Rise of the Valkrethi

by Warwick Gibson

  Cagill had lived up to his promise. It was a surprise all right, and their boss was deliberately making this hard.

  Roberto began to tick off mentally what Cagill might have done to hide the Reaper ships. Then he stopped abruptly. One of his old fighting style teachers had specialised in reconnaissance. What had he said? Yes, that was it – the best approach was to hide in plain sight.

  So what had Cagill done with the Reaper ships? Then the answer came.

  He had turned off the shields, that’s what he’d done. Maybe they would activate when one of the Javelins came within a certain distance. Or he had tampered with the Valkrethi systems so they wouldn’t read the Reaper ship energy signatures. That was unlikely, considering how little Prometheus knew so far about how the Valkrethi systems actually worked.

  So, there were two enemy ships out there, but they wouldn’t be producing a signal on any of the usual electromagnetic spectrums, if they were producing a signal at all. And even the metals used in their construction might have been disguised in some way.

  There had to be an answer!

  CHAPTER 17

  ________________

  It took Roberto a while to figure out what he had to do. A two-pilot team would improve the sensitivity of the Valkrethi search systems. That would extend their range, and allow them to triangulate in on their target.

  Roberto hesitated. Normally he would form a team with Celia, but that probably wasn’t such a good idea at the moment. Then he saw two of the Valkrethi peel off from the main group and start a search pattern of their own. A quick check on the long-range sensors showed him they were Andre and Jeneen.

  Dammit! The other research team members had come to the same conclusion as himself, and that left Celia as the only one he could team up with. None of the Javelin pilots would understand what he was up to. They were strictly ‘by the book’ thinkers.

  “Request you join me in a two-pilot sweep of the surrounding area,” he said, on a comms band limited to the two of them.

  A terse, “why?” came back.

  Roberto outlined his plan, and his reasons. There was a long silence.

  A short, “very well” finally came back over the link. Celia’s agreement managed to convey that being on a damaged Javelin on a suicidal course with the Sun would be a preferably option.

  Roberto rolled his eyes in exasperation, and wondered if his Valkrethi rolled its eyes as well. Probably. He had seen most of the Human facial expressions appear on the Valkrethi at some time. Still, Celia had agreed to help, he might as well be gentlemanly about it.

  The two Valkrethi formed themselves into a sweep team and began to tease information out of the surrounding area. It was an interesting piece of detective work, and it didn’t take long to get results.

  Two ‘comets’ that seemed, against chance, to have found a short-term orbital path past Pluto, showed a strange mix of characteristics. The scan results could be interpreted as an inner metal shell of some sort, covered by a thin layer of rock-like material.

  Clever, thought Roberto, and his estimation of Cagill went up a few notches.

  “Take one each?” he said to Celia, and received an affirmative, granted with a little more respect than she had shown lately.

  She’s impressed, he thought with a smile. Despite herself, she’s impressed. Probably still hates me though. Then he turned his attention to the first of the false comets as it curved around Pluto toward him.

  The Reaper ship came to life as he approached it. The super-heated shields burned away the false exterior in seconds, and the familiar, and hated, fiery surface of the Invardii ship appeared. Roberto got his Valkrethi scan it, but there didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary. It was a standard Reaper ship shield over a spar and hub construction, exactly the same as the ones he had destroyed in the battle above the ice planet.

  He dropped into the surging orange shields, and felt the familiar sticky sensation as they held the Valkrethi for a moment, and thousands of degrees of heat surged around him. He initiated the command to restore the Valkrethi’s energy levels, and watched the lower part of the optic screen as the reserve indicator returned to its optimum levels.

  Roberto called in the discovery of the two enemy ships, and the rest of the Valkrethi were soon hovering around the two discoveries.

  “Well done,” said Cagill to Celia and Roberto. “Good to see you were on the ball. You might have to show the rest of us a few of your tricks when we get back to base.

  “Right,” he continued to the other pilots, “I want each of you to charge up your Valkrethi from the shields, and then we’ll let our two research teamers here destroy their prizes.”

  The others moved to restore their energy reserves, and then it was time for Roberto to try a little something new that he had been working on.

  He slid into the orange shield, and forced his way through the tension as it tried to hold him fast, until he was inside. Then he moved his Valkrethi until it was just above the nearest hub. He wasn’t sure exactly how this was going to work, but if he had it figured right . . .

  An ‘acknowledged’ symbol came on, and a thin blue beam lanced out from one hand and lodged in the shields above it. The differential between them increased, and the Valkrethi became a conduit for the boiling skin of plasma above it. Roberto reached out the other hand, and locked the earthing end of the link onto the hub below him.

  He closed the circuit, and searing plasma flashed between the orange shield and the hub. The hub withstood the onslaught for a moment, but then it tore apart. Roberto watched as his own shields began to take damage as the super-heated plasma seared around his mount, and hastily broke the connection.

  It was a pretty good party trick, but it also took a lot out of the Valkrethi. He would have to remember that. It should be kept as an emergency option only. Roberto looked at the damage the plasma had done to the hub, and decided he had learned all he was going to learn about the Valkrethi today.

