by T J Bryan
Still there was no response.
Sohail continued, "Frankel, stop firing. This is me Sohail. Frankel I know your there so stop this now."
The bulkhead speaker sprang to life. "Sohail is that you?"
"Yes, it's me. Now stop shooting."
The rail gun rounds ceased for a moment then Saint Menas com continued. "Sohail who is uncle Margan?"
Sohail laughed. "Never heard of him you rascal. Now stop firing."
New Hildr took up a stationary orbit around Saint Menas as the command of the fortress updated Sohail and Farn about the state of the siege of New Horizons. There was some good news and some that was disturbing. Of the original 9 Megra 5 had been destroyed either by the fortress moons or in navigation errors which resulted in collisions with debris. Saint Menas comm knew of one instance where a dumbbell had been essentially melted as sheet lightening flashed across its' path. Farn almost felt a heavy weight lift from her command, but Saint Menas comm continued that two additional dumbbells seem to have been dispatched to replace the five that were lost. In addition St. Georg was heavily damaged and of her 19 enormous rail guns only five remained in action.
Farn also learned that Saint Vardan was currently over Breaking Dawn and that she was the smallest of the three fortresses, but had remained relatively intact although heavily bombarded. She also learned that during the last moonless night over Breaking Dawn, which had occurred four months ago, that the capital had been hit and hit hard by kinetic bombardment. Saint Menas com felt that the next moonless night would be horrific, but in their assessment Breaking Dawn might well survive the attack; this time. However after a few more assaults the capital would fall and the war lost.
Saint Vardan had one welcome surprise. A network of ground stations hidden on the surface of the Mother allowed the fortress moon to communicate with both the capital city and with the other moons. And soon Sohail was speaking with the Governing Council Prolocutor and the High Navarch of the Armada. The High Navarch informed them that only two dumbbells were engaged in the bombardment of Saint Vardan at this time, and that the remaining 4 ships were either gathering large rocks for the next attack on Breaking Dawn or simply resting on some kind of rotation. They seemed to gather rocks in the vicinity of the capital but did so between dust shells two and three. By resting there or gathering rocks in that area the fortress moons could not fire their rail guns with any hope of hitting something.
Farn had only one question for the High Navarch; was communications possible between the ships above Breaking Dawn and those above either resting or gathering stones further out. The High Navarch laughed. He revealed to Farn that communications through the two dust layers was impossible, and that the weather forecast had indicated intense electrical activity in the second layer above the capital for the next two days.
Farn thanked the High Navarch as she began to plan a new attack.
Chapter Ninety Eight
Jamon System - Naval Dock, Iceland - Year 3248 March 4 ET 08:12
Abel stood on the dock waiting for the main hatch to open on the Iceland which had just returned from Maltzoff and the relief of the Theans. Captain Sam Olderhausr had sent dispatches hours before as Iceland entered the Jamon System from the Dello portal. Abel had read the dispatches but he had many questions.
As usual a large crowd had gathered to greet the return of Iceland and its crew. As the hatch opened and the crew disembarked Abel's vid-com chimed. It was Emmitt Wong telling him there had been a fatality while constructing the 'apparatus' and that a safety review would result in suspending the build for two or three days. Apparently some portion of the apparatus had energized unexpectedly during a component test and a fabricator had simply been vaporized. Abel could tell Emmitt was upset as was Abel. As much as the loss of a fabricator was a tragedy, so too any delay in the completion of the apparatus.
"Ah, Hello Admiral," It was Sam Olderhausr with a large smile upon his face. Sam did not salute but instead shook hands with Abel.
Abel smiled and was happy to see the return of Sam, but even more relieved that the Iceland had returned unharmed.
After the crew reunions were completed and the crew and families had drifted away and to their homes, Abel and Sam walked off the dock and into Brusi's Bar which had now been renamed the Navy Club and extensively remodelled. During the remodelling the walls had been panelled in dark wood brought back from New Carthago and the entire establishment smelled of cedar. Abel found the smell pleasant although a few had complained that the scent was too strong. The builders has assured everyone that with a little time the smell would be less powerful, however it would never go entirely away.
