The Enemy  Part1
By valerafon
A human male and alien female battle on a distant world.
 
This work of fiction should not be read by anyone under the age of 18. 
Please do not read further if you are offended by graphic violence and 
sexual content. 

Overview: The Federated Union of Planets was a coalition of colonized 
worlds with Earth at the center. Earth in the last part of the twenty 
second century had spread out in all directions of space with the advent 
of jump drive. The colonists found a treasure-trove of worlds marking an 
era of unprecedented abundance. During their travels, the earth 
explorers had encountered a number of races and many had decided to join 
the Federation. Others decided not to join, but were friendly and made 
excellent trading partners. In a newly colonized sector of space, the 
colonists encountered an alien race that was both mysterious and 
aggressive. No one seemed to know anything about them, either in the 
colonies or their alien trading partners. 

One day, a bloody clash involving many Federated ships and the 
mysterious aliens occurred out in the far reaches of the new sector. 
Many ships from both sides were lost. After the battle, raids by the 
aliens on Federated planets became common place. All-out war appeared 
imminent. Then a message was received by a friendly alien race known as 
the Meridians. It was the mysterious race who called themselves 
Gamulans, and they laid claim to the entire sector and the thirty newly 
colonized worlds. The Gamulans claimed encroachment on their territories 
and threatened  interstellar war. 

However, before hostilities escalated beyond control, the Gamulans 
offered a strange and intriguing alternative to all-out war. The 
Meridians were used as the intermediaries with no contact occurring on 
either side. The accord which was agreed upon by both sides was known as 
the Meridian Compact. The compact assured hundreds of millions of lives 
would be saved on both sides. 

The compact stated that every five years the Gamulans could issue a 
challenge for one of the disputed star systems. The fate of the system 
would be determined in a life and death battle of one hundred warriors 
from each side in the Arena. The Arena was maintained and controlled by 
the Meridians on an asteroid in their space. The Arena was a seven 
hundred fifty meter square killing zone where the encounter would take 
place. The floor of the Arena was a maze of artificial obstacles and 
barriers where each side could attack and hold territory till the 
outcome was determined. Hundreds of cameras beamed the battle back to 
the peoples of both sides using the newly discovered FTL or faster than 
light radiation. It was a way to piggyback information on radio waves 
and send it faster than light. 

The battle would not end until all the warriors from one side were dead. 
Each soldier was monitored with subcutaneous sensors. They would confirm 
the death of each warrior. When one side had lost all it's warriors the 
game ended, and a siren would sound signifying victory for one side. The 
Gamulans had won the first encounters, but their true nature remained 
mysterious. The combat clothing they wore covered almost all of their 
features. The Gamulans appeared to be a tall race of warrior women as 
best as Earth could tell from the pictures..... 

    

PROLOG 


He was shot and he was dying. He dropped his blaster. Strangely he felt 
no pain. He could see the three Gamulans cautiously moving towards him. 
They were impossibly tall from this distance. For some reason he was no 
longer afraid. He had done the best he could. All of the special forces 
had, but it wasn't enough. Darkness overtook him as he slumped and died. 

Immediately, the lights went very bright and the siren sounded. The 
battle was over. The women came out from their secure places and put 
down their weapons. They could hear the signal and knew all of the enemy 
were dead. Most moved to find a dead man. They wanted some trophy to 
remember this glorious day. Rings or chains were removed from the dead 
men as the women joked and talked to themselves basking in the after 
glow of victory. 

Glaxxana the leader quickly looked for Tiani her number two. She found 
her almost immediately. She was relieved Tiani had not been injured. 
After all, she was of the same clan and her best friend. Both warriors 
were members of the ruling cast. Tiani had not been far away during the 
firefight. She was never far away from Glaxxana in battle. Tiani always 
covered Glaxxana's back. 

After a quick appraisal of her remaining warriors, Glaxxana walked over 
to the dead human. He had been the last one alive, and she thought the 
best of them. She saw this one kill two of her warriors just a few 
minutes before. She looked down and saw a fragile creature. Why did they 
persist in fighting? If they gave up all the disputed star systems, they 
would be left alone to live in peace. They simply had no chance she 
thought. She bent down and removed his dogtag. She didn't know what it 
was except that it would find a place of honor in her trophy case. 

