The tech turned to the Admiral. “We’ve determined a charge that’s lethal for an Iidx, sir,” he said. “The explosion was not the Iidx being destroyed by the electrical current; not unless their innards are explosive. It had to be a demolition charge. It went off after the bug was dead.”
P’Mar nodded. “I expected that. They don’t want to leave any evidence. It’s obvious they know they’ve encroached on a restricted facility.
“We’ve established one means of killing a bug. Let’s find others.” The Kthpok of the Center Room Pack bobbed their heads and bared their fangs.
Masiden stared at the carnage in the corridor a short distance behind him. That had been the last of his Iidx, the one who was going to pull the necessary data from the Kthpok computers. The Lieutenant had been going first, testing for traps, to protect the tech but… He suspected that Blantree had died from a lethal burst of radiation and the demo pack had erased any evidence. An hour earlier Gorunmet had been electrocuted.
He paused to consider. If Blantree had died of radiation poisoning that meant he’d also been exposed. While he’d only caught the edge of that burst he figured it was only a matter of time before he felt the effects.
“This isn’t right,” the Lieutenant muttered to himself. “We’ve been in here for hours now, wandering the halls, poking into rooms, setting off two explosions. As far as I can tell there’s been no alarm and there’s no guards coming to investigate.”
Masiden gave a definite bob of his head and glanced back the way he’d come. “This mission’s blown and has become a trap.”
He made a quick check of the frequency on his radio then activated the link. Now wasn’t the time to worry about electronics giving him away. After the two explosions he was sure the Kthpok knew he was here. He gave a single click on the handset which was answered by two clicks. Bonner had acknowledged the pre-arranged signal and would withdraw to form up in the jungle.
Re-attaching the link to his harness the Iidx began to retrace his steps. Masiden hurried down corridors and past the two blasted areas where his Iidx had died. Since he knew the way he’d come and the dangers involved it wasn’t long before he faced the door leading to the outside.
The Lieutenant paused for a moment and took a deep breath. Although he hadn’t been able to reach the Kthpok computers the traps his Iidx had encountered was proof of the Kthpok’s hostile intent. And if his people were being killed he assumed that was happening to Bonner’s party. He just wished he could get that report back to Commander Kazikami and the Swarm Master.
Masiden took out his weapon and made sure it was ready. “The mission’s a bust,” he muttered. “But since I’m going to die anyway I want to take a Tail or two with me.”
He kicked the door open and erupted into the night. Floodlights flashed to life revealing stark shadows but Masiden didn’t hesitate. Shots fired at him exploded around his feet and hit nearby buildings as he ran for the fence and the relative safety of the jungle several streets away. The Lieutenant returned fire not knowing if he was hitting anything. He raced around a corner and skidded to a halt. The road was blocked with an armored vehicle of strange configuration.
Masiden fired a shot from his weapon at the vehicle and whirled to go back the way he’d come. But before he could complete his turn automatic weapons opened fire. The Iidx was riddled by blaster fire and the demo pack exploded.
Chapter 10
S’Cinf was in his Colony ship’s main conference room and looked at the blank wall screen for a moment before turning to the tech who was working the room’s equipment. “Let’s have that last sequence again,” he ordered. “Start at the escape from the decoy building but put it in slow motion. I want enough time to examine what I’m seeing.”
In response to his command the screen flickered and images of a single Iidx running from a building was shown. The motions of all six limbs working were slow and almost comical. Explosions of pulses missing their target sprang up around, in front of, and behind the creature. It ran around the corner of a building and came to a sudden halt in front of an assault vehicle accompanied by a line of infantry in armor. The creature yelled something, raised and fired its weapon then turned to flee. In response the Kthpok assault pack opened fire. The Run Point watched as the Iidx was hit with pulser fire, holes appearing in its thorax. An instant later the legs of the creatures began to collapse in mid-turn. Before the corpse of the Iidx could complete its fall an explosion incinerated the creature.
As the monitor went dark once again the Run Point turned to Fleet Admiral P’Mar. “That was as informative as it was enjoyable,” he said. His tail quivered to emphasize his words.
P’Mar bobbed his head in agreement. “We learned much from this exercise, your Eminence,” he said with a grin beginning to appear on his face. “And we didn’t have to risk an abduction to get our test subjects. They were considerate enough to come to us.”
At a gesture and command from the Admiral the image of the Iidx was brought back to the screen. “Those bugs are harder to kill than humans,” P’Mar announced nodding at the creature. “It’s their exoskeleton. It seems that the shell works like an insulator so we have to use enormous amounts of electricity to electrocute them. They can be also killed with nerve agents or radiation.” He shrugged. “Although it takes what we consider ridiculously large amounts of either to be fatal.” He gestured at the screen with a hand. “But as you saw in the recording our standard issue blasters are very effective. It appears that any hit in these two segments,” the Fleet Admiral indicated the areas he meant with an electronic marker, “are fatal.”
The Run Point twitched his tail in agreement. “It’s good to know we can kill them. However with billions of Iidx on Main Hive alone it’ll take too long to exterminate them with blasters. Too many could be missed. We’d also risk taking casualties of our own.” He shook his head. “Our people are too few to take unnecessary risks. And there’s Iidx on New Hive which have to be dealt with as well.”
