Full Negotiation Star Map Draftsman I: Federation War

As for how Jonathan won the support of more than half of the people of the Moreth Federation, Dawn Lucius did not know before his break with Jonathan. On the one hand, Dawn Lucius was grateful to Jonathan for allowing him to return to Earth to see Stacean Lucius. In terms of using the Star Bridge, Jonathan had indeed used his supreme power to allow Dawn Lucius to shuttle to Mars, but this also caused Jonathan a lot of trouble. His treasurer pulled together a bunch of politicians on Kunek Planet to bash Jonathan, blaming him for abusing his power, especially for helping a low-level civilization, and the Military Department on Maniya Planet directly restricted Jonathan’s right to use the Star Bridge with what they called a short-term freeze of a warning nature. However, the nuclear war on Earth had not been the Earthlings’ intention; someone had wanted to destroy Jonathan’s hope of cooperating with the Earthlings, which led to the nuclear war on Earth, which destroyed Stacean Lucius. It had been caused directly by Jonathan, and Dawn Lucius could not convince himself to forgive Jonathan. All this began after Dawn Lucius and Sandra returned to Smyrni Planet.

The lords of Smyrni Planet admired Dawn Lucius’ ability, and their movements on Smyrni Planet did attract the attention of the Strath people. When the two princes discovered a military buildup in the star field behind them, they became concerned, fearing that they would be caught in a crossfire if it suddenly emerged from behind in the heat of battle with Visadio Planet’s forces. Almost as soon as Dawn Lucius and Sandra’s ship landed, Burt came rushing towards Smyrni Planet with his troops. In addition, Duncan was worried that Burt would encourage the criminals roaming the Ashton Federation to attack Smyrni Planet.

“Please be sure to pull yourself together. We need to fight back against the Strath people together, or else the Ashton Federation will disappear from Orion Arm, and the innocent will become dead souls under the atrocities of the Strath people.” Dawn Lucius sat frozen in front of the cold iron table in the common room. Duncan came to him and told him this, along with the old lord of Smyrni Planet.

“Please.” The old lord paused in front of Dawn Lucius, and when the two saw that he remained silent, they walked out.

“Dawn, what do you need me to do for you now?” Sandra walked over to him and cradled his head in her arms, and Dawn Lucius could hear her choking up and the sound of a gentle heartbeat.

Dawn Lucius didn’t have the strength to speak; he didn’t know how to speak. He tried to take a big breath, which caused the muscles in his neck to throb. He took Sandra’s hand and then put his face in it, smelling her skin. He didn’t need her to do anything for him; as long as she was there, that was all. Dawn Lucius remembered that when Stacean Lucius was four years and eight months old, the autumn sun was particularly bright, and Stacean Lucius liked Dawn Lucius to hold him horizontally as he lay across both of his father’s arms, looking at the leaves of the maple trees that lined the walk, and he asked Dawn Lucius to walk slower as he smiled and said, “Daddy, I feel like if I look at the leaves like this, they look like a cloud. Oh, it’s beautiful.” Later, the two of them got a walker; the AI could set the speed and the area where the car would travel, so the two of them lay down in the car and looked upward, where the treetops met, as if it were a sun-filled river, with the occasional light breeze stirring the leaves like floating whales. Dawn Lucius shook Stacean Lucius’ hand, then put his mouth to his forehead and told him how much he loved him.

“If ......” Dawn Lucius said after taking a deep breath, “if I hadn’t gone to the Kuiper Belt and hadn’t touched the Sane ship, then there would have been no war on Earth, and my son ......” Dawn Lucius could not finish. His left hand was pressed hard over his mouth and nose; he was afraid that his grief would drown the planet.

“Shhh ......” Sandra said with a soft shush on her lips, her hand slowly stroking Dawn Lucius’ head and shoulder, and said, “I also wish you had never appeared on the Sane ship and had never taken part in building the moon base. I would prefer to see the space civilization of the solar system set back a hundred years, with scientists on Earth not knowing that there are other planets in the solar system, only knowing to be sad when the moon wanes and happy when the moon is full. I would prefer to see you and Stacean Lucius share bedtime stories every night, and you accompany him through adolescence, and he shares with you what is cute about the girl he fell in love with, and when his feelings are hurt, he cries in front of you like a three-year-old child. I ......” Sandra bowed her head and kissed Dawn Lucius, raised her head, and then continued, “More than anything, I wish you could see Stacean Lucius get married and have children and stay with him until it’s time for you to leave, when his hair is half white but he cries and tells you that he can’t let you go. Even if the people of Earth still thought the Earth was flat, we wouldn’t care.”

