First Contact (Galactic Axia Adventure) (8 page)

“We’d already experienced over thirty percent losses by the third hour,” Leatha continued with her story, “but we were starting to hold our own and even managed to get some of the damaged ships repaired and back on line.”

“Then what happened?” Delmar gently asked. He could sense that there was considerably more.

“Then early the next morning they hit our base unexpectedly and in force,” she said with a shudder. Visions of Delmar’s own encounter with the Red-tails came flooding back to him. “Within minutes they’d overrun our outer perimeters and were pressing us back toward the main buildings.”

Delmar saw a tear trickle down Leatha’s left cheek. “A squadron of their ships over flew the landing area and torched virtually every ship on the ground. We watched crews we had just helped burn and die from those Red-tail rays.”

Leatha paused and Delmar shuddered unexpectedly as his mind tried to fill in the gaps from his own experience the details Leatha was leaving out. The room seemed to echo the cold silence of space when Leatha again spoke.

“Then it got worse,” she added, her voice cold and her eyes no longer seeing the chow hall around them. “One of their large troop ships landed in the middle of the base.”

 Delmar watched Leatha’s face grow ashen. “Hordes of Red-tails charged the building, killing indiscriminately as they advanced.”

Her voice became hard and ragged. “We took up positions wherever we could, but still the Red-tails pressed us back, slowly separating off isolated groups which they slaughtered one by one.”

The horror of the experience lit her face. “The group I was with took refuge in one of the supply buildings where we set up our defenses, but it wasn’t enough. By blasting through the roof they were able to attack us from all sides. It soon became hand-to-hand.”

“What stopped them?” Delmar asked. He could feel his own hatred and loathing rising up within him.

“Someone managed to get a call out on the comm before the Red-tails found him,” Leatha answered. “We found his remains burned into the ruined comm equipment.”

Leatha wiped tears from her cheek and paused for a moment. She looked hard at Delmar. “The fleet heard our call and came to join the fight,” she said evenly. “The tide finally turned when more troopers landed. We heard the fire fight outside our building and the attack against us abated a little. We finally managed to repel them from our position. Troopers broke through to us and the Red-tails scattered. I was among only a handful of survivors in my group.”

Her meal forgotten, she said, “They left me with a little souvenir.” Leatha concluded her narrative by sliding up her left sleeve. There across her upper arm was the unmistakable ragged scar left by a Red-tail the claw.

Chapter Five

The scientists gathered around one of their number standing at a workbench in their cobbled-together lab. Before him was a jury-rigged affair connecting various pieces of test equipment and two recording machines. Patched in on one side of the first recorder was playback equipment holding the precious disc. Leads from the pile of equipment ran to a pair of speakers fastened to the wall above the workbench.

“What I’ve done is use amplified harmonics to build a signal transformer capable of processing the signals at a speed we can understand,” he said to his colleagues. “The problem turned out not to be what we call a squirt transmission. The signal is in real time.”

Several eyebrows went up at this revelation. “What gives it a highly speeded up pattern is their carrier signal,” he continued. “From our analysis, we determined that it goes at a frequency many times the speed of light.”

“But that’s not possible!” one of the others commented.

“I’m afraid it is,” the scientist standing at the bench replied. “We have proof on that disc.”

“So how were you able to tap into this signal?” someone asked. “Such a signal would be beyond any equipment we could even build.”

“Normally, I would agree with you, but the evidence shows the folly of our own self-imposed limits. However, in that evidence also came the opportunity.”

“What opportunity?”

“Since we know it is possible and not just theoretical, we don’t have to grapple with trying to change reality as we understand it,” he answered. “Simply put, if they can do it so can we.”

“Given that, how did we end up being able to record their signals?” someone asked. “Physics is not fuzzy, so we can’t just fudge our way into receiving their carrier or signals as much as we might want to.”

“As vaunted as their technology appears to us, they are not perfect,” the first scientist declared. “We discovered that apparently their signals bleed a little bit, too. In fact, it was a bleeding harmonic that the radio telescope picked up. If it hadn’t been for the bleed-over, we never would have detected their signals.”

“It’s nice to know someone else in the universe has problems with signal bleed besides us,” someone quipped. Others chuckled. The scientist at the bench smiled.

