The Ghosts of Wraith

By Terry Mullins

Part One: Rumors of War

Chapter One

The distinctive clink of a hand pick striking rock was the first thing that Rachael heard as she woke. Another great day in the annals of science, she thought drowsily. Opening her eyes revealed the cream colored ceiling and the dull grey walls of her accommodation. It was a small room, with little decoration, containing barely more than a bed, a locker, a couple of stools and a desk terminal. Typical dig quarters. On the wall was a framed news article, reading ’Circe Professor’s landmark find on Typhon Prime’, with a picture of her, a big smile on her face. Her first big success. ’Professor Rachael Anna Patterson unearths Ancient Repository’, she read. It cheered her up to see that, considering the difficulty in finding the initial site and the environmental problems. She glanced at the Terminal to see the time, bedside the photos of her parents and the awarding of her doctorate. No alarm yet, but I may as well get up she thought, and with that thought swung out from her bed.

A fierce jolt of pain shot through her arm as she did so. Blast, she thought, and looked down at the plastic cast on her arm. With a slight grunt of effort, she sat up and reached for one the desk, opening a drawer to look for the painkillers the expedition’s medic had given her. She swallowed them, and then stood and stretched, and started the arduous task of cleaning and dressing for the day.

Rachael was a tall woman, about 175cm tall, with black hair and brown eyes. Most would say she was attractive, but not stunningly so, although she wouldn’t say that herself. She dressed in jeans and boots, and a work shirt, and brushed her hair back into her usual pony tail. She washed her face and brushed her teeth with her sonic toothbrush, and then sat in front of her terminal.

On turning it on, she saw several messages from her colleges and tech support staff. Many were simply updates on ongoing work, and a few routine maintenance issues she had to sign off on. And one complaint. Oh Gregor, she thought, you really have to learn to play with others.

Gregor Polk was an odd stick of a man, undoubtedly highly intelligent and gifted but somewhat arrogant and unfeeling in his relations with others. Rachael mused for a moment, and decided that another talk with the good professor was warranted. It seemed that she spent most of her time handling personality clashes, deciding work priorities and, of course, dealing with their sponsor. That being the Union Aerospace Force. Rachael’s eyes narrowed. While it was true she had met members of the UAF who were not complete wastes of space, she had little time for the body as a whole. Or the Terran Union for that matter.

Like many on the frontier of that huge polity, Rachel had seen the harsh hand the Union had levied onto colonies, imposing sweetheart deals for the great corporations, at the expense of ordinary folk. She knew of the savage policy of forced colonization, and deployed it. After all she was born on Circe, her home world, because her parents had been evicted from earth because of that policy. But like many, she kept her mouth shut. Being noticed by state security was unwise.

And it was her sponsor. She had to admit, with the various wars going on, with the Dragon Pirates, the Terrorist kingdom, and the unknowns, she was surprised to get the funding. She wondered about the war a moment. It was hard to parse out the truth from the propaganda, but the fighting was quite fierce from what she had heard.

Rachael found herself tapping on the desk with her good hand. Stop that, she thought. Bad things happen to those who buck the system. Even if it is a corrupt, greedy and arrogant system. Especially if it is. Her parents were a good example of Union justice. Both had been born in one of the habitats orbiting earth, commonly called the Shell. Both were from somewhat well off families, attended university, and had good prospects. And both became activists, calling for more liberalization and democracy. Several protests later both were arrested, accused of sedition and provoking a riot and, with many of their fellows, found themselves “volunteering” for rim colonization. Rachael was born on a farm on which her parents were little better than slaves.

Well, things did improve, Rachael thought looking at the photo. But I’ll never forget what the Union did to them. She remembered her mother’s advice. Be apolitical. Play the system. And stay true to yourself. Good advice Mum. But it was hard sometimes.

At that the door slid open and the smell of fresh coffee filled the air. “Good morning professor” her smiling assistant said in a sing song voice, “how are we feeling today?” Her assistant stood there, grinning, holding two cups. She was a young twenty something, with a pretty freckled face and brown shoulder length hair. Even in jeans, an old green work shirt and sturdy brown boots, she managed to look good. Rachael gave her a baleful glare and said, “Assistants who mock their injured professors come to most unhappy ends, Marcie.” Sniffing she said, “Is one of those cups mine? If so you may be spared my just wrath.”

“Yes Rachael,” Marcie said, proffering one. Rachael took the cup and sipped the sweet creamy mixture. “All right, maybe you will survive after all,” she growled. Marcie laughed and moved to sit on the second stool. Rachael continued to work on the screen.

“You know, if you had been a bit more careful you wouldn’t have broken your arm,” Marcie said as Rachael focused on her work.

“I guess I got a little excited,” Rachael admitted, not looking up as she authorized a repair of a drill. “But I thought the wall was safe.” She shuddered as she remembered the crack of stone, the sudden cry of warning, then the desperate leap to clear the fall, and a fierce impact on her forearm. “It was close.” She sat still for a moment, ignoring the screen.

“Here let me help.” Marcie redirected the screen and began picking through the requests. Her hands flew over the keyboard as she did so. “You know, it is my job as your assistant to do this for you. Professors have better things to do than check maintenance reports.”

‘Really? So I could have had you doing all this? Well that’s a thing.’ She laughed as Macie poked her tongue at her while her fingers blurred on the key board. Racheal sat back and sipped her coffee. “I don’t mind looking at them Marcie. It’s something to do in the morning.”

Marcie quickly finished. She turned and looked at Racheal. “It was way too close Rachael. A broken arm was lucky. You could have died. In fact, I still can’t see how you avoided the fall. It was like you started moving before it started.” She suddenly gave Rachael a hug and said huskily, “Just be careful, in future.”

“That’s the plan,” Rachel replied. She was still a bit hazy on what happened. She just found herself diving forward suddenly, then felt a great force hitting her. After a short pause she shook her head. “Anyway, on to more pleasant things. What progress did the night shift make?”

The dig site had been reported as an Ancients’ city, situated on an Earth-size moon circling a gas giant, named Spectre. Between Spectre dominating much of the sky and the light of Hades, the bright yellow system primary, the term night was subjective and continuous work shifts were the norm.

“Well, Professor Polk finally opened the next room.” Marcie cocked her head and said, “The really interesting stuff is going to be underground I bet.”

“Oh you don’t say ’Professor’,” Rachael laughed. “And this is based on your vast experience I suppose?”

“No, it’s based on my learned friend with the busted wing and my own undeniable genius,” Marcie proclaimed, snickering.

“Oh I see, plagiarism. This explains much”

“No, referencing. That’s allowed.” Marcie giggled. Rachael just laughed. It always made her happy when Marcie was happy. Marcie moved over and hugged her again. Rachael gave her arm a squeeze with her good hand and said “What would I do without you?”

Marcie gave her a quick peck on the cheek, laughing. “Probably seduce another graduate student with a genius IQ”.

“Really, that’s all I have to do?” That earned her a clip on the head. “Good to see you have a proper respect for your professor, Marcie,” she said deprecatingly. Another giggle was the response. “So what’s the plan for today?”

Marcie pulled out her palm top and consulted the holographic screen. “Well after breakfast we will be starting on the clearance and documentation of room three. Team one and four will be on that under Professor Malcolm. Team two and five will be on rest break and team three will be sorting yesterday’s finds, and packing them.”

“And team six?” asked Rachael

“Well they and the techs will run a geophysical scan on zone two for anything unusual. And continue mapping sites for permanent installations. Are we really going to make Wraith a full time research base?” As Marcie spoke they both got up and outside, coffee in hand.

Rachael gestured at the land around them. “This was a large population world for the Ancients, possible one of the most intact ever found. They terraformed it, built on it and did who knows what on it. Twelve thousand years ago or so it was bombarded, killing most of the larger life forms, but, and this is most important, not completely wreaking the place.” Rachel looked around.

The large size of Wraith had resulted in a breathable atmosphere and high vegetation cover for an actual moon. Its molten core generates a strong magnetic field, shielding it from radiation from Hades and Spectre, although it had its fair share of quakes and a few active volcanos because of it. And the most spectacular auroras. The camp lay in an area with short scrubby trees and short grasses. The fairly consistent rain had turned the vegetation to a mix of colours, red, blue and yellow flowers, overlaying the basic green/brown grasses. The trees were a gray/brown, with most around three metres tall. In the distance came the yipping of a wraithwolf, a local predator. Rachael nodded.

