"It may take months for us to get a few streamlined production lines running, but we should have the time. So long as we keep all wormhole generators from the Hoya, they aren't a near term issue. Give us six months with all the resources we need and we could have a fleet capable of rivaling their forty thousand ships."
"That's a bold plan, Mr. Gruberg. Light on the details of how we make that work, but I like the suggestion. A good offense is often the best defense."
Tawn stared at her partner. "Since when did you become our chief strategist?"
"What's the biggest advantage we have over the Hoya? Wormhole travel. What we need to do going forward is figure out how we leverage that."
The colonel said, "Go home, take the day, kick around every possibility you can think up. Come back in the morning and we'll make our decision."
A short time later, Tawn and Harris walked into Trish's shop where the others were assisting Alex.
Harris asked, "Sharvie? That data prove to be any good?"
"It did. They had control, but no communications to fully assert that control. We're lucky. Had they given the order to the bots they could have wiped us out. Instead it seems they chose to hide their access for the time being. I can only guess they planned to take control later. But they could have owned us."
"And how do we get our bots back?"
"I've just sent a routine to the AI. It should put all the bots into a reset. A bonus for us is we should have command over the AI that will allow us full access to the facility. No more tests or levels to go through."
Alex turned. "That would be the access we had when we first arrived. That all changed when the AI was inadvertently activated."
Harris pulled back. "Wait… what?"
"The AI was dormant for the first several hours of our encampment here. Once triggered, it took over the systems and moved us from the lower levels, effectively locking them down."
"So it's not required for maintenance of the boson field?"
"Our estimates at the time suggested the complex had been unmanned for several hundred years at least. The restricted space surrounding this world now was free for all to enter. That is how we came to be here. This restriction is an obvious product of the AI."
Sharvie said, "The AI is now devoid of Denzee influence. Should be back to the way it was, only under our full command."
"Please take our bots out and enable the Banshees—and the other bots as well."
A comm was opened to Jellon. "We require these materials. Are they available there on Jellon?"
A list was forwarded. "Please allow time for a response."
Harris replied, "Just so you know, our decision is being discussed. We hope to have an answer to you within a standard day as followed by the time reference on our comm link."
"We look forward to your decision. Would you know if our forces will be released from New Earth space?"
"They're restricted from wormhole travel for another five days. Once that time has passed, they'll be able to return to Jellon."
"I have an answer as to the list of materials you have asked for. They are available in the desired quantities."
"How long do you expect to be at Jellon before you're ready to leave?"
"Until our ships have returned from New Earth."
"Would your ships there at Jellon be able to move the supplies we are asking for during that time?"
"I believe that could be arranged."
"See if you can set that up while our discussions continue."
Tawn asked, "What are you doing?"
"We need those materials if we want to build more bots or Banshees. And we don't have ships of our own capable of moving that quantity of goods."
"We have the Earther fleet. Those are destroyers, but each has a cargo bay and the manpower available for a supply operation like this."
"I guess that's true, but why not get them to do some of the work for us?"
"That I can't argue with."
The following morning, Harris opened a comm to the colonel. Discussions lasted for most of an hour before a decision was made. The Denzee would assist with the materials and turn seven hundred fully-crewed Ratoons over to Human command. In return, since the Denzee were lacking jump fuel, Humans would provide them with the wormholes needed to move their fleet across boson space.
With the agreement in place, a column of Denzee ships were used to move a huge stockpile of supplies to the Retreat. Wormholes were provided by the Humans, and three days passed before the last of the supplies had been delivered. The Hailstorm was put into service as a cargo hauler so work could begin on Midelon.
Tawn stood with her hands on her hips as she looked at the Banshee manufacturing building that was now bustling with activity. "The AI says we should be turning out three completed ships a day in about three days. And all two hundred fifty-six processor benches will be turning out product by then as well."
"I just talked to the colonel. With those five hundred bots at the Retreat, he expects to be at that rate in two weeks, doubling that every week after if we can provide the promised bots."
"The Denzee said they expect the Hoya to be arriving at Jellon in about five weeks. How much of a force are we expecting by then?"
Harris returned a half smile. "We should have around sixteen hundred ships total."
"That many? And at the same time, that few…"
"The good news is that when the Hoya arrive at Jellon, it will take them another two months to reach the next colony. That will be Baross IV, and there's no one there either. If all goes well, we'll have close to five thousand ships by then. And if we can acquire the needed materials, in six months we could have the forty-thousand ships they have."
"And do we know how we stack up against theirs?"
"We don't. But the colonel is talking about a mission to grab one of the Hoya ships. That could at least tell us what we're up against."
Bax stood behind them. "You people are wasting valuable resources."
"How so?" Tawn replied.
"Me. I should be at the Retreat, coordinating their construction efforts. I have a lot of experience and I'm good at it."
Tawn smirked. "And you're humble. That always helps."
"Humble never turned out product. I can. You want to meet or beat the ship numbers you're projecting, you need to throw me into the mix. I can help."
