AMP Colossus (20 page)

Half an hour later, the first two boxes were in place. During the installation of the third box, two Colossun sentinels approached our position. As Rodriguez had indicated, we acted like idiots and they passed us by. Over the next hour, the remaining jammer covers were put in place and our comms were restored.

The following morning, I sat with the Duke on the bridge. "I have a question for you, Duke. We are on your ship, and yet you allow us to keep our weapons. I was just wondering why."

The Duke replied, "Mr. Grange, you are my guests. What kind of host would I be if I took those from you?"

I raised my eyebrows. "A cautious one? I mean, what is to stop me from pulling this blaster and opening a hole in your chest right now?"

The Duke sighed. "It should be obvious, Mr. Grange. You are not a threat to me. You do not seek to assassinate me, as you know that would lead to your own death. It is a simple calculation on my part. You wanted to build trust. I am attempting to do so. If we are to be on friendly terms, I can hardly restrict or confine you."

I replied, "Well, if it’s OK with you, then it’s OK with me. Now for the question of the day… are we nearing the Verna?"

The Duke gave his standard response, after which we once again engaged in general conversation. By the time I left, I again had the feeling that the Duke was not all bad. He was a smooth talker and a charmer. However, I could still not shake the feeling that I was being worked.

When I returned to my quarters, Corporal Keith came over the comm. "Sir, we received a transmission from the
Granger
while you were with the Duke. The other ships from this convoy— after turning back, they caught up to and slaughtered the Grell. They caught them as they made their way into the gap in those old ships. The
Granger
arrived too late to follow us, so they tagged along behind the Grell for a while and were witness to the deed. The Duke had no intention of letting the Grell go, Sir."

The Corporal continued, "And we have another issue. The
Granger
sent that message nine hours ago. If we had been traveling away from Ponik for all those days, we would not have received a message nine hours later. We are still close to the
Granger
and Ponik, Sir. We can only guess that we have been going in circles."

I replied, "Corporal, we have been looking at our sensors, and they have us deep into Empire space. Is there any way to check to see if the Duke is somehow putting out a false location? If so, see if you can somehow filter it out."

The Corporal thought for a moment and replied, "I think I have an idea of just how to tell, Sir. I will check it out and let you know what I come up with."

I replied, "Thanks, Corporal. I will have to stew on figuring out our next move now. Give me another call should anything change."

I began to pace my room. We were trapped on a ship with several thousand enemy android warriors. We were flying through space to a destination unknown. We had our weapons, but I wondered why we had been allowed to keep them. The Duke seemed like a friendly guy, but the slaughter of the Grell made him anything but friendly. If I had ever been in need of Frig and his counter wisdom, this would be the time.

Corporal Keith knocked on the door. "Sir, I have news."

I opened it and gestured for him to come in. "What do we have?"

The Corporal replied, "I was having trouble locking onto the nav signal they have been broadcasting. They keep moving the base frequency on me, and without a lock I can't set up a reliable filter. So, I came up with an alternative."

The Corporal hesitated with a smile, so I had to ask, "Well, tell me what you have."

The Corporal lifted his arm pad so I could see the display. "I've been analyzing their comms and noticed a weakness in the encryption around one of their maintenance systems, Sir. It is an oxygenator, and it looks to have been added on, as it doesn't appear to function like most of the other gear. Who knows where they got it, but it left us a big, gaping security hole. From there, I went straight for their personnel system, and once in, I moved over to the nav system. I have two things that I found interesting, Sir. The first is that we remain close to Ponik, and the second is that we are actually absurdly close to the Grid, Sir."

I interrupted. "The Grid? How close are we talking?"

The Corporal replied, "We are too close, Sir. If we had our nav sensors, we would be able to see the Grid. Even though this ship is big, it is still beyond the capabilities of the Grid's sensors. Since the station we saw was the actual Grid, Sir, I would say they know where it is. I would bet our next visit will be to the Grid, Sir. They may only be waiting on the rest of those ships."

I spoke. "So, now we will be fighting for the Grid again; this is just great. When are we going to catch a break, Corporal?"

The Corporal replied, "Well, Sir, I think we have. From the nav system, I was able to worm my way into the security system. From there, I have access to anywhere on the ship. Want to see their weapons arrays, Sir?"

The Corporal held up his arm pad. The Duke's ship had twenty-six giant pulse cannons, two rail guns, and hundreds of standard pulse cannons for close-in support. In addition, the fighter bays held forty-two Colossun attack fighters that carried a tranche of sixteen gravity pulse missiles and two standard pulse cannons.

Our weapons on the Grid were superior, but without a fleet of ships to open up our ability to acquire resources, we were left with few options. The Grid could not move without refueling, and we would eventually run out of power from fusing what little hydrogen we had. The last count I had received was for fifteen months of hydrogen remaining. A single harvester could almost sustain our hydrogen use, but not if the Colossuns owned the space surrounding us.