“Just think of what could be found.”

Marcie watched the glow on Rachael’s face, and heard the enthusiasm in her voice. She smiled, basking in the glow of Rachael’s personality. It was times like this that attracted Marcie to her boss and also kept her there. Despite the times she got moody.

Rachael turned to Marcie and said, “Well let’s get some breakfast.”

Crossing the camp, they felt a cold breeze spring up. Rachael looked up at the ghostly white gas giant covering three fifths of the sky, and noted a rapidly darkening storm cloud on the horizon.” More Donner and Blitzen. Marvelous.”

“What did you expect? “Marcie said. “Wraith’s had a lot in play, weather wise.” She shivered a bit at the wind. “The Ancients were hard on the poor old girl.” She knelt and patted the ground, as if comforting it. “You know, Grant and Idki are still arguing about what makes the weather this bad. Grant thinks it’s Spectre.” She nodded up at the looming giant. “Idki thinks it was the bombardment.”

Rachael turned and raised an eyebrow at Marcie. “Someone’s been studying.” Marcie smiled back and said “I like to know about the places we go to. Do you remember the Typhon dig?”

Rachael laughed, “Oh yes, it would be hard to forget. Three months of living in a blasted, radioactive waste with that idiot Timinjenko in charge. Three months of living in a secure environment tent, suiting up to go out and work. My lord, that suit reeked after a while. And the tent. And us, come to think of it.”

Marcie smiled back at her, “If we had known what it would have been actually like, and not what our beloved leader had told us it would be like, we would have been better prepared. So I thought of it as a lesson learned. Now I always research where we are going to. Stops unpleasant surprises.”

They were approaching a large green plastic cover supported by ten sturdy poles. The sides were opened but could be lowered at need. Underneath were several tables with people sitting and eating, with two large cookers off to the side. The smell and sounds of bacon, eggs and toasting bread filled the air, along with conversation and laughter.

Rachael and Marcie moved to one of the tables and sat. On the way both had grabbed plates of food and utensils. Marcie had a healthy mess of bacon, eggs, beans and toast, while Rachael had porridge, with milk and honey. Over the babble Marcie said, “You know I am amazed at the food we have here.”

“Well I decided that if I was going to run a dig, I wasn’t going to feed everyone on it that reconstituted glop laughingly called ’Nutrition Rations’. I had extra cargo space, and extra budget so I got real food. After all we are only ten light years from Circe so resupply is not a problem. And a dig runs on its stomach.”

Rachael and Marcie sat down and ate their breakfast. Before they finished the rain had started to fall, with the rumble of thunder in the distance. Several of the diners got up and lowered the sides of the Mess. The lights were turned on and lit the area with a sunny yellow glow. The rain grew louder as they ate. Marcie looked at Rachael and said “Looks like work will be delayed.”

“Well, dig work maybe, but classifying and sorting can continue. Always plenty to do.” Rachael sighed as she finished the last of her breakfast. “Another day’s schedule overturned.”

At that Rachael stood and addressed the room. “Well, ladies and gentlemen; I hope we are ready for another day’s hard work. We do after all have to earn our princely salaries.” Mild laughter greeted her. “Now the rain is going to slow the open digs, which I hope have been secured against rain as per standing orders.” She gave the room a severe look. “Remember I have to earn my Joseph Stalin merit badge so watch it.” More laughter and reassurances came from the amiable crowd. “I will be reassigning some teams to help with the backlog of classification and packing.” Smiling at some of the groans she added. ‘Only for the day.’

She turned to a nearby breakfaster, “Professor Polk, how was the first shift today?” The good Professor tended to be addressed by his title and address others by theirs, as he felt it was appropriate. The rest of the dig tended to humor him, amused at his foibles. He was a tall, thin and officious sort, with short black hair and an old fashioned van dyke beard. His lightly tanned skin flushed as he realised he had to speak.

‘Ahem. Well, Professor, as you may have heard, we have opened the third room. Exposed to the elements I am afraid. Still, we cleared the interior somewhat and…’ Professor Polk suddenly stopped as a deep rumbling began to shake the area.

“Earthquake!” someone yelled as the ground seemed to dance under their feet. Everybody tried to get to stand up, with mixed success. Tools, plates and other equipment crashed of off tables and benches. The lights went out and one of the cookers collapsed sideways in a blast of heat and flame. Screams and cries of shock added to the din as Rachael fell to the ground crying out as pain lanced through her broken arm. Part of the roof gave way, just as a brilliant flash of lightning lit the area, followed by a tremendous crash of thunder.

Rachael struggled to her feet, Marcie assisting her. A sudden blast of wind ripped the rest of the roof clear and rain joined the shaking earth. She yelled, “Everyone stay calm. Move outside into the open and don’t move around. You and you help the injured”. A sudden shock flung her to her knees despite Marcie’s help, and pain once again shot up her arm. Gritting her teeth, she shouted, “Find a clear spot and lie down. Avoid the buildings.” Seeing that her orders were being obeyed, Rachael too went out into the rain. The mess hall was on fire, but everyone had left. Once clear she lay down on the muddy ground, Marcie staying beside her as the shaking continued. All they could do was wait and hope.

#

Twenty minutes later, the quake was over, the storm was just rain and the expedition was starting to clear the damage. So much for the day’s schedule, Rachael thought, and rebuked herself. People got hurt Rachael, don’t joke about it.

Rachael had sent Professor Polk and Marcie to check the dig site, while she directed the cleanup. She was covered in mud but hey, so was everyone. Most of the habitation cabins were intact, but the mess hall was wrecked and the power plant was down.

“Professor Patterson?” One of the technicians on loan from the UAF came up to her, holding a communicator. “We have reestablished communications with the Trusty.” The Union Auxiliary Vessel Trusty was the expedition’s transport freighter, currently in orbit over Wraith placing satellites and mapping the moon.

“Excellent,” smiled the Professor, taking the communicator. “Captain Jon, can you hear me?”

“Yes, Professor Patterson, most clearly. What is your situation and do you need assistance?” the deep voice of the Captain replied. Captain Jon Einarsson was Icelandic, and so used his first name as his formal salutation. Rachael always thought he would be more at home on a Viking longboat than a space vessel. “We have detected a major seismic event in your region, perhaps 7.6 on the Richter Scale.” Captain Jon was a traditionalist and stuck to the old earthquake scale.

“Yes, we need some assistance. We have had no deaths, but several people have been seriously injured. Luckily we were on a shift change when the quake hit. If it had hit when we were underground at the dig site…we were lucky” Rachael watched the two medical staff working on the injured. “We have one significant burn victim and two others need a hospital. And we have many light injuries.”

“Very well, I will bring the Trusty into landing. Our ETA will be forty-five minutes. My medical staff will be available for advice. Jon Einarsson out.” And with that he signed off.

Rachael shook her head. I feel the good captain doesn’t want to be here, she thought, and with a war going on I can’t blame him. With a mental a shake she handed the communicator back to the tech, ‘Thank you Sergeant’. Moving over to the working medics, she informed them of the ship’s ETA. She was moving towards the clean up when she saw Marcie running towards her.

“Professor, you need to come down to the dig site. Quickly.” Marcie had a hastily bandaged arm, but otherwise was well. But as Rachael looked at her she saw she was tense and pale, even more upset than the quake had made her. I should stay here, Rachael thought, looking at the camp, but Marcie wouldn’t ask her this if it wasn’t important. And I trust Marcie, she thought. Marcie already knew secrets that would destroy Rachel’s career if they came out.

Turning to another Professor she called, “Errol, I need to check something at the dig site. Can you manage here?” Errol looked at her with questions in his eye, but replied, “Of course Rachael. It’s just sorting at this point anyway”.

#

On entering the dig site, some two minutes later, Rachael was struck by how little damage there seemed to be. Marcie guided her down the stairs into the third room. It was dark as the power connection to the site had been cut by the quake, but Rachael saw a powerful torch moving front of her.

“Professor Polk, is that you,” she called out. Rachael immediately mocked herself. Who else would it be?

