Rident gave an embarrassed wave of his antennae. “I’m sorry Commander,” he called back. “I should have thought…”
Kazi stopped his team member with a gesture. “Too often we become enamored with our electronic aids. That makes the older, less technological, methods very effective.”
The other Iidx nodded their understanding of the lesson. “I’ll remember that,” Rident said.
The Commander smiled. “You’ll have plenty of opportunities to work it out before this’s over.” Then he gestured at the door. “Now, I’m betting this door is locked. So now is the time to use one of those electronic devices I was lecturing against and get us inside.”
Rident suppressed a laugh and reached into his pack. He and Liden moved to join their commander, careful to follow instructions of avoiding the sensors. At the door Rident set a device on the lock and pushed the activating button. A small shielded green light showed and a soft hum was heard. A moment later there was a quiet click of the door unlocking. Rident removed his device and nodded to Kazikami. “Do we go in?” He asked. “It’s your call.”
The commander pulled the door open to reveal a dimly lit corridor. “Inside quickly!” Kazi hissed, “before the light’s noticed.”
The three Iidx scurried inside and let the door shut behind. A click echoing loudly in the hallway announced the lock resetting itself. There were three lights dividing the corridor in thirds. Kazikami bent his head next to the door they’d come through and listened while Rident and Liden removed their night vision goggles.
“Do we have to try every door?” asked Liden as he looked at all the doors lining the corridor. “That’ll take forever.”
“I don’t think so,” replied Kazikami turning from the door and taking off his own goggles. He hadn’t heard any sounds of Kthpok approaching. “The control room in our High Command is deep inside its building where it’s better protected. We’ll assume the Kthpok are as logical and intelligent as we are.” He pointed. “That means we follow the corridor.”
The Commander started down the hall heading deeper into the building still watching for signs of a trap. Beside him walked Rident who was just as vigilant. Last of all came Liden who kept alert for any danger arriving from the rear. From time to time the Commander or Rident would stop and check their sensors. They came across several infrared laser trip lights spread down the corridor. Rident and Kazikami placed mirrors to keep the devices from reporting their presence.
There was a moment of concern when they neared the last door in the corridor. Although his sensors hadn’t registered anything Rident thought he saw something in a corner of the ceiling. Antennae rigid with concern he reached out, touching the Commander, to get his attention. Then he pointed. “Is that a camera?” he asked.
Liden continued to watch the corridor for Kthpok who might be coming to investigate as Kazikami moved over to examine the spot. After a tense moment the Commander chuckled. He reached over to pat Rident’s thorax and said. “Your eyes are good but not that good. The Kthpok need to pay more attention to their housekeeping though. That’s a Scrinter.”
Rident relaxed and his antennae gave a wave of amusement. “They’ll regret that,” he said. “Those little things have a bite that drills through a shell. Any Kthpok that get’s bitten will know a Scrinter’s been there,” he finished with a chuckle.
Still keeping watch for sensors and Kthpok the three Iidx moved closer to the last door. A quick examination revealed no locks securing the door or special entry pads to verify identity before allowing entry. Rident turned to Kazikami. “Are you sure this’s the right door?” he asked. “Or even the right building? This security is ridiculous. I can’t see the Kthpok Swarm Master’s office being open to all comers like this.”
“It is possible we’ve picked the wrong door or building,” agreed the Commander as he reached to activate the door. “The only way to know for sure is to look.”
The door slid open and the rooms lights came up. The commander gave a quick concerned look around the room searching for windows. Then he relaxed. This deep in the building there wasn’t a chance of windows and the lights couldn’t betray them. He stepped through the doorway followed by Rident and Liden. A slight hiss was heard as the door slid shut behind them.
Laid out before them was an office. Kazi assumed it was lavish by Kthpok standards. And that could indicate this room would have what they needed. He recognized a desk and computer console. There were other pieces of furniture in strategic locations. Pictures of landscapes and cities hung on the wall.
