Walleye nodded. He intended on staying alive a lot longer than that. He understood the odds out here. He understood the critical nature of the assault. That didn’t mean he intended on sacrificing his life.
“That’s settled then,” Hawkins said.
“Yes, sir,” Walleye said.
“You’re launching in twelve hours.”
Walleye nodded as a grim knot twisted in his gut. That was too soon. He had a bad feeling about this, but he didn’t see any way out of the assignment now. This was like a semi-suicidal assassination order from a person of power who would not accept “no” for an answer. He’d had a mission like that once on Makemake. It had caused him to employ greater caution afterward, and it had made him more cynical regarding the powerful.
Maybe cynicism was a prerequisite for leadership. Walleye didn’t know. He liked Hawkins, but he couldn’t say that he liked the idea of going on ahead into the Allamu System by himself.
“I’m looking forward to this,” Walleye said, knowing that’s what Hawkins wanted to hear.
“I knew I could count on you,” Hawkins said, as he clapped Walleye on the shoulder. “After me, I believe you have the greatest desire to kill the robots. You want revenge for what they did on Makemake.”
Walleye forced a grin, nodding once more.
-12-
The twelve hours passed much too quickly for Walleye. It turned out to be too few, though. Fifteen hours after meeting with Commander Hawkins, Walleye sat in the Daisy Chain 4’s captain’s chair.
The NSN Charon-class Destroyer had a number and a name stenciled on the side of the vessel:125 Daisy Chain 4.
The former Neptune System Navy destroyer had a classical triangular shape. It had PD guns poking out and new, much bigger outer missile racks. The NSN had built their warships with outer racks so they could “hold” bigger missiles than otherwise.
The former NSN destroyer slid ahead of the gigantic Nathan Graham. The destroyer was a tiny ship compared to the monstrous vessel behind it. The destroyer had a tiny crew, with June Zen as the navigator. She was busy at her station figuring out the last computations for hyperspace.
Four massive matter/antimatter-warhead missiles surrounded the Daisy Chain 4. They were each bigger than the destroyer itself. A cybership launched these main-type missiles during battle. Engineers had removed the old outer racks and installed these larger ones to hold the matter/antimatter missiles, and the engineers had installed new controls on the Daisy Chain 4’s bridge to control the missiles. Engineers had installed a hyperdrive into the destroyer two years ago.
The destroyer had a few PD cannons, but they were pitiful weapons in the scheme of the interstellar assault. The point defense cannons would unlikely prove deadly against the kilometer-long robot ship that had left the vicinity of the rogue planet. For the coming encounter, the destroyer possessed the four cybership-missiles. Otherwise, they would have to rely on the vastness of space to protect them from any possible AI drones.
Soon, the comm operator turned to Walleye.
“Commander Hawkins is hailing you, sir.”
Walleye looked up at the main screen. Hawkins stood before them on it.
“I’m going to invoke an ancient custom, Captain,” Hawkins said. “I am going to pray to the Almighty for your safety and for your success.”
“Thank you, sir,” Walleye said, not sure what to make of this.
On the main screen, Hawkins closed his eyes and bowed his head. He began to pray in a loud voice:
“God Almighty, we humbly come before You. We are attempting to defend ourselves from the depredations of the thinking and malicious machines. They have shown us no mercy. They have obliterated and exterminated many races. Your Good Book says we were made in Your image and likeness. We therefore ask Your blessing, O Lord. I humbly ask that you protect Captain Walleye and his crew. Please allow them safe passage to the Allamu System. Please let them destroy the hateful machine ship that carries data about humanity. I ask that You watch over the Daisy Chain 4, and I ask that you allow them to return home to the Solar System after the mission. Thank you for listening, Captain Hawkins…out.”
On the main screen, Hawkins looked up at them.
In astonishment, Walleye realized he had a lump in his throat. No one had ever asked…God to help him before. Jon Hawkins was a strange man, a driven man, and it appeared, a praying man. Walleye couldn’t believe it. The gestured touched him.
Did Walleye believe in God? He’d never really thought about it much. If God existed as Hawkins thought, did the Almighty care one way or another about them?
Walleye might have shrugged, but not in front of Hawkins and not in front of the crew. The point was that Hawkins had prayed for him in front of everyone. Hawkins had just treated him with grave respect that no one ever done before.
Despite Walleye’s cynicism, he swallowed the lump in his throat. Even more than that, he felt a determination build in his chest. He realized, with something of a shock, that he didn’t want to let Commander Hawkins down.
“This is an historic occasion, Captain,” Hawkins was saying. “Yours is the first human-crewed ship to enter an AI-controlled star system. Humanity in the Solar System has survived several AI assaults. Now, we’re about to start hitting back. Whether we can continue this glorious action rests solely on what we in our flotilla can accomplish. I suspect that what our three cyberships can do in the next week is going to rest on what you do before we get there.”
“Yes, sir,” Walleye said, without a shred of artifice in his tone.
“You’re going ahead of us because you’re the most capable of us,” Hawkins said. “I trust your judgment, Captain. I also expect your crew to trust your judgment.”
