The Alien's Reward III: Insurrection

By Jim Ricca

No one was sure of the exact point in time when the earth came to be ruled by the aliens of the Changtung race, nor could they remember exactly when the Changtung began overtly discriminating against and then oppressing the native humans, along with the immigrant Cirrans, Orrans and Blue Planet people. The first group of Changtungs to arrive on earth were extremely grateful toward the Blues for accepting them into their society, and transporting the remainder of their race for over 200 years as they searched for a new home. Nor did they forget how they were warmly accepted by the earthers after their long sojourn in space. Their fellow Changtungs, of the second arriving group, were hard-core warriors and not so grateful, nor were their memories as long lasting. And they had plans to remove and enslave all non-Changtung people.
Over thirty years have passed since the Pillagers destroyed most of the earth's population and infrastructure, and it's been twenty since Ralph and Yoki Butler disappeared into the time wrinkle never to return. The time has come for the oppressed peoples of earth to rise up against their Changtung oppressors, and the children of the Yoki-Butlers were the ideal leaders for the revolution. But things never go as planned for the earthers or their oppressors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Ricca
• Release date: Aug 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310051449

Jim Ricca

Jim was born and raised in Philadelphia, and lived there until drafted into the Army in 1971. He served a total of 18 years between the active Army and reserves as a Military Policeman, Artillery forward observer and in the Mechanized Infantry. He attended college on the GI bill and earned a B.A. in Political Science, International Relations from LaSalle University. He held middle and senior level management positions in the transportation, printing/publishing industries and plastics manufacturing field. Jim also served several years as a Special Agent/Special Investigator for a Federal agency. Jim is the author of the four book, Circle of Wounded Souls series, in addition to, Legacies; an American Journey, Hunting and Hunted in Alaska, The four book Alien's Reward series with Journey to Another Earth. In addition to, Der Schatten Teufel, The Shadow Devil, and Running Down Terror has been released along with: The Replacement Priest, and Escape from the Asylum. Jim resides in Maryland's Eastern Shore where he divides his time between writing and fishing the Chesapeake Bay and surf fishing along the shore..

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THE ALIEN'S REWARD III

INSURRECTION!

By

Jim Ricca

Copyright 2017 Jim Ricca

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This book and ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book and ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

This book is available in print at most online retailers

Discover other great reads by Jim Ricca on Smashwords.com

The Alien's Reward

The Alien's Reward II The Alliance

The Alien's Reward III Insurrection

The Circle of Wounded Souls, Book One

The Circle of Wounded Souls, Book Two

The Circle of Wounded Souls, The Circle of Survivors, Book Three

The Circle of Wounded Souls, The Broken Circle, Book Four

Legacies: an American Journey

Running Down Terror

Kathryn’s Summer

The Replacement Priests

Der Schatten Teufel, The Shadow Devil

Preface

No one was sure of the exact point in time when the earth came to be ruled by the aliens of the Changtung race, nor could they remember exactly when the Changtung began overtly discriminating against, and then oppressing the native humans, along with the immigrant Cirrans and the Orrans. They eventually began oppression of the Blue planet people who so generously rescued them just before their sun went supernova and destroyed their home planet.

The first groups of Changtungs were extremely grateful to the Blues for accepting them into their society, and transporting the remainder of their race for over 200 years as they searched for a new home. Nor did they forget how the earthers warmly accepted them after their long sojourn in space. Their fellow Changtungs, from the second arriving group, were warriors and not so grateful, nor were their memories as long lasting.

As stated, there were two separate and distinct groups of Changtung warriors. The original group arrived with the Blues and Orrans just in time to fight off the Pillager invasion and prevent the almost total destruction of the human race. As it was, 95% of all humans died during the attack and the survivors were on the very brink of returning to Stone Age chaos. The Orrans, Blues, and the Changtung people traveling with them were able to not only restore order and provide for basic human needs, but they also rebuilt the planet's society and economic system, in addition to unselfishly sacrificing their own lives to fight off several more attempted invasions by other warrior species.

The second group of the Changtung people arrived en-masse in their huge armada after traveling through the vast emptiness of space for several hundred years while seeking a new home. They'd intercepted faint radio messages from the groups helping us fight off the Pillager attack, but due to the vast distances involved, they didn't arrive until several years after the fight was over. But this group had serious issues accepting the marriage of Commandant Ralph Butler, an earther as we were called, and their Queen Yoki, who not only married Butler, but also took his name and bore his children.

Some of the later group of Changtung warriors let their feelings be known while the fleet was away on a mission to help defend our allies on the planet Orran. Although Prince Trogon wanted to enforce Changtung law and execute all of the traitors involved, Commandant Butler exiled them; except for a few senior officers, Prince Trogon insisted on executing. Everyone thought this would put an end to the subversive element; their questions about the legitimacy of Queen Yoki's and Prince Trogon's rule, and the ascension of the Queen's rightful heirs to the Changtung throne. Although the positions were to be purely ceremonial after her abdication, Queen Yoki insisted their titles be preserved and honored by her people.

Butler and Queen Yoki retired from the leadership of the planet and moved to an island in the Caribbean with their children, accompanied by Prince Trogon, his wife and child. They were kept company on their island retreat by their personal guard forces, several close friends from the original arrivals and their personal staff.

Both the Queen and Trogon maintained a presence at all command councils as chairpersons to act as a check and balance to the majority group; the Changs. As long as the original command group maintained any influence over the decision making process, all was reasonably well run and there were few if any complaints about favoritism, discrimination or harassment by and against any of the newcomers. Then one fateful day, Ralph, Queen Yoki and most of their group went to investigate a new time wrinkle that suddenly appeared near the planet Pluto. It led back in time to a period of earth history known as the Renaissance.

