by Andrew Beery
In that early solar system, Sol was a much younger and slightly dimmer sun. Venus was centrally located in the goldilocks zone and was a thriving lush world. It was here that the Yorktown discovered a human colony planted as part of some grand scheme the Agur race had put into play. Was Bashar another example of the Agur tinkering with the flow of history?
Cat shook her head silently. She had a lot of questions… but not a lot of answers.
“The Yorktown is landing in the main docking bay now Admiral,” WhimPy notified her.
“Thanks 101,” Cat said. “I’m heading up to the bridge now.”
Cat’s office in Marine City was near the Operations Center. As Cat had reflected many times, Marine City was a strange mix of city, space station and starship. For her the bridge was the Operations Center. Although the WhimPy platform was not flown like a conventional starship, she could request course changes and sensor feeds from the massive Heshe AI. The Operations Center or Bridge was the easiest place to do this as the displays and support terminals needed for human interaction were already in place.
Most of the activities that took place on the bridge actually had more to do with the operation of the marine base and the landing bay than the actual running of the massive starship. Those duties WhimPy handled exclusively.
The immense main viewscreen was currently configured with a split view. One half was a display of the Hupenstanii home world while the other half was an interior shot of the docking bay. The bay itself was located inside the main shell of the WhimPy platform. It was a testimony to the size of WhimPy that starships the size of the Yorktown could be docked and stored like the Yorktown itself stored scorpion fighters.
The bay already contained the docked and secured GCP Mador, Exeter and Relentless. Harry Bedmore and his crew had left the previous morning in the Brown Recluse. Cat had had several enhancements made to the Recluse before she allowed Harry to depart.
The image on the left side of the screen showed the Yorktown gracefully slipping into her custom berth.
What a magnificent ship Cat thought as she watched her flagship settle in. Docking clamps rose up from the floor and embraced the Yorktown like a mother holds her child. Power feeds from the WhimPy platform snaked up and attached themselves at various points around the great ship. This allowed the power plants inside the Yorktown to be powered down and serviced.
“Signal the Yorktown,” Cat said to the young communications officer who was sitting off to her left. “Welcome them home and request Captain Kirkland and his staff to meet me in the main conference room in twenty minutes.”
“Aye Aye Admiral,” Lieutenant Tamara said from her station.
Cat toggled her internal comms. “Commander Stone?”
“Yes Admiral,” came the immediate response.
“The Yorktown is back. I think there is someone on board you are going to want to meet. There is a senior staff meeting in twenty minutes.”
“I’m just putting the guys through their paces Ma’am. Let me turn them over to the Gunny and I’ll be right up.”
***
Lieutenant Commander Stone was impressed. Manu Yreeb was easily one of the biggest humans he had ever seen. Oh, he had seen men that weighted more, but this man was seven foot tall and solid muscle. Anyone seeing him from a distance would think he was perhaps five foot ten to six foot tall… and a trim one hundred and sixty pounds… at most. It wasn’t until he stood next to a normal human that his size became apparent. He carried his three hundred and fifty pounds around like he was an Olympic sprinter.
“So,” Doctor Kevorkian continued, “it seems as if the Ashtoreth have used their gene-drive technology on the Basharites. As far as I can tell their mitochondrial DNA was deliberately altered to render it defective. Remember that mitochondria contain DNA from two sources. Nuclear DNA which comes from both parents and mDNA which is only inherited from the mother. It this second piece that is causing a problem. Because of the defect, their females cannot generate viable eggs.”
“Then how is it they have a stable population?” Cat asked.
“The gene that is defective codes for an enzyme used in gametogenesis which produces the oocyte. No gametogenesis… no oocyte… no oocyte… no egg. I suspect the Ashtoreth supply the needed enzyme though artificial means when they want to increase the local population.”
“That would make sense,” Manu said. “Our wives tend to all get pregnant at the same time. The old ones say there must be something in the water.”
“That might very well be true,” Doctor Kevorkian said. “Supplying the necessary enzyme in the drinking supply would be child’s play… no pun intended.”
“The question is,” Doctor Pulaski said, “What can we do about it? We could use gene-drive technology to reverse the change but it would take several generations and require making in vivo changes to some of the women.”
Manu leaned forward. Even sitting at the conference table the man towered over the others. “The question is… do we need to? Rather than reengineering our genome yet again… why not introduce a gut bacterium that can manufacture the required enzymes? If the engrams the good doctor implanted in me are in any way accurate, the majority of the genetic code in our bodies resides in such organisms.”
“That’s true,” Doctor Pulaski agreed. “We introduce a blend of biotics into the small and large intestines during the bio-generation process. Our bodies have evolved to need them. This would be no different than that.”
Lieutenant Stone tapped the table to take control of the holographic display. He tapped a few virtual keys and brought up a map of the main continent.
“As you can see, there are only three great lakes and they all feed the same major river system. If we can introduce a vector… say a fish that travels freely between the various lakes we should be able to disseminate our custom microbe in a way that will be nearly impossible for the Ashtoreth to eradicate.”
