by S. H. Jucha
“Uh, yes, greetings,” Elbert finally responded. “Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?”
“I’m Envoy Olawale Wombo, President. Alex Racine has sent me on an urgent mission to your system.”
“Our Olawale Wombo?” Elbert asked.
“The same, and yet, no longer the same,” Olawale replied.
“What’s your mission Envoy Wombo?” Elbert asked.
Olawale repeated his story. Nikki and Patrice clarified many points for Elbert, who often lost the thread of the conversation due to his inexperience with the Harakens when they visited Sol.
When Olawale finished his explanation, Elbert said, “I see we have two options, Governor Fowler. We can ask the Omnians to wait until we have the representatives’ approval, or we can allow them to execute their operation and then explain afterwards.”
“The former would take too long, Mr. President,” Nikki replied. “I don’t believe Envoy Wombo is prepared to wait a month or two, while this is debated with a possible end result of no permission.” Olawale shook his head and Nikki added, “Make that definitely not prepared to wait.”
“Governor, Colonel, I don’t know two other people who’ve had more contact with the Harakens than you did. I would welcome your advice on this matter.”
“There are four Earthers, now known as Omnians, who are sitting beside us, Mr. President,” Nikki replied. “None of them were treated well by United Earth. They had every right to leave us to our troubles, but they came back.”
“President Munford,” Patrice said. “When the Harakens were at Idona, everything they said they were going to do they did, although sometimes we didn’t understand what they said. You can believe them when they say there is a dangerous alien probe out there.”
“According to Esteban —” Nikki said.
“Who?” Elbert interrupted.
“The SADE who is handling the computational analysis for the envoy,” Nikki explained. “According to him, the probe will create an immense explosion, which should eliminate all doubt as to its alien nature.”
Silence followed Nikki’s statements. Olawale crooked his head at Nikki, who held up a hand, asking for patience.
An implant would be so useful in these circumstances, Nikki thought.
“I’m inclined to give the envoy permission, but I think this would go better in the aftermath if there were military witnesses from our side,” Elbert said, after a lengthy pause to think.
“Esteban, possible observers?” Edmas asked.
The SADE checked the controller’s recent telemetry data and reported, “A trio of medium-sized warships is a half-day out from the probe’s orbital approach, Ser.”
“That would be Commodore Binghamton’s squadron,” Patrice said.
“The commodore’s lead ship is on my contact list, Esteban,” Nikki said. She was quickly falling back into the comfortable habit that she’d adopted with the Harakens, which was to request everything. Odds were, they would be fulfilled one way or the other. This was despite her thoughts that the requests were ridiculously impossible.
Esteban culled the data from Nikki’s reader and added the contact to the controller’s list, activating a call.
“Lieutenant Fordham here, identify yourself, please,” Tim requested. For him, it was the start of another boring rotation as the bridge duty officer. The comm board had failed to display a ship or station code, which surprised him.
“Lieutenant Fordham, this is President Munford —”
“Yeah, try again, buddy,” Tim interrupted. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
Patrice covered her grin. As the commander of a wide swath of the rim’s militia complement, she knew most of the naval officers, senior and junior, who patrolled her territory. Tim Fordham was a good kid, but young.
“Lieutenant Fordham, Colonel Morris here. Surely you recognize my voice.”
There was an audible gulp on the conference comm. “Colonel, please tell me that I didn’t just insult the president.”
“Sorry, son, but you did,” Elbert commented.
“There goes my career,” Tim said softly.
“Maybe in the previous administration, Lieutenant,” Elbert said, “but not in this one. Go wake your commodore and captain, and see if you don’t have better luck explaining this call to them than we did.”
While everyone waited, Elbert asked Patrice and Nikki, “Was this what it was like for you two, every now and then, with the Harakens?” Elbert asked.
“Oh, no,” Patrice and Nikki chorused, then laughed.
