Alien Franchise: Niseyen Galaxy, #6

By Maxine Millar

A large Niseyen spaceship arrives on Terra to pick up refugees and settlers. Bored with having to go into quarantine, the Captain decides to do some animal rescue work on a rather grand scale and films it to make some money. En route to his first destination he crosses a war zone and intervenes, rescuing thousands. His next pick-up is environmental refugees and then settlers. His passengers include four young orphaned girls from Bangladesh who explore the ship including its leisure and educational facilities. Meanwhile two Keulfyd are fleeing to Torroxell hoping for sanctuary but their people are in pursuit and the Torroxell President denies them entry. This is a problem. And back on Torroxell the election is looming, and interference is rife especially from media, social media and the Niseyen who all seek to hijack the process any way they can. The politics get very dirty and all boundaries disappear in the process. But there is something the amoral have forgotten, to the President's amusement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maxine Millar
• Release date: Aug 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463571996

Maxine Millar

Maxine lives in New Zealand, on a life style block. She now writes full time.

Book preview

Introduction to the Niseyen Galaxy Series;

The Niseyen, originally Human, were kidnapped off Earth by a Race of Aliens called the Kaldalei, about two to five thousand years ago. Nearer five, some thought. Others insisted there had been multiple influxes. They were dumped into slavery. Landing on a frozen world, stripped naked because slaves were not allowed to wear clothes, many of them froze to death when forced to sleep outside the climate controlled cities. But a baby boy was born, with a full pelt of dense fur. He became known as the father of their Race. Most were descended from him and, legends had it, a few others like him. Most of the Niseyen were furry. A few were not, about two percent, looking like normal Humans, and called ‘jare’ but almost all of these jare had short hair the same length as their body hair.

The Niseyen population had grown to 14 billion at its greatest but was now down to just over four billion on the Niseyen planets and possibly another one billion in space and on other planets. The population was halving every generation or so despite all the Niseyen could do, technologically, to prevent this. For some unknown reason, the Niseyen were becoming infertile. Also the sex ratio was now six males to every one female and every generation there were less and less females. This is unhelpful when one wants the population to grow.

In Alien Alliance,

In Christchurch, New Zealand, 416 Terrans were tricked by an Alien, Paswalda, who landed on Earth and who said he had been employed to pick up 10 people and transport them to the planet Torroxell for trade talks and up to 400 others could come as paying passengers. He was lying. He was short on cargo and decided they would make useful income for him as slaves once they had accumulated enough debt to make this inevitable and he would get a percentage of this money because he would then claim they still owed him the airfare and he would get a fee (under-the-table) for having provided them. He also got well paid for transporting them by them giving him rare and valuable trade goods as barter for the airfares.

Unfortunately, soon after they arrived, Torroxell was attacked by a pirate fleet, the Terrestrial population mostly wiped out in the initial gas attack and a secret guerrilla war then proceeded using Biological Warfare since that was their only weapon.

An Alliance with the Okme Race provided the weapons; the diseases.

An Alliance with the Priskya, fish, the original owners of Torroxell, provided the Communication Network and some of the Intel.

An Alliance with the Cats, also native to Torroxell, provided most of the Intel and some of the fighters plus part of the Communication Network.

An Alliance with two Niseyen men (Aswin and Kazwa Celon; Az and Kaz), provided the method of distribution of the diseases and Intel.

The strategy was asymmetrical warfare.

Combined, they won although with shocking losses.

In Alien Backlash

The problem was initially the effects of war; deaths, injuries, traumatized survivors, nonfunctioning infrastructure and generally people needing help. So Sarah McDonald, now Torroxell President, sends a ship off to the Niseyen world of Petislay, the home planet of Aswin and Kazwa Celon (the two Niseyen men) for settlers and personnel to run the infrastructure, and sends another two ships, one towed, back to Earth for settlers, refugees and help in general. These ships, colloquially called Flying Fortresses, are massive war ships.

But the Keulfyd, the people behind the pirate attack, are seriously miffed at being beaten but more about the virus itself which was used in self-defence against their Race. The virus spreads, as viruses tend to do but it got off planet which became a major problem for the Keulfyd. So the Keulfyd decide to send a fleet of warships to teach this planet not to attack the Keulfyd (they forgot they attacked them first) and to interrogate these impertinent people who, if they weaponized the virus, should also have the cure; which they want. Astonishingly, the people on Torroxell refuse to surrender and they fight back but worse still, they win.

