Triumphant (Battle Born Book 14) Page 29

  “No, I need to be part of this. We’ll both sleep better if we have at least a basic plan.”

  Absently stroking her soft skin, he reviewed what the disk had showed him. “Something Abaddon said caught my attention. I hate to emulate their strategy, but in this case, I think he’s right.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said that Earth would surrender without firing a shot if they were faced with the true power of the Evonti army.”

  Rebecca nodded. “Peace through strength. It’s not a new idea.”

  “Well, I think it might have been my mistake in dealing with human governments. So many human countries are still run by dictators or councils that only understand strength and intimidation. We’ve attempted to reassure humans, to barter and pacify. This was somewhat effective with the U.S., but now the entire world is involved.”

  Swinging her legs off his, she pivoted toward him, wide-eyed and uncertain. “If you’re going to abandon diplomacy, what’s left? War?” she whispered the word with obvious dread.

  He chuckled. “Relax, love. According to the U.N., we’re already at war.”

  “That’s not funny.” He gently pushed calm toward her mind, but she shoved it back at him. “Don’t try to calm me down! I might be part of your world now, but I’m still human. If you’re not going to negotiate, what are you going to do?”

  “Unveil the Triumphant right over U.N. headquarters, and tell them I accept their invitation. If they want war, I’ll give them one. Then my fighters will unveil over other densely populated cities all over the planet, leaving humans no choice but surrender.”

  “You guys tried something similar once before and it didn’t work out well,” she reminded.

  “If Solar Warden hadn’t been taken over by a power-hungry madman, L.A. wouldn’t lie in ruins.” He was tired of being blamed for the tragedy and hearing it from his mate was doubly insulting. “A demonstration of power makes the most sense, that’s all there is to it.”

  She stood, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m sure flexing your muscles will make you feel better, but how does it improve the situation with the Evonti? Have you forgotten that they’re the real enemy?”

  “I haven’t forgotten anything.” Instinct told him to stand also, to regain the power position, but this wasn’t about control and neither was his strategy regarding Earth. “If the Evonti see someone else about to snatch their prize away, they’ll be forced to act, to defend their potential target.”

  Stillness crept across her features as her thoughts turned inward. Her indignation faded and a strange mixture of awareness and excitement trickled across their link. “You’re using Earth as bait to draw out the real enemy.” Her lips curved, but stopped just short of an actual smile. “Are you going to tell them?”

  “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “If they’re in on it from the beginning, there will be no questioning my true motivation. However, the Evonti almost assuredly monitor human communications. Every phone call, social media post, and radio transmission must indicate appropriate emotions for a people who have just been threatened by an invading enemy.”

  She shook her head. “You can’t tell them. Humans are horrible at keeping their mouths shut.”

  “If I say nothing, they will likely accuse me of manipulating the situation to my advantage. They will think the threat was real and I am only pretending to ‘play nice’ now that they have no choice but to cooperate.”

  With a heavy sigh, she sank back onto the couch. “Do they have another choice? If Earth holds fast to their refusal, will you leave?”

  “Of course,” he insisted, but honesty eroded his conviction. If Earth refused to help them, their dreams of living life to its fullest would die. The inherent need for magic inside each battle born male would continue to ache, to fester until they were consumed by bitterness. “I guess it would depend if human females refuse or just their governments. If there were those willing to defy their governments, we would find a way to assist them.”

  She smiled and compassion warmed her gaze. “A much more honest answer.” She looked away and her forehead creased, then she said, “Your U.S. contacts have been more reasonable than most. Could you trust one or two of them to keep your secret and then explain that they were in on it all along?”

  He pulled her toward him as he considered the suggestion. “It’s worth a com to Morgan. I know I can trust her, and she will know which of her contacts we can trust.”

  “That only leaves the Evonti.” She draped her legs back over his as he wrapped his arm around her. “How do you control how many of them come through the portals?”

  “That’s simple math. We know there are sixty, so I’ll start the show for the U.N. as soon as we’ve narrowed that number to nine.”

  “Why nine?”

  “Nine allows them to open one gate completely, two four-portal openings, three of the smallest openings, or some combination of the three sizes. I’m not sure how large their ships are, but I’m pretty sure we can handle whatever they can squeeze through that bottleneck. If we destroy too many of their portals, they might abandon the target entirely.”

  “And we need to prove to Earth, once and for all, that the Evonti threat is real.”

  “Exactly.” He scooped her up in his arms and pushed to his feet. “I’ll work out the details with the ship commanders. I have other plans for you.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled, love shining in her eyes. “I can’t wait to hear all about them.”

  * * * * *

  “But they’ll know we’re waiting for them,” Kotto Tarr, commander of the Crusader, argued. “The Evonti are too damn smart to rush headfirst into an ambush.”

  Sedrik had expected this holo-briefing to take less than an hour. He should have known better. He sat at the head of the conference table with three commanders on each side. By gathering his six most accomplished commanders, he had inadvertently chosen the six most opinionated as well.

