Ah…oh…1635.
Inform Captain Steverice that the Constellation-class AS LSTS, Captain Spktm, will be ’ported to join you at 0800 your time tomorrow.
What do I have to do? A thin line of barely contained fear trembled in the mental voice.
Nothing, Stierlman, Thian said kindly. You’re already there and we’ve only to join you.
Two days later “we’ve only” was a choice of words that Thian regretted. There’d been no mishaps with any of the ’portations but it had been a draining process for the T-1s and T-2s who bore the brunt of each merge. The fact that each merge had different components also added to the strain on the merge foci. The second day, after a hasty conference, Thian ’ported back specially selected 3s and 4s from those whose ships had already joined Squadron D. Rojer had gone to the LSTS to strengthen future links, since Stierlman was useless. Thian had reluctantly sent Alison Anne on the Genesee with orders for her to report to the Valparaiso and find out what was wrong with Stierlman.
He had occasion to wonder if he shouldn’t perhaps have brought the Washington across first and managed from there. But he had no cogent reason why that would have worked better. Especially once he managed the final and major merge that ’ported the Nebula-class ship.
Now, if anyone wakes either Roj or myself for any reason short of a Hiver fleet materializing in front of us, I’ll kill ’im. So help me, I… Thian sighed with immense relief as his heavy, hurting head touched the softness of his pillow and was immediately asleep.
CHAPTER
NINE
THOUGH Alison Anne swore herself blind that Thian had slept fourteen hours without moving, that his ’Dinis had been up and about and eaten and were giving their usual tutorials, Thian was positive he had only just put his head to the pillow when she shook him awake.
“I am sorry, Thian, honey, but Rojer says you’ve got to talk to Earth Prime, too. It’s real urgent.” She separated the last words to emphasize them, her face so bad-news-blank that he didn’t want to “look” in his present half-conscious state. He drank the stimulant beverage she handed him, grateful that it was cool enough to drink off quickly.
He grabbed the clean shipsuit she handed him and, slipping his feet into the soft-soled shoes he preferred, strode across the lounge to the ready room. He had worked the kinks out of his shoulders and his neck by the time the door opened for him. Both Rojer and Clancy were on their couches; Semirame Kloo leaned against the wall, arms crossed on her chest, watching their faces, which were blank with concentration. She glanced briefly away from them as Thian entered and jerked her head for him to take his place fast.
He had already picked up the thread of mental message which the two were receiving.
…inform the captains to prepare. I know the missiles are heavy work but you’re going to need all you can stuff on board…Thian! Good morning, said Earth Prime, aware of his entry into the discussion. Briefly, I’ll repeat what I’ve detailed to Rojer and Clancy. Those warning beacons the Squadrons have been setting in the heliopause of Hive-occupied worlds are going off, one after another. Captain Soligen informs us that Squadron B is in pursuit of two and worried about another one or two coming up behind them. With only two Galaxy-class and two destroyers, one of them minus significant numbers of its ordinary complement, she is not really equipped to tackle two or more Hivers and their complement of over-armed scouts. Nor does she have the new Hive-hull-piercing missiles.
Did that mad ’Dini captain set off in the captured Sphere? Thian thought with a groan. Did Captain Klml have any armament? Did Flavia tell it where we figured the missile controls were?
Easy, Thian. Flavia and the others ’ported Klml into Clarf space a week ago. Laria says it arrived, scared the short hairs off half the ’Dini population, but let’s deal with your current situation. Thian had never heard quite that tone of voice from his grandfather before and concentrated on this briefing. With alarms going off all over the Alliance, the High Council is reluctant to send additional units to support you, despite the fact that you’ll obviously have a fight on your hands even with the two squadrons already in your quadrant. But, before you give Captain Ashiant the good news, can you give me any information on this totally unexpected mobilization of Spheres? High Council is…rather…upset, you might say. Thian grinned, reassured by that flicker of Earth Prime’s usual wry delivery. What’s this Rojer was telling me about a new homeworld sun?
