Broken Soldier (Book One) (8 page)

When they were eleven hours from their destination,
Mike’s mind began to fill with excitement and new questions. By
then, his body had made substantial improvement, so Jo reduced the
gravity to 1.1g, which the alien explained was the standard gravity
on all Sauran vessels.

“Jo, can we see the Mother Ship yet?”

“Certainly.”

A few seconds later, the entire wall lit up and Mike
saw the lens begin to zoom in on a few stony objects that composed
much of this part of the Kuiper belt. He was surprised that he only
saw a few objects.

“Jo, I’m not seeing many asteroids. Where did they
all go?”

“Mike, what little I have read about human knowledge
of space indicates that you have excellent physicists, who
understand the vast distances out here. But, the majority of your
people don’t comprehend very much about how your solar system is
laid out. Using graphic depictions on television, they see a view
indicating an asteroid belt, where these objects are clustered
close together. In fact, there is considerable distance between
each object. If one viewed the belt on the same plane, looking down
it’s length, it would seem that the asteroids were much closer
together than they actually are.”

Pointing at the viewing screen, Jo told him, “Here,
look again and you’ll see the Mother ship coming into view.”

Finally, an object appeared that looked out of
place. He could tell that it was manufactured, due to its oblong,
box like shape. As the view expanded, he chuckled at the ridiculous
object that had travelled through billions of miles to this solar
system. It looked as though a dozen different sized shoeboxes had
been glued together. There was nothing aerodynamic about it at
all.

Mike didn’t want to sound insulting, so he kept his
opinion of the object to himself. “Well, I can see it all right,
but how big is it. Where are the weapons and sensors?”

“It isn’t a warship, Mike. It does have a rather
powerful laser, which is used on asteroids for retrieval of
resources such as iron, nickel, gold and a host of other necessary
elements for the fabricator.”

“What’s a fabricator? Can it make weapons? We’ll
need to be able to supply the men with a means to fight, so we’ll
need weapons.”

Jo laughed. When he did, Mike heard the human
equivalent of laughter through the speakers. But he also heard the
alien’s true voice, as it sent out a high-pitched warble. That got
Mike laughing. It just sounded silly to him.

Finally, as they both calmed down, Jo said, “First,
the Mother Ship. It’s a transport and was never designed for
combat. I was told that in the past they experimented with this
design, converting it for combat, but it proved unworthy. It
functions perfectly as a transport vehicle, but it will never be
adequate as a war ship. It carries no weapons and, while it has
shields to prevent small objects from perforating the hull, as it
travels, it isn’t powerful enough to protect it from the weapons of
the warships we might face.

“By Earth measurements, it is one thousand eight
hundred and forty meters long, four hundred sixty three meters wide
at the widest point and has a mass of approximately four and a half
billion metric tons, when empty.”

“Jesus Christ! Four and a half billion tons?”

“Why do you use the name of your God?”

“It’s just an expression of awe.”

“Oh, I see. We don’t do that. It is considered an
insult to the God of all things.”

“I’m sorry, Jo. I meant no offense.”

“I know that. But, you should avoid such outburst.
On some worlds, it could cause a physical confrontation that might
be counterproductive to our needs.”

Mike had seen such confrontations between his troops
and the more intolerant Muslims of Iraq. He nodded and told Jo,
“I’ll try to remember that.”

Jo explained, “The ship’s weight is of little
concern, due to the gravatic compensators. Because the ship has
enormous power, it can easily adjust those compensators to handle a
weight far greater, when it is loaded.”

Mike just shook his head, as he tried to grasp the
magnitude of what he had been told. Four and one half billion tons.
It was unfathomable to him. He vaguely recalled reading that the
International Space Station was just over the length of a football
field and weighed around 350 tons.

As his mind tried to put it all in perspective, the
alien added more details. “There are three fabricators on board the
Mother Ship. They are designed to produce items that wear out with
heavy use. A fabricator produces parts for the engines, drive
units, waste control and environment. Also, they can reproduce a
great deal of other items.

