I t was all quite impossible, of course. The texts drawn up on the basis of previous visits stated clearly that while Hyfftian civilization maintained a force of police equipped to deal with a broad range of domestic difficulties, they had no military capabilities whatsoever. Nor had they ever, in their modern history, displayed any inclination to pursue them. The fire that Ki-ru-vad and his companions were now taking was not only devastating in its effectiveness, it showed a knowledge of tactics that was as unsettling as the use of advanced firepower itself.
Where had the simple, inoffensive Hyfft acquired such devices? Surely they had not experienced a sudden burst of insight into the methodology of weapons manufacture, much less a desire to pursue it? As the stunned Iollth took cover behind what little protection the terminal interior offered, it was clear they were up against an opponent who understood more than crowd control. Where and how had the short, furry denizens of this congenial and wide-open world learned military tactics?
He would have ordered a retreat to the landing ship, except that the landing ship was a smoking ruin outside the building in which they were currently pinned down. The sequence of events implied planning and a good deal of forethought. His thoughts raced even as he tried to aim and fire. Why not destroy the shuttle when it had been on its descent? To lull the visitors into a sense of false security?
Something ionized the air above his head as it thrummed past to punch a hole in the wall well behind him. Whatever had made the sound and drilled the subsequent hole was not something designed for arresting unruly celebrants, nor was it likely to have been derived or modified from such. All around him, soldiers of Iollth were dying. They were trapped. More astonishingly, they were losing; being outshot, outguessed, and outmaneuvered. And this without the locals employing any heavy weaponry. Perhaps they wanted to try to save as much of the Pedwath terminal complex as possible. Possibly they wanted to take prisoners. Ki-ru-vad was unsure whether to be frightened or outraged.
In the end, which came very soon thereafter, he surrendered.
He could see the shock writ large in the faces of those around him as, singly and in small groups, they tossed their weapons into several piles on the attractively mosaicked floor. Only when the last sidearm and rifle had been discarded did their opponents begin to emerge from cover down the corridor and advance toward them. It was mortifying to see the Hyfft, those weak and inoffensive sentients, marching up the passageway to take control of what remained of the landing team. His anger was only partly tempered by his amazement at the sight of the weapons they carried. Fashioned like jewels to fit the small Hyfft’s hands, they were like nothing he had ever seen, either in person or in any text.
Then he saw the others.
Tall and slim, they carried themselves like warriors. Their body armor fit their slender forms as if it had been molded onto their lean muscularity. Limber arms and two-fingered hands supported weapons of a design as foreign to him as their bearers. Enormous, curving battlefield lenses covered huge eyes. Backpacks concealed unknown instrumentation and advanced weapons engineering.
As several of the willowy giants moved to stand guard over the growing heaps of surrendered guns, Ki-ru-vad observed several Hyfft (armored Hyfft!) conversing with them. This simple act clarified a great deal. Somehow, from somewhere, and by means unknown, the Hyfft had acquired allies. Aliens who were militarily sophisticated and, again for reasons unknown, willing to put their lives on the line for their much shorter, furry hosts. Professional mercenaries, perhaps. He almost felt sorry for them. They had no idea what they were getting into. And they were about to find out.
Accompanied by a particularly elderly male Hyfft, the female Hyfft turned and came toward him. Instinct, not to mention desire, demanded that Ki-ru-vad kick out with both feet, wrap his powerful legs around her neck, and snap her spine. He did not do so because the two Hyfft were joined by a pair of the tall aliens. Alert and ready, this escort focused on him and his nearby companions. Behind red-tinted transparent battle lenses, their impressive eyes were active and searching. Whoever these tall, interfering strangers were, they were used to the ways of warfare.
Not only that, they had somehow managed to train the formerly innocuous Hyfft in fighting tactics. Being taken by surprise and defeated by tall militaristic aliens was bad enough. Being taken prisoner by armed Hyfft was humiliating. If not from beam weapon or explosive shell, Ki-ru-vad felt he might well die of embarrassment.