“Think those came from their home world?” Liden asked nodding at the pictures.
“Probably,” Rident replied. “If this is the head Tail’s office I’d guess he hung them as a reminder of what he’d lost.”
“Hey people, we’re not here to sightsee,” Kazi called. “We’re on a timetable!”
Commander Kazikami led the way through the room with Rident and Liden right behind. When they reached the desk Kazi turned to the tech. “You’re the computer expert,” he said and gestured at the computer “Get the data we need and hurry. Remember we still have to extract after you’re done.”
Taking a portable data retrieval and storage device from his pack the tech moved over to the computer. He removed a panel then examined the exposed wiring and circuitry. A moment later Liden began attaching leads and flipping switches. “This looks promising,” Liden said as he flipped another switch. A red light showed and numbers began flashing on a small screen.
“Is that data being downloaded already?” asked Rident as he peered down at the device.
Liden gave a negative shake from his antennae. “It’s trying to make connection,” he replied. “Once that’s done we have to get past any safeguards the Kthpok programmers have coded.” The tech gestured, “without tripping alarms. When that’s done we can start copying data.”
“How’re you going to decide which data to copy?”
“We don’t,” was the reply. “Since we don’t know what data is contained in the files all we do is dump everything. It’s quicker that way. Once we get back to Refuge we can take the time to examine the data, byte by byte, and learn what the Kthpok are planning.”
Kazikami glanced at his timer. “It better not take long,” he said. “The night’s growing old.” The Commander looked over at the tech. “Even with the bulk of the Kthpok population in space testing their new toys we’ll be discovered if we linger.”
Liden nodded his agreement then paused as the light on his device went from red to yellow. “We’ve just…” The light turned green. “That’s unbelievable.”
Kazikami’s antennae stiffened. “What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
The tech gestured at his device. “Nothing’s wrong,” he replied. “In fact, it’s even better than we anticipated. We’ve made connection and found no need to break passwords. There aren’t any. It’s almost like the Kthpok Swarm Master didn’t want to be bothered with security. Or…,” he paused.
”Or what?” wondered Rident.
“Or they wanted us to find this,” was Liden’s somber reply. “Maybe Rident’s right and this’s a trap. After all the first teams of infiltrators were detected and killed.”
Kazikami bobbed his head as he disagreed. “We don’t know what happened to Masiden,” he said. “We don’t know if Masiden’s people had been detected and stopped upon reaching land, before reaching the base or on the base. We don’t know if it was the Kthpok that killed them or something else on the island. There are predators that like to eat Iidx after all. What we do know is that once they left the transfer ship they were never heard from again.”
He gestured at the device on the console. “We may have walked into a trap but we might not have. It could simply be the case of the Kthpok being lazy. What we do is dump the data and get our shells out. Preferably intact.”
After twenty minutes of accessing data the device showed an additional light. Liden pushed a button that ejected a storage
cube. He took the cube and placed it in a pouch. Another cube was placed in the device and the download resumed.
Two hours before dawn Commander Kazikami called a halt to the download. “But Commander,” protested the tech, “we haven’t got the full data base yet.”
“All the data in the world wouldn’t be any good if we don’t get it back to Refuge,” said Kazi. “Stop the download now! We take the data we’ve copied and extract.”
Without another word Liden followed instructions and disconnected the device. He took the storage cubes that had Kthpok data and gave two each to Kazikami and Rident.
“Each gets some,” said Liden quoting his mission briefing. “If we all make it all the data makes it. But if the Kthpok discover us and kill one or two of the team at least some data will get to the Swarm Master.”
After making sure there were no ambushes waiting the three Iidx left the building and scuttled off in the pre-dawn dark.
