Earth Song: Etude to War (19 page)

“We'll have Cherise work out the details.”

Meanwhile Lilith was trying to concentrate on a signal she'd picked up from the moon a few minutes before her mother had reappeared. She'd almost missed it entirely, completely wrapped up in exploring the mystery network. It wasn't a quantum transmission; she never would have noticed that unless it was directed to her ship’s unique signature. This was a tight beam ultra-high frequency signal sent to a local destination. If the Kaatan hadn't been orbiting directly above the source it would never have been detected.

The computer's analysis subroutines were analyzing the signal while she used the navigation system to track their destination. The signal was transmitted to the planet Valhalla in the outer solar system. More precisely, to one of the moons. So she turned her sensors on that distant moon and in minutes began to assemble a digital image that was nearly identical to the tiny world she floated above.

“How many of these secret bases
are there
in this system?” she wondered.

After watching the star system for the time it took the two Phoenix shuttles to climb from the moon's surface to orbit, Lilith concluded nothing was happening as a result of the signal. The analysis of the transmission was inconclusive. “An embedded code signal containing eleven data packets of twelve kilo-bits each,” were the results. Without knowing the established meanings of the packets, she had no way of knowing what the purpose was.

“Lilith, this is Aaron, we've reached orbit.”

“Noted, father. I am transmitting approach information.”

“Minu wants to know why you want us to come aboard. We need to get back to Bellatrix and discuss a possible plan.”

Lilith was looking at a report Pip had just transmitted. Their theory of the moon base's purpose made perfect sense. And with some work she could confirm their feelings. Even more importantly, she could probably assist. “I wish to discuss some matters that dovetail with your discovery on the moon.”

“Very well, we'll be on board in about ten minutes.”

  Lilith watched as the sleek form of the first Phoenix shuttle fired maneuvering thrusters and moved towards her ship, and the other used its gravitic drive to push off towards Remus, and home, she wondered how she was going to explain everything she'd learned to her mother.

Chapter 16

March 6th, 534 AE

T'Chillen Command Ship, Enigma Sector, Galactic Frontier

Fleet Commander Singh-Apal Katoosh watched the tactical screen with equal parts excitement and dread. Two dozen Mok-Tok ships had dropped out of supra-luminal drive two hours ago and fallen screaming into the system, making a half parsec wide deadly wedge aimed directly at the ancient fire base. Thirteen more ships bolstered the previous squadron to what his tactical termed a strike force.

He was not surprised that the shaggy mounds had brought reinforcements from their previous encounter. In fact, he would have been surprised if they hadn't, but not as surprised as the enemy was about to be.

The Mok-Toks’ two carriers disgorged a dozen squadrons of heavy fighters each, then fell back into the rear of their formation where a pair of destroyers acted as escorts. The fighters formed the tip of the spear, racing ahead at speed before the three heavy cruisers. It was a deadly vanguard designed to punch through any resistance. If the T'Chillen cruiser screen tried to hold their ground against the swarm of fighters, they risked being overwhelmed by the enemy heavy cruisers. If they ran the gauntlet through the fighters to get at the enemy capital ships, they exposed their own lighter ships in the rear to the fighters.

Katoosh's two dreadnoughts were in the rear of his formation, as the slow, heavy war machines were usually deployed. He ordered their two squadrons of fighters to launch and race for the approaching enemy even as his cruisers fell back as far as they dared. It was a desperation move, and an obvious one. Space at the front of his formation lit up with crisscrossing beams of deadly energy as the lead element of the Mok-Tok fighters came within range of his heavy cruisers.

The action took perfect timing. Katoosh watched intently as fighters began to explode and damage started to be reported on the cruisers. In a minute his own ineffective fighter force would join the hopeless fray. “Now,” he ordered his tactical leader. An order was dispatched in a way he hadn’t known existed only weeks ago.

Across space, three T'Chillen pocket carriers swung down out of supra-luminal speed almost precisely behind the enemy carriers. Primed and ready, they each hurled their four squadrons of medium fighters into space, and onto the enemy carriers and their escorts. Katoosh's fangs dripped poison as he saw the enemy formation waver in sudden confusion. Spring too soon and the enemy would have turned back on his meager carrier force, too late and the enemy fighters would have been fully engaged with no desire to withdraw.

The enemy fleet was stuck in a no win situation. Regardless of their faster than light drives, physics was still their enemy. Racing towards his forces in normal space, they'd built up a high amount of delta V that couldn't just be reversed. A fifty thousand ton destroyer could not be stopped quickly, especially without any large gravity wells to push against. There were no planets in this star system. Their gravitic drives had only the gravity plane of the galaxy to push against. It was like doing a push-up on a water bed.

