Star Force: Summit (Star Force Universe Book 44) Read online

  “It would require a Hadarak, and the specifics of their construction was not included in their database. It is dead research to them now. They will not repeat it.”

  “If I supplied a living Hadarak to you, could you create another Uriti?”

  Davis frowned, glancing at Morgan, before he slowly shook his head ‘no.’ “We do not have that capability.”

  “Are you aware of how they captured one?”

  “They damaged it to near death, then laid claim to it.”

  “How did they lay claim to it?”

  “We don’t know the specifics.”

  Mak’to’ran growled, seemingly confident that the Humans were unaware of the Harthur.

  “We now have the ability to capture and kill Hadarak more easily than in the past. If I could deliver one to you, could you use your Chixzon knowledge to figure out how they created the Uriti?”

  “Theoretically yes. Why do you ask?”

  “Because there are massive Hadarak at the core of the galaxy that we can barely scratch. We continue to seek a way to destroy them, and the Uriti are the best option we have discovered. Even if you remained in control of them, could you potentially breed an army?”

  “Theoretically yes, but we would not do so,” Davis said, not lying but closely avoiding a project that Nefron was engaged in that was studying the possibility of spawning Uriti without using a Hadarak. It was just a curiosity now, but something Davis had wanted him to look into.

  “And why not? You claim to care about defending others, and the threat of the Hadarak is second to none.”

  “We would not do so because we will not enslave the Uriti, and we will not torture a Hadarak to force it to spawn. We do not know how the Chixzon did it, but the few suspicions we have are gruesome.”

  “And you do not feel the means are inconsequential to the great gains they would yield?”

  “We acknowledge the gains, but the means are unacceptable.”

  “Such foolishness does not befit a splinter race that has survived so long against us.”

  “It is not foolishness. You fail to see the grander scope.”

  “Then explain it.”

  Davis sighed, knowing this was going to be difficult, but at least Mak’to’ran was listening…

  2

  “We cannot,” Mak’to’ran said firmly some two hours into the discussion. “If we relinquish our dominance our enemies will multiply. We cannot waste our strength against them and ignore the Hadarak. We must keep them suppressed.”

  “And you assume no one else would help fight the Hadarak?”

  “Few are sufficiently advanced, and none would volunteer the sacrifices needed.”

  “Why do you?”

  “The Zak’de’ron created the V’kit’no’sat for this purpose. It is what we are born to do, and prior to that the Era’tran were victims of the Hadarak. There are no significant powers suffering from them now. No one has the motivation to wage this endless war save for us. Domination is the price the galaxy will pay for our protection.”

  “Did you ever bother to ask?” Morgan quipped.

  “Of course they didn’t,” Davis answered before Mak’to’ran could. “But I suspect he is mostly right. Why do you refuse to use unmanned vessels against the Hadarak? Others would probably assist if they didn’t have to shed blood. They might even be willing to give you supplies if you did the fighting. There are many potential options.”

  “We have experimented with drone technology similar to your own. The signal delay is too tedious. Fighting the minion swarms requires quick alterations. When we used drones, our fleet combat diminished its already limited effectiveness. We lost more ships that way, so the practice was discontinued save for fixed emplacements in our border systems.”

  “The Rit’ko’sor had more success. Have you incorporated their methods?”

  “No. Theirs were equally inefficient. We must have minds on site to control the flow of combat. The Rit’ko’sor did not have enough population to fight in this manner, so they chose the inefficient one. Fortunately for them they were not seeking combat, but we must. If we do not, the Hadarak will spread.”

  “When the V’kit’no’sat began, were they still spreading rimward, or had they stabilized?”

  “We are uncertain, but they were encroaching on our territories, so they had to be driven back. We do not know if they would spread across the entire galaxy. There are differing opinions on an eventuality we cannot test. Did the Chixzon not combat them?”

