Attunga - 36. Part 36.

ATTUNGA Part 36.

***

The trio stared, transfixed with disbelief, shock, and horror, while Pirramar bade them do what they could and directed both Thom and Wirrin to some technical information he was sending. When the holo flicked off, Wirrin, his mind awhirl, sat for a moment till a soft sound twisted his attention. The G force switched to normal and two bodies leapt from their seats and rushed to enfold Calen with powerful hugs.

“I don't understand. How can they want to hurt people?”

This question had arisen with every encounter against K74, and the trio, in their bafflement at such an alien outlook, often discussed it with each other, trying various explanations and theories.

“Think about it later. Right now we can help to stop it and you know we're good at that. Remember, Sonic will be waiting for us when it's over.”

Wirrin sensed the tension ebb as Calen turned, and with the slightest smile, respond to Thom's typical and practical attempt to ease through the moment.

“I know. I'm all right. Get back to your controls and I'll watch what Wirrin's doing.”

Wirrin's hug was returned and the trio watched each other with a special feeling of closeness before moving back to their preparations.

“Are we all ready? I'm switching the extra G back in for another twenty minutes and then we'll have half an hour at normal before match-up. Calen, I'm sending two simulations to your console. The first one is straightforward practice with ship controls you've already learnt and the second one's to link that with multi-visuals.”

“Multi-visuals?”

“It just means keeping an eye on more than one display. We'll need a separate screen for each Cadre ship.”

“Seven at once? Don't you do this automatically with the ship's electronics?”

“Not when we release those jamming devices. All the high-level stuff will get damaged if I don't turn it off and it's right when we apply that maximum G, so I might be too busy, or not even functioning.”

Wirrin watched Calen think that through.

“So this is why we had the experiment with the eleven seconds of high G? I thought all I'd have to do was something basic, but this means controlling the ship at a really critical moment.”

“You might be, but I'll have a range of pre-sets organised for you and it won't be as hard as it sounds. You're already good with the visuals and when you complete these sims you'll know exactly what to do.”

***

“A major development Thom. The AIs on the Companion Comets for Quambi have taken over the two Cadre ships controlling one of the asteroids and completely disabled them. That asteroid is now rendered harmless and the Companions are about to depart in pursuit of another.

In nineteen and a half minutes the first Comet from Warrakan will match velocity with the leading asteroid and endeavour to neutralise it. Minutes after that all our Comets will be in contention.”

Pirramar finished, rather abruptly, and Wirrin and Calen couldn't help smiling at Thom's satisfied grunt.

“Five minutes to grav-normal and thirty-five minutes to match-up. Eliminating that asteroid is great news as it shows that the mobile AIs will be able to stop the others.”

It did sound good and Wirrin wondered how long it would take for the two Companion Comets to reach another asteroid. It wouldn't be long because their acceleration was way superior. Yes, really good, because when the other Comets with AIs arrived there'd be a total of five ships disabling the Cadre aggressors.

***

What a relief! Wirrin felt his confidence lift with the abrupt easing of the heavy hand of thrust. The grav-compensators were now able to cope and maintain the cabin at normal Earth gravity. No more straining to do the simplest thing. It was time to initiate and oversee his special tasks for the pico-factory.

The holo alerts flashed red and Wirrin instantly put his pico-factory monitoring on hold. Why the alerts? Pirramar had been appearing without them quite routinely for hours. Something must be wrong.

“Wirrin, be prepared for an attack on your electronics when the Cadre ships become aware of your presence. I'm transmitting a protective package which should be sufficient but you'll need to integrate it with your ship's security systems.

The situation here is in full crisis with the negation of our ability to control Cadre ships.”

Wirrin felt his chest tighten.

“The Quambi companions approached a second asteroid and were hit with an unprecedented level of powerful and complex Priority Trap signals which, while not damaging, required the activation of their quarantine zones and resulted in the loss of their ability to seize the Cadre ships.”

Wirrin briefly wondered why. It must be something to do with the extra time required to work through the quarantine interface.

“An attempt to stealth in and disable the Cadre drives was blocked by the presence of a large number of K74 surveillance drones and proximity mines as well as the continuous detonation of small nuclear devices in the asteroid's wake.The Companion Comets are moving to initiate an alternate strategy which will require the concerted effort of every available Comet. Our available time has now shrunk to critical levels.

Thom, a logistical overview of what is happening is now resident in your InfoSystems and in the remaining twenty-seven minutes before your engagement you will need to consider the effects of reduced stealth ability and deadly atomics on any actions you take.”

Pirramar's serious demeanour shifted to a smile.

