FALAHA'S JOURNEY: A Spacegirl's Account in Three Movements

Episode #58

"Some time ago, there weren't this many dead ships here. But there's one ship you'd want to see." Father carefully lowered me into another passage between the scrap and climbed down himself, followed by Baro and Eyuran. "His Kernel brothers are presumably dead, and what remains of him has been heavily damaged, but he is still operational because of the Arcai Backup Systems. So, as helpless as he is now, he still might fly, even for one last time. If alive, he would have been honored. He's a warship, after all. Baro, have you ever heard of a man named Ordo Brennat Kljvk?"

"Brennat... Brennat... He was my and Tarrenat's great-great grandfather, I think."

"That man was the one who designed ABS for Tjrnenagh."

"Ah," Baro said calmly.

"Surprised?" Father asked him.

"Not really." Baro's eyes were sparkling with curiosity, though. Failed liar. Eyuran's face radiated with excitement about seeing the legendary ship in person as well.

Oh, I see what you did there, Father. Even the Medan received a place in your plan.

"Kieren-rjg, why no one has engaged the Baali directly so far?"

"That," he replied. "Wasn't easy to get to know them in person and survive, you know. So until the opportunity came, we spent plenty of resources and time to extend and create armies of new machines to equip every Mechmaster, and to build other devices. In truth, we started the construction long before the Baali and the Hunters appeared, expecting something of the sort with our expansion to the stars, yet they still managed to surprise us. So to gain the lost advantage, nations were retreating to appear weak and vulnerable to the enemy. And lure them out. With every captured ship and person we fed them deceptive pieces of information to complete our objective, to control their pace and keep it in our favor. If we fail to escape this place and rescue others in time, we'll be taken down along it—this whole bunch of Enclaves is speeding right into our trap everyone had helped to create. Nice things are waiting for them at the other side of the dive region. Sacrifices were unavoidable, but the death toll is much smaller than if everyone had engaged the Baali with their available forces. We tried to divert their attention from the weakest members of the Commonwealth, though."

"Why would they create Hunters?" Eyuran asked.

"Caring about one's family means no one wants to send their son or daughter to die."

"Oh? Same as us, I see," I said. "Doesn't that make a weakness, though?"

Father nodded. "It definitely would be a weakness for some other species, but it isn't actually one for their kind. They simply don't know well enough what they are dealing with. Though long dead, it seems Kané is still a danger that haunts the murderers, as long as we, her Blood Brood, are alive. If we truly are a force in her plan, no one seems to know what that plan is. So they are careful with an unknown force. Commonwealth was vast; by using our own resources they were trying to evaluate our strength. It took two hundred years to reassure them that we hid no deadly surprises to get them to show their true colors. And their ships, of course. They become so bold they started visiting us in person quite frequently."

"If they are so uncertain about their ability to win, why did they attack us in the first place?" Baro scratched his head.

"Make no mistake, the Baali are formidable opponents. Their slow emergence means they are seeking sure ways to destroy us completely—they want no survivors. So far we've been absorbing the impact from all the attacks, but they didn't want to show their full power immediately either. And looks like they have troubles on other ends. Shaamta probably has more resources in his hand than these seven Enclaves—their crews already heavily outnumber us, and maybe other Sangu are backing him as well. He is not interested in war games, and had we engaged him with our segregated fleets, it wouldn't be too long before they attacked and wiped us out, quickly, efficiently, and mercilessly. Unfortunately, I cannot predict if our plan, crafted for so long, will work and if we are strong enough to take them on, full force. He might be waiting for us to show him our key resource for that major opportune moment."