Gnaga stopped. “They wouldn’t dare, and you should not ask. If they knew of the fifth reactor on this ship, they would be obligated to tell the founders. Withholding information about a violation is a serious offense. An offense for which the founders can and would confiscate territory.”
Johnny shook his head as they turned the corner into the room that held the exosuits. “Sounds like you have your heads stuck in a vise.”
Gnaga nodded. “Indeed we do.”
Two sets of ship remnants were scanned. Neither had the conduits being sought.
Jasper turned from the sensor console. “We have visitors. Two Mawga cruisers, sitting just at sensor range. And they have to know we see them.”
“Just Stark having his goons keep an eye on us. I would do the same.”
Jasper said, “They’re gonna know what we’re after.”
Mace pulled an image of the next target up on the main display. “Not necessarily. So long as they keep their distance, we can go in and take what we want. When we have it, we destroy the remaining remnant. They won’t know what was taken.”
Jasper asked, “And if they come in closer?”
Mace smiled. “If they come closer, we fire off a few warning shots. My guess is they were told to observe and to not interfere. If that’s the case, they’ll leave us alone. For all they know, we’re just out here collecting spare parts. We don’t have a repair dock to fall back on, so we’re just being prudent.”
Johnny came over the comm. “We’re suited up and ready here whenever you are.”
Liam replied, “Closing on the next target now. Scan says you might have two of your conduits on there.”
Mace said, “As soon as they’re back aboard I want the work to begin on connecting the next reactor.”
Jeff stood from his chair. “I’ll go get started on that right now. We can dismantle those reactors as they sit. Should only take a couple hours and we can start the reassembly. You do realize we don’t have a way to light them off, right? The everspark is still inside reactor five’s housing, if it exists at all.”
“Any way to cut through the base to get to it?”
Jeff replied, “I don’t see how. If we do that, we risk losing it. Could be its leaning against the wall in there. The heat of our torches could damage it, or we could knock it into that containment field. Worse, we could upset the containment field. Sorry, but I think our only safe way to retrieve it is by shutting the reactor down.”
Liam said, “We could always ask Montak if we could borrow his.”
Mace shook his head. “No, he would want to know what we needed it for. If we manage to get these other reactors set up. And if Gnaga thinks those reactors are in good enough condition to run, we’ll shut down number five to retrieve it.”
Jasper turned. “If we can pull this off, what will it do for our firepower?”
Jeff replied, “It’s not just the weapons, Mr. Collins. We’ll be able to travel faster. And our dampening fields will gain power, too.”
Jasper asked, “How much faster?”
Jeff typed away on his arm pad, pushing the data to a corner of the main screen. “Reactor five brought with it a 36 percent reduction in recharge time. However, until we test it we can’t be sure of what eight reactors total will bring.”
Jane asked, “Have we given any thought to adding more armor to our weak points? We could make use of those remnants in that way rather than destroying them. I know we’ve already taken a few steps in this regard. More armor wouldn’t hurt, would it?”
Mace replied, “Jeff, can you work with Jane to evaluate the usefulness of more armor?”
Jeff nodded. “Actually, I think I already have use for it. If we cover the front facing surfaces with extra layers, it might help us when we’re pushing our speed. I’ve also had conversations with Gnaga about the dampening fields. With more reactors, we could divert more power to them, although he wasn’t sure it would make much of a difference. The hardware can only do what it can do.”
Jane asked, “This dampening field hardware, is that something we can salvage as well? Maybe wiring in more of it would yield a stronger field?”
Jeff raised an eyebrow. “I suppose we should evaluate all the systems on this ship. I’ll pull David away from his star map studies to help.”
Johnny came over the comm. “Hey, looks like we have two complete conduits down here. Gnaga thinks we might be able to salvage a third.”
Mace replied, “Excellent. Bring them back as soon as possible. We might be sending you back for more parts.”
Johnny patched through a video stream. “These two we have out are good to go. The casing for this third is damaged, but the cables inside might still be in good shape. If so, we have the three we need. What other parts should I look for?”
