Vortex incursion, p.3
Vortex Incursion, page 3
Darren sent.
“Come,” Kelley said, gesturing with his arms toward the small aliens, who scampered up his hands.
Then Kelley moved swiftly to the cabin a few doors away.
The Tritiums stared forlornly at the oversized accommodations.
“We’re unprepared for guests of your stature,” Kelley said. “I’m here to provide whatever support you need.”
For the next twenty minutes, Kelley saw to the Tritiums’ personal needs. The time might have been shorter, but the diminutive aliens took great pleasure in the refresher.
Kelley watched their dark-brown fur turn tan and gray, as dye drained away.
“What would you say is your age status?” Kelley asked.
“We’re considered elders on our planet,” the trio replied. “By now, we’ve lived about four-fifths of the common lifespan of our race.”
When the Tritium set was blow-dried, they spent some time fluffing their fur. Then they hurriedly dressed.
“Where to now?” the Tritiums inquired.
“Meal room,” Kelley replied, and he extended his arms again.
As Kelley and the triplets passed crew members in the corridors, the Tritiums chorused, “What is the nature of the action presented by those who pass us?”
“The touch to the heart and the tip of the head is a gesture of respect,” Kelley replied.
“But they don’t know us,” the Tritiums objected.
“Why do individuals have to be known to deserve respect?” Kelley asked.
Three small faces gazed at Kelley, and he could sense the energy he now associated with telepathy.
“What is the appropriate response?” the Tritium set inquired.
“A slight bow of the head,” Kelley replied.
A female lieutenant passed Kelley, and she offered the Trident’s guests her respect.
Immediately, the triplets tipped their heads in unison. “The female spoke to us. What did she say?” they inquired.
“She said, ‘Greetings,’” Kelley replied.
“Such consideration,” the Tritiums commented.
Then the foursome entered a meal room, which was sparsely populated as second shift was still on duty.
“Anything I should know about your dietary requirements?” Kelley inquired. He learned that the Tritiums were fairly omnivorous, as long as the protein was cultured.
Engineering had been at work. Three tall stools with small backs were fixed at the head table. Trays on extended legs were attached to the front of the stool seats. It was a rudimentary arrangement, but it would serve.
Kelley sat the Tritiums on the stools. Then he took a seat across the table from them.
“How should we request food?” the Tritiums asked.
“I’ve already ordered several dishes for you,” Kelley replied.
“We didn’t hear you speak?” the trio chorused. “Ah, yes, but you’re a digital entity.”
“I can speak to any crew member, and that individual can speak to me,” Kelley replied.
That began a highly active conversation about the tech possessed by the Tritiums’ hosts.
Food was tested and consumed with minimal interruption in the dialog. The little aliens were anxious to learn about the race who sequestered them.
In the middle of Kelley’s explanation about Jatouche medical technology, his guests yawned. Kelley chuckled because the Tritiums’ small jaws had stretched wide simultaneously.
Dominique surmised to Kelley.
“Time for sleep,” Kelley offered the Tritiums, and they were content to scramble off their stools and up Kelley’s arms, as he passed behind them.
In the cabin, which had been prepared for the trio, Kelley placed them on a turned-down bed, and the Tritiums burrowed under the top covers. Kelley waited for them to reappear, which they never did. When he exited the cabin, he left the door slightly ajar, allowing the aliens to come and go.
A SADE was posted outside the cabin to manage contact with the Tritium set.
Dominique requested.
When Kelley arrived in Dominique’s cabin, he found the captain comfortable in sleepwear and a robe.
“Excuse the informal dress, Kelley,” Dominique said. “I wanted to clear some thoughts before sleep. I just didn’t expect the Tritiums to persist in the questioning for so long.”
“It’s their ages,” Kelley remarked. “From details they provided, I would guess they live to be more than two hundred annuals. As elders, they’re fascinated by first contact with us.”
“As am I,” Dominique replied. She sat on the couch and tucked her bare feet under the robe’s end.
“What are your concerns, Captain?” Kelley asked, sitting in the chair opposite her.
“At first, I was worried about the amount of information you shared about our tech,” Dominique said. “Then I realized that the Tritiums had no way of communicating that information to the Krackus.”
“Nothing I shared would have done the Krackus any good, even if they had received the information, Captain,” Kelley said. “To know about a process or a device isn’t the same as being able to create it. The preliminary information supplied by the scouts about Krackus technology suggests that much of their technological development has stagnated.”
