The Orphan Alliance (The Black Ships Book 3) (11 page)

The
Midway
, Weirfall
Orbit

“…
we
therefore commit their bodies to the deep.” As Captain Hunter finished the
service, the automated gurneys began to move forward across the hangar deck
toward the massive, open door at the starboard bow.

All through the fleet, the last batches of plague victims,
the ones who didn’t survive the inoculation, were being buried in one
fleetwide
service. The ceremony was very similar to the
time-honored naval tradition of ‘Burial at Sea’.

Now as the captain of each ship completed the service, the
automated gurneys were carrying the bodies out into space. Once through the
shields, each row of gurneys would come to a halt, allowing the shrouded bodies
to slide out from underneath the ensigns on a trajectory that would take them
into the local sun.

As each gurney returned through the hatch, the ensign was
removed from its fastenings and folded. If the fleet ever re-established
regular contact with Earth, the ensigns would be sent to the families of the
deceased, assuming that any sort of administration would still be operating.

Towers stood next to Hunter as the last of the
Midway’s
dead floated toward the launch door. These men and women had died as a direct
result of his decision. He could have turned the
Pandora
back as soon as
he learned of their intentions, but he had decided to vaccinate the fleet.

A gurney with a tiny form under it drifted past.

It was unfortunate, perhaps, that the
Pandora
had
arrived after the relaxing of the fraternization rules. It was bad enough to
watch your crewmates die, but now the fleet was now filled with couples.
Families had been torn apart over the previous weeks and now there were more
than a few orphans living on the ships.

When they had left Earth, only a few short years ago, he had
never dreamed that a temporary orphanage would be set up on his flagship. He
would certainly never have expected the need to appoint a nursing officer. With
at least thirty young mothers dead from failed inoculations, there had been an
urgent need to locate every remaining woman who was still feeding a child.

He still wasn’t ready to forgive himself for that. He should
have realized the risk of starvation posed by the vaccination program. That no
children had died as a result of that oversight was small consolation. He
should have made allowances in advance.

Two million six hundred and thirty thousand,
Towers
thought. That was the current Human population within Republic territory –
former Republic territory. The losses had been just over fifty thousand, not
counting the crew of the
Guadalcanal
.

But the equations had changed.

Until now, he had been facing a steady decline in numbers.
There was simply no way for new births to keep pace with the mortality rate in
the fleet. By the time he was in his sixties, there would be no fleet, only
small pockets of Humans trying to avoid being noticed by the Dactari.  

Now, accounting for accidental deaths, the population was
expected to grow by just over twenty one percent in the coming year. There were
at least a dozen conflicting projections put forward by Strauss and his staff.
The current female population was roughly thirty percent, and it was expected
that they would fall off the calculations over the next two decades.

Even though life expectancies now ran into the thousands of
years in some cases, menopause would still come in the forties or fifties.
Despite the longer lifespans, oocyte degeneration still occurred at the normal
rate.

The eight hundred thousand women currently in the fleet were
being rotated out of combat duty and would remain there until medical staff had
confirmed the end of menopausal symptoms.

That had not been a popular announcement. Many of the crew
had expressed outrage at denying combat roles to women. The public affairs
officers had been kept busy, reminding the fleet that they now represented an
endangered species. With so few women, Humanity simply couldn’t afford to lose them.

It had helped to know that they would return to their combat
roles over the coming decades, and the promise that daughters would eventually
fight alongside their mothers had finally brought about a truce. Twenty years
out of several thousand didn’t seem like so much, when you thought about it.

Towers had thought growth would slow as the current female
population passed out of childbearing years. When he had seen the various
projections, he realized that he had neglected to account for the fact that each
new generation would be half female. The population would actually come to
balance itself as the centuries wore on.

It was a tricky situation to navigate. He could relax the
rules, authorize videos that encouraged the formation of families, offer better
accommodations to couples and even better accommodations to families, but he
drew the line at anything beyond that.

One medical officer on the population planning group had
suggested a compulsory system and Towers had given serious thought to removing him
from the team. One of the women in the group had looked like she would
physically remove the man from the room.

At the end of the day, Towers had explained to the shocked
room, it was necessary to air any possible idea, if for no other reason than to
soundly reject it.

The current program was working relatively well and Towers
found himself looking forward to the day when they would have civilians. For
the next several centuries, new children would be trained with an eye toward
military service, but the day would come when a substantial population of
civilians would outnumber the military.

There might even be elections.

Towers had been nominated by a President and confirmed by a
Senate vote. Neither institution existed anymore. He found himself in the uncomfortable
position of being the leader of a new species of Human, and the pressure was
relentless.

