The acceleration continued until the precise capture speed of the target asteroid was reached.
When they were still two hours away from the first Lagrange point, Stephine spoke. 'The Games Board frigate has recovered its personnel and equipment and is following. They report adult Urchins are swinging around the planet to be above the target queen's tower.'
Patrick then reported: 'The Fast Mover is loaded with the nanotes and will be deploying in ten seconds.'
The long, slim missile-shaped machine, with a bulky high acceleration module fitted, lif ted away from outside Basalt's engineering deck. When the unit was 100 metres away its engines ignited and it started to accelerate using the velocity that Basalt had imparted to it, describing a long curved arc eventually heading back to the planet.
Once the necessary velocity had been achieved the propulsion unit detached and the missile became almost totally invisible on every spectra as its mind began looking towards the planet and laying out the optimum navigation and deployment course.
'It took the information that Basalt was feeding to it and also the information supplied by the Games Board ship and plotted where the spaceborne Urchins were.
Hours later, it dropped down amongst the adult Urchins. As it approached them, it precisely ejected away the thousands of packages of nanotes which behaved just like a small meteor shower, flashing through the Urchins down towards the planet. As they decelerated in the upper atmosphere, tiny petal-like wings popped out, steering each package down towards the coral tower of the Urchin queen.
By the time they were close to the tower the atmospheric pressure had slowed the packages further, to terminal velocity. The packages then split into hundreds of tiny pieces of icelike material which splattered downwards, sticking onto the tower just like in any other wet weather event on the planet.
Most of the nanotes assembled themselves into the little gnatlike, or beetle-like, creatures that the crew had seen early in their investigations of the tower. The remainder dispersed and hid amongst the native fauna to wait until they were needed.
In their thousands, the little machines rapidly moved into the central structure of the great coral clump until they identified the queen's tail mass. As soon as they were on her outer surface, they disassembled and reformed into minuscule worms that burrowed into her skin.
Over the next hours the nanotes found, then dropped into, the massive creature's bloodstream after they had coated themselves with material identif ying them as benevolent protein blocks which the creature's antibodies ignored. When they finally arrived at the Urchin's core, they dissolved again and spun microscopic threads of datalink between each of them and started to search for the tastes of Fritz's and Nail's minds.
High above them the Fast Mover had slipped into orbit and settled down to wait for any information from the miniature invasion force.
Basalt had jumped, then hours later, jumped again to slowly overhaul the asteroid they needed.
As the information on it came through, Patrick gave a report. He had fired lasers at it and analysed the spectral signatures.
'Interesting lump of rock and ice. I am launching the astronomical drones, plus deploying weapon drones. I am seeing plenty of useful volatiles including phosphorus and sodium. Oh, and we now have caesium to add to the mix. Explosives, anyone?'
'Good!' Harry grinned. 'Nothing quite like having a few extra things that go bang and throw bits about!'
Marko chuckled. 'Hey, Harry! Thought that you had left the ship. You've been a bit quiet of late.'
Harry's image showed on Marko's comms screen. The older-looking man nodded, adding, 'Yeah, I suppose that you are right, Marko. Sometimes pays to just listen than have to make a bundle of intelligent-sounding noises.'
Julie burst out laughing. 'That will be the day the cosmos fails completely, Harry! You, listening? I do love you and you make me laugh!'
Everyone smiled, then laughed, as Harry replied, 'And that's what you get for taking a much younger, beautif ul engine builder into your bed! Public abuse!
'Marko, I am seeing some relatively clean deep ice a third of the way around the asteroid from where we are now. Major, I suggest we top up our water fuel reserves before anything else.'
'OK. Works for me. Let's hang off by ten k first and give it a full survey then, yeah, water first and any other goodies can follow.'
Basalt slowed as it came up on the five-kilometre-long knucklebone-shaped asteroid which was very slowly tumbling through space. Everyone who was at their workstation was watching the rock for any possible threats.
