Aliens Vs. Humans (Aliens Series Book 4) (31 page)

Jack looked forward. Displacing the image of rocky Vesta and black space were the Slav-Asian features of Helena Antonov. Who looked upset. Before he could ask, she spoke.

“Hello, Fleet Captain Jack. We arrived at 50 AU north of the Usulungun ecliptic plane fifteen hours ago. But,” she winced, “we lost a ship. One of the new Belter ships. The
Coyote
was penetrated several times by lasers fired from a robotic platform. No one dead. Three injured. We slagged the platform shortly after it attacked.” She looked aside to where her Tech crewman sat. “Captain Chidiebele and his four crew are split between our ship and the
Wolf
. Jason says Chidiebele is in our Med Station undergoing surgery for two broken legs, while his Drive Engineer and ComChief are being treated on the
Wolf
for shrapnel cuts. Everyone on the
Coyote
was wearing vacsuits per normal Combat Alert rules. Otherwise they would all be dead.” Helena turned back to Jack, her high cheekbones tight as a drumhead. “Captain, after the
Coyote
got hit by this sentry platform, our two surviving ships Alcubierre jumped away from our arrival site. Which now swarms with grav-pull ships of the Usulungun Hunters.” She gave him a hungry smile. “We set the
Coyote’s
fusion reactor to self-destruct either upon entry or upon hull contact with another ship. Hopefully that will hurt some of those bastards!”

Jack wondered briefly at the bad luck that put the three Belter ships within attack range of a weapons platform. Which had to have been doing a random walk survey of the space directly north of the star. While they would have had a good eight hours to evacuate the wounded and bring onboard food supplies from the dead ship, both the
Grizzly
and
Wolf
would now be very crowded. “Thank you for that report. Please convey my sympathies to Captain Chidiebele when he wakes up.” He gestured back to Denise. “We’re sending you a vidrecord of the departure ceremony for humanity’s first colony ship. Which has left Sol system for a distant star, there to plant our first human colony.”

Helena perked up, her distracted manner becoming attentive. “Excellent news! I will share the vidrecord with our friends on the
Wolf
.” The woman looked past Jack. “Drive Engineer Max, many many thanks for signaling us with the new settings for our Alcubierre stardrive! You have no idea how tedious it was staying in this can for two months straight!” She looked back to Jack. “Now, we know we can reach Sol system within 12 days or so.”

Jack nodded. “You will be welcome here. Uh, I gather the Usulungun Hunters are not the Arbitor dinos?”

Helena closed her eyes briefly, as exhaustion hit her, then opened them. She fixed on him. “Fleet Captain Jack, they are not. Our receipt of AV broadcasts over the hours we’ve been at our new position told us that. No dinos. But they
are
weird looking.” She gestured aside to her ComChief. “Sending you the strongest AV broadcast.”

Helena’s image moved to one side as a new image appeared on the front screen. Jack swallowed hard. He needed to. His stomach wanted to flip inside out.

A cross between a spider and a scorpion filled the side screen. The creature was a segmented arthropod with red and yellow stripes adorning its midbody exoskeleton. A clear aposematic signal of danger. But this Usulungun thing possessed two lobsterlike pincers up front that had razor sharp edges, four legs on either side, an elevated tail with what looked like a stinger on it, and a cluster of four black eyes across its blocky head. Below the eyes was a mandible mouth filled with slicing parts. Below the mandible mouth were four palps that worked like fingers. This creature was using those palp-fingers to operate a large machine that hovered on maglev suspension. A tap of a palp caused a green laser to shoot out from the machine. It struck a rocky hill. After seconds of fuming steam a large opening had been cut into the hillside. The Usulungun shifted the machine sideways a bit, then repeated its laser strike. The opening enlarged. In the distance beyond Jack saw fifteen other Usulungun doing the same thing. Whether they were mining the hillside or cutting entrances for a hillside habitation he had no idea. Nor did he wish to learn. He lifted his hand to signal Denise she could cut off the AV signal. The sound of retching from behind him told him he had been too late.

