Starshock
--Part 3--
by R.R. Bennett
Illustrations by Robert Sankner
Stancil looked dazedly at the face on his viewscreen.
"Surely, you can't be seroius about this," He said. "You must know what the T'zirian
response will be!"
"Admiral Stancil, I appreciate your reservations in this matter. However, the
Confederation Council has unanimously voted to send your force in. The T'zir have now
destroyed three of our star systems, with a total of over four million of our people killed.
We cannot ignore that. We must respond in force, and respond we will. You will proceed
at once into T'zirian space and carry out a punative action against at least three well-populated
T'zir worlds. The main intent of this mission is to inflict massive casualties
upon the T'zir."
"You're declaring war on them."
"Technically, no. We're just responding in kind to the provocation they have visited upon
us. If they want war, Admiral, then their Emperor can declare it."
"Mr. President, with all due respect, I think that this is a bad decision. I do not believe that
the Emperor is pursuing a course to bring us to war."
"I'm not interested in your opinion, Admiral. You have your orders. See to it that they are
followed to the letter."
"Very well, Mr. President. Stancil out." He looked at his aide.
"That idiot is only worried about his re-election. If there's a war going on, people are
very hesitant to change leadership."
"So what do we do, Admiral?" asked his aide.
"We follow orders, Lieutenant. Signal all ships to execute Plan Omega One immediately."
"Aye, sir."
God help us,' thought Stancil. There will be war. Too bad the Emperor's son failed. I
guess he'll never see home again...I wonder if any of us will.'
Slowly, the fleet got under way. As a unit, they traversed the short distance to the border,
and then crossed over into T'zirian space. They took up a heading towards the nearest
T'zirian colony, and settled in for the voyage.
Stancil took no chances. The swift scoutships raced on ahead, and the blades covered the
fleet's flanks. Invincible and her cohorts moved in the center of the fleet, protected by the
screen of destroyers and cruisers around them. It was a formidable fleet, numbering over
a hundred ships. It was easily the most powerful Stancil had seen since the war.
But whether it would prove to be powerful enough remained to be seen.
T'kul slowly came to his senses, his head aching terribly. He was in the Security block,
under guard.
"What happened?" He demanded of the guard, "Why am I being held here?"
The guard looked nervously at him, but remained silent. He gestured towards O'tar, who
stood nearby.
"Speak!" T'kul growled. "Why have I been placed here?"
"The Captain ordered your confinement. He said you overrode the security code and
entered his quarters and attempted to kill him."
"That is a lie. I entered his quarters when he did not answer. I had been ordered to report
to him. When he did not answer, I followed the established procedure. When I entered, I
was attacked."
"By whom?" asked O'tar. "Did you recognize your attacker?"
"It was the Captain!" said T'kul forcefully. "O'tar, he is insane. You must believe me."
"Why should I believe you, T'kal? Why should I disobey my Captain?"
"Because," said T'kul slowly, "I believe the Captain is acting on his own. I believe that he
is on some sort of insane quest....I don't think he has any orders for these attacks, O'tar."
"Serious charges, T'kul. Can you prove them?"
"Perhaps. O'tar, I have told you my suspicions. Consider: the Captain has forbade any
contact with the fleet. He has claimed that only the Emperor and himself know the nature
of the mission. He refuses to disclose to me, his First Officer, the details of that mission.
Are these normal actions for the Captain of a ship-of-the-line?"
"No," said O'tar thoughtfully. "But suspicion is not enough. You must be able to offer
proof. Have you any way of confirming your suspicions?"
"Only one," said T'kul. "get S'lena aside, privately. Order her to open a copy of that
personal message the Captain received before he changed the mission profile. I believe it
holds the key to what is going on."
"You ask me to take a great risk, T'kul."
"O'tar, you and I have served together a long time. Have you ever known me to act as the
Captain claims I have?"
"No," O'tar admitted.
"Then you must ask yourself, O'tar, who you will believe: a Captain whose actions cannot
be explained, or your friend and brother officer who has served with you in honor."
O'tar thought for a moment, and then answered.
"I will see what I can do," he said.
"Have you decided what to do yet?" asked N'tal.
"Not really," said Ryan. "I'm still pretty much in shock. All my life I've been told that the
T'zir were the bad guys, and now I find out I'm a prince among the T'zir. It's very
confusing...I just need some time to sort it all out."