Dominique nodded her agreement. She sat stroking the robe’s edge, while she thought. “Don’t you find it reprehensible that the Krackus would send biologicals through the vortex without testing the passage with plants and microbes?” Dominique asked.
“For us, it would be,” Kelley replied. “But I’m reminded of the conditions at Daelon, where the Confederation’s Independents were kept. It was a large, rocky moon. The underground was a warren of poorly maintained tunnels. Those were humans incarcerated by other humans.”
“I see your point,” Dominique mused. “If Kreus is to be believed, the Krackus have subsumed hundreds of races. More than likely, they wouldn’t credit other races’ citizens with the same rights as their own.”
“You should be aware that the SADEs have reached consensus about Kreus,” Kelley said. “Based on the actions at Helgart, we believe the AI to be sentient, and we accept his communications as truthful.”
“I reviewed the conversation with Killian. I found subtle discrepancies in the exchange,” Dominique said. She sat upright and slipped her feet into slippers.
“Those minor inconsistencies do exist,” Kelley agreed. “If it had been a direct conversation among equals, we would have been concerned. However, when you overlay the threat of his status as an entity under Imperium decree, they can easily be understood.”
“You’re saying that Kreus was under duress?” Dominique asked.
“Undoubtedly,” Kelley replied. “We find it revealing that the Krackus gave Kreus permission to talk to entities they would have considered alien intruders. Naturally, Kreus would have carried the onus to report the details of his conversation.”
“Then Kreus was walking a fine line,” Dominique surmised.
“Precisely,” Kelley replied.
Dominique returned to her previous position on the couch to put her thoughts in order.
Kelley sat silently for the captain to generate her questions. They would be the ones that had occurred to him within a few minutes after discovering the Tritiums. His father, Mickey Brandon, had stressed to him many times that he had an important choice, and that choice would have to be made every cycle of his life. To understand biologicals, he would have to decide to be patient.
“It’s the primary difference between the SADEs and every other sentient digital entity we’ve encountered,” Mickey had told Kelley. “Artifice, Faustus, the militarist sect, and others have not had the patience to wait for biologicals to assimilate information at their own rate.”
Kelley discovered early that the best way to wait quietly for the conversation to resume was to focus on other subjects that needed his attention.
When Dominique lifted her head, Kelley focused on her eyes.
“The Krackus will discover the empty probe, and they’ll know that we’re guarding this end of the anomaly,” Dominique said.
“It serves our purpose to slow their advance,” Kelley replied.
“But they won’t know if the experiment was successful,” Dominique pointed out. “I would think they’d try again, with other prisoners.”
“It’s possible,” Kelley allowed. “We can’t think in terms of what might happen to the Imperium dissidents because of our actions. Our task is to protect the humans in this area of space. This must be until such time as we’ve the forces to confront the Krackus fleet and start a dialog.”
“And after the huge salvo thrown at a single explorer ship, you think that’s still possible?” Dominique queried. Before Kelley could answer, she added, “You have more faith in that Krackus fleet commander than I do.”
Dominique stifled a yawn, and Kelley rose and said, “I’ll let you get some sleep, Captain. There’s much to learn from the Tritiums in the coming days.”
3: Alien Trickery
HELGART PLANET
A KRACKUS SYSTEM
When the probe exited the Helgart end of the vortex, Imperator Gretren, who was in charge of investigating the space-time distortion, chose to stop the Imperium appointees’ argument before it could start.
“When the pursuit ship captures the probe, it will be brought to my peacekeeper,” Gretren stated definitively.
“Imperator, you don’t have the necessary accommodations to handle a probe that’s been exposed to the vortex’s energies,” Imperium Scientist Hobar pointed out.
“The excessive pains we took with the first exploratory probe were necessary,” Imperium Engineer Ragirt amplified. “However, the shielding on the second experiment prevented the hull from absorbing the radiation. The imperator’s crew should not experience any significant exposure, providing the investigators wear suits for long durations within the probe’s environment.”
“Your engineers investigated the second probe before my team had an opportunity to examine its initial recovery,” Hobar retorted. “That information should have been shared with my scientists.”
“It was,” Ragirt replied tersely.
“According to Declinator Korvath, Hobar, the information was in Ragirt’s lengthy document,” Gretren said. “Admittedly, I never made it through either of your reports, but I accept my declinator’s word on these matters. He studies these things like we eat our meals.” The imperator gurgled at his attempt at humor.
