Waking in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 2)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “What are you saying?”

  “Two scenarios. If we can’t retrieve our heavy equipment and anti-aircraft platforms, we are left with lightweight armored vehicles and no air support. In that case, we can’t stand and fight. But our forces are fast movers, quick hitters. We are training our troops as a quick-hitting raider force.”

  “Get in, destroy, get out.”

  “Exactly. Avoid head-on confrontations and destroy as much alien infrastructure as possible.”

  “The second option?”

  “We retrieve enough heavy equipment to take the battle to the aliens. Using the battle concepts of an Old Earth General, an Erwin Rommel of the German army, we create a mobilized attack force and start carving up the alien bases. That’s the best case scenario.”

  After reviewing the two concepts, Taishou Suzume agreed, “Yes, those are the best ways to go. Good thinking. Create a third concept. The joint operations of both light and heavy counter strikes.”

  “Hai, Taishou.”

  Thoughts on dispersal? Targets?”

  “None yet. Shuhan Oishi’s Intel from Yeni-Persia indicates that the aliens take over major metropolitan areas and expand outward from there. We’ve begun preliminary mock-ups for counter-attacking those areas. This includes some or our battlement placements.”

  “Excellent. Stay on that path. Shuhan Oishi, where do you stand?”

  “We have sent the first wave of Shadows, Taishou. Our top fifty, the Nightshades, are the first to land. My son, Sousui Taketa is leading. The two hundred-fifty remaining Shadows will remain here for support and replacement.”

  “Tied in with Dono Hamasaki’s drones?”

  “Yes. Half of the Nightshades are communications trained. They can either view through and control the drones directly or receive feeds from our observation center.”

  “How are your Nightshades landing?”

  “The buntai will land in pairs, up and down the coast, infiltrate and hide. They will wait, observe and report their findings.”

  “It could be a long wait. How will they survive?”

  “All Nightshades are trained to live off of the land. That will be no problem. Also, they are all equipped with chameleon suits. So detection is also not a problem.”

  “Weaponry?”

  “Swords, silenced machine pistols, throwing knives. All silent. Also, long guns, sniper rifles.”

  “I approve. Still gathering intel from Sasania?”

  “Yes. Apparently the aliens haven’t found the satellite sending the packets. Our automated drone is still darting into Yeni-Persia, collecting the data packet and darting back into the gate. Either the aliens are unconcerned or they are having trouble locating the satellite or destroying the drone.”

  “Lord Chamberlain, from a military point of view, it appears that we have done everything we can. Now we can only wait for the time of counterstriking.”

  “From the civilian side, this is also the case. Let us all return to our homes and pray to our Gods for death to our enemies, safety for our Emperor and survival of our people.”

  Chapter 6

  Aboard Griffin

  Now having his avatar as his permanent housing, Buster stood the same height as Sir Mahajani. His mechanical arms had the same reach. His servo-powered legs the same length. After dialling down his strength quotient, he presented the same problems to Krag that an Elonian of Mahajani’s size would present.

  Krag attempted to start with a standard move of locking a hand behind Buster’s neck and grabbing the avatar’s forearm. But, to his chagrin, he found his weight too light on his feet. He couldn’t establish an anchor. With a simple twist and pivot, Buster slammed Krag to the mat, crawled around and put his captain in a pinning hold.

  After Krag tapped three times, Buster let him up.

  “Well, that didn’t work,” Krag commented as he grabbed a towel wiped the sweat.

  “I think the Elonians are too tall for a grappling match. Since you are a heavy-worlder, I don’t know if they are stronger than you. But they definitely have the reach.”

  “So, going low is the answer.”

  “That would seem the case.”

  “Ok. Let’s work on leg grabs.”

  “Actually, that might be one of the best approaches. With the structure and rotation of the hip joints, the Elonian gait actually projects the knee joint further forward than a human. You might be able to get to it.”

  “Opening lunge. Let’s work on that.”

