“Senior Crewman and Weapons Chief Bill MacCarthy, how are you today?”
“Captain, I’m fine.” Perhaps her upbeatness came from the quickness with which their five new crewmembers had seen, understood and then engaged with the function stations assigned to each of them. Or maybe it was due to eight hours of sleep and the pancakes, eggs sunny-side up and bacon strips breakfast that he had cooked for her using the synthesizer of the Food Chamber. “And as this ship’s only Chief Petty Officer, I can report our other passengers are doing equally well. Though our Winglo avians did label our Aelthorp folks as ‘pretend flyers’.”
Her smile turned serious as she looked away from him and scanned their new crewmembers. “Well, adjustments take time. I am pleased with our new crewmembers. And with our guests. They are fascinating, cooperative and peaceful.” She rechecked her ring of holos. They showed everything his did plus there were views of vital chambers like Engines, Transport, Fusion Plants, Fuel and Air Production. “Star Traveler, advise me before we enter normal space-time.”
“Instruction accepted,” the AI said, its tone calm and peaceful.
Bill reached down and touched the cool Pachmayr grip of his Federal Ordinance .45 semi-auto. Peaceful things had been, ever since they’d locked up the Mok cougar people. And while he and Jane had left their backpacks, with the taser and laser tube weapons in their private habitat rooms, still, he was surrounded by twelve people from seven different species. He was not about to let down his guard. “Captain, what do we know about this Ludeen system? Beyond the presence of five planets?”
The holo of Jane showed her looking his way. “Well, the Blue Sky will arrive just outside the orbit of planet five. Which lies 2.87 AU out from the local star. Planet four is Green Land, home world of the Ludeen. It lies within the liquid water ecozone at 1.5 AU. Planet three is a gas giant world located at 0.29 AU. Inward are the rocky worlds two and one, which lie at two-tenths and one-tenth AU from the star. Which makes planet one tidally locked. Like how our Moon always keeps one side facing Earth.”
“Thanks.” Bill checked the ship’s EMF sensors. They would tell him whenever any microwaves, lasers, radio or solid objects approached the Blue Sky. “Ship Weapons station is at full power with all weapons operational. Ship sensors are activated.”
“Captain,” called Star Traveler, “this vessel will exit Alcubierre space-time and re-enter normal space-time within three seconds.”
Shit. That was not much of a warning.
“Really?” Jane sounded as if she too was unhappy with the short notice. “In the future, advise me of such an emergence at least five minutes before this ship re-enters normal space-time.”
“Understood,” the AI said in a tone that suggested surprise.
Bright stars flared before Bill as the true space holo went active. Five white dots appeared with the yellow star at the center. One of the dots was large and nearby.
A low hum sounded. “Ship has arrived safely,” Star Traveler said. “No moving neutrino sources. There is no other Collector ship in this system.
Bill blinked. “Star Traveler, what are the odds that we’d arrive in a system which is being visited by another Collector ship? Space is big.”
Jane’s holo showed her looking his way. She seemed irritated by his question that came during ship status reports. He gave her a shrug.
A low hum echoed through the room. “The odds are very good that we would encounter another Collector ship,” the AI said, its tone sounding smug. “In fact, just before this ship left your Sol system another Collector ship arrived just outside the orbit of your world Pluto. Low tech star systems are popular places to obtain captives. And there are 95 Collector ships roaming the Orion Arm.”
“Enough distraction,” Jane said impatiently. “Crewmembers, continue your status reports.”
Chittering came from the Navigation station. “Planet five lies directly ahead of us,” said Lofty Flyer. “Planet four is on our side of the star, but behind us by twenty degrees. At a distance of two AU. The system’s three other worlds are orbiting on the far side of the star.”
“Life Support is stable,” said Purposeful Guide in a series of sharp barks.
“Magfield ship engines are engaged,” hissed Time Marker.
To his right Bright Sparkles gave him a quick smile. “All three fusion power plants are operating at full power, with proper plasma containment,” she said, her bare skin flickering with a dozen color stripes that flowed, bunched, reformed and sometimes vanished.
