Chroniech! (19 page)

Instead of a simple spacecraft outfitted for a short journey, they would need a large, very powerful warship supplied and equipped for a year long journey. Stricklen put in a call to Sorbith and told him about what he had just discovered. Sorbith said he would look into it and disconnected.

Shortly after making their last course change, a torrent of messages had begun arriving. Despite the security that had been put in place surrounding the Kyrra the news of their discovery had become known throughout the political community. When word of their impending arrival on Masfuta had been received hundreds of officials from half as many planets had demanded to take part in welcoming the Kyrra.

As soon as the officials who had been waiting for the arrival of the Kyrra discovered the Dragon had made yet another change in destination they started filing complaints. Stricklen told the communications watch to forward all such messages to Sorbith; after all, he was the one who had ordered the course change. Eventually a message arrived from Masfuta. It was personal and directed to the captain from the base commander and it read:

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WE ARE CATCHING HELL FOR YOUR DECISION TO MAKE THE COURSE CHANGE TO SHAULAR. EVERY DIGNITARY WITHIN A FIFTEEN LIGHT YEAR RADIUS WHO COULD COMMANDEER A SHIP IS HERE. I UNDERSTAND THE DECISION WAS NOT YOURS BUT IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THE KYRRA, I WILL HOLD YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE. AS SOON AS YOU CAN, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!
CAPTAIN WILLIAM ROSEWOOD (BASE COMMANDER)
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Stricklen chuckled when he read the message. He and Captain Rosewood had served on the same ship years ago as junior officers and they had remained good friends ever since. He had no idea that his old friend had become Masfuta's base commander. Ken had assumed William was still in command of a ship somewhere.

Three other important messages arrived while the Dragon was en route to Shaular. The first was from the Mobius saying they had recovered most of the escape pods. The Chroniech had caught up with and destroyed the Alliance ships. They hadn't bothered to search very long for the escape pods and all but two had been recovered.

The second message was from sector command. This message indicated that an increase in Chroniech activity near the outer border of the Alliance had been detected. Two military bases and an agricultural research center had been attacked along with several ships. Sector command had issued a general alert and was requesting that fleet command send reinforcements.

The last message was from the Alliance grand council. They had agreed to provide the Kyrra with a ship and all supplies necessary for the trip. Ken doubted they knew where the Kyrra intended on going. He made a mental note to discuss this with them as soon as he could.

* * * * *

The ships dropped out of stardrive about a light-year from their destination. The course they had taken had brought them between the two planes of the radiation field emitted from the pulsar. Since the beam was highly directional, the Dragon and her escort were quite safe.

"Logistics, give me a scan of the system. Concentrate on the second planet and put the results on the main screen," Stricklen ordered.

The main navigational display changed to a computer simulation of the Hess star system. A single, tiny star was shown surrounded by three planets. There was a noticeably large distance between the pulsar and the first planet. When the star had gone supernova it had not only transformed the original star into a pulsar but had also apparently destroyed any planets which had existed in close orbits.

Stricklen knew the pulsar did not shine like a normal star. The pulsar which now ruled the star system was a tiny sphere no larger than a small planet. Instead of shining, this star now radiated its energy in the form of two incredibly intense beams of radiation as it spun on its axis at a rate of over three times a second.

Various planetary data was displayed on the screen, remained for a moment, and then faded away as the focus was shifted to Shaular. Stricklen emitted a low whistle as the planet's data appeared. "What do you make of that electromagnetic signature?" Stricklen asked Sorbith who was on the bridge.

"Far to complex to be natural," Sorbith replied. "The field was not there when the Omel first discovered the Hess but appeared immediately thereafter. The field structure and power output are unique in all of explored space. All attempts at trying to determine the source have failed. No analysis of the field dynamics has yielded any sort of intelligence or pattern. The origin and purpose of the field remains a mystery."

"Kim, do we have a safe approach vector?" Stricklen asked his top helmsman.

