Dark Fate, Chapter 103 (Patreon)

Chapter 103 – On Pirates

I leaned back against the backrest of the sofa, and smiled. “Ah, yes, the pirates. Well, for starters, you have to understand that the Sol System is in something of a backwater as far as the rest of the galaxy is concerned. Halfway down a spur of a larger arm of the galaxy, well away from the Core, where the oldest and strongest species live, we are not on any trade routes. We don’t even have the benefit of being an island in the midst of a stronger empire. And there is no ‘Galactic Federation’, or anything like that. It is, to be blunt, a dog-eat-dog world out there.”

“That said, the local stars are not terribly well populated. The closest system with actual inhabitants would be Tau Ceti, just about twelve light-years from Sol. The inhabitants of that system are known as the Knelfi, and that world is one of their more distant colonies as they expanded moving coreward. Think of them as ‘space elves’, and you have the right idea.

“I don’t have any current data on the Knelfi, but, if the knowledge from past timelines is accurate, then they should currently be embroiled in a war with a species called the Incux. The Incux are an insectoid race with six legs and four arms. They are predatory, scavengers, and generally a source of trouble wherever they go. They believe that all beings are either ‘predator’, or ‘prey’. Fortunately for us, they only possess basic hyperdrive systems.”

“Hyperdrive? Like in Star Wars?”

“Yes, Mr. Phillips, though not quite as easy. The Hyperdrive is basically a form of Alcubierre drive. Basically, surround the ship in a bubble of space-time, and warp space a bit so that gravity works slightly different, and the ship starts ‘falling’ faster and faster in the direction you want to go. You cheat relativity because inside the bubble, everything is moving below light speed, while outside the bubble, gravity is one of the only things that changes the speed of light.

“However, using the hyperdrive casts a ‘bow wake’ that can be seen in advance of the ship, and the top speed depends on the tech level. The Incux have older drives that can go about fifty times lightspeed, meaning that they would take thirty days, give or take, to reach Earth from Alpha Centauri, and their bow wake would be detectable about twenty days out. Other species, with better technology or just more refined drives, could travel at two hundred and fifty times lightspeed, doing the same trip in less than seven days, and being detectable only two or three days out.”

I took a breath, and said, “There are other forms of FTL, of course. The Stitch Drive, or, more properly, the Folding Space Singularity Drive, effectively reduces the distance between one point and another to zero, temporarily. However, to use it without risking coming out inside a star, or something equally unfortunate, you need chronospatial coordinates of the system you’re going to. But that allows for instantly jumping up to twenty-something lightyears at a time.

“The Wormhole drive is like the Stitch Drive on a steroids, cocaine, and meth, all at the same time. It is big, loud, and open a wormhole allowing an entire fleet to travel from one side of the galaxy to the other in minutes. However, only the richest and most powerful nations have access to that technology, so you don’t have to worry about it yet.

“Then, you have the Darksail Drive, which uses LaGrange points to shift a ship in and out of a dimension full of dark matter. Those ships can then ‘sail’ from star to star in the course of weeks, maybe months. You don’t need the coordinates like you would the Stitch Drive, and it doesn’t compare favorably to the hyperdrive, but it is very quiet, and fuel efficient, making it a favorite of smugglers and anyone trying to move large quantities of freight without drawing the attention of pirates.

“Finally, there’s the Hellspace Drive. Basically, you tear open a portal to a dimension that can only charitably be described as Hell, hope your shields hold so that demons don’t get on board your ship and rip your crews to shreds while eating their souls, and then repeat the process to come out on the other side, hopefully somewhere near where you wanted to be. It is a nasty drive, only used by the desperate or the insane, but it has the range and reach of the Wormhole Drive, yet it can be used by anyone willing to risk the trip. Oh, and time works funny in that dimension, so while most of the time you’ll come out within days or weeks of entering Hellspace, sometimes you’ll come out centuries later, or arrive before you left. So, fun.”

“And the Incux and these Knelfi use the Hyperdrive?” Jones asked.

“Yes, though the Knelfi may have the Stitch drive, as well. Their empire is spinward of us, primarily, so we have some time before they send ships our way, especially with their current conflict against the Incux. They are, however, one of the two major powers in this part of the spiral arm.”

I took a breath, and continued, “The Incux, as I said, are aggressive, but technologically not too far advanced from where we are. However, they are naturally skilled with magic, especially destructive magic, so if they get on the ground, and are able to start a hive going, pushing them off Earth would be a major task. Even using atomics.

“Fortunately, their hiveworlds are mostly below us, and corewards, as far as the galactic plane is concerned. The Kovalds, on the other hand, are much closer to hand, and are more cunning. They are a cowardly race, as a rule, but clever trapmakers, and they are very dangerous if you let them choose the area of engagement. You can recognize kovalds because they are three-foot-tall reptiles with canine features, and their voice sounds like it is chirping half the time.”

