Interstellar War (The Pike Chronicles Book 5) (22 page)

The Freedom landed behind the Juttari fleet, with the rest of the jump ships. The Juttari were so entangled with the main fleet that Jon imagined they didn’t even notice his ships appearing behind them. Even if they had, they were so badly outnumbered that they had little recourse. On the viewscreen intermittent flashes of light blazed through, forcing the bridge crew to cover their eyes, as Juttari warships blew apart.

“Fire all weapons,” ordered Jon, determined to finish the Juttari fleet off as quickly as possible. “Launch fighters and bombers.”

Missiles and energy bolts burst forth from the Freedom, while its fighters and bombers streamed out of their launch tubes. The allied jump ships fired their weapons in kind, and the Diakan fighters launched.

The munitions made contact. More Juttari ships were ripped apart. In a last ditch effort to ward off the assault from the rear, a handful of Juttari vessels turned to face Jon’s force. They held position, battling the much larger fleet in front of them. It didn’t matter what they did. Their destruction accelerated. The Juttari were in a vice, surrounded on all sides. Their position hopeless. Once the Juttari ships were destroyed, the entire fleet could focus on the station, and then the planets.

Jon noted that the Freedom’s bombers had engaged their own jump drives, blinking off his screen, and reappearing in the middle of the Juttari formation to drop their payloads and disappear again. The fighters used their jump drives to outmaneuver the few enemy fighters remaining. Without jump capabilities, the Juttari fighters were easily picked off by the allied fighters.

Switching tactical views, Jon turned his attention to the assault on the battle station. His ships were ravaging the massive structure, albeit at a cost. The station’s formidable weapons had already destroyed many ships. He had the numbers though. Soon the Juttari fleet would be finished, and they could attack the station at full power.

The boarding parties were already on board. They should have accessed the ship’s systems by now. “AI, what is your status?”

Silence. Jon’s pulse quickened.

“AI. Respond.”

Nothing.

Jon opened a comm with Chief Henderson. “Chief, what is your status?”

Weapons fire, and the general chaos of combat came through the comm. “We’ve encountered heavy resistance, Sir,” said Henderson, between sharp breaths. “The Juttari are making us fight for every inch.”

“What about AI? She’s not responding to my hails.”

“I don’t know, Sir. We gave her access to the station’s systems, and since then she’s gone silent. Even the Chaanisar can’t talk to her.”

Something had gone wrong. But what? AI had grown more powerful than any artificial intelligence Jon had seen. What could be strong enough to take her out? He didn’t know, but he knew someone who likely did. Jon opened a comm with Chief Engineer Singh.

“Singh here.”

“Chief, I’ve lost contact with AI. She was in the process of taking over the battle station. Any idea what could have happened?”

There was a long pause. “Chief?”

“Yes, Sir. I’m still here. If the Juttari have developed an AI that is more powerful, then it could potentially defeat our AI,” said Sing.

“But how could they do that? AI has grown organically. Nobody could have predicted that she would become what she is now.”

“That is correct, Sir. Her power comes from her distributed nature. All the systems, warships, and brain chips on which she exists. That combination gives her incredible power. It should also protect her. An attack on her in any given location is futile, since she exists in so many. Unless-”

“Unless what?”

“The Juttari may have developed a virus strong enough to attack AI.”

“But didn’t you say her distributed nature protects her?”

“It does, to a certain extent. But all those systems do not exist in isolation. Each system adds to her strength, but in order to do so they must be interconnected. That means that she herself is the network. If the Juttari have created a worm powerful enough-”

“A worm?”

“Yes. A worm is a virus that can replicate itself through terminals on a network, and attack the systems at the same time. A worm powerful enough could overwhelm AI and use her as a conduit to attack every system she is connected to.”

“Even the Chaanisar?”

“Yes, Sir. The Chaanisar, the Freedom, any system that is connected to the AI.”

Jon felt an icy chill crawl up his spine. “Chief, I want precautions taken immediately to protect the Freedom. Notify all ships in the fleet to do the same.”

“But, Sir, this is only speculation. We don’t know if this is what has really happened.”

“No, but it’s the only thing that makes sense, and we need to protect the fleet.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“What about the Chaanisar? What will this do to them?”

“There no way to know for sure. It could incapacitate them. It might even revert control back to the Juttari. It all depends on the worm itself, and how it’s been created.”

“Can measures be taken to protect them?”

“I don’t know, Sir. I have not studied their brain chip’s architecture. The best we can do is warn them.”

“Understood. Pike out.”

Jon closed the comm, and glanced over at Commander Konos, who had been standing nearby and had heard most of the discussion with Chief Engineer Singh. “Contact First Colonel Brock and advise him of this development. Make sure he understands this has not been confirmed, and is only a precaution.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Konos.

Doubt crept into his mind. Was AI really that vulnerable? Was his fleet that vulnerable? Had he been too hasty? Overconfident? He had made tremendous gains. Had he gotten greedy? Should he have consolidated his gains first?

He felt the creature’s displeasure inside him. It had called Jon arrogant before, and it had been right. Had he fallen into the same trap again?

“Picking up jump gate activity,” announced Ensign Petrovic. “Confirmed, jump gate two and three are active.”

The words seized Jon’s attention. “On viewscreen,” he said. His fleet had control of jump gate one. Jump gate two and three were still under Juttari control.

The viewscreen adjusted to a split format, each side displaying the shimmering oval of the respective jump gate. Jon caught his breath at the sight. A seemingly endless stream of Juttari warships flowed through the gates.

“How long till those ships reach us?”

“Three minutes, Sir.”

