FARNHAMS LEGEND: Chapter 23 - December 2005
Posted: Sun, 25. Dec 05, 17:17
HoHoHoHoHo
Merry Christmas everybody and best wishes for the new year!
Thanks to Helge, who pointed out that the month is almost over and I STILL had not posted the Christmas chapter, here it is!
For those who are interested in the paper back copy, here is the ISBN number, which should allow you to order it through just about any book store.
ISBN 3-00-017124-X
Enjoy!
------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 23
BONESCOUT
Destruction abets evolution,
fear is the mainspring of progress.
Show us throat or teeth and we will be at hand,
as precursor of a development that is inevitable.
Agaph t'Hhlg,
director of the Split Secret Service
The Phoenix accelerated on a flickering tongue of flame that brightened to a dazzling flare as the Teladi destroyer hit full power. It took all of Uchan t'Scct's skill, but the chief pilot managed to match the fleeing vessel' s speed and squeeze out the few extra metres per second that now swallowed the vacuum between the Phoenix and the Bonescout.
The communications screen lit up and Cho snarled satisfaction. With his right hand he made the gesture for "question for sense."
'Why should the chance-free Teladi creatures even attempt to flee?'
Cho didn't expect Loanises to understand.
"What do you want from us, Split? Our records we sold you at a fair price. That is all we can do!" he hissed nervously. The pale tinge to his scale plates told Cho the Teladi captain was more than scared. His instincts warned the Teladi had been much too obliging and he'd followed the talking lizards for two whole tazuras now. Something was going on, they were keeping things from him. The time for restraint had now passed.
"The creature cooperated much too fast. It will transfer the whole data contents of its on-board computer or be destroyed immediately!"
"Tshhh! There's no reason to do that, Split!"
Cho pursed his lips and reached for the weapons controls. "The sheer existence of the creature is provocation enough."
Unhurried, he activated the targeting system, centred the destroyer in the sights and fired.
A beam of vision-searing brightness burned through space and hit the Teladi vessel. The Phoenix's shields flickered momentarily before coming back up to full power. The image of Captain Loanises trembled and blurred before stabilising. The Teladi Captain no longer looked at the screen; visibly trembling, he hissed orders to his bridge crew.
"I'll give the creature one mizura to stop the drives and to turn down the shields," Cho said with pleasure. "After that time we will bring them down ourselves."
"You can't do that!"
"Ninety-three sezuras. I can and I will."
Cho could see, even in his reptile eyes, that Loanises knew he was not bluffing.
"An official protest is already on its way to the company management." The Teladi said in panic.
"I hope the creature's last will was attached. Eighty-four sezuras."
"Tshhhhhhhaah! The Paranid will..."
"...will do what?"
The Teladi stared speechlessly for a long moment.
"Will..."
"Sixty-three sezuras. I am Cho t'Nnt, special representative of the Patriarch of Chin. I won't tolerate any further denials or delays. I will fire at forty-eight sezuras if shields and drive haven't been deactivated by then."
"But you've just told us..."
"Fifty-eight sezuras."
"I am capitulating!" the Teladi shouted with mortal fear in his voice. He snarled something, then the shields and the drive powered down almost simultaneously.
"Forty-nine. The creature was very wise. Now it will prepare for the arrival of our boarding troops."
Cho cut the connection. Cowards! Instead of fighting to the end, they surrendered at the first sign of attack. And they dared to call themselves, 'armed forces!'
Satisfied, Cho watched Uchan skilfully manoeuvre the Bonescout into position alongside the much larger Phoenix and precisely align with the main airlock. The boarding tunnel snaked out and magnetically snapped onto the Teladi hull.
Cho itched to board the Phoenix himself, but he knew that his crew was dying for some action, any action, even the insignificant challenge presented by the cowardly lizards. He selected Hingh t'Mnnl to lead a boarding party of two junior officers. He was seasoned and above all, trustworthy. He pointedly did not instruct them to act with decency and restraint. Cho intended to destroy the Phoenix once he had its secrets and if a few lizards got hurt in the process that would just be too bad. His lips came close to emulating a human sneer.
"He will always keep up visual and voice communication, t'Mnnl," Cho ordered.
"As commanded," Hingh confirmed. With a wave of his hand Cho set the tactical projection screen to Hingh's helmet camera and leant back in the command throne. The plain, hard metal was pleasantly uncomfortable.