Harris asked, "You sure you can handle all the Bios out there without blowing up? The stumps will be slobbering on you and the slugs will want to punch you in the face."
"I can handle myself."
"I'll give the colonel a comm."
"And the grab mission, I think it's a bad idea. One slip-up and they have the wormhole drive. It's then game over for the lot of us."
"Since you seem to be so sure of yourself, what would you recommend instead?"
"A trip to Baross IV. Find a warehouse at the abandoned colony and throw a dozen bots in a container. Sort of an ambush. If they can make their way aboard a ship, they could fly it away. If not, just have them self destruct. Worst case, you wasted a dozen bots."
"Not worth the risk of them capturing and reverse engineering one. These bots are a highly valued asset for us. They're gonna enable us to build this fleet. We don't want to enable the Hoya to be able to do the same."
"You sent them in against the Denzee without loss."
"We didn't have much of a choice there. Here, we have the luxury of time."
"Whatever."
Tawn chuckled. "Don't take it personally. Won't earn you any respect, especially among the Bios. Respect is everything to that crowd."
"I've dealt with them before, you know."
"Yeah, by pissing them off," Harris replied. "We're just trying to give you a bit of wisdom before sending you into the wolves’ den."
"So you're sending me to the Retreat?"
"If it gets you out of our hair, and if they're willing to accept you… yes."
"You don't have any hair."
Tawn ch
uckled. "She's got you on that one."
A comm was opened to the Retreat. "Colonel, Rumford wants to come work for you at organizing your manufacturing. You up for the challenge? She's good at what she does, but can be a handful for people with short tempers."
"Send her over. We could use the expertise—and the challenge."
The comm closed.
"Pack your things," Harris said.
"Already ready."
"Follow us out in the Bangor. We'll open a wormhole for you."
— Chapter 18 —
* * *
Two days later the Denzee were set for their jump across Human space. The Bangor was to be met by a hundred Earther destroyers. A series of wormholes would be opened for the Denzee to move their ships through. The effort was scheduled to take almost half a day.
As the Bangor made the jump to the provided coordinates, it was met by a scene of complete chaos. A portion of the Hoya fleet had managed to find the Denzee as they waited for the Human assistance.
The faster Hoya ships converged on the mass of Denzee transports, colony ships, and freighters. With only Ratoons, Dulons, and Vaaka equipped with wormhole generators, and only a handful of those ships having jump fuel, they were forced to turn and fight.
As the Human ships watched, a Denzee Vaaka, carrying one of their higher queens, was ripped in half by a slew of hypervelocity kinetic rounds. Four Hoya warships, that had been termed battlecruisers on previously-viewed Denzee recordings, had taken it to task as it attempted to defend a pair of colony ships.
Tawn shook her head. "Oh wow. Sensors show more than twelve thousand. That Hoya fleet just got a lot bigger."
"Not only that," Harris replied, "there could be other fleets just like this one that branched off from that main fleet earlier. We may have only seen two strike forces out of ten."
Tawn scowled. "Imagine the support fleet they're slogging along with them. It has to be immense."
"I'd say it's time we had Alex conducting full-time scans of this entire area. We need to know what we're up against."
A comm came in from the Denzee ambassador. "Please, you must help us!"
"We don't have the means," said Harris. "Those ships are faster. And from the looks of those weapons, we can't defend against them."
"So you're abandoning us to die?"
"There's nothing we can do. Even if we opened wormholes for your ships, the Hoya would destroy us before you could reach them."
A comm was opened to the Earther destroyers. "Captain, head back now. We don't need to get involved here. There's nothing we can do."
"Thank you, sir. It appears the Denzee are getting their just reward."
"I agree in principle, Captain. But this loss won't help us when the Hoya come for our worlds."
"Those of us who have worlds."
Harris nodded slowly as the comm closed.
Tawn said, "Ambassador, I can only offer this option: send your ships out in every direction. Perhaps some will escape. If so, we can send you across our space after you regroup."
"We're outnumbered, outgunned, and have the slower ships."
"I hate to ask at this time, Ambassador, but is there any data you could transfer to us that might help us in our fight?"
The Denzee diplomat sat silent for several seconds. "What are your data storage capabilities?"
"Big."
"Open a data channel and I'll send all I have."
Tawn opened a comm wormhole to Midelon. "AI, I have a data feed coming through from the Denzee. I'm assuming it will be quite large. Store it for us."
"Send it through when ready."
"Ambassador, I just opened a data channel to you. Send through whatever you can that might be helpful."
The meter for the data channel pegged.
"Contained herein you will find all our technology, our current records, and our history. Everything Denzee is contained in this archive. If we perish, let it be available as a record of our lives, culture, and achievements."
"Thank you, Ambassador. Even with our differences leading up to this, it will be treated with respect."
The ambassador bowed his head as the standard comm closed. The data stream continued for the better part of ten minutes before coming to an abrupt end. Three minutes later, several battlecruisers converged on the diplomatic vessel. Sections of the ship burst away as hundreds of kinetic rounds ripped through her.