The helmsman turned from her own computer display and said, "Yes sir. The planet is outside the pulsar's beam and I have computed an approach which will keep us clear of it."

"Captain, incoming audio message from the Hess," the communications station reported.

"Let's hear it," Stricklen ordered.

"You have been identified as the Alliance heavy-cruiser Komodo Dragon", a monotonous voice said. "Permission has already been granted for a planetary approach and landing. A beacon has been activated on the surface for you to home in on. Once on the surface, a force field will protect your shuttle. The Komodo Dragon is to remain in orbit. The dreadnought General Patton and the scoutship Tri-Star must remain at the previously agreed upon distance of one million standard kilometers. Proceed on course."

"This is Captain Ken Stricklen of the Komodo Dragon," Stricklen said. "Before proceeding, we would like to know why the Hess have broken their long standing policy of isolation? Never before have the Hess allowed an Alliance ship to approach their homeworld. This change of policy has given us concern for the safety of the Kyrra. If you could send a representative to us we would feel more comfortable about proceeding with a planetary landing. I also must inform you that we will be making planet-fall with the Tri-Star instead of a shuttle since the shuttle does not have a defense shield."

Stricklen paused for a moment then asked, "Dragon — What is the communications delay at this distance?"

The computer's response was instantaneous. "One way travel time for the message is 1 minute 4.316 seconds."

"Then we have about three minutes before they reply," Ken said to nobody in particular.

Time seemed to slow down and Stricklen was beginning to get nervous when the reply finally came through. "It is impossible for the Hess to leave the surface of this planet. The Hess is very ancient. It is believed the Hess may have had contact with the Kyrra at some time in the past. This can only be determined by close examination of the Kyrra. The Hess is peaceful and has never engaged in harmful activities in the past. Permission for planetary landing of the Alliance scout ship Tri-Star is granted. The Komodo Dragon will still be allowed to assume a parking orbit. The Hess again requests you proceed on course."

"They sound pretty anxious," Doug remarked.

"Agreed," Stricklen replied then added, "I wonder why they refer to themselves as if they were a single entity.” He was about to say more until he noticed that Scarborro was giving Sorbith a questioning look.

Ken turned his head and found Sorbith looking directly at him with a bewildered look on his face. Even though his body was cybernetic, he still had a face that could show emotions. "Something wrong?" Ken asked.

"That message came back far too fast. Just a moment and I'll have my ship run a check."

The peacekeeper stood silent for about ten seconds. Stricklen knew he was using the biolink to speak to his ship. The biolink, as Stricklen understood it, was an implanted bioelectrical interface between the peacekeeper's brain and his ship allowing the two to communicate by thought alone.

"I thought so!" he finally said. "Our message required 64.316 seconds to travel from us to the Hess. Their reply, which was on a higher speed carrier, required 58.0704 seconds to make the return trip. Total travel time was therefore 122.3864 seconds. We received their reply 122.4784 seconds after we sent our message. This is a difference of only 92 milliseconds."

It took Stricklen a moment to realize what the problem was. The message they had sent and the one they had just listened to (even though both had been compressed for transmission) were each about 30 seconds long. This meant the Hess would have required the same amount of time to listen to Stricklen's message and record their reply. "Are they a lot closer to us than we think?" Stricklen asked.

"No. Our instruments show the source to be the Hess homeworld which is currently 0.987 light-years distant. There is only one explanation — the Hess are either silicon based or operate like some sort of large living computer. They process information far faster than we can. In fact, the only way the Hess could have replied so quickly is if they have the ability to directly understand a compressed message and to reply using the same technique. Either the Hess are a very extraordinary race, or we are dealing with a very intelligent computer and not the Hess."

Stricklen listened to this explanation and then pushed the transmit button to send his reply. "An analysis of your response has brought up a question concerning your race. We wish to have this one question answered before we proceed. Are the Hess a silicon based life form or am I speaking to a machine?"

Stricklen calmly waited for the message to make the round trip. "The Hess is much like your AI computers. The Hess, however, is sentient. Please continue your approach."

