The hatch slid open to reveal the Swarm Master’s suite and Zelof strode inside. Commander Utanic sitting nearby at Navigation called everyone in the room to attention when he noticed his commanders entry. The Swarm Master waved everyone back to work before they could rise from their stations then paused just inside the hatch to examine the room. His own post was in the center of the room with the other stations placed on the periphery. That positioning gave him access to whatever he needed whenever he needed it.
He nodded with approval as he took in the room. Lieutenant Funtel was at communications off to his right; Commander Peltorat was in Combat Control next to communications. Commander Utanic was at the navigator’s slot on his left and closest to the hatch. He saw that the Swarm Second was also at his post next to the navigator. It wasn’t a large staff by the standards of some but his people were very capable.
Satisfied with his scrutiny Zelof left the hatchway and moved through the room. He settled onto the cushioned saddle of his post and used quick, deft movements to log onto the system. Next, he positioned his headset with its boom microphone so he’d be able to call and receive calls.
Once that was finished the Swarm Master turned to study the tactical plot which showed the positions of his Swarm relative to that of the Kthpok ships. The holographic screen which was between his post and the Second’s gave him an accurate representation of surrounding space. A declining set of numbers in the lower right corner of the plot represented the time until deployment for convoy duty. Besides showing on the Plots of the Main Room of all Iidx ships this countdown was also being sent to the Kthpok.
The Swarm Master couldn’t be sure the Kthpok understood what the transmission meant because of the language barrier but he hoped they were as intelligent as they seemed. Earlier he had a simulation transmitted to the Kthpok that showed the upcoming movement of the Iidx ships to inform them what was about to happen. He glanced up at the viewer showing a magnified picture of the Kthpok ships. It wouldn’t be very good for his career if the Kthpok thought they were being attacked when his formation shifted and started shooting.
The Swarm Master swiveled on his saddle to look over at Lieutenant Funtel in communications a few meters away. “Have all Swarm ships confirmed receipt of their instructions, Lieutenant?” he asked.
“Yes, Swarm Master,” was the swift reply.
“Defenses?”
Commander Peltorat in Combat Control which was next to communications replied, “All defensive stations are ready while offensive weapons have been left unpowered.”
“Drives?” continued Zelof
“Coming to power,” replied Peltorat.
“Good,” said Zelof and turned to look at Sesum who was looking back at him. He was also waiting for the maneuver to begin. “If the Kthpok are watching, and I would be if I were in their position, they should be able to discern we’re not attacking,” observed the Swarm Master. Then added, “I hope,” under his breath.
Sesum nodded his agreement as if he’d heard Zelof’s last words and turned to concentrate on his equipment. He had his own responsibilities to see to during this maneuver. Zelof looked around the room in approval as his staff made sure everything was ready.
When the last ten seconds of the countdown arrived a tone sounded and a verbal countdown matching the display started. Zelof concentrated on the plot. At zero a soft chiming was heard and Commander Peltorat announced the movement of the Swarm. A slight trembling was felt underfoot as the dreadnaught’s drives fired.
As ordered the squadron of four dreadnoughts split apart and moved to take up their escort assignments. Two of the immense vessels went to the front of the Kthpok formation, one above and the other below. The other two dreadnaughts, including the flagship, went to the rear of the formation, also above and below. Soon after the dreadnoughts started the maneuver the other vessels of the Iidx Swarm fired their drives.
Zelof watched the plot with rapt attention as the emerald lights that represented his ships shifted. When this was over the Kthpok would be in a protective box. The maneuver had been choreographed with care and his people were experienced but there was always the risk of an accident or of being misunderstood.
“Status!” the Swarm Master called after half an hour.
“All ships are either at station or will be within the next few minutes,” reported Sesum.
“Anything from the Kthpok?”
“No change,” reported Commander Peltorat. “Their ships are holding position as instructed. Their defensive lasers are still powered. But I cannot detect any ranging or targeting scans.”
