STRIKE (Jim Able: Offworld Book 8)
Page 5
He woke from a troubled dream to find Demil, the third Jorr soldier, standing over him.
“Sir! Are you okay?”
“Yeah...sure. What is it?”
“There’s some action.” He pointed his short furry thumb toward the main cabin.
“Thanks, I’ll be there.”
Jim did not like the way the soldier hesitated, waiting to see Jim get up. He felt bad enough without having to share it.
Loral was waiting to speak to him. “They’re taking the ark down.”
“Really? Can it hold up under the stresses?”
The professor interjected, “They seem not to care they’re trashing it! Once they land it, it won’t take off again. It wasn’t built for that. From what I saw during the attack, it’s already badly beaten up.”
“It’s also slowed them down a lot. They’ve had to lose a lot of speed before they can even hit orbit.”
“How long before we can catch them?”
“We’ll be in orbit within the hour. They’re only an hour ahead of us now. Our backup is three hours behind us.”
“Ship!” Jim began. “Start sending out the Gul fleet identifier at half regular power. Plot a landing path to put us as close as possible to the ark.”
“Acknowledged.”
Loral frowned at Jim. “Your plan is just fly down right into the base?”
“Sure.”
Loral looked over to the professor. “Is that wise?”
Gritta Mel shrugged and looked at Jim. “This is the fellow who claims to have successfully destroyed most of their ships. We must give him credit for some sense. But it sounds less...clandestine than I had thought.”
“I’m hoping that, first, we won’t attract too much attention—since they should be expecting stragglers to be making their way back—and second, if we get behind the ark and you know a quick way in, we won’t be in the open long. Get the idea?”
“Hmm,” said the professor. “You’re assuming they’ll still be in there?”
“You said they took buildings whole?”
“Yes, the building with my lab and the one with my apartment.”
“What will your son do when he realizes what has happened?”
“Well...he’ll hide.”
“And he has Tella to help him do so. I don’t think they’ll track them down straight away.”
“You’re right! It’ll buy some time...but we won’t be able to find them either.”
“I suggest,” began Loral, “that we only reconnoiter. We should wait for backup before we take any action.”
Jim nodded but said nothing. He had no intention of waiting. He had to find Tella and the professor’s child quickly before anything happened to them.
***
As soon as they reached orbit around Tanna Gul, Jim called, “Ship, cross-reference the augmented maps from my previous visit. Find the Traknho’ base. Scan for the ark there.”
“Scanning. Target found.”
“Good. We’re in luck.”
Loral was still listening to the Gul radio traffic.
“Three ships in orbit have been cleared for landing at the Traknho’ base.”
Jim said, “Ship, can you identify those ships?”
“Confirmed. Three ships identified leaving orbit with the specified trajectory.”
“Follow them.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Here we go!” Jim smiled.
“Ship, land us as close to the ark as possible. Land on the side away from the main access doors,” Jim said.
“Insufficient data to complete requested maneuver.”
“Professor?” Jim invited her to the console with an open hand.
“Hmm...Okay. Bring up an image of the ark.”
“Ship, display the ark at this screen,” said Jim.
An image appeared on the screen, blurred and gray.
“Hmm...Ah, there! That’s the main access. There are five maintenance doors, one on each side and one on the roof,” said Gritta.
“The roof?”
“Certainly, why not?”
“Can we land on it?”
“We could probably dock with it. Does this flier have a standard docking system?”
“Standard for bipedal primates, yes. What were the specs for the ark?”
“Can I see what yours looks like?”
“Sure. Ship, display schematic of this craft’s docking access.”
The image changed to a diagram of the underside of the flier.
“Show a closer view of the clamps,” Jim said.
The image zoomed in to the hatch and its locking mechanisms.
“Oh, that looks okay,” Loral said and nodded. “That looks the same.”
“Ship! Cancel landing instructions. Dock with the upper hatch on the ark.”
“Request canceled. Docking request acknowledged. Confirm standard synchronization.”
“What’s that?” asked the professor.
Jim instructed, “Ship! Do not communicate with the ark or any other Gul craft. Do not acknowledge any communication from ground installations.”
“Acknowledged.”
Jim lowered his voice and answered the professor, “If you instigate a docking maneuver, it’s polite to coordinate with the other craft.”
“Of course,” she nodded.
“Once we’re inside, do you know your way around?”
“No, not really. Each one is different.” She turned to Loral. “Do we know which one this is?”
“Ark One, temperate agricultural archive.”
“Crops, fungi, molds, insects, a labyrinth of small units surrounding simulated fields.”
“What will we find on the other side of the hatch?” asked Jim.
“The roof is where the artificial sunlight and the atmospheric systems are housed. There will be access stairs and elevators to the main level.”
“That’ll do nicely.”
“But don’t forget: they had enough time to sneak dozens of ships inside this thing, as well as, presumably, a fair amount of fuel. We don’t know what else they’ve done.”
The flier began to shake as they entered the atmosphere of Tanna Gul.
“Ship, when the other ships approach the landing field, reduce the strength of the identification signal. Cease transmission as soon as they land.”
“Graduated signal reduction initiated.”
“What are you up to?” asked Gritta Mel.
“Hoping to confuse the Guls. Perhaps, at least, mislead them into thinking the transmission was some kind of echo from one of the other ships.”
She nodded, narrowing her eyes as she reassessed him once again.
They were silent for the remainder of their descent.
“Docking initiated,” intoned the raeda.
They felt a slight jolt as the flier came to rest on top of the ark.
Next Time
Our story continues
in LARC, Episode #9 of JIM ABLE: OFFWORLD,
where Jim and Tella join with Larc and his mother
in a final confrontation with the Gul Raeff.
Is there a Gul cure for the Raeff’s particular madness?
If the smoke ever clears, Jim has a promise to fulfill.
#
JIM ABLE: OFFWORLD
Episode Nine, LARC
Jim Able: Offworld - Larc
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