If a response had not been received by a certain time, the plan called for some selected uninhabited areas of Thurien's surface to be devastated as a demonstration that the ultimatum was serious. That time had now arrived, and Broghuilio's aides were waiting with a tense expectancy. "Report the current status of the fleet," he instructed curtly.
"No change," JEVEX replied. "Bombardment squadron standing by and awaiting order. Secondary beams unlocked and primed for area saturation. Coordinates programmed for targets as selected."
Broghuilio gazed around his circle of generals to savor the moment for a while longer, then opened his mouth to issue the command. At that instant JEVEX spoke again. "I have to interrupt, Excellency. A channel has just opened from Earth, top priority. Your response is requested at once."
The smirk vanished from Broghufflo's face. "I have nothing to talk to Sverenssen about. He has his instructions. What does he want?"
"It isn't Sverenssen, Excellency. It's Verikoff."
Broghuillo's expression changed to an angry frown. "Verikoff? What business does he have there at this time? He should be handling the situation in Russia. What does he mean by ignoring protocols in this fashion?"
JEVEX seemed to hesitate for a moment. "He. . . says he has an ultimatum to deliver to you personally, Excellency."
Broghuilio looked as if he had suddenly been punched in the face. He stood absolutely motionless for a few seconds while an ominous tide of deep purple crept slowly upward behind his beard, starting at his collar and eventually finding its way to his
scalp. The generals around him were exchanging shocked, uncomprehending looks. Broghuillo licked his lips, and his fists opened and closed by his sides. "Get him here," he growled. "And JEVEX, do not disconnect him until I say so."
"I regret that is impossible, Excellency," JEVEX replied. "Verikoff is not coupled neurally into the system. I have audio and visual contact only." A screen on one wall of the room came to life to show Verikoff standing in the center of Sverenssen's communications room, evidently having thought better of committing himself to the recliner that was partly visible behind him. Something had happened to him since he had entered the room. He was staring out from the screen with his arms folded solidly across his chest, and he looked calm and assured.
"Behold, the textbook warlord." Verikoff allowed his lip to curl into a contemptuous sneer. "You should not have sent us to Earth, Broghuilio. It has been an honor and an education to meet real warriors. Believe my words-you would be even more of a fool than the fool you are to pit your rabble of amateurs against the Terrans. If you do, they will destroy you. That is my message."
Broghuilio's eyes widened. The veins at the sides of his neck began pulsating. "You are the traitor!" he spat. "Now we see the vermin exposing himself at last. What is this talk of an ultimatum?"
"Traitor? No." Verikoff remained unperturbed. "Merely a question of calculating the winning odds, which after all is your own dictum. You have set us up well to assume control of Earth very soon, and we thank you for it, but unfortunately for you that puts us on the winning side. Which do you think we'd rather be-.caretakers of an outpost of your empire, or rulers of our own? The answer should not be difficult."
"What do you mean by we?" Broghuillo demanded. "How many of you are behind this?"
"All of us, of course. We manipulate all of Earth's major national governments and therefore have control over its strategic forces. And we have enjoyed the cooperation of the Thuriens for a very long time now. How else do you think they've been able to talk to the Terrans without your knowing anything about it? They know that you, not the Terrans, are the real threat to the Galaxy, and we have persuaded them to allow us a free hand to deal with
it. So we command a fully armed planet, backed by Thurien technology. It's all over, Broghuilio. All you have left to save now is your skin."
A short distance back from the open door through which Verikoff was speaking, Hunt turned an astounded face toward Lyn and leaned close to whisper in her ear. "I didn't think he had it in him. The guy deserves an Oscar." Beside them, Sobroskin, looking as if he didn't really believe it either, had lowered the automatic with which he had been covering Verikoff from the passageway.
Broghuilio was looking bewildered. "Strategic forces? What strategic forces? Earth doesn't have any strategic forces."
Then JEVEX interrupted again. "We have an alarm condition in Sector Five. Something unidentified is attempting to penetrate the net. Two destroyers have been detached from station and sent to investigate."