Although there were few folks in the club, and the bar was closed, there was a morning buffet that Abel had found passable. Perhaps not as good as the food onboard the ships but all right. And Abel knew that after a trip of 3 months Sam might want something different to eat as well as a change of scenery. After serving themselves they found a table at the rear of the club and sat to eat.
"How was the trip?" asked Abel.
"Fine just fine. But it is good to be home."
"I read your dispatches and some things surprised me a bit. I understand that after Farn destroyed that dumbbell at Maltzoff the Megra dispatched another."
"Seems so," replied Sam. "Farn hit that Megra so hard she sent it spiralling into the sun and I suspect that whoever commands those ships has no idea of what happened. The replacement ship arrived about two days before we did."
Abel smiled, "Well I was surprised at the speed of your success."
"Ah," replied Sam. "Well the fact that Skeleif nailed that second dumbbell on the first pass was somewhat of a surprise to me as well. The Theans had no resources with which to oppose the single Megra ship and I guess the Megra knew that. They were taking their time in bombarding the planet. On entry to Maltzoff from Cranmore Rod Galindo put down the hammer and caught the dumbbell with his pants down. Rod did one of those straight on high speed attacks and the Megra had no idea what hit him. Didn't even get off a torpedo. Rod took him out with four 'K's on the connector. Really good shooting."
"Yes. I reviewed the battle vid you sent and it was impressive. Did you see any new weapons systems?"
"No. Just a standard dumbbell sitting there fat and happy bombarding the helpless Theans. Seems part of the Theans desire for perfection led them to genetically reduce most aggression and the will to fight. You could rile them up a bit and get them angry, but then they would simply pose a lot and do nothing. Without our intervention I am afraid they would all be lost."
"And the return? Pope Leo?"
"The flight back was uneventful, but the mess at Pope Leo was breathtaking. A third of the planet surface was burned away and in orbit was nothing but junk, debris, broken ships, and what I presume were Megra bodies. We brought you a few as a present. The Xeno types at the Collegium will be thrilled."
"So the Megra did not return to Pope Leo."
"We didn't see a sign of them. In fact we did see several dumbbells that in their damaged state probably survived for weeks if not a month. But they simply died with time and without rescue. I was surprised that with all that traffic out of Dong Son that must have traveled through Pope Leo that they didn't stop for a rescue."
Abel thought a moment. "Yes. But we simply cannot fathom an alien mind like the Megra."
"Now Skeleif is remaining on station with the Theans until you send relief. Rod hopes you do so within a month. He's getting married you know."
Abel didn't know and knew that Rod was going to spend more time in Maltzoff than a month following the loss of Róta and Skuld at Wu.
"I understand you brought some gifts home with you in the hold of Iceland. Not just Megra bodies I presume."
"Yes," replied Sam. "The Theans were very grateful so we have a lot of gifts as well as a sizeable portion of their collection for safe keeping. It seems that the Theans shared with the Xaman Ek the desire to collect antiquities. They were quite specific tha
t they would maintain ownership of the collection and that the loan was only temporary until the end of the Megra menace. The gifts are another matter and they were given freely. Now some of the stuff in our hold I can understand. Statues, furniture, whole interior rooms from alien cultures and even some ancient earth cultures, simple tools, pots, and stuff like that they gave us. Most of the items were valued cultural objects and many were from old Earth. However there is a lot of alien tech in the collection and for the life of me most of it is a mystery. Some of the items seem to be machines of some kind. Many look complete but most are simply parts or pieces of something larger that the Theans dug up in their search for collectables. I suspect the Collegium will have either a lot of fun or an enormous headache after examining all the stuff."
"And your mines?" asked Abel.
"We mined the two entry portals to Maltzoff rather heavily and didn't post a beacon. If anyone comes through they are in for a nasty surprise." Sam paused a moment and Abel could see he was struggling to say something.
