“Actually, I think they left the core of it. See that over there?”
Rachel ran up the magnification on the holo and pointed to a small object on the far side of the star, roughly five thousand klicks in diameter. “I think that’s the core of the planet they took apart right there.”
Paco shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“Not if you’re an AI society,” said Rachel. “Think about it. All they had to do was build self-replicating robots that could assemble the structures. If the robots could build copies of themselves fast enough, they could have done this in a few hundred years.”
“I think I wanna go home now,” muttered Paco.
Rachel smiled at him.
“Now, now. Let’s make another scan for threats.”
“Aye, skipper,” Paco said. He worked the holo, expanding the range into various quadrants.
“Looks like six destroyers on patrol, one up, one down, and one in each quadrant of the system. The nearest one is roughly 25 AU from us.”
“Do you think they can see us?”
“I doubt it. I brought us in right behind a big-ass dwarf planet, and this boat is tiny. I’d be shocked if their sensors were able to pick us up.”
“Well, that’s good. But sooner or later, we have to reveal ourselves to them. No way we can do this remotely. This has to be face-to-face at some point.”
“Roger. But we stick to the plan, right? Drop a drone first, send it into the system, let it broadcast our identity and request a meeting?”
Rachel nodded in agreement.
“Right. Let’s go ahead and launch the drone, get it started in-system. How long do you think it’ll take before they notice it?”
“Not too long. I set it up on a two-hour delay before activation. It’ll take us an hour to relocate to the other side of the system after we drop it. So one hour after we reach the other side of the system, it’ll head in-system and begin broadcasting. Another three hours for light-speed delay before the first destroyer sees it. And three hours after that, the signal will arrive at the first of those big-ass structures.”
“So eight hours from now, they know we’re here.”
“Correct. Although if the destroyer has an ansible, it’ll be only five hours.”
“OK. Launch the drone and let’s skedaddle to the other side of the system.”
Ashkelon System - Planet Deriko
Battlecruiser Merkkessa
“Luke, I want you to go to Dekanna and make one last-ditch attempt to convince Sobong to come here to Ashkelon and join us for this next battle,” Bonnie said, sitting behind her desk staring at the captain in front of her. A captain who had been her lover only a few days before. But now Bonnie was Admiral of the Fleet, and her lover was captain of the Dragon. Their hearts would not be beating together again for a long time.
Luke shook his head in negation. “C’mon, Bonnie! I just took over Dragon. I’m still learning the ropes there. Give me a little more time!”
Bonnie stood firm. “No, sorry, Luke. I wish I could, but our backs are against the wall. Zukra’s fleet will be ready to fight in a matter of weeks, a couple of months at the outside. By then, Garatella will have another Nidarian detachment ready to support him. We’ll be more out-numbered and out-gunned than we were last time - and you know we got our ass kicked last time, if you get right down to it. We have no choice in this, Luke. Either we get help, or we pull out of this system, give it up.”
“That won’t work,” said Luke. “You know it won’t. If we’re outnumbered here, we’ll still be outnumbered anywhere else we go. And we certainly can’t go to Earth - it’d be Thermopylae all over again. One last ditch suicide stand against overwhelming force. We’d just get more people killed in the crossfire.”
“I didn’t say we’d move to Earth. But I’ll have no choice. If you can’t get the Dariama to help us, I have to take the fleet somewhere else. Get us some help, Luke.”
Luke stood. He looked at Bonnie for a second. “Stay safe, love,” he said. Turning, he went out of the briefing room.
Ashkelon System - Planet Ridendo
City of Mosalia
“What?”
“We’re going to blow up the orbital space dock,” said Helen.
Ollie shook his head. “Impossible.”
“Not impossible,” replied Helen. “We’ve got a disgruntled officer in charge of the daily transport shuttle to the docks. He’s going to sneak us aboard the shuttle.”
“It’s a trap,” said Ollie. “He’s setting you up.”
“He doesn’t even know about me,” said Helen. “He thinks he’s going to sneak a couple of Nidarians on board.”
“So? So you get to the docks...then what? How do you think their security is going to react when they see a female Dariama coming aboard?”
“They won’t see me. We’ll be in a large cargo container with an Ashkelon crew delivering us directly to the cargo bay. Once we’re in there, we make our way to the fusion reactor and blow it to hell.”
“I think you’re taking an unnecessary risk, Helen. The number of things that can go wrong is huge.”
“Maybe. But the payoff is huge, too. Taking down their orbital docks would set them back at least another two months, maybe three. The reward is worth the risk.”
Ollie balled his fists in frustration. “I could override you, you know.”
Helen nodded. “I know. But please don’t. Let us finalize the plan. Then you can review it. I know it’s risky; but think what it would mean if we could buy the Fleet another two to three months. They could finish all the repairs they have in progress. Earth could finish another two cruisers. And maybe - just maybe - the Dariama would finally come in to help us.”
