Harry followed the direction of Sci-antha’s long pointed finger, and recovered his wits. “Move!” he snapped. “You too, Doctor, or I shall have Regidur compel you to.”
The doctor’s face drained of colour as he stared wide-eyed in the direction from which Sci’antha had come. His jaw dropped and his expression was of complete horror. Already the other members of the group were turning to go, and several broke into a run, their faces ashen,.
“Look at them!” Palmer exclaimed. “They’re astonishing—incredible!” His eyes widened in terror. “Oh God, they’ve seen us. Out of my way!” Dr. Palmer shrieked as he pushed Harry aside and bolted in the opposite direction.
Harry stumbled and fell then rolled quickly onto his back and faced the advancing nightmare. “Run, Roberta!” he exclaimed, not taking his eyes off the creature. “Run for your life!”
“Not without you.” She grabbed Harry’s arm and hoisted him to his feet. “Can you run?”
Harry gasped in pain. “My ankle—I think it’s twisted.” He glanced behind them. The two creatures were closing fast. “Run for it, Roberta. Go, or they’ll have us both. Just do me a favour. When you get back to the ship—”
Something sharp struck his shoulder, and fire spread through his limbs. As suddenly as it started, it stopped, and so did he. He watched, unable to speak or move as several figures raced forward. A hailstorm of plasma bolts and missiles flashed past him. He was conscious of the fact that Roberta was also immobile at his side.
He watched helplessly as the firefight passed across his line of sight, but he could do nothing to join his comrades in the effort to withstand the enemy.
Chapter 18
On the Brink
Captain Kretzmann wasn’t just angry; he was livid. Word of Dr. Palmer’s confrontation with Harry had spread through the ship like wildfire, and so had the doctor’s reaction when the Niburu appeared.
“The man is absolutely beyond the bloody pale! He slanders Harry and then uses him as a shield when he soils himself at the sight of the Niburu.” He slammed his fist on the desk. “I’ll destroy him myself if I get a chance.” He made a visible effort to control his anger. When he was calmer, he said, “First, what does the surgeon say about Harry’s condition, as well as Roberta Klonowski’s? Can he do anything to help them?”
The Commander nodded. “He thinks he can counter the toxin more easily in Harry’s case than in Roberta’s.” He passed a tablet with the full assessment of the engagement. “Thanks to the fact that Lieutenant Sci’antha tore one of the creatures apart, we now have the poison sac to analyse. Rubin and Dr. Borner’s team are working flat out on it. At least we now have some solid DNA from these monstrosities.”
“Yes, yes, I see.” The Captain frowned. “But this says the DNA from these creatures isn’t a match for the DNA the Siddhiche provided. What the devil does that mean?”
“They’re not saying, but Dr. Borner thinks that the DNA the Siddhiche gave us is from the mastermind creatures that run these ships.”
“So these creatures with the stingers aren’t the Niburu?”
“It seems not, sir.”
“So we’re still in the dark, but at least we know they can be killed off. I gather between the Royals, Sci’antha and Regidur, it got a bit messy.”
“There were no survivors on the other side, sir.”
“Good. There’ll be no damned survivors if the LPSL try to defend them and my fingers are on the firing switches, I can tell you.” He paused. “We’re withdrawing everything and everyone from the planet. The Admiral wants all our equipment destroyed in situ, just in case. He’s ordered a withdrawal from this area and a rendezvous with additional Fleet units at a neutral location. He’s also issued an ultimatum to the LPSL ships. They will accompany us under control of prize crews. They will also submit to a full search for any signs of espionage activity and classified materials.” He smirked. “Apparently the Fleet Advocate Admiral has managed to obtain a warrant of seizure and search based on what we found when they tried to get that lifepod onto the Niburu ship. I understand this Doctor Stolt they’ve had on the news channels has been hit by injunctions for malpractice, fraud, and perjury to a court. I just hope the news channels have the sense to pull the garbage he’s been spouting about Harry.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it, sir. Some moron will always want to believe it—especially if it suits his particular set of prejudices.”