In Alien Checkmate,

This story paralleled Alien Backlash as Terrans, Zeobani and two Cats flew to Petislay for Contact and help without a lesson on how to fly the ship or an instruction manual. This caused problems such as discovering life support wasn’t switched on and neither was the heating. An interesting encounter with the Captain of a Niseyen Military ship resolved these issues but exposed others such as problematic cultural differences.

On arrival at Petislay, individuals welcomed them as they struggled with the complexities of absorbing a new world and some Niseyen teachers provided a remarkable solution. But the government didn’t welcome them and they were not granted citizenship which caused a multitude of problems. Helene, Mayling and Nanelle went back to Torroxell with settlers, to provide assistance to run the planets’ infrastructure.

Meanwhile Az, Kaz, Kelly, Li and Stella, now a tight knit group, became aware of Dijina and her knowledge of how the Cleaners delivered their deadly cargo. Finding she was critically ill, and had knowledge they needed, they snatched her and headed for Torroxell in an Okme ship but got found before they reached Torroxell resulting in a three sided confrontation. A rescue came from Torroxell and they all reached Torroxell safely.

Back on Petislay, Donny, Dan and Simone decided to stay, each for reasons of their own. The Cats had their own agenda and the Zeobani proved to be a capable and delightful crew, mostly.

In Alien Deception,

This story commences with coping with the aftermath of the second war so it immediately follows Alien Backlash and overlaps with Alien Checkmate.

President Sarah MacDonald and her daughter Katy are seriously injured and various factions on Torroxell seem to be taking advantage of the chaos by starting an organized crime wave or two but Allentom, (the geek from Alien Checkmate), proves a valuable asset.

Anne, who was kidnapped at the end of Alien Alliance, surfaces on Oberterk, the planet of the Zeobani where Az and Kaz had been enslaved. Anne causes mayhem for the Keulfyd and then for the Nashi.

Anne then plots with Mathew Weston, the military mastermind behind the original counter-attack on Torroxell in Alien Alliance. Sarah diverted him and many other ships away from Torroxell due to various tip-offs that the Keulfyd are planning another attack. Orbiting Oberterk with Mathew, are a number of other ships, all staying together. From Anne, they discover the Zeobani on Oberterk are planning a counter-attack on the Nashi who invaded Oberterk. Maybe they’d like some help?

On Torroxell, Sarah and others had been planning a non-military Sun Tzu type offensive against the Keulfyd to protect Torroxell but this planning has gone slowly due to the crime waves. Then Anne discovers the real threat and suddenly it’s all on.

In Alien Extortion

Sarah revives the original plan to get the Keulfyd to negotiate by offering them information that exonerates Humans from being blamed for causing the virus ravaging the Keulfyd, plus offering a cure and vaccine in return for a Treaty. Seems reasonable but it appears it was unacceptable and the Supreme Commander would rather more billions of his people became ill and millions die rather than he have to lose face and negotiate. However some of his own people disagreed especially when the Okme withdraw from all the Keulfyd words in a move Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King would recognize. Meanwhile the viruses the Keulfyd unleashed on Torroxell are causing some considerable problems but four Niseyen perpetrators, now on a prison island, devise an ingenious escape plan and end up negotiating for a lighter sentence and get recruited instead, in return for information and cooperation.

The Supreme Commander is assassinated for failing in his duty and Treaty negotiations start. Both sides now need another ruler as Sarah announces she’s stepping down.

And now in Alien Franchise

The story begins from the perspective of a Niseyen spaceship crew arriving to pick up refugees from Terra who include some from a war zone and others who are environmental refugees. Four orphaned girls, refugees from Bangladesh, strike up an alliance for mutual protection but things get hairy at their destination which was supposed to be Torroxell but the President of Torroxell has a better idea.

At the same time, two fleeing Keulfyd see Torroxell as their only possible safe destination but the planet’s President disagrees leaving them caught between the Torroxell Sheild and warships.

And meanwhile, back on Torroxell an election is looming with various factions interfering and resulting in some very dodgy tactics especially from the media and social media who, combined, are set on influencing the results in their favor. The politics get very dirty…

Contents

Dedication

Introduction to the Niseyen Galaxy Series

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Index of Characters

Other Books by this Author

About the Author

Chapter One

Orbiting Terra

Captain Deksmid, like his crew, was watching the view screen in dismay as his ship neared Terra and the nature of the planet was revealed by the blue.

