York replied, "Roger that, Sir. We are ready to go when you are!"
When I walked onto the deck of the docking bay, York and her three squads were again at the ready.
I raised Ashley on the comm and was startled when a hand touched my shoulder.
Ashley smiled as she spoke. "You didn’t think I was going to let you slip away, did you?"
I shook my head. "Sorry, it was unintentional."
As I began to request a sweep to the destroyer’s docking bay, their captain was a step ahead of us. Two of our crewmen took ion bolts to the chest as three dozen Marines from the other ship boarded the
Rogers
through a portal.
I yelled as I pushed Ashley behind a wall and blinked out, "York! Get your squads over behind those transport crates! Every time that orb pulse hits us, we are vulnerable!"
The firefight in the docking bay of the
Rogers
went on at a fierce pace for several minutes. As I watched the group of assault Marines moving back and forth, I gained respect for their tactics. They wore hybrid suits similar to the ones we used to wear. Our blasters were ineffective, and our coil guns knocked them down, but not out. I powered up the portal generator, and with a single swipe, all but two of the attackers were swept away and deposited in space, just outside of the ship. Our momentum carried us quickly away.
The two remaining attackers fought with a bravery and spirit that I placed as equal to our own. After four well-placed coil gun shots, they were knocked backwards and quickly disarmed before they could regain their composure.
I walked to their location. "Remove those helmets!"
As the two Marines removed their gear, I was shocked to see their yellow skin and the six eyes on their faces.
I spoke. "Are you Kurtz?"
I received no response.
I stepped closer and removed my helmet. "Look. You may find this hard to believe, but our two species were once allied. Let me guess, for the last thousand years, you have been living on a space station, or perhaps multiple stations, and you have no idea of how you got there. We have the same story, only we found out why, which is why we are in this war."
I thought for a moment and then proceeded. "You prefer an atmosphere that is heavy with sulfur, and your children are born in incubators. Your home world was located in the Milky Way galaxy. Aw, geez, how do I convince you that we are not the enemy and we should not be fighting?"
Ashley stepped up. "Let me have a shot at this, Don. Miss York, can you bring them into the conference room on the deck above us?"
York replied, "Will do, Ma’am."
We continued to play the game of cat and mouse with the Kurtz destroyer. Their pilot was of high caliber and their ship capable. I sat down in the conference room as Ashley plied her trade.
Ashley sat down at a table across from the two Kurtz Marines. "So, let’s begin with names. I’m Ashley Grange. That is my husband, Don, over there. We are Humans. A thousand years ago, we inhabited a galaxy known as the Milky Way. When our peoples first met, it was in war. After years of fighting, we were able to come to a peace agreement, and after a long period of alliance, we dominated the other species that were bent on our destruction. Then, along came the Duke. You may or may not have met him."
Ashley brought up an image of the Duke on the holo-display behind her.
She continued, "The Duke has, or had, technology that was far superior to ours. Using the power of a brown dwarf star, he was able to construct a complex that could transport an entire species, all at once, to a faraway galaxy. Our species was sent to a galaxy called the Triangulum and plopped onto a set of five immense space stations. We didn’t know how we got there or where we had come from. The star systems surrounding us were full of hostiles."
Ashley continued to talk for another fifteen minutes before she asked her first question. "Do you have names? At least let me address you by your family names. I know those are important to you."
One of the Marines spoke. "We were told that the foul Humans could not be trusted and that you would eat our children."
Ashley laughed. "Ah, OK. I guess that really isn’t funny."
She accessed the archive data from Sarah Rogers’s computer and began to bring up images and stories related to the Kurtz. The two Marines watched with fascination.
After several minutes of a brief pictorial history of the Kurtz, the first Marine again spoke. "My name is Guunar, from the house of Hiwa. I am first captain of the Kurtz Royal Marines on the
Whespa
. The house of Hiwa has fought in every war for the last six centuries."
The second Marine gave a troubled look. The first reacted. "What? Do you think they eat children? Do we not mistrust the Duke as well?"
Guunar turned back towards Ashley. "We have not found another species that we can trust during our travels. Lies, cunning deceit—those are the attributes we have come to know from all other species who show hostility towards us. Why would we believe Humans to be any different?"
Ashley raised Frig on the comm. "Frig, we have another species here with us. The Kurtz. They were a previous ally of ours before the Duke swept us away. I’m patching you into the sensors in this room; can you see if you can find a bio-marker in the DNA of our friends here?"
Frig replied, "Give me a moment, and I will see what I can do."
