Annihilation (Star Force Series) (33 page)

“There are some options…” Marvin said. More cameras had swung to regard me now. I knew he was interested in my reaction. “But they will take longer than a week to accomplish. And I’m not sure if they fit within the category you described.”

“You mean they might not be ‘within reason’?”

“That point of judgment is very subjective. I would find the treatments reasonable, but I’m also aware that some human beings might not agree with me.”

I frowned at him. When Marvin got into the business of healing people, funny things tended to happen. I was also concerned to hear that Sandra’s condition was so grave.

I lightly touched Sandra’s cheek. It was warm, and she was breathing, but I could see she was being aided by apparatus that had been cemented to her face by a silvery ring of nanites. My eyes ran down the length of her body. There were electrodes and veins made of nanites which formed themselves into mercury-like tubes. There were other devices attached to her as well, most of which I couldn’t even identify. They were all over her.

“Can she breathe on her own?” I asked.

“No, those motor centers have suffered damage,” Marvin said. He had a lot of cameras watching me now.

I took in the part about damaged motor centers slowly. I’d never heard of a poison so strong it could kill such basic functionality for a prolonged period. But when I thought about it, and I realized something as simple as botulinum, commonly known as
Botox
, could do that.

“Nerve damage? Brain damage? How serious is this? Will there be long term effects?”

“Undoubtedly.”

I didn’t like where this was going. Usually, any marine that wasn’t killed outright could be repaired from drastic battle injuries. The medical people had gotten to her pretty fast, but her condition wasn’t as simple as a severed limb or a blast-hole. This was a specially designed poison. I was about to question Marvin further when a call came in from the command center. It was Miklos.

“The missiles are away, Colonel,” he said. “They should catch the imperial ship about two hours before they reach the ring to Alpha Centauri.”

“Are we at war with Earth again, Colonel Riggs?” Marvin asked me.

I threw him a displeased glance and turned to walk away. Marvin had excellent hearing and vision, but he didn’t seem to know when it would be considered impolite to use them. He always eavesdropped whenever he could.

“Good, Miklos,” I said. “That should give the General a little going-home present. If they take him out, will he have the opportunity to contact Earth?”

“Unlikely, sir. But Earth will require an accounting in any case.”

I considered that point. Technically, the General was under diplomatic immunity.

“We haven’t declared war,” Miklos pointed out. “And we haven’t finished an inquiry that
proves
he is guilty.”

“I wouldn’t have given the order to fire the missiles if I wasn’t very sure Kerr was guilty,” I snapped.

“I know that sir. I just wanted to point out that there are larger issues at stake. We are starting a new conflict by doing this, and we might not have all the facts as yet.”

“I’m willing to take the diplomatic risk. An independent political group can’t stand as a nation for long if it allows its leaders to be assassinated by another power and does nothing about it.”

“That is your call, sir.”

I disconnected and turned back to Dr. Kate Swanson. She didn’t look happy, and I surmised she’d listened in to at least half of my conversation. Fleet doctors were rarely pleased when a conflict started. I had to question their rationality on this point, as there would be no point to having them in Star Force if we never fought anyone. In fact, there would have been no point to Star Force, period.

“How long until I can question the prisoner?” I asked the doctor.

She made a face that indicated she thought I might do something barbaric to the girl during this “questioning”.

“She can’t even be moved. She’s in an induced coma while the nanites do their work.”

I opened my mouth to say that I’d ordered her not to use nanites, but I closed it again. If I wanted information, I needed her strong enough to talk. I nodded my head.

“All right,” I said. “Use everything you’ve got to heal her. But stop with the pain-killers. Let her feel what the nanites are doing. I want her awake and talking as soon as possible. I also want both these patients moved to my personal ship.”

The doctor shook her head. “That wouldn’t be wise,” she said. “We have the best staff and facilities right here on Welter Station.”

“I know,” I said, “that’s why you’re coming with me.”

I didn’t bother looking at the questioners as I marched toward the door.

“Doctor Swanson is in charge,” I loudly told the rest of the staff. “She’ll fill you in on what you need to do. You are all Fleet medical personnel, and key members will be going for a little voyage.”

I ignored them all after that announcement and headed for the Command Center. Swanson’s sputtering exclamations didn’t interest me. Swanson had her job to do, and I had mine. Kwon stumped after me. He had to hustle, because I was moving fast.

Before I hit the doors and left, the word had already spread. Every staffer followed our march with stares that were disapproving and stunned.

“Where we going, sir?” Kwon asked.

“The CC.”

“And after that?”

“We’re going to fly to the Helios system and have a little talk with General Kerr.”

“Uh,” Kwon said, frowning, “I thought he was running away.”

“He’ll turn around,” I said. “You can count on it.”

-27-

When I reached the Command Center, I headed right for the tactical board. Kwon stood around in the background. Everyone tried to ignore his battle-ready stance.

Miklos was there, and he tapped at something as I arrived. I looked around, and Captain Sarin showed up a minute or so later. She’d probably been getting some well-deserved rest. If I’d been in a better mood, I would have smiled. The Commodore had called in reinforcements.

“You’re right in your assessment,” I told him.

“Pardon me, Colonel?”

“You’ve judged that I’m not in a reasonable mood. You’re correct in that regard.”

Miklos looked at me seriously. He didn’t ask what I was talking about, because we both knew the score. “What are your intentions, Colonel?”

“Here are my orders: I’m leaving you in command of the system defense here at the battle station—not that I expect anything serious will happen. I’m taking Sarin and the fastest cruiser we have on hand to fly after Kerr.”

“There is no mathematical possibility that you will reach him, sir,” Miklos said patiently.

