Ares Chronicles: What Comes After - Chapter 2: Parties and Strategies

What Comes After

Chapter 2: Parties and Strategies

Admiral Dennis Gray entered ceremony grounds under a small army of escorts consists of both staff and guards. Although he was looking for the Minister of the Interior, he was blocked by foreign dignitaries who are eager for photo opportunities. It took him some time to move past the crowd and locate the minister.

The minister was speaking to an Ishiman representative. Admiral Gray decided to wait till their conversation is complete.

He looked around. The lawn is filled with foreign representatives, alien dignitaries, human bureaucrats, reporters, guards, and other officials. Two large and long tables are on either sides of the ceremony grounds, filled with delicacies from a hundred worlds.

Not a single mosquito can be located on ceremony grounds. Workers employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for setting up the ceremony worked tirelessly overnight to establish a low-level force field around the ceremony grounds to prevent any insects from annoying the honored guests. Every now and then when the force field shows a distortion without someone passing through it, one can safely assume that another insect has just been zapped.

At the same time, large automatic fans placed at the distant corners of the ceremony grounds functioned quietly. Their purpose was to stir up a slight breeze and circulate the air.

The date was not picked at random either. Analysis of atmospheric moisture suggests that there is only a 12.45% chance of rain today. Even so, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes no chances. Enormous lighting fixtures are on standby to make sure that in case of rain when sun light may be dimmed. Artificial lighting will light up the ceremony grounds as bright as day.

The admiral looks at the stage. On the stage is a lectern and behind it is a long table. In a few moments, the president will walk onto the stage and announce the beginning of the signing ceremony through the sound amplifiers. Video relays will broadcast the images to all corners on Earth. Orbital satellites will then send the images to hyperspace video relays which will then send the images to alien worlds near and far.

When the Ishiman finally left, the admiral immediately approached the minister.

"How are you admiral?" asked the minister with a slight bow.

The admiral returned the bow and immediately whispered:

"Have you increased the guards?"

"Yes, but not by too much. We don't want to appear as if something's wrong."

The admiral nodded and asked:

"Force field?"

"At a moment's notice, we can increase its power to withstand several shots from a photokinetic beam. During that time, we can escape through the underground tunnel. It was dug last night so it won't be pleasant. But it'll be sufficient."

"I've given orders to our ships. They are on high alert today."

The admiral paused for a moment before asking:

"Any signs of their agents on the ground?"

"None so far, we're trying to sweep the city. But there's only so much we can do before someone suspects that something's wrong."

"What about a ship?"

"Nothing so far on that front, either. The Ishimans suggest that even a stealth ship will leave some sign on our sensors if it tries to leave the atmosphere. So far, our sensors picked up nothing."

"Which might suggest that the agent last night is still on the ground."

The minister nodded thoughtfully. Then he asked:

"Did he say anything more?"

"No."

"No hints on his intentions?"

"None whatsoever."

"How could he have entered without triggering any security measures and evade all the guards?"

The admiral shook his head.

"Before I left, security was still scanning my house millimeter by millimeter. They haven't uncovered anything yet."

"Perhaps some sort of personal stealth field?"

"The Ishimans suggested that it's impossible. He would need a rather large power generator. Besides, even if it's possible, the guards would at least hear him open a door or a window to get in."

The minister shook his head slightly.

"Well, I see that the Bazidanese delegate is coming this way. I'll let you handle him. I'll go for a drink over there."

The minister smiled and nodded. The admiral then made his way to a table on the side of the ceremony grounds.

The admiral managed to make his way to the table. As he picked up a glass, his mind suddenly flashed back to a morning as brilliant as this one...

***

"...The opportunity of first contact...mankind's dream...We stand on the brink of writing a new chapter of history..."

Someone tugged at him. He looked in that direction. It was his wife. She made that adorable smile and directed her eyes to the speaker on stage.

It was the president.

Commander Dennis Gray really could not be faulted for almost falling asleep. He spent all day yesterday listening to lectures from all kinds of experts.

A week from today, he and a select crew will begin training to operate mankind's largest space-faring vessel ever built: the Apollo.

Actually, he and the crew were trained to operate the ship ever since the day when the project was announced. However, only after today will he get the opportunity to operate the ship itself. Before this day, he only worked with models and simulations.

Actual training operations was scheduled to last 3 weeks before the ship would be sent on its way to the Ishima System. To encounter the intelligence that sent the cryptic message that no scientist, linguist, and cryptologist on Earth can decipher.

The only headway experts made was that the message was definitely not some random background noise. The message structure showed a high degree of organization. What was actually contained in the message was a mystery.

And he was chosen to help solve it.

