“Valnor, I need you to monitor the external sensors. The instant you see anything out there, you let me know.” Hastelloy then walked over to Tonwen and pulled up a chair to sit down next to him at the science station. “While we’re here with nothing better to do, why don’t you do a full scan of the system and start cataloging what you find to make the stellar mapping boys back home happy.” The captain then lowered his voice to a whisper.
“What was your read of Tomal as he left the bridge? Do you think he might take matters into his own hands and try something stupid?”
Matching the soft tone of the conversation, Tonwen gave his assessment. “For now he will follow orders, I think, but eventually his self confidence and disdain for authority will cause trouble. He has the utmost respect for you, but that will only keep him in line for so long.”
“Thank you for your candor.” Raising his voice again Hastelloy ordered, “Let me know when you have completed your scan of the system. If there’s anything interesting I’d like to know about it.”
An hour passed without incident before Tonwen completed his scan. “Captain, I have some interesting and disturbing findings for you. I have detected life forms on three of the planets.”
“Three?” Hastelloy replied in amazement. “I’ve never even heard of two planets in the same system having life forms present, let alone three.” The captain joined Tonwen at his station. “Let’s see what you have.”
“I found evidence of non-intelligent life on the second and fourth planets,” the science officer began. “The second planet is a classic example of one that developed too close to its sun. Fossil records indicate the planet was once teaming with life. Over time, an unchecked build up of green house gases resulted in temperatures climbing to inferno levels and scorching everything about a billion years ago.”
“The fourth planet ultimately was too small to sustain life for long as it didn’t have enough mass to maintain a breathable atmosphere. Over time the lighter elements gained sufficient energy to reach escape velocity and were flung out into space. Nevertheless, life is resilient and has found a way to sustain itself around the equator. Small microbes are all the fourth planet can support.”
“And what of the third planet?” Hastelloy inquired.
“I have detected sentient life forms on the third planet along with a wealth of natural resources,” Tonwen reported with great excitement. “The planet is unlike anything I have ever seen. It contains millions of different species. This is made possible because water covers about 70 percent of the planet’s surface. This planet is the ideal distance from the sun to sustain life and the axis is tilted creating cold, temperate, and tropical zones.
“Of all the species, one is dominant. They are rather like us only twice as tall. They are warm-blooded, walk upright on two legs, have two arms and large brains relative to their body size. Currently, they reside on three of the seven continents. Per the Neo scale, they appear to be in the latter part of the Stone Age and have started living in larger settlements. In accordance with the council mandate, I have logged them as species Sigma.”
“Ordinarily, I’d share your excitement over this discovery, but if the Alpha follow us here they’ll discover a new planet to exploit for their war effort,” Hastelloy said grimly. “The abundance of resources alone makes the world a prize, but a ready made workforce puts it off the charts. Keep gathering all the information you can about the planet and species Sigma. I think the head of stellar mapping will name his next child after you for this discovery.”
Hastelloy turned his attention to his command display. The countdown for the reactor to make another space fold was just under two hours. Predictably, Gallono’s efforts to speed along the cooling process were not having an effect, but at least it kept him busy.
Out of the corner of his eye, the captain saw Valnor snap straight up in his chair. A knot formed in Hastelloy’s stomach as he waited for the bad news.
“Sir, an Alpha ship just came through a space fold and is actively scanning the system,” the helmsman reported. “I performed a passive scan of their ship. They have some damage but it looks like all of their systems are functional except for communications; the antenna array is completely torn off. The only other bit of good news is their ion engines are leaking fuel and only running at half power.”
“What about their weapon systems?” Hastelloy asked. He knew the ship would not be coming after them if it were unable to shoot. The real question was how much firepower they still had at their disposal.
“It looks like their torpedo launchers are off line, but their wave blasters are fully powered.”
“Well, that evens the odds a bit,” Hastelloy said for Valnor’s benefit. In truth, the loss of their torpedo launchers only meant it would take the Alpha ship thirty seconds rather than three to tear the Lazarus apart in a head to head confrontation. There was no need to share this with the young man though. He was proud of how Valnor was carrying himself after his meltdown earlier.
Hastelloy paged Tomal. “Have you been able to complete the torpedo modifications yet? An Alpha ship just appeared in system; we might need them shortly.”
“Yes sir. Both torpedoes are ready for launch, but I have serious misgivings about their effectiveness. The energy dispersal of the first projectile won’t even damage their ship, and the last torpedo doesn’t have enough destructive power to penetrate their shields,” Tomal challenged with a not so subtle hint of insubordination in his voice.
“Noted Lieutenant,” Hastelloy responded giving particular emphasis to his subordinates rank. “Please return to the bridge and bring Gallono with you. I need you both up here right away.” The stern reprimand Tomal had coming could wait.
“Captain,” Valnor exclaimed. “It looks like the Alpha ship has picked up our ion trail. They’re slowly tracking along the exact path I took into the asteroid belt. They’ll be at our location in five minutes. I have the ship hidden in the magnetic pole of this asteroid, but it’s rotating slowly and will bring us around into their view in about ten minutes.
