by Chris Hechtl
Which meant he had to fight to defend the planet. The best way to fight and defend such a holding was as far from it as possible to keep it and the new population from being destroyed.
Which made his future strategy depressingly simple. He had to remain where he was to lay an ambush for the enemy. A bit of turnabout, one he wasn't at all certain would work, but it was the only plan he had available to him at the time.
Every moment he fought forward and away from the colony had its risks and rewards. It meant he was buying time. If he was forced to retreat, he would give ground grudgingly in a fighting withdrawal. It meant his supply lines were far shorter, though it would take time for word to get to the home herd worlds and more time for the resources to be gathered, loaded, and then sent his way.
But, he was now in his space; he would force the invaders to pay in blood for every hoof length of ground he would have to concede.
He was somewhat bleakly certain it would be a lot.
Chapter 16
Hyperbridge point to Sol
The dispatch ship arrived at the jump point zone leading to the demon sector. The ship's Alpha bull received the report that a dispatch ship and cruiser were there, but no other ships. “Where are the others?” he demanded when he called the warship.
“What others?” the cruiser's Alpha bull demanded. “We just got here. We were sent from the new colony world to relieve the picket here. But no one is here!”
“Well, I have fresh orders for you. The herd Alpha is consolidating all forces in the area.”
That sparked instant rebellion and consternation from the cruiser's Alpha bull. “Leave this place unguarded?” he demanded.
“Those are your orders.”
“Why? What is going on?”
“We were ambushed. The enemy had a picket force at the exit point of the hyperbridge chain and devastated the fleet,” the dispatch ship's Alpha bull reported. “Many bulls were killed. We lost a great defender and two of the lesser defenders as well as a host of cruisers,” he reported.
The cruiser's Alpha bull sucked in a protesting breath. “What have we run into?”
“I don't know. Some say demons since they build so fast. The Beta bull took his herd ahead of us; surely, he is dead. What is left is battered and in need of your support. I will send you the news files and your orders. We must rally everything we can at the hyperbridge point to protect this sector and the new home herd world,” the dispatch Alpha bull stated.
“Very well. I will prepare my ship for travel immediately.”
“Understood. I will be returning with you,” the dispatch's Alpha bull stated.
(@)()(@)
Zephyr and North Wind arrived at point Baker within an hour of each other. They exchanged logs and then sat there watching for any enemy ships at the normal jump point from a distance of a light year away. Unfortunately, at a light year out, they couldn't see any ships; their sensor resolution just wasn't cut out for that range. If any ships were there, it would take time for his computers to pick them out of the back scatter. Which was fine, they had plenty of time to sit and wait.
Captain Knox shook his head. He shouldn't complain; he'd done the same thing not so long ago.
Eventually he knew the burst of light from their emergence would make its way to any enemy ships picketing the jump point. If they were paying attention, they'd notice and quite possibly send a ship to investigate. He had no intention of being around that long however.
(@)()(@)
As the cruiser flew the distance to the other hyperbridge jump point, the cruiser's captain reread the report from the herd Alpha bull and felt a rock form in the pit of his lowest stomach. Not since the bug wars had the herd been devastated so badly. And never so quickly! Not in a single battle had so many ships been lost! Not since the retreat from the first home herd world had such losses been endured by the herd.
The ship's Alpha bull shook his head. He was deeply concerned for the loss of so many defenders. To begin with, they only had so many. It took ages to build each ship, and the great defenders obviously took the longest of all! To lose even one, let alone one and two lesser ones … it was painful to even consider such losses, they cut deep. If the reports were accurate, the remaining ships, his ship, was little more than a target.
He was one who dwelled in the past as a hobby, a way to pass the time while on long, lonely deployments or in a picket. He had assembled every historical monograph he could and knew many by heart. He was certain the demons as some of the herd were starting to call them were going to sorely test or even break his people.
The people of the hoof had evolved on a planet near the inner part of the galaxy many eight of eight of eight years ago. The planet had been polluted by their industry; they hadn't known that they could inflict damage on their own world so easily. The air had become tough to breathe; there were a host of sickened calves born or none at all. Many cows had miscarried or had given birth to stillborn calves, a tragedy.
On top of the poor air and water was the changing climate. Storms raged out of season, and those that had been in season were reportedly brutal beyond measure. Entire regions had been laid to waste. Coastlines had flooded as the ice caps had melted. The unseasonably warm temperatures had just kept rising. He knew now that the herd then had tried to find ways to refreeze the ice caps, but the task had been far beyond their technology. It remained beyond even his own time's technology he acknowledged.
Slowly, the herd of that time had come to realize that they were dying. They realized that they had to do something if they were to survive.
The planet had been so adversely affected it had forced them to go to space to find new resources. The small herds that had been sent up found it much easier to breathe, for a time. They learned how to clean their air and water and then passed on such technology to the ground. That had improved some of the herd survival for a brief time.
Eventually, slow-moving sublight survey ships had departed their star system, but they hadn't found many habitable worlds nearby. A few they had found were occupied by aliens who had driven them off.
