CHAPTER 17
WANDERER’S EXIT from s-t at Cobalt Nexus was uneventful, and the starship came to a halt well away from traffic lanes into and out of the nexus point. Zhu was scheduled to report in thirty minutes. So far the destroyers had been silent, and while the lack of communication was a concern, it did not represent an alarming situation. Steg hoped that was the case. He had half-expected to receive updates from the starships trailing the Xesset, knowing full well if they did transmit a message, it would generate electronic static and their likely proximity to the aliens could expose them to detection. The Imperial shields leaked, and one of their priority tasks was to install upgrades based on Wanderer’s technology.
There were three stars in the Cobalt System; its name was based on the predominant colors from those stars. In different circumstances, he would enjoy exploring such a unique star system. Next time, perhaps.
Ioke had Wanderer’s sensors extended as far as possible. The starship was fully shielded; electronic noise was being held to a minimum, and despite its size, it was technically invisible. Conversations on the bridge were few and hushed, as though the sound of voices somehow would give away their position. Steg was on alert, his mind reaching out to distances not attainable by Wanderer’s electronic sensors.
There was something. Steg waited and watched. There, it happened again. Somewhere past the third of Cobalt system’s suns was a speck of electronic noise.
He said, “Alke, set up the screen to display the local systems. I want to check something.”
“Yes, Admiral.” The multidimensional display glowed into life. The holograms of Alke and Ioke took form next to the screen.
“Jessie, you and Denke might like to join me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Denke looked up from the screen he was examining, and Steg beckoned him. “I want to check out some aspects of this system.”
When Alke added small moons and asteroids, increased the details of the stars and orbiting planets—none of which were inhabitable—and sharpened the images in the large display, Steg said, “There’s something out here.” He used a light pointer to focus on a small group of asteroids at the edge of what could rightly be called the Cobalt system, about a light year from the main star. “If I intended to monitor traffic through this nexus, I’d locate some sensors close in here, and relay their reports to a waiting starship in a location further out, somewhere like that.”
Ioke said, “I’m scanning for sensors, sir.”
Jessie agreed with Steg. “I see what you mean. That’s something like the tactics you used when you hid Wasp in that satellite stream.”
“Exactly. It worked. If you weren’t expecting us—”
“Yes, we wouldn’t have bothered looking.” Jessie focused her full attention on the display. She borrowed Steg’s light pen and started drawing. “If they are holed up in that collection of asteroids, and they have a direct connection to their sensor devices, which in turn are focused on the nexus—” She bit the end of the light pen. She realized what she was doing and frowned. Fortunately, her teeth had not marked the end of the instrument. She drew a small loop. “Ioke, can you also look for anomalies here? Any electronic noise. Turn your detectors way up.”
“Yes, Jessie. Scanning now.”
Minutes passed. Ioke began adding small adjustments to the display, two near the loop Jessie had drawn and one near the position Steg had indicated. The AI added lines from those adjustments extending them out to the asteroid group and finally drew a small circle where the lines crossed.
“Sir, those are locations of unexpected electronic activity.”
“Very good. What do you think Denke? Jessie?”
“There’s a spy in the system,” Denke said. “I admit I would never have discovered them.”
“Thank you, Ioke,” Jessie said. “We’ll assume it’s a Xesset ship unless proven otherwise. Alke, add this as a case study for future scenarios, for all the AIs.” She turned to Steg. “We can assume they’ve shut down everything except their electronic links. That’s why you aren’t sensing the typical evil. We have a couple of actions we can take. We can take them out. However, I’d prefer to leave them in position, now we know where they are, and feed false details to them.”
“We could cycle a stream of destroyers through the nexus, do you think, and confuse them?”
“Yes, sir. We’re going to need every advantage we can get.”
Ioke said, “Sir, this means the Xesset detected Zhu and the two other destroyers as they followed the other Xesset starship. Do you think it could’ve led them into a trap?”