“What I did was separate each of the signals from the original disc,” he explained. “Then I ran them individually through the signal transformer and into a second recorder. This enabled me to run each as often as I needed without straining the equipment. By modulating the inductive ratios, I was able to speed up or slow the signal as necessary.” Several others nodded.

“Basically using a harmonic feedback loop as a frequency amplifier until we reach their level of transmission,” someone summated.

The first scientist continued his lecture. “Some of their signal did turn out to be machine language in some sort of code,” he announced. “But a couple of the signals were voice transmissions. Here’s what I got.”

He turned on the machine and a monitor crackled the unmistakable sound of a human voice speaking in an odd language. They all listened intently to the proof that there was not only someone out there, but that they were apparently human.

One of the scientists suddenly spoke up. “Stop the disc and run it back a bit, please,” he asked anxiously. They again heard the strange language replay from the speakers.

“I think I recognize some of the words,” the other scientist said excitedly. “It resembles an ancient dialect that is only an academic curiosity today.”

“Do you think you can make a translation?” someone asked.

“Yes,” the second scientist answered, “but I’ll have to do some research and get audio copies from the language department at the university.”

“Could you use some help?” one of the other scientists asked. “I have a minor degree in linguistics.”

“Definitely,” the first replied.

“How soon might you have a rough lexicon we could work with?” the lead scientist asked.

“Give us a couple days. Syntax and structure will be important. After all, we don’t want to insult whoever is out there, now do we?”

∞∞∞

The computer monitor scrolled through the various menus available on the local computer net. Stan found the one for History and typed in his selection. The screen switched to the specified menu and asked Stan whether he wanted to just read what was already posted or go online with the current discussion. At the prompt, Stan typed in his access code to join the conversation.

The screen immediately switched to show what was currently being discussed. Stan let it run so he could get an idea of what was being currently argued between several different users. That some sort of debate was in progress was not unusual on this particular computer net. Invariably, someone would make some sort of assertion that would be quickly challenged. It made for some interesting arguments and frequently involved as many as a dozen users at once. This was not Stan’s first entry into a fray over Thetan history and he enjoyed the stimulation.

Stan’s frequent foray into the online discussions and his solid understanding of computers in general had quickly earned him the moniker
Mr. Computer.
Stan liked the nickname and adopted it as his online name, or handle as it was commonly called. More than one user found a note about some subject from “Mr. Computer.”

Stan’s ability to understand the confusing intricacies of computers was also discovered. He soon began to find his electronic mail drop on the computer net full of questions about various systems and programs. Some nights, Stan devoted much of his time to answering his starmail and trying to demystify computers in general. In more extreme cases he used the net to access another user’s computer and remotely effect repairs. Stan enjoyed improving what he called computer-human relations, although privately he thought that computers were gaining the upper hand through default.

But tonight was different. Mr. Computer wasn’t in the mood for the technical side of computing. Stan wanted to immerse himself in the ongoing discussion about history. He continued to watch the battle between three users scrolling across the screen.

The subject was the history of Theta’s space industry with two users obviously ganging up on a third. Stan studied the arguments being employed by the pair and quickly spotted a flaw. The beleaguered user was being hard pressed and had apparently not seen the opening. After a moment, Stan decided to weigh in and even the match. Pulling his keyboard over, Stan prepared to answer their next accusation.

IT’S OBVIOUS THAT THETA’S EARLY SPACE EXPLORATION PREDATED THAT OF THE AXIA, one of the two antagonists typed across the screen.

PLEASE STATE YOUR SOURCES, Stan typed.

WHO IS THIS? came the reply.

AN INTERESTED THIRD PARTY, Stan answered. AGAIN, I ASK YOU TO PLEASE STATE YOUR SOURCES FOR YOUR DATING OF THETA’S SPACE EXPLORATION VERSUS THAT OF GALACTIC AXIA.

For several seconds neither of the two who had previously been so certain of their position replied. Finally an answer appeared.

THE ENTRIES ARE TOO NUMEROUS TO LIST, BUT WE’RE CITING FROM THE BOOK OF ANCIENT THETA.

