The Pirates of Sufiro (Book 1) (Old Star New Earth)

by David Lee Summers

"Certainly not enough people to show in this display. The great mass of the troops is ahead of the supply train, sir," said Rubin.

  Ellis smiled, holding the cigar with his center teeth. "Prepare my launch. Adkins," he said to the gunner, "come with me."

  "Aye aye, sir," said the gunner enthusiastically. She was young and had never been on an actual raid before. They walked back through the ship to the launch bay and stepped through the airlock into the tiny space vehicle.

  "Mr. Rubin reports launch is prepared and ready to castoff," Weiss' voice came over the intercom.

  "Thank you, Mr. Weiss," said Ellis. "Disengaging." The airlock doors closed. The clamps that held the vehicle in its pocket on the side of the ship let go. Ellis gave a very gentle burst of the thrusters and the launch moved perpendicular to the ship. He stared out over the panorama of space, with the planet extending beneath him. Vast, white clouds played over the surface, the water sparkled blue with a tinge of green.

  "Test your guns, Adkins," ordered Ellis. "I don't want any misfires when we get down near the surface."

  "Aye aye, sir." She grabbed the handles that maneuvered the hepler turret mounted atop the launch. Several bursts of green light appeared in front of the tiny ship. "Weapons functional and ready, sir."

  "Then here we go." Ellis located the northwest mountains on his scanners and entered his course. The ship shot down. He put Sufiro's sun behind him so their entry into the atmosphere wouldn't be seen. As the ship hit the atmosphere, automatic shields popped on. Flame shot around the craft as it bounced and tumbled through the atmosphere. "Reentry, the old-fashioned way!" declared Ellis, gleefully.

  Adkins gripped the armrests of her seat. Her eyes were tightly shut. "This is almost worse than an EQ, jump, sir," she said. "At least with a jump, you're not usually conscious!"

  Ellis laughed. "This is exhilarating!" As the boat got within twenty miles of the surface, thrusters kicked in controlling the descent. The mountains came up extremely fast.

  "Sir, we need to be careful," said Adkins, her voice trembling.

  "Mind your guns. I'll mind the boat," barked Ellis. "Hang tight! We're going to get even closer to those mountains."

  "That's what I'm afraid of!"

  The craft fought against an updraft, but continued its dive. Ellis took manual control. There were variables that the computer would not be able to compensate for. "Begin scanning for that supply train!" ordered Ellis.

  Adkins struggled to control her stomach. She reached across and turned on the scanners. She grabbed the turret controls. As they approached the supplies, she let her attention get drawn into the scanner. The nausea slowly receded and she was able to concentrate. The craft suddenly lurched to one side as Ellis swerved to miss a peak that was higher than was indicated on the computer map. On the screen, Adkins could see the supply train clearly now. The guns on the launch were not designed for long range. They would have to get close. She could tell Ellis was accelerating. The train was almost in range. As the craft swerved again, she was grateful she wasn't looking out the windows. Suddenly, the train was in range. She fired several bursts. There was a loud roar and gravity shifted under her back at three gees. She forced her eyes to look at her targeting computer. The supply train had exploded. Ellis was rushing the craft out of range of the blast and back to the ship. "We did it?" she asked.

  "We did it!" called Ellis, spiraling the craft into a gentler ascent. "You did it!" They let out a yell simultaneously. * * * *

  On the ground, a column of fire and smoke rose just before the shock wave of an earth-shattering explosion knocked most of the ground troops off their feet. The Tejans looked around and understood immediately. McClintlock rose bloody and bruised from the ground and watched the column of fire. "Damn," he whispered.

  Swan had been out of action almost since the battle began. The first Tejans out of the pass had been cut down very efficiently. Swan's stomach could not take the strain. He left Manuel Raton in charge of the action. Meanwhile, he found a gully nearby and stayed there groaning. When he felt the explosion, he looked back. He examined the fiery pillar with his computer eye. In front of his field of view an estimate of the amount of energy in the blast printed out. "That's a hell of a blast," muttered Swan.

  Raton and his troops raised a cheer at the sight of the explosion. Raton knew immediately that the only way an explosion could have that much energy was if it was the Tejan energy weapons blowing up. He led the troops in a massed charge.

