This Means War (Peacemaker Wars Book 4) by J.N. Chaney & Terry Maggert

Author:J.N. Chaney & Terry Maggert [Chaney, J.N. & Maggert, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2024-05-05T00:00:00+00:00

18

“Perry, why didn’t we know about this?”

The bird opened his beak to speak but only managed the sound of a long, low exhale.

“I’d be surprised if you did,” Moe said.

Mark turned to the little alien. “Why is that?”

“Most of these reports were buried hundreds, sometimes thousands deep in their feeds. I stumbled upon the first almost by accident. But that was all it took. Once I had the scent, this Tunis sniffed out the rest.”

“It was impressive work,” Perry agreed, “to cultivate this many feeds at one time. You weren’t just looking for a needle in a haystack. You were looking for needles in a planet of haystacks.”

Moe gave the bird an appreciative nod, his joints popping as he moved.

“We have to stop this. We have to do something,” Mark said. The only thing he hated more than slavery was genocide, especially when it was against a small, dispersed, and relatively harmless race like the Tunis.

“But how. . .?” Drogo started to ask. He paused and gave a bark-like laugh. “Oh, yeah. We’ve already got the answer to this problem, don’t we?”

Mark nodded, a touch sly. Knowing.

“What answer?” Moe pressed.

He told the old Tunis about Ja-Ra and his clan, how they’d met on Fulcrum, and their adventures into the Junkway and the Belle of Antrades. Moe listened intently, although his eye nervously moved between Mark’s face and the security camera feed.

“An intact clan of Tunis is in possession of an infinity ship? And it belongs to them?”

“Yes, sir.” Perry nodded. “The Belle’s ancient, but Ja-Ra means to refurbish her from nose to tail.”

“That’s something. Truly.” Moe scratched his chin and fell into deep thought for a moment. “Could you get me to this ship? This Belle of Antrades?”

“We could,” Mark said. “But what about the others? What about the rest of your kind?”

“What about them? They are scattered like stardust across the stars.”

His wrist repeater glowed to life. “Boss, I’ve got an idea.”

“I’m all ears, Netty.”

“Considering the work Moe had to do to find out about the violence being inflicted against his people, there is a good chance most Tunis don’t know about the threat. At the same time, no one outside of our little circle knows about the Belle. We’ve got secrecy on our side. So, I say we use that and draw the Tunis out. If done properly, we could move them all into one safe place.”

“Being scattered might be their greatest defense right now. Bringing them together would just make them easier targets,” Drogo argued.

“That is true. Strategically speaking, there is no way for us to collect them all. Even if we had a fleet of ships and no fuel restrictions, corralling them would be a near-impossible task.”

Perry ruffled his feathers. “Maybe the answer is more obvious than we think. Communication is key. What if we coded the message? Could we use innocuous wording and broadcast it in a language that few speak? That might limit the danger.”

“Perhaps. But what then?” Moe asked.

“Step one. We arm them with knowledge.

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