StarFight 1: Battlestar (5 page)

Jacob nodded. “All of that makes sense. Assuming they have some analog with our wasps, what behavior do you expect of them?”

She grimaced. “They could behave in any manner. Fight, flight, freeze or negotiate. Or something stranger than Earth norms. My guess is this group of starships is led by at least one leader, maybe two, in view of the two six-groups of ships. The hexagonal hull shape of their ships suggests a tendency for the aliens to cluster tightly into social groups. That is, if we assume the hull shape indicates the structure of their nest building.”

Jacob noted that Carlos was looking at Daisy’s holo of local space, which carried the images of the twelve alien ships. That fit his Navigation work. Quincy, a Black guy he’d come to know as a happy go lucky beer drinker and lover of reggae music, looked bored. As you might expect from someone who was a Weapons Deck person. He fixed back on Lori.

“If they have a primary leader, would that leader be located on the bigger ship in the front group of six?”

She frowned, then shrugged. “He or she could. Our admiral was on the
Lepanto
, which is larger than any other Earth ship. The same may be true for the aliens.”

“Are they eusocial?” Jacob asked.

She showed surprise. “Uh, taking E. O. Wilson’s definition from the last century, you wonder if these alien insects have a division of labor, overlapping generations and cooperative care of the young? Like the ants, bees, wasps and termites on Earth. And we humans.” She looked at Daisy’s ship holo. “Oh yes, I am certain they have a eusocial society. Their behavior to date strongly supports that likelihood.”

He nodded. “Are they inherently peaceful? Or quickly combative?”

“I have no idea,” Lori said, her light brown lips pulling back from her white teeth.

Getting opinions from the woman was like pulling teeth. Or catching slippery rainbow trout. “Why did they invite our leaders to the meeting on the world below?”

Her blue eyes widened. “A good question. Perhaps to agree on a means to communicate. Perhaps to see us in person, versus imagery. Our only effective communication to date has been through an AV signal wavelength that we recognized. The electromagnetic signals from their outer system satellite did not correspond to any radio, radar or visual emission frequency. The signals were polarized, which says they conveyed something intentional. What, we have no idea.”

“They are clearly insects,” Jacob said, persisting in his effort to decipher the future behavior of an alien species. “How does one group of insects react when it encounters an opposing group of insects?”

“They attack one another. Immediately,” Lori said, her Russian accent barely noticeable. “Or they avoid each other.”

“How do they signal the decision to attack? Or to avoid?”

She squinted, then looked up at him. “Most insects use pheromones to signal a behavior change, or to provide info on something that matters, like food. Earth insects cannot see red or infrared, but they can see in the ultraviolet range. Plus, some insects like bees can detect polarized light, which helps them find their way back to the home nest.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “A signal to attack us may be sent by pheromones, by ultraviolet signals or by polarized light emissions. Acoustic orders could also be sent by rasping of their hard shell bodies using arms or legs. The way grasshoppers make sounds.”

“What about their technology,” Jacob pressed. “How similar is it to ours? How different?”

Lori blinked, her expression going thoughtful. “Like us they use phased array aperture synthesis radar. And also pulsed Doppler radar. They emit complex encrypted radio signals between their ships. Their ships use fusion reactors, based on a neutrino signature that is identical to our reactors. And their normal space movement is by fusion pulse drives, based on the radioactives emissions from the rear of their ships. Unlike us, they have both compound and single lens eyes, similar to the eyes possessed by wasps, spiders, horseshoe crabs and other complex arthropods. Which means their video imagers will be different from ours.” She fixed on him. “Acting Captain, these speculations are the most I can do based on analogy with Earth and other worlds’ insect populations.”

Jacob nodded, then focused on Quincy. “Spacer Quincy Blackbourne, you’ve seen the spysat imagery of the alien ships. Have you and your mates been able to detect signs of weaponry? Like lasers, cannons, missile launchers or other weaponry?”

The short, stocky man put both fists on his hips and frowned. “Acting Captain, it’s been hard to tell. We’ve only been in orbit for a few hours. Our spysats and comsats have been in orbit for just that long.” He pointed at Daisy’s holo. “I’ve looked closely at expanded images of those ships. The rods at the front, middle and ends of each ship could be gas laser emitters, proton lasers, plasma tubes or Smart Rock launchers. The ships are maintaining their orbital position by use of attitude jets very similar to those our ships use. The rear of each ship shows exhaust funnels similar to our fusion pulse exhausts on the
Lepanto
and our battle group ships.” His friend, who spoke with a London accent, shrugged his thick shoulders. “If we could move a spysat closer to one of those ships, I could make a more accurate guess on their weaponry. If they are similar to wasps, they surely have one or more stingers. I expect them to be dangerous opponents.”

