Euthara (26 page)

“One thing,” Jon said. He gave the King a sly grin as he spoke.

“I don’t see how anything you have to say will change anything here,” the King said.

“I positioned the
Atlantis
over the Capital for a reason,” Jon said. “Com we have no more need for the Captain there you can close that com-link.”

The Captain faded from view as the King spoke, “Really? What are you going to assault the Capital now?”

“No, I was transmitting to the general population,” Jon said. “I think they have a right to know what is going on and by doing so from the Capital I was able to tap into the planetary net and send it to every city.”

The King paled slightly and glanced off screen and then quickly returned his gaze back to Jon. The look was something of a cross between surprise and a look like he was ready to kill Jon. “I don’t know how you got past our security but this will change nothing,” the King said.

“I have my ways,” Jon said. He turned his back to the screen as he walked back towards the command chair. He gave Atlantis and Nefeit a brief smile of triumph. He removed the smile as he turned and faced the screen once more and took his seat. “Now that the people know some of the facts about what is going on here they can make their own choices as to how they want to live. The Ga’sahde Council for Euthara will be meeting in less than a week in a secret location. I’m going to invite you to attend or to send a representative in your place. They will be making the final ruling about the Ga’sahde treaty.”

“That matter is already settled,” the King said. “I told you the treaty…”

“Is in effect until such a time as the Council makes a ruling otherwise,” Jon said. “You and I both know you don’t have the power to revoke the treaty. If even one Ga’sahde is harmed on the surface of Euthara there will be major repercussions for you. You’re the King of this planet and ultimately responsible for everything that goes on. You want to make my life difficult, I can make yours even more so. My sister will be released and Deatra will be allowed to choose if she wants to stay there or return.”

“Deatra has expressed her want to stay with us for a bit longer,” the King said. “As far as your sister, she’s a prisoner of war. You and I both know any Ga’sahde in a combat position is not diplomatically exempt.” The King let a smile cross his face. “I’m willing to concede your other points and wait for the ruling of the Council. I’ll be sending a representative in my place though. I believe you have him staying with you already.”

Jon knew the King was only doing this to save face. Nothing the man was saying was heartfelt and the King was delaying so he could plan his next move. The King choosing the Duke as his representative put Jon in a spot as he would have to let the Duke go and what little bit of leverage he had, if any, would be gone.

“I can accept that,” Jon said. “I’ll make sure the Duke is there to represent your interests at the Council. I’ll contact my people and have them allow free communication between you both.”

A surprised look crossed the King’s face and a smile crossed his lips at the same time.

“Of course all transmissions will be monitored and delayed by thirty seconds or so,” Jon said. Jon returned the King’s smile as the King’s smile faded. “The delay is for the security of my people on the surface of course. I hope you understand the reasons behind this, as I wouldn’t want any sensitive information to leak out by accident.”

“Of course,” the King said. His tone betrayed his understanding as disappointment at a missed opportunity passed him by.

“I’m going to appoint Deatra my voice on the council and of course the Matriarch will have to be there,” Jon said. He allowed the King a small victory only to snatch it away in the blink of an eye. Jon knew he had to keep the King off balance and by allowing him small victories and then putting him off balance by removing the victory was the best way he knew to do it.

“Impossible!” the King said. “The Matriarch is a prisoner of war and Deatra’s interests lay with the Eutharan people.”

“Deatra’s interests lay with what is best for everyone,” Jon said. “If she thinks the removal of the treaty is right then I’ll stand by her side. As far as the Matriarch…”

“Your sister,” the King said.

“My sister or not she’s the Matriarch and must be present for a Council meeting such as this,” Jon said. “It’s part of the treaty laws and she is allowed to be there to defend why the treaty must be kept in place. Without her, there can be no meeting for the removal of the treaty and that means the treaty will stay in effect. I’ll also push to have the terms immediately forced back into the main stream laws.”

“You can push all you want,” the King said. “I’ve told you many times I’m the final authority here.”