Listening to Sandra, Dawn Lucius felt it was as real as if she had been with Stacean Lucius all his life. He rolled over and buried his face in the clothes over Sandra’s stomach; she gave him a warmth he had never felt before, a care he had never felt before. Dawn Lucius felt sleepiness creeping up his throat, swirling around in his nasal cavity before creeping up to the corner of his eye and kicking at his eyelids. He gripped the flexible screen on his left hand, smiled, and told Stacean Lucius, “Daddy loves you.” Then, through her shirt, he kissed Sandra on the belly, telling her how much he appreciated her and, by the way, sheepishly saying that he loved her too. And with that, Dawn Lucius fell asleep on Sandra’s lap.

When Dawn Lucius woke up again, he was sleeping in his bed, and in the room stood a man in black armor with his hands behind his back and his back to Dawn Lucius, staring out the window. “Who are you?” Dawn Lucius asked as he tried to sit up.

“Dawn,” the man said when he heard Dawn Lucius’ voice, and he turned and hurried to help Dawn Lucius.

“Jonathan Moreth Steader, what brings you here?”

“I came to see you, Dawn. I heard all about your son. I’m so sorry there’s nothing I can do to help you with this.”

“Thank you, Moreth Steader, for your concern. There is nothing anyone can do about it.” Dawn Lucius sat up and the two sat opposite each other.

“Just call me Jonathan. I don’t have any friends, but you, Dawn, I want you to consider me a friend.” A smile flashed across Jonathan’s face, and there was regret and helplessness in it.

“Jonathan, thank you for allowing me to use the Star Bridge. I was able to see my son one last time, after a full seventy years apart.”

“There’s no need for thanks between us. I guess I’m quite envious of your son,” Jonathan said, patting Dawn Lucius on the shoulder, and continued. “Do you remember the first time we met, on the Sane ship?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Your last words before you fell were for me to tell your son that you love him. I was thinking, what kind of father are you? At the end of your life, you didn’t complain that life is too short, nor did you regret what you hadn’t done, nor did you ask me to save you or anything; you asked me to tell your son that you love him. To be honest, I was in a curious and complicated mood.”

“Curious about what?”

“Curious whether the father-son feelings of all Earthlings are as deep as yours and your son’s.”

“It’s not universal, Jonathan,” Dawn Lucius continued after clasping both hands together and resting them on his stomach. “Between my father and me, it was just so faint. I actually don’t even know what my father was thinking. I grew up craving his encouragement, or craving his attention, but he almost always rejected me, and I can’t even remember whether he ever hugged me. So, no, it’s not always like what you’re talking about.”

“Then we are somewhat alike in that respect, I suppose.” Jonathan glanced at the floor, his eyes returning in a panic to his hands on his knees as he continued. “My father always felt that I was the worst person he had ever met. He didn’t think I was qualified to rule Moreth Federation or that I would make a great Moreth Steader. We would do nothing but argue when we met; we weren’t like father and son. I didn’t want to be some great Moreth Steader. I just wanted to have my father with me.”

“Jonathan, have you ever thought that, instead, it is this regret of not being loved that fills our hearts with love?”

“Love? Dawn, that I dare not say. I have no children, and since I have no love, I go after power, or so I think.”

“But power has no warmth; it’s cold and icy. Our hearts are already as cold as the sky, so it would be better to go after warm things.”

“Your suggestion, I’ll take it under consideration.” Jonathan smiled, stood up, and walked over to the window.

“By the way, Jonathan, did things go well on Sundium Planet?” Dawn Lucius followed him to the window.

“It went pretty well. I convinced the Centaly to join my camp; originally, their ancestors defended the Moreth Steader’s rights, but they were exiled after my father lost his fight with the Federation. Then we sort of scared off the Ninth Legion, and now Sundium Planet has returned to peace.” Jonathan turned to look at Dawn Lucius as he said it, with pride in his eyes.