When Hobar and Ragirt received word that the pursuit ship had already caught the probe and was returning to the fleet, they scrambled to catch transports from their ships to the imperator’s peacekeeper.
“The Imperium appointees are en route, Imperator,” Korvath said, after receiving a nod from his telemetry officer.
“Of course, they are,” Gretren said. Then quietly, in an aside to Korvath, he added, “They’re like two chicks squabbling over the biggest piece of food. Neither can be seen allowing the other to succeed.”
Korvath could have argued with that summation, but he chose to remain quiet. He saw Hobar as the aggressor and Ragirt as refusing to give way to her imperial demands.
By the time the probe had been deposited in one of the peacekeeper’s enormous bays, the bridge was crowded with engineers, scientists, and officers.
With only a single command chair, Gretren was content to let his visitors stand, while he sat.
The primary and secondary monitors were filled with images from vid cams around the bay and attached to the investigators’ helmets. A portion of the team was medical personnel, who would immediately check the vitals of the Tritiums.
Crew rigged a tunnel of protective shielding around the hatch to prevent exposure of the small aliens to the probe’s residual radiation. It was thought to be an excessive precaution, but medical had insisted.
When the shielding was completed and a gurney readied, the head of the medical team slipped through the tunnel and firmly depressed the hatch, which released it. His helmet cam filled the bridge’s primary monitor.
The hatch was levered aside, and the view hovered on the empty seats.
Korvath briefly gurgled. Then he quickly curtailed his response.
The chorus of voices that erupted on the bridge was interrupted by a shrill whistle. It had come from the ship of Fleet Imperator Deckus.
“A surprising experimental result,” Deckus said. His peacekeeper was in direct alignment with the comm array that had been deployed at the rear of Gretren’s fleet, and his ship had ventured beyond the system’s rim to shorten the comm lag.
“Korvath, was that your gurgle that I heard?” Deckus inquired.
“It was, Imperator Deckus,” Korvath admitted.
“I thought so. I would hear your interpretation of this discovery,” Deckus requested.
Orbs and beaks turned Korvath’s way. Most glances were hostile, which was understandable. The opinions of Imperium appointees and senior scientists and engineers were being set aside by the fleet commander in favor of a ship’s second-in-command.
The only orbs not displaying displeasure were that of Gretren, Ragirt, and the bridge crew.
“The disappearance of the Tritiums seems consistent with SADEs’ actions in this system, Imperator,” Korvath replied.
“More details, Korvath,” Deckus said.
Many of Gretren’s guests were shocked by the fleet commander’s lack of pique in dealing with Korvath. Then again, they’d not heard prior comments by Deckus, who approved of Korvath’s directness.
“After Kreus spoke to the SADEs, he warned us not to fire on their ship,” Korvath replied. “He said that the ship’s passage through our fleet was a test, and he was correct. Afterward, the SADEs offered us proof of their ship’s armament. They wanted the fleet to see the power that even their small ships could generate against an adversary.”
When Korvath paused, thinking he’d offered a fairly complete explanation, Deckus said, “Continue, Korvath.”
“The SADEs operated a scout ship, and they witnessed the presence of our fleet,” Korvath said. “The missing Tritiums are proof of the aliens’ response to our investigations.”
“You believe the aliens are guarding the other end of the vortex,” Deckus surmised.
“Yes, Imperator,” Korvath replied. “They captured the probe the moment it came through the vortex.”
“This decision was taken by the aliens despite knowing that the probe was of similar design to the one fired at them by your ship,” Deckus challenged.
“Imperator Deckus,” Gretren interjected, “we learned that the SADEs were able to commandeer our probe’s systems in an extremely brief period of time. Their investigation of this probe exiting the vortex on their side would have been equally proficient, and they would have concluded there was no danger.”
“So, what did the aliens do with our dissidents?” Deckus asked.
The fleet commander’s tone said he didn’t want cursory conjecture. He wanted to hear best estimations. Unfortunately, no one on Gretren’s bridge wanted to go first. That included Hobar, who whispered with her senior scientists.
“It appears, Korvath, that I must still depend on you. Speak up,” Deckus directed.
Korvath’s neck subtly vibrated, and he stilled it. His recent conversations with Kreus helped him provide the answer to the fleet commander’s question, but he was loath to express it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a better response.