Veg and Stephine, who were inside Blackjack watching all
the data feeds, were the first to see the tunnel entrances in one of the stony outcrops. Veg pointed them out to everyone else.
'Interesting. All exactly the same size; all curve sharply to the right twenty or so metres in. We can't suggest anything non-biological that would make them. Good idea that we stand off a greater distance until we know a little more about what we are looking at.'
'I concur,' the major said. 'Patrick, move us away at speed, please. Lily, Jasmine. Take a combat drone each and go have a close look. Oh, and no sublimation into the machines, please. We have had enough of that. Screens only. Marko, I note that the main ice areas are a kilometre away from the tunnels. How about you investigate that area as well with another drone? Same rules apply.'
Patrick fired the nose-manoeuvring thrusters in a long burn as he then fired the main engines, taking them away from the rock. As they were moving, three combat drones dropped away with two starting towards the hundreds of holes. The other drone Marko had rapidly programmed to search the ice area and report back to him only if it found something unusual.
The imaging was mapped, which showed all the holes to be precisely the same shape and two metres plus in diameter. Lily spoke first.
'We are two kilometres out. Holes are very similar. Showing indents around them plus what appear to be scratches, with the same spacings around the holes. Looking like biological in origin. We are moving in closer and deploying the swarm micros.'
Ten small drones lifted away from each of the large combat drones and moved towards the rock until they were fifty metres away from the holes. One from each group then slid up to a hole entrance and fired a small tethered camera and sensor unit inside.
Back on Basalt the crew watched as the camera units extended little legs and started walking inside the tunnels.
'Looking at the walls, I would agree that these are biological in origin,' said Veg. 'Both have subtle variations, but they definitely seem to have been bored with tooth or claws. Wish we had some way of aging the marks. Oh, this is interesting. Now seeing outgassing from the tunnels. Mixture of gases. We have seen this once before. Twenty or so years ago, Stephine and I saw these same readings from where something had consumed an Urchin.'
Everyone started talking at once, until the major called for quiet.
'Something ate an Urchin, Veg! I don't want to be anywhere around something that eats Urchins! Patrick, back us off another fif ty klicks right away, please. OK, Veg, Stephine ... what do you know?'
The ship started to move again as Stephine, sounding a little exasperated, said, 'Michael. The information is in the reports we made available to you all years ago. Right, well, if none of you has read them I shall tell you. For every predator, there is always another. Some are much bigger than the Urchins and they are remarkably bad news for everything and everyone. These, if they are the same, are at the other end of the scale. They are a swarm creature, thousands of them, and from everything we know are only interested in the Urchins and any creatures that are similar to the Urchins.'
Everyone watched the major furiously scratching his bald head which they knew was a sign of agitation.
'Right, sorry, I was not aware of those reports. I will get into them as soon as time allows. So please, Stephine, show us all just what these things are and what they can do.'
A few seconds later image
s and schematics of the creatures were displayed on the screens that everyone was looking at.
Marko looked at them intently, seeing basic plate-scaled two-metre-diameter spheres. He touched the icons beside the display as the image turned and opened up, forming a parabolic dish-shaped creature with tendrils that folded out from its edges. As he rotated the image further, it showed a series of interlocking plates forming an armour on one side with numerous rotating hooked pads and a central mouth part. He also noted the layers of insulation over every exposed part of the animal. He tapped the icon on his comms unit for Topaz to ask, 'Hey, buddy, you having a look at this critter?'
The AI design and ACE manufacturing unit replied, sounding slightly scornful. 'Of course, Marko. I know everything there is available to know about these creatures. They are of great interest to me and it would be beneficial if we could have one to examine more closely. I wonder if you could arrange that? Ifnot, then samples would be welcome.'
Marko smiled, thinking that Topaz was constantly gathering information on all creatures wherever they went. Topaz then added: 'We consider this predator probably evolved, or was created, alongside the Urchin. 'It would be logical that they came from the same planet. Note the various sea creature-like characteristics. The things that I would most like to investigate further are the parasites that exist on these predators. They really are alien.'
