Chief stopped pacing. Shock flashed in his eyes. “But she’s here to save us.”
“I believe she’s here to save whoever is on that planet.” Bei brought up the image of Terra Dos, now a small black dot against the yellow halo of the system’s sun. Next, he split the hologram and selected the appropriate image from Nell’s and his shared dream. While waiting for the file’s registration to be noticed, Bei allowed his officers’ astonishment to wash over him.
On his left, Captain Petersburg leaned forward. Her black eyes focused on the backward joints of the projected humanoids. “Isn’t that a dream file?”
“It is.” Bei increased the size of the numeric stamp so everyone could see it had once belonged to him.
Chief Rome crossed his arms and snorted. “You’ve been dreaming of ET when you’ve had Nell in your arms.”
Bei felt the doubts creep into the WA. Did his men think he’d lost his mind? Hell, maybe he had. Opening his cerebral protocols for those assembled, he dared them to find the flaw in his logic.
“They’re not exactly dreams.” Clearing away the image of the alien, Bei brought up the chart of his brain activity matching the time stamp of ET’s image. The graphs of his alpha and delta waves lay far outside the norm. “I’m being fed information through my cerebral interface. Or more accurately, I think the information was meant for Nell, but I picked up on it.”
XO Penig leaned back in his chair and rested his chin on his steepled fingers. “Do you have anything else to support this?”
“No.” Bei relaxed his features, knowing any show of emotion would erode his support even further. One by one, he met and held the gazes of those at the table. He recognized their fear and disbelief and felt the echo of their need to believe in Nell. Yet, he could not allow them to dismiss the evidence before them. Their lives depended on it.
The doors to the conference room snicked open. Grimacing, Doc strode to the chief’s side at the wet bar. “Sorry for the delay, but I have evidence supporting the admiral’s theory. While scanning Nell, I discovered more than just her cranium had been modified. Her reproductive system has begun to release eggs. There are thirty-two haploid chromosomes in each one. She’s a breeder, and it’s not of humans.”
Bei felt his insides knot. A breeder. Someone designed to seduce. Could Nell’s cerebral interface have seduced him, fed him codes much like the Bastard’s, only this time designed to get Bei to mate with Nell? Memories of their weeks together unfolded in his mind. How much of it was real and how much programmed? Bei gripped the wood table so hard, splinters fanned under his fingers. Could Nell be programmed to fall in love with Bastard?
Strands of genetic material twirled above the conference table. Two merged into the familiar double helix. “From here, I built a probable phenotypic expression of Nell’s altered progeny. It wasn’t until I saw the admiral’s dream that the predicted image made sense.”
The image of a backward jointed, double thumbed humanoid whirled above the table. The picture from Bei’s dream had a ninety-nine percent probability of matching the DNA’s expression.
Chief Rome picked up his rifle and set the switch to kill. “What’s wrong with their legs?”
“The joints are reversed, probably giving them superior strength, perhaps in response to a stronger native gravity.” Doc made the humanoid depiction crouch then spring. “Their strength would be comparable to ours on Earth.”
Chief Rome whistled through the gap in his front teeth.
Damn. Bei flexed his synthetic limbs. How much of that strength did Bastard possess?
Penig tugged on his ear. “You know, I’ve always wanted to meet ET.”
Captain Petersburg flashed her white teeth. “Do you think we should tack a ‘please’ to our demand to give us Nell or else?”
Bei relaxed as his men slipped into gallows humor. Although they had to know they faced a formidable force, none considered backing down.
Shang’hai laughed. “Hell, given that we’re moving in with ET, I think it’s only polite that we show our manners.”
Chief Rome snorted while flashing his energy rifle and knife. “Would they be the ones born in steel, plasma or projectiles?”
Bei waited until the laughing tapered off. He hated to ruin their good mood, but they were nearing the eleventh planet in the system. “We need to consider that Bastard’s flight has triggered a defensive net. His obvious destination doesn’t make sense unless he believes only they will arrive.”
Chief Rome grimaced and propped a hip against the wet bar. “Shit.”
Captain Petersburg tucked her black hair behind her ear. “We’ve no probes left.”
