"What do you mean nearly?" asked Nick.
"It is very likely that if we attack uncloaked, we'll sustain damage before the enemy is destroyed," said Aileen. "There is a small chance that we will be destroyed.
If we attack cloaked, there is small chance that they won't even manage to fire a single shot against us."
"I sense a 'but' here," said Nick.
"Correct, Counselor," she said. "Two buts, actually. It is not possible to do the attack so that the Kaitians wouldn't know what hit them. If we attack cloaked, there will be speculations and they will no doubt reach a conclusion that a cloaked ship attacked them. On the other hand, if we attack uncloaked, they know exactly who attacked them and they will draw conclusions about our technology. And I mean Human Empire technology that is available only in this ship."
"Hmm," thought Louis aloud. "I see a problem here. Either way, the Kaitians would be alerted to us. And I'm sure William would hate it if we reveal too much. Hell. I hate it, too."
"That's a good point, Louis," said Nick. "Very good point."
"Let's call the attack off," said Louis, "and go to SD-9 as fast as possible."
"I agree," said Nick. "Aileen, set a course and engage."
"Yes, Counselor," she said, and Nick thought he heard gladness in her voice.
27
William examined the galaxy map in his office, looking at the Kaitian home world, and shook his head. He'd just received the first reports of the Kaitian attack against the Rg'Tkeen and Miccvans.
Everybody was already calling for aid. But there was no one to help. The Coalition forces were already limited and stretched too thin.
William sighed. Nick and Louis, along with everybody else, had failed in their mission. No one managed to find out about the Kaitian forces before they'd started their attack.
William wondered where they were and hoped they'd come back soon. He had already a mission in mind for them and their ship.
From the looks of it, William thought, the Kaitians didn't play around. They started their attack in the farthest colonies of the Rg'Tkeen and Miccvan empires, and then continued to the next one and next one, as fast as they could.
"A traveling salesman problem," said William aloud, amused. Then, after a moment, more seriously: "A traveling salesman problem? Could it really be so simple? Computer," he ordered, "assume the Kaitians are indeed using the solution to the traveling salesman problem. Show me the next target and when they attack."
"Do I assume the destination be the same as origin?" asked the computer.
"Show me multiple options," said William. "Destination same as origin. Also when the destinations are the home worlds of Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen."
"A moment, sir," said the computer.
William pulled up the latest reports of the Behemoth activity. At least they were effective and they'd caused much losses to the Kaitians--and so far the Behemoths themselves were without casualties.
"What's the status of Behemoth construction?" asked William. After seeing the efficacy of the Behemoths, the Coalition Command had directed all possible resources to constructing them.
"Fifty ships are ready," said the computer. "The AIs are installed and trained as we speak. Fighters are coming from the assembly lines at a steady pace."
"Excellent." William smiled. "I believe we actually have a fighting chance. What do you think?"
"I cannot think," said the computer.
"Sure you can't," said William. "What's your guess?"
"I cannot guess either," said the computer.
William thought of something better not said aloud, so he said nothing.
"The solutions to your traveling salesman problem," said computer after a moment.
"Show me," ordered William, and the maps showed the first targets and then the others that had already happened.
"Stop," he said. "These are the attacks that already happened?"
"Correct," said the computer. "And the next attack happens tomorrow."
William nodded. "Continue."
One by one, the Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen colonies were attacked and the Kaitians steadily moved toward the home worlds.
"We have still a little time," said William. "We may stop them if we deploy the Behemoths to defend the home worlds."
"I'm sorry, sir," said the computer, "but I estimate that the Behemoths can defend only one location. They are most effective together, and because of the strength of the enemy, they should fight together."
"Damn," said William. "I don't like that."
There was a knock on the door and William smiled.
"Come on in, Rachel," he said, and she came in carrying two pints of beer.
"Ah!" said William, delighted. "Just what I need, thank you, dear."
He kissed her and took the pint. He pointed toward the map.
