Eyes of Tomorrow (Duchy of Terra Book 9) by Glynn Stewart (best e book reader TXT) 📕

“I do not have the authority to confirm or deny her suspicions, Fleet Lord,” Rin said quietly. “I told her she would have to go to you.”

“If such a thing were the case,” Tan!Shallegh said calmly, “what do you think we can do?”

“I believe that your people disabled the Taljzi weapon,” Oxtashah replied. “And in disabling it, I believe you learned enough to know how to turn our swarm into the same style of weapon—creating a deadly trap that we would be able to lure the next Infinite strike force into.

“A weapon that could eliminate a Mesharom battle fleet would easily turn the tide of battle against the Infinite, could it not?”

Tan!Shallegh was quiet for at least fifteen seconds, colors swirling across his skin as he considered the proposal.

“There was such a weapon,” he finally confirmed. “I do not fully understand what the Taljzi did, but I am told it was a merger of modern and Precursor technology—if nothing else, the Alavan systems had to be taught to recognize an interface drive.

“It was a perversion of a system designed for in-flight refueling of Alavan ships,” the Fleet Lord told her. “Given that the Alava had regular refueling facilities scattered across their entire territory, I do not know if that system will even exist on your stellar swarm.”

“It seems worth the investigation,” Oxtashah said calmly. “Any tool that could protect our people seems worth trying. Do you have the knowledge and personnel to make the attempt?”

“Dr. Dunst?” Tan!Shallegh asked.

“I’ve been going through the Grand Fleet personnel files since Princess Oxtashah raised the possibility with me,” Rin told them. “There are eleven sentients in the Grand Fleet who worked on disabling the Taljzi system. I have identified thirty-six more with skills and knowledge that could potentially assist in the process of duplicating the effect…including myself.”

He had never even seen that Dyson swarm in person.

“From my own previous information and the research I’ve done today, I believe that we should be able to establish relatively quickly whether or not the necessary subsystems exist in this particular Dyson swarm,” he told them. “But we are talking about a system of stations that wraps around an entire star. Relatively quickly is still on the order of five-cycles, at least.

“Even if the subsystems do exist, they need to be operating and linked together,” he continued. “That’s dependent on pure random chance. We don’t know enough about the pre-failure structure of the swarms to say anything else.

“Even if everything in the swarm is the way we need it, I understand that an interface drive was uniquely easy to target with the teleporter system. The Infinite’s propulsive organs may not be as readily targetable—especially given that any fleet used as a lure to bring them to the system will be using interface drives.

“The range is limited to within the system of the swarm,” Rin concluded. “If we manage to get the weapon online, it will require that lure—and we may not be able to easily protect those ships from our own trap.”

“These are all possibilities that must be planned for,” Oxtashah told him and Tan!Shallegh. “But I believe the necessary next step would be to deliver a team of Imperial specialists—those forty-seven individuals—to our facility in the Skiefail System to review the data we have?

“We have allowed very little information on the Skiefail stellar swarm to leave that system,” she warned. “Your team would be transported there on my personal ship.”

“Dr. Dunst?” Tan!Shallegh said.

“Fleet Lord?” Rin guessed what the A!Tol was going to ask.

“Are you prepared to organize and lead this mission?” Tan!Shallegh asked. “You will have clear access to any personnel or resources in the Grand Fleet, but you will need to assemble your team prior to the departure of the Wendira Battle Hives.

“We can easily conceal the departure of Princess Oxtashah’s star hive with the rest of her people’s fleet, but a later movement would be more obvious.”

He glanced at Oxtashah.

“I assume,” the Fleet Lord said calmly, “that you do not wish to bring the Laians in on this project.”

“While relations are improving between our peoples, I do not feel that my Queens would accept them learning of this secret,” the Princess replied. “I will share what I must with your people to make this come to pass, but I cannot include the Laians in this.”

“I understand,” Tan!Shallegh conceded. “But understand that I will take no action that threatens them.”

“We will permit your people to disable the weapon as you leave, if you feel that is necessary,” Oxtashah told him. “Though I must point out that, by its very nature, the system we have discussed is purely defensive.”

“So it appears, always,” the A!Tol agreed. “Please arrange transport for Dr. Dunst and his team to the swarm, Princess Oxtashah. I will authorize whatever assistance is needed to enable the swarm.

“But we will be keeping very close attention on its future fate, do you understand?”

“Of course, Fleet Lord,” she said. “We all wish to see the Infinite defeated and our nations safe. This is merely another tool toward that goal.”

Rin remained after Oxtashah had left, waiting in silence for the Fleet Lord to speak first.

“I do not like sending a group of my people into the unknown like this,” Tan!Shallegh finally said. “But I see the value. Is there anything you will need?”

“Mostly the people,” Rin said after a moment’s reflection. “If I can bring fifty people with me, I think we’ll have the best chance we’re likely to have. A direct encrypted link to certain people at the Institute and at Arjtal may speed things up as well.”

“I will have the communications team set something up,” Tan!Shallegh said. “You will be relaying through Wendira starcoms, however, which does limit our ability to maintain security.”

“I need to talk to the people at Arjtal,” Rin warned. “The people I can bring from the Grand Fleet are only half the answer. We will need the expertise of people who aren’t here.”

“What can be done will be done,”