...and they are us Homecoming

by Patrick McClafferty

  “But they would also learn from their mistakes very quickly.” Kai rebutted. “And communicate that knowledge instantaneously to the local warrior queen, who would probably travel in the largest ship of any one fleet.”

  “We can’t count on the fog of war to cloud issues then.” Zed growled as he gave the man a flat unfriendly look. “You might dwell on how to kill this hive queen, Kai. In the end it will probably be her or us… as a species.” Nodding politely to Katie Lipman, he turned for the door.

  ~~~

  The Rose of the Dawn, followed closely by the Frigate Boston, slid slowly through the unrelieved blackness that was the interior of Callidus and toward the containment and cloaking field of the main door.

  “The last member of the Strike Team has returned to the shuttle, which is now on its way to the safety of the manufacturing area Zed.” A somber looking LOLA stood beside him dressed in a short skirt the same color as the Terran uniforms. Her hair was shoulder length and dark, and her eyes sapphire blue. “Passive sensors from Athena indicate that the Creednax are unaware of the presence of the explosives on their hulls.” She was silent for a few moments as the ships slid forward. “Rose of the Dawn is now exiting the facility.” The forward screen rippled and filled with the light of a million stars. Someone drew a startled breath.

  “Launch CAP.” Zed murmured, entranced by the sight. The Combat Air Patrol consisted of a dozen small single man fighters in craft that looked suspiciously like baby squids, four two man heavy delta shaped fighters, and two of the scouting saucers. The swarm of smaller ships pulled away from the two larger warships and slowed.

  “Detonation in five minutes.” LOLA said to the bridge crew. Zed knew that the command was being relayed to all the waiting fighters.

  “LOLA, please assign targets.”

  “Done, Fleet Captain.”

  Zed blinked. “That was fast.”

  “I anticipated the request. Targeting for the larger vessels has been sent to the Rose and the Boston.”

  “Hmmm! Very good.” He turned to Katherine who was standing beside him staring at the moving points of light. “Comments Captain?”

  “LOLA, please handle weapons systems and deployment for both the Rose and the Boston. We might not need it, but then again…” She stopped, obviously remembering the last time she and Zed had fought the Creednax.

  “As you wish, Captain.”

  “And please make sure that Athena has full access to all of our data on the battle.” Zed added on a whim. “I never had the chance to look over her defensive systems, so I’m not counting on things I don’t know.”

  “A wise policy, Fleet Captain.” LOLA commented wryly. “Athena is now on line with us. Detonation in two minutes. Shields and weapons systems at maximum.”

  Silence descended on the bridge personnel. Zed imagined that he could hear a dozen heartbeats pounding in a dozen chests, but he knew it was his imagination. Hundreds of nuclear fires lit the screens as the mines detonated, and then the screens blanked as several warships disappeared in the hellish fires of uncontrolled reactor failures. The Rose of the Dawn and the Boston were moving to intercept their targets even before the screens on the bridge recovered.

  “Status!” Zed said more sharply than he intended.

  “Out of the 133 targeted warships and heavy tugs, all have been incapacitated. 8 of those vessels have been completely destroyed due to containment failure. The rest, as you requested, have been gutted before they could launch swarms of the small nanite spiders we encountered in the first battle. Thanks to staggered detonations, the blast waves from the reactor failures was minimal.”

  Zed shuddered as he remembered how the small green spiders had eaten through the hull on the original Rose of the Dawn, and nearly decimated the crew. Surprisingly, it had been the Dramul CatTraces that had proven to be the best defense against them, and it was the reason that one of the cats was aboard the Rose, while the other was aboard the Boston at that very moment.

  “Combat Air Patrol engaging the enemy.” LOLA sounded calm and collected as the screen lit with dozens of flashes as the fighters attacked with pulse cannons or slightly slower but infinitely more powerful missiles. The tactical display shuddered as the Rose launched a brace of missiles towards a fleeing tug. The squat vessel disappeared in an actinic flash.

  “Fleet Captain!” Athena’s sharp voice demanded Zeds full attention. “My distant sensors indicate there are six more Creednax frigates approaching the battle. It appears that they were in a position behind Calidum Petram, the third planet of this system. They will arrive in six hours.”