"Look, Rachel," he said. "The Kaitians have started their attack on Rg'Tkeen and your space."
She examined the map for a long while until she said sadly, "This is it, William. One way or the other, our destiny will be decided before this attack is over."
William hadn't thought about that in such final terms, but he had to admit that she was correct. He sighed. "Then we need to stop them at all costs."
"We don't only need to," she said, looking at William. "We must. Still no word from the Sea of Boston?"
"None," he said. "If they don't come soon they may be too late."
"And the Behemoths?" she asked.
"They are in good shape," said William. "We have a fighting chance with them. Although the computer seems to think that they can only fight on one front and it would be unwise to divide the forces."
"Don't blame the computer." Rachel smiled. "It's probably right."
"Right," said William, unconvinced.
"Oh, by the way," said Rachel. "Command has been called to a conference. You must decide how to counter the Kaitian attack."
"And you didn't say it right away." William smiled.
"No," she said. "I wanted you to have a beer."
He laughed aloud as he opened the conference call.
***
"Ah," said Milton with a hint of smile. "I'm glad you could join us."
"I was delayed," said William, still smiling.
"Right," said Milton. "We were discussing how to proceed. There are two options: the Behemoths defend either the Miccvan Empire or the Rg'Tkeen Empire. The other one must defend themselves using what they've got and what we can spare."
"You can have the Behemoths," said Mr. Grey. "We can handle the enemy ourselves."
"That's good to hear, Admiral," said Milton, relieved but also surprised. He'd expected a long discussion which one would receive the Behemoths and he didn't expect Mr. Grey to voluntarily give the Behemoths to the Miccvan defense.
"To be honest, I expected this discussion last for a while. Does anyone have anything to add?"
None did.
"Very well, then," he said. "The Behemoths will defend the Miccvan Empire. We will meet the enemy before they reach our home world. What about you, Admiral?"
Mr. Grey didn't answer right away. "We'll meet them on our home world. And we'll destroy them."
There was resolve in his voice that no one missed.
"You sound very confident," said Laura. "I have no doubt that you could defeat them, but you would be sacrificing lot of your colonies."
"True," said Mr. Grey, "and it was not an easy decision. We will evacuate as much as we can, of course, but still our losses will be great."
"William," said Milton. "I must ask that your fleet join to defend the Ooktian home world. Have you fitted your ships with new weapons, the black energy rays?"
"Almost," said William. "I will direct our fleet to the Ooktian home world as soon as we're finished. Have you heard from your scouts? No one managed to find out about the enemy before the attack."
"No," said Milton, "and I fear the worst."
"So do I," said William, thinking about Nick and Louis. He kn
ew for certain that they were alive.
"And the Sea of Boston?" asked Laura. "Any news?"
"No news," said William.
"We can only hope they return soon," said Milton.
"Anything else?"
No one had anything, so the conference ended. William returned to his office and was very surprised to find Rachel waiting for him--wearing a very nice black and red corset.
"Rachel." William smiled happily and closed the door behind him.
28
"Admiral," called Marya.
"What is it, Commander?" asked Bruce.
"New orders and new situation brief," said Marya. "It's bad, sir."
"I'll be right there," said Bruce.
On his way to the bridge, he grabbed a cup of coffee--then spilled it all over his shirt when he bumped into Marya as he entered the bridge.
"Oh!" said Marya. "I'm sorry, sir!"
Bruce smiled. "No harm done, it's only coffee. What's the situation?"
"Look, sir," she said, and pointed the map in the middle of the bridge. “Two Kaitian fleets have attacked, one the Miccvan space and the other the Rg'Tkeen.”
The maps showed also the likely path the fleets would take.
"I assume our orders are to go and meet them," said Bruce.
"That's right, sir," said Marya. "As soon as we can. The Coalition is gathering the forces as we speak and we must delay the enemy so that the defense can prepare. There are dozens of new Behemoths, sir!"
