Cradle of War (A Captain's Crucible Book 3) (16 page)

“No reply,” the AI returned.

“Dragonfly 1,” Jonathan said. “Transmit data bundle Minerva Unveiled.” That was the name he had given the excerpted log entries, tactical replays, and video clips he had put together. It was basically a summary of what happened to the battle group over the past six months—a heavily trimmed down version of the full bundle, which in itself would take about two days to transmit wirelessly.

The bundle was prefaced with an introductory video by the captain that started with: “This is Captain Jonathan Dallas of the
USS Callaway
, Battle Group 72.5. The following is an abridged version of the events that transpired during our deployment to the star system Vega 951. What you’re about to see will at times seem unbelievable, but I assure you none of these entries have been altered from their original state. This is not a fabrication. Everything you are about to see is real.”

“Transmission complete,” the AI replied.

“What now?” Rodriguez asked over the comm.

“Now we wait,” Jonathan said. At another time that transmission would have been more readily dismissed, but given the context, with these United Systems ships likely having experienced a Raakarr attack first hand, he felt certain they would believe him.

The minutes ticked past. The nuke slowly edged toward the retreating telemetry drone. If he waited much longer, there wouldn’t be time to retrieve the drone before it was destroyed.

“I’m receiving a tap-in request from the AI of one of the ships,” the Dragonfly abruptly announced. “Though the request is not for you, Captain.”

Jonathan felt his brow crumple. “Then who is it for?”

“Me,” the AI responded. “Should I take it?”

Jonathan hesitated only a moment. “Go ahead,” he told the Dragonfly.

T
he seconds ticked by uneventfully. Jonathan nervously tapped his toe inside the boot of his spacesuit.

So this is what it comes to. Our fate in the hands of two AIs, idly conversing while a nuclear warhead floats toward us.

Finally Barrick said: “Otter tells me the nuke is reversing course.”

Jonathan exhaled in relief. “You did it, Dragonfly 1.”

“Yes,” the AI returned. “I shared footage from your aReal to demonstrate that we are, in fact, on board the alien bridge, and not merely hostages. I was also forced to share a partial memory dump to prove that I had not been compromised. There are still doubts, but the two ships have agreed to talk with you.”

“Tap me in, then,” Jonathan answered. “Visual, if you can.”

“That won’t be possible,” the Dragonfly responded. “Both corvettes are unmanned.”

“Ah.” That made some sense. Many of the ships in the frontier military bases were AI operated. These two had probably stayed behind while the manned ships fled.

“This is Nikola of the
USS Tesla
,” a pleasant voice said over the line.

“And this is Galileo of the
USS Galilei
,” another mellifluous voice, though deeper in tone.

“And I’m Captain Jonathan Dallas, formerly of the
USS Callaway
,” Jonathan said. “Pleased to meet you.”

“The pleasure is ours,” the two AIs returned in unison.

“So my Dragonfly unit tells me you’re still trying to decide whether to stand down or not,” Jonathan sent.

“We have stood down,” Nikola returned. “For the moment. The data you sent presents a compelling case. Even so, if it is ever determined you are in league with the enemy, we will promptly incinerate you.”

“I’m not in league with them,” Jonathan said. “These aliens, in fact, are the ones in league with us. Or wish to be, anyway.”

“Unlike my esteemed colleague, I am inclined to side with you, Captain Dallas,” Galileo sent. “I have reviewed your record and psychology profile, and do not believe you are capable of betraying humanity. At least not of your own free will. You are a man of high morals.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” Jonathan said. “It’s good that not all AIs lack common sense.”

“Still,” Galileo sent. “Some of the evidence you present is disturbing. A telepath capable of taking over the minds of all bridge officers? How can we know whether you are not under the influence of that telepath at this very moment? How would you yourself know?”

Jonathan double-checked that Barrick was muted from the connection, and then said: “My chief scientist has created special psi-shielded spacesuits. These protect us from the influence of the telepath.”

“But how can you know for certain that you are protected?” Galileo pressed.

“Because,” Jonathan sent. “I wouldn’t be talking to you right now, but rather, trying to destroy you.”

“But couldn’t you be plotting our destruction at this very moment?” Nikola added. “Attempting to convince us that you are on our side, but meanwhile scheming to destroy us the moment we lower our guard?”

Goddamn AIs.

