Galactic Vigilante (Vigilante Series 3)

by King, T. Jackson

  He lifted his tail to his left shoulder and fixed his whiskers in the sign of Knowledge Attained. “Yes. And no. I require the civil archive records of every person and family who are included in your 47 captives. And no, your personal assistance is no longer required. I will inform you of any further assistance that may become necessary.”

  “They will be provided to you. And . . . my fellow humans do appreciate the protective presence of your moon base. Though we do wonder why there are dozens of battleglobes cruising through this system. Can you clarify that for me?”

  Chai liked this Human. It had some inkling of how to turn cooperation into a counter-attack. Perhaps its species was worthy of surviving on their 27 colony worlds. “Those are matters managed by Combat Command of Sector 14. You could visit your moon and make inquiry of Sector Captain Yorkel. I understand he is the naval official in charge of the battleglobes now in this system.”

  The fur streaks above the Human’s eyes relaxed and its facial muscles moved into an expression that denoted amusement, according to the primer on Humans that he had vidstudied. “Thank you for that suggestion, Commander Chai. However, this is the harvest season for our community. I have my own farm to make harvest on, as do the rest of the two million humans living on Thuringia. You are welcome to engage in labor of the sort that Mr. Dragoneaux’s family engaged in. If you wish to volunteer.”

  Nicely done rejoinder, he thought. “Thank you for the suggestion, governor Metzenbaum. But the Anarchate has first claim on my off-duty time.”

  “Will you share any report with my office? Before you leave?” asked the bulky Human as they both stood to exit the hoverjet.

  Chai saw the planet’s admin building through the hoverjet’s natural light portal. Why was it called the White House? Its stone walls seemed beige to red in color. And the tall columns that supported an overhanging roof seemed dangerous in known earthquake country. Ah well, these Humans were not the only species that practiced social eccentricities. “After I make my report to Sector Captain Yorkel, I will release those parts of the report that do not compromise Anarchate security.”

  “Thank you,” murmured the Human in passable Belizel as they both exited the hoverjet.

  “Simple courtesy,” Chai counter replied, enjoying the Human’s primitive efforts at social intrigue. “Until we meet again.”

  The Human leader made no further response, instead walking up the broad stretch of brown stone stairs that led to the White House entrance and its various admin offices.

  Chai turned and headed for the spaceport office he had co-opted from a Melikark Conglomerate merchant. Every Combat Command member was under orders to stomp on the tender extremities of any member of that conglomerate. The Council of Sixteen had made it known that further changes to the standard bondServant contract were not welcome. Even when proposed by a Council member. Of course the Melikark council member had dissented. Politely. But it was outnumbered fifteen to one. Not to mention the vulnerability of its shipyards, Commerce Stations and admin localities to future attacks by resource raiders.

  Yorkel studied the hysterical report of the Courier captain who had entered the Vela binary system that lay 5,700 light years from Thuringia. It was disturbing to hear that the Human renegade had attacked once more in a place not predicted by Chai and Sector Intelligence. Even more upsetting was the loss of 62 battleglobes and the entire planet four of the system. There was no vidimage record of the battle since the naval base did not consider itself to be a battleglobe arriving in a new system. And all data archives were either vaporized, irradiated to uselessness, or yet to be found in the millions of drifting fragments that had once been the Sector 14 Naval Base. The only good news was the signal he’d received from the High Captain in charge of the twenty-four battleglobes that were in Translation travel to join him in Thuringia system. They’d left the Vela supergiant and yellow dwarf binary system days before the Human’s attack. But the Human’s beacon record and taunting message made it clear he intended more attacks.

  “Nik to-phan,” he called to his Loglan receptionist. “Place a tachlink call to Commander Chai, on Thuringia. I wish him to respond immediately, via live tachlink.”

  “Complying, Sector Captain,” said the raspy voice of the amphibian, who sounded as if he needed a new immersion in salt water.

  Yorkel touched to standby the action panels in his Captain’s Booth, leaned back against his stool, and waited for the holo of Chai to appear before him. The Human’s destruction of their academy home in Owl M97 cluster had been terrible. His attack on the naval base demanded a response aimed at causing this Dragoneaux creature to react emotionally. Before him a holo took shape.

