by James Palmer
“I have to admit, I had my doubts at first, but you really pulled it off, Straker,” said Admiral Weber.
“Thank you, sir,” said Straker. “I told you your faith in me—in our cause—was not misguided.”
“It wasn’t our faith in you, but faith in the coming Chaos Wave,” said Moreland.
“Their vengeance is coming,” Tucker intoned.
“And that right soon,” the others answered in unison.
“Their existence is undeniable,” said Straker. “The Swarm’s presence proves it. The Progenitor epics speak of harbingers that will bring the coming chaos behind it like a wave. We are merely clearing the board for the final round.”
“I’m surrounded by lunatics,” Leda muttered. Straker turned his head slightly at the sound.
“What about her?” said Moreland. “You said there wouldn’t be any loose ends.”
“There are no loose ends,” said Straker. “What’s she going to do this late in the game?”
The others turned to look at her then, and Leda shrank from their gaze. Their attentions were unnerving in the extreme.
“She’ll never work for us,” said Admiral Weber.
“True,” said Moreland.
“If you’re going to kill me,” said Leda. “Just do it and get it over with.”
Commander Tucker grinned. “I think I have a better idea. Gentlemen, let’s introduce her to the Chaos Wave.”
“What are you talking about?” said Leda.
Straker rose and turned toward her. “Do you think it will show her? I doubt she is of the blood.”
Weber shrugged. “What of it? If not, we can go ahead and kill her. But if she can see, she gets a glimpse of man’s doom before she dies.”
Straker’s mouth stretched in a wide grin. “Yes. I dare say she’s earned that much.” He looked at a guard standing near his seat. “Bring her closer to the probe.
As if in response, the damaged probe began to sing a discordant note. Straker looked at the others and smiled.
“What are you doing?” said Leda, pulling against the guard as he dragged her toward the damaged alien machine.
“It wants to show you something,” said Straker.
“What?” said Leda.
Straker leered at her. “The future.”
Chapter 32
Cat and Mouse
The Onslaught limped its way into the Artra system’s asteroid belt, and the Razor dogged them every kilometer of the way.
The belt made a million-mile lap around the fifth and sixth planets, both of which were lifeless gas giants no one had bothered to name other than by giving them a long string of numbers. It was more densely packed than most asteroid fields, which gave Kuttner some confidence that they could outmaneuver the Draconi warship and gain the upper hand. They had to rely on subterfuge now; the ship wouldn’t survive another direct assault.
“Keep as many of these space rocks between us and them as you can,” said Kuttner.
“Aye, sir,” said the navigator.
“What is the Razor’s position in relation to us?” asked Hamilton.
The navigator checked his instruments. “Hard to tell with the magnetic interference from all this rock, but it looks like they’re directly above us. Twenty degrees above the plane of the ecliptic.”
Kuttner looked at Hamilton knowingly. “You’ve got a plan.”
Hamilton nodded. “If you’ll permit me, Captain?”
Kuttner motioned with his hand. “Be my guest. The command deck is yours.”
“Hudson,” said Hamilton. “Plot an intercept course. On my signal, give full power to the engines.”
The view screen wavered, and a tactical wireframe appeared, displaying computer interpretations of both ships in relation to each other and the surrounding asteroids.
“You want to ram them,” said Kuttner. It wasn’t a question.
“I want them to think I’m going to ram them.”
Hamilton waited a moment for the Draconi warship to move just a little closer. Another thousand kilometers, and they would probably detect the Onslaught’s engine output and take evasive action.
“Now, Lt. Hudson.”
They could feel the old ship start to increase speed. The wireframe disappeared, showing instead a tiny black speck against the blackness of space, a blue dot on one end indicating the Razor’s powerful ion engine. From this distance it looked no more dangerous than an ember sparking from a campfire. It grew larger in the viewer as the Onslaught sped towards it.
“They see us,” said Hudson. “Looks like they’re taking evasive action.”
