“Good lady, I’m puzzled about the Aliens we’ve met so far,” he said amiably. “The Melagun looked physically like herbivores but in truth are omnivores. They will be a major battle ally once they outfit their ships with Alcubierre drives. The BooMak looked like herbivores. And are. Mostly.” He paused as the woman rested her chin on one fist, her attention fixed on him. “But they turn out to be two species! Yes, we will leave behind a Predator Alert satellite to warn Aliens that we claim Gliese 832 as part of the human Hunt territory. But I have no idea if the BooMak will have any idea of how to fight predator Aliens.”
“So?” she said, her freckles sharp against her pale face. “What did you expect from these juvenile species contacts?”
Jack grimaced, ignored Maureen’s shaking of her head, and tried to explain. “Well, the Hunters of the Great Dark are all social carnivore Aliens. They Hunt in solo mode for other star systems to dominate and colonize, the way a lone tiger stakes out its hunt territory on old Earth. And while their diets include more than meat, they are deadly carnivores!” He paused, noticing how Maureen, Elaine, Max, Blodwen, Archibald, Cassie and Nikola were all focused on him. Once more on stage. He sighed. “I’m confused at finding two Alien species that are not social carnivores, but which do not fit well into the herbivore and omnivore social patterns I know from my ecology studies. Yet these are thinking peoples. And I do not understand them even after weeks spent hanging out with them.”
Denise nodded. She pulled a red braid around to her lips, realized that everyone’s attention was now on her, then let go of the braid. Her freckles got notably darker. But her green gaze was thoughtful. “Yes, these Aliens are thinking peoples. But they are not the same as us. However, they are more similar to us than different,” she said, her tone tough and assured. “Behavioral ecology says there is a reason for every action and every behavior shown by any animal. Which is what humans and these Aliens are,” she said calmly. “Animal Ethology says every animal species exhibits territorial acquisition behavior. Which is going out beyond your home nest and looking for a broader ecological niche in which to find food, find a mate and to discourage other animals from mooching on your territorial resources. Both the Melagun and the BooMak have done this by looking for resources and habitats beyond their home world.” She looked around at everyone, including the fleet captains who were hearing and seeing all that Jack saw and heard. “So, while they may look different from us, even think different, they are very similar to humans. Which is why we could even talk to them on subjects of common interest. And do trading with them. They understood all that and more, including group defense.”
He bit his lip. “Then which is more important? The evolutionary biology heritage of Aliens who evolved as carnivores, herbivores and omnivores? Or the cultural patterns of their societies? Which is primary?”
Denise sat back in her Comlink seat. “Both. The food we rely on to survive guided our early evolution to thinking people. But once we became self-aware and thinking, culture began. And culture is the new evolutionary adaptation that has changed human society for millennia. Culture allowed humanity to dominate Earth and its entire ecology. But our evolution as omnivore scavengers led us to make war on rival human groups. And warfare persisted long after culture developed.” She looked back at Max, who was as attentive as Jack. “Out in the Kuiper Belt, you and Max realized that Aliens could be dangerous when you saw the aposematic coloration and body shapes that signaled dangerous predator. An understanding the Unity never accepted. So while an Alien’s culture will guide its surface actions and choices, its evolutionary heritage will always be there. Ready to run from you, trick you or rip out your throat.”
Jack nodded slowly. “So, you’re saying we should be prepared for more surprises in both Alien biology and Alien culture?”
She grinned, her manner that of a young teen who enjoyed outfoxing her elders. “Yup. As the scholar John Alcock said last century, ‘cultural evolution involves selection for various learning abilities that permit individuals to adopt the cultural practices of their societies’. In short, the strange behaviors of the Melagun and BooMak make cultural sense, given their evolutionary heritage. So, in the future, whatever we find in an Alien society is there for a reason. Or reasons. Clear?”
“Clear enough.” He did not like the complexity of what they had found in two interstellar trips, but it was what it was. And Jack had never been one to pretend that reality does not bite you in the butt. Time to head off. He looked back to his lifemate.
“Nikola, share with us the data regarding Epsilon Indi,” he said, offering her a smile.