Chapter 13
Fleet Admiral P’Mar was in the Fleet Control Center of his flagship, Raging. He craned his neck around to study the disposition of nearby space shown on the Battle Plot. The display reflected the might of the Kthpok armada, which was an impressive array of ships, as it neared the star systems outer asteroid belt. Most of the icons he saw represented vessels which were automated, controlled by computers and overseen by operators in special center rooms buried within the bowels of the ship. All the other vessels, while run by crews of Kthpok, had been refitted with automation as well allowing for a reduction in the size of that crew.
The automation of the new vessels and in the refits was only one of the items they’d picked up from the Iidx. They’d also found that their ‘hosts’ had weapons more powerful than anything the Kthpok had. There were also metal composites which increased the strength of the armor coating ship hulls.
And that brought him to the reason of this exercise: The new technology in the Kthpok ships had to be tested and his people needed to be drilled with their new weapons. Although all of that was necessary and important he had an additional compelling reason for this little excursion into the outer system.
Another check of the tactical plot showed that only Kthpok vessels were in the immediate vicinity. That was what the plan called for but he had to be sure. It wouldn’t do to have unwanted eyes seeing what the Kthpok had done with the Iidx tech that’d been so willingly given.
P’Mar swiveled on his perch, long neck craning towards the scanning station. “Scanning!” the Admiral called, “go long range. Is space clear?”
Lieutenant D’Pan in the Scanning Suite paused before answering. The hesitation was long enough for the Kthpok to adjust the calibration on his equipment, run a couple of sweeps of the surrounding space then confirm the results. “Long range scans show space is clear, Admiral,” the officer reported.
P’Mar bobbed his head in satisfaction. It appeared the Iidx were complying with the restriction placed on this region of space by the Kthpok for the duration of the exercise. He paused as a suspicious thought came. Perhaps the Bugs were just giving the appearance of compliance but had probes in the area using stealth technology. That would give them the ability to observe the Kthpok without being observed themselves. It’s what he’d do if he were in their position.
The Admiral gave a slight shake of his tail. It was possible the Iidx were spying on the Kthpok but he didn’t think it was probable. The Bugs had been too willing to share their technology for there to be a devious plot to eliminate the Kthpok. If they were going to destroy his people the Iidx could have blown the Kthpok ships apart as they entered the Iidx system. P’Mar knew that with his damaged ships and depleted supplies he couldn’t have prevented it. No, he decided with a wry smile, the only devious plot was the one the Kthpok had dreamed up.
The Admiral brought his thoughts back to the needs of the moment and swung his head away from the plot. “Communications,” he called, “contact the Commander of Deception. They are to activate, proceed as outlined.” He swung around to another officer. “Have the main viewer adjusted. I want to see the Deceiver.”
In response to the Fleet Admiral’s order the view of the main wall screen changed to show a large vessel. A closer examination revealed this craft was different from the others of its class. There were fewer missile launchers and laser mounts than what was considered normal for a capital warship. The reason for the modifications soon became apparent. Three sections of the hull opened to reveal unlit bays from which several dark gray frigates emerged.
As soon as the new vessels cleared their bays the doors shut. Gasps and mutters came from members of the Fleet Admiral’s staff as sunlight and computer enhancements revealed the small vessels strange configuration. The Admiral ignored the disturbance and turned to face Scanning. “Lieutenant, confirm Deception has been released and track,” ordered P’Mar.
Lieutenant D’Pan in Scanning forced his gaze away from the images on the screen and worked his equipment. “Deception is con…,” the Kthpok began then stopped. Craning his neck for a better view of his console, he made more adjustments and checked the results. He glanced up at the main screen as if to confirm the ships were really there. By this time all three vessels had taken up formation in between the Raging and Deceiver. D’Pan turned back to his console shaking his head. More adjustments were made to his equipment and the results checked once again. The Kthpok began muttering as he continued to work his board.
Seeing the officer’s obvious discomfort P’Mar had to struggle to keep his face impassive. He hoped the twitch of his tail that was beyond his ability to suppress was interpreted as irritation. “I asked for a confirmation, Lieutenant,” said the Admiral in a flat tone. “Why hasn’t Deception been confirmed?”
