Chapter 12
Unseen Powers
On the bridge of the Emerald Warrior, the communications officer reported to Morley. "I still can't reach Mr. Landen's shuttlecraft, Captain. There's a great deal of interference on all channels.""Is the Eastern Alliance battleship jamming communications again?" Morley asked."I don't think that their battleship is close enough to jam our communications. The Tragadomians are probably causing the interference.""Captain," the navigator said, "we're losing orbit. At the present rate we'll fall into the atmosphere in ten minutes.""Make the necessary correction to place us back up in the proper orbit," Morley told the helmsman."I'm trying, Captain, but the instruments aren't responding," the helmsman said."I have control of your ship," the deep voice came booming out of the speaker system."It's the same voice that we heard before!" Morley said in surprise."That's correct, Captain Morley," the voice said. "And my previous warning was not heeded. Your companion ship, the Challenger, was destroyed as a result. I hope that you have learned to obey my commands. I do not want to destroy you. You must surrender your ship to my soldiers. You stand no chance against me. There are a dozen different ways that I can put an end to the Emerald Warrior and her crew."Morley intuitively knew that the speaker was not bluffing. Yet it went against Morley's grain to surrender his ship."Although I could demand your unconditional surrender, I will not do so," the voice resumed. "I will promise you that you and your crew will not be harmed if you do not defy me." "How do I know that I can believe you?" Morley asked. "Who are you?""I am the Keeper of Promises," the voice said.Morley paused and considered the situation. The Western Alliance ships had come to Noelm in order to negotiate for the release of the Noelmians held prisoner by the Tragadomians. Morley believed that he stood a good chance of successfully carrying out the bargaining process even if he and his crew became prisoners themselves. The Tragadomians' greed for earth's resources would prompt them to listen to Morley's offers.Morley made his decision. Unless they surrendered, the ship and the crew and all hope for the captive Noelmians would be destroyed. Morley's choice would leave open the possibility that, someday in the near future, the Emerald Warrior would fly back to earth with its mission accomplished."We will allow our ship to be boarded by your soldiers," Morley said. "However, if you do not return us to normal orbit soon, we will perish before they arrive.""Consider it done," the voice said. "You have chosen wisely, Captain Morley.""We're back in the proper orbit, sir," the navigator told Morley."Good," Morley said, watching the viewscreen for the inevitable approach of Tragadomian cruisers.Morley walked over to the computer console and typed in a secret code that deactivated all of the ship's weapons systems and turned off the engines. This feature had been built into the ship so that the Emerald Warrior could not be used by an enemy against the Western Alliance nations. If an enemy seized control of the ship and tried to override the secret code, the ship would explode.Thus Morley made sure that the Tragadomians could not go to war against earth in the Emerald Warrior, a ship larger and more powerful than their cruisers. When the three Western Alliance ships had been under construction at the space station, some politicians had wanted a self-destruct mechanism built into each ship. However, since such a mechanism would likely result in the death of the crews, the less drastic method of rendering the ships useless to an occupying force was implemented.On each of the three ships, only the captain and first officer knew the secret code that deactivated the engines and weapons systems. Both men also knew a second secret code that would reactivate the engines and weapons, thus bringing the ship back to full power. Morley ardently hoped that he would have the opportunity to type in that second code.The shuttlecraft that had been seized from the Revolution by Rugert and his engineers landed in a field located fifty miles to the west of the forest where Landen and his companions were hidden. The Noelmian engineers disembarked from the shuttle and stepped onto the soil of their planet. It felt good to be home after such a long absence.Rugert had a plan to rescue the captive Noelmians. He assumed that by now the Eastern Alliance had succeeded in destroying all three of the Western Alliance ships, which would mean that all help was gone because the Eastern Alliance was not interested in freeing the captive Noelmians. Believing that he and his men would have to act on their own, Rugert planned to follow a course of action similar to the one used by Landen on his previous trip to Noelm. The Noelmian engineers would use their well-armed shuttlecraft to launch a surprise attack on a Tragadomian military base. They could steal several cruisers from the base. Rugert and three of his engineers were capable of piloting Tragadomian cruisers. The non-pilots would be sent into the Noelmian populace in order to rally support for the uprising. With some luck, other Noelmian pilots and engineers could be freed so that they too could seize cruisers.Rugert was jolted out of his meditative state by cries from his engineers. They were pointing up at the sky. Rugert looked up to see a shuttlecraft descending through the clouds."It's not a Tragadomian cruiser," one man said. "Stelko's soldiers have come after