Modulus Echo

by Toby Neighbors

  “Get down to the bridge, Kim,” Pershing said. “Right now!”

  The pilot gave the queen one last baleful glance, then turned and left the observation platform. The other members of the royal family were coming out of the passenger cabins to see what was happening. Duke Simeon was in the galley, washing a mug and trying not to laugh.

  “What is happening?” Pershing asked.

  “That vile girl was casting aspersions on me,” Queen Ultane said. “I’ll not have it. I want her imprisoned the moment we return to port.”

  “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but that isn’t going to happen,” General Pershing said. “Don’t you realize what is going on here? We’re at war.”

  “Don’t you start with me, General, or you’ll be sent to the lowest outpost in the Imperium.”

  “The pilot was right,” Duke Simeon said. “You are clueless.”

  “Shut your mouth, Simeon.”

  “I will not,” he snapped back. “I’m not a child, nor am I under your authority. I will be the next king of the Imperium, and until my coronation, I suggest you tread very carefully if you don’t want to find yourself exiled from the family.”

  The look on the queen’s face was so terrible that Pershing actually took a step back. She thought the queen was going to launch herself at her nephew, but instead she sat down on the bench seat of the dining table that took up the center of the observation deck.

  “What has happened?” Queen Ultane asked. “How is it that you all think you can speak to me however you wish?”

  “Wake up and realize that everything has changed,” Duke Simeon told her, his tone softening. He even poured her drink of a strong liquor he had found in the galley. “The king is gone, your son is gone, and like it or not, most of the royal fleet is gone.”

  “He’s right,” Pershing said. “We’re at war, Your Majesty. War with a race of intelligent beings we know nothing about when we are at our weakest. Right now, the human race, not just the Royal Imperium, but all of us, even rebels, have to pull together and face the real threat.”

  “What are you saying?” Queen Ultane asked. “That we seek help from the Confederacy?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” Pershing said. “We may not like it, but the Fleet is less than half its normal strength. And I would bet everything I own that the commanders of most of our remaining capital ships are scrambling to control the systems where they’re stationed. Some will remain loyal, but others will see the destruction of the Fleet and our headquarters in the Celeste system as an opportunity to enrich themselves.”

  “You can’t be serious,” the queen said in a shaky voice.

  “I am serious,” Pershing continued. “And worse still, if we don’t act quickly to retake the Celeste system, thousands of alien ships could come pouring through the wormhole. If they’re left unchecked, the aliens will not only take root in our galaxy, they might succeed in taking it over.”

  “We have to stop them,” Duke Simeon said.

  “Y-y-yes,” the queen stammered. “How do we do that?”

  “First, we have to gather our forces,” Pershing said. “Once we’re in the Yelsin system, the three of us should send a message to all Royal Imperium forces. They must join us in the Yelsin system to make a unified assault on the alien ships in the Celeste system.”

  “Alright,” Queen Ultane said. “We can do that.”

  “And we must reach out to the leaders of the Confederacy,” Pershing added. “We’ll offer them amnesty in exchange for their help.”

  “Is that really necessary?” Duke Simeon said. “If we do that, we’ll lose control of thirty or forty systems.”

  “We’ve already lost them,” Pershing said. “The entire Imperium is fractured. We’ll have to take them back, piece by piece, starting with the Celeste system. And I’ve seen the footage from the surveillance buoy, Your Majesty. The aliens are already on the ground. We’ll need troops to get them off your home world. More than we have left in the Royal Imperium Army, that’s why we need the rebels.”

  “I can’t fathom working with our enemies,” the queen said.

  Pershing found that idea laughable since the queen hadn’t done any actual work in her life. But the general kept that thought to herself.

  “For now, we must do all that we can,” Pershing said. “And accept that things have changed.”

  “I’ll make the call with you,” Duke Simeon said. “I’m sure there are still officers loyal to the royal family out there.”

  “Yes,” Queen Ultane agreed. “I will as well. In fact, I’ll name you acting admiral general. You’ll have full authority to command the Royal Imperium military.”

  “Thank you,” General Pershing said, feeling a sense of satisfaction. Her destiny was finally coming to fruition. “But I need more. I need you to come with me when I meet the rebels.”

  Chapter 36

  The prisoners were moved from the transport outside. It was the first time Major Luc Le Croix had ever set foot on Gershwin. Of all the planets he’d visited, none had such clear blue skies and soft green grasses. The transport had set down near a massive, ugly spaceship. In the brilliant light of Celeste’s yellow sun, Le Croix could see the rough welds and strange additions to the ship. It was a massive vessel, but it hadn’t started out that way, and none of the additions seemed to follow any sort of plan. It was as if the ship had been cobbled together from other craft of various designs.

  Le Croix made note of everything he saw as he was forced across the clearing between the landing craft and the larger alien ship. His captors had returned his prosthetic leg but kept their strange leashes around his neck. There were dozens of the strange-looking aliens, most with long headdresses and many with what looked like mechanical limbs. Each had metallic nodes protruding from their spines. Le Croix had no idea what the additions were, but they were clearly added to the aliens through some sort of surgical process. Their prosthetic limbs, the nodes on their backs, and maybe even the headdresses were not organic. Yet their bodies had bonded to the metal, making the aliens some sort of hybrid creatures. They weren’t androids, but they weren’t completely natural organisms either.

