VIII
Through half his reign, Var of Kloomiria had nursed his hatred of thehumans into a holy mission. It was eighty years since his visit toCathay, when the colonists' children had run screaming from him,shouting that he was a monster, but time had only sharpened the memory.He had covered his too-human body under a multitude of robes and hadgloried in the alienness of his head, with its fringe of breathingtentacles and the two lobster-like claws that concealed his tiny mouth.Year after long year, he had built and prayed for the war of vengeancethat must come.
Almost, it had passed him by. With the threat of help from Earth forCathay, he had been forced to delay while larger fleets were built. Hisreign had been drawing to a close and he had almost resigned himself tothe law that would turn the rulership over to his eldest son. Then theboy had died in an explosion less than a week from the change of rule,and almost simultaneously Earth's timidity had won again, and theprotection had been denied her colony.
Now Var's waiting was finished. He stood in the cabin of his flagship,heading back to Kloomiria after the opening raid of the war, savoringthe sweetness of the damage he had done Cathay. Life was sweet.
Behind him, the door dilated softly and his aide came in, carrying aroll of paper. "A message from Cathay, magnificence," he announced.
Var opened the message and studied it. Then he read it again,uncertainly. He was sure of his knowledge of English, but the note wassenseless gibberish. Again he read it, this time aloud:
"Yours of the fourteenth ultimo received and contents noted. We arepleased to inform you that we are in a position to fill your entireorder and that shipment is going out at once by special messenger. Wetrust that you will find our products superior in every way. We believethat you will find our terms completely reasonable."
It made no more sense aloud.
The aide sighed apologetically. "Deliberately misapplied archaicism issometimes regarded as humorous by Earthmen, magnificence. I suspectthis is a warning that they are retaliating."
"Bluff!" Var read the words again, but he could make no other meaningfrom them. Did the fools expect him to believe their flippancy spelledconfidence, or were they deceiving themselves? And the hint ofsurrender terms was sheer stupidity. It must be an offer, though thewording seemed to indicate _he_ should surrender!
He threw the message into a waste receptacle in disgust and went overto look at the screens where Kloomiria was showing. The humans ofCathay might try a return raid, but he was unworried. Cathay's fleetwas pitiful, and she had no heavy ships from which to launch planetbombs. Of course, there were spy reports of vast numbers of what seemedto be guided missiles, but they could never get through theconfusion-signals that blanketed Kloomiria.
As he watched, a signal blinked. He opened the circuit and the face ofhis admiral looked out. "We've received indications of a swarm of smallships, magnificence," the man reported. "High speed and piloted. It maybe a suicide squadron."
"Suicide!" Var spat the word out. "Whoever heard of the human cowardsrisking their necks?"
The aide touched his shoulder apologetically. "They are mentioned inEarth books, magnificence. And there was Djamboula."
Var stared at the screen as the flight was relayed to him, snarling.Definitely, they were one-man ships, not guided missiles. His defenseshad never been built to handle suicide squadrons.
"Up, surround them, blast them!" he ordered. A few might get through tothe ships or to the planet below, but quick action would wreak havocamong them and discourage further attempts.
* * * * *
The Kloomirian fleet opened into a circle and began rising. Now theswarm of little ships began breaking apart, fanning out and attemptingto turn. Var hissed. Not even the courage to go through with it afterthey were discovered! They--
He leaped to the screen, cursing at what he saw.
Where the little ships had opened a hole, a monstrous bulk was hurtlingthrough at fantastic speed. The tiny ships had screened it, but now itoutran them, boring straight toward the opening in the Kloomirianfleet. Atomic cannon began running out of enormous hatches, like thebristles jutting from a tendril brush.
"Blast out!" Var screamed into his engine phone. His flagship leapedaway at full drive, while the enemy seemed to grow on the screen. Thenit diminished as they began drawing away from the fleet.
There was nothing Var could do about the horror that followed. Thegreat vessel bored through the fleet with cannons spitting out hell. Ifcountershots were fired, they had no effect.
"Sugfarth!" the aide screamed in his ears. "A ship from Sugfarth!"
Var remembered the pictures he had seen, and they matched, though nonehad suggested such a size. It was impossible. The race of Sugfarth werealiens--warriors who had fought humanoids as few races had done. Theywould have fought with him, not against him!
The ship drove down toward the planet, braking fiercely now. From it,two bulky objects fell. While the planet bombs dropped, the behemothbegan to rise again. It came through the shattered ranks of Kloomiria'sfleet, blasting again, and headed toward the tiny ships that hadscreened it, new hatches opening to receive them.
Half of Var's fleet was in total ruin. On the planet below, twohorrible gouts of flame leaped up through the atmosphere and beyond it,while all of Kloomiria seemed to tremble as half a continent wasruined. Var stared down at the destruction, unmoving.
The aide coughed, holding out another roll of paper. "Cathay isbroadcasting an appeal for us to surrender without reprisals,magnificence. And the Estate Governors are demanding fleet protection."
Var crushed the paper in his hands without reading it.
It would take half the remaining part of the fleet to give even tokenprotection to Kloomiria. His plans had never been based on holding backthe seemingly weak forces of Cathay.
"No answer," he said. His hand reached for the communicator switch andhe began issuing orders. "The fleet will regroup and return to base forimmediate repairs and rearming. Commanders of _all_ ships will prepareto take off against Cathay within six hours!"
Somehow, the humans had to be crushed completely before they coulddestroy Kloomiria. After that, if any of his race survived, there wouldbe a mission for all future generations.
Only the power of Earth could have sent the alien ship from Sugfarth,loaded with cannon and bombs, to fight against fellow aliens. Earth haddeclared neutrality, and then struck! For such a villainy, a millionyears was not too long to seek vengeance!