  “If you would let me finish,” warning turned his voice into a menacing growl. “Ever since Jakkin’s run-in with the two Evonti ships, our best engineers have been refining our covert shield generator. They figured out that the shields were emitting a trace of helitian gas, which was why the Evonti were able to track the Fearless.”

  “Can the emission be avoided, or minimized?” Jakkin slipped the question into the next pause, so Sedrik didn’t reprimand him.

  “It can’t be avoided entirely, but it can be filtered. However, the assembly needed is complex. I’m having the system installed on our three destroyers. The team will then retrofit fighters if there is time.” He took a deep breath and was pleased when no one else interrupted the flow of his explanation. “Our best advantage is the element of surprise. The Evonti don’t realize we know they can network the portals. We have to take advantage of that.”

  “How many portals are left?” Trant Lorag asked. He commanded the Defender and Sedrik had been impressed with his performance in recent battles. Unlike Kotto and Jakkin, Trant wasn’t a talker. Thank the gods for small mercies.

  “We’ve identified fifty-eight and destroyed forty-nine. As soon as we find and destroy the final two, this mission moves forward.”

  He’d divided Earth into six sectors and each of these commanders was responsible for a team of ships that would operate in his sector. Sedrik would oversee the entire operation and scare the shit out of the United Nations. And hopefully, the Evonti would take the bait.

  “What do we do if you don’t find the final two portals?” Kotto asked, obviously undeterred by Sedrik’s criticism.

  Sedrik encouraged his commanders to ask questions and offer alternatives, as long as they remained respectful. Even as lively as this conversation had become, each commander had offered respect not only to Sedrik, but to each other. “Two days. If we can’t find them by Friday, we proceed anyway.”

  “Have all the possible configurations for the portals been extrapolated?” Zilor Nox wanted
to know. He would command the trackers. The ships were small, but fast and agile. His sector was also the smallest, so his team would offer reinforcements wherever they were needed.

  “If we can find the last two portals, the possibilities are narrowed to sectors three and four. As long as those wild cards are out there, the situation will be much harder to manage. That’s why I’m willing to wait two additional days.”

  “We only have three destroyers,” Jakkin mused. “One will be assigned to sector three and one to sector four, but where are you sending the last one?”

  “Again, that depends on whether or not we find the last two portals.”

  “Do you need more people out looking?” Kotto asked. “I can spare some of my pilots.”

  The others made the same offer, but Sedrik shook his head. “We’ve been able to narrow the area considerably through process of elimination. The ships that are out there now are overlapping coverage. It’s just a matter of time.”

  A hush finally fell over the conference room as each commander digested the information they’d just received. Sedrik braced for the next barrage of questions, but there was only one and Zilor asked it.

  “What happens if the Evonti don’t take the bait?”

  “Everything I know about the Evonti says they will, but—if I’m wrong—we’ll reopen negotiations with Earth. If the human rulers still refuse to cooperate, I’ll follow Garin’s example and take our appeal directly to the females. Ultimately it should be their choice not any government’s.”

  Zilor accepted that without argument and only one clarification. “How long do we wait before we destroy the last nine portals?”

  “Five days,” Jakkin suggested. “The Evonti will be preparing for a full-scale invasion. It will take them at least that long to deploy.”

  “I disagree,” Kotto said. “I think they’ve been preparing for months. I wouldn’t give them more than a single day. If they don’t react within hours, then they’ve detected the destroyers and are reworking their strategy. We can’t allow them to steal our thunder.”

  “I agree with Kotto,” Sedrik said.

  “But how will they—” Jakkin’s question was interrupted by Tyrale.

  The first officer’s voice transmitted over the conference room’s general com. “Sorry to barge in, but we just destroyed the last two portals. They were both in sector six as we suspected. Thought that might help with your meeting.”

  “It does,” Sedrik told him. “Thanks for the update.”

  “No problem, sir.” As abruptly as he’d entered the conversation, Tyrale disconnected.

  “Back to my original question,” Jakkin said. “Where are you sending the third destroyer?”

  “Sectors five and six have no active portals left, so the destroyers will go to sectors two, three and four, which will be led by Kotto, Trant and Jakkin, respectively. Zilor and his trackers will go wherever they’re needed and the Triumphant will be in sector one. Unless I’ve missed something crucial, everyone should have sufficient coverage.”

  “Plan sounds solid to me,” Kotto concluded and the others agreed.

  “Then there’s only one question left,” Trant said with a smile. “When do we leave?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Phase one of the mission launched bright and early the following morning. It took seven hours to move the Triumphant into position above New York City, so Sedrik took a few minutes out and shared breakfast with his mate before rushing into battle. If everything went as planned the “battle” would be fast and focused. They’d let a few Evonti ships through then destroy the rest of the portals. But even while vastly outnumbered, three ships could do a lot of damage. He refused to be overconfident.

  Rebecca’s warm chuckle drew him back into the moment, and he realized he hadn’t spoken in several minutes. “Sorry.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand.

  “Go be a general. You’re no good to me like this,” she softened the criticism with a smile. “Your men need you right now, and my next training session starts in ten minutes. I’ll see you when it’s all over.”

