Chapter 62

I could feel a strange pleasure at my words and just figured that it was Jonesey telling me something without even the use of mindspeak.

Jul said, "The hull Jonesey came from had a lot of damage, but could be repaired. Jonesey could just go home and you could go with her."

"That would only alleviate a few problems. This hull is very fast, strong and deadly. The other would be a larger target, would attract heavier weapons, not to mention less manoeuvrable, and a bit slower to get out of the way of the enemy. I doubt very much if there is a craft that can be that large and still fly like a fighter." This was Jul's way of assisting our family especially if both our families were to be linked. "Let me have some time on it. If we are to be an extended part of your family it would be good to have a ship that could take us and our children with safety and comfort."

I did not hold out too much hope, but Tom pointed out that Jul had done wonders already and it was possible that she could do it again.

It was getting late for us. It was nighttime where we came from and the children were getting sleepy. Already Boko was resting his head on my thigh and it looked like Fonza would like to as well. Her eyes were still sparkling at the thought of carrying my child.

Jul and her ladies were invited to stay, but wanted to get back to work and check up on some of the ideas she already had. The goodbyes were said and the children seemed to get the most attention. I flew them back to the hanger and home, to have a final kiss with each of the women. Their kiss back was either sultry or demanding and left me wondering how they had found out how to do that.

Hours later Tom and I got up. We removed some of the supplies and security devices from the ship and made ready for liftoff. The rest of the family got up, Fenna rekindled the fire, and prepared our breakfast. With all the education they had been given it was still hard to explain to them how we raced the local star around the globe.

Over the area we were to patrol, a heavy rain pounded the jungle and most of this side of the continent. Our speed had to be drastically reduced because the drones range was diminished. Tom sent sensors down at any break in the canopy, hoping to find some sign of the Samutz. This did seem to be ideal weather for our enemy though.

Vague or intermittent readings brought us over many areas but the swollen waters did not allow us to search further. There was no doubt that the Samutz were playing a cagey game with us here and didn't shoot at us because they didn't want to tip their hand, or had no effective means of taking us out.

Our report brought us to the attention of General Shingle. "You boys did well. Continue your patrol and I will send over some of the aquatic drones to see what there is to find, but it looks like they would be hard pressed to find much either."

We found more areas of activity and they were duly reported. We just hoped that the drones would not be as easily detected as our own hull might be. An hour later we found another visitor to our continent.

"Hello, Jim, Tom. What have you found that the General wants investigated?"

"Hello Kolya," came from both Tom and I, then I said, "it looks like the Samutz are up to something and are using the weather to hide it from us. We get too close, they pull their heads in and we can't find a thing."

"I think you should have that limey Thornton go down there. He would be a better choice in this rain."

I laughed at the thought of the tall Jeremy Thornton trying to keep a stiff upper lip and show that he could function better than the rest of us in his type of weather. "I can see that. He would probably fly down and right into the river to see what he could." An idea came to me. "Do you think we can do that?"

"I don't see why not. Do you want me to try it first? Your ship can pull me out if something happens."

"Yes give it a try and we will be right overhead."

The next chance was in a very wide and deep river. Nikolai hovered his fighter over the turbulent waters and slowly settled to about forty metres. "Guys, this is fun. I can't see too far with my own screen, but the drones let me see a lot farther. The bottom is not visible, but the drones seem to be able read better if I am down here. There are old trees and some really weird critters too."

I could see what he was experiencing and thought it a lot of fun, but a repeater could go into the water as well, or even a series of them, to read the entire bottom. Tom on his own accord lowered the repeaters and drones into the water ahead of Kolya, but more toward the main channel. We travelled against the rushing current and scanned a wider area than Kolya was capable of.

Ten minutes later we stopped dead. Up ahead two Samutz were working on a fighter in the lea of a large rock. "Kolya stop. There is a fighter ahead."

He saw the image through my mind and dropped to the bottom. "What are we to do? I don't know what our weapons will do when fired underwater. There is enough energy here to blow me out of the water."

"Let the current take you back, and we can talk to the General."

"What?" came from the General. He went over our data and went into an immediate dialogue with Frieda and his staff. "Shit, shit. This is going to screw things up." Then to us, he said, "It looks like the Samutz are planning a surprise of their own. We have not done any training in dogfighting techniques and I guess we will have to see how much training we can get in before they attack. Pull out now, travel up river a few hundred klicks and use your drones in passive mode to see what you can find. Transmit from a point where they will not become nervous."

