“You did?” Kate said in surprise.
“Hey! I had the same lessons as you. I know how to infiltrate a network.”
She might not be as fast as Stone or Kate, or as practised with all the spook stuff, but she could do it after a fashion. It hadn’t been hard to learn Commodore Walder’s intention to clean up her sector with a little pirate hunting. She hadn’t been able to ferret out the details, but she didn’t need the ops plan to know it was a good idea. With the redeployment of naval forces throughout the Alliance, taking out a hotbed of pirate activity like one of their bases could only help matters.
She explained what she had learned and James nodded approvingly, but Stone was scowling.
“Damn,” Stone muttered. “Do you know when they’re due back? I have a job for them.”
“Ah... that’s going to be kind of a problem,” she admitted. “A lot’s happened since you’ve been gone. Orders came down from HQ and ruffled Warder’s feathers. She was hot to get back to Beaufort. I think the plan was to take out the pirate base and then redeploy her ships immediately after the battle before she heads back alone to Sector HQ.”
“Marvellous,” Stone muttered. He glared at Kate for a long moment and she reddened. “We’ll send a drone to Beaufort. It will get there ahead of her and be waiting.”
“We could be there in half the time aboard Harbinger,” Kate countered.
“Not much point if we have to hang about waiting for her to arrive.”
“We could recon the system ourselves...”
Stone was shaking his head. “Too risky. If they took us out it could go unreported for months.”
Kate frowned thoughtfully. “Send a drone home first with all we know. That way if we don’t report in, at least the data won’t be lost with us and the general can follow it up.”
Stone nodded. “Two drones then; one to Beaufort and one to the general.”
Gina had no idea what Stone needed the navy for, but she had something that might help out. “Do you need the Commodore herself, or will a couple of ships do?”
Stone’s eyes sharpened. “You have some?”
“Not on me,” she said with a smirk. “But Warrior and Shannon were detached to continue patrols and do a sort of show the flag thing. I bet you just missed them. They should be on their way here from Tigris about now. I know because the marines Warrior left here are expecting to rotate back aboard soon.”
“Inte-rest-ing,” Stone said absently as he stared into the distance calculating flight times. “They would be, what, two weeks behind us?”
Gina shrugged. “About that.”
“Okay, we’re getting somewhere. We’ll send a report home, but we’ll delay the drone to Beaufort until after we talk with Colgan and...?”
“Captain Vardell commands Shannon,” Gina supplied. “Louise Vardell. She’s senior to Colgan. I don’t know if that matters to us?”
“Depends how easy she is to convince.”
“Convince to do what, might I ask?” James said. “Unless it’s a secret?”
Stone pursed his lips. “I don’t want it all over the station, but you already know most of it. We have the coordinates of the system where Tait picked up your aliens.”
James’ eyes brightened. “Oh really! Anywhere I know?”
Kate shook her head. “Unexplored,” she said with a grin as James became even more excited. “Want to come?”
Before James could answer, Stone intervened. “I’m not offering that. We need to recon the system and estimate the Merki threat. That’s the mission, not some half-arsed attempt to make first contact.”
“But!” James gasped desperately. “But—”
“Besides, the navy might have other ideas.”
“But the chance to make contact with three new races!” James protested almost dancing on the spot in his anxiety. “The benefits to the Alliance are incalculable! We can’t ignore the possibility.”
“I didn’t say we should or would, but we don’t know what we’re up against. Our first priority must be estimating the threat. After that, well, we’ll have to play it by ear.”
They headed to Jean de Vienne for a conference and to bring Kate and Stone up to speed with the investigation.
James lead them through the ship to the conference room his team was using for their work, and used the time to work on Stone. Gina didn’t think it was working, but even if it eventually did, James would do better considering ways to enhance his chances with the navy. It wouldn’t be Stone deciding who would go, or even whether anyone would. In the end it was Commodore Walder’s responsibility channelled down through her officers. Captain Vardell would be the senior officer in system when the decision had to be made. It was her who James needed to convince.
They entered the conference room and met the rest of James’ team.
There was no need for introductions. Janice Bristow, Bernhard Franks, and Brenda Wilder—James’ wife—had met them all briefly before Kate ran off. The rest of the science team, under Doctor Borthwick, spent all their time in the labs. Professor Bristow was officially in charge of the investigation, but in reality she had to share responsibility with Borthwick, who in Gina’s opinion was an arsehole of mega proportions. She hadn’t forgiven him for trying to prevent her from claiming Captain Degas’ remains, and she certainly hadn’t forgotten his attempt to hide the tissue and blood samples he’d taken. As she had warned Stone back then, Borthwick had made it his personal mission to obstruct her efforts in every way possible. During her time here, she had needed to use James as a sort of liaison between herself and Borthwick’s people, or she’d snagged the data herself under the radar using network taps.
They found seats around the table and sat. Gina had to clear hers first; the entire room was a shambles. She piled the printouts and compads out of her way not bothering with neatness. There was no point in anything else, it would just return to the way it was before she started as soon as they left. How so few boffins could generate so much data in such a short time was beyond her. James was whispering urgently with his wife and colleagues. He was tattling on Stone, she was sure of it. The notion was confirmed not a minute later when the huddle around James broke apart and the four scientists focused their attention on Stone.
