WE HAVE CONTACT (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 12)

by Michael Anderle

  Not that it mattered in the end. The subject was aggressive in its speech all the way up to when Royleen had administered the chemicals to send its body into a coma.

  Royleen sighed, he needed more information for the Captain, so he needed to wake up the alien. He might have preferred to have more time to work with the body to administer different tests and get better feedback from the old and apparently inadequate research that had been done previously.

  Now, to see if he could acquire any useful information using whatever methods he needed to.

  Royleen reached for the syringe necessary to bring the alien awake.

  —

  “Engineering, what is the status?” Captain T’chmon spoke into his comm system from the bridge. It had been a rough two solar days. A few of the energy runs from the engine room had been damaged by the second craft which had rammed them.

  It was an unfortunate example of offensive execution, but effective. What did the Fourteenth of the Yollin Monarchy say at the battle of K’lleen? Something about if his attacks were effective, then he didn’t care how pretty they were. He hadn’t scored any points for beauty, but he had won the battle.

  Thank the gods above and below that travesty had not continued. There should be beauty in everything, even the efforts to kill others as the Universe had decreed.

  Engineering replied, “Sir, we are within three solar hours of bringing everything back online. I would not want to trust everything past eighty-percent if you can help it.”

  “And if I cannot help it?” Captain T’chmon asked.

  “I would suggest we are likely to be fine, but it is that one time we aren’t that ruins our day, Captain.”

  Captain T’chmon hissed in laughter, “Indeed, Engineering One, indeed. Captain T’chmon out.”

  T’chmon tapped his nails on his armrest. Royleen was waking the alien. He could see the status on his screens in front of him.

  Kurtherians. Damn, that was bad news. He checked all of the logs. They had followed the protocols and sent the necessary ping’s that would notify any Kurtherians active in the system. He was covered.

  At least, with his King he was. Whether or not the Kurtherians that were possibly in the spaceship would be ok with his efforts in this system was another question. He didn’t want to make a run for the Annex Gate without having as much of his ship working as they could. His group had to get back, the opportunity was too great here, and the Kurtherian threat this system represented needed to be shared.

  He had looked at the information and had finally guessed that these aliens were neither idiots nor idiot savants. Or rather, that they recently acquired Kurtherian technology. How long ago he couldn’t guess, but for the first time he had ever heard about, here was an alien species that possibly had the Kurtherian technology and did not have a Kurtherian Clan commanding them.

  Captain T’chmon pressed his lips together. He had to get this information back to his King. If there were Kurtherian technology in this system that they could grab, his King would become a significant power in their quadrant.

  And he would move up a tier in personal prestige, guaranteed. Captain T’chmon pressed the button to speak with Royleen. He needed more input, and he needed it bad.

  QBS ArchAngel

  Bethany Anne entered the bridge and nodded to the communications specialist to her left as she stepped into the middle, then up to her elevated chair and sat down, “Time to arrival?”

  “Five minutes, Bethany Anne,” Pilot Captain Paul Jameson answered her.

  “We have Captain Wagner of Defender online, ma’am,” Communications Specialist Alyona spoke out. Bethany Anne could have received all of this information from ArchAngel itself, and she often did. However, everyone was trying to figure out how to operate a ship when the ship could do most everything.

  Bethany Anne was careful to keep the knowledge of ArchAngel’s capabilities, and the communications through ADAM to her, hidden for now. She didn’t want to upset a working apple cart if it was unnecessary.

  “Bring him online, please.” Bethany Anne replied. She glanced at the clock, set to Greenwich Mean Time, “Good morning, Captain Wagner.”

  “Hello, Bethany Anne. What do you make of our little light show?” He smiled. The Annex Gate in all of its otherworldly beauty was on the screens behind him. Her team had been piping video from his ship to the ArchAngel for the last few hours.

  “Not being melodramatic here Captain, but you and the Defender’s people have stopped humanity from losing our freedom.”

  “Oh?” he replied, his eyes opening wider.

  “Yes, TOM confirms this is an Annex Gate used by expanding alien groups to acquire information on foreign solar systems. If your team hadn’t located this, our uninvited guest would have been able to leave without us knowing where they went. The next time one of these opened up again, it probably would have included an overwhelming force.”

  “Are we that big a prize, then?” Captain Wagner asked.

  “Max, just the technology on the Defender alone is probably worth a world the way I understand it. We shall see if I’m right when we talk with the bastards.”

  “You plan on talking?”

  “Sure, why not? Don’t get me wrong. I plan on talking with a gun shoved up their ass, but it is still talking. I can’t shove it down their throat, as that would stop them from answering my questions.”

  “That’s rather practical of you,” he nodded his head, his eyes twinkling.

  “I like to think I’m very practical Max, it is one of my many wonderful traits.”

