strongholdrising (79 page)

* * *

"What kept you?" demanded Manesh, hitting the retractor as they clattered up the
Watcher
's access ramp.
"Might wait till we're in before ramp closing," complained Annuur as he leapt the last few feet onto the cargo deck.
"No time," she snapped. "The M'zullians' fleet is gathering off their space platform. We're being sent to observe."
Hooves skittered on the cold metal flooring as the Cabbarrans turned sharply to reach the elevator up to the mid-deck.
"Annuur on board, Captain," she called out, running after them.
"Take off in thirty seconds," came Tirak's voice over the ship's comm.
The high-pitched whine of the engines increased as the elevator came to a stop, spilling out the two Cabbarrans and Manesh. One at a time, the Cabbarrans dropped out of sight down the grav shaft to their specially adapted avionics unit while Manesh clambered nimbly up the wall-mounted ladder into the bridge section.
Like a Sholan bird of prey with wings held upward ready to swoop,
Watcher 6
rose into the air and began to move forward. It gathered speed quickly, shooting out of the asteroid's landing bay as Annuur and Lweeu joined Sokarr and Naacha on the formfitting work couches that spread out in a cross shape from the central navigation unit.
"Routing avionics functions from bridge to your station, Phratry Leader," said Sokarr, looking across at Annuur.
"Accepted," said Annuur, spatulate hands flying over the pressure sensitive keys to either side of him as he checked their heading on the small screens. "De-opaque avionics hull."
"Done," said Sokarr.
"Turn off lighting units."
The darkness of space surrounded him like black velvet, relieved only by the faint glow of their control panels and the pinpoints of light from the distant suns.
"Initiating neural net," said Lweeu.
Annuur reached for the metal bands lying in the recessses on either side of him. Slipping one on each wrist, he glanced at Naacha. He didn't know how the mystic managed to drop so suddenly into the requisite light trance. Already Naacha's head and neck were lying stretched out in the support. Checking the others, he waited until they were ready before lowering his head to the padded rest and squirming around until he had an unhindered view of the darkness of space that surrounded them.
He took a deep breath, tensing himself. "Activate neural net relay," he said.
The world around him changed abruptly as he found himself mentally linked through Naacha to the rest of his sept and the
Watcher 6
's nav system. Concentrating on the grid of faint green lines that now bisected the darkness, he located the other five ships. The lines, guided by Naacha, moved, seeking out the shortest route before converging on the J'kirtikkain sector.
"Jump engines on-line," he heard Sheeowl say through the comm.
"Chameleon shielding activated," said Nayash.
"Course plotted," Annuur said. "Updating nav headings."
"New headings locked in and relayed to the other
Watchers,
Captain," said Sayuk.
"Initiate jump engines," said Captain Tirak.
J'kirtikkian world, Zhal-S'Asha, 26th day (October)
They emerged in the J'kirtikkian solar system three days later. In the shadow of a small moon, they sat silently watching the main M'zullian fleet fighting off the defending J'kirtikkian ships while the remainder deployed itself over one hemisphere of the world below.
At first, the disposition of the Valtegan ships seemed random, but not to Annuur and his sept. They'd seen it before in recordings of the destruction of the two hunter worlds. With surprising swiftness, the M'zullians took up their positions, creating a grid. In and out wove their fighters, dealing with any incoming fire from J'kirtikkian ships. Then suddenly, they pulled back high above the grid. From the main fleet, a fine mist began to fall.
"What
is
that?" asked Sheeowl.
"Nothing I can identify," said Nayash. "Dammit! I could have done with Giyesh on the scanners right now!"
"Belay that," snapped Tirak.
On their main screen, they watched in growing horror as the particulate cloud seemed to home in on the hulls of the remaining J'kirtikkian defenders, dissolving the very fabric of the ships, aware that they were witnessing the destruction of a world and its population.
"They're descending," said Nayash eventually, breaking the silence. "Dropping down into the planet's atmospheric envelope."

