by S. H. Jucha
“We need to be thorough,” Tacnock replied. “Besides, if there are dangerous entities aboard those ships, we can hope the screech of a human voice might scare them away.”
Jess’s bridge crew heard Tacnock’s chittering, and they couldn’t help but grin or chuckle. The Jatouche and the Pyrean were the best of friends. Of all the races that had taken part in the Pyrean Resistance, these two races created the most formidable pairing.
Jess shrugged and signaled the comms officer, who opened the circuit to the ship’s antenna.
When the officer signaled ready, Jess announced, “This is Captain Cinders of packet ship two, defenders of the Sylian system. We request the five ships, which have appeared in this system, to respond to this hail and communicate your identity.”
Due to the intervening distance, the packet ship bridge crews waited out the communications lag time for a reply. Then the crews heard, “Captain Cinders, are you human?”
Jess was stunned, as was every other defender on the packet ships’ bridges. Unfortunately, his reply wouldn’t go down in alliance history as momentous. He said, “I was the last time I checked. Who are you?”
“We’re humans from a faraway colony called Omnia and from Earth,” Olawale replied.
“Earth?” Jess queried.
“Yes, Captain,” Olawale replied.
“Pardon me,” Jess said, quickly gathering his wits. “Whom am I addressing?”
“My name is Olawale Wombo, Captain. I’m an ex-Earther science administrator, an ex-Omnian university president, and now this expedition’s leader. You may call me Olawale. I’m not one for formality.”
“Olawale, this is Captain Tacnock of packet ship five. How did you arrive here?”
“Captain Cinders, we didn’t comprehend your companion,” Olawale said.
“Yes, languages,” Jess muttered, realizing the problem. “Olawale, you’ve entered a portion of the galaxy that’s populated by the alliance races. We wear ear wigs that translate languages for us. Captain Tacnock of packet ship five can understand you, although your accent is strange, but you can’t understand him.”
“In time, that won’t be a problem,” Olawale replied. “Three of our crew members are adept at languages. They’re self-aware digital entities or SADEs.”
Jess heard Tacnock’s next question, and he relayed it. “My fellow captain wishes to know, Olawale, if you would consider these individuals as artificial intelligences.”
Olawale laughed, and he regarded Esteban, who deliberately manipulated his face to make the waters of his synth skin appear to flow.
“They’re anything but artificial,” Olawale said, chuckling. “You’ll enjoy meeting them.”
“They’re mobile?” Jess inquired.
“Their avatars are human-like, although they’ve a penchant for decorated skin themes,” Olawale replied. “What was Captain Tacnock’s original question?”
“The question he asked was how you arrived here,” Jess replied.
“We sailed from Sol,” Olawale replied, not catching the gist of the question.
“How long ago?” Jess asked.
“It’s been many months now,” Olawale replied. “We’ve checked forty-one systems in the meantime.”
“Months,” Jess muttered. He gazed at his crews’ perplexed expressions, which mirrored that of his own.
“Apologies for interrupting the conversation. This is Captain Lucia Bellardo of the OS Judgment. I’m requesting the captains of packet ships two and five halt your advance toward our ships until further notice.”
Into the silence that ensued, Olawale said, “Captains Cinders and Tacnock, Captain Bellardo has command in matters of the expedition’s security. Please do as she requests.”
“Security?” Tacnock queried. “Jess, ask Olawale to identify the nature of his ships.”
“Olawale, you’ve two different hull types,” Jess said, attempting to be diplomatic.
The remark wasn’t lost on Olawale, but it was a matter for Lucia.
“Captains,” Lucia said. “The expedition leader and the Earther envoy are aboard the slender-hulled ship. It’s a passenger liner called the Rêveur. The four tri-hulled ships you see are called Tridents. They’re Omnian-designed warships.”
“Jess, I suggest we halt our advance immediately,” Tacnock urged.
“Negative, Tacnock,” Jess replied. “Don’t decelerate. Reverse course. I’ll make a port turn.”
“A better idea,” Tacnock replied, and he ordered his pilot to execute a starboard turn and make for the Sylian moon.
Tzeena sat in his bridge chair. The Sylian was deep in thought, and his bridge crew observed him out of the corners of their eyes. The audio had been delayed, but eventually, they’d heard the entire conversation between the packet ships and the strangers.
Humans sailing between the stars in warships, Tzeena thought. Of course, it would be humans. Then he smiled, exposing sharp canines in a white-furred muzzle.
