Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire (38 page)

The Chief shook his head. ‘Right now
I’m more worried about what the Albany are going to do than the
Humans. Besides, I hear most of them eat fruit and vegetables.’

‘
They are omnivorous
then.’

‘
So I
heard.’

‘
Uh! Fancy living on
a diet of fruit and vegetables and not grass. You would have to be
a billionaire to do that. Not good for you either, I
hear.’

The Chief gave him a doleful look. ‘I
think you hear too much. Let’s just concentrate on getting out of
here alive.’

The Humans shadowed the survivors until
their mission was complete. When the Humans left, they were able to
get in touch with their company and let them know what was
happening.

CHAPTER 47

Baxter had the Catatarac battle fleet
boxed in. As the Humans arrived they fired warning shots through
the fleet. Someone on the other side quickly got the message, and
ships that were charging their weapons suddenly stopped.

‘
Sir, we are being
hailed.’ An operator called.

‘
Put it on
screen.’

An ugly creature appeared. ‘Identify
yourselves. No wait. Don’t bother. You are Admiral Baxter, a Human,
are you not?’

Baxter was impressed and said so. ‘I am
impressed that you know me. I am afraid you have me at a
disadvantage.’

The creature seemed to smile. ‘You
really don’t know the names and faces of your potential enemies?
Maybe you are not as good as I have heard.’

‘
The whole damn
galaxy is our potential enemy. Would you have me remember the names
of all its senior commanders?’

‘
On that, you may
well have a valid point. I am Admiral Valachean of the great
Catatarac fleet. I don’t suppose there is any point in feigning
outrage or even lying about what we are doing here. But why are we
still alive? You outnumber us, and outgun us.’

‘
As yet our planets
are not at war.’

‘
The moment one of
those asteroids smash into your home world we will be.’

‘
That is true.
However, I can assure you we have enough forces and assets off
world to reciprocate. We also know exactly who is involved in this
little plot, and why.’

‘
I see. You would
target our home world?’

‘
Every world you and
your allies possess.’

An ugly hand scratched an ugly face.
‘Then you leave me with little choice but to withdraw all of my
forces involved with this operation. Will you allow us to
withdraw?’

‘
In a short
while.’

‘
I see. So you are
assaulting the other sites as well.’

‘
We most certainly
are.’

‘
The
Ranagata!’

‘
Will be given the
same options as you.’

‘
How about the
Albany?’

‘
Not a
chance.’

‘
You will kill them
all?’

‘
If we have the
time.’

‘
You would do well
not to shoot their escape pods Admiral. There are severe penalties
attached to such crimes in our part of the galaxy.’

‘
We are aware of
that. For your personal information, we didn’t shoot any of their
escape pods in our part of the galaxy either. We rescued everyone
we found after each battle.’

‘
Not that it did them
much good.’

Baxter conceded the point. ‘That is
true. Most perished within a short period of time, due to the
effects of our sun.’

‘
I have to say that
you are a fascinating race. Even if you do look a little
strange.’

‘
I personally think
you look piss pot ugly.’ It was out of his mouth before he could
stop it and Baxter hoped that the words would not
translate.

They did, only too well. Valachean
suddenly burst out laughing. ‘You know Admiral, I was once voted
the ugliest male on my planet, and the least desirable. Yet I have
one of the most beautiful women on my planet as my mate. She was a
fashion model. Do you know what that is?’

‘
Of
course.’

‘
You understand it
was my rank and standing in life that attracted her to me, not my
looks. I am envied by many. Now I have six children. A little
extravagant I know, but I do love them. Three of each. The girls
have taken the beauty of their mother while the boys are almost as
ugly as I am.’

Baxter looked round and quickly scanned
the screens locally. Valachean noticed. ‘Relax Admiral, I am not
trying to distract you. I am simply passing the time with small
talk. You are jamming all our communications, after all.’

Baxter snapped his attention back to
his adversary. ‘You must be a formidable foe.’

‘
I normally am. This
time though you have caught me flat-footed. It will never happen
again, believe me.’

‘
I do. I would also
like to apologise for my remark. It was unkind and
unwarranted.’

‘
It may have been
unkind, but it was not unwarranted. I am, after all, extremely
ugly. Even to those of my own race. Have you got a
family?’

‘
No, I never really
found the time.’

‘
Married to the
service.’

‘
I suppose you could
say that.’

‘
We have a saying:
those who give their life, love and soul to whatever service they
choose in life, are often the most formidable in
battle.’

‘
I have often thought
that there are far too many sayings flying about.’

Valachean laughed. ‘You and me both
Admiral. I will say that I have to admire your intelligence
services.’

‘
Doing a little
fishing are we, Admiral Valachean?’

It took a moment for Valachean to
understand the remark and he laughed. ‘Yes, I suppose I am.’

‘
Our intelligence was
third party.’

‘
You trusted
it.’

‘
Obviously. Just as
well, too.’

‘
Indeed.’

Baxter was curious, ‘May I ask how you
and the Albany planned to take over our planet? After all, hitting
it with an asteroid at faster than light speed would damn near
obliterate it.’

‘
Not quite Admiral.
It would vaporise on hitting your planet, and the shock waves would
obviously smash the mantle. Everything living on it would die in an
instant. Yet planets are extremely resilient. We would leave it for
a few years until the volcanic activity settled a bit, then we
would simply terraform it. We have technology that would stop
volcanic activity and repair the mantle. We would inject elements
into the atmosphere that would settle the volcanic ash. From there
we would remove any toxic gases from the atmosphere. Once that was
completed and the planet settled we would plant oxygen-giving trees
and then seed it with whatever grass we wanted. In a little under
ten years it would be producing high yields.’