Over the past 7 years, he and his team had been trained in every detail from ship operations to the fine arts of diplomacy. Hundreds of experts from every conceivable field ranging from cooking (After all, the Apollo couldn't carry 5 years' worth of food. The ship contains its own hydroponics bay. Astronauts were expected to not just become botanists and farmers but also chefs as well.) to ethnic studies ("To help you appreciate an alien culture, one must begin by appreciating cultures on Earth that can be as alien to you as one that lives on another planet.") gave them crash courses on how to survive alien environments, avoid misunderstandings, adapt to irreparable mechnical failures that the Apollo might suffer,...etc.

In 3 weeks, the mission will be officially launched. Today, the ceremony is to celebrate the completion of the Apollo.

***

An aide signalled to the admiral. He looked at the stage. Some time ago, the crowd around him suddenly became silent. The president is walking onto the stage.

***

"Now, allow me to introduce to you the heroes of our time, the first human beings who will make the first encounter that will leave so many past human achievements in the dust..."

The admiral had forgotten to clap even when applause surrounded him. All he could think about was that beautiful day more than 150 years ago...

The commander was ready. At the mention of his name, he would immediately stand, walk up the stage, shake the president's hand, face the audience, grin, bow,...etc. In short, just like he had been trained to do over and over again.

***

Someone tugged at him. The admiral turned but instead of seeing his wife, he saw the familair face of one of his aides. Apparently, he was perceptive enough to see from the admiral's eyes that he was light years away. Actually, he was just 150 years away.

The representatives of the alliance governments are now ascending the stage. With the pronouncement of each name comes the obligatory applause from the audience.

"Now we cement our friendship," continued the president as soon as all the representatives are on the stage and standing behind the table. "With a treaty of alliance pledging our undying loyalty to one another. We take a solemn oath that our mutual trust is so great that no force in the galaxy can be strong enough to break it. We pledge ourselves to one another, that we are willing to shed our lives to defend one another. We promise to present a untied front for a our foes so that no one can mistake the fact that humans, Elejeetians, Ishimans, Obiards, and Bazidanese are like one people. That an attack against one is an attack against all..."

***

The Salrilian agent smiled.

***

The president turned and walked behind the table. A stack of documents are at the center of that table. He picked up the pen and signed it.

The admiral knew that the blue ink in the pen contains a mixture of the blood of all the representatives. Obiards had the custom that a blood oath must be sealed in blood. They insisted that their ancient tradition must be honored before the treaty can be signed.

One after another, the alien representatives signed. The admiral thought that there was a very slight hesitancy on the part of the Obish representative between the time he picked up the pen to actually landing his signature on the document. Maybe it was just his imagination.

Suddenly, the ground shook. Slightly, but certainly noticeably. It was accompanied by a distant rumbling...

***

It is now. The admiral barely had a look at the direction the rumbling sounds came from before some aides immediately pulled him towards the escape path hidden under the stage. Diplomats and guests screamed while being led by guards rushing toward the underground passage. Chaos reigned at the ceremony grounds. He took one last look at the direction the rumbling came from and noticed that a familiar mountain disappeared...

***

"The alliance still has too many ships guarding their border with us. If they remain suspicious of our intentions, they'll never pull away enough ships to fight the Cantharans. We need to convince them to withdraw those ships," said one director.

"Perhaps we should make ourselves much less of a threat," suggested another director.

"What do you mean?" asked the former director.

"The ships are there because they still view us as a serious threat. I suggest that we take ourselves out of the picture," answered the second director.

***

Never has Admiral Gray seen so many Alliance ships gathered in one star system. Indeed, no one can recall seeing such an enormous fleet gathered in a single star system.

The explosion felt by the the admiral and the guests was caused by a Salrilian shuttle that was discovered by a team of searchers. Soon after they reported finding the ship, the explosion occurred, leveling an entire mountain. Luckily, it was far from the city. But the entire search team of 9 humans and an Ishiman were incinerated.

On the same day, an Elejeetian long range probe picked up a fleet of Salrilian and Audemedon ships entering a jumpstream. By plotting their direction, the Elejeetians reported that their most likely destination is the Sol System. The fleet consists of 10 Salrilian carriers, 50 Audemedon carriers, and thousands of Audemedon escorts. The lack of any transports only alarmed the alliance. Perhaps the enemy does not intend to conquer, they intend to annihilate.

Although the Salrilians and the Audemedons have been repeatedly defeated before, they still remain formidable adversaries. Never before has the alliance encountered such an enormous enemy fleet.