“This is what it was like about every couple of hours, Mr. President,” Nikki explained. “I’ve missed them,” she added for the room’s benefit, and the Omnians tipped their heads to her compliment.
“President Munford?” asked a sleep-deprived voice over the console speaker.
“Speaking. Whom am I addressing?” Elbert requested.
“Commodore Binghamton, Sir,” came the suddenly galvanized reply. “Where are you, Mr. President?”
“On Earth, Commodore. Sorry to disturb you at your late hour, but I have a job for you. Please listen to Envoy Wombo.”
The commodore, captain, lieutenant, and bridge crew listened raptly to Olawale’s introduction, his story of the probe, and the necessity of destroying it.
“President Munford, what will be our duties during this operation?” Binghamton asked.
“You, Sir, are my observer. I’m giving the Omnians permission to destroy this thing. Immediately afterwards, turn over command to your senior captain, and take a fast packet to Earth. Bring detailed information with you to corroborate the Omnians’ data. Expect to spend quite a few hours in front of the representatives and, afterwards, a few select governors and cabinet members.”
“Understood, Mr. President.”
“One more thing, Commodore. The Omnians are in charge of the operation, but if Governor Fowler gives you an order, obey it, as if it came from your admiral.”
“Yes, Sir. Should I inform Admiral Thalis?”
“No, Commodore, I don’t need the rumor mill working before I inform the cabinet and the representatives,” Elbert replied. “Envoy Wombo, this is in your hands, but, before you go, let me say thank you on behalf of the people of Sol for not forgetting us.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. President,” Olawale replied. He signaled Esteban, who dropped Elbert’s connection.
“We’ll need to know where we’re going, Envoy Wombo,” Binghamton said.
“Sir,” Tim said, pointing to a monitor. It displayed a graphic of the squadron and the Rêveur’s positions relative to the far belt and the probe. Positions were marked with coordinates that the Earther Navy could interpret.
“What’s our timing?” Binghamton asked.
The graphics display updated with an overlay that marked the new positions and the times based on the Earther’s ship clocks.
Esteban had activated the table’s holo-vid so that the room’s occupants could see what the commodore and his officers were watching, except the holo-vid was projecting a three-dimensional image.
“Ask and you shall receive,” Nikki commented softly.
“We’ll be in touch, Commodore, when the ships are in position,” Olawale said, and Esteban ended the link. Turning to Patrice and Nikki, Olawale said, “We’ve nearly another full day to sail. Make yourselves comfortable.”
Esteban watched the two Earthers focus on him, with smiles on their faces.
“Sers?” Esteban queried.
“You owe us a story, Esteban,” Patrice said, standing and extending a hand. She was surprised at the gentleness exhibited by the SADE when he gripped hers.
Nikki slid next to Esteban’s other side and linked an arm in his.
“Olawale, we’re borrowing Esteban for a while,” Patrice called out, as the threesome left the suite arm in arm.
“Don’t hurt him. I need him,” Olawale replied, chuckling at the absurdity of his request.
“This should be
interesting,” Jodlyne remarked.
“Yes, I can well imagine the impact Esteban’s story will have on our guests,” Olawale commented, staring at the cabin door that had closed behind the threesome. “They enjoyed interacting with the Haraken SADEs, while they were on Idona.”
“Now, they’ll learn of the SADEs’ unfortunate history,” Francis said.
“And the events that freed them,” Edmas added.
The Omnians glanced at one another, recognizing they shared an intimate secret that they would keep forever. It had never been revealed to any of them, but, as people in Alex’s close orbit, they had divined the truth.
-21-
The Promise
Shortly, the Omnians and Earthers assembled on the Rêveur’s bridge.
“No change?” Olawale asked Esteban.
“None, Ser, as expected.”
“I was hopeful,” Olawale replied.
Esteban eyed Olawale.
“It’s a human thing, Esteban. Hoping against all odds that something will change if you want it bad enough.”