  “They preferred to avoid them, save for when they entered their territory, though that was rare. They had no intention of pushing them back, which was why they planned their galactic conquest for the Rim only. They were never going to fight the Hadarak.”

  “And if they challenge us in the future, and succeed, they will make no attempt to hold the Hadarak to their current boundaries?”

  “They will not waste their resources or allies doing so. I would expect they would establish a power base in the far rim, well away from the Hadarak, and not care what happened in the core. In fact, they might try to weaken you to the point where the Hadarak can finish you off, or vice versa. Wait for you to be damaged by combat with them, or us, and then move in to finish you…or send intermediaries to do it for them.”

  “Why are you so certain they cannot take control of the Uriti from you?”

  “Because we have established a relationship with them, and we can tug on the reigns same as the Chixzon. But the Chixzon viewed them as assets, not people. Our relationship will be the deciding factor.”

  “I suspect that is a reason you do not want to use them as weapons.”

  “They are our allies, and we will treat them as such.”

  “If it denies the Chixzon from reacquiring them, then you are wise to do so. What of the other Uriti hidden in the galaxy?”

  “We are not searching for them. The Knights of Quenar are better suited for such a task.”

  Mak’to’ran stared at Davis closely, not saying anything for several seconds. He could not break into the Human’s mind past his Ikrid block…at least not without touching him…but he saw no flinch in his mannerisms or voice.

  “Where is the Uriti you stole from us?”

  The Human’s face altered considerably. Both of them did. And Mak’to’ran knew they were worried about that causing the V’kit’no’sat to break the truce.

  “Before I answer that, I will state my counter offer,” Davis said, his jaw set firmly against the implications of what was about to happen. He still had an out if he wanted it, but Mak’to’ran was being too genuine. He wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity, no matter how bad it might turn out. “We are enemies, and I am not suggesting we will ever be anything beyond that. We can cooperate as far as the Hadarak are concerned, but beyond that we suggest this...you have kept to the inner half of the galaxy. Why?”

  “To focus on the Hadarak threat. They are not in the Rim as far as we know.”

  “But why not conquer it all to eliminate the threats to your dominance?”

  “That has been a matter of debate for some time.”

  “Why have you not thus far? The Rit’ko’sor rebellion did not hurt you that badly.”

  “It did, for a time. Afterwards we saw no reason to expand. Preventing another rebellion took priority, and there are more worlds in our current domain than we could possibly use. We decided to wait for the threats to come to us rather than searching the vast expanse of the Rim for them.”

  “You didn’t agree with that?”

  “I am aware of the potential for problems. We were also under population restrictions, so expansion was pointless.”

  “Why?”

  “The former leaders of the V’kit’no’sat were more interested in maintaining what they had than pushing further into the core. I have rid the empire of that stagnation, and our population is growing considerably now, for we will need them to compensate for our losses against the Hadarak…and against you.”
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br />   “My offer is this. We are enemies, but we both have greater concerns. The Rim is a mess and we’re trying to clean it up. This is more important than picking a fight with you that we cannot win. You have too many systems with too deep of defenses. It will take us forever to conquer you, and we would prefer to wage the smaller battles in the Rim where we can help more people. Saving their lives comes first for us, taking you out is a lesser priority. Fighting the Hadarak is your primary objective, so why don’t we both attend to what is most important and ignore each other for the next million years or so?”

  “You to the Rim and the V’kit’no’sat to the Core?” Mak’to’ran asked.

  “Yes. We wouldn’t join you, but we would ignore you so long as you did not venture beyond your original border as of two millennia ago. And we both could prepare for the Chixzon threat.”

  “I would greatly prefer to keep the Uriti in play, if you are accurate in that you can prevent the Chixzon from reclaiming control, but what you ask is not possible. I lead the V’kit’no’sat, but I do not control them. I cannot grant you such independence. The others would not allow it.”

  “But you would, if it was up to you?”

  “It is not, so the question is irrelevant, but yes I would.”

