Chapter 50

The ship was much larger than any dreadnaught I ever heard of. The lines were of Tandra origin, but the information I had, went back 650,000 years, and never mentioned a ship like this. It must be a newer design and showed the Tandra to be very active, after that period in time. The torus surrounding the ship, must have stretched two kilometres in diameter, and the ship within, must have dwarfed Cal's hull by at least 50%. Depending on the contents and construction, it would mass out at ten to twelve million tonnes. Its max speed was unknown, because it was rapidly decelerating to arrive at the planet, with zero velocity.

I did my threat analysis, and knew if I went to maximum acceleration I could be at the Mardaf Limit in about three minutes. The approaching ship would actually cut across our course, and with the amount of energy we used it was sure to see us. Its tractors were massive enough to hold us still, no matter what we wanted to do.

If we could make it by, or slow and let them pass, then we stood a good chance to get away, because we could get the most out of our ship and hopefully the other ship had the usual crew. In this case, I knew somehow, that this was not the case.

Chris and Nova took up stations, and the rest did soon after. Nema and Nedue were the only ones this time that were falling apart, and I ordered the doc module to calm them.

I sent the data I had gathered to the others screens, as they did their own things with the data.

I had to know what we were up against, and I cautiously sent my mind out. The girls came with me, to back me up if necessary. In my mind's eye, I saw the ship glow with mental energy. Communication was taking place with some of the Samutz fighting, and I was able to pierce the shield in this instance. Moving closer, I followed the stream of energy to its source. It was centred around the control room, and the room seemed to pulse with the prodigious amount used. I stopped, and tried to gather as much data as I could, before getting closer. This was no time for brash actions, because I could in no way, stand up to this flow.

The AI was much larger and stronger, than even Cal was. I did not dare go any closer, for fear of setting off its alarms too. In a chair incrusted in barbaric splendour, a lone Samutz sat, and I knew him to be our greatest enemy. He commanded the AI with his mind, and used hundreds of brainwashed or controlled Tandra, to drive his ship, and perform all the functions I was able to do. He gave orders to his soldiers around the ships, to kill all the opposition, as quickly as possible.

I retreated before I was noticed, and scanned some of the other parts of the ship as I left. The engines and energy usage were enormous, and along the lines that I wanted Cal to have. The shield did not seem right, and investigated one of the massive generators and found it radically different in many respects.

Chris pulled me over to the weapons launcher, and I became even more frightened. The missiles were coated with zinc, and I knew that they could penetrate any of our ships with ease.

Susan showed me the room with row on row of Tandra, strapped down on pallets, with an odd device on their heads. They did not seem to notice us as I looked on.

Amy did her investigating, and coaxed me to the boat bays, where ships of different design, lay in tractors from the ceiling, walls and in-between. These must be as new as the ship we were in.

The ship's field must have re-energised, because we were all of a sudden back in our own ship. I knew now, that we were trapped. The only question was whether the approaching ship would do anything to us. I could take no chances, with my family's safety.

"Susan, get all the combat suits out. You, Chris, Nova, and I will get into them. Bring the other suits, with you too. Chris; bring all the hand weapons, and have them stored in an empty suit."

"Why are we doing this?" Susan asked.

"I don't know if the ship will allow us to leave. I need a place to hide, and the only place I can think of, is on the hull, the side away from the approaching ship. We need to take all the things with us, and hide or destroy the rest. We cannot fight, and we cannot run fast enough."

Chris said, "We have missiles coated with zinc and iron just like they do."

"Yes we do, and they probably have a shield to stop that kind of weapon. Get to it. We only have about four and a half minutes before we are in range."

I called to Runna, "Open your hatch to the computer room, and store the twelve missiles there."

"That is against the rules. Nothing is to be stored in this space."

"Runna, what is my title?"

"Captain, sir."

"Also Admiral and Emperor if I must. Now get those missiles transferred quickly, because you will be searched and questioned by the Samutz and the AI soon."

"Yes, my Emperor."

"Nova, get the girls into the shields. Medicate any you think will be too strung out." I turned to Sandy, "Help Chris get all the guns, galvanized ammo and knives, put them into an empty suit."

There was so much to do, and so little time. "I will help Nova get Nedue and Soma into a shield. You better sedate them now, just in case."

Susan brought more shield units, and I got the younger members dressed first. The weapons were a little harder, and had to go and help transport all of them. Runna was much too busy, to help in this matter.

When we were all dressed and the hand weapons secured, there were only two major jobs left. Runna stated that her last task had been completed.

