Talysia
Lady of Autumn
As Atreides left the bridge and headed to the infirmary, wanting to get away as soon as he could, he was almost knocked over by a little boy running headlong down the corridor. Usually, he would reprimand the child, but under the circumstances... Instead, he knelt and tousled the boy's hair and asked him what was wrong.
"Will they find my Ma and Pa?" the young boy asked Atreides as he hobbled along the corridor.
"Its Billy, isn't it?" queried the Captain.
Billy nodded in acknowledgment.
"Mr and Mrs Dawson have been found safe and well in the shelter beneath the surface of the planet. Your parents should be back aboard very soon Billy," smiled Atreides. He was glad that he could give at least one person some good news, because for most there was very little good news to give.
Captain Atreides tried not to limp as he entered the infirmary, although with a wound like that, it was moderately difficult. He lowered himself down into a chair and waited for the doctor to finish up with another of his patients.
"Ah, Captain," Dr. Lewis said, looking up from his treatment. He patted the young lieutenant on the shoulder and smiled crookedly at her. "Now, then, you will be fine in a couple of days. I want you to rest, though, right here. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Doctor," came the reply. Atreides hoped that his wound would not require such restrictive measures to heal. He wanted to be away as soon as possible.
Doctor Lewis picked up a small scanner and walked briskly over to where Atreides sat. "So you got yourself knocked about a bit during the attack?" he said, passing the scanner over the Captain. When he was done, he tapped a few buttons and concentrated for a moment on the results, which he put up on screen.
"You've aggravated this old wound in you right leg," said Dr Lewis, pointing at the image of Atreides leg on the screen. "How did you get that again?" asked Lewis.
"Some other time Doctor, just fix it please," replied Atreides, in a hurry, and not particularly keen to retell his Spinward Marches experiences again at this time.
"No problem," said Lewis, "I can heal it with the epidermal promoter." Lewis took one of his medical tools and carefully passed it over the most painful areas.
"You'll need to rest it up for about three days to fully recover," said the Doctor.
"Are you serious?" asked Atreides. "I have work to do, so if you can just sign me as fit I'll be on my way again."
Atreides left the infirmary feeling a lot better. Although the wound still ached, it was nothing compared to the feeling in his heart about his daughter. Besides, there was still plenty to do. The aliens had left, but the threat was still there, and the job of evaluating the damage was still to be done. He passed another couple of walking wounded as he left, hoping to get to a shuttle before someone accosted him.
"Should you really be up and walking so soon?" Elliott said, as Atreides neared the docking bay. "Perhaps you should go and rest. Why don't I...?"
"Lieutenant, I'm going, and not even my injury is going to stop me. Is there anything else I should know before I head off?" Atreides said, knowing that Elliott would have plenty to say.
"You have an appointment Dr Karpov at One, and one with Governor Drysdale at Four. Now, are you quite sure you want to fly this on your own?" asked Elliott.
"Yes, Lieutenant," replied the Old Man, "I think I still remember where the controls are!"
"Please Captain, I meant no disrespect," said Lieutenant Elliott, " but there are still dangers out there, and... well your leg wound is still...."
"So, now I'm a cripple," quipped the Captain, laughing at Elliott's discomfort."
"Well, ah... Sir!"
"Stop fussing man," said Atreides, "and close the hatch for me! I'll see you later."
"Best of luck, Sir!" added Elliott.
Grant Atreides knew that Elliott meant more than good luck in the negotiations. Elliott knew how much the Captain loved his daughter.
The shuttle left the Charlemagne's docking bay, and was soon heading for the planet. He was grateful to be able to fly down there himself, as it gave him a golden opportunity to see if he could see anything from space, any trace of his daughter on the surface. Tapping the coordinates into the shuttle's computer, Atreides concentrated hard on the scanners.
He continued to fly the shuttle low across the devastated landscape in a grid-like pattern over her last known whereabouts; hoping against hope that she had survived. It was only a week since she had given him the news of her pregnancy; his first grandchild. This mission was meant to have been an easy one; less dangerous than dealing with the Gorchinian Delegation, and less strenuous than the trip the Alframia Prime. He blamed himself for not realising that these alien demands had been quite so serious, and for not pulling her out earlier, but he knew that she would never have listened to him anyway. Once she was given a mission, she would never have left it before she had achieved complete success. It was a characteristic she had inherited from her father.
He had already lost a wife and a son, now it seemed that he had also lost a daughter and a grandchild. His search was fruitless, and he had an appointment at the underground shelter with a top scientist. He would have to leave the search to Ensign Takagi and his very capable teams.
Captain Atreides' shuttle landed on the planet, the day after the attack, as close to the shelter as possible. With the transport network down, there was no option but to walk the rest of the way. Atreides disembarked and started to walk, whilst the rest of the shuttle crew made preparations of their own.
