“Will do, Sir.”
Vice-admiral Weiskoff broke the connection.
“He didn’t look so good, Cap.”
“He knows that this is the end of the line, Brooksy. All he can do is wait and fight.”
“Think we’ll get out of this?”
“Depends on Number Three, Toast. If he says that we stay and fight, we stay and fight. If he says we save Heimdallr, we save Heimdallr.”
“I vote for door number two, Cap.”
Onboard Odin
The Vice-Admiral, his adjunct and Odin’s captain sat in Weiskoff’s office, holding forgotten drinks and staring mindlessly at the view screen.
“Now we know, Gentlemen. Six months, then we’re in the barrel.”
“Anything we can do to prepare?”
“No, Jerry. Just make sure we are restocked and rearmed. And work to keep the moral up.”
“We’ve a good crew, Admiral. They’ll hold up. And step up when needed.”
“I know they will, Captain. When you receive the intel from Heimdallr, send it on to Tolimar. Who’s in charge down there, now?”
“Governor Kaufman is the figurehead. But First Lieutenant Rosser runs what military they’ve got. And Gregor’s daughter, with the Roth kid, is running the civilian side.”
“Rumor has it that Gregor has figured out how to un-brick all of the retirees.”
“I heard the same, Admiral. And that Gregor’s set up a chem plant to reproduce the drugs.”
“At another time, I’d be all over them, shutting all that down. But, if it helps Tolimar, more power to them.”
“If they’ve got any type of weaponry, it will be quite a show.”
“I hope we’re here to watch it.”
“I was thinking, Admiral.”
“Yes, Captain?”
“Let’s not hit the super dreadnaught. Let’s hit the carrier.”
“Not a bad idea, David. But there will be hell to pay. You know that there will be a protective force.”
“But we might be able to coax them into letting their guard down.”
“How would we do that?”
“Continue hiding in the corona of Tolimar’s star. Stay here until the carrier approaches Tolimar.”
“And pick up speed in the corona, attacking on the bias. It could work.”
“One pass, like the stingers did to the other dreadnaught. Then head for the dead-end gate. The one leading to nowhere.”
“If we do that, we never come back. We die slowly in space. I don’t like it. We do your pass, Captain. Then, if we have anything left, we loop back and attack the first available target. Jerome?”
“Works for me. Instead of a suicide run at the dreadnaught, we take a shot at the carrier. Then a run at the dreadnaught. With luck, we might be able to do some damage that helps Tolimar.”
“That’s the plan. David, Jerome. Work it up. Let’s make it a go.”
Onboard Griffin
Looking over his people, now Griffin’s Den, Krag saw nervous energy, eager anticipation, readiness to move.
“Today, we plan our final stages of Griffin’s upgrades and modifications. Let’s start with where we are. Master Varrini? Mack? Sue?”
“Well, Cap, as you know, we’ve got the mass negator in place and tested. The dark matter thruster is mounted and Griffin has been coated with the dark matter collectors. Sue?”
Everyone patiently waited while Sue went through her now accepted hair placing, brow furrowing, lip chewing ritual.
“All the connections are in place and tested. I’ve reprogrammed the logic to run the mass negator and dark matter engines from all of the pods, um, chairs on the bridge. Oh, and yours and Keiko’s personal tablets.”
“The dark matter cut out switch?”
“Oh, yes. That to. That icon is on all of the consoles and your tablets.”
“Master Varrini, what is your judgment?”
“We know that the weaponry, the gravity rails and the kinetic weapons have been tested. We haven’t run a full systems test, yet. Nor any test flights. That should be next.”
“Then you are saying that Griffin is ready for its first test flight?”
“A short one.”
“What about the nanites? You need nanites to keep your systems stable during jumps!”
Krag, Keiko, Mack and Sue exchanged glances.
“Settle down, Iggy. We’ll get to that. First, let’s get Griffin ready. Then the nanites. Ok?”
