A Faded Star 3_The Battle for Lashmere

by Michael Freeport

  Inside was a small, but nicely decorated wardroom. The bulkheads were covered with paintings of ships and other Etyrni. The chairs around the small table were plush and comfortable looking. Ektezul walked to the head of the table and motioned for Patho to sit at her right.

  Patho sat down and said, “Nice ship, Captain.”

  “Thank you. The food will arrive momentarily.” She eyed Patho for a long moment with an unreadable light in her eyes. “Whenever we complete a task of great importance among my kind, we commemorate the event with a feast. I hope you’ve arrived with an appetite.” One corner of Ektezul’s mouth turned up in a sly grin. “Have you such traditions?”

  “Sometimes,” Patho replied. “We have days of the year we celebrate, and there is also a traditional feast when two people get married.”

  “Married? What does that mean?” Ektezul sounded puzzled by the word.

  “Oh, um. Don't you have that? Well, you see, when two people care for one another, they sometimes make a formal arrangement called marriage. It is an agreement that they will remain together for the remainder of their lives.”

  “What an odd concept.” She was about to continue, but the door opened, and two other Etyrni came in with trays laden with steaming plates of food. It smelled delicious. “Now we eat. We can finish our talk afterward.”

  The food tasted every bit as good as it smelled. There was a variety of meats and vegetables. Another tray followed a moment later with a variety of sauces that were spooned onto the food that ranged from sweet to spicy to bitter. Ektezul declined to engage in any further conversation until they’d finished the meal. By the time they were done, Patho’s stomach felt like it was about to burst.

  Ektezul picked up the conversation almost as though no time at all had passed. “Your people’s pair-bonding rituals are odd, Captain Patho, but I do find you to be an intriguing person. I have plans for the ship you’ve been building for me. Should you ever tire of your endless duty to Lashmere, I encourage you to contact me. I have a feeling you would do well among the Etyrni.” She winked at him before turning to tap a button on the table near her chair. “Now, I must attend my duties. My second will escort you to the airlock. I wish you a safe voyage.”

  Patho made a polite departure from the enigmatic captain and soon found himself walking back to his airlock. The Etyrni who took him there only spoke to ask him to follow. Patho mused on the dinner and Ektezul as he walked. Her strange way of looking at things certainly had a kind of allure.

  The ring completed the final part a few hours later. Ektezul sent a simple text message saying she felt their deal was complete. Patho wasted no time in getting underway to the Ulef system.

  Chapter 31

  Hanlon snapped her attention to Leader and said, “Ring ships? What are those?”

  “Captain, maintain calm. These are your ships, as they are based on Woduur design, they were identified as ring ships correctly by the sensor tracking system. There are also hundreds of human life signs on the ships.”

  The icy needle of fear vanished almost immediately. “Human ships? Why are humans flying Woduur ring ships?” More questions brimmed Hanlon’s mind, but she held them in check while she waited for more answers from Tolon.

  The Ulef bounced in place for a moment and then said, “I must offer a sincere apology, Captain. The matters of overseeing the Ulef people demand my attention. I entrust your care to Ur at this time.”

  “Wait, no. Tol, I mean, Leader, I don’t trust Ur. Can’t you just assign a different Ulef to represent you?”

  “Captain, I will not provide further assurance. If you continue to distrust us even after all I have done to demonstrate our conjoined goals and willingness to cooperate, I will be forced to seek a new human representative. Please take this as my final statement on the matter.”

  “I-” Hanlon paused before she spoke and considered her response. Tolon had certainly gone out of its way to repeatedly confirm its trustworthiness to Hanlon over the last several hours. She had no choice but to take it at its word. “I apologize, Leader. You’re right. I’ve failed to recognize the efforts you’ve made to reassure me. Thank you. I would like to speak with the commander of the human fleet and then return to New Dawn to continue the repairs.”

  “Of course, Captain Hanlon,” Leader said. “I expect you to speak with me before you depart for the Lashmere system. We will need to coordinate the fleet movements.”

  Hanlon nodded and said, “Of course. Thank you, Leader. I hope to see you again soon.”

