The Decade Worlds

by Patrick McClafferty

  The view screen pivoted and Gareth suddenly saw what the AI was talking about. A single kilometer from the north side of the structure a circle of wagons, camels and men fought off waves of attackers.

  Shyrrik, can your sensors locate the Ecothiax style weapons?”

  “There are only four, and I already have them targeted.”

  “Excellent. Mei, at your discretion, take out those four rifles, and then clear away the forces surrounding the caravan.”

  “Firing, Captain.” Mei’s smile sent a shiver down Gareth’s back as he watched four huge explosions, probably in the half kiloton range, blast holes in the attacking raider forces, while point defense lasers cut the caravan attackers to ribbons.

  The huge metal door to Shsa-Tirion swung open, admitting the caravan who, with very little urging, charged inside. Gareth watched in some satisfaction as the ponderous door set in the northern panel of the dodecahedron, swung slowly closed.

  “Thank you, Gareth.” Thomas murmured. “There are no more friendlies in the field of fire.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll be in touch.” He turned to Mei. “You heard the man. With the exception of the city, you can set the point defense on automatic and commence fire.”

  “Yes Captain.” Mei pushed one button, the rest obviously already having been programmed. With the USS Maine hovering a scant thousand meters over the city, it took three minutes. Mei looked slightly green when she turned back to Gareth again. “Defense program has been completed, Captain. Hostile forces are eliminated.”

  “Thank you, Mei.” Gareth gave her a sympathetic look. “Why don’t you go and wash your face. It will be a few minutes before we reach Bivrelsea.”

  The young woman wobbled to her feet. “Thank you, Captain.” She replied in a shaky voice.

  “Shyrrik, best cruise speed to Brivrelsea. Let’s give our young Weapons Officer a few minutes to regain her composure.” When Mairi shot him a questioning look, he replied mind-to-mind. You are my daughter, but the rest of the crew of the USS Maine are also my family. You do things like this for members of your family.

  Just when I think I have you figured out, you do something like this, and knock all my nice neat preconceptions in a cocked hat. She gave him a warm smile. You’re the best father I could ever have had. Gareth felt himself redden, and Mairi laughed gently.

  The Maine banked, turning her bow south as she accelerated toward what had once been the great city of Brivrelsea. Now it was nothing more than a train station… to the stars. Far below them Gareth could see a small raider ship putting out from shore into the wide Phila River, her wide striped lateen sails filling in a stiff wind, and it made him wonder. “Shyrrik, would you please follow the Phila River south? I would like to see what’s happening at Strizroufast.” The ship adjusted her course slightly until the wide Phila River was directly below them. Gareth had sailed that very river in the past, and knew the hazards and pitfalls to the unwary.

  As they traveled over the structure, Gareth noticed that the front gates to the Caravanserai of the Seven Sisters stood open, the building itself abandoned. He couldn’t restrain his sigh.

  “Strizroufast coming up.” Shyrrik murmured in a calm voice, pitched he knew, to instill maximum confidence in the listening audience. He winked to Ensign Yong as she slid into her seat.

  “Scheiße!” He muttered, staring at the hundreds of raider ships anchored in the wide harbor. He had burned out the pirate fleet once, and a good part of the city as well, but like cockroaches, the raiders had survived and multiplied. I’m sorry for what I have to do, Athena. He whispered in his mind. “Mei, what do we have available for nuclear air-to-ground munitions?”

  The young woman threw him a shocked look, and then seemed to pull herself together. “We have two and three kiloton missiles, as well as a five, ten and fifty megaton.”

  “Radiation release on the blasts?” He asked, staring at the ships.

  “The kiloton weapons as well as the five-megaton missile are relatively clean, Sir.” Mei replied, obviously skipping mention of the larger megaton weapons.

  “Move us to a safe distance Shyrrik,” he said, then turned to Ensign Yong. “You may launch a five megaton weapon. Target the shoreline between the raider ships and the city.”

  “Aye, aye Captain.” Two voices replied in unison.

  The flash made the view screens blank momentarily. When the view returned Gareth sat staring at the fireball that was rapidly consuming the raider fleet, and city.

  “Oh my god!!” Mei said in horror from her position.

