by Jay Allan
And both of those were badly battered.
It scanned the approach, transmitted its superior data to the two units. But they were both damaged, and it realized their targeting systems were less than perfect. The fight would only last a moment longer, regardless of which way it went. The humans were clearly committed to an all out attack, and it had responded with the same. It had calculated its chance of winning at better than seventy percent, but whether it had been wrong, or the battle had just gone badly, it knew now that even fifty percent would be good.
Then, suddenly. one of the bots dropped. It was still quasi-functional, but a rapid examination confirmed that it was without weapons. That meant it was useless.
It had one defender left, a single combat bot, part of one, really. It scanned around, searched rapidly for any other bots close enough to respond. But everything on his scanner was involved in its own combat…or it was destroyed. The humans were pushing hard, at least the few who were left, and it watched as its remaining units were destroyed.
It ducked, as low as it could behind a berm, and tried to discern a way out, an escape route. But any way back left it exposed to enemy gunfire. It was tough, and maybe it could make it through some fire…but what would it do then? Its analysis told it that none of its few remaining bots could retreat. The battle would be fought out, and won, by one side or another…in the next minutes.
It watched its scanners, and the battle happening around it…and it began to adjust its chances of success. Downward. It was losing the fight. Its position was bracketed by fire from two directions. Its sole surviving defender was down to one gun, firing off at an angle.
It understood suddenly that it was going to be destroyed. It transmitted, to the ships above, all the data it had. There were no more ground forces to land, not in the small fleet that remained, it knew that…and it realized with cold certainty that its life was going to be measured in seconds, or at best minutes.
It realized immediately when its last defender went silent…and it knew it would be taken out any moment. It continued to transmit information to its orbiting counterpart, facing its end with courage, with determination.
And then, fire came in, from two sides. It fought it off, for a while at least, but even its sturdy construction eventually began to give out. It lost various parts of its knowledge, its memories, as incoming projectiles tore through sections of it. Then, it had a thought—a final thought—astonishment at the success of the humans.
Then nothing but cold blackness.
Chapter Nineteen
Cutter Research Compound (Home of the Mules)
Ten Kilometers West of Victory City, Earth Two
Earth Two Date 03.04.63
“Achilles, we have completed the installation of the first ten devices. We have to test them, of course, but I am certain they are working.” A pause, and then: “I am less sure of the extent of their utility, though. That they are more effective than our current stealth devices, I am sure. But whether they will truly block heavy engine thrusts and other problematical actions…I just don’t know.” Theseus spoke softly, and sincerely. It struck Achilles almost strangely to realize that the Mule had been on the verge of leading a rebellion—and by verge, he meant a number of hours—and now he was completely buried in the work he was doing. Work for all of mankind.
Then, he realized it wasn’t only his friend, but he too who had changed. For better or worse, the Mules could focus on whatever they were doing, and Achilles knew Theseus’s new attitude did not change his longer term view at all. He intended to see the Mules ruling all of mankind, and he had just pushed it back a bit.
Achilles wanted the same thing, more or less, but he had worked with the regular humans more than any of his people…and it had changed his view just a bit.
Perhaps more than a bit.
“That is very good news, Theseus.” Then, a few seconds later. “Thank you.” The thanks was for the work, certainly, but it was also for the cooperation, something Theseus would understand.
“My pleasure. We’ve got a major fight coming, we all know that…and it is essential to put anything we’ve got into it.”
“I will go and see Max Harmon…and arrange for testing. As quickly as possible.”
“That’s not going to do us much good, you know.” Theseus spoke, his tone advertising that he had been seriously considering not saying it at all. “Not in the time we’ve probably got left. Even if I could keep our assembly crews working at the speed they did on the first ten…it would be months before we could get any full scale testing data…and more than a year before we could outfit the whole fleet. At best.”
“I know.” Achilles spoke softly, allowing himself to be as clear as he could. “But we just don’t know what will happen…and any utility is worthwhile now.” He was silent for a moment, and then he said, “Theseus…we are sending one more wave of ships out to populate the new systems.” He turned and looked at the junior Mule. “Do you want to go along? You will have a much better chance of survival, for a while at least…and if we do prevail against the enemy, you can always come back.”
Theseus stood for a moment, looking right at the lead Mule. Then he said, “Achilles…I knew you were the one to lead us, and I was right. I appreciate your offer, I really do, and it only confirms that you are the one to command us.” He paused, for just a second. “But I want to stay, Achilles…I want to help with the fight, and win…or lose.”
Achilles just returned the gaze and nodded. He couldn’t argue. He felt exactly the same way.
* * *
“We have every vessel here now…save only for the scout ships deployed, either defending or still searching for the enemy, and of course for the vessels deployed to the…other force.” Nicki Frette spoke softly, but her tone was pure business. Harmon listened to her, still amazed that she had been the same throughout the past twenty years, almost since she had awakened from her very long coma. She was dedicated, devoted to her work, but that was all. She missed Erika West, terribly, no less today than twenty years ago, of that he was absolutely certain…and in all that time, he hadn’t seen any brightness, not even a hint of it. She had served as the commander of the fleet for most of those twenty years, and she had performed brilliantly. But she was almost like a robot, and more than once, she had made him think of…the enemy.