“I’m happy for you, really. With more people supporting you, you will be able to accomplish your wish to take back the ruling power as soon as possible.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

“So where is Centaly now?” Dawn Lucius was going to ask about Centaly and then ask Jonathan to help resist the Strath people.

“I sent them to Moreth Federation’s fringe star fields to destroy the forces that oppress the common people, so that I can win the support of more grassroots forces. Besides, Moreth Federation’s grassroots are large in number.”

Hearing what Jonathan said, Dawn Lucius gave up the idea of asking the Centaly for help. After all, if the Centaly were to get to Smyrni Planet in a short time, they would have to break the Moreth Federation’s rules to use the Star Bridge, and no matter what, Dawn Lucius would not put this friend of his in an awkward position. He patted Jonathan’s shoulder and said, “Bless you. It’s an excellent start.”

“Thanks, Dawn. By the way.” Jonathan took a small orb out of his pocket, and Dawn Lucius knew what it was. Jonathan spoke as he shoved it into Dawn Lucius’ hand. “This is my pass. With it you can use the Star Bridge in the vast majority of star fields. If, I mean if, this place can’t be held, take Sandra far away and save your lives, okay?”

“But Jonathan, last time I used the Star Bridge, I already caused you trouble. This time ......” Dawn Lucius hadn’t finished speaking when Jonathan tightened his grip.

“Dawn,” Jonathan said as he pulled him closer to the window. “You’re my friend, so I’ll tell you this. Look out there. Smyrni Planet’s forces can’t hold off Burt’s attack. To weaken the army’s threat to her regime, Madam Winifred doesn’t even allow this planet to have decent heavy weapons, let alone ground defenses. Now, Burt’s army is several times larger than the forces here, plus their armaments are more advanced, so this place will just be slaughtered for nothing. In addition, as I told you, I got the information that even if Burt attacks here, Madam Winifred will not come to the rescue. She is still counting on negotiations. My sources are quite accurate; it is said that as long as handing over White Crystal technology isn’t the price, Madam Winifred can agree to any other conditions.”

“Is your information accurate?” Dawn Lucius’ voice rose much higher when he heard this, which was completely at odds with what he had heard before.

“Yes. As for those old dogs of Moreth Federation, their intention now is still to wait and see. Kunek Planet has the most guard troops, and the head of the Military Department on Maniya Planet has activated all the weapons, and as long as the Strath people don’t reach their door, their armies won’t make any move. As for Cunzani Planet, you have met the treasurer of Moreth Federation, right?” Jonathan paused, and after seeing that Dawn Lucius did not interrupt him, he continued. “He has paid a benefit fee to everyone in his network, so that no matter how Orion Arm fights, no one will bother him, and his position as the head of the Finance Department is secure.”

“Jonathan, if your information is true, then I need to hurry up and inform Duncan so they know about it. We originally deduced that as long as part of the Strath army leaves Visadio Planet, Visadio Planet’s army will have a chance to breathe and resist. If they won’t even resist, then there is no need for these people of Smyrni Planet to make a fearless sacrifice now.”

“I agree with you. Keep your advantage, and when the Strath people are tired, send your troops to attack; then you will have a chance to save Ashton Federation.”

“Yes. Jonathan, I have a question for you. A small number of Strath people are attacking the solar system, and they are using the Star Bridge to get over there. Who let them use the Star Bridge?”

“What?” Jonathan asked, turning around in shock after hearing Dawn Lucius’ words. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. They showed up at the exit near Mars and then destroyed the solar system’s facilities.”

“That’s strange. By definition, if troop carriers in the Star Bridge didn’t get permission from Moreth Federation, they would be left in the farthest star field and would not reach their destination, which means that someone at Moreth Federation is breaking the rules.” Jonathan grew angrier and angrier as he spoke. He hammered the wall and continued. “They pay lip service to fairness on the surface, but in the end, Moreth Federation really is controlled by those few old dogs. Moreth Federation is just their tool for profit.”

“Although only a small number of ships are attacking the solar system, I am still worried that they will destroy the Earth. Can you help me find a way to stop them?”

