CHAPTER 19
THE RA REGROUP
Things that are done, it is needless to speak about
things that are past, it is needless to blame.
- Confucius
Master Dow'Na, leader of the Earth mission, furiously paced the bridge of the Mother Ship as it circled the doomed planet Earth in geosynchronous orbit. Increasingly, he feared for the mission outcome. They were already five Ra-days behind schedule, and every passing moment increased the risk that they would come under scrutiny of the Galactic League after the coming Earth/Dannos disaster. The Ra were supposed to have left this accursed system earlier; so that they would be light years away when the asteroid struck. The League was conveniently inept, but not totally so. There had to be no evidence that the Ra had ever been on Earth at all; the Ra could not afford to be blamed for Earth's destruction.
The other two Warrens had completed their missions successfully weeks ago and had already returned to the Mother Ship. Only Twig and her Warren remained on Earth; but they were the lead group. Twig, better known by her Ra name Twi'Na, was supposed to have reported when she obtained key data from the USA DOD. Without that data the mission would not be judged to be a complete success by the Na'Ra Hierarchy. The DOD data might bring almost as much black market sales profit as all the rest of the Earth artifacts put together.
But it was much more than just a matter of profit. Just as devouring a sentient meant much more to a Ra than simply eating food to satisfy physical hunger, stealing the artifacts of human culture including treasured secrets, and selling them to the highest bidders, was a psychologically necessary part of Ra’s destruction of humanity. A foe had to be completely denigrated and consumed, not simply killed. That was the Ra way.
By now Dow's anger was even stronger than his fear for the mission. More than half an Earth day had passed since Twig was supposed to report. Instead, he had received a short encoded message from Renson that merely indicated that they were having trouble, and that the Warren Leader would report when she was available. When she was available? Unless she was dead, she was available to report to her Master! Such disrespect for the Mission Master was totally unacceptable!
The Ra were hot-heads by nature; it was both their chief curse and their principal virtue. It was a source of strength that allowed them to accomplish things that the more 'civilized' Galactic races found too distasteful or boring. The Ra often touted themselves to be the indispensable blue collar workers of the Galaxy. They were that, to some degree, but they were also the leading thieves and shysters of the Galactic League, and they always wanted more.
In particular, it was the Na'Ra Order of the Ra that wanted Galaxy-wide power and wealth. They considered themselves to be responsible for achieving the Ra's place in Galactic society. Without the Na'Ra, the populace of Ra might have been content to remain on the Ra home world and live in a perpetual state of chaos and poverty.
To compensate for the emotions that were always threatening the degeneration of Ra civilization into anarchy, the Na'Ra order of the Ra had established strict rules and a Ra-wide tradition of unquestioned loyalty to the Na'Ra Hierarchy. Without such discipline the Ra race would lose control of themselves, and lose their worth in Galactic society.
Ambitious, Twi'Na had often operated on the fringes of disobedience to command. She understood that to advance in the Hierarchy, one had to take chances. Also, her family was powerful, and she never hesitated to take as much advantage of that factor as she could. However, her ambition, connections, and free-wheeling attitude did not endear her to her immediate superior. Dow had advanced through the ranks by use of more honorable means than family connections, such as cunning, lies, and ruthless violence, including several well placed murders.
Dow responded to Twig's insubordination angrily with an order that Twig herself was to report immediately. This time she had gone too far. Uncle on the ruling Circle of the Na'Ra or not, she was in big trouble. Depending on how well she projected the appropriate subservience when she responded, and on how bad she was bungling the mission, this might be his opportunity to discredit or even permanently dispose of Twig once and for all. She was his most capable Warren Leader, but she was too much competition to bear within his command.
Perhaps Dow would order one of his other Warren leaders to take over Twig's duties, and to dispose of Twig in the bargain. All he needed was sufficient justification, and as the hours passed, that justification was gradually becoming overwhelming.
Then Renson sent a second message to the Mother Ship stating that he was personally monitoring progress. The meaning of the statement could not be mistaken. Renson was declaring this to be a Ca'Ra concern, and Dow was to keep his distance.