Ever since the attack, the weather on the surface had been intense. He had been warned that the temperature had increased tenfold since the blast, but he hadn't thought it would be so bad. Fortunately the underground shelter was only a short walk away from the shuttle, so he quickly made his way across the scorched soil.
Atreides walked inside; out of the burning heat and into a cool breeze. He stepped onto the the elevator platform and called the lift back up from the depths of the planets cave system. It had been these same underground caves in which the planets very first colonists had survived during their first harsh winter, and now this morning, the caves had saved them once more. He pressed the button marked U17 and the cage began a shaky journey down-wards.
The temporary elevator took him down to the bottom level, where the shelter had been established during the attack. When he arrived, he stepped out into a wide hallway, where a desk had been set up to help visitors. An angry looking young woman sat there, tapping her fingernails against the desktop, glaring at the in offending far wall.
"I don't suppose you could tell me where to find..." Atreides started, but the receptionist interrupted him.
"Here's the location of the lab in the shelter. I take it you can find your own way there?" She tapped at a data-pad lightly and handed it brusquely to Atreides. Even to a Commonwealth Captain, it seemed that there would always be some people lacking manners. It wasn't surprising, Atreides thought, glancing back at the surly receptionist. She'd probably lost a lot in the attack.
Atreides followed the directions he had been supplied with, and he found the lab at the end of a long corridor in the underground shelter. He knocked twice on the old wooden door marked 'Bureau of Research', opened it when he heard an 'Enter' and went inside.
"Dr. Karpov, I assume?" asked Atreides, "I'm Captain Grant Atreides, of the Commonwealth Starship Charlemagne. I was told that you had information on the aliens who caused this terrible catastrophe earlier today."
"I'm glad you've come, Captain," the little scientist said briskly. He pointed at the monitor showing the bleakly devastated landscape outside. "I've been able to glean a lot from this planet's attackers."
"They seem quite aggressive. What do we know about them?" Atreides asked Dr. Karpov, the scientist assigned to evaluate the effects of the alien attack on the planet.
"Well, we've had very little contact with them in the past, so all information has come from non-Commonwealth sources," the scientist said, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses even further up the bridge of his nose, "but it looks in this case as though the aliens in question call themselves the Hychychyhmmy."
"What do they look like?" asked Atreides.
"The Hychychyhmmy are a completely alien species in every sense of that word. Their communications videos show them to have a body divided into segments with many pairs of legs and wings, and two claws. They are about 2 metres tall, and can breath both in air and also under water. They can also spend a limited time in near vacuum. They can fly and swim but have difficulty walking or climbing far. The have a dual parallel brain, and senses over a much wider EM band than humans, but no sense of smell. And they also give off a strong unpleasant odour as far as humans are concerned, Sir!"
"And do we know what was the weapon used?" asked Atreides.
"We have no idea of what kind of weapon it was, although we can surmise that there was a great deal of power behind it; far more than the Commonwealth could command. And to think they only used a fraction of it..." the scientist trailed off, shaking his head.
"Do we know why they attacked?" Atreides asked the scientist.
"I'd imagine you could ask Prime Minister Drysdale about that," the bald little scientist said. "The communication logs from just before the assault show quite a few interesting facts."
"Thanks for your help," Atreides said. The group then boarded the shuttle that would take them to the conference suite.
The trip from the laboratory to the conference suite in the city complex had only taken a few minutes, but there was no direct access for a ship to land, so Atreides opted to go ahead on foot whilst his subordinates were preparing the presentation. The air smelled acrid and burnt: Indeed, the very evidence of a great amount of burning was present all around him in the scorched land.
It had been many years since he had done so much walking; his place now was usually sitting in the Captain's chair on the Bridge, rubber-stamping decisions. He had been on his feet most of the day, personally overseeing everything himself, and his old war wound in his right leg had begun to act up. He always liked to think that the Galaxy was a more peaceful place today; that attitudes had changed from the times of the Battles for the Spin-ward Marches, but then something like today happens. The ache in his leg was a reminder to him that Starship Captains in the Commonwealth Navy were soldiers first, and diplomats second.
Atreides sat down in the conference suite, steepling his hands on the table and letting out a deep sigh. This was the first time he'd had to himself all day, and he let his mind drift, trying to put his thoughts in order.
His daughter had been on the planet's surface; part of a research team who had been assigned to catalogue the vast wealth of botanical life in the area. Unfortunately, her group had also been in the exact spot where the first blast had hit. He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the smooth metal ceiling, going through all the possible ways she could have escaped. Maybe the aliens took her team with them when they left. Maybe she escaped into an underground cave. Maybe her team had had to leave early for unspecified reasons.
Maybes seldom are, he told himself. I'll just have to wait until I either hear from her, or if someone from the Commonwealth contacts me with news. I know I can trust them. He folded his arms and waited for the others to arrive.
