by S. H. Jucha
“And if they’re highly maneuverable drones, the Tridents will have trouble defeating them in a fight,” Reiko added.
The more the admirals discussed the challenges of dealing with sophisticated drone fighters, the more Alex believed the danger might become insurmountable. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a second choice. He wouldn’t sail the fleet for home, without doing all he could for the Ollassa. The thought crossed his mind that this might be how his life ended. He’d take on one enemy too many. It would be against an adversary that could easily destroy his fleet and sail on without a second thought.
Alex exited the bridge, leaving the admirals to their discussion.
Renée eyed Julien and tipped her head in Alex’s direction. Then Julien and she followed Alex to the owner’s suite.
Alex made thé for Renée and him to keep his hands busy, while his mind was occupied.
“We need to be careful with this race,” Alex said, while he served the thé. “Small steps.”
“The greatest unknown is the type of offensive vessel the invaders employ,” Julien replied. “The admirals’ analyses are logical, but we’ve had no proof of their existence. It would be practical to tempt one of their craft to launch.”
Alex held the warm mug of thé in both hands, while he regarded Julien.
The SADE could tell that Alex wasn’t focused on him. His friend was looking through him, while he visualized the contest.
“Would a drone traveler force the invaders to launch?” Renée inquired.
“Good question,” Alex replied absent-mindedly, while he continued his musings.
The corner of Alex’s mouth quirked at Julien sharing their conversation with the SADEs.
Renée’s mouth formed a surprised oh. She hadn’t considered putting a human in the cockpit. It seemed too great a risk.
Renée asked.
2: Seedlings
Linn, whose scout ship was farthest inward, compared his telemetry with the other scouts.
Ollassa warships had formed three small commands. They intended to approach the invaders’ mining sites from alternate directions.
Linn and his companions perused the Ollassa translation app that Killian had transferred from the city-ship. The SADEs composed myriad messages, discarding most. While they worked through their choices, they received a link from Julien. It led them to a series of possible communications to send the Ollassa.
Linn’s ship was the first scout to contact one of three Ollassa commands headed outward.
A single Ollassa warship led three armed transports. At their present rate of acceleration, the SADEs calculated that the command would take about twenty-one Omnian days to reach the outer belt.
The SADEs positioned their ship bow to bow in front of the warship, while they reversed course to remain a fixed distance from the Ollassa ship.
The first message that Julien indicated was sent from the scout’s controller to the hull sensors and was transmitted in ultrasonic frequencies.
“Mandator, a seedling ship has appeared ahead of us,” the executor announced, stalks quivering in excitement.
“By the Light,” the mandator exclaimed, as bloom bent to examine the panel’s output.
The blooms of the crew focused on panels, which displayed the ship in front of them. Undoubtedly, it was similar to the seedling that had been captured many annuals ago. At that time, its progenitors had come from beyond to rescue it.
“Could it be the same seedling?” a monitor asked in wonder.
“It does possess the same characteristics of the seedling that wandered here last time,” the mandator replied. “See how it maneuvers.”
“Maybe it announces the progenitors —” the executor started to communicate, when a monitor interrupted.
“Message from the seedling ship, Mandator,” the monitor broadcasted strongly.
“How is that possible?” the mandator inquired.
“The seedling’s hull is sending a message in ultrasonic frequencies,” the monitor replied.
“Play it,” the mandator ordered.
Over the ship’s central panels, the Ollassa observed the scout’s message. It said, “Our warship fleet has arrived at the Worlds of Light. The Omnian leaders will confront the entities that besiege your system. We ask you to seek areas of safety, preferably in orbits around the World of Light.”
“By the Light,” the mandator emanated. “We’ve an excellent message from the seedling, but we’ve no means of responding to the Omnians aboard.”
“A second message, Mandator,” a monitor warned.
The Ollassa panels broadcast, “Another Omnian ship will soon arrive at the World of Light, and it will land atop Mesa Control. Our leaders will communicate through the individuals on that ship to your leaders, who can signal Ollassa ships.”
“Perhaps, Mandator, your bloom should share another wish to induce the seedling ship to grant your desire,” the executor quipped.
“It’s easy to forget the advanced level of this race’s technology,” the mandator shared. “To our beneficence, and despite the fact that the Omnians are animals, they add much value to the Light.”
The monitors of the Ollassa ship’s central station waited for a succeeding message from the seedling ship, but none was received.
“Signal the ships in our command,” the mandator emanated. “We’re reversing course and returning to the World of Light. Share the Omnians’ messages.”
“By the Light,” the executor intoned via the bloom, confirming the order, and a monitor connected the executor to the three armed transports.
By the time Killian’s ship, the Vivian’s Mirror, made orbit around the Ollassa home world, Beryl and Genoa’s scouts had turned back their commands.
Killian’s ship carefully recorded the vessels and structures around the Ollassa home world.
Killian’s comment quieted the other two SADEs.
The Mirror completed its survey of the home world and transmitted the telemetry to the Freedom.
Trium accessed the coordinates for Mesa Control and shared them with Killian and Bethley. Then Killian directed the Mirror there.
Although the shell surface of a scout ship was similar to a traveler, the Mirror, like all scouts, was a significantly longer ship. The addition of a clam-shell-encased interstellar drive was the primary reason for the greater length.
Killian hovered the Mirror a hundred meters over the mesa top. Ollassa shuttles crowded every launch tube across the rock.
Killian sent the sound of bird tweets in response to Trium’s declaration. His scout companion had the foresight to examine the potential landing site from archival telemetry, before they’d completed the passage to the Ollassa system.
Recognizing the challenge of finding space on the mesa top, Trium constructed a compact metal alloy ladder. It was fifty meters in length, and it neatly rolled in a ball.