Mace pulled up an image of a dampener field transducer, passing it to the stream going back. “Crawl around the exterior and tell me if any of these look intact, and if they can be removed. From this diagram, it looks like they are molded into the hull.”
Johnny looked over the image. “I could cut a chunk of the hull out with it. Gives us something to look at when I get back.”
Mace nodded. “Do that when you have the conduit out. How’s Gnaga doing out there?”
Johnny laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about him. He’s loving that exosuit. He said the ones the Kaachi use are light-years behind that one.”
Mace half smiled. “Good. Might be something we can trade off some of our impending debt for. If it’s that much better than the Kaachi’s, I’d think they’d be eager to have one.”
The salvage operation ran for five hours. Once back aboard, Johnny made his way to the bridge as Gnaga took the conduits to the reactor room.
Chapter 11
*
Johnny walked onto the bridge with Derwood at his heels. “I dropped the dampener sample off with David. He seemed more interested in that than the chunk of armor it was attached to.”
Mace replied, “Jeff was coming to the same conclusion. Thicker armor on the nose wouldn’t do much for us. A more powerful dampener field… now, that he thinks would be worthwhile. That field offers most of the protection we have from those plasma cannons.
“Without it, they would rip right through that hull like it was made of cardboard. The fix-ups we did to better cover our weak points? Probably useless. On the other hand, if we can ramp up the dampener field, he thinks it would be like gold in a recession.”
Johnny laughed. “Gold in a recession? Where’d you get that from?”
Mace shrugged. “David used it in a conversation the other day. For some reason it stuck with me.”
Johnny said, “Well, I think that bit of economic theory has gone the way of the dodo. We have the parts we came for. Time for some target practice?”
Mace shook his head. “Not yet. Jeff and the others are evaluating all the parts hanging on that remnant. Some we might be able to use as spares. Others, enhancements. If they determine the remains are useless, we’ll open up on it with the cannons.”
Johnny grinned. “I can’t wait to see what those guns will do with the new reactors charging them.”
Mace scowled. “We can’t use them like that. Stark’s ships are still sitting out there. We’ll have to wait until we’re on our own.”
Mace stood. “Come on, let’s go down and see how the reactors are coming.”
After a short walk, Mace, Johnny and Derwood entered the reactor room. “Mr. Klept, how we looking?”
Gnaga replied, “The first two reactors have been assembled and adjusted. The conduits we salvaged fit perfectly. Give me another ten minutes and I should have the third reactor ready.”
Mace took a deep breath. “I guess it’s time we shut down reactor five, then. Anything special I should do first? Or do I just follow the instructions on the control panel?”
Gnaga gestured toward the panel. “Everything can be handled from there. When the reaction ends, you will have fifteen mi
nutes before the containment field can be shut down. Any earlier and you risk the reactor melting through the floor until it reaches the hull.”
Johnny asked, “What happens then?”
Gnaga smiled. “We die.”
Johnny nodded. “OK. Good to know.”
Mace sat at the control panel for reactor five. “Shutting off the hydrogen feed and… wait. That’s it?”
Gnaga replied, “When the reaction stops, turn off the lasers. In fifteen minutes we can check to see if the everspark remains.”
As they waited, the third conduit was snapped into place. A breaker was thrown and feedback from the main lines tested. If the reactors could be lit, they would add to the power of the Rogers.
Mace leaned back in the console chair. “What temperature are we waiting for?”
Gnaga replied, “Fifteen minutes.”
Mace laughed. “OK. It’s been twelve. Temperature is only about twenty degrees above room temp.”
Gnaga nodded. “That would be the temperature of the thermometer probes. There are other hotspots still inside that housing. Fifteen minutes gives them sufficient time to cool. Unless you are willing to risk life-threatening burns.”
Mace held up his hand. “I can wait the extra couple minutes.”
Gnaga smiled. “Strangely, I find the responses to many of my statements refreshing. A part of me thinks I should be offended. Another part wants to burst out laughing.”
