by Ryk Brown
“Attention all hands,” the jump control officer called over the ship-wide address system, “Prepare to jump in ten seconds.”
Captain Navarro could hear the voices of the section controllers on the next ring of controllers below the primary level, as each reported their readiness for the jump to the officer in control of that particular level.
“Jumping in three……two……one……jump.”
As usual, nothing spectacular occurred on the Avendahl’s bridge. Without any view of the outside, their only indication of the jump was a sudden spike in the output levels of the twelve hundred emitters on the Avendahl’s outer hull. A slight shift in the measured distances to certain stars used as navigational markers provided confirmation that a jump had indeed occurred, and that the Avendahl was now located in a different region of space.
“Transition complete,” the jump control officer reported confidently.
“Position verified,” the Avendahl’s navigator, Lieutenant Sturvont reported. “One point seven two seven light years from the Savoy system, with shipping lane one four seven fifteen hundred kilometers to port, twenty down relative.”
“Sensor contacts,” Lieutenant Cahnis reported. “The Willamay, and six other targets. Fast movers. Initial profile suggests either Ybaran or Palean design. They are attacking the Willamay. Her shields are at twenty percent and falling.”
“Launch Ready One,” Captain Navarro ordered.
“Launching Ready One,” the flight operations officer acknowledged.
“Notify Ready One strike leader that they are to dispatch the attackers with maximum force and take up escort of the Willamay until our return,” Captain Navarro continued.
“Estimated time of return?” the flight operations officer inquired.
“Unknown. We will dispatch a jump tanker if delayed.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Communications, let the Willamay know that help is forthcoming.”
“Aye, sir,” the communications officer replied.
“Strike Group One is launching now,” the flight control officer reported. “All elements will be away in two minutes.”
“Very well,” Captain Navarro replied. “Lieutenant Sturvont, prepare a jump back to the Takar system. We will return as soon as Strike Group One is clear.”
“Preparing a jump back to Takaran space,” the navigator acknowledged.
“The Willamay’s shields are down to twelve percent,” the sensor officer reported.
“The first fighters will be in attack position in thirty seconds,” the flight control officer added, knowing that it would be the captain’s next question.
“New contact,” Lieutenant Cahnis announced. “Frigate. Two hundred kilometers. Ten to port, forty-two up relative.” The sensor officer turned to face Captain Navarro, surprise on his face. “It’s the Clarkson, sir.”
“What?” the captain said, equally surprised. “The Clarkson was lost during the attacks on Takara by the Alliance. The Aurora destroyed her!”
“It’s the Clarkson, Captain, I’m sure of it.”
“Bonvaneer! That greedy old bastard!” Captain Navarro exclaimed. “Charge the main guns! Target the Clarkson!”
“Captain, what if she’s here to help?”
“After having been missing all this time? Not likely.”
“The Clarkson is firing!”
“Shields up!” Captain Navarro ordered.
“Raising shields,” the defense systems control officer replied.
“Charging main guns,” the weapons officer reported. “Targeting the Clarkson.”
“Communications. Warn the Clarkson,” Captain Navarro said. “Stand down or be destroyed. You have thirty seconds to comply.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Strike Group One is away,” the flight control officer announced.
The first blast of energy struck the Avendahl’s forward shields, causing no more than a mild shaking of the deck beneath Captain Navarro’s feet.
“She’s firing again,” Lieutenant Cahnis reported.
“Main guns at full power,” the weapons officer announced.
“Time?” the captain asked.
“Ten seconds.”
“Hold your fire for ten seconds,” the captain ordered as the Avendahl vibrated from the impact of the Clarkson’s second shot.
“Our fighters have destroyed the attacking ships,” Lieutenant Cahnis reported.
“The Clarkson’s captain must be an idiot,” the weapons officer commented. “He doesn’t stand a chance against our weapons.”
“Can she make FTL again?” Captain Navarro asked his sensor officer.
“Doubtful, she’s lost too many emitters,” Lieutenant Cahnis answered. “The Clarkson is turning away and accelerating at her maximum rate. They’re firing again.”
“Thirty seconds has passed, Captain,” the communications officer reported.
“Clarkson is funneling all power to her aft shields, Captain,” Lieutenant Cahnis reported.
“She wants us to chase her,” Captain Navarro realized. “That’s why they’re not going to FTL.” He turned aft. “How many shots to kill the Clarkson?”
“With all her shield power channeled into her aft shields, ten to twelve direct hits, at least.”
“That will take too long,” Captain Navarro said. “Helm, best speed. Force her to accelerate even further, I need her away from the Willamay.”
“Aye, sir,” the helmsman answered. “Going to maximum acceleration.”
“Flight,” the captain continued, “launch a jump shuttle to rescue the crew of the Willamay. As soon as that crew is recovered, have them jump back to Takaran space and wait for us there.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Also, recall the strike group. I need them on the deck as quickly as possible.”
“Captain,” Lieutenant Cahnis interrupted, “the Willamay isn’t unstable, sir. She just can’t go to FTL.”
“Weapons, keep one gun on the Willamay and prepare to fire.”
