Garrett smiled. "Got your arm blown off and walked away. That's pretty cool."
Go laughed. "Yeah, well, I can tell you firsthand it isn't that cool."
Joni came into the room. "Glad you came through that OK."
Garrett replied, "I was just telling him I was jealous."
Joni half frowned. "If you’re thinking of having your arms and legs swapped out, forget it. No offense intended, Go, but I like my men natural."
Go nodded. "No offense taken. If given the choice I would have kept my originals."
I asked Quan, "How long for the Garmon to be back at 100 percent?"
Quan replied, "The hull damage was extensive. Replating will take three days. Additionally, I was able to do a quick analysis of the AI you called Anterra's comm interface. It attempted contact with me, but broke off when I overwhelmed it with requests. I have taken the liberty of enhancing the blocking frequencies that Go employed. If desired, I will upload those to each of your ships, and to each of your battle-suits."
I nodded. "Please do. Have you looked at the logs of that battle?"
Quan replied, "I have. I believe a slightly reduced speed when in such close proximity, or an additional fusion reactor, would prevent the overload you experienced."
Any other tips for us if we get into another fight like that?"
The AI replied, "No. The tactics and decisions you employed were adequate, given the circumstances. There is no technological substitute for one to be able to think and to respond in real time."
I shook my head, "Adequate wasn't enough for my two Talisans. We'll have to do better."
Quan said, "Perhaps a direct charge without prior experience was unwarranted."
I shook my head. "We did dive in where we should have walked cautiously. I don't think that will be an issue again."
Quan added, "In considering all results, the mission would have to be termed an overwhelming success. You did move sixty three million lives to safety."
I leaned back in my chair as I looked up at the ceiling. "We should have taken out that stationary portal gate when we had the chance."
Quan replied, "Why not take it out now?"
I sat forward. "Why not? Because we aren't thinking, that's why."
"Garrett? Joni?" I said. "Get the Ares ready. We're going to Adicus!"
Garrett replied, "It's about time! Your people are back. Let's take out that gate!"
Joni said, "We'll meet you on the bridge."
"Jack," I said, "you hang out here with Go. Keep an eye on the Garmon's repairs."
"Will do."
Once on the bridge of the Ares, I looked at Joni. "Make a jump to Balimus first. I want to know my people are there before shutting that portal down permanently."
Joni entered the coordinates. The ship rumbled just before the jump.
Joni said, "I count all transports still in place... and populated."
"Take us to Adicus," I said.
Several seconds later we came to a stop in the Adicus system.
Garrett stood. "You see what I see? Those two portal ships they were building are gone!"
"No activity around that stationary gate," said Joni.
I thought for a moment. "Take us in close to the stationary gate. Joni, I want you to slip aboard and try to download their logs. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they used this gate to move them somewhere else for finishing."
Joni nodded. "Good thinking."
A rumble could be heard before the Ares settled next to the portal gate. Joni synchronized her flight with the active skin of the Ares, shutting it down for the second needed for her to pass through.
Joni said, "They don't even have anyone manning this thing. Generators are all shut down. I'll have to power one up to access anything. Give me a minute."
Garrett shook his head. "If this gate is down, those two ships must be operational."
I replied, "I had the same thought. Let's hope they left us a clue as to where they went."
Joni said, "Generator one is coming up. I should be able to access any logs from the bridge."
Joni huffed. "Give me a sec. Waiting for the bridge systems to boot up. Come on! Okay, we're up. I need a password for this console. Quan, do you think you could help me out with that?"
Quan replied, "Connecting through your comm. One moment. I will need anywhere from one to five hours. Would you like access to this system?"
Joni sat in a chair, crossed her arms, and nodded. "Do it. We need those logs."
Quan replied, "I sent a dual counter to your display with the approximate times, Joni. Do you have any other requests for me?"
Joni shook her head. "Not unless you have some other enhancements for our ships or suits you haven't told us about. Hey, a personal portal built into this suit would be a winner."
Quan replied, "Unfortunately, the energy required to run a portal of even that small size makes it prohibitive. Prior designs have reduced the requirements to the size of a large backpack. However, it was determined to be unwieldy."
Joni thought for a moment. "Would that much power make it difficult for this skin to be overwhelmed?"
Quan replied, "A quick calculation shows that you would be able to withstand a direct blast from our best ion cannon."
Joni asked, "What about speed while I'm drifting? How fast could I go?"
Quan again provided data. "You would be able to fully accelerate with that glove for as long as your food pack held out."
Joni sat forward. "That sounds very fast. Can the glove be augmented to accelerate faster? It's quick now, but slower than a ship."
Quan replied, "With the proper updates, a glove could be constructed that would allow acceleration at approximately three times the rate of our fastest ship."
Joni laughed. "OK, explain unwieldy, because other than that, you haven't given me anything bad here."
Quan replied, "The pack would weigh approximately one hundred twenty kilograms. It would be dense. A one hundred kilogram counterweight, in front, would be required for the wearer to maintain balance."
Joni held up her hand. "OK, I've got the picture. How about this: could a lifepod be outfitted with a portal?"
