by S. H. Jucha
Jess’s and Tacnock’s brows furrowed. Their implants absorbed the data associated with the star map, but it was too complex for them to resolve.
“Miranda, Z, make the Colony contacts glow in varying degrees of brightness,” Tacnock suggested.
“Yes,” Jess agreed. “Dimmest for dome traffic only. Brighter for a ring. A few transports next, and many transports the brightest.”
“What about locations where races have been observed fighting the intrusions?” Z asked. “Commands noted that some races have destroyed the transports that arrived via the rings. Others have had to wait to engage the insectoids after they landed.”
“Apologies, Sers,” Miranda said gently, witnessing the exchange of frustrated expressions between Jess and Tacnock. “It’s only been by comparing the command’s data with the information gleaned from Pardus that we realize the original team that visited Hyronzy Station didn’t recover data from the archivist about sentient races who have yet to join the alliance. In these cases, the races are in stages of technology growth.”
Z added, “The commands categorized the civilizations as pre- and post-spaceflight. It’s unknown whether the species who reached their moons managed to discover any information about their domes before the Colony arrived.”
Jess blew out the angry breath that he’d been holding. To his mind, it was like the Tsargit to fail to offer this data or to think that races, who hadn’t joined its lofty body, weren’t of great importance. He said, “Color the worlds fighting the Colony in red.”
The commands’ contacts changed dramatically.
“That’s better,” Tacnock commented.
“Those are our priorities,” Jess said. “We visit the inner reds first. Then we spiral outward, hitting the brightest points. If there’s a dimmer contact in our path, then we can stop there.”
“Many domes where the Colony has been seen will be missed,” Miranda noted.
“I’m prioritizing sentient races with planet invasions,” Jess replied. “When the fleet finishes the search, the security teams and the SADEs can enter the domes and shut down gate access, if possible.”
“Your instructions are understood, Captain,” Z said. “We sail for the Zista home world.”
5: Red Star
The Freedom and its accompanying ships entered the Zista system, the nearest star to Pyre that the SADEs had marked in red. Then the fleet made for the home world.
“A ring was eliminated,” Cordelia commented, as Alex, Jess, and others examined the bridge holo-vid. “The command recorded a debris field in orbit around the planet, which indicated the prior destruction of Colony transports and other ships. Then the command cleaned up the field with Tridents and travelers.”
“How about Colony shuttles on the planet?” Jess asked.
“Twelve, within our present view,” Z said. “We can postulate that these are probably the first shuttles to make planetfall before the Zistarians discovered their dilemma and attacked the transports.”
“At least, two hundred forty insectoids,” Tacnock remarked. “They’ve probably scattered.”
“We take the dome first,” Jess said, and Cordelia directed the fleet toward Zista’s second moon.
Alex ordered the launch of a traveler, and the pilot eliminated the Colony shuttle in a tube close to the dome.
Jess, Tacnock, and Aputi boarded a traveler for the site of the destroyed shuttle. Then they rode a line down the blackened tube.
Fifty shadows followed them down the tube.
The Colony offered token resistance. Having had their ring detonated, the insectoids chose not to defend the dome against a major incursion. Their numbers had been intended to resist the Zistarians, but not those who sailed the starships.
The shadows took some fire in the tunnels, but they quickly eliminated the reds and the grays, who had waited beyond the blast door airlock. Then the shadows swept toward the connecting ring and spread down the other tunnels.
Jess, Tacnock, and Aputi ran to keep up with shadows that disappeared in the distance. They halted in the connecting ring and waited for the shadows to return. The three veterans watched through the shadows’ sensors for contact, but there was none.
When the shadows returned, crowding around the veterans, Jess directed them toward the dome’s airlock and requested an aisle.
“Oh, for the love of Pyre,” Jess exclaimed, eyeing the access panel. “I’ve got to return to the scene of the fight and collect some fresh blood.”
“Maybe,” Tacnock said, and he placed a palm on the panel. “Then again, maybe not,” he added, with a flash of teeth, as the hatch slid aside.
“The Colony’s not bothering to protect the dome’s access,” Aputi said in wonder.
“At least, not this one,” Jess remarked.
The veterans and the shadows checked the dorm rooms. Like the upper deck, they were vacant.
Then the team waited until a SADE, Wyleth, arrived. He locked out the gates that Deirdre’s command had identified seeing the Colony use before they’d destroyed the ring.
Jess sat on the locked platform. His chin rested on his curled hands, and he was lost in thought.
Tacnock, Aputi, Wyleth, and fifty shadows waited and watched.
“What’s changing?” Jess finally asked his audience.
“A strategy shift,” Aputi replied promptly.