us!" another called out."No," Rugert assured him. "That is a shuttlecraft from one of the Western Alliance ships."They watched the shuttlecraft land, then approached as Troy Roarke and his crew disembarked. Roarke had never met any of these Noelmian engineers, but he spotted the Eastern Alliance emblem on the shuttle. The Americans drew their laser pistols."Who are you?" Roarke asked."We are Noelmians. I am Rugert and these are my engineers. We fled from the command ship, the Revolution, after it destroyed the Continental. I can't tell you how sorry I am that we helped the Eastern Alliance build their battleships. I can only hope that the Challenger and the Emerald Warrior have survived.""The Emerald Warrior is in perfect shape and is in orbit around this planet," Roarke said, not knowing that his ship had fallen to the Tragadomians since his departure. "My shuttle crew and I have been searching for the Challenger, but we haven't been able to find any trace of her. I fear that she has been destroyed. The Eastern Alliance didn't destroy the Challenger; however, it wasn't from want of trying." Roarke briefly related the space battles that had been fought."When my shuttle crew and I were returning to the Emerald Warrior, our scanners detected your craft," Roarke added. "We thought that your shuttle might be from the Challenger, so we followed you down to the surface.""We will return to the Emerald Warrior with you as your prisoners," Rugert told Roarke. "I shall accept any punishment that Peter Landen and Captain Morley deem to be appropriate. I will request clemency for my engineers, though. They came to the Eastern Alliance out of loyalty to me. I am the one to blame for the tragic consequences of our actions.""I don't think that you will be treated harshly on the Emerald Warrior," Roarke said. "Your intentions were good. When we get back to the ship, you and your engineers can assist us in planning our strategy.""We will help you in any way that we can," Rugert said.The Noelmians got back into their shuttle, while Roarke and his crew returned to their craft. Within minutes, the two shuttles blasted off.The Noelmians followed the Americans into space. The shuttles soon came within visual range of the Emerald Warrior.Roarke hailed his command ship. "Emerald Warrior, this is First Officer Troy Roarke. We request clearance to dock." When no response came from the command ship, Roarke repeated the message. Once again there was only silence. "Perhaps the Eastern Alliance is interfering with our communications again," Roarke said doubtfully. He sensed that something was terribly wrong."Docking gates are being opened, sir," the shuttle pilot told Roarke."All right, let's go into the Emerald Warrior, but be ready to break out of dock in a hurry if I give the command." The shuttle pilot glanced over at Roarke. "Why would you want us to break out of dock, sir?""It probably won't be necessary," Roarke said. "Don't secure the craft to the dock until I give the order, though." The shuttle entered the docking area. Normally the pilot would have flicked a switch that would cause the shuttle to be firmly secured in position in the dock. However, this time the pilot delayed until he was told to do so by Roarke."Open hatch doors," Roarke said, his hand on his laser pistol.Just as he feared, when the doors opened, a squad of Tragadomian soldiers were waiting inside the ship. Roarke fired at them in order to keep them out of the shuttlecraft. "Close doors!" he exclaimed. "Break out of dock!"The doors slammed shut. The startled pilot quickly pulled his craft out of the dock."Tragadomians have seized the Emerald Warrior!" Roarke transmitted to Rugert's shuttlecraft. "Turn back to Noelm!" "Message acknowledged," Rugert said as his shuttle made a wide turn to reverse directions."The Tragadomians could use the Emerald Warrior's laser cannons to fire on us!" the shuttle pilot said nervously to Roarke."No," Roarke reassured him. "Captain Morley would have used the secret code to deactivate the ship's weapons and main engines before the Tragadomians took control of the ship.""The Tragadomians might have stormed the bridge before Captain Morley had enough time to use the code," the pilot said."Captain Morley would have somehow found the time," Roarke said. "It only take a few seconds to type in the code.""You must be right," the pilot said. "They would have fired on us by now if they had the capability."As the two shuttles entered the planet's atmosphere, Rugert sent a message to Roarke. "First Officer Roarke, I know of a hidden cove located sixty miles to the southeast of the spot where we met. If we land in this cove, we might have sufficient time to plan strategy before the Tragadomians find us.""Sounds like a good hiding place," Roarke said. "Lead the way, Mr. Rugert."Although Rugert had stolen one of the Eastern Alliance shuttles, three shuttles remained. Stelko had squeezed as many soldiers as he could into those shuttles and flew to Noelm. His soldiers had managed to waylay a group of Tragadomian soldiers, killing some of them and taking the majority of them hostage. By using the hostages, he had managed to reach the power center of the planet.The Crystal Palace stood in the middle of a vast plain that extended for over twenty miles, from the Golden Mountains in the west to the rugged forest country in the east. Steel walls guarded by hundreds of soldiers encircled the palace, but the presence of the fortifications in no way diminished the beauty of the palace.Even a