by T. R. Harris
Adkins knew what he meant. Never in their wildest dreams had anyone imagined what just took place on the planet. “But … Dasnon,” the admiral muttered. “And for only nineteen of Kanan’s ships.”
“It appears Kanan was not as anxious to sacrifice his warships as were you, admiral,” Panur stated.
Adkins’ head snapped around to glare at the non-descript, grey-skinned alien on the monitor. Adam Cain was seated next to him, appearing embarrassed by the mutant’s comment.
“It was a valid strategy, you grey-skinned freak!” Adkins yelled. “How were we to know Kanan had dark matter bombs … and that he could destroy a planet?”
“His entire technology—as well as that of the Aris—is based on dark matter and dark energy. It seemed inevitable, at least to me.”
“Then why the hell didn’t you tell us? He hasn’t used anything like this at the other places he’s attacked. You’re the big brain here. Why didn’t you warn us of this? Why don’t you figure out a way to beat him?”
“Everyone just calm down!” said an Army five-star general on one of the screens. “We need to assess what just happened and come up with a new strategy. This changes everything.”
“And why is that, General Lofton?” Panur asked. “From what I understand, you have already written off the Dead Zone, be it people or planets.”
“That was the result of operational considerations, not from a lack of compassion. And if Kanan continues to destroy all our land-based facilities, we’ll have no choice but to surrender the Zone to him. We can’t operate at such distances without the proper support bases. And to your point, Admiral Adkins, I’m sure Mr. Panur is working on something to help us. At least I hope he is.”
“It’s Panur, just Panur, general,” the mutant corrected. “And yes, I do have a plan. And with this latest wrinkle of the dark matter events, the deadline for its implementation has been shortened.”
Adkins continued to stare at the screen. “No shit!” he said. “If Kanan heads for Navarus next, he’ll do the same thing there, and while suffering only superficial losses, no matter how big of a force we put up against him. I hope whatever you have cooking will work. Otherwise, this could just be the beginning.”
Panur simply shrugged, which did nothing to soothe Adkin’s temper.
“That’s why we need a new plan,” the general repeated before Adkins could speak—shout—again.
“That is true,” Panur said. “And as long as he has a planet as a primary target, he’ll continue to use the most efficient method to accomplish his goal, which is the destruction of said planet. Also, he will not allow too many of his remaining warships to be lost in unnecessary confrontations. When he met the Juireans, that was a fleet-against-fleet action. He knows he has limited assets. He won’t do that again.”
“Brilliant deduction,” Adkins barked. “I suppose the result of your stupendous genius, or something the rest of us simply call hindsight.”
“Play nice, admiral,” Panur said with a thin, yet sinister, smile. “I have no skin in this game. I’ll do what I can to help my friends, as long as I have friends to help. Now, considering the current situation, we know he has at least one dark matter collector—”
“What does that mean?” Adkins asked.
“It means he has access to an unlimited amount of dark matter with which to construct his bombs. The device draws dark matter from space, placing it in containment cubes within the unit. As space in the collector is freed up, more matter is collected to take its place. It only takes a few days to replenish the supply.”
“That’s just great,” Adkins sighed. “So, this is Kracion all over again, only worse.”
“Sir,” said the navigation officer. “Excuse me, but we have a preliminary track on Kanan and his fleet.”
“Navarus?”
“Yes, sir. They’re on full drive. Our fleet can’t get there before he does.”
The admiral gave a silent prayer, thanking God that he hadn’t brought all the defenders from Navarus to Dasnon, just his one carrier. That still left around six hundred ships at Navarus—for what good they would do. Adkins looked at the mutant. “It looks like it’s up to you, Panur. Kanan’s fleet will be at Navarus in four days. That’s all the time you’ll have to produce your miracle.”
“Admiral,” said General Lofton. “I think it’s time to accept the inevitable and pull back our forces. All it will take is one of Kanan’s ships to get through a blockade and deliver a series of dark matter bombs to Navarus. And from what I’ve just seen, they can be detonated from orbit, and that would still be enough to rip the planet apart.”
“Excuse me, general,” Panur said. “But keep your forces in place, at least for the time being. I’ll coordinate with Admiral Adkins aboard the Camelot as to the required placements of his defensive units. For my plan to work, it will be important that Kanan follow the same course of action as he did at Dasnon.”
“What is this plan you have working?” Lofton asked.
“Just something Lila and I have dreamed up. Unfortunately, with this new urgency, there won’t be time to test it before deployment.” Panur looked over at Adam and smiled. “Damn, I hope it works.”
Chapter 7
Navarus was coming apart at the seams, not literally, but that could happen soon enough.
The earlier panic that prompted civilians to flee the cities and towns now turned into a desperate struggle to get off the planet by any means. Images of the destruction of Dasnon had already made their way back to Navarus, and now the inhabitants knew nowhere was safe. The planet was now in a state of riot, with spaceports clearing out, whether by the legitimate owners of the starships or by wild mobs grabbing anything they could get their hands on. Still, it wasn’t nearly enough. Several million would die unless the defense of the planet succeeded. And so far, nothing had stopped Kanan.