She winked at him then brushed back her long brown hair as she looked down at the Astro panel above her lap. She tapped quickly on it. “Epsilon Indi is a three star system. Indi A is an orange main sequence star of the K5V class. It is orbited by two brown dwarfs, or failed stars, at 1,523 AU. Indi A is three-fourths the mass of Sol, has a diameter of 1.387 Sols and a temp of 4,630 Kelvin. Distance to it from Sol is 11.83 light years. Distance to it from Gliese 832 is just 4.84 light years.” She paused, tap-tapped again, then hummed to herself. “Records say it has five planets orbiting the star, with one of them in the liquid water ecozone, plus the outermost planet is a gas giant the size of Jupiter. It’s located at 8.57 AU. Beyond the outer planet is a skimpy cometary debris disk that runs from 20 to 40 AU. Elaine, I’m sending you the X, Y and Z coordinates with corrections for galactic motion.”
Well, that would get them started. He glanced past Maureen to Elaine. “Pilot?”
His sister, who had been focused on Denise’s explanation of Alien culture versus evolutionary heritage, gave a start. She looked down at the NavTrack panel she had pulled over her lap. “All parties strap in. Coordinates loaded. Transmitted to the fleet.” She looked his way, her rad-tanned expression now all business.
Jack looked to the front screen with its true-light image of black space crossed with the white swath of the Milky Way. His fellow captains and the admiral looked eager to be underway. He cleared his throat.
“Chief Astronomer, what’s the trip time to Indi A?”
“One day, six hours and a few minutes,” she said, her tone assured and confident.
“Uh, where do we arrive at Epsilon Indi A?”
“At 40 AU, just beyond the cometary disk’s outer edge,” Nikola said calmly. “Or do you prefer an emergence point above the stellar ecliptic plane?”
He looked to Hideyoshi. “Admiral, what do you recommend on our emergence point?”
His Mars ally pursed his lips, expression thoughtful. “Well, the Nasen holo says the local juvenile Aliens have not reached their outermost gas planet at nine AU. Which gives us plenty of time to observe them if we arrive at 40 AU and they have fusion pulse ships.” The man frowned thoughtfully, his eyebrows creasing. “If there are Hunters hiding in its cometary disk, like at Sol, we could attack them more easily by arriving at the edge of the ecliptic plane.”
The man’s thinking matched his own. “Nikola, we stay with what you gave Elaine. Arriving at the outer edge of the cometary disk is just fine. But I suggest we all don our vacsuits and helmets before our arrival, just in case.”
Maureen glanced his way, her expression Irish somber. “I like being cautious. Just because there were no Hunters camped outside the Melagun and BooMak systems does not mean they will be absent at Epsilon Indi.”
Jack wondered if he was being too cautious. But now was the last time he could give combat relevant orders to the entire fleet. Leastwise until they all exited the FTL space-time manifold. “Max, do the laser time-lock with the drive modules of the other fleet ships. Then take us into Alcubierre drive.”
“So soon?” Max said, his tone playful. “I was hoping to play a game of tic-tac-toe on my fusion drive panel.”
Jack could not hold back his grin. Nor did the other ship captains. Even Hideyoshi showed a wry smile. Playing games before starting up his Alcubierre drive wonder was the last thing any of them expected o
f Max. “Time to leave.”
“As you wish.” Jack heard his buddy tapping on the Alcubierre drive pedestal that stood between Max and Denise. “Reactor power feeding to the Alcubierre module. Space-time manifold established. Space to our rear is expanding and the space to our front is shrinking!”
Jack shared his friend’s excitement.
Ahead the images of people, stars and galaxies grew hazy, then jagged, then vanished completely as the Alcubierre space-time manifold created a bubble apart from normal space-time. Their ship, and the other fleet ships, shot toward their target star at a speed of four light years per day.
He decided to put off his worries about the next group of Aliens. Standing up, he looked at Blodwen and Archibald in the back. Both of them looked startled to be the focus of his attention. “You two, it’s your turn to cook our steaks, potatoes, rice, veggies and custard pudding. My turn to supervise. Well, get started!”