Stricklen looked at Sorbith and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not too sure if that answered the question but it adds more evidence to the fact that the Hess are silicon based. I've read science fiction stories about such creatures, but I never thought one could actually exist. Do we believe their explanation and proceed or turn around?"

"We proceed. We have already learned one piece of information about the Hess that nobody else has discovered, probably because the Hess have never talked to anyone. There's no telling how much more we will learn after we land."

"Helm, proceed on course for Shaular," Stricklen ordered. Then, to Sorbith, "Speaking of the landing, have you decided who else will be going? The Hess specified only two Alliance representatives."

"Yes, in addition to myself, I think Falnath would make a good choice. She has a scientific mind second to none and having her there as an observer would increase our chances of getting the most out of this trip."

"I agree. You and Falnath. I'll let her know. How about the Kyrra? Do you think it's wise for them all to go?"

"Wise — No. But the Kyrra have insisted that they all be allowed to go. They seem excited about the possibility of meeting a race that might be able to provide a clue as to where their people are now. We also don't have any reason to believe the Hess have any bad intentions toward the Kyrra."

"Then I guess they are all going," Stricklen replied then turned his attention to the main navigational display as the Dragon slowly made its way toward the Hess homeworld. In a few hours, the Alliance would get their first ever look at a Hess.

11 - The Hess

"Dragon, this is Tri-Star: All passengers are aboard. We are breaking orbit and beginning our decent," Sorbith reported. He then turned his attention to the console and manually took control of his ship. Falnath was observing from the doorway while the Kyrra were patiently waiting in the ship's only stateroom.

Seeker class scoutships were not designed to carry passengers. They had been designed solely to provide support and living quarters for the peacekeeper to whom they were assigned. The Seeker class of ships were unique in many ways. The ship's computer was the most advanced system in existence and was considered a semi-sentient entity. The ship was also equipped with a stealth capability that could render it virtually invisible under certain conditions. This stealth capability along with the weaponry and the advanced AI made the Seeker class the most expensive single-person ship ever built.

The control room was built for one person and was very compact. Since Sorbith was occupying the only available space, Falnath was forced to observe from the doorway. One of the many monitors displayed an exterior view. Falnath watched the image of the Komodo Dragon shrink in size as they began their departure. The scene spun until the planet below was visible.

"What is the surface of the planet like?" she asked.

"No atmosphere. Surface temperature about minus 320. Electromagnetic field readings are all over the place. The orbit brings it to just within the outer edges of the pulsar's radiation beam once every 447 days. All-in-all I would not recommend this place a vacation spot."

"Incoming message from the Komodo Dragon," the ship's computer said. Although it was speaking in Sorbith's native tongue Falnath's vocoder was translating it for her.

"On speaker," Sorbith ordered.

"Sorbith — The Patton has just informed me they have picked up the drive wakes of several ships coming this way," Ken's voice said. "Estimated arrival is about four hours. IFF returns the ID codes of seven LA class destroyers and six vessels of unknown origin. Drive wakes are of Human configuration. No answer to our hail at this time."

"Interesting," Sorbith replied. "Those are very old ships. What are they doing here and who's operating them?"

"Our records indicate that the ships were sold to a mining firm and were supposed to have been converted for use as ore haulers. None of the weapon systems were installed when the ships were sold."

"Very well," Sorbith replied. "Have the General Patton and the Mituri Sama intercept. They are authorized to take whatever action is required to prevent those ships from assuming orbit."

"Message received and understood. Dragon out."

The Mituri Sama was the Alliance ship currently assigned to patrol the Hess system to keep unwanted visitors from approaching. It was a large heavy cruiser of Human design.

The surface of the planet was now close enough for some of the details to be seen without the use of telescopic instruments. The planet appeared completely dead and lifeless. The ancient supernova had stripped this world of any atmosphere it may have once had and laid to waste the entire surface. Why anyone would want to remain here was beyond Sorbith's understanding.