  “Come on in, guys and gals,” he broadcast on the open channel, “the water’s fine.”

  The other Valkrethi worked their way through the orange shields of his Reaper ship, and began shredding spars and hubs with obvious enjoyment. Roberto set a course for Celia’s Valkrethi, and arrived there at the same time as she found the power system for the shields of her captured ship.

  She destroyed the controls, and climbed back out of the hole she had made in one of the hubs. The Reaper ship looked so different without its shields. She looked around for the largest hub, and headed there. In moments she had disabled the ship’s reactor. She was just clear of the Invardii ship when the reactor blew apart, and the structure collapsed in on itself. Roberto coasted to a stop beside her.

  “Nice job,” he said, by way of congratulations.

  “Yes, well, that was an inspired idea of yours to run a survey for Reaper ships that were powered down in the vicinity,” she admitted.

  So, we’re talking again, thought Roberto cautiously. He didn’t want to push his luck too far, so he set the homing system to rejoin the other Valkrethi, and the two of them coasted back in companionable silence.

  Cagill went through the usual debriefing exercise once they were all back on Prometheus, and the Valkrethi had been stored away.

  “We’ve learned a lot from today, people, and we may change the engagement rules because of it. Smaller groups, with more communication as things unfold, for example.

  “But that will have to wait.” He said, waiting until he had everyone’s attention.

  “Cordez has outlined a series of attacks on Invardii shipyards! We’re going to cripple their ability to make Reaper ships,” he said briskly.

  The pilots moved restlessly. They were at last going to take the fight to the Invardii, and they liked the sound of that – a lot.

  “Before we attack the shipyards, he wants to reduce their ability to defend the shipyards a little further, so we’re going to set a trap for a whole lot of Reaper ships.” This had the pilot
s really interested.

  “We’re going to hide the Valkrethi on Aqua Regis, and then attack the enemy mining site at the Barrens with Javelins and Sumerian warships. The Invardii will be reeling from the slaughter of their entire force at the Alamos system, and they may be tempted to try for a decisive victory at Aqua Regis. Our tactical people think they will send the last of their flagships as well.”

  There was a long silence after this. The Valkrethi hadn’t yet been tried against a flagship, and while the giant figures were impressive fighting machines they weren’t indestructible.

  Still, that was part of being a pilot in any battle. You took your life in your hands. You always had to ask yourself, did you believe in what you were doing, and was it worth the ultimate cost?

  “We fly out in two days time,” continued Cagill. “The usual rules apply, so everything we do is a mystery to everyone else.

  “Go about your business as usual. Don’t try to explain why you won’t be here in a few day’s time, and no bedroom blabbing, got it?”

  They all nodded. They knew why Cagill had these rules. Their boss didn’t think the Invardii had an agent inside Prometheus, but he didn’t want his fighters’ concentration wrecked by heartfelt best wishes – or teary goodbyes.

  A few minutes later the group disbanded. The research team split at the exit, Andre and Jeneen taking the underground shuttle to the living quarters, while Celia and Roberto took the short passage back to the labs.

  They fell into step after they had exited the automatic airlock out of the cavern.

  “It’s time you talked to me,” said Roberto softly, looking at Celia enquiringly.

  “Don’t want to,” she said tersely.

  “Andre says you have to,” said Roberto, beginning to smile.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot, he runs the research team now,” said Celia in exasperation, then snorted a short laugh, seeing Roberto’s smile.

  “I deserve a reason why you’re pushing me away,” said Roberto gently.

  “It’s private business!” snapped Celia, and began to walk faster. She reached the main entrance to the labs ahead of him, and he had to stop the door to go through at the same time as her.

  “Are you interested in someone else?” said Roberto quietly.

  “No!” said Celia. “Not interested in you, not anyone else. Not now. Not ever. Got it?”

  “No, I don’t ‘got it’, don’t understand it, don’t want to leave it alone,” said Roberto doggedly.

  Celia wheeled into her office, and Roberto followed.

  They stood eyeing each other. She was fiercely determined he would leave with his questions unanswered. He was stubbornly determined he wouldn’t leave without knowing why she was pushing him away.

  There was an electric tension lasting more than a minute.

  Roberto knew the other labs were empty, and that everyone had gone to their quarters for the artificial Prometheus ‘night’. This was his only chance. He had to push her for an answer now, or face the prospect it may never be forthcoming.

  Celia’s willpower collapsed first. She sat down in her chair, wiping her hand across her face. Roberto pulled a chair over and sat beside her. He took her hand, and held it firmly when she tried to pull it away.

  “How long have we shared everything, every confidence?” he asked, and she flicked her head away, refusing to look at him.

  “From the beginning,” he said, “from the time the European Science Commission formed the research team, and then through the biggest change, when you took over from Creedo Shard.”

  “Those were the days,” said Celia with a hesitant smile. “No responsibility, just pitting our minds against the greatest problems ancient cultures left for us to unravel.”

  “Damn right,” said Roberto, “best times ever.”