“Brackett, open a channel,” ordered Hamilton.
“Channel open.”
“Grand Leader Kark,” he said. “This is Commander Hamilton. We’re going to send you our data logs from the last few days. I suggest you take a look at them or prepare to be rammed.”
He glanced at Drizda, who tapped her slate, sending everything they had recorded about their encounters with the Swarm over the tightbeam link.
“She’ll want time to review it,” said Drizda.
“She has…Hudson?”
“Seven minutes.”
Hamilton glanced at Drizda. “There. See? Plenty of time.”
The Razor couldn’t get out of the way fast enough, and its commanding officer knew that.
The Razor fired, not at the Onslaught, but at a nearby asteroid. The large rock fractured, sending large chunks of debris directly into the path of the Onslaught.
“Evasive—” Hamilton said, but it was too late. Huge chunks of asteroid punched through the hull of the ship at random intervals. A workstation shorted out, and Brackett received reports of crew members being sucked out into space.
Kark’s voice hissed over their comm, the channel still being open. “Your proof does not matter. Straker is a mere human, but he is correct. This war needs to happen for the honor of our race. We will extinguish mankind’s light from the stars, and return to our rightful place as masters of the cosmos.”
“She’s as crazy as Straker,” said Kuttner.
Hamilton nodded. “Gunner Cade. Give them everything we’ve got.”
“With pleasure, sir.”
The Onslaught, damaged though she was, fired its ion cannons at the Razor, scoring a few hits.
“We shorted out its deflector field, sir,” said Cade.
Hamilton nodded. Warning klaxons went off, and Kuttner orders them silenced
“Do you surrender now, Captain?” Kark asked over the tightbeam.
Kuttner glanced at Hamilton. Before he could answer, the Razor was fired upon, knocking it off course. It veered around and, with a burst of its engines, headed back toward the main body of the Draconi fleet.
“Hudson,” shouted Hamilton. “Who fired on them?”
“That was the Heinlein, sir,” said the navigator.
“That’s Admiral Sheldon’s ship,” said Kuttner. “Open a channel.”
The viewer shimmered and Admiral Sheldon appeared on the gleaming deck of a Warrior class battle cruiser. “Hello, gentlemen,” she said. “You look like you could use a hand.”
“Could we ever,” said Kuttner.
Sheldon’s smile faded, and she took on a serious, remorseful tone. “I’m sorry for all this. I was in on Straker’s scheme. I thought he wanted to build our military back up by starting another war with the Dragons. I had no idea it went this far, and I am sorry. When all this is over, I will hand myself over to the authorities. An extra lifetime isn’t worth this much guilt.”
“Thanks, Alice,” said Kuttner. “You always were a class act. Now let’s go get that lying bastard.”
The two ships changed course and, following the Heinlein’s lead, started out of the asteroid field.
“Sir,” said Hudson. “Detecting multiple bogeys. It’s the Swarm.”
“Where?” said Kuttner.
“Right on top of us. They’re attacking the Heinlein.”
“Alice,” said Kuttner.
“Get the hell out of here.”
“No can do, Captain,” she said. “They haven’t noticed you yet. Go find Straker.”
“But you don’t stand a chance—”
“That’s an order, Captain,” she said. “Sheldon out.”
“All power to the engines,” said Kuttner. “Gunner Cade, cover our exit from the asteroid field. Shoot any of those things that get too close. Hudson, plot a course of the main body of the Fleet.”
They sped away, the gleaming length of the Heinlein directly above them. Already they could see holes appear in the ship’s hull as the Swarm probes did their deadly work. Kuttner saluted as they moved away.
“Damn it,” he swore. “I wanted to strangle her when she was a part of this. But now…” his voice trailed off.
“I know, sir,” said Hamilton. “It isn’t always easy to know who the enemy is.” He glanced at Drizda as he said it.
“I’m just tired,” said Kuttner. “Damned tired. I miss the good old days when we knew who to shoot at.”
