preparations Suneso and the other Klin had already taken, he found the Human’s makeshift activities slightly amusing. The Kracori were already there and all the Humans did was make it easier for them to fulfill their mission – if the Klin had not already acted.
When the nine massive explosions occurred, Suneso did his best to visualize the confused conversations that must have taken place on the planet below. It would have only taken minutes for the Humans to realize that their efforts had nothing to do with the destruction of the Kracori ships.
If it not them, then who? Many on the planet would naturally suspect the Klin, but then they would ask why would the Klin stop an attack on Earth, especially in light of events unfolding tens of thousands of light years away? Suneso wished he still had spies within the Human population; it would have been incredibly entertaining to watch the confused and scared Humans scurry about for answers of which they could only speculate.
However, Suneso was not without his questions, so when the image of Pleabaen Linuso Summlin appeared on the S/W comm screen, he was hoping he would get his answers as well.
“Greetings Pleabaen, I have success to report,” he said to the supreme leader of the Klin race.
“That is indeed good news. What do you know at this point?” Suneso could see that Linuso was still recovering from the injuries he’d suffered over two months before, when their headquarters on Marishal had been damaged. He appeared gaunt and paler than normal and he still carried a thin oxygen tube attached to his nose. “The ships did explode as planned – at least nine of them did. The tenth ship was not in position for the attack and has since retreated. I can also report that the rebellion on Glasien-4 has also succeeded. There should only be a few Kracori left within the Arm at this time and we are monitoring them.”
“Excellent, but I have reports that the Humans were forewarned of the attack?”
“Apparently so, Pleabaen.”
“That is acceptable; it saves us the necessity of revealing the Kracori to them.”
“Linuso, I have been meaning to ask a very direct question regarding this entire matter,” Suneso said.
Linuso smiled. “Why? “Why we have saved the Humans from destruction?”
“Precisely. The Humans have deceived us and are now the strongest force in the galaxy. They even caused great injury to your body, along with the deaths of hundreds of Klin.”
Linuso nodded. “This has all been part of a decision made immediately after the Humans escaped from Marishal. It was not our optimal plan, but considering the Kracori’s premature arrival at Juir, it was the best option we had available.”
“Now I am even more confused, Pleabaen.”
“That is understandable, since you were not made aware of the ultimate plans of the Forum. It was decided that we could not allow the Humans to be destroyed; they could still be of use to us. And then when the Kracori transited the Core and arrived at Juir ahead of schedule, it was seen that only the Humans could drive the Kracori from the Alliance Cluster.”
“But the Kracori have destroyed Juir. Our vengeance should be satisfied. We should welcome this outcome.”
“Much to the contrary, Senior Fellow,” Linuso countered. “It had always been our desire to be the direct instrument of the Juirean’s downfall and not simply a passive observer. Much of our gratification in the destruction of Juir has been taken from us by the Kracori. We must not let them remain in control of Cluster – and by extension – the Expansion.”
“But now it will be Humans who are in control….”
“Exactly, Suneso. That has also been by design.”
“But the Humans are even stronger than the Kracori.”
“That may appear to be the case, but please consider that we have been preparing the Kracori for generations to be co-leaders of the Expansion, along with us. If they remain in possession of the Cluster, they will ingrain themselves so much into the operations of the new Expansion that they will be almost impossible to remove.
“The Humans, on the other hand, are a completely different matter. They are naïve in the ways of the Expansion and will be at a complete loss as to what is involved in governing. In addition, their homeworld is located much too far away to serve as an effective capital of the Expansion, and even supplying a capital such as Juir from Earth will serve to be a major burden for them.