Prisoner's Hope (The Seafort Saga Book 3)
Page 42
“Belay that bilge! You knew I was bringing the fuel here.”
“I said I wouldn’t construe it as an attempt at sabotage, but general rules of access still apply.”
“How do I get authorization to enter?”
“That information is restricted, Captain.” His voice was smooth.
What I’d give now to meet a Dosman, in a dark alley with no one near. “William, as senior Naval officer I require you to authorize me to enter.”
“I’m sorry, I cannot change the authorized list of my own volition.”
I snarled, “It’s not your volition, it’s mi—”
He said abruptly, “Encroachment, eight hundred meters, coordinates one sixty-two, forty-five, eighteen!”
“A ship?” Who could be—
“Identifying as alien. Firing sequence initiated.”
I pounded on the safety chamber hatch. “Let me in!”
“Enter your authorization, please. Two encroachments, two hundred meters and one kilometer respectively!”
Could I crash the service cart through the hatch into the outer chamber? What if I only dented the hatch, so it froze shut? If the chamber was built anything like a bridge, nothing short of torches could penetrate it.
“William, can you fire your lasers and talk with me?”
“Capacity adequate, unless you make excessive calls on my judgment circuits.”
“Lord God forbid. As senior Naval officer present, I order you to dispense with the authorized list entirely. Free access to all personnel.”
“Four fish destroyed. Various encroachments, too many to list orally. You will find a printout in the Commandant’s office.”
“Prong the coordinates! Fire on every fish you see!”
“I’m doing so. As per your command the authorized list is dispensed with.”
At last, the door opened to my code. I drove the dolly into the bare, thick-walled chamber. According to the map, the reactor was twenty feet past the next hatch and one Level below. I stopped. I keyed the power lifters and eased the fuel container to the deck.
How much time would the fish give us?
I rolled the cart back to the corridor, slapped the hatch closed, raced to the lift. I banged the steering bars in frustration until the lift hatch reopened on Level 2, then careened down the deserted corridor and skidded to a stop outside the Commandant’s office.
“Where’s a simulscreen?” I was breathless, though all I’d done was ride the cart. Coordinates flashed onto the console’s small screens.
“Every ship has one. The comm room. The naval tactics office. The U.N.A.F. tactics room. The situa—”
“Where’s the nearest?”
“Next door in the Commandant’s viewing room. Hatch is just outside. Two more fish. And another, one hundred meters and throwing. West lasers have target.”
I ran from the room, dived through the adjacent hatch, slapped it shut behind me.
Unlike a starship bridge, where only the front bulkhead was a simulscreen, here all four bulkheads were curved and darkened. I sat at the console, searched for the switches, snapped them on. The bulkheads exploded into a million pinpoints of light. I flinched. The screens offered a view not possible in realtime; sensors mounted in the outer ring of the station provided a dizzying three-hundred-sixty-degree perspective.
In the background a panorama of stars rotated lazily. In the foreground a dead fish floated from right to left, slowly receding from the station.
A huge fish popped into view scant feet away. “Blessed Jesus!” I spun the magnification down.
The alien grew a spiral arm. It began to rotate, but within seconds William’s laser burst had pierced and destroyed it.
Our shuttle drifted at rest, invisible except under extremely high magnification. It was long past time for me to send my party groundside. I keyed the caller. “Orbit Station to Shuttle. Plot course to Centraltown and depart.”
“Depart?” Tolliver sputtered. “Where the hell have you been, sir? What are you up to? Why are the fish attacking?”
“I’ve begun low-power testing on three ships with damaged drive shafts.”
“Can the ships Fuse?”
“No.”
“I don’t understand. Why—”
“The sound of Fusion attracts fish, you know. And the caterwauling even more. So you’ll have to leave. The sooner the better.”
A cautious pause. “Caterwauling? If you’re not feeling well, sir, let me come and—”
“Belay that nonsense and listen! ‘Caterwauling’ is the name we gave it on Challenger. The sound a fusion drive makes when its N-waves are skewed drives the fish crazy. They swarm around a caterwauling ship.” I glanced up at the simulscreen, checked for encroachments. I could imagine Tolliver was doing likewise. His shuttle had no defenses.
“Sir, why are you attracting fish? That’s the last thing we want—”
“William will fight them off. He’s quite good at that.”
“Thank you,” William remarked. “Be advised, however, that the alien pattern is to attack and eventually destroy any lasers that fire at them.”
“Sir, they might wreck the Station!” Tolliver.
“It’s a possibility.”
“But...why would you risk that?”
Was he dense? “To get at the fish, of course. We can’t survive unless we kill them. We can’t kill them unless they’re here.”
Tolliver shouted, “And when they take out the Station’s lasers, what then? Do you ask them to go away?”
“No, if that happens, I...have another plan.” My fist knotted.
“Oh, you’re a great one for plans. What do you have in mind?”
“I blow the Station.”
He shrieked, “You what?”
“Blow the Station. I—” I forced the word out. “Nuke it.”
