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  We needed some way to buy ourselves some time. The Gilboa was still in space dock and wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. The Rohar had very fast, light cruisers that were available to fight but they were vastly outnumbered by the enemy fighters… and vastly out-gunned by the Defiler motherships.

  I’d need those ships later. I didn’t have a hankering to waste them in a fruitless attempt to take on an adversary they were ill-suited to handle. There had to be another way. I was almost out of ideas… and then I saw Mitty. It’s a well-established fact, some of the best ideas come from the strangest of places.

  I clicked open my comm-link

  “Ambassador Jowls, ready your Roharian Light Cruisers. I have a plan.”

  ***

  As the Defiler attack fighters rounded the planet and started their dive into Faqqa’s atmosphere on a heading that would take them towards the downed transport shuttles… they spotted something that must have given them quite a shock.

  The massive Gilboa with a light cruiser escort was advancing on the current position of the Defiler motherships. Although the Defiler motherships where outside the range of the neutronium KEWs that the Tas space yard had been firing at them… they were quickly coming in range of the most powerful Galactic Order battleship ever created. One that seemed to be equipped with a number on Ancestor enhancements.

  In response, the enemy’s motherships engaged their sublight engines and began to run from the approaching Gilboa task force.

  The Defilers fired round after round of their own KEWs, as well as, plasma beams and antimatter missiles. The Gilboa shrugged each of them off. Her shields roiled in an impressive light show but never collapsed. It seemed as if the battleship’s defenses were invincible.

  The motherships undoubtedly could have entered Skip Space, but it would have meant abandoning their fighters and any potential prizes they may yet wrestle from the Tas.

  As expected, the Defiler attack fighters near the planet’s surface broke off their planned assault on the downed shuttles and sped off to help in the defense of their motherships.

  The entire battle took place over the course of about an hour. The hour was mostly spent chasing one another down. But it was an hour that gave the Marines on the ground a chance to dig in.

  As the enemy’s fighters arrived in the combat zone they began to engage the Roharian light cruisers. That of course forced the Roharian light cruisers to break their precision formation… and the holographic image of the fake Gilboa disappeared. The emitters on the Roharian ships were not powerful enough to maintain the illusion once the formation was broken.

  It didn’t matter… the ruse had worked. It had bought Mike’s Marines the time they needed to get the shuttles and their contents to safety.

  The Defiler fleet must have figured they had lost the first round. They backed off and suspended their attack. That said, they did not vacate the system. Translation… we had won round one… but there would be a round two.

  ***

  “How in the hell did they know we were here?” Mike grumbled.

  The Colonel was rightfully pissed. It did stretch the bounds of credibility that we would arrive at what had been the heretofore unknown location of the adopted Tas homeworld… at about the same time the enemy… the Defilers… located the Tas.

  For the Defilers, this was a motherlode. According to the Tas, there were only a few places in this section of the galaxy that could boast such an abundance of functional, curated, Ancestor technology.

  “We need to find out,” I agreed. “We also need to figure out what our options are for defending Faqqa. Things would be easier if we had the Gilboa in the fight.”

  “Well, there we have a few options at least,” Whiskers said. “The J’ni are crafty little buggers when it comes to moving replacement parts from point A to point B. They’ve put together a system with the Tas to teleport the pieces we need for the Gilboa’s upgrades directly up to the station. It will take a week or more just to get the various retrofit components together. It’s a lot slower than using the transport shuttles… but it will get the job done.”

  “We have one more priority,” I said. “I’m tired of not knowing who we are fighting. Come hell or high water… I want to capture one of those smaller Defiler attack ships and have a heart-to-heart conversation with its crew.”

  I didn’t know it at the time, but I was to learn… the hard way… that sometimes knowledge is its own worst enemy.

  Chapter 25: Presents for the Dog

  Three days later the Defilers were still hanging out in the Beta Cancri system. They had slowly drifted to a position some 6AU out from Faqqa. The retrofit on the Gilboa was proceeding… not fast… but it was proceeding.

  Mike, Whiskers and a handful of J’ni that were not engaged in the work on the Gilboa were doing their own retrofits on the combat fighters that had been in the Gilboa’s fighter bay. With the permission of the Tas, they had fitted about half of the little ships with the Higgs Field inhibitors.

  The Higgs boson generates the field which gives objects their mass. In theory, completely nullifying a Higgs field would allow a ship to achieve velocities approaching the speed of light. Our devices were not capable of that, but they could reduce the effective mass of our ships by over ninety percent. That translated into more shields, more weapons and more speed. This was definitely a case where more was better.

  Our worries about protecting the planet from an expected Defiler attack turned out to be less critical. The Tas presented me with two surprises while we metaphorically waited for the other Defiler shoe to drop.