“Sadly, you’re right. But they better not do it in my hearing.” Wolf Kretzmann stood. “I’m going down to the med centre. Get the ball rolling on the cleanup. We’ll be leaving as soon as you’re done.”
Encased in the med unit, Harry fumed with anger. It had been building up in him from the core of his being. He hated not being in full control of himself. It brought back all the abuse he’d suffered in the Johnstone Laboratory on Pangaea. How dare that fool Palmer patronise him and insinuate that he was a candidate for a lunatic asylum.
His was forced out of his angry mindset when his thoughts were interrupted by the Beagle’s Surgeon Lieutenant.
“Harry, I know you can hear me if I speak. Can you establish your link and reply through it?”
The link seemed a little fuzzy. “Beagle, can you help me?”
“I think so, Harry.” The ship’s voice was distant and sounded as if it was underwater. “The toxin is having some effect on it, perhaps because it involves your ability to act.”
“Let me use your audio system, please. Rubin wishes to speak to me.”
“Done, Harry.” There was a pause. “Harry, I have one of the Siddhiche telling me your surgeon must examine some data they have provided.”
“Thank you. Rubin, do you hear me?”
“I hear you, old man. You sound a bit weird, like you’re gargling or something, but I can hear you okay.”
Harry felt relief. “Thanks to Beagle then. He says the Siddhiche have put something pertaining to the toxin in your data files.”
“Okay, I’ll do a search for it. Now, I need you to tell me exactly what you can and can’t do or feel. Let’s start with hearing and seeing. Can you hear me clearly? Can you see anything?”
“I can hear you clearly, but my link is affected. Beagle sounds as if he’s speaking beneath the sea. Yes, I can see, but only straight ahead—only what is directly in front of me—in this case, an extremely boring expanse of white deck head.”
“Good—that is good news. Can you feel anything?”
“Yes, I can feel any contact with my body. I can feel my heartbeat and some of my other functions, but I seem to have no ability to control anything.”
“Okay, now tell me, what did you feel as that creature hit you with its stinger?”
“It burned—it was a sort of stinging sensation that spread very quickly throughout my body, and then I could no longer move at all. The burning didn’t last very long, however.”
“That sounds about right from my analysis. Now, I’m going to leave you for a bit and look for that data package. Roberta Klonowski is in the unit next to yours, and Anton Du Bois is in the next one over. I’ll try to fit them with the cranial system so that I can let the three of you at least talk while I find the answer to this, but it will take a while. Are you going to be okay?”
Harry thought about it. “Yes, I can manage. At least I have some communication with Beagle. Is Roberta all right? She tried to help me, and her selflessness caused her to get hurt. I owe her a debt of gratitude. And how’s Anton? That damned Palmer and his friends—scum, but I know how to treat scum.”
Captain Kretzmann nodded to the surgeon Lieutenant as he entered. “That’s what I like to hear, Harry. Don’t worry, we’ll keep him nice and fresh for you so you can deal with him as soon as Rubin can get you on your feet again.”
“Thank you, sir. Something to look forward to.”
The listeners laughed. “Stupid thing to say, but I’ll say it anyway: just relax, and try to keep your link operable. It sounds a bit sick. You’ve got half the
science teams on board working on the antidote. Besides, I want to see you out of there and saying hello to the dear doctor as soon as possible.”
Harry wanted to laugh. “Thank you, sir. I shall do my utmost to comply. Please tell Regidur and Sci’antha to keep their paws off him until I can deal with him myself.”
“I will, and I’d better tell the Admiral as well. He wants the doctor charged with attempted murder. Now take it easy. Perhaps the ship can play you some music.”
“Perhaps, sir, and the way the link is functioning, perhaps he’d do best to play me the Water Music from Handel.”
Outside the ward, Wolf Kretzmann turned to the surgeon. “We’re ordered to withdraw from this area. That bastard Palmer is being sent to Coventry, and only his toadies are still talking to him. I’ve told Sub-Lieutenants Regidur and Sci’antha that I can’t allow them to exercise any form of retribution, but I think they only agreed because Harry isn’t dead, and because Regidur got orders from his home world to leave it to our justice. As it is, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when the Admiral’s sister hears of this.” He grinned. “I’d rather face one of these Niburu!”
