You’ve attacked allied ships, I sent to the Nano ships. That was an error.
“No allied ships were attacked.”
You destroyed one of my ships with a pilot from Earth. You killed my pilot. Attacking one’s allies is an error.
“Definitional threshold failure: We do not recognize your status as allies.”
You came to our system. You helped us drive out the Macros. We account you as allies in return for this aid. What is your current mission? We will help you in return.
The next response took longer than usual to come back. I knew Alamo’s brainbox was running hot.
“Your offer of assistance can’t be accepted at this level.”
Ask your command personnel.
“This ship currently has no command personnel.”
What about the Crustaceans? Don’t you have them aboard?
“Test subjects are aboard, but no command personnel.”
Suddenly, I found myself catching on. The Nano ships had gone rogue again. They’d left the lobsters high and dry, just the way they’d abandoned Earth long ago. I muted the link for a moment so I could talk to Miklos. We spoke in hushed voices, even though it wasn’t necessary.
“What’s going on, Colonel? I don’t understand their attitude.”
I stared at him, thinking hard. “The Nano ships have gone AWOL. They did it to Earth years back, after the initial invasion by the Macros was thwarted and a deal hammered out. Maybe the Crustaceans made a deal with the Macros we don’t know about. Or maybe, there wasn’t any threat in the system for a while, so the Nano ships moved on to another target.”
“But why Eden-12?”
I smiled. “That part seems clear to me. They are protecting the Blues. They’ve already marked us down as safe, and given up on the Centaurs. They are protecting the Blues.”
“From us?” Miklos asked.
“What do you mean?”
“They blew up our mining ships.”
“Ah, yes. But maybe they’d didn’t know who owned them. Or maybe they are in defensive mode and will attack anyone who molests that planet.”
“That would explain why they haven’t pressed their numerical advantage. They are in a defensive posture.”
I thought it over. “They can’t really move on the Macros or us, as the other side might hit the exposed planet. Either that, or they aren’t sure who their real enemy is.”
“There’s another odd thing about this discussion with the Nanos,” Miklos said. “They said our offer of assistance can’t be accepted at this level. So the question is: who or what is at a higher level?”
I nodded and held up my hand for quiet. I opened the channel again. Alamo, we need to make a request at a higher level. How do we do that?
“The protocol is complex,” the ship said. “Visitors must show humility, and demonstrate their harmless natures. This requires a given visitor to come alone.”
I squinted at the screen, rereading the transcripts. Visitors? Who had said anything about visiting anyone?
Miklos was waving for my attention. I muted the translation system and looked at him.
“The Blues, sir,” he said. “They must be talking about visiting the Blues.”
I rubbed my face, wondering if he could be right. I took an immediate dislike to the idea. Visiting a bizarre race of cloud-people on a gas giant? Alone? What kind of sorry bastard would do something so crazy?
I knew the answer to my own question, of course, and I didn’t like it.
— 28
I spent a long night in the command center on Actium, which ended with me slumped over the screens. When I finally headed to my bunk, it seemed like my head had only just hit the foam when a chime went off in my darkened chamber.
“What is it now? Are they hitting us?”
“No, sir-but we have a new contact.”
I groaned and climbed out of my bunk. I was talking to a voice in the ceiling-a voice with an Eastern European accent.
“You sound a little like Dracula. Has anyone ever told you that, Miklos?”
“No, sir.”
“Well, let’s just say your voice is not the best to wake up to. What is this new contact?”
“An Earth ship, sir. It’s arrived at the Helios ring. They want to talk to you.”
I groaned aloud. Crow had finally sent someone out to check up on me. I’d been expecting this, but I’d hoped it would all go away somehow. Now, they were finally here. I hoped it wasn’t Commodore Decker again. I couldn’t stand the man.
“I’ll be on the command deck in eight minutes.”
I was ten minutes late, but I wasn’t counting. In that short amount of time, I’d taken a shower and munched on some artificial bacon. It was discolored and tasted like someone had applied a layer salt and grease to corn husks. No one dared question the origins of this kind of food. We didn’t want to know how they made bacon out here. We all knew that finding out what it really was wouldn’t make it taste any better.
My first shock of the day was the newly arrived ship itself. The image swam onto the central screen. It was big-bigger than one of our destroyers, but smaller than a Macro cruiser. I stared at it, admiring the sleek lines. The vessel’s shape was uniquely contoured and reminded me vaguely of a spoon. It had a rounded prow, with armament in the form of a six-gun battery arranged around that curved nose. Three engines were arranged in a tripod formation at the stern.
“What the hell is that?” I asked.
“We’re calling it a light cruiser, sir,” Miklos answered. “It’s a new Star Force hull-the ship is definitely a friendly. It has a displacement of about four thousand tons, nearly half that of a Macro cruiser.”
I frowned at it. The ship didn’t look terribly friendly. The fact the design was unknown to me filled me with unease. What was going on back home? The trouble with these long campaigns was I inevitably became disconnected with events on Earth.
“It looks fast,” I said reaching out to zoom in on the three engines with my fingers. “Crow’s getting better at design.”
“You think he did this by himself?”
“No, he definitely had help from other military organizations,” I said. I straightened and heaved a sigh. “He obviously sent this ship to impress me. Unfortunately, he’s succeeded. Patch me through to the commander. Let’s do this.”
When I stepped up to the communications screen, I received another shock. It wasn’t Commodore Decker’s gnarled face that looked back at me. It was Jasmine Sarin’s.
“Well, hello Major!” I said. “It’s good to see you again. What brings you so far from Earth?”
Jasmine cleared her throat. To me, she looked slightly nervous, but determined.
“Colonel Riggs,” she began.
My heart sank as I heard her tone of voice. I could tell she was going to give me a lecture.
“I’ve come from Star Force to relay new instructions. You are to make an immediate withdrawal from the Eden system. Your ships are required for the defense of Earth.”
I frowned up at her. “Are we under some kind of attack at home?”
“No Colonel, not at this time.”
“Then please come to my command ship. We need to talk this over. In the meantime, you should scan the system. It is full of alien ships, and they aren’t friendly.”
“We have already done so, Colonel. The orders stand.”
My frown deepened. She was calling me ‘Colonel’ not ‘sir’, and she was trying to pass an order on to me from Crow-one which I didn’t want to hear. She wasn’t even willing to talk about it in private. My neck felt hot, and I knew a shouting session was near. Around me, my command staff shuffled, tapped at screens, and generally pretended not to be hanging on every word.
“Major-” I began.
“I’m sorry Colonel, but that is no longer my rank.”
I stared at her in surprise.
“I’m a Rear Admiral now-I’ve gone Fleet.”
My jaw jutted in annoyance. I knew that was her new rank, of course. Forgetting about it was my way of reminding her who she used to be-my exec. Now I felt betrayed, but I tried not to let it show in my eyes. I think I failed, as Sarin looked even more stressed than before.