by Ryk Brown
Abby waited for Deliza to step up next to her before beginning. “Deliza has informed me that the computers used on the shuttle might be more efficient at processing the multi-spatial calculations used for plotting our jumps. If she is correct, it could speed up the process ten-fold. With your permission, I’d like to look into it.”
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with the operations of the drive, I don’t see why not,” Nathan answered. “You can probably use the one from the out-of-service shuttle. I believe they were planning on using it for spare parts anyway. I’ll let Josh and Loki know that you’ll be coming by.” Nathan looked directly at Deliza instead of Abby. “Thank you, Deliza.”
“You’re quite welcome, sir,” she answered as they turned to exit.
Jessica shook her head. “And the applicants just keep getting younger.”
“According to Vlad, that little girl is smarter than any of us.”
A few moments after Abby and Deliza departed, the Volonese woman, Naralena, appeared at the hatchway.
“Excuse me?” the woman said. “I was told you wished to speak with me.”
“Yes, Naralena, right?”
“Yes,” she said as she entered the room.
“This is Jessica Nash, my Chief of Security.”
“Pleased,” Jessica said. Naralena simply nodded politely.
“I was wondering if you could help us out.” Nathan said.
“I’d be happy to help in whatever way that I can, Captain.”
“We’re collecting a lot of transmissions, from neighboring stars and such. Communications, broadcasting, all sorts of stuff. But it’s all in languages that we don’t yet understand. We were hoping that you might be able to translate at least some of it for us.”
“I can certainly try. I do speak most of the common languages in this area. Is there anything in particular you are looking for?”
“We’re just trying to get a better understanding of the societies and cultures of the area, as well as a bit of recent history.”
“Yes, of course. I can see how that would be of use to you. Of course, I’d be more than happy to translate whatever I can.”
“Great, I’m going to have you work for Jessica for now. She’ll get you set up in one of our auxiliary offices for now, where you should be able to work without interruption.”
“It sounds like an interesting assignment,” she admitted. After working for the harvesting team on Haven for the last six months, sitting in a climate controlled, clean office translating any number of common languages into ancient Angla was going to be a joy.
Jessica rose to escort Naralena to her new office.
“You know, in sig-int, they usually have computer algorithms that search for keywords and phrases, tagging them for further analysis. Maybe we can rig up something similar?”
“Talk to Vlad,” Nathan told her. “He might be able to help you out with that.”
Nathan was a bit surprised to see Deliza sitting on the floor, behind and beside the jump control console located at the aft end of the starboard side of the bridge. She had several large electronic components arranged around her, one of which was connected to an external battery of some type. The side panel to the aft end of the jump control console was open, and Deliza appeared to be peering into the opening, comparing what she saw inside the console to the array of connectors she had splayed out across the deck in front of her. As she checked each connector, she entered information into her data pad, apparently double-checking and triple-checking everything.
“What’s she doing?” Nathan whispered to Jessica at the tactical station.
“I think she’s figuring out how to connect that computer core from the shuttle with the one in Abby’s console.”
“That’s not going to interfere with anything, is it?”
“Not according to Abby. But I advised that she wait until after we reach the hideout before she started connecting anything. For now, the little brainiac is just figuring out how she’s going to connect it. I’m pretty sure I heard Abby talking about running some simulations on the shuttle core first, though.”
“How are we looking, Doctor?” Nathan asked Abby.
“Jump drive is fully charged. The last jump to just outside the Darvano system is plotted and ready, and an escape jump from Darvano is also ready.”
“Very well. Stand by for a jump.”
“Standing by,” Abby said. She leaned down toward Deliza. “You might want to see this.” Deliza grinned, and immediately stood up, moving into position to better view the event.
Nathan looked around. “Where’s Cam?”
“Getting some rack time,” Jessica told him.
“We can do this without her, can’t we?”
“You’re the captain. What are you asking me for?”
“Right. Let her sleep. Give a ship-wide jump warning-except for Cam’s cabin.”
Jessica pressed a few keys, telling the computer to exclude Cameron’s cabin from the broadcast. “All hands, one minute to jump. Repeat, one minute to jump.”
“Kaylah. Any contacts in the area?”
“No, sir. The scope is clear.”
Nathan leaned back to whisper to Jessica again. “You know, this used to give me the heebie-jeebies. But now that I’m getting used to the idea, I’m starting to kind of like it. It feels really powerful to be able to give the order, and just like that, we’re suddenly light years away.”
Jessica looked at Nathan’s boyish grin. “You’re kind of weird, sir.”
“Ten seconds to jump,” Abby announced. She switched on her headset, which was now pre-programmed to broadcast ship-wide during a jump. She counted down from five to one, and jumped the ship yet again.
Deliza watched the main viewer as it darkened just enough to prevent the sudden explosion of blue-white light from blinding all those looking directly at it. As fast as it had come, it was gone, and the stars shifted again.
“Jump complete,” Abby announced. “In position just outside of the Darvano system, thirty-three point four light hours out from Corinair.”
“Contacts?” Nathan immediately asked.