A quick count from Tiani had reported over sixty of her warriors still 
alive. Glaxxana was very proud, and rightfully so. Only a little more 
than thirty had died. It had been a slaughter. The greatest victory ever 
against the Federation soldiers in the Arena. She would gain much status 
back on Gamula. 

The remaining warriors quickly gathered around their leader. They all 
wanted to share in the "Mingtow"....the ecstasy. Glaxxana quieted them 
with a gesture and pointed to an imaginary point on the doom of the 
massive structure. It was where Gamula was located many light years 
beyond. It was the home world, the sacred world where their species 
originated. It had gained a holy significance to the Gamulans during 
their travels among the stars. Once a day every Gamulan no matter where 
they where recited the "Cortah"....the prayer of thanks. If they were 
off world, the prayer would be said facing that spot of the sky where 
Gamula was located. But know they weren't about to pray, but rather to 
celebrate a great victory. 

Glaxxana started the war cry. It began from her chest and moved to her 
throat. It built first as a deep basal sound, and then got much 
shriller. The other women picked it up now as the sound could be heard 
throughout the seven hundred fifty square meters of the Arena. The sound 
moved to their mouths as the war whoop was made with the tongue and the 
roof of their mouths. Ya ya ya ya ....Yaaaaaaaa! ya ya ya 
ya.....Yaaaaaaaa!.......Ya ya ya ya.....Yaaaaaaaa!...It continued to 
build as the women began to wave their arms and weapons wildly in the 
air. The sound continued to rise. A din that could be heard for light 
years throughout all the inhabited worlds of space. 

-----------------------------------

The president and his council looked on in horror at the spectacle. Some 
had their head in their hands, and weren't looking, but the president 
knew they could hear that fiendish war cry. The cameras located in every 
corner of the arena had brought them the whole battle, and they all had 
heard that victory cry before. Five times in twenty five years the 
Federated planets best had gone into the Arena, five hundred men and 
women. Some were earthmen from various services, others were colonists, 
even a few from the alien races. They had one thing in common. They were 
all special forces, trained in hand to hand combat, marksmanship, and 
special combat tactics. They were the best Earth and the Federation had 
to offer, but their best had never been good enough. 

Five times Earth had sent one hundred men and women to die, and die they 
did. Only once had the outcome been in doubt, the last time. After the 
smoke cleared, only three of the enemy survived. It had been so 
tantalizingly close. The outcome shifted on the incredible toss of a 
fragmentation grenade nearly eighty meters through the air. No human 
could have thrown the grenade that far, but thinking the Gamulans were 
human had cost ten men their lives, and shifted the outcome in the last 
seconds of the battle. 

This time the outcome had never been in doubt. The Federation tactics 
were to stay away from hand to hand combat at all costs. The Gamulans 
were much taller and stronger than the Humans, and they rarely lost in 
that type of encounter. However, their marksmanship was just as deadly. 
It seemed every time they fired their blasters, one of our soldiers 
fell. And to make matters worse, no successful tactic had yet been found 
to cope with their encircling maneuvers. 

The fact that all the Gamulans appeared to be women made each loss 
especially galling. At least they were believed to be earth-like women. 
No one had seen one up close and lived. In the arena they wore rubber-
like camouflage combat clothing. It covered them from their shoulders to 
their combat boots. On their heads, they wore a cap similar in 
appearance to a bathing cap, but it completely covered their heads and 
necks revealing only their faces. The clothing was skin tight and the 
curves that it revealed led many to believe they were women. The 
Gamulans were very tall by earth standards. They ranged from about 6'2'' 
to 6'7'' in height. This statistic was compiled from the four hundred 
previous examples seen in the arena. 

