The Trilisk Revolution (Parker Interstellar Travels) (6 page)

In
terms of firepower, any two of his seven ships could dish out more joules than
the entire Terran home fleet. His point defenses could protect him from the
thousands of orbital weapons platforms, if they even saw him. Finally, his
ground forces, though very limited, could handle any mission on the surface he
had to issue.

The
Terrans were not much of a threat. But what of the Trilisks?

The
Trilisks would be impossible to defeat if they still held their legendary
powers. Kirizzo did not think they still did. He believed their own war had
caused them to lose a lot of their technology. Otherwise, they would openly
rule the Terrans and a dozen other races, and the war would be raging with the Trilisks’
enemies. That did not seem to be the case, though perhaps the Trilisks
conducted war at a level so advanced Kirizzo could not even recognize it.

Kirizzo
had the columns and the AI. But he feared the Trilisks might know how to access
this pirated technology better than he did. He would ask the AI to reduce its
range dramatically, and conduct his operations far away from Earth. He had no
guess as to the range they might be able to detect and access the columns.
While planning to use ask AI to hide them, another thought presented itself.

There
was a Vovokan idiom which meant to turn a problem into a weapon. Kirizzo
thought it might be possible in this case. If the Trilisks decided they were
outmatched and wanted to flee the system, would some of them access the
columns? A quick switch of bodies might prove useful. A Trilisk might seek to
return to a native body if they no longer needed to appear Terran.

Then
Kirizzo could blast them into atoms with a powerful explosion.

Within
the bowels of the
Thumper
, new machine’s designs flitted across the
networks. Thousands of pieces of machinery flowed to and fro through the fine
sand of his distribution network. In the center of his ship, near the Trilisk
columns, the pieces marched together. As the pieces joined to form larger and
more complex systems, the machines working on them grew from the microscopic to
the macroscopic, until finally huge cutting and lifting machines were complete.

The
robotic work force then set about moving the Trilisk columns out into a series
of new smaller ships—Kirizzo’s deadly Trilisk traps. The ships had powerful
drive systems which were really just disguised bombs. Their components were
subtly designed with an eye toward generating atom-shattering explosions.

The
bait columns started their move outward, though Kirizzo kept some columns back.
One column in particular remained of interest to him. It had produced copies of
the PIT team, and he suspected it still held complete memory of them. That
bargaining tool could prove useful if his plan came to fruition.

Or
if it went horribly wrong.

***

Telisa’s
link told her it was about time for her meeting with Shiny. She jumped up
toward the ceiling and dropped her hands to the floor twenty times in a rapid
cycle to increase her alertness.

I
have a scheduled meeting with an alien. Think about that.

She
had accomplished so much. There was just a moment of satisfaction before
thoughts of Magnus returned to smash it. She saw him in her mind, thought of
the bristly feel of the stubble on his face. She had often teased him about his
shoddy use of depilatory, though she secretly liked the feel of it. The image
faded. There was only the sense of loss.

Not
now. Just work.

Shiny
connected on time. Telisa sent a message.

“Hi
Shiny. What do we have in terms of Terran defenses at Sol?”

Shiny
provided a pointer to a large body of data. Telisa opened it within her PV. A
vast map of the solar system appeared with Space Force bases and ships marked
in red. Telisa rotated it and zoomed in on one in the asteroid belt. A force of
thirty ships were stationed there, with another two under construction in an
automated factory.

Thirty
ships out of a total of…
four hundred
deployed around Sol.

“We’ve
been busy back home,” she said. “Any signs of Trilisk improvements?”

“Technological
development, breakthrough, innovation curve strong, shaped, accelerated.
Possible drivers: mass xenophobia, alien artifacts, Trilisk influence,
increased use of artificial intelligences.”

“Can
you handle everything without hurting anyone?”

“Casualties
minimal. Terran fleet can be avoided, disabled.”

“Like
you disabled the
Bismarck
?”

