Chapter 17

“I mean, the ones on trial are not like me in any way: they’re a different kind of human being. They live in a different world, they think different thoughts, and their actions are nothing like mine. Between the world they live in and the world I live in there’s this thick, high wall. At least, that’s how I saw it at first ... I became a lot less sure of myself. In other words, I started seeing it like this: that there really was no such thing as a wall separating their world from mine. Or if there was such a wall, it was probably a flimsy one made of papier-mâché. The second I leaned on it, I’d probably fall right through and end up on the other side. Or maybe it’s that the other side has already managed to sneak its way inside of us, and we just haven’t noticed.”

― Haruki Murakami, After Dark

“I can see a spaceport but there are no defensive platforms. I assume you searched for missiles and mines?” Jason asked.

Yoyo nodded his head and smiled.

“There are fifteen capital ships along with their escorts. They all have their shields switched off,” said Andrea, “and there are another twenty-five ships in the solar system. The planet is as polluted as a primitive planet.”

Andrea raised her eyebrows.

“How many troops are you going to land?” Linda asked.

“I don’t want to take any chances; I am landing thirty-million troops in the first batch and then I have a similar number in reserve,” said Yoyo.

“Now the fun begins” — Yoyo moved the hologram to show close-ups of the capital ships — “the ships are cheaply made, and the one we captured was filthy. The Pirates looked fierce but gave up much more easily than we expected.”

Explosions engulfed all the bigger ships, then the next size and then progressively engulfed smaller ships.

“That is the power of the small missiles. They didn’t spot them. We haven’t needed to fire a single shot or use an anti-ship missile. That is the end of their visible ships.

Yoyo turned and split the hologram. On the one side they saw gunships and assault frigates heading for the ground and on the other side they saw pictures of the landing sites.

There was a walled enclave with luxurious villas surrounded by smaller houses. The area beyond was a mishmash of tiny houses, shacks and slums. A pall of smoke hung over much of the city. The city extended out twenty-five miles from the central hub.

“In answer to your unasked questions, no we have found no evidence of an underground city. They have few portals and no public transport. Very few people travel far from where they live. Most of the slaves live in the slum areas and if they want to eat, they must go to work. The slaves help each other as only half of them can afford food. Many are seriously malnourished.”

“Our people are hitting the ground” — Yoyo pointed at several landing sites as assault carriers and gunships debarked troops and tanks —”I am delighted to see the Gromelix and the Parzool are participating in this campaign. Those giant gunships will scare the daylights out of anyone. A full-sized Dragon and Tyrannosaurus Rex carrying heavy weapons is enough to terrify anyone,” said Linda.

Corvus smiled. “The Pirates have had it their own way for a long time, today they face an unexpected and terrifying nemesis.

“Look at the people running. I haven’t seen any evidence of defenses except in the central area. I can see a few enemy troops. We breached the walls in multiple locations. The response is minimal to non-existent. Our frigates shot down five or six shuttles.

“There is sporadic fire in the central area, but our tanks knock out the resistance easily. There are no fortified positions. I assume that central building is where the dictators do their thing. There is not much response from that building either. Our people are pouring in.

“How many people fit in one of the transdim capture rings?” Corvus asked.

“They carry a band around the smallest finger of the armor. They have one on the right hand and one on the left. Each band can hold two hundred and fifty people. We wanted to make sure we mopped them up quickly. We will leave the slaves here, provide them with food and send the less obnoxious pirates to a much less pleasant planet. We have enough pods and AI processing capacity to process a million pirates every two hours. We are concentrating on the three core planets today. Most of our important customers will be found here, fewer on the other two major planets and very few on the other planets.

“We will wipe out the enemy fleets today, but as agreed we will leave the minor planets for the tribes to handle once they have sorted themselves out. There are forty large cities on this planet and a hundred cities of one to four million people. There are many smaller cities and tens of thousands of villages. We are going to deal with the bigger cities and the tribes will handle the rest. They have practiced planetary invasions but have never done one against an enemy. They need the practice.”

“The cities have garrisons allegedly to protect the city, but their major role is to support the ruling class. We are now in control of cities. The military response to us was poorly organized and limited. There is something odd about what has happened,” said Yoyo.

“We should have the interrogation reports of the pirate King and the infiltrators, I will chase them up,” said Linda. “This was like invading a planet more primitive than Earth!”