THE BLACK FLEET CRISIS #3 - TYRANTS_TEST

by Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell

  inner airlock. "Agent Taisden.

  These other gentlemen I do not know--" Pakkpekatt supplied perfunctory

  introductions. "Is something wrong, Doctor?"

  "Wrong? No, quite the opposite. I think I have good news for you. Is

  there somewhere we can work?"

  Pleck led them forward to the lounge of Lando's personal suite.

  "You'll have to go slowly with us, Doctor," said Hammax as they filed

  in. "Combat medicine isn't long on theory, and I don't think the rest

  of them have had even that much."

  "I understand. I'll try to make certain no one needs to be telepathic

  to keep up," Eckels said. His voice had the faintest hint of a playful

  lilt.

  "An excellent policy," Pakkpekatt rumbled. "I follow it myself."

  Taisden cleared his throat. Otherwise, there was silence as the five

  sorted themselves into the available seats.

  "You checked the other cadavers for these Eicroth bodies?" asked

  Pakkpekatt.

  "The first thing I did," Eckels said. He ran his hands over the soft

  leather covering of the padded arms, then looked around the cabin,

  taking in the luxury appointments. "Are all NRI ships outfitted this

  way?"

  "Not generally," Pakkpekatt said.

  "This is a, uh, special-use vessel," added Pleck.

  "What use would that be--bordello?" asked Eck-els.

  "Well, never mind. I've long suspected that I took the wrong career

  path. Yes, Eicroth bodies. They all had them."

  "That confirms it then, right?" asked Taisden.

  "They're normal parts of Qella physiology."

  "By itself, it would only be strongly indicative,"

  said Eckels. "A common parasitic infestation would still be a

  possibility. But I have other evidence."

  Taisden looked to Pakkpekatt. "So we need to send all three sections

  of the code."

  "No, no," said Eckels, waving his hands in front of him. "Sending a

  third of it should be sufficient. Here, I will explain. In your

  cells, and mine, and even those of the colonel here, there is a

  universal pattern--a chemical alphabet with four letters, a vocabulary

  of words two letters long, a grammar of sentences three words long."

  "Nucleotides, base pairs, and codons," said Pakkpekatt. "This is

  elementary biology."

  Eckels's gaze narrowed as he looked toward the colonel. "Yes," he

  said. "Every sentence specifies a component of a biochemical

  structure. The instructions for building a particular structure may be

  hundreds or thousands of paragraphs long."

  Pleck sat forward. "So are the Qella part of this pattern as well?"

  "Yes--and no," Eckels said. "Most Qella cells, including reproductive

  cells, use the same alphabet, vocabulary, and grammar." He smiled and

  nodded to himself. "But the Eicroth bodies do not. They use an

  entirely different alphabet with six letters, and sentences of five

  words. And they use these extraordinary extended proteins to build

  structures that seem to exist on the dividing line between living and

  nonliving."

  "Are you certain?" asked Pakkpekatt. "Why didn't the people who

  discovered them know any of this?"

  "Because I have something available to me that they didn't--as do

  you."

  Eckels sat back and laced his fingers together in his lap, clearly

  enjoying their rapt attention. "They didn't have any examples of the

  finished product to compare with those instructions. I have six

  hundred of them."

  "Six hundred?" Hammax said. "Six hundred bodies?"

  "Artifacts," Pakkpekatt said.

  dred Qella artifacts--no, we will need a new word for them now. We

  recorded them as being fashioned from natural materials. Now I know

  that they were not fashioned but--grown. The Eicroth bodies contain

  their plans."

  "You were able to match your artifacts with the sequences we gave

  you?"

  "Every one of them," said Eckels. "Do you understand what I am saying,

  Colonel?"

  "Yes," said Pakkpekatt.

  "No," said Hammax.

  Eckels turned toward the soldier. "Every sentient being inherits its

  species' memories through both body and mind--the ancient duality," he

  said, his tone fervent.

  "Humans found a way to extend our memories by recording our thoughts

  and collecting them in libraries.

  Somewhere a long time ago, the Qella found another way. They carried

  their libraries within their own bodies."

  "And this helps us how?"

  "I'm still missing something, too," said Taisden.

  "From what you've said, it seems to me that it's that much more

  important to send out the entire database."

  Eckels's disappointment in their response to his revelations was

  evident on his face. He had proudly brought them a treasure, but they

  were too uncultured to appreciate its beauty.

  "The database has three components," Eckels said with impatient

  annoyance. "The somatic cells, the lesser Eicroth bodies, and the

  greater Eicroth bodies. The match for every Qella artifact we

  recovered can be found in the lesser bodies. Then there's your piece

  of the puzzle--your dialog with the vagabond. You have two

  interrogatives and one successful reply."

