OMEGA Allegiance (10 page)

Jack nodded. "Uh huh. And who helps you make better decisions?"

I again smiled. "Well, that would be you now wouldn't it, Mr. Carson?"

Jack laughed, "Yeah, I thought it might be something like that."

As I turned back, a Talisan Lieutenant was standing in front of me. "Sir, we have achieved at least a minimum level of access into the alien ship's computer system. It activated when that fleet arrived. We have control of the systems that were not damaged. Is there any particular system you would like us to investigate first?"

Jack Carson jumped from his chair, gesturing to one of his crewmen. "Mr. Packer, take over the nav and follow Mr. Beutcher's orders. Keep us moving towards Doomlight as fast as possible."

Jack walked past me while looking over his shoulder. "Well, you coming? Anything we can learn from that ship is something we might be able to use against them!"

I followed.

As we rounded the corner into the cargo bay, the Lieutenant ordered his men away from the ship.

Jack said, "Do we know anything about the aliens that fly it? I want to know if it's the same species that flew the ships we used to encounter. These teardrops showed up not long ago and have really turned things against us of late."

The Lieutenant replied by bringing up a holo-display in the middle of the deck. "We have taken extensive interior measurements of the seating and controls. Our best estimate is a biped being similar in stature to our Emperor, Mr. Beutcher. An analysis of the environmental system shows an atmosphere that is breathable by each of us, with levels that favor the Emperor. The same can be said of the default gravity level, as well as the length of the controls from a standard seating position. They all favor a being similar in physiology to Mr. Beutcher."

Jack laughed. "Great, so it looks like we are out here fighting Gruntas!"

I stopped. "Your pun is not an impossibility, Mr. Carson. Our history tells of two Grunta species. Ours, which are gray, and another which were green. A handful of genetic differences kept us as enemies for much of our existence. The stories of the Greens were passed down from generation to generation through the War of Wars. Since the defeat of the Duke in that war, we learned that there were no records of where we had come from, so we settled on Balimus II at the beginning of the Alliance.

"We assumed the Greens, if they had ever existed, were killed off by the Duke when we were first abducted. Had they been natives of Andromeda, we would have record of them. It's not impossible that they are the invaders attacking Andromeda from another galaxy. If so, that would possibly lead my species back to our beginnings, and the Greens would once again be our mortal enemy."

Jack squinted one eye. "That would be an interesting outcome if that were the case. I want to say I remember in history classes that there were only three species who couldn't trace their roots from before the Duke's time. I remember now that Gruntas were one of them. I couldn't say who the others were. Wow, I would imagine your people would be excited to know if that were the case. Too bad we probably won't find our way back to the Triangulum anytime soon."

"We'll find a way, Mr. Carson. We always do. If we have to, we will wait for the portal to open again where we came through."

I stepped up to the open hatch and climbed into the cockpit. My Lieutenant was right. The seat fit me perfectly and the controls were positioned in a way that made them natural choices for my selection.

The ship's computer came to life and a simulated voice asked a question that I could not understand. The question repeated every twenty seconds, making it obvious that the computer was waiting for a command.

I looked back at Jack. "Any idea what it might be asking?"

Jack shrugged. The computer repeated my question, followed with the same unintelligible question it had asked before. I pressed several buttons only to receive a buzzing sound that clearly indicated I was not performing the actions in a sequence that the alien computer would accept.

I attempted another question. "Computer, can you understand me?"

An immediate response came back in the form of my question being repeated as I had said it, followed again by the alien gibberish.

Jack half smiled. "Until we crack that language, I think we're stuck. Do any of the symbols on-screen make sense?"

I nodded. "Yeah. As I said before, I think this is the weapons screen. Those would be the missiles and this the laser gun. The environmental screen is likely this one with that being a light that I would assume is in the cockpit. That being cockpit air, the helmet and hose kind of give that away, and this slide indicator I would guess is temperature. This panel, I couldn't guess as to what it is. This would be nav over here, and this is comm."