“We have a special transmission for you from the Comet.”

The holo shimmered and transformed to the dolphin pool on the main deck of the Comet where Sonic, positioned at his InfoSystem, was looking directly at them.

'Our greatest adventure yet brothers. We will thwart the power games of the Cadre and tomorrow we will dive together in our favorite sea caves.'

A trill of sound burst forth, sending Wirrin's nerves quivering, the hairs of his scalp tingling, and then died as the holo cut off.

"What was that? He gave me goosebumps."

Calen shook his head wonderingly.

"I'm not exactly sure. I picked up danger, excitement, urgency, and a sense that he wanted us there with him. The only time I've heard him make a sound anything like that was against the tiger shark at Monkey Mia."

"You heard all that? I mostly thought he was encouraging us. Calen, you need to concentrate on the simulations."

"... And you need to center yourself before the match-up. Turn your brain off for the next fifteen minutes."

Wirrin caught the amused nod of assent as Thom deliberately settled carefully in his command chair and closed his eyes. A few seconds of contact with Sonic had done wonders for them all.

Well, time to focus on the pico-factory. The next fifteen minutes while Thom was quiet would probably be the last opportunity to concentrate without interruption.

***

"Your stats with the multi-visuals are looking great, Calen. I knew you'd pick it up quickly. The next round will be for real.

Wirrin, Pirramar's last info has been worrying me. How much raw material do we have left for the pico-factory?"

"Hardly any. I've kept a small amount for emergencies and there's nothing left we can safely cannibalise."

"Use it. I want you to design a remote collector to harvest material from the asteroid. If you can manage that we'll try and stock up enough material to build an extra engine disabler in case we lose our stealth. Can you finish that in the next ten minutes?"

"Um! I'll try."

Wirrin turned to his InfoSystem with ideas already rushing through his mind. An external collector would need stealth but that was no problem. It just meant incorporating the specifications from the engine disabler which, with its chameleon function, was almost as advanced as the ship itself. It would need a decent size cargo space too. Not good. The limited resources would be too big a constraint.

... Unless?...

Very pleased with himself Wirrin hummed with immediate satisfaction and focused on his InfoSystem.

***

"It's done! The pico-factory will have the modifications implemented in another eight minutes."

That was three minutes over Thom's time request but there was nothing to be done about that.

"Modifications? The tech-bot can't go into space. I thought you'd have to design something completely new."

"I used the engine disabler unit instead. It's already got stealth and a drive so I replaced the disabler section with a collector module. That meant I could use nearly sixty percent of the emergency resource materials to attach external cargo containers instead of only twenty-five percent. It means nearly three times as much cargo capability and when the unit returns it'll only take a moment to disconnect the containers and swap the disabler module back in."

"External? That will spoil the stealth."

"No it won't. I linked the containers with the unit's chameleon function. The stealth won't change."

"Dingoes Wirrin! You're a genius. Will that mean enough material to build a second disabler or will we need more scrounging trips?"

"Plenty, and some left over for surprises as well as keeping our five percent emergency level. The process from launch to return will take at least nine minutes though, so I don't think there'll be time for any other trips."

Thom frowned.

"This is going to hold us up. If our stealth's going to be compromised we need to get the extra disabler launched before they know about us."

He thought for a moment.

"We'll stealth to the leading face of the asteroid and get the remote collector launched as soon as it's ready. It means a hold-up of almost twenty minutes but if it counts out two Cadre ships it definitely will be worth the delay."

Wirrin checked. Two minutes till match-up.

***

"When will I see them on the visuals?

"Another thirty or forty seconds. We're making a side approach and then hugging the leading face of the asteroid till the collector returns. Having all that mass between us will increase our stealth factor while we wait. They won't have a clue we're there."

"I've got the asteroid!"

Wirrin couldn't help looking at the big display. Yes, there was a tiny blob. Calen had done well to pick it up so soon. Wombats! It was increasing in size while you watched, much more rapidly than on the stealth exercise to K74. It must be all the training and experience Thom had had in the meantime.

"And there's the convoy! ...I'm enhancing them."

Three slightly indistinct images sharpened over the next few seconds and with a jarring of his mind Wirrin felt the last vestiges of unreality dissolve.

Three monster ships for their tiny vessel to face. Where were the other four? The big display swung to the asteroid. Calen was wondering the same thing. There was no sign of them though and from the now rapidly changing aspect as they closed on the leading face it was evident they were well and truly hidden from view. The view broadened and one after the other the convoy ships were blocked from sight as well.