S’Cinf craned his neck to look out the large observation port of the room to see the world below. Planets always seemed the same from orbit and reminded him of the Nest they’d lost to the human animals. “The mistake our ancestors made with the humans was that they didn’t kill the animals when they were first discovered,” he said. “I won’t repeat that mistake.”
He turned back to look at his Fleet Admiral. “Now, for us to take this world we have to destroy the Iidx wholesale before they can run or hide. That means our attack has to be all encompassing and a surprise.”
“We also have to draw the Iidx fleet away from Main Hive,” added P’Mar. “With those ships out of the way it’ll be an easy matter to deal with the planetary defenses and population.” He nodded at his superior. “Of course, that assumes we can utilize all weapons at our disposal. Based on the results of this ‘test’ I’ve got our people building the appropriate warheads.”
S’Cinf reached out with a talon and began to scratch a groove in the surface of the conference table as he thought. “We need to get the Iidx fleet away from Main Hive,” he repeated and ignored the unspoken question in the Admiral’s last statement. Then a feral grin spread his lips and his eyes glowed. “What do you think the Iidx’d do if they thought a human fleet had arrived?”
P’Mar gave a shrug after a moment’s thought and answered the question. “Assuming they’ve accepted our description of the humans they’d try to intercept the enemy as far away from Main Hive as possible with as many ships as they could assemble.” Then a gleam of understanding came into his eyes and he gave a curt nod. His lips curled to show his teeth and his tail began whipping back and forth to show his excitement. “With the Iidx out chasing a phantom enemy we can stage our attack!”
The Admiral paused, his grin faded and his tail slowed. “What?” asked S’Cinf. “What’s wrong?”
“Won’t the Iidx expect our ships to accompany their force?” P’Mar said. “After all humanity is our enemy not theirs!”
Then the hunter’s grin spread across the Run Point’s face again. “In that case we’ll just accompany the Iidx and destroy their fleet first.” He shrugged. “They won’t be expecting us to fire on them since they’ll be concentrating on the humans. After taking out their fleet we can come back and obliterate all Iidx on their planets.” The Run Points face twisted into a smirk. “I’m sure the Iidx would have some warning and they’ll try to hide but with their fleet gone we’ll be able to take all the time we need to cleanse the planet.”
S’Cinf gave a light chuckle. “After a few years and the population’s been thinned down some we can organize Iidx hunts to maintain our hunting skills.”
“How likely will it be that they’ll expect us to go with them to meet the humans?” P’Mar asked.
S’Cinf thought for a moment then shook his head. “I don’t think it’s likely,” he replied. “The Queens don’t impress me as being particularly warlike. They’ll probably want to meet the humans and send them back to Fairen without a fight. That wouldn’t happen if we’re out there with them.” He shrugged with his tail. “We’ll make the request to go along of course.”
“That’s reasonable,” P’Mar said. “The humans arrive, the Iidx go out to meet them leaving us at Main Hive. When they’re in the outer system we attack Main Hive and obliterate the Iidx.”
“But what about when the Iidx fleet returns?” said the Run Point. “It’s obvious the Queens will send a distress signal as soon as we attack. How will you deal with a Bug fleet bent on vengeance?”
“Although we didn’t have a detailed plan at the time I had people hide explosives in the Iidx communications center and other vital facilities,” P’Mar replied and gave a self-satisfied swipe from his tail. “I anticipated the time when we’d be ready to take the planet. Not all the Kthpok who went on the ‘scientific’ excursions were scientists.” A snort of derision accompanied the words. “The Iidx had no idea what was happening. They thought they were helping us prepare to return home.” P’Mar shook his head. “The Iidx fleet won’t receive a warning or a recall unless we want it to.”
The Admiral paused to make a few notes on his electronic pad before continuing. “It seems that the plan we’ve been striving for is starting to develop. We lure the Iidx ships away from the planet and while they’re gone we eliminate their population. When the Iidx fleet comes back from dealing with the humans we’ll be ready. But how to lure…” He paused with a thoughtful look on his face then began nodding.
“That might work,” he said after a moment. Before S’Cinf could ask what he was talking about the Fleet Admiral called for the tech to display a particular picture. Once again the wall screen flickered to life. This time it showed a strange vessel designed to operate on an ocean.
S’Cinf stretched his long neck over the table so he could get a better view of the boat. “Is that a ship?” he asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
The Admiral left his perch and walked around the table to reach the wall screen. “This is one of the vehicles the recent Iidx infiltrators used to reach our island. Our scouts were able to locate three vehicles and we actually have this one in our possession.” He noticed the Run Points puzzled look and shrugged. “There were demolition packs installed in each craft. Our experts were able to remove the explosives from one vehicle; obviously, the one we have. When they started to work on the second the explosives in the vehicle exploded. We assume one of our experts made a mistake and set off the self-destruct. That explosion killed four people including those experts and six others were injured. While the injured were being cared for and before new experts could be brought out from our base on the planet the remaining vehicle self-destructed. Further investigation revealed that the last explosion coincided within seconds of the death of the last infiltrator.”
