Welcome to Inkbunny...
Allowed ratings
To view member-only content, create an account. ( Hide )
Michael and Amanda, Chapter 37
« older newer »
MviluUatusun
MviluUatusun's Gallery (166)

Marooned on Tashoo, Chapter 3

Marooned on Tashoo, Chapter 4
marooned_on_tashoo_chapter_3_-_google_docs.txt
Keywords male 1109135, female 998937, human 99901, battle 3231, revelations 43, william watson 33, dogfight 14, dreydos 4, medal of honor 4, admiral yamashita 4, khorchan 2, nine lives 2, tonojen 2, true heroes 1, khorchan ambassadors 1, roksesan 1, distinguished flying cross 1, the buccaneer 1, tss bulldog 1
III

The Khorchan Ambassadors


    As I previously stated, on 21 November 2432 (Terran date), a combined force from the Empires of Khorcha (KHOR-chah) and Yavkognia (Yahv-KOG-nee-ah) attacked the Interstellar Terran Navy Base at Tonojen (Tuh-NOH-jehn). At that time, Tonojen was the Terran Interstellar Federation's most important naval base. Tonojen is only five light-years from the borders of the Khorchan and Yavkognian Empires. The attack was so sudden and severe that Tonojen was knocked out of service as a naval base for the next two Terran years. During this two-year period, work on Tonojen proceeded around the clock.

    At the time of the attack, I was temporarily stationed at Tonojen undergoing fighter pilot training and was en route to a training mission near Zotaben (Zoh-TAH-ben), Tonojen’s twelfth, and most distant, planet when my training officer and I got word of the attack. Without even pausing to consider what could happen to me, or even discussing my decision with my trainer, I turned my craft around and returned to the base. The whole time we were flying back to Tonojen, my training officer was giving me an earful about the foolhardiness of my actions. Fortunately for me, my craft was armed for the purpose of attacks on simulated targets and was one of the most advanced craft in the ITN inventory.

    When I arrived at the base, I quickly scanned the area and saw that there were thousands of Khorchan and Yavkognian fighter and “torpedo” craft. While they were concentrating their attacks on anything that had the Terran insignia on it, no ship was immune from their attack, including ships from other star systems that were trading partners with Terra. The Terrans were fighting valiantly, but they were grossly outnumbered and outmatched. (Unfortunately for the Terran military, the Interstellar Terran Congress did not believe that it was necessary to upgrade the military craft on a regular basis and, therefore, most of the military defense craft should have been retired over ten years earlier. Rumor had it that the members of the TIC were busy buying votes for their re-election with money earmarked for military upgrades.) The only military craft there that was even remotely modern were the training fighters, one of which I was flying. My shields, weaponry, and computer system were as up to date as any pilot could hope for in this situation. These facts may be the biggest reasons that I am alive today telling this story.

    Because of the thoroughness of the planning, as well as the suddenness, of their attack, the Khorcha and Yavkognians weren’t expecting, nor were they receiving, any serious resistance. As a result, I was able to surprise several of their craft and destroyed fourteen in less than ten minutes. I also managed to destroy three of their capital ships using the four torpedoes that my trainer carried. Fortunately for me, I had two advantages. First, due to the fact that I was so grossly outnumbered, I could fire at almost any craft I so desired while they had to be careful so as to not fire at their own craft. (Contrary to popular Terran belief, the Khorcha and Yavkognians do care about their fellows.) Second, their shields, during my initial attack, weren't set to cover the rear of their craft and, as I understand it, the pilot doesn't initiate the shields, the Commander of the group does; therefore, if you take out the group commander, their shields are set at the level they have before the group commander is killed. As can be expected, I took advantage of this and took out four of their craft before they even knew they were receiving resistance to their attack. The battle was over in a matter of 30 minutes and the enemy armada left the Terran Navy base in ruins.

Just before I was graduated from the fighter pilot training facility, I was called into the Base Commander's office. I was worried that perhaps I was being discharged from the navy due to my recklessness in disregarding orders and returning to do battle with the Khorcha and the Yavkognians. However, I received several awards, including the TIF Medal of Honor, the Silver Star, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. I was also meritoriously promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant, J. G.

Over the course of the next two and a half years, I was involved in no less than forty battles, an average of one battle every three weeks, increased my kill total to 78, and became the most decorated war “hero” in the history of Terra, although I hate the thought of being called a hero. I even won the Medal of Honor on three more occasions. I watched a lot of my friends die in battle and managed to escape death on numerous occasions by the skin of my teeth; but, that was in keeping with my call sign and nickname, Nine Lives.

In three of these battles, including the Battle of Tonojen, I had a run-in with a particular Khorchan fighter pilot that no one in the Terran Navy could land a shot on. In the battle of Tonojen, his abilities at the controls of his fighter were on a par with mine. He knew tricks that I had never seen anyone, except me, use. However, there were three tricks that I knew and used that he couldn't, or wouldn't, use, the Split S, the Immelmann, and a maneuver I call the Side Slip. (1) The Khorchan pilot flew a fluorescent orange fighter. I guess he was cocky, or good, enough to believe he was impervious to the guns of a simple Terran fighter pilot and he was. The second time we met was during the Battle of Zokoka. During the height of the battle, I looked out of my cockpit and saw the fluorescent orange Khorchan fighter’s wingtip barely five meters off my starboard wingtip. As I stared in disbelief, I saw the pilot salute me as his radar officer and gunner were berating him for not firing at me. Then, with a dip of his wings, the banked off to his starboard and was gone.

