Dr. Palmer curled his lip, but held his tongue for once.
Captain Kretzmann nodded. “So I believe. Admiral Heron shared the experience with me and had quite a lot to say about what they managed to record.” He hesitated. “While you were monitoring our drones aboard Surveyor Two, something tried to make contact with you. Could it have been the Siddhiche?”
Harry shook his head. “I don’t think so, sir. It didn’t feel the same.” He paused, frowning. “This felt different, as if it wanted to destroy my ability to think.”
The Captain nodded. “Right, so that brings us to the next piece of the puzzle. The AI on Surveyor Two was degraded to the point where it was no more than a machine able to act on commands. The systems remained functional even though the nodes had evidently been modified in some way to reduce function. Does anyone know why?”
“Perhaps so the systems could be taken over and adapted to a new function.” The comment came from a member of the engineering team. “It is possible that in order to make the vehicle compatible with their system, it was necessary to change or limit the AI function.”
“Good point. Thank you.” Turning to Martin Borner, the Captain asked, “Have your team any thoughts on the mechanism at work in converting all the metal of the hull, and as far as we know, the equipment, into some sort of organic substance?”
There was silence for several seconds. “Our studies suggest it might be similar to certain bacterial and viral agents on Earth. They absorb material in order to produce complex protective shells that enable them to survive in extreme conditions. We use a similar process now to manufacture the materials needed to build our spacecraft.”
“Thank you. So we are potentially dealing with something that uses an invasive agent to subsume material structures, and adapt those structures to its needs. It then takes control of a vessel so that it can absorb sections of the vessel or its equipment to expand its own.” He glanced at his tablet. “We also have the problem of propulsion. These ships are huge. They don’t enter and exit transit in the manner we do, and it would require enormous amounts of power to move them, but they are able to close on a target incredibly quickly.” He nodded to Joan again. “Let’s see those readings alongside the clips of the thing appearing and vanishing, please.”
They watched in silence. Finally, Sebastian said what everyone was thinking. “It should not be possible. A ship of that size cannot simply vanish. Nor should it be able to traverse these distances that rapidly.”
“Exactly, Dr. Knop, yet it apparently defies the laws of transit and propulsion as we know them. Any suggestions?”
The astrophysicist leaned back in his chair. “Not at present. I would like to study these readings and the images in detail. Perhaps something will become more evident, and we may be able to venture a hypothesis.”
“Thank you, I’d appreciate your doing so. Now, we come to the next piece of information. Mr. Heron’s drones registered an increase in the onboard oxygen levels. They were much higher than what is required for human life. In fact, they were in such a high region that it would affect us rather detrimentally if we were exposed for more than a few hours.” He looked down the table to Dr. Palmer. “Could this have caused the LPSL stowaway to have ensnared himself in some way?”
“Possible, but he wasn’t exposed for very long.”
“Yeah, I suppose three days isn’t so long. I mean, anyone can handle that, right?” The sarcasm in Wolf Kretzmann’s voice was apparent as he looked down the table and practically sneered at Palmer. “Whatever, let’s suppose he wasn’t acting unusually. How did he become ensnared and attached to the bulkhead?”
Dr. Palmer looked uncomfortable, but he kept his feelings out of his voice. “I think we have to assume that the agent that took over the ship is programmed to entrap any life form it encounters.” He shrugged. “Okay, it could be a form of self-defence. Suppose it needs to do that to prevent anything from interfering with its absorption of the initially infected target.”
Kretzmann saw where Palmer was going with this. “Well, that suggests that it has some form of sentience, but we still don’t know whether it is a life form, do we?”
Dr. Palmer shifted position in his seat in an effort to reassert himself. “If the samples Dr. Borner’s people took on the derelict are the same as those they briefly examined on Surveyor Two, then yes, it is a life form. We must assume that it is sentient and is therefore entitled to our protection under the Protocol.”
