“Another ship that had been destroyed centuries ago was recently restored to life through her remaining memory cell,” Keflyn explained briefly, speaking in Tresdyland to protect her secrets. “She possessed vague memories that brought us here, to the lost colony of Alameda, where we had hoped to find additional clues that would lead us to Terra. You see, we lost the location of both worlds a long time ago, after they were abandoned. I know that Terra is supposed to be unlivable… “
“Then none of the older ships survived?” Quendari interrupted.
“No. All that survived the time before was the former Alameda station, which is now at Alkayja.”
“Well, you people did get rather lost,” the ship remarked as they moved into the lift that stood open, waiting for them. “This is Terra.”
Invisible to sight and scan, the Methryn slipped silently into the small, remote system. She launched drones immediately, and they reported back within two hours with a detailed survey of the system, giving Valthyrra the location of the main surveillance network on the planet and every hidden detector within the system. That provided a surveillance map of the complete area, allowing the Starwolves to know the strengths and weaknesses of the Union’s position and indicating their best avenues of approach.
The most difficult part of landing unseen on any planet was the last two hundred kilometers. Then an approaching ship was within the effective range of radar and almost on top of scanners, its own speed cut to a relative crawl and leaving a fiery trail through the upper atmosphere with its shields. Over their long history, the Starwolves had explored a variety of methods for getting their fighters undetected to within striking range of a ground-based target. The most effective method was a sudden burst of speed on the final run, hitting hard before defenses could be brought into order. That was not, of course, at all possible when the objective was a secret landing.
That was the problem that Velmeran faced, complicated by the fact that he really did not have the time to spare on any complex plans. He needed to get in, find Lenna, and get back out again in a hurry. He still had to stand the Republic on its head and get a pack of petty tyrants out of power, before they did something unforgivable to his people. He was fighting two wars now, and he only hoped that Lenna did not have something to show him that would demand precedence. Then his life was going to get impossibly complicated, and they might have to start the revolution without him.
He stopped pacing and looked up to see that the entire bridge crew was watching him expectantly. He knew what they were waiting for. It was time for Velmeran to do something bold and unexpected, and save the day. He had a lot of days to save in the time to come, but he had no magic schemes to suddenly make the impossible happen. This time, he was going to have to do things the hard way.
He glanced up at Valthyrra’s camera pod. “I need for you to get in touch with Bill. Tell that mechanical moron to keep quiet until the two of them are someplace where they can talk without being overheard.”
“Right, Chief,” the ship agreed uncertainly.
“And use the achronic channels,” he reminded her.
“At this distance, I would anyway,” Valthyrra said, then remembered that the Union had no way to intercept achronic transitions. “Right away, Chief.”
“I was hesitant when you had Bill fitted with an achronic transceiver,” Consherra said, stepping down from the middle bridge to join him. “It has had its uses, I must admit, but I worry about the Union getting their hands on it.”
“Do not tell Lenna, but Bill also has an automatic self-destruct triggered to detonate if he is dismantled or tampered with past a certain level by anyone he does not know,” Velmeran said quietly. “Besides, they get their hands on our technology often enough. So far, they have never been able to reproduce it.”
“Bill says that they are alone in their apartment,” Valthyrra interrupted. “Lenna Makayen is standing by.”
“Their apartment? She says that this is the end of civilization as we know it, and the two of them have set up housekeeping in the middle of a secret Union installation,” Velmeran commented as he ascended the steps to the commander’s station on the upper bridge, swinging himself into the seat with the overhead supports. “Lenna? What are you doing?”
“Talking to you?” her voice returned through his private com.
Velmeran rolled his eyes. “Smartass. What have you found down there? Are you ready to come up to the ship, or do we really need to come down?”
“I think that you really should come down, if you can at all manage it.”
“Is that going to be easier said than done?”
Lenna had to think about that for a moment. “Commander, the bad news is that this is a very, very large base. The good news is that the place is all but deserted. Things have been hopping here, but that came to a sudden end right before I arrived, and they are still in the process of shutting down their operations. This place is going back to sleep, but there is still quite enough for you to see. I think that you should see this for yourself. You might see something more in it than I do.”
“Lenna, things are very bad out here,” Velmeran said. “We now have a whole new war to fight.”
“You have just lost both wars, if you do not get down here.”
Velmeran sat back and saw Valthyrra looking down at him, her camera pod moved well back into the upper bridge. He thought about it only briefly. “Lenna, could you arrange a distraction?”
“I just love distractions. Can I make a really big one?”
“Do you have something in mind?” Velmeran asked.
“There is all manner of havoc down here, just waiting to happen,” she replied. “I could find something to entertain myself easily enough.”
“How soon? We need to get this done.”
“Get in your fighters in two hours and be ready to move as soon as things begin to happen,” Lenna told him. “I will have Bill tell you where to find me when you get here.”
Velmeran sat back, looking up at Valthyrra. “That girl worries me. She reminds me of a bomb with a very eccentric detonator.”
“Well, yes,” Valthyrra agreed uncertainly, then glanced up hopefully. “Of course, she is also very efficient.”
“What about that time two years ago? She stole a bulk freighter, then scattered its entire cargo of magnesium canisters overboard in the path of the Union fleet following her as if they were space mines. At a quarter light speed.”
“Yes, there is that. Then again, it did work.”
“A major freight lane is useless because two-thirds of the things are still floating around out there,” Velmeran reminded her as he pulled himself out of his seat. “Have Baressa and my special tactics team ready for flight, including accessory cannons on the fighters. Three fighters and a transport should be quite enough. Any more than that and we will just be getting in each other’s way. Have all the other packs standing by, also with accessory cannons. Yourself as well. I will determine what I can about the situation, and then we will simply blast that installation out of existence.”
“You plan to go along?” Consherra asked, waiting for him as he descended the steps from the upper bridge.
“I suppose that I have to,” he answered. “Lenna seems to think that this is very important, and that I should see it for myself. This is another dragon that I am going to have to face myself and look straight in the teeth.”
Speak of the devil and she shall appear. At that very moment the lift door on the right side of the bridge opened, and Venn Keflyn loped in. Her dragon’s form with a spider’s abundance of arms and legs was encased in her own white armored suit, in most ways like the suits worn by the Starwolves, her neck and tail encased in flexible sheaths of overlapping plates. Although her primary duty on board the Methryn was instruction in the psychic arts and ancient history, she was also an occasional member of Velmeran’s special tactics team. She seemed an unlikely addition to that group, but she was full of more tricks than Lenna Makayen.
“I think that I should go along,” she explained simply before anyone could ask.
“So I see,” Velmeran commented, staring. “Could I ask why?”
“Because I really think I should?” she suggested, running that answer by a second time to see if it was good enough.
Velmeran closed his eyes and sighed heavily.
“Oh, sure. The more the merrier. I really thought I should go, too.” He turned to Consherra. Do you think you should go?”
“Really?” she asked incredulously. “You never ask me out any more.”
“Do you want to go?”
“No. I still remember the last time.”
“Good. I need you to watch the ship.”
“The ship is quite old enough to take care of herself,” Valthyrra remarked tartly.
“I am going to put on my business armor and check the condition of my fighter,” Velmeran said as he turned away, indicating to Venn Keflyn the direction of the lift. “So, what do you think? What could cause the end of civilization as we know it?”
“That depends upon how you define civilization,” the Aldessan explained in a scholarly vein as they walked slowly together toward the lift. “You define civilization as one thing, and your enemies as another. To truly understand that question, you must first ask yourself what your enemy believes that civilization means to you, and then how he would attempt to destroy your concept of civilization.”