The Imoogi continued to buck against the tether.
“Full stop, Sofia,” Tag said.
“Aye, Skipper.”
As soon as the Argo jolted to a stop, the Imoogi did, too. Tag imagined they would be panicking as they realized their gambit was up. Now it was time to pay for their crimes.
“Captain, we’re suited, armed, and ready,” Bull called over the comms. “Awaiting your order.”
“Prepare—”
“Captain!” Alpha cried, interrupting Tag. “There is a large object headed our direction! Our sensors are detecting some kind of electrical disturbance.”
The Imoogi vessel went wild. It shuddered and surged forward, then backward as if desperate to escape whatever was headed their direction. Tag’s stomach twisted.
“Captain?” Bull asked. “Your orders?”
The Imoogi were within their grasp. With a few plasma cutters, the marines could force themselves into the vessel and execute a rescue operation. There might not be a better chance to save the colonists.
But whatever was surging toward the Argo appeared three or four times larger than the Imoogi vessel.
“I do not understand this,” Alpha said. “Whatever the object is, it appears to be growing.”
True to her words, the marker on the holomap expanded. Then, without warning, it disappeared.
“What in the machine’s name?” Coren muttered, staring at the holomap.
The Imoogi vessel still struggled. They must have seen this new threat, too, and based on their desperation to escape it, he bet they had some idea what it was. If they didn’t like it, neither did he.
“Can you track it?” Tag asked.
“No,” Alpha said. “The object appears to have simply vanished.”
A tingle snuck down Tag’s spine. “Coren, weapons and countermeasures hot.”
“Done,” Coren said. The thrum of the charging pulse cannons reverberated around the deck, and the heavy clunk of magazines engaging in the point-defense cannons came next.
“Sofia, start getting us out of here,” Tag said.
“Aye, Skipper,” Sofia said, throwing the Argo into reverse acceleration. The flailing Imoogi vessel was dragged after them.
“Alpha, I want to know what that thing was and where it went,” Tag said.
“I am attempting to locate it now,” Alpha said, “but if its trajectory and acceleration hold true, it should be hitting us in ten seconds.”
Tag stared at the viewscreen, waiting. His fingers clutched the edges of his crash couch.
“Five seconds remaining,” Alpha said.
“Engage the energy shields,” Tag said.
“Captain, doing so will compromise the integrity of the grav tether.”
“Just do it.”
Then it hit them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
A storm of silver and black churned around them like a squall of razors. Thousands of somethings slammed into the ship. The energy shield lit up in arcs of green lightning wherever there was an impact. Klaxons began to bark, announcing potential hull damage.
“What are those things?” Tag asked.
Alpha isolated an image of one and displayed it on the viewscreen. It appeared to be a fishlike creature with rotating jaws, built more like a drill than an animal.
The pattering against the hull suddenly stopped.
“Are we clear?” he asked tentatively.
A huge object once again showed on the holomap. This time Tag saw it belonged to the massive school of drillfish. As they drew closer together, they seemed to glow, flashing a brilliant golden hue that pierced the ocean’s darkness. The school pulsed several times in tandem then flew apart. The signal on the holomap was lost.
“What are they doing?” Coren asked.
“Sofia, thirty percent power to reverse,” Tag said.
“You got it, Skipper.”
The Argo churned backward, with the forward bow aimed at the drillfish.
“How’s the grav tether doing?” Tag asked.
“It is holding steady,” Alpha said, “but only at forty-five percent efficiency.”
“Understood,” Tag said. He could see the numbers on Alpha’s holoscreen fluctuate even from his vantage point. “How much faster can we go without risking detachment?”
“Five point three percent more.”
“Do it,” Tag said. “And, Sofia, take us up. Fish can’t fly. I hope.”
Sofia nodded, and the Argo accelerated slightly. Tag didn’t want to lose hold of their cargo now, but he didn’t think enduring another attack by the drillfish was a particularly great idea either.