Sesum turned from his equipment to face the Swarm Master. “Aren’t they being a little extreme in their paranoia?” he asked over their private link. “Those defenses haven’t dropped since we intercepted them. That’s got to be a huge drain on their resources.”
Zelof shook his antennae at the screen showing the Kthpok ships. “If their story is true then what we’re seeing here is the entire surviving population of the Kthpok people,” he replied also over their link. “So, if I were in their position, with their history, I’d take precautions and wouldn’t relax until I knew my people were safe.”
“I think I detect a questioning tone in that explanation, don’t I?”
Zelof chuckled and nodded. “You’ve been with me too long and know me too well, Sesum. I’ve never kept it secret that there are several items of the Kthpok story that doesn’t add up for me. And things that haven’t been explained worry me.”
“So who’s being paranoid?” said Sesum, his antennae waving in amusement.
“Paranoid?” wondered Zelof nodding his head. “I suppose I am. But am I being paranoid enough?”
“Swarm Master,” called Lieutenant Funtel from communications breaking into the conversation. “All vessels report in position.”
“Combat!” called Zelof after cutting in the general link, “confirm Swarm position.”
There was a brief pause as Commander Peltorat consulted his equipment. “All ships are confirmed in position, Swarm Master,” he reported a moment later.
Sesum’s antennae gave a wiggle that signified his amusement as a wave of relief swept through everyone in the Main Room at the announcement. “Well, we’ve gotten this far without being shot at,” the Second said as he left his position and walked over next to Zelof. He glanced at the tactical plot. “Let’s hope we can make it all the way to Main Hive in one piece.”
“From your Feelers into the Shell,” intoned Zelof. Murmurs of agreement came from other Iidx around the room. “We can’t celebrate yet. That was only the first step. There’s more to do. Now, we have to get everyone moving in the same direction at the same time.” He looked over at his Second. “Send the next instruction schematic and the countdown to the Kthpok. Make sure all our ships get the countdown so they know when to burn for Home.”
Sesum nodded his acknowledgement. “You know,” he said and came to a stop next to the Swarm Master, “if the Kthpok don’t start their drives on time or burn at the wrong strength or go in the wrong direction we could run right into their formation.”
“That’s why I selected our position and the ships to escort us,” the Swarm Master replied. “The Masters and crews of each vessel have shown they’re the most disciplined and experienced we have.” He gave a shrug. “But don’t tell them that. It’ll give them extra long antennae.”
That brought a light chuckle from both Iidx then the Swarm Master continued. “I’m hoping the Kthpok start when they’re supposed to and follow the course they’re given. If they don’t I’m expecting our people to avoid catastrophe. Literally!”
Sesum nodded and started back to his station to carry out the Swarm Master’s instructions but was stopped by a true-hand on a middle-arm. “Remind our code Iidx that I want them learning Kthpok as soon as possible,” instructed Zelof. The Second nodded once more and moved off.
When the second countdown reached zero the drives on all the Kthpok vessels fired up. At almost the same instant the Iidx began to move. Zelof scrutinized his tactical plot for any sign of trouble. He knew this was going to be interesting because his force had to match velocities with the Kthpok and all the Kthpok had to move together. What made a difficult maneuver even more difficult was the language difference.
The Swarm Master’s ship was positioned behind and above the formation which gave its sensors a perfect view of the entire convoy. It was also the point Zelof determined was the most problematic. If the Kthpok tried anything threatening he and his people’d be ready.
Ten minutes into the maneuver Zelof began using a pointer to highlight on the plot several ships which were already straying out of position. Some were Iidx but most were Kthpok. The image was sent to Sesum. “Let’s get our formation together,” ordered the Swarm Master. “We wouldn’t want the Queen’s to think we’re getting sloppy.”
The Second acknowledged the orders and worked his console to pass the order to the newly designated linguists to get a message composed to the Kthpok. It took a while for the message to be understood by the Kthpok and several more hours to get the straying ships in place but they did it.
