Earthers

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Earthers Page 30

by S. H. Jucha


  Cordelia relied.

  Miriam dropped Mickey’s link and connected to Deirdre and Darius, who were in system. Franz’s command protected two freighters loading at an alliance world.

  Darius sent.

  Miriam interjected.

  Deirdre surmised.

  Miriam replied.

  When Miriam ended the links, Cordelia organized the ship assignments — freighters, carriers, and squadrons. As far as Deirdre and Darius were concerned, it was faster to let a SADE handle the process.

  Cordelia transferred via traveler from the Rêveur to a carrier, and Francis sailed the liner in system.

  Immediately, Trident squadrons made for the carriers, which waited at the system’s periphery for them.

  It would be two more days before Darius’s freighters were unloaded and ready to sail. Deirdre’s freighters would take even longer.

  Before Cordelia’s carrier departed the system, she connected with Mickey.

  Cordelia sent.

  Mickey replied.

  Cordelia queried.

  Mickey replied.

  Cordelia sent.

  Mickey chuckled at the interpretation.

  Cordelia inquired.

  Mickey replied.

  Cordelia replied.

  Mickey sent, closed the link, and went back to sleep.

  Outpost One: Harbour, Cordelia thought. She liked the name, and she knew others who might.

  Third watches served the carriers and the Tridents, as the ships cleared the Crimsa system’s gravitational pull. Cordelia programmed the vectors and executed the transits.

  * * * * *

  Alex received the messages from Orbit and Miriam that the carriers had arrived at Pyre. A smile crossed his face at Mickey’s action to co-opt the carriers to act as freighters to speed delivery of supplies for the outpost. He was tempted to sail the Freedom for Pyre but held back for two reasons.

  The obvious conflict was the veterans had just deployed planetside in another system that had been designated red.

  The dome’s ring had been destroyed earlier by Darius’s command. The nine transports, which orbited the dome’s planet, had been left untouched by the command.

  Z and Miriam operated the city-ship’s rail gun to launch clusters at the transports. All ships had responded passively to the metal balls that shredded their bows.

  The transports weren’t traps. They’d deposited shuttles on the planet, and the veterans anticipated three hundred sixty adults and generations of juveniles on the planet.

  The other reason Alex chose to remain away from Pyre was that he agreed with Mickey’s decision. He wanted the outpost completed, or as near to completion as it could get, before the fleet was required to sail.

  It had been a while since he’d dreamed — the kind that played through his mind whether awake or asleep. He’d been grateful for the relief, the peace, and had hoped he was done with dreams. But they were back.

  This one was odder than usual. It didn’t provide shapes, not even details. Colors merged one into another. Then they abruptly disappeared.

  Alex had no idea what the colors meant, but the intent was clear. It would soon be time to mobilize the fleet. To where, he had no idea. But if the fleet had to sail from alliance space, it would be best to ensure the resistance was sufficiently organized to continue without most of the Omnian support.

  Critical decisions remained as to who would govern the Pyrean outpost. Alex had discussed choices with Renée, Tatia, and Julien. However, he wondered if they had the right to select those individuals.

  “We could leave the decision to the Tsargit council,” Tatia had offered. “That body should be able to develop a short list in a Hyronzy annual or two.” Her delivery had been so deadpan that Alex had laughed and applauded the delivery.

  “What’s required is a mix,” Renée had said. “We’ll need to select key individuals from the alliance races to satisfy the Tsargit.”

  “Experience is the number one requirement,” Tatia had pointed out, “and only the veterans have it. Without them, there is no resistance.”

  “It appears the Tsargit council prefers a wait-and-see attitude to change,” Julien said. “The councilors won’t want the responsibility for appointing the outpost leaders. That’s to protect their positions. If the resistance were to crumble, they might be seen as responsible for its collapse.”

  “Then it falls to us to select the outpost’s principals,” Alex said, acquiescing. “The sooner we do that, the better. When the carriers finish supporting the station’s buildout, the leaders need to be in place to orchestrate their deployment using the commands’ surveys.”

  After the discussion ended, Julien spoke to Alex privately. He shared a thought. “For this post to be successful, it’ll require support at engineering levels and intelligence.”