The display showed the boarding tunnel. It was un-pressurised and the boarding party wore light armour vacuum suits for protection. With short snapped commands Hingh ordered the hull auto-welder into position. The picture faded behind the several million-degree glare of the beam knifing into the hardened hull like it was butter.
The Teladi Captain reappeared on the communications display.
"You're damaging a ship of the Teladi Company! We are protesting with all due respects! You will have to face unfavourable trading terms in future! We..." Cho snipped the Teladi away with his forefinger. Blatherskite! He turned back to the airlock. A fading sibilant hiss of air signalled breakthrough and the auto -welder quickly ripped two precise semi-circles from the hull, which technicians dragged away.
The auto-welder pushed through the breach to the inner lock door. Cho loved these moments when boarding a ship and could picture the security bulkheads slamming down to prevent air loss. The crew would know what was happening, they were facing Split not Boron and the attackers would rip their way to the bridge, causing as much damage as possible, not debate their way through each obstruction. He savoured the thought of the trapped crew reaching in panic for space suits as the welder chewed through each bulkhead in turn. Some Teladi wouldn't reach suits or sealed rooms and they would die. 'Occupational hazard,' Cho thought. No one forced them to crawl from their mud-hole planet.
As the boarding party forced their way from one corridor to another they left a trail of smashed bulkheads coated in ice crystals from the condensed freezing atmosphere that sparkled wanly in the bilious green light.
The last door fell and the two junior officers stepped through the gap. There came a flash and an extended electrical buzz. Some moments later Hingh t'Mnnl stepped through and surveyed the scene for Cho to observe through his helmet camera. One of his officers stood, blaster in hand, a soot black line scorched across his cuirass from his waist to his neck, partially melting the helmet visor.
A Teladi, the large hole in his space-suited chest still glowing hot around the edges, lay spread-eagled over a shattered console. A second stared in shocked disbelief at the remains of the sidearm melted to the flesh of his gloved claw before collapsing.
There was a muffled, enraged snarl and t'Mnnl switched the Bonescout audio relay to the external pick-ups.
"Fsssschhhhh! Ccchhhou will rrrregrrrret thhat Shhhsssssplitt agrrrressssorsss! Tshhhh!"
A Teladi, whose space suit bore captain's insignia, approached the camera. His pupils were clear to Cho through the helmet visor. They were pinprick red and alongside the deep dark forehead scale they signalled Loanises had pushed beyond the natural cowardice of his race into the greatest of rages. If it wasn't for his species physical inferiority Cho could almost have considered him a threat. Hingh t'Mnnl waved his weapon and Captain Loanises stopped after two further, hesitating steps.
"May the profit abandon you forever; may your egg-brothers and egg-parents scorn you for your deeds! May the community of all respectable..."
"Stop it, he is boring me." Cho said.
t'Mnnl knocked both limbs from under the Teladi captain with one sure sweep of his leg and Loanises crashed to the deck. He half rose, hissing something that was neither in the Teladi nor the trade tongue. None of the bridge crew moved to help him. The few survivors stood paralysed with fear, their forehead scales pale and their eyes wide with horror.
Hingh t'Mnnl and one of his team took up tactical positions while the one whose armour had been seared by a Teladi beam removed an instrument and cables from a large metallic field bag. He smiled at the Teladi manning the post. It stepped quickly back and the Split deftly removed the front plate of the main data console and hooked up the device. Its diodes flickered blue and status strings flickered dizzyingly past on t h e small display. In the Bonescout control centre the main computer engaged specialised sub-systems. Outside of spy operations the Teladi deemed data protection a frivolous expense and unhindered by any security protocols it sucked every last byte from the Phoenix' database.
Cho briefly wondered if there were other information systems independent of the central computer that might contain important data. Not likely, according to intelligence reports on Teladi technology and as soon as the data download was complete he ordered his people to withdraw.
Hingh t'Mnnl fired into the command consoles and as the Teladi cowered from the spark-spraying inferno the Split withdrew. Cho switched off the tactical display.
"He will keep ready to cast off, Uchan. Heading jumpgate W."
The boarding troops returned just a few sezuras later. Cho pulled the weapons controls closer and watched the Teladi Phoenix drift as the Bonescout pulled away. Either the main computer was too damaged or the crew too panicked but the big destroyer activated neither drive nor shields.
The Targeting Computer confirmed firing readiness and Cho's finger twitched on the trigger. Remembering the Patriarch's orders he didn't fire. The Phoenix dwindled as the Bonescout pulled away.
'Thuruk's beard!' Cho snarled, pulled the weapons console closer and impulsively snapped a salvo of guided missiles at the target. He pushed the console away with what looked a gesture of disgust.