Sam drew a breath. "And one other thing. The Theans revealed the source of those small fusion engines we are using on our home made missiles."
"Oh?" said Abel. "And who is it?"
Sam replied, "The Magnificent Son of the Gods, that monster that runs Polis. Those gourmet foods were intended only for his personal consumption. He feasts while he starves and murders his own people. Frankly, I'm disgusted. That we would trade food just for the SOG in exchange for missile engines." Sam shook his head.
As much as Abel hated the idea, he was a pragmatist. Those engines were critical, and even more critical after the Forth Battle of Wu and what he knew were additional battles at New Horizons and elsewhere. Perhaps at some point, when the future of the Commonwealth and the allies was assured the OCN would be free to act. However Abel was not about to abandon his primary principal that the OCN did not intervene in the affairs of local systems except in the case of slavery and piracy. Perhaps, he thought the people of Polis were slaves in a sense, but that would have to wait. Abel had a war to win.
As they finished their breakfast Sam asked, "What now Admiral. Where are we off to next?"
"You and your crew need at least a week shore leave, and then I am afraid it's off to Wu with munitions and prefab station parts."
As Abel and Sam stood, Abel looked at Sam and said, "Sam it is good to have you home."
Sam replied, "It's good to be home. I can't wait to go out again."
They both laughed.
Abel rose shook hands again with Sam. Sam returned to Iceland which had become his home and Abel decided to go to the fabricators section of the Habitat and talk to Emmitt about the accident and the delay on Nomi's project.
However he decided to stop at the Collegium and his office for a moment. But when crossing the courtyard of the Collegium he met Dilli Ketill. Dilli looked his dishevelled self but it appeared he was wearing a clean shirt. Dilli did not see Abel at first as he was concentrated on his inter-tab and rather oblivious to his surroundings.
"Hello Dilli."
Dilli looked up rather startled. "Oh. Admiral I didn't see you."
"Off to teach a class or symposium?"
"No. I just finished my last class of the day and now the rest of the day is mine."
Abel smile. "Ah yes. It's good to occasionally have some free time."
"Well," replied Dilli. "It's not exactly free time. Nomi has asked me to verify some equations and it is going to take all afternoon and probably well into the evening."
"And how is Nomi doing?"
"She seems just fine. A bit ornery this week. She is very frustrated."
"The apparatus?" asked Abel.
"No. Nomi considers that work done. Complete. She is no longer interested."
Abel thought to himself that that was just like Nomi. To complete a complex theoretical construct and then loose interest. "And why is she frustrated."
Dilli looked again at his inter-tab but still carried on the conversation.
"It is that part the Theans gave us months ago. You know the piece of a Gravity Well Propulsion system that they found. Somehow it was not destroyed. That's very unusual you know. The Greaysons were very adept at their booby traps or their self destruct mechanisms. I know that because they kept the secret of GWP for so long."
Abel responded, "Yes, 400 years."
"Nomi took a look at it when it first arrived months ago and thought it interesting. But she was working on her gravity jar project at the time and told me she would examine the thing later. Now this week she has been looking at it. Or rather she is staring at it. Aelia has been helping her and without Aleia I would be at a complete loss. She is a god send and Nomi respects her."
"And the GWP piece?"
"Well, Nomi moved a chair next to the stand on which that thing sits. It's all odd tubes, wires, and tiny bits of electrocene circuits. Makes no sense to me at all. But Nomi sits in her chair for hours just staring at the thing. Then she has Aelia turn it about our upside down. Then a few more hours of staring. She is taking in all sides of the thing, but has never touched it and never said a word but 'next side'."
Abel thought to himself that the behaviour described by Dilli was what he would expect from Nomi. "And all that staring has left her frustrated?"
"Yes. She told me herself. Well she didn't actually talk to me. She gave me these equations to proof. They have something to do with that fragment of GWP."
Dilli looked up and away from his inter-tab. "Admiral I really must be going. This is going to take all night and you know Nomi."
