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“Mendesto, you are clear for landing. Proceed to Sector twelve, landing gate two.”
“Thank you control,” replied the Lieutenant. “Well, General, how does it feel to finally come home?”
“I’d forgot how beautiful Qualin is,” observed the General. “After we land, I believe the first thing I will do is to kiss the ground.”
“I think you’ll be impressed with the changes that have been made since we signed the non-aggression treaty with the Krogans,” observed the Lieutenant. “I believe you will especially like the way Hachdon, your home city, has grown and changed.”
“It will be so refreshing to see old friends,” mused the General.
“How long have you been away?”
“Well, let’s see,” pondered the General. “It was eight cycles fighting the Krogans on Prokk, another nine cycles chasing them through the galaxy, and then the last two cycles, since the treaty, helping shore up the perimeter around the border.”
“That’s a long time, sir.”
“Yes, indeed,” reflected the General. “And I’m starting to feel the weariness of it all.”
Suddenly, without warning, a shock wave shook the Mendesto to its core. Warning sirens started blaring with red warning lights flashing all over the control panel.
“Pull up! Pull up!” yelled the General. The Lieutenant struggled with the controls to bring the ship back to orbit and away from harm. The General took a quick look out the window portal in time to see a mushroom shaped cloud rising from the surface of the planet.
“I’ve got the ship back under control,” said a relieved Lieutenant. “What could have caused such a shock wave?”
“A nuclear explosion,” replied the General as he felt his heart drop in his chest.
“Nuclear, sir?” asked the Lieutenant in disbelief. “No one has used nuclear devices in over a hundred cycles!”
“Well they did this time,” observed the General. “See if you can locate the origin.”
“Will do, sir,” replied the Lieutenant. “Do you think it’s the Krogans?”
“I wouldn’t think so,” thought the General. “I don’t know.”
“Sir, I have located the origin.”
“Where?”
“The blast originated in the downtown area of Hachdon,” replied the Lieutenant. He turned to look at the General. “Sir, the whole city is gone!”
###############
It had been one week since a nuclear explosion had destroyed the city of Hachdon. The General was still on the ship Mendesto in orbit above Qualin. Immediately after the blast, Control Central stopped any vessels from landing. There would be no landings until it was determined who was friend or foe and who was responsible for such a dastardly deed.
The General had plenty of time for the shock and disbelief of the event to turn to grief and rage. Hachdon was the city of his youth. Even though he had not been home in many cycles, the people he knew, most of the family he had, and the places he was most fond of were now gone.
“Excuse me, sir.”
“Yes, Lieutenant.”
“Sir, the President is on the com wishing to speak to you,” replied an obviously excited Lieutenant.
“The President wants to speak to me?”
“Yes, sir!”
###############
“Mr. President.”
“Hello, General,” came the President’s voice over the intercom. “I hope you are well considering what has happened.”
“As well as can be expected, sir,” replied the General. “And how are you holding up?”
“Oh, I’m as mad as hell,” spoke the President. “You spend your whole life trying to fight for the right things, and then some little twit takes it upon himself to make life miserable.”
“Yes, sir.”
“General, the reason I’m calling you is, we have caught a suspect in the bombing,” revealed the President.
“Is he Krogan?”
“No, he’s Prokkian,” replied the President.
The General caught his breath. He had spent eight long cycles on Prokk helping them fight off the Krogans.
“How can this be, Mr. President?” asked the General. “Prokk doesn’t have nuclear capabilities or the resources to do such a thing.”
“Well, they did,” replied the President. “After much interrogation, the suspect has confessed everything.”
“I’m in shock, Mr. President,” confessed the General. “We helped that planet get rid of tyranny, and this is the thanks we get?”
“Well, General, it appears no good deed ever goes without punishment,” reflected the President. “It appears the Prokkians found an abandoned nuclear weapon and figured out how to use it.”
“Sir, we did not leave one behind,” revealed the General. “We checked and double checked to make sure we took such weapons with us when we left the planet.”
“Yes, you’re right,” replied the President. “Analysis at the ruins suggests the weapon is of Krogan origin.”
“The Krogans left one behind?”
“Either that or sold one to the Prokkians,” reflected the President.