The last thing Butler was heard to say before his ship entered the time wrinkle was, I have a few drawings and theories I'd like to share with a guy named DaVinci who lived during that era.

The wrinkle was initially deemed to be stable by the monitoring science ship, but it suddenly closed down and disappeared only hours after Butler's ship, the Yorktown and its' two heavy cruiser escorts passed through it. At first, no one could understand how it could have happened, especially since the science ship's crew was very experienced at investigating and monitoring such phenomena, and they'd never made a mistake like this before. It wasn't until a few years later, terrible rumors began circulating alleging the ship's Changtung crew and captain were part of a conspiracy to eliminate Queen Yoki, Prince Trogon and the old Changtung leadership, along with Butler and his staff.

Within a year of their disappearance changes began to occur, but like a slow growing cancer, the first signs of the Changtungs malignant intentions went unnoticed by most people, and those who did speak up in opposition were quickly isolated and silenced by various means.

Although humans were the sole race on this planet before the Pillager attacks, they now made up less than ten percent of the earths population. The Blue planet people, a few Cirrans and Orrans, along with the first Changtung people who settled here, together totaled all of twenty percent; with the new Changtungs making up the rest of the planet's population.

There were also a few hundred people from Troundolares who were invited to stay by Ralph Butler. There were no more than a dozen or so in the initial group he'd brought back with their leader, Luke. This group was followed a few months later by another small group of twenty. As smart and industrious as they were, it was a common joke the Troundolarens must have spent every free minute they had procreating in order to increase their numbers so quickly and in such a short period. Their gestation period was all of six months, and their babies cease suckling at their mother's breasts and begin eating semi-solid foods in only three months. Luke advised a typical family in his race would consist of at least ten children, and they reached physical maturity at the age of fourteen. A fourteen-year-old Troundolarian would often stop growing by that age, but would be about six foot-three to six foot-eight inches tall, and well over two hundred fifty pounds on average.

Earth's atmosphere and foods had a dramatic impact on the Blue planet people. The original arrivals were slight of build, short, white-haired and had light blue eyes. They had problems reproducing after spending so many centuries in space. It was thought their gene pool and reproductive systems had been irreversibly harmed, but after a few years on earth they began bearing children, and their offspring now towered over their parents, in addition to sporting a variety of hair and eye colors, and skin pigmentations.

The Orrans were also producing children, but they more closely resembled their parents since they had not been traveling the universe for extended generations, and their diets were about the same as they had on Orran. The Changtung people adapted with no significant changes to their appearance or physical makeup.

Over thirty years have passed since the Pillagers destroyed most of the earth's population and infrastructure, and it's been twenty since my mother and father disappeared into the time wrinkle.

CHAPTER ONE

Captain Butler, you have a call coming in on the secure transporter-link, a familiar female voice announced cheerfully over the battery communications system.

Do you know who it is, I replied. I'm in the middle of an important conference, Sergeant Woos.

There was a brief titter of laughter from the ever-pleasant communications sergeant before she replied, I think it's your sister, Princes Maria. But if you want, I can tell her you'd rather not interrupt your card game. I'm sure she'll understand your spades game is more important than family, sir.

Jumping from the chair, I shouted, I'll take it in my quarters; just give me a second to get there. Fortunately my quarters were only two doors down the hall and as I picked up the handset, I heard my sister exchanging laughter with Woos.

Well if it isn't my loving and devoted sister, Princes Maria of the banished and exiled Yoki-Butler clan, I laughed as I heard Woos stating, And I don't think he's taken a bath since he arrived here two years ago…

Woos instantly disconnected from the call as soon as my sister answered me with, Oh, it's my dear younger brother, who is in dire need of his older sister's constant supervision.

Don't believe a thing Woos tells you, Maria; I think she has a crush on me. This brought gales of laughter from my sister; currently assigned as ambassador to Cirran and Orran, which was as far away as the Changs could send her without arousing too much suspicion. But how are you able to call me when you're on Cirran?

I'm not on Cirran and haven't been there for over 170 hours, she answered quietly. As a matter of fact, I'll be landing on Mars in about an hour. The freighter I'm on will call stating they're having engine problems and need to make an emergency landing for repairs. The Captain calculated your battery will be facing away from the earth and won't be in visual contact with the bases on the other outer planets. I've heard there are big problems brewing on earth and we need to talk.

OK; I'll see you in a little while, but what about the rest of the family and our friends?

They'll be arriving soon, was all she said before breaking off communications.

The mere fact that my sister had surreptitiously left Cirran to travel to my remote space-defense battery meant the Changs, as we called the brutal bastards, had something very nasty planned for the minority races and we'd need to draw on all our resources to forestall them. They wielded absolute power now and reduced the minorities to indentured servitude. But we'd won a few small minor victories over them with the help of the old Changtung leaders, and the Blues, who still held a monopoly on technology. The Blues weren't in much better shape than the humans, Orrans and Cirrans, but at least they had an incredible grasp of technological innovation which kept the Changs from fucking them over as badly as they did the rest of us.

My assignment to command the space defense's B Battery on Mars by the Chang military command was made to keep me away from earth. But unlike my sister Maria, who held the actual title of Queen of the Changtung people; being a mere Prince with a purposeful reputation for being somewhat slow and unimaginative, they felt Mars was far enough away to keep me from creating trouble among our people. I know they'd like to kill our entire family, but after the unfortunate disappearance of our parents and the subsequent rumors about their plot to eliminate us, the powers that be must have settled on exile rather than try to put down a planet-wide uprising. It was only due to a stroke of luck and our strict schooling schedule we weren't on board the Yorktown when it entered the time wrinkle never to return.

Captain Butler, the intercom called, this is target tracking radar. We have a bogey entering our solar system. They claim to be a Cirran freighter and requesting permission to make an emergency landing to affect repairs to their maneuvering thrusters.

