“Seventeen?” guessed Mary.
“That’s right. We have seventeen fighters on board,” Adam confirmed wryly. “None of which can fly yet.”
“Hold the pessimism please, my friend,” chuckled Kaufield, holding up a cautious left hand. “I’ll take what I can get, at this point.”
“As far as ordnance goes, we should be okay for some time. The shuttles each have a rail cannon mounted on their dorsal hull, and the fighters, once up and running, are fully combat capable. Hopefully we won’t see a lot of action, but if we run out of bullets we can always use the manufacturing facility in the Lab wing to melt down our old silverware.”
Kaufield laughed again, and this time everyone at the table joined in. “Okay, I guess under the circumstances we’ll permit some pessimism, as long as it’s subtle.”
“All of the Marines are armed with side arms and rifles,” Colonel Neeland pointed out. “We were able to bring our ordnance stores aboard along with some of the heavier stuff prior to the evacuation. So you’ve also got a limited ground force capability at your disposal if we manage to approach Earth.”
“Which brings us to fuel,” continued Adam. “I was hoping we’d be better off in this category… but our tanks are only 65% full. That’s enough to keep the support ships up and running for almost six months, but not if the Pathfinder continues to use it.”
“Again, I’m not too overly concerned with that right now,” Kaufield replied. “Just so everyone knows, we’ve got a small-scale refinery built into the Lab wing. We’re not capable of competing with a planetary-based fuel, water, and chemical company in terms of production, but if we find resources we should be able to adequately replenish our supplies. There are lots of planets and moons in this solar system to choose from, but that would require a prolonged landing presence.”
“Speaking of water, that’s not a problem,” decided Adam. “This is a Colony-Class exploratory vessel. We’ll be able to recycle and reuse the water on board almost indefinitely.”
“The fuel isn’t as much of a problem as you’d think, either.” Mary spoke up. “Glen told me that once he and Thomas get the CAS Drive on-line we’ll be able to use the power from the artificial singularity to recharge the system’s batteries prior to opening a wormhole for transit. In other words, once we get the CAS Drive working it should be self-sustaining… and the Pathfinder will only need to use the liquid fuel for basic maneuvering.”
“Good to hear,” acknowledged Kaufield. He turned to face Mary. “The Command Center looked pretty functional last night when I went off-shift. I take it everything is on-line and functioning?”
“Perfectly,” Mary replied. “Almost too perfect, if you ask me. The communications board is completely blank. We can’t hear anything from anybody out there. It’s like the rest of our people have all been completely wiped out.”
“Blown back to the Stone Age, more likely,” grunted Adam.
“Very few attacks in history have annihilated an entire population,” the Captain pointed out. “However, with our limited ability to fight, I have absolutely no idea how we can possibly help our comrades right now unless we find other surviving ships to support us.” He took a deep breath and glanced at Colonel Neeland. “What everyone needs to know is that yesterday Murray and I,” he gestured in the Colonel’s direction, “met with a very human-looking male back at the airlock on Khyber Base. The man told us that he was a member of this so-called Brotherhood of the Dragon. We discovered, during a brief fight, that he was almost certainly genetically enhanced.”
“A genetically enhanced human being?” Dr. Simmons spoke up. “Doesn’t that violate treaty?”
“Yes it certainly does,” the Captain confirmed. “He claimed he was a member of this Brotherhood, and he backed up his claim by demonstrating super strength and speed. He almost took down four of us before we could react. He claimed that he represented no nation, but that this Brotherhood wants to eventually rule Earth.”
“He might be an android,” Adam decided. “The Russians and Chinese are pretty secretive about their technology just as we have always been, but I know they have at times researched the possibility.”
“I don’t think he was an android,” replied Kaufield. “He was shot multiple times and appeared to have human organs and red blood just like ours.” He paused, thinking back to the incident. “He also appeared to ‘die’ from the gunshot wounds. My guess is that he was a human being… just like us. However, he was obviously someone who has received genetic or technological enhancements of one sort or another.”
“Perhaps both,” Karen suggested. “Did you bring his body aboard? If so I would be very interested in examining it.” She noticed Kaufield grimace as she spoke.
“Unfortunately,” he told her slowly, “I didn’t think of that. I could kick myself if it would help, but with everything happening so fast it just slipped my mind.”
“You mean like making sure you helped me get my wounded Corporal to safety,” Murray interjected. “Captain, during a combat situation like that all kinds of things happen and even when we’re carefully trained… sometimes your instincts still just take over. It’s what keeps us alive, the adrenaline rush that overrides our normal tendency to be curious.”
“Thanks, Colonel, but it is still a wasted opportunity,” the Captain decided. He sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. “Okay, where were we?”
“This Brotherhood wanted to kill us too?” replied Adam.
“That’s right, unless we surrendered immediately and unconditionally. So I for one am glad we’ve got a full complement of Marines aboard,” Kaufield stated confidently. “The tampering with our support vessel computer systems was completed quite some time ago, so obviously our government has been infiltrated at the highest level. That means we might even have one or more enemies within Pathfinder’s crew.”
