“I appreciate whatever you can do.” He ended the call with dread. Toro was only saying what he expected the other leaders to say.
“Lieutenant, place a multi-call to the leaders of Katiera, Kiljor, and the Colonial Planet.”
A few minutes later the monitor pulled up split screens with the three leaders. He addressed them. “Thank you for taking this call. We are using a secure line.”
“What is happening? Did you encounter the Morins?” Katieran Prime Leader RendEL asked.
“We have sighted them but we did not get close enough to engage. They were attacking another transport.”
Prime Leader RendEL shook his head. “We have no transports due in that area for another month.”
Kiljorn Prime Leader KadEN responded. “I don’t have any transports on that side of the wormhole.”
“Neither do we,” Colonial Planet Leader LarIS said.
“The other transport originated from the Morin home world but these are descendants who call themselves Morinians. Currently I have a crew trying to help with the damages their transport took.”
“What in Kitana?” all three leaders said at the same time.
“I did not give approval for you aiding the enemy,” RendEL growled out.
“These people are mostly females and young, with a few older males. They are nothing like the Morins and are being hunted by them. As a male of honor, I could not abandon them to be open to another Morin attack. They would not survive it.”
“So you will aid them and send them on their way?” Leader LarIS asked.
“Their ship won’t make it very far. My crew is trying to extend the timeline but right now they have a few days’ traveling before their systems start to fail.”
“They will have to be relocated somewhere close by. What about Balar?”
LemAN shook his head. “I just spoke with Leader Toro. He will ask his people but he feels that they will refuse due to fear and the fact that they were just attacked.”
Prime Leader KadEN nodded. “I am afraid I will have to give the same answer. We recently got all our people back from the Colonial Planet. The Morin attack is still very fresh in my people’s minds.”
He looked at his prime leader, hoping for a different answer but knowing that it wasn’t going to work that way.
Prime Leader RendEL sighed. “I will speak with the council but I can guess what they will say. We have enough issues with the purist rebels attacking us for bringing humans to breed with. If we allowed the Morins—even descendants of the Morins—to live on Katiera, chaos will erupt.”
That left only one place. He waited while LarIS looked off at something out of view. “I can’t have them stay here at the Prime Building or even in the city, but there is a village in the mountains that may be willing to take them in. I will have to contact the village leader to verify first.”
“I am sure that the Morinians would appreciate any assistance, even if their stay is brief until another transport can take them to a different planet. Again, these are mostly females and young, vulnerable to the Morins. I do not feel comfortable leaving them to fend for themselves on a planet that offers no defense of some kind.”
“Are you suggesting we give them a transport, fully armed with weapons?” KadEN narrowed his eyes. LemAN understood his anger since the Kiljorns had suffered the most recently when the Morins attacked their planet. Many died. It had brought the three nations together stronger against their enemies.
Prime Leader RendEL spoke. “We will provide a transport when the time comes but it will be one that is commanded by a Katieran commander.”
LemAN snorted. “I think that the female Morinian commander may have issues with that.”
All the leaders looked shocked. “They have a female commander?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
LemAN said, “I will escort the Morinians through the wormhole and take them to the Colonial Planet. Let me know if the plans need to be changed.”
“If the other Morin transport is still close by, they may attack the Balar people again out of frustration,” Leader LarIS commented.
“I will make sure that the Balar people are prepared for that.”