Smothering the desire to sigh, Korvath said, “Imperator Deckus, the aliens liberated the dissidents.”
Deckus’s distinct gurgles stunned the bridge guests, except for Ragirt.
“So, the aliens don’t accept as valid the incarceration of our enemies,” Deckus mused. “I wonder if they have punishment for their own transgressors.”
As the statements sounded rhetorical to Korvath, he chose not to reply.
The same couldn’t be said for Hobar, who saw her opportunity.
“Imperator Deckus, it’s entirely possible that the Tritiums are being held against their will and interrogated to learn Imperium secrets,” Hobar said. She implied that the questioning might be severe.
Again, the audience heard Deckus gurgle, which infuriated Hobar.
Ragirt spotted the tiny vibrations in Hobar’s long neck, and he was secretly ecstatic.
“Hobar, I’ll remind you and everyone on this conference that the aliens have recovered decreed dissidents, not worthy citizens,” Deckus said sternly. “In return for the Tritiums’ rescue, the aliens probably can’t make the little renegades shut up. If the aliens were to push us from this system, Helgart would present them with a treasure trove of information about the Imperium Empire, and they wouldn’t have to threaten a single dissident.”
Deckus waited for more comments. Then he realized that he’d cowed his subordinates. “So much for experiment number three,” he said resignedly. “At this point, we don’t know if the engineers’ shielding effectively protects biological specimens.”
“We do have a second Tritium set,” a scientist offered.
Hobar was so incensed by the stupidity of the proposal that she could have snatched the male’s crest from his head.
“The aliens would only remove that set from the probe,” Ragirt pointed out. “To further our experiments, we must contend with the block that the aliens have placed on the vortex’s far end.”
“Well-said, Ragirt,” Deckus said. “I would hear proposals on how to satisfy that challenge.”
“Imperator Gretren, the fleet commander has left the conference,” the comms officer announced.
“I’ll expect to receive your detailed proposals within two days,” Gretren said, eyeing Ragirt and Hobar. “Declinator Korvath, you have the bridge,” he declared and left for his cabin.
Hobar and her scientists exited the bridge right behind Ragirt and his engineers. On the level where the two groups would separate for their individual transports, Hobar saw Ragirt turn down a different corridor.
“Come,” Kelley said, gesturing with his arms toward the small aliens, who scampered up his hands.
Then Kelley moved swiftly to the cabin a few doors away.
The Tritiums stared forlornly at the oversized accommodations.
“We’re unprepared for guests of your stature,” Kelley said. “I’m here to provide whatever support you need.”
For the next twenty minutes, Kelley saw to the Tritiums’ personal needs. The time might have been shorter, but the diminutive aliens took great pleasure in the refresher.
Kelley watched their dark-brown fur turn tan and gray, as dye drained away.
“What would you say is your age status?” Kelley asked.
“We’re considered elders on our planet,” the trio replied. “By now, we’ve lived about four-fifths of the common lifespan of our race.”
When the Tritium set was blow-dried, they spent some time fluffing their fur. Then they hurriedly dressed.
“Where to now?” the Tritiums inquired.
“Meal room,” Kelley replied, and he extended his arms again.
As Kelley and the triplets passed crew members in the corridors, the Tritiums chorused, “What is the nature of the action presented by those who pass us?”
“The touch to the heart and the tip of the head is a gesture of respect,” Kelley replied.
“But they don’t know us,” the Tritiums objected.
“Why do individuals have to be known to deserve respect?” Kelley asked.
Three small faces gazed at Kelley, and he could sense the energy he now associated with telepathy.
“What is the appropriate response?” the Tritium set inquired.
“A slight bow of the head,” Kelley replied.
A female lieutenant passed Kelley, and she offered the Trident’s guests her respect.
Immediately, the triplets tipped their heads in unison. “The female spoke to us. What did she say?” they inquired.
“She said, ‘Greetings,’” Kelley replied.
“Such consideration,” the Tritiums commented.
Then the foursome entered a meal room, which was sparsely populated as second shift was still on duty.
“Anything I should know about your dietary requirements?” Kelley inquired. He learned that the Tritiums were fairly omnivorous, as long as the protein was cultured.
Engineering had been at work. Three tall stools with small backs were fixed at the head table. Trays on extended legs were attached to the front of the stool seats. It was a rudimentary arrangement, but it would serve.
