AMP Blitzkrieg Read Free Page B

they came. He stood at his council desk and stared into the camera. The council chamber was a large circular room. The council seats lined three quarters of area with the main podium jutting out onto a platform that stood 100 meters above the floor below. The guest seating in the area below the council and the podium sat empty and dark. As I stepped back from the podium I looked down through the transparent floor. For only a moment I had a feeling of vertigo.
    Walther Maldoon spoke, "Why is it that every six months we get a new alien in here trying to sell us a load? Are we that gullible? Are we some green star system society that all live under a rock? This… Human… as he calls himself, comes here to tell us he can solve all our problems. Humans? They don’t even have a planet of their own!"
    "These… creatures… they pull up and run when times get tough. He even says they have been doing this for 1,000 years! And now, we are supposed to believe that suddenly they can defeat the Torrians? Nonsense! This is a weak species looking for help. Well I would like to offer my help. I’ll help him into a transport and help to send him packing!"
    The council chamber erupted in talk. The moderator moved quickly to calm the room. Foori Metas was the next to have the floor. "Mr. Maldoon, as I am sure you know, one plus one equals two. It does not equal one half!" The chamber once again erupted in comment. Flori Metas raised her hand to quiet her colleagues. "This Human… has come to us to offer assistance in this war. Do we need it? Can we fight this war ourselves? Well the answer is YES!"
    "But perhaps we should take a different view of this offer than that of my colleague Walther Maldoon. Perhaps this is an opportunity for the Humans to take losses instead of our own people! Let’s think about this… for every Milgari ship they destroy that is one less that we have to fight, that is at least one less Dakar and one less ship that we have to place in danger!"
    "It would seem to me that the offer the Human is proposing works in our favor. And I don’t see where Mr. Muldoon gets his concern from. If the Humans are so much weaker than the Expansion, what do we have to worry about once the war is over? We will have our star systems back, they will be happily left alone!"
    The chamber once again erupted in comment. Several of the members were soon involved in a scuffle which quickly turned violent. I was shocked at the beating that ensued. An older Dakar was rapping a younger member with his steel cane. After the third strike to his head the young Dakar grabbed his attacker around the waste and picked him up. He was slung over his shoulder as he walked down the aisle beside them.
    The old Dakar struggled and continued to swing his cane as the young Dakar came to a railing. With a sudden thrust the old Dakar was thrown over the rail. He plummeted to his death the 100 meter distance to the chamber floor below. I looked around at the other chamber members, most were oblivious to the altercation and the death of the old Dakar. When the crowd had once again settled a new Dakar stepped up and took the dead councilman’s seat.
    I had a sudden realization that maybe the Dakar were not a species to be allied with. I wondered if I would have a similar fate if I too got into a heated exchange with a Dakar. The thought then occurred to me that the crowd might be easily swayed with the right approach. In a moment of brilliance I stepped back up to the podium and banged my fist. The chamber went silent as many of the council members looked on in stunned silence.
    "Members of this council! These are grave times for each of our species. Much like the politicians at home I am sure there are many of you who see alliance with an alien species as something that disgusts you, after all, who is this alien that he thinks he can stand before us and command our attention, an alien that has yet to even earn our respect!"
    The chatter in the chamber again