Finally, at the Battle of Krawchorka, he found out that he was anything but impervious. I was following one of their fighters and had him in my sights when an explosion outside of my cockpit apprised me of the presence of a Khorchan fighter a kilometer behind me. I looked into my mirrors and saw the fluorescent orange fighter. All thought of the previous potential victim disappeared as I threw my fighter into an outside loop to both evade the fighter and attempt to get onto his six o'clock. This type of loop is dangerous since I would be unable to see him until I could regain “level” fight. When I returned to level flight, I looked around for the fluorescent orange fighter. I saw him less than ten meters above me with his canopy facing mine. I could see him looking at me. He rolled his fighter and headed straight up and away from me. Instinctively, I followed him. I was fairly certain he was planning a trap for me, but I had to try to get him out of the war. I threw my throttle into full-on and followed him. He flew for four hundred kilometers. At first, he stayed about a kilometer ahead of me. I had a feeling that he was planning on rolling back toward me and try to catch me off guard enough to get a lucky shot into my engines. However, as soon as I saw him roll back, I used my attitude thrusters to pull out of his line of sight and rollover. We passed cockpit to cockpit less than 25 meters apart. (I believe my radar reported the distance as 23.0124 meters.) I remember thanking God that there is no atmosphere in space because at the speed we were traveling the turbulence would have torn both fighters apart as close as we were to each other and as fast as we were flying. I saw the other pilot looking up at me incredulously as we passed. It looked like he was holding his breath in shock. As soon as I passed him, I used my directional thrusters to pull a slip turn to get behind him at 6:00 high. Unfortunately, he guessed my intentions and pulled straight up before I could bring my guns to bear. My only option was to follow. I pulled back on the stick and gave chase. As I followed, I stole a quick glance out of my canopy and saw that all the other fighters had stopped their dogfights to observe what had to be the most interesting contest they had ever been witness to. Once again, the pilot rolled back toward me. I rolled over and, once again, we passed canopy to canopy at a distance of about 20 meters. Once again, I pulled a slip turn and was on his tail. He shocked me somewhat by not giving full throttle. He was allowing me to catch him. As I was catching him, I rolled my fighter to look through the top of the canopy. I swear he was looking at me with a smile on his face, which is hard to believe since the Khorcha have only minimal lips to cover their teeth. Since there is barely any drag in space, the only way to slow down in a dogfight is to apply braking thrusters. In our current situation, because of the speeds we were experiencing, the first pilot to apply braking thrusters usually won the fight. I was watching the nose of his fighter looking for any indication of his thrusters. Finally, I saw the telltale puff of gas and I did the unexpected. I threw my throttle into full power. The last thing I saw was the look of sheer shock on the face of the Khorchan pilot. When I had 10,000 kilometers between us, I pulled a third slip turn and bore down on the Khorchan fighter. Now, we were going to play a game of chicken. This was a game I wasn't going to lose. I had a feeling he already thought he was dealing with someone that was insane. I was going to give him good reason to be certain. When he was about ten kilometers away he did what I was hoping he would do, he dipped the nose of his fighter. Finally, the opening I was hoping for. Using only the aft pitch thrusters, I kicked my nose down to 30 degrees and fired a three-second burst. I watched my tracers walk across his port wing and into his engines. (2) The last thing I saw as I barrel rolled and returned to the battle was a ball of gradually expanding debris where the fluorescent orange fighter had been and three escape capsules flying in three different directions. As I turned my attention back to the battle, I noticed that all of the Khorchan fighters were heading back to their carriers and the carriers were powering up their engines to leave. In a matter of five minutes after my victory over the fluorescent orange fighter, the Khorchans had vacated the Krawchorka quadrant of space.

*****

All of the above-described circumstances, along with two-and-a-half years of war and my natural abilities as a fighter pilot, had brought me to the attention of every command officer up to, and including, my old friend, Admiral of the Navies Jeremy Yamashita, the Commanding Officer of the Interstellar Terran Naval Forces. Admiral Yamashita had visited me several times to present me with some medal I had won. The only time I ever saw the medals was during those times when I was required to wear them. As you may have guessed, I'm not much on awards and medals. I'm too busy doing what I am underpaid to do, fly a fighter and protect my friends and allies.

On 17 May 2435, I was standing at the porthole of the transport ship, TSS Bulldog, looking down at a blue and green orb, Terra, when a yeoman stepped up, saluted sharply, and handed me an envelope. I opened it and read the message it contained. As I read the message, I sensed that I wasn't alone. I looked up and saw the yeoman still standing, at attention, although he wasn't looking directly at me as I read.

“Yes, Petty Officer. Is there something I can do for you?”

“I'm—I'm sorry, sir. It's just that you are the most famous war hero in the Navy. I'm honored to be in your presence.”

I stared at him for a few seconds before I motioned for him to follow me. We arrived at an observation window overlooking one of the cargo bays. I pointed at the floor of the cargo bay and said, “Petty Officer, do you see those boxes down there?” Each box was covered with the flag of the Terran Interstellar Federation, a royal blue rectangle with fifteen silver seven-pointed stars surrounding one large yellow-white circle with fifteen white triangles each pointing at one of the stars in the middle of the rectangle.

“Yes, sir.”

“Those are the true heroes. I don't consider myself a hero just because I have avoided dying. I don't consider myself anything more than a very good—and lucky—pilot. Did you know my call sign is Nine Lives?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you know how I got that call sign?”

“No, sir.”

“I got that nickname when I was about ten years old. I got it because I could get myself into scrapes and get out without more than minor damage. I'm lucky, nothing more.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I guess those of us who rarely, if ever, see action, don't realize who the real heroes in a war are.” He turned and headed back to the bridge.

Because I had received so many of them when I arrived home for leave, I hadn't been overly surprised when I read the “invitation” from the good Admiral Yamashita to meet with him, although I was hoping to enjoy my leave, much deserved I might add, with my family and a few close friends, male and female, especially female. The “invitation” stated that I was to meet Admiral Yamashita at a club called “The Buccaneer” outside of the main gate of MacDill Stellar Forces Base, which is located on the southern end of Interbay Peninsula, outside of Tampa, Florida, no later than 2100Z. Since it would be about 1500Z before I would disembark the shuttle, I knew I had to hurry. After all, getting from Vandenberg SFB, California to MacDill SFB in less than six hours would difficult under a “come as you are” situation. But, the invitation also said that I needed to be in my mess dress uniform. This told me that the Admiral had a very important person, or persons, for me to meet. Hopefully, it isn’t another damn politician. God knows how I hate dealing with those self-serving leeches. They never miss an opportunity to be seen with a war hero even when they conspire to remove funding from the war effort behind the back of the “heroes.” But, like any good military man, I follow all legal orders.