"Understandable," said N'tal. "I identify with part of what you say. I have been raised to
be mistrustful of the humans, and now I find my brother, who I thought to be dead, in the
uniform of a human. While I find joy that you live, I don't quite know how to accept that
we could have been enemies, had we failed in our mission, or had fate not brought us
together."
"But it did, though," said Ryan. "And fate must have had a reason...we must work together
to help both our peoples, N'tal. We carry both bloods...we must speak for both peoples,
before it is too late."
"I agree, brother. But how?"
"I ...I don't know. But we must try to think of something."
The comm squealed. "Mr. Ryan and Commander N'tal, report to the bridge."
R'gal was on the Command Deck of the A'zani. They were four hours away from the Valia
system, and R'gal's impatience was showing.
From his chair on the raised dias of the Command Deck, R'gal could see almost every
activity on the deck. And it seemed to the Command Crew that everything their Captain
saw, he did not like. He swiftly pounced on every tiny mistake or infraction with a
frenzied attack, leaving his crew shaken, frightened, and angry.
O'tar entered the Deck. He observed R'gal for several minutes, and made note of his
apparent mental state and irritability.
T'kul could be right,' he thought. This doens't appear to be normal behavior for the
Captain.'
Slowly, O'tar casually made his way over to the communications station. Lieutenant
S'lena was there, busy running maintenance checks on her equipment. She appeared
flustered and angry.
"Is there a problem, S'lena?" O'tar asked.
"I'll say. He" she nodded towards R'gal, "has ordered me to conduct functional checks of
the communications system. When I said that I would monitor the fleet to tune the receiving
bands, he screamed at me...what does he want, O'tar? Why is he doing this?"
O'tar bent down low and whispered into S'lena's ear.
"You may be the only one who can provide us with answers, S'lena."
"How?" she whispered.
"The Captain's personal message. The one he received before he ordered us to the
human's space...do you have a copy?"
"Yes," S'lena whispered. "But it's encoded. You won't be able to read it. The only other
person on board who can decipher the code is T'kul."
"That's not a problem. T'kul is the one who wants the message."
S'lena turned to her station suddenly. O'tar rose, feeling R'gal's eyes on him.
"Is something wrong, Captain?" he asked.
"I was about to ask you the same question, O'tar" said R'gal acidly. "I have ordered
maintenance checks on all the Command systems...yet these incompetent fools don't seem
to know what they are doing. Isn't training of the Command Staff your responsibility,
O'tar?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Then I would suggest that you engage in some remedial training drills for the next few
hours, O'tar" said R'gal. "I shall be in my quarters. Contact me at 1400."
"Aye, Captain"
R'gal stormed off the Command Deck. An audible sigh of relief escaped from the crew.
"Thank the Creator," someone said.
"Stow that talk!" O'tar ordered. "He's the Captain, and he will be obeyed. Begin standard
test drill."
As the test drill began, O'tar turned back to S'lena. She handed him a datacard, and
winked at him.
"Good luck, O'tar," she whispered. "I hope you and T'kul can get to the bottom of this."
"I do, too, S'lena," whispered O'tar. "I do, too."
"Admiral, the Troll is reporting in." said the Communications officer on the Invinceable.
"On viewscreen."
The screen illuminated. Stancil grteeted the Troll's Captain, and he gave his report.
"I don't like it, Admiral," the scoutship's Captain said. "It's too quiet. We're three hours
into T'zirian space, and we haven't seen so much as a dingy."
"I agree," said Stancil. "We should have been challenged by now. Something's wrong
with this situation, Captain, so be on your guard. This smells of a trap."
The Troll's Captain looked off screen, apparently reffering with someone.
"Hold on, Admiral," He said. "We've got something. A single ship, B'hagath-class
heavy dreadnaught. It's just sitting out in front of us...like it's waiting for us."
"Stand by, Troll." Stancil turned to his aide. "Order all ships to reduce speed to dead
slow. I want every scanner in the fleet looking all around us."
"Captain," said Stancil, turning back to the viewscreen, " Proceed to a point just in front of
the dreadnaught and hold. Do not engage unless attacked. We'll be up with you in a few
minutes."
"Aye, Sir. Troll out."
"Valia system, sir. Looks like we beat them here," said Ryan.
"Confirmed," said N'tal from his instruments. "I read no signs of a novaship in the area.
