by Isaac Hooke
“Well if that’s the case,” Rodriguez said. “They’re wrong, of course. A Raakarr corvette is easily a match for two human varieties.”
“Try telling that to them,” Jonathan said. “They’re itching for a fight, I’m sure, and want revenge. They haven’t seen this much action since they were posted to the remote output. It’s too bad we’ll have to disappoint them.” He contacted Dragonfly 1. “Can you tap me in to the approaching vessels via the comm nodes in the telemetry drones?”
After a moment, the AI sent: “I am not receiving a reply to my pings. I believe our signal is not reaching them. The strength is inadequate at this range.”
“Because of our hull?” Jonathan asked.
“That, and interference from the gas giant’s radiation belts. I suggest stringing the drones out to act as repeaters in front of us.”
“Radiation belts?” Jonathan said. “This far from the giant?”
“Yes,” the AI returned. “While the gravity effects are minimal at our current range, the tenth gas giant is producing an atypical amount of radiation, and has an abnormally strong magnetic field. The field lines intersect our position, extending the radiation belts to here and beyond.”
“Fine,” Jonathan returned. “Calculate the locations for the drones to act as optimal repeaters, given the radiation belts, and prepare to launch.” He turned to Barrick: “Tell Valor I’m going to launch the telemetry drones and string them out to act as repeaters between us and the approaching ships. Once we launch the drones, I want Valor to reverse course. We need to give those ships time to respond.”
Barrick nodded. A moment later he replied: “Valor says he intended to reverse course already.”
Jonathan frowned. “That’s fine. As long as he does it.”
“He also says he planned to instruct you to launch your telemetry drones to act as repeaters.”
Jonathan couldn’t help the ironic smile. “All right.” Some officers always had to pretend they were the ones in control. Most of the time, those same officers didn’t know what the hell they were doing. But since Jonathan didn’t understand the alien culture, he wasn’t sure how applicable that conclusion was to the Raakarr captain. Perhaps it was important that Valor didn’t appear to be catering to the whims of a human in front of his crew.
Jonathan switched channels: “Chief, instruct the Centurions guarding the Dragonfly to take shelter in the craft.”
“Already done, Captain,” Chief Galaal replied. “When the aliens open the hangar bay, the robots will be safe.”
“Barrick,” Jonathan said. “Tell Valor to please vent and open the hangar bay in preparation for launch.”
“Done,” Barrick replied. “By the way, we’ve already begun reversing course.”
“What? I wanted to launch the telemetry drones first,” Jonathan said. “To take advantage of our momentum.”
“I know...” Barrick said.
He tapped in the Dragonfly’s AI. “Dragonfly 1, is the hangar bay open?”
“Negative,” the AI returned.
Jonathan glanced at the telepath. “The bay isn’t open yet, damn it.”
“I’m asking again,” Barrick replied.
“Valor really wants to prove who’s in charge, doesn’t he?” Jonathan grumbled. “Even if it puts us all at risk. Because if we don’t achieve communications lock soon, I can assure you there are more nukes where that one came from.”
“Preaching to the choir, Captain,” Barrick remarked. Then: “It’s done.”
“Atmosphere has vented,” the AI confirmed. “The bay doors are opening.”
“Launch the first drone as soon as you have enough clearance,” Jonathan told the AI.
“Launching telemetry drone A,” the AI responded.
“How do we know the incoming corvettes won’t shoot down our drones?” Rodriguez asked over the comm.
“They might,” Jonathan agreed. “But the pings should mark the drones as friendlies to their AIs.”
“Assuming they can achieve a decent ping in this radiation before they’re shot down,” Rail added dryly. “And even if they do connect, the approaching ships might think it’s a trick and shoot them down anyway.”
“Then we’ll just have to make a run past them to the next Slipstream,” Jonathan said. “And when our three pursuers arrive and blast them out of the void, I won’t feel any guilt. Okay, maybe a little.”
“We should at least take down the closer missile out there,” Rail insisted. “The Raakarr particle beam can easily handle one nuke. We’d be clearing the way for the telemetry drones...”