Kelley sat the Tritiums on the stools. Then he took a seat across the table from them.
“How should we request food?” the Tritiums asked.
“I’ve already ordered several dishes for you,” Kelley replied.
“We didn’t hear you speak?” the trio chorused. “Ah, yes, but you’re a digital entity.”
“I can speak to any crew member, and that individual can speak to me,” Kelley replied.
That began a highly active conversation about the tech possessed by the Tritiums’ hosts.
Food was tested and consumed with minimal interruption in the dialog. The little aliens were anxious to learn about the race who sequestered them.
In the middle of Kelley’s explanation about Jatouche medical technology, his guests yawned. Kelley chuckled because the Tritiums’ small jaws had stretched wide simultaneously.
“Time for sleep,” Kelley offered the Tritiums, and they were content to scramble off their stools and up Kelley’s arms, as he passed behind them.
In the cabin, which had been prepared for the trio, Kelley placed them on a turned-down bed, and the Tritiums burrowed under the top covers. Kelley waited for them to reappear, which they never did. When he exited the cabin, he left the door slightly ajar, allowing the aliens to come and go.
A SADE was posted outside the cabin to manage contact with the Tritium set.
When Kelley arrived in Dominique’s cabin, he found the captain comfortable in sleepwear and a robe.
“Excuse the informal dress, Kelley,” Dominique said. “I wanted to clear some thoughts before sleep. I just didn’t expect the Tritiums to persist in the questioning for so long.”
“It’s their ages,” Kelley remarked. “From details they provided, I would guess they live to be more than two hundred annuals. As elders, they’re fascinated by first contact with us.”
“As am I,” Dominique replied. She sat on the couch and tucked her bare feet under the robe’s end.
“What are your concerns, Captain?” Kelley asked, sitting in the chair opposite her.
“At first, I was worried about the amount of information you shared about our tech,” Dominique said. “Then I realized that the Tritiums had no way of communicating that information to the Krackus.”
“Nothing I shared would have done the Krackus any good, even if they had received the information, Captain,” Kelley said. “To know about a process or a device isn’t the same as being able to create it. The preliminary information supplied by the scouts about Krackus technology suggests that much of their technological development has stagnated.”
Dominique nodded her agreement. She sat stroking the robe’s edge, while she thought. “Don’t you find it reprehensible that the Krackus would send biologicals through the vortex without testing the passage with plants and microbes?” Dominique asked.
“For us, it would be,” Kelley replied. “But I’m reminded of the conditions at Daelon, where the Confederation’s Independents were kept. It was a large, rocky moon. The underground was a warren of poorly maintained tunnels. Those were humans incarcerated by other humans.”
“I see your point,” Dominique mused. “If Kreus is to be believed, the Krackus have subsumed hundreds of races. More than likely, they wouldn’t credit other races’ citizens with the same rights as their own.”
“You should be aware that the SADEs have reached consensus about Kreus,” Kelley said. “Based on the actions at Helgart, we believe the AI to be sentient, and we accept his communications as truthful.”
“I reviewed the conversation with Killian. I found subtle discrepancies in the exchange,” Dominique said. She sat upright and slipped her feet into slippers.
“Those minor inconsistencies do exist,” Kelley agreed. “If it had been a direct conversation among equals, we would have been concerned. However, when you overlay the threat of his status as an entity under Imperium decree, they can easily be understood.”
“You’re saying that Kreus was under duress?” Dominique asked.
“Undoubtedly,” Kelley replied. “We find it revealing that the Krackus gave Kreus permission to talk to entities they would have considered alien intruders. Naturally, Kreus would have carried the onus to report the details of his conversation.”
“Then Kreus was walking a fine line,” Dominique surmised.
“Precisely,” Kelley replied.
Dominique returned to her previous position on the couch to put her thoughts in order.
Kelley sat silently for the captain to generate her questions. They would be the ones that had occurred to him within a few minutes after discovering the Tritiums. His father, Mickey Brandon, had stressed to him many times that he had an important choice, and that choice would have to be made every cycle of his life. To understand biologicals, he would have to decide to be patient.
“It’s the primary difference between the SADEs and every other sentient digital entity we’ve encountered,” Mickey had told Kelley. “Artifice, Faustus, the militarist sect, and others have not had the patience to wait for biologicals to assimilate information at their own rate.”
Kelley discovered early that the best way to wait quietly for the conversation to resume was to focus on other subjects that needed his attention.
