The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire by Raymond Weil (ereader ebook .txt) 📕

The other council members looked from one to the other. They were not exactly sure what was going on.

“I have some very simple demands to make of the Morag,” replied Reull. “All fleets of the other six member races will be equipped with the nullifiers, if they want. All government leaders of all the worlds of the six races will have personal nullifiers available to them. All Morag will leave all the worlds of the six races, and there will no longer be any Morag telepathic interference into how we run our worlds or the Confederation worlds we control.”

“You ask too much,” growled Damora, coming to his feet. “My people will never agree to that.”

“Your people have no choice!” replied Reull forcefully. “The Confederation is about to change, and there is nothing you can do to prevent it.”

“Compromise,” said Damora. “We will leave all Lormallian worlds alone, and you may equip all your fleets with the nullifiers but no others.”

“I want my worlds left alone as well,” called out the Zang Councilor. “We demand that we be left free from your telepathic influences.”

Damora looked over at Councilor Clun of the Druins. “What say you?”

“We will stay with you, as long as I am free of telepathic influence and can make my own decisions. I want one of the telepathic nullifiers.”

The Lamothians, the Zynth, and the Morphene all decided to support the Morag. They feared, if they did otherwise, the Confederation would fall apart. However, all of them asked for personal telepathic nullifiers for themselves.

Damora looked at Councilor Reull. “I will speak to the Morag High Council. I don’t believe they will agree to your demands, but it is their decision.”

“It’s very simple,” replied Reull in a steady voice. “They can have part of the Confederation or none of it. One simple order from me or my fleet admiral and every Confederation world will know the secret of the nullifiers.”

Damora did not reply. He was not certain what to say or to do. It would now be up to the Morag High Council to make a decision. “We will meet again tomorrow. By then I should have heard back from the High Council.” Damora looked at Councilor Reull with a hard glare. “Until then, I suggest you do nothing that we might consider a threat.”

“I will return to the Lormallian flagship in orbit,” said Councilor Reull. “Inform me when you have heard back from your council.” With that, Councilor Reull turned and left, escorted by his four guards.

For a moment Damora considered having Reull killed, before he returned to his shuttle. However, doing so might make matters worse. He had no idea what the High Council would do.

-

As soon as Councilor Reull arrived back on board the fleet flagship, he was met by Admiral Garr.

“How did the meeting go? I wasn’t sure if I would have to send troops down to get you back or not.”

Councilor Reull smiled. “It might be that bad tomorrow. Councilor Damora will contact the Morag High Council, and they will decide what must be done. At the moment the Zang are standing with us. All of the other races have sided with the Morag.”

Admiral Garr shook his head. “Why would they do that after what the Morag have done to them?”

“The Druins and the Zynth like war. The Lamothians know the Morag will furnish them with intelligent food, and the Morphenes just don’t care.”

“At least the Zang are on one of our borders. Do you think we will have to fight?”

Reull let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know. I have already made arrangements for a second of our fleets to have the nullifiers installed. The installation should be finished within four days. I’m hoping I can drag out these negotiations for that long. It will double the number of ships we have fully under our control.”

Admiral Garr turned to go to the Command Center. “I wish we knew the true size of the Morag fleet.”

“It’s large, much larger than what we have always been led to believe. It’s essential we build up our own fleets. If I can get the concessions that I want, we will have over two thousand inhabited worlds that will be under our control. Worlds we have mistreated for thousands of years. It’ll be difficult to build back any trust.”

“So we’ll change how we treat those worlds?”

Reull nodded. “When the Confederation was first formed, some of those worlds were promised entry as equals, with seats on the Great Council. The Morag prevented that from ever happening.”

Admiral Garr was silent for a long moment. “This really will be a huge change. What should we do about those worlds that are now in revolt? We have warships in orbit around most of them.”

“I’ll send a detailed message to our Lormallian government as to what’s been going on. I’ll also recommend we pull back all our fleet units from those worlds. Their presence is only making the situation worse.”

-

Later, Councilor Reull was in his quarters, resting, thinking, sending off numerous messages to various Lormallian planets and fleet admirals, explaining what he was doing. Everyone voiced support but suggested he move cautiously. Evidently now the Morag could not be trusted.

As Reull lay in bed, he also wondered if the Morag could do anything to counter what he had demanded. He didn’t see what the Morag could do, but Reull also knew that the Morag were very crafty and dangerous.

-

The Great Council of the Morag was yet again in an emergency session. The news from Councilor Damora was not good.

A nullifier? sent Councilor Hiram, shaking his head and hitting his fist hard against the council table, causing the wood to splinter. Where did they come up with that?

Council Leader Addonis stood gazing at