Leana had arrived at the shuttle beside Fedic. She turned, and shredded the remaining otter on their left side, the muscles in her arms stretched to their limit again by the recoil. Fedic grabbed two of the Hud pilots and yelled at them to bring Kanuk in. They dropped their launchers and scrambled to obey.
Fedic looked to his left. A party of otters must have just returned from a hunt, and they were dragging something. Now they dropped their burden to bound toward the shuttle.
“Hurry,” screamed Fedic, then turned to the nearest Sumerian inside the shuttle.
“Shut the door,” he bellowed, frantically miming the action. The Sumerian hesitated for a moment, then caught on to what Fedic was saying. He keyed something into the control panel by the door. Far too slowly, the hatch began to close.
The pilots hauled Kanuk inside as Fedic and Battrod fired blindly through the diminishing space that remained. They snapped the launchers back inside as the doors finally closed. A moment later the shuttle rocked as heavy bodies thudded against the closed door, then there was a high-pitched keening and a scrabbling from above them.
“Damn things are on the roof,” said Bosun.
“Take her up,” bellowed Fedic, making a rising circular motion with one hand.
The shuttle lurched, and left the ground. It was unstable under the added weight of the otters.
Keep us out of the trees, prayed Fedic, as the shuttle angled across the clearing. But in the end the trees saved them. One of the large conifers raked across the bottom of the shuttle and tipped it at an angle. That dislodged one of the otters, and the sudden movement as the pilot jerked them back onto a level heading was too much for the other one.
It slid off the metal hull and followed the first one toward the ground. The dull thud as the heavy bodies hit could be heard from inside the shuttle. Freed of the extra weight, the craft rose quickly into the sky over the forest, and turned away toward RockHaven.
“Well, I’m glad that’s over,” said Bosun, sitting down abruptly.
“Don’t speak too soon,” said Fedic. “If the evacuation doesn’t work out, we don’t get to go home.” Then he bent over Kanuk, who was still unconscious. The Hud pilot’s breathing was regular, and there didn’t appear to be any bleeding.
The scene at RockHaven could best be described as pandemonium. The shuttle descended slowly onto the apron of flat rock that ran from the cliff overhang out into the sea. At one end of the apron it looked like most of the contents of RockHaven had been set outside for some sort of gigantic spring cleaning.
“Sorting out what they might be able to take,” said Bosun, as the shuttle touched down. Fedic raised an eyebrow.
“I think they’ll find they can take what they stand up in, and that’s about it,” he said, before arranging for Kanuk to be lifted in to the medical facilities.
“And it’ll all be for nothing if we can’t keep the Reaper ships at bay while we evacuate the population.” Both of them looked up involuntarily, but there was no sign of warships, Invardii or Alliance, in the bright sky above.
The Sumerian forces came out of star drive on the edge of the Uruk system, the warships clustered protectively around the five remaining giant motherships. Then the Javelins arrived, and Air Marshall Cagill assumed command of the combined fleet. Together, the Alliance forces jumped again, coming out of star drive as close to Uruk’s gravitational field as they dared.
A sizable fleet of K'Sarth freighters and civilian liners with star drive capability were not far behind, and the first task of the allied force was to make the planet safe for them. Then they would descend to the surface at each of the Lyceum bunkers, and pick up the remaining Sumerian population.
The first reports were far more favorable than Cordez had hoped. Of the almost 400 Reaper ships that had survived the battle for Earth, less than half had returned to Uruk. In the worst case scenario, those ships could have been reinforced by more Reaper ships from the many Invardii shipyards now active in the Spiral Arm. That would have made a new armada that was double the size. Lady luck appeared to be on the side of the Alliance – so far.
The Reaper ships were largely assembled on the night side of the planet, and Cagill arranged his forces over the oncoming dawn, putting a solid line between the armada and the evacuation, as it followed the new day around the planet.
Cagill didn’t want to start a shooting war. Some of the Javelins’ missiles had been changed into the new shield-busting wonders that had worked so well against the Reaper ships during the first engagement.