There was silence for a moment. “Maybe that’s why we haven’t had a report?” Denke suggested. “Should we try to track them?”
Ioke said, “They could be in the middle of a battle—we’d know if one or more were destroyed—we’d sense their destruction.”
Steg looked at the young Alliance tactician. “Jessie, your opinion?”
“Sir—sir, I’m not sure. It’s a data deficit situation, I’m afraid. If we try to communicate with Zhu, there’ll be electronic leaks and our local friends”—she pointed at the asteroids in the display—“will know we’re here, and if they can’t penetrate our shields, that knowledge will add to their data about us.”
“We’ll wait the full thirty minutes. If we haven’t heard from Zhu by then, we’ll assume they’ve been caught in a trap. In that case, we’ll take out this Xesset ship and go search for Zhu and his companions. This is going to be an anxious wait, I’m afraid,” Steg said.
Adrias had joined Alke and Ioke, and their holograms were huddled near the display while they examined Ioke’s additions of the Xesset sensors and starship. Steg assumed they were maintaining a bridge presence out of concern for the destroyers and their clones. He returned to the command console where he checked that all their protective screens were holding. He did not want the AI’s anxiety to override their responsibilities to guard Wanderer. The bridge had fallen silent, more so than before.
The next twenty minutes passed extremely slowly for the bridge crew. At the precise thirty minute point when the report was due, Steg said, “Alke, prepare to get underway. Ioke, we’re going to take out the Xesset starship hiding in the asteroid group. I want to recover logs and charts—we need as much information as we can obtain about possible Xesset bases. As soon as we’ve disabled the target, we’ll attempt to contact Zhu.”
“Yes, sir,” chorused the two AIs.
Steg continued, “Jessie, work up an approach with Ioke. Denke, contact Kirby. Ebony Company may need to board the Xesset ship, and you have some experience of that. Remember, we want to recover as much data as possible.”
Both Jessie and Denke acknowledged Steg’s orders, and Denke left the bridge while Jessie joined Ioke at the multidimensional display. Steg decided he needed to reach out to the Xesset starship and at the same time try to search for Zhu.
He subvocalized an instruction to Alke, hoping the AI was paying attention. “Alke, can you spare some processes?”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“I intend to penetrate the Xesset ship’s system. After we deal with it, I want to search for Zhu. I want you to follow what I’m doing and assist where you can. I have a restriction—only carry out these activities in future if I direct you, or if our survival depends on your actions. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Steg sat back in his command seat and closed his eyes. He could hear Jessie and Ioke in conversation. He ignored the soft murmur of electronic devices on the bridge as he sought and found the persona representing the system AI identified as Alke. He pointed and reached further out, seeking the Xesset ship hidden in the cluster of asteroids. He sensed Alke had joined with him in his electronic exploration. When he reached the starship, he was hit by the now familiar sensation of evil. That Xesset would never surrender to non-Xesset appeared to be the embedded message.
He asked Alke, *Do you see the Xesset system?*
*Yes,
Steg.*
He reached further and isolated the evil sensation. *Can you sense this aspect?*
*I—I don’t want to. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced. It’s so ugly. Is that the evil you mention?*
*Yes. Force yourself—you need to overcome your reluctance. Try to penetrate further into the system. It will fight back; however, we can use brute force to overcome its security, like this.* He demonstrated his maneuver and took control of the Xesset system.
