Chapter 6

Victoria Station, Uganda May 25, 2031

"You seem displeased, General."

Suihn Abraxas, ground force commander of the Qiin forces in the less than euphoniously named Far Mining Sector 26, ignored his commander's question and stared down through the transparent floor of their shuttle at the seething mass of humanity. Oihn Dargon or, as he insisted on styling himself, Field Admiral Dargon knew exactly how Abraxas felt about his human recruits, particularly the ones currently massed around Victoria Station.

"It looks like the nations have met our increased demands," said Dargon mildly. "I would think you would be happier."

Abraxas growled, "I would be happier if we could convince the humans to take this war more seriously. If they're meeting the numbers we demand, it's only because they've found more dregs to foist on us. It's a mockery."

Dargon shook his head. For his human form, he'd chosen a white-haired, almost avuncular appearance, that of a retired warrior grown tired of war, "If we had better recruits, would you use them better?"

That got him another growl. When they'd been peers, Dargon would never have dared question his use of troops. Fleet had their own hierarchy as did ground and neither questioned the other. Unfortunately, Oihn Dargon, as his title indicated, was second in rank only to the Ihn, the emperor himself. As such, it was his job to question everything that happened in this sector. The disgrace of losing the fargate to the Akati would almost certainly mean a demotion for Dargon, but they would have to get home first. That was looking less and less likely.

"If you gave me better humans, I would use them as was their due," said Abraxas. His own form was a study in maximums and minimums—nearly eight feet tall and almost four across at the shoulders, covered in muscles. He was mostly hairless, "I must insist again that we demand the right to choose our recruits and accelerate our recruiting."

Dargon shook his head again, "If we push any harder than we already have, they will rebel again. Already, they press us hard for changes that will be hard to make."

Abraxas gave a snort, "They have more cities. And, we have more bombs. If they get too unruly, we can remind them why they need to do as they are told."

"We have a very limited number of city-killers left and no way to make more ... unless you'd like to teach the humans how to do it." Dargon rose from his seat and came to stand next to Abraxas. He clasped his hands behind his back and watched the new recruits pass beneath their feet, "You'll have your chance, old friend. We've more than quadrupled the number of free volunteers since the veterans returned. They will make a good officer's corps."

Abraxas turned away, "And who will they lead? Criminals and degenerates, the foolish, the damaged, and the broken. We are saving these humans from destruction and they are dumping their trash on us."

Dargon raised an eyebrow at him. The general knew it was a stretching of the truth to say they were saving humanity. At best, humans and Qiin were trying to save each other from a fate that the fleet had probably accelerated with its presence.

"The humans make reasonable warriors once they've been through the tanks and the trainers." Dargon looked down again, "They're fragile, but they don't lack for courage."

"That is an understatement ... on both counts."

Dargon turned to face him, "Well, if the human qiar are as bad as you say, their officers will have to lead Qiin."

It took Abraxas a few seconds to find his voice, "You can not be serious! Morale is collapsing as it is. If you try to make the men serve under humans, they will turn against us."

"They will not!" said Dargon sharply. "They are still Qiin. They will continue to serve me as the emperor's representative even if they are unhappy. They know that disloyalty will leave them Qijakati."

"How is being those-who-would-serve-anyone any different from being Qihuman? The humans are the only moderately advanced race in this sector and they're a mass of superstitious, mud-hugging simpletons. You can not seriously mean to say we should serve them."

"We are as we have been made," said Dargon quietly. "We serve. And it has been a long time since we've felt the presence of the Ihn. Since that first message, we haven't heard from the home world. The war may already be lost there. There may be no Emperor."

"I have ... considered that," admitted Abraxas, hating each word as he spoke it. "The war can not be going well if the Ihn has not reclaimed that end of the fargate. But, that's all the more reason we need to take this end and come to his aid."

"I agree," said the Oihn. "We merely disagree on the means."

"I would hardly call that 'merely, '" grumbled Abraxas. "Would you really have us be Qihuman—pets and slaves to them?"

"All options must be considered," said Dargon. "These are dire times."

Abraxas scowled, "Maybe we should ask some of the qiar to become ... dogs and cats and ... cows."

Dargon fixed his underling with a glare that let him know he was getting close to insubordination, "I don't believe the humans keep cows as pets, general."

"No, they are food-animals, Field-Admiral." He used the affectation with relish, "Like so many of the Qikkrek became."

Dargon waved a hand, looking tired, "Enough, General. You have made your point ... repeatedly. We will be maintaining our current policy. Engage the Akati from Proxima. Keep their attention there. Build a new fargate here. Continue to deal with the humans as we have been. We will not be militarizing the entire population. We will not be destroying any more cities. We will not be throwing our dwindling fleet away in an assault on the fargate. We will continue to build a new fargate in this system. Is that clear, General?"

Abraxas inclined his head, "It is, Oihn."

"Good," said the Fleet Admiral. "Today, I will be announcing the integration of our command structure with that of the humans."

Abraxas's aide-de-camp looked up sharply. It was the first indication he'd made that he was listening to the conversation at all. In the battle of the fargate, he'd been blown up along with the bridge of his ship and only recently regained sentience. Abraxas wasn't entirely comfortable with him. The newly recovered were unpredictable. But, he had been of equal rank with Abraxas at the time and the honor of serving a suihn was his due.

"We will not be reassigning any Qiin troops to serve under human officers at this time," said the Fleet Admiral. "But, I want them to get used to the idea that it may come to that. This engagement has not been kind to our officers' corps."