by S. H. Jucha
“But taking out only one or two of our fighters during our moon’s attack operations hardly seems a worthwhile trade for a ring and a shuttle,” Darius objected.
“That’s supposing the Colony’s aim is merely to destroy our ships,” Nightingale countered.
Darius and Forest quietly stared at the SADE. While they did, their minds searched to comprehend the Colony’s strategic goals.
“It could be the Colony is demonstrating the extent to which it’ll resist,” Darius mused.
“The insectoids might believe that we want to limit our losses,” Forest added. “In which case, they’d be willing to deploy tactics that show they’re willing to take us with them.”
“Possibly,” Darius said. “Nightingale, what’s the summation of movement within the dome?”
“It’s an active site, Admiral,” Nightingale replied. “The insectoids consistently use three of the five gates. Individuals journey through them in all directions, but material only moves from one gate to two others.”
“We mapped the alliance stars and their dome connections,” Darius remarked. “It’s frustrating that we can’t identify these gates and the systems to which they connect.”
“It would be helpful to know where that equipment is going,” Forest agreed.
“We postulate that there is an overarching dome map embedded in every console,” Nightingale said. “It’s a matter of time and persistence to locate it.”
Both humans understood what Nightingale was saying. Time might be in a measure of human years. Then again, it might be comparable to human generations.
“So,” Darius said with a heavy sigh, “if we proceed normally, and the Colony is ready for us, we’ll lose a traveler and a pilot at the shuttle and another pair at the ring.” He eyed Forest and Nightingale for responses.
“Leaving only two travelers for the remainder of our search,” Forest warned.
“Then we proceed as you suggested Alex would caution us,” Darius said. “If the Colony members intend to make a statement about their willingness to take the fight to us, we have to make one of our own. We know how to take out the transports. Find me a way to safely remove a shuttle and a ring’s power supply.”
“The shuttle would be the safest target,” Nightingale said. “Its blast would be focused by the launch tube.”
“I’d be concerned for a fighter’s proximity to the launch tube,” Forest said. “Its proximity might trigger the shuttle’s detonation. We have to assume the Colony knows the technique we’ve been using.”
“That’s why I suggest we forgo the traveler’s beam as the detonating force and approach the launch tube laterally,” Nightingale replied.
“Laterally? As on the surface?” Darius queried.
“Precisely,” Nightingale replied.
“How do you propose to trigger the trap without killing those next to the tube?” Darius asked.
“A timed device would be the best method,” Nightingale replied.
“A plasma rifle’s firing could be delayed,” Forest proposed. “Someone could lower it over the tube’s edge until it reached the bottom.”
“I like the idea,” Darius replied. “Let’s work out the details and ask for volunteers.”
* * * * *
Edwin Trattica shook his head in amazed frustration at his predicament. He sat on a shuttle’s lowered ramp, while the pilot eased the ship rearward across the moon’s surface. He hadn’t intended to volunteer for this mission, but his friend, Darren, definitely did.
Darren had declared his desire to volunteer to the chief, who’d made the request.
Edwin, who was standing next to Darren, had taken one look at his enormous New Terran friend and laughed uproariously.
“You’re built like a massive tree trunk, Darren,” Edwin had complained. “You’re not suited for dropping a hot rifle and scrambling out of the hole. You’d be more effective if they needed someone to fall on a red and crush it.”
Facing the chief, Darren had stubbornly repeatedly, “I’m volunteering.”
“And so am I, Chief,” Edwin had heard himself say. “I leave it to your seasoned experience to recognize whether a New Terran or a Méridien would be better suited to the job.”
Edwin was grateful the mission was taking place on the moon. His slight frame wasn’t capable of carrying the equipment on a planet that he needed to execute the deed.
A crew person tested Edwin’s harness and line attachment for the third time. He didn’t mind. The hoist and line would be used to swiftly reel him aboard.
It had been the chief’s recommendation to Captain Hayward that the friends would work well together to accomplish the task.
So, Edwin sat beside Darren, who held the delivery package — reel and line, plasma rifle, cables, and power supply. Except for the first two items, the rest were contained in a net.
Darren’s gloved fingers poked through the netting and set the rifle’s timer for five minutes. It was thought that any more time would allow the Colony to investigate what had been dropped down the tube and defeat the weapon’s triggering.
Edwin and Darren watched the moon’s rocks and dust slide under the traveler. Starlight, which was reflected off the planet, gave the irregular surface a ghostly glow.
The traveler came to a halt and settled toward the surface without touching down.
Edwin hopped off the ramp, and Darren handed him the reel, which he hooked to his waist belt.
Then Darren reached into the net, powered the weapon, and quickly handed the bulky package to Edwin.