“I can’t guarantee it, but it’s something I’m responsible for, Dawn. I’m going to get someone to check it out right now.” Jonathan gave Dawn Lucius some more details about his plan and the information he had, then took a shuttle boat back to his ship in Smyrni Planet’s orbit. Dawn Lucius did not know where he went, and right now, Dawn Lucius also had very important things to do.

After Jonathan left, Dawn Lucius found Sandra and dragged her to the command room in a hurry without having time to explain anything. Duncan and the old lord’s men happened to be meeting; they were rehearsing how to counter the Strath Federation’s army according to the original plan. The Strath Federation army was indeed coming towards Smyrni Planet as they had predicted, so that the army of Visadio Planet would be able to fight the Strath army that was left on Visadio Planet. At that point, the forces attacking Smyrni Planet would have to turn around to support Visadio Planet, and when they did, Smyrni Planet’s army would strike them directly, since it is often best to attack the enemy when they are defenseless. When they saw Dawn Lucius, they stopped the drill, and the old lord asked Dawn Lucius what Moreth Federation’s Moreth Steader had come for. From his tone, Dawn Lucius sensed the same hope he had felt himself, but it was just a hope: Jonathan would not bring an army to help. When they both realized this fact, their heads dropped toward the floor, at an angle so small that they didn’t even notice it themselves.

“Duncan, old lord.” Dawn Lucius walked over to the sand table and continued after calling up Smyrni Planet’s star chart again. “Jonathan brought me a message, and I’ll tell you so you can hear it, because I can’t tell if it’s accurate. Madam Winifred has decided to give up resisting the Strath army, and she’ll accept any terms as long as she doesn’t have to give up the White Crystal technology. Moreover, Lord Winifred is still in Carlson’s hands, and if he continues to use Lord Winifred to blackmail Madam Winifred, we will need to prepare for the worst.”

No one said anything after Dawn Lucius finished. Duncan took one look at the sandbox and then headed for the window, turning his back to the people in the room. The old lord fiddled with the star chart of Smyrni Planet. He smiled bitterly at first, then shook his head, dragged his heavy steps to the chair in the corner, and dropped his body heavily into it without saying a word, like a freshly moved stone statue.

“Dawn, what should we do next?” Sandra asked.

“To be honest,” Dawn Lucius turned to look at Sandra as he squeezed her hand and continued, “your civilization is very much like a certain dynasty in my civilization on Earth, where if a general went out to protect his country without permission, the end result would be that the monarch killed him, because the monarch felt that the general threatened his rule. Now the situation is that Madam Winifred has given up resistance, so Smyrni Planet’s actions should stay in line with Madam Winifred’s. If we launch a resistance without permission, then whether we lose or win in the end, she will hold us in contempt. What’s more, Lord Winifred is still in Carlson’s hands; if something goes wrong, Smyrni Planet’s army will be in more danger than when facing the Strath Federation.”

“So are we still going to resist the Strath people?” Sandra continued to ask.

“I’ll do as you say. Right now I just want to protect you, and my son’s Earth.” Dawn Lucius replied solemnly.

“Then let’s resist. I don’t care about any Madam Winifred, or about the fall; she’s already using the entire Ashton Federation as leverage. Whether or not the Strath people want us dead in the end, handing our fate over to the rulers of the Ashton Federation now would be like waiting to die, and I don’t want to be a dead man. I still have some people worth caring about living in Ashton Federation, and since we have an army now, let’s put up a fight. Maybe we can protect them.”

“I think so too. I don’t care about any Star Map Draftsman, I don’t care about any power or status; all I care about are the few people worth caring about. Let’s put up a fight, put up a fight. I’m with you.” Dawn Lucius held Sandra’s hand tightly and gave her a smile before turning around and saying, “Everyone, is there anyone who is willing to put up a fight?”

After Dawn Lucius finished, Duncan and the old lord walked to the table, and when the others saw this, they gathered around. “Tell us your plan,” the old lord said, looking at Dawn Lucius.

