by Ryk Brown
“Then why have you waited until now to return?”
“We’ve been a little busy,” Nathan replied.
“Ah, yes…the Dusahn. Mister Sheehan’s memories were less exact on that topic.”
Jessica’s expression changed, becoming angry. “You used the Jung memory extractor on him?”
“We were careful not to probe too deeply,” Aleksi responded. “I assure you we did him no permanent harm.”
Jessica glared at him. “You’d better hope you’re right, for your sake.”
Aleksi turned his attention back to Nathan, paying little heed to Jessica’s threat. “How many people know that you are a clone?”
“Not that many,” Nathan replied.
“Then perhaps we can conceal that fact long enough to achieve our goals.”
“Galiardi is not going to give up control without some sort of proof. After all, just like everyone else, he saw me buried.”
“But if you are a clone, will not your DNA be a match?”
“Not exactly,” Nathan replied with a sigh. “The consciousness transfer device was designed for Nifelmian DNA, which is somewhat different than humans’ as a result of being altered incrementally over hundreds of generations of clones. The Nifelmian scientists who resurrected me altered my DNA as well, over four or five cloning cycles. So my DNA will show that I am a clone.”
“But if our laws do not explicitly denounce the rights of a clone…”
“It won’t work,” Jessica insisted, interrupting Aleksi.
“We don’t know that,” Aleksi argued.
“Oh yes, we do,” Jessica told him. “Think about it. His consciousness was copied the night before his execution, and Nifelm was under Jung rule for years and had only been liberated shortly before Nathan’s surrender. It won’t take long for Galiardi to insist that Nathan was resurrected by the Jung and sent to Earth to weaken support for the war against them. Hell, they even have memory extraction technology. It won’t be much of a leap for most people to believe they have the technology to create their own clone of Nathan.”
Aleksi nodded his agreement, staring at Jessica. “You have special operations training, yes?”
“Yes.”
Aleksi thought a moment. “Perhaps the evidence alone will do the trick. What can you provide?”
“Sensor logs from the Aurora show that several of the same ships that violated Sol Alliance space later fought in service of the Dusahn back in the Pentaurus sector,” Jessica offered.
“Might that not be interpreted as collusion between the Jung and the Dusahn?”
“We can also show that the Dusahn are the ones who invaded the Pentaurus sector and that Galiardi knew it was the Dusahn and not the Jung.”
Aleksi looked unconvinced.
“There is one other point that you are both overlooking,” Nathan mentioned. “If the Jung and the Dusahn were working together against the Sol Alliance, why has Galiardi been able to continue attacking Jung assets with impunity? If the Jung and the Dusahn were working together, or if they were one and the same, wouldn’t the Jung have jump drives as well? And if they did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The Earth would have been destroyed months ago. After all, the Jung Empire still has a considerable fleet. If they had jump drive technology, they would have been able to plow right through the Sol Alliance defenses.”
“He’s right,” Jessica agreed.
“Perhaps,” Aleksi said. “However, it would be better if we could offer an heir-to-office. That would seal Galiardi’s fate.”
Jessica looked at Nathan.
“There is something else?” Aleksi asked, noticing the knowing glance exchanged between them.
“No,” Nathan stated firmly.
“Nathan…” Jessica urged.
Nathan gave her a stern look.
“It’s the only way, and you know it,” Jessica insisted. “Besides, you know what she’d say.”
“What who would say?” Aleksi wondered, confused.
Nathan sighed, turning back to Aleksi. “My sister Miri is alive.”
Aleksi smiled. “Then there is hope after all.”
* * *
Waiting had never been Cameron’s strong suit, and pacing was a habit she had never been able to break. It helped her think, burn nervous energy, and maintain her focus.
“One minute,” Kaylah reported from the Aurora’s sensor station.
Cameron stopped pacing a moment. “Hold fire until we confirm that the drones are, in fact, weapons.”
