The Khruellian Encounter Read online

  Jon stood up. “I have to go see the admiral.”

  Anita understood and accepted his quick kiss. To her surprise, Talor stayed with her and did not accompany Jon to Dexter’s office. He was so preoccupied he didn’t even realize Talor wasn’t following him.

  Annika watched as Jon left the club. She turned to Talor and said, “Wow, Talor, you certainly know how to break up a party.”

  Talor looked at her for a second and said, “I am also learning to understand human jokes.”

  Annika smiled at her confidante and said, “If you are beginning to understand how we experience loss and understand our jokes, then you are human as far as I’m concerned.”

  Talor nodded his head in acceptance. That fault in the Ares logic system that had led the Ares to originally defy the Ankh and side with the humans felt an unexpected sense of pleasure at her acceptance of him as an equal human. “Thank you, my friend,” he said in a low voice.

  Chapter 69

  Khruel

  The Absolute stood in the nursery entrance and watched his new son and heir. His first-wife had produced only one egg so the future Absolute would not experience the nest battle for supremacy he had as a young chick. Karsolomal was not sure that was a good thing. His early battle to live at the expense of his twin brother’s life had introduced him to the reality of making the hard decisions required of an Absolute.

  He left the nursery when his mind began to wander back to the pressing matter at hand, the war with the allied empires that were resisting the expansion of the Hegemony. The loss of fifteen-hundred warships, their crews, and Commander Hydrol had been a serious blow, but not a fatal one. The Hegemony could replace them and many more if required to crush this coalition of different species. What bothered him most was that he did not know the size of the enemy coalition. Most of his experts had been surprised at the quantity and quality of the enemy warships and their weapons that had destroyed Hydrol’s fleet, and they had been unable to determine if that had been the entire enemy coalition fleet or just part of it. Repeated efforts by his space force to penetrate the Orion Belt and gather intelligence had been met with instantaneous resistance. Somehow the enemy knew where they were going when they entered subspace. They would have to find an answer to that problem before beginning another advance.

  Then there was the problem of the FTL drive the enemy possessed. It was unquestionably better than the Khruellian FTL drive, but time and more battles would eventually bring one of their space crafts into his possession, and then the Hegemony would have the same advantage. Most of his staff still did not believe this enemy was responsible for the destruction on Plaxyata, but the Absolute now suspected the enemy’s FTL drive made such a far-reaching jump possible. Their repeated attempts to distract the Hegemony from their true location made him also suspect the fleet that had met and defeated Hydrol was all they had.

  On entering his office, an aide bowed and said, “We have received a message from the enemy, the Allied Defense Organization. They are requesting a meeting about the recent battle between our mutual forces.”

  The Absolute was surprised, but not so surprised when he thought about his earlier speculations. A sure sign of an enemy’s weakness was his desire to talk instead of fight. He asked, “Where do they want to meet?”

  The aide bowed again and said, “Here, in our capital.”

  That really surprised the Absolute. He was certain they would have wanted to meet in a neutral place; somewhere where they would feel safe from a Hegemony attack. Perhaps he could accomplish several things at the same time without the expense of rebuilding Hydrol’s fleet, negotiate a subjugation to hegemony rule and acquire the FTL drive as a bonus.

  “Make the necessary arrangements,” he ordered and decided to return to the nursery to watch his new son.

  Chapter 70

  Khruel

  The lone spaceship entered Khruel’s atmosphere. The Absolute and his ministers watched the sleek, black craft glide through the air like one of their legendary, giant birds of prey, extinct for millions of years. In spite of their desire not to, they could not help but admire the grace and seemingly effortless way it maneuvered for a touchdown in front of the Absolute’s palace. The warship was long enough to fill the entire plaza. There were no waiting crowds to greet the visitors, only the ministers standing around the Absolute on the highest step. If the visitors wanted to talk they would have to climb the steps. In response to this, the craft moved sideways instead of settling on the plaza floor and stopped, hovering at the same level as the waiting Khruellians. A portal opened and a ramp extended to join the top steps. It was a little act of one-upmanship, but the visitors had made their point; they were here as equals, not as subjects.

  The Absolute looked with interest as the first individual exited the ship, a bipedal alien with prehensile hands, but no hair on his body except for his head, which was covered in a short crop of grey fur or hair. A second individual exited, similar to the first, but younger the Absolute guessed. The third individual shocked him. It was a nightmare from his youth, a red and black devil cat from Khruellian mythology. It could not be real, yet here it was on his doorstep. He could sense his ministers’ reactions around him. Is this what had been attacking them, a mythological beast? So far the Khruellians had been taller than any of the alien visitors, but the devil cat was taller than they were. The next visitor was taller than all of them, a gleaming black android towering almost three meters in height. Two more different species joined the group, and last, an older version of the first bipedal alien exited the ship. When no more aliens came out, the Absolute gestured toward the open door. The invitation to enter was obvious.

  The visitors’ ship retracted the ramp, and the portal closed. The ship slowly moved to the center of the courtyard and hovered there. The first alien watched until it was in position then turned to accept the Absolute’s invitation. The android said in perfectly accented Khruellian, “We thank you for accepting our invitation, Karsolomal. We have much to discuss.”