  The Tejans themselves were demoralized by the explosion and lost much of the will to fight. The New Granadans poured over them, mercilessly. All the anger and the frustration came out that morning. The memories of disciplinarians and the pain of slavery were unleashed upon the Tejans. Over half of McClintlock's force was slaughtered. The colonel ordered retreat.

  Raton called off his troops. They watched as the pitiful remainder of the Tejan force struggled back through the pass. Swan staggered back to Raton from the gully. Raton grabbed Swan and hugged him, then stood back. "You are a mess," Raton said.

  "We won?" asked Swan, dazed. Swan saw the bodies strewn in the meadow and had to grab Raton to keep his feet.

  "We won, amigo," said Raton. The sheriff turned back to the retreating Tejans. He turned on his amplifier. "Adios amigos, come back when you want to play fair!"

  The sound of an amplifier turning on echoed in the pass. "You got lucky!" Swan looked and saw McClintlock raising his fist in anger. Despite his attempt to sound fierce, it was obvious his voice was shaking. "This isn't over! We'll crush this continent!"

  "Aw, blow it out your ass!" shouted Raton. He switched off his amplifier.

  Swan looked at Raton. "Shouldn't we go after them?"

  "Nah," he said. "They're finished. We'll stay here for a time, just to make sure they don't just go up there, recover and try to come back."

  "We should bury the bodies." Swan fought back another wave of nausea.

  "Why?" asked Raton. "They're nothing but Tejans. The carrion bats will deal with them."

  Swan fell to his knees. "They may have been wrong, but they were human. You were a Tejan once."

  Raton saw the pained look on Swan's face. He knew it was simple nausea. At the same time, he knew his friend was correct. The Tejans deserved better in death than to be allowed to rot. Raton left to find out how many of his people survived and organize a burial detail.

  * * * *

  Ellison Firebrandt saw the column of fire while standing outside his house. It was several hundred miles away, but still visible just on the horizon. He called Roberts and Fire out to see. All three of them stood close together.

  "Is the war finally over?" Roberts asked, half to himself. "This isn't a war," said Firebrandt bitterly. "This was nothing but a two-bit feud. The war is still happening in space. God knows where the next Cluster ship will appear. God knows how John Mark is going to get Tejans to mine Erdonium to help in that effort."

  "Does this mean New Granada won?" asked Fire.

  "I'm not sure anyone wins in a war this nasty." Firebrandt shook his head, sadly. He looked into his daughter's face. He was half surprised to see lines and wrinkles around her eyes. For a moment, he felt extremely old. "I do think the only explosion that big could have been caused by the Tejan supply train. No matter who won, the Tejans will respect us a lot more."

  * * * *

  When the launch returned to its bay aboard the Firebrandt, scorch marks were discovered. The people guarding the supply train had managed to get off a couple of shots. John Mark Ellis shook his head, then went to his quarters and retrieved a bottle of champagne from his space chest. On the bridge, he heard the news from the ground as he passed glasses around. "Only one glass for people on duty!" he said. The ship was alive with a spirit of celebration. Ellis poured the final glass for himself. "Here's to Chief Petty Officer Adkins!" he said, holding his glass high.

  Cries of "Here here" rose from around the ship. Ellis split the final bit of champagne in the bottom of the bott
le with Adkins. They clinked glasses together. Ellis sat back in the command chair wondering what was next.

  An alarm light started flashing on Weiss' terminal. He sat upright as a message came through the implant. Something had just jumped into the Sufiro system and was approaching the planet. He looked around and displayed an image on the viewscreen. Ellis squinted at the tiny object.

  "Magnify and enhance," ordered Ellis. The image on the screen grew larger. The hologram was fuzzy, but there was no doubt the ship that had just entered the sector was a Cluster.

  "All hands at alert status!" barked Ellis, suddenly sober. The Cluster approached at a sub-light speed greater than any Earth ship was capable. It settled into a nearly circular orbit.

  Ellis found himself sweating profusely. "Bring us alongside."

  "Aye aye, sir," said Rubin.

  "Communicator?" asked Ellis.

  "I'm on it, sir," said Weiss. "No response from Cluster."

