by Ryk Brown
“We just overhear things, mostly. People talking about how they need to get back to Earth to help protect it against the Jung.”
Nathan nodded his understanding.
“So who are they then?”
“Gentlemen, I’m going to have to let the Chief here tell you about that. I’ve got to get some rest,” Nathan announced, stretching his arms as he prepared to depart.
“You cannot use our quarters,” Vladimir told him.
“What?” Nathan stopped in mid-stretch. “Why not?”
“It has been commandeered by medical. I’ve moved into Chief Patel’s quarters.” Vladimir shrugged sympathetically. “Sorry, roommie. I guess you’ll have to move into the captain’s quarters.”
“Yeah, I was kind of hoping to avoid that as long as possible,” Nathan admitted as he rose. “Gentlemen, I leave you in the hands of Chief Kamenetskiy.”
Josh and Loki bid the captain goodnight as he departed, a moment later, eagerly turning their chairs to better face Vladimir.
“So what about these Jung?” Josh repeated.
“Well, we do not know much about them,” Vladimir began. “In fact, we only learned of their existence a little over twenty years ago. We had not even gone beyond our own orbit at the time. All that we know, we have learned by monitoring transmissions emanating from other worlds in the core. We know that the Jung have conquered all of the core, except Earth. Alpha Centauri-the closest system to Earth-was the last to fall, not even a month ago.”
“What makes you so sure that they will come to Earth?”
“Well, no one can be sure. But their behavior suggests that their eventual goal is to control all human inhabited worlds.”
“Sounds familiar,” Loki said.
“This ship-and her sister ship, the Celestia-were to be the first ships capable of faster-than-light travel. We were going to try and negotiate a peaceful coexistence with the Jung Dynasty.”
“Do you think that would work?” Loki asked.
“Many people hoped so. But at the same time, we were preparing to defend ourselves against invasion. We already have four battleships patrolling our system. They are very powerful and heavily armed. But they are only sub-light ships, and not even very fast ones.”
“What about your jump drive? Can’t you put them on the other ships as well?”
“Ours is the only one in existence, I’m afraid.”
“Then what the hell are you doing out here?” Josh wondered aloud.
“That is also a long story,” Vladimir sighed.
“We’ve got time,” Loki assured him. By the rate that Josh’s head was nodding up and down, it was obvious that he had the time to listen as well.
Nathan pressed the touch-panel on the wall alongside the hatchway. In response to his touch, the lights in the room began to glow softly, coming up to half intensity a moment later. The room, although spartan, was much bigger than the tiny two-bunk cabin he had shared with Vladimir.
He closed the hatch behind him and took a few steps deeper inside the main room. It wasn’t too big, maybe four meters square. It had a large rectangular view screen running along the back wall over what looked to be a comfortable couch, with a metal coffee table in front of it. The wall directly opposite the couch had another large view screen, presumably for entertainment purposes. To his right, there was a small office area, complete with desk and computer workstation. To his left was the entrance to his private bedroom and bath.
As he slowly walked around the cabin, he couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding on the private chambers of the late Captain Roberts. Rumor was that the captain had spent very little time in his quarters, coming here only for sleep and showers. He had lived in his ready room for the most part. He had only been in command of the Aurora for a few months before he died. And all but the last day had been spent in port. He had never even taken the time to put up a single picture on the wall, or place a memento on the nightstand.
Nathan entered the bedroom, activating the lights in that room as well. The closet was standing open and Nathan could see that his uniforms were already properly hung. No doubt Cameron had seen to it hours ago. His duffel was on the floor of the closet, next to his athletic shoes and extra duty boots.
The bed was large and comfortable, but Nathan couldn’t bring himself to lay on it. Instead, he turned off the lights and returned to the living room. He meandered about the room, imagining Captain Roberts sitting at the desk in the corner, hard at work. Despite the fact that he had spent so little time here, Nathan couldn’t seem to shake his presence.
Nathan made his way to the small kitchenette area tucked in behind the office. He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, opening it and taking a long drink as he made his way to the couch. He plopped unceremoniously onto the couch, letting out a long sigh before pulling another long drink of water. This morning, he had woken on an alien world and dined on a simple porridge. By lunch he had been under attack by Ta’Akar assault troops. And by dinner, he already had his security chief and the leader of the local rebellion drawing up plans for a surgical strike against a potentate who saw himself as a God. It had been a full day.
Nathan noticed a small black box sitting on the coffee table in front of him. He leaned forward and picked it up. He opened the box and found the bloody captain’s bars that the late Captain Roberts had given him on his death bed. He recalled the Captain’s last words. Get them home, it’s their only hope.
He carefully placed the small box back on the coffee table, leaving the lid open. After taking another drink from his bottle, he stretched out on the couch to rest. So much for an easy assignment, he thought.
CHAPTER 4
Nathan had skipped breakfast this morning, partly because he had over slept, and partly because he wasn’t really that hungry. He also knew that there wasn’t much in the way of traditional breakfast foods available on board, so it was just as well to wait until later. He could always snack on more dried fruit and nuts if he got hungry later.