Renson was the wild card in this whole thing, and Dow hated the Ca'Ra Priest even more than he hated well-healed Na'Ra upstarts like Twi'Na. For uncountable millennia, the mysterious Ca'Ra, using drugs and brute force as well as controlling ideology enforced through brainwashing education, had been the undisputed masters of Ra lusts. They still offered the only culturally sanctioned channels for release of the powerful, primal, Ra emotions. Love and hate and everything in between had been institutionalized by the Ca'Ra.
Were the primal lusts of the Ra really still so strong? Dow suspected that for centuries such appetites and cravings were actually being perpetuated by the Ca'Ra. Without the Ca'Ra, and the use of such Ca'Ra devices as the drug known as Ca, perhaps the primal lusts of the Ra would moderate, as had occurred with many other races of the Galactic League.
When he was younger, Dow envisioned himself escaping the ancient power of the Ca'Ra by becoming a leader in the modern Na'Ra Order. He even had visions of Na'Ra reason and enterprise and greed at last breaking the power the Ca'Ra held over Ra society.
But that was long ago. Since then he learned that the Na'Ra only existed essentially at the convenience of the Ca'Ra. The Na’Ra Order was secretly the economic and political extension of the Ca’Ra. Though the Na'Ra openly ran the Ra Government and made routine decisions, policy and serious decisions were determined behind closed doors by the Ca'Ra. The Galaxy didn't know it, most of the Ra populace and many Na'Ra didn't even know it, but Dow was high enough in the Na'Ra Hierarchy to know it. He had seen it many times. Na'Ra known to oppose the Ca'Ra were not promoted, or in more serious cases, suffered unfortunate fatal 'accidents' or simply disappeared: probably cannibalized by the Ca'Ra. As much as Dow hated the Ca'Ra Priests, he feared them far more.
Dow had not been surprised when a Ca'Ra was made a part of his mission team. Often young Ca'Ra participated in Na'Ra-led efforts as part of their apprenticeships. But Dow immediately knew when he met Ren'Ca, known by the name Renson on Earth, that this Ca'Ra was no mere apprentice. His eyes were cold, dark, pits and he moved with fluid grace. That meant cyborg augmentation: which either meant lots of money, like Twig, or that Ren'Ca was a Ca of the Second Order, at least. In either case, Ren'Ca had to be taken very seriously. So Dow held his anger in check, and did as Ren'Ca asked, even though he seethed.
Worse still than Dow's anger, and fed by it as well, was his hunger. They were supposed to have dined on the human earlier, on that plump little toad of a bureaucrat that had caused Twig the delays. Dow would have to eat something soon or he would be in danger of blood lust. He signaled an aid to bring him food.
The aid appeared moments later with a common Earth vermin; what was it called? Oh yes, a rat. Quite tasty really; and he liked the way the body still twitched after he bit off the head. The skull was nice and crunchy, and the creature had a handy tail to hold it by. Eating a rat was not as good as eating a human, but since it wasn't sentient at least no bothersome Ca'Ra rituals were required.
He was in a hurry, so he simply swallowed the rat whole. It was a little hairy for his taste, but he was sure these animals would become a big hit with the Ra populace, particularly since they would soon be the only remaining Earth-life form in existence. He would have to take care that the crew didn't eat all the breeding stock befor
e they reached home. Content for the moment, he sat down in the comfort of his command chair to await events and hopefully get some rest.
Hardly had his eyes closed when an aid came rushing to his side "Master! Something is happening!”
Dow opened his eyes and watched the main viewing screen. Radar and infrared scanners indicated that a vehicle had just left the planet's surface in the vicinity of the Base. It was climbing much faster than any Earth vehicles currently in use, though its forward speed was still slow. It had to be Twig's ship. But why weren't they reporting in?
Looking more closely at the readings, he had the answer. Reflective index, temperature, and flight trajectories were all wrong. It wasn't a Ra ship; it had to be some sort of Earth vehicle! While it was still well within the atmosphere, the craft began to lose altitude. It was headed straight for central Washington DC.
"There is a call from Warren Leader Twi'Na Master," announced an aid.
Twig at last! Now this should be interesting. At a nod of his head Twig's image appeared on the screen. Appropriately, she was bowed down in a position of submission.