    I was lucky that just before the war started, the military had decided to change from traditional materials for their uniforms to the new Press Itself ® material which maintained a crisp freshly pressed appearance no matter how balled up the material may be. However, I had to commandeer a hyper-jet to fly me nonstop from Vandenberg to MacDill and insure that I had transportation from the hyper-jet to the club. Fortunately, the fact that I am a fighter pilot and have hands-on experience flying hyper-jets allowed me to gain access to one. (There is another reason I was able to obtain a hyper-jet so easily and that is my fame on Terra. I don’t know if this was the reason I was able to obtain the hyper-jet, but I hope not. I'm not the type of person to use my fame to my advantage, unlike most other famous people.) The fact that I was able to do all that I needed to do, get to Tampa and the club before 2100Z, only shows that this wasn’t the first time I had done this.

*****

I entered “The Buccaneer” and saw Admiral Yamashita sitting at a table near the bar talking to, I DON’T BELIEVE IT, two Khorcha. (3) Immediately upon seeing these two. . .people, my blood started to boil. However, since Admiral Yamashita had “invited” me to MacDill personally, I swallowed my anger and approached the three.

    At my approach, Admiral Yamashita stood and made the appropriate introductions. “Commander Watson, I would like to introduce you to Ambassadors from the Khorchan Empire Dreydos (DRAY-dose) and his mate, Rokshesan (ROKE-sheh-sahn).”

    I was more than a little irritated and I let it show in my response. “How do you do, Ambassadors?” I said, sarcastically.

    Ambassador Dreydos spoke up in the somewhat breathless manner in which the Khorcha speaks Terran. I will not attempt to write the way the Khorcha speak; I fear that it would be too difficult to understand. Therefore, I will say what the Ambassadors said as if they were speaking perfect Terran. “My mate and I are doing quite well, Commander. Thank you for asking.” Sarcasm is lost on the Khorcha.

    I turned to Admiral Yamashita and said, “Without sounding too out of line, and with all due respect, Sir, what in the name of Hell-o are they doing here?” I said, indicating the two Khorcha sitting at the table with him with a nod of my head in their direction. (I am not known for my tact, which is one of the reasons I never considered a career in politics.) “After all, they are allies of the Yavkognians and our sworn enemies. As I recall, Sir, it was the Khorcha that planned the attack on Tonojen that started this war and they swore to destroy each and every human in this quadrant of the galaxy.”

    “Since President Koshuvala told me to order you here, Commander, I will overlook your being out of line, unless, of course, you get too out of line, and, consequently, you will be allowed to speak freely. Therefore, anything you say will be held in the strictest of confidence.

    “Yes, it was First Admiral Iektos (ee-YECK-tose) that planned the surprise attack on the Tonojen Navy Base that brought the Terran Interstellar Federation to war with them and the Yavkognians. However, Ambassador Dreydos has told me that after two-and-a-half years of war with us, the Khorcha are beginning to see that the statements that the Yavkognians had given them about humans are, at best, half-truths.”

    “I am sorry, sir, but, I just do not trust the Khorcha. After all, I lost a lot of friends at Tonojen. If you will recall, sir, 99% of the personnel of the Jutland was lost in the attack, including my commanding officer.”

    Ambassador Dreydos asked, “Commander, is it because of the way we Khorcha look that you do not trust us? I understand that there are a large number of humans that do not trust nor even like species that look similar to the Khorcha.”

    I did not hide my disgust. “Unfortunately, Ambassador, you are quite right about us humans. A large number of us do experience herpetophobia. However, my feelings have absolutely nothing to do with the way you look. As you no doubt know, we Terrans have peace treaties with numerous different intelligent species. As a matter of fact, one of our most strident allies in this war that your people started is also of reptilian ancestry, the Zyorkans (Zyor-kuhns). I am proud to say that I have friendships with many of their people. I would hope that is proof enough that I don’t judge a species by external appearances.”

    “Yes, we know of the Zyorkans. They are a peaceful race. Some in the Khorchan Empire would call them prey animals.”

    I nearly leaped out of my chair. “That is totally disgusting! The Zyorkans are an intelligent species! Even humans who are omnivorous animals wouldn’t kill and eat an intelligent species! Now you know one of the reasons why most humans don’t like the Khorcha!”

“Please allow me to continue, Commander. Some of our people consider them a prey species. But, that is because we, a predatory species, consider all herbivorous species prey. However, because they are an intelligent species, most of our people disagree with the faction that would treat them as prey.

“As I started to say, the fact that the Zyorkans, a peace-loving species, are willing to give up their peaceful ways to help you Terrans in this war has caused a lot of problems for our leader, the Zahr-Khohr. Because a fellow reptilian species would be such ardent supporters of a mammalian species is causing a bit of dissension among the Khorcha leadership council. That is one of the reasons that we Khorcha wish to withdraw from this conflict with the Terrans and live peacefully with them.”

“I see. So, what do your allies, the Yavkognians, think of your plans? I'm sure they might be a little upset that you wish to withdraw from this conflict.” I said as sarcastically as I could. “Are the Khorcha going to need Terran assistance to protect themselves from the Yavkognians?”

Dreydos sounded a little irritated. “Leave the Yavkognians to us. We will handle them. We have fought several wars with the Yavkognians in the past and had little trouble with them. So, you do not have to fear for us on that matter, Commander.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Admiral Yamashita, being the politician that a man in his position has to be, was getting more than a little nervous about my attitude toward Dreydos and Rokshesan. But, because I was being allowed the freedom to speak my mind, despite my respect for him, and even though I was concerned about his nervousness, I was going to speak my mind and speak it I did. “As you wish.” I turned toward Admiral Yamashita and said, “So, what does all this have to do with me, Admiral? I'm no politician, as you can tell from my attitude; I'm a warrior. While I don’t like war, I am trained to fight. The only negotiation I, as a warrior, understand is at the end of a gun. If these, our enemies, wish to negotiate a peace, they should be talking to politicians, not warriors.”

“I understand what you're saying, Commander,” said Admiral Yamashita. “However, that isn't why you're here. Ambassadors Dreydos and Rokshesan wish to study a human in order to understand why we're so willing to fight, and die, even against obviously overwhelming odds. They also want to know what it is about us that would cause a peace-loving species, such as the Zyorkans, to be willing to fight on our side.”

“I still don’t understand what this has to do with me, Admiral.”

“They have heard about your fighting abilities, Commander. You were specifically requested.”

“Hmm. I wonder why that has anything to do with it. I don’t suppose it has anything to do with the fact that I, personally, have accounted for more than seventy-five of their fighter-craft and over fifteen of their capital ships. Perhaps they want to find a way to take me out of the fighting. Would that be it, Ambassador?”