At the end of the day after all ships were confirmed in their slots Sesum looked over at the Swarm Master and gave a sigh of relief. “It looks like we’re on our way,” he called from his post. “You’d almost think we did this all the time.”
Zelof crooked an antenna. “Now we’ve got that behind us get our people busy learning Kthpok,” he ordered. “By the time we enter orbit around Main Hive I want to understand our guests.”
“The linguistic team’s already been at work for most of the day,” informed Sesum. He gave a slight shrug when he saw the Swarm Masters questioning dip of antennae. “They began just before we started for home.
“When his group was assigned to learn Kthpok the head linguist requested a dedicated line to the Kthpok flagship.” He gave an amused bob from his antennae. “That was his first task, of course. It took him a while to get our intent across to the Kthpok but once they understood what we wanted they agreed. A link was established and the language lessons begun. It won’t complicate any maneuvers we may have to take, as you’ve seen, but it has allowed us to get a head start on the process.”
“The Kthpok were agreeable?” repeated Zelof.
“As far as we can tell, they’re enthusiastic.” He gave another amused wave from his antennae. “But who can tell what the Tails are thinking? They have no antennae. Though it seems they had similar ideas because Kthpok were available to begin.”
Zelof waved an uncertain understanding then sent his Second off to get some rest. He turned back to study the Plot as he pondered. They’d begun well. The Iidx had met their first alien species and was escorting them home. Communication had been established and languages were being learned. All without an exchange of missiles and lasers. Everything had been very peaceful and civilized. He just hoped it was enough and would last. As he checked the convoy’s formation unease began to irritate just under the shell between his antennae.
On the day after assuming formation and starting for Main Hive Zelof was back in his office reviewing reports and catching up on paperwork. He finished reading a report on the ship’s reactors, keyed his acknowledgement and cleared the screen. Then he called up the statistics of the remaining reports. “You’ve got to be kidding,” muttered Zelof and his antennae drooped. He’d already completed ten reports but fourteen were waiting for his review.
“Is that right?” he wondered. It seemed that when he started going through reports there were less than sixteen in the queue not twenty-four. A quick check revealed that his impression was correct. While he’d been reading and approving reports several others had been posted to his account. “How’m I supposed to get anything done if this keeps up?” he complained.
He was keying another report to his screen when an attention tone sounded. “Thank the Egg,” he muttered. “Maybe it’s something disastrous that’ll clear this mess away.” The Swarm Master pushed the acknowledge button and waited for the Iidx to respond.
“The Second told me you were not to be interrupted until we were well on our way to Main Hive, Swarm Master,” said Lieutenant Funtel from communications.
“That’s correct, Lieutenant,” said Zelof. “I gave him those instructions. So why interrupt me now?”
“Sorry, sir. Normally I wouldn’t have done so until my instructions were changed but there’s all these messages.”
“Messages?” prompted the Swarm Master.
“Your queue is full of calls from Main Hive and more are coming in. That’s why I contacted you, sir. If we don’t dump some of those messages soon we won’t be able to receive any more. And…”
The Swarm Master interrupted, “and some of those we miss might be important.”
“I’m glad you understand our problem, Swarm Master,” said the Lieutenant.
Even though Funtel couldn’t see what he was doing Zelof’s antennae waved his approval. “I’ll go through the messages and clear them out, Lieutenant,” he said and cut the link.
The Swarm Master put the report that’d just come to the screen into the background and called up his messages. When he saw the number of calls waiting for him he regretted promising to clear them out. Then his next thought was to do a global delete. That would clear the file and solve communications problem. But that wouldn’t work. At last he decided to check the messages anyway in the off chance there really might be something important.
