ROMA

by R. A. Ender

  Richard shook his head, “No, nothing. I told Robin to call me on the handcomm if the computer recognized anything. Haven’t heard a thing.”

  Mato thought, well, that is very worrying. But then upon reflection, very exciting. Not every day a first contact situation occurs!

  CHAPTER 4

  Robin was tapping her finger against the armrest of the command decks central station while she continued to stare at the now fully rendered silhouette image on the main display.

  That is a damn weird looking ship, she thought to herself. It truly was nothing she had ever seen before. But, despite that, it did not appear radically foreign like a Bxtozil or Ducanteh vessel. Its engines appeared to be rear facing and the ship projected forward from those engines as most species had designed their first ships and many many after that. It was only those species who were old enough to have completely mastered organic technology that had the strangest designs. She’d only seen those from pictures, though. The older timers, as they were casually known, tended not to interact with the younger species unless they became irritants. Like a human’s level of interaction with a colony of ants, sometimes interesting to watch but usually ignored unless they are crawling across your kitchen floor.

  But, if it isn’t an old timer’s ship, where did it come from? She thought to herself for the hundredth time. It was a damn fine question to ask and she needed an answer before she stopped asking it. The border between the Confederacy and its rival the Imperial Alliance of Empires was thoroughly guarded and monitored. The massive Apollo sensor network, connected by the Telegod communication network, ensured that not a single power source could travel through the border, whether by space, or hyperspace. Even Olympus space was monitored, not that the Imperials had developed that technology yet. Even the tiniest powered probe would be detected and bring the cavalry charging from all directions. Without question, the Churchill would have been advised to respond to an intrusion.

  That meant that this ship either had no active power source, a question which would soon be resolved when they splashed the ship with an active sensor scan. Or, it dropped into space out of nowhere.

  Or, it could have a new technology that allows it to avoid detection as it passes Apollo! And as Robin rolled the ramifications of that kind of technological leap forward around her mind, the rear hatch slide open to reveal the Captain and Mato.

  Standing immediately and saluting, Robin stepped aside to allow the Captain to walk over and sit at the command station. Mato, for his part, had quickly walked over to one of the sensor stations and relieved the young officer already seated there.

  “Any change?” Richard asked while he reconfigured the command station to his preferences.

  “No, sir. We are within minutes of entering active scan range. The ship has maneuvered a bit, but we still can’t confirm it has an active power source.” Robin paused for a moment to allow Richard to jump in if he wanted details. As he did not, she continued.

  “Engineering confirms we are at full battle readiness. I have yet to bring the weapons and shields up to avoid betraying our presence. But truly at this point, they should know we are here, so I don’t think it matters.”

  Richard was nodding while staring at the same display she had been pondering for the past hour or so. Without turning, he called over his shoulder.

  “Mato, anything?” Mato was furiously studying the silhouette of the ship from at the sensor station.

  Shaking his head before he spoke, Mato turned in his chair to face the command station. “A very unusual design for a non-organic ship, which it definitely is. The edges are just too hard, not consistent with any of the organic ships we’ve ever encountered.”

  Turning back slightly, he used his station to highlight a section of the ship on the main display before continuing. “I think this is the most interesting part. This looks to be the forward section, assuming that the engines are indeed rear facing. But, this can’t just be habitable space, this looks like a massive instrument bay of some sort. I wouldn’t be surprised if that section contained a sensor suite or some other forward projecting array.”

  Turning back to face his station entirely, he continued speaking, “I would steer the ship clear of directly facing that section, to be safe.”

  Richard turned around briefly to look toward Mato before turning back to face the main display. He shifted his focus down to Jennifer at the navigation station, “Jennifer, keep us clear of that section.”

  “Yes, sir,” came the curt response. Without hearing or feeling a change, the stars displayed on the command stations exterior display began to drift slowly to the right as the ship's course was adjusted.

  Richard was about to issue another order when a series of alarms sounded around him, using a variety of military tuba sounds. Richard looked down in time to see his display announce that the Telegod connection had failed.

  “Sir, the Telegod connection has been lost. Trying to reestablish,” Mato barked from the rear of the command deck.

  Despite the vastness of space, the dangers and hazards, and the occasional wars, Richard could never recall a time that the Telegod network had failed.

  It was the lifeline of the entire Confederacy and the technology that allowed an interplanetary political union to exist. Near instant communication across space had once been thought impossible. But, when it was discovered how to travel by hyperspace, it was not long before it was discovered how to send signals using even higher planes of space/time. Although the ability to send ships, people and cargo were limited to the three lowest planes of space/time, and even the third plane, Olympus Space, only became navigable within the last century, signals could be sent through all of them. The highest ever discovered, known commonly as Gods Space, was how signals were sent between worlds. The only delay was how fast a Telegod satellite could receive and rebroadcast a signal back into Gods space, which was essentially instant.

