Stone and the Ravens (Guardian Stone Book 3)
Page 13
"These creatures can somehow travel at about twice the speed of light. I am not sure how they accomplish this since they are biological creatures and do not build space ships as we know them, but we know for a fact they are on the way. When I was a young officer, I was part of a mission to install early warning devices forty light years from Gorth. We were reluctant to go much closer since we were not sure what their reaction would be. Last month, before I received my orders for this invasion, the alarms went off. The Gorth are on the move and the first planet they will reach is Alaok. That will happen in about 2.5 years. I tried to send them a warning through some back channels but I do not know if the message was received. They need to be gone when that disaster hits them."
"Sitler is near the end of their range which we believe is about 80 to 100 light years but that could be wrong. Alaok is therefore likely to be an attractive target because they are only 45 light years from Gorth. Cestin would be next as they are 67 light years from Gorth while Phang and Veltor are at 73 light years. We do not know that a swarm will be sent to each system but in the past it has. Our scientists tell us that these are new queens looking to start a new hive and that while the queens are highly intelligent, the workers are have a pretty low order of intelligence. However they can merge in a hive mind making their intellect prodigious. The expansionist traits exhibited by Sitler is an embarrassment particularly in view of the existing threat."
Hank interjected, "like we don't have enough on our plate already. Barana, would you bring Station 157 up, they are guarding Alaok. Let's see that would be Barnaby Hatch and AI Milica. Send them a full transcript of the comments regarding the Gorth."
"Hi Barnaby and Milica. I just sent you a transcript of some disturbing news. It looks like you may be in the middle of a threat zone. Please send out a couple patrols to see what you see at or near the coordinates Barana is sending you now. Do not engage what you find if anything. If there is something there, get an idea of the size, quantity, speed etc. It is expected that they may traveling at about 2xSL and are insectoid. Let me know what you see. Try to not disturb what you do see since we do not know their capabilities at this point."
Five minutes later Barnaby Hatch was back, "Hank, now I understand why this whole planet is in a bloody state of panic. All I can get out of anybody is the Gorth are coming. There is something there all right. Make that millions of somethings. Milica says that the mass we see is really about 5,000 swarms of about 100,000 bees each. Each bee is in a separate pod and these surround a larger pod containing a queen and some others. We estimate that there about half a billion bees in pods that are somewhat translucent. Each pod is about three feet across and about 10 feet long. Each pod contains a single creature about 20 inches across and about five feet long. They look like giant bees. There is single pod in the middle that is about thirty feet across and about 120 feet long. There are five creatures in this one. Four are the same size as those in the other pods but one is about 2 feet across and 7 feet long. Each swarm is distinct from the next. All the pods in a particular swarm appear to be glued or adhered to the pod. It is an impressive sight. They are moving along at about 2xSL. The swarms takes up about 6 cubic miles. Never seen anything like this before. Having seen the swarms, I can understand why the populace is freaking out. Vids are on the way. Let me know what you want to do next."
"What is the population of Alaok."
"About 900,000,000."
"Try to get the attention of the leadership even if you have to bring a leashed Snarf with you to do it. Let them know, that we know what is coming and that if necessary, we can move their entire population elsewhere with plenty of time to spare. Also make sure there is nothing between you and what your scouts reported. I will get back to you. One additional question, finding a 6 cubic mile swarm in interstellar space is the proverbial needle in a haystack. How did you spot them."
"Oddly enough, they produce a distinctive signal on a wavelength not often seen. Our guys saw that on their scanners and decided to see if it was a match and it was. They will be easy to find. Milica is sending the locater parameters to all Stations in the region. The trick is what will we do with them."
While you are at it see what you can find in their archives. Copy all references and send us a copy. Anything and everything will help at this point."
"Fasix, thank you for that information. Looks like we have another issue to deal with here. This is a bit more than expected but we will deal with it. For now, I would recommend that you and your family familiarize yourselves with the station and its amenities. I highly recommend some time in our parks. Maybe try a picnic. My parents have indicated that would like to be your guides. Fact is, I think they have taken a liking to your boys. Take a few days and enjoy your surroundings. In a day or so we will talk again to see how we can help each other."
Chapter 18: Assessing the Damage
On Station 2 in Phang Orbit –
March 29 – C Day 577
General William Clark had hailed the military commander of the Phang defense forces as part of the damage assessment for Phang. Commandant Graz was in a foul mood. "Are you the fleet that intervened in our response to the Sitler Invasion?"
"Yes, that was us. Have you sustained any damage and is there any assistance you would like from us?"
Commandant Graz went on a vent and Clark decided to let him air his irritation with the events that day. After a few minutes of continuous expletives and blessings and assorted curses that were new to even Clark, he started to smile. The Commandant taught him some new words when Clarks Executive officer walked by in back of him. His exec was from Gar and on seeing him, the Commandant stopped with a look of surprise on his face and then continued, "Wait a minute, just who are you. I do not recognize the uniform and you have a Gar officer that just passed you and I see other species as well. Just what ship are you and why can I not see you? Oh and thank you for your assistance today. You made short work of them. How many did your ships kill? I have never seen such firepower from any ships and we could not see yours."
