Prophet and the Blood March (Prophet of ConFree) (32 page)

"We blow up their device," Nan said. "What if the B's take that as an act of war? They've activated the thing. They may be there, waiting for us to show up. How are we going to accomplish our mission if they oppose us?"

"Our mission – straight from the Director-General of ConFree – is to destroy that device, install our own device, and nudge Pacifica away from Earth. And this time we are going to be armed, and prepared to defend ourselves. How the Brights react should be a secondary concern. All of Delta is going as this is our mission, and we must be able to communicate with the B's if they do appear. The deflection device is being loaded into the Vampire even as we speak. Soldiers, do your duty. I'll see you in the boarding dock. Say your goodbyes and keep it brief."

Δ

Believe it or not, being back in the
Vampire
and into vac run red on our way to a dangerous mission calmed me down. Facing death always seemed to have a soothing effect on me. It concentrates my mind on the important things, and all the crap just fades away. I guess I had changed a lot. But the
Vampire
– somehow – gave me a lot of confidence. It was a miraculous creation, and was staffed by wonderful Fleetcom vacheads – people who would fly right into the gates of hell for us, and pick us up again when we were through.

It was over one thousand, four hundred light years from Quaba to the asteroid belt in the Terran system. It would take us a few ship’s days to get there. I didn't understand why, but that's what they told us. It gave us enough time to prepare ourselves.

"Doesn't sound good," Arie said. We were at a table in a small lounge with Doggie, Scout, Bird and Smiley, sipping dox to calm our nerves.

"No, it doesn't," I said.

"It's nuts," Scout said. "If it's moving, it means the B's are there. Either right there on the asteroid, or close by, watching over their baby. A secondary concern, the Prof said. How are we supposed to just land there and go to work?"

"They'll defend the installation," Arie said. "What are we supposed to do if we approach and there they are, Bright ships and soldiers, swarming over the place? We'll be in a shooting war right away."

"Well, that's why Delta is here. We can communicate with them," Smiley said.

"And what will we say," Bird asked. "Stand aside? I agree this is crazy. Have we asked the B's about this? The Prof didn't say."

"Let's ask these questions after the brief, if the Prof doesn't answer them," Doggie said. "But you know he's got the answers. He always does."

"Well, it's almost time for the brief. Let's go," I said.

Δ

The brief was in the conmod. We crowded in there and sat in rows of comfy airchairs like in a theater. There were a lot of people I didn't know in there, shoulder to shoulder with us. They had engineer patches on their fatigues. The Prof and Nan the Man and the
Vampire
's captain and one of the engineer officers faced us on the briefing stage.

"Greetings, all," the Prof said. "This is an historic occasion. But for us it is just another mission. And we are going to do it, or die. Get that clear. Pacifica is not going to crash into Earth, not as long as one of us is still alive. Clear? Good. Here's the mission. Captain Dash will transport us to the vicinity in the Vampire, fully cloaked, and sweep the area for any hostile presence. If the area appears secure, we will launch our squad phantom, the Mary, and a second shuttle, Fang One, and two more phantoms to cover us, all cloaked. Delta will be in the Mary, piloted by Bird. Our engineers, led by Captain Moodie here, will be in Fang One along with all the equipment they will need to drill a blast pit and install our plasma pulse deflectors. They have their own security. They will install our own deflector, and activate it, to bypass Earth. While they're doing that, Delta will enter the hostile deflector unit, and install antimat charges inside. Doggie, you will lead our security unit consisting of Scout, Nitro, and Smiley. You will secure the area so that Prophet, Ice, Saka and Bees can make the installation. Once the antimat is ready we will evac the device, and detonate the antimat. Our security team will remain on site until the engineers declare their unit is operational. At that point, all concerned will evac back to the Vampire on the Mary and the Fang One.

"That's the plan. And it will likely change the instant we arrive at the target. There's a lot that can go wrong. This time we're pretty sure that the deflection device that Saka saw in his DX dream will be there. Otherwise the asteroid would not have moved out of orbit. Oh, by the way, we now do have confirmation that the Pacifica is headed for Earth. If we don't deflect it further it will intersect with Terra, with catastrophic results.