  “One moment, Captain.” Buster paused for a couple of seconds. “Just had a conversation with Vidhee. She wants you, me, her and Princess Analyn to conference on security arrangements for tomorrow’s tour.”

  “Let me get cleaned up and we can set up a conference in my cabin.”

  “That won’t be necessary. Vidhee is asking permission to tap your cranial net and talk to you directly.”

  “She can do that?”

  “Apparently.”

  “Ok. I give Vidhee permission to tap my cranial net during this conversation.”

  After a pause, Krag heard, in his head, “Thank you Captain Marston for your trust.”

  Struggling to think in concise sentences, Krag responded, “You and all the Elonians have displayed nothing but honesty and openness. It is my honor. Would you wait a moment while I summon Ambassador Suzume?” Krag had no trouble selling Keiko’s position every chance he got.

  “Certainly not. When the ambassador arrives, I will bring in Princess Analyn.”

  “If Ambassador Suzume wears her translation gear, will she be able to be part of the conversation?”

  “Since Buster is part of the conference, he will be able to connect directly with the ambassador and become a communication bridge. Therefore, she will be able to participate.”

  Vocalizing, Krag talked through Griffin’s communication system. “Keiko, could you come to the cargo bay? We are conferencing with Princess Analyn and Vidhee.”

  “On my way, Captain,” a very formal ambassador Suzume responded.

  “Please wear your communication gear.”

  “Of course.”

  Krag chugged two bottles of water and worked at getting his breathing under control as he continued to wipe off sweat. Buster simply stood, waiting. Keiko arrived.

  “Keiko, the Princess and Vidhee are going to speak directly to me and Buster. Apparently they can tap directly into my wireless connection and communicate directly to my cranial network. Buster will communicate directly to your translator. So, you will be the only one speaking.”

  “Odd. I understand.”

  “Ready?”

  “Yes, Captain.” Krag watched Keiko physically compose herself, prepare herself for her role as ambassador.

  “We’re all here, Vidhee.”

  “I will get Princess Analyn.” After a quick pause, “Princess Analyn has joined us.

  “Welcome, Ambassador Suzume, Captain Marston, Buster.”

  “Your Highness,” Keiko responded while the other two remained quiet.

  “I am here strictly as an authoritative observer. Vidhee will be chairing this meeting.”

  “I understand, Your Highness.” Again, Keiko spoke and Buster sent the communiqué.

  “First, this has to do with Buster and the security of Wisdom Seeker’s intranet. As we, Elonians and Humans, are learning about each other, each of us still must practice caution and security.”

  “May I, Honorable Vidhee?”

  “Of Course, My Princess.”

  “This concern is of no higher level of uneasiness than of your protecting your jump drive. To the other, we each are aliens, strangers. Caution and care are the watch words. Not deceit or manipulation.”

  “Thank you, Your Highness. We understand completely.”

  “Very well said, My Princess. Continuing, we are assuming that Buster will be part of your group as you tour our ship. Is that correct?”

  Keiko looked at Krag, who gave her a positive nod. “Yes, Vidhee. Buster is to a
ccompany us.”

  “Then we have a favour to ask of Buster. Since Buster is a hybrid being, half Human, half Elonian, we do not know the directions that his evolving and maturation algorithms have taken. Therefore, we would feel insecure with having Buster being able to fully access our internal network.”

  “You would like to block my wireless senders and receivers.”

  “Only with your permission, of course.”

  “Captain?”

  “Buster, let me ask you, can you program your Wi-Con to automatically remain active within Griffin and go dormant when you exit and are within the confines of Wisdom Seeker?”

  “With Mrs. Barton’s help, I believe it can be done.”

  Keiko stood and listened through her translation ear bud during the full conversation. “Vidhee, if we did this, how would you check the viability of the new programming?”

  “I would need to analyse the code block and test the connections to Buster’s Wi-Con.”

  “Princess Analyn, Honorable Vidhee. Do you mind if Captain Marston, Buster and I have a sidebar? A private discussion?”

