by Isaac Hooke
It was an ingenious use of technology, something at least a few years ahead of what the United Systems had. Humanity partially produced their own starships with specialized 3D printers, though on a component by component basis, with individually printed parts joined together by larger robots. Humanity couldn’t 3D-print everything as a single unit like the Raakarr were doing, because humans didn’t have the miniaturized technology necessary to create the heavier elements used by starships. And of course there was currently no way to synthesize the geronium used by the reactors that powered said ships.
Robert suspected the Raakarr utilized an alternate fuel source for their reactors. Something that could be readily created out of the lighter elements found on that moon.
“There definitely appear to be specializations,” Maxwell said.
“Yes,” Robert said. “I’ve picked out sappers, conveyors, and welders so far.”
“Interesting terminology,” Maxwell said. “But apt enough. I will group all of those in the ‘builder’ category. But you’ll notice there are others, who I will call ‘salvagers’ for lack of a better term. These latter move throughout the ranks, collecting the spent shells of those microbots that have malfunctioned or deactivated, and return them to a smelting area to be melted down and built anew.”
“The United Systems would kill for ship-building technology like this,” Robert said. If we could solve the geronium problem, anyway.
“I get the feeling you’re not going to be unloading the Centurions from those shuttles onto the surface any time soon,” Miko said.
“No,” Robert agreed. “I want everyone to stay airborne. Just imagine how easily those microbots could swarm over our units if they touched down. They obviously have the tools to build things. I’m guessing those same tools could be used for dismantling purposes as well.”
“I did mention the salvagers,” Maxwell intoned. “If anything could dismantle our Centurions, it is them.”
“Right,” Robert said.
“I suggest we raze the place from orbit,” Maxwell added. “Sequential laser bombardments fired non-stop from both the Callaway and Dagger over a period of two hours, with each ship pausing only to recharge to fifty percent between shots.”
“I’m of a like mind,” Robert agreed. “But first I want to collect a few of those microbots for study. There is a containment unit available on the Dragonflies?”
“There is,” Maxwell said. “Both shuttles harbor a sample collection box measuring half a meter on all sides. It is made of a high-grade polycarbonate and steel composite.”
Robert pressed his palms together. “Good. Dispatch Dragonfly 3 to within ten meters of the ship, then lower a Centurion on one of the carbon fiber tethers to collect a few of those microbots.”
“The chosen Centurion, Unit C, asks how you wish it to collect said microbots,” Maxwell replied. “Should Unit C simply pick them up?”
Robert shrugged. “If Unit C thinks he can move fast enough, that’s fine with me. All we need are two of them. And they don’t necessarily need to be in working order, if you catch my drift.”
“I think I do, sir,” Maxwell said.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Robert said. “I don’t want the Centurion smashing them to bits before it loads up the microbots.”
“Not at all,” Maxwell said. “Unit C will treat them with the utmost delicacy.”
Somehow, Robert didn’t believe the AI. But he preferred that the Centurion in question took whatever precautions it deemed necessary, and if that meant destroying the microbots before collection, then so be it.
As Dragonfly 3 maneuvered into position above the alien ship, Robert tapped into the designated Centurion’s video feed so he could observe the operation unfold. It was the second best thing to actually being there. The only downside was the lag.
Unit C retrieved the collection box from the storage area and then approached the aft portion of the shuttle. It secured the carbon-fiber tether to its combat harness, and affixed powerful demolition charges to its torso, in case Unit C needed to prevent its tech from falling into enemy hands.
The other combat robots gave a farewell salute of sorts—camaraderie ran deep in the AI corps—and then the ramp opened. There was no explosive decompression as the cabin wasn’t oxygenated. Unit C approached the edge and leaped out.
The robot hovered above the construction and descended as the tether slowly lowered.
The Centurion tilted its body and folded its legs backward so that its lower arms were closest to the alien vessel.
It approached a relatively flat section, then lowered the open end of the container toward four of the closely-packed worker microbots. The things seemed oblivious to Unit C’s presence.
The Centurion abruptly slammed the open container down onto the hull, trapping all four microbots.
The surrounding automatons instantly swarmed onto Unit C. Robert’s camera feed became black.
“Cut the tether and pull up!” Robert said.
He switched to the viewpoint of Dragonfly 4 and watched as Dragonfly 3 scooted skyward. The shuttle had already disconnected the tether, and Unit C was lost to the swarming mass below.
A moment later there was an explosion as Unit C’s charges activated. Either Unit C had done that itself, or the Praetor in command of the unit had remotely detonated them.
“Dragonfly 3 is taking fire,” Ensign Lewis said. “There appears to be an infrared laser of some kind defending the shipyard.”
“I’ve pinpointed its location,” Maxwell said.
“Have the Raptor take it out,” Robert said.
A flash appeared from the surface.
“Done,” Maxwell replied.
“It’s too late for Dragonfly 3,” Lewis said. “The craft is quickly losing altitude.”
“Have them land as far away from the shipyard as possible,” Robert said. “And I want Dragonfly 4 to prepare for a retrieval operation.”
