“But we still have a numerical advantage, right?”
“For the gateway assault, yes. We can deploy another two multiple salvos, but ultimately they have more ships. We need to get inside the enclave before they arrive.”
The armada used the remaining salvos when the Calmissiles closed to within twenty million kilometers of the gateway. That distance had become the Resolution ships’ killing field. At reduced velocity, the Calmissiles were far more susceptible to the suppression effect. Hundreds, then thousands, started to vanish from the tactical feeds. The remainder expanded their portals, and thousands more Calmissiles came flashing through. There were far too many for the Olyix to stop.
Just before stage four was due to begin, Yirella opened Dellian’s icon. “How’s it going down there?”
“It’s boring, and the armor itches.”
“Oh, poor you. But at least everything’s going according to plan.”
“If it’s going according to plan, why did I have to be in armor for a day before we reach the gateway?”
“Wow, peak miserable. If things hadn’t gone according to plan, the wormhole would’ve collapsed, the Morgan would’ve been dumped back into space-time somewhere close to the gateway star, and ten thousand Resolution ships would be hunting us down. So suck it up, you in your luxury comfort blanket, mister.”
“You have a very weird concept of luxury.”
She grinned. “Not at all. The croissants this morning were the wrong shade of golden; so there you are: I share your suffering.”
“Oh, great Saints!”
“The battle cruisers are portaling to the gateway in two minutes.”
“Yeah, I’m watching the tacticals. It’s looking good.”
“Loss numbers are top end of the projection, which I don’t like, but yes. So far we’re holding it together.”
“You’re going to monitor the squad, aren’t you? When we go in, I mean.”
“Monitor, yes. But that’s it.”
“I know. Tilliana and Ellici are the best. It’s just, you’re my guardian angel, that’s all. You know that.”
“I’ll be watching.”
Thousands of Calmissiles were decelerating to rendezvous around the ephemeral gateway. Seven Olyix fortress stations were orbiting above it, along with a final defensive shell of nine thousand Resolution ships. Every Calmissile expanded their portal, and armada battle cruisers started to fly through.
The fight lasted for two hours. Debris and energy eruptions saturated the space around the gateway, which at times glimmered as bright as the star as it refracted the actinic explosions in short-lived unsymmetrical waves. But by the time the wormhole terminus and Ainsley matched orbit, there were no Olyix left within ten million kilometers of the gateway. Tens of thousands of Resolution ships were en route from across the entire system.
“They’re abandoning everything,” Yirella said. “Most of their stations in the ring have only got a few dozen defenders left.”
“It’s going to be tough protecting the gateway once we’re through,” Kenelm conceded. “If we can get through.”
“The defenders only have to cover us for a while—just enough for us to put phase four in motion.”
“Our sensor probes report the boundary to be open,” Immanueel said. “The interface is a simple pattern of negative energy that does not appear to be harmful.”
Yirella regarded the shimmering orb with immense distrust. “That strikes me as unlikely. There’s got to be something on the other side to attack us when we pass through.”
“Yes, but not yet. Time is slower inside the enclave. They might only just be registering our appearance. It will take days, if not longer, in their timeframe, to assemble a defense fleet.”
“Once we’re inside, it won’t take so long. We’ll all be in the same time flow.”
“Yes, but until we’re through we have an advantage.”
Yirella reviewed the hordes of approaching Resolution ships. The numbers were bad news. “We have to safeguard the wormhole terminus. It’s our only route out of this system afterward.”
“Acknowledged,” Immanueel said. “Once the neutron star has exited, we will withdraw the terminus from this system at high acceleration. At the very least, the Olyix will have to split their forces. We conclude that most will enter the enclave in pursuit.”
“Okay. So when are we going in?”
“Right now,” Ainsley said.
Yirella felt her heart rate bump up. Fighting their way across the gateway system had been tense, but she had confidence in their warships and tactics. This, though—this was truly a step into the unknown.
She used her neural interface to pull in as much real-time tactical data as she could. Battle cruisers were taking up position outside the gateway, with large particles flowing out of the wormhole terminus. As soon as they emerged, their copper coating swirled away to reveal weapons platforms, adding to the protective layers building up.
“See you on the other side,” Ainsley said.
She wanted to say, wait, no, be careful—just something that might help, might let him know she cared. But the big white ship accelerated smoothly and slipped easily through the shimmering surface. Seconds later, a stream of armada battle cruisers followed. The wormhole terminus was maneuvered until it was holding position a mere two kilometers above the gateway’s ethereal surface. Thousands more battle cruisers accelerated out of the wormhole and vanished immediately into the enclave.
“Any response?” Yirella asked desperately.
“None,” Immanueel replied. “I have no contact with any aspects of my corpus self that have gone through. In fact, this aspect group is now in a minority; our intellect is shrinking. It is an unusual circumstance, and one I find disconcerting. Being separated into two conscious entities is unnatural.”
She exchanged a look with Kenelm. Having Immanueel confess that was somehow demoralizing.
