Awakening Threat

by Patrick G Cox

  “Ah, yes. That will help, of course.” Harry frowned. “What becomes of the propulsion system after it ejects the missile?”

  “We initially thought it could be recovered later, but that’s not viable, so we’ve fitted it with the bomblets the strike craft carry against the Niburu eggs. These ships have a gravitational attraction because they are so large—you guys have measured it—so the propulsion unit will be pulled toward it. Once it gets close enough, it will release its bomblets, and those should attach themselves to anything released from the mother ship.”

  “Covering all the options,” Kallie remarked. “We still have to get damned close to deliver it.”

  “I’m afraid so. We haven’t managed to find a way round that yet. We’ve beefed up your particle screens, and you’ll have to rely on your speed and ability to dodge into hyperspace.” He shrugged. “We’re working on it, but it’s not the only thing we’re trying to find answers to. That the communications systems are likely compromised isn’t helping either.”

  “The Supreme Council is still hesitant about this weapon, James. They’ve called for assurances that it can’t be turned on us.” The Grand Admiral leaned on his table, the vista though the windows behind him revealing the cityscape. The city itself was purpose built for the WTO, and deceptive in appearance. The surface domes and towers were scattered, but most of it was below ground. “I have to say the debate got quite heated at one point. The League still has some support for its ideals, even when there is a clear threat to our own existence.”

  “We’ve no choice then but to wait for their decision.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so.” The Grand Admiral paused. “I think they’ll come round, though. We’ve lost ground again in the former Consortium-controlled space, and Li has had another reverse: they’ve had to evacuate an asteroid mining operation in the system Xi Mia 2482.” He scratched his chin. “And they’re putting a lot of pressure on us to deploy the new weapon.”

  “I expect so. The Imperium doesn’t always share our scruples, do they?” Admiral Heron hesitated. “I’ve received some disturbing reports that they’re planning something risky.”

  “Yes, they’ve been working on a hare-brained scheme to get their hands on what they see as new technology. We tried to warn them off, but that only resulted in their refusing to discuss it further.” He grimaced. “They think we’re just trying to deprive them. Let’s just say our other ally is, to put it mildly, incandescent. At our last meeting, they made their view very clear, but I can’t confront Li without exposing my sources. We may just have to live with it and deal with the fallout.”

  “That could be serious. Have they considered what could happen if they brought one of these things into Earth’s orbit—especially if it still has dormant seeds it can activate?”

  “I doubt it would enter their considerations at present. They have a history of launching into hugely expensive and damaging projects, and then having to deal with the collateral damage to populations, environments and ecosystems.” He paused then asked, “Have your people tried out the new missiles yet?”

  “Yes. They’re fully operational now. All we need is authorisation from the Supreme Council.”

  “You’ll get it. Then it’s up to you.” The Grand Admiral leaned back, his finger hovering over the control for the communication channel. “I’ll be in touch as soon as we have anything further for you.”

  Harry put aside his letter as Ferghal filled the doorway. “What new modification have you made to our drives, Mr. O’Connor?” His raised eyebrow and the twinkle in his eye belied the formality of his greeting.

  “To be sure, Captain, we’ve re-arranged the hyperpods, removed the reactor, and converted her to sail and oar. I’ve built a platform for Regidur to stand ready with his new harpoons, and we hope to capture a fat Niburu whale on our next outing.”

  They both burst into laughter.

  “Rogue.” Harry waved his friend to a seat. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

  “Ah, now we come to it.” Ferghal grinned. “I’m the messenger, sent to invite you to an evening of entertainment organised by your flotilla’s officers. We corvette jockeys have exclusive use of the flotilla wardroom for our celebrations.”

  Harry returned the grin. “Of course I accept. At what hour should I present myself?”

  Ferghal regarded his friend, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Harry had obviously forgotten the significance of the date—or, as usual, had been too concerned with the affairs of his command to consider it. “At seven bells in the second dog watch, sir. We are assembling for a little something before dinner. Rig is mess undress.”

