Star Force: Forsaken (Star Force Universe Book 48) Read online

  “He has not informed me, other than to insist that this arrangement is mutually beneficial. He wants to return his attention to the Hadarak, as is our duty, and you wish to have your independence. By appearing to unite, from the outsiders’ view, we discourage attacks against either one of us and bring the galaxy into a far more civilized state than we have ever been able to do before. The Rim has always been beyond our grasp, and Mak’to’ran believes we have spread out too much already. It has weakened us. We cannot fully control the galaxy. We know this now. But if one spawned of us took on the mantle of responsibility for the parts we cannot, both would gain immensely from it.”

  “And how do we gain from it?”

  “Aside from all I have offered, we will continue to shield you from the Hadarak. Or have we done such an efficient job of it that you forgot they once stretched this far out into the galaxy?”

  “Barely,” Davis corrected him, “and only in small numbers, but your point is taken. Any and all economic links will be done through conversion points. I will not allow V’kit’no’sat to have regular access to Star Force markets or planets.”

  “You are free to configure our access to your empire in any way you wish. As I said, such things will be discouraged, but not disallowed. If you want to negotiate trade or personnel transfers with member races, systems, or individuals you may do so, but you will not be allowed to send your people to our worlds without those individual worlds’ permission. Furthermore, only your sanctioned ships can travel through our territory. Your civilians cannot. We do not want them on our worlds, nor to colonize within our domain.”

  “We each stay on our side of the line and cooperate on occasion?”

  “Exactly. The galaxy is large enough to share, us to the Core and you to the Rim.”

  “And what do the Ari’tat have to say of this?”

  “We see immense potential in establishing limited trade relationships with Rim races, if you would allow it.”

  “Who does not like it?”

  “The Oso’lon still wish you to be destroyed, but they cannot overrule Mak’to’ran now. He leads unopposed.”

  “So much so that he cannot come here and discuss this in person?”

  “He is needed on Itaru. His absence would have negative consequences.”

  “If you are on the verge of another civil war, then this agreement could become moot.”

  “That will not happen. Not so long as Mak’to’ran leads. The invasion from the Rim has assured this. He was proven correct, the Oso’lon were proven wrong. The empire is behind Mak’to’ran now.”

  “Yet he asks them to do many things they do not wish to do.”

  “The empire is healing, but old wounds do not mend fast. Our stability will grow when we are opposed by a common enemy, as of now. When the Rim Consortium fully withdraws and we have dealt with the others, internal issues will reassert themselves. We need to have this agreement fixed well before then so others can adapt to it while…distracted with combat.”

  “And he also wants a demonstration as to what the Uriti are truly capable of?” Davis guessed.

  “It would help to forestall the credibility of those who still call for your destruction. You have chosen not to assault V’kit’no’sat worlds. Some think that is because you are not capable of doing so, as foolish as that is. Evidence to the contrary would be useful, in a small way. Destroying the Li’vorkrachnika is the priority, however, and any witness of the Uriti’s destructive power is merely a beneficial side effect.”

  “How many systems are currently in Tamprani?”

  “1628, though several have already been lost to the Li’vorkrachnika…and one to you.”

  Davis remembered back to when they had found the pyramid on Earth and had his first look at the V’kit’no’sat maps. He’d thought their empire only had around 2,000 system at that time and the regional capitol was their primary, because they only made maps based on layers. The pertinent worlds were marked, but all the irrelevant ones were omitted unless additional refinement was requested.

  The full number of V’kit’no’sat systems back then, discovered after the Zak’de’ron had unlocked the database and Star Force had learned how to use it properly, had been more than half a million. Records on Tamprani alone had been more readily visible, but only the local region around Sol had been available on a complete map back in the beginning. And now, millennia later, he was being offered approximately the same number of systems he once though had comprised the entirety of the V’kit’no’sat’s unbeatable empire…as nothing more than a bargaining chip in negotiation.

  He’d gained a lot for Star Force in the fall of the first Alliance, and then again during the fall of The Nexus. Now it seemed he was cleaning up more systems and races as the V’kit’no’sat hemorrhaged territory prior to their predicted collapse. Ambassador Nilhan did not know of the existence of the Zak’de’ron, but Mak’to’ran did, and he knew their far flung empire was weak against a focused attack on individual systems. So it seemed that Mak’to’ran was executing a controlled collapse of their most rimward territories and Star Force stood to benefit from it even more than what was allocated in the Armistice…if they fully engaged and destroyed the lizards.

  That wasn’t going to be easy, but it was something that Star Force needed to do, for its own sake, and Mak’to’ran, despite his many faults, was a master negotiator. Mutual benefit was the name of the game, and he’d crafted this deal expertly…along with a dose of ‘I told you so’ by means of Star Force joining the V’kit’no’sat, in name only, as he’d similarly suggested long ago.

  Davis stood up from his chair, walking around behind it, and stared at the Ari’tat as he rested his arms on the headrest from behind.

  “This will require some finessing, but in principle, we accept.”

  “Very good. I will send word to Mak’to’ran while we endeavor to come to an agreement on the finer details of our new relationship. And I will say, on a personal level, this is the way it should be. Independent as you are, we both originate from a common ancestry. Our fighting one another was never right.”

  “It would have been nice if you figured that out long before now,” Davis quipped.

  “An error on our part,” Nilhan admitted, hopping down from his chair to the floor where he stood and looked up at Davis. “I hope you can see the exchange of many of our worlds as a form of compensation. Is there anything else you require of me?”

  “I need time to consider the ramifications of this agreement. Come back tomorrow and we can begin formulating the bounds of our limited interconnection.”

  “Tomorrow I will return,” he said with a bob of his head, then turned and ran/walked out of Davis’s office as the Director headed back to his window view of the ocean. He had known Star Force needed to make a change, but he had not seen this coming. Mak’to’ran was afraid. Very afraid. And the thought of the current instability bringing forth the Zak’de’ron early was probably driving this generous offer. Then again, some of the races attacking the V’kit’no’sat might be doing so on the orders of the Zak’de’ron.

  Mak’to’ran was desperate, but he was also savvy. This realignment would strengthen both the V’kit’no’sat and Star Force…as well as giving Davis the V’kit’no’sat races. It wasn’t quite as good as getting a batch of eggs from each, but they’d never allow that. Touching an egg was almost sacrilege for them, and allowing individuals to move from Core to Rim within the same empire was a workaround.

  Mak’to’ran knew he had erred, and while this might also be part of his penance, Davis knew that Mak’to’ran needed Star Force to grow as large and fast and strong as possible for when the Zak’de’ron returned, because Davis knew they’d both have to fight simultaneously or be defeated singly. The wrath of the Zak’de’ron was coming, and if Davis let the V’kit’no’sat be destroyed then the Zak’de’ron would eventually turn on Star Force, for they would not allow a peer to exist, and Star Force had already grown beyond the bounds of a s
ervant.

  “Cousins it is then,” he said softly. “And the last one standing inherits the galaxy.”

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