"Probably, but I'd have to have all high level intellects out of the ship. The ANNU KI defers to those of higher capacity and look to them for directions."
I said, "Give the necessary orders. But before you start that, send to the Ranger ships the situation, and direct them to Planetary 180 from us."
I had the impression he was looking for a stanchion too.
In the next one and a half hours I learned another part of an Admirals job, fuming. When the orders are given, and willing people are doing their best to comply, the only thing left is to fume.
Marvin said, "We need more lift to break free."
"Tug and four Carriers, Puller beams, execute."
Something about fuming, you loose your ability to form long sentences.
Someone had formed a screen in the air in front of the Control Chair. Nerre' and I watched as the ship slowly emerged from the still frozen depths of the barren Canadian landscape. Vines held clods of earth together. When they let loose, it shined from the reflected sunlight against its mass. Sure enough, it looked like a wagon wheel. While we watched, the rim and spokes started to revolve, faster and faster. The sheen pushed out from the mass until it became a ball.
Marvin asked, "Where to?"
I asked Nerre', "Can we form a time field around it by placing our craft appropriately?"
She looked at her Propulsion Chair and got thumbs up from the two people there.
"Then we’re going home. Do it." I said, while reflecting that the Roman Empire was a hard thing to escape from. All Legionnaires went home if possible, someday.
As we slipped out of that time we heard from the Ranger Carriers, "Arrived. Wiped out small saucer craft. Left a mine field at their Negative - Positive crossover point. Will follow you, one half hour up and down time 100,000 miles back.
We hadn't detected any communications between the enemy ships. Perhaps they would fall for the trap.
When we neared our destination the Ranger Carriers closed up and followed us.
Upon final approach to our space-time holding point, Nerre' observed, "Lots more mines about, look."
Someone brought a screen up and the difference was startling. The inner grouping was surrounded by what seemed to be a swarm of bees. The passenger station and room for a second passenger station was surrounded by the Weapon Balls. Carriers were in motion around and out from that grouping. And mines, not stationary, but in motion doing some odd dance, but not a dance wholly in the current moment because some would blink out to reappear elsewhere. I realized I was seeing Prestrillo's mind at work. He was more devious than even me, hurrah.
A message came, "Surrender helm, hands off all controls."
Nerre' ordered, as she stepped down from her chair, "Stand away, all stations, stand away."
We watched as the dancing mines made way for us. On the screen appeared to be another player, barely seen, and then not for long. I looked at Nerre' questioningly and she shook her head. I looked at Marvin and he said, "Entrance Cannon. You'll get the details later, but they are bad news for anyone down range from them, Phaeton madness."
I thought that if he was impressed it was good news for us.
Our formation came to rest next to the passenger station. The Carriers and the tug let go of the ANNU KI ship at once. It continued to shine.
Marvin said, "All's well onboard. I've sent the ANNU KI to their sleep chambers. They connected themselves to life support. Some are so devoid of thought they aren't maintaining themselves. Fortunately the condition is not strange to them. It results often when the 'drivers' go on 'vacation'. I'll wake them up as needed. Their memories I've already copied. We'll have to have a conference when we come to rest."
Nerre' and I looked at him as if he'd lost a connection. We both opened our mouths to speak.
He held up a hand and said, "Broaden view." The view broadened. I cast about with my bulb. Sure enough, we were underway. Nerre' and I both did a 360, casting all the while. We were moving through space and time as our relation to the heavens changed, while the heavens themselves changed. I felt myself becoming one with the heavens. I drew back and held Nerre's arm while both of us regained our equilibrium.
I saw Marvin looking at us with a surprised expression on his face. I asked, "How do you do this all of the time?"
"Focus. You'll get it. Main Control says ETA thirteen hours to our new home. They also say we may come out in the middle of a battle."
Nerre' started giving orders. I said, "I'm going to find out if we have anything in the records about the ship we captured. Want to come along Marvin?"
"Thanks, but I already read it. You definitely should too, both of you."