Tzeena relayed the entire exchange to Soshona, and the pair planned how to proceed.
Soshona had the same idea as Tzeena. They considered the means by which these new humans could be enticed to help them halt the Colony’s advance, if not defeat them.
-2-
The Enemy
“Captain Cinders, please provide a relay to the human expedition leader, Olawale Wombo,” Tzeena requested.
“Certainly, Commander,” Jess replied. “Comms, establish a connection with the Rêveur.”
“Captain Cinders is calling, Olawale,” Esteban announced. The midday meal was ending, and the SADE shared a link with Olawale.
Olawale’s implant received the link and activated it. He retained a link with Esteban, who connected the expedition’s senior staff.
Patrice relied on Esteban. The SADE often relayed implant communications to her ear comm. Patrice suspected that, at some point in the transfer of Omnian technology to Sol, Olawale had exceeded his authority. He’d halted the transfer process when it came to the subjects of implants and the age-defying medical nanites that the Omnians carried in their bodies.
“Hello, Olawale. You sound different. Am I interrupting something?” Jess asked.
On the bridges where Tzeena, Jess, and Tacnock stood, crews stared at one another in wonder.
Tacnock chittered. “That’s much better than ear wigs,” he said to his crew.
“I’m relaying my squadron commander’s words, Olawale. He’s a Sylian, and this is their system,” Jess explained. “The Sylian monarch has invited you to the home world. There’s much to share with you about the events you witnessed at our moon and that have taken place in our portion of the galaxy.”
Patrice whispered to Esteban, who sent via comm,
Jess suddenly realized that with implants it would be difficult to detect who was speaking. The familiarity of voices would be missing. Then he had an epiphany. With implants, there was the distinct possibility that conversations could be shared with groups of people, possibly across the entire fleet.
“My family was born on Pyre, Envoy Morris,” Jess replied. “My ancestors colonized the planet after their arrival aboard an Earth ship called —”
“Exactly,” Jess replied. “Is that why you’re here?”
Tzeena hurriedly communicated with Jess, but he needn’t have worried. Jess wanted what Tzeena wanted, which was what all the defenders wanted — the visitors’ long-
term support.
“We could, and then again, we can’t,” Jess replied.
“We don’t sail the stars, Olawale. We journey through Q-gates that are housed in the domes, like the one that you see on our moon,” Jess explained. “Only, we don’t have access to our dome anymore. It’s been overtaken by our enemy.”
This time Jess recognized the voice — or the speaker’s thoughts, he quickly corrected. It crossed his mind that, despite the captain’s perfunctory manner of communicating, she had a pleasant manner of sending thoughts.
“The dome’s console can project a wonderful star display, Captain Bellardo,” Jess replied. “I’d love to show it to you.”
Jess clamped his mouth shut. Heat rose to his face, and his crew hid the smirks that twisted their lips.
Aboard the Judgment, the Omnians smiled at Lucia.
Lucia replied.
“As I explained, Captain, we don’t sail the stars, we journey through the Q-gates of our domes,” Jess replied. “We’ve no need for star maps, as you would use them.”
Lucia frowned at Juliette, who smiled politely in return.
Juliette was one of the few SADEs that hadn’t followed convention for her avatar choice.
Most SADEs adopted, as a primary avatar, bodies that neither imitated the heavy worlders of New Terra nor the slender, sculpted statures of the Méridiens. They’d chosen something in the middle, copying the style of Julien, Cordelia, and Z, who were the first SADEs to be freed from their boxes by Alex. Those SADEs, who were close to Alex, chose the appearance of human skin, while those freed later often decorated their synth skins.
Juliette’s avatar choice was a favored Méridien genetic preference. It was similar to that of Earth’s white blondes from Europe’s far north.
Patrice received an update from Esteban, and, from across the meal table, she nodded encouragingly at Olawale.
“I’m sorry, Olawale, our packet ships are on duty against the enemy. We have to prevent them from completing that ring above the dome. We suspect that the construct might have something to do with sending larger constructions through the Q-gates,” Jess replied.
“No,” Jess replied. “When the enemy invaded our dome, we launched our shuttles for the moon’s station. The enemy built the shuttles you see.”
Tzeena was aghast at the thought of heavy weaponry fired near or at the dome. “Captain Cinders, warn the visitors that aggressive action against the shuttles is unacceptable,” Tzeena urgently said.