Ashley looked back at Guunar. "I bet just yesterday or a few days ago, you were in another galaxy, fighting some other species. The Duke brought you here, probably dropped you on the ships you now occupy, and probably told you that if you didn't go in here and kick the Humans in the head, he would allow your species to die, or something to that effect."
Guunar nodded. "Two days. We defeated the Aganics only two days ago. Our people are on a new station; all of fighting age and ability were brought here."
Frig spoke. "The signal is nearly identical to that of the Humans. I’m sending you the data now."
As the data popped onto the holo-display behind Ashley, she pointed. "This is a scan of your DNA. This is a bio-marker signal that your DNA emits; well, your cells emit this. It’s due to an alteration of your DNA many millennia ago. This bio-marker is how the Duke tracks you and how he knows the whereabouts of your entire species. It is also how he uses his complex to transport you all to a new place in a matter of seconds. And if your memory of your last transport is fuzzy, it’s because he has equipment that will suppress neural pathways as you are being transferred."
Our weapons officer then came over the comm. "Sir, the destroyer tailing us has been destroyed. Two clone ships caught it broadside with a combined beam. Do we continue with our prior strategy?"
I replied, "Yes, Mr. Haskel, continue to take out those orbs."
Our conversations with the Kurtz continued, but they were not convinced. After another fifteen minutes, I left Ashley to continue with her questions. I sat down in the captain’s chair on the bridge and scanned holo-display screens of the ongoing battle. Our forces were not doing well.
Our ship losses were closing on 20 percent, while our ground forces continued to be pressed back towards the fortress on Megiddo. The fight had been raging for thirty-seven hours straight.
After we perfected our kill strategy against the orb ships, their numbers had begun to dwindle. We expected to be free of the mag pulse generators before the day’s fighting was done. Our losses, however, would be heavy.
A new hail from the Duke came over my comm. "It is not looking so good for the Humans, Mr. Grange. Your tactics are excellent, but your numbers are not significant enough to make a difference."
I replied, "We are holding our own, Duke. Just be prepared for the surprises that we will be sending your way."
The Duke laughed. "Ah, I do like surprises, Mr. Grange! The spice of—"
I cut off the comm. "Someone, please tell me we have some surprises."
John spoke. "I would find it an ill-advised move, Mr. Grange, but we do have another fleet standing guard at Earth. Eighty thousand ships and crew, and another five hundred thousand BGS Marines, can be at the ready with only a few moments’ notice."
I shook my head. "I knew we had some reserve there. And, while I hate the thought of leaving the planet undefended, I also don’t see much of a need to keep it secure if there is not going to be anyone to occupy it. I say bring them into the fight."
John nodded and sent the command. Fifteen minutes passed before the eighty thousand ships arrived in orbit over Megiddo. The BGS Marines were transferred to the ground. The new ships joined the battle in space.
With the extra forces on the ground, our troops began to push back, expanding the perimeter and soundly putting an end to several critical surges that were close to breaking through.
The Duke hailed me over the comm. "Ah, now we are seeing the commitment of force that I was hoping for! Bravo, Mr. Grange! As I had stated when this all began, all or nothing!"
I replied, "We are not done yet, Duke. You are losing grip of this war, and with that will come your—"
The Duke closed the comm channel. I spoke. "I hate when he does that! That’s my gig, and he’s abusing it!"
John spoke. "Mr. Grange, the Duke’s reserve ships are beginning to move."
I pulled up a holo-display screen. "Tell me what we are seeing, John."
John replied, "The ships are moving into a matrix formation, and I am detecting a faint orange glow. If this is what I believe it may be, we will have difficulty defeating it, Sir."
I held up my hands. "What is it they are doing? Tell me what you know, John."
John lowered his head. "They are forming a Frekkin Cube, Sir. The ships are all linked together, and the field surrounding it cannot easily be penetrated by our weapons. If this is indeed a Frekkin formation taking shape, we will know in a few minutes when that matrix begins to spin. It can and will destroy anything in its path, Sir."
I replied, "Well, if you have seen it before, there must be a way to defeat it."
John nodded. "The cube was defeated in a battle that took place in Earth’s solar system. That defeat, however, was not by our hand. A powerful species who called themselves the Ogle fought the cube to the death. Oddly enough, the matrix cube was used in Earth’s defense. The sacrifice of a prior enemy, the Frekkin, allowed us to defeat the Ogle at their home world."
As the fifty-thousand-ship matrix cube began to slowly spin, the faint orange glow that surrounded the ships began to brighten.