Chief Henderson crouched beside a corner in the corridor as energy bolts streaked by, charging the air with an audible sizzle. The Juttari weren’t giving up any ground without a brutal fight. Jarvi informed him that they were fighting Chaanisar. That was why they didn’t retreat, even when outnumbered. The Juttari wouldn’t let them. They were forced to fight to the death. It was terribly cruel, but created truly formidable opponents. There is no fighter deadlier than the one who doesn’t fear death.

A Diakan jumped out from behind the corner with one of the heavy guns, firing several explosive rounds at the enemy Chaanisar. He took multiple energy bolts in the process, but his combat suit absorbed them all. At the other end of the long hallway the rounds detonated in several powerful explosions, chewing through the Chaanisar position. Metallic limbs flew in multiple directions. The walls, then ceiling collapsed under the force of the blasts. Beams and rubble spewed down onto the enemy for good measure.

“Charge,” shouted Henderson. He had lost count how many times he had given that same command in this engagement. Each time he lost men, but he had no other choice. They had to advance, and they had to take advantage of the confusion in the aftermath of the blast. The narrow corridors created a natural bottleneck, giving the enemy a tremendous advantage. Henderson could only hope that the explosions got them all.

The energy bolts hitting his men answered his question. Thankfully the chaos had given them a head start, and the combat suits’ speed allowed them to cover most of the ground before they took any fire. In just a few strides they were leaping over the collapsed beams and crashing into the remaining Juttari defenders. Whether they were Chaanisar or not didn’t matter. His team mowed them down all the same.

Henderson’s gun vibrated as it discharged an unending stream of energy at the enemy, the muzzle taking on a ghostly blue glow. More combat suits cleared the rubble, Diakan and Chaanisar leap frogging ahead, down the long corridor. Satisfied that the enemy were all dead, Henderson signaled for the rest of his team to advance.

“Corridor is clear,” said Jarvi, over the suit’s comm. “This level has been secured.”

Henderson pulled up a display of the other boarding teams. The teams on this level were all reporting that they had secured their sections. Some of the teams on the other levels were still fighting, while others had eliminated all resistance in their sections. Every team had suffered numerous casualties.

“Chief, what is your status?” said Admiral Pike’s over Henderson’s comm.

“Our level is secure, Sir. The other teams are still securing their levels,” said Henderson, between short breaths.

“We have company out here. Another Juttari fleet is coming through the jump gates. AI is not responding, and the station is not making things easy for us. We need to move to plan B. You need to get to the Control Center, and take manual control of the station’s weapons.”

“Understood, Sir. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t, Chief. Pike out.”

Henderson pulled up the station schematic provided by newly freed Chaanisar, Sergeant Jacobs. He located the Control Center. It was buried deep in the heart of the battle station, a few levels above them. He opened a comm with all the boarding teams and transmitted the schematics along with the updated orders from Admiral Pike. He then spoke directly with Lieutenant Jarvi, Sergeant Jacobs, and the Diakan team leader, highlighting a group of stairwells on the station’s schematics.

“Sergeant Jacobs, what if we take these stairwells up to the Control Center level?”

“The Chaanisar defending the Control Center will have secured the stairwells,” said Jacobs.

“Is there another way up?”

“These maintenance tubes,” said Jacobs, highlighting the two small tubes. “But they are too confined for the entire team.”

“We can send a squad up through the tubes,” said Jarvi. “They can neutralize the defenders guarding the stairwell, clearing the way for the rest of the team.”

“Good idea,” said Henderson. “Aerial bots will keep the defenders busy in the meantime.”

“I will personally lead a squad of Chaanisar through the tubes,” said Jarvi.

“Why a squad of Chaanisar?” said the Diakan team leader.

“Our enhanced speed improves our chances of success,” said Jarvi.

“The combat suits enhance all our speed. A squad of Diakans can advance just as quickly.”

“That opinion is not supported by facts,” countered Jarvi. “A Chaanisar combat suit is modified to take advantage of a Chaanisar’s augmentation.”

“Okay, we don’t have time for rivalries,” said Henderson. “I’m sure the Diakans are just as qualified to complete this mission. Lieutenant Jarvi volunteered first, so let’s just leave it at that. This is your baby, Lieutenant.”

“What baby is mine, Chief?”

“It’s a figure of speech. It means the job is yours.”

“Understood.”

“I wish to volunteer as well,” said Jacobs. “You may have the schematics, but my knowledge of the station may prove useful.”

“I approve your request, Sergeant,” said Jarvi.

Jarvi picked two other Chaanisar for the mission, and the four men proceeded to the two maintenance tubes. Sergeant Jacobs removed the access panels. The four climbed in and began their ascent.

It wasn’t long before Henderson had reached the stairwell. Two Diakans had already been stationed there, standing guard. Henderson glanced up the stairwell, but saw no movement. The Control Center was still several flights up.

A Diakan stepped up beside him, tapping something on his suit arm. A hidden compartment opened and a cloud of mechanical insects flew out of the compartment hovering in the air in front of the Diakan. The swarm turned and flew up the staircase, streaming a video feed to the Diakan’s and Henderson’s visor.

The insect sized drones carried micro-explosive payloads, which could be used if they encountered the enemy. Due to their extremely small size, the drones had the ability to often get very close, and detonate their payloads, destroying themselves, and the target.

As the drones neared the Control Center level, Henderson’s body tensed in anticipation. Just one more flight. Any second now and they would see what waited for them. He clenched his teeth turning his head upward, as if to get a better look. The video feed blinked off, and he was left standing with only a view of the stairwell.

“What just happened?” he said, turning to the Diakan.

“It appears that the drones were destroyed,” said the Diakan.

“We need to send up another-” A high pitched screeching sound pierced through the stairwell. Realizing what was coming he shouted, “Incoming!” and dove through the door with the Diakan. Behind them the stairwell exploded, flames ripping through the open doorway.