I sent word to my family through the combat suit that we would be very late and continued our new mission. The drones submerged in the first available area for the Samutz to hide and we just kept on going downstream. By giving the drones and repeaters a small thrust, we were able to complete the 345 klick route in 9 hours. The data was sent out four times and we found 73 fighters and support craft resting on the bottom. There was no way of knowing how many other rivers had similar installations or the number of ships. Tom and I started on another river and 13 hours later found 19 additional craft hiding.

We were ordered home for a personal debriefing and found the base abuzz with activity. A half a dozen times we found our fighters taking one another on singly or in groups.

We walked into a room with twelve other Humans, the most I had seen in one place for a long time. Conflicting and anxious voices came from different groups as they tried to come up with a unified strategy. When we were seen, most voices dropped and I felt my brain raped of all the information I had or surmised. In a minute they were gone and I asked Frieda, "What is the current plan?"

"The satellites coverage is being increased. Fighter / fighter conflict scenarios are being carried on. The cruisers are configuring for small ship conflict. All combat suits are being readied for infantry detail. At present we are planning various enemy strategies and find there are many ways for their superior numbers to win. It is assumed that they have some powerful weapons that they plan to use to take out our space-based defences."

Our function was done when we were scanned. After checking with Frieda we left and hurried to the supply depot. We filled it with all the survival gear we could think of needing and flew to a rougher area of the Gordon plateau. We then set up as good a camp as we could.

This took at least an hour. We flew back to Souts, retrieved our family and broke camp as quickly as possible. Fenna and Mona were very upset and had visions of the Samutz attacking and killing all their family. The worried Tandra's emotions were carried to the donai, but all of them including Mary willingly entered the crowded ship. We disembarked moments later and tried to make the camp as hidden as possible.

I had further informed the family on the flight about what I was doing and why. I was thankful that they did not question my motives. There was lots of food, vitamins, weapons, and security equipment to keep all of us safe if the Souts base were overrun. The last thing to do after giving orders was to inform Frieda of our position and have a talk with Jul.

She was very busy, but found a minute for me. "Jul, will you record the location I am sending you? If it looks bad I want you to see if you can make it here with your wives." She was sent a list of our supplies and told her that she was only to bring what she thought necessary, or send it ahead if she found time. I had seen too many times what happened with last minute rushing before an enemy advance.

Jonesey downloaded all the current data on how to fight the Samutz if they came in Tandra fighters. Our small numbers were augmented by Tandra pilots now learning to fight the Human way. Safety parameters were changed to give us the most advantage possible, while we hoped the Samutz had not found out how to do this, or even feeling a need to do so.

Tom and I sat in our usual seats and took in all the data we could that might allow us to live through the coming conflict. Our own strengths and weaknesses were factored in and found that we could take out a fighter in an even fight, but knowing our size, I doubted that it would ever be even.

It was an exhausting time and we went to sleep for a few hours. Boko and Fonza were told to start practising in the combat suits more than only an hour or so a day. Mona and Fenna were to act as an aggressor and try to test the other pair. Tom and I found time to talk to the children and calm their fears. The donai at our feet seemed to quiet as the children did.

We sampled the reports flying between groups and found nothing happening yet. The production of ship killers was momentarily halted in favour of smaller weapons that could be used on an all-out aerial attack and a ground- based attack against our units in orbit.

Reporting early for duty got us called to Huang Yi's desk. It looked like he had not left it at all in the last few local days. "Good to see you boys. Frieda and I have been going over a possible scenario and want you to change your canister of anti-personnel grenades for a larger variety that will home in on Samutz and their ships. You seem to have half of the available ships that can do this job." He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose before saying, "We have to hit them before they know we are onto them and as late as we can to stave off a concerted attack. In the mean time I need you to patrol more of the major rivers to get a better idea of what we are facing."

I respected the Chinese captain, that rumour had, was a general himself when fighting the Americans in the Vietnam conflict. His now youthful face and body would at one time seem incredulous, unless I looked in a mirror and saw my own face that looked to be barely out of my teens.

"Tom and I will do our best, Captain. Might I suggest some one kiloton devices. They would be much more effective underwater than above."

"That is already in the works. When it is time to attack the planet will shudder under all the explosions," he said in a tired and sorrowful voice. "I just hope we are the ones that will start it and not the Samutz."

I knew how he felt about the destruction. It was almost like this was our planet now and we didn't want to screw it up like Earth was. I asked, "Is there any chance of getting any more of the new aquatic drones and repeaters?"

