Chapter 97B

The girls all waited outside the computer when I emerged. I said, "There is no need for protocol. Consider me just a visitor that is doing some things to improve and protect your base." Mom told me what she thought the tug hull was capable of and I said to the five before me. "We need to get the fabricator working now. I need some energy conduits made and a new and very powerful inertial stabiliser constructed... If your system is not overloaded I would like some antimatter produced. They are the best low tech solution to taking our enemies on."

Floona said, "We can start right away with the antimatter. It looks like you require this in a short time and there is no way we can make all that you will require. We are only able to make a few grams an hour."

"Do what you can. If there is time, awake a few of those in stasis. They may assist if there is time or help later in leaving this base. The fleet will eventually be coming this way and I want you all safe."

This brought home even more the seriousness of our situation. They ran off to do what was required after getting more detailed information from the computer.

This plan would be much easier if I could see the enemy without them seeing me. They had so many ships and sensors that our probes would not last long enough to do the job of spotting. The Fassoot had been easier in a way because they had not been able to spot all our probes and destroy them. I was just itching to find a sample of the new sensors. They worked much better than anything we had seen so far. Their accuracy and definition must be superior to anything we had yet seen.

The girls began their duties and I could sense their controlled panic to get everything possible done. I walked back into the maze and looked very close to the portal I had just gone through. There were a great many small dimples in the nebulous material. In a minute I had found the tug. I opened the dimple and sent my thoughts ahead of me, trying to explain to the startled AI what I was going to do. The two metre in diameter crystal was picked up again and carried into the tug through a greatly enlarged opening. From there I concentrated and vibrated the load and my body enough to slip through the computer and into the ship proper. Gravity was reduced and I walked the passageway till I came to one of the large holds. The large crystal was supported by some tractors till a cradle could be fabricated.

Moments later I returned and began a new computer in the maze. This could not be done that quickly and I was still restricted to the eleven percent rule I found. All this was extremely necessary because the hull would not be able to move quickly enough to get to our enemies. Some of the adjustments to power meant that a more intelligent computer had to work quicker to allow the charges to get to where they were needed.

There was a bit of jerking in our travel because the tug was being pushed as fast as its inertial stabilisers could go. Sometimes small surges got by the device to cause the unwelcome instability.

The tug eventually slowed and entered the base. I left the tug by way of the maze and approached the small ship on foot now. This ship was the same as what Mom used to inhabit and I felt a pang of nostalgia and regret for what I must do. The hatch opened and I began to strip some of the hull plating off and then even two ribs. The base tractors were used to remove the existing inertial stabiliser and enough room was now available to install the new one.

I went back to the hold that contained the crystal. The base AI sent the energy conduits and these were put into place as required. In a half hour I had the old compensator out and the installation of the newer unit begun. Eight hours later the compensator was complete. In my spare time I worked on the computer and I had just surpassed the necessary amount to allow the computer to build itself. The ship had connected up the energy conduits and asked me where the power would come from. The tug remained silent as she digested the information I sent her.

Mom and Bennechi left the base and I used the transmitter crystal to send minuscule amounts of matter and antimatter into space. With a good bit of triangulation we got a fair idea of our range. Our aim and range were suitably adjusted. In another hour Mom from Sofaas now was connected to us. Our shooting was then recalibrated and we were able to hit at almost ten lights at full power. This was just beyond what I thought the enemy fleet's sensors could detect. I really regretted not having a larger crystal because it would allow us more time to take out targets before we were discovered.

Even with the tug's computer not completed yet, I said goodbye to the five girls and left at our best speed. They still did not know how to treat me even though they kept this hidden as deeply as possible. They were still distraught at their long held hopes being dashed. Others had felt the same way and they were just going to have to deal with it.

We left the system quicker than the tug had ever imagined. The new AI was not online yet. Some of the probes and Mom pushed to get us to where I wanted while I used my senses to look for opponents. I thought of the five distraught girls I had just left and hoped that the tasks I had given them would keep them busy enough to find a way to overcome their sense of loss. Stripping a base was a suitable task but also very stressful. Nobody wanted to just change homes for memories, both good and bad were tied to this planet.