“Move us up,” he ordered and the two dreadnoughts surged ahead, the fleet’s formation quickly splitting to make room for the hulking battleships. It was precision flying. Because he'd allowed them to fall back so far, many of the ships now were less than a kilometer apart. Most of the warships were piloted by females who intently did their jobs, deftly dancing their cumbersome craft without a single incident.

The enemy fighters were confused, split between breaking off to fall back and protect their carriers, and the tantalizing target of the advancing dreadnoughts.

“Launch our fighters,” Katoosh ordered and the dreadnought’s squadron jumped into space along with fighters from her sister ship. The two earlier squadrons from the carriers had been holding in closer orbit around the dreadnoughts.

The T'Chillen cruisers moved into close formation with the dreadnoughts that dwarfed them as the four squadrons of medium fighters formed into their own lance and punched into the Mok-Tok fighters. They used their lighter and faster design to scatter the heavier enemy fighters, and clear a path for the dreadnoughts.

A panic of indecision for the Mok-Tok turned into a terror of firepower as the T'Chillen battleships began to unload waves of shipkilling missiles and APAWs into the much lighter heavy cruisers.

In the end, the tactical decision of the Mok-Tok commander was one of hardware. Their fighters were largely drones controlled by occasional command fighters. Those fighters raced back to the rearmost cruisers where they squeezed into docking bays as their fleet began to break up and flee for their lives. The two enemy carriers fought against the dozens of T'Chillen fighters.

Their destroyer escorts both paid with their lives, and still only one of the two carriers managed to get clear enough to jump away. The other was critically injured, its gravitic lens drive unable to engage. Katoosh hissed in delight at the prize he'd taken. Even as the vast majority of the enemy fleet fled the system, his victory was unequivocal.

“Post action assessment,” he demanded from his tactical commander.

“Eight fighters destroyed, eleven damaged. Three destroyers sustained minor damage, and one cruiser reports serious damage from a lucky fighter-launched shipkiller. Enemy has fled the system. They have lost one cruiser, four destroyers, and one carrier. Damage assessment suggests two more heavily damaged cruisers, and moderate damage to the second carrier. They abandoned their entire fighter contingent, minus most of the command fighters. We are beginning clean-up and salvage operations.”

“Understood. Send my compliments to the carrier captains and inform them we will hold a fleet wide command meeting in six hours to discuss out next action.”

A few minutes later he was in his cabin behind the bridge examining a display floating above his computer. A three dimensional map of the galaxy slowly rotated, with T'Chillen controlled space glowing a comforting red. In each of those areas a single star sparkled, his new secret weapon. Not really a weapon though. Call it a secret asset. Two pocket carriers delivered to the Enigma system in not months, but hours. His communicator beeped for attention, and he knew who it would be.

“You are pleased with this present I have presented to you?”

“How could I not be pleased,” he replied. But his excitement turned bitter in his throat as he considered. “What has this cost me?”

“Cost? Why, there is no immediate cost.”

“There is nothing free.”

“You are correct.” The line was quiet for a moment before more text began to appear. “The T'Chillen helped the Grent eons ago, when we needed you. We will call on you again. This is why we have provided you with this tool. Use it well.”

Somewhere a few light-years away the Mok-Tok commander was licking his wounds and wondering how he'd been so thoroughly outmaneuvered. Katoosh was sure the shaggy mound would be completely confused and furious. Of course, he would have no idea that Katoosh was just as confused. Ghosts from the halls of time were walking behind him, offering advice and gifts. Why was he not happy?

In the places of politics on Nexus the leaders had many wise sayings to describe how their machinations functioned, or failed. “The plan was working well, until the Grent came along.”

Chapter 17

March 7th, 534 AE

Rasa Phoenix Shuttle, Bellatrix Orbit, Bellatrix Star System

There was plenty of room in the Kaatan's docking bay for the Phoenix shuttle. The ship’s own shuttles were moved via hoverfield and moored against the inside of the walls and ceiling when not in use. Minu always felt a little nervous when walking under the hulking needle shapes of the shuttles. It only took a minute for the familiar walk to the ship’s little command center Lilith called her home. The door irised open a moment before they arrived.

“Please come in, Mother.”

“Hi Lilith,” she said, stepping off into space and floating into the open globe of the command center. Lilith's ultra-lean figure floated in the exact center, partially surrounded by dozens of holographic displays and charts of figures. She resembled her mother in many ways. They were both lean with narrow hips and small chests, but Lilith had grown up in space. Microgravity gave her a long legged and armed grace that bordered on gangly. She'd let her hair grow over the years. To keep it controlled she put it into an elaborate ponytail that Cherise had taught her. She'd since tasked a robot to do the work for her. As Minu floated in followed by her husband, she could see her daughter’s brown eyes showing unusual concern. She was normally a fairly expressionless woman, the side effect of being raised by a computer for the first eleven years.