The sound of the guns brought him back to the present. The
first salvo of the salute had fired, using the first successful batch of
ammunition from Weirfall. A bugler began to play Taps, the simple tune
contrasting the harshness of the gunnery. The bugler fell silent at the last
salvo and Towers stepped forward.

“Over the last decade, our species has faced a whirlwind of
change,” he began, pausing for a moment to allow the translators in other ships
to keep up. “We have faced two invasions by the enemy, and we have thrown them
back into space, both times.

“A deadly plague was unleashed on Earth,” he continued, “and
our support was cut off, but the good people of Weirfall kept the faith with
us. They have endured hardship for that decision and we will never forget that.

“The plague came to us in the form of a vaccine. Every one
of us can name friends and family who died as a result of that vaccine. Today
we remember those who did not come through the storm. In the centuries to come,
we will tell their stories and they will endure in living memory.” He paused
again, looking at the assembled crew and Marines of the
Midway.

“We also remember what we once were. Today we witness the
passing of one species and the birth of a new one. Humanity is forever changed
and there can be no going back to the old ways. As the first generation of this
new species, it falls to us to ensure its survival, and we are taking the first
steps, even now.” It was the closest he would come to revealing the secret
operation that he had authorized against the forces at Tauhento.

“From this moment on, we move from a defensive posture to an
aggressive stance.” He heard a few cheers from the huge crowd, and they began
to coalesce into a low roar. “From this moment, we will take every opportunity
to show our enemy our resolve.” The volume of the crowd continued to grow.
“From this moment, we work to ensure the future of our people.”

The entire hangar reverberated to the sound of thousands of
cheering voices. For years, the fleet had sat idle. A shrinking force that saw
no way to make gains and hold them. The Dactari, weakened as they were by two
failed attempts against Earth, still possessed enough force in their own
territory to wage a war of constant harassment against the Alliance.

Any attempt to take additional worlds away from the Republic
would have ended in disaster. If the Alliance split their forces to hold
Tauhento and Oaxes, the Dactari would have gathered a huge assault group and
destroyed their enemy piecemeal.

Now, with the tantalizing possibility of knowing enemy
movements almost within their grasp, there existed the opportunity to turn a
liability into a deadly ambush. Taking Tauhento and Oaxes would not only set up
a thriving, interplanetary economy; it would be a goad to Dactari pride.

It would be all but impossible for them to resist attacking
the impudent invaders if they started placing small garrison forces at isolated
worlds. They would strike quickly, and they would strike as hard as they could.

And Towers would know where that strike was heading.

The
Dark Defiance

“Y
’
know, this is the first planet we’ve found that wasn’t ahead of Earth in its
technology,” Tommy said in a tone of mild shock. “Bit of a surprise, really,
since every other world has been ahead of us by a few decades at the least.” He
shuddered. Would these people still be alive by end of day? They were doing
their best to kill each other right now but, Tommy might just cause the death
of every single one of them in the hours to come, depending on the mood of
their guardian.

He was starting to wish they’d never found the
Dark
Defiance
. He could be on Khola right now, living in complete ignorance of the
sword that hung over that world and others like it.

And he’d still be near Ailekna…

“Hate to disappoint you,” Kale grumbled, “but these boys
ain't so far behind us if you consider what conditions the average Human is
living under right now.”

The projection in front of them showed a battle in progress.
The most advanced weapon on the field appeared to be the recurve bows wielded
by archers in blue livery. On their side, the archers were behind the infantry,
firing over their heads. On the other side, archers in red were standing on
fifteen-foot-high wheeled platforms. A train of draft animals were harnessed to
long push-poles that trailed out behind each platform.

The fight was taking place in a narrow canyon, roughly six
hundred feet wide.  Two lines of warriors faced each other, wearing armor
made from hundreds of small overlapping metal scales. They carried heavy oval
shields, fought with short swords, and both lines were five men deep.

At the sound of a whistle, the warriors in blue began to
give way to the men behind them and slowly make their way to the rear of the
heaving line.

“That’s a well trained force,” Kale nodded approvingly. “A
relief maneuver like that in combat can easily turn into a rout, if you screw
it up.”

“Some on the other side started to move at the whistle as
well,” Gelna commented. “They must use the same signals.” He glanced over at
his companions. “Perhaps we’re looking at a civil war.”

“Looks like the straight bow is going to beat the recurve
today.” Kale waved at the platforms in front of them. “Those platforms are a
hell of a smart idea. Lets ‘em shoot down into the enemy formation. Waste of a
compound bow’s power, firing indirectly from behind your own troops like that.”