After he’d read and deleted the first ten messages he leaned back from his console in disgust. What was he thinking to do this? He was the Swarm Master after all. Didn’t rank have any privileges? As he scanned the summary banners of those messages that remained it seemed that every news organization, every center of learning and research were trying to get information on the Kthpok. And it seemed all were asking the same questions. It’d take him hours to read and clear these messages. Hours that he didn’t have if he wanted to finish the reports that really were his responsibility. Then he had an inspiration and keyed for Lieutenant Funtel.
After the Iidx in communications acknowledged the Swarm Master said, “general broadcast to those in my comm queue, Lieutenant. Message begins: ‘No unauthorized information can be given out by this Swarm. Only the Hive of Information with the Council of Queens is authorized to release information regarding the Kthpok. Those who wish information regarding the Kthpok should go through proper channels.’ That’s the message. After that broadcast’s been sent do not accept or acknowledge any transmission but those from Swarm Control. Dump any messages already received based on the same criteria.”
A few moments later, after he finished reading and approving another scintillating report, Zelof called up his communications file. He bobbed his head in silent approval. It worked. His file contained just two messages. Those he opened and read.
If the Swarm Master thought his only problem was in receiving unwanted communications he was wrong. Several hours later he was still in his office reviewing reports when Sesum requested entrance. Zelof keyed the door open and watched his Second move into the room.
The Second had just settled onto a saddle on the other side of the Swarm Master’s desk when Zelof spoke. “Sesum, I’m glad you’re here. I was about to call for you.” He indicated his monitor which displayed the report he’d been reading. “I’ve been reviewing the report from our linguists and want your impression on something.”
Sesum waved his antennae in acknowledgement. “How can I help, Swarm Master?” he asked.
“Besides helping our Swarm learn their language it seems the Kthpok’ve been learning ours as well,” Zelof replied.
“And?”
“Isn’t that suspicious?”
The Second leaned forward and asked, “you’re suggesting that it’s suspicious for an alien race to learn our language in our system?” His antennae waved in disagreement. “They’re in our system, sir. It’s only good manners for them to learn our language.
“Look back at our own history. When one Hive discovered another both learned the language of the other if they wanted to live in peace.” He gave a shrug. “The Kthpok seem to be following that process.”
“But that could be their plan,” argued Zelof. “Touch all the right steps to ease our concerns. Then when our levels of alert have been reduced they attack.”
The Second started to say something but stopped, his antennae giving agitated jerks. Zelof noted his subordinate’s reaction and gave an amused bob of his own antennae, “now I’m getting too paranoid, aren’t I?” Sesum bowed his head and the Swarm Master chuckled. “All right. All right. I’ll do better. Now that I’ve been properly chastised, what brings you here?”
“We’re still six or seven days from Main Hive and we’ve got visitors who want to join the escort,” replied Sesum. “Long range scans show there’s more coming.”
“Visitors,” repeated Zelof. “Who are they?”
“Business vessels, passenger liners and private yachts.”
“Oh, Shells!” groaned the Swarm Master, “tourists!”
His Second waved agreement with his antennae. “For now they’ve been keeping their distance, content at taking pictures and moving along with us.”
“I’m sure that’ll change,” said Zelof. “And when it does I want to be ready. Get a message off to Swarm Command. We’ll need more ships to patrol our perimeter and keep those idiots off. The reinforcements will have to be fast and strong enough to enforce quarantine.” He paused as he considered what would be required. Then he nodded and continued. “Destroyers have the speed and armament to enforce the perimeter. We won’t need anything bigger.”
Zelof worked his console and called a picture of the largest Kthpok ship to the room’s main screen. He directed Sesum’s attention to the image. “These Kthpok have developed a technology which allowed them to cross interstellar space. That’s something we presently don’t have.” He glanced over at Sesum. “Can you imagine being able to leave our Hive system and explore new systems?” Zelof shook his head at the idea. “Who knows what else they might have?
“Since they’re going to need our help they’ll want to be nice and cooperative, maybe they’ll even be willing to trade their technology for what we can supply,” he added. “But they won’t give us anything if they feel threatened. So we need to keep the tourists off!”
