The Tau Ceti Diversion

by Chris McMahon

  Karic gave the tech a wry grin. “I’m sure Janzen will be here any moment.”

  Andrai grimaced. “You know he won’t be back again.”

  Both knew that Janzen would stay in the base camp, safe behind the defensive shield. There he would use the stasis sets to wait out the decades required for a signal to reach Earth from Tau Ceti, and for the reply to be received.

  “How come Janzen was at the controls?” asked Karic. He tried to keep his voice even, but it was hard. Janzen was an amateur pilot compared to Andrai and he should not have been at the controls on an expedition like that. The former commander’s ability to manipulate every single one of them was aggravating in the extreme. With the benefit of hindsight, Karic could see that simply removing him from command had not been enough. Not nearly enough.

  “Janzen activated some sort of lockout on the controls. None of us could do anything without his voice activation.” Andrai smiled bitterly. “I’m sorry, Karic. The plan seemed like a good one, even with Janzen at the controls. None of us suspected what that alien weapon was capable of.”

  Karic sighed. Recriminations were useless.

  He turned sharply as a shadow fell across them. The cage door above them opened, falling back onto the ground surrounding the pit with a heavy thud.

  Mara woke suddenly, leaping to her feet with a gasp of fright. Her dark hair cascaded around her face and shoulders. Her wide, dark eyes took in them, the pit, then the open sky above them in a series of quick, feverish movements. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re not sure,” said Karic.

  Karic, Mara, and Andrai unconsciously moved closer together, the three of them looking up expectantly at the five towering Imbirri who appeared above the pit. Each of them instinctively searched for some means of escape, but they would be caught easily if they tried to climb the sides. The Imbirri reached down into the pit and seized them. The three humans struggled, but were powerless to prevent the Imbirri from taking them.

  The group of five Imbirri, who Karic recognized as followers of Utar, took them to the forest verge. There they released them.

  The three humans stood confused for a brief moment, but one of the Imbirri spoke quickly to them in their melodic native language, waving them into the forest and away from the camp.

  At last they had their chance.

  “Come on!” Karic led them into the forest at a run.

  Soon the village was lost from sight. More familiar with the area around the alien’s camp, Andrai and Mara took over the navigation. After a few frustrating hours inside the confusing morass of the jungle, they succeeded in identifying enough key landmarks to strike out toward the base camp. They were exhausted from lack of food and fatigue, yet not one of them entertained thoughts of stopping. The promise of safety in the lander’s shielded encampment drew them on.

  Karic was personally looking forward to wringing Janzen’s neck.

  After three hours they finally crested the last rise.

  “Look! There’s the lander!” Mara pointed toward the gray metal shape of the craft through the trees. They could just make out the rippling blue curtain of the shield enclosure that surrounded it.

  Hooting in triumph, they ran down the hill, safety in sight at last. Yet as they approached, Karic began to notice signs around them that a large group had passed this way.

  Karic’s elation fled. “Stop!” He pulled Mara and Andrai to the ground. They began to protest, but noting his urgency, they responded without question. He waved them into hiding.

  The lander was now only hundreds of meters away. From their place of concealment they could see the gray turrets and sculptured metal of the hull. Solid, seemingly impenetrable.

  As they watched, Karic’s worst fears were confirmed.

  The Awakener’s cohorts, at first hidden by the terrain, could be seen surrounding the craft. Red-crowned Imbirri circled the shield constantly, like tigers around a wounded elephant, testing its defenses, looking for a weak spot. They darted in with quick, vicious movements, showing an aggression Karic had not seen in the natives so far. The aliens attacked in twos and threes, thrusting branches and logs at the screen, or beating at the relay posts in an attempt to disable them. They backed away swiftly when the wood erupted into flame, but they continued their relentless assault with new weapons snatched up from the forest floor. Behind them, the Awakener watched in silence, his huge, multifaceted eyes as dark as obsidian, yet alive with a chilling intelligence. He was surrounded by another group of mixed Imbirri, who watched the attack unfold with the same detachment as their leader. Karic guessed these were the same group who had emerged from the Tree with the Awakener during Janzen’s ill-fated attacks on the Imbirri encampment. They seemed higher in status — and intelligence — than the other Imbirri. The Awakener towered over them all, standing almost four meters tall.