So we left him and got an extra chair and both sat behind the console in the Captains office. Nerre' entered a description of what we had. It appeared on the view plate with a designation while a drawer popped open to the right behind us. I got what was in the drawer and laid it out on a work table. I separated it by systems. Nerre' came over. The screen says this was a second generation ship. A trillion plus years have passed since then. Who knows what they have now?"
"Indeed, but according to the Rangers, their last observation drone reported seeing what came out of negative space, was essentially what we have, balls of light."
She commented, "Too bad the Ranger mines didn't take them out."
"Yeah." Look at the propulsion data. The spin sets up a field. When the spin is not shot into at the exact angle of inlet any incoming is just deflected spun, away."
Nerre' agreed, "That's the way I see it happening from what I know. It's more efficient than our design. I wonder why the Elders didn't adopt it. Let's ask?"
We did. The answer was,' Long term exposure to the effects of being inside such a ball of energy was deterioration of bodily matrix'.
Nerre' agreed, "I can see how being cut off would create a bad effect. Maybe that's why they don't move the ships. Instead they duplicate them every twenty four hours. That takes a lot of energy, but they have twenty times the energy they need."
"But the question is, when the ships are underway, are they reproducing themselves, thereby leaving a string of ships back along our pathway, or not. It boggles the mind. I need a lay down. I need time to give the inner mind a chance to realize."
Nerre' said, "Good plan. I know just the wide couch to do that on. But first I'm going to pass along our data to Central Control."
I went to the corner of the room, pushed the button that turned the coach into a bed, sat, and pulled the magnetic clasps on my boots apart. Slipping out of the boots, I lay back and tried to envision what a ship which recreated itself every so often would feel, couldn't. But the question arose, into which future did the ship project? Was its path also 'written in stone', or did it deviate to follow some 'main stream' reality. Have to ask Marvin his opinion. Nerre' came back. I told her about my concern. She just kissed me and said, "In good time." Then she wiggled her back side into me, and fell asleep. I just hated her ability to do that. Eventually I defused and slept.
"Action stations, action stations." Brought both of us awake and quickly into our boots and out to the Control Room.
The DO said, "We're going to be at our destination in a half hour. That is the observation drones will arrive. Depending on their feed back the rest of us will break out, or reset the destination parameters. This whole time - space is a conflict between Lillian's people and the ANNU KI. Do you want me to step down now Captain?"
"Not just yet. I assume the ship is 100% ready to go."
"Yes the pilots are standing by in their ships. Landing personnel are geared for either ground, or in space boarding."
"Good, I'll be in the Captains office. Carry on."
I looked around. Everyone was in their place. Marvin seemed to be in a conversation with someone elsewhere, so I didn't address him. I followed Nerre' back to the office and said, "Come on, what are you thinking?"
"I am just going to ask some questions about Lillian's war."
; We asked. The summery stated that the ANNU KI had stopped Lillian's people from attaining pure thought state when they had a planet to call home. The planet was destroyed and most of the people along with it. The rest roamed the Galaxy hoping to find their enemy and get killed. That's what it added up to. I called Marvin in and had him send a message to Prestrillo to keep Lillian's Carrier in reserve to start and the reasons why. That was the most I could do.
We had reached a plan earlier that at a manning level of forty percent we'd attack. We hoped to draw the ANNU KI's attention away from Earth's end. Evidently Lillian's four thousand pilots and the Ranger Carriers had put us past that level. Also our new recruits were coming out unbelievably well prepared. If there were any one person to give credit to it was Paula.
FLATTERY WILL GET YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT.
I thought, 'anything but turning back the clock'.
TOO TRUE.
The Public Address system started blaring ‘enemy contact, enemy contact’. I stood and started for the Control Room.
GET ME SOMEONE TO QUESTION IF POSSIBLE.
I filed that request. Marvin had received it too from the way he caught my eye. We'd see. I instructed Marvin to send to Ted the request that he work on a Negative over Positive screen which we could wrap around small ships. Marvin was going to relay the answer but thought better about it.