"Jadmanthrat!" Uchan t'Scct exclaimed through clenched teeth, as a glowing fireball blossomed. "Direct hit!" He threw an enthusiastic sidelong glance at his commander.
'May he pay homage to me later,' Cho thought and stalked to his private rooms to analyse the Teladi data.
Cho again examined the Gravidar readings the deplorable Captain Loanises, (may his ashes rest in a peace from which he definitely won't be returning) sold him. He then identified the original record file and asked his computer for a complete list of logically linked files. This led him to a record measuring the precise position of two distant pulsars, linked to a record of the quantum mechanical difference deviation of an undesignated oscillation mass. It was what he was looking for, he was sure of that. It just meant nothing to him.
"He will send me Pha t'Phnn, computer." It would certainly mean something to the flight engineer.
"Technician t'Phnn is in a phase of rest. Do you wish to wake him?"
Cho punched the input panel, generating random characters on screen.
"He will wake him up instantly!"
Didn't he just give an order? Since when it was the on-board computer permitted to discuss instructions?
Scarcely a mizura later Pha t'Phnn requested permission to enter.
"He will tell me what that means!" Cho snarled at the engineer without any greeting.
Pha t'Phnn answered after a quick glance at the screen.
"These are reference points for a grav-pulser, master."
Of course! Why didn't he hit on it himself right away? The position of a grav-pulser could be determined faster than light at a radius of many light jazuras around the device - provided that one possessed the reference points!
"What does he suppose, Pha, the saurians were tracking?"
The flight engineer partially sketched the sign for 'Excuse me?' "Master, if it didn't sound so strange, I assumed that they were tracking Brennan and his ship. But..."
"But how did the grav-pulser get aboard of jump-ship, Pha?"
Pha thoughtfully passed his hand over his short, white chin-beard and frowned.
"Computer, show all logical links connected with the grav-pulser," Cho ordered before the engineer could answer. It produced the desired information instantly. Cho blinked with surprise and Pha t'Phnn gave an astonished snort. One data-branch was titled, "Nanoscan jump-ship." Among the sub-files was a damage report and attached to that one on the successful installation of a grav-pulser!
"Pha, would he agree with me that the Teladi had been repairing the jump-ship and furtively equipped it with a grav-pulse-radio direction finder?" When the flight engineer hesitated, he added in a reassuring tone: "He is allowed to speak frankly. "
" Many thanks, master," Pha, who had no intention of contradicting his commander, replied. In this case he agreed completely with Cho. "I agree with you, master. Apparently the Phoenix had been on the spot when Brennan emerged and had an accident with his vessel. But I'm not able to comprehend why those hapless saurian creatures didn't detain him but instead repaired his ship and equipped it with a radio direction finder."
"Well, Pha, the answer is easy. They were hoping to gain a larger profit."
Pha raised his right hand, lowered it, raised it again and then hesitantly made the sign for 'cautious doubts'. Cho waved them aside. "Never mind, Pha. He may challenge my views in a discussion but anyway he has to fulfil my orders. And this is my order for now, he will return to his rooms and continue his phase of rest."
"Yes, master." The flight engineer bowed and then withdrew as ordered. As always, he secretly congratulated himself for serving under the command of an officer like Cho t'Nnt.
*
Cho sat in his command throne mulling over what he had learned from the Teladi data bank. It was utterly fascinating. The Phoenix brain contained an exact record of the path Brennan took since appearing in the Teladi sector of Seizewell. That the Teladi were quick enough to seize the opportunity to bug Brennan was cause for him to at least partially revise his contemptuously low opinion of them. Especially as their action presented him, the Patriarch and all the Split with a great gift!
The record clearly indicated the strange ship had not been destroyed.
Following the alleged "accident" at Priest Rings it had travelled at a leisurely speed to Cloudbase South West - to the temple of these religious Argons, that called themselves "Goner." Probably, Cho judged, inside a bigger ship's cargo bay. A crosscheck with the Bonescout's own data showed only two ships were in the right time and place to pick up the earth vessel.
While the whole Community believed the strange space ship had been destroyed, Brennan had spent, according to the grav-pulser, two tazuras with the Goner and then had left, heading for Argon Prime. And from there... Cho became suspicious, it didn't make any sense. The last recordings from the grav-pulser's log file proved that the jump-ship left Argon Prime half a tazura later.
