Derelict_Destruction

by Paul E. Cooley

  Dunn nodded. Okay, I get that, he said. And you think it’s the CO2.

  Possibly. Or, more likely, partially.

  So if we shut off the venting—

  I do not think that will make a large difference at this point in time, Black said. As I said, I believe the CO2 is partially responsible.

  Dunn’s stomach sank. The way Black had said those words left him cold. And the other possible catalysts?

  It is quite possible their activity increased due to the abundance of photons in the area.

  Photons? Dunn’s frown deepened. You mean light?

  As Mira entered the solar system, the ship would have been bathed in Sol’s light, as it is now. Before that, the number of photons hitting the ship would have been very slight. With each kilometer closer to Sol, the number of photons increases. If the ship were allowed to make it through the Kuiper Belt, it’s very possible the creatures would both reproduce and search for sustenance at a more aggressive rate.

  Photons, Dunn said. Is that why the Trio wants us to crash the ship into Pluto?

  I believe so, Black said. The beacon is a much more powerful source of photons than Sol. At least from this distance. If the beacon is trapped on Pluto, the creatures will remain there as well. I believe those are the Trio’s conclusions.

  Dunn tried to imagine Pluto infested with starfish, pinecones, and dozens of species they had yet to see. If they turned off the beacon before sending it to Pluto, the creatures wouldn’t follow it. If they somehow managed to disable the beacon after it hit Pluto, would the creatures stay where they were? Or would they find a way to leave Pluto’s gravitational field and head toward Sol? Toward the human colonies and, more frighteningly, Earth.

  We have to get the beacon out, onto the sled, and fire it at Pluto, Dunn said. But we can’t turn it off.

  Black was silent for a moment. She was probably running thousands of forecast models in defense of his argument, or to refute it. At last, Black loosed a sigh. Yes, Captain. You are correct. Another possibility is that if the beacon is deactivated, any incoming exo-solar lifeforms will follow the trail to Sol, and not Pluto.

  Shit, Dunn said.

  Black paused again. The constant interruptions in the dialogue were maddening. Not for the first time, Dunn wished he could look the AI in the eyes like a human being and get a true feel for what it was thinking. All his life, he had gauged people by watching their facial expressions, listening to how they pronounced their words, their cadence of speech, and where their eyes darted when they spoke. Conversing with a machine offered none of those possibilities. While you could feel certain, well, emotions, for lack of a better term, through a block connection, it wasn’t the same. Especially with this new and improved version of Black. Without the Xi Protocols, there was nothing keeping Black from lying to him or even lying through the connection.

  He did his best to hide these thoughts, but there was no guarantee Black didn’t pick them up anyway. One of the constant dangers of a block connection was the inadvertent transfer of true emotion and thought. No matter how careful you were, how you tried to close off your true self from another, some of them always leaked through. With humans, it could be confusing noise. With AIs, the leaks could reveal far too much.

  Too many unknowns at this time, sir. If we knew for certain the range of the beacon, we’d have some idea of how many exo-solar lifeforms could be heading this way. If we had better satellite coverage of the entire Kuiper Belt and the Oort cloud, humanity would know the extent of the threat.

  A spherical image of Sol System appeared before him. The visual effect startled him at first, making him feel as though he were standing on nothing while staring into an empty abyss whose complete darkness was broken only by the bright point of light at its center and the barely visible dots of the planets. The view continued panning out until the sphere was barely visible against an even deeper black.

  To begin to assess the number of possible exo-solar lifeforms heading into Sol System, Black continued, humanity would have had to have begun placing satellites, nanoprobes, and expeditions as early as two hundred years ago. Such an endeavor would also have no doubt required more resources than we have at our disposal. I’m afraid this scenario was inevitable.

  Inevitable? Dunn asked, mind reeling as Black continued adjusting the image. Other stars, other planets, slowly blipped into view for milliseconds before disappearing as the image continued zooming out. What do you mean inevitable?