"Now our main problem is the likely presence of the Brights. Presumably they disabled all our eyemotes and then installed the deflection device, and they have activated it and so they should be watching over it. We're hoping they have set it to auto and are not onsite. Ideally, they will have set it on course and departed, and will not return until they discover that someone has altered Pacifica's course. Worst case, they are in the vicinity, maybe even at the site, and prepared to defend it. What do we do then?

"Well, we talk. In that case Bees, Ice, Prophet and Saka will assist us in communicating with the B's and persuading them to let us turn the device away from Earth. If the talks fail, we will continue our attempts to accomplish our mission. And remember, we're not leaving until Pacifica changes course, or we're all dead.

"Why haven’t we contacted the B's already, and sought cooperation? Because we are hoping we can do this on our own, without Bright interference. A
fiat accompli
. I believe it will be difficult and maybe impossible for us to persuade the B's to turn Pacifica away from Earth if they are determined to strike Earth. But who knows? We all wear the white hand, and Bees is a knight – and very persuasive. Maybe we can do it. "

I raised my hand.

"Yes, Prophet."

"Even if all is well and the Brights are not there and we successfully turn the device away from Earth, the Brights will certainly detect the change in course and return to investigate and reset the course. Right?"

"Right. But by then their device is destroyed, ours is active, and ours is defended by a heavy Fleetcom and Legion task force, which will arrive in Pacifica's vicinity once we report success in our mission."

"So then all we will have to worry about is a galactic war with the Brights."

"We're just soldiers, Prophet. We follow orders. We don't have to worry about a galactic war with the Brights. All we have to do is what we are told. Die for ConFree, die for Terra, it doesn't matter. We do our part. And let the Director General of ConFree worry about a galactic war with the Brights."

Terrific, I thought. It's just as I feared. We're going to die for the PJ's. Fine, I thought. We can do that. But – what had I just thought? Strange. I hadn't thought "I'm going to die," but "we're going to die." We, not I. Maybe that's a sign of something. Maturity, maybe. I've arrived. We've arrived. And we've transformed ourselves, all of us, from raw recruits to seasoned warriors, ready to die for the cause. Transformations – yes. We, Delta Research, are going to die. But it's all right. We'll die for the right reasons, and we'll die together. Fine. Bring it on! We're ready. I could only feel an icy cold determination.

Δ

The Director of Galactic Information and the Director of the ConFree Legion were already there when Ambassador Wester arrived in the spacious office of the Director-General of ConFree. The Director, Antara Tarantos-Hannah, was clad in Legion black and was just as stunningly beautiful as she had been the last time Wester had seen her. She approached Wester and embraced him.

They stood that way for quite awhile, heart to heart, as all the ghosts from the past floated around them. Wester's eyes were closed. It was magical. All those people from the past! Sacrificed, so we may live.

"Should we leave the room for awhile, Tara?" Dragon asked.

"It’s quite all right, Dragon," she replied. "We're just saying hello."

"You don't say hello to me like that," Snow Leopard objected.

"Sorry. Let's sit down. There are some serious issues. And it's about Delta Research. That's why Wester is here."

"Mister Ambassador?" Snow Leopard grinned at Wester. "So good to see you, sir."

"Oh, shut down, will you?"

They sat at Tara's long conference desk, with Tara picking a chair at random between Wester to one side and Dragon and Snow Leopard on the other.

"The latest, please, Wester," she asked.

"Yes, Pacifica is headed for Earth. Dead-on. Our latest probes have not yet arrived there, but should get there about the same time the Delta task force arrives. Delta is all set to destroy the current plasma deflector, presumably installed by the Brights, and to install our own device to deflect it from Earth. They're in the tacship Vampire but a cruiser from the Atom's Road is set to deploy a task force to support them if needed."

"Atom's Road! I thought it was to be retired."

"No, it's still active. This may be its last deployment." The
Atom's Road
was an old friend to all four of those present.

"And the Delta Research force – what is their mission?"

"I just told you. They will destroy the enemy deflector, install our own and activate it, to bypass Earth."

"And what happens if the Brights attempt to stop them? What will be their mission then?"

"Again – I told you. They will destroy the enemy deflector. They will install our deflector. They will activate the deflector. It will bypass Earth."