  “Like bringing a knife to a gunfight. No way they can damage our shield with sticks and logs,” said Andrai, forcing a smile.

  Karic’s gaze was drawn to the Awakener, and the metallic sheen of the energy weapon he carried in his right hand. “It’s not stick and logs I’m worried about.”

  The Awakener sang a quick series of notes and the red-crowned Imbirri withdrew into the surrounding jungle. The Imbirri leader made a quick adjustment to the weapon then unleashed its power. Twin streamers of jagged lightning shot across the clearing and struck the shield with a sizzling crack and a discharge of ozone.

  A worm of fear slithered in the pit of Karic’s stomach. Not even he could guess at the shield’s limits when confronted with this powerful alien technology.

  The blue fields rippled and stretched. Inside the magnetic containment, where the attack met the shield, the charged plasma glowed an intense yellow. Even from hundreds of meters away, Karic felt the heat on the side of his face. The swirling yellow expanded as the shield’s processor spread the absorbed heat and energy across its whole plasma storage. The Awakener howled with fury, moving closer to the shield as the power issuing from the alien weapon ramped up another notch. His mouth dry, Karic tried to swallow past the sudden lump in his throat. All three of them had their gaze locked to the shield.

  The heat spread through the shield until the whole enclosed mass of plasma glowed an effulgent gold. The containment area expanded as stored gas was ionized and injected into the plasma containment to absorb more of the energy. Soon, even the powerful magnetics would reach their limit.

  Mara gripped Andrai’s arm, her dark eyes wide in fear. Her hair was still loose, crowding around her thin face. It made her look younger, more vulnerable.

  The Awakener was only paces away from the shield now. Karic squatted down lower, instinctively going deeper into cover to conceal himself from the huge being and the awesome power he wielded.

  Then, with a blinding flash, the shield vented plasma. All three of them cried out and dove to the ground as the super-hot plasma, ejected from the magnetic containment as it reached its programmed limit, expanded overhead. Leaves in the overhead canopy flashed and burned to carbon in an instant, then the plasma was gone. Dissipated.

  Karic leapt to his feet in time to see the Awakener disappear into the jungle.

  Of course. Having reached the limits of its expanded containment, the shield shed the energy by releasing the plasma instead. The shield was designed to defeat energy weapons after all. It would continue to absorb energy and vent plasma as long as the stock of replacement plasma gas remained. The AI in the shield would now work to radiate away its heat, gradually extracting and storing the excess gas until it returned to its initial state.

  The lander was safe.

  The three of them exchanged smiles of relief. They ducked back into cover as the red-crowned Imbirri returned, more incensed than ever. Despite their lack of success before, they continued to attack the shield, prodding at the shimmering containment over the posts and the main unit, still looking for a way in. Their methodical determination — and their aggression — was disturbing.
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  There was a low thud of metal against metal from the lander. Karic scanned the hull for a long moment before he noticed one of the probe launch doors was open. A detonation echoed through the valley as the probe’s tiny rockets ignited, then the familiar high-pitched whine reached them as it shot skyward from the lander.

  “Why is Janzen launching a probe?” said Andrai, his wide forehead creased in a frown. “Maybe he’s going to survey the village. To check on us.”

  “No. He’s written us off.” Karic watched as the probe lifted then cast off its outer casing, deploying wings and small laser turrets. The tiny rockets swiveled in place and the probe hovered, turning slowly. It was locking targets.

  “Damn. What now?” said Mara, unconsciously pushing her hair back from her face.

  “That’s a Davis XV78 attack probe,” said Karic. “Better take cover. That thing will kill anything that moves.”