  “Before you get all weepy,” Gareth growled more harshly than he’d intended, “I’d like to remind you of all the atrocities these people have committed over the years.” He shuddered at the memories of burned towns and slaughtered people. “The raiders we caught outside Shsa-Tirion were, if anything, even worse.” He forced himself to watch the fireball consume what had once been a bustling city. “Take us to Brivrelsea, Shyrrik.” The ship banked and the view slid away, but Gareth knew that he would see it in his nightmares for years to come.

  As they crossed the wide stretch of Great Ocean, Gareth noted clusters and groups of what appeared to be troop transports, all escorted by three or more of the sleek raiders. “What the hell happened while we were gone?” He muttered. “Do you have any ideas Shyrrik?”

  The voice of the AI sighed. “When the people of Oseothan began to depart Terra, it created a power vacuum. Like it or not, the Aebbea were the behind-the-scene rulers of the world. When they left somebody took their place. Somebody with few, if any, morals. I’ve reviewed your own history, Gareth. Can’t you think of a group of people on this very world who would be unscrupulous and stab you in the back if they could?”

  Gareth’s eyes widened. “The vampire Zadra! The bounty hunters never caught him after he tried to kill me. He would be smart enough, and cruel enough to pull it off.”

  “Look on the deck of the largest transport.” Shyrrik said as the screen zoomed in. Perhaps a dozen tall and abnormally thin people were standing on the deck. All were wearing deeply cowled black robes that covered their entire bodies. They were all facing away from the sun.

  “Wouldn’t vampires stay below deck?” Gareth asked, leaning forward in his seat.

  “Even vampires need fresh air every once in a while, Gareth, and it is a cloudy day.”

  Gareth scratched his head and frowned. “Where would you guess they are going?”

  “Brivrelsea.” Shyrrik returned immediately. “There doesn’t appear to be enough cargo for an extended voyage to Oseothan.”

  “I agree.” Gareth murmured, as the ship swept over the northern shore of Luxoroth, heading south.

  “Iona has forwarded the coordinates for our fire mission, Captain.” Shyrrik murmured in a low voice.

  Gareth glanced at Mei. “You know what to do, Ensign. I would recommend that you wait until we come into range of all targets, and hit them all simultaneously, if you can.”

  “Aye, aye Captain.” She hesitated a few short moments. “Firing in… three… two… one…” In the jungles around Brivrelsea, fires blossomed, and from their altitude Gareth could see the shock waves flattening what local trees hadn’t been incinerated by the blast. “Fire mission completed.” Mei whispered.

  “Very good. I’ll be taking a squad of marines with me down to the surface.” He gave Ensign Yong a long look. “You will be coming with me. I want you to stay in the shuttle while I’m on the ground and fly Combat Air Patrol. It will be up to you to keep me safe.”

  “Yes, Sir!” The young woman snapped, and Gareth had to bite down a smile at her renewed enthusiasm.

  Smoke trickled from holes blown in the smooth dome covering the lower city, and the gardens and wooded paths that Gareth had admired on his last visit were trampled and torn. A young woman with streaming brown hair, and dressed conservatively in a leather tunic and breeches, with a bow strapped across her back stepped through the wall of the city and into the ruined garden.
She looked around sadly.

  “I was just getting it the way I liked it.” She looked up at Gareth. “Thank you for driving them off.”

  “Hello, Iona. You might not thank me so much in a moment.” He muttered dryly. “How are the transfers going?”

  She gave him a long look. “Unless you have a few more boatloads, I’m done.”

  She blinked when he smiled. “Good.” Gareth replied, grinning like a fool. “Here’s what I want you to do…” Fifteen minutes later the shuttle dropped to the ruined gardens, and Gareth boarded, followed closely by his clutch of nervous marines. “All done. Take us back to the ship, Shyrrik.”

  Mei, sitting in the right-hand seat gave him a long look. “Do we get an explanation?”

  Gareth turned to her, still grinning. “It’s a good story, but not so good that I want to tell it twice. I’ll tell everyone on the bridge.”

  “Fine,” Mei humphed, “don’t tell me… Captain.” She added as an afterthought.

