Drawing Battle Lines

by Robert Culp

  “The mercs know we are here.”

  “True, but if they are from another planet or system, it stands to reason they were looking for interstellar traffic.”

  “Fair enough, but if the mercs are from off-planet, someone knew to reach out to them. I mean, look at this rock, there is nothing spectacular about it. It doesn’t stand out in any fashion. Nobody stumbled across it. I don’t buy it. They know we’re here.” I stroke my chin, “Unless one of those scout ships told the mercs we moved into orbit. But even if that’s the case, why just a few merc teams? Why not an invasion?” I have dozens of scenarios playing in my mind. They all come to the same conclusion: The planet knows we’re here. “We will proceed as if the empire is aware of our presence but for reasons unknown, they have decided to not establish contact. So be it.”

  A short while later, almost an hour to the second from the last message from Beringer, Athena reports, “A shuttle has left the nearer scout ship.”

  “I’ll be in the shuttle bay,” I say as I walk out. “Keep an eye on the further ship, I can’t help feeling there’s another shoe to drop.”

  “Wilco, Captain is off the bridge, I have the conn,” Athena says as she sits in the command chair.

  The honor guard, four troopers, is already in the landing bay. At the squad leader’s direction, I take up a spot behind them. A relatively squat man leaves the ship and is followed by three women. In stereotypical fashion one is blonde, one brunette, and the third a redhead. All are breathtakingly beautiful. I know there’s no reason to believe it, but I can’t help thinking they must be slaves. I can’t imagine a man who looks like him—no physically redeeming features whatsoever—being found desirable by women of their caliber; or he’s richer than the first meter up a Rison’s Beast’s butt.

  One of the troopers steps forward, “Welcome aboard Prophecy, am I addressing Captain McCall?”

  “Indeed, sir,” the visitor bows deeply. “Captain Jarellus McCall, at your service. These are my wives, Blake, Mariana, and Melesha.”

  “Ladies, welcome aboard,” says the trooper. “Captain McCall, no disrespect is intended, but our security protocols dictate a security sweep of your vessel and all visitors.”

  “Of course, sir. I understand completely and am too happy to comply.”

  The trooper signals one of his teammates. The indicated soldier steps forward with a portable scanner and rapidly—but thoroughly—scans each of the four visitors. Satisfied, he nods to the squad leader and moves to scan the shuttle. The squad leader says, “May I present Captain Sonia MacTaggert, commander of Prophecy.” I step forward between the other two troopers.

  “Welcome aboard, Captain,” I give him a nod. “Ladies.”

  “Captain MacTaggert!” McCall claps his hands together beside his face. “Your ship is as beautiful as her commander!”

  Gods above, another bootlicker! I have neither the time nor desire for this foolishness! I’m able to cover my distaste, “If you’ll follow me, we’ll have that tea I mentioned. Or something stronger, if you prefer.” I gesture to the corridor behind me and lead the way to the lounge. One of the troopers follows me, the other follows the visitors.

  In the lounge, the ladies all take up seated poses crafted to maximize attention on them. The stewards are visibly distracted as they serve our beverages. McCall and I each have tea with a shot of rum. The wives all ask for champagne. Figures. “So Captain, as I told you we are conducting studies and collecting samples from many planets in this sector. Am I correct that you would be interested in comparing notes?”

  “This is a most delicious tea, Captain. You must tell me where you get it! Call me Jarellus, please. And of course, I took the liberty of bringing what we already know. Mariana? If you would hand Captain MacTaggert the reader?”

  The brunette rises and hands me a reading tablet she had been carrying in a messenger bag. I can’t help but notice how flawless she is. My perCom starts vibrating madly. “Excuse me for a second please,” I pull the unit from my pocket. There’s a text message from Athena. “All of McCall’s wives are androids! DEBI models! Like me! I’m not alone anymore!”

  I tap out a reply. “If you want to come to the lounge, you’re welcome to do so once Commander Mac Fadden relieves you.” I put my perCom back in my pocket. “A message from my operations officer.” Mariana has activated the tablet and directs its projector unit towards an open spot on the bulkhead. The table of contents shows 68 planets surveyed over an 8-year period. This will save us a lot of time. “You have been very busy Cap-Jarellus, may we make a copy of this please?”