A low moan sounded. “Collector Pods are ready for external dispatch,” said Zipziptoe as the segmented worm’s front leg-hands tapped on its control pedestal.
“Crew, thank you for those reports,” Jane said firmly. “Star Traveler, that planet ahead of us does not look like a normal gas giant. It’s beyond gigantic. What is it?”
A low hum echoed through the Command Bridge. “Your astronomers have classified it as a brown dwarf. A failed star. Its mass is 17.3 times the mass of your system’s Jupiter.”
“Amazing,” barked Purposeful Guide.
“Thank you,” Jane said. “Navigator Lofty Flyer, adjust this ship’s vector so we rendezvous with planet four, or Green Land.”
Chittering speech filled his ears before the buds translated. “Vector line adjustment made. We will pass well outside the moon system of the brown dwarf gas world. Speed is one-tenth lightspeed. Arrival at Green Land is expected within two hours, 43 minutes Earth time.”
Mentally Bill gave thanks for the simplicity of their task. The Ludeen home world was on their side of the system. No doubt other Earth-like worlds would lie opposite their arrival point, when they visited other stars. Like the home star of the two Winglo avians. Dismissing future worries he focused on the dotted green line that the system graphic holo now showed for their projected vector course. The vector would take them through this system’s asteroid belt. While he understood all such belts had vast distances between each asteroid, still, crossing a belt was not like crossing open space. He tapped the top of his control pedestal and aimed several ship sensor dishes at the spot where the ship would cross the belt.
“Bill?” called Jane. “My ship holo says you have changed some ship sensors. Why?”
He explained quickly. “If there is going to be a small asteroid along our vector path, I want to know in plenty of time to zap it with our gas lasers. Or our plasma batteries. At our speed, we can pass through that asteroid belt in the blink of an eye.”
“Good point.” Her holo showed her looking around the Command Bridge. “All stations, all crew, be alert to the unexpected. While the Ludeen do not have people-manned spacecraft, they do have satellites in orbit. And also ground-based lasers. According to our Ludeen guests. But their people may have done more than was known to Mellow of the Mountains and Happy of the Tree.”
Lofty Flyer flared her arms as if preparing to jump from one tree to another. “This Navigation station includes data feeds from the sensors activated by Weapons Chief Bill,” she chittered. “Be assured, I will fly this wondrous craft up and around any obstacle!”
In the holo to his right Jane sat back in her captain’s seat, laid her hands in her lap and stared at her own holos. “Crew, thank you for your reports. Your Captain can now relax.”
Bill smiled to himself. Jane’s words were meant for the five new crewmembers. He’d spent enough time with her to know she never relaxed when on duty, nor did she assume a peaceful future. From what she’d told him of her time at Peterson, monitoring the orbits of military and commercial satellites, always on the lookout for an anti-satellite vehicle, or a sudden deorbiting of a low Earth orbit vehicle, he knew she took her ship command job seriously. She acted as if lives depended on her actions. Which they did. Counting the two Mok and two Doman people still in their cells, there were eighteen lives at risk every moment this ship did anything in normal space-time.
♦ ♦ ♦
“Ship Blue Sky is within five orbital diameters of th
e world Green Land,” Lofty Flyer chittered calmly. “Ship speed has slowed to orbital escape velocity for the world below us.”
They’d passed through the asteroid belt without incident, though they’d passed within 300 miles of a city-sized asteroid. More importantly, Bill had not had to use any of the ship’s energy weapons. Jane had warned him their use might be detected by home world Ludeen. Which detection could make more risky their arrival above the green and blue world. Which seemed to be a near duplicate of Earth, thanks to the several oceans they saw by way of the ship’s electro-optical telescopes.
“Thank you, Navigator,” Jane said calmly. She changed the angle of her attention. “Crewmember Long Walker, are our two Ludeen guests safely aboard their two collector pods?”
“They are,” moaned the Zipziptoe worm. “Each is eager to return home.”
Jane gave a sharp nod. “Understood. Are the pods targeted for a remote landscape arrival? On the night side of the planet?”
