Demon Star Read online

  DEMON STAR

  (Star Force Series #12)

  B. V. Larson and David Vandyke

  -1-

  I watched as a squadron of Demon ships hovered in what they assumed was full stealth. They were parked in open space, partway between their home planet and my ship.

  Normally, a group of motionless warships would be boring. But there was an intruder closing in on them. I could tell they weren’t sure what to make of the curiously designed craft that had suddenly appeared in their region. Neither were we, until our long range optical sensors showed us seven tentacle arms protruding from its underbelly. I could only wonder how the craft looked to them. It didn’t have any weapons nor did it seem to be a merchant vessel.

  The snooping vessel was, of course, Marvin’s Greyhound. Marvin was probably the most interesting member of my expedition. He was a robot who’d built himself out of spare parts—but he never seemed to finish the job. Greyhound was a fast space yacht that Marvin had become one with, rather like hermit crab crawling into a shell and taking up residence.

  “What are they going to do?” Adrienne asked me, stepping up to massage my shoulders. She was wearing nothing but a smart towel—which I found intriguing. Due to self-knitting nanofibers, the towel stayed up, covering her critical zones with aggravating effectiveness.

  We were in our shared quarters aboard Valiant. Recently, I’d begun to fill what was supposed to be my sole place of rest with numerous pieces of equipment. I was still debating the wisdom of that move. How could a captain ever relax if he was tied in electronically even in his stateroom?

  “I don’t know,” I said, watching tensely through a scope that led to a remote optical pick up. “They play cat and mouse out there with the other worlds all the time, and I guess it’s all part of a cold war to them. But they can’t be happy about some alien ship uncovering their stealth.”

  After about three minutes, the Demons made their decision. A single missile leapt toward the intruder.

  Marvin seemed to be well aware of the silent fleet that thought of itself as invisible. I could imagine his excitement. His tentacles must have been whirring around the cockpit taking in all sorts of information regarding this new species of alien.

  He initiated evasive actions. Just as the missile was about to strike, he engaged thrusters causing it to miss and swing around in order to retarget.

  Seeing that their first shot had gone wide, the Demons proceeded to fire two more missiles in quick succession.

  “That crazy tin-plated machine…” I muttered. “He’s not even running yet.”

  “Let me see,” Adrienne urged, tugging at me.

  “You’ll have to wait. I’m not sure if we’re going to have to intervene.”

  “How could we do that? We’re too far away.”

  She was right, of course, but I kept watching anyway.

  Marvin dodged again, but then he finally turned and started to run. I guessed that three missiles were interesting enough. He directed his tiny ship toward open space and poured on the speed.

  Leaning back from the scope, I grabbed Adrienne’s small hands. They were still on my neck, and she was breathing hotly into my ear. I knew her interest was only in the events going on in space, but that stuff was pretty far off. I’d been sitting here for hours digesting all available data on this new star system we’d dubbed Trinity, and I could use some R&R.

  “Don’t even get started, Captain,” she said, struggling lightly and slipping from my grasp. “My shift starts in ten. What happened to Marvin?”

  “I don’t know. He’s running around with missiles chasing him. I’m switching over to general monitoring.”

  I tapped until the smart wall nearest my hand displayed a large set of red contacts that moved like beetles looking for dinner.

  Adrienne didn’t leave. She eyed the display quietly.

  “I thought you were going on duty,” I said.

  “First, why do you have our ship’s personnel up on the integrated display system? I thought you were researching Trinity and its three sentient races.”

  “Lieutenant, did you know that a lot of physical activity can be accomplished in the span of ten minutes?”

  “Just tell me who you’re tracking,” she demanded.

  “These contacts aren’t personnel. They’re not even human—at least I don’t think so. They’re the aliens who inhabit the third planet, and according to Marvin they speak a weird bubbling language he doesn’t yet understand. We’re calling their planet Ellada.”

  “Why Ellada?”

  “It’s part of Greece—some think they resemble classic Greek people.”

  “But I thought you said they were aliens…?” She came around the table, moving closer to the display.

  Now I knew for sure I wasn’t getting a break—especially the kind I was looking forward to. Once she had her curiosity up, she could be just as bad as Marvin.

  “Their civilization shows all the marks of a parallel to Earth’s.” I tabbed the display and brought up some shots of their cities and parks. They looked like fantastic science-fiction artwork from back in my dad’s day.

  Adrienne studied them intently.

  “Cody, these aliens look like Mr. and Mrs. Universe from Earth. All of them are drop-dead gorgeous. How is that possible? Look at that male there! What’s he wearing—or rather, not wearing?”

  “Hey now…”

  “What? Are you jealous? You will always be my captain.”

  She eased into my lap, and for the first time, I began wishing that smart towels were not so smart. Hers kept sliding in between her skin and my hands.

  “This could be the break we have all been needing, Cody. Exactly what you and I have been needing. A real…”

  “What? A real home? That’s what I’m afraid of. What happens when the crew sees this? What will they do when they have the opportunity to trade a life of hardship and danger for a place in paradise?”

