BairnGefa- The Akashic Expedition
Page 21
“NT, what happened with the scorched nacelle?”
“Just that, a scorch mark. Nothing serious. We are good to go, Corb. Lucinda, what about your hand?”
The nervous tension and chatter weighed on Lucinda until she stopped it cold.
“The nanobots fixed my hand. We go, that is an order. We go now, and I want a flight path out of here that looks like we are on an attack run directed at the Defender of Lak’tsil. We slipstream out before we are in range of fuck-nut’s guns.”
“Any questions? No, I didn’t think so. We didn’t come all this way to talk. Nick, plot me a course.”
Ginning widely, Nick started keying in the flight path.
“Ragnar, I am going to need you to blow crap up.”
“Send over the targets. Blowing crap up is what I do.”
“There’s another.”
“Got it.”
On the monitors, the crew watched Nick fly the Jaguar while Ragnar set the laser cannons on the big chunks of debris and the point defense cannons on the smaller flotsam. Lucinda was monitoring the Defender of Lak’tsil.
“He is reacting.”
“Is he coming around?”
“No, Ragnar, he is accelerating.”
“I am getting targeting scans from him.”
“Ragnar, toss a couple of long-range shots at him. Let him think we are serious.”
“Roger that. Stand by.”
“Captain, it is unlikely our cannons will be effective from this range.”
“I know that, Landry. This is a diversion.”
“Firing!”
As expected, between the distance and rebounding off space debris, the three volleys of high-energy plasma leaped around and badly missed the Defender of Lak’tsil.
“Nick, alter our course, give us a new intercept course. At ten thousand meters, outside his gun’s effective range, I want you to nose down. Get us out of the elliptic and we will slip the Jenny.”
“Adjusting now. Ragnar, there is a lot of crap in our way. I won’t be able to protect you from NT if we scratch the Jenny with one of those floating shards.”
“You fly, I shoot.”
Two hours of the faux attack run was wearing on the crew. Nick’s focus was starting to wander. Ragnar’s firing solutions were popping up on the console, but he reacted a little more slowly. Lucinda sensed the problem and altered the plan.
“That’s enough of this mess. Nick, get us out of this debris field and away from any gravity wells.”
“Roger that, moving us now. ETA, forty-nine minutes, to clear sky.”
“Corb, Janish, in one hour we will slip this baby as far as we can. NT, wake me in fifty minutes.”
Lucinda unbuckled and headed to her cabin. When the bridge door closed, Jirmina made a query.
“The computer will wake her. Why did she assign that task to you?”
“It is a human trait to want the people you care about to care about you. Waking up my mate is a ritual of our pair bond.”
Corb and Janish unbuckled and headed to their cabins. Nick called after Janish.
“Darling, I got you in fifty minutes.”
When they departed and the bridge door slid closed, Jirmina observed to no one, “It is sad the Enlightened One has no one to wake him.”
Nick and Ragnar eyed each other with a raised eyebrow. NT and Cass did the same.
“Landry, put up a clock.”
Seven minutes into the slipstream, Lucinda was pressing the crew to get into the star-portal conduit.
“Two questions before we enter the conduit. We slipped the Jaguar in the Caracol system, amongst all that debris. Landry, why didn’t we suffer any damage?”
“Lucinda, the slipstream can be thought of as a tunnel in a parallel dimension, in which there is no debris. The hyper-tunnels and the star-portal conduits also do not exist in this dimension.”
“Okay, I get that. Next question. We took on the Defender of Lak’tsil once, back in Caracol. You said we could not stop or destroy the ship. What changed in your analysis that changed the battle parameters?”
“Lucinda, the battle scenarios changed with the addition of a new variable.”
Annoyance overtook Lucinda. “Enough of the twenty questions. Landry, you are ordered to provide complete and thorough responses. Explain the new variable that altered your battle simulations.”
“Lucinda, the first rule, the foundation, for all battle simulations is survival. Each side is presumed to act, and react, in a manner most conducive to their survival. Removing the survival foundation from either party in the scenario inserts variations in the potential outcome.
