by S. H. Jucha
“Then you’ll leave?” a councilor inquired.
“Yes,” Deirdre replied.
A councilor pulled a tiny recording device from a pouch strapped to his body. He held it toward Deirdre and said, “Begin.”
Celsius stepped forward and recorded a message to Alex. When he finished, he stepped back.
“Now leave,” Umtrat ordered.
“A word of warning,” Deirdre said evenly, but in the commanding tone of an admiral. “That message is critical to my people. We expect to encounter that powerful fleet that recently fled your system. If our message isn’t received at Pimbor and Hyronzy, it will result in the death of many of us. If that happens, we’ll view Usaanans in a completely unfavorable light.”
“We’re not ones to be threatened,” Umtrat hissed.
“Oh, that’s not a threat,” Deidre said, laughing. Then she spun on her heels and made for the traveler.
As the ships lifted in unison, Deirdre regarded Ophelia and Aputi. “Will they send the messages?” she asked.
Aputi deferred to Ophelia, who said, “Difficult to say, Admiral.”
When Aputi saw Deirdre regard him, he replied, “Sorry, Admiral. It’s hard to read those little faces.”
“Ophelia, what did you sense from them?” Deirdre asked. She was surprised she was asking the question.
“Anger, frustration, and fear ... mostly fear,” Ophelia replied.
“Hmm ... good enough,” Deirdre murmured.
29: The Message
Regarding Lucia’s injuries, Jess’s protective concerns were unnecessary. She recovered quickly from her concussion under the ministrations of Pia’s staff and her own nanites. When Jess knew that Lucia’s recovery was a foregone conclusion, he dropped planetside.
Mickey organized key individuals from his engineering teams to meet with Jess, Tacnock, Sam, Homsaff, and Juliette. The session focused on how to improve the shadows.
“The shadows worked well enough, Mickey,” Jess said, opening the meeting, “and they saved lives, but they need to be better.”
“We’re listening,” Mickey replied. He was bracketed by Miriam, key engineers, the Crocians, and several Pims.
“Before our assault commander begins,” Homsaff interrupted. “It’s my opinion that you shouldn’t think in terms of adaptations to the present model or the rider model. You’ve more time now and need to hear our needs. That will allow you to construct the specific version we require.”
“I agree with Homsaff,” Sam added. “The new shadows need controller quality capability, Mickey. The captain spent too much time finger waving at them. The shadows need to quickly comprehend, interpret, and implement orders from his link.”
“That will increase the mass and the power consumption,” an engineer noted.
“We’ll be employing this version on moons,” Tacnock pointed out. “Mass isn’t a significant issue.”
“But power is a problem,” Juliette added. “Four of the final six shadows ran their power crystals empty. We were unable to comprehend their roles in the fight, because their memories were lost. The veterans couldn’t help us because they were focused on their adversaries and not the shadows.”
“That’s a definite problem,” Mickey agreed.
Jess heard the team’s input and was relieved that they’d considered the requirements in greater detail than him. It helped him realize that his role was different from what he’d expected to play in these meetings.
“Mickey, our challenge is that the Colony is able to communicate via their captured domes,” Jess said. “That means they know every method that we’ve used in our assaults, and they’ll develop new techniques to repel us. Your teams have to hear our requirements and do us one better. Think about fighting an insidiously brilliant enemy, who’ll probably already have guessed what you’re about to create. What can you build to defeat them the next time we attempt to take a dome?”
Jess watched a gleam appear in Mickey’s eyes. Rather than feel defeated by a near-impossible task, Mickey was innervated by the challenge. It gave Jess a new perspective about the people who surrounded Alex.
“We require visual relays from the shadows,” Tacnock requested.
“And their laser-head sensors should be upgraded to full optical imaging,” Sam added.
“Yes,” Bortoth agreed. “That will give the shadows the opportunity to view and transmit from the lasers without exposing their operational heads.”
“Why not give a shadow more than one laser head,” an engineer offered. “With a controller, a shadow could operate multiple lasers independently and simultaneously.”
“More power,” Mickey noted unhappily. He was viewing the design options that Miriam and the other SADEs were constructing for him on the fly.
“Let’s talk about the shadows’ conditions after recovery,” Jess said.
“We’ve the SADEs’ technical reports,” Mickey replied. “The insectoid slugs are coated. It’s an interesting matrix that allows a slug greater penetration. The shadows were destroyed by combinative losses of their control heads, lasers, and limbs. You’re fortunate a slug didn’t hit a power crystal, while it had charge.”
Several veterans started to speak, but Mickey raised a hand. He’d noted that Jess’s eyes were focused far away.
“What, Jess?” Mickey asked, when the quiet continued.
“I’m wondering what the insectoids thought of the shadows,” Jess said.
“You mean what the Colony might do having witnessed them,” Miriam interpreted.
“How do you know they saw them?” an engineer asked. “You eliminated every insectoid in the tunnels.”
“Insidiously brilliant,” Mickey repeated for the engineering members present. “What the captain is saying is that the assault team might not know how the insectoids know their every action, but somehow they do. That should be sufficient for our understanding. Captain, you were saying.”