Johnny crossed his arms. “Yeah, what’s up with that? I don’t think I’ve heard you laugh at all.”
Gnaga replied, “It is a cultural difference. We are encouraged to keep our reactions subdued. As a consequence, there is not much laughter in Kaachi society.”
Johnny winced. “No jokes, nothing?”
Gnaga shook his head. “On the contrary, we very much enjoy humor. We just refrain from open laughter.”
Mace stood. “Fifteen minutes is up.”
Gnaga reached for the access door. “Let’s hope the everspark is not kaput.”
Johnny pointed. “Ah. You do have a humorous side to you. We’ll have to work on that.”
Mace sighed. “Let it be, Johnny. We have enough comedians in the crew already.”
Johnny held up a hand. “Fine. Just trying to give him a talent that he could take back to his people.”
Gnaga said, “I can assure you, Mr. Tretcher, Human humor would only serve to make me an outcast among my people. I would prefer to remain untrained if that is possible.”
Johnny shook his head. “Now, see there? You spooked him.”
Mace peered into the access doorway. “I can’t quite see down into the corner. Johnny? You still carry that little mirror in your wallet?”
Johnny laughed. “How’d you know about that?”
Gnaga walked over to a storage area, pulling a drawer from a wall. “I have one.”
Mace held the mirror just inside the access. “Grr. Nothing… oh, wait… wrong corner. Ahhh… there it is! Looks intact! How do we get it out?”
Gnaga reached over, pressing a button on the outside of the reactor housing. The frame split in half, opening like a clamshell. Johnny reached down, picking up the everspark with a grin.
Mace asked, “Why didn’t we do that in the first place, instead of going through that whole mirror biz?”
Gnaga pressed the button a second time. “Because we now have to realign the reaction arms. Had the everspark not been there, it would only have created more work for us.”
Mace replied, “How long for an alignment?”
Gnaga snapped the reactor frame shut. “Five minutes.”
Johnny laughed.
Gnaga turned. “I’m curious. What do you find so humorous?”
Johnny chuckled. “Sorry, it’s just a reaction from the translator. Your little mouth is moving like me, me, me, me, me, but it’s not synced up with what I’m hearing. It’s like watching an old Chinese karate movie. The moment you start talking with a cowboy accent, I’m gonna be rolling on the floor.”
Gnaga replied, “The translation software can be personalized to yield any accent you desire.”
Mace held up his hand. “No, please don’t explain that to him. We’ll never get any work done.”
Johnny grinned. “Too late. I’m thinking Jasper needs a heavy Indian accent. And you… definitely hillbilly.”
Gnaga made the necessary adjustments. With the reactor ready, the startup procedure was run. This time, Gnaga, with his smaller arms and hands, was allowed to light the reactor. The everspark glowed and Gnaga withdrew cleanly.
Mace nodded as the reaction grew to full scale. Gnaga moved to the next reactor. Again the startup procedure was followed and the fusion reaction sparked to life. When the procedure for the fourth and final new reactor was complete, the three moved back to the control consoles.
Mace flipped a switch and pressed a button. Gnaga followed, with Johnny connecting the third.
Mace looked at the others as the last reactor joined the power stream. “How long before we know if it’s successful?”
“We already know,” replied Gnaga.
Mace opened a comm to the bridge. “What do we see on the power panel?”
Jasper replied, “We have green across the board.”
Mace clapped his hands together. “Gentlemen. Shall we pay a visit to Mr. Moskowitz? If he doesn’t have any other parts needs, we can head home.”
Jeff stood as the others came into the room. “We should gather as many of those dampener transducers as we can. They are additive when ganged together. We have twice as many and we get twice the protection. Two of these added to the nose and we can run at the speeds we did earlier without issue.”
Johnny said, “That was the only intact one on that remnant.”
Mace asked, “We have three more reactors now. How many do we need to handle the speeds we can get from those?”
Jeff shrugged. “Four maybe? I don’t have the design specifications, so anything I throw out is 100 percent guess.”