Dilli excused himself and Abel continued on to his office. Bennett Nolo, his aide de camp was waiting in the office to remind Abel that as Admiral he was behind on what was still called 'paper work.' Abel took one look at the vid screen on his desk and assured Bennett that he would get on it right away. But first he needed to visit Emmitt. Bennett visibly rolled his eyes, sat at Abel's desk, and began to complete the minor paperwork himself.
Abel, no longer felt the need for a body guard, but he found Bennett intelligent, creative and useful. Bennett was very good at handling minor tasks and even some major ones.
Abel left the office and walked up Founders Road, past the small bungalows and the few two story apartments and turned right at the Founders Square with its' little bubbling fountain. He continued along Foundry Road and twenty minutes later he approached the enormous foundry complex. The foundry complex had been placed at the far edge of Habitat given its' noise and potential pollution, and between the last of the homes and the massive foundry buildings there was a broad green zone with grasses, near-pines, small ponds, and park benches. Approaching the building he knew was the site of the fabrication of the apparatus he heard shouting and commotion. Abel picked up the pace, entered the enormous building, and saw Emmitt and three fabricators working frantically on a sub assembly of the apparatus. The assembly was rattling and vibrating and Abel could feel the ceramacrete floor shaking. The assembly resembled nothing more than an eight foot funnel but at the small end an actinic blue electrical discharge was pulsing across the floor of the building. The electric discharge, and Abel could think of nothing else to call it, pulsed rapidly and with each pulse the apparatus and the entire building shook.
Abel stood and watched at Emmitt frantically worked some control panel. Abel had never seen Emmitt work so hard or work so desperately in his life.
Emmitt yelled out above the roar and thunder of the pulses, "It won't go down. It won't shut off."
Three fabricators standing next to Emmitt were shielding their eyes from the bright discharge.
Emmitt shouted, "Pull the power lines off. Pull the lines off."
Two of the fabricators rushed forward and began to pull at very thick cables that terminated in the side of the assembly. There were six cables each the thickness of a man's arm and the fabricators were struggling to disconnect them.
Abel wanted to help, but knew that he was probably more of a danger than an
y help.
It took the fabricators almost an entire minute to remove the power cables, but the assembly keeps pumping out the electrical discharge. That is if it was electrical at all and Abel had his doubts. The machine kept running even though it was receiving no power. The flame or discharge was beginning to melt the far wall of the building and Abel felt the heat of the discharge as well as an odd tingling sensation. The tingling was not from the vibrations in the floor, but rather more like an intense static electricity accumulation on the skin and hair.
Abel was about to call for emergency service help, even though he knew they could do little. Emmitt ran to the far end of the building and jumped onto a fork lift and drove the machine at a frantic pace directly into the machine. As he collided with the contraption the two forks of the lift rammed into the large end of the machine. The forks penetrated what appeared to be the thin metal skin and pierced the gadget. Now sparks flew and the smell of ozone filled the air. The sparks Abel recognized as electrical and standing there it was clear that the pulsing blue discharge emanating from the small end of the funnel was not electricity. It was something else entirely.
Then the machine made a kind of growling noise, like one gets when one is hungry from the stomach, and it simply stopped. No longer was the gadget emitting the strange discharge.
Emmitt sat in the fork lift chair and wiped his sweaty brow. Then he slowly rose and stepped onto the floor. He was shaking his head. He looked up and saw Able.
"Abel, this thing is dangerous. Once it starts you can't shut it off. If you pull the power it just keeps working."
"How did you shut it down?"
"I smashed the control unit at the big end. If I hadn't it would have kept running forever. And to think this is just one of 128 of these things Nomi has specified for the apparatus."
"Is that how you lost one of the fabricators?"
"Yes," replied Emmitt. "We were testing the unit and Dixon Kelly was standing well away from the unit but in the path of the discharge. I expected a discharge but not one of the intensity we achieved. Poor Dixon, he was a good man. We are going to miss him."