“Sir?”
“As long as the Willamay is a target, we’re stuck here,” Captain Navarro explained. “That’s why the Clarkson is here, to keep us from returning to Takara.”
“Aye, sir,” the weapons officer acknowledged. “Pardon my ignorance, Captain, but why not just destroy the Clarkson?” he added as politely as possible.
“When their shields get low enough, they’ll simply slip to FTL. They only mean to keep us here for a few minutes.”
“Captain, without fighter cover, the rescue shuttle will be vulnerable,” the flight control officer reminded the captain.
“At her current rate of acceleration and distance, how long for the Clarkson to get fighters to the Willamay?” Captain Navarro asked.
“Three minutes at the most.”
“Rescue shuttle is away,” the flight control officer announced. “Rear elements of Ready One are landing now. Estimate two minutes until all elements are within our jump-field perimeter.”
“Helm, be ready for hard about as soon as the last element of Ready One is on board.”
“Aye, sir.”
“As soon as we come around, jump us back to Takaran space, Mister Sturvont.”
“The jump is already plotted, sir.”
“Captain, if we jump away before the rescue shuttle…”
“Tell the rescue shuttle to jump clear if attacked,” Captain Navarro ordered, “with or without the Willamay’s crew.”
CHAPTER TEN
For the first time since they had awakened days ago, the main door to their room opened, and two armed guards entered the room, moving to either side of the doorway.
Jessica rose from her bed, looking the two men over. She looked at Naralena. “I think I can take them.”
“That would be ill-advised,” a voice said from the doorway. An older man appeared, younger than Ellyus had been, but older than either Jessica or Naralena. His hair was grayed, and his skin appeared weathered from too much sun, yet he
looked quite fit despite his years. “These men have been trained by the Jung.”
“How is that possible?” Jessica wondered.
“Because they were once Jung soldiers.”
Jessica looked at the two men, then at the old man. “What, like defectors or something?”
“In a manner of speaking, but we can discuss that later. First, I’d like to know who you are, and why you have come to Kohara.”
“We’re on vacation?” Jessica said, a sarcastic smile on her face.
“Odd then, that you were hiding in a private suite of a Jung operative, and were about to be apprehended by the Jung.”
“It was all a misunderstanding,” Jessica said. “We were just here on business. Real estate business…”
“Perhaps I should have started with this. Sierra seven seven five echo,” the old man challenged.
“Hold on, let me do the math,” Jessica said, her eyes rolling upward as she made the mental calculations. “Delta delta one four… wait, make that one three five x-ray.” She shrugged. “Math was never my thing.”
“Correct, nonetheless. I am Gerard Bowden.”
“Jessica Nash. This is Naralena Avakian. How long have you been on Kohara?”
“Twenty-seven years.”
“Your assignment?” Jessica wondered.
“To discover what happened to all the other operatives.”
“And what did you discover?”
“That they had all been captured, thanks to Ellyus Barton.”
“So he was a spy.”
“We call them ‘peepers’.”
“Yeah, I heard one of your men use that term. Why peepers?”
“The Jung use nanites to procure information from the public. That is why we were so concerned when we discovered nanites in your bloodstream. To our knowledge, the Earth does not yet possess nanotechnology.”
“We don’t. They’re Corinairan.”
“I’m not familiar with the term,” Gerard admitted.
“Long story,” Jessica replied. “How do the Jung get the nanites into people?”
“Through various vaccines, medical injections… anything that is injected into the veins by the Jung is bound to contain their nanites.”
“Corinairan nanites are used to heal injuries and cure diseases,” Naralena said.
“May I?” Gerard asked, pointing toward one of the chairs at the table.
Jessica sat back down on the edge of her bed, facing Gerard as he took a seat at the table.
“Jung nanites attach themselves to the sensory nerves of the host,” Gerard explained. “They collect information, like tiny recorders.”
“How do they get the information back to the Jung?” Jessica wondered.
“Whenever the host passes through a security checkpoint, the scanning tunnel activates the transmitters in the nanites which then broadcast the information. When the Jung find something interesting, they get close enough to that particular host to transmit new instructions to the nanites. The nanites then begin to replicate themselves using resources within the host’s body. Eventually, the host becomes so saturated with Jung nanites that the Jung can actually take physical control over the host, causing them to perform actions on the Jung’s behalf.”
“Does the host even know that they’re doing things for the Jung?”
“No, they do not,” Gerard said. “Most of the time, the additional nanites only give the Jung the ability to monitor the target host’s senses at will. Higher-value hosts are programmed to transmit gathered information upon receiving an activation signal.”
“Don’t tell me,” Jessica said, “a blank stare lasting a few seconds to a few minutes?”
“Something like that, yes.”
“Fuck,” Jessica said, her head hanging down.
“You couldn’t have known,” Naralena said, trying to offer comfort.
“There was nothing that could have been done for him,” Gerard insisted. “Once they become that saturated, it is nearly impossible to get all the Jung nanites out of them.”
