Vortex incursion, p.26
Vortex Incursion, page 26
This produced more dissident noise.
Dorsa asked for clarification of the terms, and Kreus explained them in light of their fleet functions.
“We’re curious, Kelley,” Kelter said, his hissing pronunciation of Krackus identifying him. “Will you escape through the vortex?”
Kelter’s hiss was low and long. Then he said, “We wait with great anticipation to view your maneuvers.”
Kelley’s side sensors showed him that Lily and Lorelei regarded him with narrowed eyes.
Kreus responded.
The link with Helgart dropped, and Gistamia quipped, “I’m as interested as Kelter to know how we’ll extricate ourselves from this predicament.”
Killian regarded Kelley, who said, “The conference has ended. I believe our return to Kilmer space is in your hands, Killian.”
In an attempt to lighten Lily’s mood, Lorelei sent,
Lily shot back. Her tone said she was none too happy about the dissidents’ circumstances.
20: Escape Plan
Other guests aboard the Reflection had the same request as Lorelei.
Lorelei studied the image, but couldn’t detect anything untoward. Then she caught Lily’s hand signals, and she looked at the image again.
Killian did his best to funnel Alex Racine’s problem analysis. He noted that, in many instances and despite Alex’s best efforts to appease, there were times when judicial force was necessary to demonstrate a point.
To Killian, it seemed that this was one of those times. Bethley, Trium, and he continued to commune. They devised a plan with various options depending on the inquisitor’s responses, and Trium executed the first step.
Aboard the inquisitor’s Imperium ship, Tarbar displayed a satisfied smile to his audience. He even gurgled subtly to indicate his pleasure at executing a successful strategy. However, only one individual seemed to share his delight. Ragirt’s and the fleet officers’ brows were folded, but their crests lay flat. It was a clear indication of disagreement.
“You don’t believe the aliens are trapped on this side of the vortex?” Tarbar queried. He didn’t think the doubters could present logical arguments to refute what he’d achieved.
“They’re trapped,” Hobar volunteered quickly. “When their food or water runs low, they’ll be forced to deal with you, Inquisitor Tarbar, on your terms.”
Tarbar noted Hobar’s gleeful expression, but her remarks didn’t change the others’ demeanors.
“Enlighten me,” Tarbar requested magnanimously.
Of the two individuals who held Imperium appointments, Deckus and Ragirt, only the engineer took the risk to speak out.
“I can’t say what the visitors will do,” Ragirt said, “but I fear that a great mistake has been made treating them in this respect.”
“A great mistake?” Tarbar queried. While he didn’t care for the deprecating characterization of his efforts, he wanted to hear from others.
“I must agree with Ragirt in that I too don’t know what the visitors will do, but I fear their retaliation,” Gretren added.
“Inquisitor Tarbar, the visitors will give you opportunities to relent,” Korvath said. “They won’t begin with anything overt that might result in loss of Krackus life, but they’ll continue to escalate until you clear their path.”
“Now that we know the ship’s firepower, there’s little that they can do against an amassed group of peacemakers that know where they’re heading,” Tarbar said confidently.
“With respect, Inquisitor Tarbar, you’re not giving the visitors or their ship enough credit,” Korvath said.
Korvath’s supporters were careful not to wince. On a whim, the inquisitor could have Korvath contained aboard his ship. Then the declinator would be returned to Imperium to stand judgment.
“I’m waiting to hear you instruct me about the weakness of my actions, Declinator,” Tarbar said, his orbs drilling into Korvath’s.
Korvath didn’t bother swallowing uncomfortably or otherwise displaying the fear he felt. He’d started down this path, and he was committed.
“The SADEs easily diverted an armed probe,” Korvath said. “What’s to stop them from rendering the peacekeepers at the vortex mouth inert?”
“That’s preposterous,” Tarbar objected. He regarded Ragirt and the other officers. It was obvious that they agreed with Korvath’s assessment.
A thought occurred to Tarbar, and he queried, “So, Korvath, why didn’t the aliens do just as you intimated when they had the chance instead of running away?”
“They didn’t run away,” Korvath replied. “They just didn’t engage our ships.”
“You’re not offering me a convincing argument, Declinator,” Tarbar said with a hint of irritation.
“If I may, Inquisitor,” Gretren said. “The scouts are purported by Kreus to be digital sentients. Their analysis would take place in what would appear to us to be instantaneous. More than likely, they chose not to harm our peacekeepers by shutting them down. They had the opportunity to remove the bow of my ship with their passage, and they chose not to fire on us.”
“I can see that this group of individuals,” Tarbar began, circling a hand to indicate Ragirt and the officers, “and I continue to disagree. I’m unwilling to take umbrage by your expression of considered opinions. Instead, I’ll let the aliens’ actions prove you wrong.”
Tarbar’s audience, except for Hobar, was eager to be gone from his ship, and they were relieved when he allowed them to exit via a transport.
“The lot of you were foolish to speak against the inquisitor,” Hobar said, when the transport’s hatch closed. She was miffed that no one replied. Instead, they began a private discussion.
“Should we form close order stations?” Gretren inquired.
“I’ve no idea,” Deckus admitted. He turned orbs on Korvath, who sat across the aisle from him. “How sure are you of your analysis, Korvath?” he asked.