  The beacon, Black said. If it was meant to travel here, to attract the lifeforms, then humanity was always destined to face this threat. Based on the data Mira’s scientists gathered, it is impossible to say if that was the case. Perhaps the beacon was headed elsewhere, another system, where life had yet to evolve. Regardless, it’s a threat we must now face.

  The image disappeared, replaced by a view of Mira floating through space, the much smaller S&R Black at its side and trailing it by a few kilometers. He could tell the image was digital in nature, manufactured by the AI, but it might as well have been real. The image zoomed out, just as the model of the solar system had, until several new objects appeared. Irregularly shaped forms materialized out of the shadows, their details all but hidden by the Kuiper Belt twilight.

  These objects are approaching, Captain, Black said. We have very little time before they arrive.

  Can you see what they are?

  Not yet, Black admitted. Mickey is sending me updates every few minutes, although there is an eight-minute time difference from his transmissions to my reception. He has trained all of PEO’s telescopes and instruments on these phenomena. Within the next twenty minutes, I expect we will finally receive images with enough detail to know what we’re facing.

  Dunn shook his head. Twenty minutes. How close will they be to us by then?

  We will have roughly ten minutes of lead time before they begin a final approach.

  Fuck me, Dunn breathed. Thirty minutes until we might be under attack.

  No, sir, Black said. Thirty minutes until we face thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of new exo-solar lifeforms. It is very likely that many of them will have characteristics we have not seen before.

  He ground his teeth. They had to get the beacon. And they had to get it now. If he waited any longer, it would all be over. They would never get a second chance.

  Thank you, Black. Before the AI could sign off, he terminated the connection and switched to Taulbee. “James?”

  “Aye, sir?”

  “Get your marines suited up to go back out. I’m on my way to brief your team.”

  Taulbee paused over the block connection. Dunn knew he was usurping the command chain, but didn’t care. They needed to get going in five minutes. Any more time wasted could mean the end of humanity.

  Chapter Fifty

  Taulbee stood by the SV-52 with his helmet in the crook of his elbow. Copenhaver stood next to him and a little behind him, her back practically leaning against the support craft. Dunn was on his way down and he’d sounded panicked, although Taulbee could tell the captain had tried to hide it. Why else would he brief them in the damned cargo bay?

  What the fuck is next in this shit show?

  After escorting Gunny’s skiff back to the ship, he and Copenhaver had performed a brief sweep around S&R Black to ensure they were still clear of exo-solar lifeforms. While they didn’t see any of the pinecones or starfish hanging around the ship, or attached to its hull, they did see something else on Mira.

  The creatures had apparently lost interest in the munition cloud that Black had detonated. The starfish had begun hunting the pinecones, but the large clusters had held themselves together in tight formations. He caught footage of one of the starfish attempting to plow into the cluster, but as the creature reached them, the herd, swarm, whatever you wanted to call them canted to one side, their sharp silver claws pointed directly at their attacker.

  The starfish, mere meters from the clump of silver and black, waved its arms frantical
ly and maneuvered itself to fly over the creatures rather than through them. Once the starfish was no longer a threat, the cluster of pinecones canted once again, but not uniformly. The damned creatures had staggered themselves, some of them pointing their claws out while they rolled against their brethren. The result was a heavily armored and heavily armed flotilla of carapaces and claws. If a starfish tried to attack, it would have a hell of a time plucking one of their prey from the group without suffering some damage.

  Taulbee wondered why he hadn’t noticed that behavior before. Maybe it was because he simply hadn’t been paying attention. Or, he thought, maybe it was because we’d never seen them in groups this large. Assuming they survived this, he’d make sure he had a damned long talk with some scientists or the AIs about their findings. Taulbee grunted. The study of exo-solar life would be much more important if the damned things weren’t always trying to kill them.

  And now it’s our time to get some payback, he thought.

  Gunny stood next to the skiff. Murdock and Wendt had lined up next to him and stood at parade rest. The sergeant and his marines held their helmets in the crooks of their elbows, just like Taulbee.