“But then we’d have to move closer to the corvettes,” Jonathan said. “I don’t want to make any aggressive actions for the moment.”
“Launching telemetry drone B,” the AI announced.
“We’ve completely reversed course,” Barrick said. “And are now accelerating in the opposite direction.”
Jonathan shook his head. That mean telemetry drone B would waste propellant accelerating up to speed.
Jonathan used the data provided by the drones to overlay a tactical display onto his vision. It was good to see that familiar representation of the battle space again, even if it was extremely lagged.
The next several minutes passed far too slowly for Jonathan’s tastes. The first nuke looked like it was going to pass right by the lead telemetry drone.
“Dragonfly 1,” he said. “Do we have a comm link yet?”
“Negative,” the Dragonfly returned.
“It looks like they’re turning the first nuke toward the nearest drone,” Barrick said. “The second nuke, and its mortars, are continuing on their previous trajectory. Toward us.”
He glanced at his tactical display. Because of the lag, the directional change of the nuke hadn’t been picked up yet.
“Dragonfly 1, pull back telemetry drone A,” Jonathan said. “I repeat, pull back—”
“Captain,” the AI interrupted. “We just lost contact with telemetry drone A.”
Jonathan gritted his teeth. “Damn it.” That was why lag on a tactical display was never a good thing.
“Valor tells me the nearest nuke just detonated,” Barrick said.
“Yes, I know,” Jonathan replied.
“What do you want to do with the remaining drone?” the AI asked.
“We don’t have a ping yet?”
“Negative,” the Dragonfly responded.
“Keep sending it forward, then,” Jonathan instructed the AI.
According to Barrick, in the next few minutes the Talon continued to put distance between the drone and the approaching United Systems corvettes.
The AI eventually reported: “Telemetry drone B is nearing its maximum possible range, and signal degradation approaches critical. If it continues moving away, we risk losing contact with the drone.”
“Have the drone reverse course and close to an acceptable range with the Talon,” Jonathan said. “Then maintain its distance from us. Barrick, have Valor ensure the Talon matches the speed of our drone.”
Barrick nodded.
“The second nuke is still fast approaching,” Barrick said a few moments later.
“Dragonfly 1,” Jonathan sent. “Is drone B in the clear?”
“Negative,” the AI returned. “If the nuclear warhead changes directions, it will impact the drone in approximately twenty minutes.
Even at their fastest speeds, telemetry drones were still slower than missiles. So while the Talon and the drone were retreating, it made sense that the missile would inevitably overrun them.
Barrick glanced at Jonathan. “Valor wants to retreat faster. He doesn’t want to limit us to the speed of the telemetry drone.”
“No,” Jonathan said. “If the Talon increases speed, we’ll lose our connection with the telemetry drone.”
“Valor is insistent—” Barrick started.
“No,” Jonathan said. “Not yet. We need that drone to stay in range. Tell him if we lose it, we’ll have no means of co
mmunicating with United Systems vessels going forward.”
Barrick responded a minute later: “Valor says we can link with existing telemetry drones or comm nodes the corvettes may be using, like I did before with you, using the human comm nodes already on board.”
“Well certainly,” Jonathan said. “Assuming we’re in range of those drones. But considering how intense the radiation belts are, we’d have to travel quite close, and I somehow doubt the corvettes would allow that, given how aggressive they’re behaving toward us.”
Barrick hesitated, then said: “Valor has agreed to maintain the Talon’s current speed for the moment.” He paused. “Otter says the nuke appears to be changing directions... it’s now aimed at the second drone. The mortars are proceeding on their original attack vector, of course, and will give the drone a wide berth. Valor is adjusting our trajectory to avoid those mortars.”
“There you go,” Jonathan said. “Valor has nothing to worry about. The nuke isn’t even aimed at his ship. Dragonfly 1, do we have an updated estimate on when it will overrun the drone?”
“Based on the proximity fuse found in that model of missile,” the Dragonfly responded. “We will lose the drone in nineteen minutes, eighteen seconds.”