Are you sure that you are correct, Captain?"
"Quite correct, Commander. Would you and Mr. Ryan join me for a moment?"
As they gatherered, Sanderson ordered the charts displayed. He indicated a course
outlined in red.
"I prepared this on the way here. This is A'zani's expected course, based on their last
known trajectory, and their last target. Figuring in current T'zirian strategy, R'gal should
come in from here, to try to keep Valia Naval Station from detecting him. Do you agree,
Cammander?"
"You know our tactics well, Captain. I suspect that you are correct."
"Mr. Ryan?"
"Works for me, Captain."
"Good. I see we are all thinking the same on this. Here's my plan: Valia II is here. It's
not really a planet, more like a glorified moon in a planet's orbit. But, it has a solid
nickel-iron core that will wreak havoc with A'zani's scanners. We'll keep the planet
between us, and as she comes in, we'll move around the planet's disk. She will pass by us
at this point, and we'll hit her from behind. Any questions?"
"If A'zani cannot see us," asked N'tal, "Then how will we see her?"
"Valia has a scanner relay system set up in the first planet. We'll bounce a signal off that
and reflect it back to our scanners."
"Excellent," said N'tal. "Let's do it."
The Glamdring slid in behind Valia II, and waited.
"Human...are you lost? The border is that way, " said a T'zirian officer on Stancil's
viewscreen.
We are aware of where the border is."
"You are Admiral Wainwright Stancil, I presume," said the T'zirian.
"I am. And you?"
"I am Admiral S'lan D'varga, commander of the First Thane of the Imperial Navy. The
Emperor has sent me to stop you. He has specifically instructed me to attempt to do so
without violence."
"You may find that difficult, with only one ship."
"I'm not so sure. The B'hagath is quite powerful."
"We shall see." Stancil broke contact, and turned to his aide.
"Order all ships to attack that ship. Destroy it completely. And God have mercy on us."
The order was relayed. The ships broke into an attack configuration, with Albion and
Narthung leading in.
"Admiral, the T'zirian is signalling you."
"Let him rot."
"Admiral, he's quite insistant."
"To hell with him."
The two blades, and several scoutships swept down upon the B'hagath. They fired, their
energy lancing through the darkness, impacting on the B'hagath's hull.
There was no effect. The B'hagath faded like a ghost, and was gone.
"Sensor drone. Damn!" roared Stancil. "The bastards fooled us!"
The screen illuminated. S'lan laughed.
"We are not so easy, Admiral. This is your last chance. Return to your borders. We do
not wish war...The Emperor grieves over your destroyed stars and the loss of life. Let us
not add to it. Return to your borders...now."
"Go to hell."
"Very well, Admiral. You have been warned."
The screen went dark as S'lan broke contact.
"Contact, Admiral, bearing 143.5 by 22. I'm reading seven, no eight...nine...Oh, my
God...."
"Another contact, bearing 212.4 by 92.1....Damn...I'm reading waves of ships...
"What type?" roared Stancil.
"A mixture of B'hagath-class dreadnaughts and K'tansa-class heavy cruisers.."
"Contact bearing 358.9 by 199.3....multiple targets...too many to count..
We're surrounded,' thought Stancil and vastly outnumbered.'
"Valia system, Captain," said P'nal, the helmsman.
"Where is O'tar?" demanded R'gal. "I want him on the deck, right now!"
"We're trying to locate him, Captain."
"Ahead at half-speed. Move us into position for analysis, P'nal"
"Aye, Captain."
A'zani slowly moved toward Valia II. R'gal stamped his foot impatiently.
"Begin the analysis now," he ordered.
The A'zani's computers began the analysis of the star Valia. A few moments later, the
computer chimed, signaling completion.
"Transfer the data to the main battery and fire." R'gal ordered.
"Unable to comply, Captain," said P'nal. We'll have to clear Valia II first."
"Very well. Fire as soon as we're clear.
As the great ship began to round the rocky planet , the bridge doors burst open. T'kul and
O'tar entered the Command Deck brandishing weapons.
"Captain" said T'kul, " I am relieving you and placing you under arrest."
"On what charge?" sneered R'gal.
"You had no mission from the Emperor, Captain. You are on your own mission, that of
vengence. You have made murders of us all."
"You know nothing, T'kal."
"I know everything. I have seen your mother's message. Take him below, O'tar."