That’s where we originated Captain? Muttered his First Officer.

Yeah, that’s what they described, replied Deksmid, water world, one very large moon, third planet from the sun, blue sky, white clouds, the magnetic field, planet size and tilt are correct.

The population scans nine billion Niseyen and still counting.

That’s Terrans, not Niseyen.

Whatever Captain, we’re at the right address, continued the Science Officer who was more concerned with scientific accuracy than emotions and politics.

We’re being hailed Captain, announced the Communication Officer.

On screen.

This is Terra Space Traffic Control. Please identify yourself, and a woman’s smiling face came on screen. She was young, pretty, with orange colored hair which was curly and long and she had blue eyes. She was speaking Universal with no Translator in sight. Deksmid was impressed and not just with her astonishing coloring. She had learnt a new language to fluency status in, what was it, less than four years since the Niseyen first landed here?

"Oyhio, origin Jaynar, Captain Deksmid. We were asked to come here to pick up refugees and take them to Torroxell."

There was a pause and then she said, I have your ID but you’re not on my manifest. Is this your first visit here?

Yes.

Then first you need to land here, I’ve sent you the coordinates. They will direct you to where it is safe to put down. You need inoculations and then you need to stay in isolation for fourteen days. Sorry. You can spend your time orbiting the planet or you can set down, I’ve sent you the coordinates again, in a land called Alaska where we have a base set up for your people while they are waiting out the isolation period and it is one of the inoculation centers. It’s very cold, Petislay cold, it’s remote and there are no Terrans there except for the ones who live there to provide the services for you. Is your ship armed and shielded?

Yes.

Would you be prepared to rescue some women and children from a war zone?

Certainly!

I will give you the coordinates once you have all been treated and your fourteen days are up, she said. In the meantime, do you have a desalination plant and can you desalinate a huge amount of water with little cost? Is this correct?

Yes.

Would you be prepared to sterilize a tank or several and deliver clean water to either people or animals?

Animals?

We have serious droughts in some areas and floods in others. We have a weather system that is out of control and we are trying to keep not only people alive but also most living things on the planet. There are now so many spaceships arriving here, that they are making a difference ecologically speaking because of the vast amounts of water they can deliver. What is your type of ship, how many passengers can you take and how much water could you deliver if you decided to help?

We can take 14,387 passengers, more if some are children, maybe around 15,000 and we could deliver around two and a half millions gallons of water at a time while we are empty of passengers. We only have small tanks because we recycle the water. Are you meaning you want us to just pull water up from the oceans and desalinate it? No other treatment?

Yes, we understand from other ships that this is the cheapest option for you. What type of ship are you?

This ship is an old passenger liner that has been adapted for refugees as we were instructed. But, how could so little water help a planet?

That amount of clean water would give a few days water to even our biggest cities. It would help to restock a depleted aquifer or lake or water reservoir that many small towns depend on. It could help freshen up a salty or polluted lake. It could replenish a river because your contribution would be one added to many. We now have an average of nine ships a day arriving. It’s making a difference I assure you!"

How many ships are doing this for you? Carting clean water, I mean?

Most of those that, like you, are here for the first time or need different inoculations or re-inoculations. There isn’t much else they can do for the quarantine period. I’ve sent you a list of who or what needs the water most and the coordinates for Alaska Base so you can get your inoculations for where we’re sending you.

Deksmid got the hint, which resembled more of a shove.

Alaska Base locked in Captain.

Proceed to Alaska Base and let’s get a look at these inoculation guns that are so infamous. He tried not to wince. He hated needles but understood this was a one shot procedure so to speak. He wondered if the Okme had those guns yet and wondered at the need for them.

• • •

Later that day he found out; 153 of his crew inoculated in just over four minutes, the slowness because one tried to withdraw consent and required persuasion.

I notice you nurses think this is very funny, he said ruefully holding his sore arm and watching as they caught and inoculated his needle shy First Officer.

Oh hilarious, said one of the ones near him, an older woman with spectacular coloring, she was all black. You should have seen us the day after we all got set up here. Desi here found the Niseyen vaccines. She got five of us at the breakfast table before we cottoned on to what was going on and once we overpowered her and found out what was in the guns and that we all had to have them, it was a free for all. We had been wondering if we had a psycho amongst us but once she stopped laughing and told us what was in the gun and that we all had to have them, we immediately saw the possibilities.

