Galactic Vigilante (Vigilante Series 3) (17 page)

Walking to his likely doom, Chai felt dry humor inside his middle gut. Twenty battleglobes gone in exchange for a single alien Dreadnought ship. Why, it would only take 140 battleglobes to cause this Human pest to be extinguished from the Anarchate universe. News that he was sure would not please anyone superior to himself.

Brrzeet, High Commander of Sector
14 Intelligence within star system CC93721, lifted off his Contemplation Couch and moved to his control pedestal in the middle of his Command Node. His assistants were nearby, but below him in one of the lower levels where hired minds did his bidding. Or died. Or breathed vacuum. He cared little for their lives. Only that they produce useful results. And now he must face the body and mind of Commander Chai, an arrogant Spelidon, like all of them, who had direct knowledge of this renegade biped named Dragoneaux. That  biped had now upset the Council of Sixteen which ruled the Anarchate from Central Nexus. Or at least, upset Mindstorm, the council member who oversaw his Intelligence work. He snorted through his wide mouth, crossed his forearms over his brown-scaled chest and fixed each eye on the entry slidedoor. The door through which this underweight Chai would enter. Brrzeet weighed six times the mass of the whiskered Spelidon, and his four massive legs supported a bulk rarely matched among Anarchate species. Fortunate he was that, among his Orko cousins, his mind was the sharpest.

“Commander Chai seeks entry, illustrious High Commander,” said the annunciator above the slidedoor.

“Enter,” he muttered.

The black-furred, black-
whiskered, long-tailed and two-legged Spelidon entered his node and clapped hands together in the Clap of Obedience. An action normal to his home world, but irrelevant to Sector 14 Intelligence. “Why should you continue to live?”

The Spelidon’s toothy mouth
opened briefly, made a hoarse sound, then he stiffened his stance, draped his disgusting tail over his left shoulder, and combed his black whiskers. “Because I know how to defeat this biped of the Human species. The attack on Alkalurops was predicted by my node, using intelligence we developed and that I analyzed. This is the first time any body of Combat Command has been able to predict a future attack by this Dragoneaux biped.”

“How?” he muttered, wishing he could mouth-taste the arrogant little biped. But that would violate his vegetarian regime, a mark of civilization among all Orkos.

The two black eyes, two not four like his, blinked quickly, then stayed open. “By laying a trap for him in this star system. He hates me. He will arrive here eventually, seeking to capture or kill me.”

“What kind of trap?” Perhaps the Spelidon’s tricky mind would prove useful after all.

“One baited with what this Human values most. Captives from genome slaver ships.” The Spelidon smoothed his front fur with nail-claws that would hardly leave a mark on Brrzeet’s hide. “I will call on the remaining slaver starships to come here within three Belizel months. This biped will learn of the meeting near Sector14 Intelligence. He will follow. But each slaver starship will be retrofitted with a 30 megaton hydrogen warhead. The experience of Captain Yorkel shows that is the only way to force a dropping of the Alcubierre space-time shields that protect these T’Chak Dreadnought starships. Then my fleet of battleglobes will destroy his ship.”

A novel concept. Making use of what Yorkel had already released to this biped, thereby granting Brrzeet the honor of being a future target of
the poorly stabilized Human mammal. “I can order High Captain Yorkel to do what you propose while bringing here a fleet of forty battleglobes, since twenty were not enough for Alkalurops. Why should I allow you to attempt what Yorkel has already achieved?”

Chai the Spelidon  rocked back on its bare heels, then clapped
his bare palms together in a second Clap of Obedience. “If that is your decision, then I will obey. However, my plan involves the capture, alive, of this Human biped, whereas Yorkel would just kill him. He hates to lose ships.”

“Why keep this renegade biped alive?” asked Brrzeet, as he weighed which of the two naval leaders would be most effective against this Human biped.

“To draw in the remainder of his fleet,” Chai said softly, his carbon-black whiskers flaring. “There are seven ships in his fleet, one of which is his ship. Most likely he will seek to enter this system covertly, since his own Dreadnought has proven able to destroy multiple battleglobes. But once we disable his ship and capture him, his co-insurrectionists will attempt to rescue him. That is when the slaver ships will ram these T’Chak warships. Keeping this Dragoneaux alive increases our chances of ending this minor rebellion before it builds any awareness among the various populations.”