"There are a few you can have and it would be best to fly your old ones above the water and let the Samutz think you can't see any activity below."

With the new equipment stowed in our hold we set off to check as many rivers as we could reach. Tom and I started our search again and concentrated on the major rivers. In the first 48 hours we found 153 more fighters and small assault craft, but all were fairly well dispersed. We continued for 20 more hours and only found 13 to add to our total. It was time for some sleep, so we flew home, giving our data as we flew and basically just slept for 12 hours.

On waking we found that there was a lot more equipment stored in the area and found a relieved Fenna. She had feared that we would abandon them and had only overcome it when some of Jul's ladies showed up and convinced her otherwise.

With a job only half done we did our best to reassure the family and told them we would be gone for six or seven local days. There were a lot of tearful eyes. Fonza held me tight, knowing that I was the one to protect her and the life I found she now bore for me. Boko had worked hard with the combat suits and could fight off a single Samutz if he were given a chance to don his suit. His hunting skills had brought in all the meat necessary and the donai were now almost taken for granted.

The children were given the boiled leather articles and we found the donai playing with the two balls while the children bit and chewed on the tough leather material. I took a few minutes to get them straightened out and then a game developed of who was going to keep the ball, donai or Tandra.

32 hours into our patrol we were following a large river to the ocean. Beyond the delta the sensors detected a large signature in the deeper waters. We stayed away, but the probes went in to see what they could.

In about 500 metres of water the drones found a broken portion of a Tandra hull. The craft had to be very old. Sea life had grown over it and the only way to tell was with our sensors. Seeing as it was not currently active, Tom and I flew closer and even descended beneath the waves accompanied by our drones to further investigate the relic. It was almost at a steep drop off and as we investigated Tom took the aquatic probes and searched the depths below.

The structure was almost a hundred metres long and half of that wide and high. We used our active sensors now and Jonesey was able to map out the details. It appeared to be a hull fragment from a much large ship, probably a heavy destroyer. The thick growth of marine life told us that it was between one and one and a half million years old. Much too late for the Tandra empire we knew about, but much too soon for the Samutz to have used it.

Jonesey's sensors probed through the coral and resolved it to be a hull plate over a stern boat bay. The material was twisted and broken, suggesting an attack or a malfunction. The latter was so rare, that the first was the only one we considered.

The probes in the immediate area could detect more pieces, but they were much smaller in size and impossible to exactly determine their original position or ship type for that matter.

"Tom pull in the other probes. It is time to leave."

"Ok, but they are almost there now."

"Well, let's see what we find then."

It was kind of peaceful here at 537 metres, and I felt like an old submariner. The Marianas Trench on Earth was only 11,000 metres deep and considering the lesser gravity here we could go that deep at least. If we were not constrained for time it would be nice to explore.

A faint Tandra distress call came to us from the probes. We were instantly wary, for the Samutz used the same craft and we were not sure what we would find.

Tom said, "There is a Tandra craft down there with an active AI. The signals are very weak. What would you like to do?"

"Send the other drones in to see if it is a trap and be prepared to leave or fight."

The probes took a long time to do their job, but found the source. We floated a few hundred metres towards the edge of the precipice and went over and headed down. The bottom was 4300 metres down and the waters laden with silt that came and went with the ocean currents.

The bottom came up and Tom took us away from the wall and the accumulated rock that had fallen since the upthrust of granite had occurred millions of years ago. We found another large piece of hull and decided to take a few more minutes to check the facts.

The growth on this section was less because of the temperature and the amount of available light. Again the piece seemed to be from a heavy destroyer. More wreckage was nearby and the pieces were very large. Tom drove the probes forward and we found more and more pieces. In a further drop off we found the rest of the craft. It was plunged into a much larger ship.

I was really excited now. The probes appeared to show a battle ship that had been rammed by the heavy destroyer, either by accident or design. The destroyer was in so many pieces that there was very little left serviceable. The battle ship, on the other hand looked perfect, except for the hole in its flank and the thick growth of coral and other marine life coating its hull.

Our probe's sensors found power still on in the battleship and many of the systems still working. One of the exceptions was the shield that had completely collapsed. The hull was made of Tandra ceramic and thus could even here withstand the pressure without assistance.

Jonesey interrupted our thoughts and said, "The AI in the ship is excited and wants to download urgent data to us. The probes do not have enough sensitivity or bandwidth to do this."

I looked at Tom and then realized that all the ships we saw were millions of years old and this was only one that had been found by us. "Take us closer Jonesey and let's see what she has to tell us."