Dawn Lucius first analyzed the current situation for the group and then laid out the whole plan. He patiently answered their questions, then went through each step of the plan in detail, stressed what each of the leaders in the room should do, and confirmed that they understood. Eventually, everyone felt that the plan was feasible, and they agreed to implement it. However, some people began to worry about how Madam Winifred would eventually treat them and about the possibility that their families would be locked up on Sivastia Planet until they died. “These are all possibilities,” Dawn Lucius said. But he also stressed that if they didn’t put up a fight, Madam Winifred might end up blaming Smyrni Planet’s army for inaction, or even acquiesce to the Strath people killing more of Ashton Federation’s troops as one of the sacrifices she could make to achieve a negotiated outcome. After all, this had happened from time to time in all the early civilizations of Earth.

“Protect yourself, will you?” Dawn Lucius told Sandra as the last of the shuttle boats were about to take off.

“Definitely. And marry me when this thing is done, okay?” Sandra rubbed Dawn Lucius’s belly.

“Good. The universe is too wide; don’t fly too far.” When Dawn Lucius finished speaking, the two of them parted ways. In the plan to resist the Strath people, Sandra chose to join the attack ships; the attack fleet was seriously lacking pilots, and besides being a diplomat, Sandra was an excellent pilot herself. Plus, Sandra wanted to teach the Strath people a lesson on Dawn Lucius’ behalf, because their ships had destroyed many things in the solar system. Although Dawn Lucius thought this was a bit childish, he knew in his heart that Sandra was trying her best to stop the Strath people.

The last of the shuttle boats took off, and Dawn Lucius looked at the ordinary, if somewhat barren, planet, so alive and hardy, and he thought to himself that Earth had once been like this too; in his memory, the side of Earth in night was brighter than Smyrni Planet’s. The shuttle boats were entering the dark side of the planet. As Dawn Lucius looked down through the porthole, the sun Smyrni Planet circled burned its edges a pale red, and the city beneath the pale red had long since awakened. As Dawn Lucius had planned, Duncan had arranged for the soldiers here to fly and walk around the city to make its strength look more concentrated. Going from the brighter side into the darker side, the city’s main complex rose up like a spike growing toward the sky, getting thinner the higher it went. With the main complex at the center, a ring of bright lights drew three large nested circles outward, and these circles were in fact the city’s moat. Looking deeper into the darkness, the lights of the entire planet were turned up to maximum, whether the places were inhabited or not. In Dawn Lucius’ plan, he needed to make the Strath people think that Smyrni Planet was fully prepared for battle, and when the Strath people’s small ships entered the low orbit of Smyrni Planet, all available weapons on the ground would need to be fired toward the sky, without any thought of saving ammunition. The key to winning this war was to draw all the Strath soldiers on board the ships down to the ground of Smyrni Planet. This was the first step in Dawn Lucius’ plan.

Indeed, after the Strath people’s flotilla saw the situation on the ground, a large number of troops pressed down onto Smyrni Planet’s surface like a heavy rain in June. Dawn Lucius’s plan was divided into three steps in total. The Strath people wanted to settle Ashton Federation quickly, so they would certainly be eager to remove Smyrni Planet’s military threat. When the Strath army landed, Smyrni Planet’s ground troops did not resist; they needed to preserve the army’s strength, so they scurried around on the ground, the purpose still being to delay the Strath people’s action on the ground, and the longer the better. Next was the second step in the plan. Dawn Lucius led the shuttle boats lurking on the dark side of Smyrni Planet, and when the Strath army on the ground grew tired of chasing, the shuttle boats rushed at full speed towards the Strath people’s ships, the purpose being to seize their means of transport. The Strath people on the ground reacted, and their warplanes began to take off in pursuit.

As the Strath people’s ships fired their cannons into Smyrni Planet’s atmosphere, the attack ships led by the old lord and Sandra appeared just to the side of the Strath people. This was the third step in Dawn Lucius’ plan. Smyrni Planet’s attack ships needed to fire at full power to knock out these Strath ships, cut off their way to retake the big ships, and at the same time, trap the Strath army on the ground of Smyrni Planet. “Dawn, your plan is working,” Sandra said excitedly to Dawn Lucius over the voice channel, as gunfire ricocheted through Smyrni Planet’s atmosphere, thundering like a long-awaited storm. Dawn Lucius reminded Sandra and the old lord over the voice channel not to linger in the fight; their goal had been achieved, and they had to hurry to join up with the big ships, first to keep the Strath people from seizing them back, and second to preserve the strength of Smyrni Planet’s attack fleet. “Roger.” After replying to Dawn Lucius over the voice channel, the old lord flew with his fleet in the direction of Dawn Lucius, and eventually they formed a battle formation in front of the big ships they had seized.

