Judgment of the Bold

by Jamie McFarlane

  "Frak, darn it," I said. I hadn't gotten to know the man very well, but I hated that he'd died on a mission I sent him on. It was a tough universe and we were getting chewed up by it. We desperately needed to find equilibrium, which could only be gained from a position of power.

  "That's not the only thing," Nick said.

  Someone had turned the lights back on in the flight deck and the glow indicated the pressure barrier was once again up. Nick was standing a couple of meters inside, waiting for my arrival.

  "What's that?" I asked, setting down in front of him.

  "Our sensors picked up an inbound ship. It's coming from the same direction from which Intrepid left the system," he said.

  "A Kroerak ship?" I asked, my heart firing in my chest. While I hadn't been overly concerned about breaching the Procyon freighter, the thought of an imminent battle with Kroerak definitely got my attention.

  "You'll never believe it. It's Fleet Afoot," Nick said. "Munay's back and he's moving at top speed."

  Chapter 13

  Always Spiders

  Mendari System, Intrepid

  "Tabby, put in a course for the moon of that fifth planet. Someone is trying to talk to us," Ada said.

  "Fourth planet is what I saw," Tabby answered. "We should go there first."

  Ada bit off her first response before saying something that would be difficult to walk back. There'd been a subtle battle of wills on the bridge for most of the trip. She had to decide if this moment was the time to address it.

  "First things first," Ada answered. "The most compelling feature in the system right now is the comm signal from that moon. After we figure out what’s happening there, we'll check out the planet. You've seen the sensor analysis. No species could live through the radiation we're picking up, not for very long anyway."

  "You're the captain," Tabby responded, annoyed.

  Ada quietly checked off agreement to the navigation plan Tabby entered. "Schedule-C burn plan, on your mark," Ada answered. They'd been conserving fuel for most of the trip as they had no idea where they'd end up. With a target in sight, she was willing to upgrade from the slower, fuel-conservative schedule they'd been executing.

  "Let's do this," Tabby said. "All hands, prepare for hard-burn in ten … nine …"

  "Thank you, Tabby," Ada said.

  "Are you going to be on the bridge for a while?" Tabby asked, turning so she faced Ada.

  "Sure. What's up?"

  "Mind if I go work out? Doesn't look like we've got much going on."

  Ada nodded. "Of course. I've got this."

  "Captain, there is a possibility you might consider. We could reply to the communication signal on this moon," Jonathan said.

  "Silent running, Jonathan," Ada answered. "I'm not about to give anyone a ten-day to prepare for our arrival - friend or foe."

  "Captain, the moon has a light atmosphere, breathable with assistance from standard vac-suits," Jonathan said moments after exiting hard-burn only thirty-thousand kilometers from the moon. "We are detecting a complex series of structures at this location."

  A red X flashed on the surface map on Ada's holo projection. As was common, the vid showed the moon and planet together with their current relationship to Intrepid. Recognizing Ada's focus, the AI magnified the location of the red X. The planet disappeared from view and the terrain of the moon grew more distinguishable, clouded by significant pockets of vapor. The AI identified the material as mostly water, but with toxic levels of chlorine and sulfur.

  Ada saw nothing but rocks at first, but as the thick clouds moved through, she could just make out the unnatural square edges of a heavily-rusted building. "How many buildings?"

  "It is difficult to count as it appears the structures are interconnected and built into the surrounding landmass," Jonathan answered. "If we make a few assumptions, that one third is visible and that the species responsible for their construction to be roughly human sized, we estimate the structures would support a population between eight hundred and four thousand."

  "That's quite a range," Sendrei said. "Are you sure you can't dial that in a bit?"

  Ada smiled to herself. One of the things she’d most enjoyed about this mission was getting to know the crew. Sendrei, though generally quiet, wasn’t without humor and seemed to enjoy needling Jonathan about statements that appeared to be guesses. Even more interesting was that Jonathan understood the interaction and seemed to enjoy it.

