Riss Series 3: The Riss Survival (20 page)

"Thalia said you're a smart lady. Of course, that's because you agree with her." I couldn't help but smile. "Maybe living over two hundred years gives her an insight we don't have."

"Two hundred! How long do they live?" Dayton looked to be ready to run and grab the first Riss she could find and begin work.

"Four to five hundred or so."

"And you?" Now she looked ready to dissect me.

"Yet to be determined. As long as she can keep this body alive. Maybe more or maybe less than a Gorillai."

"Nadya, I need time with you, please." She sounded like I did at nine, asking to take apart one of my uncle's electronic gadgets.

"Of course. Both Jaelle and I will make time when we aren't on duty."

After a comprehensive tour of the facility and a discussion of what Doctor Echart and I had determined when we were on the same ship. Afterward, I returned to the Bridge.

There was no need to announce me as everyone would hear Jaelle's greeting. I brought her up to date on where I had been and the discussions I'd had and encouraged her to go do the same. She needed to feel like the XO and others to see her in that light. I had no doubt Jaelle would do well. All she needed was time and experience.

* * *

<
Leader
. Ship left Wave. Signature merchant vessel.> Then several minutes later.

<
Leader
. Second ship left Wave. Unknown signature. Military grade engines. No weapons showing.>

For the next six hours we followed the Alien spaceship, designated A1, as it decelerated to a stop. There it remained stationary and silent for the next twenty-four hours.

Jaelle asked.

<23.521, 8h 41m 32s, 2.11au> The VTM displayed the relative positions of the planet, A1, Bobcat and the Mnemosyne.

Thalia sent an image of octopus extending hands to Pavao.

Image of me extending hand to Riss.

The
Bobcat
lit up and her systems went active. I don't know what message Pavao sent to A1, but its engines came online and it began accelerating at close to five gravities towards the entrance to the Wave heading back to Fools Landing.

Red lights flashed alerting personnel to Battle Stations but all systems to remain in passive mode. The alarm-speakers would have signaled Battle Station with all systems hot. Within two minutes, A1 was approaching four hundred gravities and showing no signs of slowing, with the
Bobcat
slowly falling behind. I had positioned the Mnemosyne between the planet and the entrance to the Wave, anticipating it would be the logical line of retreat.

"Commander Byer. Prepare to launch Sharks in ninety seconds." The duster would cover the Sharks launch and initial approach.

"Byer, launch on my command. Intercept vector one-zero-six by two-two-one. Disable unless under fire."

"Launch on your command. Vector one-zero-six by two-two-one. Disable if safe."

"Good hunting," I clicked off and smiled mentally. The sound of words seem to induce stress; whereas, the absence of words produced a silence that was relaxing, even during times like this.

"Launch Sharks."

"Sharks away, time to rendezvous, one hundred two seconds."

Based on the estimated acceleration of A1, the Sharks should be in place at least thirty seconds before A1 cleared the Duster's cloud of chaff and phosphorus material.

"Colonel Seng, prepare your boarding shuttles for launch."

"Boarding teams ready."

The seconds passed slowly as the Mnemosyne, Bobcat, Sharks, and A1 headed for a historic collision with unknown ramifications. Watching the VTM was of little value, since the Duster's debris was obscuring A1 and the tailing Bobcat. Finally, A1 broke through the debris and the fighters descended on it like a hive of angry bees.

"Captain, we've made contact. A1 has fired no missiles, but the Sharks are encountering heavy, ship-killing laser fire. Their tracking systems are extremely effective. We've lost two fighters, and two have damage. I've ordered Random Destroy."

The engagement rules had gone from "Caution" (approach with caution and fire only if fired upon) to "Random Disable" (Independent action—attempt to disable) to "Random Destroy" (Independent action—attempt to destroy).

"Captain, Commander Williamson reports A1 disabled. All systems down."

"Colonel Seng, launch your boarding teams."

"Boarding shuttles, launched. Time to A1, two minutes."

I, along with every human, Riss-human, and Riss, held my breath, waiting to find out what the Aliens looked like. Were they long lost humans, parasites like the Riss, or something entirely different? Were they basically aggressive like humans, gentle like the Riss, or psychopaths without feelings? Did they believe in a God or Gods, if so, were they fanatics, or were they atheists?

"Captain, Gunny reports the ship has only robots. Nothing organic."

* * *

Later that evening, I held a debriefing in my conference room with Captain Pavao, Commander Byer, Colonel Seng, Commander Iglis, Jaelle, and Master Gunnery Sergeant Terril.

"Byer?"

"We lost two fighters. They launched no missiles as we approached, so we assumed, fatally, they would surrender. Then they opened fire with fifty-centimeter lasers. And they were deadly accurate. We were lucky to have lost only two and have two damaged. One of the pilots in the damaged fighter was seriously injured. The other had minor injuries. Whatever we hit, it shut down their power plant." He looked to Seng.

"That proved very fortunate for us. Gunny?" He nodded to Terril.

"The corridors were lined with lasers activated by heat sensing detectors. Since the power failed, the lasers didn't work. If they had, any warm-blooded animal would’ve been a target. Something we would not have expected. But since there were only robots on the ship, it was an excellent strategy. We found twenty robots. Each shut down without resistant when they saw us. By the smell, I suspect they destroyed their circuit boards."

