Secret of the Legion (30 page)

"I wouldn't advise that. If we get too close, we'd never escape. It's just like a black hole. No. All we have to do is detect a cloud. Hopefully it will be a very safe distance away. D-neg radiates everywhere. Once we locate a source, we send out our probes. Then it will be up to the techs."

"And if they do anything wrong, we all die. Right?"

"The resulting explosion would be really spectacular. But don't worry—we'll never notice it."

"How experienced are these techs?"

"Well, nobody's ever done this before."

"This gets better and better!"

"No whining, please. We're doing great so far. Just keep the faith!" Tara was brimming with confidence. She was quite a girl. All I could feel at that point was an overwhelming, formless dread.

***

Tara was right about the D-neg. As we cruised that unholy vac, our sensors filled in the backdrop to those dark stars, revealing incomprehensibly vast fields of D-neg, filling the skies with great pulsating airy walls of ultimate energy, billions of light years away. There was so much of it that the techs concluded the entire universe had to be permeated with radiating D-neg particles—our ship was probably being bombarded by them even as we discussed it.

We launched the probes and watched them deploy. I didn't feel any better. I knew we didn't belong there. We were doing forbidden things, things that the very fabric of nature and spacetime forbade us to do. I was determined to do it for my own selfish reasons, but there was an icy knot in my stomach that reminded me of just how profoundly we were altering the most fundamental of natural laws. I was afraid at any moment it was all going to explode in our faces, annihilating us like intruding bacteria.

"Recovery successful." The first probe was back! It would be quite awhile before the testing would reveal whether or not it had captured any D-neg. Even those science freaks not working on the probes were extremely busy gathering as much data as they could, as quickly as possible, on Plane Prime. Nobody had ever previously returned from another universe, and if we were going to be the first we had better have a damned good understanding of the forces that made this universe function, before we attempted to break loose.

The bad news was that it was impossible to detect the presence of our universe from this one. The techs theorized that since our universe did not have any D-neg in it, it did not distort the spacetime structure of adjacent universes—like this one. So it was not detectable from here. Hence our only chance to return was to initiate stardrive in the exact same spot we had appeared after our tumultuous journey from our own universe, and hope the link was still there.

We were keeping very careful track of our position.

***

The tension was rising. I knew I needed some rest. I returned to my cube and tried to sleep, but it didn't work. I just lay there in my bunk, my mind racing, my muscles tied in knots. Hopeless. Relax—I needed to relax. I reached over to the snackmod and punched in a cup of hot water.

"ATTENTION! RED ALERT! BATTLE STATIONS! CRASH STARLAUNCH UNDERWAY! OMNI STARSHIP EXITING STARDRIVE! PREP FOR COMBAT!" I was into my boots in fracs and flying down the corridor to the bridge, adrenalin surging, crew members flashing past me in fast motion, the bone-numbing blasting of the red alert claxon crawling over my skin, my heart thumping.

I burst into the bridge just before the airlock door sealed us off from the rest of the ship. Tara was strapping herself into the command chair. Gildron was there as well, but I didn't see Whit.

"Cancel starlaunch!" Tara ordered. "Prep for crash starlaunch."

"Advise against cancelling starlaunch, sir, Omni ship!" Slambang Sue responded. "Distance two light years. The next one will be the attack run!" We could see it now, popping up on the d-screens, a dark delta-shaped alien starship, suddenly there. Freezing our blood.

"Auto crash starlaunch cancelled. Ready for command crash starlaunch. Activate all defensive systems, activate all weapons, prep to fire."

"Fully prepped for combat!"

"Omni ship cruising normally. No indications of preps to fire or launch. Shall we launch fighters?"

"Negative," Tara said. "I don't want to start a war here. And I don't want to starlaunch either."

"We may have no choice!"

"Open all-freq hailing visuals. Gildron, try and communicate!"

"I'll do what I can," Gildron said. It might just work—the O's had previously made a sharp distinction between Gildron and the rest of us. Perhaps his image would make a difference.

"Are you confident we can do combat starlaunches in this universe and still find our way back here?" Tara asked the pilot.

"I'm confident we'll be destroyed if the O's attack and we don't starlaunch," Ice Two replied. "I'm hopeful that the ship will return us here."

"Hopeful don't count!" Tara snapped.