  "Variation is appropriate, even after we eliminated many life forms who would not conform to the structures below. Certainly, you must admit that not every species is willing to shed its clothing and live in a tunnel structure. Species such as the North American gray wolf need a much larger territory. They will defend several hundred kilometers for an average pack size of eight to ten. At the other end of the spectrum, a colony of red ants contains millions and occupies less than a square kilometer," Jonathan defended.

  "Mr. Garcia, would you call Ms. Masters to the bridge?" Ada asked. She felt a twinge of guilt at pushing the young pilot from the helm. If Intrepid were to run into trouble, she needed Tabby's experience at the helm.

  "I'm here. Sorry I'm late," Tabby said, entering the bridge before Garcia made the call.

  "Just in time," Ada answered, more cheerily than she felt. Tabby had been pushing her buttons, but she didn’t want it to show.

  "What's the play?" Tabby asked.

  "Jonathan, have you made further progress in deciphering the signal that's being transmitted?" Ada asked.

  "We are not sure that it is progress, but the precision of the message is such that it appears to be completely machine generated," he answered.

  "And the destination of the message?"

  "We are eighty-five percent confident it is intended for the entrance to the wormhole," he said. "As we have sailed directly toward its source, it is possible the message is more broadly aimed, but our best analysis suggests the tighter focus."

  "Machine generated, focused at the wormhole, and repeating for who knows how long," Ada said. "That's not a lot of information."

  "If Jonathan can't break the code, we're talking about a high level of sophistication," Sendrei said. "We're dealing with something fairly advanced. I think that's as important as anything."

  "Jonathan, attempt to hail the inhabitants of the moon," Ada said. "Keep it tight to the source of the transmission, though. We don't need to overly broadcast our location."

  "Aye, aye, Captain." Jonathan barely paused before turning back to Ada. "We've made some sort of contact. The message has changed. It appears to be some sort of security prompt."

  "I'm getting power readings on the surface," Tabby said. "Something's awake down there."

  "Intrepid is being painted by a target-locking computer," Sendrei said.

  "Moving to orthogonal orientation," Tabby said, swinging Intrepid's aft over so the bow pointed directly at the threat coming from the moon's surface. In that Intrepid was long and thin, Tabby’s movement would provide the smallest target and guarantee the greatest benefit from its stealth armor.

  "Good," Ada answered. "Although I had to look up orthogonal."

  "That did it. Their locks didn't hold, but they're still searching for us," Sendrei said. "Five land-based cannons have emerged from the structure below. We could be in trouble if they lock on. I'm not sure what those things are firing, but they sure are big."

  "Easier to dodge," Tabby answered. "Maybe we should go in fast and close."

  "Not yet. Jonathan, what's all that communication?" Ada asked.

  Still indecipherable, the transmissions from the moon's surface had exploded in volume.

  "I believe that was exactly what we needed," Jonathan answered. "Previously, we lacked sufficient sampling to decipher the alien communications. The message is clear. We are to present security credentials or we will be fired upon."

  "If we wanted to, could you form a response in their language?" Ada asked.

  "Yes, but that may not be necessary
. There is a flaw in their security protocols," Jonathan said. "We requested permission to reply with manufactured credentials."

  "Tabby, prepare to make a break for it," Ada said. "If this fails, they're going to have a good lock on our location."

  "Up or down? We could probably strafe those cannons. I bet they're nowhere near as fast as we are," Tabby said.

  "Let's keep confrontation at the bottom of our list," Ada said. "There'll be plenty of time for that if we're unsuccessful."

  "Copy that. Up it is," Tabby answered.

  "Send those credentials, Jonathan," Ada said.

  "Message is sent," he answered.

  The response was nearly instantaneous. The aggressive targeting computers and more than half of the communication signals from the surface immediately ceased. In their place, a single message appeared. Jonathan's new translation algorithm presented an invitation to land.

  "Sendrei, Tabby, this could get dicey," Ada said. "If we're attacked, you're to respond aggressively, but measured. Primary goal is survival of this ship."

  "Aye, aye, Captain," Sendrei answered.

  "Finally off the leash," Tabby said. "Roger that. We're headed in."