“James tells me you have data for us?” Professor Bristow asked.
“I have certain jump coordinates, yes.”
“Will you share them with us?”
Stone held out a hand for the compad in Bristow’s grip. The woman handed it over eagerly, and he entered the data. “This doesn’t leave the room. Understood?” He held out the compad but didn’t release it until she nodded.
Gina watched as Bristow read the data and then enter the numbers into the small holotank at one of the keyboards embedded in the table. The tank currently displayed one of the dead aliens; not a pretty sight. It was an autopsy image and showed the creature during its dissection in the morgue. It wasn’t something she was trained in, but the alien guts didn’t look right. Not Human of course, but not analogous to Human viscera either. She frowned at the image trying to find something that she could point to and know its function. Could that lump be an alien liver? Surely not; placed in the chest cavity it had to be a heart didn’t it? But no, it was surely too large for such a small being. The grey leathery skinned aliens were not exactly statuesque. And what about that bag thing; what purpose could it serve? Was it the stomach?
The holotank cleared and a star map appeared in the alien’s place. Gina focused her attention upon the tiny suns blazing in the heavens that the tank mimicked. They were like jewels on black velvet. Beautiful. Gina frowned as the image expanded until a single solar system was displayed. No name appeared, just a catalogue number; NGC 1511-2262. That meant it had never been surveyed and the six planets were simple placeholder images showing scale but no other information. It must have been studied only briefly at long range by the Society of Astronomers who spent all their time mapping the known galaxy and probably unknown one
s too. There were so many interesting things to explore and study, but this system wasn’t one of them apparently. It had obviously not sparked curiosity in anyone important enough to have it moved up for an in depth investigation. It had probably been left to some automated telescope to note its classification and assign a catalogue number.
“A red giant,” Professor Bristow said, obviously disappointed.
“We knew it wouldn’t be their homeworld, Janice,” Professor Franks said. “We knew that almost from the first moment we saw the bodies.”
“No, but it’s certain now.”
“Ah,” Stone interrupted. “Would any of the big brains like to let us poor lowly grunts in on the conversation?”
Franks flushed. “Forgive us, Captain. I get lost in the work—occupational hazard I’m afraid.” He turned to Professor Bristow. “Do you want to...?”
“No you, Bernhard,” Bristow said and took her seat.
Franks took over the controls of the holotank. A few swift keystrokes and the grey bug-eyed alien reappeared. “The Greys...” Kate shot a look of triumph at Stone that Gina didn’t understand. He shook his head rolling his eyes at her, and Franks trailed off noticing the by-play. “I... err, what?”
Kate snickered. “I knew they were Greys. Zelda has known about them forever.”
James laughed and coughed when Brenda glared at him. “Well, I think it’s funny.”
Brenda’s look was withering. “This is serious.”
Franks nodded. “Indeed it is. Far be it from me to one-up the infamous Zelda, Lieutenant Richmond, but this poor creature is similar to the Greys of Chaos Engine fame only in colour. Now, if I might continue?”
Kate’s face heated and Gina grinned. Franks had put her friend solidly in her place. This was serious business to him and his colleagues. His life’s work was the Merkiaari, but only because until the Shan there had been no other alien cultures to study. The discovery of three more was literally a dream come true for him.
“Thank you,” Franks said and continued. “Three different alien races found dead together and originating from a red giant system. We named Specimen One’s race after the Lieutenant’s famous Greys purely based upon their colour. Not very professional I suppose, but a convenient label.”
“Sorry,” Kate mumbled.
“Specimen Two,” Franks went on, ignoring her and displaying the alien in the holotank that to Gina resembled a gorilla. It was only vaguely like one in body, but its face was uncannily like the extinct creatures that had once lived on Earth. “They’re nothing like the Greys, obviously, but the differences go far deeper than the surface. They’re mammalian like us and give birth to live young instead of laying eggs as Specimen Three in fact does. Brain size and structures are remarkably similar to ours as are many of their bodily organs and functions. Physically they’re superior to us—their musculature is extremely dense—leading us to speculate upon a heavy grav world of origin like the Merki.” Franks used the keyboard to bring the first alien back into the holotank for a comparison. “We believe the Greys evolved upon a water world. See here and here below the ear canals? They still have vestigial gills. Their leathery skin is remarkably similar to that of a shark, very tough and evolved for deep cold waters. They also have underdeveloped swim bladders that may have allowed them to swim at great depths before evolution took a hand to force them out of the water and onto land. Even their eyes are adapted for the lack of light found in such an environment.
“Specimen Three... well, what can we say of them?” Franks said as the third alien replaced the other two in the tank. “The outward differences are obvious. They’re cold blooded creatures and adapted to living in arid climates. Their clothing was a little different to that of the other races—insulated with built in climate controls to keep them warm. They would do very poorly in colder climes, probably falling into a torpor and expiring soon thereafter. As you can see they’re very lizard-like in appearance, and are similar in many ways to the abundant dinosaur-like creatures found on any number of worlds so far explored.
