Mike's War: Sequel to Jesse's Starship (22 page)

“No, Dear.”

“I’m not a loud mouth, am I?”

“No, Darling.”

“You’re just saying that to shut me up!”

“No, Love.” Adams was going to pay Bowen back but at the moment he couldn’t focus on how to do it.

• • •

Mike turned the volume down as well and stared at the Gracken Ships on his display. After a moment he looked up, “Hot Shot, have any of the Alliance Leaders ever communicated with the Gracken?”

After a moment, Mike heard, “I don’t have any records of it. I’m sure if they did they would have shared that information with us. Some of the leaders on the invaded planets communicated when the Gracken invaded. We have records of that but it was pretty much a one way communication with the Gracken issuing instructions and punishing those that didn’t follow them.”

“Do we know their language?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a pretty fast answer.”

“We’ve recorded enough of their communications to learn their language down to the idiom level.”

“I want that downloaded and sent to me.” Mike tilted his chair back and put on his helmet. He closed his eyes and an hour later he awoke and shook his head, “That language is impossible!”

“It is rather intricate.”

“That’s like calling a Q ship a raft.”

“Why do you want it?”

“Their language gives me insight as to how they think. I want every warrior on Sparta to have this downloaded as quickly as possible.”

Tilly looked at Mike, “Why?”

“Take the download and ask me then.” Tilly nodded and tilted her chair back as she put her helmet on her head. She closed her eyes and Mike said, “Do you have the frequency that large ship is using to communicate?”

“I do. Are you planning to communicate with them?”

“I am; but not until Tilly is awake. She might see something I miss.”

“You really depend on her.”

“You have no idea. She’s the most naturally intelligent person I’ve ever met. Her intuition is beyond unbelievable.”

“What has you so wound up about their language?”

“They have an incredible sense of humor. Irony is the norm in their conversations and there is a sort of…I don’t know…inevitable doom behind their every thought.”

“That adds a sense of gravity to the current situation.”

“Are you being funny, Hot Shot?”

“I am. They had to evolve on a high gravity planet to be as big as they are.”

Mike continued to stare at the display as he waited for Tilly to finish the download. Thirty minutes later he saw the giant Gracken Heavy Blasters being airlifted to the Gracken camp. This was not good.

• • •

The PC watched the giant Heavy Blasters form a line and start rolling toward the city. They arrived at the edge of the city and they fired huge beams into the structures in front of their lines. The buildings, parks, streets, and everything hit by those horrific beams melted and became a molten river of lava running toward the lowest points on the surface. The first mile of buildings were incinerated and the blasters waited for the slag to harden enough for them to roll over it with their armored wheels. An hour later, they repeated the process and the line of giant blasters moved closer to the waiting Sparta warriors.

• • •

Tilly opened her eyes and looked at Mike, “I understand.”

“Tell me what you see.”

“They’re incredibly complicated beings. They’re bound by their warrior culture and sense of honor. Their sense of humor borders on tragedy.”

“Most humor is, Tilly. It’s the fall from a banana peel or a rubber snake planted in our bed that makes us laugh out loud. They’re really not that different in that regard.” Mike looked at his panel and said, “I’m going to see if they’ll communicate with me. Hot Shot, is the feed still active with all our forces on Sparta?”

“It is, as well as the Alliance Assembly and our forces on the Planet.”

• • •

“I want you to interpret our conversation and send it out on the feed.”

“There will be a slight delay.”

“I understand; send what I’m saying on the Gracken frequency.”

“The channel is open.”

Mike picked up the portable microphone and said, “I’ve been wondering why you’re just sitting out there doing nothing. I would think that you would come over and introduce yourselves properly or are you just here to see the show happening on the surface?”

• • •

The Elder heard the voice on his wall speaker and was startled for an instant. Then the content of the message made him start chuckling. His Communications Leader looked at him and he waved him to remain still.

Mike waited for a response and heard silence. After a moment he said, “If you would like something to eat while you’re waiting, we have carry out service.”

