“Of course. You and I could depart the Phoenix approximately four hundred thousand kilometers away from the outer effective range of detection and drift in. Once passing though the boundary of the grid, we will use repulsors to slow our approach and make fine corrections and intercept the Diligent,” Lucky said as if it were perfectly reasonable. “Then, with the instructions provided by Captain Colleren, we will be able to extract the safe’s contents.” Jason’s head swam a moment at the scale of the operation. He knew the distance to Luna from Earth was only around three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers, which led him to another uncomfortable thought.
“Lucky, how long are we going to be drifting in space?”
“Approximately seventeen hours,” Lucky said. “We could increase our velocity, but you may not survive the deceleration.”
“Fair enough,” Jason said. Seventeen hours? That’s still close to twenty-five thousand KpH. This is going to suck. “Let’s run through a few simulations here so I can see what you’re talking about, and then we can set up the flight sequence for the Phoenix and let the others know what we’re attempting.”
*****
“Before you even start, I can already tell you’re planning on telling me I have to stay behind,” Crusher glowered at Jason over the galley table. “Not happening.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Crusher,” Jason deadpanned. “Lucky, give him the broad strokes.”
“We will be required to exit the Phoenix at a precise speed and location approximately four hundred thousand kilometers away from the detection grid and drift through open space for seventeen hours,” Lucky explained. “We then must locate the Diligent, decelerate at the correct rate and time, and intercept the ship as its orbit intersects our flight path.” Crusher just stared at Lucky for a long moment before turning back to Jason.
“Good luck, Captain. We’ll all be pulling for you.”
“So that’s it in a nutshell,” Jason said. “I’m relying on Lucky and Twingo to work out the math so that we don’t just fly into the planet. Then of course, we’ll need the details on the safe from Kellea.”
“Not necessary,” she said. “I’m going with you, and before you even open your mouth, this is not open for debate. My ship, my problem, and my mission. You need me for more than just information on the safe; gaining entry to the ship is an issue all its own.”
“I planned on making ingress through the gaping hole in the hull,” Jason said, regretting his words as soon as he said them. “But, you do have a point. There is the issue of how you’re going to accomplish the trip. Lucky is fine, I’ll be in my armor, but just an EVA suit will not be able to protect you for such a lengthy trip.”
“That’s where I can help, Captain,” Twingo said. “I can fabricate her a suit that will be able to handle the trip. It won’t be combat armor, but it’s better than the standard EVA suits we have onboard.”
“So that somewhat settles that,” Jason said. “Do you have time to do a proper job on it?”
“It should only take me a couple days and we have the raw material onboard the fabricators will need,” Twingo assured him.
“There’s a glaring hole in your plan here,” Kage said. “How are you getting back? Slowing down with repulsors is one thing, but you won’t have the power reserves or the thrust to get back on your own for pickup.”
“That’s a wrinkle we’re still working on,” Jason admitted. “But I did get an idea as I was going over the rest of the intel we got from Kellea’s contact. Kage, I want you to start running through the IDs on the other ships in formation with the Diligent. Try to find why each is there and then report back to me.”
“What am I looking for specifically?” Kage asked.
“Anything connected to organized crime or paramilitary units,” Jason answered. “It can’t be anything tied to the ConFed itself. Also, try to find one that’s tied to an ongoing legal matter.”
“This may take a bit,” Kage said dubiously. “I’d better get started now.”
“I’d say we all better get started,” Jason said as he watched Kage climb the stairs to the command deck. “Kellea and Twingo, you have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time. Lucky, I’ll need you helping me since Twingo will be tied up. Doc, you give them a hand to make sure her life-support systems are up to the task. Crusher, you’re going to help me in the armory later to get our load-out right. Any questions?” Nobody had any. “Good. Let’s get started.”
Jason left the table and walked down to the armory to begin prepping his armor for the lengthy trip through vacuum he had coming up. As expected, Crusher followed him down through the starboard engineering bay and into Armory. He stood leaning against the doorway as Jason keyed in a sequence on a control pad. With a hiss and a whir, his armor, hanging on the rack, slid out of the wall panel.
“You know,” Crusher said, “we’d probably maintain a better profit margin if you didn’t buy new armor every few weeks.”
“This is the third unit, and the first one shouldn’t count,” Jason shot back. “The damn thing almost got me killed.”
“Really? I thought it was your one-man assault on a fortified position that almost got you killed,” Crusher said, walking into the room.
“Were you here to help or throw insults?”
“I can do both,” Crusher answered. “But seriously, Captain, is this the best plan we can come up with? The odds of success aren’t all that great. Lucky is easily the best I’ve ever been around, but even he is pushing it on this. This was his idea, wasn’t it?”
“How could you tell?”
“Each of us, no matter how brave, always leaves ourselves an acceptable margin of error and a relief valve for when things go to shit,” Crusher said. “He doesn’t.”
“I disagree,” Jason said. “His calculation of acceptable risk is as precise as his aim, so he doesn’t need a wide margin..”
“You’re betting your life on that, you realize that don’t you?”