The mischievous look on her face made Deksmid wonder if there was any truth in that and he wondered again when he saw all the nurses were even more amused and nodding agreement.

Of course the most fun was ambushing the men; so many of them were so needle shy. We got the boss a beaut too. She was in her office when we pounced on her and injected her. She was somewhat enraged until we showed her the memo describing the inoculations and requiring that we all have them. We had a list of the uninjected staff and we went hunting.

Looking around somewhat aghast at the agreement he could see he spluttered, Surely that’s most unprofessional?

Too right, but what a laugh. It sure broke the ice. You do realize Captain that there is a bit of isolation here? There’s also a lack of hierarchy, which does encourage mavericks to come. The good pay helps too.

Deksmid tried to imagine a base where the staff were running around with vaccination guns and still failed to get the joke. You could have done someone twice.

Desi thought of that. She put a red dye in an empty slot. Seeing his lack of comprehension she explained, Red dye and red marks meant done, but just to be professional, timid ones like Kitty here had the injection list and was ticking them off as we got them. She’d confer with the other checkers and within two hours we were all done. Three days later, we all had a day off. Seeing the puzzlement on his face she explained, With most inoculations, the third day is the worst if you’re going to have a bad reaction. Except for the sore arms of course. Oh and except for the cholera. You’ll all notice the temperature in the base seems to go up about fifteen degrees in a few hours.

Deksmid had no idea what she was talking about. He appreciated women with a sense of humor but found the mental picture of them hunting with those gun things was not something he thought funny. He also didn’t appreciate that the nurses near him thought his reticence hilarious. Then he could only look askance as he noted his Medical officer seemed to think it was funny.

About three hours later, he discovered what the nurse meant by the cholera effect as his temperature shot up and he ended up gasping and drinking everything he could fit in. Exhausted, just from his body heat, he sat and endured until it eased up and then went through to the Cleaner and changed. Now he saw why the nurses had told them to rest today and load the boxes tomorrow.

• • •

The next morning, very curious, he joined his crew to load the boxes. There were about 20,000 allocated to his ship and he was told to dispense one each to refugees and more at his crews’ discretion. He opened one and saw clothing that looked to be for a small child. There were also some items that looked like writing or drawing tools and a toy that looked like nothing he had ever seen before. He touched it; it was soft and felt like fur. There were some other items he didn’t recognize and an old fashioned book. He understood these were all donated from all over this world, 20,000 of these boxes just for his ship. The box was well packed and crammed full with multiple items. Each box was labeled. He ran his translator over it and saw; Unisex, age 6-8. Does that mean boy or girl he thought and concluded it probably did. Well that was sensible. He looked over and watched as his crew, and some others he noticed, were carefully loading them. The boxes were all the same size which would make loading easy. Where the adults’ larger clothing filled the box, the children’s boxes included many extra items to fill the space.

As per the suggestions he had received prior to the journey, they had set up two storerooms to store these boxes. There were removable partitions and sets of large learning computer stations attached to the walls. Once the boxes’ contents had been distributed, they fitted back into each other and then the partitions and shelving could be dismantled and stored and the rooms opened up to be used for learning. Not having travelled this route before, he had instructed his crew to follow all the suggestions. They could modify things on subsequent trips but making multiple uses of rooms on an overcrowded ship sounded like a good idea to him. He noticed the quartermaster directing traffic and expected the organization would be good. She was very efficient, experienced and almost intuitive in getting the balance right as well as the order so the ship could be unloaded fast and get the right belongings to the correct location. Passengers really expected that but they had no idea how complicated the loading was to achieve it.

He looked again at the rows of boxes and wondered at the incredible effort this had taken and thought how it discredited the nasty rumors that this planet did not want its’ people. This did not reflect that attitude. This indicated the people of this planet did care and very much to have done this and these boxes were available for every ship. Up to ten ships a day arriving and he understood they almost all got these boxes. Most of these boxes were picked up on the way but he had been told there were no collection stations along the route where his ship was going. A planet that was ninety percent water, most of it salt water or frozen water. His people that were doing the criticizing did not understand the problem here. He had seen the planet from space and immediately understood the problem. There was not enough land for this many people. A substantial number needed to get off.