"ATTENTION! A SECOND OMNI SHIP IS EXITING STARDRIVE! RECOMMEND CRASH STARLAUNCH!"

"Maintain alert," Tara said calmly. "Are they getting our signals?" We were coiled, trembling in anticipation, ready to unleash enough firepower to knock a small planet out of orbit.

"Distance one and a half light years!" The new ship was on screen now as well, another mute, delta-shaped dart. These were the enemies of all humanity. They had already killed two billion of us. Another ship-full of humans would make no statistical difference at all.

Our d-screens suddenly filled with light. An Omni appeared, leaning forward glaring at us—leathery spotted green skin, his skull split into two sections down the middle, dead black eyes behind filmy lids, a savage mouth opening with rows of needle-sharp teeth. A hissing rising shriek, the eyes suddenly open and burning, and it was a blast of such withering malevolent rage that we shrank from its image. Then the screen flickered and faded.

"He didn't look too friendly."

"ATTENTION! A THIRD OMNI SHIP IS EXITING STARDRIVE!"

"I'd advise starlaunch."

"Distance one light year!"

"I'll just bet the next one will appear within range and firing."

"Damn. Crash starlaunch, now. Prep to fire."

"CRASH STARLAUNCH UNDERWAY! PREP TO FIRE!"

"Omni ship…"

"ALERT! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! LAUNCHING!"

"Fire all…"

"FIRING ALL WEAPONS! ENEMY IN RANGE, FIRING ANTIMAT…" We launched, a sudden jolt and a silky, silent ride, the pressure on my skin again, the ports all black.

"Successful launch, we're in the red."

"Our tail is clear, no sign of weapons or probes."

"It was that last ship. It was firing as it exited stardrive. We had no choice."

"I had confirmed lock-ons for all our torpedoes."

"I want max alert as we exit stardrive, " Tara said. "Prep to fire."

"Random combat exit—now."

"RE-ENTERING VAC—PREP FOR COMBAT!"

We popped back into normal vac, ready to lash out at anything that might have been there—but there was nothing there. Another dark, eternal sky, utterly cold and lifeless, countless light-years from our last position. We cruised, totally alone in an alien universe as our sensors took it all in and plotted our location.

"Know where we are?" Tara asked the pilot.

"Yes."

"Can we get back?"

"Yes. This lovely lady appears to be totally flawless."

"Good. Science, report," Tara snapped. "What's the status on the probe?"

"We only just recovered it. We haven't even begun to examine it."

"Well, begin! What are you waiting for?"

"Can we unlink first?"

"Get to work!"

"Yes sir!"

"We're going to have to go back there, eventually," Tara reflected to Gildron.

"The other probes are still out there," Gildron replied. "If this one doesn't reveal D-neg, we might want to go after them."

"My God," Tara exclaimed. "The probes! You're right, we launched them all. If this one fails…we've got to get them back! Otherwise, the entire mission could fail! Damn! I thought launching them all would minimize the time needed to accomplish the mission. Deto!"

"They'll be hunting them down."

"Damn! You're right. There's no time to lose. Starlaunch!"

"CRASH STARLAUNCH UNDERWAY! PREP TO FIRE!"

"We're going right back there. Prepare for combat! Prepare to recover probes!"

"Even if their ships are gone, they'll have their own probes there, and maybe mines," Ice Two cautioned. "I'd advise taking a quick look first, and immediately crash launching, no matter what. A single frac is all we need to scope the sit."

"Fine. A quick snap to zero all our probes and any hostiles, then we launch again."

We launched, a sudden lurch and then a silent, effortless ride.

"EXITING STARDRIVE! PREP FOR COMBAT!" There was nothing I could do but pray, strapped into the chair, as we rushed headlong back into the maw of death.

The ship shivered and we were suddenly there, poised to strike, all our sensors on max, sucking in images from everywhere.

"Deadman, look at that." An Omni ship had been hit. It was a horrific nebula of frozen metallic dust, scattered over the sky. One of our antimat torpedoes had found its mark. An entire ship and all it contained, blasted to tiny bits. I knew they could do the same to us.

"ENEMY PROBES! CRASH STARLAUNCH UNDERWAY! FIRING ALL WEAPONS!"

Another wrenching jolt, and we were back in stardrive.

"Are they following?"

"Twelve, it's clear."