  “Why?” Morgan asked. “You’ve been dead set on exterminating us up until now.”

  “You have earned your survival.”

  Both Humans exchanged glances, not having expected to hear that.

  “Then are you and I truly enemies?” Davis asked.

  “If you seek to conquer us one day, then most definitely yes.”

  Davis raised a hand and grabbed the bridge of his nose, half covering his face as he thought. “Have you and I accidentally ended up on the wrong side?”

  “Perhaps so, for I think you hold a desire to deal with the Hadarak threat. That is what true V’kit’no’sat live for. Had you been born within the empire, you would be a valuable Zen’zat.”

  “I am far more useful in my current position,” Davis pointed out.

  “Indeed you are. If not for the empire you’ve created, we would not have the Harthur. It was inspired by the vessel you used to destroy Dimu. You have also given us our first glimpse into the purpose of the Hadarak. You have accomplished more for the furtherance of our mission than most V’kit’no’sat have.”

  “Then why be enemies? If our methods are proving superior, reconsider your own.”

  “I have already, or I would not be here speaking with you. But what you fail to recognize is the combined will of the V’kit’no’sat. I lead them because I stepped away from it, became a rebel to do what was necessary. I have been labeled a traitor before, and I have seen what it looks like from the outside. The others have not. Our empire was designed to be led by the Zak’de’ron, and in their absence we hold to protocol rather than following true leadership. It is why we have not made gains against the Hadarak until recently. I am having difficulty dragging the V’kit’no’sat out of their complacency, which is one reason why I want your empire annexed under my personal control…not theirs. I want you as a counter balance. As competition to wake them up further. But I cannot shield you if you do not submit to my personal authority.”

  “You eliminated any chance of that when you wiped out our worlds in what’s now the Devastation Zone. It stands as a reminder of why we will never join you.”

  “Yet you let the Rit’ko’sor join you. Was it only because they had not participated in the destruction?”

  “No. We also annexed a portion of the Li’vorkrachnika. I assume you know something of our history with them?”

  “So you must maintain dominance?”

  “We don’t employ your definition of that word.”

  “Yet you do, though your methods differ.”

  “No. There are many races without our borders that we do not control.”

  “The same is true of the V’kit’no’sat.”

  “Nor do we destroy them when they grow to a certain level of strength.”

  “Because your growth rate has exceeded theirs. You have begun to plateau now that your technology has caught up to ours in most cases.”

  “That is not the reason, but it has been helpful.”

  “So you would truly let a non-hostile grow to a strength where they could challenge you?”

  “Yes.”

  “That is stupidity if you can prevent it.”

  “An old saying that has been misquoted often goes, ‘Never start a fight, but always finish one.’ To some that sounds like pacifism, but I have never thought so. When someone misbehaves within their own culture, that is starting a fight. One we will step in and wage on behalf of the victims. But if there is no fight started, if there are no victims, then we will not start a fight simply to prevent another power from arising. We prefer to see it as competition, and our response to competition is to grow stronger, not try to hobble the growth of the other.”

  “You allow so many problems to arise using such methods.”

  “Have we? Or is that just speculation on your part?”

  “You would argue that true threats would violate your principles at some point, thus starting the fight on their own, and those that would not would never become enemies?”

  “Close. We can never guarantee changes in the future, but bad guys behave like bad guys and identify themselves early, in most cases. Often they do not even know how to pretend to be good.”

  “I do not know how to be your version of ‘good,’ for it seems to lack a clear mission, but your short history appears to testify otherwise. Though without the threat of the V’kit’no’sat binding you together, would you be so united? Are you truly stable, or bound by fear?”

  “I will not speak of our allies, but Star Force is solid.”

  “I wonder, though I doubt you will ever have the opportunity to find out. What happened to the Uriti you stole from us? It is not in your Preserve,” Mak’to’ran said, getting back to the earlier question that Davis had veered away from.

