Finally, the news he had wanted to hear. He had slept poorly over the last week, feeling anxious to hear from his distant ship captains. “Put it up on the front screen. And share it via Come-Back neutrino signal with the other fleet ships. Including the Belter and Mars ships on patrol elsewhere in Sol system. They deserve to know what Vigdis has found.”
“Going up front,” the young woman said, her tone firm, confident and engaged.
Which made Jack wonder at the effect of a twentieth birthday party. “Thank you, ComChief.”
The true-light imagery of Vesta’s crater-pocked surface, the fleet ships and distant stars vanished. To be replaced by the rad-tanned face of Vigdis, who was seated in her Pilot’s seat in the Pilot Cabin of her commerce raider ship. Behind and nearby were four Icelandic crewmates, two men and two women. All of whom were busy at their posts. Vigdis pushed blond bangs out of her eyes and fixed on him.
“Fleet Captain Jack, six hours ago we arrived at 40 AU north of the ecliptic plane of the Dakto Hunters home system.” She gestured aside to the woman who handled ComChief duties. “Melody will transmit to you our true-light images, our Sensor data and all we know about this system.” The woman grimaced. “The bad news is these Dakto Hunters are not the T-rex dinos we saw in the Melagun Arbitor encounter. Dozens of AV channels are coming from the fourth planet in this six planet system. The Aliens in them are disgusting. They look like giant earthworms with hands. And spiny teeth.” She looked down at a panel in her lap. “My NavTrack module says we are alone in space, with no Hunter ship anywhere close to us. Based on graviton tracks from the 43 grav-pull ships that are jumping around this system. Here’s the image of these Hunters. Try not to lose your lunch.”
A side split-screen pushed Vigdis’ image to one side. In the split screen there appeared a giant brown worm, one among many, who was lowering its white-toothed head/mouth into a bowl filled with small living creatures. Whatever the creatures were, they bled red. As they could all see from watching what seemed to be a cafeteria-style eating hall filled with scores of worms. Who wiggled disgustingly. A few worm pairs in the background were entwined around each other. Public sex? He shuddered and focused on the eating worms. Each worm had three pink eyes, two flexarms and a manner that resembled movies Jack had seen of rabid dogs from last century.
“Disgusting!” Denise said firmly.
“Well, it’s clear you do not need a body filled with bones to fly starships,” Max grunted, his tone bemused.
“Jack, I’ve closed my eyes,” Nikola said. “If I watch that any longer I’m going to be sick.”
He waved a hand at the captain of the Hawk. “Thank you, Captain Vigdis. Did your other two Belter ships also arrive safely?”
The woman nodded quickly. “They did.” Her blue eyes scanned behind Jack to note his crewmates. “We have not used our grav-pull drives to avoid emitting telltale graviton pulses. My Weaponry Chief says there are no offensive weapons within detection range, based on her infrared sensor sweep of nearby space,” she said, her Icelandic-accented English sounding light and musical. The woman shook her head, her blond ponytail swinging lightly. “May our three ships return home? This voyage was long and tedious. Which made Max’s sharing of the settings for faster Alcubierre travel a goddess-blessing!”
“Yes!” Jack said. He empathized. At least his two months since the Hawk and her two sister ships had left had been filled with some variety, some danger and worthwhile Alien people like the Doomat. “If you can find an unoccupied system to refuel your deuterium and helium-3 tanks, stop off and refuel. Or come straight home to Sol. You can do it, now, in 12 days, thanks to your upgraded drive.”
The Icelander, who looked exhausted, her eyes bloodshot and bleary, the bags under them not visible thanks to the woman’s dark rad-tan, gave a deep sigh. “May Odin bless you! We will come straight home. Will you and the other fleet ships be there when we arrive?”
Jack bit his lip. “No, sorry to say. My fleet ships, plus the Bismarck, Dragon and the Nimitz, will shortly be leaving for the Megurk system to test out our Dark Energy weapon.” He enjoyed the woman’s look of surprise. “Our Archibald, with the help of the Vesta accelerator team, has created a machine able to project Dark Energy. We will soon be heading back to the Isolated system to test it there. Then we’ll head for a juvenile system to make contact and thereby set up a final confrontation with the Arbitor out near Sedna.”
“Good to hear,” the woman said, her tone tired but determined.
