by Chris Hechtl
“Broke it?” Rachel asked, clearly concerned.
“Don't know,” Cristi said as she eased the leg down.
“Can you walk?” Rachel asked.
“Yeah. It doesn't hurt a lot, not unless I put a lot of weight on it,” Cristi said, testing her leg gingerly.
“Okay. Stay off of it,” Rachel observed, eyeing her dubiously.
“Thank you, Doctor Rachel,” Cristi drawled. “What do you have for me?”
“We're further away but we're getting reports of more encroachment. Arjen and the others have set up some traps, and some of the smaller Neos have managed to sneak in and do some sabotage. But it looks like it's got them to tighten up their security.”
Cristi sighed. “I was afraid something like that would happen.”
“The good news is we did some damage so it helped morale a bit. We also got a few things out of them, minor tools and stuff.”
“I know a lot of people want payback. Hell, I want payback too,” Cristi said as she moved and gingerly put her foot down. “The problem is, like you just said. We get in and do some damage; they get wise and pissed and come after us in force. For the moment they are more or less ignoring us. I can live with that.”
“But the hotheads can't,” Rachel said.
“And I don't blame them. We've got to keep the harassment level low though. Just enough to make them think twice but not enough to get them to pull their soldiers together and wipe us out.”
“Right,” Rachel drawled. “How do you expect to pull that one off?” she asked, crossing her arms against her chest.
“Talk to Bogi and Arjen. Dad told me about traps during the A.I. war. There was this guy who told me about a war years and years ago—two of them actually. He talked about how people fought guerrilla wars. Dad used some of it.”
“You are talking about IEDs? We don't have explosives,” Rachel replied with a shake of her head.
“No, but we can dig. We can set snares. We can sharpen stakes, make dead falls, that sort of thing,” Cristi replied.
Rachel blinked at the idea and then nodded slowly.
“I know it's not what we want, but it's something,” Cristi said as she got up and gingerly started to walk.
“Hey! The doctor said to stay off that foot, remember?”
“Yeah, but I've got to pee,” Cristi replied as she kept moving.
Rachel snorted. She thought about what her sister had said and then cocked her head. Some of it, heck all of it made some sense. Her eyes turned dark with malice as she thought about an alien stuck in a pit trap. Or oh! Her eyes widened as another image came forth of an alien falling into a pit with spikes or poison.
She nodded once to herself and then sought out her sister and nephew to have a bit of a pow-wow with them.
(@)()(@)
Magellan arrived on the outskirts of the star system in as soft a downward translation as they could muster. Shelton had outdone himself, using their chart of the star system he had come in on a vector that put at least one of the outer planets in the solar system between their translation and Gaston. It might not work if there were other ships in the system, but it was a worthy effort in Captain Cooley's eyes.
He made certain to log a commendation to the selkie.
Once they were clear of their hyper wake and even before the long-range passive sensors had gotten a return, he had ordered the ship to go into stealth. They lit off a burst of thrust briefly, then shut down and did their best to make themselves a hole in space.
“Now would have been a good time to have some smart paint,” Ynes said.
“We got the hull painted black with the anti-radar coating. I'm not sure smart paint would have worked. The control runs might have interfered with the stealth coating,” Kathy said dubiously.
Ynes frowned but then nodded grudgingly at that. Neither one of them was an engineer or material scientist so she let the matter drop. “Anything on the sensors?”
“The planetary bodies are where they are supposed to be. Shelton did an outstanding job getting us in like he did. We've got about,” she checked her clock, “another two minutes before we get the first returns on some of the sensors. I can tell you there are at least two ships in orbit.”
“But not whose ships,” the captain said from his seat.
Kathy and the XO turned to him. “No, sir. Not at this range. At least, not yet.”
“I think given that there are two ships we're not going to get in too deep.”
Kathy nodded, then something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and tapped at her screen and controls for a moment. As she did her face became a bit more pensive. “We've picked up another set of ships,” Kathy said as a light blinked on her station. “They are in a different orbit and are just coming around the other side of the planet.”
“That tears it,” the captain replied. “There goes the neighborhood.”
“Yeah,” Ynes murmured.
“Any sign they saw us?” the captain asked.
“Not yet. Our gravitech sensor resolution is low at this distance. The same for our neutrino detector,” Kathy replied, turning to her navy tech partner. He nodded with a grimace.
“Okay. We'll stick to the plan. We'll remain under stealth and record everything,” the captain stated as he rose from his chair. “I'm going to go eat lunch since I skipped breakfast. You've got the bridge,” he said with a nod to Ynes.
“Aye, sir, I have the bridge,” Ynes murmured formally as she took the hot seat.
(@)()(@)
Captain Kendrick grimaced as she showed the big aliens how to work her ship. It galled her, but she had no choice. The good news was that the colonists stuck in stasis were still alive; she'd managed to sneak a check at the ship's systems to find that out. Bob had confirmed they were still in orbit of the planet when he'd gotten access to the ship's computers.
