Cora interjected. “It’s not a matter of trust, Commander. This is simple elimination; if we can rule out one or the other, we can mitigate the danger. We have been ordered to retrieve him, so now we just need to figure out how to lose the Teifen.”
“Sir? I have an idea,” Ensign Hon piped up from his station.
Grimms turned in surprise, but gestured for him to continue.
“I’ve been going over the tactical data sent to us from the Elif communications networks over the last few weeks. In the data are last known ships’ positions and strong points. We could use that information to set up an ambush,” he said, turning a little red at all the scrutiny.
“What good are ship locations, if the information is weeks old, Ensign?” Grimms asked. He realized the young man must have an idea, but he was not seeing it.
“Well, ship locations would not be much use,” he admitted, becoming animated as he sent information to the holo projector. “But take a look—this is a Galvox shipyard. The system is uninhabitable, but there are a large number of asteroids and planets, and the Galvox have been using them for resources to build their fleets. In addition to serving as a shipyard, the site is used as a training ground for the crews. All the reports say that the Teifen don't know about the system; that if they did, they would have attacked years ago. The Elif have a satellite in orbit, out in the system’s Oort cloud, so the info is fairly up to date. They’ve found that the Galvox have hundreds of finished ships in the system, with thousands more under construction.”
Grimms zoomed in on the system, getting a good look at the most recent images from the Elif satellite. The system was crawling with Galvox ships and installations. There was a huge shipyard orbiting the swollen star, soaking up the energy that poured off it as it burned the last of its hydrogen. Hon was right; there were thousands of ships in various stages of completion.
The Galvox were not as magically inclined as the rest of the sentient races, but they made up for that by having a population that dwarfed all three races by a factor of five. They fought by overwhelming the enemy in ships that were unshielded but agile, and bristling with weapons.
If he zoomed in far enough, he could see swarms of the little beings crawling all over the ships in spacesuits. At first, Grimms was confused as to what they were doing, then he realized they were putting the ships together by hand. He watched as five of the short bastards wrestled an armor plate into place, and a sixth stepped up with a handheld welder.
I suppose when there are hundreds of trillions of them, manpower becomes cheaper than automation.
“This is perfect!” Cora said excitedly. “The Galvox don't have the best sensors, so I can hide us right on top of them with the gravity manipulation trick I used before the jump. We can warp insystem, detach the empty yacht, and jump back out to the edge of the system. I’ll monitor for any transmissions, which will tell us where the signal is coming from, and then the Galvox will attack the Teifen when they jump in!”
“It won’t be that easy. We’ll need to get the Galvox interested before the Teifen arrive; otherwise the Teifen will be able to jump away before any damage is done. We also don't know how long it will take the Teifen to arrive,” Grimms said, scratching his beard.
“Sir, I just picked up another transmission from the yacht,” Mezner interrupted.
“They can send messages while in warp?” Grimms asked.
“It’s more of a locater signal. If I had to guess, I would say that the Teifen at least know what direction we’re headed in, if not our destination,” Mezner said.
Grimms thought it over for a minute as the rest looked on. Eventually, he gave a nod. “Okay, here’s the plan…”
They dropped out of warp at Theta coordinates, and waited.
The prince and two of his guards had been moved to a private room aboard the Raven, while the rest of his crew and guards, forty-four in all, were being kept in the hangar for the time being. Sir Reitus was brought to the bridge, and introductions were made.
The guard was still in his Aetheric armor, and stood much taller than a normal Elif—which was tall, considering the average height of the Elif was a few centimeters over two meters. He was pleasant and cordial, and when asked to, he stepped out of his armor and stowed it in the hall.
After ten minutes of the humans and Elif waiting together, the first Teifen ship warped in.
“Warping in three, two, one,” Cora counted down, as soon as the ship appeared.
They were once again in the warp field, traveling on a direct line to the Galvox system, before the second Teifen ship had arrived.