“Sir,” said Hamilton carefully. “Were you going to surrender back there?”
Kuttner looked at him, his face betraying nothing. “Let’s go get this finished.”
Chapter 33
Makers
Leda was forced to her knees next to the Swarm probe. She could hear the faint hum it emitted, could feel the warmth coming from its interior workings. The panel where the power coupling was connected glowed with its own inner light.
“Touch it,” said Straker. “It’s alive.”
The Marine unfastened one of her manacles, the heavy fetters hanging from her left wrist as she touched the Swarm probe. For a long moment nothing happened. Then she felt an electric jolt and was suddenly somewhere else.
Spinning, endlessly spinning. How long had they been moving through the void? How long had they toiled? It didn’t matter. Only the Errand mattered. That, and the Warning, issued to all who were advanced enough to hear it. The Ix were coming, even now.
Leda squeezed her eyes shut, reeling from the thoughts and sensations that bombarded her. She was beginning to understand what was happening. The probe was communicating with her somehow. She quieted her mind and let it back in.
It was cold and dark. The only light came from tiny pinpricks, stars burning faintly in the distance. She felt weightless, turning slowly over and over, but she wasn’t dizzy. Her eyes were not her eyes. She saw everything in shades of pulsing greens and blues, vivid reds, and fuzzy vibrations. This was not the visible spectrum she usually saw with her human eyes. No, this was how the probe saw. The usual mosaic of stars, planets, interstellar gas and dust came to her on a canvas of infrared, X-rays, Gamma rays, and even radio. For what good were human eyes in the dark between the stars?
Particles assailed her, passed through her. She rolled again, and the scene shifted. Below her, below the ecliptic plane, she saw a blue-green world pulsing with vibrant life. Not Earth, no, the landmasses were different shapes, and most of them seemed to be covered by the dull gray of cities that pulsed brightly in infrared.
Home, the probe sent, more of a distinct feeling than a word, and Leda’s own heart ached for her distant world of Proxima.
Leda also had a sense of deep time passing, and that this beautiful green marble was long gone, maybe even long dead. The probe was sifting through its memories to show her this place; it must be important. She knew she must watch. And listen.
The planet loomed closer. Down through its atmosphere they went, tasting oxygen and nitrogen with just a faint tang of ammonia as she descended. She felt gravity pulling on her now, forcing her down, down, down.
Now the visible light spectrum kicked in, and she saw an ancient panorama of deep browns and brilliant golds. Gleaming cities bristling with towers, every inch covered in photovoltaic cells. All around them were more machines. Machines that flew, machines that crawled, machines that run up the sides of buildings on numerous gecko feet, seeing to some errand Leda could scarcely imagine. And amid these, were groups of tall, bulbous brown beings, like lumps of clay. Enormous black eyes centered in doughy faces. Their hands multi-fingered and precise as they worked complex mechanisms. They sang to each other, their voices filling the ammonia-tinged air like whale song.
Progenitors? Leda thought.
No, sent the probe. Makers.
Leda understood as the scene shifted. These beings made things, masses of them. They seemed to love to tinker, to experiment. They made machines that seemed to have no other purpose but to make other, tinier machines. They made machines as big as capital ships and as small as single atoms. They made biological machines. They created new life.
Leda had many more questions, but she felt herself being yanked away, as if on a string. She was floating up, up, back through the atmosphere of this distant planet, until she could see it in its entirety once more. Then something happened. The cities went dim, then dark, then crumbled, the rivers and oceans dried up, and it was as if a shadow had passed over this beautiful world, a planetary or solar eclipse. When it passed, even the atmosphere was gone, leaving a dead, barren husk.
When? Leda thought.
In her mind’s eye she saw stars die and planets leave their orbits. She saw distant suns trading places, and she knew this event had happened a very long time ago. She felt like an infant in a hurricane.
The Chaos Wave.
Yes, sent the probe.
It’s coming back.
Yes.
Leda was filled with despair. How could they hope to stop something like that? It felt too large to wrap her mind around.