An emergency meeting of the Governing Council was hastily assembled, conveniently at Capt. Cain’s Bar & Grill in Balamar.
Dal Divisen, the unofficial mayor of the nearby city of Kanac, was spitting mad. His tall, rotund figure was jiggling with anger as he addressed Colonel Todd Oaks.
“This is unseemly!” he yelled. “What right do you have to confiscate my entire stock of fuel modules? Without them, several ships at the Kanac Spaceport will not be able to lift off, let alone, travel any safe distance from the system.”
“We need those mods to supply the defenders of the planet, not those wanting to run away,” Oaks glared back. “And one of those ships that can’t get away wouldn’t happen to be yours, now would it, Mr. Divisen?”
“That is beside the point. They are my modules, not the Humans.”
“They’re ours now. And maybe you should be thankful. We’re the ones getting ready to defend the planet against Kanan.”
“Just as you defended Dasnon?”
Oaks looked over at Panur and Lila on the other side of the table. “We know what we’re up against now. And Panur has asked that we continue with our efforts to defend the planet. He has a plan.”
Dal turned to the small, grey mutant beside him. “Would you care to enlighten us with this plan of yours? Kanan’s forces are less than four days away. What can you possibly do in that time to save Navarus?”
Panur smiled at the troubled alien. “I could tell you, but then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
Dal’s hands gyrated as he stumbled back. “Humor! You are resorting to humor at a time like this?”
“It is not humor, but fact. It is imperative that Kanan not know what we have planned.”
“And you suspect me to be a spy for the service module? Are you insane?”
“Not you, or anyone here. But Kanan has a force of Aris-style service modules under his command. All it would take is for one of them to have stowed away aboard a ship coming to Navarus in the past, and it could now be lurking in the shadows, teleporting from place to place without our ever knowing of it.”
Dal panicked, looking to either side in
a desperate attempt to spot the unseen orb. “That is ridiculous. We would have known by now,” Dal countered.
“Can you be sure?”
Drained of his protest, Dal dropped to his chair.
“This is all quite entertaining,” Oaks said, “but let’s address the real issue at hand: the defense of the planet.” He looked to Riyad. “I appreciate that your Enforcer spacecraft will join in the effort.”
“We have fifty-four EAVs,” Riyad reported. “They may be small, but they’re heavily armed.” He shrugged. “If Navarus is destroyed and the Zone falls to Kanan, they’ll be no need for a police force. So, this is a do or die situation.”
“Good,” said Oaks. “With all the units I’ve been able to scrounge together, we’ll have close to eight hundred vessels to meet Kanan’s four hundred sixty-five.”
“That is ironic,” Dal grumbled. “Eight hundred is the same number of Juirean vessels Kanan destroyed in his first encounter.”
“If most of the civilian craft hadn’t left the area, we might have a few more,” Oaks snapped back.
“Then, I suppose I could do my part,” Dal said, appearing defeated.
“What do you mean?”
“I could provide another one hundred fourteen vessels to the effort.”
“One hundred fourteen!” Oaks exclaimed. “From where?”
“He’s talking about his pirate fleet,” Adam offered.
“His pirate fleet?” Oaks asked.
“I always suspected our friend Dal Divisen controlled the pirate activity in the Zone. I take it you’ve had most of your ships hanging around the Liave system since Kanan has been active in the area.”
“That is true,” Dal admitted. “I do have some influence over the activities of the pirates; however, they are independently-minded and guided.”
“But you can get them to fight for us?” Oaks asked.
Dal bobbed his head, his species’ version of a nod.
“I would still like to know what the mutants have in mind as a strategy. I would not like my associates to suffer unnecessary losses when there is no true possibility of victory.”
“You will be informed,” Panur said. “Give us another two days. By then, our devices will be ready for stealth deployment. But as the label implies, they must remain stealth deployments.”
“Devices?”
“That is all you need to know at the moment. However—” Panur looked at Oaks. “Has the Ed Gibson been delivered to your base, colonel? We will need to upgrade some of the interior components. During the upcoming defense, my team will be in space, monitoring the battle from the vessel.”
“The ship made it over from the Kanac Spaceport, but barely. I hope you don’t expect that rusty piece of shit to take part in any of the fighting?”
“Not the fighting, colonel, just the coordination of our victory.”
“Why all the secrecy, Panur?” Sherri said, tiring of the intrigue. “Just tell us.”
“Two days. I will tell you in two days.” The mutant then stood up, along with Lila. “Which brings us to the point where we must leave. Time is wasting away. And to help with the effort, Adam, I am requesting that our friends Kaylor, Jym and Copernicus Smith accompany us. We will need their expertise to work on the Ed Gibson.”
Kaylor and Jym perked up upon hearing their names. Coop looked sullen and put out. Adam wondered if he’d been hoping to pilot one of the Enforcer Assault Vessels in combat. That might still come, but first, he had to help the mutants with this mysterious mission of theirs.
For his part, Adam was just sick of it all. He was pretty sure that if Kanan did destroy Navarus, that he and his friends would survive. He even had plans to swoop down and pick up Summer, Monty and Tidus should it come to that. But then his new home and new life would be over. He would be back to square one, having lost everything, looking for another place to put down roots, if that was possible. It seemed as though the universe had other plans for Adam Cain.