This is Butler, I replied, allow them permission after you verify the ship's identification codes with earth traffic control. I knew they'd have everything in order, and our verifying the ship's ID would assure the Changs nothing suspicious was occurring. Approximately a minute later, we received verification and the freighter was cleared to land.

My battery was manned by an assortment of races, which included both Thor, the son, and Lucknow, the nephew of the Troundolarens leader, Grakon. Grakon or Luke Butler as he preferred since my father offered him sanctuary on earth; was also the first person to realize the Changs would eventually attempt to take command of earth. For some reason unknown to me, the Changs actually liked Luke and the Troundolarens, and didn't treat them as badly as the rest of us. They even assigned Thor to my battery with hopes he'd act as their spy, but he has yet to report anything useful to them.

My Uncle George, Luke's second in command of his former army, and Lucknow's father, quietly told me to be extremely careful with what I said and did when around Changs. He claimed it would probably be in my best interests not to appear too bright, aggressive or ambitious so I wouldn't present a future threat to their control. At first I didn't understand what he meant, but it all made sense after the rumors about my father's disappearance started circulating, and that's when I took his advice to heart. Up until that point, I'd excelled at all my studies, but when my grades began falling, my tutors wrote my failings off to the loss of my parents, and no one questioned them or me about it.

The men and women manning my battery were trustworthy, and I had no fear of them reporting the unexpected appearance of my sister; their Queen. Thor, Lucknow and two of my classmates from the academy worked hard to discover and eliminate those loyal to the Changs, although it required almost two years. We also relied on the extensive, but discrete help from the Mars defense zone Commander, Konos, one of the Changs who secretly remained loyal to my mother and our family.

When she stepped from her shuttle into the hangar bay, my heart gave a lurch upon seeing her again. Maria was just as beautiful as our mother, if not more so. She elicited tremendous loyalty and love from everyone on our planet, except the Changs, who feared and resented her ability to stir the emotions of our peoples. They believed no half-breed could or should be royalty, and once she was exiled to Orran and Cirran, the Chang commanders started searching for her replacement, but twenty years later they'd only come up with a series of their own relatives even hard-core Changs had difficulty believing in or developing any loyalty toward.

Oh, how I've missed you, little brother, Maria whispered as we embraced at the pressure door to the airlock. It's been too long, and I'm pleasantly shocked at how much you look like our father. She smiled as she held my face in her hands and stared into my eyes. I could see her joy and love, but there was also great sadness and anticipation in her shockingly blue eyes.

You know; you look kind of familiar, I replied with a smile, Have we met before, miss whatever your name is? This brought a gentle punch to my shoulder as she turned to greet the troops gathered in the bay. After greeting each and every member of my command group as if they were very special to her, Maria grabbed my arm and asked for a tour of the battery so she could meet my team.

So how is our brother Kahn and Uncle Titus, I asked as we entered the mess hall where most of the troops were gathered to meet their queen. Titus was an orphan brought back to us from the Roman era by my father and was adopted by my uncle Trogon and his wife Chosey. He looked so much like me his DNA was matched against my fathers, and it was discovered they were actually related, but since he was born over 2,000 years earlier, we all laughingly decided to call him Uncle Titus.

Kahn is doing well and sends his regards, Maria said. He was recently promoted to executive officer on that old destroyer the Wild Bunch, but he has to be extremely careful because the ship is loaded with Changs who report on ever move he makes and word he says. Titus is still working with the Blues and our cousin Tommy on metal and oil recovery from the ships on the bottom of earth's oceans. The Changs made it a point to tell everyone he was adopted by Uncle Trogon and has not one drop of royal Changtung blood; so they must not see him as a threat to their power. They didn't even install any spies in his company, and from what I've heard, he's been doing an excellent job gathering trustworthy people around him and forming a very effective intelligence gathering network. Titus says he and Tommy's people have identified most of the Chang spies in Japan and they're very careful what they say around them. He's in constant contact with Tommy, or Toshiro, Uncle Hank's son in Japan.

What exactly has he been doing for the past five years, sis?

Titus has been pulling up a lot of wrecked ships from the bottom of the Pacific and handing them over to Tommy for recycling after he recovers the oil from their tanks so it doesn't pollute the oceans.

Maria ceased her family update while she engaged with my team members. She spent a few minutes updating them on what she knew of events on earth and then spent some time speaking quietly with my people. The captain of the freighter entered the mess hall and announced repairs to his ship would require at least 24 hours before they could continue their run to Earth. Everyone laughed at the good-natured man's lie before he and his crew were invited to join us for dinner.

You people have limited food stores here, he stated, so why don't I check to see if some of the food and beer barrels we have on board have been damaged. We wouldn't want to deliver damaged goods to our friends, the Changs. The crew let out a whoop as the man called to his exec and ordered that he bring sufficient quantities of food and beer for a proper reunion party for the royal family.

After Maria finished her personal discussions with my crew, we feasted on the beef, beer and delicacies the freighter was carrying to the Changs, who strictly limited the amount of food and protein they allowed the minorities on earth to consume. They felt that a physically weakened and oppressed people were less prone to revolt than a well fed population, although their theory and practice were dead wrong. The battery partied well into the night, but Maria and I, along with Thor, Lucknow and a few of the men involved in our conspiracy to overthrow the Changs, retired to my room as soon as we finished our dinner.

Thor swept the room for listening devices although he'd swept the room on a weekly basis just in case one of our crew was an undetected spy. I turned on an electronic transmission-scrambling device to be sure, I also flipped on my father's favorite music from the last century.

So tell us what brings you on such an urgent mission from Cirran? My friends were all eyes and ears as my sister gave me a sad smile and looked each person in the eye.