"Don't bother me with such things now," Broghuilio raged, waving his arms impatiently. "Delegate to Sector Control and report later." He looked back at Verikoff again. "Earth demilitarized years ago."
"Is that what you believe?" Verikoff leered openly. "You poor simpleton. You don't really imagine we'd allow Earth to disarm when we knew this day was coming, do you? That story was purely for your consumption. Ironically you almost changed it back into the truth. It has given the Thuriens a lot of amusement."
Broghuilio still couldn't make any sense out of it. "Earth has disarmed," he insisted. "Our surveillance . . JEVEX has shown us-"
"JEvEx!" Verikoff scoffed. "VISAR has been pumping fairy tales into JEVEX for years." His expression became hard and threatening. "Listen to me, Broghuilio, for I am in no mood to repeat myself. This demonstration at Thurien has taken things too far. The Ganymeans have seen now what you represent, and they are not of a mind to hold us back by scruples. So this is our ultimaturn to you: either you withdraw from Thurien now, and agree to place your entire military command under our jurisdiction unconditionally, or the Thuriens will transfer through to Jevlen a combined Terran force that will blow you to stardust-you, your whole planet, and that laughable aggregation of scrap that you call a computer network."
Somewhere deep inside JEVEX something hiccuped. A million
tasks that had been running inside the system froze in the confusion as directives coming down from the highest operating levels of the nucleus redefined the whole structure of priority assignments to force an emergency analysis of the new data. And in the middle of it all, the routines that had been scanning for inquisitive probes through h-space faltered. It was only for a few seconds, but.
On Thurien, vis~ spoke suddenly to end a long vigil that had been dragging silently by for hours. "Something's happened! I've got a link to zoRAc!" Even as Caidwell was jumping to his feet, and Heller and Danchekker were looking up with startled faces on the other side of the room, streams of binary were pouring across the gulf to the Shapieron, light-years away, and VISAR had begun analyzing the patterns assembled by ZORAC.
"What's the situation?" Calazar asked tensely. "Is the ship all right? How far into JEVEX have they penetrated?"
"They've got problems," VISAR said after a short delay. "Give me a few more seconds. This is going to need some fast footwork."
On the Command Deck of the Shapieron, a familiar voice that had not been heard for several days spoke suddenly to break the silence that had fallen with despair. "Say, you're in a bit of a mess here. Sit tight. I'll handle this."
Eesyan's jaw dropped in disbelief. Garuth looked up speechlessly from where he had sunk down into a chair at one of the empty crew stations. Around them a score of other dazed Ganymeans had heard it too, but didn't believe it, either. "vIsAR?" Eesyan whispered, as if half fearing an aural hallucination. "ZORAC, was that vrsAE?"
"It's busy," zoRAc's voice answered. "Don't ask me what's happened, but yes it was. Something deactivated the self-checking functions, and I've switched off the jamming routine. We're through to Thurien."
While ZORAC was speaking, VISAR decoded the access passwords into .JEVEX's diagnostic subsystem, erased a set of data that it found there, substituted new data of its own, and reset the alarm indicators. Inside the Jevienese Defense Sector Five control center, a display screen changed to announce a false alarm caused by a malfunctioning remote communications relay. Far off in space, the tw
o destroyers turned away to return to their stations and resume
routine patrolling. Already VISAR was pouring volumes of information into JEVEX that it had not time to explain, not even to ZORAC. At the same time it broke its way into JEVEX's communications subsystem and gained control of the open channel to Earth.
A voice that Verikoff recognized as VISAR's spoke suddenly in the communications room in Sverenssen's house. "Okay, we've done it. If Vic Hunt and the others are there somewhere, you can bring them in to watch what happens next. I can edit them out of the datastream to Jevlen on a one-way basis. Get off the line now as quick as you can."
Somehow Verikoff kept his astonishment from showing. Behind him Hunt and the others had heard and were slowly moving in through the door, too astounded to say anything. Broghuilio, obviously unaware of them, was still staring dumbstruck from one of the screens. Verikoff pulled himself together and reacted swiftly. "You have one hour to give your reply, Broghuillo," he said. "And hear this-if one of those ships at Thurien makes so much as anything that even looks like a hostile move, we will attack under an order that will be irrevocable once issued. You have one hour."