“Vigdis!” called Elaine. “Earth has launched our first colony ship to another star! No matter what happens with this Arbitor, humanity has spread to the stars!”
That news made Vigdis, Melody and their three other crewmates brighten up and look a touch less tired by their long-haul trip to a place located 489 lights distant from Earth. Which reminded Jack that Helena’s ship Grizzly had had a slightly shorter distance to travel. Why were they hearing first from Vigdis, who had to travel further?
“Captain Vigdis, safe voyaging home,” Jack said hurriedly. “I would chat more but I’m worried we have not heard from Helena’s ship. Her trip was just 478 light years. She should have contacted us before you did.”
Vigdis frowned. “Truth. We did spend six hours taking in EMF data so we could tell what kind of social carnivore Hunter lived in this system. Perhaps they are doing the same for the Usulungun Hunters?”
Jack hoped that was the case. “Perhaps. But I’m cutting this link now so I can contact them. Safe voyaging!”
“Thank you!” The native of Iceland, who’d emigrated to the Belt with her parents when just three years old, gave Jack a smile, a salute and then cut her link before he did.
He looked back to Denise. Whose pale face showed her freckles to strong effect. A sign she too was worried. Plus she was chewing on one of her red braids. “ComChief, put out an encrypted neutrino call to Helena.”
The woman’s left hand reached down to her neutrino pedestal, tapped on its control surface and then she squinted at the readout. “Signal has gone out. Receipt by Grizzly should happen about now. Hmmm. No reply back yet, so I will . . . wait! Incoming signal from Grizzly. Going up front.”
Jack looked forward. Displacing the image of rocky Vesta and black space were the Slav-Asian features of Helena Antonov. Who looked upset. Before he could ask, she spoke.
“Hello, Fleet Captain Jack. We arrived at 50 AU north of the Usulungun ecliptic plane fifteen hours ago. But,” she winced, “we lost a ship. One of the new Belter ships. The Coyote was penetrated several times by lasers fired from a robotic platform. No one dead. Three injured. We slagged the platform shortly after it attacked.” She looked aside to where her Tech crewman sat. “Captain Chidiebele and his four crew are split between our ship and the Wolf. Jason says Chidiebele is in our Med Station undergoing surgery for two broken legs, while his Drive Engineer and ComChief are being treated on the Wolf for shrapnel cuts. Everyone on the Coyote was wearing vacsuits per normal Combat Alert rules. Otherwise they would all be dead.” Helena turned back to Jack, her high cheekbones tight as a drumhead. “Captain, after the Coyote got hit by this sentry platform, our two surviving ships Alcubierre jumped away from our arrival site. Which now swarms with grav-pull ships of the Usulungun Hunters.” She gave him a hungry smile. “We set the Coyote’s fusion reactor to self-destruct either upon entry or upon hull contact with another ship. Hopefully that will hurt some of those bastards!”
Jack wondered briefly at the bad luck that put the three Belter ships within attack range of a weapons platform. Which had to have been doing a random walk survey of the space directly north of the star. While they would have had a good eight hours to evacuate the wounded and bring onboard food supplies from the dead ship, both the Grizzly and Wolf would now be very crowded. “Thank you for that report. Please convey my sympathies to Captain Chidiebele when he wakes up.” He gestured back to Denise. “We’re sending you a vidrecord of the departure ceremony for humanity’s first colony ship.
Which has left Sol system for a distant star, there to plant our first human colony.”
Helena perked up, her distracted manner becoming attentive. “Excellent news! I will share the vidrecord with our friends on the Wolf.” The woman looked past Jack. “Drive Engineer Max, many many thanks for signaling us with the new settings for our Alcubierre stardrive! You have no idea how tedious it was staying in this can for two months straight!” She looked back to Jack. “Now, we know we can reach Sol system within 12 days or so.”
Jack nodded. “You will be welcome here. Uh, I gather the Usulungun Hunters are not the Arbitor dinos?”
Helena closed her eyes briefly, as exhaustion hit her, then opened them. She fixed on him. “Fleet Captain Jack, they are not. Our receipt of AV broadcasts over the hours we’ve been at our new position told us that. No dinos. But they are weird looking.” She gestured aside to her ComChief. “Sending you the strongest AV broadcast.”
Helena’s image moved to one side as a new image appeared on the front screen. Jack swallowed hard. He needed to. His stomach wanted to flip inside out.