“Please conserve fuel, gentlemen. Just keep the ships as close to each other as you can without colliding. Let’s leave these floating things to the universe; gravity will keep us circling Smyrni Planet. Save fuel and prepare for the battle ahead,” Dawn Lucius reminded them over the voice broadcast.

“Okay, Dawn,” Duncan said as he joined the broadcast, and he continued. “What should we do next?”

“Wait,” Dawn Lucius replied, and he cut into the radio again to warn, “But please stay alert.”

“Copy that.” Numerous confirming voices came over the radio.

“Dawn,” the old lord asked, cutting into the broadcast. “Why don’t we blow up these troop carriers?”

“The old lord.” Dawn Lucius continued after taking a deep breath. “These are important bargaining chips for negotiation, and without them we could be wiped out.”

“Good.” The old lord exited the broadcast.

Dawn Lucius wandered around the Strath ship. He found an unoccupied resting place, got in, and locked the door, his hand shaking on the handle. He was so tense that the breath he was holding in his chest almost didn’t come out, and he hammered his chest a few times, as roughly as if he were cranking an old tractor. Dawn Lucius crouched on the floor, spit, snot, and tears falling together onto the dirty floor, thanking everything, thanking everything unknown, or thanking whatever gods were available, that his plan had really worked. He had studied simple military command at the aviation academy on Earth, but never in actual combat. When he recalled encouraging Duncan and his group to fly to Smyrni Planet, his original deduction had only been partially correct; what he hadn’t expected was that Madam Winifred had really given up on resistance. And in this plan, if the Strath people had still had troops hidden in their big ships, they would have had no chance of capturing the troop carriers, and perhaps a whole lot of people would have died along with him. Really, the people of Earth might truly have a self-destructive tendency in them; without Stacean Lucius, he did want to end his life, and thinking about it was very scary. Then, wasn’t the nuclear war on Earth also caused by something like this, the leader of some nuclear power acting on the spur of the moment and dragging Earth’s nearly nine billion people down with him to destruction?

“Dawn, are you there?” Dawn Lucius was kneeling behind the iron gate, still in tears, when Sandra called him over the radio.

“I’m here,” Dawn Lucius replied after clearing his throat.

“Thank you for doing all of this.” Before Dawn Lucius could say anything, Sandra continued. “Are you ready for Prince Burt to launch an invitation to negotiate?”

“Okay, give me a minute.”

Dawn Lucius wiped his face clean and listened sideways at the iron door again to see if anyone was outside, until his ear was painfully cold, before he got up and opened the door. He poked his head out to check the aisle; it was empty. He took the first step, encouraged, and then it went much more smoothly, and he managed to hold up along the way. After walking into the command room, he did not rush to contact Prince Burt, but asked the men inside to first check the explosives on the three big ships, haul them all into the command room, and stack them neatly. After Dawn Lucius had checked them all, he asked the soldiers to put the explosives in a conspicuous position and then asked them to secure the dangerous things. Whether out of nervousness or to show his importance, after the soldiers had tied them up, Dawn Lucius asked them to re-bundle them in a different way, and it wasn’t until the soldiers had re-bundled them that he established video communication with Burt.

When the video came on, both were shocked before they could speak. Burt was shocked that his command room was covered in explosives, and Dawn Lucius was shocked by the familiar face next to Burt.

“What?” Burt said with his head half raised. “Is military tribune Lucius interested in our arms? You had to move them all over to study them?”

“I am quite curious.” Dawn Lucius paused. He was wondering why General Les had returned to Burt’s side. On Gioura Planet, Duncan had personally arranged for General Les and his men to be hidden among the locals; if General Les appeared here, then had the people on Gioura Planet suffered at Burt’s hands? Dawn Lucius didn’t dare to think about it, and he rushed to pick up the conversation. “I heard Prince Burt wants to negotiate?”