  Captain Wagner laughed, and Bethany Anne heard a few chuckles around her bridge. Good, she wanted everyone loose for what could be a battle in just a few minutes or months.

  This could be a long wait.

  “How are you guys set up for food, do you need anything?”

  “No, we have been communicating with ArchAngel. The only thing we might need is additional pucks if we want to fill up our reserves. We have over eighty percent in front of the gate. We have worked it out which side they need to enter and have created a net to disable a ship from any direction. We will try to knock their ship off the path to the gate. If we fail, we have a devastating final resolution. One way or another, they are in for a world of hurt.

  “Good to know,” Bethany Anne looked to her side, where Paul was talking to those in supply and giving her a thumbs up. “I see we are going to replenish your stock. Defender will be the goalie here. If they get past us, you absolutely must not let them gain the gate, Max.”

  “Bethany Anne, the Defender will not fail. Although,” his eyes flicked to the side for a moment, “I see you guys coming up, and I’m not sure what the hell is going to get past you guys. Damn, that is one beautiful ship.”

  A female’s voice interjected into the conversation, “Thank you, Captain Wagner.”

  For a moment, Captain Wagner’s face was confused. Bethany Anne hadn’t spoken, but the voice was similar to hers. Then he broke into a grin, “Your very welcome, ArchAngel.”

  Bethany Anne took over, “We will be alongside you in ten minutes, Max. Let’s transfer the pucks at that time. Are you guys okay with the new sonar?”

  >>It isn’t SONAR, Bethany Anne.<<

  Hush ADAM. That term is good enough for our conversation at the moment. I’ll get a full breakdown of what it is called later.

  “Ah, yes,” she could tell he was about to correct her as well. “but we don’t have enough sensors to blanket this area very well.”

  “We’ve been dropping them off as we can with gravitic drives to slow the sensor platforms down and move them to the most likely locations. The platforms will warn us if the alien ship comes close enough and allow us to know their incoming trajectory.” Bethany Anne’s eyes twitched for a second. Max waited for her to finish the conversation she was having with someone, “I’m assured we will have a significant area blanketed within half a day.”

  “Are they going to be able to know they have
been found?” Captain Wagner asked.

  “I’m told yes. We have both active and passive versions. The active versions are hot and easily seen by any technology they might have listening. However, we have passive versions as well. We are hoping to have them come into a trap.”

  “Dodge the active, swim in the passive?” he asked, and she nodded. “Good. Do you want us to move some of the larger pucks in preparation?”

  “No, I need your complete focus on not knowing and the working assumption that the enemy can come from any direction. All information will be piped to you in real time, of course, so adjust as you need to. I think this is going to be a one-shot for them and us. They make it through, or we stop them. Simple as that.”

  Captain Wagner shook his head once, quickly. “Thank God they can’t race through, they have to take it slow, or this would be a touch harder. Wagner out.”

  Her face grew a little grimmer, “They have one of our people on the ship, so it sure as hell isn’t getting through.”

  The line in the proverbial sand had been drawn, and no one was getting across.

  —

  “What is the alien saying?” Captain T’chmon asked Royleen, who was looking back at him in the video feed. The alien was thrashing around on the table behind the scientist.

  “The translation I have to use is Russian, not the language I thought he would be speaking. He claims his Queen will be coming to get him then repeats this like a mantra. I had to tie him down a second time. He almost slipped out.”

  “What was he going to do, jump out and float home?” the Captain asked.

  “No, I did ask the alien through translation, and he stopped squirming and told me his plans were to grab one of the instruments,” Royleen turned and pointed to something off camera before turning back and continuing, “and kill me with it. Then, his plan was to keep destroying as much of the craft as possible before killing himself. He said he refused to be bait for the Queen.”

  “Bait?”

  “It is a term they use to catch others, an enticement used to pull somebody into a trap.”

  “Well, that is not a problem, I would rather not encounter that ship at the moment. We have to get back to Yoll with our information. So, he can rest easy. He is not bait.”

  “No, I don’t think you understand. He believes this Queen is going to come for him, whether we intend to use him as bait or not,” Royleen shrugged his bony shoulders. “I know you believe this species is more intelligent than I initially thought, and you might be correct. However, they are so very alien in their thinking, Captain T’chmon.”

  “That is always the challenge when you seek out new areas, Royleen. Trying to understand the local species…”

  “Before you conquer and subjugate them,” Royleen hissed in laughter, “Yes, I know the joke, Captain T’chmon. You were probably a baby when I learned it.”

  “Did you get any information from the alien about the technology?” Captain T’chmon switched topics.

  “Only that it is TOM’s technology, whoever TOM is. I tried a third level pain induced information request, and he almost bit off his tongue. Thales of Miletus was the answer.”

  “That… is not a Kurtherian name.” Captain T’chmon tapped his nails on the armrest, “This continues to make no sense. Kurtherians focus their names on answers to the great questions. Usually math, occasionally science or the bigger questions. Thales of Miletus sounds like a regular name one of these…”

  “Humans,” Royleen answered.

