Escape 1: Escape From Aliens (20 page)

“It is true, Sky Melody,” Jane said patiently. “As I told your assistant earlier, we have returned two Winglo citizens to your moon Intrepid. They were taken captive by a Collector ship. Do you wish to learn how to detect such ships in the future? You are a space traveling society and you should be able to keep safe your people.”

“Yes, why yes,” croaked the Triumvirate member. “Please tell us how to detect these Alien ships!”

“Simple. Build small neutrino detectors that can be placed on your orbital platforms and on the ships now traveling your system. They will detect the fusion reactors aboard a Collector ship,” Jane said. The fingers of her right hand tapped impatiently on the arm rest of her captain’s seat. “Since a moving neutrino source is different from the neutrinos emitted by your star or from other stars, you will detect these ships. If you fire on them before they reach your world, there will be no return by them. Collector ships prefer to raid low tech worlds that do not know how to detect them.”

“Sensible,” came the response from Sky Melody. “We Winglo thank you for your advice. And for the return of our citizens. Who have just contacted one of my assistants. Will you visit our world? We welcome the arrival of a starship from another star!”

Jane gave a quick smile. “Thank you, but no, we cannot visit. We have other captives to return to their home worlds. However, your people should be close to learning the physics of stardrives that circumvent the speed of light. When you do, visit my home world of Earth. It orbits a yellow star much like your own sun. Star Traveler, transmit a holo of Earth and Sol, along with its location as viewed from Bright Skies.”

“We will do as you say!” Sky Melody croaked. “Our world was settled by Winglo from another star. We lost the stardrive knowledge, but we know the location of our home star. Soon, we will visit it and then visit your Earth!”

“You will be welcome,” Jane said. “Now, we depart. May your future be as open as the skies of your world. End link.”

“Link closed,” the AI said, its tone casual.

Jane looked ahead. “Time Marker, take us out at full magfield repulsion level. I am eager to reach the edge of this system’s magnetosphere.”

“Magfield drive repulsion increased to maximum,” hissed the walking snake. “Speed will shortly equal 67.1 million miles per hour.”

Bill watched the Earth-like world of Bright Skies fall behind on both the true space holo and the system graphic holo. Inside, he felt regretful. He had enjoyed visiting with the Winglo avians. Learning how they lived as people who flew above the ground, while he and other humans lived most of their lives on the ground, had been mutually astonishing. Still, they had hours to go before they reached the limits of the system’s magnetosphere. Which limit usually lay just beyond the orbit of any system’s outermost planet. Jane had said they were lucky the
Blue Sky
did not have to wait until reaching the heliosphere before going FTL. Whatever the hell that was.

“Bill, you see any trouble on your holo?” Jane called.

He gave a start. Usually she addressed him as senior crewman, or by his full name. Did her casual tone bespeak a change in their relationship? “Captain, uh Jane, the nearest Winglo spaceship is 217,000 miles from us. It’s landing on Intrepid. Nothing artificial is closer. Nor do my sensors detect any kind of thermonuke mine fields, stealth platforms or laser bots. Our departure is likely to be boring.”

She chuckled softly. “Boring I can handle. Got plenty of it at Space Command, watching sat debris circle above us at 17,450 miles per hour. That can be mind numbing.” She paused. “Time for another Prairie Home Companion broadcast?”

Bill grinned, then looked over his shoulder and gave her a friendly wink. “Soon, yes. But what are the details of the Mok star system? How far away is it? What will our transit time be?”

Jane’s amiable look moved in a flash to her command manner. “Star Traveler, you heard Weapons Chief Bill MacCarthy. What is the home star of the Mok? How distant? How long to get there?”

A low hum echoed through the chamber. Across from him Bright Sparkle looked his way, her green gaze friendly looking. He gave her a wave and a smile back.

“Captain Jane Yamaguchi, the Mok star is HD 27631. It is a G3IV/V yellow dwarf star,” the AI said matter of factly. “It lies 148.4 light years from your Sol star. The distance from the Winglo star to it is 270.375 light years. Transit time is estimated to be 10.815 days.”

“Or eleven days,” Jane said bluntly, her command manner still active. “So be it.” She looked intently at Bright Sparkle, then his way, her manner relaxing a bit. “Time for Garrison Keillor?”

Bill gave her a salute and a smile. “My captain, yes! It’s time for the Command Bridge crew folks to learn a bit about human humor!”

She chuckled, then noticed the body language of the rest of the crew. “Uh, we humans enjoy what might be called dry humor.”

“Waterless humor?” moaned Long Walker the Zipziptoe.

