Star Force: Liberation (SF56) Read Free Page B

escort at all times as
they gradually made their way across what had formerly been Calavari territory
and into the ADZ.
    By the time they arrived their capitol had long since
been annihilated, leaving the small fleet of jumpships as the only cohesive
remnant of their once great empire. They were led up into Delta Region to an
Alliance World still in the making, with only two functioning Star Force cities
on the border strips. The Bsidd were quickly given one of the regions on the
high grav world to begin colonizing, with them
immediately sending an ambassador to Earth to discuss the future of their race
and their place within the Alliance they had previously abandoned.

 
    Davis met the Bsidd in one of Atlantis’s sister
cities, not sure what to expect. The Bsidd had insisted that they be allowed to
speak to the Star Force leader, and given their previous status he’d been
inclined to indulge them…but not on Atlantis. That was Star Force’s core and
sanctuary, and no one else was going there unless they had special permission.
Davis wanted to keep it that way, hence the short hop over to Mediterranea via Mantis where the gangly alien was waiting
for him after having arrived on a Hycre jumpship carrying a Star Force
transport from the Alliance World.
    The inclusion of the Bsidd into the ADZ had been at
the Hycre’s request. Star Force had written them off long ago, along with the
Kvash and others. According to the Hycre the Kvash empire had already fallen, and now the Bsidd, but with their queens surviving the
insect-like race could repopulate quickly, and given their formidable
technology the Hycre suggested that they could be a valuable addition to the
communal defense in the future.
    Future was right, for at the moment the Bsidd had
nothing aside from a handful of people and some key technological elements.
Impressive as the latter were, Star Force had already pulled ahead of them in
most areas, though there was always an element of design unique to each race
that was sometimes valuable. The Bsidd had better tech than anyone else in the
ADZ, save for maybe the Elarioni, and in time that could be an asset, but the
Bsidd were still on Star Force’s black list after what they’d done to the
Nestafar capitol and essentially abandoning the other races in the Alliance to
fight the lizards on their own.
    Davis wasn’t going to turn them away, but he wasn’t
going to give them the status they probably wanted within the ADZ and expected
this meeting to be more of an argument than anything productive.
    And he wasn’t disappointed.
    He met the tall, multi-limbed alien in a conference
room with two Knights flanking him should it not play nice, and after two hours
of ‘discussion’ had melted down into the Bsidd making demands for resources and
inclusion in ADZ decision making committees the Star Force Director had
exhausted his patience and finally laid it out plainly for the ambassador.
    “ You have no
control here. Not in any way, shape, or form. The Alliance you were formerly
part of has been dead for some time now, with a new one growing in its place.
The Hycre, Protovic, and Star Force make the decisions here, for we carry the
burden of the ADZ’s defense. You have nothing to contribute to that, hence you
have no decision making privileges. Your past empire’s greatness no longer
matters. You are what you are now…a handful of refugees seeking a new home. I
will and have granted you that, but everything you get from this point on
you’ll have to work for, and you’ll have to abide by our rules or you’ll lose
your sovereignty…do I make myself clear? ”
    “ You will not
dictate to us, Human ,” the Bsidd said stiffly.
    “ I am, actually,
right now .”
    “ We are still
the technologically superior, and the wiser. Your race is young and immature .”
    Davis smiled, born of frustration rather than
amusement. “ You might want to have a look
around before you start making assumptions like that. A great