Betrayal

by E. Wayne Stucki

  “If they succeed in defeating the Swarm they‘d have to face our orbital defenses which are formidable.” Sesum gave a snort indicating he was skeptical of that happening. “It’d require a miracle for them to get past the Swarm and orbitals. But if they did our people outnumber the Kthpok by a factor of millions. Our people will never submit!”

  The Swarm Master gave a slight smile. “Our forces do have an impressive look,” he said. “But reality is probably different.”

  Zelof gave a sudden thump on his desk with a fist in frustration. “I don’t know why but I have a sense we’re missing something!”

  Ignoring Sesum’s startled look he reached forward to work the console built into his desk. A diagram of the solar system appeared on the room’s viewer with the route of the Kthpok swarm to the outer asteroids superimposed. There was a blinking dot a short distance from the belt. He pointed at the screen. “There! Before the Kthpok assault on the outer belt their entire fleet paused right there,” Zelof said and turned to look at his Second. “Why? It’s still tens of thousands of miles from where they began the exercise.”

  Sesum shrugged. “We didn’t have any surveillance equipment in place for that location, sir. All our assets were placed to watch their exercise so the only way we know about their halting was our long-range scans.” He consulted his pad again. “From what we could see the Kthpok paused for a couple of hours then continued on to the belt.”

  The Second gave a slight wave from his antennae then looked up to offer a suggestion. “Perhaps they had to make sure their computers were synchronized or equipment calibrated.” He held out his true-hands to show his ignorance. “Other than that there’s no reason or explanation I can think of for the delay.”

  “Did any vessels leave their swarm at that time?” wondered Zelof.

  “Not as far as our scans could tell, Swarm Master,” replied Sesum. “We know the number of vessels that left Main Hive for the exercise. According to scanning that exact number is on its way back.”

  “Scans can be confused,” reminded Zelof. “We’ve got people who could do it.”

  The Second nodded. “Our electronics people could do it,” he confirmed. “But that’s not why I’m so confident. We know what the count was when they left because it was confirmed visually. Although it’s not a visual confirmation our assets at the outer belt have verified the count.”

  The Iidx leader thought for a moment then nodded as he came to a decision. “Since all the Kthpok ships are returning we’ll have to add that pause to the list of strange things our ‘guests’ do,” he said with a sigh. “But it’d be helpful to know why they did it. If it was a problem with their computers or equipment that may be a weakness we can exploit.” His voice dropped almost to a whisper. “There may come a time that we’ll need it.”

  Zelof looked down and began tapping a finger in the top of his desk. “What we need is an idea of their intentions,” he murmured. “I need to know if the Kthpok are telling the truth about what they intend!”

  The Swarm Master stopped tapping and turned his gaze on Sesum. “When is the Kthpok Swarm due back from their exercise?” he asked.

  Once again Sesum consulted his pad. “Their announced arrival date is four days from now. Our long range scans confirm their acceleration and course matches that announced ETA.”

  Zelof bobbed his head. “That’s good,” he commented. “Now, on a somewhat related matter. Have we received any word from Kazikami?”

  The Seconds antennae spread apart and started to tremble in excitement. “I received word from the Captain of the transport vessel earlier today. He reports that Kazi and his Iidx have been picked up on schedule. Medical should have their wounds attended to by the time the ship reaches harbor.”

  The Swarm Master’s antennae stopped waving and stiffened, stretching out over his back. “Wounds?” he asked. “How…were they seen?”

  Sesum shook his head. “All the information I have says they escaped detection but beyond that I don’t know. As instructed all communications to and from the ship’ve been kept to usual traffic only.” He gave a slight smile. “That includes not sending or receiving messages from the military.”

  “Good,” said the Iidx leader bobbing his head in approval. “I’m somewhat glad they’re following procedure even in this matter. By doing so that’ll keep suspicions from rising.” He gave an amused short. “It’s good procedure though it doesn’t help my impatience. When is the ship scheduled to reach port?”