Seconds later more data files arrived on Marko's screens showing segmented, armoured, winged, wormlike creatures which appeared to be 100 millimetres long. He looked at them briefly then went back to the predator files.
He told the image to peel away the outer layers and saw three independent digestive systems, plus numerous small hearts which pumped blood, which he could see from its chemistry was remarkable: it could still fuel the needs of the body no matter how hot or how cold the creature was.
What really interested him were its gas generator propulsion systems that seemed far too meagre for the animal's requirements for manoeuvring in space.
He keyed his microphone. 'Fascinating creatures, Stephine. They have small propulsion and manoeuvring capability. So how do they go up against Urchins?'
Her image appeared on his main screen. 'They hold hands, Marko. Well, shall we say, they hold tentacles. In fact, they plug themselves into each other. They layer themselves in sphere-shaped shells with the innermost shell covering a ball of ice which they heat, producing steam which is then vented producing a constant thrust. They can vector it through holes that the numerous shells create, so the whole ball, with sometimes thousands of individuals in communication, can easily keep up with Urchins.'
She paused for a few seconds as more images came up on everyone's screens, now showing hundreds of individuals forming great disc-shaped nets that folded away from the ball and captured an Urchin. While consuming it, it slid down inside the ball as the next shell deployed to envelop and consume another Urchin.
'As you can see, they are very efficient at hunting and consuming Urchins. Of course, a percentage of them are killed or maimed by the Urchins, but as they are the swarm equivalent of an insect, the losses are acceptable. Because they are coupled, even if the ball only consumes a few Urchins they all get fed. And because they are linked their natural chameleon abilities are excellent. What is seen by one individual on one side of the ball is communicated to its opposite number who displays that image on its armoured plates.'
Harry spoke up, curious about something. 'What happens with the antimatter the adult Urchins hold, Stephine, when this predator consumes them?'
She nodded, answering, 'Itwould seem that they also know how to manipulate the containments that the Urchins use for the antimatter. They store it, and from what we know, use it in minuscule reactions to heat their shelters in the icy asteroids they use as their homes.'
Harry nodded and cocked his head to ask, 'So they are intelligent?'
Stephine paused for a few seconds before replying. 'Not sure. There are lots of parallels amongst other swarm creatures. As individuals, they don't demonstrate much intelligence, but it seems to build with numbers. My thoughts are that as more and more link together the processing power also increas'es, and as a collective they start doing smart things.'
The major, at his station, looked closely at the predators and asked, 'So what happens if we disturb them?'
Stephine allowed a twitch of a smile on her face as she answered. 'Nothing. We do not represent meat to them, nor does anything on Basalt. But if we still had an Urchin here they would be onboard by now, consuming it.'
Lily frowned, saying, 'Unusual for a predator to have only one food source.'
Stephine shrugged. 'Perhaps so, Lily, but then again we only have a very basic knowledge of this creature's breeding cycle. Who knows. They may also be down on that planet right beside the Urchin queen. That would be interesting, would it not?'
Marko slowly nodded, tapping his chin. 'Could we capture one? We could find out soon enough if it is also down on the planet by cross-referencing parasites, maybe?'
Spike, the little mechanical spider who was with his constant companion, the once-Games Board advanced monitor Jim, spoke up. 'We could get in there. Jim could reconfigure himself to slip inside that place and I could get samples of one of them, maybe? You and Topaz only need samples, don't you, Marko? We are a good team. As long as I can keep a laser link to Jim, my mind would remain fully sentient. I should get bigger, I know, so I would not have to rely on everyone to store my complete mind, but I like being small and am best that way.'
Everyone smiled, as they all loved the little spider. Flint, the much larger engineering spider, gave his opinion.
'It is a good plan. Ngoc and I would be best to escort them and we can quickly extract them if something goes wrong. And besides, our zero gravity manoeuvring units are much more compact than anyone else's.'