Jacob felt the same way. He focused on Carlos, a Latino from East Los Angeles who played soccer in the ship’s Exercise Hall, loved tequila and played a mean classical guitar. Their group had always shown up for a guitar session hosted by Carlos. It was one of the things that had glued all of them, including Kenji, into a common friendship. Plus, Quincy and Kenji had been willing to join him, Lori, Daisy and Carlos in the ensigns ward room. That took some daring, which Jacob appreciated. His own quota of daring had peaked in his assumption of temporary command of the Bridge.

“Ensign Carlos Mendoza, you’re a Navigator. If we have to run from these aliens, we will not head for Earth and Sol. What is the nearest star colony we can head for?”

The man jerked his head away from scoping out the looks of O’Hara, whose curvy shape showed well in her NWU camos. His brown eyes looked over Daisy, then fixed on him. “Well, Kepler 10 is just 65 light years away from this system. At our FTL speed of 25 light years a day, we could reach the system in two and a half days. Of course, Lieutenant Commander Bannerjee runs my Navigation Deck. He could give you more star colony options. And Louise here at Navigation could have told you what I just shared.”

Jacob knew that. A CWO named Oliver Diego y Silva was in charge of the Weapons post on the Bridge, while red-haired CPO Louise Slaughter headed the Navigation post. He didn’t know them. Nor any of the other Bridge crew. He did know Carlos, Quincy and Lori. And Daisy. He was doing the best he could, recalling academy lessons and simulation scenarios that—

“Acting Captain,” called O’Hara from Tactical. “The Cloud Skimmer is arriving at the meeting site. I’m putting its imagery up on the front wallscreen.”

“Lori, Carlos and Quincy, take a seat in the observer row behind us,” he said quickly. “Let’s see what this shows.”

At last. In a moment they would all know just what had happened at the meeting site nearly an hour ago. Jacob focused on the giant wallscreen that covered twenty meters of the curving front wall. The real time image of the dark storm vanished and was replaced with a scene that resembled Hell.

CHAPTER THREE

Jacob scanned the overhead view that showed a red-glowing crater where the glass dome had once been. As the skimmer began its automatic circling of the arrival point, he noticed the condition of the human shuttles. The front ends that faced toward the dome were melted into slag. The alien shuttle front ends were also melted. A glance at the spectroscope sensor readouts that filled one side of the skimmer’s live video image showed the metal of the alien shuttles was the same mix of steel, titanium and nickel that made up the Earth shuttles. Beyond the melted shuttles, the green grass of the meadow had become withered brownness, while the red bark and green needle leaves of the alien trees were blackened on the sides facing the meeting site. Clearly something very hot and very violent had hit the meeting site. There were no survivors. No foot prints were visible in the dirt and ash that lay outside the central crater. The terrain looked overcast due to the storm clouds above. In the distance, yellow lightning bolts spiked down to touch the mountain wall that lay to one side of the site. As the skimmer continued its circling, more yellow bolts streaked down, hitting the nearby lake, some trees and then the mountain slope on the other side of the site. White steam still rose from the red-glowing crater.

“Fuck! What the hell hit them!” yelled Oliver from his Weapons post.

“So terrible,” muttered Osashi.

“God, that’s awful,” called Rosemary from Tactical, her expression pained.

“Jacob,” called Daisy from the XO seat below him, “there’s nothing left. They’re all gone. What could have done this?”

He gripped tight the ends of his seat’s armrests. No more guessing now. It was a fact that all the senior officers of the battle group were dead and gone. Along with nearly twenty aliens. Was this enemy action? Would the wasp creatures kill their own people in order to kill the commanders of the ten Earth ships? If the wasps had killed his people, why were their ships not doing anything?

“AI Melody, transmit this imagery to every ship in the battle group. Maintain the transmission so long as the skimmer functions,” he said.

“Transmitting imagery,” the AI said, her tone sounding as tense as Jacob felt.

“Melody, activate our All Ship vidcom. Transmit this imagery over every ship vidscreen. Add my image.”

“All Ship vidcom active. Transmitting imagery.”

Jacob licked his lips, tried to sit straighter in his seat than he already did, and spoke.

