"Marty, stop the ship. We don't want to get any closer than we have to right now. Let's figure this out."
With a gesture, Redemption stopped dead in space relative to Mercury.
"Brick, can't you break this encryption the way you always do?" I asked.
"While theoretically possible, it is extremely unlikely that the defense systems would allow us the number of attempts it would require before they opened fire on us."
"How many attempts is that?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.
"I'm sorry, I am still working on humor. That was a joke. This system's sun would most likely have run itself out of nuclear fuel before that time, becoming a red giant and sterilizing the solar system."
I ignored the part about it having been a joke. Brick really did need to work on his humor, but now wasn't the time for us to workshop it.
"Good encryption then. What happens when we actually get inside?"
"Internal Union encryption is much weaker, and with direct access to the base's systems, I will be able to utilize certain vulnerabilities. Simply place your Link on a network trunk, like that found in a Connector node, and I will be able to seize control of the base systems."
That was a bit disturbing, honestly. If Brick our friendly AI could that easily take over a Union base, what was stopping the Elder AIs from doing it? Just physical security. I made a mental note to address that, and soon.
"Brick, how are they even picking us up? We're still far out and my girl's pretty stealthy," Marty asked.
"A network of sensors is much more powerful than a single one. Scan Mercury's orbit for Union energy signatures."
"Roger. Stand by, working the sensors," Marty said, his hands flying over invisible controls in front of him.
One by one, over the space of a few seconds a constellation of red dots appeared around Mercury.
"There they are," Marty said and leaned back in his chair. "Satellites. Looks like they're pretty small. Probably just a weapons system and a sensor package, along with power to run everything."
More and more dots appeared, each labeled with a number. I stopped counting when the numbers broke into triple digits.
"Shit, they've got full coverage. We can't see the other side, but it looks like there's no way to approach without at least one satellite seeing you. In our case, right now, more like five." Marty said.
"Brick, get everybody on a call. We need to figure this out."
Chapter Thirty-Five: Breaching the Base Defenses
A LITTLE LESS THAN an hour later I had been firmly reminded why I'd always hated conference call meetings.
"You're not listening, Metra," Regar protested. "Those Connahr bases are definitely armed with anti-ship missiles. No matter how nimble the Redemption is, all the missile has to do is get close enough. The payload could be a bundle of antimatter, or a bomb pumped x-ray laser. Either one will swat the Redemption as it is now."
We had been going in circles for a while.
We had discussed quite a few possibilities in that painful forty-five minutes.
Barreling in really fast just dodging incoming fire—that was Marty's. Backing off and coming back with better weapons, that was Metra's.
Regar had been the voice of sanity in all of this. He had, due to his position as First Seeker, been allowed to tour one of the Connahr bases. The defenses were no joke, even solely automated as they were. When there was someone behind the weapon controls they were much more effective.
We were nearly one hundred percent certain that no one was home. The base had not been responding to any of our attempts at communication, other than prompting us to authorize our approach over and over. These bases were usually unmanned anyway, only being periodically inspected by maintenance personnel coming in through the gate in the core. Sadly, there was no way we could use that gate, as we had no idea of the address and no key. Once we penetrated the base Brick could rekey it, but until then it was this way or no way.
"We still have a materials shortage, but you can return to Earth and find whoever stole the gate materials from your basement,” Metra said. “Brick might even be able to find another materials cache. Then you return to Pax and we spend some time upgrading Redemption until she's ready for that fight. Automated defenses are dumb. With the right approach you can exploit them and grind them down."
Metra's caution wasn't unexpected. She was an engineer, after all. The fact that Marty was the pilot might also be part of it. She'd rather he take the slow and sure approach.
"That's not going to work, Metra," I said. "It will take way too long. What if it takes us months to find those materials, or we never do? That's not even considering the problem of the Greys. If we go back the way we are now they could really hurt us. No, we have to come up with another way."
"Jake is right, Metra," Regar said. "His gentle world needs the Connahr field for at least a while longer. If it fails and the Ferals come pouring in, you know what will happen."
Metra grunted in reluctant assent.
I'd been remembering every science fiction book I'd ever read, trying to find a solution. With my updated mental stats I had near-perfect recall of the contents. It was only near perfect since I'd read the books before I'd been Inducted and some of the memories had degraded in my meat brain. Each book took a second or two to digest, and I was five books in when a recalled scene flooded me with inspiration.
"Brick, can you tell from our sensors whether Mercury has had any recent meteor impacts?" I asked.
"It has. The surface is marked by many recent impacts. They will be a regular occurrence."
"The platforms don't shoot down meteors? They