"Really?" said Bruce, surprised. "I guess they accelerated the building program, that's good news. Can reach the next target before the enemy?"
"We can reach it about the same time," she said. "Right in the middle of their attack."
Bruce nodded. "Lay in the course. Maximum speed."
"Yes, Admiral," said Marya.
***
"There they are!" shouted Marya after they exited hyperspace.
"Holy Hell! Look how many there are!"
"Hit-and-run the closest ship!" ordered Bruce. "Quick! Quick before they can react! Then enter hyperspace and exit at a different location!"
The crew knew what to do and surprised the closest Kaitian cruiser by destroying it and going back to hyperspace. As soon as they entered hyperspace, they exited near another Kaitian cruiser.
The enemy didn't have a chance. The Behemoth's plasma rays cut the cruiser in two and then the parts were battered into pieces by the cannons.
Several Kaitians fired upon them, but they entered back into hyperspace and exited again far from the destroyed target.
But the Kaitians were ready now.
"Direct hit!" said Marya. "We lost a cannon! Direct hit! We lost another cannon!"
"Back to hyperspace!" ordered Bruce, and fired upon the nearest enemy ships to get enough time to enter back into hyperspace.
They took another hit in the hull before entering hyperspace.
"Damn!" shouted Bruce. "What went wrong? Commander!"
"Sir!" responded Marya. "They . . . they seemed to be ready for us. Or, rather," she corrected, while pulling the analysis of the attack from a console nearby, "they reacted incredibly quickly. I think they were controlled by AIs."
"Just what we needed," said Bruce frustrated. "Damn!"
He paced back and forth and thought about what to do. Command had ordered them delay the enemy, but it was now obvious they couldn't do that.
They'd just get themselves killed, so to hell with the orders.
"Commander!" he ordered. "Set a course to the Miccvan home world. Maximum speed. And while on course, try to find out where the Behemoths muster. We must inform them about the Kaitian AIs."
"Yes, sir!" obeyed Marya.
Bruce walked away from the bridge to see the damage what the Kaitians had done. Two heavy cannons destroyed and a bad hit to the hull.
"How bad was it?" he asked one of the engineers.
"If the angle of the hit had been steeper, we would've had a breach right here," she said.
"What kind of weapon was that?" asked Bruce.
"Some kind of pulse weapon. We must send the data to HQ," she answered. "We can't analyze it here."
"All right, thank you," said Bruce, and continued ahead to see the remnants of their destroyed cannons.
"If I'm not mistaken, these took a direct hits," he said to another engineer.
"That's correct, sir," said the engineer. "Very precise hits. The enemy targeting system knew what to look and where to shoot."
Bruce thanked the engineer and went to his office.
He sat behind his desk and called Marya.
"Yes, sir?" she said and Bruce told her the engineer's thoughts about the direct hits to the cannons.
"Analyze all our encounters with the Kaitians and try to find out when they managed to analyze us so thoroughly that they can fire direct hits to our cannons," Bruce ordered. Marya acknowledged and closed the intercom.
Bruce sighed and decided to go to sleep. He had a feeling that now was a good time to rest, so he ordered the entire crew to rest as much as possible before they reached the Miccvan home world or the Behemoth muster point.
29
"Darling?" said Ellen. She woke in the middle of the night to find that Jeffery was not beside her.
"Shh, dear," said Jeffery, standing by the window and looking at the black emptiness. "Go back to sleep."
Ellen stood up and went beside him.
"What's on your mind?" she asked.
Jeffery didn't answer right away. When the Marines had returned from the surface of the fusion factory planet and told him what happened, he'd had an uneasy feeling. Even nightmares. He'd had one just now and that's why he was standing by the window.
Ellen guessed what he was thinking, although he hadn't said anything to her. "It's the black veil, isn't it? You're having nightmares."
"How did you know?" asked Jeffery, surprised.
"Everyone is having nightmares," she said quietly. "Some sleep them through, like me; some wake up, like you."