“No contacts,” Kaylah announced after a moment’s pause. “The scope is clear.”
Abby turned around just enough to see Deliza’s face.
“That was amazing!” she exclaimed.
“Yes, it was,” Abby agreed. She could see the wonder in the child’s eyes. But she could also see the mind of a genius as she calculated the scientific implications that such a device carried. It was the same dancing eyes she had seen on her father when they had accidentally discovered a way to jump vast distances in space during their testing of advanced energy shielding. The accident that had revealed this miracle of science and physics to them had been so discreet that the effect on the test vehicle’s position had almost gone completely unnoticed. In fact, it had for several months. And it would still be a mystery had her father not noticed the discrepancy. And he might still be alive, she thought.
“How often do you guys do that?” Deliza asked.
“Oh, a few times a week, at least,” Nathan bragged.
“You are weird,” Jessica mumbled.
Nathan just sneered at her. “Kaylah, scan everything you can, and compare it to the star charts that were translated from Tug’s fighter. I want to know everything possible about this system before we try to sneak into it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Doctor, how long until we can enter the system?” Nathan asked.
“Four and a half hours to be fully charged,” Abby answered. “But there is more than enough power to jump in now, and still have enough for a short escape jump, if you prefer not to wait.”
“I can wait,” Nathan insisted. “I prefer to enter with as much jump juice left over as possible. We’ll have a pre-jump briefing in four hours. Command staff, the shuttle crew, and Tug and Jalea,” he said as he turned to head back to his ready room. “You have the con, Jess.”
“Aye, sir,
” Jessica responded. She slowly turned her head to face Abby, waiting for Nathan to leave the room. “Jump juice?”
Abby just shook her head at the euphemism.
CHAPTER 5
In the four hours since arriving on the outer edges of the Darvano system, Nathan had managed to eat, study the details of the system from Tug’s star charts, and had even gotten up the nerve to visit Medical for his post away-mission checkup. As expected, he had received an earful from Doctor Chen regarding not only his tardiness, but also for the trauma inflicted on the prisoner. Despite his repeated apologies, he doubted she would be forgiving him any time soon.
Fortunately, the prisoner had not been seriously injured. His facial lacerations were already on the mend, as was his fractured nose, no doubt the result of Jessica’s well placed boot heel. He had also had a pretty decent neck injury due to the initial blow that Jalea had delivered. Jessica had later explained to Nathan that Jalea’s first blow to the prisoner’s neck had been intended to kill. Had it not been for the prisoner’s quick reactions, she probably would’ve succeeded.
That knowledge of intent troubled Nathan, as this was quite probably the second time he had witnessed the brutal, warrior side of Jalea’s personality. The woman was usually so cold and dispassionate in day-to-day conversation. Even when they had been under fire on the surface of Haven, she had still remained cold and calculating the entire time. In fact, that episode in the brig was the first time he had seen her snap emotionally. And it made him wonder exactly how much anger was still trapped inside of her.
Nathan wandered down the corridors surrounding the flight decks, looking for the squadron briefing room that Jessica had advised him to use for this pre-jump briefing. With a total of twelve people in attendance, the command briefing room would be too small, yet the main briefing room would be too large. The squadron briefing room was made to accommodate up to thirty-two pilots, and was equipped with all the audio-visual displays they would need. Nathan had been too embarrassed at the time to admit that he didn’t exactly know where this particular briefing room was located. Now, he only hoped that by the time he found it he would only appear fashionably late.
“How many times are you going to pass this corridor before you realize it’s the one you’re looking for?”
Nathan turned and saw Cameron leaning against the bulkhead a few meters down the corridor, her arms crossed and a look of disbelief adorning her face.
“Really, Nathan. You’re the captain of the ship, for Christ’s sake.”
“Ssh,” he said, putting his forefinger to his lips. “Don’t tell anyone,” he pleaded as he turned down the corridor towards her.
“Am I going to have to put study ship’s layout on your to-do list?” she teased as she turned and led him down the corridor and into the squadron briefing room.
“Captain on deck,” she announced as she led him into the room. Vladimir, Jessica, and Enrique-being the only actual crew members in the room-all jumped to attention. The rest, feeling out of place, started to stand as well.
“Don’t even,” Nathan objected, motioning for them to remain seated. He glanced over at Cameron, who appeared quite pleased with herself. “Very funny,” he muttered under his breath. Despite the joke at his expense, he was happy to see the lighter side of Cameron popping up now and then.
