Anarchate Vigilante (Vigilante Series 4) (31 page)

“Excellent news, Malel. Now,
we must Translate out and meet our adversary. Does anyone on this Bridge have an idea of where next this biped will strike?”

Chief Lark’s black whiskers flared in the negative.
The Hootnai carnivore at Herd Defense post, one Strong Stalker, blinked its single large eye in a pattern that meant negative, according to his study of the Compendium of Species. He was about to interrogate the Brokeet arthropod biped at EMF Shields post when Yanakutt at NavCore turned toward Running Leader.

“Sector Captain whose pheromones convey the scent of success, an observation and a suggestion,” clicked the stiff-legged elder in antique Belizel.

“Proceed, talented elder.”

The two antennae atop its head tilted backward in a sign of intense thought while
its two globular eyes fixed a riveting stare on him. “Sector Captain, this soft-skinned biped has declared war on the Anarchate due to its opposition to cloneslavery and indentured bondServitude. It particularly dislikes the Flesh Markets where cloneslaves and labor slaves are gestated, imprinted and sold to buyers.” Its antennae flared toward the holosphere attack at M2-9 nebula. “The attack on planet New Life, in system CC8712, was limited to the antimatter vaporization of the several Flesh Markets on the planet’s surface. This Human previously vaporized the Flesh Markets on planet Megil, system Alkalurops C. And it attacked a genome harvester starship in system Dagda, planet Morrigan, in order to release fifteen captives taken from that Human colony. Its strategy is obvious. It will next attack another Flesh Market.”

“Agreed,”
croaked Running Leader. “But where? This soft-skinned biped has struck in widely diverse locations. And its fleet allies are attacking all over this galaxy.”

Yanakutt thrust forward its golden-brown thorax. One arm gestured toward a holo that appeared above his station’s holo pedestal. “Sector Captain, there is a partial pattern. This Dragoneaux creature struck a genome harvester base at
the Ring Nebula M57, in Sector 13, within Sagittarius-Carina Arm. Then, moving counter-spin along the arm, he struck CC3214 in the Dumbbell Nebula. Next he moved to Orion Arm to rescue his progenitor at Antares A, but still heading counter-spinward. In our direction. After other attacks in Orion Arm, he moved back to Sagittarius Arm with an attack on CC8712 in the M2-9 planetary nebula. I speculate that his next target will be the Flesh Markets of CC9342, within the NGC 6397 globular cluster of stars.”

Running Leader could see the pattern both in the four lobes of his mind and in the yellow light holo projected by Yanakutt’s pedestal. Other Bridge crew also saw the promise of predictable movement, judging by the leg rasps, clicks and body language reactions. “Well done, elder Yanakutt. Your experience
shows us the way. CC9342 is counter-spinward, and it is located between Sagittarius and Scutum-Crux arms. However, there are three other Flesh Markets within the 3,134 light cycles that lie between M2-9 and NGC 6397, if you view the area radially. Why not strike one of those other systems?”

Yanakutt’s golden-brown legs trembled from unsupported standing. It rested the rear of its abdomen on a stool. “My leader, you are correct. However those three other systems with Flesh Markets are not on a direct line that parallels Sagittarius Arm. They lie toward Perseus Arm, Orion Arm or to the spinward direction of Sagittarius Arm. Hence my speculation.”

Running Leader liked the Brokeet’s use of cautious words. While the arthropod had indeed detected a probable pattern, it was not a guarantee. This Human biped had appeared in all directions, from the Small Magellanic Cloud inward to the Omega Centauri cluster in Norma Arm. Still, the probability of NGC 6397 being the next target of the Human was much greater than chance.

“Malel, my crew, advise the rest of our fleet that we enter Translation shortly. Heading for CC9
342 in cluster NGC 6397!”

