by M. R. Forbes
"DO YOU HAVE ANY advice for me on how best to present myself, Heil'bek?" Tea'va asked.
Gabriel glanced over at the bek'hai and shook his head. "Be yourself," he replied. "If you have an opinion, don't keep it to yourself. The General doesn't bring his officers together to kowtow to his ideas."
"Kowtow?"
"Be subservient. Kiss his ass."
Tea'va considered for a moment and then nodded tersely. "Yes, I understand."
Gabriel smiled. He was happy his father had asked him to retrieve Te'ava and to make him part of the briefing. The Dread had proven himself more than capable in the thick of battle, and his experience in real combat would be invaluable to them as they tried to figure out how to proceed, now that they would have some time in slipspace to prepare for whatever came next.
He glanced over at the bek'hai again, opening his mouth to speak before putting his head forward once more. He had already made three weak efforts to tell Tea'va he had seen him going into the cloning facility and to ask him why he had been there. He had stopped himself every time. There was something about the Dread that gave him pause. Something in his body language that made him uncomfortable. He couldn't quite put his finger on it yet, but for as pleased as he was his father had invited the Dread to sit in on their meeting, he was also feeling hesitant about it.
He liked Tea'va, more than he had expected he would be able to like one of the enemy. Maybe it was because they were both pilots, and respected one another for the times they had met as enemies in orbit above Earth. Maybe it was because they shared a mistrust in Zoelle, though Gabriel was finding his fading after recent events.
He wanted to have complete faith in him.
He didn't, and so he didn't speak up. He didn't want Tea'va to know what he had seen. Not yet. He needed time to speak with Zoelle first, to ask her to check in on the cloning factory. He would go with her, and with Sergeant Diallo, to make sure everything was as it should be. What other choice did he have? None of their crew knew anything about the factory to be able to spot any inconsistencies.
They reached the hangar, the small personnel hatch sliding open. Gabriel smiled when he saw the Magellan resting there, beaten but not broken. The ramp leading into her was down, with crates resting on either side. Some were old parts to be removed; others were replacement parts to be installed. Soon, they would bring both to the assemblers and be able to put Maggie back together again.
"You are meeting in your starship?" Tea'va asked, surprised.
"It was the General's idea," he replied. "To remind us what we're fighting for, and what we started with."
"I am interested to see the interior."
"I thought you would be."
Tea'va made the low hissing sound Gabriel identified with laughter.
They climbed the ramp into the ship. Gabriel breathed deeply once he was on her, appreciating the smell of grease and alloy, a scent that was missing from the Ishur. The debris had all been removed from the corridors, as had the body of Spaceman Dix, the soldier who hadn't secured himself in time and had been killed by the impact of the crash. Everything had also been scrubbed down, their reduced water supply replenished by the ample volume stored on the Ishur. She looked as good as she was going to get before they could get the new parts installed.
The rest of the officers were already present when Gabriel arrived. Theodore, Colonel Choi, Colonel Graham, Second Lieutenant Bale, and two enlisted, Sergeant Diallo and Sergeant Abdullah, along with Zoelle, Guy Larone, and Reza Mokri. He was surprised to see that Sarah Larone wasn't there as well.
"Major Gabriel St. Martin and pur'dahm Tea'va reporting, sir," Gabriel said, coming to attention.
"At ease, Major," Theodore said. "Mr. Tea'va, thank you for joining us."
"It is my honor, Dahm St. Martin," Tea'va said, bowing low.
"Why don't you and Gabriel take a seat over there?" Theodore said, pointing to two empty chairs near the rear of the table. "Then we can get started."
Gabriel led Tea'va to their seats. He stifled his laughter at how awkward the bek'hai was trying to sit in them. He was too tall for their basic chairs and looked uncomfortable when positioned.
"Now you know how I feel trying to sit on that command chair, Mr. Tea'va," Theodore said, laughing.
"Indeed, Dahm St. Martin," Tea'va replied, returning the laugh.