“I’ve heard she can be quite fierce,” said the surgeon, and they shared a laugh.
“I think she and Harry share the same family trait,” said the Captain. “So tell me, how are you progressing with the antidote?”
“It’s an incredibly complex toxin, sir. It works by blocking the cognitive part of the brain that controls movement. From the video they brought back, I’ve been able to determine that it prepares the body to be taken over by another organism. It has no effect on any of the autonomic systems—heart, breathing and so on—or on the sensory system. Just the motor control of effector muscles is blocked.” He frowned. “The worrying aspect is that it self-replicates once it’s in the victim, rather like a virus would do. I can overcome it for a short period, but then it reasserts itself.”
“Well, keep at it. We have to find a cure.” Kretzmann hesitated. “A great deal more than just these three are depending on it.”
“New orders, Lieutenant.” The construction Commander handed Ferghal a data chip. “You’re assigned to the Prinz van Oranien.” The Commander laughed at Ferghal’s puzzled expression. “She’s a mother ship to a flotilla of corvette class scouts. Congratulations, you’ll be number two to the flotilla engineer. They’ll keep you out of mischief for a bit.”
“I see, sir. When am I to join her? Where is she at present?”
“She’ll be here in three weeks. They’ve rushed her into service, and she’s got less than half of her flotillas aboard. Plus, half the people aboard are just out of training, and the rest are being recalled or scratched together from everywhere Fleet can recruit them.”
Ferghal nodded. “Is it to do with the creatures the Beagle has stirred up, sir?”
“Yes. There’s panic everywhere at home about it.” A frown creased his brow as he regarded Ferghal. “Your friend Heron must have made a few enemies with that league bunch—the LPSL. What’s he done to stir them up like that?”
Ferghal shrugged. “They don’t like me much either. That doctor they keep parading on the news circuit has some things to say about us that I’d love to ram back down his throat, but he’s really gone for Harry. I think it’s because we lived with the Canids on Lycania, and taught them how to make explosives so they could defend themselves against the Consortium. So of course now the League says we changed the direction of their culture and interfered in their development, or some such nonsense. We were just trying to save their lives and protect their culture, actually!”
“I understand—no need to explain it to me. I have common sense.” The Commander smiled. “The Admiral is taking them head on. He’s arrested all their ships and crews and brought charges of espionage against the ones that were hovering around the Beagle.” He hesitated. “What’s this I hear about some of her crew being poisoned by these creatures? It was something that causes complete paralysis, I think.”
“Aye, well sure, and that’s something else.” Ferghal frowned. “Harry’s one o’ them. If they can’t find an antidote soon, it will hit him hard. He said it’s like the stuff they used on him an’ me on Pangaea—only permanent.”
“We’ll have to hope not. We’re doing everything in our power to not let that happen. We’ll have to find a way to stop these creatures coming anywhere near us if this is how they operate.”
“Colleagues, you have in front of you all the data and information we have on these Niburu. It’s far from complete. For one thing, we don’t have a full idea of how their ships operate. For another, we really only have a hazy idea of their fire power.”
Grand Admiral MacQuillie, Commander-in-Chief of the World Treaty Organization’s Interstellar Fleet Command, glanced around the table. “We’re bringing our starships out of maintenance as fast as we can, but we’re desperately short of crews, and we don’t have time to embark on full work-ups and training. Katrina, give us a rundown on the latest, please.”
Katrina Haartman acknowledged the order. “We have six starships working up at present. Vanguard, Akron, and Ekaterinburg are doing well, though Vanguard is still not up to full strength on her complement, and neither is Akron.”
The others listened attentively as her report continued. Twelve heavy cruisers were ready to deploy, but not their escorts. As always, the need was for destroyers and frigate class ships, but there were delays in getting these back up to commissioned status and fitting them out with crews.