  “Of course not,” the princess answered for both of them.

  “Buster, could we isolate this entire module from the rest of your being?”

  Buster did not transfer this last question from Keiko. He responded, also without transmitting. “Yes, Keiko. I can firewall it so that there is no external access to the rest of my systems, physical or cyber. Captain?”

  “Only if you are one hundred percent sure that you are safe from external access. And I mean one hundred percent.”

  “With Mrs. Barton’s guidance, I am very confident that we can achieve that goal.”

  “And, can you place a destruct switch on that code that, when we leave Wisdom Seeker, that block of code will automatically delete itself?”

  “That would be a simple matter.”

  “If, and only if, Sue says ‘one hundred percent’. And if the auto-destruct switch is in place. If not, then you will need to remain on board.”

  “So, you children get to go outside and play while I am stuck in my room?”

  “Gods, Keiko. We’re raising a whiny kid,” Krag laughed. “Yes, Buster. If you do your homework you can come and play with the other kiddies.”

  “We’ll get it done, Captain.”

  Switching back to mind-speak, Krag interjected for the first time. “Those boundaries are acceptable.

  “Then we are looking forward to tomorrow. Again, nine a.m., Griffin time?”

  “That would be fine, Your Highness.”

  “During the tour, we also need to speak of the tournament and the presentation of your jump drive.”

  “Of course, Your Highness. We will be more than pleased to address those issues.”

  “Until tomorrow.”

  “Until tomorrow.”

  Buster and Vidhee mutually disconnected.

  “I think you did very well, Keiko.”

  “Thank you, Krag. I guess all that schooling and diplomatic training didn’t go to waste, after all.”

  “This is the easy stuff. Wait until we get the Federacy involved. That will show us how much you’ve learned.”

  “I’m looking forward to it. That means we get home.”

  “As Mack would say, ‘yeah, right’. Speaking of Mack,” Krag spoke to the com system, “Mack, Sue, how are we doing?”

  “Plugging along, Cap. I’m about finished with the tank and triggering system. I’ll let Lassie update you on her part.”

  “Mack built the interface and receiver. I’m just finishing up the triggering code. I decided on using ‘peas porridge hot’ as the catch phrase.”

  “Like the old nursery rhythm?”

  “I used to sing it to Dean. And I figured you all have heard it before. So it would be easy to remember.”

  “It is. I know I learned it as a child. Good thinking.”

  “Also, I added voice recognition. So only the five of us can trigger the action.”

  “What about someone hacking the signal?”

  “There isn’t any. The interface is strictly a receiver, passive. I can rig it so that if anyone or anything unauthorized tries to access the unit without electronic approval, I can self-generate the phrase and that’s the end of that.”

  “Let’s go that route. But add a safety measure so that only our personnel tablets can access the receiver. And my cranial net. All other transmissions will be ignored.”

  “I can do that. And set up kill switches in the tablets to brick them if anyone tries to hack them.”

  “I like that. Do it.”

  “I do have one question for Mack,” Keiko said. “If you are using a super acid, what’s to stop it from dissolving the container as well as the artifact when it mixes?”

  “Electro-magnetic field. The artifact container will be charged. Any acid that comes in contact breaks down into a complex salt water. The whole mechanism is designed to be self-terminating.”

  “If the electro-magnetic field fails?” Krag asked.

  “Then we have one giant hole in Griffin and it continues through Wisdom Seeker and into space.”

  “Then let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. Can you plug it into its own power source?”

  “Ya, Cap. I already thought of that. I took one of the back-up nuclear batteries from our cannons. It should last for oh, about ten thousand years.”

  “Smart-aleck. Now I see where Buster is getting his attitude. Stay with it. We’re going on tour tomorrow and I don’t think you two want to miss it.”

  “Not a chance!” Sue exclaimed. “I’ll be ready. And Wrenchy better be, too.”

  “Ya, Lassie. I’ll be done before ya.”