“But toward what goal?” Tacnock asked.
“If we were operating with their sensors, what would we be seeing? And what would we be choosing to do?” Jess queried.
“They see the starships,” Aputi volunteered. “Wherever the ships appear, they lose the dome and the planet.”
“After centuries of expansion, they’re experiencing defeat,” Tacnock said. “Under those circumstances, the Colony needs different tactics to prevent further loss of its territory.”
“What would you do?” Jess asked.
“Sers,” Wyleth said. “If I were the Colony, I’d consolidate. I wouldn’t want to waste resources on holding a dome that I knew would eventually be lost. In the meantime, I’d invent ways to protect the domes I held. Planets can be lost, but the domes are the means of my expansion.”
“Well stated, Wyleth,” Jess said. “This mission is now about speed. We’ve got to acquire control of as many domes as possible before the Colony invents new methods of repulsing our attacks.”
Aboard the Freedom, Jess shared the new analysis of the Colony with Alex, Renée, and Julien.
“On that note,” Alex replied, “we’re underway for the Zista home world. We’ve communicated with the local government. The citizens have been hunting the insectoids with limited success, and their efforts have been costing lives. They welcome our help. We’ll arrive in orbit at fourteen fifteen hours.”
“Captain,” Julien said, “Z and Miranda request your presence in their engineering lab.”
“Thank you, Julien,” Jess replied. He left the bridge and headed below. Cycling into the bay, he was greeted by Miranda, who led him to a different section of the lab.
Jess came to a halt in front of two gigantic shadows. They were more than two meters high and had leg spans of five meters.
“I can’t connect with them,” Jess said.
“That’s because we’re not in there,” Z responded, approaching Jess from behind.
“You’ll crawl inside?” Jess asked in confusion.
“As SADEs,” Z replied, “we readily transfer our core to any avatar that contains a kernel, a comm system, sensors, power crystals, and a locomotive structure.”
“You’ll keep all your capabilities?” Jess asked.
“Yes,” Miranda replied.
The SADEs watched Jess study the pair of shadows, and then he grinned.
Jess formulated a new attack plan, which Alex and Renée promptly disrupted.
“You want to what?” Jess asked the co-leaders in amazement.
“We wish to observe the insectoids for ourselves,” Alex replied.
“R
enée saw the grays at Sylia,” Jess objected.
“Those were in captivity, Captain,” Renée riposted.
“What? The admirals leave, and the two of you decide to —” Jess started to retort.
“Careful, Captain,” Alex warned, interrupting Jess.
“Alex, everything we’re trying to do for the alliance depends on Renée and you,” Jess pleaded. “It falls apart if you two are killed. With the insectoids, no one is injured. A bite means death, either instantly or soon afterward.”
“We’ve Z, Miranda, the shadows, and you to keep us safe,” Alex replied confidently. We’re not talking about hunting with you for an extended period of time.”
At the moment, Jess could have wished for more veterans, especially Sam Fleetfoot, but the lieutenant said he needed to continue his efforts at Pimbor. He wanted to ensure the Pims’ safety, while they left their tunnels and expanded their compounds.
“Please, Captain,” Renée interjected. “Understand that we’ve committed resources to destroying a sentient race. While I’ve seen a few grays in captivity, neither of us has witnessed them in an open setting. We must be sure of our decision before this goes much further.”
Jess stared at three implacable faces.
Jess shook his head in resignation. “Okay, but not both of you at the same time. Who goes first?”
* * * * *
In the morning, three travelers dropped through Zista’s atmosphere. The cargo shuttles headed for a Colony landing site.
Jess sat beside Renée, and Alex and Julien occupied the seats across from them. Jess was stunned that Renée was chosen to join him, and he was curious as to how the partners had made that decision. He’d made a difficult decision, choosing to be the only veteran to accompany Renée. Several thoughts had occurred to him, but the primary reason for his decision was that he didn’t want anyone else to be associated with Renée’s death, if it came to that. It would be his failure alone.
“Here are my rules, Renée,” Jess said in no uncertain terms. “You don’t depend on the SADEs or the shadows for protection. You stay behind my left shoulder, and you move when I move.”
“The SADEs’ and the shadows’ reflexes are quicker,” Alex pointed out.
“I agree,” Jess replied, “but sometimes it isn’t about speed with the insectoids. It’s about cunning.”
Jess stared at Renée. He didn’t see the exquisite face. He saw the Omnian co-leader, who was critical to the defeat of the Colony, for all time.
“I’ll do as you say, Captain,” Renée said.
“Thank you,” Jess replied.
The brightened cabin lights cued Jess that the ships were down.