  Under Tabby's direction, Intrepid lunged forward into the light atmosphere.

  "Jonathan’s communique appears to be working," Sendrei said. "Cannons are retracting."

  "Tabby, what can you tell us about this species?" Ada asked.

  "The people I saw in the Iskstar vision were humanoid," Tabby answered. "Very heavy brows, kind of had a Neanderthal look to them. They were at war. Everyone I saw was wearing some sort of a uniform, like they were all part of an army. Two different sides were fighting each other. I didn't see much past when the Kroerak showed up. Neither side would stop fighting the other, even as the invasion started."

  "Jonathan, is this consistent with what you're finding?" Ada asked.

  "There is little to go by in the communications," Jonathan answered. "The style of the buildings and the hostile response to our appearance do line up with Tabitha's description."

  "They barely had space travel," Tabby continued as she pushed Intrepid toward the structure indicated by the message. "All of their space assets were used to shoot down other space assets. They didn't have any sort of fleet to meet the Kroerak. It was a slaughter."

  "So, you don't think this civilization is the one you saw?" Ada wasn’t as convinced as Tabby was about the accuracy of the dreams.

  "No idea," Tabby answered. "Technologically, the humanoids in my dream were pretty advanced. I saw drone, electronic, robotic, conventional and every other type of warfare you could think of. If you're asking if I think they were advanced enough to send someone to this moon? Yes."

  "A civilization bent on the conquest of its neighbors would have difficulty colonizing orbital space. The environment would be too fragile and open to attack," Jonathan said. "This moon, however, might have provided a sufficient platform for one of the warring nations to survive. It would hold little strategic advantage, however."

  "Only so much we can guess," Ada said as Tabby slowly sailed over the thick, steel structures that had suffered greatly in the moon's caustic atmosphere.

  "Want me to set her down?" Tabby asked.

  "Yes. Tabby, Sendrei, Jonathan, you're with me. We're going to have a look around. Jose, you have the helm," Ada ordered.

  "Aye, Captain, I have the helm," Garcia answered sharply.

  "Request permission to bring Clingman and Brockette," Sendrei said. "If this group is all fight, I'd like to have my boys along. I'd feel better if you'd let us go in first."

  "Decision is yours. You have tactical command while on the ground," Ada said.

  "Understood," Sendrei answered. It was the strategy they'd discussed, and he appreciated her willingness to abide by it. "Tabby, I want you on the old lady. We'll keep Jonathan with us."

  "Copy," Tabby answered, accepting a heavy blaster rifle from Sendrei as he pulled equipment from the armory.

  "Old lady?" Ada asked. "I'm younger than the both of you."

  "Term of endearment," Tabby chuckled and slapped Ada on the butt, handing her a rarely-worn helmet that went with the grav-suits they both wore.

  "Careful," Ada warned, not appreciating the overtly familiar gesture in front of the crew.

  "Almost never," Tabby answered with a defiant glint in her eyes. She turned aft and made for the cargo bay that would give quick access to the moon's surface.

  "Give us a ten count, then follow." Sendrei palmed the security panel that opened the cargo bay door. The atmospheric pressure of the moon varied considerably from that of the ship, so the pressure barrier automatically deployed.

  "Looking sharp, boys," Tabby said, taking in the trio who were all wearing the tight, but bulky armored vac-suits that left little to the imagination. Sendrei and the two Marines were heavily muscled and all business as they waited for the hatch to clear.

  "Move out." Sendrei was the first to jump from the lip of the cargo bay, followed closely by Jonathan’s armored egg and the Marines. The three men were in free fall for ten meters before lighting their AGBs (arc-jet gloves and boots) and landing in the low gravity, rocky environment.

  A cold wind carrying ice crystals blew across Ada's faceplate as she followed Tabby, who'd jumped only a few seconds behind Sendrei's group. She couldn’t help but respond irrationally to the wintry scene, and dialed up her grav-suit's heater, knowing full well that the suit maintained a consistent temperature without her intervention. With Tabby only slightly in the lead, the two jogged across to the heavily-pitted, red-orange face of the steel building that loomed ahead.

