Tachyon Web (16 page)

“We’re in the tail of your ion drive.”

Her eyes widened.

“Don’t worry, it can’t harm us.”

“
All this power is at your command?
”

“If it were all mine, I would give it to you and your people.”

“
I believe you.
” She touched the side of his face. “
Your eyes are much prettier without those silly lenses.
”

“They don’t scare you?”

“
You did not scare the Sila. You do not scare me.
”

He looked at the floor. “You look much prettier without the lenses.” He added hastily, “Though you looked fine to begin with.”

She was amused. “
Now, I do not believe you.
”

“It is true; at least to someone from my world.” He paused. “Vani, what I said a moment ago... I did not mean to expect you to leave your people. I was talking more in the way of you visiting my world.”

She patted his arm. “
If your friends permit it, I would be happy to do so.
”

“My friends,” he whispered, worried, glancing at the cube. The three orange dots were beginning to move. “Sammy, have you sent the message?”

“Just now. They told me to stand by. You know, what if they just turn off their drive? They could send out a hundred of those small craft and box us in.”

“Can your people turn off their ion drive easily?” Eric asked Vani.

“
We shut it down twice a cycle. All of the worlds do so. But it takes much preparation beforehand.
”

“Here comes their reply,” Sammy interrupted. “Someone named Rak – his title is First Councillor – wants to speak with the commander of our vessel.”

“
Rak!
” Vani gasped.

“He’s broadcasting from their flagship,” Sammy said.

Eric vaguely remembered a Kaulikan in the corridor on the way to the cafeteria mentioning an inspirational speech had given. He must be the big boss. Eric left Vani and took a seat beside Sammy. He was glad Rak would hear the computer and not himself. The computer would not sound nervous. Sammy nodded for him to go ahead.

“This is Eric, First Commander.” He might as well give himself a title. “First, I would like to apologize for the unfortunate incident in the engineering department of one of your ships.”

“
We accept your apology
,” came the reply in the same mechanical voice as Vani’s. “
Should you need supplies, coolant or otherwise, our every resource is at your disposal.
”

“Thank you. We appreciate the offer. But what we really need is the return of our three crew members. We understand that you have them in your care?”

“
That is correct. But as they do not speak our language, we have not been able to communicate with them to find out who they are.
”

Rak was civil enough but he had not addressed the issue.

“We are on an important mission, unconnected with your people. Our ship was momentarily overheated by the nova, and we required additional coolant. We mean you no harm and wish only to continue with our mission.”

“
Do you still need coolant?
”

“No.”

“
Commander Eric, your people and your ship are a remarkable discovery for us. We would like to know more about you.
”

“We appreciate your curiosity. If you were to release our people, we would feel freer to talk.”

“
In time we will certainly free your people. But even though we accept your apology regarding their behavior, they have committed an act in Kaulikan territory in violation of Kaulikan law. They must be processed by the guidelines set down by that law.
” He added, “
Your cooperation could speed that processing.
”

“What is the nature of the cooperation you desire?”

“
Information about your people would be helpful, particular as regards your intentions toward our fleet.
”

“I believe I have already addressed that point. We have no intentions toward your fleet. We just want our people back.”

“
Before their release, they must first be processed.
”

“First Councillor, were any of your engineering personnel actually harmed by my people?”

“
All appear to be recovering nicely, including those who were knocked unconscious at the air lock near the resting place of your ship. We are, however, missing a young lady who was seen spending time in the company of someone who we now believe to have been one of your people. Her name is Vani AEG-172.
”

Vani looked both anxious and delighted that First Councillor Rak was concerned about her.

“She is here with us now and is doing well.”

“
May I ask, Commander Eric, if more of your people have infiltrated our fleet.
”

“They have not,” Eric said. Sammy was signaling him. “First Councillor, please stand by.” He put him on hold.

“He’s stalling,” Sammy said. “He knows this ship didn’t come from this solar system. He wants it, or at least, a look at it.”

“Can you blame him?”