  “Right, that one of these humans would have,” Captain T’chmon finished.

  “It is a problem inside of a question, surrounded by a rock.” Royleen agreed.

  “Yes, impenetrable.” Captain T’chmon turned and looked at a new report flashing on his screen, “Ok Royleen, send me additional reports if you believe it has value. Only call me if you need to interrupt me. Engineering has just given us the top light. We are heading back to Yoll.”

  “This will be one of the stories told in the military drinking holes, right Captain?”

  “Oh, it most certainly will be,” Captain T’chmon agreed and signed off.

  —

  “Ok, I’m officially bored,” Bethany Anne grumped from her chair.

  Pilot Captain Paul Jameson laughed, “We’ve only been here three days, Bethany Anne. Have you already grown tired of the view of the gate, or the stars, or what?”

  “Yes, yes and yes. I need to get my restless energy worked out.”

  “What about a sparring match?” he asked.

  “With whom, you?” she asked. Paul quickly shook his head in the negative, “I can’t spar with anyone while we are waiting for our guest to appear. The Guardians and the Elite are working out with the new metal gauntlets and protective gear. Plus, Jean Dukes has been modifying weapons for battles on board spaceships.”

  “You don’t want to go check it out?” Paul asked, examining his board one more time before turning to his Queen. “You aren’t getting a set?”

  She leaned back in her chair, “Yeah, I have a modified set. Gauntlets, knee and elbow, and foot. However, I’m waiting on some sort of Jean Dukes’ special outfit that she doesn’t have time to show me right now. The Guardians from the Space Station were pissed that they got tossed around so quickly. They are sure if they could have at least hit them hard enough, they could have done better.”

  “I saw the video, they have a motor-enhanced suit making them quicker and stronger. Their version of a knight’s suit of armor, with power.”

  “Ayup!” Bethany Anne agreed, “We have a couple of small pieces knocked off during the pretty one-sided fights back on the space station. The stuff is hard, but it isn’t too bad. Call it a six or seven on the hardness scale. Plus, it conducts electricity. It isn’t a high conductor, but it will conduct.”

  “Planning to give them a good shock?”

  “Oh, massive shocks, not tiny ones. Team BMW is modifying some of the gravitic pucks to seek, attack, adhere and discharge.”

  Paul’s face scrunched up as he replayed Bethany Anne’s statement, “SAAD?” He asked.

  She laughed, “Yeah, I know, right? Usually, those guys are good with acronyms. Bobcat claims it is sad for the other team, but they are getting all sorts of shit from the Guardians about the ‘SAAD defense system’ and ‘Don’t worry, SAAD will save us!’” She snickered, “Serves them right because, seriously, SAAD? What the hell were they thinking.”

  “They were not thinking,” ArchAngel entered the conversation from the speakers. Her face, a copy of Bethany Anne’s face, took over the middle screen on the front of the bridge, “they hadn’t thought about the name at all. When they were showing Peter and Todd the system, they explained how it worked. Bobcat explained that they seek, attack, adhere and discharge when Todd burst out laughing and coined the acronym for it.”

  “That sounds about right, no way is Todd going to let them live this down for a while,” Paul agreed.

  ArchAngel’s visage changed, her eyes grew red, “We have contact, repeat, we have contact.”

  “About damned time,” Bethany Anne sat up in her chair, “I was going nuts.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Yollin Deep Space Ship - G’laxix Sphaea

  Weapons and Defense Specialist T’monoth called out, “Sir, we see active scanning in a few parts of the path towards the gate.”

  Captain Kael-ven T’chmon swore loud, long and vociferously. He had hoped that the aliens had not found their gate, but apparently this wasn’t the case.

  “Can we bypass them, or is the coverage complete?” Captain T’chmon asked.

  “Definitely not complete, sir. The type of readings we are seeing is older technology. At least seven generations old.”

  “So,” Captain T’chmon spoke softly to himself, “probably incomplete, probably not perfect. However, perfect enough. They didn’t find us for so long because why…because why Kael…”

  “Perhaps,” Melorn spoke up, hesitatingly. Cap
tain T’chmon looked over and nodded his permission to continue, “Is it possible they were not expecting to be looking for us until we arrived? It took them that long to create a working detector?”

  “That…fits,” the Captain agreed, “we were certainly in the range of that ugly excuse for a station a long enough time. If they had implemented their new effort and all of a sudden we show up, then that explains why Royleen saw unexpected vibrations on their space station. That was the point when they turned it on. Now,” he gestured toward the screens, “they have been manufacturing as fast as possible at the level of abilities they have and cannot create a complete zone of protection like we would.” He tapped his nails on the armrest, “Helm, take us through and work with defense and sensors, we need to bypass their defensive sensors.”