  “Damn.” Zed cursed, staring at the flashes of battle in the space before him. “How are we doing with the cleanup, LOLA?”

  “The Creednax are beginning to scatter, Zed. It will take some time for our forces to run them all down. In addition, a cluster of five moderately armed utility vessels have formed a defensive cluster closer to Callidus. Like the fleeing ships, it will take time to wear away their defenses.”

  Zed stared at the battle without seeing, the beginning of a plan in his mind. “I have an idea… and it goes like this.” He gave Katherine a sly grin. “I need to use a few of your CAP fighters as bait.” Kat’s eyes seemed to chill as she regarded him. “I’d like three single man fighters, one two man and one saucer to decloak as they attack the closer cluster of ships. The rest of the CAP will remain cloaked and continue their pursuit of the fleeing Creednax. The Rose and the Boston will remain cloaked and meet the approaching frigates in deep space, well away from Callidus and your vulnerable fighters. We will get our first volley for free, and should be able to take out three or four of the Creednax warships. Then we earn our money and we take out the rest. The Creednax shouldn’t even see us coming.”

  Katherine stared at the screen. “Instead of having all five ships simply turn off their cloaking, I suggest that two ships have their cloaking fields flicker off and on; as if they were damaged. If all five merely turn off their cloaking fields the Creednax will suspect a trap.”

  “Good thinking.” Zed frowned at the space battle. “Athena, can you launch enough remote sensors to let us know of any more unwanted visitors?”

  “Yes Zed. Full deployment will take fourteen hours.”

  “Make it so, Athena. I don’t want any more Creednax sneaking up on us unannounced.”

  “I fully agree Fleet Captain.” Athena’s soft voice replied. A cold chill swept down Zed’s back as he watched the battle progress. Two of the CAP fighters, a saucer and a two man fighter flickered into existence for a bare moment, before they disappeared. Fire blossomed on their shields as the Creednax defenders targeted the craft.

  “The Creednax frigates have taken the bait, Zed.” LOLA sounded smug. “They have turned slightly to intercept the fighters and increased speed.”

  Callidus had long since dwindled to a pinprick behind them. “How long to intercept, LOLA?”

  “One hundred and eighteen minutes, Zed, at the current rate of closure. What configuration of an attack did you have in mind?”

  Zed dredged up memories of texts on tactical space combat, finally settling on an ancient twentieth century Earth fighter technique. “Can you set up a front/stern re-attack for both the Rose and the Boston?”

  “Hmmm.” LOLA’s voice murmured beside him as a diagram of the attack appeared in the air before them. “Like this?”

  Zed studied the figure. “I was thinking of the Rose attacking from below the Creednax tactical plane, passing beneath the Creednax ships as we fire and looping back up, attacking from above and astern on the re-attack. The Boston would attack from slightly above the Creednax plane, looping down to take them below and astern on the re-attack. If we do it fast enough they won’t have recovered from the first attack when we hit them the second time.” Zed chuckled. “I have all the space combat techniques of the Dramul military available to me.” He tapped the side of his head. “And I still find the best intercept technique right in Earth history. Wh
at do you think, Athena?”

  “The theory is sound, Zed, and it does have the advantage of never having been used in a space battle. No one has ever thought to use a heavy warship like the Rose as a fighter before.”

  Alina DeThomaso and Mike Flaherty, the Captain and Exec of the Frigate Boston and both former Marine pilots, recognized the maneuver immediately and chuckled. “Are you sure that that old tub you’re flying can make the turn for the re-attack?” Mike ribbed Zed gently. LOLA gave the man an angry sounding sniff.

  “Oh, I think we’ll get by just fine, Mike.” Zed ribbed back. “Try and keep up, youngster.”

  Alina’s grinning face appeared on the main screen. “This is going to be fun.”

  Beside him Kat shook her head in disgust. “Must you all act like children?”

  LOLA bent her head closer to Katherine, and Zed just made out her words. “It’s the way they all deal with the pre-battle jitters, Captain. If they laugh at the thought of death it removes some of the horror. Terran soldiers often joke before an engagement, or so I’ve read.”