“More
energy efficient procedures, approaches, methods. Network infiltration,
infection, disruption allows software disabling, paralysis, delay.”

“I
know this is a long shot, but… what if Sol is attacked at the same time? Can
you ‘un-disable’ the Terran ships quickly if they have to fight?”

“Likely.
Counter-proposal: Sol defended, protected, guarded by Shiny fleet.”

“Ah,
yes, I guess that makes sense. How many ships do you have?”

“Seven.”

“Wow.
Okay. Be careful, Shiny. Each Space Force man and woman that gets killed is
less chance for an optimal outcome. Your return on this goes down, you
understand?”

“Affirmative.”

“The
PIT team needs to get several places in the system. Can you hide our
transports?”

“Affirmative.”

“And
you can use Jason’s network to do all the scans our team needs to do to
determine who is Trilisk and who isn’t? We want to be sure. I don’t want to
kill any people I’m not sure about.”

Yet
I’m not naive enough to think this can happen without death. Someone,
somewhere, is going to die. And it will be on me.

“Affirmative.”

“You
have the satellites ready to deploy that will hit them?”

“Affirmative.”

“So
this will be a piece of cake.”

“Likely,
probable, sure.”

Telisa
relaxed a bit.

Kirizzo
is confident. If things get dicey, we could always use the AI.

Chapter 8

I
can’t believe I’m finally a real member of the PIT team
, Jason thought. He had just finished a
round of virtual training with Telisa, Caden, Imanol, and Siobhan. They chatted
in person, talking about their performance. In Jason’s case, the chat was
mostly about his mistakes, but he did not let that get him down.

Every
member of the team was driven to accomplish great things, though they were not
always perfectly in line with what Telisa wanted. Jason felt that Cilreth and
Maxsym seemed absorbed in their own pursuits and stood apart from the others,
who trained together every day in simulated battles. Jason had joined those
ranks, and in the last week he had died a hundred different ways in VR
training.

Jason
sucked with most hand-held weapons. He knew it. The only area he could hold his
own was with a rifle. He had taken up shooting after joining PIT. It was his
way of pretending that he had a skill they could ever use in the field. That
head start served him well now. Caden and Telisa out-shot him, but he felt he
was better at hitting a target than the others when his nerves were not
frazzled. He knew how to set up targeting software and configure his rounds for
a dozen different long range projectile weapons. He had even practiced plain
old manual sighting with three different weapons, just in case he ever had to
use a weapon with dead or disabled software.

Jason
had accidentally cut off his own leg with a Veer Ultrasharp three times in
simulations. The swords were so sharp even their scabbards had to lock onto the
handle, because almost nothing could safely hold the blade unless it clamped
onto the sides. Telisa had told him it did not matter much, since they were
mostly about advanced ranged weapons, but he kept trying. The sword combat
interested him, but he had no background in it.

Everyone
thinks I should be able to use a katana just because I have Asian blood, like
it’s something in my genes.

Telisa
sent him a message asking for him to show up for a planning session on their
Sol incursion. As the message came in the others paused too, so he got the
feeling everyone would be there. Jason had enough time to stop by his quarters
if he wanted, but there was nothing to bring. The exercise had been pure
virtual so far today, so he did not have to shower or change. He just walked
toward the meeting.

The
Clacker
was an amazing ship. It felt like a big building on a planet.
And the technology was even better. Cilreth told him the entire ship had been
Terranized in a few days. Before that it had been a collection of caves with
blinking lights and moving sand.

Crazy.
This huge thing is really an alien ship, but now it looks like a luxury home
for humans. And we each have our own section the size of a neighborhood.

Jason
was one of the first to arrive for the face to face.

Normal
for the new guy, I bet.

With
a jolt he realized the alien might show up. He became nervous. One by one, the
others arrived, but Shiny did not come. Once everyone except Shiny had arrived,
Telisa started. Her audience sat around on chairs, soft spheres, or just leaned
against the rail next to a set of stairs leading out of the room.

