by T. R. Harris
“He was unconscious at the time he was captured, which is something unheard of. Cain was too. The pair was removed from a hospital on the planet Siron, which is unusual in its own right. There was no reason for Panur to have been there, unless there was an issue, either physically or mentally. I’m monitoring him in his cell. He appears listless and unaware of his surroundings. I do not trust Cain, yet I believe Panur is in some kind of distress.”
“Do not trust them, no matter how it appears.” Cosnin ordered. “If the mutant is somehow sick, that is to our advantage. We must take our opportunities as they come.”
Robert nodded. “They will remain locked in the cell until we reach Vesper. I am simply transporting the pair to you.”
“Be sure that is all. For far too long, Humans—and particularly Adam Cain—have upset the plans of my predecessors. I do not wish to join the long list of Pleabaens who have misjudged Cain and his diabolical species.”
Robert detected the subtle threat in Cosnin’s words. It would not do for the Klin leader to lose faith in him. He needed to remain valuable to the Pleabaen.
“There is one other item to report,” Robert said. “The remainder of Cain’s team—including the other mutant, Lila Bol—departed Siron in the trans-dimensional starship. They will undoubtedly be planning some kind of rescue of their colleagues.”
“That is precisely the reason I have protested using a VN-91! If they can figure a way to defeat that ship, they can defeat them all.”
“It is very unlikely that will be able to stop me,” Robert countered. “Yet knowing they will try might give me an opportunity to either capture or kill the rest of them.”
“The mutant cannot die.”
“She can be cast into space. If that were to happen—and she is not recovered—she will float forever between stars, and no longer be a threat to us.”
“Stay alert. If you know they are coming—”
“I will stop them,” Robert interrupted. “And once Cain and the mutant threat is neutralized, you, my Pleabaen, will be in a position to exert your solitary will upon the entire galaxy.”
Robert felt that stroking the ego of the alien would help his cause. It may have, but Cosnin didn’t show it. Instead he said, “I can do that now. Your mutant threat may or may not materialize. In the interim, I could destroy the leadership of the galaxy with a simple order from where I sit. It should be clear to you by now: either the Klin will rule the galaxy…or no one will.”
20
Jym drew a curved line on the screen with a stubby finger, the claw retracted. “There are faint traces surrounding the Klin ship, out to a light-year away,” he reported.
“So they know we’re coming,” said Riyad. “How close can we get before we’re detected?”
Jym studied the screen. “I would assume the sensors are placed at the outer range of the shipboard detectors. The beacons add twice the range, so I would estimate three to four light-years out. At this time I can only track the Klin ship through this distant screen of sensors.”
Riyad looked at Lila, who was also studying the screen. “You can contact Adam three light-years out, isn’t that right?”
“Under optimal conditions. It is not that my brain energy can move between that distance unassisted and contact my father’s brain-interface device. This is only done by association with existing CW waves promulgating through space. If there are enough in the region, then contact can be made.”
“What would you say even if you could make contact?” Sherri asked. “Hey, we’re here, but there’s nothing we can do to help?”
“Perhaps there is something we can do,” said Lila. No one spoke, waiting for the mutant to fill in the details. “Panur and I required additional information on the Klin ships before we can formulate a possible way of defeating them. Data on energy utilization and shield structure is critical. This can only come from previously recorded events…or to witness and monitor a VN-91 in combat mode.”
Copernicus straightened up in his chair. “Are you suggesting we attack the ship…and I mean a real attack, not a flyby like you did before?”
“Exactly,” Lila replied. “We use the TD capabilities of the Defiant to jump in and out of range.”
“Do we even have enough firepower to activate their offensive weapons?” Sherri asked.
“Studying how a few flash cannon bolts are routed through their systems will help,” Lila said. “And during a run, I can contact Panur and have him monitor the ship’s systems internally using Adam’s brain-interface. It is extremely doubtful that we will cause any damage to the ship, but this could give us the data we need to formulate a response.”
“That will take some tricky navigation,” Coop said, “making precise TD jumps like that. We have to be careful we don’t materialize in the middle of the black ship. And on top of that, there’s a recycle period after each jump which will leave us sitting ducks for their lasers.”
All eyes turned to Kaylor. “Do not look at me. I only go where the navigator says to go.”
Eyes shifted to Jym. “I will accept no responsibility for such a reckless undertaking.”
“I will make the calculations,” said Lila. “We will need precise coordination between jumps, weapons dispersal, energy allotment and communications with Panur and Adam.”
“And if everything goes right, we do absolutely no damage to the Klin ship and Adam and Panur are still prisoners on their way to the Klin base to be killed.” Sherri smiled. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it.”
The team dressed in environment suits, preparing for battle. Lila took over at the nav station. Kaylor was in the pilot’s seat, with Coop as his co-pilot and in control of the TD module. Sherri and Riyad were at the weapons station and Arieel would monitor the energy allocation, shifting power from the engines to the TD module to achieve the shortest recycle time. The jumps in and out of the battlefield wouldn’t be over long distances—at least not in this universe. But the Defiant would have to be pre-programmed for a hop into another dimension, and then immediately back into the Milky Way at a precise point just a few light-years away. Copernicus was right. If they miscalculated by even a little, they could materialize within hull of the VN-91. That was one way of destroying the black ship. But it would also destroy the Defiant, and they only had one of those.