“All personnel, you are now seeing imagery of the meeting site where Rear Admiral Johanson, Captain Miglotti and Executive Officer Anderson were meeting with the wasp-like aliens who invited our senior officers to meet with them,” Jacob said, hoping his baritone did not sound shaky. “Whatever vaporized the meeting site did a complete job. The captains and XOs and ensigns from the fleet’s other ships are also gone. The shuttles are half melted. Our Cloud Skimmer is circling the site. There is no sign of survivors.” He paused. “Melody, move ship status to Alert Combat Ready.”

Overhead the alert lights went to blinking red. The ceiling speakers gave out a high-pitched siren, which repeated three times. “People, it is possible the loss of our senior officers is due to enemy action by the wasp aliens. One of their shuttles released a floating globe just before we lost the tablet imagery of the meeting. I am suspicious that this is not a natural weather event. If the aliens did this, that is a hostile act. Therefore, all personnel are ordered to Battle Stations. All decks must prepare for possible enemy action. I will keep you informed of any change in the tactical situation. Acting Captain out.”

He looked up at the ceiling. “Melody, prepare to transmit my words to each of the other nine ships in the battle group. Add my image.”

“Encrypted audiovid neutrino signal established. Ready to transmit voice and image,” the AI said quickly, a touch of curiosity now discernible in its human-like voice.

“Each ship, I am Acting Captain Jacob Renselaer, the only surviving Command Deck officer on the
Lepanto
. Earlier, I ordered a change in Alert status. I have now moved us to Alert Combat Ready status based on what you are now seeing. Whoever is in command on your ship, move to that alert stage. I require the cooperation of every ship, until we make contact with Earth or find a senior command officer in a human colonized star system.” Jacob paused and drew a deep breath. “This destruction of the meeting site occurred after the aliens released a floating globe that rose above the site. That globe may have caused this destruction. If so, that is a hostile act. There is no change in wasp ship formation at the moment. There is no sign of a hostile act by any wasp ship. However, I judge we must be ready to move to Alert Hostile Enemy status whenever any wasp ship moves toward one of our ships. Advise me of your compliance and identify who is now commanding your ship.”

Silence filled the Bridge for long seconds. Then the AI spoke.

“Incoming audiovid signals.”

“Display first signal to arrive,” Jacob said. “Advise incoming signals they will link with me shortly.”

“Advising. First signal displayed.”

A new image appeared at the top of the wallscreen’s image of destruction. A middle aged woman dressed in woodland camo NWUs and showing the bronze oak leaf of a lieutenant commander on her collar tips filled the image. She was as black-skinned as Quincy.

“Acting Captain Renselaer, your live imagery from the meeting site is severely worrisome,” the woman said, her tone sounding Midwestern America. “I am Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Swanson, now acting captain of the cruiser
Chesapeake
. We have moved to Alert Combat Ready. Since you showed the foresight to send a skimmer to inspect the meeting site after we lost tablet link with our captain and XO, I accept you, Jacob Renselaer, as acting leader of the battle group. Advise me of your further wishes.”

Relief filled Jacob. Whatever deck this woman ran on the
Chesapeake
, she understood the necessity for unity in the face of an unknown and likely hostile enemy. Would the rest of them show the same spirit of cooperation and allegiance?

“Acting Captain Swanson, it is good to hear your words, coming as they do from the senior cruiser in our battle group,” Jacob said, thinking fast. “Stand by. Monitor your spysats. Advise me of any sensor input that shows a change in behavior by any wasp ship. I am adding your image to my outgoing audiovid signal. Wait a moment as I accept calls from the other ships.”

The woman just nodded. He noticed a younger man sat in the XO seat next to her. He looked Slavic, maybe a Russian like Lori. Jacob looked up at the ceiling.

“Melody, put through the next in line response. Display the signal beside that from the
Chesapeake
.”

“Signal displayed.”

The older man who appeared on the wallscreen was someone Jacob recognized. He ran the Navigation Deck on the other cruiser. The man was a friend of his father’s, a fact that had caused him to personally welcome Jacob upon his arrival at the orbital shipyard station where the
Lepanto
and the other battle group ships had been docked. He blinked dark eyes.

“Young Renselaer, I am Lieutenant George Wilcox of the cruiser
Hampton Roads
. As you know. I broke into our captain’s safe and used the ship status change code to change our alert condition. And to become this ship’s acting captain.” The man, who was bald on top but still had black hair above his ears, turned intense. “We too have moved to Alert Combat Ready. And I agree with Swanson. Your initiative tells me you will do well as the battle group leader until we contact higher command. What can I and my people do for you?”