Despite the urgency to make more missiles – at least the guidance systems and propulsion units to drive them – less than a quarter of the Javelins had the new weapons, and those only had a few each. Cagill just hoped the Invardii didn’t realize that. The Reaper ships also had defenses against the fractal slugs that had once been so effective. No, Cagill didn’t want a shooting war.
The real threat to the Reaper ships was the Sumerian motherships, but then they were the last real trump card the Alliance had. He didn’t want to see any of them damaged if they could be kept in reserve.
Cagill just wanted to keep the Invardii forces out of the way while the evacuation went ahead. His forces would advance slowly with the march of the Uruk sun across the planet, until the last of the Sumerian population had been taken off behind them.
That was the plan, anyway.
The K'Sarth freighters and Sumerian liners came out of star drive on the day side of the planet, and spread out toward the Lyceum bunkers. They began the descent to the planet’s surface, a daytime meteor shower of almost a hundred points of light. They grew larger as they dropped through the atmosphere.
At RockHaven the final preparations were underway. An area of flat land behind Rockhaven was being marked out as an informal spaceport. A number of trees and a small hill had been removed over the previous few days, working at night.
Fedic made sure Kanuk was safely in the hands of a medical team, and hurried after Bosun to see RakBrahmad.
“RockHaven thanks you for returning with our friend Fedic Vits,” said RakBrahmad, rather formally. Ever since Fedic had brought Aldsanni to help them with the evacuation, and then the sub-space radios for the bunkers to use, Fedic had been held in high esteem by the Sumerian leaders. Bosun nodded, not sure what response was required.
“Are you well,” inquired RakBrahmad, noticing Fedic’s bound shoulder and arm in a sling.
“The bone hasn’t set properly,” said Fedic. “Though the process to speed up the knitting of the bones has worked well. It’s more of an annoyance than anything else, and fortunately it doesn’t affect my dominant right hand. Once I’m back on Earth, I’ll see it’s re-broken and set properly.”
RakBrahmad hoped politely that this would be soon.
“What time will the evacuation start?” asked Fedic, standing beside RakBrahmad’s logistics officer and watching the flow of data as it ticked off people and goods. Orders were going out that detailed when the population was to be at the temporary spaceport, and in what order.
“A K'Sarth freighter landed just after you got in,” said RakBrahmad, “to evacuate the first of us. We’re behind schedule, but we’ll make the take-off deadline.”
Bosun looked at Fedic. So far so good. They both looked at the sky again. The evacuation would only work if the Alliance forces could keep the Reaper ships at bay. The fighting could start any time now.
CHAPTER 23
________________
“This is where we are at the moment,” said RakBrahmad, doing something with a module in front of him. An image came up on the screen, and Fedic was looking at the huge loading doors of the freighter, now lowered to the ground. Bosun sat beside him in the office.
Lines of Sumerians were entering the freighter at a steady pace, each clutching small packs that contained, he assumed, their most precious belongings. On a small side ramp hover-decks could be seen loading equipment, and stacks of dull metal boxes. Fedic pointed to these, voicing a
question.
“Heavy metals and replacement parts,” said RakBrahmad.
“The Sumerian planets are changing what their factories produce, to make up for the loss of production from Uruk and Rokar. Some things have such a high priority we’ve been told to take everything we have in those categories.”
Fedic nodded his thanks.
“We’re one of only two populations outside the bunkers big enough to be an evacuation center ourselves,” said RakBrahmad. “All other independent groups have reported to the bunkers. Things are going to be cramped for them, but it’s only for a few days.”
RakBrahmad changed the image on the screen, and they were looking toward the back of RockHaven. Fedic could see the recessed doors where the Sumerian population emerged before they entered the freighter.
“That’s the medcenter population,” said Bosun, as he realized what was going on. The three of them watched maglev units bob along behind the medical staff as the more critical patients were taken on board the freighter. He wondered if Kanuk was among them, or whether he would make his own way to the freighter.
