The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #4, Retribution Read Online Free PDF Page B

appeared identical and both contained encoded messages. One also held a validation phrase that the rebel leadership could and would use to authenticate the proper of the two messages. The proper message would then be used to retrieve the full and complete message using an age-old technique commonly called a book cipher. The decoded message was finally one of hope. He-that-should-not-be-named had finally blessed his people with the hope of salvation. Salvation in the form of strange aliens with even stranger idea s … that all sentient beings have an equal claim on peace and prosperity.
    The word-in-the-marsh (and confirmed by visitors from a so-called Galactic Coalition) was that the Syndicate was mobilizing a huge response to the Humans and their allies. The response was of such a size and scope that if properly handled it could represent an opportunity for the rebels that might not be repeated for untold generations. Debb u’ s resistance cell was looking to coordinate with cells on other planets to best take advantage of this situation.
    The problem was of course timing. FTL Communication within the Syndicate systems was limited to the maximum distance one could establish and hold open a hyperfold corridor. The closer one moved toward the core worlds near the galactic center the more limited this distance became. The harsh reality was that communication to the core often took days and was nowhere near real-time. This made coordination a virtual impossibility and yet try they must.
    ***
    Ricky Valen leaned forward in his pilo t’ s seat and adjusted a dial on the navigation panel in front of him. The Honey Dipper was fully cloaked and traveling through Modos controlled space. Ricky could have made the adjustment by sending a mental command to his partner and friend, Honey, who is the shi p’ s AI but he found he liked the feel of the controls on his fingers. Humans had been using fingers to accomplish such tasks since the Creator had put humankind in the cosmos. There was a satisfaction that tactile feedback produced that a thought-controlled cybernetic interface would never be able to duplicate.
    Honey for her part smiled at his movement. She found his fondness for physical switches and knobs endearing. Most ships as advanced as the GCP Honey-Dipper employed touch screen, holographic inputs and thought-actuated control systems. In point of fact Honey could reconfigure this ship to use the same in a few minutes but the current configuration was the mode it generally operated in. She supposed the anachronistic fondness for 20 th century hardware by a man firmly locked in the 22 nd century was part of his charm.
    “ Captain Takei and his team are ready to deploy the next set of hyperfield suppressors . ”
    “ Right on schedul e ” Ricky said .“ Hakaro, I’ m going to open a hole in the cloak for six milliseconds. I ca n’ t open for any longer because that beastie has an active scan cycle that will pick us up if I go any longer . ”
    “ Roger that Rick y ” Takei answered from the loading dock aboard the Honey-Dipper .‘ That Beasti e ’ was a Modos Dreadnaught class ship parked in a geosynchronous orbit around Naanac. The MS Typhoon was the Syndicate flagship. The latest ENO reports indicated the Chairman himself would be traveling on her. That simple fact represented too great an opportunity to miss.
    Hikaro tied his systems into the shi p’ s AI and confirmed the interlock. He had a team of six that were reconfiguring SJ rounds into simple and potentially non-lethal suppression buoys as fast as they could uncrate them from storage in the Dippe r’ s hold. The captain-turned-insurgent toggled his commlink.
      “ Honey now has control of the actual deployment. All units are now actively cloaked and ready to deploy on her go . ”
    “ Well, i t’ s nice to know at least some of the men in my life are willing to trust me to handle things. Thank you, Captain Takei , ” Honey said from the co-pilo t’ s