“No!” barked Purposeful Guide. The reptilian kangaroo often seemed bored by his Life Support crew post. “Dry humor as in humor with no flesh on it. Just bones.”

Bright Sparkle gave a slow shake of her head. Her skin colors flowed rapidly. “My friends, this human dry humor requires some mental adjustment. It is more than watching a low-hanging fruit bounce off the cranium of your companion.”

The walking snake Time Marker hissed low. “Obscure you Humans are. Give me a simple atomic clock. The electronic transition frequency can always be relied on. It never varies. Why, my cold caesium fountain atomic clock is accurate to within one second every 30 million years!”

Bill blinked. He had long worn a digital watch that automatically changed time according to the signal it got from a Denver office that in turn got it from the U.S. Naval Observatory in DC. He’d never needed anything more accurate.

Chittering came from Lofty Flyer. “Human dry humor is simple. When you glide from one branch to another, miss it, then hit the one below, that is dry humor the Human way.”

“Enough!” Jane said loudly, struggling to keep her command manner intact. “All crew must remain at their stations. However, your ear buds allow you the choice of what you hear. Or perceive. If Prairie Home Companion is a bore, then choose music or a lecture on quantum mechanics for all I care!”

That precipitated a crew debate over what constituted boredom.

Bill closed his eyes and tuned into the sonorous voice of Garrison Keillor.

♦   ♦   ♦

Eleven days later they had arrived in the yellow star system of HD 27631. His system graphic showed there were seven planets in the system, with planet three being the only one in the liquid water ecozone. Beyond it lay an asteroid belt. Beyond that was the largest gas giant in the system. It orbited at 3.25 AU out from the star. Planets five, six and seven were small gas worlds similar to Uranus and Neptune. They had arrived outside the orbit of planet seven, which had a nice ice ring orbiting above its blue atmosphere.

  Blinking yellow dots in the asteroid belt woke him up just as the ship mind spoke.

“Fourteen thermonuclear explosions are now occurring in this system’s asteroid belt,” Star Traveler said hurriedly. “Three loci located.” The loci showed on Bill’s schematic. As did 29 red ship dots. “Spaceship activity is concentrated in those loci.”

“Explain!” Jane yelled, then bit her lip. “Rather, what is happening, in your best estimate?”

A low hum sounded. It lasted for seconds. “First probability is armed conflict among the spaceships that are co-located with the loci. Second probability is asteroid mining that involves breakage of large asteroids into smaller components by use of thermonuclear charges.”

Bill looked to planet three. The Mok home world. No nuke blasts were present on or near the place. “Planet three is nuke blast free,” he volunteered.

“I see that.” Jane frowned. “Star Traveler, you should be receiving local radio, laser, maser and microwave broadcasts by now. What are they saying? The strongest broadcasts?”

“Scanning. Five strongest broadcasts analyzed. Translation done. Three broadcasts involve orders for certain ships to attack other ships. Two broadcasts involve offers of surrender.”

“Are the surrender offers being accepted?” Jane asked.

“There is no broadcast language that accepts the two surrender offers,” the AI said. “The two offers come from two of the three loci.”

Bill did not like what he heard. “What is happening at the third loci?”

“Moment.” A short pause happened. Red dots moved on his schematic. “Tracking of neutrino emissions from the combative ships indicate those ships present at the third loci are now moving away from it, on vector tracks to the two other loci.”

He looked back to Jane. “Captain, this sounds like extermination warfare. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t either,” she said. “Star Traveler, can this ship’s hull withstand exposure to intense radiation?”

“It can,” the AI said. “Gamma rays from a thermonuclear explosion located ten miles from this ship can be shunted around the ship’s hull. A blast closer to this ship will penetrate some parts of the ship. Bioforms might be damaged.”

No shit
.

Jane looked to their Navigator. “Lofty Flyer, plot us a vector track that takes us around the thermonuclear explosions zone, but allow us to intersect planet three. A large moon orbits that world. Aim for an orbit on the moon side opposite the world it orbits.”

“Computing,” the flying squirrel said, her brown fingers flying over her Navigation pillar. “Vector track determined. Star Traveler, transfer vector track to system graphic holos at all stations.”

Bill saw what Jane and the others saw. The thermonuke blasts lay directly between their current location and planet three. The vector route computed by Lofty Flyer took them on a dogleg to one side, down below the plane of the ecliptic, then vertically up to intersect the planet’s moon. He liked how most of their travel would be out of the plane of ecliptic. Ground pounders like the Mok cougar people usually thought horizontal, even while in space. They would expect other ships to approach along the plane of ecliptic shared by the system’s planets.