“However, they can only manufacture those items for
which there are programs. I know of no such programs for weapons,
as that was not anticipated as necessary for the primary purpose of
the journey.”

“But, certainly they had some means of manufacturing
odd items which had not been anticipated as going bad, or being
damaged.”

“Well, now that I think about it, there is a
relatively small definer on board. You place an object inside of it
and program it to analyze the item; the definer will ‘Define’ the
object. It will do laser measurements, metallurgical analysis, of
all components in the makeup of the various parts of it and then
tell you if it can be reproduced. If it can be done, the definer
will generate a program for the fabricator. Then, that item can be
reproduced, providing you have the base elements needed.

“The Mother Ship carries a good supply of
fundamental elements and some very hard to find rare elements. You
have a large group of asteroids, between Mars and Jupiter, which
contains thousands of bodies that are rich in metals.”

Mike said, “That may come in handy.”

He thought for a moment, and then commented, “I wish
I knew more about the capabilities of the Sauran warships and their
weapons.”

Jo was about to speak, but Mike cut him off, by
holding up his hand. “I know, I know! That information would be
available once I’ve been upgraded.”

Jo just grinned, as he said, “Yes. Some of that
information might be available in the Mother Ship’s computer, if we
can gain access to the Senior Pilot’s code access. You would call
it a password, although it will be very long and complicated.”

“Shit.”

Jo had picked up a few of Mike’s mannerisms. He
nodded his head and said, “Ah yes, I agree. Excrement.”

Mike had to laugh again, as did Jo. He felt it was a
good sign that the alien demonstrated a sense of humor.

As they approached the Mother Ship, Jo explained
that they would transition inside, via one of two access portals.
Mike was able to view a close up of the hull and saw that it wasn’t
as smooth as he had first seen. The seemingly metallic hull looked
old, pock marked and rippled with age.

When he told Jo that, the alien nodded and said,
“Well, it is over two hundred years old.”

“Yes, but I expected to see evidence of maintenance
and upgrades, as you would say.”

“You would find such improvements on warships, but
not on an old transport like this one. In fact, if you saw a new
transport, it would be identical to this one. I don’t recall
hearing about any substantially new designs for them.

“You see, the Saurans steal designs from the people
they conquer. They make little effort to be inventive at all.
However, they are good at copying what they can of other races hard
work. All of their creativity centers on war. They say that is
their strength and it’s what makes them unbeatable.”

Mike looked at Jo, as he emphatically said, “Well,
we’ll just have to see if that’s true. If we can score a victory or
two, it might shake their confidence.”

“Mike, there is a huge difference between wishful
thinking and victory.”

“We humans have a tendency to be arrogant at times.
But, confidence, born of preparation is in our genes.”

Jo gave him one of his tiny grins and said, “You may
be correct about that.”

Mike watched, as their small craft entered the
enormous spaceship. The portal itself must have been two hundred
meters across and nearly ninety meters high. Jo told him that
leaving and entering the Mother Ship was handled by the ship’s
computer. So they sat there and waited as the entrance and docking
maneuver was completed.

Jo left the viewing screen on and Mike saw another
small craft, like the one he was in, as well as another transport
four times its size.

Jo told him the larger one was identical to the one
in which the Saurans had died. Unfortunately, it was lost. Mike was
glad the Saurans had perished, but it would have been good for Jo’s
purposes to have the other craft available. He was always aware of
logistics. It was better to have and not need, than to need and not
have.

When he quoted that axiom to Jo, the alien
responded, “The Saurans have a similar saying, ‘If you always carry
what you need, you will never want.”

Jo explained the clanging noises he heard. “The
storage docking process mates a pressurized boarding passageway to
our transport. That way, there is no reason to pressurize the
transport storage area. So, when there is a need for a transport to
leave or return quickly, it can be done in a minimum of time. The
Mother Ship may be old, but it is an efficient design.”

