Border Wars, page 6
part #8 of On Silver Wings Series
"Impressive beasties, but anything that big is going to have some nasty predators to prey on them," Cassius said, "well, usually at least."
Jerry nodded thoughtfully, "Seems possible. There are some big preds on Hayden, though most of them have been pushed away from the main colony. They follow the herds, few of those like the plants we grow, and they don't consider us food. We could probably scare these into running with a few shots in the air."
Cassius shook his head, "Leave them be. They're not hurting anything, and they're not going near my girl's projects."
Jerry nodded, pulling a small box from his pack, "Fair enough. I'm going to tag a few of them, though. That'll let us keep an eye on them, and also be a good source of data for whoever picks up the task of studying them."
Cassius settled back a little and let the younger man work as he broke out the tagging kit. It consisted of a simple drone with a gas operated dart gun from what he could tell.
"Subdermal tags?" Cassius asked, noting the small vial full of what looked like grey and glinting rice.
"That's right," Jerry confirmed as he loaded the vial into the drone. "Old tech, I know, but reliable. They'll pull power from the nervous system of the targets, run for years."
"Those beasties have compatible nervous systems?"
Jerry nodded, "unless they're completely different than the rest of Hayden's larger biome, they should. Only so many ways an animal can transmit orders to its limbs, I guess."
He finished what he was doing and tossed the drone into the air, letting the device whir into action and flash away at high speed as it headed toward the herd.
Cassius looked over Jerry's shoulder as he worked the controls, noting the drone was performing standard measurements on the animals as it made its approach. The estimates raised an eyebrow as the older man read off the numbers.
"Over a hundred tons? That's the same size as the largest dinos ever to walk the Earth," He said, surprised.
"We've seen larger here," Jerry said as he lined up the drone and fired the first of the tags.
The animal barely flinched as it was struck, and the tag began transmitting back.
"Lighter gravity by a small bit," Jerry went on, "and a higher oxygen level than Earth are the two main factors we figure. Large animals, plants, and insects. Few of them bother with humans much, except by accident. We can't digest local material, and it can't digest us. Most animals out here seem to know it too, smell us I guess."
Cassius nodded, watching as more darts were fired, tagging more of the herd as the drone buzzed overhead high enough to escape the notice of the big animals.
"Look, predators," Jerry gestured with his free hand.
Turning the scope he was carrying in the direction Jerry had pointed out to him, Cassius quickly found another herd of smaller but quick and darting beasts. They had flowing fur or feathers, or something close enough that he couldn't really tell the difference if it weren't either of those and they were clearly stalking the larger herd.
"Gutsy little shits," Cassius grunted, amused by the gumption of the smaller beasts. They had to be outmassed a hundred to one, quite probably on a good day. Going after something with that much of a size difference wouldn't be easy.
"We've seen those before," Jerry said without looking away from his scope, "Or similar genus at least. Pack hunters, no question, and known to be lethal little buggers. We've got them on the main continent too, maybe a little smaller. I'll tag them while we're out here, I know lots of boys and girls back at the colony site who are going to be going nuts over the data I'm getting out here this time."
Cassius chuckled, "I've no doubt. Took my share of eggheads through the rougher parts of the world myself, back after I got out of the army."
"We do get excited over simple things," Jerry chuckled as he directed the drone back around.
"All of this is my girl's land, now?" Cassius asked, looking around.
"Technically all of this, and then some, and everything on it." Jerry said agreeably, "Resources are included in the land grant, though it doesn't mean much these days."
Cassius nodded agreeably, "True that. Hard to believe that people used to murder one another over little yellow chunks of rock, ain't it?"
"A bit," Jerry said, "but I supposed we kill each other for stupid things today too."
"Ain't that the truth."
The drone buzzed over the predator pack, tagging them quickly before running out of tags and heading back to where the two men were waiting on the crest of the land.
As he recovered the drone, Jerry glanced over at Cassius, "So what do you think of Hayden so far?"
Cassius didn't respond immediately, looking slowly across the vista that unfolded out below them to the undulating waters of the great sea beyond the coast of the continent.
"I think I may be home."
*****
USV SOL
Nero Ramirez glowered at the numbers that were being processed, having been sent over from the Alliance vessel. They were good, too good. He wasn't too happy that the enemy knew quite as much as they clearly did about SOLCOM fleet protocols.
Still, nothing to be done about it right now, He thought, twisting his lips in annoyance. He would ensure that SOLCOM updated security protocols as soon as he made it back, just in case though.
"Parallax calculations complete, Captain," The scanner technician said after the processing had finished.
"Show me the location on screen."
The main screen as well as his personal repeater lit up with the details, showing parametric views of the system along with locational data.
Nero examined the locus of the gravity anomaly, quickly comparing it to known sources of gravity in the system, then looking to see if they were dealing with an unknown but natural source.
Not a chance.
"That's a jump point signature, no question," He said, rising from his station.
