by Isaac Hooke
Barrick replied a few moments later. “Valor had no comment on the tech sharing, but he did suggest we assume a position behind the third gas giant.”
Jonathan shook his head. “We won’t be moving anywhere until we at least explore the pseudo-planets between here and the giant, not to mention its many moons. But tell Valor I’ll send his strategic input up the chain of command.” Where it will be promptly ignored. He headed toward the bridge hatch. “I’ll be in my quarters. Notify me if anything changes.”
“You’re not really going to send his input up the chain of command, are you?” Barrick asked.
“Nope,” Jonathan said.
A half day passed. No vessels were discovered behind the nearby asteroid 951-671.
In the coming days, while the telemetry drones advanced throughout the system, the fleet continued to lurk near the Slipstream, maintaining formation. Those four lines of United Systems vessels formed a diamond pattern when viewed from the front, fifteen warships plus one support ship per line, with each craft separated by one kilometer. The support ships—the first Builder and the three harvester vessels—resided at the end of the lines, and were positioned closest to 1-Vega. The second Builder was the only ship that had left formation, and that was only so it could begin construction of a return Gate.
Two of the outer pseudo-planets were mapped next. Because of the current orbital configuration of the planets, Achilles, fourth planet from the sun, was next in line. A gas giant, its moon Achilles I contained the wreck of the Elder vessel that had attracted the Selene’s attention the first time Jonathan had come to Vega 951. It was also the same moon the Raakarr had used in their initial ambush against them. But Achilles I proved abandoned, as did the seventeen other satellites orbiting the giant.
Jonathan didn’t know what to believe when he heard the news. This was an alien race, after all, whose thinking was equally alien to humankind. But strategically, it didn’t make sense to leave the system empty, not when it bordered the territory of a neighboring species the Raakarr had just attacked. Unless that attack had been initiated by divergent elements within the Elk faction. Still, even Valor believed Elk faction ships were somewhere out there.
Where are they hiding?
Jonathan gazed at the destroyer that harbored the planet killer, located near the center of the fleet, just in front of the Talon. The Dammerung.
They want you, certainly.
He glanced at the support craft: the two Builders, and the three harvesters. He was never sure why Builders were capitalized, while harvesters were not, but it was navy decorum. He supposed the capitalization emphasized how important those ships were, especially at the moment. Depending on one’s point of view, those ships were even more valuable than the planet killer.
If we want to return home, we have to protect those Builders at all costs.
A WEEK PASSED. There was still no sign of the enemy, nor any other United Systems craft. It was becoming increasingly unlikely that Robert and Task Group 72.5 had made it back.
“It’s very odd,” Jonathan told Levieson during the morning meeting the vice admiral held with the captains who served under him. “We’ve mapped two of the gas giants, two of the pseudo-planets, and one of the inner terrestrials, and still we haven’t found anything. No enemy vessels. No shipyards.”
“Are we sure our probes haven’t missed something?” Captain Chopra transmitted. “With the enemy operating in some kind of stealth mode?”
“That’s certainly a possibility,” Levieson said. “But according to our allies, even in stealth mode a Raakarr ship emits a characteristic heat signature. If they’re out there, we’ll find them.”
“What if the system proves empty in the end?” another captain, one Ralph Hansel, said.
“Then we send Builder 2 forward with an escort to begin construction of the second Gate as planned.”
“The enemy might be waiting for us to separate,” Captain Chopra said. “That could be the spark that ignites the attack.”
“Then we’ll deal with the attack when it comes,” Levieson said. “We’ll keep the planet killer here at all times, with the majority of the fleet. And we’ll make sure Builder 2 has a sizable escort.”
“When you say sizable, how many ships are we talking?” Jonathan said.
“Probably at least a dozen,” Levieson said. “To guard against a surprise attack from the Slipstream itself.”
“Can we mine the Slipstream entrance with nukes while we’re building a Gate?” Hansel asked.