Not long after, Atreides was joined in the conference suite by Takagi and Fiori. He had come to rely heavily upon these two efficient young officers in the three years since the Charlemagne had begun her mission. Takagi began setting up a projection screen and other equipment, while Fiori contacted the Charlemagne for an update on the repairs.
Atreides could not help himself from worrying about his missing daughter, but he tried to put it aside for one moment to concentrate on the bigger picture.
"Okay, Ensign, you may proceed."
Takagi gestured to the screen, and a series of images flashed across. Atreides recognized a lot of the places shown, although they were now in ruin. The young Ensign started to explain the situation on the planet, and Atreides forced himself to listen. Takagi's voice explained the nature of the weapon that had been utilized in the attack, and how the damage had affected the ship, too.
"How do things stand now?" Atreides asked.
"Chief Hayes says that repairs will be complete within the hour, Sir," reported Lieutenant Fiori. "The damage was not as severe as he had thought. We should return to the Charlemagne. Also, they were tracking the alien craft, but it seemed to just disappear off the screen."
After the brief interruption, Ensign Takagi continued his video presentation on the extent of the planetary damage. It was clear that it would be some time before the planet would be habitable again, though modern clean-up teams were now very efficient.
The screen showed some close-ups that must have been taken from a drone or a small shuttle craft. One picture could have been a municipal park or a children's playground, but it was difficult to tell. Another showed only the grid lines where there had once been streets and buildings.
The devastation was astonishing. Trees had been uprooted, most of the cities were nothing but rubble, and there wasn't a living soul in the area, save for the team from the Charlemagne.
"As you can see, the effects of the blast were felt pretty much everywhere," Ensign Takagi said, his voice too bleak for one so usually energetic. "I guess we were lucky to have so many people survive. If not for the underground shelter, then..."
"All right, then, give me a list of who we've got on board," Atreides said.
Atreides listened as the list of names was read out, looking down at the dry, scorched earth to hide his concern. He hoped against hope that her name would be there, but when the officer came to the end of the list and he hadn't heard it, he felt crushed inside.
"That was the final list of the refugees from the planet, Captain," said the young officer. "Your daughter's name is not on it, Sir. We have to assume..."
"Yes, I know... I understand," replied Atreides.
As the shuttle took off for the Charlemagne, Atreides looked back at the surface of the planet, wishing that there was some other way to help. It was only a short shuttle flight back to the ship, but to the Captain it felt like an eternity. No-one spoke, not even the usually garrulous pilot, Lieutenant Fiori. She simply kept her eyes on the controls and said nothing.
"Glad to see you safely back," Elliott said as Atreides stepped out of the shuttle bay. "Prime Minister Drysdale is waiting for you. Please, come this way."
"I suppose I'll have to get this over with," Atreides murmured as he and Lieutenant Elliott walked the short distance to the guest quarters. He had only just returned to the ship, after seeing what the damage was like in person. It had not put him in the best of moods.
"The Prime Minister Drysdale is ready to see you now," said Lieutenant Elliott.
"Thank you," said Atreides.
Drawing in a deep breath, Captain Atreides pressed the panel to open the door and strode in to the quarters of Prime Minister Drysdale. He had a lot of things to say, but just how much could he get away with whilst still remaining within the boundaries of diplomacy?
"Well, are you satisfied with the way things turned out, Drysdale?" Captain Atreides asked once the door was shut. "Because the way I see things, you are solely responsible for everything that has happened here."
"How can you say that?" Drysdale demanded.
"Are you aware of the consequences of your actions? You may have doomed your planet to it's fate by your decision alone." Atreides was already having a hard time keeping his emotions in check.
"Captain Atreides, I loved my planet, and I loved my people, in much the same way that I suppose you must also love you ship and your crew. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, was more important to me than their protection, and I simply put their interests before those of the Commonwealth. When I evoked the Defence Act, believe me, I only had their interests in mind. You dishonour all the young men who died today if you think otherwise," continued Drysdale.
"Your actions very nearly took us to the brink of a war. Are you aware of what kind of allies those aliens have?" Atreides asked pointedly.
"Well, what's done is done. I trust there'll be no more retaliatory attacks over this, not now that the Commonwealth is involved," Drysdale said, "so those aliens can look somewhere else for their needs, and they can go and threaten someone else."
"Those aliens weren't nearly as threatening as you're making everyone believe," Atreides muttered.
"I've read the Commonwealth Institutes report and recommendations. They saw no problems with the alien's formal requests. The Great Dry Lake region was unpopulated and the land was unsuitable for agriculture. All they asked was a right to mine salts and to build a spaceport for cargo freighters to refuel," continued Atreides. "Your refusal was quite blunt, very abusive and a sabre-rattling of the worst kind. You had no authority to say what you did."