“Look, keep your distance if you like,” Jonathan said. “The maximum range of the particle beam is fifteen thousand kilometers, though it can still do damage out to thirty thousand, especially when combined with beams from other ships. So do whatever it takes to ensure your safety. Don’t come closer than thirty thousand klicks.”

“The range is consistent with the excerpted data you sent,” Nikola said. “Though that data could have been fabricated, of course. Even so, we will assume you are telling the truth. For now. But we will keep a minimum distance of forty thousand kilometers from your vessel at all times.”

“Fine,” Jonathan said.

“If you truly are not under the influence of the telepath,” Galileo sent. “It is impressive that you have captured one of the alien vessels, complete with crew. It was a good trick, pretending to ally with them.”

“We didn’t
pretend
anything,” Jonathan said. “These aliens fought for us, and represent a faction of the aliens that wish to make peace with humanity. They are to be treated with the respect anyone would afford potential allies.”

“Whether or not NAVCENT agrees with that classification will be determined at a later date,” Galileo responded. “In the meantime, while we are assuming your good intentions, we will also assume these aliens are your prisoners, and will treat them as such.”

“NAVCENT will agree with me when they find out what the aliens have to offer,” Jonathan said. Though he wasn’t entirely sure himself. He wondered vaguely if he was leading all of these Zarafe to their doom, betrayed by the very man who promised them an alliance.

“We shall see,” Galileo replied.

“What happened in Anvil Rappel?” Jonathan asked.

“Approximately ten days ago,” Galileo said. “A comm node entered the system and transmitted imagery of six vessels emerging from behind an asteroid in Prius 3. The heat signatures of these vessels was not in any of our databases.

“Remote scans reported the destruction of the return Gate inside Prius 3 shortly thereafter. We evacuated Anvil Prime immediately. When the last manned ship departed, we moved the Gates using previously deployed Dragonflies. The shuttles hid the outermost Gate behind Anvil Rappel X, and the innermost behind Anvil Rappel III. The
Tesla
and
Galilei
were already in position near the outer Slipstream, so we mined the entrance with nukes, switched the remaining telemetry drones in the system to stealth mode, and then took cover. Six days ago, the mines began to detonate. Then the invaders entered the system from Prius 3.”

Six days,
Jonathan thought.
We barely missed seeing them in Prius 3.

“How many invaders were there?” Jonathan asked.

“Nine, of varying ship classes,” Galileo replied.

“Nine?” That meant reinforcements had likely already awaited in Vega 951 when the six from the Elder galaxy arrived.

“Yes. The intruders destroyed most of our mines, and evaded the rest, making their way toward the inner system. We were outnumbered, so remained in hiding behind the asteroid. We watched the invaders proceed directly to the Slipstream above Anvil Prime. Before they passed through, they razed the colony on the planet. Most of the robots and AIs that stayed behind were destroyed.”

“A terrible loss,” Jonathan said. “You mentioned Dragonflies moved the Gates behind Anvil Rappel III and X after the last manned ship departed. I don’t suppose you have more unmanned corvettes hidden behind either planet? Perhaps guarding the Gates?”

“No,” Nikola said. “Only Dragonflies.”

“Too bad,” Jonathan said. “Because we have some heat. Three alien pursuers, about half a day behind. One laser class, two darts.”

“These classes are in the data excerpt you sent, I believe,” Galileo said.

“They are, and I’ll go over the various classes with you later,” Jonathan said. “But the gist of the matter is, we require your assistance. I want—”

“Do you have a larger version of the data excerpt available?” Nikola interrupted.

“We do,” Jonathan replied.

“Please begin transmission of the full version,” Nikola transmitted.

“It’ll take two days,” Jonathan said. “Longer with this radiation.”

He had omitted the mutiny attempt against Admiral Knox from the excerpted data; he was reluctant to send the unabridged copy, because he was uncertain how the AIs would react when they learned of his actions.

“Please begin transmission of the full version,” Nikola repeated.

“All right, after we end this call,” Jonathan said, stalling. “Bandwidth is a little low right now, in case you haven’t noticed. And while you machines might be able to understand garbled speech, a human being has a tough time.”

“That is acceptable,” Nikola replied.