The president watched the scene a little longer and then turned off the 
viewer. He knew that the encounter had been viewed by the largest 
audience ever in the federated worlds, and he also knew that some spin 
doctoring would be needed, but that could wait till later. For a second, 
he wondered what the Gamulans were thinking as they viewed the 
spectacle. He knew they were watching as well. He put it out of his mind 
and tried to focus on the ramifications of the battle. Another star 
system had been lost. All the people of the Stellus system had to be 
moved in one year and relocated to meet the agreements of the Meridian 
Compacts. He cleared his mind, looked at his stunned council, and began 
to issue orders. 

"Marcus!" 

"Yes, chief!" 

"Start the procedures for relocation immediately. I want those people 
off world in eight months. 

"O'brien!" 

"Yes, chief!" 

"Make sure the families of all those brave soldiers are taken care of. 
The funeral arrangements will be as before." 
 
"Yes Sir!" 

"Camby! See if the boys at Special Services can make out anything 
significant from the tapes. I want a report tomorrow on my desk. Maybe, 
we can find a weakness we can exploit next time." 

"I'm on it, chief!" 

The president paused for a second as he heard himself say next time. He 
shuddered because he knew their would be a next time. He quickly 
regained his composure and looked at the Meridian expert. 

"Wellman! Talk to the Meridians, and tell them that the accords will be 
honored. They can contact the Gamulans and assure tell them that we'll 
be out of the Stellus star system on time." 

He paused for a moment and looked at Wellman very intently before he 
added,  "And see if you can get anything on the Gamulans. What their 
like, where they come from, a damn picture of one of them that's useful. 
Try to find out if they're all damn Amazons as they appear to be." 

Wellman didn't want to give the same bad news he had reported many times 
before, but he felt it was his duty, and he knew he would just have to 
weather the presidents wrath once again. 

"Sir, The Meridians don't know anything themselves. All contact is on 
FTL. They have assured me they have never seen a Gamulan up close, and 
from the fear on their faces I believe them. The accord prohibits them 
as mediators and caretakers of the Arena to pass information, of a 
personal nature, to either side." 

"DAMN IT! THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH! Brave people are dying. Millions more 
are loosing their homes. I NEED INFORMATION!" 

Wellman listened calmly. He knew the president was venting. He would try 
once again. He would send his agents out on the peripheries of space to 
gather information. Maybe, this time one would come back. 
 
"Yes chief!" He said with as much enthusiasm in his voice as he could 
muster. 

Donavan the President's chief advisor and closest friend had yet to say 
anything, but that was about to change. 

"Sir, I have some news for you." 

The president turned and looked at his friend expectantly. He was hoping 
Danavan had found something. 

"We have been analyzing that war cry. It is now possible to isolate 
individuals. Every  pattern and vocal characteristic of each voice, so 
far analyzed, would be consistent with that of a female. If we can make 
a few assumptions using earth standards." 

"Are you telling me that they are all women?" the president said calmly. 

"Apparently." 
  
The president issued a quick order to all his advisors, "That 
information doesn't leave this room. The moral of our fighting men is 
low enough. 

"Sir, they could all be Hermaphrodites," Wellman offered. "There are 
precedents. The Golians in the Beta sector for instance." 

"They sure look like women," Marcus chimed in. 

The president thought for a second, shook his head, and said, "So if we 
are getting our asses kicked by women. How does this information help 
us?" 

Nobody answered. 


-----------------------------------

Chapter One         THE NEW CHALLENGE 


Glaxxana solemnly put the prayer shawls on each fallen warriors coffin. 
They had paid the highest price, and would be accorded the greatest 
honor back on Gamula. All fallen warriors were taken back to Gamula and 
cremated in the open air. Thus, there essences could mingle once again 
with the elements of the planet, and insure rebirth. When warriors died 
and could not be returned, it was a great tragedy and such loss was 
considered sacrilege. It was viewed as a diminishing from the whole. 

The ritual complete, Tiani walked back with Glaxxana to the bridge. They 
would soon be home, and the victory celebration on Gamula would last 
many days. Tiani was overjoyed. She loved to fight and this was a new 
and wondrous experience. 

"I hope we are chosen again in five years when it is time for the next 
Arena competition," she boasted excitedly. 

