SODIUM:6 Defiance Read Online Free
democracy, although, when at a state of war, that democracy was often set aside. We had been at war for decades.
The Nickarians were the ruling Mundari party on Langrel with 67 billion citizens in 12 planetary systems. They were followed by the Giddens and Jessians, each who controlled five star systems, and the eight other species occupied the remaining systems. The total citizen count was 137 billion strong.
The Mundari had been at war with the Ogle for thousands of years. The Ogle were suspected in the disappearance of the 12,042 vacationing Jessians, but there was no real evidence that it was by their hand. We had garnered the information from news feeds that had continued to stream to the ship. The adventure company that ran the excursion had run out of money before the ship could be retrieved.
By the time the case had worked through the Mundari courts the remaining ship was deemed not worth the salvage effort as the salvage had too many claims against it for a profit to be turned. So, here the Blake Adventure had sat for the 3,200 years since the incident. Normally, everything aboard the ship was recorded but there was a five day gap in the data centered around the time of the vanishing. Other than the detection of a strange field outside the Blake Adventure a month before the incident, there was no trail of data to follow.
When the Mundari ship arrived we were greeted by a Gidden Ambassador, his aid and 20 Jessian Bull Troopers. The Giddens had long thin legs and arms, a short torso and then a long thin neck that led to a wide flat head. As I extended my hand in a welcoming gesture the aid's neck drew quickly into his torso making his head sit down firmly on his shoulders. I withdrew my hand and slightly bowed my head in apology.
At the same time two of the Jessian Bull Troopers stepped up. At three meters tall and with proportions similar to Humans they were intimidating. Their craggy faces displayed stern looks through their partial helmets that covered their temples and the bridge of their nose. I raised the open palms of my hands slowly as I took a step back.
The Ambassador then spoke, our helmet translators did the work. He asked why we had boarded the vessel without permission. I explained that we were on an exploratory mission when we came across the Blake Adventure. With no response from anyone on-board we had taken the effort to check the ship for anyone in need.
The Ambassador then reminded me that they had the complete ships logs from our arrival and that I should not respond if I only had half-truths to reply with. The Giddens were not easily fooled. I offered another response to his still inquisitive gaze. We were exploring the galaxy in an attempt to find other habitable planets and to perhaps find a method of defense for our own planet. Defense from the beings they called the Ogle.
The hairs on the Ambassador's neck and shoulders bristled with the mention of the name. I then got an alert that a small ship was approaching the Saxon. I texted a command that the ships shields go to full and in an instant it vanished from their view. All sensors had been shut down effectively making the vessel undetectable. One of the guards leaned in to the Ambassador and whispered the information into what I could only guess was his ear.
The Ambassador again looked at me, this time shaking his head in approval. He said that he was not alarmed by our defensive gesture as it was a move that he would expect from any species; even one as primitive as ours. He then began to quiz us on the abilities of our Black Hole Drives. He was curious as to how we had stumbled onto the implementation we had.
I told him that I did not have the authority to offer that information freely. I then added that the AMP might be willing to share technologies if a friendly alliance were set up. We had the mutual enemy of the Ogle and perhaps with the assistance of the Mundari the AMP could push them back too.
The Ambassador tilted his head
The Nickarians were the ruling Mundari party on Langrel with 67 billion citizens in 12 planetary systems. They were followed by the Giddens and Jessians, each who controlled five star systems, and the eight other species occupied the remaining systems. The total citizen count was 137 billion strong.
The Mundari had been at war with the Ogle for thousands of years. The Ogle were suspected in the disappearance of the 12,042 vacationing Jessians, but there was no real evidence that it was by their hand. We had garnered the information from news feeds that had continued to stream to the ship. The adventure company that ran the excursion had run out of money before the ship could be retrieved.
By the time the case had worked through the Mundari courts the remaining ship was deemed not worth the salvage effort as the salvage had too many claims against it for a profit to be turned. So, here the Blake Adventure had sat for the 3,200 years since the incident. Normally, everything aboard the ship was recorded but there was a five day gap in the data centered around the time of the vanishing. Other than the detection of a strange field outside the Blake Adventure a month before the incident, there was no trail of data to follow.
When the Mundari ship arrived we were greeted by a Gidden Ambassador, his aid and 20 Jessian Bull Troopers. The Giddens had long thin legs and arms, a short torso and then a long thin neck that led to a wide flat head. As I extended my hand in a welcoming gesture the aid's neck drew quickly into his torso making his head sit down firmly on his shoulders. I withdrew my hand and slightly bowed my head in apology.
At the same time two of the Jessian Bull Troopers stepped up. At three meters tall and with proportions similar to Humans they were intimidating. Their craggy faces displayed stern looks through their partial helmets that covered their temples and the bridge of their nose. I raised the open palms of my hands slowly as I took a step back.
The Ambassador then spoke, our helmet translators did the work. He asked why we had boarded the vessel without permission. I explained that we were on an exploratory mission when we came across the Blake Adventure. With no response from anyone on-board we had taken the effort to check the ship for anyone in need.
The Ambassador then reminded me that they had the complete ships logs from our arrival and that I should not respond if I only had half-truths to reply with. The Giddens were not easily fooled. I offered another response to his still inquisitive gaze. We were exploring the galaxy in an attempt to find other habitable planets and to perhaps find a method of defense for our own planet. Defense from the beings they called the Ogle.
The hairs on the Ambassador's neck and shoulders bristled with the mention of the name. I then got an alert that a small ship was approaching the Saxon. I texted a command that the ships shields go to full and in an instant it vanished from their view. All sensors had been shut down effectively making the vessel undetectable. One of the guards leaned in to the Ambassador and whispered the information into what I could only guess was his ear.
The Ambassador again looked at me, this time shaking his head in approval. He said that he was not alarmed by our defensive gesture as it was a move that he would expect from any species; even one as primitive as ours. He then began to quiz us on the abilities of our Black Hole Drives. He was curious as to how we had stumbled onto the implementation we had.
I told him that I did not have the authority to offer that information freely. I then added that the AMP might be willing to share technologies if a friendly alliance were set up. We had the mutual enemy of the Ogle and perhaps with the assistance of the Mundari the AMP could push them back too.
The Ambassador tilted his head
Readers choose
Barbara Parker
Marcia Gruver
Stephen Hunter
Jaclyn Dolamore
Kate Maryon
Lauren Smith
Frederik Pohl
MC Beaton
Megan McDonald
Gene Hackman