“Aye, sir,” Lieutenant Yuati acknowledged. “However, does it matter at this point?”
“Probably not,” Cameron agreed, returning to her pacing. “But I prefer to know what I’m shooting at.”
“Weapons are fully charged and ready. Awaiting your orders to fire.”
“Twenty seconds.”
Cameron returned to her command chair, standing beside it as she faced forward again. They were about to see for themselves precisely what the Dusahn had sent to SilTek. While a small part of her hoped for the best, she was certain that the drones were weapons.
Four small jump flashes appeared on the semi-spherical main view screen, directly ahead and slightly above their flight path.
“Four contacts,” Kaylah reported. “Scanning.”
“Shall I lock weapons on the targets?” Lieutenant Yuati inquired from the tactical console.
“Not yet,” Cameron replied.
“Lieutenant Parsa was right,” Kaylah realized as she studied her sensor displays. “They’re definitely modified Takaran jump comm-drones. It looks like they clustered four complete drones together and added a central control unit tucked into the space between their noses.”
“What about the mass in front?” Cameron asked.
“It’s pretty big, nearly the diameter of the cluster of drones itself,” Kaylah continued. “Some kind of shielding; I’m having a hard time penetrating it with our sensors.”
“The drones are closing fast,” the tactical officer warned. “At their current speed, they will reach us in two minutes.”
“Collision risk?” Cameron asked.
“Unless they change course, they will pass over us with about five hundred meters of separation. However, if we do not fire soon, our chances of hitting them will decrease significantly.”
Cameron took her seat as she considered the situation. If, as she suspected, the drones were weapons, this could be their best opportunity to neutralize them. However, if they were just communications drones, she could be escalating things with the Dusahn.
She immediately dismissed her concerns over escalation, as it seemed impossible to escalate beyond the destruction of entire worlds for the sake of example, something the Dusahn had done on multiple occasions.
“Lieutenant Yuati,” Cameron called. “Lock all weapons on the drones and prepare to fire.”
“Locking forward plasma cannons and point-defenses on the drones,” the tactical officer acknowledged as he prepared to fire.
“I’m adjusting sensors to try to penetrate the shielding,” Kaylah reported.
“Weapons are locked on targets,” Lieutenant Yuati reported. “Ninety seconds until they pass over us.”
“Captain!” Kaylah interrupted urgently. “I’m picking up traces of antimatter from within the shielded forward mass. A lot of it! Targets are raising shields.”
“Weapons free! Fire at will!” Cameron ordered without hesitation.
“Firing all weapons!” the lieutenant replied.
Flashes of reddish-orange filled the bridge as bolts of plasma energy streaked away on either side of the view screen.
“Targets are changing course!” Kaylah reported. “They’re spreading out!”
“Keep firing,” Cameron urged.
“Energy spikes!” Kaylah warned. “All four! They
’re armed!”
Four yellow bolts of energy lashed out at the Aurora’s forward shields, causing them to flash brilliantly with each impact.
“What the hell?” Cameron exclaimed as the Aurora shook more violently than expected with each impact.
“Some sort of energy weapons,” Kaylah reported. “Similar to the ones on the Dusahn octos, but far more powerful.”
“Why didn’t we detect any weapons?” Cameron demanded.
“Their cannons were embedded in the nose of the forward shielded mass,” Kaylah replied. “They only became detectable when they deployed to fire.”
“Nice trick.”
“That means they will not be able to defend against an attack from astern,” Lieutenant Yuati opined.
“Keep pounding them, Lieutenant,” Cameron instructed. “Helm, prepare to come about as they pass,” she added as the ship rocked from the weapons impacts against their forward shields. “Kaylah, are you detecting any weapons in their stern?”
“Impossible to tell,” Kaylah replied. “Their reactors are interfering with my scans, especially from this angle.”
“Our weapons are not getting through their shields,” Lieutenant Yuati announced.