“I see,” Kretzmann mused. “However, I must remind you that, as far as we are able to judge, we are dealing with a life form technologically more advanced than ours and considerably more aggressive. That makes it dangerous to the sentient life forms known as human beings, doesn’t it.” He keyed his command pad, and the screen filled with the image of the trapped man desperately struggling to escape before being ripped apart.
Chapter 12
Between Two Unknowns
Commander Polen breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, Emden and her consorts are still here.” He keyed his link. “Captain, we’re on station again and in contact with Emden. I see there’s another LPSL ship here as well.”
“Thanks. Anything else on scan?”
“Negative for the moment.”
“OK. I’ll talk to Emden first. As soon as we’re in orbit again, I want to talk to Lieutenant Heron. Have him come to my quarters.”
“Very good, sir.” The Commander glanced to where Harry, as officer of the watch, was bringing the ship into orbit. It was interesting to watch him making a conscious effort to relay his orders verbally rather than simply telling the ship what to do. It was obviously making him a little impatient and, not for the first time, he wondered what it must be like to be a living extension of the ship.
Harry judged his approach carefully.
“Begin braking sequence in five, four, three, two, one—now. Correct head to bearing forty-five degrees horizontal plane, zero vertical axis.” Harry watched as the ship slowed in response to the commands input by the manoeuvring team. Next, he said, “Adjust position to take station one thousand metres from Emden, then lock to maintain position.”
The helmsman responded and the ship sidled into position.
Harry turned to the watch. “Thank you, team. That was very well handled. Tech Brendan, you anticipated my braking sequence to perfection.” He grinned at their pleased expressions. “I think we’d have ended up too close to Emden if you hadn’t fired up just ahead of me.”
The Commander watched as the watch keepers relaxed and started their routines for ensuring the ship remained ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Harry had a natural flair for inspiring and leading people, and he would make a magnificent and intuitive Commander in due course. Hell, what am I thinking, the Commander mused. The Lieutenant has already proved his abilities in command.
“When you’re ready, Mr. Heron, I think you can hand over to your relief. We’d better not keep the Captain waiting.”
“Aye, aye, sir.” Harry keyed his comlink. “Korinna, I am summonsed by the owner. Can you take over please?”
“Take a seat, gentlemen.” Captain Kretzmann waved them both to chairs. “Harry, there are a number of things I need to clarify with you regarding the moments just before that alien ship grabbed Surveyor Two and the events following it.” He paused. “Captain Greenway is joining us on the comlink channel. As soon as he is on link, we’ll have him on the holoscreen. I’m also going to record this conversation because there are several matters that need to be explored further once we’ve got your answers.”
“Very well, sir.” Harry hesitated. “Am I under investigation for some offence?”
“Yes and no. We are trying to get to the bottom of why you shot us into transit as soon as you saw that alien, and why you put us on a course to a completely unexplored sector. There’s no intention to charge you with anything. Our interest lies in finding out as much as we can about this species, and more importantly, their intentions toward us.”
Harry nodded. “Very well, sir. I shall do my best to recall what I can, but I should think the ship may actually have a better record than I.”
“Possibly, but it may not understand your motives.” Wolf Kretzmann hesitated. “Look, I’m a little concerned by that episode that sent us into transit. I’m still not entirely happy about the incident on the LPSL Shepherd either.” He held up a hand. “Yes, I know. There was extreme provocation, and he deliberately rammed you and threw the first punch, but you threatened to kill the entire crew. I know you wouldn’t do that, but they and their lawyers don’t. You never want to make an idle threat of any kind, because a threat reveals intention. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir, I understand. It won’t happen again, sir.” He recalled the ship’s little act of independence earlier and wondered about the Captain’s understanding of the AI. He’d recently been embarrassed to learn that the ship had monitored one of his more explicit dreams, just as it had been aware of his virtual lovemaking with Mary based on nothing more than his memory of that sweet encounter. The thought of that night still unnerved him, especially because he had sensed an intruder in his thoughts.
