Bright Horizons (16 page)

“What
did your family say?”

Alex
laughed. “Emily was pissed. She said that Dad would have kicked my butt for a
stunt like that. My Mom made me a bunch of my favorite sandwiches and just
smiled when she came to visit me in holding.”

“And
Hovey pressed all charges,” Williams said.

“Actually,
no. He was in a coma until after I had already been processed. The military
took jurisdiction and the DA was happy to let them have me. I got fifty years
for assault and battery, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and
resisting arrest. They likely could have got attempted murder if they wanted.
If those guys had been a bit slower in pulling me off of him, I would probably
be in a civilian prison serving out a murder two sentence.”

Williams
leaned forward and looked at Alex. “Hovey is an ass.” He picked up his book and
began reading again.

Alex’s
jaw dropped open as if he were going to say something, then he smiled, looked
at Kyle and shrugged. Kyle shrugged back and went back to his book.

The
next several days, the men stayed mostly quiet. The weight of what they were
attempting to do weighed on each of them, and room for frivolity and earnest,
somber discussions was pushed aside to make room for intensity.

“Mark
one minute until dropping out of warp. When I kill the warp field engines, you
need to start getting the ion engines heating up in that moment. We can’t reset
the warp engines until the ion engines are at full capacity,” Alex reminded
Kyle.

“We
will wait for your mark. Carl, blow the clamps at mark plus one,” Kyle reminded
Williams.

“Yes,
sir,” Williams said. “Sensor recording live as of now, let’s get some good data
for the folks back home.”

“Mark
ten seconds,” started Alex “Nine… eight… seven…”

The
seconds seemed to take forever.

“two…
one… Mark!”

The
warp engines dropped the field and Kyle punched the button to start the ion
engines. He looked up at the long range sensors and spotted a very large ship a
mere 60,000 kilometers away.

“They
took the bait,” he thought as he felt the sled shudder from the explosives
sheering off the clamps. He hoped all five sets of charges had completely
detached the Geneva.

“Ion
engines online,” said Kyle as the control button on his console shifted to
green.

“Geneva
is clear of the clamps,” Williams said.

Kyle
fired the top side thrusters to push away from the doomed cruiser.

“Waiting
for warp engines to go online,” Alex said. The strain in his voice was evident.

“Enemy
has fired a weapon, they had it charged up it looks like,” Williams said.

“Clear
of the Geneva, go when ready Alex,” said Kyle just as the Fitzgerald jerked
hard.

“Warp
on,” said Alex at the same moment.

The
ship lurched and recoiled several times as the warp field kept collapsing. An
explosion violently shook the vessel.

“Engines
four, six and twelve have blown!” shouted Williams over the noise.

Kyle
looked at the sensors as he held onto the armrests of his chair. The Geneva had
been completely ripped apart and the debris field was quickly moving towards
the enemy ship. Just then a huge explosion filled the sensor screen and Kyle
and Williams were knocked from their chairs.

“I
can’t keep the warp field stable!” shouted Alex.

Kyle
pulled himself up to look at the console. The external sensors were absolutely
dead and the lights on the bridge flickered ominously. Kyle realized at that
moment that the shaking and jerking of the ship had stopped. He looked over at
Williams who was on one knee looking at his screen.

“Life
support is stable, but we have multiple hull breaches. Ion drives are down, but
the capacitors are still charged.”

“We
have warp field stabilizing,” Alex sighed as he sat back from the console. “We
made it. We are going to get to the rendezvous.”

Williams
swooned back into his seat. “Thank you, God. Engines one and ten held. All the
others are toast.”

Kyle
sat back in his seat. Two engines were what they needed to generate a warp field
large enough to move the sled. Two engines.

Chapter 17

5 July 2044

Kyle was
napping when the intercom woke him.

“General
Martin, are you available for a visitor?” asked the nurse on duty outside of
his room.

“Who
is it?” Kyle asked groggily.

“A
Mister Franklin Smith, he says you will want to see him.”

“Yes,
send him in,” said Kyle as he sat up on his bed. Alex, Williams and he were on
day four of a five day stay in the anti-radiation ward of the Mayo clinic. None
had shown signs of radiation sickness, and their levels were fine when they
boarded the Shakespeare, but precautions had to be taken due to the levels of
radiation that the Fitzgerald had been exposed to. The radiation levels on the
heavily damaged sled were so high that it was left sitting in deep space about
half a light year from Helku after the mission.

Kyle
was wrapping his robe around himself and walking to the small sitting area in
his room when he heard the door open. Smith walked in and closed the door.

“General
Martin, so glad to see you again,” Smith said with a smile.

“Good
to see you as well, Mister Smith. Please have a seat,” Kyle said motioning to a
comfortable easy chair.

Smith
crossed the room and sat in the indicated chair as Kyle sprawled out on the
love seat under the windows.