“Over here, Professor Patterson. This is amazing.” Professor Polk’s voice was awestruck and when Rachael moved to where he was standing she agreed. A wall had collapsed, making an entry large enough to walk through. Entering unveiled an interior room. An intact, previously sealed room.

Professor Polk’s torch played along the room, each pass revealing something new. The chamber was horseshoe shaped, with the original entrance collapsed where the open end of the horseshoe would be. A large inscription was over the collapse, standing out in bright yellow. The break-in was about halfway along one side. At the top of the horseshoe’s arc was a raised area, with what looked like consoles and pillars of crystal. As the torch hit them a cascade of rainbows spread in the light, shimmering on the pearl colored walls. Tables in rows marched down the room to the collapse, reminding Rachael of a classroom. The desks were also made of crystal and covered in dust. The air was as dry as a desert, such a difference to Wraith’s normal humidity, but the most fascinating thing was the benches and the chairs behind them. The tables had strange markings on them, which refracted the light oddly. And the chairs had mummified bodies. More bodies were on the floor.

Suddenly behind them the lights in room three came on. Someone has reconnected the power, thought Rachael. “Marcie, bring in the portable lights. Quickly now.” Marcie hurried to obey. Within a few minutes she had brought in several of the powerful lights, lighting up much of the room. Rachael turned to Professor Polk and said, “Gregor this is stunning”, using his first name without thinking. “I had never expected...it’s like the opening of Tutankhamen’s tomb back on Earth.”

“Indeed,” replied the Professor. “And like them we see wonderful things.” All three of them moved slowly into the room proper.

“We must preserve this dry environment as fast as possible.” Rachael looked at Marcie, “Go back to the camp. Find Malcolm and round up some useful hands.” Pointing at the break-in Rachael said, “We will need a temporary airlock installed here as quickly as possible”. Marcie left running.

“I think this is possibly the greatest Ancient find ever located.” Professor Polk said, kneeling beside one of the tables. “These tables seem to be solid state computer terminals. It might be possible to get them functional.” Standing up he looked at the collapsed entrance. He gestured at the yellow inscription above it. “Could you translate that? It may tell us what this place’s purpose is.”

“OK.” Rachael moved over to the collapse, carefully stepping so as to disturb as little as possible. As she did the smell of dry decay wafted through her nose. The ground cracked and crunched as the dust of fourteen millennia flattened beneath her boots. She reached the collapse and carefully started to translate the writing, using her e-pad. When she finished translating, she turned to back to the Professor.

“This may change everything.”

#

The Trusty came to a stop with a low pitched whine, s its gravitic drive settled it, and then moved onto a station keeping mode. Within thirty seconds both the cargo and passenger ramps lowered and staff moved out. Captain Jon was one of the first out of the ship, and moved over to Professor Patterson as soon as he saw her. “Professor. You reported a new find has occurred due to the quake. I know that may seem important to you but dealing with quake casualties and damage is surely of greater import.” The Captain looked somewhat exasperated as he said this.

“Captain we found an intact room. It seems to be a control room of some kind.” The Captain, suddenly curious, said, “A control room? What do you mean?”

“I’m not certain. It is large, seems very well preserved and intact, and we have discovered bodies. But the room’s purpose, as we have determined from the inscriptions is clear. Its designation is “Central Control, Test Firing Range.”

The Captain looked at her in surprise. “Do you mean…?”

“Yes, I think this is the heart of one of the Ancients’ weapon test ranges. And from the rest of the inscription we have found, the test range is the entire Spectre mini system”.

Chapter two

On the extreme limit of a solar system, an object appears. Its arrival is heralded by a powerful burst of radiation, glowing a pale white light to the human eye, but due to the design of the vessel most of that was reflected away from the system’s distant primary. By the standards of ship construction this was an unusual vessel, actually built into a small asteroid. The great ring of its stellar drive system broke into component parts, folding neatly and depositing themselves into specially designed alcoves. Within minutes the vessel fully resembled the piece of rock it was built into. For a long while it sat silent, its powerful passive sensors sampling the space around it, searching for any sign its arrival had alerted hostiles.

After an hour of this, the rocky starship began to advance insystem. It moved slowly by the standard of the day, but its purpose was stealth not velocity. A trickle of power to the ships gravitic drive pushed it into the system, setting course for its destination. Once that was determined, another nudge gave the ship a rotation that to a careless glance mimicked a piece of space debris, no different to the multitude already littering the system. It would take weeks to go where it was targeted but to the crew of this vessel, patience was not merely a virtue but a need.

#

Three weeks later and two days, moving at a paltry twenty-one kilometers per second, the vessel approached its target, another asteroid moving around the system’s sun. On the small bridge of the ship anticipation was increasing.

“Sending interrogation signal.” The speaker focused on the holographic readout in front of him. Smiling, he read out the result. “Security code confirmation, download commencing.”

“Och, about bloody time,” a female voice said from behind him. “Have I mentioned that this is verry tense, dull job.”

“Yes,” replied several different voices simultaneously. Janice, the speaker, smiled and replied, “well it is fine to be hearing that you are all paying attention.”

“Janice, could you please pick an accent. I swear, one moment you are Scottish, then Irish and then Jamaican. Besides isn’t your family originally Dutch? ”one of the other voices complained. Janice’s smile turned into a broad grin, which seemed to split her pale skinned face and said, “Consistency would be boring, me laddy. And my ancestry not-withstanding I speak like I speak.”

The first speaker sighed, and turning his chair to face the crew he said “I know it’s a challenge, but maybe we could focus on the task at hand,” his voice filled with gentle remonstration. “There is quite a data dump here and we should start examining it. Janice, check the priority traffic with Han, Adhra scan the non-urgent traffic. Sapphire, you over-watch the sensors. The rest of you back to your stations.” The crew, with smiles and some jokes, moved off to their tasks. Captain Stark shook his head at them. Not a good navy crew, he thought, but an excellent intelligence crew.

Stark kept part of his mind on monitoring the crew, another on the ship, and another on the information that was knowledge filling the memory of the ships over large computer. That he could do so was his nature. He one of the rare, though growing number of, artificial citizens of the Sword Kingdom. His android body, which looked human, was tall and saturnine, with dark skin and slightly graying hair. This body was the one he currently wore, but he could transfer his personality into other forms if needed. No one knew why some advanced computers awakened but as soon as it was verified, they were citizens. At least in the Sword Kingdom. In the Union they were scrapped.

The download was completed in three minutes and fifteen seconds. Once finished Stark said, “Sapphire are your scans clean?”

“Yes Captain. There are not any gravitic traffic or radio sources nearby.”

“Excellent. Barring changes, we will depart this system in one day.” That delay would mean that if they were spotted they would be at a great distance from the relay station they had just visited. Although flux vessels emitted large amounts of radiation on reentry into real space, entering flux was much quieter.

The pebble kept to its course, leaving behind the download point as it proceeded on its path. After a few minutes, Sapphire brought up the image of the main inhabited world in the system. “Circe. I wonder what it’s like there. I have heard it has a quite advanced university for the Union.” She flicked through the information on file, bring the image of the world on screen. A silver world, for the most part, much cooler than earth, in the grip of an ice age. Most lived on the equator. “Really, we know so little about them.”

Stark finished the course corrections needed and turned to her. “We know they are a Terran Union world, harboring many who dislike and oppose their government. This mission would not be possible but for those who resist it. However, I think that for the most part they are people who simple want a peaceful life. It’s a pity they have a government that will not let them.”

“Bravery or treachery, time will tell. If we win they will be heroes, if we lose, traitors. Treason really is a matter of dates.”

“And circumstance. I think they are heroes anyway. They certainly lead the more dangerous existence. Union security is not gentle with those who defy them.” Stark turned back to his console. “I think the Union made a mistake in its forced emigration policy.”

“What do you mean?” Sapphire said. “It seems to have worked out for them.”

“Oh, in the short term certainly. Send any who disagree with the ruling oligarchy out to settle distant worlds, to spend their energies surviving and building the Union resource sources. But are these people loyal to a government, to a world that treats them so? While the Union is at peace these potential dissidents have no capability for serious resistance. But now there is a war. A war in which said Union has had several spectacular defeats. A war which it may be losing. The Union needs loyalty right now but at best it is getting apathy from the outer colonies. At worst...that is why we are here.”

“To spy.”