Chapter 8
The two days came and went, and still Panur and Lila didn’t call the team together to get a briefing on their plan to save Navarus. Then with only nineteen hours before Kanan was due to arrive, they were called to a large warehouse on the grounds of Camp Forrester that the mutants had commandeered for their project. The Ed Gibson sat on a wide concrete pad outside the building, too close for comfort should the old freighter have to lift off. Unlike more modern and better-tuned vessels, it took an incredible effort to get the bulky ball of rusted metal off the ground. Anything in the general vicinity usually got scorched, if not worse.
When Adam, Sherri and Riyad entered the warehouse, Colonel Oaks and two other officers were already there. Coop, Kaylor and Jym stood off to the side, appearing exhausted but exhilarated. Adam figured they already knew what was coming.
The interior of the warehouse contained dozens of huge crates and other objects covered with olive green tarps. One such draped object was in the center of the presentation area, the two mutants nearby and looking proud and confident—as immortal mutant geniuses were wont to do.
Adam walked up to Panur.
“Okay, we’re ready for the big reveal,” he said impatiently.
“In a moment, we are still—oh, there they are.”
Through the tall entrance, Dal and Lion/El—the Minister of the Dead Zone—came into the warehouse. Neither looked particularly happy.
“Ah, good,” said Panur. “We are all here.” He turned to Lila, and in her best Vanna White imitation—although Adam was sure she would have no idea who Vanna White was—she pulled the tarp from the huge object that dwarfed the pair of mutants.
It was a crude metal ball about nine feet in diameter, with a four-foot-square box strapped onto one side and a set of reaction jets on the other. The ball rested on what appeared to be four small fuel tanks with various tubes, pipes and wires running up and across the surface of the globe. The four antennae jutting from the surface of the globe completed the scene. And everything was held together by metal strapping and wire rather than bolts, screws and welds.
“And just what the hell is that?” Sherri asked, stepping closer to the ugly contraption.
“That, Sherri, is our salvation.”
“What is it, a bomb?” Riyad asked.
“No,” Lila answered. “It is a Lerpiniere Transmitter, one of forty we have had constructed and which now line the warehouse.”
“Lerpiniere?” Adam asked. “Like in the interphase-effect?”
“Precisely, yet with modulation.”
“Well, of course it has,” Adam said. “What does that mean?”
“It means that the field created by the unit is as a wave of varying degrees.”
“And that will do what, exactly?”
Panur placed a hand on his paramour. “Allow me, my dear. Recall, we are dealing with primitives.” The mutant smiled at Adam.
“This unit—along with all the others—will be placed in space in line with Kanan’s approach.” He turned to Colonel Oaks. “It is important that Admiral Adkins steer the enemy vessels into the region of space we desire.”
“Just like he tried to do with the minefield?” Oaks asked. “That didn’t work out so well.”
“No, it didn’t. Kanan had his forces form into a long column, which is just what we want him to do again. Our units have limited range, but they are maneuverable, so we will be able to position them along the line as needed.”
“The interphase field keeps the orbs from teleporting,” Adam pointed out. “How will that help keep them from reaching Navarus?”
“That is only one of the functions of our Pods,” Panur said. He looked at Lila and nodded.
“That is correct,” she said, taking over the lecture. “Because the Lerpiniere-Effect creates a phase shift between dimensions, the service modules will not be able to teleport away should their vessels become damaged. In addition, with the modulation, we can vary the intensity of the phasing to disrupt the operation of the orbs. We have l
earned much over the past several days from the Gracilian scientists on how these newer orbs were constructed. They are only crude versions of the ancient models, built primarily for their artificial intelligence and teleporting capabilities. They do not have the Lerpiniere shielding, nor do they possess the vast storage capacity of the older units. What we hope to gain by the variable phasing is to slow down their mental processes, making them less efficient in their operation of the dark-energy warships.”
“You can shut them down?” Colonel Oaks exclaimed.
“Unfortunately, no,” Lila replied. “They will still be highly efficient, just not as efficient as before.”
“But enough to give our units a fighting chance?” Adam asked.
“That is the plan. But there is more. Once a service module is within a field, it can still move about; it just cannot teleport. However, as it exits the field through the movement of its vessel, there will be a build-up of static electricity that could have even a more deleterious effect on the unit.”
“It could burn out?” Riyad asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Lila replied. “They will not burn out. But there will be even more of a delay before the unit returns to normal.” She looked at Panur. “At least that is the theory.”
“You do not know for sure!” Lion/El asked, speaking for the first time. The short, round, four-armed creature was prone to more emotional responses than the others.
“Unfortunately, no,” Lila replied. “We do not have a service module to test. In truth, the operational effectiveness of the field on the service modules is also a theory, yet the Gracilians, Panur and I believe this should work.”
“So,” Dal began, “you are betting the survival of Navarus on a theory?”
Panur snorted. “Our theories are much better than your facts, Mr. Divisen. We wouldn’t be going through all this trouble if we didn’t think it would work.”
“And how exactly is your plan supposed to work?”
