Exodus: Machine War: Book 2: Bolthole

by Doug Dandridge

  One last piece of data confounded the computers. There was a very recent black hole here, the remains of a supernova about six light months out. The anomaly was that this system had survived that event. Another thing to think about, as it pointed to more tech that was beyond their capabilities.

  * * *

  “They’ve stopped out there, General,” said Commodore Hasselhoff over the com. “I can’t tell you why, unless they figure they might not be able to take us. That’s the good news.”

  “And the bad? Those ships that jumped back into hyper?”

  “Yep. And we have to bet they are going to seek reinforcements.”

  “While we don’t have any coming that we know of. Unless our last courier made it through. And that is problematical with these bastards hanging around in this space.”

  “What we need, Travis, is a wormhole of our very own,” said the Commodore. “Until we get one, we’re out on a limb with no recourse but to depend on what little we have.”

  And the Empire is fighting a war, and needs all of the wormholes it can get, thought the General. Now, if we could get some members of a sibling group to Command Base, while we retained the others here, we would have two way instantaneous com. The only problem with that is that no one thought of it during the evacuation, when it was thought this system was dead. And now, with the Machines hanging around, it was also problematical to try and get some of those Klassekians to the base.

  “Keep a very close watch on them, Commodore. Since they’re not forging in, I figure they know what we have here, so go ahead and use some active sensors. I don’t want anything sneaking up on us out of the dark.”

  * * *

  GAEA SYSTEM.

  “I want you to get to that system as fast as you can, and don’t let anything get in your way, Commodore,” ordered Admiral Adanna Douhou, looking at the only flag officer she had available for this mission. Commodore Blake Sims was not what one would call an inspiring commander. Short, plump and dour of expression, he was newly promoted to his position thanks to a his proven capabilities as a battle cruiser team senior captain. Which did not mean he was going to be a prodigy at larger unit command.

  The courier had arrived just hours before with two sledge hammers. First, the planet Klassek was still alive and well, thanks to some technology left behind by aliens that was so far advanced it might as well have been magic. She had already known about the alien artifact, and how one of the battle cruisers had just disappeared while poking at it. That was something she could not understand, and she had meant to have words with Nguyen about his judgement when she got him back. But then to be told that it had translated an entire planet into another dimension to save it from the radiation wave of the supernova, then brought it back, along with the missing battle cruiser. That was almost too much to believe, except there were recordings which showed it happening.

  But most disturbing of all, the knowledge that the Machines were back, having built their own little Empire out here, and were tracking human ships in hyper. She thought Nguyen had made the right call there, sending most of his ships to reinforce Bolthole, while detaching all of his hyper VII vessels to scout the Machine Empire. Bolthole was an important system, with a large population of very highly trained people. The problem was, Klassek was also important. Sure, they had enough of the singular species for it to survive in the Empire. But more was better, always. Which was the point of this meeting.

  “Do you want me to split my force?” asked Sims, who had never led a squadron into battle, much less a task force. “The hyper VII ships can get there four times faster.”

  “No. I want you to keep your force together. Otherwise, your VII ships could end up sailing into a trap they can’t get out of.”

  The Admiral had gathered every ship she could get her hands on. Exploration Command had well over three hundred vessels assigned to it in this region. Unfortunately, after subtracting what Nguyen had deployed with him, and ships that were so far out on scouting missions that she had not been able to contact them, she had only been able to come up with forty-one vessels, all explorers. A few were hyper VII, the majority VI. That included twelve battle cruisers, eleven light cruisers and eighteen destroyers. A couple of the ships were undergoing refits that would hopefully be completed on the way. They would bring along six hyper VI replenishment ships filled to capacity with things the force, the in place squadron and the planet Klassek would need.

  And I’m leaving this system more or less defenseless, with the exception of an attack fighter wing and our orbital defense, she thought. It was a risk, but not one she was unwilling to take. They were much farther from the Machines than Klassek or Bolthole, and any ships returning from missions would be coming here, so over time they would gain the hulls they needed for defense. But enough for a flat out war?

  “I’m sending the newly arrived second wormhole with you, so you should be able to get reinforcements in the near future,” the Admiral told the Commodore. “We’ve sent all the info that we have to Sector I HQ, along with a request that they expand our wormholes into ship gates. Once that’s done, the ships should start pouring in.”

  I hope, thought the Admiral. She had only sent the report to Sector I a couple of hours ago. Grand Fleet Admiral Cecil McGraff had yet to reply, and was probably kicking it back upstairs to Fleet Headquarters on Jewel for authorization. Maybe even to the Emperor. And they would decide if they had the ships to spare for this area more than a thousand light years from the borders of the Empire, when the actual Empire itself was at risk of destruction.

  “You will have two Klassekians on board each of your ships, so you will have com with us the entire way. I’m not intending to play backseat pilot with your command, but I do want to know what’s going on out there, especially if something bad happens to you.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Then get your command together, Blake. I want you boosting for the hyper barrier within the hour.”