battle-hardened soldier like Stelko gasped in awe when he beheld the Crystal Palace. It was a vast structure entirely built out of diamonds and crystals. When the sun shone brightly, light beams passing through the crystals created a prism effect, creating a dazzling rainbow of colors that could be seen from miles away.Stelko and a hundred of his soldiers waited at the gates of the palace. The Eastern Alliance soldiers held their sixty-five Tragadomian hostages close to them. Several hundred Tragadomian soldiers surrounded the humans.The stand-off at the gate continued for several minutes. Although Stelko realized that he was playing a dangerous game, he believed that it was his only chance. The weapons systems on the Revolution had been damaged beyond repair. Therefore, Stelko no longer had any means to launch an attack against the Emerald Warrior. He had to enlist the aid of the Tragadomians, and extortion seemed to be the only method of obtaining that aid.Stelko watched in amazement as a man clothed in black robes emerged from the palace and walked to the front gates. The man addressed the Tragadomian officer who commanded the soldiers that surrounded the humans."I told you to kill all humans who landed on this planet," the man in black said using telepathy. "Why have you allowed these humans to come here?""Our soldiers who are held hostage would have been slain if we had moved against the humans," the Tragadomian officer replied. "I thought that it would be better to bring them here so that you personally could kill the humans without loss of life to our own soldiers.""Very well," Adrian Baalson said. "Your reasoning is acceptable to me." He dismissed the Tragadomian officer and looked at Stelko. "You are an Eastern Alliance general," Baalson said aloud.Stelko, who had expected to be dealing with a Tragadomian, was dumbfounded to see that an English-speaking man gave orders to the Tragadomian army. For several seconds Stelko remained silent, trying to analyze the situation. Baalson became annoyed. "Do you have nothing to say to me? If not, release my soldiers whom you are holding captive and return to your shuttlecraft and go on your way."Stelko smirked. "If I released my captives, I would not live long enough to get back to my shuttlecraft.""What do you want here?" Baalson demanded."To speak with the Ruler of this planet," Stelko said."Then speak.""Are you the Ruler?""As far as you are concerned, I am," Baalson said. "All of your dealings will be with me.""You sound like an American.""That's correct.""How did you come here?" Stelko inquired. "How did you obtain your rank?""I feel no obligation to explain either my presence here or the governing structure of this society.""You will be pleased to have us here when you realize how much we can help you," Stelko said. "Your government is in danger of being toppled, but my troops and I can help you maintain power. The American warship, the Emerald Warrior, is in orbit around your planet and has dispatched shuttlecraft carrying troops to the surface. The Americans have come to rescue the Noelmians who serve you. In exchange for the invaluable services of these thousands of Noelmian workers, the Americans will offer you a meager portion of earth's resources. Do not be deceived by their offers. The Americans ultimately plan to wrest control of Tragadom away from you. They want this planet all to themselves." Baalson smiled sardonically. "Of course, you do not entertain any such aspirations of conquest.""Of course, we hope to profit from our long voyage to Tragadom. In return for our assistance to you, we hope that you will allow us to establish a small colony on this planet. And, in the coming years, we could negotiate mutually-beneficial trade agreements.""How do you plan to assist me?" Baalson asked."In many ways. As an initial act of goodwill, I will dispatch my unit of elite troops to track down and eliminate the American landing party before they succeed in fomenting revolution against you.""Oh, I understand now. Previously, it had seemed that your initial act of goodwill would be to hold my troops captive, thereby preventing them from searching for the Americans who seek to foment revolution against me." Although the sarcasm infuriated Stelko, the general's face remained impassive. "Unfortunately, it was necessary for us to take captives so that we could arrange this meeting.""Then, since you have accomplished your objective of arranging this meeting, you can release the hostages," Baalson said."It will be necessary for us to take the hostages aboard our ship and keep them until you have demonstrated that you intend to deal with us in a spirit of goodwill. One fine way in which you could show your goodwill would be to attack the Emerald Warrior. If you could capture the American command ship intact, you could turn it over to me. That would be a fine gesture of goodwill.""It certainly would be," Baalson said, flashing the sardonic grin again.Stelko did not know that the Tragadomians had already seized the Emerald Warrior, and Baalson had no intention of telling him."Well, for the present time, we will return to our ship," Stelko said. "My elite unit will remain, though, in order to assist you.""That will be fine. Good-bye, General." Baalson sauntered back toward the palace.Stelko, his soldiers, and their hostages began their long walk back to the shuttles. When they had traveled a half-mile, Stelko turned and looked back at the Crystal Palace. It was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.