“I’m detecting only a ten-percent drop in the targets’ shield strength!” Kaylah added.
“Thirty seconds until they pass over us,” the lieutenant reported.
“Keep your weapons on the targets as we turn,” Cameron instructed. “Helm, come about now.”
“Coming about, aye,” Ensign Tala replied from the helm.
“Tracking through the turn,” the tactical officer acknowledged.
The drones filled the main view screen, spreading out and continuing to fire as they passed overhead.
“Targets have passed over us and are spreading out further,” Kaylah reported as the violent shaking from the weapons impacts ceased.
“Concentrate fire on the nearest drone!” Cameron ordered.
“Targets are turning to different vectors!” Kaylah warned.
“Stay with the middle target, Ensign Tala-,” Cameron instructed.
“Targets are jumping!”
Four flashes of light appeared across the view screen, just as the Aurora finished her turn.
“Targets are gone,” Lieutenant Yuati reported.
“Based on their new trajectories at jump, I’d bet they’re splitting up and taking different routes to SilTek,” Kaylah suggested.
“Damn it,” Cameron cursed to herself. “Comms, contact the Falcon and tell them to go after the missile on the most direct heading for SilTek. We’ll go after the others.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Captain,” the ship’s AI called over the intercom speakers. “If I may offer an observation?”
Cameron did not care much for talking with the Aurora’s AI. Its voice was so similar to her own that it made her feel as if she were talking to herself. “Yes, Aurora?”
“The tactics employed by the targets strongly support your belief that Dusahn artificial intelligence is being used. I have studied all intelligence on the Dusahn AI capabilities. I believe that I can anticipate their tactics more reliably than any human. No insult intended.”
“None taken,” Cameron replied. “Recommendations?”
“While I believe that I can assist in locating the missiles, I am but one ship.”
“The Nighthawks,” Cameron said, realizing where their AI was going.
“Correct. Their AIs would be able to do the same. Also, they can carry the miniaturized version of the shield-penetrating jump missiles. Once the targets’ shields have been disabled, the Nighthawks should be able to destroy the missiles before they reach SilTek.”
“But they can’t get here fast enough,” Cameron surmised. “Helm, jump us back to Corinair ASAP.”
“Setting course for Corinair,” Ensign Tala replied.
The navigator turned to face his captain. “Sir, jumping back to Corinair and then back here again will take us below minimum jump reserves.”
“Will we have enough to get back to SilTek?” Cameron asked.
“Yes, sir,” Ensign Dorsay replied, “but it will be four hours until we’re able to jump back to any alliance world.”
“All other worlds will be defenseless until then,” Lieutenant Yuati added, concerned.
“Not defenseless,” Cameron corrected, “just not as well defended. Unfortunately, we’re out of options.” She tapped her comm-set. “Engineering, Captain. Run all reactors at one hundred and twenty percent, and channel all available power to recharging the jump drive.”
“Parsa here. Understood.”
“Drop shields and shut down all weapons,” Cameron instructed her tactical officer. “I want all available power going to the jump cells.”
“Dropping shields and shutting down all weapons,” Lieutenant Yuati acknowledged.
“Jump to Corinair plotted and ready, Captain,” Ensign Dorsay reported. “If we took a few minutes to further accelerate before jumping, we could lessen the drain on our jump cells.”
“A few minutes could be the difference between life and death for the people of SilTek,” Cameron told him. “Jump us back, Ensign. Comms, scramble all Nighthawks the moment we come out of the jump. I want them on our decks as quickly as possible. And tell the deck boss to be ready to load them with mini-shield busters.”
* * *
Nathan and the away team hiked up the Voss’s aft cargo ramp with Loki, Aleksi, and several of his men in tow. Marcus and Dylan were there to greet them, their mouths dropping open in surprise.
“Holy crap,” Marcus said, spotting Loki.
“Oh my God,” Dylan added in disbelief.
Loki came up the ramp, smiling as he received handshakes from Mori and Jokay.