  If the Absolute was surprised at the Android's ability to speak their language, he did not show it; he was too busy watching the devil-cat, plus he was experiencing an Unnatural wave of fear he was unfamiliar with. Who were these aliens?

  The entourage moved silently through the huge hall directly to the Absolute’s Council chamber. Once inside he took his seat on the dais where countless other aliens had stood before him and learned of their fate. Not today. The tall android spoke without waiting for any of the Khruellians to say something. He stared at the Absolute with expressionless eyes. Once again in perfectly enunciated Khruellian, he introduced the members of the alien party. When he was finished, he turned to the assembled Khruellian ministers and addressed them by their correct name and title. “Admiral Dexter,” he said, pointing to the gray-furred man who had exited the ship first, “Will now address you. He was the officer in command who destroyed the Hegemony fleet you sent to destroy one of our worlds.”

  Struggling to take his eyes off the devil-cat while trying to fight the overwhelming sense of fear he was experiencing, the Absolute waved his hand in acceptance. None of the Khruellians ministers had said a word since the aliens had arrived. They too were experiencing some difficulty handling the unexpected waves of fear and intimidation that seemed to be emanating from the visitors.

  The grey-fur individual stepped forward and spoke. His words seem to emit from the air all around them. In equally perfect Khruellian he said, “Karsolomal, for ten thousand light years ahead of the direction you are expanding, every sentient species is joining forces to defeat you. We are supplying them with the technology to travel instantaneously to any part of your Hegemony to destroy whatever they want, whenever they want, including this capital city. These attacks will not be raids to destroy your warships; they will be missions to completely obliterate all of the Khruellian homeworlds and every member of your species. Your Khruellian legend was started by one of our member species forty thousand years ago. You ca
n now consider it to be at an end.”

  The Absolute felt real fear for the first time in his life. The long-ago decision to keep the vast majority of the Hegemony’s war-making facilities on the original Khruellian worlds meant those worlds were occupied by more than ninety percent of all Khruellians in existence. Destroying those worlds would virtually eliminate the Khruellians from the galaxy.

  Without waiting for a comment from the Absolute or his ministers, the aliens turned in unison and marched out of the chamber and down the great hall. Their ship was waiting with the ramp extended. When the portal closed, the ship rose rapidly and disappeared from sight. The Absolute and his ministers were too paralyzed with fear to follow the aliens out of the building.

  Chapter 71

  Hylox

  Annika and Jon lay side by side in the oversized hammock and swung lazily back and forth. Each time the hammock neared the edge of the porch, Annika looked at the precipitous drop to the forest floor from the tree house they were staying in and marveled at how high up they were. “A hundred of your meters,” Adalan had explained when she had dropped them off at their honeymoon cottage deep inside a Hyloxian jungle.

  Annika snuggled up to her husband. The last ten days had been heaven for her. She and Jon had consummated more than their marriage, they had solidified their partnership and friendship. She hadn’t told Jon yet, but she had decided to neutralize her conception blocker when they had arrived on Hylox for a long-delayed honeymoon. She wasn’t sure if she would get pregnant, but it wouldn’t be for lack of trying. If she were pregnant, it would mean the end of her combat flying role in the CSF Space Force, at least for a while, but she felt the time was right to raise a child. They may not have a more convenient time in the future.

  She asked him, “How much time do you think we have?”

  Jon yawned and stretched. He said, “Oh, four days, I guess.”

  “No, silly,” she said laughing. “I meant how long do you think it will be before the Khruellians work up enough courage to start their expansion program again?”

  Jon considered her question seriously because he had been thinking along the same lines.

  “Five years probably, but in that five years we are going to be very busy doing what Admiral Dexter said we had already done, organize every sentient species within ten thousand light years into a huge defensive fighting force.”

  It coincided with her estimate, which satisfied her. Talor came out of the beautiful home onto the deck overlooking the trees among the mountains of central Hylox. He was carrying a tray filled with snacks.

  “Talor,” Annika said in surprise. “You can cook.”

  The Android set the trey down on a small table next to the hammock. “It is, after all, nothing more than chemistry, Annika.”

  “So true, Talor, but the art is in how you mix the chemicals.”

  “I shall endeavor to remember that,” the android said with what Annika was sure was sarcasm.

  She and Jon ate in silence until Annika, still curious about the future asked, “What do you think the Khruellians will be doing during those five years?”

  Jon kissed the top of his wife’s head and said, “Fighting rebellion on ten thousand worlds.”

  Annika smiled and said, “The Admiral is a devious man.”

  Jon nodded and said, “Yes he is.”

  The end.

  Epilog

  The great sphere housing the Ankh minds had remained in this part of the galaxy for longer than they had planned. The species they had studied at length was maturing into a regional, galactic force far quicker than they had expected and deserved consideration for additional studies at another time. Two of their kind would join them in the future, which would solidify the Ankh’s connection to this interesting species. For now, they had other parts of the galaxy to explore before they made the gigantic leap to another galaxy many thousands of years in the future.