We were getting close now and went over the last ledge. There were no groans or ominous music as we descended the steep incline. We recorded all of the pieces of hull and other parts leading to the main section still lodged in the hole in the battleship's flank with our own sensors. The ship was enormous and simply dwarfed any now in the system. Tom and I had assisted in taking the Nautilus and knew about the proper size and shape it should be. The lower half was buried in silt and it still looked gigantic in size.

Data started to flow from us giving our official designation. After this we waited for the computer to digest the information. Its slow speed could be attributed to damage, insanity or probably trying to decide if we were friendly with the Tandra empire.

The data started a moment later and took almost five minutes of our time, even with a good computer and crystal like Jonesey to do the work.

The Sarine was fleeing a coup d'état with many of the female wives and children of the old order. Many of their personal guard and servants accompanied them. A flight of ships of the new order had followed them and when all else failed the mortally wounded destroyer had rammed the battleship. This was all above a primitive planet the Tandra hoped to call home. They had all fallen into the sea. The ruling elite had started repairs, but found it problematic because they had no yards. All the occupants had been ordered into stasis, while all of the elite had boarded one of the ships in the boat bays and gone for help.

Many of the systems on the battleship had failed and the sensors were coated with marine life and hardly functioned at all. Most of the officers were dead in the fighting and subsequent crash.

At present, 93% of the people were still alive in stasis but unable to awake because of the inability of the ship to keep them alive.

I asked quickly, "Jonesey, find out about if they have fighters and pilots on board and their number."

"There are only 3,865 war craft onboard, and 7,385 pilots capable of flying them."

This was both the answer to a prayer and the possibility of a catastrophe. A ship this size would usually have a minimum crew of 100 to 150 thousand, but could hold five times that in a pinch. The figure would go to 2 million, if most were in stasis. Presently there were only 27,821 living biologicals on the ship. "Get all the data you can get and tell the ship to not awaken any of the sleepers."

"Why is that, sir?"

I noticed the 'sir' and knew it was official now. "We have limited resources and face an enemy attack soon. If we allow them to all to come to the camp at one time we will have to allow them to die if we are attacked by the Samutz. A limited number of them could assist us in protecting the planet. The rest could be awoken when the ship is brought to the surface."

That seemed to satisfy her, so she got the information passed and the AI on the Sarine agreed to follow our orders. There was little else to gain by staying here and just did a final survey of the wreck.

The final pass showed the heavy destroyer and the cracked computer room shielding. "Jonesey, can you get the crystal and the memory chips from here, or do I have to go and get them?"

Jonesey did not say anything but manoeuvred into the best possible position and used her tractors to peal off the special battle plate and got the items I requested.

Our course took us in a different direction and found more wreckage, but of a different type. The records of the Sarine told of a good sized battle as the ship tried to sneak unseen into the planet's atmosphere, but was ambushed by the much smaller ships. A opposing battleship had originally been the main enemy and had been destroyed on the way to this system. The Sarine had recorded the arrival of this hulk as it plunged into the planet's atmosphere thirty some years after the original engagement.

Rising out of the water many klicks away we continued our mission and just thought of the possibilities the new information had brought us.

Tandra law said Tom and I had salvage rights. The passengers and crew formed an obstacle to my plans though. There was no way around hiding this in a colony of mind readers but I could approach the General and see what kind of deal I could get from him. We sent in our preliminary reports and made Jonesey delete any notice of the ship's. I didn't want people that could or might interfere get to General Shingle before I could.

We completed the main rivers in another 29 hours and found more Samutz and a lot of Tandra wreckage or garbage in the rivers. All of it was of fairly recent origins.

We went directly to the General's office and as usual we found him awake and busy. This time he looked very bad and had gotten very little sleep. I was not sure if the news would be welcomed or not.

I walked up to the General with Tom at my side. We both saluted and waited for him to finish his work.

"Hello, boys. That was good work you both did. It looks like we have at least four hundred fighters to contend with when the battle starts. Almost four times the amount we have."

"That is one of the reasons I came to talk to you. Will you stretch your legs for a minute and come to our ship?"

Carl wondered what all this was about and tried to see, but both of us had our mind shields up and the only way to find out was to get up. This proved difficult because he had not moved in hours. Outside he said, "Ok boys, what is all this about?"

"Let's go inside our ship. There are a few things different than the original designers envisioned."

Once inside, I asked Jonesey to put up an interference so our conversation would indeed be private. "Sir, we found a damaged Omicron Class battleship with a full complement of support craft. There is 27,821 people onboard, all in stasis and more than enough of them to fly the fighters for us."

