Reverberations, page 7
Alex gets up and walks closer to the holoprojection, pointing at a spot where one of the magma filled cracks is moving toward the ocean. Seconds later, massive clouds form. We watch as it grows, staring at the calamity we induced on this once thriving world. The devastation is mesmerizing.
An alarm sounds, drawing our attention.
“It’s a proximity alert.” Alex says. “Some space junk is about to hit one of our space hawks. I’ve got it. See if you can find us some targets. We have four space hawks in the system. Might as well use them.”
I pop up a system map constructed from the space hawks’ sensor feeds. What had been an orderly flow of ships an hour ago now looks like chaos—the fighters all in motion going in different directions at different speeds. But as I watch, the underlying order becomes apparent. The Dominion must be pulling up stakes. All the fighters are vectoring toward a dreadnaught, presumably their home base. I’m sure some ships will stay behind, but this planet will not be habitable for a long time.
“What have you found?” Alex asks.
I point. “These eight dreadnaughts have recalled their fighters. These four just seem to be sitting there.”
“Those are freighters,” Alex clarifies, then points at a few small but clunky ships climbing up out of a low orbit. “These are haulers. They’ve been making runs between the freighters, shipyard, and surface. I’m guessing the ones on the surface were lost, but I imagine these will all pack up and leave, too.”
She turns her attention back to the dreadnaughts. “These are the high-value targets. We should wait until they’ve retrieved their fighters before taking them down.”
“Agreed.”
As she walks back over to her station, she says, “I’ve been monitoring these guys. They’ve been running mock space battles all week, which I’ve scored.” She taps a button, highlighting four of the dreadnaughts. “These four are the best targets.”
“Don’t you think we should leave some surveillance behind?”
She shakes her head no. “This planet is out of the game for the foreseeable future. They know we know they are here, so they won’t stage anything in this system until the planet is accessible again. I’ll take a high value target, like those dreadnaughts, over an early warning system in unusable territory like this.”
“Good point.” I sigh. “Who are we going to tell about this?”
“No one.” Alex laughs as if this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever said.
I put my hands out. “Winston knows the Dominion are here. We’ve told To’Kana, Admiral Kotosoba, Morgan Owen, and April McDonald about a Dominion presence in this system. Morgan has told SECDEF about it… Someone will ask, or worse, will come looking without asking.”
“Good point. We should get ahead of it, say we came and found that a disaster of some sort struck. There’s lots of Dominion wreckage. The planet appears to be undergoing an extinction-level climate event. Our hypothesis… A giant asteroid strike.”
I look at Alex, a little concerned about her increased aggression and willingness to just fabricate stories. “Wouldn’t the Dominion have seen a giant asteroid coming?”
“No hypothesis then. Just the facts…”
The way she pauses makes me think she’s caught my concern.
“… about what they will find when they come,” she finishes.
I nod. “Good idea.” Pointing back at the system map, I ask, “We have what, maybe an hour before we make the hit?”
“More. Why?”
“I want to talk to To’Kana, get his take on what’s happened.”
“We can do that from here.”
“I’d like a change of scenery.”
“Okay if I join you?”
The truth is, I would rather do this on my own. But sensing the concern in her voice, I smile. “Sure.”
OFFICE, ESTATE HOUSE
The line connects with To’Kana’s evaluative eyes boring into mine. The stare stretches out, then he says, “I trust the situation on the Indarsu home world has been resolved.”
I swallow. “It has. The shipyard is no more. We rendered the planet uninhabitable. We had enough weaponry in-system to take down four of the remaining dreadnaughts. Four others, four freighters, and a handful of scouts will escape.”
To’Kana nods. “That is why I have arranged for a battlecruiser to be delivered to you.”
The words shock. “I thought Justin arranged for that.”
“You’re getting a battlecruiser?” Alex asks.
“Justin told me right after you stepped out this morning.” I reply, then turn back to To’Kana, whose eyes are sparkling now.
“Do you think Justin came up with this idea on his own?” he asks.
“He said we were going into the luxury space tourism industry.”
To’Kana shrugs. “Sometimes people are more pliable when you tell them what they want to hear. But I suppose that is not the purpose of your call.”
“No, it’s not. Last week you said the Dominion were after me, implying they were after me, personally. Every time I have encountered them, I seem to have felt them before seeing them. And in those encounters, their eyes seem to be on me, not the others around me. I think you know more about this than you’ve let on.”
To’Kana’s smile is back, the one he gives me when I ask what he’s been waiting for me to ask. “Because of the efforts of our new allies, who have captured quite a few members of the Dominion, our scientists have begun to unravel the secrets of the arachnoids. They are innately telepathic and operate as part of a hive mind, which makes them appear to be shockingly intelligent. The first two you met undoubtedly figured out that you were different than the others. At this point, every Dominion individual you meet will probably know you by sight. Even shown your picture, the Dominion we’ve captured, who have never seen a human before, react, picking you out of a lineup. We suspect they can sense your mind at a distance, but of course, we have no way to prove that.”