  This looks more like an inspection than a briefing, Taulbee thought. He had to smile. Here they were, an AU from Pluto, surrounded by hostile lifeforms with more incoming, and he and his marines seemed more concerned about impressing the captain than worrying about the hazards less than half a kilometer away.

  But he knew it for what it was. Everyone was on edge. The recon mission, which included launching the ram, hadn’t exactly been a success. The damage to Mira’s aft section would make ingress difficult, but that wasn’t the problem. No. The problem would be getting around all the creatures near the beacon, but Taulbee already had an idea about that.

  Lost in thought, he stiffened as the cargo bay hatch opened. Dunn walked in, still dressed in his combat suit. The marines saluted and Dunn waved dismissively.

  “All right, marines. Listen up.” He moved further into the bay and seemed to be scanning both the skiff and the SV-52 for damage. A grim smile lit his face. “We’re running out of time. We need to get the beacon and we need to do it now.”

  The cargo bay had gone completely silent except for the sound of the life support systems and the ever-present hum of the fusion engines. Dunn walked to the holo-projector and brought it to life. A model of Mira immediately appeared before them. A series of colored rectangles appeared on the derelict’s hull. Crimson rectangles covered the rear midships as well as the aft, but the aft was by far the most crowded. Yellow rectangles surrounded the midships toward the bow. After that, small green rectangles lay against the bow.

  Dunn pointed at the hologram. “The reds mark the largest pinecone saturations. The yellow, less. Green? Even less. From the footage Black has analyzed, the creatures appear to have migrated to the aft section in much larger numbers. As if they’re gathering for something.” He harrumphed. “Maybe ‘gather’ is the wrong word. It’s almost as if they’re staging themselves for some sort of assault.”

  Taulbee wanted to tell the captain about the herd behavior they’d witnessed mere moments ago, but thought it best to remain silent. He’d wait until the captain told them his plan.

  The model spun and zoomed in on the smashed and debris-laden aft. “The saturation,” Dunn continued, “appears to be highest near the beacon. But still, it’s not nearly as,” he paused for half a beat before finding the right word, “infested as the rest of the ship. The number of creatures remaining near the beacon are small by comparison, but that doesn’t mean it’s less dangerous. The lifeforms are large, and pulsing with light. And before you ask, no, Black has no idea what those lights might mean. Other than some kind of breeding cycle.”

  Those words chilled Taulbee. From what he’d seen of the ram feed, the interior did look as though it were infested with nests for the void-damned things. Nests. Did that mean there were egg sacs, or something like that inside? And what happened if the fucking things hatched while they were inside gathering the beacon?

  “To further complicate matters, we have bogies on our doorstep and no idea what they are. Yet. Black tells me it won’t be long before we know what we’re facing, but we better have the damned beacon by then.” The captain paused, his eyes swinging from Taulbee to Gunny. “We can’t fail this, marines. Simply can’t. We can’t blow up Mira and call it a day and we can’t leave her behind in one piece. Without the beacon, all of Sol System faces some pretty damned dire consequences.”

  He turned back to the holo display. “So here’s my plan. Gunny? You and your squad will follow the same path as before. Instead of firing a ram, however, we’re going to outfit you with some more of the Trio’s toys. Black and the SV-52 will fire the CO2 missiles to draw out as many of the creatures as possible. With any luck, they’ll swarm the clouds as they did before. Keep in mind, though, the clouds dissipate damned fast. And once the lifeforms consume the gas, or absorb, or whatever the fuck they do, they’ll return to their herd or swarm mentality.”

  Dunn swallowed hard and paused again. Taulbee knew what that meant. The captain was already second-guessing himself. Or maybe second-guessing wasn’t the right word. Maybe he was just afraid of what could go wrong. Taulbee didn’t blame him.

  “Once we fire the missiles, the skiff will enter the aft section. Black has already plotted a course for you, Gunny.” A series of lines appeared showing the plotted approach into Mira’s interior. “Once you get to the beacon, secure it, and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.

  “Taulbee? The SV-52 will need to provide cover fire for the skiff on both its ingress and egress. S&R Black will provide as many distractions as it can. Any questions?”