With Lila doing the fine calculations, the team felt somewhat confident in their chances. Even so, pulses were pounding when the first jump was initiated.
A strange green glow appeared through the forward viewport as the Defiant shifted into another universe. It didn’t stay like that for long. A heartbeat later, normal space returned—with a huge, six-mile long starship directly in their path.
Sherri and Riyad fired off a series of flash cannon bolts, now fully charged by the new power modules they’d gotten on Siron. The Defiant was only a hundred miles from the first line of defensive shields, so the plasma bolts impacted the screen a split second after discharge. The spectacular green glow of the diffusion shields lit up the pilothouse, expanding out to encompass the entire view outside the starship. They kept firing until the first of the weaker defensive lasers shot out from the hull of the VN-91.
Kaylor and Coop had the Defiant racing along the length of the black ship. They were taking hits, but so far, the screens were holding. Arieel was watching the power to the TD module climb, reaching toward the critical point where another jump could be made.
As Lila sent jump coordinates to Kaylor, she also contacted Adam through his ATD, splitting her brain activity between multiple tasks without skipping a beat.
Adam was asleep when the signal came through, loud and emphatic. He jumped, sitting up on the bed like he’d been shocked.
Father, link with Panur!
Adam looked around the plastic cell, confused and dazed for a moment. He knew he was being watched and didn’t want to let it be known he was linking through his ATD. Robert McCarthy knew of his device. He just didn’t know other people had them as well,
or in Lila’s case, didn’t need one to communicate.
Adam stood up, stretched and then walked nonchalantly over to where Panur sat on the edge of his bed. That was also when he heard a high-pitched whine reverberating through the deck and bulkheads that hadn’t been there before. It was also getting very warm inside the huge landing bay.
He sat down next to Panur and took his hand. He didn’t need to say anything; Panur was instantly linked to his ATD.
Lila could tell the moment Panur’s mind linked with hers.
We have initiated an attack on the VN-91. If possible, link with the ship’s internals and monitor the power distribution and shield response.
Adam felt a surge of energy as the mutant took over his ATD. He was aware of the signals coming in and the speed at which Panur’s mind was racing through the circuits of the VN-91, but he couldn’t understand any of it. Perhaps if he still had some of Panur’s brains cells in his head things would have been different. But for now, his eyes glossed over as his body become simply a vessel for the mutants’ communications. The level of intimate connection between the two super brains was incredible and far beyond the ability of a Human mind to comprehend. Adam didn’t even try.
He heard Lila say she would return, and then the connection was broken.
Adam slumped, still holding onto Panur’s hand. What the hell just happened? They attacked the ship?
Yes they did, and it was remarkable. I gained great insight. They will be back for another run momentarily.
What did you learn?
It’s too complicated to explain at this time. I will be better prepared for the next attack. But I have to warn you, this will be intense. Brace yourself. I am taking over….
Adam felt like his brain exploded in his skull. It was great that Panur could link with Lila through his ATD, but everything still had to first be routed through Adam’s already traumatized brain, and it wasn’t equipped to handle such a surge of information. Adam fell back on the bed, sweating profusely, not only from the increased brain activity, but from the soaring temperature within the bay. As plasma energy was routed through the shields and back into the ship, heat bled off the circuits. And since the black ships only carried a single living crewmember—now two, with Robert McCarthy aboard—no provisions had been made to vent the heat from the bulk of the ship during an attack. There was no need. But now the room was turning into an oven. Panur was immune to the effects, but not Adam.
Within his mind, Adam heard Panur call out to Lila to break off the attack, Adam was dying. A moment later the sound echoing throughout the landing bay began to diminish, and along with it the heat.
Adam lay on the bed, making no effort to get up. Something strange was happening; Panur had both his hands on Adam’s chest. He felt a cooling sensation a moment before realizing the mutant was pulling the deadly heat directly from his body.
“Do you feel better?” Panur asked.
“Much…thanks. Imagine if we were in here during a full-scale attack, even nuclear.”
“You would not have survived.”
“No shit. I barely survived an attack by one little ship.” He reverted to telepathy. Did you get what you needed?
There is a plan forming. I will need a while longer to bring it to fruition. Now relax. I will need your interface device a little longer.
And with that, Adam suddenly fell asleep. Or was it into a trance?
“That was foolish,” said Senior Fellow Akin Sommis, the VN-91’s sole Klin crewmember. “They did no damage and activated our offensive weapons for but a single beam.”
Robert was on the bridge, isolated from the heat that had built up in the ship, and that was quickly dissipating. The Klin was right. The attack had not only been foolish, but pointless as well. Unless….
