The Invasion Begins

by Thomas DePrima

  “Once I realized that someone from another Region could activate the Gate without any participation from this end, why not from somewhere else in the galaxy or from wherever it is the Denubbewa fleet calls home? I believe now that the Denubbewa weren’t abandoning this mothership, they were secreting it where it could be accessed when they were ready to return to Region Three. That’s why they never employed the self-destruct mechanisms. They might have thought we’d never find a Dakinium-sheathed mothership if no traffic could be followed from or to the ship. And they might have been right if the cyborgs hadn’t left the port doors open on the ships during their departure.

  “When our vessels approach a mothership from the correct direction— one that allows our regular sensor signals to penetrate into the port area and bounce back— we get a strong return signal with our DeTect systems. If the port doors are closed, the only way to detect them is with the neutrino measurement device. And while we appreciate having the device, there are severe limitations when using it. It’s likely the cyborgs might have believed that any civilian craft that happened upon this enormous ship wouldn’t wait around to see if it was occupied. And the Denubbewa might never have counted on our occupying it even if we did locate it.

  “This is all speculation, of course, but when I realized the enormous danger one Personnel CJ Gate represented, I knew I had to send that Priority-One message immediately. So I assigned the Marine with my party to remain there to prevent anyone from entering or exiting the room. I didn’t truly believe anyone would go in and start tinkering around with alien technology. I really just wanted someone there to watch for anyone arriving via the Personnel CJ Gate without expressing the potential danger in front of a Marine corporal. And I knew that whoever was left in the Gate room had to be armed. After I returned to the ship, I assigned all of my available Marines to commence search operations. We needed to locate every Personnel CJ Gate aboard this mothership. We’ve found a total of fourteen, including the first one. I believe we’ve found them all, and there’s always at least one well-armed Marine stationed at each location. With the platoons supplied by you, there will be at least four Marines on duty around the clock at every Personnel CJ Gate location.”

  Gavin had listened in silence as Christa explained her rationale for requesting the additional Marine forces. When she finished, he stood and began pacing around the room. Neither Christa nor Eliza said anything to disturb the captain’s thoughts as he pondered Christa’s verbal report.

  Finally, Gavin stopped and turned to face Christa. “And you did nothing that might have precipitated the transfer of the CPO from the Lorense-Four reclamation operation to this ship?”

  “At first I thought I might have. But I dismissed that idea later.”

  “Explain.”

  “One of the individuals in my group was the cyborg that SCI reprogrammed for our attempt to capture a high-level Denubbewa supervisor. You actually had him aboard this ship for a time. He was the cyborg that had been asking to see me.”

  “Yes, Eliza told me about him. You took him back to your ship.”

  “Yes. I named him Lucky rather than addressing him by the number SCI assigned. I had some of my engineering people replace his damaged limbs using parts from cyborgs that were destroyed during the attack. Lucky’s vital components had been spared, so with new arms and legs, he regained complete mobility. The engineers also replaced his chest armor. Then, I had them cover his body in an artificial skin to make him appear more Terran-like. They removed the two extensions on the sides of his skull that made him appear more ferocious because those extensions are only for improved radio communications over significant distances and were no longer needed. As we’ve learned, few cyborgs actually have them. The engineers also altered his eye color from the glowing red normally seen on the Denubbewa cyborgs to a muted blue.”

  “So he looks like a Terran now?”

  “From a distance you could mistake him for a Terran, but if you’re close and you look at him, you’ll immediately realize he’s a cyborg.”

  “Why have you chosen to make him look like a Terran?”

  “He’s one of us now, sir, even though he’s a cyborg. SCI completely overwrote all his former Denubbewa programming and created a new persona. He thinks of himself as one of us, even though he knows he’s a cyborg rescued from the Denubbewa. His appearance might cause great consternation among the crew if he looked like a normal Denubbewa cyborg. I felt it would help him fit in better.”

  “I see. Continue with your explanation of events in the mothership. Why did you change your mind regarding your initial suspicion that you had a hand in bringing the CPO here?”

  “After I had initiated the Marine effort to locate all of the booths, I called in my chief engineering officer. I told him I wanted a small surveillance camera placed in every room where a Personnel CJ Gate was located so we could watch it 24/7 for signs of any activity. He suggested construction of a small box that would contain a miniature camera like the ones used on the Marine helmets while disguising its purpose. In addition to the helmet cam, he suggested mounting tiny sensors to detect movement and record energy readings and temperature fluctuations to a hundredth of a degree in the room. I told him to proceed and assemble at least fourteen units.

  “A day later he and his staff began to mount the first of the newly assembled devices. They were tied into our ship’s systems so they could be monitored by either our bridge crew and/or a team in engineering.

  “The search by the Marines moved along very quickly because they weren’t looking for hidden Denubbewa cyborgs. That search had been completed when we first took over the ships. Whenever a Personnel CJ Gate was located, the engineers were immediately notified so they could install one of the new monitoring devices in that room. We only completed the work last night, but— we’ve already discovered something interesting from the data collected since the first observation cameras were installed. I brought a data ring with me that contains a brief vid. If you’ll permit me, I’d like to show you what we found.”