“I do. And I trust him implicitly, as I do you,” Jason said. “He wouldn’t have suggested it if he didn’t think he could pull it off while also keeping me alive. He’s more protective of this ship and crew than even you are, if we’re honest.”
“I’m not saying it’s a trust issue,” Crusher raised his hands up protest. “I’m just saying he’s not infallible and to trust your own instincts.” He turned and left before Jason could respond. After a moment of thought, Jason dismissed the conversation and began putting the armor through a series of self-test sequences.
*****
“There’s nothing that fits your search criteria within the formation the Diligent is parked in,” Kage told Jason after spending the better part of a day searching. “But, there are eight other groupings that orbit the planet. Each is a different distance from the planet and put together according to mass so the orbits remain stable without having to continually go out and drag them back into place.”
“And you’re telling me this because you think there’s a ship in another group that will help?” Jason asked.
“Yes,” Kage answered, turning to his display. “This one. It’s a confiscated smuggling vessel that is part of an open internal ConFed Fleet investigation into one of their admirals. This is real-deal Fleet, too ... not just some local reserve flying the flag.”
“What are the charges against the admiral?”
“Apparently she’s been diverting weapons shipments into her own distribution network and subsidizing more than a couple little private wars all on her own,” Kage said, reading off a list of charges. “From what I can tell, she had no issue outfitting both sides of a conflict with top-of-the-line ConFed hardware. Seems she was supplementing her retirement more than making a political statement.”
“That’s an interesting coincidence,” Jason said with a snort. “Isn’t that exactly what Crisstof is accused of? What are the chances his flagship ends up in the same impound as the admiral’s?”
“Hmm, I didn’t make tha
t connection,” Kage said. “Do you want me to pursue it?”
“No,” Jason said after a moment of thought. “I don’t want to risk your activity being detected on the net and I can’t really see a connection other than similar charges. Facilitating a war that was already going to happen isn’t exactly the same as being accused of starting an open insurrection. Just leave it alone for now.”
“You’re the boss,” Kage said. “What do you want me to do with this new information?”
“We need a way to get the Phoenix into the area to pick us up without tipping off what we’ve been doing,” Jason said. “So we need a legit target other than the Diligent, and we need to make sure they don’t bother to check the ship out afterwards. In fact, the admiral’s ship being in a different orbit really helps us out with that.”
“How so?”
“Pull up a chart of the system and I’ll show you,” Jason said while he turned to his own terminal and began pulling up the weapons load-out the Phoenix was currently carrying. “This is a long shot, but if we can pull it off it will give us an easy escape. Maybe.”
For the next two hours he and Kage narrowed the plan of attack using the information that was on the chip Kellea had paid so much for. Or more specifically, that Omega Force had paid so much for. Jason desperately hoped the intel was not only accurate but also up to date. Any significant changes in position of the key players and the timing would be completely off from the time the assault team exited the ship to when the Phoenix needed to be in position to pick them up.
*****
“This isn’t bad, Twingo,” Jason said as he walked around Kellea, now ensconced in a hybrid EVA suit that had far more substantial life-support systems and hard-plate protection on every surface that didn’t need to bend. “The joints are also reinforced?”
“Yes,” Twingo answered, making adjustments as Kellea stood motionlessly with her arms out. “The material will be stiff, but it will protect from nearly all micro meteor impacts.” Kellea’s muffled voice came unintelligibly from the suit’s helmet. “Computer, patch this suit’s com through ship’s intercom, Engineering only.”
“Confirmed.”
“Say that again, Captain,” Twingo said.
“I said, what if something manages to come through?” Kellea’s voice came over the intercom speakers in the room.
“That is a risk at the speed you’ll be travelling,” Twingo admitted. “I won’t lie to you, it could cause serious injury. However, the suit has the ability to reseal itself nearly instantaneously if breached. So while you’ll lose some mobility, you won’t die.”
“I suppose I should take some comfort from that,” she answered.
“Unfortunately we won’t be able to use shielding or an electrostatic field to deflect anything,” Jason said. “We’d be spotted instantly.”
“I understand the risks, Jason,” she said calmly. “I’m still going.”
“I wasn’t trying to dissuade you,” Jason said. “If you’re ready to start moving around in that thing, meet me in the cargo bay and we’ll start drilling on our exit procedure.”
“Can’t wait,” she said in a strained voice as she shuffled towards the door.
Once Jason had donned his combat armor he, Lucky, and Kellea rehearsed their departure in the cargo bay until Jason was satisfied that they could do it blindfolded and asleep. On the surface, it seemed fairly simple: open the ramp and step out. But the physics of stepping out of a ship travelling tens of thousands of kilometers an hour with the intent of hitting a target hundreds of thousands of kilometers away presented its own set of challenges.
Since Lucky had a sophisticated navigation system that didn’t rely on external com or other transmitted signals, he would take point. He would keep his arms straight out and the other two would grab on and let him guide their flight. When the time came to begin decelerating, Lucky would reverse positions and the others would then brace against his arms as he used the repulsors in his feet to begin braking. The looks everyone gave each other let Jason know what they thought about his chances of success. But, as he’d told Crusher, he trusted Lucky completely. If he said he could do it, that was good enough for Jason to take the chance.