“To gather intelligence Sapphire.” Stark’s tone was reproachful but his expression was amused. “Spying is something the bad guys do.” Sapphire chuckled at his response.

Behind them a commotion began, with two then three of the crew members talking excitedly. Stark turned towards the noise and said, “What’s the matter?”

Janice rubbed her red hair, a nervous habit she had. For once she had no accent. “We have received a high priority coding. The Union has discovered something important. You should see this.”

#

“...So as you can see this site may actually be an Ancient weapon testing range, complete with intact control circuits. No actual weapons have been found as of the last report, but it seems that they have located intact memory cores. The Union Navy is gathering a squadron to secure the site but that will take time. Representatives of Fusion Engineering Galactic and Ceres Weapons Corp. will be going to Hades to the determine value of the find. The chance the Union will obtain information on Ancient weaponry is high due to the quality of the find. We suggest strongly that you move on Hades and secure the system. More information is in primary dump. Agent Liberty 21 out.

Sapphire deactivated the holographic projection. It was now three hours from the data dump and they were on their way out of the system. ‘This must be transmitted to Control as quickly as possible. Considering the need for this I recommend we leave the system immediately.’

Janice looked at Sapphire with a raised eyebrow, “Warping from here? That might be overreacting, lassie. We still have operational security to maintain.” Gesturing at the hologram displayed in front of the group she said, “All this said is that they may have found something. Not what.”

“The Union believes it has found something of great important. Why else would are they going to dispatch a squadron. And look who they are intending to send. Reps from two of their major weapon and ship mega-corporations. And that bastard Colonel Henry Willis is in command. Why would they send one of their best...?” Sapphire’s voice rose as she confronted Janice.

“Well how do I know. The Union makes stupid decisions from time to time” Janice retorted, her voice raising in reply. “Maybe its disinformation and...”

“So on the one hand the Union acts stupidly and on the other they are smart enough to infiltrate the entire network. You twit.” Sapphire’s eyes blazed as she focused on Janice, her green dyed hair flicking as she tossed her head.

“Now you’re just being petty...”

“While are you are being totally moronic.”

Stark watched the two argue, both representing the two extremes of the discussion. He was interested in the way both engaged the topic. The debate had already lasted an hour, with the crew divided into two camps. Well, three if you counted the members who were quietly betting on the outcome. Stark had let the argument continue as it helped to define the positions that the information initiated. But its usefulness was about at an end. Strange, he thought, the use of argument to propel decision. AI’s like myself would just way the odds and take the most likely option. Left to myself I would not violate protocol but this argument gives me greater options. I see beyond the immediate possibilities and understand more. Still, time to end this.

“Enough.” Stark held up his hand. “The relevant points have been made. There is no need for personal attacks.” Both women looked at Stark, startled and shamefaced. “Liberty 21 has given much useful Intel in the past and the coding is accurate. If this is disinformation, then the network is completely blown.” He turned to the group. “You have all heard the information. What is your consensus.” The members of the crew conferred via their neural links and then rendered up a decision. Stark nodded and said, “The consensus is that we transit to the quantum entanglement comm site as quickly as possible.”

The decision made the crew started to disperse to their stations, with some paying off side bets as they went.

Janice sniffed and said, “I think this is an error”

Stark looked at her and said, “The decision is made. Prepare for flux warp.”

#

A week later the Pebble was drifting near a space station, as refueling and maintenance took place. The crew was confined to the ship which rankled somewhat, but as Sapphire said, there wasn’t much to see on the station anyway. They whiled away the time with data analysis, computer games and more amorous activities.

Janice was sitting in the pilot chair, brooding as she looked at the view screen showing the nearby station. Unlike the rest of the ship it was quiet here, and dark with the lights off. Behind her a voice suddenly said, “Credit for your thoughts?”.

At that Janice nearly leaped from the chair, exclaiming, “Garrrgh! Bloody hell, ring a bell or something girl. You just scared a month’s growth out of me.”

Sapphire responded by collapsing into another chair, giggling. “You so are high strung. Stop worrying. We got away clean from Circe.”

“Oh it’s not that.” She gestured at the station on the screen. “I’m just wondering what happens next. Stark went to meet them five hours ago. What’s taking so long?” At those words a shuttle pod emerged from the station and headed towards the Pebble. Janice’s face lit up “Speak of the devil.”

A message appeared in both their message banks. Attention all crew. This is Stark. A decision has been made. Could everyone please assemble in the wardroom.

Sapphire looked at Janice and said, “Well it looks like we are going find out what’s what now.”

#

Stark moved through the ship calmly. Decisions had been made and now it was time to implement them. He just had to inform the crew.

As he entered the wardroom Janice said, “So what do our lords and masters have to say?”

Stark sat down and smiled at the crew, “Many things. Firstly, they were not overjoyed we warped out from so far into the Circe system.”

“Told you,” said Janice.

“Yes you did. Does that please you?”

Slightly embarrassed, Janice looked down at the floor. “No, no not really.”

“Then let us focus on the other points of interest. Control has agreed that this was of high importance. They have concluded that the Hades system should be occupied at least temporarily to determine what is there. A force is being assembled at New Skye as we speak. Due to the distance it will take at least six weeks to reach Hades. We are only one week away, so meanwhile we are to proceed to Hades and do what we do best.”

There was silence for a moment and then Han asked “Umm, what is that then.”

Janice smiled and said, “That be easy mon.” Looking at Sapphire both of them said in unison, “We sneak. And we watch.”

Chapter Three

A slight smell of burnt insulation crossed the bridge and white suited individuals worked at their consoles. The bridge was circular with personnel ranged in ring around it. In the center, its focus, one man sat, staring intermittently at his own console and the large screen in front of him. Above and behind him, emblazoned onto the wall was UAV Constitution.

“Course change. Twenty degrees horizontal, sixty degrees vertical. Cut off them off pilot. Comms tell Justice and Vigilance to engage target Beta closely. Weapons, go to rapid missile fire on target Alpha. Are the X Rays charged yet?”

“Fifteen seconds sir.”

Colonel Henry Willis looked at the screen in satisfaction. His young looks belied his actual age, due to antiaging therapy. His grey eyes narrowed as he watched, and thought. The two Moshi raiders he had intercepted with his squadron were both damaged now and trying to avoid action. True they had damaged one of his vessels, Sheriff, but it was safely out of the way, trailing the action at a safe distance. Moshi vessels were heavy on the lasers and light on the missiles, which when combined with their somewhat greater speed than Union vessel usually made them dangerous opponents. But right now, he thought, I can choose the range. Alpha is the larger target, so I’ll wreak him with missiles and once his lasers are gone, gut him with my x rays. Maybe a capture.

In space warfare destruction was more likely than capture, but it did happen. And the intelligence possibilities with a capture were legion. ‘Keep our distance at one point five megametres, pilot. I want draw the teeth of this dragon., Dragon was the slang term for the dinosaur like Moshi.

“Sir, Alpha’s point defense is faltering. And I am tracking debris. Looks like we got some hits in.” said the weapon controller. “X Ray lasers online.”

“Keep it up son.” Henry looked at the tactical screen in front of him. On it were the vessels of his command and the enemy, also the multiple flights of missiles and fighters. Beta is done for, and Alpha can’t go into flux because he is too deep in the planets gravity well. His lasers are mostly gone. Time to land this fish. Henry opened his mouth to give the order to close with the enemy.

“New contacts. Bearing three hundred, twenty-eight, distance twenty-two megametres, velocity fifty thousand Kps.” On the screen the new vessels seemed to blaze as they shed radiation while departing flux.

“Identify those ships!”

“Gravitic levels indicate two cruisers. A Sword vessel and a,” the sensor technician looked at the colonel, worry in her dark eyes. “A Denifen vessel sir.”

Henry’s eyes widened at that. “Are you sure of that identification”

“Confidence is high sir. It’s a vamp ship.”

Henry starred at the approaching ships, hiding his concern. Both of the dragon vessels had changed course towards the new arrivals. At the velocities his vessels and theirs were closing, they would start firing in minutes.