"Runna, slowly suck all the air from the ship, and open all the hatches like the other ships in this system." This took only seconds, and our suits stiffened only a little. "Take all the probes with virus and program them to attack the approaching ship from the inside. They will be going in with this hull, if they find us interesting enough. You will have to send them out and attach them to the hull, after you drop our shield so they will not be found inside. Spread them out, so they will be hard to notice. If I do not activate them in three hours, have them start their programming then"

Time was about up, and we all left by a hatch on the far side. I carried the weapons and secured them to a few of the deck rings. Susan brought out one small figure in a suit, and Nova did the same. They came beside me, where they were secured as best we could do. All around us were small nodules that looked innocuous but were the most deadly weapon we had.

I spoke to Runna again, "Runna, if a tractor latches onto us, try to keep us attached to your hull. It is very unlikely that they will lock on over our centre, so rotate us so that their detection equipment will not see us."

"Yes, my Emperor."

"One last thing, Runna. When or if we are drawn into the ship, hide all of your information including your log, even from yourself. 'Runna awake' will be the code words that will bring it all back. Now you have to act a part, you opened your hatches, and all your Samutz crew were ejected, when you were infected along with the crew. Something made you go crazy and delete your log, but you are starting to recover now."

"I understand, my Emperor."

"Runna, you will be searched, and the possibility is slight, but still a possibility, that something will be found. This cannot be allowed to happen."

"Yes, my Emperor. I will do as you say."

"Thank you, Runna."

"Ok, girls, switch on your invisibility, and hold on. We will be within tractor range in seconds. There may be a jerk and try to be calm, because that may let them know that someone is here."

The jerk came with a suddenness that I was unable to understand, but Runna did as she was asked, and cushioned our ride with her gravity. Star and Amy were thrown off, and only their suit tractors kept them from being thrown into space. The starscape wildly changed as we rotated, and I hoped it was enough to hide us from prying eyes and instruments.

Some of the girls started to cry, in their fear, till Susan told them to relax. It seemed to help, when she said it too.

The AI on the massive ship knew what she was doing, and she allowed the minimum stress on both her tractors and our ship. Within minutes, we saw the rough outline of the hull, just before it was cut off by the insides of the bay. The screen tried to pull us off, as we slipped in, but our hold was good.

The lights were bright, and I could see Samutz, Tandra, and T'aut working on ships all around us. I just hoped that they did not point any detection devices at us, for we would be in plain sight then.

The bay held thousands of ships, from some slightly larger, to many times smaller in size. We came to a gentle halt, and I knew we were secured. I did not want to cast my mind out to see what was happening, for fear of attracting attention, while there was a lot of interest in our ship.

I felt a surge of fear, and said, "Calm down. They will give a casual search and ignore us. Susan and I have done this before." I did not want to think about the consequences of what happened last time. Amy was beside me, I knew, and also knew she was very frightened. After a hug, that at first frightened her, she began to relax.

I felt bad about our situation. It was my fault that we came to this system, and into this ship. We had very few weapons, against a Samutz that mindspoke.

We stayed on the hull for a half hour, to be sure that it was safe. Amy and Star were still frightened, and had to pee. This was done in their suits as was customary. "Susan, find Nedue and Soma, and take them over by the large opening, where there is a lot of light now. Chris, take Star. Nova, you take Sandy, and I will take Amy." We lifted off, and left our weapons and flew toward the opening. Nova just missed a speeding Samutz, as he carried a large strut.

Landing was problematical, because I did not know where anyone was, and came down slow to compensate. "Is everybody here?"

I got no call, so I said, "Walk down the hall on your left side. When you get to the corner, there is an emergency ladder. The girls without combat suits climb the ladder, while the rest hover close to the ceiling. I am going to get our weapons."

I heard in my mind, indrawn breaths, but went anyways. Runna lay in a cradle, and all her ports were still open and looked ready to leave. I had no wish yet to interface with her, and bring down the AI, and the Samutz on us. I watched my path carefully, and found the suit with the weapons. Putting it over my shoulder and locking on the tractors, I flew back to the tunnel. Staying near the high ceiling, I flew to the intersection.

"I am back, girls. Let's go for a walk, and find the computer tech section."

We held hands, and took the same course as what we would do, if in 'The Claw'. It was still difficult to call a ship and the AI the same name. One was ceramic and energy, while the other was just like me, or my friends.

An hour later we found a series of berthing spaces for troops, and decided to rest here, while we used our minds. If done with the least power, there was little chance of detection.

The bunks were similar to morgue shelves, or like the capsule hotels in Japan. Small openings like pigeon holes allowed a Samutz or Tandra to crawl in and sleep or be entertained in the minimum amount of space. There were row on row of these small cubicles, and this was only one room.