To the two pilots, Jess signaled,
When the ramps lowered, a total of forty shadows scurried from the travelers and surrounded the ships. Heads scanned for movement that matched their programming. Over the course of several minutes, the shadows registered no targets.
“Interesting,” Jess commented.
Jess sent.
Alex and Renée regarded Jess, but he sat still with his eyes closed.
A quarter hour later, not a single laser had fired.
The pilot of Jess’s traveler dropped the rear ramp.
Miranda and Z rose on their avatars’ powerful metal legs and hurried out of the ship. The tips of their legs hammered the deck.
Jess rose, stepped into the aisle, and waited for Renée to take up her position.
“I’d rather your hand rest on my shoulder or you bump into me than wonder where you are,” Jess said, and Renée nodded.
The pair exited the ship, and Jess signaled the pilots to close their ramps. Then the pilots lifted their travelers for overwatch. To say they were nervous would have been an understatement.
Jess checked his weapon’s breech and saw the dart nestled there. “Now we hunt,” he said, adopting his hard-won mental habits. He released half of the shadows to their base programming.
Twenty of Mickey’s creations spread out and used their sensors to track insectoids. Two picked up scents.
With linked controllers, the eighteen other shadows cued on the two trackers. Then the horde scampered into the brush.
Jess walked slowly after the disappearing shadows. The SADEs in their monster avatars walked at his sides. Renée was close behind, often touching his elbow with her hand, and the group was surrounded by twenty shadows.
Slipping through trees and brush, Jess and company arrived in a small clearing. A red and two grays were dead. Small holes were burned in their heads.
Jess checked the statuses of the twenty trackers. All were operational.
Renée was curious to know if the insectoids had attempted to surrender or whether they’d resisted. However, she chose not to query the shadows for fear of interfering with the operation.
Jess received an image from the SADE. It was a portion of a dead gray’s long abdomen. It fluctuated in an undulating rhythm.
Renée stared over Jess’s shoulder. She watched the insectoid too.
The gray’s skin and muscles tore open, forming a long gap down the abdomen. Then insectoid young spilled out.
Immediately, lasers targeted and fired.
Jess highlighted the lengths of both grays and ordered the shadows to destroy. Hundreds of laser shots punctured the carcasses.
Jess heard Renée gag, and he sent,
Jess signaled the trackers,
The tracking shadows spread out in a circle and moved off, and Jess waited where he stood.
“The bodies stink, Captain,” Renée remarked. “Can we wait somewhere else?”
“This place is cleared,” Jess replied.
Jess’s comment gave Renée some insight into a veteran’s mentality. No chances were taken when it concerned the Colony.
A few minutes later, Jess received a signal over the shadow comm network. A tracker had a scent. As the team followed the shadow’s signal, other trackers raced past them to join the hunt.
The team walked for a considerable length of time, and Jess realized the insectoids weren’t nearby. They were either running away, or they’d passed this way a while ago and left their scents.
The scent trail led into a deep stand of tall trees. A thick layer of leaves and small branches carpeted the forest floor.
The team caught up with the trackers. The shadows had halted and were scanning in all directions.
Jess turned slowly in place. He had an uneasy feeling, and he searched for an escape route.
Jess grabbed Renée’s hand and ran. The SADEs and shadows kept pace with the humans.
Renée was frightened by the urgency of Jess’s actions, and she suddenly doubted her decision to join the hunt.
A third of the way to the uplift, a red reared from the forest floor in a burst of leaves and dirt. Lasers drilled the red before it could bring its weapon to bear.
Jess and Renée leapt over the red’s carcass and continued to sprint toward safety, which was the lone tree embedded in a break in the rocks.
The team was within fifteen meters of the uplift, when a second red broke out of the ground. It had erupted between Z and Renée, and the air was obscured by a cloud of forest detritus thrown by the insectoid.
Jess released Renée’s hand, dove, and twisted his body. Simultaneously, Z spun his huge avatar.
Even as Renée twisted away from the huge insectoid, she realized she couldn’t evade the strike of the giant pincers. Then the red fell dead, its massive pincers centimeters from her leg. The head didn’t smolder from a laser strike. It was nearly decapitated by a dart.
Jess scrambled off the ground, snatched Renée’s hand, and ran.
The team made the rocky uplift without encountering more reds. Jess called in the travelers, announcing over the network,
Jess regarded Renée. She stared at the destroyed red easily visible from their elevated position. Its entire five-meter length was exposed.
Pilots two and three dropped their ramps, as their travelers floated a meter off the ground, and Jess signaled the shadows to board.
Then pilot one replaced the other travelers, and Jess and Renée hurried aboard. The SADEs followed.
Alex enfolded Renée in his arms.
