Koban (90 page)

“Jake, do the two transducer systems have the ability to Link
both sets of crew members?”

“Not completely Sir. The JB system cannot Link to our transducers
because of our more advanced encoding. However, I am backward compatible and can
Link to their older model transducers, provided of course the Captain of the Rimmer’s
Dream approves, and if the individual crewmembers grant personal permission. To
retain privacy in the JB system, I can act as a relay for Links between the two
systems. They can in effect Link with anyone from the Flight of Fancy when I act
as the switchboard.”

All of the people surrounding Mirikami were familiar with the
unconscious head tilt and distant stare as someone communed with an AI. They knew
he was done when he straightened his head and focused on them.

“Noreen, please accompany Commander Rodriguez and meet with her
Captain when she locates her. You are free to share any of Jake’s data of the Krall
with them and their AI. We need to send more of our people around to find out what
other new human resources have landed in our midst, and make good use of them.”

“Right Sir.”

“And as you walk, ask Chief Haveram to contact or meet with the
other Drive Room crews. If we find bottles, we can move around, we need people that
know to use the tools and the precautions to follow. That heavy hauler could move
the largest bottles we might find. This is a very high priority task now that we
know those are targets. Every Captain needs to know that each ship parked here could
be subject to destruction by the Krall sometime after unloading.”

“Where will you be Sir?” Noreen asked, “If a face to face meeting
is needed at a higher level than your First Officer? Some of us Spacers can be sticklers
for protocol, you know.”

“I’ll be right here in the Great Hall coordinating things until
we learn if and when more ships are coming down. If that happens I’ll move to the
Bridge, where any Captain is welcome to visit, but I won’t be able to go to them.”
He had a thought.

“I don’t want the other Captain’s to think I’ve been put in charge
of everyone here. I just happen to have the most knowledge out of all the officers
that have just arrived, and decisions need to be made fast.” He ended humbly, almost
apologetic sounding.

Thad spoke up in his usual tactful manner. “Bull shit Tet! If
a vote had time to be taken of who was best suited to lead here, or the most trusted
person that everyone could follow it would be you! Hands down, you’re the winner.
And I’d bet the several thousand that just arrived would largely agree, and all
that most of them know is what the rest of us have told them.”

Maggi grinned and noted, “Our stalwart, inscrutable Captain can
blush bright red with the best of them. Thad’s right you twit. Get over your damned
modesty because we haven’t the time to coddle you. Lead us!”

Naturally, the rest of the circle of cohorts around Mirikami
nodded or spoke in support of Thad and Maggi sentiments.

Laughing and shaking his head, he said, “Thanks everyone. I sure
don’t want what Maggi calls coddling. She’s been so kind to Dillon that he wears
a cup.” He took a deep breath.

“OK, here goes. I want to know more of what that first cargo
ship brought us, and what is in the holds of the other ships. Fusion bottles are
not built out on the Rim and they are shipped there often. We’ve carried them in
our own hold. That one container ship is four hundred feet tall, and somewhat square
in cross section. It’s what? Three hundred by three hundred Noreen?” he asked.

“About that size Sir. Most of the boxes are ten feet by ten,
and fifty long. There could be three thousand inside her. Is that right Jake?”

“Mam, are you asking about the number of containers in the Transworld
Boxter, parked on the tarmac now?”

“Yes Jake.”

“It has a capacity of three thousand six hundred containers if
all are the standard dimensions, more if there are half sized containers in the
same volume as one standard. There are special containers that can occupy the same
space used for multiple singles when oversized equipment is transported, such as
assembled mining plants, large excavators, preassemb…”

“Stop,” she said to the AI. To the group, “There could be around
thirty six hundred standard boxes. More containers if there are many smaller boxes,
fewer if a lot of oversized ones. It’s a lot however we count them.”

Mirikami agreed. “We have plenty of people to help now and more
coming. We need more ‘stuff’ and to know what the stuff is. Let’s get busy sorting
out what we have and if we have spare fusion bottles if we lose those in the ships.”

The next hour passed with Mirikami meeting with Captains and
their officers, and some of their passengers that had specialized backgrounds. Like
an applied and a theoretical physicist, seven doctors or surgeons, a mechanical
engineer, and several people that heard there was a need for experienced hydroponics
help. Those were sent directly to see Jimbo, who was rushing to expand the small
hydroponics section already there.

There was a group of four Electrical Engineers, which had been
headed to work on a power plant on Thor. They had knowledge of how to handle the
electricity a large fusion bottle could generate. There was a wide mix of skills
and talents, which would no longer be sacrificed to combat. If they could be kept
from ripper jaws and off rhinolo horns.

One unforeseen need was a daycare. There were partial and entire
families on some ships, with children of various ages. These ranged from families
that were relocating, to those on vacations.

Small children were something the long time captives had not
seen for years. Children were not common on the isolated small ships captured previously
on the fringes of the Rim, and they hadn’t survived the original boarding process.
No pregnancy had been carried to term on Koban, not with the high gravity. Contraception
was the norm here when violent death had been the only inheritance.

Eventually Mirikami had to delegate Nory Walters, his Chief Steward,
to sort through all the people that started offering their services. Nory sat beside
a camera and audio pickup and let Jake record their specifics as they talked, and
Nory asked questions. Three other volunteers did the same at other locations around
the Great Hall. A catalogue of talent and expertise was being built that might be
useful in a pinch. The longtime captives began to open up and share their stories,
proving they were overcoming the chaos and paranoia they had lived under for years.

About an hour and a quarter passed before Jake informed him that
eight ships were altering orbits, and several had asked for coordinates and landing
details. Ms. Jorl’sn was on duty on the Bridge and was handling those requests,
and broadcast the coordinates and pictures of the compound and continent to every
ship. This time it was decided that all unloading would end thirty minutes before
sunset, so there would be no repeat of the nighttime ripper slaughter.

