BairnGefa- The Akashic Expedition

by Ruairí Cinéad Ducantlin

  “Lucinda, stand by.”

  Still unsure, the crew contemplated Lucinda’s questions and waited again for Landry.

  “I have Contrulli, President of the First Order, for you, Lucinda.”

  “Who? What?”

  “Contrulli, President of the First Order, is the Caracoli leader on Caracol Seven. He has requested an audience with you.”

  “Uh, okay, is it secure? Landry, will it give away our position?”

  “It is secure. I am routing the data stream through two derelict freighters.”

  “Put him on the main monitor.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ᚳᚻᚪᛈᛏᛖᚱ ᛏᚹᛖᚾᛏᚣ-ᛋᛁᛉ

  "I have found that a friend may profess,

  yet deceive."

  Lord Byron

  “Captain Raitt, Enlightened One, my advisors told me you would come to our aid. You can see Admiral Jymind is ruthless. We need your help.”

  Though similar to the Plentari in appearance, the Caracoli were taller and their skin retained a soft beige hue. Their fur was similar in color to their skin with a faded pale color at the tips. They had three fingers, an opposable thumb, large eyes, and a distinct vertical pupil. Viewing the Caracoli required a few minutes of mental adjustment by the humans.

  Lucinda heard Landry through her nanobots.

  “Lucinda, the correct salutation for Contrulli, President of the First Order, is First Order Contrulli.”

  Lucinda introduced herself. “First Order Contrulli, please forgive me. We have little time. Tell us what happened.”

  The communications delay was annoying.

  “Captain Raitt, yes, I will speak. It was eleven rotations past when Admiral Jymind reappeared in Caracol. He demanded we repair the damage you inflicted upon the Defender of Lak’tsil. When we gave him the price and the timetable, he became enraged. He began to destroy the outer platforms. We offered the repairs for no credits but could not shorten the timetable. He destroyed the outer platforms then sent his fighters to attack the inner platforms. When we defended ourselves and destroyed his fighters, he turned the Defender of Lak’tsil on the remaining inner platforms.”

  “First Order Contrulli, forgive me, I must confer with my team for a moment.”

  Using her nanobots, Lucinda made a request. “Landry, mute the connection.”

  “Muted.”

  “This guy is lying. He is buying time. Jymind told him about us and has threatened him. Landry, what are the inner and outer platforms?”

  “Lucinda, the Caracoli have a unique system for manufacturing interstellar starships. The inner and outer platforms are positioned in rings of concentric spheres. The rings, the spheres, are the manufacturing strata around Caracol Seven. The outer sphere is, or was, raw materials production. Materials are smelted or otherwise processed, then shipped to the platforms on the inner sphere. Individual subassembly components are manufactured at the inner platforms. The components are further sent to the final subassemblies at one of the four orbital assembly and testing platforms.”

  “Landry, there are two orbital platforms.”

  “Correct, Nick. Two of the orbital assembly platforms were destroyed. Along with the eight inner platforms and the sixteen outer platforms, Admiral Jymind has destroyed the Caracol production facilities.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Cass hold that thought. Landry, unmute, please.”

  The communications icon turned from red to green.

  “Thank you for waiting, First Order Contrulli. I understand your concerns. However, we are unable to offer our assistance at this time.

  “Cut the comms.”

  “Comms cut.”

  “Go dark. We need to make it hard for Jymind to find us.”

  The crew pressed the appropriate console icons to effectively make the Jaguar a hole in space. Lucinda waited for everyone’s attention before continuing.

  “Landry, I see the request to reopen the discussion with Contrulli. I am ignoring it. Corb, do you sense it?”

  “Yes, Contrulli is trying to stay alive. Contrulli is stating the truth because Jymind knows we would smell a lie. Jymind is either with Contrulli or is positioned to fire on him. Either way, we have a problem.”

  “No kidding. Landry, tell me about the odd mushroom-cap-like structure on the front of the Defender of Lak’tsil.”

  “Lucinda, the bulbous object on the front of the Defender of Lak’tsil is a deflector shield.”

  “Explain that, Landry.”