I heard the Changs have been discussing relocating our people from the fertile lands they now farm, and move them to remote arid areas where nothing grows. They will tell them they have a plan to reclaim the deserts in order to increase food production. The people will be promised large tracts of land, plenty of water and extra allotments of food until the deserts bear food, but as we all know, the deserts can not be reclaimed without altering the earth's climate which will produce catastrophic damage…

Have they begun the forced relocations yet, Thor asked angrily, And what was the response from the people?

They haven't begun to implement their plan yet, but they've begun training their soldiers in riot control tactics and have secretly begun construction of camps in certain areas, such as the Gobi, Sahara, and Sonora deserts. Maria pulled out her holographic projector, turned it on and a moment later, we could see aerial views of what looked like military camps surrounded by towers and wire in the centers of the wastelands. These three are almost completed and as you can see, they look more like prison camps than farm housing. In addition, they've drilled no wells for water and have installed no power supply stations for heat or air conditioning.

Captain Butler, the intercom squawked, the supply ship will be arriving in fifteen minutes.

Notify the supply crew and all off-duty personnel to be at the docking station in ten minutes, I replied, and make sure they're sober. I want that ship unloaded in less than fifteen minutes and immediately sent on its way. Tell the captain of the supply ship that none of his personnel are to enter our station because we have several members of the battery showing signs of illness; so we're under strict quarantine.

Roger that sir, Sergeant Glastos responded, And I'll be sure to advise the freighter crew as soon as they arrive at the docking station. Glastos was a good, smart and intuitive man. He was a son of one of the first wave of Changtung warriors, and like many of them, he paid lip service to the new order, but secretly hated them, as did most of his generation.

Just as we were resuming our conversation, Glastos called again, Sir; the captain of the supply ship is claiming he must enter the battery for an inspection, per the Changtung command.

Shit, this was all I needed. Their damn inspections as they called them were no more than attempts to pry information out of my personnel. The inspector rarely if ever inspected anything for errors, flaws or violations, but they usually planted transmitters wherever they went. This required us to carefully watch every move they made so we could relocate them to the latrines where the monitors would get an earful.

Tell him he'll be violating quarantine protocols unless he wants to wear a full environmental suit while he's here. And sergeant; be sure to notify the zone commander of our quarantine status and the commander of the supply ship's intentions.

As I was responding to Glastos, Lucknow and Thor led Maria from the room. Ronny, my classmate from the academy ran out to get a few crewmen to sick bay where they would be treated for their illnesses. If I didn't need a resupply of food and supplies as bad as I did, I would have turned my canons on the damn ship and start the revolution right here and now. My actions wouldn't help the people on earth much because the Changs would quickly wipe my battery off the face of Mars. But we'd put up a hell of a fight, and they'd know they were fucking with a Butler right up until they hit us with one of their massive warheads.

Glastos gave me the bad news, The captain of the supply ship has contacted zone command and has permission to enter the battery. He wants you to meet him at the dock in five minutes.

Please advise the supply ship commander he can go piss up a rope if he thinks I'm going to meet a friggin officer who is so incompetent, he can only be trusted with an old scow of a supply barge. But since he didn't leave us enough toilet paper on his last trip, I'll be sure to shake his hand as soon as I'm finished giving birth to a Changtung general in the latrine.

Roger that, sir; I'll be sure to pass on your message.

I took my time walking to the cargo dock as men and women rushed about the battery in preparation of receiving the tons of supplies we received on a monthly basis. As large as the battery was, we had to stuff every piece received in every nook, cranny and empty flat spot we had, including hallways, offices and sleeping quarters. It might only take us fifteen to thirty minutes to dock supplies left by the ships, but it required at least six hours to break down the pallets and find temporary homes for our necessities. Fortunately, we no longer required supplied oxygen and fuel since the Blues discovered frozen oxygen and methane underground, and were able to pipe both into the sixteen battle stations on the planet

Just as I was about to enter the cargo dock, my personal comm device beeped, Captain, Glastos stated rather tensely, the supply sergeant just reported the supply ship's captain has arrived. He also reported the supplies have been unloaded, secured and the barge has left without taking our inspector along with them.

Fuck Me! Now I was truly screwed! The son of a bitch would surely discover my sister, report us, and then the two of us would be tortured until we talked. There was no way to stand up to Changtung interrogations, and unless I could fabricate a way for this dickhead to have an unfortunate accident, during which he was killed, our revolt was doomed before it even started. When I entered the cargo bay, I immediately saw a figure in a full environmental suit with three of my men standing nearby with crowbars in their hands. From the looks on their faces, I'd say the inspector was about to have the worst and last headache he'd ever suffer.

The man in the environmental suit pointed at me and then at the hallway I'd just left. His metallic voice said, We need to speak in your office immediately, Captain Butler. He began walking toward the hallway as he stated, I understand you have a member of the royal family here on an unauthorized visit. He pushed me toward my quarters as he continued his statement, and I am sure you know the penalty for conspiring to initiate a rebellion is death, regardless of the circumstances of your birth.

I walked along in front of the man as my brain began racing through various methods of killing him and making it look like an accident. I'd just decided to choke off his air supply until he passed out and hustle his unconscious body back to the airlock, damage the seal on his suit and leave him there to suffocate.

Just as I opened the door to my quarters I heard Thor's voice booming from behind me, Captain Butler; do you wish for me and Lt. Lucknow to join your inspection tour?

It was his way of informing me that my sister was safely hidden and all was set to keep her that way. If you wouldn't mind, Lieutenant, I'd appreciate any assistance you might lend to the inspection.

As soon as the door was closed behind the four of us, I quickly turned to deliver a kick to the man's groin, but he must have been expecting my assault because he'd stepped off to the side and was laughing hard as he shoved me off balance and onto my desk.

Do you really think I'd let you pull that old trick on me, you idiot, he shouted as he removed his facemask to reveal my brother, Kahn's grinning face. I can't believe you fell for that shit, Junior. I also can't believe the Changs would put someone as dumb as you in charge of an entire air defense battery.