“That is good, Nicki. The scouts are really of no consequence anyway, and the forces sent to shepherd the new colonists…I believe they are worth more there than here.” Harmon wasn’t sure if that was because he believed they would truly be useful, or more because of his opinion—growing—that his real fleet, the desperate fight to save Earth-2, was close to hopeless.
“I do, too, sir.”
Harmon listened, but not for the first time, he wasn’t sure if she was telling him the truth, or just what he wanted to hear. He still partially believed that Nicki would tell him what she truly thought, as long as she seriously believed it, but knew that she had also gone, in part at least, the route of most of his people, telling him predominantly what he wanted to hear.
“Well, Nicki…is there anything else?” He knew there wasn’t. Nicki Frette had been one of his closest friends back in the day, but now she was just his fleet admiral, still mostly loyal, at least as far as he could tell, but also ready to leave his presence the moment business was concluded.
“No, sir…with your permission, I will go back to my flagship, and wait.”
Harmon paused a moment, and then he just nodded. “Yes, of course, Admiral.” He held back, fought off the urge he had to say…something. He had allowed his life to take its own course, and now, even as he couldn’t imagine being anything but the leader of his people, part of him wanted to just wander away…to recapture his old friends. As friends, and not as subordinates.
He knew that was impossible. Some of the damage he had done was permanent, and at best he could hope, without much assurance, that they remembered what he had been like, years before.
He just nodded, and when she had turned and left, he said softly, “I’m so sorry, Nicki…about Erika, and about me, what I have become.” He was still standing, looking at the door when he realized his buzzer was ringing.
“Yes?”
“Sir, Achilles is here to see you.”
He turned, and for a moment he just stood were he was, looking out across his office. Then he gathered himself, and said, “Very well…let him in.”
He turned and walked back behind his desk, getting there just as Achilles walked in.
“Achilles…I’m sure you have something to discuss.” The words were a bit sharp, but Harmon realized that everyone who came to see him pretty much had a reason. Back in his younger days, he was serious, but he’d also had a good number of friends. Now, he realized, that while he still had a few people who looked up to him, he didn’t really have any friends.
None at all.
Just another cost the Regent had placed on him.
“Yes, Max…I just wanted to tell you the first ten devices are implanted, and ready for final testing. I thought I should check with you before I ordered it.” That was well worded, Harmon thought. He had to issue the orders for the testing, not Achilles…and he was fairly sure the Mule knew that.
I wonder what else these Mules know, what bits of information they pick up that we never notice…
“That is very good…we will begin the test at once.” The stealth devices were a very good development, but without enough for the whole fleet, he knew they were going to be relatively useless in the battle. If he had another year or two, time to install them in all of the ships, that could make a big difference. But he figured he had as much chance at getting a year as he did of the enemy fleet disregarding Earth-2 entirely.
And he was sure Achilles knew that even better than he did. Still, it was good to have some of the devices, even if their utility would be limited. He’d find some good use for them, he was sure of that.
“I will take control of the test if you give the go ahead, Max.”
“Yes, definitely. I will do it right away. Anything that helps us is welcome.”
* * *
Terrance Compton sighed softly, trying to keep it from anyone around. He knew what he had to do, but he hated the idea of leaving, of running away, hiding, trying to build small civilizations on several planets…especially if his parent culture was destroyed.
It was just like it had been at his birth, he knew, but he was more than sixty years old now, and the prospect of going back, of returning to a setup he couldn’t even remember, depressed the hell out of him.
He had almost gone back to Max Harmon, begged for another assignment, or simply refused to depart. But he knew he was the best one to fill the role. Nicki Frette was older than he was, as were the next two officers in the chain of command after him. He was the only one who could do it and have a reasonable chance of doing it well…and the fact that Harmon had detached even a small component of naval vessels from the defensive effort told him just how important the dictator thought the mission was.
He knew the forces left behind were powerful, that they could win…though he also expected the enemy’s forces to be stronger. But what would his people do if they did win, if somehow they managed to beat back the enemy and kept their planet more or less habitable? How long would that gain for them? A year? Three years? Five? That was the real reason Compton had accepted the mission…because he knew the only chance at survival, at real, long term survival, was to spread out, to colonize a number of planets. Earth-2 was likely dead…whether in a month or two, or in five years.
There were two other planets already, left out of four planets colonized years before, but they were only partially-developed worlds, both mostly agricultural. The planets he would shepherd now wouldn’t be more populated, not at first, at least not in gross numbers…but they would be greatly balanced, in areas of expertise, and even in the breakdown of their populations. There would be Mules and Tanks as well as standard people, and they would be present in the same breakdowns as they were in Earth-2’s population. That would probably cause trouble at some point down the road, but Compton assumed that if Earth-2 was destroyed, the relatively few survivors would learn to get along with each other…at least for a period of years.