I AM NOT COMPLETELY FAMILIAR WITH THIS WORK, Stan typed. COULD YOU GIVE ME AN ESTIMATED DATE FOR THE REFERENCES YOU’RE USING?

THERE IS NO ACCURATE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ANCIENT THETAN CALENDAR AND THE MODERN STARDATES, was the answer. SO IT CAN’T BE DETERMINED WITH ANY CERTITUDE.

THEN HOW CAN YOU BE SO POSITIVE IN STATING THAT THETAN SPACE EXPLORATION PREDATES THE GALACTIC AXIA? Stan asked.

BY USING ESTIMATED DATES AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMPARISONS, WE ARE ABLE TO CONFIDENTLY STATE THAT THETAN SHIPS WERE IN SPACE BEFORE THE AXIA CAME ALONG AND CLAIMED THE CREDIT, they answered. Stan smiled. Now the trap was set.

BUT THERE IS A MORE ACCURATE DETERMINATE THAN YOUR TECHNOLOGICAL ESTIMATES, Stan entered. IF YOU’LL LOOK AT THE EARLIEST COPIES OF THETAN WRITTEN LANGUAGE, YOU’LL SEE THAT IT SPONTANEOUSLY DEVELOPED COMPOUND WORDS AND CONCEPTS. THAT’S CONTRARY TO NORMAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND IS CONSISTENTLY THE RESULT OF OUTSIDE INFLUENCE. IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, YOU’LL DISCOVER THAT THE SAME CONSONANT PATTERNS, GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE, AND COMPOUND CONCEPTS AS WERE FOUND IN AXIA RECORDS EASILY PREDATING THETA’S INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. THE CONCLUSION IS OBVIOUS - THETA WAS VISITED AND INFLUENCED BY EARLY GALACTIC AXIA EXPLORERS.            

There was no reply for almost two minutes. Stan was afraid he might have scared off the two antagonists. Finally a message appeared from the user they’d been ganging up on.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE, it said. WHO ARE YOU?

Stan thought for a moment and decided it was time to tell them. MR. COMPUTER.

Again the screen remained blank for another minute. Stan could imagine the consternation of the two antagonists. Finally after another minute, one of them started typing an apology.
This is going to be an interesting evening indeed
, Stan thought while he watched the message scroll across his monitor.

∞∞∞

The main Control Room of the mothership was a scene of furious but efficient activity as preparations were made for the upcoming attack against the Red-tails. During these preparations, Commander Tess had finally received a reply from Regional Fleet Command. As expected, they gave her wide latitude in handling the situation. Reinforcements were being mobilized but wouldn’t arrive for at least another 24-hours.

Commander Tess thought through these developments while she sat to one side studying the holographic display. In the center was the pulsating red globe that marked the main Red-tail concentration. Thin red lines marked the projected flight paths of the most recently sighted Red-tail ships. Green lights marked the known location of all Axia ships available for this mission. The commander noted with satisfaction that they were forming an enclosing globe around the Red-tails. Careful planning of their containment effort kept their plans unobserved by the enemy. An aide came up beside her and followed her gaze.

“It looks like we’ve been undetected so far,” he commented, also studying the display.

“I agree, but now we’re faced with a new problem.”

“What’s that?”

“Our ships are starting to get close enough together that the Red-tails might detect us soon,” she answered. “So I’m faced with a dilemma. Do I stop the entrapment to avoid detection or do I discard the element of surprise?”

 The aide studied the display intently for another minute. “What if we halted the tightening now,” he suggested, “then when we feel we have all the Red-tails we can handle within that sphere, we advance quickly to close up all the gaps?”

Commander Tess considered the suggestion. “That adds a new risk,” she answered. “First, while we hold further out, we still risk detection without being in an advantageous position. Second, our ships are more vulnerable when we advance because their relative motion exposes them to a flanking maneuver. It also has them arrive at the battle location with their cooling tanks already warm. If they should need to execute high speed maneuvers they’ll have only a limited time frame before their ships overheat.”

The aide thought for a moment and then replied. “What if we only tightened the trap a little more to positions closer in? Then we’ll be close enough to advance and attack with enough heat reserve left in the holding tanks.” The commander nodded as she pictured the maneuver.