Part of the hologram fell dark. A heartbeat later, the definition of the remaining slice of moon surface increased. Dark lines highlighted one side of the shallow gouge mark, but it was the square-shape projecting from the end that garnered Bei's attention. Nature didn't make square objects. The satisfaction of knowing they faced a weapon was tempered by the ignorance of its kind. For all he knew, Bei could be leading his men into a battle armed only with rocks and sticks while the enemy wielded nukes.
Captain Petersburg ran a tan hand down her face. "That's a ship."
"No." Bei wiped his damp palms on his black uniform pants. "That's what's left of one."
The com burped before Commander Brazil's voice came on again. "Requesting permission to drop altitude and get a close up of the moon, Ghost."
"Negative." Bei's throat felt raw as his frustration continued to build. "I want a sweep of the surface. Full sensors. If there's a dormant defense array, I want to know about it before you get blown up."
Brazil's sigh echoed around the bridge. "Aye. Increasing sensor sensitivity. Range down to fifteen hundred kilometers."
Black voids appeared in the display where the sensors had yet to reach, but the resolution increased in the visible areas. Through the WA, Bei accessed the solar system's telemetry inside the CIC. Where was that weapons array? On the larger moon? Or perhaps, on another ship? Unlikely, all the wreckage seemed to have come from the similar trajectory and the materials composition and design were too similar. It couldn't have been an aerial battle. The weapon had to be stationary, but what triggered it? Bei paced the bridge. "Brazil, do you have any decoys?"
"Aye, sir. Sending heat drones. Decoys away." Seven heat signatures sprayed from the tip of the dart-like Beagle. They spread apart, yet close enough to register as much energy as a Starfarer class ship.
Penig leaned so close to the holographic drones that his hooked nose almost disturbed the image. "If the weapons batteries are heat sensitive, their systems should take the bait."
And if they're not? Bei didn't want to think about it. Who knew if these aliens even had fusion engines. They could be generations beyond the technology. A blip of hope jolted him. Could the Syn-En technology be so old it didn't register as a threat?
"We'll be out of the fleet's line-of-sight in twelve seconds." Brazil tossed the update through the com. "Dropping relay beacon in three, two, one. Beacon away."
"Roger, alpha team." Bei rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension clamping down. The certainty of weapons made the thirty-four seconds when the Beagles would be behind the moon and out of com range all the more harrowing. For a moment, Bei was tempted to back out telemetry and monitor Alpha team's progress through the beacon. The drones had better do their job.
"Damn," Brazil cursed. The hologram blinked off then on, as the sensor feed switched from direct to the relay beacon. "Are you receiving this?"
Bei focused on the infrared thermal imagery. Everything on the moon's surface registered the same temp. "Still not reading any energy spikes."
"I'm getting sonar off the hulls." Brazil's voice shook. "The ships were definitely shot down, Admiral. I've never seen anything like it. Can you confirm?"
Penig straightened and tapped on the keyboard. The sonar hologram reflected the murky image of a ship's hull. Large bore marks pocked the sides. The titanium entry marks twisted both in and out. "Whatever tore into her sides exploded once it breached her hull."
Damn. Bei raked his hand through his black hair. If just one of those weapons made it through the Syn-En defenses, his men would be cooked like fish in a can. "Any idea how long ago?"
Penig shook his head. "Not with this sensor data. And, this moon is much like Earth's. There's no appreciable decay rate for hundreds of years."
"We're coming round the bend." Brazil's voice shook with relief.
The hologram backed out of the moon's close-up and the two moons and planet once more were projected above the helm. Seven ships appeared on the first, while another seven approached the larger moon.
"Roger Alpha. We see you on visuals." Bei couldn't share in the relief. If the weapons battery wasn't on this moon, it had to be on the next. The decoys went dark.
"Orders, Admiral."
Bei wanted to get down to the planet but preferred it be in one piece not many. If the array wasn't on the moons, it would have to be on the planet. That would make landing tricky, if not downright impossible. "Sweep it again, Brazil. You have a go for a closer look. Lieutenant Commander Laos of Beta squadron, begin sweep of the larger moon."
A high pitched screech blitzed the com as Laos took up bandwidth. Excitement raised the pitch of her voice. "Beta squadron moving into place."
Bei watched the new squadron approach the bigger moon. "Launch decoy drones."
"Decoy drones away," Laos confirmed.
XO Pening cleared his throat. "Admiral, I think I've found a way to give us visuals of both missions."
"Do it." Bei watched the five drones light up the space in front of the second team of Beagles near the large moon. "Beta, you have a go for survey of the brown moon."
"Roger that. Descending to high lunar orbit of Mole." Laos led her team on their course around the brown moon she'd dubbed Mole.
"Good hunting." Bei glanced at his second-in-command, waiting for the promised split screen. Damn citizens had made everything in the system difficult to use. Did they do it on purpose, or was it a consequence of their stupid paranoia?
