Probe Predators (3 page)

“Trip.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Why didn’t you say something about this before now?”

“I did.”

“When?”

“If you remember during the conference, I told the Admiral that it was a very foolish thing to do.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“You didn’t have me sitting at the conference table with you. I suspect you were worried I’d be an embarrassment.”

“Was that a legitimate concern?”

“Of course; but if I could see the danger when I’m plastered, why couldn’t your military geniuses see it sober?”

Angela looked at the Admiral, “Trip, you make a very good point. Please keep Moe up to date on what you find.”

“I will, your Majesty.”

Angela turned to the Admiral, “You and all your Senior Staff are relieved of your duties. You will report to the military adjunct building and come up with a plan to defend the Realm against anything from aliens to attacks from M87. You will not leave the building; do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Moe, go through the military records and find the ones Trip described. Choose the one you think is the most paranoid and promote him to command the others. I want my fleets mobilized and active.”

“I’ll issue the orders.”

“Get Patrick in here to help make them happen.”

“That is a good choice.”

The Admiral went to the basement of the building next to the Royal Palace and was forced to download all the military reports from the last fight with the Family. By the time he finished, he knew he should be tried for treason.

• • •

Trip stopped the Needle and activated the communicator, “Moe, I need you to send someone to join us.”

“Who?”

“Andi Montgomery is the one that made me realize what was happening. She knows everything about those probes and I could use her expertise.”

“Stand by.” After five minutes they heard, “She’s really angry with you at the moment. It appears her father has been relieved of his duties.”

“Ask her where her loyalty lies; with her family or the Union. Tell her I said to grow a spine and do the right thing.”

“She’ll be coming in a courier; she should arrive in fifteen minutes.”

“Thanks, Moe.” Cole sighed and Trip said, “What’s bugging you?”

“We had such a peaceful spirit on this ship with only us; now you’re bringing in an enraged woman. Our inner peace will be blown away like sand in a hurricane.”

Trip stared at Cole, “Where in the heck did you come up with that line of crap?”

“You have to admit it sounded pretty good.”

“I guess; it won’t be the first time we’ve been with an angry woman. And when was it ever peaceful around the two of us?”

“I really don’t recall. You seem to make someone angry nightly.”

“I guess it just comes from my lovable personality.”

Cole shook his head, “I can’t think any of anyone that would use those words to describe your personality; selfish, egotistical, self-centered, self-serving, demanding…”

“I think you’ve made your point. What are you trying to say?”

“If you intend to get the most out of her knowledge, you need her to be a willing participant. Going to a corner and tapping her foot will not help us at all.”

“And just how would I do that?”

“Talk to her like your Aunt just spoke to you.”

Trip blew out a ragged breath, “I’ll give it a go, but if she tries to hit me, I expect you to step in and take the hit. It’ll be your fault; you know how hard the High Genetics can hit.”

“It always is….and I always do.”

“You have to do it, Cole; I’m never sober enough to dodge a swing, much less throw one.” Trip shook his head as the courier arrived, moved in, and docked with the small ship’s storage bay. Cole was right about Andi being angry. It was the first time in a long time that Trip saw an angry woman when he was sober. He developed a better appreciation of what Cole had to put up with. Cole started to intervene and Trip held up his hand. Cole did a double take and leaned back in his chair to watch what happened. If nothing else, it should be entertaining.

• • •

Trip listened to Andi call him everything from an old milk cow to a filthy pig. He was impressed that she didn’t have to resort to one curse word during her screaming. He knew that came from her possessing an extensive vocabulary and she was using it rather effectively. Finally he said, “When you finish acting stupid, you can help me see what needs to be done to defend the Union.”

Andi grew silent and said, “You’ve destroyed my father’s career.”

“Are you responsible for your actions!?!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s a simple question; are you responsible for your actions?”

“The answer is obvious; of course I’m responsible for my actions.”

“Tell me what would be the worst that could happen if the probes send their messages out.”

Andi stared at Trip, “A Family would hear them and come to take vengeance.”

“Now, what if I didn’t see the purpose of those probes and we had no warning of the Family’s arrival; what would be our state of readiness?” Andi glared at Trip. “Why did they have to bring you out here in a courier?” Andi continued to stare at Trip, not saying anything. Trip scowled, “Let me assist you with that particular answer. Your father and his subordinates didn’t even keep one warship powered to investigate any threat that might appear to threaten the Union. I could dismiss him not being ready for the probes because no one saw that coming. It was your study that caused them to come to light. However, M87 has closed their galaxy to us and still not one vessel has been powered to see if they’re planning something. Is that the officer you want given the responsibility of defending the Union? Stand there and scream some more so I can see your loyalty is to him first and the survival of the Union second.”

“But…”

“Is he responsible for his actions?” Andi lowered her head. “Is the Union prepared to meet an invader from outside our galaxy?” Andi shook her head. “I honestly take no pleasure in seeing your father’s career damaged or your anguish at his pain. I hope he can use this experience to rebuild it; however, I need you here giving us all you know to help us do the things necessary to make sure the Union is not caught off guard by a sudden attack.”

“What do you want?”

“You must help me understand how those probes function. I hope you brought the data from your study.” Andi reached in a bag and pulled out a data cube. Trip nodded, “I need to know how far out from M87 those probes have to be to start their broadcasts without being distorted by the Galaxy’s gravity.”

“I’ve looked at that and it appears it’s close to a light year.”

Trip blew out a breath, “Andi, the imposed border with M87 is a light year. I need a more exact answer than close to a light year. If I’m going to violate that border, I need to make sure there’s a good reason for doing it.”

“Are you considering crossing it?”

“I will do whatever needs doing to defend the Union. We have to record that probe’s message and since we don’t have a receiver tuned to it, we’ll have to be close enough to one of them for its pulses to be recorded.”

