Gronth Ch. 09 Gronth Civil War

Ownership Has its Perks

"What in the hell have you done?" Matt asked the two co-conspirators.

"You told me to clean the planet up and I cleaned it up," Colonel Cruz offered in apology.

"You left me a mountain of gold as part of the cleanup?"

"Sofia said that nitrated cyclic polycarbonates are really bad for the environment. We sent those into the planet's sun to be disposed of. Did you have another use for them?" Ando asked.

Matt was silent. He had studied chemistry and knew that some living things, such as most reptiles for example, broke down into nitrated cyclic polycarbonates. That explained the dead Gronth, or lack of dead Gronth. But what about the gold? The gold had even been fabricated into one kilogram bars by the orbiting reverse integrators.

"All I can figure is that the Gronth armor on all of the ships, aircraft and landers contained gold," Colonel Cruz offered.

Matt knew that gold was a part of the Gronth formula for their energy weapon armor. Nearly a troy ounce of gold for every five square meters worth of energy absorbing paint. The Elani scientists had discovered a much cheaper alternative than gold, but the Gronth still used the real stuff.

There must be trillions of dollars worth of gold here, maybe more. Matt was no financial wizard, but he knew that if that much gold was released on the Terran planets at once, it would probably ruin those planet's economies.

Sofia knew that as well, and so without Matt's knowledge, she had gotten both an Elani and a Terran Alliance Court to agree with her not to bring the gold to either of those places. She hadn't told Matt about the large stockpile that she had reverse integrated.

The Elani had no use for gold, or any other element for that matter. They lived inside of a nebula, a star, containing all of the known and even unknown elements, had blown up in the Elani area of space. The Elani could simply collect anything they needed from the nebular cloud.

"Where are these reverse integrators now?"

"We sent five of them to clean up the really bad chemical and nuclear sites on Earth, the other two are cleaning up the moon on Gliese."

Matt nodded in agreement. If he had ever agreed to building such machines in the first place, those would be the spots he would want cleaned up.

"So all the bad stuff gets sent into the center of a distant star, and the good stuff stays where the cleanup took place."

"If that's where you want the good stuff. Aluminum, magnesium, iron and other materials went to make Terran weapons on various other Terran planets," Sofia corrected her boss.

"We could've put your gold anywhere you wanted us to," Ando said.

"There wasn't enough room in your house on Ralajan," Sofia explained.

"Thank the Creator for that," Matt said.

Ando smiled, hearing his new brother use the Creator's name properly.

"It's all your problem now, you know," Ando told Matt.

"Mine?"

"Yes. I've cleared it with the Elani High Council. Namira says that she doesn't want it. Sofia says that the Terran worlds can't use it, so it all belongs to you. You bought the whole planet after all," Ando informed Matt.

"I bought the planet?"

"Yes. I heard you. I recorded your conversation. Sofia contacted the Terran Alliance attorneys on your behalf. There was no legal precedent, so the planet all belongs to you now. It's all settled. We've already been to Court. You won." Ando said.

"When did I buy the planet?"

"I have an exact quote from Captain Tyler of John A. LeJeune. I played it for the interplanetary court."

Sofia Cruz produced a military issued voice recorder and played back a snippet of conversation that Matt had made several months ago.

Captain Tyler of LeJeune was speaking. "I can't believe that you made it. Things were bad on Zandor. I was sure that you bought it down there."

"Yeah. I thought I bought it too. Hey Andy. Can you let the big brass know that I made it and that I have some friendly Aliens that I need them to talk to?"

"It sounded better coming from the recorder on Ando's ship," Sofia said.

"Sofia said that you were too busy to bother with all of the details," Ando explained.

"You've got some splainin to do," Matt told Sofia.

"Ando?" Sofia said.

Matt knew that Ando, like all of the Elani he had met, never knowingly lied. Subterfuge was unknown on the Elani worlds. If Ando said it was true, it was true.

"The planet was not occupied by the Elani. We had no interest in anything outside the nebula as you know."

"I can see the Elani not wanting the planet."

"The Terran Alliance debated taking the planet because they sent a scientific team here."

"So Terrans should share it." Matt reasoned.

"They thank you for all of the raw materials that you sent, but the Terrans deserted the planet. That just leaves you," Ando said.