Edwin’s load was as cumbersome as he feared. The reel and line, the rifle package, the environment suit with its tanks, and his harness with its line paying out combined to challenge his ability to bounce. He gave up trying to use the more efficient hop and reverted to a sliding walk that often allowed both feet to rise above the surface at once.
The pilot had dropped Edwin a hundred meters from the tube’s edge. It was as close as the pilot was allowed — admiral’s orders.
Edwin’s suit was swiftly expending energy from his body’s oxygen consumption and heat as he struggled with his load. When he reached the launch tube, he paused. For a moment, he thought he’d picked up vibrations through his boots. In his mind, he visualized the shuttle taking off in a roar of flames. It would crisp him, and then he’d be blasted apart by the heat igniting the rifle’s power supply. He shook off the terrifying thought, set down the package, and unhooked the reel.
Bending over the net, Edwin poked a finger against the rifle’s firing stud, and the timer began counting down. He eased the package over the tube’s edge, holding firmly onto the reel.
When the line tightened, Edwin grasped the reel by its twin handles, and his thumb activated the small motor inside the reel’s core. Smoothly and swiftly, the line played out, and the rifle lowered into the launch tube.
Edwin had synced his implant’s chronometer to that of the rifle. The line was a fine thread, and the reel’s diameter was narrow. It meant that despite the unwinding speed, it was taking time for the package to reach the tube’s bottom. He tried not to pay attention to his internal timer, which showed two minutes had already passed.
In was nearly four minutes, when the motor stopped.
Trying not to panic, Edwin followed Nightingale’s instructions. The SADE told him to lean forward and place the reel within a meter of the tube wall. When he did, the line went slack. Now, he was to place a rock in front of the empty reel to prevent the weight of the line pulling it into the tube. The concern was that the reel might strike the shuttle and trigger its detonation.
“Black space,” Edwin muttered. “A moon covered with regolith and rubble, and not a large rock within reach.”
With seconds to go before the rifle fired, Edwin sent hurriedly,
What was to come was the reason that Edwin thought Darren volunteering for the mission was ludicrous. In synchronized motions, the pilot lifted and sent the traveler sliding forward.
Edwin saw the harness line tighten, and he leapt as high as he could.
The twin motions of the ship and the hoist line reeling Edwin toward the ramp swept him across the moon’s surface. He flew behind the fighter. When his chronometer reached zero, he twisted his helmeted head toward the launch tube. The rifle fired, and the shuttle erupted in gouts of flame, hot gases, and debris.
* * * * *
“Message sent,” Forest commented to Darius and Nightingale, having witnessed the shuttle’s detonation.
“It would be nice to know how the insectoids interpreted it,” Darius replied.
“It’s more likely that it was witnessed and shared,” Nightingale interjected. “We can be certain that in the not too distant future this won’t be effective at the next ring.”
“Well, that’s one shuttle opening for Captain Cinders, or whoever comes here, to evict the Colony,” Darius announced. “Now, we’ve a ring to disable.”
“If I were the Colony, I’d use proximity detection to trigger the ring’s power supply,” Nightingale offered. “The Colony knows our technique. It’s an obvious solution to catch the fighter in its flyby.”
“If that were true, then throwing a rock at it would be the same as hitting a transport,” Forest reasoned.
“Except the power supply is a much smaller target,” Darius pointed out.
“In many ways, it’s true that SADEs are similar, especially when you consider our capabilities,” Nightingale said. “However, our personalities are unique. Orbit has a tendency for well-refined solutions. It suits his demeanor to have perfected a means of throwing one rock to detonate a transport. I’ve no such compunction. Any manner in which the ring is destroyed is fine with me.”
The two humans regarded Nightingale, who quickly composed and whistled a dirge for the ring.
It was decided to attack the ring from an angle that prevented impacts against the dome.
Lieutenant Georgette Portis was given the assignment. Among the Trident’s pilots, she had the most prestigious combat record. When she volunteered for the mission, the other pilots acquiesced.
Georgette, nicknamed George, shared with Captain Hayward a personal ambition. She said, “Ever since I learned of the fight at Sol, when the Haraken carriers flung carved-out asteroids toward the United Earth fleet, I’ve always wanted to add that feat to my record.”
“It’s imperative, Lieutenant, not to hit the dome,” Forest emphasized.
“Captain, the domes have withstood the impact of ring detonations,” George objected. “Why would a dome have a problem with some moon rocks?”
“You can get an in-depth explanation from Nightingale, if you wish, Lieutenant,” Forest replied, “But the basic idea is that the energy the dome absorbs at the time of the detonation might allow it to withstand the impact of the ring’s debris.”
“Then the SADE thinks rocks without the accompanying energy might be a danger to the dome’s integrity,” George rephrased.
“That’s the gist of it,” Forest agreed.