As they watched, the teamsters drove the mobile
fortifications up to the rear of the fifth rank and the bowmen began to fire at
their counterparts behind the enemy line. In a matter of minutes, they had won
the firefight against the superior weapon of their opponents and they shifted
their fire to the warriors.

They didn’t aim for the soldiers currently in combat but,
rather, for the men of the fifth rank, the ones who had nothing behind them to
block a retreat. They poured a withering fire, cutting down the enemy without
mercy.

Until…

“They’re breaking,” Kale almost whispered. “Poor bastards.”

The troops in blue began to notice that the men at their
backs were melting away from the line. What had begun with a single man backing
away from the hail of arrows soon grew into a steady trickle. In the space of
two minutes, half a hundred men had begun to edge backward, and then the line
suddenly broke in the center.

As the soldiers in red began to pour through the opening,
the remainder of the blue troops abandoned their positions and ran. There was
little to be gained by standing their ground if the enemy was pouring around
their flanks to assault them from the rear.   

“The best weapon doesn’t necessarily mean victory,” Kale
said quietly. “Those boys in red had inferior bows but they found a way to use
them more effectively and it gave them the battle. Kind of like the Soviets in
World War II.”

“That was on Earth?” Gelna was glad of a reason to look away
from the slaughter.

“Yeah, the Germans had more advanced equipment, but they had
a hell of a time maintaining it in the mud and snow. The Russians had massive
manpower at their disposal so they used their industrial capacity to crank out
a steady flow of tanks and guns. Uncomplicated stuff, too. Easy to train on and
easy to maintain.

“A high-tech invasion force, far from supply depots,
fighting against a huge population armed with less sophisticated but effective
weapons…” Kale grinned at Gelna. “Sound familiar, Doc?”

“We never expected you to fight us at Mars,” Gelna shrugged.
“If we had only a few more weeks, we would have been ready. If we had fought in
Earth orbit, things may have been very different.”

“I’m afraid you don’t get a do-over in war, Doc.” Kale
chuckled. “I suppose you did try anyway, only to get your tails twisted a
second time. Now where did that happen?” He pretended to give it serious
thought. “Oh, that’s right… they fought in Earth orbit the second time.” They
had learned of the second invasion attempt from Frank Bender.

They had still been at Khola while the second battle against
the Dactari Republic was being waged in Earth orbit. The
Völund
had
returned home without them.

Gelna turned back to watch the aftermath of the battle, his
tail twitching furiously.

“Right,” Tommy spoke into the silence before Kale could goad
the Dactari any further. “Let’s go find the local ship”

The
Firm Resolve,
Keeva supplied the name. The view
of the battle disappeared and they began moving out toward the fringe of the
planetary system where the gas giants lurked.

In less time than it would take to describe the purpose of
the thirteen-month voyage of NASA’s
Nike
probe to Jupiter, they had
reached the hiding place of the
Dark Defiance’s
sister ship.

I’m signalling the ship.

“Let’s hope the
Firm Resolve
has a patient symbiote.”
Gelna stared down at the gas giant beneath them. “The world we just saw was a
bit of a mess.”

“Let’s hope there
isn’t
a patient symbiote,” Tommy
insisted. “Camulos is leaving us to our own devices because he doesn’t want to
go to the bother of starting over. That’s what we want here, a lazy guardian.”

“Well, lazy or not, here he comes.” Kale nodded out at a
dark speck that was rapidly growing larger.

It was always strange to be reminded how large their own
ship was. This vessel was a sister ship to the
Dark Defiance
and it was
massive. The five hull sections, each ten kilometers wide by forty long, were
arranged around a central spine with ten-kilometer-wide open spaces between
them. Each section held a city of high-rises and industrial zones on the inner
surface.

The energy shielding required to hold the atmosphere on
those sections indicated an impressive, and still unknown, power source. The
automated maintenance systems were nothing short of miraculous. Of all the
ships they had met so far, not one had carried any crew. The ancients who had
built the fleet had all died off long ago.

Dark Defiance,
a male voice spoke in greeting.
Why
have you come?

I have come to preserve life,
she answered.
But I
see we are already too late.

“Too late?” Tommy felt a shiver down his spine.

Who are these?
the ship demanded.

They are from another world,
Keeva replied.
They
managed to convince me of the value in chaos.

Foolishness,
came the indignant reply.
This world
is a dead end. Any species that would waste their valuable resources on war
would have only become more destructive as time wore on.

Keeva,
Tommy cut in.
Why is he already speaking in
the past tense?

Because he has just triggered a series of massive
volcanic events beneath the planet’s surface. The resulting ash cloud will
prevent photosynthesis for decades. The inhabitants will starve to death within
days.