  “Mess undress? Are you entertaining the Admiral as well?”

  “No, sir, just you and the other COs, but it seemed appropriate to the occasion.”

  “Occasion? Has someone been promoted?”

  Ferghal laughed. “Not that we know of, but the Commander thought a celebration was called for, so we’ve arranged one.” It never failed to amaze him that Harry could be so blind to his own popularity. “I shall see you later, sir. I’ve my fiddle to hand, and Danny has his instruments as well.” He grinned. “We plan a true ceilligh after dinner!”

  Harry entered the wardroom one minute before the appointed time to find it crowded. The moment he entered, the bell was struck seven times, and Kallie, as the current president, called, “Ladies, gentlemen, a welcome for our guest of honour, please!”

  This was greeted with a burst of light-hearted banter and the opening bars of “Happy Birthday” played with gusto on the wardroom keyboard. Stopping in his tracks, Harry flushed scarlet as his fellow Commanders and officers burst into song, the accompaniment joined by the Marine bandsmen and women on various wind and woodwind instruments.

  The chorus finished with three rousing cheers and a chorus of good wishes as Ferghal appeared at his elbow and steered him into the throng. “Sure, and you’d not forgotten your own birthday now, had you?” he teased.

  Accepting congratulations and returning banter, he managed to say, “No, but I’d not expected to have it broadcast to the world, or to celebrate my third and twentieth in this manner.” He accepted a glass from the android steward and grinned at his friend. “Or I would have begged a mission from the Commander and kept you all away from this mischief.”

  “Aye, we suspected as much, so we planned this with everyone sworn to secrecy on pain of death.” Ferghal laughed. “Regidur knows not whether to seek a fight or to indulge our madness, and Sci’antha regards us all as completely mad.”

  “She’s probably right.” Harry relaxed, letting the tensions and strains of responsibility fall away for the moment. “As you know, Regidur’s people have strict social protocols, and he finds our behaviour on these occasions more than puzzling.”

  Ferghal laughed as they were joined by Commander Polen, Kallie and Korinna. “I think the ceilligh we have planned for after dinner will convince him that we are lost to all civilised behaviour.”

  “Admiral, sorry to disturb you, sir, but I thought you should see this immediately.”

  “Thanks, Flags.” The Admiral accepted the tablet. “Take a seat while I read it.”

  The Flag Lieutenant perched on the edge of one of the upholstered chairs, his eyes on his Commander’s face.

  The Admiral looked up. “Has Grand Admiral MacQuillie seen this?”

  “I expect so, sir. As you can see, it was copied to us and to Admiral Dewar of the North American Union. The original must have gone to the Grand Admiral.”

  “Damned fools. Very well, get me a secure link to the C-in-C. This will almost certainly compromise everything. I’d better discuss with him what the Council want done about it.” He stared at the tablet again, his annoyance plain. “What the blazes do they think they’re up to? This could endanger us all.”

  Chapter 36

  No Place to Hide

  “Flags, Captain’s briefing on board in one hour, please.” James Heron pushed his tablet
aside and leaned back, rubbing his eyes. “As soon as you have that in hand, get Dr. Borner ferried across. I need to ask him some very specific questions.”

  “Yes, sir. Immediately. Shall I send your barge for him?”

  “Yes. Do that and send an escort for it. We can’t afford to lose him now.”

  The flag Lieutenant nodded. He’d already entered a series of commands into his tablet and sent them to the midshipmen tasked with managing the Admiral’s communications. “Done, sir.” He looked up. “Will this compromise our planned offensive, sir?”

  “Possibly.” The Admiral sighed. “I had a feeling the Imperium would try for an advantage. Admiral Li has been hinting they believed we were holding back technology they thought we’d captured and should share.” He reached for his tablet. “Well, he thinks he’s stolen a march on us, but if the confrontation in the Supreme Council with the Siddhiche is anything to go by, they may have overreached themselves and put our entire campaign in jeopardy.”