We got together, away from the door, and I led my wives in a methodical search. I knew the types of equipment to look for, and found various pieces all through the ship. The only place they were all together, were close to the bay, where Runna lay. I searched around that area, looking for another place that was empty.

"I am sorry, girls. This was the first place we could stop, and do the searching. We will just have to go back."

The trip back was just as long, and by travelling a slight detour, we came to an empty room. This was a power control room that was close to one of the smaller reactors. There was no hum, as I would think, but I did feel the enormous power held in check.

I broke open the suits, and took out the knives, guns and ammo. Some of these went into my suit, if I ever needed the extra weapons, for the suit itself, had more than enough to usually suit me. My only major concern was whether the Samutz personnel shields here, could stop a galvanized blade.

All the girls joined in, and took what they thought useful in this case. They all had training in combat, but except for Susan, none had any practical experience. The men on Earth were not that dangerous, and would not even factor into this equation. The remaining articles were hidden, for I needed the suit for my booty.

The room I entered a few moments later had three techs working, and one overseer. I had to dampen my mind much more than usual, for I could not give them even an inkling that I was here.

A large heavy duty controller caught my eye, a roll of flexible conduit, and the last I could not find. Techs walked around opening various storage areas, and I tried to look within. Two techs left and three more entered. They used to test equipment to find the faults. One tech in particular seemed to fix all of the equipment, as he worked on a fabricator.

I needed the rings that would disable the tractors, in the computer room. I knew also, that when the complexity of the AI went up, so did the number of tractors. I was shooting for at least a hundred, but would like a lot more. The tech in the fabricator finally finished a module, and bent over to rest a moment, before the next job came. I sent a small probe and looked over her shoulder. I could see all the tools in the drawer. I would need to open three drawers, and take most of the contents from each. It would be foolish to leave a drawer empty and arouse suspicion.

Two of the containers were behind some of the benches, and would be easily entered. The other was on an open wall, where an open drawer would make them wonder.

I slipped behind the benches, and took out most of the loops, and laid them on the deck before forming an invisible shield around them. I went back to the controller, and took it and the conduit. The load was not large, just awkward.

Coming out of the shop, I saw techs and Samutz using tractors and grav units to place plates and heavy equipment. The path was clear and I made it back to the control room. "Is anybody home?"

I was immediately attacked by all the girls. They were relieved, that I had made it back safely. "I am not done. Chris, you are the most agile here, and I want you to go with me to the bay. There, I want you to make a diversion, so I can get the rest of what I need. Are you ok with that?"

Chris was more than eager, "Yes, just tell me when you want it?"

Back in the shop with the now empty suit, I waited close to the drawer for Chris to do her thing. I waited and waited. This was not an unusual thing, and some things took time. Almost 20 minutes later a deafening roar was heard and felt, throughout the bay. Alarms went off and screens went on to prevent atmosphere loss.

The Samutz then the techs left the shop, to see what had happened. Pulling the drawer to the max, I quickly got more than enough rings, I hoped, to complete this job.

Back at the room, I gathered up all the other supplies, and in a moment Chris came back with a smug thought in her mind. A grav unit had mysteriously shorted out its power unit and exploded. It just happened to be in a group of Samutz as they sat together.

We walked for a long time, because we could not use the transit systems. The gravity was heavier than even Earth norm, and this must put an undue strain on all the Tandra. Our goal was the area I usually used to attack an enemy computer. This time, I found a spot about 500 metres away that could be used to keep my family safe, while the operation continued. Only Nova and Susan were to go with me, and then only till I was inside the bulkhead.

After prying back the plate, I removed the combat suit, and put on the command model. There was no way I would be able to do my job with the large suit. I only took a projectile gun with a spare magazine of galvanized shells, and one of the good knives Mom made for me. I kissed all of my family even gave Nedue and Soma a small kiss, to show that they were loved too.

Susan and Nova stood outside the room I chose, as I pealed back the plate bonded to the structural members. From the looks of the equipment, it looked like I had chosen well. The same type of equipment was here, that Cal had, when his hull was taken.

"Susan, Nova, I am fine now. Go back to the others and wait till I come and get you. I should be anywhere from 8 hours to a day or more. Once I start, I have to stay till I am finished."

Susan said, "We can stay here, and watch your back."

"Look, Honey, I want to know all of you are safe. I would constantly worry about you being found, if you were close by. I have had much more experience in these matters than you, and besides, I am the captain. Now get your pretty asses out of here."

I got a kiss through my shield, which was not as good as it could be, and the girls left. After crawling inside the enclosure, I energized the controller and closed the opening. There was enough light to see, because of the small indicators that were all over the place. Taking another careful look, I started on the first bypass.