  Le Croix saw workers with their spider limbs moving among the trees. Some seemed to be testing the soil and the water of a nearby stream. Others were studying the wood of the trees and even the leaves. Le Croix could tell the big spaceship was being used as a base of sorts, and the aliens were settling in, exploring the rich, vibrant world. Most telling of all was the lack of breathing apparatus. He made a mental note that the aliens breathed a similar atmosphere as humans.

  Le Croix and the Crown Prince Godfred were led across the open ground between the two ships and then onto the larger alien vessel. It was dark inside the ship, with dim running lights built into the walls near the floor. It was enough light to see one’s way, but not enough to illuminate the corridors comfortably. Le Croix guessed it was as much about saving power as anything else.

  The alien captors grunted and barked at Le Croix and Godfred, then shoved the crown prince into a room. Le Croix wanted to fight back, but he knew it wasn’t the right time.

  “Wait, don’t,” Godfred said as the powerful alien shoved him into a small room.

  Le Croix could see that it was a cell similar to the one he’d been locked up in on the first alien ship. Only, instead of an exam table, there was a narrow bunk on one wall. Le Croix wanted to stay with the prince, but he knew the aliens would never allow it. They didn’t even want the two humans talking to each other. And fighting them to stay together was useless as well. Better to save his strength for a real opportunity to help the prince or escape.

  “Major, please,” Godfred whined. “Help me.”

  “Don’t fight it,” Le Croix said, earning himself a yank from his captor. The leash around his neck tightened until he choked.

  The crown prince, heir to the throne of the entire Royal Imperium, could be heard weeping as the door slid shut. Le Croix was both disg
usted and sympathetic to the prince. Captivity was difficult under any circumstances, but being a prisoner of war to an alien race was not only frightening but also incredibly hard on one’s sense of hope. There didn’t seem to be any conceivable way to escape. The only spark of hope left was the fact that they were still in the Celeste system. Le Croix couldn’t be sure of that fact, but it seemed likely with the aliens testing everything about the planet. He told himself they were still within reach of his brothers and sisters of the Spec Ops community. And he busied his mind planning how they might infiltrate the alien camp and rescue him.

  His captor growled at him as a door opened. The alien didn’t have to push Le Croix, he willingly walked into the holding cell. But the alien pushed him from behind and simultaneously released the leash from around his neck. It fell away as he stumbled toward the far wall. The door shut behind him before he could even turn around.

  Silence in the tiny room was the first thing that Le Croix noticed. There was no sound at all, no noises from the outside, even though he was certain the holding cell was on the outer portion of the ship. They had barely gone into the giant vessel to reach the holding cells, yet the walls were soundproof. There was a small bucket-shaped receptacle for waste built into the corner, and the bunk was nothing more than a metal platform. There was no mattress or blanket. Le Croix’s second observation was the fact that the holding cell had been used before. It smelled bad. There were stains and scratches on the floor and walls. The cell reminded Le Croix more of an animal pen than a holding cell. It told him that the aliens were accustomed to taking prisoners, or at the very least, abducting and studying other species.

  He sat down on the bench of his small cell and went over what he had learned. They knew the aliens valued technology, and it seemed to Le Croix that it was for personal use, not just study. Their ships were built for capturing other vessels, and they had holding cells for captives. Even their tools seemed to be custom-made for controlling people, Le Croix thought as he rubbed his neck where the leash had dug into his skin.

  They not only used tech to expand their ships, it was likely they used the materials to upgrade their bodies. Le Croix didn’t know if that was technology or biology. He had no way of knowing whether that was something the aliens did naturally or something they had learned from their travels and conquests. But it seemed to explain their take first attitude. The major was certain that if the aliens hadn’t attacked, his people would have reached out in an attempt to begin a dialog, not merely jump straight to warfare.

  There was no way to know how many alien ships were in the system, or how many had landed on Gershwin. But from Le Croix’s limited knowledge, a rescue attempt seemed very possible. A Special Operations team could land on the planet, hike into the alien settlement, create a diversion, and mount a rescue. The aliens seemed to be warlike, but they didn’t carry firearms. His commandos could take out the aliens from a safe distance and with little to no risk to themselves. But that seemed too easy, and just because he hadn’t seen firearms didn’t mean they didn’t have or use them. Perhaps they just eschewed projectile weapons on board their ships? Yet he had seen the alien craft pursing the Modulus Echo and it hadn’t used conventional weapons. That fact, along with the weapons carried by the aliens he had encountered, seemed to suggest that they saw warfare differently than humans.

  It was a weakness they could exploit, but only if they knew it. He needed more information about the aliens, and he needed a way to escape. His mind worked the problem while he rested his body. The truth was, until the aliens came for him, he was trapped in the holding cell. There was nothing he could do but wait.

  Chapter 37

  Ben felt the stretch that heralded their return to ordinary space. The glowing fog on the display disappeared and returned to distant points of light. There was even a beautiful nebula within view, a rainbow-colored mass of stars and space debris.