When Dominique lifted her head, Kelley focused on her eyes.
“The Krackus will discover the empty probe, and they’ll know that we’re guarding this end of the anomaly,” Dominique said.
“It serves our purpose to slow their advance,” Kelley replied.
“But they won’t know if the experiment was successful,” Dominique pointed out. “I would think they’d try again, with other prisoners.”
“It’s possible,” Kelley allowed. “We can’t think in terms of what might happen to the Imperium dissidents because of our actions. Our task is to protect the humans in this area of space. This must be until such time as we’ve the forces to confront the Krackus fleet and start a dialog.”
“And after the huge salvo thrown at a single explorer ship, you think that’s still possible?” Dominique queried. Before Kelley could answer, she added, “You have more faith in that Krackus fleet commander than I do.”
Dominique stifled a yawn, and Kelley rose and said, “I’ll let you get some sleep, Captain. There’s much to learn from the Tritiums in the coming days.”
3: Alien Trickery
HELGART PLANET
A KRACKUS SYSTEM
When the probe exited the Helgart end of the vortex, Imperator Gretren, who was in charge of investigating the space-time distortion, chose to stop the Imperium appointees’ argument before it could start.
“When the pursuit ship captures the probe, it will be brought to my peacekeeper,” Gretren stated definitively.
“Imperator, you don’t have the necessary accommodations to handle a probe that’s been exposed to the vortex’s energies,” Imperium Scientist Hobar pointed out.
“The excessive pains we took with the first exploratory probe were necessary,” Imperium Engineer Ragirt amplified. “However, the shielding on the second experiment prevented the hull from absorbing the radiation. The imperator’s crew should not experience any significant exposure, providing the investigators wear suits for long durations within the probe’s environment.”
“Your engineers investigated the second probe before my team had an opportunity to examine its initial recovery,” Hobar retorted. “That information should have been shared with my scientists.”
“It was,” Ragirt replied tersely.
“According to Declinator Korvath, Hobar, the information was in Ragirt’s lengthy document,” Gretren said. “Admittedly, I never made it through either of your reports, but I accept my declinator’s word on these matters. He studies these things like we eat our meals.” The imperator gurgled at his attempt at humor.
When Hobar and Ragirt received word that the pursuit ship had already caught the probe and was returning to the fleet, they scrambled to catch transports from their ships to the imperator’s peacekeeper.
“The Imperium appointees are en route, Imperator,” Korvath said, after receiving a nod from his telemetry officer.
“Of course, they are,” Gretren said. Then quietly, in an aside to Korvath, he added, “They’re like two chicks squabbling over the biggest piece of food. Neither can be seen allowing the other to succeed.”
Korvath could have argued with that summation, but he chose to remain quiet. He saw Hobar as the aggressor and Ragirt as refusing to give way to her imperial demands.
By the time the probe had been deposited in one of the peacekeeper’s enormous bays, the bridge was crowded with engineers, scientists, and officers.
With only a single command chair, Gretren was content to let his visitors stand, while he sat.
The primary and secondary monitors were filled with images from vid cams around the bay and attached to the investigators’ helmets. A portion of the team was medical personnel, who would immediately check the vitals of the Tritiums.
Crew rigged a tunnel of protective shielding around the hatch to prevent exposure of the small aliens to the probe’s residual radiation. It was thought to be an excessive precaution, but medical had insisted.
When the shielding was completed and a gurney readied, the head of the medical team slipped through the tunnel and firmly depressed the hatch, which released it. His helmet cam filled the bridge’s primary monitor.
The hatch was levered aside, and the view hovered on the empty seats.
Korvath briefly gurgled. Then he quickly curtailed his response.
The chorus of voices that erupted on the bridge was interrupted by a shrill whistle. It had come from the ship of Fleet Imperator Deckus.
“A surprising experimental result,” Deckus said. His peacekeeper was in direct alignment with the comm array that had been deployed at the rear of Gretren’s fleet, and his ship had ventured beyond the system’s rim to shorten the comm lag.
“Korvath, was that your gurgle that I heard?” Deckus inquired.
“It was, Imperator Deckus,” Korvath admitted.
“I thought so. I would hear your interpretation of this discovery,” Deckus requested.
Orbs and beaks turned Korvath’s way. Most glances were hostile, which was understandable. The opinions of Imperium appointees and senior scientists and engineers were being set aside by the fleet commander in favor of a ship’s second-in-command.