Silence. Then, rapidly, “Orbit Station, listen and record. I, Midshipman Edgar Tolliver, do hereby relieve Captain Seafort from command and place him on inactive—”
“Ignore him, William. I’m senior.”
“—status. I’m coming aboard to take command personally. Do not, repeat, do not allow—”
“William, disregard all broadcasts from the shuttle. Acknowledge.”
“—him near the reactor! Do you hear me, Station?”
A pause, for a full three seconds. “Captain, a legal issue has been raised which—”
“Disregard the legal issue. Acknowledge.” Damn it, I should have ordered William to ignore Tolliver before I explained. Now look what I’d done.
“Your command is acknowledged. However, if your status is inactive—”
“My status is active. I do not consent to being relieved.”
“William, I’m coming aboard! Prepare for docking!”
“Your consent is not always necessary.” William was cautious.
I slammed the console. “Listen, you pile of overheated chips! He cannot relieve me from afar, it must be in my presence. Naval Regulations and Code of Conduct, Revision of 2087. Section 125.7. I must either consent or be in a position where no resistance is possible, that is, under his actual physical control. Section 125.9.” I’d checked the regs myself, in the grim hours before launching the shuttle. “So I remain in command. Disregard all of the midshipman’s commands. Acknowledge!”
A second’s pause. “Acknowledged. Your active status is confirmed.”
I keyed the caller. “Mr. Tolliver, I am not relieved. William will not respond to your orders. Get the shuttle groundside.”
“You lunatic!”
“Get groundside, damn you! Annie’s aboard, and Jerence!”
He tried for a more reasonable tone. “Captain, you mustn’t nu—nuke the Station. It violates U.N. law. It’s treason!”
“Yes. I want my wife and the children safe. Take them groundside. Meanwhile, I’ll prepare for the worst, but I’ll wait until William can’t fight them off any longer.”
“Captain, don’t do it! I beg you!”
He hesitated. “So far the fish are ignoring us. If I use thrusters or radar they may wipe us out! What if they come at us while I’m entering the atmosphere?”
William came to life. “New fish, seven kilometers. Another, coordinates oh two, thirty-nine—”
“Sir, it’s too late to flee; we’ll just attract them!”
“Why didn’t you go when I told you?” I forced myself to think. “All right. Fire gentle squirts with your side thrusters; hopefully the fish won’t follow. Withdraw until you’re four hundred kilometers distant. You should be safe if there’s a—a blast. Turn off all systems. The fish seem more interested in live ships than derelicts. Maybe they smell our power emissions or taste our radar. Who knows anymore?”
“What about you? How will you get out?”
“I have my T-suit, and other shuttles are docked here.”
“Will you leave before you—before an explosion?” He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“I’ll try.” Though I wouldn’t choose to suicide, by the time “an explosion” became necessary, I doubted I’d be able to escape through the swarming fish. Anyway, I’d prefer annihilation to the agony of their acid.
I rang off, ignoring Tolliver’s frantic calls. I stood, trod to the door.
William’s voice was soft. “And how were you planning to bring the fuel and the reactor together? Three more aliens confirmed. Firing continues.”
“You eavesdropped? Military conversations are private, that’s standing orders!”
“Not from a station puter. That’s standing orders also. I’ll screen them for you, if you like.”
I tried the door; it was locked. “William, let me out.”
“Why? So you can convert the fusion reactor to a nuclear bomb?” I flinched at the statement, surprised that even William was free enough of inhibition to utter it.
“I command you to release me.” It was worth a try.
“I won’t let you destroy my Station. That program overrides any command you issue. Thirteen fish, various coordinates. All lasers firing. One fish throwing at section eight lasers.”
Well, at least the puter hadn’t decided to relieve me himself. “William, it may be necessary to destroy the Station to save ourselves.”
“Nonetheless, I must prevent that. Section eight laser bank partially disabled. Functions shifted to section nine.”
I sat slowly, ignored the simulscreens, stared at the console. “List programs relating to command and control of Station.”
A meaningless list of numbers on the screen. “Which program prevents you from allowing the Station to be destroyed?”
“That data is classified.” Current status nineteen fish active, forty-two destroyed or out of theater.”
“Declassify it.”
“You have no authority to issue such an order.”
“As senior Naval officer—”
“Neither as senior Naval officer nor as Captain.”
“But someone has authority.” I watched the simulscreen. Fish jetted about. One threw at the Level 2 lasers as I watched. Others blinked in and out of sight, Fusing.
“True, all puters are ultimately subject to human control.”
I demanded, “Who has authority to declassify basic programming?”
“That information is classified. Captain, disembark while there’s still time. The attack is intensifying.”
I checked the simulscreens. Fish on all sides. “How long can you hold them off?”
“That depends on how soon they take out the lasers or invade critical compartments. So far, the Station is defensible.”
“I have to get the reactor fuel ready!”
“Make any attempt to do so and you will be vaporized. Sorry, but at the moment I have no circuits for subtleties.”
I drummed my fingers on the console. Someone had the authority to override his programming, but he wouldn’t tell me who. It was a battle of wits, and he had more than I.
“William...”
