ARMS Helm's End: (Book 7)

by Stephen Arseneault

  * * *

  Tawn shook her head. "Forty thousand warships and all those bots. She'll take over this entire section of the galaxy with that force. Any idea of how we counter that?"

  "Idiot? Were you able to pull any data from the logs as to how Bax got here?"

  "One moment... it would appear the Fargo showed after it landed. There was nothing, then her ship appeared in that space."

  "How's that possible?"

  "One moment... ten minutes forty-four seconds prior to that event I have detection of a wormhole opening. There was no detection of anything coming through, and the portal closed several seconds later."

  Tawn asked, "Would it be possible to overwhelm your sensors with the Hoya technology?"

  "One moment... I don't detect that as a signature. Allow me a few moments to analyze the logs for anomalies."

  Harris said, "She had that tech. You think she figured out how to modify it so our sensors wouldn't see her at all?"

  "That could explain her entry into this space. This complex governs who can open a wormhole. If it didn't detect anything on the other side, would it have allowed one to fully open?"

  Idiot replied, "I've done a quick check of the rules within the archive. If a portal is attempted, this complex tests for the presence of an allowed signal, such as what Farker would deliver. However, there is no algorithm governing the event of a wormhole opening without any signal emissions coming from the other side. Since a wormhole would not appear unless it was created, a ship and the corresponding signals it would emit would normally have been detected. It appears the default coding allowed the full creation of a portal in this instance."

  "Can that be changed?"

  "One moment... that event is now governed as are all other known events. Miss Rumford no longer has access to this facility through that action."

  Harris sighed. "Doesn't need it. She has forty-thousand ships and sixty thousand bots that can still make that jump. They all have it built in."

  "One moment... access has been removed from all but Farker, Boomer, and myself."

  "You can do that?"

  "Access to Midelon is secure."

  Tawn said, "Do us all a favor and deep scan all of Midelon space going out to the normal perimeter. If you detect anything unusual, let us know."

  Harris asked, "You think they're still here?"

  "Just want to make sure they aren't."

  Alex leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Aside from the normal motivation to control us all, are there any other scenarios that would fall under her need to steal the fleet?"

  "Maybe if more Hoya were spotted, but there's not any evidence of that."

  Tawn returned a scowl. "And she wouldn't be one to jump to our defense by rushing out with the fleet. No. She has every intention of taking and controlling all of us. It's in her nature."

  Idiot said, "The space surrounding Midelon shows no evidence of anomalies. Would you like me to widen my efforts?"

  "Check New Earth. And if she's blocking all signals, would you be able to detect a void? Would a scan detect an area of space that was devoid of signals?"

  "One moment..."

  "Harris," Tawn said, "your bot is slow. The AI used to almost always come back with an immediate answer."

  "I must apologize, Miss Freely. I'm searching in a data environment that I have yet to index. That task is happening in the background, but won't be complete for several hours. As to your signal void question, I've analyzed the log data around the wormhole detection. It would appear Miss Rumford is expelling random noise in an attempt to mask her position. I believe I may have a method to detect this."

  "And?"

  "One moment..."

  Harris chuckled.

  "The random noise signal appears to originate from a single point. I will add detection of that to my scanning algorithms. However, if clever, Miss Rumford may be able to again mask her presence if she utilizes her entire fleet to generate this noise."

  "She's smart. Let's hope that hasn't occurred to her. As Tawn suggested, start your scans at New Earth and then move to the old Earther colonies. After that, try the truce worlds."

  A comm was opened to the Retreat.

  Harris said, "Colonel, we checked the space surrounding Midelon. Bax appears to have taken the fleet elsewhere."

  "I just talked to my contact at the DDI. I informed him of this event. He informed his superiors, who he said were livid. They're setting up planning teams to deal with the possibility of a strike against Domicile. I believe we may see a series of boson bombs being detonated, essentially cutting us off from the rest of space for as long as the current administration deems necessary. He promised to keep me informed if that was about to happen."