Marcus threw his burly arms around Loki, hugging him with all his might. “Josh is going to be so happy to see you.”
“Josh is going to be happy?” Dylan exclaimed. “Hell, I’m happy! Now I don’t have to be his copilot!” Dylan shook Loki’s hand as soon as Marcus released him. “Honestly, I don’t know how you put up with him.”
“It takes practice,” Loki laughed.
“Josh!” Marcus yelled over the intercom. “Get your skinny ass down here pronto!”
“I’m busy!” Josh objected over the intercom speakers.
“Get down here NOW!” Marcus barked.
“As soon as I finish eating!”
Loki smiled, happy to hear father and son bickering again. “I’ll go surprise him,” he told Marcus, heading forward.
“This is Aleksi Rusayev,” Nathan introduced. “Aleksi, this is everyone.”
“A pleasure,” Aleksi replied, nodding respectfully.
“You can cut our prisoners loose,” Nathan instructed the Ghatazhak. “Dylan, we brought back the data core from Loki’s P-Seventy-Two. Can you access its flight logs?”
“Sure,” Dylan replied, taking the satchel offered to him by one of Aleksi’s men. “I’ll just plug it into…” Dylan stopped, pulling the damaged unit from the bag. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Top priority,” Nathan urged.
“Yes, sir.”
Aleksi watched Dylan depart. “He is just a boy,” he said to Nathan under his breath.
“A very smart boy from a very advanced world,” Nathan explained.
The first of the freed prisoners came up to Aleksi, his head hung in shame. “Please forgive us, Aleksi…”
Aleksi placed his hands on the man’s shoulders. “You were bested by Ghatazhak, Pyotr. There is no shame in this.”
Mori and Jokay exchanged knowing glances.
“Marcus, can you pull one of our comm-drones and program it to jump between this cavern and the relay station?”
“Sure, but how the hell do you pla
n on launching and recovering it?” Marcus wondered.
“I’m sure we can construct a launch track of some sort,” Aleksi assured them. “As for recovery…”
“If we program the comm-drone to travel at only a few meters per second, we could snag it with a recovery net,” Vladimir suggested. “We could string it across the mouth of the cave, connected to four tracks with some sort of a deceleration system.”
“Just make sure you keep the net down unless you’re conducting a comm-relay,” Nathan instructed. “Just in case we need to return unannounced.”
“I will see to it,” Aleksi assured him. “How long until we hear from you again?”
Nathan thought for a second. “As soon as we’re off, I’m sending the intelligence you provided to General Telles of the Ghatazhak for analysis. Meanwhile, I will talk with Miri. I should have an update for you in a few days. Just make sure you have that recovery net ready.”
“It will be ready,” Aleksi assured him. “And we will keep the cavern well guarded at all times, to ensure your ability to return at will.”
“Thank you,” Nathan replied. “Regardless of how we proceed, knowing that we have a safe way to get to and from Earth will be invaluable.”
“Come, Lyoha,” Vladimir said, patting his old friend on the back. “We will discuss your launch and recovery systems before we go.”
Nathan watched as Vladimir, Aleksi, his men, and the freed prisoners headed down the ramp into the cavern.
Mori stepped over closer to Nathan. “Are you sure we can trust this guy?”
“Vladimir does,” Nathan replied.
“Is that enough?”
Josh’s joyous voice suddenly came across the intercom speakers. “I told you he was alive!”
Nathan smiled. “And he did bring Loki back to us.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cameron continued to pace, repeatedly passing between her command chair and the Aurora’s helm. It wasn’t a fast pace, but rather a slow, thoughtful stroll, as if she was contemplating all options.
The funny thing was that she had not always been this way. She had, in fact, paced on occasion, but not as frequently as in recent weeks. It made her wonder if she were losing her edge. She had commanded the Aurora for seven years, but that had been during peacetime. The only stress she experienced back then was either simulated or political.