What did Brennan have in mind - what did the government of Argon Prime hope to gain with this move, which looked like the subtle sleight of hand of a match game of Namira? Well - he would find it out! As soon as his rest period ended Cho ordered Pha t'Phnn to build a gadget to triangulate the bug signal. It was a task he accomplished in an admirably short time and now the Bonescout was on its way for an unannounced meeting with Brennan. Cho assumed that the Argon planned to keep up the fiction and so were transporting the alien vessel in a cargo ship.
Two stazuras later the Bonescout had tracked the alien ship to a dreary little sector. Just two barren planets, little more than the size of moons, and an asteroid field devoid of commercial resources, all clustered round the brown dwarf remnant of the supernova that had seared away the rest of the system in an unimaginable blast millions of years previous.
The system was now nothing but a little used crossing point and the gravidar showed just a single blip, halfway to the other gate. The gravidar signal matched that of the grav-pulse locator, apparently aboard an Argon Transporter. It stood no chance of out-running his ship and Cho made the sign for 'Triumph'. He would have it in under two stazuras.
Cho looked forward to meeting Brennan again, the creature had been courageous enough to stand up to a Paranid and he was looking forward to seeing if the earth pilot would demonstrate a similar resilience in the face of a long Split interrogation. Cho's lips formed a thin, cynical line.
Soon the Argon Transporter was clearly visible in the video enhancer. Cho watched the drives brighten from blue through red to a shining white light as the crew became aware of the Bonescout and attempted to flee. It was an effort doomed to futility and the chief pilot, Uchan t'Scct, needed no instruction from Cho to adjust their own course and speed.
He bought the Bonescout onto a parallel heading, to bring it alongside the fleeing cargo ship for a thorough scan. Even at this distance the gravidar could deliver useful information and Cho focused the scanner. He didn't like what he read and reinitialised the scan. The mass was not correct, could not be correct.
Gesticulating curses Cho rechecked the readings. They merely confirmed what he had first rejected - the Transport ship was empty, there was no jump-ship in its cargo bays. Cho clenched his claws into the arms of the command throne to avoid battering the instrument panel with his fists. The Argon had found the grav-pulser and fooled him. Him! Someone would have to pay.
Almost of its own volition the weapons control panel extended and a hornet missile shot towards the Argon ship. The shields collapsed under the raging firestorm as the Bonescout entered energy weapon range. Slashing beams scored the hull of the lumbering freighter, slicing gashes that showered molten metallic droplets into space.
The communications display lit up. "Captain Brant of the Aladna Hill speaking. Cease fire at once or we will be forced to shoot back!" Cho didn't even bother making a sign for sarcasm. Instead he cut the channel and blocked the incoming transmission.
The laughably weak guns of the Aladna Hill fired back but their shots fizzled uselessly against his ship's massive shields. Cho destroyed the offending gun towers with a single salvo. A second salvo destroyed the drive system. He had expected to rip the freighter apart with secondary explosions but the Aladna Hill held together, despite its damaged hull.
He armed two more missiles and as the Bonescout pulled around for a second pass he targeted them. "For the Patriarch!" He fired. The high-energy plasma throwers joined in the attack. The freighter was astonishingly tough but it finally died in a bright flash that left a cooling red fireball spitting out white-hot shards of debris. It rapidly cooled to a cloud of tiny fragments.
No - not all tiny - within the diffuse cloud was a larger gravidar return - the mass of a small ship. A lifeboat, Cho realised. The crew of the freighter, or possibly just a handful of survivors had managed to reach it as the Bonescout was making its second, killing attack run. He almost targeted and destroyed the small ship but hesitated. He had a better idea.
"Computer, he will establish a connection to the Argon lifeboat."
Moments later the woman who had tried to threaten Cho appeared on screen. She said nothing, there really wasn't much to say, and waited. A Teladi would not have realised that but the Split always said the Argon were brighter than the saurians. Captain Brant just looked at Cho expectantly instead of bartering for her life.
"The creature has to surrender and deactivate the drive."
In the cockpit of the tiny lifeboat a large number of individuals crowded behind the Argon woman. She turned and looked at a thin, tall man, who shook his head. "No!" Cho heard.
"As we do not have any choice and the life of my crew is top priority I will comply with your demand. Hal, you heard that."
The nervous cacophony of voices grew louder but in a couple of sezuras the drives shut down.
"Very reasonable. And now the creatures will wait for the boarding party. The creatures will be brought on board of the Bonescout and transported to the residence of the Patriarch of Chin."
And undergo painful inquiries that would last many mazuras, Cho almost added, but he wasn't going to reveal that until they were on board. No point in provoking a suicidal last attack.