I paused, and then said, “Both the Kovalds and the Incux pay tribute to the second major power in this region, the Ouran Huntworlds. The Ouran are the big lizard-like aliens that landed around the world just recently. They are obligate carnivores, and enjoy hunting and eating live prey, especially when the prey is intelligent enough to know they are being hunted. They keep several slave species that they’ve conquered on their world, for use as both labor and food. They prefer their food to be both alive and conscious when they start eating, as the pain and terror help with the ‘flavor’.

“In my original timeline, the Kovalds raided Earth successfully, taking technology and slaves. That raid was quickly followed by an entire invasion force of Kovalds, who quickly crippled the governments’ command and control ability, and caused the collapse of all major world powers, though the Kovalds were rebuffed in the end. When the Ouran arrived a few months later to stake their own claim, all that was left of human governance were warlords who had seized power. The Ouran proved harder to run off than the Kovalds, and, ten years later, the local ruler here in Georgia was thrown down. But he was just one of many, around the world.”

I scanned their faces to ensure they were still following, and said, “It is a simple fact that there is no galactic government enforcing a ‘Prime Directive’ or similar law about not enslaving pre-FTL species, like Humanity. If Sol had been connected to the System, then we would have been found and invaded by pirates long ago, probably while the Egyptians were still building the Pyramids. The only defense we had was that our world was inaccessible with System technology.

“Through my actions in this timeline, I was able to stomp out the Kovald raid, forestalling their invasion, as the cowardly beings figure out how to respond. I was also able to blunt the Ouran invasion, so that, instead of a fleet of fifty ships, maintaining orbital supremacy, only eight ships landed on Earth, which was a number manageable enough that local forces could take them on, once they got to the scene. However, some of the Ouran escaped, which means the chronospatial coordinates went with them. That means the next time they want to come, they can just use the Stitch Drive, and we won’t know they’re coming until the arrival flare shows on our scans.”

Kitamura leaned forward. “So, you expect that they will return? Even after taking those kinds of losses? You said on one of the online forums that only twenty-five ships escaped, and they were mostly damaged to some degree.”

“Unfortunately, that kind of one-sided defeat means that they will HAVE to come back. They are a warrior culture, with strict rules of honor. What we faced during the big space battle was a fraction of the power of one of the weaker clans in Ouran territory, the Iscand Clan. They just happened to be the closest Ouran clan to Sol. Even so, they were several jumps with the Stitch Drive from Alpha Centauri.

“I do not, however, expect them to come back immediately. Not in fleet strength, at least. For one thing, we are reasonably certain, given information captured from the wreckage of the enemy ships, that we decapitated most of their commanders and senior hunters, at least amongst those that were present. It will take time for them to settle on new leadership, and they will want to replace the ships they lost before sending a fleet our way.

“Also, even if they wanted to send a second fleet immediately, with the rest of their ships, they couldn’t do that without exposing their necks to their enemies and rivals. Sensing weakness, they would attack the Iscand, and take their territories for themselves. That would be an even greater blow to the Iscand, one they might not recover from.

“Finally, we taught them to rightly fear our weapons and tactics, which were designed to let us take on larger, stronger foes. They will study their records of the fight, and send scouts this time, instead of a fleet. They’ll be looking to probe our defenses, and find out anything else that they can about our weapons and tactics, so that next time they can properly hunt us. They were on a fox hunt and the fox managed to take down several horses. You can be assured that they will want to know just what the fox can do before they call another hunt.”

I paused, and said, “Of course, that doesn’t mean any of us can rest easy. The Iscand are, after all, just one of the Ouran clans. The loss of so many ships, and the mauling the others took, will become known to the other clans. They will also send scouts, to see if good hunting can be had here.”

Bellegarde frowned. “Then, you should be turning over the technology you have to the UN, so that the world’s nations can properly prepare for this threat, instead of playing at being some petty dictator.”

“Yes, I’m sure the French would know all about having petty dictators running around. You sure did have a lot of them, after all. Even ones who said they were divinely appointed, so no one could question them, right? And let’s not start on Napoleon, yes?”

“Why you!”

“Yes, yes. I know, you’re very upset. I don’t care. I earned the technology I have, and I will not share it. You will just have to use the pirate ships that my forces only disabled, not destroyed, to jump start your research and advance your technology by decades.” Of course, I ignored the fact that none of the ships had landed in France. Not my problem, after all.

Baer cleared her throat to try and break the tension. “On that note, your Majesty, perhaps we could shift the topic to something more topical to why we gathered? You mentioned that you thought there should be alterations to the Geneva Conventions, based on the ‘realities of the System’ and the knowledge of the current standards in the wider galaxy? Perhaps you could elaborate a bit on that?”