  “That doesn’t really give me time to get my command team together,” complained the Commodore. “Or get to know the ship captains under my command.”

  “That can’t be helped,” said the Admiral, wondering if she had selected the wrong man for the job. Not that I had a whole lot of choice. He was a very good exploration team commander before his promotion, and we have nothing else available but exploration team commanders. She looked back at the man who was still regarding her with a look of anxiety on his face. “You will just have to do the best you can on the way there. That’s why battle cruisers have a hyper capable shuttle aboard.”

  “Then I had better get going, ma’am,” said Sims, a determined look now on his face.

  “Right you are.”

  Sims stood up, gave his best salute, and turned away, walking through the door to the office, while his commanding officer tried to suppress her doubts. Maybe I should be going instead, she thought, dismissing that notion as soon as it surfaced. She was in command of this entire region, at least as far as Exploration Command was concerned.

  “We have a com coming in from Sector I HQ over the wormhole,” came the call from the Com Officer. “Grand Fleet Admiral McGraff.”

  “Put him on my desk holo,” she ordered. When a six star Admiral was on the com, ever a full admiral, a four star, didn’t keep him waiting.

  “Admiral McGraff,” she said by way of greeting as the man’s face and upper body appeared over her desk.

  “Admiral Douhou,” said the man, a dour look on his face. “It’s looking like we’ve got another war on our hands, eh.”

  “We have no idea of this enemy’s capabilities yet, sir,” she responded. “So far all I know is that they have been seen in the region between Klassek and Bolthole. I just dispatched just about everything I had to Klassek. And I have no idea what is happening at Bolthole.”

  “Neither do we, yet,” said the Grand Fleet Admiral, the scowl on his face deepening. “The two hyper VII battleships we sent out that way are days from the system. A
nd they’re reporting contacts with the same unknowns that were in your report. Same resonances, general classes of ships, everything. Looks like the same people, or should I say, things.”

  And Bolthole might have already fallen, thought Douhou, shaking her head. She was frustrated. While the rest of the Empire was building links with wormholes, and even scout forces had instantaneous com with HQ, they were still acting out here on the frontiers as if the portals had never been invented. The Klassekians would improve that situation somewhat, but they still needed the gates to move people across a thousand or more light years in an instant, like here.

  “I’ve sent your request up the line for more ships. It’s not really my call. I can use my toys for what I need to do in my sandbox, but moving them to another playground takes approval from the CNO.”

  “And do you think that approval will be coming,” said Douhou, her voice rising a bit before she got it under control. “Admiral. What I have out here are exploration ships. They have most of the capabilities of warships, but not the missile load, offensive or defensive. And we are facing an unknown but potentially large number of hostile ships. The few real warships we have are a blessing, but we need more.”

  “And that also brings up the problem of getting them to you. If we send them through hyper, and remember that most of the ships I have available are VI, they would get to you in about a month. Or we get the negative matter to open up another ship gate. But I have to tell you, that will be difficult.”

  “I understand there is a war going on, Admiral. But we have the Klassekians to protect, so that we can depend on their significant gift. And Bolthole.”

  “I have to tell you, Admiral. There is a big operation in the works, against the primary enemy. And free negative matter, and ship gates, are few and far between.”

  “What’s the operation?”

  “Need to know, Admiral. In fact, that’s the same thing I was told when I asked. All I can tell you is all that I know, that’s it’s something that will really hurt the big bastards. So, until that is over, we’re short on large wormholes. Besides, when we do free one up, as long as Bolthole is still there, they will get priority on the first ship gate. I wish I could tell you different, but there you have it. I’ll be back in touch as soon as I find out something, good or bad. McGraff out.”

  The holo went blank, leaving Douhou alone with her thoughts for a moment. She knew this wasn’t the main front, not even the main war. The Empire was going to put everything they had into defeating the enemy that threatened its existence. While the intelligent species and living worlds out here in the frontier were also important, humanity, of course, was going to do what it needed to do to protect itself first.

  I need for some of those scouts Nguyen sent out to come back in, to let me know what’s going on, she thought. But next time they’ll go out with the crew they need to stay in touch.

  Chapter Eight

  You want to know what a robot’s designed for. And if it’s doing something outside the scope of what it’s made to do, you should be very suspicious.

  Daniel H. Wilson

  MACHINE SPACE, MARCH 5TH, 1002.

  “I wonder what they want here?” asked Commander Standanko over the laser com.

  Ahead was a K class star and the planets that orbited it. They could tell little about it in hyper, other than the relative mass and positions of the planets due to their graviton emissions. And they knew the machines had an interest here, since their hundred kilometer diameter vessel and its twenty escorts were jumping down the levels of hyper to enter the system.