  It seemed that suspension sets were not the only things that Janzen had snuck aboard the lander. It made him wonder what else was hiding on board. But so much armament? Had Janzen been expecting to fight a war?

  The XV78 started firing.

  It shot small focused bursts of laser fire, faster than the eye could track. Suddenly, the Imbirri were falling by the dozens, some howling in pain, others in ominous silence, smoking holes drilled through their heads and torsos.

  “It’s a massacre,” said Mara.

  Karic felt sick. Beside him, Andrai had his head in his hands.

  He turned back toward the lander, but now his attention was drawn to a lone figure standing some distance above them on a small rise. It was the Awakener, the slim metallic shaft of the energy weapon in his hand.

  A long, blue-white tendril of cracking power whipped across the top of the clearing.

  The XV78 took evasive action, jetting skyward away from the burst, but the edge of the corona, which had broadened as the wave approached, caught the tiny probe. Its systems failed, and the tiny rockets cut out. It immediately fell — straight into the main part of the beam.

  It exploded with a sharp crack that echoed across the valley.

  Andrai looked up, his eyes wide.

  Mara followed the beam back to its source and her face paled. “Fucking Christ! The weapon is higher than the shield!”

  Karic’s head spun with a sudden sense of unreality. Mara was right. The sickening realization hit him with stunning force. The shield was a powerful means of defense, but it had been deployed as a high-tech fence, rather than an enclosing dome. From above, the big lander was exposed and vulnerable.

  The Awakener raised the staff once more and a surge of power leapt across the top of the barrier toward the lander, enveloping it within a radiant landscape of energy. The three of them could feel the heat from where they lay, growing more intense by the second.

  “No!” howled Karic.

  He watched in despair as the hull of the lander heated rapidly to red, then white. All its leading surfaces — the lower hull and the edges of the struts and wings that made first contact with the rushing atmosphere during flight — were designed to withstand these temperatures and more, yet other surfaces were never meant to take this kind of treatment. They began to melt. The biggest of the remaining external fuel tanks ruptured. The boiling fuel instantly expanded into a huge cloud, then the lander was lost in a massive fireball. It exploded skyward in a cascade of sheet metal and shattered components. Three explosions followed, each heralding the destruction of the craft’s remaining external fuel tanks and the main propulsion systems. The air was filled with the roar of combustion as the enriched fuels, scattered to the winds, heated, flashed and ignited in hundreds of brilliant, burning spheres, then dropped fire onto the forest.

  As the smoke cleared, they could see that the energy barrier was still intact, but the space within it was charred and blackened; littered with twisted alloy. The sky was filled with burning metal, plastic and ceramic, and for long minutes they lay face down; jumping at every impact, waiting for the deadly fragment of debris that would end their lives, as surely as the fireball had ended Janzen’s.

  Finally, the maelstrom ended.

  The air was filled with the terrified screams of the Imbirri.

  Not a single section of the lander remained intact inside the barrier. They were cut off from the Starburst. Trapped on Cru.

  “The suspension equipment …” The words were torn from Karic, and there was little he could do to disguise his utter despair. Their last hope of ever reaching Earth was gone, reduced to hot shards of useless metal.

  Karic sank to his knees.

  Beside him, Andrai and Mara were stunned. Motionless. He took a deep breath. They needed him. He had to lead them.

  “The pod,” said Karic. “Was the pod still functioning?”

  “Ibri checked it from the ground up and started the diagnostic. It must be completed by now,” said Mara, gasping for breath.

  “Slow your breathing, Mara.” She glared at him, but a new look of determination replaced the dullness in her eyes.

  “That being knows where it is,” said Karic. “We have to reach it before him.” We have to get out of here. Their last hope was to run for it. It was a promise of hope — on the shores of the lake where they had first touched the soil of Cru.