“I wonder why they took so long to fire upon us,” Miko said.
Robert glanced at his first officer. “Apparently they only considered us a threat after we attempted to capture some of them.”
“Dragonfly 3 just crashed into the surface,” Lewis said. “About half a kilometer east of the shipyard.”
“Get Dragonfly 4 in there,” Robert told Maxwell.
“It’s too late,” Lewis said. “The microbots must have followed its descent. They’re already swarming the crash site.”
Watching from Dragonfly 4’s point of view, Robert saw that a long stream of the things were marching from the shipyard toward the downed shuttle.
“Damn it,” Robert said. “Maxwell, have the Raptor shoot those things off of it.”
Groups of microbots dropped away from the hull of Dragonfly 3 as the invisible laser struck in turns, but always five more of the tiny robots were there to replace every one that fell.
“There are too many of them,” Maxwell said. “Would you like Raptor 1 to expend its complement of Hellfires to prevent our technology from falling into alien hands?”
Robert hesitated. Perhaps some of the combat robots would be able to fight their way clear. He hated to waste such expensive technology. Plus, the Centurions were sentient, possessing self-aware AIs. Ordering their destruction would be almost the same as commanding the execution of human beings.
The rear ramp of the shuttle dropped open. Centurions emerged, blasting with their laser rifles. They were quickly overwhelmed and began to fall as pieces of their bodies were chewed away. One of them apparently malfunctioned and fired at a nearby engulfed companion. No, it wasn’t a malfunction, Robert realized. But an act of mercy.
“Commander?” Maxwell pressed.
“Destroy them,” Robert said sadly.
The Hellfire missiles struck a moment later. The debris cloud quickly settled due to the lack of atmosphere, and all that was left of the Dragonfly, Centurions, and their microbot assailants was a large crater. The long line of microbots turned back from the
edge of that crater to return to the construction site.
“I’m guessing you’re glad I didn’t send you down, now,” Robert told Miko.
“I am.” Miko said. “But what I’m wondering is... why haven’t the Raakarr weaponized this tech? Why use it only for ship construction?”
“Looks fairly weaponized to me,” Robert responded. “Given what just happened to our Dragonfly.”
“But why not use the things during space battles?” Miko said.
Robert shrugged. “I think those bots would be fairly useless at the speeds involved in space combat. They’d be destroyed on impact: basically really, really expensive slugs.”
“Well obviously they’d need some kind of deployment device,” Miko said. “If they could land that device on a hull, and then release the little bastards, they could sure wreak some havoc.”
“I guess so,” Robert said. “Let’s just say, I’m glad the Raakarr don’t have anything like that.”
“Some of their ships might,” Miko said. “We just haven’t encountered the tech yet.”
“It’s possible,” Robert agreed. He wasn’t looking forward to the day when such an encounter would take place.
He studied the surface from the remaining shuttle’s point of view. “Let’s try this again, shall we? Maxwell, dispatch Dragonfly 4 directly to that crater. There have to be a few nearly intact microbots that survived the blast. Send another unit down. Let’s make sure the other Centurions didn’t fall for nothing.”
“As you wish, Commander,” the AI returned.
The shuttle approached the blast crater, and the designated unit, H, strapped in to the tether and descended with the sample container in hand.
Robert switched to its point of view and watched as Unit H landed on both feet in the crater, and then moved about the debris.
“The other robots are swarming back toward the crater,” Ensign Lewis warned.
“Maxwell, tell Unit H to hurry up...” Robert said.
In rapid succession, the unit retrieved three damaged microbots—one of them was still moving, though sluggishly—and then shut the container. The tether reeled in just as more microbots swarmed into the crater, and Dragonfly 4 took flight.
In moments the Centurion was back aboard the shuttle and the rear ramp closed.
Robert exhaled. “Well done, Unit H. Maxwell, recall Dragonfly 4 and Raptor 1, along with the repeater drones. Let’s get those hard-won samples back to the Callaway.”
“Aye, sir,” Maxwell replied.
After the craft had docked, Robert gave his final orders: “Helm, bring us down to optimal firing range. Miko, instruct the Dagger to join us. We’re going to raze that site with our Vipers.”
“If we miss even one of those microbots,” Miko said. “They might be able to begin the shipyard anew. The Raakarr will have a foothold in this galaxy.”
“An automated foothold, maybe,” Robert said. “Until the Elder decide to stop tolerating their presence. But point taken. We’ll keep firing until we’ve destroyed them all, down to the last microbot.” He tapped in the acting chief scientist, Hayley O’Rielly. “I’m bringing a few samples to cargo bay seven, O’Rielly. I want you to keep them under constant observation, at least until I can get them into the hands of our chief weapons engineer.”
“What kind of samples are we talking about?” O’Rielly returned.
“Small robots. I’m not sure how functional they are, but there’s a chance they might be able to break down the container. So it’s possible you’ll have to continually reinforce it.”
“Thanks for the heads up,” O’Rielly answered.
After spending the next few hours razing the shipyard, and then sending the Raptor down on survey runs to finish the job, Robert ordered the task unit to break orbit.