We received on our screen a relay from the reconnaissance drone which showed a grouping of saucer craft escorting an energy ball. Then it went inactive. Someone reprogrammed the minefield which was the next to emerge. When it did emerge it engulfed the formation. There was no way the saucer craft could escape. They were all blown out of the sky at once. The ball of energy was trying to change color. Perhaps so many mines exploding in its vicinity made that impossible. A beam would come from the energy ball and catch a mine. Three would take its place. Finally one was on the proper vector at the proper angle and went through the energy wall, Forth of July in space. The explosion took out more mines than it shot down. There was a down, a planet below us. We were seven hundred miles up from it. I couldn't make out whether it was Earth, or Phaeton.
Marvin said, "Earth, about a hundred million years after the moon was sabotaged."
I thought, 'good a place to kill them as any'.
"There are many here. Chasing Lillian's people. Sport for them. Piloting exercises."
While we were speaking the whole formation came out of time intact. The same placement as our start formation was squared off in a few moments. The mine layers were zipping about to replenish the expended field. The screen was frantic with activity for ten minutes. Then there was no movement at all.
Nerre said, "I'm receiving instructions that the calculated best way to stop the enemy energy balls is to get in their path and direct a broadside from close range."
I said, "Don't disagree with HQ. Just find the right way to do it. Somebody calculate the vector that mine was on. Replay the engagement footage. Send that data to all pilots fleet wide, Marvin."
The calculations and sending took two minutes. Now we were ready to kill some more ships. We didn't have long to wait. A formation equal in size to ours came out from behind the planet. Their missiles came at us out of present time. They didn't calculate our mine field was out of time too. There were explosions I saw. Some I just felt through my bulb as deviations in the magnetic matrix. Our missiles, which were fired around the planet at light speed, also out of time, until the last moment caught them from the rear of their formation and took out half of their ships. I saw about twenty big energy balls explode. They were bunched far too close. Evidently no one had calculated how much energy is released when twenty eight H/FU reactors go critical and explode.
They were in total disarray. A swarm of fighters launched from out of Weapon balls. The two Ranger Carriers ejected Fighters which, went out to meet the enemy along with our ball Fighter Craft. The Ranger Carriers launched what appeared to be their usual sized ships. They kept on launching until they had as many fighters in space as we'd launched from ten Weapon balls. I guessed they'd been taking some lessons from their Adam and Eve as to the use of multi faceted right angle space. The combined fighters formed a sphere around the enemy formation to avoid friendly fire losses. Then they compressed the sphere. The enemy had no maneuvering room. They were flying into each other. Some tried to escape. They were let through and then picked off by some long range weapon from the Ranger carriers.
The whole slaughtering operation, from sighting to 'burnt out slag' took seventeen minutes. We had one disabled ball fighter which had been too close to an exploding enemy ship. There was no rejoicing on the audible band. I shifted to wave lengths. They were in turmoil. I withdrew.
Marvin said, "It is in the focus. You understand better now. Excuse me while I sort through the rubble. Paula wanted someone to question. She'll have her pick."
"When you're done with that task I need a few moments of your time. I'll be in the Captain's office."
I got answers about the enemy's ships escaping. About an hour had passed. He didn't say what Paula learned so I didn't ask.
I asked, "Is the enemy ship reproducing, now?'
"No, no, that is the first function you have to turn off before lifting. Mind you, it can be turned on any time we want to."
"Humor me, I have a few questions. I'm just checking my faculties. If the ship we captured was at rest, and you turned on the Repro' system it would make a copy of itself.
Yes it would make a copy. Move forward and make another copy. The copies wouldn't be in any time frame." Marvin cautioned.
I observed, "That's in effect what we do now on board the ARKs. We have a preset which replenishes."
Marvin became impatient, "I can't see where this is going. What do you want to do?"
"We're going to go into the ship building business. They're not, ultimately; safe ships but we can sell them cheap. Maybe just give them away. Has the damaged weapon repaired its self?"