The surface of the asteroid approached, so close Wirrin was on the edge of shock, then steadied as Thom locked them in a stable position.

"Countdown for the collector completion please."

Wirrin had it ready.

"Three minutes and five seconds. My InfoSystem will activate the launch the instant the pico-factory finishes."

"Wirrin, I'm too busy to monitor our Habitat transmissions. Check to see if there's anything I should be aware of, and Calen, there's tension time for a while so I want you to make use of it with one more run through on the sims."

The InfoSystem changed its immediate focus and Wirrin rapidly scanned the headings of all the automatic transmissions since Pirramar had last left.

There was a vast amount of technical information, a report about the ongoing Witness meeting and its dissemination of information and warnings throughout the habitats, Quambi's actions, an upgraded protection package for the ship's electronics from Pirramar which needed integrating... Done... And a report from the Comet with news that Thom would want to know. How to do this? Thom was concentrating ferociously on his console and calling out might be too distracting. Better to post it on his display with an attention signal he could attend to when he was ready.

Nine Comets combined in a multi-spectrum beam attack to disintegrate a second asteroid and disable the attendant Cadre ships. Now approaching the third.

After posting the message Wirrin watched a few seconds for any reaction from Thom, but forgot that when his own console signalled that the remote collector was launching.

***

"Engine disabler unit one launched!

Engine disabler unit two launched!

Wirrin and Calen, thirty-seven seconds till disabler activation and the commencement of our own strategy. Engage your emergency harness and be ready for the hammer blow."

Thom had taken them through the strategy twice and questioned them to make sure they properly understood their roles.

For two seconds the Multi-Spectrum beam would focus at maximum power on the five Cadre drive engines and then their ship would go into full evasion mode at the highest possible thrust. At the same time the first deployed jamming device would activate, and depending on their proximity, confuse any missiles to varying degrees. Four more jammers would be released and activated at intervals calculated by Thom to give the greatest effect while the ship strained to build speed and distance.

"Multi-Spectrum capacitors holding at maximum.

Firing in

Four

Three

Two

One

Zero"

Intensity filters dimmed the display to a comfortable viewing level and Wirrin watched the coruscating beam flicker between five targets in the two seconds it had available.

Wham! His senses reeled as the ship reached the newly programmed limit of 25.6 G. Practically helpless and clinging to consciousness, an indeterminate time passed before the wondrous return of normal gravity allowed full awareness to release a surge of elation. They were through and safe. Wirrin could check with his InfoSystem for information but instead he looked to Thom. It felt like the right thing. Thom was busy with his console for ages, thirteen seconds Wirrin found out later, but then he grinned and made a victory gesture.

"One down and six to go. Well done Calen. You picked the best option for outrunning that concentration of missiles. We would have been okay anyway because their response was so slow, but you did it perfectly. Bring up the ship we targeted on the visuals."

A smiling Calen expanded the section of screen which had been dedicated to that particular ship.

"I can't see any damage?"

"You don't have to. Look where it is relative to the asteroid."

The view expanded enough to include the asteroid and then once again a few seconds later to accommodate the rapidly increasing amount of separation.

"It's engines are dead, Calen. It's coasting and they won't be able to fix them without help."

Wirrin jolted with shock as red lights flashed on every console and display.

"What's wrong? Did we get damaged?"

Thom touched a control and the lights stopped.

"Nothing's wrong at all. Hang on, I'll set in our new course now that we are back on full stealth and we'll have five minutes to talk and plan. .. There... They've responded the same way they did against the Comets. Look at this."

Thom took over the display to show a constant stream of red flashes appearing in the wake of the asteroid.

"These are small nuclear devices and they're detonating them at a rate of. ...thirty-seven per second. Now look at this."

New lights, purplish ones this time, appeared in huge numbers, fanning from the two red circles which signified the convoy ships.

"These are surveillance drones which they hope will pick us up if we close in again. They're not dangerous and we know how to sneak past them."

Wirrin's InfoSystem suddenly screamed for attention and it was Thom's turn to wait.

"They've just started transmitting the most complicated electronic signals I know of from a Cadre ship. ...It's full of Priority Traps and useless disruptions against our systems. It must be the same as the signals keeping the mobile AIs behind their quarantine screens."

Wirrin wanted to work on the signals but that would have to wait.

Thom suddenly laughed.

"They think we're one of the dreaded Comet ships which can mysteriously take over their controls. What's the story with the Comets? How did they disable that asteroid?"

"It's three of them now and they weren't just disabled. The Comets disintegrate through them with their Multi-Spectrum beams. They can't come at the Cadre ships from behind because of the tactics so they move to the leading face and dissolve all the way through from there."