Tomal and Gallono entered the bridge and took their seats. Clearly the hour spent apart was not nearly enough time to calm their feud as Gallono shouldered his way past Tomal on the way to his workstation. In turn, Tomal’s stare could have burnt a hole through the back of Gallono’s head.
“Tomal, get ready to fire those torpedoes on my command.” Hastelloy ordered. “It might not be needed since we still could get lucky and they move away before we come into their view, but I am not getting my hopes up. Timing will be everything here.”
The minutes slowly ticked by and the Alpha ship only drew closer to the asteroid hiding the Lazarus.
“They just started a standard search grid of the immediate area, centered around the spot where I shut down the ion engines to coast into our polar orbit of the asteroid. If they continue the pattern, they’ll spot us in 90 seconds,” Valnor reported.
“Yes, but we are going to hit them before then,” Hastelloy cut in. “Twenty seconds from now they’ll pass within 50 miles of our position. Tomal, link the torpedo firing sequence to Valnor’s station and have the computer fire them half a second after we come into their view. Valnor, once the torpedoes launch take us away from the enemy ship at a perpendicular angle towards the closest planet; on your mark.”
Valnor counted down to one and then executed the attack pattern. The Lazarus sprung up from behind the asteroid, fired its two fusion torpedoes in rapid succession and took off towards the third planet. Before the projectiles could hit their mark, the Alpha vessel pummeled the helpless collector class ship with its wave blasters and started giving chase when the torpedoes finally connected.
The first torpedo impacted the Alpha ship’s shields and delivered a focused disruption blast that temporarily paralyzed the shielding in that location. With the perfect timing Hastelloy’s firing sequence provided, the second torpedo flew through the shield gap moments before the field was reestablished and detonated on impact with the engi
neering compartment. A spectacular blast sheered off the back third of the Alpha ship which took with it the vessel’s engines and power source.
“What’s our status?” Hastelloy asked his first officer.
“Shields, propulsion and communication are completely fried, but we still have power. Our momentum will carry us to the third planet in about two days.” Gallono reported.
“Well thank goodness, because here I thought we might be in a bit of trouble,” Tomal stated angrily.
Ignoring Tomal’s comment, Hastelloy asked, “What’s the status of our adversary?”
“The Alpha ship is adrift with no power except emergency life support. They have no weapons or propulsion either,” Gallono replied.
Hastelloy was quite sure he knew the answer to his next question already so he decided to make light of it to let the news hit the crew with a softer landing. “Be a good man and tell me they’re on a collision course with the star in this system and face an imminent and scary demise.”
“I could tell you that, but then you’d be a little shocked running into them on the planet’s surface,” Gallono answered with a touch of gallows humor. “The fact is, their ship is five miles off our right side and is also headed for the third planet. They’ll land approximately one hour ahead of us.”
“Naturally. It’s been that kind of day for us so far hasn’t it?” Hastelloy said while rubbing his face with the palm of his hands.
“You got that right,” Gallono added. “About all we can do to each other now until we land is make scary faces out the window. I’ve already got dibs on the view screen in the mess hall, so find yourselves another spot.”
Chapter 11: Make it a Soft Landing
“Captain, the Alpha ship just entered the planet’s atmosphere,” ensign Valnor reported.
“Well, let’s see how good their pilot is then. With any luck, at that speed and with the back third of the ship blown off, they won’t be able to control their entry,” Gallono stated. “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst right Captain? What is our next move?”
“Let’s just see where they end up,” Hastelloy responded while looking over the shoulder of his science officer at the sensor display. “We still have some time before we attempt our own tenuous crash landing.
“They are trying to hit a moving, rotating landing site while traveling at over 200 miles per second with nothing but emergency thrusters to adjust their course. If they come in too steep, they will plow into the planet. If their approach is too shallow, they will bounce off the atmosphere and hurl through space never to be heard from again.”
“Even if they do make the perfect entry, they will probably burn up in the atmosphere with the damage they have sustained. I must conclude they will not survive this,” the science officer stated firmly.
Walking over to Valnor sitting at the helm, Gallono replied with a playful tone. “Careful there Tonwen, minus the extensive structural damage to the ship, you just described our situation as well. If you keep it up our expert pilot here might get a little nervous.” He gave the ensign a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “You did take the landing on a planet at high speeds with no propulsions systems course in the academy didn’t you?”
Taking the commander’s lead Valnor responded in kind. “Of course I did. It was right after the course on flying through an enemy ship at ramming speed to cause its destruction. I believe Captain Hastelloy was the guest instructor that day weren’t you sir?” He glanced at his commanding officer; obviously hoping the humor was well received.
It was. Hastelloy was happy to see the crew keeping things loose and not letting the severity of the situation get the better of them. He hated to kill the mood, but he had to deliver the bad news. “The Alpha ship has landed.”
“Already?” Gallono asked.
“They came in at a steep angle to let the nose of their ship take most of the heat during reentry. With unbelievably perfect timing, once they got through the upper atmosphere, they flared out to a flat trajectory about ten miles off the ground and let the friction of the lower atmosphere finish the job of slowing them down,” the Captain continued. “There was no explosion when they finally touched down so it looks like they survived. I must say, that was the second best piece of piloting I have ever witnessed.”