Sesum bobbed his agreement causing his antennae to wave. “I’ll get the call out to Swarm Command. We should get additional ships within a day or two.”
“Good,” said Zelof. “Until they arrive we need to set up our own patrols. I want the dreadnoughts and battleships to remain in position. Their task is to watch the Kthpok. All the other ships of the Swarm are to maintain quarantine. I don’t want any of the tourists inside the perimeter. If they ignore warnings deadly force is approved.” He thought for a moment then added. “We’d better have communications send a general broadcast to that effect or some idiot’ll try and get blasted.”
Once again the Second bobbed his head. “After the call goes to Swarm Command for the additional ships I’ll have the Section Masters work out the patrol schedule for your approval.”
Zelof waved agreement with his antennae. “On your way then,” he said. As the Second left his saddle to leave the Swarm Master began to key in the codes for the communications suite. “You do that and I’ll get the warning broadcast sent to the tourists,” he said.
For the next several days Zelof had a continuous string of reports on the progress made in learning languages and of ships being turned away from the convoy. Then a day from Main Hive a new message was received from Swarm Command. Moments after taking the message on his Control Console in the Main Room. he contacted Commander Utanic at Navigation. “We’ve been given the destination for the Kthpok on Main Hive, Commander” he announced. “I’ve transferred the coordinates to your station.” The Swarm Master watched at Utanic made a few entries on his own equipment then dipped one antenna to confirm receipt of the data. “I want to know where that is” said Zelof
The navigator worked his equipment for several minutes then sent the requested information to the Swarm Masters console. Zelof activated the file and settled back to watch his screen. First he saw the image of Main Hive as seen from high orbit. The blue, green, and white planet stood out in stark contrast to the darkness of space. Then a bright red dot began blinking near the equator. A closer image showed the outlines of continents and the oceans. The blinking dot was placed in the Rosen Ocean a short distance from the nearest continent, Paccu. Before he could contact Utanic to ask if there was a mistake the image shifted again. The magnification and resolution of the screen increased. This time Zelof saw that the projected landing site for the Kthpok was on a large island.
Pictures of the island followed showing verdant rain forests, wide rivers, lakes and mountains. The Swarm Master sat forward and stared. “That appears to be similar to their home world,” he muttered. “Or at least it’s like what the Kthpok showed us. And it explains why the Queen’s wanted them on Main Hive. New Hive was probably too cold.” Although he was impressed by the Councils efforts to accommodate the Kthpok his unease remained.
In anticipation of what Zelof would want to know statistics began to appear. The Swarm Master glanced over at the navigation officer pleased that his officers were as intelligent as advertised and acted on their own initiative. Then he turned back to his console and began to read. A moment later his head bobbed in approval. At least the Council had selected a remote, less populated site for the Kthpok to use.
Zelof signaled for Sesum to come over as he continued to read. “The Queen’s have selected a location for the Kthpok to rest and make repairs,” the Swarm Master announced when the Second arrived. “It’s on Tarren.” When the Second drooped his antennas in question Zelof continued. “That’s an island about one fourth the size of Paccu in the Rosen Ocean a short distance off the east coast of that continent.”
“That still doesn’t help me,” said Sesum waving his antennae in amusement. “But I’m sure the Council has provided coordinates?”
“They have. Besides being isolated, there are very few inhabitants.” Zelof smiled. “The island’s been a preserve where biologists could study the environment. It also contains one of the remaining original hives. But no one lives in it now. It’s so isolated from general society that there’s no tourists.”
“Is this hive maintained?” the Second asked.
The Swarm Master nodded. “Only as a relic of a primitive past. There’s a caretaker crew, airport, and support facilities and that’s it. But the airport won’t support space vessels. A space port’ll have to be constructed.”
“And that’s where the Kthpok are going?” Once again Zelof nodded. “At least our tax funds for that area will finally be useful,” said Sesum.