“Only a SADE could think of that possibility,” George remarked. “Understood, Captain, I’ll be careful.”
George landed her traveler in a gorge on the moon. There was an abundant pile of rocks that over time had tumbled from the cliffsides to the floor.
The chief signaled the controller to lower the ramp, and he directed the crew to affix the makeshift metal mesh sling. This part of Orbit’s technique was considered essential.
The crew loaded the sling with eight rocks of about the same size. They were much smaller than those that Orbit flung.
When the crew was firmly strapped into their seats, the chief cleared George to launch. She lifted the ship out of the narrow gorge and circled the moon. Her approach to the ring would be at a right angle to a line drawn from the dome through the center of the shuttle tubes.
George slipped the traveler into a long canyon and navigated the twists and turns between the faces. The canyon closed, and George popped the fighter over the top. The dome was in sight, and she activated Nightingale’s program.
The controller measured the distance to the target. When the ship closed to the predetermined position, the fighter flipped, and the sling whipped its collection of ballistic missiles at the ring.
The moon rocks sailed toward the target. Five were near misses; two struck ring segments; and one obliterated the power supply.
The traveler was safely away by the time the power supply was impacted.
“Imagine that,” Darius commented to the captain and the SADE, while staring at the holo-vid, which displayed the ring.
“Nothing,” Forest said in amazement.
“We’ve further proof of Captain Cinder’s warnings about the Colony,” Nightingale said. “The insectoids are retaliating against our interference in their usurpation of alliance space.”
“So, we damaged a drained power supply and a couple of ring segments,” Forest remarked. “Now what do we do? Do we continue to throw rocks at the ring, or do we take out the transports and leave the ring?”
“Nightingale, what do you think this means in terms of the transports?” Darius asked, indicating the holo-vid display.
“Unknown, Admiral,” Nightingale replied. “The insectoids might have instituted control of the ring’s power supplies and the transports’ arming mechanisms. Then again, the ring might have been deactivated, and the transports remain active.”
“Let’s test the conditions,” Darius said. “Captain, have the lieutenant get more rocks. Nightingale, prepare her controller to attack the transports.”
George was severely disappointed by the outcome of her run against the ring, and she was thrilled to receive orders to take out the transports.
A second landing, a loading of three sets of rocks, and the shuttle was on its way toward the planet.
As George neared the first transport, the chief dropped the ramp, and the crew loaded the sling. Seats were resumed, and the chief cleared George for the run. Then she activated the SADE’s program.
The traveler slung the first set of rocks. Several impacted the transport with no effect.
Forest glanced at Darius, who nodded.
The crew filled the sling with eight more stones, and George signaled the controller when the crew was safely strapped into their seats.
The traveler made a loop, sailed toward the target, and flung the rocks. Four struck the transport.
“Black space,” George swore.
George chuckled at the chief’s imagery.
Third time was fortunate. Two rocks hit the transport, one amidships and the other the bow. Then the target disappeared in a bright flash of energy, flame, and debris.
“The bow,” Nightingale announced, with a brief whistle of his
dirge. “I postulate that the rock that struck that point disturbed an arming circuit, which triggered the explosive armament.”
George flung stones thirteen more times before she eliminated the five remaining transports. Every ship detonated when it was struck squarely in the bow. When the task was finished, George sailed for the Trident. She was a happy woman.
11: Upgrades
The Rêveur returned from Norsitchia and joined that part of the Omnian fleet that was stationed over Pimbor.
Immediately, Alex, Renée, and Julien received general updates on Zista and Pimbor. Included in their information were the Pimbor council’s formation, the president’s election, and the contract inquiries from alliance races for Pim-Omnian robotics.
“Mickey hasn’t set any pricing on the prototypes or the contracts for the queries that the Pims have received,” Renée noted to Julien.
“The Omnia Bank directors are examining the prototype requests now,” Julien replied. “Pricing models in Omnian terms will be simple. Our tasks will be to understand the worth of materials and labor in local terms and make the conversions. We’ll rely on the Crocians, who’ve constructed engineering projects throughout the alliance.”
“Alex, Mickey is requesting a conference,” Renée said. “I imagine it pertains to the engineering teams’ efforts for the Pims.”
“That didn’t take long,” Alex replied. “I imagine the new Pim president has an interest in this meeting. Please ensure she’s invited.”
“Said individuals have already launched,” Renée replied, with a chuckle. “We’ve time for a short meal and a transfer to the Freedom.”
“We’ll eat aboard the traveler,” Alex said. He stood and offered his hand to her.
When Renée accepted her partner’s hand, which easily pulled her from the couch, she whispered in his ear, “Be patient. Many of these individuals are where we were when you rescued Julien and me. They’re full of passion to accomplish great things for their worlds.”