Aeolus Investigations Set 2: Too Cool To Lose: The Continuing Evolution of Lexi Stevens

by Robert E Colfax

  Ron focused the sensor array towards the area Geena was questioning and said, “Good eye, Mom. That’s our runner.”

  “I don’t detect any defenses of any kind anywhere near it,” Urania stated. “This isn’t a trap. I assume you’ve all noticed the unusual degree of turbulence in hyperspace around this system. I think they may simply be trying to confuse their pion trail.”

  “OK,” Lexi said. “Not quite as vigilant as I would have guessed. If all they’re doing is trying to shake possible pursuit, they’ll light out of here on a different heading in the next few minutes.”

  She was wrong about the time the ship would remain in normal space. Ron eventually said, “They probably want to eat a meal while they have gravity. I’ll go make us breakfast.” The courier jumped into hyperspace two hours after it arrived in this system.

  ***

  Three weeks later, Urania dropped out of hyper following the same precautions. This time they barely survived. Sensors indicated both the third and fourth planets in the system were highly industrialized. Hundreds of warships patrolled the system. Twenty, each several times the size of a Raider, were waiting for visitors at the point where the courier Urania was following exited hyper.

  Fortunately, among the various contingencies they planned for, encountering overwhelming force, like this, was included. Urania instantly reactivated the hyper-drive and, still cloaked, micro-jumped and dropped out almost on top of the courier. Her primary Zappers flashed, practically in contact with the target, instantly crippling the small ship before it had time to answer the patrol’s challenges. At the same instant, she sent two missiles flying into the wreckage, immediately bringing every version of shield she had online.

  The wall shield and e-shield were probably redundant with the new dampener technology, but they couldn’t afford to take the risk. When they had the chance, maybe using one of the deprecated Ostrieachian ships, they planned to test the new shield technology to destruction.

  The concussion from the detonating missiles sent Urania tumbling, badly damaged despite her extra shields, away from the expanding cloud of dust that less than a second ago had been a small starship. The dampeners weren’t affected at all. Two missiles exploding under her may have been more than they could cope with.

  As twenty warships targeted and fired their primaries into the heart of the explosion, Urania was already gone, bringing her hyper-bubble back into existence while hidden from Unity sensors in the aftermath of the massive explosion. Unity responded, of course. The team would have been surprised if they hadn’t.

  Half of the heavy warships surged into hyperspace after them, although they seemed to be executing a search pattern rather than a pursuit. Aeolus wasn’t here to slug it out with what was practically a planetary defense fleet. With only the dampener shield with its built-in cloak active, Urania lit out of there at her maximum speed.

  The crew would start crawling around under the floor and up in the ceiling, replacing damaged nodes as soon as no Unity ships were close enough to pose a threat. Urania was barely faster than the pirates’ hyper-missiles. The behavior of the Unity warships strongly suggested that by expending two missiles where a single one would have done the job it appeared to them Urania self-destructed.

  Yes, if Unity’s sensors were good enough they might be able to track her by the pion trail in her wake. The plan was to head back to the system where they experienced the unusually high turbulence and just as the courier did, take advantage of the fluxing currents in that area to disguise their trail. They wouldn’t be heading directly there nor would they head directly to Ostrieachia from that system. At any rate, as far as they could tell, no one was in pursuit.

  Unity would know someone found them but not who or where they came from. Assuming they captured an image of Urania, which despite the speed at which Urania reacted was a possibility, they may very well assume the ship was a random Vankovian scout. Then again, the dampener shields may have hidden them. It would have to be good enough.

  Chapter 35

  A Quick Update

  Kalia intercepted the team as soon as they landed at the port. She arrived at Urania’s hatch, stepping out of a very official-looking limousine accompanied by a large police escort. After a brief exchange of greetings, she said, “Your presence is requested at today’s session of the One World Council. It’s an emergency session.” She shrugged her ears. “Of course, they’ve all been emergency sessions since you dropped off the flight deck. The Council didn’t use to meet daily. If you can come now, I can brief you on the drive there.” She looked at the three of them, all dressed in jeans and t-shirts. “On second thought, would you mind taking a few minutes to put on more formal attire?”

  Once she had her charges seated and the limo left the port, she said, “I hope your excursion was successful. We’ve been busy since you left. I want to update you on our situation, or at least some of it. You’ll get the full briefing when we get to the Council chamber.” She paused. “You probably saw the nine out-system warships in orbit on your way in.”

  “Of course,” Ron said. “Six Ackalonian and three from Borgol. Hard to miss. That’s a lot more tonnage than we requested. They challenged us on the way in.”

  Geena added, “Frankly, I don’t understand why there are any Borgol ships up there at all.”

  “So I’ve been told,” Kalia said, responding to Ron’s comment while flexing her ears. “We’ve also been told that the Plicora was prepared to send her entire Fleet here if you asked her for it. It’s unheard of. I’m sure you know that.” Kalia paused. “Lexi, I was with all of you from the start, in the Plicora’s office. I still have to wonder who you guys are that you command such loyalty from the leader of an Accord world.”

