Sot the female Pack Home leader looked from Jack to her left. “Mikah! Does your learning teach of things such as Pack Leader Jack Munroe gives cry to?”
The male Nuuthot who wore only short pants fixed Jack with a deep purple gaze. The male’s arms stayed at his side, though the small ears that flanked each side of the Nuuthot’s head bent forward. “Pack Leader Jack Munroe, I hear your cry. I value your Pack tale of a long trip from your star to our star. What you speak of is what we Nuuthot shared before becoming the Pack family that now fills our world of Green.” The male looked to his right. “Pack Home leader Sot, this Human proposes we do as we did in ancient times. Back then, one tree clan would acquire fruit balls unique to other home trees by offering to trade their own fruit balls to the other tree clan. Today, of course, all work at their tree chores while all eat and share as they are able, with none left alone on a branch.” The Nuuthot who seemed to be an educator fixed his yellow-pupiled purple eyes on Jack. “Human Pack Leader Jack Munroe, this common tree alliance you speak of is something we Nuuthot can agree to. But what is your price to us for defeating our Krisot masters? What is your price for these rare devices you offer? Our time on the world of Green has taught us that nothing in life is free. All that is worthwhile takes effort and costs something.”
Jack grinned, then closed his lips quickly as he noted how the three Nuuthot stepped back on seeing his teeth. “Pack Teacher Mikah, you speak wisdom. We Humans have needs. You Nuuthot have needs. We will exchange according to your tradition, until each Pack is satisfied. For us, my ships need some of the deuterium and helium-3 fuel that you are refining at the first gas giant in this system.” Jack paused, looked over at Elaine who was gesturing as if tipping a glass to her lips, then looked back. “Pack Home leader Sot, we Humans drink water. We also enjoy fruit, ground tubers, nuts and the flesh of animals that live in your rivers and which graze on your grassy plains. If you can replenish the food and fuel supplies of our ships, we will be well satisfied.”
Sot’s long tail curved lazily to fold over her right shoulder. “Your needs will be easily met. Our ground to space ships will bring up the water, food and fuel items you describe. Perhaps your ships will visit our Sky Above home in orbit? There are space construction engineers there who may understand your space drive and weaponry words.” She paused, looked left at Tok and Mikah, then back to him. “Mikah and Tok will come up to our orbital home within a sleep period, or less. They can listen to your learning and better understand these tree cries than I am able. For myself, I must visit with our Clan elders. They need to know of the Krisot departure, and our future Pack opportunities. For which we thank you.”
Jack nodded, his hands still folded in front of him. “Pack Home leader Sot, we look forward to visiting with your fellow Pack leaders inside the Sky Above home that spins nearby. And we hope to share a common meal with them and with other Nuuthot according to your traditions. Now, please alert your Sky Above leaders to our arrival. Which happens quickly thanks to our use of these gravity-pull ship drives.”
“It will be done,” Sot said, her own ears leaning forward. “We depart now to attend to our Pack duties. May the moon Nota shed helpful light upon your efforts!”
The Nuuthot AV signal vanished. Jack unclasped his hands, then walked over and slumped down in his Tech station seat. Nearby Maureen gave him an approving look.
“Nicely done, young Jack. You avoided radioactive contamination of this world’s Malinga island, which from these Aliens’ reverence for trees would likely not have been happy smile making for them.”
“My thoughts exactly,” said Hideyoshi from the front screen. “Negotiation is always harder than simple combat. As you found on Mars, on the Moon and above Geneva. How long do we stay in orbit? How long before we leave for Omicron2 Eridani?”
“A week, perhaps,” Jack said to Hideyoshi and his other ship captains. “It will take awhile for the food to come up from the world Green, while it will take Max and Archibald a few days to install grav-pull drives on the two Nuuthot spaceships parked at their Sky Above space station. And on a few of the ships incoming from their gas giant.”
“Brother,” Elaine called from where she had been monitoring sensor emissions from the entire star system. “Will we, and other ship crews, have time off to explore this Sky Above station? And the people on it? Some of us may wish to visit with our friends on other ships.”
Jack did not smile at his sister’s reference to her growing love for Ignacio. That would have been too much for even a brother to do. Instead, he nodded solemnly. “Of course, sister mine. You and everyone else will have break time on this station.”
