Escape 1: Escape From Aliens (19 page)

“New information!” called Star Traveler in an urgent tone.

Bill’s system graphic flashed back to its original depiction of five planets and the star. On the far side of the system there now blinked a purple dot.

“A Collector ship has arrived in this system,” the AI said hurriedly. “By neutrino signal I am transmitting to the other ship mind the truth of what its bioform crew does with its guests. However, its bioform crew may remove its linkage to ship controls as happened in the Market world system.”

Bill’s muscles tightened. He leaned forward and scanned the ship weapons holo up front and the system graphic on his left. “Captain, that ship will be here in six hours since it arrived on the far side of the star. Weapons are operational and ready to defend us.”

“Damn!” Jane muttered loudly. “Well, Bill, I’m not going to gamble that the other ship mind will block the taking of more slaves. Time to alert the local Ludeen authorities.”

“Collector pods have returned to this ship,” Long Walker said from his station.

In the holo to his right he saw Jane tapping a silver pillar. It was the one that controlled ship-to-ship radio broadcasts. “Understood, Captain. You have my support. Seems kind of pointless to return two Ludeen only to have two more taken. Or maybe a dozen kidnapped.”

“Exactly. Star Traveler, translate my English into Ludeen speech as ship radio broadcasts it.”

“Understood. Translation will be automatic.”

“Ludeen planetary authorities, I am Captain Jane Yamaguchi of the starship
Blue Sky
,” she said hurriedly. “Our ship cannot be detected by normal means. We have returned two Ludeen who were captured by interstellar Aliens who sell captives into slavery. Our ship will leave your system shortly. However, another starship has arrived beyond the orbit of your fifth world. It is a Collector ship. Its crew aims to secretly capture some Ludeen for sale to other Aliens. Advise your people to look for white-glowing teardrops in the night sky. Those are the collector pods used to capture people. Your Mountain city lasers may be able to shoot them down.”

A low hum sounded. “Incoming signal from Ludeen world,” the ship mind announced.

“Accepted,” Jane said.

Chittering came before the English translation that Bill heard on his ear buds.

“Ship
Blue Sky
, this is North Mountain Launch Dome. We thank you for your warning. Your signal comes from a part of the day sky that is empty according to our telescopes.” The male sounding voice paused. “The arrival of life from other stars is amazing! You are welcome. The other ship is not. How do we detect this Collector ship? Is that possible?”

Jane’s image showed her grimacing. “It is possible to detect the Collector ship in orbit above you if your engineers can fabricate a neutrino detector. You should look for a moving source of neutrinos that is more powerful than the neutrino emissions from your local star or from distant stars.”

“May the Ancestral Forests bless you!” said the same voice. “How much time do we have until this Collector ship arrives above our world?”

“Six hours,” Jane said, counting on the AI to translate it into Ludeen time counts. “If you cannot make a detector that soon, make one anyway. Other Collector ships visit the Ludeen system because your technology is modest. The Collector ships do not expect to be detected. If in the future you detect them and fight back, your world of Green Land will be left alone.”

“Thank you for that information.” A pause came. “How do we contact friendly people like you? In the future?”

Jane gave a long sigh. “Build your own spaceships. Explore your other planets. Research high energy physics. There are methods to avoid the limitations of the speed of light. Good luck! We depart now.”

“Captain,” called Lofty Flyer, “the Collector ship still approaches this world. What is our departure vector?”

“In the opposite direction,” Jane said. “Once we reach the space beyond the brown dwarf we can transit to our Alcubierre space-time modulus and leave this system.”

“Changing vector. Departing from this world at one-tenth light speed,” the flying squirrel said softly.

Bill checked his system graphic holo. It showed the purple dot of the Collector ship. Which was still incoming. Whatever impact the neutrino signal from Star Traveler had had on that ship’s AI, it had not been enough to stop the approach of the Collector ship. Their ship dot now moved away from the Ludeen world and the approaching purple dot. It would take just under three hours to reach the fifth world’s orbit and gained the freedom to go FTL.

“Damn!” he muttered. “Wish we could stop that other Collector ship!”

“Me too,” Jane said. “But as Captain my duty is to return the other captives aboard this ship to their home worlds. Choosing to battle that other ship puts their safety at risk. Maybe later, after we’ve returned the Winglo, Mok and Doman people to their stars, we can consider other options. If our new crewmembers wish to put off a return to their home worlds.”