  “Ragnar, Admiral Jymind realized we would attack before the Caracoli could repair the Defender of Lak’tsil. I surmise he decided to strengthen the prow of his ship with the reinforced mass you call the mushroom cap. It is constructed from materials salvaged from remnants of the inner and out platforms.”

  “Is that why it looks smushed together?”

  “Yes, Janish, the deflector shield is a mix of materials.”

  “That makes no sense. The Defender of Lak’tsil remains vulnerable from everywhere else. Port, starboard, stern, above, and below. The mushroom cap protects the prow, but nothing else.”

  “Correct, Ragnar, therefore, the newly applied shield must have another purpose.”

  “Okay, Landry, I will play twenty questions. What other purpose does that button mushroom serve?”

  “NT, it would make an effective battering ram.”

  “What does he plan to ram way out here?”

  Corb moved into the conversation. “Cass, he brought Defender of Lak’tsil here in under four months. He punished his ship and crew to get here. Which means he can leave here.

  “Jymind could not get the repairs he wanted, so he improvised and put that mass on the front of his ship. He has no fighters remaining to wage war or to steal a new ship. His crew must be minimal and whoever remains is exhausted. He knows he can’t go home and there is no place to hide. He built the battering ram to go out in a blaze of glory.”

  “I see that, but where, why?”

  “Cass, Admiral Jymind was planning to rule the galaxy, or a large part of the galaxy, before the Ajawlil went extinct. Now he knows he made a mistake, the Ajawlil are going to survive. He blames me for the mess he created for himself. Devoid of ethics and morals, he is going to try to hurt me because I shattered his final hurrah.”

  “All Ajawlil should be put down.”

  Corb tilted his head in acknowledgment of the comment.

  “That is a little harsh, Jirxena. Why?”

  “They are not to be trusted. They are manufactured to fight, to destroy others at the command of the Xjaal. All Ajawlil should be put down. Contrulli is a snake. Yes, that is the correct word, snake. He lays in wait until it is time to bite.”

  “I am beginning to think the Plentari don’t like too many people.”

  Ignoring Nick’s barb, Jirxena continued, “Take the head off a poison snake and it will still bite you. That is Contrulli. Do not trust him.”

  Sitting back, Jirxena went silent.

  “Thank you, Jirxena, that is good information. We can assume Contrulli is working with Jymind if only to get Jymind to go away. It will take decades for the Caracoli to rebuild their production lines.

  “Landry, search the records. Where are the battlecruisers the Caracoli built and delivered in the last ten years?”

  “Corb, the Caracoli built and delivered four battlecruisers in the last twelve years. One is the Defender of Lak’tsil. One was destroyed when the crew overheated a power transfer conduit. The whereabouts of one is unknown. It was sold to a syndicate of unknown origin and location. The fourth is moored two light-minutes from K’an.”

  “That son of a bitch.”

  “Who, Corb?”

  “Tarmenik, Jirmina. He bought a battlecruiser to protect his bets. Remember Tarmish said Tarmenik used to be one of the wealthy families on K’an. They implied he gave up his wealth to aid us. Now we know … he figured we’d fail, and he would bug out when the Xjaal sent the Ajawlil or the mysteriou
s syndicate came calling.

  “First things first, we take care of Jymind. Any ideas? Ragnar?”

  “Yes, I have an idea.”

  “We assume Contrulli is a rat bastard whose objective is to keep Jymind from killing him or destroying Caracol Seven. We don’t harm the Caracoli, but we don’t hesitate to fire.”

  Lucinda was summarizing the battle plan and making minor refinements.

  “Any questions? No? Battle stations! Everyone, strap in. Ragnar, Nick, I will take it personally if you get us killed.”

  Leaning as far as their restraints would allow, Nick and Ragnar fist bumped into the space between them before Ragnar replied to Lucinda’s order.

  “Roger that, you’ll kill us again if we all die.”

  “Ragnar, that would be funny except for the nanobots and what happened with Michelle.”

  “Nick, it is still funny.”

  The battle plan was based in a theory which neither Landry nor the crew could disprove. Scans indicated the mushroom-shaped deflector shield was hastily added. The result was the port forward plasma cannons were blind to an area directly ahead of the Defender of Lak’tsil. The hasty addition created a blind spot in the overlapping fields of fire.