After we exchanged, embraces, insults and punches, Kahn greeted his old friends Lucknow and Thor, who claimed they were on the verge of stunning him when he removed his helmet.

Is Maria here yet, Kahn asked innocently. I haven't seen or heard from our sister in over two years, but I was told by General Grever's aide to meet her here."

Thor tapped his comm unit, Bring our guest to Captain Butler's quarters immediately.

That's great; she's already here! Kahn was grinning from ear to ear and continued to answer the questions I was about to ask. Col. Danker arranged a temporary duty transfer for me to train the supply ship's crew on the updated weapons they'd installed last week. He also told the ship's captain I'd been assigned to perform a thorough inspection on your battery, but he wasn't to hang around to take me back with him.

Won't he report dropping you off here? I knew Danker and he was as trustworthy as they came, but I wasn't sure about the supply ship captain.

The supply ship captain is my old buddy, Grissom. You remember him from my class at the academy. He's the guy who aced every test and graduated first in his class but turned down all combat leadership assignments to drive supply ships and freighters because he didn't need the stress.

I recalled Grissom, an Orran-Changtung half-breed as a fine officer candidate and pilot, but he was just too damn easy going and more than a bit too rebellious for his own good. The Changs threw a shit-fit when he refused combat assignments and demanded logistics and transportation. There wasn't much they could do to their top student. He was assigned supply and transport where they hoped he'd die of boredom. Grissom was a close friend of our family and could be trusted with our lives. He was also a vital link in our communications chain.

Just so long as Grissom doesn't set foot in my battery, Kahn, I stated, I don't need that phantom shitter leaving his souvenirs for my people to find the hard way.

Kahn gave me his old I don't know anything about it look before he replied, That's just a vicious rumor probably spread around by jealous classmates. But you needn't worry about it because he just left the planet.

Yeah, right, but I distinctly recall everyone from every ship he's ever served with complaining about him leaving brown trout in their pillowcases, coffee cups, duffel bags, and one colonel bitching about a rather large turd deposited in an under-seat storage in his fighter. So it can't possibly be your old buddy Grissom. I wasn't smiling while warning my younger brother and he knew I wasn't kidding.

Maria rushed into my quarters, greeted her youngest brother with great emotion and after they settled down, she gave him a hard punch to his gut. I've been meaning to pay you back for that picture of me you posted on the fleet communications system, you dirty little rat.

I had to stifle a laugh while Kahn doubled over in pain. Everyone in the room had seen the picture of my sister taken while she was out cold after a hard night celebrating her birthday. My brother had taken makeup and painted her face with thick bushy eyebrows, a moustache, goatee and numerous wrinkles on her forehead, under her eyes and cheeks. Under the picture, Kahn had written: Parents, don't let your children make ugly faces too long or they'll freeze that way. He sent out another copy of the same picture titled: Save the Wart Hog." The loyal Changtung officers searched high and low for the perpetrator of this insult to their Queen, but were unable to find him. My sister and brothers knew instantly who it was, but kept it to ourselves as long as no one else was accused of the crime.

Maria gave Kahn a smug grin before she turned to us and said, Titus will be joining us tomorrow. He'll be on the ammunition resupply ship, courtesy of Tommy and General Kazo. His trip here is being kept a secret from the Changs, as is the new ammunition he's bringing. She gave us a conspirator's grin, Which brings me to the next issue with the Changs. It seems they've found a plentiful supply of rare-earth elements on a planet where we've been sending our worst criminals. It’s the same planet where our father, mother and some of the original group to resettle earth, rescued a group of stranded pilots. It's infested with what the earth people call dinosaurs, but these animals are much smarter and have evolved a lot further along than the ones on earth before they went extinct.

And how does that affect our people? Thor asked the question as he went around the room handing out Orran beer.

This metal has certain properties that make its magnetic fields extremely powerful and thus will require less energy to accelerate it to much higher speeds than our current non-magnetic iron projectiles. Plus it has many other uses, not to mention how it will improve our power plants, electric motors and a multitude of other benefits. Our problem is the Changs intend to isolate as many earthers and other minorities in absolutely miserable conditions, and then offer to resettle them on this planet they now call, Iridium as a way to improve their conditions, so it will look like they're doing them a favor. But no one is that stupid…

How the hell are we going to stop them, my old classmate, Serge Romano asked. "They have all the power and the bastards control everything right down to and including toilet paper allocations.

As I was saying, Maria replied, No one is going to tolerate being locked up in those concentration camps to begin with, and when the Changs try to relocate them to Iridium, they'll riot. The Changs first reaction will be to slaughter them. But they need the laborers to mine the rare-earth elements, smelters and refineries on Iridium. They can't transport the ore to earth for processing as it will be an enormous amount of very heavy ore, so it won't be cost effective, plus the process is extremely dangerous and the emissions are highly toxic.

Lucknow spoke up angrily, Serge is right, Maria. The Changs have managed to eliminate all non-Changs from any positions of authority and have effectively limited trade to only what we need to survive. They control all transportation of food supplies and medical equipment. The people are producing more than enough food to feed the entire planet, but they've been having their surpluses taken away by the Changs but they receive nothing in return. And on the few occasions where they resisted, the Changs landed troops claiming it was an insurrection. They put the people on starvation rations and destroyed most of their homes. They imprisoned them in what they call, communal dwellings, just so they could keep a close eye on them and control their movements. However, what is really astounding, is that there is no need for their tyranny. The planet was at peace when your parents disappeared and no one was trying to gain control of the planet. I don't know what came over those bastards, but they've become everything our peoples abhor.