“I seriously doubt they sold one,” replied the General. “They have already taken everything of value from Prokk. I would tend to believe that, in their haste to leave, they left one behind.”
“Very possible. Very possible, indeed,” reflected the President.
“But Mr. President,” pondered the General. “How in the world did a Prokkian smuggle such a weapon all the way here?”
“Our preliminary investigation indicates they did it with the help of the Jachwans,” revealed the President.
“The Jachwans, sir?”
“Yes, it appears so,” replied the President. “We think they bribed their way onto a freighter and made their way to our world.”
“Sir, I’m the first person against genocide,” reflected the General. “But sometimes I wonder if, instead of signing a treaty, we shouldn’t have smashed those smelly little Jachwan rats when we had a chance.”
“Once again, we try to take the high road and this is the price we pay,” declared the President.
“So, what do we do now, sir?”
“General, this is where I, in fact, our entire planet need your help,” stated the President.
“Yes, sir?”
“You know Prokk better than anyone else,” reflected the President. “I need you to lead an army back there and find the ones responsible for this.”
“I thought my days in the army were over,” mused the General.
“I know, and I wish there was someone else,” replied the President. “I know this is asking a great sacrifice on your part. Heaven knows you deserve better.”
“Mr. President, it will be a great undertaking,” reflected the General.
“General, no one will think any less of you if you refuse this assignment,” remarked the President.
“Thank you, sir,” replied the General. “But I don’t know if I could live with myself if I didn’t accept. Besides, the city of my youth and everything outside of my army life is gone.”
“I can appreciate your feelings,” reflected the President. “You will have whatever resources you need to do the job.”
“Thank you, sir. Does Intelligence have any leads as to who of the Prokkians is responsible?” asked the General.
“There is one name that keeps coming up,” revealed the President. “But that is all we have.”
“What is the name, sir?”
“Well, if I can pronounce this right,” observed the President. “The name I have here is Habakkuk.”
“Habakkuk, sir?”
“Yes, why does the name mean anything to you?” asked the President.
“Well, I do remember a little boy by that name,” reflected the General. “He was the son of Rokk, and he used to play around my tent.”
“It may just be a coincidence,” replied the President. “But whoever is responsible, I want you to find them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And General, do me a personal favor,” declared the President. “Bring them back here alive so we can make an example of them to the universe.”
###############
“We have him in the outer room.”
“Very good, Tonukk,” replied Habakkuk. “Has he cooperated at all?”
“He’s a Krogan,” laughed Tonukk. “With his superiority he thinks he can resist anything.”
“Well, that just makes it more of a challenge,” observed Habakkuk. “Did much of his ship survive the crash?”
“It’s in pretty good shape,” replied Tonukk. “For the size of the hole from the meteor he hit, I’d say he did a good job at landing at all.”
“Are the technicians from the lab looking at the ship?” inquired Habakkuk.
“Oh, yeah,” replied Tonukk. “It’s a Krogan Class A-1 fighter. And guess what Habakkuk. There are two bomb shaped weapons still intact.”
“Any idea what they are?” asked Habakkuk.
“Well, the boys are going over them,” revealed Tonukk. “But I tell you, I think they’re PB’s.”
“An AXX-27? Are you serious?”
“Yes I am,” replied Tonukk. “We could very well have in our possession two of the mightiest weapons ever made.”
“Oh, Tonukk,” smiled Habakkuk. “If that’s true, just think of the possibilities.”
“No one would push us weak little Prokkians around again,” declared Tonukk.
“Not only that,” observed Habakkuk. “We could easily become one of the big players in the galaxy. Our future could be far more glorious than we have ever seen on this planet.”
“Then we must make our plans,” replied Tonukk.
“Yes. We must be very careful,” offered Habakkuk. “This has to play out just right.”
###############
After leaving Tonukk, Habakkuk made his way to the cabin that he shared with his father, Rokk. Habakkuk opened the cabin door to find his father listening intently to the long-range radio receiver.
“Hello, father.”
“Habakkuk, come listen to this,” commanded Rokk. “There’s something bad that has happened on Qualin.”
The radio announcer was reporting about the city of Hachdon being destroyed by a nuclear blast. He spoke in detail of the devastation and the radiation illness that was spreading in the aftermath.
