"Interesting. It doesn't explain why we should land there, though."

"It makes some sense, Grant," Gee interjected. "The Waa build motherships for the Minith there. They have the facilities for liftoff and touchdown."

"I'm with you on that point, Gee. My concern lies with trusting the Waa. How do we know they really want to help us, and aren't working with the Minith instead? They could be leading us directly into a trap. Also, it seems like the expected place to land, and we need surprise on our side."

"General, the Waa are honorable. They would not suggest this without a reason. The Family has already reached shiale on this point."

"That's good enough for me, Little Man." t.i.tan, who had been leaning lazily against the far wall of the command center with his arms crossed, made his position clear. "If the Family says they can be trusted, they can be trusted."

Grant gave a single nod to let t.i.tan know he was considering his input. It was not insignificant. He trusted t.i.tan's and the Telgorans' judgment, and his gut was telling him the same-that the Waa could be trusted. But this was a big decision and one that they did not have much time to consider.

According to Gee, they could be on the ground in just over an hour, but they needed to program the systems for the chosen landing site within the next couple of minutes. They could go with their initial landing site, an open area a few miles outside of the capital city-or they could land smack-dab in the center of the city. The center served their purposes much better, but required them to place their fate in the hands of the Waa-a race he had never met.

Gee, t.i.tan, and Patahbay looked at him expectantly, waiting for his decision. Grant felt the weight of command press heavier on his already tired shoulders.

This is why they pay you the big bucks, he thought.

Grant rubbed his temples and released a heavy sigh.

"City center it is."

CHAPTER 6.

Once again Rala found herself overlooking the ship-building fields to the south of her office. It had become a daily ritual. From the top-floor window of the high-rise building, she studied the tiny figures of the Waa in the distance as they went about their routines. As they toiled, she worried over the concerns of her job, her family, and her race. She also worried over the futures of those in the distance, and the inseparable link they shared with her own people. She struggled, as usual, with how to prevent their eventual extinction. As usual, she had no answers.

A dull ache through her core hinted at a depth of fatigue she rarely felt. The tiredness slowed her mental capacity as well; a thin veil of gauze seemed to cloak her normal clarity of thought. On a normal day, she would have noticed the increased activity outside her windows much sooner. When the changes in the ship fields finally registered, she was shocked. Instead of the dozen or so Waa she normally observed, there were more than a hundred of the little creatures bustling about the distant fields now.

Awareness of her surroundings and mental sharpness quickly returned. In their wake, she noticed dozens of military carriers in the skies outside her window. They were speeding in groups of three and four to the north-toward the governor's residence.

Something was happening.

If she had been in her residence, she would have activated the listening device she had planted. Not willing to risk its discovery, she had elected to keep it there. It was a calculated move, but she could not have it in both places. Home was the safer choice. As a result, she rushed to her desk and opened a standard channel to Truk's office.

"Trade Minister Rala." Ghin answered her incoming call with his normal terse greeting. She detected a hint of anxiety overlaying the greeting that was unusual for the normally calm aide.

"Fill me in, Ghin," she bluffed. "No need to bother the governor. I know he must be busy dealing with the current situation."

"Um...yes. He is very busy," he replied. "The mothership will be landing within the hour. From its current path, we know it will land on this island or the one directly to our east. We are scrambling all forces to intercept its arrival."

"The mothership?" Rala bit her tongue, but the slip couldn't be retrieved. She pressed forward instead. "Yes. I mean, do we know where the mothership came from?"

"Um. We don't know any more now than we did an hour ago. We a.s.sume it's the one the humans possessed on Telgora, but there is no response to our communications, so we cannot be certain."

The mothership from Earth!

Rala's thoughts raced and she sat down to process the information. She never expected the humans to come here. That made no sense. They had to know they were outnumbered, and they couldn't negotiate a truce. Not after what they did to the home planet.

Truk had used the human battle on Telgora as proof that the sheep from Earth were responsible for the destruction of Minith. It had worked wonders for his reputation and solidified his position with the population. For the first time in more than six years, the Minith knew where to focus their anger. The humans of Earth.

But Rala could only think of one thing. Treel. While her rational self knew he was dead, her emotional self still carried hope. If any beings alive could confirm his existence or his death, they were on board the mothership.