"In all seriousness, the reason I brought you all here is because, one, we just kicked the Dread hard enough in the ass to send them packing, and two, we need to be ready to do it again after we pick up the boys and girls back home. We're just about prepared to head into slipspace for, how long was it again, darlin'?"
"Twelve days," Zoelle replied. "Two slips."
"You're sure that is the fastest path?" Tea'va asked.
Gabriel looked over at him. Did he know something about that, or was he truly curious?
"Yes," Zoelle replied, not bothering to look at him. "The first slip will bring us out within fifteen AU of Earth."
"Close enough to send a quick message to our friends on the ground," Theodore said.
"The second will bring us to Chalawan," Zoelle finished.
"Any idea how long to get back to Earth after that?" Gabriel asked.
"I ran some estimates," Reza said. He looked a little better, having gotten a couple of hours to sleep. "Another eight days."
"So, twenty days total," Colonel Graham said. "A day or two to get our soldiers organized and boarded. Depending on how you look at it, either that isn't a lot of time, or it's an eternity."
"I'm sure Major Peters would prefer us back yesterday," Gabriel said.
"Twenty-two days," Theodore said. "Let's start with the basics. When we come out of the first slip, we need to get a message down to Earth to tell the rebels we're going to load up and come on back for them. Does our new ride have the capacity to do that at long range? Remember, we need to hit their antenna hard to be heard. That question is for you, Mr. Tea'va, or you, Juliet."
"I believe our array does have the capability you desire, Dahm St. Martin," Tea'va said. "However, does such a message not pose a risk if the Domo'dahm intercepts it? You will lose the element of surprise."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. The trouble is, if the ground forces don't know we're on our way, how can we organize an offensive? We don't have enough firepower up here, even with reinforcements, to hit the central Dread capital hard enough to destroy it."
"There is truth to your words, Dahm St. Martin; however, I question the capability of the ground forces. They have failed to organize efficiently up until now and with the Domo'dahm intensifying his efforts to destroy them, I fear you may leave such a message and find there is no one remaining to hear it save the Domo'dahm himself. In which case, the element of surprise grows even more valuable."
"So you think the rebels on the ground are going to lose?" Colonel Graham asked. "Not that I'm surprised, all things considered."
"Colonel," Theodore barked. "Mind yourself."
"I am not offended," Tea'va said, though Gabriel doubted that was true. "I speak only from experience. The rebels have had some success of late, but they are still greatly outnumbered and possess an extremely limited arsenal. Dahm St. Martin, I would caution against letting your emotions interfere with your tactical mind."
"Ha!" Theodore said. "You have a point there, Mr. Tea'va. Nobody here can argue your logic."
"Thank you, Dahm."
"At the same time, we're in this together. All of us. Sometimes, emotions have to win out. We live or die as one. Up here. Down there. I know that isn't tactically right, but it is right."
Gabriel noticed Tea'va's face tighten at the statement. He wasn't surprised the bek'hai didn't agree. Even so, Tea'va held his tongue.
"So we can send a message out," Theodore said. "Maybe our people can get in position in time, maybe they can't, but at least we can try."
"Agreed," Colonel Graham said.
"Next question. What can we do to get ourselves ready? By
that I mean, for one, can we get the Magellan flying again?"
"She's pretty beat up, General," Guy said. "I've examined her systems. Most importantly, we need to replace the reactors, because they're completely spent. After that, we need to do something about the armor, the life support, pretty much every critical system. Some of it is minor, some of it not as much."
"That wasn't what I asked, Mr. Larone," Theodore said. "I know she's beat up, but I have a feeling the big bird is going to be staying in orbit, taking on some of the other big birds in the air. That means we need a smaller bird to drop our soldiers. Can we get her good enough to use as a ferry?"
"I think I can get her ready enough to make a drop planetside," Guy said. "Other than that, I don't know."
"Mr. Mokri, Zoelle, tell me more about these assemblers. You made a copy of the phase modulator in what? An hour?"
"Yes, General," Reza said.
