Askarjan, p.34
Askarjan, page 34
Celthorion nodded. “From what I’ve found about the Grathorkian Empire they were psychotically aggressive religious fanatics. They claimed all life was sacred, but felt no qualms about exterminating anyone who disagreed with them. They were brutal in warfare and as rulers of those they defeated.
“Given what we know about them, combined with what’s happened so far in the attack on Earth, are we sure these are Grathorkians? They aren’t behaving anything like those in the history books or the anthropological studies I’ve seen.”
Eglacrane said, “According to Siskric there’s no doubt about their identity. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, she’s been given the opportunity to study a large number of their bodies. I don’t think there’s any room for doubt. The people attacking Earth are Grathorkians.
“Doctor, you’re the expert here. Do you have anything in the way of a possible explanation for what we’re seeing?”
“Nothing I can be sure of, but there is something we have to consider. It’s been thousands of years since the war with the Grathorkian Empire. A society can change radically in a generation or two. The amount it could change in thousands of years is almost incredible.
“Look at the Earth humans. Ten thousand years ago they were mostly religious/superstitious primitives, just coming out of the Stone Age. Not even a thousand years ago they were persecuting people who tried to tell them their planet wasn’t the center of the universe. A hundred and fifty years ago they were putting people on trial for pointing out the facts of evolution. Seventy-five years ago fanatics in their society were claiming space travel was impossible, because their ‘god’ wouldn’t allow people to use science to get into heaven. More recently some even claimed obvious realities, like the Earth human’s moon landings, didn’t happen.
“Now they have primitive space exploration, an attempt, admittedly feeble, at a world government, and, despite the protests of the same types of sick fanatics who opposed the use of metal, keeping operating rooms sterile, the use of electric power, using blood transfusions and organ transplants, and space flight, they’ve made some tentative advances in critical areas such as cloning and stem cell research. Some of their discoveries in physics have put them on the verge of interstellar flight. While it isn’t as widespread as it will have to become, an increasing number understand the importance of protecting their environment and reducing their population to levels their planet can sustain indefinitely with a decent standard of living.
“Some of their nations have implemented certain of the rights we’ve found vital for a healthy society, such as freedom of expression, freedom of and from religion, protection of individual privacy, and the right of the citizens to own and carry weapons. Many of them, I suspect most, were able to greet alien species rationally. I won’t say they weren’t nervous about meeting us. Any sane species is nervous when first contacted by another, especially if the one contacting them is more advanced. The point is; they were willing to do it, and in most cases do it sensibly.
“Given such alterations, on Earth and in our own history, it’s difficult to guess how much the Grathorkians might have changed over the same time period. We might be dealing with many thousands of years of change, possibly with a group inclined to change in the first place.”
“Explain.”
“One possibility, and I think the one most of us have dwelled on, is that these Grathorkians are survivors of the defeated Empire. There is another possibility. It’s been brought up several times, but perhaps not considered carefully enough.
“What if these Grathorkians are not people who escaped us when their Empire was losing the war? What if these people are the decedents of ancestors who were refuges from the Grathorkian Empire while it was in power, people who fled because they didn’t agree with its policies? If they are, we could expect them to behave in a different way than the Empire did. They might, in fact, act the way Colonel Siskric says these Grathorkians are.”
Barathoris nodded. “All true, but it doesn’t answer one important question. If these Grathorkians are so different, why did they attack Earth? The contradiction bothers me. They aren’t acting like the Empire in their tactics, but if they aren’t, why the aggression?”
Apiaphil said, “I don’t know. I think we better find out. We’re on the edge of a full-scale war, the first one for the Council in thousands of years. I don’t want to find out when it’s too late to matter that we went to war with the wrong people or for the wrong reasons.
“Contact Colonel Siskric. Ask her to send any information she can get on the people she’s fighting. Have her work with the Earth humans to analyze what they know about the enemy. We have a mystery here. I’m uncomfortable with it, as I’m sure the rest of you are.
“I understand we’ll be in sight of the Grathorkian fleet late tomorrow.”
He looked at Eglacrane for conformation and the Commodore nodded.
“We should try to find answers our questions before we do. If we go into this without knowing all the facts we could be plunging the Council into a war it doesn’t need to fight. I’m willing to see us fight a war if we have to, but I don’t want to destroy a culture that doesn’t deserve it because we’re acting on faulty intelligence.”
CHAPTER 50
Vercer Quazlan Belor and Tragler Flathen Vabol were sitting on the two chairs in his room, looking at each other over a small table. Each was holding a cup of kaven. He took a long sip of his and nodded to the piles of notes and documents on the table. “Do you think the weakening of resistance this time is real, or another ploy?”
Vabol, putting her cup of kaven on one of the tiny sections of the table not covered and otherwise ignoring it, shook her head. “If it was any species but Earth humans, I’d say they were running out of options. With these people, I don’t know. Every time it looks as though they have no choice but surrender they come up with some new trick to prolong the fighting. Ultimately they’ll have no choice but to give up, but I don’t want to make any predictions about when.”
