by G. P. Hudson
He pulled up into a crouch position, firing on a Diakan rounding the table. Several bolts burned into the alien’s face.
Red light flooded the room as a klaxon blared, and a voice announced a security breach in the Operations Room. Relief began to wash over him and a grim satisfaction took hold.
An energy bolt plowed into his back, and he sprawled out face first on the floor. It was quickly followed by a second blast.
His body shuddered helplessly, as his overwhelmed implants struggled to keep up with his failing organs.
Chapter 37
“I bet you’re looking forward to seeing Darla, and the girls,” said Breeah.
“Sure. I can’t wait,” Especially after almost getting killed yet again for this one,” said Seiben, hooking a thumb toward Jon.
“I don’t remember anyone asking you to come along,” said Jon, taking a cautious sip of a Diakan beverage pretending to be tea. He didn’t know if his symbiont truly made him part Diakan, but he knew that he didn’t have Diakan taste buds. He supposed it was too much to ask for a Diakan warship to have real human food and drink.
“No, I volunteered, you ungrateful gorilla,” said Seiben with a scowl. “And don’t get any ideas. I didn’t do it for you. I was worried about Breeah, that’s all.”
“I’m sure Breeah is grateful for your assistance,” said Jon, smiling at her.
“I am?” said Breeah, confused for a moment. Jon winked. “I mean, yes. Thank you for all your help in this difficult time, Mr. Seiben.”
“Please. Stop calling me Mr. Seiben. My name is Roderick,” said Seiben, smiling.
“Of course. I apologize, Roderick.”
“General Tallos requests permission to enter,” announced the computer.
“Permission granted,” said Jon.
The door to Jon’s quarters slid open, and Tallos entered. His uniform had been modified to designate his new rank. Diakus had officially removed General Dathos from command of the fourth and fifth fleet. Tallos was now one of the most powerful Generals in the Diakan military. Tallos saluted Jon, this was new.
“Hello, Tallos,” said Jon, returning the salute.
“Greetings, Admiral, Breeah, Mr. Seiben,” said Tallos, acknowledging everyone in the room. “I have received news from Earth.”
“Yes?” said Jon.
Tallos glanced at Seiben.
“It’s okay,” said Jon. “Seiben may be a pain, but we can trust him.”
“As you wish, Admiral,” said Tallos. “There has been an incident on Earth. An attempt has been made on First Colonel Brock’s life.”
Breeah gasped in shock.
Jon was stunned. First Colonel Brock was an imposing man. He couldn’t imagine anyone overpowering him under normal circumstances, let alone inside the mountain complex.
“He was ambushed in the Operations Room,” continued Tallos. “All evidence points to General Dathos. His attackers were Diakan, and Dathos had drawn him there with a request for an emergency meeting.”
“How is Brock? Did he survive?”
“Yes, although he is in critical condition. He was shot several times at close range. His implants somehow managed to keep him alive, against all odds.”
“There’s likely good reason he’s stayed alive this long. What about Dathos? Do we have him in custody?”
“Unfortunately, General Dathos has escaped with several Diakan battleships. There can be no question now of Dathos’s treason, or his allegiance to The Faction. He and his followers are now Diakan fugitives. When they are captured, they will all be executed.”
If they’re caught, Jon thought. Dathos could go anywhere with those battleships. They all had jump systems, and were armed to the teeth. He expected Dathos was at least two hundred light years away by now. If he avoided the jump gate network, it was doubtful he would ever be found. “What about the rest of the Diakan fleet?”
“They remain loyal. Orders were sent ahead of our arrival, relieving Dathos of command and ordering him back to Diakus. That was when he escaped.”
“I see,” said Jon. While he was unhappy about the attack on Brock, at least Dathos hadn’t managed to turn the fleet against them. It could’ve been an insurmountable disaster. “How long until we reach Earth?”
“We will cross through the Sol jump gate shortly, and should be in Earth orbit in a few hours.”
Those would be restless hours. He couldn’t wait to get back. With Brock in critical condition, and Dathos turned traitor, he felt as though anything might happen before their return.
Chapter 38
The shuttle sailed over Earth’s newly rejuvenated landscape. Most of the nuclear devastation had been repaired, and indigenous plants and wildlife were steadily reintroduced. New settlers arrived daily from the colonies, taking advantage of the free land being offered.
Flying overhead, Jon could clearly see the newly built homes sprouting out of the barren landscape. Earth was making a comeback. It would take time, but she would bounce back, and Jon vowed that she’d become stronger than she’d ever been. Earth would never be helpless again.
The Juttari nuclear attack had hit every major city on the planet. Even now, looking at the empty fields, he envisioned the cities that would stand there once again. On his return to Earth, he wanted to tour the cities, to see the progress for himself. He had spent too much time in the mountain complex over the last year, and he was afraid he was losing touch. He needed change. He needed to be active. There was no room for complacency. Humanity would overcome this tragedy, and any other obstacle thrown at them.