Apparently, the new Taurens onboard were their equivalent of a prize crew or scientists; she wasn't certain. She had noted alien cameras that had been set up to monitor her and the others as they worked on keeping the minimum of the ship's systems running. From time to time, she had to answer broken questions about how something worked.
She realized that the aliens were learning from her and also learning how to support and maintain the ship. Eventually she and her crew wouldn't be of any more use to them. She wasn't certain what her future would be after that. Dissection? Termination? She toyed with the idea of destroying the ship. It was tempting, sorely tempting to do. But she couldn't bring herself to killing tens of thousands of helpless people.
For the moment she would be helpful and wait and watch. Hopefully though, she wouldn't wait too long she reminded herself.
(@)()(@)
Broken Jaw watched the video feed of the dispirited aliens and then shook his head. The thinkers might be happy about them but he wasn't. Why they hadn't just given up and died already like some of the others he wasn't certain. They stubbornly clung to life. He had to grudgingly respect that.
The same could be said of the aliens on the planet. He had heard about traps and problems on the planet. There was a lot of concern over the threat to the colonists, but so far there had been no fatalities.
That would change though he knew. He put another request in for transfer. He'd even chance traps and getting shot at by the aliens on the ground over being stuck in the confines of the alien ship. But apparently, the herd leaders thought his experience on the ship and with the aliens was too invaluable to be lost.
He was more or less resigned to being stuck onboard until something changed.
(@)()(@)
Magellan skulked around the outskirts of the star system for a week. Her crew never quite got over their nervousness at the sight of the Tauren ships in the star system. Miss Dugan confirmed the presence of a Terran ship on the third day. On the fourth, she was certain it was the Santa Maria based on her telescope images but requested a recon probe pass to be certain of her identity.
<
br /> The captain denied the request. He didn't want the enemy to know of their presence.
“It's a pity we can't trigger a download from Santa Maria's computers,” Ahab said during a staff meeting.
“Can you?” Ynes asked, eyeing him.
“If I was closer maybe.”
“But we're not getting any closer,” the captain replied firmly.
“Sir, what is the plan?” Shelton asked. All eyes turned to the captain.
“I've decided we're not going to return to Pyrax. They could use the information, but I don't want to risk exposing them at this time.” Heads nodded slowly.
“That tells us what we're not doing. So …?” Bes asked, cocking her head at the skipper.
“I decided we should go north up the jump chain back to Antigua. Once we are there, we can let them know what is going on in Janus and drop off the remaining care packages we were going to drop on Pyrax and Gaston. They could probably use the extra help,” Ynes said.
“Agreed. Shelton, Bess, plot the course,” Captain Cooley ordered as the meeting broke up.
(@)()(@)
Cristi limped out to the edge of the cave and looked up when she heard the familiar thunder of a passing aircraft going supersonic overhead. She frowned and then checked the guard who was also warily looking up to the sky. He pointed to the west. She nodded and passed him as she limped out of the cave and over to a rise. She grimaced as she climbed the rise and then came to a halt before her head crested the edge. Bogi and Arjen were at the top on their bellies. They turned and waved her down. She got down onto her belly with a fresh grimace and then wiggled her elbows and knees to go the rest of the distance to the top.
When she got there, she looked around. “What are we looking at?” she asked. They'd done a pretty good job harassing the aliens. She had heard reports of aliens getting hit by traps. She doubted the kill reports, but anything was possible. Besides, it helped morale, so she kept her doubts to herself.
“There,” Arjen breathed softly, pointing with one finger before he handed her the binoculars.
She studied the area and then checked the sun to make sure there would be no betraying reflection before she lifted them to her eyes. Carefully she studied above the dancing field of grass before she saw the shuttle. It was pretty far out, too far for the puny binoculars to really bring into focus, but it was there. And there were aliens coming out of it.
“Damn it …,” she muttered.
“I know. We're going to have to move again. Probably soon,” Arjen grumbled. If the aliens followed the usual pattern, they'd form a perimeter for the first couple days, erect temporary shelters, then hit the tree line for fresh wood and material to build their homes and such. As they penetrated the depth of the forest, they did so under the watchful gaze of the Taurens with guns.
It was getting harder and harder to survive, especially if they were kept moving. They couldn't build up a stockpile of food and material for the coming winter. And obviously, they couldn't give any telltales away. Stockpiling wood for heating was also problematical.
“Frack,” Bogi muttered over and over.
“We'll have to get ready to bug out,” Cristi ground out as she watched the aliens setting up what looked like a fence. They were getting smarter she thought. According to the Neos who had probed some of the perimeters in the south, the fences had sensors on them. They were smart enough not to trip them once they recognized what they were looking at, but it made it much harder to sneak in and do some mischief.
Cristi closed her eyes in pain as she imagined the move and tried to think of a safe place to move to. She could tell her sister and nephew were furious about it, but they were all helpless to stop the aliens from moving in and making themselves at home.
(@)()(@)
“I feel for the people on the planet. And the helpless people on that ship. If any are alive,” Ynes murmured as she watched the dwindling dot of the planet.
“We'll be back. For the time being, we can't risk letting the enemy know we've been here,” Captain Cooley said as he watched Bess and Shelton finish up their calculations.