This was worrying, for this battle and in a strategic context as well. The Union had been fighting three fairly unconnected wars to this time, with the Denifen, the Moshi pirates and the Sword Kingdom terrorists. They had never fought together to his knowledge. But here was a Sword vessel, with a Denifen vessel moving in tandem to rescue two Moshi vessels. And they were already launching fighters. We are damaged, and somewhat scattered. The squadron could destroy the dragons but the time that would take would allow those ships to join the action. And that would be bad. But if I evade now, I can escape. An immediate course change will take me out of that planets grav limit. And I could still call this a win. This intelligence about them working together must be sent to High Command. That is more important than bagging a couple of pirates.

His decision made Henry looked at the Comms officer. “Comms, message to all ships. Constitution Command to all ships. Recover fighters and break contact. Squadron course one hundred and twenty, twenty. Acceleration maximum. As soon as we reach a safe distance the squadron will activate flux drives and return to Circe. We have done good here today people. Those dragons won’t be raiding our commerce any time soon. Command out.”

Henry settled back into his chair. He watched the enemy ships link up and thought dark thoughts.

#

One week later, Henry Willis was sitting outside the office of the Commanding officer, Typhon Sector, with his was his staff officer, Captain Roger Sheng. Roger was a somewhat stocky individual, and looked what would have once being called oriental, except for his blonde hair. He was a spaceborn, which usually impeded promotion in the Aerospace Force. The only worse thing for career advancement would to be a non native human. Non humans were not allowed to join the Aerospace Force (although they could join the marines and regular army). But Henry had sponsored Roger’s career because he saw that his talent for command, and his spacing skills were most impressive. And I have always thought that the glass wall stopping spaceborn and others getting the rank they deserve is foolish at best. Henry thought. I suppose, he smiled to himself, that is my argumentative nature my “superiors” complain about.

“What do you think we are in for sir?” Roger ask Henry

The colonel considered the question. In his own way, the young captain was asking several questions with two. Were they going to be damaged politically from the recent battle, and also what happens next? The battle itself had played out as Henry expected, and all vessels had evaded the new arrivals. However in the cut throat world of the Union Aerospace force, and in the Terran Union greater, even doing the right thing could get you in trouble.

Henry leaned back on the chair and answered the second flavor of the question. “Hopefully rest and refit. I have heard that the new avenger fighters have been cleared for combat. Twice the size of the Rapiers and three time the firepower. If we refit, we should get them, but it will take some time to enlarge the launch tubes. You’ve seen the specs of them?”

“Yes, they are nice birds with a lot of capability. But they are still smaller than the sword Kingdom’s fighters and with less firepower as well.” Roger said. It was a common place knowledge now that the Union Aerospace fighter forces were inferior to the Sword Kingdoms. This was because of Union doctrine, fighter capabilities and that that one of the weapons mega corporations had resisted the needed redesign, because it was making a fortune on replacements.

Too many replacements. Too many dead pilots. Damn vultures. Always worried about their profit line. Still, not something I can say out loud. Henry thought. “It’s still an improvement. But we need time to refit our vessels and update our repair facilities to use them” he said. “Also pilot crew training and so on.”

“Well, we could use the rest,” Roger said. “The squadron has been active for three combat cycles and the its beginning to show. Efficiency is down. Also we need a full maintenance cycle and that doesn’t even begin to cover the repairs we need.”

Henry held up his hand to ward off Roger’s words. “OK, OK you have converted me. Let us see if command agrees.”

“Oh”, said Roger, somewhat shamefaced, “sorry sir. That came out a little stronger than I wanted.”

“No impact, no damage” said Henry. “And I do agree with you.”

At this a female lieutenant walked up to the two officers, saluting. “Colonel Willis, Captain Sheng, the General will see you now. Please walk this way.”

#

A short time later they were escorted into a large office. One side of the office was a huge window, showing a spectacular view of the Witches Falls, a spectacular waterfall near the central command’s location. It was well known because the rainbow radiance the sunlight caused in the spray. In the room was a large wooden desk with ten chairs arrayed in front of it. Behind it was the throne like chair of the General. The walls were a pale blue colour, with pictures of ships and planets. Behind the desk were both the Terran Union and Aerospace forces flags, and a large picture of President Carroway, the current holder of that office.

Also in the room was the general, General Ulysses Pangenetti and six other people. “Please be seated gentlemen”. Henry exchanged a glance with Roger. This did not bode well.

“Thank you General Pangenetti”. Henry and Roger seated themselves. The general was a stocky man, his hair silvered and his once well muscled body going soft. He gestured at the others who were seated.

“Let me introduce the people here first. This is Mr Barlow from Ceres weapons and Ms Dann from Fusion Engineering Galactic.” Henry’s mental antenna suddenly stirred. Those two mega corporations were very in important ship building and weapon design. Barlow had black hair and a hard face, and Dann was a brunette, and looked very attractive until you saw her eyes. They were blue and cold. Both were wearing the current fashion of corporate wear on earth this year, Grey trousers and jackets, with white shirts and brightly colored ties.

“This is General Fahey and his assistant Colonel Chernick,” the General continued, looking at the two uniformed figures. Henry recognised General Fahey, who was an important figure in intelligence ways and means. Except for their rank insignia both he and the Colonel looked very similar with thin, hard features and sandy blond hair. Hmm a relation I bet thought Henry. That sort of thing happened a lot in the modern Aerospace Force.

“And of course you would recognise Lieutenant Governor Lepic. This here is his assistant Miss Duane. Ladies and Gentlemen this is Colonel Henry Willis and Captain Roger Sheng.”

Henry had heard a lot about the lieutenant Governor, none of it good. Greedy, ruthless and manipulative he was one of the most disliked men on Circe. His blond good looks and handsome features were at odds with the perpetual sneer on his face. His assistant looked like eye candy, with red hair and a lovely, full figure. The General turned to Henry and said, “What do you know about the Hades system Colonel?”

Henry thought for a moment, and then said, ‘Not much sir. It is in the Hades Sector, in fact the central system of it. A burnoff world, I believe. I recall that it has rich mining resources in its asteroid belts but that the war precluded much exploitation of it. A low priority area, no combat. ‘

‘Well its priority has just been increased. A major archeological find has been made in the system, which we believe will have a large impact on the technological balance between the Union and its opponents.’ The General activated a holo unit on his desk which showed that Hades system. He then zoomed into a ghost white gas giant. ‘This is the planet Spectre, and the find is on one of its moons. Which is called Wraith by the way.’ The General continued to zoom in, focusing on an earthlike moon. ‘You and your Squadron are to proceed to the Hades system ASAP, and secure it, and then render what assistance you can to the reclamation process.’

Henry stared at General Pangenetti. Protesting his orders would be futile, but perhaps he could affect the timing. ‘General my ships have just seen heavy action, and need maintenance and repair. Frankly the crews need rest. We have been on combat patrol for three combat cycles and...’

‘Let me interrupt you there, Colonel,’ the General said. “I am aware of your ships’ status. This is not a combat posting, but is merely a support and security mission. There is no one to fight in the Hades system, and no enemy combatants are likely in the near term. In consultation with my staff I have decided that the rest your crews need can be accomplished there. And you will be reinforced by a heavy squadron in a month or two. Wraith is apparently quite pleasant and a shipyard vessel will accompany you for your maintenance and repair needs.” General Pangenetti looked intently at Henry. “These are your orders. When is the earliest your vessels can depart?”

Yielding the point, Henry looked at his subordinate and said “Captain?”

Roger accessed his epad for a moment and said, “If we have priority of refueling and supply the Constitution, the Vigilance and the Justice could depart in thirty-six hours. The Sheriff is badly damaged and would have to have major repair completed before it was safe to flux. Estimates are one hundred and twenty hours before it could depart. We also need crew replacements for all vessels and twenty-two replacement fighters.”

The general used his own terminal for a moment. “Replacement crew and fighters are not a problem. We have plenty of Rapiers on base at the moment due to the ongoing refits.” The General turned to the Lieutenant Governor. “Is thirty-six hours ok with you sir?”

“Barely, General Pangenetti.” He sniffed in reply. “But it will do.”

‘We will dispatch the Sheriff after you when she is repaired.’ The General transmitted his orders to Henry’s epad. ‘Also you will be escorting several vessels. The Shipyard Vessel Mulberry, the auxiliary troop ship Gallipoli and the Armed Yacht River of Gold. Gallipoli will be carrying a light battalion of marines and also extra research staff and equipment. Oh, also there is a vessel on station already in the system, the, ah, Trusty, A supply ship. She’ll will fall into your responsibilities as well.’