“I was always bad at math,” I said, “but I passed the classes anyway.”

“And how did you do that, sir?”

“I took shortcuts, did heuristic reasoning to derive answers—and I cheated a little.”

“I see.”

“Now’s the time to cheat. Sarin, since you’re here, I need you to connect me to the sentry ships we have at the Helios ring—the one that connects the system to Alpha Centauri.”

She tapped at her screens for several seconds. While she followed her orders, Miklos looked increasingly concerned.

“Sir,” he said, leaning over the command planning table. “What are your intentions? We only have a few escort-class ships out there. They can’t possibly stop General Kerr’s battleship.”

“I know that.”

“Then what are you doing, sir?”

I gave him a dark look, but he didn’t wilt. I took a deep breath.

“All right,” I said. “I suppose as my exec you deserve to know what I’m planning. I would have brought you into this earlier, but there hasn’t been much time to have a staff meeting about it.”

Miklos waited patiently.

“Our scouts out there have systems capable of communicating with us instantly via the rings. I’m going to give them a message to relay to the Worms. It is the Worms who will stop General Kerr, along with your missile barrage.”

Miklos’ face registered alarm. “This is another breach of the peace!” he said. “Sir, I understand you want revenge. I agree with you that General Kerr was probably involved in the assassination attempt. But I feel this is taking our response too far. If the Worms destroy Kerr’s ship, it will get back to Earth. They are our allies, but are outside our protective reach at this time. Earth would be well within its rights to reach out and destroy the Worms.”

I nodded. “You’re quite correct. Under the circumstances you describe, Emperor Crow would be well within his rights to snuff out the Worms. In fact, I believe he’s been looking forward to just such an opportunity.”

Miklos stared at me with wide eyes. “You see this? You agree? But still, you persist in these orders? Very well. I can tell by the look on your face that you will not listen to reason.”

“I’m going to let that slide, Commodore,” I said severely. “But you should control yourself in the future. I did not say I was going to have the Worms attack Kerr’s ship.”

“What are we doing then, sir?”

Just then, Sarin signaled me. “The scout ship commander is on the line, sir.”

“Hello, Commander Becker?”

“Yes sir,” she said.

“I recall your name. Didn’t you serve as a scout when the Macros attacked the battle station last year?”

“Yes sir, that was me.”

“Still on scout duty, huh? Well, you did well last time, so I’m glad I’m talking to someone with experience. What you’re going to do is ask the Worms to fly to the ring and stand guard. A hundred ships ought to do the trick.”

“What are their orders going to be, sir?”

“No orders. Just to stand there at the ready. Tell them it’s an exercise, or that we wish to test our targeting and navigational systems with our forces in close proximity.”

Commander Becker was quiet for a few seconds. “Do you think they’ll believe that, sir? I’m sure they can see the Imperial battleship racing away from our missiles across their system.”

I smiled tightly. “I think the Worms will understand. They’re smarter than people think.”

“All right sir, I’ll relay the message. Can I get help from Marvin with the translation into pictographs?”

“Of course, I’ll transfer you right over,” I said, then nodded to Captain Sarin, who passed the connection to Marvin.

Miklos was smiling thinly and had his arms crossed when I looked up at him again. “You had me worried, sir,” he said.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“No you’re not, but it’s okay. You think that General Kerr will stop? He might just crash your little simulated barricade.”

“He’s seen the Worms in action before. We’ll give him a few hours, long enough for him to see the ships waiting for him and detect the missiles on his trail. Then we’ll transmit an ultimatum to him.”

“You’ll demand that he turn around and come back?”

“Yes. He’ll have to surrender his ship.”

“Will he do that, Captain?”

I nodded confidently. “I’ve known General Kerr a long time,” I said. “One thing that stands out from his resume is the ability to know when he’s beaten. He’ll turn around, don’t worry.”

I walked off the bridge then and boarded a small transport, which took me out to the cruiser
Lazaro
which I’d commandeered for this special mission. Several hours later, I was joined by Marvin, a stunned-looking Dr. Kate Swanson, and two critical-care units. They were coffin-like affairs full of nanite arms and gurgling liquids. Long glass windows allowed me to see inside. One of them held Sandra, and the other held Alexa Brighton.

We converted the ship’s hold into a large medical center for these two patients. Alexa was aware now, and twitching in her coffin. Her eyes were squinched shut. She looked scared and her mouth was twisted in pain. I forced myself to remember what she’d done, and not to feel sorry for her. It was hard on me, as a male, to watch her suffer. My kind naturally wanted to protect her kind. I steeled myself. She’d used these same instincts, and Sandra’s, against us.

As it turned out, I never had to make the call to Kerr. He called me just after we’d cast off and begun accelerating across the Eden system. I was down in the hold, helping to adjust the gravitational dampeners to prevent the acceleration Gs from affecting the two injured women when the call came in. As it turned out, it was good timing. Being in the presence of Sandra put me in just the right mood to talk to Kerr.

“Riggs? This is General Robert Kerr of the Imperial—”

“I know who it is, General,” I said, interrupting him.

The communications system, using the rings, was amazing. They operated on the basis of entanglement theory, and used a sympathetic resonance between our phonic system and the giant rings in space that interconnected our star systems. The actual device that interacted with the rings was a miniature model of the ring in question, which, when altered physically, caused tiny vibrations in the structure of the titanic rings in space. This effect altered the state of the transmitting device, the ring, and the receiving device simultaneously, no matter where the three objects were. After that, it was a simple thing to detect the vibrations and transmit them to my personal com-link. The system was so fast and efficient we were able to talk as if we were on the phone. It seemed like we were only a few miles apart.