Chapter 6: Where are they?

The iLOX commander led his forces quietly through the jungle towards their transport ships. The 'wolf-men' made very little sound considering their size, their unshod feet proving to have a number of fleshy pads on the soles. Commander Kratch had warned the troops about noise and not a word passed between them as they crept forward using hand signals to communicate.

Scouts were sent forward to investigate the ships and confirm that there were none of the hated Earthlings in the area. When the all clear was signalled, they covered the final few hundred yards and ran up the ramps into the ships, closing the rear doors behind them.

Kratch walked forward into the pilot's area of his transporter and took the Captain's seat. Another wolf-man joined him, sitting in the co-pilot's chair.

"I want it just as we discussed Gantz, take us forward slowly until we are out of this area, then we can wait until it's time to head for the second emergency rendezvous point." Said the Commander.

"At your command sir." Gantz replied.

The iLOX in the rear could feel their ship lift from the ground and slowly edge forward through the jungle, as they desperately tried to escape detection.

"Commander, what plans do we have for the Orientals? They have failed us, despite all the help we have given them over the years. Vital intelligence was lacking and that was the main reason these puny Earthlings managed to destroy so many of our pack." Gantz said.

"I have no doubt our leaders will want to repay our Chinese friends in some appropriate way Gantz. For now I want all of your concentration on getting us off of this planet safely."

"Your Grace, the iLOX ships are moving. It looks like they are trying to clear the landing area by heading further into the jungle rather than making a dash for space."

Scott looked up at the screen in his study to see the face of the XO in the Operations Room down the corridor. A second screen showed a computer-generated map of a portion of the Asian jungle with red lights flickering as they inched slowly across the map.

"Very well XO. Keep me informed of their movements and send General MacKelvie to my quarters as soon as he arrives." Scott responded.

"Aye, aye sir."

A knock on the study door drew Scott's attention and he rose to see who was there. When he opened the door he found Lachlan and he invited him into the room, offering him refreshments and a chair at the conference table.

"Your Grace, when was the last time you slept?" Lachlan asked after he was settled at the table.

Scott had to think before he could answer the question. He realised he had been awake for over thirty hours and the tiredness suddenly rolled over him. He stood and began pacing, stopping at the coffee pot to pour himself a cup of his favourite South American blend in the hope that the caffeine would push the sleep back.

"There's not enough time to sleep and respond to what's going on I'm afraid Lachlan.

"But a tired man makes mistakes your Grace and we certainly can't afford that."

"Lachlan, there are a million Chinese troops poised ready to invade Russia and we have nothing to throw against them. The iLOX are getting ready to make a dash for space and who knows when their cruisers might return for another attempt at taking us down. I can't sleep man."

Lachlan had spoken to William before entering the study. He now stood and approached an area of the panelling towards the rear of the study. He pressed the panel at several points before he hit the right one and the wall rotated to reveal a cot-bed.

"Your Grace, even a few hours will make all the difference. Please, rest, I will monitor the communications for you and wake you if anything desperately urgent comes up."

The sight of the cot was very inviting and Scott admitted to himself that Lachlan was right, he really needed some rest.

"I believe you have the rights of it my friend. It's a poor commander who can't take good advice from his captains. Wake me if there are any developments or at the latest when General MacKelvie gets here." Scott said tiredly as he climbed onto the cot and was almost immediately asleep.

Lachlan smiled at just how quickly the High King had dropped off. He looked round the room, monitoring the various screens and the control panel, but everything seemed quiet for the moment. Barely ten minutes passed before there was a knock on the door and Lachlan opened it to allow Mac to enter.

Lachlan held a finger up to his lips to indicate the General should be quiet and he pointed to the sleeping figure of the Ard Righ to explain why.

"I managed to convince him he needed to get some rest, he's been on the go for over thirty hours and it was starting to show." He told Mac.

"Good, as always he feels as if he can't rest until he has done his duty. Hopefully he can get a few hours in, but I'm worried about what we are going to do if the Chinese attack Russia." Mac replied.

"He said that we have no ground forces to throw against the Chinese, can that be true?"

"I know, it's frightening. The Earth has a population of over seven billion and our leaders didn't think we needed an army. Currently the planet's only defences are seven Broadsword spaceships and fourteen hundred Special Forces troops. Incredible, but sadly, true." Mac ended.

"Well, we can certainly swell the ranks a little." Replied Lachlan.

"How so my friend?"

"Tradition has meant each of the Earls of Scotland maintains a private army of men. It's a little tokenistic, but it's meant to demonstrate the ancient status of the Earls as sub-kings of Scotland. I think each of us has around two thousand men under arms." Said Lachlan.

"Saints be praised!" Said Mac, "twenty thousand trained men. That certainly swells the ranks as you say, but they're not going to be able to do much against a million Chinese. Even Scott wouldn't fancy those odds my friend and he has been known to attempt the ridiculous."