• • •

The next day Deksmid looked up as his crew assembled for the meeting. He scrutinized them carefully but saw easy movement, clear eyes, steady gaits and no shakes. When all 152 were assembled he said,

Any bad reactions, apart from sore arms?

He noticed them looking around but none spoke. Good.

We have been told that we have to avoid contact with all Terrans, apart from the ones here, while these inoculations take effect and that will be another twelve days. I’m getting bored. Anyone else want something to do? Something rather novel and probably exciting while giving aid? A good scenic look at the planet on the way? A little profit?

A chorus of consent greeted that and he grinned and held up his hands for silence.

We have been asked to deliver desalinated water, picked up as close to the site as possible, to animals dying of thirst. If we reserve one tank for our use, we can deliver nearly two and a half million gallons at a time and I’ve chosen a place where we can deliver one desalinated load every three hours, treating it on the way. If we keep going twenty-four hours a day we can deliver about seven or eight loads a day and we are told this will keep an ecosystem going. On the way, we will be able to take a good look at these creatures, take films, and sell these films on our return, the profit shared with all the crew. Anyone interested?

He smiled at the enthusiastic response. There will be a power and equipment use cost to be paid to the ship’s owners, and this will have to come out before you are paid out, but I anticipate a good profit. We leave in four hours.

• • •

Ready before his four hour deadline, Captain Deksmid decided to lift off anyway, received clearance and thanks and Oyhio drifted up vertically into the stratosphere and headed for the coordinates given. A few hours later, he watched as the engineering team took over. As the ship descended vertically, it also moved horizontally towards the headwaters of what he was told was an almost dry river due to reduced rainfall and as they dropped down past a thousand feet his Science Officer said, Captain, there are a number of very large animals that seem to be stampeding towards us.

Define large.

There was a pause of several minutes before the Science Officer replied, They’re huge. The largest are ten to twelve feet high, roughly, measuring them by their shadows. The computer classifies them as elephants. But there are now multiple other species, crawling, flying, running…"

Towards where we are told to dump it?

Yes Captain it appears so.

Learned behavior, interesting. They know where we’re going and what we carry. Very intriguing; this is what the other Captains told me and why I decided to go this way and film before and after.

Should we raise Shields?

Captain Deksmid looked at his Science Officer who was at the scanners, Is there a risk? We’re in atmosphere.

About a million strong flock of some small flying objects and larger ones.

Raise Shields. What size flying objects?

Varying from smaller than your hand which are the most numerous to about a five foot wingspan but that’s a guess. Much bigger than the little ones. The computer says they’re birds; warm blooded flying creatures.

Captain Deksmid watched the screens as the ship reached fifty feet above the ground and hovered. The water started to discharge through multiple hoses and he watched, fascinated, as the huge grey creatures called elephants braked suddenly, stopping before they reached the hoses and moving downstream. Using their own built in hoses, he watched as they seemed to suck up the water and then squirt it into their mouths. He hoped they liked it. It was expensive, filtered, treated and sterilized water that had originated on Jaynar.

I’d guess they’ve learnt about water pressure Captain, they’re well clear of the hoses, said his Science Officer aiming multiple cameras at the spectacle. Thirsty, aren’t they?

If this is their only water source I’m not surprised.

There are other animals, smaller, meeting the water as it travels downstream, Captain, called out his First Officer. Look how those bird things are diving in among those huge things and they definitely went to flying school. How’s that for maneuverability?

Deksmid wondered if the rest of his crew were having as much fun as he was from watching all this and thought this would be a good distraction from headaches, sore arms, listlessness and boredom as they watched myriads of different creatures none of them had ever seen before, converging on what was now a river. This also agreed with what he had been told by another captain which was that this planet was trying to keep its entire people and all its animals and plants alive; the whole shebang. Not an uncaring planet. It was so easy, he reflected, for the ignorant to criticize before they had all the facts. He smiled as he saw the delight and wonder on the faces of his bridge crew and that nurse had told him the inoculation reaction gets worse tomorrow. This should distract his men. He wondered if that black colored nurse had Chosen. She looked about his age but he probably wouldn’t see her again so he could stop dreaming. He noted how there were depressions along the river and surmised the high pressure hoses were probably to blame. He hoped they wouldn’t do any damage to any creatures. He checked the weight dial.

I hope you’re watching the weight not the view.