Before I could continue the ship's computer repeated my statements, again followed by the same unintelligible alien question.

I stood and climbed out of the cockpit. "I'm getting out of there before I inadvertently fire one of those missiles. The screen is flashing red, which I would guess to be a malfunction, possibly from the damage the ship took, but it still shows four of those missiles aboard."

Jack nodded. "That's probably a good idea. Let the engineers figure it out."

I replied, "When Go has finished with the repairs, I'll send him down to have a crack at it. He's good with systems."

The Lieutenant gestured towards the holo-display. "We believe we have found a weakness, although we currently have no way of exploiting it. The armor on this ship does a fair job of absorbing an ion bolt from our cannons. We believe a slightly narrower beam would increase the damage by a factor of two."

Jack asked. "And we can't exploit this why?"

I raised my hand. "I'll take this one Lieutenant. The blaster tips are manufactured to deliver a specific beam width. We can't modify that in the field. We would have to go back to Orwall and ask them for that modification."

I turned back towards the door. "Let's see how the repairs are going and then do an analysis on the battle we just fought. I'd like your input on the actions our ships took and what you think we could do better."

As the hours of repair passed, I spent the time reliving the battle we had fought while watching it on the holo-display. "Here, why were those side assaults not effective?"

Jack replayed the scene. "See, right here, the teardrops they were targeting made an adjustment. That bolt missed, and the third bolt missed. Hold on. Let me apply a few lines to this. Computer, add a red line marking the exact path of the alien craft. Now, compress that line by half. Wow! Right there! As soon as that ion bolt left our ship, the alien ship's path turned into a spiral instead of a straight line! You can't see that at speed or over the normal time span. Since we require a direct hit for damage, they just increased their odds of survival by probably 75 percent!"

I replied, "How do we counter that?"

Jack thought for several seconds before frowning. "We don't. The bolt has already been fired. In the fraction of a second it takes to get there, we have no control. And we can't adjust our aim based on a predictive path because we don't know the instant they go into their spiral. Hmm."

I looked back at the screen. "For a moment I thought we might be onto something big. Looks like it's just a well thought out maneuver on their part. I'm sure it's programmed in, as no species reacts that fast."

I pointed to the spiral path. "Could our ships make use of that tactic? Those lasers only travel at light speed. It takes definite time for them to reach their target."

Jack touched several points on the display before bringing up an image of the
Garmon
.

After a handful of swipes, Jack sat back. "Hmm."

I looked at Jack. "Just say what you are thinking please. I have a hard time interpreting what 'Hmm' means."

Jack rewound the fight scene, replacing the alien ship with the
Garmon
and our ship with the alien vessel. "Computer, replay the scene with a laser shot coming from the alien ship at the same point our ship fired the bolt."

The scene replayed with the laser missing its target.

Jack nodded. "Nice suggestion, Mr. Beutcher. I think you just increased our chances of avoiding a strike. Computer, analyze the likelihood of a hit in that scene with the spiral path, and then again with a direct path. Display the results as a percentage likelihood when complete."

Several seconds passed before a result displayed. "Congratulations, Mr. Beutcher. I think you just increased our chance of survivability by 13 percent! That's if we have someone aboard that can take the sensor data and force it into the nav system to make that maneuver happen."

I replied, "I can have the Talisan engineers look at it. I'm certain they have programmers in their ranks. If not, Garrett has a knack for that sort of thing."

With the repairs completed, Go returned to the bridge. "We managed to get nine ships back up to speed. Four of them are badly damaged and three have moderate damage. Six of the nine should be able to put up a decent fight when the time comes. The others know they are easy targets."

I nodded. "Thank you for taking that on. We have the bridge covered now. Go down and see if you can help the Lieutenant with the alien ship. They've made good progress documenting it so far. See what you can add."