  “Puasheehchester, best cruise speed.” Gareth announced as he settled back into the frigate’s command chair. The scene in the view screen shifted and dwindled as the USS Maine headed for a low orbit hop. “ETA in Puasheehchester is sixty-five minutes.” Shyrrik said softly.

  Gareth leaned back, noting that every eye in the room was now turned to him. He smiled. “I just shut Brivrelsea gateway down… more or less.” He announced. The eyes watching him widened. “Iona told me that she has processed just about all the people she can to one or another of the Decade Worlds.”

  “But…” Mei almost stammered. “What about all the ships I saw in the harbor? There were hundreds of ships of all shapes and sizes.”

  “That was a raider fleet.” Gareth said gently. “Iona sent out probes to make sure. I told Iona to pack things up, and bootstrap herself to a transfer pod, like our Shyrrik.” He reached out and touched the silver pod resting between the two seats. “When she is ready, she will let us know and we will give her a boost to orbit, where she will take over the Science Vessel Griffon.” He leaned forward in his seat. “When she transfers, she will leave the gateway active. Anyone who steps through will be transferred to Trilan. Without exception, all transfers will be one way. After three months, the gateway in Brivrelsea will shut itself off, and power down. The gateway in Trilan will self-destruct to prevent the technology from falling into hostile hands. The only one that can reactivate a gateway will be one of the four remaining AIs.”

  “But Trilan is a trap.” Mairi pondered, her brow furrowed, and then a look of surprise crossed her face. “You are using the humans and the vampires as bait for the aliens, aren’t you?”

  Gareth gave his daughter a flat look as he replied. “The aliens will never expect us to sacrifice our own people for a trap. The raiders and the vampires will finally make a useful contribution to society.”

  “That’s horrible!” Mairi gasped.

  Gareth slumped. “What would you have me do, drop them into the sun, like I did Lothar? Perhaps I could just leave them here to disrupt the transfer of the less aggressive residents.” He rubbed his forehead. “There were more of them than I expected. A lot more.” He finished in a whisper.

  Mairi looked torn. “What about mother?”

  Gareth looked up. “THAT is the next item on my to-do list.”

  The smoke from the fires that consumed Puasheehchester and the adjoining harbor could be seen from orbit, as the USS Maine began her descent.

  “O my god!” Mairi whispered what everyone else on the bridge was thinking.

  Gareth glared at the smoke. “Are you receiving a distress beacon from the other shuttle?”

  “No Captain.” Shyrrik replied in a firm voice. “I am, however, picking up a faint reading from the shuttle’s drive in the business district on the western side of the city. There are no lifesigns.”

  The Captain nodded briefly. “Are you picking up Ecothiax weapon signatures?”

  “Two, Captain, located to either side of the shuttle. I would say that they hope to catch you in a trap.”

  Gareth’s smile was grim. “They didn’t count on the sensitivity of the frigate’s sensors.” He glanced across at a pale-faced Mei. “Weapons Officer, when we come in range, please remove those two weapons from my Landing Zone.”

  He could see the young Ensign shake herself. “What weapons shall I use, Captain?”

  Gareth smiled. “I would prefer the grounded shuttle to be in one piece, Ensign Yong.”

  “Aye, aye Captain, the shuttle will be undamaged. Arming energy weapons.” She entered a swift command, and studied her screen. “Engagement in thirty seconds.” Gareth gave her a curt nod. “Program running.”

  Two eye-searing flashes lit the city of Puasheehchester as the two multi-story buildings, perhaps a kilometer apart, disappeared in the blast. Gareth’s eyebrows went up. “Don’t you think that those blasts might have been a little… excessive?”

  Mei replied immediately. “No Captain. Shyrrik did the math for me. Those two blasts reduced the buildings to dust. No significant debris was left to impact the shuttle.”

  “How about adjacent buildings?” He asked sharply, although inside he could feel a smile building.

  “Sensors indicated no buildings between the blast zone and the shuttle.”

  “Very good Mei… and Shyrrik. Good shooting.”

  “Thank you, Captain.” A pair of voices replied.