General Klaxon told me a long time ago there were elements in the Changs who felt my mother was no longer fit to rule their people, Maria replied. They were also very resentful when some of their people were exiled after certain derogatory remarks were made about her. These same people felt they were now the largest group on the planet, and they should rule it their way, and if the earthers didn't like it, they should be eliminated. My uncle, Prince Trogon had heard rumors of these subversives, and was quietly investigating them so he could indentify and try them for subversion and conspiracy. He discovered a number of the ring leaders and was about to have them arrested when he and my parents, along with their group went into the time wrinkle.

So Prince Trogon must have had a mole in his command group and that's how they knew to get rid of him, and make it look like an accident, Thor replied just as his comm unit beeped.

Lieutenant, I have a priority communication from the Defense Command on earth, sir. Shall I put it through to you now or would you rather take it someplace else?

I'll take it here, Sergeant.

A moment later we all heard the familiar voice of Colonel Grange, executive officer to General Lennaxe, Commander of Earth defense forces. Lennaxe was a nasty son of a bitch if ever there was one. Grange was just as mean spirited, but twice as devious as his boss.

1st Lieutenant Thor, Grange stated with obvious contempt, I was ordered to inform you that your mother is seriously ill. Her doctor's claim she may not have long to live and is asking you be granted leave to see her one last time. This request came through diplomatic channels so I was obliged to pass it on to you. However, if you decide to return to earth to see her, I must advise we currently have no shuttles available to transport you to her quarters.

The entire room was about to explode in a frenzy of hatred and disgust at Grange's brutal transmission and obvious lie, but Thor held up his hand for silence before he replied in a calm and professional tone of voice, Your message has been received and acknowledged, Grange. Be advised, I am requesting compassionate leave to see my mother, in addition to transportation; Lieutenant Thor, out.

Before my friend even looked up at us, everyone began shouting angrily to express their hatred of Grange, his bitter and antagonistic attitude toward Thor. I placed my hand on his shoulder, offered him my deepest sympathies and my promise to get him home as soon as possible.

I'll contact Mars command and secure a shuttle or fighter for you, my friend, I stated before I called Glastos to contact our headquarters immediately.

Captain Butler, Colonel Konos stated, I was advised by Grange you'd be calling to request a shuttle for Lt. Thor. He also told me a new directive just issued by the defense command states; no shuttle shall be utilized for transport of individuals, unless they receive written authorization to do so by the command officer in charge. Unfortunately, he did not authorize a shuttle for Lt. Thor, but I sent him a request for my own use, and hopefully he'll authorize it soon and I'll take the lieutenant to see his mother… He suddenly cut off the transmission as everyone in the room burst out in angry shouts again. A few moments' later Konos re-established communications, That was Grange refusing my request. Sorry I can't help, but maybe the good Lord will see his way through to help. The phrase, good Lord was our secret code, which meant Konos would be here shortly and thirty minutes later, he was locking down his fighter in our hangar bay.

Surprisingly, or maybe not due to his heritage, Thor was not exhibiting any kind of emotional response to the news of his mother and subsequent brutal treatment by Grange and Lennaxe. It's not that my presence there will improve her condition; our people usually prefer to spend their final moments alone with their thoughts and memories, although I would like to see her one more time since my father disappeared with your parents, Ralph.

Col. Konos exited his ship and immediately threw an arm around Thor's shoulder, expressing his sympathies and apologies for the way the news of his mother was handled. The new directive states you are not authorized a shuttle, but it doesn't say anything about a fighter. So take mine and give your mother my sincere wishes and prayers she recovers from her illness as soon as possible.

Thor just stared at his commander for a long moment before he thanked the man, but then said, But won't you get into trouble for this?

"Grange sent me the directive and it clearly states, shuttle. And unless my eyes have gone Martian; that beast in the hangar bay sure doesn't look like a shuttle to me. So pack your bags and get moving before the damn thing changes shape on us."

Sir, I no longer hold a fighter certification.

Konos backed up a step and looked at me with wide eyes for a reason.

They took away our battery's fighters when they pulled our shuttle last year, sir. I'm the only one here still certified to fly fighters.

Just then, Maria entered the hangar bay with the rest of our group, which caused Konos to drop to his knee and begin his litany of loyalty. As soon as he finished, Maria helped him to his feet, hugged him and asked, I believe the freighter that brought me here can complete its repairs in a few minutes if I can contact the captain, Colonel.

Thor ran to his quarters, packed his bags and was back in the hangar bay just in time to be picked up by the freighter's shuttle.

I know who to see and what information we need, Thor stated as he shook my hand, and then saluted Konos. But how will I get back here?

Catch the next ammo or supply ship, and in the meantime take care of your mom and see what you can discover from the others in our group, I replied. As a matter of fact, try to get out to our place in the Bahamas to see if the shark population recovered from your suicidal fishing practices.

Maria handed him a file tab, This contains a list of everyone who worked for my uncle investigating the Changs. One of them betrayed him, my family and yours. Most of these people are still alive, but the Changs must have rewarded one of them handsomely for their work. And we can believe Uncle Trogon's loyal people were probably punished somehow. Don't be too obvious and endanger yourself or your family, but keep your eyes and ears open for anything unusual.

Thor thanked Maria for her help and pledged his undying loyalty to her and our family before he boarded the shuttle. He was a very complex man with so many facets to his personal makeup, many people just gave up trying to understand him and maintained a safe distance from the Troundolarian. His loyalty to those he pledged to was unquestionable. He'd fought against his own people to help his father and family escape to earth on only his father's promise of a better life. Although the Troundolarens never had a royal family, he swore allegiance to our royal family and to his new homeland. His loyalty never waivered and he stood steadfastly by us when the Changs declared the Butlers to be contaminated by inferior earthers and were no longer their rightful imperial family.