Admiral Yamashita answered for Dreydos, “You have a very sharp tongue, Commander. Even though you have the freedom to speak freely, you need to curb that tongue a bit. However, as I understand it, it was your willingness to take on overwhelming odds at Tonojen while you were still in training that got their attention.”

“I don’t like it, Admiral. They could've chosen any other human, or military person for that matter. Despite what Ambassador Dreydos has said, I don’t understand why they chose me in particular.”

Admiral Yamashita was starting to get a little exasperated with me. It showed in his response. “They wanted someone that represents the typical human soldier. I couldn’t disagree with their choice of you. You are the typical soldier.”

During this discussion, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Khorcha watching the Admiral and me like two cats watching a pair of mice. This caused chills to run down my back. I don’t like being stared at by humans; but, to be stared at by two creatures that are obviously killing machines in their own right was difficult for me to bear. I could almost imagine them planning their dinner menu with the Admiral and me as the “guests of honor.” Rumors abounded about what the Khorcha use prisoners of war for. Despite my upbringing to be nonjudgmental, this thought didn't make me feel any better during this time.

“Typical?” I said, incredulously. “Admiral, I don’t think I am the typical warrior. Not to sound my own horn, sir, but, you know that most pilots have significantly fewer ship-to-ship kills to their credit than I do.”

“I understand, Commander. Perhaps you aren’t the ‘typical’ soldier, perhaps you are a more aggressive pilot than the Khorcha are used to dealing with. I have read numerous reports about you in battle. I have no doubt that the Khorcha have heard about you as well. That could be the reason that they want to study you.”

Ambassador Dreydos spoke up and said, “I hope you won’t mind if I change the subject a bit here, Commander, but what I have to say is important and has relevancy on what we are discussing. You and I have met three times before today, just not face to face. It is these meetings that have relevancy on our meeting.”

Full of suspicion, I replied, “We've met before? When? Where?”

“The first time was at Tonojen. I remember quite well how you fought against our fighter pilots. I found out later that you were merely a trainee, but you showed superb piloting skills. You outflew and outfought our best fighter pilots. The fourteen pilots that you destroyed were all what you on Terra call aces from our previous wars against the Yavkognians. As a matter of fact, the one with the fewest kills had ten to his credit. The way we Khorcha credit a fighter pilot's abilities is to count the kills of the pilot killed. The number of kills that we credited to you after Tonojen, Commander, was 273. The fourteen pilots that you destroyed had averaged almost twenty kills each. Does that give you any idea as to how good of a fighter pilot you are?

“You used tactics that I had only heard were possible and then only in an atmosphere and the gravity of a planet; I had been told such maneuvers were impossible in zero G. Consequently, I had never seen them put into use before.”

“You were at Tonojen?”

“Yes, I was, Commander. As a matter of fact, I almost took you out of the war before it got started good.”

“You? You were the one?”

Admiral Yamashita was surprised. “What is he talking about, Commander?”

“Sir, during the Battle of Tonojen, there was one Khorchan fighter craft that got on my tail and I had a helluva time losing him. It is not well known outside of the ITN fighter pilot corps, but there was only one Khorcha pilot I respected. It's the one that almost took me out at Tonojen. I guess Ambassador Dreydos was at the controls.”

Ambassador Dreydos replied, “I was, Commander. But, every time I got you in my gun-sights, you pulled one of three maneuvers that I have never seen any other pilot, Terran, Khorchan, Yavkognian, or any other species, even try. Most pilots that are attempting to evade in battle pull inside loops and what you Terrans call barrel rolls. But, you pulled outside loops, as well as what I believe are called split S and Immelmann Turns. I had heard of them, but, as I said, I never believed they were possible in zero gravity. Whenever you would pull one of those maneuvers, you would either get away and attack another of our craft or wind up on my tail. Fortunately for me, when you got back on my tail, one of our other pilots would get your attention, saving me. Even though you were flying a trainer with a second pilot, we know that your fighter craft normally have but one pilot while ours have three, the gunner, the radar officer, and the pilot. We never thought that anyone, especially a single pilot, could pull the maneuvers that you used at Tonojen. However, you, quite obviously, proved us wrong.”

“Ambassador, despite the fact that reptilian species, such as you and your mate, are capable of withstanding a lot more gravitational forces than mammalian species, humans are capable of doing things that would surprise you, and even other humans.”

“I see. Besides Tonojen, we met a couple of other times, as well, Commander. Do you remember the Battle of Zokoka?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you remember that the Khorchan pilot in the fluorescent orange fighter that, instead of firing on your craft, flew up alongside and saluted you?”

“That was you?”

“Once again, you guessed the truth. When I recognized your craft, I could not bring myself to fire on you. I had to let you know how much I respected you as a pilot. By the time of the Battle of Zokoka, I had learned about you and found out that you had only been a licensed pilot for less than two years, Terran.”

“Actually, Mr. Ambassador, I received my license six years earlier.”

“Oh, I guess our research must be mistaken.”

I was thinking, “Yeah, right. I remember what your people tried when I was sixteen.”

“However, I must say that I had not learned a lot of the lessons you taught me at Tonojen in fifteen years as a fighter pilot. Yet, despite my respect for you as a fighter, I knew that one day we would meet in battle again and our shared respect for each other would go by the wayside. That day finally came at the Battle of Krawchorka, a year ago. It was because of you in that battle that I am now ambassador to the Terrans.”

Slightly distracted and highly curious now, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“That dogfight, as you Terrans call them, was the most exhilarating one I had ever experienced. You surprised me more than anyone had ever surprised me. Every time I thought I had figured you out, you did the absolute opposite that I thought you would do. It was also the longest one I had ever enjoyed. Unfortunately for me, you got the better of me, although your shots were off a bit, due either to a minor computer glitch on your fighter or my experience as a fighter pilot.”

“I don’t use my computer to aim or fire my guns. I don’t trust a computer for that purpose. They have a habit of using logic when instinct often aims guns better; there is also the potential problems of hacking and viruses.”