That looks a much more valid theory now that the Hivers have reacted. I’m also afraid that the theory that Hivers do not have communications just got knocked down a wormhole.
Jeff sounded as if he’d let off a long whistle of amazement. The High Council is going to be scared shitless.
Not as badly as I am, sir. This Fleet sets beacons, too, you know, and Commander Kloo just handed me a note which confirms that those four beacons have gone off. With the two or three Captain Soligen can account for, we can now add another four, AND the one we’re chasing.
Seven, possibly eight? And they can communicate with each other? Why now? Jeff sounded exasperated.
I think, sir, we’ve made the mistake of presuming too much about the Hivers.
Obviously. Let’s get back to this homeworld theory.
The Hivers’ homeworld sun went nova. They sent out the three Hive Spheres to find the right sort of primary with an M-5 planet to replace what they’d lost. The way we’re seeing it now is that the original three Spheres the ’Dinis came across were an advance group, spreading out to look for just the right primary, which is why they bypassed so many likely colonial M-5s. The Great Sphere was following with everything else needed to set up the new base. So let’s operate on the theory—because I don’t want to presume anything I can’t prove about the Hivers—that this Sphere Three is the lucky one and has located the primary they want with the sort of planet they need. They are either inviting others to come see and/or want additional groups to secure the world. Or, and I like this possibility less, Three knows it’s being pursued and has broadcast for assistance, it being the last exploratory ship left. Or all of them!
Oh! There was a pause while Jeff Raven assimilated that information. Well, we—the Alliance—certainly can’t let them establish a new home base. Look, inform Captain Ashiant of the situation within the Alliance. Assure him that we will supply whatever new missiles and material you can ’port out there but he’s got to make do with the two Fleet elements in the quadrant. The High Council is adamant that all other Fleet units remain deployed within the Alliance to counteract any Hive intrusions. I’ll do all I can, personally and professionally, to help you, Thian.
Thank you, sir.
Damn it, boy, I didn’t think I was letting you, any of you, in for a WAR! Jeff sounded more indignant than alarmed for their sakes.
Sir, we won’t let you down!
Remember this, Primes, and Clancy, and I’ve said this to Flavia, you Talents are to preserve yourselves!
That we will, you may be sure of it. Thian put a good deal of strength in that assurance.
I’d better be, was Jeff Raven’s final word.
* * *
Rojer and Clancy regarded Thian with sardonic expressions as they all sat at the end of that ’pathing.
“And how are we going to do that, bro,” Rojer asked, “when we know the mortality rate of escape pods in a Hive encounter?”
Thian started to chuckle, then his amusement so overcame him that he fell to one side on the couch while the others regarded him as if he’d lost his wits.
“Rojer…you should…know…what’s so funny. You did it yourself.” We use a variant of the Genesee ploy! It’s the only logical course of action! Hell, we know the insides of a Sphere ship like we know a Tower. All we have to do is get close enough. And not all that close either.
Semirame Kloo was actually the first to perceive what Thian was thinking and stared at him with an awed expression. “That’s no way to fight a war, Thian Raven-Lyon!”
“Who was it said
that all’s fair in love and war! Hell’s bells, Rame, why should more than the enemy die in a war they started?”
“The ’Dini won’t look at it quite the same way,” Clancy reminded him. “They achieve honor destroying Hiver ships.”
Thian dismissed that. “They still have the scouts to take out. That’ll give them glory enough. If I knew the insides of a scout as well as I do a Sphere, we might be able to work out something inside ’em, too.”
“D’you think Ashiant will go along with this bright plan of yours?” Kloo asked skeptically.
“Well, I think it’d be best if we let them all steam a bit. It wouldn’t do for me to act, as Grandmother says, like a cocky kid. But didn’t the ’Dinis approach us to form a mutual protection Alliance because we managed to defeat the Sphere with no casualties on our side?”
“What was it you said to Granddad, Thi?” Rojer asked, cocking his head at his brother. “About presuming something we don’t know for sure?”