"The duplicate was insufficient," Zoelle said. "It failed to handle the power requirements and will need further refinement."
"I understand, and you'll have time to work on that. What I need to know is what all we can produce in twenty-two days. Parts for the Magellan? A new power supply? More guns for the troops? That sort of thing."
"All of those, Dahm St. Martin," Tea'va said. "There are twenty-six assemblers on the Ishur. The items you are requesting are all minor as long as we have the resources available, and there is no reason to believe we do not. The scrap from the gi'shah you destroyed can also be used as raw material, along with other surplus."
"I like where it sounds as though you're going with this, Mr. Tea'va. What else are you suggesting?"
"We have two assemblers on board that are capable of building ships, Dahm St. Martin, both gi'shah, and ek'shah. They will need modification to utilize human pilots, but we should have materials and time to construct a few. We can also repair your damaged starships, including the Heil'bek's." Tea'va looked at Gabriel. "It would be my honor to soar with you."
"And mine," Gabriel said in return.
"That's what I want to hear," Theodore said. "Juliet, do you agree with Mr. Tea'va's assessment?"
"I will need to review the logs, but in general, yes."
"Excellent. Next question. Mr. Mokri, Mr. Larone, what about those modulation upgrades? The cascading shields are something, but I would prefer full coverage."
"I don't think that will be possible, sir," Reza said. "It's a limitation of the design. We might be able to give you a little more control over it, though. To at least try to direct the coverage."
"I'll take whatever you can give me."
"I'll work on it, sir."
"Good man."
"Sir," Colonel Choi said, speaking up for the first time. "With regard to our return to Chalawan."
"What about it?"
"General Cave wasn't very happy with us when we left."
"Heh. No, he wasn't. I think coming back in a bigger, better starship might change his mind."
"You don't think he'll court-martial us?"
"Him and what army? No. Alan will fall in line. He lost, we won. He isn't too old or too dumb to see that. Let's move on down to the nitty-gritty. Colonel Graham, I expect you to organize the ground forces that we'll be dropping in the Magellan. Let's get our ducks in a row there. I don't want any question regarding our plan of attack. Mr. Tea'va, I'm going to need your expertise here. You know how the Dread capital is organized better than any of us."
"Of course, Dahm St. Martin," Tea'va said.
"Okay then," Theodore replied, bringing up a map of Earth on the table. The dark splotch that was the main Dread fortress was visible from space. "We collected this data on our pass through. Let's come up with a plan. Nobody leaves this room until we do. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
TWENTY-SEVEN
"WE'RE NEARING THE EXODUS, sir," Gabriel said, watching the terminal in front of him. He was getting the hang of recognizing the different shapes and symbols that made up the bek'hai language, deciphering them more quickly by the day.
"Great news," Theodore said, rolling his chair to the front of the bridge and rotating to look out the viewport. There was nothing in front of them but the blankness of slipspace.
Four days had passed since the Ishur had made the first of two slips, this one intended to carry her from the outer system the Dread called Pol'tek to the system near Ursae Majoris that they called home. For Gabriel, they had passed in an almost literal blur. As one of the highest ranking officers on the ship, he had been assigned the task of keeping an eye on the work being done to prepare for war. That included everything from check-ins on the status of the Magellan, to trips down to the assemblers to ensure everything was set up and coming along according to their designs. It had meant no time to do much of anything else, including his intended conversation with Zoelle about Tea'va's activity in down below.
Time had made that conversation seem less important, as Tea'va had been nothing but a model soldier over the past days. He had offered endless help to Gabriel, Theodore, Abdullah, and the others regarding the operational systems of the Ishur, and had even been able to assist Reza in nearing completion on the integration between interfaces. They had already managed to network half of the secondary weapons batteries on the fortress, and given another week they expected to have them all ready to go. Even better, Reza was making amazing progress on cooking up a solution to give them better control over the phase modulation, though he continued to be stumped by the mathematics surrounding full shield coverage.
