Sovereign chapter 3 (standard:science fiction, 1721 words) [3/3] show all parts
Author: St George	Added: Mar 13 2003	Views/Reads: 2575/1946	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Chapter 3

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

up and said hello. The Anduril navy was twice what they had claimed, 
they had never needed military aid from Earth. They had given mankind 
just enough help to construct a viable navy but not enough for them to 
pose a threat. Then all that was required was for the Megaerans to 
learn Earth's location when they would undoubtedly use the same tactics 
which they had used against the Tisiphone homeworld and that would be 
that. Against all odds, humanity had come up with the Phantom class 
ship, so the Andurils (High Commanders of the Alliance) instructed 
Phantom's captain to destroy any lifepods she came across. They knew 
this to be against Megaeran battle rules and would demand a similar 
civilian killing. To diffuse this situation a POW release was 
‘negotiated' by agents and one POW was given access to a star chart 
which revealed Earth's location. In the final battle, the Andurils send 
humanity as much help as they needed to defeat the Megaeran armada, but 
at the same time, they made sure that the Anduril contingent was small 
enough to ensure that whichever side won, the stellar navy was rendered 
toothless. 

Within a few days of the battle all human starships had retreated to the
Sol system. Athens was destroyed and Nicosia had been annexed by the 
Andurils. Neo-Mir's trading fleet was useless as humanity was now 
effectively friendless in the galaxy. The Tisiphones were still on good 
terms, but they were few and had little power or territory, although 
many were preparing to return to their newly liberated homeworld. 

Things really got out of hand when the public back on Earth heard of
what had happened though. Stellar Peace, predictably enough, said that 
mankind had got what it deserved for interfering in the affairs of 
other races, whilst other groups called for an Alliance with the 
remaining Megaerans and a strike against the Andurils who had acted 
against both races. This was near impossible though, the Megaerans were 
scattered and minus a homeworld or navy, and human power was just three 
star systems and a crippled navy. Since the battle, the Andurils made 
it clear that although they bore humanity no specific ill will, they 
would do them no favours, and advised humans not to venture beyond 
their meagre territory toward Anduril space. This meant that for the 
moment at least trade was impossible with the Tisiphones. The Andurils 
were now invincible, they had the guard stations, the largest territory 
and the only navy worthy of the name. 

THE END 

EPILOGUE 

Eight months after the battle a powerful epdar echo was received at a
naval border listening post, accompanied by a message being transmitted 
directly at the installation, it read: HUMANS, I AM CAPTAIN KAYAR 
LAFWIT AYE IN TEMPORARY COMMAND OF THE SNS KNIGHT. YOU HAVE BEEN 
WRONGED BY OUR GOVERNMENT AND WE THE PEOPLE OF THE ANDURIL UNDERGROUND 
ARE RETURNING YOUR PROPERTY TO YOU IN TOKEN OF COOPERATION. 

© Author 

Things to look out for: many technologies portrayed above, such as
bio-computers and the Bussard ramscoop are based on real science, other 
things such as the Tunguska meteorite and the shutdown of the 
relativistic heavy ion collider actually happened and the ion drive 
powered space vehicle is already a reality. Other things such as 
hyperspace and ether are, to the best of my knowledge bunk. 

On the subject of aliens, I know that there is no reason why the
Andurils must breath oxygen/nitrogen, have two sexes and enjoy 
fructose. This story is about humans not Andurils and for this I make 
no apology. If you want detailed and insightful plots and worlds 
involving non-human characters then you should read some of my other 
(as yet unpublished) work. On the subject of measurements I usually use 
imperial (a much more elegant and infinitely superior system), but I 
think most people would agree with me that somehow yards and inches 
don't sound right when applied to a starship. 

I always welcome feedback, but I would be especially pleased to hear
from people who have spotted the furie connection (if you've spotted it 
then you know what I'm talking about) and also from people who have 
spotted the son of Narsil connection (a bit cryptic unless you know to 
what I am referring). 

Those in power are supposed to act out the will of the people, but
invariably they fail, some fail only in small ways, some fail 
catastrophically, it is simply a matter of degrees, but there are 
always those who wish things to be different. Stellar peace were called 
terrorists because the used force to back up a political ideal, as it 
turned out they were more or less right all along. The Anduril 
underground are, from our point of view good guys, but they hijacked a 
battleship, to the Anduril government they are terrorists. The Anduril 
government used both force and deception to achieve a political ideal, 
are they terrorists? All we ever know about the Megaerans is what the 
Anduril government tell us, are the Megaerans guilty of what they are 
accused of, did the Tisiphones perhaps start the war, are the Megaerans 
expansionists or victims? I know the answers because I made the story, 
but I have not included enough clues for you the reader to know for 
sure the answer to any of these questions, you just have to go with the 
limited facts and your own instinct, just like real life. That said, I 
should be very pleased to hear what your instinct says! 


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