M'tak Ka'fek (The T'aafhal Inheritance)

by Doug Hoffman

  “Commander, signal your squadron to assume stacked formations of four. We must maneuver to counter these attacking ships.”

  “As you command, Proconsul.”

  “They managed to shift the line of their attack at the last second and overwhelm the squadron on the left flank, Booshnarrallna.”

  “I know, Seemallooshna, I was here as it happened. Third squadron has been obliterated and second squadron lost their command ship and is now mindlessly rushing after our attackers,” the Proconsul snapped. “Signal the captains of those ships and order them to return to formation.”

  As they watched three of the rear most ships in the pursuit slowed, turned about and headed back toward the main formation. The others continued their headlong charge after the enemy that had so quickly destroyed a third of the fleet.

  * * * * *

  In space warfare, individual exchanges may be brief, but between those exchanges the repositioning of the combatants can take time. It took nearly 18 minutes for Capt. Curtis to finish coming about. Capt. Kinashi's ships actually slowed, to make sure their pursuers didn't lose interest and break off the chase. The aliens hung on long enough to seal their fate.

  “Tachikaze, Constitution. Capt. Kinashi, we are in position. Reverse your course and take them head on. You take the four leaders—I will take the remaining six from the flank.”

  “Hai, Captain. These fish are in our net.” As he spoke his four ships flipped 180 degrees, assuming a diamond formation, and accelerated directly toward their pursuers—the hunted had become the hunters.

  While Kinashi's ships rolled up the front of the line of pursuers, Curtis' frigates spread out into a line abreast and raked the rest of the alien column from the side. Two enemy ships exploded before they could react.

  The aliens fought back fiercely, sending a fusillade of plasma knots hurtling toward their tormentors at nearly the speed of light. Curtis's ships had ceased accelerating to allow the alien column to pass in front of them. This also allowed the frigates to fire anti-plasma rounds to cover their front. Even so, several ships took hits on their screens.

  Kinashi's ships continued to accelerate, making the use of anti-plasma rounds ineffective. AP rounds were essentially bursting charges surrounded by hundreds of metallic fragments which formed a cloud of protective debris between the racing plasma knots and their targets. Unfortunately, an accelerating ship would quickly pass through its protective cloud and be exposed again to enemy fire. As a result, all of Kinashi's ships took hits and one, Maeander, was hit several times in succession.

  “Tachikaze, Maeander. My forward shielding is down 55% and I am falling back into your wake for cover.”

  “Acknowledged, Maeander.”

  At the rear of the enemy column, Indefatigable and Chesapeake together fired on the rearmost pursuing ship, holing its hull fore and aft. After a short delay its fuel bunkers exploded. At the front of the column, Tachikaze, Ikazuchi and Yarra annihilated the last of the pursuing aliens.

  “Curtis to squadron, well done. Reform on Constitution and we will see to the remaining interlopers. Break. Maeander, a couple of strays dropped out of the main enemy fleet after our first pass. Work on getting your shields back up to strength and run them to ground...”

  Reinforcements from Gliese 581

  Reports from the space battle flowed into Fleet HQ, delayed by several minutes due to distance. Plotted positions of ships, both enemy and friendly, moved within the 3D viewing tank.

  “Capt. Curtis seems to have these bastards well in-hand,” commented one of the officers present, a lieutenant commander.

  “A battle is not won until the enemy is either destroyed or flees the field of battle, Commander,” replied Ludmilla. While this particular set of enemies did not seem so formidable, she could not shake the feeling that this was but the opening round. An alarm sounded on a console nearby.

  “Colonel, something just emerged from alter-space,” a technician reported from the shadows.

  “From Beta Hydri?”

  “No Ma'am, it looks like it came from Sirius. Only a single ship.”

  Jack! Have you returned? For an instant, a wave of irrational hope swept Ludmilla's thoughts. “Can you recognize the drive signature?”

  “Yes Ma'am, it's one of ours—it's the Peggy Sue! They are hailing us.”

  “Put it on speaker.”

