The Swarm (20 page)

“That means I'm right, of course,” Lem said smiling.

“No, it means that rumors of it are a treasonous offense that will end your useful life in the Hegemony. Take that how you will, but keep your mouth shut.”

Lem mimed zipping his mouth closed.

“This new intelligence about the asteroid will go to the right people,” Father said. “I can promise you that. And I mean what I say, Lem. Let this go. There is nothing the Hegemony won't do to protect the people of Earth.”

“But why keep it a secret?” Lem asked. “Why protect it so vehemently? Why can't people know?”

“You have always suffered from a lack of vision, Lem. A narrow perspective. A view of only the here and now. Ignorance is why people can go to sleep at night.” He turned and moved toward his study. “You can show yourself out.”

With that, Father went through the door and was gone.

Lem stood there alone a moment longer, with even more questions than before. What vision am I not seeing, Father? What perspective is beyond my imagination?

He returned to his skimmer and lifted off into the darkness, soaring over the squat buildings of Old Town.

Instantaneous communication. It was impossible. And yet Father had figured it out, perhaps with people formerly on my payroll. He did with them what I could not.

Maybe you're right, Father. Maybe I do lack vision. But ignorance is not what lets me sleep at night. It's answers. And I will not stop looking until I have them.

 

CHAPTER 9

Council

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Formics at asteroid 2030CT

Vico,

I gave my father all the information on 2030CT. Uncharacteristically, he admitted that it was important AND that he had not already known about it. He assured me that he would inform the International Fleet immediately. I assume he has already told the Polemarch and Strategos.

I've looked at the charts, however. The nearest IF ship is six to eight months away from that asteroid. You could reach it within a week. I do not want to endanger your family, but time is of the essence here. The thruster the Formics have attached to the rock suggests that they intend to push it somewhere. Maybe even directly at Earth. It's not a terribly large asteroid, but it's large enough to wipe out millions of people on impact and disrupt weather for a generation. If the Formics were to target a densely populated area, they could annihilate four to five times the number of people we lost in the last war. Once that asteroid starts moving, the closer it gets to Earth, the harder it will be to redirect its course, especially if the Formics try to prevent us.

There are far too many unknowns here for us to wait for the IF to arrive and conduct a thorough investigation. Someone needs to reach that rock as soon as possible and reconnoiter. Is there anyone outside the military better qualified than you? Is it not the best of good fortune for the future of our species that it was you and your family that discovered this and are in the best position to investigate it?

I have a few Juke mining ships out in K Belt, but none of them are close enough to offer you any assistance. What I can offer I will, however. I have created an account in your name at one of my company's financial institutions. The link is below. The transfer is complete, pending your own ID check. I hope the funds will be helpful. Obviously, you can't use them until you reach a depot, after this recon is over, but it can help recoup any expense in fuel or materials, not to mention lost income because of the diversion.

My only request is that you send all data you recover to me directly. Images, vids, mineral analyses, whatever. I have attached an encryption program for this purpose. Please use it. Send the data also to the IF of course, but don't be surprised if they dither for a week, ordering you to do nothing until they reach a decision—or if some resentful and ambitious rear admiral is slow to pass it up the chain till he figures out how to use the intel to his political advantage.

Respond and let me know what you decide, though I know you well enough to be sure that, as so many times before, you'll take the risks and make the sacrifices necessary for the safety of Earth.

Lem

Victor hovered inside the small office adjacent to the helm and watched as Arjuna reread the e-mail.

“Did you try this link?” Arjuna asked. “This account he mentions here, is that a real thing?”

“It's real,” said Victor. “There are two hundred thousand credits there.”

Arjuna's eyes widened for a moment and then he scoffed. “Typical Lem Jukes. He thinks he can wave money under our noses and buy us off.”

“We could use the funds,” said Victor. “We need to replace the oxygen extractor.”

“I thought you fixed it,” said Arjuna.

“I did,” said Victor. “But I used printed parts. The polymers we have aren't nearly as durable as after-market materials. What I've built should last for a while, but I'd sleep better if we had a factory-assembled OE in place.”

“What about Mazer Rackham?” asked Arjuna. “Still no response from him?”

“None,” said Victor, “which is strange. He's usually very prompt with his replies, and this is obviously the most important news I've ever sent him.”

Arjuna sighed and looked back at the e-mail hovering in the holofield. “So Lem Jukes is our only way of reaching anyone of authority in the IF. He says he showed it to his father. Any chance the Hegemon dismissed it? What if he didn't pass it on to the Strategos and Polemarch? Should we try another channel of communication to be sure?”

“We can send the images to a hotline the IF has set up for reports like this, but I've heard from other free miners on the nets that the chances of anything getting passed up the chain that way are low. Lem confirms that in his e-mail. There are miles of red tape and skeptics we'd have to cut through first.”

“We could send this to the press,” said Arjuna. “They'd be all over it.”

“And we would make the IF look like bumbling incompetents,” said Victor. “The world is already losing faith in the military, Arjuna. If people found out from the press that a Formic ship had slipped into the solar system without being detected, that's another strike against the IF, another show of failure. You'd have political pandemonium on Earth. The IF is fragile right now. I get that sense from Mazer. They don't need another show of weakness to crack them any further.”

“I'm worried about you, Vico. You're starting to sound like a politician.”

“The International Fleet is our best chance against the Formics,” said Victor. “If we can keep them strong, we should. That helps all of us.”

Arjuna gestured back at the e-mail. “You're talking out of both sides of your mouth, Vico. You're saying we should rely on the IF, but you also seem to be entertaining Lem's proposal here that we go to this asteroid and investigate. We're not going to do that. I'm not putting the lives of every man, woman, and child on this ship in jeopardy for two hundred thousand credits. I say we confirm that the IF is taking this threat seriously and let them handle it.”