  "Would only buy you six months at best, but that may be worth pursuing. Surprised Croft hasn't ordered this already."

  "About that, the rumor is that Croft is opposed to that strategy."

  "Why is it every strategy he supports seems counter-intuitive? It's as if he has some bizarre agenda outside his pacifist beliefs."

  "We have yet to figure the man out. If you happen to do so, please let us know what you came up with."

  A comm was opened to Domicile. A smiling Trish showed on the display. "Mr. Gruberg, how'd the exploring go?"

  "Nothing new from that, but we did come back to find the fleet and all the bots were gone."

  "What? How?"

  "It seems Bax paid a visit and either persuaded or forced the AI to join her. They took all the captured Hoya ships, all the Banshees, and all the bot workers. And I have more bad news. We had Idiot and Boomer with us, but it looks as though Reggie, Emily, and Flynn were ripped apart. We found their remains just outside the bunker."

  "You still have the Bangor and Hailstorm, right?"

  "We have the Bangor. The colonel has the Hailstorm tucked away. Forty thousand warships and sixty thousand bots are now under Bax's control. She must have somehow modified the Hoya interference signal so we can no longer detect it, or there's something else we're missing. We believe that's how she jumped to Midelon."

  "This is bad. Do you need us to come back?"

  "At the moment we're at a loss of what to do. Unless and until we can track her, no planet has more than a ten minute warning of their arrival. We can detect a wormhole opening. We can't detect if anyone comes through. So, as to your question… just sit tight for the moment."

  Tawn said, "If the plan is to start rebuilding our fleet and our own army of bots, maybe we should bring them back."

  Trish nodded. "Really, it's OK. Garvis and I will be coming together. And to be truthful about it, we're both kind of bored with the jobs Mr. Morgan has for us to do. I mean, we're making great pay, but it seems like we're just a tiny cog in the machine, versus being a substantial contributor out there."

  Tawn chuckled. "If you want to come back, it's OK. We could use the help... and the company."

  Harris asked, "You think your brother and Sharvie would be interested?"

  "If Sharvie says yes, Gandy will follow."

  "Excellent. We'll be out there to collect you in about twenty minutes."

  "Whoa. We're gonna need a little time. It's three AM here. Can you give us four or five hours?"

  Tawn winced. "Just so you know, the DDI people are thinking of setting off another week-long boson bomb, and then continuously thereafter as a precaution."

  Trish rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll comm Garvis and tell him to pack his bag. I'll be ready by the time you get here."

  A comm was opened to Sharvie. She agreed to return. Gandy agreed shortly thereafter. The Bangor landed in a clearing beside the apartment complex Trish Boleman was now renting a unit from. The hatch opened and a smiling teammate stepped up into the cabin.

  Harris nodded. "Good to have you back."

  "Give me a few days and I'm sure you'll think differently."

  "Not a chance. You’re the best first mate I ever had."

  Farker let out three farks.

/>   "Aw. I missed you too, boy. Garvis is waiting. We can go anytime."

  The Bangor settled in another field less than a kilometer away.

  Tawn asked, "Thought you two would have at least been in the same complex."

  "I was tempted. But I wanted to leave myself an out in case he got all creepy for some reason. At least at that distance I don't have to see him anymore. If he's here, I'd see him every day."

  "Everything going OK?"

  "It's great. No problems. We're both very independent people right now, so we need our space. I can't believe Bax stole our fleet. Is she planning her own empire?"

  "Kind of looks that way," Harris replied. "I think we're still a bit in shock."

  The Bangor landed, collecting Garvis before moving on to Sharvie. Gandy was the last aboard.

  "Looks like the team is back together again. We're gonna kick some—"

  Tawn held up a hand. "We have a bigger hill to climb this time. We're going up against someone who knows us. And she knows what we have and how we work. Divide and conquer won't work. And if she gets that processor station working, we're in even worse trouble."

  Harris nodded. "Not to mention the fact she has eighty-five hundred gamma ray missiles. She could detonate those from our two light-year perimeter on Midelon and still kill us all."