Whether it would do any good, whether any of the new worlds would remain hidden long enough to grow and prosper to the point where they had any kind of chance against the Regent seemed unlikely…but possible. And as long as there was a hope, a chance to preserve part of the population, Compton knew he had to do just what he was doing.
He turned and looked out over the bridge, at the officers positioned around him, and he said only, “Let’s move out.” His people knew why they were there, so there was no reason to address that. He knew he’d have problems, vast problems over time…but for the moment, his people were focused and ready to go.
He just hoped their attitudes would last a while, long enough to get the colonies established at least. He didn’t know what would happen, on Earth-2, on the new colonies, anywhere. But he realized Harmon had done as good a job as possible…in preparing to meet the enemy, and in the eventuality that they lost that fight. He had endured his doubts about Harmon as almost everyone else had, but now he realized, perhaps the man had done the best he could…the best anyone could.
* * *
Max Harmon was sitting, alone, trying to enjoy a bit of quiet. He knew he’d have precious little of that moving forward. But his moment of silence, his time to himself, was shorter than he’d imagined. Just twenty minutes or so after he’d had his last meeting, the silence of his room was shattered by the wailing of his intercom.
He almost didn’t answer it, but he realized that his assistant knew he was there, that she would check on him if he didn’t pick up. He looked down at it…and he realized suddenly, it wasn’t the normal line. The red lights around both sides were flashing…and that meant an emergency signal.
He reached out to grab it, even as he was wondering what could be so severe. He’d spent the entire day dealing with everyone…at least everyone he imagined could have something severe to talk about. He couldn’t imagine what it could be. The enemy crept into his mind, but he told himself ‘no,’ it was too soon.
“Yes?” He spoke, as calmly as he could into the receiver.
“Sir…we just received a signal…from far away.”
Harmon wasn’t sure what she meant, but he could tell from her tone it was important.
“What is it? Far away? What does that mean?”
“I will play it for you, sir.” A moment later, he heard a voice. For an instant, Harmon wasn’t sure what it was about…and then, suddenly, he realized.
“When did we receive that?” His mood had changed entirely, his former somber attitude replaced by an almost wild mindset.
“Just now, sir. I felt you had to hear it first.”
He leapt up to his feet, feeling almost enthusiastic. Thoughts were rattling around, almost wildly. He’d dreamt about hearing what he’d just heard, a thousand times. But no more. Still, around the edges of his euphoria danced other thoughts. Could it really be true? So far, it was only based on the reports of a single ship captain. And even if it was right, if it was entirely accurate…was it already too late?
Harmon reached down to the display again, pressing the button to speak. “Lieutenant, I need all of the primary personnel in here…right away! Take them from anything else they are doing. Anything. Achilles, Connor Frasier, Devin Cameron, and Nicki Frette…try to get her before she sets out for the fleet.”
“Yes, sir.”
Harmon turned back toward his desktop, and he replayed the tape.
“Attention…attention…whoever receives this. This is Captain Deacon sending a message by the highest standard available. My ship has been out for two years, exploring, searching for the enemy’s planets. And we believe we have found it…found the Regent’s homeworld. Repeat…”
Chapter T
wenty
Planet X (Alpha-Omega 12 System)
Far Beyond the Borders of the Imperium
Earth Two Date 03.15.63
The Regent scanned carefully, searching the system as completely as it could. It had picked up a small sign, probably nothing but some natural occurrence, but it wanted to be sure. It always would have checked any sign, however tiny, but now it believed it was on the verge of detecting Earth-2. This was no time to become careless, to avoid checking anything, however obscure.
The Regent knew the enemy’s science had advanced rapidly, that its newest ships and systems were a match for its own…and that meant their scout ships were perfectly capable of exploring its systems without being detected. As it surveilled the entire area of space all around it, it found nothing. It knew that wasn’t definitive, that the enemy could have indeed explored the system and snuck out, or even remained in place. One of the Regent’s ships had left just before it had picked up the signal, and that increased the chance of detection enormously. But it couldn’t find anything else, no other signs. At least none so far.
In a normal time, the Regent would have exerted extreme caution, it would have called back a good portion of the fleet, just to be safe. But it was assembling the force even then for a projected assault on Earth-2. And, it did not have enough forces to launch both operations at the same time.
It considered the facts. First, the chance that the brief contact it had intercepted was an enemy scout was fairly small. There were innumerable things in space that could have caused it, and an enemy scout ship was only one of them.
Second, its chances of finding Earth-2, and doing so quickly, were vastly superior. It had assaulted a colony planet, and that alone meant the enemy homeworld was likely close. That wasn’t definitive, of course, and the captured information wasn’t certain…but it did support the assertion that the human homeworld was close by.