In the background, Ren'Ca stood erect, but gave a slight nod of his head in a greeting of equals. It was a clear sign to Dow that they would proceed now with himself still nominally in charge, but that he should remain alert to the fact that at any time Ren'Ca may proceed on his own or even take command. Had the Ca'Ra made a submissive motion, it would have meant normalcy. No nod and Dow would have immediately deferred completely to Ren'Ca.
Dow'Na returned the nod to the steely eyed Ca'Ra, indicating he understood and would comply. The nod could not be seen by Twig, but he was sure that his senior staff saw it and also understood. Among the Ra, body language was an important and precise form of communication.
"Master, this unworthy one begs forgiveness and offers herself as no-class apprentice or slave, as the Master wishes," began Twig.
It wasn't a bad beginning, reflected Dow, and it suggested hope for her portion of the mission. If she had simply offered herself without mentioning demotion, it would have meant there was no hope for her mission, and he would have been inclined to immediately accept; meaning of course, that Twig would be their next meal. On the other hand, she had still given a very serious and submissive preamble, suggesting that there were some very serious problems indeed.
Dow could now immediately reject or accept Twig’s offer, or he could let the decision to be made by the whole Mission Force after all testimony was given. This was similar to plea-bargaining in the USA court system, but with the Ra, the initial sentence was passed prior to any testimony, and prior to acquiring full particulars of the offense.
Dow decided to accept her offer immediately. Her insubordination alone was enough to justify such an action to the Hierarchy. Instead of the dishonor of slavery, he would choose to take her under his wing, so to speak, as his apprentice. That way he saved face for her powerful family, but he could still keep her under his heal. Like the humans said, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. "I accept your offer," announced Dow. "Rise, Apprentice No-Class Twi'Na, and give me your report.”
A long hiss of relief escaped her as she rose. When Dow had hesitated, she feared that he would decline, leaving the matter of sentencing completely up to her peers, in which case death was a distinct possibility, as she was not well liked by the crew. But Dow had made the wise choice, as she predicted that he would. Her career was set back at least 5 years, but she would live. And, responsibility for the screwed up mission was now fully assumed by Dow, as he was the apprentice's Master.
It was a very good deal, Twig considered, as she began her report. "Yes Master. Your humble apprentice regrets to inform you that the Earth man Barns, aided by the treacherous Earth man Bates, has temporarily escaped us in a flying vehicle.”
So far, this wasn't a biggie, thought Dow; they could always find another meal.
"Worse, in the process they killed two of the crew.”
Regrettable, thought Na'Ra, but still not too important. But she wasn't done yet.
"Worse, the Earth men have escaped with all the data collected by the Warren."
Dow grimaced and snarled. This was terrible! This could reduce Mission profits by over 40%! Fortunately, profit was secondary, thought Dow. The primary objective was to wipe out the humans, and that seemed to be inevitable now.
"Worst of all by far," continued Twig, "the stolen data chronicles activities of the Ra Warrens on Earth over the last Earth-century, implicating the Ra in the changing of Earth history and in changing the asteroid's course."
Dow hissed in disgust. This could be utterly disastrous! If the Galactic League discovered this data, the position of the Ra in galactic society could be set back for generation! Worse, heads would roll, or rather be eaten, including most certainly his own!
Ren’Ca stood watching impassively. The Ca’Ra had even greater concerns. Much worse even than League reaction, the real mission, which was not even suspected by Twig or Dow or the entire Na'Ra Hierarchy, could be jeopardized. There was a small but finite probability that the humans would use the information in the cubes to save the real target of the asteroid. He could not take that chance. Barns, Bates, and their friends had to be stopped, at any cost.
Her report finished at last, Twig collapsed to the floor in an attitude of abject subjugation, as befit her apprentice status. But Dow demanded details, and Twig had to pick herself up to a crouching position again in order to properly provide them. Twig told Dow everything that had happened. At last she finished, leaving Dow to ponder a solution to the problem.