"Commandant," he said with a grin, "thank you for the language lesson. I heard some new blessings from you that I had not heard before. I love to see a master at work. I do however have a Sergeant Major who may be able to teach even you a few new ones. I am General William Clark, Commander of Division 2 of the Antoran Marines. The ship I am on is Station 2, Clytia. I personally am from the Sol system about 6,289 light years from here. The Gar officer you saw walk by is my Executive Officer from the Gar system and that is about 9,690 light years from here. I do have a few on board from the Yannar System about 15,124 light years from here. We have elements of our fleet that were in Yannar two weeks ago. Our presence here was due to the conflict between Malone and Rotagilla. That conflict was resolved by Malone. We then found out that Sitler was the likely cause behind that exercise so we came in force to put a stop to it. Our core purpose is to prevent conflicts in space and to allow the various systems to develop without that conflict or the need for the necessary resources to maintain your own protection. We also view dictatorships as generally objectionable. They tend to gravitate to methods that include slavery as a means to support their power base. To further our purpose, we have a large fleet of ships to enforce the no conflict rule. We do not interfere in planetary issues unless weapons of mass destruction are used or wide spread enslavement is the modus operandi. What we found was that Sitler was ruled by a despot who is a member of a family from Yannar, more than 15,000 light years from here and in fact was the motivating factor in our creation. It's a small galaxy."
"We currently have 25 Divisions. Six of them are here in this region now but two of them have only 4 Stations instead of the usual 5. Each of our Stations is like a huge military base and each has 20,000 warships aboard. All of our ships use advanced cloaking technology and are invisible. Our ships killed no one today and destroyed no ships. Everyone of the crew and all of their ships were captured. Most of the crews
were invading under duress from their leader who had installed brain bombs in the officer corps and held their families hostage in special enclaves on Sitler."
"Why, that is appalling and dishonorable."
"I fully agree. Commandant, did you suffer any losses in this engagement and can we help?"
"Your arrival was so well timed that there was almost no time for the Sitlerans to do any damage. We lost two small vessels but all hands were rescued, so we suffered no casualties. There was no damage to the planet."
"Ah that is good news. Would you like to come aboard and we can continue our discussion."
"I would like that very much. Always wanted to visit an invisible ship. May I bring some of my officers with me."
"We use a teleportation method of travel. Merely gather those you want with you, around you and we will do the rest."
In a minute, the Commandant had gathered his officers and gave Clark the go ahead. The trip was instantaneous. They all arrived at the deck of the lodge nearest his quarters and the reaction of his visitors was the same as usual for first time visitors. As the Commandant regained his composure, he said, "I know you used the word huge, but this defies that description."
Clark chuckled and said, "Well after your little language lesson earlier, I could not resist this surprise. Most first time visitors have a similar reaction. This ship is 200 miles long and 60 miles across. This is one of 4 habitat sectors on the ship. This sector is a cylinder that has a radius of 25 miles, a width of 50 miles and a height of 9 miles. This sector is called an outer habitat sector and has a population capacity of about 92 million people. We have a Station population capacity of around 292 million but are currently at about a third of that. We can hold more if necessary but that kind of crowding could become irksome.”
“You should know that we have deposed the despot at Sitler. She left us with a real mess to address. On top of that we have to deal with the Gorth. The first group of swarms will reach Alaok in 2.5 years. There are about 500 million creatures in that group. Our Commander, Henry 'Hank' Stone is currently at Malone trying to determine how to address this as well as resolve the Sitler incursions. The Alaok swarms cover about 6 cubic miles. We have the means to locate and deal with the swarms. The swarms are clearly directed by intelligence and are sentient so we need to see what are the options. Right now, General Stone is determining how we will address it. As a last resort, this ship has more than 5 billion stasis units aboard and can move entire populations should that become necessary, but I do not see that happening. Another option is to move the swarms voluntarily or involuntarily but that would still leave a periodic problem to contend with. You have a lot more time than does Alaok. The swarm will reach here in 16.5 years. This will be resolved in the coming few months." Following their discussions, Clark gave them a tour of the various areas of the ship and arranged for an additional meeting in a week.
At one point, Clark placed another surprise on the Commandant who had not realized that Station 2 was operated by a self aware AI. "This old brain is not used to so many new concepts in one day. I have to now report to the President about what I have learned."
Clark responded with a number of vids of the events underway as well as a history of the Antoran fleet. He also prepared an index to the full contents of the libraries provided. He noted that there were days of material to digest there and that Station 142 would be overhead. “When we change Stations you will be advised how to reach us and provided with contact names. The table of contents will give you the means to prioritize the material and data on the vids. If you or the President want clarification or guidance on any of that, just contact that vessel in orbit for additional information or assistance. We will be back in contact.”