  Telegod satellites were everywhere. Their densest concentrations were along the space lanes and in planetary nearspace. Planetary outer systems maintained a decent network, a requirement for a planet to claim resource worlds and outer system territories. In deep space, few satellites existed. The exception to that rule was in border zones. The external border zone with the I.A.E. and the Canua were protected by Apollo. TeleGod satellites were vital to its integrity, so they were abundant, to say the least. The neutral zone between the Ka’Tak and the Lanwouk that was administered and patrolled by the Confederacy was another area with a huge concentration of satellites.

  But in truth, deep space didn’t need satellites. All commercial and pleasure travel was required to follow the space lanes. Regulation, taxation, and enforcement of the space lanes were the responsibilities of the Senate of the Confederated Union of Worlds, in which each member planet held three seats. The Defense Force of the Confederacy, another one of the Senate’s responsibilities, could maintain communication without the need of satellites. Each ship, facility, and base were required to have powerful communication facilities built into them which had the power to send a signal to any satellite located in the whole of the Confederacy.

  And this was one of the keys to the durability and perfection of the Telegod network. Each satellite had the same powerful transmitter. Though rarely used, each satellite, just like each Defense Force ship, could transmit to any other satellite in the Confederacy, using its maximum strength. To conserve power and hardware longevity, they were designed to relay to their nearest neighbor satellite. It was possible for every satellite in a planet near system to fail, due to a space event, cutting off a single planet. But it was impossible for the whole network to be down.

  In all his years, Richard could never remember any Defense Force ship losing Telegod connection. It was, for all practical argument, impossible. Standing up, Richard turned to look at Mato.

  “Mato, how can we have lost connection?”

  Mato was furiously punching commands into his station, ignoring Richard. After a moment, he
pushed himself back from the station and spun his chair around.

  “Our communications array is working one hundred percent. The problem is we can’t connect to a single satellite anywhere in the Confederacy.”

  Richard was stunned for the briefest moment. He was about to speak when a new alert sounded from the command station.

  “Captain, that ship is moving again,” Jennifer stated in a raised voice. Everyone turned to watch the forward display which showed the silhouetted ship rotating.

  “Are we close enough for an active scan,” asked Richard aloud.

  “Yes, sir,” responded Robin. “Bringing shields and weapon systems up to full power. Activating active sensors.” Without needing an order, the well-practiced and preplanned method of approaching a potentially hostile vessel was put in motion.

  The main display almost instantly switched into a display of space with a focus on the unknown ship. All the tactical and sensor information now available was being displayed and tagged to the ship. As the ship rotated, the tags moved to maintain their position on the ship, indicating weapons, shields, hull integrity and other vital statistics.

  A new tag appeared, pulsing red, indicating a major warning. Richard went to read it, assuming it was an active weapon warning but realized it was an engine failure warning instead.

  “Captain,” Mato spoke aloud. “That ship is moving from an engine explosion that is venting into space.”

  As the ship rotated on the main display, the engine explosion was clearly visible. A spewing stream of some hot gas, likely vaporized metals from the interior and hull of the ship, was providing sufficient propulsion to rotate the ship. As they all watched, the engines of the ship pulsed to life for a moment, and then fell black. From the brief blast of the engines, the ship began moving away from the Churchill, still rotating from the explosion. It was clear the ship was distressed.

  “Sara, send out a statement that we stand ready to assist,” Richard ordered while never taking his eyes off the main display. “Mato, status of the ship?”

  Mato studied his station for a moment and quickly answered. “The ship is completely adrift. From the sensor readings, that explosion will likely consume the ship within a minute. A whole engine has already been vaporized and I can detect two more explosions working their way out to space. Unless they evacuate soon, nothing will be left.”

  He turned to look at the main display for a moment, “Also, Captain, I’ve activated the aerodam shields in case any solid debris comes our way.”

  “Thank you,” Richard responded with a grim look on his face. An internal explosion was the worst fear of any Captain. The temperatures involved with space travel from even the oldest and most primitive nuclear fusion engines could vaporize the inside of any modern vessel. Retaining walls and firewalls surrounded engines to help channel the explosion out to the hull and into space, with the hope that the absolute cold of space would kill the inferno, but it doesn’t always happen soon enough or in the right way. Many engine explosions are unrecoverable.

  As he shivered from the thought of his ship suffering such a fate, two more explosions erupted from the hull of the other ship and began spewing vaporized metals and consuming the ship.

  As they all watched, the hull was vaporized and the ship dissolved into black nothingness, with a few remaining hot spots burning bright for a moment, and then fading to black.

  Without having to ask, Robin delivered the news everyone on the command deck wanted. “I didn’t detect any escape pods, Richard. I’m sorry.”

  With a heavy feeling pressing on his chest, Richard sat down in his command chair. It was always a sad event when a ship and crew were lost. Whether they were known or unknown, everyone could empathize with them, and everyone did.