  "Damn it," said Ellis. He sat in the command chair, helpless. The monstrous ship orbited silently. No death rays came—no communications. The ship just orbited, peacefully. PART IV

  THE CLUSTER

  "When I first saw the Cluster in the sky, I was in awe. The sunlight reflected hypnotically from all those mysterious orbs. Somehow, I think we all knew the end was at hand."

  + Guillermo Roberto Gomez from Sufiro, An Oral History A NEW PERSPECTIVE

  John Mark Ellis leaned forward in the command chair and studied the image of the Cluster displayed on the holo viewer. He had never really had time to examine one of the clusters before. There was an aesthetic quality about it. The reflective orbs gave the ship an almost translucent quality. The ship looked graceful and beautiful, like no other space vessel he had encountered. The commander began to find himself being filled with a sense of peace as he stared at the ship. He shook his head and reminded himself of the death and destruction he had seen. Ellis forced the image of the Courageous, ripped open and dead, to his mind, yet the image seemed incompatible with the emotions the commander felt as he stared at the viewer.

  "Position report, Mr. Rubin," asked Ellis, almost dreamily.

  "Our orbit will be carrying us over New Granada in five minutes," said Rubin. The tension in the B-Com's voice seemed strangely out of place to Ellis.

  The commander fumbled through his coat, searching for a cigar. He needed to clear his mind and devise a course of action. He lit the cigar. As he inhaled the smoke, his thoughts slowly focused and he saw New Granada come into view on the planet surface, below. In the distance, he thought he could make out Arepno's egg-shaped ship. "Contact Arepno, Mr. Weiss. Tell him to hold his position. I don't want them to provoke an attack."

  "Aye, sir," said Weiss. The communicator touched his forehead. He enjoyed communicating with the Rd'dyggians. Their minds were extremely well ordered and contained vast amounts of knowledge. He always came back from the experience feeling enriched. "The Rd'dyggians acknowledge request," reported the communicator.

  Ellis felt his concentration begin to return as he smoked. "Advise the Admiralty of our current situation and ask them if they've learned anything about the Cluster since we've been here."

  Weiss touched his forehead. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "My God." His normally soft voice had an edge of terror.

  Ellis stood and grabbed the communicator by his shoulder, shaking him. "What's the matter?"

  "I'm getting nothing, sir," said Weiss. His eyes grew moist. "It's as though nobody's out there."

  With his peripheral vision, Ellis saw the shocked reactions of Rubin and Adkins. "Hmph," he snorted. He stood and puffed on the cigar for a few moments, trying to calm himself as well as present a strong face to the crew. "Is it possible the Cluster is throwing up some kind of interference?" he asked at last.

  Weiss nodded weakly. "I've never encountered anything so complete," he said. "It's almost impossible to jam an EQ signal."

  "It is theoretically possible, though," piped in Rubin. Ellis nodded approvingly. The last thing he needed was a bridge full of panicked officers. "Back at the Academy, we studied some techniques the Alpha Centaurans were trying."

  "I presume you contacted the Rd'dyggians on standard radio." Ellis spoke around the cigar.

  "Yes, sir," said Weiss. "Standard practice is to use EQ communications only when necessary. Otherwise, it wastes power."

  "Try sending an EQ test to the Rd'dyggian ship." Ellis folded his arms. "If you get no reply, send the test over radio, and find out if they received our signal."

  "It'll take a couple of moments." Weiss pulled himself together. Intra-orbit EQ communications were, indeed, almost never performed. The communication required a nodal point to send the carrier wave. Then that signal had to be sent back to the receiving ship. The travel time of the signal would be minimal. Still, Weiss had to locate a nearby relay station to send the message, so it could be bounced back to the Rd'dyggian.

  Ellis returned to his seat. "Take all the time you need." He found himself wanting to stare at the holo viewer again. He didn't know what was so compelling about the Cluster. He tried to avert his eyes, but found he could not.

  "No response over EQ frequencies," reported Weiss, freeing Ellis from his dream-like state. "Radio seems unaffected. It's as though they can jam us, sir."

  Ellis grunted. "Looks like we're going to have to go it alone then. Send a radio message informing the Admiralty of our current status."

  "The message will take centuries to get to headquarters," protested the communicator.

  Ellis nodded. "At least history will know what happened to us if things go wrong." The commander smoked furiously, allowing a gray cloud to build around his head, obscuring the compelling image of the Cluster.