  He came around the table and framed her face with his hands. “I love you, mate.” He accented the statement with a slow, deep kiss. “More every minute.”

  “Then stay safe and remember this is supposed to be more of a demonstration than a battle.”

  “That’s my intention. Hopefully, the Evonti will cooperate.” A chill of trepidation tingled down his spine, but he fought hard not to let it show. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  By the time he reached the command center, all six sector leaders had checked in. They were positioned and waiting for his signal to disengage their covert shields. The three destroyers were also in place centered above sectors two, three, and four. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t know if the new filtration system was working until the Evonti came through the portals—or if they didn’t.

  The destroyers would only reveal their presence if the Evonti activated the portals. Up to this point Earth had only seen a small fraction of the ships. Today they’d see the Triumphant, so Sedrik wanted to keep a few cards up his sleeve.

  “Is my avatar ready?” Sedrik asked his communications chief.

  “Yes, sir.” He activated the life-size image in front of Sedrik. “How does he look?”

  The image was adorned in flex-lar armor, a fierce scowl shaping his features. “Do I always look that…grumpy?”

  “You did before Rebecca,” Tyrale said and all the other officers laughed. “Now you’re frighteningly amicable.”

  “Not that we’re complaining,” the com-chief added.

  Sedrik just smiled. Everyone was on edge because of the coming battle. It was only natural for them to release a little tension along the way. “The avatar is perfect.”

  The com-chief accepted the praise with a nod, so Sedrik looked at Tyrale. “Is the council all in one place, or are we going to broadcast the signal to the entire building?”

  “That’s up to you, sir,” Tyrale told him. “We can blanket the entire building or open the avatar in the Security Council Chamber. It’s a smaller group of ambassadors, but most argue they are the power players, and the council is in session even as we speak.”

  “That sounds more manageable. Show me the room.” The main viewscreen segmented. One section remained large while three rectangles stacked up along the left side of the larger area. The top section displayed the entire Earth, the middle section showed an aerial view of Manhattan, while the bottom view indicated the Triumphant’s current position. The largest section displayed an elegant room with an oddly shaped table, surrounded by concentric rows of chairs. Like a giant U, the table was curved, yet the top section was open. Were speakers required to stand in the center?

  “Activate the avatar in the middle of the ring.” Tyrale did and the room seemed to gasp in unison. Then came a rush of voices in a variety of languages. Several of the ambassadors ran for the doors, not waiting around to see what happened. Armed guards rushed into the ring and quickly discovered that the armored warrior wasn’t really standing there.

  “What is the meaning of this?” one of the ambassadors shouted above the din.

  “Will they all understand English?” Sedrik asked Tyrale.

  “Any ambassador that doesn’t has an interpreter,” Tyrale explained.

  “Then set me in motion.” He stood as the chaos of voices erupted in his ear indicating that the interactive avatar had networked with his com-bots. “Forgive the imposition, esteemed ambassadors,” he projected his voice above the noise with just a hint of disdain, “but I wasn’t sure how to respond to your invitation.” The avatar not only perfectly reproduced his voice, it also mirrored his gestures and facial expressions.

  “Are you ready for the visual feed?” Tyrale said quietly.

  Sedrik nodded and a prickling sensation erupted behind his eyes. His surroundings blurred and the Security Council Chamber came into focus, making it feel as if he actually stood in the room w
ith the shocked and hostile ambassadors. The ship’s display hadn’t adequately represented the scope and grandeur of the room. Beyond the odd-shaped table was a massive golden mural featuring humans struggling with a variety of challenges and injustices.

  “What invitation?” the same man demanded, drawing Sedrik’s attention away from the mural. “Who are you?”

  The ambassador had appointed himself leader, so Sedrik faced him. “I am General Sedrik Lux of the Rodyte Planetary Defense Force.” He motioned to the guards still circling, weapons pointed at the avatar. “Is this really necessary? This is a holographic image. If they shoot, they’ll damage each other.”

  “The image could broadcast some sort of harmful wave or pulses of energy.”

  Sedrik chuckled. The spokesman sounded like a frightened child. “At least back them off so I can see everyone.”

  After a tense pause, the guards were told to oblige him.

  Whispered conversations still rippled around the room and the tension was palpable. Sedrik clasped his hands behind his back and began the speech he’d practiced the night before. “It was my understanding that the United Nations has declared war on Rodymia. I’m here to—”

  “We did not declare war on Rodymia, General Lux. We declared war on the battle born rebels,” a female ambassador moved to stand beside the man. She spoke English with an American accent, so he suspected she was the U.S. Ambassador.

  “There is one small problem with that, Ambassador.” He unclasped his hands and took a step toward the two spokespersons. “The battle born are no longer considered rebels. We are an indistinguishable part of the Rodyte military, so declaring war on us is declaring war on Rodymia.”

  “That was not our intention,” the male ambassador stressed.

  Already they were backpedaling. This might be easier than he thought. “Do you withdraw your declaration?” Their answer was irrelevant. This drama was for the Evonti not humans.