“I’m still curious,” Burt said as if he hadn’t heard Dawn Lucius, reopening the conversation. “Earthman, Star Map Draftsman, military tribune of the Ashton Federation, how do you play all these roles so well?”

“That, too, I’m curious about.”

“Okay, I’m not going to fool around with you. So, come to my place and we’ll talk alone?”

“How about this, Prince Burt: I have more space here, and your place is a bit cramped. Why don’t you come to my place and we’ll talk alone?”

“What? Are you afraid?”

“What am I afraid of?” Dawn Lucius grimaced as he glanced at his left wrist and continued. “You don’t dare come to me. Are you afraid?”

“Of course. Lord Winifred is still in the hands of the Strath people, and if I go over to your place and you capture me, won’t that be bad for the army of the Strath Federation?”

“You’ve thought of that. It seems our plan to catch you has fallen through.”

“So how shall we talk?” Prince Burt asked with a sneer.

“I don’t know. It depends on what you want to talk about.”

“It seems that you are very complacent about your current advantage.”

“That’s the idea. I don’t know what I need to talk to you about. Your army is pretty much stuck on the ground, while we are waiting for Cavnos Planet’s army to arrive, so overall, we’re not in a hurry.”

“Aren’t you afraid that I will kill all the people on this planet?” Burt said with an expressionless face, pointing to Smyrni Planet.

“Afraid? Of course I’m afraid. But whether you capture me or retrieve the troop carriers, won’t we be killed by you all the same? We are a threat to your continued attack on Visadio Planet, and with Prince Burt’s style, I’m afraid nothing on this planet will be left alive.” Dawn Lucius said this with some mockery on his gloomy face.

Dawn Lucius talked and talked, stopping now and then to stay on guard. For him, this might be a stalling tactic of Jonathan’s; if he won a battle of words here and then Carlson or other Strath Federation commanders came to kill them with their troops, that would be truly stupid. Dawn Lucius told Burt that he was a little thirsty and would go out to get some water first. He pretended to walk out and quit the video link, then went back into the command room and told some of the leaders to monitor the movements on Smyrni Planet. If the Strath people used shuttle boats to approach the troop carriers, Sandra’s attack fleet should fire at full power to destroy them, but must not break formation, to avoid being drawn away by the other side. In addition, they should strengthen the surveillance of outer space, and if they found an unknown fleet flying in, they should quickly notify Dawn Lucius; he had his plans.

“Dawn, we don’t have to negotiate with him.” Sandra said this over the voice channel as Dawn Lucius met with the men in the command room.

“Do any of you say the same thing?” Dawn Lucius said as his gaze swept around the people in the command room. After several people looked at each other without making a sound, Dawn Lucius sat back in his chair, tilted his head to the ceiling, took a deep breath, yawned widely, stood up, and walked over to the porthole. He looked at Sandra’s attack fleet and asked, “Sandra, why don’t we negotiate with him?”

“With Burt’s character, he won’t comply even if the negotiation gets results,” Sandra said irritably.

“That reminds me: when he was on Gyaly Planet, he even killed unarmed people, and those were Strath people too.”

“Yeah, you remember when we left, don’t you? He had killed all of Gyaly Planet’s garrison, and the back of the city was littered with bodies.”

“Yeah, this guy is really scary.” Dawn Lucius felt a chill rise in his back even as he thought about it. “But, what do we do next?”

“We fight our way through to capture Jonathan first, then use the attack ships to destroy the Strath people on the ground, and then go to Visadio Planet to the rescue,” Sandra said, this with so much energy that Dawn Lucius was embarrassed to even open his mouth to say what he thought.

“Sandra, I’m not sure about this. We don’t know what other equipment or troops are on board their ship now. If we rashly go to fight, I worry that the shuttle boats on the ground will take the opportunity to seize the troop carriers.”

“Then we can’t keep waiting, can we? You know we can’t wait for anyone. No one will come to save us.”

“There is another way, where we go down together with them: we blow up the troop transports and go straight to war with Burt, eliminating however many Strath Federation soldiers we can, which in turn slows down their troops’ return to attack Visadio Planet and gives us a chance to weaken their army’s combat power. But that would mean that we would probably all die in combat.” Dawn Lucius turned to look at the men in the command room and continued. “Speak your minds as well. After all, your lives are your own, and I cannot make decisions for you.”

