Chapter 17

Howard had the damage report. "Jennifer our portside phasors are in very bad shape. Ten of twenty-one are non functional. The ten damaged phasors are scattered around our portside. If we get into a fight, we cannot use any of our portside phasors. I can make the repairs here, but it would take about ten days."

"Did we lose any capacitors?"

"Yes, we lost three."

Jennifer asked, "What do you recommend?"

"I would prefer to return to the Panda planet. I could get help from very experienced people. And I would have a better lab in which to work. If we return to the passenger ship, I estimate we could get the repairs done in four or five days. We could replace the capacitors and have more firepower." Howard waited for Jennifer's decision.

Jennifer pondered the situation. "Ten days is a long time to sit here. Let's assume that we stay here and make the repairs. How vulnerable would we be? How quickly could we fight with our starboard phasors? How quickly could we run?"

Howard answered, "We may find ourselves in a situation where we could not fight for an hour. Jennifer, this is a big job requiring that several hundred components be removed. There will be surprises."

"We are at fifty-five percent shield strength. Can you get the shields in better shape before we leave?"

"I can replace the generator in thirty minutes."

Jennifer looked at Charlie. "Charlie, do you agree with Harold's assessment?"

"Yes, returning to the Panda planet is the best option.

I want you to consider going the asteroid's surface before we leave. The Jimworl mined the asteroid. There is refined gold, platinum and thorium waiting for us. We could recoat our phasor mirrors with gold. That would improve our phasor firepower. We will need thorium to fuel our reactor, sometime in the future." Charlie waited for Jennifer to consider his ideas.

"Let's get our shield generator repaired. Then we are going to look for a second Jimworl mining ship. If all goes well, we will load up on some precious metals."

...

Shan met with Marky, the Jimworl president. Military personnel, science advisers and several members of parliament were present. Shan had bad news. The Frezonee had adopted the Prime Directive.

Marky asked, "Do you believe that the Frezonee would use military force to enforce the Prime Directive?"

Shan answered, "I spent three days with Captain Andrew. He made it very clear that Frezonee law obligates him to defend the Prime Directive. I am certain that he will use military force."

Marky asked, "Does Captain Andrew believe that we have violated the Prime Directive?"

"He does not believe that we built our outposts for mining. He told me so. I never admitted that we had human captives, but he believes that we are hiding something." Shan continued, "Mister President, Captain Andrew has been in orbit around Worlco for thirty hours. He began monitoring our radio and television prior to my disembarking. He can have no doubt that we intend to destroy human civilization after watching our television talk shows."

Marky did not like what he was hearing. "Shan, what is the size of Andrew's fleet?"

"Captain Andrew commands the mother ship and seven scout ships. He has a system of communication probes and he has sent one back to his home in the Large Magellanic Cloud. I have not seen any of Andrew's weapons. I have no idea of his military capability. He did see our destroyed cruisers. He has an idea of what our capabilities are. He behaves like his mother ship is invincible."

Marky asked his military commanders for their opinions.

"President Marky, we generals are in agreement. There are two ways to proceed. We feel that we could carry out a preemptive strike on the Frezonee. The Frezonee have one mother ship and seven scout ships. If a sneak attack succeeds, we would be rid of the Frezonee.

The second possibility is destroying the human population in one quick act. Our theory is that if we have killed all the humans, it would be too late for the Frezonee to enforce the Prime Directive. The Frezonee would have no reason to make war on us."

"Generals, I agree with you. The best way to proceed is to destroy all the humans quickly. But there is a problem. The civil war settlement stipulates that we preserve some part of humanity by transplanting one hundred thousand humans to ten diverse planets. It would take years to do this."

Marky's science adviser interrupted. "Excuse me! We need to consider the consequences of exterminating humans. I believe we want to take Earth, because it has a strong infrastructure. Our intention was to use the trained humans to maintain Earth's infrastructure until we had enough Jimworl trained to take over. Earth has power plants, dams, dikes, factories, bridges, and ships at sea that need constant attention.

We have developed chemical agents that would destroy human will. Our plan was to use humans as slave labor. If we wholesale destroy Earth's population, we lose that skilled labor. I urge you to find another way of dealing with the Frezonee."

Everyone was silent. Destroying all the humans suddenly did not make much sense.

...

Andrew sent an encoded message to his seven scout ships. "Captains, the Jimworl are violating the Prime Directive. I made it clear to Shan that we will not allow such a violation to continue. I have been monitoring Jimworl radio and television and have concluded that the Jimworl are well advanced in plans to destroy a civilization they call 'human.' They want to do it for the most selfish reason. They want a planet with an infrastructure in place. The Jimworl intend to colonize Earth.

The odds favor that we are going to war. We have to assume that the Jimworl are planning a sneak attack. I am ordering six of you to Earth. Captain Jerree will be in command. Your mission is to protect Earth's human population. I am going to attempt to reason with the Jimworl. If I am not successful, I will send a communication probe instructing you to destroy all Jimworl ships in the Earth solar system. If the Jimworl attempt any hostile action against either you or Earth, you will destroy all the Jimworl space ships. You have the coordinates. Travel at eighty percent max warp. You may leave now. Good luck."

Captain Andrew raised his shields to maximum and sent a message to President Marky. "I have been monitoring your television and radio and have determined that you are planning to destroy the human race. We will not allow the destruction of a sentient race.

I have sent six ships to Earth to prevent Jimworl ships from interfering with human civilization. I, Captain Andrew, representing the Frezonee am prepared to destroy all of your space fleet in accordance with our laws. I am also prepared to destroy the infrastructure of Worlco to protect the human race.

