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that was the plan from the start.”
     
    “It wasn’t the plan! It was their plan not ours!” He yelled at the assembled group.
     
    “Yes State Leader, but can you really blame them after what happened when they followed our orders? They have also been shown what happened to the Grendap by the Cainth invasion fleet to let them know what was coming.”
     
    “I should destroy the Cainth Empire for their stupid behavior. Their membership is the only thing that prevents me.”
     
    “The Humans have done a pretty good job of that on their own, State Leader.”
     
    “How did they do that, Headman? I understand that they only had 350 ships total to face 2000 of ours.”
     
    “According to the Cainth Military Leader, they were surprised and out of formation. He also informs us that more than half the Earth fleet was destroyed in the conflict. He further estimates that they only have less than 140 ships remaining after their attack on the Cainth Home World.”
     
    Sten looked at the leader of his staff and said, “Does that make any sense to you? We outnumbered them seven to one and thru surprise they destroyed our fleet. I watched the video until it was interrupted and our fleet was destroying their ships faster than I could count then they destroy 1,800 warships. Something isn’t right. What do you think our response should be?”
     
    “State Leader we are divided on what we should do. The majority of us think we have treated these Humans poorly and they should just be left alone.”
     
    “And the others think?”
     
    “Eighteen hundred ships is not something we can overlook especially when thirty other members of the Alliance provided ships that were also destroyed. The Cainth and Glod lost the most but every other member that contributed to the fleet lost warships.”
     
    “I’m inclined to think like the minority,” and he held up his hand as Dgzh started to protest. “These Humans are not members of the Alliance and they destroyed 2,000 of our best ships. Do you really suggest we should leave them alone to build more ships unsupervised? I think we need to take a close look at one of their ships and control their actions.”
     
    Headman Dgzh thought for a moment and said, “Put that way, I think you make an excellent point. They have never shown any aggressive patterns and only defended themselves, however they obviously defend themselves quite well for a non-aggressive race.” He looked around the room and saw everyone thinking about Sten’s observation. “Does this change anyone’s view? He asked the assembly. “Does anyone think we should ignore the humans?”
     
    One staff member is the rear of the assembly said, “I do. Following one wrong with another is never good policy. This might also be a cake we shouldn’t eat; the price may be too high.”
     
    State leader Sten said, “Possibly you are right but we are going to examine the ingredients of this particular recipe. Headman, contact the Humans and tell them that a new occupation fleet will be arriving in six weeks and to be prepared for its arrival.”
     
    “How many ships are you sending this time, State Leader?”
     
    “Four thousand should do it. Notify the Glod representative that they will command this occupation. The Glod make the Cainth look absolutely tame and they should handle this easily enough.” Headman Dgzh thought this feels like déjà vu’ all over again.
     
    LT. Kelly looked up from his console and said, “Mr. Gardner, the Director is on a channel requesting to speak with you and Mrs. Gardner.”
     
    “Admiral, Will you and Captain Mikado join us and have the call sent to the briefing room, Mr. Kelly.”
     
    “Yes sir.”
     
    The briefing room was located next to the bridge and was used to discuss issues not for general crew information. They entered and closed the door and then Admiral Kosiev pressed a button and said, “Madam Director, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are here with me. They have requested my