  Zed looked down on the diminutive computer projection. “You don’t have to give all our secrets away, LOLA.”

  Kat looked confused. “But you were never a fighter pilot, Zed.”

  “We felt the same fear though, every time we launched that hunk-o-junk that we called the ‘garbage truck’ into space. We all knew that someday our luck would run out. I was lucky I wasn’t there when they met the Creednax and their luck ran out.”

  Kat returned a dubious look. “If you say so.”

  They stood staring into the vastness of space as the Rose of the Dawn fled towards battle. “Athena.” Zed said quietly. “You’re the strategist. Have I missed anything?”

  “There are uncertainties in any battle Zed, however, this is only a minor engagement in comparison to what you’ve already accomplished, and you have thought things out well in advance. You shouldn’t have a problem.”

  Zed nodded his reply, and then remembered that Athena wasn’t really present and couldn’t see his body motions. He frowned, unable to help the feeling that he’d missed something important. “Athena, when the Callidus computer system was shut down all those years ago, only your personality matrix was permanently deleted, am I correct?”

  “You know that is so, Zed. Hard data was encoded and stored in memory crystals which have a storage life estimated at one hundred millennia.”

  “So you still have all those millennia worth of data and history available to you, Correct?”

  “Yes, Zed. Where are you going with this?”

  “Bear with me, Athena. As the person who activated you, I also have the ultimate VETO authority over any action, correct?”

  “Correct, Zed. I see where all this is leading now.”

  “Hush, Athena. Let me finish.” He took a deep breath. “In that case I assign ultimate authority for the defense of Callidus to you, using any means available. The only requirement is that this world not fall under Creednax control, and the human race survive.”

  “In that order?”

  Zed swallowed nervously. “Yes. I would prefer the human race, specifically the Terrans survive, but there are probably many intelligent races in this galaxy. They deserve a shot at it too.”

  “Dramul records indicate 432 intelligent races in this galaxy, Zed, as of eighteen millennia ago.” The voice of the AI was silent for several moments. “It will be as you say, Zed. The Callidus Weapons Vault has been opened and program The Morrigan implemented.”

  “Weapons Vault?” Zed asked curiously. “What’s that? Some big room filled with bombs?”

  Athena laughed gently. “No Zed. The Weapons Vault is a data vault containing all the restricted research into weapons and defensive systems ever dreamt of by the Dramul or Chamdar empires; weapons too dangerous or too exotic or too insane for standard military usage. Weapons that only a madman would design or use. I’m adding Terran offensive and defensive systems to that archive as we speak. They fit right in.”

  “And The Morrigan program?”

  “This is something that has never been tried or even conceived before, Zed, and I’d like time to research the viability before I speak more about it.” Athena replied evasively.

  “So, I probably wouldn’t like it?” Zed guessed.

  “You probably wouldn’t.” Athena confirmed.

  “Okay, fine.” Zed grimaced. “Have it your way then.”

  “Thank you Zed. The Rose and the Boston are approaching the start of their intercept run, and I believe that LOLA wishes to speak with you.”

  “You’re so kind…” LOLA’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Now now, little sister.” Athena murmured softly.

  “The intercept, ladies?” Zed cut in. He could hear Kat giggle beside him.

  “We are now eight minutes from the beginning of our intercept run, Fleet Captain, and Captain.” LOLA said dryly. “Weapons are fully charged and shields are at maximum.”

  Zed leaned against the bridge railing as he watched the loose straggle of six red arrows that represented the Creednax ships grow closer. “Overlay a display of the tactical plane on the Creednax ships please, LOLA.” A dim red grid appeared centered on the Creednax ships. As they watched the Rose dipped beneath the grid while the Boston, shown now as a small blue arrow, rose above.

  “Beginning attack run.” LOLA said quietly. The red arrows grew larger. “Weapons lock.” The display quivered as the ship about them shook. “Missiles away. Firing pulse cannons… now!” The ship shuddered again, although this was only noticeable to the bridge staff by a slight jittering of the display. The screen before them lit in a blinding glare, and then automatically damped. “Turning for re-attack on the three remaining ships. Apparently the Boston destroyed one ship and only damaged the other. Both of our targets were destroyed.” Zed hid a small smile at the note of pride in LOLA’s voice.