“Nikola?”

His lifemate gasped. The crinkle of paper told him she had grabbed a low-gee spewbag. Hopefully before much of her lunch had gone elsewhere. “Get rid of it!”

Denise did not need a spoken order. Up front the screen lost the Usulungun image and refilled with Helena, her crew and their Pilot Cabin. The woman lifted a black eyebrow. “Warned you.”

Jack licked his lips. Lifting his water bottle, he took three sips. He needed them to settle his stomach. “Thank you. I think.” He noticed that the woman’s mostly Russian ethnic crew looked tired, worn down and frustrated. “Please commend your crewmates for their outstanding work at saving fellow Belter shipmates. And tell them it is time to come home!” Everyone looked alert at that. Most of them smiled. “Our Belter fleet will soon leave Sol to return to the Megurk system. There to take down the Isolation Globe with a new weapon designed by our Archibald. It puts out lots of Dark Energy. Which we think will kill the Isolation Globe put beside the Megurk sun by some Arbitor ship long ago.” Jack sat back in his seat, glanced down at the holo above his Tech panel, noticed Maureen was cleaning her laser rifle while she waited for his decision, and realized it was time. “Please return home as soon as possible. After we kill this Isolation Globe, we will return to Sedna to defend Sol against an attack by this Arbitor dino. Your aid and that of every combat-capable ship in Sol system will be needed. Understood?”

The middle-aged woman nodded abruptly. “Completely understood! The crews of the
Grizzly
, the
Wolf
and the
Coyote
will be ready for this fight!”

Of that Jack had no doubt. It took dedication and stubborn persistence to stay onboard ship for more than two months, while pursuing a long shot effort to find the home system of these Arbitors. Now, it was clear they would not know where the dinos called home. It mattered not. He had a sure-fire way of drawing MakMakGor to Sol and to Sedna. “Thank you, Captain Helena. Denise has sent you our vidrecord of the departure of the first human colony ship. We hope you and your crew will enjoy watching it. Along with the latest sports vids of Sol-wide soccer, last year’s Olympics and a holo remake of Sherlock Holmes’ crime dramas.”

Cheering sounded from the crewmates behind Helena. Who gave Jack a weary salute. “We will depart for home within two hours. Report ended.”

The woman’s neutrino signal vanished. A true-light image of Vesta, the nearby Mars ships and the white band of the Milky Way filled the cabin’s front screen. Across the top of the screen came the images of his six fleet captains, plus the images of Hideyoshi, Gareth and Zhāng. Ten ships were represented, when you included the
Uhuru
.

“My allies, you’ve seen the neutrino reports by Captains Vigdis and Helena. They are returning home. Time for us to leave Vesta and Sol.” Jack glanced at Maureen’s holo image, then to his Tech panel, which showed his ship’s weapons load. He looked up. “Is every ship fully armed with thermonuke torps, Magpulse Bombs, X-ray Petal Shield torps, railgun barrels and geo-penetrator rockets?”

Hideyoshi was the first to respond. “The
Bismarck
is fully armed and operational,” the man said, his tone blunt. “We have a load of 20 thermonuke torps, 12 Magpulse Bomb torps, ten X-ray Shield torps and spare parts for repairs to our ship and other fleet ships. Our Higgs Disruptor nodule and other directed energy weapons are powered up. All 310 ship crew are onboard and ready to depart.”

Zhāng gave him a quick salute. “Fleet Captain Jack, the
Nimitz
is armed with similar loads of torps and bombs. Our antimatter, neutral particle beam and laser mounts are operational. Professor Wheeler and Director Cumberland report the Dark Energy Projector is ready for this encounter.” The woman looked to one side, then back. “Weaponry Chief Lieutenant Donald Johansen reports all combat stations are manned, and that Wheeler and Cumberland are at the ready at the DE Projector pedestal on this deck.”