Halting before him, the female made some adjustments to the two-piece translator system fastened to one ear and around her neck. Pushing back the battle goggles that protected and concealed her eyes, she looked up at him. He fought the urge to kick her small, flat teeth out through the back of her skull.
“I see by your insignia that you are of a high caste, therefore I address myself to you. I am Delineator Joulabb qi Administrator sa Twelve of Pedwath.” She indicated the elder standing next to her. “This is Yoracc ve Historian. He is present to observe, to record, and to comment.”
The Iollth muttered something uncomplimentary.
“Make an effort to be civil,” Joulabb chided him. “You are defeated. Though we Hyfft are not by nature a vengeful species, there are still those living who are old enough to remember the tales told by their immediate relations of your last visit to our world. It would not take much to convince the populace to dispense with diplomatic niceties and simply kill you all.”
Her words burned into him via the translator that was part of the instrumentation banded across the top of his head. Several of Ki-ru-vad’s fine, pointed teeth splintered and broke inside his mouth as his jaws clenched. The loss was of no significance, as the lost dentition would soon be replaced by his efficient physiology.
“Those who so reminisce should also remember the consequences of defiance,” he growled through his mask. “You are correct about one thing, though: much killing is going to follow this. Once word of what has happened here is digested and confirmed aboard the five ships, there will be such slaughter on Hyff as to make the visits of our predecessors seem like year-end celebrations of birthing.”
One of the tall aliens spoke to the Delineator. As Ki-ru-vad’s translator was unfamiliar with the creature’s language, he was unable to comprehend what passed between them. The female Hyfft helpfully explained.
“Djanu-kun wants to know if I can let him kill you. He doesn’t like your attitude.”
More curious than afraid, Ki-ru-vad squinted up at the alien. “It understands my speaking?”
Joulabb indicated in the affirmative. “All the Niyyuu were given access to your language, which has been programmed into their own translation apparatus. So he can understand your threats, yes.”
Lifting his left foot, the Iollth brought it down hard, smacking the floor with the tough, leathery sole. “Then it understands that it is going to die, along with everyone in this building?”
The alien’s reaction was worthy of note. It emitted a series of short, staccato coughs, as did its companion. Unfamiliar as he was with the species standing guard over him, Ki-ru-vad did not learn until much later that this singular respiratory response constituted Niyyuuan laughter. It was just as well. He was already frustrated and infuriated enough to threaten the coordinated pumping of his two hearts.
Again the insolent Hyfft conversed with one of the aliens—the Niyyuu, he told himself. He had never heard of them. It would be interesting to enter that name into the sacred texts and search for a match.
“Djanu-kun begs to disagree. He says that you and your companions fought well, and compliments you on your martial skills.”
Ki-ru-vad leaned back slightly and eyed the Niyyuuan warrior anew. If not common sense, at least these creatures were capable of showing proper respect. His opinion of the Hyfft’s allies, if not the Hyfft themselves, rose another degree.
“But he and his friends are not going to die,” Joulabb continued, “nor is anyone else in Pedwath, or anywhere across the whole expanse of Vinen-Aq. Fighting on this world has ceased.” She eyed him evenly and without rancor. “I am in contact with the forces of Hyff across the world. The same fate that has befallen you has overcome the landing parties from your other four ships. All have surrendered.” One furry hand adjusted the hearing unit that fit neatly over her other ear as she paused a moment to listen to something.
“No, that is not entirely correct. The landing party of Iollth that set down in the center of Cirelenn refused to lay down their weapons, and had to be completely destroyed.” She lowered her hand. “The loss of life is to be regretted.”
“It will be regretted far more when devastation such as this generation of Hyfft has not known and cannot imagine begins to rain down from the sky.” With one diminutive hand Ki-ru-vad indicated the nearest pile of surrendered armament. “These are toys compared to the weapons that are carried on the five ships themselves. You here may survive. Your proximity to myself and my companions offers you some degree of protection. But other cities, other communities where no Iollth are in danger, will feel the heavy heel of obliteration.” He gestured toward the curiously watching Niyyuu. “No contingent, or multiple contingents, of off-world mercenaries is going to save you.