“They were testing our systems,” he said to the alien. “There are two mutant geniuses working against us—one on this ship, one on the other. They must be in communications.”
“How? I thought the mutant Panur was incapacitated.”
“I know how and I will deal with it. But first, contact Vesper. Have two VN-91s dispatched along our course. Cain’s ship will continue to follow us to the planet. We have to lay a trap for them along the way. If they find out the location of Vesper, they could cause trouble for us there.”
The Klin laughed. “They are but one ship with very weak offensive weapons. I detected only one flash cannon of moderate strength. What could they possibly do to us on Vesper? And with VN-91s in orbit around most of the Core Worlds, the Expansion would not dare attack us.”
Robert stared at the alien. They never learn, do they? Over confidence had been the bane of countless would-be tyrants throughout history. McCarthy wouldn’t let that happen to him. It was always better to plan for the worst. He had no idea what Cain’s team could do to mess up the works on Vesper, and it was for that fact alone that he would remain especially cautious.
“Please relay my wishes to Vesper, Senior Fellow Akin. It never hurts to be prepared.”
The Defiant dropped back into normal space seven light-years from the black ship of the Klin. They’d taken a number of hits from the defensive lasers, causing one of the shield panels to fail and a laser beam to penetrate the hull. The ship lost pressure to the main living quarters. Fortunately, everyone was in the pilothouse, dressed in environment suits. After the battle, Copernicus and Riyad went aft to seal the breech.
There had only been one powerful blast of the VN-91’s main laser weapon. The Defiant jumped just before the beam reached it, but in that brief moment, Lila was able to record vital data she would need in her assessment of the black ship. She had been preparing for another attack when Panur waved her off.
“Did you get what you wanted?” Sherri asked the mutant.
“Yes I did,” said Lila. “I received external readings while Panur received the most vital internal data. We exchanged data between during the links. This will help, but I will still need to contact him again after he has had time digest the information.”
“Any preliminary thoughts?” Sherri pressed. “We’re running out of time here. Any plan you guys come up with will need time to implement.” Then a terrible thought crossed her mind. “With the Klin ships heading for the Core Worlds to hang over them like the Sword of Damocles, there’s a good chance the Expansion won’t do anything, even if we do come up with a solution. They already think peace is at hand.”
“That is a consideration, which will leave only us to carry out any plan we devise.”
Within her suit, Sherri was sweating profusely, even with the cooling turned to full. She was on the verge of an anxiety attack, with the full scope of their challenge now spread out before her. How…?
“Panur and I discussed several options during the attack—”
“You had a discussion during the attack?” asked Jym. He’d been sitting quietly listening to Sherri and Lila talk.
Lila smiled. “Our minds operate on an accelerated level. We indeed had detailed discussions of the data coming in during real-time.”
“What did you talk about?’ Sherri asked, trying to distract herself from the dreadful thoughts bouncing around in her head.
“We have concluded that there are various means to destroy the Klin ships. These range from asteroid bombardment, to concentrated nuclear attack—as has already been demonstrated. There are also various encapsulating electrostatic options, but these would take time and resources to build and disseminate.”
Sherri’s eyes crossed. She had no idea what encapsulating electrostatic options meant.
“Yet there is a viable option which involves the use of the Defiant exclusively. This will put us in control of the offensive with no required input from the Expansion.”
“You’re saying we could stop the Klin, single-handedly?”
“It is a possibility, yet several conditions would have to be met beforehand.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Attack by dimensional portals, using
the force of gravity between universes as a weapon.”
“You’re going to have to dumb that one down for us mere mortals,” Sherri said.
Lila leaned back in her chair, as if preparing for a long dissertation. “We debated various methods, including both external and internal methods. With the overlapping defenses the ships employ, external options are limited. It was decided an internal attack would be most effective.”
“What are internal attacks?” Jym asked.
“Methods whereby an effect is created within the ship itself, bypassing the external defenses. At first we discussed the possibility of creating gravity-wells within the interior of the Klin ships. Yet an analysis of the shielding indicated a well would not form consistently because of the interference from the diffusion screens.”
“The two of you discussed all this…while the attack was going on?” Sherri asked, still not believing that in the brief seconds she had contact with Panur so much information could have been exchanged.
“We also discussed the weather,” Lila said.
“You did?” It took a moment for the incongruity of the comment to register with Sherri. That’s when Lila stretched out a smile.
“Very funny,” Sherri said, embarrassed “I’m glad you can keep a sense of humor in the face of impending galactic doom.”
“We must maintain perspective. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Please go on. Enlighten us.”
“As I was saying, we cannot create gravity-wells within the Klin ships. Yet there is a possibility we can open a portal between universes.”
“A trans-dimensional portal within the Klin ships…and then pull them into another universe?”
“Something like that.”
“But if we do, wouldn’t the Klin ship smash into us? We’d be creating the portal with the Defiant.”
“There are various details to be worked out,” Lila admitted. “Yet this appears to be our best option.”
Sherri looked at a shocked Jym and a silent Kaylor. “It would require….”