“You think you’re the final authority here,” Jon said. “The Ga’sahde is the only thing keeping you alive. If you continue fighting the Ga’sahde at every turn, I’ll simply gather up my sister and wife and I’ll pull all Ga’sahde support from this planet and system. Then I’ll transmit to every known race that Euthara no longer has the support of the Ga’sahde and they will fall on you like a pack of ravenous animals. You’ll be screaming for help in under a month and at that time I can’t honestly say the Ga’sahde will be receptive. You’re effectively pointing your ship at a black hole and giving the order for full speed ahead.”

“Gather up your sister and my daughter,” the King said. “If you think it’s so easy why haven’t you done so yet?”

Jon didn’t miss the fact that the King had called Deatra his daughter and not Jon’s wife even though technically they were married under the laws of Eutharan bonding. This was something else he had found out while here on Euthara. Once bonded a pair was considered married by law and the marriage ceremony was just that a celebration of the bonding. It was something Jon was holding in reserve in case he needed to use it.

“As far as I know there’s no need to do such a thing,” Jon said. “I’m content to wait until I stand in the courtyard of the Capital to get them back.”

The King laughed as he spoke, “You think you’re going to stand in this courtyard?”

Jon nodded as he spoke, “Of course, it’s inevitable.”

“The only way you’ll stand here is in chains for all your criminal acts,” the King said. “It’s a day I look forward too.”

“I think you have that backwards,” Jon said. “Think about what I’ve said and contact me when you’re ready to deal. Until then I’ll make the arrangements for you to contact the Duke. You will pull your troops out of my city and from the surrounding area or it’s going to get very messy.”

Jon didn’t wait for a response as he cut the connection and sighed. The talks with the King always drained him. He’d never talked to someone so stubborn in his life and he hoped he never had to again. “Bring us about and put us down in the port of Euroth,” Jon said. “Once we’re down begin recon and patrol missions. Have military personnel report to Mark and have all other personnel lend a hand in getting the city back up to operating standards.
Atlantis
will provide air and ground defense.”

The
Atlantis’
engines flared as she moved out from over the Capital city and settled down in the large port of Euroth. She sunk down to about the midpoint of her hull as she finally touched the ocean floor. Stabilizer arms shot out from her hull and into the ocean’s floor. The arms were as big around as the largest Redwood back on Earth and emitted a low energy pulse beam to cut their way into the ground. The impact of the arm kicked up mud and debris as they tunneled into the ground until they buried themselves into the bedrock. Once they were firmly planted the ends of the arms expanded out allowing them to grab the bed rock they had burrowed into.

The
Atlantis
let out a slight groan as she settled and then hummed to life as water intakes opened and started pumping the sea water to internal processing plants. The plants would distill the water and store it for later usage. Several more vents opened across the exposed parts of the ship and started letting fresh air circulate through the ship. The air circulated through several stages that checked for contaminates and hazards before it moved to its own processing plant that super-heated the air and then cooled it to kill any bacteria.

The system was efficient and allowed the
Atlantis
to resupply her water reserves in a minimal amount of time. The air systems allowed her to replenish her reserves for those just in case of emergencies where she might lose her atrium or her internal scrubbing systems. The air tanks in the bottom of the ship would allow the crew of the
Atlantis
to survive for over two weeks on just its supply of air. Water systems could be used to supply the ship with fresh water for months at a time and in a pinch could be broken down to create fresh air. However, that system was less than perfect and would use up large amounts of water to extend air supplies for just a day or two.

While all this was going on
Atlantis
herself was running tests on the bed rock for useful minerals to replenish her stocks. If she found anything useful she would deploy bots to collect the minerals and feed them back up through the arms and into small foundries in her belly.
Atlantis
was one of a kind; she had no need to dock to survive like other ships. She was self-sufficient and could run for years without ever docking.

“Deploying upper platforms,” Atlantis said. “All point defense weapons on stand-by and main guns charged and ready.”

Large platforms swung out and created large external decks. Immediately various size guns deployed from the deck. Large hanger doors opened and fighters began moving on to the decks, parking themselves in neat rows. Military personnel swarmed from various points on the two decks and began guiding ground vehicles and shuttles into staging areas.

