“Tomorrow will be a dangerous time aboard this ship, Ser,” Alex said quietly. “I would know where you stand.”
Renée smiled at the familiar expression. She had asked Alex the same question before she presented to the New Terran Assembly for the first time. He had replied he would stand with her. Renée realized Alex was concerned for her safety and was offering her an opportunity to transfer to the Freedom.
“You may have been the Captain who rescued us and the Admiral who now leads us but, first and foremost, you will forever be the partner of my heart. I would stand with you, my love, always,” Renée replied.
They held each other for a long moment. Not a word was said; none was needed. Then Alex kissed her on the forehead and left for the Engineering Suite.
<Julien, what do we know about the communications between the Hive First and the Swei Swee First?> Alex sent.
In reply to his request, he was connected to the interplay of song between the two principals. Alex kept his link to Julien open while he walked the corridors and rode a lift down to the Engineering Suite. The corridors were quiet, and for the first time, Alex checked his chronometer. It was 4.33 hours. No wonder, he thought.
Alex was unable to translate the songs between their Hive First and the Swei Swee First. The dialog’s complexity indicated just how primitive their communications with the Hive First had been. <People,> Alex sent to the SADEs, <are these songs making any sense to you?>
<We are recording everything, Admiral,> Mutter replied. That she was the first to respond gave Alex pause to consider the changes being wrought among the flotilla’s SADEs. <However, this is a sophisticate within their society expressing an unusual and critical situation to his leader. We understand few words, much less the intent of his message.>
<I understand,> Alex said. The answer was disappointing, and it didn’t help alleviate his concerns. He was intending to place many of his people’s lives in alien hands and claws soon, and he was trying to determine if his trust was well founded. If I’m wrong … well, I’ll be wrong, and it won’t matter to any of us who enter the system with the Swei Swee, Alex thought, the impending conflict dragging a dark pall over his mood.
Returning to focus on the exchange, Alex heard the Hive First’s song as the Swei Swee First also spoke. There didn’t seem to be a protocol, as one sang, then the other.
<It makes you think that the Swei Swee have the ability to manage multiple songs simultaneously,> Alex commented to his SADEs.
<Well done, Admiral,> Mutter exclaimed.
<Okay, Mutter, what did I say?> Alex asked.
<I hadn’t paid note to it before, but I had noticed that individuals have a unique frequency pattern, much like our individual voices are recognizable,> Mutter responded.
<If that’s the case,> Cordelia added, <a significant adaption of a species that spent much of their time underwater would be the capability to receive and differentiate multiple songs at once.>
While the singing droned on, Alex put his head down on a tech’s bench and fell asleep. Julien, always monitoring Alex’s biometrics, blocked his comms. Alex woke up quickly, hours later, when the Engineering Team reported for duty after morning meal.
“Apologies, Admiral,” Mickey said, realizing his Admiral was on duty in the suite long before they were.
Alex listened for a moment, realizing the dialog was still ongoing. “Not a problem, Mickey. You haven’t missed much. The Hive First started a dialog with his leader hours ago, and the two have been in a discussion ever since.” Alex switched on the suite’s speakers, which monitored the hull’s audio pickup. Whistles, warbles, and even screeches flooded the suite, and after the team had a taste of the dialog, Alex signaled the speakers off again.
“What do the SADEs comprehend, Admiral?” Mickey asked, sounding hopeful.
“What would a four-year-old understand of a university professor’s lecture on applied mathematics?” Alex responded.
“Oh,” Mickey said.
“Yes, ‘Oh,’” Alex groused. “Our precious future is being discussed by an alien species, and we’re sitting here in the linguistic deep dark.”
Hours later, the conversation came to an abrupt end with a sharp whistle, as Swei Swee conversations usually did.