"What were we supposed to do? They wanted to take our natural resources, and in exchange, they wouldn't conquer us for another one hundred years." Drysdale drummed his fingers on the tabletop irritably. "In one hundred years, I wouldn't be there to care whether the planet would be conquered or not - that was their logic. Why shouldn't I have replied in the way I did?"
"Yes, but did you have to be quite so rude in your reply to them?" Atreides couldn't believe the man. He had been drilled at the academy that diplomacy under any circumstances was the paramount thing in any situation with an alien race. He would never have dared to use the kind of phrasing that Drysdale used, even in private.
"Anyone would have done the same. We were right to refuse them." Drysdale shuddered. "Even so, we're better off without those...those bug eyed freaks."
"Please don't call them that by word, they are a sentient life-form, but obviously they will have values and traditions that seem strange compared to ours, their brain functions and physiology are completely different," replied Atreides.
"At least I can still rest with an easy conscience. I was totally blameless in this affair. No one could have predicted such an outcome and I will write that in my report," said Drysdale.
"It's true that no-one could have known what was going to happen, but surely you could have done your research a little better? I know that you wouldn't have offered them what they wanted, and nor should you have done, but did you quite have to go that far?"
"Honestly, it wasn't my fault. I made the best decision I could under the circumstances." Prime Minister Drysdale seemed mortally offended, and Atreides wondered whether the man felt any feelings of gratitude towards his rescuers at all.
"That may be so, but the consequences are painfully obvious," Atreides pointed out. He shifted his weight to the other leg. "You are to stay here until a more suitable means of transportation can be found for you. You're perfectly free to wander around the ship, just don't go to any crucial sections."
Captain Atreides left Prime Minister Drysdale and his entourage to return to the Bridge and to supervise the flight checks before take-off. Once out of the room, Atreides breathed a huge sigh of relief. Though normally a calm and collected man, just another single minute with that pompous ass Drysdale and 'the old man' Atreides might have exploded with rage. Things could have been so different with someone else governing the planet; it might never have come to this at all. Hindsight was always easy though; who could really have expected or predicted that the aliens should have reacted in that way to a simple request? With his hand on his heart, Atreides himself was surprised and saddened by the final outcome. Now he would have the company of Drysdale among the refugees until they found more suitable transport.
The planet was almost eerily quiet, a far cry from the bustling world it had once been. Buildings that stretched into the sky now lay in ruin, whilst great scars cut their way across the continent, just another sign of the ferocity of the attack. The general consensus was that the aliens had wanted the resources of the world for themselves, but some suspected some ulterior motive. Only those in command knew the true reason.
From the observation deck, young Billy Dawson watched a mechanical drone as it flew across the still and silent waters of the lake towards the ship, and then waited, hovering like a bird feeding on nectar, until the bay doors had opened to let it inside.
The last of the drones now returned aboard the ship; their results had confirmed what everyone already knew. No more human survivors remained on the surface of the planet and the planetary wide radiation levels had reached a plateau at 1.6 Gy.
Once it was apparent that everyone was on board, the crew began the series of final checks before the ship took off. No-one was really happy with the situation, but there was nothing they could do - the aliens had seen to that - and the fragile ceasefire had been earned at great cost, to both parties. To jeopardise that now would be foolish, and would possibly result in even worse consequences.
As the ship finally lifted from the remains of what once had been a thriving spaceport, and gradually gained height, Chief Engineer Hayes concentrated fiercely on his dials, watching the temperature gauge rise toward the red line.
As it stopped just below the safety cut-off, he heaved a sigh of relief, then turned to his second in command.
"I'll send a message to the Old Man to say we can break orbit whenever he's ready", he said."I hope it gets through - I wouldn't trust the coms system as far as I could throw it at the moment - not after that last hit from the aliens...."
"OK, Chief", Second Engineer Vaughan replied. "Best news he's had for a while....since we got to this accursed planet, anyway...."
The Chief turned back to his control panel, sent the message, and resumed his scowl at the instruments, daring them to malfunction.....
Lieutenant Elliott waited for the Engineering section to report that they had completed the necessary repairs to the Star Drive engine. While he waited his thoughts turned back to Astra again; would she ever forgive him for what he had been forced to do. She must have known that his hands were tied, and that he had little choice. It was necessary to protect everyone, and written in the mission code to which every single one of them had signed up to before embarkation.
Elliott looked up at the flashing orange light that signified a new message from the Chief Engineer.
The message from the Engineering section came in, saying that the damage had been repaired and that they were free to leave. There was no trace of the alien craft, either.
Lieutenant Elliott walked onto the Bridge. "Captain," said Elliott, "the Chief says we are ready to leave now... And may I say how personally sorry I am Sir!"
"Thank you, Lieutenant," replied Captain Atreides, "I appreciate it!"
