by Ryk Brown
“Hey! Marcus!” Josh yelled as he approached, panting.
“What the hell’s going on?”
“The Jung,” Josh said in between breaths. “They’ve captured… the entire… cluster… Everything… all at once… I heard.”
“Where’d you hear that?” Dalen asked.
“I was at the port controller’s office, updating our time fixes and charts. I heard them talking.”
“Talk is just talk, boy. You know that,” Marcus said, waving him off.
“No, it’s true.”
“How do you know that?”
Josh paused a moment to catch his breath. “While I was there, word came through on the comm-jumper. Takara, Corinair, Savoy, Taroa, Korak…”
“What about Dobson?” Dalen wondered.
“Dobson, Haydon, Devi, Borne,” Josh continued. “All of them. The Jung took’em all, Marcus. I’m telling you. And every damned one of their ships, big and small… They all got fucking jump drives.”
“So? What does that mean?” Dalen said, still confused. “I mean, I know the Jung are bad guys, but…”
“Imagine Caius, but a hundred times worse, and with a hundred times more ships and troops,” Marcus explained.
“I was ten when Caius fell, Marcus,” Dalen reminded him.
“Trust me, kid, this is bad news… Very bad news.”
Josh looked at Marcus. “What do we do?”
“What do you mean, what do we do?” Marcus asked.
Josh looked around, his brow furrowing. “Do we tell him?”
“I’m pretty sure the captain already knows about the Jung invasion, there, Josh,” Dalen remarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “They did shoot at us a few hours ago, remember?”
Marcus and Josh exchanged knowing glances.
“He’s right,” Marcus said. “Besides, he’s in the load master’s office, so he’s probably already heard.”
“Right,” Josh replied, realizing his error.
“Best thing we can do is to keep the captain and the rest under wraps as best we can,” Marcus explained. “I never thought I’d say this, but Haven is probably the best place for us right now, all things considered.”
“Why is that?” Josh asked.
“Because there ain’t shit here on Haven that the Jung would give a damn about, so it’s the last place they’ll waste time invading.”
* * *
Doran Montrose’s comm-unit beeped, alerting him to an incoming call. He reached into his pocket to retrieve his comm-unit and looked at its display screen.
“Who is it?” Yanni wondered.
“There is no ID,” Doran replied, concern in his tone.
“Are you going to answer it?”
Doran activated his comm-unit and held it up to his ear. “Hello?”
“Doran?” the caller’s voice greeted. “It’s Ardum.”
“Hello, Ardum,” Doran replied hesitantly, still unsure of who was speaking to him.
“I’ve been trying to get through for nearly an hour,” the caller exclaimed. “Are you guys alright? Are your children home and safe?”
“Yes, yes, they are,” Doran replied. “And yours?” he asked, fishing for information that might help him identify the caller. The voice was garbled, but seemed familiar.
“They are fine. We are all fine. Did your sister’s family arrive safely as well? And their friends?”
“Yes, they are all here with us.”
“And the baby? She is uninjured?”
“Yes, the baby is fine.” Doran looked at Yanni, furrowing his brow and shaking his head, still not knowing the identity of the caller.
“That is wonderful. Terribly frightening what is happening, is it not?”
“Yes, it is. Will you be alright, Ardum? Do you need anything?”
“No, thank you. We are planning on going to our cabin in the mountains, until things settle down. We have supplies there… Several months worth, in fact. You and yours are more than welcome to join us.”
“I appreciate the offer, Ardum. When will you be leaving?”
“The sooner the better, I would imagine. No later than tomorrow, I think.”
“I will discuss it with my wife and the others, and let you know.”
“Yes, please do. And if you cannot reach me directly, try my niece, Jessica. I spoke with her earlier, and she plans to call me back soon. You may have better luck contacting her, as she is using an exchange that is not as busy.”
“I’ll remember that,” Doran promised.
“Be safe,” the caller said before disconnecting.