“That's the problem,” said Victor. “They
can't
handle it. There isn't anyone else out here. We're the only ship in any position to investigate what the Formics are doing there.”

“The Gagak is not a military vessel, Vico. We are not weaponized for combat. We can't defend ourselves if attacked. Do you know how I have kept this family alive for years with pirates and raiders out there in the Black? By running. By never getting in a fight in the first place. If I see a threat, I run. You may call that cowardice, but I call it keeping my children alive.”

“You ran because you had a salvage ship,” Victor said. “Light and fast and poorly shielded. You
couldn't
defend yourself. You'd lose every time against pirates. But that's not what the Gagak is now. We've made this one of the toughest mining vessels in the K Belt. We've got more shield plates on the hull than you'll likely find on any ship in the Fleet. We're as strong as an ox.”

“We're as slow as an ox, too,” said Arjuna. “With all of this iron and added mass, it takes us forever to accelerate. If the Formics were to attack, we wouldn't be able to outrun them.”

“I don't think they'll give chase,” Victor said. “They've anchored their ship to that asteroid. If we're right about the area beneath the canopy being oxygenated, they'd create a hole in the canopy and lose their habitat by detaching their ship. I think it's far more likely that they'd let us go. Or maybe scare us off. I don't think they'll come after us if we retreat. They're at that rock for a reason. They're not going to give it up.”

“You're making assumptions that could cost us our lives,” Arjuna said.

“I'm giving you my best guess based on my experience with the Formics,” said Victor. “These creatures are task-oriented. Once they're given a mission, they stick to it, even if doing so will kill them. I saw it time and again in the war. You saw it in the vids. If they've been given an order to take that rock somewhere, they're not going to let it go.”

“What if they have gamma plasma on their ship?” Arjuna asked. “If they're armed with that, they wouldn't need to give chase. Nor would it would matter how many shield plates we have. They'd slice right through us.”

Victor reached into the holofield and made a few hand gestures, bringing up the most recent images of 2030CT. “Look at the photos the probe took. I can't see any weapons on that ship. All that's visible are the thrusters. So even if the ship
is
armed, the weapons are under the shell and would therefore rip the shell apart if the weapons fired. Besides, it's a tiny ship. Less than a quarter our size. I think we can rule out gamma plasma. The ship would need massive storage tanks that it obviously doesn't have. As far as I can tell, it has extremely limited cargo space. And look at the metal on the thrusters. That's not the hull material of the scout ship. That's iron. And not even particularly strong iron, either. That's crudely processed ore. It's not the pristine and indestructible hull material of the scout ship. It's vulnerable. We could take it.”

“A moment ago, we were discussing reconnaissance,” said Arjuna. “Now you want to orchestrate an assault?”

“No,” said Victor. “I'm merely saying that based on the information we have, it's unlikely that the Formics at that asteroid are equipped with any heavy weaponry. Their ship is too small. That's why it's out here in the middle of nowhere, far from anyone who can pose a threat to it. That's why it went dark. It doesn't want to be found, and it doesn't want a fight.”

“More assumptions,” said Arjuna.

“Our probe has been orbiting the asteroid for several days now,” said Victor, “and the Formics haven't fired a single shot. Why not? Can they not detect it? This shell or canopy or whatever it is, is it affecting their sensor tech? Do they not even know the probe is there? Or do they know it's there and choose to ignore it? Or maybe they know it's there, but they
can't
fire on it because doing so would damage the shell. We don't know, but the fact that they're not responding at all is a good sign for us. It makes me feel safer about investigating.”

“I can't be any clearer,” said Arjuna. “I'm not bringing this ship anywhere close to that rock. I don't care that the Formics haven't fired at the probe. I don't care that the IF isn't as close as we are. I don't care that you've constructed a logical argument about minimal risk. My only concern is this crew. We're not soldiers, Vico. We're miners, and barely miners at that.”

“I'm not suggesting that we fly the ship right up to it,” said Victor. “I value the safety of this family as much as you do. I'm merely suggesting that we get a little closer. We approach it from the side opposite the thrusters. Then we decelerate and hold our position, maybe a few thousand klicks out. Then I drift to it alone in a quickship and investigate.”

“Quickships aren't designed to hold a pilot,” said Arjuna. “They're unmanned cargo rockets. They haul mined minerals away from a dig site. Trying to pilot one would be suicide.”

“I've done it before,” said Victor. “I know how to build a cockpit for it large enough to carry me.”

Arjuna sighed and considered for a moment. “What do you mean you'll ‘investigate'?” he asked finally. “What intel are you going to gather that the probe hasn't already gleaned?”

“We don't know what that shell is composed of,” said Victor. “At the very least I could take a sample of the surface.”

Arjuna frowned, considering. “If you're attacked, we can't rush in there and save you. You'd be on your own.”

“I realize that,” said Victor, “I'm only asking that you let me modify one of the quickships and get me a little closer.”

Arjuna folded his arms. “What does Imala think about this?”

Victor hesitated. “She agrees that action needs to be taken.”

“But she doesn't think that action should be taken by you,” said Arjuna.

“Basically,” said Victor. “Although she agrees that I'm the person best qualified to do so.”

Arjuna nodded then waved his hand through the holofield, closing the e-mail. “Imala told me she submitted an application to join the IF.”

Victor didn't know what to say to that. He knew that Imala had gone through with it, but he didn't know she was telling people. The next time the ship docked at a depot, she would get off and find passage to the nearest recruiting station. How much time did Victor have with her before that happened? Six months? Nine?

“Your relationship with Imala is none of my business,” said Arjuna. “But I heard that you two had an argument and suddenly one of you wants to singlehandedly attack a Formic outpost, and the other has signed up to join the war. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were running from the heat and jumping into the fire.”