The commander of the quargs tried to say something, but having evidently got a spasm of pain he fell to the floor. Officers rushed to him from different directions, but it was too late the body of their commander twitched several times in convulsions and stiffened.
This is the death order, Slin-at told in low voice, while watching as enemy officers who have tried to help their commanding officer rise to their feet in confusion.
The communication channel was still working and I thought it was foolish to pass up such an opportunity, despite the dramatic nature of the situation.
I am Fleet Admiral Lavroff, commander of the combined forces of men, lizards and free quargs, I introduced myself to the officers of the enemy who had not yet put themselves back together. You know very well that youve lost this battle. We didnt start this war, and neither did you, but I think we can end it, or at least stop killing each other. My fleet has come to the Groombridge system to reclaim the planets you have captured, but Im ready to consider the circumstances that make you fight with us. Your deaths are of no use to humans, to lizards, much less to free quargs. I see you are in no condition to surrender. Your commander made that clear at the cost of his life, and I respect what he did. So Im giving you 48 hours to voluntarily leave the system. During this time, my ships will not attack the planets and prevent your evacuation.
The quargs looked at me but didnt try to answer. The body of their commander, lying on the floor, clearly demonstrated what such an attempt might threaten them. I didnt provoke the enemy officers to do life-threatening things and ordered the comms off.
Fleet, stop approaching the planet and begin accelerating to the stars zone of influence.
They could call for help, said Fulton with some doubt in his voice.
Yes, they could, I agreed with the Admiral, Perhaps even the ships of their masters will arrive, though I highly doubt that. But were not gonna sit back, either. I need to know what happened, and Im gonna find that out. Make contact with Rear Admiral Yoon Gao. I need him and Colonel Mbia here as soon as possible with their best men. Mbia had already landed on Groombridge-2 once, and its time to repeat the feat. And let them take the captive toads, Ive business with them. And Ill also need the little recon ship found in the hangar of the captured cruiser.
* * *
This whole thing with the Federation and lizards attack on Groombridge was caused by extreme uncertainty. We didnt know how strong the local toads were, hence, we could not claim with certainty that a frontal attack on their planets by the combined forces of the Federation, the lizards and the Imperial squadron would give us an unconditional victory, so we wanted to provoke the toads to move first. The Empire had sent powerful ships to help us, but there werent that many, because they just couldnt take away more of them from the front that was already starting to come apart at the seams.
A lot has changed on the other side of the portal in the more than six years Ive been gone, and these changes were not good. To begin with, political control changed hands in the Empire. Emperor Yort, who was at a very respectable age when I was Brigadier General Dean, died three years after my transfer here, and the election of a new emperor was never possible. The rival elite clans were never able to find a strong but at the same time a compromise figure that would satisfy everyone. In the midst of the difficult war, the task has proved doubly difficult. It was the Regency Council that ruled the Empire, and Chief of Staff Marshal Klink served as Commander-in-Chief, but his position was precarious, and it affected the quality of the administration of the Empire. As a result, things were getting worse in that state, which was still big and powerful, but was constantly shrinking.
I was thinking about what happened three months ago, when, right after the first contact with the Empire, the question of negotiations came up, and I was trying to figure out where Id made a mistake. The Empire met our embassy very well, and at that moment it seemed to me that all our problems were close to being resolved, but as time passed, I felt more and more that they didnt care for us, although it seemed that contact with the Federation offered them virtually unlimited opportunities
I decided to go to negotiations with the Empire on battleship Dragons Tail. It was a very impressive ship, and very unusual by human standards. Besides, I felt it necessary to show respect to our allies on this side of the portal, who were the most active in the construction of this ship, and to invite them with me. When Tobolsky read the list of persons I included in our embassy, he shook his head in surprise and looked up at me.
Mr Lavroff, dont you think thats too much? I can understand why you included Governor-General Lit-ta in your delegation, although I would have thought ten times whether we should involve the lizards in the initial stage of negotiations with the Empire, but why do you want to drag a captive quarg with you?
I believe, Mr President, that the former commander of the Kappa Ceti defense system, and at the same time the first quarg with the correctly removed mental block, can tell our potential allies a lot of interesting things. Theyre fighting a war with the toads out there, which we happen to have as well. The Empire certainly does not expect such a turn of events, and Mr Tsché knows a lot about our local «frogs». Besides, hes almost no longer a prisoner. Almost immediately after the removal of the block, he applied for the Earth Federation citizenship. Given the extraordinary nature of the case, no one has taken a decision on the matter without consulting you. So if you agree, Mr Tsché will be sent to negotiate as a Federation citizen.
A deep crease cut through Tobolskys forehead. There was something about the idea that he clearly didnt like.
The granting of our citizenship to a quarg will set a precedent whose consequences we will disentangle for many years. Im not sure its right, but rather its the other way around, answered Tobolsky with a doubt in his voice, I would suggest another option. How many quargs have had their blocks removed?
Several tens of thousands.
Then it would be more appropriate to establish a new independent quarg state under our protectorate in the Kruger 60 system. Let your Mr Tsché be its citizen and perhaps its leader. Well, let him go to the talks as an Allied race representative, if you think thats helpful.
Tobolsky was a far more sophisticated politician than I was, and that was his idea, which he came up with on the fly, which I thought was a good one. Not only did it remove from the agenda a host of questions that might have arisen about the bizarre status of the quargs as citizens of the Federation, it should have been much more comfortable for the quargs themselves. So I just had one more question for Tobolsky.
Mr President, may I inform Governor-General Lit-ta of the contact with the Empire and of her invitation to the talks, or is it better that this information passes through diplomatic channels?
The question got Tobolsky thinking.
Igor Yakovlevich, said he a few seconds later, The information will go through the official channels, but you will inform the lizards as my designated head of delegation. You cant directly address the Senior because it doesnt fit your status, so Governor General Lit-ta would be the perfect contact.