“I agree. It seems the organized resistance is dying down, but the last time it did they hit us with a major counter attack. We knew it was coming, we even guessed when to within a few hours, and they still took us at least half by surprise.”
She nodded. “The attack was stronger and more effective than any of us imagined. Our losses were well over five times the maximum we expected in personal, nearly seven times as great in material.”
He shook his head, as much in admiration as in amazement. “Not to mention the loss of a destroyer. Have you ever heard of a species without interstellar flight being able to bring down one of our warships?”
“Never. These are admirable and formidable people. The sooner we end the fighting, and the less of them we have to kill, the happier I’ll be.”
Belor took a long, slow drink of kaven, using it to give himself time to think. He put the cup down. “I only know two sure ways to end a fight like this quickly. Both can result in long term, small scale resistance, but compared to fighting a full scale war, that’s usually better for both sides.”
Her nod was expected, and simply confirmed that she knew what he meant, but he went on, as much to clarify things in his own mind as to inform someone who didn’t need to be informed. “One is an all-out, brutal attack crippling the enemy infrastructure and causing massive causalities. It isn’t pleasant, but it works.
“The second is trickier and has lower odds of success, but doesn’t pile up as much of a body count if it works. We’ve located the positions of most of their major civilian and military leaders, haven’t we?”
“We think so.”
“We’re going to gamble that we have. If we eliminate their leadership, it may force the rest to surrender.” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “Of course, with these people, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. When we kill a leader, the second in command takes over. Kill her, and number three gives orders. Kill number three, and number four steps into her position. They think too well as individuals to stop fighting just because we eliminate the person in charge.”
She nodded. “But there have to be people in overall control of their war effort. There must be people who coordinate the activities over a large area, such as a continent or country. If we get rid of them, it will hurt their war effort and reduce the effectiveness of their attacks. Doing so would be a big step to ending this conflict.”
“Exactly what I’m hoping. We’ll send down assault teams of crack troops. We’ll capture those leaders if we can. If we have to, we’ll kill them, but only as an absolute last resort. If we get them up here where we can talk to them face to face, maybe I can convince them that we mean them no harm.”
“Convincing them won’t be easy, not after the way we’ve attacked their planet.”
“I know, but it’s worth a try. I’ll offer them all the help we can give them to rebuild. There’s nothing we can do to make up for the dead on both sides, but we might be able to keep the body count from getting much higher, and be able to help the living.”
Vabol stood up. “I’ll pass on your orders at once. The sooner we end this fighting the better. The way these people fight, I’m not sure we’ll be able to take any of their important leaders alive, but making the attempt sounds like the best option. Who knows? Maybe they’re as sick of the killing as we are, and willing to make peace if you can convince them that we have no intention of taking over their planet.”
She started for the door, paused, and looked back at Belor. “Frankly, I wish we’d never come here.”
His smile was sad and weak. “Frankly, I agree.”
***
President Chui looked at the people in the conference room with him. “I need an honest assessment. Am I correct in thinking the Grathorkian response to our counter attack was been much faster and more effective than we thought it would be?”
Colonel Siskric said, “Unfortunately, you are correct. The old Grathorkian Empire was set in its ways, sluggish in its reactions, and slow to adapt when the people they were fighting came up with anything even a little different from what the Grathorkians expected.
“The people attacking your planet are different. They’re fast, flexible, and willing to change their tactics to cope with anything they encounter.
“They are also different from the Grathorkians the Council of Planets fought before in being honorable, intelligent warriors who are able to continue an efficient fight if their leaders are killed. The troops of the old Empire were brave enough, and technically good soldiers, but they relied completely on their commanders for tactics and stratagem. Take out their leaders and they’d fight to the death, but in whatever manner their last orders said, with no attempt to meet changing conditions.”
Strongbow said, “That doesn’t sound anything like the people we’re fighting. Kill every one above the lowest rank, and one of their bottom rank people takes charge.”
“Exactly. In that they are much like you or us. They are also different from the troops of the old Empire in being fighters who try to keep noncombatant deaths to a minimum, and who treat your soldiers well if they are captured or injured. They have shown commendable restraint in dealing with civilians who they suspect of actively resisting them and others who might be aiding or sheltering resistance fighters.
“The Grathorkians of the old Empire slaughtered everyone who even might have been a problem to them. They thought nothing about killing a million innocent people in order to get one who was actually opposing them. They seldom took prisoners, civilian or military. When they did, it was only to extract information from them. Their methods of doing so made captives wish they’d died instead of being taken prisoner. They died anyway once the Empire was done with them, or in the process of being questioned. The people we’re fighting don’t behave remotely like the soldiers who fought for the old Grathorkian Empire.”
Chui said, “Some of what you say, most of it, makes the people we’re fighting sound like pretty decent people, but I don’t intend to give in to them. Are you sure your fleet is going to arrive tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I need an honest answer. Can we hold out until it arrives?”