Brrzeet liked the sneakiness of the Spelidon’s plan. But Yorkel the Brokeet had proven himself in recent combat. So. Time to motivate both two-legged aliens.

“Accepted, Commander Chai. Make your preparations. However, I will assign High Captain Yorkel to command a fleet of forty battleglobes. If he is able to intercept this Human biped at another star, there is no need to risk damage to this Intelligence asset of the Anarchate. Is there?”

“Agreed, High Commander Brrzeet,” muttered Chai in mediocre Belizel.

“Oh, my further order to you is that you share every mouth bite of intelligence on this Dragoneaux and his Human species with High Captain Yorkel,” Brrzeet said, letting his four eyes smile. “As I will so instruct Yorkel to share with you. It will be an interesting competition to see which of you achieves success first.”

“May I depart, High Commander?”

“You may.”

Brrzeet watched the sly Spelidon until the hairy
mammal exited his Command Node, then he returned to relax on his Contemplation Couch. It seemed the physical facilities of Sector 14 Intelligence might be at risk, given the rash sharing of its location with this Human biped. Perhaps he should see to the parking of a hyper-fast Courier ship next to his Command Node. It would not do for him to miss the next meeting of the Council of Sixteen at Central Nexus. No enemy ship had ever survived to approach within a light year of Central Nexus. Not in the two million cycle history of the Anarchate. He liked that level of efficiency. Perhaps he should arrange for a vacation in order to brief the council member who supervised his work.

CHAPTER TEN

Suzanne sat in the Park with George, Eliana and Matthew, with the AIs Mata Hari and Gatekeeper sitting between her and Matt in their human mode holo appearance. She was still amazed at how Mata Hari used mini-tractor devices to make dense the air within her shape, so that one could actually feel the touch of her hand as it patted your shoulder. Or handed you a plate of olives and cheddar cheese from the supplies given them by the Irish settlers of Morrigan planet. She hoped the Anarchate was still ignorant of Morrigan’s connection with Matt’s crusade. They were a people and a world that she had felt an immediate connection to when they landed in the central park of Lisdoonvarna, their capital city.

“Me too,” Eliana said in her mind, then spoke aloud. “Suzanne and I
are looking forward to again being among the
Tuatha De Danaan
settlers of Morrigan, Matthew.”

The wiry bulk of Matt leaned back from their circle to glance around the Park, as if inspecting the flight vectors of the buzz beetles or the exact depth of the nearby pond with its rushes and lily pads that held a few croaking frogs. He wore the black and white checkered Japanese rode he called a
yukata
, his bare legs crossed in front as they all sat cross-legged on the green grass of the small meadow that Gatekeeper had created from living sod, pebbles, trees and lifeforms. They had been donated by Airmed O’Davoren, governor of Morrigan, she recalled. Though her mind touched Matt’s via the tachlink nodes embedded in each of them, she left him to his distraction.

“I too recall the wonderful party they gave us before we left,” Matt said aloud even as his mind ruminated on battle strategies that each of them, including Mata Hari and Gatekeeper, could see as a result of the cyborg mods done to her, Eliana and George.

Suzanne could not resist the obvious. “So, how soon before we show up on the doorstep of Governor O’Davoren?”

Matt smiled briefly, his
gaze shifting to focus on them all. “A little while yet. Morrigan is about 7,500 light years from Earth, in the Kappa Crucis cluster. It takes time to get there,” he said, then reached over to hold the albino white hand of Eliana. “In the meantime, Mata Hari and Gatekeeper will take care of the 73 alien and human slaver captives. They will keep to the community hall when we are in the Park. But Mata Hari will allow visits to the Park by the captives when we go our separate ways.”

Suzanne felt Eliana’s emotional echo of pleasure and hope as she squeezed Matt’s fingers. Ignoring the minor physical reactions normal to each human, and even to the two AIs, she probed again. “What do we do now?”