You are the proud owner of the planet, the gold, and all of the problems it will cause." Sofia laughed.

"A lot of help you are."

What was Matt going to do with all of that gold? What was he going to do with a barren planet like Zandor? Maybe the Elani would need the gold on their new Terran homeworlds. He seriously doubted it.

"At least the reptiles aren't trying to take Zandor any more. The Armada is heading for Earth and all of the Terran planets. The new Emperor apparently wants to bypass Zandor. What are you going to do with all of that gold?" Sofia asked.

"I'm going to use the gold to bait a trap."

"What kind of trap?" Sofia asked.

"The kind that starts a Gronth Civil War."

Karack and Kankree

The Emperor is dead. Long live the Emperor.

A new, young Emperor, Grota MMLXIX had taken the old Emperor's place after the old Emperor had been killed by the imperial guard after Kankree's defeat on Zandor. The Terrans had humiliated Kankree's troops and had caused the great general to retreat. A failure by Kankree on Zandor was not an acceptable one.

Kankree had lost so much Gronth equipment and so many warriors that the plans for the speedy conquest of the Terran and Elani planets had been dashed. The second loss to the Terrans in the Void was unplanned for. Kankree's troops were supposed to attack the nebula planets after defeating the Terrans on Zandor. Those plans had to be changed now.

The nucleus of the Gronth Armada had been quickly assembled and launched toward the Terran worlds under Karaks command as soon as he had returned to Grota from the Void. He had fought the monkey men and defeated them. It was unfortunate that he was not able to form a garrison there, but he and Ganoot had both recorded a win. That was when Kankree spoiled the plan.

Once Karak had arrived on Zandor, he was supposed to take over the garrison that would be established in the Void and turn his powerful war machine over to Kankree. Every available warship from every planet remotely near Grota had been made ready to attack by Karak. Why should Kankree take over and attack the new planets that he'd discovered in the nebula? That was the question that he'd been asking himself all along. Politics.

Now that Kankree had failed to take the planet in the Void, he had been stripped of his title and his leadership of the forces supposed to attack the Terran planets. The planets in the nebula could wait until later. Karak had been selected by the new Emperor to be the new leader. It hadn't been politics that had gotten him to be selected as the Emperor's Right Claw. Unlike Kankree, he had earned his position by being the best soldier in the imperial guard. His marriage to Kookie had not hurt him either.

The Terrans were clever warriors, but new Gronth battle plans had been designed to defeat their cowardly tactics. They would not be fooled into exhausting themselves on endless frontal attacks. Kankree had shown them how the traditional tactics had come up short. Now, they would attack from the sides too.

Several task forces of Gronth ships and warriors were supposed to meet up with Karak in space to join his quest. As their leader, he would then separate his forces how he saw fit. He personally might conquer the planets of the nebula people. They had not responded to the ultimatum. The Terrans had chosen to fight.

Karak hadn't eaten in nearly two weeks and tonight he thought that he deserved to celebrate his promotion. He would drink a few cartons of beer, not that swill that Kookie made, and eat some roasted milk-fed Mardon children. The new Emperor had just given him, Karak, the grandest title of them all. He was "The Emperor's Right Claw".

Karak would normally consume half of a fat, juicy non-breeding female Mardon when it was time for him to feed. The non-breeding females were much more tender than the breeding females that most other officers used for food. Rank and file soldiers were fed either a quarter of a breeding male or female Mardon once per month unless they were in hibernation like they were now.

The relationship was quite unique, but very efficient for long voyages. The Mordons ate the fungus that grew on Gronth shit, and the Gronth ate the Mardons. Only the babies never ate the fungus from the Gronth cloaca, but were strictly milk-fed. The Mardons actually tasted pretty good, considering their diet. Terrans, however, were reportedly the best tasting of all of the food species though.

"Bring me two milk-fed Mardon babies, roasted. Get them as young and tender as you can find," Karak told his personal chef.

Kankree's flagship ship had just docked with Karak's ship, Gokop. The losing General would need to file his official report in person. He could either file the report directly to the new Emperor, or to the Emperor's Right Claw. Kankree had wisely chosen to file with the Emperor's Right Claw. The new Emperor would've killed Kankree on the spot.