“Administration personnel board after the medcenter,” said RakBrahmad. “We’re the last people scheduled for evacuation.”
Fedic wasn’t as happy with his evacuation by freighter as he looked. If the Reaper ships were going to destroy the evacuation fleet, it would be as the freighters and liners came up through the atmosphere of the planet.
The last place Fedic wanted to be was packed into the hold of a lumbering freighter, where he couldn’t fight back if he needed to.
He prayed for an incident-free trip off the planet, and he got it. The Reaper ships had been losing too many of their own as the level of technology at Prometheus increased in leaps and bounds. And there was luck. The Javelins had managed to smack the Invardii in the teeth a couple of times lately, and then withdraw. Cordez had wondered how they got away with it, but he wasn’t complaining.
“Fortune favors the bold,” had become the unofficial Prometheus motto. It also caused unnecessary deaths, thought Fedic, as he pondered his future. He knew what was coming. Two weeks of ‘mental health time’, and then another mission. Which of course he could say ‘no’ to. Ha!
But this time, thought the stealth operative par excellence, but this time I think I might choose the mission myself. Cordez wouldn’t be pleased, but maybe asserting his independence wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Fedic leaned back in the cramped conditions aboard the freighter and did some mental gymnastics to pass the time. Then he was daydreaming. There was one place he had always wanted to go . . .
Two days later, Fedic and Cordez were already in the boardroom at Prometheus for a scheduled meeting. Cordez nodded to Neuman Cagill as the Air Marshall came in. Cordez and Fedic were involved in an animated discussion, and Finch was further down the long, oval table in front of a pile of display equipment. Matsu Fujimi and Meeaniro sat quietly on Cordez’ other side.
Ayman Case followed the Air Marshall into the room. The squadron leader had continued to grow under Cagill’s tutelage, and had become head of the Javelin forces when Cagill took over command of the giant Valkrethi. These were the incredible weapons the Rothii had left for the Human race on Orouth, still much of a secret. Behind him came Leana, now liaison person for the Hud personnel among the Javelin pilots.
Celia was the last person to enter the room, representing the research team who flew with the Valkrethi pilots. There was a moment’s silence as she sat down.
“I don’t want you that deep in Invardii territory,” said Cordez to Fedic, sounding loud in the sudden silence. “It’s too dangerous. Besides, you haven’t finished checking out all the reports of enemy mining that have come in yet.”
“Well, after that then,” said Fedic stubbornly.
“This idiot wants to go to Mentuk,” said Cordez with a laugh, seeing the faces looking his way. Mentuk was a desolate world now. It was the original home planet of the Caerbrindii, from whom the Druanii, Rothii and Invardii had sprung. Celia’s research team was still piecing the details together. It was well inside Invardii territory now, as the hybrid race expanded out from the galactic core.
“You’re too valuable!” he said to Fedic, turning back to him.
“Apart from which I like to keep old friends alive,” he added, smiling.
“There could be something there, on Mentuk,” said Fedic, accepting Cordez’ decision, as he always did, but not wanting to let the idea go. “One piece of information that could make all the difference.”
“We’ve got too much else to do,” said Cordez briskly, and turned back to include everyone at the table in his conversation.
“Thank you all for coming,” he began. “We’ve got some difficult decisions to make today, and a lot of people will pay a very high price if we get it wrong. I want you to listen up, people!
“There have been sightings of Invardii drones in Sumerian space, and particularly around the shipyards producing motherships. Sumerian warships have destroyed three of them, and lost one of their own in the process.
“There are still the same 400 Reaper ships at Uruk, and no sign of any more flagships. Unfortunately we know of eight Invardii shipyards in Alliance space, and that means the armada numbers won’t be staying at current levels. The last lot of flagships came from the Core, and another influx like that could happen at any time.
“It seems to me we can’t wait around for the armada to build up its strength. We have to do something to stop that growth now.