“I removed the survival foundation from Admiral Jymind in the simulation models when I realized his ship was altered to become a kamikaze.”
“I see. Good thinking. It is not that we could not have destroyed the Defender of Lak’tsil, it was probable that we, too, would have been destroyed in the battle. Why did you not tell me about this new data? Why did I have to order you to explain something you should have volunteered?”
“Lucinda, humans have a history of fighting unwinnable battles. There are countless stories, legends, and lore of overcoming the odds and being unbelievably victorious.”
“Exactly right, you wanker!”
“Adapt, improvise, overcome!”
“Nick, NT, those are nice thoughts, but slogans and phrases designed to elicit compliance, or an emotional response are not apropos. History is written by the victors. Where are the stories, the legends, the lore for those who failed to overcome a superior enemy?”
Nick was befuddled. “Landry, did you just ask a rhetorical question? Bloody ‘ell. Now we are taking lessons in pragmatism from a machine.”
“Landry, you did not answer my question.”
“Lucinda, what would your reaction have been if I had told you there was a chance, we could destroy the Defender of Lak’tsil, but we ourselves would have been destroyed?”
Lucinda hesitated to respond. Jirmina caught Corb’s attention and asked a clarifying question. “Kamikaze?”
“A device, a ship, or an aircraft loaded with explosives. It is designed for a reckless, self-destructive, deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target.”
The crew realized Landry had made the correct choice. The bridge became eerily silent waiting for Lucinda to respond. Unexpectedly, she dropped the subject and issued an order.
“Let’s go get the bastard.”
The Triad concentrated and the Jenny merged into the domain of the slipstream conduit.
Time in SP Conduit: 04:24:21.
“Report!”
“No bogies, Captain.”
“NT?”
“Five-by-five, Captain.”
“Nick?
“We are approximately one-third of the distance to Zerain.”
“Landry?”
“The time dilation correlates to our previous model. The chronometers are offset by thirty-five-point-two hours. Adjusting.”
“Landry, from this distance, can we establish an FTL link to K’an, Plentari, Admiral Jexond, and Q’eqchi?”
“Yes, Corb. At this distance, however, it will require several minutes of round-trip transmission time.”
“No need for round-trip. Lucinda, I suggest we send a message to K’an, Plentari, Admiral Jexond, and Q’eqchi. Tell them to report to us any information regarding any unusual activity in the hyper-tunnels.”
“Agreed. Landry, send this message.”
Lucinda began typing the message on her mini-console. The crew filed off the bridge for much-needed rest.
“K’an, Plentari, Admiral Jexond, and Q’eqchi all report no information regarding unusual activity.”
Jirxena had been on the bridge for an hour, dutifully logging the responses from the FTL queries. The crew was filing in, strapping in, and listening to the report.
“There are several personal messages and an urgent inquiry from Earth. I have redirected the personal messages. Lucinda, the urgent
inquiry is in your personal folder.”
“Thank you, Jirxena.”
Lucinda touched the correct sequence of icons and the urgent inquiry appeared. After reading it once and exhaling loudly, she read it a second time before retorting. “It is an email from the TCCC demanding we explain why we have not provided an update. They can wait. Landry, send a message to Davinder. Send him …”
Nick chimed in while Lucinda was thinking. “Five-by-five.”
“Exactly! Send that, Landry, five-by-five. Nothing else.”
“Sending.”
“Put up a clock. Let’s get on with this.”
Time in SP Conduit: 09:51:09.
“Report!”
“Something on the long range, Captain. Whoever it is, they are actively pinging but are a long way out there. They want to be noticed. If we’d emerged a few light-minutes further from the target actively pinging, we would have missed it. Examining now, passive sensors only.”
“NT?”
“Five-by-five, Captain.”
“Nick?”
“We are approximately two light-years from Zerain.”
“Wow, I knew we were in the conduit a long time. Is that clock correct?”
“The clock is correct, Lucinda. I am adjusting the chronometers now.”
