Vagra replied, "I will see what I can find. And yes, please send him home."
I looked back at the colonel. "You need him for anything else?"
The colonel stood and replied, "I believe he has given us all that we can use."
"Step back," I said. "He's going back to headquarters."
Joni yelled, "That beast is breaking out! Ohh! That's gotta hurt! It just trampled two guards. It's chasing the others around the room. Should I intercede?"
I replied, "Leave them to their just reward. Go back to the dining hall and we'll grab one of the guards from there."
Joni powered out into the open. "Uh, they are all standing out here, listening to that high pitched squeal of that beast. You can pull the sweep coordinates from my camera view."
Jack shook his head. "They're all running."
Joni half laughed. "Yeah, it's a circus down here. That creature just rammed a hole in the wall of that building and squeezed out. It's chasing them around the compound!"
Jack looked over his sensor data. "They've got bigger trouble headed their way. I count twenty of those beasts, full grown, heading toward that compound. That skimpy wall is not going to hold them back."
Joni replied, "Well, just pick out one of those Baldi and sweep him up."
Jack swiped at his screen. "Hold on. Maybe I can get in front of one of them."
The portal button was pressed. Three seconds later, half of a Baldi guard appeared on the deck with his insides spilling out.
Go stepped back. "That is disgusting!"
Jack again swiped at his screens followed by a button push. "Sending him back. Joni, you need to corner one of those guys long enough for me to sweep over him."
Joni replied, "We're down to two candidates! Another one just got trampled. Those others are breaking through the far wall. If we're grabbing someone, we have to do it quick!"
Jack said, "I'm setting up a sweep on the other side of that building. Send one of them that way and I'll pull him out."
Joni replied, "Tell me when you're ready."
Jack nodded. "Ready now."
Joni glanced over her shoulder at the rampaging beasts. As a guard rounded the back corner of the building, Joni blinked in just in his path. The guard's feet froze; he skidded to a stop in the rich brown dirt that made up the compound grounds. Joni ran toward the confused guard, pointing at the back of the building as she approached. A great beast slid to a stop in the alleyway between the buildings and began to charge their way. The guard turned and ran.
Joni said, "Coming your way!"
Jack swiped at his screens as his finger hovered over the portal button. "That creature's closing! Get out of there! Initiating!"
Three seconds later the small portal opening ran across the deck. The Baldi guard stumbled and fell as the image before his eyes changed to that of the bridge of the Ares. The head of the beast appeared before us as the portal closed. Cut off, its head slid to a stop beside the terrified Baldi, with its confused eyes still blinking.
Seconds passed before Joni said, "That other guard didn't make it. How's our guy?"
Jack said, "How are you? What happened?"
Joni shook her head. "I'll admit that was crazy scary. I blinked out before I hit the corner, drifted through the wall."
Jack laughed. "We have him. He's a bit shook up and I'm sure he's confused as to what just happened. The colonel is standing over him with a growl right now."
Joni said, "I'm coming back up."
The colonel looked down at the Baldi guard with an angry face. "We just saved your ass. Cooperate or I'll shove you out an airlock."
The Baldi held up a hand in surrender. "Where am I? What has happened?"
The colonel grabbed him by his collar, pulling him to his feet. The laserblade was taken from his belt-holster and handed to Go.
The colonel got in his face. "We just pulled you from certain death. I'll give you the choice as to whether or not things stay that way."
The colonel dragged the guard over to the floating holo-display of the nav map. "We are here. Where are you from?"
The Baldi grimaced. "What? I don't understand what's happening. Where am I?"
The colonel exhaled slowly. "I'll give you one more chance to answer me."
The colonel swiped on the display floating over his arm pad. A video feed of the stampeding beasts was displayed on a near holo-wall.
The colonel turned the Baldi's head to face the rampaging beasts. "Tell me where on this nav map you are from or I'll send you back down to that compound!"
The Baldi turned back to look at the map. "Here! I am from here!"
The colonel smiled as he turned toward Jack. "Give us a portal scan of that system. We'll know real quick if he's telling the truth."
The colonel got back in the Baldi's face. "If you lied to me I'm going to enjoy watching your bug-eyed ass getting stomped into the dirt down there."
The shaking Baldi nodded. "Please... I'm telling the truth!"
Jack displayed the results. "Eight planets. Starships everywhere. Two planets show significant population. Broadcast signals translating to... Baldi. Looks like this is his lucky day."
Chapter 12
* * *
Jack turned. "Should we open a portal to that system?"
I replied, "I think we're dealing with conventional ships. That's a five month journey under normal propulsion. Start up a string of portal scans, starting from here and going toward that system. They have to be somewhere between here and there."
Jack tilted his head. "That's if they're heading home. They could have gone in any direction."
I looked at the nav display. "I think they just picked up a prize with Garrett and the Tamarin. I would have to believe more Tamarin than four escaped, and those others were taken back home for study with Garrett. With that small compound as the only outpost out here, I would bet they only recently traveled here for the first time."
The colonel looked at Juuta. "When your ships left, did they take the Human?"
