"I don't think everyone should be involved in this expedition," Dr. Seshadri said. "We have important research going on right here. I for one would be loath to set it all aside just to spend a day or two looking at more ruins like the last ones."
Anderson's face filled with anger. "I am the leader of this group –" he began.
"Actually," said Bauval, "I am, by consensus." He glared at Anderson. "I see no reason why we should all pack up and go. I am quite content here. I'm not an archaeologist; I have no interest in ruins. Whoever wants to go, can go – not that I approve of the expedition. I think it's foolhardy. The rest of us will stay and continue our various researches."
Tebrey grinned behind his hand at Anderson's discomfiture. The man had picked the wrong time to try to reassert his control over the group. As usual, he had gone about things the wrong way, as well. Tebrey had been waiting to see if Bauval would step up to the challenge; if he hadn't, Tebrey had been about to. Allowing Anderson control would have been disastrous. He did wish that Bauval hadn't approved the trip, though.
"I would like to say that I feel the expedition under the city to be more important than visiting more ruins. There are indications that the marked site on the ancient map is of a different kind than the city we found. While I would like to know exactly what it is, I think it should wait. I am still bound by my original orders to assess the potential of these operations for military risk. Given that the ancients, whoever they were, were clearly at war, it stands to reason that there may still be weapons or information databases stored someplace." Tebrey paused to gauge the reactions of those in the room, but no one seemed surprised by his candidness. "If there were humans here, and they were fighting a powerful technological enemy, we need to find out all we can. I think the catacombs represent a better expenditure of energy on our part, as we know there is active technology here. I shouldn't need to remind everyone that the Federation is at a desperate juncture in the war against the Nurgg. Any advanced technological weapons would be of great benefit in the war. We may also need these weapons if the Nurgg decide to invade here."
"Surely they wouldn't bother," Anderson said sharply.
"They are aliens, Doctor. No one can say for sure what they will do; not you, not me. I'm just saying we should be prepared for the worst. If exploring the catacombs gives us a chance against them, then I'll explore catacombs."
"Tebrey, do you think we should all go down there?" Mason asked. "Would you think less of some of us because we don't believe so fervently? I don't want to wander underground."
"Of course not," he replied. "There's no reason for everyone to go, and several reasons why you shouldn't. Dr. Anderson should go, of course. Dr. Seshadri? What about you?"
"I should want to go. I'd love to see the script you mentioned, but these translations are proving to be very intriguing. I'd have to say I wish to stay and continue with the books."
"I'm not interested in your catacombs. If there was anything interesting here, the people who built this city would have found it years ago. I want to go on my expedition!" Anderson said.
Tebrey nodded. He thought Anderson sounded petulant. "Who else wishes to go on the expedition with Anderson?"
The scientists and students sat looking uncomfortable for a moment, and then Jane spoke up. "I speak only for myself and Doug, but I don't see any reason to travel out of the comforts of the city. We would like to continue the work we've started here."
Anderson glared at them; he obviously felt betrayed by their defection.
Pirro spoke up; he was usually silent at these meetings. "The four of us would like to go," he said, indicating himself, the two remaining archaeology students, and Janus, one of the anthropology students. "Frankly, we've been bored with the translation work, and I, for one, don't like being underground."
The two crypto-technology students volunteered, as did Vernon Valerian. He would be Bauval's eyes out in the field. He was a trained undergraduate in biology with a specialty in xenobotany.
To Tebrey's surprise, Lieutenant Christopher said she'd go with the expedition. She said that Sergeant McGee could take command of the detail guarding the remaining people. She wanted to get out and stretch her legs.
"Okay," said Tebrey. "You can't leave anytime soon, of course. After the summer storms, we can reconvene and discuss it again. With Christopher's assistance, I'll start gathering what you'll need for the trip."
"How long are we talking about?" Anderson asked.
Tebrey could tell that there was something the man wasn't telling them. He had some reason of his own for wanting to go to the ruins, but Tebrey couldn't figure out what it could be. He couldn't have gotten anything out of the books, Seshadri would have said something. No, it was probably just Anderson being an ass, as usual. "We won't be able to leave for another month, at the soonest, but it behooves us to be prepared ahead of time. If any of you have any special requests, please relay them to the lieutenant. Thank you."
"Us?" Anderson said suspiciously. "What do you mean, us? You aren't coming, are you?"
"No one here seems interested in exploring the catacombs, Doctor. I may as well go with you. Besides, Hunter could use some time in the wilderness." With that, he got up and strode from the room.
He was trying to figure out how he was going to break the news to Ana.
Much to Tebrey's chagrin, Ana took the news of his future departure rather well.
She smiled, nodded, and asked what she should pack.
Tebrey, disconcerted, couldn't think of any reasonable arguments against her going, so he told he'd get back to her about what to take, and left in search of Mason. He decided he was going to need some feminine advice on that one.
Mason didn't appear surprised when he told her, which just added to his embarrassment. "Really, Tebrey," she began, "I don't know why you're surprised. The girl adores you. I can't say that I blame her, either. If I was a woman in a society like this, I'd be looking for someone like you, too. You're a nice guy. Those are hard to find anywhere, much less in a male-dominated culture than treats women like property and her people even worse. What did you expect?"