“They
tell me that neither you, nor Alex Ramirez, nor Carl Williams are in danger
from the radiation you encountered,” Smith said. “But they still wouldn’t let
me bring flowers in.”

“Flowers?”
asked Kyle. “Why would you bring me flowers?”

“From
the American media. Bringing flowers to someone in a hospital seems to be a
common cultural courtesy, is it not?” Smith’s brows furrowed together.

Kyle
smiled cheerfully at the alien. “Yes, sorry, I’m just not used to many people
remembering that when it comes to myself being in the hospital.”

“I
left them with the first desk I came to. Perhaps you can take them when you
leave here.”

“Thank
you Mister Smith, I’m sure they are lovely. In fact, I will have my daughter
pick them up when she comes to see me this evening,” Kyle replied. “But I am
positive that you did not come all the way to Minnesota to bring me flowers.”

“I
wish it were that simple, but I have actually come to give you some news which
you will appreciate, and some words of caution.”

“Why
don’t we start with the news, Mister Smith.”

“Your
plan worked at Helku. Mostly. The gravitational weapon was destroyed and the
Iltia’cor High Command is in a panic. It seems that their supreme military
leader was on board the ship at the time. It also seems that they were filming
and transmitting the ambush to show other races who dared opposed them. I don’t
think the images that were sent to the other races conveyed the message they
were hoping for,” Smith said.

“I
would think not. How much was broadcast?”

“All
of it, they had some cameras set up about 80,000 kilometers away to catch the
whole area of space. It’s a great angle of everything, including the explosion
of their ship. I’ll have it sent over. I must admit I wasn’t for sure if the
sled got away or not, it was severely damaged when the bombs started going
off.”

Kyle
nodded. ”We may have underestimated how big of an explosion it would be.”

“I
can see where you might want to err on the side of too much rather than too
little at that point.”

“You
said ‘mostly’, Mister Smith. What did you mean that the plan worked ‘mostly’?”
Kyle inquired.

“Unfortunately,
an enormous amount of highly radioactive debris is about six months away from
raining down on Helku. The people of the planet are extremely glad to see the
Iltia’cor leave, but they are going to lose their planet. At least for several
hundred years.”

Kyle
gritted his teeth. “The law of unintended consequences always has a way of
intruding on triumph, no matter where it is found.”

Kyle
stood and started pacing.

“Can
we move the people of Helku off their planet and set them up elsewhere?” Kyle
asked Smith.

“I
think that is entirely possible, and with the Iltia’cor no longer an issue, I
would say that you could begin evacuating them in a short period of time,”
Smith answered.

“The
Iltia’cor are no longer an issue?”

“Yes,
that was the major point of news I was going to inform you of. The Iltia’cor
have withdrawn from all alien worlds and have started gathering in the Iltia
system.”

“When
you say they have withdrawn, you mean their military has ceased oppressing the
people of the rest of the held worlds?”

“Yes.
Also, all of their merchants, scientists, travelers, diplomats… every Iltia’cor
is heading back to their home system,” Smith said.

“Have
they sued for peace or asked to speak to Earth’s representatives?”

“No.”

“We
have tried to communicate with them, but they never respond. Why?” Kyle asked.

“To
them, this particular war is over. That is why they have withdrawn to their
system. They will analyze why they lost, study your war efforts and rebuild in
order to engage you again.”

“The
hell they will!” shouted Kyle as he stepped towards Smith.

Smith
smiled and shrugged. “You used the phrase ‘the law of unintended consequences’,
and I believe the Iltia’cor are about to experience that completely,” Smith
said with an oddly smug looking smile on his face.

“What
did I miss? What do you mean the Iltia’cor are about to experience the law of
unintended consequences?”

Smith
leaned forward in his seat. “Tell me General, did Earth ever sign the Treaty of
the Stars?”

“I’ve
never heard of that. What is it?” Kyle said sitting back down.

“It’s
a treaty that all interstellar capable races agree to. It says that you will
abide by the rules and by the standards of Galactic Law.”

“Galactic
Law? Wait, why have we never heard of this before?”

“To
be honest, General, because of the Iltia’cor. They sit on the Lower Council and
have rights to stop actions that they feel are inappropriate. Because you lack
mosar they argued that you were not truly ‘living’ beings as described in the
law. By the time the rest of the Council was convinced that you should be
contacted, they had already attacked Earth.”

Kyle
sat there stunned. “What if we had been contacted?”

“If
you were a signatory to the treaty, they could not have invaded your home
system,” Smith said.

“But
they invaded the Hedali’s home system…”

“They
used a loophole in the law for that. The Hedali violated the law on handling
prisoners and because of that violation, the Iltia’cor were able to establish a
military presence until the violators were put on trial and punished.”

“That’s
why Lon was still alive. As long as he lived, and they didn’t put him on trial,
the Iltia’cor could keep their ships in their system.”

“Correct,
General. They had declared it a criminal investigation, not an invasion.”

