by S. H. Jucha
Willem was considering his answer, when the comm signal dropped off. He reasoned that if the ship had continued to descend, the signal strength would have faded, but this loss was sudden. To his mind, either the ship was lost, or the creature had sought shelter, possibly in a cave.
As the traveler rose from the water, Bethany approached Willem.
“By landing this ship in the water, you eliminated the passing of our signal in the air before it entered the water, correct?” Bethany asked.
“Yes, if we were poised in the air, the water’s surface would have scattered our signal. Partially submerged, we transmitted through a single medium,” Willem explained.
“Smart,” Bethany said. “I knew it was worthwhile saving you.” She winked at him before she turned away.
-4-
More Trouble
When Captain Plummer was alerted that the rescue traveler was returning to the Sojourn, she contacted the shuttle’s controller for bio IDs and then contacted Asu.
Cold fear shot through Asu. The Sojourn was an older ship. It was designed for exploration, not for speed, and it had no offensive or defensive capabilities. His first duty was to the safety of his ship and crew, but he wondered if he would want to remain a captain if he was forced to abandon members of the exploration team.
Adrianna riposted,
Adrianna could hear Asu’s laughter.
Asu sent.
Asu couldn’t see the grin on Adrianna’s face, but he could hear the excitement in her thoughts. She was relishing the opportunity to test her crew’s skills against the oncoming fleet.
* * *
During the return to the Sojourn, Willem addressed the rescue team.
“The first task is to locate our traveler,” the SADE said. “Teague, Ginny, Ian, we need as many aqua-drones as you can assemble. They need extended capabilities of speed, maneuverability, power cells, and comm signal.”
“We can boost their comm range by planting relay buoys on the surface,” Bethany volunteered.
Willem smiled and nodded to Bethany for adroitly adopting his comm relay technique.
“After we locate the shuttle and determine its predicament, we can design an extraction method,” Willem continued. “How soon can some of these drones be ready?”
“We have a collection of parts that we can assemble,” Ian replied. “They won’t be pretty, but they’ll be functional.” When Ian saw Ginny regarding him with narrowed eyes, he added, “Three, maybe four hours.”
When the rescue party joined the Sojourn, a team of techs was already preparing the parts that Ian had requested. They assembled as many drones in the short time period as possible. Then they loaded the devices aboard the rescue traveler and made for the planet’s surface.
With the submerged shuttle’s last known position now on the dark side of the planet, Teague, Ginny, Ian, and a small crew dropped four aqua-drones and their relay buoys in the beginning of a grid. Working in starlight, the water appeared inky black, and Ginny shuddered at the thought of the explorers trapped in their ship inside a giant marine creature somewhere in the cold depths.
Willem programmed the drones’ search patterns. The hastily assembled devices were capable of searching and transmitting for fifteen hours, half a day, before the team would need to recover them and swap out their power cells.
It turned out that recovering the drones to update the power cells was unnecessary. The team, while observing the search patterns of the drones on the bridge holo-vid and monitors, watched huge adult, shelled creatures nose the drones and shatter them with their massive jaws.
Having anticipated obstacles, the team had prepared more aqua-drones, which they immediately launched. However, with fortune running against them, the second group of drones was destroyed within hours of their deployment.
By the third day and after losing seventeen drones, the rescue team hadn’t had any success in discovering the whereabouts of the lost traveler, and Adrianna ordered Asu to abandon the system.
The rescue team hadn’t any drones to recover, but they did pick up the few surviving relay buoys and returned to the Sojourn. Then Asu sailed the ship below the ecliptic and away from the approaching fleet.
Adrianna also abandoned the planet, but she headed the Guardian above the ecliptic to watch and wait. As the alien fleet approached the water world, Adrianna was surprised that the battleships remained in a tight wedge formation rather than spreading out and surrounding the planet.
* * *
Or-Deebaa, the Gotlian fleet commander, examined a bridge scope. His ships orbited the planet several times before taking up station. His facial tentacles quivered in anticipation. They’d found a world completely covered in water and dotted with thousands of tiny islands.
“It’s habitable,” Sa-Foosee, the commander’s captain said, examining the planet’s gaseous bio-signatures. “It’ll require domes, but you’ll be rewarded for your domination of this system. When Gotl receives the news, our entire race will welcome this new home.”
“If we’re able to hold it,” Or-Deebaa commented.
“There’s but a lone warship,” Sa-Foosee objected.
“And what does its design tell you?” Or-Deebaa requested.
“It’s identical to the ones that accompanied the Nua’ll comm sphere, which cleared our system of Artifice’s code,” Sa-Foosee replied.
“Yes, identical,” Or-Deebaa mused. A delicate chin tentacle wiped at the saliva dripping from his smooth, broad lips.
“We’re here in strength,” Sa-Foosee insisted. “I’ve no doubt that we can hold this system.”
