Chaotic Futures, page 13
Harmonious paused in her motion to cut the connection. “How do I know this isn’t a silly attempt to get us to publish a false story?”
Then Harmonious observed her monitor display images of the Liberation’s interior. She saw numerous aliens moving through a green space like she’d never seen.
“This imagery could be generated,” Harmonious objected.
“Why?” Harmonious challenged.
There were aspects of the conversation that gave Harmonious reasons to ignore the caller. However, she was still a news producer, and this might be too good a story to let slip through her hands. “What is your name?” she inquired.
“A what?” Harmonious inquired.
Kelley replied.
When Harmonious had asked the caller’s name, she’d started her recorder, and she was happy she had. “Hold a moment, Kelley,” she said politely.
Soon a male voice came on the call, and Harmonious explained who was listening and what he was asking.
While the producer did that, Kelley traced the male’s location and compared it to the aerial views already collected by the Tridents. The male was located at a large shuttleport. The area was surrounded by warehouses, and multiple rail lines connected the warehouses with distant areas.
“Wait. I haven’t introduced you,” Harmonious complained.
After Kelley ended his connection, Harmonious asked, “Did you understand, Kelley?”
“I heard the words,” the distribution director replied. “I’m not sure that I believe them.”
“I’d do as he says,” Harmonious warned. “We’re going to have multiple teams covering this event. You don’t want to appear unprepared to receive the conclave ships.”
Harmonious spent a few more moments explaining what Kelley intended. Then she grabbed her personal items, rushed into the reporters’ work area, drafted three teams of her best people, and told them they had to be in the vehicles before she got there. Finally, she ran to the executive producer’s office and told her what she was doing in brief sentences. Without waiting for a reply, she raced from the office, caught an elevator, and dropped to the vehicle bay.
With the flotilla amassing eighty-two travelers, the captains had all the numbers to empty the freighters in a continuous stream.
The first travelers carried SADEs, residents, and an experienced loading crew loaned by Giselle Armand, the freighter captain.
As the travelers approached the two Krackus freighters, the SADEs commandeered the ships’ systems.
That was the cue for the SADEs to direct the imperators to launch the shuttles and leave them in the vicinity.
However, the level of cooperation was minimal. The conclave travelers sat in space for more than an hour, waiting for the bay doors to open and the shuttles to launch on their attitude jets.
When the shuttles did exit, the travelers landed, and the freighter crew chief began issuing orders.
SADEs had already identified the modules and their cargo for the chief.
Despite those preparations, the chief was disappointed to open the first module and find that the grav palettes couldn’t pick up the Krackus loads. In fact, stacked containers rested directly on the deck.
The residents had spent a few months eating, exercising, and resting. They were no longer the gaunt individuals who wanted to outfit the Liberation. Five residents formed a chain to each palette. As soon as those four palettes were loaded, a second set replaced the first.
In quick order, four travelers were loaded. And there was a brief respite, while the ships exited the bays, and the next set of travelers landed.
The residents were tiring, but they wore fierce grins. Every container loaded on a pallet was a container taken back from the Krackus. For this cycle, they couldn’t have found better jobs.
Eight travelers exited the Krackus freighters and made for the shuttleport that Kelley had identified.
The shuttleport director and Harmonious watched the blue, green, and cream slender shuttles descend toward them.
“They’ve flamed out!” the director exclaimed. “They’re going to crash!”
He turned to run, and Harmonious impatiently grabbed his arm to halt his retreat. “Try to enjoy the show,” she remonstrated.
On this planet, evolution had favored larger females. It was common, as in the case of Harmonious and the director, Gratitude, that she was about twice his mass.
Gaylene landed the traveler with Juno and Kelley aboard. The ramp on the cargo model dropped, and Juno and Kelley stepped off the ship. Three media crews swarmed them, as two locals approached.
“I’m Harmonious, and this is Gratitude, the shuttleport director.”
Juno and Kelley were slightly taller than Gratitude, which meant Harmonious considerably outmassed them too.
“Welcome,” Harmonious said. “I’m amused that you’re the savage invaders we’ve heard about.”
“We hear that a lot,” Juno replied. “While we’d like to get acquainted, we’ll be stacking up travelers here if we don’t move them.”
“Travelers?” Gratitude queried.