“Then my respect for you is even higher. But, I should have figured this out on my own. You fire your guns when most pilots, those who depend on their computer, would not even consider doing it. This may be why you are such a deadly fighter pilot. Either way, your shots hit one of my engines. My radar officer, gunner, and I were able to eject in time to avoid the engine’s explosion as a result of the ensuing chain reaction. Unfortunately, my radar officer was killed when flying debris from the explosion punctured his escape capsule causing explosive decompression. My gunner was uninjured and reassigned to another fighter. However, I received injuries that prevented me from ever flying again. Because of my past military experience, the Zahr-Khohr was impressed with me and offered me the opportunity to become an ambassador. I accepted the offer because I knew it would allow me to spend more time with my family.”

Ambassador Rokshesan spoke up, finally, “Commander, these experiences are precisely what we are talking about. Your killer instinct intrigues us. We have always been told that humans do not possess this instinct. We had been told that it was bred out of the human species more than three hundred Terran years ago. We have not observed this instinct in humans before.”

Despite being impressed with Ambassador Dreydos’s revelation, I was still more than a little leery and short-fused. This showed in my reply to his mate. “If the Khorcha and Yavkognians hadn’t brought this war to our doorstep, you would still be looking for it. I show this 'killer instinct,' as you call it, only because of what your people did to us at Tonojen. As a general rule, humans are peaceful creatures and I am the leader of that peacefulness.”

“But, you were learning to kill when we were attacking the disputed area of space.”

“That doesn’t mean I am a killer by nature. It only means that I believe that freedoms are not truly free. Somebody must be willing to sacrifice his life to ensure that everybody else has these freedoms. Unfortunately, sometimes these people must learn to kill to protect those freedoms from those that would try to steal them. It has always been this way on Terra.” I said this last while looking directly into the eyes of the Ambassadors.

“And as for the 'disputed area of space', I seem to recall the Khorcha and Yavkognians signed a treaty agreeing to give up any potential claim to Tonojen. If I give up any claim to something, ownership or possession of that thing is no longer disputed. I don't give a damn what you say!”

Sensing that my anger was overwhelming, Ambassador Dreydos interjected, “But, don’t a lot of humans distrust your military?”

Angrily, I turned to him and glared at him. However, I said, a little calmly, “I don't know what that has to do with the so-called disputed area of space; but, yes, it is true, Mr. Ambassador, especially politicians. But, when it comes time to fight for our freedoms, they are thankful that we are around, even though at the same time they want to cut funding to the military.”

The Ambassadors both laughed, as evil a sound as I have ever heard. “In the Khorchan Empire, there are none that question the needs of the military. What the military wants, it gets. Why is this not true in human space?”

“Because we believe that the military is the servant of the people, not the other way around. This is especially true here in the United States of America. It has always been true here. Of course, at one time or another, we've had military people that thought they knew more about what the country needed than the civilians, but those military personnel learned a hard lesson when they were sent to prison for a long time or killed when an attempted coup failed. Our constitution clearly states that the military serves the civilians.”

Admiral Yamashita interrupted this exchange before it got out of hand. “Well,” he laughed, “I see that the Khorcha and the Terrans still have a lot of differences of opinion in our beliefs. I also see that certain military personnel, in particular, have strong beliefs.” He said this last while looking directly at me. He looked back at Dreydos and continued. “However, we are not here to discuss politics, per se. We are here to discuss how we can end the war with the Khorchan Empire so the Terran Federation can direct all its energies to defeat the Yavkognians.”

Ambassador Rokshesan said, “You are right. But, I would ask you, Admiral, are the Commander’s opinions generally accepted by the Terran military?”

“It all depends on which opinions you are referring to, Madame Ambassador. If you are referring to the idea that the military is the servant of the civilians and the fact that we fight to preserve our freedoms, then, yes, I would say that his opinions are accepted by the Terran military. Why?”

“This could be one of the reasons that the Terrans fight so hard when we encounter them. It could also be one of the reasons that your civilians are enlisting in your military in the numbers that they are. Our military officers have reported how hard you Terrans fight in every battle that we have fought against you.” Turning to me, she asked, “Commander, do you believe that the Terran military fights so hard because your beliefs are shared by everyone in the military?”

“If you are referring to my personal beliefs, I can’t say, Madame Rokshesan. If you are referring to our beliefs in general, then, yes, I do believe that.”

“Hmm.” To Ambassador Dreydos, she said, “I believe that this phenomenon is the one we need to study.”

I said, “Why do you need to study this?”

Ambassador Dreydos said, “Well, Commander, this isn’t well known outside of the Empire, but there have been numerous battles where our forces outnumbered the Terran Alliance forces by a factor of no less than three to one and the Terran Alliance has routed our forces virtually every time, even during a surprise attack.”

All I could say is, “Interesting.”

Admiral Yamashita said, “Why do you find this interesting, Commander?”

“Well, sir, I find it interesting for two reasons. First, it is interesting that the Khorcha would admit this openly to Terrans, knowing that we might possibly use this against them in the future. Second, it is interesting that, even when outnumbered three to one, our military personnel have fought so hard that the Khorcha were sent running. This just amazes me, sir.”

“Commander!” Admiral Yamashita said, in shock. “I cannot believe that I am hearing this from you! You are considered the greatest hero in the Terran military forces! If what you just said got out, it could cause irreparable harm to the morale of our fighters!”

“Sir, with all due respect, I believe you are angry for no good reason. I was not referring to the fighting abilities of our people. I realize that throughout Terran history there have been many armies that have fought against overwhelming odds and won. But, they never had to deal with any situation even remotely similar to fighting against the Khorcha or Yavkognians. In all our history, I don’t believe any nation ever fought in such a situation as we are in now. After all, this is our first interstellar war. It isn’t that I don’t believe that we will fight; it is that I'm surprised that we have fought as courageously and won as handily as we're being told that we do. I'm not saying that what we are being told is untrue, I'm just saying that it is difficult for me to accept so readily.”

Ambassador Dreydos said, “We have nothing to gain by telling you a lie about the situation that Rokshesan described, Commander.”

Sarcastically, I replied, “Don’t you?”

Once again, my sarcasm was lost on the Khorchan Ambassadors as Ambassador Dreydos continued, “As a matter of fact, as you said, we have plenty to lose. If you or the Admiral got the word out about how easily your people defeat us in battle, it would cause the morale of your military to increase to the point that we would have to sue for peace and end our association with the war effort against the Terrans.”

