The Search for Gram (32 page)

“Welcome back,” said the Thor from the screen on the bridge. “Were you successful in finding the information you sought?”

“Yes, we were,” said Captain Griffin. “Lieutenant Commander Hobbs made it to the other universe and brought back the technology we need to jump our ship into it.”

“We never doubted his ability,” said the Thor. “After all, he is the hero; we would expect no less.”

“I appreciate your confidence,” said Calvin; “however, I didn’t do it by myself. I lost over half my platoon in the effort.”

“If you brought back the technology,” said the queen, moving into range of the camera’s pickup, “then their sacrifice was not in vain. What you do with their sacrifice will give meaning to it. I have lived several thousand years, and I have lost many friends along the way. Each life is precious. To give one’s life for a friend is a precious gift; one which must not be misspent. If their sacrifice prevents or shortens a war that would have cost millions, or even billions, of lives, their sacrifice was worthwhile. I know that doesn’t make their loss any easier, and I am not trying to make light of it. My people will treasure the gift they have given us, and I will commission a tribute in their name.”

“Thank you,” said Calvin, the two words all he could manage through the lump in his throat.

“We are ready to go back to where we saw the wreck of the
Blue Forest
,” said Captain Griffin. “Were you able to assemble any additional ships to aid us against the Jotunn ship in the system there?”

“You will find three battleships waiting for you in Gliese 221,” said the Thor. “With the addition of your ship, you should have no problems with the Jotunn vessel.”

“As long as they haven’t brought in reinforcements, their ship shouldn’t be a problem,” agreed Captain Griffin. “However, as I understand it, that was one of their smallest types. I would hate to gate into that system and find one of their dreadnoughts waiting for us.”

“Four battleships versus one of their dreadnoughts
would
be poor odds,” agreed the Thor. “Let us hope you do not find one waiting for you.”

“Let us also hope you find our sons and daughters,” said the queen. “If so, please bring them home as soon as you can.”

“We will,” promised Captain Griffin. “If there is any way to do so, we will bring them home.
Terra
out.” The screen went blank.

“Lieutenant Commander Hobbs?” asked a voice from behind Calvin.

Calvin turned to find Lieutenant Bradford, the combat systems engineer from Department X. It must be important, Calvin thought; he had never seen the engineer on the bridge before. “Yes?” Calvin asked.

“I just finished analyzing your sword, and it’s all very strange, sir.”

“Really?” asked Calvin. “You mean most swords don’t spontaneously burst into flame?”

“No, they don’t,” said Lieutenant Bradford, missing the sarcasm. “I’ve been trying to reconstruct what happened, based on the residue, and it looks like there were some really interesting processes going on. I wish I could have been there to see it; it must have been really cool.”

“I’m not sure fighting giant salamanders armed with flamethrowers is what I would call ‘cool,’” said Calvin. “I’m afraid I was a little too busy at the time to appreciate the coolness of it all.” He saw how excited the lieutenant was and relented. “Okay, what did you find that was so cool? Was there some sort of coating on it that caused the effect?”

“No, sir,” replied Bradford; “it wasn’t because of a coating. The answer is much more fascinating. It looks like there were at least two separate processes going on simultaneously. Either could have, and one of them probably should have, killed you. As it is, you probably did get irradiated, and you should get yourself checked out. The sword was still radioactive…although not
too
dangerously so. Still, you’re lucky to be alive.”

Calvin blinked; all kidding gone in an instant. “Killed me? What do you mean?” he asked, his attention focused on the engineer.

“The first process has to do with silver, which appears to be exceedingly unstable in the other universe. I found numerous traces of palladium on the blade where the silver was eaten away. All I can figure is that the silver was decaying into palladium. That actually makes sense now that I think about it.” He paused for a second, deep in thought. “Yes, that would do it. If the silver decayed into palladium, it would have emitted a positron, which would have further decayed into some sort of gamma radiation when it annihilated an electron, and that would have made your sword glow blue.” He nodded. “Hmm, that sort of fits the evidence. Positron decay. It seems like there’s more to it, though…something I’m missing….” He focused on Calvin again. “Regardless, there was a nuclear fusion reaction going on at the same time, which was even more dangerous to you. It looks like a light gas, probably helium, was being adsorbed into the silver. That process would probably make it glow and maybe even break into flame?”

Calvin nodded.

“What do you know about cold fusion, sir?” asked Lieutenant Bradford.

“Ummm…not a whole lot,” replied Calvin, thrown by the question. “Just what we got in the download when we got our implants.” He paused to process what he had downloaded. “The Psiclopes figured out how to get around the Coulomb barrier and fuse helium-3 at low temperatures about 2,000 years ago. The only high-energy by-product of the fusion process is a proton, which is contained within an electromagnetic field. The proton interacts with the containment field and results in electricity generation.”