“Our shuttles,” Juno replied, hooking a thumb toward their ship. “Where would you like these loads?”
Gratitude whistled shrilly, and thirty workers, all males, came running. He issued a series of orders, and then said, “Could you land your other travelers so that we might inspect what you carry?”
In a synchronized effort, the other seven travelers landed in a semicircle with their ramps facing the crowd on the landing pad.
Harmonious chuckled deeply. “Interesting tech,” she commented.
As hatches dropped, the workers raced forward.
SADEs had containers open for the workers, who made notes of what they saw.
Then the workers produced colored tags that they used to mark the containers.
“Green-tagged containers are unloaded here,” Gratitude explained. “Red tags are deposited at a second location, and blue can be taken to a third place.”
“What do the striped tags mean?” Juno inquired.
Harmonious laughed at the astounded expression on Gratitude’s face. “You’ve seen several unusual displays of tech. Why wouldn’t you expect more?”
“Um ... the stripes mean that they must be distributed to markets immediately,” Gratitude replied. “They’re perishable items.”
In the travelers, palettes were restacked, and the green containers were taken to a nearby warehouse. The SADEs quickly emptied the palettes, and they let the warehouse workers store the containers.
A SADE communicated the color coding and the containers’ contents to the conclave crew chief. That meant his teams would inspect the containers and sort them. The travelers would deliver only containers holding the same items. It would require more work at the freighters, but it would save time and effort planetside.
The squat male workers were efficient at moving the containers, and their efforts helped to quickly empty the travelers of the green containers.
When the SADEs started sorting containers among the travelers, the workers understood what was required.
Soon, two travelers were filled with red containers. Three held blue, and one carried the precious striped-tagged containers.
Immediately, two empty travelers shot for the sky, as they closed their ramps.
Harmonious, Gratitude, and thirty workers stared in awe at the display.
“That’s tech that we could use,” Harmonious remarked.
“One day,” Kelley assured her, which had her eyes widening.
“Such savage invaders,” Harmonious commented, before she burst into deep-throated laughter.
“We need to be directed to the other sites,” Juno said.
While Gratitude thought about how to communicate the warehouse locations, Harmonious harrumphed. “Send someone with each of the colors,” she directed.
By Gratitude’s expression, it was obvious that the local populace was a matriarchal society. He was nervous about the directive, but he was more hesitant to resist her command. Finally, he chose three individuals to accompany the ships.
Ramps were raised to be parallel to the decks. Then SADEs and conclave crew sat on the edges, prepared to enjoy the views. Room was made for the workers, who chose to sit behind those on the ramp edges.
The pilots lifted slowly, stayed close to the surface, and followed the workers’ directions as relayed by the SADEs.
The traveler carrying the striped-tagged containers made quite a stir for multiple reasons. The ship hovering near a marketplace mesmerized the locals. Then they watched strangers unload several containers, which market vendors discovered were full of the favorite local vegetables.
High above, an Imperium transport’s engines fired.
Ticnikrok’s telemetry officer alerted him to the action. Before the commodore could make a decision, the officer added,
Ticnikrok investigated the Liberation’s data files on the crew. He noted that Mila was a Naiad who had completed the outpost’s fighter training program. She’d graduated top of her small class, which gave him some comfort.
Mila, who was bored with waiting in the slow-moving line to load her traveler, was actively scanning and devising intercept scenarios with the Krackus ships. When she saw the transport’s engine flares, she immediately swung her traveler toward the Imperium ship. The SADE aboard Mila’s traveler, Salus, attempted to commandeer the transport’s systems but was unsuccessful.
A broad grin broke across Mila’s face. She shot forward of the transport, which was accelerating away from the freighters and the lines of travelers. Then she spun her ship to face the transport bow to bow. She was close enough that she could see the pilot’s wide orbs.
Still, the transport continued to accelerate.
In response, Mila edged her traveler closer. She could see a uniformed individual haranguing the pilot, whose fear was evident.
Ticnikrok chittered at Mila’s audacious piloting. He was reminded that this was how he first flew a traveler.
Ticnikrok was tempted to ask Mila the number of combs on the imperator’s crest. Instead he sent,
An idea occurred to Mila, and she chose to try one last tactic to convince the imperator to halt. She reversed her ship and flew ahead, ensuring the pilot and the imperator could see her through the bow viewplate. Then she reversed again and accelerated toward the transport.