  “Of course, Captain. That’s why I brought it for you.” Athena walks—almost at a trot—into the lounge. McCall jumps to his feet. “And who is this vision?”

  “Captain McCall, this is my operations officer, Athena. Athena, this is Captain Jarellus McCall of Beringer and his wives, Blake, Mariana, and Melesha.”

  Athena nods at each in turn, “Captain, ladies. I am very happy to see you.”

  I point at the tablet Mariana is still holding, “Please copy the planetary survey data on this unit to our system. And transfer a copy of what we’ve learned in this sector onto the unit.”

  Athena rolls back a patch of skin on her palm and steps toward Mariana. Surprisingly, Mariana turns off the unit and places it behind her back. Athena and I exchange glances then we both look at Jarellus.

  McCall looks very closely at Athena. “I suspected you might be an android, are you a DEBI model as well?” he asks after a short pause.

  “I am, sir,” she says. “I joined Captain MacTaggert on another ship several years ago. The security officer there, Aria, is the only other DEBI of which I have any memory.”

  “If you will allow me, you are without a doubt some of Professor Sinnair’s finest work. How did you come by her, Captain? I paid my life savings to get these three, but of course they fulfill my every wish.”

  Before I can answer, Athena says, “Thank you for referring to me as ‘her’ not ‘it,’ sir. That was very kind.”

  “As she said,” I gesture to Athena, “she was assigned to me in a previous command,” I tell McCall. “We’ve been together for so long it’s difficult for me to remember what life was like without her. And I have to agree; she’s a miraculous artifact. I have a question for you, Captain. We were contacted by what we suspect is a mercenary outfit on the planet. They wanted us to fire a missile to assist them. Do you know who’s fighting whom and why a business on Venus would be interested in what’s happening way out here?”

  With a bit of a sigh he says, “All in due time, Captain.” Apparently he’s realized I have no desire to be on a first name basis with him. “I wonder if you’ll allow me a liberty? With your permission I would like to link your Athena with one of my wives. As you may know, each DEBI android continually modifies her operating systems. In this way, when they compare notes the girls can learn things from each other. It really is a ‘win-win’ proposition. And I’m happy to discuss trans-global politics with you, but I insist on doing so with you and Athena as my guests for dinner aboard my starship. We can affect the cross loading there, my three do so regularly. I must confess, I will have trouble accepting a ‘no’ for either request.”

  I look at him long and hard then shift my glance from him to Athena then to each of his wives. “If I understand what you’re requesting, that’s a very deep level of intimacy. And I confess I’m leery of exposing her neural network like that.”

  “Surely you don’t expect some sort of digital attack? You took no precautions asking her to access my tablet.”

  “She has adequate sensors and firewalls to detect and handle any malignant software attack that could have come from the tablet. What she can’t defend herself from is something being piped directly into her processors. I’m sorry but I must refuse that request. I will accept the dinner invitation though, when should my escort and I arrive?” I wonder if he noticed I didn’t mention a name?

  “Perhaps I should have
been more explicit, Captain,” he stands putting his cup on the table. “One was contingent on the other. If you will not grant me access to your DEBI, you are not welcome on my ship, or to my logs. If you will excuse us, we are leaving. Girls.” Wordlessly, they stand and follow him back towards the shuttle bay.

  “But Captain!” I follow him, “I don’t understand.”

  “I think you do, Captain,” he says without stopping or looking at me. “He said you would be selfish like this. It’s fine when people are giving you things, but when people want things from you, things of inestimable value to them but practically worthless to you, that’s a completely different issue, isn’t it? I told him it wasn’t the case; that you would listen to reason. And here, you’ve proven him right.”

  “Proven who right? I don’t understand a word you’re saying!”

  He turns to face me from inside the door of his shuttle. “Jack Grangiere, president of the Tor Bothropos Consortium. He also told me you have a package for me to transport to him. May I have it, please?”