Doran deactivated his comm-unit and looked at Yanni.
“Who was it?”
“Somebody named Ardum.” Doran looked at Yanni again. “I don’t know anyone named Ardum.”
“There’s an Ardum in legal. Could it be him?”
“I don’t even know the guy,” Doran replied. “This guy was talking like we were old friends.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted to know if my wife’s family and friends arrived safely, and about the baby.”
“Ailsa?” Lael wondered. “Did he ask about her by name?”
“No, but he did know she was a girl.” Doran’s comm-unit played an alert tone. “I’ve got a message,” he said, looking at the comm-unit again. “It’s from the same guy, Ardum.”
“What does it say?”
Doran looked at the message. “‘Ardum 12345.34512’” Doran thought for a minute. “Of course!” he exclaimed a moment later. “It’s Dumar! And his niece Jessica, on a different, less crowded exchange… He’s talking about Jessica Nash. She must have made contact with him. But how did she know…”
“Deliza must have gone to her for help!” Yanni realized.
“Then Loki is alright?” Lael asked.
“He must be,” Doran replied. “The Sherma system is more than one hundred light years away. It is doubtful they would already know about the invasion. Even less likely that Jessica would come all this way so quickly, unless Deliza asked her to.” His comm-unit made another alert tone. “There’s more. An encryption algorithm ID. Old Alliance encryption, and a starting value.”
“What’s the value?” Yanni asked.
“The date of my brother Kyle’s death.”
“How can we be sure it is really Dumar?” Yanni questioned. “It could be the Jung, trying to lure us out into the open.”
“Doubtful,” Doran argued, as he programmed his phone to decrypt the next message. “It is too soon, and we are very low value targets to them, if anything. Besides, very few people would even know I had a brother, let alone when he died. It’s Dumar. I am sure of it.” His comm-unit played the alert tone yet again.
“What does he say?”
“One moment while the message decrypts.” After several long seconds, he finally spoke. “It is an address to rendezvous. He intends to smuggle us all out of the city and hide us until we can be extricated by the Ghatazhak.”
“Hide us? Where?”
“He has a small resort on Lake Macumby.”
“I never heard of Lake Macumby,” Yanni admitted.
“It is about two hundred kilometers southwest of the city. Very secluded, and a long and difficult drive. It is not well known. His business is all word of mouth. Mostly for hunters and fisherman. It is closed this time of year due to the cold at that altitude.”
“When are we to rendezvous?” Lael asked.
“Not until tomorrow.”
“I’m ready to go now,” Doctor Megel insisted.
“He needs time to drive down into the city.”
“Where are we to meet?” Yanni asked.
“At a small market a few minutes walk from here.” Doran began typing a return message into his comm-unit.
“What are you doing?” Yanni asked.
“Answering him.”
“There’s no way the Jung can trace these things, can they?” Doctor Sato asked worriedly.
“Of course th
ey can,” Doran replied.
It was not the answer they were hoping for.
“But I am sure the admiral took precautions by routing the signal through multiple exchanges,” Doran continued. “Besides, it is unlikely the Jung will be taking such measures at this point.”
“What about the message you are sending?” Doctor Megel wondered.
“The message will take the same path back. It is the way it is designed,” Doran explained.
“To decrease the workload on the routing servers,” Yanni realized.
Doran looked at Yanni with surprise.
“I used to work in IT back on Earth, remember?”
* * *
“Admiral, Cobra One Nine Five has detected a Jung battleship just this side of Arae.”
“Another battleship?” the admiral replied. “So that’s two now. Two Jung battleships within Alliance space.”
“Yes, sir,” Commander Macklay confirmed. “One near Alpha Centauri B, and one near 41 Arae.”
“No escorts?”
“In the Arae system? No, sir.”
Admiral Galiardi grimaced. This was the fifth instance of Jung ships inside Alliance space on this day alone. Granted, most of the sightings had been near systems located at the outskirts of Alliance space. However, the ships detected near the Alpha Centauri system would have to be in transit for at least eighteen months to reach the Centauri system. A year and a half in Alliance space, all without being detected. That thought alone was unsettling.
