Skolian Empire: The Radiant Seas Part 21

12.

The ISC Destrier rode through s.p.a.ce. The destroyer carried an array of weapons: Annihilators, tau cannons, Impactors, Dusters, lighter artillery. A flotilla escorted it, eight Wasp corvettes, four Cobra frigates, four Leo dreadnoughts, and eight Jag starfighters. Humans crewed ten of the s.h.i.+ps and Evolving Intelligence computers commanded the rest.

The s.h.i.+ps all inverted in formation, circ.u.mventing the speed of light by adding imaginary components to their velocities. They thus avoided the light speed singularity, where ma.s.s became infinite compared to slower objects, length shrank to nothing, and time stopped. Light speed blocked sublight s.h.i.+ps from the superluminal universe the way an infinitely tall tree blocked a road. So the flotilla left the road and went around the tree.

Faster-than-light travel did allow s.h.i.+ps to travel pastward relative to the sublight universe, but it made a poor time machine. s.h.i.+ps going that fast ended up a long way from home by the time they reached their destination in the past, and coming back in s.p.a.ce also sent them to yet another time. The paradoxes about a pilot going back to stop his own birth turned out to be red herrings. The Lorentz transformations of special relativity linked all reference frames; an event in one frame had to be consistent with observations of it in every frame, as specified by the equations. That included everything in the pilot's rest frame. If his current self had killed his earlier self, he would have already experienced it.

As it turned out, s.h.i.+ps that tried to reenter normal s.p.a.ce earlier than when they left it either failed or vanished, perhaps into an alternate universe where they couldn't tamper with their time line. Within the superluminal universe, however, a s.h.i.+p could go pastward or futureward. It played havoc with communications. A fleet that inverted in formation came out of superluminal s.p.a.ce with its s.h.i.+ps spread out in both s.p.a.ce and time.

Enter the web.

Before Destrier inverted, its telops linked to the psiber-web. It let them communicate in superluminal s.p.a.ce, making it possible for the flotilla to reenter normal s.p.a.ce in perfect formation. Shrouds hid the s.h.i.+ps; films on their hulls created illusory star fields, scramblers deceived electromagnetic probes, and shadow generators confused neutrino probes. Moving at constant speed, using thrusters only to correct course, and communicating only through telops, they sailed on, silent and invisible.

Althor Valdoria sat in the command chair suspended in the stardome above Destrier's bridge. The officers below worked at consoles, running checks. It was standard procedure to drop into normal s.p.a.ce during long voyages and clean up errors that had acc.u.mulated during superluminal travel.

Incoming message via the web, Destrier thought.

Receive, Althor answered. The message downloaded into his spinal node, a note from Kurj at Skyhammer verifying a change in training maneuvers Althor would conduct at Onyx.

A warning entered his mind: J frigate emerging from inversion, starboard. Q frigate to port.

Stats on the s.h.i.+ps poured into Basalt, Althor's primary spinal node. A second later a voice on the comm in his ear said, "Q frigate to port and J frigate to starboard."

Althor spoke into the microphone that extended to his mouth. "Web chatter on Node 11." It identified the channel that would print a log of the flotilla's psiberweb communications, for crew members who couldn't access psibers.p.a.ce.

Prime Annihilators, Althor thought.

Primed, Destrier answered.

"Node 11 active." That came over his ear comm, verifying that the Prime Annihilators command had appeared on the computer log. Destrier identified the speaker as Major Hooklore, Althor's first officer.

Althor's communication with the Destrier's EI brain took only a fraction of a second. It went by so fast his mind perceived the communication as numbers and verbal symbols rather than as full words. The log of the entire exchange appeared to flash into existence all at once on Node 11: Tau cannons loaded, Destrier thought. Dusters primed.

Backup 6, Althor thought.

Impactors primed as backup.

Fire pattern G8 now.

Annihilators fired.

An accelerated beam of antiprotons hurtled through Destrier's focusing chambers, picking up positrons, and shot into s.p.a.ce, seeking matter to annihilate. Both Destrier and the J were traveling close to light speed, so Destrier aimed for the expected intersection of its beam with the frigate's path rather than at the frigate itself. Beam weapons were easier to evade than missiles, but made a better offense against quasis s.h.i.+elds. A s.h.i.+p in quasis couldn't change its quantum state, not even by one particle, so ideally weapons fire couldn't affect it. But quasis collapsed after a few hits, and annihilating matter in quasis was easier than exploding it with missiles.