“Shang’hai and Keyes get with Doc and figure a way around Bastard’s cerebral blitz.” Bei nodded. He’d already accessed all available stores and knew exactly what was at his disposal. He also knew that the fleet needed to reach Terra Dos soon, if any of them were to survive. “As for the fleet, we’re going to do this the hard way.
Nebula
ships will guard our flanks. The
Starflight
s and
Orions
will protect the
America
.
Beagle
s will take point, sweeping every planet, asteroid and moon between us and our new home.”
After confirming their orders, the executive staff signed off and the block of LCDs went black.
Bei displayed the fleet’s telemetry through the holographic projector. Two dart-like
Beagle
ships broke away from the pack aiming for the tenth planet. “Radio contact every minute,
Alpha Beagles
. I want to know if ET laid out the welcome mat or crossfire.”
The
Vade Mecum
contains all the battle tactics
known to man.
Only the technology used to implement them will change.
Syn-En
Vade Mecum
Chapter Eighteen
Bei paced the
America’s
circular bridge. The utilitarian space suited his mood and the mission more than the opulence of the conference room. Following the white, curving wall, he walked in a fixed orbit around the helm in the center of the room, mirroring the movement of planets and moons in the holographic projection above the helm. Squeezing and releasing his fingers in time to his steps, he chaffed at the passage of time. Six hours of creeping along the solar system like cockroaches waiting for darkness before venturing into the world.
And they still had millions of kilometers to travel.
For a moment, his control failed and his thoughts turned to Nell. Was she well? Had the bastard hurt her? Could her neural link have turned her into an automaton, responding only to wishes of an alien race?
The sensors in his fingers tingled from the compression of his grip. He pivoted on his heel and joined Captain Petersburg and XO Penig at the helm.
The bright fiberoptic can lights overhead glared off the XO’s bald head. “Helium-3 won’t be a problem. That last planet had enough to power our engines for several lifetimes.”
Captain Petersburg pointed to the holographic image of a small moon orbiting a gas giant. “Neuron spectroscopy indicates this satellite is almost entirely ice.”
“So, that takes care of water and fuel.” Penig pinched his bottom lip in thought. “As for food… We could trade for supplies until we get on our feet.”
Captain Petersburg snorted. “That’s assuming ET is willing to trade, and thinks we have anything of value in return. Those are not odds anyone with a working statistic calculator would take.”
Bei watched the hologram of the planetary system. “We don’t have enough rations to find another world, nor room to grow anything to augment what little stores we have left.”
He focused on the fourth planet from the sun. Terra Dos. The Syn-En had no choice. They needed to live on that world, make it their own before starvation overtook them. “Judging from its orbit, we should be able to land in the Northern Hemisphere and plant crops right away. Our supplies should last until the first harvest.”
“If everything goes well.” Captain Petersburg frowned and tucked her hair behind her ears. “We’re soldiers, not farmers.”
She’d missed the obvious, the reason they were here. Bei shook his head. “We’re survivors.”
“Aye.” XO Penig set both hands on the metal lip of the round helm control hub and leaned toward the hologram projected from its center. “I’ve given you a list of civilians with agricultural experience. We lost the farming machinery when the
Starfarer
went down. Engineering is trying to come up with a plan to convert our ships into plows, reapers, harvesters, etc. It’ll take time to make the changes, since the ships are currently in use.”
“And time is something we don’t have.” Bei rubbed his eyes and boxed up his frustration before focusing on the planet where Nell had landed safely hours before. “Let’s hope we can eat whatever’s on the planet.”
“Now hunting we can do.” Captain Petersburg raised her arm, as if aiming an invisible rifle and cocked her trigger finger. “Fresh barbeque. I had it once, you know, on Mars Outpost Z24. Traders came through, seeking shelter from the dust storm. They cooked for us. Best rat I’ve ever tasted.”
“I want a leg, preferably from something bigger than a rodent.” XO Penig cleared his throat. His fingers flew over the keyboard under the hologram. The projection displayed the three groups of the fleet, winding their way around through the solar system.
Captain Petersburg nudged him with her elbow. “Don’t knock rat before you try it.”