  I eased Adrienne to her feet and stood up. Our mood had been dashed by real problems again—that had been happening a lot lately. I turned off the display and wished I’d never let her see it.

  Adrienne pursed her lips. “What makes you think that these ‘aliens’ will invite us to stay? We thought the Pandas were cute and cuddly too, remember? Back before they ate all our officers… Hopefully these aliens will think we’re ugly and won’t want anything to do with us.”

  “I almost hope you’re right.”

  She sighed. “Well I don’t. I want it to be paradise. Hope is all we’ve got right now. What if it could work on this world? Have a life, raise children…”

  Seeing the look on my face, she grabbed up a handful of my tunic. “We’d continue to try to find a way back to Earth, of course. But we would have a base, a home base with abundant resources, and not having to feel so…so desperate all the time.”

  “It scares me is all,” I said. “It reminds me of what happened to the crews of early European sailing ships when they encountered the idyllic South Sea Islands. It wasn’t long before easy lifestyles and willing women led to mass desertions, a breakdown in discipline, and even mutiny. A lot of the crew isn’t Academy-trained. The odds they’ll hold together is slim.”

  “Is that what you think of us?” she demanded. “Is that what you think of me? Just because we didn’t go to the same school you did doesn’t mean we’re just a bunch of illiterate sailors forced by press gangs into unwilling service? That we would desert at the first chance we get? That I would desert? We’re Star Force, by God, and we’re not going to go rogue. I’m no deserter and…and I’m late for my shift, Captain.”

  I knew I’d done it again. What is it about keeping my big mouth shut that I just
don’t get?

  She dropped her towel to the deck as she donned her uniform, giving me a full view of what I was not likely to be having for a long while.

  “Listen Adrienne, I hope you’re right about our crew at least, but I’ve hung out with marines and crewmen enough to know how the line-dogs think. They’re brave and resourceful in a tough spot, but they also don’t see much beyond today—their next meal, their next drink, their next hookup. They can’t afford to, because they might be dead tomorrow. When presented with enough temptation…”

  She just glared at me in return. Then she saluted sarcastically and turned to leave the cabin.

  “Wait…”

  “Is that an order, Captain?”

  “Does it have to be…? Fine, yes, it’s an order.”

  She stood there waiting, her back still turned to me. She was pissed.

  “The details on this stuff need to stay between us. In fact…Valiant…”

  When I addressed the ship, it responded with an acknowledging tone. It was always listening, but generally didn’t care about our personal affairs.

  “Ship,” I said, “who has accessed these files besides Marvin and me?”

  “Lieutenant Commander Hansen did so most recently,” Valiant answered promptly in a feminine voice. “Lieutenants Bradley and Sakura have viewed files within the last two weeks.”

  “Forward them private messages that I’m restricting access, commissioned officers only. Oh, plus Kwon, too.”

  “Restriction enabled. Messages sent.”

  “That won’t stop the crew from finding out,” Adrienne said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last year, it’s that scuttlebutt moves at light speed.”

  “It’s just to slow it down and keep the crew from replacing their pics and vids of home with pics and vids of Ellada.”

  “Will that be all, sir?”

  “Adrienne I…yes, that will be all. You’re dismissed.”

  She left in a huff. Damn, I didn’t always understand women.

  I had to get to the bridge, and I needed time to puzzle things out. Not the part about Adrienne, I was sure that would just take time. But these aliens? Could they really be human? And if so, how? Convergent evolution might result in some similarities, such as the bipedal form, but it sure couldn’t account for the perfect congruence between our kind of human and the Elladans. Then there was the fact that they spoke a weird language…that didn’t fit.

  The only easy explanation for why we looked so much alike was alarming. Could Ellada have been seeded by our planet—or was it the other way around? Given that Earth had only had space flight for a century or so, I’d bet credits to crullers the transfer had been from them to us.

  The implications were staggering.

  Earth had always had those who believed in “ancient astronauts” even though I’d never been one of them. Faced with such similar beings, however, I felt forced to reconsider.

  Depending on how long ago they’d visited us, who knew what their relationship to Earth humans might be?

  My own private theory was that an alien race such as the Blues or the Ancients had come along at some point and moved some humans from one planet to the other. They carried us along and then, like the famous case of a dozen rabbits being released in Australia—we Earthlings had jumped ship.

  It could have been more sophisticated and purposeful, of course. They could have tinkered with the DNA of our primates to turn animals into humans. The evolutionary jump from apes to Homo Sapiens had never been clearly explained, and had occurred with relative suddenness within the timeframe of natural history.

  I told myself to get a grip. None of these theories mattered much now. I had decisions to make, and I suspected that my curiosity was going to win out.

  We would meet with the aliens. And why shouldn’t we? I mean imagine returning to Earth with the answer to one of the oldest questions in creation: the origins of mankind uncovered at last.

  For some reason I thought of my father, Kyle Riggs. To my knowledge, he’d never discovered anything so dramatic.

  I smiled to myself.

  Top that one, old man.