The Swarm Master gave an amused bob from his antennae then said, “Have our linguists prepare a message for the Kthpok in their language. We need to tell them where to land and make sure they get it. I want an acknowledgement they understand where they’re to go.”
Sesum bobbed his understanding once again. “It wouldn’t do to have the Kthpok try to land on the Queen’s residence front lawn.”
“They’d get blown into very little pieces of dust very fast if they did,” agreed Zelof.
The Kthpok Run Point sat on his perch in the Center Room of his flagship and stared at the image of a planet on the screen. His posture still had a slight droop. A leftover from the intense period of stress from the first contact with the Iidx. There’d been a couple of days where he hadn’t slept, wondering if the Iidx would blast his fleet into flaming gas. Then the word came in that they’d be escorted to the Iidx home world by the intercepting force. After that was the movement by the Iidx ships. He’d recognized that movement could’ve been a pretense to get better lines of fire.
With all the excitement going on he began to experience difficulties breathing. Noting the Run Point’s discomfort Admiral P’Mar had summoned a medical Pack to the Center Room. After their examination the medical people had told him that the amount of adrenaline coursing through his body could burst his heart if it wasn’t brought down soon. He was inclined to dismiss their insistence at reducing his stress at first. After all, he hadn’t experienced any problems during the humans War of Betrayal. When he pointed that out to a doctor the Kthpok reminded him that the situations were different. Then the Run Point was on a Colony Ship out of the line of fire. Now, he was potentially a target for a nuclear missile with no way out. Nor was he a soldier who’d been trained and conditioned to survive elevated levels of adrenaline for extended periods. There was no arguing with that logic. Once the Iidx maneuver was over and they’d begun the journey towards the inner planets he’d retired to his nest, taken a prescribed sedative and slept for twenty-four straight hours.
Now, his people were in orbit between the Iidx home planet and its two moons. As he looked at the blue, green and white beauty shown on the screen it reminded him of the planet his people had lost to the humans so long ago and so far away. A moment later an attention tone sounded, breaking into S’Cinf’s thoughts. Then his monitor flashed to show Fleet Admiral P’Mar.
“Have the Iidx been notified of our intentions?” S’Cinf asked without waiting for the flattering preamble.
The admiral bobbed his head in reply. “They have, your Eminence, and, in return, the bugs have offered assistance in all phases of construction. I thanked them for their offer and declined. I told them the heavy load on our small work force would help the Kthpok people forget, for a short time, the treachery of the humans and the loss of our home.”
“Very good,” said the Run Point, his tail twitching in approval. “We’ve confirmed that we have our target? We don’t want to land in the wrong place.”
Once again the Admiral bobbed his head. “It has been confirmed, your Eminence. There’s a homing beacon in place to guide us in.”
“Very well. Since the Iidx are aware of our plans and we have our target send the signal to launch the first wave.” S’Cinf glared down at the monitor. “Make sure our people remember that our ‘hosts’ are watching everything they do. There can’t be any mistakes!”
The Fleet Admiral bobbed his head in acknowledgement then disappeared from the screen and the monitor blanked. S’Cinf turned to watch the Battle Plot. A moment later the icons of several destroyers and two cruisers left their positions near the various capital ships they’d been protecting formed into a single pack and moved into geosynchronous orbit over their target. Moments later new icons appeared from the cruiser and rushed out to head for the planet.
“Talon Force is entering the atmosphere,” called out R’Gon, the Battle Officer, from his station and S’Cinf shifted to a more comfortable position on his perch. As he pondered the plans which had been put in motion, he gave a hunter’s grin, showing his sharp teeth. It’d begun!
The Orbital Assault Craft of Talon Force swept deeper into the planet's atmosphere, heading for their destination from over the ocean. A fiery reddish-orange glow surrounded the craft as their ceramic shields heated from the friction of deceleration from orbital speeds. They circled around to sweep in from the open ocean to take advantage of the sun just rising behind them. The ships even dropped to within several meters of the water to make themselves more difficult targets. The force of their passage kicked up tails of spray and left foam to mark their passage.