“Correct,” said Lieutenant Bradford. “A similar fusion process appears to have taken place on your sword with the adsorption of the helium. Not only did you have a flaming sword, but you also had one that wouldn’t have run out of fuel any time soon, as only a tiny bit of nuclear conversion was necessary for the reaction. If you had let it keep going, the sword would have become brittle over time, but it would probably have taken centuries to use up even a fraction of the sword.” He smiled as if that explained everything.

“Okay, I think I kind of get it,” said Calvin. “There were two reactions going on, the fusion reaction and the…what did you call it? Positron decay?”

“Yes, for some reason, silver is unstable in the other universe, and it releases the positron as it decays into palladium. You should be glad it does.”

“Why’s that?” asked Calvin.

“Because the silver decay is competing with the fusion reaction. If the fusion reaction were allowed to run unchecked by the decay process, the nuclear conversion process would probably heat the sword beyond 800 degrees Celsius. That is the same as 1,472 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to melt lead. Your sword would have glowed red and started fires on touch; it also would have been very hard to hold onto or store.”

“Yeah, I can see how that would have been difficult,” said Calvin.

“It works the other way, too,” said Lieutenant Bradford. “Having the fusion reaction kept the decay process from going out of control.”

Calvin raised an eyebrow. “Now you’ve lost me. What?”

“If the reaction got out of control, the gamma rays from positron-electron annihilation would have been on the order of several mega-electron volts. They wouldn’t have been able to scatter much in that small area, so the sword’s holder would have received an enormous dose of dangerous, ionizing radiation, aside from the danger of what was actually happening in the sword. You need to keep both of these processes in mind, sir. Holding a nuclear reactor in your hand is rarely going to be a good idea, no matter which universe you’re in.”

“Um, yeah. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

“When last we were here, the Jotunn ship
Soaring Eagle
was in orbit around a planet about 51 million miles from the star,” said Captain Griffin, “along with the remains of the
Blue Forest
. Our mission is to defeat the
Soaring Eagle,
recover the wreck of the
Blue Forest
and any remaining crew members, then the
Terra
will jump to the other universe to see if we can recover the fighters we lost. The
Terra
will lead the assault, as we are able to best deal with any Efreeti vessels we may find there.” I hope, she added silently. “We will be followed by the
Shimmering Falls
, then the
Western Aurora
and the
Maroon Mountain
.”

“It has been a couple of months since we were here, so it is possible the Jotunn or Efreet have brought in additional forces. The only way we’ll find out for sure is to go through the stargate. Remember, you cannot see the Efreeti ships when they are in their own universe, and you
must
be ready for them to pop in without notice. Keep your weapons stations manned at all times. Any questions?”

There were none. “Good luck then,” Captain Griffin said, “and good hunting.” The screens went blank.

Captain Griffin turned to address the bridge crew of the
Terra
. “Although most of us haven’t fought the Efreet, we have seen their freighter in action and know what to expect; we need to be ready at all times. The
Terra
wasn’t designed to carry fighters; I want them launched as soon as we enter the system so they don’t block our missile and laser ports. I know we only have four fighters, but the Efreet could appear anywhere, and I don’t want us handicapped. Any questions?”

There weren’t any questions from her crew either. Combat veterans, they knew their jobs and were focused on doing them.

“All right then,” she said. “Proceed to the stargate. Sound General Quarters.”

“System entry,” said Steropes. “Launching probes.”

“Fighters launching,” said ‘Lights’ Brighton. She added under her breath, “What we have left, anyway.”

“Contact,” said Steropes. “I’ve got power spikes from the area of the first planet.”

“Me too,” said the DSO. “The harmonics match the data on the
Soaring Eagle
that the
Vella Gulf
passed to us.”

“Concur,” said Steropes; “it’s the
Soaring Eagle
.”

“The
Shimmering Falls
just gated in,” said the OSO.

“We’re receiving a call from the Jotunn ship,” said the communications officer.

“Put it on screen,” said Captain Griffin.

“The
Western Aurora’s
here,” said the OSO.

The front screen lit up with Captain Fenrir’s face. “Ah, the Aesir’s lackeys have returned with a bigger ship. And look, they brought friends this time. Isn’t that sweet? Three battleships to take on our one, poor little battlecruiser. No wait, four battleships? You honor me.”

“You will surrender your ship to us and return any Aesir crewmembers you have,” said Captain Griffin. “In return, you will be treated well and given a fair trial for war crimes against the Aesir nation. If you fail to do so, you will be destroyed. Do you surrender?”