“All those people,” observed Rokk.
“Good.”
“What do you mean by that statement?” asked a concerned Rokk.
“The Qualins deserve no less,” replied Habakkuk.
“Those people in that city have done nothing to us,” observed Rokk.
“No, maybe not directly,” reflected Habakkuk. “But they chose the leaders of their planet. And their leaders are responsible for leaving us the way they did.”
“Habakkuk, what do you know of this?”
“I know thousands have died since they left,” replied Habakkuk.
“The Qualins did not kill our people,” objected Rokk. “It was the famine, the diseases that came upon us after the Krogans left.”
“They could’ve stayed and helped us,” offered Habakkuk. “For nearly two cycles after they left you could hear them bragging on the radio about how they had driven the Krogans from Prokk. How the great and powerful Qualins had delivered the poor pitiful Prokkians from their captors. Not once did they look back and see what they had left behind.”
“But they did save us from the Krogans,” objected Rokk.
“Saved us for what?” replied Habakkuk. “Saved us for the famine? Saved us for the disease? Saved us for the anarchy? Saved us so you could bury my mother in the backyard?”
Rokk stood in silence looking at his son. He had to admit that he had developed similar feelings, but he had not let the bitterness consume him as it had his son.
“Father, can you not see?” begged Habakkuk. “They left us, father. They didn’t have to, but they did. Father, they left us!”
“My son, please tell me what’s going on,” asked Rokk. “What have you done?”
Habakkuk told his father about the underground of rebels that he had been leading to strike back at the Qualins. He told him how they had found the nuclear weapon and a manual on how to use it. He told him how they had easily bribed the captain of a Jachwan freighter to carry one of the rebels and the bomb to the city of Hachdon. Fortunately the Jachwans hated the Krogans and Qualins as much as he did. Habakkuk told his father about the captured Krogan fighter pilot and the potential bombs that were found on the ship.
“Shh, listen,” interrupted Rokk.
The radio announcer was telling of the captured rebel from Prokk. The reporter was telling of the confession and how the Qualin leaders knew the bomb originated from Prokk. The reporter told of how the President of the Qualin people had vowed revenge upon the Prokkians and that an army of ships was in route to Prokk to capture the ones responsible for the bombing.
Rokk looked at his son, “What now?”
“Let them come. We’ll be ready. Let them come if they wish, but it will be the biggest mistake of their existence.”
###############
“Well, well, what do we have here?” mocked Habakkuk as he stood looking at the captured Krogan fighter pilot.
“You Prokkian swine,” replied the Krogan. “Release me and quit wasting my time.”
“Release you?” asked Habakkuk. “Why would we want to do such a thing?”
“Then I might spare your miserable life,” observed the Krogan.
“I do believe you have that backwards,” replied Habakkuk. “If you haven’t noticed, you’re the prisoner here, not us.”
“I’ll crush your bones and sprinkle them in my liquor,” threatened the Krogan.
“You know that doesn’t quite scare me the way it might have done ten cycles ago,” reflected Habakkuk.
The Krogan coughed and spit a large wad of phlegm that barely missed hitting Habakkuk. Red faced with rage, Habakkuk took a blaster and held it at the Krogan’s head.
“Look you Krogan bastard,” declared Habakkuk. “Right now the sweat off my nut sack is worth more than your life. The only chance you have is to tell me what I want to know.”
“I would rather die than help a Prokkian pig like you,” replied the Krogan.
Habakkuk backed away and then declared, “Well in that case, there are two things that I am certain about. One is that you are going to die. And second, that you are going to tell me everything I want to know.”
Tonukk approached Habakkuk and handed him a hypodermic needle.
“Try what you want,” laughed the Krogan. “I can resist any truth serum you might have.”
“Oh, but my dear Krogan bastard friend,” replied Habakkuk. “This is not truth serum. This needle is just full of hungry Mukkuk larvae just waiting to get at you.”
Habakkuk grabbed the Krogan’s arm and inserting the needle, injected the larvae.
“Mukkuk larvae?”
“Yes, a marvelous little creature,” reflected Habakkuk. “They eat their prey from the inside out. But they are smart enough to carefully keep their victim alive until the very end. Of course, you cannot imagine the pain and torture you’re going to go through in the next couple of weeks.”