Letting out a pent up breath, I rested a moment. So far fourteen more bypasses had been installed, and an untold number was still to be done, and 7 hours had passed in doing so. This system was more advanced than any other I had worked on, and I had to go slow to make doubly sure everything was right. The automatic probes would have already started their work, and many of the Samutz should now be dying, even if they did not know it.

I worked for another 8 hours and with all the mental effort; I scanned and could not find my family, which was a good thing. Laying my head onto my arm, I went to sleep for a few hours.

The internal alarm clock woke me up, and after a few stretches, I continued with the mission. A few hours later everything went for a shit. A sensor that was the very same as the ones in Cal or the other ships, started an alarm that carried to the rest of the ship. Too late now, but it must have been a trap set long ago, to catch people like me.

I backed out as fast as I could, and used the controller to remove the panel and close it again. I could hear audible alarms, and running feet, so I deactivated my suit and hid the controller. I then ran like hell to get as far away as possible. As I ran, I felt pressure on my brain and simply closed everything off, as much as possible. I did not know how long I could remain free, with an AI and a telepathic Samutz, looking for me.

Calling the girls now would be suicide, so I just tried to draw any pursuit away from them.

My escape plan now rested with Runna, for she had the last weapon that I could use. The aisles were blocked many times by running Samutz taking up stations. Some did not look too good, and stumbled, trying to keep up to their mates. I saw more than one, puke within his suit from the exertion. The virus was doing a much better job than I was able to do.

A check point ahead was set up, and a device mounted on the wall projected down the hallway. I was too slow in recognition, to stop. Fingers pointed and weapons rose. Energy weapons shot at me, and would have melted through the suit in a split second, except there was an open door beside me.

Deactivating my suit, I removed the pistol and controller. I attacked the wall, and about time I figured someone would be at the room, I turned and fired a stream of slugs. Three entered and three suits exploded, from the inside. Jumping to the door, and at the floor, I peaked around and fired at four more Samutz. They all made odd motions as the small explosions inside the suits carried the bodies across the aisle.

Back at the panel, I was able to get in and had to open another panel in another room. The panels were closed, and I knew I had just moved sideways a few metres from all the action. My things went back onto me, as I re-energized the suit.

Peering around the corner I saw the similar apparatus on the wall and much more alert Samutz manning their weapons. There was nowhere I could run without being spotted and shot. The controller was my only option.

Taking the device again, I moved closer to the roadblock, but through the walls of the rooms. I was trying to get past them without facing the device that made a mockery of my invisibility.

Just as I vacated one the room to the next, I felt explosions in the room I originally entered. The grenades were powerful enough to even take out a combat suit, if it were close enough.

I worked frantically, because it would not take a genius to know where I had gone. Two more rooms I managed to pass, when heavily armoured Samutz marched down the aisle and blew the shit out of each of the rooms I had been in.

I was just passed the checkpoint, when the last blast rang out. I jumped across the aisle behind the Samutz, hoping they were keeping their heads down.

Seconds later the room I vacated, and the ones further up, received similar treatment. I still had a mission, and soon they would find no body and the search would only intensify again.

Going sideways again, I was able to get behind the next check station, and was able to make it to the hanger.

Runna was in the centre, and I had to look all around. On the catwalk Samutz were shining projectors all over the floor, looking for somebody that would show up on their devices. Work did continue though, and the Tandra, Softay and T'aut were watched even better. There seamed to be much more of them here, than there was on other ships.

There was no chance of diversion now. If they thought I was here, they would flood the place with troops, and it would be impossible to get out.

I did see a flaw in their plan though. The special projectors were placed high above, and hardly ever did they go straight down. If I were lucky, I would be able to make it most of the way there, without them catching on. Putting my thoughts to actions, I burst out, and ran in front of all the small rooms. I had to stop twice, as rooms were entered or Samutz stood in my path.

Eventually I was only a hundred metres from Runna. The cradle under her hull would have to hide me long enough till she was able to transport me inside. Looking at all the projectors I could see, my mind calculated their probable paths, and the best one for me to escape them.

I made it to a collection of tanks, just as a beam played across them. I had to gather more info, so my head came up between the tanks long enough the get hit by another beam. Pulling my head back, I waited for the alarm to go off, but it didn't.

A second check, showed the new pattern, and I ran behind a truck carrying heavy equipment, as it went near Runna. Just as it passed, I dived under her hull, and waited for capture. It must have worked, for nothing was heard.

"Runna awake," I said only once. Even that was being risky.

I waited for almost a minute, till I materialized inside the control room. Switching to audio, I said, "Runna, use only audio. I need to transmit the imperial override, but when I do, everything around the transmitter will be blown apart. Do we have enough probes left to allow a virus to command this super dreadnaught's transmitters to do this for us?"