"And if they can't do it?"

"If they are all killed in action, the Atom's Road task force will attack the Brights and the war will be on. And the task force's engineers will try to do the same thing that Delta failed to do."

Tara's face was pale, and her jaw muscles were twitching. "Wester, do you think the Brights will be there when Delta arrives?"

"Yes, I do."

"Dragon?"

"Sure. There, or in the immediate vicinity."

"Snow Leopard?"

"I think chances are high the Brights will be there."

"War with the Brights. This is insane. Yes?"

"Yes," Dragon said.

"So what do we do?"

"Let the Brights target Earth, and kill a couple billion Earthers?" Dragon suggested.

"No. Impossible."

"If you want Delta to do something other than what you've ordered them to do, you'd better countermand those orders right quick, because they'll be on target very soon," Wester said. "And they’re going to do exactly what you ordered. Without worrying about the consequences."

"Why in hell are the Brights doing this?" Tara asked. "It's been driving me crazy."

"Well, Earth just declared war on them," Dragon said. "Maybe that's it."

"I don't believe that for an instant. If I was a Bright I might laugh at that, but I certainly wouldn't give it another thought."

"Maybe we don't think the way they do. Maybe it's a combination of things."

"Tell Delta to find out. If they can. It's time to stop screwing around. Why are they doing this? What's the motivation? I want to know!"

"Yes ma'am," Wester said. "You'll recall we agreed to take unilateral action first, and not to raise the subject of Pacifica unless the Brights did so first."

"You told me the Brights agreed to open an embassy in Quaba."

"A liaison office. Not an embassy."

"When is that going to happen?"

"Soon. According to the Brights."

"Are we in touch with them via that quantum thought link or whatever it’s called?"

"Yes. We are. And they're answering."

"All right. If we can get through this Pacifica mess without touching off a war, I want Delta to point blank ask the Brights why they are targeting Earth for extinction. You hear me?"

"I hear you, Tara."

Tara looked up at the ceiling and slowly raised her arms.

"Deadman!" She shouted it, startling the others. "The people of ConFree are in your hands." She looked up to an unseen world. "Give us a good result! For the Legion, for all the dead, for the past, for the future. Bless this endeavor, bless our troops and bless the Brights and let both sides survive this confrontation without bloodshed. Bless them, Deadman! And let Earth be spared!"

"Divine help." Dragon smiled grimly. "We're all set."

"Just make sure that Fleetcom task force is in place on time, and I'll handle dispatches to Deadman," Tara replied.

"All right, first look. Here goes!" The Prof was excited. I was by his side on the
Vampire
's bridge. The place was like a cathedral to the Gods of space, quiet, peaceful, perfectly organized, glowing a pale red – almost holy. We were still in vac run red – the panoramic simports were black. The captain was glacially calm. Tech Central's gang of probes had arrived and their eyemotes had deployed by the hundreds. The
Vampire
's own probes had also just arrived there and were deploying. The screens flickered and filled with images.

Pacifica could be seen from a distance, a jagged, pale brown rock cast in starlight and deep shadows. It slowly grew larger as we watched. The screens filled with data.

"Probes show no intruders detected," the captain summarized. "No starships, no shuttles, no fighters, no probes except our own. Could be they're cloaked. No life."

We waited as the probes shot towards the asteroid. The Prof had again chosen me as his Number Two. Who the hell was I? The Director General of ConFree was undoubtedly watching as events unfolded. And I was Number Two for Delta! Unbelievable. Five years ago I was a teen fool focused entirely on himself and any girl that strayed within range. And now, if anything happened to the Prof, I would be dealing directly with the Director of ConFree. And the fate of an entire planet and maybe even all of ConFree, maybe even all of humanity, was to depend on my judgment.

"All right, let's just see about this," the captain said. The probe went careening into a tight orbit around Pacifica, bringing it all right up close. The target was the two sites where Saka had seen portmods and one giant plasma deflector. The faint red crosshairs shot in there, and the site leaped towards us – three pressurized living or cargo mods, linked together. Scores of massive dropboxes were stacked nearby, and the powdery terrain bore the marks of plenty of low overflights by vac cargo haulers.