Star Force: Ringworld (SF80) Read online

  “They probably didn’t need to, nor wanted to, but it is possible. All you have to do is reach inside and squeeze.”

  “And if someone doesn’t get their Rentar up quick enough they’re dead.”

  “Exactly.”

  “You’re right, we can’t let that stand.”

  “And as long as you’re asking for a Christmas list, might go for a skeletal enhancement.”

  “Wolverine style?”

  “I don’t think metal would be a good idea, but we’re fragile considered to most V’kit’no’sat races. Now that I’m thinking about it, there are a lot of little things that could be improved upon.”

  “Keep thinking on it, especially with a mind towards giving us more ‘challenge beating’ potential.”

  “How long does Nefron think it will be?”

  “Nefron isn’t doing it. He doesn’t know about the V’kit’no’sat and that’s not going to change. He’s trustworthy, but I want a safety in place just in case. He’s teaching our medtechs what the Chixzon know, so it’ll be our people adding that knowledge to what we’ve learned from the V’kit’no’sat.”

  “How does the Chixzon compare?”

  “I’m told it’s superior in many areas, but not all.”

  “That’s why you think we might have the chance to one up them on this?”

  “Yes, but I’m more interested in tailoring the psionics to fit our style more than just trying to counter them. Impressive as they are, we don’t need hand me downs anymore.”

  “Ingrate,” Wilson said sarcastically.

  “Yes, I know. And this all sounds preposterous considering we’ve inherited the most powerful known biological package in the galaxy. Still, if we can improve on it we’re going to.”

  Wilson nodded as a stray thought occurred to him. “You said the tier 3s were the bridge to this dream test?”

  “A working theory at the moment.”

  “What about the eyes?”

  “They did mention that. It’s possible it’s a marker to indicate who is playing the ‘game’ and who isn’t, but that’s still largely speculation.”

  “Has Morgan had these dreams all this time?”

  “If she has she hasn’t been able to remember them. Rio seems to be unique in his ability in this regard. With some coaching a few of the others have been able to remember snippets.”

  “But he couldn’t remember anything this time?”

  “No, he couldn’t.”

  “Has he had the dream again?”

  Davis nodded. “At least once.”

  “So it’s going to continue until he unlocks them all?”

  “Guessing again, but that’s the going theory. Whether or not it’s exactly the same dream is speculation. Rio knew he had another, but couldn’t provide any details.”

  “Are these dreams interfering with his rest?”

  “Hard to say without baselines to compare with, but there’s a possibility of a little interference. He hasn’t complained though, nor has he noticed any difference when waking from one. It doesn’t seem to leave him exhausted.”

  “Wait a sec…are we looking at customizations to Humans or other races as well?”

  Davis winced.

  “That’s where we could make some huge gains,” Wilson pointed out.

  “Those will have to wait, for we’re still pulling off the V’kit’no’sat knowledge of Zen’zat coding. Doing so with another race means we’ll have to draw our own blueprints and that’s far harder.”

  “You don’t want to give up our dominance?”

  “It’s our backup plan in case of revolt. I don’t want to lose it, but I see your point.”

  “We’ve had Human revolts before.”

  “But to be truly effective we’d have to upgrade the masses, especially in the case of the Bsidd.”

  “Why? We can do it with individuals like we have with the Archons.”

  “And make them immune from our Ikrid?”

  Wilson leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not worried about dissentious Humans anymore. Why?”

  “The rogues do concern me a bit, but otherwise you’re right. I understand Humans far better than I do other races, and I’m still interested in seeing how the Protovic upgrades shake out. That’ll give me a better indication of where we should or shouldn’t go from here. Until I learn more I don’t feel comfortable trusting non-Humans with too much power.”

  “That honestly surprises me.”

  “How so?”

  “Usually you’re ahead of the game.”

  Davis smiled, then raised both hands gesturing to his office. “I don’t get out much, and when I do it’s still Humans I’m dealing with.”

  “Too much intel, not enough experience?”

  “Bingo.”

  “There’s only one solution to that, especially now that you have Ikrid and can get inside their heads and look for yourself.”

  “You telling me to go on vacation?”

  “No, and I’m in the same position you are. Very little contact with non-Humans, but there is a difference in that I’m writing training for them. There are differences between the races, but training is training no matter who or what you are. There’s a commonality there that trumps everything else.”

  “Noted. But there’s another issue in play.”

  “Leadership?”

  “Of a sort. Ethics.”

  “I didn’t think Star Force had a problem with that, in any faction.”

  “No, but there’s always the Archons there to beat you into a pulp if you go to the darkside. Take that away and I know how Humans react. I don’t know how others will.”

  “And there’s no way to test that short of removing Star Force?”

  “A blind spot we’re forced to deal with, I’m afraid. Some people are on good behavior because they don’t have the option of misbehaving rather than because they’re lightside…and there’s no genetic marker for lightside.”

  “Maybe not genetic, but then that’s what I’m here for.”