Sammy shrugged, checking the cube. Their friends were being moved toward the central shaft. “Better tell Strem what’s happening.”

Eric tapped in on the implants. “Strem, Cleo, Jeanie, we have the top man on the line. He’s being stubborn. He wants information about us.”

(“Don’t give it to him,” Strem breathed.)

“We can see you’re traveling. Do you know where to, yet?”

(“No.”)

Vani spoke up. “
Eric?
”

“A moment, Strem.” Eric turned, “Yes?”

“
Rak will want to see your friends in person.
”

“Will he come to them?”

“
Rak has never left the flagship.
”

And his friends were being led to the axis, to free fall, exactly where a shuttle would depart from. “Vani, is transportation between the worlds of your fleet accomplished by small craft, like the one that flew by our window a few minutes ago?”

“
Food ships are not so small.
”

“But when personnel travel from one world to another?”

Vani nodded. “
Then it is usually in the type of craft you saw.
”

Eric felt a jolt of adrenaline. The solution was obvious, or else he was a genius. He reconnected the line to Rak. “First Councillor, I have come to a decision. I will wait till you are done processing my people and have released them. Please try to hurry. You may contact me when you are through. First Commander Eric out.” He broke the connection before Rak could respond and returned to Strem. “You are as good as rescued. Cooperate with your guards. Stay loose.”

(“What are you going to do?”)

“It will be a surprise.” He turned off the mike.

“What are you going to do?” Sammy asked.

Eric stood and stretched. “We are going to clean out the cargo bay. Then when the shuttle leaves for the flagship, we are going to swoop in and swallow it up.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

His plan sounded easier in theory than it turned out to be in practice. The first problem arose when Strem and the girls reached the central shaft and didn't go any further. Eric called to see what was happening, and when Strem answered – they were in another boring room, he said, doing nothing – his talking to Eric alerted the guards. Consequently, they were examined once again, and the implants were discovered and taken away. But initially, Sammy and Eric did not know this had happened, and when the three orange dots began to move back onto the second wheel, they figured their plan was ruined. When their next call to their friends, however, got them a baffled Kaulikan response, they realized the truth.

Then, to make matters worse, Rak and his people figured out where they were hiding
Excalibur
and sent out swarms of tiny ships to observe them. This was particularly troublesome because, with the interference from the ion wake, they were having a hard time confirming that no shuttle was leaving Vani’s ship for the flagship; which was now their only way of keeping track of their friends, unreliable as it was.

Yet, Vani continued to insist Rak was the type of leader who would want to see personally what he was up against. Rak even called a couple more times, but Eric was short with him. “Until you release our people, there is nothing to discuss.”

The one positive aspect of the delay was that Vani was able to put her arm under the Healer, which was capable of greatly stimulating the re-growth of bone. The noise and heat of the mechanism frightened her at first, but after an hour under its rays she was able to bend her wrist without pain. Brimming with excitement she gave Sammy and Eric appreciative hugs, using both arms.

Eric spent a portion of the wait washing the gold oil from his face and hands. When he returned to the bridge with his skin its usual light brown, Vani, to his dismay, acted horrified, cowering from him. But then she laughed at his pained expression. She was picking up their sense of humor fast. He hoped they weren’t ruining her.

Finally, their sensors spotted a shuttle leaving Vani’s world that was not heading toward
Excalibur
, but appeared to be making for the flagship.

“Prepare to dump the opant cartons in space,” Eric said, following the movement of the shuttle in the cube. It was a thousand miles from Vani’s world at the edge of the fleet to the flagship at the forward tip. They had tracked the shuttle over halfway before deciding upon its destination. The later they performed their rescue, the more confident they could feel that the tiny ship was indeed bringing their friends to Rak. Nothing was certain, however, and Eric knew if they didn’t catch the right ship the first time, they wouldn’t have another chance.

“I dislike using the graviton flux to sweep the clothes outside,” Sammy said. “It’s dangerous. We should have done it manually.”