"The whole nine of them onto one? How long does it take? Wait. We've got something happening."

He did something with his controls and a huge grin appeared.

"You're a wonder Wirrin. The asteroid's acceleration just dropped from 3.4G to 3.06G. The disabler units have just disabled their first engine each. They're working perfectly."

Wirrin hoped they were. There was no way of knowing except through their results, as they were completely independent with no feedback to the ship.

"Our Comets take close to eight minutes to burn through before they can beam the externals of the Cadre ships."

He did a quick data check about the Comets.

"The Comets have just finished with another asteroid. Their times are improving slightly and it's now just under eight minutes for each."

Eight! Wirrin that's not good. The countdown's now at thirty-two minutes and they won't be able to stop them all at that rate."

Wirrin started to think about that but they were approaching the asteroid again and Thom went into command mode.

"Are you prepared Calen? This time will be a real test because they'll be on full alert and their response will be quicker and more overwhelming. I made a bad mistake before by not letting you experience what the sudden change to high G would feel like. This time we won't get away in the same 7.9 seconds because I expect all six ships will be involved in retaliation. Wirrin, are the jamming devices all cued and ready?"

He knew they were. Wirrin understood he was being kept involved.

"Here we go with the tricky bit. The pattern they're using to release their mini nuclear devices is leaving a narrow band of safety near the asteroid surface and my calculations show I should be able to use it to get close to one of the connected ships. The two convoys are inaccessible at the moment and we'll need a different tactic to get at them."

Wirrin could hardly believe the approach Thom made with his ship. The surface of the asteroid rushed past at a frightening velocity and so close he found himself holding his breath in case of a collision. His InfoSystem informed him later that Thom had kept them in a clearance range between two meters and 4.5 meters. Did their evasion burst at extreme G have to follow the same course in reverse? Surely it wouldn't be possible.

He didn't have time to wonder.

"Multi-Spectrum capacitors at maximum.

Firing in

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

Zero"

Once again the Spectrum beam flashed, focusing it's destructive power for less than half a second on each of the five engines in turn and rendering them useless.

Once again Wirrin memory zapped the rapid action of the two seconds before the hammer struck.

The evasion burst this time was frightening. After the first few moments the ship began lurching and twisting like a living creature trying in terror to escape a predatory grip. The violent forces continued, and continued, till Wirrin, on the verge of certainty that they weren't going to make it, blacked out.

... And opened his eyes to wonderful calm. Calen was out of his seat and racing. Fear leapt as Wirrin took in Thom's blank expression, lolling head and lack of motion.

"Thom! Thom!"

Calen's voice rang and Wirrin, shocked and frantic, released his own emergency harness and tried to stand. His head swam but with a stumbling run he made it to Thom's side. Calen had one hand pressed against a throat artery.

"He's breathing and his hearts beating. He's all right. It's just taking him longer to snap out."

"We'd better take him to the med-facility."

Wirrin started on the harness release then paused to watch Calen snap a finger against Thom's forehead. His eyes blinked open, his head jerked upright and he stared at them.

"What? What?"

"You Dingo Brain! You flaked out."

For a moment Thom's eyes darted between Wirrin and Calen but then his attention went to his console as priorities took over.

"Calen you totally saved us."

It was over a minute later and the ship was on a new trajectory back towards the asteroid with its stealth at full capacity.

"I don't know how. I nearly lost it myself. The high G never seemed to end."

Thom nodded with a quietness which Wirrin didn't like.

"That's because it lasted 13.4 seconds, five and a half seconds longer than the first time. I don't know how you stayed conscious and I don't understand how we're still here. We won't survive another retreat like that."

"Yes we will. We have to."

At Calen's comment Thom shook his head with a look which frightened both his friends.

"What's wrong Thom?"

"We can't do that again. We'll die and the asteroid will still be under their control and it will be my fault."

"You'll think of something else."

"There's no way past all those atomics and missiles no matter what I do."

Thom was now speaking as if to himself, and Wirrin, sensing his despair and withdrawal, shouted at him.

"THOM!! "

It worked because, to Wirrin's relief, Thom twitched and stared in surprise.

"Thom, we won't do it the same way again. You'll figure out something else. We know you will. Steady down."

"You shouted."

Wirrin wanted to grab him in a big hug. He was back. No hug though. It might not help at the moment.

"I thought your ears might have been affected by the high-grav. Anyhow, we made it and another ship is out of action, ...and ... and look at this number."

Wirrin zoomed a section of display he'd noticed while Thom was concentrating on his console. It showed the asteroid acceleration down to 2.17 G, a big drop from the previous 2.6.