“But, Mack, we can do both at the same time!”
“Nah, Iggy. We all know that you can do a million things at a time. But we humans and Elonians, we can’t. If we tried, we’d make mistakes. Get hurt. So, we’ve learned to take one step at a time.”
“But I can check to make sure you don’t make mistakes.”
“That’s true, Igaklay. But then we wouldn’t have the hands-on experience of doing the actual testing and evaluation. We wouldn’t have the personal confidence in being successful.”
“But I can make sure you are successful, Ambassador Suzume!”
“But then we wouldn’t learn or get better. One step at a time, Igaklay. First we get Griffin to where we aren’t worried about her and then we address the nanites issue.”
“Oh, fine. But I could do both.”
“Iggy?”
“I know. No sulking.”
“And whining. No whining.” Mack snickered as he said this.
“Then it’s settled. The next stage is flight testing.”
“And weapons test, Captain Marston?”
“Yes, Gopai. And Weapons testing.”
“When do you want to do this, Cap?”
“Tomorrow? If we are a ready. Anyone not ready?”
Everyone showed, through eager looks, that all were ready.
“Good. Tomorrow. Ten a.m.”
Clan Kaporine Meeting Hall
“Lord Kaporine. I am sorry to bring you rotten ice. The Senate has voted. It has passed the bill accusing you of treason. The bill has been forwarded to the Monarchal Legal Court. A warrant for your arrest has been requested.”
“My Lady?”
“She is not included in the bill or the warrant. She is safe.”
“My son? King Daruke?”
“He stands to one side, My Lord. I am sorry. But, his new power has frozen his thinking.”
“I am lost.”
“You should contact Lady Analyn. Let her know of your situation, Waahai.”
“And the Humans. I think that they can help.”
“Should we leave? Do you want to communicate in private?”
“No, Elder Anupi.”
“Good. I wanted to see this wondrous communicator in action.”
Ballison Pyramid
“Father?”
“Little Fire?”
“I’m glad you called. I miss you and Mother.”
“As do we, Anyl. How are you doing?”
“Very well, Mother. I get to study Ballisonian history and how they used to travel the stars, help evolution of various species on many planets.”
“That’s wonderful, Dear. So you get to follow your dreams, after all.”
“Yes, Mother. Wonderful. And thrilling. I discovered that the Ballisonians didn’t interfere with Elonian evolution. They determined that we would achieve sentience on our own.”
“Then we weren’t a laboratory test for Kokali,” the ex-king laughed.
“Neither were the Humans. It seems that the Ballisons don’t interfere with natural selection when a species on a planet is on the path of enlightened evolution. The just observe.”
“I’m so happy for you, Little Fire. I’m sorry to bring down our conversation, but I have a problem which might need your help.”
“Whatever you need, Father.”
“Now that I am no longer Elonia’s King, many clans are lining up against Clan Kaporine.”
“But, we are the biggest clan on Elonia. No clan can hurt us.”
“That is true, Little F
ire. But if three or four clans declare war, we will lose.”
“What can I do?”
“Everything hinges on the Humans, Anyl. I think we can keep Clan Kaporine safe if we complete our contract with the Humans. If we succeed in obtaining the jump drive.”
“This requires that the Humans are involved. Let me contact them. Have us meet in our conference room.”
“I am sitting with our Elders, Little Fire. We will wait.”
After a few minutes, Princess Analyn came back on line.
“Father, Counsel, I am joined by the four Humans of Griffin Den, Vidhee, Legate Buster, Master Varrini and Igaklay’s Avatar.”
“Greetings to you all, Den Griffin.”
“Greetings to you, King Kaporine.”
“No longer king, Captain Marston. Just Lord.”
“I am very sorry that you lost your crown.”
“Ice flows on, Ambassador Suzume. Rivers change their direction.”
“Princess Analyn has stated that there may be some danger coming towards Clan Kaporine.”
“It is coming. The political and military aardbeasts are grouping, preparing to attack.”