Henry controlled his expression. A vessel like the Gallipoli could carry a marine regiment plus its equipment. How serious was this. But there was one other matter. “Ah, General the River of Gold is not an Aerospace vessel.”

“No it isn’t. It is part of the Sector Militia Force. The Lieutenant Governor, Mr Barlow and Ms Dann will be traveling on that with General Fahey and Colonel Chernick. It is an armed yacht so if it comes to a fight it will pull its weight. General Fahey is to become the military governor of the Hades system.”

Great. A civilian armed vessel. “Pull its weight!” The only thing it will do in a fight is explode as soon as a real warship looks at it, thought Henry. The sector Militia Force was an excuse for private citizens and corporations to have effective light warships, but their skill and effectiveness was in question. ‘Yes sir,’ was all he said though. Can we know more of the nature of the find, General.

Ah, yes. Apparently, the find is an intact control room, which controlled what seems to have been an Ancient weapons range. Perhaps…’ The General looked at the two corporates for their input.

Both quickly glanced at each other, and then the Lieutenant Governor, and Ms Dann gestured to Barlow. He cleared his throat and spoke. ‘You must understand that everything said on this topic is not only top secret, but will also become proprietary information.’ He looked at the Colonel and Captain while saying this.

The General responded for them. ‘Both of my officers are intelligent men, and understand the realities of this situation sir’ he said in a neutral tone.

Barlow realized he may have misspoke. He smiled and said ‘Of course, I am making no imputations, simply making sure we are on the same page.’ He picked up his epad, tapping on it, and a holographic display of a large, ruined, room appeared in the center of the table, replacing the image of wraith. ‘The archeological expedition to Wraith was launched approximately seven months ago, under the auspices of the Circe Capital University, with finance and support from the Aerospace Force. It is under the direction of Professor Rachel Patterson, a fairly successful Archeologist.’ An image of the professor appeared, and then was minimized.

Henry glanced at Roger and saw he was recording the information. Good, he thought. We need to go over this later.

Barlow continued. ‘Little of any interest was found, except to the scientists involved. But a week ago, a large earthquake occurred near the site, and this created an opening into this room.’ He caused the hologram to slowly rotate, with labels indicating points of interest. ‘And there is this.’ An inscription in Ancient text was highlighted, with a translation of it underneath.

Both Henry and Roger started when they read the inscription’s translation. ‘You mean…’

‘Yes. All indications are that this was a weapons test area for the Ancients. And the systems seem intact. This is a discovery that can change our technological paradigm,’ Barlow gloated. With the unspoken subtext of we are going to make so much return on this.

‘Think of the possibilities, Colonel. Vastly Improved weapons, shields and power systems’ Ms. Dann contributed. ‘And possibly’, she paused, ‘gravitic weapons.’

The Colonel sat back in his chair. Gravitic weaponry had been the holy grail sort by weapon developers in the Union ever since it was theorized the Ancients had used them in their war of extermination millennia ago. The ability to crush ships, shatter planets or even turn stars into supernovas. The Typhon Expanse was the supposed result of that war. The importance of this find was obvious. As was the greed in the eyes of the two corporates. And he saw the reflected greed in the eyes of the lieutenant Governor. This was going to be tricky. ‘Thank you. I understand the importance of this.

“Well, Colonel, you and Captain Sheng have much to do. Dismissed.”

#

Chapter four

…Together we are the Outworld Coalition. We are greater than the sum of our parts. Let us be a sword at the Union’s collective throats…

Andrea smiled and stopped her neural news feed as the shuttle pod she was on came to a halt. She was listening to the speeches at the recent signing of the Outworld Accords. At last she thought, we can really take the war to the Union.

She felt a sudden chill as entered the Highport proper and twitched her jacket over her, realizing that she had forgotten the habitat was in its winter phase. Outside the dock building she took a quick look around. Off into the distance the cylindrical, inside out world, was gowned in white snow. The city buzzed with activity with vehicles and pedestrians moving on their occasions. In the centre of the cylinder she watched gliders moving in a low G dance around each other and she thought of younger days when she too played like that.

But she had a job to do. As she moved purposefully through the throng people cleared her way, partly due to her uniform, black with gold piping and the four small silver swords on her breast, partly due to the thirty five centimeter cylinder she carried on her hip, her plasma lance. Like many natives of New Skye, she was slim, fit looking, about one hundred and seventy five centimeters with short red hair. Both the swords on her uniform’s collar and the weapon on her hip marked her as Knight Commodore of the Kingdom of Swords. Her uniform indicated that she was a ship commander.

As Andrea followed the walkway she noticed a figure loitering ahead.. He was leaning against a wall, attempting, it seemed, to be unobtrusive, but with his tall, bandy stance and twitchy tail, he exuded menace. Around him was a large space that others avoided. He wore a green uniform with red piping, the uniform of the Sword Marine Corp. As she approached he looked up and gave Andrea a predator’s smile. “My Captain,” he said, “you are looking well.”

Andrea shook her head and said, “Snapjaw, why are you out here scaring the locals?” Snapjaw was his nickname. His proper name was only used on ceremonial occasions. Most Sekmets allowed their companions to choose their nickname. Andrea even knew one Sekmet, a skilled pilot, as Snookims.

Snapjaw snickered, “T’is my nature, Captain.” He looked around at a pair of teenagers watching him and stared at them, licking his chops. Both immediately blanched and left quickly. “Surely you wouldn’t miss one or two.”

Andrea gave Snapjaw a long suffering look and sighed.

He laughed, holding up his gloved hands. “They are too scrawny anyway. To answer your question I was waiting for you. The Squadron officers gather in the ward room, so I thought I might intercept and escort you.” Both of them started into the building.

“You didn’t need to do that. You could have let me know on my link.” Andrea said. Sekmet turned to her and retorted, “Ah, the lady doth protest too much”.

Andrea smiled and shook her head. “I suppose it is nice to be escorted.”

They both entered the entrance lobby. Pale blue carpet lined the floor, and the sounds of the city faded as the doors closed behind them. The gray walls were covered in images of ships and people important to the history of the Navy. In front of them was the Navy’s motto, My Sword and Shield are yours. Both Rachael and Snapjaw noted the security clearance given through their links.

“I see you are still hooked on Shakespeare,” Andrea said, continuing their conversation. “In fact I don’t think I have met a Sekmet who didn’t love Shakespeare.”

“Candour leads me to say that not all Sekmet’s revere the Bard as they should, but many do. His voice doth speak to the core of us.” Snapjaw spread his arms wide, “For all the Galaxy is a stage.”

“Galaxy? Isn’t it World?”

“This one doth simply paraphrase and update. If the Bard lived now he would have used Galaxy. And would have wrote in Sekmeti.” Andrea laughed.

The Sekhmets are an unusual species, thought Andrea. Even after fifty years people still wondered how somebody could have named aliens after an Egyptian Cat God, when the quickest glance would show their legs turned like humans and their build was more apelike. But they do have claws she though, and very sharp teeth, and once they understood who Sekhmet was, they loved it. Ferocious, and with impressive determination they had been an enemy of the Union for decades.

Andrea and Snapjaw passed under the HMSF High Guard, Sword Fleet Headquarters sign as they left the lobby and reached the front desk. The security systems, confirming their authorization once again, had already given the desk’s occupant their identities and listed any information they may need. When they reached the front desk, a position maintained for traditions sake, the ensign there saluted and greeted them by name. “Knight Commodore Tao, Knight Colonel Snapjaw, welcome to Fleet HQ. Squadron 19’s commanders are gathering on floor twenty four, ward room three. May you have a nice day.”

“Thank you ensign,” replied Andrea, as both she and Snapjaw returned the salute. Behind the desk was a line of glass walled grav lifts. Stepping onto one of them, Andrea, with a thought, used her neural link to select their destination. Seconds later they were shooting upwards.

#

As they disembarked, distant murmur of voices greeted their ears through an open doorway. Inside was a large dining setting, containing perhaps fifty people. The walls were covered in wooden panels, over which hung banners of the Squadrons of the Fleet, recording the battle honors each had earned. The occupants all wore uniforms, with a mix of colors, ranging much of the spectrum.