  That was the theory.

  The plan was for the Triad to slipstream the Jaguar into the Defender of Lak’tsil’s blind spot. Before Jymind could respond, within the one-point-eight seconds for the Jaguar’s shields to come online, the Jaguar would begin firing all guns while slipping to starboard. Before Jymind could order the Defender of Lak’tsil to turn and react with its plasma cannons, the Jaguar would hit and run. The plan was to start firing on the massive deflector shield while they slipped the Jaguar until the Defender of Lak’tsil’s exposed port side came into range.

  Plasma lasers and rail guns would strafe the Defender of Lak’tsil’s port hull before the Triad slipped the Jaguar away.

  That was the plan.

  “Nick, report!”

  “Lucinda, we missed by thirty meters.”

  “Ragnar?

  “Firing!”

  At the close range, unable to converge, the Jaguar’s twin plasma lasers were turning two spots on the mushroom-shaped battering ram into bright orange disks. The rail gun bolts were passing right through the layers of debris forming the Defender of Lak’tsil’s mushroom-shaped prow shield.

  “Shields are up! Fire control has navigation.”

  “Roger that, navigation at fire control.”

  Using its navigational thrusters, the Jaguar began edging to starboard with a gradual inclination.

  “Ragnar, what is he doing?”

  “Lucinda, he is bringing his port guns to bear. Hold one …”

  Jirmina’s three fingers flicked across her console before she spoke. “Ragnar, he is going to fire through the deflector.”

  “Confirmed. Jirmina is correct. Stand by for incoming.”

  Pieces of the poorly constructed deflector shield were blasted away, exposing the Jaguar to the Defender of Lak’tsil’s port plasma cannons. Lucinda was not calm. “Report!”

  “Our shield modulations are holding. We are damaging the Defender of Lak’tsil, but it is not enough. Landry?”

  “Ragnar is correct. At this range, our shields will fail before we disable the Defender of Lak’tsil.”

  Corb and Janish both nodded to Lucinda. The Triad moved the Jaguar away from battle, back into the debris field of the outer ring.

  “Nick?”

  “We are back where we started, running dark.”

  “NT?”

  “We have some scorching on the starboard nacelle. We are not venting atmo. There is a portal … yep, I will be able to see the damage. I will put eyes on.”

  NT unbuckled and raced off the bridge to check on his scorched baby.

  “Ragnar?”

  “Either Jymind was desperate and purposefully shot off his deflector, or worse.”

  “Worse?”

  “He could have planned that little tête-à-tête.”

  “Oh!”

  Ragnar did not look up when he replied. “Yes, Lucinda, oh!”

  “Lucinda?”

  “Yes, Landry?”

  “The Defender of Lak’tsil is moving.”

  “Moving? Where is he going?”

  “The admiral is dropping down below the elliptic. It is the shortest path to clean space. There is a ninety-six percent probability he is going to leave the Caracol system.”

  Cass’s tone had human overtones of panic. “We need to follow him!”

  Jirxena’s tone was perfunctory. “We can move in behind and determine his trajectory.”

  Lucinda calmed Cass and the Plentari. “No, Cass, Landry can calculate his probable destination. Nick, move us away from this mess. Get us closer, full active scans. I want him to know we are watching.”

  “Aye, moving closer. Navigation shields to maximum. Ragnar, start blowing up the crap in our path.”

  “Roger that, blowing up crap.”

  Looking at Jirxena, Lucinda, inquired. “Landry, can we get behind the Defender of Lak’tsil before he slips away?”

  “Yes, but you will not be able to stop him entering the hyper-tunnel.”

  “Can we beat him to the hyper-tunnel.”

  Lucinda banged her hand on the arm of her command chair so hard she was sure she broke a bone.

  The crew all turned their eyes to Lucinda. Rubbing the pain in her right hand, she spoke softly. “He wants us to block the hyper-tunnel. That is why he put that mess on the front of his ship. He wants to ram the Jaguar.”

  NT returned to the bridge, sweaty from running.