"Let's get to work on the snapshot."

We exited safely from stardrive back to the vac, another dead, dark wilderness. No enemy ships appeared. Examination of the snapshot images revealed twelve of our probes, cruising freely. Five had already disappeared. No Omni ships were present, other than the remains of the one we had destroyed. The others had launched. Five enemy probes had been staking out the area, but had failed to follow us into stardrive. We had not given them enough time.

"They'll come back for the rest of the probes," Gildron said. "They'll know we visited. They'll be waiting."

"Damn," Tara replied. "Nevertheless…we've got to try and recover one more probe. Just one."

"Why? We've got one. It may have captured some D-neg. If not, we can re-use it."

"No. What if something happens to it? We can't depend on one!"

"Is it worth risking the ship? We're safe here, for now. Let's await the results of the examination of the first probe."

"No. No, no, no! They're hunting down our probes right now. We need at least one more, or the mission may fail. Only one! What if there's a repeat of the attack? Our one probe is out again, we starlaunch, it's gone! Mission over! It was stupid of me to launch all the probes—stupid. We should always have one in reserve, at least. No…we have to go back."

"I told you not to launch all the probes. Listen to me next time." Gildron sounded a trifle upset.

"Yes, dear. You're right. All right, let's decide which probe we're going after, and do it."

I could taste the adrenalin on my tongue when we exited stardrive back into that awful vac, strewn with the wreckage of that Omni ship. I knew it was wrong, I knew it was crazy, but that had never stopped the Legion before.

"No O ships."

"Probe on scope. Commence recovery."

"ENEMY PROBES! ATTACKING! CRASH STARLAUNCH!"

"Cancel starlaunch! Prep starlaunch!"

"Fire all weapons! Launch fighters! Get those…"

"LAUNCHING FIGHTERS! STARLAUNCH CANCELLED! FIVE PROBES TARGETED, MISSILES LOCKED ON!" Four Legion fighters burst away from the
Star of Dindabai
just as the vac erupted with our missiles and deceptors.

"Continue recovery!"

"Intercept plotted, target zeroed, recovery underway."

"Enemy Probe One destroyed." A horrific flash lit up our d-screens, an antimat strike of elemental fury.

"All enemy probes have launched vac missiles, analysis reveals antimat warheads, all missiles have locked on to us, we are successfully targeted. Defensive systems engaged, antimissiles launched and locked, all enemy missiles are under attack."

"Continue recovery operation!"

"I've launched," one of our fighter jocks reported. "Missiles locked."

"ENEMY PROBE TWO DESTROYED." The screen continued glowing.

"That was mine!"

"…HIT HIT HIT HIT…" Our ship was haloed by a glowing screen of erupting missiles.

"ENEMY PROBE THREE DESTROYED."

"Launched and locked!"

"I'm on that last one! There's about ten missiles zeroing in!"

"ALL ENEMY MISSILES DESTROYED! ENEMY PROBES FOUR AND FIVE DESTROYED!" A double flash, and the screens slowly cleared.

"No further enemy activity."

"Maintain fighter screen! Good job, guys! Continue recovery operation!" The enemy probes had all been vaporized, along with the missiles they had launched. Our own D-neg probe was nearing us now. We would have it shortly. Four Legion fighters were still out there, cruising the vac. I wondered how the pilots felt, hanging out there on their own. Their only job was to buy time for us in case of an attack, to allow us to launch, leaving them behind. I really admired those guys. They were always prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us. They knew if they were successful in their mission they would probably die. Every one of them had read the job description, and there they were. It was almost miraculous, where the Legion found people like that.

"ALERT! CRASH STARLAUNCH! OMNI SHIP EXITING STARDRIVE, IN RANGE, FIRING, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"

"Cancel starlaunch! Prep for crashlaunch!" Tara snapped. "Fire all weapons! Continue recovery!"

The
Star of Dindabai
erupted like a poisonous blossom, spewing forth a fantastic glowing bouquet of glittering antimat trails, scores of weapons of ultimate doom, offensive and defensive torpedoes and missiles covered by hundreds of deceptors, bursting outwards to fill the vac, all locking on like a raging foaming biogen mad dog on that one Omni ship.

It had done the same to us. I could see its barrage approaching us on the screens, a glowing network of spidery trails. It was madness to sit here, waiting for something to hit us.