“We can,” Levieson said. “But they have to be very carefully placed to prevent damage to the Builder and the Gate if those mines detonate prematurely.”
When the meeting ended, Jonathan tapped in Levieson directly. Hologram mode.
“What can I do for you, Jonathan?” the vice admiral asked.
“I hope you’re taking into account that Valor could be lying to us,” Jonathan told him. “This whole thing could be staged. There might be no factions within the Raakarr.”
Levieson sighed. “Jonathan, please, let it go. I know you think this whole colony world thing is a trick on their part to steal the planet killer from us, but can you drop it until we see proof of that?”
“Sorry, sir,” Jonathan said.
“And don’t worry,” Levieson said. “Before we launched, the mission detractors brought up the same issues. Trust me, it’s a possibility we’re watching for.”
“Good,” Jonathan said. “Because at this point, it’s starting to feel more and more like an ambush.”
“None of us can let our guard down,” Levieson agreed. “Especially not you, located as you are aboard the alien starship harboring our so-called allies and friends.”
“That’s what I needed to hear,” Jonathan told him. “I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: we can trust Valor only so far.”
“Though the tricky part is,” Levieson said. “How can we tell where that trust ends and subterfuge begins?”
“Oh I think we’ll be able to tell,” Jonathan said.
Levieson arched an eyebrow. “Will we?”
SEVERAL WEEKS PASSED before the telemetry drones completed their full exploration of the system. Vega 951 proved completely devoid of any foreign craft. The drones identified the wreckage of ships involved in previous battles, but there was no indication that any of that debris belonged to the survivors of Task Group 72.5. It seemed Robert and the rest had never returned. Even stranger, there was no debris from 12.5.2, the other task group NAVCENT had dispatched into the system, either.
The telemetry drones also found what appeared to be the debris of a Raakarr shipyard on the third terrestrial planet.
“You think they destroyed the shipyard themselves before pulling out of the system?” Chopra asked during the morning meeting of the captains that day.
“Valor tells me its not something his people would ordinarily do,” Jonathan said.
“Maybe they’re finally learning a bit of human unpredictably,” Hansel commented.
“Is it possible a Zarafe faction did this?” Levieson said.
Jonathan relayed the question to Valor via Barrick.
“I think it’s unlikely,” Jonathan said after receiving the answer. “Valor tells me he hasn’t sent any orders for Zarafe sleeper cells to activate.”
“I suppose we’ll have to believe him,” Levieson said. “As none of our ships have detected any gamma ray emissions from the Talon.”
“What if they have some secondary communication method we don’t know about,” Captain Hansel said. “Other than gamma rays?”
“We haven’t seen any evidence of that,” Jonathan said.
“Captain Dallas, is it possible we’re facing a potential third actor?” Levieson said. “Another enemy of the Raakarr? Ask Valor.”
Jonathan did. Then: “Valor says the Raakarr only have one outside enemy at the moment: humanity. I think he’s implying that Task Group 72.5 did this.”
“But that’s impossible,” L
evieson said.
“Is it?” Jonathan asked. “What if they’ve managed to secure the alien tech required to traverse Slipstreams without Gates?” It was wishful thinking, perhaps, but Jonathan found himself latching onto the small hope. He wanted to believe that the task group hadn’t met an untimely demise in that faraway galaxy.
“It’s more likely that Task Group 12.5.2 razed the shipyard, before they were captured or destroyed,” Levieson said. “Still, if 72.5 had secured the tech, why proceed deeper into Raakarr space? Why not return immediately, and share what they discovered with the rest of the United Systems?”
“That would be the most obvious course of action,” Jonathan said. “Unless they were being chased.”
“By who? The Elder?”
“I don’t know,” Jonathan said. “Maybe there were more Raakarr hiding in the Elder system. Or something else.”
“Something else...” Levieson said. “Fine, let’s say that was true. They stole the tech, fled here, but couldn’t return to Prius 3 because they were being chased. So where, during all of that, would they find the time to divert course and raze the shipyard?”