“Miriam is right,” Jess said. “Their numbers and slug throwers haven’t stopped us. They’re probably devising an alternate weapon.”
“One that could harm a dome,” Tacnock added, nodding his head.
“Too true,” Jess agreed. “They’ve witnessed the arrival of starships that are truncating their long-devised plans to conquer planets via the rings. Now, they’re losing domes and planets to us. They’re obviously ready to sacrifice the domes.”
“The domes have survived the rings’ detonations twice,” Homsaff argued.
“The captain is wondering what will happen if the Colony destroys the console or has found a way to trigger a runaway response in the dome’s power supply,” Bortoth offered.
“Which would take out the dome, the assault team, the moon, nearby ships, and possibly portions of the planet,” Miriam surmised.
The thought that the Colony could and would destroy the creations of the Messinants caused every human and alliance member to pause. The SADEs had already assumed the possibility.
Tacnock spoke, hoping to resume the immediate topic. “Can the new shadows be made tougher, able to withstand the slugs, if that’s what the Colony continues to use?”
“Not unless we go with an armored design,” Mickey replied. “Now, we’re bumping into size limitations.”
“Here are my priorities, Mickey,” Jess said. “The suggestions that you’ve heard have value, but what I need most are numbers. Eight shadows were useful. Three times that number would be better.”
“Understood, Captain, we’re on it,” Mickey replied enthusiastically.
Jess headed back to the compound, but he halted to review the message Juliette sent him. Then he grinned at Tacnock and raced for the landing site.
Searching the sky, Jess spotted the inbound traveler. He anxiously waited for it to touch down and the hatch to drop. When the ship landed, passengers began exiting. Spotting Jess, they touched hands to heart or offered a quick salute.
Lucia was the last to clamber down the hatch steps, and Jess rushed forward and swe
pt her into his arms.
Briefly, Lucia hesitated to accept such a public greeting. Then the moment passed, and she relaxed into Jess’s embrace.
* * * * *
Pimbor enjoyed a renaissance of sorts. Mickey and his engineering teams were the primary drivers, and the chief engineer hadn’t felt so useful in years. The teams installed the GEN machines and instructed the Pims and Crocians on their use.
Bortoth and Daktora worked with the Pims to design the bot variations that the alliance would covet if they contained Omnian technology.
“The greatest benefit to the alliance will be the employment of Omnian power crystals in tandem with their internal grav cells,” Bortoth noted to a group of Pims.
“It will allow your products to be deployed in hostile environments where servicing is either costly or dangerous or both,” Daktora added.
In addition to the expanding industry, the Norsitchians, Sylians, and Pim riders continued to decimate the insectoids’ numbers. It would still take annuals to eliminate every Colony member, but the Pims no longer doubted whether they would win or not. It would be only a matter of time.
The hunting teams’ proficiency progressed to the point that there hadn’t been a loss of life in many cycles.
Perhaps, the most significant sign of change came from Phette and Oforum. The Omnians helped the couple construct a new abode. It was the usual two-story home, except the lower level was designed to make other races comfortable, while the upstairs was scaled for the Pims.
There were two more critical changes to the structure. It had no tunnel exit, and it was constructed outside the compound. Temporarily, it was fenced, but the couple waited for the day when they could remove the fence and decorate the landscape.
One day, Phette and Oforum returned from a hunt to find their fence gone. Areas around the house were cultivated. Ornamental plants decorated the front, and a garden of the Pims’ favorite vegetables was planted in the rear. Fruit trees dotted the surroundings.
Phette drew breath to voice his displeasure at the removal of their home’s protection, but Oforum grasped his arm. She pointed to something glinting at the edge of the woods. It was a shadow.
The Pim couple crossed the ornamentally decorated yard to examine the shadow. Immediately, they noticed it didn’t possess a bucket seat. It wasn’t a rider version. It was one of Jess’s attack shadows.
The shadow’s armored head turned and peered at the Pims. Visual recognition programs ran in the tiny controller.
“Greetings, Phette and Oforum. I’m number one. I’m here to protect this property,” the shadow said.
“How many of you are there?” Phette asked.
“I’m number one. There are three more assigned to you, Phette,” the shadow replied.
For a few moments, the Pims studied the shadow. It was larger than the rider version and more robust. Then they went in search of the other three and found them, even though they had secreted themselves from casual view.
“Events are hard to comprehend,” Phette said, standing in front of their new abode. “It takes calamity and then a gift of strangers from the stars to shake us from our timidity.”
“Our jobs aren’t done, my mate,” Oforum cautioned. “They’re just beginning. We’ve a marvelous opportunity that must not be squandered. Only a minor percent of our population are participating. The rest are still hiding in their tunnels.”
Phette patted Oforum’s shoulder. “You’re right, but I feel good about our prospects.”
* * * * *
The Pim dome administrator was delighted to resume his old job, but that elation soon waned.
Two cube messages had been sent to the connecting alliance domes to joyfully announce the regaining of the Pim dome.
Rather than visits from the other races, which had been his expectation, the administrator received a cube from each race. The messages were similar. They thanked the Pims for the update.
So it was that the administrator wasn’t impressed to receive another cube. Then he noticed it was a priority message, and he hurried to recover it and place it on the console. Discovering it was directed to the Omnian leader, he recorded the cube’s playback.
Immediately, the recording was dispatched to a console operator, who rode a shadow to the tunnel cars.
To date, only one shuttle tube had been cleared.
The console operator waited at the blast door airlock for the arrival of the next shuttle. Then he hurried the message to the captain, who transmitted it to the Freedom.
* * * * *
Key individuals from down below, including Jess, Lucia, Kasie, Mickey, Homsaff, Tacnock, the Crocians, Miriam, Juliette, and Esteban, disembarked from a traveler into a city-ship bay.
Their destination was an auditorium, where many fleet staff had assembled.
The stage was occupied by three individuals — Alex, Renée, and Julien.
Alex took a step forward, which hushed the audience and drew their attention to him. “We’ve a priority message from Admiral Canaan,” he said. “The federacy fleet made contact with a second alliance race.”
“Who?” Tacnock asked.
“They’re called the Usaanans,” Alex replied.
The Crocians roared their humor.
“Bortoth and Daktora have a point,” Alex replied, with a grin. He had a fondness for the Crocians, and their robust personalities. They reminded him of his friend, Wave Skimmer, who he missed. “It’s surmised that the federacy fleet landed shuttles on this planet too. The crews and their shuttles met with the same fate as those who landed on Crocia.”
“Sand serpents,” Tacnock snarled quietly.
“The federacy fleet’s exit from the system was recorded,” Alex continued. “Admiral Canaan believes that the SADE, Celsius, and she have anticipated where the battleships will make contact with the next alliance race. We find their logic compelling.”
“What does this mean for your local fleet?” Jess asked.
“The Freedom and Admiral Gaumata’s command will sail to join Admiral Canaan,” Alex replied.
“Do your actions end support for the alliance and its predicament?” Tacnock asked.
“No,” Renée replied definitively, as Julien and she stepped beside Alex. “This meeting will help us understand how we can accomplish both challenges.”
“Captain, would you consider your personal tasks complete in this system?” Julien asked.
“Yes, I would,” Jess replied guardedly.
“If you had the support to proceed with your next endeavor, what would you do?” Julien inquired.
“I would take a Trident to the next lost dome,” Jess replied. “We’d eliminate the ring, if it exists.”
“And the planet?” Renée queried.
“If the Colony has landed, we’d survey the planet,” Jess replied, “and we would determine the extent to which it had been overrun. Whatever the degree of invasion, we couldn’t do much about it until the Pims and troops eliminated most of the insectoids on this planet.”
Alex addressed Jess, but he gazed across the audience as he did so. “Captain, if the insectoids occupy the fourth lost dome and the planet, how will you eliminate them?”
“The Dischnya will support the captain’s efforts until the last warrior,” Homsaff announced. “This is what we’ve waited to embrace, a fight for others that’s worthy of our spirit.”
“The Pims are with the captain,” Phette said, as loudly as he could. Oforum and he shared a seat, and they stood on it for a better view. “We’ll need rider shadows, engineering support, and transport.”
Alex heard from Mickey, Miriam, Juliette, Esteban, the Crocians, Salsinona, and Menous. Each of them voiced their intent
ion to assist Jess in the fight against the alliance’s great enemy.
Jess watched Alex’s stern expression morph into a lopsided grin. It transformed his face, and Jess couldn’t help smiling.
“I think you have what you need, Captain,” Alex said. “It only remains to be decided how you’ll accomplish your tasks.”
“Captain Tenard, are you and your Earthers prepared to protect Pimbor in our absence?” Renée asked.
Oleg Tenard, the SE senior captain, replied loudly, “In the absence of the expedition’s co-leader, Patrice Morris, I’m accepting responsibility for Earth’s Tridents. We will protect Pimbor.”
“Commodore Bellardo, will you serve as the captain’s transport to lost dome four?” Alex asked.
“Proudly,” Lucia replied.
A few individuals chuckled at Lucia’s response, but they quieted when she gazed at them.
Captain Tenard raised a hand, and Alex nodded at him.
“What if your fleet is eliminated?” Oleg asked. “In that circumstance, what would you have the SE Tridents do?”
“Captain Tenard,” Tatia interjected, “we’re old hands at dealing with federacy fleets. Unless the leader has a death wish, there are ways of dealing with a group of battleships that don’t require engaging them directly.”
“We intend to present a show of force that makes the leader and fleet commander reconsider their decision to occupy this part of space,” Julien added.
“What if these individuals refuse to listen to you?” Tacnock inquired.
“Plan B,” Alex replied, which set the Omnians to quietly chuckling behind their hands.
“What’s plan B?” Tacnock asked.
Renée had shared in the laughter. Briefly, she hooked Alex’s arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. Then she said, “It’s whatever Alex comes up with when his first idea fails.”
That remark launched the Omnians into full-throated laughter, Alex grinned, and the veterans regarded one another with frowns.
The meeting broke up, and Alex directed Julien to coordinate the reapportionment of the freighters’ supplies between ships that would be staying at Pimbor and those sailing with the fleet.