“Had we dumped the cargo already, it might have tipped them off to our plan.” Eric was not worried about these minor technical difficulties. Something else was nagging at him, something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. He had asked Sammy, what are we overlooking? Something we’ll kick ourselves for if we fail, Sammy had replied.

Vani was not aware of any major weapon systems built into the fleet. But that did not mean they weren’t there.

Vani tugged on Eric’s arm. She had taken to touching him in small ways. Presumably, most Kaulikans, after reaching a certain point in friendship, were very affectionate. He was not complaining.

“
Are you throwing away all these beautiful jackets?
” Her opant coat, which she had removed for her sit under the Healer but otherwise would not part with, was glowing a bright orange, which Eric assumed meant she was excited.

“Yes.”

She looked unhappy. “
They are so pretty to waste.
”

Sammy agreed. “If Strem’s uncle were here, he’d have something to say about this.”

Eric chuckled. “He’d say, save the cargo and to hell with my nephew.” Once more, he consulted the course of the shuttle in question still making a beeline for the flagship. “How much longer?”

“It will be there in five minutes. It’s beginning to brake.”

“All right. Drop the goods and let’s go.”

Excalibur
shook, like the old freighter was coughing up its insides, which was not far from the truth. They rolled out of the ion wake and Sammy opened the windows, and they were able to see the trail of left-behind opants ignite in the ion wake, turning to a cosmic ash. A number of the rocket-powered ships could be seen off their bow, multipronged flares scampering to keep up.

They didn’t stand a chance. The hundreds of Kaulikan worlds stretched above and below and to the left for thousands of miles, purple candles on a circular slice of space. Then a bar of light pierced
Excalibur
's holographic cube, representing the freighter’s plotted course, and before the eye could blink, their relationship to the purple candles altered drastically. Vani practically fell over. Now they floated above the blue nine-wheeled flagship, staggering in its dimensions even after their experience with Vani’s world, the remainder of the fleet trailing behind them like sparks on an infinitely receding cone. Bay doors were slowly opening atop the flagship’s central shaft. And they sighted a shuttle, heading directly for those doors.

“
Such speed
,” Vani gasped.

“Get in front of it,” Eric ordered. “Force it to slow down.”

Sammy maneuvered
Excalibur
between the shuttle and the flagship. To their immense surprise, the shuttle opened fire on them, pulses of bright red beams, which were soundlessly absorbed by their force field.

“Lasers,” Sammy complained. “If we take them inside and they keep shooting, they could hurt us.”

“We took them by surprise. Rak will order them to halt their fire. He doesn't want
Excalibur
damaged.” And as if his voice had a power all its own, the lasers stopped. “See! Stay in front of them. Do you have our rear door open?”

“Yes.” An alert began to sound on their sensor beams. “More ships are coming in from behind,” Sammy muttered absently, concentrating on their approach to the shuttle.

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll have these guys in a moment.” The Kaulikans were trying to squeeze past them, faking in every direction, but it was like a turtle trying to dodge a lion.
Excalibur
coasted to within a hundred yards, and Sammy elongated the graviton flux, the force field gripping the shuttle like an iron fist and holding it in one spot. The alert on their sensor beams grew louder.

“Hope they have the presence of mind to turn off their rockets,” Eric said. The force field, compressing the exhaust, could cause the tiny ship to explode.

“Their pilot knows he’s caught,” Sammy replied, deftly manipulating the flux. The shuttle’s rockets flickered out. “Not a moment too soon, with those other ones coming up on us.”

“Yeah.” Eric nodded. Then it hit him. Even before he whirled to check the report on the long-distance scanners he remembered what he had been forgetting. They had been plotting and planning in their own little universe so long they had lost sight of the larger powers. The sensors confirmed his worst fears. The ships approaching at their rear were not small nearby rocket-propelled shuttles. They were large graviton-driven battle cruisers, millions of miles distant, but closing at speeds that would have left Excalibur standing still. “The Patrol!” he cried.