by Chris Hechtl
“We thought of that earlier, you didn't. I take it you are reminding me?” Jack asked.
“Yes. There is a running thought on social media that this is a misunderstanding.”
“Yeah well, I'm not sticking around to explain things to them. Not with my butt out in the open at any rate. Progress on the evacuation?”
“Going relatively smoothly in some areas, poorly in some of the hold-out regions,” Jeeves reported, projecting a map on Jack's implants. It was color coded, with red areas being the least evacuated. “The people in the outback wish to take their chances.”
“Let them. Pass the order to Alan to focus on the main cities and other areas then. Once they are clear, we can do something about the outback. If they wish to risk their necks, so be it,” Jack said.
“That's cold, Jack,” Max murmured in his implants.
“It's war. You can do everything you can to help people survive, but if they won't help themselves, then you need to triage. Cut your losses and move on to those you can still help,” Jack said firmly. Max nodded.
~~*^*~~
The battleship's crew noted the alien satellites and space station in orbit of the planet as well as an automated platform in the atmosphere of the nearest gas giant planet. The Gamma Fleet Herd Bull ordered the satellites to be destroyed by bombardment at a distance but to spare the space station.
“Take careful pains we do not damage it.”
“Why?” the ship's Alpha bull asked.
“I wish to board it. I want to know more about their space technology. Besides, it will make for a useful additional platform for our people to use,” Gamma Fleet Herd Bull stated.
The ship's Alpha bull nodded. “Understood, Gamma. It will be done as you say.”
“Ship's, Alpha,” the Gamma bull said mildly. The ship's alpha turned to look expectantly at the herd leader. “Do not question me again so carelessly,” the gamma said mildly.
The ship's Alpha bull flinched and then nodded. “Understood. I did not mean to challenge you.”
“Good.”
~~*^*~~
Jack passed the order to evacuate the station. The crew had already packed; he'd kept a shuttle there at all times. They were on board the shuttle and off the station within twenty minutes of his order.
He planned to use the station as a trap, to lure the aliens in if possible. If he was lucky, they might even board and allow Jeeves to gather intelligence about them before they shut down the communications channels.
~~*^*~~
“Yup, that's it, they are hostile,” General Elliot said when the satellites went offline in droves.
“What just happened?” Sergeant Maltese asked.
“They took out the satellites, our eyes and ears,” the general replied as he switched to a land relay system. It was a bit more cumbersome than the link through the satellite, but it was at least theoretically secure.
“Sir, last reports were incoming objects to the planet,” a tech reported.
“Orbital bombardment most likely,” the general said with a nod. “For what we're about to receive, I suppose we should be grateful.”
“Funny, I'm not,” the sergeant replied with a snort of disgust.
~~*^*~~
“Yeah, for the record, I'd say destroying our satellites was an overt hostile act,” Jack drawled. He felt Menolly's hands dig into his arm. “We're okay,” he murmured just as the first earthquakes hit. The lights swayed from the rolling motion.
“What was that?” Menolly asked.
“That was Landing City getting vaporized,” Jeeves reported grimly.
Jack heard Menolly's soft whimper and felt her bury herself in his shoulder. He tried to hug and comfort her the best he could as he looked up to the ceiling to watch the dust kicked loose from the earthquakes drift in the air and then begin to fall.
~~*^*~~
Jack felt impotent anger as he watched twenty years of blood, sweat, and tears get wiped out in an orgy of destructive energy. The capital was the first to be bombed; Landing took a blow at a near vertical angle. The round was massive and traveling fast enough to transfer plenty of kinetic energy into heat, light, and power that obliterated the Terran city. He could imagine a smoldering crater in its wake.
He closed his eyes but that didn't help him look away. His implants kept feeding him the data. They didn't have links to the towns, cities, and villages further out, but two of the nearest towns were obliterated within moments of Landing's destruction.
“Thank … whatever deity you want to name that we're underground,” Alan murmured.
“I've lost faith in any by now. If they were around, why would they let this happen?” a voice asked as a sharp earthquake tremor made lights blink and go out for a long moment. A cry of dismay was cut off when the lights flickered and came back on.
“How … I mean, how bad is it?” Alan asked.
“You got everyone out who'd go, right?” Jack asked, turning to the Sheriff as he opened his eyes.
Sheriff Tupper nodded. “Everyone who'd go. A few were too stubborn or stupid and insisted on chancing staying behind.”
Jack stared at him.
“I know. I remembered what you said though, leave them. We did. The good news is, this was instant,” Alan said, indicating the screens. Jack frowned as he turned back to the screens. Something told him it was just getting started.
~~*^*~~
To their surprise and Jack's delight, the aliens took the bait and boarded the space station. It gave the Terrans a priceless first look at the enemy, starting with their small craft and suits. When the suited aliens entered the airlock, Jack heard Max snort.
“Tight fit,” the Neodog said.
“Yeah,” Jack murmured, watching the aliens. One did something with a piece of equipment. “Note, bilateral symmetry. They have two legs and two arms like us. They are bulkier though, bigger. I bet they mass twice as much as us.”
