Saxon Andrews - The power of a Queen

“One last question, Admiral; would your Grandfather have died if your Admiral had not ordered his fleet to attack an innocent ship? Like you said earlier, the one who started the shooting is the one responsible for the death.”

Dorg was in obvious turmoil. He tried desperately not to hear her but he knew she was right; try as he might he couldn’t get around her logic. He knew at some level all along that the attack wasn’t justified; it was the fault of the Admiral. His grandfather’s death was the result of the Admirals anger over not being able to use his fleet for personal glory. All his life he had hated and blamed the wrong one. With that realization, he suddenly remembered the Human Colonists he had ordered executed and it hit him like a stunner. He hung his head and remained silent for a long moment, then said in a shaking voice, “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m so sorry. I’ve been wrong about you all along. It was not your fault.”

“One more question Admiral.” Dorg looked up and Danielle said in a voice that he could barely hear, “When have we ever given your race a reason to attack us?”

Dorg hung his head and it was obvious that he was shaken by what Danielle had said to him. Terl looked at his Admiral sitting with his head down and suddenly he understood these humans. They had done nothing but defend themselves. His race had been the aggressor from the beginning and had not even taken the time to look and see if there was any threat to the Empire. This was all a huge mistake. Terl looked at Danielle and said, “I am also sorry. I’m ashamed of how we have treated you and how we have misjudged you over the cycles.” Then he looked at Tag and Kosiev, “Whatever you choose to do, we deserve. You never represented a threat to us; we were the threat to you.”

The room was heavy with silence. Danielle could tell that these two Cainth were sincere. Then she got up and walked over to Admiral Dorg, knelt down beside his chair, and put her hand on his shoulder. Dorg raised his head and looked Danielle in the eyes. Danielle said, “There are moments in our life where we see ourselves clearly for the first time and find that we are not who we think we are. You can see yourself now, perhaps for the first time, as you truly are and the pain and horror of what your decisions have caused. From this day forward it will be your decision each day to choose what your path will be because of your new insight.” Danielle stood and then turned and looked at Tag and Kosiev. Tag nodded at her and she turned to Terl and said, “Clan leader, how many clans make up your leadership council?” Danielle asked.

“There are fifteen of us that represent all the Clans. Why do you ask?”

“Your next decision will determine the future of both our races, Clan Leader,” Danielle said while looking at Tag. “You will call all the Clan Leaders to this ship immediately and you will turn the screens off your fleet until our meeting with them is over. You will ask your clan leaders to make us the sixteenth clan with a representative on your Council, then any agreements we make today will be binding on all.”

Everyone in the room was struck dumb by the suggestion. Dorg looked up and said in a soft voice, “The Military and I will totally support this decision if the Clan Leaders so will it.”

Terl looked at Dorg and saw sorrow, determination, and shame in his eyes along with something else that was different; his entire demeanor was different. This was the first hope Terl had felt since the battle and this was a remarkable suggestion. Then he said, “Who can speak for your government? How long will it take them to arrive?”

Admiral Kosiev said, “Clan Leader, these two civilians are the leaders of our entire race. They have been given the authority to speak for all of us. Not only will the Military support their decision but every member of our species will follow them.”

Terl looked around the room and felt excitement; a new Clan, a strong Clan, and one that he felt could be trusted to keep their promises. This was a new clan that had demonstrated to his people how their aggressive traits could lead to their possible extinction. He lifted his com and said, “Notify the fourteen Clan leaders to jump back into the system and join me on the Earth ship waiting for them at the jump limit. Tell them I order it.” Then he said to Danielle, “Would you be kind enough to move your ship to the jump limit, I don’t want to waste time on them having to move in system.”

Dorg raised his com and said, “All war ships will shut down their screens and weapon systems immediately; half of the fleet will then return home and assist in controlling the riots. Tresk, take the other half to the colonies and assist in bringing order. All screens will remain off while in our home system.”

“Admiral,” Danielle said looking at Kosiev.

“Captain Mikado, make it happen.” Mikado left the room and Kosiev turned to Dorg and said, “One other thing, Clan Leader and Admiral Dorg; we have transports waiting to jump in to return the troops and sailors we captured at our Colony world.”

Dorg looked shaken and said, “I should be executed for what happened there. I’m the one who ordered the deaths of your colonists. I will submit to whatever justice you deem appropriate.”

Tag looked at Dorg walked over and took one of his hands shaking it and said, “Fear, anger, and hate makes one do things that would never normally be done. I have a best friend that has proven to me that good people can do terrible things. Those colonists lost their lives but if we can make this work, then their deaths would not be in vain and we’ll never see that happen to each other again. Admiral, we forgive you and perhaps you’ll work hard to make this agreement work so that you have a chance to redeem yourself. Incidentally, one of our prisoners is a General Dorg. Are you related?”

“He’s my brother,” Dorg said with relief in his voice. He knew for certain now that these humans were going to be his clan brothers. He would defend them to the death even if he had to take on the entire fleet of the Alliance. His brother was alive. Thank the creator; his brother was alive. His hatred for the humans was gone and now he was looking forward to what the future held for his race, but his soul felt the weight of the human colonists he had ordered executed. He knew that this was a weight he was going to carry for a long time.

Tag and Danielle looked out the viewport of the Washington at the planet below. They could see smoke plumes rising from some of the cities and knew that order was being restored while the Cainth leaders met with the clans to inform them of the new member. He was stroking her hair as he looked at the planet below. “Now I see why Sung Lea wanted you here. You did things in that meeting that amazed me. We have made a bond here that if we can survive the Alliance’s response will make us stronger over the years. I would have never considered even opening a dialogue.”

“They are motivated to right all the wrongs from the past.” Danielle answered. Then she looked at Tag, “Tag, are we going to be able to defend them and ourselves? You know the Alliance will not take this lightly.”

“Terl has agreed to a subterfuge. He’s moving all his ships out of the system and having them take station a short jump away. He’s going to tell the Alliance that we destroyed his fleet and threatened to return and destroy his planet. He’s requesting Alliance protection which they will probably decline to provide. If we have enough time, we’ll place the asteroid shield around their planet. They have convinced me that they can now be trusted. They have also sent their fleet to their colonies to protect them. We will hide some ships in the outer system here to insure that their home world is not attacked.” He paused for a moment, “Do you feel that we can safely give them Coronado technology, Danielle? Am I misreading them?”