“They are,” Long Walker said. “Ready to launch upon your order.”
“Navigator? Status?” called Jane.
“Ship is within one orbital diameter of the world Green Land,” chittered their brown-furred flying squirrel. “Ship vector has been adjusted to a high orbit well above the comlink satellites. No sign of any independent launch vehicle being active beyond low orbit.”
Jane gave a sigh. “Long Walker, launch the two collector pods with our guests.”
“Launching pods,” called the segmented worm who thought vacuum and stellar radiation were a minor bother.
Bill grimaced as he recalled how Diligent the giant cockroach had lied to the ship mind when it said the captives in the containment cells were ‘guests’ who had come aboard of their own free will. Now, he’d achieved his five main objectives upon learning of his captivity. He’d escaped, pursued the cockroach, captured him, captured his ship and now he and Jane were returning home the first captives.
The true space holo in front of him had moved from showing black space and colorful stars to depicting the green land and blue oceans of the world below. Inside, he ached. So much did it resemble Earth, resemble the world where he’d hiked, caught fish, slept outdoors, watched meteors streak across the night sky, and gotten drunk with his buddies at Jack’s Deep Six saloon.
“Pods have released our Ludeen guests,” moaned Long Walker. “They were not detected. They are returning to this ship.”
Bill fought the temptation to relax. He’d been tense ever sense arriving in the Ludeen system. Any star system had both the known and the unknown in it. They’d crossed local space safely, orbited the world of Green Land and had now released the first two captives back on their home world. The two Ludeen had said they would tell other Ludeen of their capture, survival, freeing by him and Jane, and their joy at meeting people from other worlds. He and Jane had nodded, said that was fine, but he doubted the two Ludeen would be believed by their authorities. The Blue Sky was invisible, thanks to its ability to wrap all EMF emissions around the ship’s hull. Plus, the ship did not emit a drive flare like a missile or rocket or Apollo-style spaceship. One of the few arguments he and Jane had was over whether to alert the planetary authorities of this and other systems to the existence of Collector ships. He’d warned against it, saying Collector ship detection was nigh impossible. She’d argued for the public alert. Now, all was quiet and peaceful aboard the Blue Sky. Departure for the Winglo system—
“New information!” called Star Traveler in an urgent tone.
Bill’s system graphic flashed back to its original depiction of five planets and the star. On the far side of the system there now blinked a purple dot.
“A Collector ship has arrived in this system,” the AI said hurriedly. “By neutrino signal I am transmitting to the other ship mind the truth of what its bioform crew does with its guests. However, its bioform crew may remove its linkage to ship controls as happened in the Market world system.”
Bill’s muscles tightened. He leaned forward and scanned the ship weapons holo up front and the system graphic on his left. “Captain, that ship will be here in six hours since it arrived on the far side of the star. Weapons are operational and ready to defend us.”
“Damn!” Jane muttered loudly. “Well, Bill, I’m not going to gamble that the other ship mind will block the taking of more slaves. Time to alert the local Ludeen authorities.”
“Collector pods have returned to this ship,” Long Walker said from his station.
In the holo to his right he saw Jane tapping a silver pillar. It was the one that controlled ship-to-ship radio broadcasts. “Understood, Captain. You have my support. Seems kind of pointless to return two Ludeen only to have two more taken. Or maybe a dozen kidnapped.”
“Exactly. Star Traveler, translate my English into Ludeen speech as ship radio broadcasts it.”
“Understood. Translation will be automatic.”
“Ludeen planetary authorities, I am Captain Jane Yamaguchi of the starship Blue Sky,” she said hurriedly. “Our ship cannot be detected by normal means. We have returned two Ludeen who were captured by interstellar Aliens who sell captives into slavery. Our ship will leave your system shortly. However, another starship has arrived beyond the orbit of your fifth world. It is a Collector ship. Its crew aims to secretly capture some Ludeen for sale to other Aliens. Advise your people to look for white-glowing teardrops in the night sky. Those are the collector pods used to capture people. Your Mountain city lasers may be able to shoot them down.”
