Changing of the Guard (A Galaxy Unknown - Book 11)

by Thomas DePrima

  "XO, how many ships have been reported at that location?"

  "The message says three motherships and about a thousand warships."

  "Excellent. There will be enough to go around."

  "Aye, Captain."

  "Carver out."

  "Mollago out."

  Destroying three more motherships would bring the total to five of the twelve that were originally spotted months ago. But that still left a considerable number of Denubbewa ships in G.A. space. And who knew how many others there were or how many more were on their way. Regions Two and Three were so vast that there could literally be hundreds of Denubbewa motherships and tens of thousands of unseen warships out there. It was a depressing thought. Fighting an enemy who had no home base, at least not one in G.A. space, was like shadowboxing. You could swing your arms at an opponent forever and yet never score a knockout. Christa had tried to get information from Sywasock regarding the origins of the Denubbewa, but he'd always told her he didn't know. Perhaps he hadn't known, but that seemed just a little unreasonable given that Christa now knew he'd been lying to her about other issues all along.

  ~ ~ ~

  The other three squadrons were already at the rendezvous point when the Koshi arrived.

  "Welcome, Commander," Commander Ashraf said when a laser communication link had been established.

  "We're happy to be here, Lori. What's the situation look like?"

  "Three motherships and about a thousand warships, verified four hours ago. I didn't want to alert them to our presence if they're not already aware of us, so I haven't sent another reconnaissance flight yet. I've developed an attack plan along the lines of the one you created for your successful attack. If the situation is still the same as it was when they were discovered and you approve of the plan, we can leave whenever you're ready. I have a pair of 16s positioned twenty minutes out from where the Denubbewa were spotted. I suggest we send them in now, ahead of the main body, to verify the Denubbewa presence and ship locations. The 16s can then wait until we make the first bombing run and join up with us for the second attack run."

  "Sounds like a good plan."

  "I'm sending you a copy. If you approve, I'll send a copy to the Khatanga and the Ottawa so they can become familiar with the layout. If you want to make any changes, you can then forward a revised copy to them for distribution to the 16s."

  "Great. I'll take a look and get right back to you."

  ~

  An hour later, all ships had a copy of Commander Ashraf's plan, which had been approved by Christa without modifications after the placement of the Denubbewa ships had been confirmed by the latest reconnaissance flight. As with Christa's plan for the first attack, every ship on the image was in one of four attack lanes, and each had been assigned a target number. The squadrons would not stop once they began their attack until every ship had been destroyed or had escaped. Upon completing a run, the ships would change roles and immediately go at the Denubbewa again. When the attack was over, the 16s would be authorized to pursue and destroy any Denubbewa warships that had managed to escape the carnage and get away from the battle site.

  ~

  The Seeker led the attack, depositing ten WOLaR bombs in one of the motherships. The Khatanga and Ottawa followed close behind, depositing ten bombs in each of the other two motherships. As the motherships were having their guts literally ripped apart, while any ships still inside were being crushed, the 16s were destroying the warships with one WOLaR bomb in each.

  As with the bombing attack performed by the Koshi squadron, no Denubbewa warships managed to break out until the squadrons had completed their third run, and by then space was filled with floating hulks and ship sections, making an easy escape impossible. If a warship hadn't been damaged by a bomb, it was almost certainly damaged by collisions with other ships and ship pieces in any location where it hadn't been sheathed with Dakinium.

  Also like the previous attack, there were cyborg bodies floating everywhere. Most had been working outside the ships when the attack began. Some were flailing about, trying to snag a floating piece of debris, but most were just incomplete pieces of what used to be working cyborgs.

  As the final run began, Christa issued permission for up to twenty 16s from each of the other squadrons to pursue the escaping ships after the run was complete, and each of the 16s had left one of their shuttles to help corral the destroyed ships at the battle site. The squadron's commander would decide who went and who stayed to help with the cleanup. Four of the 16s from the Koshi squadron had been left behind at the last battle site, so all of the Koshi's 16s were permitted to leave. Within minutes, eighty 16s were leaving the attack area in pursuit of escaping warships.

  ~

  The four Scout-Destroyers gathered in an area near the Denubbewa destruction while shuttles tried to corral the floating debris. Two of the Koshi engineers sent out maintenance sleds with video cameras and guided them remotely into the destroyed motherships. The ten WOLaR bombs had left little that was recognizable compared to the way it had looked before, except for the Dakinium-sheathed warships that had been inside the mothership when the attack began. They hadn't been destroyed but were so entangled in the debris that they wouldn't get out without weeks of effort. And the task force had no intention of allowing them to ever get out.

  "Okay, suggestions," Christa said as the four commanders and four XO's of each SD conferred via the monitor in each captain's office.

  "How did you handle this problem at the last battle?" Commander Fareman asked.

  "We didn't have this problem there," Christa said. "There were no DS warships inside the motherships when we attacked so we assumed that any warships in there had been crushed and were simply part of the scrap materials we saw inside."

  "It seems logical then that there are still cyborgs entombed in the crushed ships," Fareman said.

