Space Scout - The Peacekeepers

by S A Pavli

  “What damage have we suffered?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “A number of Earth ships damaged and withdrawn from battle. One destroyed with all the crew lost. One tourist Space station destroyed. Some civilian casualties from a number of Peacekeeper sorties to the planet. Not trivial Paul, but not the disaster we expected.” I shook my head despondently. This was not a good start to Human Hianja relations!

  “Paul, I have just had some news,” said Alfred.

  “Please make it good news.”

  “Yes. The Hianja delegation has arrived. ”

  “Well, halleluiah! How many ships? Does it include the Settang Despass?”

  “Yes. Three standard Hianja starships and the Settang.”

  “Can you contact them?”

  “Not from here. My transmitter is not powerful enough. We have to be in orbit.”

  “Right. As soon as we fuel up we can leave these good people. The Settang must put its weight behind the Earth forces. We have to stop the Pramasticon from leaving the system.”

  “Agreed,” said Alfred. “But, that was the good news Paul. Now the bad news. All the news channels are carrying it. They think it may be reinforcements for the Peacekeepers. They believe we have a full scale war on.” I groaned and held my head in my hands in despair.

  Chapter 38

  I made my way out of the plane to find the Russians putting the finishing touches to their plumbing. They had rigged a tank connected to the main and then connected the ship’s plumbing to the same tank. It seemed decidedly ‘jerry rigged’ but they were confident it would work. The engineers started up their pump and the water started gurgling into the tank.

  “Alfred, start our pumps.” I heard the sloshing of water through the hoses.

  “Paul, confirm that we are pumping water.”

  “Nice one gentlemen. Russian engineering at its best.” I gave them the thumbs up and they grinned broadly.

  “Natasha, listen carefully,” I said, leaning close to the girl. “It’s very important, when the military arrive, that they do not try to break into the plane. We have people in the SES that may be able to communicate with the robots and persuade them to surrender. Do not try to break in otherwise the robots will fight back and people will die. Is that clear?”

  “I understand,” she said. “But why should they listen to me?” Good point I thought.

  “Tell them to contact Admiral Crozier of the SES. Remember that name. Admiral Crozier.” She nodded and repeated it into her comm. “When we get into orbit, we will contact the Admiral. He may call them before they call him. We must work together on this if these people are going to survive.”

  “Right. Thank you Captain.” I nodded to the girl and waved at the men before heading quickly for the ship. We had to get away before the military arrived because it was certain they would detain us. In the cockpit I checked the fuel load to find it was nearly full. I ordered Sundance outside to detach and reel in the refuelling hoses and started warming up the engines. The Russians were packing their equipment back in their station wagons and Natasha’s police car was already half way down the hill when we lifted off. I dipped the wings and gunned it, four G’s acceleration pushing us back in our seats.

  “Bye Dikson with a ‘k’,” I said. I suspected we may be back to solve the question of the hostages at some point. “Alfred, get on that comm and get the Admiral.”

  “Yes Paul, I am on it. By the way, Russian military planes beneath us.” He displayed four fighters in a diamond and beneath them a number of helicopters. We had got away just in time.

  We went into low Earth orbit while Alfred caught up with what had been happening and continued to try and get the Admiral. The Pramasticon and its ally had taken on their fighters and were heading out of the Solar system at maximum speed. The Earth forces were attempting to intercept one of the two ships with high speed long range missiles while the Settang was on a course to intercept the other.

  The media were still convinced that the new Hianja starships were in league with the two rogues and a full scale invasion was under way. People were panic buying food or heading for the hills, or both.

  Eventually Alfred made contact with my boss.

  “Where the hell have you been Constantine?”

  “Well thank you for your concern Admiral, sir!” Inexcusable way to speak to a superior officer I know, but I was past caring.

  “Cut the wise cracks Captain. And I am concerned, although mostly for Manera. You just happen to be an item with her.”

  “Glad I figure somewhere,” I muttered. “To answer your question Admiral, we have been doing what your military should have been doing, if they had the wit to see the obvious.”

  “Don’t speak in riddles Captain, I’m a busy man.”

  “Admiral, we have just been trying to prevent a kidnap attempt by the Peacekeepers.”

  “Kidnap? Is this what you mentioned before?”

  “Yes indeed Admiral. It is, as I thought, the whole reason for their friendly visit to Earth. They wanted some warm bodies to experiment on. They found them.” The Admiral sat up straight, alarm on his face.

  “They found them? Where?”

  “In Russia. Siberia to be precise.”

  I went on to describe to the Admiral in detail what we had been through. He listened intently, asking questions occasionally. When we had finished he leant back in his chair, his face creased in thought.

  “You want me to contact the Russians?”

  “I promised them we would do all we can to release those people. Knowing the Russians they will try the brute force approach and get everyone killed.” He nodded and grunted his agreement.

  “You’re not far wrong there. I’ll get our military on the job now. The other people though…” he shook his head. “I think we have taken care of one of them. It has stopped accelerating and I think we have it. The other one, I think it’s the Pramasticon, is being chased by the Settang. Our forces can’t catch it.”