“The plethora of such species is very thought provoking I must say. Sentient mammals like us might turn out to be the exception rather than the rule in the long term. I hazard a guess that Specimen Three will turn out to be the first of many sentient reptilian races out there to be discovered. It might make for some interesting dynamics should they join the Alliance.” Franks shook his head in admiration of the creature, but then nodded to himself at some thought he’d had and turned to Kate. “Would you like to name them, Lieutenant?”
Kate shook her head sullenly. “I said I was sorry.”
Franks laughed good-naturedly. “I couldn’t resist. Cheer up; we’ll call them Saurians for now then. It’s a name often used in fiction for sentient lizard-like creatures such as these, and no, not in Zelda and the Spaceways as far as I know.”
Kate shrugged uncomfortably, but then she grinned. “Maybe next season.”
Franks chuckled. “Maybe so. When this discovery becomes common knowledge it wouldn’t surprise me if we see a revival of such stories.”
“This is all valuable information, but I’m not sure I see the relevance to my mission,” Stone said impatiently.
“The relevance is that the three alien races are not related in any way, Captain. Your red giant system cannot be the homeworld of all these creatures. No, I’m very much afraid we’re talking about a Merkiaari colony out here. Exciting as that prospect is to me, I can completely understand the alarming implications to you and the public at large.”
Gina sucked in a breath and her blood ran cold. A Merki colony within the Border Zone? Within territory claimed by the Alliance? Unacceptable!
“Reaching aren’t you?” Stone said.
Franks hesitated but then the holotank changed again. “The aliens were wearing these collars. They aren’t decorative items.”
Kate leaned forward studying the image. “I saw vid showing one of these things being taken apart. Do we know what they’re for?”
Franks nodded. “They’re used to inflict pain or to kill.”
Stone’s eyebrows went up. “Are you saying... what exactly are you saying?”
“I’m speculating that one of the strongly held beliefs in my field of study is true. That the Merkiaari attacked us primarily for resources.”
“But there are easier ways to gain those than war,” Gina protested. “There are plenty of unclaimed systems out there. There’s no need to fight for something so abundant.”
“Ah,” Franks said brightly, holding up a finger to make his point. “You’re assuming that what we consider resources matches a Merkiaari’s notion of such things.”
Gina frowned, not understanding him, but Kate got it.
“Oh...” Kate breathed. “That’s not... that’s not good.”
“What?” Gina said.
“Supply and demand,” Kate said simply.
Franks beamed and pointed at her. “Exactly.”
“I don’t get it,” Gina said and Stone looked annoyed. He wasn’t getting it either.
“In a galaxy full of suns with planets, what else is out there ripe for the plucking that we know is very rare and precious? Think about it. What is the rarest thing in the galaxy?”
“Sentient...” Gina trailed off as she finally understood. “Sentient life?”
“Correct. It’s my belief that our three dead aliens were slaves, and that the Merki either trained them or controlled them with the collars. During the last war the navy battled hard not to allow them to create safe or buffer zones around our colonies. It was a theory back then, not proven, that the Merki would colonise our planets themselves if they succeeded. I think that highly likely.”
“But all they do is kill,” Stone said.
“We don’t know that for sure,” Franks said. “The discovery of our three specimens seem to indicate something different. If we judged them purely upon their interaction with us you would be right.”
“And the Shan,�
� Kate pointed out.
“True, true, but I wonder what would have happened if we and the Shan had turned out to be less warlike and more tractable? Perhaps the Merkiaari decided we were simply too dangerous to enslave.” Franks shrugged. “Whatever their motivations, we are where we are. I feel it’s quite likely that we’ll find a Merki colony on one of the planets of your red giant system. Now why they would choose such a system to colonise in the first place is a puzzle. It’s certainly not one I would choose.” He brought the system back into the tank and everyone stared at the six planets orbiting the sullen and bloated orb. No one spoke for a long time. “Well... we can surely discard all the planets except these two.”
The tank refreshed to display two planets, which were the only realistic prospects due to their location in the liquid water zone—the zone was sometimes called the Goldilocks zone because like the porridge in the child’s story it wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was just about right. Gina wished they had more data. All they had was a location, a star’s classification, and the number of planets huddling around it. What the hell could they do with that? Nothing useful that she could see.
“Anyone with colonisation in mind would avoid the system,” James pronounced. “Anyone with sense at least.”
“Hmmm,” Janice agreed with a nod.
“We need to look at this from a different direction,” Brenda put in. “We don’t know when this colony was founded or why, but we know it had interaction with us around the time of the Merki War. Agreed?”
Stone nodded. “All of the dead Humans were military and from that era.”
“Then perhaps the answer lies back there,” Brenda went on. “What do we know about what was happening back then in this sector?”
Gina frowned and accessed her database. She ran a search for anything related, and knew both Kate and Stone were doing the same. Their silence puzzled the others going by their expressions, so she took a moment to explain.
“We’re looking into it,” she said. “I have a search running. It might take a few minutes.”
“It must be amazing,” James said. “Having all that data at the tip of your brain.”
Merkiaari Wars: 04 - Operation Breakout Page 31