“You don’t understand,” Jessica said. “He’s not the only one. Besides, we’re about to clean all Jung out of the Tau Ceti system. We might not have been able to get the nanites out of him, but if there weren’t any Jung around…”
“What do you mean you’re about to clean all Jung out of the system?” Gerard asked.
“Wait. How do I know you’re not full of Jung nanites?”
“Trust me, we take great pains to ensure that no one in our ranks carry Jung nanites. Besides, no signals can get in or out of this facility without our permission. Now, what were you saying about an attack?”
“It’s coming in about a week.”
“That’s not possible,” Gerard insisted. “Even if all of Earth’s Defender-class ships were made FTL-capable, which is unthinkable, they still wouldn’t stand a chance against the Jung forces in this system.”
“We lost all the Defender-class ships months ago when the Jung invaded the Sol system.”
“Then what are you attacking with?”
“The Aurora,” Jessica replied. “Oh, and three of those Scout ships… the ones that brought you guys here. That, and a bunch of KKVs.”
“What are KKVs?” Gerard wondered.
“Kinetic Kill Vehicles. Really just converted Takaran comm-drones that travel about ten times light. They’re great at taking out battle platforms and such.”
“Takaran?”
“Another long story,” Jessica insisted. “Trust me, a lot has changed over the last year.”
“Regardless, the kind of attack you are describing is logistically impossible. It would take too much time to get all these KKVs into proper strike position, not to mention coordinating their launch over a distance of more than a light year. How would you be able to calculate the position of the targets? How would you get your ships into position without being detected? How would…”
“Trust me on this, Gerard,” Jessica interrupted. “We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. Granted, the Tau Ceti system presents a bigger challenge than previous systems. You’ve got three inhabited worlds, and double the battle platforms and battle ships.”
“How many systems have you done this with?”
“By now, four. Tau Ceti is next, then Delta Pavonis. We’re clearing out a twenty-light-year radius area from Sol, to buy the Earth time to recover and rebuild.”
“How many Jung ships did these other systems have?” Gerard asked.
“Most of them had a battle platform, a battleship, a couple cruisers, and some frigates.”
“But you said the Tau Ceti system has double the ships.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m afraid you are mistaken,” Gerard said. “There are two more battleships parked in orbit over Itimor, for a total of four.”
“Where the fuck is Itimor?” Jessica wondered.
“A moon orbiting the third gas giant in the system, one the locals call Tandral. The Jung moved them there months ago, after they learned of the liberation of Earth.”
“Months? By our calculation, they won’t receive word for about ten more days. That’s why we’re attacking in…” Again Jessica looked up while she did the math. “Five or six days, I think.”
“On what basis did you come up with that projection?” Gerard asked.
“The Jung’s top FTL speed is twenty times light.”
“For their ships, yes. Their comm-drones can go one hundred times light. Not all of them, mind you. Only the newer versions.”
“Shit. You’re saying they already know?”
“They must,” Gerard said. “That would explain why they moved those two ships into hiding.”
“Do they know about the KKVs?” Jessica asked.
“I would expect not. Otherwise they would have dispersed all of their largest assets. Put them on randomly changing orbits to make them harder to target.” Gerard looked at Jessica with a deadly serious expression. “Please tell me you didn’t
tell all of this to Ellyus Barton.”
“I may have hinted that something was going to happen, but I never gave him any details.” Jessica hung her head down again. “Oh, fuck. I don’t get it. Why didn’t the Jung hide a few battle platforms as well?”
“Itimor is not that big,” Gerard explained. “However, it does produce a rather strong radioactive signature that obscures sensors to some degree. As long as the ships are running with only basic systems powered up, it is enough to hide the battleships. Battle platforms cannot operate in states of reduced emissions as well as battleships. Can the Aurora take out a battleship?”
“Yes, but it’s not easy. Two would be near impossible. If the Celestia was combat ready, we probably could handle them, but…”
“The Celestia?”
“Yet another long story.” Jessica shook her head. “We have to find a way to get word to the Aurora, let her know that she’s flying into an ambush.”
“I’m afraid the situation is more dire than you realize,” Gerard admitted. “You have been here for more than five days.”
“But we witnessed five day and night cycles through the skylight,” Naralena said.
“This facility is deep underground. It protects us against the unlikely event that a Jung, nanite-infested host makes it into our company.”
“The day night thing was a fake?” Naralena realized.
“To confuse and disorient,” Jessica said.
“More to help keep your natural biorhythms intact,” Gerard corrected.
“How long have we been in here?” Jessica asked.
“Ten Koharan days,” Gerard admitted.
“That means the attack is coming, what… tomorrow? The next day maybe?”
“How many Earth days did you have from the time your ship arrived on Kohara until the scheduled attack?”
“Thirty-three days,” Jessica replied.
“Then the attack you speak of will occur tomorrow.”
“Then we have to do something. Don’t you guys have a transmitter or something?”
“We do not. The Jung monitor everything. We don’t even use personal comm-units for fear of detection.”
“There’s got to be some way of transmitting a message,” Jessica insisted. “What about the Jung? Surely they have comm systems to communicate with their ships in the system?”