HADRON Resurgent

by Stephen Arseneault

  The officer bowed. “One moment.”

  The Dellus commodore came on the display. “What do the Targarians want in Sarkesian space?”

  Jasper said, “Cut the crap. We know you saw a Karthian. Unless you’re idiots, you’ll tell us what you know. We all live in this area. If the Karthians come in and take Sarkesian space, we’re next in line. Tell us what you have and stop playing politics.”

  The commodore sat silent for several seconds. “Two days ago a Karthian scout ship was chased from the area. We’ve set up a network of listening posts between here and the rift. None of those posts sent an alert. We’re concerned an attack could come from another direction.”

  Jasper crossed his arms. “How good are your listening posts? Are they manned? Full set of sensors?”

  The commodore shook his head. “It’s a series of passive sensors that only broadcast when a ship is detected. No such broadcast has happened.”

  Mace said, “You say there are sensors near the rift?”

  The commodore nodded.

  Mace asked, “Jasper, you think we could jump out for a check?”

  “I think that’s a good idea. Commodore, have you had any ships out to the rift?”

  The commodore shook his head. “No. We don’t want to alert the enemy if they show. If they know we know they are here, it might limit our choices for response.”

  Jasper chuckled to himself. “Thanks. We’ll go check.”

  The comm closed.

  Jasper said, “Idiots. Not sure how any of those species rose to be at the top of the Union.”

  The order for a jump was given. Seconds later, the Revelation moved through to a new location on the edge of sensor range from the rift end.

  The captain said, “Sire, we have a series of ships detected on the sensors.”

  Jasper replied, “Push the data to the main display.”

  The data flashed onto the wall.

  Jasper said, “That’s only about thirty ships.”

  “And why aren’t their sensors picking them up?”

  Jasper’s captain stood beside his command chair. “Your Highness, we are detecting a jamming signal coming from one of the ships in that fleet. The Galactic Union probes would be ineffective.”

  Mace said, “What would you think of a suggestion to attack that little fleet? We take out that jammer, the Union gets its alert.”

  Jasper rubbed his chin. “What would you think about a dash through that rift? I wouldn’t mind getting a scan of what’s on the other side.”

  Mace looked at his arm pad. “Did you ever load up the starmaps from the downed ship on Cancri?”

  “No. Those are fourteen thousand years old.”

  Mace nodded. “True, but if they include the area on the other side of that rift, we would at least know what to expect.”

  Jasper sighed. “Captain, Mr. Hardy has some starmap data. Collect it and integrate it with our own where applicable.”

  The captain bowed before allowing a transfer to the Revelation’s memory store. Most of a minute passed before the data was available.

  Jasper pushed it to the main screen. “Old data didn’t show this rift. But it did have a star system where our data says the other end is.”

  Mace said, “That’s what I was wondering. If we go through… it could be right into a hot zone. I would suggest you just move up to it and perform a scan.”

  Jasper turned to his assistant. “Make it happen. Take us right up to the rift and scan it, then back over to that jammer ship. And let’s try out the microwave cannon. I’ve been itching for an actual target for that.”

  The Revelation was soon in motion. The cadre of ships sitting there waiting began to race toward the rift.

  Jasper banged his gloved hand on his armrest. “Gaw. We should have gone out and jumped in. They’re gonna slip through before we get there.”

  As the minutes ticked away, one by one the Karthian ships moved back through the rift. The jammer ship was the last to leave. The Revelation stopped just short of the wide space-time anomaly before them.

  The scan returned bad news. Four large ships, equivalent in size to the Revelation, slipped through the opening. Laser cannon fire began almost immediately. The hull of the Muhatha rumbled as its dampener field dissipated the energy being forced upon it.

  The Revelation returned fire, ripping small cuts into the attacking ships with its microwave cannon. The overpowered plasma cannons did no harm.

  Mace said, “They’ve figured out how to shield against the plasma.”

  Jasper replied, “That’s OK, we’re—”

  The Revelation shuddered as a bright green bolt came through the rift.

