Once the craft was in the launch position, the pilot had only a short wait for the air to be evacuated. After the outer hatch opened, the spaceplane was catapulted out at high speed. The control crew closed the outer hatch.
Most of the ground crew wore the purple Imperial Navy uniforms. The pilots wore the blue Sky-Force uniform. All the guards wore the grey guard uniform, while the high-ranking ground crew such as the engineers working in the repair bay below, wore the yellow and black Technical Services uniform.
✽✽✽
Guards evacuated civilians to the docked freighters. One by one, the docked starships departed once the last ones had boarded. As each ship left its docking arm, the automated system fired engines around the main body to keep it stable.
All around the station’s hull armoured hatches opened and out popped a collection of quad cannons, missile launchers and anti-missile defence systems. Operators on the command deck controlled each weapon system from deep inside the station.
Sensor pods all over the station searched space. The long-range scan began slowly; it took thirty minutes to build a scan of the entire system. The scan displayed views from different angles on the six screens around the main walls.
Chapter 34
Alcyone Proxima was the busiest system in the Empire. Not only was it the capital, but it also had three inhabited planets, the second, third, and fourth, from the star. Hundreds of ships cruised between the planets, with many more coming into and leaving the system.
The fleet had seven massive space stations in Alcyone Proxima. Each ten-kilometre diameter. The first over the north pole of the star. With five others in orbit between each of the inner planets, and one just past the last, which was the ninth planet. These stations were not for navigation and ship inspections. Each had shields and were armed with gravity beams, rail guns, and missiles.
Small mining crews worked out of little spaceships in the asteroid field between the sixth and seventh planet, as well as in the cloud of asteroids around the entire system.
Navigation beacons lined the only safe passage through the asteroid cloud, known as Alcyone passage, it was busy and well patrolled. Occasionally, asteroids crossed into the area.
The Unicorn, a Crusader Class Patrol Craft, was inside Alcyone passage. It kept it clear of asteroids by using the ship’s tractor beams to push them away.
Navigation beacons lined the walls of the passage. These small automated stations scanned each ship and sent that data to Alcyone Station Seven, located near the exit.
On the bridge were six female officers. In the captain’s chair sat Lady Emi. She wore the light and dark purple Imperial Navy uniform. She had four gold bars on her collar. The other five bridge crew each wore the white and yellow Technical Services uniforms, and each had three gold bars on their collar. Like most of the ship’s crew, they were a mix of different Elves.
The communications officer said, “XO, Priority signal from Alcyone Station Seven. It reads, Priority Commander Override. Proceed flank speed to the following location for search and rescue of a cockpit pod. Set condition red and investigate any contact, even the intermittent. An unknown hostile downed a Banshee. Upon retrieval of the pod, signal the Night Owl and then standby for additional orders. End of the message. XO, the message was correctly formatted, coded, and I have verified the sender as Admiral Fukuhina. Included was a data file named ‘search area’, and a second message encrypted as ‘Captain’s Eyes Only’.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. Send the location data file to the helm and send both messages to the captain. Helm cancel the current course and prepare a new one at flank speed. Weapons cease asteroid clearance, secure weapons, reload, set deflector to automatic and sound red alert,” Emi said.
The helm operator pressed stop on her control panel. Then she opened the message from Communications. Upon opening it, the system performed checks and added a navigation waypoint, named Stardust, to the system map on the Navigation screen, which was to the right of her main screen.
The main engines ceased firing, then all forward-facing ion-gravity engines on the front manoeuvring ring pulsed, decelerating the ship. The atomic clocks around the ship detected changes in gravity and adjusted the gravity field to keep it at one gravity.
As the ship decelerated, the primary deflector field, projected from the nose, reduced size. The deflection field that surrounded the hull remained unchanged. As the vessel came to a halt, the forward deflector fields merged with the primary deflector field around the ship.
Most of the time, the helm operator did not pilot the ship manually; She programmed and monitored the ship’s autopilot. Most of the ship’s systems were automatic, though the helm operator was able the pilot the ship; she had flight controls in addition to the keyboard on an adjustable arm.
“Commander, we are ready to proceed,” the helm operator said.
“Engineering, this is the XO, secure the ramscoops and prepare for flank-speed,” Emi said.
In the Engineering Section, an engineer and a crew member monitored the reactor. They wore a Technical Services uniform. The chief engineer had 5 stripes on her collar; Her assistant had 3 stripes. The chief tapped the run full system diagnostic button on her console. “To be chief of the boat, you do not need to know the science of how these systems work, only how to keep them running,” the chief said.
“Yes, chief,” the assistant replied. “But where are our support ships?”
The chief looked at the console for the fusion reactor. On the screen was an image of the reactor with various temperature readings and a flow diagram of the plasma from the reactor to each ring, the gravity-temporal stabiliser, and the Ultra-Wave Bubble generator. All arrows were green with no alarms or warnings in the message box.
“Relax, on a normal patrol, we would travel in a pack, but we are close to home, the pack is near the station,” the chief replied.