"Increasing visual range. Now!" Penig crowed seconds before the hologram fell dark. "No. No, that's not supposed to happen."
"Registering energy spike." Laos's words toppled over each other through the com. "One hundred meters from horizon. Starboard wing, confirm."
"Confirmed and triangulating," another woman answered.
Bei ground his teeth together. He did not need to have both eyes blinded just when things started to get interesting. "Penig, where are my visuals?"
Captain Petersburg scurried over to the XO's side. Soon their mumbles spilled across the deck.
"Damn," Laos swore. "It's a big one."
Bei jabbed the com button, glaring at his two senior officers as they tried to fix what was broken. "Enough to take out a ship?"
"A fleet," the lieutenant commander whispered.
Panic sucker-punched Bei. He fell back on his training. He had fought an unseen enemy before and prevailed.
"Any weapons lock?" He enunciated despite his clenched jaw.
"Negative." Laos's breaths resonated like waves through the fleet. "The drones are flying free."
"Maintain altitude and speed but prepare for evasive maneuvers." Bei arched an eyebrow at his highest ranking officers and removed his finger from the com. "Any time now."
A red flush stained Penig's pale skin. "I think we got it."
"Roger that. Prepared for evasive maneuver Delta-Omega-Gamma," Laos repeated.
Static crackled through the com startling Bei. "Beta team check your systems. We're getting interference."
"Confirm interference," Laos yelled through the noise. "Seems to be the- What the hell is that?"
The helm's hologram burst to life in a bubble of images foaming from the top of the round table. It grew until three-dimensional space filled the bridge. Smiling, Penig sighed and craned his head to look at the rapidly forming image of the second moon.
Bei stepped through the pale, smaller moon and approached the rust-colored larger one. Eight sets of white boxes formed a band around the equator, with more sets being drawn as the sensors reached them. The energy reading blazed red hot against a blue background.
Bei's knees shook. They had found the weapons battery. "That is ET's 'do not disturb' sign. Any signs of lock-on?"
Mentally reviewing his munitions inventory, he felt his gut clench. They might not have enough firepower to take everything out. Especially since the numbers kept increasing.
"That's a negative, but Admiral?" Laos's words slowed as if his neural interface co
uldn't process his thoughts quick enough for his speech centers. "We're getting a faint data transmission."
Penig nodded. "Receiving."
The helm projected the odd symbols from the top of the brown moon to its tip. They looked oddly familiar.
"I doubt those are wingdings." Using helm controls, Bei opened the com to Engineering. "Shang'hai?"
"Aye, Admiral," she answered after a moment's delay. "Some of the letters match the writing on Nell's stasis chamber."
"Translation?"
"I'm processing it now." Low swearing filled the airwaves. "Darn citizens. Why do they insist everything be done manually?"
"Admiral, this is alpha team." As a result of Commander Brazil's interruption, the small white moon chased her large sister to the fringe of the bridge. A hunk of debris filled the space in front of Bei. He recognized a damaged hull. The scans report highlighted the damage. "Weapon's signature on all debris register EMP residual and energy cannons. Timeline seems to be a hundred-ten years ago, give or take twenty. From the carbon spectroscopy residuals in the interior, these were carrying organic material, perhaps the humanoids. The ships were unarmed."
Bei's stomach bucked. They'd shot down passenger transports? Why? And why had Nell been placed in a stasis pod around the same time? What had they wanted her to do? "Alpha team rejoin the fleet. Do not approach Terra Dos."
"Breaking off, Admiral," Commander Brazil confirmed. "Will rendezvous with Beta squadron in T-minus one minute."
"Beta squadron." As soon as Bei called on the second patrol, the hologram switched focus and shunted the second moon to the fore. He felt queasy at the abrupt motion. "Report."
"Definitely munitions batteries, Admiral," Commander reported. "Could be what took out those ships, but I'm not registering any hostile intent."
XO Penig rubbed his nose. "Why do they want to know what we're selling before they shoot us for trespassing?"
Bei eyed the batteries energy signal. Still red hot, but it hadn't moved into white for full power. What was he missing? "Shang'hai?"
"I have the translation." She gasped. "Visual only."
Bei faced front. "On screen. Fleetwide."
Planet quarantined. Any attempt to land or leave will be considered a threat to the Skarpian Empire. Offending vessels and crews will be immediately terminated.
The WA came alive with alarms. Bei winced at the screech. Immediately, his diag switched off and his cerebral interface prepared his synthetic implants for battle. On the holographic projection, the tan moon's munitions batteries glowed white.
"ET's locked on to me." Laos's voice remained calm. "They're firing."
Synthetically-Enhanced soldiers:
The triumph of technology over human weakness-
the better to serve our species.
Syn-En Vade Mecum
Chapter Nineteen