“Coren, let’s put a chaff screen up against those little bastards,” Tag said. He imagined Hannah’s look of disappointment if she could see him damaging the ocean’s ecosystem, but right now, they needed to escape and rescue the colonists. He could feel guilty later.
A black flood of particles spewed from the bow of the Argo. The ship began to rise, pushing up toward the water’s surface. Light started to shimmer around them as the waters became a lighter blue. The Imoogi vessel continued to wriggle in their grasp.
“We’ll get these bastards onto the land and see how well their little submarine works,” Tag said.
The marker for the drillfish disappeared on the holomap once more. Tag braced himself for a final attack by the creatures. He was confident the energy shields could withstand it. Then the Argo would be back into the dry air and out of their reach.
A flash of golden light gushed through the smog of chaff.
“What was that?” Sofia asked.
Before anyone could answer, the lights in the bridge all surged on, glaring enough to rival a star. The viewscreens and holoscreens flickered blue and purple, and the holomap at the center of the bridge fell away in a shower of sparks. A curtain of darkness fell over them, and the comms went out.
“Alpha, what just happened?”
“Captain, it appears those creatures have unleashed some kind of electromagnetic pulse,” Alpha replied.
“I thought even human ships were shielded against such weapons,” Coren said.
“They are,” Sofia said. “Whatever that was...it was different.”
“Bring all our systems back online.”
“I will attempt a manual restart,” Alpha reported.
Tag heard her suit unzip and the whine of electric servos as she physically connected to her terminal. If Alpha couldn’t get the ship moving, they would be stuck in this underwater tomb until they could power up the fusion reactors again. It might take days to diagnose the problem if they couldn’t restart the ship’s comp systems from the bridge.
Gods, how long would they be down here?
He shivered, trying not to think about it. The grav tether had undoubtedly failed with the anomalous power surge. They had lost the colonists. The crew of the Argo could survive down here as long as they needed; they had the rations and supplies, even if the power was down. The air supply would last for days with the skeleton crew they had been running with.
The drillfish had other ideas.
Hail, to rival all the storms and hurricanes Tag had ever endured growing up on Earth, unleashed itself against their hull. It sounded like so many thousands of small meteorites pinging against the alloy. And then, between the impacts resonating through the bulkheads, there was a sound even more disturbing.
“That sounds like the goddamned Dreg!” Sofia yelled. “Those things are trying to get through the hull!”
Tag twisted in his crash couch. “Alpha, get those systems back up. The Argo can’t survive down here with a million leaking punctures.”
“I am trying,” she said. “I think that I have isolated the power surge. Here we go, Captain.” The lights to the bridge flickered on. Alarms wailed, and the grav impellers restarted with a growling thrum. The viewscreens erupted with the sight of thousands of swarming drillfish.
“Coren, open fire,” Tag said.
The chug and thump of the
point-defense cannons opened up around them. But many of the fish were too close for the PDCs to effectively target them.
“Alpha, do we still have a grav tether lock?” Tag asked.
“Negative, Captain. It appears the connection was lost as soon as the power went down.”
“Damn,” Tag said. He had expected as much, but it didn’t make it any better. “You got a read on them?”
“I believe so, Captain,” Alpha said. “I have detected a mass with similar density and dimensions as the Imoogi vessel.”
A spot on the holomap once again lit up.
“Full ahead, Sofia!” Tag said.
The Argo began to accelerate, shaking wildly in the turbulent waters. The noise of the drillfish still rang out through the ship. Tag had thought the rapid acceleration would’ve shaken the persistent beasts, but they continued to attack, clinging to the ship... as if by magnets.
“These things are capable of producing some kind of magnetic field, aren’t they?” Tag mused. “That’s why they’re throwing off our sensors. The EMP blast... gods.”
The scientific side of his mind started working in overdrive as he toyed with how these creatures might exert such a powerful field. But he didn’t have time for experimentation right now. He was a captain, and his people were in trouble. “Alpha, reengage the energy shields. Shock the three hells out of these suckers.”