“What can we do to stop this?”
“We of the Counsel have come to the belief that, should we have access to Griffin sooner rather than later, we can use the jump drive as a bargaining chip. Something to stop the Senate from implementing their actions. Something to stop the destruction of Clan Kaporine.”
“We are still on Ballison. Griffin isn’t ready for flight. With all of the upgrades and testing, she won’t be for another month. Then, we need to make our way to the Gregor shipyards.”
“I don’t know if we can survive that long.”
“Give us a day. Let us rework our timeline. Maybe we can come up with something.”
“Captain, if I may?”
“Yes, Buster?”
“The primary negotiating tool for Lord Kaporine and the Clan Counsel isn’t Griffin. It is the jump drive. Is that correct, Lord Kaporine?”
“That is correct, Legate Buster.”
“What if we delivered a jump drive? One separate from Griffin?”
“It would have to demonstratively be functional. Like in Griffin.”
“If we delivered it within a ship?”
“Yes. That would work. However, it would not solve our other problem.”
“What is that, Lord Kaporine?”
“It seems that the Elonian Senate wants me tried and imprisoned. Or executed.”
“Oh, Father! What about Daruke?”
“Our new king is staying out of that discussion, Little Fire.”
“By Bashia and all of her light, I will claw his eyes out!”
“Dear. Harness your wrath. Anger will not solve our problem.”
“I know, Mother. I am just so mad!”
“Lord Kaporine?”
“Yes, Legate Buster?”
“Then, as a first step, you need a ship with a jump drive. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Legate.”
“And you need to protect yourself against this senatorial threat?”
“Again, yes, Legate. You are correct in both matters.”
“What are you cooking up, Tinman?”
“A solution stew, Wrenchy.”
“Way too much Mack. Way too much.”
Everyone looked at Krag as he made this pronouncement.
“So, what are you thinking, Buster?”
“When the Elonian Senate came for Griffin, we fled. We fled to Wisdom Seeker.”
“And from there to Ballison.”
“What if Lord Kaporine did the same? What if he fled to Wisdom Seeker? He would be out of the reach of the Senate.”
“A very interesting thought, Legate Buster. But that would be only a temporary solution. Also, it would not be just me fleeing. It would be Naliana, all of our entourage and all of our immediate relatives. They would all become targets. We would consume all of the ship’s resources very quickly.”
“I thought of that. We came to the conclusion that, as a negotiating tool, you needed a working jump drive. One installed on a ship. We install one on Wisdom Seeker.”
“You could do that, Legate Buster?”
“Not me, Lord Kaporine. Vidhee, do you have the design of Wisdom Seeker?”
“Yes, Buster.”
“Would it be permissible to pass these designs to Igaklay?”
“Of course.”
“I have received the download, Buster.”
“Ok. Igaklay, do you have a jump drive that can function in Wisdom Seeker?”
“Wisdom Seeker is a very large vessel, Buster. It is of a magnitude bigger than anything ever built on Ballison.”
“Then you don’t have a jump drive assembly large enough in inventory.”
“No, Buster. But, I can build one!”
Igaklay’s avatar fairly vibrated with this new challenge.
“I see it, Buster. Lord Kaporine and his immediate circle fly to Wisdom Seeker. Igaklay builds a giant jump drive and gets it shipped to Wisdom Seeker.”
“That is exactly where I was going, Captain.”
“That creates two problems. Igaklay, how big is this jump drive going to be?”
“Based upon Wisdom Seeker’s specifications, about the size of Griffin.”
“Then we don’t have any way to get the drive to Wisdom Seeker. The second problem is installation. No one on Wisdom Seeker has the knowledge. And her chief engineer is here.”
“Once Igaklay sent me the giant jump drive requirements, I came up with a solution for both. We turn the jump drive into its own ship. Since it is the same size as Griffin, we mount a detachable jump drive to it. One with the same attributes as the one on Griffin. And mount a detachable control room.”
