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probe?”
         Ranik bent back to his amber
instruments for a moment. “No, they haven’t detected the probe. It’s difficult
to categorize their level of technology. They're more advanced than us is some
ways, less in others.”
         “Could you be a little more
specific?”
         “They appear to be very
aggressive,” Ranik replied.
         “Great. We’ve found the
perfect people to antagonize. Where is the weapon?”
         “It’s approaching the star
system.”
         “What?”
         Ranik regarded his distant
cousin in dismay. “It’s headed directly in there.”
         “Will it pass through
unobstructed?”
         “No.”
         “Where is it going?” Lathiel
inquired.
         “It will hit the satellite
orbiting the third planet.”
         “Will it destroy it?”
         “Yes.”
         “Is the moon inhabited?”
         “Not anymore, but there are
structures there.”
         “Then maybe we can salvage
something from this mess.”
         “Not necessarily,” Ranik said,
sheepishly.
         “What is it, cousin?”
         “The probe’s data indicates a
high probability that   it will also
strike the planet,” Ranik replied.
         “God Above, another war.”
         “You know what we have to do
now.”
         “Do you think that they’ll
understand why we did this?” Lathiel asked.
         “In every civilization there's
always someone who is willing to listen.”
         “I hope that it’s someone
important.”
         Ranik snorted. “Maybe. Come on
Lathiel, we did this before the war. Let’s set a course for the stars. For old
time’s sake?”
         “It’s a three and a half day trip.”
         “Do you have any cards?” Ranik asked.
         “ I think I have a deck somewhere. It is a little dusty.”
         “ We can start the bet at two Sterling,”
Ranik said.
         “ A little high to start.”
         “ Are you in or out?” Ranik asked.
         “ I’m in,” Lathiel replied and addressed the navigational officer.
         “ Would you be up for a trip, Bisby?”
         The great, striped Ferine
towered over his console at the center of the bridge. “Coordinates?”
         “ Where the other end of that wormhole is.”
         “ Already have it, Lathiel,” he said.
         “ Execute.”
         The organic blue ship with its
connected set of wings began to glow from the emitters attached at either end
of its appendages. They flashed before the entire ship became a tiny bright
star and disappeared from that part of the galaxy.

     The Easter
Island Agreements’ last battle was fought to overthrow what they
perceived as the real threat to their continued survival. The Coalition. To
achieve   this, they sent all of their
reserve forces against an Alliance
weakened by a decade of war. With the Alliance
occupied by a full scale attack, they could send only thirty—seven warships to
reinforce the Coalition lines at the climatic battle at Phobos. The number
become a motto for many Coalition soldiers afterwards and is still believed to
have originated the long standing schism between the two surviving powers.

 
         A Great Downfall: The Last Days of the Easter
Island Agreements
           by Ronald Emmerich

 
    Chapter IV

 
    “I don’t know about this,” Fleet Admiral Nelson said. He sat at the head
of a table with the twenty most senior admirals in the fleet. They resided
within a room of concrete deep below the streets of New York.
         “I think there is an issue
here of putting all of our eggs in one basket,” one of the many admirals said.
“If the Phoenix Project is a failure, then we would have no other recourse but
to surrender to Coalition forces.”
         “And you’re telling me we need
more options?”
         “I’m suggesting that we need
to ensure the Alliance
survives this.”