StarFight 1: Battlestar (22 page)

Hunter One settled back on his bench. He would not attack the Soft Skins, since they might surrender of their own choice. If they did not surrender, but continued out to the edge of the magnetic field, he and his allies would follow this invading cohort to another sky light. Perhaps the new sky light would have worlds about it suitable for Swarmer colonization. If a Soft Skin nest world lay at the new sky light, so much the better. More Soft Skins meant more opportunities for capturing live food while his Servants studied their means of talking about themselves. For where one group of Soft Skins flew and nested, other Soft Skin groups were soon to visit. He and his people would be ready for such a future visit!

♦   ♦   ♦

Jacob watched the wasp reply play out on the front wallscreen. It was not an agreement to what they had proposed. It was something else. He looked back over his shoulder to where Branstead sat next to Lori and Carlos. The Aussie woman’s high-cheeked face was scrunched up as she watched the reply cartoon video.

“Lieutenant Branstead, will you come up here?”

The woman released her seat straps, stood up and came to stand in front of him. She stood beside O’Connor. Who was resting his chin on his right fist as he thought about the wasp reply. Daisy was busy with her situational holo and the imagery of the wasp ships. Plus she was sending text messages to people on other decks. No doubt confirming everyone was on duty and at battle stations as part of the ship’s continuing Alert Combat Ready status.

“What is your pleasure, acting captain?” Branstead said, her hands behind her back as she stood at parade rest.

“What do you make of this signal that tells us to head back to planet four, allow our ships to be surrounded, then for all of us to head down to the surface of planet four?”

She frowned. Then her gaze fixed on him. “I don’t trust it. Why should we put our ships and our people at risk? These are the aliens who killed our senior officers. Now, they invite us all to come down to the planet? They could launch another plasma lightning strike, then take over our orbiting ships at the same time.” She paused, licked her lips, glanced back to the wallscreen, then back to him. “While I admit we may have made an error in coming into the system after getting the mysterious signal from the wasp satellite, we did not know the wasps were claiming this system for their colony. They only sent down colonists after attacking our officers. They could do it again.”

Jacob thought the woman had put into good wordage his own thoughts. “Agreed. The battle group will continue out to the magnetosphere and head for Kepler 10. Should we make any reply?”

She nodded sharply. “Yes. Resend our new cartoon video. Resend it five times just to be sure every wasp ship perceives it. We are leaving this system. They can have it. Maybe they won’t follow us.”

Jacob nodded, then looked to the man next to her. “Chief Warrant Officer O’Connor, what are your thoughts?”

The man waved dismissively at the front wallscreen image. “Like the Science chief said, I don’t trust it. Resend our recent video. But these wasps have set a pattern of attacking us even as we retreat from their system. They will continue to attack us. Either just before we leave, or in Kepler 10. I am certain they will follow us there.”

He felt his fingers tingle. Combat might be impending. Or it might not happen until Kepler 10. Now he better understood his classes on managing stress in groups of people. He’d thought it silly at the time. Now, he understood the training was aimed at helping Star Navy crews cope with extended uncertainty amidst a deadly situation.

“I agree,” Jacob said. “Engines, move us up to eleven percent of lightspeed. Power, increase fusion reactor energy flows. Tactical and Weapons, be alert for sudden moves by the enemy.” He paused, looked around, then his situational holo reminded him of the rest of his duty. “Melody, is the neutrino link to the other ships still active?”

“It is,” she said in a husky feminine tone. “Do you not recall that I have always advised you of any change to the last orders you give me?”

What was it with the AI? “All ships, speed up to eleven percent of lightspeed. Maintain Alert Combat Ready status. Be alert to any change in wasp enemy ship behaviors. Confirm back to me your compliance.”

“Speeding up,” came the words and face of Swanson from
Chesapeake
.

“Stoking our reactors. Accelerating. Maintaining status,” said Wilcox from the
Hampton Roads
, sounding a bit touchy and grumpy.

Well, Jacob knew
he
felt touchy, grumpy and full of nerves. The other ships responded similarly, the images of their captains appearing as small icons across the top of the front wallscreen. The images disappeared shortly after they appeared to acknowledge his orders. Even Mehta of
Salamis
responded briefly.

“XO, do you detect any change in wasp ship formation?”

“None,” Daisy said quickly.

“I do!” called Rosemary from Tactical. “Just this moment all six wasp ships increased their speed to eleven percent. Looks like they do not wish to be left behind.”

“Tactical, thank you.”

Jacob now saw that change in his own situational holo. His own copy of Daisy’s ship cross-section holo showed their isotope fuel reserves were at 81 percent full. Well, once they all hit eleven psol, they would shut off the fusion pulse main thrusters on each ship. Momentum would carry them through the cometary belt and out to the magnetosphere. Course every ship would reactivate their main thrusters in order to make the final vector lineup for Kepler 10. Once that was done, he would have Louise of Navigation establish a neutrino comlink so every ship activated their Alcubierre stardrives at the same moment. Doing it that way meant all nine ships should emerge at the outer edge of Kepler 10 at the same time.

Now, all he had to do was sit in place for five more hours. And be patient. Mentally he cursed patience.

♦   ♦   ♦

Hunter One watched as, long wing beats after the Soft Skin repeat of their first map signal, the Soft Skin flying nests neared the edge of the local sky light’s magnetic field. It was time.

“Speaker To All Servant, advise our five allied nests to move outward,” he said in a flow of alarm and trail pheromones. “Warn them of the need to make visual and radiation perception records of the direction and angle the Soft Skin nests take before they enter the alternate dimension.”