"Are you there, Minister?"

"Yes, Ghin. Thinking." Ghin had said they didn't know where the mothership was headed. She looked out her window at the Waa, and it became obvious.

How do the Waa know?

"They are planning to land at the ship-building facility, Ghin."

"How do you know that?"

"Trust me. Where else would they go?"

She waited as the governor's aide considered her a.s.sertion. It did not take long.

"I will pa.s.s your a.s.sessment along to the governor and to General Spaak," he agreed, then cut their connection.

Rala checked the time, then pulled her chair up to the window and waited for the show to begin. She hoped they did not kill all the humans until after she had a chance to speak with one or two.

The vague plan Grant had formed on Telgora now seemed incredibly naive. Land on Waa, fight their way to the governor's residence, capture him, and claim victory. It wasn't likely to succeed, but at least seemed doable from light years away-something akin to a 99-yard Hail Mary pa.s.s in the last seconds of the game.

Now that they were only minutes away from facing the full power of the Minith military on the planet, it felt like a Pollyanna pipe dream-a suicide mission with "failure" written all over its ugly face. The best they could hope to accomplish would be to put up a good showing against the Minith so they might think twice about trying to invade Earth again. Then Grant recalled that there were motherships already headed toward Earth, and even that thin thread of hope vanished.

He had never felt so unworthy as a leader.

Nor had he ever felt so proud of those he led.

Every one of his soldiers and pilots was briefed, in his or her place, and ready to face the enemy. When the mothership landed, they knew what was expected of their unit and of themselves. They understood the grim reality of the situation, but none of them had complained about the mission or questioned their a.s.signments.

Grant weaved his way through the vehicles and personnel in the ship's holding bay. He acknowledged each pilot as he pa.s.sed their carrier and offered encouragement to those soldiers who would hit the ground on foot. Across the bay, he spied t.i.tan speaking to Patahbay and the rest of the Telgorans. The alien warriors had been issued rifles, and t.i.tan seemed to be instructing them on their use. Grant was pleased to see the agsel staffs they had used so well against the Minith on their home planet strapped to each warrior's back. Although the rifles were more appropriate weapons for the fight coming up, it was comforting to see they had not entirely abandoned the staffs-as if they ever would.

He surveyed the holding bay a final time before heading to his command carrier, and was satisfied with what he saw.

Every individual seemed ready. Every unit was properly staged.

The twenty remaining jet carriers would be the first to depart the ship. Their job would be to fly cover for the rest of the force as it exited the bay and began the race for the governor's residence, three kilometers to the north of their landing site.

The jets would be followed immediately by the eight armored tanks and four artillery vehicles on board. The slowest, but most deadly, of the vehicles in the procession, they would set the pace for the rest of the force. Supporting these vehicles would be two hundred infantry soldiers, along with t.i.tan, Patahbay, and the fifty Telgoran warriors. Grant had considered leaving this slow-moving force behind as protection for the mothership, but quickly dismissed the idea. Once they landed on Waa, the ship would be of no further use-a ball and chain they had to abandon. Instead, they would move as a single combat unit toward their goal.

The plan called for the jets and ground forces to engage the initial Minith forces before the twenty troop carriers, with their contingent of four hundred additional infantry, left the ship. The unarmored aircraft had no offensive capability and were the most vulnerable vehicles in the force. Grant would wait to deploy them until the soldiers inside were needed-either as a reserve force or as a quick-strike force targeting the governor's residence directly.

Grant's command vehicle was nestled at the rear of the crowded landing bay. He, and the troops already on board the craft, would accompany the reserve troop carriers. Staying behind with the ship while his lead forces engaged the enemy still did not feel right, but he was adapting to the fact that leadership as a general was different from leadership as a sergeant. His position in the rear provided the best option for observing the battle and directing his forces appropriately. Ultimately, it provided them with the best chance for success.

He reached his vehicle, then glanced at his watch-twenty minutes to landing. He made a final visual pa.s.s across the bay and stepped toward the open door of the carrier.

He almost made it.

The explosion rocked the already battered mothership and tossed Gee from his seat. Before he hit the ground, he knew what was happening.

In a replay of events from six years earlier, the Minith had deployed their armed interceptors. They were under attack.