The Elder started shaking his head. This being was incredibly sarcastic. He picked up his communicator and said, “Do you by chance have some baked Riveb?”

Mike said, “Darn it, that’s the only thing we don’t have. Could I interest you in some shot up Greb?”

“We have some Riveb here; why don’t you come over and pick some up.”

Mike knew that neither side could approach the other without losing. “Well, we’ve just completed our meal but I appreciate your offer. Could I possibly interest you in an offer of my own?”

“What is that?”

“How about we call a ceasefire and I remove my forces from the planet.”

The Elder was amazed at the absolute insolence of the statement. “No, I don’t think so.”

“It would save a lot of your warriors from missing the taste of Riveb.”

“After what you have done here, I’m amazed you have the gall to make that request. Your forces will be killed shortly.”

“But a large number of your brave warriors will die making the effort. You should look at this as a Heradal match.”

The Elder was surprised this being knew about the Heradal competitions. “I’m don’t see the connection.”

“When two evenly matched competitors discover that they have not prepared properly for the competition, they can mutually agree for a delay to better prepare. It makes it more enjoyable for the spectators but also enhances the demonstration of their skills.”

• • •

Derek listened to the exchange and looked at Halley. She shook her head and shrugged. She had no idea how the Commandant knew about Gracken competitions.

• • •

The Elder grew serious, “I don’t know how you know about our ceremonies but our forces are not evenly matched. Your units on the surface are going to die.”

“You will pay an extraordinarily high price making that happen. I would think that stepping back and looking at what we’ve learned might be a better solution.”

The Elder thought a moment and said, “I’ll allow them to leave if you agree to never come back to any planet we occupy.”

“Now you know that’s not possible. I’ll agree; however, if you agree not to invade any other planets.”

“I hope you enjoy watching your warriors die.”

Mike hesitated and said, “I’ll make a wager with you.”

The Elder had almost disconnected the channel when he heard Mike, “What wager?”

“I’ll wager that you will lose more warriors than I will if you continue this attack.”

“I would be stupid to accept that; your forces are dug in and we’ll have to charge them across open ground.”

Mike thought furiously and said, “What about this? You will lose a hundred warriors for every one of mine.”

The Elder put his hand over the communicator, “How many do they have?”

The Support Officer said, “Between eight and nine hundred is our best estimate, Elder.”

The Elder removed his hand and said, “So you’re saying you’ll kill nine thousand of my warriors.”

Mike paused but said, “That’s a good estimate.”

“I was thinking fifty but will gladly accept your figure; however, I will not wager anything that I find unacceptable.”

“What about this? One of our species will eventually come out the victor in our head to head competition. Do you agree?”

“Of course; it will be us.”

“And I believe we will prevail. However, whoever wins will at the end do all they can to save the others’ mate.”

Tilly’s head jerked up and she said, “I will not accept that bet, Mike!”

Mike looked at her and said, “You’re not making it so be quiet.”

The Elder smiled, “She sounds just like my mate.”

“Do you accept the wager?”

The Elder laughed and said, “I do. It’s a fool’s wager and you should have thought it through. Once that city is cleared, we are going to blow that force field complex away and use our beams to kill your forces. I won’t lose one more of my warriors to make that happen. By the way, my mate’s name is Chendal.”

“And my mate’s name is Tilly Sanders.”

The connection ended and Tilly said, “I abhor your gambling with the lives of our warriors. I’ve never been so ashamed of you, Mike.”

• • •

The warriors on Sparta listening in to the conversation began saying their displeasure openly. They agreed with Tilly. Alex looked at the disgruntled soldiers and yelled, “Shut up! You might learn something.”

• • •

Mike hit his communicator, “General Daniels, did you hear my conversation?”

“I did, Sir.”

“Now you know how they’re going to attack your positions. I was hoping that Gracken Leader would agree to allow us to remove you but it appears they don’t respect or fear us enough to consider it. You have to change that.”