  "They appear in the greater Eicroth bodies," said Pakkpekatt.

  "Yes," Eckels said, looking hopefully at the Hortek as he would at a

  student teetering on the verge of insight.

  "That is what the greater bodies are," said

  Pakkpekatt. "They are the instructions for building a starship from

  that which is more than inanimate and less than alive. The ship we are

  chasing was not designed or invented--it was remembered."

  "Yes," Eckels said, relaxing into his chair and showing a relieved

  smile. "Yes, Colonel. However you came to it, at least you

  understand."

  "Do you think that somewhere in those sequences is a code that will

  call the vagabond back to Qella?" asked Taisden.

  "Do you want an expert opinion or a personal one?"

  "I'll take two for the price of one, if I have a choice."

  "The expert declines to opine, due to lack of supporting evidence,"

  Eckels said. "But personally--since it has not gone somewhere else in

  all this time--I suspect that it was intended to come back here."

  "What are the chances that what we propose to do will just confuse

  it--like throwing all the switches at once?"

  Eckels shook his head. "You are asking for reassurances quite beyond

  my ability to offer--" At that moment, shrill alarms began to sound

  both in the suite and the corridor beyond. Taisden was the first out

  of the lounge by two steps and the first to the bridge by five.

  "Meeting's over," he called back to the others as he slipped into the

  number two seat. "You'd better get back to Penga Rift right away,

  Doctor. Colonel, mayhaps we should have been talking more about what

  to do after the quarry puts a leg in our snare."

  "What are you talking about?" Eckels demanded.

  "Colonel, what's happening?"

  Taisden sent the long-range image to the primary sensor display, then

  shook his head in amazement as he glanced up at it. "See for

  your
self," he said. "The vagabond's just jumped into the system--and

  she's headed this way."

  Chapter 9

  The director of Alpha Blue was nodding off in his chair, his office lit

  only by the bluish glow of the primary status display. With his shoes

  off and the top two fasteners of his civilian blouse unbuttoned, he

  looked like an old bachelor who had fallen asleep in front of the

  holo.

  "Admiral Drayson?"

  Drayson's eyes snapped open and found the face of Major Aama, one of

  his senior facilitators. "Yes?"

  "Admiral, you said you wanted to be notified immediately," she said.

  "We have a tracking update on Millennium Falcon."

  "She's reached the N'zoth system," Aama said, turning and pointing a

  controller at the display. "She's standing off at twelve hundred radii

  below the plane--the best guess is that they're scanning the system

  before jumping in."

  "They'd have to, if they're going to try a close-intercept jump," said

  Drayson, leaning forward and rubbing his eyes. "Is Pride of Yevetha

  still in-system?"

  "Still in-system and still in orbit around N'zoth. It's getting a bit

  crowded in that neighborhood, though

  four more Imperial types have shown up, and six more T-types have lifted off from the plane.

  "Include that in the update packet and have it sent immediately."

  "It's already been seen to."

  Drayson rocked back in his chair. "So there are sixteen thumpers there

  now," he mused. "Not the best news for Chewbacca's people. What

  assets do we have in the area?"

  "There are four stasis probes on station, and two more moving into

  position."

  "Let's take a look," Drayson said, gesturing at the display. "We may

  have to think about sacrificing one or more of them if it'll give the

  Falcon a fighting chance to get the job done."

  "Yes, sir--I think we can probably arrange a timely diversion or two.

  Sir, are you sure you want to continue the blackout where the Princess

  is concerned? It could give her a real lift to know--" "Not at these

  odds," Drayson said firmly. "Even with what we've been able to pass to

  Chewbacca through Formayj, I don't think they have more than one chance

  in twenty of getting in and out in one piece. As for finding Han

  alive--" He sighed. "But that's still probably a better chance than

  any other rescue effort would have. Is Ackbar still talking about a

  battle group assault supporting a Jedi retrieval team?"

  "Yes. They've got the lights on late over at Fleet tonight."

  "The general will never agree to it," said Drayson.

  "And he'll be right not to. So let's be creative, Major, and figure

  out what else we can do from here to shift the odds."

  Given an unobstructed view and the eight-kilometer length of the

  Yevethan flagship, the oversized and exceptionally sensitive sensor

  dish atop the Millennium Falcon had no difficulty picking out Pride of

  Yevetha from among the many ships orbiting N'zoth.

  But fixing the orbit of the flagship with enough precision to jump

  within a thousand meters of it required more than a single snapshot.