Tommy looked at his companions, filled with the sudden
horror that comes with knowing you’ve helped to bring about millions of deaths.
Had they not awakened the ship, this planet might have had thousands of years
without interference.

He knew his face probably mirrored the expressions he saw on
Kale and Gelna’s faces.
There must be panic down there,
he thought.
Parents
trying to comfort their terrified children even though they’d be frightened
themselves.

He thought back to Ailekna, the young woman on Khola who may
have given up waiting for him at this point. He was drawn to her but, after
seeing several planets in the throes of disaster, he was terrified of having
children. He looked down at the doomed world in front of him, imagining the
horror of holding his own starving child, almost hearing the weakening cries.

How many lives will be wiped out because of one person’s
snap decision.
His gaze narrowed suddenly, head tilting a fraction.
Can the
Firm Resolve
hear my thoughts?

He has not mapped your neural pathways. He only hears
your thoughts if I choose to include them and I thought it wise to keep him out
of your head. He only hears you if you speak out loud.

A wise choice,
Tommy thought with relief.
How many
humanoids live on this world?

There were roughly fifty million inhabitants on eight
continents,
Keeva replied, her answer an epitaph.

How many crew was this vessel designed to carry?

There was a long pause. Even with a bank of quantum
computers to augment her humanoid brain, Keeva could still be surprised.
As
you know, the minimum crew is zero, but I could easily house and employ up to
thirty million crew and family. We could save most of them.

We could save all of them.
Tommy let his gaze drift,
meaningfully, toward the
Firm Resolve.

He would never allow it,
she replied.
I’m certain
he would consider it an infestation.

He needs to be stopped,
Tommy insisted.
By what
right does he destroy all life on a world? Even if he was the one who planted
it there, once life exists, wiping it out is a monstrous crime.

There was a time when I would have argued that point,
she
said with a tone of regret.

But now you agree with me.
Tommy looked over his
shoulder to where a heavy octagonal door was set in a deep recess of the aft
wall.
Is it possible to remove him from command of his vessel?

He would have to be physically disconnected from the
ship.
She paused.
You would have to enter the stasis room from his
bridge. I can’t transport you directly to his body – the stasis rooms are
shielded to all outside sensors and energy transfers.

Tommy turned toward the heavy door.
Show me.
Almost instantly, he felt a strange
tingling in his left hand.

You have been marked as a captain. One of your finger bones
has been modified slightly. A specialized calcium matrix has been formed that
will give you access to the chamber. It should work for any of our ships.

Tommy walked to the door, ignoring the looks from his
friends, who had only heard Keeva’s side of the conversation. There would be
time to explain later, he hoped.

He reached the door and it separated into eight sections,
each one sliding out from the center to leave a large opening. He stepped
inside and the door closed behind him. A large workstation sat directly in
front of him, reaching from floor to ceiling. He moved around it to find an
array of gravity plates keeping a humanoid form suspended several feet above
the deck. There appeared to be no physical connections linking the body to the
ship.

She appeared to be in her early thirties, though Tommy knew
her race to be the origin of the longevity that had both blessed and cursed
Humans. She could have been born thousands of years ago. “Hmm.” He turned away
from the floating form in some embarrassment.

She had long black hair, floating tendrils in the modified
gravity. Her eyes were closed, but they seemed to be just slightly larger than
a human’s. Her chin was narrow, giving her face an angular quality.

She was quite attractive, and entirely without clothing.
Tommy was having a difficult time in getting the image of pale skin from his
mind. She could see his thoughts, after all.

Sorry about that.
Keeva sounded slightly flustered.
After
a few centuries, you begin to forget you even have a physical body. I should
have given your mind more privacy when you walked in here.
Her voice held
just a hint of mischief.

Well, I suppose it’s the most honest compliment possible,
Tommy replied, feeling the embarrassment drain away as he made light of the
situation.
Appreciating your beauty through my mind – I’ll bet that’s a
first.

Actually, now that I think back, it happened on the day I
became the ship, when the technicians placed me in here.
The tone of
mischief faded, her thoughts becoming more crisp in tone.
Once I was
connected, I became aware of their thoughts. It was… well, creepy. Your
reaction was far more honest, and flattering, though you’re still seeing me in
your mind…

Yeah, well, it’s not an easy image to let go of.
Tommy
was eager to move on to a less embarrassing topic.
How do I disconnect him
from the ship?

I placed the knowledge in your mind before you entered.
Go to the control panel and tell me if you understand what needs to be done.

Tommy walked back to the workstation, studiously ignoring
the nude form. He was certain he could feel her amusement. He looked at the
screens of the workstation, mildly surprised to find that he now understood
what he was looking at.
I open this menu,
he thought as he activated a
secondary screen,
and I select the emergency protocols?