“I can’t get any response from Lalonde civil flight control,” said Erato, the spaceplane pilot. He looked up from the communication console he was operating. “The geosynchronous communication platform is working, as far as I can tell. They just don’t answer.”
Auster glanced over at Lieutenant Jeroen van Ewyck, the Confederation Navy Intelligence officer they had brought with them from Avon. “What do you think?”
“This is a backward planet anyway, so their response isn’t going to be instantaneous. But given the contents of those fleks I’d rather not take any chances. I’ll try and contact Kelvin Solanki directly through the navy ELINT satellites. Can you see if you can get anything from your planetside agents?”
“We’ll broadcast,” Auster said.
“Great. Erato, see what the other starship captains can tell us. It looks like they must have been here some time if there are this many left in orbit.”
Auster added his own voice to
Can you tell us what’s happening?gaura asked through the affinity link between Aethra and
Nobody is answering our calls,auster said. When we know something, Ilex will inform you immediately.
If Laton is on Lalonde he may make an attempt to capture and subvert Aethra. He has had over twenty years to perfect his technique. We have no weaponry to resist him. Can you evacuate us?
That will depend on the circumstances. Our orders from the First Admiral’s office are to confirm his existence and destroy him if at all possible. If he has become powerful enough to defend himself against the weapons we are carrying, then we must jump back to Fleet Headquarters and alert them. That takes priority over everything.auster extended a burst of sympathy.
We understand. Good luck with your mission.
Thank you.
Can you sense Darcy and Lori?auster asked
No. They do not answer. But there is a melodic in the affinity band which I’ve never encountered before.
The voidhawk’s perceptive faculty expanded into Auster’s mind. He perceived a distant soprano voice, or a soft whistle; the effect was too imprecise to tell. It was an adagio, a slow harmonic which slipped in and out of mental awareness like a radio signal on a stormy night.
Where is it coming from?auster asked.
Ahead of us,
Keep tuned in to it, and if you track down its origin let me know right away.
Of course.
Jeroen van Ewyck datavised his console processor to point one of
“We’re here in response to the flek you sent on the
“Too late,” Kelven datavised. “You’re too bloody late.”
Auster ordered the bitek processor in his command console to patch him into the channel. “Lieutenant- Commander Solanki, this is Captain Auster. We were dispatched as soon as we were refitted for this mission. I can assure you the Admiralty took the report from you and our Intelligence operatives very seriously indeed.”
“Seriously? You call sending one ship a serious response?”
“Yes. We are primarily a reconnaissance and evaluation mission. In that respect, we are considered expendable. The Admiralty needs to know if Laton’s presence has been confirmed, and what kind of force level is required to deal with the invasion.”
There was a moment’s pause.
“Sorry if I shouted off,” Kelven said. “Things are getting bad down here. The invaders have reached Durringham.”
“Are these invaders acting under Laton’s orders?”
“I’ve no idea yet.” He started to summarize the events of the last couple of weeks.
Auster listened with growing dismay, a communal emotion distributed equally around the other Edenists on board. The Adamists too, if their facial expressions were an accurate reflection of their thoughts.
“So you still don’t know if Laton is behind this invasion?” Auster asked when he finished.
“No. I’d say not; Lori and Darcy had virtually written him off by the time they got to Ozark. If it is him backing the invaders, then he’s pulling a very elaborate double bluff. Why did he warn Darcy and Lori about this energy virus effect?”
“Have you managed to verify that yet?” Jeroen van Ewyck asked.
“No. Although the supporting circumstantial evidence we have so far is very strong. The invaders certainly have a powerful electronic warfare technology at their fingertips, and it’s in widespread use. I suppose Kulu will be the place to ask; the ESA team managed to get their prisoner outsystem.”
Typical of the ESA,erato said sourly.
Auster nodded silently.
“How bad are conditions in the city?” Jeroen van Ewyck asked.
“We’ve heard some fighting around the outlying districts this evening. The sheriffs are protecting the spaceport and the government district. But I don’t think they’ll hold out for more than a couple of days. You must get back to Avon and inform the First Admiral and the Confederation Assembly what’s happening here. At this point we still can’t discount xenocs being involved. And tell the First Admiral that Terrance Smith’s mercenary army must be prevented from landing here, as well. This is far beyond the ability of a few thousand hired soldiers to sort out.”
“That goes without saying. We’ll evacuate you and your staff immediately,” Auster said.
Forty-five of them?ocyroe asked. That’s pushing our life-support capacity close to the envelope.
We can always make a swallow direct to Jospool, That’s only seven light-years away. The crew toroid can support us for that long.
“There’s some of the ratings and NCOs I’d like to get off,” Kelven Solanki datavised. “This wasn’t supposed to be a front-line posting. They’re only kids, really.”
“No, all of you are coming,” Auster said flatly.
“I’d like to capture one of these sequestrated invaders if possible,” Jeroen van Ewyck put in quickly.
What about the marines, Erato?auster asked. Do you think it’s worth a try?
I’ll fly recovery if we can spot them,the pilot said. His thoughts conveyed a rising excitement.
Auster acknowledged his leaked feelings with an ironic thought. Pilots were uniformly a macho breed, unable to resist any challenge, even Edenist ones.
The Juliffe basin is proving difficult to resolve,
It’s night over the basin, and we’re still seventy thousand kilometres away,auster pointed out.