  “You called for my presence, ally Yorkel?”

  He noticed the Spelidon’s whiskers were arranged in the pattern that meant Studious Concern. Perhaps from his studies of the Human’s history on the planet. Or perhaps for other reasons. No matter. The two of them must take actions to disturb yonder nest of Humans, while not interfering in the planet’s internal affairs. “Thank you, ally Chai. Regard this tachcall message from a Courier ship captain who recently arrived in the Vela binary system.” He tapped panel the holding the tachcall message. “You will note that planet four, location of the Sector 14 Naval Base, is now a black hole. And every Anarchate battleglobe, Courier and supply ship that used to be present in the system is now gone. Vaporized or reduced to metal fragments. And frozen body parts.”

  The Spelidon’s long tail thumped the floor on which he stood, while his whiskers moved to Anger Aroused mode. “Incredible! This Human grows more dangerous by the Belizel week. We have to find and destroy him!”

  “Agreed.” Yorkel tapped on a wall flatscreen with an image from Elios spaceport town. “But we must also send him a signal that his effort to outlaw cloneslavery is opposed by the Anarchate. By you and me. By every official of our culture.” He highlighted the Memorial Pillar that occupied a plaza before a Human admin building with the name White House. “See to the destruction of this Memorial Pillar, with notice to the Human governor that their former resident Matthew Dragoneaux is declared an enemy of the Anarchate.”

  Commander Chai’s black whiskers stiffened in the sign of Dismayed Worry. “I will comply with your command, Sector Captain. But be aware the destruction of the pillar will greatly upset the local Humans. Their culture exhibits a reverence for the 47 captives that borders on theology.”

  Yorkel understood the danger of theology unleashed. But they had to send a signal to this Human that his crusade was firmly opposed by the Anarchate. And thereby make it more likely the Human would attack the Sector 14 Intelligence headquarters near the Cloud of Warning nebula. Where he and his battleglobe fleet would be in place, once the new battleglobes arrived. The Translation travel time from Vela binary to the Cloud of Warning was nearly the same as for a trip from Thuringia system to the nebula. Plus it would be several more days before the battleglobe reinforcements arrived. Well, perhaps the Human would take longer to arrive at the system.

  “Ally Chai, we will depart this star system in my fleet once the battleglobe reinforcements arrive. Our objective will be to arrive in your CC93721 system and establish a layered defense, with a trap of genome slaver bait to cause the Human to make rescue efforts of the cloneslave captives.” Yorkel wished his office held other Brokeet so their mutual pheromones could reinforce their dedication to a deadly challenge. “See to the pillar’s destruction and the broadcast of the event on the galactic tachnet, but make clear only this renegade Human is to blame, because of the Commerce Station attack in Omega Centauri cluster. We do not want his species fellows thinking of him as a leader or theological inspiration.”

  The black hair that covered Chai’s body flared up, then settled in a sign of determination. That was confirmed by the lifting of the pointed snout of his Spelidon ally, and the Whiskers of Distinction posture of Ally Supported. “We Spelidon are accomplished users of social emotions, ally Yorkel. While the local Humans will be gr
eatly upset by the pillar loss, I will ensure they blame their fellow Human the Vigilante for its loss. With a hint that once he is captured by Anarchate forces, they might be allowed to rebuild it. Agreed?”

  Yorkel did like the slyness of Chai. Of course any captain of a battleglobe had learned basic social emotion manipulation at the academy. With a crew of 400 aboard a battleglobe, you had to use such methods to distract and yet motivate the crew. “Agreed, Commander Chai. Will you send a copy of your galactic tachnet broadcast to the attention of High Commander Brrzeet? I suspect our actions here, and the news we are returning to his system with a force of forty battleglobes, will be welcome news.”

  The Spelidon’s whiskers moved into the mode of Arrogant Bemusement. “No doubt my supervisor will feel some relief. After all, you and I are the known targets of this Human, not High Commander Brrzeet.”