Katrina concluded her report by adding, “Wherever we can, we are taking key personnel from active ships and using them to build a core of experienced and trained crewmembers to stiffen the new and inexperienced ones we’re filling places with. As long as we don’t face a major onslaught for another six months, we should get there.”
Similar reports on recruiting, training, supply and the Marine numbers made for sombre listening.
Grand Admiral MacQuillie was the first to speak. “Of course, we don’t know whether this will come to a fight. We’ll be up against ships so vast they look like small moons. Our scanners can’t detect them, and we don’t know how they transit, but we do know they are fast, and they are manned by some of the ugliest and most aggressive customers I’ve ever seen. The LPSL is kicking up a storm about our arrest of their ships and crews, but that’s your problem, David.” He nodded toward the small man at the end of the table.
The Advocate Admiral smiled back. “We have certain matters under investigation and before the courts. So has Chief Justice L’Estrange, I believe.”
The Grand Admiral nodded. “James Heron tells me the Siddhiche ships are swarming in the area around his rendezvous, and they appear to be trying to contact us. Frankly, I don’t know whether to be happy about that or not. Our best option is to be prepared for any eventuality.” He stopped as a figure appeared above the table. “What the devil?”
The audio system blared a mixture of sonar clicks, insectoid buzzes and deep booming made the attendees wince. The figure turned to study them, then the voice boomed around the room. “The Niburu must be terminated. You must act swiftly, or they will overwhelm you. We will assist you.”
As swiftly as it had formed, the figure vanished.
“Where did that come from?” The Grand Admiral glared at the Admiral responsible for Fleet AI systems, uncomfortably aware the figure had resembled a teacher he’d been tormented by as a youth. “Was that a glitch? Or something else?”
The admiral concerned shook his head. “No glitch, sir.” He swallowed. The figure had resembled a figure from a folk story. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s what Admiral Heron and Kretzmann of the Beagle have reported seeing when the Siddhiche contact them.”
Chapter 19
Distress Call
“Sir, we’re getting distress calls from the colony at Haley 757. They’re under attack, and the indications are that it’s this new race Beagle ran into.”
“When did it start
?”
“According to the messages we’re getting, about two hours ago. There was some bombardment, clearly targeted at all signal emitters on the planet, followed by a landing. Someone obviously got away in a ship, because the messages are coming from the freighter Acheron. She’s appealing for help—says she’s damaged, and something’s degrading her systems and attacking the crew.”
Admiral James Heron, Harry’s many times great nephew and former guardian, strode to his command centre. “Show me the charts and the area. How long to reach it?”
His staff leapt into action, and the great spherical display changed. The affected system flashed red. “Haley 757, new colony, around two million inhabitants, sir. They’re on the fifth planet, named New Edo.” There was a pause. “Minimum four weeks from our present location, sir.”
The Admiral’s fingers drummed his armrest. “Patch me to Fleet.”
In his med unit, Harry prayed. He was in the habit of doing this whenever he had a moment, though sometimes he wondered if God indeed listened, or even bothered with human affairs. Now he had little else to do. He felt trapped. Without his link, he had no means of communication, and since being moved to the hospital ship Aesculapius, he’d been trying to make friends with the ship. Its AI was not used to having a constant link to a human, and was cautious and a little aloof, which made it difficult to communicate.
He could do nothing voluntarily; all he could do was stare straight ahead. So far, everything they’d tried had little or no effect. The organism changed itself or increased its enzymes to negate all the agents they’d tried. At least they had moved him along with Roberta and Anton out of the normal units and placed the three of them in different appliances, which held them in a semi-seated posture. This meant he could now see the activity around him.
He’d had a visit from the Admiral and from Danny. Both had been unable to hide their distress at his situation, and that had upset him. On the other hand, it had been wonderful to see them both, even if he could only talk through the AI. He was also concerned about his beloved Mary. She was on a tour of the colony worlds, and he had no way of knowing whether she was safe or not. Would she be worried when she got no letters from him? He missed her. The last months had been a real test of his feelings for her, and he desperately wanted to see her again, but that was impossible in these conditions.
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