“Set a course for Task Unit One,” Robert said. “It’s time to rejoin the rest of the fleet.”
twenty-five
Jonathan waited patiently on the darkened bridge, the red glow emitted from the bulkhead filaments reduced to a dim smolder.
The Talon resided one hundred thousand kilometers past the asteroid where the two corvettes had hidden earlier, a rock that aReal records indicated was named David 25. The alien vessel had deactivated its engines and shut down its life support systems. While the yellow fumes of the alien atmosphere remained in the compartments and passages, the air had grown very cold, forcing the six Zarafe officers in the pit area to don the dark mists that served as their environmental suits. According to Barrick that fog interfered with their operation of the ship, but since almost everything was turned off the crew wasn’t overly concerned about that at the moment. One reactor still ran at a quarter power, providing energy to the passive sensor system so they weren’t running entirely in the blind.
The outside of the Talon would appear dark on the thermal spectrum, with only a small amount of heat radiating from the aft quarter of the hull thanks to the lone reactor.
A debris trail floated behind the vessel, simulating attack damage. As per Jonathan’s instructions, the Zarafe had ejected garbage at intervals into space, including organic matter Valor claimed had been stored in the equivalent of sick bay. Jonathan suspected the alien captain had grabbed one of the Elk prisoners from a holding cell somewhere aboard the ship and simply spaced him. In any case, the goal was complete: the Talon appeared to be a derelict, drifting in the void.
The Galilei and Artemis had launched four non-nuclear missiles into the void at different nearby locations. These kinetic kill missiles had been drained so that they contained only a quarter of their usual propellant. The human ships had driven the missiles toward the Talon from the forward and aft directions before cutting propulsion. From the trajectory and speeds of the missiles and the Talon, it would seem the ship had braked to avoid “smart” mines—the missiles—but had done so too late, triggering the proximity fuse of one of them. It would appear that the remaining missiles had also braked to pursue, yet had exhausted their propellants in the process.
Meanwhile, by design, there was no sign of the Artemis and Galilei. This included the entire EM band: all ships at the moment were under strict orders to maintain radio silence. The Talon appeared to drift alone—the perfect bait.
Approximately an hour and a half after they had set up, Barrick informed Jonathan that the passive sensors had detected exploratory probes of Raakarr make at the Slipstream entrance behind them.
“Otter tells me our pursuers have entered the system,” Barrick said. “The laser ship, and its two escorts. They’re remaining in orbit by the Slipstream for the moment and launching more probes. It seems they’re worried about an ambush.”
“Rightly so,” Jonathan said.
“The probes are moving outward,” Barrick said.
“And the ships?” Jonathan asked.
“So far they still haven’t moved,” Barrick replied.
“Let me know when that changes.”
Half an hour later Barrick announced: “The three ships are finally accelerating, maintaining the current distance from their advance probes.”
“They’ve discovered the radiation belt,” Jonathan said. “And don’t want to lose contact with their scouts. How far away are the advance probes?”
“Eight hundred thousand kilometers.”
When the probes reached the six hundred thousand kilometer mark, one diverted toward a nearby asteroid, ostensibly to check for potential ambushers. The system records labelled the rock Goliath 11 due to its relatively large size.
“According to Otter, the probe has passed behind Goliath and already looped back,” Barrick said.
Jonathan nodded.
The three ships reached the six hundred thousand kilometer mark from the Talon.
“The two dart ships are braking,” Barrick said. “They’ve come to a complete halt. Meanwhile, it looks like the laser ship is continuing forward.”
“All too predictable,” Jonathan remarked. Though he had to admit that predictability only
extended so far. Luck was a large factor in the battle to come.
“Wait, one of the dart ships is accelerating,” Barrick said. “It looks like it’s going to escort the laser ship.”
Jonathan felt one of his eyebrows rise. “That’ll make things... interesting. Please refer to that vessel as the ‘escort,’ or T1, and the craft that stayed behind, T2.”
A minute later Barrick said: “The laser ship just crossed the five hundred thousand kilometer mark. It’s begun separating. The first lens segment has deployed, while the rest of the ship is moving forward. As is the dart escort.”
The laser ship continued to separate, leaving behind a segment every hundred thousand kilometers. The final segment and its escort halted at the hundred and fifty thousand kilometer mark.
“A hundred and fifty thousand” Jonathan said, echoing Barrick’s range quote. “A little farther than I had hoped.”
“But within the range of the weapon as Valor told you,” Barrick replied.
“At the very upper limits of that range,” Jonathan corrected him. “Unless Valor lied.”
Barrick’s eyes defocused. “The laser is firing.”
Jonathan felt nothing in the compartment. “Damage?” he asked after ten seconds.
“Minimal so far,” Barrick said. “Otter tells me the laser will have to strike the same spot four times to breach the hull.” He paused. “Valor wants to power up and increase our distance from them.”
“Not yet,” Jonathan said. “If we move now, it ruins the whole plan. We can hold our ground for a few more minutes. Forcing us into action is precisely what the aliens want. They’re testing if we’re truly dead in the water.”
Barrick remained silent for several moments. Then: