by Ed Charlton
“It’ll burn up before it gets too far. Must be some sort of engine failure.”
Another call came from down the room.
“Sir! Explosions reported at Grenser Field!”
“Any analysis?”
“None yet, sir. No sign of hostile aircraft. No reports of ground troops.”
The group captain stood and took a deep breath, his gaze on Tella. Tella nodded and said softly, “They’re here.”
“The 3D image is ready, sir,” called the operator.
Tella saw faint thermal trails descending from a single origin: the ark.
“Whom do you have to alert?” Tella asked the captain.
“My guess is they already know.”
He turned to the operators and shouted, “Broadcast all we know to the distribution net!”
“Extrapolate these paths; see if you can work out the destinations,” Tella whispered to the 3D operator.
He nodded and entered the commands. “That will take just a minute.”
The building shook with the force of nearby explosions.
Gorra pointed at Larc. “Into the safe room! Tella, with him!”
Tella caught a glimpse of a camera feed from outside the building. The smoke and flames had engulfed several of the residential blocks at the edge of the institute.
Larc led the way back to the accommodation rooms in silence. When the door was closed behind them, he said, “It looks like your friend wasn’t successful.”
“Where has your mother gone? Where will Jim have been taken?”
Larc shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe to the main hospital, maybe to Central Command.”
“Either way, it looks like we’re all in danger now.”
The building shook with another series of blasts. The power failed, and they spent a few seconds in complete darkness. The emergency lights came on. More ground-shaking explosions rolled around them.
Tella was sitting on a sofa. Larc came and sat next to it. Without saying anything, Tella put its arm around the pup, who lowered his head against the Neraffan’s chest.
“Most of these rooms are bombproof, but the building itself isn’t,” Larc whispered into the lull.
“We’ll be okay. Your people have prepared well.”
The emergency lights went out and stayed out.
***
On both of Tanna’s planets, earnest faces were watching images of the attack. The Gul-Raeff was barely able to sit still. His grin was so wide that he had to lick constantly at the sides of his mouth. The overarch sat, his head in his hands, filled with sadness for the hurt of his people and for the foolishness of his neighbors.
***
The ships that had followed Jim joined others of the fleet deploying from the arks—visible as they launched through the doors and, then, vague shadows as they banked into the atmosphere.
A cone formation of Gul fliers formed above the Biological Sciences compound, and four huge Gul construction ships moved into place between them. Intense weapons fire leveled surrounding buildings, creating a clear path for the construction ships to work.
Massive laser blasts from the ships cut into the ground around two selected buildings. Four jets of liquid rock rained down. The liquid poured into the holes and drained beneath the structures.
Crane-like ramps extended from the hovering ships, and a swarm of Gul workers rushed onto the buildings’ roofs, ramming reinforcing rods into the upper walls with well-practiced speed. The Guls then launched themselves from the rods and worked their way down both structures, punching braces and brackets down the height and across the width of each wall.
The fliers, hovering around the construction ships, fired at any Jorr craft that came in range. Jorr helicopters and fliers dropped from the sky into the smoking city below.
The choreographed violence was met by the gentle arrival of the massive ark. The cone of fliers opened wide enough to accommodate the huge craft. The ark trailed a vast plume of smoke in its wake from the damage caused by entering the atmosphere.
Below it, the construction ships withdrew their ramps and fired projectiles of a hardening agent into the liquid rock. The sound of the reaction deafened everyone nearby. The grinding of the solidifying foam raised both buildings out of their foundations. The ships moved in and locked into the braces. Their engines strained as the buildings resisted the upward pressure. With a monstrous wrenching, they twisted on their ruined bases and lifted off.
Water poured from broken pipes, and sparks arched from torn wires left below as the pairs of craft rose with their cargos pressed between them. Liquid, crumbling masonry, and dirt fell into the drifts of smoke. The massive doors of the ark closed as the buildings disappeared into its darkened interior. The accompanying fliers closed around the ark as it rose from the devastated campus.
All Tella and Larc could tell, in the dark of their room, was that the sensation of ascending had stopped. Their ears still rang too loudly to hear each other speak. They had no idea how quiet it had become. They had no idea they were on their way to Tanna Gul.
Chapter Eight
Jim could smell disinfectant. He assumed he had lost control of his bowels or bladder—or both. He already felt sorry for whoever had had to clean up. He did not want to open his eyes; he could hear that there were people nearby. Jim could not remember where he was or where he was meant to be.
Still with his eyes firmly shut, he thought that he needed a way of working out where he was. He heard Tamric’s voice listing his resources.
“Tamric?”
Before there was any answer, the sickening recollection washed over him. He had not heard that voice, nor would he.
“James Able? Can you hear me?”
It was a female voice, husky and concerned. In better circumstances Jim would have smiled a little.
“Who are you?” he said, opening his eyes.
He saw her short snout, long whiskers, and fine fur and knew at once she was not a Gul.
“I’m Gritta Mel. Are you feeling better?”
“I...hmm...better than what?”
“Than you were the last time we spoke?”
“I’m sorry; I don’t remember...”
She laughed. “That’s okay. I didn’t think you would; you were in a bad way. I think they’ve found the right stimulant for your physiology this time.”
“Oh, thank you.” Jim sat up.
“Do you know where you are?” she asked.
“No, well...hopefully, I’m on Tanna Jorr.”
“Correct. You landed next to Tella’s ship in Matcha Park. Do you remember that?”
“Is Tella here?” said Jim, more awake.
“No...not right now.”
“Can I see him—I mean, see it?”
She laughed again. “Not right now. I need to ask you some questions. Do you feel up to it?”
“Sure. But you didn’t answer mine. Who are you, Gritta Mel?”
“It’s enough for you to know that Tella asked me to ask you what happened on Tanna Gul and where your other colleague has got to.”
“Ah...you were expecting someone else.”
“Tella was very concerned about you both.”
“Where is it?”
“Not here right now.”
“Yes, you said. Where?”
She sighed. Jim thought she sounded a little disappointed that he had more of his wits about him than she had hoped.
“We’ve been attacked by the Guls. They have either killed Tella and my son or taken them prisoner. I’m hoping you can tell me which.”
“How is that possible? I destroyed the fleet—well, most of it. They had nineteen ships coming after me; that’s not nearly enough!”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what you destroyed, but they had been hiding more than enough sh
ips in the arks.”
“In the arks? Yes, I remember seeing them. Damned stupid thing to do, leaving them lying around like that.”
“Thank you. We know.”
“I’m sorry. Did you beat them back?”
“Yes, of course, or it would be a Gul gra interviewing you, not me!”
“I see your point. How bad was it?”
“Once we had retaken the arks, it was comparatively easy. We found their friendly-fire frequency. They didn’t last long.”
“Both my ship and Tella’s would have had that information for you. I guess Tella didn’t get it.”
“No, that would have been useful.”
“What about Tella...and your son, you said?”
“One of the arks and a part of the fleet escaped and are on their way to Tanna Gul. Larc and Tella were in the part of my research compound that was taken aboard the ark.”
“What??”
She put a furry hand on Jim’s shoulder. “Listen, never mind that. We need information from you about what’s happening on Tanna Gul. What do you know of the Gul-Raeff’s plans? Where will they have taken any prisoners?”
“I heard them say he had an office in the base I was in. They were going to take Tamric’s body to him.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Tella was afraid something had happened.”
“Yeah...I guess something did.”
“Where’s the base?”
“If Tella’s been taken prisoner, I have to go.”
“You are in no condition to travel.”
“I wasn’t in any condition to get here, was I?”
“I...”
“I’m going. There’s no way I’m going to lose both of them.”
“I really don’t think you can do it. Unless your body works very differently from ours, you need rest and treatment.”
“We’ll have to postpone that. Besides, I don’t intend to do much vigorous activity. How many ships do you have?”
“Not enough to launch a counterinvasion, if that’s what you mean.”
“No, I suppose not. But you’ll need enough to overwhelm a fairly sizeable concentration of Gul forces.”
“I’ll have you talk to our military. Do you have reconnaissance data from there?”
“On board the ship I came in. I also transmitted it to Tella’s flier. I guess my ship didn’t look too healthy by the time it landed.”
“It was on fire. You were unconscious.”
“Probably just as well. We’ll get the information in the flier. So...let me talk to your doctor.”
“Very well, I’ll call him.”
The professor left Jim to absorb what she had told him. He had a deep reluctance to return to Tanna Gul. Damn Tella for getting caught! What was it thinking?
The professor returned with a Jorr whose fur was streaked with gray and whose left eye was clouded.
“This is Doctor Murr. He has been taking care of you.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
The doctor nodded and looked at the thick pile of papers he was carrying. “I have many questions to ask you, James Able.”
“Sure, if we have time”—Jim glanced at the professor—”but give me a summary of how I’m doing.”
“Hmm...yes. You have a series of infected wounds in your shoulder.” He indicated the front of Jim’s left shoulder. “You have a couple of scratches on the other side, also infected. You have multiple knife wounds in your back, but they seem to be clean. You have three bruises on the back of your head and neck, many bruises on your limbs. You’ve been busy!” His snout twisted into a mischievous grin. “We also injected you with a stimulant that was intended to bring you to consciousness, but it seemed to cause mild hallucinations and confusion. I hope it will have no lasting effects on you. The second one we tried seems to be working fine.”
“It all explains why I hurt so much. But I think you’re wrong about the knife wounds. Some sort of creature attacked me; they must be claw marks.”
“Hmm...as you wish,” said the doctor, frowning.
“What about the infection? Can you treat it?”
“No, not without knowing something more of your species. It would be foolhardy to start giving you our antibiotics; they could cause all sorts of damage to you.”
“There are supplies in the flier. Let’s get there before it spreads too far.”
“If you feel up to it, I’ll make transport arrangements.” The doctor smiled and left them.
“How long will it take to assemble your forces?” Jim asked the professor.
“They’re waiting on us.”
Jim grimaced. “Let’s do it.”
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Hiding his nausea, he stood and leaned on Professor Mel’s arm.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked.
Jim nodded but could not otherwise reply.
Chapter Nine
Tella’s flier was under heavy guard. A senior officer greeted them at the park and handed the remote control to the professor. Jim recited the commands to open the hatch and noticed the gleam in her eye as she operated the device.
He detoured into the Gul ship to retrieve his backpack. He gave the soldiers who accompanied him instructions for using the voice-control functions.
Once onboard Tella’s flier, Jim headed for the medical supplies while the professor and three soldiers made themselves comfortable in the flight cabin.
He found the most potent antibiotics and took an initial dose. He then took a hefty dose of stimulant and stepped into the decontamination booth.
They were looking impatient by the time he emerged.
“Sorry, I need each of you to step in there as well. I have to give myself every chance to recover, so the fewer bacteria I encounter, the better.”
He accessed the transmissions he had sent from the Gul warship. One of the soldiers entered the codes for their Central Command to receive them. Jim added a message, advising he could not tell how many ships remained unaffected by his attack, nor could he tell if they were space worthy.
He launched the flier from the park and headed for orbit. While the professor was busy in the decontamination booth, he tapped the bulkhead above the main consoles to find the voice activation control. No panel opened. Embarrassed by the silent observation of the soldiers, Jim continued his pursuit.
“Ship! Activate voice-command functions.”
The familiar voice answered, “Please state identification.”
“Recognize Jim.”
“Accepting voice commands from Jim.”
“Recognize Loral!” one of the soldiers called out quickly.
“Loral is not recognized for voice commands.”
Jim and Loral exchanged a puzzled look.
“Ship! Recognize Loral,” Jim said as an experiment. He pointed to the soldier to indicate he should try again.
“Recognize Loral,” the soldier repeated.
“Accepting voice commands from Jim and Loral.”
Jim chuckled, “Why would it do that?”
“Maybe because you got there first?”
“Maybe. Have you used voice activation before?”
Loral shook his head, “We have some things we play with—in training—but they’re not in use yet.”
The professor returned to the cabin and said, “Who’s next?” A female soldier called Maka went back to the decontamination booth.
Jim turned to the control panels and said, “Ship, how long will the journey take at full speed?”
“Five and one-third hours.”
“Our ships can’t make that kind of speed,” said Loral. “They will be several hours behind us.”
“I don’t want to wait for them. If Tella and your son are in danger, I want to get there as soon as possible. What d
o you think, Gritta?”
She nodded.
“Ship!” called Jim. “Full speed. Full stealth mode.”
“Acknowledged.”
Jim sat and thought. “Ship, what craft are ahead of us traveling toward Tanna Gul?”
“No recognizable craft are on this trajectory.”
“What about the unrecognizable?”
“A large structure is traveling on this trajectory.”
“Cross-reference with the information transmitted from my other ship yesterday.”
“Cross-referencing.”
Jim waited.
“Completed. The structure matches the design parameters of an ark previously orbiting Tanna Jorr.”
“Good. Are there any other ships with it?”
“There are no detectable craft.”
“Are there any ships broadcasting the Gul fleet identifier?”
“Four transmissions detected within proximity to the ark.”
“When can we overtake them?”
“The ark will reach orbit of Tanna Gul in two hours.”
“Damn.”
“Please restate query.”
“Cancel query.”
Turning to the professor, Jim said, “They’ll have almost four hours to unload anyone on board. And there’s no guarantee they’ll be at the base I’ve been to.”
She sighed, turned to Loral, and said, “See what you can do.”
“Ma’am.” He nodded and moved into the seat next to the communications console.
“What are you up to?” asked Jim.
She replied, “We may be able to listen in on the Guls. We might find out more information.”
Loral said as he worked, “We had several teams analyzing their ship-to-ship communications during the attack. They are clever but underestimate us every time. I know the frequencies they’re most likely using. It’s just a matter of monitoring them all.”
“You can get the ship to do the sweeps for you,” Jim offered.
Loral turned his snout and looked at Jim from under a bushy eyebrow. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Good. I need to take a break. Let me know when something happens.”
They nodded, and Jim went into the small cabin that Tamric had used for prayer. He lay down on the small bed and passed out.