  Chewbacca needed to know not only the flagship's orbital track, but

  also the tracks of any ships near it or en route to it. The task was

  complicated by the distances involved--when looking at the tracking

  data, Chewbacca was looking several minutes into the past. He could

  only guess about the present and the future, and a wrong guess would

  mean failure--even sudden death.

  There was no perfect answer. The closer they were to N'zoth, the more

  current the tracking data would be, but the more likely it was that the

  Falcon would be spotted. The longer they waited, the more complete the

  tracking data would be, but, again, the more likely it was that Falcon

  would be spotted.

  Chewbacca's natural impatience with anything other than a direct

  frontal assault only aggravated the matter. He had to keep reminding

  himself of the lessons of the Shadow Forest, and the difference between

  stalking and making the kill.

  For the first few minutes after reaching the N'zoth system, Chewbacca

  was alone in the cockpit.

  Lumpawarrump was in the lower gun turret, Jowdrrl in the upper.

  Meanwhile, Shoran and Dryanta were checking the equipment that had been

  mounted in place of the escape pods at Esau's Ridge.

  The starboard pod had been replaced by a mine launcher loaded with

  sixteen firecracker mines. The portside pod had been replaced by a

  hull-cutting ring, a traditional tool of both pirate and police. Both

  devices were critical--if not to the mission, then to their confidence

  that they could survive it.

  When Dryanta was satisfied that the cutting ring was ready, he moved on

  to the crew quarters and began triple-checking the boarding party's

  weapons. Because they expected heavy resistance, bowcasters had given

  way to Draggis blaster rifles and fusion-cutter grenades.

  When Shoran was finished arming the mines, he came forward and joined

  Chewbacca in the cockpit.

  "Everything is ready,] he said.

  Chewbacca's reply was interrupted by a double chirp from the comm

  board, signifying an incoming message. The encrypted transmission

  carried a priority flag and a short holo header.

  [Formayj,] Chewbacca said. [Curious.] "Chewbacca, hot-blooded friend,"

  said the broker cheerfully. "Mining my archives, I found something

  else maybe you can use. No charge--tell Solo I will get it back from

  him at sabacc."

  By the time the attached data had been downloaded, Dryanta had replaced

  Lumpawarrump in the lower gun turret, and the youth joined his father

  in the cockpit.

  [What are you looking at?] he asked eagerly.

  [A friend sent something interesting,] Chewbacca said.

  [Can I see?] Chewbacca waved a hand toward the data display and shifted

  to his left so that Lumpawarrump could lean in between him and

  Shoran.

  What he saw was a Fleet Intelligence assault plan for a Super Star

  Destroyer--a complete three-dimen-sional technical drawing of the ship

  with the location of the cell blocks marked, the best breaching sites

  highlighted, and the shortest paths between them drawn in.

  [We're sure to find him now, aren't we?] Lumpawarrump asked

  excitedly.

  [How does Formayj do it? Where does he get his information?] [Exactly

  my question,] said Shoran. [Chewbacca, this gift worries me. Would

  you trust Formayj to guard your back?] [That question does not trouble

  me,] said Chewbacca. [Formayj can make more money cheating his

  customers than killing them. Lumpawarrump, call the others down from

  the turrets--I am ready to make the jump. I want everyone to study

  this on the way in.

  Shoran, launch the first string of mines.] [Yes, Father,] said the

  youth, hastening away.

  "Yes, cousin,] said Shoran, leaning forward to the controls.

  Chewbacca did not point out to either of them that, unlike the material

  Formayj had delivered to him at Esau's Ridge, the assault plan could

  not have come from any data mine or broker's archiv
e---the timestamp on

  the document was less than forty hours old.

  I wonder who this map was drawn for, Chewbacca thought as he set up the

  jump. And I wonder what happened to them.

  [Mines are away.] Chewbacca threw the throttles forward, opening up a

  gap between Falcon and the rocketing mines.

  When the gap had reached five hundred kilometers, he moved his large,

  furred hand to the hyperdrive controls.

  [Set off the string,] he ordered.

  Shoran sent the triggering signal, and as the first of the mines

  exploded spectacularly behind them, Chewbacca pushed the ship forward

  into hyperspace, racing the light of the explosion to N'zoth.

  By necessity, the plan was simplicity itself: Hit fast and hit hard.

  When the Millennium Falcon burst out of hyperspace eleven hundred

  meters off the starboard bow of Pride of Yevetha, the intense burst of

  light and radiation from the first of the firecracker mines had just

  flooded the sensors of the Yevethan defense grid, momentarily blinding