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The town of Wedgewood at Mount Mars
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“Flash, flash, in-bound Dianis orbit alert.”
Quorat pulled up hard on his mono-peller. He hit the power button; the antigrav impeller sled settled to the ground. “What?” he growled into his collar mic.
The voice of the Intruder’s AI came over his ear implant, “Comm satellite sensors indicate a battle fleet matching the emanations of Avarian ship designs is orbiting into position over the continent of Isuelt.”
“Whaaaat!” Quorat screeched. He even startled himself. He looked around. The deep forest of the mountainside was quiet, serene, and sunny, all the things he did not feel.
“Affirmative,” came the AI’s response. The AI’s avatar was tuned to Quorat’s idiosyncratic tendencies. During its tenure, the AI had continued to augment its database of Quorat’s behavioral patterns to the extent that it could now reliably respond to the Human in a simple – for an AI—verbal shorthand. “The fleet, I calculate, shifted into orbit on the far side of the planet twenty-three hours ago and has since been conducting operations.”
“Operations?” he hissed.
“Affirmative. They are conducting an aural scan of the planet and, according to my probabilities, are shifting ground-mobile assets planetside.”
“Bloody hell. And the comm satellite is just seeing them now?”
“Standard intrusion protocol dictated we launch the satellite on the far side of the moon, program the satellite to orbit the moon, and circle into clear view of Dianis every—”
“I know all that. What sort of aural scan?”
“Sentient and mineral analysis.”
Quorat’s stomach fell. “Are they, are they after me?” Ground-mobile assets from an Avarian battle fleet meant Marines.
“Aural scan-event horizon is approaching. An Avarian frigate from the fleet has separated and is following a standard planetary search pattern. It will reach your area in nine minutes. Suggest you go to full black-out protocol.”
For once, Quorat didn’t argue the AI’s guidance. “Take the Intruder dark as well.”
“Affirmative. All A-wave, neutrino, and other emanations will cease in six minutes.”
Then, a more menacing thought came to him. “Are the Turboii here? Are they invading? Are they coming for the aquamarine?”
“Passive sensor capabilities of the communication satellite are limited. No other starships have been detected. Do you want it to go active with sensors?”
“No! No!” He was flustered. “If the Turboii are not invading, then why is an Avarian fleet here?”
“I continue to catalog the signal emissions, and the satellite now has visuals on the battle group. It is composed of five Leopard-class cruisers, three destroyers, two frigates, and a Marine assault carrier matching the build of the Spirit’s Fury. The heavy cruiser Alexis is transmitting encrypted messaging in the pattern of a flagship. Task force ship-roster matches a reserve battle group normally on ready-alert at Avaria.”
Quorat thought through the problem. “We’re a long way from Avaria. What is a reserve battle group doing way out here? Not exactly what you would send to block a Turboii invasion.”
Even though the AI didn’t have additional relevant data to add, its behavioral model for Quorat indicated a response was required. “Okay.”
He stepped off the sled and opened the aft cargo pod. The machine looked more like a motorcycle doing a wheelie. The impeller housing hung at the bottom, and the controls and handlebar were at the top. Quorat rode the sled by standing on the foot pegs and sitting on the narrow seat. Strictly a single-person conveyance, easily hidden, the machine was powered by a neutrino energy cell that fit in the palm of his hand. Cargo pods were strapped to both sides and the rear. He pulled out his aural-energy-absorbing poncho and checked his diffusion bracelets, anklets, and collar. Anything that could reflect an aural energy scan was covered. His own aural energy emanation would be shunted to ground by the diffusion jewelry. If they followed the aural scan with an infrared sweep, they would see a modest hot spot where heat leaked out from his poncho and the cooling antigravity sled, but that couldn’t be helped. He had a more significant problem: he was over sixty miles from where he’d parked the Intruder on the bottom of a mountain lake. His geo-positioning system indicated he was five miles from Wedgewood. With the Avarian fleet moving in overhead, he dared not communicate via A-wave, energize a neutrino fuel cell, or activate the antigrav impeller. Tight beam laser only, but that was out as well due to no power.
“Three minutes to blackout,” signaled the AI.
“Shiren,” he cursed. He’d brought just enough food and water for a short overnight excursion from the Intruder. If the fleet sat above him for any length of time, he would have to go native. Going through the various options, he considered making a bolt back to the Intruder, but he’d never make it. A second option was to leave his sled camouflaged where it was and start hiking back.
The vision of a mansion, a gaggle of women, and all the things that a million credits could buy gnawed at him. All he had to do to earn it was scan and videograph the point source. A million? Screw that! Whatever it is, I should just pack it out myself! Could be worth maybe fifty million credits on the aqua market?
A third option grew larger in his mind: hike the five miles to the point source and take it.
“Intruder going dark in sixty seconds. Have you adopted aural concealment protocol?”
“Yes,” answered Quorat. In less than a minute, he would be on his own, stranded in an unfamiliar land with no AI, no sled, and an Avarian fleet overhead. In the few seconds he had left, he checked the charge indicators for this plasma pistol and plasma rifle. The chemical projectile rifle, of course, didn’t need a charge. It fired bullets.