Most of the armada was now inside the enclave. Or through the gateway, anyway, she told herself. Oh, Saints, what if it’s the most elaborate trap in the universe? What if any species that manages to break free of the initial invasion is lured here? What if—
The Morgan accelerated forward, quickly clearing the wormhole. Within seconds its nose was entering the tenuous photonic bubble of the gateway. She couldn’t intervene. She couldn’t stop this now even if she used every network subversion she possessed.
“Ohhh, shit!”
Eyes jammed shut to deflect the agonizing death blow as fire and fury ripped the Morgan apart.
Nothing.
She looked around. Tactical displays were building swiftly as the Morgan regained contact with the armada and…Ainsley. Yes!
But there was surely something wrong with the visual image; the café windows were showing a swirl of colorful clouds. It was as if they’d emerged into a gas giant’s atmosphere. Which she knew was wrong. She just couldn’t judge the perspective—to start with.
“Great Saints, it’s a nebula,” she gasped.
“You made it, then?” Ainsley said.
Yirella let out a long breath of relief. “That we did. So what local intelligence have you got for us?”
“Even my sensor fronds are having trouble seeing through this murk. They’re spreading out now, so we should get a more comprehensive picture, but it’s not easy. The good news is: There aren’t many ships in here, and none of them are close to us. The star has got two power bands wrapped around it, and some other bands above them, which I’m guessing are the exotic matter generators creating this place. There’s only one planet in here, a gas giant; that’s the patch of the nebula that looks like it’s on fire. It’s got a massive energized ion tail, and thousands of small moons in a polar orbit, which I’m assuming are arkships. Should be able to get some decent resolution on that soon.”
�
��And the Olyix have no large force of ships here?” Yirella asked. That just didn’t seem possible.
“This is one big thick nebula, kid. There could be anything hiding in here, especially if it’s not under acceleration. I am detecting some odd…twinkles appearing.”
“Twinkles?”
“Points of light that appear, then vanish. Random distribution.”
“Radiation impacts on nebula particles?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are they a potential threat?”
“Still unknown. Any more dumb questions?”
She pressed her lips together, not quite in amusement.
“We will dispatch a trio of battle cruisers to the nearest twinkle coordinate to investigate,” Immanueel said. “But the rest of the armada needs to move now. The Olyix will soon be arriving in force behind us. We will set a course for the gas giant. That will suffice until our knowledge base of the enclave expands.”
* * *
—
The transmitter drone lifted on three small thrusters, each one producing a tiny spire of icy blue static below its fuselage. It slowly rose to head height, then steered itself carefully around the cavern.
“That’ll do,” Yuri said. “It works.” In his mind, reluctance was warring against eagerness. To get this done. To finish it. But as he had learned so painfully during his career, rushing into a hostile situation never produced a good result.
“Man,” Alik grumbled. “The Wright brothers had a bigger first flight than that.”
“To be fair, they had a bigger beach,” Callum said. “And we’ve had centuries of flight experience since then.”
“I’m sure the brothers would be very proud of all of you,” Jessika said. “But there are a hell of a lot more human ships in the enclave now. They’re starting to move away from the emergence point. We need to do this.”
Yuri eyed the three other transmitter drones lying on the rumpled rock floor. “How many should we send?”
Callum gave him a puzzled look. “Well…all of them, of course. We’re not going to get a second chance.”
“One,” Kandara said. “We send one. And the instant it gets outside we send the others.”
“We send them all,” Yuri said, ignoring Callum’s mildly surprised expression. “Today is not the day for pussying around.”
“Eggs,” Kandara said. “Basket. One.”
“I’m with Yuri on this,” Alik said. “We need to get out there and shout. It’s why we’re here, for Christ’s sake.”
“Fucking testosterone,” Kandara grumbled.
“Jessika, how far away are the ships?” Yuri asked. In his mind he could see what the fullmind perceived: a vast swarm of intruders in a neat formation, flowing smoothly through the nebula. There were several different types, which the Olyix were slowly categorizing.
“They’re in a big cone formation with that white ship, the one the fullmind is nervous of, at the front. It looks like they’re accelerating on a course toward the gas giant. They’re coming to us.”
“Time to arrival?”
“The fullmind estimates a couple of hours.”
“Hours?” Callum asked. “It took us days to get here after we arrived in the enclave.”
“They’re warships,” Jessika said. “I wasn’t kidding when I said they were fast.”
“And they’ll be pointing a lot of sensors our way,” Alik said.
“Okay, then,” Yuri said. “Let’s do this.”
“Nexus first,” Kandara said. “The fallback. You must always have a fallback.”
I know! “Yes,” Yuri said. “Alik, could you pilot them, please?”
“Sure.” Alik settled onto his rock ledge and closed his eyes. Five of the creeperdrone spiders stood up and flexed their legs.
“No server creature activity in the tunnel outside,” Jessika said. “And Odd Quint is still blocking neuralstrata perception around the hangar. Clear to go.”
The creeperdrones lined up and scuttled out of the chamber.
“How long?” Yuri asked. The neuralstrata nexus Jessika had identified was along one of the other corridors leading from the hangar, so the creeperdrones would have to go back there first. In total, the chamber with the nexus was nearly two kilometers away.