“Large heads. They use metal suits,” Menolly murmured just as one of the aliens took his helmet off.
“Minotaurs?” Jack said in stunned disbelief as he saw the long bovine face. “Are you frackin' serious?”
“Apparently, so. They have two eyes too. It looks like they cut their horns off. See the flat area?” Menolly asked, pointing to the image. “Nose … mouth … big ears …”
“They are getting out of the suits,” Jeeves reported.
There was no sense of modesty in the group. There was also a clear sign that all of the group were male. “This gets better and better. They've got balls and franks,” General Elliot drawled, clearly disgusted with something.
It took Menolly a moment before she understood what he was getting at. When she saw the hairy scrotum, she snorted. “What's the matter, General, jealous?” she teased.
“Don't even go there,” the general replied.
“Ah,” she said with a knowing nod. “It's not the size of the tool; it’s how you use it. Is that it?” she asked wickedly.
“Hey!” her husband protested, turning a mock glower on her. He felt good that she was feeling up to joke about the situation but … when she snickered he shook his head at her in bemusement and then turned back to the show.
It was clear that the aliens were intrigued by Terran technology. One seemed to be some sort of scientist or engineer; he measured everything with an old-fashioned tape measure. He even broke out a set of feeler gauges to check the tolerances on some of the fit areas like the doors.
“One of them is accessing the computer systems,” Jeeves reported.
Jack blinked then looked around the camera feeds until he saw one of the aliens had gotten into the command center of the station.
“Note they've had some familiarization with our tech. They know enough about us to decode our language. That means they've hit someone else,” General Elliot pointed out.
“Janus,” Jeeves stated. “They did come from that direction.”
“Most likely, yes,” Jack said with a nod. He knew there wa
s plenty in the database to occupy the aliens, but nothing of a real threat to the colony. Jeeves had seen to that. While the aliens attempted to download and sift through their ill-gotten gains, Jeeves would work a series of worms back into the alien's systems. “Interesting anatomy,” he said, changing the subject as he studied a screen grab. “Four fingers on each hand, well, three and a thumb. Hooves … a tiny tail … hair … skin … hmm … They look like a cross between a turtle and a Minotaur. Familiar for some reason,” he said with a shake of his head. General Elliot snorted. “Get as many images and video of them as we can for study. Thermal too, all spectrums. We need to get this into our scientist's hands ASAP.”
“Yes, Governor,” the A.I. replied.
“Any problems with functioning?” Jack asked, looking at the little headshot of the A.I.
“I just lost two-thirds of my primary processors. I am under a serious workload. I am doing my best to prioritize and keep up. You just added another task for me to perform.”
“So, you are saying you are hurt and under stress like the rest of us,” Jack said with a nod. Okay,” Jack quipped as he went back to studying the enemy. “Just asking.”
Menolly poked him. He grunted obediently but didn't otherwise respond.
Chapter 11
Captain Holt felt the almost palatable relief as Speedwell exited hyperspace. Then everyone seemed to hold their breath until the navigator looked up with a broad smile. “Right on the money, Captain,” she reported.
“Well, at least something is going right, finally,” the captain replied with a tight nod. “Secure ship from hyperspace. Engineering, get to work as soon as you can. We've got a lot of ground to cover and a lot of time to make up for,” he ordered.
“Aye aye, sir. We'll do our best,” an unknown voice said over the intercom.
His ship had suffered an engineering problem in hyperspace that had slowed their speed drastically. The captain had seethed about the additional delay for weeks and had even considered dropping out of hyperspace to make the repairs. His engineers had plenty of time to find the problem and repair it while they had sat in Antigua orbit but hadn't; that was what bothered him the most. They'd explained that it couldn't have been seen until the ship's systems had been under load in hyperspace.
He was just glad they'd had sufficient backup equipment in order to get out of hyperspace at all. A journey that should have taken a few months had taken nearly eleven long months. The engineers assured him though that they'd be ready to go with the rebuilt parts by the time they got to the hyperbridge jump coordinates.
“Sir, we're picking up a broadcast on all frequencies. It's in English. It is an emergency broadcast,” the communication's tech said, surprising the bridge watch.
“Let's hear it,” the captain ordered, sitting up straight in his chair.
Speedwell's crew and computers had picked up the broadcast when they had exited hyperspace at the outer edge of the F class star system thirty light years from B-92c. The startled communication's techs passed on the message and then located the buoy from Magellan.
“Now they tell us! A little late!” Captain Holt said scathingly.
“Should we go back, sir?” a tech asked, turning to him.
“I'm not going back to Antigua! One, we don't know what we'd be jumping into. Two, we're not contracted to bring them back. And three, they'd take forever to get organized and back on board!” The captain shook his head. “Whatever happens next, sorry, they are on their own. Prep the ship for the jump for Sol,” he ordered.
The tech looked at him dubiously for a moment, then nodded. “Aye aye, sir.”