  The Second made a few entries on his device to access the needed information before replying. He gave a little smirk as he read what was displayed. “By a strange coincidence the ship arrives at Darak about the same time as the Kthpok. I’ve arranged for Kazikami and his team to be met at the dock. They’ll be flown straight here.”

  During the next four days the Swarm Master kept busy. Even though he was in exile at Wartten he had all the paperwork and decisions that went along with maintaining the Greater Swarm of the Consolidated Hives. There were requisitions to be approved for parts, foodstuffs, and supplies. Funding had to be arranged for those requisitions. In addition there was the ongoing operations and maintenance of ships, facilities and equipment.

  One of the decisions the Swarm Master had made after seeing the results of the Kthpok exercise was to spend more in research to develop similar automation. Zelof concluded that the Kthpok had made their improvements with the tech the Queens had given them. Since that was true the Swarm Master concluded it shouldn’t take Iidx scientists long to adapt their own technology. The work would be made easier knowing the Kthpok had already done it. Of course, his intention to upgrade the Swarm had to be carefully put into effect, not mentioning the Kthpok, or the Presiding Assembly and the Council of Queens would stop him.

  Despite all the work facing the Swarm Master he made a point of knowing where the Kthpok Swarm was as it returned to Main Hive. Zelof also kept track of Kazikami and his Infiltrators. When the date came for their arrival at Wartten he went to the landing strip in order to get some answers and ease his concerns.

  As soon as the three infiltrators left their aircraft they were escorted over to the Swarm Masters vehicle. Zelof noted the off color patches on the shell of each Iidx as they climbed inside the passenger compartment. Kazikami took a saddle directly opposite Zelof. Liden sat next to his commander and Rident settled down next to the Swarm Master.

  The doors shut cutting off the dry heat of the desert and moist air began to fill the compartment. A moment later the vehicle started moving. “I’ll want a quick summary of what happened,” Zelof said without preamble. “I’ll read your full report later.”

  Kazi reached into a harness pouch to pull out several memory cubes. These were handed across the compartment to the Swarm Master. Liden and Rident watched the transfer but kept their silence. They were content to let their commander make the report.

  “We were able to download most of the Kthpok data, Swarm Master,” Kazikami said. “But we had to stop and leave while it was still dark enough for us to reach the sewers.”

  Kazi gave an amused wave of his antennae at the computer tech sitting next to him. “Liden wasn’t very happy when he heard we were leaving the way we’d gone in.” He gave a disgusted look. “Those storm drains or whatever they were reeked.” Liden snorted his agreement with the Commander.

  “We made our way through the pipes and back into the jungle,” Kazikami continued. “All of this was accomplished without our being discovered.”

  The Swarm Master gestured at the patches that were very evident on the three infiltrators exoskeleton. “If you’d extracted from the Kthpok base without detection how were you and the other members of your team injured?” he asked.

  Commander Kazikami dipped his antennae in embarrassment. “After we left the drains,” he said with a slight shrug, “we waited in the trees nearby for a couple of hours to see if there was any pursuit. There wasn’t so we headed back through the jungle to where our Skipper was beac
hed.”

  “And?” prompted Zelof.

  “There were occasional Kthpok patrols that we had to evade,” said Kazi. “That slowed our progress.” Rident nodded his agreement.

  “And?” repeated the Swarm Master again and gave the Iidx a stern look. “Commander, I don’t want a report on the scenic vistas you visited or the souvenirs you bought. I want to know how you and your people were injured.”

  The Commander’s head dipped lower. Liden glanced over at Rident. “Sorry, Swarm Master,” Kazikami apologized. “It’s a little embarrassing. In short, we went to hide in a dense clump of bushes and disturbed a herd of Batrog’s.”

  The Swarm Master’s vehicle paused at a sentry gate then moved into the tunnel leading to Refuge. None of the Iidx in the compartment noted the change of scenery outside the windows.

  “Batrog’s?” Zelof had to work to keep laughter out of his voice.