Gareth gave him a full-bearded smile. “The
Dragon
is similarly armed, operational in all mounts including our Higgs Disruptor, and Combat Commander Angelique Vincent is eager to confront our enemies. As am I.”

The captains of his First Belter Fleet were equally armed, operational and eager to leave for Megurk system. Jack caught the eye of the Mars fleet chief. “Admiral Hideyoshi Minamoto, will you assign one of your destroyers to manage the combined Mars and Belter fleets for Sol system patrol and protection? During our absence?”

The man, wearing his Mars red uniform and looking busy as a dozen crew moved behind him to various function stations, showed resolute determination. “I will. Captain Amitar Gupta of the
MacArthur
is hereby promoted to Fleet Commander. She will oversee the patrol assignments of all ships in the two Belter fleets and our Mars fleet.” The man smiled briefly. “She will also assume the onerous duties of coordination with political . . . dignitaries from the various nations and worlds who voted Declarations of War against the Arbitor ship and system. Satisfactory?”

“Most satisfactory, admiral.” Jack looked back to Nikola, who seemed fully recovered from the attack of nausea. “Chief Astronomer, will you provide our Pilot with the galactic coordinates for the Megurk system? Along with a distance and travel time estimate?”

Nikola gave him a quick nod. “I will.” She looked down at her Astro panel. “Coordinates sent to Pilot Elaine Munroe. Distance to Megurk system is 87.4 light years. Travel time estimate is two days, three hours, twenty-two minutes and sixteen seconds.”

Jack grinned. Her exactitude on the travel time was new. He looked to his sister. “Pilot Elaine, have you laid in the NavTrack orientation for departure?”

She gave him a sisterly smile, then looked down at her panel. “NavTrack oriented. This ship and the other fleet ships are now oriented toward the rotation of galactic arms. We are all aimed at the target star.”

He checked his own Tech panel which showed all ship systems. Each one blinked green operational. “Drive Engineer, send a timelock to all fleet Drive modules. Activate our Alcubierre stardrive when ready.”

Behind him his buddy gave a long whistle. “Finally! Reactor One feeding power to the Alcubierre drive! Heading out!”

Jack watched the imagery on the front screen go jagged, then hazy, then disappear as the Alcubierre space-time globe enclosed their ship even as it shrank space-time ahead and expanded it behind them. Their ship, and the other nine ships of his fleet, shot out of Sol system and headed for the Megurk system.

Jack unlocked his restraint straps, stood up and looked back. He grinned as everyone looked up at him. “Angus steaks are thawed. Potatoes, greens and veggies are in the cooler. I’m heading back to cook dinner. I’ll take orders for beer and hard stuff whenever you all show up!”

Cassie smiled at him. Blodwen gave him a happy nod. Max punched the air. Elaine turned in her seat to follow him. Nikola rubbed her belly as if to reassure him she was ready to eat for two. Young Denise, who had her red braids curled atop her head, released her restraint straps. And Maureen, no doubt, was already headed forward since there was nothing for her Battle Module to shoot at.

He walked past his loyal crewmates and then through the hatch opening onto the Spine hallway. As his shipboots echoed against the metal of the hallway floor, Jack felt good inside. The Dark Energy Projector was an amazing bit of Tech. He felt certain it would work. When it did, he had in mind a nearby juvenile system he wanted to contact, Sentry probe be damned! Exploring the galaxy was the right of everyone who lived there, no matter if they were herbivores, omnivores or carnivores. And his Freedom Alliance allies would soon receive his call for them to send ships to Sol for the final confrontation with the Arbitor ship. He thought all eight systems would send ships. When they did, it meant more than forty deadly human and Alien starships would join the
Uhuru
in facing down MakMakGor and his fellow dinos!
 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Arrival at the Megurk system was as simple as before. The fleet exited Alcubierre space-time drive, courtesy of Max’s time-lock setting for the Alcubierre stardrive. Everyone was wearing vacsuits and helmets. And the swiftness of their arrival had left everyone eager for this confrontation. He looked to the right, past Maureen’s empty seat. “Pilot, tell us how things stand.”

