The Never Ever War by John E. Siers

Author:John E. Siers [Siers, John E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2023-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

LFS Valkyrie, in Ragnarok Orbit

“We appreciate the time you are taking to meet with us, Heart of White Peaks.” The Akara leader’s voice—or Val’s translated rendition of it—sounded clearly in Lorna’s earbud. She nodded to the delegation at other end of the table in Valkyrie’s Flag Conference Room.

It was a strange arrangement, just a bit awkward for Lorna. She sat at the head of the table with Admiral McGruder to her right and Major Dundee to her left. Directly opposite her at the foot of the table was Heart of System Operations—the ranking Akara in the Odin System at the moment. The Lizards had come aboard Valkyrie for a rare face-to-face meeting, an indication of the serious nature of the discussions. McGruder had decided that Lorna should take the lead. To the Akara, she wasn’t Commodore Greenwood of the LFS Navy, she was a peer of their own realm, the only human to hold such a title on their homeworld.

“We have sent a courier to Copper Hills.” Heart made an apologetic hand gesture.

“I understand,” Lorna acknowledged with an appropriate gesture of her own; body language was a significant part of communication with the Akara. “We face a complex situation. We have also sent a courier to Luna, seeking guidance.”

“We know you are here to look after the interests of the native humans.” Heart’s next gesture was the equivalent of a shrug. “We have tried to avoid anything that would interfere with their society. We have had no contact with them of any kind. We believed they were not aware of our existence.

“This is their planet. We understand that they might view us as intruders, but they made no attempt at communication. They attacked without warning and killed our people. By our standards, this would call for a response in kind. We have not responded only because you are involved. You have come here to act as their protectors. To that extent, you are also responsible for their actions. Have you discussed this with them?”

“We have not,” Lorna admitted. “Our discussions with their leaders in the city had not gone far when the attacks occurred. We stopped talking to them when our own people were attacked. At the time, we did not know of the attack on your site.

“We suspect the attackers are not under the control of the local government, that they may be an opposition faction fighting against that government. If so, the people we have been talking to have not been forthright with us. We intend to confront them about it. The attackers killed some of our people, and we are still searching for two we believe were taken prisoner. We are also awaiting word from Luna on how to proceed.

“I can only promise that we will keep you advised. We will tell you what comes of our discussions on the planet and what our investigations discover. I would like to tell you that those responsible will be punished, but for the moment, we do not know who they are or where to find them.

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