“Are you okay, dear?” Minu asked. She often didn't resort to that sort of familiar title with her daughter. She wondered if being pregnant had something to do with it. Then she admonished herself mentally. Like being a couple days pregnant would have anything to do with anything.

“I'm fine Mother. I have news that I thought would be better to discuss in person.” Aaron had floated into the command center as well, taking up a spot less than a meter from the pair as Minu drifted slowly to within a hand’s space of her daughter. As usual, an invisible hoverfield caught and stabilized her. She'd always wondered if that was something Lilith did consciously or was it some automated mechanism of the ship. So much of what went on aboard the ancient artifact was a mystery to her.

“Sure, but don't you want to hear about the installation?”

“I've already read Pip's report. He is going to work with Kal'at on your energy harvesting idea. This is bigger.”

Minu's eyes went wider. Discovering a secret cache of enough power to run their planet a thousand times over was phenomenal. But what she knew was bigger? This might prove interesting. She gave her a 'tell me more' look.

“When you went underground and I lost contact, I was faced with an impossibility. The facts I was taught states that quantum signals could not be blocked. It involves splitting a meson into two quarks and then taking one with you. They share a quantum state. Agitate one, and the other responds in kind.”

“I'm somewhat familiar with the theory. But doesn't that mean that every such connection only works between the two original parts of one meson? It really means you only have a fancy walkie-talkie.”

“On the surface, yes. However, there is a vast network of quantum connections. I was aware of this from the beginning, but not the true nature of that network. Not the extent of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“For the network to work correctly, and perfectly, it couldn't rely on a haphazard scheme of random connections between split mesons here and there. There had to be a central network hub, a switchboard if you will. Billions of mesons were split into quantum connections, the majority of their other halves then kept at these switchboards. When I talk to you though the quark in your implant, the quantum communicator in the Kaatan sends a signal to its paired quark at a switchboard, which in turn then sends a signal to your quark.”

“So we're not talking directly. I understand that, but what does it have to do with the signal being blocked?”

“It wasn't blocked.”

“But we have proof. We couldn't talk.”

“The signal wasn't blocked. The connection between our quantum communicators was.”

“The switchboard,” Aaron said, snapping his fingers. Lilith smiled, a rare thing, and nodded. “You're saying this switchboard knew we were inside this secret base and cut off the signal?”

“That is exactly what I am saying.”

“So the quantum communication network is another artifact of the People,” said Minu in a low voice.

“Yes. And I then began to investigate just how extensive the network was. When I was born, the medical intelligence didn't undertake my raising on its own. It got instructions from the network.”

“Really? And you didn't know this?”

“No, in fact the program was told specifically to not tell me this. Only you were allowed to know it.”

“Then why didn't it tell me?”

“You never asked.”

Minu shook her head. And this was how the Concordia worked. Mysteries, lies, and deceit. “Why am I not surprised? So now that you know this network, can you access it?”

“Yes. I...encouraged the medical intelligence to give me access to the network. After some prodding, I was allowed full access.”

“Is there a lot?” Aaron asked.

“You would be amazed. The sum database I have of the People is considerable. However, it is insignificant next to what is available on the network.”

“Where is it located?” Minu asked.

“Physically? That is something I do not know yet.”

“Why not.”

Lilith looked abashed. “There is simply too much information for me to sort out. Like many of the Concordia databases, asking simple questions seldom provides simple answers.”

Don't I know that
, Minu thought as her daughter continued. “I can't just download the entire network. I can't convey to you the volume of this database. It contains everything from technical diagrams for toys to birth and genetic records for a hundred trillion beings.”

She saw the wide-eyed awe of her parents and nodded; glad they understood the magnitude of the find. “Like most Concordia databases even today, they expect you to know what you are looking for and where to find it. I think of it like floating down a long hallway with an infinite number of doors. Open a door, see what's inside, make a note of it, and move it. Only this is such a long hallway that I could travel down it my entire life without ever finding the door I was looking for.”

“It doesn't seem a logical system to keep your data stored in,” Aaron was the one to say. “Lose your map, and lose your data?”

“It’s the greatest security system you could ask for,” Minu mused. “Sure, hack in if you want. Good luck finding anything useful.”

“Correct,” Lilith agreed, “you could spend your life sifting through real estate records and copies of birth certificates.”

“Is it still being used?” Minu wanted to know.

“As far as I can tell, it is the same system as the Concordia governments use today. There are localized sections I can identify because I am already familiar with them. They appear to be planetary and species specific nodes of the network. I even found your local Tog library branch here on Bellatrix, once I'd gained complete access.”

“So these quantum connections are everywhere.”

