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.I now recognized the tones and the down-under accent.It was none other than Jack Crow.“This is your duly elected leader speaking,” Crow said.“You’re ships are carrying contraband, and are traveling in restricted space.The crews have been tried in absentia.Unfortunately, they have all been found guilty as charged.You are hereby ordered to halt your ships and set them adrift.All hands will then abandon ship to be picked up by the approaching cruisers.Any vessel not complying will be destroyed.Only complete cooperation will ensure your survival.Emperor Crow out.”“What the hell is that about?” Sandra asked.“I think we’ve flown into something we weren’t supposed to witness,” Miklos said.I stared at the globular tank, trying to make sense of it all.Two groups of Earth ships converging in the middle of the star system.The cruisers making this threatening announcement—could it be?“Marvin, the Worms said there were a lot of friendlies in this system, correct? Hundreds of them?”“The symbol used and confirmed repeatedly indicated a whole lot.Allies numbering between eight and several hundred thousand, yes sir.”I turned to Miklos.“What if they were talking about that huge flotilla of ships out there?”“I suppose they could be.But if they’re allies, who are they?”“Let’s look at the configurations.More data should be in by now.”We examined the data defining the ships, and found it increasingly mysterious.The design of these ships was unknown to us—if you could even all them “designed” at all.Just as Sandra had first noted, they looked like a mass of barrel-shaped ships.“Transports,” Sandra said aloud.We all looked at her.“Big cylindrical transports, like the ones the Macros build.But they aren’t as large as that.All they have is some life support, enough power to fly and primitive navigational equipment.They look like transports to me.”I peered at the scopes and read the numbers carefully.I pulled up a yellow wireframe schematic of the distant vessels and flicked at the image, spinning it around to examine it.I nodded slowly.“Yes.You could be right, Sandra.But what is going on here? Why are the cruisers telling them to abandon ship?”“Is it even possible, what they promised?” Sandra asked.“If the people on those transports halt and bail out, can the cruisers even carry them all?”“Maybe,” I said, “if the crews are small.They would have to abandon their cargo, however, whatever it is.”Everyone puzzled over the situation for some minutes.As far as we could tell, nothing changed during that time.The two groups of Earth ships were still on a collision course, while the Worms followed the cruisers and we followed the Worms.“What are your orders, Colonel?” Miklos asked.“Let’s get into this game,” I said.“I’m not sure which side we’re on, or even who all the players are, but I’m not going to sit here and let Crow dictate terms to the people on those ships.I have a feeling they are disaffected Star Force personnel trying to make it to Eden.Who the hell else would come out here all the way into dangerous space on makeshift transports? In any case, we must intervene before something horrible happens.”“Besides, we could use more supplies and reinforcements, eh?” Miklos said, smiling with half his mouth.“Never even crossed my mind,” I said.“All engines go to full burn.Let’s catch up if we can.Marvin, try to give me a tightly-beamed channel to the refugee fleet.”“I’ll try Colonel, but the beam will have to pass directly by the Earth cruisers.We will probably be overheard.”I nodded.“Fine.Let’s put our cards on the table.”The ship lurched and we all strapped in to endure heavy G-forces.At least I was in good shape for taking this kind of punishment.The combined treatment of nanites and Microbes had left my flesh dense and unfeeling.The crushing sensation that would have left me breathless on the floor of the ship years ago now just made me wince and grunt.I stood my ground and braced myself against the central console.I grimaced, but the discomfort was minor.Marvin opened the channel, and I thought for another minute or two before sending my message.“People of Earth, we’re members of Star Force.We’ve taken an oath to defend the lives of all humanity.If you need help, ask for it, and explain your situation honestly.Colonel Kyle Riggs, out.”I sat back after that and sipped a cool, caffeinated drink.The ball was in their court now, and I had no idea how this was all going to play out.I would be damned if I was going to watch Crow’s thugs blow up Earth ships for no good reason.Especially not if they were trying to make the run to Eden.Our radio signals had to travel across about a billion miles of space and back before we got an answer.The return message came in about an hour after my own transmission, due to the distance.The range was shrinking rapidly as our fleets converged, but it was still tremendous.“We’ve got an answer, sir,” Ensign Rodrigues said.“But it’s not from the big fleet—it’s from the Imperial ships.”I waved for her to put it through.The words echoed in our ship.Once again, a snippet of martial music played.I was beginning to wonder if that was S.O.P for all Crow’s ships now.“Colonel Riggs, this is Commodore Decker.You have no mission here, and have been officially deactivated.Star Force has been disbanded, and although I’m sure this is difficult for you to accept, I implore you to do so, Dr.Riggs.If any of your crew can hear this, they should know you have no authority, and they are under no obligation to follow your orders.We would appreciate it if you withdrew from this system.Any interference in Imperial affairs would be a mistake.Decker out.”I glanced around the chamber at my staff.“How do you read that?” I asked.“They’re scared and bluffing,” Sandra said immediately.“We should force them to surrender and if they won’t, we should fire upon them.”“I didn’t spend the last several years in space killing aliens so I could destroy Earth’s finest vessels,” I snapped.“There has to be something better than that.”Miklos leaned forward.“Sometimes, Colonel, unpleasant things must be done in order to prevent more hideous unpleasantness.This is often the essence of a civil war.”“I need specifics, people, not philosophies.In a few hours, we’ll be in range of their heaviest beams.”“I’ll give you a specific,” Sandra said.“Blow them out of space before they slaughter those unarmed ships that are running to us.”I had to admit, that was pretty specific.I nodded glumly.“We’ll wait to hear what the second fleet has to say.They’re farther away, but their message should be beaming in soon.”In the next few minutes, I was provided with a new shock.The second voice that came from the speakers was feminine and distinctly familiar.“This is Captain Sarin of Star Force.I’m officially requesting your aid, Colonel Riggs.We’re running from Earth, but we left with Crow’s permission.Now that we’re out of the system it seems that he has changed his mind about letting us emigrate to your system.I understand the situation more clearly now.He let us leave because it would have been a PR nightmare to fire on Star Force transports.But now that we’re out of range of Earth’s cameras, his thugs have orders to force us out of our vessels and leave us adrift in space.We don’t have many weapons, but we will fight.It’s up to you to decide whose side you’re on.Sarin out.”Sandra stared at me.She looked troubled.I stood up slowly.This was big.I had to think.I walked down the corridors to the mess hall and grabbed myself a meal.I chewed and stared into space.Outside, the twin yellow suns known to us as Alpha and Beta Centauri circled one another in a tight, timeless dance.I felt I now knew why the Imperial ships had been so anxious to stop us.They hadn’t wanted us to reach Alpha Centauri [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]