“As long as it takes,” Alik said through gritted teeth, his eyes still shut.
Callum held a hand up toward Yuri. “Let’s just stay calm, shall we?”
Almost, he almost said: I am calm. But he made an effort to stay quiet. His one comfort was that the others would be equally stressed. Just a few hours now, and this is going to be over—one way or another.
“The fullmind is doing something,” Jessika announced.
“What?” Yuri and Kandara asked simultaneously.
“Some kind of weapon.” A frown creased Jessika’s forehead. “But not a weapon. No. The enclave is a weapon. I don’t understand. It thinks it can stop the fleet.”
“We need to warn them,” Callum said. The remaining three transmitter drones rose up.
“Wait!” Yuri said. “Nothing we can say will make any difference. If they get attacked, they’ll fucking know about it, okay? We need to concentrate on telling them where we are. And to stand any chance of that, we need to be able to take out the nexus. Alik, how long?”
“Ask me that again, motherfucker, and I swear I will bring them back here and burn your ass to ash!”
Yuri shrugged at Callum, then he closed his eyes and got Boris to pull up a tactical map. The gossamer strands unwinding from the back of the creeperdrone spiders provided high-quality images from their eyes. They were already approaching the hangar.
A burst of shock emanating from the fullmind broke his concentration. He tried to focus on the thoughtstream, only to be overwhelmed by what looked like a…blob? It was moving through the enclave’s nebula. Instead of brushing aside the vast curlicues of multicolored gas, it seemed to be sucking the strands in. “What the hell?”
“Fuck me!” Jessika exclaimed.
Yuri didn’t know which surprised him most—the fullmind’s alarm or hearing Jessika swear. “What is that thing?”
“A star.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a neutron star! The invaders have brought a neutron star with them. It’s going to hit the enclave star.”
“No way,” Callum said. “That’ll…Bloody hell!”
“That’ll what?” Yuri asked in a tightly controlled voice.
“Nova,” Jessika said. “If we’re lucky.”
“Lucky?”
“Technically, it’s a smart move,” Callum said. “It’ll destroy the power rings on its way into the star, which will kill the enclave. So we’ll be dumped back into space-time.”
“Oh, Mother Mary,” Kandara said. “We’ll be right next to the gateway star.”
“Next to is a relative term,” Callum said. “But yeah, it’s a binary system. And if a star this size is going nova…”
“It’ll trigger the other one,” Yuri realized.
“We may wind up in the middle of a supernova.”
“But these invaders must know that, right?” Alik said. “They’ll have an escape route planned out.”
“Of course they have,” Jessika said. “The invasion ships are heading here, where all the arkships are. So they’ve got to have a strategy.”
“All right,” Yuri said. “So let’s help them. Alik?”
Alik glared at him, then immediately shut his eyes again, his hardened skin crunching up into a frown of concentration. When Yuri checked, he found the creeperdrone spiders were leaving the hangar now, heading up the corridor that would take them to the chamber where the nexus was. Two of them were scurrying along the floor while the rest were racing along the web of trunks that covered the walls and ceiling, traveling
almost as fast. Yuri had to admit, Alik had quality piloting the things.
When he checked the sensor clusters in the hangar, they peered up the corridor where Odd Quint had gone—nothing moving there.
“Do we go?” Callum asked. His body was quivering, as if he were about to start a race.
“This invasion is going to take hours to play out,” Yuri said. “And Alik will have the creeperdrones in place in just a few minutes. So let’s not screw this up because we can’t wait, okay?” He ignored Callum’s groan of disappointment.
“The fullmind is rallying,” Jessika warned.
When he tried to make sense of the thoughtstream, all Yuri could grasp was pressure. Somehow the fullmind was squeezing the enclave—a process that was absorbing a phenomenal amount of energy and placing a dangerous strain on the star’s power rings. He didn’t understand any of it. So…
Concentrate on what can be achieved.
The creeperdrones had finally arrived in a huge cavern that was filled with machinery, living pipes, and large city-block-sized tanks. A grim throwback to the time of Earth’s oil refineries, complete with dank puddles, dripping junctions, and thin layers of grubby mist. All five of the creeperdrones swiftly scaled a weird, twisting glass and carbon pillar, clambering around bulges where fresh green fronds merged with the tightly packed fibers inside.
“Okay, I got this,” Alik said. “I can blind the neuralstrata in this whole section as soon as you give the word.”
“Callum, Kandara,” Yuri said. “You’re on.”
The drones headed out of the cavern in an easy sashay, their tiny blue ion plumes soaring up the spectrum toward a near-invisible violet. A soft gust of air marked their flight, but they were almost silent. They swept into the tunnel beyond and arrowed toward the hangar. In that huge empty space, they seemed utterly inconsequential. It took them seconds to cross the floor and pass into the open entrance.
Then they stopped, simply hanging in the air, ion jets throttled up to maximum, not moving.
“What the fuck?” Yuri exclaimed.
“Oh, bloody hell,” Callum said. “They hit the membrane. It’s turned solid.”
The Saints of Salvation Page 41