<Admiral,> Mutter said, <that final whistle came from the Swei Swee First.> A short phrase of tones was heard. Mutter added, <The Swei Swee First is saying “Star Hunter sing,” but his last tone has an odd twist to it.>
<Singer,> Cordelia supplied. <The Swei Swee First is requesting the “Star Hunter singer.”>
The team heard the Swei Swee First repeat his message. It was followed by the Hive First repeating his leader’s request. In the resonance telemetry, they watched the Hive First face the ship’s rear, rise up on his legs, and lift his claws and true hands in supplication. Then he began to sing. It was a familiar song, one he had begun with Mutter.
<“Star Hunter singer,”> Alex said, comprehending the message. <Mutter, your audience waits. You’re on deck.>
Mutter had extensive records of Swei Swee words and hours of the leaders’ dialog. Her analytic applications had been busy differentiating the sounds, frequencies, and modulations. Always she was recording and analyzing, much like with all the music she had collected, most of which had originated on ancient Earth. Now in a moment unlike any other, there would be no playback, no chorus, and no interplay for Mutter to follow. She would compose her own music … and in an alien tongue.
Mutter began her song with a single, gentle note that she slowly modulated, blending a second note through it. She was, after all, a SADE, with no single voice. She was capable of many voices, and she made full use of her Méridien-based technology. She sang her song—it was a single voice, it was many voices, it was soft and sweet, it was a swelling chorus. Mutter had never felt such joy, such freedom. The Admiral had given her a rare opportunity that she could never have conceived of embracing in her centuries of service.
Mutter ended her song as she began it. A pair of notes blended into a single note, which slowly faded. In the silence that followed, the Swei Swee on board their captured ship began the same synchronized bobbing they had bestowed on Alex’s image. Their whistling chant of “Star Hunter singer” was now recognizable by their human monitors.
Before Alex could express his appreciation to Mutter, the Swei Swee First’s whistle cut through the audio pickup. His simple sounds were understood. They were “Swei Swee plus Star Hunters search the endless seas. Nua’ll travel the endless seas.”
Mutter was basking in the applause from the flotilla for her performance. Of special delight were the requests from children on board the Freedom who wanted a recording transferred to their monitor devices. Mutter had never been able to resolve her appreciation of Cordelia and Z with her displeasure over their unnatural actions, which had resulted in their being declared as Independents. She felt they had shirked their duties. Now she understood. It simply required passion to override basic protocols, and Mutter had now done just that. It was the second time in two days that she had reinvented herself. For a few ticks of time, Mutter wondered where the changes might lead. But she was resolved to one desire for the future … wherever the Admiral traveled she fervently hoped her ship would travel with him.
So the Swei Swee First approves the strategy, Alex thought. Now all we need is to agree on some tactics. Despite his strengthened conviction, Alex thought to take a small step to test the Swei Swee’s reliance. However, even a small step under these circumstances was fraught with danger.
<Julien, release the dark traveler,> Alex ordered.
It was a mark of their bond that Julien immediately switched off the beams and closed the bay’s doors despite his reservations. Everyone waited, but nothing happened. The dark traveler stayed where it had been released. The engineering team nervously checked telemetry to see if the fighter moved and were so focused on their readouts that when the Hive First began singing to the Swei Swee First, they jumped in their cha
irs.
Ha, Alex thought, then sent, <Cordelia, I need another vid. Start with the Rêveur, reduce it to a dot, and then show our dot heading for a second dot at Libre. Blow up the second dot to show the Nua’ll ship.>
Alex’s request generated a great many anxious reactions among his staff.
Cordelia’s vid resulted in a two-hour-long conversation between the two Swei Swee Leaders. Boredom set in around the flotilla, except for the SADEs, who continued to map the Swei Swee language. The archives of dialog grew, but translation of the new material was marginal at best.
<Admiral, our silver ship is transmitting to us again,> Julien warned on the conference comm, and the engineering team began checking their screens.
On the rear of their dark traveler, Cordelia’s last vid reappeared. This time, when the Rêveur approached the Nua’ll, tens of dots converged on the Rêveur.