She gestured at the front screen. It’s true-light image from the Schmidt refractor scope showed solid blackness ahead. “We are 51 AU out from the star’s coordinates. Just beyond the Isolation Globe boundary at 50 AU.”

“Max,” Jack called, “how are power and engines?”

“Fully operational,” his buddy replied.

“Good. Elaine, what does your Sensor panel say about the space ahead?”

She looked down at the panel that she had swung in from her left armrest. “As before, nothing. Which is not normal. Even empty space radiates heat at a few degrees Kelvin. And the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation fills all of space-time. Except for here. Also, we are too close to see nearby stars. Unless we turn Nikola’s Big Eye scope to look rearward.”

His lifemate chuckled. “I
am
deploying the Big Eye. We’ll need it to see what lies within this system. Once the globe disappears.”

Jack liked that kind of positive thinking. “Pilot, give us a sensor image.”

Elaine tapped on her Sensor panel. Up front appeared a split-screen view of the space ahead. On one side there appeared a circular space of solid blue. A cluster of ten red dots lay near the outer edge of the blue. “The red dots are the ships of the fleet. The blue is the zone of absence of any kind of EMF radiation. Including x-rays, ultraviolet, gamma rays, random neutrons, stellar wind, everything!” Across the top of the screen there appeared the images of the nine other ship captains as their laser Come-Back signal integrated through Denise’s Comlink panel. Elaine looked his way, her expression grim. “Jack, I can’t tell you more until this Isolation thingie goes away.”

For which there was no reason to delay further. “Pilot, thank you.” He scanned the ship captain images. “Fleet captains, are your ships on Combat Alert?”

“On alert!” called Hideyoshi. “We are sweeping the space ahead with our Higgs beam. As a precaution.”

Jack liked that. The yellow beam from the
Bismarck
swept across the space before them. Only a few brief sparkles happened as tiny dust particles gave up their atomic cohesion.

Zhāng gave him a quick, professional nod. “The
Nimitz
is ready to fight. All systems operational.”

Gareth grinned. “The
Dragon
is also ready. We are watching to the rear, in case some Hunter chooses now to visit this system.”

“The
Caiman
is ready to snap her jaws,” said Júlia, her helmet half-filled with the tight curls of her black hair.

His Basque brother Ignacio scanned him, gave a smile as he saw Jack wore his own black
boina
, then slapped his chest. “The
Badger
is ready to kill!”

“My ship is eager to taste blood!” called Akemi. The petite woman held up a slim hand. “My
shogun
, may the
Orca
precede you into this system?”

The normally calm woman, who looked years younger than her 40 chrono years, seemed ready to jump out of her Pilot seat, swinging the ancient
katana
sword she had inherited from her
samurai
family. “Captain Akemi, yes, you may precede the fleet. Once we jump into the system ahead.”

Aashman, Kasun and Minna were equally ready. Jack checked the holo above his Tech panel. Maureen looked at him. “Well?”

Exactly so. Jack looked to the image of Zhāng. “Fleet Commander, proceed as we discussed. Let Archibald and Agnes do their thing. With the guidance of you and Lieutenant Johansen.”

The woman’s normally bland expression showed sudden eagerness. She looked back over her left shoulder to where Jack could see his two physics geniuses standing before a control pedestal. “You have the galactic coordinates for this system’s star. Fire your Dark Energy Projector!”

“One moment,” muttered Archibald over the intership laser comlink. “Ah. Perfect. Agnes? It is your accelerator that made this possible. Would you care to accelerate some Dark Matter so we can strike the Isolation Globe with too much Dark Energy for its belly?”

A feminine chuckled came over the
Nimitz
comlink as Zhāng lifted an eyebrow. “Fleet Commander, we are accelerating the DM. And now we are . . . firing!”