Fenrir began laughing. “Ho, ho, ho. Us? Surrender to little people like you? Not today, midgets. Not tomorrow or any other time in the future either.” He made a motion to someone off screen. “Our purpose wasn’t to destroy you, or even to do battle with you. We were sent here to deliver a message, once the Aesir mustered an appropriate force. I say this to the Aesir and anyone else foolish enough to stand with them.”

“The
Soaring Eagle
is underway,” said the DSO. “It appears to be headed away from us.”

“Beware, Aesir, for the Jotunn are coming for you,” continued Fenrir. “We have begun Ragnarok, and it will surely end with your destruction. Run, puny ones, run, for we are coming to reclaim our homeland. Anyone who chooses to deny us our birthright will be destroyed. You have been warned.” The screen went blank.

“The transmission ended at the source,” said the communications officer.

“Try to reestablish communications,” said Captain Griffin. She turned to Steropes. “If we went to flank speed, could we catch them?”

Steropes shook his head. “If they continue to accelerate at their current rate, we will not catch them before they reach the other stargate in this system.”

“Understood,” said Captain Griffin. “Proceed to the first planet and the wreck of the
Blue Forest
.”

“Proceeding to the first planet, aye,” said the helmsman.

“Sir, the Jotunn are not responding to our hails.”

“I didn’t think they would,” said Captain Griffin. “It looks like they have given us their message, and now they are leaving. I expect they’ll be back, but next time they’ll be back in force.”

“Do you want me to jump to the other universe to begin the search for our missing fighters?” asked the helmsman.

“Not right now,” said Captain Griffin. “We said we would help recover any of the
Blue Forest’s
crewmembers we could. If they are still onboard the
Blue Forest
, we will help get them. If they’re onboard the
Soaring Eagle
, they are out of reach.” She paused, looking at the tactical screen. “Besides,” she added, “I don’t want them to know we can jump to the other universe yet. We’ll let that be a surprise for the next time.”

“I’m getting power readings from the first planet, ma’am,” said the DSO.

“Can you identify them?” asked Captain Griffin. “Could it be the missing Aesir crewmen?”

“No, I can’t,” said the DSO. “The readings are still very weak, but it looks like there’s something on the planet.”

“I can’t tell what they are either,” said Steropes. “We will have to get closer.”

Dendara, Wendar, Day 4 of the Third Akhet, 15th Dynasty, Year 14

K-Mart shot the charging giant a fourth time, then a fifth, but the monster kept coming. It had crossed the open area between the battle lines faster than K-Mart would ever have thought possible, drawing the enemy forces along behind him. The caliph’s forces were in trouble; K-Mart had seen a number of additional giants on both sides before his focus had narrowed to stopping the behemoth headed toward him. He doubted the lines would hold this time.

He fired again, but the bolt was far less intense and accompanied by the “beep” signifying the rifle’s battery was dead. K-Mart knew that he was dead, too; the Jotunn was too close for K-Mart to change the battery in time. The giant was slowed by his shots, and a number of bullets from the caliph’s troops, but it wasn’t going to be enough.

The giant raised his enormous battle axe over his head, and K-Mart could see his opponent intended to split him in half. K-Mart held his rifle up in both hands to block the stroke. He didn’t think he could stop the blow, but if he could just deflect it, maybe he would get another second or two of life.

As the axe fell, a wall of silver intercepted the stroke as Bordraab swooped in from the side. The earth shook as thousands of pounds of dragon and giant crashed to the ground. Bordraab tore out the throat of the stunned giant before it could move, then she looked up for new targets.

K-Mart could tell the dragon had been in the thick of the fighting as several bloody gashes ran down her side, and huge rents had been torn in her wings. Spying her next prey, she gathered herself and leapt into the air. She only made it 15 feet into the air before falling heavily back to the ground.

Her head snaked around to look at K-Mart. “I fear I am spent,” said Bordraab, forked tongue hanging out of her mouth like a dog panting.

“Don’t worry about it,” said K-Mart as he changed out the battery in his laser. It was his last; he’d have to make his shots count. He motioned toward the dead giant with his rifle. “Thanks,” he said; “you’ve certainly done your part today.”

K-Mart scanned the battlefield for a target, but the bulk of the dragon blocked most of the enemy lines from his sight. The enemy had also learned it was death to approach Bordraab, and the enemies’ common soldiers gave them a wide berth. Part of the battlefield was also covered in smoke from a number of burning Efreeti vehicles. The Eco Warrior teams had set several successful booby traps with the last of their nanobots the night before. It had slowed the enemy for a little while, but they were on the move once more.

“C’mon,” said K-Mart as horns began blowing from behind them. “That’s the order to fall back.” He turned and trudged away from his position on rubbery legs. The Sila on either side of him weren’t moving much faster. They all were spent.

“There is only one more set of lines to fall back to,” noted Bordraab.

“Yeah,” said K-Mart. “It’s time to make our final stand.”