Moments later the Kthpok OAC’s closed on the target island, swept over the beach of their target. Sand was thrown into the air and branches thrashed from the force of their passage. Flying creatures with multiple transparent wings, hard shells and many limbs appeared out of the trees and scattered from the sonic boom that marked the shuttles passage.
Increasing their altitude Talon Force circled a large mountain range on the eastern side of the island to confirm the location of the target then headed for the island’s interior. An instant later they neared a valley containing a lake fed by a large river. This area had been selected to be the site of the Kthpok base on Main Hive because it was fairly level and had a fresh water supply.
The OAC’s moved into a line to sweep across the target valley and a line of small objects tumbled from the open bay doors in the underbellies of the craft. An expanding, roiling cloud of flame and smoke engulfed the dense jungle that covered the valley floor when the objects reached the surface.
Although the explosion was huge it couldn’t be seen from orbit unless magnified. But a signal from the commander of Talon Force brought more ships toward the planet from orbit. This time the two cruisers accompanied the OAC’s while the destroyers remained in orbit to provide cover. As the new force neared the island Talon circled for another run. More bombs sent another huge fireball skyward.
The second fireball was dissipating when the next force arrived. This time there was no hesitation. Several of the assault shuttles broke formation to join Talon. Now reinforced, Talon continued to circle the target area looking for any sign of resistance. The rest of the OAC’s dropped towards the seared and smoldering surface. All vegetation had been obliterated in a rough circle of almost ten miles. Any creatures, which had inhabited the jungle in the target area, had been incinerated along with the vegetation.
Shuttles landed to form a rough circular perimeter on the outer edges of the rough blackened landscape. Hatches opened in the grounded ships and Kthpok dressed in protective armor and armed with pulser rifles rushed out. They moved in a pre-determined pattern to take up defensive positions watching the jungle.
The ground forces were still taking up their positions when the two cruisers landed. The weight of the ships drove their landing struts a meter into the ground. Once again hatches opened and more armored, armed Kthpok emerged. They ran out to join the Kthpok already on station. Several large weapons were driven out of their bays and set up in strategic locations.
After the perimeter was confirmed secure more Kthpok left the cruisers. Instead of heading out to join the Kthpok guarding the perimeter the new pack moved off to one side and waited for their equipment to be brought out. More vehicles carrying several heavy crates appeared and rolled down the ramp. The equipment and Kthpok had been transferred to the cruisers from the Colony ships while in orbit. For this particular operation S’Cinf wasn’t going to risk a Colony Ship.
With their delivery made and the blast areas confirmed clear ramps were raised and the launch drives on both cruisers fired. The two ships lifted off in clouds of ash and dust to move for orbit. If the forces on the ground and in the air were threatened beyond their capability to defend the admiral was confident he had sufficient strength in orbit to provide cover.
As the cruisers were launching the engineers opened the crates they’d brought with them and began to assemble control modules. At a command from Major T’Von, who commanded the ground forces, a pack of Kthpok with tanks on their backs and wielding sprayers moved forward into the area designated to become the space port. They used a spray to settle any ash that was suspended in the air from the bombing, landing and launching.
After it’d been confirmed that the particulates in the air had been dealt with the rest of the engineers spread over the interior of the target area with survey equipment. Care was taken to avoid putting more dust into the air. Handheld computers were consulted as mirrors and lasers were positioned.
An hour after the two cruisers had left for orbit four square miles within the perimeter had been marked off with lasers and mirrors. All the equipment from the crates had been unpacked and set up. T’Von went off to check defensive positions along the perimeter leaving P’Stem, the chief engineer, to oversee the rest of the operation.