An electric tingle swept down Jacob’s arms to his fingers. This man was the second, more mature officer to accept his leadership. And to understand what Jacob knew had to be done. “Acting Captain Wilcox, thank you. This has been a surprise to me and to my entire Bridge. And surely to the other deck leaders on the
Lepanto
. My orders to you are simple. Be alert. Be ready to repel any enemy attack. Monitor your spysats. Report anything done by the wasp ships. And hold your position at the front of our orbital group. With the
Chesapeake
at our rear and you at the front, we are best positioned to respond to any attacking ship.”

“Will do,” Wilcox said quickly, gesturing to the woman who occupied the XO seat next to him. “Lieutenant JG Wakanabi is our new XO. I assume you are filling slots over there as quickly as you can?”

“I am,” Jacob said. “My new XO is Ensign Daisy Stewart. While I sit in the admiral’s seat, I am acting captain of the
Lepanto
. As you may have heard earlier, I am the sole surviving Command Deck officer. I am relying on fellow officers on the other decks to bring this ship to its full capabilities.”

“Your ship is very powerful,” Wilcox said. “The 210 people on the
Hampton Roads
will do as you order.”

“Good. Please monitor this conversation I am holding with all battle group ships,” Jacob said. “We all need to be aware of what is happening on every other ship. And we need to work together in case of an attack from the wasps.”

“Monitoring,” the man said bluntly.

“Melody, display the third signal. Put the imagery next to the two captains now on the wallscreen.”

“Displaying.”

A middle-aged man with white hair, Asian face and black eyes now appeared. Like the cruiser captains, he sat in one of the two central command seats on his ship’s Bridge. A younger man who looked Hindu dark sat beside him. The white-haired man spoke.

“Acting Captain Jacob Renselaer, I am Lieutenant Douglas Zhang, now acting captain of the destroyer
Tsushima Strait
,” he said, his tone firm and confident. “Fully agree with the points made by Wilcox and Swanson. My ship is at Alert Combat Ready. The 113 people on board this ship will fight any enemy and act in concert with the rest of the battle group.”

Jacob felt new encouragement. The man led one of the three destroyers in the battle group. While smaller in size than the cruisers or the
Lepanto
, still, his ship had formidable weapons and swift maneuverability. Three down, six more to go.

“Acting Captain Zhang, thank you for your response and your loyalty to our continuing mission of exploration. Which may soon change to active combat,” Jacob said. “Maintain your ship’s position on the outer right flank of the
Lepanto
. Do your missiles carry x-ray laser thermonukes?”

“They do,” Zhang said, his expression intense and focused. “But we only carry nine missiles, much less than the forty on the
Lepanto
.”

“Still, your ship is a vital component of our battle group,” Jacob said, offering his best effort at showing his appreciation for the man’s loyalty to him despite the sudden change in circumstances. “Stand by and monitor my discussions. Once I have heard from all battle group ships, we will discuss tactical options.”

“Standing by,” the man said with a quick nod of his head.

“Melody?”

“Displaying fourth incoming signal.”

A dark-skinned, black-haired, Hindu-looking man now appeared as part of the wallscreen lineup of other ship captains. An Asian woman sat to his left in the XO seat. The man spoke.

“Acting Captain Renselaer, I am Lieutenant Commander Chatur Mehta, now acting captain of the destroyer
Salamis
.” The man paused, licked his lips, then frowned. “I cannot accept the authority of a former ensign to lead this battle group. While I agree our senior officers are now dead, perhaps due to enemy action, I judge it my duty to leave this system and report these events to Earth Command. My ship is now leaving orbit.”

Shock filled Jacob. “Mehta! We need every ship! We are outnumbered 12 to 10 by the wasps! Are you refusing a direct order?”

“I dispute your authority to issue me a direct order,” the man said. Beside him the woman looked unhappy. “You are an ensign. I am a lieutenant commander, formerly in charge of the Science Deck on the
Salamis
. I have obtained the ship status change code and now assert my right to command this destroyer due to being the most senior officer now present on this ship. My rank exceeds your rank. I wish you luck in whatever happens here.” The man reached to a control spot on his right armrest.

“Wait!” yelled Jacob, knowing he sounded like a pleading child to anyone listening. “If you must leave, go to Kepler 10. That is the nearest colony star. Alert the Star Navy base there to these events. Whatever you do, do
not
set your vector track for Sol! These aliens cannot ever know the direction to Earth!”