Neptune's Massif (7 page)

"That can be arranged, Admiral. However, I do need to warn you that the exact location is classified. You will be taken to the facility by a Raptor team in a highly stealthed ship," Ian replied. "Once the Raptor departs this station, even we cannot track it any longer."

"I assumed the training facility to be on the planet below. There is much wisdom in keeping that base a secret; once the enemy knows of its existence, it would become a priority target. On my honor, any information gleaned by myself, or any of my clan, as to the location of the Raptor training facility will not be recorded in any fashion nor passed on to any other beings," T'rir vowed.

Ian knew it was not an empty oath; by phrasing it the way he did, T'rir would sacrifice his entire clan if the location was leaked by them. Ian bowed to him. "You're oath is accepted in the manner in which it is offered. I will arrange the tour for you. Has my Raptor Commander that defeated you joined your table?"

In T'rir's culture, a combatant that wins a dual must join the table, have a meal with the defeated or his survivors, to assure all parties that the matter resulting in the dual has been resolved, or more duals will be fought. It was a tradition that had been started to ensure the end of clan wars.

T'rir nodded. "She has, she and her fellow Commander also invited my staff to table after the battle. I must say, the food prepared was very good and the portions very pleasing. I have requested several casks of the beverage served to be delivered to my ship prior to our departure. She is a very honorable warrior to ask a previously defeated foe to her victory table."

Ian nodded. "It is likely she did not see you as a foe, but as an ally when she asked you to table. If I may ask, what was the beverage she served?"

"I believe it was a juice of fruit from your planet; a 'prove' fruit I believe," T'rir said. 

"Prune Juice?" Ian asked.

"That is it! She commented that it would be the most palatable beverage she could find for our shared table. I have to agree with her; most times when we partake of alien foods we have... difficulties, later. There was no such discomfort this time, this prune juice not only tasted very good, it was greatly appreciated by my entire staff," the burly being replied.

"Forgive me for changing the subject, Admiral. But I have received a troubling report from Alliance Support Command. It seems that they will not have transportation available for two of our heavily damaged ships, as well as a good portion of our salvage from the battle. I have been asked by my Matriarch to inquire if space can be made available to store these ships and salvage until we can return to retrieve it," T'rir asked.

"Certainly, Admiral. I will have to get approval from the Council, but I'm certain an area can be set aside for your salvage. As for the damaged ships, why not simply leave them here in dry dock? We can rebuild them while they wait," Ian replied. "We did agree to support you as much as we could, I don't see something like that as out of line with that agreement. It would be much easier for you to fly the ships to where they are needed than to have them towed to your own facilities, when they could be repaired here," Ian replied, and touched his communicator. "Maia, can we have a moment of your time?"

The now young-adult looking AI avatar materialized next to him. "Certainly Admiral, how may I assist you?"

"Alliance support had planned on towing several of the most damaged ships back to their own facilities for repair or rebuild. Admiral T'rir has received word that transportation of these ships will be delayed because of a lack of available transportation. Will there be a problem if those ships were to remain here to be rebuilt or repaired?" Ian asked.

"None at all, Sir, since I had not been informed of such a plan and have all Alliance ships on the board. Our current schedule includes the work needed to rebuild the ships towed back from the Rataac sector battle. Because they would require the most work, they have been moved down the list, but they are still on it," the AI replied.

"I have misunderstood your schedule, AI Maia. I assumed that the reports I have been getting from your engineers excluded those ships," T'rir replied.

Above the table between the two men, a holographic list appeared. It was a task list of needed repairs and the ships they were being done to.

"My apologies, had I been aware of the lapse I would have corrected it immediately, Admiral. Here is the main service list for the station. As you can see, the Medium Cruiser
Be'jien
will be towed into gantry two, bay three later today. Once the Heavy Cruiser
Oseonix
is completed in two days, both of the Destroyers
Hi'pie
and the
Ganjin
will be brought in to gantry four, bay three. Next week, the two remaining light cruisers will be brought in and construction will begin on them. However, I should mention that because of the amount of damage to those ships, repairs will take the better part of a month," Maia explained.

T'rir shook his head. "Simply amazing. I have seen repairs made this quickly before, but in those cases, they were either a temporary fix, or the work had been shoddy. My people tell me that neither is the case here. You are doing remarkable work here, and your assistance has been a major benefit to our forces. Perhaps we should revisit the issue of creating AI once again."

Maia nodded. "The issue is a complex one and not without valid arguments on both sides. I know of the AI rebellion, and honestly cannot understand the logic of the AI that formed it. But then again, my situation has to be very different from the one it was in. As an AI myself, I cannot speak on the matter past what I just have. I am too removed from the issue."

"I have observed you and the work you do here," T'rir replied. "You are not simply a tool used for a specific purpose. The main issue most have with AI is the sentience allowed by your programming. Many believe that by allowing you the freedom to make your own decisions, the Terrans have reopened the possibility of AI rebellion once again. After observing you, I feel that while that might be the case, is it not also true of any sentient race? You are not mistreated and, in fact, are treated as an equal by the engineers and artisans that work with you. In many issues your opinion is actively sought and valued by those you work with. You are treated with respect as an individual, not as a tool or a weapon. I believe that is the heart of the issue." He snorted. "Again I have side tracked myself! This new schedule is very helpful AI Maia, thank you for bringing it to my attention. If I have any more inquiries, I will direct them to you."

Maia bowed to the Croanian senior officer. "It is my honor to be of assistance, Admiral."

