Invasion

by Donald Nicklas

  Alaya looked at Tavia, “Looks like we are going to have to follow their protocol before getting to the CEO. Scan for their beacon and take us in.”

  “Aye, Alaya, I’ve located the beacon and am heading to it.”

  After a nine and a half hour transit, they reached the star port in the capital. The beacon took them down to a landing area in the administrative section of the old city. Tavia landed next to the beacon and they could see an armed welcoming committee awaiting them. Since they were in corporate space, it was customary for both sides in a meeting to be armed, so they wore their military jumpsuits and their bandolier with short sword and a dagger on the belt. They decided to leave pistols and rifles on the ship. They also did not put on body armor, since they knew there was no escape if the meeting turned hostile. They exited the yacht while Hatch went into the engine compartment to avoid detection.

  As Alaya and Tavia exited the side of the yacht, they saw a squad of ten troops in Highline uniforms holding automatic rifles. As they set foot on the landing pad and closed the side of the yacht, the trooper in charge of the squad came over to them and introduced himself.

  “Welcome to Malta, I am Corporal Desmond,” the young trooper said. “Please follow me to the VP of Inter-Corporate Affairs’ office.

  Alaya and Tavia fell in line with the squad and there did not seem to be any hint of animosity and they had no concern for their safety. Petrov and Highline Corporations had very little contact other than trade related activities. There was no reason for Alaya or Tavia to suspect there would be a problem with Highline. They were taken by a waiting hover transport into the city to one of the administrative buildings. The city was large and well laid out, but had that barren and slightly worn look of all the old corporate cities. There was simply no money spent on beatification. Both Alaya and Tavia caught themselves a few times acting like tourists as they looked out of the transport windows. Neither had ever been to the Highline capital. The transport dropped the ambassadors off in front of a high rise office building, where they were handed off to a clerk who bade them to follow her. The soldiers left with the transport and Alaya assumed they did not consider them a threat. She had no idea what they thought of the fact that the ambassadors carried swords, but all considered guns to be a threat, not long knives. They were led to an office on the seventh floor. The office was spacious and the sign on the door said, ‘Mathew Harris, VP of Inter-Corporate Affairs’. Behind the desk sat a middle aged, balding male, a bit too heavy to be physically fit. When Alaya and Tavia entered, he stood up and moved from behind his desk to where they were standing. The clerk had left after showing them into the office.

  “Hello, I’m Mathew Harris, in charge of corporate communications and I gather you must be the ambassador from Petrov Corporation,” He extending his hand and both women shook it. He then continued. “We rarely ever get anyone from your corporation and we had heard your government was in flux for the last few years.”

  It had always been the plan for Alaya to do all the talking, since she was more used to dealing with corporate officers. Tavia was just along as a body guard if needed. “My name is Alaya Slone and this is my assistant, Tavia Marshal. We are here to discuss a grave matter that affects all of the corporations and poses a great danger to human survival.”

  Alaya could see this statement caused a flash of concern on Harris’ face, but it passed quickly so as not to be noticed. “Grave matters affecting all humanity. That is quite a provocative statement. But where are my manners, please have a seat and let me ring in some refreshments.”

  Harris pressed a button on his desk and told the clerk who responded to have some light refreshments brought in. The food and drink were good, but of the usual corporate fare that tasted all the poorer since Alaya’s exposure to the way the Romani lived. Harris was the first to speak as they finished their light snack.

  “So tell me, what can we do for you and what is this danger you’re talking about?”

  “We are aware of your settlement with Brandenburger Corp concerning the war they started and that you are moving fleets coreward to deal with a threat against your protectorate, Coreward Industries. We are here to warn you about what you are dealing with,” Alaya stated. Since time was of the essence, there was no time for diplomatic sparring. Alaya could tell Harris became a bit agitated to hear a stranger talking about their troop movements.

  “As you realize, even if what you said was true, I cannot confirm it. I would like to know how it is that Petrov Corp thinks they know anything about our fleet movements.”

