Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace by David Buck Page B
Book: Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace by David Buck
Read Free Book Online
Authors: David Buck
Ads: Link
abandon the Traders if they felt threatened. The Trader was also aware that his mentor had now crossed the line as far as loyalty to the Zronte was concerned. However he was relieved that the twin secrets of the earlier Maveen instructions and the presence of humans would not be discussed by the Cephrit.
Garendestat unfolded a pair of tables and was soon laying out a selection of foods that the Traders had brought from the Barede colony. Narindestat and Garendestat now took turns introducing both the Cephrit to the human foods.
‘The humans come from a diverse world with over six times the genetic diversity of even the most abundant Deltas Vass worlds. The tables only hold a modest sampling of what is available from the humans. We urge caution in ingesting these foods, noting we only have had trouble with their so called dairy products.’
The fleet master with his greater senses could smell strange and powerful aromas from the human foods, but knew that by protocol the assault leader would be given first taste. He crouched back from the tables as he listened patiently to the food descriptions, and his mate willingly tasted them all. After several minutes she was back at his side and crouching to offer him a large plate of selected human food.
‘Fleet master, I have brought over a selection of root vegetables that the Traders favour. They also have a selection of fruits and there is something interesting called honey that comes from an insect called a bee.’
The fleet master thanked the assault leader and slowly began to eat; savouring the exotic flavours as he considered again the reasons the Traders had sought for this meeting. Narindestat called up a holographic map of the immediate area of the galaxy around Cephrit and human space. The fleet master could see that their territories would not encroach for centuries, and he waited quietly for Narindestat to get to the point. Narindestat brought up another display, this time of a chart of planet names and population figures.
As the Cephrit looked over the holograms critically Narindestat began to speak.
‘I am un-aware of the current population of Earth, but historically we know that it was over populated before their great pandemic. Now the figures you see in front of you list the population of the Barede federation over the last one hundred and fifty years.’
Narindestat was aware of a sharp rasp of anxiety from the assault leader as she considered the information. But he also noted that the fleet master had gone still as he looked over the numbers.
‘Now the Barede humans have settled on over a dozen outer worlds and they plan to settle several more as they progress back into the galaxy.’
The fleet master made a comment out of exasperation as he continued to evaluate the progress of the colonists.
‘So it appears we have become complacent after the Barus identified that these humans are both short lived and technologically inferior to the vassal races. This is almost a replay of how your own race went wrong before their downfall at the hands of the Zronte and the Vorinne. The colonists have gone from twelve million to around ninety million in one hundred and fifty years. We are active in the outer zones with projects of our own, so we will have to increase our exploration efforts in these zones further.’
The assault leader had made a careful calculation that she also shared.
‘So assuming that one in ten are capable warriors then they already have an armed force of nine million. Now that is before we add the probably larger population of the human home world.’
The Cephrit fleet master had stopped tasting the human food as he suddenly found he had lost his appetite. Narindestat offered a brief statement of his own as he noted the sudden anxiety of the Cephrit.
‘We felt that we had to mention this to you fleet master. We ourselves have had limited success influencing the human leaders and we seek your assistance.’
The fleet master first
Garendestat unfolded a pair of tables and was soon laying out a selection of foods that the Traders had brought from the Barede colony. Narindestat and Garendestat now took turns introducing both the Cephrit to the human foods.
‘The humans come from a diverse world with over six times the genetic diversity of even the most abundant Deltas Vass worlds. The tables only hold a modest sampling of what is available from the humans. We urge caution in ingesting these foods, noting we only have had trouble with their so called dairy products.’
The fleet master with his greater senses could smell strange and powerful aromas from the human foods, but knew that by protocol the assault leader would be given first taste. He crouched back from the tables as he listened patiently to the food descriptions, and his mate willingly tasted them all. After several minutes she was back at his side and crouching to offer him a large plate of selected human food.
‘Fleet master, I have brought over a selection of root vegetables that the Traders favour. They also have a selection of fruits and there is something interesting called honey that comes from an insect called a bee.’
The fleet master thanked the assault leader and slowly began to eat; savouring the exotic flavours as he considered again the reasons the Traders had sought for this meeting. Narindestat called up a holographic map of the immediate area of the galaxy around Cephrit and human space. The fleet master could see that their territories would not encroach for centuries, and he waited quietly for Narindestat to get to the point. Narindestat brought up another display, this time of a chart of planet names and population figures.
As the Cephrit looked over the holograms critically Narindestat began to speak.
‘I am un-aware of the current population of Earth, but historically we know that it was over populated before their great pandemic. Now the figures you see in front of you list the population of the Barede federation over the last one hundred and fifty years.’
Narindestat was aware of a sharp rasp of anxiety from the assault leader as she considered the information. But he also noted that the fleet master had gone still as he looked over the numbers.
‘Now the Barede humans have settled on over a dozen outer worlds and they plan to settle several more as they progress back into the galaxy.’
The fleet master made a comment out of exasperation as he continued to evaluate the progress of the colonists.
‘So it appears we have become complacent after the Barus identified that these humans are both short lived and technologically inferior to the vassal races. This is almost a replay of how your own race went wrong before their downfall at the hands of the Zronte and the Vorinne. The colonists have gone from twelve million to around ninety million in one hundred and fifty years. We are active in the outer zones with projects of our own, so we will have to increase our exploration efforts in these zones further.’
The assault leader had made a careful calculation that she also shared.
‘So assuming that one in ten are capable warriors then they already have an armed force of nine million. Now that is before we add the probably larger population of the human home world.’
The Cephrit fleet master had stopped tasting the human food as he suddenly found he had lost his appetite. Narindestat offered a brief statement of his own as he noted the sudden anxiety of the Cephrit.
‘We felt that we had to mention this to you fleet master. We ourselves have had limited success influencing the human leaders and we seek your assistance.’
The fleet master first
Similar Books