Kyle
thought for a second. “Correct me if I am wrong, Mister Smith, but if Earth is
not a signatory of the treaty, then the treaty does not protect us.”

“That
is true.” said Smith.

“However,
since we have never signed the treaty, we are not constrained by the treaty,
either.”

“An
unintended consequence of the Iltia’cor preventing you from being approached by
the Council,” Smith replied.

“I
see. Would invading the Iltia’cor system cause problems for us if we were to
later decide to sign the treaty?” Kyle asked.

“That
is an answer I cannot give you, but I might be able to let you speak to someone
who could answer that, if you would like,” Smith answered.

“Who?”

Smith
smiled and set a small silver disc on the coffee table. “A’nacal would be glad
to speak with you, if you so desire. He is on the Higher Council.”

“How
would I speak with him?” Kyle asked. “Would I have to go to him, or would we
meet somewhere neutral?”

Smith
touched the side of the disc and an image sprang up. It looked like a brown
length of fabric draped over the back of a chair.

“A’nacal?”
Smith asked.

A
very purple, very alien looking face swung in front of the image. “Earth
language? English? Must be my meeting with the Earthmen. What do you mean it’s
on? Well turn it off!”

Kyle
heard something, probably an alien language, cut across the words at times and
then the image went blank.

He
looked at Smith and pointed at where the image was.

A
few seconds later the image reappeared with the same face now centered in view.

“I
am sorry, I think we had some technically difficulties there. Let’s begin once
more. My name is A’nacal and you must be General Kyle Hubert Martin, is that
correct?” the image asked.

“Yes,”
said Kyle, clearly at a loss as to what else to say.

“Well,
General Martin. I am glad to speak with you. It seems that you have been busy
making a mess around your edge of the galaxy. I appreciate a new neighbor with
a sense of passion and adventure.” A’nacal said.

“Thank
you, but I can assure you that it was not our intention to make a mess. We are
just trying to protect ourselves.”

“And
others as well. What a breath of fresh air, as you would say. In one of your
sacred texts, you have a man asking of his creator ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’
It seems that Earth has answered a resounding “yes” to that question, at least
when it comes to the Hedali, the Pelod, the Calarians, and the others the
Iltia’cor have conquered. Tell me, General Martin, does this come naturally to
Earthmen? Because if so, then you must be very successful in suppressing this
desire to help one another based on your history of war.”

“I
suppose some men find it an easier impulse to turn off than other men,” Kyle
answered.

“No,
General Martin. The fact is that most Earthmen would not answer ‘yes’ to this
question, they would answer ‘no’. Your faith in your race is commendable, but
it is not adequate. I assume that Smith, as you know him, has told you of the
bind that the Iltia’cor have found themselves,” A’nacal continued.

“Yes,
he explained it pretty clearly.”

“Good,
good. The Iltia’cor have asked the Lower Council to interfere. Some of their
peers want to, but the Higher Council interceded on your behalf. The Iltia’cor
stand alone against Earth. They picked this fight, and you fought back. I
personally find it a great irony, and I love a great irony.” A’nacal made a
noise that Kyle took to be a laugh.

“But
there are some restrictions we will put on you. Do you understand that these
are not negotiable?” A’nacal asked.

“I’m
willing to listen to what you say, but not willing to give my word we will
accept it,” Kyle replied.

“Then
listen. First, Earth will sign the Treaty of the Stars after you have dealt
with the Iltia’cor. You will be required to learn and follow Galactic Law after
that point. Second, non-military targets may not directly or indirectly be in
your assault on the Iltia system. The fact that the Iltia’cor targeted some of
your non-military facilities in their assault on Earth is the primary reason we
have forbidden the Lower Council to interfere. Third, when the Iltia’cor
concede in a formal manner to Earth, we will have one more restriction to put
into place. I promise it will not be onerous nor in any manner dangerous to
Earth, but we must establish precedence in this situation so that no other race
decides to follow the actions of the Iltia’cor.” A’nacal settled back into his
seat and waited.

Kyle
was concerned that there was something he was missing in what A’nacal said, but
he couldn’t seem to find any wiggle room in the straight forward words.

Kyle
finally spoke. “A’nacal, thank you for taking the time to speak with me today.
I believe that there is nothing in your restrictions that would not be amenable
to our diplomats. We, of course, will need to read the Treaty of the Stars and
decide on our own whether to sign it or not. And we will decide in our own
interest whether the final restriction is something we can live with. But I
think you will find us reasonable and good neighbors.”

“The
Junniji had some very astute observations about you, General. I mean Earthmen
in general, but also you General, in specific.” A’nacal paused. “Your language
is quite ridiculous, General. Are you aware of this?”

Kyle
nodded. “I have observed that myself on occasion.”

“The
Junniji compiled the report for us on what happened to precipitate the
Iltia-Earth conflict. They were able to interview several of the Iltia’cor who
were in the room when Kiltao Bregan decided to kill Doctor Emily Troy. Do you
know why he did this, General?”