Juuta nodded. "Him and eight of the others."
The colonel asked, "Were they heading home?"
Juuta shrugged. "I... I don't know. I'm not given that information. All I know is the next supply ship will not be here for another cycle. Please don't send me back down there."
Go gestured to the colonel. "Follow me. We'll take him down to a holding cell."
Go turned to the Baldi guard. "How you feel about that sneeze now?"
The Baldi returned a confused look. "What?"
Go continued, "You know the science exam you flunked because of a sneeze. You are Juuta, right?"
The Baldi replied as they walked off the bridge, "How do you know my name?"
Joni turned to face me and said, "Wouldn't it be faster for us to make jumps instead of scans?"
I replied, "We don't want to jump into the middle of a fleet while not knowing what we're up against."
Joni plopped down in a chair. "Are we ever going to catch up to him?"
I walked over, placing my hand on her shoulder. "We know he's alive. And this is the closest we've been to recovering him. We're almost there. Without a portal ship, they can't run very far."
Joni patted my hand. "Thank you for being there for me. You’re like the father I always wanted mine to be."
I smiled. "And you would have made a fine Grunta daughter. Your fight and spirit easily match that of any of our warriors."
Joni chuckled. "Pfftt. Yeah, like I could keep up with any of them. This suit is a great equalizer, but on a physical front, your weakest female would turn me into a bag of crushed bones in seconds."
Jack said, "We have a hit! They haven't gone far at all. That's gotta be... three days travel. Baldi probably could have told us that."
I moved over to the nav display. "What are we looking at?"
Jack began pushing selected data to the display. "Just over two hundred ships. They're all the same size, and they match the debris estimates we saw from that fight w
ith the battlecruiser. They're also slower than our standard speeds by half. Twenty months coming out is a long journey. Catching the Tamarin out here must have been a fluke. They would've had to leave their home system long before the Tamarin even got here."
"Those signatures are tiny," I said. "How'd you pick them up on a scan?"
Jack moved a comm screen onto the display. "They're broadcasting like nobody's business. It's an extremely narrow band, maybe in their world it's hard to detect. Stands out like a sore thumb to our sensors. The encryption on it isn't very strong, either. We should have a crack in about ten minutes."
Go and the colonel returned to the bridge with Harden Salton standing in front of them.
I had to ask. "What's he doing here?"
Go pointed at the colonel. "It was his idea."
"Colonel?" I asked.
Tom Harper took a deep breath. "You aren't going to like what I'm about to suggest."
I stood staring, in inquisition.
The colonel continued. "I need to take him back to Alpha Prime."
Joni stood. "What? No! That's insane!"
The colonel held up his hand. "Let me explain. The Tamarin are pulling the AIs out of the six galaxies. There is no government. It's going to be a complete power vacuum unless someone asserts control. You want chaos? Every wannabe thug in every colony will take to the streets to exploit the situation. Riots, possibly wars and colonies starving due to supply and money flow problems... we need to get back there and to establish control."
Joni demanded, "What does that have to do with him?"
Harden stepped forward. "I am a known authority. People will rally around my image in order to establish a government and a stable society for us to build upon."
I shook my head. "Colonel, this is unacceptable. You can't put this man back in charge. He's personally responsible for the death of millions if not billions."
Harden chortled. "Twenty-two million is hardly billions."
The colonel placed his big hand over Harden Salton's face, squeezing it with his enormous fingers. "Shut your hole, Harden. Mr. Beutcher, I can assure you that I have no intention of actually putting this man in charge. He will be a figurehead that I throw in front of the video feeds for the purpose of keeping order."
Joni said. "He'll turn on you, Colonel. You give him the smallest sliver of an opportunity and he will pounce."
Harden frowned. "Really Jo Jo. That hurts coming from my own family. What I've agreed to do here is what—"
The colonel again grabbed Harden Salton by the face. "Shut... your... hole."
A hard squeeze, followed by a shoving release, got the message across.
The colonel continued. "You aren't in need of my military services at the moment. If we don't take this opportunity to assert control, we may never have it again. New, local alliances would form, wars would break out. Millions if not billions would die."
I chuckled to myself.
The colonel asked. "What was that?"
I shook my head. "Sorry, Colonel. It's just that I used that very reasoning for wanting to keep him in power when all of this started up. It does make sense, just not with him actually being in power. I just hope you know what you are doing and that you know how much of a threat he is."
Tom Harper smiled. "If he causes me any trouble I'll bring him back here to feed to a Maxada."
Harden asked, "What's a Maxada?"
A jerking gesture by the colonel shut him up.
I sighed. "Jack, I never thought I would ever say something like this, but could you sweep Harden Salton and the colonel back to Alpha Prime?"
Joni plopped back in her chair, crossing her arms in disbelief. The colonel moved Harden to an open area, seconds later they were back on the capital world of the new AMP.
Jack turned his eyes back to the nav display. "We have a crack of their comm encryption. I'll start a monitor program to see if we get a hit on anyone talking about the Human."