"I don't know what I expected, but not that," Tebrey said.
"You're the one who's been going on about how clever and spunky she is. Serves you right that she's sassy, too."
Tebrey smiled and shook his head. "You think I should let her come along?"
"I'm not sure you'd be able to stop her. There's nothing preventing her from just following you, and I think she would."
"So how do I explain this?"
"Say she's a native cultural expert. If her people did live in those ruins at one time, she could be invaluable to the expedition."
"I hadn't thought of it that way," Tebrey said. He left to go tell Christopher.
He found her in the parlor. "Looks like we have twelve now, Christopher."
"Who'd we add?" she asked. She making a list of the supplies they would need.
"Ana will be going with us as a cultural expert," Tebrey said tensely.
"Good idea," Christopher said. "I asked Jeroen about the ruins to the northeast, and he said that there were tribes of the 'others' there." She chuckled. "The man can't bring himself to call them Taelantae."
"You don't have a problem with her going?"
"Why should I, sir? She fulfils a need we have. Besides," she said with a sideways glance, "she's good for you."
Tebrey growled and shook his head. Everyone was determined to play matchmaker. If Ana wasn't so sweet and cute, he would have resisted it. As it was, he was forced to bow to the inevitable. "Just add her to the list, Lieutenant," he said with a smile. "I'll go let her know she can come with us."
Sergeant McGee was able to get up and walk around a little, although the deep burns on his thighs pained him terribly. He was lucky that his captors hadn't moved on to more aggressive methods of interrogation. He still had his male parts; not everyone they'd found in that house had been so lucky before they died.
&
nbsp; The commander's girl, Ana, when she found out he had been badly burned, had brought him an herbal salve for the burns. It proved able to soothe the pain, and the sergeant decided he might not mind so much having her around after all. He thought it ironic when he found out she was leaving with the expedition in the autumn.
The long summer days passed slowly. The marquess sent them a warning to stay inside as much as possible and avoid being outside alone. The situation in the city was deteriorating fast. They could sometimes hear a roaring that Tebrey said was a mob. They could see smoke in the distance on the clearer days.
Summersol was a week of hellish, unending light and heat. Even the thick stone walls and deep cellars couldn't entirely compensate for the high temperatures, which soared above fifty degrees and made everyone fatigued and irritable.
The air was thick with water and smelled of mold and rot. They stayed in the house the entire week. Ana stayed with them and taught those willing to learn a variety of board and card games. Ana also learned Normarish at a rate that astonished Mason and Bauval, though not Tebrey. Dr. Seshadri's team made progress in learning the language, although not much else.
Chapter Fifty-Six
"What do we have, Boyle?" Captain Saeunn Viknorov asked as she settled into her acceleration couch. They had just transitioned into the GL 661 system. She called up her air screen and studied the information her executive officer was transferring over. The display lit with the courses of almost two dozen Nurgg vessels; most of them were clustered around the gas giant in the outer system, as they had expected them to be.
"Definitely Nurgg, Captain. It looks like the intel from the Federation was correct."
Saeunn frowned. Concord Fleet Command had expected the Nurgg to have withdrawn from the system in the wake of recent events. The Arcturus had just returned from the fighting at Aldebaran. The combined fleets of the Alliance had finally defeated the primary Nurgg fleet and interdicted the system. The Federation had violated the terms of the Alliance and devastated the Nurgg homeworld with a sustained antimatter bombardment. Nothing could have survived the blasts, and nothing would ever live again on the irradiated ball of rock.
Of course that hadn’t ended the war; it only made things worse, actually. The Alliance had planned to hold the Nurgg homeworld hostage to force negotiations. Saeunn still found it distressing to think about the mass genocide the Federation had perpetrated. Some thought it had been inevitable; the Nurgg had refused to negotiate, even at the end. It had meant an end to the Alliance – not that it hadn't been falling apart before that.
The Rhyrhans had been livid. Civilian bombardment was strictly against their code of honor. It didn't matter that the Nurgg didn't follow those rules. The Rhyrhans would never be like them. It had taken direct intervention by Admiral Shadovsky to avoid the Rhyrhans and their allies, the Slith, from declaring war on all humans. Saeunn didn't know why the Rhyrhans had so much faith in the admiral, but she was glad they did. She didn't want to have to face Rhyrhan ships in battle; they were ferocious warriors.
In the aftermath, the Concord fleet had been withdrawn from the front. They would defend their borders against Nurgg aggression, but for them, the war was over. They would take no part in a war fought on those terms. Since the Federation had withdrawn their protection from their outer systems, such as GL 661, the Concord decided to move in and claim them for themselves. The structure found in the outer system represented a technology they needed. The Arcturus and her taskforce were tasked with cleaning up the remnant forces that the Nurgg hadn't been able to recall for the defense of their home system.
GL 661 was also strategically vital to the Concord. With the system under their control, they would have better access to trade routes into the Earth Federation. The system was also near the home systems of the Rhyrhan Combine. Although the Rhyrhans had withdrawn from the Alliance before the genocide, they didn't seem to hold it against the Concord, thanks to Shadovsky.
