Chapter 20

"Gladn!" Charon called, looking around for his young employee. "Get down here, Gladn."

"Yes, sir." Gladn replied and then climbed down the ladder from the store room. "I have finished inventorying the hard candies. I still have to do the rest of it."

"Don't worry about that now. I just finished the printing order for Muin. I need you to drop the shipment off to her. Her place is at 33 Krypt St."

Climbing down, Gladn checked the boxes over. "Any special instructions?"

"No. She just wanted the same type of drivel she always does. Some poetry she will give out at her shop to promote the ideals of Queen Guardiana, without actually mentioning her name. That woman is just too afraid of the state for her own good. Just drop them off and come back to finish the inventory."

Gladn nodded, and started moving the boxes outside and onto the delivery scooter that Charon had provided. It was a small one man scooter with room for a few small packages in the front, but it had a large anti-gravity cargo trailer behind it that could carry much larger cargos. Muin had ordered enough that Gladn would have to use the trailer.

Quickly loading the boxes on the trailer, Gladn set off for 33 Krypt St. Legend had it that Krypt St. was named for an old general who had been summarily executed by Deslock for treason, but had been exonerated of all charges years later. It was one of those old stories; no one would ever know the truth for sure.

Thanks to the speed of the scooter, Gladn arrived at his destination soon enough, it was a short mushroom shaped building just like thousands of others all over the planet. The oddest thing about the building was that it was a brighter silver color, while most of the traditionalists preferred dark colors.

Gladn started offloading the boxes as soon as he stopped, and stacked them next to the doorway. He was eager to get back, he liked Charon, and enjoyed spending time in the old shop.

He was so involved in his task that he nearly failed to notice the jingle of the door as it opened. The old lady Muin stood there and watched him for a few moments.

"You must be Charon's new running boy?" She asked.

"Yes." Gladn nodded.

"The old coot was too afraid to see me himself then."

"What Ma'am?" Gladn asked.

"Nothing, boy. If you are a good kid, you will pay close attention to what happens around you." Muin said, knowing full well that it would likely not give the boy enough warning if he did not know, but unwilling risk telling any more. "Tell Charon I will give him the rest of the payment tomorrow."

Finished unloading the boxes, Gladn nodded acceptance of the message and hopped back on his scooter. He had a lot more to inventory back at the shop.

Once more Hawk stood before Deslock and his Generals, at least this time he was not on trial. Of course, it would easily turn into a trial if he should overstep his bounds. He looked at each of them. There was Leader Deslock himself in the center, Talon always at his side. Generals Auctor, Peck, Carcer, Hoven, and Koffin were all in attendance as well. Each General usually had his own area of space to control, with no overlap of authority to invite infighting between them, the Gamilon invasion had changed that. Each of their territories had been invaded, and the different Generals were not use to working together. Only the strong personality of Deslock served to keep them all in line. In the background, Pleb was also keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings.

"Our new defensive fleet has scored major victories against the invading armies," Hawk began.

"Yet we have lost another three planets to the invaders, Captain." Auctor interjected.

"But, over the last several days we have destroyed several invasion fleets that will not be able to claim any more of our worlds." Hawk continued.

"Do you really think you will be able to eliminate all of the invading forces the way you have been going?" Carcer asked?

"Most, yes, but I have come to you today to ask for a change of plans. I think it is time we started to make the enemy think about defense as well."

Hoven seemed ready to speak, but Deslock waved him off and spoke himself. "What did you have in mind, Captain?"

"We have shown that our reaction fleet can take out theirs, so I propose we use it to take out their base on Uther, and bring the planet back under our control. Then the enemy will have to fall back, and worry more about defending the worlds they have already taken."

"Impossible." Said Koffin, "We don't have enough ships to mount such an operation."

"I agree," Auctor added. "Our intelligence reports show a vast fleet guarding Uther. The most we can hope to accomplish now is to slow or stop the enemy advance."

Deslock stood, the Generals who were going to speak or argue were instantly silent. "If the problem, Gentlemen, is a lack of ships, then I order that our current ship production be tripled. If there is a fleet too large for us to fight at Uther, then it is only a matter of time before we see it in use."

Peck turned to his leader, "Tripling our ship production will not be easy…"

Talon spoke next, cutting Peck off, "We can get extra ship builders by allowing the elderly to assist in production, and we can draw from the Militia. We can also speed the process by eliminating the nonessential equipment from the ships. No Staterooms, or holography rooms… A ship only needs Guns, armor, engines, and life support."

Peck nodded. "We will triple ship production."

"You may not attack planet Uther today, Captain Hawk," Deslock said, "but we will soon be ready. And when we are ready, you may be sure that we will take back every inch of space our enemies have taken from us, and they will pay for it in blood."

Hawk was disappointed that his request to reclaim Uther had been denied. He was eager to reclaim the world, and his honor for having lost it. He would still have to ship out immediately to rejoin his fleet. He needed to be ready to repulse the enemy's next attack, whenever or wherever that attack may come.

An air car took him directly to his shuttle on the launch pad, where armed guards were standing at attention. He barely paid the guards any attention as he climbed into the shuttle, but one of them held a piece of paper out to him. It was a letter addressed to him, in Jarria's handwriting. Hawk took the letter, and finished climbing into the shuttle, which immediately took off, headed towards his command battle carrier.

Hawk trusted his pilot to get him to his destination, so he opened the letter immediately, it had been too long since he had spoken with his love.

"My Dearest love… This is the second time you have been on Gamilon, and I have not been able to see you, to my deepest regret. I have some bad news for you. My father has not been pleased with many of the government's recent decisions, and he sees you as belonging to that government. That, combined with your disgrace at the battle of Uther…"

Hawk would not read any more. He knew what the bottom line of the letter would be, and that he would never see his Jarria again. Part of him wanted to crumple the letter up and throw it against the wall, but instead he folded it neatly, and placed it in his pocket. He had no time to worry about such things now. He could not allow himself to be distracted. He had a job to do, and he would see it done. For Jarria, and everyone else as well, if they wanted to see him again, or not.