  “Of course. You can put the ring on the coffee table spindle and we’ll watch it on the wall monitor.”

  Christa walked to the table and placed the data ring on the indicated spindle, then picked up the remote control and touched the play sensor. The monitor came on, but the image was black.

  “The room lights are normally off. The Marines on duty must always wear their full armor, and we get a constant readout from key medical sensors to ensure he or she hasn’t dozed off or left their post. While wearing their helmet, they naturally see everything in the room clearly, even with the room lights off.”

  For about twenty seconds, the image remained completely black.

  “Watch carefully now,” Christa said. “Here it comes.”

  A couple of seconds later, there was brief flash. Then all was dark again.

  “What was that?” Gavin asked.

  “You can see it clearly if I replay it frame by frame and stop the playback. I wanted you to see it in real time first.”

  Christa backed the images up slowly until she passed the flash, then moved ahead a frame at a time until the flash was visible. In that one frame, the interior of the booth was visibly illuminated.

  “What is that?” Gavin asked as he stared at the still image on the monitor.

  “Something inside the booth is activating for just a fraction of a second. It’s not the interior lights, so with the room lights on, you’d never see it.”

  “Why is it doing that?”

  “We— don’t know, sir. But I have an idea.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I, personally, don’t have any specific knowledge of how the Cosmic Jump system works. That’s what Space Command personnel at Quesann are attempting to learn, with help and instruction from the cyborgs who rebelled and came over to our side. But I’ve given it a lot of thought from a layman’s perspective. It seems likely that in order to send someone or something from one CJ Gate to anoth
er, the sending CJ Gate must first be able to make contact with the receiving CJ Gate. So the sending Gate must have an idea where in the universe to direct a query signal. Ships with booths probably move about regularly, so they’re rarely in the same physical location for long. The same is true for planets that continually orbit a star. So the question seems to be: How does a sending Gate locate a specific receiving Gate in this universe?

  “I think that flash tells us how it does it. I think the Gate system is one giant, interconnected network, and each Gate broadcasts its location periodically so the system has a general idea of where that Gate is presently located. With ships, the system might be able to plot a course of travel using several reports. When attempting to send something or someone, the Gate sends a signal to the estimated vicinity of the receiving Gate and requires a confirmation signal before proceeding. I’d love to know how it sends a signal across the universe and receives an answer in the blink of an eye, and hopefully we’ll be able to learn that one day. Anyway, that’s my interpretation of the flash we see every eleven hours, sixteen minutes, and thirty-eight seconds— exactly.”

  “Do all of the booths flash like that?” Gavin asked.

  “We know that three of them do, so there’s no reason for us to suspect the others are any different. We only had three of the special monitors in place and operating during the last cycle. For the next cycle, we’ll have eleven in place. And by the cycle after that, all fourteen monitors will be in place and operating.”

  “So what will this tell you about the booths?”

  “First, it will prove that the booths are all operational. Second, I’m assuming that the Denubbewa might be able to send troops through any Personnel CJ Gate location without our participation or approval. I had visions of Denubbewa pouring out of those booths to retake possession of this mothership. That’s why I’ve stationed Marines inside each of the rooms. While they prevent curiosity seekers from entering, they’re really there in case cyborgs suddenly appear in the room. If that happens, the Marines can engage the enemy and hopefully prevent them from establishing a foothold in the station.”

  “So why did you initially think you were responsible for bringing the CPO here, and what changed your mind?”

  “When my group discovered the Personnel CJ Gate, we didn’t know what it was. Lucky had relearned the Denubbewa language after SCI wiped his memories of his time with the Denubbewa, so he was able to identify a contact point on a panel outside of the innocuous-looking booth as being an on/off switch. I decided to see what the booth was for and turned it on. When I did, an interior light inside the booth illuminated, but we never entered additional commands or data. A few seconds later, the CPO arrived. When I questioned him, I learned that just before he was transferred to this base, the damaged ship at the reclamation center— shifted. He said that happens frequently when working on salvage heaps in space. He also said he had put out his hand to steady himself, touching the interior control panel at that time. Since we didn’t enter any data, I’m assuming he initiated the transfer accidentally when he touched the control panel.”

  “But you turned the booth on?”

  “I believe now that the booths are always powered on because they must report their locations periodically. I believe that all we did was activate a light inside the booth so a user could then enter destination data into the interior control panel. To touch the interior panel in a darkened booth would be foolish, even if you’re only attempting to turn on the interior light.”

  “Can’t we just deactivate the booths?”

  “We’re unsure how to do that, and I didn’t want to take a chance of damaging them irreparably. If you order it, sir, we’ll find a way to shut them down. But they may be rendered permanently unusable.”