We arrived at an uninhabited system ahead of the fleet. I broke up any large concentrations of matter and flung the small portions in the path of the approaching ships. Some were asteroids but some had to be planets in size. I just hoped that the raw energy I used would not alert the approaching fleet.

We had to race to two other systems to get the required amount of matter and tow it into position before throwing portions of it again at the enemy shipping. We left as soon as we could while our probes hid in the very fringes of this dispersed matter.

I had to run back into the maze and retrieve the necessary munitions. This time I was going with smaller loads. There was half a gram of matter and half a gram of antimatter in each shell. The gun I used to remove the Thonas threat was brought up one more time. It was mounted before the crystal and would be fired by the AI. We had less than an hour to wait but I was busy the entire time getting the details worked out.

The approaching fleet did not veer away as if not worried about the debris in front of them. In truth it would be difficult to move because each of the ships at the front had to keep in order or block other ships view from behind. The larger pieces were shot by the ships, on the chance they would harbour the probes but this left a lot of small fragments.

When our probes were actually being struck, I began our own offensive. The front of the formation had been mapped out. An explosion close to one of the enemy ships was called in and corrected. The second shot a fraction of a second later exploded inside the ship. I felt a great deal of elation. None of us knew if this sort of attack would be possible. Using the matter transmitter had been tried before but had been proven not to be feasible because of the size and power required.

One half gram of antimatter was the same as a hydrogen bomb in destructive power and the ship was severely damaged I hoped. The ships targeted were on the far side of the front from us to give the impression we were shooting from that direction. Ships started shooting more of the clumps of matter and I started using larger amounts of antimatter. Now the fragments of the ships themselves would give us some additional decoys or places to hide.

Soon they broke formation to look for who was targeting them. We missed at least half the time because of their quick evasive manoeuvres but in ten minutes had destroyed or heavily damaged 93 of their ships. Every so often a probe would go through the matter transmitter to hug a damaged ship and hopefully provide us with additional data and remain undetected.

The ships had expanded their search area and we had to flee. This time we left very quickly the ships soon found our energy trail and gave chase. I led them back the way they had come after a performing a large circle. This hopefully brought them out of communications range of the rest of their fleet.

The order went out to our other units. If possible they would work in close to the wrecks and hide like their brethren had already done. This I hoped would give them a much better chance of remaining undetected and operational.

We tried to remain just outside their sensor range of our pursuers but their weapons though still fired at us. With the amount of stress in this situation, I began to push my mind to do even more than before. I used the matter transmitter to take out the small missiles as they came close. This was done with nothing but feel or intuition. I felt I got one of the cruisers itself as it took a chance to head us off by correctly predicting our next move. There was no way of being sure but I had to try.

Their accuracy was so good that we had to stay well beyond their sensor range and this was proving difficult to do. The fleet had all spread out when word got back of our attack. The scouts ran into us but my ability to predict what would happen a few seconds into the future was all that stood between us and death.

More data from the battle scene was being sent now that our probes were not targeted. The number of enemy ships was still unknown because they were still searching for any and all attackers.

When we ran straight for a second, I dropped some of the mines the tug had carried to refresh the supply on the fringes of the system it protected. Our coarse changed quickly again but I felt that we may have got one more of our attackers. The instruments in the tug were not up to what was needed in a military situation. The chase lasted hours and it was hours more that many millions of beings had to remain alive.

When it looked like the pursuit had fallen off I made another turn to get close to and ahead of the fleet one more time. An uninhabited system now provided more of my raw material. A planet the size of Uranus was propelled toward where the fleet would be soon as it drifted into position. My mind tapped the higher universe and forced the mass to approach the speed of light. At 93 percent I switched to hundreds of tubes to cut the planet up into small sized pieces. These I flew toward the fleet at only a hundred lights and soon hastily reversed course as the portions got close.