"Nothing on the Alliance report about a Jump gate at that location, and it doesn't read as a locus for one based on our calculations either, Skipper."
"I know, Lieutenant," He told the scanner tech, "But I know a jump point signature. That's an arrival, or I need to put in my papers. Get me the 'Lifting Wind' on the horn."
"Aye skipper," The communications officer said quickly.
While that was being accomplished, Nero opened a comm link to Engineering.
"Chief, get the engines warmed up. I want to be tearing space-time a new one with thirty seconds warning or else. Clear?"
"Crystal, Skipper. We're heating up already."
"Good work, Chief," Nero said, eyes flicking up to notice that the light for the Admiralty bridge was active. "I'll let you get back to it, then."
"Aye sir, you can count on us down here."
"Never had a doubt, keep it up." Nero said before he killed the connection and walked back to the command station, surreptitiously opening the link to the Flag bridge.
"Status report, Captain."
"Unknown jump point incursion, Admiral," Nero told the Admiral instantly. "The Alliance doesn't know who they are either, so we're on alert."
"Understood. As you were."
The link closed, leaving Nero to his work. He was glad that Ruger wasn't the sort to jog his arm while he worked, though it was still a little nerve wracking to know that the Admiral and a Brigadier were watching over every move he made in real time.
Bad enough to know that everything is being recorded for every armchair tactician in the galaxy to pick apart later.
There was nothing to be done about it, however, and Nero got down to work even as the Sol's long - range scanners were focused on the targeted area of space. It would be hours, at least, before anything useful came through on those but for the moment it was all they could do.
Whatever else was going to happen, Nero had no intention of being caught flatfooted.
*****
Parithalian Battleship Lifting Wind
"That's not possible," Perihlon snapped, "certify those numbers again!"
The command crew of the big starship dutifully did as they were bade, though they were certain they'd done the calculations correctly the first time. As expected, the numbers came up identically.
"They certify, Master of Ships," His second in command said firmly, "Perhaps the humans miscalculated their side?"
Peri clicked his jaw a few times, his blue skin darkening in a slight flush as he considered that. It was tempting, truly tempting if he were being honest about it, but he rather thought it was too neat.
He reluctantly turned to look to where the Intelligence officer was standing, "Would you have any thoughts on this?"
Sienel looked up from the coordinates, "I understand the consternation, Master of Ships. There should not be a jump point there, however the numbers appear to be confirmed. I see nothing to indicate that the human vessel mis-calculated their vector."
Peri nodded reluctantly, "Nor do I. An unknown jump point means an unguarded one, we have no remote stations in that sector. By the time we could shit any, whatever it is that has arrived will be well clear."
"Shift them anyway," Sienel advised, "Either way, we need to locate that point in local space time. In the meantime, Master of Ships, this is a fleet matter. I leave the handling of the immediate tactical situation in your skilled hands."
Peri nodded, turning back, both pleased and rather concerned by that statement.
On the one hand, he didn't want a deskbound intelligence officer and political agent of the Alliance messing with his command. On the other, however, that put the responsibility for the situation solidly in his wings.
"Standby for maneuvering," He ordered, "All stations to their action assignments. It appears we have visitors to greet. Let's make it a warm one."
*****
USV SOL
"Alliance battleship is lighting off her drives, skipper!"
"Watch them," Nero ordered, "But hold position until I order otherwise."
"Aye skipper."
The Alliance vessel started to move on their screens, pulling hard acceleration as it started out of orbit.
"Signal from the Alliance ship, skipper!"
"Put it through to my station, Lieutenant," Nero ordered.
His personal screen lit up, the blue skinned visage of the Alliance Captain looking out at him.
"The Lifting Wind is departing orbit to investigate the unknown arrival," He said firmly, "However we would request something, if it were possible."
"Name it, Captain," Nero said simply.
"Our mission on world needs to be monitored, and the command personnel would request respectfully to be transferred to your vessel until such time as the Lifting Wind can return to orbit."
Nero shifted slightly, surprised by the request, but knew that it wasn't within his power to grant. He was reaching for the Admiralty comm when it chirped to life even before he could touch it.
"Request granted," Ruger's voice said simply. "We stand by to receive the mission commander and his staff."
"Our thanks to you," The Parithalian said simply, "Transport will be away shortly. We will, of course, provide you with more information as we learn the nature of the incursion into the local system."
"We understand, and thank you for that, Captain." Nero said, adding, "Good luck, and good hunting."
The signal went dead as the Alliance vessel continued to accelerate hard out of orbit. As they were crossing the outer line of planetary orbit a small transport broke from the vessel and fired its own thrusters on a perpendicular vector from its mother ship.
"Track the Alliance shuttle, scan them for any sign of weapons and the like, then clear them for approach to the second bay." Nero ordered.
"Aye skipper."
He turned to the Marine standing duty at the back of the bridge, "Get a ceremonial greeting party down there, would you?"