Nothing changed on the screen, but VISAR announced, "Okay, you're off the air." At once a bewildered Verikoff was assailed by congratulations and back-slapping from all sides. Pacey and Benson were watching incredulously from the doorway, while just inside the room Sobroskin slipped his automatic surreptitiously back inside his jacket.
Another screen came to life to show the Command Deck of the Shapieron as VISAR continued to integrate the communications functions of JEVEX that it was taking over into its own network. A few seconds later another screen brought the view from the Government Center in Thurios. It had to be the most bizarre computer hookup ever, Hunt thought as his eyes jumped from side to side to take it all in. Caidwell, Heller, and Danchekker were physically in Alaska, yet he was seeing them through a link that extended from Connecticut to a Jevlenese star light-years away, back to the Shapieron and from there to a second star, and from Gistar back to the perceptron at McClusky.
"You . . . apparently believe in cutting things close," Eesyan said from the Shapieron, still looking distinctly shaken.
"You worry too much," Caidwell told him, addressing a point
offscreen. "We know how to manage a business." He shifted his gaze to look straight out of the screen in Connecticut. "How'd it go? Is everybody okay? Where's Sverenssen?"
"We had a change of plans," Hunt replied. "I'll tell you about it later. Everybody's fine here."
On the screen that showed the Jevienese War Room, Broghuilio had demanded a report from JEVEX on its current surveillance intercepts from Earth. JEVEX responded by producing accounts of Earth's leaders meeting secretly to agree on details of a combined attack on Jevien. That was already historical, JEVEX declared in answer to questions from a completely stunned Broghuilio. Currently the plans for the assault were complete, and preparations were well advanced. JEVEX's latest intercept was a briefing from the senior officers of the joint Terran command staff, which it proceeded to replay. Broghuilio grew more perplexed and more flustered as he listened.
"Explain this, JR VEX," he demanded in a strangled voice. "What forces were those primitives talking about? What were those weapons?"
"My respects, Excellency, but it would appear to be self-explanatory," JEVEX answered. "The strategic forces that Earth has been building for some time. The weapons referred to are typical of those deployed by the various nations of Earth at the present time."
Broghuiio's brow knotted, and his beard quivered. He scowled at the nervous faces around him as if seized by the sudden suspicion that only he among all of them might be sane. "Typical of what weapons deployed by Earth at the present time? You have never informed us of such weapons."
Invisible fingers raced through JEVEX's memory, interchanging hundreds of thousands of record descriptors in a fraction of a second. "I regret that I must dispute the statement, Excellency. I have reported the details consistently."
The color of Broghuilio's face darkened even further. "What are you talking about? Reported details of what?"
"The sophisticated interplanetary offensive and defensive capabilities that Earth has been developing for several decades," JEVEX informed him.
"JEVEX, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Broghui
lb exploded. "Earth disarmed years ago. You have reported that consistently. Explain this."
"There is nothing to explain. I have always reported what I have just said."
Broghuilio brought his hands up to massage his eyes, then wheeled around suddenly to throw out his hands in an imploring gesture to those around him. "Am I going mad, or is that idiot machine having some kind of a fit?" he demanded. "Will somebody tell me that I have been seeing and hearing what I think I have been seeing and hearing for all these years. Have I been imagining things? Were we told that Earth had disarmed, or were we not? Do those weapons that we just heard about exist, or do they not? Am I the only sane person in this room, or am I not? Somebody tell me what's happening."
"JEVEX reports the facts," Estordu said lamely, as if that explained everything.
"HOW CAN IT BE REPORTING FACTS?" Broghuillo shouted. "It's contradicting itself. Facts are facts. They can't contradict."
"I have contradicted nothing," JEVEX Objected. "My records all indicated that-"
"Shut up! Speak when you are spoken to."
"My apologies, Excellency."