  Trish frowned. "Might be we'd be better off just joining her empire."

  "Not me. She'd wipe out the Biomarines first chance she got."

  The ride back to Midelon was filled with speculation. Where was she? What was she planning? Was she working alone?

  Harris turned as the Bangor settled on the grass outside the bunker. "Bax was working with someone inside the DDI. The colonel's contact has to know something."

  "Ask him." Tawn gestured toward the comm system.

  Seconds later, the colonel's face showed on the display. "Something new?"

  "No, sir," Harris said. "Just wanted to inquire about who at the DDI was working with Bax. She got the Hoya ship from them and the resources to do whatever she did. Someone has to know something."

  "Give me a minute. I think it's time you met Derrick Champs. He's who I've been dealing with this entire time."

  A split screen showed on the comm display. "Derrick, this is Tawn Freely, Harris Gruberg, and their associates."

  "So we finally meet. I must say, I've enjoyed following your fight to defend us."

  Harris half smiled. "We were doing good up until this. Botched it in a big way."

  "Consider it an inside job. She was given access by two individuals who have since disappeared. Some personal items were removed from their offices, so I would say they left willingly. And her having had prior access to your camp gave her the knowledge she needed to defeat whatever defenses you had."

  "We're still in shock, Mr. Champs. And thanks for all your prior help with our efforts. You're a big reason we made it as far as we did."

  "I have more news for you. This just came in seconds ago. Croft has resigned. Personally, I’d like to say that should have happened when this all started. Maybe now that whole incendiary group of his in Congress can be dismantled and forever removed from power.

  "The man was a great speaker and was given a green light on almost everything he wanted. Unfortunately, he's left us much weaker than when he came into office. Not that we would have had a defense capable of taking on what you did, but we would be in a much better position to deal with it than we are now... had we had good leadership."

  Tawn asked, "Croft is out?"

  "And apparently Massey has left with him. Given the fact that the cabinet resigned yesterday, it appears we'll be holding a special election."

  "Wait, the cabinet resigned?"

  "Croft and his team are gone. In fact, he's already disappeared from sight."

  Harris said, "Probably hiding out in shame. Maybe we can get ourselves turned around now. Has anyone been appointed to lead?"

  "Too soon. I'm certain there are a few names being bandied about. Bannis Morgan would be one."

  "He has no interest in doing that. Designing and manufacturing are his passions. What about Colonel Thomas here? He's already been running a colony."

  The colonel chuckled. "Not happening. I run a colony of stumps and slugs. They do what they're told. Domicile doesn't work that way. Besides, I don't think the regulars would trust having a stump in office. I'm too black and white with my decisions. That position needs a politician."

  Derrick said, "There will be plenty to throw their hats in the ring. This time, though, we need someone who's pragmatic and not an ideologue. That's at least until we get this economy moving again."

  The group dispersed from the Bangor after the comms closed. Trish, Garvis, and Sharvie got to work on the processor stations. Gandy moved out to tend his crops. Tawn and Harris, along with Boomer, moved to restart the assembly line for the bot workers. Alex remained in his lab.

  Two days into their effort, an alert came in from Idiot. "An attempt was made at opening a wormhole. I've traced the origin to the colony at Viochan. I believe it to be in our best interest to set up a network of passive probes. A dozen at each of the colonies would allow us to monitor those colonies in a continuous fashion. That would include tracking the opening of wormholes, along with their origin or destination."

  "How many wormholes can you have open at once?" Harris asked. "I'm referring to comm wormholes."

  "Several hundred would be possible if we had sufficient platforms out in free space. Our single ship has the ability to open and maintain eight channels at the same time."

  "Sounds like we need some new comm ships."

  "I've done a short analysis. Prior to recent events, there were forty-eight inhabited colonies, including Domicile and New Earth. Seven comm ships would be required to keep those channels open, as well as to continue communications from here. There is one concern I have: the monitoring would potentially consume 70 percent of my processing bandwidth."