The crew of the exploration vessel Charlemagne and the refugees they'd rescued looked down at the scarred planet with feelings of regret and loss, but also with new hope. With a weary sigh, Captain Atreides gave the order to leave the system and resume their mission to discover the very end of the universe.
"Will they find my Ma and Pa?" the young boy asked Atreides as he hobbled along the corridor.
"Its Billy, isn't it?" queried the Captain.
Billy nodded in acknowledgment.
"Mr and Mrs Dawson have been found safe and well in the shelter beneath the surface of the planet. Your parents should be back aboard very soon Billy," smiled Atreides. He was glad that he could give at least one person some good news, because for most there was very little good news to give.
Captain Atreides tried not to limp as he entered the infirmary, although with a wound like that, it was moderately difficult. He lowered himself down into a chair and waited for the doctor to finish up with another of his patients.
"Ah, Captain," Dr. Lewis said, looking up from his treatment. He patted the young lieutenant on the shoulder and smiled crookedly at her. "Now, then, you will be fine in a couple of days. I want you to rest, though, right here. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Doctor," came the reply. Atreides hoped that his wound would not require such restrictive measures to heal. He wanted to be away as soon as possible.
Doctor Lewis picked up a small scanner and walked briskly over to where Atreides sat. "So you got yourself knocked about a bit during the attack?" he said, passing the scanner over the Captain. When he was done, he tapped a few buttons and concentrated for a moment on the results, which he put up on screen.
"You've aggravated this old wound in you right leg," said Dr Lewis, pointing at the image of Atreides leg on the screen. "How did you get that again?" asked Lewis.
"Some other time Doctor, just fix it please," replied Atreides, in a hurry, and not particularly keen to retell his Spinward Marches experiences again at this time.
"No problem," said Lewis, "I can heal it with the epidermal promoter." Lewis took one of his medical tools and carefully passed it over the most painful areas.
"You'll need to rest it up for about three days to fully recover," said the Doctor.
"Are you serious?" asked Atreides. "I have work to do, so if you can just sign me as fit I'll be on my way again."
Atreides left the infirmary feeling a lot better. Although the wound still ached, it was nothing compared to the feeling in his heart about his daughter. Besides, there was still plenty to do. The aliens had left, but the threat was still there, and the job of evaluating the damage was still to be done. He passed another couple of walking wounded as he left, hoping to get to a shuttle before someone accosted him.
"Should you really be up and walking so soon?" Elliott said, as Atreides neared the docking bay. "Perhaps you should go and rest. Why don't I...?"
"Lieutenant, I'm going, and not even my injury is going to stop me. Is there anything else I should know before I head off?" Atreides said, knowing that Elliott would have plenty to say.
"You have an appointment Dr Karpov at One, and one with Governor Drysdale at Four. Now, are you quite sure you want to fly this on your own?" asked Elliott.
"Yes, Lieutenant," replied the Old Man, "I think I still remember where the controls are!"
"Please Captain, I meant no disrespect," said Lieutenant Elliott, " but there are still dangers out there, and... well your leg wound is still...."
"So, now I'm a cripple," quipped the Captain, laughing at Elliott's discomfort."
"Well, ah... Sir!"
"Stop fussing man," said Atreides, "and close the hatch for me! I'll see you later."
"Best of luck, Sir!" added Elliott.
Grant Atreides knew that Elliott meant more than good luck in the negotiations. Elliott knew how much the Captain loved his daughter.
The shuttle left the Charlemagne's docking bay, and was soon heading for the planet. He was grateful to be able to fly down there himself, as it gave him a golden opportunity to see if he could see anything from space, any trace of his daughter on the surface. Tapping the coordinates into the shuttle's computer, Atreides concentrated hard on the scanners.
He continued to fly the shuttle low across the devastated landscape in a grid-like pattern over her last known whereabouts; hoping against hope that she had survived. It was only a week since she had given him the news of her pregnancy; his first grandchild. This mission was meant to have been an easy one; less dangerous than dealing with the Gorchinian Delegation, and less strenuous than the trip the Alframia Prime. He blamed himself for not realising that these alien demands had been quite so serious, and for not pulling her out earlier, but he knew that she would never have listened to him anyway. Once she was given a mission, she would never have left it before she had achieved complete success. It was a characteristic she had inherited from her father.
He had already lost a wife and a son, now it seemed that he had also lost a daughter and a grandchild. His search was fruitless, and he had an appointment at the underground shelter with a top scientist. He would have to leave the search to Ensign Takagi and his very capable teams.
Captain Atreides' shuttle landed on the planet, the day after the attack, as close to the shelter as possible. With the transport network down, there was no option but to walk the rest of the way. Atreides disembarked and started to walk, whilst the rest of the shuttle crew made preparations of their own.
Ever since the attack, the weather on the surface had been intense. He had been warned that the temperature had increased tenfold since the blast, but he hadn't thought it would be so bad. Fortunately the underground shelter was only a short walk away from the shuttle, so he quickly made his way across the scorched soil.