The traveler’s near pass was calculated by Salus at slightly less than a meter, which he shared with the other SADEs.
Noting that the transport continued its attempt to escape, Mila swung around to keep pace with the transport. She regarded Salus, who sat in the copilot seat. Frustration showed in her young face.
Mila replied, smiling.
Salus was sharing his conversation with other SADEs. This was to ensure that Mila wouldn’t appear to be reckless for pursuing the second tactic.
Mila chose to approach the transport from the aft end. She wanted the pilot and imperator to see her fly past.
This is where miscommunication can occur between races.
Salus considered the nudge that Mila would deliver to the transport to be delivered by matching its pace and pushing it with a portion of her hull.
Whereas, Mila attempted a flyby. Despite the speed with which it happened, Salus was able to contemplate the end of his existence.
Aboard the transport, the imperator and the bridge crew felt the thump of the invaders’ shuttle, as it shot past. It frightened every individual.
The imperator was doubtful about continuing to escape. When the shuttle returned to its bow-to-bow position, and the nose waggled in the negative, his mind was made up. Immediately, he ordered a grateful pilot to return to the planet’s outer orbit.
When Mila saw the transport use its attitude jets, she backed away. As the transport reversed course, she grinned at Salus.
Mila was crestfallen that she hadn’t understood the tactic’s subtlety.
After the transport made orbit, the imperator activated the ship’s outward-facing systems, and Salus connected to the transport. The imperator was directed to order the exit of a shuttle for the traveler to board and collect him.
When the imperator objected, Salus sent,
11: Resolute
After some shuttle maneuvering, Mila had the imperator aboard. He was momentarily disturbed by the lack of standard safety installations, but an individual stood relaxed in the aisle. That gave him the courage to take a seat, and its comfort was an experience not to be missed.
Mila landed aboard Ticnikrok’s Trident.
Salus escorted the imperator to the commodore’s stateroom.
Immediately, Mila exited her ship. Her link to the controller guided her to the hull’s impact point. That sensors were still operable in that vicinity gave her hope that her traveler hadn’t sustained damage.
Ducking under the aft end by lying on her back, Mila located the contact area. She turned on a device the SADEs used to check for hull damage. It could image the coatings’ depth to detect cracks that couldn’t be seen.
When Mila couldn’t find any damage at the point that the impact had been greatest, she extended her search. After more than a two-meter-square area had been examined, she turned off her device, laid her head on the deck, and breathed a sigh of relief. Soon afterward, tears formed in her eyes, and she wiped them away. Then she crawled from under the ship.
The imperator was invited to sit across the table from the commodore, and he did. Although, he acted as if it was his due.
“After you were told to remain in system to carry the planetside Krackus and Radags away, why did you try to flee?” Ticnikrok inquired via Salus.
“Who are you to dictate to us?” the imperator retorted
“In its simplest form, you could say we’re the ones with the weapons,” Ticnikrok replied.
“Your pilot was given permission to fire on my transport, but she didn’t,” the imperator pointed out. “What good do superior weapons do you, if you don’t use them?”
“Return to my original question,” Ticnikrok said. “Why flee?”
The imperator looked decidedly uncomfortable, as if the truth would say too much about him.
“I’m waiting,” Ticnikrok pressed.
“I didn’t want Radags on my ship,” the imperator blurted. “I detest them. I took the chance to run for the dark, and my judgment has proven correct.”
When Ticnikrok frowned at the last remark, the imperator added, “I’m sitting here, aren’t I? Despite your pilot’s permission, she didn’t fire. As invaders, you’re doomed to fail to reach your goals. Krackus have expanded territory because we don’t shy from employing the force necessary to quell other races.”
Ticnikrok regarded the imperator long enough for the Krackus to become uncomfortable, wondering if he’d said too much.
“For the time being, you’ll remain aboard my ship,” Ticnikrok said. “We’ll communicate with your declinator. When your transport is ready to sail, you’ll be returned.”
“How soon will that be?” the imperator inquired.
“Two to three cycles, at most,” Ticnikrok replied. Then Salus led the imperator away.
Ticnikrok linked to Mila and requested her presence in his stateroom.