The engineer was not hurt and climbed back into his seat. He redirected the exterior vids from a view of the planet's surface to views of the ship's immediate exterior. What he saw gave him chills.

There were dozens of the deadly little ships, and they were all heading straight for them.

Gee redirected his attention from the vids to the system controls that monitored the mothership's hull integrity and life-support units. He was pleased to see that the initial pa.s.s had not caused significant damage, but he knew that could not last for long. A quick check of their time showed exactly how long those systems needed to last-eighteen more minutes.

"Gee, what's goin' on?"

"Minith fighters." Gee's simple declaration came through the command carrier's speakers and Grant shook his head. He had hoped to make it to the surface of Waa without encountering the Minith s.p.a.ce fighters, but their luck had given out.

"d.a.m.n. How's the ship?"

"Good for now. But it won't last," the engineer reported calmly. "There are too many of them, and they have extremely efficient weapons."

As if lending credence to his claim, the ship was rocked by a second, though less vicious, blast.

"On the positive side, they don't appear to be very accurate," Gee added when the trembling halted.

"Well, that's something to celebrate, I suppose." Grant did not transmit the sarcastic remark to the engineer. Instead, he sent a message across the all-units comm channel. "Everyone seal your vehicles and get comfortable. This is going to get b.u.mpy the rest of the way."

If the mothership lost structural integrity in this portion of the vessel, the oxygen would be sucked from the bay quickly. Those within carriers vehicles should be okay, but the soldiers outside of carriers would die quickly. He was considering having as many of the unprotected crowd into nearby vehicles when t.i.tan's voice entered the carrier.

"Grant!"

"Kind of busy here, t.i.tan," Grant growled, and the ship shook with another blast. Then another. The Minith fighters seemed to have improved in their accuracy.

"Just listen! You need to hear this. Patahbay says we need to get ready for the Waa."

"The Waa? We're under attack! We'll be lucky to make it to the surface in one piece."

"No, you don't understand! The Waa are about to-"

The shudder of an explosion, the loudest yet, cut off the other man's words.

"Dammit!" Grant's right fist slammed the side of the carrier in anger and frustration.

Rala gasped and her large ears twitched in surprise.

Without warning, a green beam of light lanced upward from the ship-building facility. She stared up in wonder, following the course of the beam as it pierced the sky.

When her gaze returned to the distant shipyard, the surprise she felt at seeing the unexpected light amped up yet another notch.

The hundred-plus Waa workers that had been scurrying about only moments before were now missing.

Her shock at the Waa's sudden absence was soon forgotten. Scores of carriers were landing and discharging their cargoes of well-armed Minith soldiers. The skies in the distance grew dark as hundreds of similar carriers approached the shipyard.

She doubted that she would get a chance to question any of the humans on board the incoming ship.

A pity.

Gee could do nothing but watch and wait as the ship was chewed up by each pa.s.sing run of the Minith fighters.

The portion of the ship's hull that had been repaired by the Telgorans was breached. Fortunately, no one remained in that portion of the vessel. and the internal part.i.tions designed to protect the rest of the craft worked as designed. But it was just a matter of time before one of the Minith attacks found an engine or the section of hull protecting the command center or the loading bay.

At this rate of destruction, they could not survive the remaining sixteen minutes it would take to reach the surface.

Gee was wondering how it would feel to die when the hum of the ship's engines went dead.

The resulting silence was powerful. It was also brief, as the most powerful explosion yet gripped the ship.

The end had arrived.

But before it could claim them, help from the Waa also arrived.

Gee watched the vid screen in wonder as a greenish spear of light shot from the surface of the planet and encircled the ship. The light quickly became a tangible force that captured the limping vessel and began pulling it with remarkable speed toward the planet.

The monitor in front of Gee flashed with a single phrase, and he stared at it in wonder. Instead of the Minith language he had come to expect from the ship, the phrase was flashing in Earth Standard language.

"Landing Sequence Initiated."

The sudden quiet filling the command carrier was interrupted by an announcement from Gee.

"Looks like the Waa have the ship in some type of retraction beam, Grant. They are pulling us to the planet."

The engineer's voice was filled with apparent wonder and surprise. Grant's emotion was utter disbelief.

"Deus ex machina."

"What?"