by Craig Allen
After several moments, Hayes spoke. “We’ll be topside in a few hours. I’m going to get us there as quick as we can without burning anything out.”
Sonja pulled up a diagram of the reactor. Most of the diagram flashed green, but a few places showed yellow. “Maybe we better take it easy, sir.”
“I’d love to,” Hayes said. “But we have a problem.”
“Another one?” Bodin asked. “What is it now, LT?”
“I can’t detect Banshee Four Niner at the end of the corridor. Either she’s out of range, or…”
Cody finished the sentence when no one else would. “Or she’s gone.”
Chapter Twelve
Cody didn’t feel like sleeping during the hours-long journey back to the top of the corridor. He wasn’t even tired though he should’ve been after everything that had happened.
Bodin had no problem sleeping as he lay sprawled across four of the hopper’s unfolded seats in the bay, but Cody’s mind wouldn’t rest. Due to the fact they’d nearly died, the fact the toads could reach Earth, and the fact they still couldn’t raise the other hopper, he wouldn’t sleep for a while.
Also, he couldn’t take his eyes off the glowing orb that had been dredged up from the interior of the neutron star. If they were correct and it was degenerate quark matter, then it should have been dense enough to punch a hole straight through the hopper, or at least through the deck to the grav plates below. Instead, the thing rested in one of the seats. Where they put it didn’t really matter. If the ex-mat got loose from its container somehow, it couldn’t be contained anywhere on the hopper.
Sonja sat next to him, leaving Hayes in the cockpit to do the hard work.
“Amazing.” Cody was saying it for the fifth time. “So that’s the fire.”
Sonja raised an eyebrow. “The message on that bridge sat. Yeah, that’s a hell of a fire. Enough to destroy worlds.”
The Alcubierre Superluminal Energetic Burst, or ASEB, was caused by the particles collected on the outer edge of the Alcubierre field during faster-than-light flight. When the vessel shut off the field, those particles burst forward in the direction the ship traveled. The burst could be powerful enough to blow the atmosphere off a planet—something that had happened several times during the war with the Spicans.
Sonja’s husband had been among the first victims.
“I wonder why they weren’t guarding this place,” Bodin said.
“They didn’t think we knew about it.” Sonja pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. “They did have a sentry, at least. There’ll probably be a lot more ships next time we show up.”
Cody thought that made sense. “Why didn’t we see any power readings from that Kali ship? We should’ve been able to spot something.”
“Especially that close. We should’ve seen a blip.” Sonja frowned. “I don’t get it. It was like the power readings were hidden somehow. An improved shielding, maybe, but we should’ve picked up something when we were just tens of meters away from the goddamn ship.”
“Holding that thing in my hands should’ve ripped me to pieces. But it’s like carrying a shot put ball.”
“Glad it didn’t.” Sonja made sure Bodin was really asleep across from them and then kissed him. “I’m thinking of one piece in particular, mind you.”
“It’s a good piece.” Cody laughed when she jabbed him in the ribs.
After a moment, they both became quiet until Cody broke the silence. “I’m going to miss you, you know.”
“You should.” She became grim. “I have to do this.”
“I know.”
She grew quiet again. “You said you’d wait for me.”
“I will.”
She leaned closer to him. “Crazy, huh?”
“What?”
“You and me.” She giggled, something she almost never did. “Why do we stay together?”
“Because we’re good for each other,” Cody said. “Even long-distance.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Guess nothing.” He tilted her head up by placing his fingers under her chin. “It’s worth it. Don’t you think?”
She pulled away. “Yeah, you’re right. Again.” She covered her mouth with a hand and sat up straight, reverting to gunnery sergeant mode again. “What do you make of that thing anyway?”
Cody regarded the glowing globe on the floor. “I’m at a loss as to what the shielding is comprised of. Anything that small that can shield against the effects of nearly two kilograms of exotic matter would have a tensile strength beyond anything we have—maybe even beyond the strong nuclear force.”
