Space Scout - The Makers

by S A Pavli

  It seemed we had reached an impasse. It was a decision we would have to make with the Earth forces. The Captain activated the comm to put us on line with them. It took a few minutes for the Admiral, and the Captains and executive officers of the three ships to come on line. I guessed that they, like us, had been discussing the issue.

  “If we are all ready,” began the Admiral, “I would like to start off by congratulating all those involved in the ground operation and extraction of our team. Thank you for putting your lives on the line. Let us also spare a thought for Corporal Simms, and private Coren, who sadly gave their lives in the defence of their colleagues. We shall remember them. They were good and brave soldiers.” The Admiral paused for a moment’s respectful silence, and we shared it with him.

  “But we are now faced with an onerous decision. Do we put more lives at risk in defending this planet. Defending it, may I say, for those who have lied to us, and blackmailed us.” He looked severely out of the screen, his eyes seemingly boring holes in Jana and Santol. “And the answer to that is obviously no. We will not defend it for them. The question is, do we defend it for us, because the planet represents a technological prize which we want to acquire on the one hand, and keep it away from the Saraya on the other.”

  I thought it was a clear and concise summing up of the situation by the Admiral, and I confess, I was divided. Being reminded of the death of the two brave soldiers brought home the possibility that many more of us could die.

  “Since this planet belongs to the Cypraeans,” continued the Admiral, “let us begin by asking them what they would like us to do.”

  Jana and Santon looked at each other and Jana nodded to Santol, who stood.

  “We have been in contact with Prime, the guardian AI on our habitat. He has been attempting to contact our home civilisation. He has sent a number of Hyperspace messages. It will be a while before they receive them and a further while before they respond, but we are sure they will. You should not put any more lives at risk by trying to defend this planet against the Saraya. They will be evicted by our own forces, when they arrive.”

  The Admiral nodded.

  “Thank you Santol. How confident are you that your civilization will respond?”

  “They must,” replied Santol. “We cannot allow this technology to get into the hands of the Saraya.”

  “They must and they will are two different things,” said the Admiral. “How long is it since you last contacted them?”

  “A long time,” said Santol evasively. “But Admiral, it will be many years before the Saraya can even begin to understand the technology hidden here, and many years after that before they can use it,” he added. The Admiral grunted and was about to speak, when he was interrupted.

  “I am afraid that you are wrong.” The speaker was none other than Arane, the Saraya scientist. We all turned with surprise towards her. She turned to her Saraya colleagues who nodded supportively to her, then stood up. ”We have been here on this planet for fifty years now and we are beginning to understand some of its technological secrets. Particularly artificial gravity. We are building our own generators. They don’t work yet but it will not be many years before they do. It is too late for you to stop us.”

  Our surprise was palpable and there was a long silence as we digested this.

  “Hmm. Even less reason for us to defend this planet then,” said the Admiral.

  “She’s lying,” I felt Manera’s breath on my ear as she leaned close to whisper. “The Saraya lie all the time. It’s part of their culture. They reason that it is up to your opponent to see through the lie. If they fail to do so, that is their loss.”

  “Seriously?” I whispered back. “Damn, what kind of culture is that?”

  “A very adversarial one,” she said. “I have spent the last few days studying them and talking to Arane and the others. Trying to find your way to the truth is like trying to find your way out of a maze.”

  “But how can a culture like that function?” I asked.

  “You don’t lie to your friends or those who are on your side. You lie to your enemies. But the lie must be clever. It must be what your opponent wants to hear.” She looked at me meaningfully. The Admiral had clearly bought the lie.

  But did I have the right to persuade him that we should defend the planet? Could I live with the blood of my colleagues on my hands?

  Admiral Deshi broke the silence.

  “We are an exploration expedition and we do not have a mandate to open hostilities on an alien civilization. It is my belief that we should not confront the Saraya at this point. I open the floor to discussion, but I point out that their ships will be here in a few hours and we must come to a conclusion very quickly.”

  The discussion proceeded quickly and it became apparent that everyone was of the same opinion. We were not getting into a war with the Saraya over the Cypraeans planet.

  I was disappointed that we were handing this fantastic prize over to the Saraya without a fight. I did not believe Jana and Santol that their civilization would return to claim their ancient home. From what they had already told me, that seemed highly unlikely. I could only conclude that they did not want any more deaths on their hands.

  The decision was made and we prepared to depart orbit, carrying out our system checks and ensuring armaments were ready and primed. The Kuàisù Niao led the way, with Surf Rider and Atlantis as its ‘wing men’ and the Peacekeeper completing the diamond. On maximum acceleration for the Earth ships, the planet with its huge orbital ring shrank quickly behind us. We held our places on the bridge for the next couple of hours until we could gain the safety of hyperspace. We were still half a million miles from the 3 million mile limit when the ships AI sounded the alarm again.

  “Thirteen Saraya ships exited hyperspace and moving towards us.” The bridge became a hive of activity as the crew attempted to gain more information on the thirteen ships.

  “The cunning bastards had another thirteen ships in reserve outside the ‘H’ limit,” I said.

  “Can we jump before they get to us?” asked Manera.