  Yorkel wished he could feel amusement at the social emotion machinations they were arranging. But the degree to which the destruction of the pillar would emotionally affect the Human was unknown. He just knew, from basic social tactics lessons, that targeting an item your enemy felt emotionally attached to would motivate that enemy to action. Hopefully action based on emotion rather than rational, thoughtful planning. This Human had already destroyed nearly a hundred battleglobes in his various attacks. He did not wish to see what lengths the Human would go to in his cloneslavery campaign if he thought his birth world were at risk.

  Matt sat naked in the Interlock Pit of Mata Hari, ignoring the beauty of the starry sky that filled the space about HD 86523, a B3V main sequence white star that held a gas giant suitable for refueling by the fleet. He ignored the automated Supply sleds that moved from each ship of Ocean Fleet to the local gas giant’s atmospheric refining station. He ignored the record of hydrogen, helium, ammonia, methane, nitrogen and similar Jupiter-like gases that the station sifted for hydrogen isotopes. Even though the minds of Eliana, Suzanne and other members of Hexagon Prime were watching the same tachnet holo he was, he kept his thoughts to himself. As much as he could.

  “Matthew,” said Mata Hari in a concerned mindvoice that his fellows could also perceive. “The destruction of the Memory Pillar on Thuringia is an effort to make you react emotionally.”

  “I know that!” he yelled harshly. “It still hurts. And it says, as the galactic tachnet report states, that cloneslavery is an approved and legal commerce in the Anarchate.”

  Matt fixed his gaze on the seventh replay of the destruction of the Memorial Pillar in the plaza that fronted on the White House of Elios Port. Instead of using a krypton-fluorine laser to vaporize the stone, which included flat images of the 47 people kidnapped by the genome slaver ship fifteen years ago, Commander Chai had chosen the way of melodrama. He had hired alien laborers from the port to use sledgehammers to take it down. Seeing the images of his parents and four sisters splintered into fragments felt like a kick in the gut. Which surely every human on Thuringia felt, judging by the circle of police hoverjets that some governor named Metzenbaum had ordered out. To keep the gathered crowd of Elios residents from attacking Chai and his workers. As no doubt they would have tried. Only to be arrested and sold into labor slavery by the Anarchate officials who watched from a nearby hoverjet. Among the officials were Sector Captain Yorkel, a giant yellow ant easy to spot.

  Keeping his lifepartner Eliana at a mental remove hurt. As did keeping away Suzanne, George, Rafael, Toktaleen, the AI Flowering and Sarah, a Thuringia native. “Sarah, why do you think the Anarchate did this now? Rather than earlier? Or later, after they caught me?”

  Sarah’s classical Greek profile moved her attention from the holo each saw within their own Bridge to focus on Matt. Her face looked drawn. The blue eyes seemed watery. Yet her jaw muscles clenched tight. “To agitate you, of course. But also to shift the blame for the pillar’s destruction from the Anarchate to you. You heard the tachnet report. They are doing this because of your attack on the Omega Centauri Commerce Station. They imply that other humans are more reasonable than you. And they included a statement from Earth’s president that she deplored the destruction of the station.” Sarah paused, then wiped wetness from her eyes, moving in slow real-time. “They want you to attack them. They think you have only seven warships. If we attack Sector 14 Intelligence headquarters near the Crab Nebula, they will be waiting for us. With a lot of battleglobes.”

  “Matthew,” said Eliana softly, her pale white face showing her own strain at the desecration of the pillar. “The tachnet report says the Anarchate is gathering a dozen genome slaver ships at their Crab Nebula headquarters to interrogate ship captains over living conditions provided for captives. The tachnet report quoted intel officials as feeling sympathy for any suffering by such captives.”

  “Bullshit!” snarled George, his bulldog face contorted as angry disgust spilled out. “The Anarchate takes bribe money from the slavers so they can attack colonies before they can defend themselves. It was documented in the ship NavCores we recovered at Alkalurops!”

  Rafael smoothed his black mustache, then shook his head sadly. “The mention of the slaver ships being held near Crab Nebula is an obvious effort to draw Matt there. As was the release of Chai’s presence there when Yorkel was cornered. Now, it seems the two of them are good buddies in destroying the pillar.”

  “Bet you the two of them headed for CC93721 right after this was broadcast,” said Suzanne, her blond curls looking a bit ragged after three days in Translation. “We are only a thousand light years closer to the Crab Nebula, here at this system. It will take almost two weeks to get there if we leave now. Matthew, what do we do?”