“This trick of yours will not work,” replied the Krogan.
“Oh, believe me. It is not a trick,” offered Habakkuk. “Have you ever heard of a Prokkian rebel by the name of Kkuk?”
“All Krogans have heard that name,” remarked the Krogan.
“Well, he was my grandfather,” replied Habakkuk. “Your officers injected him with the Mukkuk larvae and hung him on a pole outside of Snokkvinna for all to see.”
“I remember being told the story,” reflected the Krogan.
“Well, I was there,” remarked Habakkuk. “I was a child, but I remember hearing his screams and pleas for mercy as the larvae ate him alive. I remember hearing him day and night until the larvae consumed his vocal cords and he could cry no more.”
The Krogan swallowed hard as he looked at Habakkuk disposing the needle.
“So it can be today or tomorrow,” observed Habakkuk. “Or you can hold out as long as you can, but you are going to tell me everything I want to know.”
###############
“The Qualins will be here within the week,” observed Tonukk.
“Have you finished making preparations for the move?” asked Habakkuk.
“Yes, our ship leaves tomorrow,” replied Tonukk. “I wish with all my heart that you were coming with us.”
“That would be my wish, too,” replied Habakkuk. “But where I go, the Qualins will follow.”
“You know you have become as a brother to me,” offered Tonukk.
“And you are more than a brother to me,” replied Habakkuk. “You are my dearest friend. My comrade in arms.”
Both men embraced each other. They could only hope that the action they had planned would succeed and that they would survive to see each other again.
“Let’s go over the plan one more time,” Habakkuk said as he opened a scrolled piece of paper.
“First, I take the ship with as many of our people we can hold and try to make it to the Blue planet,” remarked Tonukk. “If we see that we cannot make it that far, and I doubt we can, then we will land on the Red Desert planet.”
“If you have to set up camp on the Red Desert planet, I believe you can survive there about two cycles,” observed Habakkuk.
“Yes, I agree,” replied Tonukk. “It will be hard, but it can be done.”
“In the meantime, the Qualins will arrive here and try to capture me and take me back to their world for trial,” offered Habakkuk.
“While they occupy Prokk, we will be waiting, either on the Blue or Red Desert planet, for the events to unfold on Qualin,” reflected Tonukk.
“We will spread the word that we are hiding in Snokkvinna, and while the Qualins are coming up Mount Bokk, we will be storing a PB deep in the bowels of their ship,” remarked Habakkuk. “Then I will show up at Snokkvinna and surrender to the Qualins.”
“You do have the PB detonator?” asked Tonukk.
“Yes. It’s amazing how small it is,” observed Habakkuk. “The Krogans were clever to disguise them as common household items.”
“You’re taking the one that looks like a translator,” reflected Tonukk.
“They’ll never know that I’m quite fluent in their language,” replied Habakkuk. “Simply press the three buttons in the proper sequence and the PB detonates.”
“When you get to Qualin, the ship you’re traveling on will have to go to maintenance due to the long journey,” observed Tonukk. “After parading you around to show the capture of the big bad terrorists, then they will ship you to the penal colony on the fourth planet in their system for your trial and sentencing.”
“Once we are headed to the fourth planet, and before we are out of range, I simply push the three buttons in the proper order,” reflected Habakkuk. “Within moments, Qualin will be blown to pieces.”
“We’ll have the other PB with us,” replied Tonukk. “And once we hear of Qualin’s destruction, we will come back to Prokk and face the occupying soldiers.”
“Knowing they have no reinforcements coming, that their world is no more, and that we have another PB, will bring about their surrender,” declared Habakkuk.
“And when you make your triumphant return, it will be a most glorious day for the people of Prokk,” smiled Tonukk.
“But the most important thing is the remaining Qualins will know what it’s like to have their number reduced to almost nothing and have to live the lives of dogs,” declared Habakkuk.
“And because we will be a PB power, the Krogans and the Jachwans will leave us alone,” observed Tonukk.
“Then this planet can grow to be the Empire of peace and prosperity it was destined to be before the Krogans arrived,” reflected Habakkuk.