Merry Christmas everybody and best wishes for the new year!
Thanks to Helge, who pointed out that the month is almost over and I STILL had not posted the Christmas chapter, here it is!
For those who are interested in the paper back copy, here is the ISBN number, which should allow you to order it through just about any book store.
ISBN 3-00-017124-X
Enjoy!
------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 23
BONESCOUT
Destruction abets evolution,
fear is the mainspring of progress.
Show us throat or teeth and we will be at hand,
as precursor of a development that is inevitable.
Agaph t'Hhlg,
director of the Split Secret Service
The Phoenix accelerated on a flickering tongue of flame that brightened to a dazzling flare as the Teladi destroyer hit full power. It took all of Uchan t'Scct's skill, but the chief pilot managed to match the fleeing vessel' s speed and squeeze out the few extra metres per second that now swallowed the vacuum between the Phoenix and the Bonescout.
The communications screen lit up and Cho snarled satisfaction. With his right hand he made the gesture for "question for sense."
'Why should the chance-free Teladi creatures even attempt to flee?'
Cho didn't expect Loanises to understand.
"What do you want from us, Split? Our records we sold you at a fair price. That is all we can do!" he hissed nervously. The pale tinge to his scale plates told Cho the Teladi captain was more than scared. His instincts warned the Teladi had been much too obliging and he'd followed the talking lizards for two whole tazuras now. Something was going on, they were keeping things from him. The time for restraint had now passed.
"The creature cooperated much too fast. It will transfer the whole data contents of its on-board computer or be destroyed immediately!"
"Tshhh! There's no reason to do that, Split!"
Cho pursed his lips and reached for the weapons controls. "The sheer existence of the creature is provocation enough."
Unhurried, he activated the targeting system, centred the destroyer in the sights and fired.
A beam of vision-searing brightness burned through space and hit the Teladi vessel. The Phoenix's shields flickered momentarily before coming back up to full power. The image of Captain Loanises trembled and blurred before stabilising. The Teladi Captain no longer looked at the screen; visibly trembling, he hissed orders to his bridge crew.
"I'll give the creature one mizura to stop the drives and to turn down the shields," Cho said with pleasure. "After that time we will bring them down ourselves."
"You can't do that!"
"Ninety-three sezuras. I can and I will."
Cho could see, even in his reptile eyes, that Loanises knew he was not bluffing.
"An official protest is already on its way to the company management." The Teladi said in panic.
"I hope the creature's last will was attached. Eighty-four sezuras."
"Tshhhhhhhaah! The Paranid will..."
"...will do what?"
The Teladi stared speechlessly for a long moment.
"Will..."
"Sixty-three sezuras. I am Cho t'Nnt, special representative of the Patriarch of Chin. I won't tolerate any further denials or delays. I will fire at forty-eight sezuras if shields and drive haven't been deactivated by then."
"But you've just told us..."
"Fifty-eight sezuras."
"I am capitulating!" the Teladi shouted with mortal fear in his voice. He snarled something, then the shields and the drive powered down almost simultaneously.
"Forty-nine. The creature was very wise. Now it will prepare for the arrival of our boarding troops."
Cho cut the connection. Cowards! Instead of fighting to the end, they surrendered at the first sign of attack. And they dared to call themselves, 'armed forces!'
Satisfied, Cho watched Uchan skilfully manoeuvre the Bonescout into position alongside the much larger Phoenix and precisely align with the main airlock. The boarding tunnel snaked out and magnetically snapped onto the Teladi hull.
Cho itched to board the Phoenix himself, but he knew that his crew was dying for some action, any action, even the insignificant challenge presented by the cowardly lizards. He selected Hingh t'Mnnl to lead a boarding party of two junior officers. He was seasoned and above all, trustworthy. He pointedly did not instruct them to act with decency and restraint. Cho intended to destroy the Phoenix once he had its secrets and if a few lizards got hurt in the process that would just be too bad. His lips came close to emulating a human sneer.
"He will always keep up visual and voice communication, t'Mnnl," Cho ordered.
"As commanded," Hingh confirmed. With a wave of his hand Cho set the tactical projection screen to Hingh's helmet camera and leant back in the command throne. The plain, hard metal was pleasantly uncomfortable.
The display showed the boarding tunnel. It was un-pressurised and the boarding party wore light armour vacuum suits for protection. With short snapped commands Hingh ordered the hull auto-welder into position. The picture faded behind the several million-degree glare of the beam knifing into the hardened hull like it was butter.