“OK,” he said after the twenty-second run through. “That’s as good as we’re going to get. I want everyone rested and ready when we arrive in-system tomorrow.”
Twingo assisted Kellea out of her modified suit as Jason popped the seals on his armor and stepped out of it. Once it was back in its rack, he began fully charging the power system and making sure his life-support expendables were topped off. He was not at all looking forward to spending so much time in the thing. Seventeen hours just to get to the start of the operation. It would be mentally and physically exhausting and he began to worry that Kellea wasn’t up to the task. She was an outstanding commanding officer, but this would be far outside her comfort zone and skill set. But the decision had been made, and there wasn’t any walking her back from it at this point. Without a word to anyone, he made his way back to his quarters to clean up and get as much sleep as he could.
Chapter 16
“Position confirmed,” Doc reported. “We’re outside the heliopause of the RU933 star system.”
“Full passive countermeasures,” Jason ordered, and he switched the engines to low-output mode. They’d still be able to accelerate into the system and maneuver, but wouldn’t have the explosive acceleration they normally would. But, with the engine emitter output reduced so dramatically, it was also nearly impossible to detect the gunship unless you knew exactly where to look. “We have twelve hours until we need to get suited up,” he said to the assault team. Once he had throttled up to move them into the system, he engaged the first auto-pilot program that would guide the ship precisely along the required flight path for them to exit in the correct location and at the correct speed.
“Doc, take over,” Jason said, hopping out of his seat. “I’ll be down in the armory going over everything one more time.”
“I’ll go with you,” Crusher said, also getting out of his seat.
“Kage, begin gathering as much intel with the passive sensors as you can,” Jason said. “Keep updating me on the status as we get closer.”
Jason spent the better part of the twelve hours laying out all their equipment and going over it with a fine-toothed comb, trying to detect the slightest defect that could derail the operation, but mostly he was just trying to stay busy. The hours leading up to a complex, dangerous mission were the worst. Too much time to reflect on what could go wrong and let the anxiety build up.
Once he was satisfied that the equipment would perform as expected, he began to carefully pack it all up. Some of the gear would be stored in an armored case that would be strapped to his back. The rest of it, mostly his personal weaponry, would be affixed to hard points on his armor. Lastly, he ran the armor itself through one last diagnostic check before disconnecting the umbilical cables.
“Captain, we’re two hours from the jump point,” Doc finally reported over the intercom.
“Thanks, Doc,” he answered back. “Execute the course changes as programmed, we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”
“Copy, we’ll be spinning the Phoenix in one hour and opening the cargo bay up shortly after,” Doc said. Kellea and Lucky walked into the armory moments after the intercom clicked off.
“Time to suit up?” she asked in a strained voice, the reality of what she was about to do finally sinking in.
“It is,” Jason said. “Let me give you a hand.” It took nearly forty-five minutes to get her into the modified suit. Once it was all sealed up and had passed the pressure checks, he allowed her to walk around the armory and try to settle it into place. The fit wasn’t perfect, but Twingo had managed to give her a suit that would be decently comfortable once she was in the micro-gravity of space while still protecting her from the countless hazards such as radiation and debris.
He walked over to his own armor and popped it open.
It split apart so he could get himself into the lower section and reach his arms back into the unit. “Close,” he said, and the armor slowly moved up and around his upper body before closing in, sealing itself. The nanotech metal of the joints flowed around the gaps and seamlessly filled all the openings. He sucked in a deep breath and held it as the suit squeezed back against him, trying to establish a proper fit. Once the pressure normalized in the suit he felt the slight disorientation that went along with his neural implant making a hard connection to the armor’s processors. Once that passed he was able to control all suit functions without consciously thinking about it. Whatever he wanted to do, his implant told the armor what and how to accomplish it. Crusher was right about it being expensive, but in his mind it was worth the price, and much more, to have not only the protection, but the enhanced combat capability.
Once he stepped out of the rack and made a few exaggerated moves to make sure he had full range of motion, he nodded to Lucky. He deployed the helmet as the battlesynth grabbed the armored case of gear and strapped it tightly to Jason’s back. After that was done, Jason moved to the bench and grabbed his weapons, securing each to its designated place.
“Drive is shut down,” Doc called over the intercom. “The ship is coming about now. I’ll be opening the cargo bay in twenty minutes.”
“Copy that,” Jason said. “We’re heading out now.” He walked to the large blast doors that separated the armory from the cargo bay and hit the controls to open them. They milled about in the hold until Doc called down again that they were about to open the ramp. The lights dimmed steadily until the cargo bay was plunged into complete darkness. A moment later the red strobes at either side of the pressure doors blinked twice and then darkness fell once again.
Jason switched over to low-light mode in his helmet and was able to see that the pressure doors were sliding open and the ramp was already lowered, exposing the pitch black of open space beyond. The trio marched forward and shuffled down to the edge of the ramp and held fast until Doc gave them the word to take that last step.
Omega Force 3: The Enemy Within Page 14