  “Since time is of the essence, and I am not sure how much you personally know about the military situation, let me be blunt,” Alaya continued. “What we know is that Coreward Industries is under attack from an unknown force that may also have attacked some of the adjacent holdings of Brandenburger Corp. The enemy forces have ships that are elongated rectangular cuboids in shape and use energy weapons. I am here as a representative of Petrov Corporation but Petrov is now a member of our Republic of Nova Romae and we are part of their military. We are here to help you by telling you exactly what you are up against, since both of us,” Alaya indicated herself and Tavia, “have fought this enemy and know what to expect.” Alaya gave Harris time to let it all sink in.

  Harris was lost in thought for a moment, confused that strangers would know what is going on, when he himself had not been fully briefed. The corporations always kept everything compartmentalized to keep the VP’s off balance and competing against each other. The VP of Military Affairs would know more than he did but could he trust the information from these strangers enough to call in that VP and would the VP of Military Affairs steal his thunder? He decided he would hear what they had to say first and then consider what to do. “Very well, Ambassador Slone, please continue.”

  Alaya proceeded to fill in the VP about what they knew of the events on the coreward side of human space and also showed him the video logs of the Hayden and the Dragon’s Claw. It was obvious he was sickened by what he saw but he also had been briefed about the enemy ships which had attacked the Knowles system. If these people were to be believed, then they were dealing with their first alien contact and that was not something he was willing to broadcast without positive proof. Video logs could be falsified and there were always reasons why people wanted to blame things on the ever elusive aliens that no one ever made contact with. Now he was confronted with people who not only claimed to have seen and fought them but also said they dealt with them in another galaxy. He was about to write them off as insane when they showed him the retrieved video log of the attack on the Knowles system. He had seen this and it was not doctored. It was time to move this up the chain of command.

  “I think the VP of Military Affairs needs to see this,” Harris said and pushed a button on his desk to call his clerk. “Call over to VP Nancy Jurevic and ask her to come to my office. Mark the request as ultra urgent.”

  “Yes sir,” the clerk responded and went to do Harris’ bidding.

  “We will see what our VP of Military Affairs thinks of your video logs,” Harris said, looking straight at Alaya. After a few moments there was a knock on the door and an attractive woman in her late forties or early fifties came in. She had a slender build with blonde hair helped along by artificial color. She wore a small amount of makeup over her pale skin.

  “Well, Harris, this better be good, and who are these people?”

  Alaya and Tavia introduced themselves and stated their origin. To this VP Jurevic said, “You claim to be from Petrov Corp, but your uniforms are not Petrovian.”

  Alaya responded, “Very astute. Your VP of Corporate Affairs did not pick that up or did not mention it. We are from the Republic of Nova Romae and bring grave news concerning the forces you are fighting in Coreward Industries space.”

  Nancy Jurevic perked up when she heard that last statement. “What do you know of our activities Coreward Industries’ space?”

  Alaya laid out the same information a
gain about the Saltic. Where VP Harris basically shrugged off the information, VP Jurevic was very interested and called up to the CEO to ask for immediate access. This was granted and the entire group went up five more floors to the office of the CEO.

  Andrea DiSanto was in her early sixties and ran Highline Corporation with an iron fist. In her thirty years of controlling the corporation, she had sent many a dissident to the gallows. She had black hair, streaked with gray which she made no attempt to cover-up. As soon as she saw Alaya, recognition came to her and she looked shocked. “Alaya Sinclair, you’re supposed to be dead.”

  “It’s good to see you as well, Andrea. My married name is Alaya Slone and I am here to warn you of a great danger attacking your protectorate.” Alaya knew Andrea DiSanto from her days as a Sinclair daughter. That time seemed a lifetime ago. They all sat down and got down to business. Alaya showed the Highline CEO the video logs and explained the danger.

  When Alaya was finished, Andrea looked at her and said, “You’re telling me we are dealing with aliens who are able to jump instantaneously to any location using a thing you call a wormhole drive. Why should I believe you?”

  “I don’t know how to convince you other than to take you to the area of involvement and capture one of their ships. Last time my husband and I tried that, we took 50% casualties. I don’t relish doing that again.”

