Jeffrey Carver - Eternity's End

His voice broke off as a sudden tremor passed through the deck of the starship, causing Legroeder to grab for another handhold.

“What the hell was that?” Friedman barked.

“There!” cried Johnson, pointing to the long-ranger scanner. “Look at that!” A dozen or more ships were materializing out of the Flux—an entire armada—directly into orbit around Faber Eridani. They were far too close to the planet for safety, and the bridge continued quaking as waves of gravitational disturbance passed through Impris .

Legroeder shuddered. If those riggers had miscalculated even a little, those ships could have slammed into the planet’s crust like cannon balls.

“Are those people idiots? Who are they?” Friedman demanded.

“They’re Kyber ships!” Deutsch said. “Look at them!”

Four or five of the ships were almost as close to them now as the two Faber Eri destroyers. They were moving fast —and they appeared to be maneuvering to surround Impris . But for what purpose? To capture her?

“Whose? Ivan’s?” Legroeder asked.

Deutsch was studying the screen. “I don’t think so. I’m not sure, but—”

He was interrupted by a yell from Tiegs. “Captain, they’re sending a warning to the destroyers to keep their distance!”

“Well, that’s good—I think. Isn’t it?”

“I’m not sure—wait.” Tiegs made some adjustments to the display, trying to make sense of a barrage of incoming information. “Listen to this. It’s coming from that fleet. Going out on regular com, but also onto the worldnet!”

A metallic-sounding voice filled the bridge, apparently coming from one of the Kyber ships. “ …here to guarantee starship Impris’s safe passage home. We are Kilo-Mike/Carlotta, of the Free Kyber Republics. We’re not here to bother anyone, as long as you let this ship through to her home port—now. It is carrying—” the voice hesitated, as though fumbling through a script “ —information vital to riggers of all worlds. Any interference with Impris could have dire consequences…”

There was more of that, followed by a challenge from the Faber Eridani destroyers. In response, the Kyber ship repeated its intention to guarantee Impris ’s unimpeded passage.

On the Impris bridge, they listened to the exchange in stunned silence. This was altogether too bizarre. Legroeder felt as if events were slipping entirely out of his control.

“Captain!” Tiegs called. “We’re picking up some response on the worldnet! A lot of it. A whole series of… what did you call them, Cantha?”

“Response trees,” said the Narseil. “People are picking up on it—amazingly fast, and in large numbers. A lot of them seem to want to know if we’re who we say we are.” He put a rapidly scrolling stream of messages up on one of the com-screens. “ And the news nets are starting to pick up the story. Captain, we’re becoming news all over the planet!” He touched another control, and on a second screen, multiple frames showed talking heads chattering excitedly. One, and then others, switched to high-powered telescope images of the spaceships.

“Do they know about the Kyber fleet, too?” Friedman asked.

“Yes—but I’m not sure anyone knows what to make of it. There seems to be a lot of confusion.”

“Well, I’m certainly confused,” Friedman said. He turned to Legroeder. “How much do they know about the Kyber on Faber Eridani?”

Legroeder opened his mouth and closed it. “Well… they know about the old Kyber worlds. But the Free Kyber Republic is just a fancy name for what they’d call the Golen Space pirates.”

Friedman frowned, perhaps reflecting on the nature of their recent stopover at Ivan. “Then these people… no…” He shook his head, and just watched and listened for a while.

Legroeder, looking over Tiegs’ shoulder, tried to follow the worldnet display erupting in a streaming chaos of instant messages. Did they have any filtering software that could help them make sense of this?

Before he could ask, the Kyber captain’s voice intruded again. “ We’re making this port call for another reason, as well. Commissioner North of the Spacing Authority—are you listening? Our captain has a message for you.”

Commissioner North! Legroeder remembered YZ/I’s comments about Carlotta’s tentacles extending deep into Eridani affairs. Did they reach as high as the Spacing Authority Commissioner?

Apparently North was listening. After a brief delay, a voice responded on another thread: “ This is Commissioner North. I don’t know you, but if you are indeed of the so-called Free Kyber, then this commissioner has just one thing to say to you: Turn your fleet around and get out of our solar system at once.” A visual image flickered onto one of the screens. It was North, glaring into a camera, with what looked like a control center in the background. “ We will tolerate no interference from pirates of Golen Space.”

The channel switched back to the Kyber transmission, catching a different speaker in a laugh. A visual snapped on of a heavyset male, encrusted with augmentation, including a metal ring around his skull. “ This is Captain Arden of KM/C Farhawk. Our fleet will be staying just a little longer, thank you. Hello, Ottoson—it’s good to see you again. It’s been too long, hasn’t it?”

North’s eyes blinked in dismay. Or was it recognition? Whatever the emotion was, it vanished beneath a mantle of unmistakable anger. “ Do not assume familiarity with me, Kyber—”

His transmission was stepped on by the Kyber’s. “ Commissioner North—no need to apologize for our past history. This seems as good a time as any to thank you for your excellent work on behalf of Kilo-Mike/Carlotta and the Free Kyber Republic.”

Legroeder exchanged glances with his shipmates as North’s voice strained unsuccessfully to penetrate the static created by the Kyber transmission.

The Kyber voice rose. “ Citizens of Eridani, this is Captain Arden of the Kyber fleet, here to safeguard starship Impris. We mean no threat to your world. But it is time you were told: Commissioner North has been assisting us for years, with skill and devotion. Please do not blame him. His diversion of resources to our fleet has been in answer to a higher calling—reaching out to the stars, for all of humanity. We assure you, what little it has cost you will be more than offset by the gains yet to come.”

North’s voice was barely audible, his transmission hissing through the jamming. “ …enough lies, you are trespassing and threatening our territory. Your presence here is an act of war.”

“Come now, Commissioner…”

Cantha murmured, above the confusion, “We’re picking up some other official transmissions here. Your Secretary General Albright has issued a plea for calm…” Cantha touched a switch, and in one corner of the main viewscreen, a heavyset, bearded man was speaking in front of the emblem of the Faber Eridani world government. Cantha started to raise the audio on that, but Captain Friedman waved it off; the Kyber captain was speaking again.

“Commissioner, you and your colleagues in the RiggerGuild performed beautifully in keeping Impris protected for us—and her history hidden, while that was necessary. We regret that you, or perhaps some of your people, became overzealous and threatened the life of Rigger Legroeder. That was never our intention—”

Legroeder frowned. It was getting harder and harder to sort out the lies, here…

“Fortunately Rigger Legroeder escaped, and has since acquitted himself with great courage in the rescue of Impris. Commissioner, there is no need for you to threaten Impris. These are returning heroes—your heroes, citizens of your world. We all have an interest in learning why she suffered the terrible fate that she did.”