The Search for Gram (31 page)

“So, we rounded up most of the Efreet and took them to the planet where the Sila could guard them,” said Calvin. “We kept a few onboard the freighter to help us run it, and we left a few onboard the destroyer to help the Sila figure out how to operate it.”

“Do you think that was wise?” asked Captain Griffin. “What if the Efreet are able to take back the ship from the Sila? They could wipe them all out.”

“We moved the queen back to the planet,” Calvin replied. “With her there, we didn’t think the Efreet would randomly bomb the planet, even if they were able to take the ship.”

“Based on what you already told us, I guess that makes sense,” said Captain Griffin. “Bottom line; were you able to learn anything that can help us against the Jotunn?”

“I wasn’t able to learn anything about the time bomb,” said Calvin, “as they didn’t have any onboard. I do, however, think it’s safe to say the force allied with the Jotunn is the Efreet. Even though the destroyer we captured didn’t have any bombs onboard, some of the Efreet said their ship had been in that system a long time. It is possible the weapon represents new technology or is only on certain types of ships.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, there is,” said Calvin with a smile. “You’ll remember the Efreeti freighter was bringing equipment for their destroyer? Guess what it was?”

“No idea,” said Captain Griffin, “and I’m not really in a guessing mood. Why don’t you just tell me.”

“They were bringing jump modules for the destroyer.”

“Jump modules? Are those what I think they are?”

“Yep, that’s what lets them go back and forth between universes.”

“Can we put them on the
Terra?
” asked Captain Griffin.

“Unfortunately, no,” said Calvin. “We asked the Efreet, and they said two modules wouldn’t jump a ship the size of the
Terra.
”

“Oh, damn,” said Captain Griffin. “I was looking forward to giving them a taste of their own medicine.”

“I figured you’d say something like that, ma’am,” said Calvin, “which is why we brought back some more we found in the freighter’s hold. They tell me eight will be enough to jump the
Terra
, so we brought back 10, just in case we were a little short.” The smile faded from his face. “I hope it works,” he added; “we lost a lot of good men and women getting them.”

“I know,” said Captain Griffin. “What do we have to do to get them linked into our system?”

“I brought back a couple of the Efreeti engineers and the vizier to help translate,” said Calvin. “Our suits picked up a lot of the Efreeti language; it’s too bad they were all destroyed in the attack.”

“How does it feel to be without implants once you’ve had them?” asked Captain Griffin.

“It sucks about as much as it did the first time this happened,” said Calvin. “As soon as we’re done here, I’m headed to medical. I’m hoping they have a spare set they can give me. If not, I’ll go to the replicator and make them myself.”

“Well, that’s all I had,” said Captain Griffin. “We will return to the system where you found the
Blue Forest
and see if we can recover the Aesir. If we can get the jump modules to work, we will also jump through to the Jinn Universe and see if we can find the two fighters you lost. Are there any other questions?” She looked around the room, but no hands were raised. “In that case, you all know your jobs, and what we need to do. You’re dismissed, although I’d like the chief engineer to stay a few minutes so we can discuss the jump modules.”

As everyone rose to attend to their tasking, Calvin stopped Lieutenant Bradford, the Department X combat systems engineer and handed him the sword he had used in the Sila universe.

“Do me a favor,” Calvin said. “Take a look at this sword, but…umm…be careful. When I drew it in the Efreeti jail, it burst into flame.”

“Burst into flame?” asked Lieutenant Bradford. “Just like that, without any reason?”

“No reason I’m aware of,” said Calvin. “I pulled it out of the scabbard, and it was instantly coated in flames.”

Lieutenant Bradford held the sword a little further from his body, obviously worried the sword might spontaneously combust. He gingerly drew the rapier’s blade out of the scabbard a couple of inches, but nothing happened. He pulled it out a little further. When it still didn’t react, he drew it all the way and inspected the very normal-looking blade.

“Flames, sir?” asked Lieutenant Bradford. “Whatever caused them seems to have ceased functioning.”

“I don’t know what caused it,” said Calvin. “All I know is when I drew it, the sword’s blade glowed a bright blue, and then became completely engulfed in flames.” He shrugged. “Looks normal enough now; I agree. Take a look anyway and see if you can tell what caused it. Maybe there was a coating or something on it we can use.”

“I will look into it immediately,” said Lieutenant Bradford.

“Good,” said Calvin; “thanks. When you’re done, take a look at this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the golden control rod. “See if you can find out what makes these things function. When you’re done, we need to get them scanned. I have a feeling we’re going to need a bunch of them, and we’ll probably need them soon. Very soon.”