"Steady..." whispered Sanderson, "she's almost clear....just about...NOW! Ahead one-quarter. All batteries, open fire!"
Glamdring's devastating attack caught the A'zani by complete surprise. A massive explosion rocked her aft sections as her thrusters were hit. A'zani lost her forward momentum, and began to drift.
The powerful beams lanced into A'zani's hull, ripping through her Engineering section. Explosions rang through the ship as her power conduits overloaded and shorted out.
On A'zani's Command deck, P'nal lost helm control. A moment later, the main targeting computer exploded, and T'kul was thrown violently into the bulkhead.
Chaos reigned. The Command Deck was filled with thick smoke, and here and there instruments spat fire and sparks as they overloaded and shorted out.
Another massive explosion rocked the A'zani , causing the ship to lurch to one side. O'tar was thrown off his feet, and R'gal seized his opportunity. He leapt upon O'tar, wrestling his weapon from him. R'gal rose and attempted to flee, but O'tar grabbed at his foot as he turned, and R'gal stumbled. He went down, furoiusly fighting with O'tar for the weapon.
There was a shot, and O'tar screamed in pain. R'gal shoved him away, and as O'tar fell, R'gal disappeared through the hatch.
‘I'm free, and armed,' he thought. ‘If I can make it to the auxiliary weapons station, I may yet have vengeance.'
"There's over a thousand ships out there, Admiral!"
"...cruisers, destroyers, dreadnaughts, I see three, no four carriers, make that carrier groups..."
"No novaships. Where the hell are the novaships?"
Stancil shook his head. They were in enemy space, outnumbered by at least eight to one, and the opposing fleet was breaking into an attack configuration. Stancil's own carriers had launched their fighters, and even now, they were streaking to intercept the massive wave of T'zirian fighters launched from their carriers.
The blades were moving up to protect his flagship. He had not ordered them to do so, but he appreciated the thoughtfulness of their Captains.
Too bad it wouldn't help.
"Commander T'kul," said N'tal into his viewscreen, "Do you know me?"
"Yes, my Prince," stammered T'kul. "You are N'tal...what are you doing on board a Confederation Destroyer?"
"This is a joint mission to intercept and detain the A'zani, T'kul. Your Captain is a renegade. Where is he?"
"We know. I had just arrested him when you attacked. He shot O'tar, and he's somewhere in the lower decks. We're searching for him now."
"This ship is docking with you. I and some humans are coming aboard. You will pass the word to cooperate with us."
"Yes, my prince. T'kul out."
Glamdring locked onto the crippled A'zani. As soon as the seals were in place, N'tal, Ryan, Sanderson, and several others, each heavily armed, boarded. They were met by crewmen from the A'zani, and split up, searching for R'gal.
"We must go this way!" said N'tal to Ryan and Sanderson. "R'gal will be trying to complete his vengeance. He's probably headed for the auxiliary weapons controls. If he gets there, he can still destroy this system!"
"They're not attacking, Admiral!" yelled Stancil's aide.
It was true. The T'zirian fleet had established a line, and were holding position. Stancil didn't quite understand what was happening, but he wouldn't be the first one to fire.
"Order all ships to hold position."
"Sir?" asked his aide, incredulously.
"Do it!" roared Stancil. "Damn it, man, are you deaf? Are you blind?"
"Incoming message from the T'zirian Admiral," called the communications officer.
"On the viewscreen."
"Admiral Stancil," said S'lan. "I am ordering my forces to hold position. I note that you are doing the same."
"Affirmative. Why are we doing this?"
"I have had a direct communication from the Emperor. He has ordered me not to fore on you unless you fire on us first."
"Given the size of your fleet, I'd say that would be a suicidal gesture." said Stancil with a grimace.
"Indeed. And one thing more: your ship Glamdring has located and disabled the A'zani. However, all is not over: her Captain has escaped arrest, and is missing. Until he is captured, there is still a danger."
"You must excuse me, Admiral, I have to send some messages," said Stancil. "Our leadership must be informed of these developments."
S'lan nodded.
"Let us hope they see the wisdom of ordering you to withdraw," he said.
"Let's hope," agreed Stancil. "But I wouldn't bet on it."
R'gal entered the hatch at the Weapons Control Station. The guard, startled, hastily saluted him. R'gal, realizing that the man had not been informed of the situation, returned the salute.