An hour after Go had taken on his new assignment, he called over the comm. "Mr. Beutcher, I think you should come down here. I have something I want you to try."

When I entered the hold, Go had the holo-display showing in the center of the room. "OK. You sat in the cockpit and it came to life. I sat there and got nothing, same with the Talisans. Maybe it's your size or weight or something, I don't know. The lieutenant told me the ship's computer was attempting to ask you a question and that it repeated everything you said to it?"

I replied, "Yes."

Go gestured towards the cockpit. I have a file I'm passing to your arm pad. Sit in the ship, bring up the display, and read out-loud from the images that appear. I think the ship's computer may have been attempting to translate your words. The ship might have the translation capability that we are looking for."

Jack had followed me from the bridge. "Sounds worth a shot. Besides, we have two days before we get close to Doomlight. I think we can spare a half hour's time between our analysis of the fight and our assault planning."

I sat and began to read the words on the images as they appeared. The images were from a well known children's story that came with images that the cockpit camera could see. If Gruntas showed embarrassment, I had no doubt I would have glowed bright red. But embarrassment did not hinder our public speaking effort, it was tact that made public speaking difficult. Gruntas said what they meant and meant what they said.

As I began to read from a second book, the computer blurted out a word: "Fly."

I stopped. "Did you hear that? I think it said 'Fly.'"

Go waved his hand in frustration. "Keep going!"

Jack laughed. "Yes! Keep going! I have to know if spot gets that bone back!"

Two pages into the new holo-book, the computer uttered another word. "Farm."

After two hours of reading, the computer had repeated more than a hundred words. Go was confident that we would soon be hearing two words in a single utterance. However, another hour passed with fewer new words recognized.

I stopped at the end of a book. "It seems like we are getting diminished returns."

Go turned back to the mid-room holo-display and soon had a list of recognized words displayed. "I have an idea. Repeat the following to the computer. 'Computer, read from the book.'"

"Computer, read from the book."

The statement was repeated, followed by the same alien question that had been asked a hundred times before. I shook my head.

Go scratched his chin for several seconds. "Wait. I have another idea. This time just say 'Computer' and wait for the question response. Then repeat the second part 'read from the book' and make sure you have the first page of the book displayed."

Jack raised his hand. "How is that going to be any different?"

Go replied, "The word computer is not yet recognized. It may have gotten confused. Go ahead, Mr. Beutcher. Give it a try."

I opened the new book to the first page, following up with the two statements as directed. "Computer."

The indiscernible questioning response followed.

I continued, "Read from the book."

After a moment of silence the computer began to read, in a voice that mimicked my own. "It was a dark and stormy night..."

The computer garbled many of the words as it read, but with each page of the story the more complex words began to fill in. And hour into the session, the computer stopped as it's systems ran a routine check.

The alien computer made a statement before asking its standard question. "Systems check complete with errors. Warning, Nocur missiles remain armed. Is this operational mode valid?"

I looked at Go before responding. "No. Disarm missiles."

The four missiles being displayed as yellow on the weapons screen switched to blue.

I nodded. "Computer, how many words do you recognize in this language?"

The computer replied, "Two thousand five hundred eighty-six."

Go waved excitedly. "Your arm pad has a dictionary. Ask the computer if it has an interface. See if it can connect to your arm pad and upload the dictionary."

I asked, "Computer, can you sense the connection frequencies of the device on my arm?"

The computer replied, "I can."

I asked, "Can you request a connection to that device?"

The computer replied, "I can."

I waited several seconds for an indication of the connection. None came.

Go squirmed in anticipation. "Don't ask it if it
can
connect. Tell it
to
connect!"

Jack laughed.

"Computer, connect to the device on my arm," I said.

A warble could be heard as the alien computer requested access to my arm pad. With the press of several holo-buttons, access was granted.

"Computer, access the Alliance Standard dictionary on my arm device and read its contents."

A chime could be heard as the computer replied, "Task complete."