Many were human but not all. In one corner was the large powerful form of a Moshi (though it looked more like a short feathered Allosaurus) seated on a large cushion in the Moshi version of a lotus position. He was eating a snack and talking to a human naval Knight Lieutenant. The Moshi are an odd race, Andrea thought. Cultural contamination with some humans fleeing the advance of the Union had settled on one of their world and gave them Buddhism. Sort of combat Buddhists, paciFists she smiled to herself.

In one corner a large, green uniformed figure that could only be a Neanderthal officer was reading a squadron banner’s battle honors. Ah thought Andrea, recognising her, Breal Marls-daughter. The Ancients spread human kind across this part of the galaxy, and the long thought extinct Neanderthals were found alive and well on several worlds. Breal Marls-daughter is an asset all by herself in a fight, Andrea thought, remembering other battles.

Next to her was a Delphin officer, in his life support suit. Moving as if swimming through the the air, his grav unit gave him freedom to move out of the water as if he never left. Another curious species, they were originally dolphins, later uplifted to full intelligence. Interested, as Delphin were rare in the Sword Kingdom navy, she was surprised to see he was a Marine Knight Lieutenant. Breal and the Delphin were talking together while looking at the banners.

Three of the androgynous-looking Denifen, a race that dominated much of the galaxy, although some distance from here, stood nearby, conferring with each other. All were clothed in black robes with silver patterns, allowing for easy movement, and on their hips were what looked like crystal daggers. Force blades, these were the only weapon that could match a plasma lance blow for blow.

People say the Denifen reminded them of the old earth legend of vampires, with their pale skins, and bewitching eyes, Andrea thought as she proceeded through the crowd. No wonder the Union referred to them as Vampires. Andrea was not sure if they found the term insulting, but she wasn’t going to take chances. They could be touchy. Andrea had fought against the Denifen during the War of the Deeps, a decade and more ago. She had no desire to reenact that here.

Snapjaw turned to Andrea and said “My duty is done; now I go to eat and drink.”

“A minist’ring angel shall my brother be,” Andrea quoted paraphrasing slightly. “You have done your duty well.” Looking up she saw the three Denifen approaching. “Ah, wait around a moment Snapjaw.” She indicated the approaching trio.

“Oh. Strange bedfellows indeed.”

#

Mora ka desi Dega shipped her drink as she watched the party goers mingle and talk. She had fought and bled with and against these people, and had enjoyed the experience, but she found the interaction with humans that she enjoyed the most were these “get togethers,” as one Sword officer had called them. True, her Defenin people did celebrate victories and have parties but to have a social meeting just to meet and interrelate was … different. I suppose that was due to the generally non psionic nature of human society, she thought as she savored the sweet sherry, and of our propensity to social violence. Quite often, thought was action among the Defenin, especially in ones male cycle.

Many of her race found the Sword Kingdom and its citizens fascinating, as did she. Unlike the Union, she mentally sneered. Ever since the Union obliterated the mining colony on Defrat, destroying two whole genetic lines of the Defenin, the exiles would war against them until appropriate recompense had been obtained. And when the Imperium found out and reacted...well it would be a bad time to be in the Union.

Dega found her hand caressing her blade, and her stance and mind image had moved into a threat posture. Both of her companions stiffened and followed suit. Dega, noticing, forced herself to relax, and smiled apologetically to them. ; she mind sent to them. Both of them calmed and smiled back. ; one sent back to her, ; Mora desi Segi waved a hand towards the throng. ;

“Desi Segi, I believe you will find this the norm as you continue to serve in the Coalition. Especially now it has been formalized.” Dega spoke out loud as she poured herself another sherry and she continued “In the Imperium other races are kept under control, or are Morai but I have seen the strength of united races in a cause. This bears consideration.” As she sipped she noticed a human Knight commodore and a Sekmet Knight Colonel entering the room. “Hmm, if I am not mistaken, our squadron commander has arrived. Let us greet her, cousins.”

#

Andrea watched as the three Defenin closed on her. The lead Defeni bowed her head and said, “Greetings Knight Commodore Tao. I am Mora ka desi Dega, commander of the cruiser Pursuit, out of House Mora.” Elegantly she held out her hand. “Hello.”

Andrea grasped the hand, finding it cool to the touch, and shook it, saying, “Greetings ka desi. I am certain we will accomplish great things together. I understand that you are to be the squadron’s second in command.” Andrea noted that Dega spoke with a slight lisp, due to her pointed teeth. Her eyes were had a dark blue tinge and the pupils were large. Ah, her eyes are artificially tinted to reduce light, Andrea surmised. That’s right, they come from a dimmer, cooler world originally.

“Yes Commodore. I am looking forward to working with you, and in upsetting a lot of Union plans,” Dega said, flashing a brief toothy grin. “But, this is a social gathering, so let us not discuss such topics yet.” As the conversation continued, Dega lightly probed the defenses of Andrea’s mind and found them solid. Good, she thought. Excellent for a non psi. I wonder if she has been trained. I must find out at some point.

“May I introduce Knight Colonel Snapjaw, of the Kingdom of Swords Marine Corp.” Andrea indicated Snapjaw who stiffened, bowed and offered his hand. “He will be commanding the Marine element of the Squadron.” Dega nodded politely, as one predator to another, and then gestured to her companions. “These are my sub commanders, Mora desi Segi and Mora desi Kaya.”

Both of the Defenin nodded and greeted Andrea and Snapjaw. “Desi Segi is my second in command of my vessel, desi Kaya commands my fighter wing. I have a forth officer Mora desi Rayo who commands my ground troops. He has being detained by personal matters. I offer apologies for his absence.”

Odd, thought Andrea. “I hope to meet her later.”

“Actually he is, ah, male at the moment.” The ka desi was expressionless.

Andrea blinked for a second and then said “Is there a problem?”

The Ka desi shrugged “Possibly, but not normally. Generally, as you may know, we can change gender as desired, but we do need to change on a relatively regular basis. On duty we take an inhibitor drug that fixes our gender in place. When we turn male we can become overly aggressive, so we prefer to stay female. But from time to time the though, the drug can be ineffective. In that case we confine the male until he has resolved the situation.”

“I was aware the Defenin change sex, but I didn’t know it caused issues.” Andrea tried not to frown.

“No, as I said the inhibitors handle the problem most of the time.” Dega smiled at the Commodore, “He will be back on duty in a few days.”

“So, I will meet him then?”

“Of course Commodore.” Dega once again nodded politely.” I must not monopolize your time here Commodore. We shall speak later?”

“I look forward to it, ka desi Dega”

#

“What did that mean?” Snapjaw said after the Defenin departed.

“I don’t know. But I think it was a test of sorts.” Andrea watched the Defenin as they circulated. “She was testing my reaction, I think.”

“Did you pass?”

Andrea looked at Snapjaw and smiled. “I have no idea. But I’m not going to let it worry me.” She turned back to Snapjaw and said, “For now, let’s enjoy the party.”

As they move off Snapjaw said, “I wonder how Rayo will “resolve the situation.”

#

Two standard weeks later, Andrea was working in her office. It had been a very busy time, determining the squadrons supply needs, arrange cross training and making sure her manning requirements were met. These were among many of the details she had to finalize to make her cruiser squadron combat ready. I wonder what idiot said that this sort of “paperwork” would disappear with full computing, she wondered as she sat back, massaging her neck. Still Snapjaw was showing a great deal of success integrating the ground units, and, after some teething problems the effectiveness of the fleet units was improving. At least in simulation, and fire runs. We need to actually shake down in space. But until the squadron was ready to lift…Work, work, work.

She turned, looking at her view screen which was focused on the planet about which she was orbiting. Like many similar types of worlds, it was blue and white with specks of brown and green. The difference was that this was the planet New Skye, in the Caliburn system, closest colony the Sword Kingdom had to the Terran Union. It had resisted attack and invasion twice now and was perhaps the Kingdom’s premier naval base, with the exception of the capital of course. And it’s home Andrea thought.

Suddenly her communicator chirped, waking her from her daydream. “Yes Robert?” she said to her staff lieutenant, who has working in the next room. Robert Mackenzie was an enthusiastic young officer, and, like her, a native of New Skye. A was intelligent and quick witted young man Andrea had gained his services with her squadron command and had not regretted it once.