  “Not fast. Right.”

  “Of course, Cap.”

  Aboard Wisdom Seeker

  Keiko and Krag stood at attention, awaiting the arrival of their escort. Mack and Sue stood behind, just at each side, anxiously waiting for their first view of the Elonian ship. Buster stoically stood, simply waiting.

  Keiko again dressed in her formal suit with communication jewellery, this time with her light-bending chameleon body suit underneath. Its hood and gloves, she kept in the shoulder bag that she carried. Comfortable walking shoes covered the booties of her stealth suit.

  Krag wore his formal military dress, complete with medals and head cover, leaving his ceremonial sword behind to avoid any consternation over weaponry. But he still came prepared. Under his uniform he wore his chainmail bodysuit.

  Mack and Sue dressed in freshly cleaned and pressed coveralls, both equipped with external communication gear.

  Buster, as always, stood unclothed. His brightly painted yellow markings still flagged his avatar as a labor avatar. But he had removed the stencilled name of ‘Clyde’ from his chest. Now ‘Buster’ displayed in newly painted burned orange. His hands and head still bore flesh-colored paint.

  All, even Buster, wore the Griffin patch on their left shoulders – the legendary creature rising on its hind, lion-like legs and holding a lightning bolt in one front claw with a branch of peace in the other. Its hawk’s beak opened with a red tongue lapping at the air. A black field speckled with stars completed the ship patch. On their right lapel, each wore the flag of their world. Buster wore a flag with the star-studded black of space.

  With Griffin’s hatch open, the four stared down the temporary tunnel which ended at the door leading to the clean room. This time four Elonians came through, Sir Mahajani first, with Princess Analyn, Doctor Roshnak and Vidhee following. Upon reaching the human group, the large bodyguard stepped to one side and remained alert. Princess Analyn stepped forward.

  “Your Highness,” Keiko spoke for the group. Four humans and one synthetic being saluted in the Elonian fashion.

  Princess Analyn nodded and watched as five right hands, one mechanical, dropped from foreheads. “Ambassador Suzume. Welcome. Vidhee?”

  ‘My Princess. As you saw, four of us arrived through our cleaning room. After diag
nosing the differences in your physiology and ours, we were able to create an inoculation against any pathogens that you carry. You will not need to go through the decontamination procedure that we had previously put in place.”

  “We understand, Honorable Vidhee.”

  “Please, Ambassador Suzume. My honorable title is only used when I am acting as a member or spokesperson of the Monarchal Legal Court. On board Wisdom Seeker I am just Vidhee. Buster, are we ready?”

  “Yes, Vidhee. I’ve installed the Wi-Con damping module on an isolated crystal for your inspection. Once you are satisfied with its functionality, you may activate it whenever you wish.”

  Formally addressing Buster as one sentient being to another, Vidhee asked, “Buster, do I have your permission to access your system?”

  “Only to analyze the crystal whose registry id I will pass to you.”

  “Very sensible, Buster. I see you have strengthened your self-preservation algorithms. Congratulations. In this instance, that wouldn’t be necessary, but I respect your personal being.”

  Buster sent Vidhee the crystal’s electronic location. Vidhee froze and accessed the indicated crystal. In a very short time, Vidhee unfroze.

  “Excellent coding, Buster.”

  “That would be Mrs. Benton, Vidhee. I just gave her the access parameters and she did the rest.”

  “Then, Mrs. Benton, excellent work. I laud your fine expertise.”

  “Thank you, Vidhee,” Sue stammered.

  “Mrs. Benton, I noticed two safety protocols. One doesn’t allow activation or continuation within the confines of the Griffin. The other is a destruction switch that destroys the algorithm after a period of time.”

  “Yes,” Sue nervously responded. “Since Buster performs the same function on Griffin as you do on Wisdom Seeker, I felt that having him incapacitated during ship functions would be highly detrimental. The destruct switch is just a safeguard to flush the code when it is no longer needed.”