The chief checked the fuel gauge from another console. The screen displayed eight fuel tanks with the ramscoops on either side on its screen. Above each ram scoop was an open button. It was green. Inside the scoop was a vertical status bar, full and green; with a close button at the bottom of each scoop. The chief clicked close.
The chief went back to the central console. No warnings or errors displayed.
“Commander, all systems are green. We are good to proceed,” the engineer said.
“Communications send Alcyone Flight Control our new course,” Emi said.
“Aye Commander,” the communications operator said.
The communications operator sent a message to Alcyone station. On the station, a flight controller and the station’s computers reviewed the course. Finding no collisions, the console operator sent the Unicorn an approval code. The ship’s computer decoded, verified the data and updated the helm’s console before alerting the communications operator.
The communications officer saw the message. “Course change approved, Commander,” the communications operator said.
“Helm, engage autopilot,” Emi said.
The helm operator engaged the autopilot. The ship fired its port thrusters in the first ring, and its starboard thrusters in its third, manoeuvring rings and turned the spaceship 180 degrees.
The helm operator kept a hand near the emergency stop button in either armrest of her seat. The captain’s chair and the engineering console in the reactor room also had emergency stop buttons.
The captain sat in her office reading the message, there was a slight hum in the deck beneath her feet from the vibration of the two massive engines as the ship sped up down the passageway. She looked at the course, thinking flank speed for a short trip was rare.
The Unicorn sailed itself down the long passageway in the asteroid cloud; the forward deflector extended well ahead of the ship.
As the Unicorn sailed fast down Alcyone passage, the stealth plane flew further into the asteroid field. It snaked its way around the larger chunks, while ahead of the ship the deflector pushed aside small objec
ts. Behind it, it left a tiny trail of glowing dust.
A massive circumstellar cloud surrounded the star. Its inner border started at thirty AU, with its outer edge at fifty AU. Most of this field was frozen volatiles with carbon and iron dust. The sheer number of asteroids and dust made both radar and LIDAR scans inside the cloud impossible at long-range.
✽✽✽
“Now leaving Alcyone Passage,” the helm operator said.
Her right screen displayed a map of the area with a 100 km wide passage in the middle, with a haze either side marking the cloud. Ahead was Alcyone Station Seven, below and to the left.
Once clear of the passage, the ship cruised past the massive station. It then slowed and turned starboard. It then headed to the waypoint marked ‘Stardust’ on the helm’s navigation map.
As the Unicorn approached its destination, the ship automatically reduced the forward deflector field which shrank back into the protective bubble around the ship. The spaceship flipped and pulsed its massive engines to decelerate.
As the ship sailed to its destination, the captain called the XO to leave the bridge and come to her office, with another officer taking the XO’s place.
The captain opened the door, and Emi entered and sat at the desk. “Did you remind the Admiral that the chances of recovering anything in space are lower than the chances of winning the Hashimoto Lottery?” Emi asked.
“Alcyone Station Seven did a long-range scan and sent me the details. I am sending the results to the Detection officer. The data pods, the cockpit and even the downed craft, are slow-moving and we will get to them well before they enter the outer asteroid cloud,” Hilda said.
“Someone kissed a lucky fairy.”
“After angering them, they ejected out of shuttle range of the station.”
“I wonder why they didn’t use the ship docked at the station?”
Hilda sighed. “I learnt long ago if you question a command, you will only go insane when they try to explain why their way is the right way.”
“That’s true.”
“The strange part is that we are going to rendezvous with a couple of shuttles from the station.”
“How does that work?”
“We need to launch our shuttles, and they need to wait until the shuttles have offloaded and departed.”
“Won’t that slow down the recovery of the pod?”
“Yes, we cannot load it into the hanger until our shuttles have landed.”
“Do you think this is because the craft didn’t collide with an asteroid?”
“I don’t know. I will inform the crew once I know more, but the war games have been cancelled.”
“I was looking forward to seeing the fleet in action. Blasting drones is fun.”
“They will reschedule the games.”
“I am on loan for this month.”
“I know.”
“I was looking forward to using the stealth spacesuit.”
“Since it was made to fit you, I doubt it will go unused. We have a new radar and anti-missile system; you are not the only one who has a new toy to play with.”
Once on the edge of the search area, the ship had slowed to a crawl and ceased deceleration. The helm operator alerted the captain, while the detection officer began a search. The hull had various types of radar, radio, and laser emitters and receivers built into it.
Two irises, one on each side of the hull, just below the midline opened. Two more, two-thirds down and facing the rear, opened. Inside of each were missiles ready to launch.
In the middle of the hull, on top, a turret with a railgun turned and faced forward. The ship had two more on the bottom sides of the hull. They swung around and faced out.
Another four small iris hatches remained closed; They were spaced out around the hull behind the third ring. Each had a decoy canister loaded.
Inside the ship, a dozen members of the crew in guard uniforms stood ready in the main hall. Each wore a combat vest and was armed with a Viper-1 automatic rifle, a P-17, a 9mm handgun, and a leaf blade. Officers inspected the airlocks, checked the crew quarters and recreation was empty, and that all consoles had an operator ready for action.