  An officer yelled out, “We have damage! Reports coming in from three decks!”

  The Revelation was jolted again as a second green bolt of energy came through.

  Jasper yelled, “Turn us around and jump out of here!”

  As the Revelation turned, another damage report came in. “Hull breach on deck four. Fire suppression teams responding to decks three and five!”

  Jasper banged his fist. “Why aren’t we jumping?”

  The nav officer replied, “Sire, the wormhole generator won’t engage. The enemy ships are too close. Their masses are disrupting the process.”

  A third green bolt rocked the Revelation. More damage alarms sounded.

  Mace stepped up. “Take us around behind that wormhole!”

  Jasper yelled, “Do as he says! And captain, shake off those ships! We need to jump out of here!”

  The Muhatha sped around to a location beside and then behind the rift. The microwave cannon finally found its mark on one of the massive ships, cutting through the gravity funnels on its tail and sending it slowly spinning out of control. A green bolt came from the rift, again pounding the Revelation and causing damage.

  Jasper scowled. “Go around behind the rift. Right. Anyone notice it looks the same from all angles?”

  Mace shrugged as he held on to an armrest. “Didn’t know.”

  A second attacking ship was hit in the drive area, freeing up the Revelation just long enough for a fracture in space-time to be created. An injection of gatrellium opened a wormhole back to Harkoza. A final green bolt of energy knocked her gravity drive offline before the portal began to close. A Karthian ship slipped through behind her, continuing to blast away with her cannons. A Dellus and a Gorange Muhatha came to her rescue. The Karthian ship turned to flee, but was stopped dead by a microwave strike to her drives.

  The Dellus and Gorange ships moved in for the kill.

  Mace yelled, “No! We want the people on that ship for interrogation!”

  Jasper opened a comm to the Dellus ship. “Stop firing, you idiots! We need intel from that ship!”

  The barrage continued until a full hull breach set off the hydrogen storage tanks that fed her reactors. The Karthian ship exploded with a bright fury, partially damaging the Dellus Muhatha that had pulled within a kilometer.

  Mace plopped back in his chair. “What a waste. That ship might have told us attack strength and numbers. We would have had their newer shields and possibly data on whatever that energy weapon was.”

  Jasper scolded the Dellus commodore. Another wormhole was opened and the Revelation moved through to Divinia, straight to the ship repair facilities.

  Mace asked, “What did the scan show?”

  Jasper pushed the data to the main display. “We have a star system within a few hours of that rift. Several hundred ships, but not the fleet they attacked with last time. And one that looks like a space station. It’s too big to come through the rift. That was what soaked us with that green wave of death. You can see this dish start to glow green before that comes through.”

  Mace nodded. “I see good news in this.”

  Jasper replied, “How you figure?”

  Mace pointed. “That beast won’t be coming through the rift. And there’s no big fleet massing to attack. That looks defensive. Oh, and we know they�
��ve updated their shields. Our plasma weapons appear to be worthless now.”

  Jasper scowled. “I still don’t see that as good news.”

  And officer addressed the king. “Sire, initial estimates are for two weeks to repair the Revelation.”

  Jasper shook his head. “Tell the troops they have ten days.”

  The officer bowed before scurrying away.

  Mace chuckled. “Aren’t you the taskmaster.”

  Jasper replied, “Maybe a little, but they can do it. And when they do, they get the praise and admiration of their king, which they thrive on.”

  Jasper began to stand, then hesitated and sat back down.

  Mace asked, “You OK?”

  Jasper took a moment then nodded. “I’m eighty-nine, Mr. Hardy. I have my moments.”

  Mace pressed. “How long has this been going on?”

  Jasper stood. “I’m fine. I’m just old. Now, I have duties to tend to. I suggest you download the data from that encounter. I’ll have one of my other ships jump you back to Earth. Have the team look that over. I’ll be there in ten days to discuss.”