"That's strange. It should be slightly higher."

Yes, the calculating look after Calen's statement said Thom was in control again.

"No it shouldn't. That ship is still connected without any engines and the others have to push its mass along as well. They'll disconnect before very long."

***

An attention signal took Thom's attention and by the satisfied smile he was displaying he was well and truly recovered.

"The disablers just finished their second engine each and the asteroid acceleration dropped again. Building that second one was definitely worth the extra time. Wirrin, two ships are wondering what hit them. ...How do you rate their chances of finding the disablers?"

"I don't. They'd have to go external for a visual sighting, and the chameleon function's so good they wouldn't see anything anyway. ...Thom, have you had any ideas about how we can make it through?"

"You mean me don't you? Well, you can stop worrying and my bios are all good. Look for yourself."

Wirrin and Calen both checked and exchanged a look as Thom indicated the relevant section on his display. This would have been the sensible place to look when they first rushed to Thom's side.

"We are changing tactics though. We're targeting a convoy ship instead of the last impeller, and we'll use your decoy plan to give us a chance at getting past those mini nukes."

Wirrin didn't understand.

"The decoy won't do that. The explosions make a constant barrier."

"No they don't. I've analysed both times our ship came out of stealth and discovered that every unexploded mini nuke changed direction to chase us. They'll do the same again, and while the decoy keeps working there'll be a clear path."

"What if they don't?"

"We'll know in time to back off."

Calen looked as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You mean atomics were chasing us as well as missiles?"

"It sounds bad but it's not. The missiles are the real worry. Wirrin, can you provide the decoy with any extra jamming devices? I'm going to send it closer than we originally planned and every extra second it can last will help us."

"... Two extras, but we'll have to use the last of our emergency resources for the pico-factory to make them because that last escape used more than we planned for. ...How long have I got?"

Another attention light flashed before Thom could answer and the trio watched a Cadre ship dwindle in size as it fell behind the onrushing asteroid.

"You were right! We can forget about that one. Um... Can you manage three minutes? We're running out of time."

Wirrin managed easily. The instructions only took moments. The pico-factory did the rest, and in just under the three minutes Thom started a new count down.

"Twenty-three minutes till the asteroid reaches the habitats.

Engage your emergency harnesses and prepare yourselves.

...Decoy deployed."

There was a wait while the ship manoeuvred well away from the decoy to Thom's planned position of approach.

"Decoy activation in

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

Zero!

This decoy had been Wirrin's idea and to make it real had been one of the biggest mental challenges he'd faced yet, particularly because of the time restraints, but also because he'd had to work with technical areas he didn't know much about. The final outcome was an independently moving device which would register on the Cadre scanners as Thom's ship. Wirrin was particularly pleased with his accomplishment because when he'd used his InfoSystem to link a simulation to their own ship's controls it had taken Thom sixteen seconds to penetrate the false reality being presented. Thom, originally keen but dubious, had changed to being eager and totally impressed.

In full zap mode Wirrin watched the little ship flicker into existence, emitting the same signals Thom's ship did when it left stealth, and the same light speed signal which would register with the Cadre ships as a target lock. The reaction was almost immediate, but not quite, and as if realising the need to escape, the decoy darted away at its full 4.2 G capability and released its first jamming device. 4.2 G was nothing, but Thom had calculated it would add an extra second or more before the inevitable destruction.

For 9.4 seconds the alternate ship drew the full wrath of five Cadre ships, with every missile and mini nuclear device dedicated in a desperate attempt to prevent a repeat of the two previous disablements.

At 9.4 seconds the alternate ship disappeared in a continuing flash of light and destruction as the first missile, followed by hundreds more, locked on and exploded.

At 7.1 seconds however, the last jammer from the decoy finished transmitting and Thom, sliding into position along a course suddenly clear of nuclear danger, was ready with full capability and full beam capacitor charge. His beam flashed for its two second darting dance of destruction then, again, the hammer of high gravity descended. One jolting lurch, another, and they were free.

"Is that it?"

Thom didn't answer. His console was too important at the moment, but the smile plastered over his face stayed in place. Wirrin did some checking of his own. Yes, at 6.3 seconds it had definitely been a better escape this time, and there, automatically tracked on its allocated display screen, was the diminishing image of another disabled Cadre ship.

"Wirrin, I'm going to make sure Akama shows that decoy on the InterWeb of every Habitat so they know what you did."

"And Sonic will tell all the dolphins that you're the cleverest hunter they'll ever meet."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed at the high praise, but also good about it, Wirrin went to change the conversation but didn't have to when a blue attention light on Thom's console did for him.

