The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) Read Free Page B

planetary union changing to the Seven World Common Alliance – even though Juir was still not a full-fledged, voting Member. This slight, evident to all the other worlds in the union, humiliated the Juireans to even a higher level than before.
    Yet Malor saw the threads of his plan coming together…
     

    At the time, the Alliance was finding that their lack of any substantial military force was allowing the other planets in the Union to do pretty much as they pleased, including running roughshod over the rules set forth by the Klin and the other full Members. The Oanneans, one of the original Members of the Alliance, were growing ever more impatient with the Klin and their lack of decisiveness when it came to raising an army, or at least a proficient police force, for the growing Union.
    For a number of years, the Oanneans had formed an effective voting bloc against the Klin, dividing the six voting Members of the Alliance into a three-to-three stalemate on most major issues. As part of his plan, Malor began to petition the Klin for full Membership, promising them that if the Juireans were granted full voting rights, they would side with the Klin, giving them control over the Council four to three.
    He was also able to convince them that eventually the Oanneans would make a move against the Klin leadership of the Alliance. An alliance between the Klin and the Juireans would not only stop the Oanneans, but the military prowess of the Juireans could provide the security throughout the Alliance and the Union that was so sorely needed.
    However, unbeknownst to the Klin, Malor was also petitioning the Oanneans with exactly the same promise of breaking the voting deadlock.
    Malor’s plan worked, and the Juireans were granted Full Membership by a vote of four to two.
    Now the next part of his plan could be implemented…
     

    The Juirean Security Force was expanded and dispersed throughout the Union, taking up positions at all the vital trade and power centers in the region, and especially on Klinmon, the homeworld of the Klin. Malor had convinced the powers there that if ever the Oanneans attacked, it would be against Klinmon itself, and therefore the bulk of the Juirean forces should be stationed there.
    The plan worked perfectly, and within a year of being granted Full Membership, Malor was ready.

    The annihilation of the Klin race took less than seven days. With a brutality borne of decades of resentment and humiliation, the Juirean forces secured every planetary population center and power facility within a matter of hours.
    And then The Reckoning began.
    For so many years, the animosity toward the Klin had simmered at such a high level that now the entire Juirean race was out for revenge against them. To the Juireans, the Klin did not deserve to survive, not after the mass killing they had caused the Juireans to commit against their own race during the Unification Wars. Not until every last Klin was exterminated would they feel fully vindicated.
    And so the Juireans killed, killed every Klin they could find. Of course they couldn’t kill them all, since the Klin population was now spread out on many of the worlds of the Alliance, plus ships in transit. The Juireans knew this, but the billions they did kill helped to satiate their bloodlust.
    As for the remaining Klin, they effectively disappeared, running for cover and hiding wherever they could. After The Reckoning , not a single Klin was ever seen again, at least not for another four thousand years.
    On his death bed, Malor the Great, the architect of The Reckoning , had finally achieved his own level of vindication. It had been a long and bloody journey, but his place in the annals of history of the Juirean race was secure.
    Now all the Juirean people had to do was learn how to rule an ever-growing Alliance of planets.
     
    The Juireans were now the most powerful force in the Alliance, and soon set about consolidating their power among the other six worlds, plus all