  “We don’t know which ship is holding the people,” I said. “So Admiral, if they catch one of the Peacekeepers please tell the military not to destroy it. We must find a way to rescue them.” The Admiral looked shocked by my news.

  “Damn it, this has really complicated the situation.”

  “If the people are not dead, we will find a way to rescue them.”

  “Alright Captain, I have to trust you and Manera on this. The threat to Earth seems to be over so get your ship over to the SES orbital. I am using that as my base of operations.”

  “Right Ho Admiral. On our way.”

  It was indeed fortunate that the rogue Peacekeeper ships had not attacked the Cyclops. It was a huge and complex orbital and would have been very expensive to replace. The Admiral had kept a ‘skeleton’ staff on the orbital in order to act as an advisor for the military, who had their own heavily defended orbital, the nerve centre of military Space operations.

  The Admiral and the six members of staff that had remained behind had a shuttle on standby and were ready to evacuate at the first threat, but they were still taking a dangerous risk. One missile from the enemy would destroy the orbital almost instantaneously. I respected their courage.

  We docked the Epsilon and went through to the operations centre where we were greeted warmly by my colleagues. George and Bob had remained behind, as the leaders of their departments with two other engineers. The other two were operations staff who I also knew well.

  The Admiral was talking to the Russian military and advising them to hold off from any attacks on the downed Peacekeeper fighter. The Russians were concerned that the robots may murder all the hostages and wanted to break in as quickly as possible.

  “If they were going to kill the hostages they would have done so by now,” I said to the Admiral. “These robots are slaved to their AI. They kidnapped the hostages in order to transport them to the starship. Without further instructions from their AI they will do nothing.” The Admiral nodded and repeated my remarks t
o the Russians.

  “Please do nothing until we can get some experts there to resolve the situation,” said the Admiral. He disconnected from the Russians and turned to me.

  “Good work Captain. Glad to see you.” He held out a hand and I shook it firmly.”

  “Thanks Admiral, very happy to be here. On the Russian hostages, you can guarantee that the worlds media will be there as soon as they can. Then things may hot up.” I tried to imagine the worlds media trying desperately to travel to that remote corner of Siberia, and then find accommodation there. It was an amusing thought.

  “You sound confident about resolving that situation. Do you have any ideas?” The Admiral gave me a questioning and slightly doubtful glance. Oh ye of little faith! Actually, I had absolutely no idea, but I hoped that when my Hianja friends arrived we would come up with something.

  “I was thinking that the Peacekeeper AI known as Cora can come up with something,” I said. “She is one of the original three controlling AI computers and the only one that has remained true to the original concept.”

  “Cora? Is she with the Hianja delegation?” asked the Admiral. I looked at Manera for an answer.

  “I believe so. She expressed a desire to be included.”

  “Well, let’s find out shall we,” said the Admiral. He turned and talked to one of the operations staff and turned back to the screen in front of him. “I’ve been in talking to Captain Hamolatonen. Very able individual.” he said approvingly.

  After a minute that individual’s face appeared on the 3D.

  “Ah, Admiral Crozier, good to see you,” he said. Manera and I must have appeared on his screen behind the Admiral because he grinned broadly. “Manera, Paul, you are both all right. What a relief. We were worried about you.”

  “Hello Hamo,” Manera leaned forward to talk to the Captain. “Great to see you. What are you up to?”

  “We are chasing that rogue Pramasticon. I think we can intersect it with a some long range missiles before it can get into Hyperspace.”

  “You have to try and disable but not destroy it,” said Manera. “It may have taken some Human hostages on board and we have to try and get them back alive.” Hamo looked concerned and frowned thoughtfully.

  “That may be difficult. We have to get the right amount of power on the missiles. Too little and it gets away.”

  “I understand,” said Manera. “Do your best.”

  “Human hostages? Why would they want ...” began Hamolatonen, then he thought of the answer and gave a grunt of disgust. “Damn thing. It really is insane.”

  “There is another problem Captain,” said the Admiral. He went on to describe the Russian hostage situation to Hamolatonen and our suggestion that Cora may be able to help.

  “Cora is here,” he said. He turned and nodded and Cora appeared next to him. She had apparently been there all the time listening to the conversation. The Admiral looked startled when he saw Cora. He turned and looked at Manera questioningly.

  “She looks alive,” he whispered.

  “She is a very realistic avatar,” Manera whispered back.

  “I have been listening to the discussion Admiral,” said Cora. “There is a problem in that the Pramasticon changed all the interface codes to its fighters and soldier robots.”

  The only hope seemed to be to try to break the codes. But I had an idea.

  “Was the Settang Despass one of the Pramasticons allies?” I asked.

  “Yes it was,” replied Cora.

  “When Colrania’s team changed the Settang’s AI, did they also change all the security codes?” I asked. Hamo turned and spoke to someone off camera. I guessed it was Colrania. He turned back with a grin on his face.

  “No, they didn’t change the codes.”

  “So the Settang is using the same security codes as the Pramasticon,” I said triumphantly.

  “Excellent,” said the Admiral. “Captain, when you have finished with the Pramasticon then come to Earth and we will release the hostages.”