  “This way!” Mara pushed herself to her feet and ran up the slope. Her dark hair bounced on her shoulders as she ran. Small and lithe, she seemed to be more agile in the heavy gravity than any of them. They raced after her through the sparse growth of the forest, driven by fear, tree limbs and leaves flashing by them in a blur. They crested the ridge and ran down. The light ahead of them grew as a towering crystal range rose ahead. The growth around them grew thicker, the air more heavily scented. Eventually, they broke through a thick stand of vegetation and waded into the long grasses of the lake shore.

  The pod was gone.

  Cursing, Karic raced toward the area where he had set the pod down. As he neared, he could see the blackened depression caused by the small rockets, at first concealed by the long grasses of the lake shore. They followed a wide track in the grass that led away from the lake. The track led them to the edge of the forest. Here they heard a jumble of dulcet voices.

  It was a group of squat, purple-crowned Imbirri, now alarmed at their approach. The aliens had dragged the pod from the lake, and were attempting to take it further into the concealing growth.

  As the humans approached, they hooted in fear and ran.

  With relief Karic realized the chieftain must have sent another group to the pod to conceal it while he dealt with the lander. For the moment they were safe.

  Karic raced to the hatch. After releasing the door mechanism, he climbed through the opening into the pilot’s seat. Andrai and Mara looked into the cabin uncertainly from outside the craft.

  “Come on!” yelled Karic. “It’ll be cramped, but the pod can lift four of us if need be.”

  Andrai and Mara turned to check for pursuit, then squeezed into the craft. Once inside, they lay breathing heavily, nursing cuts, bruises and strained muscles from the long run.

  “Damn this heavy gravity,” said Andrai, massaging his ankle.

  Karic’s hands flew over the console. With a whirr, devices and cooling fans sprang to life within the compact craft. The computer’s viewscreen flashed to brilliance, all systems running rapidly through a quick start-up sequence. Everything was in perfect running order. Within minutes the tones that accompanied the sequence had completed their familiar melody, and the screen displayed the simple message — Ready For Flight.

  The three survivors of the Starburst’s crew exchanged glances, and without a word, paused for a moment of reverent silence, like an unspoken prayer for the dead. It was Ibri’s work that would save them now.

  With a low roar, the small, yet powerful chemical rockets lifted them above the lake shore. Once airborne, Karic pivoted the ship around in a full circle, scanning the terrain, searching for any sign of the Awakener.
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br />   “There he is!” yelled Andrai.

  A large group of Imbirri appeared over the ridge, the unmistakable bulk of the Awakener in the lead. Just for a moment the pure white light of the crystal range glistened on the haft of the scepter.

  “It’s the Awakener,” said Karic.

  Mara looked at him sharply.

  Karic was only too aware of what that weapon could do. He turned the craft toward the massive crystal range and applied full forward thrust, the pod climbing slightly as it flew.

  Where to now? He had to forget about the loss of the lander, and their ultimate future on Cru.

  Now they just needed to survive.

  Then he remembered Utar — switching the personal beacon on and off. The small communicators had proved ineffective on the ground, but from the air he would be able to pick up a signal.

  Karic began to sweep the airwaves. The automated scan locked onto the beacon’s frequency. The tone repeated insistently in the cabin. He felt a flood of relief. A small voice of doubt had been at work in his mind, questioning everything he had experienced. But there could be absolutely no doubt now. Utar’s acolytes had freed them so they could follow this beacon’s signal to its source. He had to trust them. They had nowhere else to turn.

  “That’s it,” said Karic. “Remember, Mara? When Utar came to the pit. That’s the personal beacon from my comband — the one he showed us. We need to track the signal and find his followers.”

  “Karic, there is no way we can know what Utar meant,” said Mara, her patience frayed by fatigue and fear. Her fingers worked quickly in her hair, trying it back from her face in a series of braids, as though restoring her battle armor.

  “Trust me.”

  Mara glared at him, angry and uncertain, but a fierce intellect was at work in her dark eyes.

  Andrai watched the interaction between them, mystified, but remained silent. The tech calmly returned his attention to the console, absently smoothing down his blond hair as he worked the interface. “We can find out what sort of signal it is by analyzing the signature.”