"I suppose we can assume they know we're here," the captain said.
"Yes, Captain, these two ships here," the XO marked the ships for the captain's display. "These two ships ramped up to full power as soon as the light from our fusion wake propagated that far. I would say that they're seeking to escape."
"That's odd behavior for Nurgg. What are they up to?"
"Maybe they're going for reinforcements," Boyle suggested.
"Reinforcements? When they have twenty other ships in the system? I don't think we can allow that, Commander. Order the Janissary and the Talisman to intercept and destroy those ships."
"Acknowledged, Captain," the communications officer replied.
On her display, the two Devastator-class destroyers surged away from the taskforce to engage the enemy vessels. Saeunn knew the commanders would get the job done, and turned her attention to the remaining Nurgg vessels. There would be no quarter given. Their enemy neither gave nor asked for any. Nurgg culture had no concept of mercy, and Saeunn didn't feel very merciful, either.
She didn't exactly hate the Nurgg; it wasn't that coalesced in her mind. She despised them and everything they stood for. They had enslaved or slaughtered billions of people in the years since they'd first been encountered. Who knew how many had died before that?
Given the ancient technological knowledge they possessed, the Nurgg would have made good allies, if they could have been reasoned with. No one had ever found a way to do that.
"Helm, plot a course for the rest of the Nurgg ships. We'll need to deal with them before we check out the third planet. Scan for transmissions, though. I want to know if the Nurgg have started their usual pogroms on the surface. If they have, we'll need to land the marines."
"Captain?"
"Yes, XO?"
"I've been studying the activity since we arrived. Most of those ships at the gas giant haven't moved at all. They are stationary in orbit by the north pole."
"So?"
"I was thinking about that structure we discovered there. It seemed like some kind of refinery."
"That was the analysis of Fleet Intelligence, as well," Saeunn replied. "Where is this going?"
"We assumed that they were refining fuel."
"What else would they be after?"
"The Nurgg use organic technology. What if the refinery is actually a shipbuilding facility?"
"An Achenar shipbuilding facility?" she asked. "That would be unheard of!"
"It would explain the massive buildup of Nurgg forces in this system. They had to know they were losing against the Alliance. Maybe they decided to up the ante with Achenar ships."
"Chief Flynn," Saeunn said suddenly. "Get me a scan of the ships in orbit around that gas giant. Are you sure that they're Nurgg?"
"Just a minute, Captain," replied Flynn, the weapons NCO. It actually took more like twelve minutes for the scans to return across the light minutes. "Indeterminate, Captain. I've got two Apocalypse-class ships, and a dozen other smaller Nurgg ships. There are eight ships that are unclassifiable. They match Nurgg hypercarbon construction, but the pattern is unknown. I can tell you one thing, though."
"What?"
"Those other ships are huge, Captain. They make the Apocs look small."
"Any indication that they are powered and crewed?"
"Not that I can tell from the scans, Captain."
She nodded. "I guess we can't worry about what we don't know. I don't want those ships or the facility targeted unless you detect powered-up weapons. Do you understand?"
"I think so, Captain." He didn't sound happy. She didn't blame him. She wasn't happy either.
"That's a hell of a risk," Boyle said quietly. "Those things could tear us apart."
"If those are new Achenar ships built by that facility, I want them," Saeunn said. "We need them, Boyle. What do you think that the Federation is going to do when they find out about this facility?"
"They're going to try to take it from us, treaty or no treaty."
"Right," she replied. "We need to have contr
ol of this system, and those ships, before that happens. War with the Federation is probably inevitable. Let's give them something to make them think twice about it."
"What about the Federation scientists and soldiers on the third planet?"
"They're dead, Boyle. You read the report from the Descubierta. They could detect no power sources and didn't receive a reply to their data pulse."
"If they aren't dead, they could represent a Federation claim to this system."
"What do you suggest, Boyle? That we make sure they can't talk to anyone if we do find them alive?"
"No, nothing like that, Captain. I'm sure they're dead. It's just my job to point out things like that. If they are alive, we should rescue them. Maybe we could convince them to repatriate to the Concord."
"Probably no reason, but I'll order a surface scan after we deal with the Nurgg and secure the facility. We know where they were digging. If we do find survivors, we'll have to handle it delicately, though. We cannot afford to allow them a claim to the system. This is too important. I'll send a message back to Fleet Command."
"Pass the buck?"
"Would you want to be responsible for a war?"
"No, thank you, Captain."
"Me either. Helm," she said, speaking up, "take us into missile range of the Nurgg ships. Communications, order the taskforce to follow and engage the enemy. Pass on my orders concerning the possible Achenar ships and the facility in orbit."
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Jeroen hurried through the house to the study.
Mason and Seshadri were finishing a late breakfast when he burst into the room. "Where is Tebrey?" he demanded breathlessly.
"Upstairs," Mason said, standing. "Why?"
"There's trouble!" he said. "Tebrey! Bauval!" he shouted. "Everyone! Come to the study! Now!"
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