Quan answered. "Yes, although a standard pod would have the personnel area reduced to only carry one standard sized Human."
Joni nodded. "OK, now we're getting somewhere. How many lifepods on the Ares, the Jess and the Garmon?"
Quan replied, "The Ares has twenty-four, the Jess two, and the Garmon thirty-six."
Joni smiled into her helmet camera. "What do you think, Garrett? Would you sacrifice lifepod space for the ability to have them jump?"
Garrett scratched his chin. "I would. Maybe only do one, though, so the other pod could carry a couple of people while the first jumps for help."
I added, "Seems like a reasonable idea. I would opt for at least two on the Garmon and the Ares."
Joni nodded. "Sounds good. Quan, can you make that happen upon our return?"
Quan replied, "Five modified lifepods will be waiting. Construction will take just over two days."
Joni leaned back in her chair. "OK, at least that was productive. We have any other ideas?"
The next two hours were spent discussing various potential enhancements. None were identified as feasible. The decryption counter continued to count up.
Jack came over the QE comm: "Interior repairs on the Garmon are complete. As soon as the Tantric relayering is finished, we'll be good to go."
I sat with my right elbow on the armrest of my chair with my chin firmly planted on my fist.
Jack asked, "What's cooking up there?"
I replied, "I'm just concerned about what Anterra might have given away. I was trying to think of everything we had her do so that we know what's been compromised."
Jack shook his head. "You should assume everything up until Go isolated her. Everything about our travels and the Odentas for starters."
I pursed my lips. "I'm concerned about the sodium suit. Did we compromise
the fact that we have one?"
Jack thought for several seconds. "I don't see how. Go said he took precautions with that from the beginning. They would know we worked on the sodium material, but not why or what its use was. We never got that working so it couldn't have passed that on."
I said, "When we have the logs, we should jump back to Bolitha. If a portal is opened, we can perform a scan into it and know where they are jumping.
Jack smirked, "Forget that. If they open a portal, we open a portal through their portal and jump through."
Quan said, "I am sorry, Jack. Portals cannot be opened through portals. The physics of that feat are not fully known. All attempts at doing so in the past have failed."
Joni said, "I have the logs. Quan, can you do a quick scan and tell us where they might have gone?"
Quan replied, "One moment please... I have three possible locations. The Moddle world of Harnik. Three trips have been made to there by portal ships. They were of course swept out to Harnik by this station while in an incomplete state. A single sweep of one of the ships was made to Bolitha, and a single sweep of the other to Odenta."
I asked, "Which was the last sweep to happen?"
Quan replied, "The final sweep before being shut down was both ships being moved to Harnik."
I looked at Garrett. "We have our target. Make it happen."
Joni said, "Give me a few seconds to shut this place down and we can go."
A rumble of the portal generator signified our jump to Harnik.
Garrett said, "I can't say that I like the looks of this."
Two large space hangars floated in orbit above Harnik. Both sat empty. The complex had been shut down.
Joni pointed. "Take us in close and I'll check for logs again. Maybe they left a clue."
The Ares was moved to within a kilometer of the enormous hangars. After a short drift, Joni settled on the construction deck of the hangar on the left. Her camera view revealed hundreds of offices that looked out over the hangar bay through transparent walls.
Joni powered toward the first. "Guess I have to start somewhere."
Quan replied, "Find a console and grant me access through your comm. I will see what I can find within their systems."
Joni nodded. "That I can do. Hold on. OK, these are only in standby, so they must have a generator still running. Give me a second to—"
Quan said, "Thank you, I am in."
Joni replied, "Do I have to sit here or can I keep looking around?"
Quan answered. "You may continue. The connection is now routed through the comm system. Please continue your search."
Ten minutes of silence passed as Joni moved from office to office.
Quan said. "An analysis of the construction logs shows two critical components were required for final assembly. A cross-check of the stationary gate logs shows the components were swept in from Mayanis and then out to here. It would appear that the two ships were run through a series of tests before they were jumped to... Bolitha. That log entry is from two hours ago."
I nodded. "Now we're getting somewhere. Joni, come back aboard and we'll see if we can catch those portal ships before they jump elsewhere."
Thirty seconds later our Bolitha jump was complete.
Garrett said, "I can't believe how fast things are happening. You want to go to another galaxy? Bam, you're there."
Joni replied, "The only problem with that is they can make those same instant jumps and we have no way of tracking them. I wish we could have popped the Jordan with one of the QE stealth tags. We'd know right where they are."
Garrett said, "I'm not showing anyone within sensor range. Looks like they've already jumped elsewhere."
I replied, "Lets create a list of possible targets and prioritize the most likely candidates. If we have to spend the day jumping, we do so."
Jack said, "I would put each of the capital planets for the ruling families on there. They might be putting that massive fleet to use."
Joni nodded. "Add the planets out here as well. Might as well check each of them."
Garrett looked over. "Probably wouldn't hurt to check Adicus again either. It's been hours since we were there."