  * * * *

  After the battle at Camlan Pass, Edmund Swan and Manuel Raton returned to Raton's home outside Nuevo Santa Fe. They stood outside the old, adobe house feeling the cool evening air. Swan looked up and saw the sight that was becoming more common each day. The Cluster shone eerily as it moved across the night sky. Each of the spherical elements of the ship stood out distinctly despite the fact that the ship itself was in high orbit. Manuel looked up to the sky, as well. He could just make out the point of light that was the destroyer Firebrandt, moving alongside the enormous Cluster. Both moved silently as they had for the past three nights.

  "I'll say one thing," said Swan. "The Cluster's arrival stopped the war."

  Raton shook his head, sadly. "But not all of the slaves are home, amigo." He shuffled his feet. "Once the Cluster leaves, we have to get them back. Meanwhile, Clyde McClintlock is back home, snug in his bed, dreaming up new plans."

  Swan shook his head. He knew Raton was speaking metaphorically. It was day in Tejo and McClintlock was probably nowhere near his bed. Swan looked into his friend's eyes. "Dreaming up plans?" He looked back to the sky. "I don't know about Clyde McClintlock, but I feel like I'm being watched. I don't know if I could plan for the future if I wanted to." The Cluster drifted toward the horizon. It would soon set along with the Firebrandt, only to reappear three hours later.

  All of the fighting had stopped around Sufiro. Many people stood outside at night, contemplating the silent ship. The ship made no attempt to communicate in any way. It simply orbited the planet.

  "I tell you," said Swan, turning with Raton to enter the house, "one of these days, a death ray is going to come down from that ship and we're all going to die."

  Raton pursed his lips as he stepped over the threshold. He was tiring of Swan's paranoia. "That makes no sense," said Raton, shaking his head. "They could have destroyed any part of this planet any time they wanted. They could have destroyed the Firebrandt."

  "They still can." Swan twitched nervously. "Speaking of destruction, when is Ellis supposed to get here?"

  Raton looked at the clock on the wall. He had almost completely forgotten about the meeting. "Soon." The sheriff went back to the kitchen and retrieved two beers and handed one to Swan. Swa
n drank half the beer in one swallow. Raton worried. Swan had begun drinking a lot since they returned home.

  A roar sounded outside the house. The wind kicked up, causing the old-style wooden shutters to bang against the adobe brick. Swan looked out, half imagining the noise to be a death ray slicing the ground. He knew the Cluster was no longer overhead. Still, he was jumping at most loud noises these days. Instead of a death ray, he saw a launch landing. Swan frowned when he saw the scorch marks in the vehicle's hull.

  The launch kicked up dust and finally settled to the ground. The unkempt form of John Mark Ellis stepped out. His hair had not been combed for days. His beard was thickening. The butt end of a cigar hung between his lips. As he walked toward the house, Swan could see coffee stains on the unbuttoned uniform coat. Nicotine stains covered his fingers and lips. Bags had formed under the young commander's redrimmed eyes. No matter how hard the Cluster's silence had been on the people of the planet, it had been even harder on John Mark Ellis.

  As Ellis approached the door, he spit out the cigar butt, while fishing around his jacket for another. He pulled out the fresh cigar and lit it then shook hands with Swan and stepped in the house.

  Raton brought out a bottle of tequila. Ellis opened the bottle and downed a shot. "You look horrible," said Raton, at last. "No matter how good medical science gets, those cigars are gonna' kill you."

  "If the Cluster doesn't get me first," mumbled Ellis around the cigar.

  "You sound as bad as Swan," said Raton grinning.

  Ellis cracked a weak grin. Raton decided that it was the first smile that had crossed the commander's face in the past two days. They all sat around the table. Raton and Swan drank their beers. Ellis drank another shot of tequila. Raton wouldn't have offered, except that he knew that Ellis had a pilot back at the launch that would see him safely to the ship. Besides, it appeared that Ellis had enough caffeine and nicotine in his system to balance any amount of alcohol he chose to consume. The three talked idly for a while. Raton could see both Ellis and Swan relax noticeably.

  Finally, Raton decided that it was time to come to business. "This is a fine evening and a fine visit, but I'm sure that nice chats have nothing to do with why you came here."