Cat smiled. “That single act will spell trouble for them. Right now a big part of their control derives from the fact that the local population is stable and small.”
Cat noticed that Manu looked concerned. “Mr. Yreeb, you look like you want to say something.”
The big man placed his hands flat on the table. “I appreciate all that you are doing… really I do… but”
“But you wish we were doing more… am I right?” Cat asked.
“Indeed Admiral.”
Cat looked over at Lieutenant Commander Stone. “AG, can you assuage any fears our new friend might have?”
“I’ll try Admiral. Our current plan calls for a two pronged attack. WhimPy will jump into the Bashar system on the far side of the sun. The Yorktown taskforce will deploy under cloak and scout the inner system. Once we have identified the location and disposition of any ships near the planet WhimPy will jump into view. At that point we expect one of two things to happen.
Option one: the ships in orbit will scatter.
Option two: they will attempt to engage the WhimPy.
“In either scenario, they will not be defending their positions on the planet. At that point the Yorktown and Mador will enter standard orbit. Both ships will deploy elements of the Infinity Brigade and we will advance on their positions here, here and here.”
AG indicated three points on the holographic map that corresponded to Ashtoreth military compounds. The first was the spaceport, the second was a maintenance depot, while the last was an administration center.
Manu stood up and reached over the map to point to another area. “This should be a primary target.” He pointed to a group of buildings several dozen kilometers from the spaceport.
Stone looked at the location he indicated. It seemed to be a civilian facility.
“As a rule we try to avoid moving operations into civilian sectors. There is too high a chance of innocents being caught up in the action and hurt,” the Commander said carefully.
“I am relieved to hear this,” Manu responded. “Nevertheless, this should b
e a primary target.” He again pointed to a series of buildings surrounded by houses about fifty kilometers from the spaceport.
AG looked at Cat and then back to Manu. “OK, I bite. Why should this be on our primary target list?”
“Because the old ones live there.”
AG backed away from the table to take a look in the bigger man’s eyes. “Because the old ones live there?”
“That is correct.”
“And this is significant because…”
“Because they will be the first ones killed should you attack any of those other locations… and because you need them.”
Cat stood to look close at the spot that Manu had indicated. “Maybe it would be helpful if you explained why the old ones would be killed and why we need them.”
Manu indicated the central building in the group he had previously indicated. “This facility is a logistics control center. Everything that flows to and from this world is represented as transactions routed through this facility. If the Ashtoreth need a chemlight battery… the order is routed through here.”
“OK,” Cat acknowledged. “This explains why the facility is important… but it still does not explain the ‘old ones.’”
Manu walked casually over to the observation window. The conference room they were in was located next to the main operations center… the area Cat liked to call the bridge. As such, it was on the top most floor of the tallest building in Marine City. It stood a full two stories higher than the next tallest building, the Marine Medical Complex. The MMC housed the engram archives used to replicate every marine in the Infinity Brigade, along with enough bio-generators to process hundreds of marines an hour should the need ever arise.
All in all, it was an impressive sight. Manu sighed and turned back to face the others. “Can we be honest with each other?” He said at last. “You have an enormous advantage over us in facing the Ashtoreth. Your technology is certainly on par with theirs.” He waved his hands in dismissal. “Oh there may be some areas where they hold the upper hand technologically. But I think you will admit that there are areas where you hold the upper hand.”
Cat nodded by way of encouragement for him to continue although she had a very good idea where he was going.
“My point is, you don’t need us. What you need is information. In the end that is why you are here. If indeed information is your goal then you want to make the old ones a priority.”
He looked over the table and adjusted a few of the controls. The flatten topographical map was replaced with a globe that represented Bashar. It floated in the middle of the table. Manu used his hands to rotate the globe.
“Before the Ashtoreth came to my world we lived in cities and enjoyed a relatively comfortable level of technological prowess. Not of the level that you enjoy but then we didn’t have the Heshe to jumpstart our advancements. Our children were taught subjects like mathematics, and science, and engineering, and economics… The old ones are from that time. They came from here.” He pointed to the largest of the cities which had been located on the opposite side of the planet from the section the Ashtoreth now dominated.
“That’s why you believe it’s essential for us to make getting our hands on them a priority,” Cat muttered to herself.
Captain Kirkland, who was sitting next to Commodore Ruck and Captains Takei and Purohit had been sitting quietly so far. He took that moment to speak.
“Admiral, for purely humanitarian reasons we should rescue them but I’m getting the feeling that there is more to it than that. You’re seeing something that I’m missing.”
Cat spun the globe so that the largest abandoned city was facing Commodore Ruck and the others.
“The Ashtoreth engineered the decimation of the Bashar population. They then came in and destroyed much of the technology base. I’m assuming that any schools and universities were destroyed as a matter of course. The fewer tools you give a subjugated people, the easier it is to keep them subjugated. So the question I’m forced to ask myself is why transport a small number of educated people from one of the larger cities half way around the world to a logistics center?