After Dawn Lucius finished speaking, a burst of silence came over the radio channel. Whether it was worth risking losing one’s life to save a dynasty that had given up resistance, everyone’s heart had its own concerns. “I do.” Sandra spoke first.

“Wait.” Dawn Lucius put an end to the idea of taking risks, speaking after a pause. “Anyway, our goal is to stop the Strath people, or to slow down their attack, so there is another way that doesn’t risk our lives. We keep giving them conditions and stall them for a while longer, and we can slow down the fall of Visadio Planet. Maybe Madam Winifred will change her mind by then?”

“OK, Dawn, you arrange it,” the old lord said over the radio.

“First withdraw the Strath people from the solar system without destroying it, and then we’ll continue the conversation.” Once Dawn Lucius and Burt re-established communication, he made his first offer.

“The solar system?” Burt laughed, put both hands behind his back, and said, “The Star Map Draftsman is not that smart. Tell me, what reason do the Strath people have to attack the solar system? Is there a White Crystal in the solar system? Or does the solar system have resources that are so scarce that Orion Arm doesn’t have them?”

“I saw with my own eyes that your ship was destroying the solar system.”

“And did you ask them who sent them, and whether they were really Strath people?”

“Not only is Prince Burt fierce, he’s also very discerning.”

“Let me ask you: if the Strath people were interested in the solar system, would they just send a few small ships over to fight? We Strath people are not as small-minded as Ashton Federation. If we want to fight, we send our whole army to take it down as fast as possible.”

“Couldn’t it be that the Strath people are trying to wrap Moreth Federation and Ashton Federation between the solar system and Strath Federation, with the solar system as the end point?”

“Earthling, I’ll tell you: there is only one thing needed to rule Orion Arm, and that is White Crystal, and at the moment, White Crystal is within reach, so why should I waste so much effort fighting a level-zero civilization? It seems that you are being played. You know how the nuclear war on Earth happened? I’ve heard about you. Your son is still trapped on Earth, right?”

“My son is gone,” Dawn Lucius said as he took a long breath and gripped the flexible device in his hand.

“Okay, I’m not going to beat around the bush with you. The people who went to harass the solar system were Ashton Federation people posing as Strath people, and I’m willing to negotiate with you now because you have my troop carriers. It’s that simple.”

“This ship ......” Dawn Lucius pretended not to hear Burt say that Ashton people had pretended to be Strath people to harass the solar system, He lowered his head, blew the white dust off his chest with all his might, looked up, shot a look at Burt, and said, “What will you take for it?”

“I’ll make sure all of you are okay.”

“That we don’t believe.”

“Listen, Earthman. Even if you are a Star Map Draftsman, you have no idea about the secrets of the Star Map Draftsman. You are just a puppet. Our target is not you. The Strath people’s target is White Crystal technology, is Madam Winifred. No matter how hard you try, in the end we will still get White Crystal, and Madam Winifred will blame you for the failure. Also, Earthling, I can tell you why the Earth was destroyed by nuclear war and who was behind the whole affair.”

When he heard these words again, Dawn Lucius’ chest felt as if it had been stuffed with straw. He tried to take a hard breath. The person who had destroyed Stacean Lucius, he could never let go, but at this point, if he showed that he was going to pursue the person behind Burt’s words, and that person really was someone from Ashton Federation, the trouble could be beyond his control. Dawn Lucius cleared his throat, looked up at Burt, and said, “Let’s talk about how you can keep our group and the vast majority of the Ashton people alive.”

“Okay. If you want to keep so many people alive, you can. You come to me.”

“Good.” Before the others could respond, Dawn Lucius agreed to Burt’s request and exited the broadcast. He could guess what Sandra, Duncan, and the old lord would say, but he was too eager to know who had destroyed the planet. Dawn Lucius went to the front of the operations table and loudly told the operators to turn the prows of the troop carriers toward Smyrni Planet. He also reminded Prince Burt that if Prince Burt went back on his word and hurt the Ashton people, the three troop carriers would come crashing to the surface with a full load of explosives, destroying all of Prince Burt’s army. Thus, Dawn Lucius flew alone in a shuttle boat toward Burt’s command ship.