When Bethley had questioned the purpose of the ladder, Trium had replied,
Now, the Mirror lowered slowly near the mesa top’s edge. At twenty-five meters above the ground, Killian directed the controller to remain on station. Then he signaled the portable airlock open, eliminating the safety protocols to allow both hatches open.
With a shove of Killian’s hand, the ladder rolled through the opening and dropped to the ground.
As there was only sufficient space for a scout SADE to exit the ship head first or board feet first, Killian crawled through the open hatch, levered his body over the airlock’s outer edge, and grasped the nearest rung of the ladder. Then he rolled his body out of the ship to hang by his hands. Swiveling his handholds, Killian faced the ladder, and then descended to the mesa’s surface.
Bethley and Trium swiftly followed, and the three SADEs faced a group of Ollassa. The SADEs’ sensors detected the emanations from the Ollassa blooms. Unfortunately, those same sensors weren’t capable of transmitting signals.
Trium produced a portable holo-vid, and Killian sent his first message. “Omnians have returned to confront the aggressors in your outer belt. We would speak with the mandators in charge of Mesa Control.”
Stalks indicated the elevator that connected the surface with Mesa Control, which was buried deep in the massive rock outcrop.
Only one Ollassa, a tasker, led the SADEs below.
“Not much pomp and circumstance, this time,” Bethley commented wryly to her companions.
“Our arrival evokes a casualness that seems in direct opposition to our first visit to the World of Light,” Trium agreed.
“Then again, we never visited the Ollassa while they were using unarmed transports to fight the Nua’ll sphere’s bullet ships,” Killian pointed out.
The elevator doors opened below into a brightly lit corridor deep in the mesa. The SADEs’ sensors noted the ultraviolet light emanating from the overheads. The frequency of the light would feed the Ollassa fronds throughout their duty periods.
Blooms were tipped to the SADEs as they passed, but none of the Ollassa paused.
Doors slid aside, and the tasker’s stalks indicated the opening.
Inside a busy control room, Scarlet Mandator turned toward the mesa’s visitors. The mandator noticed their bodies were in the shape of Alex Racine and Renée de Guirnon. However, their facial colorings indicated they were of Julien’s kind. They were neither fauna nor flora. The word SADE came back to the mandator.
Indicating with a stalk, Scarlet Mandator pointed at the doorway through which the SADEs had entered.
The Omnians stepped aside, as the Ollassa who’d greeted them led them down the corridor.
For a moment, the SADEs weren’t sure who they’d met. A quick comparison of the Ollassa’s bloom to that of Julien’s imagery of Scarlet Mandator confirmed it was that individual who led them.
The mandator’s stalk touched a wall panel, and the doors to a conference room slid aside. True to Ollassa style, the room held a table, which was embedded with panels. However, there wasn’t a single chair.
Scarlet Mandator turned and addressed the Omnians, “By the Light, we’re pleased to see you again. Has the Omnian fleet come?”
“It has,” Killian replied. He’d held up the portable holo-vid and created a link with his companions and Cordelia.
While Cordelia spoke, Julien initiated the holo-vid in the owner’s suite. It replicated the imagery collected from Killian.
Julien sat across from Alex and Renée, and he sent their image to Killian’s holo-vid.
“By the Light,” Scarlet Mandator’s bloom radiated, when the Omnians appeared in the holo-vid. Stalks were directed to approach the device that had been a wonder to the Ollassa.
“We’d hoped for your return,” the mandator beamed. “How is it that you knew we needed assistance?”
“My fronds and stalks should be quivering with anger for your impudence,” the mandator replied.
“And you’re a crafty animal, Renée de Guirnon,” the mandator retorted. The bloom’s petals curled and unfurled in quick succession. It intimated at the Ollassa’s pleasure not ire.
“So, you’ve noticed,” the mandator replied. Directing stalks to turn, the mandator presented the torso sidewise to the holo-vid. Swiveling the bloom back to the SADEs, the mandator added, “The additions you see will answer your query about the individual you seek.”
“Julien,” Scarlet Mandator radiated respectfully. “You ask the astute question. After your kind left the Worlds of Light, mandators argued about our future. There was little progress. It was suggested that each mandator ask their Life Giver for advice. The communications with the Life Givers lasted many passages of the Light.”
“It was unknown at the time,” the mandator replied. “Afterward, we believed that the Life Givers shared opinions.”
“It was illuminating to us,” the mandator replied.
“Flowers?” the mandator questioned.
Bethley stepped forward and indicated one of the unexpected col
orful blossoms to the mandator that decorated the thickened stalk that made up the Ollassa’s body.
“The Life Givers decided that a single mandator should lead the Ollassa,” Scarlet Mandator radiated. “I was honored to be chosen.”
“Crescents,” the mandator replied. “For the first time in the knowledge of the Ollassa, a mandator was requested to communicate directly with a Life Giver. My stalks connected with a root. I waited for a lengthy message, something that would direct me in my duties. I felt a brief tingle throughout every part of me. That was all. Then cycles of the Light later, the crescents started as tiny buds. Later, they opened to appear as you see them this cycle.”
“I am,” Scarlet Mandator replied.
“Yes,” the mandator replied. “A new title is unimportant. Ollassa know that the Life Givers have spoken.”
“I would like to share tactical details with you,” Scarlet Mandator radiated, the bloom petals curling slightly inward. “Unfortunately, many of the events are blurs, if not unknown.”
“Our warships arrived at several mining sites,” the mandator replied. “We observed the actions below and realized that there were no beings involved in the workings of the machines. The mandators chose to fire on the machines. While preparing to attack, small ships exited the great carrier that sits in the beyond. The ships were swift, appearing as blurs on our panels. Within moments after arriving at the mining sites, the invaders’ ships destroyed our warships.”