Annihilator hit on J, Destrier thought. No damage. Then: Impactor hit on ISC Wasp One.

The J frigate fired its Annihilator at Destrier- Quasis jump, Destrier thought. Annihilator hit on deck 47. To s.h.i.+eld against the hit, Destrier had gone into quasis for two seconds. To Althor, it seemed as if no time elapsed; hence the "jump."

Damage report, he thought.

Basalt linked him to Destrier's EI brain, which linked then to picowebs in other s.h.i.+ps, all at light speed. With a direct connection to his brain, the simulation provided sensory input so authentic it felt real. He moved alongside a Wasp and touched its hull, rubbing its pitted surface.

Wasp One, he thought. Report. It was one of his crewed s.h.i.+ps.

Fine, Commander, its telop answered. We lost an inversion engine, but we've two left. Releasing abdomen. His human thoughts had more life and character to them than the communications from the EI brains in the s.h.i.+ps, but he came across with less power than did Althor, who wielded the mental force of a Rhon psion.

Barely more than two seconds after the frigate attacked, the Wasp's abdomen hurtled after the fleeing J at relativistic speed. It caught the frigate and drilled through its buckling quasis fields. Then its Klein bottle collapsed and its antimatter plasma exploded outward, taking the frigate with it. Debris hurtled in all directions. The J's fuel bottles collapsed and pieces of the s.h.i.+p vanished with the bizarre gulped-away effect of real matter sucked into complex s.p.a.ce.

J frigate destroyed, Destrier thought. During the explosion, Destrier had gone into quasis for one second.

Don't destroy the Q, Althor thought. Capture it. He wanted to know how the h.e.l.l the frigates had found them.

Annihilators fired- Quasis jump, Destrier thought. Q frigate damaged.

Both the Q and Destrier came out of quasis in the same instant-and rather than be captured, the crippled frigate blew itself up in a blast of silent energy.

Quasis jump, Destrier thought. Q frigate destroyed.

Althor swore. Now he would never know how the frigates had found them. They may have been pirates who happened upon the flotilla and had the bad judgment to attack. But if a breach in ISC security had occurred, they could be part of a larger ESComm force. Without a web to coordinate reentry into real s.p.a.ce, the ESComm s.h.i.+ps would be spread out in time and s.p.a.ce-which meant more could be coming.

Prepare to invert, Althor thought. Randomize course. Once they inverted into superluminal s.p.a.ce, they would be almost impossible to locate, particularly by ESComm s.h.i.+ps with no psiberweb access. As the flotilla accelerated toward the speed needed to invert, Althor thought, All s.h.i.+ps: damage and status reports.

Data poured into his mind. The quasis s.h.i.+elds had provided more than physical protection during the battle; they also s.h.i.+elded the telops, who otherwise experienced the deaths of their enemies as their own. Military telops learned to block their empathic reception, but if they muted it too much they ceased to function as telops. However, in quasis nothing could change quantum state, including neurons, which meant telops could neither think nor receive thoughts. Quasis thus protected them, indeed, was vital to their survival. A crucial balance existed: if a s.h.i.+p came out of quasis too soon its telops suffered, but if it stayed too long it became easy prey for ESComm s.h.i.+ps, which could come out of quasis earlier, having no empaths to temper their l.u.s.t for death.

Jag starfighters were the swiftest, most maneuverable ISC s.h.i.+ps, with the most weaponry per cubic centimeter. Jagernauts, the Jag pilots, became part of their s.h.i.+ps in both mind and body. That symbiosis created a weapon of unsurpa.s.sed versatility, which was why Jags were a.s.signed to protect the other s.h.i.+ps and came out of quasis first. However, it also required Jagernauts be strong psions. They were chosen for their ability to endure empathic backlash as well as for their military expertise.

Crewed frigates and Wasps carried telops with low Kyle ratings, making them less vulnerable to backlash. They usually came out of quasis right after the Jags, followed by the bigger s.h.i.+ps. It was only a few seconds' difference, but in battles fought at relativistic speeds by computers, a few seconds could be eternity.