As his shuttle flew over the American prairies, heading toward the mountain complex, a communication request came through his comm. “This is Pike,” he said, answering the call.
“Admiral, this is Chief Engineer Singh. I’m happy to see that you live again.”
“I never stopped living, Chief.”
“Yes, Sir. It’s just that they said you were dead, so I thought you were dead. But of course you’re not dead anymore.”
“What can I do for you, Chief?”
“Sir, I’ve made some significant breakthroughs in my weapon research. I feel it is very important that you see them. I need your approval to begin mass production.”
The comment piqued Jon’s interest. It wasn’t just the excitement in Singh’s voice. The jump technology had opened up a world of new opportunities, and Singh had been working tirelessly to exploit them. “I’m on route to the mountain complex. Are you in your research facility?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I’ll come see you as soon as I get to the complex.”
***
The research facility was a buzz of activity. After the nuclear attack, Singh became one of the foremost experts on jump technology left alive. His obvious talents were wasted working as a ship’s engineer. So Jon took him off starship duty, assigned him a dedicated team of scientists and engineers, and put him in charge of jump tech research. It was a leap of faith, considering Singh’s precarious mental health. But he was glad he’d taken it. With proper treatment, Singh’s psychotic episodes were well behind him, and he threw himself into his work like a man possessed.
“Admiral!” said Singh, from the far end of the room, waving. Many of the scientists stopped to salute as Jon passed. “As you were,” he said, reciprocating the gesture. Near Singh, a wallscreen had been activated, displaying nothing more than the black velvet of space.
“What do you have for me, Singh? What’s this breakthrough you mentioned?”
“It is a revolution in jump technology, Sir.”
“You’ve managed to create those jump bombs we were talking about?”
“Yes, but that is not what’s revolutionary.”
“You don’t think a bomb that can jump and land right on top of its target is revolutionary?”
“Well it can actually land inside the target, but to answer your question, no, it’s not revolutionary.”
Jon took a deep breath. “Okay, then why don�
�t you tell me what is?”
“Yes, Sir. Consider how a jump gate works. It folds space between to points, creating a permanent jumpspace portal. A ship simply flies into one end, and comes out the other. In a matter of seconds that ship has traveled hundreds of light years. A ship’s jump system, on the other hand, does not permanently fold space like a jump gate. Instead, it does so temporarily, as needed. A navigator enters the coordinates, the jump system creates a jumpspace portal, and the ship lands as much as fifty light years away in the blink of an eye. The portal then simply collapses.”
“Yes, Chief, but I already understand all that.”
“Of course, Admiral. The problem, and advantage, is that a jump ship can appear anywhere, at any time, without warning. This feature allows us to surprise the enemy, while putting our ships and planets at risk. This is what happened at New Byzantium when the Kemmar staged their surprise attack. But what if we could detect the arrival of a jump ship, before it actually appeared?”
“Are you saying that you’ve developed some kind of jumpspace radar?”
Singh smiled. “I’ve been calling it jumpspace recognition. When a ship creates a jumpspace portal, it causes a disturbance in normal space at the target location. We can now identify that disturbance.”
“So you can see where a jump ship is going to appear before it lands?”
“Yes, Sir. I’ve arranged a demonstration,” he said waving a hand at the wallscreen. Singh tapped his comm. “Initiate test.”
After adjusting some settings on his console, he looked back to the wallscreen where arrows suddenly converged onto a point of empty space. Numbers flashed on the screen indicating the coordinates. A jump drone soon appeared. “The jump drone has been programmed to jump randomly within this region of space. The system identifies the spatial disturbance and indicates where the drone will appear.”
Jon watched as the drone proceeded to disappear and reappear at varying locations. Each time, the computer identified the coordinates seconds before the drone appeared. His mind raced with possibilities. If this technology could consistently identify enemy jump coordinates, they could open fire before the enemy could take measures to defend itself. The enemy could no longer launch a surprise attack. It changed everything.
Jon slapped Singh on the back, and the engineer stumbled forward. “Excellent work, Chief! Really. This is amazing.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“Now what about the weapons you mentioned?”
“Yes, of course.” Singh tapped his comm again. “Ready phase two.” He changed some settings on his console, and the wallscreen shifted orientation to focus in on a UHSF science vessel. “This is not a warship, yet it has been armed with a small arsenal of jump bombs.”
“You put bombs on board a science vessel?” said Jon, with little attempt to hide his concern.
“Yes, Sir. That is the interesting thing about these weapons. They are not launched, or fired, so they can technically be deployed from anywhere. They have their own miniature jump systems. All they need is coordinates, and jump commands.”
A chill ran down Jon’s spine as he considered myriad ways these weapons could be used.
Singh adjusted the wallscreen view to a split screen, focusing it on several drones floating alone in different regions of space. “These drones have all been positioned several thousand kilometers away from each other. When I give the order, the science vessel will destroy each drone with a jump bomb.” Singh paused, looking to Jon for the go ahead.
Jon nodded.
“Initiate phase two,” said Singh.