He had also woken up a little stiff and sore and had considered stopping by Medical. But it wasn’t exactly on his way, and he also didn’t feel like getting a lecture from the doctor about any number of medical protocols he had broken in the last few days. Doctor Chen was taking to her new position rather nicely, and the power was going to her head just slightly.
He convinced himself that his sore back and arm were merely the result of spending the night on the couch in the captain’s quarters-or rather his quarters. He still wasn’t used to that idea. Regardless, he was sure that the soreness would pass as the day wore on.
“Captain on the bridge,” the guard announced as Nathan stepped through the hatchway. The statement caught Nathan a bit by surprise, not only because his presence was being announced but also by the fact that once again there was a guard posted at the entrance to the bridge. Due to the short-staffing, they had discontinued that practice a few days ago.
“Morning Captain,” Jessica said from the tactical console at the back of the bridge.
“Good morning. What’s with the guards?” he asked, pointing back over his shoulder.
“With all the guests on board, I decided it was best to at least keep the bridge secure.”
“What about the other door?”
“Sealed off on the other side of the break room. Port hatch is now the only route in or out of the bridge.”
“Where’s Commander Taylor?”
“In your ready room, sir.”
“Call Abby to the bridge, and then you two join us.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nathan looked at the forward view screen. The image was just a collection of nondescript stars, none of which he recognized, except for the slightly brighter amber one in the middle of the screen. “I won’t miss that place,” he said, pointing at the amber star on the screen as he turned to head to his ready room.
Cameron sat at the desk in the captain’s ready room. Having always been an early riser, she
had come on duty at zero four hundred hours. She had given Jessica, who had taken the first watch on the bridge, a few hours off to get some rack time before the morning pre-jump briefing. Jessica also was not much of a sleeper, and had been fine with just a three hour nap and a hot shower. Having had her fill of molo while on the surface of Haven, she too had opted for dried fruit and nuts.
Cameron, on the other hand, had decided to brave another selection from the escape pod meal kits. Some type of scrambled eggs and sausage that she wished she could’ve passed on. But since the idea to use the escape pod meal kits was her idea, she had to set an example for the crew. It hadn’t been that bad, and she was sure that, if stuck on an escape pod for weeks on end, it would be just fine. But at this point, even the molo, despite Jessica’s less than favorable reviews, seemed more desirable.
Cameron liked sitting in this office. It felt right to her. Ever since she was old enough to enlist, her dream had always been to command a starship. Although the history file stored in the Data Ark showed many women had commanded such ships in the distant past, no women had commanded a ship of any kind since the great plague. Women had been too valuable for the repopulation of the Earth to risk them on such hazardous assignments. But since the discovery of the Data Ark, the infant mortality rate had dramatically decreased, and the human life span had doubled to well over one hundred years. Most people were continuing to work well into the eighties and nineties. Only a century ago, humans on Earth rarely lived past seventy.
It wasn’t that she wanted to be the first, since obviously that distinction was technically assigned more than a millennia ago. But she wouldn’t mind being the first since their return to space. And she sure wouldn’t mind being the youngest. Perhaps that had been why she had been so disappointed when Nathan had been made helmsman and promoted over her. She knew she could do the job. Sure, Nathan had a natural instinct-a gift as Captain Roberts had referred to it-for flying. But there was a lot more to being a pilot, and even more so a captain, than instinct.
So she had spent many hours in this very chair, wondering how she might have handled the events that had transpired over the last week. She was certain she would’ve done most things differently. And she was pretty confident that the outcome could have been better. But she wasn’t positive, and that fact alone caused her some concern.
“Good morning, Commander,” Nathan greeted as he entered the ready room. Cameron immediately began to rise to relinquish her seat to its rightful owner. “As you were,” Nathan insisted. He had never been one for the protocols of rank. And considering what they had been through together, it seemed just plain silly, especially when they were the only ones in the room. “How’s everything?”
“Repairs are on schedule,” she began. “Three rail guns were brought back online, and Allet is upgrading the system to increase their rail launch velocities. He also thinks that he can increase their fire rate and accuracy by rewriting the software, making it more efficient.”
“That’s great, Cam. But I meant, how are you doing?”
“I’m fine, sir.”
Nathan eyed her for a moment, looking for a chink in her armor. “You’re fine? I’m beat to hell. Even with a full night’s sleep. And knowing you, I’m sure you only got in four or five hours at best.”
“Well, you were down on the surface getting shot at from every direction.”
“While you were up here, fighting off a Ta’Akar boarding party and one of their warships, which you did quite well, by the way.”
She knew he was just trying to be nice, to be a good friend, but she had never been too comfortable confiding in others about her feelings. She had grown up in a house full of boys-five of them, to be exact. That had forced her to be tougher than most. Then, enlisting in the Fleet straight out of college hadn’t helped matters. Despite the rapid change in social mores brought about by the discovery of the Data Ark, most military organizations on Earth were still dominated by men.