  “We have to catch the Pramasticon first Admiral. I will be in touch as soon as we have a resolution,” replied Hamolatonen.

  “Wait to hear from you.” The Admiral disconnected and turned to us, his face concerned. “These hostages are a serious problem. If we cannot release them safely the media will give us all a hammering.”

  Chapter 39

  Over the next few hours we watched the unfolding drama of the Space battle on the 3D. The EDF ships had reporters on board and extensive feeds into the media outlets so there was no shortage of up to the minute news. The Settang was transmitting up to date information to the SES and this was being forwarded to the media. But we were privileged to be the first to see the news from the Settang.

  The EDF ships were closing in on the Pramasticon’s ally which had suffered some damage to its fusion drives and was limping away from Earth at a speed which the Earth ships could exceed. But they were inhibited from using destructive force because we did not know on which ships the humans were located. And we knew that even crippled as they were and low on munitions, the Peacekeepers were formidable adversaries.

  The EDF ships kept their distance and bombarded the enemy ship with small missiles on the principle that it would eventually run out of anti missiles. But they had to get it before it reached the Hyperspace limit and disappeared.

  As it approached the Hyperspace limit the Earth ships intensified their attack, getting in closer to the giant ship. But they were struck by high power lasers and retreated hastily, suffering some damage. We watched desperately as the Hyperspace limit was reached and passed but still the big ship failed to disappear. We began to hope that its Hyperspace engines had suffered damage.

  The battle between the Settang and the Pramasticon was more intense. As the two ships closed they bombarded each other with missiles, guns and lasers. The Settang released its full complement of fighters. The Pramasticon could only respond with five or six and these were quickly overwhelmed. The Settang’s fighters came in close and began to wreak havoc on the giant ship, damaging its fusion and Hyperspace engines. The Pramasticon reached the Hyperspace limit but it also failed to disappear.

  The Pramasticon’s ally was effectively ‘dead in the water’ but still resisting, using its powerful lasers to prevent Earth fighters from getting close. Eventually, the fighters got in close and a hole was opened up in the side of the giant ship. Space suited Marines swarmed in to be confronted by the fearsome robot soldiers. It was the most terrifying spectacle and billions on Earth were glued to their 3D’s. The marines were repelled and took heavy casualties. Their commanders paused to take stock.

  It seemed to me sensible to wait for the Settang to dispose of the Pramasticon and then use its robot soldiers to also occupy the other ship, thus preventing any more human casualties. Indeed, it may even be possible for the Settang to order the robots to ‘stand down’. I suggested this to the Admiral and he agreed and transmitted it to the military commanders.

  Meanwhile, the Settang’s fighters had penetrated the Pramasticon and its robot soldiers engaged those of the enemy. The Settang’s superior number of robot soldiers overwhelmed the enemy and the Pramasticon was taken. Hamolatonen contacted us to tell us the news himself. We congratulated him and the crew of the Settang. He was grinning broadly.

  “This war business is quite exhilarating,” he said.

  “Yes, when robots only are dying, not people,” said Manera, and we all agreed.

  “On the subject of people dying,” I said. “Have you found the hostages?”

  “No Paul. They must be on the Freylan,” replied Hamolatonen.

  “The Freylan?”

  “The other ship.”

  “Damn. Not what we wanted,” I said angrily. “The military commanders seem determined to take the other Peacekeeper as a matter of principle. Before they throw away any more lives, Hamo can you advise them to wait for the Settang to get there?”

  “It’s not for me to do that,” he replied
soberly. “But we can put in a skeleton crew here to convert the Pramasticon and get to the Freylan as quickly as we can.”

  “Admiral? What do you think?” I did not want to bypass the Admiral on what was a military matter.

  “Yes, of course.” he said emphatically. “If we can get the robot soldiers to do the job, then we should wait. I will contact the military immediately.”

  Unfortunately, we were too late. The military had embarked on another abortive attack to gain entry to the Freylin with even more disastrous results. Despite using heavier weapons and some of the latest robot soldiers, they still did not manage to prevail against the Freylin’s robotic soldiers and heavy weapons, who had set up defensive ramparts and fortifications with heavy weapons behind them. It was a stand off.

  The military was now suggesting that a heavy bombardment be unleashed to obliterate that area and gain access to the ship. The Admiral forcefully explained that the remaining hostages were almost certainly held by the Freylan and a heavy bombardment would be very dangerous for them. The military had to reluctantly agree to wait for the Settang to arrive.

  It would be a few hours before it arrived so that seemed a good time to take a break and catch some food and sleep. We contacted the Hianja starships carrying the delegation and associated ‘hangers on’. They had paused in their journey to Earth, maintaining their position just within the Hyperspace limit until the hostilities were resolved.

  We talked to Krusniet and Kemato, and even Jansec and Lanatra, who had pulled strings to get on the delegation. All four Guardians, including Jansec, were profusely apologetic about the rogue Peacekeepers attack on Earth. They were genuinely embarrassed and concerned that the Hianja had unwittingly unleashed such a curse upon Humanity.

  It occurred to me that there was only one way for the Hianja to get out of this incident with any credit and that would be if they were seen to be the ones to resolve the problem.