“Scent casting your words and scents, my leader,” the young male replied with a strong dose of aggregation and territorial pheromones.

He liked the youth’s emphasis on loyalty and protection of their nests. Now for the other vital Servant. “Flight Servant, work your panel to record the exact direction and angle of the fleeing Soft Skins.”

“Your wishes are my life,” scent cast the male at that post.

Hunter One went scent silent, content to watch the behavior of the Soft Skins. He doubted the outward movement of his fellow nests would cause any violent action by these defiers of the natural order. Still, he stayed alert.

♦   ♦   ♦

“Captain!” called Rosemary. “The wasp ships are changing position. They are moving outward. But they are not coming closer to us.”

Daisy saw what the Tactical chief reported. Her own situational holo was finely detailed. Its depiction of all solid objects in the Kepler 22 system was so real she sometimes felt she could reach out and take hold of a wasp ship. Or push their own ship faster forward. She looked aside to the ship cross-section holo. All decks of the
Lepanto
were sealed against pressure loss and all weapons stations were occupied. Including the right front outrigger pod laser node that Quincy operated. Hopefully there would be no sneak attack just before they went Alcubierre.

“I see it,” came the deep voice of Jacob from behind her. “Navigation, any sign of a course vector change by the wasps?”

“None,” Louise said hurriedly.

To Daisy’s right, Richard gripped his armrests, though his face looked calm and relaxed.

She felt reassured to see that even an old combat veteran could become tense as the moment of truth neared.

“Science, what is your take on the wasp ship movements?” called Jacob.

She looked to the right end of the front row of function stations. Willard might be portly, but she had never observed him be less than alert at his station. The man tapped his control pillar, then spoke.

“Acting captain, I believe the wasp ships are preparing to triangulate on our vector track for Kepler 10,” Willard said thoughtfully. “The outward movement of their six ships will allow them to increase the triangulation angle for their visual and sensor records of our vector track. They will know our course vector to within a stellar second.”

“Well, we expected that. Navigation, compute our vector track for Kepler 10. Once you have the exact angle and direction, transmit the settings to the other battle group ships.”

“Acting captain, computing our track,” the red-haired woman said.

Daisy watched as Louise tapped her control pillar, transmitted by neutrino comlink the course vector, then called to Jacob. “Acting captain, I am ready to transmit the Alcubierre space-time stardrive activation signal.”

“Good,” Jacob said. “Engines, activate the Alcubierre stardrive. Prepare to initiate space-time modulus creation.

“Activating,” called Akira. “Ready to initiate.”

“Navigation, cross-link your post to Engines. Maintain the neutrino comlink signal.”

“My post is cross-linked,” Louise said. “Comlink signal active.”

“Engines, all ships, initiate Alcubierre stardrive transition.”

Daisy watched as the front wallscreen went from true space active to a sudden wash of gray.

That was it. There was no vibration, no howl of engines, nothing. The Alcubierre stardrive was a solid state microelectronic wonder combined with a gravity generator that warped space ahead of them into a smaller zone, while expanding the space-time to their rear. The expanding space pushed the
Lepanto
and the other eight ships of the battle group out into deep space at a velocity beyond imagining. She just knew that they moved now at 25 light years per day.

“We’re on our way. All ships, change ship status to Alert Alcubierre Transition. You have permission to move ship weapons to standby status,” Jacob said.

Responses came in by way of the neutrino comlink that allowed all battle group ships to speak instantly no matter the distance between them, or the fact they were now moving faster than lightspeed. The neutrino comlink signals traveled through an alternate dimension, she recalled from her academy classes. She let out a sigh.

“Acting captain, can we all please get the hell out of these stinky vacsuits!”

Jacob’s laugh was the first honest laugh she had heard from him in many hours.

“All personnel on the
Lepanto
, you are free to remove vacsuits. Verify weapons moved to standby. Mess Hall, prepare for a rush. All deck chiefs, set a priority list for your staff to take relief breaks, eat a meal and get some rest,” Jacob said. “Ship is now back to routine shifts.”

She smiled. Now she was free to think about just which dress of hers would be exactly perfect for the Dance Night rendezvous with Jacob!

♦   ♦   ♦

Hunter One watched as the nine Soft Skin ships disappeared into the alternate dimension that allowed swift travel among the sky lights that filled the flight space of cold darkness. He focused all his eyes on the Servant who monitored radiations from the outside.

“Servant,” he scent cast to that Swarmer. “Do you and your fellow Servants on the other flying nests have the exact flight angle and direction of the fleeing Soft Skins?”

“I do,” the Servant replied in a strong flow of aggregation and trail pheromones. “It is being shared with the Servant who handles our propulsive devices.”

Hunter did not object to the initiative shown by the Servant. It was the logical action after his earlier commands. He looked to the elder female who monitored events in external space.

“Servant, what does this new flight track tell us about the Soft Skins? What sky light do they fly to?”

The female fluttered her wings, then lifted her antennae stiffly. “Hunter One, the new flight track aims at many sky lights. However, a yellow sky light very similar to the one about which Warmth now wings lies not far from us. Other yellow sky lights glow on this flight track, but further away.”

He had expected that news. “How long a flight is it to the nearest yellow sky light?”

“A journey of three sleep cycles,” she said in a flow of aggregation, signal and trail pheromones. “If this is a colony sky light of the Soft Skins, then we know the Soft Skins are very close to Warmth.”

So it seemed. Strengthening his pheromone flow so the other flying nests would scent his determination to pursue, he rasped his hard shell and spoke. “Propulsive device Servant, prepare the alternate dimension device. Let us follow these Soft Skins to their new nest. Surely we will then attack and kill every Soft Skin hiding from us!”