  Lexi frowned. She too was pondering the nine battleships, compounded by the comment Kalia just made. Who are we? “I believe the Plicora answered that when we met in her office, Kalia,” Lexi said. “My friends and I are problem solvers. I cannot give you a better answer than that. I don’t care to speculate on why Jis makes the decisions she does. I don’t think she always knows herself.”

  Smiling somewhat mysteriously, Kalia said, “I’m not sure whether I should find that frightening or not. At any rate, the Ackalon admiral appears as confused by this as we are. At any rate, according to Admiral De Borkin, Jis would like us to construct a building suitable for a semi-aquatic human species with some rather bizarre environmental conditions. It seems someone discovered an unknown species of human whom the Plicora would like us to be prepared to accommodate. We’ll do it, of course. The cost of the entire project will be less than one of those warships.”

  Her expression deadpan, she added, “Oddly, we’re also to be charged for the fleet. The admiral informed me that Jis requires one Ostrieachian credit for their services. It seems she desires to hang it on her office wall.” She twitched her ears. “Fun fact, but not important.”

  “On a more serious note, the Ackalonians’s brought nine psychology specialists to us. Those people have formed groups of three and are interviewing the former pirates we bring in from Rathca as quickly as possible. I can’t imagine that’s a fun job. Most of the pirates aren’t really pirates and we let them go after they’re interviewed. We’re building a small town for them not too far from here. They have nowhere else. Some of them are interested in settling there. Of course, they’re not aware of the national rivalries that plague us. Others have volunteered to return to the base and work for us. We expect most of them may eventually make that choice once we’ve made it a pleasanter place to live. We’re drawing up plans to have the cavern under where the flight deck used to be converted into multi-level parks and food-producing gardens. We might need Urania to enlarge it some if you are amenable.”

  She paused. “Any the Ackalon team took issue with we were executing without further questioning until the Ackalonian admiral found out and asked us to stop. We’re still collecting our own people across Ostrieachia; those who like Denem were working with
the enemy. Damn, there were a lot of them, too. Oh, yes, we took out the base that courier you followed came from. Not much to tell about that. There may be other hidden bases. It would be surprising if there aren’t. We’ll find them. In addition to having the Ackalonians conducting the interviews, we’re going through a lot of truth serum.”

  She paused, looking briefly out the limo’s window. “Let’s see. What else?” She thought for a moment. “Oh, yes. Both Ackalon and Borgol sent diplomatic missions along with their warships and will be reopening their embassies. All of the embassies pulled out around fifty years back. I can’t say I blame them. At the time global war seemed imminent. Because of the changes being put into place now, war seems to be less of a foregone conclusion. Although I imagine their diplomats are going to be drawing hazard pay for a few years yet.”

  “Domestically, we granted Danders citizenship and offered him a position of Rear Admiral in our growing fleet which, fortunately, he accepted. I think you probably already knew that. He’s meeting with the other Unity fly-boys once they pass the Ackalon screening. We’ve already recruited a fair number of trained Unity personnel.” She shrugged her ears. “Ackalon didn’t send the instructors you requested. We learned that it is difficult for most of their people to function away from their kind. You possibly already knew that but it came as a surprise to us.”

  “Yes, we knew,” Lexi confirmed.

  Again the pause and another twitch of her ears. “Plicora Boc Seckan did, however, reach out to Borgol. There’s more to that, but we’ll cover it in the general meeting. We anticipate within three years, our technology will be up to the level of the rest of the Accord. We can’t thank you enough for that and all the rest you’ve done. We are also the only Accord member world in possession of ships with the pirates’ advanced shield technology. Think about what you want us to do about that.”

  Chapter 36

  Chief Minister

  The meeting chamber of the One World Council was a relatively large room. For security reasons, it was underground. There never had been actual windows, but smart-glass adorned all of the walls looking out in real-time on the surrounding city. Potted plants were everywhere. Everyone stood as the Aeolus team, accompanied by Kalia, entered the chamber.

  They sat Lexi at the head of the table among the sixty-four national delegates, in most cases, two representing each of Ostrieachia’s nations. Ron and Geena sat on either side of Lexi. Also at the table were ranking members of the Ackalonian mission which arrived in-system three weeks earlier. Admiral Henny De Borkin commanded the fleet of six Ackalonian warships, now positioned in orbit above Ostrieachia. Em Es Whashmim, leader of the Ackalonian interrogation team, although they called themselves psychologists, sat next to the Admiral. Rear Admiral (Engineering) Lagar Boll and Fleet Captain Dacar Muelm of the Borgolian Navy were present. In addition to Fleet Admiral Orgiazz, both Kalia and Rear Admiral Danders were seated at the conference table. In addition to the delegates, there was a sprinkling of people Lexi hadn’t been introduced to the last time she was here.

  Equally surprising, as the Council was an organization of civilian leaders, Orgiazz seemed to be in charge. At least he was the one who called the assembly to order from the far end of the table. “Let me welcome the Aeolus team back to Ostrieachia before we get down to business.” He paused as most of the room applauded. “I think it might be appropriate if we all stood and introduced ourselves before we start. I’m Orgiazz, Fleet Admiral of the Ostrieachian Home Fleet.”