  Ur stepped forward. Hanlon resisted the urge to shrink back from it. “Captain Hanlon, please follow me.” The Ulef turned and left the presence chamber. Hanlon followed Ur for a short distance before it indicated a doorway to its right. “This room houses a private messaging nexus that will allow you to communicate with the commander of the human force. Leader requests that you provide a summary of any information pertinent to our current agreement.”

  Hanlon nodded and said, “Thank you, Ur.” She touched the door control and stepped inside. A human sized console with controls labeled in her language stood against one wall. The space above the console was dominated by a large screen. She tapped out a sequence of commands to open a communications channel to the human fleet. After a long pause, the screen came on and showed Admiral Stokes’ face.

  Stokes broke into a wide smile, a true rarity for the normally stoic admiral. “Captain Hanlon! What a relief to see you. How have the Ulef been treating you?”

  “Not as bad as you’d expect, sir,” Hanlon said. She felt her face stretch into a broad smile as well. All the things that had passed since she’d last seen Stokes came rushing forward. Her smile faltered, and she said, “Sir, there is so much catching up to do. I don’t know where to begin.

  “There’s time for that later, Captain,” Stokes said. “What we need to do now is figure out how to secure Lashmere against the Woduur threat.”

  “I have the solution for that, sir. There is a human built ship here called New Dawn. It has a system called the neural wave transmitter that will make it impossible for the Woduur to stay in the system. Unfortunately, the ship is damaged and requires extensive repairs before it can be effective. There’s a lot more to the story, but we can catch up once the repairs are underway, sir.”

  Stokes nodded and said, “That is good news. I presume the New Dawn is that massive ship in orbit around the gas giant.”

  “Yes, sir,” Hanlon confirmed.

  “Fortunately, all of my ships are at peak condition, and we’ve come up with some defensive tech against the Woduur weapons.”

  “There is one more important thing I have to tell you about, sir. In exchange for the New Dawn, the Ulef want to settle on one of the moons of Oculus. They’re unwilling to let us leave without them.” She summarized her negotiations with Tolon for the admiral.

  “That’s bound to cause an uproar in the Senate. We’ll just let the politicians worry about that. For now, I think you’ve already worked out the best possible solution. For Lashmere to be safe, we need the New Dawn. For us to retain control of New Dawn, the Ulef need to settle in the Lashmere system. As far as materials reimbursement, I think we can likely accommodate them. With the ring technology, we should be able to quickly gather the materials needed. We should also be able to manufacture replacement parts for New Dawn much more quickly than your current timetable.”

  “I’ll take a shuttle over and get a list of parts put together. I’ll contact you once I’m back aboard the New Dawn.”

  “Confirmed,” Stokes said, and then the screen switched off.

  Hanlon stepped out of the room and saw Ur standing in the passageway, motionless. “Ur, when I spoke with Admiral Stokes, he confirmed and added his endorsement to the deal I’ve worked out with Leader. I’m sure it will want to know.”

  Ur bounced a couple of times and then said, “Thank you for providing the confirmation, Captain Hanlon. What do you plan to do next?”

  “I need to take the
shuttle back to New Dawn. I hope the warriors have been withdrawn.”

  “They have been recalled. Their presence was found to be inappropriate at this time,” Ur said.

  Hanlon started to point out that they were inappropriate before Tolon had seized leadership of the Ulef, but she didn’t think it would make any difference. Instead, she said, “Let’s get back to New Dawn. Please take me to my shuttle.”

  Ur turned in place and then set off along the passageway. “Follow me, Captain Hanlon,” the Ulef said. After a few minutes’ walk, Hanlon was stepped aboard the same shuttle she’d used previously. Moments later, she was stepping into the command center aboard New Dawn. The room was utter chaos. There were fragments of consoles and huge spidery looking metal creatures everywhere.

  “New Dawn, what happened here?”

  “The Woduur resisted my efforts to incapacitate them. I was forced to utilize massive force. The danger to my systems was overwhelming with them aboard.”