“Though I’m probably going to terminate the data transmission in roughly ten hours, before the pursuers arrive,” Jonathan continued. “Because I have a little plan in mind. And I’m going to need your help. And since I’m the highest ranking human officer in the system, you are duty-bound by your precious protocol to obey me.”

While there was slightly less urgency to return now that they knew NAVCENT had been alerted, Jonathan still wanted to get rid of their pursuers before they became a problem. The enemy ships would have to be faced at some point, after all. Better that it was during a battle of his choosing.

“We will obey,” the AI responded. “For the moment. But if it is ever determined you are in league with the enemy, we will promptly incinerate you and your vessel.”

“Yes yes,” Jonathan replied. “You said that already.”

He detailed the plan that had come to him, pausing at times to consult with his crew and Valor, and together they ironed-out something workable.

“While this is a good plan,” Rodriguez said at one point. “We should really wait until we join up with a sizable United Systems force before staging any sort of attack.”

“Why the cold feet all of a sudden?” Rail chimed in. “Like you said, it’s a good plan. I say we fight.” Ah, Rail, ever the reliable warmonger.

“We all know how important our cargo is,” Rodriguez said. “Even if it isn’t as urgent that we warn the United Systems anymore. We carry a wealth of tactics and information regarding the enemy that must get to Central Command.”

“Normally I would agree,” Jonathan said. “But we have nine more alien vessels waiting for us in Delta Avalon, the next system. The military garrison there is bigger than this one, but not by much, and we have no idea how many of them have stayed to fight. We could dash into the system and begin transmitting our two-days worth of information, but I suspect the Gates have already been hidden to spare them from destruction.” Without Gates, any comm nodes remaining in the system wouldn’t be able to relay the data. “Therefore, I say we strike now, and bring down our pursuers while we still have the advantage. Otherwise, when we move into Delta Avalon, we could find ourselves facing twelve enemy vessels in a pincer maneuver from the start.”

Rodriguez had nothing more to say, so Jonathan shared the final iteration of the plan with Barrick for Valor’s approval.

“Valor likes it,” the telepath said. “He agrees to help.”

“I thought he would,” Jonathan said, knowing how much the Zarafe alien hated the so-called Elk.

With the strategizing done, Jonathan closed the communication relay and began transmitting the full dataset to the corvettes, as the AIs had requested; because of the file transfer mechanism he employed, the latest packets were sent first. That ensured his mutiny attempt wouldn’t be seen by the AIs before the plan called for him to cut the transmission and switch to radio silence.

There was one thing he hadn’t yet cleared with Valor; it was an optional part of the plan, but something Jonathan felt he needed to do.

“Tell Valor I want to distribute the humans aboard the
Talon
between those two corvettes immediately,” Jonathan told Barrick. “I’ll stay here, of course, along with ten of the combat robots. And the Dragonfly will return after it finishes transporting our personnel.” He wasn’t going to mention that the Dragonfly’s secret cargo would be transferred to a corvette during one of the shuttle’s runs. Everything would go, except for the holographic drives, which he planned to keep aboard for the time being.

Disseminating the human personnel would go a long way towards gaining the trust of the AIs, and it would allay some of the unease he felt over keeping members of his crew confined aboard an alien ship.

Jonathan had a mind to leave the
Talon
for one of the human vessels as well, but he wanted to keep an eye on Barrick and the aliens for the moment. He doubted he would be able to convince Valor to let him go anyway.

“Chief Galaal, did you get all of that?” Jonathan asked the chief.

“I did,” the chief returned. “We’ve packed up our tents and personal belongings, and we’re suited up and ready to go. As soon as the airlock opens, we’re out of here.”

“Barrick, have Valor open the airlock of the berthing area please,” Jonathan said.

The telepath was frowning behind his faceplate.

“Barrick?” Jonathan pressed.

“Valor is refusing to let them out,” Barrick replied.

“Why?”

“He doesn’t want anyone leaving until the peace negotiations have concluded,” Barrick said.

“But we haven’t even
begun
any negotiations,” Jonathan said in exasperation.

“Precisely Valor’s point,” the telepath said.

Jonathan nodded slowly. “So my tactical officer was right all along. The Raakarr want to use us as bargaining chips.”

“You have to look at it from Valor’s point of view,” Barrick said. “How can he be sure you won’t present his ship and crew to the United Systems as some sort of war trophy? Scheduling his people for dissection, impounding his ship for reverse engineering?”