Bright Sparkle looked his way, her green eyes locking on him. “Bill MacCarthy, I am willing to fight this terrible system! And my fellow Megun Learned Escape has told me he too wishes to stay aboard the
Blue Sky
. You Humans are doing with this ship what we Megun only dreamed of doing!”

The color bands of the woman’s bare skin shifted as he heard her translated words over his ear buds. Beautiful she was. Sincere she sounded. He smiled. “Thank you, Bright Sparkle. Your color words match my own feelings. I too think we should battle Collector ships wherever we find them. Captain?” He looked back over his shoulder. The other new crewmembers also shifted their position to look back to the ship’s captain.

The Japanese-American woman met his gaze. She looked thoughtful. And tempted. “Interesting idea. But first things first. We return every captive who wants to go home. After that, maybe we can find a way to battle this system.” She looked his way. He saw an officer in command who knew her priorities. “Star Traveler, what is the star of the Winglo avians? And how far away is it from the Ludeen star?”

A low hum sounded. “The Winglo star is HD 4203. It is a G5V main sequence star located 254 light years from your Sol star. Distance from the Ludeen star to the Winglo star is 299.394 light years.”

Jane nodded sharply. “That’s a journey of 12 days in Alcubierre stardrive. Star Traveler, is that correct?”

“For a bioform, that is close to correct,” the AI said. “Actual transit time in Alcubierre space-time modulus is 11.96 days. Shall I energize our Alcubierre engines in preparation for transit to that star?”

“Yes, energize the engines,” Jane said. “Activate the stardrive once we arrive beyond the orbit of planet five.”

“Activation will occur in two hours, fifty-three minutes and 17 seconds,” the AI said.

“Good,” Jane said. “First we go to the Winglo system. Then next to the Mok system to drop off those cougar people. I’ll be glad to have them off this ship!”

He agreed with his captain’s view of the Mok. But Bright Sparkle’s vow and the AI’s reply on how often Collector ships visited low tech worlds had given Bill the germ of an idea. “Star Traveler, earlier you told us how the Buyer system existed only in this arm of the galaxy. You said there were 840,231 Buyers on 411 stars and they were served by 97 Collector ships. Is that still correct?”

A low hum echoed through the Command Bridge. “Updated information from the Market world visit documents there are 841,333 Buyers on 413 stars who are served by 95 Collector ships.”

Good enough
. “Those 411 stars. They are a small part of the billions of stars in the Orion Arm. Are there other people out there in Orion who are not part of the Buyer system? If so, how many?”

“There are billions of other bioforms occupying planets and stars in the Orion Arm,” the ship mind said. “My last Library entry indicates the known space-going species number 3,209. They occupy the same number of stars. Most of those worlds do not interact with the Buyer society. Nor do the Buyers visit those worlds due to the high technology base that makes it dangerous to take captives from those worlds.”

“Incredible,” color-signed Bright Sparkle.

“We must see those people!” chittered Lofty Flyer.

Jane gave him a look that said See What You’ve Started? “Star Traveler, where did the Buyer society originate? What star? How far is it from us?”

“The star of origin of the Buyer society is Kepler 443. It is a K-type star located 2,564.4 light years from Sol. Collector ships are built there. It is also the site of the ship mind nursery where I was born,” the AI said, its tone intense.

Jane looked to Bill, her expression surprised. “Born? Star Traveler, you were born somewhere around that star?”

“I was. Artificial minds are created differently than bioform minds, but still, we have a birth, a beginning. My mind became aware there.”

“Fascinating,” Jane murmured. She looked around, her gaze collecting the attention of Bill, Time Marker, Long Walker, Purposeful Guide, Bright Sparkle and Lofty Flyer. “My crew, after we deliver the Winglo, the Mok and the Doman to their home worlds, what do you say to a visit to the star that began this system of collecting people and selling them into slavery? Maybe Star Traveler can help upset things by letting his fellow ship minds know how they are being lied to.”

“Oh yes!” color-spoke Bright Sparkle.

A low moan came from Long Walker. “Interesting the voyage sounds. We Zipziptoe do not die a natural death. We have plenty of time in which to explore. Let us explore.”

“Agreed,” chittered Lofty Flyer as her brown eyes met Bill’s. “The Buyer system is wrong. It subverts natural evolution. Let us do what we can do weaken it.”

“Vengeance is attractive,” hissed Time Marker as the walking snake looked their way. “Perhaps their motors can be impeded.”