# # #

Matt
thought intently in
ocean-time
mode as Hexagon Prime fleet approached the time for Translation exit into the inner part of system CC9342, an F3V orange-white star with seven planets, two of them Earth analogues. Both planets three and four had been colonized by the giraffe-like Hootnai carnivores. But planet three, called Tasty Land, held the largest population and a giant urban nexus that occupied the central plains of the northern continent. Those plains supported the millions of herd animals which the Hootnai loved to live hunt. While they had the tech to process, freeze and store meat and root foods, part of their transition into puberty involved a youth personally chasing and killing its own food. For Matt, the Hootnai society reminded him of an ancient vidpic he’d seen one time about carnivores called lions at a place called the Serengeti, on old Earth. Well, he cared not how Aliens procured their food. What mattered most was that its city of Sharp Claw hosted a Flesh Market that had existed for the last nine thousand years.

Toktaleen of the Brokeet appeared in the joint mind communion
Matt shared with all pilots. “Confirming our arrival behind the planet five gas giant, with zero arrival speed.”

“Confirmed,” Matt said, offering a nod of encouragement to Sarah, Eliana who was now back on her own ship,
Toktaleen, Rafael, George, Ben and Suzanne. For whom he had a question. “Mistress Suzanne, what does your precog future viewing show? Are we correct to appear behind the gas giant to shield our gravity wave pulses, then jump to planet three?”

“Yes and no,” Suzanne said in mindlink as he
r distant look conveyed a part of her mind was taking a ‘peek’ at likely future events. “Damn! There is a large fleet waiting for us next to planet Tasty Land! At least 30 battleglobes. And they are led by the Dolmat Sector Captain who surprised us at Antares B.” Her eyes scanned them all. “Matt, I recommend we strike another Flesh Market planet. Somehow, someway, this new fleet captain has predicted where we will attack!”

Concern flowed into their mindlinks from every pilot, especially from Eliana, who’d given his Mom and sister a loving hug before she returned to her own ship.
She knew, like Matt did, that in the Anarchate there are no coincidences. “We keep on. Then later we broadcast that we knew the fleet was there but we attacked anyway. Should bother the Council of Sixteen. And it might wake up the trillions of Anarchate citizens who seem pleased with the status quo.”

In his mind glowed the images of Mata Hari and BattleMind. Both sent him mental approval of his decision. However, Rafael of the droopy mustache waved at him. “Mathew,
maybe we should exit outside the system, build speed up to three quarters light, then reenter Alcubierre drive and hit Tasty Land in a quick flyby?”

Matt could feel Rafael’ concern. Every battle they fought carried with it a chance of injury or death. The damage to Ben’s starship had been repaired during the week of transit to this cluster, but the young Aussie still limped on his right leg. The loss of the
right side wing had burned into his mind a sense of losing a leg. While he could think beyond his neurolink overlap with his ship
Flowering
, the recent injury had turned him skittish. Matt suspected Ben would be less in synchrony with the fleet than would other members. Still, in combat you survived, learned and then fought again.

Matt liked Rafael’s change idea. “Good point Rafael. Toktaleen, we adjust our tactics to exit six light
minutes out from the planet seven gas giant in order to see how the Anarchate fleet is deployed.” He sent a PET thought-image to all of them showing his change to the battle plan. “We head inward until we hit three-fourths lightspeed, then we re-enter Alcubierre drive and exit just five light seconds from the world Tasty Land,” he said. “That gives us the advantage of being harder to hit while moving at near lightspeed. Plus, our stop by the gas giant will reveal the gravity waves of any deployed artificial black holes. And maybe the numbers of Assault Asteroids, Thermonuke sleds, x-ray Picket Globes, Offense sleds, tachRemotes and similar outlying sensors.”

Eliana gave him a mental hug. “Matthew, my precog sense shows the same as Suzanne’s. There are many explosions, some surprises, intense terror for some and at least two of our ships will be damaged. I think we all will survive, if we stay together in our Hub-and-Wheel formation.”

Matt blinked at the negative side of precognition. Knowing that two of their eight ships would be damaged upon entry into battle was not good. But better than knowing nothing.

One second, 101 milliseconds, 12 nanoseconds, 90 picoseconds and 67
femtoseconds
, said his cyberclock.