“Yes, Captain.” Alpha tapped once on the terminal to charge the energy shields, then tapped again to engage the shields.
Green lightning arced across the bow of the Argo. The shield sparked wherever it touched the fish. Most were thrown off, their bodies illuminated in a resurgent mixture of red and oranges, almost as if they had caught fire.
Tag thought they had killed the bastards. The fish started to peel away as the energy shield regained its strength. For a moment, Tag thought they were back in the race. His fingers curled around the edges of the crash couch, and he stared at the viewscreen, peering into the darkness as they chased after the Imoogi.
The energy shield continued toward its original strength. Before it hit seventy-five percent, the ship went dark again. The ship shuddered, then slammed against something. Momentum threw Tag forward in his restraints. His neck caught painfully. The drillfishes’ attack returned in full force.
“Why don’t these damn things leave us alone?” Sofia asked.
“Alpha, what happened?” Tag asked. “I thought we were good to go.”
“We were, Captain,” Alpha said. “I do not understand...”
“Get us moving, Alpha.”
“Of course,” she said. “It appears to be the same issue as last time. I believe the problem lies with the energy shield. Somehow those fish reversed the power of the shields, overwhelming our internal safeguards.”
“So we’ve got to do this without shields?” Tag asked.
“That would be my assessment, Captain.”
Tag searched the holomap. The Imoogi vessel was far away now, lost in the mountainous rocks of the seafloor. A heavy weight filled him. Defeat. They’d lost their quarry, and if he didn’t get his ship out of here now, he might lose the Argo, too. The sounds of the drillfish continued. At least, he hoped, they couldn’t breathe above the water.
“Sofia,” Tag said. “Prepare to take us up.”
“Aye, Skipper,” she said unenthusiastically.
Their chase had been thwarted by a bunch of goddamned fish. Of course, the Imoogi had probably taken them this way precisely for that reason. Their vessel might not have been equipped with weapons, but the ocean was their home turf.
Tag wasn’t looking forward to facing the colonists and telling them that he had failed. But maybe this had been a lesson for him. Getting too distracted in the affairs of Orthod had led him on this wild goose chase. He’d been trying to save a few colonists when he should be searching for the collaborators and the Collectors’ ties to Orthod. Much more was at stake than a few hapless colonists.
And just when he thought the depressing sense of defeat and failure couldn’t get any worse, it did.
“What the three hells are those?” Sofia cried, pointing at the murky viewscreen.
Rising from the seafloor like wraiths from the sand, a host of giant beasts had appeared. Hundreds of tiny yellow lights flickered along each of the beasts like stars.
That was when Tag realized they weren’t creatures at all.
These were giant versions of the Imoogi vessel they had been chasing. And they had the Argo surrounded.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The drillfish suddenly parted, dispersing into a cloud that circled the Imoogi vessels. Tag expected the creatures to start boring into those ships. Instead they simply looped around as if protecting them.
“Coren, weapons ready,” Tag said. He debated whether to engage the shields again. If he did and the drillfish reacted as before, it would leave them defenseless against this new threat. He figured it was time to test whether that treaty Burton had made with these people held water, so to speak.
“Alpha, hail them,” he said.
Alpha hesitated a second, as if unsure of Tag’s order. But she complied, her fingers tracing over her terminal. A moment later an Imoogi face appeared on his holoscreen. It had the same half-reptilian, half-fish look as the ones he had seen back at Orthod’s medical clinic. Atop its head rested a circlet, of sorts, carved out of coral. While its mouth was filled with the same needle-sharp teeth as the other Imoogi he had seen, there was no crimson beard across its face. Maybe this one just hadn’t been eating human flesh recently.
The Imoogi began speaking. At first Tag expected the high-pitched shrieks and clicks of the ones he’d encountered before. But the sounds that came out of this one were far gentler, more melodic. Its voice certainly didn’t compare to the emotional etudes of the Forinth, but it wasn’t the ear-busting cacophony he had thought it would be.