The Corporal continued, "While in the nav system, I came across their star charts, Sir. If we could somehow get that to the Grid, it would be a big score for intel."

I spoke. "When you were in the weapons system—is there any way to fire their weapons? I mean, aim and fire? We have three other Colossun ships riding with us. What are the chances that a few broadsides could take them out?"

Corporal Keith thought and then replied, "I don't know, Sir; that might be a complex task to try to achieve from an arm pad. I might be able to take control of a single gun, but enough to take out three other ships? I would need all of those cannons and the rail guns for something like that."

I reached out and grabbed the Corporal by the arm. "We have forty soldiers on this boat, Corporal. Is it at least conceivable that we could control forty weapons if needed?"

The Corporal shook his head. "I don't know, Sir; again, that is a complex operation you are talking about. It would take some intense planning. We would have to know the weak points of those ships: where are they vulnerable to these types of weapons? And they would have to be moved into a position where we could fire at all of them at once. And then what, Sir? They still have this ship."

I replied with a smile, "Well then, we just have to take this ship from their control."

The Corporal sat back in his chair. "Sir, I'm usually a positive person, but this just seems entirely unrealistic. For all we know, they may already know that their systems have been violated. They could just be waiting to see what we try to do."

I spoke. "No, I don't think so, Corporal. I think the Duke is smart, but I don't think the rest of his people are paid to think. When you have a monarchy this powerful, typically only the people in power have the smarts. Everyone else is educated just enough for them to do their jobs. The other smart ones all get sent off to do research, or they get stuffed away somewhere else where they can do no harm. I have no doubt that this crew is loyal to the Duke, but I doubt they are able to think for themselves much beyond keeping themselves fed."

The Corporal replied, "Sir, we have security officers on all of our ships that constantly scan the systems for this type of an intrusion. Why wouldn't the Colossuns have the same?"

I spoke. "Because the Colossuns are not us. We are suspicious of our own people. I don't think the Colossuns have that issue. If Humans get caught in some type of tampering scheme, they are arrested, tried, and if found guilty, sentenced to prison. That in itself is a deterrent for most of us, but not all. With the Colossuns, there is no trial, just execution. That is a deterrent for all. Let's go down to York's room and see if we can plan any of this out. Even if it is a long shot and even if we get caught, we can't just sit and do nothing."

We rose, and the Corporal followed me out of the room. I was startled to find the Duke standing in the hallway.

The Duke spoke. "Come with me, Mr. Grange. I want to show you something."

Four Colossun sentinels followed behind us. I could only guess that the Duke had been listening in on our private conversation. We were caught. I kept my hand close to my blaster.

I spoke. "Does the Corporal need to come with us, Duke? He has other things he can attend to."

The Duke looked at me inquisitively. "Other things, Mr. Grange? I won't ask what things those might be, as that is possibly your private business. But I think the Corporal will find this interesting as well. Stay with us, Corporal. Have a view from our bridge. Not many have a chance to see it!"

As we walked, the Duke seemed as calm and collected as ever. I struggled with the fact that he might not be onto our new plan. He was often one step ahead of us. I began to wonder if we had somehow passed him by.

As we stepped onto the bridge, the Duke spoke. "Behold the nine Verna, Mr. Grange! The center of the Empire!"

On the giant view-screens before us were nine identical stations formed into a tight circle. A large, flat disk sat motionless in the center. Thousands of small ships could be seen ferrying between the stations. The Verna were remarkable, and nearly identical to the Grid. I looked for the flaw we had seen on the image the Duke had displayed to us before. It was no longer there.

The Duke again spoke. "From that expression on your face, I believe you may be quite impressed with our little wonders. This is our origin, Mr. Grange. I would guess that if your Verna... your Grid is similar, we both came to be in this part of the galaxy in the same way. It's quite remarkable if you think about it, really. Two separate species placed on similar paths. Where did we come from, Mr. Grange? Who sent us here?"

I stood for nearly a minute with my mouth open, gazing at the wonders before me. Was it real? Were there actually other stations like ours out there? Was the origin of the Colossuns in this part of the galaxy the same as ours? My mind raced.

As I gawked at the screen, the Duke took note of Corporal Keith typing away on his arm pad. "Corporal? What is it that you find so fascinating?"

The Corporal looked up quickly. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr.... Duke. I was just checking my gravity setting. That big image with the motion had me a little queasy. I had to make an adjustment. Feeling better now. Your Verna are a sight, Sir."

The Duke looked back at the screen. "Hmm. Yes, they are. Mr. Grange, do you have any thoughts? The Verna seem to have your full attention."

My eyes remained fixed on the screen as I spoke. "Yes, Duke. I have, or will have, a lot of thoughts... er... questions. When you said you had nine stations just like ours, I thought you were, well, I thought you were jerking me around."

The Duke replied, "Jerking you around?"

I took a big breath. "Sorry, it's just an expression. It means you weren't being honest with me."