“That would imply they can find Earth, simply by looking for me.”
“They have sent spy ships to Earth. They know exactly where it is, and Earth is almost certainly their priority target, which is the second reason you need a battlecruiser.”
“I hope you plan to explain that statement.”
“The reason should be self-evident.”
The evaluative eyes are back, which implies that he will pass judgment on my response.
“They are more interested in me than in Earth?” I ask in astonishment. “So, if I am somewhere else, Earth will not be their top priority?”
To’Kana nods, but it is the slow and shallow nod I get when I’m half-way there.
“And if I’m charging into their territory with enough firepower, their interest in this region of space will lessen?”
To’Kana’s evaluative eyes soften, a smile forming. “Exactly.”
“But how can that work?” Alex asks. “The two of us can’t operate a battlecruiser.”
To’Kana turns to Alex. “Just because something is difficult doesn’t mean that it cannot or should not be done. You have significant resources at your disposal. Everything you must do is within your means.”
From previous sessions like this, I can tell To’Kana is about to dismiss us, unless I can refocus the discussion. “Going back to the Dominion, have you been able to determine how they interfere with your sensors?”
“The mechanism behind their telepathy is electromagnetic. Just as your vocal chords create vibrations that carry through the air, arachnoids have an organ that produces subspace radio waves, similar to the ones used in our sensor arrays. It’s quite remarkable, but no more remarkable than any of the senses that make up the humanoid sensory system.”
“What other ship systems could their telepathy influence?”
“We have only documented a few.” To’Kana stands, indicating the end of this session. “Your battlecruiser will arrive in twenty-three days. Begin your preparations. The sooner you leave, the less of a threat you pose to your people.”
When the line drops, Alex explodes, “Is this the way he talks to you when I’m not there?”
I shrink back under her ire.
When there is no immediate response, Alex exclaims, “What the hell, Wimberly!”
“Who would I be without him?” I shout, pissed at the situation, more than I am with Alex. “Besides being dead… Who the hell would I be?” The last bit comes out with hopelessness.
A second later, her strong arms are around me; her soft lips delivering a kiss on my neck. “Can we at least talk about it?”
I’m not sure which of us moved first, but now she’s in my arms.
“Talk to me?” she asks.
“To’Kana is like a mentor. He tells me little. But prods me to think. He asks me the questions that answer mine. He gave me a new body, upgraded my mind, downloaded generations of memories… It’s the way it has been since Day One.”
“I’m not exactly remembering Day One that way,” she teases. Her grip on me tightening.
I grunt. “Well, we weren’t exactly together the entire day.”
“Don’t remind me!” The words come out with contagious laughter.
As we hold each other, calmness returns.
“So, this is how he trains you?” she whispers.
“Socratic, don’t you think?”
Alex devolves into laughter. “Oh, my God. Kyle Wimberly talking Socrates.”
The laughing morphs into tears, then Alex, still clinging to me, asks, “So, we’re doing this then.”
“Yeah. We’re doing this. The question is how.”
CHAPTER 4: PREPARATION
[01.31.2035] BEDROOM, ESTATE HOUSE
The events of the day yesterday left me exhausted. About 7:30, Alex and I went up to bed and, once settled, I went out like a light. Amazingly, I slept nine hours, which rarely happens. But now, at 4:45 AM, I’m wide awake and filled with anxiety about the new responsibilities To’Kana has given me. Unable to keep from fidgeting, I slip out of bed, grab my robe, then head down to the office. Once seated, I call Justin.
Seconds later he appears opposite me, then laughs. “Glad to see you dressed for the occasion. What’s gone wrong?”
“I haven’t told you about the Indarsu home world yet, have I?”
“Weren’t they the ones To’Kana hoped would turn back the Dominion?”
“They were.”
“What about them?”
I give Justin the one-minute version of what we discovered there, then play him a clip showing the number of ships and the shipyard there.
“The shipyard had ten ships docked that were in some stage of construction. They were cranking out one a week. Alex and I, mostly Alex, have been studying them remotely.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
“Remember when Alex came into my office while we were talking yesterday?”
Justin nods.
“Do you remember her saying there was a new development?”
“What about it?”
“This is what she found.”
I put up the after image showing the mangled shipyard floating above the white milky clouds encasing the planet.
“What happened?” he asks.
“This is what we caught.”
I play an edited clip that shows the shipyard zip apart, then the planet starting to crack open.
Justin’s mouth drops open. “A giant asteroid must have hit the planet—some of the junk in its wake taking down the shipyard. Do we know if anything survived?”
“All eight of the space hawks we left behind were destroyed. They recorded the destruction of eight dreadnaughts. Four more, plus four mining ships, and several scout ships were attempting escape when the last of our space hawks was hit.”
“Jesus. I wish we had weapons as powerful. Then again, best we don’t. We would probably end up killing ourselves.”
I chuckle half-heartedly at Justin’s comment. If only he knew.
“I talked at length with To’Kana yesterday.”
“What does he think about it?”