“That’s impossible.” She made a face at him when Cody raised an eyebrow. “Hey, I know things, too. The strong nuclear force is the strongest force in the universe. You’re a bad influence on me, know that?”
“Glad to hear it.” Cody nodded toward the sphere. “Everything those ancient races did feels like magic.”
“Ain’t magic.” Bodin cracked open an eye. “They just knew a bunch, that’s all.”
Cody wondered how long he’d been awake. “You’re not impressed?”
“By the glowing ball or the blatant PDA?” Bodin laughed as Sonja’s mouth fell open. “Damn, Gunny. I never seen you blush before. But yeah, I’m impressed as hell.”
“By the glowing ball or the blatant PDA?” Cody asked.
Bodin laughed so hard he snorted through his nose. “Both.”
When Bodin calmed down, Cody continued, “But don’t you wonder how the Antediluvians did it? The force required to shield the effects of exotic matter is immense, and it’s all contained inside of a few cubic millimeters.”
“Crazy shit, that’s for sure.” Bodin pointed at the ex-mat container. “But hell, go back in time ten thousand years. Humans were still figuring out agriculture. Drop one of them inside a hopper, and show them the universe. They’d think it was all magic, too. But it ain’t.”
Sonja tapped her fingers on her knee. “Well, Sergeant, that’s pretty philosophical of you.”
“Eggman ain’t the only one who reads too much.” Bodin started to curl up again. “But y’all forgetting something. There’s been surveys through this cluster, right?”
Cody started to shrug, but then he understood. “The survey team never noted this star.”
“So they missed it,” Sonja said. “There’s lots of stars out here.”
“It’s a neutron star that doesn’t rotate.” Cody jabbed his thumb toward the hull. “There’s a lot of stars in this cluster, but we’re on the outer edge of it. Someone would’ve noticed this sort of anomaly—if not right away, then later when they analyzed their data.”
“So how’d they miss it?” Sonja asked.
“Maybe the star didn’t want to be seen.” Bodin pointed at the glowing orb as he spoke. “I’ve seen ancient technology before. Egg, you were talking earlier about Antediluvian tech being smart. I’ll bet two weeks’ leave that star didn’t want to be seen and made itself look like a normal neutron star.”
“So it sped itself up?” Cody tried to hide his smile. “This star is many times smaller than Earth’s moon but many times more massive than Earth’s sun. The energy required to stop and start a mass of that magnitude is astounding.”
“You think the Antediluvians couldn’t do it?” Bodin pointed at the quark matter container on the floor. “They got the technology to pull that out of the center of the star and seal it up like that so nobody gets hurt. Shit, starting and stopping that giant boulder of a star would be nothing to them.”
Cody narrowed his eyes at the globe. “That begs the question: If it hid from the survey team, why didn’t it hide from us?”
“Or the toads?” Sonja asked. “I mean, they put the ship in that corridor, and they probably extracted some exotic matter just like we did. The star allowed them to do all of that for some reason.”
“See, that’s the real question. Wish I had the answer.” Bodin leaned back. “Now you made me tired with all t
his thinking and whatnot. Wake me when we get there.”
“Speaking of which.” Sonja leaned forward. “Sir, have we made contact with Banshee Four Niner yet?”
“Not yet, Gunny,” Hayes said. “Nothing on lidar or gravimetrics either. We’re getting close to the top of this zero-g corridor. I was just about to try—”
A whine sounded through the comm system, followed by a familiar voice. “Banshee Five One, this is Nailer. What’s your ETA, Sleepy?”
Hayes laughed. “About fucking time, Nailer. We’re about twenty mikes from the top of this corridor. Where the hell have you been?”
Nailer didn’t answer for a few seconds, which Cody assumed was due to signal delay. “We had to shut down our drive altogether for a little while and put up some camo fields to deal with lidar. Turns out we’re not alone up here, Sleepy.”