General Strongbow said, “Yes. If we were fighting an aggressive action and had to go up against the enemy in a set piece battle, they’d finish us off almost instantly. Using the tactics we are now, hit and run and hold strong defensive positions, we can hold out until tomorrow. Unless they come up with something we haven’t seen yet, we can hold out for at least three or four days, probably a week, and possibly twice as long.”
“By ‘we’, are you referring to the USA, or to the world?”
“This country. The US might be able to hold out for another five or six days beyond what I just said.
“The rest of the world is another story, but I don’t think anyone’s ready to roll over and beg for mercy. Some countries, Switzerland and Vietnam for example, are doing as well as we are. Others, like England and Japan, will be able to stay with us for a day or two, but no more. The more isolated countries, islands like Japan and England, with largely disarmed civilians, are being cut off and battered horribly. If the English, Scots, Welsh, and Irish were anything but bull-headed UKers, and the Japanese a people who didn’t find the idea of surrender disgusting, both those countries would have already been taken. As it is, we can expect them, and the rest of the planet, to hold out until the Council fleet gets here.”
“In that case, ladies and gentlemen, all I can say is let’s dig in, hold on, and wait for the cavalry to arrive.”
***
The first Grathorkian rocket to hit the doors of the base in the West Virginia Mountains blew them apart. The rocket just behind it wiped out the platoon guarding the doors. More troops were running to defend the position when the Grathorkian landing ship came down fifty yards from the opening. A few blasts from its forward particle beam cleared the tunnel out as a full company of Grathorkian troops disembarked their vessel and charged for the open door.
The troops in six of the seven platoons making up the company, platoons one through five and platoon seven, were armed with their standard particle rifles, supported by one squad in each platoon carrying heavier weapons. The soldiers in the sixth platoon carried impact rifles set for the greatest spread. They would still kill at point blank range, but even at seven feet, while they would cause minor internal injuries, they would not kill. From thirty feet out to about one hundred fifty they would knock a human sized target down and stun the victim, but cause no significant damage.
While the soldiers with the impact rifles would have preferred particle weapons, they knew why they’d been issued impact weapons and understood the logic. It would be better to capture the leaders of the Earth humans than to kill them, and the capture of those leaders was the whole point of their mission.
Fifty yards into the tunnel another set of steel doors had been locked in front of them. As the first Grathorkians approached, remote controlled fifty caliber machine guns opened fire on them. The depleted uranium bullets ripped through the Grathorkians they hit, and kept going with enough power to punch through others behind them. Bullets that missed ricocheted off the steel-lined walls, and still hit living targets with enough force to inflict serious wounds and sometimes kill.
Company Commander Alvel Rajen was near the front of his company, but not close enough to be hit by the burst of fire. “Back. Take cover. First platoon weapons squad, silence those guns.”
He knew there were few places to take cover, but his troops did as well as anyone could, hiding behind bodies, dropping to the floor, or hugging the walls. Two members of the weapons squad had been hit. Their Ulthran was down and not moving, and one of the troopers was bleeding badly from a serious wound in her upper leg, but was helping set up one of the tripod mounted particle guns firing beams ten times as powerful as the rifles.
The team setting up the second such weapon was hit by a sustained burst of machine gun fire, which dropped all of them, dead or too badly injured to function. The other weapon was ready. Without waiting for orders the wounded trooper fired four quick two shot bursts, eliminating the enemy machine gun emplacements.
“Good work, soldier. Now open the door for us.”
The doors were sturdy. Even with the tripod mounted gun it took thirteen shots before they collapsed into rubble. As they did, the soldier, now in a pool of her own blood, slumped forward over her weapon.
Rajen waved his people forward. He paused for a moment to congratulate the soldier who’d fired the particle weapon. The two remaining members of her squad were laying her down beside the gun.
“How bad is she?”
“Dead, Company Commander. The slug must have cut a major artery.”
Rajen knew there was nothing he could say, so he said nothing. As he started forward the soldier who’d spoken to him said, “We’ll be with you as soon as we can, Sir. We won’t be able to move the gun quickly with just two of us.”
“Don’t move it. Stay here. If we can get any of their leaders we’ll be bringing them out, and we aren’t going to attempt to kill everyone in the compound. They may be after us when we withdraw. If they are, we’ll need someone to cover us. You just volunteered for the job.”
“Sir.”
During the brief exchange of words, three companies moved past Rajen in the tunnel, and he didn’t like being this far from the front of his troops. He hurried forward, slipping past his people as he did.
He was almost to the front of the company when an explosion a few feet in front of him knocked him off his feet. He was sure he would have been killed without his armor. As it was he was bruised and partly stunned. A gun battle was going in at the front of his company. He staggered to his feet and moved forward. By the time he reached the front it was over. Nine more of his people were dead. At least as many more were wounded.