“Engineer Time Marker, activate Magfield engines at full attraction mode,” Jane said quickly. “Take us inward along the vector route computed by Navigator Lofty Flyer.”

“Engines adjusted to maximum magfield attraction,” the walking snake hissed. Dozens of yellow electrical discharges flickered just above his black skin. Over the course of their star trips they’d learned that the more nervous or upset the Slinkeroo was, the greater the discharges. It looked very upset. Or nervous. Or something.

Their captain looked his way, and gave him a nod. Clearly she was aware of the emotions of the walking snake. Other crew showed their own versions of emotional turmoil. Only the Zipziptoe worm seemed calm and relaxed. Jane lifted an eyebrow. “Bill?”

Combat he knew. Danger he was familiar with. Looking to the ship weapons holo, he reported. “All ship weapons systems are operational. Antimatter reservoir contains enough AM for four quick shots. We have fourteen MITV torps outfitted with five thermonuke warheads each. The lasers and the plasma batteries are fully mobile. We can give better than anything we are likely to receive.”

In the holo to his right, his captain slowly shook her head. “Would rather not give or receive. Let’s make this ship as stealthy as possible! We will get behind this moon of theirs, launch two collector pods, hope they get past any orbital defenses, and then we skedaddle the hell out of this system!”

Bright Sparkle looked his way, her expression puzzled. “Skedaddle?”

“Not dry humor,” Bill said. “Obscure human word. As in move quickly.”

Her green eyes blinked. “Oh. Understood. I think.”

While Bill kept a constant watch on the ship weapons holo, he also regularly checked the system graphic holo and the true space holo. That now held stars and the blue of the seventh planet. Which was rapidly disappearing from electro-optical view.

His captain’s orders he would obey.

But Bill was more than ready to fight anyone and anything who threatened his ship, his people and his captain. While the clamshell healer device had fixed him up with no scars showing, still, the pain of the slashes left on him by Sharp Claw was a memory he had not forgotten. Return the two cougars they would do. Then perhaps, just perhaps, his ship and his weapons could give other cougars a clawing like none they’d ever experienced!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Hours later they hung stationary a hundred miles above the crater-pocked surface of the moon that orbited the Mok homeworld. Their ship’s Magfield drive allowed such station-keeping thanks to its repulsion against the moon’s weak magfield. During their trip inward Bill had described to Star Traveler the concept of stealthy drones that could make visual and EMF observations while passing on data to the
Blue Sky
by means of a one-way laser datalink. Just before their arrival behind the moon, the ship’s MITV missile bay had launched four such comsats. They’d taken up station at the north and south poles and on either side of the moon’s equator. Their innards not only allowed a true space view of the Mok homeworld, but they also monitored radio broadcasts and energy emissions from the several moon bases that dotted the other side of the moon. Only one base lay on their side of the moon. It seemed to be a science base focused on interstellar astronomy. The AI had assured them all that the
Blue Sky
would not be picked up by any Mok sensor, including infrared, UV or other sensors that detected passive emissions. The only device that could detect them was a neutrino detector. Which, it seemed, the Mok did not have, based on how the asteroid ship fleet spent long hours hunting for enemy ships and bases.

“New information,” the AI said. “Collector pods are in transit to Mok home world.”

“Thank you, Star Traveler,” Jane said from her command pedestal. “Bill, you tracking them?”

“Captain, yes. They are showing on both my system graphic and on the stealth drone electro-optical eyes.”

He focused on the system graphic holo and the drone holo next to it. As he watched the progress of the two collector pods, he recalled the way they’d loaded the pods up. He and Jane had gone to the two Mok containment cells, watched the critters by way of each cell’s vidcam, then opened the door and zapped them with a red taser beam before either Mok could react. They’d both grinned at each other as the yellow-furred walking cougars fell to the floor of their cells. Transporting the twitching bodies to the Collector Pods Chamber had required the help of the segmented worm Long Walker. Its hide was impervious to the claws of each Mok as their bodies jerked and twitched. And its eight-legged gait served quite well in moving the Mok to the chamber. The collector arms of each pod had transferred the unconscious cougars into the interiors of the two pods. Now, the entire Command Bridge crew watched the progress of the pods as they moved toward a planet that was mostly brown, with patches of green and blue showing. Bright Sparkle had called it a desert world.

“Star Traveler,” Jane called. “What does your monitoring of radio and maser broadcasts say about the world below us?”

A low hum came. “The five strongest frequencies emitted by the Mok planet indicate there is a state of war on that world. One broadcast comes from the southern continent, while the other four come from the three continents located elsewhere on the world. It appears to be a battle over water.”