Cody’s internal viewer blinked at him, showing he had images available, transmitted by the other hopper. He pulled them up. Each showed a series of ships, all of which appeared to be at a distance of several million kilometers, at least.
“Just great,” Hayes said. “You guys got your engine together yet?”
“We will in another half hour. We got the message sent, along with your data and all your pictures. Jesus, you guys really found something.”
“Yeah, we get all the luck. See you shortly. Banshee Five One out.” Hayes leaned out of the cockpit and shouted into the hopper bay. “You guys get all that?”
“Yes, sir.” Sonja made sure the lieutenant wasn’t looking before she kissed Cody. “I better get back up there.”
“Okay.” Cody watched her return to the cockpit.
When she was gone, Bodin spoke. “This takes us to a whole new level, one we ain’t ready for. You know what the old man’s going to do when he gets that transmission, right?”
Cody’s shoulders sagged. “I do. I just hope he gives us time to evacuate the fliers first.”
“Yeah, well, tell that to the Spicans. They don’t know the buzzards like we do.” Bodin leaned back again but didn’t close his eyes. “Don’t be surprised when we get back and there’s giant craters all over the planet.”
Cody leaned back as well. After the toads had attacked the Washington two months prior, the Spicans had pledged to back Earth if a war with Kali erupted, something that gave Cody peace of mind. Two species from two different worlds did, apparently, have a few things in common. One of them was regret, something the Spicans had about the war. The other was loyalty, which, oddly enough, both species had begun to feel for one another. Cody was grateful for that because, if humans had to fight the toads on equal footing, they’d need help. However, the Spicans might simply ASEB the entire planet and be done with it. However, if the Spicans were helping the toads, which was unlikely, then all bets were off—unless Cody had been wrong about them all along.
Christ. It was such a mess. Cody couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Sonja shouted into the comm, “Contact! Oh, fuck. We got lots of contacts.”
Hayes spoke with annoyance. “Define ‘lots,’ Gunny.”
“A dozen. No, fourteen. They’re one million klicks on the other side of Banshee Four Niner and closing. They look like Kali-type vessels.”
Cody jumped forward and leaned into the cockpit. “Can Sinclair and Francis get away?”
“Sit down, Doc,” Hayes said. “And strap in. I’m going to push the reactor again.”
“It won’t matter, sir.” Sonja highlighted points on the hopper’s sensor readout. “They’re already inbound with a greater velocity. We still have to adjust our course and increase ours. Those Kali ships will beat us to the other hopper.”
“Shit.” The long-distance comm whined briefly. “Banshee Four Niner, do you—”
A signal from the other hopper interrupted Hayes. “Banshee Five One, we have multiple contacts inbound. We are still rebuilding our Daedalus drive and will not finish before contact. Recommend you head back to Washington. We’re making a run for it.”
Hayes slammed his fist on a panel, making the holocontrols waver. “Shit.” He activated his comm. “We can help, Banshee Four Niner. Stand by, and we’ll take you aboard.”
“Negative, Sleepy,” Sinclair said. “You can’t get to us in time. Get your people out of here. Estimate you can reach your Daedalus collar in time before they’re in weapons range but just barely. If our signal didn’t go through, you need to hand deliver what you found.”
“God damn it.” Hayes ran his hands over a console, causing red lights to appear along with a diagram of the port and starboard sides of the hopper. Even Cody could tell Hayes was bringing up weapon systems.
“That won’t do any good, sir,” Sonja said. “Those Kali ships have a bigger armament than we have, and they outnumber us. Not to mention we’re short two tacs. Sir, our only hope is to leave.”
“You’re right.” Hayes waved a hand through the weapons console to deactivate it. “Roger, Banshee Four Niner. Run like hell. We’ll send help.”
“Copy that, Banshee Five One. Sounds like a plan.” The comm cut out.
Lights appeared in the distance, seven of them by Cody’s count. “My God. Are those…?”
“Torpedo detonations,” Sonja said. “Jesus, I hope they ran far.”