  The Archon Ambassador, Shella, Mitty, Lori and I were ‘summoned’ by the Tas. I was on the Gilboa’s bridge reviewing the integration of new systems as the aforementioned systems were being brought online. We still had quite a bit of work to be done but at least we had functional shields, limited sublight propulsion and a handful of enhanced weapon systems available. It would be another day until we had our planned KEW upgrades and two before we had our new Skip Drive operational. The one plus side to the way we were doing the upgrades now… was that my crew was an active part of the work and thus were learning on the job how to service and maintain the new systems. The Tas had even given us a new library of service routines for our Da’Tellen teaching devices.

  At any rate, the four of us received the summons via a holographic messenger that suddenly appeared before each of us. If you’ve never had a pony-sized giant slug appear three feet in front of you… let me just say… it can get your heart racing. Each received the exact same cryptic message… ‘Come Now.’

  As the Gilboa was now fitted with a very large teleport pad that was used to move cargo to and from the Gilboa and the space dock, we attempted to use it to pop over to the station. I say attempted, because while we did teleport… it just wasn’t to the space station.

  To say the room, we arrived in, was massive or even cavernous was to do an injustice to the terms ‘massive’ and ‘cavernous.’ You could fit an entire city into the space… and here’s the thing. I was to learn that if we had arrived three days before… there would have been a Taserite city here.

  Now, it was completely and absolutely empty. I suspected you wouldn’t even be able to hear an echo. The walls, such as they were… were simply too far apart.

  The atmosphere had been replaced with something that we could breathe and at a pressure we could tolerate. That, in itself, was an engineering marvel.

  “OK, that’s not what I was expecting,” I said to the group.

  “Where are we?” Lori asked.

  I had a suspicion but before I could say anything, Mitty who was transmitting his holographic image from a mobile emitter connected to a belt his wife was wearing, spoke up.

  “I believe we are in a Taserite dome city on the planet’s surface. I find it intriguing that the city itself is no longer here.”

  “Intriguing… yes, that’s exactly the word that came to my mind,” I said with just a touch of friendly sarca
sm.

  The teleport pad vibrated the tiniest bit. We had learned that this was its polite way of asking people to vacate the pad, so a subsequent teleportation could occur. As we stepped off the pad, it shimmered, and a large number of objects appeared. One of the items looked suspiciously like a status pod. It was much smaller than the ones we had on the Gilboa and seemed to have a lot more flashy-light-things on it.

  At the same time a second hologram materialized. I knew it was a hologram because, just like on the Gilboa, it was a Tas… minus the environmental support units required to support it in a human-friendly environment.

  “Greeting Admiral Riker. As you can see, our diaspora is complete. The hive that made this world home is now many parsecs away and is safe.”

  “That’s great,” I said.

  If I had had any doubts about the level of technologic superiority that the Ancestors represented… they were squashed. There was no way humanity could handle power of this magnitude at our current level of cultural advancement. The old adage about absolute power corrupting absolutely kept running through my mind.

  “What about your people still on the station?” Lori and Shella asked in unison… which, if I’m honest – I have to admit, was pretty freaky given that the two of them were not even of the same species… just say’n.

  “They will join us when their task is done.”

  The holographic Tas paused before continuing. There was almost a tinge of remorse in its synthetic voice.

  “Admiral, we believe you represent the best hope for the future of this region of space. That said, we cannot allow you to know our current location. Although we do not hold you personally responsible… we believe your ship was culpable of sharing our location with the Defilers.

  “The devices on the transport platform will allow you to contact us. Use them sparingly as their energy stores are not inexhaustible. In addition, we have provided several items that will aid you in your quest to end the reign of the Defilers within the Galactic Order.”

  The holographic Tas shifted to the side, as only a two-hundred-pound slug can, to stand in front of the two Archons.

  “We bring you a gift as well. Although we cannot and will not force you to accept the gift, we believe it is essential to the ultimate success of your mission. It also represents a new future for your people.”

  “Gift?” Shella asked.

  “In the germination pod you will find a male husk of your species. It was adapted from your genetic material. The husk has been fashioned to resemble your biological mate. Its genome has been enhanced to remove any aberrant code sequences. The germination pod, if used during gestation, will provide for sufficient genetic diversity to safely reestablish your species.”

  I stepped forward. The Tas had said something the concerned me greatly.

  “When you say ‘husk’, just what exactly to you mean?”

  “The husk was fabricated without a cerebral cortex. It is capable of normal autonomic activities, but it is not self-aware. Imbedded within its chest cavity is a cybernetic brain that is capable of accepting the engrams stored on your vessel from her husband.”

  “You intend to bring me back from the dead,” Mitty said in something between wonder and horror.

  “It might be better to think of our gift as a biological avatar. Although it will look like your progenitor, you will remain your own entity. You will remain connected with the Gilboa’s AI should you chose to be. In addition, your avatar will be functional in those areas required for procreation.”

  Mitty looked at Shella. He had holographic tears in his eyes.

  “We can’t do it. As much as I want to be alive and to hold you in my arms… it won’t be me... It won’t… be… me,” Mitty said sadly.

  “Shut up you fool,” Shella said fiercely. “Will it be the husband I buried? Certainly not, but it will most certainly be you… an entity I have grown to love over these many months. You will accept this gift and that is the end of it.”