Blodwen laughed, her voice light and gentle. Archibald just grinned, brushed a hand through his wild shock of hair, and stood up with Blodwen. With a glance to their Sociologist, their physicist gave her a wink, then saluted Jack military style.
“Aye, aye, captain!”
“Of course, captain,” murmured Blodwen as she fought hard to not break into giggles.
Jack followed after them.
A pinch on his bottom reminded him there was one female on board whom he could not order around.
“Ouch!”
“If you supervise, then you do the dishes. Even if that only means switching on the Auto-Cleaner!” Nikola said tartly.
He felt relief to pass through the hatch into the Spine hallway.
♦ ♦ ♦
Jack welcomed the appearance of stars, galaxies and velvet black space as the Uhuru exited the Alcubierre space-time manifold. The front screen filled with the orange dot that was Epsilon Indi A, the two specks that were the brown dwarfs and the half-disks of the five planets. Which grew even as he watched as Nikola increased the Schmidt scope’s magnification. Between their ship and the distant planets there shimmered a scatter of white spots that must be the cometary disk.
“Grav-pulls!” yelled Elaine. “I’ve got grav-pull graviton emissions coming from ahead. Going up on the screen.”
His heart hammered. His mouth went dry. And Jack wondered why he should be surprised that the universe liked surprising him. “Where? What are they doing? And where are the local fusion drive ships?”
The screen blinked and split into two segments. On the left was the magnified true-light image of the system. On the right was an overhead plan view of the system, with the star, planets and cometary belt marked as red dots and a red haze, reflecting their infrared emissions. Atop the infrared image there now appeared yellow dots for the grav-pull ships, green dots for the fusion ships and white dots for the artificial neutrino emission sources.
“Grav-pulls are all in the cometary disk,” Elaine said hurriedly. “Total of 10 graviton emission sources arranged in four locations of three, three, three and one. They don’t cluster. They seem to be staying close to a home comet like they did in Sol.” She paused, tapping on her NavTrack panel. “There are 14 fusion drive ships, all located within three AU of the star. Planet three is the inhabited one in the water ecozone. There’s a thin asteroid belt between planets three and four with ships moving between them. Planet five is the gas giant at eight and a half AU. No grav-pull or fusion ship is near it. Neutrino sources are on planet three, on its moon and on planet two which is at the inner edge of the habitable zone.”
Jack scanned the four cluster locations of the grav-pull ships. “Fleet, we go stealth! No neutrino chatter ship to ship. No grav-pull use. No fusion drive use. I want to kill those predator ships before they know we are here! And use your particle beams. I want to salvage those grav-pull drives before we contact the locals.”
“Exactly right!” growled Maureen from beside him as she unlocked her restraint straps, stood up and headed back for her Battle Module. The woman moved lithely in her red and white-striped vacsuit.
He looked to his allies. “Fleet, we split up. Mars fleet, you take the three ship cluster on the far side of Epsilon Indi A. Gareth, take your fleet against the cluster that is forty degrees retrograde from our position. My fleet will handle the cluster that is twenty degrees ahead of us.”
The admiral raised a hand. “Fleet Captain Jack, may I offer Captain Gareth’s fleet the assistance of one of our destroyers? The Zhukov will add to their firepower. Mars will still have ten ships. Would you like some assistance?”
Jack nodded. “Uh, yes. While the seven ships in our first Belter fleet can handle three predator ships, we have no ship with a Higgs Disruptor. If your destroyer MacArthur can join us with its beamer, that will give us extra insurance.” He looked to Gareth, then back. “And yes, please do loan your two destroyers to Gareth’s fleet. That gives him six ships, us eight ships and you nine.”
“Captain Jack,” called Minna from the Wolverine, “what about that solo grav-pull ship that is ninety degrees retrograde from us? Perhaps Admiral Hideyoshi could send the destroyer Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto against that ship?”
A good point considering how the man’s fleet was destroyer heavy. “Admiral Hideyoshi, your thoughts on that suggestion?”
The man nodded sharply. “Captain Ras Mengesha of the Yamamoto and our corvette can go after that solo Hunter ship. That way all four Alien targets will be hit simultaneously. With your permission.”