Joni moved uncomfortably in her chair. "I can't believe we just let that happen. The colonel can't be awake at all hours. My uncle will slip away the first chance he gets."
I shook my head. "The colonel's a smart guy and a big guy. And I think he'll keep Harden under his thumb. He's right about the galaxies needing control. It will be hard enough for him to keep the colonies all together as it is. Every tinpot governor will be looking to expand their power."
Joni continued to scowl. "The colonies of those other families aren't going to like this. And how is he going to enforce anything? He's got no fleet or army."
I opened a QE comm to the colonel. "Joni just brought it to my attention that you'll need some type of force to show strength and keep peace. I suggest you make use of my Talisans. They will be 100 percent loyal and will follow your orders as precisely as possible."
The colonel replied, "That's an excellent suggestion. I was just in contact with Vagra Withers, and I asked him to leave a thousand of those AI ships for me to command. I would prefer to man them with your Talisans rather than leaving the AIs."
I nodded. "You'll want to strip the AIs from every one of those ships as soon as possible. They have no loyalty to anyone, and we can't rely on them to always act in our best interest."
Tom Harper winked. "We think a lot alike, Mr. Beutcher. I've already contacted Quan and asked him to put together a plan for that very thing."
I asked, "When did you do that? You've only been gone for a minute."
The colonel smiled. "I made that comm before bringing Mr. Salton up to the bridge. I've also had Mr. Salton contact those of his planning teams that are still around. They will know how to best get things done. And don't worry; Mr. Salton will not have any contact with them directly. They will all report to me."
I suggested, "Make use of the Talisans if you can. And I'm not just talking about for a military. They are excellent administrators as well. You tell them what you want to do and how and they will get it done. Keep in mind though; you will need to set boundaries. They don't have much for a moral conscience."
The colonel nodded. "Will do. Thank you, Mr. Beutcher."
Jack said, "I think we might have a hit on Garrett. Listen to this."
"His diet differs from the others."
Joni replied, "That's inferring a lot, Jack."
Jack half smiled. "I don't think so. That has to be Garrett they're referring to. Let me do a signal analysis. I might be able to tell which ship broadcast that message."
Frig opened a QE comm. "Mr. Beutcher, Quan's archives should be coming online within the hour. Is there any specific information you would like to inquire about?"
I thought for a moment. "We'd like to know if Quan has any information about the portal on Gratis. Such as, how do we power it up? The colonel was told the passcode at some point, but has forgotten. You were an important figure; I don't suppose it was given to you or that you might know where else it might be stored?"
Frig replied, "I'm afraid not, Mr. Beutcher. At the time I thought the portal to be unnecessary. I was mistaken. The assets of Earth would be useful during the approaching rebuild of the AMP. I've spoken to the colonel and will be joining him when my work here is complete. Organizing a government to control six galaxies of colonies is a daunting task. We established that control initially over a period of nearly a hundred years."
"How is Kerba working out?" I asked.
Frig slowly nodded. "He is a delight to work with. He is well mannered and has an excellent understanding of science and technology."
I said, "In the short time I've known you, I've found it interesting how alike the two of you are. Have you checked his ancestry? You could be related."
Frig smiled, "Mr. Skol was eager to check for that information. Quan tapped into the records on a nearby security station. Unfortunately, Mr. Skol and I are not related since the inception of the AMP. There is always the possibility that a connection exists from Gambrel, our original home world. Perhaps we are distant cousins."
Frig contin
ued, "I've taken the liberty to uncover the information in the archives about the design of Go's missing arm. I have a number of Quan's bots working on a new limb for our friend. It should be ready in the next few days."
I glanced over at a smiling Go. "I think he's ready to have his arm back."
As the comm with Frig closed, I leaned back in my chair. Was all this really happening? Was the AMP really coming back? Would it reach its former level of fairness and opportunity for everyone? Would I even be involved? If the Grunta moved back to Jorus, would I move out there as well? If a portal gate was established there, I could always jump through to visit the family. My mind was suddenly awash with all of the questions I had previously dared not ask.
I tapped my fingers on the console in front of me as my anxieties began to shift from what we needed to accomplish today to what we would need to accomplish tomorrow.
My minute of contemplation was interrupted by Jack. "I have a fix on the ship that broadcast that message. Joni? Want to pay them a visit?"
Joni stood and nodded, just before blinking out. "Heading to the Thorn. Send me the coordinates."
Jack held up his hand. "Hold up. We need to figure out how we're going to get you on that ship. We can't scan the interior, so we don't know what space is in there for you to place the Thorn in. You'll need to move Garrett right onto the Thorn; he won't have a battle-suit, or any suit for that matter. He'll need to stay in a breathable atmosphere."
Joni stopped. "I'll figure it out when I get there."
Jack again held up his hand. "Hang on. There's nothing you can think up there that you can't think up here. If they are alerted to our presence, they might scatter and we could easily lose the ship Garrett is on. Let's review our options for a few minutes at least."
Joni blinked in and plopped back down in her chair. "How about this? I take the Thorn and drift through the interior of that ship. We map it and then decide on our next move."
OMEGA Rescue Page 12