Mace opened a comm to the bridge. “We’re done with this ship remnant. Please use the plasma cannons to destroy it. And remember, wait the full six seconds before firing. The recharge will be faster, but we can’t risk showing that off to the Stark ships that are watching us. Actually, belay that order.”
Mace turned to Johnny. “I’ve decided on a new first officer.”
Johnny raised an eyebrow and held back a grin. “And?”
Mace replied as they walked toward the bridge. “And it’s Jasper.”
Gnaga let out a single laugh. “Ha!”
Johnny returned a puzzled look. “Wait. What? Why on Earth—”
Mace stopped and laughed. “Relax. It’s not Jasper. I just wanted to see your reaction. It’s Jordan Crawford. He’s showed himself to be an equal to you, but without having the appearance of me playing favorites.”
Johnny shook his head. “I have no problem with Jordan. Jasper… you almost made my heart stop with that one.”
Mace shrugged as they again began to walk. “I don’t know. Jasper’s come a long way since we first met him. Getting his mobility back has completely changed his outlook on things. His decisions and ideas have all worked out for us.”
Johnny scowled. “Well, just try not to tell him that while I’m around. I wouldn’t want his big head to swell and explode.”
Five seconds later, Gnaga let out another single laugh. “Ha!”
Johnny chuckled. “What was that for?”
Gnaga smiled. “Practice.”
Johnny laughed as they walked onto the bridge. “Well, just keep practicing. You’re not quite there yet.”
Mace opened a general comm. “Mr. Crawford, please come to the bridge.”
Seconds later the major trotted into the room. “Yes, sir?”
Mace smiled. “OK. Didn’t mean for you to run here. I just wanted to let you and everyone else aboard know I’d like to have you as my second in command. If you’re agreeable with that.”
> Jordan nodded. “Would consider it an honor, sir.”
Mace pointed at the first officer’s chair. “The position is yours, but you have to stop calling me sir.”
Jordan smiled. “I think I can manage that, Mr. Hardy.”
“You don’t even have to go that far if you don’t want to. I answer to Mace as well.”
Jordan sat in the command chair. “If it’s all the same, Mr. Hardy, I’d prefer to keep some formality there. That presents respect when we’re dealing with others who are not normally on the bridge. Such as the Kaachi admiral or director.”
Mace sat in the captain’s chair. “Good call, Major, or Commander.”
Jordan replied, “Jordan is fine, Mr. Hardy.”
Mace nodded. “OK, Jordan. As your first command, I’d like to see that remnant out there destroyed.”
Jordan stood and walked to the weapons station. “Mr. Mallot, I’d like a half dozen cannon shots into that remnant. Spaced six seconds apart. No, make that eight, just for good measure.”
Six plasma rounds saw to it that no part larger than a marble remained of the Kaachi wreckage. Liam Hobbs guided the Rogers to the next remnant. Four dampener transducers were collected before the section of Kaachi ship was mostly vaporized. Another seven stops saw fourteen transducers collected. Jordan Crawford followed with the order for the ship to return home.
The crew took turns in their exosuits, attaching the new dampener transducers to the hull. The duty was seen as a perk, given the bright fall sun of the West Virginia sky. As an added bonus for the rest of the members, twenty at a time were taken down to the surface for two hour “sun breaks.”
Mace sat on the front steps of the gift shop as Jasper rocked back and forth in his chair. “Mr. Collins, did you ever in your wildest dreams picture us doing anything like what we just did?”
Jasper shook his head. “I’ve got a vivid imagination, Mr. Hardy. Growing up around here, it came with the territory. I can’t tell you how many Civil War battles I’ve fought in my head. Or how many young ladies I dreamed about sneaking into the cave. But all this? It’s beyond my limits.”
Mace looked down, rubbing the hard wood of the steps with his palm. “I did those tours in the Middle East. That often seemed like I was in another world, living another life. But this? Every morning I wake up and wonder how we got to where we are. I mean, I was a bartender! How does that translate into trying to save the world from dictators and alien invasions?”
HADRON Incursion Page 10