Atreides walked inside; out of the burning heat and into a cool breeze. He stepped onto the the elevator platform and called the lift back up from the depths of the planets cave system. It had been these same underground caves in which the planets very first colonists had survived during their first harsh winter, and now this morning, the caves had saved them once more. He pressed the button marked U17 and the cage began a shaky journey down-wards.
The temporary elevator took him down to the bottom level, where the shelter had been established during the attack. When he arrived, he stepped out into a wide hallway, where a desk had been set up to help visitors. An angry looking young woman sat there, tapping her fingernails against the desktop, glaring at the in offending far wall.
"I don't suppose you could tell me where to find..." Atreides started, but the receptionist interrupted him.
"Here's the location of the lab in the shelter. I take it you can find your own way there?" She tapped at a data-pad lightly and handed it brusquely to Atreides. Even to a Commonwealth Captain, it seemed that there would always be some people lacking manners. It wasn't surprising, Atreides thought, glancing back at the surly receptionist. She'd probably lost a lot in the attack.
Atreides followed the directions he had been supplied with, and he found the lab at the end of a long corridor in the underground shelter. He knocked twice on the old wooden door marked 'Bureau of Research', opened it when he heard an 'Enter' and went inside.
"Dr. Karpov, I assume?" asked Atreides, "I'm Captain Grant Atreides, of the Commonwealth Starship Charlemagne. I was told that you had information on the aliens who caused this terrible catastrophe earlier today."
"I'm glad you've come, Captain," the little scientist said briskly. He pointed at the monitor showing the bleakly devastated landscape outside. "I've been able to glean a lot from this planet's attackers."
"They seem quite aggressive. What do we know about them?" Atreides asked Dr. Karpov, the scientist assigned to evaluate the effects of the alien attack on the planet.
"Well, we've had very little contact with them in the past, so all information has come from non-Commonwealth sources," the scientist said, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses even further up the bridge of his nose, "but it looks in this case as though the aliens in question call themselves the Hychychyhmmy."
"What do they look like?" asked Atreides.
"The Hychychyhmmy are a completely alien species in every sense of that word. Their communications videos show them to have a body divided into segments with many pairs of legs and wings, and two claws. They are about 2 metres tall, and can breath both in air and also under water. They can also spend a limited time in near vacuum. They can fly and swim but have difficulty walking or climbing far. The have a dual parallel brain, and senses over a much wider EM band than humans, but no sense of smell. And they also give off a strong unpleasant odour as far as humans are concerned, Sir!"
"And do we know what was the weapon used?" asked Atreides.
"We have no idea of what kind of weapon it was, although we can surmise that there was a great deal of power behind it; far more than the Commonwealth could command. And to think they only used a fraction of it..." the scientist trailed off, shaking his head.
"Do we know why they attacked?" Atreides asked the scientist.
"I'd imagine you could ask Prime Minister Drysdale about that," the bald little scientist said. "The communication logs from just before the assault show quite a few interesting facts."
"Thanks for your help," Atreides said. The group then boarded the shuttle that would take them to the conference suite.
The trip from the laboratory to the conference suite in the city complex had only taken a few minutes, but there was no direct access for a ship to land, so Atreides opted to go ahead on foot whilst his subordinates were preparing the presentation. The air smelled acrid and burnt: Indeed, the very evidence of a great amount of burning was present all around him in the scorched land.
It had been many years since he had done so much walking; his place now was usually sitting in the Captain's chair on the Bridge, rubber-stamping decisions. He had been on his feet most of the day, personally overseeing everything himself, and his old war wound in his right leg had begun to act up. He always liked to think that the Galaxy was a more peaceful place today; that attitudes had changed from the times of the Battles for the Spin-ward Marches, but then something like today happens. The ache in his leg was a reminder to him that Starship Captains in the Commonwealth Navy were soldiers first, and diplomats second.
Atreides sat down in the conference suite, steepling his hands on the table and letting out a deep sigh. This was the first time he'd had to himself all day, and he let his mind drift, trying to put his thoughts in order.
His daughter had been on the planet's surface; part of a research team who had been assigned to catalogue the vast wealth of botanical life in the area. Unfortunately, her group had also been in the exact spot where the first blast had hit. He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the smooth metal ceiling, going through all the possible ways she could have escaped. Maybe the aliens took her team with them when they left. Maybe she escaped into an underground cave. Maybe her team had had to leave early for unspecified reasons.
Maybes seldom are, he told himself. I'll just have to wait until I either hear from her, or if someone from the Commonwealth contacts me with news. I know I can trust them. He folded his arms and waited for the others to arrive.
Not long after, Atreides was joined in the conference suite by Takagi and Fiori. He had come to rely heavily upon these two efficient young officers in the three years since the Charlemagne had begun her mission. Takagi began setting up a projection screen and other equipment, while Fiori contacted the Charlemagne for an update on the repairs.
