Reavers (Book 3) (33 page)

“CI?  So you think they are responsible?”

“Naturally!  Who else but Alden could think up something as preposterous as asteroid ships?  My guess is that poor captain stumbled across something he wasn’t supposed to see.  When he started blasting away they decided to neutralize the threat.”

“So he
did
open fire first.”

“Took me seven days of prodding to get that much out of MI.  Whoever writes their reports . . .”

“. . . needs to be sent back to an academy,” Jack quickly agreed.  “Why don’t you bring me up to speed?”

“I’d love to, but I don’t really know much myself.  MI is being their usual secretive selves.  Here is what I
do
know. Quite a few months ago that poor captain jumped into Lintilä.  Out of no . . .”

“Hold on!” Jack shouted.  “
Months
ago?”

“Quite a shock isn’t it?” Shen asked with a grin peeking through his messy beard.  “That report reads like the thing happened yesterday.  I can’t get a specific date out of anyone, but as best I can figure they have been keeping this thing secret for quite some time - no way to be sure how long exactly.  When this is all over I’m going to have a long conversation about them stealing Navy transmissions.”

“And they’ve waited until
now
to do something about it?”

“Don’t ask me.”  Shen shrugged.  “They don’t exactly keep me up to date on their activities.  Most of what I know is pieced together from asides and quickly retracted sentences.  According to our charming host, they have been ‘taking appropriate measures’ since it happened.  What
exactly
that means is anyone’s guess.  Knowing Military Intelligence, it could be anything from intense observation to infiltration.”

“Yet they seem to know next to nothing.”

“Interesting, isn’t it.  That’s why I’m sure this has to be the work of Core Industries.  No one but Alden could outfox MI for
this
long.”

“I can see your logic.  Anyway, I interrupted - please continue.”

“Of course.  Where was I?”  Shen scratched his beard idly as he thought.

“The Navy ship jumped to Lintilä,” Jack said politely.

“Right, well the ship jumped to Lintilä, standard mission.  I double-checked with the Navy; it was nothing out of the ordinary.  When they arrived they were immediately drawn into the gravity of a moon that’s not on file.”

“A new moon?”

“Looks that way.  Never visited Lintilä myself so it’s all based on the survey report of the colonists, but it looked legitimate.  Even signed and sealed by the local governor.”

“When was the last time someone visited the system before the accident?”

“First thing I looked into.  According to the patrol records, it had been about six months since the last ship stopped by.”

“Someone built a
moon
in half a year?”  Jack asked with wide eyes.

“That’s the looks of it.  Although, I’m perfectly happy to accept that the colonists made a mistake.”

“A moon is a pretty big thing to miss.”

“Who said they missed it?” Shen asked with a small grin.  “My guess is that it had some valuable mineral on it or something.  Wanted to keep it all to themselves.”

“Of course, that’s assuming they bribed every ship to visit the planet.”

“A big assumption I’ll admit - but more likely than CI building an entire moon.”

“So what happened next?”

“According to the ship’s log, several asteroids appeared out of nowhere.  They didn’t just enter into sensor range either.  One second the sensor readings are clear, the next there are seven asteroids on an intercept course.”

“Some kind of cloaking technology?” Jack guessed aloud.

“Never heard of anything that advanced.  I just assumed they approached from the moon, hid on the far side or something like that.”

“I’m sidetracking again, sorry.”

“No need to apologize.”  Shen smiled to himself.  “This whole thing is just one mystery after another.  I’m actually happy to be able to discuss it.  Up until now, every time I say a word I get the same response.  ‘I can’t talk about it; it’s classified.’”

“I can understand.”  Jack chuckled.

“Where was I?”

“The V-shaped asteroid ships appeared out of nowhere.”

“Right.  Well, at that point we assume Johnson panicked.”

“Who?”

“The captain.  Funny how in the entire report MI prepared for us they didn’t mention a single member of the crew by name.”

“That’s because this whole mess is their fault,” the MI agent said.

“Eavesdropping is
my
job,” Jack said coolly.

“Eavesdropping implies I was secretly observing.  The two of you were loud enough for the entire bridge crew to overhear.”

“True, but they are all MI personnel,” Shen said.  A sense of frustration told Jack the two had argued over that fact several times previously.  “They no doubt know the answer to most of our questions.”

“Fight later,” Jack interrupted.  “I’m just getting to the important part.”

Shen laughed and nodded in acceptance.

“The
captain
overreacted to the new ships,” the MI agent said formally.  “He assumed the unknown ships were hostile and opened fire.”

Jack noted he referred to Johnson by title only.

“Lot of good it did him,” Shen muttered.  “Turns out those things are too maneuverable for our weapons.  Direct fire weapons are completely useless.  Johnson’s ship had the best targeting systems we’ve got, and they missed so badly it looked like the tactical officer was stone cold drunk.”

“Unfortunately, the fool managed to destroy three of the unknown craft,” the MI agent spoke with obvious annoyance.  “That really stirred them up.”

“So missiles are effective?” Jack asked.

“At first.”  Shen nodded.  “However, once they lost three, they went nuts.”

“That is putting it lightly.”  The MI agent folded his arms and looked like he wanted to spit.  “Their speed quadrupled.  The best missiles the ship had couldn’t keep up with those kinds of speeds.”

“Plus they appeared in mass,” Shen said as he nudged the MI agent.  “Our friend here won’t comment on how many exactly, but I gather it was a downright terrifying number.”

“Did they fight back?” Jack asked.  “Or did they simply zip around, dodging the best we’ve got?”

The MI agent stiffened and was suddenly filled with anxiety.  The emotions Jack sensed from Shen told him the MI agent hadn’t said even a single word about that.

“So that explains it,” Jack said with a smile.