Jake had already reported dozens of blue streakers grazing the
grasslands near the river, and rhinolo were seen grazing close to the outside of
the ring walls. They could enter at any time. At least a half dozen other species
of small to midsized horned animals were browsing in all quadrants. There was even
several hundred of what looked like a pale blue horse analogue, but resembled a
huge draft horse more than an Arabian speedster. They all were surely followed by
their own predators, so the compound was going to become “interesting.”

Everyone had already noticed an increase in the number of small
biting insects, now that animals were coming closer. Their lumps of feces were also
dropping everywhere they went, and things that eat or live in that food were arriving.
The humans had not appreciated how free they had been of these smaller insect pests
because their normal hosts had been kept so far away.

When the first ship arrival was within forty-five minutes of
estimated touch down, Mirikami was making his way to his ship. As he crossed the
ramp, he spotted a pack of six lizard-like animals about two feet high, with long
tails held horizontal. They were colored one the ubiquitous shades of teal that
helped them blend into the scenery here. Except they were now on the gray and dusty
tan tarmac, making them stand out clearly.

Walking on two legs with small arm-like upper limbs, they resembled
miniatures of representations he had seen of extinct Earth dinosaurs. Mentioning
this resemblance to Jake, he asked for comparisons from the library.

“They closely resemble the body type of a dinosaur group called
micro raptors, Sir. The color is uncertain for the earth versions because raptors
became extinct over sixty five million years ago when…”

“Stop,” Mirikami ordered. He thought they were funny looking
little creatures, practically cute at barely two feet high.

They apparently had spotted him walking on the open tarmac before
he had noticed them. He now saw that they were positioning themselves to block a
retreat back to the dome. He realized was being stalked by these little animals,
which meant they were predatory like Earthly raptors had been.

However, he was a much larger than they were, even if he was
smaller than average for a man. That implied a level of confidence he didn’t care
for very much. He increased his pace of walking, not wanting to run, which might
trigger a pursuit response.

As they moved fully between him and the dome they fanned out
and started towards him in a slow but deliberate fashion. Cautiously stalking what
was a completely unknown animal, but potentially prey.

He was armed with two pistols, one with soft nose rounds, and
one held buckshot. Pulling the buckshot loaded gun he turned and aimed it, somehow
expecting them to show some reaction. Of course they didn’t, feeling a flush at
his foolishness. They didn’t know what he was, or what he held in his hand.

At about one hundred feet, he decided they were as close as he
would let them get. He fired a shot at the animal in the center of the arc of creatures
facing him. The buckshot apparently all missed, but he saw a few dust spurts near
and behind the one he had aimed at. They all stopped in their tracks or jumped at
the whoosh noise when he fired. One of them made a remarkable vertical leap of at
least six feet in this gravity, proving the strength in those small legs.

Looking from one to another then back at him, they clearly reached
a consensus. All six resumed closing on him in that same cautious stalk. He rapidly
fired six more rounds towards different members of the pack, no careful aiming involved,
not with buckshot. He counted on their scatter and quantity to hit something.

He did apparently hit two of them because they briefly went down,
emitting rather loud screams for such small creatures. The two hit instantly leaped
to their feet and suddenly all six screamed in unison and started running at directly
at him. He’d managed only to make them angry, and they didn’t seem cute and miniature
now.

They were fast as hell, jumping as they ran, making it difficult
to keep them in his sights. He drew the second weapon, firing both as he backed
as fast as he could towards the ship. He knew he couldn’t possibly beat them to
the ramp and he didn’t want them leaping onto his back.

Dillon and Deanna had been working with three of the crew of
the cargo ship, unloading and inspecting containers. They were currently placing
them close to the dome on the southeast side.

They heard Mirikami’s first shot, but it didn’t really draw their
attention. People were often taking pot shots at skeeters or high circling wolfbats.
Then they heard six rapid shots followed by an alarming scream, and then a massed
set of multiple screams.

Thinking they could be human, even though it sounded wrong, Dillon
ran out from behind the container Deanna was about to unseal. At first, he saw only
Mirikami facing the dome, and couldn’t see what he was watching.

When the Captain started firing with both pistols, rapidly backing
away from the dome, Dillon drew his guns followed a split second later by Deanna.
They started running towards him and from around the curve of the dome, finally
saw what Mirikami was shooting at.

Without a second of hesitation Dillon blazed away with both pistols
thumbed to full automatic, one with heavy buckshot loads the other with explosive
rounds. Deanna followed suit at a slower pace, with her light shot and soft nose
loads. The fusillade of pellets and explosions on the tarmac and into two of the
small targets finally deterred the remaining but determined little screaming monsters.
Only when they were within twenty feet of their target did they turn aside.

Watching the remaining four animals run away, he wisely reloaded
before he looked over and waved at his approaching rescuers.

As they walked up Dillon said, “They were getting so close to
you I was afraid to keep shooting on the run like that.”

“I thank both of you for getting me out of that fiasco. I should
take my own advice. I told everyone else to go outside in groups or at least pairs,
but I thought walking to the Fancy would be close and safe.”

Deanna was curious. “Sir, I’m glad you’re OK, but they looked
awfully small. I’ve never seen them before. Do they have a name?”

“I keep telling you to call me Tet, Deanna,” he gently reminded
her yet again. “I think those were cooperative little pack hunters that work together
to pull down larger animals. They would have had me too, despite my body suit under
my uniform. My head and hands are exposed.”

For meeting the other Captains he had been in uniform, but his
Smart Fabric uniform was too formal a fashion, even if better protection. So he
looked like a pudgy little man when he wore the body suit under normal clothing.
Fortunately, his heat modification helped him cope with the extra layer of clothing.