The Duke shook his head. "Mr. Grange, I brought you aboard my ship as a guest. I have treated you and your associates with respect. What is it that I have to do to earn your trust? I have taken you to our home world. I have taken you to see our most prized possession. And yet you are holding back on the one thing that will take both our people to the next level. Perhaps if I told you something about the Verna, we could compare our stations with yours. Would you be agreeable to that?"

My focus was suddenly averted from the screen. The Duke was now probing for information. I knew the first image we had seen of a Verna was of our own Grid; I knew we had not actually been to Colos. I needed to know if the Verna were real. If he could tell me something, anything, of value about his stations that was the same as our own, I would have no excuse for not trusting that the stations floating before me on the view-screen were real, even if we were not actually positioned nearby them.

I replied, "OK, Duke, tell me something about your Verna."

The Duke looked at the screen and spoke. "Our fuel is hydrogen. We have incredibly large storage tanks that are used to power everything aboard."

I nodded. "We have the same."

Much to the Duke's disdain, my answer was short.

The Duke continued, "Our structure—we have not been able to reproduce the material that makes up much of the ship."

I again nodded my head. "We have the same. It is extremely tough stuff, and we have not been able to duplicate it either. We have had to make repairs, and they are not nearly as strong as the original armor we replaced."

The Duke spoke. "Ah, so you have been attacked! The cannons on your station, are they as powerful as those on the Verna? Ion weapons like your blaster but on a much larger scale?"

I hesitated before I replied, "Yes, we haven't been able to reproduce their power; they are highly energized and extremely deadly close in to every ship we have encountered."

The Duke countered, "Ours are deadly out to five thousand of your kilometers. Beyond that, the ionization begins to bleed off rapidly and they lose effectiveness."

I replied, "Well, you were dropped in on those Verna four thousand years before us. Maybe the cannons we were given were upgrades. The ion charge doesn't start to break down until you hit ten thousand kilometers. If you were able to get in close to that five-thousand-kilometer mark, I bet your pulse cannons could do severe damage, but not at ten."

As I closed my mouth, I gave a look as though I had just given away a piece of vital tactical information that was important to the Grid's security. I glanced up to see a frowning Corporal Keith standing next to me. The Duke was a smooth operator, and I would have to be careful to not get lured into conversations where I would divulge such critical information.

I spoke. "Nine Verna—you must have quite a few citizens just on those stations alone. How many citizens in your Empire, and how many of those are Veshan?"

The Duke could switch conversations without so much as a change in expression. His cool and pleasant demeanor always seemed geared towards putting you at ease.

The Duke spoke. "We number eighty-two billion citizens, of which the Vesha make up roughly three billion. That number was initially closer to seven billion, but over time, as the Empire grew and we became more affluent, our numbers steadily declined to the balanced level they now maintain. How about Humans? Are there any more Grid stations?"

I turned back to look at the view-screen. "We started with five, but the others were destroyed early on in our history here. We have managed to keep our population around six hundred million or so for the past two centuries. It's hard to grow and thrive when you are constantly at war and on the run. Speaking of being on the run, I have a question to ask."

The Duke offered a pleasant smile. "Please, Mr. Grange, you can ask anything you like of me. I will do my best to give you the answer you desire."

I spoke. "I don't suppose you could loan us any hydrogen harvesters, could you? We would like to top off our tanks, not that there is any immediate need or anything, but we always like to be as well prepared as possible."

The Duke replied, "I will see what I can arrange, Mr. Grange. If you would like, I could offer that to you in the form of storage tanks until the needed harvesters could be gathered and transported to your location. Perhaps a hundred million metric tons to start?"

I nodded my head. "That would definitely be a gesture of goodwill, Duke. They would have to be dropped at a location from which we could tow them back to the Grid. I'm not authorized to give out our location."

The Duke replied, "That is not an issue, Mr. Grange. I will see to it that a delivery is made. How would in orbit around Ponik work for you?"

I again nodded. "That would work. If you take us back to Ponik, I can arrange for its transport."

The Duke tapped the transponder in his neck. "Set a course to Ponik. I would like us there within a week, if possible."

The Duke turned back before leaving. "I will see to it that the hydrogen tanks you request are delivered to Ponik. Please see yourself off of the bridge when you are done."

The images of the Verna on the view-screen swirled to the left and out of view as the Duke’s ship turned on a new heading. Corporal Keith placed his hand on my shoulder and gestured towards the door.

As we walked, the Corporal spoke. "I checked my arm pad, Sir; we are not actually moving, and those Verna were not real."

I replied, "I know we were not looking at live images of the Verna, if that is what you mean. As to whether they are real or not, that is a different question. The Duke knew about the special materials those things are made out of. He has to have seen them before. I think they have at least one of them, if not all nine. He was just using those images to work information out of me. And before you say it... I know... I need to watch what I say. The Duke is good at what he does, that is for sure. I just wish I knew what his bigger strategy was."