Atreides could not help himself from worrying about his missing daughter, but he tried to put it aside for one moment to concentrate on the bigger picture.
"Okay, Ensign, you may proceed."
Takagi gestured to the screen, and a series of images flashed across. Atreides recognized a lot of the places shown, although they were now in ruin. The young Ensign started to explain the situation on the planet, and Atreides forced himself to listen. Takagi's voice explained the nature of the weapon that had been utilized in the attack, and how the damage had affected the ship, too.
"How do things stand now?" Atreides asked.
"Chief Hayes says that repairs will be complete within the hour, Sir," reported Lieutenant Fiori. "The damage was not as severe as he had thought. We should return to the Charlemagne. Also, they were tracking the alien craft, but it seemed to just disappear off the screen."
After the brief interruption, Ensign Takagi continued his video presentation on the extent of the planetary damage. It was clear that it would be some time before the planet would be habitable again, though modern clean-up teams were now very efficient.
The screen showed some close-ups that must have been taken from a drone or a small shuttle craft. One picture could have been a municipal park or a children's playground, but it was difficult to tell. Another showed only the grid lines where there had once been streets and buildings.
The devastation was astonishing. Trees had been uprooted, most of the cities were nothing but rubble, and there wasn't a living soul in the area, save for the team from the Charlemagne.
"As you can see, the effects of the blast were felt pretty much everywhere," Ensign Takagi said, his voice too bleak for one so usually energetic. "I guess we were lucky to have so many people survive. If not for the underground shelter, then..."
"All right, then, give me a list of who we've got on board," Atreides said.
Atreides listened as the list of names was read out, looking down at the dry, scorched earth to hide his concern. He hoped against hope that her name would be there, but when the officer came to the end of the list and he hadn't heard it, he felt crushed inside.
"That was the final list of the refugees from the planet, Captain," said the young officer. "Your daughter's name is not on it, Sir. We have to assume..."
"Yes, I know... I understand," replied Atreides.
As the shuttle took off for the Charlemagne, Atreides looked back at the surface of the planet, wishing that there was some other way to help. It was only a short shuttle flight back to the ship, but to the Captain it felt like an eternity. No-one spoke, not even the usually garrulous pilot, Lieutenant Fiori. She simply kept her eyes on the controls and said nothing.
"Glad to see you safely back," Elliott said as Atreides stepped out of the shuttle bay. "Prime Minister Drysdale is waiting for you. Please, come this way."
"I suppose I'll have to get this over with," Atreides murmured as he and Lieutenant Elliott walked the short distance to the guest quarters. He had only just returned to the ship, after seeing what the damage was like in person. It had not put him in the best of moods.
"The Prime Minister Drysdale is ready to see you now," said Lieutenant Elliott.
"Thank you," said Atreides.
Drawing in a deep breath, Captain Atreides pressed the panel to open the door and strode in to the quarters of Prime Minister Drysdale. He had a lot of things to say, but just how much could he get away with whilst still remaining within the boundaries of diplomacy?
"Well, are you satisfied with the way things turned out, Drysdale?" Captain Atreides asked once the door was shut. "Because the way I see things, you are solely responsible for everything that has happened here."
"How can you say that?" Drysdale demanded.
"Are you aware of the consequences of your actions? You may have doomed your planet to it's fate by your decision alone." Atreides was already having a hard time keeping his emotions in check.
"Captain Atreides, I loved my planet, and I loved my people, in much the same way that I suppose you must also love you ship and your crew. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, was more important to me than their protection, and I simply put their interests before those of the Commonwealth. When I evoked the Defence Act, believe me, I only had their interests in mind. You dishonour all the young men who died today if you think otherwise," continued Drysdale.
"Your actions very nearly took us to the brink of a war. Are you aware of what kind of allies those aliens have?" Atreides asked pointedly.
"Well, what's done is done. I trust there'll be no more retaliatory attacks over this, not now that the Commonwealth is involved," Drysdale said, "so those aliens can look somewhere else for their needs, and they can go and threaten someone else."
"Those aliens weren't nearly as threatening as you're making everyone believe," Atreides muttered.
"I've read the Commonwealth Institutes report and recommendations. They saw no problems with the alien's formal requests. The Great Dry Lake region was unpopulated and the land was unsuitable for agriculture. All they asked was a right to mine salts and to build a spaceport for cargo freighters to refuel," continued Atreides. "Your refusal was quite blunt, very abusive and a sabre-rattling of the worst kind. You had no authority to say what you did."
"What were we supposed to do? They wanted to take our natural resources, and in exchange, they wouldn't conquer us for another one hundred years." Drysdale drummed his fingers on the tabletop irritably. "In one hundred years, I wouldn't be there to care whether the planet would be conquered or not - that was their logic. Why shouldn't I have replied in the way I did?"