“Good!” said Max, his tone determined. “I look forward to visiting with Archibald. And perhaps this Blodwen Llywelyn can teach me some Sociology manners!”
Jack looked back at his fellow survivor and engineering genius. He was a man who had shown no interest in any woman since the death of his lover Monique. Max’s expression was one of eagerness. An eagerness that seemed to include more than the anticipated fun of conniving with Archibald over how to install grav-pulls on Nuuthot ships. Hmmm.
Denise, who sat between him and Max, grinned at Jack. “Never too old to romance, eh?”
Jack bit his lip. Another case where commenting would not be wise. He looked back to the screen images of his captains. “My allies, everyone can take break time. Though I ask that each captain keep at least one crew-person on their ship at all times. In case our sensors pick up the gravitomagnetic pulses of incoming Hunter ships. And while these Krisot did not possess gravity probes, they may have seeded this system with automated Hunter-Killer torps able to seek out any grav-pull emissions that do not match those of the Krisot ships. So, Ignacio and others, when you are salvaging grav-pull drives from the Krisot fleet debris in orbit above Nota, or Lodz,” he paused, enjoying Max’s chuckle, “be alert to any approaching ship or torpedo.”
“Exactly so,” muttered Mina from the Wolverine. “There is no perfect safety. My crew and I will remain alert, Captain Jack.”
The captains of the other ships made the same promise.
Jack smiled. “Great! Now let’s head for this Sky Above station so we can get some steaks eaten, cigars smoked and booze swallowed!”
The Pilot Cabin filled with laughter and chuckles. Even sober-sided Maureen joined in the humor-making.
Peace time within this fleet was turning into a good scene.
CHAPTER NINE
Sixty AU above the ecliptic plane of Epsilon Eridani, the Uhuru and its fleet of eight other ships moved under gravity-pull drive. The gravitational lensing caused by the drive made the external imagery of stars and galaxies go blurry like a muddy style of painting that had been popular on Earth in the 2050s. By external reference they moved at eighty percent of light speed. Inside his ship, Jack felt nothing unusual, thanks to the lines of software code that Max had written while they were creating the new Uhuru at 253 Mathilde. That hard work had allowed them to make full use of the gravity-pull drive. The Nuuthot at Sky Above station had welcomed the four grav-pull drives that Ignacio and other fleet captains had salvaged from Krisot ship debris. No longer did the Nuuthot worry about thrust-gee, spin-gee or Coriolis drift. They simply told their Drive computer where they wished to be and then they straight-line translated to the X-Y-Z coordinates of that locality. When one is used to the constraints imposed on space travel by reason of Newton’s First Law, the real life functioning of the gravity-pull drive can be very disconcerting. Now you see it, now you don’t, and the bumblebee stings before you know it. It was an experience the Nuuthot had found bewildering at first, then had loved. Perhaps the ability to change vectors without inertial drag reminded them of how easily they climbed their home trees. While the eight-foot tall Aliens had appreciated the antimatter weapon and Alcubierre drive specs, it was the grav-pull experience that had cemented the Human-Nuuthot alliance.
Now they were outbound, aiming for a spot in deep space from which they co
uld activate their Alcubierre FTL drives and launch for Omicron2 Eridani, the second place to hold a subject people. According to Menoma of the HikHikSot.
Jack sat in his cushioned Tech station seat in the front row of seats in the Uhuru, liking the feel of the five crew folks who filled its roomy Pilot Cabin with him. To his right sat Maureen at her Combat station, fully strapped in despite the luxury of one gee internal gravity maintained by their grav-pull drive. Beyond their Belfast granny sat his sister Elaine, busy at her Pilot/Navigator station, whose gaze was fixed on the front screen that showed soot-black space relieved only by the blurry images of distant stars. Her hands, though, were busy as they danced over her NavTrack touch panel, feeding in the vectors of their fleet allies for the upcoming Alcubierre FTL transit. Behind Elaine sat stocky Max, his gray eyes uplifted to the readouts showing from the Main Drive control module that had lowered from the ceiling. To Max’s left, and just behind Jack’s right shoulder, sat Denise, their impulsive redhead whose creation of SETI translation software had made possible their alliance with the Nuuthot. Finally, to Denise’s left and behind Jack sat his lifemate Nikola, their Chief Astronomer and the only person who understood sci-tech talk that meant little to him. No doubt galactic orbitals, stellar parallaxes, star chromospheres, parsecs, stellar metallicity and how a distant star related to Sol’s position far out from the galactic center meant something. Somehow. What mattered most to him was her ability to set a vector that would take them to the next star system dominated by one of the Hunters of the Great Dark.