"What Verikoff said about VISAR must be true," Estordu muttered in a worried voice. "vis~ could have been manipulating JEVEX when they were coupled together, before JEVEX disconnected-for years, maybe. Now that JEVEX is isolated, possibly we're receiving the truth for the first time." A ripple of alarmed voices ran around the War Room.
Broghuilio licked his lips and looked suddenly less sure of himself. "~uvnx," he commanded.
"Excellency?"
"Those reports-they were received direct from the surveillance system?"
"Of course, Excellency."
"Those weapons exist? They are being mobilized now?"
"Yes, Excellency."
Wylott was looking uncertain. "How can we be sure?" he objected. "JEVEX says first one thing and then another. How do we know what is true?"
"So, do we do nothing?" Broghullio asked him. "Would you just sit there and hope that the Terran assault force doesn't exist? What would it take to convince you-a hundred thousand of them coming for your throat? And what would you do then? Imbecile!" Wylott fell silent. The others around the War Room looked at one another with apprehension.
Broghuilio clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing slowly. "We still have a card up our sleeve," he said after a few seconds. "We have decoded their top-level secure communications, and we know their plans. We may have fewer weapons, but we are immeasurably ahead of Earth technically. We command a vastly superior firepower." He looked up, and his eyes began to gleam. "You heard those primitives-the main advantage they were counting on was surprise. Well, they no longer have that advantage. So, Verikoff calls us a rabble, does he? Let him send in his horde of Terran primitives. We will be waiting for them. He will find out who are the rabble when they come up against Jevlenese weapons."
Broghuilio turned back to face Wylott. "The operation at Thurien must be suspended for the time being," he declared. "Recall our forces at once and redeploy them for defense of Jevien. This is not a time to be concerned about upsetting orbits at Gistar. Project the transfer ports in to where the ships are now, and get them back here as soon as possible. I want them in position by this time tomorrow."
New orders went out to the commanders of the task force at Thurien, who prepared their vessels for immediate transfer back. But they were in VI5AR-controlled space, and JEVEX reported that its attempts to project entry ports into that region were being jammed; the ships could not be brought back without getting clear of Gistar first. Broghuilio had no choice but to extend his deadline by an extra day and o
rder his force to get away under its own power. An hour later it was streaming in full ifight back toward the edge of the Thurien planetary system.
"Phase One completed successfully," Caldwell announced with satisfaction from Thurios as he watched the data displays being presented inside the Government Center. "We've got the bastards on the run. Now let's make sure we keep things going that way."
chapter thirty-five
The transfer ports were ready and waiting outside the system of Gistar as arranged, and the Jevienese warships peeled out of formation to enter them in relays with crisp, disciplined, military precision. What they didn't know was that by then VISAR was controlling the transfer system, not JEvEX, and such were VISAR'S manipulations of JEvEX's internal functions that JEVEX didn't know it, either. Upon exiting back into normal space, one squadron found itself at Sirius, another at Aldebaran, and another near Canopus, while the rest reappeared strewn in ones and twos across Arcturus, Procyon, Castor, Polaris, Rigel, and assorted other stars in between. Thus they were out of harm's way for the time being and could be rounded up later. That completed Caldwell's Phase
Two.
With a cigarette in one hand and a cup of black coffee in the other, Hunt stood on the patio outside Sverenssen's house, watching a protesting group of people in brightly colored garb being herded into an Air Force personnel carrier by the pool while a vigilant semicircle of Special Forces troopers looked on from a short distance back. The most recent captives had arrived at Sverenssen's expecting a party, but had found the CIA waiting instead. With VISAR controlling the surveillance there was no longer any need to conceal the activity around the house from orbital observation, but Clifford Benson had decided to maintain a low proffle all the same, mainly to take advantage of just this kind of o~5portunity to extend further his suspect list of Sverenssen's acquaintances. But that was really just a precaution to identify any collaborators that might have been recruited locally. VISAR had found included among JEVEX'S records a complete organizational chart of the Jevlenese operation on Earth, and with that information now in Benson's and Sobroskin's hands, the rest of the network would soon be mopped up.
Giant Series 03 - Giant's Star Page 30