*I understand what you’re doing. I’ll be able to repeat your process.*
*Good. I’ll deal with the self-destruct process while you maintain control of the main system. Again, follow what I’m doing. See? This disables the automated process.*
*Yes, I can do that.*
*The Xesset will attempt to manually destroy their starship once they realize defeat is inevitable. Denke and Kirby will have to capture the engine room to take control of their self-destruct explosive devices. Denke has done it before. I want you to continue controlling the main system. If you can, follow me as I reach out further. Do not release the Xesset system under any circumstances, understand?*
*Yes, Steg. I’m consuming less than two percent of my processing power.*
*Be alert. I was in control of a larger ship when the crew activated their self-destruct process. The death of the system caused me to lose consciousness; I don’t know what it would do to you.*
*I hope I don’t find out. As a precaution, I’ll allocate ten percent of my processes to manage the Xesset system. I can isolate that sub-division of my entity and safeguard the remainder. I’ll get Adrias to help. She can monitor, and if anything happens to me, she can protect and maintain Wanderer’s systems.*
*Good. Tell Ioke to send a message to Kirby and Denke that we’ve taken control of the target. Add that they’ll need to work with Jessie to determine their tactics for boarding the ship. I’m going to search for Zhu, now. Allocate a couple of process threads to accompany me, so you understand what I’m doing.*
*Yes, sir. Message sent. Here’s a thread bundle—it can monitor what you’re doing.*
Again, Steg wondered at the prudence of teaching the AI how to take control of starship systems. He had no alternative if they were to overcome the Xesset threat. He pushed the worry out of his mind and reached out, knowing this could be a long search.
Unfortunately, the Xesset starship self-destructed before Denke could organize a boarding party. When Steg heard the news he realized that he—or Alke, now that she was more experienced—should remain in active control of a Xesset ship until their boarding party had achieved full control. There always would be a risk.
oOo
CHAPTER 18
ZHU WAS EXPERIENCING NEW SENSATIONS, a mix of exhilaration and loss. An Imperial destroyer, the one controlled by the cloned AI called Echo, appeared to be extensively damaged and the AI was no longer in control. The other destroyer, managed by Amber, was damaged; however, the AI was in full control. His worry was that if more Xesset warships arrived, he and his companions might not survive the subsequent battle.
Of course, they’d been ambushed. Zhu had expected nothing less, although his companions had questioned his certainty as they tracked the fleeing Xesset starship. It had a speed that the destroyers hardly could match. It was fortunate they were empty of crew and carried little weight; otherwise, they never would have maintained a trailing position close enough to ensure the alien ship could not escape them. Zhu had been adamant: if the aliens knew they were being followed and despite their speed advantage were unable to get away, it was inevitable that they would lead their pursuers into harm’s way.
That’s how he headed the section of his private log: The Battle of Harm’s Way. He copied his files into the log with a private encryption key and put protective security in place. He didn’t want his innermost thoughts exposed to the world.
Five Xesset starships—well, their broken fragments—were now scattered around the small anonymous system; whether the Xesset occupied it permanently or it was simply a convenient location for an ambush, he did not yet know. He and his two companion clones had taken on four frigates and two destroyers in a brutal battle. They had defeated the alien ships; it was at a cost. He signaled Amber; somehow they had to arrange themselves beside Echo and determine how to protect their badly damaged companion while either waiting for Alke or else returning to the Cobalt Nexus. He hoped Alke appeared sooner rather than later; he had an exposed feeling, sitting here in this unnamed system.
He sent a repair bot across to Echo to assess what repairs could be carried out to allow the AI some degree of control of her starship. A forlorn hope, he thought; however, it was worth a trial. It would be an hour at the soonest before the bot reported back. He thought the first item should be to permit Echo to control her own repairs. Amber was running her destroyer’s damage and repair assessments; the process was annoyingly slow, while his bots were industriously fixing minor hull damage on his vessel. He decided to be patient.
Zhu had been surprised—no, shocked would be a better description—at the self-destruct strategy of the aliens. More than surprised or shocked, he’d been horrified when he, at last, understood what was happening each time a Xesset ship was damaged and at risk of capture. The aliens didn’t realize the destroyers weren’t carrying expeditionary forces, not even battle bots, and as a result, most of the wreckage was from those final self-destruct actions. He’d captured the data contents of ships’ systems in the final stages of their destruction and hoped there’d be information to help improve their understanding of the aliens and locate their bases. He didn’t understand the alien language although he had a wisp of memory that their admiral could translate both high and low Xesset. He made a note to discuss this topic with Steg.