“We’re there,” Nikola called out in her musical voice. “Max, cut the grav-pull drive.”
“Done,” Max said, his tone casual.
On the front screen the gravitational lensing blur vanished, to be replaced by the purple velvet of deep space. Rainbow colored stars shone with no twinkle against the depths of forever. Jack looked back to Nikola. Who sat at her Astro station seat, restraint straps over her shoulders and her hands hovering above the Astro panel she had pulled over her lap. It included the NavTrack panel function normally managed by Elaine. Nikola tapped on the panel as she stared intensely at a sidearm screen that showed stellar coordinates against a galactic coordinate system. Beyond her sat Max, who held his hands above the newly installed Alcubierre drive shell Control panel.
Nikola looked over to Elaine at her Pilot station. “Ready to enter the coordinates for Omicron2 Eridani?”
“Yes.” Elaine rubbed her narrow chin as she sat at her station. “As before, we are all facing east towards the direction of galactic rotation. The other ships are in laser comlink with my station. Give me the numbers.”
Nikola looked back down at her Astro panel. “Galactic coordinates for Omicron2 relative to Sol are minus 12.10 light years away from galactic center, minus 4.67 away from galactic rotation direction and minus 10.01 below the equatorial plane of the galaxy. Straight-line distance from Sol is 16.45 light years. However, those numbers mean nothing right now.”
Elaine looked back at Nikola, her amber eyes squinting in confusion. “Nothing? So what do I put into the NavTrack computer if not those numbers?”
Jack saw Nikola do something she never did when talking about her astro work. She smiled, a bit shyly. “I’m playing with you, and with Max. The Sol-relative numbers mean nothing now, because we are at a different star. In truth, our straight-line distance to Omicron2 Eridani, or the star known as Keid, is 6.45 light years. Here’s the real X, Y and Z coordinate numbers relative to Epsilon Eridani.”
“Oh.” Elaine looked blank, then smiled, then focused on tapping into her NavTrack panel the number string that Nikola recited as if from memory. “Got them!”
Max, watching the interplay between the two women, frowned. “Uh, Nikola, I understand that we use different numbers to reach Omicron2 now that we are at another star. But . . . what does it all mean? Relative to something?”
Nikola sat back in her cushioned seat, gave Jack a half-grin, then looked to Max. “Drive Engineer, it means our next star target is closer to the galactic center than Sol is, it’s located below the galactic equator, and lies further back in galactic orbit than we are now. Think of a tilted triangle that lags behind Sol. And Epsilon Eridani. Clear?”
Max pursed his lips, rubbed his one-day chin fuzz and nodded slowly. “I love numbers when they relate to power and energy levels. This location stuff is . . . different for me. But I believe you.”
Nikola blinked, as if hearing Max place his faith in her versus his love of engineering absolutes was a surprise. “Why, thank you Max. I will do my best to repay your trust.”
“Fleet Captain,” called Gareth from the front screen. “What kind of star is this Omicron2? And what do we know about any planets out there?”
Jack, who had activated his Tech station panel to show a holo listing of all Uhuru ship systems, from the distant drives to fuel to Mech Shop, to the Garden module and forward to the EVA hold, Rest Area, Med Station, Food Refectory and their Pilot Cabin, was glad someone else was asking the obvious questions. “Nikola?” he said, looking back over his shoulder.