  Gavin began pacing around the room again as he thought. Christa joined Eliza on the sofa and the two women sat in silence so as not to disturb Gavin’s deliberations. After about five minutes, he said, “No, we shouldn’t risk damaging any of the booths. The opportunity they present in offering us everyday travel is too significant. I think you’ve taken the right action. But at the same time we must be constantly vigilant if a flood of Denubbewa could suddenly come streaming out of that device. The additional platoons of Marines have been assigned to this station as security personnel, and you can use them as you see fit. I agree with all of your actions to date. Now I have to figure out how to notify the ship captains placed in temporary command of the six other bases without sounding like a paranoid fool. Have you notified Quesann that we have one of their CPOs here?”

  “No, sir. I intended to immediately following his arrival, but then I decided it might be better coming from you. I was preparing to send the report to you so you could notify Quesann when we received your message that you were on your way here. I decided to wait, believing that a few extra days didn’t matter.”

  “Have you considered trying to send a message via the Personnel CJ Gate?”

  “Uh— no, sir. I nixed the idea of using the booth when the CPO wanted to return to Lorense-Four via the Gate. We really don’t know how to operate it, and I feared we’d lose him. And we don’t even know if it’s safe for outgoing travel. The Personnel CJ Gate at the other end was part of the rubble sent to Lorense-Four. It might have failed at any time. I didn’t want to use it for sending either people or vitally important messages that might fall into the wrong hands.”

  “I suppose that’s the safest route. It’s too bad your cyborg wasn’t able to deliver a cyborg supervisor. We might have been able to convince him to teach us how to use the Personnel CJ Gate.”

  “We have a number of willing cyborgs at Quesann who might have that information. We just never anticipated having dozens of these operational booths fall into our laps.”

  Until then, Eliza had sat on the sofa, quietly listening to the conversation without interrupting. “We have some of the brightest engineers in Space Command aboard the Ares,” she said. “Perhaps a team could figure it out. I’m not suggesting they could ever design such a device, but how difficult can it be to operate it?”

  “It only takes one tiny error to lose a person forever, sis,” Christa said.

  “So we don’t send a person. We try sending an object. Communication time to Quesann is about twenty-five days. Think how great it would be just to have virtually instantaneous communication.”

  “If we send something and a Personnel CJ Gate at the other end receives it, it could wind up in a pile of rubble.”

  “So we put a beacon on it to attract attention.”

  “I suppose that might work, but it’s for Captain Gavin to decide.”

  “Sir?” Eliza said, looking at Gavin.

  “Did you have someone in mind for this project, Eliza?”

  “No, sir. But on reflection, Lt. Holloway seems to have an absolute genius for diagnosing problems with electronics. He might be able to come up with something.”

  “Okay, give him a crack at it. But only with the stipulation that he never enters the booth or allows anyone else to enter the booth.”

  “Aye, sir. The interior of the booth is strictly off limits.”

  “I’m feeling a little hungry. Eliza, have Benjamin notified that the Most Secret discussion has ended and he should return and serve dinner. Ladies, would you care to join me? Benjamin has a superb dinner planned. The main entrée is chicken cordon bleu casserole.”

  “Thank you, Captain,” Christa said. “I’d love to join you.”

  “As would I, sir,” Eliza said.

  * * *

  Chapter Three

  ~ April 1st, 2292 ~

  After initiating a call to Admiral Holt, Jenetta waited anxiously on the line for almost two minutes before he was able to talk with her. When he finally responded, she said, “What’s the situation, Brian?”

  “Sorry to keep you waiting, Jen. We’ve been invaded by Denubbewa soldiers. They’re apparently climbing out of the wreckage of their former ships.”

  “Armed?
”

  “Of course. But light weapons only— just laser pistols and rifles so far. Most importantly, they have limited mobility at present. They managed to commandeer a few yard shuttles from surprised reclamation crews before the yard was alerted to the situation, and the cyborgs now seem intent on reaching our reclamation ships. I’ve ordered all ships to pull back to a distance of one hundred kilometers and issue warnings to any yard shuttles or other small vessels trying to reach them without authorization that the vessel will be destroyed if it persists. We can’t take a chance that any of them have Denubbewa cyborgs on board, so the ships have authorization to destroy any shuttles that fail to heed repeated orders to stay away. All yard shuttles are equipped with emergency food supplies, water, and oxygen-recycling equipment similar to that of escape pods, so if it’s just our people inside, they can survive on their own for weeks. But we’ll get to them long before that. Ships from our Harbor Fleet at Quesann have begun arriving, and I’m confident we can prevent the Denubbewa from expanding beyond Lorense-Four.”

  “But how did the Denubbewa get to Lorense-Four in the first place, Brian?”

  “We know for a fact that they didn’t come by ship, and the accessible areas of the wreckage were checked for cyborg bodies prior to being loaded into the reclamation ships for transport here. I can only think of two ways the Denubbewa got here: they might have been trapped in inaccessible areas when the transports were loaded, so we brought them here and they eventually cut their way out, or— and this seems to be the most likely avenue so far— they’re coming through CJ Gates that are still buried in the wreckage. God only knows how they’ve been able to make them function, how they manage to get out of the rubble, or where these cyborgs began their journey.”