  “I’m aware, Julien,” Alex replied, “but I won’t force our people to serve at an outpost so far from Omnia. They signed up to be part of the fleet, which rotates home, whenever opportunities present themselves.”

  “All the more reason to clone the engineering of the Messinants,” Julien replied. “It would make transfers quick and convenient.”

  “How are the SADEs doing?” Alex asked.

  Julien shared daily summaries with Alex of the progress made at the yellow-designated domes.

  Earther squadrons provided overwatch for the domes, and three SADEs worked at each location. Relays were set up to provide comm from the platform decks through the tunnels to the ships above.

  However, SADE-to-SADE communications were faster via cubes. It also gave the SADEs an opportunity to see if they achieved lockout of the connected Q-gates.

  “The SADEs have already discovered another disguised layer,” Julien replied. “What’s intriguing is that access of the sublayer requires simultaneous input at two different panels far apart on the console.”

  “Were the Messinants capable of such a feat?” Alex asked.

  “Kasie showed Juliette and Esteban images of the Messinants that are embedded in the consoles,” Julien replied, and he shared the images with Alex.

  “Humanoid proportions,” Alex commented.

  “Which is why SADEs believe that two operators were required to access this layer,” Julien replied. “This encourages more questions. Why two operators? What other sublayers are accessed through multiple panels? The discovery indicates that there most likely exists a sublayer that the SADEs expect to eventually find. It should give them access to what lies beneath a dome.”

  “Virtual or direct access?” Alex asked.

  “Both,” Julien replied.

  Alex thought about the ramifications of Q-gates across the galaxy. It was both exciting and worrying.

  Julien had his own thoughts. The SADEs’ primary goal was to assist the resistance because this was Alex’s request. B
ut discovering the energy sources and technology for the domes and the Q-gates were their secondary goals. While it would aid many worlds in the near future, it would serve the SADEs well in a much more distant future.

  * * * * *

  “It would be nice if this planet was like the last one,” Tacnock remarked to Jess, and he chittered.

  Jess chuckled at the memories Tacnock’s remark evoked. After the Ot-Totlanyan world, he’d chosen another red-designated system.

  At that system, the Freedom had tested the transports orbiting the planet, found them to be passive, and the Tridents and travelers had chopped them up and burned them to ash.

  The veterans expected two hundred adults with their offspring planetside.

  Jess, Lucia, and the veteran leaders conducted a survey, expanding their search outward from the ten shuttle landing sites.

  Julien provided the first odd piece of information, summarizing the Tridents’ overview of the planet. he sent.

  Homsaff offered.

  Jess replied.

  Sharon overflew the planet’s surface for the entire day before for an indication of the answer to Jess’s question was spotted. The carcass of a gray lay on a rocky uplift.

  Jess sent.

  The traveler was within five meters of touchdown, when Julien sent, and Sharon instantly obeyed.

  Julien directed.

  Lucia asked.

  Julien replied.

  Within a quarter hour, Julien had his answer. Insectoid adults, the remains anyway, were found in various unexpected places.

  Aputi reasoned.

  Julien sent.

  Jess sent.

  That was the essence of Tacnock’s remark. The environment of the previous world had taken care of the insectoid invaders just as it had probably dispatched the species uplifted by the Messinants.

  The planet they surveyed now had a broad equatorial band of hot, dry, dusty terrain. No Colony shuttles had landed anywhere in this region. However, the polar regions held water and foliage.

  There was a dome, which meant a sentient species might exist, if it had managed to survive the rigors of the desiccating world.

  Sharon chose a polar region at random, and flew toward the site of a shuttle landing, which Tridents had identified.

  Recalling the previous world, the veterans kept the ship closed. But, as they detected multi-legged herbivores moving through the trees and avians in flight, they considered it safe to drop the ramp.

  Immediately, the veterans, except for Lucia and Aputi, hurried to assume their favorite positions — seats on the ramp’s edge.

  When Sharon’s helmet received the signal of the ramp’s drop, she slowed the traveler’s velocity before the admiral signaled her.

  Moments later, Sharon sent,

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