Still, there was a part of her that wanted to trust Nathan, to be able to speak with him as a friend. But her duty as his executive officer came first, and she just couldn’t see them as anything other than mutually exclusive.
“Nathan,” she said in a less official tone than usual. “I’m fine, really.” Nathan stared at her for a moment. “Really,” she repeated, standing to leave. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to take a quick break before our pre-jump briefing.”
“Okay,” Nathan answered, holding both hands up in resignation. He had made the offer, and that was all he could do for now.
Cameron moved out from behind the desk and exited the room just as Jessica and Abby entered.
“Where’s she going?” Jessica asked. “I thought we had a meeting.”
Nathan got up and moved around behind the desk, leaving room for Abby to take a seat in front of the desk, while Jessica took her usual position sprawled out on the couch.
“She’ll be back shortly,” he stated as he took his seat. “Abby, I assume you already have a plot calculated for a jump to the Darvano system?”
“Yes, sir. I also have a tentative escape jump ready, just in case we jump into another… situation.”
“Considering our history so far, that’s not a bad idea. In fact, perhaps we ought to make that standard procedure-jump to just outside a system and take a peek before jumping all the way in.”
“Kind of like testing the temperature of the water before diving in?” Abby stated as a comparison.
“I’ve always been more of a jump-right-in kind of girl, myself,” Jessica said.
Nathan smiled. “Now why do I find that so easy to believe?”
“Actually, Captain, once I’m able to verify the accuracy of these new star charts, I should be able to pre-plot many jumps. In fact, it might be useful to create a network of pre-defined jump-points.”
“How would that help us?”
“Rather than having to plot a jump from a point in space that you expect to be at when you execute the jump, you simply fly to that point, executing the jump at the precise moment that you cross the threshold.”
“Maybe I’m missing something, but that doesn’t sound much different to me.”
“The difference is that currently, we have to plot the jumps on the fly, which our systems were never really meant to do. And we usually don’t have time to verify the plots, which I shouldn’t have to remind you is incredibly risky. Predefined jump points would already be verified, therefore the risk would be minimized.”
“Interesting idea, Doctor,” Nathan admitted, “but I’m hoping we won’t be around this area long enough to need such a network.”
“As do we all,” she agreed. “However, the idea could also be applied to short-range hops as well. For example, the parameters required to make a jump of say, one light hour, are the same regardless of departure and arrival points. It is only the departure and arrival points that differ from jump to jump.”
“You’re talking about making some jump plot templates, right?”
“Yes, in a manner of speaking.”
“Are you sure it’s worth the effort?” Nathan asked. “You yourself said that we needed to refrain from using the jump drive if possible. You said that you couldn’t guarantee how long it would continue to function.”
“I may have been a bit conservative in my concerns.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“Your engineering staff and my team managed to get the rest of the emitters’ telemetry feeds re-established. After analyzing the data from the emitters collected over the last few jumps, we were able to make a few adjustments to the field generators. I believe that it may last considerably longer than I anticipated.”
“So you think it could make all one hundred and twenty five jumps to get us home?” Cameron asked as she entered the room. She had heard Abby’s last statement from the hatch as she entered.
“It’s too soon to promise that many jumps from the system. But I do feel better about our chances t
oday than I did yesterday.”
“That’s good news, Doctor. Thank you,” Nathan said as Cameron took her seat next to Abby.
Nathan took a deep breath to bolster his confidence. He knew that what he was about to say might not be well received, especially by Cameron. He wasn’t sure Doctor Sorenson would like it either, but she was not the type to argue in front of others. And from their conversation after yesterday’s briefing, he was pretty sure that she understood the bigger picture better than most.
“I’ve decide to take the ship back into the Pentaurus cluster.” Nathan held up his hand to prevent Cameron from objecting before he finished his opening statement. “I believe the possible benefits of the zero-point energy device justify the additional risk for two reasons. First, it might give us the power we need to get home in a fraction of the time. And second, the device could also be of significant assistance in the defense of Earth-maybe even more so than the jump drive itself.”
Nathan could feel resistance boiling up from inside Cameron, and she looked like she could explode at any moment. “Now I understand that some of you may be opposed to this idea. But let me point out a few other factors that heavily influenced my decision.” Nathan leaned back in his chair, looking at each of them in much the same way that Captain Roberts had done. “Did it ever occur to anyone that the odds of running into not one, but two Jung patrol ships, just beyond the Oort cloud, might be too high to even calculate?” Nathan looked to Jessica. Being special operations trained made her naturally suspicious. If anyone would understand his line of thinking, it would be her.
“They either knew we would be there,” Jessica said, her mind racing, “or they were already preparing to invade.”
“Our detection grid doesn’t reach that far out,” Cameron added, “at least not accurately enough to pick out ships against any other objects in the Oort. Especially if they were matching the speeds and trajectories of other objects.”
“And if either one of those two possibilities are true, it would be suicide to return in our present condition.”