“I’m aware of the concept, Ser. I wouldn’t have thought that you, as a man of science, would participate in a process that, at its core, is illogical.”
Patrice raised an eyebrow enough to catch Nikki’s attention. The two women had been discussing the dangers that an alien probe represented to their system’s future safety. It occurred to them that they should request support from the Omnians. The odd exchange, between a SADE and someone who essentially was an Earther transplant, gave them an inkling of the challenges that awaited them.
“We have greater concerns, Sers,” Esteban announced. “Observe.”
The holo-vid lit, displaying images of two probes.
“Here,” Esteban said, highlighting one probe, “is the one found at Haraken. The other lies beyond us in Sol’s outer belt. What do you see?”
“They aren’t the same. I mean, you can see that the same race made them, but this one,” Edmas said, highlighting the Sol probe, “appears to be more sophisticated, a later version.”
“Precisely, Ser,” Esteban said, with a touch of pride in his business partner. “Now, observe again.”
The display changed to view the Sol probe, which nestled in a small field of asteroids.
“I will accelerate the event, which took place during the course of two days,” Esteban explained.
“Did that probe steer away from that rock?” Jodlyne asked, when the sequence ended.
“That would be the only possible explanation, Ser,” Esteban replied.
“Black space,” Edmas commented, which earned him a nudge in the ribs from Jodlyne.
Patrice smiled. It’d had been many years since she’d heard that expression. “I take it something is wrong,” she said.
“We have several problems,” Olawale replied. “We want to catch the probe in as uncongested an area as possible, no mining sites and few rocks, which could be ejected like missiles from the blast. Now, we have a probe that can play hide and seek. For all we know, it’s more maneuverable than our tool, the banisher.”
“That rules out one of our destroyer’s missiles,” Patrice added.
“Are you sure the probe will detonate?” Nikki asked.
“The Méridiens used a salvo of rocks that eventually broke the probes into pieces, without detonating them,” Francis explained. “But every probe that has been captured by a banisher or investigated has detonated.”
At the mention of the Méridiens, Patrice and Nikki glanced at Esteban, who appeared to be undisturbed by the mention of his former masters.
“What’s the plan then?” Patrice asked. When the Omnians’ glances bounced from one to the other, she moaned, “Oh, great, the more technologically sophisticated and advanced civilization doesn’t have an answer for removing our alien probe without creating potential collateral damage.”
“Not yet, Ser,” Esteban replied. “But, as a human, you should never give up hope.” Then he smiled congenially at Patrice, who smacked his shoulder. She shook off the sting, while the others laughed at Esteban’s twist on Olawale’s comment.
“What about what the Haraken carriers did at Idona?” Nikki asked, staring at the holo-vid display. “Can this ship do that?”
Esteban raced through the controller’s historical data on the carriers’ defense of the station and reviewed Alex’s technique that his people and SADEs implemented. He spooled images onto the holo-vid of one of the carriers racing forward and twisting to release a load of tethered asteroids.
“We have that capability,” Francis said. “We’d have to clear the bays of travelers and banishers, but we could grasp two good-sized rocks. Esteban would be capable of executing the maneuver.”
“But would the technique work against this probe?” Edmas asked.
“Maybe not on the first go,” Jodlyne said, “but what if we set up a chase pattern?”
The Earthers were left out of the conversation, which took place among Esteban, Edmas, Jodlyne, and Francis, but they were able to follow the scenario, which was displayed on the holo-vid.
Esteban placed a timeline along the probe’s route, as the team formed their plan. The Rêveur would shoot ahead of the probe and pull out a collection of dense asteroids, piling them up at the proposed attack point. Then Esteban would set the timing release of each set of rocks by the passenger liner.
“Won’t the probe move out of the way of what you’re throwing? You can only load two rocks and throw one at a time,” Nikki asked.