“We can’t know the specifics of it all,” Jonathan said. “Not until we find the task group.”
“Well,” Levieson said. “This is all speculation at the moment. In the absence of hard facts, I’m going to assume a Zarafe faction did this, acting on its own. I’m going to pass along my assumption to the admiral.”
A few hours later, Admiral Ford ordered Builder 2 and one of the harvesters to proceed toward the outgoing Slipstream 2-Vega. Eight warships were assigned to act as their escort. The remainder of the fleet stayed behind to guard the first Builder and the in-progress return Gate.
Jonathan tried to get permission for the Talon to join the outgoing unit: he wanted to launch a probe through 2-Vega and scout the other side. But once again the vice admiral turned down his request for fear of alerting whatever enemy might have awaited on the other side. As such, the Talon was forced to remain behind with the remainder of the battle group.
A week later Builder 2 and her escorts finally reached the Slipstream, and the Builder began construction of the Gate, which would be known as Outreach.
Three days later, Jonathan received an urgent call from Levieson.
“What is it?” Jonathan sent.
“The Leviathan just picked up a directed energy gamma ray signal,” Levieson sent.
“A gamma ray signal?” Jonathan replied, pulling on his helmet. “Where from?”
“It appears to have been sourced from somewhere on the surface of the main sequence star.”
“The star?” Jonathan emerged from the psi-shielded tent. “Why didn’t we spot anything?”
“I was hoping you’d ask our Raakarr friends.”
On the way to the bridge, Jonathan tapped in Barrick and explained the situation.
“Valor believes it came from an autonomous Raakarr probe,” Barrick replied some moments later. “Probably in a decaying orbit around the star. That close, the heat signature would have merged with Vega 951, making it virtually indistinguishable even to our own passing telemetry drones, which would’ve come no closer than three million kilometers to a star like that.”
Jonathan relayed the information to Levieson.
“Damn it,” Levieson said. “Valor could have told us they had heat shields to support such a close orbit earlier.”
“Have we calculated the destination of the gamma rays yet?” Jonathan asked.
“It’s 2-Vega,” Levieson replied. “They’re calling home.”
eleven
Jonathan knew that Admiral Ford would immediately recall the Builder and harvester. The expected order came a moment later, though it would take seventeen minutes for the intended vessels to receive it, and another seventeen minutes before any acknowledgment, either visual or communicated, became apparent.
Ford convened an emergency fleet-wide meeting of the captains shortly thereafter.
“The Builder will soon be on its way back to the rest of the fleet,” Ford said. “The problem is, no one knows how far away any reinforcements reside on the other side. The enemy could be minutes out, hours, or months. It took the Raakarr six months to muster their first assault against the survivors of Task Group 72.5 stranded here. Maybe the enemy will arrive sooner this time. Maybe not. Perhaps they might not arrive at all.
“Whatever the case, I’ve instructed four of the destroyers to remain behind to mine the entrance with seeker nukes. They’ll join the Builder and her escorts when the task is complete. If the enemy emerges before the destroyers finish mining the Slipstream, then the warships will do their best to stall them.”
“Mines aren’t going to help,” Jonathan said. “The last time we tried mining Slipstream openings, the aliens simply destroyed them with advance probes of some kind. We programmed the proximity fuses not to activate until actual ship-size objects came within range, but it didn’t help: the probes seemed to be some kind of hunter killers. Valor says they’re a special type of automated enemy fighter.”
“Our fleet is stocked with a new type of mine,” Ford explained. “Each one is equipped with defensive lasers and enough smarts to counter potential threats. They’re almost mini Avenger fighters. I’m hoping they’ll be able to stand up against whatever hunter killers the enemy sends until bigger targets arrive.”
“We’ll have to destroy the probe that transmitted the call-home, of course,” a Captain Bane transmitted.