But why now? And why all at once?
“There has to be a reason for this, Admiral,” the commander insisted.
“Yes, but what? Are they testing our response? There are much less risky ways to do that than showing themselves thirty light years inside our borders. Such a thing makes no tactical sense whatsoever. If you can get that deep inside enemy territory without being detected, then you can get deeper. Hell, you can get anywhere you want. Why not just sneak all your ships in at once, and then attack?”
“Because they know we’d wipe their homeworld out with our super KKVs,” the commander replied.
“Exactly,” the admiral agreed. “But that is also a good enough reason not to reveal their ships so deep inside our borders. Like I said, it makes no sense.”
“Maybe they just want to show us that they can strike whenever and wherever they wish?”
“To what end?”
“To gain leverage at the negotiating table, maybe?” the commander suggested. “To force a better arrangement?”
“I don’t think so.” Admiral Galiardi shook his head. “No, there is more to it than any of that. There’s something missing. Something that we’re not seeing, here.”
“Do you wish to dispatch ships to intercept the battleship near 41 Arae?” the commander asked.
Admiral Galiardi sighed. “Not yet. If they are testing our response, then it does us no good to jump every time they appear. And if this is an attempt to draw our forces away from Earth, then we’d best not take the bait. Besides, that ship is no threat to any Alliance worlds at this point. Have Cobra One Nine Five continue tracking. If the target turns back toward Arae, then we’ll jump a few destroyers out there to deal with it.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Well, it looks like we may be here for more than a single night,” Captain Tuplo reported as he entered the Seiiki’s galley.
Marcus leaned forward over the table, his head dropping in disappointment.
“No runs?” Josh assumed.
Captain Tuplo poured himself a cup of coffee. “Nothing is moving. No passengers, no cargo, nothing. Everyone is afraid the Jung are going to confiscate their cargo and their ships, never mind what might happen to passengers and crew.”
“I don’t get it. Why would the Jung give a damn about little ships like us?” Dalen wondered.
“Control,” Josh replied. “Confiscate all the jump ships, and they’ll have complete control over all movement of goods and people. That’s what they did in the Sol sector, except it was FTL ships. A hundred credits says they don’t bat an eye at sublight ships, or even FTL-only ships.”
“You could be right,” Captain Tuplo agreed, taking a sip of his coffee, “but I wouldn’t want to chance it.”
“But surely that’s not everywhere,” Neli commented as she moved the pot of stew she had prepared for their evening meal from the stove to the table.
“From what I hear, nothing is moving in or out of the cluster,” the captain replied. “Although, I did hear a rumor that some of the lesser Pentaurus worlds don’t always have a Jung ship present.”
“You think they’re jumping around the outer worlds with just one or two ships?”
“Makes sense,” Captain Tuplo agreed. “It had to take quite a few ships to take down both the Takaran fleet and the Avendahl, at the same time. I imagine they’re keeping the bulk of their fleet in the main Pentaurus worlds until they are completely secured. After that, they’ll probably spread them out more evenly.”
“How many ships do they have?” Josh wondered.
“No one really knows for sure,” the captain said. “I’ve heard reports ranging from six to twenty. Best I can tell, no one has seen more than six Jung ships together at once, though. And according to reports, they are jumping around like crazy. Problem is you only see them jump in or out, not both. And nobody hangs around long enough to ID each ship, that’s for damn sure.”
“Anyone have a guess at how long it’s going to take for things to shake out?” Dalen wondered.
“I told you not to bring us here,” Marcus groaned, his head still buried in his arms on the table.
“Once we get the ship fixed, we’ll probably move further out. Start taking runs around the outer edges of the sector, possibly even outside the sector,” the captain said.
“There ain’t shit outside the sector,” Marcus reminded him, his face finally coming up from the table. “Leastways not nearby.”