Static buzzed the com. Tension replaced the friendly banter. Bei set his hands on his hips. His fingers squeezed the bones and his armor hardened to prevent damage.
“This is alpha team.” Commander Brazil’s voice filled the bridge and a green triangle illuminated the first of seven dart-like
Beagle
s near Terra Dos’s tidally-locked, small moon. “We’re approaching the target. Descending to high lunar orbit.”
Bei stabbed the com button, opening the channel. “Roger, alpha. We have you. Start sending sensor feed.”
They’d safely passed four planets and twenty-nine moons. None showed signs of habitation, exploration or exploitation. It almost seemed as if the system had been free of life. Almost. But someone had directed Nell and Bastard to that fourth planet, and no civilization would invest so much in one place without protection. Bei had to find their defenses before they targeted the fleet. Two moons blocked most of Terra Dos’s surface from their long range sensors. But if the planet was inhabited, the moons would have been the first bodies explored and armed.
“Aye.” Brazil acknowledged. “Sensors online. Transmitting now.”
“Admiral,” Captain Petersburg’s black eyes flashed, “we’re receiving feed.”
Bei watched the helm’s projection change from the solar system to a close-up of the moon’s pocked surface. Accessing his cerebral interface, he transferred part of his attention to the WA and entered the CIC. Whatever waited for them, he wanted to be ready. “And the fleet?”
Penig rocked back on his heels. “All ships’ CICs are in sync with ours.”
In cyberspace, Bei confirmed the fleet’s connections before focusing on the incoming information. The scan estimated Ghost moon’s mineral content to be -silicon, titanium, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium and sodium. Things they could use, but nothing to feed the new inductees or civilian children. “It’s similar to Earth’s moon.”
“Not quite.” Penig tapped on the hologram, drawing a rectangle around an area within the sensors’ reach. The digital image changed, black shadows streaked the ghostly surface, but the resolution didn’t improve. Scanners indicated the oxides in the black residues. Something had caused those scorch marks. Was it weapons or pieces of a ship hitting the moon’s surface?
Bei stared at the ebony oval markings. Something seemed off at the top edge. “That doesn’t look like a meteor’s impact crater.”
Captain Petersburg’s fingers danced over the console. The helm overlaid the scorch marks with projected telemetry, weight and speed of the required meteor. She hissed through her teeth as the numbers popped up. “These numbers don’t make sense. An asteroid of that size that would have taken a big chunk out of the moon if it hit.”
XO Penig jabbed the data, enlarging it. “A glancing blow is out. Something is half-buried in the rubble.”
“And the moon doesn’t have enough atmosphere to slow a projectile down.” Bei’s gut clenched. Whatever had hit the moon had been piloted, and he doubted this had been their planned destination. So the question remained, where were the weapons?
The hologram continued to unroll more of the moon’s surface as
Alpha
squadron swept by. Using the helm’s keyboard, Bei backed the image out. Hundreds of crash paths blackened the surface. The NDA between his shoulder blades itched. He doubted this disaster was an accident. Obviously this was the aftermath of a war, but who had shot down the ships and why? More importantly, what did it mean for Nell and the Syn-En’s settlement of Terra Dos?
Penig scratched the fringe of gray hair above his ear. “Commander Brazil, focus sensors at ten o’clock.”
“Roger, tightening sensor at ten o’clock.”
Part of the hologram fell dark. A heartbeat later, the definition of the remaining slice of moon surface increased. Dark lines highlighted one side of the shallow gouge mark, but it was the square-shape projecting from the end that garnered Bei’s attention. Nature didn’t make square objects. The satisfaction of knowing they faced a weapon was tempered by the ignorance of its kind. For all he knew, Bei could be leading his men into a battle armed only with rocks and sticks while the enemy wielded nukes.
Captain Petersburg ran a tan hand down her face. “That’s a ship.”
“No.” Bei wiped his damp palms on his black uniform pants. “That’s what’s left of one.”
The com burped before Commander Brazil’s voice came on again. “Requesting permission to drop altitude and get a close up of the moon, Ghost.”
“Negative.” Bei’s throat felt raw as his frustration continued to build. “I want a sweep of the surface. Full sensors. If there’s a dormant defense array, I want to know about it before you get blown up.”