Yes Captain, replied the Chief Engineer who was balancing the diminishing weight of the ship against the diminishing requirement for Agrav and keeping the height of the ship stable as the water poured out.

Captain, asked the Communication Officer, could we follow the river downstream and see how far the water got? That would help us know where to drop the next lot.

Just for the purposes of study?

Of course Captain.

As the water finally drained out of the tanks and the flow stopped, the hoses were reeled back in and the ship, now at a height of 1,000 feet, started down the river course as the Communication Officer enquired, Do we need to clear this with Space Traffic Control Captain?

No, there isn’t an airport or flight path for hundreds of miles and we’re below commercial flight height. We can go another hundred miles at this height but then we need to get up above 50,000 feet.

They watched as the water was inundated with scores of different types of creatures, all out for a drink.

What made you pick the thirsty animals to rescue Captain? Asked the Science Officer more as a means of confirming his suspicion."

There’s not much profit showing lakes and reservoirs filling up? Suggested his First Officer who had been with his Captain for decades.

I neither confirm nor deny.

• • •

Oyhio lifted up to over 50,000 feet, determined what other flights were in the area at what heights and where and turned towards the nearest sea where they were requested to pick up and treat the next load of water.

Deksmid turned to his Science Officer, How do we do this?

I’d suggest we land on the water, suck twenty per cent of it up through the desalinator and take the rest untreated. On the way, we move the water through the desalinator and treat the other tanks. That will require us to leave one tank empty to pump the treated water into and then keep using the next empty tank but it will enable us to deliver more water faster. It will make possible an extra three loads a day. You did say you wanted best quantity possible. Do we keep going at night?

Yes, twenty…how many hours in a day here?

Twenty-four Captain.

Yes, around the clock. So long as we are fit enough. Keep filming. There might be nocturnal creatures.

• • •

The next morning, Deksmid found out what the nurse meant about the worst effect on the third day and he hoped it got no worse. His arm was very swollen, covered in a hard painful mass where the inoculations had congregated in a protest group. His whole arm didn’t want to move and he knew how it felt. The rest of him didn’t want to move either. His arm felt so heavy. Add to that he was tired, listless, had no appetite and was heartily sick of the headache he’d now had for two days. He wanted to stay in bed but the Captain had to set an example. He dragged himself up despite the protest from multiple systems.

Wandering into the crew quarters and looking around the breakfast table he saw he wasn’t alone with his misery; half of them looked worse than he felt, some looked the same and some looked alright; he’d target those latter ones to do most of the work. He sighed; it was going to be a long day.

Reaching the bridge and relieving his very sick and exhausted looking Science Officer he said, Were there nocturnal animals?

The Science Officer perked up, "Wonderful ones! Captain, these films are going to make us a fortune! The variety of wildlife is staggering as is the numbers and there are nocturnal ones. I’ve been on the Internet and we’ve identified most of them plus added descriptions. Did you know the Internet is free here? Well, most of it."

Yes. I did my research before deciding on this venture. Most of what we need for a series of documentaries is freely available but the unique angle here is the spaceship conservation angle. It will sell well. He sat down carefully as the bridge crew slowly changed over to the day shift over the next few minutes. Most of them looked as bad as he felt.

• • •

Eleven days later, Deksmid checked in again with Space Traffic Control and they flew towards the coordinates given to them but they were not destined to get there. They had travelled less than half way there when,

Captain, there’s a war going on or something under us! Yelled the Communication Officer.

On screen. Deksmid looked down into a nightmare. The land was barren and had not a plant growing around the camp. Debris, broken vehicles and rubbish was strewn around in some places and in tidy piles in other places as if some people had tried to clean up. The view was split with some of the cameras showing close-ups of hundreds of skinny people, including children, within a fenced area. There were the shelters he recognized as tents. He saw three trucks that looked heavily laden with supplies of something, that were under attack by small vehicles armed with some type of gun that looked mounted. The small vehicles outnumbered the trucks by about two to one. He watched, horrified, as men who seemed to be unarmed or inadequately armed and were attempting to guard or protect the trucks were gunned down by the men in the smaller vehicles. What’s going on here? Deksmid asked.

Those trucks Captain, the large vehicles, they have that red design which indicates they’re the good guys, delivering aid. I’ve checked records and that’s confirmed. It’s called the Red Crescent.

The urgency in his voice clinched Deksmid’s impulse, Weapons hot, target the small aggressors, fire at will. All scanners, search for any and all threats.