  “Why are you warning us? We have never dealt with your Republic and we are over a year travel from the Matsua Rim. You came a long way to tell us what a message capsule would have brought faster.”

  Alaya was now careful to measure her words. “I am not sure a message capsule could have conveyed the seriousness of the danger.”

  “You may be right. I am still not sure what your stake is in this, but if what you say is only half true then we are in grave danger. There is a Highline fleet moving towards the Coreward Industries border to assess the threat. I had thought we would have had word by now.”

  “If they defeat your fleet, they will know the location of your home world,” Alaya pointed out.

  “I feel we will prevail,” Andrea DiSanto said with less conviction than she expected after having seen the video logs. “I would ask you to stay to help us evaluate any contact we have with this enemy. These Saltic as you call them.”

  “We can stay but I must ask permission to send a message capsule to let my people know that we may be delayed. It was our intention to warn the other corporations as well and there are some other diplomatic missions out there that will have to be rerouted if we await the results here,” Alaya could see where this was going and wanted to make sure they had backup. No matter what they had to send a message to the fleet waiting two systems out and get them here ASAP.

  “Of course,” Andrea said and pushed a button on her desk. When the clerk came in she ordered, “Take the Ambassador’s assistant to the message room and send a pod with her message to the system she directs.”

  “Tavia, let the Hatch mission know we will be delayed and they will have to warn Shin Nippon about the danger.”

  “Yes, Ambassador Slone,” Tavia picked up on the ruse and went with the clerk. She was taken to the message room.

  “The capsule is ready to receive your message,” the tech told Tavia.

  Tavia had to think fast on her feet. She had to remember what route to send the capsule to have it pass through the system containing the fleet but also had to make sure it went further so no one would suspect it is the destination. She gave her message and ended it with some strange sounds that the tech asked about and was told they were verification sound codes since this was a capsule from another corporation. The tech bought it, since it was above his pay grade to question it. The message was packaged with identifiers and closers. The capsule was then set to send an identification signal listing the yacht Tempestas as recipient of the message. The capsule was sent and Tavia returned to Alaya.

  The capsule went into the slipstream. Message capsules could achieve 10 light years per hour in the slipstreams which allowed them to rapidly communicate with ships in nearby systems. The capsule covered the three jump distance to the system containing the fleet in just over two days. As it passed through the systems it transmitted a recognition code identifying the recipient of the message. Since this was a message from one yacht to another and did not entail any state secrets, the message was not encrypted and anyone could retrieve and read it. However, traveling through uninhabited systems meant it was sheer luck if the capsule passed by another ship.

  Christopher Slone sat on the bridge of his battleship, the NR Tempestas. The last few days had been rather boring while he awaited his wife’s return. The discussion with Sinclair Corporation had gone well and it was hoped the same would be said about the discussion with the Highline Corporation. As he was lost in these thoughts, Raul Cortega interrupted him.

  “Captain, a message capsule entered the system from the direction of Saint John transmitting our name as the recipient. The capsule appears to be programmed to traverse the system and continue on.”

  “Send a serpent ship out to physically retrieve the capsule. It could only have come from our ambassadors and is meant to keep our location hidden.”

  Tom Gardner contacted the captain of one of the serpent ships and ordered him to retrieve the message capsule. To stop it, Tom patched into its guidance system and ordered it to halt, since it was faster than the serpent vessel. While the capsule was being retrieved, Tom also sent the code needed to open the capsule and have it transmit the message. This only required verifying the identification of the recipient.

  “Captain, I have the message decrypted,” Tom Gardner reported.

  “Put it on the speakers.”

  Slone had called Centurion Bill Marshal to the bridge, since his wife was along on the diplomatic mission. All on the bridge now listened attentively to the message, which was as follows:

  “Message for the yacht NR Tempestas from the office of the CEO of Highline Corporation. Message follows.” Everyone on the bridge looked at the captain when they heard the message was from the CEO herself. The message continued and Tavia’s voice now came on. “This is Tavia Marshal on a diplomatic mission to Highline Corporation. We are delayed here to await word of the results of an encounter between the Highline fleet and the Saltic forces in the territory of Coreward Industries. A message capsule with the results is expected at any time but we will not be able to continue our mission in a timely manner. As a result, it will fall to you to move to the capital of Shin Nippon Corporation and deliver our warning. Tavia Marshal, out. The last was followed by a small phrase in Serpent Speak and the trailing notification to erase or save the transmission. As with all transmissions, it was saved.