  Davis raised an eyebrow.

  “You told me so from the beginning with the Archons.”

  “Yes I did,” the Director said, remembering back to those early days. “I told you to make sure they were trustworthy.”

  “And I know ways to bring to the surface corruption if it is there. All in the construction of the challenges.”

  “Unfortunately it’s not that simple.”

  “Have we had an Archon go bad guy?” Wilson challenged.

  Davis raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. I get it. You have an insight there that I lack, and without it I’m hesitant to upset the balance we currently have.”

  “I’ve been reading Brad’s notes recently. What’s your current take on his plans for the Protovic?”

  “He’s making their race stronger than Humans across the board, but the upper level are still grossly inferior to Archons.”

  “They’re your backup plan to everything, aren’t they?”

  “Yes they are, and I trust the trailblazers to make sure they don’t go bad. Without that linchpin this empire wouldn’t work.”

  “Do you really think they’re special?”

  Davis looked at him as if he were stupid. “Of course they are.”

  “But are they unique? Think about it. Out of everyone in Star Force today, it’s impossible that all 100 of them were born on Earth at the same time. How many other peers do they have out there in the empire now fulfilling other roles?”

  “They have no peers that I can see. Even the second gen don’t quite measure up.”

  “And there’s a reason for that, but not the one you think.”

  “Enlighten me, please.”

  “They’ve ascended to another level. That’s what makes them unique, but who and what they were in the beginning isn’t. Part of ethics is learning, the other part is having a pure heart. Pure hearts can be messed up by culture, but at the core they’re still pure. They j
ust have to be uncovered.”

  “That’s not news to me.”

  “It should be. You’re assuming the trailblazers are the only pure hearts out there.”

  “Maybe it’s just the warrior in me now. I can’t see someone who isn’t a warrior as a pure heart. When something bad happens you can’t sit on the sidelines and watch, you have to fight.”

  “And others would too, if they knew how. Don’t take this as ego on my part, but the trailblazers are what they are in large part due to me. I set them on a path that they have continued on their own, but that initial training is what others lack. And other Archons didn’t get the same training, which is why they’re not quite up to par.”

  “Why aren’t we up to par then?”

  “Ascension. They had to build this military and that was an additional type of training the rest of you didn’t get. The second gen got some, but they were never the tip of the spear. The trailblazers have always been the tip of the spear and they’ve not only embraced it, they’ve left the rest of us behind ascending to a level that is, arguably, beyond my understanding. I can train them because I act as an opponent throwing down challenges to them, but I can’t see through their eyes. If I tried I’d screw things up. I have to act like they’re a force of nature rather than peers. Insert myself into their shoes and I’d never push them as hard as they can take.”

  “All the more reason why they’re unique.”

  “They are, but who they were in the beginning isn’t unique. There are a lot more of them out there that will never be the tip of the spear so they will never ascend to that level, but they can become a great deal more if they want so long as we provide them the path. That has happened with the other Archons and even the Monarchs. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that’s a Human only thing.”

  Davis sighed. “I can’t navigate what I can’t see. The trailblazers are the ones building the factions, including the Clans. I’m primarily guiding Human development. As far as ascension goes, I don’t have the path before me to gain the knowledge and experience needed with the other races.”

  “Then trust those that do. Brad and Larissa especially. And me with regards to training weeding out the unworthy.”

  “If I had trust issues Star Force never would have happened.”

  “Then where is your hindrance?”

  “Size. We’re growing so big that we’re coming up against new problems. There’s only so much I can see and monitor, and I rely on the Monarchs and Archons to assist in that, but there is still so much room for misbehavior and it’s only getting worse.”

  “Because there are so few Humans,” Wilson pointed out.

  “Are you advocating non-Human Archons?”

  “Why do you have non-Human Monarchs?”

  Davis frowned. “Not the same thing, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. I’m both, so I should have the perfect perspective.”

  “But?”

  “But I can’t see going through basic training with a Protovic or Bsidd.”

  “Too different?”

  “Yes…yes. I guess that is it. There’s a camaraderie of the similar that would be lost. Monarchs operate independently of each other, never in teams, so it’s all about individual skills. Archons need both.”

  “And you feel that brotherhood is what binds Star Force together more than anything?”

  “Essentially yes.”

  Wilson nodded. “Not a problem.”

  “What isn’t?”

  “Give me some time to play with this. If psionics won’t be a prerequisite in the distant future, then I think I can give you additional options without compromising that brotherhood.”

  8

  May 1, 3099

  Menchet System (lizard core)

  Middle Zone

  Paul ducked his head underneath the water level in the shower tube, holding his breath and letting the current jets scrub him from head to toe. He stayed under for several minutes, at first holding his breath then pulling on his Hamne for additional oxygen to sustain himself. He let his mind drift as he did so, not thinking of anything in particular but allowing his overstressed mind a few moments to detox.