“We’ll just have to hope we make contact before then,” Jonathan said.
“And if not?” Rail asked.
“Then we convince Valor to slow down enough to retrieve the drone,” Jonathan said. “Then we take out the nuke, cut our losses and make a beeline for the Slipstream.”
The moments passed. Jonathan swallowed nervously; he flexed and opened his fingers repeatedly inside his gloves.
“We’ve been flying backward for what, a total of ten minutes now?” Jonathan said. “These radiation belts have to end soon.”
When no one answered, he was about to ask the AI, but the Dragonfly spoke before the words left his lips.
“The drone is reporting a ping,” the Dragonfly sent. “We can attempt communications with the ship whenever you are ready, Captain.”
“If we’re getting a ping,” Captain Rodriguez said excitedly. “That means their AIs will shortly inform them they’re dealing with United Systems property.”
“That’s what we want,” Jonathan said. “Dragonfly 1, tap me in to those ships.”
“No reply,” the AI returned.
“Like I said, they think it’s a trick,” Captain Rail sent. “I would believe that, too.”
“Dragonfly 1,” Jonathan said. “Forget the standard tap-in protocol. I want you to transmit a specific message.”
“Ready to transmit,” the AI returned.
Jonathan cleared his throat. “This is Captain Dallas, formerly of the USS Callaway, Commodore of Task Group 72.5. I have returned from Vega 951. We have allied with a breakaway faction of aliens. We come in peace. We carry alien equipment and specimens on-board, and have much needed combat data. Cease firing. I repeat, cease firing.”
“No reply,” the AI returned.
“Dragonfly 1,” Jonathan said. “Transmit data bundle Minerva Unveiled.” That was the name he had given the excerpted log entries, tactical replays, and video clips he had put together. It was basically a summary of what happened to the battle group over the past six months—a heavily trimmed down version of the full bundle, which in itself would take about two days to transmit wirelessly.
The bundle was prefaced with an introductory video by the captain that started with: “This is Captain Jonathan Dallas of the USS Callaway, Battle Group 72.5. The following is an abridged version of the events that transpired during our deployment to the star system Vega 951. What you’re about to see will at times seem unbelievable, but I assure you none of these entries have been altered from their original state. This is not a fabrication. Everything you are about to see is real.”
“Transmission complete,” the AI replied.
“What now?” Rodriguez asked over the comm.
“Now we wait,” Jonathan said. At another time that transmission would have been more readily dismissed, but given the context, with these United Systems ships likely having experienced a Raakarr attack first hand, he felt certain they would believe him.
The minutes ticked past. The nuke slowly edged toward the retreating telemetry drone. If he waited much longer, there wouldn’t be time to retrieve the drone before it was destroyed.
“I’m receiving a tap-in request from the AI of one of the ships,” the Dragonfly abruptly announced. “Though the request is not for you, Captain.”
Jonathan felt his brow crumple. “Then who is it for?”
“Me,” the AI responded. “Should I take it?”
Jonathan hesitated only a moment. “Go ahead,” he told the Dragonfly.
twenty-three
The seconds ticked by uneventfully. Jonathan nervously tapped his toe inside the boot of his spacesuit.
So this is what it comes to. Our fate in the hands of two AIs, idly conversing while a nuclear warhead floats toward us.
Finally Barrick said: “Otter tells me the nuke is reversing course.”
Jonathan exhaled in relief. “You did it, Dragonfly 1.”
“Yes,” the AI returned. “I shared footage from your aReal to demonstrate that we are, in fact, on board the alien bridge, and not merely hostages. I was also forced to share a partial memory dump to prove that I had not been compromised. There are still doubts, but the two ships have agreed to talk with you.”
“Tap me in, then,” Jonathan answered. “Visual, if you can.”
“That won’t be possible,” the Dragonfly responded. “Both corvettes are unmanned.”
“Ah.” That made some sense. Many of the ships in the frontier military bases were AI operated. These two had probably stayed behind while the manned ships fled.