The Teladi Captain reappeared on the communications display.
"You're damaging a ship of the Teladi Company! We are protesting with all due respects! You will have to face unfavourable trading terms in future! We..." Cho snipped the Teladi away with his forefinger. Blatherskite! He turned back to the airlock. A fading sibilant hiss of air signalled breakthrough and the auto -welder quickly ripped two precise semi-circles from the hull, which technicians dragged away.
The auto-welder pushed through the breach to the inner lock door. Cho loved these moments when boarding a ship and could picture the security bulkheads slamming down to prevent air loss. The crew would know what was happening, they were facing Split not Boron and the attackers would rip their way to the bridge, causing as much damage as possible, not debate their way through each obstruction. He savoured the thought of the trapped crew reaching in panic for space suits as the welder chewed through each bulkhead in turn. Some Teladi wouldn't reach suits or sealed rooms and they would die. 'Occupational hazard,' Cho thought. No one forced them to crawl from their mud-hole planet.
As the boarding party forced their way from one corridor to another they left a trail of smashed bulkheads coated in ice crystals from the condensed freezing atmosphere that sparkled wanly in the bilious green light.
The last door fell and the two junior officers stepped through the gap. There came a flash and an extended electrical buzz. Some moments later Hingh t'Mnnl stepped through and surveyed the scene for Cho to observe through his helmet camera. One of his officers stood, blaster in hand, a soot black line scorched across his cuirass from his waist to his neck, partially melting the helmet visor.
A Teladi, the large hole in his space-suited chest still glowing hot around the edges, lay spread-eagled over a shattered console. A second stared in shocked disbelief at the remains of the sidearm melted to the flesh of his gloved claw before collapsing.
There was a muffled, enraged snarl and t'Mnnl switched the Bonescout audio relay to the external pick-ups.
"Fsssschhhhh! Ccchhhou will rrrregrrrret thhat Shhhsssssplitt agrrrressssorsss! Tshhhh!"
A Teladi, whose space suit bore captain's insignia, approached the camera. His pupils were clear to Cho through the helmet visor. They were pinprick red and alongside the deep dark forehead scale they signalled Loanises had pushed beyond the natural cowardice of his race into the greatest of rages. If it wasn't for his species physical inferiority Cho could almost have considered him a threat. Hingh t'Mnnl waved his weapon and Captain Loanises stopped after two further, hesitating steps.
"May the profit abandon you forever; may your egg-brothers and egg-parents scorn you for your deeds! May the community of all respectable..."
"Stop it, he is boring me." Cho said.
t'Mnnl knocked both limbs from under the Teladi captain with one sure sweep of his leg and Loanises crashed to the deck. He half rose, hissing something that was neither in the Teladi nor the trade tongue. None of the bridge crew moved to help him. The few survivors stood paralysed with fear, their forehead scales pale and their eyes wide with horror.
Hingh t'Mnnl and one of his team took up tactical positions while the one whose armour had been seared by a Teladi beam removed an instrument and cables from a large metallic field bag. He smiled at the Teladi manning the post. It stepped quickly back and the Split deftly removed the front plate of the main data console and hooked up the device. Its diodes flickered blue and status strings flickered dizzyingly past on t h e small display. In the Bonescout control centre the main computer engaged specialised sub-systems. Outside of spy operations the Teladi deemed data protection a frivolous expense and unhindered by any security protocols it sucked every last byte from the Phoenix' database.
Cho briefly wondered if there were other information systems independent of the central computer that might contain important data. Not likely, according to intelligence reports on Teladi technology and as soon as the data download was complete he ordered his people to withdraw.
Hingh t'Mnnl fired into the command consoles and as the Teladi cowered from the spark-spraying inferno the Split withdrew. Cho switched off the tactical display.
"He will keep ready to cast off, Uchan. Heading jumpgate W."
The boarding troops returned just a few sezuras later. Cho pulled the weapons controls closer and watched the Teladi Phoenix drift as the Bonescout pulled away. Either the main computer was too damaged or the crew too panicked but the big destroyer activated neither drive nor shields.
The Targeting Computer confirmed firing readiness and Cho's finger twitched on the trigger. Remembering the Patriarch's orders he didn't fire. The Phoenix dwindled as the Bonescout pulled away.
'Thuruk's beard!' Cho snarled, pulled the weapons console closer and impulsively snapped a salvo of guided missiles at the target. He pushed the console away with what looked a gesture of disgust.