  “That explains why it looks like a war zone in here. How long will it take to complete repairs to the command center?”

  “Utilizing onboard supplies, no more than three days. Spares are currently being manufactured.”

  “Excellent,” Hanlon said. “Have you noted the arrival of that small fleet?”

  “Of course. Human life signs have been detected on board these ships, but they are of Woduur design,” Dawn observed.

  “The ships were manufactured using Woduur technology, but they are fully under the control of humans,” Hanlon recalled from the briefing Patho left when he’d picked up her crew from the expeditionary force. “I plan to use the manufacturing technology to speed up your repair timetable. With the Ulef back on our side, we need to get everyone to Lashmere as soon as possible.”

  “The Woduur manufacturing process includes multiple safeguards that will prevent retention of control of its products without Woduur consent,” Dawn said.

  “Can you help us bypass those built in safeguards?” Hanlon asked. She hoped they could bypass them retroactively as well.

  “I can. Allow me to interface with the manufacturing computers, and I will write a software patch that forces the manufacturing rings to leave out the secondary controls.”

  “I’ll send the request to Admiral Stokes. Is the main plot functional?”

  “It is undamaged, Captain,” Dawn said.

  “Initiate communications with the human fleet.”

  A short pause and then Stokes’ face appeared above the huge round display at the middle of the command center.

  “I’m glad to see you’ve arrived, Miss Hanlon,” Stokes said. “I’m prepping a shuttle to board your ship in a few minutes.”

  “Sir, something’s come up. I need to use your manufacturing facilities to speed up the pace of repairs. To do that, New Dawn will need to interface with the computers to make sure we can keep control of the Woduur manufactured parts.”

  Stokes’ eyes lit up at that, and he said, “New Dawn knows how to bypass the Woduur controls?”

  “So she claims. You can talk to her when you get aboard.”

  Stokes’ got a confused look on his face. “Talk to her?”

  “Ah, sorry, sir. New Dawn uses an advanced artificial intelligence to interface with us. She calls herself Dawn.” She paused for a moment and then said, “Dawn, introduce yourself to Admiral Stokes. Admiral Stokes, this is Dawn.”

  Dawn updated the comm channel, so Stokes could see her, and said, “A pleasure to meet you, Admiral. I am happy to provide specifications for all parts needed to complete my repairs. I am also sending you a file with instructions on how to bypass any installed Woduur control codes and systems. If you don’t use these instructions, the Woduur may be able to exercise either partial or total control of your ships.”

  “We’re aware,” Stokes said. “When the Woduur recalled Aeternum, we lost all power on our ships. He turned his attention to his right and said, “Very well. I’ll be down in just a moment.” He focused on Hanlon. “I’m going to board my shuttle now. Send a landing beacon. I look forward to seeing New Dawn in person.”

  Stokes’ image vanished, and Hanlon said, “Send a beacon, Dawn.” She took a moment to download all of the repair specifications onto a datapad. “I’m headed to the command level boat bay.”

  A few minutes later, Hanlon was standing in the viewing gallery. She watched as a small craft entered the small boat bay. The shuttle landed, and the airlock cycled. Stokes stepped through the door and said, “Good to see you, Linis. I read the brief you sent back with Patho, but I want the whole story when we have time, I can’t believe you’ve experienced dreams instigated by this ship for your whole life.”

  “Hard to believe, I know, sir, but it’s true. For now, we need to start manufacturing parts and repairing the New Dawn’s systems.” She pulled the datapad from her pocket. “Here is a list of all the parts we need. The specifications are in there as well. Dawn tells me we won’t be building in any Woduur controls if we build it this way.”

  Stokes took the device and slipped it into his pocket. “We’ll get started immediately. Do you have any materials available?”

  “The central docking bay is loaded with needed materials and supplies. New Dawn also has a pretty capable self-repair and maintenance system.” She was about to continue when Stokes raised a hand.

  “We can listen to all of that later. For now, I have some people who would like to see you.” He turned and said, “Okay, you two. Come on.”