  “We were a few miles from our ride when we heard a patrol of Kthpok in the area,” said Kazi holding out his true-hands in resignation. The other two infiltrators nodded. “With the Tails coming in our direction we had to hide. There wasn’t a lot of time to find refuge. Looking around we saw a nearby clump of bushes that provided enough cover for all of us. So we dove in and found ourselves in the middle of a herd of sleeping Batrogs.”

  Zelof winced at the image of the creatures swarming around, drilling through shells, and all the Iidx could do was to endure the pain.

  “It took a few minutes before the Kthpok got curious about the commotion. I’m surprised it took that long because the Batrog’s were chittering and thrashing about.” Kazi began to smile as he remembered the event. Rident gave a little chuckle as the Commander continued his report. “Two Tails came over and began poking around the bushes which pulled the Batrog’s attention away from us. They erupted in the Kthpok’s face.”

  “There’s one thing we didn’t realize about the Kthpok, Swarm Master.” Rident spoke up for the first time

  “What’s that?” wondered Zelof and turned his attention to the Iidx.

  “Those beasties are fast,” replied Rident. “Their necks and tails stretch out and they run. They were almost fast enough to leave the herd behind.”

  “Almost?”

  “Almost,” repeated Kazi. “They didn’t know Batrog’s could fly.” Now air began to whistle through his abdomen breathing tubes in laughter. “We could hear their squeals echoing through the jungle for fifteen minutes.”

  Everyone was laughing so hard they ignored the lights of the tunnel flashing past the windows of the vehicle. After for a moment Zelof stopped to ask, “What about the data?”

  Kazi nodded at the memory cubes Zelof still held. “This’s all we were able to get,” he replied.

  “Did you get a chance to see anything?”

  “Anything of what the Kthpok are planning?” clarified Kazi then shook his head. “Liden tried but found it’s encoded so all we saw was gibberish. Our computer Iidx’ll have to see what they can do to decode it.”

  Zelof nodded and put the cubes in a harness pouch. “I thought so. The best computer analysts we’ve got are waiting. Their task begins as soon as we can get these cubes to them.” He glanced out the vehicles window at the tunnel flashing past. “Which shouldn’t be much longer,” he said.

  S’Cinf sat on his perch in the Fleet Room of his flagship during the orbital maneuver. His head moved back and forth trying to take in all the information provided by several pieces of equipment. On his left a monitor showed the image of Main Hive as soon from their current location. That planet was to be their future home. Another monitor placed below the first showed statistics of the fleet status. To the right was the Battle Plot which reflected the Kthpok armada as it moved into orbit around Main Hive. Icons showed the fleet spreading out from the compact convoy formation that had been used for the trip back from the asteroids. Rigorous drills coupled with increased and improved automation gave the maneuver an impressive precision.

  The fleet had almost completed the maneuver to insert orbit around Main Hive when a flashing light caught the Run Point’s attention. He extended a talon and touched a button on his console. “”Run Point,” he announced.

  “Your Eminence,” came the reply in proper respectful tones, “this is Communications. We’ve received a Flash call from Ground Center. It’s for you, sir. Personally.”

  “Channel?” the Kthpok leader asked.

  “I’m routing the transmission through a secure channel, sir,” replied the officer. “All you have to do is access communications.”

  Without another word the Run Point ended the conversation. He picked up his headset and positioned it for full privacy. Then he toggled a switch and spoke into a microphone. His voice was pitched low enough that no one else in the room could hear.

  Fleet Admiral P’Mar noticed his Commander receiving a call and watched out of the corner of his eyes. After a moment of conversation he saw S’Cinf’s tail go rigid. Whether it was with surprise, shock or anger P’Mar couldn’t tell. The Admiral quickly made sure he was busy to avoid the appearance of listening in on the conversation. It wasn’t wise to draw the attention and anger of the Run Point.

  P’Mar had just finished checking on the orbital maneuver when he was alerted by an aide that the Run Point wanted him. There was no hesitation. The Fleet Admiral contacted his Chief of Staff to take over command of the maneuver. Then he put his console on standby, removed his head set and hurried over to where S’Cinf was perched. “Yes, Run Point,” the Admiral said as he came to attention and saluted. “How can I serve?”