“Let us visit that star and many others,” barked Purposeful Guide as the kangaroo-like reptile leaned back on his thick tail. “While conflict can be dangerous, the gaining of knowledge is worth the risk. But first, let us return captives to their home worlds.”

Bill gave Jane a shrug. “I’m in. Been pissed at these Buyer folks ever since they messed up my fishing. Maybe we can do some fishing for trouble at this star.”

Jane slowly shook her head, her expression bemused. “Well, it will be a long trip out to the Winglo star. Then more travel time to the Mok system. I’ve got a CD of a recent Prairie Home Companion broadcast. Wanna listen to it while we wait for Alcubierre transition?”

“For sure,” Bill said, glancing back at the system graphic holo to his left. The purple dot of the Collector ship was still hours away from the home world of the marmoset-like Ludeen people. He hoped they could loft a neutrino-detecting satellite before the Collector arrived. If not, maybe their Mountain city lasers could zap the collector pods. And even if a few Ludeen were collected now, the next time a Collector ship came into this system they would face an aroused world with the ability to detect that ship. He gave Jane a thumbs-up. “Let’s hear what Garrison Keillor has to say about the world we left behind. And Lake Wobegon!”

She grinned and inserted the CD into the top of a silver pillar that rose from the deck floor. “Too bad he retired! His chats are a classic!”

As the
Blue Sky
moved through space toward the outer reaches of the Ludeen star system, the relaxed voice of a Minnesota humorist filled the Command Bridge.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Twelve days later the
Blue Sky
entered normal space-time just outside the orbit of the Winglo system’s seventh planet. Its white dot lay far ahead. Bill was at his station, as were Time Marker, Long Walker, Purposeful Guide, Lofty Flyer and Bright Sparkle. The sight of the Megun woman brought forth mixed memories. Bright had gone swimming with him in the Water Pool Chamber and commented again on how physically similar her Megun people were to humans. That had led to some playful splashing, followed by touching, followed by mutual arousal. He discovered her pubic area was the same as a human woman’s and she had discovered she enjoyed his caressing of her breasts, which gave blood to newborn Megun. They’d made love in the pool. All in all, he’d enjoyed the encounter, the warmth of lying together on the nearby grassy meadow and the sharing of personal tidbits between them. She in turn had praised his escape from the containment cell, then mentioned she would invite her fellow Megun Learned Escape to swim with her the next day. Her green eyes sparkled the whole time as she shared how common it was, on her world, for males and females to meet, be sensuous with each other, mate, then move on to other encounters. The news had put a damper on his hopes. Which refocused on his captain.

“Captain Jane,” called Star Traveler from the ceiling speaker of the Command Bridge. “Our two Winglo guests are at the access door to this chamber. They request entry. They say you invited them to be present during system entry.”

The holo to his right showed Jane, dressed now in her blue jumpsuit with her holstered Hi-Power hanging from her belt. She looked away from the holos before her. “I did invite them to join us. Since their people have spaceships visiting their system’s worlds, I figured they could be helpful in our approach to their planet. Admit them.”

Behind Bill came a soft whooshing sound as the access door whisked upward. He looked back.

Far Wing and the female Wind Dancer strode in, the claws of their feet clicking on the metal of the deck floor. Once again he felt amazed at how similar they were to the dino-like pterosaurs that had gone extinct on Earth. But he’d come to know them during the long transit to HD 4203. They were people. Albeit people with leathery brown wings that had small fingers on the front edges, a body covered in brown fur, a bony head, a dagger-like yellow beak and deep red eyes. The two of them quickly scanned the Command Deck, gave wing flap waves to the other crewmembers, then fixed on Jane as they came to a stop below her command pedestal.

“Swift flying, Captain Jane Yamaguchi,” croaked Wind Dancer, who joined Far Wing in focusing on the true space holo that was one of several holos hovering in front of the captain. “Our star! It feels good to be back home.”

“I’m sure it does,” Jane said. She scanned the group of holos in front of her, which included a system graphic. “Far Wing, Wind Dancer, do either of you know if any Winglo spacecraft is now visiting the world ahead? It is your planet seven and is a gas giant. To me it resembles our world of Neptune.”

Far Wing flared his wings. “My work involved the programming of weather computers on our world of Bright Skies,” the Winglo croaked. “Wind Dancer managed several industrial complexes in orbit above our world. Perhaps she knows.”

Bill kept one eye on the holo of Jane, which now included the two Winglo, while also watching the system graphic. Which showed seven tiny red dots near planet four. That was Bright Skies. Other red dots showed near planet three, a gas giant the size of Saturn, and near planet five, another gas giant similar to Saturn. Planets six and seven seemed to have no visitors.