“We will,” Ford agreed. “I’ve instructed one of the destroyers escorting the Builder to launch a nuke toward the source of the transmission as it passes by the sun.”
“We’re recalling our Builder, mining the entrance...” Captain Chopra said. “Are we really going to wait six months for the enemy to come to us? We could be done building the outgoing Gate by then.”
“We’re not going to wait that long, not if we don’t have to,” Admiral Ford replied. “The recall is merely a temporary measure, in case the enemy is lurking right on our doorstep. Captain Dallas, I want the Talon to launch its telemetry probe into the Slipstream. We no longer have to worry whether or not the enemy detects its presence on the other side... we’ve lost the element of surprise. The enemy has already called home. Find out what’s waiting for us in the next system. If there are no Raakarr ships, we’ll send the Builder back to finish the Gate. The Talon will remain close by, sending its probe into 2-Vega multiple times a day to act as an early warning system. I might even allow the Talon through on short exploratory missions.”
“You want the Talon to close with the Slipstream first, before launching the probe, correct?” Jonathan asked.
“How long will it take the probe to reach 2-Vega, if launched from your current position?” Ford countered.
Jonathan paused to confer with Barrick. “Like United System telemetry drones, their probes can’t travel as fast as the ships. The alien captain tells me it will take at least a week.”
“And how long if you travel directly to the Slipstream,” Ford said. “And launch the probe just outside?”
“Three days,” Jonathan said.
“All right,” the admiral said. “You have permission to take the Talon to the Slipstream. Proceed immediately. The Stalwart, Fade, and Halberd will provide escort.” A corvette, a frigate, and a destroyer.
“Done,” Bane sent. He commanded the Halberd. “But I have one concern.”
“Voice it,” Ford replied.
“I thought the Talon is the fastest vessel in the fleet?” Bane said. “Escorts will only slow her down.”
“They’ll only delay us by a few days,” Jonathan said. “I think the extra protection is worth it.”
“All right,” Bane sent. “Good enough for me.”
“Captain Dallas,” Ford said. “You are in command of the flotilla.”
“Thank you, Admiral.” Jonathan ended the conference and had Barrick inform Valor of their mission.
A moment later
Barrick replied: “Valor doesn’t like it. We’ll be flying out there with only three dinky ships providing escort? And only one of them a warship of any measure? He says he’s not going to do it.”
“Tell him he has no choice,” Jonathan said. “We’re to scout that Slipstream for the fleet. And if he refuses, the admiral will place someone else in charge of the Talon.”
Barrick was quiet a few moments, then gave the response. “Valor wishes you luck with that. He is in command of the ship, and no one else will replace him. He will attack the humans—his words—before he gives up the Talon. The admiral granted a mere Builder eight warships in escort. He demands at least ten to escort the Talon.”
“Valor really sees himself as quite the self-important one, doesn’t he?” Jonathan said. “He does know that if the Talon has to flee, any other ships belonging to our escort are essentially particle-beam fodder because of their slower speed?”
“Which is exactly why he wants more ships,” Barrick said. “He argues that more escorts will better be able to protect themselves, in addition to us.”
“Tell him he’s only getting three.”
Barrick did so, and returned the reply. “Again, he says he’s not going to obey. I’m sorry, Captain.”
Jonathan glanced at Wethersfield beside him. The Artificial arched an eyebrow. “Don’t look at me. I’m not entirely certain what to do. Navy regulations call for a certain delicacy when dealing with situations that could potentially endanger alien-human relations. But how can you be delicate when members of an alien race agree to obey your commands for the duration of a mission, and then refuse when it suits them?”
“I’ve been dealing with self-important bullies almost my entire career,” Jonathan said. “So I know exactly what to do: take away what they want. Doesn’t matter if Valor is alien, or human, it always works. Barrick, ask Valor this: how badly does he want to deploy the planet killer to the Elk colony?”
Barrick didn’t reply for a long while.
Wethersfield said: “I fear you may have unduly endangered Rakaar-Human relations with that question.”