  “Farside, Peggy Sue. Do you copy?”

  “Go ahead Peggy Sue, we copy. We did not expect you back quite so soon, or from the Sirius system. What is your status and how did you mission go?” Minutes passed placating Dr. Einstein.

  “We sort of took a bank shot off of Sirius by way of 61 Virginis, cut almost three days off our transit time. The mission was successful, thanks to the Ambassador and M. de Belcour. I got a hold full of warrior vegetables who are anxious to help us deal with the invasion threat—which I see is already underway.”

  “Roger, Peggy Sue. We await your arrival at base.”

  Another delay.

  “That's a negative, Farside. The Guardians—that's what these military Triad types call themselves—the Guardians say they need to set up shop on Mercury. Something about being as close to the Sun as possible.”

  “Understood, you are proceeding to Mercury. Keep us apprised of your status.”

  * * * * *

  On the bridge of the Peggy Sue, Capt. Vincent studied a holographic display of the ongoing battle. Looks like Gretchen is kicking their alien asses. Maybe there won't be anything for the walking salad in the hold to do after all. “Dr. Piscopia, could you plot out a direct course to Mercury and send it to the helm?”

  “Si, Captain. You wish to match orbits and then land?”

  “That's right. According to the Ambassador, these Guardian fellers want to land somewhere on the limb of the planet. A location that puts the Sun on the horizon.”

  “You do know that Mercury is not tidally locked?”

  “What, Doctor?”

  “Gliese 581d is tidally locked to its star—a day takes the same time as a year, which keeps the same side of the planet always in daylight. Scientists used to think that the same side of Mercury always faced the Sun, but back in 1965 astronomers discovered that the planet rotates roughly three times during every two orbits.”

  “So how long is a day on Mercury?”

  “58.6 days, approximately.”

  “All right, we'll look for a place to land where the Sun will set in a week or so, and hope that the Guardians can work their magic from there.”

  Second Wave

  Proconsul Booshnarrallna reformed his fleet, turning to face the seven Earth ships that confronted him. An eighth ship headed after his stragglers, no doubt intent on finishing them off. Are they that confident that they can finish destroying me without their full strength? Let us see if I can split their force further.

  “Commander, send the three remaining ships from second squadron to attack the base on the third planet's large satellite.”

  “By your command, Proconsul.”

  “Is it wise to diminish our force so, Booshnarrallna?”

  “Whether we face them with 16 ships or 13 will make little difference I fear, friend Seemallooshna. We are overmatched and unless the other allied fleets arrive soon we will leave only our wreckage for them to find.”

  “But why send the second squadron ships away?”

  “They are like an appendage to my own, well drilled squadron, and besides—they might inflict some damage to the base on the third planet's moon.”

  “I see, Proconsul—spirits of the void preserve us, here come the warm life devils again!”

  * * * * *

  Three of the alien attackers split off from their main body and headed on toward the Moon. Squadron Commander Melaku's twelve corvette wing was holding position a bit forward of Earth, south of the ecliptic plane—they were effectively at the same orbital distance from the Sun, just canted with respect to the planets.

  “First Wing, we have three bo
gies headed for our home base at 12 o'clock. All flights, finger four formation; accelerate for intercept. We will deploy anti-plasma defense just prior to contact.”

  While Beth's half of the corvette fleet moved to attack, the other half, led by Lt. Hect, remained in position to strike anything emerging from the Beta Comae transit point. The transit point was now almost 150 million kilometers behind Earth as the planet continued in its orbit around the Sun. The corvettes damaged during the previous alien incursion had been repaired and new ones, fresh from the construction dock, filled out second wing's complement of twelve.

  An alarm sounded on Hect's control panel. Eyes down on the sensor readouts he saw the cause—something, several somethings, had just emerged from alter-space.

  “Second Wing, shields up; assume attack formation. We will wait until we are sure of what we are facing.” The alarm continued to sound as more and more ships emerged from the transit point only a few million kilometers from the squadron.