  Taulbee glanced at Gunny. The sergeant’s expression was about as deadpan as he’d ever seen it, but he noticed Gunny’s fingers flexing and un-flexing. Dunn seemed about ready to close the briefing when Gunny finally said, “Sir? What munitions do we have?”

  Dunn nodded. “Wondered who was going to ask that question. The CO2, you’ve already seen. The same with the tritium flechettes. However, there is one weapon we haven’t used yet— a hyper-neutrino warhead. According to the Trio, it’s extremely lethal to both exo-solar lifeforms and, unfortunately, us. We haven’t tested it,” he said, “and so we have to take the Trio’s word for it. The SV-52’s shielding should protect Taulbee and Copenhaver from the blast, but I’m afraid those of you in the skiff wouldn’t survive contact with the material.”

  “What’s the range?” Taulbee asked.

  Dunn grimaced. “Unknown. The Trio didn’t bother providing that information.”

  Taulbee caught himself before cursing. “So it’s a last-resort weapon.”

  “That’s my assessment, yes,” Dunn said. “This is going to be dangerous as hell, marines. And if things were different, we’d get Kalimura’s squad back aboard, blow that ugly bitch out there to pieces, and hightail it back to Neptune. But we don’t have that option.”

  Gunny cleared his throat and Dunn’s eyes swung to him. “Sir? Are we going to be able to recover Kalimura’s squad?”

  The captain’s expression dropped into a deep frown. “We will do our best, Gunny.”

  “Aye, sir,” the sergeant said. Someone who didn’t know Gunny might mistake his expression for indifference to the answer, but Taulbee knew him, and he saw the way the man’s fingers twitched at his side. Frustration and anger. That’s what those gestures indicated.

  Dunn waited a moment. “Any other questions?” No one spoke. “Black will send you the orders to your blocks. Including which munitions to load. Get to it.”

  Half a second later, Taulbee’s block lit up with messages. He turned to Copenhaver. “Okay, Private. Let’s do this.”

  “Aye, sir,” she said and snapped a salute.

  Taulbee watched for a moment as she quickly walked to the crates to procure more ammunition. He checked the list Black had sent them. Since the other hyper-neutrino warheads
had already been loaded into Black’s guns, there were only two available for the SV-52. Great, he thought. We’re not going to get many chances here.

  He initiated a block connection to Gunny as he made his way to help Copenhaver. The sergeant immediately accepted it.

  “Aye, sir?”

  “You agree with Black’s flight plan?”

  “Aye, sir.” Gunny and his squad had already begun rearming the skiff with the remainder of the tritium flechettes. This was it. There were no more to go around. Once they exhausted their combined supply, they’d be down to shock rounds and explosives. And the explosives were damned near useless. “I can follow it and it looks good. My only concern, sir, is what happens when we get to the beacon.”

  Taulbee had reached the munitions crates and helped Copenhaver lift the first of the warheads. “The key was attracted to electro-magnetics, at least according to Kalimura’s report. Let’s hope the beacon is too.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Taulbee and Copenhaver slotted the warhead into the fixed gun magazine. “And like the captain said, as soon as you’re clear, I want you streaking toward S&R Black. If you’ve got a herd of bogies on you, skip the cargo bay and flip to the other side of the ship. Hide if you have to.”

  “Understood, sir, although I don’t like hiding.”

  Taulbee chuckled while he and Copenhaver lifted the last of the warheads. “I know, Gunny. Just follow your gut.”

  “Orders and gut, sir. Always do. In that order.”

  It took less than two minutes to get back into the SV-52. The same with Gunny’s squad. They were ready. Or as ready as they were going to be.

  Against his better judgment, he opened a block connection to Black. The AI responded immediately. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

  “What are our chances, Black?”

  The AI paused. “I do not wish to tell you that information, Lieutenant.”

  Taulbee sighed as he started the launch sequence. “Understood, Black.”

  “Good hunting, sir,” the AI said.