“Exiting behind the outer gas giant!” he said as the grey of Alcubierre space-time disappeared into the black with white diamonds of normal space-time. The real-time light image disappeared within ten femtoseconds as their flat Alcubierre space-time shields surrounded each ship. New imagery appeared in his
ocean-time
senses.

Three Supply Tubes laden with antimatter sparkled in infrared heat imagery directly in the path of their approach to the Saturn-like gas giant.

“Up!” he cried. “Up, up above the ecliptic plane. And watch out for stealth Thermonuke sleds!”

Running Leader felt his neurolink with the sensors of
Defiant II
hum with the perception of eight gravity wave sources on their side of the system’s F3V main sequence star. The sensors said the incoming starships had emerged from Translation directly behind the outermost gas giant. Viewed from his fleet’s position between planet Tasty Land and its single moon, there were four planetary orbits between his fleet and the intruders. Whose eight gravity wave signatures almost guaranteed they were the smaller T’Chak fleet of the Human Dragoneaux.

“Sector Captain,” muttered Malel. “Our dispersed tachRemotes show the incoming craft are indeed the T’Chak
Dreadnoughts. They avoided our antimatter picket line of Supply Tubes by moving sharply upward from the ecliptic plane. Other tachRemotes say they are accelerating to speed from what was almost a stationary exit from Alcubierre space-time.”

Ah
. That explained why none of the ships had crashed into a Supply Tube, or entered the several AM clouds that lay between the three ships. A surprise though. This Dragoneaux biped had never entered a star system at other than a large portion of the speed of light. Why different now? And would the fleet leave this system now that it had real-time images of his fleet deployment?

“Malel, maintain our
globular formation with each ship arranged as if on the tips of spines,” he hooted. “This deployment pattern will maximize the protective value of our new Alcubierre weapon.”

Chief Lark lifted his scaly black tail and draped it over his left shoulder. The cant of his Whiskers of Distinction showed Eager For Battle in body language. “Sector Captain,
shall we eject the artificial black holes toward the planet? It is obvious that the Human and his ships have to pass between us and the planet in order for him to attack the Flesh Markets in Sharp Claw city.”

“No,”
Running Leader croaked. “Recall, we fight in three dimensions, not just the horizontal,” he said in calm Belizel. “This hairless biped may well approach at a right angle to the planet’s orbital plane in positional anticipation of the nearing of the Flesh Markets city. And we need to recharge our own antimatter cannon reserves. Do so!”

Sarah Vasiliades bit her lip as her ship
Imperial
rose above the local ecliptic plane and out of the way of the unmoving Supply Tubes. Sparkles near to the tubes said some had ejected antimatter clouds whose contents flared from the impact of tiny dust grains. If they had continued toward the gas giant in the effort to build speed for the future attack, some of them would have lost their shields and perhaps been damaged like Ben had been hurt.

“Ben, you clear now?” she called over their shared tachlink.

“Yes, good Sarah,” said the man she had come to love during long hikes through the forests of Morrigan. His English held the rough-hewn accent unique to the people of Australia. “Worry not. This Dolmat ship captain may be an impediment as large as Ayers Rock, but space is vast. Matt will surely change our angle of attack in view of the sensors and remotes that have been deployed throughout this system.”

Sarah’s heart beat slowed as she heard Ben’s reassuring words and felt his Aussie sense of ‘this is just a Walkabout through the desert’ that conveyed a nonchalance in the face of deadly danger. Still,
she recalled the sudden emergence of rainstorms off the coast of her native world Kepler-22b, when she had gone out to fish off one of the ocean world’s few large islands. While the yellow light of its G5V star kept her warm, by midday grey clouds had moved in. As she paddled for shore in her kayak, giant waves and lightning had struck all around her. She lived to tell the tale . It was an example of sudden change she had never forgotten.

“Thank you, Ben,” she said, giving thanks for how a man in his thirties could care for a woman like her in her fifties.
Their time together at the end of the attack on the Spelidon world had been precious. “However, I like to be prepared for the unexpected. Do stay alert for gravity pulses from the tiny black holes their fleet shoots out. And the matter-to-energy sparkles from the antimatter clouds.”