Should they leave Earth immediately, and simply take the chance that no harmful messages would reach the Galactic League? That would minimize further potential exposure to the humans. Or, should they immediately find and destroy the escaped humans and the sensitive data? Or, should they first try to retrieve the marketable data from the humans? By Twig's report, they had pursued the later course so far, without success. That strategy fit Twig's character; it was the highest risk, highest profit approach. Half the huge profit from the selling of the Earth artifacts would go to Dow and his crew, if it could be regained.
Dow had to consider the bigger picture. First of all, as far as the Hierarchy was concerned, profit from this mission was purely a secondary motive. The primary objective was to exterminate the humans.
Earth and humanity had been studied by Galactic League members for centuries. Many races participated. Despite secret efforts of the Ra to damage and discredit the human civilization, humans continued to slowly progress. Ten Earth years ago, the Ra Hierarchy found out that the Galactic Council planned to admit the humans at the next full council meeting, now only one Earth-year hence. As a result, the Ra strategy of chronic interference in Earth affairs was dropped, and replaced by the plan to totally wipe out humanity prior to League admission.
The Ra correctly saw humans as the greatest threat imaginable to their niche in Galactic society, for in many ways, humans were simply too similar to the Ra. Like the Ra, humans were one of the few races capable of physical violence. Like the Ra, they were emotional, adventurous, primitive, and corruptible.
After admission to the League, humans would be unstoppable. They would flock out into the Galaxy by the thousands. Once free to move about the Galaxy, humans had qualities that would allow them to compete very successfully with the Ra. Compared to the Ra, humans were certainly more creative intellectually, as evidenced by the fact that Earth science and technology had progressed orders of magnitude faster than that of the ancient Ra. Worse still, humans were more 'arty'. Already, many forms of Earth art were being promulgated in the Galaxy. Earth music and paintings were valued particularly highly. In fact, Galactic appreciation of Earth art was one of the stronger arguments for League admission.
Worse yet, as with the Ra, there was a touch of larceny in the human soul. Human criminals would flourish in the more gullible Galactic cultures, in direct competition with Ra
criminals.
Worse of all, the human counter tendency to fight crime could prove disastrous. The Ra envisioned fleets of human Galactic League police sweeping star systems free of larcenous Ra. “It takes one to know one,” as the humans said. Humans would understand all too well how to oppose Ra interests.
The Ca'Ra factor was another issue for Dow to consider ahead of profit. The Ca'Ra cared nothing for profit. Dow could only guess that a high-ranking Ca'Ra was added to this mission to insure that personal profit motives did not obscure the primary objective of human genocide. He looked at Ren'Ca and found cold hard eyes staring into his. The Ca'Ra lifted one clawed hand to his throat and made a slicing motion.
The message was clear.
"We will pursue the escaped humans and destroy them as quickly as possible," Dow announced. The sound of hissing filled the room. This choice was not popular with the crew. If the data were to be destroyed, bonuses would be greatly reduced.
It was certainly not popular with Twig, who had hoped to continue the pursuit and retrieval of the missing data. She also wanted to dispose of Barns and Bates up close and personally. Now they would probably be laser blasted from a distance. It would be a waste of good meat, as well as data.
But Dow was concerned with the opinion of only one crew member. With relief, he saw Ren'Ca nod his head in affirmation. He knew that he was on the right track. "All Warrens will pursue the Earth craft immediately. Ren'Ca, you are now in charge of your Warren, and in local command of all Warrens as they engage in the pursuit.” Again, the Ca'Ra nodded his approval. "And you may have the services of my new apprentice if you wish. Good hunting."
At that point, Dow had intended to terminate the discussion. Ren'Ca however, continued it. "Master Dow, I would speak with you privately.”
"Very well, Warren Leader," Dow replied. He gestured for his aids to leave, and noted on the viewing screen with some satisfaction that Twi'Na, a little miffed, was also leaving Ren'Ca's presence. It would take a while for her to fully adjust to her lowly position. Dow would enjoy helping her adjust.
Ren'Ca got right to the point. "There are two things you should additionally know, Dow’Na. First, I already personally tried to destroy the Earth craft with a force 12 laser-based plasma ray and failed. The blast had no apparent effect.”