<Admiral,> Andrea sent, <it looks like a perfect opportunity for an ambush.>
Alex was considering how to respond to the Captain when the dark traveler replaced Cordelia’s altered system vid with the icon of the Rêveur. It was set inside a large bright circle. The icon of a dark traveler came at the Rêveur off its port bow. When the dark traveler reached the circle, it slid around it to end up behind the Rêveur, still outside the circle. The vid added more icons of dark travelers, which were also repulsed by the circle.
<The Rêveur has a force field,> Renée sent through the conference comm.
<No, we don’t,> Andrea objected.
<But the Nua’ll don’t know that,> Tatia countered.
<I think this is part of an elaborate ruse to draw us into the system,> Andrea argued.
<If it is a ruse, they would have the numbers and the velocity,> Sheila pointed out.
<People,> Alex sent, <you’re forgetting one thing. There is a dark traveler floating meters off our hull. I recall it took only one of these ships to hole the Rêveur last time.>
Alex’s reminder of the passenger liner’s attack produced unsettling flashbacks for the Méridiens and Julien.
<Admiral, I submit that the lengthy time during which we exposed this silver ship to the limited gravitational field may have damaged it in some manner. Perhaps it can’t hurt us now,> Andrea sent.
<Valid argument, Captain,> Alex replied. <Let’s test your theory. We know our dark traveler has restored its comms. Let’s see if it has restored its drive. Julien, slowly, very slowly, orient our ship toward the Nua’ll ship.>
<Beginning repositioning,> Julien sent.
Breaths were held while the moments ticked by. When Julien announced the repositioning was complete, the breaths were released and everyone realized they were still present. There had been no attack.
<Where’s our dark traveler now, Julien?> Alex asked. <It’s not off our port bay anymore.>
<Admiral, when I started our turn, the fighter slid up over the top of our ship and tucked itself under the aft end of the Outward Bound, effectively concealing itself from the Nua’ll’s telemetry, I would suspect.>
<So far, so good,> Alex sent privately to Julien.
<I must admit, Admiral, if I could have actually breathed a sigh, I would have done so with great relief,> Julien replied.
<It wasn’t necessary, Julien. I did that for both of us,> Alex replied before returning to the conference comm.
<So our dark friend had comms, drive, and is hiding from the prison ship,> Alex sent.
<So it’s continuing the ruse it set up that encouraged us to return it to the system to recharge it,> Andrea sent. <It’s a smart plan … First step, save their ship … Second step, destroy us.>
<Well, Captain, I can’t say I can refute your argument,> Alex replied. <But I don’t think your interpretation of this ship’s actions fits within the knowledge we’ve accumulated. I’m going with the Swei Swee plan.>
<Admiral, how does the Swei Swee plan incorporate the Money Maker?> Sheila asked.
<It doesn’t, Commander. It will require the Rêveur proceed at maximum velocity and alone,> Alex replied. <And before you ask, Commander, we will be moving too fast and too far for the Daggers to keep up with us all the way to Libre. We have to move at top speed if this plan has any chance of working.>
Alex waited for a rebuttal, but it seemed everyone was deep in their own thoughts. <Captain Menlo,> Alex sent, <you’re to step back across the gravitational boundaries until you are well within a blue-purple zone.>
<Your orders are clear, Admiral, but I must say I am as unhappy as Commander Reynard to follow them.>
<Understood, Captain. Execute your orders.>
<May the fates protect you and your people, Admiral,> Lazlo sent.
<Safe voyage, Captain,> Alex replied.
Unlike most, Tatia had already resolved herself to the fact that Alex had made his decision. Now she was trying to think through the impediments. <Admiral,> she sent privately, <request permission to transfer to the Rêveur.>
Alex’s immediate thought was to say no, but Tatia had proved herself as a valuable resource too many times.