“As for the vessels that brought them here,” he added, remembering what had been observed as the Iollth had entered the Hyff system and drawing the most reasonable conclusion, “they have departed. They were observed leaving this system and making the Jump before we entered orbit around your world.” He turned his attention to the silently observing Yoracc. “If you know your people’s past well, Historian, then you know that no Hyfftian aircraft or surface-based weapons can harm an Iollth spacecraft. As for any small local artificial satellites that may have been modified for military purposes, those are as easily dealt with.”
Having listened in silence to all that the unrepentant invader had to say, the elder Hyfft now gestured imperceptibly. Tilting back his head, the fur of which was white with age, he gazed thoughtfully skyward.
“No doubt all that you say is true, soldier of Iollth. We of Hyff and our new friends as well stand before you utterly at your mercy. There is no hope for us.”
Oddly, in direct contrast to his words, the historian did not seem especially unsettled. Nor did the Delineator Joulabb. As for the pair of mercenaries, or whatever they were—Niyyuuan warriors—they had not even bothered to follow the elder’s lead and look upward.
They just started coughing again.
On board the orbiting Iollth flagship Am-Drun-za-div, one inconceivable report after another passed swiftly before the incredulous eyes of the affiliates of the dominion caste. Sa-ru-vam reacted so sharply to the abrupt flood of disbelief conveyed by the tenuous yet precise instrumentation hovering before her that she nearly lost her skullcap. Large but agile toes worked in tandem with small, delicate fingers in a frantic search for confirmation. The results were undeniable. She knew they had to be so as the chamber came alive with a zephyr of confirming whispers.
“How could this have happened?” she demanded to know of her colleagues. “What of our detectors?”
“All aimed toward the world below,” another operator declared, “and aligned to monitor the primitive but efficient artificial satellites of the inhabitants. Nothing directed outward.”
And why should there be? she reflected as she stared in dumbfoundment at the increasingly somber readouts. The Hyfft could barely and only occasionally mount even the most feeble opposition from their own world. There was no reason, none whatsoever, to expect an attack from behind, from the reaches of extraplanetary space to which the locals had never aspired, and which they had only cursorily explored with simple automated scientific instruments.
Yet the threat was there, undeniable and immediate. An entire array of self-propelled devices, a potent mix of atomics and kinetics, were poised to close the remaining gap between themselves and all five Iollth craft. Awaiting, no doubt, only a reversion of the command that had halted them just short of their targets. Their origin was clear, now that detection fields had been adjusted to reach out into space and sweep the firmament behind the orbiting vessels.
There were two of the strange ships. Extensive in size, alien in design, and perfectly positioned, they had launched their weaponry immediately after emerging from concealment behind the largest of Hyff’s moons. With targets now in range, the Iollth were situated to respond—except that their own weapons would take notably longer to reach the two attacking vessels than the latter’s already launched devices would to reach theirs. Assuming the efficiency of the latter matched their stealth, the result would be five Iollth ships and their crews completely annihilated, with no guarantee of destroying their assailants. Electronic predictors repeatedly confirmed what direct observation had already proposed.
Like many battles in space, the end of this one was determined before it could be started.
“The fleeing traders,” observed a thoroughly muted Aj-kil-won as he turned around, his feet preceding him. “Or explorers. One is forced to wonder now at their true purpose, their real intent.” A small hand gestured at his own floating instrumentation. “Simple traders and explorers do not carry this kind of weaponry. Nor do they deploy it with such tactical skill and efficiency. What interests me at the moment is not how, but why? We have no quarrel with these folk, whoever they may be. Why are they doing this?”
Sa-ru-vam had already given the matter some thought. “Absurd as it may seem, it appears that our Hyfft have somehow, through means unknown and unimaginable to us, acquired powerful allies.” Raising one foot, she indicated the lower levels of her own suspended readouts. “Whatever the reason, one thing is unmistakable. We are defeated.”