The Lieutenant’s expression never changed as he glanced once more at the screen. Only his tail revealed his agitation as it twitched from side to side. He turned to face the Fleet Admiral. “I can’t electronically confirm, sir,” he reported and shrugged. “I can visually confirm those ships have launched but they don’t appear on my scope.” The heads of other Kthpok in the room turned in surprise at the report. D’Pan continued, “My equipment is working because it shows the main fleet is there.” He gestured at his station. “I can account for everything out there but those three ships.”
P’Mar waved his tail at the Kthpok. “I understand, Lieutenant,” he said, “keep watching your equipment. Inform me if we have any visitors.” After getting an acknowledgement the Admiral turned to the rest of the Center Room Pack.
“Your attention,” he called. “Those ships are a new development which are vital to our victory,” he announced when all the Kthpok in the Center Room were looking at him. “As you’ve just heard they are invisible to scanning equipment.
“Now, we’re here for more than sightseeing. I want to determine how effective our other weapons are. Let’s get ready for the exercise.”
As the Kthpok turned back to their stations the Admiral keyed in a combination on his intercom. “Yes?” the voice of the Kthpok Run Point was heard.
“Run Point,” said P’Mar. “This is Fleet Admiral P’Mar. I’m glad to report Deception has gone undetected. I recommend Decoy be activated.”
There was a brief pause as S’Cinf considered then he responded. “Approved!” The click of the intercom being disconnected was heard.
P’Mar gave a slight smile at the Run Point’s brusque manner. He stared down at the blank monitor for a moment then called out. “Communications, contact the Commander of Deception. Inform him that the initial stage was successful. I am putting Decoy in effect.” He turned to glare at Lieutenant L’Art. “I want that message confirmed!”
The communications officer repeated the Admiral’s message then moved to open contact with Deception. A moment later L’Art was reporting back. “Deception is acknowledging, Admiral,” he said, “and requests authentication.”
“Send ‘Targeting’, Lieutenant,” replied P’Mar and turned to watch the wall screen.
A moment later he saw the drives on the three vessels of Deception flare to life. As the ships began to leave the fleet’s formation the communications officer relayed the acknowledgement of the Admiral’s orders. P’Mar watched the burn of the drives become stars and move off.
When he was sure Deception was out of the area P’Mar took a deep breath and announced, “now that we’ve got that over with it’s time to try out the rest of our new toys. Let’s close on the target sector.”
It took an additional day for the Kthpok fleet to reach a position above the plane of the second asteroid belt. At that point it came to a relative halt.
For this portion of the exercise S’Cinf had joined the Fleet Admiral in the flagships Center Room. P’Mar pointed at the Battle Plot showing the fleet and the asteroids. “As you can see, Run Point, our fleet is now in position for the final portions of the exercise.”
The Kthpok leader twitched his tail in acknowledgment. “From the reports you’ve had forwarded to me the damage inflicted by the humans has been repaired,” he commented.
P’Mar bobbed his head. He chose to respond to the statement rather than comment on his superior’s stating the obvious. “That’s true your Eminence. Hulls have been resealed and armored with the Iidx composites. Weapons have been repaired and upgraded or replaced. Power reactors have been reconditioned and given critical mass. Ship battle caches have been filled, as have the collier ships. We could return to Fairen and wrest our home nest from the talons of the primitives with this fleet.”
“That again?” riposted the Run Point swinging his long neck around to glare at his admiral. His tone was stern and uncompromising. “In order to succeed in destroying the animals we need a secure base from which to operate; a base the humans aren’t aware of. That base has been found here!” S’Cinf jabbed a finger at the deck. “We will take this system from the Iidx.” He jabbed again. “This will be our new home from which our attack on the humans will come. Is that understood?”
Betrayal Page 20