Captain Greenway’s hologram appeared. The Captain always put Harry in mind of portraits of Elizabethan seamen, his spade beard jutting confidently from his chin, with his high forehead looking as if it should be crowned by an iron helmet. He had to pull himself back to the present as the SFO addressed him.
“Welcome back, gentlemen. Your manoeuvring was first class, Mr. Heron. Very neatly done and right on the mark, but I have to say I never expected to see a ship like yours do a standing jump into transit. That was something else.”
Harry couldn’t suppress his grin. “Thank you, sir, but I’m afraid I really can’t take much credit for the jump. As I recall, I was almost blinded by the flash as that creature destroyed our drone, and the next thing was the Commander waking me.”
“Well, let’s try to tease that out, shall we?” He nodded to the Beagle’s Captain. “You want to open, Wolf?”
The inquiry went on for an hour, and Harry felt drained, but he’d also gained considerable insight into what had happened and how.
Captain Kretzmann summarised the situation. “So, it looks as if, somehow or other, these Siddhiche managed to get into your head, and then through you, they took the ship out of what they perceived as harm’s way.”
Harry could see the sense in that, but the ship interrupted his thoughts. “The ones you call Siddhiche know this life form. It is a dangerous predator and cannot be allowed to discover how to reach your home worlds.”
Harry blinked. Had he just heard that, or did it come from the audio system? The expressions on the faces around him suggested they’d heard nothing, so he thought it best to explain. “The ship suggests the Siddhiche have reason to think this life form may be seeking to gain access to our worlds. Beagle specifically referred to it as a dangerous predator.”
Captain Kretzmann looked alarmed. “Is that so? Did the ship offer that information, or did you ask it a question?”
“Beagle often tells me things without my asking, sir. I think it answered a question that it knew I was framing in my thoughts.”
Captain Greenway’s eyebrows shot up. “You hold conversations with the ship?”
“Yes, sir. The ship is interested in many of our activities, and asks questions of me. I answer those that I can, of course, and sometimes I direct him to data that provide explanations I cannot give.”
Captain Kretzmann and the Commander laughed.
“I gave up trying to understand their relationship a while ago, but take it from me—that’s how they work together,” said the Captain. “It gets a bit weird at times, but it’s incredibly useful at others.” He leaned back in his seat. “Okay, so the Siddhiche know what we’re facing, and they don’t like it. How do they know? What information do they have that we need? Can you ask them?”
Harry frowned. “I don’t know how to, sir, but I can try to find out.”
“Right, then do it.” Captain Kretzmann glanced at the hologram. “I’m assuming that, as SFO, you agree with him doing it?”
Captain Greenway nodded. “Yes, I suspect we need all the help and information we can get. Do whatever you need to do, Lieutenant.”
Both Captains’ links chirped at the same time. “Captain.”
“Sir. We have Siddhiche ships in the system. One of them is closing fast!”
“Sound off Action Stations. I’m on my way.”
“Keep the comlinks open, please, Wolf. This is getting complicated, but hopefully we’ll soon know what they’re here for.” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many Siddhiche ships in one place.” The Commander gestured at the display. “And they’re not even trying to do their usual trick of masking themselves.”
“They obviously want us to see them,” said the Captain, a frown creasing his brows. “Or perhaps they want something else to see them.” He touched his comlink. “Emden, this looks like they’re setting themselves up for something, but it doesn’t look as if we’re the target.”
“Agreed.” Captain Greenway hesitated. “Except for this one coming straight at us.”
“We have him. What the hell? He’s not trying to hide anything—I don’t think anyone’s ever seen them this close or this clearly before!”
The display wavered, as if affected by some sort of massive signal interference, and then it blanked. When it cleared, it showed the strange, glowing ship rapidly receding.
“I think we’ve just been subjected to a scan.” Captain Greenway sounded calm. “Hopefully we met with approval.” His wry tone revealed what he was thinking. “Perhaps now would be a good moment for your Mr. Heron to try to make contact. I’d like to have some idea of what we’re up against if possible.”