“Warp time is six hours, twenty-three minutes,” Connors reported.
“Good. The trap is set, now we just need to cover our bases,” Grimms said, turning to Sir Reitus. “We have a problem. I’m going to need your help.”
Sir Reitus bowed ever so slightly. “I am at your disposal, Colonel.”
“We need to make sure no one from your ship is sending signals to the Teifen.”
Sir Reitus was taken aback. “I find it very unlikely that that is possible, sir.”
“I understand your reluctance to believe that one of your own could be feeding the enemy information, but we need to be sure.”
Cora spoke up, seeing the aggravation on the soldier’s face and deciding on another tact. “Sir Reitus, I am Captain Cora Sonders. We would be most appreciative, and better able to assist your prince, if we were able to eliminate some possible sources of the transmissions. This is just a precaution, and in no way are we accusing you or your people of foul play.”
Sir Reitus looked around the room for the owner of the voice, and was confused when he didn’t find her. “Is this the new ship the emperor spoke of? With the ancient tech?”
“You’re a quick one, Sir Reitus. Yes, this is the Raven. Welcome aboard.”
Chapter 20
Sara stripped down naked in the cargo area of the shuttle, as it hovered over the water. She pulled her battlesuit out of her backpack and began putting it on. Boon was doing the same, but with more conservative movements as she threw glances toward the cockpit, checking to make sure that Baxter was still up there, and not sneaking a peek at her.
“Boon, he’s not going to look. Will you just relax?” Sara said, sealing her skin-tight suit closed. She began unstrapping her armor, before remembering she would need to help Alister into his suit. “Shit, we didn't get a suit for Silva,” she realized, smacking her forehead. “How could I forget that?”
“Oh. Should we just stay up here then?” Boon asked, pulling her hair out of the back of the battlesuit and sealing it up.
Sara shook her head. “No. I think you guys should come. We’re going to learn quite a bit, and having you there will save me from having to explain it to you after the fact. I’ll just take us down in a shield bubble.”
Boon thought about that. “Won’t you need to use your hands? I mean, we’ll have to get in the ship somehow; we don't want to cause a hull breach, and I don't think battlesuits are rated for pressure. I know they are used in vacuum, but pressure is way different. Alister will be exposed, as well.”
Sara cursed. Of course they weren’t rated for pressure; the armor was, but not the suits. So far, this was the worst diving party she’d ever put together. Granted, it was the only one she’d ever put together, but oh-for-one was no way to start.
“Baxter. We’re decent, come on back,” Sara yelled to the front of the shuttle. “We have a problem.”
Baxter stepped out from the cockpit, still in his battlesuit from earlier. “What’s up?”
Sara waved a hand at Alister and Silva, curled up on a chair together. “We need to protect them from the crushing depths, and I can't make a shield bubble, because I will need to gain entrance to the ship when we get there.”
Baxter didn't even think for a second before saying, “Just have Boon keep them in a small bubble with her. Alister just needs to be near you, right?”
Sara and Boon stared at h
im until he felt self-conscious and asked, “What?”
“Why the fuck didn't I think of that?” Sara rolled her eyes and opened up her armor.
The suit opened up like a blooming flower, exposing its padded interior. She turned and stepped backward into it, and it closed around her. She shot a small amount of Aether into the spellform that was recessed in the interior of the faceplate, bringing the suit to life. The faceplate became clear to her eyes, giving her an unobstructed view. She could see Boon’s suit closing up, and Baxter just getting his open.
Sara stepped to the wall controls and opened the ramp. The shuttle was hovering a few meters above rolling waves of deep blue. She held onto the edge of the opening and walked out onto the ramp, then turned back to the others.
“Okay. Boon, you keep them safe and follow close; I don't want to lose my powers because Alister and I are too far apart,” Sara warned, as Baxter stepped close and attached a rope with a carabiner, then did the same to Boon and himself.