"You're getting quite skilled, Heil'bek," Tea'va said. "We'll make a pur'dahm of you, yet."
The Dread was sitting behind Gabriel,watching him control the Ishur through an assembled duplicate of Reza's tablet. It allowed him to use his fingers to manage vectors and thrust, instead of needing to place his hands in a vat of goop to transfer electrical impulses through the organic subsystems.
"I'll pass," Gabriel replied. "Maybe we can make a human of you, instead?"
Tea'va hissed softly. "Perhaps."
The pur'dahm was more than a model soldier. Gabriel was beginning to think of him as a friend.
"Disembarking in twenty seconds," Gabriel said, watching the symbols. Eventually, the tablet would be able to convert it all to alphanumerics, but Reza hadn't gotten that far yet.
"Spaceman Locke, are we ready to transmit?" Theodore asked.
"Yes, sir," Miranda replied. "The message is loaded into the system. Transmitters are online and at full-power. From what Sarah told me, there's no way the rebels can miss this."
"Not unless every listening device on the planet is dead," Theodore replied. "I only wish the Dread weren't going to hear it, too."
"They'll be getting a nice earful, at least," Gabriel said.
"That they will."
"T-minus five seconds," Gabriel announced. "Four. Three. Two. One. Disengaging phase generators."
He slid his finger on the tablet and tapped a button. The ship responded immediately, vibrating softly as the spiked nacelles that surrounded the main structure began to fold back. He closed his eyes, feeling the shift in his body as they were gently released from the stream and dropped back into realspace, the blankness ahead convalescing into a sea of stars.
"Status?" Theodore said.
"We're right on target, sir," Gabriel replied.
"Good. Get us headed for the next insertion point and prepare for the next slip. Spaceman Locke, trigger the transmission."
"Yes, sir," Miranda said. "Transmitting... now."
Of course, there was no visible evidence of the transmission. Even so, they had just released a recorded message from Theodore St. Martin to the United Earth Rebellion, as he was calling it, giving them a time and place to be in eighteen days. Knowing the Dread would be listening in, he had also added a second message, in their language, just for them.
"Transmission sent, General," Miranda said.
"ETA to stream insertion?"
"Seven minutes, General
," Gabriel said.
"How's our radar?"
"We're free and clear, sir."
"And too far out for the Domo'dahm to waste his energy trying to catch us," Tea'va said. "Especially now that he knows when you'll be coming back."
"I know you don't agree with this one, Mr. Tea'va," Theodore said. "We have to trust in our people to get their jobs done. If they do, it won't matter what your leader throws back at us. We'll be just as indestructible as they were when they took the planet from us."
"He is not my leader," Tea'va said sharply.
Theodore smiled. "My apologies, Mr. Tea'va. No, he isn't."
"Five minutes to slip," Gabriel said.
"Sir," Miranda said. "Something just came up on my terminal here, but I don't know how to read it."
"Mr. Tea'va, would you mind?" Theodore said.
"Of course, Dahm St. Martin."
Tea'va stood and circled to the back, where Miranda was sitting. Gabriel lifted his head to watch him, curious about what she had seen. When Tea'va reached her terminal, he glanced at the message, and then his eyes darted to Theodore and back again, almost too quickly to notice.
"It is nothing, General," he said. "A confirmation that the transmission has completed. Would you like to repeat it?"
"No. Once is enough. Thank you, Mr. Tea'va."
"My honor, Dahm St. Martin."
Tea'va returned to his position behind Gabriel as the countdown to the next slip continued.
"You're sure it was nothing?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes, Heil'bek. I am certain. A standard status message. That is all."
Gabriel nodded and returned his eyes to his terminal. He forced himself to concentrate, but something was eating at the corner of his thoughts. He had spent enough time with Tea'va to become familiar with his body language, and as much as he wanted to believe what he had seen was nothing, he didn't.
As he triggered the Ishur to re-engage its phase generators and return to the slipstream, he resolved himself to have that conversation with Zoelle after all.
And soon.
TWENTY-EIGHT