  -2-

  My musings were cut short when I reached the bridge and took over my watch, relieving Bradley, a meaty fireplug of a man.

  I’d ended up deciding not to change horses in midstream by confirming Hansen as my XO. He was the most competent commander besides myself. But competence wasn’t trustworthiness, and I still had a few doubts about Hansen and his motives. Not many, but enough that I’d rather keep his duty schedule and mine in synch so that I could observe him and not give him free rein in my absence.

  That’s why I’d ordered Bradley and others to rotate through bridge duty when we were off. As a side benefit, the new people were developing a sense of responsibility faster without Hansen or me looking over their shoulders all the time.

  “Situation report, please,” I ordered after I’d relieved him.

  “No change, sir,” Bradley replied. “We’re sucking up data like a sponge, and we haven’t had anything directed at us yet—no coms or any indication they even know we’re here—which seems kind of odd.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Well, you’d think with three sentient races in this system that at least one of them would keep this ring under surveillance, or even guarded.”

  “We’re one hell of a long way out, which might explain it. At least as far out as Pluto in our own Solar System. That’s what, six or seven light-hours?”

  Bradley nodded. “Roughly.”

  “And the brown dwarf star where the scary-looking aliens live is farther than that, right?”

  “Yes, sir. About six times as far out, forty light-hours from the system core. Hoon’s preliminary report says that if it were any closer, it would probably destabilize the triple star in the center. A brown dwarf is the smallest stellar body possible—this one is only about eighty times the mass of Jupiter. Some scientists dispute whether they should be called stars at all.”

  I nodded approvingly. “You’ve been studying up.”

  “I was always interested in astronomy, and now that nobody’s trying to kill us, I’m passing the time by reading the latest files.” He lifted his eyebrows to me. “All the latest files.”

  I nodded, understanding that he was referring to Marvin’s now-classified report on the alien races and my recent message. “Then you understand the need for discretion,” I said with a lowered voice.

  “Yes…”

  “Good.” I turned to the holotank and adjusted it, waving him over. “Any indication of more rings, other than those near the alien worlds, and the one we used to get here?”

  “No more yet, sir. I had Benson start a gravitic scan, since that sensor system didn’t get damaged in the fighting. The scan is still running. As dense as the rings and stardust material are, that might be the best way to find anything made by the Ancients.”

  “Good thinking, Lieutenant,” I said, slapping Bradley on the shoulder. “I can see you’re making the transition to being a commissioned officer well, taking the initiative and maintaining a wider view. Keep it up.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Bradley glowed with pride.

  “Anything else to add that I can’t learn from your logs?”

  Bradley chewed his lip, but eventually said, “No…”

  “Then you’re dismissed. See you next watch period.”

  “Sir?”

  “Yes, Bradley?”

  “If there is…I mean if this could be a chance…a place to take a break…even if it’s not paradise? Speaking on behalf of the crew, well, we could sure use one about now is all. A break, I mean.”

  “Thank you Bradley, and noted. Now, get some R&R—you deserve it.”

  “Thank you, Captain.” He gave me a sharp salute and left toward the cantina.

  What was it Adrienne had said about hope? Looks like she was right and I was going
to have a lot of apologizing to do. Again.

  Getting back to business, I looked over our logs. We were down to five ships—Valiant, Stalker, Greyhound and two Nano frigates.

  “Ship, patch me through to Captain Kreel on Stalker,” I said.

  “Channel open.”

  “How are your repairs coming, Kreel?” I asked.

  All of our ships currently floated in close proximity to a cluster of asteroids, with a mixture of marines, crew and Raptors—minus Marvin—working at full speed to mine and process raw materials into desperately needed parts.

  “Slowly, Captain Riggs,” Kreel said. “Lieutenant Turnbull has allocated priority to Valiant in most instances, as is proper.”

  “Sorry about that, but given the location of our sole Nano factory, she’s correct to do so. It’s better to have the most vital ship fully repaired as quickly as possible.”

  “No apology is necessary, sir. I merely state facts.”

  “Have you had any luck getting the Nano ships to produce spare parts for you?”

  “No, the machine intelligences are not cooperative.”

  I sighed. “Their factories have to be programmed in detail by someone with expertise in cybernetic systems, or you’ll never get what you want. Do you have anyone like that?”

  “No. We’re all warriors.”

  “Damn.” I thought for a moment, but I couldn’t see any easy options. “Unfortunately, Nano ships don’t like it when strange people come aboard, especially if they’re of different races from their own command personnel, or I’d send over some human technicians.”

  “Perhaps the sentient robot could reprogram them,” Kreel suggested.

  “I’ve already tried that. The Nanos like him even less than biotics. I think they view him as some kind of deformed Macro.”

  “Then the Nano ships shall continue with their standard replication protocol.”

  “Agreed.”

  I’d ordered the Raptor command personnel on the Nano ships to give them instructions to autonomously mine the asteroids and build copies of themselves using their own internal factories. It would take weeks to produce even one more ship, but given years of time and materials, they could build a new fleet for me. It was the best we could do right now.