  It was getting close to a year since this invasion had began, and ever since then every day had seen naval combat. Hit and runs designed to destroy a few ships without losing any of their own to diminish the millions of lizard cruisers while the ring shipyard kept pumping out more to replace them. The lizards still controlled stellar orbit, and aside from a few intercepted convoys Paul hadn’t been able to put a dent in their supply chain. He, Megan, and Jack had become a constant nuisance that the lizards were combating through tolerance…for that was all they could do.

  No additional fleets had arrived to help in the defense, not that it would have done them much good. The lizards couldn’t force Paul’s fleet to engage for the simple fact that Star Force engines were superior. That gave Paul the ‘high’ ground and let him pick the time and place of each battle. He remembered back to when he’d first seen Star Wars Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith, and Obi-wan had told Anakin that their fight was over because he had the high ground. It hadn’t made much sense at the time, but now he understood.

  The side that had superior mobility controlled the flow of the fight, and every time the lizards had come after his ships he’d ordered them to flee and not engage in a massive brawl. The small strikes were continuing around the clock, probably even a couple now while Paul cleaned up after a short but intense workout. He trusted his fellow Archons and the fleet commanders enough that he could take breaks from the action and not worry about them getting baited into a trap, which the lizards were constantly attempting to do, even going to the lengths of giving him opening in their defenses to hit.

  Paul knew that would favor them, and right now, so long as they kept the status quo, they were killing more cruisers than the shipyard was pumping out. At the rate they were going it would take another 75 years to get through them all but Paul knew it wouldn’t come to that. It was just a matter of withering down the millions of cruisers into manageable numbers, at which point he’d engage them more aggressively and really rack up the ship kills. Unless the lizards screwed up and gave him a real opening to exploit he had to be patient and chip away at their defenses…even as Liam and Roger were engaging the enemy in two other systems.

  They were doing the same thing, nipping away at the defending fleets, but they didn’t have the firepower that Paul’s fleet had. The plan was for him to take out this system’s defenders then move on to either another core world or come in to assist them. Right now they were giving the enemy three systems to heavily defend, but this was the one that was expected to fall first…or draw off enough reinforcements that would give Liam or Roger an opening to exploit.

  It was tedious work, with even one mistake meaning a chunk of your fleet got destroyed, but so far that hadn’t happened. Ever since the opening battle at the incoming jumppoint Paul hadn’t so much as lost a ship, and he thought that was why the lizards weren’t sending reinforcements. Greater numbers wouldn’t aid them in pursuing an enemy they couldn’t catch, but get their fleet trimmed down enough and he wouldn’t be surprised if more suddenly arrived. That, or they would hoard them on their other worlds and let this one fall to buy time.

  Where they were going to make their final stand he wasn’t sure, but they knew and Paul knew that they were not going to win this war. Star Force had the edge, and it looked like they were still going to play it out, but it was just a matter of time and resources before they were wiped out. That could take years or centuries, and it looked like the lizards were aiming for the latter, during which time they’d continue making more ships and tightening their defenses, some of which were being shipped out to other parts of their empire.

  They were either playing for time or had aspirations to hold out and force a draw. Paul could see no possibilities of them ever retaking the territory they’d lost to Star Force, and as was their standard practice they were st
ill not responding to surrender offers. They were going to make him wipe them out, and he couldn’t stop the ping-pong game inside his head that kept bouncing back and forth between that being sheer stubbornness or them having a larger game plan that he wasn’t fully comprehending.

  Paul pulled his head back up above water level and into the rain-like drops coming from above, breathing the air and stretching his body out. His workouts were tolerable, but he wasn’t making as much progress as he wanted. His priority was the invasion, and the more time he spent out of the command nexus the less chance he had of finding a new inroad against the lizard defenses.

  But one had to train and sleep, so when Paul was finally clean he drained and climbed out of the shower tube, drying himself off and dressing before downing a small vile of ambrosia and slipping into bed. He needed to recharge, physically and mentally, and get back at it sooner rather than later. Longevity was the key to an operation like this and one couldn’t let himself get burnt out, but the skillful took their rest in short, efficient brakes that kept them in the game for far more hours than others. To that end he let his mind disconnect from everything and just sleep, a skill he’d developed long ago that had become extremely useful over the years.

  While Paul slept Riona was awake, as was Megan in another part of the system and dozens of other high ranking Archons commanding small task forces that were spread out everywhere and were almost always on the move. They weren’t due for a supply run for another two months, so until then they stayed away from stellar orbit and bounced around the system keeping the lizards guessing and hitting them in multiple places whenever possible.

  Right now the ships in Riona’s task force weren’t engaged, merely waiting alongside the Excalibur and in a few other nearby places with their drones all tucked onboard. She sat in the bridge command nexus silently, eyes closed while she meditated, monitoring the status of the entire fleet spread across the system which had eyes on everything lizard. She saw their positioning and movements along with their own. Megan’s presence was in the system, noticeable as a distant bright spot within her mind, but within the local ships hers was the dominant persona.