Jon smiled as he watched the deployment of his troops. He knew that this was something the Atlantis was capable of but he had no idea how it worked. Atlantis was guiding the troops as to how to deploy the platforms. Two fighter squadrons launched from each platform reminiscent of the carriers of Earth. Eutharans from the city were gathering at the docks as they watched the spectacle. Never in any of their lifetimes had they seen something like this happen. There had been rumors that there were ships capable of this, but to see it first hand was something else.

“Deploy all assigned engineers and troops to the city,” Jon said. “I want a perimeter set up that extends beyond the impact craters, no one in or out of that perimeter unless they have authorization. I want this city up to speed as soon as possible.”

“Yes Sir,” Atlantis said as she started issuing the orders.

“It’s time to get it on,” Jon said. “I’m tired of playing games. Have the remaining council members shown to their quarters here. Have Oojoung escort the Duke here and have him bring my daughter.”

“Sir, I’m getting a long range communication from Admiral Breq,” the Com officer said.

“Put it through,” Jon said. Breq’s face popped up on the main screen half a second after Jon spoke.

“Captain Hunter,” Breq said.

“Admiral, what can I do for you?” Jon said.

“We’re about twelve hours out,” Breq said. “Events have happened that you need to know about. I won’t go into detail here, but I need an immediate meeting with you and your ranking officers once I arrive.”

“Twelve hours,” Jon said as he let out a low whistle. “You’re really moving. I’ll have the meeting scheduled for one hour after you arrive if that’s ok.”

“Certainly,” Breq said. “See you in twelve hours, Admiral.” The screen went dark too fast for Jon to respond.

He turned to Nefeit as he spoke, “Why did he call me Admiral?”

Nefeit smiled and just shrugged as she said, “I have no idea, but a guess would be that someone in command of the forces you have is usually in a high ranking position.”

“Sir, forward scouts are reporting a large movement of Eutharan troops coming our way,” the Tactical officer said.

“Well, that didn‘t take long,” Jon said. “Condition red, all troops to battle stations.”

The Eutharan troops stopped just shy of the perimeter Jon had set up as if they knew it was the point of no return. Mark was at the front lines and in contact with the commanders of the Eutharan forces. Jon was watching video from the recon scouts. They had counted just over two thousand Eutharan troops.

“Atlantis, deploy whiskers and have them patrol the bay for Eutharan vessels,” Jon said.

“Already done Sir,” Atlantis said. “Feeds are already routed to the secondary bridge.”

“Good,” Jon said. “I don’t know why I didn’t give the order before. Without you I don’t know what I would do.”

“Someone else would pick up the slack,” Atlantis said.

“Sir, Captain Anders is on the line for you,” the Com officer said.

“Put him through,” Jon said.

“Sir,” the Tactical officer said. “Six Invaru vessels just exited hyperspace on the edge of the system. I’m getting confirmation from the station that it’s Admiral Breq and five unknown vessels.”

“A bit early,” Jon said.

“What’s a bit early,” Mark said as he appeared on the screen.

“Admiral Breq has arrived about three hours in advance of his schedule,” Jon said.

“The station is reporting damage to all vessels,” the Tactical officer said. “Some of the damage is so bad some of the vessels might not make it to the docks.”

“Deploy Search and Rescue teams and escort fighters,” Jon said. “Have Earth’s Revenge and any other available vessels intercept and escort them to the station. They are to lend any assistance needed, but their priority is the Admiral. I want him on the Earth’s Revenge and get me a visual on their fleet: I want to see what’s happening.”

“What’s going on?” Mark said. Worry creased his face.

“Seems the Admiral’s ships have been in a recent battle,” Jon said.

“Roger,” Mark said as the worry slipped from his face.

“I’m sorry about that Mark, what’s up?” Jon said.

“Well,” Mark said. “It’s seems they want to defect. After your little spat with the King over national air waves some of the Dukes aren’t all that happy.”