“I’m not sure. They came from the Chessori military, but I get the feeling they do things a lot differently on their own ships. I’m not certain they even have nets. The Chessori here have little interest in ours.”
“Hmm. Did you know they communicate mind to mind?”
“I did not! That might explain a few things. Being in the net with them is real… odd.”
“You’ve been in the net with them?”
“I have. I’m one of three that has to be in the net all the time.”
“What are they like?”
“Distant. I don’t sense their thoughts the same way I do others, and I get the impression they aren’t sensing mine, either. Whether it’s by choice or design, I don’t know, but it’s been to our benefit, and I haven’t pushed for it to improve. They communicate well between themselves, though.”
“They’re on all your ships?”
“They are.”
“Could you reassign all of them to your cruiser, or maybe the frigate?”
“Not without attracting a lot of attention. I don’t know what you have in mind, but such a move would definitely put them on alert.”
“Maybe you could try a new training regimen. What would happen if you pulled all your men from the frigate and gave it to the Chessori? Just to see how they’d do, you know?”
Zygtta looked at him like he was crazy. “I think you’d better explain, sir.”
“I can’t just yet. Would they go for it?”
“I don’t know! Probably not. We’re not training them to do everything aboard the ships, only to pilot them and to use the guns. It would strike them as quite odd if we left them alone in a ship without all the administration, maintenance, and services they’re accustomed to. I guess I could run it by their senior representative and find out.”
“No, don’t. We have another plan, but I don’t want to give you details yet. One thing that I can tell you is that you need another pilot. Will you let me provide one?”
“This is all very strange, sir.”
“I know, and it might not come to pass. I’m guessing at Korban’s plan, and I hate having to guess, but if you get orders to change places with the ships near the planet, will you let me know?”
Zygtta stared at him for a time. “I’d like to run this by Korban, sir.”
“By all means. Just be discreet. I promise you that if the Chessori discover his master plan or mine, Section 68, paragraph 13 is the likely outcome.”
Korban had four squadrons in port, and though three of them were riddled with Chessori, each was commanded by an individual loyal to him. For that reason, the governor hesitated to dismiss him outright.
Teams of Reba’s Raiders boarded each of the three squadrons, one team led by Reba, one by Val, and the last by Waverly himself. With minimal language abilities, this last group would operate under the greatest disadvantage prior to any fighting. Once the fighting began, and if the Chessori reacted as anticipated, the groups would not need to communicate with anyone besides themselves. The scree would take out everyone but the Terrans and Chessori. Val, too, would be out of the picture. Before then, he would have to secure the bridge.
Reba’s group went first, followed shortly thereafter by the other two teams, each squadron heading out in a different direction from Orion III for what was supposed to be a brief training mission. Three days out from Orion III, she, Korban’s man Vidor, and three Raiders met briefly with the squadron commander in his private quarters aboard the cruiser. Reba pinned her Knights Pins on her collar, then they all proceeded to the bridge. The captain was astonished when she ordered him and his men to stand down. The squadron commander explained the program to the captain who immediately added her name to the short list of officers required to be in the net to prevent the AI from starting the self-destruct countdown. Reba and the captain went into the net together and detailed crewmembers to escort the Terrans to their appointed positions within the ship, then the captain withdrew, leaving the net to Reba.
She was monitoring progress throughout the ship when the scree sounded in earnest. Her body spasmed out of control, and she lurched from her seat to the deck. A deep burning sensation obliterated all conscious thought. Seconds passed as her Rider withdrew into her right leg.
When awareness returned, her heart pounded as if she’d just run a marathon. Her right leg remained on fire, but Celine had somehow managed to withdraw from the rest of her body. Gasping for breath, she raised herself to all fours, then clawed her way back to her seat.
She plugged back into the net, but the net refused to accept her. Suspecting why, she withdrew and focused all of her thoughts on the searing pain in her leg. In time, she brought that pain into focus, then under control. When she attempted to rejoin the net, it accepted her.
Critical minutes had passed. She focused on Engineering first, discovering her men meeting little resistance there. The squad in Weapons was having a harder time and several were down, but their commander soon reported the area secure. Fighting in the Communications area and the Chessori’s quarters had turned into pitched battles.
To her horror, she discovered the Chessori killing not just the Terran attackers but the helpless Empire crewmen stumbling about or writhing in pain on the decks.
The Chessori had evidently planned for serious fighting, because they drew heavy weapons from concealment about their stations and fought brilliantly. Reba’s teams were only lightly armed, anticipating only minor resistance after executing a lightning quick attack. She detailed several squad members securing the Weapons section to make their way to the armory and distribute all the heavy weapons they could find. She carefully monitored their progress to make certain they were not ambushed by Chessori – she definitely did not want these weapons to fall into the wrong hands.
The excruciating pain in her leg made concentration a real struggle, and the net did not like it. She felt as if she was running through sand as her mind shifted from sensor to sensor throughout the ship. Her mind, normally sharp and focused, was confusing the net, burdening it with sensations of pain it was not designed to filter out. How had Mike done it, she wondered? He had barely missed a step. Her own mind had become something that needed to be managed, a task as important to her job as was managing the ship. She stopped what she was doing and focused on herself again, focusing on the fire in her leg, examining it and corralling it, forcing it into a smaller corner of her consciousness. When she sent her mind back out into the net, she did so with more confidence and focus. The net responded instantly.
While concentrating on guiding her men, she neglected to keep an eye on the corridors leading to the bridge. Without warning, several grenades rolled through the open hatch. One of Reba’s guards, Sergeant Durham, calmly tossed one of the grenades back out into the corridor, then jerked Reba from her console, threw her to the deck, and covered her body with his own. She was barely aware of the explosions, still trying to return to normal awareness after being jerked from the net without warning. She became aware of blaster fire from beside herself, but she couldn’t move with Sergeant Durham’s heavy weight pinning her to the deck.
She managed to crawl out from under him and drew her weapon, but there was no one to shoot at. A small, white head peered around the hatch but ducked back quickly as Durham fired. He continued firing as he crawled to the hatch entrance. Reba stayed close behind him, crawling over bodies of the bridge crew.
Durham stopped firing and stood up, motioning her to hold her fire and remain clear of the hatch. When a Chessori head peered around the hatch once more at floor level, he blasted it from above, then leaned out into the corridor and loosed more shots. He disappeared into the corridor for long seconds, and Reba heard more shooting.
She rose up unsteadily and leaned against the wall, her hand ready to punch the door closed. She glanced around the hatchway, saw a scorched corridor with several Chessori bodies, then Sergeant Durham returned, limping badly. In addition to a torn up leg, the skin on his right arm and the back of his head appeared shredded.