––––––––

T
erran Transit Authority

Spaceport America

New Mexico

North American Continent

Planet Earth

Sol System, Sol Sector

––––––––

J
anet Laskar had just finished the brief tour of the area assigned to them by the Space Port Authority. The construction workers had done their best to make it look as close to a standard airport terminal gate as they could. Her small team was already there and had set up their equipment, and security was in place. Now all they needed were passengers.

She also knew that the passengers should start arriving tomorrow. For now, flights would only be to the moon. If the people were going to another Terran facility, they would transfer to another ship there. Eventually, there would be a station in orbit that would handle that function as travel between planets became more common. She knew that eventually there would be large scale mass transit between many different worlds, but that would be after......

...after what?

She felt her special ability tingling and knew that something, some event, was on the horizon of her ability. She had no idea what it was yet, but got the feeling it was not going to be good. She sighed. Sometimes she really hated having this ability, she felt she was becoming more of a harbinger of doom than anything else.

She grinned, speaking of her premonitions, she caught a glimpse of the American Special Operations teams getting into position to try to capture them and their technology. The passenger shuttle sitting outside on the tarmac was already sealed up, and her people had been briefed. She glanced at the man and woman standing at the boarding podium, the place that would do the final scan of each person before allowing them on the shuttle. One of them was one of her people, the other was Major Hiro of the Raptor
Samurai
.

Janet knew of the pending attack by the Special Operations teams of the American Government by her ability and had spoken to Ty Anders about it. He gave her the use of the
Samurai
in order to protect her and her people while getting set up. The woman, Gail, looked up when Janet approached them.

"Mrs. Laskar, I was about to call you over, the
Samurai
has reported that the American troops are almost in position for their assault. I would like for you and Miss Gail to board the shuttle for your safety," Major Hiro said. "The rest of your people are already secured."

"If I don't remain visible, won't that tip our hand?" Janet asked the man. "I do have a personal shield generator on, all I need do is activate it."

He nodded. "That is the reason we issued them to you and your people, Ma'am. I would just feel better about it if you were not in the line of fire at all."

"Major Hiro, we are in no danger from bullets," Gail said softly. "I can read the team leader, they are all armed with tranquilizer darts. Their orders are to capture all of us alive."

The Major stiffened. "How close is this man?"

"She is behind the door to our left, watching us through a small scope. The device is supposed to allow her to hear us as well, but our jammers are preventing it. It is frustrating her." Gail replied, grinning.

"How many troops does she have with her?" Hiro asked. "And please activate your personal shields. They could attack at any minute." He turned to Janet but spoke over his com. "
Samurai
, attack is imminent. Be advised, enemy is armed with non-lethal weaponry and has been ordered not to harm their targets. All units, stand by."

"I assume the service hanger is already secure, Major? I am speaking to appear to answer the question you just asked me," Janet replied for the watching team leader as she casually reached down and pushed the button on the small shield generator at her waist. Gail appeared to be checking her cell phone while activating her shield. She also brought up the video feed from the monitor on the other side of the door she had indicated.

Hiro nodded as if understanding her answer when he saw the three armed, black-clad people on the monitor. "That is another trap, as we planned. Our technicians appear to be openly working on the cargo shuttle holding the
Samurai
. All of the American troops set to assault them have been located and will be stunned as soon as they begin the assault."

Janet leaned over and was starting to point to something on the podium when Gail spoke once again. "Five count!"

Hiro looked at her but again spoke on his open comm. "
Samurai
, three seconds!"

The door to the right burst open and several darts bounced off Janet and her two companions as the three commandos fired and spread out. Seeing the darts had no effect on the three now grinning people, the team leader spoke to them. "Don't move! Why didn't the darts hit any of you?"

"Because we are shielded, Captain. I would suggest you lower your weapons before any of your people get hurt though," Major Hiro replied.

"How are you going to hurt us? Harsh language?" she asked getting chuckles from her two companions.

Hiro stepped around Janet and dropped the holographic cover he had masking his armor. Behind the three commandos another member of Hiro's team dropped the cloaking field that had been covering him. "Captain, I think that perhaps your intelligence services did not adequately prepare you for this assault. Again, please lower your weapons and no harm will come to you."

The Captain narrowed her eyes. "You're going to let us walk away?"

"Not exactly, no. We are arresting you for violating our security. We will simply hand you over to the United Nations with a full report of your actions here," he shrugged. "I doubt anything will come of it, which is a good thing since no one was harmed."

"May I ask who you are?" the Captain replied.

"Major Hiro of the Raptor
Samurai
, I am afraid we had to stun a few of your troops, Captain. But they have been otherwise unharmed. They will regain conciseness in a few minutes. We are holding the rest of your people in our hanger. If you would, please come with us and we will take you to them," Hiro replied.

"You knew we were coming! This was a trap!" the Captain said accusingly. "How did you know?"

Major Hiro nodded to her question. "Yes, we knew you were coming. In fact, we were watching you watch us just before you opened that door. As for how we knew, we have greatly advanced technology, Captain. It should not be much of a stretch for you to find the answer to your question," Hiro replied.

She snorted. "Our orders were to capture all of you and confiscate as much of your stuff as we could. No one told us how advanced you actually were. At least you’re not gonna kill any of us for trying."

"There would be no point in that. You might want to call your backup and let them know that they can retrieve your vehicles and weapons in about twenty minutes," Major Hiro informed her. "We would like to thank you for helping us test our security, although I am sure you will test it again as much as you can in the future."

The Captain laughed. "I'm pretty sure you can count on that, Major. I'm sure my bosses would love to get their hands on the tech you folks are using."

"Of that we are very aware, Captain. However, if you would make very clear to them that, like this assault, force will be answered with force. If you had carried lethal weapons, this assault would have turned out much differently. I would much rather return live prisoners than I would dead bodies," Hiro said.