  “The Siddhiche confronted the Supreme Council, sir?”

  The Admiral gave a snort of annoyance. “Confrontation is probably an understatement. At least we now have the Council’s approval to deploy the new weapon.

  Harry surfaced from a deep and dream filled sleep to the insistent chirp of his link. “Heron,” he croaked, furiously trying to clear his brain of the sleep-induced fog and shove his dreams of Mary to the back of his mind.

  “Morning, sir. Commander’s compliments—he’s called a briefing for all OCs in thirty minutes.”

  “Thank you. I will be there.” He felt tired today, but it was the good kind of tiredness that comes from a late night with friends. He grinned at his reflection, remembering some of the attempts at dancing jigs and reels by his fellow officers. He felt a small glow of pleasure at the fact that his own feet had remembered the rhythms and the patterns so well.

  The dinner had been a huge success, the surprise being the Commander’s speech, prefaced with the remark, “It isn’t every day one has the experience of celebrating someone’s four hundred and twenty-third birthday, and I must say, he doesn’t look a day over twenty-three.” Harry enjoyed the jokes at his expense, cringed at the humorous reminders of his misunderstandings and mishaps as he adapted to the twenty-third century, and blushed at the praise for his actions—especially when attention was drawn to his wearing the Distinguished Service Cross, and the account of how he’d won it.

  He finished shaving and stepped into the shower. The hot water stung, but it refreshed him and drove the final vestiges of sleep from him. Two minutes before the appointed time, he stepped into the briefing room and took his seat next to Korinna. “What’s the flap?” he asked under his breath.

  She turned her head. “Haven’t a clue, but I expect it’s something serious.” She nodded to where Captain Doormann had just entered with the Commander. “Especially when we’re honoured by the owner’s presence.”

  “Update me on the latest word from Admiral Li’s enterprise, please.” Admiral Heron took his seat in his Command Centre. The Imperium had a different approach to a number of strategic matters, and this had caused several tricky situations since they’d become allies. The deep suspicion between the two had not helped, and probably contributed to the present situation.

  “The latest intel suggests they’ve succeeded in getting an assault force onboard their target, sir. As its second hand, we’ve no confirmation of their losses, but they appear to be high. A second assault force was sent in an hour after the first, and they’ve got a third standing by.” The intelligence officer consulted his tablet. “They’re having communications problems as well. We can’t be absolutely certain, but something seems to disrupt the signal, and it appears to originate from inside the ship.”

  The Admiral nodded. “If what the scientists tell me is correct, that’s a distinct possibility. Do we have an estimate of the size of the ship they’ve attacked?”

  “Yes, sir, they’ve picked on one of the intermediate size.” He consulted his notes again. “It’s estimated at around fifty thousand metres diameter and sixty thousand in length.”

  “Big enough, especially as we have no reliable estimate of the crew numbers on these things.” The Admiral’s frown deepened. “Have any others attempted to come to its assistance.”

  “Negative, sir. Li’s people lured this one well clear of any support they could detect.” The officer shrugged. “High risk strategy, and they do seem to have sacrificed one of their ships as bait.” He paused. “I hope it was worth it.”

  “I doubt it.” The Admiral tapped the table with his fingers. “Totally unacceptable in our society, but apparently permissible in theirs. Admiral Li is convinced that we have access to the Niburu technology and don’t want to share it. No one thought they’d try a stunt like this.” He stopped tapping the table. “Have they deployed the infective agent on this ship? What weapons are they using—surely nothing capable of igniting the damned thing.”

  “They’re using projectile weapons and force generators, sir. The curious thing is the projectile weapons are quite ancient technology. The propellant is compressed air. At close range, though, it’s lethal, so these weapons should be very effective in this sort of operation.”

  “We’ll no doubt see.” He stroked his chin. “What is the reaction among the Niburu ships we have under observation?”