“Can’t this ships’ computer figure it out?”

“That’s the one thing I couldn’t get; the advanced cybernetic defense computer is not something even I could manage to pull off. However, I do have access to one that’s pretty good.” Andi’s eyebrows went up. Trip said, “Moe, you still there?”

“Yes.”

Trip looked at Andi, “Please insert your cube into the reader.”

Andi inserted the cube and the computer’s panel started flashing. Moe said, “Andi, I need more information. The back third of the probe you studied is missing from the data. How much of that space was devoted to the power unit?”

“I ran an energy scan and determined that most of that area housed the radioactive material to power the probe. The thrusters were only a fifth of the section that was destroyed.”

“Are you certain about that?”

“I am.”

Trip said, “Why is that data so important?”

“The power available for use by the probe dictates how far out from M87 that it could get its message out without distortion. The smaller the power source, the more distant it has to be from M87. You also have to consider that the probes won’t be broadcasting their messages constantly. They’ll send it once and only then will it self-destruct.”

“And traveling at the speed of light, we’ll have to be close to where they start sending to record them.”

“Yesssss….”

“What?”

“There is another possibility.”

“What is that?”

“We know the exact time those probes launched as well as the time and place they approached the speed of light. You could jump into M87’s border and accelerate to light speed and pace the probes as they move away from the galaxy.”

“Do you have the probe’s exact location?”

“Within a couple of hundred thousand miles.”

“Is that close enough?”

“Remember, they launched thousands of probes that took more than two minutes to clear the ship and accelerate away. I’m reasonably certain you would be close enough to record at least one of them.”

“How far inside the border would we have to jump?”

“Three light weeks and you’ll have to stay on a path directly away from that galaxy until you hear the recording.”

“Do you think the powers that be in M87 will detect our intrusion?”

“If they do; that will speak volumes about their intent.”

Trip sighed, “If they have enough ships to detect one intrusion, they are preparing for war.”

“And if that’s the case, I suspect they will attempt to attack your ship.”

“That won’t be easy, Moe.”

“Oh, why not?”

“If attacking an object moving at light speed were easy, those probes would have been removed centuries ago.”

“They’ll have the line on which you accelerate away.”

“Those probes scattered when they launched; I’ll veer from the line and maintain my speed. Besides, if they’re planning an attack, we’ll know more about their readiness by the number of ships they use to find me. This is probably worth doing, even if we miss the probes.”

“Do you have the helmet link to your computer?”

“I do.”

“Please put it on.”

“What are you going to do?”

“You don’t have the military model of computer on your ship. I’m going to download all the programming to bring it up to speed. It’s going to need a mind to mimic.”

Trip turned to Cole, “Cole, get the information on where to jump and start accelerating as soon as you enter normal space.” Trip looked at Andi, “I sincerely apologize for placing you in a dangerous situation. I see no way to get you off before we have to do this.”

“I know the importance of this mission. Don’t worry about my welfare.”

Cole said, “Andi, are you familiar with the Needle’s weapon array?”

“I’ve been through simulator training.” Cole raised his eyebrows, “I’m a Daddy’s Girl and he wanted to show off.”

“Good, until the computer is modified, I need you to man the weapon console.”

Trip said, “Just be aware that if we fire on a M87 vessel, we will probably precipitate a war.”

“I’ll do what I can to avoid hitting them.”

Trip shrugged and put on the helmet. He moved to the second command chair and Cole sat down in the command chair. He entered the jump coordinates in the jump drive and activated the weapon’s console. Trip’s eyes closed as the small ship disappeared from normal space.

T
rip opened his eyes and saw Cole and Andi’s expressions; they were under a huge level of stress. He sat up in his command chair and saw the relief on Cole’s face, “What have I missed?”

“A ship from M87 fired at us and rocked the boat rather severely. We were lucky not to have been hit.”

Trip said, “Computer, are you up to speed?”

“I have taken control of all of the major systems.”

“Your name will be Ian.”

“Name acknowledged and stored, Sir.”

“Give me a status?”

“We are currently being pursued by more than six hundred warships of various classes. A quarter of them are major battleships; the majority of those remaining are in the Destroyer Class.”

“How do we avoid them?”

“They are currently jumping out in front of our heading with six lines of a hundred ships leaping over each other. Five lines jump beyond the closest line to our path and all of them attempt to scan our approach and take a shot at us.”

“Are they able to react fast enough to be effective?”

Cole nodded, “One of them barely missed hitting us twenty minutes ago.”

“Ian, veer us around the end of their lines and continue at our current pace.”

“I suspect if they don’t detect us passing they will move their lines and possibly double the number of ships in each line.”

Trip thought for a moment and leaned back in his chair, “Do you think they know what we’re doing?”

“I’m not really sure about that.”

“I would think they would have hit some probes moving through this area.”

“They’ve managed to destroy more than a hundred.”

“That must mean their FTL tracking devices are far advanced from what they used to be.”

“Their targeting computers are also more advanced, Sir.”

“Ian, are you able to see the Probes?”

“I am.”

“I thought you might since you’re matching their speed. Where is the furthest from our current location?”

“It’s about six hundred miles to the port side.”

“Can you veer over and stay close to it?”

“I’ll start moving in that direction and cut the distance at a small angle. I’ll accelerate slightly and maintain a position even with it.”

Cole stood up and stretched. Andi fell back in her chair and then jumped up and ran over to Cole and put her arms around his chest and pulled him close. “I almost fired on that ship…I could have caused a war.” Andi was shivering as her adrenaline sought release.

Cole had his arms at his sides but then he realized he had a beautiful woman hugging him. He lifted his arms and pulled Andi close, “You did the right thing. You made a good decision.”