  “Who wants to ram Jenny?”

  “NT, Jymind is headed for the hyper-tunnel. We can’t stop him without a running battle while he bugs out. If we try to block the hyper-tunnel entrance, he will ram the Jenny.”

  “The Jaguar is now the Jenny?”

  “No, Jirmina. Years ago, we had a comrade die in a battle. Her name was Jenny. To honor her, we often refer to the Jaguar as Jenny.”

  Lucinda glanced to Nick and Ragnar with a personal ache for their long-dead friend. Nick summed it up well.

  “Like the Jaguar, Jenny was one badass bitch.”

  “Ah, she was a fierce warrior?”

  “Yes, Jirmina, Jenny was a fierce warrior. What are we going to do about Jymind? Landry, I want to know where he is going, and I want to know before he leaves this system.”

  “Lucinda, we know where he is going.”

  “What Landry? How do we know?”

  “Lucinda, the hyper-tunnel emergence point is known.”

  “Yes, of course. Can we beat him to the other end and set up an ambush?”

  “The math says we can enter the hyper-tunnel at a higher velocity and emerge before the Defender of Lak’tsil. However, the variabilities in the quantum calculations are uncertain.”

  “How uncertain?”

  “It is forty-sixty we would arrive with sufficient time to set up an ambush. There is another way.”

  “How long until he enters the hyper-tunnel?”

  “At his current velocity, six hours and fourteen minutes.”

  “Run the simulations again. I want him stopped before he enters the hyper-tunnel. He knows something and I want him stopped.”

  “Lucinda, I processed twenty-two thousand battle scenarios. The Jaguar is incapable of preventing the Defender of Lak’tsil from entering the hyper-tunnel.”

  “Damn it … you said there is another way? And don’t tell me we chase him down using a running battle.”

  “The Triad can move the Jaguar to the ambush point well ahead of the Defender of Lak’tsil’s emergence.”

  Realizing he was probably correct, Lucinda slumped back in her command chair, rubbing her wounded hand. Janish sat forward.

  “Can we do it? How far is it? No, I don’t want to know. Corb, can we do it?”

  “Janish, I do not know. I know we need to try. If not us, who? We must stop Jymind before
he destroys another civilization.”

  “By civilization, you mean Earth.”

  “Yes, Cass, but K’an and Plentari are closer.”

  “Zerain is closest to Caracol.”

  Lucinda sat up, her pride returning.

  “That’s it. He can’t make it all the way to Earth in a ship that is falling apart. He is going to destroy Zerain.”

  “But Lucinda, Admiral Jexond and the Ajawlil will stop him.”

  “How, Jirxena? He will emerge from the slipstream close enough to ram the planet. When the Ajawlil respond, it will be too late.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  ᚳᚻᚪᛈᛏᛖᚱ ᛏᚹᛖᚾᛏᚣ-ᛋᛖvᛖᚾ

  “Consequences are unpitying.”

  George Eliot

  “What if we are wrong?”

  “Wrong, Janish?”

  “NT, what if Admiral Jymind is not going to Zerain to seek revenge? What if he is going to K’an or Plentari or Kripkeni or … Earth? Do we have enough time to catch him if we choose poorly and resort to chasing him?”

  Ragnar intercepted the debate.

  “Landry, how long until the Defender of Lak’tsil enters the hyper-tunnel?”

  “Four hours and seventeen minutes.”

  “Calculate emergence time using the Defender of Lak’tsil’s current acceleration profile.”

  “Roughly seven days, eleven hours, and forty-four minutes for the Defender of Lak’tsil to emerge from the hyper-tunnel.”

  “Using the known parameters of the Triad’s ability to create a star-portal, how long to reach the hyper-tunnel’s emergence point?”

  “Stand by.”

  “What is the delay, Landry?”

  “Ragnar, I am running the simulation calculations several thousand times. I will average the results … four days, thirteen hours, twenty-one minutes.”

  “We use the star-portal, we set up the ambush at the emergence point, and we take out the tyrant.”

  His matter-of-fact delivery left the crew stammering.

  “We can get there … Ragnar, can we kill him?”

  “Janish, we are damn well going to try.”