Chapter 413: Survey Cutter Ship

Rhoswen’s investigation group departed Helion six hours later, almost exactly on schedule.

Aurelian watched the Crimson Bulwark leave through the tactical display rather than going down to the dock.

Rhoswen had already received her orders twice, and going there in person would only give her another chance to argue that four patrol ships were not enough.

The group would reach Valeris Reach in a little over two days if the routes remained clear.

That gave Aurelian time to understand what they might be walking into.

Eirenne had already started searching old Vhaloric records around the attack region. Annex Seven made the work easier than it would have been a week earlier because its archives contained military route maps that Helion did not possess.

Most were badly outdated.

A few were still useful.

Aurelian returned to the planning room after Rhoswen departed and found Astra waiting beside Eirenne’s projection.

"You found something?" he asked.

Eirenne enlarged the regional map.

"Several things. I am still checking which ones matter."

Old Vhaloric markers appeared around Valeris Reach.

Two were listening posts that had probably been destroyed during the Directorate collapse. Another was a fuel depot.

Farther from the inhabited systems sat an old military repair yard that had once serviced patrol fleets operating along the outer frontier.

Aurelian immediately focused on it.

"Distance from the attacks?"

"Between eleven and sixteen hours, depending on the route."

Astra studied the position.

"Close enough."

"Yes."

"Still active?"

Eirenne shook her head.

"Unknown. Directorate records marked the yard as abandoned during the final years of the collapse."

Aurelian looked at the date.

That meant almost nothing.

Annex Seven had been abandoned too.

So had Helion.

Old Vhaloric facilities had a bad habit of continuing to function long after somebody officially decided they were dead.

"What was it called?"

"Orison Fleet Service Yard Four."

"What did it handle?"

"Mostly damaged patrol ships and long-range escorts. It had repair docks, automated fabrication, fuel storage, and a limited command system."

That matched the threat far too well.

A base capable of repairing ships could explain the strange fleet near Valeris Reach.

The mixed weapons were another clue.

If the attackers had been rebuilding damaged hulls using whatever equipment remained available, they could easily end up with Human kinetic weapons, Compact plasma systems, and old Vhaloric energy weapons on the same ship.

Aurelian no longer needed the Destiny System to see the connection.

"Send the location to Rhoswen."

Eirenne did.

A response arrived several minutes later.

Rhoswen appeared on the display from the Crimson Bulwark’s command deck.

"You found me a target already."

"A possible site."

"That is almost the same thing."

"It isn’t."

Aurelian brought up the old repair yard.

"Do not go straight there. Reach Valeris first, speak to their council, examine the surviving patrol ship, and compare its records with this location."

Rhoswen looked disappointed.

"You know how to make discovering an enemy base sound boring."

"I am trying to keep you from charging into an abandoned military yard that may not actually be abandoned."

"Fine."

"Rhoswen."

"I said fine."

Astra looked toward Aurelian.

"That sounded convincing."

"It did not."

Rhoswen ignored them.

"I’ll contact you when we reach Valeris."

The transmission ended.

Aurelian turned back toward Eirenne.

"Keep searching."

She nodded.

The next useful information came from the Alliance records Cassian had sent.

Valeris Reach had not been the first place to report missing ships.

Two independent mining stations farther out had lost cargo vessels over the previous four months.

The losses had originally been blamed on piracy because neither station had enough evidence to prove otherwise.

Then one of the stations disappeared from normal trade communication entirely.

Aurelian frowned.

"Nobody checked?"

"The Alliance sent a survey cutter," Eirenne replied. "It found the station abandoned."

"Bodies?"

"None."

"Damage?"

"Very little."

That was worse.

Astra read the report beside him.

"Evacuated?"

"No evacuation record," Eirenne said. "Most personal belongings were still present. Several small ships were missing from the docks."

Aurelian looked at the population figure.

Just over twelve hundred people.

They had not simply vanished.

Somebody had taken them somewhere, or they had left under circumstances that prevented them from contacting anyone afterward.

"Any connection to the repair yard?"

"Possibly. The abandoned station is less than a day from Orison Yard Four."

Aurelian stared at the map.

The problem was getting larger.

He contacted Cassian again.

His father answered from an Arcturus command office.

"Already?"

"You knew about the abandoned mining station?"

Cassian’s expression became more serious.

"Yes."

"You did not mention it."

"Because we did not know whether it was connected."

"It is less than a day from the old Vhaloric repair yard."

Cassian paused.

"What repair yard?"

That answered the question.

Aurelian sent him the archive entry.

Cassian read it quickly.

