by Ryk Brown
“Isn’t that easy to forge?”
“Yes, but the Dusahn have never seemed concerned with that fact. That may be due to the swiftness and severity of their punishment. Dusahn soldiers are known to execute criminals at the moment of apprehension.”
“Sounds like a lovely place,” Jessica replied.
“It was.”
“Five seconds to release,” Ensign Weston reported. “Good luck, sir.”
“See you in a week,” Jessica replied.
“Three……two……one……release.”
The jump sub shook slightly, the clunk of metal clamps letting go of its hard points. Commander Andreola felt his stomach churn as the jump sub fell away from its underside, leaving them in zero-gravity.
“Ten seconds to jump,” Jessica warned. “I’d suggest you brace yourself.”
“What?” the commander replied, his eyes widening. “I thought you said it was easy.”
“I lied,” she said, smiling to herself. “Jumping in three…”
Commander Andreola grabbed his shoulder restraints, pulling them as taut as possible.
“Two…”
He braced himself by putting his hands on his armrests and grasping them tightly.
“One…” Jessica reported, grabbing her own armrests. “Jumping.”
A split second later, there was a terrible thud as if they had slammed headfirst into a solid wall, the sudden deceleration throwing both of them forward against their restraints.
Commander Andreola felt his restraints dig into his shoulders, his breath nearly blown from his lungs. He immediately felt the jump sub sway gently, accompanied by a sensation he had not felt in some time…the gravity of his homeworld.
* * *
“You called, Lieutenant Commander?” Nathan announced as he entered the Aurora’s intelligence shack.
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda replied. “These scans from the Darvano system show that one of the Dusahn’s battleships departed the system approximately three hours ago.”
“For where?”
“The Haven system. They were there just long enough to recharge, then they jumped to the Volon system.”
“Are they still there?” Nathan wondered.
“No, sir,” the lieutenant commander replied. “Again, they stayed long enough to recharge, then jumped away. I had the Falcon locate the old light of their departure jump. They appeared to be headed for Ursoot, but they haven’t shown up there yet.”
“Then we lost their track,” Nathan surmised.
“Yes, sir. I have tasked the Falcon with locating them.”
“Maybe they’ve changed course?” Nathan suggested. “Maybe they’re trying to shake any tracks?”
“Possibly, but they haven’t shown up in any of the outer systems.”
“So, it could be headed here,” Nathan surmised.
“We’re still waiting for the latest recon data from the systems, but the Dusahn have never sent a battleship outside the cluster, except that one time they sent one here.”
“Yeah, I won’t forget that engagement for quite some time,” Nathan commented.
“They could just be using the battleship as a show of force in the outer systems.”
“If so, they would probably go to Haven, Volon, Ursoot, Paradar, and Palee, before returning to Darvano.”
“That’s what we thought, but they haven’t shown up in any of those systems.”
“And the estimated time for a battleship to travel here from the cluster is still three days, right?” Nathan asked.
“We have no data to suggest otherwise,” the lieutenant commander agreed.
Nathan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he examined the map of the Pentaurus sector. “Keep an eye on all the Dusahn-controlled systems,” Nathan instructed. “I want to know if any other ships go missing.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nathan continued to stare at the star map.
“Something troubling you, sir?” the lieutenant commander wondered.
“It’s not like the Dusahn to send a single ship, even if it is a battleship. They’re up to something.”
“We’ll figure it out, sir,” the lieutenant commander promised.
* * *
“How are you doing back there?” Jessica asked as she guided the jump sub silently along the seafloor.
“I will survive,” Stethan assured her. “I find it odd that such a violent transition is considered normal for your people.”
“I wouldn’t call it normal,” Jessica admitted. “Additional room for cargo and passengers means we don’t have enough room for inertial dampeners.”
“Couldn’t you just make the vessel larger?”
“We could, but then you’re talking about a complete redesign, as well as retooling a larger ship to launch and retrieve it. This size works well with our Reapers. Besides, the bigger the ship, the bigger the splash.”
“Of course,” the commander replied. “How long until we arrive at our debarkation point?”
“Another ten minutes, but that’s just a guess. We didn’t have much data on your world, so we came in a pretty good distance from shore,” Jessica explained.
“I should warn you that staying too close to the bottom of the sea might be hazardous.”
“Why?”
“Tantils.”
“What’s a tantil?” Jessica wondered.
“A very large sea creature, perhaps a few hundred meters in length,” Stethan explained. “They are docile creatures, for the most part, but can become quite aggressive if they feel threatened, especially if they are nursing a pup. The fact that this ship is similar in size to their favorite food, a jora seal, adds an additional element of risk.”
“I’m pretty sure my sensors will pick them up,” Jessica replied.
“Doubtful,” the commander warned. “A sleeping Tantil is difficult to distinguish from the seafloor.”