 "Pavao?"

"I sent the ridiculous message someone devised years ago for first contact with Aliens," Pavao said, shaking her head.

"When we did, A1 took off. Since they didn't fire on us, we held our fire and took chase. But their acceleration was greater than ours, and we fell behind. By the time we were in a position to help, the fighting was over."

"Whoever or whatever the Aliens are, they are technologically more advanced than us," I said, thinking out loud.

"Why? Because they have robots?" Byer asked. A few heads nodded.

"Because they could send robots to follow a ship through the Wave, collect the information they needed for an attack, and find their way back. That implies robots with human-like intelligence. We have machines run by artificial intelligence, but they aren't capable of independent decision making to that degree. Pavao, do you think these were semi-stupid robots?"

"No. I tend to agree. Since you found nothing but robots, they were controlling the spacecraft and the mission. We may be capable of reproducing them in time but not today nor in the near future." She sat quietly before speaking again. "I think we were very lucky. Somehow we disabled the robots ability to detonate explosives to destroy the ship."

"Why?" Seng asked.

"I think they had a three phase defense. First military grade lasers to defend against fighters and warships. The absence of missiles would encourage most Captains to approach the ship. Second, they had internal lasers to kill intruders and boarding parties. And, finally, a switch to leave nothing of value behind."

"I agree. I doubt they will send any more scout ships here, and if they do, it will not be soon, since they don't know where it went. When it doesn't return, they’ll probably release another merchant, but there’s no guarantee it will come here. I think we should take A1 back to Freeland for a detailed inspection. The Mnemosyne's tractors aren't powerful enough to tow A1 but the Bobcat's are."

"I agree, but I think we should put a team on board to begin looking for such a switch or the possibility there is a tracking device that can be used to locate it," Pavao said.

"You're right. Either of those scenarios would be appropriate for an invading force." I looked around the table. "Let’s put together a team to ride on A1 during our return trip. Iglis, send over some of your computer folks to look at the robots and systems. Pavao, navy types to examine the ship's components."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Decisions

"Welcome back, Captain Reese. Admiral Wattson sends his regards and would like a debriefing at your convenience," he said. I could visualize the smile on his face. At my convenience meant immediately, if not a whole lot sooner.

"Inform Admiral Wattson, we should be in orbit with the Golden Eagle within eight hours. If he doesn't mind, I'd like you, Captain Gabisi, and Alena to attend in addition to Captain Pavao, and Commander Iglis."

"I'll relay the message. Corbitt out."

"Pavao, Admiral Wattson has requested our presence, at our convenience," I said, imagining her smile.

"I'll get Martin and Iglis out of A1 and send her over to the Mnemosyne. They will need to get cleaned up after four days cooped up in A1. From the preliminary discussions I've had with them, it should be an interesting meeting."

* * *

Terril and I were quiet on the way to the Golden Eagle. We had found something, but what? And what next? A Lt. Commander met us in the shuttle bay when we exited. We were halfway to the conference room before I realized it was Bradshaw. I stopped so abruptly that Sean was several steps ahead before he realized I had stopped.

"I'm sorry, Sean. I'm afraid we've returned with more questions than answers, and it has my mind spinning." Things were bad when the sight of him didn't send a tingling sensation rippling through me.

"I think everyone is distracted. I know Admiral Wattson hasn't been able to settle down since you left. He would have loved to have gone with you but knew his duty was here." He opened the door and Iglis, my detail and I entered. It seemed I was the last to arrive. Wattson sat sipping a glass of wine.

"Sorry—" I started, feeling my face heat up.

"Sit, Reese. Normally, I'd give you a day to rest and get organized, but, besides being impatient to hear what happened, I think the situation requires some urgency. I'm not looking for solutions today, just to understand what we know and don't know." He looked around the table as if evaluating each of us. "Why don't you start, Reese."

"When we entered Kamboja we found nothing out of place … " I described our positions the entry of the merchant, the unidentified ship that followed it, the subsequent chase, and the disabling of the Alien's ship. Pavao described sending the prepared message to A1 and how the ship had outrun the Bobcat. Byer described the encounter with A1 and Seng the boarding action.

"What have you found on A1, Commander Iglis?" Wattson asked, when they had finished.

"There were no controls for organic beings. Although our first impression was that the entire craft was automated, we've since come to the conclusion that the robots operated the equipment." Iglis shrugged, and took a sip of water. "I have nothing to prove that feeling, and I think it's going to take months, if not longer, to be certain one way or the other. The computer language is like nothing my people have ever seen before, more like the Symath symbols the Riss use. And the robots, in a sense, committed suicide—they destroyed their memory boards."

Wattson nodded thoughtfully. "Chief Martin?"

"We were lucky, sir, The ship had no missiles but was equipped with fifty-centimeter lasers. As Commander Byer has attested, they are nasty weapons if you get close. Internally, the hallways and rooms were all equipped with heat sensing lasers. Anything that generated body heat would have activated them. And there was a switch to cause the engines to overheat and destroy the ship. The Sharks struck the power unit in a way that shut down the engines. That deactivated the fifty-centimeter lasers, the internal lasers, and the ship's destruction method. It's going to take time to take it apart, but I can tell it's an Alien craft by the metal composition and the power system."