Riss Series 4: The Riss Accession by C. R. Daems Page B

upcoming battle. While they worked out the strategy for the upcoming
battle, I had Dannatt connect me to the Mnemosyne .
    " r-Galene , contact
Commanders Byer and Iglis and Colonel Seng to meet my shuttle. I'm bringing
guests. Tell Colonel Seng to bring six Scorpions for guard duty for our
guests and to call Ship Alert as a precaution. The ship will remain on Standby
for now. And get me a connection to the Eirene ."
    "Connected."
    "Yes, Leader . I see we have company. Glad I'm not on the Asp."
    " Damaass , we are not
staying for the party. I'm transferring the delegation to the Mnemosyne .
We will stay only to watch , while slowly moving towards the Wave to Fools
Landing. If we can locate the scout, we can consider destroying it before we
leave. Brief your human units and remain in Standby. Right now, the priority is
the safety of the delegation."
    "Yes, Leader . I will let you know if I find the scout. If not, see you
in Fools Landing." He cut the connection.
    When they finished, we made our way to
the shuttle bay, where Salazan and Zhu directed their shuttles and guards back
to their ships. Everyone was quiet as we made our way towards the Mnemosyne .
    "Is that the Mnemosyne ? It's
the ugliest cruiser I've ever seen," Salazan said, peering out the window.
"It's a joke."
    "Captain Huang would be very
distressed to find you were only a hundred kilometers away from the Imperial ," Zhu said, smiling.
    
     Image of Buddha, a
Riss and Zhu sitting side-by-side, lotus style.
    When we arrived, Byer and Seng were waiting
with a detail of eight Scorpions.
    "Commander Byer, Commander Iglis,
Colonel Seng, our guests are Fleet Admirals Salazan and Zhu and their advisors
Nelem and Xun. You know Admirals Wattson and Stenberg," I said, pointing
to each in turn. "They are each to be assigned a Scorpion while they are
here. Gunny Terril will provide the security on the Bridge. The Ship Alert is
for security reasons, and we are in Standby rather than Battle Stations since
we do not anticipate entering the upcoming battle. This delegation is far too
important to risk." I waited for the three to nod .
    When Seng glanced towards Wattson and Stenberg,
I nodded yes—they too were guests of the Riss. At the moment,
several Riss were in the bay, working on one of the shuttles and drawing the
attention of the delegation.
    "Given the circumstances, I'll
dispense with a tour for now, and we will proceed directly to the Bridge."
I led the way with Terril and another Scorpion directly behind me, and Terril
on her SID arranging for additional Scorpions for the Bridge. As we walked, I
heard Zhu speaking to Xun, loud enough to be heard.
    "I understand why the Riss would be
hunted like wild beasts. Because they don't look like us, we would have trouble
imagining them being intelligent ," Zhu said. "An inherent fault of
humans."
    "I understand why Leader Reese doesn't want to fight,
with these beasts running the ship. Need humans to do the real work." Salazan
sneered. "Look at them. They lived wild because they weren’t smart enough
to build anything, and since they can't speak, how were we to know they had
some limited intelligence?"
    Because I ignored him, I think Wattson
and Stenberg remained silent.
    
    
    When we entered the Bridge, we met a
stunned silence.
    "Please sit, and strap yourself in.
The VTM in the center will keep you up to date on the activity. " I took
the Captain's chair.
    speed.>
    three.>
    
    Fools Landing.>
    < one-one-eight by
zero-five-seven.>
    
    As I gave directions, the VTM and
monitors came to life. The VTM showed three large, red bubbles for the Medusas with tags M1, M2, and M3. Then white
bubbles tagged RM, RE, S1, S2, U1, U2, and J1 through J9. The Heavies' bubbles
were slightly larger than the others.
    As