  Jasper walked toward one of his officers, barking orders in the usual harsh Jasper tone. Mace was soon on another ship. After settling in above the cave complex, a shuttle took him to the ground.

  A short walk had him in Jeff’s lab, where the others had gathered. The data and images were pushed up to a holo-wall display and the discussions began.

  “Our plasma cannons did nothing but make sparks. The microwave cannon cut through their shields and armor, but not by much. We’d need ten of those cannons to be effective. And coming up in a second you’ll see our biggest concern.”

  The others watched a green bolt of energy come through the rift, striking the Revelation and causing damage.

  Mace said, “Jasper lost at least twenty crewmen with each of those strikes. The energy levels are far above anything we’ve encountered. You can see it was more of a wave than a beam. If they could focus that, we’d be in big trouble. Our only consolation at the moment is it comes from that station, which is too big to fit through that rift.”

  Jeff took control of the display, winding it back several seconds. “Look, it’s comparatively slow. The data says less than a hundredth light-speed. You could have outrun it.”

  “We tried. The data must be wrong.”

  Jeff moved the image back and forth, stopping it just before it struck the Revelation. “Interesting. It has sped up from the earlier data. It’s like it locked on and went after you. I’m not aware of any energy wave that would do something like that. Physics doesn’t support it.”

  Mace frowned. “Well, you can see there it happened. Question is, how do we fight it?”

  Jeff nodded. “Will take some investigation. I’ll get the team started on it when we’re done here.”

  Johnny said, “If that microwave cannon is our only weapon to use against them, we need to figure out how to beef it up. It needs more punch. Maybe Kontin would trade us the United Front’s secrets for more of that diamond.”

  Mace shook his head. “Very much doubt that. They only sold us the domain reflectors they did because they were commercially approved for sale by their government. Anything more powerful is getting into their defense realm. He’d be risking his life for that, and neither he nor Knuttin gave me the impression they were only out for money.”

  Liam said, “It would be worth the effort to see if he has any other tech he’d be willing to sell that was advanced over our own. Maybe something for shields? Or faster drives?”

  Mace nodded. “I’ll set up a meeting. Before doing so, I want to see a list of possible questions to ask. If I go in there completely cold, he’ll just think I’m fishing.”

  When the meeting had come to an end, Jane stopped Mace. “Hey, I have a question. It’s about Favia. Are we planning to try to get her home?”

  Mace sighed. “Jasper doesn’t seem interested in expending that much of his gatrellium when we don’t even know if there’s a home for her to go back to. Fourteen thousand years is a long time.”

  Jane asked, “Couldn’t we make the jump with the Gerty?”

  Mace shook his head. “Her range is about half that distance. The Muhatha can go all the way.”

  Jane half frowned. “Couldn’t we just make two jumps?”

  Mace winced. “That would be four jumps. Two to get there and two coming back. That’s four full tanks of gatrellium. We have that in reserve right now, but that’s cutting pretty deep for just getting someone home.”

  Jane thought. “Well, what if we took a load of diamond with us to trade? If there’s an advanced civilization there. We might be able to pick up some tech to help us fight the Karthians.”

  Mace frowned. “Or we could run into hostiles that just kill us and take the diamond. I’d rather not lose our only gate-capable ship.”

  Jane said, “How about this. Jasper’s shipyards can install one of those wormhole generators. They have the factories to produce one. Maybe it’s time we looked into upgrading the Rogers to have its own wormhole generator.”

  Mace replied, “I suppose that’s not a bad idea now that we have the cannons protecting Earth. Maybe I’ll have Jeff draw up designs to integrate one into the Rogers. I know our issue before was size. Now that we have Jasper’s repair docks and workers available, it might be worth exploring.”

  Jane nodded. “And we have the Gerty to use if we need a generator or any of the other parts.”

  Gnaga walked up. “I overheard you discussing possibly making the Rogers wormhole-capable. I’ve been thinking on this ever since we discovered the ship on Cancri. What if we applied a gatrellium coating to the Rogers? We could then use a comm wormhole generator like the ones they used on Rhombia.”

