Alien Enigma

by Bain, Darrell; Teora, Tony

  Brian frowned and rubbed his forehead as if thinking. "Sir, it's a bit unorthodox but ...well, we can't do anything about the tightness of the beam at its origin, nor its source of energy, but if we can react quickly enough I think the Quantum set of our drive can be attuned to match the laser pulses and in turn send a ...a surge into the shield at precisely the moment the beam hits it. That should partially dissipate it. It won't be much but if we could also match our plasma pulser to interfere with the beam before it arrives ...well, everything together should protect us."

  Keane smiled thinly. "You keep saying 'should'."

  "Without a test against the actual laser beam of the Worms, there's no way to be certain, Captain," Professor Juenne stated. "Besides, we're talking light speed here, a precision interference that's not been tried before. Take the laser pulser. We can't affect the first beam, of course, because we won't know they're firing until it hits us. What we'll have to do is trace the path back, compensate for movement and then fire our pulser along that path. It might take several tries before we manage to interfere with it because we'll be anticipating. Unfortunately, the pulser is called that because it shoots plasma pulses, not a continual beam, although it does shoot a succession of them rapidly. See the problem?" Her earnestness made her look a bit older.

  "Yes, I see, but get with Lt. Jergens and go to work on all that. I'll get you whatever resources you need. I want you to find a way to double the strength of our shield before we hit the next planet." He mused for a moment. "Of course, it sounds like the best solution would be to respond very quickly with counterfire and destroy either the power source or the laser housing. I suggest you consult with Commander Mundahan and see what can be done along that line, too."

  Professor Juenne smiled. "Captain, I said we might be able to interfere with a more powerful pulse, a twenty per cent more powerful one-but sir, you're asking for a one hundred per cent increase, and that may be impossible-and even if we could, the energy required for the shield could cause a quantum instability in our drive. We don't have equipment for that kind of flux containment. We could blow up the whole ship."

  "Actually we might have the equipment," admitted Brian sheepishly.

  "What?! What do you mean?" asked Harriette.

  "My father and I had the C class ships built with a second super conductor flux containment field generator. It's hidden in the enclosed propulsion module. It's designed to come on line only if the ship's primary generator fails-kind of like an automatic failover. I might be able to bring it online even with the primary working, if you can figure a way to duplex the field-that is, without getting us killed."

  Keane was glad he had Brian aboard but was disappointed in the hidden ship specs that he hadn't been told about. "Brian, Professor, get it done, and let me know when the work is completed. I suspect your test will come sooner rather than later. Let's hope your theories match the facts. And Brian, the first free moment you're not tied up with this problem, come see me. If there are any other concealed aspects of his ship, I damn well want to know about them now!"

  ***

  "Million? Did I hear you right? Next time we'll be fighting a fucking million of the bastards?" Bullet said, aghast at the number named. He lowered the trigger housing of his rifle down to the lap cover and stared around the armory as if the Worms were about to start pouring inside.

  Zembra shrugged. "That's what I heard. Don't take it as hard fact."

  "Well, all I can say is we better have more air cover and battlefield preparation than we did last time. Shit. You sure you didn't hear, like multitude instead of million?"

  "My hearing's perfect, Dan, unlike some marines I could mention."

  "Okay. Shit."

  "You said that already."

  He tried to grin. "Did I? Well, nothing's wrong with saying it again, is there?"

  "Not a thing," Platoon Sergeant Martinez said as he entered the armory. "But what's your problem, Bullet? You worried about fighting a measly million worms?"

  "Uh, no, Sergeant."

  "Good. I'm pretty sure we have a million rounds for our rifles, so what are you worrying about?"

  "Uh, okay, I see it now, Sergeant. One round, one dead worm. We run out of ammo at the same time we run out of worms." He picked the trigger housing back up and began oiling and wiping again.

  Zembra said nothing during the discussion but as soon as Martinez was gone she tapped Bullet on the shoulder.