“Water?” Jane said. “I see blue spots below. Those are lakes or small seas. Why are they fighting over water?”

Another low hum sounded. “Planetary population has expanded beyond the capacity of existing water resources to sustain the agricultural base. Which includes raising crops to feed animals that provide meat for the Mok populace. There is competition to claim ice asteroids for transport back to the home world, where they will be deorbited onto dry lake beds.”

A deep moan came from Long Walker. “Our world is a true desert, compared to Earth or the Mok world. Yet our people survive. We drilled deep wells. Cannot these Mok do the same?”

“Wells have been dug,” the AI responded, its tone professor-like. “Water aquifers have been exhausted. Crops are failing. Animal herds are dying. The Mok have exceeded the carrying capacity of their planet. Hence the battle over water asteroids.”

“Understandable,” barked Purposeful Guide as the silver-scaled kangaroo leaned back on his thick tail. “My work in directing our Cheelan orbital complex says there must be multiple space platforms in low orbit above that world. They are needed to receive the incoming asteroids and then redirect them to the proper landing spot.” The Cheelan’s horse-like head turned Bill’s way. Red eyes fixed on him. “Such platforms will have weaponry installed to defeat any effort to capture the platform. I expect there will also be an orbital sensor net aimed at detecting approaching asteroids so they do not escape capture. Our collector pods could be detected by such a net.”

“Excellent observations,” Jane said. “Thank you crew member Purposeful Guide.” She looked his way. “Weapons Chief, what do the drone sensors say about the low orbit area? Those Mok have to have stuff similar to the PARCS and SSPARS phased array radars along with orbital electro-optical stuff like our GEODSS scopes. Our scopes could track a chair out to 35,000 miles.”

Bill tapped the control pedestal in front of his seat. The system graphic enlarged to focus just on the Mok world. A global net of green dots was arranged in a way that resembled the positions of Earth’s GPS, GLONASS, Compass and Galileo comsats. Those sats were at or below the world’s geostationary orbital track. Very close in was a second net of green dots that resembled the Iridium NEXT comsat constellation. He doubted the inner net at 480 miles high was all for talk-talk. Many if not most had to be milspec sats. Their polar orbits were perfect for target tracking and takedown by ground, air or space-based ASAT missiles. He also bet there would be gas laser platforms in low orbit. He made a final check of the UV, infrared, maser, laser and radio sensors on board the drones, then looked right to the holo of Jane.

“Captain, there is indeed a multi-layered comsat and milspec targeting system of sats in both equatorial and polar orbits. The electro-optical scopes on the four drones report the presence of five major orbital platforms, or space stations,” he said, tapping his control pillar so it added that data to the system graphic. Another tap caused the sensor data to show up on everyone else’s schematic. “While the teardrop shape of our collector pods makes them nearly invisible to normal radar, they can be seen by electro-optical scopes thanks to reflected sunlight. While they might make it down on the night side of the Mok world, their magfield engines cause the hull to glow whitely. Which again can be seen by both people and by milspec scopes. I think we will be lucky if either pod makes it to ground. If they do, I do not expect them to survive a return to us.”

To his right the bare skin of Bright Sparkle flowed in a wild mix of yellow, brown, green, red and purple streaks. “Captain, I agree with Bill. Our world of Harken has systems similar to what appear above the Mok world. Plus we have extensive space-based sensor arrays. Your ship’s passage through our system would almost surely be detected even if we Megun lack neutrino detectors aimed at moving neutrino sources.”

In the holo of her command pedestal Bill saw Jane grip tightly the armrests of her captain’s seat. Then she lifted one hand and waved it down, which made the person high holos surrounding her seat lower to the level of her waist. That allowed her to directly see each crewmember. She looked to her right.

“Navigator Lofty Flyer, plot us a vector track from this spot that takes us down and inward toward the local star.”

What the?

“Order understood,” the flying squirrel said as her brown tail whipped back and forth. “Track computed. Added to all system graphics.”

“Captain Human,” barked Purposeful Guide. “Such a vector track will bring this vessel close to the star’s photosphere. There are several coronal mass ejection flares now happening on the star. It seems unsafe to head for the star.”

Jane’s oval face darkened. She grimaced. “Life Support crewmember, your caution is understood. However, heading toward the local star will mask the neutrino emissions of this ship. They will be lost in the flood of neutrinos from this system’s star. Secondly, planets two and one are airless, cratered worlds similar to our Mercury. The system graphic does not show the presence of any spaceship near either world. Third, I am the one with military tactics and strategy training. You have no such training.”