Dow swallowed hard. Personally? Force 12? That was nearly as strong a blast as a Warren ship could provide! What sort of augmentation did this Ca'Ra have? What was his true rank? Could he be a Level One?
What sort of protection did the Earth ship have? A force 12 blast should have easily destroyed any Earth craft. Destroying the human ship might not be as easy as he had assumed it would be.
"Second," continued Ren'Ca, "we are all expendable on this mission. It must succeed at all costs. Is that clear?”
Dow swallowed again. "Yes Ca'Ra," he replied, as a chill swept through him. This was a very serious and dangerous situation. But Dow didn't really understand the Ca’Ra’s motivation. Of course the mission would succeed; he doubted that even the Ra Mother Ship could prevent the asteroid from striking Earth now. Was Ren'Ca worried about word of Ra activities reaching the Galactic League?
He had an idea on how to prevent that. "Ren'Ca, I suggest that we establish jamming to mask Earth transmissions until the asteroid strikes. We can disguise the jamming as sunspot activity or some other natural phenomena. We know that there are currently no other Galactic craft near enough to distinguish it as jamming.” Dow smiled, showing his long sharp fangs. He was quite proud of the plan.
"But we must also leave this solar system soon in order to escape suspicion," objected Ren'Ca. "After we leave, the messages of the humans would get through. Or, if we leave behind jamming equipment, such equipment could later be discovered by the League.
Dow had already thought about that. "True, Ren'Ca, but what if we all leave, except for one volunteer to run the jamming station? If we place the jamming station on Earth at the impact point of the asteroid, all evidence of our presence will be conveniently destroyed when the asteroid strikes.” Dow continued smiling. This was his favorite part of the plan! Such a suicide mission would traditionally be performed by the lowest ranked Ra on the mission. At this time, that happened to be Twig.
It was an elegant solution, thought Ren'Ca. Brilliant, as a matter of fact. It was a minimum cost and risk approach that solved the major problems as Dow knew them.
But there was one issue that Dow’s plan did not address, and it was the only issue that really mattered. A Ra near the impact point, unless a skilled Ca'Ra, could alert the actual target and jeopardize the real mission. Ren'Ca and the Ca'Ra previously assigned to the Earth mission had seen to it that this problem was avoided; no Ra other than a Ca'Ra had ever visited the impact area. Now in order to avoid it happening, he would tell this Na'Ra more than he wanted to tell him.
"An interesting plan, Master Dow, but impossible. In fact, under no circumstances are any Ra, with the possible exception of me, to travel near the impact point. That is very important. Instead, we must see to it that the escaped humans are destroyed immediately, before they themselves reach the impact point, while the Mother ship accomplishes jamming. Nothing is more important than immediately destroying the escaped humans, including discovery of Ra efforts on Earth by the Galactic League. Is that clear?”
Dow's eyes bugged out and a loud hiss escaped from between his meshed fangs. It was Ra body language for extreme astonishment.
Before Dow could foolishly ask more questions, Ren'Ca continued. "The reasons are not your concern. Also, your plan and my influence on this mission are not subjects of record.”
Dow nodded affirmatively in deference and sighed. The Ca'Ra was tying both hands behind his back, and there was nothing he could do about it, ever, except perhaps look stupid to his superiors when this mission was over. But of course looking stupid was better than being dead.
Ren'Ca judged that Dow was unusually competent, for a Na'Ra. He hoped he would not have to terminate him; his skills could be used in other Ca’Ra influenced missions. "Master Dow," consoled Ren'Ca, "do not be overly concerned with the Hierarchy's judgment of your performance. Other Ra of greater influence will know to judge you fairly. That will be seen to; you have my pledge."
Ren'Ca turned away from the Ra Master, terminating the discussion and communications with the Mother Ship. All of this talk was wasting time. He must pursue the humans immediately, before they passed on their information to others! That would require use of the Warren spacecraft that for many years had formed the insides of Twig's home in suburban Washington DC, only a mile from the Base.
There was no time for him and Twig to drive a human vehicle from the Base to the spacecraft. Their Warren craft and the others would converge at the Base, and pursuit of the Earth vehicle would begin there. With merely a conscious thought, the necessary orders were sent to the Warren Ship from his augmented body.
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