“That’s the concept of a chase attack,” Jodlyne explained. “You don’t expect results from the first step. You anticipate success by the final action or you repeat the process until you get the results you want,” Jodlyne explained.
When Nikki frowned, Esteban elaborated. “We expect the probe to evade, but it will probably do so by backing away and using other asteroids to hide behind, always moving farther out in the belt. If fortune holds, we might strike an asteroid near it to damage the probe, preventing it from maneuvering.”
“And if not?” Patrice asked.
“You continue launching rocks until you can break it into pieces or it self-destructs with minimal collateral impact,” Jodlyne said.
“One way or the other, we will continue to pressure the probe,” Francis summarized. “We might even chase it beyond the belt. If we do, we can launch the banisher at it. Our tool will be able to attain a tremendous velocity before contact, and the probe will not have anywhere to hide or time to evade.”
Patrice updated Commodore Binghamton on the new plan, while Francis accelerated the Rêveur toward the first point Esteban had indicated. Meanwhile, the SADE was examining asteroids to choose similar types and sizes that the action required.
This time the rock-launching process would be much more difficult. The Harakens had the support of the belt miners, who harvested, prepped, and positioned the asteroids for the carriers.
It took several days before the plan was ready. The travelers and banishers waited beside the stockpile of asteroid missiles. A rock was held firmly in the grip of each bay’s tethering beams. Esteban’s kernel was fully engaged with the ship’s controller. He’d automated every sequence he could, so that he had only to cue the next action.
When the countdown ended, Esteban signaled the controller, which launched the ship forward and, soon after, it swung to port to release one rock and swiveled to starboard to release the other. Esteban’s triggering of a reload sequence had the controller reversing the ship’s course so the crews could latch on to two more asteroids.
Esteban, the liner, and the crew, busied themselves during the next hours, launching wave after wave of rocks at the probe. When their pile of rocks was exhausted, Esteban signaled the end of the exercise to everyone. Jerry commed the other pilots to return to the ship, and Esteban recovered the two banishers after the travelers landed aboard.
“Now we wait?” Nikki asked.
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“Now we wait,” Esteban agreed.
“Why don’t we use the time to gather another pile of rocks?” Patrice asked.
“An experiment requires you to observe the reactions to your actions,” Jodlyne replied.
“Meaning, you think this might not work,” Patrice pressed. When Jodlyne shrugged her shoulders, Patrice remarked, “Seems to me I’ve seen that response before. I didn’t think much of it then, either.”
Jodlyne smiled pleasantly at Patrice, who couldn’t have known what Olawale had sent to his fellow Omnians, which was,
* * *
By the ship’s clock, it was the middle of the night, and the Omnians hurried from their beds.
When the signal to the Earther women’s readers failed to wake them, Esteban knocked politely at their cabin door, but that also failed to get a response. The SADE signaled the cabin door’s release and silently crossed the small salon to the sleeping quarters. He knocked firmly and finally got an answer, notifying the women that they were needed on the bridge.
“Shades of the military academy,” Patrice groused, bleary-eyed and barely awake, when she gained the bridge. Soon Nikki and Patrice were brought caf by a server, who Patrice wanted to gratefully kiss.
Francis had the holo-vid active and trained on the probe. The angle was wide enough to see the last moments of the rush of each rock at the Nua’ll device.
“Slippery little thing, isn’t it?” Patrice noted, after the probe slid aside from the initial onslaught of asteroids.
“More advanced software than we’ve seen previously,” Esteban commented.
As time dragged on, individuals sat on the deck to watch, while Olawale and Francis enjoyed the comfort of the command chairs. Naturally, Esteban had locked his avatar and was analyzing the trajectory of each rock, local impacts, and the probe’s reaction.
With only six more rocks to go, the probe moved behind an asteroid, which the liner’s next rock struck, causing the displacement of the probe by the asteroid it hid behind. The fifth to last rock missed the probe, but it was in the open. That necessitated the probe dodge both numbers four and three of the countdown.