"Do we have any idea how well trained and how well armed the Chinese forces are? Is there any intelligence on what their goals will be, how they might deploy?" Lachlan enquired.

Mac began to really warm to the big man, his questions suggested he had a good tactical brain in his head.

"We're working on that even as you and I speak Lachlan. We have been eavesdropping on our little Oriental friends and trying to pick up what their plans are. So far as I can see they are armed with basic laser and maser rifles and what looks like conventional mortars, but I don't know what the shells contain. There's no sign of anything better than Kevlar body armour and no assault vehicles have been identified as yet."

"Quite a light force then," said Lachlan, "couldn't you just use one or two of the Broadswords to chase them off?"

"I've thought of that, but the terrain where they are gathering will provide excellent cover for them and it would be difficult for a Broadsword to pick them off in any surgical way. I'm afraid using infrared and other technology to target them wouldn't allow us to separate friend from foe. In all likelihood we would end up blasting the people we're trying to defend, the Russian civilians. The tunnels they will use will also protect them from the Broadswords pulse cannons and it would be too risky to use torpedoes or missiles."

"Well, if we can't defeat them, perhaps the next best option is to nullify their ability to attack Russia." Said Lachlan.

"Brilliant Lachlan! That's it, you've hit on the answer!" Said an excited Scott, sitting up on the cot.

The contribution of the High King startled the other two who had almost forgotten he was there.

"What answer your Grace, I was simply thinking out loud." Said a bemused Lachlan; not sure what Scott was getting at.

"No my friend, you said if we can't defeat them we should nullify their ability to attack. Mac, how many tunnels have we identified that the Chinese are using?" Scott asked, rising from the cot and beginning to pace up and down once more.

"We think there are over a hundred tunnels currently blocked off from public use your Grace. Those are the most likely jumping off points for the Chinese forces." Mac replied.

"What would our Chinese friends do if their underground routes were suddenly unavailable to them?" Scott asked.

Mac's face began to light up in a smile as he saw the simplicity of what Scott was suggesting.

"Probably one of two things your Grace. Either they would come up to the surface and try to move into Russia overland or they would call off their plans for now until they found another way." Mac answered.

"And if you were leading the assault, what would your decision be?"

"I'm not sure your Grace, there are a number of factors that could sway the decision. How well motivated my troops were and therefore how willing they would be to take the overland route - they would be very exposed. How badly I wanted to take Russia. What my ultimate goals were. All of these would be factors." Said Mac.

"Okay," said Scott, "the Chinese Prime Minister confirmed that their main goals were twofold. They have an ideological hatred of the Russians, so they basically want to wipe them off the face of the Earth. They also want access to the natural resources under the ground all over Russia. Chang told us that the iLOX had been watching the Earth for some time and had cottoned onto the fact that the Chinese were coveting Russia's natural wealth. It was that fact that led to the iLOX making contact with the Chinese and doing a deal with them. The Chinese were to get Russia and the iLOX were to get the rest of the planet."

Mac and Lachlan sat stunned at Scott's latest revelations about the links between the Chinese and the iLOX.

"Surely the Chinese are not that stupid to believe the iLOX would honour such a deal your Grace?" Asked Lachlan.

"It would seem that their greed made them blind to the nature of the beast they were dealing with Lachlan. I will say this, Chang made it clear that there was only an inner circle of the Chinese leadership that knew anything about the contact with the iLOX. The average Chinaman has no idea about that, merely about their leaders' plans to attack Russia."

"On the basis of this information I still think it's too close to call your Grace. The Chinese could go either way." Said Mac.

"Perhaps we can think up some other things to help tip them more towards one course of action than the other Mac, what do you think?"

Mac could see a twinkle in Scott's eyes and he knew the High King was up to his old games again. No doubt he had some ideas in mind already as to how to convince the Chinese to abandon their invasion plans for the moment. Mac felt his own face break into a broad grin - it was just like old times!

"I can tell you have something up your sleeve your Grace and I almost feel sorry for our Chinese friends because I know it won't be gentle!"

"Here's what I want you to do Mac." Said Scott.

Captain Bruce MacFergus sat in his chair on the bridge of the USS Dalriada. Beside him, in the co-pilot's chair, sat Tara, recently brought on board the ship to begin her training under MacFergus.

The ship had been stripped of virtually all of her fighters and other cargo and her bays were crammed full of jump reactors, drones, remotely controllable pulse cannon and other gear that they would need on their momentous journey.

The Milky Way was estimated to be about ninety thousand light years in diameter and perhaps two hundred and eighty thousand light years around its circumference. It is known to be a barred spiral galaxy with a number of 'arms'. The Solar System was situated in the Orion Arm, some twenty six thousand light years from the centre of the galaxy and nineteen thousand light years from the outer edge of the Milky Way.