“
Engineering, Bridge,
” commed the CO, “
are you ready for the test?
”

“
The Efreeti is giving us a thumb’s up, or a claw’s up, or something,
” said the chief engineer. “
We’re as ready as we’re going to be.
”

Captain Griffin hoped this test ended better than the previous three had. The first time, nothing happened because they had the power wrong. Instead of three-phase power, the Efreet used four-phase. Not only had the test failed, it had burned up one of the jump modules.

It was a good thing Calvin had brought extras, thought Captain Griffin. Having to completely disassemble a jump module to replicate it would have taken time…time they didn’t have.

The second time, the tolerances were off. The modules were all powered correctly, but they had to fire within 0.01 seconds of each other in order for the fields to overlap correctly. That had taken over a day to figure out; most of it lost in trying to translate the Efreet troubleshooting instructions into English. It said something about the state of education in the Efreeti Empire, Captain Griffin thought. Technical instructions in the Terran Navy were generally written at the 10th grade level; in the Efreeti Empire, it seemed like they were written for 1st or 2nd graders. In order to explain things at that level, it often took several paragraphs of introduction just to explain the technical terms used in the procedure.

The troubleshooting instructions had finally been deciphered, and the cause of the jump failure determined. In order to get the required accuracy, the engineers had enlisted the aid of the
Terra’s
artificial intelligence to run the module activation. Terra had assured Captain Griffin it was several orders of magnitude more accurate than what was needed, and it had sounded slightly miffed the question was even worth asking.

The third test, everything had appeared to work, but the
Terra
still hadn’t jumped. Terra swore it had accurately activated the modules within the accepted tolerances, sounding even more miffed that its capabilities had been called into question a second time. One of the junior engineers found the solution several hours later, having decided to re-read the installation manual. As he noted, ‘Dad always said, if all else fails, read the instruction manual.’ At the back of the book in the “Things People Do Bad To Make The Stuff Not Work” section, the engineer found a note that said the modules at the front of the ship had to be initiated first.

Since all the modules were sitting next to each other in Engine Room One, he read a little further and found the modules had to be spread equally throughout the ship to work correctly. This necessitated moving seven of the boxes and reinstalling them, which took more time. The chief engineer swore it would work this time. Captain Griffin hoped it would, or she was going to maroon him on the next planet, habitable or not.

“Terra, are you ready for the test?” asked Captain Griffin.

“I am ready to do my part correctly, just like the last time,” replied the AI. The snarky tone was still there, Captain Griffin noted.

“On my mark, then,” said Captain Griffin. “Standby,
mark!
”

There was a flash on the front screen, but otherwise everything remained exactly as it had been.

“Did it work?” asked Captain Griffin.

“The Efreeti freighter
Spark
has vanished,” said Terra. “Either we made the jump into the Jinn Universe or they did. I find it improbable that they jumped, much less that they picked exactly the same time as we fired our engines to do so. I find it greater than 99.999
9
percent probable we have successfully jumped out of our universe although it will take my sensors some time to determine where we actually are.”

“Thank you,” said Captain Griffin. “That was well done, as expected.” She changed to her comm. “
Engineering, CO, how’s everything looking down there?
”

“
Good, ma’am, I think. Everything here appears normal…although I don’t know what normal is supposed to be with these damn things. If nothing else, at least they didn’t blow up…or meltdown…or something.
”

“
Outstanding. Any reason not to go back?
”

“
Not that I’m aware of, ma’am.
”

“Terra, please jump us back to our universe.” As she said it, Captain Griffin realized her error. They shouldn’t have jumped in a system without support. If they weren’t able to jump back, and she was anything but certain about the jump system at the moment, no one would know what happened to them. They might have enough fuel to make it home, but home was 12 light years away. Even at 0.99 the speed of light, it would still take them over 12 years, objectively, to get home…and they would still be in the wrong universe once they got there. It was probably the dumbest thing she’d ever done. She didn’t want to say anything and jinx it.

“Yes, ma’am,” said the AI. “Jumping in three, two, one, now.”

Once again the screen flashed, but nothing seemed to change.

“Is the freighter back where it is supposed to be?” Captain Griffin asked. Please be there, please be there, please be there…

“No,” replied Terra, “it is not.”

Captain Griffin’s heart sank. “Any idea what went wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing went wrong,” replied the AI. “We are back in our normal universe. The freighter isn’t where it was expected to be, though. It has moved further than it should have in the time we were in the Jinn Universe. It is most puzzling.”

“But we’re definitely back in our universe?”

“Yes, without a doubt.”

“Good,” said Captain Griffin, uncrossing her fingers. “In that case, let’s quit screwing around and get to where we’re supposed to be.”