"Guard the door," he ordered. "The humans have ambushed and disabled the ship. We have been boarded. I must prevent our technology from falling into their hands...I will set the destruct sequence, and then we will abandon her."
The guard swallowed hard, then nodded. He was quite young, and obviously terrified. R'gal smiled at him reassuringly.
"Don't worry, son," he said. "Just keep them off by back for a few minutes."
He went to the control station. The targeting data was still in the computer on the Command Deck. R'gal initiated a transfer of the data to the weapons station, but the transfer would take a few minutes.
There were voices in the corridor. R'gal crouched down and hit behind the bank of capacators that fed the nova weapon. He waited, weapon ready.
A man in a Confederation uniform entered the hatch, and the guard fired. The shot went wide, and the man rolled to the side, and then up on one knee. He quickly aimed his weapon and fired.
The shot hit the guard directy in the center of the chest, and he went down. He fired a final shot as he fell, and the Confederation man was hit in the shoulder and also fell.
R'gal sprang from his hiding place and ccrossed quickly to the control station. The data was almost finished transferring. He began to punch in the security override code that he needed to fire the weapon by himself.
"That's enough, R'gal," said a familiar voice behind him. R'gal turned to find N'tal holding a weapon on him.
"My brother!" spat R'gal. "so nice of you to join me!"
"It's over, R'gal."
"No...it's not. I must destroy this system first."
"No. I'll kill you first," said N'tal determinedly, with an edge in his voice.
The Confederation man moaned, and slowly got to his feet. He joined N'tal, and R'gal started."
"Interesting friends you have here, brother. Confederation uniform, but a half-breed like you. He even looks like you!"
"It's G'val."
"So. The missing half-breed whelp, found at last. You should have stayed lost," he said to Ryan.
Out of the corner of his eye, R'gal saw the guard move. He realized that he had only been stunned. The guard shook his head, looked around, and then stealthily retrieved his weapon.
The guard took careful aim at N'tal. He was just about to fire when a shot rang out in the corridor. The guard slumped once more.
N'tal and Ryan were momentarily distracted. It was all R'gal needed. He ducked away, seizing his weapon. He gained cover, and aimed at N'tal.
"Drop your weapons!" he ordered.
N'tal and Ryan had no choice but to comply. R'gal laughed.
"You see?" he chortled at N'tal, "You see? It's not over." He raised his voice.
"You, out in the hall! I have hostages. Throw down your weapons and get in here!"
A sidearm was thrown in through the open hatch. It was followed by Sanderson.
"Join us." demanded R'gal. "You can all die together."
"Let the others go. I think I'm the one you want."
There was something about that voice. R'gal looked carefully at Sanderson.
‘The face..' he thought. ‘Something familiar about it....I've seen this one before..a long time ago..'
"I know you." he said. Sanderson nodded.
"You've grown a bit since I last saw you. I doubt I could hold you now, like I did then."
The realization set in, and R'gal screamed in rage. He leveled his weapon and fired wildly. The shot missed.
N'tal and Ryan dove for the deck. They retrieved their weapons and scurried for cover. R'gal noticed their movement and fired in their direction, missing widely.
The three men continued to fire at R'gal. He screamed with rage, his mind completely gone. He only wanted to hurt, to kill. He fired again, the shot grazing Sanderson's scalp, burning him. Sanderson fell, writhing in pain.
N'tal and Ryan fired several shots, forcing R'gal out into the open. R'gal returned their fire, and gave ground, at last standing beside the control station. He fired wildly, with no apparent target.
Ryan took careful aim, and shot him in the chest.
R'gal's scream broke into a choked cry. He felt the life draining from him, and as he fell, he grabbed for the control console. He used it to steady himself, as Ryan and N'tal came up from behind him.
"So.." he said, and then strangled out a cough. "You think it ended."
With a massive effort, R'gal turned to face them. His vision was blurry, and the weakness was growing massively worse. He knew he had but seconds to live.
"I die.." he choked out. "but I claim vengeance as my price."
"No!" shouted N'tal, leaping towards him.
It was too late. R'gal's dying hand came down upon the control station, activating the firing sequence. R'gal fell, dead.
The sound of the capacitors charging was deafening in the little room. N'tal frantically punched in a security code on the panel. It didn't work.
"Damn!" he shouted. "I can't stop it!"