As their home herd sickened and their world died, their species had become increasingly desperate. The weather hit a critical point and shifted into an ice age. That had forced the final evacuation of their planet to space. Most of the herd did not survive the transition since there was little room in space.
Over time, their species had decided to take what they could in order to survive. They conquered a nearby world and then settled it, and for a time the annals of his people said life was good. The reports on what had happened to the native species were sketchy he knew. Some of the reports were conflicted depending on the author at the time. Some were self-righteous, pointing out that the herd had just wanted to share the world but the aliens had been selfish. Others had said that it was the right of the strong to take from the weak in order to survive, as evolution dictated.
The survival of that alien species was in doubt to his time, but it hardly mattered. What they had given to his people were gifts of engineering that the herd had lacked. Those avenues that had been opened to the eyes of the thinkers and tinkers of that time had sparked fresh research and development. Reports from encounters with other alien herds had also sparked new ideas as the herd had been exposed to new technology. Somewhere in there, they had developed the hyperdrive and other equipment that he took for granted in his time.
But, they hadn't learned how to take care of their new-found world. Eventually, it too sickened. When the signs became evident, the herd had sought out another world and then another. In order to better their chances of survival, the herd leaders at that time had set on conquering as many worlds as possible. Thus, the idea of herd home worlds was born.
But, they encountered a species that matched their own in power. To this day he wasn't certain of exactly what had transpired, but he knew it had been costly to the herd. Many worlds were destroyed, and his people were forced to flee once more. Along the way
they had encountered the Forerunners, the first and only other species the People of the Hoof traded with.
The Forerunners had allowed the ships to use their hyperbridge network. They had been driven to the outskirts of the galaxy, to an area that was not that old and thus mostly free of developing sentient species for competition. Unfortunately, it came at a cost; there were few habitable worlds in the area for the herds to use. Ships were sent out to find more as the worlds they were on were settled.
When they tried to expand, they ran into the Veraxins and other species. The war that had been fought had ended in a stalemate. The two species had established a neutral zone in place; most of the sector he was currently in as well as two of the neighboring ones since there were no habitable worlds there for any of the species to want. Keeping the peace had prevented the species from destroying each other.
But that had all changed when habitable worlds had been found. He knew his people needed to establish their hold on each world quickly and firmly. How such worlds had come about was a great mystery. Some said the new aliens had done it somehow. Others claimed that the Forerunners had left them as gifts, and still others claimed that the survey teams had missed them.
Each world and star system would give the People of the Hoof more places to grow their population and build—a place to expand, to build new ships and industry in order to protect the herd and expand. But it seemed that these new worlds were a trap he thought pensively. One that could come at great cost.
He was deeply concerned for the future of his people, something he hadn't considered in a long time. He was concerned that they would be chased out of the home herds. They were up against a wall; the nearby sectors had hostile aliens in them. They couldn't pull many ships from those fronts without jeopardizing them. They had nowhere else to go in the galaxy, so they had to find a way to beat the aliens or at least force a stalemate.
Which was why his people needed to reinforce the Alpha bull as quickly as possible.
Chapter 17
April 2239
Pyrax
The Tauren dispatch ship arrived in the outskirts of the conquered alien colony and then moved in under power. Days passed as the ship passed through the outskirts of the star system. According to the records uploaded to them from the Flagship, the star system had an alien fuel refinery platform. It was something the ship's Alpha bull was looking forward to using.
But, as they got closer there seemed to be more traffic than expected. Also, the great defender left in orbit was not where it was supposed to be. There was no sign of the massive ship.
(@)()(@)
In between his usual duties, Jeeves worked on perfecting another hacking method. He had created a side channel attack to get in to a Tauren's electronic network. The worm was designed to get into the minor ship's systems instead of a direct attack on the primary ones. The worm was designed to take over the systems and feed the users what the A.I. wanted them to see. That way they wouldn't know they had been hacked, and the A.I. wouldn't burn the ship's systems out like last time. He wasn't certain how effective it would be, but the incoming dispatch ship was the perfect testing ground.
(@)()(@)
The ship's Alpha bull shook his head as his ship settled on their final course change before making orbit of the planet. “I don't recall any of this in the system description. The station, yes, and the refinery platform, but the rest?”
“They never tell us anything. They always leave the good parts out,” the sensor bull grumbled.
“Why use the alien hardware?” the ship's Alpha bull mused.
“Why not? The ancient saying still applies. If it isn't broke, don't fix it,” the navigator and helm bull replied.
“Still, it is alien tech. How did they get it working? And why use it? Well, I suppose having it available is a good thing. I probably shouldn't take gifts for granted; something bad might happen …”
“We're receiving a signal from the captured space station in orbit of the planet … It is data …,” the communications bull reported.
The ship's Alpha bull turned to him. “Finally! Well? Open it! What do they have to say?”