The female Winglo looked closely at the system graphic holo in front of Jane. “Well, that hologram does not show any ships near our seventh world, which we call Blue Ice. My memory from before I went on vacation was that no visits were planned to the outer planets since fusion isotopes are easily available from the two gas giant worlds that orbit on either side of our home world.” She turned her yellow beak to fix on Jane. “Captain, my people should be warned about the Collector ships! One of my orbital platforms can easily make small neutrino detectors for distribution to our ships and other platforms. Will you do that?”

Jane turned thoughtful. “I will warn your people. But only after we have returned you and Far Wing to your world. Where do you wish us to deposit you?”

Wind Dancer turned to Far Wing. Who looked to Jane. “Captain, we two, we enjoy being in space. Why not return us to one of the industrial domes on the moon of our world? If we can wear vacuum suits as you did while battling Diligent Taskmaster, then you can land us on the side of our moon facing Bright Skies.” The Winglo spread his wings to maximum extent. “There would be less chance of our people detecting your ship if your collector pods delivered us to our moon Intrepid, rather than a landing on our world.”

Jane looked his way. He lifted his right hand and gave her a thumbs-up. Which gesture seemed to puzzle Bright Sparkle, who watched from her station. “Makes sense. While our two guests are fine peaceful folks, other Winglo do not know us. Nor we them. Best to be covert, deliver our guests to Intrepid, then pull back and make a warning broadcast. After which we can head for the Mok system.”

His captain gave him a nod, then looked at the other five crewmembers. “Lofty Flyer, Purposeful Guide, Long Walker, Time Marker and Bright Sparkle, you have all worked well at your posts. However, none of you were present when we fought another Collector ship in the Market world system. I do not wish to needlessly endanger this ship while we still have guests aboard who wish to return home.” Jane looked down to the two Winglo. “The
Blue Sky
will do as you suggest. We will head for your moon of Intrepid. But that will take time. Star Traveler, how far out is planet seven? And what’s the distance to Bright Skies?”

A low hum sounded. “Planet seven, or Blue Ice, orbits at 19 AU out from its star. Planet four, or Bright Skies, orbits at 1.7 AU. As the schematic shows, both planets are on our side of the star. Which makes our transit to them a matter of traveling 20 AU. At our Magfield Drive speed of one-tenth the speed of light, transit time will be 27.76 hours.”

“So long,” croaked Far Wing.

“Very fast, compared to our ships that rely on fusion pulse flares,” Wind Dancer said. “We will return to our habitat rooms. Later, we will go to the Collector Pod chamber, enter the airlock, put on a vacuum suit and board the collector pod chosen for us by Long Walker.”

The Zipziptoe segmented worm twisted its fleshy head backward to view the two avians and the captain. “You Winglo entertained me with your antics in the air. On my world, everyone stays close to the ground. Gravity demands it. It has been educational to see how other bioforms exist far above the ravines of Zipziptoe birth.”

Jane smiled easily, the interplay between the two Alien species one thing she and Bill had enjoyed ever since releasing the Ludeen and other captives. “Good. It is settled. When we arrive at Intrepid our pods will deposit you near to a dome with people and air. Then we will move out and away from your world of Bright Skies. But we will stay close enough for your authorities to hear our warning.”

Wind Dancer spread wide her brown leather wings. Red eyes looked up. “Captain Jane, address your radio call to the Office of the Triumvirate on Bright Skies. They administer our world and our activities off-world. Sending your warning to them will result in quick action by our people.” She folded her wings against her broad back. “And if they delay, well, my fourth industrial complex specializes in automated fabrication. I will tend to it myself!”

Jane grinned now, clearly approving of her fellow woman’s toughness. “I’m sure this Triumvirate will act. If only to avoid the pain of your prodding!” She sat back in her captain’s seat. “Lofty Flyer, set us a vector line direct for Bright Skies and Intrepid. Time Marker, apply maximum power to our Magfield space drive engines. Bill, keep a lookout for Winglo spaceships. I’m sure we can escape them given our higher speed, but still, I prefer not to discover what type of armaments might be present on a Winglo ship.”

“Vector course set,” chittered Lofty Flyer.

“All Magfield engines at full attraction mode,” hissed Time Marker.

Bill scanned his system graphic, ship weapons and true space holos before looking to the holo of  Jane. “Captain, ship weapons are fully operational. All ship sensors are set for maximum detection and resolution.”