I jumped in with both feet, “But, isn’t that why you're here?”

The Khorcha just stared at me for a few seconds; it looked for all the world that they were trying to think of a good answer to my question. Finally, Ambassador Dreydos said, “This is true Commander, but we would rather do so with as little loss of Khorchan life as possible.”

I was not overly impressed with his statement. I guess my face showed this, because Admiral Yamashita said, “Commander, before your arrival, Ambassador Dreydos told me that the Zahr-Khohr is concerned about the possible annihilation of the Khorchan race by the Terran Alliance if they do not withdraw from the war. He also said that the Yavkognians are not so concerned about that possibility due to their high reproduction rate.”

“Reproduction rate or not, Admiral, the Ambassador seemed surprised that I reminded him of his reason for being here on Terra.”

Both of the Ambassadors shot me a look that would melt titanium steel. But, it was Ambassador Dreydos that spoke and he spoke with all the smoothness of an accomplished politician. “I understand why you feel the way you do, Commander. After all, it was because of treachery that the Khorchan Empire and the Terran Federation are at war with each other. When you reminded me as to why Rokshesan and I are here, it was a bit unexpected. I did not think that it was necessary to restate the reason. I wasn’t trying to deceive you and the Admiral with my statement about ending the war effort. I just worded it incorrectly. The Zahr-Khohr would rather our withdrawal from the war to be mutually beneficial to both of our species. I hope that you did not misunderstand my statement.”

“No, of course not. Why would I misunderstand what you said? Please forgive me.” I was being overtly sarcastic. Too bad it was lost on the Ambassadors. The Khorcha are not known for having a sense of humor. Of course, I wasn't trying to be humorous.

“No apologies are necessary, Commander, but yours are accepted.”



The conversation, and drinks, continued. God, I didn’t know that Khorchans could drink so much without even a semblance of being affected by alcohol. As a matter of fact, both the ambassadors commented about the flavor and taste of the different types of alcohol they drank. If a human drank even one-quarter of the alcohol that these two Khorcha drank, the next morning he would have felt so bad that he would have thought he would have to get better just to die. (I know this from experience.) I didn’t even try to keep up. I wanted to keep a level head about me, although I did have a couple of glasses of wine. My attitude didn't get any better the longer I spent in the presence of the Khorchan Ambassadors, despite having a couple of drinks.

After a couple of hours, it was decided, against my wishes, that I would accompany the Khorchan ambassadors to their ship, which was their residence while they were visiting Terrasince there were no beds designed to hold a Khorchan body comfortably. I felt funny, if not a bit apprehensive, being accompanied by two reptilian creatures that resembled nothing less than a pair of carnivorous dinosaurs. I fully expected to be pounced upon by the two of them and torn limb from limb at any second. I don't know why I felt this way because, in the back of my mind, I knew that, if they tried anything like that, they would be destroyed in very short order. After all, my chronoputer was constantly monitoring my vital signs and location.

In the two-and-a-half years of war, I had never even remotely experienced a fear of my enemies. But, during the walk from the bar to the Khorchan ship, I was constantly on edge. The slightest sound would cause me to flinch noticeably. I tried to maintain my calm by reminding myself that these were ambassadors here on a peace mission. Unfortunately, my mind would almost immediately bring up the times during the evening when Ambassador Dreydos would let slip that this was anything but a peace mission.

Trying to ease my fears, I made conversation with the two of them, “What do you expect to learn from me that would help to convince your leader, the Zahr-Khohr, to break your alliance with the Yavkognian Empire?”

“We won’t know for certain until we have had a chance to study you, Commander.” This was Dreydos speaking. “It could be anything. All we know is that we have never met a species, or a warrior, such as you or the Terrans, in battle before. We have met humanoid species in the past, but they all seemed willing to roll over and die when they saw us. Terran humans, on the other hand, refuse to roll over for us. You, yourself, proved that to us at Tonojen.”

“Mr. Ambassador, I had only seen one Khorcha before the war began and that was less than six months before the attack on Tonojen. I knew what your ships looked like, especially the fighters, bombers, and transports.” I said this to gauge how much they really knew about me, since I had seen and spoken with a Khorcha just before I was graduated from the Interstellar Terran Naval Academy in Jacksonville, FL.

If he knew I was lying, Ambassador Dreydos didn't show it. All he did was ask, “Are you implying that if it wasn't for being ordered to fight, you would have given up without a fight?”

“No, Mr. Ambassador, I'm not implying that at all. I'm just saying that, like all soldiers of the Terran Interstellar Federation, I do my job to the best of my ability.”

“I see. Commander, I would like to make a request of you. I realize the necessity of protocol since my mate and I are ambassadors of the Khorchan Empire, but you may call me Dreydos and you may call her Rokshesan.”

“As you wish—Dreydos.”

“Thank you, Commander. So, you believe that the Terrans fought so hard against us because so few of your fellows knew what we looked like?”

“No, I don’t. I personally believe we fought so hard at Tonojen because of the callousness of your attack. We had made absolutely no attempt to harm your people. As a matter of fact, we were led to believe that the Khorchan Empire had no desire for the Tonojen system. I believe that the reason we fight so hard against your people is that we believe the Khorcha did not bargain in good faith concerning that quadrant of space. When your people attacked the base, it steeled us to fight as hard as we do. Terrans, as a whole, believe in the sanctity of a treaty.”

“Hmm. That is an interesting theory, Commander. Perhaps we should look into that aspect of Terran actions in battle, as well.”

During this short conversation, Rokshesan once again remained quiet and took in all that was said between Dreydos and me. This bothered me because, as she remained quiet, she kept staring at me. It is difficult to read reptilian faces, so I didn’t have even the slightest idea as to what she was thinking. I decided to try and draw her into the conversation to try to get an idea as to what was on her mind.

“Dreydos, why does Rokshesan not speak very much? It is something that I am not used to. Our females speak their minds. Is it a traditional thing with the Khorcha?”

“Our females traditionally do not speak unless spoken to. However, there are times in which a female will speak up if she thinks that a conversation is heading in a direction in which she believes could cause problems. When Rokshe spoke earlier this evening during our conversation with you and the Admiral, it was because she thought that the conversation was not going in the direction that would be conducive to arriving at the destination that we wished.”

I thought, “And what destination were you wishing to arrive at?”