  Matt reached out with his mind and gave a warm mental hug to everyone, even the Brokeet pilot Toktaleen, who’d done fine work during the Vela naval base battle. “My friends, members of Hexagon Prime, we will re-enter Translation once every ship is refueled. Then we head for the Crab Nebula, not the Sector 14 Intelligence base at CC93721.”

  Sarah, the expert at organizing, looked puzzled. “Why the Crab Nebula, rather than the intel headquarters star?” She looked around the mental community they all shared thanks to implanted tachlink nodes. “No one can live near the Crab Pulsar, or even within the 11 light year reach of the nebula’s expanding gas cloud. Why would we go there, Matthew?”

  “Camouflage,” he said, calling up an astronomy file image that he rotated in three dee within their shared mind communion. “The system is a supernova remnant that emits x-rays, gamma rays and radio waves at a ten tera-electron volts strength. The Crab pulsar at its center spits out hard radiation at a spin rate of 30.2 times per second. Think . . . think of a tornado that is light years in size, with its winds being deadly radiation. But if we exit Translation just inside the nebula’s synchrotron wavefront of blue emissions, our gravity wave pulses will be over-ridden by the pulsar’s emissions and the ionized filaments that will surround us.” Matt pointed mentally to a spot where the color changed from pale blue to purple-red. “There. We can exit Translation there and not be detected by the Intelligence star base that lies forty light years away.”

  Eliana’s beautiful aquiline face turned from the holo image to him. “But Matthew, exiting within the Crab Nebula itself will subject every lifeform in the fleet to killing radiation. Right? Or wrong?”

  “Right.” He waved to cause another similar holo to appear beside the Crab Nebula holo, showing 506 starships at the point he’d picked. “But if we immediately raise our Alcubierre space-time shields the moment after we materialize there, the shields will absorb all the radiation. And we will stay in ship-to-ship communication via tachlink. That way Hexagon Prime and the rest of the fleet will know when to head for the headquarters itself. Which I will locate on my own, using Mata Hari herself.”

  “What!” cried Eliana, her tone fearful.

  “No way!” growled George. “You gotta have backup!”

  “Why go alone?” asked the yellow mindshape of Toktaleen, father to a Brokeet family that Matt recalled see
ing right after the Alkalurops C system battle.

  Holding up a mental hand to call for patience, Matt smiled at his friends. That shocked them into silence.

  “Hey, did you folks forget about the gifts we got from our Bogean Harmony friends?” He paused as Mata Hari, following his thoughts, inserted images of the two devices. “One was the Stasis Beam, which we used to good effect as we neared planet Megil during the second Alkalurops battle. The slaver ships in orbit we put to sleep. So we could recover captives like good Toktaleen and his family. Well, a second device was the Dark Energy stardrive. Recall that when we first encountered the Bogeans their ship did not emit a gravity wave pulse even though it arrived at FTL speeds?”

  Eliana’s fearful look eased, but her concern was obvious. “So? Sending Mata Hari into system CC93721 where you will face scores, maybe hundreds of battleglobes, is insane!”

  Matt kept his mental smile. “Friends, battlemates, I plan to travel from the Crab Nebula to the Intelligence headquarters using only the Dark Energy stardrive. We will arrive quietly, undetected. With our Alcubierre shields up, we will be invisible. I wish to scope out the layered defense that Sector Captain Yorkel will no doubt establish to welcome us. And to locate which base node holds Commander Chai. Once I have that data, I will tachlink share it with you. Then our Ocean Fleet of T’Chak Dreadnoughts will materialize close to the Intel space base. While the fleet fights and destroys Yorkel’s battleglobes, I and George will take our Suits out into space to do some hunting. For Chai. For the cloneslave captives. And for anyone else who thinks cloneslavery is just fine!”

  The AI Flowering inserted a yellow cloud that conveyed a T’Chak neuter mentality. “Fellow lifeforms, and Matthew, why try to capture this Commander Chai and other lifeforms? Why not use just Hexagon Prime to exit close to the base’s star and cause it to go nova with our Bethe Inducer? Surely that is most efficient.”