  “Alright,” General Pershing said. “We’re going to take care of some business before we make our next jump. Kim, move us away from this trajectory.”

  “No sweat,” Kim said.

  “Ben, stand by to deploy the surveillance buoy,” Pershing ordered.

  “My hand is on the button,” he replied. “Just say the word.”

  “Why are we leaving the buoy here?” Duke Simeon asked. The queen was still on the upper deck, but the duke had come down and hovered behind the general at the navigation console.

  “To study the aliens if they follow us,” Pershing explained. “We may discover some key to how they track us through hyperspace.”

  “That’s a bit of a long shot, isn’t it?” Simeon asked.

  “Yes,” Pershing admitted. “But the buoy isn’t doing us any good on the ship, and we have more buoys to replace it at the Spec Op base on Yelsin Prime.”

  “I see,” Duke Simeon said.

  Ben couldn’t help smiling. The duke seemed to take everything very seriously, as if he were intensely interested in what the general was doing and why. Ben wondered whether it was just a ploy to help ease his way into the role of reigning monarch, or he truly did want to help. Only time would tell.

  “Launch your buoy, Ben,” Pershing ordered.

  “Opening the air lock now,” Ben said, watching the video feed from the external camera above the air-lock door on his console display.

  The buoy had been loaded into the air lock before they dropped from hyperspace. All Ben had to do was remotely open the outer door and let the sudden change of pressure fling the buoy away from the ship. He watched as the door slid quickly open and the buoy shot out.

  “Nance, run a systems check,” Pershing said.

  “It’s already running, General,” Nance said. “All systems are in the green. Diagnostics will take most of an hour.”

  “That’s fine. I want to linger here a bit before we jump back to the Yelsin system.”

  “And why is that, exactly?” Duke Simeon said.

  “If the aliens show up, I’d rather not give away the location of our rendezvous point,” Pershing explained. Ben thought she sounded patient, but he guessed the duke’s constant questions were getting on her nerves. The general wasn’t the type that was accustomed to having her orders questioned. “We’ll stay here long enough to run a few tests and make sure the surveillance buoy is set. Ben, do you have the buoy on your system?”

  “Yes, General,” Ben said.

  “Initialize stabilization protocol,” she ordered.

  Ben typed for a moment on his console’s keyboard, activating the surveillance buoy’s automated system. It had been sent shooting through space and would continue moving unless something stopped it. The buoy had an automatic stabilization system that would bring it to a stop using its own internal thrusters. Once that was done, the little device would go into sleep mode until it detected motion. Then it would power up, activate the various cameras, and even rotate around to get the best view of anything moving within a few hundred miles of its position.

  “Initializing,” Ben said.

  “Radar is active,” Nance said. “We’re in the clear.”

  “Visual scanning is clear,” Magnum added.

  “Very good,” Pershing said. “Kim, you can bring us to a stop, but stay at your station. Nance, begin calculating a jump point.”

  “I thought we were sticking around to run some tests?” Duke Simeon said.

  “We are, but safety protocols require us to have an escape vector set just in case we have to retreat. Ben, keep an eye on that buoy. We don’t want it getting too far away.”

  “It’s stopping,” Ben replied. “It’s less than twenty miles from where we came out of hyperspace.”

  “Excellent,” Pershing said. “I suppose we’re ready for you to test the gravity wave generator then.”

  Ben hit a few more keys on his console and brought up the artificial gravity generator’s readouts, along with the sensors on the exterior of the hull. On his secondary monitor, he cycled through the video feeds until
he could see the engineering bay. He toggled the control to zoom the picture in on the artificial gravity generator.

  “Initializing the wave generator,” Ben said.

  He pressed a button and the finger-sized component began to rotate around the silver ball that projected gravity through the ship. It spun faster and faster. Ben didn’t try to generate a gravity wave for several minutes as he observed the components spinning in place. The rotation was held by the gravity generator, like a spaceship locked in orbit around a planet. Once Ben was sure the wave generator and the rotation assembly weren’t going to go flying apart, he activated the gravity wave.

  Nothing happened. His readings were minimal, staying right at their baselines. He sighed in frustration.

  “Is there a problem?” Pershing asked.

  “The wave generator isn’t working,” Ben replied.

  “So we have no shields?”

  “The flux shield is down,” Ben said. “The wave generator suffered too much damage. I rebuilt it, but some of the components must have taken too much damage. They’re so small that they’re impossible to repair.”

  “Where does that leave us?” Pershing asked.

  “I’ll have to get another one. It’s older tech. Wave generators haven’t been used in starship engine designs in the last half century. But I’m sure we can still get them.”

  “Alright,” Pershing said. “Let’s keep our eyes and ears open, people. I don’t want a squadron of alien ships popping into this section of space unnoticed.”

  “Forty minutes to complete system diagnostics,” Nance said. “Jump point is set.”

  “I’ve got it,” Kim said.

  “Very good. Is there communication equipment on the upper deck?”

  “Yes,” Ben said. “Standard commercial stuff. Nothing fancy. We don’t have holoprojectors, but you can send video.”