heavy with mined ores. The Demar system also boasted Inner, Middle and Outer Asteroid Belts. Those, too, were rich in thorium and deuterium, a veritable mother lode of mineral wealth. The system contained a single huge habitat known as the Demar Starcity. It wasn’t a pleasure palace or breeding ground for Saurians. Instead, it had a giant processing center with sideline industries that produced finished goods.
N7 stood beside the table, with a star chart magnetized in place. Using a forefinger, he stabbed the starcity. “This is my origin point,” he said. “This is where I was built.”
I rubbed my jaw thoughtfully.
“Perhaps as important for you, here in the habitat are many military articles.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I suspect you will find automated missile systems and beam cannons,” N7 said. “There will, of course, be mining equipment. Or, if you prefer, you can take gas giant scoopers to mine Jupiter and Saturn for deuterium.”
“Seems too good to be true,” I said.
“Agreed,” N7 said. “This was the base system for the Tenth Saurian taskforce. The fleet wasn’t on the frontier between the Jade League and Jelk Corporation territory. This was a secondary force meant to reinforce wherever needed.”
“And you think those warships are gone?” I asked.
N7 straightened. “I do not presume to know, Commander. I work only off the information you received from Doctor Sant.”
“Great,” I said. “Really, we’re in the dark about just about everything.”
“Yes.”
I gazed at the star chart and the Demar system in particular.
“If the Jelk Corporation was in trouble,” I said, “I mean against invaders. It seems as if the secondary or reinforcing fleet would be the first one to go.”
“That is logical,” N7 said.
“The question is, will the Jade League members already have invaded these regions?”
“That is another reason to try here,” N7 said. “Logically, the Jade League members would wish to scour star systems close to their base worlds. This is farther away.”
“Do you think Doctor Sant told us the truth?”
“I have no way of verifying his words,” N7 said.
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing my jaw again. I had a bad feeling about this, and I couldn’t fool myself. If we failed here, things would likely get even darker in a hurry.
***
I’m sure you’ve heard of deep-sea fish that live in a world of eternal gloom. Well, I mean the fish that used to live in the subterranean reaches of the Earth’s oceans. I’m sure the bio-terminator had settled down there by now, too.
My point is pressure. Those fish had learned to live with an intense pressure per square inch that would have crushed a human. No submarine had ever gone to such a depth, although a few bathyscaphes had. The fish could take intense pressure because their own bodies pushed outward. The funny thing occurred when that pressure stopped. If a fisherman hooked such a fish and reeled as fast as he could, the deep-sea creature would die. It couldn’t live with the lesser pressure.
What did any of that have to do with our raid? The Jelk Corporation had put intense pressure against the Jade League for uncounted years. These last few years, and now even more so, the pressure had lifted. It was gone. Like those deep-sea fish, it appeared that most of the Jade League members didn’t know what to do with the lesser threat. It had seemingly unhinged their thinking. It had also apparently opened old wounds among the members.
What we found as we cruised the jump lanes in Jelk Corporation territory was a decided lack of Jade League vessels. Several times, Saurian scout ships hailed us. N7 responded, using old codes.
The Saurian scout commanders always demanded to know why an old freighter accompanied an obvious Lokhar military craft.
N7 told them he was bringing the Lokhar cruiser to Sector Eight Headquarters for study. Each time, the Saurian commander grew utterly still on the viewing screen. Then he would
N7 stood beside the table, with a star chart magnetized in place. Using a forefinger, he stabbed the starcity. “This is my origin point,” he said. “This is where I was built.”
I rubbed my jaw thoughtfully.
“Perhaps as important for you, here in the habitat are many military articles.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I suspect you will find automated missile systems and beam cannons,” N7 said. “There will, of course, be mining equipment. Or, if you prefer, you can take gas giant scoopers to mine Jupiter and Saturn for deuterium.”
“Seems too good to be true,” I said.
“Agreed,” N7 said. “This was the base system for the Tenth Saurian taskforce. The fleet wasn’t on the frontier between the Jade League and Jelk Corporation territory. This was a secondary force meant to reinforce wherever needed.”
“And you think those warships are gone?” I asked.
N7 straightened. “I do not presume to know, Commander. I work only off the information you received from Doctor Sant.”
“Great,” I said. “Really, we’re in the dark about just about everything.”
“Yes.”
I gazed at the star chart and the Demar system in particular.
“If the Jelk Corporation was in trouble,” I said, “I mean against invaders. It seems as if the secondary or reinforcing fleet would be the first one to go.”
“That is logical,” N7 said.
“The question is, will the Jade League members already have invaded these regions?”
“That is another reason to try here,” N7 said. “Logically, the Jade League members would wish to scour star systems close to their base worlds. This is farther away.”
“Do you think Doctor Sant told us the truth?”
“I have no way of verifying his words,” N7 said.
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing my jaw again. I had a bad feeling about this, and I couldn’t fool myself. If we failed here, things would likely get even darker in a hurry.
***
I’m sure you’ve heard of deep-sea fish that live in a world of eternal gloom. Well, I mean the fish that used to live in the subterranean reaches of the Earth’s oceans. I’m sure the bio-terminator had settled down there by now, too.
My point is pressure. Those fish had learned to live with an intense pressure per square inch that would have crushed a human. No submarine had ever gone to such a depth, although a few bathyscaphes had. The fish could take intense pressure because their own bodies pushed outward. The funny thing occurred when that pressure stopped. If a fisherman hooked such a fish and reeled as fast as he could, the deep-sea creature would die. It couldn’t live with the lesser pressure.
What did any of that have to do with our raid? The Jelk Corporation had put intense pressure against the Jade League for uncounted years. These last few years, and now even more so, the pressure had lifted. It was gone. Like those deep-sea fish, it appeared that most of the Jade League members didn’t know what to do with the lesser threat. It had seemingly unhinged their thinking. It had also apparently opened old wounds among the members.
What we found as we cruised the jump lanes in Jelk Corporation territory was a decided lack of Jade League vessels. Several times, Saurian scout ships hailed us. N7 responded, using old codes.
The Saurian scout commanders always demanded to know why an old freighter accompanied an obvious Lokhar military craft.
N7 told them he was bringing the Lokhar cruiser to Sector Eight Headquarters for study. Each time, the Saurian commander grew utterly still on the viewing screen. Then he would
Similar Books