A cross between a spider and a scorpion filled the side screen. The creature was a segmented arthropod with red and yellow stripes adorning its midbody exoskeleton. A clear aposematic signal of danger. But this Usulungun thing possessed two lobsterlike pincers up front that had razor sharp edges, four legs on either side, an elevated tail with what looked like a stinger on it, and a cluster of four black eyes across its blocky head. Below the eyes was a mandible mouth filled with slicing parts. Below the mandible mouth were four palps that worked like fingers. This creature was using those palp-fingers to operate a large machine that hovered on maglev suspension. A tap of a palp caused a green laser to shoot out from the machine. It struck a rocky hill. After seconds of fuming steam a large opening had been cut into the hillside. The Usulungun shifted the machine sideways a bit, then repeated its laser strike. The opening enlarged. In the distance beyond Jack saw fifteen other Usulungun doing the same thing. Whether they were mining the hillside or cutting entrances for a hillside habitation he had no idea. Nor did he wish to learn. He lifted his hand to signal Denise she could cut off the AV signal. The sound of retching from behind him told him he had been too late.
“Nikola?”
His lifemate gasped. The crinkle of paper told him she had grabbed a low-gee spewbag. Hopefully before much of her lunch had gone elsewhere. “Get rid of it!”
Denise did not need a spoken order. Up front the screen lost the Usulungun image and refilled with Helena, her crew and their Pilot Cabin. The woman lifted a black eyebrow. “Warned you.”
Jack licked his lips. Lifting his water bottle, he took three sips. He needed them to settle his stomach. “Thank you. I think.” He noticed that the woman’s mostly Russian ethnic crew looked tired, worn down and frustrated. “Please commend your crewmates for their outstanding work at saving fellow Belter shipmates. And tell them it is time to come home!” Everyone looked alert at that. Most of them smiled. “Our Belter fleet will soon leave Sol to return to the Megurk system. There to take down the Isolation Globe with a new weapon designed by our Archibald. It puts out lots of Dark Energy. Which we think will kill the Isolation Globe put beside the Megurk sun by some Arbitor ship long ago.” Jack sat back in his seat, glanced down at the holo above his Tech panel, noticed Maureen was cleaning her laser rifle while she waited for his decision, and realized it was time. “Please return home as soon as possible. After we kill this Isolation Globe, we will return to Sedna to defend Sol against an attack by this Arbitor dino. Your aid and that of every combat-capable ship in Sol system will be needed. Understood?”
The middle-aged woman nodded abruptly. “Completely understood! The crews of the Grizzly, the Wolf and the Coyote will be ready for this fight!”
Of that Jack had no doubt. It took dedication and stubborn persistence to stay onboard ship for more than two months, while pursuing a long shot effort to find the home system of these Arbitors. Now, it was clear they would not know where the dinos called home. It mattered not. He had a sure-fire way of drawing MakMakGor to Sol and to Sedna. “Thank you, Captain Helena. Denise has sent you our vidrecord of the departure of the first human colony ship. We hope you and your crew will enjoy watching it. Along with the latest sports vids of Sol-wide soccer, last year’s Olympics and a holo remake of Sherlock Holmes’ crime dramas.”
Cheering sounded from the crewmates behind Helena. Who gave Jack a weary salute. “We will depart for home within two hours. Report ended.”
The woman’s neutrino signal vanished. A true-light image of Vesta, the nearby Mars ships and the white band of the Milky Way filled the cabin’s front screen. Across the top of the screen came the images of his six fleet captains, plus the images of Hideyoshi, Gareth and Zhāng. Ten ships were represented, when you included the Uhuru.
“My allies, you’ve seen the neutrino reports by Captains Vigdis and Helena. They are returning home. Time for us to leave Vesta and Sol.” Jack glanced at Maureen’s holo image, then to his Tech panel, which showed his ship’s weapons load. He looked up. “Is every ship fully armed with thermonuke torps, Magpulse Bombs, X-ray Petal Shield torps, railgun barrels and geo-penetrator rockets?”
Hideyoshi was the first to respond. “The Bismarck is fully armed and operational,” the man said, his tone blunt. “We have a load of 20 thermonuke torps, 12 Magpulse Bomb torps, ten X-ray Shield torps and spare parts for repairs to our ship and other fleet ships. Our Higgs Disruptor nodule and other directed energy weapons are powered up. All 310 ship crew are onboard and ready to depart.”