“And maybe you’d be dead,” growled Ollie. But he sighed in defeat. “I’ll wait until you have the plan finalized. But it better be a good one. All loose ends tied up; every contingency covered. Then I’ll decide.”
Helen leaned forward and patted his knee. “Thank you. You won’t be sorry.”
“I already am,” replied Ollie.
Stalingrad System
Packet Boat Donkey
Rachel was half asleep when Paco started pounding on her cabin hatch.
“What?”
“We got a response to the drone message.”
“Coming.”
Rachel slid out of bed, slammed into her pants, and threw on her tunic as she raced to the cockpit. Paco was back in the pilot seat. He waited until Rachel had sat down and pointed to the display screen in front of her, where the message was displayed.
“Well, not very friendly, are they?”
Paco grinned. “Nope.”
“OK. We knew this might happen. We go in anyway. I talked it over with Rita, and we agreed it’s an acceptable risk to take. If they’re bluffing, then we have a chance.”
“And if they’re not?”
“Then I hope you updated your will before we left. Take us in, please. Set a course for the largest structure - that band that goes completely around the star, the widest one. We’ll assume that’s their home base.
Paco rolled his eyes but laid his hands on the controls. The packet boat began moving, coming out from behind the large asteroid they had found to give them cover, and started in toward the inner system. Paco held their accel down to 200g.
No use displaying a higher accel to them. Might make them nervous.
“Are you broadcasting?” asked Rachel.
“Yes,” responded Paco. “Standard broadcast per Rita’s directive. A basic language lesson to teach them English. A message that we’re an unarmed packet boat coming only to talk, and then the video Rita gave us showing Earth and a brief introduction to Humans and our situation with the Ashkelon. Everything repeated in Nidarian, Taegu and Bagrami.”
“Let’s hope they listen,” Rachel said. “With light speed delay, it should be about
an hour before the nearest destroyer picks us up. I’ll make breakfast. At least we’ll die on a full stomach.”
Paco made a face but said nothing as Rachel rose to go to the galley.
An hour later, they sat quietly in their seats. They had stopped their accel and were now coasting at 25.4 million kph on a direct course to intercept the largest band of the Dyson swarm.
“Well, that didn’t take long,” called Paco, as Rachel was looking down at her tablet.
“What?” she looked up at the holo.
“That near destroyer just changed course to intercept us and boosted to 500g. And looks like he’s bringing weapons hot.”
Rachel leaned forward to get a better view.
“Wow. 500g. Things are about to get interesting,” she said.
“Well. If they’re machine creatures, they don’t have to worry about crushing their bodies with g-force. So…”
Now, things moved a bit faster. With the destroyer coming directly at them, coupled with their own speed, a half-hour later they were only fifty thousand km away.
The destroyer immediately fired a spread of missiles at them.
Chapter Twelve
Stalingrad System
Packet Boat Donkey
“Crap!” yelled Paco at the top of his lungs. He twisted the packet boat down and to the left, breaking into the missiles. He knew there was no use trying to outrun them; they were accelerating at 3,500g.
“They’re fast,” mused Rachel, calm as a preacher on Sunday morning.
Fighting the controls, trying to find a way to get through the array of missiles coming at them, Paco ignored her - although a fleeting thought did make its way through his brain.
…she’s nuts…
“They’ve got us,” Paco grunted out as he exceeded the compensator limits, the little packet boat’s frame groaning under the force. The g-force continued to build as he struggled to find a hole, any hole, in the missiles racing toward them.
“Fuck this!” Paco yelled, boosting to 310g true in a last desperate attempt to fox the missiles. No use trying to hide their capabilities now.
And in front of them, all eight missiles self-destructed, two seconds from impact.
Rachel and Paco sat in shock. Sweat poured down Paco’s face. He removed his hands from the controls and looked at them. They were shaking.
He glanced over at Rachel’s hands. They rested on her knees, not shaking a bit. But her face was white as a sheet.
“I think that was a warning shot across our bow,” Rachel managed to get out.
Paco couldn’t even reply. He managed a silent nod, but that was all he could do. His mouth was too dry to allow speech.
“Resume course to Stalingrad, Paco,” Rachel added.
Paco glared at her. “Are you fucking nuts? They just gave us a clear message. Come any closer and they’ll blow us out of the black. I understood it…didn’t you?”
Rachel looked at him, the slightest trace of a smile lifting one corner of her lips.
“Paco. They’re testing us. They want to see what we’re made of. Return to our course.”
Paco shook his head in wonder. “You are fucking crazy. Why did I have to end up on the same ship as you?” But he reached forward to the controls, turned the ship back on course.