Thor had been an officer in the Troundolarian military and had been awarded the equal rank of captain in the earth defense forces. He was promoted to Colonel over the years, but shortly after his father disappeared with my parents, he had a violent confrontation with a Chang Major. The Chang refused a direct order, and insulted Thor, his family and race. The insubordination and insults were serious enough to warrant a court martial and imprisonment, but when the Chang slapped Thor, it was more than he could withstand. Fortunately, the Chang survived, but the court martial board, staffed entirely by Changs, refused to hear the Lt. Colonel's statements, demoted him to junior lieutenant and took no disciplinary action against the insubordinate major. And so it went for any conflicts between the Changs and minority groups from then on.

I counseled Thor to resign from the military, stating his chances of future promotions were slim and none, but he refused to leave; reminding me he swore a solemn oath to defend the royal family and his new homeland. This injustice will be rectified eventually and when it is, I shall extract my vengeance on those who have wronged me and my friends, he growled.

Thor managed to garner one promotion to 1st Lieutenant several years ago, but I always showed him the respect and deference an honorable man, 18 years my senior deserved, as did all of my personnel.

CHAPTER TWO

Titus, be sure to give my love to your brothers and sister, Tomo Tanaka said with a warm smile as he embraced Titus, the adopted son of Prince Trogon. Tell them I miss them and hope to see them soon.

I will Tommy, Titus replied. Maybe someday soon we'll take back our planet from those stinking Changs and won't have to travel surreptitiously just to have a family reunion.

And plot the insurrection to bring an end to their enslavement, Tanaka laughed. He held his friend's arm as they walked to the ammo supply ship. Be sure you offload all the blue pointed rounds at Junior's battery and replace them with standard rounds from his bunkers.

Hey now; you don't have to tell me what to do, Tommy. I graduated in the top 98.9% of my class at the Changtung Institute of Technology and Scissors Repair.

I thought it was more like the top 99.8% of your class?

You know it could have been, but I was never much good on arithmetic and book learning.

General Grever has the rest of the Chang commanders convinced you're either too stupid or too damn lazy to get involved in anything political, Tomo remarked, So be damn careful what you say and who you associate with on the ammo ship. And be sure to tell your brother not to put the file tab in his battery's computer; there's a possibility the Changs control the local network or have installed micro-transmitters in the hardware.

I don't think he uses his battery computers for anything but official business, but I'll warn him anyway. I'll be sure to only pass along verbal information in the ammunition loading room where we can't be overheard.

Tomo looked sick to his stomach, I can't believe those animals are going to build smelters to refine the rare-earth metals on Iridium without installing any safety or environmental equipment. Moreover, to mine the ore with forced labor is completely abhorrent to everything our people believe in. They have to be stopped, and I hope your brother and sister can come up with a plan that won't involve a world war.

When Ralph and Maria put their heads together, they usually come up with something realistic and feasible, but we're facing a major challenge to overthrow the Changs, Titus replied forlornly. But we can't lose hope this won't be settled peacefully because the alternative is too horrible to contemplate, Tomo.

Butler's, or Bravo Battery as it was officially known, was the fourth to be resupplied, so it was a good eight hours after Titus parted company with his childhood friend, Tomo before his ship sat down outside the battery entrance. Bravo was one of the newer defense sites on Mars, and dug into the side of a huge mountain with its guns sited around the peak to provide optimum fields of fire. The weapons stations were connected to each other, the main living area and the ammo supply bunkers by a series of tunnels. The battery had eight-twin barreled, ultra-high velocity, electromagnetic projectile canons, or rail guns as the older earthers called them. Each cannon pair was mounted on a high speed computer-or visually controlled turret, and fed by an automated conveyor system that could keep the guns supplied as fast as they were fired. Although the Mars batteries hadn't fired a round in anger in over twenty years, they maintained a regular schedule of target practice and weapons proficiency tests that consumed almost 20% of its ready ammo supply each time.

Mr. Butler, we're approaching Bravo Battery and will be docking in five minutes, the ship's yeoman stated, Please see the captain.

Yes sir, Titus stated as he stepped into the captain's office. He wasn't about to use the intercom system on a ship with six unknown Changs in the crew.

Grever told me to leave you here and pick you up on the way back from Pluto. Will 24 hours be sufficient or should I have a breakdown in this old tub to buy you more time? The captain of the ammo supply ship, Thanos Morea, was an old Blues destroyer captain and a good friend of his Uncle Deemy, and one of the original Blue people who landed on earth. He was definitely trustworthy.

That should be enough time for me to take care of business, but if it isn't; you can always break down on the way back, sir.

Make sure the hatch from the main corridor jams up tight before you leave the ship. My people in the cargo area will keep it that way until we pick you up.

Titus gave the tired old man a warm smile and a firm handshake before he left to take control of the ammo transfer.

I see you finally got your lazy, civilian ass up here, Ralph laughed as he embraced his cousin and brother. We can talk freely in my quarters. Thor gave it a thorough sweep before he left to go home to his mother. So how are you doing, you old fart?

Hey, I'm doing OK for a 2,000 plus year old man, Titus responded before he wrapped his arms around his sister and cousin, It's been too long, Maria; I've really missed you.

And I've missed my Uncle Titus, she replied, patting his back as she hugged him with all her might. They separated and Maria said, You just missed Thor. His mother is very ill and he had to get back and see her…

Thor's mom is in better health than any of us, and she'll probably outlive us with ease. Titus gave Kahn a quick hug and a shot to the arm before he continued, I had that message sent so he could meet with the Troundolarens, listen to the intelligence they'd gathered, and their input on how we can get the Changs off our backs.

Did he know it was coming, Maria asked with a worried look on her face.

No; we decided it was best to make it seem legitimate so as not to tip our hand. The Changs think he's on their side of all this shit, but they still aren’t going to make his life any easier.

Lucknow related how Lennaxe and Grange refused to allow his use of a shuttle to visit his mother, which caused Titus to swear under his breath.