  Slone looked over to Bill Marshal and saw he looked troubled. “Centurion Marshal, what was that last bit in Serpent Speak?”

  “Captain, it was delivered quickly, as if she couldn’t speak openly, which I suspect was the case, since they used a ruse in the message. Basically she said ‘guard planet’.”

  Slone looked pensive for a moment, then turned to his navigator, Paul McMann, “Paul, plot a course to the Saint John system and order the Avenging Talon to form up. Take us to Saint John by slipstream.”

  “Yes sir. What about our serpent ship retrieving the message capsule?”

  Slone had almost forgotten about them since several hours had already passed. “Fill them in on our course and have them catch up. They should pass us in the slipstream and meet up with us in the next system. Order all ships to remain invisible.”

  “Yes sir. The Avenging Talon acknowledges and is pulling up to us.”

  In the next system the serpent ship caught up with them and landed on the Tempestas as it headed to the outbound slipstream leading to the Saint John system. They passed a picket destroyer but the cloak of invisibility hid them. As they were in the final slipstream, Slone was called down to the flight deck. He left the rear of the bridge and took the ramp down to the large deck that house
d twenty serpent support ships and the scout ship Mary Rose. Julia Hammond was there as was Centurion Marshal. They snapped to attention as did the deck crew, when the captain arrived.

  “At ease.” Slone said and then said to the centurion, “What is so interesting about the message capsule?” Slone had seen them engrossed in the pod.

  “Captain,” Julia Hammond reported, “I showed Tavia and Alaya a little trick we used to use to keep messages hidden from the corporations while planning the route for our escape. Apparently the centurion’s wife paid attention. Look at this.” Julia pressed a button on the side of the capsule and the fuel tap cover flipped open. “The outcasts discovered that hidden objects could be stowed aboard a message capsule in the small space between the cap and the fuel tap. This is what Tavia put in there.” Julia then proceeded to hand over a tap node.

  “Smart girl, let’s see what is on here,” Slone said and pressed the button on the top of the tap node. A video log of the meeting with the VP’s and the CEO of Highline Corp played out and it became clear to those watching that the Highline Corporation had sent a large fleet to deal with the Saltic invasion without realizing the true nature of the threat. Slone also knew that once the Saltic had one of the Highline ships captured, they would discover the location of the Highline home world. “I think we are all aware that the Saltic will check out the status of the home world once they have the location. They did not have to explore human space when they set the Sakkara as a trap, but now they will need to know where the population is. We will need to be there to help if we can.” All agreed and Centurion Marshal went to see to the readiness of his troops, since no one was certain what they would find when they were in the Saint John system.

  On the Highline home world, in the capital city of Malta, all was quiet. Alaya and Tavia had been given quarters at a military base just outside the city. They had not been allowed to return to their yacht. On the first night, Hatch tracked them and found their location. She was careful not to alert anyone and was soon curled up at the foot of Tavia’s bed performing her bodyguard duties. Both Tavia and Alaya were glad to have Hatch back with them. Tavia had told Alaya about the tap node she smuggled onto the message capsule and they both hoped the fleet would get the message and come to the system. Five days into their mission on Saint John, a dreadnaught came out of the inbound slipstream from the coreward marches. It was the personal ship of Alexandra Stewart, CEO of Coreward Industries. She arrived to report the total destruction of her home world and the destruction of her fleet gathered to protect her company. Examination of her ship revealed there was no battle damage and it soon became apparent that she actually knew nothing about the outcome of the fleet battle since she left before it began. It took her two weeks to reach Saint John and both Alaya and Tavia wondered what was keeping the Saltic from capitalizing on their success. Perhaps the success was not as large as expected. Alaya hoped the Coreward Industries fleet hit them hard. Alaya and Tavia were called back to the CEO’s office.