Transports have been delivering troops to Earth and carrying away civilians. But even at the furious pace that they are operating under, most civilians will still be stranded on Earth when the enemy fleet arrives. The devastation this fleet can wreak will probably make the initial Cantharan bombardment look like harmless fun.

The only hope of preventing a massacre is to defeat the enemy fleet in space. To that end, every race dispatched as many ships as they can offer in 6 days.

Perhaps what most excites Gray about the situation is the Elejeetian dreadnought.

The mothership is the only vessel that the Elejeetians offered. Although Gray asked for a small demonstration of its power on the pretext that he needed to know its strength in order to assign it the proper role in the alliance defense fleet, the Elejeetians replied that when the enemy fleet arrives, he will see the demonstration at work.

Therefore the dreadnought orbits Venus (It was originally assigned to orbit Earth. But civilians complained about the enormous shadow it casts over the planet. Therefore it was re-assigned to orbit Venus.) lazily, awaiting the arrival of the enemy.

The mothership was larger than any vessel Gray has ever seen. Actually, larger than any vessel anyone can recall ever seeing. Even the alien races expressed awe and disbelief at the sight of a vessel of such size. Much larger than the Cantharan and Ishiman gateships combined, leading to suspicions that whatever this ship can do, it can probably generate a jumpstream by itself. The question is: What else can it do?

The Elejeetians replied that the question will be answered when the enemy fleet arrives.

"They might have superior technology, but they obviously don't have superior aesthetics sense," commented one of the officers.

True, Gray hated the analogy of Elejeetians ships as vast coffins floating in space. But the fact that fighters take minutes to circle the Elejeetian dreadnought makes him confident that the dreadnought will be pivotal in destroying the enemy fleet.

***

"Sir, message coming in from Naval Command," reported a lieutenant.

"Send it through," ordered the admiral.

The blank screen was immediately replaced by the image of Admiral Nelson.

"Admiral, we just received a message from the Elejeetians. Another one of their probes just picked up the enemy fleet again. They should be here any minute now."

"Acknowledged."

The screen went blank.

But instead of a field of stars, many of the stars are moving!

"Spatial distortions!" exclaimed a lieutenant.

"Send to all ships, battle stations."

***

The distortions soon subsided, spewing out a fleet of ships. Suddenly, the screen is filled with a field of golden ships, large and small. Occasionally, stars went dark, covered by a Salrilian carrier.

The Audemedon cruisers raced one another, eagerly charging towards the lines of the alliance fleet.

"We will enter their weapons range in 1 minute and 15 seconds," reported a lieutenant. The admiral noticed that the lieutenant's voice was a bit shaky but decided against pointing it out.

"Lock weapons on enemy ships, prepare to engage the enemy. Open a channel."

"Locking weapons, aye."

"Aye sir, channel open."

"This is Admiral Gray, commander of Alliance forces defending Earth. Halt your approach immediately."

There was no answer. The enemy fleet continued their menacing approach.

"Your presence here is a clear sign of aggression against the Alliance. Halt your approach immediately or we will open fire!"

Still silence.

"No change in the behavior of the enemy," reported a lieutenant.

"We will enter their weapons range in 15 seconds," reported another lieutenant.

The admiral noticed that his heart is beating slightly faster than usual. Despite the fact that he fought all the way from Ishima to Earth, he is still uncomfortable about combat. Then again, how many people are comfortable with war?

There was a slight sense of anticipation on the bridge of the ship. In a few seconds, the largest battle anyone has yet seen will commence. In a few seconds, thousands will be slaughtered faster than one can blink an eye. In a few seconds, the fate of the newly formed Alliance will be decided. In a few seconds-

The admiral suddenly noticed that the timer on the bridge is displaying a curious message:

"We are here for peace."

"Sir!" A lieutenant's scream immediately distracted him. "The Audemedon cruisers have halted their approach!"

The admiral immediately looked at the screen. Sure enough, the advancing Audemedon cruisers are standing still. In fact, they suddenly turned and are now withdrawing!

The Audemedon and Salrilian carriers, accompanied by Audemedon gunships, are fast approaching. The admiral was confused. Why would they advance only to withdraw? If they don't want to attack without their capital ships, why would they race forward in the first place?

Then he remembered the message.

"Did anyone see that?" He pointed at the timer but the message has already disappeared.

Before anyone could answer the question, another lieutenant suddenly shouted:

"Admiral, the Salrilians are hailing us!"

"Put them through."

"I am the Director of External Affairs of the Prophets of Salril and member of the Steering Committee. I am here, under orders from my government..."

The Salrilian paused for a while, as if he is having difficulty trying to continue. Nevertheless, he added:

"To negotiate terms of our surrender."

- htjyang

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