Hope, sent the probe.
She saw more stars now, a wheeling configuration of seven stars, one of which pulsed brightly, that she somehow felt was significant. She latched her awareness onto it and wouldn’t let go. She had to remember it. She had to.
The constellation fell away into the distance, becoming nothing more than pinpricks in velvet as the Swarm pulled away.
Wait.
They kept moving away, faster and faster. Entire solar systems flew past, nebulae, interstellar dust clouds.
Wait!
She slowed. She thought, what does it mean?
Hope, the probe sent again.
In that place you showed me, she thought.
Yes.
What will we find there?
Light of Ages
Leda felt wonder fill her being.
So the ancient Progenitor legend was true?
Yes, the probe sent again.
Are the Makers and the Progenitors the same?
No, the probe sent. Progenitors are the children of the Makers.
Another electric jolt and—
Leda was back inside herself, holding her hand where the skin of the probe had shocked her. A few things made more sense now, but there were still more questions. What is the Light of Ages? Could it help combat the Chaos Wave? And what is the Chaos Wave?
Leda rubbed her hand on the leg of her uniform. It was freezing cold, even though the command deck was a comfortable temperature. She shivered.
“Now you see the glorious reckoning that awaits mankind,” said Straker.
“Yes,” she said. I see what’s coming.” And she knew what she had to do.
Chapter 34
Goodbye
The Onslaught limped out of the asteroid field, escorted by the Heinlein. “I’m not sure how much more help I can be,” Admiral Sheldon tightbeamed.
“You’ve done great, Alice,” said Kuttner. “Thanks. I’ll transmit to you everything we’ve been through with the Swarm up to now. They’ll listen to an Admiral.”
“Not when they realize what I’ve done,” she said sadly. “I’m really sorry, Hank.”
“Just make it right, Alice,” said Kuttner. “You and me are already square again.”
After sending the data, Kuttner ordered Brackett to send it again to the entire fleet over the common circuit. “No way Straker blocks us now,” he said.
“S
ir,” said Cade. “We’ve got multiple incomings. They match the energy signature of the Swarm.”
Kuttner sighed. “Guess who’s coming to dinner.”
“All these ships are like an endless buffet,” said Hamilton.
“Hopefully they’ll be too divided to do a lot of damage to one target,” said Kuttner. “That should buy us some time.”
“They’re all headed this way,” said Hudson. “They’re converging on the Heinlein.”
Drizda said, “They’re being controlled. Someone is communicating with them. I’m detecting a tightbeam signal being broadcast to them. I can’t put them back to sleep. They’re not listening to the frequency I’m sending.”
“Straker,” said Kuttner. “Admiral Sheldon,” he said over tightbeam. “The Swarm are headed right for you. Straker sent them. We can’t stop them this time.”
“We’ll give them one hell of a fight,” she said. “I want you to get out of here.”
“We’ll stay and help.”
“That’s an order, Captain. Get your ship the hell out of here.”
Kuttner took a deep breath. “Alice, let me—”
“Nonsense, Captain. The real enemy here is Straker. He’s the one pushing the Swarm’s buttons now.”
“Roger that,” said Kuttner. “It’s been an honor, Admiral.”
“I’m not dead yet, Captain. Belay the sentiment and get going!”
The channel closed. Kuttner watched helplessly as the Swarm probes converged on the Heinlein, almost completely covering its gleaming hull as they tore into it. He was tired of watching as these things devoured everything in their path, but at least now he knew what to do about it. “Hudson, think you can find the Armitage in all this chaos?”
“I never lost sight of her, Captain,” said the navigator.
“Good. Plot a course to intercept and get going, maximum speed.”
Straker has his hands on the ultimate weapon,” said Hamilton.
Kuttner nodded. “Let’s go pry it away from him, shall we?”
At then thousand kilometers out they saw it, skirting the edge of the Artra system, where the battle between the human and Draconi fleets was still going strong.