“You’re certain you want to release an unedited transcript of this meeting?” inquired Adam. “We could have a large scale panic on our hands… or at the very least – paranoid passengers.”
“That’s exactly why I want everyone to know what’s going on,” the Captain replied. “As I said, telling people the truth and controlling rumors is very important in a situation like this. Let our security people do their jobs.” He pointed at Adam. “If someone notices you didn’t use mouthwash this morning, I really don’t care. However, if one of our passengers sees somebody tampering with any of our computer systems – that we will need to know about.”
“I used mouthwash this morning,” Adam stated hesitantly. Again, the officers at the table laughed in response.
“Karen, what’s our Medical status?”
“Excellent, for now,” Dr. Simmons replied. “I have a staff of fourteen doctors and dozens of the best nurses I could ever hope to work with. In addition, a lot of the technical specialists working on the Roh brothers’ CAS system have experience working with heavy duty medical hardware. So our Medical Ward is ready for action.”
They continued discussing their situation for another half hour. The meeting had to adjourn unexpectedly when two of the shuttles on patrol suddenly flashed into view, back from their survey. The Captain quickly ended the meeting and dismissed everyone.
With Mary at his side, they returned to the Command Dome. Both took their seats, and Mary activated an exterior visual on one of the monitors. Both of the shuttles were visible, flying side by side as they floated gracefully back toward the Pathfinder.
One of them was trailing debris from its Starboard flank and seriously shook the Pathfinder upon landing in the hangar bay. The Captain immediately ordered everyone back to their stations before activating an intercom terminal on the conference table.
“What’s going on down there?” he asked.
“The shuttles are back on board, sir,” an on duty deckhand replied. “One of the shuttles left some serious debris behind on its initial touchdown, but everyone in the flight crew is okay.” He sounded almost annoyed. “I think the
y dented the hangar floor!”
“I’m glad they’re all right,” the Captain said. “Please have them report to the Command Dome as soon as they’ve completed their post-flight protocol.”
“Acknowledged.”
* * * * *
It didn’t take long for Kaufield to get his wish. He was sitting quietly in his seat wondering about the status of the other two shuttles still out on patrol when the door behind him opened. Two men walked in, both with their faces flushed from sweat and combat fatigue.
“Earth has been completely devastated by the Brotherhood, sir,” one of the two pilots said, saluting the Captain briskly. “There are dozens of fighters patrolling every major planet, moon, and space station. I also counted at least eight capital warships spreading out in preparation to conduct a more detailed sweep of the solar system. They’ve got us, sir. There’s absolutely no fighting going on anymore, and as soon as we turn on our motion sensors to count the ships in the area their missiles start flying at us.”
“What’s your name, son?”
“Terry, sir. Lieutenant Terry ‘Dashboard’ Benson.”
“And you were unable to determine if any of our people survived?”
“No sir. You should see how many enemy ships are patrolling the system already… with more transiting in all the time. We spent the last part of our trip dodging missiles, and one of the smaller fighters got the drop on us. If we hadn’t initiated an emergency PTP transit when we did, they’d have had us.”
“Good work, you two. Go change out of your flight suits, clean up and get some chow,” the Captain ordered. He spun in his chair. “Mary, please call Captain Andrews up here,” he requested briskly.
“Nori’s on one of the two shuttles still out on patrol, sir,” Lieutenant Benson reported. “She relieved one of the other pilots and insisted on going.”
“That sounds exactly like her,” replied Kaufield, frowning slightly as he watched the pilots exit the Command Center. “I guess that means we’re going to have to sit back and wait for the other patrol to return before we can determine our next course…”
He was abruptly interrupted as everything around him began to tremble. The entire hull of the Pathfinder vibrated briefly, then just as suddenly everything was still again. From her seat, Mary turned around and looked at him with an expression that said everything. What now? Their moment of surprise was brief, though, because the intercom next to Kaufield lit up.
“Captain Kaufield?”
“Yes, Thomas – what is it?”
“Please activate monitor five. It’s the exterior camera located on the back of the forward landing skid. We use it to observe our trial runs while inside the ship.” The Captain motioned to Mary, who quickly complied with Thomas’ request.
Another of the overhead screens lit up with a live visual of the ventral underside of the hangar bay. Everything looked normal, except for a thin metallic arm that had lowered from the bottom of the hull. At its tip was a small white ball of light that pulsated brilliantly. It was impossible to tell how large the energy sphere was, but from the perspective they were viewing it from it was obviously pretty small. There was no mistaking it, though, because the visible light signature emanating from it was so bright.
“Now that looks pretty interesting, Thomas. Are you getting closer?” the Captain asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“As a matter of fact, we’re done,” Thomas said proudly. “Despite the fact that your pilots were shaking the ship earlier when I left strict instructions for us to hold perfectly still, we’ve finished.” The Captain could hear someone in the background asking a question. “That’s right,” Thomas said in reply to whoever it was. “Save the current computer model and all its settings. That’s exactly the way we want everything set for our first distance test.”
“So you’ve finished up, have you?” queried the Captain.
