Curious Event ( Part Five)

With the debris still falling into the atmosphere, while the last ragged and damaged Intec ships were being emptied of their crews and Intel, Admiral Williams, Captain Tay, and Captain Sullivan descended to the planet. The mood was somber. The Admiral turned to Tay, ‘Captain, I don’t know if this is a surrender, or some attempt to delay our offensive. You have a great deal of faith in a single call with the Chief, a man under the control of our enemies. Still, your colleague agrees with you and your instincts have been good so far.’

Tay was already feeling the pressure. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was certain that something was badly wrong with what they knew. It felt like a dark hole in their Intel, an itch in her brain. Why did the galaxy have so little to say about the Intec? Why were they permitted to ravage and pirate without any real attempt to stop them? What the fuck was going on? ‘Sir, You can feel it, something is wrong here. The galaxy has been around for a long time, they didn’t need us to do this. Any of the big powers could have squashed them years ago. I think we deserve some answers.’

The rear of the shuttle was full of Marines. They kept their thoughts to themselves, unlike their smell, which reminded her of burning oil and sweat. She realized that they had probably been taking the Intec ships before being grabbed and sent on an escort mission.

She went back and found her Marine Sergeant, the one that had adopted Alex as a baby-marine slumped against the hull. ‘Good to see you again, Sergeant. How’s the boy doing?’ The man looked tired, but his chin lifted, ‘Captain, He’s guarding his sister like a bulldog with puppies. His head is in the right place now, except that he still believes that we are demons.’

Tay laughed, ‘He wouldn’t be the first to think that, now would he? I’m pretty sure the Intec would agree.’ The Sergeant nodded, obviously tired. ‘Yes Captain, and now we get to babysit the Admiral.’ He paused, aware that he might just have stepped over the line,

‘Sorry Captain, it's been a long day, no offense meant.’ Tay shrugged, ‘I didn’t hear a thing. I’m just glad you’re watching my back. We really, really don’t have a clue what’s waiting for us, if this is a trick, a truce or just a waste of time. A squad of Marines behind me is very reassuring. As it happens, this is my personal shuttle, equipped with many odds-and-ends, such as a huge coffee supply in locker two. Help yourselves.’ These men were trained for fast actions, they all had excellent response times and hearing. Teamwork and some heavy-duty pushing had pots of coffee filling the ship bay within moments. The Sergeant handed her a cup, ‘With our thanks, Captain.’

Roaden was getting increasingly worried. He could see that his status had changed, he had been allowed exercise and decent food, but now he seemed to be briefing the Intec on human surrender protocol. Not really his field of expertise, to be honest. What was worrying him most was that he had no idea of the destination. Then came yet another knock on the door. Perhaps this time he would find out…’

The Interrogator was waiting for him in his office. This time there seemed to be no panic, no fear in the air. Instead, he seemed calm, relaxed even. ‘ Chief, we have news for you. Our contacts with your Captain Tay have been useful and she has brought your Admiral to discuss these terms that you have told us so much about. We have decided to be Japan. You will tell them this.’

Roaden was a bit thrown by that. He had discussed much of the different surrenders in human history, but apparently he had missed the obvious. The bit where it wasn’t up to the loser to choose the terms. ‘Intec, that is not how this works. You may be prepared to accept that kind of model, and it is entirely possible that the XCC will accept it, at least if the Admiral asks them too, but it’s up to him. If he thinks you are insincere or unwilling to make the sacrifices demanded he may well just keep shooting. I would ask you to look at, for example, at a model that includes your active support against the pirate clans that infest your civilization.’

The interrogator nodded, ‘Indeed, we look forward to it. Alas, we have only governed from hiding, we do our best, but we will never have the military to crush them. Unfortunately, your human fleet has crushed what little power we had. If the pirates know that, they will feast on the few peaceful worlds that we hold and then die to your fleet. Then the Galaxy will finally have its victory and the Intec will be no-more.’

At this stage, Roaden was feeling lost. This was definitely not the holiday he had been expecting, and Tay was better at this stuff than he would ever be. Still, he had learned a lot. Certainly enough to see the questions that need to be asked. The first one was simple, the second less so. ‘Why do you think the Galaxy wants you gone? As far as I can tell, they pretty much leave you alone.’ The Intec made that weird whistling noise from its mask ‘ Engineer, they do not teach our history, but the Powers remember. They remember that they lead a genocide on our home, that they slaughtered the Tec. That they stole our space and made us invisible.’ The Intec sought the words carefully, ‘We embarrass them.’ Roaden nodded, familiar with the dynamic. Now for the difficult bit. ‘Why do you think we should give a crap? Why surrender to us? You know nothing about us, except that we despise your piracy and slavery and that we have wiped your ships from the systems.’

The Interrogator was obviously choosing his words carefully again. ‘Human, many have heard our story. We told you that you were not the first to attack in strength, and it is true. When we become unified, they always send someone. Always a young race, always full of rage. You are the first that seemed to care about what happened to our Tec. We are one with them, although now we keep them well hidden. They watched you, they listened and they trust that there is no evil in you. They do not understand our sins, but they are willing to see you as judges. They chose you. If our fate is in the hands of children, let them be at least happy children.’

Tay left the shuttle after the Marines had formed up, a ring of steel-alloy with an attitude all ready to go. It was a pity that, as far as she could see, there was nowhere to go. A vast, windy plain with a few prefab buildings dotted about. This was no pirate nation, this was the outback without the sunshine. She checked her coordinates, but they were right where they were supposed to be. Then one of the buildings stood up.

The creature was huge, beyond anything that earth had bred for eighty-million years. Even Earths’ megafauna, long since consigned to the history of mankind’s arrival, would have paled beside it. It sported roofs, ladders, and weapons. The ground shook at its approach.

..................................

The shuttle landed in the middle of nowhere and Roaden was led out of the ship, silently cursing about the wind. Then he decided to do it loudly, ‘Intec, I’m not dressed for this fucking place. The wind chill alone will kill me. Did you manage to grab my suit before you shot my shuttle out of space?’

The Intec appeared confused, ‘Human, your world is far worse than this, do not try and trick us.’

Roaden snorted, ‘ Sure. That’s why we have suits. I’m wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts right now because, you know, I was going on fucking holiday. Either put me back on the ship or let me get dressed.’ The Intec would explain later that they didn’t know what a Chief Engineers suit was capable of. Roaden put in on like he was a medieval knight dressing for war. For the first time since his capture, he knew he was going to survive. Or a least the Intec was going to pay a heavy price. ‘ You are prepared? The Tec wish to speak to you’