“This is Nikola of the USS Tesla,” a pleasant voice said over the line.
“And this is Galileo of the USS Galilei,” another mellifluous voice, though deeper in tone.
“And I’m Captain Jonathan Dallas, formerly of the USS Callaway,” Jonathan said. “Pleased to meet you.”
“The pleasure is ours,” the two AIs returned in unison.
“So my Dragonfly unit tells me you’re still trying to decide whether to stand down or not,” Jonathan sent.
“We have stood down,” Nikola returned. “For the moment. The data you sent presents a compelling case. Even so, if it is ever determined you are in league with the enemy, we will promptly incinerate you.”
“I’m not in league with them,” Jonathan said. “These aliens, in fact, are the ones in league with us. Or wish to be, anyway.”
“Unlike my esteemed colleague, I am inclined to side with you, Captain Dallas,” Galileo sent. “I have reviewed your record and psychology profile, and do not believe you are capable of betraying humanity. At least not of your own free will. You are a man of high morals.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” Jonathan said. “It’s good that not all AIs lack common sense.”
“Still,” Galileo sent. “Some of the evidence you present is disturbing. A telepath capable of taking over the minds of all bridge officers? How can we know whether you are not under the influence of that telepath at this very moment? How would you yourself know?”
Jonathan double-checked that Barrick was muted from the connection, and then said: “My chief scientist has created special psi-shielded spacesuits. These protect us from the influence of the telepath.”
“But how can you know for certain that you are protected?” Galileo pressed.
“Because,” Jonathan sent. “I wouldn’t be talking to you right now, but rather, trying to destroy you.”
“But couldn’t you be plotting our destruction at this very moment?” Nikola added. “Attempting to convince us that you are on our side, but meanwhile scheming to destroy us the moment we lower our guard?”
Goddamn AIs.
“Look, keep your distance if you like,” Jonathan said. “The maximum range of the particle b
eam is fifteen thousand kilometers, though it can still do damage out to thirty thousand, especially when combined with beams from other ships. So do whatever it takes to ensure your safety. Don’t come closer than thirty thousand klicks.”
“The range is consistent with the excerpted data you sent,” Nikola said. “Though that data could have been fabricated, of course. Even so, we will assume you are telling the truth. For now. But we will keep a minimum distance of forty thousand kilometers from your vessel at all times.”
“Fine,” Jonathan said.
“If you truly are not under the influence of the telepath,” Galileo sent. “It is impressive that you have captured one of the alien vessels, complete with crew. It was a good trick, pretending to ally with them.”
“We didn’t pretend anything,” Jonathan said. “These aliens fought for us, and represent a faction of the aliens that wish to make peace with humanity. They are to be treated with the respect anyone would afford potential allies.”
“Whether or not NAVCENT agrees with that classification will be determined at a later date,” Galileo responded. “In the meantime, while we are assuming your good intentions, we will also assume these aliens are your prisoners, and will treat them as such.”
“NAVCENT will agree with me when they find out what the aliens have to offer,” Jonathan said. Though he wasn’t entirely sure himself. He wondered vaguely if he was leading all of these Zarafe to their doom, betrayed by the very man who promised them an alliance.
“We shall see,” Galileo replied.
“What happened in Anvil Rappel?” Jonathan asked.
“Approximately ten days ago,” Galileo said. “A comm node entered the system and transmitted imagery of six vessels emerging from behind an asteroid in Prius 3. The heat signatures of these vessels was not in any of our databases.
“Remote scans reported the destruction of the return Gate inside Prius 3 shortly thereafter. We evacuated Anvil Prime immediately. When the last manned ship departed, we moved the Gates using previously deployed Dragonflies. The shuttles hid the outermost Gate behind Anvil Rappel X, and the innermost behind Anvil Rappel III. The Tesla and Galilei were already in position near the outer Slipstream, so we mined the entrance with nukes, switched the remaining telemetry drones in the system to stealth mode, and then took cover. Six days ago, the mines began to detonate. Then the invaders entered the system from Prius 3.”