John turned fully towards me. "We cannot beat this, Sir. We have the Ogle particle technology, but our cost in ships will leave us short of being able to fight the remainder of that fleet."
I stroked my goatee with my right hand as I thought. "OK, just have the fleet do what they can while we try to figure something out."
In a second twist, the Duke swept in another billion soldiers to the ground from another of his controlled species. As the battle entered its forty-eighth hour, our progress on the ground was halted and slowly reversed. The Duke had once again claimed the upper hand.
As the matrix cube began to spin faster and glow a brighter orange, we managed to kill off the last of the Duke’s orb ships. Our casualty rate quickly dropped as our active sodium skins once again absorbed almost everything the Duke’s ships could throw at us. Our advantage was quickly thwarted as the matrix cube began to move.
The Human clone ships began to form pods of five ships each. When combined, the five ships were able to offer a single particle beam that could penetrate the orange glow of the cube. As ships inside the cube were damaged or destroyed, they were ejected and the cube matrix tightened.
I had sudden hopes of an offense against the cube. Those hopes were dashed as I saw the result of the cube catching a pod of ships as they fired on it.
John spoke. "We can do damage, but only if our ships join and fire a continuous stream. If they break apart or attempt to move away, they lose their effectiveness. If they remain in place, damage is done, but they become easy targets for the cube. As I stated before, we don’t have sufficient ships at our disposal to counter the cube’s size and power."
I replied, "Well, we can’t run. We have to do something."
John nodded. "We will continue to join and fire as we can, but make no mistake, that tactic will only provide us with a delay. We cannot completely defeat that matrix."
I raised Frig on the comm. "Tell me we are making progress there, Frig. Things are beginning to go bad here."
Frig replied, "The bots are working at their optimum pace, Sir. I’m expecting to have the containment structure up in another thirty-two hours."
I looked over at John with a forlorn look. "I hope we have a day or two in us, Frig. The Duke has pulled out all the stops."
As the day progressed, our losses continued to mount. The half million new troops we had dropped on the ground had been lost in the continued fight. Our space forces were faring even worse. Three-quarters of our new ships and half of our original fleet were no longer viable. The Colonel’s Gray Ghouls with their ship assault tactics were our only bright spot, but their numbers were too small to make a difference.
In the
Rogers
, we continued to dodge and fire. Our kill ratio climbed, but we would not make the difference that was needed to turn the war around. We were in need of a new strategy.
Ashley walked onto the bridge. "I believe the Kurtz would change sides if given the chance. That bio-marker, however, keeps them under the Duke’s thumb. So long as he can sweep them away, they will do his bidding."
I nodded. "That makes it all the more important that we destroy the Duke’s complex. Maybe, just maybe we would have a shot at turning this thing around if we could get a species or two to flip sides."
Ashley placed her hand on my shoulder. "Have we been able to locate the Duke’s ship in all this confusion?"
I replied, "He has kept himself well hidden. There are no ornate ships out there to speak of. He is probably holed up in the smallest rust bucket he could find."
Ashley opened a comm to Frig. "Frig, can you ask Quan a question for me?"
Frig replied, "Ask."
Ashley spoke. "Quan, is there any way to identify the point of origin of the Duke’s comms? Or, would you be able to identify the Duke’s ship? He is not on one of the crown ships he usually has in his fleet."
Quan replied, "In early battles, where the outcome was not clear, I would reside on a much smaller ship. It would be the size of a frigate and have nearly two thousand layers of Tantric armor, enough to allow defense while making a jump with a portal to another location. The ship would be jet black, with an image projector to mask its visual signature. It would also have signal inhibitors running, making it completely silent and virtually undetectable by sensors so long as it remained in one location."
I spoke. "So, if we can get it to move, we can track it?"
Quan replied, "Yes, the ship will broadcast a small signal on a faster-than-light comm channel. It would appear as noise without the proper filters applied."
I banged my fist on my armrest. "That’s it! Let’s go Duke hunting! Frig, get us that channel and the filters we need to pull out that signal."
Frig replied, "How do you propose to make the Duke change positions, Sir? He could be out there anywhere."
I nodded. "Yes he could, but the Duke likes to be in close to the action, so my guess would be that he is somewhere near. Obviously, we can’t make him move, but I would bet he would move if that cube is coming at him!"
Frig again replied, "Sir, the odds of happening across his location are astronomical at best."
I brought up an image of the cube on my holo-display. "Well then, we just have to narrow those odds. The Duke is a running program; he does things in repetition. Quan, if given the information of an ongoing battle, could you offer a reasonable prediction as to the general location of the Duke’s ship?"