"Jadmanthrat!" Uchan t'Scct exclaimed through clenched teeth, as a glowing fireball blossomed. "Direct hit!" He threw an enthusiastic sidelong glance at his commander.
'May he pay homage to me later,' Cho thought and stalked to his private rooms to analyse the Teladi data.
Cho again examined the Gravidar readings the deplorable Captain Loanises, (may his ashes rest in a peace from which he definitely won't be returning) sold him. He then identified the original record file and asked his computer for a complete list of logically linked files. This led him to a record measuring the precise position of two distant pulsars, linked to a record of the quantum mechanical difference deviation of an undesignated oscillation mass. It was what he was looking for, he was sure of that. It just meant nothing to him.
"He will send me Pha t'Phnn, computer." It would certainly mean something to the flight engineer.
"Technician t'Phnn is in a phase of rest. Do you wish to wake him?"
Cho punched the input panel, generating random characters on screen.
"He will wake him up instantly!"
Didn't he just give an order? Since when it was the on-board computer permitted to discuss instructions?
Scarcely a mizura later Pha t'Phnn requested permission to enter.
"He will tell me what that means!" Cho snarled at the engineer without any greeting.
Pha t'Phnn answered after a quick glance at the screen.
"These are reference points for a grav-pulser, master."
Of course! Why didn't he hit on it himself right away? The position of a grav-pulser could be determined faster than light at a radius of many light jazuras around the device - provided that one possessed the reference points!
"What does he suppose, Pha, the saurians were tracking?"
The flight engineer partially sketched the sign for 'Excuse me?' "Master, if it didn't sound so strange, I assumed that they were tracking Brennan and his ship. But..."
"But how did the grav-pulser get aboard of jump-ship, Pha?"
Pha thoughtfully passed his hand over his short, white chin-beard and frowned.
"Computer, show all logical links connected with the grav-pulser," Cho ordered before the engineer could answer. It produced the desired information instantly. Cho blinked with surprise and Pha t'Phnn gave an astonished snort. One data-branch was titled, "Nanoscan jump-ship." Among the sub-files was a damage report and attached to that one on the successful installation of a grav-pulser!
"Pha, would he agree with me that the Teladi had been repairing the jump-ship and furtively equipped it with a grav-pulse-radio direction finder?" When the flight engineer hesitated, he added in a reassuring tone: "He is allowed to speak frankly. "
" Many thanks, master," Pha, who had no intention of contradicting his commander, replied. In this case he agreed completely with Cho. "I agree with you, master. Apparently the Phoenix had been on the spot when Brennan emerged and had an accident with his vessel. But I'm not able to comprehend why those hapless saurian creatures didn't detain him but instead repaired his ship and equipped it with a radio direction finder."
"Well, Pha, the answer is easy. They were hoping to gain a larger profit."
Pha raised his right hand, lowered it, raised it again and then hesitantly made the sign for 'cautious doubts'. Cho waved them aside. "Never mind, Pha. He may challenge my views in a discussion but anyway he has to fulfil my orders. And this is my order for now, he will return to his rooms and continue his phase of rest."
"Yes, master." The flight engineer bowed and then withdrew as ordered. As always, he secretly congratulated himself for serving under the command of an officer like Cho t'Nnt.
*
Cho sat in his command throne mulling over what he had learned from the Teladi data bank. It was utterly fascinating. The Phoenix brain contained an exact record of the path Brennan took since appearing in the Teladi sector of Seizewell. That the Teladi were quick enough to seize the opportunity to bug Brennan was cause for him to at least partially revise his contemptuously low opinion of them. Especially as their action presented him, the Patriarch and all the Split with a great gift!
The record clearly indicated the strange ship had not been destroyed.
Following the alleged "accident" at Priest Rings it had travelled at a leisurely speed to Cloudbase South West - to the temple of these religious Argons, that called themselves "Goner." Probably, Cho judged, inside a bigger ship's cargo bay. A crosscheck with the Bonescout's own data showed only two ships were in the right time and place to pick up the earth vessel.
While the whole Community believed the strange space ship had been destroyed, Brennan had spent, according to the grav-pulser, two tazuras with the Goner and then had left, heading for Argon Prime. And from there... Cho became suspicious, it didn't make any sense. The last recordings from the grav-pulser's log file proved that the jump-ship left Argon Prime half a tazura later.