Zhāng gave him a quick salute. “Fleet Captain Jack, the Nimitz is armed with similar loads of torps and bombs. Our antimatter, neutral particle beam and laser mounts are operational. Professor Wheeler and Director Cumberland report the Dark Energy Projector is ready for this encounter.” The woman looked to one side, then back. “Weaponry Chief Lieutenant Donald Johansen reports all combat stations are manned, and that Wheeler and Cumberland are at the ready at the DE Projector pedestal on this deck.”
Gareth gave him a full-bearded smile. “The Dragon is similarly armed, operational in all mounts including our Higgs Disruptor, and Combat Commander Angelique Vincent is eager to confront our enemies. As am I.”
The captains of his First Belter Fleet were equally armed, operational and eager to leave for Megurk system. Jack caught the eye of the Mars fleet chief. “Admiral Hideyoshi Minamoto, will you assign one of your destroyers to manage the combined Mars and Belter fleets for Sol system patrol and protection? During our absence?”
The man, wearing his Mars red uniform and looking busy as a dozen crew moved behind him to various function stations, showed resolute determination. “I will. Captain Amitar Gupta of the MacArthur is hereby promoted to Fleet Commander. She will oversee the patrol assignments of all ships in the two Belter fleets and our Mars fleet.” The man smiled briefly. “She will also assume the onerous duties of coordination with political . . . dignitaries from the various nations and worlds who voted Declarations of War against the Arbitor ship and system. Satisfactory?”
“Most satisfactory, admiral.” Jack looked back to Nikola, who seemed fully recovered from the attack of nausea. “Chief Astronomer, will you provide our Pilot with the galactic coordinates for the Megurk system? Along with a distance and travel time estimate?”
Nikola gave him a quick nod. “I will.” She looked down at her Astro panel. “Coordinates sent to Pilot Elaine Munroe. Distance to Megurk system is 87.4 light years. Travel time estimate is two days, three hours, twenty-two minutes and sixteen seconds.”
Jack grinned. Her exactitude on the travel time was new. He looked to his sister. “Pilot Elaine, have you laid in the NavTrack orientation for departure?”
She gave him a sisterly smile, then looked down at her panel. “NavTrack oriented. This ship and the other fleet ships are now oriented toward the rotation of galactic arms. We are all aimed at the target star.”
&nb
sp; He checked his own Tech panel which showed all ship systems. Each one blinked green operational. “Drive Engineer, send a timelock to all fleet Drive modules. Activate our Alcubierre stardrive when ready.”
Behind him his buddy gave a long whistle. “Finally! Reactor One feeding power to the Alcubierre drive! Heading out!”
Jack watched the imagery on the front screen go jagged, then hazy, then disappear as the Alcubierre space-time globe enclosed their ship even as it shrank space-time ahead and expanded it behind them. Their ship, and the other nine ships of his fleet, shot out of Sol system and headed for the Megurk system.
Jack unlocked his restraint straps, stood up and looked back. He grinned as everyone looked up at him. “Angus steaks are thawed. Potatoes, greens and veggies are in the cooler. I’m heading back to cook dinner. I’ll take orders for beer and hard stuff whenever you all show up!”
Cassie smiled at him. Blodwen gave him a happy nod. Max punched the air. Elaine turned in her seat to follow him. Nikola rubbed her belly as if to reassure him she was ready to eat for two. Young Denise, who had her red braids curled atop her head, released her restraint straps. And Maureen, no doubt, was already headed forward since there was nothing for her Battle Module to shoot at.
He walked past his loyal crewmates and then through the hatch opening onto the Spine hallway. As his shipboots echoed against the metal of the hallway floor, Jack felt good inside. The Dark Energy Projector was an amazing bit of Tech. He felt certain it would work. When it did, he had in mind a nearby juvenile system he wanted to contact, Sentry probe be damned! Exploring the galaxy was the right of everyone who lived there, no matter if they were herbivores, omnivores or carnivores. And his Freedom Alliance allies would soon receive his call for them to send ships to Sol for the final confrontation with the Arbitor ship. He thought all eight systems would send ships. When they did, it meant more than forty deadly human and Alien starships would join the Uhuru in facing down MakMakGor and his fellow dinos!
Aliens Vs. Humans (Aliens Series Book 4) Page 23