I sat back in my chair. "Start with the planets out here. Jump and scan. If we see nothing, immediately move on to the next. We shouldn't have issue with spotting a fleet of a hundred thousand ships."
Garrett half laughed. "Yeah, I don't get why Harden needed that many. It's not like anyone has a fleet to stand up to him. Five thousand would conquer any one of the families."
I replied, "Perhaps he plans on doing just that... only all of them at once."
Joni said, "Well, there is one sure way to find out."
I replied, "How's that?"
Joni answered, "We go ask him directly."
I thought for a moment. "If that is indeed his plan, all at once, we may already be too late."
Garrett said, "You know, if that's the case, it might not be a bad thing. If he consolidates power back under a single government, it might be easier for us to then take it from him."
Garrett returned his attention to the scan data. "We've got nothing here. Where to?"
"Mayanis," I said.
Most of the next hour was spent checking each of the worlds in the Yallux galaxy. No sign of the massive fleet could be found. Our next jump would be back to the Triangulum and Adicus. I wondered if Harden Salton could be stopped.
Chapter 19
* * *
Adicus proved to be as empty as the other locations.
Jack yelled, "We're under attack! Thousands of ships just swept in here! More coming!"
Garrett punched in the coordinates and looked my way.
"Go!" I yelled.
Seconds later we were sitting in the middle of a massive fight.
Joni said, "I don't get it. Why are the sentinel ships uncloaked?"
Quan replied, "The attacking fleet had a passcode. I'm afraid the sentinels have been compromised. I am attempting to reroute defenses. All five sentinels have been boarded by armed autobots."
I asked Quan, "Where is your core?"
Quan replied, "I am buried deep beneath the surface. If the sentinels fall, I will be forced to hibernate to avoid detection.
Go yelled, "They are on this ship! Someone get me out of here if you can!"
"Quan," I said, "do you have Go's coordinates? Can he be swept to here?"
Quan replied, "His QE comm ID is offline. He is in transition and the systems on that sentinel are being shut down. I will attempt to restore the needed sensors."
I asked, "Go? What happened to your QE?"
Go replied, "I wanted a second channel added that went directly to the Garmon. That process was underway when the alarms went off. I have the implants, but they need time to activate!"
Jack yelled, "Don't forget about me! Bots are crawling all over this repair dock! I've sealed myself into the Garmon. I'd run, but the docking clamps are all engaged. There are several dozen bots outside that are climbing all over my hull! Crap... there's more. Hundreds. Quan, if you can un-clamp me, I can run. This repair dock looks like it's beginning to lose orbital speed."
Quan replied, "I no longer have control of the repair facility systems, Jack. I am sorry."
Jack scowled as he switched on several small automated blaster turrets. Blue bolts began to fly as several dozen autobots met their end.
Joni said, "Go? Just switch on your suit!"
Go replied, "I can't. It was off while they were working on my arm. Please get me out of here. They are closing in on my position and I don't know how long I can hold them off!"
Joni stood. "Garrett, take me close. I'm going in!"
I stood as well. "Get us close and then get to the Jess. Take her out and see if you can locate those portal ships. We have to find them or Harden will succeed!"
Garrett jumped the Ares to a position alongside the repair dock. Joni blinked out and powered away.
Quan said, "They are on the surface
. I do not have long before I must hibernate."
I replied, "Can't we sweep your core out of there?"
Quan answered. "My core is distributed over a large area with many intertwined power connections. An additional complex holds my archived memories. If any section is moved or loses power, the system will shut down. If that happens, I will be permanently terminated."
Jack yelled, "The bots are drilling! I'm about to start blasting everything around me!"
Garrett said, "At least flip on the active skin!"
Jack replied, "Can't do it with the clamps engaged!"
Garrett jumped the Jess, coming to rest in front of the Garmon. "Hang on! I'll see if I can blast you out of there!"
Joni yelled, "Hang on, Go! I'm coming your direction!"
Go replied, "Please hurry! I've got ten meters and they are pushing forward hard!"
I watched on Joni's helmet camera as she powered into the hall in front of Go. Four tungsten pellets blasted the hallway clean, scattering autobot parts down the hallway floor away from Go.
Joni said. "Come this way! I don't think this ship has long before it begins to de-orbit!"
Joni pulled open a door. "In here!"
Go replied, "A lifepod? But those aren't finished!"
Joni pushed. "Just get your ass in there and... crap! Where's your helmet!"
Go pointed, "Down the hall! But it's no good without the suit!"
"Garrett!" Joni yelled. "I need you over here for a lifepod pickup!"
Garrett replied, "No can do! Trying to free up the Garmon! Those clamps aren't releasing!"
Joni turned and fired her coil gun as a half dozen bots came into the room. As she turned back she saw a stunned Go on the floor of the lifepod. The concussion from the tungsten pellets had been too much. Joni pushed his feet into the lifepod and closed the door.
"Quan!" Joni yelled, "I need power to this lifepod. Is there anything you can do!"
Quan replied, "I will attempt a reroute... I am sorry, Joni, the pod is under construction. There is no power connection available."
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