“I don’t believe a definitive analysis is necessary, Imperator,” Korvath replied. He was tired of defending the visitors to individuals who refused to see the obvious. “No offense is meant, Imperator Gretren, but there’s no use doing anything.”
“You underestimate Krackus capabilities, Declinator,” Hobar interjected. She was irritated that Korvath ignored her.
“Whatever we do, the visitors will simply adapt their plans to counter our movement,” Korvath continued. “We’ll receive demonstrations first. I just wonder if the inquisitor is bright enough to recognize the visitors’ messages.”
Hobar was outraged, and she railed at Korvath.
Deckus had to admit that Korvath’s comment about the inquisitor’s intelligence had entered dangerous territory. However, he was loath to allow Hobar to have her way. “I’m surprised, Hobar, that you would accuse Korvath of such an egregious remark. I think you might have misheard him.”
Hobar’s surprise was immediate, and it showed.
“That was my thought, Imperator Deckus,” Ragirt quickly added. “It must be the rumbling of the engines in deceleration that allowed the miscommunication.”
“I’ll make a note to my imperator,” Deckus said. “I’ll have him request engineering check out the engines. They’re sounding rough.”
Hobar stared at the officers and Ragirt in disbelief. She chose to say nothing in the united front that they presented, but she vowed to get her revenge.
It wasn’t long before Inquisitor Tarbar received his next contact from the Reflection.
Bethley had engaged the hull coating to hide the ship, while Trium slipped the ship in the space occupied by the inquisitor’s ship and nearby peacekeepers.
“Inquisitor Tarbar, you’ve a call,” a ship’s officer said.
“Transfer,” Tarbar requested.
Tarbar abruptly cut the connection. Then he called the bridge and told the imperator not to allow calls from the aliens through to him. He’d no sooner finished delivering his message to the imperator when his comm system blinked at him.
“Yes,” Tarbar said.
“When your food and water are exhausted, you’ll hear what I have to say,” Tarbar said confidently, abruptly cutting the connection again.
Tarbar stood to leave his cabin. He was headed for the bridge. Except, he stumbled to his knees. He rose and fell, again unable to maintain his footing, as if he’d imbibed too much.
Crawling on his hands and knees to the comm, Tarbar called the bridge. “What’s happening?” he demanded.
“We’re not in control of the ship, Inquisitor,” the declinator replied. “Our imperator stumbled. He’s knocked out. Otherwise, he doesn’t appear to be dangerously injured.”
With the missiles arriving quickly, Killian broke off his contact with the inquisitor’s ship, and Trium accelerated the Reflection below the ecliptic to transit into the dark.
Gistamia mused.
Aboard the inquisitor’s ship, Tarbar felt his cabin steady. He let his inner balance settle. Then he made for the bridge.
Tarbar stepped aside for the medics, who had the imperator loaded on a stretcher.
“How is he?” Tarbar asked.
“We’ll know after a scan, Inquisitor,” the chief medic replied before she hurried on.
When Tarbar reached the bridge, he said loudly and clearly, “Report.”
The declinator snapped to attention. “It’s as I said, Inquisitor. One moment, everything was normal. Suddenly, we had no control, and the maneuvering jets started firing, sending the ship spinning and weaving.”
“What did you do to make it stop?” Tarbar demanded.
“Nothing, Imperator,” the declinator replied. “The jets stopped firing, and we had control again. Just before you arrived, the imperator of the fleet commander’s ship warned us of the presence of the alien vessel. Imperator Deckus ordered the nearest peacekeepers to launch. The barrage forced the alien craft to flee, and we believe that’s what truncated their connection to our ship.”
Tarbar mulled over the declinator’s report. “Immediately position us near the flagship,” he directed.
“At what distance?” the declinator asked.
“Personally, I’d be pleased if our hulls touched, but you may want to clear that with the flagship’s imperator,” Tarbar replied icily and left the bridge.
Aboard the Reflection, Dorsa sent,
Then Dorsa sent five head-and-shoulder shots of Krackus fleet members accompanied by data to the others.
Dorsa apologized.
Killian reviewed the initial conversations with Kreus. He couldn’t find anything that made the connection between the two cycles. So, he sent a short message to Kreus.
There was a brief wait, during which the biologicals consumed a meal, before Kreus’s response reached them.
“We’ve an answer to our question,” Killian said to the SADEs and the diners. “Their chronometer operates on the equivalent of an outpost thirty-seven point five hour cycle, and they’re offset from our cycle by six point two hours. Theirs follows ours.”
Everyone logged the information and checked the time.
“It’s late afternoon, Krackus time,” Trium pronounced.
“You didn’t happen to discover on which ship Korvath serves, did you, Dorsa?” Kelley asked.
“Of course, I did,” Dorsa promptly replied. “He serves on Gretren’s ship.”
Dorsa, who’d deadpanned his response, heard his audience crack up in laughter and sounds. Then he grinned.
“So, all we have to do is investigate every battleship until we find which one is Gretren’s?” Lorelei inquired.
“First, we have to discover how to determine that,” Bethley replied.
“I’ll just ask,” Killian said, and he sent another message to Kreus.
Later, Killian shared Kreus’s response.
Korvath had received the report of the inquisitor’s spinning ship, and he’d shaken his head in disbelief at Tarbar’s complete disregard of the visitors’ tech. He was grateful that when Deckus ordered the missile launch, it hadn’t included his ship.