"The Alliance does not have this location on its current frontier map."

"Annex Seven did."

"That station is already earning its repairs."

"Apparently."

Cassian enlarged the old facility specifications.

"This could support the attackers."

"That’s what I think."

"Do you want Arcturus ships moved closer?"

Aurelian considered it.

"Not yet."

"You may be dealing with more than twelve ships."

"I know."

Cassian looked at him carefully.

"You have changed."

"How?"

"Six months ago, you would have asked how many ships I could send."

Aurelian leaned back.

"Six months ago, I had fewer ships."

Cassian laughed.

"Fair."

Aurelian continued.

"I don’t want a large fleet entering Valeris Reach before we know what happened. They asked about temporary protection, not occupation."

"Agreed."

"But keep something available."

"Already done."

Aurelian should have expected that.

Cassian rarely waited until somebody asked him to prepare for an obvious problem.

"Anything from the Veyr family?"

"Yes."

Aurelian waited.

Cassian smiled slightly.

"You don’t sound happy about that."

"I am waiting for the political complication."

"It is not a complication. They found something useful."

Aurelian became more interested.

The Veyr family had gone through Alliance legal and historical records concerning Valeris Reach. Their interest was partly political, but they had access to archives Aurelian did not.

Cassian forwarded the file.

Orison Fleet Service Yard Four had not been completely abandoned.

A small Human technical group had remained there after the Directorate’s main forces withdrew.

Their job had been to keep the yard operating for refugees and damaged civilian ships.

The group survived for at least nine years.

After that, the records ended.

"How many people?" Aurelian asked.

"Originally three hundred and twelve."

"Any later population records?"

"No."

Aurelian looked at the dates.

Centuries had passed.

Those people were almost certainly dead.

But if they had families, descendants could have survived.

That offered another possibility.

The attacking fleet might not be autonomous at all.

It could belong to an isolated Human population that had survived around the repair yard and become hostile over generations.

Astra reached the same conclusion.

"If they are Human, that explains why the ships use several kinds of equipment."

"It also makes this more complicated," Aurelian said.

Cassian nodded.

"Which is why I suggest you do not assume they are machines until you have proof."

"I wasn’t going to."

"Good."

Aurelian ended the call and sent the new information to Rhoswen.

Her reply came quickly.

"So I am not allowed to shoot them if they are Human?"

Aurelian stared at the message.

He opened a direct channel.

Rhoswen appeared a few seconds later.

"That was a joke."

"It wasn’t a good one."

"It was a little good."

"No."

She sighed.

"What are the actual orders?"

"If the attackers are Human, try communication before combat unless they fire first. If they are machines, try communication anyway."

Rhoswen frowned.

"Why would I talk to hostile machines?"

"Because Annex Seven tried to kill you too."

"That was different."

"How?"

She thought about it.

"Fine. I understand."

"If they attack, defend yourself. If they retreat, don’t chase beyond the safe range."

"You already said that."

"I know."

"Do you think repeating it will make me more likely to listen?"

"Yes."

Rhoswen considered that.

"Probably."

At least she admitted it.

The next two days passed without another major problem.

Aurelian remained at Helion while the regional representatives finished their remaining discussions and prepared to return home.

The Crownward Administrative Charter went through another revision.

Nobody was completely satisfied.

Astercourt said that was normal.

Neris left the meeting with enough new logistics requests to keep her busy for weeks, though she seemed pleased that most settlements had accepted the common cargo system.

Mirelle and Tomas returned toward Sanctuary Ardent with several proposals for the civilian council.

Elowen stayed on M-17.

Yelena remained at Helion to work with Meridian, while Mirei and Katsura planned to return with Aurelian.

Aurelian had expected things to become quieter once the meeting ended.

Instead, Eirenne found another old record.

Orison Yard Four had possessed a system called an Adaptive Recovery Foundry.

It had been designed to rebuild damaged ships when normal replacement parts were unavailable.

The foundry scanned whatever wreckage was available, identified useful components, then modified them to fit the ship being repaired.

Aurelian read that description twice.

"That explains the mixed technology."

Eirenne nodded.

"It could."

Astra looked at the old specifications.

"Could it combine Compact and Human systems?"

"If somebody gave it both."

"And Vhaloric weapons?"

"Those would already have been available at the yard."

The attackers were starting to make sense.

That did not explain why they attacked without warning.

It also did not explain the missing population.

Aurelian looked at the last known record of the technical group.

"What controlled the foundry?"

"A limited industrial intelligence."

"Limited?"

"By Directorate standards."

Aurelian gave her a look.

Eirenne understood.