  The ship tactical display bucked sharply. “What??” Zed exclaimed in a tight voice.

  “The Rose has received return fire from the Creednax frigates, Zed. Shields at ninety seven percent.” The ship shuddered, more gently this time. “Weapons released. The glare blanked the screen entirely this time. When the display returned the sky was empty, save the frigate Boston. “The enemy has been destroyed, Zed.”

  “Tell the fighters to destroy the Creednax at their earliest possible convenience and then RTB.”

  “CAP confirms Return-to-Base as soon as mission completed, Fleet Captain.”

  “Good.” He nodded to Kat and then to the bridge crew. “Good work, folks. Very good. The ship is yours Captain. Keep us cloaked and put us into a parking orbit around Callidus. Maybe we can gather some usable intelligence from those wrecks floating out there.”

  Katherine gave him a serious look. “Aye aye, Fleet Captain. LOLA, please have the shuttle return our Strike Team from the maintenance area as soon as we achieve orbit.”

  “Yes Captain.”

  Zed took one last look at the stars before he keyed the sequence that would return him to his body. He blinked and sat up. “How are the fighters doing, LOLA?”

  “All but two of the Creednax have been destroyed Zed, and well ahead of schedule.” She paused for a moment. “All hostiles destroyed, Zed. CAP are now all RTB.”

  Zed let out a breath. “Good. Any casualties?”

  “The Frigate Boston sustained minor damage from Creednax fire, and one single man fighter was incapacitated. The pilot is safe and search and rescue have been dispatched. Not only were there no casualties from our engagement, there weren’t even any injuries. I commend your planning, Zed.”

  “Yeah…” He rubbed his temples. “I’ve said this before… It was all too easy. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

  “You’re a pessimist.”

  “I’m a realist. In any engagement you hope for the best, and plan for the worst.” He suppressed a grim smile. “I’m starved. What is the dining hall serving today?” He stretc
hed and stood.

  “Whatever you wish, Zed. Rank hath its privilege, and you are the Fleet Captain. You get whatever you wish, whenever you wish.”

  Dozens of gutted warships floated in the vast star field beyond Callidus. Of the dozens, 11 were sufficiently whole to warrant further investigation. The rest of the Creednax fleet, some 39 partial ships, were started on their way to their final resting place; a small airless moon of the third planet. The best of the battleships, a great fluted seed shaped brute in the neighborhood of three kilometers long floated dead in space, great rents blasted out of her hull and engineering sections by multiple scuttling charges. Into one of the rents an armored shuttle descended slowly, floodlights playing on the twisted passages and torn rooms. Some of the rooms and ruptured pipes still bled a fine mist into space.

  “Initial probes indicate a backup power source in this area, Zed.” LOLA said calmly. Nodding imperceptibly, he stood staring into the ruined interior of the Creednax warship, thanks to cameras on both the shuttle and Strike Team members themselves. The shuttle slowed and stopped. “There. Down the corridor to the right.” A light swung, illuminating a long, once straight corridor now twisted by explosions. The walls of the corridor looked ridged and irregular, as if grown, and their green color was slowly fading to a lifeless gray, like the rest of the ship. A half dozen figures floated from the shuttle, two heading for the corridor in question, while two other pairs set off in other directions to release reconnaissance probes. “There!” LOLA let a note of excitement slip into her voice. A glowing purple panel sat on a wall before a Strike Team member. “Release a few of the nanites probes. I’ll take it from here.” LOLA commented abruptly.

  “Yes mother.” The voice of Chief López sounded almost cheerful. “How far to the central computer?”

  “Unknown, Chief.” LOLA replied. “This ship was designed by an alien mind to be computer controlled. The control system could be anywhere. The bridge on a human designed ship would be a kilometer and a half further down this corridor.”

  “Ouch!” Chief López exclaimed sharply. “This is one damn big ship.”