“For one thing, Thian,” Clancy put in, “using our kinesis to shield against Hiver missiles has a finite limit…our individual strengths. I’ll be frank. I’d about run out of the energy to keep up the necessary gestalt on the Franklin before the engagement ended.”
Rojer nodded.
“Shielding ought not to be so great a problem. Look, let’s inform Captain Ashiant. Even my solution’s going to need more naval tactics than I know.”
“Glad to hear you admit it, Thi,” said Kloo with approval. “But if I grasped your plan properly, it’d save a hellacious amount of lives!”
* * *
Ashiant heard the report with a blank expression but the way his eyes blinked rapidly from time to time and the way they moved over items on his desk told Thian, who knew him the best, that he was already mulling over available options. At the point where Thian said that the High Council was keeping all additional units in Alliance space, he grimaced and “hmmmd” deep in his throat.
“I can understand that,” he said, allowing the words to emerge on a long expelled breath. “We shall first take Earth Prime up on his offer to send us more missiles and whatever other supplies on which the Fleet needs topping up.” He taped the connection to the bridge. “Mr. Wasiq, please call a red emergency session of all captains, first officers, gunnery and commissary personnel. The Primes will be standing by to ’port carriers to the Washington. Vandermeer, clear the landing bay and be ready to receive Human and ’Dini visitors appropriately.”
Having given the necessary preliminary orders, Ashiant sat very still, not even steepling his fingers as he sometimes did, his eyes unfocused but, if Thian couldn’t read the thoughts, he was aware of intense mental activity.
Abruptly Ashiant rose and, with an odd explosion of breath from his slightly opened mouth, pulled the blouse of his shipsuit down.
“We have quite a job of work ahead of us, don’t we?”
Thian nodded. Rojer, Clancy and Kloo shot Thian curious glances but he ignored them.
“Rojer, would you be kind enough to discover from Captain Soligen’s Primes, what course setting she’s currently on in her pursuit of the two Spheres? If she knows which systems they emerged from, and where the third one might come from?” Then he looked at Thian. “Has Squadron B been informed of the total picture?”
“Earth Prime was not specific on that point, sir.”
Ashiant nodded. “Then tell her, Rojer, and, as tactfully as possible, ask her to refrain from taking direct action. I think we have presumed too much from too little substantiated information…” Ashiant missed the look Thian received from the others, “…but from all the ’Dinis know, a Sphere rarely initiates space attacks. Let us hope they are, as has been their custom, single-minded in their current mission.”
Ashiant began to pace then, hands behind his back.
“We don’t yet know if their comparable primary has been discovered, do we? How far ahead could you ’port a scout, Prime?”
“Using the mass of the Third Sphere as one reference point, we could possibly send it that much further beyond as the distance between our current position and the Sphere’s.”
We’ve never done anything like that, Thian, Rojer said, his mind tone aghast with consternation.
I think we may have to do a lot of things that haven’t been done before, Roj. But I know we could manage that.
The exchange was so brief that Thian did not miss Ashiant’s reply.
“We might be in a tactically superior position if we could establish exactly where the Sphere is headed. I know I would feel a considerable relief if that could be ascertained.”
“Excuse me, sir,” Kloo said, “but we don’t even know what they’re looking for. How would we be able to find what they haven’t?”
“Since we now have a sizable file on what they haven’t wanted, perhaps any G-star registering odd fluctuations or variations or sun-spot activity, or aberrations not listed, would be worth staking out. This Third Sphere…—and for the first time since receiving news of the unfavorable developments, Captain Ashiant vented agitation. “Bells! Gentlemen, this is Operation Number Three. So, Number Three will undoubtedly have to make a course correction at some point. If advance scouts—we’d best deploy all we have…” and he paused to look queryingly at Thian, who nodded with more energy than he felt for such a project, “we will be in a better position to cover possible objectives. Kloo, you’ll command the Revere and, when you assemble your crew, include Lieutenant Commander Langio—she’s the best astrogator—and whatever other personnel might be useful in that aspect. I’ll have to let other captains have their byte on selections but you’re mine.”