The only orbs not displaying displeasure were that of Gretren, Ragirt, and the bridge crew.
“The disappearance of the Tritiums seems consistent with SADEs’ actions in this system, Imperator,” Korvath replied.
“More details, Korvath,” Deckus said.
Many of Gretren’s guests were shocked by the fleet commander’s lack of pique in dealing with Korvath. Then again, they’d not heard prior comments by Deckus, who approved of Korvath’s directness.
“After Kreus spoke to the SADEs, he warned us not to fire on their ship,” Korvath replied. “He said that the ship’s passage through our fleet was a test, and he was correct. Afterward, the SADEs offered us proof of their ship’s armament. They wanted the fleet to see the power that even their small ships could generate against an adversary.”
When Korvath paused, thinking he’d offered a fairly complete explanation, Deckus said, “Continue, Korvath.”
“The SADEs operated a scout ship, and they witnessed the presence of our fleet,” Korvath said. “The missing Tritiums are proof of the aliens’ response to our investigations.”
“You believe the aliens are guarding the other end of the vortex,” Deckus surmised.
“Yes, Imperator,” Korvath replied. “They captured the probe the moment it came through the vortex.”
“This decision was taken by the aliens despite knowing that the probe was of similar design to the one fired at them by your ship,” Deckus challenged.
“Imperator Deckus,” Gretren interjected, “we learned that the SADEs were able to commandeer our probe’s systems in an extremely brief period of time. Their investigation of this probe exiting the vortex on their side would have been equally proficient, and they would have concluded there was no danger.”
“So, what did the aliens do with our dissidents?” Deckus asked.
The fleet commander’s tone said he didn’t want cursory conjecture. He wanted to hear best estimations. Unfortunately, no one on Gretren’s bridge wanted to go first. That included Hobar, who whispered with her senior scientists.
“It appears, Korvath, that I must still depend on you. Speak up,” Deckus directed.
Korvath’s neck subtly vibrated, and he stilled it. His recent conversations with Kreus helped him provide the answer to the fleet commander’s question, but he was loath to express it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a better response.
Smothering the desire to sigh, Korvath said, “Imperator Deckus, the aliens liberated the dissidents.”
Deckus’s distinct gurgles stunned the bridge guests, except for Ragirt.
“So, the aliens don’t accept as valid the incarceration of our enemies,” Deckus mused. “I wonder if they have punishment for their own transgressors.”
As the statements sounded rhetorical to Korvath, he chose not to reply.
The same couldn’t be said for Hobar, who saw her opportunity.
“Imperator Deckus, it’s entirely possible that the Tritiums are being held against their will and interrogated to learn Imperium secrets,” Hobar said. She implied that the questioning might be severe.
Again, the audience heard Deckus gurgle, which infuriated Hobar.
Ragirt spotted the tiny vibrations in Hobar’s long neck, and he was secretly ecstatic.
“Hobar, I’ll remind you and everyone on this conference that the aliens have recovered decreed dissidents, not worthy citizens,” Deckus said sternly. “In return for the Tritiums’ rescue, the aliens probably can’t make the little renegades shut up. If the aliens were to push us from this system, Helgart would present them with a treasure trove of information about the Imperium Empire, and they wouldn’t have to threaten a single dissident.”
Deckus waited for more comments. Then he realized that he’d cowed his subordinates. “So much for experiment number three,” he said resignedly. “At this point, we don’t know if the engineers’ shielding effectively protects biological specimens.”
“We do have a second Tritium set,” a scientist offered.
Hobar was so incensed by the stupidity of the proposal that she could have snatched the male’s crest from his head.
“The aliens would only remove that set from the probe,” Ragirt pointed out. “To further our experiments, we must contend with the block that the aliens have placed on the vortex’s far end.”
“Well-said, Ragirt,” Deckus said. “I would hear proposals on how to satisfy that challenge.”
“Imperator Gretren, the fleet commander has left the conference,” the comms officer announced.
“I’ll expect to receive your detailed proposals within two days,” Gretren said, eyeing Ragirt and Hobar. “Declinator Korvath, you have the bridge,” he declared and left for his cabin.
Hobar and her scientists exited the bridge right behind Ragirt and his engineers. On the level where the two groups would separate for their individual transports, Hobar saw Ragirt turn down a different corridor.