“We're ready, sir,” Shelton reported as Bess took her position in the helm tank.
“Hyperdrive charged. We're ready,” Engineering reported from the overhead.
“All stations report secure,” Ynes said, checking her board.
“Then by all means, let's get the hell out of here,” the captain said with a nod to Shelton. He nodded back and then passed the order on to Bess. Bess nodded blindly and then adjusted her virtual goggles before she initiated the jump.
(@)()(@)
The survey turned scout ships Thales, Democritus, and three converted support ships arrived in a group to scout the Rho sector in the usual explosion of light and energy.
Once Thales and Democritus were resupplied, the two ships departed in different directions to explore the upper star systems in the quadrant. The three supply ships lumbered out of the jump zone to wait and watch for any arrivals at a safe distance.
Chapter 13
September 13, 2237
Altair hyperbridge exit space
Captain Bao had mixed feelings about passing the baton of command over to Lexington and Vice Admiral Kepler. On the one hand, it was something of a relief to not be the guy holding the stick that everyone looked to all the time, but on the other Republic had been on the picket task force the longest so he couldn't help but feel cheated out of the honor. Not that he had any intentions of bitching about it in public.
They had been reinforced, but far less than the original plan had called for. He knew they were a victim of politics. People just didn't understand that they were the sharp end of the spear, the first wave of defenders to catch hell and pass on a warning when the enemy did finally arrive. Instead of the two tin cans every other month they had gotten one. Instead of a cruiser every three months as planned, they had received exactly two others, Allegiance and Agamemnon.
He knew he wasn't the only one looking forward to Apollo's arrival slated for the following week according to the last schedule update that had come in.
But even if they didn't have as big a force as Home Fleet was shaping up to be it was still respectable. They had three cruisers, twelve destroyers, Lexington, and ten support ships. They also had a small but growing shoal of mines, and automated tugs outfitted with missile pods. To cover the entire space, a network of recon and communications satellites had been set up at strategic locations.
But no, he was looking forward to seeing Apollo. According to the schedule she was supposed to have another pair of tin cans with her, as well as an escort carrier group. The vice admiral had decided to break down her growing destroyer flotilla into two squadrons.
Not that he'd have long to enjoy seeing them, Republic and her two initial consorts were due to be rotated home for rest, refit, and a long overdue liberty for her crew. The crew had earned it and then some, Captain Bao mused. Tau Chan and Dragonheart had each been rotated home at least once since they'd been on station. Republic had yet to get that time off and he knew it was wearing on the crew.
It was all Chief Tisdale's fault. That and the crew, they were victims of their own success. Perhaps a word to the chief was in order? Something along the lines of being a little less than infernally so efficient at keeping the ship running? Not that Fred and his people would give him anything less than their best. He knew and treasured that fact.
That thought ended abruptly when the alarm klaxons went off. He looked up sharply, and then accessed his implants as the ship's A.I. began to download data into them. He took one look and started to shuck his day uniform in favor of his skinsuit.
Something told him he'd need it.
(@)()(@)
The Fleet Herd Alpha bull felt the ship shudder as she moved from the hyperbridge and then down into real space once more. He felt a wave of initial relief at seeing the stars again once the hyper wakes began to dissipate. That relief was short-lived and changed to alarm w
hen alarms began to howl.
“Alien ships in our perimeter!” a sensor technician reported.
“Where? Where did they come from?” the ship's Alpha bull demanded. “How many?”
“We're still getting readings … some are showing signs of defender status!” the sensor bull reported urgently.
It was an ambush upon emergence, something every herd defender dreaded, the Alpha bull realized. They would be under attack shortly; he was certain of that. He had three great defenders, three lesser defenders, an eight and four of cruisers, the same number of dispatch boats, and two eights and two of support ships to take on the enemy fire. He was not certain though if he should be confident or not given the dearth of information he initially had available. His instinct was to flee, to gain space and time to reassess the situation and to come in on his own time and choosing.
“Break off. Get us clear of them,” he ordered.
“We are detecting many radioactive sources as well as neutrinos. The numbers are many powers,” the sensor tech said, rolling his eyes in fear.
“Get me a better report than that!” the Alpha bull roared. “And find me Dreamer! He said the aliens had no herd defenders!” he snarled.
“If they are here, then what happened to the Beta bull's task force I wonder?” the ship's Alpha bull asked quietly as he leaned over to the Herd Alpha bull.
The Herd Alpha stilled then leaned back to assess the ship's Alpha and what he had said. Slowly he nodded. If the enemy was here, it meant the Beta had been driven off or destroyed.
He turned to look at the enemy ships. The reports were still coming in, but they seemed so pitifully small. How could they have destroyed the Beta's task force then?
He wasn't certain he wanted to find out.
(@)()(@)
Vice Admiral Kepler saw the number and mass readings on the ships coming in from CIC and grimaced. It was going from bad to worse to catastrophic very quickly.
“Three big-ass battleships, three smaller ones, a dozen cruisers and a bunch of support ships. Not good, ma'am,” Commander Willard Oh, her chief of staff, said with a gift of understatement.