” Jenny explained.

  “Okay, I’ll meet with her. Until then, how is the Martian project going?” Ian asked.

  “On schedule despite having to move the project to the secondary site. They should have the first of the domes finished in another couple of weeks. Once they get the domes finished, the rest of it should go pretty quickly. The research dome will be the next one finished, and then that facility should be ready for habitation in about six months.

  “The largest dome, the factory area, and the external storage area will take longer, but the foreman reports that production should begin on schedule. The AI unit should be ready to go online shortly after the research area goes online, and it will be able to assist with the remaining construction on the base.

  “The orbital ship yard is going slowly, but the initial frame has been assembled which is quite an achievement considering there are only eight humans on that project so far. It should go faster once the other crews return from Centauri,” Jenny finished. "Admiral Hawkins has asked to speak to you at your earliest convenience, and you have received another demand for communication from the President of the United States.”

  “Thanks, I’ll call the Admiral and ignore the President,” Ian said grinning and shaking his head.

  “You know, you’re going to have to talk to her sooner or later. If you don’t, she’s just going to keep on trying, and if we ever have to do anything on the ground in that country again, it would help if the government wasn’t actively hostile,” Jenny added.

  Ian thought about that for a moment. “You’re probably right, I’ll consider giving her a call. I just didn’t want anyone to think we had a favorite country once we let the whole world know about us,” Ian replied.

  “I understand that, Ian, but maybe you should try to let the President know that. You should also consider letting the rest of the planet know about us. There has been a marked increase in hostilities between countries down there since the Caldarian fight. Everyone knows something important happened, but no one knows exactly what it was. Each of the governments down there are pointing fingers and accusing each other of keeping knowledge of the event from the rest of them. In the case of the United States, that is true, they haven’t told anyone, anything.” While they had been talking, they had finished breakfast and left for Ian's ready room off the bridge.

  “Okay, I’ll bring it up at the next Council meeting. What are you doing today?” Ian asked.

  “I’m helping with the preparations for the Atlantic Base assault. You do know, don’t you, that if there are more Caldarians out there, shutting down their food supply will bring them here in force,” Jenny pointed out to him once again, this was an on-going disagreement between them.

  “If it’s their only source of food, it might. However, I again point out to you that the volume of hydrocarbons being taken couldn’t support a population of Caldarians able to man more than three more of those ships. If we detect any other ships coming in on their original trajectory, other than the freighters, we will have time to get assistance here from the Talosian Defense Forces.”

  “With all the bullshit going on over there, I’m not so sure I want to rely on them. I mean, Serena will be there for us, I know that. But will the rest? We don’t know any of the others, and from the sound of it, they are a bunch of self-serving ass-holes that could care less about us,” Jenny replied. “Look, it’s my job to point out to you the possible issues that can arise. That’s all I’m really doing.”

  “I know hon, and you do raise some really good points. How about this; you keep working on getting the assault ready, and I’ll see if I can contact the Alliance of Races for advice. Would that make you feel better?” Ian asked.

  “I don’t know. We don’t know anything about them either. I would say it certainly wouldn’t hurt to talk to them about it,” Jenny replied. “I can’t help but wonder what they’ll expect in return for their help?”

  “We’ll, Luke and the Council were already considering speaking to them about a trade agreement anyway. In exchange for a mutual defense pact, we would be willing to assist them in ship upgrades, new fighter design, and production, with priority treatment in emergency ship repairs and possible entertainment facilities for the ships crews during the refit,” Ian explained.

  “Well, that should at least get their attention. Let’s just hope it’s in a good way. Now, we both need to get to work; your new aide will be here in about fifteen minutes, and I need to get to a meeting with the planning group. You made a hell of a good choice in picking Alan Carlson to lead this mission. That man can be scary when he wants to be.”

  Before he could answer her, she had left the room and closed the door behind her.

  Melinda Cruze was a small, unassuming woman that knew exactly why she was there and what she was doing. Before he could blink, she had him sit down and briefed him on his day.

  When he mentioned needing to call Admiral Hawkins, she made a note of it and said she would remind him about the call right after lunch. She already knew about the President pestering him for contact, and asked how he wanted to handle it. When he told her, she nodded and said she would see to it.

  She told him if he needed her, she would be in the office across the hall from his ready room, or he could simply comm her and she would come straight into his office. The last thing she said was that he could call her Mel. With that, she was gone. Leaving him to wonder just what the hell he had gotten himself into. With a sigh, he turned to the pile of reports that had been building up in his terminal for the last three days.

  Chapter Two

  Terran Defense Ship TDF Star Dancer

  Lunar Orbit

  Selene (Earth’s Moon)

>   Sol System, Sol Sector

  Commander Ian Williams, Commanding

  Admiral Hawkins, I understand you wanted to speak to me. What can I do for you today?” Ian asked when the Admiral’s image came up on his monitor.

  “Good Morning, Commander. I hope your trip went well?” Hawkins replied, smiling at Ian.

  “It was very instructive. The stations are coming along well, and the first one should be finished soon. The workers families that went with them are building the beginnings of a nice little colony on the planet Atlas. The rest of our projects are going well also. How is your grandson doing?” Ian asked. The Admiral’s fifteen year old grandson had been in a car accident and had barely survived. As it was, it looked like he was going to be paralyzed from the waist down due to a severe spinal injury.

  “The doctors say he has turned the corner finally, and we should see improvement from now on. That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. Galen is going to be paralyzed. The doctors tell us that there has been too much damage to the spine for him to be able to walk again. You have advanced medical knowledge up there. Could you fix him?” Hawkins asked.

  “I couldn’t honestly give you an answer to that, Sir. I’m not a doctor. I do know that the Talosian medical academy is quite a bit more advanced than ours. I could pass your question on to my chief medical officer, but I think she would need more information before she could give you a definite answer. I have seen them regrow limbs that have been blown off in combat, as well as fix other stuff that would have been terminal on Earth,” Ian replied. “The real question would be how would we get him here to treat him? If we simply kidnapped him, we’d have to take his whole family, and then the US Government could accuse us of kidnapping. As it stands now, they are threatening to do just that because of the citizens we’ve already recruited."