  Kiran Watkins and Zinda Kelper both piled out of the airlock. Watkins was grinning hugely and practically bouncing on his toes as he approached Hanlon. “Captain! It is so good to see you.” He looked like he was going to try to hug Hanlon for a moment before catching himself and offering his hand to shake.

  Hanlon shook and said, “I’m thrilled to see you, Kiran.” She turned and said, “Zinda, how are you?”

  The tiny woman smiled and said, “I’m… better, Ma’am. Are you sure you can trust these crabs?”

  “They’ve proven themselves pretty extensively, Zinda. It turns out they were partners with the humans who left earth thousands of years ago.”

  Kelper’s eyes widened and she said, “Well, if you’re sure, ma’am. I trust you.”

  The trio busied themselves on catching up with their respective stories over the next hour. Stokes detailed different ships to begin producing replacement parts for the New Dawn. The materials required were far less extensive than originally needed, given the ability of the manufacturing rings to break down materials to their atomic elements. Much of the material needed was still held in the cavernous open area that ran through the interior of New Dawn’s hull.

  Repairs that New Dawn originally estimated at more than two months took just over a week to complete. Each system restored brought New Dawn closer and closer to making the flight to Lashmere.

  The Ulef began to secure the massive membrane which had been over the planet they were consuming. Their fleet made final preparations to begin transiting to Lashmere. More than ten thousand ships formed into ten fleets much like the ones they’d observed in the past. Because New Dawn and the Ulef ships used the same type of FTL system, they would fly in formation and meet up with Stokes’ fleet at regular intervals.

  The day before they were prepared to leave, Gorgon arrived in the system. Patho, along with Stokes, Hanlon and all of their bridge crews hosted a small welcome party for the wayward captain. When he recounted what he’d been doing, everyone was surprised. He recounted his experience with Ektezul and the building of her new ship. He insisted that the Etyrni could make valuable allies if they could be motivated to join their cause.

  Hanlon was in the command center of New Dawn, making preparations to leave. Watkins and Kelper were there with her, along with several other officers assigned by Stokes to the New Dawn command.

  “Ma’am,” Kelper said, “We’re getting a comm request from Leader’s ship.”

  “Put it through.” Tolon a
ppeared on the main plot. At least, Hanlon hoped it was Tolon. She still couldn’t tell the Ulef apart. “Hello, Leader. We’re on schedule for departure. How are things going for your fleets?”

  “All preparations are going as planned,” Tolon replied. “I am not contacting you for that reason. Our advance sensors have detected a massing of Woduur ring ships roughly fifty lightyears from here. They appear to be massing for an attack on this system.”

  “I thought New Dawn made such an attack unlikely to succeed,” Hanlon said.

  “Unlikely, yes, however, they must feel they have no choice. It will be readily apparent to their sensor systems we are preparing to leave.”

  “We’d better get ready to leave immediately. How soon can your fleet begin to depart?”

  “We are making preparations to depart now. Has New Dawn completed its repairs?”

  “Repairs are complete. The systems tests are underway. I’d rather have at least another day or two to make sure we’re up to spec, but with the Woduur massing, we can’t wait around here. How many ring ships have you detected?”

  “We are currently tracking fifteen, but we have readings that suggest there are more on the way. I urge you to leave for Lashmere as soon as possible.”

  Hanlon nodded and turned to Watkins, who was already working his console with a look of grim determination. He gave a thumbs up gesture to Hanlon.

  “Okay, Leader. Let me coordinate with Admiral Stokes, and we should be able to depart in the next thirty minutes.”

  “Acknowledged.” The comm channel closed. Hanlon immediately contacted Stokes.

  “Sir, The Ulef are tracking a fleet of Woduur ships massing for an attack on this system. They’re making preparations to depart. Can your ships make the jump ahead and begin scouting?”

  “Stokes nodded and said, “I’ll dispatch Gorgon, Harpy, Griffin, and Scorpion to scout ahead in pairs. If they find any Woduur trying to catch us unprepared, we’ll have plenty of warning. I wish we’d had time to upgrade New Dawn’s power systems and defensive systems. Without them, you’re pretty vulnerable.”