In Althor's case, it became even more crucial. As commander of the flotilla he formed its central node and made full use of his immense Rhon capacity. His training and biomech web gave him formidable defenses against telepathic backlash, but the potential for damage remained.

As the smaller flotilla s.h.i.+ps reached inversion speed, Althor thought, Activate inversion engines- Quasis jump, Destrier thought. A flood of data followed: ESComm Wasps incoming- Quasis jump.

Four ESComm frigates to starboard. Coordinates- Quasis jump.

Two ESComm destroyers to port.

Quasis jump.

Dreadnought to port-Oh, h.e.l.l. That last from a dismayed telop. Firestorm battle cruiser to starboard.

Althor swore. Given the lack of cohesion suffered by ESComm forces during reentry into normal s.p.a.ce, the appearance of this many Trader s.h.i.+ps at once implied a much larger total fleet, one that far outnumbered the flotilla. Had the trader s.h.i.+ps burst out of inversion just seconds later, his flotilla would have already escaped into superluminal s.p.a.ce.

Fire Impactors, Althor thought.

Firing, Destrier thought.

More ESComm s.h.i.+ps appeared, firing as they hurtled past the flotilla. The entire battle moved almost at light speed, in an eerie realm where s.h.i.+ps moving at different relative velocities contracted as they raced past each other like relativistic knights jousting with high-energy lances. At such velocities, differences in speed caused time dilation to play havoc with firing times. The smaller s.h.i.+ps, which could accelerate more easily, attacked and then inverted into superluminal s.p.a.ce, using quasis to protect them from the crus.h.i.+ng accelerations while they came around for a second try. The ESComm s.h.i.+ps cut down isolated ISC craft, herding the flotilla into a wedge as it shot through s.p.a.ce. The constant barrage forced the Destrier into continual quasis jumps and so prevented it from reaching inversion speed.

Warning, Basalt thought. Althor, your body is sustaining damage at a rate beyond the capacity of your biomech web to repair.

Nausea gripped Althor. If his environment underwent drastic changes while he was in quasis-such as his s.h.i.+p exploding-then when he came out of it, the new forces could tear him apart. The changes weren't that extreme, yet, but Destrier was dropping in and out of quasis too fast. His command chair released a coc.o.o.n of foam to protect him against the buffeting, but it wasn't enough.

Fire tau missiles, he thought.

Fired.

Miniature stars.h.i.+ps themselves, the six taus flashed in and out of quasis, unhampered by the need to protect a crew. Five hit their targets, turning their immense kinetic energy into explosions, along with their warheads. The sixth inverted into superluminal s.p.a.ce, its path controlled by a telop on Destrier who was linked to the tau's EI brain. The tau punched a hole into real s.p.a.ce, coming out right "on top" an ESComm Wasp, and the resulting explosion sucked both tau and Wasp out of real s.p.a.ce.

Quasis jump, Destrier thought.

Althor's vision blurred. But his starscape remained clear, and he saw a weak spot in the Trader formation. It was an intuitive judgment on his part, one Destrier wouldn't have made, but as soon as his mind formed the idea, Destrier calculated the firing pattern and sent smart missiles rocketing at the weak- Quasis j- Quasis jum- Quasis jump, Destrier thought a third time.

Althor swallowed his bile, hit by both telepathic and quasis backlash. Death reverberated around him. The flotilla's human component numbered fifty-eight: thirty on the destroyer, one each on the eight Jags, and twenty others spread throughout the other s.h.i.+ps. Even without the incoming data, he would have known that over half his people had died; their deaths tore through his mind in an agony of silent screams.

He recognized the ESComm strategy. Extract and eliminate: pull out the desired prisoner and kill everyone else. The Halstaad Code of War had established rules for taking prisoners, but ESComm found them inconvenient. Althor had no intention of surrendering anyway. If any of his telops survived, they would be interrogated and then sold as providers. According to Destrier's files, every telop in the flotilla had gone on record as preferring death to capture. ESComm would execute the rest of his people. Except for slaves of great rarity, such as providers, the Traders had no intention of letting ISC warriors contaminate the slave populations they had manipulated, coerced, and brainwashed into submission.

Quasis jump. Destrier thought.

Althor saw another opening, one Destrier had ignored in favor of better targets. In response to his s.h.i.+ft in concentration, Destrier made the necessary calculations.