  Without saying a word S’Cinf rose from his perch and walked towards a Conference Room. He gestured for the Admiral to accompany him. Puzzled, P’Mar followed.

  As soon as the door slid shut and the two leaders were alone in the room S’Cinf turned to face the Admiral. “That call was from our facilities on Main Hive,” he announced. “It’s possible our defenses there have been breached during our absence.”

  “A possible breach?” questioned P’Mar. “How bad?”

  S’Cinf gave a twitch of his tail. “It’s bad,” he replied. “We have to begin our attack on Main Hive as soon as possible! If we don’t, we risk losing the element of surprise.”

  “Perhaps, if you provided me with more information I could see how our plans can be set,” said P’Mar. “What kind of security breach has occurred?”

  The Run Point took a deep breath, let it out then spoke. “Someone, I assume an Iidx, made his way into my office on Main Hive. He…or it was able to obtain access to the system for several hours. I can only assume data was copied.”

  “Perhaps it was one of our computer techs and not an Iidx?” suggested P’Mar.

  S’Cinf turned a glare on his naval commander. “Which of out techs would be stupid enough to sneak into my office and access the system on my computer, Admiral?” he growled. “What do you think he’d be doing? Playing games?” P’Mar had the grace to look embarrassed.

  “There’s another reason it couldn’t have been one of our people,” S’Cinf continued and pointed at the deck. “All the people capable of doing this are here, with the fleet. If you’ll recall our mission briefings they were needed to help with the increased automation.”

  P’Mar’s head drooped as he was reminded. “You’re right, of course, your Eminence,” he said. “How much did the Iidx get?”

  S’Cinf gave a shrug of his tail. “Since our techs are up here we have no idea what the intruders accessed,” he said. “But from the time involved and using our data transfer speeds as a benchmark it’s calculated that more than two-thirds of our data-base could’ve been copied. What was copied could include our discussions about obtaining control over Main Hive. That’s bad. But if they also got information about our Ghost ships, that’s worse. So how soon can we attack?”

  The Fleet Admiral nodded his understanding and began to list. “The missiles caches of our ships are empty,” he said. “They have to be re-supplie
d. We have to replenish all our other needs as well. Plans need to be finalized and targets have to be assigned.”

  “How long?” S’Cinf repeated.

  P’Mar paused for a moment to think before answering. “When we left for the exercise we knew we’d have to re-supply. The factories have been operating at full capacity since we left and should have most of the replacement missiles ready. We can have our caches filled in fifteen to twenty days. We should be able to fill our other needs in that time as well.”

  “Let’s say twenty days, then,” mused the Run Point. “The Iidx still have to decipher and sort through all that data.” He reached over and activated a monitor to show the blue-green image of Main Hive. “That’s our objective,” S’Cinf said, nodding at the planet. “We have no idea how long it’ll take the Iidx specialists to break our encryption. Although, I’m sure they’ll put their best people on the project.”

  He gave a shrug. “The copied data may include our plans for Decoy. Or it may not. Still, we have to assume they’ll find out we intend to take this system for our own. As soon as we get our ships re-supplied we have to act.”

  The Admiral nodded. “I’ll see to the re-supply immediately, Run Point. We ought to examine our ships and power plants to make sure everything is ready. The orders and assignments will be sent by courier. That’ll prevent the Iidx from intercepting our orders but all this will take time.” He took out a pad and began entering notes, murmuring as he did. “The Iidx cannot suspect our intentions or they’ll finish what the humans started. All our ‘hosts’ can be allowed to see is the Kthpok going about their usual duties.”

  S’Cinf thought for a moment then interrupted the Admiral’s thoughts. “The packs for the ships have to remain aboard to replace the expended missiles as well as the other supplies. The Iidx won’t be suspicious if they remain. My staff and I are a different matter though. There’s no reason for us to remain aboard.” He gave a decisive nod of his head. “We’ll transfer to the surface and be very visible until the attack begins. Then we’ll go to the Center Room prepared for this instance.”