~~~
The journey back to the Washington took about as much time as the trip down the zero-g corridor, which Cody would have found ironic if things weren’t so grim.
He had his helmet on but retracted. It had been that way since they had gone superluminal. He half expected to get attacked even though that was impossible. No sensor system could track an object moving faster than light, even a system that was itself moving faster than light.
Hayes broke the silence maintained since they left the neutron star. “Stand by. I’m bringing the bubble down.”
The light show outside the hopper vanished, and the stars appeared once more. Kali was smaller than Cody’s thumb, and the Washington was nowhere in sight, but if it were far enough away, it wouldn’t be visible to the naked eye.
“Tally. There she is.” Sonja brought up lidar readings on the HUD. “She’s only about two hundred thousand klicks away.”
Hayes adjusted course. “Washington, this is Banshee Five One. Requesting permission to dock.”
“Copy, Banshee Five One, permission granted on port tube five… Banshee Five One, we are not reading Banshee Four Niner.”
Bodin lowered his head and mumbled, “Damn.”
Hayes’s lips tightened. “Banshee Four Niner was unable to reach her Daedalus collar before bogeys engaged us at designated coordinates within the globular cluster. Recommend Washington proceed to globular cluster for evac of stranded hopper.”
The Washington was larger and therefore slower at sublight speeds, but with her larger Daedalus engine and larger mass of ex-mat, she could likely propel herself as quickly as a hopper. She could reach the globular cluster within hours.
“Understood, Banshee Five One,” the Washington responded.
Soon, the Washington appeared outside the canopy, still a speck against a black sky, but Cody could make out the running lights. “Did they get the message from Banshee Four Niner?”
“Hope so,” Sonja said.
“Washington, did you receive last bridge transmission from Banshee Four Niner?” Hayes asked.
“Affirmative, Banshee Five One.”
After a delay, Admiral Rodriguez’s voice piped in over the comm. “This is Actual. Dr. Brenner, you are authorized to contact the fliers in regards to the situation ASAP. They are to inform the toads they have violated the terms of the treaty and are to hand over all illegal technologies or face the consequences.”
Cody felt his heart sink. The fliers hated contacting the toads even though they’d agreed to be a go-between for other creatures on the planet. The toads weren’t supposed to hurt the fliers, and they hadn’t yet, but the more interactions the two species had, the greater the likelihood that would change.
<
br /> Cody activated the communications via his suit. “Understood. Will make contact at once.”
“Banshee Five One out,” Hayes added, then the comm cut out.
Cody pulled up communications at the small console behind Sonja’s seat. “I hope the toads decide to be reasonable.”
Cody opened the channel dedicated to the fliers. Stripe appeared on the hopper’s HUD seconds later, with other fliers behind him staring into the viewer. A message appeared beneath his image:
It is good to see you are well.
“Thank you,” Cody said. “You too. Have you been able to reach the toads as we requested?”
Predators have not fought or killed or gathered prey for days and we see no sign of them.
“What do you mean?” Cody asked. “They’re gone?”
A moment later, an image appeared before them, showing a view from the air though Cody couldn’t tell where. Several dish trees shambled across the landscape. After a moment, the view circled around and then became distorted as the flier landed. The viewer fumbled for a bit, then it showed a yellow landscape with a depression in the center. Nothing else was in view, not even the reddish shrubs or the red reeds.
“What is that?” Sonja asked.
The view lowered suddenly, showing something lying on the ground next to the depression and zoomed in on a skeletal shape, curled up with an arched back. The dead and decayed thing was no larger than Cody’s thumb.
“That looks like a beetle,” Bodin said.
The remains became clearer. Though only a skeleton, it obviously wasn’t the body of a spider-beetle. The remains were those of a toad.
“But it’s so tiny,” Sonja said. “How…?”
The view shifted, showing the depression. Scattered about the bowl-shaped ground were dozens of similar skeletons, all of them arched back the way birds did after dying.