“Don't need to worry about us getting separated this way,” he explained, his black faceplate hiding the smile Sara knew he wore.
She rolled her eyes again. “Good thinking, Baxter. Boon, grab the kids; we’re off to the pool.”
Boon scooped up the two waiting familiars and, with a toss, launched them into the air. A shield bubble half a meter in diameter popped into existence around them, then floated to her side. She gave a thumbs-up. “Ready.”
Sara knew that, while the spell seemed simple enough, Silva was having to constantly change it to keep the bubble moving along beside Boon. It was a spell a human mind would not have been able to perform, but it took barely any thought for the pixie.
Sara nodded, turning to the end of the ramp as the others stepped up beside her. “Ready?” They nodded in response. “Jump!” she yelled, hopping off the ramp, and the others came a heartbeat behind her.
They fell the few meters, crossing their arms to their chests as they were taught in diving school at the Academy. They plunged into the waves and sank like bricks.
Sara watched as the blackness engulfed them, and her heart began to speed up with every meter they sank. She was in the Navy, but she and the ocean had never gotten along too well. She was fine with the beach and swimming, but the depths were the last place on Earth she’d yet to explore. In a lot of ways, space was easier. With the arrival of the Elif and their tech, a lot of research had been conducted, but only on a very small scale. They learned that the Aetheric armor could withstand any depth that Earth could throw at it, but she still found it disconcerting to be free falling in open water.
Sara felt a spike of nervousness from both Alister and Baxter, and turned to see how they were doing. She panicked for a second when she couldn't see them, then realized that they had fallen far enough that the light from the sun was no longer reaching them. If she remembered correctly, that was around two hundred meters. According to the map Givis had provided them, the location of the dreadnought was at a depth of just over two thousand meters.
Sara sent a mental command to her headlamps, and the area around her bloomed to life. She caught sight of Boon’s and Baxter’s suits switching on their lights, and was finally able to see Alister and Silva in their shield bubble. They were curled around one another, their eyes large as they took in the hostile environment. Sara sent calming feelings to Alister as she mentally wrestled her fear away for his sake. She watched as he calmed, his grip on Silva loosening.
“Boon, be sure to keep calm. Silva is getting your nervous energy, and it’s putting her on edge,” Sara said over their comms.
She barely caught Boon’s nod in the dark waters. “Right. Sorry, Silva.”
Sara saw the ferret relax a little, and felt better. The last thing they needed was for Silva to lose concentration and collapse the shield bubble.
Sara turned back to the job at hand, and began cycling her faceplate’s view. She set it to a wire overlay of a sonar pulse. The pulse took a while to get back to her, but once it did, the onboard computer updated the information in real time.
The wire frame view was a little less daunting, but only slightly. It looked like they were still over a thousand meters from the seafloor, but falling fast. She could pick out several anomalies that the computer interpreted as fish, as well as other living things that gave her the creeps. She highlighted on her view the exact location of where Givis had said the entrance would be. She could see it was pointing to the base of a large mountain, situated on a flat area that eventually fell to deeper depths beyond its edges.
They were a little over two hundred meters from the supposed entrance, when Sara sent another sonar pulse for a more detailed image. The flecks of stuff that flew past her faceplate made it look like they were speeding through a snowfall, but she didn't want to know what the flakes were; she guessed they were something gross.
The mountain loomed before them, their lights only illuminating a small section of its sheer side. Sara sent Alister what she wanted, and a spellform immediately appeared in her mind. She powered it, and a flat shield appeared under her feet, catching her as she fell onto it. She almost lost her balance, but Baxter landed beside her and, with a hand to her shoulder, kept her upright. Boon landed last, and Sara caught her around the waist to steady her.
“Everyone okay?” the captain asked, looking at the others for signs of damage or panic.
“I’m good. After the first five hundred meters, it actually got a little boring,” Boon said, reaching out and grabbing the shield bubble with the pixies in it. “Are you guys okay?” she yelled, pressing her faceplate to the shield to transfer the sound, like they had been taught to do when someone’s radio went out.
