Chapter Sixteen
The Christmas carolers gathered in the town square did their best to sound joyous, but the mood throughout the crowd was somber.
The Harbingers had gathered outside the town, many of them descended from their spaceship now. They didn’t violate the order that kept them out of town, but they stood right on the outskirts. Since the town was not large, they were close enough to the town square that their shouts of triumph could be heard.
There were almost a hundred of them now, howling and shaking spears that were adorned with the skulls of dozens of different species, both humanoid and alien. The carolers had to sing louder to drown out the howling.
Roger stood in the crowd with a look of smug triumph on his face.
Jaspar held Liza’s hand, and she sang at the top of her lungs and blinked back tears that froze and clung to her lashes. The rest of the Balthazar Clan stood by, grim and silent. La La was unusually subdued, but she accepted the pieces of candy that Karmelite kept feeding her. She was too glum to back-flip, however.
Barbara and her family stood near Liza. She had apologized again and again. Liza just waved her off with a weary, “What does it even matter anymore?”
The carolers paused before moving on to their next song.
“Look!” Louis pointed up at the stars. “There are new stars! The stars are moving! ”
Everyone looked up.
“Those are spaceships,” Liza said worriedly. She glanced at Jasper. “There’s no way that the Harbingers could take the planet early, could they? I really want to spend Christmas here.”
Jaspar shook his head. “No, even they would not openly cheat like that.”
Three massive hovercrafts descended from the sky and landed on Main Street, just behind where the crowds were gathered. Dozens of Galactic Peacekeepers began pouring out of the ships. Hundreds. They marched…away from the town square, towards the Harbingers.
“Now, that’s something you don’t see every day,” Liza murmured to Jaspar. She glanced at Mawmaw and Pawpaw. “I feel like this is good news,” she said.
A short time later, the Enforcers marched back, surrounding the angry, protesting Harbingers. The colonel of the enforcers went and murmured into the ear of the chorus leader, and the carolers dutifully trooped off the stage, to be replaced by a Peacekeeper Colonel and an enraged-looking Fabian.
“Greetings!” the colonel said, his voice ringing out over the hushed crowd. “I am Colonel Bianchi of the Third Spaceborne Fleet, Milky Way Division. The Galactic Federation has an announcement to make. This planet will not be taken over by either the Balthazar Clan or the Harbinger Clan. It will remain in the possession of the colonists.”
An enormous cheer swelled up from the crowd. Liza found herself screaming with joy, screaming until she was hoarse, tears running down her cheeks. People threw their Santa hats and top hats into the air. Strangers hugged strangers. Humans hugged aliens. Insectoids hugged furry horse-beasts.
The Harbingers had obviously been caught screwing up big time, and they were about to be publicly humiliated. The Galactic Federation was deadly serious about enforcing its Concord, including the Rules of War. When anyone was caught violating it, they made a huge spectacle of punishing the culprits.
When the cheering finally died down, Colonel Bianchi directed a cold, angry look at Fabian. “The Harbingers have violated the Rules of War. We were alerted to this when we were sent a sample of the black fur fungus that has destroyed this planet’s trees. Through investigation, we discovered that the fungus is of Harbinger origin.”
Now everyone began booing, shouting threats, and throwing things at the Harbingers.
“Silence!” Bianchi bellowed.
Jaspar smiled broadly. “We sent the sample to them,” he told Liza quietly. “The first day that I arrived, after you accused us of being the ones to import the fungus.”
“You sent it all the way to the Galactic Federation to be tested? That must have cost a fortune.” Liza stared at him, wide-eyed.
“Also,” Colonel Bianchi continued, “we tested the Weather Control Station, and the Harbingers sabotaged that as well, in an attempt to prevent the Balthazar clan from reaching the negotiation on time. Furthermore,” he said to them, “you kidnapped members of the Balthazar Clan, in an attempt to affect the negotiation. You also kidnapped the children of non-involved non-combatants. Because of all these violations, you have now forfeited your dispute.”
“Absolutely not!” Fabian said furiously. “We will not tolerate this! We will declare war!”
“When would you like to be vaporized? Please submit your formal declaration of war to us, so we may begin lining up our fleet.”
Fabian swallowed hard and stared at the ground. Scales rippled over his skin and he was so furious that his body heated and steam swirled around him, but he did not dare say a word. Nobody could withstand the full might of the Galactic Federal Fleet.
“Furthermore, we find that you are responsible for the financial loss suffered by these colonists. We require that you pay them in full, and you will also pay to clear out all the diseased trees, eliminate all trace of disease from the planet, and replace all trees with new, mature specimens, to be completed three months before the next Christmas season. You will also repay the colonists for all financial loss caused by the death of their trees, from the moment of first infection.”
“But that will cost a fortune,” Fabian whined. “Hundreds of millions of Stan-Creds.”
“Yes, it will,” Bianchi agreed. “Your bank accounts have already been frozen while we calculate the appropriate amount of reparations. Deathbringer Fabian, you and your clan members will be taken into custody immediately and taken to the Galactic Central Court to stand trial.”