I have to finish supervising the ammo transfer; so let's head over to bunker number two and we'll continue our conversation there, Titus stated as he held his sister's hand and followed his older brother into the hallway. I've been reading our planets history and discovered the Changs are using the exact same practices and propaganda as the Nazis and Communists from the twentieth century. So much so, they've even rewritten history to state they were the ones who defeated the Pillager attacks, and rebuilt the planet's infrastructure. There's absolutely no mention of what our father, mother and the first wave of settlers did here. And what's worse, this generation of kids in school today believes every word of it.

They have no other sources of information to refute what the Changs have been pouring into their heads, Maria replied sadly. At least their parents will tell them the truth, but not in public.

Minority children aren't receiving educations beyond what they need to function as farmers and laborers, Titus remarked as he held the ammo bunker door open for Maria. They learn to read, write and do basic math, but not much more. The Changs put them to work now as soon as they turn ten years old, and only the children of Changs go on to higher education. The Blues have established their own schools and run their children through them in spite of the Chang's opposition.

Titus took control of the ammo transfer process, making sure his men unloaded the designated rounds before reloading the shuttle with the older plain steel rounds. He pointed to the blue-tipped projectiles for his brothers, These are the rare-earth magnetic rounds we made from the ore shipped from Iridium. We saved some of the ore for industrial testing, but Tommy and I wanted you to have these in the event you might need them. We're also manufacturing smaller and larger caliber rounds we'll get to you and the other anti-Chang units. Hopefully we won't need to use them, but it's better for us to have them than be targeted with these things.

Can I try a few rounds now, or should I wait until after you leave? Ralph picked up a projectile, and as he hefted it, Konos inspected one and noticed a series of crosshatched grooves cut into the front half of the round.

You'd better wait until Mars rotates your battery out of sight of earth again, brother. Those grooves are to improve fragmentation when it strikes its target, Titus stated as he took the round his brother held. And if you noticed this is a little lighter than standard steel rounds because it's been hollowed out and filled with explosives. Tommy and I discovered that as devastating as the standard issue rounds are, the explosives will detonate due to the extreme compression it experiences on impact with any object. It doesn't even need a detonator since it will be traveling at anywhere between five to ten times light speed. We had General Devers test this on an old hulk on Saturn, out of sight of any of the installations there. He reported the entry hole was much larger than a standard round, but the fragmentation effectively blew out the entire far side of the hulk. He's sure a pressurized ship would simply explode with only one or two hits from these rounds.

I understand we won't need as much power to fire them, Kahn stated.

This ammunition requires only ten percent of the power a standard round needs to attain a muzzle velocity of five times light speed; in addition, the barrels of the guns can be cut down to a maximum of five feet in length instead of the standard ten to fifteen feet. We can now mount these 100 millimeter canons in ships as small as a scout ship or shuttle, and if Sissy, our old friend Luann's daughter is correct, we'll have man-portable weapons firing up to .50 caliber rounds powered by batteries or portable fuels cells. Their muzzle velocity will need to be much, much lower since friction with the atmosphere will destroy the projectile before it travels more than twenty feet from the barrel. She also said they've developed small projectiles that are triangular rather than round. They'll spin much better as they travel and be considerably more accurate without having to be fired from a tight tolerance barrel with lands and groves like old earth firearms.

Maria appeared to be growing very concerned over the possibility of open warfare and all the tragedy it would cause. Kahn placed his arm on her shoulder and said, Maria, we need to be prepared if we can't gain freedom from the Changs through peaceful means. And we'll need advanced weapons to overcome their superior numbers and equipment.

I've been speaking to the leaders of Cirran and Orran about the conditions our people are suffering on earth, and they are very sympathetic to our cause. Both have stated they will lodge strong protests with the Changs and demand our people be returned to an equal footing with them, but they're at a loss as to what their next steps should be.

How many Changs are on the two planets, I asked, and how are they communicating with their command group?

They have about 100 men and women on each planet in various advisory and trade positions, but they're really spies reporting on their technological advances. They communicate by way of the freighters, with one or two Changs from Cirran and Orran on each trip. As you know they're too far away for radio, laser or signal drone, so any news from either end is always at least seven or more days old.

How do their people view the Changs?

They really don't like them all that much. The Orrans especially don't like them because the Changs are oppressing the Orrans who settled on earth. The Changs on Orran seem to gather information from the Orrans without sharing any of their own technology with them. The Cirrans aren't particularly enamored with the Changs since they also oppress their people on earth, but they treat the Cirrans with complete contempt and publicly make jokes about their culture.

Lucknow asked, Do you think they'll support us with troops if it gets down to that?

My last conversation with Premier Osyka was very revealing, Junior. Maria grabbed my arm, She claimed the Orrans and Cirrans had treaties with the people of earth, and not with the Changs. In addition, the treaty clearly states they would join with us to defend our planet against any and all attackers, in addition to forming an alliance to defeat any race that enslaves its or any other people or race. She very forcefully reminded me their two planets joined with us to free the people of Aleria and Carran. So I would feel very certain they'd lend their support to help us defeat the Changs if we made a formal request.

Kahn held up his hand, I think you should make the request as soon as you return to Orran. Advise them we'll only need their troops if all else fails, but they should begin preparations. In the meantime, we need to delay the Changs implementation of their plan to depopulate the earth of the minorities. We need to figure out how we can eliminate the Chang central command group, along with their counsel of advisors and regional commanders. If at all possible, ask the Orrans and Cirrans to lock up the Changs or at least hold them incommunicado until we're ready to act.

Lucknow was staring off into the distance before he suddenly snapped back to the here and now, Do you think Grange and Lennaxe would transfer Thor to the sentry ship at point X-ray if they found out he returned to earth without permission?

I laughed at his ridiculous question before answering, "Sure as shit, they