Kloo looked briefly toward Clancy but caught Thian’s quick head shake and, saluting, retired from the room.
The com unit buzzed then. “Sir,” said the com officer, Eki Wasiq, “we’ve replies from everyone and most are ready to lift on the ‘go’ from the Primes.”
Ashiant nodded to the three Talents. “I’ll want all three of you at this strategy conference, too.”
Do we know what we’re getting ourselves in for, bro? Rojer asked, echoing the sentiments Clancy held clear to be seen as the three jogged back to their ready room.
No, but we’ve done pretty well so far, handling matters as they come, haven’t we? Thian said with a grin as he swung his feet up on the couch and began to lean into the generators for gestalt. He would use as much artificial help as he could, to spare his energies for what he was undoubtedly to be saddled with all too soon. And I’m just as scared as you are.
Neither Prime was at all surprised when their ’Dinis entered the room and settled beside them as if on guard.
“Who’re we to pick up first, Mr. Wasiq?” Thian asked. “Give them to us in batches of threes, please.”
“Ah, well, Spktm, Prlm and Ktpl sound awful eager…”
“Is there a ’Dini officer available to greet them properly?”
“Aye, sir.”
Take ’em in order, Thian said to Rojer and Clancy and reached out to grasp the ’Dini carrier from the Constellation LSTS.
“All in neatly, Thian,” Wasiq said, a note of relief in his voice. “Next are Captains Shepherd, Cheseman, and Germys.”
All were on board within fifteen minutes and, as the Talents rose from their couches, Alison Anne appeared with a tray of high-protein bars and more stimulants.
“I told Commander Exeter that you’d need watching,” she said, glaring at the three, “and you will! Even your ’Dinis know something big’s up.”
They don’t know the half of it, do they? Thian said, grinning as he grabbed up some of the bars and deposited them in his thigh pockets and drained the beverage. Rojer and Clancy followed his example. “Greevy,” he added, grasping her elbow, so she’d at least get an empathic reading the urgency of the day, “get in touch with all T-2s and T-3s and have them alert and ready for unexpected duties.”
Do I use the code?
Not yet. We’ve got the strategy meeting to ge
t through first…But if any 2s and 3s are slated for one of the scouts—Rame can have her choice, but I’ll want to clear on anyone else first. I’ll need the best of kinetics here.
Alison Anne nodded in response and, while Thian would have liked a quick embrace from her to sustain him, he approved of her moving immediately to carry out his orders.
Rojer, make that ’path to Flavia and find out what the captain wanted to know from Captain Soligen.
Right. It won’t take long. I don’t want to miss a moment of this meeting.
* * *
Rojer arrived with that information and gave it to Captain Ashiant just as Thian began repeating the message ’pathed to him by Earth Prime, along with Captain Soligen’s situation. The three Primes settled back then, to wait until the initial reaction was over and Captain Ashiant called for comments on appropriate tactics. As Thian listened to opinions, options and, more importantly, the almost overconfident optimism of Humans, he was half-sorry that the recent skirmish with the Second Sphere and its scouts had ended so successfully. Everyone had recovered from the original scare. Confidence was useful—in moderation. Presumption, and the Mrdini commanders were worst in the area, could lead to disaster.
“Prime Thian!” His name jolted him out of his contemplation.
“Sir?” and he swiveled in his chair to face Captain Shepherd of the Vadim.
“Did you identify any communications facility on the control board of the Refugee?”
“No, sir, but there was a lot of sort of end-of-the-row positions whose function had not been identified at the conclusion of our assignment.”
“Can you find out if such a function has now been recognized?”
“I will query Earth Prime on that point, sir.” And when Captain Shepherd looked as if he expected Thian to perform his contact then and there, he added, “With respect, Captain, Prime’s time is at a premium within the Alliance so I was asked to collect all pertinent data for one sending.”
“Oh! Yes, I quite understand, though that should be a priority question,” the older man said, his prominent eyebrows nearly touching over the bridge of his nose as he fumed quietly over the delay.
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