However, I said, “I still don’t know why, out of more than seventy-five billion humans on all the planets we inhabit, you chose me as the human 'most typically human'.”

“It was not my decision, Commander. It was the decision of the Zahr-Khohr.”

“Now, wait a minute. Do you mean to tell me that the Zahr-Khohr personally decided that I am the human that is, quote, most human, unquote? I don’t believe you!”

“He didn’t make the decision personally, Commander. There were others that assisted. The names and general attributes of all of the known adult humans, especially military personnel, were input into one million computers. Each computer chose one hundred humans with traits in common. The trait requirements were tightened and these one-hundred million names were entered into one thousand computers. Each of these computers chose one hundred humans with traits in common. The steps were continued downward and tightened until there was a list of twenty names. Then a committee of the Zahr-Khohr and six of his most trusted advisors studied this list. Your name was on this list. When this fact was pointed out to the Zahr-Khohr, he inquired as to why your name sounded familiar. His military advisor reminded him of your involvement in the Battle of Tonojen and how you used a fighter trainer to destroy 14 fighters and three capital ships. After doing background checks on the other nineteen humans, it was discovered that you were the only one that had any military experience. Since what the Khorcha are wanting to study is related to military experience, the Zahr-Khohr decided that you were the one human that exhibited the most important of the human traits that interest our people in our conflict with the humans.”

“Humph! No offense, Dreydos, but I still refuse to believe that it happened in the manner that you describe. I believe that I was chosen specifically for the reasons I described to Admiral Yamashita.” I said this to gauge the reaction of Dreydos and Rokshesan.

Dreydos didn’t even act offended. “I speak what I was told, Commander. However, as I said, when your name showed up on this list, every one of the Zahr-Khohr’s advisors mentioned Tonojen and how well you have fought against our navy as well as my experience with you. After all, should the humans capture our greatest war hero, would you think that they wouldn't want to study the type of warrior he is?”

“Capture?”

I detected a slight flinch in Dreydos’s demeanor. His reaction, however, was, “Perhaps I once again used a poor choice of words. I refer only to the fact that the Terran Alliance is winning the war. Should the roles be reversed, and the Terrans were considering suing for peace, your people would want to study the attributes of our heroes, possibly to use the attributes to train future warriors.”

“Oh, I see. Is that what you and Rokshesan are hoping to do? Use my attributes to train future warriors to use against the Terran Federation?”

My attitude was starting to have the desired effect. Dreydos was starting to show his irritation in his response as he, in a somewhat irritated manner, said, “I can see that we have a long way to go to gain your trust, Commander. Your personal mistrust of the Khorchan people is strong and I cannot say that I really blame you.”

With a slight edge to my voice, I replied, “I appreciate that, Dreydos. And, no offense, but I fear it will take a long, long time for me to be able to overcome my distrust of the Khorcha and Yavkognians.”



After about fifteen more minutes of walking, we arrived at the tarmac of the MacDill airport and their ship; I said my goodbyes, explaining that I would return the next day so they could start their studies of me and my “traits.” They insisted that I spend the night aboard their ship saying that they wished to start as early as possible. But, I still didn’t trust them to not kidnap me in my sleep, take me to Khorcha, and have me for dinner, literally. Therefore, I insisted that I would return the next day around 0900. I informed them that the word of an officer of the Interstellar Terran Navy was his bond. I also said that Admiral Yamashita had, in a roundabout way, ordered me to assist them in their studies.

When I arrived at my room in the Bachelor Officer’s Quarters on MacDill, I contacted Admiral Yamashita and told him of my concerns. I also told him of Dreydos's reactions to some of the things I had said. He said he was sorry, but I had to assist the Khorcha in their studies. When I asked if this was a direct order, he said it was.

“I am sorry, Commander. I wish it didn’t have to be, but the order comes directly from President Koshuvala. He said, 'If there is anything we can do to get the Khorcha out of the conflict, perhaps we'll be in better shape to defeat the Yavkognians.' I hate to ask you to do this, but my hands are tied.”

“I understand, sir. I will do my best to learn everything I can about their plans. I will let you know something as soon as I learn it.”

“Please be careful, son. Since I’ve known you, I’ve become quite fond of you. I think of you almost as a son. I wouldn’t want harm to befall any of my own sons if I could prevent it; I don’t want harm to befall you as well. Besides, I've known your father a very long time and I would hate to have to explain to him why something dreadful happened to you.”

“Thank you, sir. I will do my best. Good night, sir.”

“Good night, Commander.”

Well, that is interesting. I had never imagined that Admiral Yamashita thought of me as a surrogate son. Of course, I had never thought of him as a surrogate father, especially since mine was still very much alive. I admired the good Admiral due to his assistance nine years earlier. But, I had always considered it to be more of a mutual admiration due to my willingness to take risks to achieve a goal and he respected anyone that takes those risks as long as it was not an unnecessary risk.

**********

1-The Side Slip is performed by flying at a high rate of speed and, suddenly, applying left or right rudder and cutting power at the same time. As you pass your enemy, you fire your guns raking the enemy craft and, hopefully, overpowering the energy dispersion shields. Not long after the war began, the Terran military developed the high energy cannon shell. It was decided to use this round as the tracer in the hope that it would expend enough energy to cause the enemy shields to fail after less than 100 rounds instead of the calculated 500+ normal rounds.

2-If you are wondering why a starfighter would have wings, there are several reasons. First, the upper, cockpit, side of the wings are covered with solar cells to collect as much interstellar light as possible to power the instruments. Second, the starfighter is designed to serve as an atmospheric aircraft as well as a spacecraft. Third, the wings are where the fuel cells are housed. As I understand it, there are other reasons for the wings, but I was never informed as to these reasons.