The kitchens kept cooking; The laundry kept washing, and in the medical bay, a medical team prepared a medical pod and a medical cart. In the hangar, an electric multi-purpose six-wheeled vehicle pushed the shuttle into position on a turntable in the Outer Hangar. The crew disconnected the cradle and retreated into the inner bay, the internal doors closed, and sealed. Pumps evacuated the atmosphere into tanks in the inner hull.
At first, the LIDAR scanned a wide area, but as soon as they detected the pod, the rest of the lasers formed a box highlighting the pod. The Unicorn slowed and moved lower than the cockpit pod.
With the Inner Hangar sealed, the large rear hatch split as the seal deflated and the massive locks disengaged. The outer shell of the hull slid apart, and the second hatch on the inner hull slid open. As soon as both hatches were wide open, the internal tractor beam lifted the shuttle and slowly pushed it out of the ship. With the shuttle clear of the spaceship, the tractor turned off, and the hatch closed fast.
Soon after that, they launched the second shuttle. Each two-engine shuttle used an explosive chemical used to produce superheated gas to power its gravity-ion engines and was thus unable to fly in the atmosphere.
The shuttles flew in opposite directions; Each one chased one of the relatively slow-moving black balls that were broadcasting a weak homing signal. Each shuttle opened the roof to deploy its cargo crane with a satellite net on the hook.
The pilot and co-pilot wore spacesuits. Each pilot headed towards a blip on their navigation screen while the co-pilots operated the cranes to catch the data pods, the capture net closing around the pod as the shuttle matched speed. With the net tight, they slowed before bringing the crane inside and closing the roof. The co-pilot then secured the data node in a cargo box.
Most of the crew inside the frigate did not wear spacesuits, only their uniforms. However, they all wore a headset with a speaker in each ear, plugged into their phones, which all had the status, “COMMAND NETWORK–UNICORN”. In the small sealed control room in the heart of the nose, the captain sat in the middle of the room, directly behind the helm operator. On the main screen was the view ahead. The helm operator had an array of three displays in front of her. The captain went over various reports then flicked a switch on her chair, and the screens retreated above her. She clicked another button, and the arm with her keyboard retreated.
“Communications, anything?” Hilda asked.
“Captain, I am still not receiving any signal from the escape pod on any channel. Not even the pilot’s phone,” the communications officer replied from the console to the left of the captain.
Emi stood in the hangar control room with two consoles on either side of her. On the wall in front of her was a large screen. It displayed video feeds from inside the shuttle bay; the cargo lift to the storage area below the shuttle bay; the inner door of the outer hangar, from inside; the outer hatch, from inside the outer hangar.
In her headset, Emi heard Hilda ask, “XO, what is the status of the retrieval of the computer cores?”
Emi turned to the two consoles behind her and looked at the screens. Each displayed text of audio from each shuttle and a small radar with its position relative to the ship.
“Shuttle One reports they have captured the first and are on their way back,” Emi said as she stared at the first screen. She stood behind the second console. “Shuttle two reports they have matched vectors with the second data core and are closing in to capture it.”
“All right, XO. Carry on,” Hilda said. She turned to face the console operator on her right, “Detection, what is the condition of the pod?”
To the right of the captain sat an officer at a console with two screens. The first displayed a 3D radar with the range set to 5km, with four contacts. The first contact, in front of the ship, was highlighted. The secon
d screen displaying a visual of the tumbling escape pod.
“Captain, I have a visual on Stardust. We are 643 metres away, and we are closing at a rate of 1-metre per second. I do not detect any power. I see damage to the shell, but the pod appears to be intact,” the Detection officer said.
“Where are the two shuttles?” Hilda asked.
“Five minutes away,” the Detection officer replied.
“Hangar, prepare to receive company, refuel and turn the shuttles around,” Hilda said.
“Aye, captain.”
“I will be coming down. Helm, as soon as those shuttles have departed, I need the ship turned around. Hanger, as soon as the ship is in place, I want the pod landed onto a shuttle cradle,” Hilda said.
“Aye, captain.”
Chapter 35
August 20, 11,574. Imperial Palace.
Kaede entered the office in his Palace workshop in subbasement five. He stopped, looked around and saw that the room was tidy. Atop his desk was a stack of two trays. The bottom one was full of manila folders. All his books on a shelf, a poster tray held various posters and star charts. A large high-back chair was behind his desk, with two chairs in front. In the back was a conference table for eight.
Sora stood by the filing cabinet, supervising Mako and Miko as they sorted plastic sheets into colour-coded cases with a zipper and tags.
“If I needed a filing cabinet, I would have had one installed,” Kaede said. He looked around and asked, “Where is my shredder?”
“Akiko has taken it to the workshops on sub-level four to be recycled,” Sora said.
“I need it,” Kaede said.
“Straight cut shredding is not secure. Nor should you leave important documents on your desk,” Sora said as she took the last stack of folders from his outbox and handed them to Mako.
“Do you expect me to tear them up myself?” Kaede asked.
“Use a—” Mako started.
“—document bin.” Miko finished.
“Anyone can wheel off with it,” Kaede said.
“No,” Mako said.
“Izanami has made a shredder that can cut crosscut paper, cardboard and optical sheets into tiny, irregular pieces,” Miko said.
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