The Marine raised an eyebrow, "Ceremonial, Sir?"
Nero knew full well what the man was asking and simply snorted, "As long as they look good, Major, you can arm them as you see fit. Just keep their fingers off the trigger unless someone else shoots first. These are foreign officials, and we don't need another war."
"I'll see that it's done, Sir."
Nero nodded, trusting that he would at that. He stared at the plot for a time, but finally sighed and stood up.
"Commander," He said, nodding to his Executive Officer, "You have the bridge. Keep an eye on the situation as it develops. I'm going to greet our guests."
"Aye skipper," The XO responded automatically, "I have the bridge."
With one last glance at the monitors, Nero Ramirez strode calmly off the bridge, his mind running a mile a minute even as he forced his pace to a slow, confident rate.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
*****
Admiral Ruger made his way down to the second landing bay, he and Mattan both surrounded by aides and escorts as they cut through the corridors of the big warship. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it was clear that the Alliance was taking it seriously, and that meant that he and the rest of the crew of the Sol would do exactly the same.
I wish we had backup out here, He thought grimly, irritated by the fact that the Sol was effectively on her own in enemy territory. He glanced over at Mattan as the Marine Brigadier walked by his side, "What's your take, General?"
Mattan shrugged, his expression non-committal, "The Alliance seems to be playing straight with us. It seems unlikely that they'd send over the Op-Com team if they were intending to pull a fast one after all. I think that so far, the odds are good that they're not hiding much from us."
"Much?"
"Everyone hides something," Mattan said firmly. "We're hiding several things from them, you'll remember."
Ruger tipped his head, acknowledging that point.
"For the moment, I don't believe they're hiding anything out of malice," Mattan went on, before gesturing sharply with his right hand, "which doesn't mean that what they're hiding won't come around and bite us in the ass in a bad way. Just because they're not being malicious doesn't mean they're not being stupid... and that's worse than maliciousness. You can predict enemy action. You can't predict friendly idiots."
Ruger grimaced, but had no choice but to also accept that point.
"True enough," He said, "I've been on the wrong end of both, and enemy action is usually less demoralizing."
"You've never endured friendly idiocy until you're in the field and the friendly idiots are the only backup you have," Mattan said with a shake of his head. "Happens all the time on The Job."
"Do you think that's what's happening now?"
"No way to tell until it blows up in our faces, and maybe not even then," Mattan said, "Too many variables. We'll know more when we get some facetime with the OP-Com team."
"Well, we're about to get that," Ruger said as the group turned a corner and saw the doors to Bay Two just ahead.
*****
The Alliance transport bumped slightly as it skidded to a stop on the metal deck of the human ship, Sienel barely felt the motion though as his mind was elsewhere.
The gravity anomaly made little sense, he'd seen the survey of the system and studied quite thoroughly when the current mission had been presented to him. There was no accessible jump point in the area the signature had been detected, which should have made what they picked up quite impossible.
Now he was studying the system survey again, focusing on the partial jump points that had been detected. Though partial wasn't really an accurate summation of those particular positions in space-time.
Jump points were zones where the gravity effects of the galaxy, indeed the universe, were effectively canceled out. Points of true "zero gravity", rather than the infinitely more common 'micro-gravity' that most persons mistook for zero gravity.
Gravity was the fabric that bound the universe into a cohesive whole, it was the fundamental foundation of reality itself. Only within gravity did the laws of the universe have dominion. When you could find true points of zero gravity, you would find yourself in a small section of space-time that didn't exist insofar as the universe was concerned.
These points were generally fleeting, appearing and disappearing with little to really set them apart for observers. However, if you were within one of those points, and had a gravity manipulation system, even a rather crude one, it was possible to transit from one point to another through a different dimension.
How stable a point you needed depended very much on how effectively you could twist gravity.
In the current situation, Sienel was quite certain that there were no Alliance defined 'stable' jump points where the disturbance had been recorded. Which meant that someone had transited through an unstable point.
Not impossible, but either suicidally dangerous or beyond the Alliance in gravity manipulation by a significant degree.
He wasn't certain if any of the partial points in that region were even within the scope of the Ross, though those pains in his unmentionables were rather tightlipped about everything, of course, to say nothing of their technology.
The Gav may be capable of it as well, of course, but why would either be this far out?
That left the Humans, of course, which seemed absurd on the surface of things.
Human technology isn't on par with the Alliance in terms of sophistication, Sienel had of course seen all the reports on that as well. Their use of negative matter certainly gave them a brute force advantage over many Alliance vessels, but even late in the war the Alliance had held a clear advantage in gravity manipulation thanks to the influence, limited though it was, of the Ros'el.
They were, on the other hand, insane enough to perhaps use an unstable point despite the dangerous.
Which really begs the question, why would they?
Sienel had no response to that, however, which was why he had requested that his operational command team be transferred. Among other things, just determining if the humans would allow the transfer would have given him vital intelligence on their actions.