  "Yeah?"

  "You better not miss, lover," she said and grinned.

  ***

  "Tomorrow will probably be our last day together," Douglas said. He and Clemmie were lying together in her narrow sponge-like bed in the darkness that was broken only by the feeble light from orange glow spots. The half meter square rectangular spaces above head height were always lit, day and night. They were spotted all through the corridors and rooms of the city. "I know." Her voice was little more than a strained whisper. "Doug, before we're parted I have to tell you something."

  "So do I," he said, interrupting her. "I've discovered ..."

  "It's important, so ...what have you discovered? Is it something to do with the underground?"

  "Yes. What about you?"

  "Same here." Her laughter was stifled but distinct. "Who goes first?"

  He tickled her under her breasts then leaned down to kiss them. "Let me. The group I've been with so long has discovered the central defense node, where the energy beams are manned."

  "Energy beams?"

  "The ones used to shoot down the ships. Haven't you even heard of them?"

  "Oh, sure. Their hand weapons use energy beams, too, you know."

  "Yeah. I've seen them in action." His features took on a grim countenance, like a soldier facing overwhelming odds with no way to retreat. He shook his head. "Sorry. Bad memory, anyway, we've worked out a plan. When the next ship from Earth comes into this system we'll know it by the way the Worms and robots who operate the defenses scurry in that direction, to that area. That'll be our signal to come out in the open with everyone armed. We'll take over their defense node then see if we can signal the ship to bomb hell out of them everywhere they concentrate. That'll give the rest of you a chance for a successful uprising in the areas where the Sinchiks and robots have thinned out. All the disorder the bombing will cause should help."

  "But ...what if they don't bomb?"

  "We'll be shit outta luck, but we're going to do it, Clemmie. We've waited long enough. Even if the ship doesn't give us any help, with that part of the city in our hands the rest of you can make a fight of it. Maybe seize enough weapons and power packs to hold out in the jungle until the next ship comes along. So far as our tech can tell, the commo he concealed during the surrender still works."

  "Really? Doug, that's great! Now tell me, just how much do you know about the area surrounding the defenses? Have you explored under them?"

  "Under?"

  Her mouth opened in surprise. "You don't know, do you?"

  She sounded excited. He gripped her waist. "Know what, Clemmie?"

  "About the tunnels. Our group just recently found out about them and we've been pushing further and further into them, even though we've lost two people during the exploring. We think they extend under the whole city but we've had to go slow. They're so twisted it's easy to get lost, and of course we can't leave marks to help us. It's sheer brute memory."

  "I get it," Doug said, excitement tingeing his voice. "You think we can either escape that way if the ship doesn't respond after we blow the defenses, or if it does, you can send us reinforcements to try holding them until the ship can land and help us. That might work better than a simple rebellion."

  "Exactly. I'll pass the word to push on. Can you give me any landmarks, noises we might hear, anything like that when we're near the node? Beneath it, I mean?"

  He thought a moment. Noise. "Once a day there's an automatic traverse of the main energy beam housing. A self-check, I suppose. Anyway, it makes a clicking noise for about
six or seven minutes. Sort of like this, tchik tchik tchik, and it always does it mid-morning. I'll try to get a more exact timing but it won't help unless we can figure out a way for our groups to contact each other."

  Clemmie was quiet for a minute or two but she pressed closer to him during the silence.

  "Thinking?"

  "Uh huh. The tunnels. I think we can direct someone to your area if you can draw me a map of your Wah in relation to your Welshass's living quarters or working areas."

  "That I can do it but it'll have to wait until daylight, unless you have some way of producing more light in here. I'll need writing materials, too."

  "I can't help with the light but I have a diary. I leave it out in plain sight to avoid an appearance of conspiracy. You can use a page from it to show me then I'll destroy it."

  "Wonderful. Now if they just give us enough time in the morning for me to do it we'll be set. We can't do anything else until then."