  * * * * *

  Alarms also sounded at Fleet HQ. The main display showed the Earthlings' deteriorating tactical situation. The frigate squadron was engaged with the first fleet of invaders fifty million kilometers ahead of Earth. Closer in were a trio of invaders who Commander Melaku was maneuvering to intercept with a wing of corvettes. If any got through her attack they would arrive at Farside in a few hours.

  Now a new threat was emerging from another direction. Above the ecliptic plane and two months' orbital distance behind the planet, a large force of unknown ships was gathering. More than fifty strong, the new force was hanging back, evidently assembling into a single formation before taking action.

  “How large are those vessels?” asked Col. Tropsha, watching the display with rising alarm.

  “There are several different sized targets, Ma'am. The smallest of them are about the size of a frigate. The largest maybe four times as massive.”

  “Do we know what weapons they possess?”

  “Negative, their drive signatures are unknown and the hull configurations never seen before.”

  “If we assume that they are at least as well armed as the formation that Capt. Curtis is engaged with, Lt. Hect's wing will be annihilated if they attack.”

  “They would certainly suffer a high attrition rate, Ma'am,” a nearby officer commented. The senior Naval officer present, a Commander who's ship had not been completed in time for the battle, spoke up.

  “Colonel, Capt. Curtis looks likely to finish off the first wave of invaders within a few hours. If Hect's corvettes attacked this second wave, from behind as it were, they might just delay the aliens long enough for the frigates to make it back to defend the base.”

  “Or Hect's force might just be wiped out to no purpose,” Ludmilla replied. This was the down side of being in command, people did what you told them to do, but in the end the decisions were yours.

  “That is of course a possibility, Ma'am.”

  “Farside, Vegetable Patch. Can you read me, over?” Vegetable Patch was the somewhat facetious call sign for Captain Vincent's mission to Mercury.

  “Yes, Capt. Vincent, we read you. Interrogative the purpose of your call?”

  “I have a lot of excited plants in my hold that would like me to relay a message to you...”

  Attack of the Killer Cacti

  “The Triads want us to do what?” replied the HQ communications officer.

  “They say that there are a large number of hostile ships congregating near the Beta Comae transit point and that they would really like to neutralize 'em. Only problem is that there's a flight of corvettes near the enemy and the Guardians are afraid of hitting them as well.”

  “Hitting them with what, Captain?”

  “I'm not really sure about that, but I get the impression it would not be in the PT boat sailors' best interests to be too close.”

  “What should we do, Colonel?” asked the Commander. All eyes were on Ludmilla—it was her call.

  Der'mo! If we are not going to trust the Triads we should not have brought them to the party. “Order Lt. Hect to leave the vicinity of the alien fleet. Tell him to head away from Earth at top acceleration.”

  “Aye aye, Ma'am...”

  * * * * *

  On board the Peggy Sue, Billy Ray was in the CIC watching the tactical situation develop. In the converted cargo hold, NatHanGon, Jean-Jacques de Belcour and Melissa Scott Hamilton were with the Guardians.

  “Look there, Jean-Jacques. See those flashes of light in the soil between the Guardians?” asked an excited Melissa. She had been in horticulturalist heaven, studying the Triad's mini-conclave on the voyage back to Earth, but this was even more exciting.

  “Yes, Melissa, I see the lights.” Jean-Jacques had no idea why the American plant scientist was so excited, but he expected that she would tell him.

  “I knew it was that fungus, the one they insisted on being present in the soil around them. It conducts the signals from their roots, even if they aren't touching. If that don't beat all.”

  “Yes, MelissaScottHamilton, the soil fungus helps transmit signals between us, to others whose roots are not in direct contact; It is an exceptional honor to be present as the Guardians perform their ancient duties, even for us; Has the Captain relayed the Guardians' concern over the flight of small Earth ships near their intended targets?”

  “That is totally fascinating, NatHanGon; Jean-Jacques and I are honored to be here and even more honored that your Guardians are going to help us; I'll ask the Captain again if he managed to talk to the base.”

  Melissa had long ago mastered the triple sentence fragment speech used by the three brained plants. She was so used to conversing with the Ambassador that talking with the Captain took extra concentration to keep from say three things at once.