A low hum sounded. “Incoming signal from Ludeen world,” the ship mind announced.
“Accepted,” Jane said.
Chittering came before the English translation that Bill heard on his ear buds.
“Ship Blue Sky, this is North Mountain Launch Dome. We thank you for your warning. Your signal comes from a part of the day sky that is empty according to our telescopes.” The male sounding voice paused. “The arrival of life from other stars is amazing! You are welcome. The other ship is not. How do we detect this Collector ship? Is that possible?”
Jane’s image showed her grimacing. “It is possible to detect the Collector ship in orbit above you if your engineers can fabricate a neutrino detector. You should look for a moving source of neutrinos that is more powerful than the neutrino emissions from your local star or from distant stars.”
“May the Ancestral Forests bless you!” said the same voice. “How much time do we have until this Collector ship arrives above our world?”
“Six hours,” Jane said, counting on the AI to translate it into Ludeen time counts. “If you cannot make a detector that soon, make one anyway. Other Collector ships visit the Ludeen system because your technology is modest. The Collector ships do not expect to be detected. If in the future you detect them and fight back, your world of Green Land will be left alone.”
“Thank you for that information.” A pause came. “How do we contact friendly people like you? In the future?”
Jane gave a long sigh. “Build your own spaceships. Explore your other planets. Research high energy physics. There are methods to avoid the limitations of the speed of light. Good luck! We depart now.”
“Captain,” called Lofty Flyer, “the Collector ship still approaches this world. What is our departure vector?”
“In the opposite direction,” Jane said. “Once we reach the space beyond the brown dwarf we can transit to our Alcubierre space-time modulus and leave this system.”
“Changing vector. Departing from this world at one-tenth light speed,” the flying squirrel said softly.
Bill checked his system graphic holo. It showed the purple dot of the Collector ship. Which was still incoming. Whatever impact the neutrino signal from Star Traveler had had on that ship’s AI, it had not been enough to stop the approach of the Collector ship. Their ship dot now moved away from the Ludeen world and the approaching purple dot. It would take just under three hours to reach the fifth world’s orbit and gained the freedom to go
FTL.
“Damn!” he muttered. “Wish we could stop that other Collector ship!”
“Me too,” Jane said. “But as Captain my duty is to return the other captives aboard this ship to their home worlds. Choosing to battle that other ship puts their safety at risk. Maybe later, after we’ve returned the Winglo, Mok and Doman people to their stars, we can consider other options. If our new crewmembers wish to put off a return to their home worlds.”
Bright Sparkle looked his way, her green eyes locking on him. “Bill MacCarthy, I am willing to fight this terrible system! And my fellow Megun Learned Escape has told me he too wishes to stay aboard the Blue Sky. You Humans are doing with this ship what we Megun only dreamed of doing!”
The color bands of the woman’s bare skin shifted as he heard her translated words over his ear buds. Beautiful she was. Sincere she sounded. He smiled. “Thank you, Bright Sparkle. Your color words match my own feelings. I too think we should battle Collector ships wherever we find them. Captain?” He looked back over his shoulder. The other new crewmembers also shifted their position to look back to the ship’s captain.
The Japanese-American woman met his gaze. She looked thoughtful. And tempted. “Interesting idea. But first things first. We return every captive who wants to go home. After that, maybe we can find a way to battle this system.” She looked his way. He saw an officer in command who knew her priorities. “Star Traveler, what is the star of the Winglo avians? And how far away is it from the Ludeen star?”
A low hum sounded. “The Winglo star is HD 4203. It is a G5V main sequence star located 254 light years from your Sol star. Distance from the Ludeen star to the Winglo star is 299.394 light years.”
Jane nodded sharply. “That’s a journey of 12 days in Alcubierre stardrive. Star Traveler, is that correct?”
“For a bioform, that is close to correct,” the AI said. “Actual transit time in Alcubierre space-time modulus is 11.96 days. Shall I energize our Alcubierre engines in preparation for transit to that star?”
Escape 1: Escape From Aliens Page 19