P’Stem made a visual check to make sure his Kthpok were clear of the area. Sergeant T’Vok, who operated of the Laser Command Module, confirmed all mirrors were positioned properly. At the chief engineers command lasers were activated sending out beams of intense light. Rock and ash above a certain height were seared into slag or incinerated as the coherent light lanced forward. Mirrors bounced the beams into an intricate web until the entire area was covered in a blanket of blinding white light. After their equipment confirmed the lasers had reached all mirrors for five minutes another command was given and the beams of light were cut off. What was once a cratered, rough terrain was now a large relatively flat area of blackened, seared slag.
By this time just under three hour’s had passed since Talon Force had entered the atmosphere of Main Hive. At the four-hour mark the OAC’s circling overhead blasted for orbit to be replaced by a new force whose packs were fresh and alert. On the surface, Major T’Von also rotated out those who’d been on guard duty and given time to rest. Others took up the task of defending perimeter. These measures were necessary to maintain the proper level of security while the area slated to become a space port cooled.
An hour after the lasers had cut off packs of engineers moved up to the slag again, instruments checking the terrain. A moment later P’Stem spoke into his throat speaker. “It’s cool enough,” he announced to his engineers. “You know the intervals, let’s get the equipment set. And if this doesn’t work the Run Point’ll have our tails on his wall.”
Under the watchful eyes of the circling ships and guarded by the ground packs engineers spread over the still warm mass in pairs. One would consult a handheld device and give directions to the other who would place a device on the surface.
This step took another couple of hours to complete. When all the devices had been placed and the engineers clear of the area P’Stem nodded to T’Vok. Weak infrared lasers speared out through the grid and several went off target. The sergeant directed three teams of the engineers to reposition several of the devices. As they made the adjustments the Chief Engineer kept an eye on his equipment to make sure the devices were positioned just right.
When he was satisfied the devices were in position P’Stem called his pack together one last time before the next phase began. Dusk was starting to fall bringing a red glow to the western sky. “Pick up your weapons,” he ordered and watched as each Kthpok went to another crate, were handed a pulser rifle and confirmed its power levels. Although they were engineers they understood that since leaving their home system they’d become soldiers protecting the last of the Kthpok people. There was no such thing as a civilian anymore. When he was certain they were ready he continued. “Take your positions on the perimeter. You’ll be reinforcing units already in position. If this site is attacked I don’t want the enemy coming through us.” At the bob of his head the Kthpok shouldered their packs, held their weapons ready and scampered out to the perimeter.
As his Pack left for their new positions the Chief Engineer activated his communications. “This is engineering,” he called on a frequency heard by everyone on the project. It was also transmitted to the Center Room of the Raging where Run Point S’Cinf was listening. “Final conversion is ready, place your glasses. Activation in ten.” He shut off the transmitter and pulled on dark glasses. Then he pushed a button on a timer, grabbed his own pulser rifle and raced for the perimeter. His neck and tail were stretched out full length as he ran for cover at full speed. P’Stem leapt over a slight rise and dropped into a depression where others of his pack waited.
Just as he was peering over the lip of his defensive position at the wilted and scorched jungle beyond a flash illuminated the vegetation in front, driving away the growing shadows of oncoming night. P’Stem felt an intense heat on his back but forced down the impulse to turn and look.
The button the Chief Engineer had pushed started a countdown. At zero all the devices the engineers had carefully placed emitted an intense heat directed into the ground. It was so hot that the soil and everything in it was fused into a solid black mass to a depth of five meters. That created a single landing slab which was more than adequate to support the combined mass of all three Colony ships.
P’Stem continued to watch the jungle as the shadows erased by the surface flare returned. Then he grinned. It was unfortunate that their position wasn’t being attacked when the devices were activated. The flash would’ve blinded any enemy and the Kthpok would have cut their attackers to shreds of quivering meat. In fact, he wished he could have used tactics like that on the humans. It would have been even better if humans were in the actual target area when the devices were activated.
He gave a resigned twitch of his tail and took off the glasses. “Oh well,” he muttered, “one can’t have everything.” Now all they had to do was wait through the night for the just melted landing strip to cool. Then their ships would land and they could begin construction.