"Whooee! The asteroid acceleration just dropped to 1.53G. That's three engines each for the disablers now and all being well we'll have two more Cadre ships completely out of action in another eleven minutes."

Thom paused, concentrated for a moment, then looked at Wirrin.

"I've rethought our plans again. We're holding off our next attack till after the disablers are finished. We'll be safer that way."

Wirrin, quite startled, checked the countdown.

"Can we take the chance? We'd be down to less than nine minutes with two Cadre ships still to disable."

Thom shook his head.

"It's not taking a chance. It's our best strategy. They need at least two fully functional ships to keep that asteroid manoeuvrable, so we only have to get one of them, and there'll be an opportunity soon after the disablers finish."

Wirrin and Calen watched Thom intently. The increased confidence of his tone meant he had something interesting in mind.

"When that happens the last convoy ship will connect. It will have to or their whole mission is aborted, and that connecting will take careful manoeuvring in very limited time."

"Nine minutes? Isn't that plenty of time? You'd do it in less than a minute."

"With this ship, yes, but that monster is seven hundred meters long with massive momentum to control. I flew them after the Freedom hijack, remember, and I'm estimating they'll need something like four or five minutes. They're going to be desperate when the other two ships lose all their engines and that's when we'll make our move."

"But look at all those atomics they're releasing. We'll never get past them without another decoy."

"Yes we will. Only one ship will be releasing them and it will have to modify its pattern while the convoy ship makes its approach. That's the opportunity I'm counting on."

"One? There are four of them."

"The two with their engines wrecked will disconnect and we can forget about them. The convoy ship will stop too, at least for the trickiest part of connecting, and that's our moment."

"What if the two ships don't disconnect? It makes more sense for them to keep protecting the convoy ship till it's in place."

Calen persisted and Wirrin agreed with his logic.

Thom shook his head.

"They won't. They know our habitats are moving by now and their tracking will have told them they must keep the asteroid at a bit over a full G. They'll drop way below that if they keep the mass of two non-functional ships added to the load. ...They'll disconnect."

Wirrin wasn't so sure, but waiting for an opportunity that improved their chances couldn't be argued against. And anyway, if the break Thom was hoping for didn't happen, there would still...

Red lights flashed, but after a glance Thom switched them off.

"Weird! I don't know what that means. They turned their jamming equipment on. It's pointless because it stops them tracking the habitats. They'll have to turn it off."

"They're panicking."

"Not with the training they get. Wirrin, are transmissions still getting through from Pirramar?"

Wirrin scanned with his InfoSystem.

"... Yes, without a break... The Comets are still disintegrating the sixth asteroid... The Habitats drives are all working at full power... All the K74 asteroids are directed at Attunga, and this one is targeting Warrakan. ...The Habitat pico-factories are pouring out mobile Spectrum Beam units."

Wirrin stopped speaking to check an incoming transmission with a priority tag on it.

"Thom, Pirramar says there's a possibility that if they lose control of the asteroid then the remaining Cadre ships might commit to a suicide attempt."

There was silence as the trio took this in.

"This is Bad!

It means we'll have to disable every single remaining engine. There's no choice. I'm still going to wait for the disablers to finish though because we have to survive the next attack to even have a chance at the last ship."

"Warrakan's hull has had the strength upgrade. Won't that be enough to stop Cadre ships?"

"Not at this speed, Calen. There's just too much kinetic energy involved.

...How long before the next two engines are disabled?"

"...Well, just over a minute if they work at the same rate they have so far. Thom, if we tricked the convoy ship into chasing after us that would make it easier to get at wouldn't it?"

"It would but it's unlikely they'll break position at this stage."

"I could design a set of signals that make it look like we've been damaged. That might lure them."

"Um! ...You'd have to be fast. Like in the next four or five minutes."

Wirrin did it in two. He'd developed a database of ship signals and how to modify them when he was designing the decoy.

"Their scanners will pick up a faulty engine and partial damage to our stealth defence. We'll look like half a ship with a crippled engine."

"Half a ship? Let's see what happens."

Nothing happened. Except a barrage of missiles which was harmless because Thom had judged his distances and speed so well. After twenty-five seconds the apparently crippled and fleeing ship disappeared under full stealth and circled back to watch what happened when the disablers completed their job.

Despite expecting a reaction, Thom's yell still made Wirrin jump.

"That's perfection! You're a total Brainiac! You've done it again, Wirrin. The asteroid's G just dropped to 0.79 and two more Cadre ships are completely disabled. Engage your emergency harnesses and prepare yourselves for action sometime in the next two and a half minutes. Calen, are you ready with the pre-sets?"