'OK, I like it,' the major said. 'Get yourselves sorted. Lily, can you have a combat drone standing by outside the small port-side airlock on engineering deck two to transport the guys across? Marko, Lily, to your Skuas, please. I want you as close support. Jasmine, Minh, to your Hangers, you fly outer cordon. Harry, go fit the Albatross with heavy weapons, and stay on standby. Julie, I am switching all Basalt's weapons to your board. Stephine, Veg, keep a close watch over everything with Patrick. Glint, you are with me. OK, go to it, people.'
The three mechanical spiders scuttled away down the central spiral staircase with Jim the red-coloured ovoid machine. Jim housed an augmented human brain and spinal cord which controlled all his machine functions, following on his antigravity unit. As soon as they were on the second engineering deck, the two spiders clipped on their manoeuvring units with Flint climbing up onto Jim's outer casing and locking himself on. They cycled through the airlock and then pushed out from Basalt's hull to the waiting double teardrop-shape, combat drone. As soon as the drone sensed that they were onboard, its computer flew the machine out through the huge treelike outer skeletal structure of the frigate and then down towards the asteroid.
Minutes later, the Skuas and the Hangers were overhead holding positions that covered the ACEs as they all moved towards the looming lump of ice and rock.
Ayana
Haulers Territory on Storfisk
'Sven, have you had any reports come in of these creatures in your sector?'
'No, not yet. Cannot find any reference to them in any database. What are you going to do?'
Ayana swished her tail, a little irritated at this unwelcome intrusion into her orderly life, wondering if the creature was a scout from an unknown alien race examining the animals on the planet, or something else.
'Could be a first contact, could be a nasty, could be a created creature from Administration, Gjomvik or Games Board. Need to front one and ask some questions, I suppose. Can almost certainly eliminate it being a native as there is nothing that matches its body configuration. The obvious lack of eyes bothers me. Everything here has eyes; even the deepest sea creatures and deep cave dw
ellers have vestiges of eyes.'
Sven's voice in her head agreed. 'Don't think that it is a first contact scout. The standard human settlements on the southern island chains are fairly obvious and the Haulers said that there is nothing they are aware of for twenty-one light years further out.'
'Yeah, you are right,' Ayana sighed. 'Leaves Administration, Gjomvik, Games Board or a nasty from someone else.'
'If it is Admin or GB or Gjomvik, then it is totally newly created. Quite unlike anything the Haulers are aware of. I would suggest we treat it with great caution until we know more. Have you a plan?'
Ayana had a sinking feeling in her heart, as a chilling sense of dread seeped through her. 'Oh, hell, I hope it is not another of the Infant monsters.'
Sven grimaced, saying, 'Has all the hallmarks of a designed extreme bioweapon. Plan, Ayana?'
'I will go have a close look at the buffaloes it touched, Sven. I have one of the tigers out tracking it now, so I know where to go for a closer look. I am waking up, and launching, the recon drones.'
High in the tree, metre-long artificial dragonflies were powered up and given their orders. Ayana shunted the recognition images of the alien to the pair as they flew up out of the tree and quickly flew out towards the tiger who was stealthily tracking the creature.
Ayana loped across the fields to where the buffaloes were still resting. She altered her scent to that of a cow and she slowed down to quietly walk amongst them. She recognised the bull the alien had touched, and moments later saw the other three it had also touched, all of whom appeared more restless than the remainder of the mob. She stopped, sensing that something was not quite right, so rather than approaching them swung around until she could see it all. A flap opened in her side and a small disposable flying drone, which looked identical to one of the native moths, flew across to the bull, gently alighting on its back. The moth bit down through the hair, taking samples of the animal's skin and a tiny blood sample and compared the results with its own database which Ayana had loaded into it moments before. Minutes later, it lasered the results into a large beetle comms unit which Ayana had unloaded from another of her internal storage units onto the ground beside her. The comms unit uplinked the data to the Haulers' AI orbital, Angelito, tens of thousands of kilometres above them, shielding Ayana from any possible data intrusion.
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