“Don’t make me wait three days to figure this one out,” Shen said, mirroring the Weaver’s smile.  “What did I miss?”

“What am I?”

“A Master . . .”

Shen instantly went silent and his eyes widened.  He quickly turned to face the MI agent and slugged him.  The MI agent had been taken off guard and hit the floor plating.  The rest of the bridge crew instantly stood.

“How dare you!” Shen shouted at the fallen man.  “I’ve got an entire fleet out there unprepared for that!  They can’t fight off an attack by Weavers, and you know it!  Are we nothing but bait to you?”

“We needed a sufficient show of force,” the MI agent said as he wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth.  “Master Weaver Davis would have been able to deal with any major threat.”

“What if he couldn’t?  What if those unknown ships are ready for him, too?  What if they can evade his abilities as easily as our weapons?”

“That’s impossible.  We’ve analyzed . . .”

“
Impossible
!  You dare use that word in a situation like
this
?  We are on a ship that shouldn’t work, headed to take on craft that make the
impossible
look like child’s play.  You can take your analysis and shove it . . .”

As Jack put a hand on the admiral’s shoulder he instantly calmed down.  If he hadn’t reduced his anger, the bearded man would have called off the entire mission.  He had to agree with Shen that Military Intelligence had blown this one.  Their handling of the situation would no doubt result in the dismissal of whoever was currently in charge.  However, that did not change the situation.

Out on the edge of the Commonwealth an unknown number of ships with incredible capabilities were lurking.  Based on what they had seen, it was obvious that the fleet was no match for them - and that was assuming they had seen the entirety of their capabilities.  Although, pulling back the fleet was not an option.  This threat had to be taken care of, or at least assessed properly.

A shiver ran down Jack’s spine at the thought of a horde of these asteroid ships assaulting another planet.  As his grip tightened on Shen’s shoulder he realized what he had to do.  The mission had to continue.  This threat wouldn’t just go away on its own.  He would not allow this to spread, to reach Helen.

The bridge was silent.  The crew went about their duties without so much as a cough.  The MI agent stood rigidly, his gaze firmly locked on the main monitor - excitement and dread swirling within him.  Shen was sitting in what otherwise would have been the captain’s chair.  His face was blank and expressionless.  Hidden beneath that stony countenance, a typhoon of varying emotions shook him.  Jack stood in the center of the bridge.  While not a single person dared to look at him, he was the center of attention. 

Focusing all of his abilities, Jack searched outward.  The fleet had jumped a far distance from the moon.  Over the last hour they had approached at a pace that was accepted as a non-threatening one.  All the while, Jack had focused ahead of them - searching for what he feared.  As he searched for any signs of what awaited them, memories of the jump briefly flashed in his mind.  Once the Wall had passed, they had their first look at Lintilä.  The world was no longer what it had been. 

The bluish-green sky with puffy clouds pictured in the archives was now a swirling mass of purples and deep oranges.  Whatever had happened to the surface was obscured by those gigantic masses of color.  Orbiting silently above was the undocumented moon.  The damage done by Johnson’s ship was completely gone.  The sphere was perfectly smooth, without even a hint that the massive gouge had ever existed.  Countless asteroids orbited the moon in massive rings.  If Jack hadn’t known they weren’t natural, he might have found the whole scene beautiful.

Confronted with the undamaged moon and the unknown ships, the MI agent had practically broken down.  His ever-present superiority had been stripped from him in an instant.  For the first time in his life, he had been confronted with something larger and stronger than he could comprehend.  Shen’s reaction hadn’t been much better.  Up until that point, he had dismissed all of this as just an experiment gone wrong by one of the corporations, that a Navy ship had stumbled on some new prototype and CI had gone overboard in protecting it.

Seeing the change in Lintilä and the uncountable horde of asteroid ships instantly destroyed that theory.  Even Alden couldn’t be capable of this.  As they neared the moon at an agonizingly slow rate, Jack could feel the anxiety of the fleet growing.  The waiting was the worst.

His imagination ran wild, picturing one horrible outcome after another.  All he hoped for was
something
.  Any tangible thing would be preferable to the gnawing unknown.  Intruding on the worry of the fleet was a tinge of surprise.  They must have finally entered the edge of sensor range.

“Speak,” Jack said in a relaxed voice.

“Lintilä has just entered sensor range,” a crewmember out of his vision said in a hushed voice.

“And?” Shen asked expectantly.

“We’re double-checking the findings now.”

“What findings?” the MI agent demanded.

“The atmosphere is . . . different.”

“Explain different.”

“Predominately hydrogen,” another crewmember spoke up.  “Almost no traces of oxygen or nitrogen left.  It’s like it’s a completely different world.”

“No life signs detected,” the tactical officer said in a dark tone.  “No known energy signatures detected, and all standard background noise is absent.  If there is
anything
left of the colony, it isn’t much.”

“What about the moon?” Shen asked.

“Inconclusive.  Our scans can’t seem to penetrate the surface.  Whatever that thing is made out of, it isn’t something we’ve seen before.”

“Any reaction to our presence?” the MI agent asked.

“Not yet.  I’ve got every missile ready for launch, but not so much as a hiccup from those rocks.  Either they haven’t noticed us yet . . .”

“Or they are ignoring us,” Shen said forcefully.

“What about you, Davis?” the MI agent asked.

A hint of good news and his infuriating ego instantly recovered.  Jack shot a murderous glance at the impudent man.  A hush fell over the bridge again.  Everyone returned to their duties, avoiding eye contact with the Master Weaver.  As the faintest hint of something started to nag at the outer edge of his senses, Jack waved Shen over.  Silently moving to the Master Weaver’s side, Shen leaned in close to his mouth.