they can mount any sort of defense.
“Your affinity for kinetic weapons has slowed them down and confused them somewhat, but that won’t last. These are not mindless beasts, and even though a comparison could be made between them and locusts, they are frighteningly intelligent and will have adapted the next time they come into human space.”
“Do you have any idea when that might be?” Wellington asked.
“I do not, Senator,” Blake shook his head. “It could be decades from now, or centuries, or they could already be moving across the Frontier en masse. Which leads me to the next unpleasant point: the Vruahn strike force that my crew and I pilot will not be able to stay in human space indefinitely. We’re tasked with providing emergency relief for species that seem about to be overrun by the Phage, but our orders and mandate are non-negotiable. Even if we decide to stay, the ships will leave without us.”
“Is there no way you can entreat the Vruahn on our behalf?” a woman with vice admiral stars on her uniform asked. “Possibly either for the ships themselves or the specs of—”
“They will not share their weaponry,” Blake apologized. “But to answer your question, Admiral, I have already asked. Multiple times, in fact, once we found out that humanity was in the crosshairs. For reasons that are entirely their own, they will not allow their ships or weapons to be transferred to any other species. It might be better if you looked at them as more than just machines. They’re coded specifically to their pilots and work almost symbiotically, but they have their own hardwired protocols and can be recalled by their owners in spite of any orders given by us.”
“I will admit to some confusion on that point,” Marcum admitted.
“The Vruahn are leaps and bounds ahead of you in technology, but they lack any will or instinct to fight,” Blake seemed to struggle with the explanation. “They can build machines with incredible destructive power, but when it comes to developing even the most rudimentary strategies for fighting a war they fall flat. They discovered that by enlisting the help of more aggressive species they can accomplish the goal of keeping the Phage at bay while still maintaining their pacifist natures. We were the first, but I know there have since been other species brought into the fold as the threat of the Phage in this part of the galaxy grows.”
“Just how large is the Phage threat?” Jackson asked. “Big picture.”
“They’re quickly becoming the largest power in this region of space,” Blake said. “Their lack of any apparent motivation other than to devour all life unlike their own makes it impossible to communicate or negotiate with them.”
Jackson saw an obvious flaw in the colonel’s statement but let it pass for the time being.
“So other than to scare the shit out of us and tell us that you might not be here the next time they attack, what is the point of this meeting?” Wellington asked.
“The Phage do have a fatal weakness,” Blake said. “Ironically, it’s this weakness that makes them so difficult to fight. Their ‘group minds’ are not independent structures that just pop up when enough of them get together. Everything they do, everything they are … it all leads back to one single entity that drives them.”
“So?” Wellington said belligerently. “How does that help us?”
“I know where it is,” Blake said, causing the room to erupt into half a dozen shouted conversations.
Chapter 7
After the briefing devolved into a shouting match in which several of the attendees felt they could make their ideas more valid through sheer volume, Marcum angrily dismissed them all, holding Jackson and Blake back.
“Hell of a bomb you dropped there, Colonel,” Marcum said when the hatch slid shut. “You could have given me some sort of warning.”
“I was worried had I divulged that information too early it may have led to some rash
“Your affinity for kinetic weapons has slowed them down and confused them somewhat, but that won’t last. These are not mindless beasts, and even though a comparison could be made between them and locusts, they are frighteningly intelligent and will have adapted the next time they come into human space.”
“Do you have any idea when that might be?” Wellington asked.
“I do not, Senator,” Blake shook his head. “It could be decades from now, or centuries, or they could already be moving across the Frontier en masse. Which leads me to the next unpleasant point: the Vruahn strike force that my crew and I pilot will not be able to stay in human space indefinitely. We’re tasked with providing emergency relief for species that seem about to be overrun by the Phage, but our orders and mandate are non-negotiable. Even if we decide to stay, the ships will leave without us.”
“Is there no way you can entreat the Vruahn on our behalf?” a woman with vice admiral stars on her uniform asked. “Possibly either for the ships themselves or the specs of—”
“They will not share their weaponry,” Blake apologized. “But to answer your question, Admiral, I have already asked. Multiple times, in fact, once we found out that humanity was in the crosshairs. For reasons that are entirely their own, they will not allow their ships or weapons to be transferred to any other species. It might be better if you looked at them as more than just machines. They’re coded specifically to their pilots and work almost symbiotically, but they have their own hardwired protocols and can be recalled by their owners in spite of any orders given by us.”
“I will admit to some confusion on that point,” Marcum admitted.
“The Vruahn are leaps and bounds ahead of you in technology, but they lack any will or instinct to fight,” Blake seemed to struggle with the explanation. “They can build machines with incredible destructive power, but when it comes to developing even the most rudimentary strategies for fighting a war they fall flat. They discovered that by enlisting the help of more aggressive species they can accomplish the goal of keeping the Phage at bay while still maintaining their pacifist natures. We were the first, but I know there have since been other species brought into the fold as the threat of the Phage in this part of the galaxy grows.”
“Just how large is the Phage threat?” Jackson asked. “Big picture.”
“They’re quickly becoming the largest power in this region of space,” Blake said. “Their lack of any apparent motivation other than to devour all life unlike their own makes it impossible to communicate or negotiate with them.”
Jackson saw an obvious flaw in the colonel’s statement but let it pass for the time being.
“So other than to scare the shit out of us and tell us that you might not be here the next time they attack, what is the point of this meeting?” Wellington asked.
“The Phage do have a fatal weakness,” Blake said. “Ironically, it’s this weakness that makes them so difficult to fight. Their ‘group minds’ are not independent structures that just pop up when enough of them get together. Everything they do, everything they are … it all leads back to one single entity that drives them.”
“So?” Wellington said belligerently. “How does that help us?”
“I know where it is,” Blake said, causing the room to erupt into half a dozen shouted conversations.
Chapter 7
After the briefing devolved into a shouting match in which several of the attendees felt they could make their ideas more valid through sheer volume, Marcum angrily dismissed them all, holding Jackson and Blake back.
“Hell of a bomb you dropped there, Colonel,” Marcum said when the hatch slid shut. “You could have given me some sort of warning.”
“I was worried had I divulged that information too early it may have led to some rash
Similar Books