Tonukk and Habakkuk took a moment to ponder what it would be like to live such a life in the future. The quality of life that the two of them had dreamed of all their lives.
“How is our Krogan pilot doing?” asked Habakkuk.
“He’s alive, but in much pain,” replied Tonukk.
“I’m still somewhat surprised how quickly he relented and gave us everything we wanted,” reflected Habakkuk.
“I know they’re a mighty species, but I believe they have a very low threshold of pain,” remarked Tonukk.
“Have you shown him any mercy since he cooperated?” asked Habakkuk.
“I’ve shown him more than the Krogans ever showed us,” sneered Tonukk. “I left a bottle of Jokkukin juice in the room with him. It’s just out of his reach, but if he can break his bonds and drink the juice, the larvae will die and he will survive. His fate is in his hands.”
“Good.”
“Well, my brother, our plans are made,” reflected Tonukk. “May the gods be with us.”
“Yes, indeed,” replied Habakkuk. “And I have saved a special bottle of Krogan liquor that I would like to share with you on our last night together before our great adventure.”
Habakkuk poured he and Tonukk each a glass of the liquor. They held their glasses in a toast and shouted:
“Death to the Qualins!!”
###############
“Rokk.”
“General.”
“I thought I would find you in this shop,” revealed the General.
“Yes, this place is still special to me,” observed Rokk. “This is where I was standing when we found out the Krogans had left our world.”
“Now you have made it a museum of sorts,” replied the General.
“Yes, dedicated to the liberty of Prokk,” mused Rokk. “And now you have come to take that liberty away.”
“I have come only for those that are responsible for bringing atrocities upon my people and my world,” declared the General.
“Then you condemn the whole planet,” observed Rokk. “Because I know of no one who has shed a tear over the destruction of your Qualin city.”
“You have come to hate my people that much?” asked the General.
“Oh, there’s plenty of hate to go around,” replied Rokk. “But most people of this planet have simply run out of tears to shed. They have seen too much personal tragedy to be moved by someone else’s.”
“Rokk, I’m not interested in adding any more misery to their lives,” revealed the General. “I just want the ones responsible for the senseless destruction of Hachdon.”
“Senseless?” mocked Rokk. “It made sense to a lot of people.”
“How?!?” replied the General. “How could the innocent death of over a million Qualins make sense?”
“Tell me, General,” reflected Rokk. “How do you wake a man who’s pretending to be asleep?”
“So, you think we Qualins were pretending to be asleep and ignored you on purpose?” pondered the General. “How can you say that, Rokk, especially after all we did for you?”
“What exactly did your powerful species do for us?” asked Rokk.
“Rokk, you know yourself,” explained the General. “Without our help you would still be under the bondage of the Krogans. We liberated you!”
“Yes, you did help us defeat the Krogans,” agreed Rokk. “But it was all for your interest, not ours. The Qualins had no more concern for us than the Krogans. We were simply your puppets that you used to fight the Krogans while you kept your Qualin hands clean.”
“Naturally we would put our interest first,” replied the General. “After all, we were the ones providing the weapons and the training. Qualin spent a tremendous amount of money and effort in assisting you.”
“But, General, your interest was only to defeat the Krogans,” reflected Rokk. “You never gave an ounce of thought of what would happen when you left.”
“We left you in peace,” declared the General. “Your future was in your hands to do whatever you wish.”
“But cannot you see?” asked Rokk. “After you left, the joy of freedom gave way to the agony of despair. The hatred for the Krogans gradually was replaced with a greater hatred for the Qualins. If you would have stayed only two more cycles and helped us, then the tragedy on our world and the tragedy on your world would have been avoided.”
“So you are to have me believe that it is our fault,” replied an angry General. “My God, Rokk! Over a million Qualins going about their daily routine are suddenly vaporized and it’s my fault? Hachdon was my hometown! I lost friends! I lost family! I lost loved ones! I lost everything that was of value to me. How do you think I feel about Prokk now?”
“And I’m supposed to feel sorry for you?” asked an equally enraged Rokk. “There were over three billion people on this planet when the Krogans arrived. Now, after you and the Krogans finished your business here, we have barely a billion survivors left. Everyone on this planet have lost friends, family and loved ones! My wife! My love! General, my life is buried in my backyard because we couldn’t get any more medicine from you!”