Jon watched as the science vessel destroyed the drones, one by one. What really impressed him was that there was nothing to indicate the science vessel was involved in their destruction in any way.
“That is very impressive,” said Jon, trying to hide his excitement. “This is a true stealth weapon.”
Singh smiled. “Yes, Sir. It is.”
“Are there any limits to its payload?”
“None. The only real challenge was the miniaturization of the jump system.”
“So you can use this with nukes?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“What kind of range are we talking about, Chief?”
“Due to the small size of the jump system, the range is considerably diminished, with the maximum distance being only half a light year.”
“That is more than enough, Chief.” Jon grew almost giddy thinking of the possibilities. He could decimate an enemy force without losing a single ship.
“But I’ve saved the best part for last,” said Singh. He tapped his comm again. “Ready phase three.” Turning back to Jon, he said, “The science vessel is also equipped with jumpspace recognition capabilities. This has been integrated with the jump bomb navigation system. Everything is automated. We will now use jump drones to demonstrate the power of this weapon system.”
Singh gave the order to begin the demonstration. On the wallscreen the same arrows and coordinates identified a jumpspace disturbance as before, only this time a bomb instantly appeared at the coordinates. The drone materialized seconds later directly on top of the bomb, detonating it and destroying itself.
“Incredible,” said Jon, as he watched the demonstration repeated several times with the same results. “You’ve outdone yourself this time, Chief. This is an astonishing breakthrough.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“But what about our own ships? How can we distinguish them from the enemy?”
Singh smiled again. He was really enjoying himself. “Initiate phase four,” he ordered through his comm. “In this next phase, the different drones will jump into range. Some of the jump systems will carry a UHSF transponder, others will not.”
Jon watched as some drones were destroyed just as before, while others jumped in and remained unharmed. In those cases, the system identified the disturbance, and marked it with an additional UHSF tag, noting that the vessel was friendly. “How does that work exactly?”
“In identifying the jumpspace disturbance, we discovered that we can also send a signal into the disturbance through a jumpspace transponder. In this case the transponder identifies itself as a UHSF vessel, and is not attacked. We would need to install these transponders on all UHSF ships.”
Jon’s mind swam with the possibilities. He always knew that jump technology would create an arms race, but he had no idea where that race would take them. “How many people are aware of this project?”
“Just my team, Sir.”
That was good. Each member had been thoroughly screened and vetted before being appointed to the team. They needed to keep this technology quiet for as long as possible.
“Clearly we can incorporate this technology onto our warships. I’m assuming we can also use it to create planetary defense systems. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Sir, it is. This technology can potentially eliminate any future surprise attacks, like the one on New Byzantium. Jumpspace recognition defense systems can also be setup to use a combination of jump and non-jump weapons. For example, if a non-UHSF disturbance was identified, jump bombs could be launched, along with regular weapons, like missiles, and energy weapons. Any weapon system can use jumpspace recognition for targeting.”
“How hard is it to retrofit existing weapon systems?”
“It depends on the weapon system, but I’m sure we can overcome any obstacles.”
“Okay. I want the transponders thoroughly tested. Make sure every UHSF ship is equipped with one, and make sure they work. I don’t want to lose ships to some accident.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“At the same time, I want all planetary defense systems equipped with jumpspace recognition systems. Hold off on including any of the assault features until you can consistently identify our ships.”
“What about the jump bombs, Sir? Can we begin mass production?”
“Yes. Begin production immediately. I want enough to equip every ship in the fleet.”
Chapter 39
The wallscreen was divided like a chessboard, with the face of Governor Sallas in one square, and the various colonial Generals filling the rest. Jon had learned of their decision to launch a two-pronged attack on the Kemmar Empire while he was presumed dead. What troubled him was that they were so ready to act independently, rather than trying to find consensus. Granted, part of the problem had been General Dathos and his ulterior motives. Still, he remained concerned that the alliance he had worked to put together seemed so fragile in his absence.
Sitting across from Jon at the conference room table was General Tallos. He had briefed Tallos on the jump weapon discovery, and now it was time to reign the colonial leaders in. They needed to understand that they were part of an alliance, an alliance that included the Diakans.
“I believe I can speak for everyone present when saying we are relieved to have you back, Admiral,” said Governor Sallas, in his usual polished manner.
“I’m happy to be back, Governor. I’m also glad to have rooted out this far reaching Diakan conspiracy.”
“Yes, and to think that General Dathos was involved all along.” Sallas glanced uncomfortably at Tallos.
“General Tallos is now commanding the Diakan fourth and fifth fleets. General Dathos is a fugitive, as are his followers.”
“Of course,” said Sallas. “It is good to see you again, General.”
“Thank you, Governor,” said Tallos.
“We all look forward to working with you in the future.”
Tallos bowed his head slightly in response.
“Admiral, we are all concerned about First Colonel Brock. Are there any updates on his condition?”
“He’s improving,” said Jon. “It’ll take some time, but I’m confident he’ll be back on his feet soon enough.”