"Is there any other way to stop it?" shouted Ryan.
"Yes!" shouted N'tal. "If we can create a dead short across these two capacitor banks, they will overload and short out. The weapon won't have enought power to discharge!"
"What do we have to do that with? Is there something here?"
"No..there's no time!" shouted N'tal. "I'll short them out with my body. Tell my...our parents that I loved them."
"No!" shouted Ryan. "No! You can't do this! N'tal!"
"I must!" shouted N'tal. "We're out of time! The cycle is almost complete!"
He started for the capacitors. A determined look was on his face.
"No!" screamed Ryan.
N'tal was suddenly shoved and sent sprawling. Sanderson looked at Ryan.
"I started this all thirty years ago," he shouted. "I'll finish it."
He rapidly crossed to the capacitors. The whine of the generators had increased to a scream.
Sanderson took a deep breath, and seized the top of a capacitor with either hand.
He screamed as the power surged through him. His body burned with agony as the waves of raw energy swept round his form.
His last thought was of the crime he had committed. As life left him, he saw the shattered look on the woman's face. And then all was darkness.
The capacitors shorted out and overloaded. A series of electrical overloads sent sparks flying, and one of the capacitors exploded.
The whine of the generators began to abate, the scream of their pitch gradually declining into a low rumble, before fading altogether. N'tal looked at Ryan.
"It's over," he said.
There is nothing quite so poignant as a funeral in space, in that vast gulf between the stars where darkness eternally reigns. There, in that darkness, a man can come to know the depths of his grief, for there pain is enhanced by the cold, distant stars, and the emptiness echoes the depths of sorrow. Nowhere else is a loss so keenly felt as it is there, in that lonely place.
It was for that reason that the two ships now maintained their stations between systems. Their crews, stiff in their dress uniforms, stood at parade rest in the hangar bay of the larger ship, silently honoring the dead which lay in state.
Each of those assembled there harbored his own thoughts of the deceased, some respectful, others not. Yet each of them, in some way, found it hard to believe the chain of events that had led them here, and which had brought them to the purpose of this solemn gathering. It seemed almost impossible that it had all started two scant weeks ago, and almost half a galaxy away.
Ryan and N'tal stood together, solemn. They waited silently for the last of the guests to arrive.
T'kul walked stiffly up to them and saluted. They both returned the salute.
"They have arrived," He reported. "They are boarding as we speak."
The hatchway opened, and Ryan and N'tal called the crews to attention. Boson A'sak of the A'zani blew a note of welcome on his carved pipe.
Emperor K'val N'rthan and his empress entered the hangar bay, followed by Confederation President Hollon. The Confederation Council Members and various
Ministers and Courtiers of the T'zirian Empire were next, and Admirals S'lan and Stancil brought up the rear.
N'tal and Ryan bowed formally. The emperor laid a hand on each of his son's shoulders, and smiled.
"You have both done well," he said. "We must talk later. But now let us honor the dead."
The Emperor and Empress, and all of the other dignitaries were seated. The funeral began.
The T'zirian clergyman spoke first, calling for the Creator of All to show mercy to the spirits of the deceased. When he had finished, the human cleric spoke, praying for each of the departed.
There were various eulogies for each of the men, and then at last, the flags were folded, and presented to the next of kin. The Emperor received the flag from R'gal's casket, and President Hollon the flag from Sanderson's, as Sanderson had no family.
All present rose, and then after a joint benediction, the caskets were reverently carried to the end of the hangar bay and placed into the airlocks. The sad strains of an ancient human dirge were played by a crewman.
R'gal was released first, his casket sliding from the airlock and falling towards the sun. A moment later, Sanderson's followed.
There was a last call to attention and a final salute, and then it was over.
The Emperor turned to Hollon.
"President Hollon, the Empire grieves for those who lost their lives and homes because of my son's actions. I stand ready to offer compensation for all losses. Please, let us start again..as friends."
"The Confederation and Council accepts your apology, your Highness," said Hollon. "The events of the past two weeks were a tragedy. Let us just be thankful that a larger one, another war between our peoples, has been averted."
Hollon offered the Emperor his hand. The Emperor accepted, and the two shook.
"There is one thing more," the Emperor said. "There can no longer be any mistrust between our peoples. We have come to the brink of war because of mistrust, hatred, and ignorance. I must take steps to insure that this does not happen again."