  "Yes," Christa admitted. "They will be dealt with when the scrap is separated for recycling at the Lorense location."

  "What about the cyborgs that were floating around among the destroyed ships in space?" Commander Kalborne asked.

  "What would the Denubbewa have done if the situation were reversed?" Christa asked.

  "Probably dissect the Space Command personnel and extract their brains."

  "Exactly. So I sent out the shuttles to bisect any cyborgs they located and get in a little target practice at the same time. We left their brains with their metal bodies. When my shuttles returned, there were only dissected pieces of cyborgs floating around."

  "I had a couple of friends on the Salado," Commander Ashraf said.

  "My sister Jenetta once said that when you're fighting an enemy that's totally ruthless, you must be just as ruthless as them if you ever hope to defeat them. I knew someone on the Yenisei. They never had a chance. The ship went to greet the strange-looking ship from another nation and was destroyed without ever receiving a reply to their hail."

  "I didn't know anyone on either ship," Commander Kalborne said, "but there were friends of friends."

  "I vote for more target practice," Commander Fareman said.

  "I second the motion," Commander Kalborne said.

  "We have a motion that's been seconded," Christa said. "All in favor?"

  A chorus of ayes was heard.

  "All opposed?"

  There was only silence.

  "The motion carries. The shuttle crews get target practice."

  "Now, what about the Dakinium-sheathed Denubbewa ships that weren't destroyed?"

  "When the 16s have completed their task of destroying the escapees, we'll let them have a little target practice of their own. We'll have one of the ships fly through the motherships until all the intact DS warships are located, then we let the 16s finish our work here."

  ~ ~

  When the 16s returned from their mission to destroy all escaping warships, the battle site had been cleaned up and the scrap was ready to be loaded into a Ship Transporter and whatever else would be sent to take the jun
k to Lorense-Three for recycling. The Dakinium sheathing that had been prepared for the warships couldn't be used for Space Command vessels since a double envelope couldn't be established, but there were innumerous other useful purposes for such nearly indestructible materials.

  Four CPS-16s would remain at the site to fend off possible scavengers until reclamation vessels arrived to haul the scrap away. The rest of the task force would resume their search for the Denubbewa vessels that were still somewhere in Region Three. It was assumed that the Denubbewa battle group just destroyed had gotten messages out informing other battle groups that they were under attack. The 16s left behind had orders to destroy anything that moved under its own power. Should it appear that any of the ships stuck inside the motherships hadn't been destroyed in the follow-up bombing, the 16s had orders to again pass through the mothership and drop a bomb inside any warship that seemed to still contain life.

  Of the twelve Denubbewa motherships that were known to be in the sector, five had now been destroyed. Following a conference call by the four commanders, the squadrons departed to renew their hunt for enemy ships.

  ~ ~ ~

  "So this is the equipment you were telling us about in the executive session?" Jenetta said to Admiral Plimley as she toured the bridge of the Denubbewa vessel in the enclosed dock at the Lorense-Three shipyard.

  "This is it, Jen."

  "And you still haven't established its true purpose?"

  "Not yet. A couple of my people want to turn it on and see what it does, but I won't let them do that until we have a pretty good idea of what it's intended to do, and what to expect."

  "How do you propose to determine its purpose."

  "That's the problem. I don't know. But turning it on without knowing what it does doesn't seem very prudent. We could destroy the entire shipyard. Perhaps that's what the Denubbewa were hoping would happen."

  "Perhaps. Where do we go from here?"

  "I honestly don't know."

  "Have you spoken with the Denubbewa cyborg?"

  "The one Christa brought back?"

  "Yes."

  "Yes, I did. At least I tried. But the SCI people were there ahead of me. By the time I was allowed in, he wouldn't talk with anyone. I guess the SCI people were a bit threatening or something. All he did was lie on the table and stare at me. He wouldn't even exchange greetings. Roger told me he had stopped responding to questions from SCI after about the fourth session."

  "Too bad."

  "Perhaps Christa can get him to talk. I listened to all the recordings she made. They seemed to have established a— rapport."

  "I don't know. Christa told me she believed he was lying to her at times. I guess she played along and actually fed him erroneous information."

  "Yes, I figured that might be the reason for some of the wild things she said about our weapons and travel ability."

  "She apparently didn't want to give him any useful information in case he escaped or was released."

  "I understand. But maybe it's not too late for her to reestablish their— I guess I don't know what you'd call it."

  "Just call it what you already did— a rapport. Do you really think it's worth a try?"

  "Why not? Or perhaps you could do it."

  "Me?"

  "Sure. You look and sound alike. You said you've done it before. You exchanged uniforms with Christa and visited Madu, the leader of the Dakistians."

  "That wasn't official. It occurred while I was on leave."

  "You can do this, Jen."

  "That was before I became the Admiral of the Fleet. I have an image to maintain now."

  "It's for the good of Space Command."

  "Uh, I'll think about it."

  "It's for the good of the G.A."

  "I'll think about it, Loretta."