  Once the room’s focus got back to him, Orgiazz said, “Based on the data you harvested from the Unity base, we’re in the process of rounding up those traitors who would have sold our world into slavery. A number of them were quite surprising, including several who sat at this very council table. Everyone sitting here today has been evaluated by our Ackalonian team. Not everyone’s motive is entirely selfless, but none of these people will betray us.”

  His gaze swept the room. He didn’t know who here the Ackalonians had minor issues with. They refused to say. “Also, as you suggested, this Council is retaining control of the captured warships. With the support and guidance of our off-world guests, we are putting together our first planetary fleet that is not under the control of any country. There is enough distrust between many of our national assemblies that they’re more in favor of the Council having control than they are of distributing any of the ships to their neighbors. No one wants to cause any trouble while we’re coming up to speed. That might well have something to do with the Accord warships in orbit. Of course, we are recruiting men and women from existing navies if they pass the Ackalonian psych review. Many of our recruits, like Danders, are ex-Unity military.”

  He smiled at Danders as he said that. “The Ackalonian fleet arrived less than three weeks after your message drone was dispatched. In other words, before the drone was received by Ackalon. Admiral De Borkin?”

  Like every Ackalonian female Lexi had ever seen, De Borkin was a slim, platinum blonde of medium height. From her seat, she said, “We left Ackalon at full burn. Our new Plicora managed to convince our Borgolian friends to send as many ships as they could spare to Ackalon. I was told that in her meetings with all of the off-world representatives at her coronation she suggested they make plans for increasing the strength of their fleets and begin implementing those plans if they could. Some will follow her recommendation, some will not.” She shrugged. “Such is the Accord.

  “The Borgolian ships with us are currently under my command. My six ships, plus the three from Borgol, are under yours, Lexi Stevens, as am I, for as long as you want us. Those orders come directly from my Plicora.”

  All eyes in the room turned from the Admiral to look at Lexi. What is Jis up to? She didn’t leave me any way out of this. I don’t have the background to command a freakin’ fleet. “Were you given any guidelines of what your mission would be?”

  De Borkin nodded. “It was implied that my mission is to protect and stabilize this system. We understood Ostrieachia’s technology is generally inferior to ours. We further understood they were facing an overwhelming menace from pirates.” With a nod to Orgiazz, she continued, “Fleet Admiral Orgiazz and Citizen Kalia brought us up to speed on how the situation here was radically altered prior to our arrival. Their understanding of what you wanted to happen here seemed reasonable. We have taken that approach. As an aside, if you’re willing and when there is time, all of my officers are dying to know how you managed to loft a flight deck through hyperspace. I’m curious about that, too.”

  Rear Admiral Boll stated, “I’m an engineer. What you did shouldn’t be possible. When Admiral De Borkin says she’s curious, she understates my feelings on the matter.”

  De Borkin smiled as Lagar made that last statement. “In your absence, Rear Admiral Boll has been working with Rear Admiral Y’Throhe and the other people from the Unity base who have joined the Ostrieachian cadre on training Ostrieachians on the captured hardware. My people have been utilizing the captured transports to extract people from the pirate base and bring them back here. Our interrogation team has been separating them into four categories. Many of them are innocent. Some just plain don’t deserve to live. There aren’t many in that category, but there are some. The other categories are more applicable to the Ostrieachians working for the pirates. Some did so for personal gain, others because they had no choice. So far we’ve only categorized them as I stated. Once we realized the Ostrieachians were executing those in the ‘don’t deserve to live’ category, I asked them to stop. Some might have valuable intelligence if and when time permits a more thorough interrogation. Otherwise, we’re waiting on your decision as to what to do with them.”

  Lexi looked across the table at her and then cast her gaze slowly around the table at the other council members, all of whom were looking intently at her, expectantly waiting for her answer. I’m missing something. “Why my decision, Admiral? You could have told me any and all of this over dinner if you wanted to. I’m missing so
mething here. It sounds like you’ve been giving me an official status report. Why am I sitting at the head of this table?”

  Kalia stood. “I’ll answer that. You warned me that you’d be really pissed if we wiped ourselves out in a nuclear war. Right now the last thing any of us want is to piss you off. You command a fleet of nine warships, plus your own Urania, which alone could wipe out every vessel in this system.” She glanced away from the Ackalonian admiral who now had an intensely interested expression on her face back to Lexi, and said, “My apologies. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”

  She took a deep breath and continued, “Our planet is still knee-deep in a pile of excrement. We have thirty-six nations, officially, as of this morning. Did you know we’re very good at propaganda? There are really only two things all thirty-six nations and the various political parties and special interest groups they consist of agree on. The first is that we were about to go under, to be conquered and enslaved by the Unity pirates. Our captives have been talking. It is true, many of them are scared but Ackalonians redirect them when they veer from the truth. The picture they present of life under Unity rule is not pleasant.”