“It’s
time we nail down everyone’s mission so we can make more detailed plans,”
Telisa said. “I’ll start with Siobhan because she’s a bit ahead of the rest of
us, I think.” To Siobhan she said, “Go.”

“I’m
going after Kagan Spero,” said Siobhan. “He’s the leader of SSFC. I think he’s
a Trilisk. The family history is a bit vague in spots, but I see a thread of
corporate leaders going way back that makes me think one Trilisk lives and
takes on different identities in a fake family. Also he’s very reclusive and
lives on an island fortress. It all fits.”

“And
your plan to take on a fortress?” asked Caden.

“I
have the blueprints of the complex. I know what to expect in general. Shiny is
going to set me up with some high tech. My plan is not to break in and kill
him, but to make him think a major assault is underway and flush him out. He
has to have an evacuation plan. Once he tries to leave, by air or water, we’ll
have some toys surrounding the island that should get a clear shot. If I have
to use the orbital network, I have that option too.”

“Orbital
network?” asked Imanol.

“That’s
my part,” Jason said. He felt nervous, making him speak a bit too quickly.
“I’ve contracted to set up a network of sensors that Shiny designed. He says he
can use them to identify Trilisks for us anywhere on the surface. Then, when our
Vovokan ships arrive, they’ll deploy orbital assets that can strike down
Trilisks we identify. We’ll use this to hit some targets outright, but mostly
it’s a fallback in case some of our targets get away. We’re lucky so many of
them are on Skyhold, I think. Only a few should slip through the cracks.”

“None
are going to slip through the cracks,” Telisa said.

I
stand corrected
, Jason
thought.

“So
ideally we would strike all of them simultaneously using this system,” Caden
said. “The Trilisks will warn each other if we don’t strike all at once.”

“You
said ideally, and that pretty much is the key word,” Cilreth said. Jason got
the idea maybe it was the Cilreth copy.  “But we have Trilisks in Space
Force Command, inside fortresses, and a handful of other places. Yes, we’ll
strike those in the open and at the same time, when we can. Those of you going
into protected places will get a head start. But after that I expect parts of
the plan to drag. We’ll be by the seat of our pants after that.”

Telisa
turned to Imanol.

“I
need Imanol on a remote island that’s home to two people on our list. This
couple is immensely powerful and it’s very suspicious that they’re tucked away
in such a faraway place. True, sometimes the rich just make beautiful palaces
all over the world, but they seldom stay in just one all year long like these
two. This mission could be a cakewalk, or you could be walking in to confront
two powerful Trilisks. I have a feeling in my gut about these two, Imanol. I
think they’re Trilisks. You’ll have the orbital network to support you.”

“I
assume it’s some kind of heavily secured complex like Siobhan’s?” Imanol asked.

“It
appears to be a normal mansion. Large, but not a fortress at all. Of course,
looks can be deceiving, especially where advanced technology is involved. We’ll
do some more research.”

Imanol
nodded.

“Caden,
as I mentioned, is assigned the Trilisks in Space Force Command. Attempt to
identify the targets as Terran or Trilisk. Try to take them out if they are
Trilisk. If you can’t take them out, try and alert the Space Force to their
presence. I know all that’s a tall order, Caden, especially right there in
Space Force Command, but we have to try.”

Caden
nodded. “I know my way around the place, I think. But to get in, I would have
to be Space Force.”

“You
are now Space Force, as far as anyone knows,” Telisa said. “Shiny hacked you an
identity and a high rank. We need to disguise you to look older. You look like
you’re fifteen,” Telisa smiled for the first time that Jason had seen since the
last mission.

Caden
looked impressed. Telisa must have sent him more information.

“Colonel!
That’s wild. No one will recognize me, though.”

“You’re
from the frontier, as far as anyone’s concerned. Just back from a suppression
mission and newly promoted. It will be enough to explain away any
non-familiarity in the region. Of course the Space Force is too large for
everyone to expect to recognize you, especially given the recent build-up.”

Telisa
decided to go next.