Karak would be magnanimous to Kankree and let him live. He had learned somewhere that all great leaders needed to be merciful at least some of the time. Kankree was from the same clutch of eggs that had hatched out the previous Emperor. If Karak knew anything, it was that clutch-mates usually stuck together. Kankree might even be a valuable ally in the future.

Karak stood in front of a polished section of the bulkhead to closely examine his large magnificent frame before inviting Kankree into his cabin. Larger by half than most Gronth, Karak had been personally chosen by the new Emperor to lead. His scores on civil service tests had never been the highest and he had been caught taking bribes from a few business owners, but his loyalty to the new Emperor was unquestioned. He was the Emperor's Right Claw.

Not concerned about his soldier's stomachs, the new Emperor had different ideas about Zandor and the invasion. Karak wasn't even supposed to stop on Zandor anymore. The new Emperor had not wanted to waste men and equipment on a useless planet, he was heading straight to Terra and its Allies. All Karak was waiting for before he ate was the official in-person report from Kankree.

According to the unofficial report, the Terrans still had millions of soldiers and most of their equipment on Zandor. The Terrans, with limited resources compared to the Gronth, would not be capable of rebuilding their weapons in the time it took for the Armada to arrive on Earth. With the majority of their soldiers still on Zandor, the Terran worlds would be ripe for plucking. The Armada was still months from Earth, but the Terrans FTL drive was much slower than theirs.

The Terrans had learned about Gronth armor far too quickly in Karaks opinion. Monkeys were fast learners and good with their little four-fingered paws and opposable thumbs. They must have known about the armor all along and had finally gotten around to coating their positions and aircraft with the energy absorbing paint. Karak didn't have to wonder why the Terrans had hesitated to coat their equipment previously, the price of gold was simply too high.

"Show him in"

Kankree walked hesitantly into his new leader's office, trying not to be intimidated by the size of the vast Armada that Karak led. He had no idea, though, of how huge the Gronth leader would be. The Gronth warrior was a giant. After bowing to the "Emperor's Right Claw'' and offering the traditional greetings, Kankree presented his official report to the big Gronth warrior. The big soldier must've been intimidating as hell when he waded into battle. It was no wonder that Lady Kookie Karak and the new Emperor had chosen Karak. He was physically huge.

Karak was as stupid as a shield but as ruthless in battle as a veterans claw. The smaller Gronth soldier watched the big Gronth struggle to read the report. Kankree was just about to ask Karak if he should read the report to him when the giant warrior threw the report down on the deck.

"What is your evidence for the Terrans' near defeat? Have you brought me even a partial Terran to feed on this evening?"

"I was not able to bring a Terran for you, Lord Claw."

"And you left over a thousand warriors on Zandor as well?"

"Yes Lord Claw."

"How many Gronth soldiers gave their lives?"

"Nearly six million at last count Lord Claw."

Karak had been waiting for this moment to make his most dramatic claim to Kankree.

""You lost entire, fully loaded ships to their aircraft?"

Kankree could just hang his head in shame when Karak mentioned the fully loaded warships. They were the largest ships of the Troop Carrier class. Each of those ships held over a hundred thousand clawed warriors, warriors who never got a chance to fight the Terrans at all.

Karak continued to read the report. Kankree's shame knew no bounds. Here, Kankree had made an assumption. The new Emperor didn't like assumptions. He wanted facts, and facts alone.

"You estimate that nearly a billion Terrans were killed, but you can't bring me a single piece of Terran flesh?"

"They couldn't have survived, Lord Claw, our attack was overwhelming."

Karak was trying very hard not to get angry. The Emperor had assumed that over a billion Terrans were dead and that there would be slight resistance when he attacked Earth.

"You've given your report Kankree. You'd better leave before I change my mind and kill you right here on the spot."

"Thank you Lord Claw," Kankree said as he left Karaks presence, bowing deeply as he left.

Kankree hurried back to his Command ship and cleared off from Gokop. He needed to put as many light years between himself and Karak as he could. Kankree thanked his luck that Karak hadn't killed him. The big Gronth could've killed him on the spot, and really should have done so. When Kankree was the Emperor's Right Claw, he would've punished such failure with death. Karak was feeling magnanimous. Good for him. Bad for Karak.

Before Karak could think too much about his meeting with Kankree, the two roasted Morlon infants appeared at his dining table. Thinking about Kankree and the new Emperor gave Karak a headache. He ordered two measures of Gronth beer and dug into the Marlon babies.