Jack looked down at the true-light image of blackness. The Dark Energy beam was not visible, just as Dark Matter was also non-radiative in the EMF spectrum. Which left him to watch and hope. He had no idea how large the Isolation Globe left behind by the Arbitor ship was. He just knew, by instinct, that anything built to handle the powers of Dark Energy had to have some limit. Clearly the device had been built to suck Dark Energy from the metaverse as a means of powering a stationary Alcubierre space-time globe the size of a star system. While nano-level microelectronics and virus fabrication had allowed for an incredible miniaturization of all Tech systems over the last hundred years, he was betting that the Arbitor device had limits. It was, after all, smaller than the Arbitor ship itself. Which had the mass of the
Nimitz
destroyer. That put a limit on the size of the power matrices that the device could hold. Which left him wondering. Which would happen first? Would the DE Projector run out of Dark Matter to accelerate or would the Isolation Globe hit system overload before then?

“Yes!” yelled Elaine.

The front screen filled with starry images. Yellow, white, blue, every color of star now filled the front screen. A bright yellow star occupied the center of the screen. Which must be the Megurk star. “Elaine! What are your graviton readouts? Any grav-pull ships in that system? What about neutrino sources? And—”

“Damn!” she interrupted, lifting her left hand to point at a side screen that now appeared to the left of the true-light image. A silvery spot appeared next to a giant silver globe. “Graviton blast! From next to the home star. Wow!”

Jack grinned. Since gravitons traveled at FTL speeds throughout the universe, they were the only natural emission that his fleet could see in real-time. The graviton blast had to be from the Isolation Globe. And since the probe had to generate gravitons as part of the Alcubierre space-time globe, the sudden blast meant the entire device had died. Even as he watched the silvery spot grew smaller and smaller until it winked out. Leaving only the giant silver globe of the yellow star. No doubt the side screen would show silvery balls for each planet in the system, once Elaine changed her Sensor setting. Everything of mass emitted some level of gravitons. Stars, planets and quasars emitted lots of them.

A slap on his back made him jump. “Yes!” cried Nikola from behind him. “Oh, Jack! You guessed right. We killed that fucking Isolation Globe!”

“Well done, youngster,” said Maureen from within the holo image  above his Tech panel. “Anybody left to hunt in that system?”

Above the front screen came cheers, yells and joy from every ship in the fleet. Hideyoshi, normally so professionally bland, was pumping the air with a fist. Gareth was howling about how the Welsh dragon ruled the universe. As for Zhāng, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Archibald and Agnes had approached her from behind and were now pouring a bucket of ice cubes over the woman’s helmet. “You whackos!” she screamed, though her face showed happiness.

Jack could only shake his head at the antique sports victory celebration. Then again, Belter people loved some old habits. While Zhāng’s red uniformed people looked on in surprise, with Weaponry Chief Johansen grabbing the shoulders of the two vacsuited physicists to pull them back from his boss, Zhāng’s boss Hideyoshi just shook his head.

“Fleet Commander, get used to these Belter antics!” the Mars admiral said. “They are part and parcel of our allies.”

His other crewmates were out of their seats and gathered around up front, most of them giving him a fist-pump, a grin, two hands up in the old victory sign, and good Max had pulled out a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label. Which he was unscrewing.

“Hey!” he yelled as Blodwen gave him a hug and pursed her lips in kiss blocked by her helmet. “Max, hold off on that booze. We have an unknown star system ahead of us. We could be facing combat. Everyone! Back to Combat Alert!”

Loud groans came from all his crew, but they moved back to their function stations. A whisper came from behind him. “I’m proud of you,” said Nikola over the suit comlink.

Jack grinned. It was right to feel great. For the first time in 3,000 years, someone had killed the Isolation Globe of the Arbitors. Which meant Jack and his fellow humans could do the same at the remaining 13 Isolated systems. He suddenly realized that a local victory like this had long-term implications. “Pilot, any grav-pull ship signatures showing in that system ahead?”

“None,” she said hurriedly. “Only graviton emissions coming from ahead are the normal ones from the planets and the star.”

“Nikola? What do your instruments tell you about the system ahead?” Jack hoped no one had paid attention to her soft words.