The woman looked surprised that someone did not know everything about their next target system. Then she showed her perfect white teeth in a friendly smile. “Captain Gareth, our astro data on this star comes mainly from the space telescopes Hubble, James Webb and the Long Baseline Stellar Interferometer. Plus some data from my giant reflector on Charon.” She paused, tapped her Astro sidearm panel, then read from it. “We are headed for a triple star system. Our target star Keid is a K1eV main sequence dwarf star, of about Sol’s size, with a liquid water ecozone that starts at 0.613 AU and an orbital period for a planet at that location of 202 days. Keid’s brightness is about one-third that of Sol. Its color is orange-red. Recent transit observations have documented a planet lying in this habitable zone, plus two Uranus-type gas planets lying far out at 20 and 30 AU from Keid. We think there is an asteroid belt lying between the inner planet and the cold gas world at 20 AU. Keid is orbited by two other stars, a DA4 white dwarf and an M4.5eV red dwarf flare star. The last two stars orbit about 417 AU out from Keid.” Nikola paused, looking up at full bearded Gareth. “That enough?”
The broad-shouldered Welshman blinked, then nodded hurriedly. “Quite enough. Could you transmit this data to our ship? So my Sociologist can study it during our trip there. And I’ll also ask Matthias to look it over. Uh, how long will it take us to get to Omicron2 Eridani?”
“A bit less than two days,” Nikola said. “We will arrive about 32 AU out from Keid, in that system’s Kuiper Belt of comets. That should allow us a good view of the system, ship traffic and ships that emit graviton and neutrino emissions. We have no information on which species controls this system, just that it is a ‘subject peoples’ star system, according to Menoma.”
“Understood,” Gareth said, running one hand over his black beard, his expression thoughtful. “Fleet Captain Jack, may I suggest that every person on each ship put on their EVA suits prior to emergence from Alcubierre drive at this system?”
That woke him up. He leaned forward, noticing that Hideyoshi, Maureen and the other captains were also looking alert. “Why the EVA suits, Gareth? We did not do that for our arrival here.”
“For which we can thank the Elder Gods,” Gareth said, his expression deeply serious. “As you warned us in orbit above Green, the Krisot could have seeded the Epsilon system with Hunter-Killer torpedo remotes, with thermonuke mine fields and with other automated defense platforms. Those did not surface at Epsilon Eridani. Perhaps due to the relative newness of the Krisot occupation of this system. But what about other occupied star systems that have had longer dominance by a social carnivore species? I think caution is smart. And we found the Aliens in our Kuiper Belt. Perhaps the Aliens in control of this Omicron2 system have seeded defense devices within its Kuiper Belt?”
Jack thought about that. “But Gareth, it’s impossible for any species to cover the globular shell of space that surrounds a star sys
tem! Too much space and too many vectors of approach.” He paused, visualizing in his mind the target system. “We humans usually think of Aliens coming ‘into’ Sol system from along our ecliptic plane. But they can arrive from any angle. Like we have done today for our departure from this system.”
Gareth’s look stayed intense. “Of course you are right about not being able to cover all approaches. But seeding the ecliptic plane of this upcoming system with sensors, spysats, laser platforms and Hunter-Killer torps is feasible. Especially if the Aliens have ruled the system for centuries.”
Jack bit his lip, a chill going down his spine. Gareth’s point was all too well-taken. True, they were a combat-tested fleet. But maybe luck had blessed them more than they realized. “Agreed, Captain Gareth.” He scanned the other captain screen images. “Admiral Hideyoshi, Captains Minna, Ignacio, Akemi, Júlia, Aashman and Kasun, let us do as Gareth suggests. All crew will be in EVA suits upon exit from Alcubierre drive shell. And we should put our laser pods on Auto-Track and Defend function. If we arrive inside a mine field, they can react faster than our human perceptions allow. And each ship should be ready to blip jump in any direction if needed to avoid attack or danger!”
Maureen tapped at her Combat station panel. “Setting up the Battle Module, laser pods and railguns for Auto-Track and Defend upon emergence into normal space-time,” she said, her tone brisk. Maureen looked over at him. “Captain Jack, I suggest we arrive spread out as a fleet. That may reduce our chances of being picked up by any offensive device. And it will complicate any energy beam targeting.”
“Nikola,” he said, turning to his lifemate. “Can you adjust the vector coordinates you just gave to Elaine to reflect an arrival at 40 AU out from the star? That will put us in the comet dense part of the local Kuiper Belt. Maybe that will give us some attack shielding.”
Humans Vs. Aliens (Aliens Series Book 2) Page 10