"The black veil," confirmed Jeffery quietly.
"Like space." He nodded toward the window. "I wonder what it is, and why the Arash hadn't seen it before. Perhaps the Kaitians triggered something, so it may be like a guardian.
"But," he continued, "who assigned the guardian? Is it the factory it's guarding? Or something else? Who built the factory? Where are they now? And are they coming back now that the guardian has awoken?"
"You give me the shivers," said Ellen and pressed herself to Jeffery. He hugged her and held her tightly. He had the shivers, too.
"Let's go and try to sleep," said Ellen after a while. Jeffery nodded; he was tired and hoped that he could sleep without nightmares.
***
Jiao, too, woke after having a nightmare about the black veil. She wondered how it was possible that she had nightmare--she'd never seen it. Horacio had been very surprised to hear about the black veil, as well as the large hall or opening where the Marines encountered the veil. He'd concluded that it must be a guardian or something like that.
Jiao agreed and, like Jeffery, she wondered what would happen next now that the guardian had awoken. She shook her head; it was too much to think. The Kaitian war itself was big enough--and now there were many unknowns that, she was certain, would come back to haunt them in the future. If they had a future after the Kaitian war.
"Computer," she said. "What is the time?"
"Three twenty-one in the morning," said the computer.
Jiao smiled. "I know it's morning."
"As you say, ma'am," said the computer, and made Jiao smile even more. She was certain that their computers had a sense of humor.
"Is the crew having nightmares?" she asked. She'd ordered the computer to monitor the crew after she learned about the nightmares. Jiao feared that nightmares might be too much for some of the crew and she wanted to know in advance if anyone couldn't handle them.
"Yes, ma'am," said the computer. "Fifty-five percent of the crew
have woken at least once during the night. The rest have slept restlessly, but hadn't awoken."
Jiao sighed. "And the Arash?"
"They, too, are having nightmares," answered the computer.
Jiao sighed again. "I really could live without these nightmares. Any idea why? What is causing them? Is the black veil here? On the ship?"
"Not one of the scans revealed anything," said the computer.
"Well," said Jiao, "scan it again. On all possible frequencies, using all possible scanning methods."
"Yes, ma'am," obeyed the computer. Jiao dressed and went for a walk. She was not surprised to see many of the crew doing the same.
After aimlessly walking for close to an hour, she went to her own observation deck at the bow.
"Computer," she said, "have you completed the scans?"
"Not yet, ma'am," said the computer. "So far, nothing new to report."
Jiao didn't expect anything. She was getting tired, very tired, and decided to lie on the floor for a second--and then fell asleep.
***
"Admiral," called Jeffery through the intercom. "Where are you?"
"I'm right here," said Jiao aloud, and thought, But where is here?
She was disoriented for a moment until she remembered that she was on the observation deck and had decided to rest a bit on the floor; clearly she'd fell asleep to the floor. She laughed; she'd never done that before.
"I'm right here," said Jiao again. "What is it?"
"You should come to the bridge," he said. "We were passing a Miccvan colony when we noticed something odd and . . . well, the colony is gone. Destroyed."
"I'm already coming," she said, and hurried to the bridge.
"What happened here?"
"It's the Kaitians," said Jeffery. "They've attacked here and destroyed everything. The planet itself will be uninhabitable for decades, if not centuries. No survivors--and, apparently, no Kaitian casualties."
"We don't have much time," she said. "We must bring the prisoners to the Coalition as soon as possible. Can we get any faster?"
"I'll do what I can," said Jeffery.
***
Rachel and William had left the Miccvan home world and were aboard the Thoughtful Flame, watching the reports as they came from the Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen fronts. Fortunately, the Kaitians hadn't yet attacked the Ooktian home world.
"This doesn't look good," said Rachel. Earlier, she'd almost cried to find out that the colony of her ancestors had been destroyed.
"No, dear," said William. "It doesn't. But we'll win this war, sooner or later."