“Mokk is dead?!?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, Rokk. I didn’t know.”
Both men stood looking at each other as they gathered their thoughts and fought to control their emotions.
“You know, Rokk. We once called each other ‘friends’,” observed the General.
“I know,” replied Rokk. “And now we have difficulty simply reasoning with one another.”
“I believe events have progressed to the point that we are beyond reason,” reflected the General. “We are to the point that all we have left is an emotional response.”
“So where do we go from here?” wondered Rokk.
“Well, I’m must still follow my orders and track down those responsible for the attack on my world,” revealed the General.
“You need not look any further.”
“Habakkuk! What are you doing?” asked an excited Rokk.
“I am here to turn myself in to the General,” explained Habakkuk.
“But Habakkuk, . . .”
“Father, please don’t try to interfere,” asked Habakkuk. “I am the leader of the ones who bombed Hachdon. I’m willing to stand trial for my actions if it means avoiding any more suffering for the people of Prokk.”
“Laschunwd!” shouted the General. Immediately the shop was filled with Qualin soldiers.
“Habakkuk, you have saved me much time and your people much misery,” assured the General.
“This is just what I thought was going on,” coughed the Krogan fighter pilot as he pointed a blaster at the General.
“Everyone remain calm,” ordered the General as all the soldiers pointed their weapons at the Krogan. “What do you want, Krogan?”
“My suspicions are correct,” replied the Krogan. “The Qualin dogs and the Prokkian swine have joined forces again.”
“I should have finished you when I had the chance,” observed Habakkuk.
“That is your weakness, pig,” barked the Krogan. “You and the Qualins are weak because you choose to show mercy. That’s why you’ll always be somebody’s slave.”
“What is it you want, Krogan?” asked the General.
“I’m going to end this conspiracy against the Krogan Empire,” replied the Krogan.
The Krogan fighter pilot pulled a timepiece out of his pocket. Habakkuk and the General immediately recognized it as a PB detonator. The Krogan quickly pushed two buttons and held his finger over the third one.
“When I press this last button,” explained the Krogan. “Wherever you have my PB is hidden, it will explode and forever end this conspiracy!”
One of the soldiers fired his blaster hitting the Krogan directly in the chest.
“No!!!” yelled Habakkuk and the General.
The Krogan fighter pilot pressed the third button as his body went crashing to the floor.
###############
One and a half cycles later. . . .
Tonukk climbed the small hill on the Red Desert planet and looked deep into the sky. He wished he could still see Prokk hanging in the blackness. But he knew that all was left were chunks of rock floating between him and the giant gas planets. Tonukk did not know what had happened that caused the AXX-27 to detonate and destroy his home world. But he knew that something had gone dreadfully wrong. Thankfully the other PB had been out of range of the detonator and now was well hidden among the caves of the Red Desert planet. There it was destine to stay until some future generation found it and hopefully used it to help bring peace and stability to the universe.
Tonukk and the remnants from Prokk had watched in horror as the sky was lit with the explosion of their home world being torn apart. All the plans that he and Habakkuk and the rebels had made had come to nothing. Now with their supplies running low and no way of obtaining any more, the urgency was to save the Prokkian species.
“Tonukk, the modifications to the ship are finished.”
“Thank you, Cluukk,” replied Tonukk. “Are the children ready?”
“They are in place and we’re ready for launch,” reported Cluukk.
“Then give the command,” ordered Tonukk.
Tonukk had reviewed the calculations and was convinced their plan would work. With the modifications, the ship could hold five small children and make it to the Blue planet. The children could survive on the planet and, with the help of the gods, the Prokkian species would continue.
Tonukk and Cluukk watched as the ship lifted itself from the Red Desert surface and made its way into the blackness of space.
“There they go!” yelled Cluukk.
“Yes, there they go,” repeated Tonukk. “There goes our species’ only hope for survival.”
“Knowing they have a chance means that I can now rest in peace,” reflected Cluukk.
“Rest in peace,” mused Tonukk. “Yes, indeed. For us this is an ‘ending.’ For them, we can only hope it is a ‘beginning.’”
THE END
Copyright ©2003 by Jerry W. Crews
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