"Yes, but did you have to be quite so rude in your reply to them?" Atreides couldn't believe the man. He had been drilled at the academy that diplomacy under any circumstances was the paramount thing in any situation with an alien race. He would never have dared to use the kind of phrasing that Drysdale used, even in private.
"Anyone would have done the same. We were right to refuse them." Drysdale shuddered. "Even so, we're better off without those...those bug eyed freaks."
"Please don't call them that by word, they are a sentient life-form, but obviously they will have values and traditions that seem strange compared to ours, their brain functions and physiology are completely different," replied Atreides.
"At least I can still rest with an easy conscience. I was totally blameless in this affair. No one could have predicted such an outcome and I will write that in my report," said Drysdale.
"It's true that no-one could have known what was going to happen, but surely you could have done your research a little better? I know that you wouldn't have offered them what they wanted, and nor should you have done, but did you quite have to go that far?"
"Honestly, it wasn't my fault. I made the best decision I could under the circumstances." Prime Minister Drysdale seemed mortally offended, and Atreides wondered whether the man felt any feelings of gratitude towards his rescuers at all.
"That may be so, but the consequences are painfully obvious," Atreides pointed out. He shifted his weight to the other leg. "You are to stay here until a more suitable means of transportation can be found for you. You're perfectly free to wander around the ship, just don't go to any crucial sections."
Captain Atreides left Prime Minister Drysdale and his entourage to return to the Bridge and to supervise the flight checks before take-off. Once out of the room, Atreides breathed a huge sigh of relief. Though normally a calm and collected man, just another single minute with that pompous ass Drysdale and 'the old man' Atreides might have exploded with rage. Things could have been so different with someone else governing the planet; it might never have come to this at all. Hindsight was always easy though; who could really have expected or predicted that the aliens should have reacted in that way to a simple request? With his hand on his heart, Atreides himself was surprised and saddened by the final outcome. Now he would have the company of Drysdale among the refugees until they found more suitable transport.
The planet was almost eerily quiet, a far cry from the bustling world it had once been. Buildings that stretched into the sky now lay in ruin, whilst great scars cut their way across the continent, just another sign of the ferocity of the attack. The general consensus was that the aliens had wanted the resources of the world for themselves, but some suspected some ulterior motive. Only those in command knew the true reason.
From the observation deck, young Billy Dawson watched a mechanical drone as it flew across the still and silent waters of the lake towards the ship, and then waited, hovering like a bird feeding on nectar, until the bay doors had opened to let it inside.
The last of the drones now returned aboard the ship; their results had confirmed what everyone already knew. No more human survivors remained on the surface of the planet and the planetary wide radiation levels had reached a plateau at 1.6 Gy.
Once it was apparent that everyone was on board, the crew began the series of final checks before the ship took off. No-one was really happy with the situation, but there was nothing they could do - the aliens had seen to that - and the fragile ceasefire had been earned at great cost, to both parties. To jeopardise that now would be foolish, and would possibly result in even worse consequences.
As the ship finally lifted from the remains of what once had been a thriving spaceport, and gradually gained height, Chief Engineer Hayes concentrated fiercely on his dials, watching the temperature gauge rise toward the red line.
As it stopped just below the safety cut-off, he heaved a sigh of relief, then turned to his second in command.
"I'll send a message to the Old Man to say we can break orbit whenever he's ready", he said."I hope it gets through - I wouldn't trust the coms system as far as I could throw it at the moment - not after that last hit from the aliens...."
"OK, Chief", Second Engineer Vaughan replied. "Best news he's had for a while....since we got to this accursed planet, anyway...."
The Chief turned back to his control panel, sent the message, and resumed his scowl at the instruments, daring them to malfunction.....
Lieutenant Elliott waited for the Engineering section to report that they had completed the necessary repairs to the Star Drive engine. While he waited his thoughts turned back to Astra again; would she ever forgive him for what he had been forced to do. She must have known that his hands were tied, and that he had little choice. It was necessary to protect everyone, and written in the mission code to which every single one of them had signed up to before embarkation.
Elliott looked up at the flashing orange light that signified a new message from the Chief Engineer.
The message from the Engineering section came in, saying that the damage had been repaired and that they were free to leave. There was no trace of the alien craft, either.
Lieutenant Elliott walked onto the Bridge. "Captain," said Elliott, "the Chief says we are ready to leave now... And may I say how personally sorry I am Sir!"
"Thank you, Lieutenant," replied Captain Atreides, "I appreciate it!"
The crew of the exploration vessel Charlemagne and the refugees they'd rescued looked down at the scarred planet with feelings of regret and loss, but also with new hope. With a weary sigh, Captain Atreides gave the order to leave the system and resume their mission to discover the very end of the universe.