  The name stops me dead in my tracks. I can hear the honor guard charge their weapons and click off their safeties. “I…I have no package to be delivered. And if I did, I would give it to him myself, where is he?”

  “‘As was foretold by the Prophecy.’ Jack told me you would lie about that as well. Good bye, Captain.” He closes the door to the shuttle. The small ship levitates from the deck plates and leaves.

  Athena says something very uncharacteristic. “What in the nine hells just happened?”

  I turn to her, dumbfounded. “I have no idea. At a minimum, he went from a toadying sycophantic jackass to a stone cold…I don’t know what. And a message from Jack Grangiere? How could anyone have seen that coming? And did he really expect to be able to waltz in here, dazzle us with his android wives and expect us to give him unlimited access to you? That makes absolutely no sense! There is no reason to trust him to that degree! Am I wrong on that?”

  Athena pauses for what to her is a long time, probably three seconds. “No,” she says. “And if you had asked me to allow such, I would have refused. And had you ordered me—as is your right—to…”

  “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  “I know, but if you had, I would have refused then as well.”

  “It’s a good thing they accepted ‘no’ as your answer,” one of the guards says. “Against three DEBI androids, we wouldn’t have a prayer of a chance.”

  I hadn’t considered that. Two of them could have immobilized Athena; the third would have held us all at bay until the fusion weapons arrived. We could have destroyed the ship trying to keep them from kidnapping her. I look to the guards, “Stand down, you’re relieved from this post.”

  “Aye, Captain.” They leave.

  “Athena, I’m heading to the bridge.”

  “I will accompany you.”

  We walk to the bridge, not in any particular hurry. Neither of us feels particularly talkative, but I have something I need to tell her. “I hope you aren’t too upset with me. My concern is that I have only his word for what would have happened. My fear of malware, if not an outright attack on your systems, exceeds any potential upgrade. I know you have protective systems, but they can be breached.”

  She’s silent for a few steps then says, “If I were human, I would say something like, ‘I love you for looking out for my best interests.’ But as I am not, I will say, ‘Thank you very much.’”

  “You are so much like a human, sometimes I forget you’re an android. And much like that, I forget that Aria was the last DEBI you spent any time with. I suppose seeing three DEBI models was for you what seeing three women from my home neighborhood would be. I know you feel lonely, I wish you didn’t, but I know you do.”

  “Actually Captain, as an android,” she says, “I don’t feel anything.”

  We continue to walk.

  En route we receive a message from Celeste, “Both scout ships have broken orbit and appear headed to Transit space.”

  “Acknowledged, hey can you find out if there is a country on that planet not involved in a war? I’d be interested in talking to them.”

  “Between the scans and our probes, we’re seeing fighting all over the place. If I may offer an opinion, that may be why the Emperor hasn’t contacted us. He’s too busy managing a planet completely at war.”

  “That’s as good a theory as any, set course for Junoon. There’s nothing else for us here. Get us underway at your discretion.”

  “The course is set; we’ll be moving out to Transit space in minutes. This will be a short hop, three days.”

  “Acknowledged, I’ve changed my mind. I’m heading to Engineering.”

  “Acknowledged, do you know Athena’s status?”

  “I’m on my way back, Celeste,” Athena says into my perCom. “Thank you for covering my watch.”

  “Not a problem, you’d have done it for me. Bridge out.”

  Athena turns to me; “I will see you when I see you, Captain.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  I buzz for entry at the door of the Chief Engineer’s office. “Enter!” I hear as the door slides open. Chief Jenkins walks into the room, drying his hands on a small towel. “Ah, good to see you, ma’am. I wasn’t expecting you, is there a problem?”

  “That’s kind of to be determined, Chief. I’m sure you remember that big apparatus we found on that pirate corsair, Silver Sabre?”

  “Remember it? I’m not sure I’ve forgiven you for not letting me cannibalize it for parts. Have you finally changed your mind about that?”

  I can’t help grinning at him, “No, not quite yet. Have you—or anybody, really—had an opportunity to look into it any more since we brought it aboard?”