  With that business out of the way, the Tas once again faced me.

  “The hive has one final request of you Admiral Riker. We would ask that you destroy this planet.”

  ***

  An hour later I was briefing my command staff on my final meeting with the Tas. I had to admit, as meetings go… this last one with the Tas had been amongst the strangest… especially the last request.

  Lori had been given a full set of specs on the germination pod… this was curtsey of another Da’Tellen brain download. She assured me that she could build one of the things by the time the memory dump was complete. That was good because we only had one Archon husk to work with and it didn’t look like we would be getting any more in the near future. I wasn’t sure how Shella would react should the transfer fail and the husk be damaged.

  The work on the Gilboa would be sufficiently complete that we could leave the space dock in about a day. At that time, I was to issue a command that would cause devices planted deep within the planet’s mantle to begin a countdown to detonation. These devices were sizable containers of antimatter. The resulting explosion would rival a nova and destroy everything within several AU of the planet. The blast would be so strong, there was a 16% chance it would destabilize Beta Cancri for a number of years.

  Our new Skip Drive was going to be able to jump near gravity wells in a manner very similar to our Defiler friends. This was fortunate since I had no particular desire to be engulfed in the big bang we were going to set off on our way out of dodge.

  I still had the goal of capturing one of the enemy. Fortunately for us, the enemy was more than happy to accommodate us.

  My buddy Colonel Mike Morrison had been working on a plan to accomplish this goal. All we needed was for our friends to come-a-courting again. Soon enough the red-alert klaxon sounded.

  I raced for the bridge along with the rest of the command staff. Mitty met us on the turbo-lift.

  “Admiral, we have detected eighty-four jump points forming. It would appear that the enemy is massing for an attack.”

  “Are they as close as before?” I asked.

  “Negative, Admiral. They are entering the system considerably further out. It’s possible these ships are not equipped to jump deeply into a gravity well.”

  I nodded in relief. Our plans were predicated on having a day to get the ship put back together. Capturing one or more of the Defilers would be pointless if we ended up being nothing more than so much dust floating around in space. I knew in my heart, that at the end of the day… I would detonate the planet, whether we were still in orbit or not, to keep the Defilers from gaining access to any more Ancestor tech… and that included the space dock and station in orbit around Faqqa.

  ***

  “Decoupling locking clamps,” Commander Shelby reported. “Station keeping thrusters have us stabilized. Secondary shields are online. Beginning to back out of space dock. Positioning thrusters at ten percent. Higgs field dampeners operating within expected range.”

  “Very good, Number One. Mike, as soon as we clear the bay, bring our primary shields online.”

  “Aye, aye, Admiral,” Mike said with a casual salute for emphasis.

  I didn’t like people saluting me… especially while on the bridge. The Marine Commander knew this and so he offered the salute as a whimsical way of teasing a friend. I was tempted to return his salute, using a single finger, but I decided it would be unbecoming the Galactic Order’s only active-duty Fleet Admiral.

  “Sensors, what’s the status of our friends out there?” I said instead.

  “All one-hundred and two enemy ships are advancing on our position at zero-point-one percent light-speed. They should be within weapons range in just under eighteen minutes, Sir.”

  “Very good. Keep me updated in case the situation changes.”

  I turned towards the Engineering station and Whiskers. I could tell from his broad grin that our little surprise was ready.

  Chapter 26: Dog Catcher

  When the Gilboa was
several hundred kilometers away from the space dock, I put the first part of our plan into motion. Carefully placed charges on the exterior hull of the station exploded in a very specific sequence. A number of the charges that had been placed appeared to have failed or only partially detonated. These too were part of the master plan. I was going to miss that pool and the good times Lori and I had had in it. Such be the fortunes of both love and war.

  The space dock slowly deorbited and crashed into the planet’s surface. Given the nature and durability of the Ancestor technology, it was highly likely that much of the advanced tech survived the descent and subsequent impact… which was just the way we wanted it.

  Imagine tossing a steak on the ground to catch the attention of a guard dog… same principle.

  To cement the trap, I had Mike launch a flight of our enhanced fighters with orders to strafe the wreckage on the ground. Of course, our guys were using old-fashioned chemical munitions. They would kick up a lot of dust and dirt, but not much else. Our steak would remain good and juicy.

  As predicted, the Defilers launched their own fighters. I love it when a plan comes together. Our guys… the ones that had been engaged in the strafing runs… quickly climbed back into orbit to engage the enemy.

  Our new birds were considerably more agile than the enemy’s ships. In addition, they could take a pretty serious punch and not be down and out. In fact, we only had two casualties, and neither one of them was fatal. The same could not be said about the Defiler’s fighters.

  Our new fighter KEWs were based on the same Higgs Field technology as the neutronium weapons. In this case however, they enhanced the effective mass of a steel-tipped KEW just prior to impact.

  We took out forty of their fighters in short order. It sounds impressive but keep in mind, the bad guys had over a hundred mother ships of varying sizes. Between them, they had over three hundred of their fighters in the air… with more launching every minute.