I flew around to the other side of the fleet and started the shooting again. Our kills now were much better because we had so many good probes in their midst. The approaching portions of matter was struck very heavily by the fleet. While they concentrated on their supposed and obvious enemy, I continued to take out the ones doing the shooting.

A feeling of a trap came to me and instead of fleeing, I moved into the centre of the wrecked ships and continued my assault. Our sensors showed three ships patrolling where we had just been but thankfully did not look into the area of their own damaged ships.

The tug AI came fully awake during this time and she took over much of the shooting as I cast my mind out for special dangers.

When the targets started to dwindle I said to Mom and Bennechi, "I am going to wait for a bit then start shooting again in one area. I want you to escape then."

"We can push you faster if we stay."

"The chances are that the hull I am in will not survive. I can easily slip into the maze and meet you later. There is also a good chance you will draw some of the enemy away from me. In a day or so there should be many more targets. Feel free to take any souvenirs you want before you leave. I want to know how their sensors work."

They did leave in a half hour after tugging some of the hull from the ship protecting us. Since the shooting had stopped the fleet started to reorganize and when a substantial amount of ships were close enough I again started on the far side and worked closer to our position. Mom and Bennechi flew off away from the battle and I shot at six ships that gave pursuit.

The first four exploded but the remaining two were not seriously affected. Before they got out of range they were each hit twice more with little effect other than to push then minutely away from the force of the blast.

Mom said, "It looks like they have caught on to what we were doing. They found a solution to the way we were destroying their shipping. Let's try a heavier charge and see what we can do."

We began firing again and I was only able to get one out of twenty seven targets. "It looks like you're right. We need something to get through their new shield configuration."

The AI in the tug ripped more of the damaged hull from the stricken vessel hiding us. Small portions went into the maze. The larger portions went into the holds. A perfunctory look showed that the dark crystals used for the sensors looked to be fuller somehow and I had to attribute this to purity or some other form of enhancement.

The enemy came closer looking for survivors or salvageable equipment or even us. Our weapon did little except when I started using much larger charges. If I were able to get close enough with enough antimatter the ship would be damaged somewhat. On two occasions I was able to do a follow up with a second shot that was able to penetrate the weaker shielding. I could see the ships through the probes eyes but didn't want to start yet with my ability to destroy the ships with my mind. This might be the factor that got them to split up. They might feel that they were safer in a group. We knew they would be much harder to find if they dispersed.

Sensors, loose equipment and even a body was sent back for study. The tug got a dozen new sensors taken from the dead carcase around us. They were attached to the hull but they were not calibrated. I wanted a small ship or a computer to work on but none were available. I couldn't see running from here with a massive load and ships firing at us at the same time. When it looked like we were going to be found we quickly fled at our best speed. We still had some of the probes and now the AI was able to tap the higher universe for power. I did too but had to stay in the computer room when doing this.

We pushed at our greatest ability and I knew that there was a great hue and cry behind us. The hidden probes at the battle scene for the most part fled the other way when pursuers chased us. I knew none would be captured because each one had a few grams of antimatter to make certain that nothing important was recovered.

The ships chasing us could be seen now at a much greater distance. Their sensors were tuned to their hull and formed a tuned array that was superior to our haphazard arrangement. We had been hit when four ships concentrated their fire on us and there was no way to avoid taking some of the punishment. The predictor crystals in my mind and in the tug now were the only way to kept us alive till we had gained enough of a lead. This time they were not quite enough. I considered entering the maze but decided to stay with the ship.

The hull was damaged but we didn't need the engines to keep us moving. The predictor crystals told me to shift course four more times but I didn't know exactly why. I was not about to ignore the warning and find out though.

An hour later I felt that they were far behind us. We were retracing their own path into this area and knew that they had already killed all that they could.

"Mom, how many ships did we take out?"

"I believe that it was four hundred and seven but some may have been only damaged. It appears that this was probably only a fraction of the fleet."