“Great,” Jessica grumbled as she changed the sub’s assigned cruising depth. “It would’ve been nice if you’d told me this before we jumped.”
“My apologies,” Stethan said. “It did not occur to me. However, tantils are generally found at deeper depths. If we are only ten minutes away from the shore, we are likely already in waters too shallow for them.”
“Feel free to warn me ahead of time if you think of any other risks we might encounter,” she said somewhat sarcastically.
“I shall.”
“What did you say the name of the town was?” Jessica questioned as she leveled the sub off at its new depth.
“Pentarna. It is one of several suburbs of our main city, Ausley.”
“Why Pentarna?”
“I spent my summers there as a boy, so I know the area fairly well.”
“And Ausley is the largest city on Orswella?”
“Yes,” the commander confirmed. “There are other cities close to Ausley’s size, all of which are along the same coastline, as well as hundreds of smaller towns and villages. Orswella has very mild weather patterns and very little rainfall, so it was necessary to colonize coastal areas to ensure adequate supplies of water. Even our agricultural lands are near the coast.”
“What about the rest of your world?” Jessica wondered.
“There are a few settlements here and there,” the commander explained, “mostly separatists who wanted nothing to do with the rest of Orswellan life, for either religious or political reasons.”
“It seems odd that your world remains so sparsely populated after centuries.”
“Orswella was hastily colonized,” the commander reminded her. “The original settlers were poorly prepared and had insufficient numbers. It is a miracle our world survived at all. However, the real reason we have not grown to larger numbers is because we have chosen not to. The carrying
capacity of our world, without the use of technologies that might improve that value, was calculated to be around one billion. Our people decided long ago not to exceed that number.”
“But at four million, you’re not even close.”
“True, and we are growing, but we are doing so at a pace that is manageable and allows our infrastructure to be developed wisely. Or at least we were.”
“So, you had some sort of reproductive restrictions?”
“Yes, each registered parenting couple was allowed to produce a single male and a single female child, thus replacing themselves. The ability to have additional children required an application, and the winners were chosen by a lottery system. Unfortunately, all of that changed when the Dusahn arrived. They altered the system, creating strict controls on reproduction, in order to reduce the impact on our natural resources, thus giving themselves more resources for their own uses.”
“So, your world basically became a massive slave labor camp?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” the commander agreed, “but only in the sense that we no longer have the free will to choose our own destinies. The Dusahn assign jobs to us, based on their own assessment testing. The illusion of freedom is all that is left of what was once a truly free society. You see, the Dusahn do not believe in freedom. They believe that all of society must work for the common good and not for the good of the individual.”
“And I suppose the Dusahn decide what the common good is,” Jessica surmised.
“There is a house of representatives,” Stethan explained, “but they, too, are more for appearance’s sake. They can make recommendations based on the concerns of their constituents but, in the end, it is still Lord Dusahn, himself, who decides our fate.”
“Hell of a way to live,” Jessica said.
“Since the arrival of the Dusahn, our society has slowly deteriorated. The Orswellan people are simply holding on, hoping for the day when the Dusahn will move on to more lucrative worlds.”
Jessica thought for a moment. “Then, your people probably want the Dusahn to succeed in conquering the Pentaurus sector.”
“In some ways, this is true,” Stethan admitted. “However, no Orswellan would wish such a life on others. It is simply not in our belief structure. We are a people who believe in balance— with nature, with one another, and with other worlds.”
“Yet, you were in a war before the Dusahn came.”
“Yes, but that was not of our doing.”
“That’s what they all say,” Jessica said as she slowed the jump sub and prepared to settle it on the seafloor.
“I suppose that is true.”
“Break out your breather,” she warned. “We’re at the debarkation point.”
Commander Andreola reached into the compartment on the side wall and pulled out the small device, examining it. “This device does not appear substantial enough for the task required.”
“They’re actually really simple devices,” Jessica explained. “A rebreather supplemented by a small cartridge of highly compressed oxygen. With a little practice, it will give you an hour of time underwater.”
“I have no intention of testing your assertions,” the commander assured her.
Jessica shut down the jump sub, putting its primary control module in standby mode. “The water is warm here, right?” she asked as she reached for the flood valve.
“This time of year, the inland seas average about twenty-eight degrees,” the commander replied.
“Perfect,” she said, opening the flood valve. “Just like home.”
Water immediately began to flood the floor of the jump sub’s interior. Commander Andreola’s first instinct was one of concern as the water level quickly rose above his ankles and crawled up his legs.
“Put on the goggles, as well,” Jessica told him, “and don’t forget your weight belt under your seat on the way out. Without it, you won’t be able to stay along the bottom.”
“This part seems like an even worse idea,” the commander admitted as he put on his goggles. The water quickly reached his chest, and the commander placed the breather in his mouth, taking a few breaths to confirm it was working.