Glaxxana stopped, turned towards her friend, and answered, "Why? We may 
not be as victorious the next time." 

Tiani was surprised by this answer. It was not like Glaxxana to stray 
from a fight. She had to tell her how she felt. "The earthmen will never 
defeat us. They are not strong enough. They do not make good warriors. 
They are only good for husbands." 

Glaxxana looked at Tiani and worried. She could see the bloodlust in her 
eyes. Would her race be doomed to endless wars? 

After a moment of reflection, she finally answered her friend, "None of 
the Humans have shown fear. In five battles they all have died bravely." 

"But they all have died!" Tiani shot back. "Why don't they just give us 
the disputed territory? We would leave them alone." 

Glaxxana answered with questions of her own, "Would we give up the 
planets?...Even if it meant the death of millions?" 

Tiani thought a second before answering, "The spoils go to the mighty! 
It is written, thus, in our sacred texts." 

But Glaxxana had a quick reply. "And our writings cost us millions of 
dead, and endless wars." 

Tiani stopped and stared at her friend in horror. This was almost 
sacrilege. 

Glaxxana seeing the shock on her friend's face, smiled at her friend and 
said, "Don't worry Tiani, I am a Gamulan to the death. But there is more 
than one way to look at things. The Humans are strange and different. It 
helps in life and battle to be able to see all sides. It is good to know 
your enemy. They think much different then us." 

"But the sacred writings are infallible and show us the way," Tiani said 
with the look of a true believer written all over her face. 

Glaxxana silently looked at her friend, and worried. It was not possible 
to make her understand. Maybe, when she is a little older she thought. 

Just then, a siren sounded signaling that they were back in normal 
space. To Glaxxana it meant they could receive standard and FTL messages 
once more. The latest jump would have propelled them near the Gamulan 
system, and only two days from home. Glaxxana entered the bridge 
expecting a message, but not the one she received. It was sent on FTL. 
That meant the message was sent only minutes before, and it also meant 
there may be problem. She opened the communiqu‚ and stared at the 
words.......and frowned. 

---------------------------------

The president had hurriedly called another meeting with his advisors. 
The news that Wellman had presented him with earlier was horrifying. He 
needed his advisors and he needed them now. He looked anxiously at their 
faces and wondered if they could offer him any hope with the bombshell 
he was about to drop. They barely were in their seats when he told 
Wellman to fill everyone in. 

"Gentlemen, I have just talked to the Meridians. The Gamulans have 
instructed them to tell us that they have issued another challenge. It 
is for the Angor system. The challenge is for one month from today." 

Camby was first to say the obvious. "That's a violation of the accords. 
That could cause an interstellar war." 

The president nodded and said, "We would be within our right. But that 
is not our only option at the moment....Continue John." 

Wellman took a drink of water, looked nervously about, and started to 
talk again. "The Meridians have noted the violation and have offered to 
quit as mediators." 

"No, that's not an option either," the president said strongly. "Tell 
them we want them to continue. We do not need for communication to break 
down at this critical moment." 

After his statement, the president looked at the group, and he got 
affirmative nods from everyone around the table. 

Finally he looked back at Wellman and asked, "Is that all John?" 

"Yes, it was just a flat ultimatum, not much text." 

The president looked around again before he continued, " I believe we 
have three options. One! We can go to war, loose millions and possibly 
be defeated with unknown repercussions. Two! We accept their challenge 
and try to prepare as best we can. Three! We ask for more time. We stall 
stating we need more time to prepare. Maybe, with the additional time we 
can come up with a better solution to the problem." 
 
Wellman interrupted, "Three is not an option Mr. President. The 
Meridians were instructed to tell us that the time frame was non-
negotiable. 

The president was quiet for a moment deep in thought, then he asked 
Wellman again, "What do you make of this John?" 

"I think after the last battle, they expect us to cave in and give them 
the remaining planets. They probably want to secure their borders in 
this sector of space, and strike out in other directions. They don't see 
us as a major threat anymore, and they probably want to do this sooner 
than later." 