“And reduce accel to 200g again, please.”
Paco grunted but did as Rachel requested.
The destroyer passed by them, coming about smartly. It reversed course and fell into a trailing position 2,000 km behind them - in perfect position for a missile barrage right into their engine.
With a beep, another message came up on the display. Rachel and Paco leaned forward to read it.
Another beep sounded and Paco looked at the threat display. “They just brought weapons hot again,” he said, glaring at Rachel. “Still think they’re just testing us?”
“I do,” said Rachel. “If they wanted to kill us, they would have done it with the first volley. Maintain your course and speed, Paco.”
Paco began muttering under his breath as he obeyed the order.
Rachel understood enough Spanish to recognize an Ave Maria when she heard one.
***
Suddenly the AI spoke.
Paco and Rachel sat back in their seats in surprise. They had completely forgotten about the original AI of the ship, which had been put into listening mode in hopes it might learn English.
“Permission granted,” said Paco as he finally recovered.
It was a new voice - a female voice.
“Hello, Tika,” said Rachel. “I take it you’ve managed to learn English?”
Rachel looked at Paco. “Not really your department, Tika. What’s on your mind?”
“You can speak their native language?”
Rachel, stunned, looked at Paco. Nearly speechless, she finally managed to croak out a response.
“You…you are a Goblin?”
Rachel looked at Paco. “What’s to keep you from double-crossing us? How do we know you won’t tell them to shoot us right away?”
Rachel looked at Paco. “What do you think?” she asked.
Paco shook his head. “Above my pay grade. I have no clue.”
Rachel went silent, thinking. She thought for quite a while. Finally, she spoke.
“We have little to lose at this point. Tika, I’ll give you permission to speak directly. But if anything goes wrong - if that destroyer fires on us again, or any other threat appears - you get scragged instantly. Understand?”
“Donkey, are you there?”
“Did you understand what I just said, Donkey?” asked Rachel.
Rachel looked at Paco. “Be ready to get us out of here if things go sideways.”
Paco nodded. Rachel leaned over so she could get a better look at the console display.
“Go for it, Tika,” she said.
Seconds later, the comm light lit up. An untranslatable mishmash of characters appeared on the comm screen in front of them.
Rachel sat forward as far as her five-point harness would permit and stared at the screen. She felt Paco beside her straining to do the same. Even though they couldn’t understand the language, they felt compelled to look at it as the characters streamed by.
“What do you think she’s saying?” asked Paco.
“Help - I’ve been kidnapped by crazy biologicals,” said Rachel sarcastically.
The characters stopped streaming across the screen. There was no change in the aspect of the destroyer behind them. It remained directly on their six, in perfect firing position.
Dekanna System
Da
riama Naval HQ
Captain Luke Powell sat in the anteroom of Admiral Sobong’s office, waiting for his appointment.
His collar was itchy; he rarely wore his full-dress whites, and the room was warm. He pulled at his collar and managed to loosen it a bit.
Wish I was back in my khakis. This is ridiculous. I’m a ship’s captain, for heaven’s sake - not an ambassador! Bonnie should have picked someone else for this job!
The door opened, and Sobong’s aide stepped out.
“The Admiral will see you now, Captain,” he said.
Oh-oh. Showtime. Get it together, buddy.
Luke rose to his feet and followed the aide. They passed through an outer office and another door, and he was in Admiral Sobong’s presence. The Dariama admiral stood behind her chair to greet him.
Luke knew this was not because of who he was - after all, he was merely a captain. It was because of who he represented.
I’m the voice of Admiral Bonnie Page. Now the commander of the EDF. Think like her. Act like her.
“Please sit, Captain,” said Sobong in English.
She gestured to the two chairs in front of her desk. Luke sat in the nearest one as Sobong returned to her seat. She stared at him.
“I’ll never get used to all the strange colors of you Humans. I was told you were as white as a fish belly. But you’re more of a reddish-tan, at least to my perception.”
Luke had been concerned that he wouldn’t be able to understand Sobong, with her Dariama accent. But he found he had no trouble. Her English was excellent.
Winnie did a good job here.
He smiled. “I was on the surface of the planet Deriko for a couple of days recently visiting my daughter. It exposed me to a lot of UV, which darkens our skin. We call it a suntan. Trust me, after a few months back aboard ship, I’ll be as white as a fish belly again.”
Sobong sniffed. “I see. Well, you are truly a strange species. But that’s of no matter now. First of all, let me express my condolences for the loss of your Admiral Rita. She was a great leader. She put together a magnificent effort against the Ashkelon. She will be sorely missed.”
“Thank you, Admiral. I appreciate your thoughts.”
“So. What can I do for you today, Captain?”
The Short End: Broken Galaxy Book Four Page 13