Quan replied, "I could."
I slapped my open palm on my armrest. "Frig, can you get that information into Quan’s memory?"
Frig replied, "I’m working on that now, Sir. Give me a few minutes to connect the interface."
Quan returned two likely positions for the Duke’s hidden ship. I gave orders for all available ships to move out to a set of positions where we would then all close on the Duke’s possible location at once. I turned the
Rogers
towards the spinning matrix cube and soon had it in close pursuit of our ship.
When the majority of our ships had reached the pre-positioning points, I spoke. "OK, close on the location now! If you pick up any movement following the details that I transmitted, broadcast that to everyone else!"
We were fifteen seconds from the Duke’s location and closing fast when he made his move as predicted. Eight Earth ships were in close proximity, and the Duke’s jet-black frigate was soon visible on their screens. The eight cruisers were able to combine fire in a sustained manner. The Duke’s frigate exploded and disintegrated.
For a few seconds, the matrix cube lost its direction, as the Duke was no longer in direct control. Cheers rang out on the bridge of the
Rogers
.
I raised my hand and spoke into the comm. "We are far from finished here. I now need everyone to tune their sensors and add the filters that I am sending. We are hoping to triangulate a position for the Duke when he returns. If you locate that position, do not attack, simply relay that information to me."
I spoke. "Frig, we need that complex out of commission. I think we will have one shot at taking out the Duke once that complex is down."
Frig replied, "I am doing my best, Sir. Just keep yourself safe until that happens."
The Duke hailed me on the comm. "Mr. Grange, I will give you credit for sniffing me out. I will have to study on exactly how that was possible, but I will have to say that I am impressed. I have never before been flushed from my observation point."
I replied, "You haven’t messed with Humans before, that’s all. We don’t give up. We never quit. I would have thought you had learned that by now. We are getting kind of tired of killing you over and over."
The Duke huffed. "Mr. Grange. You are only alive because of my desire to see you succeed. Your species has surpassed my expectations time and again. I am certain of the answer, but I would again like to offer you a position as my right-hand species, replacing the Durians, who have until now served me well. Your women, children, and all other civilians would have secure and peaceful lives."
I replied, "Just like the Durian women now? Is that the peaceful security you offer? You have a credibility problem, Duke. Your word is only of value until you change your mind. As you have already guessed, the answer is no."
The Duke was silent for a moment and then sighed. "Mr. Grange. I applaud your efforts to date, but it is time that I turned up the heat. Take care, Mr. Grange. Times for your species are about to enter the most difficult phase."
As the Duke closed the channel, the remainder of his fleet engaged our ships. With the matrix cube continuing its rampage, our casualty count once again began to grow. Our ships had passed the 55 percent disabled or destroyed mark. Our ground forces had been pushed to within five kilometers of the fortress walls. We continued to lose precious men and women as the Duke’s forces pressed hard.
I spoke to my navigator. "We have the new location of the Duke’s ship on the display in front of us. See if you can set us on a random course, where that cube will again be following us, that will take us near the Duke’s position. Maybe we can spook him into moving without giving away our method of detection."
Shortly after my request, we again had the cube spinning away as it pursued the
Rogers
. In what appeared to be a series of random direction changes, we flew within five hundred kilometers of the Duke’s new position.
As the cube approached, we were once again able to detect the Duke’s movement. I gave direction for our navigator to follow, while our weapons officer did his best to blast off the many Tantric armor layers that lined his special frigate.
I hailed the Duke over the general comm. "Looks like we spooked you again, Duke. You must be getting sloppy, or we are getting good!"
The Duke replied, "Well done, Mr. Grange. Only I believe this time you just happened across my location. If you had an idea of where I was, you would have brought other ships along with you."
I smiled as I replied, "Hey, whatever works. You offer a good chase, but I have to wonder why you don’t just jump away to safety."
The Duke turned hard left, fired an ineffective bolt, and replied, "What would be the thrill of just running, Mr. Grange? I find these chases quite amusing. How else can I be involved in such a grand battle without really risking anything?"
I spoke. "Ah, but you are risking something each time you die. You are risking the respect of those who you control. What if those same species that are doing your bidding someday turn on you?"
The Duke laughed. "Oh, Mr. Grange. I do so love these conversations! You mention these things as your own surface forces are losing ground. I have the walls of Megiddo in sight now. As your space fleet continues to collapse, your people on the ground will only have those walls, and a few paltry hand weapons, to defend themselves with."