“Opening the file now …”
(@)()(@)
“I have confirmed control of the Tauren ship. The ship is on course to make a polar orbit of the planet.”
“And the crew?” Jack asked.
“The virus overwrote their life support systems and mixed their carbon dioxide levels to lethal levels. They went to sleep. Do you wish for me to vent the ship?”
“No,” Jack said. “That'll do just fine. Time to orbit?”
“Eleven hours fourteen minutes, five seconds and counting down.”
“Excellent. Alert Magellan and General Elliot. We'll need a boarding party to secure the ship. Can you dock her on your own to the station?”
“I can, but the reaction time is troubling. I do not think it is wise to play with the transmission lag. Something could go wrong,” the A.I. replied.
“Agreed. Good call,” Jack replied with a nod.
(@)()(@)
Sergeant Maltese was one of the few enlisted who had space and EVA qualifications. He took the job with a scratch team to board the ship Jeeves had hacked.
There was little to do. The crew was dead. Most were slumped over their controls. They'd died quietly, falling asleep, never knowing that they had been hacked. “Glad he's on our side,” Sergeant Maltese muttered.
“Maltese?” Captain Cooley asked. “Did you say something?”
“Sir, bridge is secure. I can confirm the ship's crew is dead.”
“Roger that,” the captain said as Ynes brushed past the gorilla to plug a stick into a data port at the helm station. Governor Lagroose's engineers had whipped the device up to interface with the alien hardware. It would bridge the gap and allow her to control the ship's systems through a wireless board and her implants.
They'd do something about whipping up proper controls later she thought.
“I'm ready for a test drive,” she said, standing next to a body. “Um …”
The sergeant snorted, briefly fogging his visor. None of the boarding party were eager to go off canned life support just yet. “Yeah, clean up, aisle seven,” he muttered, grabbing the body from the couch next to her and then slinging it over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. “This'd be easier in null G,” he grumbled. “Where do I dump it?”
“Him. Stick them all in an airlock. Not the one we came in through obviously. The scientists will want the bodies I suppose,” Ynes ordered as she grimaced and took the newly vacated seat.
“Okay,” she muttered, bringing the board up out of her satchel bag and onto her lap. “Let's see what this baby can do.”
(@)()(@)
Jack, Paul, and Sharif and the colonists had pulled out all the stops in the precious twenty months they had been given them. They had focused on building infrastructure, expanding their industry as rapidly as they could in the available spaces Paul made ready for them underground. They had no problem with farming. The crops were out, the animals were in the pastures, and the greenhouses were set up, but the farm buildings were underground. Unfortunately, roads led to them, but there were ways around that.
Any exterior structure was well hidden by paint and camouflage though. Many structures were mostly buried. A few entrepreneur individuals had come up with the idea of building aboveground and then bulldozing soil up to the walls instead of digging down. That allowed them to build faster.
In orbit, they had tripled the size of the space station and started another one in the nearest asteroid belt. That station was a mining node; they were calling it Anvil. It was being supplied by automated tugs and a volunteer crew who were in the belt pulling in as much material as possible. More tugs moved between the stations and refinery platform, shifting cargo about the star system. A small asteroid colony had also been established in the previous month.
Magellan had gone into stealth when the Tauren dispatch ship had
appeared. She had sent back the supply ship Jackalope after cleaning her out. They had stopped by Protodon to do another check before heading down chain to Pyrax. According to Captain Cooley's report, they had received a radio signal from Protodon, so they knew that the MacDonald family and others were alive on the planet. That was a relief to know that not everyone had been exterminated on the planet.
Once they'd returned to Pyrax, Jack had talked Captain Cooley out of taking Magellan on a scouting mission south but only for the moment. Instead, his people were busy helping to set up the orbital infrastructure and weapon platforms that Jack had dug up from the archives. Three massive rail gun satellites were in orbit of Eden. A fourth was half complete. Each of the rail gun platforms rivaled the main weapon of a Tauren battleship. Getting power for them had been a pain; for the moment each relied on microwave beams from the planet's surviving hidden fusion reactors. Jack intended to build fusion reactors for them as soon as they had the spare industrial capacity to do so.
Three months prior, Magellan had ferried a crew to the Tauren battleship, but it had been judged too badly damaged to be worth salvaging. Her close brush with the star had irradiated a lot of the hull and burned off a lot of equipment. The radiation had penetrated several decks into the ship. Also, Jeeves had been brutal in his Skynet attack. Just about all of the ship's electronics would need to be replaced as well as half of her hardware. That was a daunting task even for the shipyards back in Sol. Plus, its mass and elliptical orbit meant moving it to the belt or to orbit of the planet would take a tremendous effort, far beyond the resources they had available. All thoughts of turning the ship to the defense of the colony had been put on hold for the time being.
The massive rail gun platforms made everyone on the ground feel safer, but to Jack it wasn't enough. He also hated the weakness of relying on beamed power. They were working on missiles and missile pod platforms, but they had no nuclear warheads so he was allowing only a blueprint study until they could do something about that lack.