The Denzee Ratoons were obliterated before the colony ships, freighters, and transports sacrificed themselves in an attempt to shield the final Vaaka and their highest ranking queen. The Hoya ships converged, hesitating for most of a minute before shredding the last of the known Denzee. A wormhole to Midelon space was opened and the Bangor slipped through. The ride down to the surface was quiet.
Harris entered Trish's shop with Tawn just behind. "The Denzee are gone."
Gandy asked, "So it went smoothly? They're leaving our space?"
Harris shook his head. "No, they're gone, as in dead. When we arrived, a Hoya fleet had caught up to them. It was a massacre. Every ship destroyed."
Tawn added, "We couldn't get near them. The Hoya are faster and more powerful. I'm not certain our Banshees can fight them. It looks like they have rail cannons that are about twice the power of ours. And I'm not sure what kind of shielding they have, but their battlecruisers were able to take several hits from the Denzee superweapon before their shields and hulls failed."
Harris nodded. "The Denzee lost over eight hundred Ratoons to about three hundred Hoya battlecruisers. Considering the inequality of the forces, they put up a good fight. We convinced them to send us all their data before being destroyed. The AI has it. I'll be asking it to mine it for anything we might find useful."
Gandy said, "We had a breakthrough of sorts, using your idea. Alex managed to bend a gamma ray by forty-five degrees."
Alex turned from his console. "In simulation. But the principle should be the same in the physical world. I managed to use the force of the explosion in such a way as to create millions of tiny gold prisms. I have much to do to complete this work, but I believe at present I would be able to focus as much as 18 percent of the gamma radiation in a single direction. This was a major breakthrough today. The scientists of my day would have been stunned by this development."
Harris scratched his head. "Does 18 percent give us a usable weapon?"
"I'm afraid not. While certainly deadly, I believe our threshold to overcome ship shielding as we know it to be in the… 42 percent range. And certainly the higher above that the more effective a blast."
"Speaking of range, what kind of distance will we need to be within for this to work?"
Alex rubbed his chin. "In space there is no distance for degradation of the beam other than spread. The spread can be six or seven degrees per eighth of a light-year. Possibly sixty degrees at a full light year. So nothing much to worry about in a standard fight. You will however have the issue of speed. The longer the distance, the longer it takes the beam of energy to arrive. Much like the Denzee superweapon, at distance you can move out of its way."
"Our current sensors are able to detect at a seemingly faster than light-speed. Will the same be true for this weapon?"
"Yes."
Harris asked, "So we'll have the same limitations as the Denzee weapon?"
"Possibly more. Each firing of this weapon will be a nuclear explosion. The Denzee weapon had a recharge time but infinite firings so long as the ship had power. With this, each firing uses a set amount of material. I would suggest possibly placing it on a guided stealth missile. As much as we can make a missile stealth."
Tawn said, "You know, the Hoya weapon is sub-light. They have to get in close with the rail cannons just like we do. I checked the speed of their projectiles and it's no faster than ours. It is heavier though. What I'm getting at is this: this gamma ray device would be a good stand-off weapon. It could be fired from a third farther out than theirs with the same potential for a hit. And if we put this on a
missile, we really aren't limited to how many we could carry. Imagine a hundred of these launched at the same time, or a thousand."
Harris replied, "That brings us around to the delivery vehicle. How many could we hang on a Banshee?"
"Four? Maybe five?"
"And how many of these to get a kill on a ship?"
"I don't think we know that."
Alex said, "Possibly a single shot. Although it would have to be straight down the center for maximum effect. If I can get the beam to focus in significant enough quantity, I should also be able to make adjustments on the fly. With the proper sensor set aboard, the beam could be widened slightly to encompass an entire ship, ensuring a full kill."
"That would be awesome," Harris said. "One shot, one kill would swing the advantage our way."
Tawn chuckled. "Fat chance of that. Battlefield is always too fluid for us to be that lucky. I would say we need at least a five-to-one ratio to have a shot at a victory."
Harris shook his head. "Not true. We take out 10 percent with these missiles and we turn and run. Fight the next fight with the goal of knocking out another 10 percent. Hit and run. Hit and run."
Tawn sighed. "You're forgetting one big thing: they're faster than we are. What if we take out 10 percent and are then forced to fight because they're so close we can't open wormholes?"
"That would be a problem. So I'm guessing we're gonna need one of those Hoya ships to study. Maybe we plan on doing that while the doc here keeps working on the warhead."
"I have plenty of assistants at the moment. If you can safely grab a Hoya vessel, it would aid immensely in our quest for a defense."
Harris stood, staring at the nearly two thousand year old scientist. "You seem to be up to speed on the issues of war. Why is that?"
"Humans, before coming to this sector, were constantly fighting each other in one form or another. Our history is rich with warfare. Even though our initial existence here saw a prolonged period of peace, that all changed after this facility was found and wormhole travel on a single ship basis commenced."
"Too bad we can't open a wormhole back to Earth. We could go home to where we belong and leave these Hoya lifetimes of light-years away."
ARMS Domers Unite: (Book 6) Page 16