~~*^*~~
Halfway to the jump point the sleepy sensor watch was surprised when a series of hyper jumps went off behind them. Alarms went off throughout the ship. Captain Holt couldn't hear the report over the klaxons so he ran to his bridge. He came onto it in time to see the XO come in through the port side door. “Report!” the captain ordered. “And cut those damn sirens!” he ordered.
“Sir, we've got sightings of alien ships behind us!” a nervous tech said, pointing a shaky finger to the plot screen.
The captain pursed his lips as he looked up at it. “You are sure they are alien?” he demanded after a moment.
“We're getting a better feed on them now, sir. So far, we can see two big mother ships that match the ship Magellan reported, plus four smaller ones, and a bunch of other ships behind them. We don't have a good look at those so we can't tell you much about them, Skipper,” a sensor tech reported.
“That is way more ships than what's been reported floating around the sector,” the XO said worriedly.
“We're still working on the mass readings, sir. Energy readings … Neutrinos are a bit far out. But based on what we can see so far, they don't match anything in our files,” the sensor tech reported.
“So, you didn't jump to conclusions,” the captain said mildly. “Okay, how are we on getting to the jump point?”
“We'll get there in four more days at our current speed.”
“Speed up,” the captain ordered. “I want us at 80 percent power,” he ordered.
“Engineering is still working on those repairs, sir,” the XO reminded him as they caught calls over the intercom from the various departments. Some were reporting in their status; others were asking what the hell was going on.
“They are working on the hyperdrive. They now have plenty of incentive to get it fixed soon,” the captain said firmly as he took the hot seat and picked up the microphone. He turned the intercom on and then squeezed the trigger twice to tell the computer to cut off everyone else. “This is Captain Holt speaking,” the captain said with his best command voice. “It looks like we've got unexpected and unwelcome company. We're still working on who they are but we're certain they aren't friendly. We're going to increase our speed to stay clear of them. If anything changes, I will let you know. Engineering, you better get those repairs done quickly,” the captain said. “Captain Holt out,” he said, closing the channel.
“We're recalculating our course with the new speed now,” the navigator reported. “Sir, we can only increase the speed for a short time and then we'll have to flip and brake. We'll have to decelerate more. The increase in speed will shorten our time to the jump point by … it looks like twelve hours.”
“Good.”
“Sir, we're getting more readings. The energy pulse in our wake is dissipating,” the sensor tech said.
“By all means record everything. Make certain you've got multiple copies. Certified copies,” the captain ordered.
“Understood, sir,” the tech said as she settled down.
The captain glanced at the XO. They still weren't certain if they were out of danger or not.
~~*^*~~
“Beta Fleet Herd Leader! An alien ship is in the star system!” a technician reported excitedly as the task force's jump energy bled off.
“Are you certain of this?” the Beta bull demanded, leaning forward from his dais and gripping the hand rail tightly. For an answer, the technician put the plot up with a blinking icon.
“We have it on gravitic sensors. Neutrino sensors have confirmed it. We are still processing the light spectrum for appropriate spoor, Herd Leader,” the technician reported.
“Order our consorts to give chase,” the Beta bull ordered.
“They may be faster than us,” the ship's Alpha bull warned.
“They might. They would not be sitting here if there were not something wrong with them. Run them down before they can escape,” the Beta bull ordered.
“Beta bull, we have detected the signals from an alien automated beacon. It is transmitting nearby.”
“A warning?” the ship's Alpha bull speculated.
“Order Task Force Two's Beta Consort to find it and destroy it,” the Beta bull ordered.
“Order logged and transmitted, Herd Leader,” the communication's tech reported a moment later.
The Beta bull grunted in acknowledg
ment as he watched his orders being carried out. The consort cruisers were faster than his battleships but not as well armed or armored. They were the horns designed to run an enemy down and into his battleship's fire. As he watched, his two consorts went out after the alien sighting while one of the beta task force's consorts hunted down the noisome fly of a beacon.
~~*^*~~
“They broke up into three groups. The ones that concern us are the pair coming hell for leather our way of course,” the XO reported, pointing to the two icons approaching in Speedwell's wake.
The crew was near panic, sweating bullets despite the recognition that their ship had a head start.
The captain had to project an air of confidence he wasn't certain he really felt. But as the long agonizing days of the pursuit dragged on, something came to his attention.
The enemy ships might be close to overtaking him, but that was only because his ship was decelerating. They didn't have a lot of speed. He wondered why. If they were so advanced …
That sparked a slight ember of hope that the aliens weren't as far advanced as some in his crew feared.
“The main force is following in their wake. But we also detected a ship that broke off from the main group. It's headed to the satellite,” the XO reported, waking the captain from his woolgathering.
“Why?” the chief engineer demanded. “To what end?”
“Blow it up or take it apart,” the XO said. “That's all I can think of,” she said.
“Obviously, they can receive our signals since they are going after it,” the sensor tech said. “So much for the theory that this is all a misunderstanding,” she drawled darkly.
“Make sure we're recording everything, and I do mean everything. Any speculation you have, log that as well. Questions, anything. We'll need to pass it on once we're home,” the captain ordered.
“If we get home,” a tech murmured ever so softly.