Of course Calen was ready. They were all ready and hoping beyond hope that Thom's prediction would eventuate. Wirrin watched Calen's multi-visual displays of the two newly disabled Cadre ships with tense anticipation.

Leave! Leave! You're slowing that asteroid down! You should leave! After sixty interminable seconds a whisper of doubt edged its way into Wirrin's mind. At ninety seconds the whisper had become a cloud and fifteen seconds after that it was so much a certainty that the change in position of one of the ships didn't seem real. ...And then the other.

Wirrin's spirits climbed. The two ships dwindled behind, not as rapidly as the earlier ones, but that didn't matter because they were now out of the picture and no longer a threat. The level of danger ahead was now significantly lower and their attention focused on the convoy ship. If Thom's prediction was right it would start moving towards one of the vacated connection cradles.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Wirrin wanted to yell that Thom was unbelievable, fantastic, clever, brilliant, ...but he made do with a silently mouthed 'yes' at Calen, because right now Thom was a study of pure concentration as he manipulated his controls to keep their little ship in the best relative position while the Cadre monster manoeuvred closer to the asteroid. The barrage of missiles and atomics continued, just as Thom said it would, but despite this Thom made his approach. Once again Wirrin marvelled at how close they were to the asteroid surface and even more frighteningly, how close they were to their target.

How could their stealth possibly hold at this range? The convoy ship slowed as it jockeyed close against the asteroid until, a scant hundred meters from connection its incessant barrage suddenly stopped.

Thom's strong clear voice rang out.

"Multi-Spectrum beam capacitors at maximum charge!

Engaging in

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

Zero"

For the fourth time the little ship put everything into the totally controlled seconds of precise destruction and frantic evasion, and for the fourth time Wirrin's relief at the release from that awful thrust was overlaid with the knowledge of success. Again there was quiet while Thom did his assessment, then shared elation when, more quickly than previously, he was able to speak.

"Brilliant Calen! 6.8 seconds and you did it with only one preset. Are you ready for the next one because I'm heading back for him right now? He's going to disconnect and I want to get him while I can still hug the asteroid surface. It's been a more effective approach strategy than I expected."

"I'm ready. It seemed easier that time."

"It wasn't. You're adapting to battle stress.

Here we go!

Capacitors building!

Engage emergency harness!"

The harnesses didn't need engaging. They hadn't been released in the short recovery period. Wirrin stared in shock as the ship raced faster and closer to the rugged asteroid exterior than seemed possible. He found out later that by analysing the data from the previous approach and using the exact same course, Thom had been able to dramatically increase their closing speed. Right now Wirrin's eyes were locked on the display while his mind flinched from each in inevitable collision which somehow didn't happen.

"Capacitors at maximum!

Engaging in! Five

Four

Three

Two

One

Zero"

This attack went without a hitch. The whole two seconds of it.

The escape didn't. Instead of one hammer of thrust the ship was hit by two. The first was the usual, the engines working at full power. The second was a sideways force with enough strength to make the little vessel scrape fleetingly against the asteroid surface. They discovered later that the interference from the first jamming device had caused an incoming missile to explode in the merest fraction of a second before it hit, the concussive force of detritus against their hull throwing them slightly off course. All Wirrin knew at the time was two great lurches which tried to throw him from his seat, another minor lurch shortly after, more seconds of high G, and a return to normal.

Thom was concentrating on his console with a frown. A frown?

The image in Wirrin's mind showed the multi-spectrum beam darting precisely as it had on all their other attacks. Surely they'd been successful? His concern growing, Wirrin couldn't help blurting out.

"Thom, what's wrong?"

"... They damaged my ship."

Wirrin didn't understand. There were no warnings showing on the consoles, the visual showed they were circling back towards the asteroid, ...And a quick glance at the screen which Calen had centred on the Cadre ship, showed that none of its engines were firing.

"But you saved Warrakan? The asteroid's dead. ...How bad is it?"

Thom shook his head as if to clear it. A smile tried to appear but faltered and was replaced by an expression which Wirrin knew was a precursor for tears. Once again two bodies rushed to Thom's side, then hesitated, frightened by the look on his face and the moisture welling from his eyes. Thom made a strange little sound.

"Sorry. ...We stopped them. ...I didn't think I was good enough."

Wirrin stared at him in in amazement while Calen released the harness and dragged him into an enormous hug.

"You great lumping idiot! Of course you're good enough. There's no one better."