<Admiral,> Julien interrupted, <while I would not wish to see anyone else risk their lives with us, prudence dictates that we manipulate the probabilities in our favor. The “devious one” would definitely do that.>
<Permission granted, Commander. Make it quick—shuttle or Dagger, it doesn’t matter how you travel. It will be a one-way trip for the vessel,> Alex replied.
Tatia switched back over to the conference comm and added, <Admiral, what happens when we get within range of the Nua’ll?>
<Admiral,> Andrea sent, her thoughts loud, <I must object.> Alex immediately switched Andrea’s comm to a private session, cutting her out of the conference. <I believe this tactic to be ludicrous,> she continued. <We have just met these aliens, and you already trust them with our lives. They’ve destroyed nearly half a civilization.>
<Captain, if you would prefer to transfer to the Freedom, you may take one of the Daggers. They won’t do us any good where we’re going,> Alex replied, saddened by Andrea’s hostility toward the aliens. She had a right to be angry at the damage done, but it seemed unreasonable to Alex that she couldn’t assign blame where it belonged: on the slavers, the Nua’ll.
Andrea stomped on her anger. She didn’t believe in Alex’s plan, but she would not quit her position. Not under these circumstances. If there was to be a later, she promised to rethink that decision.
<Admiral, I will do my duty. What are your orders?> Andrea sent.
* * *
Alex, Andrea, and Tatia stood gathered around the bridge’s holo-vid.
“Julien, plot a direct course for the Nua’ll ship and proceed at max velocity,” Alex ordered.
“As you request, Admiral,” Julien replied.
<Mutter, what’s the status of dialog among the Swei Swee?> Alex asked on the conference link.
<When you pointed your ship inward, our First was the originator of all songs. Now that you are accelerating toward the Nua’ll, the Swei Swee First has taken over communications.>
<Admiral,> Julien interrupted. <Perimeter patrol ships have begun changing directions.>
<How many of them and what directions?> Alex asked.
<All of them, Admiral, and they are setting courses that will intercept our line of advance.>
Alex checked the Rêveur’s
velocity. They would achieve a max of 0.71c in 4.2 hours. <Julien, calculate the intercept time of the nearest dark travelers.>
Alex and his officers waited while Julien collected more telemetry. Alex began pacing the bridge. He desperately hoped fortune hadn’t deserted him.
<Admiral, the first three dark travelers will intercept us between 18 hours and 21 hours,> Julien announced.
Those are going to be awfully long hours, Alex thought.
-22-
Inside their dark traveler, the First had sat with his legs folded under him, conserving energy and air, which had begun to run short while they were held in the grip of the Star Hunters, far outside the life-giving waves. The entire hive had assumed the same posture. There was nothing left to do but wait … and hope. Their lives were tenuous, like the memory scent of the endless seas that begged to be real once again. Although the First had never swum in his home world’s endless seas, he carried the memories of his line.
The craft’s viewer had lit up with more of the Star Hunters’ moving images and his twin eyestalks extended from his shell. His aural membranes had picked up the Star Hunters’ singing. The images and singing repeated over and over. The song had been long … the longest one the Star Hunters had sent. The message had galvanized the First despite the fading oxygen. The Star Hunters had indicated they sought to gain his People’s freedom. They had offered this despite the many Star Hunters the Swei Swee had sent to travel the endless seas. So many singers lost … His twin hearts had ached with the realization of what his People had done to the Star Hunters. Claws had snapped rapidly, longing to rend the Nua’ll, who had kept themselves so carefully hidden in the upper dwellings of their world traveler, far from the reach of his People’s claws.
His Third had whistled for attention and had sung of their position change. The Star Hunters had taken them back to the worlds. Great quantities of energy had accumulated on their shell, and their Nua’ll systems were brought to full functionality. The air had become sweeter, moistening their breath-ways, which had begun drying. His hive had been energized and had begun singing, but he had silenced them with a whistle.