* * *

"Why we not try to stop them?" Sokarr asked Annuur. "You say Camarilla orders us to do this."
"Needed confirmation they had activator. Now have. No chance to target lead ship earlier without risking us," he replied. "We wait. Sand-dwellers will regroup to return home. Soon as lead ship is isolated, we go. Main drives accessed?"
He wanted to do this alone, without involving Tirak and his crew, no matter what Shvosi said. This was the Camarilla's problem. They, as its representatives, should solve it, not their U'Churian family. It was his private opinion that the TeLaxaudin were often offhanded in dealings with the child-species they'd created.
Sokarr looked offended as his narrow ears flattened themselves briefly to his skull. "Of course," he said stiffly.
"Dangerous," ventured Lweeu. "Not easy to do small jump."
"Concentrate on weapons, leave nav and piloting to Naccha and me," Annuur said sternly.
"What of Tirak? We family. Not right to..." she began.
"Balance must be achieved. What sand-dwellers stole upsets it. Already two worlds dead, now this. Must do minimal intervention. Destroy lead ship and activator, then cannot use again."
"But other
Watchers
see us, Captain knows what we do..."
"Not," said Naacha unequivocally, touching his controls. "I fix
Watchers
after. Remodulating shields, none see." He stopped to check his display again. "Fleet dispersing."
"Initiate lockout sequence," ordered Annuur, checking his wrist bands. "Disconnect power from upper bridge section and start separation sequence."
The muffled bang as the explosive bolts detonated echoed throughout the ship. They experienced a slight dropping sensation as the two sections of the ship parted, then their own power source kicked in.
"Activate neural net."

* * *

"Wait till I get my hands on Annuur," snarled Tirak angrily as he paced the length of his bridge. "Have you found out how the hell he managed to separate us from the lower section of the ship?" he demanded of Sheeowl. "It shouldn't be possible! How much longer until you get the drives back on-line?"
Sheeowl glanced over her shoulder at him. "We don't," she said shortly. "He's blocked me completely. I can't bypass it, Captain."
"I'm getting a jump point forming in the M'zullian fleet," said Sayuk.
"Where?" demanded Tirak, spinning round to face the main view screen.
"Above the main battleship, Captain. But I'm getting no readings from it...no ships. Nothing."
Space seemed to fold in on itself, then spiraled open in a swirl of blue and silver. As swiftly as it had formed, it was gone, but nothing they could sense emerged.
"That's like no jump I've ever seen," murmured Sheeowl as they watched the battleship's shield flare each time the same nothing began to strafe its way along its length.
Fighters began to veer toward the battleship as its guns moved ponderously, beginning to track its phantom attacker. When the M'zullian fighters opened fire, Tirak spat out one word.
"Annuur!"
"We're going to lose him!" said Sheeowl, her voice hushed with fear.
As each hit drained more power from the huge battleship, the flares caused by Annuur's weapons intensified, each one sending larger surges of energy through the battleship's weakening defensive shield.
"He'll do it," said Nayash, standing up. "He's going too fast for them, and he's too close to their hull— they'll hit their own ship before they hit him!"
Light blossomed suddenly, and a piece of debris spun out of the nothingness where Annuur's ship was.
"He's hit," moaned Sheeowl.
"Silence!" ordered Tirak. "Can you pick up anything on the sensors?" he demanded.
"Only the debris," said Nayash, sitting hurriedly down at his post again.
Suddenly, their blacked-out consoles lit up again.
"Drives back on-line, Captain," said Sheeowl, her voice shaking.
"Comms back, Captain. I have
Watcher 1
demanding information," said Sayuk.
"Ignore them, we're on Silent until we're out of scanner range," he ordered, staring at the chaos at the heart of the M'zullian fleet. "There's nothing we can do for Annuur."