A smile started while Wirrin took his turn for hug.

"We fight off seven Cadre ships and you call me a lumping idiot? Can't you treat me better than that?"

Now there were three smiles, and they grew when Thom pointed at the display where the last Cadre ship was disconnected and apparently hovering close to the asteroid.

"Why are they still here?"

"You're hopeless! They're just coasting. The same as the asteroid. They can't do anything else."

Calen's little grin meant his question had been purposely designed to give Thom a payback opportunity, and Thom, realising this a second after he'd responded, shook his head and told Calen he was crazy. The elation at their success was short lived though as Thom attended his console again. The asteroid and the Cadre ship suddenly dropped away at incredible speed as they began their deceleration process.

"What's coming through from Pirramar?"

The serious, controlled tone was back in Thom's voice. Wirrin did a quick update.

"The Comets have been working on the last K74 asteroid for just over two minutes with a countdown of four minutes and seventeen seconds before it reaches Attunga."

"They've run out of time. They're not going to stop it."

"Why didn't they use your strategy of hugging close to the asteroid to get at the Cadre ships?"

"They couldn't. The Comets are way too big. Wirrin, that time doesn't match with the earlier prediction. It's twenty-one seconds longer?"

It was too.

"I don't know why, but it does mean that asteroid must have slowed down."

Given time Wirrin would have discovered that three Cadre engines had partially failed due to the design fault which could cut in when they were pushed to capacity for an extended period. Right now Pirramar was channelling an overload of information from the Habitats, every Comet, the AIs, and the Witness Council.

With no hesitation he linked to the data coming from their own Comet, checked it, then immediately switched the visual component to the big display.

There was a concerted gasp at the view of the great lance penetrating an incandescent wall of fire and destruction to disintegrate more and more asteroid material. This Comet sized Multi-Spectrum beam at work made their own look puny, and Wirrin wondered briefly what the heavy duty Habitat units must be capable of. They watched for ten seconds or so but the view didn't change and Thom wanted more.

"Can we see the other Comets? That doesn't show us their progress."

"Where's Sonic? Can we see if he's all right?"

"Um! ...I can only show you what they're sending. Hang on. ...The Witness Council transmission might tell us more."

 

It did. One big window showed a representation of the oncoming asteroid with the nine Comets down in the great pit their beams were gouging. Attendant to it were graphs and icons with relevant and continually updating information.

Another window had a Witness advising Attunga people of the actions they should be taking right now, and as the instructions about brace positions and cautions to keep away from any large free-standing object, the horror of what eight hundred million Attungans were facing welled within Wirrin. With their own hours of tension and stress there'd been no real time to dwell on the crisis facing others, but now, watching helplessly as the deadly asteroid raced closer and closer, it filled their thoughts. Wirrin and Calen moved close to Thom.

"Look! The first of the mobile beams just activated."

Somehow the AIs had forced the Habitat pico-factories to construct nearly fifty mobile Multi Spectrum Beam units and place them along the path of the approaching asteroid so each unit could deliver a fleeting blow in the short period while the speeding mass was in range. They watched quietly till, with just under two minutes left, Calen suddenly jolted and looked at Thom.

"What about the Comets? They're down in that pit. They won't be trapped will they? Sonic's with them."

"They'll all be safe. They'll stay as long as they can then leave at exactly the right second. It will already be carefully calculated."

Together they watched, despairing and fearful under the growing realisation there would be no miraculous reprieve.

Fourteen seconds to impact.

Where were the Comets?

Eleven seconds

Ten seconds

Nine Comets streaked from the pit.

Seven seconds

Six seconds

Wirrin took a deep breath and held it, transfixed as he stared at the display.

Three seconds

Two seconds

One second

!!

The display flickered for several seconds then completely blanked out.

***

Aboard the Comet, along with all the rest of the crew, Sonic and Warragul watched the shocking sight of the rear section of the Habitat disappear behind an explosively spreading envelope of fire and destruction as the built-up energy of motion transformed instantly to heat. Safety filters dimmed the real brilliance of the rushing corona to a glowing red and white.

Inside the Habitat eight hundred million people felt the jolt and tremor of their home.

In the transport pools aboard the Comet, every Enhanced dolphin joined in the age old call of distress.

Deep in the protected section of Attunga the AI gestalt leapt to an unprecedented level of activity.

Along the exterior, the great construction complex ceased to exist, pico-factories, buildings, docking bays and construction-bots all vaporised.

The people of Warrakan and Freedom stared at the same blank transmission till the screen flickered again and activated with the image of Akama.

"People of the Open Habitats. Attunga has survived."

***