Baxter was shaking his head, ‘I find it
hard to believe that any intelligent species would terminate every
species on a planet as full of life as Earth is, just to grow grass
for profit.’

‘
Oh, you had better
believe it Admiral Baxter. I admit, this would have been my first
time. Yet those who came before me did it many times. Especially if
the dominant species is a meat eating one.’ He leaned forward. ‘But
please don’t take that to heart. They have also done it to other
herbivores, if they were considered to be backward.’

‘
You mean not
technologically evolved enough to defend themselves?’

‘
That is exactly what
I mean.’

‘
Have your people
ever considered birth control to manage the population of your
people so that they do not run out of food?’

‘
Absolutely not. What
a disgusting idea. Do Humans practice birth control?’

‘
Yes we
do.’

Valachean held up an ugly finger. ‘Of
course, your race does not have a mating season. You just do it
whenever you feel like it. Do you also have multiple partners?’

‘
Some do. Some mate
for life. Others change partners if they discover they can no
longer life with a person.’

‘
Ah yes, divorce. It
is rare amongst my people. Yet it can happen. Tell me, do you
really protect all those different species that inhabit your
world?’

‘
It is what we are
doing now.’

Valachean leaned towards the screen as
if to try and look into Baxter’s eyes, ‘The amazing thing is, you
don’t seem like you are lying.’

‘
I can assure you I
am not.’

‘
Maybe your species
will bring a new enlightenment to the galaxy. If you
survive.’

‘
You had better hope
that we do.’

‘
If your planet falls
do you think that the Modloch Emperor will still protect you? There
is an unwritten rule in the galaxy, Admiral Baxter. A species
without a home world is no longer a species of worth. Your people
will be hunted down for the sake of sport. They will then be sold
to the highest bidder to make serum from so that they can exploit
your solar system.’

‘
If that day comes
then your species, the Albany and the Ranagata will all be rowing
in the same boat as we are.’

‘
Admiral, we have
defences against such things. You may well be able to destroy one
or two of our colonised planets, but never our home
world.’

‘
Do you really think
that you can withstand the force of a hundred thousand
asteroids?’

‘
You jest. No one has
those kinds of resources.’

‘
We do. I invite you
to scan my flagship. Check the materials it is made
from.’

Valachean barely hesitated. Alarms went
off behind Baxter as they scanned his ship. He ignored them.
Valachean was handed a tablet and he quickly scanned it.

‘
So you have a design
spec flagship. I am impressed, but it is not unusual. Most fleets
have at least one for their commander’s flagship.’

‘
This isn’t my real
flagship. I simply transferred my flag for this
operation.’

‘
I see, so you have
more than one. So what?’

‘
Scan my whole
force.’

Valachean was getting annoyed and
barked out an order. A few minutes later he was handed another
tablet. You could easily see the shock on his face.

He leaned over the tablet. ‘Your whole
force is design spec!’

‘
No. Every vessel in
every one of my fleets are design spec. That includes our
freighters.’

Valachean was in shock, ‘No one goes to
that expense, no one can afford it. Designers are notorious for
designing a vessel to be the best it could possibly be. What is
produced is a compromise between cost, materials and what the ship
is designed to be used for.’

Baxter shook his head. ‘We use Builder
technology in every step of construction. The process is completely
automated. All we have to do is select the type of ship required
and our shipyards spit them out. It doesn’t cost us a penny.’

Valachean was beginning to get annoyed,
‘This is a joke.’

‘
I don’t make jokes.
I have never been very funny either. If you don’t believe me, step
aboard. I will give you proof.’

Valachean thought it over. ‘We are not
at war, correct?’

‘
Not yet no. You will
be treated as befitting your rank, and as a guest.’

‘
I will see you
soon.’

The screen went blank and Valachean
screamed for his shuttle to be prepared. Despite protests from his
captains and staff, within ten minutes his shuttle had launched
from his flagship.

Baxter was waiting for him. Valachean
winced as he was piped on board. A hastily formed honour guard
presented arms.

Despite being ugly, Valachean was well
formed in height and limb. He hesitated beside one of the guards,
his eyes sweeping over the man and his weapons. ‘What is that?’ He
pointed.

‘
That is a bayonet.
You could describe it as a weapon of last resorts. We did consider
doing away with them, however the rank and file objected most
vocally. They are rather fond of them.’

‘
I can tell by the
smirks on their faces. Shall we proceeded, Admiral.’

‘
This way
please.’

Baxter took him to his quarters and
into his sitting room. Valachean wasn’t as large as a Modloch and
managed to wriggle into a comfortable chair. Baxter joined him and
kicked back.

‘
That looks extremely
comfortable.’

‘
Just lean back. This
isn’t a formal meeting. Relax. Would you like some
refreshments?’

‘
You have food that I
can consume?’

‘
We have no grass,
but plenty of fruit and vegetables that are consumable by most
races. We also have various teas and soft drinks that I know you
can consume.’

Baxter nodded to his steward, who was
hovering close by; the man dashed off. They had entertained many
aliens together and the man knew exactly what to do. Baxter picked
up the remote control and switched the large television on. He
selected a program from a list.

‘
This a program on
our ship building. Enjoy.’

The two admirals kicked back and
watched the program while picking at snacks. When it was finished
Valachean asked a few questions, which made Baxter pick another
video. Valachean had to contact his ship to tell them he was OK.
When that was finished Valachean sat in quiet contemplation.