"That is great. Why all the subterfuge?"

"The ship was fleeing a coup on one of the planets and took the old aristocracy and all their retainers. If they were all taken here now, then the Samutz would find it even easier to kill us. Also, I kind of wanted the ship for my family."

"Family!! You want a 3,400,000 tonne battleship for your motorhome? You could carve out an empire with that ship and be a direct threat to Earth and all that we are trying to accomplish."

"Well, I was kind of hoping to have a crew of marines too. They would not let anything happen that they figured wasn't supposed to happen. You will need people to help crew those ships we captured and I am just sort of offering, not only myself and my family, but the ship too."

"Let's see the details."

The general was very tired, but also very quick and in ten minutes said, "Let's talk to Jul, and see if we can find a way to get the fighters off, and awaken some of the potential pilots. I agree with you about the number of civilized Tandra coming to our camp and never mind at one time. They would use Tandra law to tie me in knots to get their way."

"I think we can also use the larger ships, like the cruisers, to take on the Samutz fighters when they come?"

Jul came with Peli and her other two wives at the General's urging. She was very surprised to hear of the ship and took a lot of time with her wives to go over the details. After some animated discussion with Jonesey, she said, "I believe we have all the necessary parts to get the ship floating and then it will take a lot of time to fly it here. I estimate at least three days, if not more, to get the fighters off and then it is up to the rest of the ground personnel to see if they are air or space worthy. She may be a target for destruction or capture if the Samutz know of her existence."

Tom said, "Why can't we just get the shield up and running? When her weight is removed she will head for the surface. In any case, the fighters can leave the ship as soon as she clears the bottom."

"There are many things that must happen first or the ship will be crushed by the water if it is disturbed too much. The hull is strong, but very damaged."

General Shingle looked at Jul and asked, "How many people do you need and how much of our production capacity is required?"

Jul had been doing some hard thinking and said, "I need some police to help awaken the pilots. If they are capable and willing to help, then they can get the ship raised with the new components. If they prove to be unstable, then they can be forced back into stasis. I could use every available person to help, but a realistic figure of twenty would suffice. The AI on the Sarine would prove invaluable if she will side with us. I believe it is necessary as the head of the local government here that General Shingle talk to her and get her cooperation."

Then she added, "It will take approximately three and a half local days to just get the components manufactured. Another possibility, is taking the raw materials to the ship itself and manufacturing the units there if the facilities are not too damaged."

Peli mindspoke to Jul, and Jul said, "It would be good to have Jim and Tom clear the coral from one of the ports so we can gain entry. They can do some of the preliminary inspections for us."

The discussion went on for an hour, till the General was called for business only he could handle. It was very fortunate that we had as much time as we got.

Jul said, "I see that you have tried your own way to keep your family safe. The vehicle we were working on was a lot smaller and much less ostentatious."

"I was just thinking of my future children and their safety. It has enough room for all their mothers' too," I joked.

Jul and her ladies left, but not before getting the names Roku and Vasie as the other two wives. After another high voltage kiss from Jul, Peli, Roku and Vasie had to have their turn and left me hard.

Tom and I flew to the rest of the family and had a late meal. We then listened to everything they had done to make the home safe and workable. All the older ones were now in the habit of wearing the combat suits all the time. Our stores were rapidly expanding with jerked meats and local produce. Their old diet changed when they were told about the vitamins.

Tom and I slept another 12 hours and got up in the middle of the night. Fenna was upset that she had not caught yet, as did Mona. I too was upset with the lack of opportunity to do anything about it.

With a lot of warm hugs and kisses, we left for the battleship as our orders now were to do as Jul wanted, but to clear the complete wreck of coral.

Coming at the Sarine over the second drop off we saw that she was at 4700 metres. It was very surprising that any material could take this pressure without a shield for this length of time and after such serious damage.

We initiated contact and informed the AI of our intentions and methods of doing it. She had probably gone over the possibilities many times and readily agreed. I got into the conversation for the first time and said, "Hello, Serine. This is the first time I have talked to you and this is my mate Tom."

We were scanned with Jonesey's help and the Sarine came back with, "You are not full blooded Tandra. Why are you in charge and not Tom?"

Impolite or crude she might be, I still said, "Tom has the brains and the luck, while I just have the drive to get things done. It is not a matter of leading, for I think that Tom and I are enough in tune that I know if he does not like a particular choice of mine and I change it to one we can both agree on."