Free Koban by Stephen W Bennett Page B

the projectors.”
    “Right, that
fits Jake's picture too.” Mirikami replied. “Get hopping on those tests. Out.”
    Dillon had been watching the tracking display on the captain's
console. “Captain, does it appear to you that the first two attackers are not falling
away from us as fast as they were when they passed us?”
    Mirikami studied the figures next to the two targets a moment
and shook his head in amazement. “They are now decelerating at two hundred standard
gravities.” As if to deny what the numbers told him, he added, “There is no way a ship that small can hold those drives.”
    “Someone's found a way,” Noreen countered dryly. “It looks like
they're turning around to close the back door. Not that we can run anywhere. We're
on a ballistic course out of this system into nowhere, unless they stop us, or we
get our fields back in service. We don’t have enough fuel for our main thruster
engines to make a difference at this high velocity. “
    To Dillon the time seemed right to ask some questions without
worrying about being a distraction. “I think we might be able to make some guesses
about these people based on their technology. If we figure out who could possibly
build missiles this advanced, we might have a clue as to their intentions. We
can rule out the Planetary Union on grounds that they wouldn't need to attack Midwife
to eliminate it. Who else has their scientific know how?”
    Mirikami gave his lower lip a tug, and then waved his hand. “I'm
certainly no expert, but I have a decent foundation in Trap field mechanics. I've
keep up with current literature on Jump drives. I've never even heard of theoretical
possibilities for a drive mechanism that can generate the acceleration these missiles
produce. Drives of that power should be far larger than our own drives, too
large to fit in those little hulls.
    “But that isn’t the most disturbing thing to me.” Mirikami continued,
“The people who built those,” he indicated the red symbols on his display, “have
done far more than build a faster, smaller drive. They evidently have a means to
penetrate and open a tachyon Trap field with a similar field. I haven’t a clue as to who it
could be, but they seem to want us alive, at least for now.”
    Something else bothered Dillon. “If these are remote piloted
missiles, then where's the ship that fired them and controls them? How can they
be remote drones if Jake never detected the control signals? If we have to accept
that they have a better drive, why not a smaller manned ship?”
    “You may be right Doctor.” Mirikami conceded. “What's one more
defiance of what I was taught as being the Laws of Physics?”
    Dillon started to say something else but was interrupted by Jake.
“Communication arriving, audio only.” This announcement was followed by a quavering
voice, already in mid-sentence.
    “....to escape or you will be destroyed! Any resistance will
be dealt with savagely. Please believe me; if you run or fight you will die. Your
lives depend on submission and instant obedience. For God’s sake, don’t try to Jump,
they can sense your Trap fields. Obey them exactly ! A moment’s hesitation
can be fatal.”
    There was a moment of silence, then the broadcast repeated. “Make
no attempt to escape or you will be destroyed! .,.” The remainder was a repeat of
the same message. On the third playing Mirikami told Jake to take it off speaker,
but to continue recording and report any change in content.
    Noreen was the first to speak. “I think whoever made the recording
is under duress, possibly a prisoner, and from his voice he sounds frightened. Perhaps
someone from Midwife?”
    “If so,” Mirikami mused, “he believes our attackers to be ruthless
and competent enough to make armed resistance futile. After the flying and firing
demonstration just witnessed I can't doubt their ability.”
    Watching her own tracking display, Noreen saw that the twenty
onrushing targets had modified