She knew that the soft murmurs of incredulity that echoed through the Dominion chamber were likely being echoed elsewhere throughout the flotilla. There were no records, none, of the inoffensive, harmless, isolated Hyfft ever making use of allies, or attempting to acquire them. This development was unprecedented. Had it not been, it was unlikely the Iollth would have been so swiftly and completely taken by surprise.
Their instruments had shown the three visiting starships fleeing the Hyff system prior to the Iollth’s arrival. Developments now revealed this apparent flight to have been a sham, a clever diversion. Somehow, one of the alien craft had managed to simulate three departing drive fields, leaving the other two to conceal their presence behind the bulk of Hyff’s largest moon. And in fact, as she contemplated the most likely scenario, her own instruments revealed the presence of a new approaching signal: the absent, and deceiving, third alien craft.
Bitterly, she condemned the certitude and overconfidence that had allowed her kind to be overcome without a fight. The question now was: Why had these mysterious newcomers involved themselves in a confrontation that was none of their business, and what did they intend to do with their victory? She suspected that she and her kind were likely to find out very soon.
Meanwhile, there was nothing for them to do but surrender.
“There’s nothing for thems to do but surrender.” Commander-Captain Gerlla-hyn’s observation might have been obvious to Berred-imr and the rest of his staff, but it was far less so to the one anxious human and curious dog who stood in the command room off to one side and out of the way.
“I don’t understand. Nobody’s fired a shot.” Walker looked to his left, to where Sque squatted on her tentacles, as bored with the proceedings as she was with any that did not orbit around her.
“Nobody’s even barked.” Tail wagging energetically, eyes alert, George stared in fascination at the schematic that floated in the air before them all. It showed clearly the surface of Hyff, the five Iollth ships, the two Niyyuuan vessels, and a scattering of bright pinpoints of light, each one representing a lethal, self-propelled weapon.
It was left to the hulking Braouk, leaning up against one wall as he did his best to avoid stepping on any of the participants, to explain. As he did so, he gestured with both eyestalks as well as all four upper limbs.
“No valid reason, to pursue a clash, already won.” Both eyes rose at the end of their stalks to study the glowing schematic. “Niyyuuan weapons systems, in excellent position to, finish fight. Whereas the Iollth, have not even commenced, weapons deployment. For them to, do so now would, be suicidal.” While one eye remained on high studying the projection, the other dipped down low to regard Walker. “The tactics of advanced armaments, Marcus. Combat in space, between ships, is not like limb-to-limb fighting on a solid surface. Preparation is more important than execution. Outcome is often, foretold before anyone needs, to die.”
“Communication is coming in.” Everyone turned to where Gerlla-hyn was speaking aloud. There was a pause, but only verbally. Around the command center, Niyyuuan technicians and crew were actively at work.
“The Iollth have surrendered,” the Commander-Captain announced. “The battle is now formally as well as tactically won.” Strident whistles of satisfaction filled the room.
Some battle, Walker thought. Not even insults had passed between ships. “What now?” he wondered aloud.
“Why now,” Sque commented, “we discuss with the Hyfft how they wish to treat with their former tormentors.” One tentacle reached up to clean an eye. “Civilized folk would come to some peaceable, mutually satisfactory arrangement for future relations that would not involve the subjugation and exploitation of one species by another. Revenge being a term employed only by the primitive, I would expect the Hyfft to demand it in some measure.” Other tentacle tips quivered. “I do not expect, but would be delighted, to be surprised. I am especially glad that our intervention was able to be accomplished with no loss of life on either side.”
Walker frowned at her. As was often the case, the K’eremu’s words left him with the distinct impression that there was more she could say, that she knew more than she cared to share, if only she would choose to do so. And as was often the case, she remained silent and offered nothing more on the subject at hand. He tried another tack.
“We still don’t know what happened to the Iollth landing parties,” he pointed out.
“That is so,” she admitted. “One can only hope word was received from on high before much violence was committed.”