* * *

"Upper port battery hit," reported Leewu as the ship lurched violently to one side. "Weapons gone."
Annuur cursed silently. The M'zullians' targeting systems were better than he'd anticipated. They couldn't afford another hit. He had to finish this now, no matter the cost.
"Bringing her around for second run. Deploy integrated pulse weapon," snapped Annuur as he banked the ship sharply to the other side.
"Energy levels too low to sustain..." began Lweeu.
"Do it!" snarled Annuur.
In the belly of the ship, concealed bay doors opened and a weapon known only to the Camarilla was lowered.
"Weapon deployed," said Lweeu, her voice subdued.
"Lower shields and transfer all available power to Weapons."
"Transferred," said Sokarr.
"Fire," said Annuur.
Energy beams from the remaining weapons located on the body of the
Watcher
pulsed forward to intersect with those from the starboard guns and the newly deployed one in the belly. Where they joined, the beam thickened briefly before surging outward in a continuous stream.
"Twenty seconds to burnout," said Sokarr, and began counting.
This time, the M'zullian battleship's shield was easily penetrated. A trail of exploding debris followed their path as Annuur dived down to skim only a few meters from the surface of the hull.
"Three, two, one. Burnout complete," said Sokarr as the beam stopped abruptly. "Energy cells depleted. All weapons now off-line."
"Naacha, open jump," ordered Annuur as he pulled the ship sharply up from the crippled destroyer. "We leave."
A jump point opened up ahead just as the M'zullian fighters converged on them.