What did Brennan have in mind - what did the government of Argon Prime hope to gain with this move, which looked like the subtle sleight of hand of a match game of Namira? Well - he would find it out! As soon as his rest period ended Cho ordered Pha t'Phnn to build a gadget to triangulate the bug signal. It was a task he accomplished in an admirably short time and now the Bonescout was on its way for an unannounced meeting with Brennan. Cho assumed that the Argon planned to keep up the fiction and so were transporting the alien vessel in a cargo ship.
Two stazuras later the Bonescout had tracked the alien ship to a dreary little sector. Just two barren planets, little more than the size of moons, and an asteroid field devoid of commercial resources, all clustered round the brown dwarf remnant of the supernova that had seared away the rest of the system in an unimaginable blast millions of years previous.
The system was now nothing but a little used crossing point and the gravidar showed just a single blip, halfway to the other gate. The gravidar signal matched that of the grav-pulse locator, apparently aboard an Argon Transporter. It stood no chance of out-running his ship and Cho made the sign for 'Triumph'. He would have it in under two stazuras.
Cho looked forward to meeting Brennan again, the creature had been courageous enough to stand up to a Paranid and he was looking forward to seeing if the earth pilot would demonstrate a similar resilience in the face of a long Split interrogation. Cho's lips formed a thin, cynical line.
Soon the Argon Transporter was clearly visible in the video enhancer. Cho watched the drives brighten from blue through red to a shining white light as the crew became aware of the Bonescout and attempted to flee. It was an effort doomed to futility and the chief pilot, Uchan t'Scct, needed no instruction from Cho to adjust their own course and speed.
He bought the Bonescout onto a parallel heading, to bring it alongside the fleeing cargo ship for a thorough scan. Even at this distance the gravidar could deliver useful information and Cho focused the scanner. He didn't like what he read and reinitialised the scan. The mass was not correct, could not be correct.
Gesticulating curses Cho rechecked the readings. They merely confirmed what he had first rejected - the Transport ship was empty, there was no jump-ship in its cargo bays. Cho clenched his claws into the arms of the command throne to avoid battering the instrument panel with his fists. The Argon had found the grav-pulser and fooled him. Him! Someone would have to pay.
Almost of its own volition the weapons control panel extended and a hornet missile shot towards the Argon ship. The shields collapsed under the raging firestorm as the Bonescout entered energy weapon range. Slashing beams scored the hull of the lumbering freighter, slicing gashes that showered molten metallic droplets into space.
The communications display lit up. "Captain Brant of the Aladna Hill speaking. Cease fire at once or we will be forced to shoot back!" Cho didn't even bother making a sign for sarcasm. Instead he cut the channel and blocked the incoming transmission.
The laughably weak guns of the Aladna Hill fired back but their shots fizzled uselessly against his ship's massive shields. Cho destroyed the offending gun towers with a single salvo. A second salvo destroyed the drive system. He had expected to rip the freighter apart with secondary explosions but the Aladna Hill held together, despite its damaged hull.
He armed two more missiles and as the Bonescout pulled around for a second pass he targeted them. "For the Patriarch!" He fired. The high-energy plasma throwers joined in the attack. The freighter was astonishingly tough but it finally died in a bright flash that left a cooling red fireball spitting out white-hot shards of debris. It rapidly cooled to a cloud of tiny fragments.
No - not all tiny - within the diffuse cloud was a larger gravidar return - the mass of a small ship. A lifeboat, Cho realised. The crew of the freighter, or possibly just a handful of survivors had managed to reach it as the Bonescout was making its second, killing attack run. He almost targeted and destroyed the small ship but hesitated. He had a better idea.
"Computer, he will establish a connection to the Argon lifeboat."
Moments later the woman who had tried to threaten Cho appeared on screen. She said nothing, there really wasn't much to say, and waited. A Teladi would not have realised that but the Split always said the Argon were brighter than the saurians. Captain Brant just looked at Cho expectantly instead of bartering for her life.
"The creature has to surrender and deactivate the drive."
In the cockpit of the tiny lifeboat a large number of individuals crowded behind the Argon woman. She turned and looked at a thin, tall man, who shook his head. "No!" Cho heard.
"As we do not have any choice and the life of my crew is top priority I will comply with your demand. Hal, you heard that."
The nervous cacophony of voices grew louder but in a couple of sezuras the drives shut down.
"Very reasonable. And now the creatures will wait for the boarding party. The creatures will be brought on board of the Bonescout and transported to the residence of the Patriarch of Chin."
And undergo painful inquiries that would last many mazuras, Cho almost added, but he wasn't going to reveal that until they were on board. No point in provoking a suicidal last attack.