I require a promise from your government that you will not interfere with human civilization. If you fail to deliver such a resolution within forty-eight hours, I will destroy your space fleet in its entirety. I await your answer."

Andrew considered giving the Jimworl a demonstration. But Frezonee law forbade him from killing Jimworl unless he was attacked.

Andrew was a good commander. He knew that his fleet was not invincible. He ordered the seventh scout ship, captained by Hechee, to maintain an alert state. Hechee orbited Worlco one hundred thousand kilometers from Alexee. Both ships maintained their shields at one hundred percent.

Andrew sent a communication probe to his home planet.

...

Marky was furious after he read Andrew's message. "The Frezonee have one ship and they have the audacity to threaten me. I will lead my country in a glorious victory. We will conquer Earth and have human flesh for dinner every night."

Marky meet with his parliament. "Do we bow to these threats? Do we allow interference in our national affairs?"

Marky finished his speech to parliament and got what he wanted. Parliament authorized war with the Frezonee.

Marky met with his generals that evening. "Generals, we outnumber the Frezonee warships seventy-four to eight. Parliament has authorized war. I want you to devise several plans to rid ourselves of the Frezonee."

"President Marky, we have met with Shan and talked to him about the Frezonee ship. He has no idea how she is armed. He was never allowed on her bridge.

We have studied photos and scans of the ship and have learned nothing.

We propose that you ask for a meeting with Andrew on his ship. Then we take you to the meeting on our newest ship, the Auggy. The Auggy has advanced scanners. She may get some insight into the electronics of the Alexee. We can go as your advisors and maybe get a tour of the bridge." The general continued, "We will work to devise several war plans. We will defeat the Frezonee."

President Marky agreed. He would demand a meeting with Captain Andrew. Attempt to reason with him. Discuss the human race. Maybe he could convince Andrew that the human race was not worth preserving. Marky expected that his generals would have a better idea of the military capabilities of the Alexee after the meeting.

Marky asked Captain Andrew to meet and discuss the Prime Directive as it related to humans. Marky asked for the forty-eight hour deadline to be increased to seventy-two hours. "Captain Andrew, we do not want war. I feel that a face to face meeting with you will likely result in a solution. We are willing to meet anywhere you choose."

"Captain Marky, we will meet with you on our ship, the Alexee, in seventy-two hours. I want you to understand that the Prime Directive is a law that my country has adopted. I am obligated to defend that law." He would give a meeting a chance. He figured the odds of avoiding war were about one in four. The Jimworl television and radio left Andrew with the impression that the Jimworl were excited about destroying human civilization. President Marky would have a difficult task convincing the Jimworl to leave humans alone.

"Hechee, I do not trust the Jimworl. Be on watch for a sneak attack. You are authorized to use lethal force at any time you feel it is necessary." Andrew would become more wary as the seventy-two hour deadline approached.

Hechee asked, "Captain Andrew, I am going to scan the planet from close orbit, about five hundred kilometers. Do you have any objections?"

Hechee dropped below the cloud level. Worlco was a beautiful planet. Fifty percent of the planet was covered by oceans. Ten cities were home to half of the population.

Hechee said to his first officer, "It would be a shame to make war on this beautiful planet. Fix the coordinates of the ten largest cities. We may want to destroy them if war breaks out."

Hechee spent twenty-four hours surveying Worlco.

The Jimworl generals met all night and devised several battle plans. They ordered the Auggy prepared for the meeting. General Mollee addressed the group, "This is a brilliant plan. But it is illegal. If it fails, whoever signs the order will be found treasonous. If no one signs the order, the order will not be obeyed. I will sign the order; but it may be questioned. Do you all agree to back the order or should we find another plan?"

There was squirming and silence.

General Mollee again spoke, "I just changed my mind. We all sign the order or I will not issue it."

The generals discussed the plan for another half hour. They estimated chance of failure at ten percent.

The generals all signed the order.

General Mollee issued the orders. He met with a group of lieutenants. "I want the backup plan treated as though it is the primary plan. Assume that the primary battle plan does not work. The backup plan can only work if the timing is perfect. The fifty-nine ships have to be perfectly synchronized. Relativity has to be considered." Orders were issued. The fifty-nine ships would not know their orders for twenty-four hours. Secrecy was crucial. If all went as planned, fifty-nine Jimworl cruisers would descend on one or two Frezonee ships and bring fire on them and kill them.

Fifty-nine ships left Worlco. They engaged warp drive and headed towards Earth.

Captain Andrew hailed President Marky. "You sent fifty-nine warships in the general direction of Earth. What is their mission?"

President Marky answered, "You threatened to destroy all of my warships, so I scattered them. If our talks fail, you will have to find them to destroy them. They are not on a mission to destroy Earth."

President Marky had led the loyalists in a civil war. It was a civil war that the loyalists would have lost if it had gone on much longer. In Marky's opinion, the civil war was fought over silly, inconsequential differences of opinion. The loyalists wanted to protect humans. The rebels wanted to take Earth for the Jimworl. The settlement agreement stipulated that the Jimworl resettle a few humans and that Earth would be taken for the Jimworl.

The Frezonee threatened to wage war on the Jimworl if the Jimworl invaded Earth. The civil war settlement specified that the Jimworl would take Earth. Marky was in a very difficult position. His constituents would never agree to rescind the civil war agreement, unless their lives depended on it. Maybe Marky should resign.

Captain Andrew sent a probe to his six scout ships protecting Earth. "The Jimworl just launched fifty-nine warships in your direction. If they enter Earth's solar system, destroy them."

The communication probe traveled five times faster that the Alexee' max speed. The Alexee was seven times faster than the most advanced Jimworl ship. The probe would get to Earth before the Jimworl cruisers.