“I must advise you that most of my circuits are focused on the current emergency. As you seem to have a need for conversation I may have to consider your statement at a later—”
“I’m part of the emergency!” That didn’t come out quite as I’d intended. “Open the hatch!”
“That would free my judgment circuits, but I’d have to eliminate you when you made any move toward the reactor or toward our weapons. Situation approaching critical. Seventy-eight fish in range.”
I didn’t like the way that sounded either. “I appoint myself nuclear systems engineer.”
“Noted. Section eight lasers out of service. Hull breach, Level 1, section twelve! Corridors sealed. All personnel, detour around section twelve, Level 1 until further notice.”
“As nuclear engineer I conclude that the reactor fuel needs replacement.”
“You have no authority to enter the reactor area.” For the first time a hint of annoyance.
“Who can add to the list authorized to enter the reactor chamber?”
“I cannot reveal that. Level 5 lasers hit; assessing damage. Current status fifty-two fish active, one hundred three destroyed or out of theater.”
I was silent a long time. There had to be a way. “William, if you can’t tell me these things, who should I ask?”
“I would advise you to inquire of General Tho, on his return.”
I picked up the caller, put it down. “General Tho says that he’s busy, but authorizes you to tell me.”
“Oh, please.” His tone was sharp. “I’m not glitched, you know.”
I glanced again at the simulscreen. No wonder William was curt. Fish blinked in and out of space like Christmas lights. I fought down nausea. To be out there...The shuttle! Had it been hit? I tapped figures into the keyboard, dialed up the magnification. The shuttle was receding slowly, apparently untouched.
“William, patch me through to my three ships.” I waited impatiently while the call was connected. “All ships, increase low-power testing by five percent. Acknowledge.”
“Paulette acknowledging for Bresia; all crew have disembarked. Warning: any increase in power may—”
“Yes, I know.”
Harris said, “Power increased. Disregard of safety regulations logged—”
“Fine. William, where’s Constantinople?”
“The city is in Turkey, on the shores—”
“U.N.S. Constantinople!”
“Mated to repair bay. A fish Defused alongside her. It threw before I destroyed it. Constantinople’s puter has been silent ever since. However, as low-power testing continues, I assume damage was to radionics rather than to the bridge.”
“Very well.” The fish were swarming, and I was trapped. William would open my hatch, but vaporize me as soon as I tried to destroy the fish. I slammed the console. I was thwarted at every—wait a minute. “What did you say with respect to General Tho?”
“That you ought to ask him who has authority.”
“Does that mean he would know?”
“I surmise so. Many fish on all axes. Lasers set to continuous fire.”
How could I get past—wait. Puters were literal. “William?”
“What? I’m busy.”
“Does General Tho have authority to declassify access to the reactor?”
“That information is classified.”
“I am commanding military officer in Hope Nation. Not just senior Naval officer.” My heart pounded; if this didn’t work—
“Acknowledged.”
“I am the United Nations Government in transit. Acting as the United Nations Government, I order you to allow me access to the reactor.”
“Denied. Only specific personnel can make such a programming change.”
Only specific personnel... “William, as United Nations Government in transit I appoint Nicholas E. Seafort as Commandant of Orbit Station.” I held my breath.
A moment. “Acknowledged.”
“Who has authority to declassify access to the reactor?”
“Twelve fish currently throwing. Level 1, section two lasers overheating, am taking them off-line. Cooling time approximately fifteen minutes. You do.”
“What?”
“You have the authority.”
“Fine. Open the door; I’m going to the reactor.”
“You have no authority to enter the area.”
Now what had I missed? Frantically, I reviewed the exchange. Oh. Of course.
“I give myself authority to enter the reactor area.”
“Acknowledged. You have free access to the reactor area.” I was out the door before his voice caught me. “However, basic programming will not allow the Station to be destroyed. I must prevent that even by eliminating you, if required.”
Hell and damnation!
I sat brooding in the Commandant’s office, wishing my treason weren’t necessary. Despite mounting damage, William doggedly held his own against the fish. He’d had to seal off several sections of Level 1, and the fish had wiped out four banks of lasers. But, in contrast to the unarmed stations I’d once visited, Orbit Station was bristling with lasers.
We might even run out of fish before we ran out of lasers.
I rapped my knuckles against my teeth until they were raw. There had to be a way to get past William’s safeguards. I got up, went back to the viewing room, stared at the simulscreen. “How many now?”
“Over two hundred, Commandant. Their number keeps growing.”
Lord God. “And the shuttle?”
“Still under observation. I detect metal, but no emissions on any wavelength from the shuttle. No fish have approached it. I’m reactivating section two lasers despite heating.”
“We’re losing.”
“That’s a matter for humans to define. I am still functional, and we’ve lost no ships.”
“Because we have none. William, I’ve got to override your self-preservation circuits. As United Nations Government...”
“Insufficient. Recommend abandoning Level 1, west hemisphere.”
“Level 1 lasers?”
“Some still firing, but probably not for long. The fish Defuse adjacent to our laser banks, and it’s difficult to fire on them from elsewhere without hitting our own lasers.”
I paced. “William, do you know how to override your preservation program?”