“Yes, mother. The nature of these connections are ubiquitous, and simple.” A screen lit up with the technical schematic of a computer chip. Minu had seen hundreds of similar designs over the years dating back to her first attempts to make the shock rifles in her early days as Chosen. The diagram centered on a section of the chip and highlighted it. A label 'quark modulator' appeared. “This is a common asynchronous interface chip. They are in every computer, tablet, and autonomous device manufactured in the empire. Have been for millions of years.”

Minu looked at her tablet floating in its holster around her waist and back at Lilith. Her daughter nodded, the long ponytail floating behind her head. She hadn't noticed how long her daughter’s hair had become. “Are you saying that every device with one of those chips is tied into this network?”

“That is precisely what I am saying.”

“So I could use those chips to spy on someone else's computer?” Aaron wondered.

“Absolutely. If you had access to that computer’s coded quantum interface chip. I have the addresses of some of the information used by the medical intelligence to order my being forcibly matured as well as tactical data of the People. Items that are considered necessary to the biological operator of a front line combat ship, and of the Combat Intelligence. It is useful information that will allow me to act more effectively in combat against other ships we have seen still in use.”

“That is good, right?” Minu asked.

“Yes, it is. It also contains details concerning remaining war assets of The People, including tactical disposition at the end of the last conflict. As you know, I've explained that this ship was stored in the firebase with the intention of preparing for an offensive that never happened. Other such assets were deployed and stored as well. That battle never took place. The enemies of The People joined together in a final sneak attack. All the pilots and crews of those ships were killed before they could be delivered to their vessels. The work of deploying those assets to their far-flung depots and firebases was wasted. They've sat there for millions of years, waiting for the offensive that never came.”

“How sad,” Aaron voiced. Minu nodded. A last stand that was never made. Leonidas and his 300, killed on the way to the Hot Gates.

“Mother, I have full access to the firebase and depot controllers.” The three were silent as her parents digested the full meaning of their daughter’s comments.

“You mean full access?” Minu asked.

“Yes. Complete access. I am sorting out the conditions and status of all the assets. But in a few days I should be able to have a good view of what is possible.”

“Do you have any idea now?”

“If I had to estimate. I'd have to say more than two dozen ships are available to be activated. Should we choose to do that, of course. It would not be without consequences.”

“Why would we even hesitate?” Aaron stammered. “I mean, two dozen more Kaatan killing machines? Humanity goes from a pimple on the Tog's ass, to the big dog overnight!”

Minu chewed her bottom lip. This is what P'ing had to mean about humanity getting into a game bigger than they understood. It would shift the balance of power completely, and maybe throw the entire galaxy into war.

P'ing's words came drifting unbidden into her mind. “It all points to a fact that, were it to become public knowledge in the Concordia, would likely result in either complete societal collapse, or all out galactic war.” The People's hidden armada, coveted by the T'Chillen for thousands of years, was now being laid at her feet.

But it isn't my feet they're being laid at, Minu thought, it's Jacob's feet. The thought sent a shiver up her spine. It's what he's wanted all along, warships to play with. He was already using the Rangers as a mercenary army for hire to bring money and prestige to humanity. But at what cost? The lives lost on distant worlds was the least of it, in her opinion.

The worst was how mankind was being positioned. You can't walk the middle of the road forever. It was worse than picking a side. No-one trusted you. Add these ships, and then what happened? Jacob's attempted middle of the road neutrality would disintegrate into an all-out war with the T'Chillen, at the very least. The snakes would come completely unhinged when humans showed up to claim the remaining functional warships of The People. They wouldn't give them up without a fight.

And she didn't even know what the other spacefaring species would do. The Mok-Tok hated humans because they were allies of the Tog. And what of the Tog? Would they stand as allies of their former slaves? Damn it, it was all too confusing and frustrating. Then she thought about how her daughter had made the announcement. “It wouldn't be without consequences.”

“What kind of consequences?” she asked through her brooding silence. “I mean beyond the political and military ones.”

“The firebases and depots are all powered through solar taps in their star systems. They have been draining energy from their stars for millions of years.”

“So?” Aaron spoke up. “Pip said the whole Concordia is powered with solar taps. Doesn't seem to be a problem to anyone.”

“Those solar taps were established carefully in stars with just the right spectral class. They were intended to be temporary only. The condition of the star and stability were not factored in because the taps were never meant to be there for more than a few years.”

“So there is a danger to the star?”

“According to what I've found, there were eleven firebases and three depots established for the planned offensive. Of them only three firebases and one depot have functioning power sources.”

“What happened to the others?” Minu asked.

“Five failed, depleting the star below the spectral class necessary to maintain the tap, two were lost due to mechanical failure, and three destabilized their stars, inducing a supernova.”

“Holy shit,” Aaron gasped. “The fucking star exploded?”

“Correct.”

“Were there beings living on the planets in the solar system?” Minu asked.