The beer was from Kookie's breweries. That was how she had made all of her wealth and power, beer. Karak looked at Kookies picture on the front of the container and scoffed. He didn't know why he had married her. He hardly ever got any sex with Kookie. Karak could've married any woman in the empire, why did it have to be Kookie. She hadn't mated with him at all before the new Emperor had sent him back into space. He should've given her some of those golden rings. She would have made time for him then.

"Don't you like this beer, Lord Claw?"

"Do you have anything stronger?"

"I have a nice strong beer from the planet Kankreesia," the chef offered.

"That will do."

Unlike the other officers who had learned to drink the fine Grotan wine, Karak drank cheap beer because he didn't know any better. The chef would put the cheap beer down on his own personal account and drink the fine wine himself. Karak wouldn't ever know the difference.

The thought that Kankree had gotten the chance to name his own planet should've made Karak even more angry. For some reason it hadn't. Maybe that bastard Kankree could make better beer than his wife could.

The roasted Marlons were delicious. He would have to order those again. Karak sat at the viewscreen of the probes that he had sent out weeks before with a full gullet and a belly full of strong beer. He still couldn't see any activity on the Terran and Nebula Planets. They were too far out.

"Bring me two more containers of beer."

Karak wanted to see if some of the monkey men were still on Zandor. The planet should really be called Karakakea, but even the new Emperor had referred to this place as Zandor. When Karak switched the viewer to see what the Terrans were doing, he was totally stunned. Karak had expected to see millions of both Terran and Gronth dead scattered around the battlefield. Instead, he saw empty landscapes from the surreptitious drone. No dead Gronth, no equipment, and definitely no Terrans.

All Karak could see that interested him was a mountain of Terran gold. Karak even sent the probe lower to check out the specific gravity of the precious metal. It was gold alright, the pure stuff. Tons of it.

Karak began to laugh. Kankree had almost gotten away with it, but he couldn't outsmart old Karak. Kankree might've scored higher on the intelligence tests, but he was the Emperor's Right Claw.

Karak hit the intercom to the kitchen. "Where's my beer?"

"From Kankreesia, Lord Claw?"

"I just want some beer from Kankreesia damnit. I don't ever want to hear that name again. Just bring it and keep bringing it."

Karak looked at the viewscreen again. Gold, tons of it.

"Good one Kankree." Karak laughed to himself.

There had been no battle. Zandor was still untouched. Kankree had put all of his troops and ships in reserve, somewhere. All of Kankree's old friends were still out there, commanding real fighting warriors. Kankree's large veteran force was waiting for the right moment to pounce on poor old Karak.

The huge mountain of Terran gold would buy the loyalty of most of the uncommitted officers and their troops still waiting to join Kankree. He would have to do something about that too. The new Emperor was weak. Karak knew it and apparently Kankree knew it too. Karak had figured that the old Emperor, his own clutchmate, would want the gold for himself. Kankree wanted all of the gold. Maybe he had plans to become the new Emperor. How Kankree had even hoped to outsmart him was still a mystery to Karak though.

Karak wasn't the sharpest claw on the hand, but he could smell a conspiracy from a mile away. The Armada, or at least his part of it, would attack the Terrans while Kankree and his allies would take the gold and conquer the Nebula People. It would be then, after his troops had been weakened by the Terrans, that Kankree and his paid allies would attack. Kankree would then kill the Emperor's Right Claw and proclaim himself to be the new Emperor. Clever.

Wait. The Terrans had been defending several berms of useless dirt. Did all of them hide gold? No wonder the Emperor had changed his orders. He was supposed to leave Zandor alone and attack the Terrans on their home worlds. The Emperor was sending all of his troops to Zandor to snatch the gold while he was attacking the Terrans. The new Emperor must be in on it too. He would fool them all. Karak would be the richest Gronth of all. Kookie would have sex with him then.

The Battle for Karakakia

"I don't want to move until we must," Joya said as all of her neighbors started to disappear.

"I can't blame them. They want to get settled on the new planets that the Terrans have prepared for them."

Matt recalled how his father had broken the news to Namira when she had come to bathe with them in the pool.

"Ten planets?"

Ben Seabolt nodded, a gesture that had infiltrated Elani society.