  “I said there were two threats.”

  Mak’to’ran tilted his head slightly. “You never received the Uriti from the Knights of Quenar?”

  “No, we did not. We did not even know you had one, nor that they had attacked and took it from you. They don’t bother to tell us where they acquire them, or how, knowing that we would probably not approve. We are not in a position to stop them, so we don’t demand to know. The Uriti are safer with us than they are remaining in sedation. We don’t like how they are probably being acquired, but we cannot stop it.”

  “You could refuse them.”

  Davis raised an eyebrow. “By the time they arrive with one, the damage is already done.”

  “Yet you allow them to continue by accepting them. They do the necessary work you refuse to do.”

  “Most of the Uriti in our region were given to us willingly. Their former caretakers did not want to continue to risk their territories to an accidental waking. If we knew where they were, we would acquire them by different means.”

  “And if the owners refused?”

  “We would wait and watch, but eventually we would obtain them. The Uriti take damage being sedated for so long. We would not allow that to continue, for the Uriti’s sake.”

  “So you would fight to retrieve them as well?”

  “If needed, but we wouldn’t use the same methods.”

  “Interesting,” Mak’to’ran mewed. “What happened to the Uriti they stole from us?”

  “It was stolen from them.”

  “By…whom…?” the Era’tran growled.

  Davis looked up at him, holding his stare for several long seconds. “The Zak’de’ron.”

  Mak’to’ran flinched, a moment of confusion on his face, then his eyes widened as his mind began to put together the various clues. The Era’tran stumbled backward, taking a step away from the Humans as his mind raced and Davis could see the sheer terror in his movements as he tried to rectify what was going on.
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  “The Rit’ko’sor told us of your civil war and how you were looking for our sponsor,” Davis said as Mak’to’ran only paid half attention to him, lost in thought. “You believed it had to be the Oso’lon or the J’gar, but you ignored the third obvious alternative because you were so arrogant, and perhaps fearful, that you had failed to completely eliminate them. The Zak’de’ron hid a single ship from you, with one Zak’de’ron in stasis along with a cargo of eggs. We stumbled onto the ship accidentally and revived the Zak’de’ron without knowing who it was. It did not kill us, but rather rewarded our assistance with unlocking the planetary defense station database while taking a look at your recent history.”

  Mak’to’ran didn’t say anything, so Davis continued.

  “They have contacted us only a handful of times, and our war against you is our own doing. They just gave us a little nudge, happy to see you taking damage, until recently when they made contact with one of my elite Archons and stole her memories. They apologized profusely, citing it was necessary to determine our intention for the Rit’ko’sor, then they rescinded their death mark against those in our empire. They also gave us a new sensor that will be able to detect your ships and theirs upon jumppoint entry. They also gave us a rundown on how they thought you would invade us after the truce expired, as well as giving us complete data on how they upgraded the Rit’ko’sor and every one of V’kit’no’sat races, hinting that we could annex any of you that we wanted while making it clear they are going to wipe out every last one of you that we don’t take under our umbrella.”

  Mak’to’ran’s stunned and quickly catching up mind reacted instinctively to that, his talons glowing red as he reflexively activated his Saroto’kanse’vam as he took another step backward.

  “Yes,” Davis confirmed. “They are going to kill every last one of you, and have made it clear they cannot assist us when you invade after the truce. They’re not ready yet. They’ve only had a couple of millennia to start rebuilding, but they want to be allies of a sort regardless. We’ve kept their confidence to this point…then we hear from the Knights of Quenar that a single survivor came back to them from the fleet that had stolen the Uriti from you. He was left for dead in the wreck of a starship the Zak’de’ron had dragged and dumped into a star. A small survival ship inside was not destroyed, and he played dead long enough for them to leave, thinking they had eliminated all witnesses. It took years for him to return in his small-engined ship, but return he did, and the Knights of Quenar told us what happened.”