3- The Khorcha look like a nightmare of the worst kind. They have a mouth with minimal lips. The mouth is full of sharp steak knife type teeth curving slightly backward. Like Terran reptiles, they have no external ears. A reddish-orange crest starts at the brow line, ends at the back of the skull where the spinal cord exits, and, on the male, grows to a maximum height of 10 cm on the crown of the skull. Over each eye is a horn approximately 3 cm in length. The scaly skin is sky blue with green and brown splotches. The arms are slightly smaller in size than human arms. The hands have three fingers and a thumb. Unlike Terran reptiles, each digit has a nail instead of a claw at the tip. Their chest is deep, narrow, and covered by a leather vest. Their legs are long and muscular with strong muscular thighs. They have relatively narrow lower calves and ankles, although the upper calves, like the thighs, are also highly muscled. They wear leather shorts that go no lower than the upper third of the thigh. A stiff stubby tail is enclosed in a pocket in the shorts. The feet have three forward-pointing toes, each ending in a very vile looking claw. The interior toe of each foot has a sickle-shaped claw that is approximately 10 cm long. The claws, especially the sickle-shaped one, can be used effectively as weapons in hand to hand combat and normally are. They wear something similar to Roman sandals on their feet. The main exception to the Roman sandals is that the claws are clear of the sandal itself lending credence to the impression that the claws are used as weapons. The male Khorcha is 200 cm tall and looks like he weighs about 125 kg. The female Khorcha looks almost exactly like the male with the exception that they are slightly larger, perhaps ten percent taller, and fifty percent heavier. The crest is 75 mm in height and is not as brightly colored as the male's crest. The horns are also smaller, perhaps half the length of the male's horns.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
page
1
page
2
page
3
page
4
page
5
page
6
page
7
page
8
page
9
page
10
page
11
page
12
page
13
page
14
page
15
page
16
page
17
page
18
page
19
page
20
page
21
page
22
page
23
page
24
page
25
page
26
page
27
page
28
page
29
page
30
page
31
page
32
page
33
page
34
page
35
page
36
page
37
page
38
page
39
page
40
page
41
page
42
page
43
page
44
page
45
page
46
page
47
page
48
page
49
page
50
page
51
page
52
page
53
page
54
page
55
page
56
page
57
page
58
page
59
page
60
page
61
page
62
page
63
page
64
page
65
page
66
page
67
page
68
page
69
page
70
page
71
page
72
page
73
page
74
page
75
page
76
page
77
page
78
page
79
page
80
page
81
page
82
page
83
page
84
page
85
page
86
page
87
page
88
page
89
page
90
page
91
page
92
page
93
page
94
page
95
page
96
page
97
page
98
page
99
page
100
page
101
page
102
page
103
page
104
page
105
page
106
page
107
page
108
page
109
page
110
page
111
page
112
page
113
page
114
page
115
page
116
page
117
page
118
page
119
page
120
page
121
page
122
page
123
page
124
page
125
page
126
page
127
page
128
page
129
page
130
page
131
page
132
page
133
page
134
page
135
page
136
page
137
page
138
page
139
page
140
page
141
page
142
page
143
page
144
page
145
page
146
page
147
page
148
page
149
page
150
page
151
page
152
page
153
page
154
page
155
page
156
page
157
page
158
page
159
page
160
page
161
page
162
page
163
page
164
page
165
page
166
page
167
page
168
page
169
page
170
page
171
page
172
page
173
page
174
page
175
page
176
page
177
page
178
page
179
page
180
page
181
page
182
page
183
page
184
page
185
page
186
page
187
page
188
page
189
page
190
page
191
page
192
page
193
page
194
page
195
page
196
page
197
page
198
page
199
page
200
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
 
 
page
1
page
2
page
3
page
4
page
5
page
6
page
7
page
8
page
9
page
10
page
11
page
12
page
13
page
14
page
15
page
16
page
17
page
18
page
19
page
20
page
21
page
22
page
23
page
24
page
25
page
26
page
27
page
28
page
29
page
30
page
31
page
32
page
33
page
34
page
35
page
36
page
37
page
38
page
39
page
40
page
41
page
42
page
43
page
44
page
45
page
46
page
47
page
48
page
49
page
50
page
51
page
52
page
53
page
54
page
55
page
56
page
57
page
58
page
59
page
60
page
61
page
62
page
63
page
64
page
65
page
66
page
67
page
68
page
69
page
70
page
71
page
72
page
73
page
74
page
75
page
76
page
77
page
78
page
79
page
80
page
81
page
82
page
83
page
84
page
85
page
86
page
87
page
88
page
89
page
90
page
91
page
92
page
93
page
94
page
95
page
96
page
97
page
98
page
99
page
100
page
101
page
102
page
103
page
104
page
105
page
106
page
107
page
108
page
109
page
110
page
111
page
112
page
113
page
114
page
115
page
116
page
117
page
118
page
119
page
120
page
121
page
122
page
123
page
124
page
125
page
126
page
127
page
128
page
129
page
130
page
131
page
132
page
133
page
134
page
135
page
136
page
137
page
138
page
139
page
140
page
141
page
142
page
143
page
144
page
145
page
146
page
147
page
148
page
149
page
150
page
151
page
152
page
153
page
154
page
155
page
156
page
157
page
158
page
159
page
160
page
161
page
162
page
163
page
164
page
165
page
166
page
167
page
168
page
169
page
170
page
171
page
172
page
173
page
174
page
175
page
176
page
177
page
178
page
179
page
180
page
181
page
182
page
183
page
184
page
185
page
186
page
187
page
188
page
189
page
190
page
191
page
192
page
193
page
194
page
195
page
196
page
197
page
198
page
199
page
200
Marooned on Tashoo, Chapter 2
Marooned on Tashoo, Chapter 4


For those of you who have been waiting on pins and needles for the next chapter of "Marooned on Tashoo" to be uploaded; well, wait no longer. Here it is. I'm sorry it took so long to upload this chapter. I got myself involved in a couple of projects that interfered with me uploading this chapter. I'll try to do better from now on.

In Chapter 3, the war has been going on for two-and-a-half years. William H. Watson has been promoted through the different ranks until he has achieved the rank of Lt. Commander at the age of 25. He is a hero on Terra (Earth), although he doesn't consider himself a hero, just a warrior. He has returned to Terra for some rest and relaxation when he receives an "invitation" from Admiral Yamashita to meet him at MacDill ISFB in Tampa. He meets two Khorchan Ambassadors, Dreydos and Rokshesan, and learns some interesting information about Dreydos.

Keywords
Details
Type: Writing - Document
Published: 3 years, 1 month ago
Rating: General

MD5 Hash for Page 1... Show Find Identical Posts [?]
Stats
14 views
0 favorites
0 comments

BBCode Tags Show [?]
 
New Comment:
Move reply box to top
Log in or create an account to comment.