I share To’Kana’s theory that the Dominion are trying to set up shop here, the findings from their research into arachnoid telepathy, and his belief that I am what is attracting them to Earth.
“So that’s why he volunteered to have the Harza build you a battlecruiser. I should have realized it wasn’t about space tourism. But how is this going to work? You’ll need a crew and supplies; you still have deliverables we’ve committed to Morgan; and it’s illegal for American citizens to pursue wars of their own without government sanction.”
“I know. That’s what I can’t wrap my head around. But To’Kana is right. This is something I must do, so it’s on me to figure out how.”
“Start with President Powell. You are a special member of her cabinet. You can request an audience and get one. If she commissions this, then most of your problems are gone. If she forbids it, then you’ve got real problems.”
“Good suggestion. I’ll call the White House as soon as we are off the line.”
“Good.” Justin looks up, catching my eye. “You have really landed yourself in it this time, Wimberly.”
“I’ll keep you looped in.”
“And don’t forget our meeting with Morgan next Tuesday. We need that fire-and-forget torpedo.”
When the line drops, I sit back in my seat, still feeling overwhelmed. But Justin was right. I need to start with President Powell. I grab my landline phone, the one the Secret Service had installed, and dial Rose Richards, the president’s secretary.
She answers immediately, “Good morning, Dr. Wimberly. You are up early this morning. How can I help you?”
“I have an urgent update for the President. I’m hoping she has a few minutes to spare for me today.”
My words are met with the sound of Rose’s clicking tongue. “I doubt we’re going to be able to do that today, Dr. Wimberly. She’s not in her office. I’ll message Peter, saying it’s urgent. He’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, Rose,” I say as the line drops.
Great. Just great. I’ve only met Peter West once. He’s the president’s new chief of staff, one of the most prickly bureaucrats I’ve ever met, a letter of the law kind-of guy that does not permit same day scheduling, unless the president requests it.
Noise out in the foyer, draws my attention. It’s the guys getting warmed up for the morning run. Time for the day to start in earnest.
TRAIL, TAWNY OWL ESTATE
As has been the pattern for some time now, Alex and I hang back from the rest of the crew.
“Clever to have played Justin that way,” Alex says after I recount my conversation with him. “I agree that President Powell is the place to start, but good luck with that. According to the news feed on my phone, she’s traveling to China today. I’m kind of surprised she didn’t bring you along. One of the topics on the agenda is the space fleet.”
“I’m protected from most of that. The program team and State Department deal with the allies. I’m technology, Mac is delivery, and Justin is coordination. I’m very happy not needing to know who needs what when.”
We run in silence for a few seconds, then Alex says, “Today is Day #1 of twenty-three. How are we going to get ready in twenty-three days? I don’t know where to start.”
“There are four things I’m worried about.”
Alex laughs, “Only four?”
“Crew, supplies, the fire-and-forget weapon, and a new planet killing weapon,” I say, ignoring the snipe. “If President Powell embraces the mission, then crew and supplies will be less of a problem. So, for the purposes of Day #1, I am not going to worry about them. I’m going to focus on the weapons.”
“We should probably contact To’Kana as well,” Alex replies. “We need to know more about how the ship will be outfitted. If we get it twenty-three days from now with no stoves, toilets, or running water, then this is not something that’s going to happen this year.”
“Isn’t that a little pessimistic?” I ask.
“I apparently watch more news than you do.”
“Meaning?”
“Kai… The problems with the interior finishings have been all over the news for the last couple of weeks.”
“Oh.”
“And we’re going to need replicators.”
“Agreed, but I think you’re meaning more than I’m getting.”
“There will be no supply lines on this mission. That means anything we need to get back home, we’ll have to make for ourselves.”
A chill runs through me, triggered by Alex’s words, not the cold, wet weather. Will we ever come home from this mission?
A quiet voice in the back of my mind whispers, No.
THIRD-FLOOR STUDY
By the time we got back from this morning’s run, I was soaked, not from sweat, but from the rain that started in earnest on the return leg. Even a hot shower with Alex wasn’t enough to overpower the chill. The haunted feeling that came with my doubt we’d return from this mission didn’t help either.
So, we came up to Alex’s cozy new hangout for the warmth of its fireplace, before initiating a call with To’Kana.
The line connects and To’Kana’s image appears in the holographic projection.
“I am pleased to hear back from you so soon. You must be taking this mission seriously.”
“We are,” I assure. “What can you tell us about the battlecruiser you are sending us?”
The hint of a smile and nodding head confirm that I’ve asked the question To’Kana was looking for. “It is patterned after my legacy ship, but outfitted for war, and scaled more appropriately for people of your size. It has an auto-doc optimized for human use. Large industrial replicators, like the ones on my ship. Luxury appointments in all the crew areas. An integrated food synthesis system sufficient for up to thirty humans. A jump system with dual power sources, similar to the ones you’ve put in your war shuttle… You will find this ship to be quite comfortable and able. Ready to take the upgraded weapons you are working on.”