# On Station 2 in Cestin Orbit – Same Day #
Bill Clark then proceeded on to Cestin and again hailed the commander of military forces on the planet, General Stee Cress. Apparently, Commandant Graz had sent a message to him outlining what he had learned. Clark then offered the same opportunity to Graz and his President Frad Ritiz. Graz brought another senior officer and the President brought his aide. Apparently Graz' sense of humor was still at work because he had not told them of the Stations dimensions which were clearly a distraction. "Mr. President, General, did you sustain any losses in the invasion and how may we help."
President Ritiz indicated that one of the Sitleran ships had crashed just outside of one of their larger cities and while there was some property damage there was no loss of civilian life. General Cress noted that they had destroyed two Sitler cruisers and that they had lost a cruiser and two destroyer class vessels. All hands on the cruiser and one destroyer were rescued. The other destroyer had lost 9 crew members to the attack but the remaining crew had been rescued. General Cress noted that they were able to deal with their losses that were light thanks to the Antoran fleet's timely intervention. They did want to know how and why that came about. Clark provided the same explanation as he had done for Commandant Graz. In addition, he provided the same tour and supporting materials. He said that reparations from Sitler would be sought on their behalf but that this would not result in replacement warships. It was more likely that reparations would be made in commercial hulls. He noted that this was likely to occur following resolution to the Gorth swarm. They were clearly concerned about that upcoming event and Clark assured them that it would be resolved before the Gorth could reach them in 13.5 years, in fact he expected general resolution before the swarm could reach Alaok.
# On Station 2 in Veltor Orbit – Same Day #
Bill Clark essentially repeated his Phang and Cestin approach with Veltor. This time the population was human. Again, the commanding General and government repre-sentatives were invited aboard with the usual reaction. There had been no loss of life or property in this system even though they received the initial push from the Sitlerans. The Veltorans wanted to claim the Sitler warships since they were in their system. Clark told them in no uncertain terms that was not going to happen and in fact they would be asked to remove their warships from space or have them taken from them. He explained the Antoran decree that weapons of war would not be permitted in space along with the advantages garnered by the planet when that agreement was reached. The Veltorans grumbled but seemed to acquiesce. Clark told them this would be enforced following resolution of the Gorth matter. He told them that the area 3,000 miles above the Sitleran grounded fleet was restricted and that Veltoran ships were not to fly there.
Clark was using this tactic to overwhelm the persons he was dealing with. The result was that by the end of the day he was able to make a full report concerning the three Sitler targets.
He felt that the Veltorans might need a little extra attention so he remained in the Veltor system after leading them to believe that only Station 102 was in orbit. He took up position above the grounded fleet. He suggested that the Sitler ships be returned to the Sitler system but be retained by the Antoran Fleet. He provided a plan to Hank about how this could be accomplished in a matter of hours. The fleet would be grounded on the fourth planet rather than Sitlers moon. After reviewing the plan, Hank approved it.
By late that evening all of the captured ships had been moved with the assistance of Stations 130, 150 and 170 and others. He then released those Stations back to Division 10 since they were no longer needed.
Chapter 19: Rema's Fancy Toy
Station 1 in Malone Orbit – March 30 – C Day 578
Station 10 in Malone Orbit – March 30 – C Day 578
Hank gathered his T-Raptor team together for a look at Rema's space yacht. He noted that the first step in the process would be to uncover any traps that Rema may have deployed when parking the ship at its present location. "I believe that she would have been reluctant to do any damage to her ship but anything else would likely be fair game. We need to find those and deactivate all that are found. I received a message this morning from the kids with some surprising intelligence concerning Rema and her ship. They pulled it
together because they felt I might need it and a little itchy feeling said I would need it fast. She had designed some traps while on Yannar that made most wary of trying to delve into anything that Rema wanted held secure. The kids have provided an impressive list of her tricks, or at least the ones that she used in the past. He noted that, "This will be a lot like going after a prize hidden in a maze. Rema used a variety of methods to build her traps and arm them including motion detection, wavelength distortion, visual anomalies, and a few that I frankly would not have thought about. All can allow quick passage to someone with the right codes and rest assured she will not volunteer them."
"Carlos tells me that Sequoia is already running scans and has been able to lock down many of the traps but not all of them. We are going into her ship but we are going to do this invisible. We need to see if we can find a way to extricate that ship from its hangar without destroying the ship or the base. We need to upload everything we can from that ship, but we will have to be pretty careful. Deactivate any traps you can that do not trigger another. Confer with Sequoia or Barana before each action. They may see traps within traps and help guide us through them. Frankly, we should expect to find traps within traps. The Brondins are notorious for it. Ok lets go see if we can free this prize."