“A call from Knight Admiral Hussein’s office, Ma’am.”

Andrea unconsciously straightened herself up. “Put it through please.”

“Of Course Ma’am.” Andrea’s screen on her desk cleared to become the admiral’s face, his round features filling the screen, his bald head shining.

“Andrea, it is good to see you” the Admiral said, beaming. “How are you today?”

“Fine Knight Admiral. I’m keeping myself busy. What can I do for you?”

The admiral’s face sobered up. “I know you are busy right now but something has come up. Can I see you, with your marine commander and your second in command as soon as possible? It seems your squadron’s deployment is to change.”

Andrea thought rapidly as she replied “Of course Knight Admiral. Would in an hour do?” What is going on? Squadron orders do not get changed unless an emergency has happened. I haven’t heard anything like that so it must be new. And important. What’s going on? Her thought processes spun in her head as the admiral said that was fine and thanked her, signing off.

She keyed her communicator. “Robert, can I see you for a minute?”

“Of course Knight Commodore.” With that Robert entered the room. He was a tall, thin lad, with a head of white-blond hair and green eyes. Andrea had found he had a gift for organisation and for liaising with other officers, and she considered him a gem in the rough. Andrea felt that he had great promise. Once he had seasoned a bit.

“Robert I want you to contact both Knight Colonel Snapjaw and Mora ka desi Dega for a conference call as soon as possible.”

“Yes Ma’am” Robert replied, sensing her mood. “What will the topic of discussion be?”

“The Admiral has asked for both of them and myself for a meeting in an hour. Set up the appointment for me, and send replies to my terminal.” Andrea looked him in the eye, “I also want you to quickly compile readiness reports on the squadron. I think our orders are about to change.

Robert started to obey, when he paused. “Is something wrong Knight Commodore?”

Andrea smiled and said, “Probably, but I don’t know what yet.”

#

An hour later Andrea, along with Snapjaw and Dega were standing in front of Knight Admiral Hussein’s desk. The admiral himself was quietly talking at the door with a Knight Commander, whose uniform marked her as in intelligence. When finished they both moved into the room.

“Thank you for coming,” the admiral started. “Let me introduce Knight Commander Hyacinth Baron, who is with the Intelligence directorate. She is involved in our change of course here.” The admiral sat down and the others started to follow suit.

Andrea looked at the Knight Commander. She was not unattractive, with mousey brown hair and somewhat short, but oddly, she seemed to fade into the background. Andrea found herself having to concentrate on looking at her. Dega’s gaze suddenly focused on the Knight Commander, her hand touching her Force blade. The tension in the room increased markedly. Andrea quickly stood as the Denifen did likewise. ‘Ka desi, let me handle this.’ Dega hesitated a moment, then sat, her eyes focused on the still sitting Knight Commander.

Andrea looked at the intelligence officer. ‘Please stop what you are doing Knight Commander.’

Admiral Hussein looked confused. ‘Is there a problem’

‘Yes Admiral. I believe there is. The Knight Commander is attempting to cloak herself in some way, psionically. To the Denifen, this is either an insult or a threat.’ Despite the effort, Andrea continued to look at the woman. Snapjaw gave a silent snarl as he realized what could have happened.

The Knight Commander looked up at the officers and said “Oh, I apologize. I just wanted to see if I could.”

“Your actions were unwise,” Andrea stated. Snapjaw calmed and Dega stirred as if hearing something.

Admiral Hussein looked sternly at the Knight Commander. ‘Commander, you and I need to have a talk.’ Turning to the others he said ‘please forgive the Knight Commander, I will reprimand her appropriately.’

Andrea sat. ‘Of course Admiral.’

Snapjaw said, ‘So she is a mind walker.’

“Yes she is.” the admiral said. “One of our most skilled. Trained in being unobtrusive. She is providing the intelligence side of this briefing.” He activated a holographic star map over his desk and said “Let us focus on the reason for this meeting. This is the Hades system, located some thirty six light years from New Skye. Towards the Union. Do you know anything about this system?”

Snapjaw and Dega shook their heads but Andrea said “Um, It’s a burnoff system. Badly damaged during the Ancient’s war. I remember about sixteen years ago there was a political fight over mining there.”

“Yes” said a subdued Hyacinth. “Two of the inner planets were destroyed during that war. Not just glassed but physically torn apart. That event formed a massive, extremely rich asteroid field which Sword Kingdom miners were exploiting. When the Union settled in the Pegasus system, the crown ordered the evacuation of the area so as to give the Kingdom a few years more preparation time for the conflict we are now in.”

“That’s right. It was a major parliamentary battle between the Technologists and the Defenders” Andrea said, referring to two powerful factions in the Sword Kingdom Government. “It was settled in the defenders favor when the Ecologist party intervened in their favor.”

Dega leaned forward and said “What was this conflict about? And is it relevant to our mission?”

Hyacinth looked at her and said “It is not now, ka desi. Sixteen years ago it was important in our political area. The Technologists felt that the returns on the mining made the risk of early discovery worth it, and the Defenders felt that the Kingdom needed more lead time until we contacted our cousins. Its relevance is that we have visited the system and know its value. Well we thought we did, but it seems we were in error.” She looked at the Admiral as if seeking permission and he nodded to her.

“Tell them Knight Commander. They need to know.”

“Well, about one week ago the Intelligence directorate received a priority message from one of our surveillance vessels, which reported that the Union had discovered functional Ancient technology.” As she spoke the star map resolved itself into focusing on the Hades system, showing its planets. “The Union Navy, through the University of Circe, had financed an archeological site on the third moon of the Planet Spectre.” The holo zoomed in to show a ghostly white gas giant, surrounded by a multitude of moons. “The moon’s name is Wraith.” With that the image zoomed into the third moon, showing an earth like world. “This expedition has discovered pay dirt, so to speak.”

Snapjaw eyed the Knight Commander, “I can see this being a problem in that we want to maintain our technological lead, but why send a squadron of cruisers? Wouldn’t a smaller insertion team be of more use?”

Hyacinth shrugged “Normally you would be right. A small team to sabotage the dig site, and to capture any relevant information. But the situation now requires a different approach. The site in apparently in excellent condition, with well preserved equipment and possibly intact memory cores. This is concerning of course, but what worries us the most is the translated name for the site. It’s an Ancient weapons testing range.”

The admiral interjected, “The weapon that destroyed the worlds in that system could have its design specs there.”

“Indeed Knight Admiral,” Hyacinth replied. “The Union is dispatching a squadron of ships to garrison the system, and unfortunately they will arrive before any insertion team could get there. Luckily the enemy should consist of cruisers and destroyers only.”

Andrea and the others looked at each other as they acknowledged the threat. Hyacinth said “We should have a surveillance vessel on station in the system shortly. And we may have access to someone who was there only a year ago. A Moshi miner by the name of Arter Cas. After we left the Moshi used the system as a mineral resource.”

“Due to the timing of this, the miner will be accompanying you to Hades. You can debrief him on the way” The admiral said. “Also the Knight Commander will be taking charge of the squadron’s intelligence unit.”

“Knight Admiral”, Andrea said carefully, “My Squadron has only been formed for two weeks. I was expecting time to shake the unit in. And with all respect to the Knight Commander, she has not made a good first impression. ”

Knight Admiral Hussein sighed, and shook his head. “I am confident Knight Commander Baron will endeavor to correct that first impression, and you do need to fill your staff intelligence slot.’ He stirred ‘I understand the problems you are going to face, Knight Commodore, but the circumstances and timing are against us. Your squadron is the only one available right now. I want you on your way as soon as possible. Unfortunately the only other squadron I can send will take another week to depart due to its repairs needs.” He looked Andrea in the eye. “I’m sorry about the lack of training time, but you can train on the journey. It will take four seeks after all.” He turned to his view screen, “I will be sending backup in two weeks to the Apollo system, in the form of the Fourth Battle Squadron. If you take the system and think it can be held, send for it.”

The admiral stood, and the others rose too. “So these are your orders. Proceed at best speed to the Apollo system for refueling and resupply, and then to the Hades system. Capture the site and any personnel there, determine the risk to the Outworld Coalition, and, if required, obliterate the site.”

Part 2 The first rock falls