“We certainly have, Captain Kaufield.” Thomas said. Despite the slight, electronic distortion in the voice transmission Kaufield could clearly hear the glee in his voice. “I am most pleased to report to you that the Pathfinder’s CAS Drive is on-line and ready for use.”
THE PATHFINDER PROJECT
Chapter IV: Boomerang
It didn’t take Kaufield long to find his way down to the Laboratory wing. He raced along one of the “moving sidewalks” on the top passenger deck until he reached the rear of the ship and then used a lift to descend to the lowest deck. From there he simply walked toward the two armed Marines standing next to several large sealed doors. They nodded curtly at the Captain and one of them politely opened the nearest hatchway for him.
Although he had been through this procedure before – at one time or another – on all of the Pathfinder’s wings, he still found it very intriguing whenever he visited one of them. Each had its own unique characteristics, but the overall technology that allowed all of them to function properly was surprisingly similar. He moved through a short corridor that angled approximately 45 degrees downhill at first but then appeared to level out. Dennis paid very close attention as he progressed, but again was unable to tell just when the artificial gravity shifted to make the flat, inside surface of the Starboard wing the new ‘floor’ beneath him. The transition was almost completely undetectable.
He emerged into a large one-story room that was almost completely filled with computer equipment and manufacturing hardware. Although the walkways were a bit cramped, all of the space was actually very efficiently organized. Some of the larger machinery that the Project Team requested had actually been re-designed by private contractors so that it could fit in a room with only seven to eight meters from floor to ceiling. He continued walking out into the center of the rectangular room and couldn’t resist taking a quick glance at the far wall on the opposite side. Most people unfamiliar with the Pathfinder wouldn’t even guess that to his left and right were the walls forming the edges of the wing. Even harder for newcomers to grasp was the realization that the distant wall in front of him connected to one of the ship’s rear landing skids.
“Over here, Captain,” Glen Fredericks called out to him. He and Thomas were standing next to a large console with open laptops and other equipment covering its surface. On the monitor in front of them the first sustained, controllable artificial singularity ever created continued to flare brightly.
“What’s your status?” the Captain asked cautiously as he moved next to Glen. “From what I’ve heard it looks like you’ve made some pretty decent progress.”
“Affirmative, sir,” Thomas responded. “Our backup batteries were down to 47 percent but I’ve already used the singularity’s energy to fully recharge them.” He paused, a little frustrated. “The Brotherhood attacked us too soon, Captain. If we had spent just a couple of more years researching this technology, we’d have been able to find a way to use this new, renewable energy source to power a weapon.”
“Are you planning to join the military in the near future?”
“No, sir, but with the attack on Earth and everything…”
“I know, Thomas. But we’re an exploratory vessel caught in the middle of an all-out war. I’m itching to take a shot at this ‘Brotherhood’ myself, but for now we’ve got to worry about the health and safety of everybody aboard the Pathfinder first.” The Captain paused long enough to smile reassuringly. “Even so, we do have to prepare for our next encounter. Did you read my E-Note?”
“Are you talking about that really lengthy document you sent asking me if we could use the CAS Drive to attack other ships?” Thomas again looked frustrated. “I read it and your plan is doable, but it would take perfect timing and I really don’t think an unarmed vessel like ours should venture into a battle zone without an escort.”
“I want you to set up a practice model and begin running drills anyway,” ordered Kaufield. “Have one of your teams start on it as soon as we’re finished here. The pilots from the shuttle patrol that just came aboard said the Brotherhood has completely ca
ptured our home solar system. They’re also sending out patrols of fighters to search for and attack any survivors. They could locate us at any time now and I want us ready to go. Call it Contingency Plan Delta.”
“What about our standard PTP engine?” Glen asked. “How long do we continue using precious fuel for what will shortly become our backup engine system?”
“Only until we’re certain the CAS system is totally reliable,” Dennis responded. He glanced past Glen to a pair of technicians cleaning up the remains of a smoking laptop.
“That was an accidental, preventable overload and it won’t happen again, sir.” Thomas promised. “We’re ready to go, and I’m going to prove it to you.”
“How are you going to do that?” the Captain asked, extremely curious. “Describe for me how the CAS system is as reliable as Point-to-Point transit.”
“Because it’s the same thing as PTP… except that it’s a thousand times more efficient,” Thomas insisted, growing somewhat irritated at what he perceived to be criticism. “The major difference is that we have gained access to a much more powerful energy source. This allows us to use only electronics instead of the traditional combination of electronics and fuel-driven mechanical hardware. We can now quite literally extend the range of our transitional jumps as far as we want to. It’s kind of like the computer revolution, or a better comparison would be the difference between analog technology and digital.”
“Thank you Thomas, I’ve grasped the basic concept. Now, if I were a skeptical politician from Washington D.C., how would you describe to me the details of the CAS Drive along with its capabilities?” Kaufield wondered aloud, continuing to apply subtle pressure. He needed to know just how dependable this new technology was in order to prepare for the inevitable command decisions that would be needed.
The Pathfinder Project Page 6