“Artifice’s defenses, which were many times greater than this fleet, didn’t save the entity from these aliens’ warships,” Or-Deebaa pointed out.
“There are many mouthings concerning the events at Talus. They contradict one another,” Sa-Foosee riposted. “How are we to know the true part these entities played in Artifice’s loss?”
“The logic of time is transparent,” Or-Deebaa declared, his tentacles writhing. “Before these aliens appeared, Artifice enthralled our worlds. They arrived, and Artifice’s rule ended.”
“I hear and learn, Or-Deebaa,” Sa-Foosee replied, burping his apology. “What’s to be done with the alien warship?”
“We leave it alone unless it comes our way,” Or-Deebaa replied. “If it does, we dissuade it. If necessary, we eliminate it. This find is too precious to Gotlians. It must not be lost. It will give our race an entire world in which to swim.”
“Should we disturb our leader?” Sa-Foosee inquired.
“We can’t,” Or-Deebaa replied. “I checked on his condition when we entered this system’s space. It’s his time. It’ll be many cycles before he can join us.”
“Unfortunate timing,” Sa-Foosee comment. “What are your orders, Or-Deebaa?” he requested, his tentacles trembling at the thought of claiming a water world.
“Load a craft with a kite and flyers,” Or-Deebaa declared. “I want the waters investigated.”
Sa-Foosee relayed Or-Deebaa’s command. A crew scrambled to pack a kite and flyers aboard a drop craft.
When the ship launched, it arced through the atmosphere, as if to make planetfall. However, the pilot leveled off at an altitude of a thousand meters.
On cue, the flyers boarded the kite’s cage, and a crew member activated the craft’s rear door. The kite pilot signaled ready, and the vehicle was catapulted out the ship’s stern.
The box-shaped kite dropped toward the surface, and the flyers hurriedly deployed the wings. When the long wings unfolded and caught the air, the kite became a glider. The pilot guided the vehicle toward the largest of the tiny islands in the immediate vicinity, making wide circles to slow the descent.
As the kite neared the target island, the pilot flared the wings, and the flyers’ box dropped neatly into the middle of the island. Immediately, the crew retracted the wings.
Three flyers exited the kite and performed the ceremony that established the water world as the property of the Gotlians. The pilot transmitted the ceremony to the fleet so that the declaration could be recorded. Aboard the lead battleship, Or-Deebaa’s substantial chest puffed up in pride.
After the ceremony, the flyers raced to analyze the water, and they celebrated their findings. Unable to contain their enthusiasm, two flyers stripped off their suits and dove into the sea. They delighted in the abundance of marine life and captured a few small ones for consumption with the aid of their webbed and sharply clawed hands.
On the island, the other two flyers waited impatiently for the swimmers’ return. In the meantime, they collected samples of vegetation and insects for analysis.
The craft pilot, who circled above, asked twice if the kite team was ready to launch. The third time, when the light was fading, he wasn’t asking. “I’ve orders from Sa-Foosee. You’re to launch now. It’s anticipate
d that the swimmers are lost,” he said.
The two remaining flyers piled into the cab, extended the wings, and adjusted their pitch. Then they fired a small engine that thrust them into the air. As they gained altitude, the pilot angled toward a course and sought the height the craft pilot requested.
The flyers strapped themselves tightly into their seats and prepared for capture. The craft flew overhead and snagged the hook on the top of the kite’s cage. Immediately, the flyers retracted the wings. Then they were hauled into the craft through the belly doors.
-5-
Adrianna
“Fascinating technique, especially if you can’t land a shuttle,” Adrianna marveled. She’d observed the aliens’ method of depositing their explorers on the island via the Sojourn’s probe, which orbited the planet, and relayed the small drones that the RT had camouflaged on various islands. It was curious to her that the aliens hadn’t destroyed the probe when they arrived. Then again, their landing apparatus seemed extremely primitive, and she wondered if the aliens simply hadn’t a way of easily accomplishing that.
Adrianna had strived to obtain the captaincy of the first Trident to escort the Sojourn, and she was elated when she received the appointment. She envisioned seeing new worlds and encountering dangerous aliens. In her mind, her crew and ship would risk everything to protect the explorer ship. Now, in a moment of self-reflection, she thought, You wanted an opportunity to test your skills and engage your Trident in combat. Well, you’re about to get your heart’s desire … you fool.
“Time to test the aliens’ receptiveness to our presence,” Adrianna said quietly to herself. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Pilot, limit our acceleration,” Adrianna ordered. “I want a bow-to-bow approach to the lead battleship.”
The pilot turned a dubious glance toward Adrianna, but her hard-eyed stare forced him to wipe the expression from his face. Then he acknowledged the order with, “Yes, Captain, a bow-to-bow approach.”