  Mace said, “I’ve been wondering about that. I thought the wormhole wouldn’t form if it was too close to a mass. Especially something the size of a planet.”

  Gnaga replied, “As it turned out, the comm complexes were only relay points up to satellites, where the actual wormhole generation took place. The gear from one of those satellites would fit into one of our open shuttle bays.”

  Mace crossed his arms. “You think a gatrellium coating would work?”

  Gnaga nodded. “I do. Perhaps we experiment with a shuttle first? The Gertrude could open a comm wormhole. Would only need be for a short distance. Once open, we attempt to send the shuttle through.”

  Mace stroked his beard. “Talk to Jeff. See if that whole idea is feasible. If so, work up the designs that we can put together for a test. And, Gnaga, thanks for thinking outside the box.”

  Gnaga returned a confused look. “Box, sir?”

  Mace laughed. “Just an expression. Means thinking about something in a different or unusual way.”

  Gnaga turned away to find Jeff.

  Jane grabbed Mace’s attention. “Hey, consider what we can do for Favia. She’s taking in all this around her, but she needs to be back with her own people.”

  Mace nodded as he strode off toward the exit. After a conversation with Jasper over the comm, Johnny joined Mace and the Gerty was taken to Cancri for an attempt to acquire more diamond.

  A Targarian Dauntless with a hold full of miners was waiting when they arrived. Two days of mining saw every available cubic meter of space on the Gerty filled with containers of raw diamond ore. A jump to WarStation 56 sent a request to Leonis Kontin. A reply was returned within hours. The discussion that followed left Mace and Johnny disappointed. A new order for domain reflectors was placed for Jasper, but no further assistance would be had from the Knuttin Corporation.

  Chapter 12

  *

  A jump was made to Divinia just as the Revelation was coming out of the repair dock. A discussion was held with Jasper after plans for an update of the Rogers was delivered. The first order was to coat a shuttle in the gatrellium-based compound as found on the Hoorka emergency pod. If the tests were successful, a comm-size wormhole generator would b
e added and evaluated. As a final effort, the gatrellium compound would be added to the exterior of the Rogers.

  Mace stood on an observation deck, watching as the final plates of gatrellium were added to a shuttle. “I hope this works. It would stretch out our supply of that stuff for years.”

  Jasper nodded. “We’ll have to see how it holds up under fire as well. I’ll update my whole fleet if it can handle a hit.”

  Johnny walked up with a smile. “Just got off the horn with Jeff. He says in their experiments the coating adds to the shield response.”

  Mace turned to Jasper. “Well, there you go. Sounds like it’s a bonus even if it doesn’t work for a jump.”

  Johnny held up a hand. “He cautioned, though, that it was only a lab test, and that we should do extensive testing for any benefit once it’s installed.”

  An assistant walked up to Jasper, whispering to his king.

  Jasper turned back. “Gentleman… and ape-man, if you’d like to follow me to the control room, the shuttle should be ready for testing any moment.”

  A short walk had the three standing in front of a console where two Targarian technicians were seated.

  The tech sitting to the left glanced back. “Work crews are pulling back now, Your Highness.”

  Seconds later the tech sitting to the right turned. “The shuttle is ready, Sire.”

  Jasper nodded. “Begin.”

  The docking clamps released the small ship. A short taxi had it stopped in front of a Targarian Muhatha. A comm wormhole was opened that only stretched out a hundred kilometers. The Targarian king gave a nod and the shuttle moved slowly forward. As it began to encounter the micro-size wormhole, the front of the shuttle began to disappear. The video feed of a ship sitting out at the hundred kilometer mark showed the missing front of the shuttle as it emerged.

  Johnny turned to Mace with his palm out. “High five!”

  As the tail of the shuttle neared the tiny fracture in space-time, it disappeared, leaving nothing but a wisp of debris coming from the other end.

  Jasper banged his fist on the leg of his battlesuit. “That should not have happened! Someone give me some answers!”