Walleye was stunned, because he believed that Hawkins freely gave this praise not out of calculation but because he believed in him. Hawkins gave faith even as he expected faith from others in his decisions.
Walleye discovered that he was talking: “If anyone can lead us to victory, it’s Commander Jon Hawkins.”
Hawkins grinned at him even as he nodded curtly. “You’re on your own for now, Captain. Good luck, and go with God.”
“Thank you, sir, and I wish you the same.”
-13-
The Daisy Chain 4 entered hyperspace without a hitch. They would travel five-point-two days until they reached the edge of the Allamu System. They would exit hyperspace at the same velocity as they entered it.
The same would hold true for the robot ship that had fled to the Allamu System before them. That ship had only possessed a minimal velocity compared to the Daisy Chain 4. That meant they would likely be able to overhaul the enemy robot ship with ease once in the Allamu System.
“That could prove to be our undoing in rather short order,” June said two days into the hyperspace voyage.
She and Walleye had been going over tactical possibilities on the bridge.
“The robot vessel isn’t a cybership,” June said, “but it has a lot more mass than the Daisy Chain 4. We’re going to be like a child chasing a robber. He’s running, not from us, but from the people behind us. Once we’re alone with him in the Allamu System…”
June shook her head.
“It could prove to be a sticky situation,” Walleye said. “Maybe we should drop out of hyperspace sooner rather than later.”
June’s eyes widened.
“That would go against Hawkins’ plan,” she said.
“Not necessarily,” Walleye replied.
“At all costs, Hawkins wants us to destroy the robot ship.”
“I suppose that part is true,” Walleye said.
June watched him. She watched him longer.
“Is something wrong?” asked Walleye.
“I’m waiting for your deviation from the plan,” she said.
“No…” Walleye said. “I don’t plan to deviate.”
June’s eyes became even wider than before.
“That’s not like you,” she said.
“I know,” he said. “That’s bothering me, too.”
“You’re going to play it exactly like Hawkins wants you to do it?”
“Yes. I believe I am.”
“Did Hawkins’ little speech get to you?” June asked.
Walleye slid off his captain’s chair. He walked around the circumference of the bridge, coming back to the spot where he’d started. He studied the tactical board. He glanced at June but quickly looked away. The little mutant chewed on his lower lip. He knew how the old Walleye would have played this. The new Walleye—
He slapped the console of the tactical board. That made June start with surprise.
“I’m not making fun of you,” she said.
That wasn’t true. She had been. But that was okay with Walleye. That hadn’t upset him. It was good for June to needle him now and again.
This was different.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. She sounded worried now.
“Shhh,” he said. “I’m thinking.”
Walleye turned around and walked the circumference of the bridge in the other direction. His head was bent in thought the entire time.
“You know what, Luscious?” he asked.
Her shoulders lost some of their tenseness. She gave him a smile. He only used that name for her when he was happy with her.
“What, Walleye?”
“Commander Hawkins told you to trust my judgment, right?” he asked.
She nodded.
“He told the crew to trust my judgment.”
“We all heard him,” June said.
“That would imply that Commander Hawkins trusts my judgment.”
“I’d agree to that,” June said, “particularly because he said so.”
“My instinct tells me to play it safe—well, as safe as a person can play it while invading an AI-controlled star system. That means we’re going to drop out of hyperspace sooner than planned.”
“What if the robot ship gets away because of that?”
“Hawkins spoke about judgment. In this case, we’re a scout ship more than anything else. I doubt we can stop the robot ship from sending its message. But it might be important for us to scan the system from within the system. We might see something unfold, something important, that we have to tell the others as soon as they appear.”
June nodded once more.
“We’ll still launch our missiles,” Walleye said. “We’re just not going to do it from right up their butt. Besides, if we come out farther behind them, it will give us a little more time to react to whatever is going on. I suspect the robots or AIs will expect us to appear as close as we can in-system. Thus, it should work in our favor to do something other than they expect.”
“I like it,” June said. “But I wonder if Commander Hawkins will like it afterward when you’re in his office again.”
“He gave me a vote of confidence, Luscious. Believe me—and I say this with all honesty—I don’t want to let Hawkins down. This is about judgment, the reason he picked me for the assignment. Until we actually see the enemy, judgment is all we really have to go on.”
“Okay,” June said. “I’m convinced.”
“Good,” Walleye said. “Because I’m going to need you to make some new calculations so we know exactly where we’re going to appear in the Allamu System.”
-14-
Each day in the Daisy Chain 4 proved tenser than the one before it. What made it worse was that the destroyer’s crew was sealed off in its own small world while traveling through hyperspace.
Soon, the ship neared the Allamu System. They would have to drop out of hyperspace or be forced out of it due to the proximity to a large gravitational body. If there was a way to maneuver in hyperspace, to make a change of direction, they did not know it.
It was aim and launch into hyperspace, a rather primitive system in June’s opinion.
“I haven’t thought about that part of it before this,” Walleye said. “But I agree with your assessment.”