  "Nothing else?"

  "Greedy," he said, the last word he uttered for a long while. But even while making love he knew whatever revolt they might manage to ferment was probably hopeless. There were probably tens of thousands of Sinchiks in the city despite the apparent decrease over the last year or two. Even if a ship managed to destroy the city's defenses, the humans would still be at their mercy, armed or not. The odds were simply too overwhelming to expect a revolt to be successful but if a ship did come, he was determined to try.

  Chapter Fourteen: If Opportunity Presents

  We have women in the military, but they don't put us in the front lines. They don't know if we can fight, if we can kill. I think we can. All the general has to do is walk over to the women and say, 'You see the enemy over there? They say you look fat in those uniforms.'

  - Elayne Boosler

  "We're picking us a satellite signal, Captain," Lt. Jr. Grade Bogarty said from the com alcove in the control room. Two hours had passed since entering the Alpha star system, the designated name for the first of the next two systems Keane had decided to stop at, and only a half hour since an astronomy tech reported spotting the earthlike planet they were looking for.

  "Is it just a signal or a loop?"

  "Appears to be a signal to attract attention, then I believe it'll go into a loop, sir. PO Chou caught just the tail end of it, I think. If it's like the usual ones, it'll repeat in a few minutes."

  "What did ...never mind. We'll wait. Put it on my screen in text mode when it comes up again."

  "Aye, aye, sir."

  Keane signaled for coffee and sipped at it while he waited. The control room was manned by the top officers as was usual when entering a new star system. He scanned the room and noted the tense expertise of the crew. During the course of the mission they had melded into a fine group, he thought, about as good as any he'd ever seen. And the man of steel, Major Rambling, reported his marines ready for whatever might come. Keane was sure they were. He had also worked out a system of air support for the marines, assuming that the ship was still viable and in a position to help. With the upgrade of his defenses the science team had managed, he was confident they could handle most of the contingencies dreamed up by the simulators.

  His screen brightened and he began to read the recording from the satellite left in place by a Wannstead spaceship. It gave the ship's name, the time and date, and a brief description of the flora, fauna, atmosphere and major climates. No sign of intelligent life noted after one week survey from orbit, he read, nodding to himself. The recording went on to give the location of its next target world they were referring to as the Beta system, the same one Doc Travis would be heading for, and the last before Xanadu.

  "Astrogator," he said in a slightly louder than normal voice.

  "Sir!" Commander Manheimer responded.

  "Make immediate preparations to come about and prepare a vector for the Beta system."

  "Aye, aye, sir."

  "Com."

  "Sir!" Bogarty responded immediately.

  "Send the satellite recording to the log, to data storage, and to the Santa Cruz. Also send copies to the science department immediately and leave it uncoded for anyone who wishes to see it."

  "Aye, aye, sir."

  The exit point from the system on a vector leading to the next stop was in an unfavorable position. Seeing that it would be near half a day before arriving there, he decided to get some sleep first.

  "XO, I'll be in my cabin. You have the next four hours of watch, then turn it over to the next officer in line and you get some rest."

  "Yes, sir. I'll call you when we're ready."

  "Thank you, XO."

  Keane departed while chuckling silently to himself. He had almost wanted to see some action after all their preparations. Now there would be several more days of cruising and then another period of mounting tenseness as they awaited whatever might happen next time.

  ***

  "All dressed up and no place to go," Cindy Cantrell complained as she began gathering her "battle rattle", all the accoutrements necessary for ground combat. She wanted to put it in order and get it out of the way for the next few days.

  "Don't complain, XO," Major Rambling said, but smiled. "You may have to eat words like that later." They were the only two officers in the day room at present and the last to begin putting their gear away. Both of them had been too busy with the stand-down after no contact was made in the first of the two star systems before Xanadu. The ship had just exited the system and they could go into simulator training until the next one.