The thick tail of the kangaroo reptile thudded down in a display of some emotion. “Understood. Captain. You command this ship and its crew. And the return of former captives to their home worlds is a project I endorse. Which is why I volunteered for crew work.”

Jane blinked, her complexion lost its redness and she stopped clenching her armrests. “Thank you, Purposeful Guide. Your willingness to work for the benefit of other lifeforms is appreciated. We can all learn from each other. As I have learned from each of you crewmembers.”

Bill’s drone holo blinked redly. “Captain, the two pods have touched down on the night side of the Mok world. The sleeping bodies of the two Mok have been removed and placed near a mountain stream. The pods are lifting off.”

“Good!” she muttered. “I do not like staying in one place in a war zone. Too many things—”

Bill’s drone holo blinked purple. “One drone is being pursued by an atmospheric craft similar to our X-37B spaceplane. According to pod sensors.” He paused as he scanned datalink reports. “The other pod has reached low orbit and is heading for the moon.” A white glare showed in the electro-optical view of one drone. “First pod destroyed by a missile from the spaceplane.”

“All crew! All residents of the starship
Blue Sky
!” Jane announced loudly. “We have returned the two Mok to their home world. Which is presently involved in a war over water resources. Shortly we will leave this space, head inward to the star, then outward to the edge of the system’s magnetosphere.” She looked his way, gave a sharp nod as he transferred his drone sensor info to her, then looked directly ahead. “Engineer Time Marker, prepare to depart this location at full magfield power!”

“Captain!” hissed the Slinkeroo walking snake. “Magfield drive engines are ready for transition from orbital maintenance to departure acceleration.”

“Bright Sparkle?” called Jane. “What’s the status of our fusion power plants?”

“All plants report stable plasma confinement and continuous power production from inertial impact of fusion isotopes,” the Megun native said by way of her shoulder speaker/vidcam.

Bill, watching the visual and sensor reports from the four drones, saw purple blinking. “Captain! The second pod was just fired on by an orbital laser platform. It missed. But its vector track points straight at the moon. Which is also where we are located.”

Jane’s long fingers tapped on her armrests. “Long Walker, recall three of the four drones. They are too useful to leave behind. How long before they return to the ship?”

“Three minutes,” the Zipziptoe worm replied. “They have small magfield engines which allow them to be as fast as the pods.”

Bill gave thanks the drones did not leave a drive flare. A flare of yellow-orange gases would surely attract the attention of the single Mok dome below them. More purple blinking set his nerves on edge. “Captain, two spaceships have risen from two domes on the far side of the moon. Clearly they aim to intercept the pod upon its return. Or follow it to us. I suggest we leave. Now.”

“Long Walker?” she called, leaning forward as she also scanned her holos which showed what Bill also saw.

“The three drones are in contact with the ship hull,” the segmented worm said in a series of low moans. “Collector Pods Chamber hull opening. Drones . . . are inside.”

“Engineer, depart now!” she said firmly.

“Departing,” hissed Time Marker.

With no sense of inertia the
Blue Sky
dropped down below the orbital track of the Mok world and its moon. It moved just as one Mok spaceship streaked out to intercept the pod and the second ship took a right turn and headed for the back side of the moon. At a speed Bill estimated to be five miles per second. Slow by Magfield drive standards.

“Magfield drive is accelerating!” hissed the black-skinned snake.

Bill noticed the yellow electrical discharges above its skin now diminished.

“Captain,” called Bright Sparkle. “Will you alert the Mok authorities to the presence of Collector ships?”

“Yes,” Jane said. She looked Bill’s way, clearly enjoying his surprised reaction. “I had a reason for leaving one drone in orbit.” She paused and sat back. “Long Walker, send a destruction signal to the remaining collector pod, by way of the drone.”

“Signal sent,” it moaned.

Bill saw the yellow flare of the pod’s destruction thanks to the electro-optical scope on the drone. Though there was a slight warping of the vidsignal as the
Blue Sky
hit one-tenth lightspeed. “Good. Maybe that will distract both Mok ships.”

“It matters not,” chittered their flying squirrel. “The Mok ships have fusion pulse main drives but they are unable to reach more than five percent of the speed of light. And that will take them some time to do.”

Bill stopped clenching his jaws when he realized the brown-furred flyer was correct. Their ship was already a half million miles away from the moon. And putting more distance between the
Blue Sky
and any possible enemy ship.

“Star Traveler,” Jane called. “Transmit my words to the drone by way of our laser link, for rebroadcast in radio on the five strongest frequencies.”

“Ready to broadcast,” the AI said.