Jack gave the man a formal salute. “Share your fleet ships as you have outlined. Head for your two targets. Gareth, head for your target. The Uhuru will take out the cluster that is ahead of us in orbital vector. We all get to our target using Alcubierre. We all strike five minutes from this moment! When your targets are dead, report back using your modulated neutrino comlink.”
“Agreed,” Hideyoshi said calmly.
“Ready to go!” Gareth said from the Dragon.
The black-skinned image of Ras Mengesha nodded sharply. “The Yamamoto will take care of the solo predator ship!”
Jack gave a thumbs-up to the Ethiopian captain and to all his allies. “My fleet departs now. Max! Light up that manifold thingie!”
“Activating,” his Drive Engineer said. “Going to the manifold space-time now!”
The front screen images blurred, went jagged, then disappeared.
Jack took a deep breath, then tapped on his Tech panel. It lit up with a Tactical Display of all weapons systems on the Uhuru. Above his panel there popped on the holo of Maureen, who looked busy at her Fire Control panel in the Battle Module. He reached down to the side of his seat, grabbed his water bottle, stuck it to his helmet’s neck ring inlet and sucked on the inner tube. Ice cold water filled his mouth. He swallowed.
“Jack,” called Cassie from the rear. “When do we talk to the local Aliens?”
“After we zap the predator Aliens!” he said hurriedly, his mind awash with tactical options. “Anyway, Denise will need time to record the local AV broadcasts, work her SETI magic and then program in a translation matrix to our ship’s comlink system.”
“Quite,” said their teen. “Had no time to record any EMF broadcasts once Elaine rang the alarm.”
“Well,” called Archibald, “we are surely going to be a surprise to our targets! I don’t think any of the social carnivore Aliens have given thought to using the Alcubierre drive for in-system transit. As we found in prior battles. Thank goodness!”
Jack could only agree with the man on that.
“Captain Jack,” called Blodwen from the rear. “Could the presence of predators in this system’s cometary disk be an indication the local people are close to reaching their outermost planet?”
“Could be,” he told her, his mind mentally counting down the seconds to emergence from the manifold. “But the presence of four different Alien predator species in this system tells me they think this juvenile species has something special going on.”
“Wel
l,” called Nikola from behind him, “I wonder if that special something has to do with the thermonuke explosions I saw in their asteroid belt.”
What! “Nikola, explain quickly! I didn’t see that.”
“Cause you were too focused on Elaine’s sensor imagery,” she said calmly. “My Astro panel shows not only the true-light and infrared sensor stuff from Elaine, but also x-rays, gamma rays, UV and other high energy stuff. Just before we went to Alcubierre I saw three bursts of high-energy x-rays plus gamma rays. They travel slightly faster than the infrared heat bloom emission. You don’t get high-level x-ray emissions other than from a star. Or from a thermonuke explosion. So, what are the locals doing in their local asteroid belt?”
What indeed?
“Exiting!” called Max, sounding hurried.
Black space filled the front screen. In the middle of that blackness glowed a white comet that looked 200 kilometers wide and half that thick. Three bright metallic sparkles showed to the left side of the comet.
“Nikola!”
“Here!” she replied, putting up a magnified view of the three grav-pull ships.
They were silvery teardrops that looked familiar to Jack. Each ship had streaks of black-and-yellow on their hull. Then he saw, hovering just above the north pole of the comet, a bigger ship with cup-like sockets embedded on its surface.
“Yiplak!” he yelled.
The images of Minna, Ignacio, Akemi, Júlia, Aashman, Kasun and Captain Amitar of the MacArthur appeared across the top of the front screen. They all nodded quick recognition.
“Strike when in range!” Jack said.
Their antimatter, neutral particle beam and Higgs Disruptor beams all had effective ranges out to 10,000 kilometers. The HF lasers with adaptive optics focusing were good out to 3,000 kilometers. The railguns could hit targets out to 2,000 klicks. Maybe they would ventilate the enemy ship fragments with stainless steel ball bearings.
“Firing!” cried Maureen.
Freedom Vs. Aliens (Aliens Series Book 3) Page 18