  “If we divert, the Settang can get away, but not sure about the Earth ships,” I replied. “That’s what they are trying to calculate. I suspect not, if the Saraya have done their arithmetic properly.”

  Manera’s hand crept into mine as we waited for the computers to crunch the numbers.

  The bridge of the Kuàisù Niao appeared on the 3D. Admiral Deshi looked grim.

  “We are going to have to engage the enemy in some way,” he said. “Our battlefield computers are working on a strategy.

  I was inclined to say let’s teach the bastards a lesson once and for all. Don’t mess with Earthmen! But I kept my silence.

  It was a couple of precious minutes before the Admiral came back with the strategy.

  “The Kuàisù Niao is slow to manoeuvre and change direction. The Atlantis and Surf Rider are much faster and designed, with our fighters, to protect the battleship against incoming missiles and fighters. Our computers advise that our three ships put on maximum speed straight at the enemy and the Settang uses its superior speed to curve around behind them.”

  It seemed a good strategy and we adopted it.

  “Captain, we can use our cloaking technology as well,” I suggested. “It may work against the Saraya. I suggest we get close to the ‘H’ limit and then turn it on. They may think we have jumped and ignore us.”

  This was adopted by the Captain and the Admiral and we prepared for battle. The computers calculated the vectors and we strapped ourselves in. Maximum acceleration for the giant Settang was an incredible 3’G’s as opposed to something like half a ‘G’ for the Earth battleship.

  The Settang looped away from the Earth convoy which quickly disappeared in the blackness of Space. Three Earth gravities is just about tolerable for a few minutes abut any longer and the body starts to complain. We varied it a little, dropping down to one gravity every few minutes to allow people to recover before an
other burst at three. Commander Pariso was busy at his console and was looking baffled. He threw glances behind him at the three Saraya who were whispering between themselves and I wondered what was up. During one of the periods when the ship was accelerating at one ’G’ he stood and walked over to the Saraya scientists. We were all stupefied to see him drag the female Saraya to her feet and attempt to rip open her clothing.

  “Commander, for God’s sake what are you doing?” shouted Hamolatonen.

  “They have a transmitter,” said the Pariso. He held her by her jacket and shook her roughly. “Out with it.”

  Arane looked at her friends then with an air of resignation she opened her waistcoat and removed a flat metal pack.

  “There. They were in contact with their forces,” said the Commander, taking the device off Arane and waving it aloft triumphantly.

  We gaped in disbelief at the transmitter.

  “But, that thing doesn’t have the range surely?” I asked.

  “It’s connected with one on the planet which acts as a relay to the Saraya ships,” he said. “Our ships AI detected some spurious activity and tracked it down.”

  “I am very disappointed,” said Manera, looking at Arane reproachfully.

  “We are doing our duty.” said Arane.

  “We are trying to avoid violence,” said Manera. “You could have helped us.”

  The Commander stamped on the Saraya transmitter until it was a shattered tangle of broken plastic, wires and crushed circuit boards, before striding back to his console.

  “I think we’d better get them off the bridge,” I suggested. The Captain muttered something in his comm and a couple of robots appeared to lead them away.

  “So now we have no idea how much of our plan they know,” I said.

  “No choice now,” said the Captain. “We are committed.”

  We continued out painful journey, accelerating intermittently at 3G. We were all tense and physically tiring when the ships AI announced we were now outside the ‘H’ limit. We talked with the Earth ships. They expected to make first contact with the Saraya ships within minutes. But the good news was that the Saraya ships had split into two groups, one of them looping away to chase the Settang while the other continued to intercept the Earth ships. This seemed to indicate that our plan was working. It also meant that the Earth convoy would face less ships. We exchange final radio messages with the Earth ships. Once the cloaking devices were on we would not be able to exchange messages without giving away our position.

  The Captain instructed the AI to enable the cloaking systems. Cunning AG reflectors on the ships surface dissipated all radiation impacting the surface, making the ship effectively invisible to all known forms of detection. Even light was so distorted the ship would appear to the eye as a shimmering insubstantial haze.

  The ships direction of travel was changed to send us back towards the Earth convoy and we ramped up the acceleration. We were travelling blind now, relying on our calculations as to where our ships and the Saraya would be. It was how I imagined submariners would feel, locked up in a tin can and having almost no idea what was going on around them.

  We were not certain when exactly we should disable cloaking and surprise the enemy, when the decision was made for us. We received a desperate message from the Kuàisù Niao informing us that they had engaged the enemy and were now under heavy attack. All three ships had taken damage and they needed our help immediately.

  Cursing fluently the Captain ordered the cloaking off and we quickly surveyed our surroundings. We were within just a few thousand miles from our comrades as we expected, just about within range of our long range missiles. The coded presence of the three Earth ships and their fighters appeared on our screens. The remaining reflections were the Saraya ships and we counted eight of them. Anther five were out of range but heading our way. They would be the ones that had set off to chase the Settang, and were now on their way back.

  “Target all enemy ships with long range missiles and launch immediately,” instructed the Captain. “Launch fighters one to nine and activate attack program seven.”