“Good lord. What was the best landing you ever saw then?” Valnor asked.
“You should know ensign, it’s the one I’ve visualized you making about an hour from now,” Hastelloy said with the utmost confidence.
Gallono whistled softly. “That must have been one hell of a light show to see from the ground. Where did they finally land?” he asked.
“They set down near a river delta on the northern most tip of a continent along the equator,” Tonwen reported. “According to my findings, the largest concentration of species Sigma is nearby. They could not have picked a more damaging place to land from a cultural contamination point of view.”
“Sorry Valnor, I have to revise my prior statement. That was the absolute best display of piloting skills I have ever seen. On top of the difficult entry, they hand picked their landing site and hit it right on the mark. This was no coincidence. The Alpha weren’t content to simply put down on dry land anywhere on the planet. They needed to get the local population involved in this fight,” Hastelloy said, while not entirely able to hide his admiration of the feat.
“But why would they do that? Species Sigma might be hostile to them,” Valnor naively asked.
“That’s a possibility,” Hastelloy answered, “but not a likely one. Think about it. A giant ball of fire descends from the heavens and lands right next to a primitive civilization. Then out step these magnificent beings who possess weapons of unimaginable power. My best guess is the local population will run and hide. The real purpose of their landing site choice is to thwart my attack plans.
“Had they landed in the middle of nowhere we would simply bring our people out of the Nexus and assault them with many hundreds of times their numbers. Our victory would’ve been a certainty. Now that the planet’s indigenous population has come into play, the council’s noninterference directive must dictate our actions.”
“Are the council directives standard reading for Alpha combat officers now?” Gallono asked rhetorically while looking like he was ready to kick in his workstation. “They use our rules of engagement against us at every turn. First the no attacks without a collector ship in the assault force, now the noninterference directive for inhabited planets. Why don’t the politicians in the council tie our hands behind our backs while they’re at it?”
Before his first officer could really get going, Hastelloy interrupted. “I think that resolution is up for a vote next week, in the mean time we have our orders. Valnor, can you use the thrusters to adjust our descent so we land on an island in that sea just above the Alpha’s landing site? It looks like there’s one about 50 miles off the coast that will work well.”
“I can, but why would we do that?” Valnor asked. “This landing will be tough enough without adding the extra difficulty of having to aim for a tiny island; plus that will put us farther away from the Alpha and delay our attack.”
Gallono lent his support to Valnor’s argument. “He raises some valid issues sir. Once we land we need to go after the Alpha right away. If we’re stuck on an island it will take more time to construct a boat capable of carrying us to the mainland. By that time, who knows how well entrenched the Alpha might be.”
“Valnor, put us down on the island I indicated,” the Captain ordered with a hint of frustration in his voice. “Your point is well taken, but the council directive for landing on an inhabited planet couldn’t be more clear. If it is controllable, we are to put down in an isolated area to eliminate any chance of Neo scale cultural contamination. Species Sigma is not seafaring yet so the nearby island is the appropriate landing site, regardless of how inconvenient it might be for us.” Expecting this statement to be the last of the discussion, Hastelloy began workin
g feverishly on the data pad in his hand.
Tomal finally took a break from his brooding to add his opinion on the matter. “I have to agree with the rest of the crew, Captain. Designing and constructing a boat capable of navigating that distance will take several days, maybe even a few weeks. Giving the Alpha that much time to establish their defenses is not wise.”
Tonwen also had an opinion he wished to share on the matter. “If you are worried about Neo scale contamination sir, I am quite certain that will have already been accomplished by the Alpha landing so close to species Sigma. Landing closer so we can take immediate action seems a more prudent course to take.”
Before the Captain could respond, Gallono stated with all seriousness. “I don’t know Valnor. The ship feels a little out of control to me. I think we will just have to follow our current course and land right next to the Alpha ship. I don’t think there is much we can do about it, do you?”
The frustration in Hastelloy finally came to a boil. In this situation he didn’t like the council directive any more than his crew, but he would follow it. The fact that his crew felt free to question his orders was the last straw. “Gentlemen, you are under the mistaken impression that I am asking you for a favor. Your Captain has ordered you to land on the closest island, Valnor, now do it!”
As the helmsman immediately acted on his orders, Hastelloy paused to survey the bridge and get a feel for the crew’s state of mind. The mood was obvious; the ‘because I said so’ justification of his order was not going to be enough.
Hastelloy couldn’t blame his crew for needing to hear more. Harking back to his childhood he vividly remembered never being impressed by that type of explanation from his father, and he imagined it would go over no better now as a grown man.
“The bottom line is this,” the Captain began, “the council doesn’t want another incident to happen like when the Novi made first contact with species Alpha. When Captain Diaz was forced to land on the Alpha home world all those years ago, he had no idea what to do. His crew did the best they could, but in the end they were making it up as they went along, and the end result was a complete disaster.
Origins Page 8