Trotting over to the K’eremu, George sniffed one extended tentacle. It promptly coiled sharply away from him. It was clear to Walker that his four-legged friend also suspected Sque was holding something back. “What do you care, squid? These Iollth have plagued and mistreated the Hyfft for centuries. Sounds to me like it would do them collectively good to have the crap kicked out of a few of them.”
The K’eremu’s silvery horizontal eyes withdrew even farther into their sockets. “That is typical of the scatological appraisals that I have come to expect from lower lifeforms such as yourself. Simply because the Iollth are militarily superior to the Hyfft and the latter have been courteous to us does not automatically mean that the Hyfft are superior to their invaders in all other ways. We know nothing of these aggressive visitors other than what the Hyfft have told us. Truly, enough to induce us, or at least you and the Niyyuu, to decide to help them. I maintain that is insufficient grounds for condemning the Iollth unreservedly.”
Walker frowned down at the K’eremu. “How can you side with them, Sque? You saw the same horrific historical documentation as the rest of us.”
Tilting back her upper body, she looked up at him. “I side with no one who is not K’eremu. I am simply saying that while the Hyfft have grounds for abhorring the Iollth, the rest of us do not.” A pair of tentacles gestured at the massive floating image. “It may be that our hosts will wish to execute a sampling of their tormentors. There is no compelling reason why that should be our wish. The Iollth have done nothing to us. It is one thing to intervene to settle a quarrel. It is another to take permanent sides.”
She was right, Walker realized. Having been exposed to the historical evidence of the Iollth’s depredations, he was pained to admit it, but there was no reason why he and his friends should take an active interest in punishing the invaders.
Or did the K’eremu have something else in mind, as she so often did? If that was the case, she was not volunteering her thoughts. He saw no reason to try to draw them out, as they would only be revealed in her own good time.
Certainly the Niyyuu seemed happy with the outcome. Once the surrender had been recognized and accepted, Gerlla-hyn left the necessary follow-up details in the capable hands of Berred-imr and came over to join them.
“There to be a formal ceremony of surrender on surface.” One limber, two-fingered hand indicated the hovering schematic. “All our weapons to remain in position until then, and maybe for some time afterwards, until we certain of Iollth intentions. Knowing nothing about them, cannot trust them so easily.” Wide, golden eyes gazed down at them while Braouk in turn regarded the Commander-Captain from on high.
“Should alls be most pleased at success of strategy. Could not work second time since Iollth now aware of our stance, but that is good thing about such tactics. Need only work one time. Is some regretfulness among crews. Not have opportunity in historical times to utilize modern weapons.”
Haughtily superior, Sque turned away in disgust, surrounded as she was by inferior minds. Only accident and circumstance had caused her to fall in with these Niyyuu, not to mention a Tuuqalian, a canine, and a human. It could just as easily have been with these Iollth. How she longed for home and intellectual surroundings that, however fractious, were steeped in common sense!
Addressing himself to Walker, Gerlla-hyn continued politely. “As nominal director of forces, is decided you must attend surrender ceremony.”
Walker looked startled. “Me? But this is something for the Hyfft to handle, and for your people to oversee.” He spread his hands. “I wouldn’t know what to do or say.”
“That goes without saying,” Sque put in, but by now no one was paying attention to her.
“Not need do or say anything,” Gerlla-hyn assured him. “Only needs you provide presence.” Now that the “battle” was concluded, his frill was completely relaxed, as were his quadruple tails. “Is useful defeated Iollth see that Hyfft have support of not just Niyyuu but four other sentient species as well.” His gaze shifted beyond Walker. “Yous all should attend.” Both eyes settled on Sque. “Perhaps even K’eremu deign to grace ceremony with presence, so as to demonstrate innate superiority of at least one species among victors.”
Sque, who had turned away, now pivoted in place. A few desultory bubbles emerged from her pink speaking tube as she idly jiggled some of the garish metal ornaments that decorated her smooth frame.
“I suppose it is necessary. For purposes of efficiency, if nothing else. These Iollth should cooperate more easily once they see that there is at least one superior mind among their vanquishers. Very well, I will come along. If nothing else, it will provide the opportunity to visit the local ocean once more.”