  “Then the promotion to Prometheus. Remember how Cordez rigged it, got us stood down because we were ‘no longer needed’ at the Science Commission, and spirited us away for his own purposes.”

  Celia had to laugh. “He sees things we don’t see, all right,” she agreed, “and he must have seen something special in us.”

  “He did,” said Roberto, “he certainly did. The same way I see something special in you now.”

  CHAPTER 18

  ________________

  Roberto had Celia alone in her office, and it was the only chance he would get to find out why she was pushing him away. He had to go for it.

  She tensed as he told her how special he thought she was, but he continued quietly on.

  “I only want to know what’s wrong, Celia, as a matter of trust. There have been many things that have stayed in confidence between us, and this is just one more.” He paused, then continued.

  “Our friendship is too valuable to me to break that trust, you know that. Dammit, relationships come and go these days – too easily it seems – but a good friendship remains.”

  They might come and go easily for you, thought Celia defensively, I’ve not even thought about a relationship since those disastrous early years, and it’s even harder for me now.

  “It’s not that, Roberto,” she said. “It’s just that it’s something too painful to talk about.”

  “I’ve got all night,” said Roberto with a reassuring smile. “We can send out for something from the café later.

  “I know!” he said. “You can write it all down for me while I catch up on some zzzs,” and he wriggled down in the chair until his lanky frame spilled over at both ends. In fact he was feeling tired. Too much work lately, and the excitement of the Valkrethi this afternoon.

  Celia smiled. She was almost convinced, until a wave of shame washed over her. Roberto saw her stiffen and took her other hand as well.

  “Come on, my girl, spit it out. No time like the now, eh?”

  He sounded just like her father, who had always been so understanding. Not that she had ever told him about this, this would be too much to share with anybody.

  And so, haltingly, she began.

  “When I was in college, I worked hard, and I loved the idea of knowledge – and I still do. But eventually I found out about boys.” She paused, not sure how to tell her story.

  "It was wonderful. Maybe I was different in some way, but having a boyfriend, having a lover, was just euphoric for me. Perhaps there’s something wrong in my brain,” she said, looking up guiltily.

  Roberto squeezed her hands, and shook his head that there was nothing wrong with her.

  “Maybe I was a bit naïve too. I know now I was too trusting. I’d been busy studying all my life, you know how it is.” She looked down at the floor. Roberto guessed that what she was about to say had left deep scars in her.

  “Next thing I knew I had a string of ex-boyfriends, and a reputation for being ‘easy’. Then my academic friends turned their backs on me.

  “The whole college seemed to take pleasure in running me down,” She said, and paused. “Now I realise it was a case of envy, or jealousy; cutting down the tall poppy. I had ‘straight A student turns slut’ appear on an assignment we had to do in communications class. No one would own up to it.”

  She squeezed Roberto’s hands. He thought it best to say nothing.

  “I switched colleges, made up some story for my parents. There was nothing else I could do. I was on medication for months.”

  “Okay, now I understand,” said Roberto gently. “If that was what being in a relationship did to you, you don’t ever want to find yourself in one again.”

  She nodded miserably.

  “And my kissing you at the barn dance brought it all back,” he concluded.

  “Not at first. At first I just wanted to kiss you back, put my arms around your neck, feel you against me,” she said, blushing furiously. “But that’s when I realised it was starting all over again, that I hadn’t changed a bit. I remembered that relationships had to be avoided at all costs.”

  “At least you proved that for me,” she added bitterly. “You proved that my feelings can’
t be trusted.”

  Roberto let out a very long breath. It was funny how the Human brain learned things. When it was working correctly it made connections with other information stored nearby, and that gave it a chance to put new experiences into context.

  Celia, though, had ‘learned’ that she was a hopeless case from that one experience, and then decided nothing would ever change for her. The connections that might have moderated her opinion had not been made in her brain.

  “I think those feelings are normal,” he said gently. “You’re supposed to feel good like that. But it’s all got mixed up with other things in your mind.

  “That’s okay. Maybe we can look at some of that later, if you want. The main thing is I can live with it, now I know what it is, and we can go back to being a damn good research team!”

  Celia smiled gratefully. Roberto put his hands on her shoulders and hugged her momentarily. She hugged him back, then drew away awkwardly.

  Roberto could see it was going to be a long, slow journey to bring her back to a more balanced sense of herself. But he knew what the problem was now.

  He smiled. He was a patient man. But he didn’t get the chance to do anything about Celia before they were called up for the attack on the Invardii base at Aqua Regis.

  The first part of the plan to destroy the mining base at the Barrens turned out to be a very low-key affair. The modified Javelins with their Valkrethi cargoes cleared Prometheus and slipped into the grainy, grey nothingness of star drive. The journey would take them close to two days.

  In the meantime a dooplehuel left the Shellport docks as dawn tinged the far horizon. It rounded the sea forest at the mouth of the mighty Kapuas river, and headed due South on a freshening breeze. By day’s end it would be at the far end of Spitzbergen, not far from where Hudnee’s team gathered gravel for the new houses at Shellport. Then the crew of the dooplehuel would set up markers for the Valkrethi.