“Makes sense. Hey, Jo, are all of the big spacecraft
called Mother Ships? Don’t any of them have a name?”

“All of them have names, but a human could never
pronounce them and their meaning in your language could not be
appreciated.”

Mike shrugged his shoulders and asked, “So, what’s
the name of this ship?”

“Other Race Transport and Null-Mind Storage Vessel
Number 723.”

“That’s not a real name. Basically, it’s just ship
number 723. Does that mean that there are seven hundred and twenty
three of this type spaceship?”

“You have the right idea. This ship is number 723 of
a production line. It is over two hundred years old, so there are
many more. As I indicated earlier, the Saurans don’t make changes
in design. As long as it works, they keep using it.”

Mike thought for a moment, before hesitantly asking,
“How many warships do they have.”

“I don’t know, but they must number in the
thousands.”

“Jesus Christ. Hup, sorry about that.”

“It doesn’t offend me. But, saying that to a
Zhanukiabanolis could cause trouble for you. They are a very
religious race.”

“OK. Can we just use the name Januki, in stead of
the name that I’ll never be able to pronounce?”

“Of Course. I’ll program the interpreter to
substitute that, in your language. But, once you have been
upgraded, that won’t be necessary. You’ll be able to say it and
speak their words, just as they do and you won’t even realize your
doing it. Yet, your comprehension of what is being spoken will be
complete.”

“Jo, you sure are pressing for me to be
upgraded.”

“You have learned enough to appreciate my concern
and the urgency for a decision from you. I don’t mean to be
offensive, but I would like your decision within the next Earth
day, if that would be possible. If you cannot bring yourself to
decide, then I will return you to your cabin and you can continue
fishing, as though your planet was safe from harm.”

Mike became a little hostile. “All right, Jo. You’re
pushing me too hard now. When I’m ready, I’ll let you know.”

Jo showed no sign of offense. “As you would say, the
clock is ticking.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“Humans use a large number of terms to demonstrate
their anger and frustration. I find it interesting…perhaps even
clever.”

“Fuck you.”

“Ah. You shift from frustration to anger, but I
sense fear as well. I’ll stop pushing so hard. But, forgive me if I
provide little reminders for you.”

Jo pointed to the exit. “Come. Let me show you the
remains of the Sauran I killed.”

The hatch opened for them and Mike followed Jo down
the docking passage into number 723.

Chapter
6

Jo explained, “We have a long walk to the Operation
Center. The small craft storage hangar, where we arrived, is near
the end of the Mother Ship, just in front of the engine area.
Although I can access several systems that I was unable to use
before the death of the Saurans, I haven’t tried to use the ship’s
trams, or make any changes that could be interpreted as interfering
with the ship’s mission. I feel it is wise to use caution, as I
discover what I can do and what I cannot do. I fear there might be
safety levers within the Sauran’s computer codes that could send
out an alarm or even trigger my demise.

“I am reluctant to do too much, until I have been
able to carefully probe the system. You see, the computer operates
everything on a Sauran ship. It has been programmed to do what is
necessary to comply with the mission. If I do something that it
views as detrimental to the completion of that mission, I could be
seen as an enemy. The computer would have no trouble eliminating
me.”

Mike saw the obvious threat to both of them. “Jo,
why didn’t you mention this before we came here?”

The tall alien stopped and gave him a serious gaze,
as he explained. “Mike, you, or someone like you, is my only hope
for true freedom. The trip back out to the Mother Ship had to be
made, if I was to have any chance of success. I haven’t lied to you
about anything. I admit I’ve left out a few details, which will be
revealed as we make progress.”

Angrily Mike challenged, “LIKE WHAT?”

“Well, one extra reason I chose you was due to you
computer training, although that was not paramount in my choice. I
felt that a man with an understanding of basic computer functions
would quickly learn the complexities of Sauran computer codes, once
he had been upgraded.” Then he projected a satisfied grin at
Mike.