The speedy firing response indicated that Hijofrax, his Gunnery Officer, had had a similar inclination. He watched in satisfaction as all the small trucks were hit and then watched in astonishment as the men surviving that barrage continued to chase after the trucks, still firing.

Eliminate the threat. What idiots he thought noting that Hijofrax had, as per standard instructions, initially attempted to target the vehicles and not the shooters.

Yes Captain, Hijofrax said, relieved that the old codger had made a fast decision for a change. He’d had his doubts when he’d signed up and seen the age of the other bridge officers who all looked well past retirement age. He targeted all the men carrying arms and all those driving the trucks that he could get.

Deksmid noted that his Gunnery Officer seemed to be enjoying himself and this time he was clearly targeting any man armed or firing. He approved of enthusiastic Officers and he noted Hykirran, the second Gunnery Officer running through the bridge and taking the second seat. Good, that would leave Hijofrax on offence and Hykirran on defence per his previous instructions and he wondered what to do now and decided to hover until he was sure there was no more threat. He wondered if he should offer these people safe passage instead of the other camp he was supposed to pick up. But the ones he was supposed to pick up today were organized and waiting and not in a war zone. It was the second group due to be picked up tomorrow that were more urgent.

He looked at the first truck which had now reached the compound and was being let in through rickety gates. Two huge men burdened with packs on their fronts and backs, had leapt out of the trucks and were struggling to move away from the truck and get through the crowd to distribute the contents of those massive bags with something he assumed was food. Others were throwing food into the crowd off the trucks while still others had set up a type of barrier next to the trucks and from a safe area behind these barricades, they handed out food to those who were channeled through a system that led them back out beyond the crowd. He assumed it must have had solid walls because the crowd couldn’t get to them and they were eating the food as they passed through. Appalled, he realized these people were starving.

He noticed that the huge men distributing food and those throwing it were on the opposite sides of the trucks to the barrier. This system looked to be designed to get food to all the people as fast as possible. To his disgust, he saw that the majority of those getting the food first were men, who were shoving the women and children out of the way. Horrified, he saw people trampled under; mainly women and children.

• • •

Captain there are some more of those murderous little bastards coming, Hykirran said.

Deksmid eased back in his chair thinking that just validated his change of plans, surely. A clear and present danger indicated he change his plans didn’t it? He also understood from other captains that although he probably shouldn't start a war like this, the Terrans were ignoring action like this taken by Niseyen ships and he suspected the ships were doing what the Terrans would love to do. He had been told the aggressors were those in political power struggles or were using religion as an excuse to dictate how others should live; a struggle using power to abuse others in other words while yet others were simply opportunistic thieves. Murderous opportunistic thieves.

How far away are they?

A few minutes Captain, maybe fifteen if they maintain current speed. All on the same vector. Nothing else.

Deksmid thought for a second and then said, Drop the ship between them and the camp.

As the small vehicles approached, Deksmid projected a holographic image of himself onto the side of the ship and indicated to the Communication Officer to hook up the audio.

You will stop this now! His projection thundered. The weapons on this ship are accurate to a degree yours can’t match and this ship is Shielded. To make that plain, I can shoot you but you can’t shoot me! Get away from those trucks!

Stunned, he could only stare in amazement as they appeared to completely ignore him and headed for the last truck which was slowing to enter the compound. Hijofrax, shoot some of those manning the guns. Thank you, he said watching as three of the murderous men died. He watched with a measure of small satisfaction as the vehicles veered off from their approach to the compound but then saw that three of those men were now shooting at his ship or the compound as they left. He was pleased to note those men on the trucks that were still shooting were blown up. He so appreciated gunnery Officers with good initiative. He didn’t care what their various beliefs were; this showed dangerously closed and ruthless minds. Better minds now that they were dead ones.

• • •

Without needing to be told, the Communications Officer reported Captain I scanned the small armored vehicles, recording what happened, with the facial recognition software switched on so we can report this. He then looked at the counter and said,

There are only 3,375 people counted which includes those murderers but excludes the dead. We can take the whole camp.

Deksmid paused only a few seconds then said, "Drop the stairs. Anyone who wants to can come with us. Notify Terra Space Traffic Control to send another ship to the first camp we were supposed to pick up and lock in the second location we were designated. Explain and send that data on the attack, I’m sure she’ll know where to forward it to. We will have room for both