Alister opened his mouth in what Sara recognized as a “Merow,” even if she couldn't hear it, and Silva just gave a nod and rested her head on Alister’s back.
“I’m good, Captain. Why did we stop?” Baxter asked, looking at the dimly lit wall of rock.
“According to the directions, we’re here,” she answered, waving a hand through the heavy water.
“It’s in the mountain?” he asked.
“I guess so. It wouldn't be much of a hiding place if it were out in the open. The marker says it’s right there, but I don't see an opening,” Sara said, double-checking the location with the map. We’re right where we are supposed to be…
“Maybe it moved? The ocean floor is always resettling, and this area is full of volcanic activity,” Boon said, shrugging.
“She said they map it regularly. I’m guessing the entrance just got covered up with sediment. Hang on, I’m going to try something,” Sara said, stepping forward.
She had Alister provide a second spellform, and sent a spike of power into it. A section of rock blasted up off the rock wall, clouding the water with a thick, white dust.
“What the fuck was that?” Baxter asked, stumbling as the shock wave hit them.
“Force blast. I started it inside the rock, and shot it upward. Sorry, I should have warned you,” she said, trying to make out the wall in the cloudy water, but seeing nothing as the cloud enveloped them. She sent out another sonar pulse, and the hole finally revealed itself. “There it is. I’m going to move us closer; don't fall off the shield,” she cautioned as Alister morphed the spellform, sending it forward at a walking pace.
Boon stumbled back a step, but Baxter steadied her with a hand and a nod. They moved through the cloudy water, toward a circular opening that was far from natural. It was several meters wide, allowing the shield to slip easily inside.
“These walls aren’t organic,” Baxter noted, shining his lights on the smooth surface. “I think it’s the same composite material we use as paneling on the Raven.”
“I think you’re right. How has it stayed so clean?” Boon asked.
“If I had to bet, I would say that this passage has been sealed the entire time,” Sara mused. “There’s no chance anyone could have stumbled upon it, if it was covered. Hey, I think we’re coming up on t
he ship.” She squinted through the gloom and saw a dim reflection of the light. The passage suddenly ended in an airlock that was the same design used on the Raven.
“Yeah, I think this is it,” Baxter agreed, stepping forward. He brushed sediment from a control pad cover that was attached to the hull, beside the door. “It’s dead. How are we going to get in?”
“We don't want to flood the ship, so we can't force the door. We can try the manual override,” Sara suggested.
Baxter knelt down and found the small door the contained the pumping mechanism. He cleaned it off as best he could and, after a few power-assisted tugs, popped it open. Inside was a handle that looked a lot like an emergency brake; it even had the button on the end. He reached in and depressed the button, pumping the handle, but Sara could tell it was moving far too easily.
“It’s been disabled,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Sara.
“Boon, I’m going to need you to create a shield around us and seal it tight to the hull of the ship. I have a feeling this is like the core; inaccessible to anyone but a War Mage. If I’m right, I’ll need to touch the control panel with my bare skin,” Sara said, stepping up to it.
“Okay, give me a second. I haven’t cast two spells at once before.” Boon set her shoulders, but then stood up straight and said, “Oh. Well, that’s pretty easy. Thanks, Silva.”
Sara laughed. “Yeah, the pixies are pretty good at this. Okay, keep the shield powered. I’m going to start creating breathable air, and I need you to open a small hole in the bottom of the shield bubble so I can push the water out. Got it?”
Boon nodded. “Got it.”
Sara began feeding the spellform that Alister formed in her mind. The act of creating something from pure Aether took a lot of power, but she had plenty. After nearly thirty seconds, the water began to boil, as the air content overcame the water’s ability to absorb it. Sara pushed harder, burning through her well of Aether at a rate that would have scared her before becoming a War Mage.
War Mage Chronicles- Part One Page 37