“Landry, how is it you can access the celestial regulator, the chronometer, so quickly?”
“Cass, we are too far away to actually ping a system with a link to the celestial regulator. I created an algorithm to determine the correct celestial time.”
“How does it work, your time algorithm?”
“It uses the calculations we derived from traveling to Caracol through the star-portal conduit to determine the current celestial time.”
“We can talk about that later. Ragnar, what have you got?”
“Landry, I make that to be an Ajawlil fighter. He appears to be sitting still.”
“Confirmed, it is a motionless Ajawlil fighter.”
“Let’s surprise him. Corb, five hundred meters off his bow.”
The Triad slipped the Jaguar to a point directly ahead of the lone Ajawlil fighter.
“Landry, open a comms channel.”
“Comms channel open.”
“I am Captain Raitt of the Jaguar. Why are you so far from Zerain?”
“Captain Raitt, I am Lieutenant Junune. I have a message from Admiral Jexond. The message is for the Enlightened One.”
“Please transmit the message now. Lieutenant Junune, you are a long way from Zerain. Why are you so far from home?”
“Admiral Jexond requested a volunteer. His analysts determined this point is on the most likely path of your journey to Zerain.”
“That is correct, but why are you out here? Your ship appears to be running on reserve power. Do you have enough antimatter to return?”
“I volunteered. The Enlightened One saved the Ajawlil and Gowah, the place you call Zerain. The admiral asked, Who will go and deliver the message to save the Enlightened One’s home?
“No, Captain, I do not have enough fuel to return.”
A cold shiver ran through the crew of the Jaguar.
“Landry, can we transfer fuel, antimatter, to Lieutenant Junune’s fighter?”
“Yes, Lucinda. There are sixty Ajawlil fuel pods magnetically contained in the main cargo bay’s storage vault.”
“Landry, why are there sixty Ajawlil fuel pods magnetically contained in the main cargo bay’s storage vault?”
“They were placed there as a backup when we were in the Sol system. They are small and could be converted for insertion into the Jaguar’s fuel supply if they were needed.”
Lucinda’s brow scrunched, not fully believing Landry’s explanation.
“NT, can you replace the fighter’s fuel pod?”
“Yes.”
“Lieutenant Junune, you will dock in our main cargo bay. You will not leave your ship. Our maintenance chief will transfer the fuel pod to your ship. When the fuel is restored, you will return to Zerain and inform Admiral Jexond you delivered the message.”
“I will proceed as directed, Captain Raitt.”
Corb closed the discussion with the lieutenant. “Another thing, Lieutenant Junune. I want you to personally thank Admiral Jexond for the information. When you return to Zerain, you will state you have a message to deliver from the Enlightened One. You will stand in the admiral’s presence and say these words.
“The Enlightened One is grateful for your assistance.
“Nothing more. Do you understand, Lieutenant Junune?”
“Yes, Enlightened One, but I have not yet provided the message I sent to deliver.”
“Please proceed as ordered.”
With uncommon reserve, the crew read the message from the Lieutenant. Swinging back to Lucinda, Corb nodded. She resumed the leadership role.
“NT, Landry, get that ship refueled and off the Jaguar ASAP. Cutting the comms.”
Lucinda pressed the correct icons, severing the communications link, and watched NT exit the bridge. NT’s cold, hard stare told Lucinda that NT understood the seriousness of the problem.
The tears welling in Janish’s eyes were real and she, too, understood the problem. She asked the only relevant question.
“Can we make it all the way in one hop?”
Corb’s response was simple, plain, and direct. “We will make it, or billions will die.”
Part Four
Independence
ᛁᚾᛏᛁᛒᛁᚾᛏᛁᚾᚴᛁ
Chapter Twenty-Eight
ᚴᚼᛅᛒᛏᛁᚱ•ᛏᚢᛁᚾᛏᚢ-ᛁᛁᚴᚼᛏ
“The tyrant dies, and his rule is over, the martyr dies, and his rule begins.”