In time, the final hour approached. Walleye and June were on the cramped bridge. There was a comm officer and a gunnery officer. In this case, the woman doubled as a missile tech.
Walleye checked the chronometer yet again. This was much different from a simple assassination on Makemake. There, he had been on his own. He could walk around, recheck the site and then simply fold his short arms and wait. It wasn’t as hard then. Being a starship captain…
Walleye forced himself to sit still. No. He couldn’t take it. The mutant slid out of the captain’s chair, put his hands behind his back, inhaled, twitched his nose—
“I hate this waiting,” the gunnery officer said. She was Lieutenant Kate Bolden from the Neptune System. She had short dark hair and a small scar across the upper bridge of her button nose. Kate rubbed the fingers of her right hand together. “Look at this. My palms are sweaty.”
“The anticipation is sweet,” Walleye said cryptically.
Kate swiveled around in her chair.
“Sweet, Captain?” she asked. “My stomach is twisted into knots.”
“Good,” Walleye said. “It means you’re alive. It means this is a moment to cherish for the rest of your life.”
Kate seemed to think about that.
“Do you believe we’ll survive it?” she asked.
“Yes,” Walleye said matter-of-factly.
The lieutenant studied him, hesitated and finally broke out in a grin. She nodded and turned back to her board.
Walleye exhaled. He looked back at the chronometer. They had ten more minutes until the destroyer would drop out of hyperspace. He could change his mind if he wanted. Maybe they should come up closer on the enemy robot ship. Well, that was predicated on the probability that the robot ship had dropped out of hyperspace as close in-system as it could. What if the robot ship had done something different?
Walleye shook his head.
This was why Hawkins had sent ahead a scout. They had theories, good theories, but they didn’t really know what the enemy was going to do.
Walleye leaned against his captain’s chair as the minutes ticked down. Finally, they had one minute left…forty-five seconds…thirty seconds…ten seconds…three…two…one…zero.”
“Here we go,” June said, as she tapped her board.
***
The Daisy Chain 4 dropped out of hyperspace. June began to scan as Walleye peered intently at the main screen.
“It’s the Allamu System,” June said shortly. “See the G-class star? It’s one point zero three times as bright as the Sun.”
It didn’t look like anything but a brighter than average star to Walleye. They were—
“We’re sixty-two AUs from the Allamu Star,” June said. “We could have come in at fifty-two AUs. I haven’t spotted any dwarf planets out there. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any—”
“Where’s the robot ship?” Walleye asked, interrupting.
June shook her head.
“It’s going to take some time to find it,” she answered. “We have to catalog the star system first. I’ve already spotted several comets.”
“The robot ship isn’t accelerating?”
June tapped her board, studied it—
“There,” she said. “I bet that’s it. According to these teleoptics… The ship is one kilometer in diameter. Yes. That matches our specs on the robot ship. It’s eleven AUs from us. I wouldn’t have spotted it so quickly, but it is accelerating hard.”
June swiveled around to face Walleye.
“If this was the Solar System, I would have seen the robot ship sooner. Like I said, we have to get used to the layout here. Mapping the system is still going to take some time.”
Walleye almost shivered. He felt the dread of being in an AI-controlled star system. They hadn’t found any evidence of a battle station yet. No AIs had hailed them. The idea the AIs could immediately hail them was preposterous, of course. Everything in deep space took time to unfold. If t
he battle station was in the inner system, it would be hours from now at the soonest before the enemy could even see them.
The image of the robot ship 11 AUs away was an image over an hour old. June had seen where the robot ship had been, not where it was at this moment. That also meant they had a little over an hour to decide how to act before the robot ship even knew they were back here.
Could he use that to their advantage somehow?
The Daisy Chain 4 had a high velocity. It would take the robot ship many weeks to reach the same velocity. During that time, they would be overhauling the enemy vessel.
“I’m thinking about launching all four matter/antimatter missiles,” Walleye said. “I’ll launch them in a staggered spread, of course. Do any of you have any comments regarding my decision?”
Lieutenant Bolden glanced at June Zen. It didn’t look as if the navigator was going to voice an opinion. Kate swiveled around to face Walleye.
“We should save a missile, maybe two,” Kate said.
“Commander Hawkins desires the robot ship destroyed,” Walleye said. “Four missiles gives it our best shot.”
“Begging your pardon, Captain, but it doesn’t. If we’d come farther in-system before dropping out of hyperspace, we’d be closer to them and theoretically—”
“I’m not interested in theories,” Walleye said. “Given our present location, four missiles is the best we can do. We’re not here to fight. We’re here to scout. If we face heavy opposition…we’ll leave the system.”
“Leaving the system means we won’t be here to give Hawkins his intelligence,” Kate said.
Walleye chewed that over. He scowled as he studied the main screen. What was the correct decision? Keeping a missile back gave them more options later. They might need one to survive. Four missiles against the robot ship might be the correct move to save humanity, though.
Walleye grunted to himself. He had to make a decision.
A.I. Battle Station (The A.I. Series Book 4) Page 22