“Sir?”

“They are a warrior culture. They don’t think we can really hurt them. You have to show them they’re wrong so they will be open to future negotiations. I don’t care about winning the wager but it is important that you serve notice that he should have listened to my offer. I don’t know how you can do it but you must make them pay for not allowing us to take you! Do you understand?”

Derek stared at Mike on his helmets visor and smiled, “I appreciate you trying, Sir. I’ll see what I can cook up for them.”

“I know you’ll make us proud, General. I’m so sorry about putting you in this predicament.”

“If not now, it would have happened at some point. I think we’ve learned enough to better plan our future operations.”

“I’m going to add the fact that their heavy blasters have conventional blaster beams to the list we’ve made. That fact alone will save many of your brothers.”

• • •

Alex looked at the silent troops in the armory and said, “Now do you see the value of the Commandant’s wager?” The troops remained silent but found a new respect for their leader.

• • •

Tilly looked at Mike, “That was a stupid wager.”

“Tilly, look at our current situation and ask yourself this question; if those ships are going to attack us, when will they do it?” Tilly thought about the question as Mike added, “Filter in the possibility that I could possibly win the bet.”

Tilly’s eyes went wide and she shook her head, “You are brilliant! I didn’t see that.” Tilly rushed over and hugged Mike. He held her tightly and everyone listening in on the feed wondered what she saw.

• • •

A soldier at Ft. Athens said, “Sir, I don’t understand.”

Alex looked at the gathering and tried to control his laughter. He told them and the soldiers were shocked at the simplicity of the answer. Their respect for their Commandant went up immeasurably.

D
erek called Halley and the Company Commanders over for a meeting and while they were moving he replayed his video of the arrival of the Gracken Heavy Blasters. After three minutes he pressed his communicator, “Sir, may I ask your ship’s computer a question?”

“Certainly.”

“When the heavy blaster’s arrived, I notice that crews went to work on them. How long did they take?”

“About thirty minutes, General.”

“Thank you very much.”

Mike’s brow furrowed and he looked up, “What was that about?”

“I’m not sure.”

Mike looked at Tilly and she shrugged.

• • •

Derek looked at his officers and blew out a breath. “It looks like our party will be over in about two more hours. Our hosts will complete the removal of the buildings at that time and start bombarding our force field with the heavy blasters and the aircraft. The blasters will be just outside the range of our mortars and tank rounds but they should provide enough power to bring down the field. They will then hit us with their beams and our personal fields won’t withstand the barrage.”

The officers were silent until Belinda said, “Ok, if no one else will ask, what are we going to do about it?”

Derek smiled at the newly promoted Captain, “I intend to take as many of them as possible with us.”

Halley’s right eyebrow went up, “Just how are you going to do that?”

Derek looked at Romanov, “Major, weren’t your tanks updated before they were shipped here?”

“They were.”

“I’ve looked at the report and it says the wheels and tracks are made of a new alloy.”

“They had to be, Sir. The top speed has been increased to ninety miles an hour and they old ones couldn’t bear up to the heat of friction.”

Derek told them what he planned and they listened and asked questions. Finally, they all agreed it was a good plan. Derek turned to Romanov, “Will the new tracks make it through the lava?”

“If you wait about ten minutes, they should.”

Derek nodded and said, “I believe most of it will flow off to the left; that’s where the lowest point on the beach is located.” Romanov shrugged and Derek said, “Go and get your troops ready for this.” Derek turned and walked to the force field complex to have a discussion with Gremel.

• • •

The PC watched the systematic destruction of the city and waited for the final rubble and buildings to be blasted in front of the enemy’s ranks. It had taken three hours to get to the final line of structures and there was a half-mile wide lane blown into the former beautiful metropolis. The heat rising from the ground was high but the heavy blaster’s crews were protected behind their force fields. As the last line of buildings began to melt under the bombardment, the hundred and three heavy blasters began rolling away from the beach.