* * *

A warning sounded discreetly on the bridge, startling everyone.
"Proximity alert. Jump point forming to starboard," Nayash called out, looking away from the long-range screens to his scanners. "Initiating evasive action!"
As they lurched to one side, the lower section of
Watcher 6
suddenly emerged several hundred kilometers from them, spinning wildly, both upright wings and gun emplacements gone. It was closely followed by three M'zullian fighters.
"Kathan's beard! He made it!" swore Mrowbay.
"So did the M'zullians," snarled Tirak.
"Target enemy fighters?" asked Manesh.
"Yes! Relay that order to all
Watchers
!"
"And Annuur?" asked Sheeowl.
"Leave him," he snapped. "He chose to leave us stranded and take his own risks. We have ourselves and the Alliance to protect first."
"At least he's heading for deep space," Sayuk murmured to her.
the Camarilla, TeLaxaudin homeworld, at the same time
Dusk was already falling outside the main chamber of the Camarilla as Shvosi hurried over to the Speaker's dais. As the one in charge of Annuur's mission, it was her duty to keep the Camarilla informed of developments, and there had been developments, possibly disastrous ones. In preparation for her report, the lights that hovered among the internal trees and bushes dimmed until she could see the faint luminescence of the path under her feet. Despite her haste, as she passed the small fountain, she paused briefly, taking comfort from the gentle spray of water before stepping up to her place on the raised Speaker's dais.
Sitting up on her haunches, the Cabbarran leaned on the lectern and activated the image player. Behind her, the three-dimensional projection of a battleship under attack began to take shape.
"The lost matter compiler activator was located," she said quietly. "Phratry Leader Annuur has done as ordered and neutralized the ship carrying it. But as you see, not in time to stop death of second world." With a gesture of her hand, she stopped the image replay. "He had to know activator was there before he could attack."
On his cushion, Hkairass stirred. "Show us more. The
Watcher
ship, where is it? When this happen?"
Shvosi looked down to where the TeLaxaudin sat, just beyond the dais. "Happening now, Hkairass. Not necessary see more. Task has been completed. Useless compiler is without controller. More pressing matter do I bring to..."
"Show sequence for confirmation," insisted Hkairass. "Including
Watcher
ship."
Sighing, Shvosi gestured again and the lower section of
Watcher 6
came into view, its outline shimmering because of the enhanced chameleon shielding. She should have known he would cause problems. He was leader of the Isolationist faction who believed they should withdraw totally from the affairs of the other species.
"That not
Watcher
," objected Hkairass, rising up from his cushion and beginning to walk toward the projection.
"Is," insisted Shvosi, heart in mouth, turning to watch as the TeLaxaudin stopped at the edges of the image. "Looks different because imager is reading shape of shield, not ship."
He studied it, walking round the limits of the projection, waving his hand over one of the floor-mounted projectors to enhance the size of the battleship.
"Your point, Hkairass?" asked Khassiss from her seat among the TeLaxaudin Elders.
Hkairass turned to look at her. "Is not
Watcher.
Kouansishus send images of ships Primes build with us and Cabbarran aid. This not it. Different."
"Different?" asked Aizshuss, unfolding himself and stepping down from his couch before making his way over to Hkairass. "I look. Augmented shielding show blurred image of ship at best."
Shvosi reached out surreptitiously with her spatulate hand to touch the other as he passed her.
Not do this!
she sent.
Troubles has Annuur, needs aid. Divert them from ship configuration. Must stop replay now before too late!
The slight faltering of Aizshuss' stride was the only sign he'd heard her as he continued on the path, coming to a stop beside his TeLaxaudin colleague. Stopping, he peered at the small ship, watching its shields flare as the uppermost port gun battery was hit and destroyed.
"Outline matches
Watcher
ship," said Aizshuss quietly.
Concerned humming from the TeLaxaudin and the soft chittering of the Cabbarrans swept through the chamber almost like a sigh. Shvosi took the opportunity to reach out and grasp the mood, trying to enhance the Camarilla's sympathy for Annuur. Then Aizshuss' mind joined hers, adding to her strength until the noise died down, then he was gone. At least he'd been willing to help. If only she'd had time to edit the recording before having to bring it in front of the council!
"Damage has it sustained," Aizshuss continued, turning to look at the assembly. "Enough I have seen to know task completed and our Phratry brother needs help."
"Is bit missing," insisted Hkairass, pointing with one slender hand to the blurred image of the swaying
Watcher.
"I see no bit missing," said Aizshuss, looking back to the projection.
"I also call for aid for our Phratry brother," said Kuvaa as she reared up from her place among the Cabbarran Elders. "Shape of ship irrelevant. Safety of Annuur and his crew matters."
Thankful that at last one of her own people had spoken up, Shvosi reached out to turn the imager off. They hadn't yet come to the portion she wanted to conceal.
"Leave," said Khassiss firmly. "See to end. Hkairass is right. Where rest of
Watcher,
Shvosi? Our order was to have our children attack ship."
"Annuur take only his part, not whole ship," said Hkairass. "Disobey our orders. If all ship used, then this stopped sooner, before world destroyed. His actions cause death of this world."
Shvosi swung round to address the Elder responsible for the order. "Skepp Lord Azwokkuss, Camarilla order was only to destroy sand-dweller ship if carrying activator, was it not?" She asked with icy politeness, her long upper lip curling back in anger. "Annuur carry out that order."
"Phratry Leader is correct," said Azwokkuss with equal formality, speaking for the first time. "But was intended whole ship used..." He stopped, his translator falling silent as he began to hum with anger of his own.
Heart heavy, Shvosi turned round, knowing what she'd see. In the projection,
Watcher 6
was now clearly visible as its remaining weapons' fire linked together, forming a single beam of energy focused several hundred meters in front of where the bow of the ship should have been.