  “They don’t seem to be concerned, or if they are, they aren’t taking any action we can detect.”

  “Very well. I want to be informed as soon as there’s any change in the enemy dispositions.” He consulted his chronometer and stood. “I’m on my way to brief the task group leaders. We’ll begin our deployment to launch our assault. This damned adventure by the Imperium could still derail the whole thing.”

  “Our ships will be carrying the new missiles for this strike.” The Commander paused. “They’re designed to penetrate further than the trial version we first used. They are also carrying a larger payload of the agent.”

  “What is this stuff, sir?” asked a Commander of one of the 37th’s corvettes. “We’ve all had another series of inoculations, but the word is the agent isn’t supposed to affect us.”

  “That’s correct, it won’t. The inoculations are a precaution against them attempting to return the favour.” He paused. “There is a risk that the Niburu are now alerted to our new tactics, thanks to our supposed allies’ latest stunt, though the current intelligence suggests not.”

  “What is happening with that capture, sir?”

  “Good question. The Imperium is saying they have it captured and under their control. The reality seems to be a bit different. Contact with the boarding party is proving difficult, and they haven’t yet attempted to move it—or if they have, it hasn’t moved.” He let the group digest that. “Our assessment is they may have the crew subdued, but they haven’t been able to figure out how to operate it.”

  Harry commented, “Perhaps we should be thankful for that, sir.” He glanced at his companions. “The one I boarded gave every appearance of being alive in some way. I wish we knew what the Niburu actually looked like. None of the creatures we’ve encountered from these ships matches the DNA the Siddhiche provided Dr. Borner.”

  “Thanks for reminding me, Harry. You’re right—we don’t know what they look like, but, hopefully, the Imperium’s people will soon be able to tell us, assuming they are willing to share it.” He consulted his notes. “Right. We’re under orders to prepare for a major strike. As of now, all external communications are strictly on a business-only basis. The deployment and attack formations are downloading to your tablets now. Study them with your officers. We’ll meet again at fourteen hundred, and I’ll take your questions then.”

  “All units take station for attack.” Harry tried to keep his voice level as he studied the tactical display. The whole thing seemed to be filled with ships, friend and foe.

  “Acknowledged, sir.” The ComsRate turned. “Commander Polen for you, sir.”


  “Put him on my link, please.”

  “On link, sir.”

  “We’re spoiled for choice, Harry. Follow me in as soon as the starships engage, and we’ll try to take out the mother ships. Coordinate your attacks so that we give each one only the recommended dose.”

  “Aye, aye, sir. Rendezvous at the Prinz for reloads once we’ve delivered?”

  “She’s tracking us and will manoeuvre to facilitate it. As I said at the briefing, we need to turn that around as fast as possible.” He paused to listen as another report came in. “There may be a complication. The Imperium’s attempt to capture one of the ships seems to have failed. They lost contact with the boarders, and then the ship itself managed to escape. They think it may be heading this way.”

  “We’ll need to keep a sharp lookout for it then. What should we do if we make contact?”

  “Treat it as hostile and dose it.”

  Harry nodded. “Very well, sir. The other flotillas have deployed as per the briefing. At least we’ve each got our own operating zone.” Harry stiffened as the first flashes of weapons fire lit a section of the Fleet. “It looks as if they’re using the Trojans to open hostilities, sir.”

  “Yes, it does.” A second voice could be heard making a report. “Here we go then. Good luck and good hunting—at least with beasts this size, we can’t really miss once we’re in range!”

  “They’ve adopted their usual defence position, I see, sir.”

  The Admiral nodded. “Yes, but I note they’re using the Trojans as a first line of attack.” He watched then made a decision. “Contact the strike flotillas and tell them not to be distracted by the Trojans. Their priority remains the mother ships and their companions.”

  “Flotilla leaders confirm, sir.”

  “Good.” He stared at the display intently. “Signal task groups 101 and 106 to attack the Trojans and draw them off.”