Dendaran Valley, Wendar, Day 16 of the Second Akhet, 15th Dynasty, Year 14

Bordraab launched as darkness fell, her five passengers tied on with vines the Aesir had found. K-Mart watched them fly off until he couldn’t see them anymore. Wishing it could have been that easy for all of them, he turned to Captain Silvermoon and said, “Ready when you are.”

Captain Silvermoon nodded once and turned to seven Aesir standing in a small group. “Good hunting,” he said with another nod. Two Aesir threw their hands up in the air, and the entire group vanished.

K-Mart looked for them, using all the sensors in his suit, but couldn’t find them. “Where did they go?” he asked.

“Those are my Eco Warriors,” replied the Aesir. “They will clear a path for us.”

“But where did they go? I can’t find them, even with my suit’s sensors.”

“Technology is only as good as the race which built it,” replied Captain Silvermoon. He smiled. “It appears ours is better.” He turned, and all the Aesir started forward at the same time as if connected by an invisible rope. The Sila males and K-Mart were drawn along after them.

One of the planet’s moons was up, but it was only a small crescent that provided little light. The Aesir did not seem to have a problem seeing in the near total darkness, nor did K-Mart with the suit’s enhancers, but both the Sila males were stumbling over small objects within seconds. Two Aesir came to their aid, with each of them taking one of the Sila by the arm.

They walked for 15 minutes after they reached the valley floor without seeing any of the Efreet although campfires and lighted areas were all around. K-Mart could smell food cooking several times and wanted to stop and ask Captain Silvermoon how they were able to avoid all the enemy, but then he came upon several Efreet bodies. Apparently the Eco Warriors weren’t just avoiding the enemy, they were also silently neutralizing the Efreet when they needed to. Even with his suit’s audio sensors turned all the way up, K-Mart hadn’t heard a thing.

Without warning, Captain Silvermoon appeared in front of him, causing him to stop. “How are the local vehicles powered?” he whispered.

“They’re electric,” replied K-Mart. “They don’t have fossil fuels on this planet.”

“That will work,” a disembodied voice said.

Captain Silvermoon turned back to the direction of travel. “What will it work for?” asked K-Mart.

The Aesir shook his head and indicated K-Mart should be quiet. The journey continued.

Their passage was incredibly surreal, K-Mart thought. To be close enough to see the Efreet all around, and even a few of the Jotunn around campfires, but never come into contact with them seemed incredible.

“Crap…” said K-Mart as they stopped at what had been an Efreeti camp site. At least eight of the enemy were spread out around a fire. All were dead, and most were bristling with flechettes…almost as if they had suddenly decided to shoot each other.

Several of their vehicles stood nearby with their access panels open; he watched as parts flew from the vehicles and stacked themselves near the fire, while the visible Aesir added Efreeti ammunition to the pile. The entire process happened silently, and K-Mart realized the Aesir must have some sort of implant network like the Terrans. If not, their ability to do things without saying anything was creepy. Damned creepy.

Only a minute or two was spent at the camp, then one of the Aesir waved for K-Mart to follow her, and the rest of the group started forward again. Two minutes later, the sky brightened behind them. K-Mart turned to look, and his facemask darkened to save his night vision. A massive fireball engulfed the Efreeti camp, with smaller streamers and pyrotechnics leaping out from the central mass as the ammunition cooked off.

Yeah, the Sila would know they were coming all right. It would take a blind man to miss that.

Combat veterans, the Aesir didn’t stop to admire their handiwork. When K-Mart turned back to the Aesir, they were already moving toward the Sila lines, and he had to hurry to catch up. They raced forward into the darkness, and the commotion behind them faded quickly.

K-Mart had all his suit’s sensors on high enhancement although it didn’t help much. He wished he had one of the platoon’s combat suits rather than his aviator suit; his was optimized for survival in space, not ground combat.

The Aesir continued into the night. After another five minutes of travel, K-Mart’s suit began to pick up thermal images in front of him. He grabbed the closest Aesir and pointed in the direction of the heat sources, but the Aesir only nodded.

“
You are almost to the friendly lines,
” said Bordraab mentally. “
I have alerted them to your presence.
”

“
Did you have any problems?
” asked K-Mart.

“
Not many…once they realized I wasn’t going to eat them. Having the women and children along to vouch for me helped.
”

Within a minute, K-Mart was through the lines and welcomed by the Sila. He was safe.

Despite their enthusiasm for seeing his group, he could tell the defenders were tired, cold and dejected. K-Mart realized that even though he was safe, for now, he had put all of his effort into joining up with the forces who were losing the war.

He wasn’t safe, after all.