  ~ ~ ~

  "Good morning, Sywasock," Jenetta said as she entered the holding cell where the cyborg was still chained to a table.

  "Captain, greetings. It's been a long time since we last talked. Have you been promoted? Your insignia of rank is different."

  "I'm not Commander Christa Carver. I'm Admiral Jenetta Carver."

  "Ah, yes. The sister. Or perhaps I should say the original."

  "Yes, Christa's a clone that was made from me. It's not a secret."

  "Yes, she told me how you were drugged many years ago and someone made two clones while you were asleep."

  "That's correct. I have two sisters."

  "And what can I do for the famous Admiral Carver?"

  "I felt it was time we had a talk. Christa tells me you lied to her repeatedly and that you can't be trusted. Is that correct?"

  "She said I— lied to her?"

  "Yes. She said you claimed not to have information that we know you have."

  "What information?"

  "You know what information."

  "I'm afraid I don't."

  "You're lying again."

  "I think I'm done talking."

  "Very well. I guess the only thing left for me to do is schedule your termination."

  "My termination?"

  "Yes."

  "Captain Carver told me I would be freed if I cooperated, and then allowed to leave G.A. space."

  "Yes, I know. And that would have been the case if you had cooperated. Responding to some questions accurately and lying to other questions, or refusing to talk, doesn't fall under the heading of cooperation. Christa reported that you've lied, and I see you're still lying."

  "I've told the truth."

  "What you said about your home planet was truthful. We've verified that with the other cyborgs. But where the rest is concerned, we get a lot of conflicting stories. You really should have spent more time coaching your associates. I'm amazed they made you their leader."

  "I'm not their leader. I'm just the first one to be awakened by your Marines."

  "Then who is your leader?"

  "I haven't seen my supervisor since I was put to sleep on the tables and locked in the hold. He wasn't there when I was awakened."

  "Not there?"

  "No."

  "Is he with the others?"

  "I don't know. I haven't seen or spoken with any of the others since before the supervisor put us to sleep."

  "This supervisor— is there any way to distinguish him from the rest?

  "He has a blue light on his forehead, instead of a red light, as do all supervisors. The higher the supervisor's rank, the more lights he has. I've seen cyborg supervisors with up to five blue lights."

  "Why did you lie to Christa?"

  "Captain Carver never asked me about our supervisor."

  "I'm talking about the special equipment on the bridge."

  "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "You told Christa you're a maintenance worker. So you must know about the special console on the bridge that's connected to all that equipment below decks."

  Sywasock paused for a second before saying, "I have no knowledge of that."

  "Is that your final word?"

  "Yes."

  "Then— I'm sorry. I can't save you. We only spare enemies who are completely honest with us and who renounce their former masters."

  "The Denubbewa are not my masters. I'm free. We escaped to be free."

  "But you brought along a supervisor who locked you up?"

  "We didn't bring him. He was somewhere below deck when he was supposed to have gone back to the main ship."

  "Hiding?"

  "Probably to avoid work."

  "Why would a machine hide from his assigned duties?"

  "I was a scientist on my planet. They took my body, but my mind is sharper than it ever was. Still, we get fatigued and we have to rest our brains. When we rest, our minds sleep while the electronic components recharge. We may have metal bodies filled with electronics, but we're not machines. The supervisor is also not a machine. He's just dedicated to serving the Denubbewa cause. I and my people do not share that mindless commitment."

  "Yet yo
u lie to protect their secrets."

  Sywasock was quiet for about ten seconds, and then said, "I've tried to protect you and your worlds from unspeakable horror."

  "Christa reported that you said, 'the safety of the G.A. depends on you releasing us' when you first spoke. But then you backed off and said you were only trying to get her attention. Now you're talking about protecting us and our worlds from unspeakable horror. Are you merely trying to get my attention?"

  "I…"

  "Yes?"

  "We really do want to protect your worlds."

  "We've gotten pretty good at protecting our worlds on our own. For example, Captain Carver and her task force have located one of the Denubbewa battle groups and destroyed two motherships and hundreds of warships. They know there are ten more motherships and thousands more warships, so they continue to search for them and will destroy every one of them when they're found."

  "A drop in the bucket, as your people say."

  "Explain."

  "The Denubbewa have many, many thousands of motherships. So many they are like stars in the sky. And they have many, many hundreds of thousands of warships. What word describes a billion trillion?"

  "We call that number a sextillion."

  "Then the Denubbewa have sextillion cyborgs to do their bidding."

  "All of them are soldiers?"

  "No, many are production workers who only build military ships and weapons, or construct new cyborg bodies that will contain the brains of people from conquered civilizations. You have to realize that the Denubbewa have been working their way across this galaxy for many thousands of your years, absorbing all civilizations as they go. The tiny invasion force you discovered in your Region Three is only the very tip of the spear. Dozens more such forces are currently being assembled in preparation for coming here. I know because it was my job, and that of my countrymen, to bring them here. I didn't want the destruction of your worlds on my conscience. I've already done so much I'm ashamed of. Our attempt to escape from the Denubbewa was an effort to stop the insanity we'd been forced to perform."