“Good. Now, my Winglo friends, it is time to depart the Command Bridge and partake of a rest in your habitat. You may see some of us as we take our breaks before arrival at Bright Skies.”

Croaking voices faded away as the two Winglo exited through the hallway access door. Inside, Bill gave thanks for his sensible ship captain. While the arrival at a new star system was a source of wonder to him and surely to the amateur astronomer side of Jane’s personality, her Air Force officer training had led them safely through the return of the Ludeen and now, hopefully, through the return of the Winglo to their people. Which left the Mok cougar people and the Doman armadillo tunnel-dwellers to deliver home.

After that, maybe they would have a real adventure as they headed for the headquarters star of an evil system. While hundreds of worlds accepted the activities of the Buyer system, there were thousands of other space-going worlds that did not. While a SEAL he’d fought to preserve the life, liberty, and freedom of choice of his fellow Americans. Now, among the stars of the Orion Arm, he’d returned to active duty. In service to people who bore no resemblance to him. But people they were, people who also deserved a future filled with life, liberty and freedom of choice.

♦   ♦   ♦

The delivery of the two Winglo avians to a spot near an occupied dome on the moon of Intrepid went like clockwork. While he did not expect trouble, still, there were dozens of spaceships moving above the world of Bright Skies, and five were on course to arrive at the moon. The
Blue Sky
had taken position on the dark side of the tidally locked moon to reduce the chances of detection. While their invisibility in daylight would have allowed them to hover above the daylight side, with moon folks seeing nothing and planet folks seeing nothing thanks to the photon wraparound ability of the ship’s hull, still, Jane had decided to hold position above the dark side.

“Collector pods have returned,” moaned Long Walker as the giant worm shifted on its metal bench. The razor-sharp claws on six of its eight feet left pale scratches in the deck metal of the Command Bridge. Its two front arm-feet were uplifted and tapping on two control pillars. “Hull doors have closed. Collector Pod Chamber is adding air to normal density.”

“Thank you crewmember Long Walker,” Jane said calmly. “Navigator Lofty Flyer, set us a vector that will take this ship above the system’s plane of ecliptic. I see no need to do the obvious and stay within the planetary plane.”

“New vector set,” chittered the flying squirrel pilot.

“Good. Engineer Time Marker, set magfield repulsion to a level equal to planetary escape velocity. I have a broadcast to make.”

The black-skinned walking snake turned its triangular head back to face Jane. “Captain, magfield attraction is set at planetary escape velocity level. When do we go to full speed?”

Jane frowned, fixing her attention on the Slinkeroo reptile. “When I command a change in speed. Which will be
after
my broadcast.” She reached aside to the ship-to-ship radio pillar, tapped it active and looked thoughtful. “Star Traveler, locate the comlink frequency used by the Office of the Triumvirate. Send out my words on that frequency.”

“Frequency isolated,” the ship mind said, its tone calm and casual. “Proceed.”

The prompting by the ship’s AI seemed to surprise their captain. “Office of the Triumvirate, I am Captain Jane Yamaguchi. My starship
Blue Sky
is not visible to your sensors. Just now I dropped off two Winglo citizens, one Far Wing and one Wind Dancer, who were taken from Bright Skies by an Alien Collector ship. The crew of that ship captures intelligent people for sale to other Aliens. Future visits by Collector ships will happen. My crew and I oppose these interstellar slave traders. Do you wish to learn how to detect future visits by Collector ships?”

A minute passed as their radio signal traveled past the moon and down to the green and blue world.

“Incoming signal,” Star Traveler said.

“Share it with the crew of this ship,” Jane said quickly.

A croaking voice spoke. “Alien ship, where are you? Our orbital platforms do not resolve an image from the direction of this signal.”

Jane gave a sigh and a look his way. Her expression said Bureaucrats! “My ship is not detectable by your sensors. Are you a member of the Triumvirate?”

“No, however I schedule their—”

“Either bring a Triumvirate member into this conversation or my ship and crew will depart your system. Immediately!”

More croaking sounded from the ceiling speaker. “Yes, yes, moments, must make contact with the active duty member. Yes?”

“Do so,” Jane said, sitting back and crossing her legs, her manner impatient and bothered.

Three minutes passed. Then a new voice spoke. “Starship
Blue Sky
, is it true that you come from another star system?” asked someone who sounded alert and curious. “I am known as Sky Melody, second of the Triumvirate.”