Seconds later, the water had reached the ceiling, and the jump sub’s cabin was completely flooded. The commander fought to remain calm, anxious from the fact that he had not been in the water for longer than he could remember. He reached up and unlocked the overhead hatch, pushing it outward. He floated up off his seat, steadying himself as he turned around to lift it, gaining access to his weight belt.
With the hatch open, the commander was able to stand on his seat, his head out of the hatch, looking around as he donned his weight belt. Once properly fitted, he climbed up through the hatch, stepping over the edge of the jump sub, dropping himself to the seafloor below.
Jessica popped up through the hatch next, closing it behind her as she exited. A moment later, she was down on the sandy sea bottom, next to the commander. She gestured to him, checking that he was all right, to which he responded with the OK sign she had instructed him to use.
As they made their way to shore, the commander was surprised to find it easier to walk along the seafloor than he’d expected, thanks largely to the additional counterweight he was wearing.
After a few minutes, they began to notice tall grasses swaying in the bottom currents, signaling they were close to shore. The commander stared up at the shimmering water above them. The amber hue of their surroundings told him the sun above them was rising, which was precisely what they had wanted, since curfews existed on Orswella that prohibited being outside when it was not daylight.
Another minute later, Jessica gestured for the commander to stop. She went a few more steps ahead of him, slowly peeking her head out of the water just enough to get a clear look at the shore.
Jessica peered in all directions, scanning for any signs of movement, but saw none. She submerged again, signaled the commander to follow her, and then walked up out of the water onto the shore.
Once out of the sea, the two of them moved quickly across the narrow strip of beach to a nearby clump of bushes and rocks. “We’ll bury our stuff here,” she told him.
“How will we find it?”
“The breathers have a locater in them. If I ping it with my comm-unit, it will respond with its position.”
“Your comm-unit is quite different from anything we have on Orswella,” the commander warned. “If we are searched by a Dusahn patrol…”
“Let’s try to avoid that,” Jessica said, not wanting to debate the issue.
After quickly burying their breathers and weight belts, Jessica broke one of the branches of a bush so that it was hanging down, and then did the same to a nearby tree branch.
“What are you doing?”
“Markers,” Jessica replied, “just in case. Where do we go now?”
“There is a recreational path over there. It is a little early, but it is not uncommon for a couple to be walking. The morning breeze should dry us out before we reach the center of Pentarna.”
“Are you sure our clothing won’t attract attention?” Jessica wondered.
“Pentarna is a very casual community,” he assured her. “We should be fine. However, we will need to obtain more appropriate attire before we head into Ausley.”
“Any ideas?”
Commander Andreola thought for a moment. “I may know someone in town, but it has been some time since I have seen her. It is quite possible that she no longer lives there.”
“An old girlfriend?” Jessica wondered.
“More like the daughter of an old friend.”
“Worth a shot, I guess,” Jessica replied. “Lead the way.”
* * *
“As you know, earlier today, the Dusahn battleship stationed in the Darvano system left that system.” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda began. “We
detected the battleship in Haven and then Volon, but lost track of it. Two hours later, we discovered that the number of Dusahn ships in the Takar system had decreased by four ships: two battleships and two missile frigates.” The lieutenant commander paused a moment, looking at the officers gathered around the conference table in the command briefing room. “One of those battleships was the Dusahn flagship.”
“The dreadnought?” Cameron asked for clarification.
“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant commander confirmed. “We immediately retasked the Falcon to find their old departure light and determined that all four ships are on a course out of the Pentaurus sector.”
“Are they headed here?” Cameron asked from her seat at the conference table in the Aurora’s command briefing room.
“Their departure track would suggest that,” the lieutenant commander replied. “However, their course could also indicate that they are headed to the Orswellan system.”
“Why would they send that many ships back to the Orswellan system?” Nathan wondered.
“It is their only shipyard,” General Telles pointed out. “If they discovered that we are aware of its existence, they could be moving to protect it.”
“And leave their new empire unprotected?” Cameron argued.
“The Dusahn still have adequate forces to protect the cluster,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda insisted.
“Have you been able to locate the battleship that left the Darvano system?” Nathan asked.
“No, sir, but we are looking,” the lieutenant commander assured him. “If all five ships are headed here, then we have just over two days before they are within striking range. Add in the time required to recharge their jump drives, prior to the attack, and we have about seventy hours to prepare.”
“Two battleships and a dreadnought,” Cameron stated. “How are we going to defend against that kind of firepower?”
“What’s our current missile inventory?” Nathan wondered.
“One hundred and forty,” Cameron replied. “Production is currently at sixteen per day, so we’ll have around one hundred and eighty to one hundred and ninety missiles by the time the Dusahn arrive.”