  “We’ve looked at it,” he points to the coffee maker. “Want some?”

  “Only if you’re pouring some for yourself, black please. And what have you found?”

  He hands me a steaming mug. “As you know, it’s built to use batteries—capacitors, actually—rather than a flowing power stream. Usually, that’s not an issue, but for some reason it will only accept electrons from those batteries, excuse me, ‘capacitors,’ I can’t get used to calling them that. Nobody can figure that one out. At first look we thought that all of those cells were burned out. As it happens, one of them was capable of accepting a charge. I top off that cell, put it back in the circuit and with its dying gasp we get enough juice for a lamp test, then the cell discharges, and we’re back where we started. I rigged up a system that I thought would fool it into thinking it was being charged by its capacitors rather that the ship’s power. It wasn’t fooled. We got it disconnected before the cable melted.”

  “Polarity?”

  “My first thought. We reversed it with the same results.” He takes a gulp of his coffee. He scowls at the cup then turns his gaze to me. “So if you want to see it operational, I gotta figure out a way to re-fabricate an alternate power source, or…”

  “Or get the other cells to accept a charge,” I say.

  “Or get the other cells to accept a charge.” He agrees. “Or build other cells. But that will take time and materiel. And those,” he gestures towards where I guess they are. “Those are some next level electronics. I’ve never seen anything like them.”

  We’re both quiet for a moment. “Send me the data you’ve collected on them. My great uncle taught me a few things about batteries. Perhaps some of the technology transfers. Maybe I’ll have a few ideas.”

  “I’ll make sure you have access to the research, ma’am. That way we don’t get multiple copies and all that headache. I hope you’ll be successful.”

  “It may require some experimental physics and theoretical engineering.”

  “I don’t think I like where you’re heading with that, Cap’m.”

  I taste the coffee and make a scowl of my own. I level my eyes on him as I put the mug on his desk. “I want Gorb to head up that project.”

  “I was right; I don’t like
where that was headed.” He opens a desk drawer and pulls out a bottle. Removing the cork, he pours a generous amount of an amber liquid into his coffee cup. He looks at me, “eCoffee?” I push my cup towards him. He pours as much in mine. We both swirl the booze into our coffees. “I’m your chief engineer, Cap’m. And as such, I will do my best to follow your directives.”

  “I hear a ‘But…’”

  “But it is my considered opinion that while Gorb is a talented engineer—you were right; I was wrong—you’ve told me yourself he’s not a leader.”

  “What I said was, he’s not a manager and I’m not countering that. He’ll be working by himself, he does his best work that way.”

  “So who’s looking over his work?”

  “You and I will. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

  “I’m sure I will. But if I have to hear ‘Woss’ every ten minutes…”

  “You’ll get used to it, just like I did with ‘Shownya.’”

  “Fair enough. Well Boss, as much as I enjoy your company…”

  “We both have work to do. Well, you do anyway. We’re in Transit so there’s not a lot for me to do.”

  “Must be nice.”

  “It has its advantages. Maybe you’ll find out one day.”

  “Oh gods above, I hope not,” he says. “I’ve seen your job. On two ships now. I don’t want it.”

  “Are you sure it hasn’t been three?” I grin over the mug of coffee.

  “Has it been?” he takes a slug from his own cup. “Maybe I need to lay off this, my memory may be fading.”

  I drain my cup and leave. I leave Engineering and go to the bridge, more to be seen than to accomplish anything. Celeste isn’t there, Athena tells me the XO returned to her quarters. An indicator on my perCom reveals the presence of a new message in my inbox. I go to my office to follow the link to read the collected research.

  It’s the specifications for the power cells that were on Jack’s device when we found it. There are ten of them; each is a cylinder about one hundred fifty centimeters in diameter and two meters long. The way the apparatus is constructed it appears that if we try to fit it for another power source, well, it won’t be a trivial undertaking. Later in the file I find the scans of the individual cells. Thanks to what Angus taught me about batteries and fuel cells I have an understanding of what the diagrams are indicating.