The Run Point gestured at the screen. “How does that vessel explain your plans to defeat a fleet possibly intent on vengeance?” he asked.
“The only indication we had of these vessels as they were approaching our island was a very brief sensor ghost,” said P’Mar. “And that was with the scans directed to a particular sector under full power. It was as if this vessel,” he gestured at the picture, “was invisible.
“Our scientists had been made aware of this technology during one of their earlier visits and’ve been working on ways to exploit it. They were concentrating on how to use the technology on larger vessels and failed. Now that we have the vehicle to reverse engineer it gives me an idea of how we can use it to our advantage.” He nodded at the screen again. “Couple this with our expertise in electronic warfare and we can draw the Iidx Swarm away from Main Hive. And when the Iidx fleet returns we’ll kill them!”
With a pleased slap from his tail the Run Point left his perch to pace around the room. “That should work,” he said. Then he stopped and looked over at the Admiral. “How long Admiral?” he asked. “How long before we can obliterate the Iidx?”
P’Mar paused to think then consulted his pad. “Most of our ships have been returned to yard condition,” he said still reading. “All the armor’s been repaired and strengthened, electronics rerun or replaced, and decking recoated. They smell new,” he announced and looked up with a grin. “I know. I’ve inspected each vessel as it’s been completed. Our laser mounts and missile launchers have likewise been upgraded.”
“That’s good news,” commented S’Cinf.
The Fleet Admiral nodded. “It is. We’re ready to search for a system where we can flourish without the distraction of another intelligent life.” He gestured to encompass the ship they were in. “The Colony ships have had their drives checked and relined; food stores can be replenished in a short time.” P’Mar shrugged his tail. “Our hosts have even duplicated the suspension drugs. We can be loaded and in space in three days. After ten we could activate stellar drives and be on our way.”
Without saying another word S’Cinf walked over to where the tech was perched and had the Kthpok key certain commands on his console. A moment later the wall screen shifted. The image of the Iidx sea vessel had been replaced by two landscapes in a split screen. The Run Point looked at the screen then back to his Fleet Admiral. “I thought this might come up,” he said.
“Which environment do you prefer Fleet Admiral?” he asked and gestured at the screen. “I’m sure the alpine scene is inviting. Note the steep slopes covered with sparse vegetation, and lots of rocks and snow.” He nodded to the tech who activated the program. “Or this one,” S’Cinf said. The alpine image was replaced with a picture of a desert containing only rocks. But the other landscape remained. “It’s only 150 degrees in the shade and this’s one of the poles. There’s very little free flowing water.” More pictures appeared showing terrain just as unappealing.
When the pictures stopped S’Cinf indicated the image which had remained throughout the presentation. “You surely wouldn’t desire the tropical planet. I mean the one with lush forests, warm rain and high humidity. It’s just like the planet we were evicted from.”
By this time P’Mar’s tail began an irritated twitch. “You don’t have to patronize me, Run Point. I brought the issue to your attention because we might have people who desire to leave rather than fight. They’re tired of death and bloodshed.
“There’s the Iidx to consider as well. They’re not stupid. They can estimate how far along our preparations are, the firepower we’ve assembled and our claims of human strength. If we don’t look like we’re going to leave to retake our home or at least making serious preparations they’re going to wonder why.
“I want this planet as do many of our people who have seen it. But to achieve surprise the Iidx need to see we have a reason for an extended stay while we prepare.”
The Run Point bo
bbed his head. “You want this planet,” he repeated. “I want this planet. But you say others of our people may think we should leave for another planet where we could rebuild without distractions.”
S’Cinf tipped his tail at the screen. “I anticipated that. That’s why I had this little demonstration prepared as a reminder. Before reaching this system there were several other star systems investigated and rejected. There are more pictures from those surveys which are even more unappealing. If we leave now we have no guarantee we’ll ever find another planet as conducive to our species as this one.”
“I agree,” said P’Mar with an accompanying twitch of his tail for emphasis. “The longer we search the longer the humans have to rebuild. If we take Main Hive now our chances to retake Fairen are improved. We’ll have resources located with an infrastructure already in place.”
S’Cinf shook himself. “We’ve become side tracked,” he said. “I wanted to know how long before we can destroy the Iidx.”
“Yes, your Eminence,” P’Mar replied and pondered a moment before replying. “With Iidx factories assisting in the construction of missiles it’ll take several months to fill our Battle Caches,” announced the Fleet Admiral. “That shouldn’t raise suspicions of the Iidx. Missiles will be essential for our campaign to retake our home. And we’ll have to take our full inventory with us.
“Now to beat the Iidx we have to design and construct our invisible ships. I want them remotely controlled to keep our personnel as safe as possible since our Kthpok are a very finite resource. I estimate it’ll take close to a year to get those ships ready. I suppose if we’re in a hurry we could ask our ‘friends’ to help with the construction. We’d tell the Iidx the new craft will help in fighting against the overwhelming forces of the humans. But that would let them in on the fact we know how to use that technology.”
Betrayal Page 17