Soren Kierkegaard
“Admiral Jymind exited the pathway leading from Caracol and diverted to an unknown destination. We are not certain of his current location. Our data is incomplete. My analysts surmise Admiral Jymind is moving to an alternate pathway.
“First Order Contrulli sent an inquiry. He provided Admiral Jymind with fuel. He has asked for our support now that he knows Admiral Jexond was victorious and now controls the Ajawlil, the Xjaal, and Zerain.
“We believe the message is fake. First Order Contrulli was forced to send a false message. However, we believe Admiral Jymind possesses enough fuel to jump across space to a new pathway.
“Enlightened One, Admiral Jymind is headed to Sol.”
The crew was reading Admiral Jexond’s message for the third time, evaluating their options, listening to Jirxena’s summary.
“The Ajawlil are referring to the hyper-tunnels as pathways. Landry, put up the hyper-tunnel map.”
Walking over and using the index finger of his left hand, Corb traced the routes.
“This is Caracol. This is the first hyper-tunnel back to the core. If Jymind diverted here, at the end of this hyper-tunnel, and jumped over to this hyper-tunnel, he would be five hyper-tunnels from Sol.
“Landry, using the path I described, assuming a normal slipstream velocity between tunnels, estimate Admiral Jymind’s location.”
A red diamond appeared in the third of the five hyper-tunnels.
“Landry, using the revised velocity calculations for the star-portal conduit, in a direct line, calculate in hours how long it will require for the Jaguar to reach Sol from our current location.”
“Approximately seventy-two hours.”
“That is three days for us and twenty-four days in real time. In real time, when will Admiral Jymind arrive in Sol, assuming your forecasted location is correct?”
“Approximately thirty-two days.”
“That translates to about ninety-five hours using the star-portal differential. That gives us twenty-three hours of real-time clock to rest.”
Stopping, gazing at Lucinda, Corb was doing the math in his head and speaking out loud as he calculated the effort.
“We want to be early, ahead of Admiral Fuck-Nuts. Ninety hours using the differential … eight shifts
with four rests will put us there about three days ahead of Admiral Fuck-Nuts. We can do it.
“Landry, do we know the name of Tarunik’s battlecruiser?”
“Yes. In English, it is called the Sky God.”
“What is it called in the Ch’en language?”
“It is registered as the Zac-Cimi.”
Cass nodded confirmation of another Mayan dialect translation.
“Fire up the FTL link to K’an. Send this message to Tarmenik.”
Corb quickly typed the message and displayed it on the board for all to see.
Tarunik, I am aware of your plans and your battlecruiser, Zac-Cimi. Send the Zac-Cimi and its bravest crew to Sol to defend Earth.
The Jaguar will rendezvous with the Zac-Cimi in Sol to form a defense against an attack on the human homeworld.
Do not delay. You have twenty-five Earth days to arrive. The identification code for Friend or Foe is Bandit One. Transmit code is IFF Bandit One. Rendezvous with Colonel Khatter for deployment orders.
The Enlightened One
“Any objections? No? Landry, send that message now. We are not awaiting a response. Then send this to Q’eqchi.”
Colonel Khatter, attack forthcoming. Estimate thirty days for arrival of enemy vessel. Colonel Jyrode is ordered to deploy all fighters and support vessels at twenty-eight days. Hemispherical boundary at hyper-tunnel emergence point. Fighters will remain on sentry until arrival of the Jaguar.
Expect second battlecruiser, the Zac-Cimi, to arrive in Sol at twenty-five days. Zac-Cimi IFF code is Bandit One. Colonel Khatter is POC for Zac-Cimi.
Lucinda L. Raitt, Captain, Jaguar
“Lucinda, are you good with me signing your name?”
“Yes, Corb. But how are we going to get to Sol in time?”
“I have a plan for that. We will get there, but first we need to rest, in real time. We will plan eight hours of conduit transit followed with four-hour increments of rest.
“We moderate our liquids, but we keep up our energy. Power bars and energy supplements. NT, you will tend to Lucinda. Nick, to Janish. Cass, you will assist me. Energy bars and sips of power supplement every two or three hours.”