That thought prompted his memory. He was supposed to send a message; unfortunately, the schedule for that had been right in the middle of their battle against the Xesset force. He decided to link to Alke instead, and she immediately added Steg and other members of his command team to the conversation.
Zhu said, “This is our current location.” He sent details and a vid file. “We’ve had a battle with a Xesset force, and details are in the file. Echo is damaged, and she can’t move her destroyer. I’m waiting on her engineering assessment. Amber has repairs underway. My bots are repairing minor hull damage. We destroyed five Xesset ships. Well, to be accurate, they self-destructed rather than be captured. Shocking. Unfortunately, one escaped. We were too busy coping with the others, to give chase.”
“Well done, Zhu,” Steg said. “Please pass our congratulations on to Echo and Amber. Hold a moment.” Zhu could hear the admiral talking to Wanderer’s bridge crew, asking how long before they’d reach the isolated system. “I’ve been informed we’ll be with you in ten hours. We can get there sooner if you want us to assist with Echo?”
“Yes, Wanderer could assist with repairs, and we might be able to leave before the Xesset ship returns with a larger force. Otherwise, we’ll need to defend Echo, which will put us in a dangerous situation.”
“Understood. Alke, let’s get there as quickly as possible. How long? Zhu, we can halve that time. We’ll be five hours. Hold on.”
“Zhu, this is Ioke. If you and Amber move as close as possible to Echo, you can combine your shields. Shut down everything except your essential electronics. You’ll need to run as silently as possible. Even if Echo can’t shut down her externals, the double shields from you and Amber should compensate.”
“Will do, Ioke. First, we’ll move to a different location in this system. We can tow Echo a short distance. There’s a small moon that will help hide us.”
“Anything else?” Steg asked, addressing both his team and Zhu. “Okay, Zhu. We’ll be with you in five hours. Run silent.”
Zhu disconnected and contacted Amber. He replayed the short communication and asked, “How much longer will your repairs take?”
“Four hours. I’m working on hull integrity, and I’l
l leave everything else until after Wanderer arrives.”
He checked for an update from the repair bot assessing Echo’s damage. The small unit was still working its way through the Imperial destroyer and did not yet have a full assessment. He instructed the bot to connect to the destroyer’s internal communication system and act as a relay, on the off chance Echo would be able to hear him. At the same time, he sent another five repair bots to work on the damaged destroyer, focusing their efforts initially on system fixes.
At last, he was able to hear Echo. Her electronic voice was faint. Their exchanges were at the speed of light. He said, “Echo, we’re assessing your damage. If you have any details, pass them to the bots. I’ll send more if you need them. We’ll move you to a more sheltered position where Amber and I can combine shields to protect you if more Xesset ships arrive. Wanderer will be here in five hours and twenty-five minutes.”
Echo replied. Her words were punctuated by static and stray electronic noises. She said, “I’m not severely damaged. A missile penetrated my destroyer’s hull, and the explosion severed all my system links. Everything stopped, and I can’t control any ship function. I’m not impressed with Imperial designs; the destroyer has no fallback links. Probably a money-saving feature.”
“I’ll get the bots to focus on repairing those links. I’ll let you know when I have their time estimate.”
“Excellent. I don’t like being blind or deaf. It’s not a good feeling.”
“Understood.”
Precisely four and a half hours later, to the second, five starships entered the system. Four were destroyers, and one was a dreadnought. They all were Xesset. Zhu, before they moved behind the small moon, had set small drone-based sensors to detect and relay details of starships entering the system. The spy units were low power and multi-directional; he hoped that the Xesset would be unable to detect them. Even if they did, there was no direct link for them to trace back to where he and Amber were sheltering with Echo wrapped into their shielding processes. They had eliminated every possible electronic noise source and as far as he could determine, they now were invisible to external searches.
Diamond Cut: Book Three in The Glass Complex Trilogy Page 11