As angry voices broke out, Shvosi dropped down onto all fours in defeat. She'd hoped to be able to hide that portion of the recording from them. Annuur's misjudgment in not taking the whole ship was compounded by using Camarilla enhanced weapons when they could be seen by everyone.
"Attention has he drawn, from sand-dwellers, from children, from other
Watchers.
This course of action not wise I said at time. Now I proved right," said Hkairass triumphantly.
Surely not giving up now, Shvosi!
came Aizshuss' acerbic thought.
Who fight for Annuur if we don't?
came Kuvaa's.
She reared up again, putting all the arrogance and contempt behind her eyes that she could muster. "So Annuur has affection for your children, Skepp Lords!" she said, glaring round the gathered Lords and Leaders of the Camarilla. "Tried to save them, he did. Take risks only on himself to carry out our orders. Not a crime! Look how he succeeded!"
Annuur's damaged craft was darting along the surface of the battleship, searing a path of devastation before it. The replay had run to the end now, and the distant imager's AI had taken over, transmitting the current situation direct to the Camarilla. As they continued to watch, Annuur's energy beam died. The ship pulled up sharply, heading for the jump point that opened ahead of it, three fighters converging on it, weapons blazing.
"Succeeded in drawing attention of Alliance to us," said Hkairass sarcastically. "Trusted him we did not to do this. All intervention should stop now. This I have been saying since sand-dwellers first began to die after they were beaten by hunters! Like then, nothing has this positive achieved. Balance still upset— directly endangered are we now! Withdraw we should, find new worlds, before Alliance demands we give them our knowledge, before sand-dwellers take war out to all Alliance— and us."
"Potentialities showed victorious sand-dwellers will wait until second world stable again, then spend much time looting," said Aizshuss dryly, joining Shvosi on the Speaker's dais. "Death of this world anticipated, hoped to prevent. Likely they think
Watcher
is from world below."
"When fighters fail to return, what then they think?" asked Khassiss, gesturing toward the projection where Annuur's stricken ship was tumbling end over end, still pursued by the three fighters.
"Lost in jump," said Kuvaa promptly, getting up from her place to join her two colleagues on the dais. "Who in right mind believe Camarilla Lord Annuur's ship capable of escaping? Who in right mind follows such a ship into jump? Escape remarkable in first place without getting lost in jump!"
Hkairass stalked over to them, eyes swirling angrily, the broad scented strips of his clothing discharging the harsh perfume his body was now exuding. As he began to talk, his mandibles clicked rapidly. "What now you want? Want Camarilla to order Anuur's retrieval? Draw even more attention to ourselves?" he demanded, oval eyes swirling with anger. "How we hide this— disaster— from anyone!" He gestured to the projection where they could see the upper section of a
Watcher,
accompanied by three others, intercepting the fighters. "Better Annuur and crew die than aided to be questioned!"
"Why give Annuur weapon if not to use?" countered Aizshuss.
"To use covertly," said Khassiss.
"Discovery inevitable," said Aizshuss. "Routine maintenance at hunter outpost could expose it any time. This I said when decision taken to fit weapon before sending to hunters' Alliance. I overruled. Blame not Annuur for having it and using."
"Annuur in unique position. Much we have learned since he went to hunter world," said Kuvaa. "Aid him we must."
"Kzizysus with hunters," said Hkairass. "No need for another if we must have people outside."
"Kzizysus young, not of the Camarilla, nor will be for many hundred of years," said Aizshuss. "Has not mystic abilities. Annuur left voluntarily, gave up the rapport of Camarilla to serve us in the field. Much has been asked of him that he has accomplished against odds. He still has value, to us and among children and hunter Alliance. We owe him same loyalty he gives us."
Hkairass hummed his contempt, flicking his hand to one side in a gesture of dismissal while behind him the fight to destroy the sand-dweller fighters played itself out. "Annuur hasn't mystic abilities! Are overrated in my opinion. Technology can do all you can."
Shvosi's eyes narrowed and under the blue tattoos, her cheeks began to itch. Beside her, she felt Aizshuss and Kuvaa stiffen in anger.
Hkairass looked away from her. "Do not use that trick on me, Phratry Leader Shvosi," he began.
"Enough!" said Khassiss, raising her voice as she stood up. "Aizshuss speaks the truth. Camarilla need eyes and ears outside as provided by those like Annuur's sept and Kouansishus. Combined our two people are for many millennia, each using own skills for common good. Shvosi, show potentialities if Annuur not retrieved," she ordered. "Decision must be made hastily if the Phratry Leader to be successfully aided. Consequences of our actions are not of concern at this moment. Later will we look at them."
Hkairass hummed his displeasure. "I ask the Camarilla to say if this necessary. Annuur has attracted too much attention over this matter. Further intervention now will lead to our discovery. We must leave him to his fate."
A murmur of disagreement ran round the chamber and with an angry clicking of his mandibles, Hkairass stalked back to his cushion.
Stopping the projection, Shvosi reached mentally for Aizshuss, then beyond him to Kuvaa and the assembly, joining with all the other mystics of her people and the TeLaxaudin. The telepathic net formed, she touched the control on the lectern to activate the neural interface. Now the rest of the TeLaxaudin joined them, as did those of her own people who were not mystics.
Forming where the Camarilla had watched the image of Anuur's attack on the destroyer, another began to emerge, one of shades of light and dark, swirling and weaving themselves into an intricate pattern of potentialities that spread outward to fill the Camarilla chamber. It could only be experienced, not seen, and it was a pattern that boded ill if aid was not sent immediately.
Their decision made, Khassiss spoke for the Camarilla and aid was dispatched to intercept the Camarilla Lord's crippled ship.