“Captain Bellardo, my commander is concerned that weaponry of any kind might damage the dome. There’s an immensely powerful energy source buried in the moon that drives the Q-gates,” Jess said.
Something about the way Captain Bellardo spoke of their experience gave Jess pause. He considered that the visitors might have enemies far worse than the alliance.
“The shuttles lift about four times a cycle,” Jess replied, which seriously annoyed Tzeena.
Soon was much quicker than the crews of the packet squadron could have expected. Against Tzeena’s better judgment and at the urging of Jess and Tacnock, he hurriedly ordered the squadron to abandon their post. He did communicate his decision to Soshona, who also had her reservations.
After the squadron shifted to a new position high above the moon, they watched as one of the Tridents separated from the visitors’ fleet and took up station in their previous location.
“Can we trust them to be mindful of the dome?” Soshona had asked Tzeena.
“They possess warships that sail the stars, Commander,” Tzeena had replied. “Do we have a choice?”
From their vantage points, Tzeena’s packet ships watched the Trident launch an odd vessel. Its smooth design reminded the viewers of a gourd seed. Quickly clearing the Trident’s space, the vessel shot toward the moon, only to decelerate extremely quickly.
“Oh, for the love of Pyre,” Jess remarked over the command comm. “We’d be wearing the bulkheads if our ships accelerated or decelerated at that rate.”
“Did anyone see engine flares?” Tzeena asked his captains.
“The better questions, Commander,” Tacnock retorted, “might be: Why didn’t that ship flip over to decelerate? What sort of technology is it using?”
Chronometers on both fleets indicated the passage of time. Right on schedule, exhaust gases issued from two of the moon’s launch tubes, and, once again, a pair of Colony shuttles rose. They moved in tandem to gain altitude before they would advance on the partially completed ring from above.
“Why are the visitors waiting?” Tzeena muttered. He was rethinking his decision to abdicate his responsibility to the strangers.
Just as Tzeena finished voicing his frustration, he saw the seed ship shoot forward. It flew past one of the shuttles, and the ship’s engines disappeared in gouts of flame and debris. Immediately, the other shuttle reversed course and headed toward its launch tube.
“What did they fire?” Tzeena asked.
“My comms operator says that he detected an energy spike from the visitors’ small ship,” Tacnock reported.
“I suppose we’ve just witnessed the use of their beam technology,” Jess said. It underlined his earlier thoughts about the Omnians’ enemy or enemies. He wondered how many encounters it took and over how long a period before that level of sophisticated weaponry was developed. If only the Resistance had started sooner and more aggressively against the Colony, he thought.
“Commander Tzeena states that it’ll take the invaders a quarter annual to build a replacement shuttle,” Jess relayed.
“They won’t bother,” Jess stated, in a desultory manner.
“They won’t bother with the crew either,” Jess replied quietly.
There was silence, and Jess checked with his comms officer. The Loopah indicated the signal connection was strong.
“They’re called the Colony,” Jess replied. He was relieved that the conversation had continued. “They’re an insectoid race, whose population expands at an enormous rate.”
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“Yes,” Jess replied. “The domes are merely way stations for them to reach our home worlds.”
“Commander Tzeena says that, under the circumstances, the squadron will be returning to the station,” Jess reported.
Jess was swiftly adapting to the surprising statements and questions from the visitors. The station orbiting the Sylian home world was presently on the planet’s far side. Yet, the visitors knew of its existence.
“We’ll be returning to Talseseena Station, the one near the moon,” Jess replied. “Sailing time will be about a third of a cycle. If I’m excused from duty, it will take my ship about eighteen cycles to reach the planet.”
“Did my ear wig translate the leader’s statement properly, Captain Cinders?” Tzeena asked.
“If you understood hours instead of cycles, Commander, then the translation was accurate,” Jess replied.
Over the squadron’s channel, Tacnock asked, “Captain Cinders, what did you make of the silence after you told the warship captain that the insectoids wouldn’t recover their crew?”
“I think these visitors have experienced hardships greater than ours,” Jess surmised. “They’ve incredible technology and powerful weaponry, which they choose to employ judiciously. They didn’t destroy the shuttle. They merely trimmed the engines off one of them.”
“And they were aghast to learn of the crew’s fate,” Tacnock finished.
“Yes, that’s what I think,” Jess replied.
“Captain Cinders, I can’t order you to accompany the visitors. However, if you wish to risk it, your ship is relieved of squadron duty,” Tzeena ordered.