  “Captain, Cargo Hold. Have y'all managed to get a hold of Farside yet?”

  “Roger, Melissa, they have ordered the corvette wing to clear the target area. Tell our allies they are free to fire when the corvettes are clear.”

  “The Guardians' report that your little ships have cleared the danger zone; If this does not kill us it should prove interesting; Prepare yourselves, the Guardians are going to fire.”

  Crackling discharges danced among the roots of the giant plants. Lightning arced among their triple trunked bodies and the smell of ozone filled the air.

  “Wow!” said Melissa.

  “Mon Dieu!” said Jean-Jacques.

  The Ambassador rattled his flowers excitedly.

  * * * * *

  Within the Sun's photosphere large prominences formed, swaying in magnetic fields that dwarfed the Earth in size. Spicules, long thin filaments of luminous gas, rose and fell within the chromosphere. Like fiery blades of grass, they formed shimmering fields growing up from the photosphere below. Ripples of light and dark washed across the Sun's surface, building to a climactic event never before seen in the solar system.

  “Colonel, there is some kind of disturbance on the face of the Sun,” reported one of the HQ technicians. Yuki and Rajiv had joined Ludmilla in the command center when it was reported that the Triads were about to do something.

  “I don't know what's going to happen but it is most probably going to be spectacular,” Rajiv exclaimed excitedly. “Remember, what we are seeing actually happened eight minutes ago!”

  “It would appear that the Triads are inducing some form of solar eruption,” added Yuki. Both physicists were more excited by the unexplained solar phenomenon than the pending alien attack.

  The Sun's radiance pulsed faster and faster—finally its photosphere reached a peak of brightness and then darkened. Between the Sun's photosphere and corona, the chromosphere lased.

  “Look at the telescope view of the alien fleet,” yelled someone in the darkened control center. On one of the wall displays the fifty plus objects that were the second wave of the alien attack flared like miniature Suns.

  When the glare subsided there was nothing to be seen from the telescope. Wi
thin the tactical display tank the second wave of alien invaders began blinking and then disappeared.

  “Where did they go?” demanded Ludmilla.

  “They're gone, Colonel,” replied an awed sensor operator. “There's nothing left of them but a cloud of hot plasma—the whole fleet was vaporized!”

  Cheers went up across the control room.

  Chapter 25

  Out of the Frying Pan

  M'tak Ka'fek emerged from alter-space to find a binary star system—a diminutive red dwarf orbiting a K class dwarf heavier than the Sun. There were no planets in the warm life habitable zone, but there was an ice planet similar to Neptune and icy planetoids galore farther out. From a number of locations, ships appeared.

  “Captain, we have several ships converging on our position at accelerations as high as 40G. The nearest were underway within twenty minutes of our emergence—given how fast they launched they must be a quick reaction force. I would guess that they are armed.”

  “Very good, Mr. Taylor,” Jack replied. He was in a good mood, with his crew whole again and Bear back at his normal place on the main fire-control console. “I suppose we are in for some unpleasantness. Bring the superluminal particle cannon on line.”

  Mizuki rose from her seat near the helm and, with a smile for Bobby, headed aft to crew one of the secondary battery control stations. The ship could be fought entirely from the bridge—entirely from the commander's chair for that matter—but having independent gun crews made the ship more efficient and more deadly in battle.

  “Captain, four, six, no seven ships just emerged from alter-space behind us. They must be the ones chasing us as we left Ring Station.”

  “I was expecting as much, Lt. Taylor. Lt. Bear, status of the secondary battery?”

  “Manned and ready, Captain.”

  “Very good. Target the nearest of the pursuers and the nearest of those trying to intercept. Wait for my signal.”

  “Aye aye. Mizuki, target the closest ship aft, Aput the closest ship forward.”

  “Not going to take them yourself, Mr. Bear?”

  “I'm an older and wiser bear since our vacation on Ring Station, Captain. Besides, the gun crews can use the practice, and some fun.”