“The Invardii don’t know about the Valkrethi yet, but they’ll soon find a solution to Carlos Paula’s little shield-busting missiles. However, they already know the Sumerian motherships can do them some real damage. I’d be willing to bet they will strike at the shipyards that make them next, and that is something we don’t want to happen. The question here is simple. Which course of action will cost the Invardii the most, and us the least?”
There was a long silence after Cordez’ speech.
“Knocking over their mining activities won’t do it,” said Finch. “It might slow them down eventually, but it won’t stop the current run of Reaper ships being produced. The Invardii mining bases are pretty spread out, so by the time we knocked out one they’d know our strategies for the next.”
To illustrate his point he brought up a 3D representation of the Spiral Arm. It had the Invardii mining bases, those that had been verified, present as blinking lights.
“Interesting,” said Cordez, leaning forward to see the display better.
“The mining bases could be used as bait, though,” said Fedic quietly. He looked up at the ceiling as he thought about the best way to do this.
“That’s what I was thinking,” said Cordez. “Give them a chance to send Reaper ships against us while we’re destroying their mining activities, and then close the net and pick up the lot.”
“The Reaper ship numbers are too high at Uruk to win a decisive victory there,” said Cagill.
“Even if the Valkrethi live up to expectations, we would take a lot of damage while we worked our way through 400 Reaper ships. Remember, strategy loses effectiveness when numbers are high.”
Cordez nodded. He was familiar with Cagill’s point.
“So we’re thinking we could trap and eliminate smaller numbers of Reaper ships by threatening the mining bases, and maybe the shipyards?” said Cordez.
Most of those present nodded.
“Anyone got any other ideas?” continued Cordez, waiting for anyone to outline their objections – or decide this was the best option.
“We’ve got a choice in the way we close the trap,” said Matsu, when no one offered anything new.
“We can use the Valkrethi, or we can try reversing the sub space pulse that brought the Invardii cylinder to Meeaniro’s lab when she was working at Thistledown Abbey. That way we could send them some unpleasant surprises.”
Cordez had kept pace with Matsu’s work in the sub space pulse area,
but he had his reservations. He looked pensive.
“How ready are the Valkrethi,” he asked, directing the question to Cagill.
“The pilots have almost finished their training,” said Cagill, “but there’s a big difference between the simulations I’ve given them, and going up against Reaper ships.”
“How are the research team?” said Cordez, directing the question to Celia.
“Keeping up during the training,” said Celia briefly, looking at Cagill for confirmation. He nodded.
Cordez turned back toward Matsu. “I’ve been discussing the pulse idea with Fedic,” said the Regent. “The idea of a missile ‘towed’ into the heart of a Reaper ship behind a pulse is very attractive, but I have to agree with Fedic’s assessment.
“The Invardii will soon learn how it’s done, and use the same trick against the Javelins, or even the Valkrethi. Until we know how to block a return pulse, as well as send it in the first place, we should keep the idea at the research stage.”
Matsu inclined his head. He was disappointed, but he could see the logic in Fedic’s assessment.
“Which leaves us with the Valkrethi as the teeth of the trap, Neuman,” continued Cordez. “The Invardii will soon work out a solution to Carlos’ shield-busting missiles, if they haven’t already, so the Valkrethi need to be there as an alternative.
“When do you think they’ll be ready for such an operation?”
“We’re near the end of our preparations,” said Cagill, “so just tell me when you want them ready and I’ll make sure we finish our training in time.”
Cordez nodded. “The Hud pilots can be ready at short notice?” he asked Leana, who snapped a prompt ‘yessir’.
Cordez leaned back and clasped his fingers together, the two first fingers pressing against his nose on either side. The others were used to this, it was a sign of an impending decision.
“Right then,” he said at last. “Fedic and Neuman, I want you back here this evening. We have a plan to flesh out, and a trap to set. The rest of you – thank you, and that’s all for now.”
Invardii Box Set 2 Page 14
