Talon said, “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying that Old Earth needs assistance now. They need food, and they need water. They need medical assistance. They need the rovers eliminated. Can you promise that some sort of assistance will be sent to them when this is over?”
The general said, “Your ships must not have been there in the last few weeks then.”
The brothers exchanged glances. Jeval asked, “We have a ship headed there now but what do you mean?”
The general said, “It is destroyed. Did you not hear that news? Oh, I suppose you did not. You’re far too isolated, and you don’t have the tech to get news from that far across the universe.”
His eyes looked down at the desk, and his shoulders slumped. “They claim that it was an invasion by hostile species, but it wasn’t. The Federation decided that the war there was too much to deal with and the promises that they had made too expensive to keep. They couldn’t have the rest of the universe looking on and saying that The Federation did not keep its promises to one of its first Allied planets, so they destroyed it.”
A huge and yawning chasm opened up in Jeval’s chest. Old Earth had indeed been one of the first to ally itself with The Federation. At the time, it had been one of the strongest and most powerful planets in the universe.
The Federation had seen to it that it had fallen, and had become nothing more than a figurehead.
He knew just how many people had been there, and how many people had died. His mind went back to Margie, the woman that he loved whether he wanted to admit it or not, and he didn’t. Loving her was way too dangerous and there would be consequences such as he had never known before. His voice was thick and tight. “How did they destroy it?”
Bates said, “With mega-neutron atomizers. It’s dust now. There is nothing left. They even destroyed the moon and the outlying planets even though they were uninhabited and always have been.”
Jeval sighed inwardly. Bates was a man on a mission, and not just a mission to rebel against The Federation, but a mission to keep his son from dying—or maybe to join him in death. The two things were equal in the longest view.
He twisted a bit in the chair. Bates regarded them all. His eyebrows beetled together. “Do you know about…about my son?”
Renall said, “I think the better question is are you doing this to simply save your son? Because the truth is if that is your reason, then you put all of our lives at risk.”
Bates hung his head. His voice was gruff. “I am doing it because of him, in part, yes. But the larger part is that The Federation plans to kill anyone and everyone in its way. They’ve discovered a wormhole, one they don’t yet have the tech to use, but they have time to work it out, and the brain power. Beyond that wormhole lies parts of the universe we have never seen before. They intend to go after it, to take it as their own. Imagine that: even more planets and worlds that they could rule if they could only open that wormhole.”
Jeval stiffened. He had read only as far as he needed to in Bates’ mind. That the man wanted to atone for what he considered his past sins was obvious. This he had not seen but the bitterness in Bates’ voice told him it was the truth, and all of his siblings heard that truth tolling through those words too.
Bates continued. “Right now the best way to strike at The Federation is to close that wormhole. It can be done, but there will be much sacrifice on all sides. The first part would be, of course, to get to the labs trying to work out the process and destroy them before they can.”
Marik pointed out, “You are talking about taking a massive amount of lives.”
“The greater good, right?” Bates tone was bleak. “I am aware of that just as I am aware that not all who work there are totally loyal or even feel right about what it is that they are doing. But as long as any of those with any of that information lives, they will be a threat to the safety of the universe. We have no idea what lies beyond that wormhole. It may be too big for even The Federation to handle. Their arrogance could destroy everything, and add their greed to it and you have a recipe for total annihilation.”
Marik said, “You’re saying whatever beings exist over there, they may be powerful enough to take The Federation on, so why not let them?”
“I’d prefer The Federation not sacrifice most of the population of what we have always thought was the universe while they tried to do so,” Bates said in a tart voice.
Jeval said, “That’s logical.”
Bates said, “I had to weigh the choices. I expect you will as well. Yes, we will have to take a lot of lives. I understand this. But the loss of life that could happen if we don’t is too great.”
Jeval already knew that. They all did. He said, “We want peace.”
“As do I,” Bates said, “But we all know there’s only one real path to it, and it is a bloody one.”
Renall rested his forehead in his hands. “So why our planet?”
“It’s far enough out of the way to stay out of The Federation’s spotlight. It corners the universe, and it would be a good place to hide ships and weaponry, to stockpile those things as there is so much open surface.”
The general’s answer didn’t surprise any of them. They’d already reasoned that out as well but hearing it from his lips made it seem so much more like a foregone conclusion.
They had no choice. If what Bates thought might happen actually could happen, they and everything else in the universe would die.
He said, “I have one more question.”
Bates said, “Only one?”
Jeval gave him a tight smile. “Only one that I can think of right now. They destroyed Old Earth, so what is to stop them from destroying us as well?”