  "Well," said Tawn, "can't we build a core and have it do the monitoring for us? We'll be pumping hundreds of those out in a few days. You don't need to be attached to the archives for monitoring, do you?"

  "I believe your suggestion to be a valid option. I've checked our inventory. We have fifteen probes available."

  "How far out do we have to be before a wormhole opening won't be detected?"

  "Approximately an eighth of a light-year."

  "Wow, that far. How many probes would we have to string together to extend a comm link out that far?"

  "One hundred and forty-four."

  "OK, that's out."

  "Sir, I don't believe we need to open these in a clandestine manner. Our sensors detect when a wormhole opens or closes. They do not detect an open wormhole. If these probes are deployed and the comm established through a wormhole that remains open, the channels may be monitored without detection."

  "So once we set them up, they're stealth from that point on?"

  "Yes."

  "What about fuel?" asked Tawn. "How much jump fuel will be needed to keep these open?"

  "It seems Miss Rumford, in her haste, neglected to take our fuel supply. We have an abundance. And we have the ability to make more."

  "She took all those ships and didn't take fuel? Wow. Way to limit yourself. That may be why she hasn't swarmed any colonies yet. You still have that signal at Viochan?"

  "One moment... the random noise from a point source is no longer detectable. I'm opening a comm to the Earthers who are settled there. Some remained after the others returned to Beinshee."

  "Vio base, this is Mikal."

  Harris said, "Mikal, have you had any contact with any ships today?"

  "Yes. A small transport landed. A dozen androids came out and took a small tanker of jump fuel that had been left for our use. Anyone coming here will not be able to tank up if needed for a ride home. Doesn't affect us on the ground other than it limits who’s willing to deliver supplies. Having an emergency fuel supply is a requirement for mo
st traders. If word gets out, we'll be completely isolated. Which is both good and bad."

  "Was anything else taken?"

  "Our backup food supply. We had about ten thousand MREs left for us in a warehouse. We have enough to eat, but it's always good to have that emergency supply."

  "How many of you are there?"

  "Seven hundred four. The rest returned to Beinshee."

  "Thank you for the information, Mikal. If we have the opportunity, we'll try to refresh your supplies, but I can't promise anything."

  The comm closed.

  Harris said, "I think our call on the fuel is accurate. She's stealing what little there is on those colonies."

  Alex rubbed his chin. "The Denzee were desperate for fuel. It may be those colonies are dry. Domicile has supplies in orbit. Might be time for them to protect it."

  A comm was opened to the Retreat. "Colonel, get Derrick on the comm."

  Seconds later, the senior DDI agent showed on a split screen.

  "Derrick," Harris said, "we believe Baxter Rumford is desperate for jump fuel for her fleet. It may be time to take steps to secure what you have."

  "I'll pass that information on. One moment... the wheels are in motion, Mr. Gruberg. Word will be going out to each of the colonies momentarily."

  Derrick turned his head to the side. "What? The decision's been made? How long do we have before—"

  The comm to Domicile closed.

  The colonel sighed. "We just lost Commander Champs. My guess would be a boson has been deployed. We'll have no further contact with Domicile for the foreseeable future."

  — Chapter 3 —

  * * *

  Over the week that followed, new worker bots and new probes were manufactured. Supplies stockpiled on Midelon would allow the building of hundreds more of each. In addition, three Banshees that had been in various stages of production were brought online. The small fighters were put to use ferrying probes to what were once the Earther colonies. No further signs of Baxter Rumford or the stolen fleet had been detected.

  Harris opened a comm to the Retreat. "Colonel, just checking on status."

  "We've had three comm wormholes detected in the last two days. Before Domicile went dark, I managed to acquire two dozen of the big bosons. We may be going dark here ourselves. We have a bomb at the ready. If a full wormhole is opened with no detected ships coming through, the bomb will be detonated. The Retreat will join Domicile for the almost six months of coverage we'll have available to us."