  We were travelling at a huge velocity and would overshoot the combat area within minutes but our fighters would be able to decelerate and engage the enemy.

  We all groaned as the ship decelerated at maximum G. The intention was to loop around and again attack the Saraya from the other direction. Our nine fighters would leave us to engage the enemy. We would launch the remaining five fighters to protect the ship when we engaged the enemy on the return leg. Such was the plan, but we needed to dispose of the eight attacking ships before the remaining five got within range to engage us. Taking on thirteen ships at the same time may be beyond even the capabilities of the Peacekeeper.

  As we approached the battlefield we started to get more precise information. Five Saraya ships were circling the Earth ships like wolves but three were floating away out of control, burning fiercely. The Atlantis and Surf Rider were in close order with the Kuàisù Niao battleship and providing an anti-missile screen for the big ship, which was using its guns and missiles against the enemy to deadly effect. But there were hot spots on all three Earth ships, indicating they had been hit and were on fire. It would be just a matter of time before the Earth ships were overwhelmed by the more numerous Saraya.

  Our long range missiles hit their targets and all five Saraya suddenly sprouted massive hot spots. Two of them wheeled out of control while the remaining three powered away from the battle area. We had caught them completely by surprise. Our missiles were travelling at such a tremendous velocity the Saraya had no chance to detect or avoid them.

  There were loud shouts and cheers from the crew despite the fact that we were suffering great discomfort because of the long period under high acceleration. As the Settang zoomed by our fighters peeled off, decelerating at 15 Gs to engage the enemy. They chased the ships attacking them ferociously until all five were burning wrecks. By the time we decelerated and curved back around the battle was over. We approached the Earth ships and locked onto their comms.

  “You are a welcome sight Settang.” A grinning Admiral Deshi greeted us from the Bridge of his ship. The officers manning the consoles gave a loud cheer and waved enthusiastically.

  “Nice to see you too Admiral. It looks like you gave a good account of yourselves,” said Captain Hamolatonen.

  “I’m proud of everyone,” said the Admiral. “But you arrived just in time.”

  “That was the idea,” grinned Hamolatonen. “thanks to Captain Constantine again for coming up with it.”

  “Indeed,” agreed the Admiral. “It split their forces and we got the drop on them.”

  “What’s the condition of your ships Admiral?” I asked.

  “The Kuàisù Niao and Surf Rider have some damage and casualties but are still operational. Atlantis is in a more critical state. Its power systems are down and it has minimal rocket power. We can limp to the ‘H‘ limit but slowly.”

  “How slowly….?” I asked, fearing the worst.

  “We can’t outrun the five,” said the Admiral apologetically. “But we may be able to make it before the main force catch us.”

  “We can take the five,” said the Captain. “But seventeen, with one ship effectively out of action….” He left the sentence unfinished but we all knew what he meant.

  “There is another alternative,” said the Admiral. “We abandon the Atlantis. We can take the crew off and distribute them around the other ships, and then destroy it.”

  “Your decision Admiral,” said Captain Hamolatonen. “In the meantime, let’s get under way immediately.”

  Our four ships limped towards the ‘H’ limit at the speed of the crippled Atlantis while its crew feverishly attempted repairs. The five Saraya ships did not attempt to attack us, perhaps waiting to see if the main force could intercept us.

  Manera and I retired for a quick shower and some food before returning to the Bridge. Commander Pariso had the Bridge. He waved us
over.

  “Paul, Manera, it’s not looking good. The Atlantis has lost all power and at the speed we are moving the Saraya main forces are going to intercept us. The Admiral has given the go ahead to abandon ship.”

  “That’s sad news Commander,” I felt bad about the beautiful starship, but there appeared to be no other option. Without it we could put on some speed and fight the enemy much more effectively.

  Pariso shrugged with resignation.

  “Our fighters are helping with the evacuation. The Captain has gone to coordinate things.”

  It was going to be uncomfortable for all of us; the Settang was a giant ship but was not over endowed with accommodation. But that was the least of our worries.

  The evacuation was carried out without delay and in a few minutes our fighters were unloading despondent members of the Atlantis crew. Its Captain had gone to the Kuàisù Niao so Captain Norton was nominally in command of those on board the Settang. We put some distance between us and the stricken ship. The explosion, when it came, was a sad moment, particularly for the ships crew. There were tears, many crossed themselves, and some even said a few words of prayer for their beloved ship.

  Captain Hamolatonen got down to business in usual Hainja no nonsense fashion and our three ships got under way at the speed of the slowest, which was now the Kuàisù Niao. There was no doubt now that we were going to make our getaway from the chasing Saraya warships.

  After a few minutes it was apparent that the five closest ships had realised something had changed and they accelerated onto an intercept course. They could not catch us, but perhaps their long range missiles could. We launched a number of fighters to patrol at a distance from the fleet and act as interceptors. Sure enough they sighted a number of incoming missiles which they easily attended to. Things seemed to be moving to a satisfactory ending when we were shocked by another alarm.

  “Explosion and fire on the Kuàisù Niao,” announced the Settang AI. My heart sank as I waited for the worst. Hamo was talking into his comm and conferring with Colrania. The Admirals grim visage appeared on the 3D.