The president shook his head in agreement and said, "And war really 
isn't an option with an unknown enemy. The risks are too great. And we 
can't just hand them twenty five planetary systems either. The cost of 
relocation alone would set us back for two hundred years. That only 
seems to leave option two." 


Camby interrupted again, "Our moral in the services are at an all time 
low. We could have a hundred good men ready in time, but I wouldn't give 
a damn for their chances. It will take time for our people to recover, 
psychologically, from the last battle. Two hundred billion watched it 
according to the ratings services." 

O'brien had something to say, which was uncharacteristic for him. "Mr. 
President, I am sure they will keep issuing challenges till they get all 
the planets or till we decide to give in. At this accelerated schedule 
it could only take two more years instead of a hundred. The outlook is 
grim." 

The room was temporarily bathed in silence as all men considered what 
they had just heard. 

Breaking the silence in the room was Danavan. "Mr. President there just 
may be a fourth option." 

All heads swiveled at once. 

The president said calmly, "Go ahead, Jim." 

"The Gamulans have changed the rules. I suggest we change them 
further...But in a way they may be compelled to accept." 

Everyone looked from one to another as each tried to figure out what 
Danavan had up his sleeve. No one had  a clue as to what was about to be 
proposed. 

"Continue," the president said calmly. 

"One man may do what a hundred could not...I suggest we change the 
contest to a one on one challenge." 

All the advisors started to talk at once, but the president quickly 
restored order and everyone again turned to Danavan. "The Gamulans 
greatest strength is their teamwork and sacrifice for each other. I 
propose we take that strength away from them." 

 The president started to rub his chin with his left hand as he 
considered. Finally he said, "You have more, Jim." 

"I further suggest we do away with the cameras and the Arena. Let the 
Meridians choose a small planet and an agreed upon area on it's surface 
to fight the battle. We know the Gamulans are great at tactics and a 
structured environment. Let's take that away from them as well." 

Danavan paused again for effect. 

Everyone was quiet now....considering. 

The president inquired further, "I'm sure there is more?" 

"The Meridians will ensure the integrity of the contest. They will make 
sure each side has equal weapons and equipment." 

Donavan paused and looked around the room letting his words sink in. 
Then he continued on. "We won't know what's happening on the surface, 
but neither will the Gamulans. Moral won't take as much of a beating 
when billions aren't watching. Lives lost will be held to a  bare  
minimum, and all it will take to win is one lucky shot....not dozens." 

Camby like usual was the first with a question. "Why would the Gamulans 
accept these revisions?" 

"They were the first to break the compact. They are a warrior race, but 
seem to value life. They could appreciate the saving of life and the 
simplicity of our revision. Besides, they probably will think they could 
win the remaining twenty five worlds without a casualty. It would also 
conserve our resources and keep the contests out of the public eye. It 
would give us time for other options even if we lost." 

The president smiled. It did make sense. He thought he would beat Camby 
to the punch and ask the next obvious question. 

"How would we choose the first vict.." He caught himself and restated 
the question. "How would we choose our representative?" 

Donavan smiled at the president and then laid his next bombshell. "I'm 
glad you asked  that Mr. President. I have somebody already in mind...." 
 
To be continued...... 

In part two we meet Bannon, earth's representative. If you want to get a 
picture of him in your mind. Think of Snake Pliscon. Also, Glaxxana is 
chosen to represent her people. A starfaring warrior race of Amazons. If 
you want a picture of her in your mind. Think of a taller more muscular 
Red Sonja. The terms of the contest are agreed to, but only after earth 
agrees that this one confrontation will determine the fate of all twenty 
five systems. 

A planet is chosen and both combatants are put on the surface. The zone 
is a twenty five kilometer square of land, with a force field around the 
perimeter. The planet has been chosen for it's varying terrain and great 
differences in weather. There are dangerous animals and edible plants on 
the planet, but no people. There is no time limit with complete 
isolation monitored by the Meridians. The contest ends when one person 
is dead. A subcutaneous sensor buried in each combatant signals the 
meridians when one person has died and the game is over...