  "All too true, sir. Even if we don't make contact at the next system, Xanadu's waiting on us. That promises to be a pretty good free for all."

  "True enough. But you're not going to see it from the ground, at least not at first."

  "Sir?" A startled expression crossed her face. It departed quickly, leaving a blank mask behind. A piece of armor she had been handling slipped free and dropped to the deck. She couldn't imagine what she had done, or had failed to do, that would cause her to be left behind during an initial assault.

  He laughed. "You look like a puppy that's just been whapped for no reason at all. Relax, XO. You're going to be in the fight if we have one, just not at your usual position." It had become customary to refer to her as XO rather than as Captain, her rank, in order to avoid the heresy of being mistaken for the ship's Captain.

  "What will I be doing? Sir?"

  "You're going to be handling the most important job of all so far as we marines go, Cindy. With possibly tens of thousands of Worms on Xanadu, or even more, and those nasty energy weapons backing them up, not to mention the robots, we expect to be outnumbered as much as a thousand to one in an exposed situation. That's besides all the Worms inhabiting the city where our people are trapped. If we have to fight, we're going to need air cover to stand any chance at all. Beginning now, I want you to start working with Commander Mundahan and Captain Keane so you can call down support from the ship when we need it. With the prospective odds so prohibitive, and with the power the ship can wreak, I don't trust anyone but you with the job. I don't want someone accidentally frying our asses dirtside."

  "Damn. If that's a compliment, sir, thank you, but I wish you had said something sooner. I'll be starting from scratch."

  "I should have," he apologized. "Chalk it up to inexperience with this sort of thing. Fighting aliens, I mean."

  She twisted her lips in a wry smile. "Have you already spoken to the Captain and Commander?"

  "Yes. I talked to him right after he left the control room." He glanced at his thumb watch. "He'll be expecting you in his day cabin two hours from now."

  A picture of Keane formed in her mind. The square jaw and dark hair with attractive graying at the temples and his big, well-muscled form. She knew he was active in the gym and while she hadn't sparred with him, she had seen him work out with one of the marine platoon sergeants. He was good, although not quite up to the sergeant's standard. At first she had intended to debate the assignment with Rambl
ing but perhaps it wouldn't be all that bad. All she had to worry about was keeping her mind on business.

  ***

  Keane was having similar thoughts. He had agreed readily with Rambling when he requested an air controller to work with the ship's weapons officer. It sounded like a very good idea although it had never been tried before. Marine units usually had their own dedicated air support. The new assault shuttles could help by remaining in the area after they dropped their troops, but they were necessarily limited in the amount of weaponry they carried. They had been designed as troop carriers before being armed as well as possible. They couldn't possibly provide the kind of weapons support Doc Travis could, though. And then the Major told him who his choice for FAC was.

  "Your XO? But won't you need her for yourself during ground fighting?"

  "Ordinarily, yes, sir. But this promises to be fighting on a scale we haven't seen before. That's if we fight at all, of course."

  "True. We can't automatically expect the inhabitants of Xanadu or whatever we find on Beta to act the same as the ones of the other city, but I'd suggest it's a damn good bet."

  "Oh yes, Captain. We'll prepare for it. Which is exactly why I want Cindy in the control room. She knows our vernacular, the terms we use during combat. I'd like to have her in direct contact with every platoon I put on the ground. And in the meantime, she will need to work with your weapons officer. Commander Mundahan, isn't it?"

  Keane nodded.

  "Commander Mundahan will have to give her a short course on the ship's weapons, the power level, accuracy, areas of potential destruction of each, what's needed if the Worms are dug in, how to avoid blue casualties, and all the other things she doesn't know right now."

  "I hope she's a quick learner."

  "She is, sir."

  "Good. June is a good teacher. I've seen how she works with the petty officers and junior officers. When would you like to get started?"

  "The sooner the better, sir."

  "Then there's no time like the present. Let's begin the training today. Would fourteen hundred do?"