  Breaking the silence that had fallen over the command deck was a now soft-spoken Mato. “Richard, we’ve managed to reconnect to Telegod.”

  Richard just nodded. At times like this, it truly made you want to just move planet side and get that normal life everyone chased. Maybe I should retire to New Earth after all. Heather has a senior position with New Earth Defense Alliance, I’m sure they have a use for an old war horse like me, Richard thought with a little joyful feeling from the fantasy.

  “I hear you,” Robin said, rubbing his left shoulder from her position standing beside the command chair. She didn’t look down as he looked up, but they had served and fought together long enough to know how the loss of a ship affected each other.

  Maybe I should grab that young lieutenant’s eye after all, Robin thought. It wouldn’t be the first time or the last time I’ve taken that career risk. And after today, I need the release.

  Robin smiled to herself. She finally looked down at Richard who had been half smiling up at her. “Don’t do anything you might regret come breakfast time,” Richard said to her with a twinkle in his eye.

  She was about to give a broad smile and a quip response when a message alert came in. Noticing who it was, she stiffened quickly.

  “Richard, a message from Defense Force command. They’ve given the recall order and placed us on battle alert. Apparently, that little Telegod network glitch didn’t just affect us. It is the stated reason for the recall order.”

  Without turning, Richard stood and took a few steps forward. “Jennifer, enter the recall order into the nav station.”

  Turning back toward the rear of the command deck, he continued. “Computer, ship-wide communication please.”

  The computer made a clicking noise before the deep bass notes from the Cithara rang out across the command deck and simultaneously throughout the ship.

  “Hear this, Hear this!” The Captain shouted loudly to gain the crew's attention. “Due to an unknown failure of the Telegod network, the Churchill has received a recall order. All officers are to maintain their sections at full battle readiness. All crew is to remain vigilant and engaged until this crisis has passed. That is all. That is all.”

  And with that, the crew followed well planned, well trained and well-practiced policies and procedures to ensure they were where they needed to be. The ship was ready for anything that may come.

  The Churchill, following a preprogrammed recall order which was known to only the most senior staff, rotated in space as the nav system calculated its hyperspace jump. After only a moment, calculations complete, all six engines roared to full power. The ship completed its run to jump smoothly and as it crept toward the speed of light, the forward hyperspace array cracked a sliver in space, and the Churchill disappeared.

  CHAPTER 5

  …10 Years Later.

  The sweet smell of hot calda was curling up into Richard’s nose. It always carried a slightly fruity smell, always different depending on the planet he was visiting. He had always made it a habit of trying calda on every world in the Confederacy. To date, only Veselyy was left on the list. Though he had visited the planet after the siege, the only hot calda around was Defense Force stock issue, which he had experienced more often than he cared to recall during his career. It always had a slightly metallic taste, though he could never understand why.

  Maybe it just absorbs from the transport ships or from the crates it sits in for months, he thought to himself while transferring the hot glass to his other hand.

  He looked into the Calda booth to see where the server had gone with his ID card. It shouldn’t take that long to charge the card.

  Just as he thought it, the young man came around the corner and handed the ID card back.

  “There you are Admiral Hilbornus. Thank you and have a good day, sir.” The young man said without hesitation, before turning his attention to the next person in line.

  Richard nodded a thank you and turned around before taking a sip. With the temperature of the calda, he could barely even get a sip, but enough was drawn into his mouth to get a good taste.

  Hmmm, that is a slightly dark and late season taste, Richard thought.

  No matter how good it was, it never compared to vinta
ge calda from New Earth. Especially if you were lucky enough to get some fresh from Desh. It was not uncommon on a vacation in Desh to sample a good variety, as most of the temples grew and mixed their own unique blends. But, most temples only sold calda fresh and at the temple, available after a donation to their gods, of course. Only one Desh company exported calda and although good, it never compared to the rural blends.

  Roma calda was still his traditional favorite, having grown up on it until he left for Defense Force training. It is nice to taste that again, he thought to himself taking a second sip from his cup.

  Too bad I can’t stay longer! But, duty called and the enormous Defense Force headquarters loomed in front of him.

  Richard started up the stairs that led to the rotunda. Dedicated to Mars, the rotunda was served as the main lobby of Defense Force headquarters. The cavernous main lobby was awe-inspiring and beautiful. It was a wonderful way to introduce a building that was otherwise square and utilitarian. Inside, stairs and concourses led to recessed elevators which carried people to higher levels of the main building.

  It was a splendid and extremely richly appointed rotunda, following the traditional building style of columns and marble. Its polished finish reflected the image of those walking by during the day. The architect had keenly designed the building to obscure direct sunlight behind the large Defense Force tower during the day, so the reflections were always clean white light. But, during the early morning hours and late afternoon, for a few hours each day, the rotunda's marble was flooded with the rich colors of dawn and dusk. Many times it was bathed in deep reds, Mars’ traditional color.