Once he was settled in his battle station, the Emergency Navigation Centre, Harry listened to the communications traffic and watched the display. Strangely, he didn’t feel threatened, but rather the opposite. His signal-rating operator exclaimed in surprise.
“What is it, Kristin?”
“Signal spike on the hypercoms during that blackout, sir. Yet nothing’s come through.” She frowned. “Two spikes on our receiver band, one after the other, and both incoming, nothing outgoing, except from that LPSL ship. Someone on her is sending a wideband message. Ah—it’s shut down, sir.”
“Who were they signalling? Did you get a record of the signal?”
“Yes, sir.” Kristin frowned. “Strange, sir. The shutdown was unusual. It seemed as if their transmitter went offline. Now there’s nothing from them: no carrier signal for the hypercoms and no carrier for subspace transmissions either.”
“Keep monitoring them.” Harry leaned back in his chair. “Beagle, what is going on? Have the Siddhiche contacted us, or tried to?”
“Two entities have joined me, Harry. They wish to assure the Captain that they are friends, but also to tell him we must avoid contact with the Niburu.”
“The who?”
“The Niburu—the enemy that is even now stalking us from behind the planet.”
Harry jerked upright and keyed his link. “Captain, the Siddhiche say we are being stalked by a group they call the Niburu. The ship just informed me. I have nothing on screen, but Beagle says it is approaching from the other side of the planet.”
“Damn, okay, we’ll pass that on. See what you can learn from your Siddhiche—we need all the information they can give us. How to track this damned ship would be a good start!”
“Aye, aye, sir.” Harry’s team exchanged glances. “Scan, keep focused on the planetary rim. Kristin, monitor for any unusual traffic from that LPSL ship, or any attempt to do anything unusual.” He focused his thoughts again. “Beagle, can you help me speak to our visitors?”
“I think so. They wish to tell you something.”
“Very well. I need to know how we can track this Niburu ship so that it cannot catch us unaware.”
There
was a momentary hesitation before several lines of code streamed in front of Harry’s eyes. He winced. “Beagle, I cannot read this!”
A voice he had never heard before, one that sounded like the crack of doom with the song of birds and everything else within it, said, “Comprehension is unnecessary. Obey.”
Harry bridled. He didn’t like being compelled, especially by something he couldn’t even begin to understand.
A second voice, less threatening, intervened. “All will be made clear in due time. Understand only that you must allow us to guide.”
“Very well.” Harry forced himself to let the code flow. When it stopped, he knew what he needed to do. His temples throbbing, he keyed his link. “Captain, permission to take Surveyor Four to the LPSL ship.”
“What? Why? Not without a damned good explanation.”
Harry had expected this. “Sir, I can’t explain on the comlink, but if you study your data display, our visitors will provide the information you need.” He paused. “Have I your permission to launch Surveyor Four, sir?”
“Visitors?” The Captain hesitated. “What? Oh, I see. Very well, Mr. Heron, take Four and do what they want, but take no chances. Launch these beacons and get the hell out of there immediately. Go no closer than absolutely essential.”
In the Command Centre, the Captain stared at his screen. He forced himself to read the scrolling message. It was obvious that something unused to human speech and communication was attempting to relay the information he had asked Harry to discover. It was challenging to read and difficult to decipher. With the conversation with Harry fresh in his mind, he pondered the best course of action. Perhaps he should refuse to allow Heron to do this. He was beginning to wonder about the relationship between him, the AI and now these Siddhiche. He finished reading and made his decision. He had no real choice. It would have to be Heron.
He keyed his link. “Alexei, I’ve just cleared the launch of Surveyor Four. I’ll explain later. In the meantime, I’m sharing my data screen with you. It might make a few things clear, but I want the science people to analyse it and try to pull it all together. It’s a bit disjointed and obscure on some matters.” Snapping off the link, he gestured to the comms officer. “Link my data screen to Captain Greenway—now!” He keyed his link again.
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