“True enough,” the captain agreed. “We’ll have to jump a few hundred light years, most likely. Maybe more.”
“We’d better get more weapons, then,” Josh warned.
“Well, we’re on the right world for that at least,” the captain admitted. “You can buy them on the streets, here on Haven.”
“There’s a reason for that,” Marcus grumbled.
“Now might be a good time to start thinking about adding some sort of defensive ship-to-ship weapons, Cap’n,” Dalen suggested.
“How do you figure?”
“We’ve already got a hole in the top of the hull, just inboard of the port nacelle. And it’s right above the main power line. All I’d have to do is clean up the hole a bit, and we could mount a small plasma turret up there.”
“We’d need a targeting system to control it,” Josh reminded Dalen.
“Plasma turrets ain’t cheap,” Marcus said.
“Neither are targeting systems, I imagine,” the captain added. “Let’s just concentrate on fixing what we’ve got for now. Speaking of which, how long is it going to take?”
“Starboard side was good,” Dalen replied, “so it shouldn’t take more than a day, assuming we get the parts quick enough.”
“Shouldn’t be any problem getting parts,” Josh said. “Haven’s a fucking junkyard.”
“Give me a list and Josh and I will find what you need after dinner.”
“You got it, Cap’n,” Dalen replied as he scooped another serving of stew into his bowl. “I’ll get started pulling the damaged parts tonight.”
“I’d appreciate that,” the captain said. “Haven’s port fees may be the cheapest around, but they’re still fees, and they’ll add up quick. Besides, if we are going to move further out, we’re going to need the extra credits to buy supplies and such to make it through until we find work. We’ve got no idea if the worlds further out will accept Pentaurus credits. I want to be flush with food, water, propellant, and spare parts, before we leave the sector.”
“Assuming that we do
have to leave the sector,” Neli pointed out.
“Oh, we do,” Josh insisted.
“Maybe the Jung are only interested in the cluster worlds,” Neli suggested hopefully.
“She could be right,” Captain Tuplo said. “Outside of the PC, no one else has much industrial capacity. Maybe the Jung will be satisfied with just the cluster.”
“No, they won’t,” Josh said confidently.
“He’s right,” Marcus sighed. “As soon as they secure the core PC systems, they’ll secure the fringe worlds. Then the ones outside the PC. Hell, for all we know, they’ve been conquering worlds all the way from the Sol sector to here, and spreading out in all directions to boot.”
“It’s what they do,” Josh added.
“I hope you’re wrong,” Captain Tuplo said, “because if you’re right, it won’t matter how far out we go. Sooner or later, the Jung will catch up to us.”
* * *
“Jump complete,” the Lieutenant announced as the shuttle windows cleared.
“Scanning all channels,” Jessica replied.
“Four contacts,” the Lieutenant added, “twenty thousand kilometers; tracking left to right.”
“Are they turning toward us?”
“Negative,” the lieutenant responded, “targets are maintaining course and speed.”
“This sucks!” Sergeant Torwell complained, sitting in the gunner’s chair hanging from the ceiling of the jump shuttle’s utility compartment.
“Shut up, Torwell,” Jessica instructed as she monitored her long-range communications console.
“Four more contacts!” the Lieutenant warned, his voice apprehensive. “Bearing one five seven, twenty-five degrees up relative. The third group is bearing two one five, sixty degrees down, relative.”
“If they’re not coming toward us, I don’t give a shit,” Jessica informed him.
“Just hurry up and get the message, so we can get the hell out of here,” the sergeant whined.
“Shut up, Torwell!” Commander Kainan ordered.
“Jump flash!” the Lieutenant interrupted. “Dead ahead! Thousand kilometers and closing fast. Sensor profile indicates a Jung gunship.”
“It’s message plus thirty, already!” the Sergeant moaned. “Has he replied, or not?”
“I swear to God, Torwell! If you don’t shut your yap…”