  "Go!" Sendrei urged. The three men surged through the doorway, leap-frogging around each other as they momentarily held defensive positions, then sprinted ahead, leaving only one on the move at any given moment.

  "So chivalrous," Tabby quipped as they passed through a doorway three meters tall and two meters wide. "I sure hope this entry was built for show and that our hosts aren't actually this big."

  The thirty-meter-long hallway they entered ran across the front of the building. The last of Sendrei's team was just disappearing around the corner.

  "Ada, we're secure, but you're going to want to see this," Sendrei called before she and Tabby reached the end of the hallway.

  "Sounds like something got interesting," Tabby said, picking up the pace enough that Ada had to lift and propel with her grav-suit.

  They found Sendrei, Clingman, and Brockette standing equidistant apart facing outward with guns half-raised, surrounding a large computer console.

  Even without looking up, Ada sensed that the room soared above her. In front of the console, in the middle of the three, Jonathan hovered, no longer projecting its human visage.

  "That's about as creepy as it gets," Tabby said, lifting her gun so it pointed up at forty-five degrees. Like the others, she didn’t shoulder the weapon.

  Everyone was staring past the console where the room stretched back farther than she could see. A sense of dread filled Ada as she realized the walls were lined with rectangular steel boxes, roughly the dimensions of a large person. What looked like rows of dim lights was actually the glow from small windows near the top of each box. Backlit in each frosted green glass window was a head-shaped outline. Turning to take it all in, Ada realized that every wall was entirely lined with the boxes and the room continued deep into the earth, soaring above them for at least forty meters.

  A repeating series of five long whistles pealed through the room. Thin beams of green light formed a grid on the floor, a meter long and the width of the floor. The grid swept forward at high speed and as it encountered Intrepid's crew, it split off and inspected each person in turn. When the lights reached Tabby, the grid paused on her face plate, slowing scanning her eye sockets. The whistles changed to a klaxon.

  "Frak, that's not good," Tabby said, turning slowly, catching movement in her peripheral vision.

  Ada followed Tabby's gaze and d
iscovered a bank of boxes that numbered in the low hundreds. They were a different size from the others, measuring three meters on each side. Three of the cubes now had blinking lights atop them, strobing in sequence with the klaxon alarm.

  "Ada, we might want to clear out," Sendrei said nervously. "I don't like the look of this."

  "Jonathan, are you getting anything on that console? Can you stop whatever's happening here?" Ada asked.

  "We have limited control over the console. Apparently, Tabby's presence triggered a security algorithm. We are attempting to gain access and shut it down. Also, we've discovered lessor secured data stores and are transferring them," he said.

  "How long do you need?" Ada asked.

  "The systems are antiquated," he answered. "The transfer speed is limited."

  "Have you found anything useful?" she asked.

  "Are you serious?" Tabby asked. "Maybe we could have this conversation on Intrepid? From the looks of things, we're about to have company."

  "There is much history here," Jonathan said. "We have discovered a reference to Iskstar."

  Ada watched in awe as steel panels fell away from the blinking cubes and clattered to the floor so loudly her AI had to cut off the external feed and deaden sound with a cancelling wave.

  "Ada? Seriously, I think it's time to go," Tabby said, uncharacteristically backing up as the contents of the cubical crates became exposed. Inside each box, a heavily armored spider, complete with eight metallic legs, fidgeted as if discovering a long-forgotten freedom. Atop the spider's body, a man's torso had been inelegantly joined.

  "Jonathan?" Ada called, her heart pounding in her chest so much that her voice quavered. "We're running out of time."

  "A retreat is critical," Jonathan said. "Please exit with all haste."

  The next sound they heard was twenty-four metal claws hitting the ground all at the same time as the spider-men jumped from their positions on the wall.

  "Smeglofy!" the deep voice of one of the creatures bellowed. As if in response to his exclamation, the lights of the remaining hundred or so cubes blinked in response. While Ada nor the rest of the crew had any idea what was actually said, the being's intent was quite clear.