  The two destroyers were still in hyper VII, where they were safe from the machines, which had still shown no ability to enter anything above VI. It could still be an elaborate trap, making the Imperials think they couldn’t jump up to the higher. But if it was a trick, Matthews couldn’t see the rationale behind it. It would have made more sense to just jump into VII and go after the pursuers.

  The huge vessel finally jumped into normal space, all of its escorts leading or following. All were at point one light heading into the system, and all accelerated at twenty gravities, the supposed maximum of the large ship. We need a better name for it than large ship or huge vessel. But we still don’t know what it does.

  “Standanko,” said Matthews, looking at the face of the woman on the flatscreen viewer that had to do for the strength of the signal through hyper. “My ship is going to translate down so we can get a good look at that system. I want you to stay in hyper on overwatch, in case something happens to us.”

  “Are you sure, Roberta. We could do a better job protecting you if we were alongside.”

  “If they’ve got something within range that can take out this ship, then they can probably take both of us. I want you where you can get out with what observations we have. Understood?”

  “You’re the boss, Commander Matthews. But for God’s sake, be careful.”

  “That’s my middle name,” said Matthews. But the prize never goes to the timid, was her thought at the same moment.

  “Battle stations,” she yelled over the intercom. “Prepare to jump to normal space. I want everyone alert. Weapons hot. If those crew on defensive arrays see anything coming, don’t wait for orders. Open fire.”

  Acknowledgements came back, until Matthews was satisfied that everyone understood what to do. She looked at the Helm Officer. “Go ahead and jump us down to normal space, Karmen.”

  The Helm Officer nodded and input the commands into her board. The lights of the bridge dimmed for a moment, the hole in space opened up in front of them, the temporary nausea struck. And then the red of hyper space around them was replaced by the glory of the stars, millions of them blazing in the heavens. This part of the Perseus Arm was crowded with a density greater than most of the Galactic concentrations called spirals. To port was the edge of a massive globular cluster, to starboard the glowing red and whites of a nebula, new stars forming within.

  And ahead was the bright point of the K class star. At a mental command through her implant her side holo changed to a repeater of the main tactical viewer, showing the positions of everything in the system, planets, moons, large asteroids, and of course the Machine vessels.

  “I want a look at that planet,” she told the Sensor Tech, pointing to the world in the life zone.

  The Tech acknowledged and started working his board, bringing up the calculations of where the world had been when the light reaching them would have arrived, then setting a tracking program in place. The grav lens focused, bringing the world into view across the almost two light hours, as it had been a little less than two hours before.

  They were, of course, looking at the night side. There were some visible lights on the surface, few and far between. They couldn’t tell what was under the ample cloud cover, which was alive with the flashes of lightning that were a magnitude brighter than any of the lights of habitations.

  “I’m estimating an early industrial age world,” said the Sensor Tech. “Based on the level of carbon emissions in the atmosphere, and the lack of light in the cities.”

  “Gaslights?” asked Matthews.

  “That would be my guess, ma’am.”

  So these people don’t stand a chance, thought Matthews. They won’t even be able to score any moral victories. The only thing they will be able to do is to die.

  “I want to have a look at the day side,” ordered the Captain.

  “I can launch a probe for a far flyby,” answered the Tech, looking over a screen that showed the assets of his department.

  “Send two. I want to see that world, and I want to find out what these bastards are going to do with it.”

  And then I can sit helplessly by and watch what they do, thought the Commander, shaking her head. If only I had a couple of squadrons of battleships, instead of two Command destroyers. She shook her head again, pulling up a view of the huge Machine vessel. She really wasn’t sure if a dozen squadrons of battleships would be enough.

&
nbsp; * * *

  Admiral Adanna Douhou felt like the weight of the Universe was on her shoulders. She had done everything she could, and it was not going to be enough. They had only mapped a small portion of this arm, with over two hundred million stars in their mandate. Command vessels had maybe visited a tenth of that in the last thirty years, the time period they had been operating in this space. Everything out to a couple of hundred lights years had gotten at least a close look, as well as everything a couple of hundred light years out from the border of the Empire. Otherwise, they looked at the most interesting stellar bodies, and bypassed the rest. The problem with that was sometimes the most interesting things, civilizations, artifacts, were in orbit around the most unprepossessing stars. She had asked for more ships and crews since assuming this post four years prior. And she had gotten a trickle for her effort. The end of her posting was in sight, and she had been looking forward to return to the Empire, and some posting in the Command closer to home.

  And now the damned Machines are back, she thought, shifting gears. That was the bad news along with the good. The damned killer machines that they thought were dead and gone centuries before were again a threat, and in her area of operations. Her force, which was in no way a battle fleet, was scattered to hell and gone, with the exception of what was boosting for the barrier at this moment, almost there and ready to translate on the way to Klassek. And Bolthole was off on its own, another thousand light years from this base, over twelve days travel time in a hyper VII ship. Almost fifty through hyper VI.