"Yes, it did that before we lifted. That's a new ship over there." He gestured vaguely in the ships direction.
I asked, "Can you see what I want to do?"
"Yes, I can see it now. Enough energy fixes into mass. The copies should be quite sea worthy, or space ready."
I thought of a possible problem, "I'm assuming the reproduction rate is governable."
"Yes, the fastest, theoretically, is one per second. Perhaps one per twelve hour period would be better for test purposes."
I asked, "Is there any possible danger? If so we'll move out of the enclosure and off a distance."
He thought about five seconds, and said, "No."
OPERATIONAL AREA - EARLY (ONE CONTINENT) EARTH
ADMIRAL TILDORE SECALLO
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Marvin conferred with Benjamin, Lillian's Signal Ensign who had remained aboard the craft when Lillian had to leave. Between them they got it done, without waking any sleeping snake crewman, or ANNU KI bodies. What the hell were we going to call them? Maybe mindless hulks would be precise, if not kind. But no one wanted kind. The consensus was to send them sunward in a box without a motor.
Regardless of that, we now had two spinning ball enemy craft each about a mile and a half in diameter. The crew had not been reproduced by my decision. They carried twenty of the saucer fighters. The fighters could be used by us when retrofitted with an Artificial Space for the pilots. Zorn was in the passenger Space Station maintenance bay working on that problem now. We needed a conference to sort out what we were going to do. Prestrillo and I had not thought out the situation beyond this point. I asked Marvin to arrange it and limit it to the Ranger Carrier captains, Lillian, Prestrillo, and Jace Manyard, his Flagship captain, Nerre, me, and himself as an interested observer.
A day later Nerre, Marvin and I were en-route to the passenger Station for the conference. Nothing had occurred after the battle. If there were any ANNU KI about they were mighty silent. Lillian had been in contact with persona, Lillian, on the continen
t, and the Dragon people were hiding too. How the hell Lillian was going to sort out her surplus of bodies I had no idea. Thankfully I hadn't been asked for my advice. Zorn would walk down the hall and add his report. Maybe we should start with his report, get everybody talking. I looked at Marvin. He gave me, a 'thumbs up.' Goddamn, had he been there on the Tiberius River also? Maybe that was an omen.
We arrived at the main auditorium first, to find a large round table on the stage. Already there were people in the audience. Someone had set up a buffet to the right side of the stage. Someday Paula was going to allow us solid food. I had visions of roasted beef but I couldn't taste it anymore. At least I had visions.
Jandor Zorn came in with some one carrying a projector. Damn Molly and Sally would have laughed their eyes out. All this built in audio visual capability and no one knew how to use it. Well, I didn't either, but I could have figured it out given time. We, who controlled time, had none. I was going to bring that subject up for discussion.
Prestrillo and Jace arrived and then Lillian. Why did everyone in the room want to get her in bed? "Haves," fighting with, "Can't haves." Good for you Lillian.
The Captains from the Ranger Carriers arrived last. They introduced themselves as Olaf and Gustav Lundgrun. I saw they were from a heavy planet. One evidently with good food as they both were just short of eight foot and not much under my four seventy five. They had square faces and were totally at ease, with the certainty of large self possessed people.
We got comfortable around the table and Prestrillo said, "Why don't you start Jandor. We're quite interested in the saucer craft."
His A-V person put up a dozen or so different views and he started, "This craft has possibilities. We've solved the pilot-G force problem without limiting turning capability. It has missiles, projectile guns and a main weapon, this spire out of the bottom. It's a very efficient Plasma Cannon with precise beam control. We already know about the maneuvering advantages over our craft. The pilot area is sized for someone fourteen feet tall. With the force field projectors we had to put in the space became a bit cramped, but usable. The craft has two H/FU reactors, way too much power, one would do. They are used to generate an anti grav capability so that, in effect, there is no weight. Consequently riding the planetary magnetic matrix using attraction-repulsion beams results in this craft being able to out fly anything we have. Questions please?"
Greener Green II: The Balls Brigade Page 19