Matt’s high forehead creased as he turned intense. “You know of my plans to hit Anarchate facilities at 18 Scorpii and 51 Pegasi. Each is just 50 or so light years from Earth, and maybe double that from our spot here, near Alkalurops.” He paused, sending them each a mental image of the Anarchate shipyard and galactic tachnet node that were his targets. “So we can get there pretty quickly in Alcubierre drive time. I want to show Commander Chai and High Captain Yorkel that we will hit places they cannot predict, before we attack the Sector 14 Intelligence base near the Crab Nebula.”

Suzanne nodded. “Will you use the full fleet?”

“No, the seven ships of Hexagon Prime will suffice to take out those installations.”

She had to say it. “Matt, perhaps if you had used a few hundred warships of our greater fleet the thermonuke torps that overloaded the screen of Ocean might have been taken out
by other ships. Leaving her alive.” Eliana’s mind shuddered as she thought of the loss of the AI they had known only from refueling stops along the Magellanic Stream. “While I understand your aim is to keep the Anarchate underestimating our battle strength, still, more ships means more defensive fire that can suppress enemy attacks.”

Matt’s brown eyes fixed on hers. “Don’t you think I’ve struggled with that realization? Again and again? If I had done as you say, per
haps Ocean would still be alive!”

Mata Hari sighed into their mindflow, adding her real time voice to their thoughts. “Matthew my Vigilante, life is choosing among probabilities. I did not think of the value of more ships. My focus was on local tactics. As was the awaren
ess of BattleMind. Do not blame yourself for not doing something an AI did not foresee.”

“Damn it!” Matt said so harshly it hurt her ears and her mind. “That is my
duty
as the organic part of this Vigilante partnership! I am supposed to be the human with sneaky plans that add to the Task effort. I am supposed to be—”

“Perfect?” said Eliana aloud and in Matt’s mindflow.

Silence filled the grassy meadow as Matt shut up, his mind a swirl of regrets, wishes and future hopes. Suzanne thought it was time to share her idea.

“Matthew, no one is perfect. And taking on a two million year old galactic empire brings with it big risks. Which is why I want to suggest the opposite of what we have been discussing. Why don’t you take just your ship and carry out these attacks at near lightspeed, with fast Translation exits and entries, then join us at Morrigan?”

Matt, Eliana and George all looked at her, their expressions puzzled. “Why use just one ship? The seven of us are safer for the points you just raised,” Matt said.

“Because if I, Eliana and George, with the help of the ten Cohort leader AIs, move
Ocean Fleet to a space just outside the heliopause of Dagda star, we can signal to Governor O’Davoren on Morrigan that we are seeking volunteers to join our anti-cloneslavery crusade. I suspect we will gain dozens, perhaps a few hundred, human volunteers from the
Tuatha De Danaan
people. We will start sooner what you already planned to do.”

Matt’s expression changed from one of surprise to one of intense concentration. “A good idea in that it will advance the
growth of the fleet and allow us to make multiple attacks at different spots at the same time. That will drive the Anarchate crazy. I like it.”

Her George thought warm support to her in mindflow, then spoke. “Suzanne, that’s a great idea. It will still take a month or more to train folks to this tachlink mindflow we are doing, plus the surgery needed to insert the fiber
optic cable socket in their necks. And we will need to practice small group maneuvers in the deep space beyond the heliopause. But since Morrigan gets so few Anarchate visitors, it sounds like an ideal place to recruit and train our Ocean Fleet.”

Suzanne felt happy that good George, a practical man with a feel for getting things done right the first time, had seen the advantages her IT training had suggested as she considered the value of having lots of T’Chak Dreadnoughts to participate in future attacks. And thereby gain a greater ability to suppress defensive and offensive fire from the battleglobes. For sure they would face larger fleets
than the twenty-group at Alkalurops. And this High Captain Yorkel impressed her as an innovative ship captain. Despite Matt’s threat to him, she suspected Yorkel would now pursue them as much as Commander Chai had been planning their defeat in the months while they were traveling to and from the Small Magellanic Cloud. Well, the four of them were humans. And humans do not give up. Ever.