Firing, it thought. Smart-dust rolled out from the cruiser and entered the bores of tau cannons on three ESComm frigates. The few seconds the dust was active coincided with the moment all three frigates fired their cannons. Attacked by the microwarheads within the dust, the tau missiles detonated inside their bores- Quasis jump, Destrier thought.

Althor struggled to focus on his disintegrating starscape. All three frigates had exploded. He gave a ragged laugh, realizing his hyperextended Rhon awareness had given him a hint that the commanders on the frigates intended to fire in synchronization an instant before they did it.

Quasis jump, Destrier thought.

Althor groaned with the strain on his body. Basalt tried to activate his hydraulics to support him, but they no longer responded. He hung onto consciousness, refusing to give in to the encroaching darkness.

Quasis jump, Destrier thought. Decks 6 and 29 destroyed.

Major Hooklore, Althor thought. No answer came from his first officer. The flotilla was nothing but debris, the jagged pieces moving at near light speed. Only Destrier's bridge remained intact, leaving little doubt ESComm knew who was...o...b..ard.

Althor wet his lips. Destrier, initiate self-destruct macro 1101. He transmitted the secured codes. He would never have wanted to end this way, but it was better than becoming an ESComm prisoner.

After a pause, Destrier thought, ESComm has inserted quasis generators into my hull. Apparently they put the generators in some of their tau missiles, instead of warheads. When the taus. .h.i.t, they deposited the generators, which then produced rogue quasis fields. Those fields are interfering with my self-destruct by freezing key systems.

What the h.e.l.l? Althor had never heard of the technique. It seemed impossible. How had ESComm kept the taus from destroying themselves and their targets on impact? Swallowing, he thought, Basalt, engage my internal self-destruct.

Engaged, Basalt answered.

Destrier, Althor thought. Crash any of your remaining web nodes and erase any files that haven't already been destroyed.

Working. Destrier's response crackled with static. Its next thought came faint and garbled: I am being boarded.

Slam your hatches on them. Closed with enough force, the hatches could slow an armored warrior and cut an unarmored invader in two. It was like trying to stop a flood with a bucket, but it was better than nothing. Looking over the bridge below, where his people lay dead in their chairs, he gritted his teeth. Open and slam them as fast as you can.

Done ... Even dying, Destrier continued to fight, like a drum in his mind, keeping time with the pulse in his body.

Basalt, he thought. Why aren't I dead?

The self-destruct toggle in your biomech web is inactive.

No! How?

0.0056 seconds before you gave the self-destruct order, you went into quasis. I calculate a 98% probability it was produced by ESComm generators and used to sabotage your self-destruct.

A chill went up his back. Kill me. I don't care how you do it. Just do it. They're almost here.

The quasis is blocking my systems.

Althor fought the protective coc.o.o.n around his body until he pulled free. He grabbed a section of the chair arm and yanked with normal strength, unable to activate his hydraulics. The panel resisted, then buckled and ripped in a jagged edge. He couldn't get it off, so he jerked his wrist across the edge, over and over, until blood covered his arm and stained the coc.o.o.n.

Loss of blood has reached critical stage, Basalt thought.

Althor sagged back in his chair. Good-bye, Basalt.

Regret came to him from the node. Good-bye, Althor. Then: Bridge penetrated.

In a daze, Althor saw ESComm soldiers floating toward him through the stardome, the human fortresses called waroids, their mirrored armor reflecting the bloodred warning lights. "Too late," he whispered. "I'm dead."

He was conscious when the first waroid reached him, but then the universe went dark.

13.

Snow fell softly through the night, piling drifts against the shuttered windows. A single oil lamp on the wall shed yellow light over the room. Soz sat curled on the bed with Jaibriol, a woven blanket over their knees as they watched their children sleep. Jai and Vitar were in the bedroom, but had left the door open. Jai was lying on his back, one long leg off the bed, one arm over his head. Vitar's bed was half-hidden by the wall so only his head and shoulders showed. He slept with a six-year-old's blissful peace, on his side, his hands tucked under his head.

In the main room, Lisi was sleeping in a bed across from where Soz and Jaibriol sat, and del-Kelric lay in his cradle, his face angelic in the dim light.

"They look so peaceful," Jaibriol said.

"That's because they're asleep," Soz replied.

He laughed. "It's the only time they're all quiet at once."