  Gareth looked around the bridge. “This is the way it’s going to be.” He said in a tone that brooked no argument. “I will be taking the shuttle down to the surface to look for Chiu. I will take Shyrrik and a half dozen marines. We will all be in full armor. Stefan, the AI of the Frigate USS Maine will, as soon as we have departed the hangar, take the frigate to The Yeugate where all personnel that are going ashore, and then on to Puborg or another of the Decade Worlds, will debark. Stefan will then take the USS Maine to Brivrelsea, where he will collect Iona and proceed to orbit where Iona will enter and activate the Science Vessel Griffon. USS Maine and Griffon will then assume station-keeping at the museum until I return.” A number of glares burned into him, which Gareth calmly shrugged off.

  “No!!” Mairi growled, her face livid. “I will go with you. Chiu was my mother too, and it’s my right to go with you.”

  Gareth gave her a sad smile. “You will NOT go. If you attempt to go you will be sedated until I have departed.”

  He thought for a moment that she was going to explode. “Chiu was my mother too! I have to go.”

  “No.” Gareth replied calmly. The bridge door slid opened and the ship’s doctor walked in, followed by two of the biggest medical assistants Gareth had ever seen. “Doctor, please escort my daughter to her room, and stay with her until I depart.”

  Mairi’s eyes were flaming. “I hate you!” She hissed through clenched teeth.

  The words stung Gareth to the quick, but he looked at Mairi with calm gray eyes. “At least you will be alive TO hate me.” He nodded to the doctor who firmly escorted Mairi off the bridge. “I’ll head for The Yeugate when I’m done here. Will you still be there?” He asked, addressing a calm faced Shaw who sat at his side.

  She glanced at her husband, her eyes unreadable. “I think we’ll go home. With a little luck Shen, Chiu’s brother and Qingzhao, her sister, will already be there.” He could see what she was doing; pulling the family together in case the news was bad; and a queasy premonition told him that things were going to be bad.

  Gareth stood. “In that case, Shaw Sai-Bo, you have the con.”

  “I have the con.” She repeated, a note of sadness in her voice. “Be very careful, Gareth.”

  He gave her a crooked smile. “I will Mother.” He turned to the rest of the bridge staff, and snapped off his best parade-ground salute, his face like stone. “It was an honor and a pleasure to work with all of you.” Before things got any sloppier, he turned and strode off the bridge, Shyrrik’s silver globe bobbing along behind him. His eyes, for some reason, seemed to be blurr
ing with tears, but Shyrrik wisely said nothing.

  A heavy concealing smoke filled the entire city of Puasheehchester, and scattered fires dotted the business district, very few not caused by the explosions of the two weapons emplacements. The shuttle settled a short way outside the blast zone, and the black uniformed marines fanned out, eyes and ears alert. They all had on respirators and smoke cancelling goggles. Today THEY were the ones that looked like the bug-eyed alien invaders. Even Shyrrik had traded her shiny chrome surface for a dull mottled gray and black. Behind them the ramp of the shuttle thudded shut, and the reactive camouflage shimmered briefly. When it finished, the combat shuttle looked like another pile of debris cluttering the wide street. Gareth nodded, and made a motion for the squad to move out.

  “Wait!” Shyrrik’s voice hissed in his ear a moment later. Gareth held up a hand and the marines froze. “Movement at your twelve o’clock position, one hundred meters. One person.” Gareth made another hand sign, and then drew his kukri. A half meter of hardened black Damascus steel, his Gurka Kukri was a fearsome fighting weapon, and had been with him since he arrived on Eldenworld. Heavy and razor sharp, it could slice through muscle and bone with equal ease. The raider, coughing from the smoke and eyes watering never saw Gareth coming to clamp his hand over the man’s mouth, driving the kukri into his back with enough force that ten bloody centimeters of the blade stood out of the man’s chest. The man stiffened, and went limp. It was over in three seconds, and Gareth wiped his blade on the dead man’s shirt before he signaled the rest of the marines, with a sigh. They were good men and women, but they had never been trained in the grittier side of in-your-face fighting. He stopped at a pile of rubble and picked out three or four arm long lengths of steel pipe, handing them out to members of the squad. Gareth placed a finger on his lips to emphasize the point, before he continued down the littered smoky street. They made it half way to the crashed shuttle before Shyrrik stopped them again. “Gareth, there are three more coming. One of them is… different.”

  “How different?” Gareth whispered.