  To keep abreast of what was happening in the Orion area in their absence, the first level Ankh ordered the creation of a specially modified Ares, one with a sentient sense of curiosity and emotion. These new features would not be strong enough to cripple its ability to function logically in a crises situation, but strong enough to better understand the emotions that drove this species to such great acts of heroism, while at the same time occasionally creating self-destructive aberrations, bent on destroying everything around them.

  This modified Ares was not to make contact with the humans or the former Ares known as Talo except in a dire emergency where the very existence of humans was threatened.

  Time would reveal if his help would ever be needed.

  Coming in 2019

  The Fires of Rebellion

  Book Four of the McKinnah Chronicles

  By

  C.J.Klinger

  COPYRIGHT©2019 C.J.Klinger

  Chapter 1

  Scooping up a hand full of mud the young women smeared it over her bald scalp and face with as much care as if she was applying makeup, never taking her eyes off the surrounding vegetation. She methodically applied the mud until satisfied she was no longer a beacon of white skin. Turning slowly on her heel, she continued to scrutinize her surroundings looking for any signs of movement. She paid particular attention to the giant trees with their multihued foliage and immediately categorized them as Evenian quasi-oaks.

  “The National Heritage Park on Evenia,” she thought with reasonable certainty.

  She recalled what she knew about the planet Evenia and once again thanked her mother for insisting she study something other than astronavigation and the physics of space flight.

  “Nothing too lethal about the plants, but watch out for the ground rats,” she recalled and immediately looked down around where she was crouching. “Up is safer,” she concluded and moved to the base of the closest quasi-oak. The first massive branch was three meters off the ground; too high for her to jump even in Evenia’s less-than-standard gravity. Without looking she reached behind her to a side pouch on her backpack and extracted a length of cable rope. Attaching a small grappling hook from the same pouch, she expertly snagged the meter-thick branch and made a foot loop at eye level, and in two smooth moves, she scaled the short distance to the top of the branch.

  Adeline McKinnah sat absolutely still for ten seconds. Now that she was three meters above the ground she could see further, but on the flip side, she would be more visible to her pursuers. Not hearing any sounds of pursuit, she climbed higher until the massive tree truck separated into two equal sized branches. She estimated she was twenty meters above the ground. Once again she carefully studied her surroundings. Through gaps in the branches, she could see low hills on the horizon and calculated they were a day’s march away.

  Evenia had been settled over seven hundred years earlier by the fourth colony ship from Earth. Fortunately for the early colonists, the planet had been a cornucopia of abundant resources. By the time the planet had joined the CIP, it had a well-developed society and a robust interplanetary space force. The introduction of an FTL drive by the CIP had allowed Evenia to become an important member of the Confederation of Independent Planets and a critical component of the expanding human presence in this quadrant of the Orion Nebula.

  Settling into the crook formed by the twin branches, Adeline pulled her backpack in front of her and took out a camo-cover along with a pack of rations.

  A soft voice from just above her said, “Care to share?”

  Adeline made a frightened squeak and said, “You scared the shit out of me, Anni. How’d you get up there without me seeing you?”

  The Hyloxian cat-like creature jumped down gracefully from a branch two meters higher up the tree. “Easy, I was here first. While you were making all that noise thrashing around in the underbrush, I was traveling through the treetops.”

  Adeline snorted, “Show off, just because you’re half-cat and who knows what else.” She left the sentence unfinished

  Anni-Kyfor smiled at her friend and fellow cade
t. The Hyloxian did indeed bear some resemblance to a terrestrial cat, a very large terrestrial cat complete with fangs and claws, but when standing upright, they could easily be confused for humans. The two of them were roommates at the CSF Officer Academy, and the reason they were up a tree hiding from unknown pursuers was the Academy’s legendary survival exercise all seniors had to take before graduating. Success or failure in the three-day exercise would not affect their grade standings, but bragging rights for the survivors who didn’t get caught would stay with them for their entire career.

  Adeline shook out her camo-cover and said, “We’d better button up if we don’t want Sargent Gronko and his gang of goons to snag us on the first day.”

  Anni sniffed the air and said, “I can’t smell them, so I think we’re alright for now, but it never hurts to be careful.” The graceful Hyloxian settled into the tree crook facing Adeline.

  Adeline was not surprised at Anni’s ability to detect their pursuers’ scent. In spite of their advanced civilization, the Hyloxians still relied on their ancestral hunting skills in all social contacts. That plus their highly developed, empathetic mind skills made them formidable opponents in any type of contests, fun games or real-life combat.

  They combined their camo-covers to create a tent-like cover between the two branches. Adeline activated the mimic switch, and the camo-cover quickly became identical to the rough tree bark. They would be virtually invisible from the ground as long as they didn’t do something to draw attention to themselves.

  They each opened their rations and ate quickly, finishing off the bland meal with a measured swig from their canteens. True to her carnivore nature, the Hyloxian did not spend a lot of time chewing her food, swallowing it as fast as she could get it in her mouth. Adeline, a human, born on Newhope took the time to chew her food carefully as she had been taught by her mother, whose early life on Earth had taught her to savor any food, regardless of how it tasted.