“Good afternoon everyone,” Nathan began. Nathan looked about the room. He had been in similar rooms during his small craft flight training back at the academy but this one was considerably nicer. It was darker than most of the spaces on the ship, lending a more serious tone to the room. The seats were all high-backed and overstuffed, and were arranged in four rows of eight, with a center aisle splitting the rows into pairs of four. Each row was slightly more elevated than the one in front of it, ensuring that everyone in attendance had a clear view of both the speaker at the podium as well as the three large display screens along the wall directly behind him. The lighting was subdued but adequate, with tiny spotlights shining down onto each seat from above. Nathan could easily imagine the room full of swaggering fighter jocks, ready to jump into their cockpits and catapult out into the blackness to face the enemy. In fact, at that point, Nathan really wished he had both those fighter pilots and their ships at his disposal, as it would make him feel a whole lot safer. Instead, he had this collection of fresh-faced academy graduates, Karuzari rebels, and a few refugees from Haven. Considering his own lack of qualifications and experience, he didn’t feel fit to command even this ragtag group. Yet here they all sat, ready to perform whatever task he set them on, and without question no less. That was the most amazing thing about command. They were all aware of his lack of experience-at least those in the Fleet were-yet they were still willing to do his bidding. They placed their faith in his ability to make decisions and to protect them from harm as best he could while still carrying out their duties.
“We are about to enter the Darvano system. It is a heavily populated and fully industrialized system, with at least three populated worlds. The bulk of the population is on Corinair, the fourth planet out. There are also a few populated moons located in orbit around the sixth planet, which is a gas giant. Our destination is in the asteroid belt which lies between Corinair and the fifth planet, also a gas giant. Asteroids within this belt are mined from the inside out, leaving a relatively empty shell that is later de-orbited so it can be captured by Corinair’s gravity to be broken up and harvested later. Apparently, this is all a very lengthy process, resulting in hundreds of hollowed out asteroids waiting for their turn to be de-orbited. Within one of these hollow rocks is a base that was constructed by the Karuzari some years ago for the purpose of servicing captured Ta’Akar warships. Unfortunately, they were never able to make such captures; hence the base has gone unused since its original construction. Our plan is to use this base as a hideout in which to conduct repairs.
Jessica and Enrique were both sitting together in the back row. Ever mindful of security, Jessica always wanted to be in a position where she could keep an eye on everyone else. “If the belt is constantly mined,” Enrique asked, “isn’t it possible we’ll be spotted?”
“The breadth of the belt, and the distance between most objects makes it highly unlikely, unless there just happens to be a ship in the vicinity when we arrive. Tug assures us that once inside the facility, we will be well hidden to even the most active penetrating scans.”
Nathan turned on the display behind him. A representation of the layout of the Darvano system showed up on the screen. “We’d prefer to jump into the system as unnoticed as possible, and close to our final destination. “Tug, do you have any recommendations?”
Tug, Jalea, and Allet were all sitting in the front row. Allet, having been working pretty much nonstop since he came aboard, looked like he could fall asleep at any moment. Tug and Jalea, although probably no more rested than anyone else, appeared more attentive.
Tug straightened up slightly before speaking “Captain, I would suggest arriving on the far side of the fifth planet. It is a massive gas-giant-almost a proto-star-that gives off a lot of radiation which will obscure the sensors of most ships. As long as we remain in a relatively low orbit, we should remain undetected.”
“Is there no traffic in the area?” Vladimir wondered. “Perhaps the nearby moons?”
Because of the radiation levels, the gas-giant’s moons are not hospitable,” Tug explained. “And the close proximity to the asteroid belt results in frequent collisions between the existing moons and rogue asteroids captured by the planet’s gravity well. For these reasons, this part of the system is not commonly navigated.”
“What about the radiation?” Vladimir asked. “Is it safe?”
“As long as we do not linger in orbit for more than a few hours, we should be safe,” Tug promised.
“Doctor?” Nathan said, looking at Abby who was sitting by herself, directly behind the three members of the Karuzari. “Will the gas-giant’s gravity well present any problems?”
/> “As an arrival point? No. However, you may have to compensate for its gravity rather quickly when we jump in next to it.”
“Maybe we should assume a speed equal to the orbital velocity of the altitude we expect to arrive at before we jump?” Cameron suggested.
“That would probably help mitigate the sudden change in gravitational forces,” Abby agreed. “If done properly, I suspect you will require no more than a minor orbital inclination correction burn.”
Nathan looked at his audience for signs of any other questions. Sensing none, he continued. “Okay then, that’ll be our entry point. Once we have achieved a stable orbit, we’ll launch the shuttle. Josh, you guys will be carrying a team of four into the base. Tug, Jalea, Vladimir, and Jessica, will all be going into the base to check it out and make sure it is still operational before we take the ship inside. Now, the place has been powered down for years, so you’ll all have to go in full pressure suits.”
“Captain?” Josh interrupted. “Are you saying we’re gonna be flying inside that asteroid?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Excellent. I’ve smashed rocks, captured rocks, and even dodged rocks. But I’ve never flown inside a rock.”
“The shuttle doesn’t have an airlock, sir,” Loki pointed out.
“Then I guess you’ll all be wearing pressure suits.”
Josh looked excited about that prospect as well, even if Loki did not.
“Once you get inside, Jess, check the place out and power it up. Once both Tug and you are satisfied that it’s safe, we’ll break orbit and get inside as quickly as we can to avoid detection.”
“And if there’s traffic in the area?” Jessica asked.
“If necessary, we’ll jump in close. But we’d like to avoid that if possible, as the jump itself creates quite a flash which is highly noticeable if you happen to be looking in the right direction.”