A few moments later, the AI systems on the Argo’s shipboard computers completed the language translation.
“Human vessel,” the Imoogi was saying, “I am Chancellor Munmu, guardian and keeper of the Imoogi people. Your travel here conflicts with the Peace-Water-Land Treaty. This transgression is punishable by death. Please explain why you are here.”
“At least they haven’t opened fire yet,” Sofia said.
Coren tensed over his controls.
“Chancellor Munmu, I’m Captain Brewer,” Tag said through gritted teeth. “You know why we’re here. Your people broke the treaty; we’re merely coming after the colonists they abducted.”
A translucent film passed over the chancellor’s red eyes then retracted, leaving them glistening. Tag took it as a gesture of surprise, and Munmu’s words all but confirmed it. “I apologize, Captain Brewer. We are unaware of any Imoogi transgression on this agreement. Humans haven’t been within our realms for years, voluntarily or not. What proof have you?”
“We tracked one of your vessels down here. We almost had them, too. Just let the hostages go, and we’ll leave.”
“Captain Brewer,” the serpentine Imoogi spoke again with evident patience. “I assure you I do not know what you are talking about. But if these allegations hold any truth, I would like to resolve this peacefully. Tell our chancellors what you have told me. They will judge the veracity of your statement.”
“They’ll judge?” Tag asked. “I saw your people with my own eyes, as did my crew. They almost killed us. You need proof? One of the Imoogi was killed trying to take the colonists. You want me to bring its body back here?”
Munmu’s forked tongue licked over its snout. When it spoke again, it was with a sense of sorrow. “No, that will not be necessary. Please, I really must insist you come with me. This... if what you said is true—and I don’t want to believe you, Captain, I really don’t—but if what you said is true, I fear what the repercussions of this tragedy may be. We will want to resolve this situation immediately.”
He was quiet for a moment, then added, “Captain Brewer, I can se
e you do not trust us. If you would feel better, then keep your weapons armed and your shields up. We will keep ours off as a sign of trust.” A moment later, the orange lights of their cannons winked out.
“We turn our shields on, those damn fish will disable us again,” Tag said.
“I apologize for that,” Munmu said. It turned to the side, mouthing some order to a subordinate. The school of drillfish sank into the sand, disappearing. “They are nothing but an automated defensive measure. They will no longer bother your ship. So, Captain Brewer, will you come with us?”
Tag felt the eyes of his crew on him. Whatever he decided to do next, they would follow him, just as they’d done on Meck’ara, the Montenegro, and now Orthod. “What the three hells? Take us there.”
***
The Imoogi city looked like an oversized, electrified reef. All colors of lights twinkled from spires that stretched the hundreds of meters toward the ocean’s surface. Around the columns, the Imoogi’s serpentine bodies carried them like meteors through the water. Under the chancellor’s directions, Sofia took the Argo toward a makeshift landing pad. She brought the ship down between a couple of battlecruiser-sized Imoogi vessels.
“Time for a walk,” Tag said.
“More like a swim,” Sofia said as she undid her restraints.
The marines joined them in the ship’s airlock, each of them bristling with weapons, and Tag briefed the crew.
“EVA suits on,” Tag concluded. “You see any funny business, we rocket back here.”
They entered the airlock, and the hatch to the cargo bay shut behind them. Water slowly filled the chamber as air belched out. Finally the outer hatch opened, unleashing them into the wilds of the open ocean. Tag felt the outer layers of his EVA suit compress before the suit’s systems repressurized them, responding to the immense weight of the oceanic depths. It was a wonder that the Imoogi could thrive so deep under these waters and yet have no problems functioning on land, too.
But any scientific questions of physiology and biology would have to wait. A score of Imoogi were swimming toward them. He recognized Chancellor Munmu by the circlet atop its head.
Rebel World (The Eternal Frontier Book 4) Page 17