“Then we end up with this giant jump drive having power. But no guidance or control. And what about the installation?”
“That’s where I come in, Captain. After all, I am Griffin’s controlling A.I. With a personality. So, I become the pilot for the jump drive ship. Since I have all of the schematics required for installing the jump drive, once I arrive, I become the lead engineer.”
“Not going to happen, Buster. You are one of the most important beings of the entire Griffin Den. There is no way that I am going to allow you to subject yourself to that kind of risk.”
“There is no risk, Captain. My current body can survive in any hostile environment. Even the cold of space. My original storage cylinder has enough capacity to store my being. You just back me up, stick me in the control room on the jump drive and I become the ship’s bridge. I’ve been doing that since my inception, more than thirty years ago.”
“Yes. But most of that time, you were a high-end processor. A brain in a box. Now you are a sentient being. The risk is too great.”
“Captain Marston?”
“Yes, Vidhee?”
“It is my conclusion that Buster’s answer is the right, and only, solution. Buster is my friend. Over time, I have come to believe that legate Buster is my closest friend. Your recognition of the danger is correct. Making these jumps with a makeshift ship is dangerous. But, I will make a commitment. A promise. I guarantee that Buster’s backup will be an exact duplicate of my friend. I will personally see that the crystal configuration exactly matches, down to the molecule, Buster’s current configuration.”
“You two are Bestie’s, Syn-Gal?”
“That’s all you got from this, Wrenchy?”
“That’s a big deal, Lassie. Real big. And that’s not all I got, Love. I agree with Buster and Vidhee. This solves all of King, oops, Lord Kaporine’s problems. With the jump drive, Ballison becomes his home base. Wisdom Seeker can bounce back and forth between here and Elonia, whenever he needs. And he can use the jump drive like the sword of Damocles, holding it over the heads of all those misbegotten miscreants threatening him and his Clan.”
No one noticed that all of the Kaporines, Ex-Princess Analyn, Lord and Lady Kaporine, the C
lan Counsel, sat in silence, listening to the Humans and their Synthetic do what Humans did. No one noticed the Elonians listening to the free-thinking, individual creativity work its way towards a Human solution.
“I don’t like this, Buster.”
“Krag. We all agree. This is dangerous for Buster. But Vidhee gave us our solution. She gave us her word. She will protect Buster’s very being.”
“I really don’t like this, Keiko.”
“Igaklay. You said that you could create a new body for Buster. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Ambassador. I can make an exact replica of what Buster uses right now. I have the specifications from your library. Or I can make a human one, like my Avatar.”
“Then, if we needed to, we can activate Buster’s backup and place it in a new body. Correct?”
“Yes, Ambassador.”
“Vidhee, what would be the differences between Buster and his backup?”
“None, at the point of the download, Ambassador Suzume. But Buster, from that point forward, would continue down his timeline, having new experience, new growth. That would be lost if we lost the original Buster.”
“Krag. I think we should do this. I’m afraid, too. But we have to help Anyl and her family.”
“I know. I know. Look, you three.” Krag glared across Buster, Vidhee and Igaklay. “Nothing, not one blink, gets done without my approval. Understood?”
All three, in perfect unison, answered, “Sir, yes, sir, Captain.”
“You clowns. Mack, you and I are going to have a discussion.”
“Lord Kaporine. You and your counsel have been listening. What are your thoughts?”
“The ice under our feet is melting, Ambassador Suzume. We need to move off of this dangerous pond or we will sink and be trapped. Little Fire. What do you think?”
“I believe in my Human friends, Father. I trust them. You should follow their lead. They will lead you to a safe snow pack.”
“Captain Marston. If you give approval to this plan of action, we will follow your lead in this manner. Tell us what you need us to do. We will follow your commands.”
Krag took a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Keiko rubbed his forearm as he fought to relax. Then she took his large hand in both of her small ones.
Battle in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 4) Page 25