“The answer,” Cat continued, “has to be they intended to use them. If they were young enough to be biddable and yet had a sufficiently high enough level of education…”
“They could be used as skilled slave labor,” Manu finished. “It is unlikely there exists anybody on the planet that knows more about the Ashtoreth than the old ones. If information is what you are after… then they must be a priority.”
AG pressed a few buttons and the topographical map returned. “How many old ones are in this facility?”
Manu shook his head. “Most are gone. The ones that are left are being replaced by the Ashtoreth themselves. My guess… and that is all that it is… is that there are no more than a couple dozen old ones still capable of working.”
“What happens when they are too old to work?” Doctor Pulaski asked.
“The Ashtoreth have no need for a slave that cannot work,” Manu said dryly.
Chapter 5: The Battle for Bashar…
Lieutenant Commander Stone sat in the cramped shuttle between the recently promoted Sergeant First Class Jeremy James ‘JJ’ Hammond and newly enlisted Private Manu Yreeb. The Basharite had insisted on joining the assault team and had rightly pointed out that with his newly acquired combat marine training and his size, plus his knowledge of the terrain… he could be a definite asset. There certainly was no doubt that he would be able to pull his weight. He was big. Stone sighed. Shuttles were cramped to begin with but with the two biggest men in his outfit sitting on either side of him it was even more so.
AG had given JJ the job of sticking with Private Yreeb. His knowledge of the local culture made him a critical resource that must be protected. The Basharite looked intimidating in his custom fit Mark 10 Stark suit. Because of his size JJ had issued the big man a shoulder mounted plasma launcher that was normally a crew-served weapon because of its bulk.
The command channel of AG’s commlink blinked for his attention. He opened the channel. “Stone here,” he subvocalized.
“Commander we are in system and deploying,” Admiral Kimbridge said. “The taskforce will deploy under cloak. Once we’ve determined the lay of the land WhimPy will distract the orbital assets that the Ashtoreth have in place. That will be your cue to deploy your forces. Are your teams ready to go?”
“Affirmative Admiral. The Yorktown MAC will target the logistics center and secure any humans we find. We will also try to recover any computer records we can find for the intelligence teams back at the MC.
“Lieutenant Hendricks has the Mador team. His group will take on the spaceport. Once both initial targets are secure we will redirect forces to take out the last two objectives. If need be, the Mador will use KEWs to soften them up.”
KEWs were kinetic energy weapons launched from space against ground-based targets. In practical terms, they were heavy rocks that could be dropped with a high degree of accuracy on the heads of an enemy to pound the target into submission.
“Be careful Commander. You may be stealthed but the enemy’s capabilities are as yet not fully known.”
***
Cat sat in her brand new command chair on the bridge of WhimPy-101. It seemed strange to be going into battle and not be on the Yorktown but this was her new reality. In fairness to WhimPy, the command center was a tacticians dream.
On a conventional starship physical space was always at a premium. Because space was a constraint, designers often had to implement workarounds. This typically resulted in compromises made in the layout and type of equipment that was available to the command staff.
On the WhimPy platform nothing could be further from the truth. Cat and her command staff had access to all the information they needed with few, if any, compromises. In a battle, timely information was a currency every bit as valuable as weapons systems.
Freshly promoted Captain Ben First now served as her executive of
ficer. His cybernetic systems were tailor-made for managing the abundance of information now available at once. Rather than having a specific station, he preferred to stand in front of a massive holographic table that dwarfed anything Cat had ever seen. On it Ben kept real-time three dimensional representations of everything going on in theatre.
At the moment there were two holographic panels active. One displayed a five hundred square kilometer contoured terrain of a small portion of the surface of Bashar. The area displayed encompassed all four primary targets on the planet’s surface. There was no activity on that map yet.
The second display was the one that had the bulk of Cat’s attention. It encompassed several square AU of space that included the entire planet as well as a number of Ashtoreth ships.
The ships for the most part were civilian and cargo transports. There were however two DorKra class warships in orbit around the planet. In addition there were numerous sensor buoys deployed at thirty light second intervals in a spherical pattern around the planet. These went out for a distance of three light minutes or almost half of an AU. At this point the buoys were spaced farther apart so that they were only within two light minutes of each other. Prior to the Great Disruption that changed where a hyperfield jump point could form, Earth had used a similar detection grid.
“WhimPy, plot a jump point zero point six AU from Bashar. Let’s drop in and say hello to the neighbors,” Cat ordered.
“Hyperfield coordinates laid in Admiral. Jumping now.”
Cat looked up through the transparent ceiling of the bridge, through the equally transparent dome that protected the city. A deep bluish purple nimbus surrounded the planetoid that was their ship. In an instant it was gone and the ship had translocated across the solar system.
Per their plan, WhimPy emerged within a couple of light seconds of a sensor buoy. When it detected their presence it immediately sent an FTL signal to the warships in orbit around Bashar.
Cat could only imagine what their captains where thinking. WhimPy had to be the largest vessel any of them had ever seen. Given that they were still several light minutes away, the Ashtoreth ships would have to depend on the sensor feeds from the buoys that were nearby rather than direct observation.
